If this should end tomorrow

[mythalenaste]

WHO: Pel and Cullen
WHAT: Cullen is having some difficulties. His shoulder elf tries to help.
WHEN: Mid-Haring
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: CW: Drug withdrawal.

She's often nearby, finding it somehow soothing to be in the presence of people like him. People like Cullen and Adelaide. People she doesn't have to raise.

Pel is knitting as she keeps an eye on him. He might hear the occasional slide of her smooth wooden needles, but otherwise it is easy for him to forget she is there.

He doesn't seem to notice she notices. The grunts of effort, the moments when he almost falls asleep at his desk. The times when he stops to cradle his own head in his hands. She came prepared today, carrying some of the things she keeps for when Merrick has one of his headaches.

She pads close to him, reaching out to touch his arm gently.

"Cullen."

Comments

[mythalenaste]

He doubts his ability to lead? In the face of a dangerous withdrawal, his chief concern is that he won't lead his forces well? Here Pel is thinking about the circumstances under which she'd need to run and fetch a real physician. Collapse or seizure, certainly.

"I usually find nightmares are chased off easier if I can wake up in a place where I'm comfortable and safe. Doesn't stop them from happening, just helps me get back to sleep quicker."

[perseverances]

"It's not that I cannot fight off the nightmares. It's that I'm afraid I won't be able to tell the difference anymore." He didn't want himself to accidentally attack someone he thinks is an enemy when they are a friend.