[open] calm before the storm

[arlathvhen]

WHO: Beleth and YOU.
WHAT: Beleth hanging out around the Gallows, gossiping, being an anxious mess, and other fun Beleth things.
WHEN: Nowish, covering up until modplot starts.
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: Probably last chance to do much with her before everyone goes off to war and shit gets real.

i. scoutmaster office

As things start to get more and more serious, and everyone is gearing up to leave for the big battle, Beleth gets more and more busy. All of her scouts will be in attendance, and Beleth is spending a great deal of time working to assign everyone and make sure that everyone will be playing their part. She keeps her door open most of the time, and can be seen pouring over reports, writing letters, or consulting a map of Thedas with little color-coordinated pins pushed into it (because not everyone sticks knives in their maps like some kind of HEATHEN).

However, whatever she's doing, she'll set it aside if anyone comes to her office. Whether coming there out of the blue, having made an appointment, or being summoned there for some reason, the Scoutmaster's office is open for any visitors.

ii. training room

When she isn't dealing with the massive amount of paperwork that a massive battle requires, she's training for the event itself. It would hardly do for her to send people to fight, and not be ready for it herself, after all. So, usually late at night, when she's done with her work for the day, she can be found in the training room.

She starts with what she's best at, archery. Firing arrow after arrow at targets. Some of the shots go wide, but for the most part, she does a solid job of keeping the arrows in the target space. After that, she starts with the daggerwork. She's never been as good at this as archery, and it shows as she follows the intricate steps of the usual bard training practice. Anyone familiar with bard training will recognize the graceful drill as The Butterfly, but for anyone who doesn't know, it is simply a rather pretty demonstration of daggerwork.

She'll stop if approached, but can also be approached when she takes breaks, to sit down for a few minutes and drink from a jug of water she's brought with her. Anyone who knows Beleth well enough can probably recognize that the relentlessness she's putting into these drills is a sign of anxiousness, the way she throws herself into it with a determination that speaks to just how on edge she is.

iii. the docks

Besides overworking herself, there is always one tested and true way to deal with stress: Arguing. It doesn't take much for Beleth to find an excuse to bring someone to task, and stands there on the docks of the Gallows, a few papers in one hand, the other one devoted to tight, tense gestures to show just how aggrieved she is of this failing.

"--And if you look at the order, it quite clearly says that we need Rashvine Nettle, not regular rashvine. If I wanted regular rashvine, I would take two steps out of the city and collect more than enough--" Her voice is relatively controlled for the argument, because she's still a division leader, and can't be seen having a shouting match in broad daylight. But there's an undeniable tension cutting underneath her words, her eyes sharp and accusing as it drills into the unfortunate soul who has brought her the alleged unworthy rashvine.

"--They are not the same, they wouldn't have different names if they were the same, would they? I need rashvine nettle for lyrium potions, regular rashvine is entirely useless for the task. An entire crate of useless--" And here, she jabs an accusing finger at a crate. "--entirely unneeded, regular rashvine."

Anyone can step in and either side with her, save the poor person receiving the Scoutmaster's wrath, or wait until she waves the other person away to speak with her. Or, if they're someone who might be tasked with gathering herbs and could make the mistake of mixing up rashvines, they can be the unfortunate person getting told off.

iv. cade

When Cade requested a private meeting with her, she was quick to agree to it, and make the time in her schedule. She can't quite imagine what he wants to talk about--maybe he's managed to acquire his own betrothed?--but Cade wouldn't make the request if it wasn't important. Not with the way things are going right now.

So when Cade arrives, the door will be already be open, and Beleth will already be in one of the chairs she uses for chatting with people. There's already a teapot seeping on the small table between the chairs, and in Beleth's hand is a file, as she crams in some reading while waiting for him. At his approach, she flashes him a grin, gesturing to the other chair.

"Cade! Good day, please come in."

v. legolas

The reason for Legolas showing up at Beleth's office is, ostensibly, testing wearing makeup over the anchor on his hand, and trying to see how well it can last while he goes about his day. And that's certainly one of the things that's happening, the door to Beleth's bedroom propped open while she goes to and fro, fetching her own makeup for the trial. If this works, she'll have to find a way to order large quantities of it--she might have to reach out to Val Royaeux, the only place she could think of that might carry enough to outfit everyone who would need it.

(If Legolas takes a peek into her bedroom, he'll discover that it's even more ostentatiously elfy than her office, and filled with personal momentos and whatnot.)

The trickiest part of the moment is getting Beleth's foundation to match Legolas' much fairer skin, though she's taking to the challenge with gusto. And maybe if she distracts herself with trying to match skintones, she'll be able to forget that she's grasping Legolas' hand, and not act like a total fool. She's fine, this is fine, she spends plenty of time holding hands with attractive elves. Just another day in the life.

"So, the blemish spotter goes first, to try to conceal the anchor as much as possible. The foundation is going to try to make it look smoother and more natural, which is why it's so important to match your skintone." She's explaining it step by step, since Legolas will have to be able to do this by himself at some point. "If this works, I'll probably have to try to find foundation to match everyone's individual skin tone." Shopping trip, maybe? That'd be a nice break from everything. "Then I'm going to dust it with setter, to try to keep it from smudging or wiping off. Now, this will help, but it's not a miracle worker, so try not to do anything that would ruin it."

She declines to list any kind of activities with his hand that might be frowned upon. She's not Lexie, after all.

vi. wildcard

Any other ideas? Throw it in, or hit me up if you want to discuss it.

Comments

[arlathvhen]

Beleth nods along as Legolas explains. Thranduil has never mentioned his late wife to her, either--once, a failed attempt to court someone, but nothing on what was presumably his successful go at it. And she's never asked. It's not her tale to tell, after all.

"I know this is not the way of it in Middle Earth, but within Thedas, any elf and human pairing will result in a human child," She explains quietly, with a shrug, like it doesn't really mean that much to her, like she isn't discussing yet another venue of slow genoicde that her people must deal with. "Always. There is no choice involved, as there is in Middle Earth. Which is why elves tend to oppose such unions." There's other things, like power imbalances, things that obviously don't apply to this particular situation, and Beleth is already discussing things she just said she wouldn't get into.

For a moment, she looks genuinely concerned that Legolas might take Sorrel instead--or at least ask him, whether or not Sorrel would accept--well. Legolas would probably serve Sorrel better than Adasse, most likely, so that wouldn't be too bad--

But he's joking, and Beleth is overthinking it. She lets out a quiet laugh, shaking her head. "Far be it from me to either tell you who to attend with, or to insult my brther's dance skills. Though I will say that I have been to several balls at this point." Which is a sly way to insult her brother's dancing skills without actually insulting him, because Beleth is just that smooth.

And speaking of smooth insulting, Beleth listens to Legolas describe his somewhat brief relationship with Gwen, nodding along with a thoughtful look to her face. "I have to admit, I've not had occasion to speak with her very often, either. Though I have read several of her works--she is a writer, you know--which I've found illuminating." She doesn't mention that some of those works were fairly anti-elf, nor does she encourage Legolas to read any of it. She leaves the information hanging in the air, with another little shrug.

"Either way, not hating each other is a good start. Certainly better than some. I suppose the two of you will have plenty of time to become better acquainted, as things progress."