Open: Nerva has feelings about Mages

[keeperofmagi]

WHO: Nerva and Open
WHAT: Nerva storms back into Skyhold following the Abomination
WHEN: Before / During the Mage Council meeting
WHERE: The Tavern
NOTES: Nerva is her own warning. Alcohol.

Before the Council meeting, Nerva was nothing but a ball of rage. She had not been in Skyhold when the Abomination struck - sent on a quick escort mission down to the crossroads - and had returned to the remnants of destruction and chaos. Destruction and chaos that should have been prevented. Destruction and chaos that she should have been there to prevent, not out gallivanting around the countryside.

Once the meeting itself started, Nerva had attended despite the fact that she had absolutely no vote in the outcome. She had no power, here - though that was not a difficult thing to reconcile. She'd had no power in the Circle, either - too vocal and distrustful to ever be promoted beyond being a mere grunt. She'd gotten used to the fact that she had no say in policy decisions.

Which was why she had to be as loud and as vocal as possible if she was going to influence the council's decisions at all. That she disagreed with the council existing at all was beside the point. It was reality, and she had to face it. But she didn't like it.

However - she didn't stay for the whole meeting. Once she had said her piece she left - fuming and white knuckled - and stalked straight for the tavern. She usually was careful about her alcohol intake, mostly because she disliked being out of control of herself, but today was a good day to drink until she could at least have a conversation without burning holes through someone just by looking at them. Her rage and grief - a grief old as time but torn open anew with astounding regularity - were almost physical presences around her, hunched over the bar and nursing the wine even as she looked at it in disgust.

Comments

[keeperofmagi]

That actually earns him a snort - something that might have even almost been a laugh, if it wasn't so sharp and pointed. It was funny, because it was true. He was actually now far down on the list of mages she wished she could just punt off a cliff. Who would have thought?

"Is it so strange I would have strong opinions on the subject?" She asked, deliberately not saying 'feelings'. She did not - and could not - recognize just how greatly her emotions played her thoughts, in this respect. "I have dedicated my life to the Order. Of course I have strong opinions. Though I admit that perhaps being a baker may have been wiser."

[wickedchase]

"Well, that too -- but that's not what I was referring to."

The tone in his voice shifts slightly, a bit less friendly, and the smile he wears is sharper with intent. Fate has a sip from his glass and he gazes at her, both curious and calculating.

Finally, he says, "What is it that made you a templar, Nerva? I wonder. Do you really think the mages need such restrictions? Or is it because something happened in Tevinter? Suppose that's possible, mages everywhere." Twisted Fate peers at her from under the brim of his hat. "Nerva of Tevinter and Orlais."

[keeperofmagi]

She stills instantly at the words, her gaze sharpening into something narrow and focused and piercing.

"You heard that," She said sharply, accusingly. "That is absolutely none of your business Twisted Fate. I joined the Order because it was Right, and I do what I believe is Right, and that is all you need to know."

[wickedchase]

"Spirits have looser tongues than most people, yet they're so wound up in the mystery of things." He doesn't sound particularly smug, but speaking a frank statement as he looks at her.

"Is that it? Because no one ever does something without a motive. Because it's Right. How righteous of you." Fate pours himself another drink. "Were you jealous of the magisters? Did you hate them? I wonder, you consider yourself so above it all, how a Vint can be trustworthy. A fine question indeed."

[keeperofmagi]

She slammed her hand down on the bar with such sudden force that it shook her tankard and startled the nearby patrons into stunned silence for half a moment before they nervously went back to their chatter and their drinks. She raised her eyes to meet his, and the hate he spoke of was there - on full display - a blazing heat behind her eyes and held just barely in check by the thin container of her skin.

"I am above. Nothing." She said, each word crisp and cold and clear. "And I owe you no answers. I joined the Templars when I still a child, and I stayed the cause. It is my calling, and my life, and I need no ulterior motive to keep the true path."

[wickedchase]

The reaction doesn't cause him to flinch, and his eyes remain watching her with a distinctly calm face despite his own internal frustrations.

"Everyone has an ulterior motive," he says, a brow lifting as he looks her over. It could be, of course, she simply isn't aware of her own or convinced herself otherwise. But there's a reason for it.

Not that he's going to get it out of her that easily.

"Do you even remember Tevinter?"

[keeperofmagi]

"I remember enough," She replied bluntly. It was half a lie. She remembered it so well it was like a flaming brand across her mind.

"Tevinter left me without a home and without a family. Is that what you want to hear, Twisted Fate? That I was orphaned by the very place you would give me the label of? Is that the knife you sought? What in all of Thedas could it possibly matter to you what was taken from me. I am no more a Vint than you are a dwarf."

[wickedchase]

It was an impulsive confrontation, and cruelly done on his part. But he doesn't share his own truth, and he remains quiet, insightful. Typical of Tevinter, isn't it? To take away so much.

"What I sought was validation, and I did it poorly," he admits, not pleased he has to admit that he was wrong to do so. Fate may find her devotion to the templars ridiculous and over the top, but that's not why he approached her the way he did. Templars he can handle.

Tevinter is harder.

"I apologize." He quietly hopes she won't make him say it again.

[keeperofmagi]

Whatever she had been expecting, it wasn't that. And it takes her fully aback for a moment, brows furrowing as she looks at him - actually looks at him - the fire settling back down into that ball in her breast where it belonged.

"Forgiven." She said, after a moment. It was a hard, blunt word, but an honest one. He could not have known the mine field that he had stepped into. She had rage enough for reality - she didn't need to make up slights to hold grudges over.

"Tell me what validation it was that you sought, and then we never need speak of it again."

[wickedchase]

That seemed awfully easy, but then, Nerva is a straight-forward individual in comparison to him. He'll take the forgiveness where he can right now.

"I wanted to know more about your connection with Tevinter. I suppose-- I thought I had you pegged. I didn't expect that."

That isn't a lie. But half-truths seem to be afloat this evening.

[keeperofmagi]

Forgiveness didn't mean she would forget it. But that was another matter entirely.

She snorted lowly, turning back to her drink. "Assumptions are easy to make, based on the whispers of spirits," She said, with something that was almost a sneer but not quite. "And easier still when one already expects a certain answer. You're hardly the only one who worries about Tevinter. But no. I have no connections. At least none that still live."

[wickedchase]

"If that's a jab at me being a mage, it's rather unnecessary." He rolls his eyes at her.

"Well, hardly the only one, but I have my reasons for being... irritable. In any case, this is over and done with, isn't it?"

[keeperofmagi]

Jabs at mages were always necessary.

"Irritable." She repeated the word with a slight raised eyebrow, but then nodded, before taking a drink. "There are enough Venatori to kill to fill any irritation you have with Tevinter. But I hardly think we ever need to speak on the subject again."

Though even as she said it, this time, she knew it wasn't as true as it had been even five minutes ago. It wasn't like her to be curious, but - curious she was. What ties would a Dalish possibly have with Tevinter? The curiosity, however, was held down by the very loud part of her that was certain she did not want to know.

[wickedchase]

"The Venatori are an Inquisition problem. Not a Twisted Fate problem, outside of immediately defending myself."

The elf refills his drink, knowing he'll need it. "In any case, as you say, no need to speak of it again. Shall I buy you a drink or do you not need any of my filthy apostate money?"

That could be a joke.

[keeperofmagi]

The Venatori were an everyone problem, as far as she considered it, but her only outward response to that comment was to have one side of her lip twitch up above her teeth for a brief second.

"I will take a drink from a fellow soldier, if we are drawing lines," She replied, her voice too serious, but it was an offering. An equality, of sorts, perhaps. For a night.

[wickedchase]

A very fine Nerva response, if he ever saw one on her face. It almost makes things normal right now between them.

"Then, this fellow soldier will gladly buy you a drink." Fate tips his hat to her. "Your choice, Nerva. I'm but the purchaser."