Never An Uneventiful Day

[equanimiti]

WHO: Alayre Sauveterre & whomever joins
WHAT: Sometimes doing a little bit of busywork does wonders for the mind. Alayre hopes that will be the case for him.
WHEN: Mid-Haring
WHERE: Various locations at Skyhold (Courtyard, Stables and Library)
NOTES: Both current and new CR greatly welcomed, also negative and positive CR is more than welcomed. Happy Holidays, btw

Stables

It's not uncommon to see the former Knight-Commander wandering about throughout the Hold, but it is a bit of a rarity to see him attending to his horse at the stables. As of late, Alayre been far too busy for his own liking. Of course his horse hasn't been neglected by the stable-hands here but Alayre missed spending time with Durandal. That's while he takes it upon himself to spend time with the white mare today and brush her coat. Now that winter has arrived, Durandal is a tad shaggier than normal. A common trait of a horse hailing from the north but that makes brushing Durandal more of a task than Alayre bargained for.


Courtyard

After spending one too many hours at the stables, Alayre makes his way towards the courtyard for the sake of relaxation. There's something truly rewarding about being surrounded by such tranquility, even if there's a few telltale reminders of the chaos that brews. An afternoon stroll through the gardens is a always next on his agenda followed by a brief visit to the library later.

Library

The library doesn't win over Alayre's interest for long due to the absence of a certain cheeky mage. It's somewhat awkward for him to be rummaging through the aisles in search or a good book; especially with the librarian glaring death his way. While it shouldn't be much of a surprise that rumors have begun about him and Salvatore, Alayre is silently mortified.

Comments

[byblow]

"She would be furious," Alistair agrees--speaking not to the man, but to the horse, with the sort of tone people sometimes take with dogs and babies when they aren't being completely gooey and ridiculous but are still, you know. Talking to animals or preverbal children. There's a certain self-aware rhetorical tone one has to take even if not succumbing to ridiculous baby talk.

He lets her have the slice and rubs her nose while she swallows it. She is beautiful.

"Oh, no," he says. "Not regularly. The horsemaster has a strict schedule and a dozen spotty stable hands for that. I only like to come by sometimes--I was a stable boy when I was young." And until recently he'd been sleeping here in the stables, for the familiar smells and sounds. It helped with the nightmares. He still looks underrested now, but alert despite the circles beneath his eyes, and friendly, even when he's looking the older man over and saying, "You're one of the Templars, aren't you?"

[equanimiti]

Well, Durandal certainly loves the tone he takes up with her. Especially since she's finally given the attention she deserves. Like any horse, she certainly loves apples and is quite pleased with herself now. She nibbles on the apple slice daintily at first before just snatching it out of the warden's hands. This brings back comedic memories of the dainty mare nearly biting Alayre's fingers when she was younger. Durandal is not a graceful eater.

"Ah, my mistake then." Alayre says as he pats his horse's sturdy neck. "The horsemaster has my gratitude for his hard work, the same for the stable hands. I plan to give them each a bottle of Orlesian Red." He's speaking of wine, of course.

The sudden question wins a glance from Alayre but he's not offended. Like everyone else, he's definitely new to Skyhold and quite unfamiliar to most. "Indeed, I am." He answers a nod. "I'm Knight-Commander Alayre Sauveterre of Pharos. To whom I owe the pleasure of speaking with?"

[byblow]

"I'm Alistair. I'm a Grey Warden."

He never introduces himself a Theirin, and it isn't only for shyness' sake, though that is part of it. He doesn't want to be thought of that way; he doesn't care to marked as the son of a father he saw once and never received a kind look from, let alone a kind word; he doesn't like the way it made people look at him, back when it mattered. And then there are more practical reasons. Technically speaking, he was exiled from Ferelden, and the Queen's contentment to leave him be may expire if he causes a fuss. There are still malcontents who would try to overthrow her for their own ends using his name, whether Alistair approved or not.

The point being: if he knew Sauveterre's lack of comment on the matter was deliberate rather than ignorance, he'd appreciate it.

"I passed near Pharos once," he adds. "It's probably a lovely area when there aren't any darkspawn outbreaks."

[equanimiti]

So, it is him.

Alayre tries to feint surprise but he cannot. He suspected this grey warden's name since his arrival. Despite not meeting all the key players in this war against Corypheus and the darkspawn, Alayre at least knew the chain of command fairly well. Most of his Templar brothers do. There's just no way that Alayre could've gotten others to Skyhold unless he knew. Walking into this situation blindly would've been a fool's mistake but back to the matter at hand.

"You know of Pharos?" Now that generally caught his surprise. Definitely. Although, that might be difficult to tell since Alayre does wear his expressions usually. "The darkspawn laid siege to the region and Pharos was lost shortly after the rebellion. An unfortunate truth." Not many know this but the Applewoods are plagued with great evil now.

[byblow]

"Oh," Alistair says. "Sorry about that." It's a personal sorry, not a flippant one: a sorry, we should have stopped that. That's what they're for. "Maybe when all of this is over we can go clear it out for you."

Or maybe they'll all be dead. Alistair rubs the horse between her eyes and tries not to look too glum, with some success.

[equanimiti]

That sudden cloud of glum that clung to Alistair caught his attention. Does the Grey Warden truly feel sorrow over the unfortunate truth about Pharos and the brave souls who died there? Perhaps but Alayre is somewhat skeptical still. As a Templar, Alayre is sworn to come to the aid of the Grey Wardens bound by old treaties but as a person--Alayre isn't too certain what to believe about them.

He's always been skeptical but oddly fascinated with the Grey Wardens. After all, in legends the Grey Wardens allegedly rode griffins into the battle. How could he not be somewhat amazed with them after hearing such tales.

"There's no need for apologies. It isn't truly anyone's fault." Alayre states before deciding maybe it's time to lighten the mood. "Do you have a steed of your own, Ser Alistair?"

[byblow]

"I don't. We have to be careful about having animals around darkspawn." Unless they put them through the Joining, which is possible but rare. Alistair opens his mouth, thinks of Barkspawn—I can barely take care of myself, he said when Cousland tried to pass the dog off on him, and it's still largely true—and pauses awkwardly, stuck in that memory, before he manages to say, "Maybe the horse master will let me name one or something."