OPEN - Yes, we should like to see a burning-bush-type sign

[mythalenaste]

WHO: Pel Ashara and YOU.
WHAT: Blowing off steam after the emergency Council session.
WHEN: Backdated about two weeks to the IC Council vote.
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Will update. There are a few starters in here.

Naturally, it's been a rough day. Naturally, half the Council thought the resolution went too far and the other half thought it didn't go far enough. Naturally, Pel is exhausted and frustrated, though overall glad that the Council passed something. She's going to avoid thinking about the next resolution she'll eventually have to write, whatever that will be, for the rest of the night. She's going to try to forget the Council exists and she is a part of it.

1

The first place Pel goes is the tavern. She needs a strong, strong drink. In fact, anyone who knows her (or can see how small she is) might be alarmed when she orders a glass of whiskey and downs it in one forced, gagging swallow.

2

After such a long time spent shut inside, Pel is out under the stars, wrapped up in blankets and sipping a mug of mulled wine. Her feet are tucked under her, her back resting against a tree in the courtyard, her head occasionally nodding.

3

A tiny elf is curled up in a shadowed nook of the courtyard, sleeping soundly, wrapped in a cloak and blankets. She looks pale and cold, tense even as she sleeps.

Comments

ALISTAIR

[mythalenaste]

As soon as it's over, Pel stands up and heads for the door. It's a beeline to Alistair, who was standing there for most of that interminable meeting, giving quiet support. She curls against his chest, tucked between his arms, silently requesting as big a hug as he can manage.

ZEVRAN

[mythalenaste]

Before she has had more than a few sips of wine, she finds herself setting down her glass and heading for Zevran. He's there, as usual, and she knows he'll be warm and kind, unlike the day she has had, and she needs something different from a drink. She says nothing, only moves to sit in his lap and wind her arms around his neck.

ELLANA

[mythalenaste]

"You did really well." Pel has caught up with Ellana at last, just outside the tavern. The respect is sincere, and so is the smile. "You're gaining confidence."

threeeeee

[amygdalae]

With the memory of the abomination haunting his mind there's no way that Bruce can go to sleep soundly. Any attempt ends futilely, and it doesn't take long before Bruce gives up entirely and decides to use his time on more productive things.

The night is cold and Bruce has a worn out cloak thrown over him as he starts on his usual way towards the battlements. Most of Skyhold is, of course, unsurprisingly asleep by this time, and Bruce only gives most of the sleeping bodies with a passing glance as he walks on by.

That is, until he spots Pel at the corner of his eye. It's pretty dark and his vision isn't that good, but even here it seems like she doesn't seem all that well, and Bruce can't help but worry. He only spends a moment to debate with himself on what to do before he quietly approaches her, wanting a closer look just to make sure that she's perfectly okay. He could just be easily imagining things and he doesn't want to wake her up if that's the case.

2.

[judgemewhole]

Having stepped out of a similar situation with his fellow Templars, James is out haunting the hallways. For once, he is out of the Templar armor, and he's glad for it. He just wants some peace, some quiet, and a place where he can drink his wine.

Preferably without banging his head into a wall.

The courtyard, quiet and empty, seems most appropriate.

Well, mostly empty. One corner of his mouth lifted up as he saw the small figure under the tree, and he cleared his throat before he approached with his own small satchel of food, book in hand.

"Excuse me, my lady, may I take the root next to you? I find this spot ... rather irresistible at the moment."

2.

[eolasemah]

Sina still had the blanket around her shoulders as she left the meeting, cursing her weakness as it took far longer and far more energy for her to simply arrive back at the healing tents. She crouched by the fire to brew herself a cup of tea, and while doing so she looked across to see the seated Pel some distance away.
With her thin hands wrapped around the mug, Sina made her feeble way towards her fellow First and sat down beside her with a sigh.
"You spoke well," she said quietly.

[kallian_endris]

Kallian had learned to love the quiet of the courtyard. At least, when it was quiet. It was easy to slip off to the gardens from there. Easy to blend in with others. Few questioned her presence there. She could just be, and think and gather herbs there.

But the young elf was surprised by the presence of another elf nearby. Even in the dark, her pale hair almost glowed under the moonlight, and Kallian could make out the pattern on her face. Was she... was she a real Dalish? Here? Kallian had heard there were some Dalish in Skyhold, but had yet to actually cross paths with one before now. And this one, elegant even in repose, was like someone out of one of her mother's stories.

Kallian hesitated, not sure if she should approach. The night was cold, and the other Elf looked weary. But perhaps a Dalish preferred to sleep outdoors, for all Kallian knew. Little by little did she edge closer, working to pluck up her courage. There was so much she wanted to know, but she feared someone like the Dalish in the courtyard would laugh at her flat-eared ignorance. Thrice, she nearly bolted back indoors, but she managed to keep going.

And then her tongue almost failed her. What would she say to someone like this? Finally, in a soft voice, she ventured, "The night grows cold, my lady. May... may I bring you anything?"

1.

[wickedchase]

"Now that's the face of someone who hardly drinks."

It's spoken a bit teasingly, but he can already get the idea that she's under some stress. Hardly surprisingly.

Twisted Fate invites himself over, tapping his fingers on the table to order something for himself.

"Bad day?" Fate asks. Whether Pel feels like talking or not, she'll make that explicitly clear.

[fortheloveoffalondin]

Without the presence of Pel's mercenary there in the bar, the next best thing is Salem's appearance there at her side, belly-up to the bar. He isn't drinking anything yet, but that will soon change.

"Try this." A glass is slid over to her, gently steaming as if its been warmed, and as soon as it hits the tongue it's like fire, but it goes down with only a subtle burn and an aftertaste like honey; a sort of Avvar drink that he'd only recently figured out the bar here stocked, that he'd been made to drink on a dare when he was younger.

two;

[arcaneadvisor]

It is remiss of her not to have spoken with the mage council sooner but it can be forgiven when settling a child into a new place that requires as much fastidious checking as Skyhold. For a change, she would prefer not to have an audience and thus the rotunda is out and until she knows whom is trustworthy, her personal office is out too.

Still she tracks Pel down, lingering in the shadows for a time until she steps out of them, clad as ever in what most people say is far too little for the chill. Most of them would never believe she crossed the Frostbacks more than once in them.

"Forgive me," she says, just low enough not to cause alarm if she hasn't been heard, "I hear you are one of those involved with this council of mages, yes?"

You never reveal your hand right away and besides, news spreads faster than a rash in a brothel in Skyhold, she learned that when she knew of the abomination barely minutes after getting through the gates.

three;

[foxsays]

Nights in Skyhold continue to get colder, just as a certain man in a tent warned but Araceli can't sleep as it is and outside there's at least the wind to sound almost like the sea. Never enough to make her sleep, always too cold to leave a window open wherever she's sleeping for the night but wrapped in a cloak large enough to go about her twice with room to spare, it gets her doing something more than feeling sorry for herself.

Busy peering up at the stars as she wanders, she doesn't actually notice Pel until she trips, swearing loud enough that it echoes and draws a complaint that she waves away with a flap of one hand, dropping into a crouch, her smile sheepish in the dark.

"Forgive me señorita, clearly I was felled by your beauty for you glow like the stars above us."