faderift | OPEN: this will be a better year

OPEN: this will be a better year

WHO: Everyone
WHAT: First Day
WHEN: Wintermarch 1 (forward-dated)
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Scouts from both the Western Approach and Emprise du Lion are welcome (but not required) to have returned to Skyhold in time for this event.

There have been better First Day feasts, and less crowded ones, and cheerier ones. It isn't a good year for many to look back on, and this one isn't starting any better. Reports from both Eastern and Western Orlais are grim. Many in the Inquisition can't afford to take more than a few hours away from their work, if that.

But for those who can, the ambassador does her best. At lunchtime some tables, hot food, and finery are reserved for visiting nobility and wealthy pilgrims--cause for grumbling in some quarters, perhaps, but they're the people filling the Inquisition's coffers, and allowances must be made--but there's plenty of stew, bread, and ale for everyone, even with the soldiers and refugees who stay outside the fortress invited inside for the holiday. The recently repaired garden and its carefully tended plants aren't off limits, but anyone noisy and holding a drink will be stopped at the door; the battlements, with their potential for deadly falls, are blocked by Inquisition guards. But the courtyards brim with people, most of them happy despite the possibility that the world might end before another First Day arrives.

If the courtyards are too full of tipsy visitors for comfort, there's also the valley beyond the fortress, expansive, barren, and covered in snow. By the river the soldiers help the refugees make a bonfire larger than would ever be allowed inside Skyhold's walls, and some lend their shields to use as sleds down the embankments. A group of scouts start the most intense game of hide and seek Thedas has ever seen, with snowballs to the face for whoever is found first. In the camp, a refugee girl with her hand wrapped in a green scarf chases other children around the tents, shouting raaar, I'm from the rifts!

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Taking advantage of following on from Korrin, she can pluck her own gift from the inner pocket she used to keep it safe and keep it tucked in her hand until she can drop down next to Korrin, tucking herself under her arm. It's been a long time and she can rest her head on her shoulder like this, where everyone can see without a care in the world.

"You spoil me Korrin Ataash," she says with mock seriousness until she actually gets a look at the gift, her whole face scrunching up when she feels the tears stinging at her eyes. "Oh Korrin," is all she manages to get out when she can speak past a suddenly tight throat, tracing the scales of each mermaid, ghosting her fingertips along the elegant curve of the metal. At some point it's impossible to hold the tears at bay and she wipes them away with the back of her hand, trying to compose herself again.

"I don't know how to thank you for this, you were out there-- and this-- it's--" And she needs another moment, but she's smiling brightly and launching herself at Korrin, handing over her own gift in the process. "This is a small thing, I cannot compare it to yours but I hope you like it, I checked to make sure it would fit."

Her own gift is simple, stars of differing sizes carved of a silvery wood, all on a band of leather that can be wrapped around the upper arm and tied off to just the right size for a Vashoth woman.

There's a nervous moment just after revealing the gift when Korrin wonders if it's too much, if Araceli might be scared off. Because it is quite plainly a token of affection, no matter how much she's told herself to take things easy and slow. Seeing those tears, Korrin reaches out to gently wipe at them before slipping the bracelet onto the wrist of the hand she takes. Her lips curve in a warm, tender smile that's far more unguarded than anyone in Skyhold has ever seen. Such is the effect a rifter thief has on her.

Whatever she's about to say dies on her lips as she peers at Araceli's gift. That Araceli had even thought of one tickles Korrin endlessly, as she honestly wasn't expecting it. Her eyes widen in delight as she manages to lift her gaze from the band to meet Araceli's, and now they're suspiciously bright. Her voice is rough for a moment as she struggles to speak past the lump in her throat. "It's beautiful, Araceli. That you thought of me is no small thing, trust me. If you would...?"

She holds out her arm, eager to have it on and show it off to absolutely everyone. Well, when she's ready for company other than the exquisite, generous, wonderful woman at her side. That might be a while.

Out of all the people Araceli has met her, Korrin was the one there from the start; if she were like the girls she knows at home she’d say it’s falling for the rescuer but Korrin makes her laugh, makes her forget the worst of being away from familiar faces, she makes her laugh and feel special. Maybe that makes her simple but that’s all that she ever needs, to feel wanted and valued. That Korrin is stunning is just the cherry on top really. Wiping away the last of the tears, she manages a laugh that’s more self-conscious than is typical but her fingers are still quick as ever when she loops the bracelet, keeping a finger beneath to give it just enough slack so it doesn’t sit uncomfortably tight.

She thought of Korrin plenty after all, especially after that message from the Emprise.

“You were the first person I met here, and you are the one who occupies my thoughts most often and always in the best ways. I’m glad you’re back from that wretched place and with those who care for you. Most of myself,” she adds after a beat because shameless is as shameless does.

It's shameless and utterly sweet, and the forming lump in her throat makes it impossible to respond in any other way than slipping her arms around Araceli once more. At least for the moment. She's never without words for long (blunt as they often are), but when the Vashoth woman is able to speak, it's in a quiet, heartfelt tone that wavers slightly despite her best efforts.

"Not to put pressure on you, but that attention has made a world of difference to me. I'm not sure I would have returned as sane as I did without your support, and I never want to find out. You've become so very important to me, more than I ever would have thought in a few months. What can I say, your brand of scoundreldom is very addictive." She's warm, lovely, insightful, gorgeous scoundrel who somehow makes everything better. Is it any wonder Korrin's smitten?

"Scoundreldom," she echoes, looking down at her lap for a moment, unable to keep herself from running her fingers over the bracelet and the scales on the mermaids before she looks up again. She has to do this now, it would be unfair to wait and it's only through circumstance that she hasn't brought up what she's about to before, because it had to be in person and Korrin was away.

"There's something I should tell you, about me. Because I've come to care for you and I might be a thief but I don't lie to those I care about, I can't, and in this case I find a lie of omission to be very much a lie." It comes out in a bit of a rush because she's nervous now, something worse than butterflies in her stomach but she doesn't look away, setting her jaw so she can get it all out. "I wasn't just a thief. Not in the past year before I came here. Being a rifter I didn't want to stand out more than I did and I was a thief for years, for almost half my life and I still am but...but I'm more.

"I'm a guard. A guard to the queen I spoke of, Queen Leandra of Castileos, along with five other women all around my age, all noble daughters from other lands as is tradition. For them. I'm the first commoner to ever become guard to the ruler of Castileos." Her voice is small when she's done but it's out at least, she's said it, she's admitted it to Korrin and even if Korrin reacts poorly to it then she can at least tell herself that she did the right thing. "If you have questions, I will answer them, I doubt what I say here will compromise Castileos, only myself and I'm a big girl."

Hearing 'I've come to chare for you' brings out a warm smile and blush that may or may not be visible in the firelight. But she forces herself to focus, and Araceli has her attention -and curiosity- as she continues. The thief part she knows about and it fazes her not at all...though a royal guard? What? Korrin stares for a moment, uncertain she heard that right, then begins to chuckle as something clicks in her mind.

"So that joke you made earlier wasn't just a joke? You were feeling me out about that even then." She doesn't sound upset about it, more amused now that she has more context. Taking Araceli's hands in her own, she gives them a gentle squeeze. "I admit, I didn't see that coming. Not that you aren't more than capable of fulfilling such a role, of course, but that joke aside I don't remember anything hinting at it. I'm not about to judge you for it any more than I am about anything else, though. I...I've come to care for you, too."

There's a rare moment of self-consciousness upon saying that, though Korrin won't take it back. She just clears her throat and does her best to focus. "That must have been a great honor, to be the first. How did it happen?"

Relief floods through her and she relaxes, dropping her head to lean against Korrin's shoulder to collect herself for a moment before she moves, reaching up to brush a thumb along her bottom lip.

"You are a treasure, sirena." She sighs to hear those words returned because she knows she's young and terrible, her romantic streak at least a mile wide but she can't help it, she falls for the vivacious and lively, for the interesting, there are some who just draw her in completely. "And yes, it was more than just a joke. I was so close to telling you but you were leaving and some words have a way of eating holes in you. I thought I gave it away every time I talked about politics or the nobles; I've seen them from both sides now, I know how to talk and act around them when I'm at all of Leandra's councils and audiences. Castileos seems to have more in common with Orlais than some would be comfortable with." Not the complete disregard but that way of having to play a part. If they'd known how good she was at the start, would she have been treated as she had? As just some girl falling through the sky? Perhaps, but it was a risk that for once she'd been too scared to take.

"I was stealing her jewellery. Or planning to. It wasn't even about the jewellery although her things are so very fine I could have retired for good on that alone, bought a fine ship, become a lady of leisure but no, what greater challenge is there than to sneak into the palace and the queen's bedchamber?" Laughing, she shakes her head, tucking her hair behind her eyes because she was never a shy child but once or twice she would hide behind it and moments like these it's a very great temptation. "Leandra had her spies, including the other queensguard and she learned about me, about my parents and that we all love the sea greatly, that I was prone to mischief but never malice. There was an assassin plot she tweaked as a test of loyalty: if I killed them and saved her then clearly I was good of heart, if I did not then her guards were stationed so close she would have been in no danger but I would never have seen the light of day.

"What would anyone do in that situation? I killed the assassins, everyone burst in, she said my reward for saving her life and punishment for theft was my service to her. I said my vow before the day had ended. The others were...less than pleased at first."

Korrin's lips twitch at that, admiring Araceli's bravado and tickled at the thought of her breaking into a role never before given to a commoner. That the others weren't enthusiastic just adds to it, as she never finds fault with offending nobles' sensibilities. "Then they had an appalling lack of taste, not to appreciate you and all you had to offer. You're worth more than all of them, 'Celi. I can't say I love the thought of you having been tested like that, but that you would prove yourself is not at all surprising to me."

Freeing one hand, she slips an arm around Araceli to keep her close. Her shoulder, chest, lips and whatever else the tiny rifter woman desires are hers for the taking. "I understand why you waited to tell me, you know. You arrive in a strange land with strange people and chaos all around you; that you wouldn't know how to react or who to trust is completely understandable. But I'm glad you trust me enough to do so now. If you don't want anyone else to know for the time being, I'll keep it to myself. Your secrets are yours alone to share."

Thinking back on Araceli's words, she smirks a little. "I suppose you have a point, there are some things I could have picked up on, but I was trying not to pry overmuch, curious as I was about you even from the beginning. Political or noble talk...well, it just makes you sound like one of the bards of Orlais. No doubt you'd fit in just fine among their set, and have noble families fighting over your skills in no time. Are you sure you'd not rather have that than someone who too hardheaded and blunt for politics?" Nevermind that she's on the mage council, something Korrin only agreed to out of necessity. It's still not her forte, nor is she sure it will ever be.

“We’re friends now, I love them all dearly and I’d trust them with my life. But those first weeks? Miserable. It’s easy to say you don’t care what people think of you until what they think is a slap in the face; some people can make you feel ashamed of things that aren’t shameful.” It still stings sometimes, that even for half a heartbeat she was ashamed of her parents, and their paths, of her own life. “All of them had to leave where they came from behind to guard a person they didn’t know, I think they clung to whatever parts of their old lives that they could; Castileos is a place where we do believe we came from the sea so outsiders call us backwards, it’s a place where we take our pleasures as and when we find them so they call us loose and worse. All those girls had been trained since birth, some of them pitted against siblings or cousins, other noble daughters. It doesn’t excuse what they said, I told them that myself, Leandra and Arsenio did too but I understood where they were coming from.”

And each one of them is someone she misses because she’s telling their stories too, trying to remember the ones she’s heard because she knows the audience that would love it. She still catches herself turning to say something to one of them only it’s a stranger or empty air.

Face to the chest it is, because she can and because it’s not as if there’s a more comfortable and comforting place to be found in this world, except maybe with less clothes. “I realise this puts you in a difficult position too - if it slips out? Then I will not hold it against you, things happen in the heat of the moment. The one other I plan to find and tell is Zevran, Antiva sounds like a darker sort of Castileos so I think he would understand and say little unless it’s to tease me.” She’s trying to be as tactful as possible because she doesn’t expect Korrin to take it in stride - if she does then great, wonderful, but if not then she should be allowed to explain herself to her friends without having to awkwardly word what might already be difficult.

“Korrin Ataash,” she says very sternly, reaching up to pull her down into a rather decisive kiss, “I want who I want because of who they are inside. Are they a good person? Do they treat me well, make me laugh? Do they wrap my curls about their fingers gently and fight at my side? Can they make my heart flutter and turn me, of all the people, into a wreck? Maybe it would be fun to be a bard but I will say it again and clearly: I want who I want, I care about who I care about, politics and the love it of is never going to matter there, and there’s a lot that’s very enticing about hard-headed women although I prefer to think of them always as determined, driven, and spirited.”

"You're more forgiving than I could ever be." Korrin murmurs that as she shakes her head and her lips form a thin line, rankling at the treatment Araceli received even if things smoothed out later. It's not something she could manage, though for Araceli's sake she can appreciate the strife ending. Those other queensguard should just count themselves lucky that they aren't in the presence of a short-tempered Vashoth mage, who would give them a very different reception than the one she's giving Araceli. Not violence, but those glares can speak volumes.

At that comment about putting her in a difficult position, Korrin just shrugs and brushes back a stray curl away from Araceli's face. "No, you didn't. I doubt it's going to be an issue and even if it was, I wouldn't give a damn. You mean more to me than whoever would get pissed off by it. And Zevran...that makes sense. He's not fazed by much, so I doubt this will bother him either." An elf assassin and a Vashoth mage, teaming up against anyone who gives Araceli grief? Oh, yes. She wouldn't mind that at all.

That kiss effectively derails her other thoughts, and she remains close afterward, a clearly touched smile forming as Araceli's words sink in. They're not exactly unexpected, but it still means much to hear them, nonetheless. "It's difficult to respond when you flatter me to near-speechlessness, you know. Though I suppose the only real response is to ensure that I continue to do all of that, especially turn you into a wreck...in the best ways, of course. It's only fair, after all the spoiling you have given me. When I said you make everything better, I meant it." And she leans down to give Araceli a decisive kiss of her own, one of pure passion and ignoring any looks or murmurs directed their way.

"The sea embraces all with open arms, how can I be any different?" Though she has been less so with Templars, and that's remiss of her but she simply hasn't met any that she knows of yet whereas much of the ones she's come to speak with easily are mages. Such is life and right now she won't seek them out, she can only offer an open mind when the day they cross paths comes. "We all may walk upon the sands, but the sea will wash away all evidence of our past steps so that we may only walk towards the future," she finishes, offering a smile. Her life would be poorer without them in it, and theirs without her. All of them mean so much to her now, to Leandra too, a shame she cannot share this world with them, or her world with the people she's met here.

If there's one thing Araceli can attest to being bad at, or one thing she'll hold her hands up and admit without joking or softening it, it's that she finds it hard to lie to those she cares for. Even if it saves her pain, it's like being disloyal and that's always been hard for her to stomach. "It wasn't so much people being angry if they are when they learn but I was a thief, that was all I presented myself as to you. There's another I might tell too but she has rank. So that might change things." And she's the commander's sister so telling her would be another kettle of fish entirely. Zevran first, and should it spill out or come up then she'll deal with it as she must.

"Only near-speechlessness? I'm not doing a good enough job then." A plea to some deity or her name don't count because they're always incoherent after a point but they're in public, with people here being rather more used to displays of decency. Not a single whore has she found, something that appalls her in all honesty. "If I hadn't met you here, I think it would have been a place I could stomach, been happy in, but that is not living, is it? It's been quite a while since I was the wrecked but you...yes, I believe you could manage it," she agrees, tracing her fingers along the curves of Korrin's horns, ridges beneath her fingertips as she returns the kiss. It keeps her from raising a hand to flip someone off.

Araceli's vast capacity to forgive isn't something that Korrin understands or is likely to, but from that small smile on her lips as Araceli speaks, she's glad that such events haven't poisoned the woman's sweet nature. Perhaps that's another reason Korrin's drawn to her, needing someone to smooth those rough edges of hers. At least a little bit; some part of her is always going to be the takes-no-bullshit mercenary from the Free Marches.

Those fingers at her horns produce a pleased noise from her though she takes her time with the kiss despite any potential audience. Korrin's been aching for this moment for too long and she's going to savor it. As far as she's concerned, anyone else doesn't exist right now. Air is necessary, though, something she reluctantly acknowledges though still keeps those lips close afterward. "Challenge enthusiastically accepted, milady. I won't rest until you agree I've succeeded. Which isn't to say that we have to leave the warmth of this fire any time soon. I love being with you anywhere."

She's still hoping for a dance or few, after all, and has more than enough energy for that and anything else Araceli might have in mind. It's certainly not just about teasing and what comes of it, though admittedly such thoughts are more present than ever. "As for what you presented, it is what it is. Everyone has parts of themselves that they don't want to reveal right away for whatever reason. That I know now is enough. And I hope that's true for whoever else you tell."

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OPEN: this will be a better year

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