faderift | they're crazy, they're crazy

WHO: Cole and Varric
WHAT: So, about our mutual acquaintance...
WHEN: Early Wintermarch
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: n/a

Now that they've spoken, Cole isn't very concerned about the man who carries Justice with him. At least, his concern isn't immediate: the man is here to observe, to do what he can to help, and that's all the Inquisition can ask of anyone. No reason to worry just because he carries a spirit around with him.

And yet. When the man himself believes he could be a danger, that is a reason to watch him closely. Cole wishes to better understand the pain of his past. He can sense the threads that bind him to some others here, and when one of those threads leads back to Varric, Cole knows where to start.

Varric is worried, too. He's always worrying about something, in a secret way that sharpens his perception of the things around him, but this worry in particular is strong at the moment.

He finds Varric at a moment when he's alone, sitting by the fireplace on the edge of Skyhold's great hall. He appears, perched on the table nearby.

"Keeping his secret's the same as before. Conceal the mage and keep the templars' eyes away. But Skyhold's so much smaller."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Varric was used to Cole, insofar as anyone could really be used to Cole, so he didn't jump when the Kid's voice suddenly drifted across his table. Had he been anyone else, Varric probably would have shushed him and glared, maybe freaked out a little, but this was something Cole excelled at. Nobody could eavesdrop on him and remember it, even if the topic was Anders, and Varric relaxed a bit.

And of course the topic was Anders, he should have seen this one coming from a mile off. Cole was vague and sometimes mystifying, but Varric found that he wasn't too hard to understand, not really. Cole wanted to know things, same as most people, his questions just tended to be a little too on-the-nose for comfort. Fortunately, Varric didn't mind; talking with Cole was easier than talking to most anybody else, even if the topics tended to get uncomfortable fairly quickly.

"It sure is," Varric agreed and glanced away from the fire at Cole. The Kid was perched on his table, legs swinging idly, and Varric had another passing moment of worry. Shit, Justice wasn't the most cuddly spirit--Cole was a spirit of compassion, right? Not that Cole couldn't take Blondie in a fight, if it came to that, but spirits were weird. Spirits and the Fade and all that? Varric couldn't help with that and without Chuckles on hand to--advise? Mediate? What if something spirity went haywire?

Varric let out a sigh and shook his head. He needed a vacation.

"On the plus side, not nearly as many stairs," Varric added, conversationally, and turned to face Cole. The smile he adopted was genuine and warm. "You need something, Kid?"

One person's pain rarely made itself known to Cole in exactly the same way as another. Sometimes, usually when it was new or close to the surface, the source of it sprang up before him whole. Sometimes it was bits and pieces, frayed ends of thread fluttering in the wind, waiting to be sewn back together. And then, sometimes, it started with more of a sense: like viewing a scene through water, or frosted glass.

The man who brought Justice with him was more like that last one. As they had spoken, Cole had understood the idea of him without knowing many of the details. Now, sitting with Varric, because of their connection, a part of it became suddenly clear.

"It is him, isn't it," he said, in a way that was less of a question and more of a quietly astonished statement. "He was the first spark."

Varric was a little fuzzy on what Cole's revelation was, but the answer to nearly any variation on that question was 'Yes' so he didn't think on it too long. And calling Anders a spark wasn't that far off point.

Everyone had known Kirkwall was a catastrophe waiting to happen. It had even been called a tinderbox a few times. Varric was pretty sure that wasn't the comparison Cole was drawing but it fit well enough that he didn't see any sense in arguing it.

"What can I say, all my old friends are really..." he hesitated a beat and then shrugged. "Conversation starters."

That held true for all his new ones too, didn't it? Huh.

Cole knew about what had happened in Kirkwall. It was one of the first things he'd ever known, before he even understood what any of it meant: from the whispers between residents of the White Spire, from the thoughts of the Lord Seeker and the mages who should have been under his care, and the ripples that ran through all of it. Which, through the cascade of events that followed, brought him here. Brought all of them here.

"You're worried you can't watch him. Watching too close could make them see." All at once, he knew what he could do. He climbed down off the table to stand in front of Varric.

"He knows when I'm looking, but no one else would. I could help you watch."

Cole's offer was surprising--actually, it was more than that, and Varric was floored as he ran the words over in his head. He could...watch Anders? Yeah, it made sense, Cole was supernaturally stealthy, and even if Anders knew about it, he wouldn't confront him...probably.

"You sure you want to do that?" Varric asked, cautiously. He was sure his entire emotional range had played across his face as he pondered, but that didn't concern him so much. It wasn't like he could keep a secret from someone who could get inside his head, right?

"I don't want you taking any risks for me, Kid, and you don't even know him," Varric added, reasonably, even though the idea was fairly sound. It was unlikely Anders would take exception to him, particularly to violent ends, but Varric knew better than to bet against something that was "unlikely".

"Don't get me wrong, it's a good idea, but I don't want you signing up for...whatever this is...unless you're really sure you want to?"

Cole didn't think it was any more risky than some of the other things they got up to on a regular basis. And watching him — spending time seeing the things he did and said — could prevent further danger in the future. For Cole, the question of risk was a simple one.

Still, there was something in particular that was concerning Varric at this point.

"What do you think I should know?"

they're crazy, they're crazy

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject