(no subject)

[slipshot]

WHO: Gavin and OPEN
WHAT: Gavin getting his bearings of Skyhold as the Inquisition reels from its loss.
WHEN: Beginning of game timeline, aka, nowish?
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: He's a derp, don't say I didn't warn you. Also, as I mentioned in his app, he's spent a long time wandering Thedas - so if you'd like to have it so they've already met previous to the conclave, and want to hash out some back history, let me know.

He hadn't expected to feel such a weight of helpless loss. After all, he hadn't even met her, despite being in Haven at the time. Despite somehow surviving the mess than ensued. He'd seen her, sure, but she was something high above him and they never actually crossed paths. Which was why, when her death hit him so hard, he was surprised.

It wasn't even the hopelessness that the situation was prone to give birth to. It was honestly for her - for the individual, rather than the Mark on her hand. But how could you mourn a person you never really knew?

Mostly, it turned out, by throwing himself into absolutely anything else. (At least this sort of running from his problems was productive. Mostly.) Luckily, Skyhold was hardly without things to do. The place was a shambles - an absolute mess - so he mostly tried to tag onto whatever work group was currently working. He sort of forgot to sleep, but that wasn't strange in of itself. Nor was the fact that he wasn't actually making himself very useful. He kept getting distracted. It wasn't his fault that everything in this place was fascinating. And fascinating things were much, much better than grief.

Which was why, anyone who happened to be in Skyhold, could find him in some very peculiar places. He'd managed to nearly plummet to his death from the rookery, get tangled in cobwebs in the hidden library in the basement, climb through the hole in Cullen's roof to get distracted by a bird instead of trying to fix it, and even had spent thirty minutes trying to get to know one of the horses. Also he kept not watching where he was going - physically running into people, or backing up into them, letting out a hasty apology and a lopsided, shameful grin.

Comments

[mythalenaste]

Of course they would run into each other eventually. Pel is glad it happens now, when she's still not sure if he survived Haven or not. She can just be happy to see him alive instead of pissed that he left.

She sees him and maybe it's the last thing he expects, but she darts forward to fling her arms around him. First things first, after all.

[slipshot]

He hadn't even had a second to register his surprise upon seeing her - or at least thinking that he saw her - before suddenly she was there and her arms were clasped tight around him. He coughed - the hug nearly knocking the wind out of him.

"Pel?" he asked, absolutely confused. "Pel- what are you doing here?"

[mythalenaste]

"Joining the Inquisition." She sounds calmer than she is, relieved to see him alive. None of their baggage matters in this moment. She pulls away after one last hard squeeze and releases him.

[slipshot]

"Joining the..." His voice trailed off, his face an expression of confusion so deep that she might as well have told him that she was training to become a fish.

"You're joining the Inquisition?" He asked, finally getting the words out. "Why? I thought-- I thought for sure, the Keeper--"

[serannas]

At some point, he would probably run into Ellana, who was offering help to the stonemason and his crew rebuilding a walkway from the rotunda to the Commander's office on the battlements. With her magic, she carefully energized a large stone and moved it up into place. Thankfully Gavin didn't bump into her until the stone was safely up there, or he would have broken her concentration and that would have spelled disaster. As it was, she let out an "Oof," sound and just managed to keep her footing.

"Gavin! Is something wrong?" Her eyes darted over him, wondering if he was in a hurry for some reason.

[slipshot]

He kind of did a strange little dance to keep himself from falling down, and almost ignored her completely and kept on - but with a sigh he realised that the bird he had been trying to chase down was now long gone, and turned to look back at Ellana with an apologetic look.

"No- no, nothing. Just- I thought I saw - Well, it hardly matters now." He raised a hand to rub his own hair, looking sheepish. "Sorry. We keep getting more people-- Hard to remember I have to be more careful. Are you alright?"

[serannas]

"Please remember. I could have dropped the stone." And the last thing she wanted was others thinking Dalish mages were poorly trained when the same probably would have happened to anyone knocked off balance in the middle of energizing something.

"I'm fine. Have you been keeping busy?" There was a myriad of tasks he could involve himself in, but she worried that he might have gotten bored of all of them already.

[slipshot]

"Sorry," he apologized again, the embarrassment making the ends of his ears tint red.

"Ah- yes. Trying to, at least. I'm not as helpful as, ah-" he waved his hand at her staff vaguely. "You know. I'm doing what I can, at least until I get sent out on patrol again." Patrol was different than running away.

At least that's what he told himself.

"You've been settling in alright?"

Enter one falling target?

[gatheringstorm]

For her part, Korrin was trying to keep her focus on what can be done rather than what's lost. She was in Haven as well, that last night firmly etched in her mind, but dwelling on it did little except give her a desire to hit things. And while there was a use for that, there was more use for people helping out and getting Skyhold into shape. A 'qunari', especially a mage who could energize debris and move it away without any fuss, had uses here.

Eventually taking a break to get some water and explore, Korrin found herself in the rotunda. Arching an eyebrow, she stared upward through the floors, tempted to see what else is up there. Everywhere she turned, there was always something new to see, a new unexplored corner of the castle.

"Just how much more is there to Skyhold....?"

[slipshot]

All he'd been trying to do was feed the Raven. He liked the ravens - supremely intelligent, and yet were generally nice to him - mostly because he kept stealing them little scraps of meat. So he had been leaning off the edge of the rookery, stretching out to push the meat through the bars of the bird's cage - when all of a sudden the earth moved and he was no longer attached to the floor.

In fact, save for a foot that managed to hook around the railing somehow, he had fallen straight into the pit - dangling by his boot - the piece of meat having fell before him, plummeting toward the Qunari below.

He swore in Dalish, twisting to try to get his hand on the railing -

When that, also, came lose, and he was falling very quickly after the bird's wasted dinner.

[gatheringstorm]

The Dalish swearing snared Korrin's attention just as she was trying to decide which route to take, and she glanced sharply upward. Her eyes widened upon seeing the spectacle, but she didn't have time to react before that railing came loose just above her. Because of course it did.

"Vashedan!" With little time to brace herself, let alone properly, Korrin had the wind knocked out of her lungs as the falling elf slammed into her, and she lost her footing, tumbling to the ground. For a moment, the only thing in her vision were dancing white spots.

[slipshot]

He would probably be dead, if it wasn't for her breaking his fall - and instead he ended up slamming into her and rolling off a little ways. Battered and bruised, but not flattened. He'd take it. Coughing in an effort to try to catch his breath - his muscles screaming at him from the abuse - he tried to stagger upright.

"Creators, I'm sorry," He gasped out, breathlessly, stumbling towards her. "Are you alright?"

[cameasarat]

Peter was torn. On one hand he recognized, in an objective way, that the rats in the kitchen and stronghold in general were a bad thing that took from the supplies he ate from and needed to be dealt with. On the other, he could sympathize with their plight. They'd been here first, making the castle their own, and suddenly some entitled humans were here and bringing in fresh food then attacking them.

It was a moral conundrum.

So rather than helping get rid of the rats as he'd been tasked to do, Peter tosses another chunk of his bread towards the scouting rodent in the dank basement library beneath Skyhold. He sits along one side of the hall, back against the cold stone, focused entirely on his rat. He only looks away from his rodent friend when an elf suddenly entering the area makes the rat scurry away and Peter's attention jerk to the source of sound- freezing, actually, in a very rodent like way himself.

"They- they sent support troops?"

[slipshot]

He'd just come down to get another look at the creepy library, and hadn't been expecting to run into anyone - let alone have a rat almost run right over his toes and disappear into a wall.

"They have?" He asked, somewhat startled, because the last troops he recalled had been Corypheus', and that's exactly where his mind jumped now. He twisted around to look behind him, but there was no one there, so he looked back at Peter, frowning. "Sorry, I mean - No. No, I don't think so. Are you alright?"

[cameasarat]

"J-just fine."

He didn't know what Peter was supposed to be doing. That's good. That means he's not going to run off and tell the...Peter didn't even know his name, he was just the soldier that had sighed and sent him along do something useful. Maybe the elf hadn't even noticed him feeding the rat- though he'd always been told their eyes were sharped than humans and-

He shoves the rest of the bread behind his back as if he could retroactively make it unseeable with that thought. Or as if that wasn't a sign of guilt.

"Need something?"

[slipshot]

He raised an eyebrow - Peter wasn't exactly being subtle - as he slowly figured out exactly what had probably been happening. Rat, bread, suspicious stuttering. It wasn't a huge leap.

Luckily for Peter, Gavin had no beef with rats. They weren't nearly the scourge in the woods as they were in the cities. They were just like any other animal to him - completely welcome to their livelihoods.

"No, I just like coming down here sometimes," Gavin replied with an honest shrug. "Though I hope there are a few less spider webs than when I was here last. Was almost afraid I'd end up in a spider's stew."

[el_tybs]

Wiping at the sweat on his brow with the back of his hand, Sam gave the blade he had been hammering a look over. Save for needing some time on the grinder and polishing it was done. It had been in pretty bad shape - it had been pretty bent - when it had been handed off to him, and while it wasn't perfect, it was usable again. Running a thumb over a blunted edge, Sam smiled at imagining where the mended blade would end up.

Well where ever it ended up, it did not matter right now. He needed a break.

"Hey, Fergus. I'm done for the day, going to grab some air and a drink," he calls out as he pulls off the heavy work gloves and apron. There's a return yell from the other blacksmith that he'll see him later, and Sam nods while he puts away the tools and clothing. His nose wrinkles at the fair amount of sweat he's built up, and glances at a polished shield to see that he had managed to smudge dirt over his face. He rolls his eyes at that, followed up with a smile. It felt good knowing he was doing something helpful.

The mountain air is quick to cool him off, and Sam moves with urgency to get to the Herald's Rest. A little too quickly it seems since as soon as he's rounding a corner he finds himself running into someone. Tripping over his own feet he finds himself crashing into the bush next to the wall and blinking owlishly at the whole incident. After some struggling he eventually finds himself back on his feet and turns to whomever he had run into.

"Sorry, about that. You alright?"

[slipshot]

He'd been upright a moment ago, and now he was face down in the dirt, coughing to get it out of his mouth as he staggered back up. He turned, looking for the sound of the voice, only to see a man standing next to a deep hole in a bush, and covered with leaves. Gavin chuckled, helplessly, and looked down to brush the dirt off his chest.

"I think I should be the one apologizing," He said sheepishly, before offering a grin. "Fine, I think, save maybe my pride. Are you alright?"

A pause.

"Is the bush?"

[el_tybs]

Sam looks at said bush and makes a face, a guilty hiss escaping through his gritted teeth. "It... sacrificed itself for the greater good?" He turns back around to the Elf with a lopsided grin, only to frown slightly.

The entire front of the man's clothes, and his face, are covered in dirt. Sighing heavily Sam rubs the back of his neck, the cold mildly forgotten for the time being. "I'm... fine. Looks like you took the worse of the impact. You sure you're ok?"

[dreadinquisitor]

Maxwell was carrying a grate of root vegetables down to the kitchen when he heard it. A thrashing, a heavy thump, and a cry for help. Skipping down the last few steps, he dropped the crate at the bottom and turned quickly toward the library -- and tried to grin at the sight that greeted him.

"Here," he reached out to the person - he assumed, it was hard to tell under the curtain of white - and took one elbow, pulling them away from the cobweb draped wall and out into the basement proper. He tried not to laugh as he brushed at the sticky film. "It's alright. I can help--"

Bright green eyes and a sheepish smile came into view and he stopped short, dumbstruck.

"...Gavin?"

[slipshot]

"I hate spiders," Gavin said vehemently as he struggled within the webs, hoping beyond hope that the web itself didn't come with any of its creators. He didn't have time to even look up at his saviour as he came toward him, failing at not sounding amused. If he'd been less preoccupied, he might have thought that perhaps he recognized that voice, but at the moment -

The web was swept from his face, eyes met--

And a surprised grin immediately split his lips. "Maxwell?" He asked, incredulous. Then he laughed, and - still mostly covered in cobwebs - launched forward to grab the man into a tight hug. "By the gods! It really is you!"

[dreadinquisitor]

And then he was laughing, with no attempt whatsoever to hide it. He staggered back a step with the force of the embrace, but he returned it readily, arms opening to squeeze him back

"I don't believe it!" He pulled his head back, grinning down, apparently unaware, or uncaring, that one of Gavin's cobwebs was caught on his cheek. "It's you. I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

[arlathvhen]

Beleth had always loved exploring the forest--Her favorite was when they had just moved, and she got out before the others, looking around and learning the lay of the land. Finding old landmarks and new. Now that she's stuck in this strange hold, she figured that it would be best to learn the lay of this place as well. She'd quickly began poking around, finding places no one else seemed to be interested in. Little nooks and crannies and rooms that have been abandoned for ages past. It was enough like exploring an ancient elven ruin to distract the Dalish from feeling that heart rending homesickness she'd been fighting back.

It didn't take too long for her to discover the library, footsteps muffled as she walked inside, looking at the various books. She didn't notice the other visitor at first, rubbing at the thick layer of dust on a book, and pulling it out. It was only after she turned away from the shelf to read it, that she saw a very familiar face tangled up. Her reaction to this was, she would feel later, perfectly reasonable.

She shrieked, dropping the book with a solid thump.

[slipshot]

Gavin had been trying to get at something he'd seen at the back of a shelf - when he was interrupted by someone else walking in. He was actually about to say something - the words formulating in his mind - when she turned and screamed, and dropped the book right on his toe.

He hissed, retracting his foot immediately, swearing in Dalish as he hugged it tight against him, bouncing around on his other leg as the spearing pain wore off.

"What was that for?" He asked miserably once he could speak again.

[arlathvhen]

"By the Dread Wolf, Gavin! We hadn't heard from you since Haven, and I come to this spooky library and turn around, and there you are, covered with dust and grime and--I thought you had come here to haunt me!" She had to take a moment, clutching her chest and breathing in the stale, musty air.

Once she had recovered and she was fairly sure that Gavin was not a spirit come to bother her, she waited for him to stop jumping around like an idiot, and then grabbed him in a tight hug, reaching up to give him a chaste peck on the cheek. "I can't believe it! I should have known you were alive. If anyone can survive dragons and red templars and a darkspawn magister, it's you. Oh, Gavin, I was so worried!" The moment of affection was soon over, however, as Beleth held him at arm's length, critically eyeing him.

"Look at you. Look at you! You're a mess, have you washed your clothes since Haven? Brushed your hair? I can't believe you didn't write, and you haven't eaten, you're skinny as a pole, I thought these damned shemlen could at least bother putting a few meals in you." She clucked at him like a flustered mother hen, though in truth, she was so relieved to see him alive and well. She just...showed it by fretting over him.