faderift | (no subject)

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.

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Korrin's brow furrows at that. "'Left to go their own way'? Isn't that dangerous, though? Without a clan to protect them, aren't they prey for Templars? Not to mention, who teaches them to withstand demons and the like?" She's hoping it's not really as irresponsible as it sounds.

"I wish I could tell you, but as I've never actually seen it done, I have no idea," Gavin replies apologetically. "I'm sure they're trained, to make sure they don't hurt themselves or anyone else, at the very least. And I think a few of them end up in circles, sometimes..." His voice trailed off uncomfortably. and he distracted himself with his drink. "Your way sounds - ah - much better."

Seeing his discomfort, Korrin eases up on her tone, which was more directed at those who would cut them loose anyway. Not him. "Well, I can't say that's how it goes for all Vashoth. We don't have a firm set of traditions the way you do, outside of 'don't be like the Qun'. I think I was lucky, perhaps luckier than some. I don't know for certain."

"Do you know many other Vashoth?" Gavin asked, raising his brows with curiosity. "I can't imagine there are really that many of you - or I would have come across more earlier, you would think. But maybe I just keep missing them."

"Oh, there are plenty but they tend to keep to the fringes. Much like Dalish, in a way. We move around a lot more due to mercenary jobs than anything else, since humans by and large aren't that interested in accepting us. And there are some mages, but I can't say I know more than a handful, and only two of those growing up."

If that sounds lonely, Korrin doesn't show it. She just shrugs, as it was what it was and she's just grateful to have gotten the training needed at all. It might not have happened, otherwise.

It does sound lonely, but it doesn't inspire pity. Gavin is pretty at home with loneliness, so instead it gives a sense of camaraderie, more than anything else. "It must be a bit strange, then, coming here. I have a feeling we'll get more Vashoth rather than less, as the time goes by. If my clan showing up is any indication of how upside down things are getting."

"I admit it's a lot more Dalish than I thought I'd see here, but we all have our reasons for being invested in this, don't we? Other Vashoth might feel the same. And if any of them are mages, we'll have to form a club with decoder rings and secret handshakes."

Or not, but having someone who knew exactly where she came from would be refreshing. As it is, the Dalish are the closest she has to that.

"Do the Vashoth have secret handshakes?" Gavin asked, with a sudden intense solemn curiosity that might have come off sincere if that little flicker of a grin at the corner of his mouth didn't give the game away. "Will you teach it to me? I'm sure I could pass for one, if I tried--"

Korrin snickers. "A tiny Vashoth with face tattoos instead of vitaar? I'm not sure they'd buy that, you know. And I'm not having you get me kicked out of any Vashoth club."

"Hey I'm not tiny, I'm just - efficiently built." He grins at her. "Can you at least sneak me into the club to get a peak? I could bring cookies..."

She pauses and pretends to consider this. "Welllll, cookies are a good bribe. And I can't be the only one with a sweet tooth. I suppose that can be arranged, just for you."

"Excellent! I'll go and steal some immediately. Tell me, do Vashoth meetings keep any cookies?" He couldn't help but laugh at his own joke, before finishing off his ale and waving his mug at the bartender to summon another.

"That, or those little Orlesian cakes. Well, except the ones with deep mushroom and anise, because they're disgusting and shouldn't be lumped in with them at all." Orlesians can be so weird, Gavin. At least they mostly make good desserts, and Korrin wouldn't dream of saying otherwise.

"Well, then you'll get cookies or little Orlesian cakes," He said, his eyes twinkling. "I've never had a cake with deep mushroom and anise, but I'm willing to try anything once. Even if that admittedly sounds utterly disgusting."

He never really got to have little cakes when he went to Orlais. Funnily enough, for whatever strange reason, he ended up mostly being relegated to hanging out with servants.

That and there were just more interesting things to pocket, most of the time.

"Good, I'll gladly accept either. Or both." Korrin won't say no if he decides to add to the bribery. Why would she?

"You're really intent on punishing your body for that curiosity, aren't you? Well, don't say I didn't warn you. I'm not your babysitter, though. If you're going to do that, I at least get to watch." And snicker, because he brought it upon himself.

"If I wasn't willing to punish myself for my curiosity, I would have never left home," He pointed out with a grin, before leaning back, slinging an elbow across the back of his chair.

"Almost everything I've ever enjoyed doing was something that I originally thought was completely mad. We're not exactly raised to be open to new things."

"Ah, true, all that tradition and history getting in the way. Not that I can blame you for it when it's a sensible reaction to past crap." She shrugs, not seeing the point in denying that for all that she can't understand what it's like to live such a secluded life. "All the more reason to take advantage of it now, I suppose? I'll help with that, though if you destroy your taste buds that's still on you."

Gavin just grinned at her. He wasn't going to address whether or not it was a sensible reaction - as he really didn't think seclusion was - but that was not a debate easily brought up with anyone, let alone new friends. So instead, he merely said: "I will take any help I can, in their destruction. Now what do you say to about three more ales and then maybe a terrible, terribly pitched song?"

"Bring it on; whatever you do, I'm sure I've heard worse. It's hard to scare me when I've traveled with a tone-deaf Tal-Vashoth across Thedas." Korrin smirks, pretty confident that her ears can withstand the assault. The rest of the tavern might regret it, though.