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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"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.

"Well I haven't exactly had time to write!" He said miserably, before his toe finally stopped throbbing and he set it down, only to get tackled into a hug.

He laughed, warm and happy, and then mussed her hair, grinning down at her.

"I missed you too, Beleth," he replied, with honest pleasure, without directly answering any of her questions, because individually they really didn't matter. "I'm fine! I'm fine. I'm alive, and the rest will sort itself out later."

She huffed at him when her hair was mussed, swatting his hand ineffectually. Then she gives him another hug, because she had been so worried that if she'd inquire, try to figure out what had happened, she'd be handed some formal letter to pass on to her mother--informing them of Gavin's brave sacrifice or whatever shemlen bullshit they'd shit out to make it seem like Gavin hadn't died in vain.

When she thinks she's done hugging him, he's finally released, and she takes a step back to collect the dropped book. "Creators, Gavin. I'm glad to hear it. They're not making you do anything dangerous, are they? There's a bunch of us here now, so we'll be able to back you up." She shoots Gavin a pleased smile, holding onto the book. "We'll be able to hunt together again."

"I've been working with the scouts," He said, smiling, though he wasn't going to tell her exactly how dangerous that profession could really be. "It suits me. Lots of travelling, lots of new things to see, to explore--" He broke off, just smiling down at her, while he raised a hand to brush the cobwebs from his hair.

"I saw Pel already," He said, looking a bit bemused. "So I knew you were here. But I'm happy to see you, Beleth. I never thought you all would come. It's the strangest thing I've dealt with so far, and I've seen a lot of strange things!" He added with a laugh.

"That's what I'll probably be doing, too. I'm--Well, you know I'm not that good at any of those things, but...I'm not really good at anything else, either." She gave a dry laugh, rubbing the back of her neck. Luckily, they hadn't tested her on her ability to travel or explore. She could do the basic things, and they were shot enough for help that she'd managed to slip in with the rest of the Dalish rogues.

"I know, I never expected it, either. But the others started talking, and I figured...if they're going, I want to be there, too. At least keep an eye on them all. I think I'm most surprised that the Keeper even let us go. Wrote a note to the Inquisition and everything." She gave a small shrug, because she had suspicions, she had terrible, lurking suspicions in the back of her mind why this happened, but she couldn't voice them. Not to Gavin. Maybe not to anyone.

"But yeah...Did she tell you who all was here?"

"You're good at lots of things, Beleth," Gavin chided gently.

He smiled as she continued. "Yeah, she did. Ellana - that made sense. Merrick and Cy, if one wanted to come, of course the other one was. Pel - I have no idea why she came, really, but there you go. You... I didn't expect it, but if it means anything, I'm really glad you did."

"I'm okay at a lot of things." She corrected with a nonchalant shrug. "There's always someone better, but I mean, that's not a bad thing. It's just how things are."

At his surprise at her being here, she just shrugged. "Ah, well. I didn't want Merrick and Cyril to get in trouble, you know? All these humans, and I'm the one who's got experience talking to them. Besides, most of my friends are here. I just wish that Sorrel could've come, but the Keeper would've had a fit if all three mages left." It was so odd being away from her twin. It was like she was missing her arm, and it was more bizarre that no one outside of her clan seemed to notice that she was missing this important and sarcastic limb.

"I'm sure if there's a time for the two of you to work out telepathy, now would be a good time," Gavin teased gently, offering a grin. "Though I've never been convinced that you hadn't figured it out already."