(no subject)

[blightedson]

WHO: Warden!Felix and OPEN. (Starters for Kaiden, Bruce, Dorian, Ellana, and Adele. If you want your own starter just ask!)
WHAT: Felix returns after his Joining and looks much better. Also he's hungry. (The Kaidan thread is during training, set before they return to Skyhold.)
WHEN: About a week or two after Felix's Joining.
WHERE: His training took place at the remains of Haven, the rest is at Skyhold.
NOTES: None yet!

Less than a month ago, Felix had been a dead man. Now, he's at least upright. Things aren't prefect. He still has the taint and he has the ever present fact of the False Calling to contend with, but he's not wasting away anymore.

People who had seen him before will know that he's doing better. His cheeks are fuller and he isn't stumbling. He's able to move without aid. Despite the less than perfect circumstances, he thinks it's wonderful. If it weren't for the fact that he was trying to put on a good face as the newest Warden, he might have tried to dance around like an idiot.

He's still acting a bit like an idiot, but rather than dancing he's trying to get food from the kitchens. The servants might be a little annoyed that he keeps pestering them, but at least he knows how to apologize and thank them. He pesters politely which is likely a nice change.

Comments

Training with Kadian

[blightedson]

Being back at Haven was strange. He could remember the night of the dragon attack. They had followed an injured man through the snow storm to find the pilgrim's path and had waited to see if there were any sign of the Herald before giving up and moving to Skyhold. At the time, he had been far more concerned with making sure his father made it out of the dungeon - all while his father was concerned with him being able to walk at all - to really pay attention to the extent of the damage done to the village. There was no way to escape the sight of that damage once he had arrived with the Wardens.

It was a particular thing to look at the wake of so much destruction and know that, yet again, Tevinter was at the heart of the blame for it. He wasn't sure any of the Wardens with him could really understand that, though. There were only two people in the South that he knew of who really understood it, and his father might have been far too gone to care anymore. He'd have to talk to Dorian about it when he returned to the castle.

As he thought about that, a small smile came to his lips. Just the fact that he could return at all was such a joy that he could deal with the constant tug at his mind and facing monsters underground. Which was where he and Kaidan were now.

There were tunnels under Haven that the darkspawn had taken a liking to. It had turned out to be slightly lucky for him, as that was where they had gotten the blood for his Joining. It also gave him time to figure out his new senses and face the creatures again. It was a couple of days into his training and he had already dealt with how he felt seeing the twisted faces of the monsters again. That had been a bad night, after the first time, as he could remember the way it had felt to be attacked by them, the way it had looked when they have killed his mother. But he managed, mostly, because he was in pretty good company.

"You know," he started. The silence as they walked had been getting to him, making the noise in his head too loud. Instead of dwelling on it, he was going to fill the air with nonsense talk. "For some reason I thought the darkspawn in Tevinter would look slightly different than the darkspawn down here. That's silly, isn't it?"

[foodsofmypeople]

Kaidan gave a low chuckle in response. He didn't mind the chatter. He'd learned to live with the song, but for someone new to it - well, chattering helped. "It could be worse, I always thought that up in the Anderfels, they were twice the size of any other Darkspawn. It turned out that no, they're all the same, no matter how close to Weisshaupt you are." A little bit of hero worship from young Kaidan. "I suppose it depends on what broodmothers are close by."

He was impressed at Felix's attitude. He'd trained a lot of young Wardens, where they wanted to flex their muscles as it were, posing in the local taverns, and not easily taking on board what it meant to be a Warden, but Felix seemed to want to throw himself into it. He would need a lot of work with his fighting technique, but his quick mind would be a real asset to the Wardens. Maker knows they had to rebuild after what Clarel was doing to them. How he'd initially felt about Darkspawn was understandable, but he seemed to want to move past it. Kaidan hadn't drawn a huge amount of attention to it, letting Felix work past it on his own. This was something he couldn't help with, no matter how much he wanted to.

[blightedson]

"The fact they're so similar throughout Thedas probably says more about dwarves than it does about them," he said thoughtfully as they picked a path in the tunnels. "The access they have to the Deep Roads enables them to spread without needing much variation. They say the Deep Roads are under all of Thedas, but far too many assume that means 'all of Thedas except where I'm standing.'"

[foodsofmypeople]

Kaidan chuckled. At least Felix knew more about the Deep Roads than most average people. Another proof that Alistair and Sabriel were right to push this. "Well, I haven't travelled the whole of the Deep Roads, but yes, there are entrances all over Thedas. The dwarves guard what they can, but a lot of them are simply blocked up because it is all we can do." At least with them no longer in a Blight, the Darkspawn are spending most of their time seeking Old Gods rather than attacking on the surface.

[blightedson]

"That's amazing," Felix said thoughtfully. "Often I feel like many in Tevinter underestimate that. They like to believe that only the elves and Tevinter spanned all of Thedas, and take pride in the fact that we destroyed our competition. Meanwhile, the dwarves were right under our feet the whole time."

Pillow Fortresses with Ellana

[blightedson]

After he had returned to Skyhold, he had sent Ellana a quick message to meet him if she could. They had worked out the details and eventually they had figured out when she could make it. They had always met in his quarters before, but that had been when he was weak and dying. It seemed improper now that he could stand without falling over, so instead he had found a nice garden type area just outside of Skyhold. There were trees and comfortable grass. He arrived early to bring everything and set it up.

By the time Ellana was due to show up, he had laid out a blanket on the grass and folded thick pillows and other blankets. Because they didn't have furniture to brace everything up, he had placed everything by a nearby tree and found some long sticks they could use to keep things propped up.

He had also brought some food, because having a picnic seemed like a good excuse to be outside.

[serannas]

Her heart started racing the moment she heard Felix's voice come from the crystal and it really hasn't stopped since. She's tried telling herself to be reasonable and not so giddy, but it's truly not working. She also tells herself to just come as she is, yet suddenly she's messing with her hair and trying to get it to not look so tangled. Quickly braiding it, she secures it and pops a couple a flowers through. It's the best she can do right now.

Wait, accessories. Does she have anything nice to add? A kerchief maybe? Why isn't Cyril here so she can get a second opinion? Colored squares of fabric go flying as she tries to find something suitable to tie around her neck. And then she worries she'll be late (she's not) and she takes off, still tying the kerchief around her neck.

By the time she gets out the front gate, she slows, trying to catch her breath. Her cheeks are pink when she finally finds Felix, and she greets him warmly.

"Felix! I'm glad you're back. How are you feeling?" He looks much better. Healthier than she's ever seen him before. The sight makes her smile grow.

[blightedson]

Felix smiles back in return. It is really good to see her. Even better than he thought it would be. "Well," he answers, because he can't talk about the taint or the Calling (he isn't aware she knows about the second part). "Better than I was before I left, that's for certain." He wants to hug her or touch her, but he refrains for now.

"I thought I would make good on my promise to make a pillow fortress with you."

[serannas]

It's the same with Ellana. She wants to reach out and touch him, but she holds back. It's a natural thing with her friends, but she recognizes that she feels strongly for him, and that complicates things. She wants to be smarter than she was in the past, when she was young and foolish.

"That's a wonderful idea! I really shouldn't go another day without experiencing what a pillow fort is like, should I?"

Flowers for Adelaide

[blightedson]

The path to get to the flowers wasn't too difficult, as his body was still recovering to climb up a steep mountain face, but it was still a bit of a hike. It would have been impossible for him to get to just a couple weeks ago, and now he had managed it and even found himself enjoying the brisk air of the mountains.

He had picked a handful of them, careful to treat them very delicately. They were popular in Skyhold for people to give friends or sweethearts, so most people knew about the path to get them. He hoped she would too, and wouldn't think it too much a breach of protocol. As much as he joked about being okay being improper when he was dying, he couldn't keep that up now that he could stand and move without feeling dizzy. He still had to deal with the sense of something being wrong and the constant sound of The Calling but that wasn't for her to worry about.

The point was that he could walk up this trail and pick the flowers for her. He could bring them back to her in Skyhold and offer them to her in the hopes of making her smile. He's holding them when he finds her.

"Hello, amicus," he says by way for greeting. She has her own nickname for him, he can call her friend in Tevene in return. He's grinning, far too happy at being able to see her while standing on his own two feet again.

[fleurdesel]

A nickname that isn't entirely applicable anymore. As miraculous and strange as his recovery was- the lingering ache that she shared to ease his passing (that did not come to pass) didn't exist any longer. She will have to think of something new. Of all her concerns in the time since his mending it hasn't crossed her mind- if only due to her part being done.

Felix is well, he no longer has need of her. Untangling the knot of emotions that coiled around the glimmering thread of 'patient' and setting it all aside takes time and thankfully? She has been granted that.

Even with the distance his training offered it still warms her to see him walking about. To see him well, with warmth and color and life. Even if she's had no hand in his recovery in truth, she cannot help but be pleased b him doing well. Her smile is softer, smaller. Reserved compared to what he's seen before. He is no longer dying- that changes everything. "Felix- did you send the scouts out to find those for you?"

He truly cannot be so well as to be able to make that walk on his own just yet.

[blightedson]

His grin widens, because of course she understood why it was important that he could bring her these flowers. She understood that it would require him moving and walking in ways that were impossible before.

"No," he says, with a barely contained enthusiasm that makes him seem far too boyish. "I picked them for you myself."

[fleurdesel]

"You are far too proud of yourself for walking up a hill." It could be cold or cutting but is, instead, horribly fond and horribly pleased. How far he's come since they cured him. Perhaps this is who he'd been before everything. The blight, the rift, as he had been in the university. "Thank you, they are lovely."

A Book for Bruce

[blightedson]

Something that came to mind while Felix was trying to think of what he could give Bruce as thanks was the fact the he actually knew very little about the calm, quiet man who had tended to him. He realized that could be because Bruce didn't really like to talk about himself, or it could have just been a side effect of the fact that Bruce had been so focused on taking care of him. He had noticed that with people. When you were dying, they tended to focus everything on you. That was why he was so grateful to all of them.

He hoped he could learn a little more now, at least to the extent that Bruce was comfortable with him doing so. The book that he brought was from his own collection, something from the very small bag of belongings they had been able to recover from Haven. It wasn't as if the Wardens could go shopping while they were still being hunted, so he had had to make do. This one was a book of Rivain tales his mother had been pretty fond of. They weren't too cheesy or overdone and managed to be suspenseful and interesting. The book was well loved the pages showed that, but Bruce seemed the type to appreciate a book that had been caressed lovingly through the years over one that was brand new from a printer.

At least, Felix hoped so - he really did know so little about him. That didn't stop him from finding Bruce, book tucked under his arm.

[amygdalae]

Bruce hadn't been there when the whole thing with Felix happened, but he had heard about it afterwards (partly from Adelaide, mostly from all the chatter that came from the commotion that it had caused - a very sick person leaving with the Grey Wardens was quite the sight after all). He didn't have the whole picture, but he knew enough to at least grasp the important point: Felix was alive.

That, in the end, was the most important thing, secrets or no secrets.

In the days after Felix departed Bruce did his best to not dwell on what had happened, focusing on his tasks of treating the sick and injured. Of course right now he wasn't exactly doing that, having taken a break after his rounds - at this moment he's sitting under a tree, scribbling notes for a new potion idea into his old leather-bound journal that was always in his bag. He'd still have to test it, of course, but right now he just wanted the idea down on paper - it was much easier to look at it when it's written.

[blightedson]

Felix approaches him carefully and offers him a small smile as greets him. "Bruce?" he asks. He tilts his head a bit to look at the healer. "Is this a bad time?"

[amygdalae]

The sound of footsteps is what gets Bruce's attention first, and from there he glances upwards and quickly notices Felix approaching him. Unlike the last few months now he looks in the pink of health, up on his feet and walking and looking pretty good, in general. Seeing him like this now, it was hard to imagine that not so long ago he was right at Death's door. Whatever it was that the Grey Wardens did...

Well, he was just glad that Felix was alright. That was the important part.

"Of course not," he returns with a smile of his own, putting his journal and writing materials aside. "Is something the matter? Did you need something from me?" Was something still wrong with his health? Bruce isn't entirely sure what it was that happened to Felix, but surely a miracle cure like this wasn't without its side effects.

Tevinter Birthrights - For Dorian

[blightedson]

The first person that Felix sought out when he returned to Skyhold was an old man still in the dungeons. That meeting had been emotional, exhausting, and not really something he wanted to dwell on.

The second person that he sought out when he returned to Skyhold was Dorian. He tried the library first, because that seemed to be the popular place for his friend to hang around. Going up the stairs without feeling like he was going to pass out every step had been a joy, enough that he could ignore the Calling for a bit.

"Dorian?" he asked as he made his way upstairs. He hoped his friend was still around there somewhere.

[liberalum]

Dorian can normally be found reading a book, or armpit deep in cataloguing. Currently, however, he is simply leaning against the railing, occasionally closing his eyes to the racket of ravens going on above. The circular library is a place of shadow and the quiet rustle of scrolls being unfurled and books being opened and shelved, firelight and filmy sun struggling through the thick windows.

He's starting to like it, actually.

But he looks up sharper than he would for any other interruption, pushing himself out of his slouch. He'd still been on an edge when Felix had first recovered, and Felix himself still sickly, and grappling with the change of status from mourning to anything else had been a trial. But this, with plainer evidence of improvement, and within the context of reunion, is more easily swallowed, and he heads on over.

"You're back," he asserts, sounding stupid and sunny even to his own ears. His smile is probably foolish too. Sentiment makes idiots of us all, but he'll allow himself the moment, setting a handsy grip at Felix's jaw and neck in a gesture of equal parts manful companionableness and study, fingers splayed. The other man's skin doesn't feel icy, or too hot, for once. "And you look so much like yourself again that I scarcely recognised you."

[blightedson]

Felix feels calmed by the touch. It drives away any of the lingering conflict he feels about seeing his father. He smiles at the observation. He wished he could say that he felt more like himself as well, but the taint was still there, setting things to feel not right within him. That and the Calling, ever present and distracting.

Luckily, Dorian could be just as distracting. He reached out and put a hand on his friend's arm, then offered him a small half smile. It was more of an encouragement more than anything. "I'm almost certain I'm still me," he responded after a moment, teasing a bit. "I'll have to check the next time I'm near a mirror."

He still marvels at how it feels to say 'next time' and actually have hope that he'll be able to do what he plans. "In the mean time, I do need to discuss something with you." It was better to get to business rather than lingering and staring at Dorian's face fondly, though he was very tempted to do just that.

[liberalum]

Dorian's eyes crinkle at the corners, but it would be kind not to point that out to him. His hand squeezes the nape of Felix's neck once more before finally releasing him. Public displays of affection don't often become him, and abbreviated though it is, Felix is an exception.

"There's no rush, you know," he points out, moving then to lean back against the railing that overlooks the rotunda. "No hurry to fit in every thing left unsaid in need of saying. We've our whole lives ahead of us. Granted, that may work out to be especially swift, what with our respective dedications to the protection of all of Thedas, and such."

And such. But Dorian tips his head. Listening, honest. "Go on."

[paperwing]

He's not alone in the kitchen raid. Sabriel's been here for a while - likely since getting back to Skyhold from the training, bar a few minutes, perhaps - knowing from experience that if she doesn't have some quality kitchen time, she's going to regret it.

She's here for the long haul, book laid open next to a stack of freshly picked apples. Where did she get them and why don't the servants mind that she's hoarding them? Good question. Still, as Felix pesters, she whistles to catch his attention, and then picks one from the pile and tosses it in his direction. Sharing is caring, and all that.

"I think you've earned at least one of these."

[blightedson]

Felix looks more than a little relieved as he catches it. Not only because it's food, but because he was able to catch it at all. Then he grins at her. "Cheers," he says, before taking a bite.

As he chews he comes over to her. He's careful to politely swallow what is in his mouth before speaking. "Do you mind if I ask what you're reading?"

[paperwing]

"It is likely not that interesting," Sabriel says with a little shrug, but she doesn't hide it from him, turning the book for him to see. Most of it is written in trade tongue, but some passages are in Orlesian. From this page, in particular, it seems to be a discussion of social hierarchy and noble families in Nevarra. "I saw it in the latest shipment of books to the library, and was... intrigued."

[blightedson]

"What intrigued you about it?" he asks, sincerely curious. If she didn't think it was interesting he was curious what had drawn her to it. History was interesting enough, and he was from a culture that cared very dearly about proper hierarchy and bloodlines. He was curious why someone would want to read about it who didn't have to know all the little connections those families had to one another.