faderift | Tell me a story long and true

WHO: Mia Rutherford and OPEN
WHAT: So much to do, so little time. Bustling around Skyhold.
WHEN: Wintermarch. Feel free to fudge the dates as needed.
WHERE: All over the bloody keep.
NOTES: n/a

The weeks press on. The world looks to the Inquisition to see what happens next, the mages and templars struggle to prove their independence and their willingness to work towards the greater good, and a calm finally seems to have settled over the keep in the wake of the abomination attack. Personal trials seem almost trivial in comparison.

Almost. She's still noticeably avoiding Pel, and stiffly departing if the woman ever comes around.

But there's more to be dealt with than one sour encounter. She drops in on Cullen from time to time now, a little less concerned with keeping her distance than she is with how well he's dealing with the lyrium-induced headaches. She visits Katniss soon after hearing about the unfortunate scuffle with one of the soldiers, though part of her is pleased that she's holding her own. There are care packages to be made up and delivered to various families and individuals within Skyhold -- herbs for the healers from the travelers and scouts, and sometimes cookies for the children -- and all in all life is as busy as it should be.

Better than sitting at home in South Reach and fretting, with no one to tend to. Though what must it say about her that she only feels at ease when she's seeing to someone else's needs? Likely nothing she wants to hear, admittedly.

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"Mistress Rutherford?"

It's more to get her attention; Harding knows who she is. She's prone to bustling herself, always busy, always working, but she does hear things from her scouts, and its polite to give a heads up seeing as, y'know, she's here in the courtyard, Mia's here in the courtyard too.

"The scouts are back. They'll probably be coming this way soon with the herbs you wanted."

"Ah." There's a relieved noise as she straightens, dusting off her hands. "Maker bless them. We've not run short yet, and I'd just as soon that stayed the case without wandering down to the swamps myself."

She looks a tad more harried than usual, blond curls falling loose about her face, but she hasn't seemed to notice. She still seems composed, despite the slight dishevelment.

"Will we be needing to take any to the soldiers, once the healers have had at them?" she presses on, her gaze settling on Harding.

"It's not the most popular of assignments, but as long as we have what we need, the less likely they'll be sent back at short notice," Harding agrees. The scouts were often rotated on, being fleet of foot and less likely to sink into the mud. Nobody should have to go there. Mia certainly should not go there, but Harding doesn't doubt she wouldn't if it came to that.

She shakes her head to the question. "Not that I know of. Their reserves were higher last I heard, but with the winter, there's a lot of sniffling going on. They might have depleted - Cullen would have a better idea, but without going down to the camps, there's no real way of knowing."

"Then I'd best take a look. The Commander has other duties to see to, I'm certain. Perhaps a quick chat to get some idea..."

She trails off, almost as though speaking to herself, trying to keep track of it all in her mind. One finger taps at her chin, her eyes surveying the crates thoughtfully.

"Sniffling will get worse, come spring. All manner of things coming into the air, and the change of temperature? Only a matter of time. Still. That's no reason to neglect the stores. The little ones catch something and it could be a great deal more serious than it needs to be."

Harding makes a soft noise of agreement. "It'll be worse down in the valley, where there's trees. Anywhere in the Hinterlands, really. I wouldn't be surprised if Whittle would need some of what's in the stores here if the Crossroads becomes a permanent fixture, actually..."

She trails off, musing, "... never thought our fates would be decided on who has a cold that day. Sometimes we're more a large, disobedient family than a military organisation."

"Is that so surprising?"

Mia smirks faintly at that, gesturing off in some vague direction with a flutter of her hand.

"So far from their own families, perhaps they long for another. Who better than those they risk their lives alongside every day?"

It wasn't as if she hadn't been adopting every other person she'd come across in Skyhold as someone to look after, herself.

"It's not something I accounted for when I signed on," Harding admits, sheepishly. She was all about seeing the world and making a difference but the wound up with larger responsibilities than sheep herding. "Scouts? Far less easier to herd than what I was used to. Keeps us more like people, though, the family thing."

"Perhaps it's easier when you come from a large family. It seems natural that everything else should fall into that same sphere of reference." Of course, she'd been trying to adopt a half-dozen people since she arrived, too used to swooping down and being the mother-figure for those in need of it.

Though it occurs to her that she doesn't actually know much about the charming young scout. That should be rectified. There's a curious tilt to her head after a moment. "Did you grow up with siblings?"

Harding furrows her brow, thoughtful. If that's the case - falling into the familiarity of a large family - it would explain why it hadn't occurred to her. The question gains another slanted smile. "Only child," she admits. "Just me and my parents and a lot of sheep, because our neighbours were farmers. We were close to Redcliffe, but not close enough to go there without a reason. Mother was a seamstress - still is, actually. There weren't that many kids around that were my age." Most often the children her age were not dwarves, and many of them were boys, which likely hadn't helped because she was small and stocky and could throw them over a table and they weren't happy about it. No, Katniss was the only one she really grew close to, and she only saw her a few times a year when her father came down from his cabin, at best.

"I'm guessing Cullen's not your only sibling?"

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