faderift | and i still find pieces of you in the back of my mind

Ellana hadn't expected it to sound that appealing, but it really does. Back with the clan, they fought for space in the cramped aravels and Ellana had never bothered. She didn't want the mast for the sails digging into her back, and you had to contort yourself into uncomfortable positions because of the aravel's shape. She just slept on the ground. When it rained, she slept under the aravel, but she had to remember where she was, or she'd hit her head on the underside come morning.

"It sounds lovely," she murmurs before taking another cake. It's hard for her to stay warm, and here at Skyhold, she just sleeps in the clothes she's worn during the day. It helps. But blankets piled on top of her to make her cozy sounds like a dream. And harmless wanderings through the Fade? Would a bed really prevent the demons from finding her? That part sounds a little too good to be true. They always find her when she's feeling low.

Perking right back up after stuffing the cake in her mouth, she says, "Maybe someday I can sleep in one and then I'll know what you're talking about."

It didn't stop demons from coming, but in a room full of potentially frightened or worried children, perhaps a little homesick, if they felt at ease when asleep, nothing did come... and that was because they felt safe in their beds. Make a Circle into a prison and it's ripe for demons.

Hard to say whether it could work on not-actually-an-archdemon nightmares.

"Sooner than later," Sabriel encourages, though her smile doesn't quite return as she lowers the tea down to her lap. Wait a minute. "Wait. Those rooms with broken walls..."

"Yes?" Ellana prompts, taking up her own cup and blowing on the surface to cool it down first. But then her mind catches up with Sabriel's and her eyes light up. "They have beds that aren't being used."

"And," Sabriel adds, "no one has claimed them." Not yet, at least. They will if the cold keeps settling in and the masons make their way to that part of the fortress. "If we find one of them that isn't as bad as the rest? It could be habitable. We could make it so."

Or, more blankets.

They don't have to be stonemasons to get a room back in proper order either. Her expression is excited, and she nods along quickly.

"If the rubble is still lying there, we can energize it and seal the walls and roof back up. We could make a cozy place for ourselves. That is, if you don't mind sharing with me?" She doesn't think Sabriel will mind, but in every situation, Ellana is gauging things. How do people react to an elf? Are they comfortable? Are they really comfortable, or just enough to speak with them? But with Sabriel, she's about 99% sure this will be fine. Wardens don't discriminate, and she spoke already of her life among all sorts of different peoples.

Sabriel nods along. "There would likely be rubble strewn about from the adjacent rooms, too, if we had need of it..." in the case the sealing was not perfect. Surely the stonemasons would not complain as long as they picked up what was harder to reuse; it would save them some time.

Ellana's question surprises her. Not in a bad way; it isn't until Ellana asks if she would mind sharing that she had been unknowingly proposing it as the intended outcome. For most of her life she had shared a room or a campfire; there were a scant few years she hadn't. These days, throwing down her bedroll alone was more as not to disturb someone else. But that had been before a room, a room with a bed, and a friend to share it with.

She smiles. "Not at all," she assures. She has never invested in race squabbles; people are people. "As long as you don't mind sharing with me. I keep... odd hours. And..." best to get it out there now, if Beleth hasn't spoken of it before, "... nightmares, sometimes. I'll aim to work on that one."

"Oh, it's all right. I understand." Ellana knows some people can't help how they sleep, and she won't hold it against her. At least, she won't unless she's had no sleep for a long time herself. Then she may get a little grouchy.

"I tend to spend all day out around the fortress, so you can have the room to yourself during the day, especially if you need to nap."

"A room will remind me more of home, I'm certain. It'll help." Wardens and nightmares, especially with the Calling. A few people know, but not many. She's had time to figure out coping mechanisms, what works and what doesn't with distractions, but it's always the falling asleep part that eludes her. But she's woken enough people to know that exhaustion is better and being upfront is also better than the surprise.

"That might not be a bad idea," she continues. "I would be grateful." She picks up another cake, the pile rapidly diminishing, and nibbles on its edge. "Perhaps we should explore the rooms, after we finish these. Then to the merchants, and the stores..." For bedding, that's the most important, for now. She knows her way enough around a stall with one little money she has to hand (there's more in Nevarra, somewhere. Likely favours tied up somewhere, too). "And more cake, in celebration. If there is any left. They are quite popular, I've noticed."

"Yes, we should do that!" Ellana drinks her tea, and while it's still a bit too hot, she deals with it. More cake will help soothe her tongue, surely.

"Maybe there is a room with places to store clothes." Living out of an aravel has its benefits, like plenty of space for clothes. Here she lives out of a satchel. This will be good practice for what Ellana hopes to have some day. She wants a roof over her head and four walls, at least when she's not out exploring the world. She wants a bed and space that's just hers, where she can hide away and no one can see her.

Sabriel sips from her cup in thought. Most of her possessions are what's currently on her back; a borrowed tunic and shirt and pants, her armour hidden away, but the sword stays, as she does not like to be without it. Some things that had come from Perendale that had once been hers, but the rest was gone. There was so much at the estate, but she could not have it brought here, nor go there, sadly. Perhaps once the Warden business was attended to.

"A wardrobe would do it. I would say ask the quartermaster, but he would likely say to make it for ourselves." So many potential splinters; at least magic would be able to pull them out again, but it would still sting. "It's a shame I cannot go to Nevarra. There are likely many at my family's house." She sighs. "Though, we could fashion something similar from the stone."

"You would have to take the lead there. I know little about how they're made. Never used one before either." But this is a time for new things and new experiences, isn't it?

"We could always 'borrow' one from another derelict room, couldn't we? If we're going to the trouble of reconstructing the room ourselves, we should be able to fill it how we like."

Most of what Sabriel does know is learned from observing, but she doesn't mind taking the lead. She knows bedrooms and how to make it safe haven well.

"I don't see why not. It might have to be several, depending on the states they're in," Sabriel muses. Circle policy? Keep reusing until its worn and can no longer be put back together, but there's only so far you can go with mish mash parts. It does save on coin, and it is more personable than buying something new. "At least, the visiting dignateries are unlikely to want to use them for themselves."

Ellana can relate to the ways of the Circle in some respects. Such as reusing everything until it can't be used anymore. The clan received some items through trade, but most were things they crafted themselves. And if something needed mending, they did it. Nothing was throw away unless it was falling apart beyond repair. Clothes, baskets, tools, weapons, and more were all fixed again and again.

"No, I'm sure the Ambassador has set up all the rooms she'd like to keep for them." It's an unfortunate reality of the world that some people see themselves as better merely because of the blood in their veins or the coin in their purse. And those people just may give that coin to fund the Inquisition, if they like what they see. And so Josephine has to make sure they do.

She continues to drain her tea cup, eager to see what's available to them in the way of rooms. She definitely doesn't want one of those rooms up on the battlements with multiple doors. People -- including herself -- pass through them all the time. Why are there even beds in them? Who thought that was a good idea?

Josephine seemed to be good at her job, for the Inquisition to still be standing and for the visiting nobles to keep hiking up a mountain to visit Skyhold. Or, if they didn't, sending word along to family members to do the same. Maybe it was an attraction, a spectacle, but they keep coming all the same.

Sabriel's tea is empty, which she places back beside her, and then reaches for the last cake. Oh. Last, unless there are more. It seems only fitting to break it in half and offer the other piece to Ellana, small as it is. "There are plenty of places where the walls haven't been fixed, as of yet. Did you have someplace in mind?" Definitely not the battlements. Near the kitchens might be nice. Or overlooking the gardens- but most of those had long since been claimed. Were there more in the wings above the great hall?

"Thank you!" Ellana says, pleased by the gesture. The cake is eaten without delay and she finishes off her own tea a moment later.

"Someplace that doesn't get many people passing by would be best. There will be less noise at all hours that way." A room that maybe faces the mountains as opposed to the inner courtyards or garden of Skyhold, because noise could come through the windows too, if the room in question has them.

"Are you ready to look around?"

Less noise, more privacy. Sabriel nods in agreement. "I suppose it depends on what we can find," she agrees, but that's a good goal to start out with. They can be pickier as the options open themselves up.

Her tea already gone, Sabriel nods again. "I am ready if you are, Ellana."

"I am." She stands and looks around the garden with a look of consideration. There are a couple of exits from the gardens and she's debating which to take. The rooms that overlook the gardens have to be taken already, as they offer the best view. Plus there would be noise from below so they wouldn't do well anyway. Therefore there's no point checking up there.

"Let's head inside and try some of the rooms on the other side of the main hall."

and i still find pieces of you in the back of my mind

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