it takes strength to live this way

[qunari]

WHO: Iron Bull and OPEN
WHAT: General summary of events during the end of the month. Drinking, fighting, more drinking, maybe a little flirting.
WHEN: Mid-to-late Wintermarch
WHERE: All over the damn place. Mostly the tavern and sparring ring, though.
NOTES: n/a

He was starting to feel a little restless. By now, the boss would have taken them all out on some exploit or another, and even if he was glad to be at Skyhold again? Sitting idle could grate on the nerves a bit.

The best way to counter that seemed to be throwing down in the training ring just outside the tavern, taking on all comers as well as training those that seemed of a mind to ask. Cullen had most of his people following their own regime, but if they wanted a swing at something else? He wouldn’t refuse them. Not everyone fought like a templar.

The rest of the time, Bull made himself easy to find. Easy to avoid, too, if that was the preference of some. And he knew it was, from the glimpsed he’d gotten of the Vashoth inside the keep. But it was no hardship holding court inside the comfort of the tavern, indulging heavily in drinks and working his way down the menu of available meals and snacks.

It was business as usual, for the most part. Even if he did feel a little more restless than usual. Had to find a way to get out, hit something that really had it coming.

Or find someone to pass the evening with. That might help.

Comments

[qunari]

"And what is it you want?"

He knows what comes when mages are free to do as they like. It's all well and good until someone decides blood magic or demon-binding is the way to go, and then it's chaos for everyone. He's seen mages rule, knows what comes of it.

But she deserves her dreams. Here, this is a chance for her to unwind. Unburden. And he's yet to turn down an opportunity to know someone's opinions, as he ekes out those most stubborn of knots still holding fast.

[fleurdesel]

She stills for a moment despite the slow press of his hands, the easy warmth of his voice. Frowns, faintly, against her arms as she tilts her head for something only she could hear. No discordance. Nothing other than the familiar wash of Compassion idling in the background. To be safe she visibly pinches her own wrist. It hurts but that means little even in the fade- but she is awake.

This is Bull...even if it would be a very different tack than what most demons take with her.

"The impossible, honestly. People to stop killing one another over differences of opinion. Failing that? Somewhere we might learn safely without fear of death or possession or tranquility being forced upon us for failure. A means to prevent possession, a way to, perhaps, even remove someone's magic without removing their soul if they so wished." To be brought into this as a child and have to face such a thing- were there an option when she was young to not, to give it away and live normally? She would have taken it. "While I am wishing for the impossible a few hours more in the day so I might complete my work would be wonderful."

[qunari]

"You work yourself into a rut in the ground with those extra hours, not sure how much good you're gonna do anyone."

Bull grunts, before patting her arm gently, gesturing quietly for her to stretch it outward before he continued. The strain would travel downward, affect the flow of blood her hands. Not the thing you need cramping up when you worked with herbs or staves.

"Someone works that hard, they're usually trying to keep their focus sharp. Avoid letting their mind drift. You been sleeping alright?"

hover for translation

[fleurdesel]

"Ma bougie brûle aux deux extrémités; Il ne va pas durer la nuit; Mais ah, mes ennemis, et oh, mon amis- Il donne une belle lumière." Adelaide murmurs with a half smile, a familiar poem known among the Enchanters of the White Spire.

She moves her arm as bid, blinking a bit at the pressure- and the question. "As well as I ever do. You are aware of the difficulty most mages have with demons, yes? For one with my specialty it is doubly difficult."

[qunari]

"Why is that?"

He doesn't understand much of magic, no more than he needs to. But the prospect of demons gives him the willies, there's no doubt about that. Something that can't be overpowered once it gets inside your head...and to think, there are mages that willingly partner with them.

Nope. Bad idea all around. Going to keep kneading away, working out the joints of her fingers, one by one.

[fleurdesel]

This subject is familiar enough that she can answer without thought, blinking at the curl of his hand around hers, the difference in texture, in size, in color. It's fascinating.

"Imagine a house with no windows with one thickly bolted door. For the average person that is not a mage- thus is their presence in the fade as they dream. Demons are aware but cannot enter easily." A familiar enough lecture, and her voice does slip into a cadence implying it is a lecture. An educator at work using allegory to explain something thoroughly abstract.

It is not the neatest metaphor nor the most precise, but it works well enough for breaking it down to layman's terms. "Mages have windows- some mages have smaller ones, some mages have larger ones- and is it not all the more tempting to break into a house and take what is inside if you can see what it is you will be taking? The door is still bolted- perhaps even all the more so than someone else- but they can see inside, they can plan how they will attempt to charm their way in. Or they can break a window."

She blinks, fingers curling against his. "Spirit healers live in glass houses with glass doors. We call Spirits to work with us, invite them to the porch but not inside. The glass is thicker, stronger than the average mage for our training but...demons see. They wander, wonder. They come up for a chat much like a neighbor. One can add windows or walls of glass if they so choose this path of study, but you cannot ever go back to a wooden house with the one window ever again."