faderift | In a moment of glorious surrender, you were broken for all the world to see...

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In a moment of glorious surrender, you were broken for all the world to see...

WHO:Nari and Sina Dahlasanor, Adelaide LeBlanc, Pel Ashara, and YOU!
WHAT: Visiting Sina in Recovery -- for whatever reason
WHEN: Beginning of Guardian, the first weeks after the Surprise Rift is closed.
WHERE: A private tent in the Skyhold garden
NOTES: Positive and negative reactions both welcome! If you're not sure what happened, check that sweet sweet 'Surprise Rift' link!

In the days following, Sina sleeps, the toll the active shard took on her thin, pale form evident in the hollows of her face; the way she'll wince and gasp, fingers grasping and twisting at the blankets. Sometimes she wakes in mumbling delirium, staring glassy-eyed at the wall. Rarely she'll open her eyes and actually see, lucid, but weak.

Always, her clansister is there. She looks like a fretful shadow of herself, wary. Her knives are sheathed but close by, lest anyone come to take issue with the small bed-ridden mage.

Wounded she might be, but she'd still opened a Rift in the heart of Skyhold.

[Adelaide.]

Nahariel is like a ghost that haunts her clansister's bedside. She talks little, sleeps less, and is only away for the briefest of reasons--one of which is to make sure Adelaide never runs out of tea when she's there. One day, as she sets down another cup, she suddenly and quietly speaks.

"I don't think I ever thanked you properly. Or your spirit."

[Pel.]

At some point during the next days Pel will look up to see the swarthy hunter often seen in Sina's company, with very little sound to accompany her appearance beside a polite throat-clear. She looks... tired.

"Pel?" She asks--mostly a formality.

"Sina was... mumbling in her sleep. She said your name once or twice, and..." she'll trail off, and run a hand through her hair with a sigh. Some of it sticks up afterwards--it doesn't look as if she's taking care of herself much.

"I know you fought not too long ago, and you were both hurt, but... would you come and see her? I think she'd like that."

[Everybody.]

[Bring flowers? Study her? Cry a bit? Be accusatory? Come on in!]

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Nari is sitting by the cot, one knee pulled up, her head pillowed on it. It seems she's fallen asleep, and has just begun to drool slightly when Beleth comes in. The hunter's head jerks up, eyes bleary but wary, although the look is quickly replaced by a smile when she sees who it is.

"Oh--Beleth. Thank you."

She'll shake her head slightly in answer to the first question--though it could serve as answer to all. "Not much. Some broth sometimes, when she's awake. I'm sure she'd appreciate the thought, though."

The tent is lit by soft candlelight, and empty save for Sina, who is lying asleep on the cot. There are a few papers strewn about--a few sketches, some half-written letters. For a moment there's silence, and then the sound of sloshing from behind him as Nahariel approaches the tent with a fresh bucket of water from the well.

Seeing Sina asleep is good - it means she's still here, still fighting after what'd happened. But at the same time, it also means that likely she still needs the rest, and as much as he wants to see her, he doesn't want to wind up disturbing her while she's still clearly on the mend. Rather than try and wake her he winds up peering a little more closely at the table, trying to see if he can spot a bit of blank paper without actually going inside. He's not all that great at writing the language here, but thanks to some help from Kallian and "Detlef" he's getting better, and writing down 'tea' and 'things that smell good' shouldn't be all that hard to manage. If he's quiet enough about it, Sina won't even know he's here.

However, he hasn't quite figured on Nari coming back to the tent when she does, and when he hears the sound of sloshing his first instinct is to turn - only to have brow knit together in a sort of baffled confusion when he sees her and where she's headed.

"Oh. Sorry. I'd not realized anyone else was here. Here, did you need help with that?"

"Oh, Creators, did I wake you up? I'm sorry." Beleth smiled apologetically, ducking her head. "I should have been more careful. I can imagine sleep hasn't been easy for you, lately." She plopped down and offered Nari most of the sliced bread and cheese, keeping some to munch on while they talked.

"Broth--I can get that. I'll see if I can't sweet talk the cooks. If not, I can figure something out. Broth can't be that hard to make." You boil some kind of meat in water and throw salt in or something like that, right? No problem. "I'm glad that she's coming around a bit, though. Hey--" She turned to Nari, reaching over to gently rest a hand on her arm.

"If anyone gives you or her a hard time, tell one of my clan. The People will look out for each other, no matter what the humans plan."

Nahariel's eyes flash again briefly at the Iron Lady's dismissive tone, but she's not about to lash out again. For one, it would make the woman more set on believing she was some sort of petulant child, and even while angry she had her pride.

For the other... Sina really did need help. And sending away someone who was willing to do so--no matter their bearing--because of that pride would be inexcusable. Not accustomed to hiding it, the parade of emotion across her face--from impotent anger to sullen acceptance to cool and composed (with a hint of chagrin)--was obvious.

"Adelaide has overseen much of her recovery--and her students do so when she can't. It's... she sleeps. Better than she used to. Her breathing comes hard sometimes, and that pains her. It's slow going... but every day is a bit better than the last, even if just by half a candlemark of good rest. She's even woken lucid once or twice, and spoken--though that seems to pain her as well. But she's good--" to her embarrassment, the hunter felt her throat closing slightly with emotion. She tried to disguise the strain in her voice with a cough, looking away. "--good natured all the same. Kind. Still herself."

"As far as what happened?" she'll shake her head. "Something happened when she was practicing her spellcasting. I haven't asked her any more about it. Didn't want to upset her."

Although with some of the Rifters being mages, it's an important question. Maybe more important than keeping conversation light, when it happened. There were civilian workers here. Children. They couldn't chance another Rift. They had to know. Nahariel grimaced.

Nari made a noise that was half acknowledgement half grumble. "I'm sure."

Leliana was extraordinarily good at her job... her best attempt at searching was probably better than Nari's would be, but even so, the thought that there was someone out there somewhere who knew something that could help Sina made her feet itch with wanting to look.

He can see that impatience, which has Sam sighing a bit, reaching a hand up to rub the hair on the back of his neck.

"Quite honestly all the advisors are probably putting feelers out to find him as quickly as possible. We're getting more and more Rifters and these shards showing up. Having a bit more insight would help all this chaos."

Nari shook her head with a smile, "It's all right, really. I've actually... kind of gotten used to the odd hours." Although drifting between sleeping to waking in the insular atmosphere of the tent, the slow small changes in the light, all lit softly by the green glow of the shard... it made time pass strangely. She took the offered bread and cheese gratefully, and when Beleth rested a encouraging hand on her arm, she reached to cover it with her own, squeezed gently.

"Serranas, lethallan." The hunter chewed thoughtfully for a moment, looking over to where her daggers rested within easy reach. "For all that I was worried... nobody's come to blame her. Or even to try to hurry her recovery for answers about what happened."

She'd not expected to find anyone in the tent. The hunter froze tensely before taking in the baffled expression of their guest, the packages in his hands, and offered a smile instead. Another visitor for Sina. She'd made so many friends so easily, and they all brought things. Food, or stories, or herbs; genuine inquiries about her health and well-being. Humans, Qunari, and the People alike. It filled her with hope for the clan that Dahlasanor would be when Sina became Keeper someday.

"I'll be fine--it looks like your hands are full as well," she said, pointing her nose towards the small packages Jamie held.

Rifters. Shards. Chaos. Nari ruffled her hair with both hands in silent frustration.

"This is hard. It's just hard not being able to do anything." She rubs her eyes tiredly. "Tell me about something good in your life so I don't forget there are good things."

"Aaaum..." Suddenly being asked to talk about something good in his life? "Ah, I actually had a birthday that I enjoyed. The plants that Sina had me move to my room are doing rather well." He takes another moment to think, smiling lightly with a faint blush as he remembers something else, but doesn't say it just yet.

She looked up at him a little guiltily. "Oh, I missed it? Abelas, Sam. But I'm glad it was good. And that the plants are thriving inside." The guilty look turned into a grin as she noticed the secret smile and slight blush on his cheeks.

"But not just happy for that, hm?"

"Don't be sorry. I didn't exactly make it public... several templars did though." He chuckles lightly at that, nodding a bit at the agreement on the plants. At Nahariel's own grin he can't help but smile wider, a hand coming up to rub the back of his head.

"Krem came back not too long ago. It's been nice having him back." Really nice in fact - the Charger's return had been very pleasant.

The hunter props her chin on her hand, continues smiling like a cat who's got into the cream, and waits expectantly for the mage to dish.

For a long time nothing is said, Sam biting his lips and seeing if Nahariel will go past this bit. Course she doesn't which has Sam sighing and shaking his head slightly. He was always getting himself into these things.

"We've been spending a lot more time together, not just in the ring. It's nice having someone to curl up with. He's also been calling me 'amatus'."

Full hands or not, it'd be rude not to at least get the tent flap for her, and he shifted the packages over to one hand long enough to allow her to bring the bucket inside without it getting tangled up in anything.

"Aye, well...they're for Sina. Tea. And-"

One of the packages had a ribbon wrapped around it, and he brought that one up to his nose to make sure he had the right one in mind, giving it a careful sniff before nodding once to himself.

"There's a fancy French name for it where I come from, but mostly it's just a bit of dried moss and some things that probably aren't any good for drinking but smell a bit like woods. Thought she might like that." His eyes drifted over to Sina, then back to Nahariel. "I don't think we've met yet. I'm Jamie."

Nahariel murmurs her thanks as she passes him to place the bucket in its place beside the cot, bending to test her clansister's forehead with the back of her hand. It had been nearly a week since Sina's last fever, but the hunter was a fretful nurse. After ascertaining that nothing was wrong, she turned back.

"Jamie," she repeated. "I'm Nahariel. A hunter from Sina's clan. I'm... sure she'll love them." She could smell the bundle faintly from where she stood--the moss, the deep forest smell of wood. It smelled like home. She didn't know whether or not he knew, but either way, it was appreciated.

As she looked at the bundles in his hands, she caught a brief flicker of green--the same light that lit her First's chest.

"Oh--are you...?"

The elf looked blank, and then vaguely apologetic as her mental search for the word turned up nothing. "What does it mean?"

Well he didn't expect Nahariel to know the word - he hadn't known until a bit ago - unless she had been spending time with anyone from Tevinter in such a way. "Ah... it's a term of endearment."

A smile spread across the hunter's face. It started out a sly and teasing one, but she thought better of it. Let it be genuine happiness for a friend instead.

"I'm glad. You deserve happiness, Sam."

And from the way his cheeks and the round of his ears pinked while talking about it, he had found some.

She wouldn't be the first one to tease him if she had, and he half expects it from the way she smiles at him for a moment.

"Thank you, I am happy... but I think everyone - alright maybe not everyone - deserves happiness. Thought the most I'd get would be content. It's... nice."

"Am I what?" he asked, somewhat confused for a few seconds before he saw where her glance had gone. His own followed it, resting on his palm for a moment or two. "Oh, right, that."

He hadn't even thought about any reaction to that this time around - but then again, he hadn't been expecting Sina to have someone watching over her, even though that made a lot of sense, given what had happened. As a result, he gave her a faintly sheepish look before setting the presents down on the table.

"Aye, I'm one of the...well, a rifter, for lack of a better word. Sorry, I didn't even think to warn you about that."

"Don't worry. It's not--well I'm mostly curious, actually." Nahariel reached up to run a hand through her hair, looking slightly embarrassed. "I keep to myself mostly. Habit. I've never actually met any of the rifters." She sits in her chair, pulling up one knee and resting her elbow on it; extends a hand to indicate the other one.

"You're welcome to stay for a bit if you like. Sometimes she wakes." The elf smiled crookedly, "And--" she paused, pursed her lips. She wondered if would be all right to ask about where he'd come from? To lose everything you knew, just like that, and then be viewed with fear and distrust on top of it.

She could imagine, at least a little. "--Would it be rude to ask about your world?"

"I'm surprised." Beleth's voice is lowered, as she casts a bitter eye over to the door. She doesn't think they'll be overheard, but she's never been one to take the risk of an eavesdropping human. "They might just be waiting for her to get better. A rift in Skyhold? Demons in Skyhold? They almost executed the Herald for being the only survivor of the conclave. Even if it's obvious Sina wasn't trying to do anything, a Dalish accidentally opening a rift..." She frowned, shaking her head. She didn't want to distress Nari, but Beleth knew that the situation looked bad. She knew that when situations looked bad, the Dalish were blamed. It doesn't matter what actually happened, Sina was the perfect scapegoat for it.

Nari thinned her lips, imagining that her face must have looked just like Beleth's did now for the first weeks of Sina's recovery. Closed, distrustful. The other woman was probably right, too. All of the friendly visits had eventually worn her down, everyone so kind and thoughtful, no-one with even the slightest hint of blame. As if she'd been wounded by one of the Inquisition's enemies--which of course she had been. It just wouldn't have happened without her.

"You're right, of course," the hunter said with a sigh. She ripped off another piece of bread, rolled it into a small ball between her fingers. "If nothing else, everyone who's visited kindly... well. I know she has friends who would help us escape Skyhold if need be."

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In a moment of glorious surrender, you were broken for all the world to see...

shows up ten more years later (oh, it is :D)

is okay because I'm so late too!

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