I thought that I've been hurt before.

[quietblade]

WHO: Taas + Open
WHAT: Catch-all for February
WHEN: After his return from the Crow event and the rest of the month.
WHERE: Mostly Skyhold, Herald's Rest
NOTES: CR for new and old characters alike!

Tavern

It was usually early in the evening when Taashath lumbered towards the tavern. He usually had an ale or two, maybe something to eat and chatting with friends and newcomers alike. After the rescue of Zevran in Antiva, however, he was drinking more, eating less and rarely talking to people.

He had lost control, forgotten his name, tried to kill a member of the Inquisition, no matter how loaded the issue of a Ben-Hassrath was. He wasn't safe when his rage took over like that... and the possibility of hurting someone he cared about was eating him up inside.

Was he squandering everything Yshae taught him by trying to be a hero?

It was easier to just drink and forget.

Courtyard

Taas was a common sight in the courtyard, talking with people, maintaining his weapons somewhere in the rare sunlight or even chopping a training dummy to pieces now and then. He had stopped offering to spar with people, however, just smiling and shaking his head each time someone asked for a hand or when he saw someone struggling with their guard.

Instead he spent a lot of time going over breathing techniques and different means of relaxing, loosening himself from all the madness etched into his bones. He was Taashath.

It became like a mantra to him. He could push through this.

Wildcard

Hit me!

Comments

Tavern

[equanimiti]

"I thought I was buying the drinks." So says very familiar voice plagued with the telltale signs of the speaker's Orlesian heritage.

Alayre is a man harrowed by his own reckless words as of late. He's been driven to the point of anger and that anger manifested into a hateful tirade that undermines all of the "good" he represents. While he hasn't tried to physically harm anyone, he certainly wounded plenty of allies who once had faith in him. Knowing that the poision he spewed won't be easily forgotten or forgiven, Alayre eased himself into solitude and prayer.

That is until he heard of Taashath's return to Skyhold.

A welcoming smile lingers only briefly upon the Templar's lips as he moves to Taashath's side. He could tell with ease that something isn't quite right here but Alayre refrains from asking. Now isn't the time for words, now is the time for ale.

[quietblade]

"Well, I started without you," Taas says with a small grin to Alayre, scooting over a mug to him. "I'm an impatient man sometimes." It was good to have a head start, too. He could take a lot more than the average human, and he intended to get trashed together with the Knight-Commander.

It would help him take his mind off things, and help Alayre loosen up as well.

[equanimiti]

A light chuckle escapes Alayre as he eases into the seat beside Taashath. "So am I." He answers momentarily after a much needed sip of ale. "At least sometimes." His smile fades into a slightly gloomy one. There's much that he wants to discuss but he doesn't want his somewhat moderate mood to falter. So, Alayre holds back and just sips his mug.

It's honestly been awhile since they last drank together. "This winter is a cold one, isn't it?" He asks with a slight frown. "Spring is so far off that I can't even feel its warmth. Only the bitter chill of winter lingers in these lands." Alayre rambles for a bit before taking another sip.

"But I wonder, does Skyhold even know of spring? The mountains are always cold, so maybe we'll end up missing it here."

[quietblade]

"Mm. Mountain weather isn't really my expertise, but I imagine it will at least be a little milder," Taas muses, letting Alayre ramble as he pleased. The guy needed to get some of his chest, after all - even if it was just talk about the weather. "Maybe we'll see less snow, at least."

He takes another sip of his beer and grins at the Knight-Commander. "You know, I think you need a lay. Get some of that frustration out, make you feel more in tune with yourself." The warrior claps his friend a bit on the shoulder. "I'd offer to spar with you instead, but I don't want to break that handsome nose again. Tumbling someone would be less likely to end in injuries."

Just a little less. Maybe.

"What's your fancy? Women, men? Tall, short?"

[equanimiti]

Alayre nearly choked on his ale when Taashath blurts out that last bit. "You think I need what?!" He exclaims with an incredulous look upon his face. "That's quite a bold assessment but I doubt that's what I need--" He's burning red with embarrassment now and the ale isn't helping matters. Alayre rubs his hand over his face and sighs deeply. He certainly hopes no one else is listening to this mess.

"Is there no deterring you from this subject?" He asks as he peeks at Taashath from in between his fingers. "A spar would be welcomed but my heart isn't up for it tonight." Alayre admits somewhat sadly. Still trying his best to conceal his face, Alayre finally answers those scandalous questions.

"Both." He says quietly. "Men seem to be more my leaning." That he barely whispers but he knows that Taashath can read his lips easily.

[quietblade]

"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed about. It's normal," Taas says, holding his hands out in a disarming way. "Besides, if you like both, there's much more to choose from. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would want a roll in the sack with a handsome Knight-Commander."

The warrior chuckles a little, but it's a hearty, friendly laugh rather than mocking. "...but it's for you to decide. A bit of drink and good conversation might loosen you up as well. Maybe I can make you sing that song you did last time."

That had been special, but he's not complaining.

[equanimiti]

Alayre gives Taashath an exasperated glance as he takes another sip of his ale. Like most Templars, he's a tad repressed when it comes down to this topic. "Handsome? Ah, you do me a great justice to say that." He chuckles quietly.

"What song--Oh that!" The Templar can't help but chuckle a bit. "You will need copious amounts of ale to achieve that feat again. You best get started." Alayre laughs happily before drowning his mug. Little does anyone know that the Templar can sing. A tad off key but he can sing fairly well.

[quietblade]

"Hey, it's true," Taas promises with another one of those grins. He... might have a head start on that beer. Enough to smile again, even if it was just for a while here with Alayre.

"I'll open up a tab if it means I can hear that one again. It was a good one." He hadn't exactly expected Alayre to be such a funny drunk, but now he milked that for all it was worth. It was a nice way to end an evening, after all.

Laughing.

[equanimiti]

"You really want me to sing that badly?" Alayre asks with a hint of surprise. "Well, if you're willing to go through such trouble--"

He whistles over to the barkeep to bring him another mug of the good stuff. "Who am I decline?" The Templar says as he turns to Taashath with a cheerful grin upon his face. They might as well get drunk while they can. Who knows what tomorrow has in store for them anymore? They could die for all he knows. Alayre would hate to be miserable on his last day on Thedas if that's the case.

"But first!" He grabs his newly filled mug from the barkeep and raises it up high. "A toast to the two of us! May we forever defy the odds before us and laugh in the face of Destiny with contempt." Alayre says before moving to clink his mug against Tasshath's.

[quietblade]

It's a good way of thought, or so Taas believes - meeting that toast with his own mug and a grin. Alayre needed this, and the qunari is more than happy to provide (or enable) the templar into smiles and laughs and songs rather than the crap that had been going on lately.

He might not have agreed with the man the slightest when it came to the stuff he'd later been told Alayre had been talking about on the crystal, but he knew he wasn't a bad man... and he definitely knew how it felt to lose your head over things.

A little too well.

"A toast to laughter and singing, Knight-Commander!"