faderift | They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me.

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They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me.

WHO: Kas + Open
WHAT: Catch-all for February
WHEN: All month
WHERE: Skyhold and/or Emprise de Lion
NOTES: Angry qunari teen CR, anyone?

Skyhold

Kas is a common sight around Skyhold, easily told apart from the rest of the scouts by the strange little bumps in his hood that hid his tiny nubs. The teen spent most of his time running errands, delivering information and training, but there were times he was off duty and just enjoying some downtime.

During training, he was usually found at the archery range, trying to better his aim with the bow Metaari gave him or the fancy dragon-winged one he had gotten from Korrin. At other times, he spent his training hours with daggers, attempting to follow what Zevran had taught him. It was still rather rough - but it seemed to be improving, at least.

Downtime found him often by the kitchen, grabbing as much food as he was allowed before the kitchen staff chased him off. He was finally starting to fill out a bit, no longer the stick of a qunari he'd been when he joined - all thanks to having three square meals a day. Kas also frequented the tavern, but only when it was very full of people or void of the Chargers and the Iron Bull.

...and yet at other times, his voice could be heard over the fortress, cursing and yelling at some asshole that had insulted him somehow. Please shove a sock in the boy's mouth before he upsets the nobles, okay?

Emprise de Lion

Snow really, really sucked. Kas already knew this, of course - he had lived in Ferelden for years now. Still, there as a huge difference between Ferelden snow and Emprise snow. It just felt deeper and sharper, and after his time slipping down a crevasse and being saved by Korrin, Kas wasn't so keen on leaving the campsites any more.

Thankfully he doesn't complain much when he's asked to do things, but he's still freezing his fingers off in this mess.

It isn't until he hears he's missed a dragon fight that his morale drops completely. he didn't exactly want to fight one, but he would have loved to have seen it. You'll have to excuse him if he's a little mopey after that.

Wildcard

Hit me!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Among those who had helped bring down one of the three high dragons across the bridge, Korrin is justifiably riding high after that battle. The Vashoth mage joins the others in a post-slaying celebration at the tavern, blood-spattered but cheerful. She readily pays for a round for everyone, and contributes to any and all obnoxious drinking songs that come up.

In the middle of all that, she fails to spot Kas and he was one of those she'd been hoping to see. That has to be fixed, especially when she has something in mind for him. So when she's cleaner and sober, Korrin will look for her favorite Inquisition scout, with something wrapped in a wool cover.

Kas is moping a bit about missing the chance to see a dragon fight, sitting outside and going through his arrows to see if he needed to replace any. It was close to one of the fires so he wasn't too cold, but he's still wrapped in some warm furs.

Deft fingers go through the fletching with the hesitant and uncertain touch of a beginner, and when he hears the crunch of snow, he looks up to see Korrin heading towards him.

Excited, he gets up. "Korrin, Korrin tell me everything!"

Aw, Kas. That enthusiasm gets a chuckle out of her as she moves to join him, grateful for the present of the fire. After dealing with a dragon that spewed ice, it feels like she can't quite get warm enough.

"Will do, but first unwrap this. I brought you a souvenir."

It's a dragon claw; one of the smaller ones, since the damn thing was huge. The claw still takes up the length of his forearm, though, and Korrin briefly wonders what it'd be like as a dagger. But this isn't really meant to be another weapon present, just a bit of fun.

She... brought him something? Kas takes the claw with big, wide eyes. "It's... whoa. Korrin, is it really?" The teen turns the claw in his hands, making little jabbing motions with it like a dragon trying to claw an enemy. The grin on his face is a mile wide.

"I can't believe it! A real dragon claw!" He would hug her for that, but Kas manages to hold himself back and play it cool. "Thank you!" he can't stop smiling, moving it carefully so it was in his lap.

"What kind of dragon is it from? Did it really hide on the other side of the broken bridge?"

Kas' reaction brings out a grin, and she doesn't mind the lack of hugging. Perking him up is reward enough, honestly. Settling in, she nods at the question.

"It was hiding in one of those rings you could see in the distance; Judicael's, I think? The dragon had a red and blue hide; pretty, but prettier when it stopped being alive to threaten us. It was ice-based, to no one's surprise, so it's damn breath slowed down anyone unlucky enough to get caught in it, and it could freeze the watery ground, too. Since it could lock our feet in place with that, it really wasn't fun. And it had the world's most annoying shriek, that prevented us from doing anything but covering our ears, it was that bad. But on the upside, we discovered quickly that it was very vulnerable to fire."

He looks at her with fascination as she describes the dragon and its attacks. Ice breath? Awesome! The shrieking was pretty neat too, and he loved hearing about the intelligence of it freezing their feet.

They were just the coolest thing!

Running his fingers over the dragon claw, the teen wonders how many qunari out there had something this amazing. He could make it into a knife, or a short sword, or keep it by his bedroll like a trophy...

"You gotta take me with you next time, Korrin! I wanna see a real dragon up close!"

To that, Korrin nods firmly. She wouldn't dream of holding Kas back in that regard; sure, she would have his back, but that goes without saying. With some preparation, a high dragon fight is the perfect challenge.

"Of course. Those are the only dragons in the area, that we know of, but this isn't called the Dragon Age for nothing. There will be more, and the further the Inquisition spreads out, there more we'll find."

Just a normal dragon would do, really. Maybe a phoenix. Anything cool and scaled, to be honest. Something for him to shoot and feel super manly about afterwards.

"I hope so! I bet there are a lot... maybe we could get some dragonlings and make out own dragon army eventually! That would scare Cory-plaus off!"

That gets a laugh out of Korrin, who appreciates the image however unlikely it is. They're smacked in the face enough with reality every day, and it's a harsh one. A flighty of fancy isn't going to hurt anyone.

"Dragons are wild creatures, but it's possible to make use of that. We don't have to get them to like or even follow us, just hate that darkspawn magister and his pet more. And if there's one thing dragons really hate, it's other dragons intruding on their territory. That blighted thing might be doing half the job for us."

Hopefully. It's not like they've seen it in months, but she doesn't doubt it's out there. "You know, I was told the Storm Coast has plenty of dragonlings. We can always make a field trip of it when things are less dire and check it out."

Imagination never hurt anyone (hopefully), and Kas thinks it would be poetic justice to recruit some dragons. Corypheus had a dragon, after all. They could have dragons, too. Lots of them.

Maybe something like that would be a good book - he should pitch it to Varric.

Her suggestion of going dragonling-checking made him grin and he nods enthusiastically. "That would be great! Start small and then work myself up to a high dragon." He pauses and then looks a little mischievous. "I bet a lot of dragon leather would be great for the Inquisition, too! It could be... um... a requisition for the good of all!"

Korrin's grin echoes that mischief. She's definitely not one to rein him in, not about this. Harding can and has taken on that role, so she doesn't feel the need for it. "Exactly! Badass and practical. It's suit you, I have no doubt. So we'll just have to get you some. And it's better when you've earned it, right?"

His face brightens up even more at that and he's even more excited about the thought of wearing dragon leather. With his dragon claw, and his dragon bow, and...

Kas tries to reel himself in a bit, but it's difficult. It was nice to just imagine for a moment and knowing that it wasn't a completely unattainable dream.
(Well, maybe the dragon army was.) He honestly doesn't know if he had been able to have silly ideas and dreams before. The teen had come far in just a few months.

"Yeah. Definitely better when you've earned it."

Kas needs to stop being so adorable when he's filled with enthusiasm, or Korrin might slip and wound his pride by saying so someday. But that day isn't today, even with a decent amount of ale in her system. She slips an arm around his shoulders and nods. "It'll happen, first chance we get. We'll take whoever would want to join in and make a grand day of it. No bullshit, just dragonling battles."

The things Araceli does for Korrin:

1) returns to the awful bog that is the Fallow Mire to help her fight things to get a magical light sword for her staff. Or something.
2) comes to what surely must be the freezing arsehole of Thedas, if Thedas has arseholes, to help her fight Red Templars and liberate people.

Liberation she's fine with, if liberation were somewhere warmer. With something that didn't taste more than faintly of piss available in the tavern. And if there was slightly more to do that didn't involve skating across a frozen lake when she gets bored of hanging out at camp with little to do.

Well there are snowshoes but this is where the problem begins and she she trudges over to Kas, more scarf than woman, her voice muffled.

"I don't know what a snowshoe is." It sounds almost pathetically frantic, as if this is going to be some terrible offense.

It must be love, doing all that shit for someone. Korrin had a great girlfriend.

...not that Kas hadn't done exactly the same thing, but it wasn't sorely for Korrin's sake. At least not that last part.

Watching her come over, the teen can't quite hold back a laugh at the amount of scarves and scoots a bit so she can join him by the small fire. It was cold as heck but he felt a bit more need to reach his weapons than being warm, so he only had one, average scarf.

"It's... um... like a thing you put on your shoes so you don't sink too far into the snow. It makes it easier to walk. Kind of, since they're a bit annoying as well."

He reaches into his pack and takes out a broken one. "They look like this, only... not broken. We're gonna need branches to bend and then weave wicker stuff around it."

Edited 2016-02-14 17:01 (UTC)

Sadly, she's worn even more but she tugs the scarf so it won't be in the way or a potential fire hazard, tucking any escaping curls back inside it as she listens carefully.

"And that...actually works?" So far she's trudged, sometimes almost up to her thighs because she's short and though the idea of not sinking and ending up frozen and damp is appealing, they look tremendously cumbersome.

Usually she's tried to step after other people, or keep to where it looks lightest, never lingering too long same as she would on wet ground.

"I'd love to see some of the people in armour trying to move in those now," she says with a wicked grin because Templars, she would absolutely love to see Templars in their heavy armour trying to keep up with anyone. "Weaving, weaving should be fine, I can fix nets and rigging, that...might help?" Will it? She's going to have to personally apologise to every single scout here.

Kas generally did the same, trying to step into another person's tracks unless he had to show off that he wasn't tired and wet with snow in his smalls and no dry socks left. He was a man, after all.

There's another shrug from the teen at her words, and he eyes the broken snowshoe thoughtfully. "It's weird, but they say it works, at least. Even if it makes you clumsy. Besides, they want a bunch of them made and I guess we gotta follow orders right?"

It beat a lot of other jobs, actually. After they got the things they needed, they could just sit on their asses and work in peace for a while. "Weaving's pretty easy to learn and hard to master, but it should be okay for a thing like this. Guess we just gotta start with grabbing the branches we need."

Araceli will always take dry underwear over her pride, she’s got no desire to risk frostbite in delicate places. But she’s never been a teenage boy partaking of strange arcane rituals to demonstrate manliness.

Nodding in agreement, she gets to her feet and stretches, fixing the scarf again. “I don’t want to give anyone any reason to say rifters aren’t pulling their weight and expecting a free ride here,” she replies, sighing softly. Meeting another new arrival only reminded her of how painfully aware she is of not belonging here, how many and how different they are, and even though a small fraction are native, it doesn’t change matters.

“Shall we? The sooner we do this bit, the sooner we can get back to the fire again. Might even find some antlers from this blue deer things,” yeah she hasn’t learned the name of all the big weird animals here, “to make skates for out on the ice, it’s thick enough to hold.”

Ice skating she does know of, thanks to a friend and it’s slippery enough just wearing boots.

It's hard to be a man, Araceli. So hard.

"Ice skating?" That was new to the teen, but he was from Rivain and then he'd been a city boy. Not many big ice ponds there. Getting some more skins and antlers would probably be appreciated, though.

Kas follows her example and gets up as well, fixing his clothes a bit and pulling up his hood so he could warm his pointed ears a bit. Turning around, he picks up a basket and a sharp tool knife. "I'm ready. Have you seen any good trees around here?"

"Mmm, one of my friends at home Brunilda speaks of it. You lash antlers or bones carved a certain way to your boots or you can even have such boots made for you and you go out on the ice. There's always a little bit of melted water above the ice so there isn't much friction." Again, why people voluntarily go out into the cold is a strange thought to her because yes, she's gone out to sea where the wind cuts deep, and the storms that roll in are no joke but each time she's out she's doing a job. She's not apparently tying bits of dead animal on her boots to go twirl around.

She could do most of that inside in her bare feet or normal shoes over tiles.

With her own blade tucked neatly in her palm, she gives a short nod. "I saw some that we could strip easily, partway up to the quarries but we shouldn't run into any difficulties. Not now."

"Weird," Kas says with a small shrug, trying to imagine someone with horns on their feet walking on the ice. It was a pretty funny thought and he disguises his laugh with a cough.

Instead he focuses on the task at hand, going with Araceli towards the area of the quarries. It seemed like they would have plenty of branches to use, so he pulls out one of his daggers to start cutting some loose. "How many do you think we need? More than the amount we're making, of course, but still..."

This was going to be boring, but he'd endure. It was an important task, after all, and he's hoping it will make people like him better. Maybe Araceli, too. She was Korrin's girl, after all. That was... kind of family?

Maybe?

“Oh I think it would be fun to skate here, right under that giant statue with the titsicles.” Even saying the word still has her laughing, one of the worst sort of things anyone could ever have told Araceli about when she’d had a drink in her.

Coming out here now is much more pleasant than it was when they were either off to free prisoners or escort them back, even with the cold and she’s smiling as she grips her knife tight, testing how flexible they are with her free hand before she gets to cutting herself. “Half as many again, to be on the safe side. Measure twice, cut once, or the spirit of it. Better to have enough to practice them with then if we need more we could take it in turns to fetch them.”

She’s treading lightly, offering a suggestion because she remembers being his age and she was out for herself then with only her mother to answer to every so often, and the cold here has already done enough to make her grumpier than usual, half the reason she takes her walks out on the lake alone and in silence.

"T-titsicles?" Oh no, now he's laughing and blushing at the same time. It makes him rub his face to get it back under control, but he's still smiling a little as they cut off branches. He's careful to make sure they had a good thickness and bendiness.

"Makes sense. I don't want to push through this snow all day. We'll grab as much as we can handle and then take turns." Kas agrees, making a neat pile of branches by his feet. They would be even bendier once they thawed a bit, and that should help with their work a little bit.

"One of the other shouts will get us the rope to weave with, so we don't have to bother with that."

"Right? Korrin said they were a thing in Orlais, and there's this huge statute on the lake with them, I think I frightened one of those fat...things when I laughed." She has no idea what that fat animal is but it looked really disgusting although it at least didn't smell as bad as the bogfishers in the Mire had.

"Can't they just send everyone with big shields to clear real paths? I mean they're here, they have their shields, they have to use the paths too and travel so I don't see why we're not taking two birds, one stone as our approach." No one would require snowshoes in that case, or not so many. Still, it's doing something and the work will keep her fingers from freezing up the way they're threatening to now as she trims a few straggling twigs from another branch.

"So that should be us yes? At least for testing the first couple." After all, it might take a while to really get it to the 'something wearable and useful' stage.

Kas is still chuckling a bit as he cuts down a few more good branches. Titsicles.

Looking over at his pile, he tries to measure how much he can carry in one go. "It would be easier, right? Or they could let us borrow the shields to sled on. Even faster to get places." He and Korrin had a lot of fun sledding on silverite shields, so maybe that could be used in an even better way?

Nodding at her, he starts to load up his arms with the branches. "Let's go back and see how badly we'll fail at the first ones. I bet we can make something that works pretty quickly." Maybe. Hopefully. "Walking in them might be the hard part."

“I heard about that! Did you do it? The sledding? I was so cold it seemed mad to take part in such a thing though to go so fast must have been thrilling.” Instead she played snowballs with some kids that were really excited to have a person that was so fast on their team, especially the tiniest girl she’d ever seen with her hand wrapped in a green scrap of cloth.

Unwinding her scarf, she sets her bundle down as she fashions a sling on one side to tuck branches in, pinning it close with her arm. If it snarls there’s always someone to fix it if she bats her eyes just right at them and she starts laughing, exaggerating her steps. “I won’t be able to look, if a group of them set off, I’ll laugh and laugh, then my tears will freeze to my cheeks. Though perhaps watching our attempts might raise morale.”

Maybe she’ll see if she can strap Lux into some but knowing him he’d just roll on his back with his feet up until she removed them.

"Yeah! Me and Korrin went sledding on this huge silverite greatshield, it was amazing! We kinda wiped out a couple of time and once the shield got lodged in a tree, but be had loads of fun." Kas had been in snowball fights as well with a strange, fun girl, but the sledding had been kind of a bonding experience.

The teen laughs with Araceli as they get their bundles, and he starts heading back towards the camp with his armful of soon-to-be snowshoes. "Pretty sure that would be killing people with laughter. It would look hilarious."

Her laugh is loud and bright, the most genuine laugh she's managed since learning of Sina and she shakes her head before she snorts. "What happened to the shield? Did you leave it then watch some sod having to try to prize it free again?"

She would have hidden to watch, but that's just her.

"Well we might need a test subject, someone bigger to see how solid they are - neither of us are heavily armed after all. But first the worst part. I will apologise in advance for my language." Because she can do plenty of things with her fingers but she's sure her starting attempts are going to have her uttering the foulest curses she knows, especially once the feeling comes back in them.

He likes that laugh, smiling back at her and almost tripping over his own feet as he does so. "We pulled it loose! Pretty sure it needed to get some dents hammered out of it later and the soldier didn't look too happy, but I think he didn't want to mess with Korrin."

Nobody wants to mess with Korrin.

Kas picks up an escaped branch when it slides off his pile, trying to not drop the rest of them. He usually wasn't this clumsy, but snow and sticks and talking were a weird combination. "I bet we could get some soldier to try it out... and don't worry, I grew up with big burly mercenaries and on the streets. Swearing is my second language."

Edited 2016-03-07 10:38 (UTC)

“I wish I’d seen that,” she giggles when she can finally breathe and talk without sounding unintelligible. “Most of them have big helms, just hammer it out on their heads and I’m sure all would have been well.”

Someone should mess with Korrin though. So Araceli and others can watch appreciatively. Maybe charge admission and take bets to make some coin at the same time.

“Same, pirates and sailors on the docks, instead of mercenaries on the streets, whores too.” Whores have especially colourful tongues, or the ones she’s met tend to and the things they’ve come out with have shocked even Araceli. “Where did you grow up though? I’m learning how to place accents better though so many people move through countries rather than just sailing Thedas that it might be a useless exercise.”

Kas laughs, and it turns into a giggle at the end as he imagines banging a shield on a soldier's head and have it take the shape of the poor guy. "We should do shit like that with our enemies and call it art," he adds while stepping over a rock. The camp was just nearby after that, and he's happy to settle by the fire again.

Someone had gotten them a giant ball of twine. Looks like they were good to go.

"So you grew up with pirates and whores?" There's no judgement in his voice, only curiosity. "That sounds pretty cool. I bet you heard some pretty awesome stories." Maybe she could tell him some of them, sometimes? Obviously pirates should have great adventure stories and whores knew secrets and details like no others.

"I'm from Rivain. It's... uh, above us, next to Antiva. It's kind of a half-island that looks like a claw." Kas shrugs yet again and starts trying to bend a branch. "...but I spent several years here in Ferelden, mostly on the streets of some smaller cities."

It's something of a relief that they're laughing like this, given the rough start, a kind of proof she can take to Marcel next time they manage to meet up but she puts the thought form her mind as she stops for a moment to use her knife to clear some of the packed snow from her boots so she doesn't risk an accident. These were made for sand and the decks of ships, not this. "It might make Skyhold look more interesting, everywhere from home has decorations, the most they've got really is the stained glass windows at the back of the main hall, it just looks so ridiculously dour and imposing."

Untangling the sticks from her scarf, she settles her knife on her lap as she spreads the sticks out, organising them by size before she glances up.

"My father is a captain and my mother is a whore," she confirms with a smile. "I used to wait on the docks for him coming back from sea, and while I was waiting, that just meant everyone else told me stories while I waited. The adventures they all had, or the things my mother and her friends could say to get me to laugh! You're old enough to drink, you can always come find me in the tavern when you want to hear some so no one will see you blush." Or so he'll maybe snort drink out his nose because her dad's stories at least can get very convoluted and ridiculous, thanks to pirate logic.

"Korrin's told me about Rivain a few times, I should very much like to visit one day, it sounds beautiful, dangerous, and exciting. All of my favourite things." All the very best things honestly. "Were you alone then?" Like his question to her, there's no judgement, she knew plenty of kids like that growing up.

Kas studies the old snowshoe and tries to mimic it as good as possible when he starts to work. It's not exactly easy to figure things out, but if people wanted perfect snowshoes they shouldn't have put newbies on the job.

"That might be fun... I don't go into the tavern much because a guy I don't like is there a lot, but if he isn't there I'd definitely like to come have a drink and hear your stories." The Herald's Rest had a little too much Ben-Hassrath in it for his tastes.

Then she asks if he was alone and he gives a small nod. "Yeah. I... I got here when I was fourteen. Ben-Hassrath attacked out camp and killed people, so my... my mom told be to run as far away as I could. I hid on a ship and ended up in Ferelden. Alone."

This is how the Inquisition lives and learns: choosing two people from hot countries for such a task, someone's getting demoted after this.

"Who don't you like? You should still go, just to thumb your nose at him and if he says anything you can tell him to fuck off. You can go where you like." The Herald's Rest is friendlier than an awful lot of taverns Araceli's frequented in her life and she's started more than her fair share of tavern brawls that way.

Usually not against hulking great brutes but she doesn't need to know that yet.

Glancing up from her work, she doesn't bother trying to hide her sympathy. "I am so sorry, that must have been terrible. I know that Ferelden is not so kind to those who are different and to have had to run, from whatever these Ben-Hassrath are." She gives a little shake of her head, offering a small smile. "You managed to survive and make a new life for yourself, and after such things that is no small feat."

"The Ben-Hassrath are qunari that hunt down and kill other qunari that have left the Qun," Kas says with a slightly hollow voice as he awkwardly braids the twine. "They're kinda secret police and stuff. Spies, too."

He focuses hard on his work, refusing to look at her right now, because his eyes are slightly red from stubbornly refusing to get upset. "The guy in the bar is one of them. A Ben-Hassrath... and the leaders know that. They don't care."

Kas is still very bitter about that, unfortunately.

"But yeah. I survived, and now I'm gonna be something more than just a street kid. This scout thing is going to make me worth something more than the trash people think I was." There's a tiny smile, finally.

"...we're making a difference, here. Even if it's just fucking snowshoes."

Whilst some looked up in alarm, Harding was used to the sudden outbursts that sent lesser beings running from the angry stomping and yelling that came from one of the younger scouts. Most often, she wouldn't intervene; it was better he run his mouth and get it out of his system than not - at least he wasn't starting fights. Those were harder to clear up.

However, today, Josephine had some guests from Orlais. Guests that had complained loudly about the cold, the Inquisition's attire, the lack of sculpture and art on the walls, and the amount of - well, that part was whispered, muffled in disdain, but she could guess. They might part with coin for a cause, but they were going to keep their prejudices the way they were unless convinced otherwise. That cursing and yelling from one teen qunari was not going to help matters.

She finds him on the battlements. "Kas," she says, voice low. And then, louder, because he's still going. "Kas!"

Kas is yelling at a soldier, who looks somewhere between disgusted and annoyed at the boy, leaning a hand on his sword and clearly wishing he could just punch the teen in the face and be done with it.

When the qunari has to stop for a breath, he hears Harding and pales slightly, turning around. "Ma'am...?"

Shit. He had fucked up, hadn't he? He'd been really loud, but the asshole had called him a calf and he wouldn't stand for that.

Harding, at least, does not look angry. She folds her arms, she's frowning, and her eyes crinkle, which is certainly an expression made for scolding - but she isn't mad, necessarily. She looks between him and the soldier, notes the hand on the sword, and back to Kas, up until a moment ago fuming.

"Josephine has some important guests from Orlais," Harding says offhandedly. Her gaze is more settled on the soldier, now, because he's the one who likely started this - but then she looks to Kas. "I'd prefer if we didn't make her job any harder. What happened?"

The teen crosses his arms with a huff. "He called me a calf and won't apologize to an 'ox-man'", the boy mutters, feeling it was best to explain as quickly as possible - even if it stung his little pride.

The soldier just scoffs, making a comment how Kas couldn't take a damn joke. It only makes the little rogue angrier, eyes narrowing and fists clenching - but he's quiet now. If the diplomat lady had important people over, he refused to be the one responsible for messing that up.

"If you think it's a joke, you're lucky to never have been on the receiving end of it." Harding's words are for the soldier, biting and sharp. There's a line between wariness and outright prejudice, and if he's resorting to these sorts of insults and slurs? It's a side-step from an elf and knife-ear, and she won't have it. "We're all members of the Inquisition. It doesn't matter what we are. I'm sure Charter would have something to say on your performance, soldier."

She looks back to Kas. "It's your call, Kas. Is it worth forcing an apology out of him?"

The soldier looks even more irritated, gritting his teeth a bit. He clearly doesn't like being put on the spot like that, but at least he shuts his mouth for now. The threats of reporting it apparently sunk in well.

Kas glares at the man, but shakes his head. "He's an asshole, he's not going to apologize and mean it." Punching him in the face would definitely make the teen feel better, but that was a bit counter-productive.

"Forget it."

It's unlikely Harding would have stood through a face punching, or most other options in this situation, so at worst, this isn't truly a choice, because she will intervene if she doesn't find it favourable. But it is a choice, and the outcomes are more rewarding. For one, the soldier, the aggressor, is effectively told he isn't worth it, which is a far greater blow to his pride than a report or a punishment. And, it helps the one insulted to grow. It's a serious matter, one that never should have happened, but there are times to punch a man in the face, and there's a time to walk away.

Not that any of this really shows on her face aside from a small, flickering smile of approval. "Seems you got off lucky," she says offhandedly, lowering her arms. "I suggest you get back to work. All of us, for that matter. Kas?"

She gestures over her shoulder, a signal to walk with her once he's ready to leave.

Kas proudly raises his chin in defiance to the stupid soldier, feeling like he won this. The lead scout was apparently really good at defusing a teen's wounded teen pride and verbally backhand the asshole soldier at the same time. Turning, he then turns to go with Harding after one last look at the racist ass. "Yes, ma'am."

Catching up with the dwarf, he adjusts his speed to hers and rubs the back of his neck. "Sorry about being loud..." The teen apologizes quietly. "I didn't mess anything up for the diplomat lady, right?"

Harding shakes her head. "Not quite. They're still inside, far as I know. Eventually they'll brave 'the cold'." If she were better at it, she might have imitated an Orlesian accent; as is, she settles for being able to hear the airquotes. "The outside type of cold, anyway."

A precautionary measure, then, or she just had a knack for timing. The nobles would have their tour and be none the wiser the irregular rounds of angry teen yelling. "You don't have to be sorry about yelling at him. I don't blame you for it," she admits. "It's better than some things I've had to break-up."

It was a relief to hear that he hadn't fucked something up for the diplomat lady, as Lady Montilyet seemed like the kind that could manipulate him into kicking himself out of the Inquisition.

Hearing nobles complain about the cold makes him smile, though. Dumb people, of course a fortress in the mountains was gonna be cold.

"He was an asshole. Probably the type that calls the elves knife-ears," Kas mutters. "Even if there's loads of elves here and like... five qunari. Are we five? Um... me, Korrin, Metaari, the deaf guy, Iron Bull. I dunno if the old man is still around." There's a pause. "Anyway, there's plenty-ish of us so it's stupid. He could have gotten punched by the bigger qunari for it."

"Five, last I saw," Harding agrees. "And all of you are rather hard to miss. It's not like you're close to the ground." Ah, yes, dwarf jokes. She lets out a short sigh. "And it's not like you all showed up yesterday. But some people are slow to take to things. With so much at stake, they cling to their prejudices. They shouldn't, but they do. That's what leads to more than just wounded pride." As he pointed out, one of the others might have overheard it, and she doubts that Korrin, in particular, wouldn't have advocated hitting the soldier in the face, or, in general.

He makes a half-choked sound at the joke that might have been a forcibly stopped laugh. "I just wanted him to know it wasn't okay, but I guess I like yelling when I get angry." That was putting it mildly, but he was still dealing with going from insecure street kid to valuable scout material.

"Elves and dwarves and qunari and rifters are gonna bleed next to humans in battle, so it's stupid." Kas rubs the back of his neck again and then looks at her. "Am I really not gonna be written up for yelling?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They said all teenagers scare the living shit out of me.

Emprise du Lion, post-dragon

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assignment time? if that's okay?

<3

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skyhold

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