One day Leliana will talk to Harding about the importance of personal time, rest, recovery... all of those good things, basically. One day that could be today, or could get guiltily pressed back, because Leliana wants her scouts to be well and to be safe, but well and safe and happy all feel like perilous indulgences, in a time like this. If she were to insist Lace worked less hard, trained less, took less upon herself, and something went awry, the way so much has seemed to go awry of late, what then? If she commanded her to do less, as she had commanded her scouts back to Haven for their safety, what then? She had cost the Inquisition its Herald through her caution. Perhaps it is better they press themselves, as much as they can.

It is not satisfactory, and she worries for the sake of her agents and scouts, as much as for the Inquisition and for Thedas. What is a nation, a world, if not made up of individuals? What kind of world will it be, if individuals are left to suffer, to push themselves too far? But what world will they have, if they do not do everything in their power?

It is the struggle that drags at her each moment, one of many. For now it is set aside, pressed into the background so she can focus on her lead scout and weigh up her tone, her posture, each word.

"Logical and emotional, in one," Leliana comments, the slightest hint of a smile. Approving, really, and her smile quirks into something more obvious for just a moment. "I once had a potential scout tell me he thought of an ex-lover," she adds, tone rather more dry. "His potential was rather reduced, after that."