faderift | (no subject)

WHO: Alejandro Borges AND YOU, YES YOU.
WHAT: Alejandro shows up at Skyhold. It's incredibly exciting!! He's probably getting drunk or getting to work so take your pick.
WHEN: End of Guardian
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Alejandro's mouth might deserve a warning. Also, feel free to use prose or brackets; I have no real preference.

COURTYARD
"Well, isn't this a fuckin' thing."

There weren't many survivors from the O'Bannon, but the few that did live needed a refuge. For a time, Alejandro ensured that they made it someplace; Redcliffe seemed the best, least crazy place to be, and that's including the damned rumors about Tevinter mages that hung around. Alejandro wasn't thrilled with that one, but they needed a place, and that was as good as it was going to get.

Him? Well, he always got through his issues with a hammer, anger, and intent while at a forge.

Alejandro adjusts his pack on his shoulder, taking a moment to look over Skyhold. It was impressive from a distance, but damn if this isn't some kind of fortress.

"Shit, and a place to get trashed," Alejandro says with a snort. "Well, they've got the right idea."

UNDERCROFT
This isn't a bad location for a forge. Hell, downright fancy in comparison to the places he's been.

Alejandro's dropped his pack and taken a moment to review the area. It's wide and open, excellent space for anyone to work in. Frankly, he's pretty damned impressed with it; it's not fancy, but spacious as hell.

As he's exploring the space, Alejandro stops when he sees the crawl of something out of the corner of his eye. It's a bit hard to not have a good sense for this kind of shit after everything he's seen and witnessed, and he knows what it must be.

"Fuck," he whispers, eyes widening.

It's a small spider, not any larger than a sovereign, crawling innocently along, minding its own business.

Alejandro slams a bucket over the critter, frowning in thought as he tries to determine how to handle this. He commends himself silently for not screaming, but now he needs to keep it there. After glancing around a moment, Alejandro yanks a shield over and lays it on top of the bucket, keeping it still.

After pausing for a moment, he scribbles out a note and sticks on the shield:
DO NOT FUCKING MOVE
- A.B.

"That ought'a do it."

TAVERN
The day is long. It's always long. It's going to be that way for everyone, and he knows everyone's got a sob story. No one here's gotten by without a scratch, and everyone has their way of dealing with it.

Sometimes it's work for Alejandro. Sometimes it isn't.

He sits down at a table and orders himself some ale -- cheapest they have, which is gonna taste awful, but beggars aren't choosers and he's not loaded with money. Alejandro unstraps his prosthetic and lets out a sigh as the weight comes off his shoulder before he's placing the thing on the table so he can make some adjustments to it.

Sometimes it's work. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's a bit both.

WILDCARD
(Got something different? Go for it!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That makes him scowl, and Alejandro is turning to glare at her. "Excuse me? I'm sorry you didn't see the giant damned beast that was under there. Ain't nothin' left now. No way that thing got out."

To him, the spider might as well have been the size of a horse threatening to bite off his other arm.

"Giant beast?" Cassandra repeats incredulously. She gestures wildly to the bucket. "There is no room for a giant anything under there. You set off a grenade in the middle of the Undercroft! You could have killed us both!"

She stares at him, wondering for almost certainly won't be the last time just how insane he is. "What did you think you saw?"

"I know what the hell I'm doing!" No, no he doesn't, it was an act of fear, but there's no taking it back now. Oh well.

"I know what I saw. I'm sorry you apparently don't know what the fuck a spider looks like!"

There is a long, deadly silence as Cassandra stares.

"A spider?" she says at last, her voice dangerously quiet. "You saw...a spider."

She moves forward, a single step. "You set off a grenade in the Undercroft, threw my shield across the room, made claims of a giant, terrible beast - all of this - for a spider?"

Behind her, the spider, unharmed and unnoticed (at least by Cassandra), squeezes through an opening between the bucket and the uneven floor and begins crawling across the floor and up her boot.

"Your shield was already broken, not like I could have made it any worse! And yes, for a fucking spider, you--"

The blacksmith stops for a split second, his eyes easily catching onto the distinct spidery motion of the critter by the floor that starts to climb up Cassandra's boot. The eight-legged death beast has claimed a vessel and it's not going to do him any good if he screams and tries to smash it while it's on Cassandra.

Probably. Yeah, probably not a good idea. She'd kick his ass.

"--you wonderful, sharp woman!" he says instead, edging it with a nervous laugh. "Okay, you're right, I overdid it. You made your point. So, let me fix your shield right now. Which means, I need to work and you should... go do whatever it is that you do! No time like the present, Lady Seeker Ma'am."

Cassandra's eyes narrow.

He is hiding something, that much is clear. His shift in tone is far too thorough, far too abrupt. She takes another step forward, her boot crunching on the ground as she shifts her weight closer. The spider clings tight to the leather as she does.

"What is your name?" she asks suspiciously.

When she approaches, he's immediately backing off, his eyes away from her face and staring at the spider. Fucking hell woman, leave. Alejandro tries to think of his options.

There aren't a whole lot.

"Alejandro," he says, distracted.

He's not the first man Cassandra has met who's proven incapable of meeting her eyes. She doesn't question it, just steps closer.

"Alejandro." A. B. That much is obvious. She raises a finger to point it accusingly at him. "You lied to me. What else are you lying about?"

When she steps closer, he definitely takes a step back, and he holds up his hand.

"Lady, calm down -- I was busy and I didn't think you were gonna pick up the shield and unleash that fuckin' thing!" And he points at the spider on her.

"Do you mind?!"

"Seeker," she snaps, but she's distracted when he points at her leg, and she bends her head to look.

And then bends lower, squinting.

She reaches down and picks up the spider gently between two fingers, turning her hand to allow it to skitter across her skin.

"This?" she asks carefully, and brandishes her hand in Alejandro's face. "This is the reason for all of this? This is your terrible beast? It it hardly anything at all!"