[Closed] This isn't even my final form

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Anders and close CR
WHAT: Detlef makes his last appearance for some goodbyes in case, Anders gives some warnings, and basically he tries to prepare.
WHEN: Around this time, a little backdated for the ride, but generally 24th-ish
WHERE: Ride back from EDL and in Skyhold
NOTES: Anders.

[ooc: This is various starters for Detlef's end and Anders warning some friends and admitting things to another. If you'd like a starter, ping me at Nadat on plurk and I'll put one together!]

Comments

[justice_is_blond]

Kindness would be a swift end, not guards, but he doesn't say as much. None of those in Kirkwall know what Kinloch Hold had been like, what he'd been through there. It's better that few know how weak he'd been, how broken he'd been.

"Bethany will undoubtedly help, as will another Warden I know, Nathaniel. And possibly Kaisa." And he needs to make sure he can head them all off if any of them seeks to help too much. He can't allow them to sacrifice too much for him.

"I promise not to be too offended if instead of visiting me you wind up in the root cellar and start talking to potatoes. Or you only visit when you meant to go play with... I don't know. Nugs. Whatever corpses Fenris uses for company in his new room. I assume they have names."

It's not easy to keep his voice steady. He's practically being mourned by someone who is painfully, dangerously naive, but has cared. He can't ignore that. He can't, which means he's not pulling away like he otherwise might. This is the end and he won't go unmourned, with his grave simply a place people spit.

"Take care of yourself beyond the dragons. Remember that demons always lie. And don't tell the Mage Council what you are." Not just for her sake - if they knew and then didn't act against her, they'd likely be inviting trouble. They had such a thin line to walk, all mages did, and it wasn't fair to any of them. Hopefully the next generation will be free of that.

He's out of things to say, now, but he still doesn't push her back. It costs Anders absolutely nothing to let the moment linger.

[chainlightning]

Perhaps it would be. Merrill can understand that, if she thinks about it; preferring to be killed than to submit, preferring to be free than under a leash. She is Dalish, after all. But then again, she is selfish, in her own way; she wants Anders to stay alive, to be a friend she can reach when there are so many that are now lost.

"I'll get Bethany to walk me there if I can't find you," she promises, giggling a little despite herself at the mention of Fenris and his Corpse Friends. Likely the other elf would be glad for this -- or, she supposes, angry that he hadn't gotten the chance to kill Anders himself.

Creators. If they decide to execute him... Well, she'll just have to do something, won't she?

"I'll be careful," she promises, shifting a bit to look Anders in the eye, to make sure he knows that she means it. Ten years since they first met in Kirkwall, and she hopes he believes that she's at least a little bit wiser than she once was. "I promise. And- you be careful, too, when they ask you questions."

Because he's right. There is such a thin line, a knife's edge, and she's not sure if either side of it will go well. There is so little she can do, now. So she shows her care, her heart, and she shows her worry in the way of her people to try and put the emphasis on how much she means it.

"May the Dread Wolf never hear your steps, lethallin."

[justice_is_blond]

That's a very Dalish blessing, and Anders has nothing like it to offer in return. He gives her shoulder a squeeze, nodding.

"I'll be careful." There will be no telling of blood magic, no listing of names of those who were kind because they deserve better than that, no revelation of the two mages who were hiding what they were. She's grown a little, as has he. Not enough for his survival, but he's grown.

Anders glances back at the camp. There are a few more farewells to say, as well as one that will likely be the hardest as he has to tell someone he's come to care about that Detlef is a false name, and everything's been a lie. He takes a breath. "I'll be careful to sneak up on the Dread Wolf and hopefully not be eaten."

[chainlightning]

He needs to go. He has more things to do, more people to see, more preparations to make. But Merrill finds that she doesn't particularly want to let him, arms tightening around him.

"Smack him in the face with your staff if he tries to bite. That'll surprise him."

Sorry Solas.

Another squeeze and this time Merrill pulls back entirely, hands immediately latching together to rub and worry. "Be safe."