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WHO: Twisted Fate & Nerva; open prompt available for catch-all
WHAT: Twisted Fate promised to continue to teach Nerva how to dance. And so they do.
WHEN: Beginning of Drakonis
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Open prompt available for catch-all. Wildcards welcome.

♠ NERVA;

"Ah, I'm glad you received my invitation."

A note had been left for the former Templar, asking her to join him on the battlements. Frankly, there are less people here and it's more than enough space for what he wants to do. He isn't particularly embarrassed, but he wants to respect Nerva's senses.

Funny to think of that. When they first met, he'd been less than impressed with her. First meetings are hardly everything, though.

He knows that well.

So here they are, and Twisted Fate with an ulterior motive, unspoken. And it'll remain that way.

♠ OPEN;

You might find Twisted Fate in his usual place, in the tavern, smiling wickedly and inviting you for a friendly game. As he does.

Or maybe outside, sighing in exasperation as he assists Zevran's roguish students in learning sleight of hand, commenting wryly at the inability to palm their cards just right.

Often, he's also found at the library, thumbing through his newest selection of a novel of questionable quality.

Yet, you might also find that there is a wolf wandering the premises, caught out of the corner of your eye, and quickly it is gone. Shapeshifting is a matter of continued practice, and wryly to himself he's found this to be the next simplest form.

Maybe it's something else. Something unmentioned. It's up to you, friend.

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It was with something of a strange unease that Nerva mounted the battlements - both more secure in her footing, and somehow less. In fact, she had the invitation with her - folded carefully into the pouch at her side - but she didn't draw it up.

The flowers - those she didn't bring, sitting in a hastily scrounged vase, with as clean water as she could get her hands on. (Was she supposed to mention them? Thank him? Flowers of gratitude weren't covered in Templar training.)

"I did," She agreed, and then, in a moment's impulse decision- "And the flowers. They were beautiful, thank you."

That seemed like the right thing to say, regardless of the strange mix of feelings that the flowers themselves had brought with them.

Hearing that she liked them brings about a satisfaction in him, more than he likes to really admit. So, he smiles warmly and bows his head slightly.

"You're welcome," he says. They were given in sincerity, and he can't possibly tease her for it.

It's a dare to himself to press on in this way, but he'd already been assured of his trust in her. That is enough.

So, he holds out his hand to her. "And thank you for joining me. I thought it couldn't hurt to continue our lessons."

She relaxes slightly. The dance lessons, of course. What else would she have expected? That was much easier and straight forward to think about.

So she reached out to take his hand, stepping up Ito the position that he ha previously taught her, though it wasn't exactly a natural movement. She obviously still had to think about it.

"It seems the Inquisition requires far more dancing skill than I previously anticipated," she admitted, with the slightest upturn of her lips. "I appreciate the assistance."

A hand goes to her waist, and he considers a moment before he smiles at her, once again. The warmth doesn't leave his expression, a much more relaxed look than his signature smug looks.

"You'd be surprised what skills come in handy. We'll start off slow before your feet remember."

He hums low, a simple tune for them to take step to.

"How are you adjusting?" After she's left the Templars and all. It's not just conversation now; he's found, despite himself, that he does care. He is allowing himself now to care.

Her free hand went to his shoulder, touching it lightly.

"I think you are overestimating my feets' recall ability," She murmured, frowning down at them as she willed them into time. The first few steps were awkward, but the previous lessons had done their work and it got easier as they went.

(She didn't notice, when she started humming under her breath to match his tune.)

"Nngh." The word was a dissatisfied one, and she was watching their feet instead of his face. "I assume you heard about Cade."

"I think you're underestimating yourself. Trust me, even I had little grace until I learned. Try to imagine that, eh?"

He's patient and certainly in no hurry as they go into step. He hears her, the humming, soft and subtle, and Fate is immensely pleased.

That's an unhappy noise, though, if he'd ever heard one from her.

"Hard not to, even if I wasn't amused by local gossip." There's a thoughtful look on his face. "I'm not fond of him, but I am curious if you know what really happened? The blame game is a frequent one in the Inquisition."

She snorted - a low, quiet sound of amusement, but her head was tilted down toward her feet so if she was smiling, it was invisible. "Hard to believe." Wryly. "I thought all the elves danced naked in the moonlight from birth." That - was definitely a joke. A very poorly given joke, but at least an obvious one. For once.

Her expression hardens, however, as she discusses Cade - and it makes her miss a step and swear to herself under her breath. "I witnessed the end of it. He has no excuse for himself, could hardly even reason why it had happened in the first place. I am not sure... I am not sure that his mind is entirely whole, if you take my meaning. He's been taken off active duty."

An arrow embeds itself in the wood where the wolf had been a few seconds ago, and a Dalish curse is muttered. Beleth walks over and tugs the arrow free, notching the bow again as she slowly makes her way around the corner of the building. A wolf inside the hold? Probably after chickens, or worse. Beleth is pretty sure that if the thing finds Sister Leliana's nugs, fits will be thrown.

How did it even get in? She'll have to ask around, speak to the other scouts. And as no one will believe her unless she has something to show for it, so off she goes, footsteps silent as she prowls. Not quite the same as getting to hunt in the woods, but it's the same principals. Far more dangerous, to boot, if the wolf isn't found.

Well, it was bound to happen. It's not as if he's made himself clear of his shapeshifting to many people, much less to Beleth. The arrow makes his ears flick and his thoughts fly to the worst before he remembers how unlikely that is.

No, Beleth's aim is not the worst thing that could happen to him today.

For a moment, he wonders if he should just shift back to his normal body, but where's the fun in that? Giving her a little runaround might sport a bit of a laugh. If a wolf could grin, he certainly would; instead, he glances at her briefly before he's taking off, heading toward the battlements.

She squints suspiciously when the wolf turns to look at her. Well, that's certainly not usual. But the wolf is taking off, probably to try to avoid her arrows. She decides not to dwell, and takes off again, following the wolf cautiously. At least the battlements won't have any children or chickens it can harass.

While it is not the forest, Beleth still has some skill at hunting--after all, up until recently, it was her main job. She moves quietly, darting behind a building for one, two, three breaths, then moves out from behind it, firing the arrow at the wolf again. She does have a bit of a disadvantage from being in the forest--She'd really rather not stick an arrow someone who isn't a wolf, and she has to take that extra time to be cautious.

And it'd be pretty hard to explain landing an arrow in some slow shem if she doesn't at least have the damn pelt to show for it.

If it were a common animal, there would be no doubt Beleth's skill to land her arrow with little trouble. Obviously, Twisted Fate is far from a common animal, not that Beleth would know that. He hears with these amazing ears the telltale sign of a bowstring being drawn back, a sound he's heard a hundred times or more in his life.

He turns and darts sharply in the opposite direction when she fires, letting out a loud wuff that's almost like a laugh as he narrowly dodges the arrow. Fate works his way through the battlements, aiming to head toward the direction of the tavern.

Beleth isn't one to boast about her abilities, but she knows that it should be within her skills to take down one wolf. The fact that he manages to elude her is both frustrating and suspicious--But she doesn't have time to worry about strange wolves, not when he's heading for the tavern. The last thing she needed was a wolf to go get the drunks all stirred up and probably kill each other. Also, that nice boy that stayed at the top of the tavern. She couldn't let the wolf hurt him.

She mutters another elven curse as she starts hustling to catch up to the wolf. Damn, but she wished that she had another hunter here. Working with another, she could've done a little more to try to trap the wolf. Of course, then she'd have to deal with being laughed at for missing such a simple target.

She reaches for one of her explosive arrows, twisting her lips in distaste. It'd ruin any chance to use the wolf's pelt or meat, but if the creature got into the tavern, the important thing was going to be taking it down, not eating it. She nocks the arrow, and throws stealth into the wind, rushing to the tavern.

"Only in this place..." She murmurs quietly, shaking her head. This never happened in the clan. Anyone older than 10 could have taken this wolf down.

The chase is something that he could provide for sometime, but he knows that Beleth isn't aware of who he is. She is actively trying to kill him and he should get around to revealing himself until this turns out badly.

When he sees that explosive arrow, he knows it's just about time for it.

Instead of attempting to wrangle the door open, the wolf circles around the tavern, the nook just out of sight. It's here that he concentrates, returning to his normal form.

Worst comes to worst, he thinks that he can put up a barrier in time. Maybe. Probably.

In any case, Twisted Fate turns to face Beleth, smiling sharply as he does.

"That was terribly exciting."

Beleth breaths a silent sigh of relief when she sees that the wolf avoids the tavern. Arrow drawn, ready to be fired, she whirls around the corner and--

Nearly falls right on her rear when Fate is just there. She does stumbles backwards a little, expression bewildered, before sliding to peer around Twisted Fate. Nothing. And then, slowly, confusion is replaced by dawning realization, as she puts down her bow, and turns to the other elf. There is a solitary moment of silence in which Beleth just stares at him, before both bow and arrow are dropped in favor of giving Fate a shove.

"You ass! That was you? The whole time? I--I was trying to hunt that wolf! I--" She steps away from him, expression torn between enough anger to toss him off the ramparts right then and there, and a horrified realization that she had almost killed someone. Someone who was a massive tool, but certainly not one she wanted to murder. "I was trying to hunt you. Do you know what that means!? Do you--Do you grasp that concept!?"

She may be, just a slight bit, hysterical.

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wow the spelling on my last tag lmfao sob i'm so sorry, my phone is a dick

never trust a phone

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