faderift | [Open] Diplomacy: The Art Of Restraining Power

Entry tags:

{ bethany hawke }

[Open] Diplomacy: The Art Of Restraining Power

WHO: Bethany Hawke and You
WHAT: After Bethany speaks to the Inquisition., she opens a public forum
WHEN: A week after the announcement about Anders, before they return to the Western Approach
WHERE: Camp Shady, aka the Warden Camp outside Skyhold
NOTES:Probable cursing, possible violence, and a whole lot of being reasonable and dimples.

True to her word in her sending crystal message, Bethany placed herself outside of the Warden camp with a table, and a chair on either side, to discuss 'formal complaints' against the Wardens for what occurred with the 'Anders' situation. Those who approach will find her calmly sitting there, knitting needles in hand, as she works and waits for people to arrive. Once they call her attention, or sit in the chair, she puts the knitting aside and opens the dialogue.

Her entire body language screams serenity, and calm. Whatever happens, happens. She's here to help her brothers and sisters, in one of the ways she knows how. By being extremely kind, and a good listener.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He's been meaning to talk to her since she's arrived, but business has always seen to it that he hasn't been able to. He barely even has time to visit with his sister, let alone anyone he might have known previously. Now is as good of a time as any, especially concerning the current topic at hand. They were both there when her sister had given her verdict, and if he was mad then, he was still mad now.

He's trudged his way down to the Warden Camp, almost thankful to get out of Skyhold for now. Tensions were at a high in the stronghold, the air thick enough to cut with a knife. It was suffocating.

He's in a decent mood by the time he reaches the camp, approaching carefully. "It's been a long time, Warden Hawke."

Of all the people Bethany expects to arrive first? Cullen Rutherford was not high on the list of her possible suspects. She looks at him for a long moment, before she puts aside her knitting and puts on a smile instead. Her hands fold together atop the table, her dimples flashing to life in a polite, warm smile.

"Why yes it has, Commander Rutherford." She tilts her head to the side, "I'm a little surprised to see you, I'll admit. I would think the Advisers would avoid us for a time, give the Wardens a great deal of distance." She looked around their shabby little camp, clearing her throat, "Outside the, ah-em, obvious."

It was a difficult decision to make. On one hand, he's not super thrilled to be in the Warden camps; he's argued with a good lot of these people already and he's not impressed with what most of them had to say. On the other fake hand, Bethany seems ... reasonable, and that's a little hard to be angry with.

And she seemed genuinely wanting to know what his issue, exactly, is.

This isn't something he's spoken to Zevran about, but he feels he should at some point but the elf's been through enough. For now, he said he'd talk.

So, Alejandro arrives, finding Bethany easily enough.

"Hey." That's an incredible greeting already.

"Good afternoon. You must be Alejandro."

Bethany had this table set up for precisely this reason, after all. She wasn't going to be callous enough to offer him refreshments, because clearly he felt awkward enough by the look on his face. Instead, she stood respectfully, and gestured him to the seat across from her.

"Please, sit. I am glad to have this opportunity to discuss your concerns with you, face to face. Feel free to begin, whenever you are ready."

A warm smile, and she waited to sit until he had sat down, her hands folded in front of her and her brown eyes staying on him.

"Shit, honestly... I don't even know how to start this."

The wounds are still fresh, and he'd been sitting on them, trying to ignore them for weeks. It seemed like something he could swallow down until this entire reveal occurred. Maybe it's unreasonable to put blame on one man, but it sure as hell feels like he's to blame in part. If it wasn't for him, then...

Alejandro sits down and fiddles with his arm prosthetic absently, looking at Bethany tiredly.

"I'm a blacksmith. Used to work duo with my cousin, Noah. Less of a cousin and more like my little brother, I guess. We left Antiva, thinking if we got to another city might be more work for us. Kirkwall was kinda shitty, but half the people in Antiva paid in counterfeit. Zev was probably one of my few honest customers back then.

"We were there, when the shit at the Chantry happened. I don't know how long you stuck around afterward, but the economy was fucked for us who weren't in Hightown. Half the city was fucked. People lost a lot, including Noah and me. We couldn't get much work, and I'm not exactly as useful with construction as I used to be." He nods to his fake arm. "And Noah? Hell, he was skinny, no way he could fit into that. Smart as hell, smarter than me, but a real beanpole.

"But several of us heard about a job on this boat. The O'Bannon was going to dock briefly at Kirkwall, and they were looking for people willing to venture into the Deep Roads. Look, I know it was risky, but we didn't have a whole lot of options, and the pay was triple than I was used to seeing. So, we took it."

Alejandro sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "Went 'bout as well as you'd think. Without goin' into details, shit hit the fan when we left the Deep Roads."

Bethany listened carefully to this entire story, her hands folded together on the table. Sympathy flashed through her brown eyes, and a quiet, "Oh Maker..." at a few points in the tale. When he finally got to the part with the Deep Roads, she shook her head a little.

"I am a living example of what might go horribly wrong, in such a situation, when it comes to going to the Deep Roads when not a Grey Warden. Did your cousin succumb to the Blight, as well?" She asked, her voice quiet and gentle.

"No. Someone else did, but not Noah. No, it-- we found red lyrium. Not a large piece, and it was before all this shit with the Red Templars, so we didn't have any real idea what was gonna happen. We brought it back with us. One of the warriors, Kuttner, he was guarding it and spent a long time near it. I dunno what it did to him, but it made him fucking crazy."

Alejandro clenches his hand, and he shuts his eyes; this is the difficult part to discuss. "He attacked Noah and me. I couldn't stop him..."

It's not Bethany's fault, but he doesn't know how else to react. He slams his fist down on the table. It's easier to be angry than grief stricken. "They didn't do anything but put him away in the brig! Fuckin' bastard! What I'm saying is if Anders didn't pull his shit in Kirkwall, Noah wouldn't have died. We wouldn't have been so fucking desperate as to go on that expedition."

Well, this was taking on a dreadfully familiar turn, and her mouth twisted sideways at the corners, as her brown eyes narrowed in concern, and alarm. "I'm sorry, I don't want to belittle your emotions at this moment -- but you did destroy the red lyrium after that, yes?"

Oh, please do not have this poor man be responsible for all the red lyrium sprouting up all over Thedas. Not after everything he had lost. Clearly he was upset, and she didn't want to ignore that ... but she had an ugly first time experience with red lyrium that she did not want anyone else to go through.

The question gives him pause, and he stares a moment. "What-- yes, of course. Fuck that shit. I didn't care what anyone else was gonna say, we had to destroy it. Burned down the whole fucking boat, too. Only a few of us were left."

But Bethany's been more than reasonable, so he assumes she's asked for good reason.

"Once I heard red lyrium was growin' all over the damn place, I wanted to make sure nothing like that happened again. So, here I am." Then the Anders shit, and here they are.

A great deal of tension left Bethany's shoulders then. This poor man wasn't going to have to carry around the guilt of whomever was idiotic enough to bring this back to the surface.

She sighed, folding her hands on the table, frowning down at her fingers before she looked up at him solemnly. "I am terribly sorry for your loss, Alejandro. I know that coming here, being faced with Anders and all that he represents cannot have been easy for you. I also would like to apologize for being part of the party that originally brought red lyrium back -- I am sure you hold my sister and I responsible for that as well. I shall add your cousin's name to the list of those I pray to the Maker for."

She sucked in a deep breath, "I know you must harbor deep guilt yourself, bringing your cousin along on such a journey. I know my sister still feels racked with guilt for her own adventures in the Deep Roads, and what it did to our family. May I have your permission to share this story with Anders? I am hoping it will give him - " and Justice, " - perspective."

That does surprise him, how incredibly sensitive Bethany is to what he's just had to say. Alejandro is quiet a moment, frowning to himself as he takes it in.

Despite what he's said, how much he does blame Anders and Kuttner for what happened to Noah, Alejandro does, most of all, blame himself for taking him along. Less like cousins and more like siblings; he'd watched him grow up, and was responsible for him. And he absolutely failed to keep him protected, and he couldn't make up for it. He never will.

"Yeah, I..." Alejandro takes in a deep breath. It hurts to let it go. "Sure, fuck, go for it. I don't know what good that'll do."

"It will be something more for him to consider, with all future actions. It will be a reminder that what he did, did not just affect mages. It affected everyone around Kirkwall who had nothing to do with how the mages were being treated." She looked at Alejandro, her brown eyes quiet, "It is very easy to miss the trees, just to take in the scope of the forest."

A sigh, as she looks off. "That's something my father always taught us. Take responsibility for our actions. Whatever they might be."

"Well, too bad Anders didn't know him, because that's some solid advice."

For a moment, he's quiet as he digests the entire conversation he's just had with Bethany. Frankly, it wasn't a topic he'd been thrilled to go over with anyone; he hasn't decided how to tell Zevran about Noah yet, not that the two of them knew each other well but it's worth mentioning.

Talking about it now, he doesn't know if it's helped, but at least someone's listened. He's still angry about the decision made for Anders, but Bethany seems intent to ensure that it is a responsibility that they aren't taking lightly.

"Thank you. For takin' the time to hear me out."

"I think it's a shame that no-one outside my family got to know my father."

Bethany stated quietly, before she looked up at Alejandro again with a quietly intent look.

"Thank you for coming to speak to me about your concerns. Please, let everyone else know they can feel free to speak with me."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Open] Diplomacy: The Art Of Restraining Power

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject