Moving Day

[pinprick]

WHO: All the Wardens and whatever onlookers/helpers they may find.
WHAT: Moving Day
WHEN: Current-ish
WHERE: Skyhold and just outside Skyhold
NOTES: The Wardens are grounded. They have been told to camp outside Skyhold. So it's moving day.

It is a relatively flat and pretty utterly frozen piece of land outside Skyhold that the Wardens have found. Since there are only a couple dozen of them, they don't need a large space, at least. There's going to be a premium on slightly more elevated spots, so it's first come first serve. Some Wardens arrive with the sun and lay claim with canvas, stakes, ropes, and poles stacked up while they go back for heavier things. Digging into the frozen ground with the stakes is rough, especially for those who brought wooden stakes instead of iron. Some will be forced to wait until the sun softens things a bit. Some are chasing away the feeling of eviction by making themselves at home, starting fires in pits, or making light of their work through periodic bouts of horseplay. For example, one large longbowman with a wounded right arm, fed up with teasing for his inability to do heavy lifting, carries with his left arm a blond mage who hits him repeatedly with a pillow. Unperturbed, he continues on.

But when the tents are pitched and the sun is down, the cozy camp is a little less strange. People will gather around fires for warmth and companionship, knowing that after one sleep, this will start to feel like home.

Comments

[ombranera]

1

Zevran, of course, cannot help but be present. Well he could, it's cold, it's camping, but it is the Wardens and it is Alistair and they are all terribly grizzled and in need of a good shave. That, honestly, is what he and his Kestrels set about righting first, off to one side from where the tents are erected. For now it is not much, an awning, a half wall to block the wind, a sturdy chair that was padded as best as one could make it without creating cushions of something that would not last in the cold or damp. Somewhere to shave and trim themselves- or have Zevran or one of the Kestrels do so for them. For a price. A few coppers, a silver, whatever they have to offer.

They tag in and out of crafting this arrangement, helping the wardens pack and carry, set out tents or light a fire. Building a proper pit in the center of this strange little tent city for cooking has most of Teresa's attention at the very least. Zevran himself gives orders and before the day is out? A chest from his room is brought down, game hunted and slaughtered. A good, rich, proper Antivan hunting stew is on simmer for the rest of the day. It is not fish chowder, but it is something.


2

The fledglings flit about as needed, hauling, cooking, setting up tents, shaving. Call upon them here if you wish.

[doneisdone]

The elf looks familiar, though Teren's not sure from where. Nonetheless, here he is, helping out, and she's hardly one to turn down assistance.
Carrying a sack of grain over one bony hip, she approaches Zevran. "You're not a warden," she observes, not unkindly. "To what do we owe the honor?"

[ombranera]

Zevran never forgets a face- and what this face in particular is doing here? Zevran cannot say. He does start a bit before clearing his throat. "Ah, I am a friend of Alistair's."

There is a reason she sets off internal bells- soon enough he will recall the why.

[doneisdone]

Zevran's surprise seems to amuse Teren mildly, though it's only visible through the slight upturn of her smirk. "Oh, of course," she says, "traveled with the Hero of Ferelden, I presume?"

[ombranera]

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeess?" Drawn out and faintly wry in much the same way Alistair speaks it. "That is how we met."

[doneisdone]

Teren is immediately driven to roll her eyes. "I see you've spent a lot of time together," she drily remarks. "Well met, then." If she does indeed know him from somewhere, she's not showing it at all. "Teren von Skraedder, Senior Warden."

[ombranera]

"Zevran Arainai, Ombra Nera." Black Shadow to the Crows. "I swear I have seen you somewhere before- perhaps you have had some business in Antiva?"

[doneisdone]

Teren looks at him, her expression opaque. "Not I," she says, "I've barely left Orlais since I was a girl." Maybe she just has one of those faces.

[ombranera]

"I must be mistaken." It will click, later. Much later when he is not quite so busy focusing on not being upset about this mess.

1.

[justice_is_blond]

He comes over after he and Nate have made some progress on their own tent, looking over what Zevran and his little not-Crows have done with a trace of amusement.

"It really does bother you how we wind up looking, doesn't it."

[ombranera]

"Yes, it does. You are an order of distinguished...well. You are an order. You may as well look the part." Getting the second wall up to cut the wind would be a fine goal before they lose daylight.

[justice_is_blond]

He starts to help with the wall, thawing the ground to make it easier to move earth. It's the least he can do, and he intends to do more. After all, this is the Warden camp. Zevran didn't have to be out here helping, or to bring his trainees to help, but he had.

"They've accepted me. I think that ends the 'distinguished' question."

[ombranera]

"Yes, well, they also accepted Oghren. That took 'distinguished' long before you became such a point of contention." He snorts as he starts digging the hole for the next post, Settimo off cutting down wood to be stripped.

[justice_is_blond]

"I can't argue with that." His gaze follows Settimo for a moment before Anders turns his attention back to the elf. Settimo is very attractive, but Zevran's trainees are at Skyhold to heal, not be hit on by abominations.

"It's a wonder they didn't ask you to join to balance him out. I'm fairly certain they only wanted me so that they'd have someone pretty to look at. At the time it was Jonas and Oghren, and then Nathaniel too, and while two of them are handsome, they're not me." The ground feels thawed enough, and he starts cheating by casting to move the ground out of the way for the hole that would line up with Zevran's. Magic. Most definitely serving man, right here.

[ombranera]

"He'd be quite pleasing." Zevran offers, light and easy- kinder than he would be for anyone else oogling his fledglings in such a way. "And give every appearance of enjoying himself."

That would be the extent of the warning. Anders did not need Zevran glowering at him with a dagger. Even if there is some small, selfish part of him that wished to do so- Alistair must live out here, Leliana is displeased with him, Keiran has been taken from him-

He swallows this and sets it aside. He made his choice. HE need only live with it.

[justice_is_blond]

He shakes his head with a glance at Zevran. What's being said is clear and falls in line with Anders' thoughts exactly - Settimo is not healthy, and he would not be doing anything with true consent.

"I only want company that actually enjoys themselves." It's nice to know this is one line that not only will he not cross, but Justice would not either. Some things are worrying, with the spirit.

"I'd prefer to not contribute any more suffering to the world." 'Than I already have' is unspoken. He has helped, and he has harmed. They both know this and it is not Zevran's burden to carry.

[ombranera]

"Then when this is finished you will sit and I will give you a shave, yes? You are looking a touch stubbly." Most of the Wardens were. Alistair would have to be next- this is what happens when Zevran leaves him to his own devices for too long.

As he now must.

Zevran's next strike with the shovel was harder than need be, burying past the edge of the blade in the dirt. It made levering it out a strain- but better than turning that on Anders.

[justice_is_blond]

While not always the most observant, Anders is starting to wonder if something is wrong when the shovel is driven in that hard. Was it the glance at Settimo? It could be. As he doesn't have so many friends that he can simply hope for things to blow over, he needs to speak.

"I didn't mean anything by the look. And I can refrain from glancing again."

[ombranera]

"It is not that." He muttered, the next drive downward much the same. "Leliana is not speaking to me. Morrigan has forbidden me Keiran. Alistair must spend his days out here."

Weighing the cost against his silence, now that it has come to pass? And finding the price a bit much. It itches in a way he hasn't had to endure in some time.

[justice_is_blond]

Anders looks down as the words sink in. He's cost Zevran dearly, and Zevran isn't the one who approached him first. The pressure had been put on when Anders sought lockpicking lessons.

This is what he does, over and over and over - hurt people when they try to be his friend or help him - and a weight settles in his stomach.

"I'm sorry." It's not enough. "If there's..." But there isn't anything he can do and he knows it even as the sentence starts. He exhales and steps back. "The ground is thawed in the next spot too. If you'd... If you'd like to not have to deal with me for a time, I understand. Or if there's something else you'd like."

[ombranera]

"You did not make me hold my tongue, Anders." He did that all on his own. "...To be honest- I probably will not be sucking your cock anytime soon. But your presence in general is not overly aggravating."

[justice_is_blond]

The words are a relief, despite what his cock may think. Losing sex, even magnificent sex, is a low price to pay for not losing yet another friend. Anders nods, and he won't be rude enough to ask about him sucking Zevran's cock. The point isn't about sucking, it's about a break from sex. Anders nods.

"I'll miss your lips. And said tongue. But I'm glad of the implication that I get to still have your company and conversation." He takes a breath. "You're a friend, and I'm truly sorry for what that's cost you."

Kneeling, Anders resumes casting, moving the earth out of the way for where the second pole would go. It's about as efficient as a shovel, and far less sweat-inducing. Plus he likes showing that magic can be practical. Zevran's not afraid of it, no one in this camp is that sort of person, but the point is still the same.

[ombranera]

He's prepared for Anders to push the point. Not that Anders is the type aside from being alive, human, and an occasional partner of Zevran's but the wariness is everpresent. That it is needless eases a knot in his chest he does not wish to look at too closely. "Yes, well."

He shrugs, going back to the task at hand. Holes for posts. Posts for walls. Anders does his work and Zevran finishes his hole, shoving the narrow point of the stripped log into place with a grunt. "It is not as though I expected to walk away without this costing something. Or that Alistair and I haven't spent time apart in the past."

[justice_is_blond]

There's a short pause as he weights his response. He could be serious and keep things solemn if Zevran needs this, but the elf sounds like he's trying not to dwell.

"You'll be welcome down here at any time, and it may give you more opportunities to tease him publicly. I'm assuming the rumors that the two of you are together are for the sake of flustering him? He strikes me as the sort to seek female companionship rather than male or either."

He looks at the other pole Settimo's prepared and frowns. It's not poorly done. It just looks heavy. Which, he'll grant, it needs to be. There will be a wall's weight on it. That doesn't mean he needs to enjoy moving it, and it really doesn't mean its movement will be anywhere near as smooth as the way Zevran moved his. Anders struggles a little before dropping it in, shaking his head as he casts to enclose the bottom of both poles in earth.

"And if you're ever seeking a new teasing target, Nate, Nathaniel, is a fantastic one."

[ombranera]

"I actually did not start those. They simply happened and I have yet to correct anyone on the point. He shares a bed with me. Most take it to mean we share more than a bed. I think Gavin, one of the elves, assumes we are in love." Which is laughable, actually. Alistair is just as Anders says- he prefers the company of women.

They work better as they are, unfathomable as it might seem.

"Though it does make him blush so. And he is quite amusing when he blushes. Not as readily as he once did during the blight, but all the same." Alistair was an adorable twenty something. "Mm...I do not know how well that might go considering I helped kill his father. Nothing personal but. Jonas."