[open] now my head's splitting at the seams

[onlyhymns]

WHO: Cade the Disgraced and you!
WHAT: Cade is free (to a point) and around and about Skyhold again. He always has a buddy with him, whether it's Nerva, a Tranquil, or a scout who's been saddled with babysitting duty.
WHEN: Drakonis
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Warning for probable violence and possible other dark shit, depending on how things go.

Cade is miserable, but at least he is not in a cell. Most of the time he is at the whims of whomever is in charge of supervising him, which means a lot of labor, assisting Nerva or Tranquil or scouts, and generally being little more than a manservant or a leashed dog.

He keeps his head low and his tongue still for the most part, but anyone is still free to approach and engage him.

Comments

[apostasia]

"I have every faith in the judgment that has been passed down to you," he says, which may or may not be true. "It is, however, an unfortunate quality of the world in which we live that I've observed a certain casual attitude towards matters regarding our elven friends."

His elven friends. His gaze sharpens, and his head tilts very slightly.

"I understand you to have had an unfortunate lapse of judgment and willpower. And that's all, isn't it?"

It's not that he dislikes elves, particularly, or thinks himself entitled to commit acts of violence on their persons? Is it? Martel would be terribly disappointed.

[onlyhymns]

Ah, so hear it is. Cade has come to expect conversations of this nature, and his heart sinks the moment he hears the word 'elves'. Of course it's about elves. Everyone in Skyhold wants him to be in worse shape than he is, and every single one of them is more than happy to tell him so.

"...yes," he says, his unease growing.

[apostasia]

This one will be brief.

After all, Martel is still smiling; he claps Cade on the shoulder and there's no pointed use of unnecessary force. It's almost a friendly gesture, except for the cold, serpentine undercurrent of this entire interaction and the fact that he doesn't need to be pointed about anything for Cade to get a very accurate impression of the strength behind his hands (and all the rest of him).

"Magnificent. You understand, old boy, given the nature of the situation one might feel the need to be assured of that for oneself." What with a remarkable tendency of the Thedosian powers that be to overlook certain things in their world. "But I'm happy to take you at your word."

This time.

Just this one time.

[onlyhymns]

Cade has a thing about people touching him. He hates it, and prolonged touches make him want to crawl out of his own skin, so when Martel claps his shoulder, he flinches more than is strictly necessary and frowns up at him, blinking rapidly in the way of one who is driven to distraction but still trying to appear as though he's listening.
As soon as the man finishes speaking, Cade steps back and pulls his shoulder away, looking down at the floor with pursed lips and shaking hands. "Right," he says in a voice almost too low to be heard, not making it entirely clear about what he's responding to.

[apostasia]

A more oblivious man might not make the connection between his contact and Cade's heightened unease; it isn't as if Cade starts from such a relaxed position in the first place. A kinder man might remember it so he doesn't cause undue discomfort in the future -

The part of Martel that had made him such a ruthlessly effective opponent to his brother is what drives the way he takes the smallest step to close the distance enacted, his expression far gentler than the sentiment behind testing his theory. (It isn't useful to speculate. If you've something in your pocket to use later, if need be, you ought to be sure it's going to serve its purpose.)

"I think we understand each other," he says, amiably. "I'm glad we've had this talk, Ser Harimann. I am much reassured."

[onlyhymns]

There is absolutely no doubt in Cade's mind what is being conveyed here-- it's not that he's exceptionally perceptive, but he is exceptionally paranoid, and even a neutral look from someone can make him wonder what he's done. In this case, the message is crystal clear.

When Martel comes ever closer, the Templar resorts to just looking at the ground, focusing on his breathing, trying to keep himself still and steady so another incident doesn't occur. The alarms in his mind are clanging so loudly he barely hears what Martel says, and just nods distractedly in response, anything to make him go away.

[apostasia]

"I look forward to not having to discuss it a second time."

In a small and pointed unkindness, he touches Cade's shoulder briefly, familiarly a second time as he passes by him to leave - there is plenty of space for him to do so without passing so near at all, but Martel can be a real piece of fucking work, and that's all there is to it. The message has plainly been received, but he isn't ashamed of driving it home as hard as he can without explicitly issuing any threats.

He isn't proud of it, either; the man is barely that, and it isn't as if it was a particular challenge.

It's just something ticked off on his to do list for today. Now that that's done -

He's humming as he walks away. He has a lesson to oversee.

[onlyhymns]

Cade has tensed himself up tighter and tighter this whole while, and flinches again as if struck when Martel pats his shoulder. He takes a moment to relax his shoulders again as Martel walks away, but 'relax' is barely what he does; he takes a few steps back to brace himself against the wall, gripping the stone with one shaking hand and knotting a hand in his hair with the other. The adrenaline's going to be hard to shake off.