Truth or Dare: Side Party for Servants and Scoundrels

[faderifting]

WHO: Anyone!
WHAT: A party for people who might scare the nobility, are deathly afraid of chandeliers, or fled the soiree with cheeses hidden in their clothes and need to make a clean getaway.
WHEN: During (and after) the soiree.
WHERE: The valley beyond Skyhold.
NOTES: Drinking, revelry. People might make out or something. We're not responsible for your actions.

The soiree might be fun, if you're into that sort of thing, but that isn't what it's for. It's for impressing the powerful and opening their pockets—and, necessarily, some people aren't invited. In some cases that's personal. In others, it's just understood. When they're done helping to set up, most of the servants and workers who aren't needed to serve make themselves scarce. The usual trickle of refugees to and from the fortress slows. Some people used to sleeping in the stables may find their "beds" occupied by nobles' horses or the rooms they had been squatting in cleaned and prepared for someone else to stay in.

There's no resentment. (Or at least very little.) That's how these things go. And in the valley outside the fortress' walls, there are foot soldiers and refugees and a number of miscellaneous exiles who welcome the company with large fires, cheap but freely flowing alcohol, and whatever music can be wrung out of instruments exposed to such low temperatures. The crowd thins and dwindles as the night wears on, but even after the last person has left the Great Hall in Skyhold, there's still a sizable gathering near the river with no intention of going to sleep before sunrise.

No masks allowed.

Comments

[arachnophobe]

"Wasn't really meant to be either. If I was insulting you, you'd definitely fuckin' know. I'm not a subtle guy."

There's no reason for Anders to really know him, and literally the only reason Alejandro knows him is because of Kirkwall and its fall out. Hard to not know when he'd spent so much time there, and even people outside of Kirkwall know.

Right now, Alejandro is working on refilling his tankard. "I wanna ask you something. Don't expect a real answer out of you, but it's not like I got much to lose by asking." He's an abomination. A little hard to trust that, but hell with it.

"What the fuck were you hoping to accomplish by coming to the Inquisition?"

[justice_is_blond]

"Well. If you're not expecting a real answer, then a cat. I hoped to attain a cat, and I've succeeded."

He's not really sure what the man expected with a statement like that. After a short beat, Anders speaks again.

"Or I may have come to lend what help I could with healing. But the cat's the easiest answer, no doubt, and she's adorable." Flippancy might not be the best tactic here, but he's not really tactical in general. It's almost freeing to talk with someone who has judged him but isn't angry enough at the moment to attack.

[arachnophobe]

There's a moment in which he's immensely tempted to smash the tankard over Anders' head because fuck this guy. His arm tenses and he seriously debates it, but eventually resists.

But there's certainly an angry sneer on Alejandro's face.

"What the fuck do you care about helping anyone here after the shit you pulled in Kirkwall?" He'd say fuck the cat but the cat definitely does not deserve that. The cat deserves better. That's the clear logic here.

[justice_is_blond]

"Because of course Kirkwall was meant to harm. That's the only possible explanation." Anders' voice is dry and sarcastic.

"Because someone can't find themselves with no options when many people are about to die and try to do something desperate in an attempt to save lives, and then have it all go wrong. I'm certain your life has gone entirely according to your plan. Well done."

It's... almost satisfying that he doesn't know this man's name, but the man is furious at him. Fitting, too. One of a nameless crowd who doesn't care about the issues that were at hand. It's far easier to judge than it is to look into matters, far easier to yell and scream than be calm and thoughtful. Anders knows. He's been on the former side of things far more often than the latter.

[arachnophobe]

That strikes him in a way that Anders cannot possibly know or understand, but it doesn't matter. It's said, it's done, and Alejandro knows doing this wasn't the smartest, but he's immensely angry. Despite Bethany's reasonable explanation, there is a part of him that's always going to see this as Anders getting away with what he'd done.

And that will never sit well with him. Not with the fallout.

"Shit may not have gone how I planned, but it would have gone hell of a lot better if it wasn't for your fuckin' decisions," he snarls. "A lot more people would be alive if it wasn't for you. I'm not giddy about waiting for your next fuck-up, but when you do, I'm gonna make sure it doesn't go beyond that. Warden or no Warden.

"Have a lovely fuckin' party."

It wouldn't be smart, but he'd feel a lot better if he'd do something more violent. He'd love nothing more than that, but right now, putting himself in the Undercroft is about the only smart thing to do here.

At least he can pretend a shield is Anders' face or some shit.

[justice_is_blond]

"Right, right."

Anders waves dismissively at the end of the guy's words. Here is someone who really only cares about himself, from all Anders has seen, and so Anders doesn't give a damn that he's angry.

"You're tough, you'll be there, mmhmm. I'll make sure to enjoy the party, thank you." His lips quirk upward at the 'thank you.' This is... probably not smart. Really not smart. But he's tired. There are people with actual, legitimate complaints and the guilt from that weighs on his shoulders, whereas so many here are only upset because they'd been inconvenienced. Wasn't the message about a job? Idly he considers seeing if anyone remembers, and then he realizes it's an effort he's not going to make.

"Shall I go now, or are there more threads you'd like to make? More empty anger? I've all evening."