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

[justice_is_blond]

She looks happy. It's the first thing he notices as she moves about the floor and tables, and Anders has to smile watching her thread between everyone else. The second thing that he notices is she seems extremely good at dancing, which means one thing.

He sets his glass down and approaches, raising an eyebrow and holding out an arm. "May I have this dance?"

[girlinthebox]

He's caused a whirlwind with his revelations, with what he revealed. But she knew, knew all along and never told a soul, and now the masks are down and he is him. The spirit is quiet and he is smiling on the inside, even if his face forgets how.

Nodding, she reaches for his arm, a grin blossoming into place as she all but tugs him into the ring around the fire that seems to be the designated dance floor out here. Cold earth crumbles beneath her toes as she pivots on her heel and reaches, eager for a new dance. A new partner.

It's never quite the same, even if the music starts to blend together by the end of it.

[justice_is_blond]

He'll be forever grateful that she'd not talked of him. She could have. There were no ties to give her reason to stay quiet, no prior friendship, but she'd done that anyway while knowing so much more of who he is than nearly anyone else. River even welcomes his question with a grin and he's so absolutely glad to lose himself in the hasty spin and step of the dance the band's gone for.

Or not quite lose himself, because Maker, she can dance and he has to work to keep up. Not that he minds. Her energy is refreshing; she seems healthier out here than she does in the tents. Maybe music helps with what torments her? Maybe he should introduce her to Kalli, see if his not-quite-daughter's singing can help even further. But that's a thought for working on later, when he's not minding his feet and feeling his spirit grow lighter with each twirl.

"I hope you dance often," he says over the din. Everyone needs something that makes them happier, and by extension, healthier.

[girlinthebox]

He's not wrong. Her cheeks are flushed, her eyes bright, a definite difference from that day in the tent, or the ones that followed when Simon had tried his best to make her better. "I've been learning new dances, too."

Anders might not approve of the dances Zevran has been teaching her, however. The whirl of blades, the side-steps and leaps from shadow meant to deliver a deathblow. Justice, on the other hand, might understand the need for them.

"But those are for later," she admits brightly, her colorful skirts twirling as they move.

[justice_is_blond]

His mind doesn't go to fighting, not with the comment of later, and he can't help but raise an eyebrow before stopping himself. She's an adult. One who is deeply scarred, but truly, the same can be said of him. Just because he wears his past differently doesn't mean he has any right to wonder about her activity.

"May whomever they're for appreciate them," he says after a short beat. And he also hopes Simon doesn't try murdering the recipient. Simon strikes Anders as being very, very protective. Anders can feel that way over Kalli, but that's different.

As this tune draws to a close he lifts her hand and bends his head over it in a slight bow. "Thank you for this dance. ...and have you been feeling well?" It would be nice to hear that she has, but he'd like to hear the truth, either way it goes.

[girlinthebox]

"Some days I feel the sun. Feel the sky stretching high, feel the breeze on my skin. Things are louder, brighter then, but they're not too loud." Her head tips slightly, her untidy hair slipping over her shoulders. "Some days it gets closer. The walls are gray and glass and I can't push through, just wait for it to pass. It's quieter, but not better."

It makes her wonder what would 'cure' her in truth. How much of herself would need to be cut away to excise the sickness?

"Simon is trying other things," she continues, her tone slightly hopeful. "And the stars are bright, tonight. People are bright, shining, glimmering in the dark."

[justice_is_blond]

"Hold the sun and the sky, and I hope they do not become too loud. And if I can be of help to you or your brother, let me know."

Doubtlessly Simon has exhausted every regular avenue, but he has familiarity with creating things on his own, mixing them, finding new ways to mend and cure. If they've found a happy medium them good, but if there's a way to help Anders will be there. She deserves a chance to live.