Reaction While whispers erupt around you wherever you walk, it seems as though the news hasn’t yet reached Solas, judging by his reaction when he sees you. He’s at his desk, not sitting, but leaning over it, sleeves rolled up. A cursory glance is enough for you to tell why, even with only a single eye working. He’s painting something… with the box of water colors you’d gotten for him in Val Royeaux. Your flush…
Consequences You don’t sleep that night. That’s not really surprising. You don’t sleep most nights, and certainly not when you’ve had such a fright right before bed. You spend the night curled up in the corner of your room, eyes flickering between your covered window and your chest-barricaded door, as if expecting someone to come bursting through to assault you further. You can’t decide whether or not you should attend training with the Iron Bull.…
Birdwatching You wake up with regrets. But you had spent the night in blissful, blissful, dreamless unconsciousness, so the regrets honestly only go so far. On the plus side, you’re in your bed, though you don’t remember how you got there. On the not-so-plus side, however, you have a splitting headache and your mouth tastes and feels like you were waterboarded with acid. And you’re fucking freezing despite your cocoon of blankets. You realize why…
Chess “Is the elfroot everything you’d hoped?” Solas asks, clearly teasing you. “It’s everything I’d dreamed,” you reply dryly. “You sure you’re not from Tevinter?” Solas stiffens instantly. Fair enough, though you hadn’t meant it in a rude sense. You’re still working off your embarrassment, it seems. “What makes you ask?” he says tensely, almost irritably. “The way you use magic for the most mundane tasks,” you explain. “People here think Dorian’s flashy, but honestly,…
Wrists You’re in such a foul mood when you re-enter the rotunda. You see Solas glance up, as if he’s about to say something to you, and then immediately stop. You storm over to your desk, slam yourself onto your chair so hard that the legs skip across the stone, and fume as you begin to work again. Is it so fucking wrong that you want to learn more about the lost elven heritage?! Is…
Elfy Watching Dennet interact with the cats is more than amusing to you. But the night is only getting colder as it gets later. You have a freezing room to return to, probably as cold as or colder than the barn. You have to pretend to sleep after all, or Solas will get cross with you. Ugh. Solas seems to remember this as well as you’re standing by the exit, sullenly eyeing the freezing rain.…
Lessons The day dawns slow and dreary. It’s thickly overcast, murky grey clouds promising a cold, miserable day. It’s still quite dark because of the thick cloud cover, so you swing by the mess hall for breakfast instead of going straight to the stables. When did you last eat breakfast, anyway? Solas would probably scold you. But no one really needs three meals every day. You’re pretty sure the concept of breakfast/lunch/dinner is entirely arbitrary.…
A Wasted Opportunity The real question, you admit to yourself while actually fetching lunch, is whether or not you can get your hands on Solas’s notes to compare to Servis’s admittedly familiar script, and whether it will be useful to you. Servis’s classical Minrathous shorthand is far from the pre-Blight Tevinter scrawls you remember, and Solas’s is removed from even that. But you have nothing else to use. It’s better than nothing. It’s not as…
Distractions Iron Bull puts his hand on your shoulder, something you don’t quite understand until you come around the corner of a divider and see Krem. When you jolt, Iron Bull’s hand holds you steady, and when your legs go weak, it shifts to your back to keep you from falling. He looks bad. Krem’s bandaged from collarbone to just above his navel, but what really bothers you is the sunken look of his eyes,…
Where’s Krem? “Bull? Where’s Krem?” You don’t like the way none of them are meeting your eye, or the way they’ve all stopped smiling. “Skinner?” you ask, your voice raising an octave. “Don’t mess around, where is he?” “Krem… got hurt pretty bad,” Bull says with a sigh. “He’ll make it, but… Well, let’s just say he won’t be showing up to morning training any time soon.” “Where is he?” you demand, eyes falling to…