[sandbox] out of the abyss

[bringspeopletogether]

It starts as a shimmer out by the lake. Look at the water from the right angle, and the light glinting off it looks a bit...green. Sickly.

(Familiar, if you're from a certain time and place in Thedas.)

Look up some minutes later, and you can pinpoint the source: a thin, glowing ribbon uncoiling in the sky. It emerges slowly, but the more light it casts, the more momentum it gains, until it explodes outward with an enormous crack like lightning splintering the ground.

A much quieter thump follows as something hits the dirt.

Someone.

The glow vanishes; the person doesn't move for a long beat. (Get up, he's telling himself, get up -- ) He manages to drag his hands level with his shoulders, press down to bear himself upward an inch, look up at where he's landed.

Get. Up.

Another shove, and Alistair lurches to his feet, sword hauled from its scabbard and shield at the ready. His breath rattles, harsh against his throat, as he stares wild-eyed around the grounds.

Comments

[howtoactfereldan]

"Not at all." Cullen is smiling, small. "You lived. That's the important part."

[bringspeopletogether]

You lived. The words echo in his head like a bell struck.

Alistair draws back a step, looking behind himself to gauge the distance to the bed. Only a couple more steps. Good.

Because that, of all things, is what makes his legs feel like they're finally going to give out for good, and so long as he can get to the bed in time -- which he does, dropping onto the mattress hard enough that his armor rattles -- this won't be a complete disaster.

He drags both hands down his face. Lets his arms fall across his knees. "Maker."

I'm still alive.

[howtoactfereldan]

Carefully, still telegraphing his movements, Cullen crouches down in front of Alistair.

He looks worried; he doesn't say anything, though. Because if Alistair still thinks he's a demon -- it'd be a bad time to offer anything.

[bringspeopletogether]

He's not entirely certain Cullen's a demon anymore. He's still not entirely sure Cullen is Cullen, either, but: baby steps.

Without looking up, Alistair asks, "Hawke? The Inquisitor?"

If it's a demon, he's not sure which response will hurt more -- the ugly lie that they were slaughtered before making it through the rift, or the pleasant fiction that they're alive and well. If it's a spirit genuinely trying to help him, it'll tell him the truth.

And if it's really Cullen, he'll have witnessed everything firsthand. He'll know the answer, too.

[howtoactfereldan]

"Alive. Hawke's on her way to Weisshaupt to give them a report. The Inquisitor is in the field, headed for the Sunstop Mountains to break up Venatori operations. The surviving Wardens of Orlais -- she's got them tracking darkspawn through the Gamordan Peaks, working with one of our lieutenants. I don't think you met her -- Suzanne Cloche-Sec. From Val Firmin, so she's familiar with the territory."

He's watching Alistair carefully as he talks.

"They're well, Alistair. They all made it out, every one. And the moment the Inquisitor stepped out of the Fade and closed that rift -- every demon just... hit the ground, and vanished. There will be no demon army for Corypheus."

[bringspeopletogether]

He shuts his eyes, cradling his forehead against one palm.

That's right. He can barely remember anymore, but that long string of demons -- it started with Nightmare, didn't it, because that was the one bound to Corypheus's army. That was the other reason someone had to stay behind to kill it.

Alistair nods, hand still pressed to his forehead. Eventually, he looks up.

"How long has it been?"

He's dreading the answer. It shows.

[howtoactfereldan]

"Two months," Cullen says quietly.

He told Alistair he wouldn't lie.

[bringspeopletogether]

The corners of his eyes tighten. He turns his gaze back down to his hands.

Soft, toneless: "That's not as bad as I thought."

[howtoactfereldan]

"Bad enough," says Cullen, no louder, and runs the risk of touching Alistair's hand.

Cullen's own hands are roughened, with nicks and scars silvery and pink both, and with a crooked finger or two from breaks -- what you'd expect to see on someone who's spent his life inflicting force trauma on others with both blunt and sharp objects.

Cullen knows: demons don't often get quite that clever, especially when Alistair hasn't spent that much time on the details in question.

[bringspeopletogether]

The creatures of the Fade can only shape what they see in the minds of dreamers. Maybe it's pulling the details from what it's seen in Cullen's dreams, or from someone else who knows Cullen much better than Alistair, but...it's unlikely. Not when it already has Alistair here, alone, at its mercy.

Alistair makes a choked noise -- a wild laugh cut off in its infancy, a sob throttled back to a whimper -- and clutches at Cullen's hand.

"I'm alive."

[howtoactfereldan]

"Extremely alive," Cullen agrees, clasping Alistair's hand in both of his. "Decidedly alive."

Does he get to be happy now? Will Alistair flip out if he shows anything -- ?

[bringspeopletogether]

It doesn't seem like he will. The last crumbling bits of his vigilance have completely given way.

Another sound, badly stifled, escapes him, and Alistair presses the side of his free hand to his eyes. "Maker -- "

He doesn't know what to say. Or do. He doesn't realize he's whispering the words like a litany: I'm out. I'm out. I'm alive.

[howtoactfereldan]

Careful (and maybe a little creaky), Cullen shifts himself up just enough to sit beside Alistair on the bed.

"You did it."

His near arm goes around Alistair's shoulders, tight in a fierce hug. He squeezes Alistair's hand. "You got out. You got them out. You're safe, Alistair."

[bringspeopletogether]

Between Cullen's ferocity, and the numerous aches making themselves more known by the second, the embrace hurts a little. Alistair doesn't care. It's another bit of proof: I'm alive.

"I -- "

The noises he's making seem to have decided they'll be laughter for now -- albeit soft, more than a little hysterical, the mania that forms when battle exhaustion finally meets victory. He scrubs at his eyes again before letting his palm fall atop his and Cullen's clasped hands.

[howtoactfereldan]

"You see now why I suggested resting?" There's laughter in Cullen's voice. "A bath? Cheese?"

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair nods; his shoulders keep trembling with that desperate laughter.

"I should know better by now," he says. "Always ought to listen to you."

It's kind of a sorry I tried to stab you, right?

[howtoactfereldan]

"Always." Another squeeze -- less tight, though. "And you did, remember? Your hair doesn't look like you ran face-first into a wall any more."

[bringspeopletogether]

"Considering -- "

Shit. The laughter's veering dangerously close to sobs again. One or two make a successful transition before Alistair gulps back the rest. He readjusts his hold on Cullen's hand, as if steadying himself there could steady himself elsewhere.

"Considering what I have run face-first into lately," he says, "that's a damned miracle, isn't it?"

[howtoactfereldan]

"One among many."

There are... lots of them, lately. Usually surrounding the Inquisitor.

"So... let's try to have you not run into anything for a while."

[bringspeopletogether]

One last huff of breath before his shoulders finally still. "I'll try."

He's pretty sure if Cullen lets go of him, he'll fall straight backward onto the bed. Alistair tries to push back against the swimmy feeling of imminent sleep for a bit longer.

(He doesn't want to go back. Not so soon. Maker, not after he just got out -- )

"I'll have to go to Weisshaupt eventually." Slower; more reluctant. "To let them know I'm all right. To...help."

[howtoactfereldan]

"We'll send a raven first." He's sobered up. "Maybe try to get word to Hawke on her way. And in the meantime... you can rest at Skyhold. Or -- wherever you'd like. But you have a place with us, until... whenever. Don't -- worry about that now, all right?"

[bringspeopletogether]

"Perhaps." A bit distant. Briefly, he considers asking if Morrigan's still at Skyhold, and dismisses the idea in one swift mental shove.

(She made fairly regular appearances in the Fade. So did Kieran.)

"...You said something about a cheese platter?"

[howtoactfereldan]

"Whatever you want."

Crooked smile.

"I just thought that would have the most chance of... breaking through."

[bringspeopletogether]

A tiny, amused snort. "Predictable."

He could mean himself; he might mean Cullen. Probably both.

"Broth might be a better idea. For now. It's...been a while. I can't remember how long."

[howtoactfereldan]

"I had that thought."

If Cullen had a free hand, he'd rub the back of his neck.

"Will you -- be all right, if I go downstairs for a moment? I can try to have someone bring it up, but I don't know who might be around that I could message from up here."