[sandbox]

[bringspeopletogether]

Herald's Rest gets as crowded as any respectable small-town tavern come nightfall. Considering Skyhold's a village unto itself nowadays, that's no surprise.

Maryden's holding her usual court over near the fire, her song weaving in and out of the noise: voices, laughter, shouts, clattering. Bull's there, towering over half the crowd even while seated, deep in enthusiastic conversation with Krem, but the rest of the Chargers don't seem to be anywhere near. When Alistair stands still, he's pretty sure he can hear about five different languages in a ten-foot radius.

He's nothing strange or remarkable in here. It's...nice.

And there's alcohol. Even nicer.

Comments

[bringspeopletogether]

In revelatory tones: "That's right. Well, this absolutely tastes better than yours, then. Fortunate for all of us I didn't get any more."

He peers down at Cullen -- who, he's finally noticed, has not made a move toward the proffered drink.

"You all right?"

[howtoactfereldan]

"It's all part of my genius strategy. If anyone looks up here, they'll see you. I, however, will be obscured from immediate sight."




"Also it's comfortable."

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair snickers. "If you'd like, I can fetch you a blanket and drape it over you. Nothing to see here, just a spare bolt of fabric. That's breathing."

He drinks.

"And when you're sick of that you can use it as a pillow and be even more comfortable."

[howtoactfereldan]

Grumbling, Cullen sits up, reaches for his glass.

"Have it your way. If anything awful happens while I'm drunk, it's your fault."

[bringspeopletogether]

"What?" he protests. "I was offering to hide you better! If you don't want the drink, give it here -- "

He beckons for Cullen's glass.

[howtoactfereldan]

Cullen scowls at Alistair and drinks about half of it in one go.

He will shortly come to regret this. For now his eyes bulge a little and he seems to be restraining a cough.

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair cracks up.

Realizing that his drink's on the verge of spilling, he clumsily gets it down to the floor before completely giving into the laughter. Thump, goes his head against the wall; he flings one hand over his face.

A few words squeak out that sound a little bit like your face!!!

[howtoactfereldan]

Hoarse, in the way where it's a very short leap from 'regular human voice' to 'very bad Satan imitation,' Cullen says, "You thief."

[bringspeopletogether]

"I didn't -- !"

The rest of that first drink has hit Alistair with a swiftness, and there is nothing half about how drunk he is anymore. The kind of drunk where he can't stop laughing.

[howtoactfereldan]

"You're thinking about it." A cough. "And now I smell like beer. Because of you."

[bringspeopletogether]

"And brandy," he manages to point out.

Because Alistair is helpful like that!

[howtoactfereldan]

"I didn't spill that!" Cullen protests. "You spilled it. On me."

[bringspeopletogether]

Yeah, Alistair's got nothing -- just more laughter.

(His sides are starting to hurt from it, and he's having some trouble catching his breath. It's great. Cabot is his new best friend for whatever was in that tankard, no matter how foul it tasted.)

[howtoactfereldan]

Scowling, Cullen starts wriggling out of his coat, and undoing one of the buckles on his breastplate. If all Alistair's going to do is giggle like he belongs in the Orlesian court, Cullen's going to be comfortable. And it's warm upstairs.

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair finally, finally trails into a series of wheezing giggles, then tiny little hiccups of laughter as he wipes his eyes.

"All right," he manages. "Don't say or do anything funny for the next five minutes or I'll start laughing again. Maker." He fumbles for his glass, holds it up in a toast. "To Cabot and whatever in Andraste's name was in that cup."

He tosses back another mouthful of brandy.

[howtoactfereldan]

Off comes the breastplate.

"And how well would that work, given your favorite hobby is laughing at me?"

[bringspeopletogether]

"No," says Alistair; he's trying for mock-patience, which would work much better if the laughter wasn't starting to creep back. "My favorite hobby is flower arranging. My second favorite is laughing at you."

[howtoactfereldan]

Pauldrons. Vambraces. Gloves. Cullen runs his fingers through his hair, making it stand on end, and drains what's left in his glass.

"You're a very cruel man, Theirin," Cullen says with great dignity. "But given I don't smell like beer any more, I suppose I can forgive you."

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair beams. "I'm honored," he says, laying a hand on his chest. "And relieved. I'll come by all future beer honestly, I promise."

He polishes off more of his drink, then draws up his knees and carefully rests the nearly-empty glass atop one of them.

[howtoactfereldan]

Cullen undoes the top frogs of his leather armor, pale linen shirt below a surprising contrast to the darkness.

He looks around at his scattered armor.

Shrugs, and rests his head against the stone wall. Everything's warm. And safe. He'll worry about the mess... later.

[bringspeopletogether]

Two floors below, Maryden's started up another song. Alistair closes his eyes, doing his best to focus on the melody; absently, after a moment or two, he starts to hum along. He even makes it through a verse and a half before losing the thread and trailing back into silence.




"I haven't been this properly drunk in a very long time." He sighs, contented. "Why didn't I do it sooner?"

[howtoactfereldan]

Because it's difficult to be drunk and paranoid. Cullen has the presence of mind (for now) not to say that aloud.

"You wanted an audience?" he suggests instead.

[bringspeopletogether]

"Maybe." A soft laugh. "Or just company. Better to do it here than alone."

He finishes off his drink; with care, he sets the glass between his boots.

[howtoactfereldan]

"If this is a play to make me throw more games and lose more bets, you'll have to do better than that."

[bringspeopletogether]

Both eyebrows go up. Alistair opens his eyes and points to Cullen.

"I know I beat you fair and square at those games."