bringspeopletogether: ([origins] oh maker's breath)
Alistair ([personal profile] bringspeopletogether) wrote2016-10-15 09:00 pm

[milliways] conversations with dead people

It's been a long day, and Alistair's only tried to drag it longer by bringing the evening reports into Milliways. The survey's moving along at a remarkable pace, but what it's finding...isn't good. He's shaded in too much space on the map of Ferelden that marks off the blighted lands. Families are still sick and starving, people are still stranded across the Waking Sea -- and there may be nothing to do but wait until the land heals on its own.

(It's early yet, he tells himself. The Blight's only eight months gone. They will find a way to bring Ferelden back to her full health and bring her people home.)

Fuzzy's dozing at his feet. Alistair's eyelids have begun to droop. Surely it won't hurt if he puts his head down for a moment; time stops here, after all, which is why he brought the reports to the tavern in the first place. A nap may even help him clear his thoughts a bit.

Hopefully he won't snore too much.
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
A dagger slams into the tabletop, driven by a mailed left hand.

The right hand of that pair lands on Alistair's shoulder, a heavy, cool weight.

"Sleeping on watch, Alistair?"
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Duncan smiles a little, the skin at the corners of his eyes wrinkling up.

"Sleeping deeply, were you?"
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Duncan reels a little, mentally if not physically.

He does eventually pat Alistair's back firmly, before putting both of his hands on the young man's shoulders and moving him back a bit.

"There, there. No shame in it. The dreamless nights come so rarely these days."
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Duncan exhales, a long, long sigh that goes on for some time.

The wrinkles on his face are not the kind that come with smiles, not just now.

"No, lad. No, I'm not."
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"There's no such thing as 'should' for a Grey Warden."

Again the heavy weight of Duncan's hand comes down on Alistair's shoulder and stays there.

"Though perhaps there is for a King. I can't say as I like the idea."
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Duncan laughs, only a little ruefully.

"And what does that mean, after all?"
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"Not all oaths are as binding as the Joining."

Duncan's voice deepens on that last word, turning to a rough, scraping rumble.

"Nor should they be."
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"I doubt any who know you would deny it. Once they see past the terrible and ill-timed jokes."

There's a softening in Duncan's face, just for a moment.

"But you looked back less when you joined our brotherhood, Alistair. What lies behind you that you can't bear to let go?"
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ah. Love. I thought it might be."

So it was with Genevieve, long ago.

"Will you let its loss shrivel your heart and turn it bitter? I have seen it before, many times. Such a heart is not one a king should bear, much less a Warden."
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 11:24 pm (UTC)(link)
"Do too much of that, my lad, and you'll doom it to forever dog your steps."

Duncan's sigh is heavy.

"Better a short time like this than a lifetime of running."
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Duncan remains silent, though again he rests his hand on Alistair's shoulder and squeezes.

Affection, consolation, and perhaps something else.

(Fatherly regard?)

But he stays silent, waiting out that 'and'.
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-16 11:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"So, too, did all of you. Even those who never swore any oaths."

He shakes Alistair gently, as if to drive his words home.

"Perhaps we find it too easy to sacrifice, we Wardens. Your Lyna certainly learned that lesson well."
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-17 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
"Fair is just a story we tell ourselves to justify our pain. Or to deny it."

He tries to be kind, does Duncan. But decades as a Grey Warden has left him mostly unfit for it.
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-17 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm here now," Duncan says, and it seems to be the truth.

"Which is more blessing than many get, with their dead."
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-17 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
Duncan meets Alistair's gaze with his own, level and calm as ever.

"It covers what's past and gone, yes. What is still to come -- I'm glad to have even seen this much. You're a good man, Alistair. Trust that I have always believed in you, and would yet, if I were alive to do so. Your sacrifice shall not be forgotten."
followers_of_she: (duncan)

[personal profile] followers_of_she 2016-10-17 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
Duncan returns it for one moment.

Two.

"Not by those who matter."

And then --