[sandbox]

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair surprises himself: he adapts to the Basin a lot quicker than he expected.

The camps feel -- snug, he decides. In a good way. Trees overhead, a limited number of egress points, a vantage point so high it puts every night by the ladder to shame: they're not the stone walls of Skyhold, but maybe they're the next best thing. After an initial restless night or two, he sleeps soundly.

(Knowing he's surrounded by lots of people with sharp, pointy weapons? Also helpful.)

Joining the patrol rotations seems like a decent next step. No point in being in the field, especially after all that training with Bull, if he's just going to twiddle his thumbs all day.

Comments

[howtoactfereldan]

"Not quite so fancy," Cullen says. He goes to straighten the paper on his desk, leaving one piece in the center. "Nothing like a Double Commander."

[bringspeopletogether]

"That is a difficult title to come by." Solemn.

He trails after Cullen, casting an idle glance to the paper before taking a seat next to his desk.

[howtoactfereldan]

It's a letter, in Cullen's hand. It might take a closer look to read the salutation: Dear Mia.

He stretches, pulling one arm across his chest. "Yes. I've only known one man to have it. Very rare."

[bringspeopletogether]

...Huh. That's -- promising.

Alistair doesn't make mention of it, though; he just draws up his knees, folding his arms loosely atop them. Still solemn, "Whoever earned it must be a very lucky man, then."

[howtoactfereldan]

"He does all right." Cullen gives him a crooked smile. "Has a tendency to steal the covers at night. But that's his only flaw."

[bringspeopletogether]

Another tiny laugh. Alistair hooks his chin over his arms. "I'm sure he feels very badly about that and will endeavor to steal them less in the future."

[howtoactfereldan]

"That would be nice," Cullen agrees, taking a seat beside him. "I'm not quite sure he feels very badly about it. Maybe a little."

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair leans against him the moment Cullen's settled.

"There's only one solution," he says. "Pile so many blankets on the bed that it's impossible for one man to steal them all."

[howtoactfereldan]

Cullen leans back against one of the crates that form the legs of the desk, and gently urges Alistair to settle half in his lap, instead.

"That would get too warm," he says, wrinkling his nose. "Make walking the battlements all night look like an attractive option."

[bringspeopletogether]

"Mm. True."

As Alistair's rejoinders go, it's terribly weak, but his nerves still feel too frayed to come up with anything better.

He moves where Cullen directs him, willingly, and settles with a quiet sigh.

[howtoactfereldan]

Cullen leans his head against Alistair's, fitting his arms around him.

(It's the second day of field work. Just the second day. He needs to give it more time before he starts trying to come up with alternate plans. He needs to find out what happened before he starts trying to come up with alternate plans.)

[bringspeopletogether]

As is so often the case, the best way to get Alistair to talk is to let silence hang in the air for a while. He'll find a way to fill it.

Eventually.






"I don't know what it was." Quiet. "It felt like -- "

Maker, this would be so much easier if he could just find the words. Flat description might be easier, he decides.

"I heard something humming. Like when you're too close to a spell and it makes your hair stand up. That sort of thing. I don't know what it was, it just felt -- bad. And I don't know if I was imagining it, or if the Veil really was buckling there, or, or what, but -- "

He breaks off. Draws breath.

A touch steadier, "And before you ask, yes, I alerted the captain immediately. They've marked the area and they'll be taking one of the senior patrols back for a closer look."

[howtoactfereldan]

It's difficult, not to bark questions, when Cullen feels like he's started somewhere in the middle. But it wouldn't help. He knows.

"Then you did the right thing." Quiet. "Precisely the right thing. It wasn't darkspawn?"

[bringspeopletogether]

"No. Definitely not. That's more -- "

More difficult to describe, for one, to someone who isn't a Warden. The way it pulls and twists at your blood; the ringing in your ears that isn't a song yet, not quite. The utter sense of knowing, like you're about to see your kin, and the way that confers its own sort of nausea until you finally grow used to it.

"It wasn't that."

[howtoactfereldan]

Cullen nods against Alistair's head. "All right. Good."

Is there more to it than being unsettled? He can't ask that question yet. In a little bit, perhaps.

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair closes his eyes.






"It would be nice if I could trust myself," he mutters. "What I'm seeing. Or hearing, I suppose."

[howtoactfereldan]

"Mm. Yes."

Cullen tightens his arms, a little.

"But you did. You felt something wrong, you reported up the chain of command. Things are happening in the Basin that don't have any known precedent. I can show you the reports, if that would help. It's one thing not to trust yourself. But not knowing precisely what something is -- that's different."

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair shakes his head slightly.

"I could have been imagining it. Jumping at shadows again."

[howtoactfereldan]

"And if you weren't, and it was something? Casualties. If it wasn't anything? A patrol took a walk. Which they'd do anyhow. I'm telling you this as the commander: when you're in the field, and you notice something, follow through on it. I trust your instincts."

[bringspeopletogether]

His shoulders sag an inch.

(It helps, hearing somebody else say what his mind has been refusing to accept. Hearing Cullen say it.)

Alistair presses closer, and murmurs, "All right."

[howtoactfereldan]

No louder:

"You did the right thing."

He squeezes Alistair.

"Well done."

[bringspeopletogether]

A tiny huff of breath; a tiny quirk of a smile.

Alistair finds one of Cullen's hands and winds their fingers together.

[howtoactfereldan]

Cullen rests his cheek on Alistair's hair and closes his eyes for a moment.

Maybe it'll be all right. Maybe. He could still float the idea of Alistair joining him on the trip across the Basin, if it doesn't look as though Alistair is taking it well.

[bringspeopletogether]

"I'm sorry I worried you." Wry. "Next patrol ought to go better. I hope."

It's much easier to believe that now than it would've been ten minutes ago. Cullen's influence, as always.

[howtoactfereldan]

"Don't apologize." Quiet. "And it should. It's only your second one. Still getting used to it again."