[sandbox]

[bringspeopletogether]

No Orlesian nobles pounded down their door to demand their hound back, so when Alistair and Cullen left Halamshiral, the newly-dubbed Gruyere happily trotted alongside their horses.

A few weeks after -- which included some quiet conversation, a few orders placed with a few merchants, and almost an entire extra pack of gifts slung over one of their mounts -- Gru just as happily trotted along as they turned for South Reach.

Years of correspondence led Alistair to build an elaborate image of Cullen's family in his mind; Mia, perhaps, more fully realized than the others, but everyone with a name and a voice to match their letters. They're...not wholly inaccurate? But Mia's definitely shorter than he expected, and one or two of the children a little louder.

(Mia's voice, however, adopts exactly the pitch he imagined it would when Alistair brings up the whole I'm-your-brother-in-law-now thing.)

It's a nice place. Just the right kind of rambunctious, with all the kids running around; just the right kind of homey.

If only Cullen weren't -- well, reacting more or less precisely how Alistair worried he'd react to the reunion.

Comments

[bringspeopletogether]

He does. Alistair huffs a small, rueful laugh as he grabs a potato and a knife.

"Not yet, I'm afraid." Equally wry. "Maybe once he's up I'll point out everyone's lack of sharp, pointy teeth and reassure him it's just mutton in the stew pot."

[howtoactfereldan]

Mia glances over her shoulder.

Perfectly straight-faced:

"Are you sure about that?"

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair affects a look of shock.

"Surely it's not..." Dramatic pause. "Chicken?"

[howtoactfereldan]

"Don't be ridiculous," Mia says, and turns her attention back to the bacon. "If you stew chicken all day it's tough and awful. Obviously."

[bringspeopletogether]

"Obviously," agrees Alistair, cheerful. "That's why I was so horrified by the thought."

As he peels the potatoes, he arranges them in a loose pyramid, resisting the urge to stick a little potato-peel flag on top as the structure grows higher.

[howtoactfereldan]

Very casually, Mia asks:

"Is he like this often?"

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair's knife pauses against the latest potato.

Carefully, after a moment that's just a little too long: "It comes and goes." Swiftly, he resumes peeling the potato, as if to cover for his lapse. "And there's been a lot of change lately, what with the Inquisition disbanding."

[howtoactfereldan]

Mia is in the process of getting cooked bacon off the pan, and replacing it with the second round. (Lot of people to feed.)

As it begins to sizzle, she reaches for the kettle herself. "It's surprising he didn't grow out of it."

A glance up at Alistair.

"He's had the habit since we were children, you know. There was this pond near the farm he'd vanish off to all the time."

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair relaxes, somewhat. He discards the last potato peel and starts chopping.

"He mentioned that." Fond. "Running off to the lake whenever it got too noisy." His turn to glance up. "He took me there once -- just a brief visit. Bit overgrown, but it's a beautiful place."

[howtoactfereldan]

Mia's cup clatters on the table.

It's her turn to speak carefully. "It looks normal?"

[bringspeopletogether]

"Yes."

Gentler, now. (And quieter, even though the children are so thoroughly distracted by Gru that there's no danger of them hearing the conversation.)

"No Blight. Just a lot of weeds. -- And eels, apparently? Nothing too bitey though."

[howtoactfereldan]

"Well." More briskly. "That's -- that's something, isn't it."

Very deliberately, she takes a sip of tea. It's unsweetened, dark. "We couldn't bury them, when we left. At least something's the way it used to be."

As though the bitter taste fuels her, she squares her shoulders and turns back to the bacon. "Once those potatoes are done, chuck them in the stew pot, if you please."

[bringspeopletogether]

"Right."

Alistair scoops up the handfuls of potatoes he's already chopped. He hadn't intended to deflect from her asking after Cullen quite that hard -- it's difficult not to wince at the mention of their parents -- but Mia's like her brother in more ways than one: bear up, gloss over the subject, briskly move on.

"So did you or Rosalie teach him how to make those exceptionally stylish flower crowns, or did he learn that on his own?"

[howtoactfereldan]

Mia furrows her brow. "Did we -- ? We must have. It was common enough." She sounds a little bewildered. "It wouldn't have been Rosie, she was too young. It might have been Mam. I know she taught me."

She huffs an amused breath. "I haven't thought about that since we got this place."

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair's mouth quirks in another rueful smile.

"If you'd rather not think about it, I can call Gru over and balance a potato on his nose."

(On the other side of the room, Gru briefly perks up his ears before disappearing under another tidal wave of children.)

[howtoactfereldan]

Mia snorts. "There isn't a mabari alive who wouldn't snap that up raw. I don't care how well trained they are."

She glances back at Alistair. "I don't mind thinking about it. It's part of how we got here, isn't it. Bits of it were frightening and miserable -- " A wry smile. "But it all seems to have come out fine in the end. Got other things to worry about, like the ruckus happening over there." Nodding at the children-and-Gru circus.

[bringspeopletogether]

Without quite realizing it, Alistair relaxes an inch.

"Fair point." He glances toward the circus in question. "Considering where he came from, Gru's probably well-trained enough not to slide into a cabinet and break everything inside, at least. I hope."

Beat.

"Unless that's why his old master threw him out."

[howtoactfereldan]

"Has he done it yet?"

[bringspeopletogether]

"No. Not much to break around Skyhold."

He dumps the last of the chopped potatoes into the pot.

"If he got too excited he'd slide into a stone wall. Or Cullen's desk, which has about the same heft as a stone wall."

[howtoactfereldan]

She starts forking the bacon in a bowl to go on the table, and then turns toward the oven: the bread should be ready to come out soon.

"Fortunately he seems to have a hard head." Mia straightens, dusting her hands on her apron, and picks up her tea again. "Well, now. We've talked about Cullen, your dog, and what things were like before the Blight. Your turn. What's something I should know about you?"

[bringspeopletogether]

"Ah -- " Alistair scratches the back of his head, his smile going almost bashful. "Not much to say. Grew up in Redcliffe, trained with Cullen at the Chantry, left that to join the Wardens, did the whole...Blight thing..."

That's accompanied by a dismissive gesture before he nabs his own mug of tea.

"Left the Wardens for the Inquisition eventually, and here I am." A beat; cheerfully, "Also, I can wiggle my ears."

[howtoactfereldan]

"Make sure you show the children." A little wry. "And I know all of that, Alistair."

[bringspeopletogether]

Now the bashful look's more like a kid who got caught stealing sweets from the kitchen.

"Even the wiggling-my-ears bit?"

[howtoactfereldan]

Very severely indeed, Mia says:

"My intuition told me."

[bringspeopletogether]

"Ah, yes." He taps his temple; points to Mia. "Spot on, that intuition. Did it also catch that I'm an awful singer and once screamed like a child when I ran into a spiderweb? To be fair, I was a child. Maybe seven. Or eight."

(Babble as a means of deflection? Alistair? NEVER.)