best ship in the fleet

[heresyandlace]

Who: Anyone aboard the SS Pathstone!
Broadcast: Probably not
Action: Yes! Even if that action is mostly sleeping.
When: All month!

[watch, dear audience, as the intrepid crew of the SS Pathstone handles beaches, bugs, and storms!

with nothing but teamwork and sheer emotional maturity, they face each and every obstacle with dignity and grace.

there will never be a crew in the entire Fleet as stalwart and bonded in the eternal ties of friendship as the Pathstone.

watch, and be amazed.]

Comments

[dawnwillcome]

[In Skyhold, there had been guards for her when it was deemed necessary. During a judgement, for example, she commonly reached her throne to find it flanked by two humans ready to lay down their lives should the person on trial react unfavorably to her choices. There were more just down the steps, to drag off anyone who protested or made a move.

She wouldn't have been surprised if there were guards stationed outside her rooms at night despite the fact that there was an entire stairwell and two heavy wooden doors after that to get through. She'd always felt protected in Skyhold, and when she slept there it was with the knowledge that assassination attempts would be mostly impossible.

When Tek grabs her, all those impossible scenarios are what she immediately assumes are happening. The hands on her are ones that are going to have her dead in seconds because of her willingness to trust that she was safe. Her legs tangle in the sheets when she tries to kick him away so the only option is to grab him back, hands wrapping tight around her attacker's arms, she's just about to make the nightmare he's having real, ready to shove electricity through him to save herself-

And then, even through her terror, she makes out the familiar features of someone she considers a friend. She keeps her grip on him, but that's all. Not even a hint of her magic touches him. It had been close.]

Tek. [She still sounds afraid, voice breaking just at the end of his name. She can't escape her moment of terror any better than he can, apparently.] Tek, stop.

[heresyandlace]

[his teeth are bared--the sharp shape of little hooks--and the gleam of his eyes is wild but unfocused. he isn't really awake, and certainly isn't present, until the voice. he's got his attacker shoved down, wrestled into place with grip locked too tight, until that piece of information changes everything.

it catches up all at once, and he spends a minute reeling as everything suddenly reorients. the fierce expression drops in shock, breath halts up in his chest, and for a moment, he's caught in that spinning moment of trying to remember exactly where he is.

the lightning is outside, not falling down on top of him. and it's not the tower, not the court, he's not falling in the forest, this isn't a face that should be here with him--

for the span of that held breath, he has no mask. he hasn't centered enough for any sort of pretense. it is a very, very rare glimpse.

and then another crash of lightning rattles the hull, and he's sent flinching backward with a hiss, finally releasing his grip on her arms.]

[dawnwillcome]

[While he holds her there, hands gripping at her hard enough to make her flinch, it's like being pinned by a wild animal. She's wary to even take a breath, stock still and searching his face and nearly certain this is it, that he'll rip her throat out and get his blood revenge for what she did to him on Mor.

It's like time has stopped and all the air has been sucked out of the room, and she can't break eye contact with him... but then the storm breaks the moment, and as she watches him cringe away the first thing that rushes through her isn't relief at being free.

When he lets her go she sits up slowly, eyes wide with concern. She's worried, but not about herself.]

The storms never seem to last. [Her voice is so soft she can barely hear it, but she doesn't dare speak any louder.] It will be over soon, Tek.

[heresyandlace]

[her voice is barely there underneath the storm's clamor, but it's still enough to rake against his nerves. another hiss, rolling into an animal growl, as his voice snaps at her.]

--I know that.

[he doesn't glare at her, though. the glow of his eyes doesn't stab through the dark at her from where he's retreated to the side of the nest. he's withdrawing too much for that.]

[dawnwillcome]

[Poor Tek is the immediate thought, and she looks around the room for anything that might help with this. When her eyes catch on one of the windows, she gets an idea.]

When I was with my clan, my Keeper taught me a trick when the storms would roll through. Here.

[It's foolish and she has no reason to believe he'll take it instead of rip it off or shout at her, but she offers a hand to him to signal him closer. She can't be sure if he'll be able to see from where he is.]

[heresyandlace]

[he doesn't get any closer--not yet. her hand can just hang there.

but the low rumble of a growl, riding underneath the sounds of the storm, says that he heard her. and the glow of his eyes finally sliding in her direction says that he's listening.]

[dawnwillcome]

[Fair enough. She lowers it to rest on the bed, nodding towards the window.]

If you count the time between the flashes of lightning and the sound of the thunder, you can get a good idea where the storm is moving. If you can reach a higher number each time, the storm is going farther away.

[heresyandlace]

It's getting closer.

[--which he answers almost immediately. so, he either already knows a similar version of the trick, or he doesn't actually allow himself time to count.

in either case, it is at least a proper sentence. so that's a small change from all the wordless growling.]