driftfleet | Open Action: Fleet Wide

Entry tags:

Open Action: Fleet Wide

Who: Cole and anyone who isn't fast enough to get away
Broadcast: n/a
Action: Any ship, though he won't venture onto the Three Twins or Tourist still. He will park next to them, now!
When: First half of the month?

[Cole does this thing. He does this thing where he goes everywhere and sticks his large nose into everything and meets people. He hasn't done it for a while, so clearly, it's time again.

The Pathstone comes in next to a ship, docks and then they spend a while there. There's no pattern to which ship it is. But he'll bring them around to your ship eventually.]

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[ Elize turns her head, watching Cole. She's not sure what's happening, but she's pretty sure he's about to leave. ]

...Cole?

[Cole isn't panicking. Not yet. He is very unsettled and uncertain. Panicking is when he just runs.]

I should get Jove. The edges fray, threads caught in the breeze, unwinding, unraveling, I'll get Jove. You make a proper shape with Jove.

[Smoke and Fade whips around him and he's gone, fleeing back to the Pathstone to find Jove and tell her that Cullen and Elize need her.]

[Cullen just barely withholds a sigh. Wonderful. Now Jove will worry. But he turns his attention to Elize, pushing some of the hair away from her face.]

It's all right.

...I don't know.

[ Frowning, she's not certain about that. It doesn't feel all right if Cole isn't all right. She looks down at her legs dangling above the floor. ]

I can stand on my own two feet, you know.

[It doesn't take too terribly long to find Cullen and Elize, and when Jove arrives it's with Cole's hand in hers as she leads him back to their little makeshift family.

There's no point in ignoring that that's what this is, now. She has a fond smile for both humans, but even once she's reached them she keeps Cole's hand in hers. Not to restrict him, but to be sure he knows he's wanted there. To be sure he knows he has support.]

I hear there was an exchange that could have gone better.

[Cole could slip free from Jove's hand, but he doesn't, because it would upset her and make her worry more. He can't just slip away unobtrusively when he's being held on to, which is frustrating.

He doesn't say anything, just rocks on his feet and looks off somewhere else, letting his other senses flicker around the edges of the shape the three of them make.]

[Elize is set down, and Cullen gives Jove a sheepish little smile in return.]

Seemingly. Cole was concerned.

[ Once she's set on her feet, she takes a few steps towards the other two. She gives Cole a worried glance, before looking up at Jove. ]

If there is a way, I... want to go back to Thedas. With all of you.

[ Just in case Cole hadn't told her yet.

She'd be leaving behind Rieze Maxia, which is a more suitable world for a young, talent spirited channeler such as herself. But Milla would always tell her if there's something she wants to do, she should do it. And what she wants to do is to be with her newfound family. ]

[But in Jove's mind, it isn't a shape of three people. It's four, with Cole very much included. She has never been a mother and had never given much thought to becoming one, but things have changed in her time here. Perhaps because of Cullen, or just because it has never been quite so clear that time with people she cares for can be so much more limited that she might have thought in the past.

Either way, she may not think of herself as exactly a mother, but she still finds her acting like one. It's a little strange at times, but ultimately a feeling she's growing fond of.]

It's alright, Cole. We want you here.

[She keeps his hand as she crouches down in front of Elize, just in case the girl would like a hug.]

I don't think you're alone in that wish. [And then she glances at Cullen.] Is that what has everyone upset?

[Because of the possibility it may not happen?]

[Cole is rocking on his feet again, head down and not looking at anyone, moving in almost hypnotic sways of his body.

He wants to go. He wants to be forgotten and sit and...]

watch the way they shape together because it's beautiful and warming to see them slot together like that.

[He pauses, realises he was being outside and inside at the same time.]

I don't want Elize to go to Thedas. I don't want to leave, but people leave, here and in Thedas and Thedas is cruel to mages. Cruel to young mages. Burn out their minds and souls, untethered and drifting, he begged me to give him the mercy I gave the others, because he didn't want to be that again.

I made Elize sad. Made her think about Atroma taking people. You and Cullen will be together when you go from here. Elize and I won't be.

[Like Elize, he won't be with these people. His world is not theirs, his Inquisitor a small, loud dwarf called Nadezhda.]

[Jove gets a small nod. As far as Cullen is concerned, there's nothing to be upset about because the only option is to find a way to bring Elize with them. He won't go without her, won't abandon her.]

I would never let anything happen to Elize. She'd have a home at Skyhold, or... with my family, if need be. [No towers. No fear. As for the rest--]

Anything is possible. I don't see why this wouldn't be.

[ Elize is reluctant at first, but she slowly steps forward to receive her hug from Jove. She's trying her hardest to bite back any tears. They don't even know where to start looking for a way to return together. Maybe Atroma can listen to their wishes... ]

What? What do you mean you won't be, Cole?

[ Her voice sounds more shaken, panicked now.

And all this time, she was talking like Cullen, Jove, and Cole would return to Thedas, just the three of them. Perhaps Cole made mention of having a different Inquisitor to her before, but she didn't fully understand the concept of alternate worlds. ]

[Jove puts her free arm around Elize to bring her close and give her a proper hug, even goes so far as to drop a quick kiss on the top of her head. It makes sense, now what had Cole so upset. Why he wanted to flee.]

Since we've been here we've learned that sometimes there can be entirely different versions of the same person. I have the title of Inquisitor in Thedas, but there's been two other men here who were also the Inquisitor in their own world. Cole comes from a world like that.

[And so had Solas, and so does Cassandra. Varric is someone she had known well who doesn't know her, and there's an entire handful of others from Thedas she had had no exposure to before coming to the Fleet.

She looks up at Cole, giving his hand a strong squeeze.]

And I traveled through time, you know. I could find a way to get back to you. As for mages and the danger they face, Thedas is changing. The Dalish treat their mages well [For the most part.] and we're all seeing to it that nothing like what happened to Cole could ever happen again.

[And then she looks down at Elize again, craning her neck a bit to see her face.]

You'll always have a place in Skyhold, by the way. We'll find a way to bring you with us, and you'll never be in danger there. You can help Dorian and I find a way to punch through the very fabric of time to go find Cole.

[She says this with complete sincerity, because if she will make it happen if she has to.]

[Maybe Elize would be safe. But Cole still doesn't want her in Thedas. He wants her with Cullen and Jove in a nicer world. Like this one. Or hers.]

Her name is Nadezhda Cadash and she thinks Varric is a hot mess and she doesn't know if she can forgive Solas or Blackwall yet, but she's working on it.

Time is... different. It exists all at once and in a line that isn't a line. Time isn't like reality. I want to believe you.

[But he doesn't.]

This is what I mean! I make Elize upset! I don't want to hurt people, I never want to hurt people, but I am and then Elize is upset and Cullen is upset and I don't want to do that!

[Now? Cole is starting to work himself into a panic.]

[It takes more than Cullen wants to admit to not go right to Elize. But Jove has this--this is why she's the leader, and he's not. She knows how to say these things.

He stands there, almost awkwardly for a moment or two, then slowly approaches Cole. He'll reach out to put a hand on his shoulder, if he lets him.]

We're okay, Cole.

[ The kiss on Elize's head brings her to huddle closer to Jove as she listens to her talk. The idea of different times and worlds is strange, but she's beginning to understand why they all can't be together, unless they find a way. ]

Atroma makes me upset.

[ Whatever it is, it'll be responsible for separating them. Then again, it's also Atroma that they were able to meet each other in the first place...

The thought of everyone she loves leaving at anytime was bound to cross her mind again and she'd take longer to dwell on that thought. Especially with how much closer she has been growing to others. ]

I believe Jove. She's a leader and she's strong!

[ Even if she only knows about the Inquisition through stories. She's hopeful. ]

[That Cullen is trying to help comfort Cole doesn't escape Jove's notice. He's come a long way from immediately assuming the spirit was a danger and declaring him unsafe at every turn and it says quite a bit about the kind of man he is. She just hopes it works, and that Cole can see it for what it is.]

Even people who can't do what you do upset each other sometimes, Cole. All there is to do for it is learn from it and move forward. I can promise you that the people who care for you would prefer that to you avoiding us until the hurt fades away.

[Elize gets a gentle squeeze, too, because that was very sweet. This child is going to be the death of her, she's sure.]

You're strong too, Elize. I wouldn't be surprised if you found your way to us before we were able to find you first.

[Cole lets Cullen touch him. It's a big deal, he doesn't usually let other people initiate touching, and especially not men.

But he doesn't believe them still. He can't really hide that fact from his expression, maybe Elize will find Cullen and Jove and Dorian's world, but it's not his world. It would be a different Cole.

A Cole who would read what he was and meant off them. Not him, but him enough. And that thought eases it. That Cole will keep them from knowing and hurting. He likes that idea.

He nods slowly and speaks in a soft voice.]

I won't make anyone forget. I don't know if I can, but I won't try. Even me.

Elize will find her way. Love is the strongest bond. Hope shines pale in comparison with it.

[Cullen rests his hand there, since Cole didn't shy away. He lets out a slow breath, looking between him, Jove, and Elize. How in the world did he end up with all of this?

He doesn't know, but he does know that he'd be sad to see it go. Cole included, he supposes.]

We'll all be all right. There's nothing to fret about just yet.

[ Elize nestles the side of her head on Jove's shoulder. She always looked up to many of the adults around her, aspiring to be just as strong. She feels there's a ways left for her to amount into someone as strong as them, like Milla. Like Jove. ]

I'll... do my best.

[ Which is what she says, very often in a lot of situations. There's a tone of sadness and uncertainty to her words. She needs to try, figure something out, no matter what it takes. ]

Well then, if that's settled...

[Actually she doesn't have much of a follow up to that. She thinks that this has all been taken care of, that Cole is in a better place now, so what would come next?

A very small voice in the back of her head wonders what a mother would do now, but it's best not to think of things like that too often. It's very awkward, after all.]

Should we find something all of us can to together? A game, perhaps?

[It takes a moment, but Cole offers up information.]

We talked about games once. Hide and seek isn't any good, because I can hide better and find people too easily. And there isn't the space to run.

[He's still not settled, but he's staying still and peaceful under Cullen's hand and the tension in his shoulders actually relaxes after another moment of Cullen's hand being there.]

Drawing, perhaps? I still have a lot of empty wallspace. [He gives Elize a pointed look from where he stands, though it's all fondness.]

[ She lifts her head up, still appearing subdued about their earlier conversation. Drawing might cheer her up some and have her mind focused on something else. ]

...I'd like to draw some more. We were doing that earlier. Cole showed me Bunny and Rhys. He also drew the picture of the Iron Bull that's hanging in my personnel room.

[With a nod, Jove stands and offers her hand to Elize so she can hold it if she'd like.]

Drawing sounds wonderful, and I certainly want to see this picture of Bull.

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