ye olde mingle of the pathstone variety

[openhands]

Who: crew of the pathstone & you!!!
Broadcast: ??
Action: aboard the pathstone, yo
When: 11/25 & beyond

[So how about that longer hallway? Weird, right? Or you know the new antiquated look in the interior is kinda nice...right? Right.]

[...GET IN HERE, IT'S A MINGLE]

Comments

[openhands]

I do not envy you that, Cole.

[That's a difficult existence to say the least. And yet he perseveres through it all, not allowing himself to be taken by temptations. He's perhaps stronger than all of them.]

[killedwithlove]

You don't envy. I know that. You quash anything you think is unbecoming or unfitting a Seeker with the same determination you use to quash demons.

[openhands]

[Oh, Cole. Bless your literal little heart. You're almost as bad as her sometimes. Cassandra shakes her head some.]

That isn't quite what I meant, Cole. What you see in other people, I know it is part of your nature, but it is difficult to imagine that ever being...[hm, what's the right word] ...easy to endure.

[killedwithlove]

I've always been like this.

[Aware of the fear, anger, hurts, hurts and hurts. The White Spire was a nightmare near the end.]

Sometimes it hurts a lot. But where it hurts most is where I can do the most good, so it's where I go.

It wasn't good, like Vivienne says it was. It wasn't bad like Anders went through, but it wasn't good.

... Fenris reminds me of the templars there.

[openhands]

How so?

[killedwithlove]

He visited me. In the dark place. He watched Cole die and felt nothing but contempt. Like the templars who threw him away.

[He doesn't look at Cassandra as he says it, very distinctly looking at something in the other direction.]

[openhands]

[This doesn't line up with what Cassandra knows of Fenris, which is to say she doesn't know much. They read similar books and he was with Dorian before...but she knows little else beyond that.]

...Are you sure?

[killedwithlove]

[Cole is silent a long time. This isn't because he's thinking about his answer, but because he's wondering if he could Cassandra forget this conversation.

But he can't make people forget easily anymore and Cassandra isn't just people. She's Faith.]

Yes.

[Before, he avoided Fenris because he hurt him. Now he's avoiding him because Fenris scares him.]

[openhands]

[Cassandra waits patiently through his silence for his answer, not prodding or prompting him to give it any quicker than he is. She's not foolish enough to think he's contemplating his answer. Cole doesn't quite work like that in normal conversation. Well, normal conversation with Cole at any rate. Something is keeping him from giving his answer instead and he will either push past it or not. There's little that Cassandra can do about that.]

[His answer is...disappointing. She thought better of Fenris than that.]

I'm sorry, Cole. Would you like me to speak with him about this?

[killedwithlove]

[He shakes his head immediately.]

No. I shouldn't have said anything. I'd take it back if I could.

[It's still his default, but with Cassandra at least, it isn't an option. It makes talking to her exhilarating and frightening.]

[openhands]

Cole...

[It may be his default answer, but from her tone? Not the correct one. It'd have been alright if he said now, but the idea that he shouldn't have said anything? That's not okay. Communication is important.]

[killedwithlove]

[He hides more under his hat. But he hasn't banished in smoke and he hasn't made himself invisible. Or tried to.]

Yes?

[openhands]

You can't simply sweep something like that under the rug and not tell anyone.

[killedwithlove]

Why?

[It made her unhappy to hear it, why shouldn't he just have said nothing?]

[openhands]

You know why. Sometimes the truth is unpleasant, but it needs to be known.

[Lies only lend themselves to misguidance at best, corruption at worst.]

[killedwithlove]

But it's only me he feels that way about. And it upset you, hearing me say it.

[openhands]

Of course it upset me, Cole, you are my friend. It matters to me how others treat you.

[killedwithlove]

[And that finally makes him look up in surprise, eyes wide and lips slightly parted.]

I... am?

It does?

[openhands]

Of course. [She cants her head a little.] Did you think otherwise?

[killedwithlove]

I... didn't really think about it.

[It wasn't that he thought they were not friends. He would call Cassandra a friend, but he knew that didn't mean she would do the same.]

Can I hug you?

[openhands]

[What? Oh.]

I-I suppose. If that's what you'd like.

[????]

[killedwithlove]

[Friends hug. He's learned this from Jove, so blame her.]

I don't know, but Jove always hugs me, and Solas did a few times and Elize likes to be hugged, so that's what friends do?

[openhands]

[Cole is asking the wrong person. Cassandra's number of friends can easily be counted on one hand.]

I believe so.

[killedwithlove]

[He hops down off his shelf and comes over and gives her a brief, heartfelt hug.]

[openhands]

[Oh. Okay, we're doing this. She pats him lightly on the back. She's not the best at hugs. Not much practice at them. Sorry, Cole. :C]