driftfleet | You can check out anytime you'd like.. [Hotel Corona Mingle]

You can check out anytime you'd like.. [Hotel Corona Mingle]

Who: The Fleet!
Broadcast: If you want
Action: Hotel Corona or Planet Ikke
When: December 7th onward

a wheel-shaped space station

[After the mystery and isolation of their last destination, the Marsiva seems determined to head to brighter, busier territory. After a long journey through remote, nebula-painted space, speeding along at a brisk pace for the Host ship, the Marsiva brings her Fleet to a sudden and prominent point of traffic.

It seems that the Fleet has happened upon some sort of vacation destination! Maybe Atroma thinks that the passengers deserve some rest and relaxation... or just wants to distract them with something huge and shiny.

Welcome to Hotel Corona! Feel free to enjoy yourselves and enjoy the sites! If a hotel resort isn't your thing, you can head on over to the nearby planet and explore it's icy wonders.

In order words: it's a mingle!! Everyone get in! ]

[>> Plot Post]

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[Fenris has never been much to give very long elaborate answers, but she's beginning to suspect he's growing uncomfortable, and not in the fun way. She's had her chance to tease a little; now it's time to back off.

Though, as she's about to urge him to finish his turn so they can move onto the next course, she pauses. There is something she wants to ask him about, though she's not sure how he'll react.]

All right, I'll lay off the teasing. Though, there is something I've been wondering about.

[How to word this...]

Leliana told me that the Hawke from our Thedas was in a relationship with you. Now, I... don't believe Marian is from our Thedas, Leliana doesn't seem to think so, but I was wondering if that was an... issue. [She lets out a breath.] If it's prying too much, tell me as such, but I couldn't help but wonder. I am with someone back home, Adalwolfe is with someone, and so I wonder if Marian is as well.

[As invasive as it may seem, there is a reason she's asking.]

[This, at least, he can answer. He doesn't look any less uncomfortable, because it's rooted in a lot of the worries he has about the relationship in the first place. He shifts uneasily, staring down at the golf ball and not really hitting it. ]

...Yes. With the Fenris from her world. Not me...obviously.

[And that confirms her suspicions. Ever since Leliana mentioned that their Hawke had been in a relationship with him, she wondered. Maker, she does not envy them that complication.]

That's never an easy thing to deal with. [It's happened to her, and it's happening to Lark and Leliana.] You... don't feel like she's trying to substitute you for him? Or that she's being unfaithful?

[She encountered this, and thus she really wants to know how Fenris and Marian are handling it. Because she certainly didn't go about it well.]

[They are handling it with mixed to middling results. Fenris takes a moment to answer her, because this is something that's played on his mind for a while.]

She's being unfaithful to me, with me. But...no, that's not completely it. I just-

[He lets out a long, slow breath. ]

I just can't be that version of myself. She consistently tells me there is no difference between us, but given my fate in Adalwolfe's world, I can't see that being the case. Not truly.

[And his frustration reveals the heart - or at least part of that heart - of the problem. She wishes she had insight for him, she really does. And it's a tricky line, respecting that the person they see in front of them isn't truly, exactly the one they knew back home. Made much harder when feelings were involved. Not because of malice, but...]

While I cannot fully speak for Marian, as someone who's been in her position, more or less... disentangling the feelings is, frankly, impossible. After knowing you for so long, surely she knows and understands you're a separate person from her Fenris. Logically. But, in her heart? Not so much. And maybe you're different from that Fenris she knows, but you can't be that much different. You've developed feelings for her, too, no? Regardless of what happened in-

[Wait. Her eyes narrow, the last of his words catching up to her. She'd been so caught up in the subject at hand that it hadn't quite registered for her what he'd say. Wolfe wasn't his Hawke, so why...?]

...what fate in Adalwolfe's world?

[Really, she should know better than to ask. A part of her immediately realizes her mistake, but the question is out there now, and she can't not know and ignore it.]

Yes, of that, I am aware. She has told me so herself. And of course I have feelings for her I just worry that I won't be...enough.

[If he got to a place where he could be happy with someone, then he's changed in the smallest of ways there. He's learned to deal with one of his hangups, something he's not sure he's capable of here. He's trying, Maker knows he's trying, but he can't trust it will ever truly happen.

He looks surprised at her question. He thought everyone knew by now. ]

You don't- I'm dead. Apparently, in that version of Thedas I do not take Adalwolfe's side in the mage rebellion. I attacked him, and he killed me.

[Yeah, that thread of the conversation is gonna go by the wayside, at least for the moment. Not that it isn't important, but Riona's a bit too preoccupied with THAT bit of news he just dropped on her.]

What?

[Just when she'd finally moved past that whole false memory fiasco with him and Alistair, now she learns about this, and she's enraged all over again.]

He - he just killed you? And he told you this?

[One day, he will learn not to tell this story. No one reacts to it well. ]

Apparently. He told me when he arrived. He was rather surprised to see me alive.

[She just stares for a long moment, her mind spinning and trying to comprehend this. A part of her wants to just turn and stomp off after Adalwolfe and beat him senseless with this flimsy little club. And yell. A lot. Inhaling deeply through her nose, she reminds herself that Fenris said he attacked him, so it was self-defense. Still-]

He just killed you and - for Andraste's sake, he -

[Seeeeeeeeethe]

I'm... I'm so sorry, Fenris. I don't know why you attacked him, but he shouldn't have - there's always another way. And that he just up and told you this without- [She rubs a hand over her face.] After what happened with me, I thought he'd have learned his damn lesson.

You've seen me fight. I likely gave him no alternative.

[He's not exactly easy to talk down. Of course, he'd very much rather NOT be dead, and he's still not sure what changed in his world to make it so. To make him turn on the people he considers his family. He doesn't get along with his Hawke- but the man still has his loyalty, even if he doesn't have his friendship. ]

I- ...wait. What happened with you?

Suppose so. What I can't understand, I think, is how it even came to that. Wolfe seems to eager to befriend many, and you and he seemed to get on well enough here. Did he explain how it happened?

[What would make Fenris do that? He doesn't seem particularly fond of the Hawke he knows in his world, and yet, the thought of being killed by one still seems to have shocked him, so clearly he never thought it possible. So how did it come to that? What did he or Wolfe do? Or not do?

It makes her sick to her stomach to think about it. Not just the image of Fenris laying on the ground, dead at Wolfe's feet, oh no. This awful revelation makes her think about her companions, and the thought of being driven to-

She shakes her head, dispelling the notion. Now's not the time.

After he poses his question, she hesitates, almost regretting even bringing it up. But it was hard to not draw the comparison, and perhaps he should know that it wasn't just with him that Wolfe made a huge gaffe with in the pursuit of being honest.]

...bear in mind, apparently Atroma fiddled with some of Wolfe's memories when he came here. What he told me wound up not being true.

[She lets out a long, measured exhale.]

I don't know how much you know about the Inquisition that apparently will happen in our future, but apparently Hawke - of both varieties - gets involved with it. There was... a problem with the Grey Wardens that Wolfe was helping out with. And somehow or another, according to him, Alistair got involved.

[Which never made a lick of damn sense, and is exactly why she completely believed him when he said he remembered wrong.]

Lots of things happened, they attacked Adamant Fortress, and somehow Alistair, Wolfe, and the Inquisitor wound up in the Fade. Physically. [Don't ask her how the fuck that happened.] They fought some big demon Nightmare which was causing the problem with the Wardens. When they were escaping, though, it cut off their path. One of them had to stay behind and hold it off.

Both men volunteered. Why Alistair would... whatever his reasons, it came down to the Inquisitor to decide. And apparently, he thought that sacrificing the King of Ferelden was the better idea. While it wasn't Wolfe's decision, he didn't exactly argue it down, and was fine to let it stand. So they fled, and Alistair was left to die.

[Take a wild guess as to how well she handled that.]

Edited (ok 4 realzies) 2017-01-31 03:10 (UTC)

From what I understand, he found it frustrating to talk to me.

[His tone is dry. Adalwolfe said that in anger, but Fenris has remembered it. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps he just wasn't worth the effort. It's not a comforting thought.

Still, he tries to brush it away, to focus on what she's telling him. He has...a lot of mixed feelings about that. Largely because the other person who would be left to a fate worse than death is Hawke. ]

I- have been told about that, yes. Though the person with Hawke seems to differ. In one case it was a Warden named Stroud.

[Still...]

I understand the anger, though. To learn of the possibility of losing someone you care about to the Fade. It is an awful feeling. I can imagine you were...very angry with him for that.

Just because it is frustrating does not mean that it is not worth it. It does not mean that he should not have tried.

[Boy oh boy does that rankle her. How easily she could have given up on trying to connect with Sten, or with Morrigan, or even Oghren or Shale. Perhaps she's being unfair - it certainly crosses her mind - but considering how it turned out for Wolfe, she's certain that she's right in her conviction.]

I heard about this Stroud. Apparently he is who actually was in the Fade with Wolfe. It was Stroud who was left behind each time. I... it does grieve me, to know a Warden lost his life, but Wardens are doomed to die early. At least he had a worthy death.

[She snorts.]

Leliana managed to talk me down after he told me about it. Assured me no such thing happened in her version of events. I tried avoiding him, but I... wound up punching him when I saw him next. [Sorry not sorry] Perhaps I am being too... unreasonable. Not everyone has sworn an oath to a king. Maybe I can't blame him for not wanting to die, for letting it happen. And it wasn't as if it was his decision.

[If that Inquisitor had been the one to show up and tell her what happened, there would have been a smackdown.] At the same time, I don't know how he expected me to take it well. Ah well. It didn't happen. Alistair and Wolfe and Marian all survived and I suppose that's all we can ask for.

Perhaps. But he didn't, and what is done is done.

[He's dead in that world. Hopefully, he will not be so in his own. ]

I may not...like my Hawke, but I would rather a Warden than him. ...No offence, but as you said, a Warden is living on borrowed time anyway.

[Hawke can do so much good. Will do so much good. It's what they all seem to excel at. He wishes Hawke would get a break, but he always knows of their importance to Thedas at large.]

Wolfe often strikes me as the sort of person who speaks before he thinks. I doubt he meant it personally.

...But yes, they have survived, and that is what is important.

I understand. If it were not Alistair in his version of events, I'd have minded far less. He caught me entirely off guard and I panicked. Badly.

[Alistair is a surefire way to hit her at her weakest spot. With most anything else, she can be reasonable, or at least, not let her emotions carry her too far. But with him? That tends to go out the window, and quickly.]

But as you said, what's done is done.

[She shakes her head.]

He very much is. I've hardly seen anyone more effectively shove their foot into their mouth as he does.

I do not blame you. I can see why it would be a weak spot.

[He doesn't really have anyone back home, aside from his ...whatever it is with Isabela. He can't really relate to the feeling, but he can at least understand it. ]

It's astounding, honestly. I know he means well, but he has a knack, that's for certain.

[It's an enormous weak spot, to be certain. One she's keenly aware of and yet, there's little she can do about it. But that's not something she needs to delve into with him.]

Utterly astounding. Perhaps I should have a word with him and teach him a thing or two about tact. Or at least when honesty is not always the best policy. Put some of that hammered-in social etiquette I grew up with to good use.

I honestly doubt it would do much good, but you are more than welcome to try.

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You can check out anytime you'd like.. [Hotel Corona Mingle]

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