driftfleet | February System Mingle

Leilani. He feels her coming before she's there, and he briefly considers going unseen, but he finds himself craving her company. She's one of his few friends, and perhaps the only friend he has who isn't wrapped up in the horror of his future.

Her presence is an unexpected and unfathomable relief. Some tension leaves his shoulders that he didn't realize was there, and he stays still in anticipation for the lotion.

"I have been out here for three days," he says, as though that is a normal amount of time to toil in boiling heat. It's exhausting, but he's happy to feel like he's out and being productive. He's made a habit of sleeping recently, and he doesn't like what it's been doing to him. "There is much work to be done. It is good that I am here to do it, as the others risk heat stroke if they wander outside for too long."

He's being honest with her, which is a good thing, at least. She had expected something akin to awkwardness, but the way he greets her has Leilani softening, relaxing a little even as she nods her head, rubbing the lotion into his skin. This, she thinks, is intimate, oddly, and gentle - something that she hadn't expected to share with him but she's not exactly uncomfortable with. If it hadn't been her it would've been one of the native population; she just happened to get there first.

"Three days?" Frowning, she tilts her head to look down at him. That's not a good amount of time, even for a spirit that might be able to do things that most humans would be incapable of. Telling him to stop doesn't seem like it might work, especially if there's a reason for Justice having been working out here for so long. It's not her place to pry, but as his friend she thinks it is her place to nudge him gently into talking.

"Isn't it time you took a break, then? I'm sure the people won't mind if you took twenty minutes away to spend some time with a friend."

"A break?"

Justice is reluctant, and it shows in the furrow of his brow, but... her hands on his back are nice. Her voice and gentleness are nice. Being able to talk to someone important to him without obsessing over what will happen is nice.

He's lonely, but he doesn't quite know that that's what he feels. He leans into her touch, completely oblivious to the way some natives stare at them jealously from their places in the shade.

"...I suppose there is no harm in spending twenty minutes with you," he allows.

There are some things she's good for, Leilani knows that, and being supportive and gentle is one of those things. She had done with Dorian, had been at his side for the worst parts of his life, and she had done the same for so many others: the Iron Bull, Cassandra, Varric, Cole... Solas. She knows how to support and comfort, and it shows in how gently she handles Justice now. She might not know what's troubling him, but she can support him all the same.

"Some people might think it a gift, spending time with me." It's easy to tease, and she squeezes his shoulder gently before she leans back. Slowly, carefully, she reaches out and offers her hand - her Anchor, ready for him to hold and touch, if he wants it or needs it. It won't hurt her, but it might comfort him, and that's more important.

"Shall we get something to drink? Does your new body let you indulge like that? Or would you rather just go for a walk?"

Justice hasn't exactly opened up much about how he's been feeling because he just doesn't know how. He's never really had to talk about feelings like this before. If they ever got this bad, he would just forget about them, and that would be the end of it. He has little in the way of the vocabulary or insight needed to talk about how he feels.

He was able to talk a little to Wolfe when they both drank. He was able to tell Doudanuki what happened, but only the facts. He hesitates before accepting her invitation--he doesn't know if he will talk to her, if he will say why he disappeared for nearly a month, if he will avoid the topic--but maybe it doesn't matter if he doesn't know what he will do. He knows that for now, at least, he is safe for her to be around. That is the important part.

"They think that because it is a gift," he says, taking her offered hand. He doesn't miss the significance, and already, the song of the Fade envelops him like a mother. He laces his fingers with Leilani's, allowing himself to be lost in the music.

"I can drink. I simply do not need to." He considers for a moment. "Sharing a drink seems agreeable. I doubt this heat is pleasant for you." She is still mortal, after all. He doesn't want to walk around with her while she slowly develops heat stroke.

It's hard to speak about things, sometimes; Leilani knows that there's only two people here who know the truth about who Solas is and what he meant to her, and that's because they were there. Everyone else knows parts of it - that Solas was her lover, that she fought Fen'Harel and Corypheus, but not the two of them together in an interchanged story. It's too hard to admit, too hard to talk about the depth of feeling she has for someone who lied for so long.

It's easier, she supposes, with people who don't know. They don't draw the connection between her broken heart and the things she had to do, the person she had to fight, because she doesn't let them. It's easier to tuck it away and focus on something else, to clench her jaw and smile and push through the gentle ache.

"Sweet talker." She smiles, though, and squeezes Justice's hand gently, leaning close for a moment. Making a note, she decides that she has to make sure that he's okay from here on out, that he knows he has someone to talk to, that someone will care enough to check in on him.

Tugging, she smiles, beaming. "Then we'll share a drink. There are some spots that have something like a restaurant - we can go there and pick something we both like." She shakes her head, though, humming. "I've walked through a desert without shoes before. This could be worse."

"It is not sweet talking if it is the truth," Justice says, completely and utterly sincere. He's almost forgotten how nice it feels to just spend time with a mortal who cares for him without plumbing the depths of his anguish and indecision.

He follows her easily, leaning closer than he usually does. Touch between his friends has always been pleasant, but recently, he's found himself craving it in a way that he never has before, and it feels like her hand is satisfying some deep, gaping need of his that's been allowed to fester in his self-inflicted isolation. He doesn't know why he has these cravings. He tries not to think about it too hard, the same way he tries not to think too hard about how much he's been sleeping.

"Why were you walking the desert without shoes? Were you wandering with your clan?" He's only really spoken to one Dalish before coming to the Fleet, and her clan had always stuck closely to forested or mountainous areas.

"Now you're definitely sweet talking." Leilani can't help her gentle laugh, shaking her head. It's clear he's being genuine, but she knows that it's Justice being himself; being honest and sweet and kind. It has nothing to do with anything more than their careful friendship, even if her eyes drag over him gently, curiously, wondering. There are some things she should keep to herself, she thinks, and this is one of them.

At least she can do something to make him feel better, and she hopes that the touch of her Anchor and their closeness helps him manage whatever has been distressing him. Three days of straight work with few breaks isn't safe or healthy, and it doesn't matter if he's a Spirit; he can't work himself so hard. It's just not right, and she intends to make sure that he stops himself before he goes too far.

"My companions and I went to the Hissing Wastes in Western Orlais. There was a large Venatori base there that we wanted to take down and we had to cross the desert to get there." She just smiles, tilting her head. "I left my clan to become the Inquisitor, so it was Dorian, Solas, the Iron Bull and myself."

"Sometimes, the truth is simply sweet," he says, keeping a tight grip on her hand as she walks. He is aware that sometimes mortals will exaggerate compliments to each other as a means of courtship, but it doesn't quite occur to him that what he's saying could be taken as flirting. For him, it's just the truth.

She is worried for him. He can feel it in her skin, but he puts it out of his mind. He knows he's not okay, and he's not fool enough to try to convince himself that he is. But what he can do is try to put her mind at ease by not seeming so terrible as he has.

"What are Venatori?" It's easy to talk to her. She answers his questions, and perhaps he can learn more of the future without quite touching on the painful subject of his part in it.

The grip is enough to make her know, even without any doubts, that he's being honest and true with her; Justice is kind, and sweet, and to the point. He means what he says, and it means that Leilani has no reason to second-guess or question him, no reason to wonder if there's some deception behind his words. It's refreshing, after months of uncertainty resulting in everything she had known being turned upside down on it's head.

She leads him away from the beach and the people that keep staring him, back towards the cafe and the cold drinks that await them. Although there's no promise of being able to keep him away for long - especially if he's looking for a distraction - even a brief twenty minutes would be something, and she clings to that quietly.

"They're nationalists from Tevinter that supported Corypheus, or what they called 'the Elder One'. They thought that he was going to make them into godlike kings when he became immortal and so they did his bidding and worked as a kind of makeshift army across Thedas. It was very important to Dorian that we made sure to stop as many of them as we could, and weakening Corypheus was always a priority."

"The promise of godhood seems to consistently lure mortals to evil, though it has never once works." Another thing that Justice will probably never understand about mortals--how so many of them keep falling for that.

Walking inside the cafe is a blast of cold air. His shirt is tied around his waist, and he unties it, though he doesn't bother with the effort of pulling it on and instead slings it over one bare shoulder.

"I remember I was told of Corypheus. He resembles another Tainted creature I encountered once." This whole 'world-ending talking darkspawn' thing better not become common. No one would be happy with that.

"'No real god need prove himself. Anyone who tries is mad or lying.'" Leilani says it wryly, something like a pained smile slipping onto her face. Oh, she recognises, now, what Solas had meant by that - that Godhood was impossible, that those that craved it were mad and foolish, a reflection of what he knew about those her people called the Creators. It's different, she thinks, reflecting on what she knows he's told her and what she thinks of him now, with her hand tingling and her heart heavy, a wolf bone around her neck like a lead weight.

At least when she glances up at Justice she meets something that looks very nice, and her eyes drag over him gently before she forces herself to turn elsewhere, to look around and find a table. Her hand doesn't leave his, and she urges him to follow her to somewhere quiet, near the back, in view of the windows: ready for an exit, just in case. Old habits die very hard.

"I don't want to imagine there being more things like him," her nose wrinkles. "Corypheus was Hawke's problem, once, wasn't he? Then he became mine, thanks to Fen'Harel." Lead in her stomach, her jaw tight. "But there's nothing to worry about. I killed him."

"Wise words," Justice says, though he does notice that her mood seems to dim as she says them. Justice squeezes her hand, because this he can deal with. She's given him guidance in the past, and he can reapply it now.

He follows her to the table without complaint, pleased with the placement. He's beginning to notice how people are staring at him, some even turning to follow him with their eyes, and he misinterprets their gaze as one of wariness. He's used to people being disgusted or afraid of his outward appearance, after all, and it has yet to become habit to expect a different reaction.

Being someplace removed, away from the eyes but within an easy exit, helps sooth his discomfort.

"I am pleased to hear you killed him. The world has enough darkspawn without them aspiring to godhood." He still doesn't let go of her hand as they sit down. He keeps a tight grip, like letting go might physically hurt. "The Wardens met a darkspawn like that called the Architect in Amaranthine. Riona spared his life." It's clear from his tone that he had disagreed with that decision, and there were some heated words exchanged after the fact, but that's not what makes him shut up immediately. It's the fact that he mentioned her offhand, and it's a painful reminder of everything he's trying to avoid right now.

"There's no denying that." Solas was always wise, and thoughtful, and clever. She had been blind to the reasons behind his wisdom, of course, but there's no way anyone can ignore how bright and brilliant his mind had been. Leilani's eyes flick up to look at Justice when he squeezes her hand, however, and some of that sad ache melts away.

People are still staring, and Leilani frowns before she shifts and moves herself a little closer, settling beside Justice with a tilt of her head up to look at him. That, at least, does something for some of the looks - she's not claimed him, exactly, but they're here together and they're holding hands and it's enough to make people think that he's unavailable. It that wrong of her? If Justice wanted to find someone to spend time with, someone for something romantic... She shouldn't stop him, really.

At least she knows he's honest enough to say it if he wants it.

"I've never heard of the Architect, but I was never involved with anything beyond the scope of the Inquisition. Before that I was with my clan, and we kept away from humans as best we could." Tilting her head up, she watches Justice for a moment, before she leans closer and, carefully, draws his hand onto her lap so she can wrap both of hers around his. "I couldn't spare Corypheus. He wanted to become something Godlike, to destroy the world as we knew it. There was no way for me to allow that."

"If you have not heard of the Architect, that is likely a good sign. He wished to gift darkspawn with free will and intelligence. He said that this was to break their connection with Archdemons and end Blights once and for all, but I did not believe him."

He doesn't notice how he and Leilani must look, but he does notice that some of the staring stops. He's grateful for that, and he's grateful for her closeness and the song of her hand.

"It is good that you killed Corypheus. He was dangerous, and your actions were just."

"That doesn't sound possible. I'm not a Grey Warden and my knowledge of the Blight is only what I've learned from speaking to the Wardens and Blackwall, but... Giving Darkspawn the intelligence to thrive when they already destroy the towns and cities they come across seems like an awful idea."

It makes her think, though; Solas had always been so against the Wardens, something about the Blight that frustrated him, and she wishes he was here so that she could quiz him and learn the truth. All she can do is imagine, and even that irritates her beyond belief - to the point where she has to shrug it off and focus on Justice.

"He's the one that started it," she scoffs quietly. "He tried to use Fen'Harel's orb to enter the Fade. It's why I have the Anchor."

"It worked to divide the darkspawn from the call of the Archdemons, and some proved they were capable of working together with mortals, but it made them no less dangerous."

Justice still thinks that Riona had erred in letting the Architect live, especially after he killed so many Wardens, but there's nothing either of them can do about it now.

"Fen'Harel was the one you were fighting, correct? Was he working together with the darkspawn?"

"Intelligence makes something more dangerous, I think." Sometimes, giving the people the chance to think and act alone, the smarts to do it, makes them a thousand times more deadly. She sighs, softly. "Their ability to work with mortals doesn't make them less dangerous. I worked with a Qunari but that didn't make his people less likely to kill me."

The Iron Bull definitely wasn't going to kill her, but his people? That was a different matter entirely. The conversation shifts back to Fen'Harel, though, and Leilani wonders if she can trade in their cool drink for something with a bit more bite.

"He wasn't working with Corypheus, no. He wanted to use him to unlock the power, but he made a fatal mistake. He didn't think it was possible that Corypheus might have been able to survive the damage unlocking the orb would unleash."

February System Mingle

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