driftfleet | Tourist Mingle!

Yesssssss? She's been here for a while. Riona Cousland-Theirin.

[He's the Theirin part, in case you were wondering. Doglord, for what it's worth, sniffs Kirk's hand and then turns his little black nose up.]

No, that's okay. I mean, I don't know how long he'll be, but I'm hoping to get him to leave the ship a bit. Take in some other recycled air than the air on the Tourist.

[That's something he had to learn about. It was weird at first.]

Really? Riona? Huh, I wouldn't have guessed.

_{[ He doesn't say it in a bad way, just the surprise of someone who had
not known Riona was married. Not that he knew her particularly well at all
in the first place, but still. ]}

Ah, well, my full blessing to either wait for him or beat down his door. I agree that he could use some distraction.

Uh? Why's that? Do I not look like a married man?

[No, dude, you look like an overgrown puppy with abandonment issues. Poor Alistair.]

What about you? I mean, you must have known a few of them, right? I think that the elf... Fenris... was on this ship too.

No, I mean, I wouldn't have guessed Riona was married.

_{[ Not for any real reason other than she had not struck him as the
type, but, eh, what did he know? You would not have been his pick as her
husband though, that is true, Alistair. He goes a touch quiet at the
other's next sentence. ]}

Yes, Fenris was. He and I were.... close.

_{[ The way he says close suggests something more than friends. They had
been lovers, and Fenris' absence was keenly felt. ]}

I get that a lot.

[And to think that she's the one who proposed to him, who pursued him... Not that he'll ever complain. He loves being married to her.

And he notices the way the other man goes silent. Whoops.]

Oh, I'm sorry. Are you... are you okay? I mean, I came to see Anders, but I knew Fenris a bit.

_{[ Kirk shook his head. ]}

It's all right. On some level, I knew this would happen someday. It seems to happen to everyone, sooner or later.

You sure you don't want something to drink while you wait?

I...I guess that is a hazard we all know is going to happen when we're here, but that doesn't mean you have to ignore it, yeah?

You, uh, sure you don't wanna talk?

[He's probably not the best listener, but he'll at least try.]

It's not necessarily ignoring it. It's accepting it. I can't change it. I can't bring him back. I can just hope that he's okay, and that will have to suffice.

_{[ It's practical. It's the reality. He just needed to accept that and
maybe the gnawing pain in his chest would lessen quicker than not. ]}

Besides, I wouldn't want to make our first meeting awkward.

_{[ He gives a wry smile. ]}

[Alistair's not sure how to address the whole 'hope he's okay'. It's Thedas. Nothing every really is 100% safe. And, well, there's a whole war and some crazy Darkspawn going around. And there's the possibility that another Blight could come at any point. Safe is always a relative thing back home.

But, as far as he knows, the elf at least makes it to Tevinter to take out more slavers.]

Honestly, I've had worse. I haven't insulted your mother or you yet, so I'm going to count this as a win.

[He'll never live down his first meeting with Morrigan. Not that he cares so much about the witch's opinion. He just doesn't want to make things more awkward for his wife.]

_{[ Look, he is going to tell himself that Fenris is his grouchy self
somewhere he can be as at peace as he can be. Or maybe he gets his revenge.
Or he just... gets to feel better. He knows it is unlikely. God he does,
but he has nothing to say it isn't true either, so he'll choose to hope for
the best because if he let's himself think different he won't be able to
sleep at night and he barely manages that as it is. ]}

Passing with flying colors then!

_{[ He chuckled. ]}

But, again, would not be the worst first meeting I've ever had.

I... am not sure what that says about us that we've had worse meetings than a few insults.

Of course, there was that time the crazy dwarven Paragon used me and the rest of my group as trap testers with monsters....

[It's a good thing Branka's dead.]

I've had first meetings where it was literally because people were trying to invade my universe and conquer us all based on religious teachings that centered around gravity. That's probably the worst one, to be honest.

_{[ THIS IS HIS LIFE. ]}

So, yeah, this first meeting is going just fine. Especially with such a cute associate.

_{[ He nodded at Doglord. ]}

Oh, they sound sort of like the Qunari.

[Alistair frowns at that.]

I think. I don't really understand the Qun that much.

Please don't compliment him so much. His head is big enough. Although, if you want to pet him, I'm sure he'll be okay with that.

Cats? Get a big head? Never.

_{[ He crouched down, holding out his hand to Doglord and smiling
softly. ]}

This is simply your normal head size, from the time you were born.

Right, sure.

[A smile covers Alistair's face as he watches the other man play with the stupid, selfish leopard. Who looks like a slightly large, spotted house cat.]

I'll have you know that if he has trouble walking through doorways, I'm sending him back to this ship.

_{[ Such a cute kitty. He generally wasn't a cat person - more of a dog
person, but cats were well enough. He cooed to the creature, scratching
along its jaw. ]}

We already have three, what's one more?

[Doglord is totally soaking up all of the attention.]

Well, I'll have you know that should you not have a Mabari in residence, he'll be finding the nearest person to boss around.

Something tells me that you might be the person he picks, Kirk.

Well, he's welcome to try. I've had long practice with creatures much more bossy than a cat. Less haughty though.

_{[ But truly, is there any creature so cantankerous as a southern man?
]}

Tourist Mingle!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject