therookery | Meet Me in the Pit, Korrin edition

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Meet Me in the Pit, Korrin edition

FORM: Sending crystal
SENDER: Korrin Ataash
RECIPIENT: Everyone/Also, private message for Adalia.
WHAT: Looking for sparring partners.
WHEN: Now
WHERE: Gallows training area.
NOTES: Not doing a separate log, any action can happen in individual threads here.

[Her tone is brisk, though not unfriendly. She's just eager to get down to business.]

Korrin here. I always love sparring with anyone interested, but now it's for more than just the hell of it. If you're not part of the Forces division and don't mind going toe-to-toe with a giant horned mage, hit me up. I swear I'm less intense than I look.

Not that it should need to be said, but rifters are more than welcome. I'm always curious about what you can do. If you can pull a surprise out of your ass that'll knock me on mine, I'll buy you a drink.

[Private to Adalia]

I have something different to ask of you. You're a storm mage, right? You have the same affinity with lightning that I do?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Korrin's rejoinder makes Nari freeze for a moment with her hands still in the air and then, suddenly, she laughs; it's loud and hard and bright and entirely unrefined, and she hasn't laughed like this in so long. Years. Not since before Sina was struck with the shard and her entire world had started to die at the same slow inexorable pace as her clansister. She looks like a plant discovering sunshine, and her arms pull down to wrap around her middle, her eyes crinkled by a broad helpless grin and shining with tears as the peals turn into breathless wheezing.

She sits down again because she has to, freeing one arm to gesture that her arse has, in fact, been put on the ground.

"In a lovely way," she croaks, raising a hand to wipe away the tears of abject mirth with a sigh. "And it's... complicated. In more ways than I could count on fingers and toes, but at the heart of everything it's good. I think." She says it with a quiet half-smile. It's not the grin from before by any stretch, but it's a happy kind of quiet. "Or it might be, someday. I don't know. I don't do this." Nari clasps her arms around her knees as she pulls them up, looks up at Korrin. "Tell me how you knew, with Araceli?"

Edited 2018-04-15 00:26 (UTC)

That burst of laughter is startling, but no less heartwarming to hear. Had she even heard anything like it from Nari, as long as they've known each other? Certainly not in the past several months, since Sina began to seriously decline. Her lips curve in a warm smile, joining her on the ground once more.

"It's always complicated when humans are involved, isn't it?" That's true regardless, but Korrin has to be certain that it's doubly so for a Dalish elf. So much bad history is tied up with humans, history that she's sure Nari knows by heart.

Taking out her dragon tooth necklace, Korrin stares at it fondly as she turns it around in her hand. "It wasn't all at once, like a bolt of lightning. We spent more and more time together, and her presence loomed so large in my life that whenever we were separated...I ached. Life wasn't as sweet without her around, and when I realized that...there was no going back."

Edited 2018-04-15 00:35 (UTC)

Humans making things complicated is met with a firm nod and a briefly quirked eyebrow: sing it, sister.

"You know, I used to know exactly what to do with them." Nari says, miming a quick stabbing motion with a wry grin. It's followed by her pinching the bridge of her nose, "My erstwhile clansisters certainly hadn't forgotten." Although Sedi had only put two holes in him, and he was still alive. What restraint!

She rests her head on her arms to listen to Korrin talk about Araceli, her smile small and warm. The two women had been together like sea and sky ever since she'd known the mage, the warmth and affection between them hanging in the air like sunbeams filtering through branches, the lines of light near solid enough to reach out and touch.

She'd smiled to have been let to see it, but it had never once crossed her mind to want to be part of anything like that. She wouldn't have even known how to begin to want that. Hadn't known. But then in the dark and quiet and uncertainty of her fever vigil some foreign feathered thing had fluttered in her chest and had refused to stop the fragile beating of its wings until she'd loosed it with her fingers in his hair.

It occurs to her that Korrin has stopped talking and she's just staring into nothing, so she quirks an apologetic smile. "You're beautiful together, and the way it happened is... better than lightning, I think."

Edited 2018-04-15 05:14 (UTC)

Korrin smirks at the stabbing motion, naturally unsurprised with what she's learned about Dalish in general and some clans in particular. Some certainly have cause to attack first and ask questions later, if ever. Nari's smile is infectious, and she nods, slipping an arm over her friend's shoulders for a companionable squeeze.

"Me, too. Some of the best things, you just can't plan. They sneak up on you, when you least expect them.

...and wait, what? There was a scuffle with your clan? What happened?"

“Oh, it—“ Nari bites her lip, looking deeply chagrined that she’d let something slip, “I’ve not told anyone who didn’t absolutely need to know. I don’t want people to think even worse of us, although honestly,” she says, her tone turning bitter, “most already think of us as tattooed savages and would be more surprised to hear we’d not stuck an arrow in someone. I just...” She sighs and ruffles a hand in her hair, leaning her head against Korrin briefly before sitting up again. “Don’t want to be the one to hand them any more stones to throw.”

But it was Korrin, and Korrin cared about her if not the People. Surely she wasn’t about to pass arrows along to anyone who’d shoot them. “Short version is we went to the Planasene for what was meant to be a hunting trip,” she snorts quietly with wry amusement, “which I guess it was, we just weren’t expecting to be on the quarry side. The hunters were farther east than I thought they’d ever be, and we got caught out by the two worst possible of them. It was a near thing... although if they’d meant him dead he would have been.”

Frowning in concern, Korrin remains silent as she listens to Nari's disturbing account of what happened. She scoots a little closer to slip an arm around her friend's slighter shoulders, trying to be comforting even as her hackles rise at the thought of Nari being hunted in such a fashion.

"I don't doubt that. So, they'll tell the rest of the clan what happened. What does that mean for you?"

"I... well. My family knows already, they're the reason we came back. As far as the rest of the clan?"

She hadn't actually thought about that yet; when she speaks it's halting. "I don't know. I... Creators." Nari huffs a breath through her nose. "They won't take it well, most like. I wouldn't have, before I came to the Inquisition. Especially since we lost the pair of hunters over it. I think they'd take me back, if I went, but I don't know if I'd ever truly live down having caused that kind of conflict within the clan over a human."

Nari ruffles her hair again and looks simultaneously amused and incredulous. "A devoutly Andrastian human. Who used to be a Templar. Maybe they won't let me come back."

She's mostly joking.

Edited (oops, wrong word) 2018-04-16 05:28 (UTC)

Joking aside, Korrin's concern doesn't fade and she gives her a gentle squeeze. "Your clan's been through a lot, I guess I can see why they'd react the way they did. Still, you've been through a lot, too. I hope they keep that in mind, because you damn well deserve some consideration, too."

...wait. "Used to be--" She blinks, then her eyebrows raise as she glances down. "Do you mean Cade?"

Belatedly, Nari realizes that there aren’t too many other erstwhile Templars (any?), so she oughtn’t be surprised Korrin guessed. Even so, she goes a bit pink in the time honored tradition of having someone ambush you with the name of someone you’ve been thinking of.

“Yes?” she responds in a cautious drawn out way that doesn’t quite end in a squeak.

For a moment, Korrin just stares blankly. It's not often she's reduced to speechlessness, but she's barely spared a thought for Cade other than to roll her eyes at his uptightness or seethe at the way he'd treated Beleth. That he would manage any sort of involvement with anyone (a copy of the Chant and his own hand didn't count), let alone a dalish elf, let alone Nahariel...well, it's a lot to take in at once.

“I’ve... had my revenge?” ventures Nari, as Korrin adopts a look much like someone unexpectedly put on their arse might. She’s not sure it’s lovely though; that kind of stare usually means there’s something the starer’s trying to work through, and she’s pretty sure it’s not the part where he’s human.

...The incredulous way she’d said his name makes Nari think it’s not the religious part or the Templar part either.

That prompts a burst of laughter that snaps Korrin out of her shock, those broad shoulders shaking with the force of it. She tries to stop and explain herself, but it takes a few tries before she can calm herself enough for coherency. "You definitely did! Andraste's shapely ass, I did not see that coming.

...did you know we were tent-mates, in Emprise du Lion? He walked in on me changing and I pretty much never saw him after that. My boobs were that powerful."

Korrin's arm wrapped around her shoulders as it is the laughter shakes Nari as well, prompting the return of her grin and a chuckle at the story. "I'm not surprised in the slightest," she says. After all, she fuzzily recalls pulling off her frozen tunic under a blanket at Kit's at the Medicine Seller's instruction and catching a glimpse of the man facing a corner with his ears fit to catch fire. It makes her grin a little wider.

"I can't say I understand," she says, "we didn't care much about it back home, especially not for reasons like changing after work or hunt, or finding a particularly nice stream on a hot day, but... I think it's kind of sweet."

...and made her blush to have it mean something.

"That and you do have a powerful bosom," she adds cheekily, "Araceli's a strong woman."

She trails off into an amused snort, shaking her head. "Not that strong, she was on her way in just as he was on his way out."

Then her smile fades as she gazes at Nari, thoughtful yet wary. "The last I heard about him, he...wasn't that stable. Has he changed? Is he good to you?" She knows Nahariel can take care of herself, really, but she can't help herself.

Edited 2018-04-18 00:51 (UTC)

She’s touched, actually, enough that she reaches a hand to take Korrin’s and squeeze briefly. It’s one thing to have people worried for you when something was immediately wrong— you’re sick, or injured, or freezing, or weeping, or some such else— that made sense. But something like this, worrying about how she’s treated? It’s a kind of caretaking she’s not used to. It’s... nice.

“I don’t know about changed,” Nari replies, “but good to me?” She trails off, flicking back through memory. The two of them standing awkwardly in the street as she asked about help placing the statue; his help in cutting the massive trunk, hauling it to the grove. He'd read her the Chant-- all of it-- had been there for every hour of the statue's forming. There'd been his long and frozen carry of her from Hightown all the way to Darktown, lacking a cloak that wrapped her instead. Sunrise upon sunrise of shared silence, the raw closeness of the hunting trip and what came after, the effort and trust it must have taken to come and see her, to let her see him that way. The brief departure from his intense self-consciousness as he'd tilted his head unthinking to lay a small kiss by her knee.

And she realizes, slowly, that she knows what Korrin meant earlier with the dragon's tooth necklace dangling from her fingers.

Oh.

Blinking quickly, her voice a bit rougher than before, she finishes the thought: "Never else."

Edited 2018-04-18 03:59 (UTC)

"He'd better be. You know him better than I do, so I'll listen to you on that. But if he's dumb enough to treat you any other way and I'm around to see it, I can't promise he'll walk away without a large imprint of my boot on his ass."

Contrary to popular belief, Korrin is just fine with ignoring people she has reason to dislike or distrust. Otherwise, she'd be doing nothing but picking fights on the crystals all day. It's when they misbehave in front of her and force her to interact with them to squash that behavior, that she becomes cranky.

That earns another chuckle, although she shakes her head slightly. She finds it difficult to imagine that particular situation, at least as long as she walked soft and wary and didn't trip a trap someone had laid in him. That felt separate somehow, though. Not him.

"You're a good friend, Korrin." Nari says, angling her head up to look at her. Had she ever said that? "The best I have here, and I'm glad of it. I'd never wish you trouble, but if it comes, I'll be here for it."

"Thanks, Nahariel. You're a good friend, too." She bends in enough to kiss the top of her head. "I've needled you enough; ready to spar a little and show me what you got?"

"More than." Nari replies, gently headbutting Korrin in response and then scooting forward enough that she won't kick her friend when she rolls to her feet. She heads for the dulled practice blades to toss a few of them back and forth to check the weight, and then waves once she'd found two that'll suit, calling back across the yard.

"I still kind of want to see if I can dodge lightning." A thoughtful pause. "Can one even dodge lightning?"

Korrin frowns uncertainly, not sure if she should encourage this. "It can be done, if you're careful and paying attention. But if we're going to do that, I'd feel more comfortable if you took one of those lightning tonics first. I have some healing potions, too, but let's try to keep it from getting that intense."

It's supposed to be just sparring, and she's not about to see Nari put in the healing tents because of her.

Seeing the other woman's hesitance Nari offers a reassuring smile, "I'm certainly not going to force the issue if you're worried," she says, "I just thought since we're trying to figure out what I can do, dodging spells seems useful, and I've been working hard on improving my reactions since coming back from the Sunless Lands..." (And getting a rib cracked by a Red Templar for not being in peak form)

She trails off and flips her grip on her main hand back and forth, adding a wide 'draw your own conclusions' shrug.

Not wanting to be responsible for Nahariel undergoing worse if she fails to get the training she needs, Korrin sighs and rests her hands on her hips. "No, that's fair. If you want to focus on improving your reactions, that's what we'll do. Give me a minute in the alchemy room, and I'll be good to go, alright?"

Given that it's been freshly restocked, Korrin knows she'll have all the needed ingredients for a few potions. And if it gets Nari in the habit of using them, all the better.

With a quick waved salute, Nari bounces on her toes and sets to waiting. Was this a great idea? Probably not. Would any mages she faced in the field hold off on their casting because she hadn't at least given it a try? Definitely not.

Besides, if she could dodge a spell, she could dodge an arrow. A blade. A fist. Anything that gave her an edge the Inquisition could use to destroy the thing that had shattered Dahlasanor's future.

A short time later and Korrin returns with said potions -fully upgraded- which she promptly hands over. "Take one, and I'm ready when you are. But if it's too much, I want you to tell me. Okay? No bullshit."

“I will,” replies Nari with some gravity, freeing a hand to take the offered vial and making sure to meet Korrin’s eyes when she says so. “No bullshit.”

“Will it be a waste of resources if I ask you to throw a couple near me first?” she asks, walking to the water table so as to have somewhere to place the bottle when she’s done with the contents, “I want to see if there’re any tells that it’s coming.”

i love korrin s'durn much

<3

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Good going, Nari. You broke her.

I actually spat out my tea :’D

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good question, korrin 8)

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