[Open]

[colecomfort]

FORM: Sending Crystal
SENDER: Cole
RECIPIENT: Everyone
WHAT: Cole has found a pet. It might be someone else's. Or it might be his.
WHEN: Current (Solace 22nd)
WHERE: Sent from a little ways outside Skyhold
NOTES: n/a

There's... a nug out here.

There are lots of nugs out here. Restless rustling in the bushes, foraging for food, tiny ones learning how to run and hide. This one's different.

She's wearing boots. They're bright, and red.

Someone must have made them. Nugs aren't born with boots.

She isn't lost. She doesn't know she's meant to be anywhere else. But someone might be missing her.

Comments

[colecomfort]

She could be one of the Nightingale's. But she's rather far away from Skyhold. I don't think she'd let one wander so far.

[demonicbeauty]

No. I don't think so either.

[colecomfort]

But if someone is missing her, they're probably part of the Inquisition. Unless she walked a very long way...

[Ariadne can't see, but Cole is crouched near the ground, and the nug is approaching to snuffle at his hand.]

Friend. New friend. Smells like straw, the dark places we used to sleep. Hello.

[demonicbeauty]

...that last part wasn't to me. Was it?

[She did sleep in some dark places, but never with straw...]

[colecomfort]

She's sniffing my hand.

[demonicbeauty]

Do they bite?

That's sometimes a sign that a creature is about to bite.

[colecomfort]

She won't. She's curious, cautious, but she knows I'm not a danger.

[...]

Sorry. I don't have any food.

[demonicbeauty]

I have some. But I don't really know where you are.

...or was that to her again?

[colecomfort]

Yes. She's been nibbling at the flowers in the forest, but she's not sure what's right to eat.

[demonicbeauty]

I have some bread that I...

[Ahem.]

...borrowed from the kitchen.

[colecomfort]

Are you going to give it back?

[demonicbeauty]

...only if no one wanted it.

[colecomfort]

That doesn't sound like borrowing.

[demonicbeauty]

I know what you're thinking and it isn't stealing.

[colecomfort]

...then what is it?

[No really, he's honestly confused.]

[demonicbeauty]

Doing good.

You see, thieves always have bad intentions. And I never do.

[colecomfort]

That's... not how it works.

Taking something that wasn't offered or asked for is stealing.

[demonicbeauty]

No. Stealing is when you take something for your own benefit.

[She sighs.]

But if it makes you feel better--and if your nug isn't hungry--I can put it back.

[colecomfort]

— no, I — I can find flowers to feed her.

Don't you usually take it for the children? They should have it.

[demonicbeauty]

I usually do.

I just wanted to offer it to your new friend, that's all.

Anyway, some of the parents don't like the way I hang around the kids.

[colecomfort]

You don't have to let them see you.

[CAUSE THAT'S GREAT ADVICE, COLE.]

Except... oh. No. They might see you anyway, and you can't make them forget.

[demonicbeauty]

[She's very good at not being seen, thank you very much. But that's hardly what catches her attention at the moment.]

...no. I can't make them forget.

And even if I could, I probably wouldn't.

[colecomfort]

I used to think I wasn't real if people didn't remember me. But sometimes, it's better that they don't.

[demonicbeauty]

That's not true.

[colecomfort]

It is. But it's all right that it is. People are scared of demons.