Stone's Throw

[Charon Tethras]

"...in the middle of a city? For why?"

[Diligence]

"...druids?" Dil hazards. "Or Uyrll's followers? It's kind of a hike to the nearest forest, I think, so..."

[Charon Tethras]

"..I guess I didn't think cities had druids."

[Diligence]

"Oh. I mean, I was thinking like visitor druids but now that you say it that way..." Dil squints, a gesture more shown in the skin around his jawline than his eyes for an obvious reason. "Wonder what that would be like? Would they, umm, nurture and protect pigeons and scraggly weeds or do they nurture and, uh, build buildings? Or... people? Pets?"

[Charon Tethras]

"Never understood the point of pets. Working dogs, sure, but why keep around some little overfed yappy thing that does nothing for you?"

[Diligence]

"My-" Dil catches himself. "The adults that raised me, I remember them saying pets are substitutes for people that can't afford children."

[Charon Tethras]

Charon's snort gives a good idea of what he thinks of them.

[Diligence]

Dil nods a little, rubbing his tail against his leg comfortingly. "Yeah. Kinda wish they'd only gotten pets," he mutters. 

[Charon Tethras]

"I'm glad we met, though," Charon says, a little shyly. 

[Diligence]

"Well duh!" Dil says with a scoff and a broad smile. "Meeting you was-- It wouldn't have mattered if they hadn't adopted me. We had to meet."

[Charon Tethras]

"Yeah. and anyway, it's not like we can go back and change it now. We escaped. We're going to be okay."

[Diligence]

"Absolutely!" Dil chirps brightly. "We're smart and no strangers to hard work. We got this."

[Charon Tethras]

"Yeah. We got this."

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene gives Varric two days to think about things before ne comes back to visit him in his office, at the end of the work day. Ne brings a couple mugs of spiced cider and some ginger cookies that ne baked nemself, setting the tray down and plopping a kiss on ner husband's cheek. 

"Ready for a break?"

[Varric]

Varric's lips quirk upwards but he shakes his head minutely, eyes never leaving the page he's studying. On it, glowing lines and swirls of fresh amber vibrations shift and flow in a dizzying lack of pattern. After a minute goes by, Varric finally leans back, rubbing at his brow. "Protean is such a pain in the ass," he mutters, reaching out for a cookie with a grateful air.