Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Carver Amell]

Carver nods, tears brewing in his eyes. He wipes them, swallowing hard, and nods. "Okay."

[Varric]

Varric clears his throat, twice, then coughs. "Alright. So. You uh, you ready for tea or... need to run it out some more?"

[Carver Amell]

"Yeah. Let's... let's go have tea."

[Tethras Clan]

Tea goes... well enough. Marethari is polite, even kind, if rather reserved and... well, old. Merrill, on the other hand, is like sunlight over a brook- cheerful, dazzling and babbles a lot. The three adults slowly find themselves drifting off to a side room, the Elder having been a founder of the village and thus well suited to answer Helene's questions. At least enough to get them started on who to ask for details anyway, which is more luck than the Seeker had expected for their first interview victim. Target. Participant. 

Beth, a homemaker in her blood, had insisted on cleaning up after their tea and cake, which is why Carver finds himself the sole recipient of Merrill's focus. Which is likely flattering but also a bit... intense. "-and I love that part of the forest because there are three tiny little streams that weave and dance around each other while they blend and slip through the ground and underbrush and even in this one really neat spot, two of them go right under a massive chestnut tree! They met up underneath and then split up again, it's really neat. You're really neat too, even neater. Thank you so much for helping me, I've never..." The words finally falter, her momentum ebbing. Still, she manages to get out a few more words, albeit in a whisper. "No-one my age has ever... been... kind..." Big, pretty eyes peer at him, slightly wet but thankfully there are no tears as yet.

[Carver Amell]

"The woods are great here," he says softly, averting his eyes a little. "They smell different -- like, like dark green instead of brighter green. Those trees with the, uh, the leaves that look like strings? The long, green, straight ones? They smell nice. We only had oaks and maple back home. And, you have good moss. That also smells good." 

[Tethras Clan]

"Really? That's great! I'm really glad you like how we smell," Merrill says earnestly, leaning in a little. A curious expression crosses her face and she leans in even more to sniff him. "Ooooh, I like how you smell too," she informs him brightly. "Kind of musky, with a little but of sweat. But not bad sweat, good sweat. Like hard work and perseverance. Very steadfast and solid. It suits you."

[Carver Amell]

"Like a dog?" he asks, cautiously.

[Tethras Clan]

"I love dogs!" Merrill exclaims. "I found some wolf puppers- I mean puppies," she says with a deep flush, embarrassed at using the baby talk in front of her crush, "and there mother was dead- she got gored by a deer or maybe an elk, poor thing, so I brought them home and tried to raise them but..." She trails off weakly. "I... I had to let them go," she finishes in a mumble, not wanting to tell him that her foster parents at the time had been... displeased, to say the least, about her act of kindness.

[Carver Amell]

Carver nods. "My dad found a pregnant Mabari, and so now we have these pups we're trying to raise. They're the best. Only a few weeks old and they're already starting to have personalities."

[Tethras Clan]

Thankfully the mabari aren't with them at the moment- mabari have very keen hearing and the squeeing noise Merrill makes would have likely been rather painful for the poor dears. "CanIseethemplease?"

[Carver Amell]

He nods. "For sure. After tea."

[Tethras Clan]

Merrill beams at him, then wiggles in place. "We finished tea! I mean, we drank the tea so it's after that but we're still sorta doing the chatting part of tea so do you mean now or after that part is done because I really, really like talking with you but I wanna see the puppies and make sure they're okay- not that I think you're not taking care of them, I just worry about things a lot but also I like talking to you but we can talk with the puppies. I mean, while we have them, not to them. They're too young for that yet."

[Carver Amell]

Carver glances down at his empty teacup. "Oh! Yeah, let's go play with the pups."

[Tethras Clan]

Merrill wiggles again, then launches out of her chair to- oh hey, there's hugging. Merrill isn't very curvy- Summer had a larger bust when she was fourteen than the elf. But she's warm and soft, the scent of the forest lingering on her. Flowers and herbs, rain and wind, that dark, quiet scent of deep shade. Before he can really react, the elf is off him and tugging his arm to lead him to the pups. Not that she knows were they're at, but she knows it's not in the house!

[Carver Amell]

Carver's stunned, just a bit; he lets her lead him for a few moments before giving her directions. When they arrive, he introduces her to the pups, then sits back and watches her coo over them, a thoughtful look on his face.

She really is pretty, even if she's an elf...