Unusual Show of Affection

[repost]

UNUSUAL SHOW OF AFFECTION shipping meme You don't have to give this person anything to prove you care. But maybe you want to; it's an easy way of letting them know your affection and telling them you're open to a relationship. If you're already with your love interest, a gift might just remind them of your feelings. Most would give flowers or chocolate or offer up a night of quality time or chores done. Those are the usual. You're not usual yourself. Neither is the person you're with...or want to be with. You'll have to go for the unusual. So whether it's building your crush a robot to ask them out, making your friend-or-possibly-more the best fifteen course meal they've ever had, or teaching your significant other to be the strongest ninja warrior, go big or go home. Or go where it's natural, given how unconventional you can be. Comment with your character, canon, and any info. Be sure to include whether you want to play out an unestablished or established relationship, and what your character would give to another- ie, their gift, their gesture, service, skill, etc. Reply to others. Thread!

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[hilt]

[ you mind a lil cass in your life? ]

[classi]

[ FUCK NO NEVER i love cass. i am also voicetesting so sry in advance if i suck ]

voice testing here too. lemme know if this works!!

[hilt]

[ Cassandra doesn't know what Iron Bull tells his Chargers about the Storm Coast, the Qunari dreadnought, but what Cassandra does know is that she's glad the Chargers are still with them. She had thought about it, an alliance for the Chargers and the decision wasn't one she reached without debate. Cass would take the Chargers over any alliance. They're valuable to the Inquisition and perhaps some of Iron Bull's reluctant fondness had rubbed off on her. ]

[ Not that she'd ever admit that. It does bring her to the tavern none the less with a mug of ale acquired specially for luring Krem into speaking with her. She offers him the tankard with barely a word, standing there still in full armor. She appreciates the fact the Chargers are also always geared as well, just in case. That kind of prepared manner appeals to her. ]

I would like us to speak, Krem. Privately.

sorry i was super busy earlier /SLAMS HERE NOW

[classi]

[ Some part of him wouldn't have been surprised if Bull chose the alliance with his people. He was distant from them - more one of the Chargers than a Qunari lately, but he could understand wanting to go back to what was normal, to grasp at power, to save the world. Krem might have been the one to urge them to seek out the Inquisition, but Bull was the one that carried forward everything. The Chief was good like that.

So it's to his surprise that they sacrifice the dreadnaught, that the Chargers are hauling their asses back, injured and tired and still high on adrenaline after what could have been their death so easily.

They wash up, some head to their cots to pass out a few hours, but Krem sits heavily in the tavern and runs a hand over his face, eyes closing a moment. When he opens them again, Cassandra is in front of him. He straightens on instinct - she's not the Chief, sure, but he respects the hell out of her and what she does. ]

Far right corner doesn't look too crowded. [ He takes the tankard with a little nod, gesturing with it to the corner where no one's occupying space. ]

ITS OKAY I HAD WORK

[hilt]

[ Cassandra nods as well before moving to the corner Krem gestures towards, not once checking to make sure the man follows her or not. There's a weariness to Krem that suggests that the man hasn't slept yet and it causes Cassandra to pause before she beings to speak, keeping her back to Krem for the time being, looking at a small plaque nailed to the wall in front of her. She's not even reading the words enclosed upon the metal. ] You should be resting. Many of the Chargers already are.

[ Maybe she checked on a few of them, maybe not. She won't say that while still within ear shot of Iron Bull. ]

what's work (i say after an 11 hour day and just getting home X_X)

[classi]

[ He does, of course. He also sits heavily once they're settled, though he makes the effort to make it look like he doesn't. Bull's already given him the look and one sentence warning - Get some rest, Krem, before he'd ambled off to join the others or seek out Dorian. Krem's not sure - too tired to care, really, he'll just give Bull shit about it later.

The beer's a welcome enough distraction anyway, though he keeps his attention on Cassandra. ]

I'll get my own soon enough, don't worry. [ And, a pause, uncertain if that's her chastising them for not seeing what happened out there sooner, for not planning: ] I'm awake enough to handle anything that comes up.

tucks in with blanket

[hilt]

I am glad you are here. [ Cassandra turns to face Krem then, going forward and leaning on the table close to him, her brown eyes pinned on his face but her expression open, brows drawn in concern. ] And I am glad the Inquisition will continue to see you here. [ Cassandra isn't good at this-- she's not. But she is, perhaps, one of the few people who can say these things to Krem. Her words wouldn't have the same weight from the other advisers, ones who weren't at the Storm Coast and ones who never saw the Chargers fight. ] You are invaluable to our cause. You and all of the Chargers.

[classi]

[ Ah. Not that kind of talk, then. Some of the tension bleeds out of his shoulders and he takes a longer sip of the beer, smiling wryly over the mug. ]

We're just as glad to be here.

[ Alive. Alive and here and drinking and singing and flirting with the barmaids. It's a good day to be a Charger, but Krem's still not certain if it's a good day to be Bull, and the thought makes his stomach twist. ]

I - [ He hesitates, bites his words back and then pushes forward. Cassandra's a formidable woman. She'll understand what he means. ] I appreciate it. All the boys do. It doesn't mean I won't...wonder. Qunari alliance - that's no small thing.

[ Bigger than the Chargers, no matter how good they are. ]

[hilt]

[ Cassandra raises her chin at the direction Krem takes the conversation but she does not back away nor does she shy away from the question. Instead she simply figures out the right way to word what comes next. ]

An alliance with the Qunari would have been powerful in many ways. We would be feared by our enemies and we would have been envied politically for acquiring the first Qunari Alliance. We should not have that, not when we need the Inquisition to be what it is. [ Cassandra knows too well that taking the behemoth of the Qunari into the Inquisition's fold would turn Skyhold into what the Chantry has become... no longer a place of salvation, of healing and hope. The Chantry lost what made it so important and an alliance with the Qunari would very well cast the same shadow over the Inquistion. Furthermore: ] We must also remember that it was the Qunari who approached us with the alliance first.

[classi]

[ It's been nagging at the back of his mind this whole time, uncomfortable and sharp, something he can't shake. He doesn't want to bring it up with Bull, but he trusts Cassandra to be objective. ]

Which is why some might argue it'd've been better. More men. A bigger force.

[ Still, he knows what she's saying, recognizes it for what it is. Krem ducks his head, secretly pleased, relieved down to his too-sore bones. ]

It's good to know. To hear. I know some of us wondered.

[hilt]

A bigger force is not always better. [ Cassandra lets out a sigh before sitting down across from Krem finally. There's a weight off her shoulder as she sees the way his frame all but lightens as she gives him her opinion. ]

[ There are things Cassandra shouldn't ask, but wonders about anyways. ] I would like to ask some questions, if you would let me. They are not... official. [ In the Inquisition there are many people who have faced certain death but to explain why she wants to know about those occurrences is uncomfortable, a subject of her past too many people care about and a subject she wishes no one to know. Krem isn't entangled with the Inquisition the same way the rest are. She doesn't need him to look up to her, even if she would prefer it. They're Iron Bull's mercenary band, they're here for gold, not moral. Maybe one day she would be able to speak to the Inquisitor about such matters, but it is late and Krem is here. ] They are personal questions.

[classi]

[ He inclines his head slowly, acknowledging it. The Chargers work because of their size. They're large, but not a full army - too many people and it gets unwieldy.

Finally, the Seeker sits, too. Krem offers a hint of a smile and takes another drink. Somehow, he's not surprised at the idea of questions, but when it comes out that it's not about the Chargers, not about Bull, he's not sure what else she'd want to know. ]

I'll try. I think I owe you a drink, first, though. Fair's fair?

[ And he doesn't like to owe debts. Not to Bull, not to other men and women they work with, even just a beer. ]

[hilt]

That won't be necessary. [ Cassandra had gotten the ale to break the ice between them, so to speak. It's not often Cassandra drinks and she has to follow up on a lead she's gotten about the Seekers while out at the Coast. ] Not today, at least.

[ But Cassandra sucks in a breath. She so rarely deals in what ifs and maybes. The words feel foreign on her tongue. ] What would you have done if Iron Bull had not signaled the retreat?

[classi]

Next time.

[ Krem offers a half smile, not pushing but offering it, since there will always be other times at the tavern and he's not likely to forget.

Then, he's endlessly grateful that he has a drink because the question makes his stomach twist, curling in knots. ]

Held our ground. Done what we could with what we had and bought you and the dreadnought more time. Every man under the Chief knows eventually their time is up, it's just a matter of when.

[hilt]

[ Cassandra doesn't advert her eyes as Krem answers. Maybe she should to give him privacy, but she doesn't. ] Bull would not do that to you. You are his family, now more than ever.

I thought similar things, once. Perhaps I still do.

[classi]

We wouldn't blame him if he did, though.

[ Krem's a little more gentle about this. It's one thing to know that eventually, they're all going to die. It's another to explain just what it is that they have with Bull, without sounding like they're cheapening it, or that they're convinced they're expendable.

He knows they're not, but it's hard to explain. ]

The Chief - he'll be alright. It's not just us, anymore. The Inquisition's a damn better family than what the Qun would have provided him.

[hilt]

[ Cassandra's lips pull up at the side and she stands once more, arms crossed over her chest. Like it or not, Bull has endeared himself to her. He's proven himself a formidable warrior and more than that he's proven himself a loyal companion to the Inquisitor. She likes that. She likes knowing Bull is at her back, covering her where her shield cannot and-- that must be how Krem feels, as well. ]

Bull will find his way. The Inquisition will be here as he does.

[classi]

He always does.

[ There's raw, obvious affection in his voice right now as he cuts Cassandra a faint smile. It's good that other members of the Inquisition like Bull; not just for morale and for them to work together, but because there's more to tether him down to the ground, to keep him from worrying about what he thinks he could turn into. ]

Thanks. The boys and I - we're glad to be here.