#f4rged

[altrxisme]

Johanne nodded silently, pushing herself up onto her feet and held out a hand for Aksel to take. While her quiet demeanor unsettled some people, she knew that it was also a comfort for some to those that simply needed to speak the weight off their mind and conscience. She hoped that was at least the case with the blacksmith, genuinely wanting to give him the space to do so. With the way he had stared into the campfire— his expression had given her a small inkling of a dark spot in his past.

"No need to pressure yourself if you end up not wanting to share. Each of us have our own dark clouds to keep at bay." She certainly had her own that she still hadn't been able to completely do away with. The haunting nothingness whenever she went into a rare slumber— the dreams with the Visitor were almost tempting to call a relief with what she usually experienced when sleeping.

Humiliation crept in as he settled into a regular breathing pattern only by focusing on the way Johanne took her breaths too. In and out. She was guiding him silently and he was thankful, gods he was. If he had sunk any further into his own mind he dreaded to think of the mess he may have become. In and out, slow steady breaths, listening to her words and then her question finally helped him come to properly. He was in the camp, there was no fire - no flames asides from the tiny one that lit their camp where food was busy cooking.

His gaze drifted back to Johanne and he swallowed the lump in his throat, tension he hadn't known he'd been holding. " I uh - " Aksel had never talked about his past to anybody, he'd never had the chance and now he did he was hesitating. Not here, not outside of his tent. " I could try... to talk about it in my tent. Not out here. " Not alone, he didn't want to be alone. " I would like the company. "

[deathswcrn]

It seemed both yesterday and decades ago that Breina had fought the Blight in earnest. Corypheus may have been a blighted Magister, but even despite the terrifying ability to freeze her body in place, it hadn't been a true Blight. She'd even changed her name totally since she'd fought the Fifth Blight - no longer an Amell, no longer even using the name she was born with, like she could seperate the terrified girl from the tough warrior she was now.

It hadn't worked. This.... this was a Blight. Breina was a new person entirely, and yet she felt eighteen again. And on the other hand entirely, she felt older than her forty-three years too. She was trapped between her old hurts aching in the morning and the fresh fear of facing something too big for one person to handle and yet being the only ones capable.

So Aksel's grumbling about getting too old to be heroes again was met with an agreeable, yet uncharacteristically quiet hum. They hadn't stopped since the Inquisition, both of them too restless to settle, but Bree was absolutely feeling a lifetime of saving the world beginning to catch up with her. It wasn't with her yet, she had a little fight left in her, but forced retirement felt like a wolf stalking her in the heather, hungrily licking it's chops.

But, she wasn't left to ruminate whilst she changed out of her nightclothes long. Aksel's arms wrapped around her and she sank into him, his familiar, solid, safe presence a balm to her salted wounds. "Which of 'em haven't had a hand in savin' the world from Blight before and is younger than us? Rook should send them instead of us." Her good eye peeked up to his face, glittering with mischief. "I think it'd make us bad if we made Lace or Davrin do the work, but don't think Neve has faced the Blight. It's her turn. Her and Lucanis."

@deathswcrn dragon age starter.

Peace had never been a choice, between the two of them they'd always managed to run into some sort of trouble on the road and even if there had been the occasional glimpse or break he was almost certain it followed them. Even still never had Aksel imagined they'd be in this position again, with a blight to deal with and now elven gods? He'd hoped after they'd left Sky Haven that that would be the last of the blight. Hells, how wrong he'd been.

" I am getting too old for this shit. " He muttered under his breath as he fastened his pants and pulled the tunic up and over his head to fall into place. For once he found himself grateful that he wasn't leading the pack and while he didn't really know much about Rook they seemed to have their head on straight - then again he wasn't the type to argue without good reason either.

Instead of continuing to change he walked up behind Breina and rest his chin to her shoulder, arms wrapping around her back to pull her into his chest. " Maybe we should get Rook to send somebody else so we can stay here. Would that make us bad people? "