#i saw that headcanon post you made about signing the letters and i got emo

[hoboblaidd]

@martyrmarked

The journey to Skyhold was a long and arduous one, but as with most refugees fleeing the destruction of their home, the conversations were focused on their immediate needs: food, protection from the cold, and fatigue from hiking through the Frostbacks. There was no time for discussions of the destruction of Haven itself, or willingness to unpack the sheer losses they'd suffered until their feet were on safer ground.

This reaction was nothing new, and certainly not one to criticize. Shock and collective trauma had always been dear friends with repression.

Skyhold was...not as he'd last seen it, but it was salvageable. He set up at the base of the rotunda, and busied himself with helping the servants clear up the rubble and refuse around the fortress proper. 

His sleeves were rolled up as he moved a chunk of debris with magic in front of the door to the war table. The door swung open on loose hinges. Solas frowned. Those would need to be tightened and greased. But it afforded him a view of Josephine handing a stack of papers to Sidri. He could guess their contents from the heavy look on both their brows.

He waited for the newly minted Inquisitor to leave Josephine’s study before approaching. “We have lost much,” he said, though it was empathy that colored his words more than caution. “But saved all that we could. You have built a refuge here. Your people feel safe. I hope you know their gratitude.”