SPR After Party 2 - Party Harder

You are; we weren't in the Kirkwall area when the Antaam were, and between avoiding conflict with Qunari when we can and how few Saarebas leave the Qun I've never had the opportunity.

That and ever since the Iron Bull brought up horn balm I've been intensely aware of the lack of any. Ought to get him back for that.

Usually there isn't- you know you're out because you're dead, Shokrakar told you to fuck off, or you voluntarily fucked off, but then the Conclave we were hired to guard went to shit, we're still trying to find everyone who made it out, and apparently people have decided I'm the Herald of Andraste. -she shifts her mug to her right hand so she can wave the one with the anchor- I would simply like the world to stop falling apart; all my stuff is there.

 

So many little treasures people overlook.

I used to feed the crows, they'd bring me presents. Little beads, buttons, shards of sea glass... and human teeth. Never figured out where they were getting them from. It was quite a few teeth.

 

Huh. Perhaps they were mugging some tooth fajries? But you never know when you need some teeth, they make for good divination tools.

 

[He snorts quietly]

Spoiler: reference to attempted suicide

Not entirely voluntarily. I was without my Arvaarad for too long. Corruption could have settled in. I would have been killed but Hawke refused to hand me over. I tried to return to the Qun by doing my duty and refusing my dangerous nature, but I wanted to live so I doused the flames again. Hawke is my Arvaarad now.
[He shrugs. Admitting to the fact he almost committed ritualistic suicide is apparently a non-issue for him.]

Dignity is in everything you do if you do it with purpose and intent. There is simple pleasure in painting your Vitaar, or oiling well-worn leathers, or watching someone clearly enjoying being looked at. Denying yourself that seems a purposeless restriction.
Or would you say submitting to the attentions of others is inherently undignified?

[Now he is a little confused, tilting his head slightly.]
If it were too much trouble you would not have done it.

Kirkwall was not a good place to be for vashoth. Bas were scared and they think everyone tall enough to be of the Qun. The Arishok was there, and then he died there. Still the bas mistreated those they perceived as Qunari when they could get away with it. You did well to keep away.
[He seems to be speaking from experience. His clawed hands twitch for a moment, but he shrugs his shoulder lightly before kneeling, hand loosely resting on his thighs. No danger from him. He is calm.]
... Ah. There is a recipe that Imesaar-bas made for me. I could give it to you.
[His eyes narrow a little at the Anchor]
Bas are weird. Their religion is weirder. Do not trouble yourself.

 

-she giggles- The image of tooth faeries besieged by crows looking for presents to trade is too good to pass up. That's going to be the official story now. And they were useful. Used children's teeth to get the attention of the demon that saved and doomed me; didn't exactly have time to find any of the more esoteric offerings so it was teeth and supermarket cider. -And a great deal of her own blood, but let's not go there. It wasn't like it wasn't already all over the place- Got me through.

 

Quite so. It... I suppose it is polite, but it feels odd to be thanked for only doing as I should.

 

[His confusion just heightens]
...???
The little sunshine said 'please' and 'thank you' are important. That I should remember to put words to my feeling someone helped me.

 

[Its an - for lack of a better word- utterly alien concept to Khelok, and it takes him a moment to realise what he's getting at. His eyes widen in alarm and his ears flatten.] Your own people would have killed you? [Was that why his horns had been removed, because they deemed him dangerous? It makes a twisted kind of sense, but still, he shivers at the thought.] You don't seem dangerous to me. We Khevar are sort of experts on dangerous creatures.

 

[The look he gives Khevar is one of years of worn down and dulled frustration]
It is what I am. A sharp edge is a useful tool, even though it is dangerous, but it needs to be wielded by capable hands. Hawke's hands are as capable as they are gentle. She takes care of me.

 

Well... if someone is, then I'm glad for you. That's good. There's differences but all the species I know of do better if someone's there for them. [He relaxes a little, tipping his head back in a gesture of appeasement. He meant no offense.]

 

She and the Captain are kind to me. As are the Tevene Wolf and the Author, the Kithshok and the Little Sunshine. Even the elven Saarebas tries in her way.

 

[Mmmmmmhhhhh what if we don't break someone's obviously hard work teaching a Tal-Vashoth about the world he now lives in?] They are. I simply did not expect such politeness.

 

[He snorts quietly]
I've not lived among bas so little I am not used to their customs.

 

[Ghilan resists the impulse to flatten his ears.] If I have given offense, it was unintentional. An elf living in human lands is not often afforded courtesy, and so I am not used to it.

 

[The confusion it does not cease. He sighs quietly, slipping a hand under his mask to rub at his eyes.]
I do not seek strife. I simply do not understand the obsession with expressing what is obvious. I intend to return the favor when an opportunity presents itself.

 

[Is it... ok his next move is probably mean, but. So SO entertaining. At this point he'd strip for Dave just to potentially see him go anime-nosebleed over it. However for now he settles for just leaning over him and placing a rather chaste kiss on his mouth, if Dave doesn't dodge. And if he's allowing contact, the smirk with which he leans back is anything but chaste]

[He giggles as well, clearly as delighted with the imagery as she is] Honestly I'd think that teeth would be even better than hair or fingernails? After all they have a much more permanent connection to a human, even if it's only milk teeth. And hey, free cider.

 

[He nods his understanding.] Having a pack is important. I'm glad you found a new one.

 

Yes. They are very good. I feel safe with them.

 

[Ghilan tilts his head, considering.] ...at its core, I think it is a social deflection. "What I have done is so small or so thoughtless that I believe thanks for it unnecessary, and I am startled by its giving." One does not thank a sword for cutting, or a shovel for digging; it is a Keeper's duty to teach, among other things, and one word is so small a lesson.

[Goddammit wasn't he going to not say that? Too late now.]

 

[.......... huh. He nods slowly.]
Still the Little Sunshine said one should thank even Blades for their duty, and Shovels for their digging.
... If they are People-Blades that is.
[He frowns lightly, not that it is visible behind the mask.]
The destinction between a Valo-kas and his Asala are hard to express in Trade.