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4 solas

The concept of interdimensional travel and teleportation wasn't at all a new one to Szel. Why would it be, after everything that had already happened, after all? It may as well have been just another Saturday at Velvet Lust at this point, right? Ho hum, just another instance of dimensional displacement, same as it ever was every other week, la dee da.

Except no, it wasn't, and no, he isn't going to act like he isn't interested. At least, not when no one was around to call him out on that. The second he was sure he didn't have an audience, he was invested in this situation, slipping away into more empty areas of the club for a little investigating. It was a task easier said than done; Velvet Lust attracted more than just Azrael's and Camael's attention, the place was almost immediately swarming with curious fae and even the odd intelligent undead and ghost. It almost acted like a magnet for them, something he honestly shouldn't have been all that surprised about but he was going to be cranky in regards to it anyway.

In any case, here he was, hunting for anything even remotely different about the club after it's unexpected jaunt. Midge's eyes darted over every single feature as the two of them moved through the empty hall, the sound of one hell of a party thumping loudly in the rooms adjacent to them. At least everyone else would be preoccupied, he'd just have to tolerate all the goddamn noise.

The demon paused suddenly as a difference in the hall caught his attention like a blazing, bright red beacon; a loosened brick. … Alright, not exactly what he was looking for, actually, and his disappointment was practically palpable as Midge glared at the thing, almost accusing. How dare this shitty little brick get his hopes up for something interesting? Fuck this brick in particular, honestly.

… Not hard enough to do anything destructive about it, but fuck this brick, fuck it right back into the wall where it came from actually. He lifted his cane and pressed it down upon the corner of the loosened brick, carefully nudging it back into place. It was still Tannusen's place here, after all, displaced or not. Szel wasn't in any hurry to break Tannusen's things, not anymore anyway, and he may as well do the absolute bare minimum by making sure it all stayed unbroken. With a disappointed huff, he turned his back on the wall, and was immediately greeted by a door on what he damn well knew had been a blank wall just moments prior. He didn't see the door appear, but then again, wasn't that just how Tannusen's magic worked anyway?

Made as much sense as anything else, and Midge only took the briefest moment to look around before Szel reached out and grabbed the door knob, sticking his head through first before slipping in the rest of the way. Dark in here, where's the light swi-

Where's the door. No, actually no where's the door? He let go of the handle for just a second to fumble for a lightswitch before Midge's eyes adjusted, but in an instant no light was necessary, and no door knob was available. Here he stood on a singular floating slab of earth, surrounded on all sides by the discombobulated rubble of a building? Maybe? Or maybe just a previously very well articulated mountainside, those definitely looked like they might have been stairs once. Maybe.

Well. Shit.

He would never ever, not in a million years, not even before the heat death of the universe, say he was scared. Not under pain of torture nor fear of death would he ever say that awful shit out loud, he'd scarcely even allow himself to admit that. He's not scared, he's perturbed. He is inconvenienced. He is really starting to perhaps maybe get somewhat concerned at the growing noises and increasing feelings of not being entirely alone here maybe he should consider drawing a weapon. Or doing the rough approximation of that.

The awful, wretched shrieks and screams of the less pleasant denizens of this weird liminal world would be ringing out soon enough, any demons lured in by the promise of a fat and delicious meal finding the tables ironically turned the instant they came upon the mutilated monster making his stand right here in the Fade. Tattered and broken wings spread wide, just like his eternally torn and bleeding mouth lined with needle-like teeth, the spider-demon sat now within a whipping frenzy of rusty and blood slicked living steel cables. What better way to soothe rage and fear than with a bit of a binge, after all? Sure nothing here tasted good, but he couldn't think of a more permanent solution to his current problem.

Down the fucking hatch, he'd address everything else once he'd earned a little peace and quiet.

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"The Fen'Harel part? Oh, yeah no I knew that one too." That's right it was such a normal thing to him that he was more focused on the cutesy baby nicknames, no big deal!

"Alley don't eavesdrop." No he will not state which pun it was. The idea of mocking it just didn't feel right, though apparently he was still entitled to tease about the idea of a pun.

"Why, is that rude?" Alley asked, and her rough voice actually did a good impression of innocence, there. She lifted her hand to set carefully on Solas' on her shoulder, mindful as ever of the sharp plates.

Cyrion watched this, and seemed to relax a little again.

"Him being an ancient elven god is a way bigger surprise!" Shianni whispered, then she thought about that, and sat up straighter again.

"Cousin," she said in a more normal voice, audibly intoxicated, "I am glad you didn't just give up after... you know, Nelaros."

The Inquisitor glanced off to the side, then. "I gave up a long time before Nelaros," she said, serious now. "I mourned for Nelaros before he even died."

Being stuck with her, even temporarily, was pretty shitty.

"And then this quiet, bald Fade-nerd happened," she added, trying to wrench the discussion back away from that gaping abyss of depression.

Edited 2024-12-15 04:13 (UTC)

He knew when he was being called out.

"It's unbecoming of a role model." Which clearly rules him out because look at him. Granted, Alley was about as much of a role model as he was, but that was part of the joke so he wasn't going to take that back.

No, though, the mood was too nice here (if really awkward for some members) to let it slip into depression, he was having a good time.

"And a good thing too, who else has the noggin here for blowing wet obnoxious raspberries on?"

All at once:

Alley burst into a surprised laugh at that. Solas sighed, and came around the bench to sit down beside her again. Cyrion stared first at Szel, and then over at Solas and his bald head, clearly still wrestling with the idea of his daughter with an ancient elven god, and now adding raspberries to the mix. And Shianni nearly fell off the bench her and Szel were on, laughing.

"That really made an impression with you, I see," Solas said dryly.

"Mock me all you want; a momentary joke at my expense is now a lifelong joke at yours." He knew why it happened! He knew when he was being dunked on! Never forget a slight, even the really stupid ones.

Once again, he looked so smug and proud of himself, enjoying the sound of laughter in not one but two directions, the look on Solas' and Cyrion's faces. No that couldn't have gone off better, actually, he's happy he held onto that one.

"What makes you think I've never done that before, without you?" Alley asked.

"Vhenan," Solas just covered his face in one hand.

That put him on right on the edge of a complete and total joke induced breakdown, the grin on his face nothing short of buzzed delight.

"Oh this is a regular ritual of yours?" His voice an octave higher as he tried so, so hard not to let a single giggle slip free.

"Well, look at him," was Alley's whole response, eyebrows up.

Solas groaned, and made a great show of sliding off the bench to sit in the dirt instead.

Could he tell Solas might have been leaning into the bit? Maybe, but that didn't actually matter right now. The combination of Alley's comment and Solas's slow, dramatic slide onto the ground pushed him clean over the edge.

He cackled, Midge loudly following suit, with only a faint smattering of out-of-tune dulcimer notes warbling somewhere in the back.

"You- you're right, yes, how could I have expected anything less." Oh he was breathless, that was good.

Gotcha. Alley sat back a little, smirking.

Shianni croaked from beside Szel, still laughing, "Shut up. All of you! I can't breathe!"

Cyrion watched all this; watched Solas scoot closer to Alley and hook an arm under her knee to squeeze; watched the fond glances passed between warrior and mage amid all the laughter.

And finally, finally, he seemed to really relax. Solas was just a person, after all. Very old and very powerful, but not one of those larger-than-life maniac monsters that had been rampaging through the north.

He was still a little wary, of course, but he finally allowed himself a chuckle at the whole situation.

Situation salvaged, that worked out far better than he'd ever hoped it would. Now it was his turn to thump her back, though 'thump' in this case was more like a nice firm pat, just once between the shoulder blades.

"Don't die, Solas is still here." No he swears, it's the last one he promises, the last running joke he's finished now prommy. Szel snatches up the bottle, Midge focusing on Alley, Solas and Cyrion as the demon managed to find and top up Shianni's glass for her. Helping! Helpful!

That earned a soft snort from Solas, who went ahead and leaned his head against the outside of Alley's thigh. Since he'd already broken his dignified act by sliding to the ground, he may as well be comfortable.

"If you kill my cousin," Alley told Szel, "I'm plucking you for sure."

The redhead waved at them all with her free hand. She was fine. Fine! Probably! Wheeze.

Cyrion just continued to watch the couple beside him, and then said gently to Alley, "As long as he makes you happy, that's what matters to me. And you aren't being... controlled, or anything."

He held up his hands when Alley frowned at that addition, "It would be lying if I said it hadn't occurred to me. The trickster of our people's oldest legends?"

"Is that a new part of the funeral ritual?" Alley stop, he said he was done! The demon tapped her glass lightly, continuing, "You can't have another drink if you're laughing too hard."

Midge didn't cease his staring, the raven's posture shifting just slightly when Cyrion suggested that. No, he was not a huge fan of that question either, faintly bristling as Szel, seemingly unaware of what the topic of conversation was over there, casually leaned his head towards the bird.

Don't worry, Midge. Solas had been expecting this. He sat up properly again, but didn't take his arm back from Alley's leg.

"I have no sway over the Inquisitor save for that which she has given me of her own free will, as my heart," Solas said, with full seriousness, bowing his head to the old man.

"If he wanted to control me, I doubt I'd have spent the last decade hunting him down all over Thedas like a stray halla, father," Alley joined in, trying really hard not to be too annoyed about it, because it was a reasonable concern, and she hadn't exactly looped her father in on her life over the last several decades. "And my agents surely wouldn't have thwarted his ritual to tear down the veil."

Edited 2024-12-16 01:18 (UTC)

He'd gone quiet for now, nursing his drink with Midge still staring at the three. No real indication on the seraph's part that any part of the conversation might be upsetting, but obviously listening to the chatter now.

Not interrupted at all, Alley continued onward in what was probably the most words strung together all at once that her family had heard from her since before her first time with alienage purges had taken her voice.

"I'm not saying he's perfect, at all," Alley didn't look away from her father as she talked, but set her gauntleted hand on Solas' shoulder in support while she spoke. "I'm one of the last people to think none of his reputation is earned. But father, our people have spent the last... what, five millennia? Teaching each other to revere the other elven gods, and to hate Fen'Harel. The other elven gods who, by the way, we all know from first hand experience now were terrible. Did you know Ghilan'nain created the darkspawn?"

She gestured out at the ruined city, the ruined country, the ruined southern half of a continent with a violent slash of her prosthetic hand. "Because she was curious. Because she felt like it. Because the Gods were so terrified of losing their power and their armies of slaves to Solas' rebellion against them that they unleashed the fucking blight! Twice! And we were taught to revere them. Don't you think maybe the propoganda that got us to grovel at their feet for all this time might have painted their one real opponent a little poorly?"

"Vhenan--"

"No," Alley turned on Solas, then, who let go of her leg and rocked back a little in the dirt.

"I know you're not perfect, Solas. Just this very year, you killed Varric, you used blood magic to control Rook, and then you stuck them in the fade so you could get out and not single-handedly stop Elgar'nan and his archdemon. But you thought you could, because you're Solas."

Solas looked down, mute.

"But I know who you are," she continued, rough voice gentling as much as it could. "I see you. You were the first to run to aid every wounded civilian we ever met, fighting Corypheus. You died for me once, while hardly knowing me, so that Dorian and I could fix a year of ruined timeline. You didn't even hesitate. You ran off to weep alone over a spirit-turned-demon who had been your friend."

She reached for his hands, just as she had in front of Rook and Morrigan. He took them, and looked up at her. His eyes were moist.

"You paint on every vertical surface you can find. You study five books at a time, all hunched over them laid out on a desk until your back gives out, no matter how much I warn you. You like frilly little cakes from Orlais, and you snort when you laugh sometimes. I know every freckle on your face by heart. You tore the world apart to save it from the gods, and the only reason you tried to tear it apart again was to save it from yourself. I know you, and I love you. Forever."

Edited 2024-12-16 04:58 (UTC)

An impressive laundry list of questionable to immoral activity right there. Midge turned his eyes to Solas as he tried to interrupt, Szel taking another long drink from his glass as Alley continued over him.

Extremely sentimental, the two of them. A perfect pair, then. There was indeed a conflict going on between the seraph's ears, relating to everything he'd just heard. Not that he'd any leg to stand on here in the realm of not being horrible, and even acknowledging that sudden wave of doubt felt wrong.

After all, Solas had already told him he'd destroyed this world before... and hadn't he himself been dead set on destroying his own? Permanently, forever, and further more intentionally. He didn't have the excuse of trying to fix things for the better, didn't he? Would have been better off if nothing existed at all.

He finished the glass and went to refill it, rolling the shoulder that Midge sat upon so that the bird suddenly changed where he was staring, looking now at Shianni just to see what her response to all this was.

Sorry Szel, you're hanging out with the wrong couple if you want to avoid sentiment.

"Vir shiral malasa," Alleyana added, down to Solas and his wet eyes, "bellanaris."

"Bellanaris," Solas repeated, and then went up onto one knee so they could seal that with a kiss.

Shianni was watching all of this with her free hand over her mouth, her eyes about as wide as they physically could get, holding her breath. Just utterly, completely, totally shocked.

Alley didn't talk that much. Alley definitely didn't wax on about someone like that, good or bad. But it was undoubtedly Alley, and not some outside influence. And she seemed happy, if in a very Alley way, when the two elves met for that smooch.

Big wide eyes teared up, and she let out the breath she'd been holding. "Oh, Maker."

Cyrion was having to scrub at his own eyes, and the old man laughed a little in a mix of boiling emotions while he was doing it. "Alright, alright, I give. There's no way I could doubt that display."

Let it never be said that he couldn't keep it together in a pinch. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that Midge had suddenly adopted an intense interest in a particular cloud, it didn't really matter, he managed to look even keel here.

"They did that the whole time I've been with them." Okay not this specifically, but close to it. Clearly that's why he's the only dry eye in the house right now, duh.

There was, noticeably for at least two people here, no over the top moaning and dramatics from the demon this time, nor much of an attempt to mess up the mood.

It'd still be awkward for Alley, if she gave it any thought, but she just wasn't going to do that. A tactic Szel undoubtedly could never relate to.

The smooch was just as tame as the last time she'd said those words to Solas, the mage undoubtedly aware of their audience. When he pulled back, the Inquisitor was a little flushed, but nothing had happened that broke decorum.

Alley sat back, glanced at her father, then away. Here was a little awkwardness for her, because none of this was normal for Alley. Not really. "So," she grunted, not sure what to say but needing to say something. "There's that."

"There's that," Cyrion agreed, and then pushed the ancient dagger still half-wrapped in its bundle at her. "And there's this. Maybe it's fate, we passed that knife down all these hundreds, maybe thousands of years, and now you're..."

A look at Solas.

"Well. Directly involved," Cyrion finished, putting it tactfully.

Back to observing, more than content to stay off to the side and say nothing. It'd been ages since he'd last gotten to sit down and enjoy a good soap opera after all, so long as he could mentally keep it there, then everything was fine.

Shianni had recovered enough to react, now, and took Szel's arm, leaning in for more accidentally-loud whispering. "They're so ridiculous together!" and lest anyone think that was a dig, she straightened and sloppily raised her glass, "I love it!"

Okay, now Alley's ears were starting to heat up. She took the old dagger carefully in her one actual hand, and held it in her lap, and tried not to hunker down on herself too obviously, here.

"Thanks," she muttered, back to being a lot more taciturn.

Solas just smiled a little, and then sat right back down in the dirt again, now leaning against both her armored shins as a backrest. This had worked out fine, he was content with it.

Yeeeaaaah how do you like it! Not so funny when it's your ears that are burning, huh? He flashed Shianni a brief grin.

"I know, it's adorable isn't it?" Because it is but he'll just keep cloaking that in a heavy mantle of situational vibes. Who's gonna call him out? Nobody, the truth is always easier to state when it sounded like teasing.

Alley was pretty darn embarrassed, thanks so much for noticing, Szel. But she was also noticing something here, "That's not how you normally act about it."

~~Calling you out, bro.~~

Why yes, she'd been taking the dramatics mostly at face value. Probably still would, too, just by default.

But that's a real tone shift there, buddy.

"I'm growing as a person and this is how you respond?" En'garde. "Where's my uplifting words of praise and support?"

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