thecapitol | War Room One

Entry tags:

War Room One

Who | The Dragon Age cast and Friends
What | Dorian plans a covert meeting in the middle of the night so they can actually, you know, plan and shit
Where | In the Training Room
When | Right about now, but at 3 am in the morning
Warnings | uh, nothing I can think of so far

Jason had him on a leash tight enough to suffocate. It was simultaneously as binding as it was embarrassing, so he was loathe to bring attention to it. But they needed to meet. Iron Bull had just arrived - how many more of them would come before the next arena?

It had everything to do with planning and nothing to do with a growing anxiety about making sure they were all okay. Nothing.

The notes came first. Carefully drawn notes with the Inquisition eye at the top, and a sketch of the training room at the bottom, requesting the attendance of the Inquisition and any of her allies that they'd happened to make. He didn't send notes to anyone outside the Inquisition - he trusted them to bring anyone that they thought was worthy. They could use all the help they could get.

The time was set for three in the morning - late enough that Jason would not be awake to keep Dorian from slipping out of the District Suites in the middle of the night and taking the elevator right down to the training hall. (He was getting used to that box.)

He wrung his hands before he stepped into the room. He wasn't nervous. How utterly ridiculous.

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He couldn't disagree with that assessment. He could still feel the lights, even after so many days, behind his eyes when he closed them. A lingering glow that made his head ache.

Leaning against the wall, he cocked a look up at Bull.

"You're welcome to try. Though personally, I would prefer a few friends. Especially with this much something about."

"You givin' me the go-head to nanny you?" Both brows lifted. "I'll have you know you're only gonna end up regretting that decision."

Bull gestured to the area they were all in, gesturing to everyone there. "I don't think you got anything to worry about there. Everyone's here, so far."

He followed the movement with his eyes, gaze lingering for a moment on the faces around them. Before he would have said that merely being the Inquisitor was the hardest thing he would do, but now....

Now he had an all new way to let them down as he tried to follow in the steps of not just one, but several Inquisitors.

"...We'll get there," he echoed again, as much for himself then.

"We will," Bull assured, fixing him with a firm look, sure of himself. Sure of them.

He found another smile and offered it gently, before nodding toward the gathering.

"I'll be alright, Bull. I'm sure the others would like to speak with you as well. No need to start the nannying just yet."

"The others can wait. If they want to talk then they know where to find me. I'm not that hard to miss, you know." He returned the smile. "Unless that's your way of dismissing me."

He chuckled softly and shifted to bump him - well, more like the man's ribs - back.

"I don't imagine I could if I tried," he said. "If you truly want to linger in my melancholy, I won't fight you."

"You know all you have to do is say the word, Boss, and I'm gone. I mean, if you wanted some time alone." Bull would gladly leave him to it, they all needed their space and he knew that best of all.

One thing he did like about this Inquisitor was that he wasn't afraid to bump him around. Made him smile - fondly.

He smiled then, the warmth that didn't quite his reach his eyes before flashing gently in the blue gaze.

"And I hope you feel the same, Bull. Just because I'm - an Inquisitor - doesn't mean you can't tell me to find something to busy myself with elsewhere if you like."

He'd spend a great deal of effort trying to get them to believe that before - that he wasn't really any different from them - perhaps that could be a silver lining here. They'd couldn't insist on treating him like he was special if all the evidence pointed otherwise.

"Don't worry, if I wanted you gone you'd know. I'm just saying..." He waved a hand in the general direction of everyone else. "This, us, if it's too much and you need some time..."

To absorb it all. To get used to the changes, any differences.

The smile faltered, slipped, then returned. Smaller, gentler, but determinedly.

"I think that's what I'm supposed to be saying to you." He nodded toward the room at large. "You, them - you aren't the ones that have changed. The differences seem to lie primarily in the Inquisitors. Man, woman; elf, human...."

Which made sense, in its way, if Dorian's theory was correct. If someone was playing with the timeline in order to try and wipe them from existence, they would be targeting the Inquisitor directly.

"Yes, but do I look like I give a damn on the differences here? Man, woman; elf, human, qunari, dwarf - you're still the Inquisitor."

It didn't matter how Maxwell tried to argue it, this man was the Inquisitor. Bull didn't know how many times they were going to have to go over this.

"Again - do you need time?"

Bull was ready to leave now if Maxwell needed him to.

Some of the fight seemed to go out of him and for a moment it was there on his face: the weight of it, worry and doubt and hurt.... How he wasn't sure what he needed.

"I'm not sure how prepared I am to discuss it," he admitted. "Too much said..." He almost looked, eyes almost giving him away, but he blinked and the need eased. "I think that would just be more upsetting."

Then he took a breath and some of the pain faded from his eyes.

"But it helps, Bull, just knowing I have your support," he added honestly, meaning it.

That look said it all. Bull wished he could help take that weight off of his shoulders, if only for a few hours. If only the Inquisitor could know peace and let his mind rest at ease. He was left feeling helpless in this particular moment.

"You always did, Boss." It was the least he could do, reaching out to let his hand rest over Maxwell's shoulder, squeezing in reassurance. "Next time then, there's no rush. When you're ready, find me. I'll be around. I'm always around. I could help you know, even if it was for a few hours."

It was subtle, non-specific. Hell, Maxwell might not even get the hint, or rather the offer. But it was there.

He nodded, rocking slightly on his heels, and snorted gently.

"If there's one thing they seem to have an abundance here, it's taverns to lose oneself in." He could probably throw a rock blindly and strike one. "I'm sure we can manage an hour or two sometime."

Yes, that's what he assumed Bull meant - the secondary meaning above and beyond him. In more ways than one.

Clearly his meaning had gone over the man's head. The reason behind Bull chuckling and giving his head a little shake.

"Yes, taverns. That's exactly what I meant." He gave his shoulder another squeeze and then a good patting, letting his hand drop to his side.

He did, however, realize when he was being laughed at, and his brow furrowed in confusion.

"...Do I want to know?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, imagining dragons and demons and the host of other things Bull had found fun pastimes.

"I did say when you were ready."

If Maxwell had no idea what he was talking about - he wasn't ready.

The eyebrow twitched, but he decided not to press it.

"Uh-huh..." he hummed with a small bob of his head. "Well, I will keep that in mind, I promise."

"You do that."

Bull let his gaze linger on the Inquisitor for a few quiet moments longer and let it travel over to where Cassandra was. "You gonna be alright if I leave you alone here and go bug the Seeker?"

"I'll do my best to manage," he joked, folding his arms over his chest, one hand waving idly at the Qunari. "Go on before I change my mind."

"See you later," he nodded, turning to head off, but not without throwing over his shoulder, "Boss."

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War Room One

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