05-07-2019, 11:29 PM
cRess
She has not spoken to her dearest friend in far too long. She had known Leliana was captive in Loess, like her, but she had made no move to seek her out, so wrapped up in her own family that she has been. Regardless, she still cares for the other healer and worries for her almost constantly, though she knows that she has always been wonderful at caring for herself. She had never wanted Cress’s relationship advice, and the golden woman doesn’t blame her – her own relationships hadn’t ended so fairly either. Who is she to give advice to a woman whose man actually loves her? Despite their shortcomings, she realizes now that Vulgaris has loved the woman beyond words all these years.
Leliana’s arrival is silent, but she feels the nearby presence regardless, and turns towards the one who must have brought her here. Her dark eyes fall on a woman that is so familiar, it confuses her at first – then, suddenly, she has accepted it. She can see it in the eyes of molten gold and the stoic expression that her friend has changed nearly beyond recognition, but she can tell that it is still Leliana there, deep below the surface. She cannot hide the warmth that peeks through the cracks, and a confused smile makes it to Cress’s lips as the other woman greets her.
“Did you bring me here?” she asks in lieu of a response, while Ravine glances out from beneath her legs and gasps at the dazzling woman before them. She glances down at her child and brushes her nose against his soothingly, feeling a sadness well up in her that is hard to quell. Looking back to Leliana, she lifts her head, the smoke around her dissipating in the breeze. She wants to step closer, to embrace her friend, but she isn’t sure that is what this new Leliana would want. Once, yes, but now? She isn’t sure.
What happened to you? she wants to ask, but she holds her tongue. It is none of her business if she doesn’t want to talk about it, but this Leliana is so much different from the one she had learned to love as a sister; she can nearly taste the differences on her tongue, in the way her glowing eyes study Cress, in her face that could be carved from stone. “You brought me here for a reason,” she says instead, glancing around to Tephra, to the place she had nearly called home so long ago. “As always, I will help you in any way I can.”
@[leliana]
infected.