Blessed are the peacekeepers

[worldtosave]

Even in the warm hut they shared, the cold could be felt at the edges of the building and it bit into Lannistia's skin as she climbed out from under her covers. She couldn't sleep. There was a demon in her head and she didn't know how to fight it alone.

Her bedclothes felt too thin in the cold mountain air and she went to stand by the warm stove that offered the single room's heat. Every pace their parents had taught them, every exercise the Keeper had showed her could not calm her mind and clear her heart.

'I touched so much of you. But you are selfish with your glory. Now I'm no one.'

Envy's voice was a jagged cut in her mind, helped by Cole's efforts, but still healing. What she'd seen...Dalish did not often fall prey to demons, but it could definitely happen. The elf in the Hinterlands was proof with a slaughtered clan and a murderous Keeper. Could that have happened to her? It likely would have if Cole hadn't been there to help. She'd put herself between Cullen's drawn blade and the strange being more than readily and she'd do it again. If Envy had been allowed to know as much of her as it did without Cole's interference, it wouldn't be her standing here, but a demon. A demon who would've only destroyed everything she cared about.

Gold eyes trailed away from the stove's glow to the sleeping form of her twin, almost lost to her in his own way with the struggles he'd had to face. What if they'd both been lost? One stuck in another time and the other a host to a demon. Would Gianni have seen the destruction she'd caused then? Would he come face-to-face with the Elder One's general, a monster with a familiar face? She shuddered to think of that thing using her magic to strike him down.

'No one knows you better than I, Lavellan!'

Well, it was wrong about that.

Lannisita crossed to her brother's bed and pulled back the edge of the blanket to burrow under it with him like they'd done as children or on particularly cold winter nights. "Gianni? Are you awake?"

Comments

[smolelf]

"Of course I would. Who knows you better than I do?" He pulls her closer, tucking her head under his chin and allowing a rare moment where his snarky attitude falls away and instead he becomes protective, almost daring the world to invade this just so he can prove something by keeping it away.

"Cullen would know too, you know. He's a Templar, he's trained to see those signs." He guesses at that. He's noticed Lannistia spending time not just speaking with Cullen but watching him train the recruits, sign orders, or even just walk from the training grounds to the Chantry. Thing is, when Gianni's guesses are based on his observations, they're pretty damn good. "Even if anything were to get in - which nothing has a hope of doing - I would notice and so would Curly."

[worldtosave]

That was all she needed. His word and things got a little easier, fears quieted and the voice of Envy went with them. No one knew her better than Gianni, especially not Envy. He hadn't even gotten to see her connection with him before she'd turned the tables on him, it was buried too deep into her core. Envy couldn't touch her and neither would any other demon.

But should they try, their friends and their cause would not suffer for it.

"Must you call him that?" There's a smile in her voice and her whole demeanor is calm as she presses her face to his shirt. Creators save her idiot brother if he chose to say any thing more about the Commander. She was hardly ready to hear anything he might say.

Not that she didn't have her own ammunition, the way her twin eyed The Iron Bull. She was not blind to his 'type' and Bull personified it. If only it would seem he gave Gianni the time of day...perhaps with more time, he was still only recently recruited.

Besides, she wanted some time to watch and learn about the Qunari spy before shoving her brother in his path.

[smolelf]

"Varric calls him that and I think it suits," he replies defiantly, a laugh behind his words even if it's not presented in the usual way. He likes to tease her, especially when she gets introspective like this. Yes demons are always a danger, but he knows Lannistia and he knows she does everything in her power to protect herself. He has no doubt she will continue to do so handily.

And if not, he's there to help.

"Besides, I can't help but use every opportunity to make the deadpan Lady Herald blush."

[worldtosave]

She pulled away from his hold to shoot him a glare, the back of her hand coming up to tap his shoulder playfully.

"I am not blushing, I'll have you know! It's simply getting far too warm with two under this blanket. It's bringing color to my cheeks."

A trickster's smile curled her lips and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Besides, you blush far more prettily than I do, especially when The Iron Bull catches you staring..."

[smolelf]

"He's never caught me," Gianni huffs, likely not so embarrassed as his sister had intended, but he's ever been embarrassed to her about his predilections. Granted his parents still don't know he prefers men, let alone of the type that could probably crush him with half a careless thought, but what they don't know can't hurt them. Or him. Or anyone.

Except that that thought does make him blush, just a little.

"You're wicked, do you know that?" He sticks his tongue out playfully.

[worldtosave]

She bumps her forehead to his with a playful laugh and lets them rest there for a quiet moment.

"What's on your mind? You weren't resting peacefully before I woke you."

She wished she could simply see the problem to fix it, she knew how her twin preferred to keep his concerns to himself. She simply also knew exactly how stubborn she could be in return.

[smolelf]

"Just a dream, probably. I don't remember." He gives a little lift of one shoulder to punctuate, smiling reassuringly. "We've succeeded in gaining the help of both the rebel mages and Templars, effectively stopping the war. We have what to do next laid out for us which includes going to a royal ball in Orlais, even if it is to stop an assassination. While the future is still uncertain, I do think things are looking quite a bit more positive than when we woke up in a holding cell after the Conclave explosion."

Which is all true, and all comforting on some level. He's itching to get to Orlais, though. They have to try and close the Breach first, but preventing Empress Celene's assassination is so dire to Gianni. It's the key to preventing the future the Elder One has in store. He's sure of it. But the last thing he wants to do is burden Lannistia with that urgency when she has her own personal demons to wrestle.