Sixth jump - you should know, you should know that [Action/Written]

[antivanleather]

[Action, locked to Isaac]

[This is not how Zevran imagined the first few hours of his freedom would be. The wine and the feasting and the drinking the day before, certainly. But the first morning after he had finished collecting his effects and bidding farewell to the Warden he intended to spend on the road. Leaving Ferelden for warmer climes. He did not intend to wake in a cell.

And yet, here he is, despite the best intentions. He wakes slowly arms flexing against his restraints and he keeps his head for the first few moments. Just manacles. Just a cold, dark cave like many that the Crows preferred to use for their longer imprisonments. But were this the Crows he would be dead, that went without saying. No, no. This is a personal vendetta- which leaves Zevran free to consider who it is he pissed off this time to earn such attentions while he works at attempting to lean just enough so that he might pull a pick from his hair. That he has none is worrying.

That there is no manner in which the manacles might be removed is of a greater concern. But when he finds that they actually constrict when he attempts to twist his thumb enough to pop it out of place and holds him all the tighter- then. Then he panics.

Crows are terrible. Nobles are worse. Mages, those that yet live and wish him dead? Horrify him and he used to be better at fighting down the swell of cold fear and the anxious ratcheting of his heart. Used to be able to laugh through it, to grin and smile and shrug off torment such as sensory deprivation and capture. It is cold. It is dark. He is alone. He is held by a mage he cannot recall at the moment and after all that he witness at the final battle in Denerim that is what makes him shift in earnest, rattle his chains and lash out with a foot to find purchase- he finds that his feet are bare and the wall is solid, little more. Brasca.]

[Action, Open]

[Later, when he is freed and his personal effects returned, when he realizes where he is in earnest and is armored and armed and less out of sorts Zev ducks into the Coffee Shop for a cup of something hot and bitter, leaving a rather short note in the journal for whoever might have missed him, though save a bare handful he cannot imagine it would be many. He does not even know if they yet remain.]

While I am pleased to have found my way back to this delightful village, I think awaking in a random bed might have been the better introduction. At least it was warm.

Fondest regards,

Zevran

[After some time spent reacquainting himself with the village's map he, warily, makes his way to House 51.]

Comments

[stillplaying]

[She smiles faintly at the touch of his lips against her knuckles. It feels good, as nice as his hugs had been moments before. When it comes down to it, she doesn't want him to let her go at all. Not until she's really managed to convince herself that this is real. That he's real. That he's back.

But her grip on his hand falters a little when he admits what happens. He lets go of her hand and she immediately reaches for his again. A war. She knows the sort of toll that kind of fight can bring. How hard it must have been for him. And how you never, ever leave a war changed.

She'll never be that girl again. The girl she was before the Hunger Games, before the uprising.

Katniss reaches for his hand and gives it a squeeze. Quietly,]

That's all you can do.

[antivanleather]

[It's easier to believe he's really here, that she's real rather than a fragment of a remembered dream. That he truly had family, someone he felt that depth of sentiment. Someone he loved and didn't hurt, didn't leave to be hurt. Didn't let down. For that to be true, for this to be real- he still doesn't quite believe it. But the more they hold on, the more they touch, the easier it becomes.

He squeezes her hands, curls his free one around hers. Anchors himself in the smell of a wood in the first edges of winter. In the warmth of her hands and the tone of her voice.]

How do you deal with being free?

[stillplaying]

[How much she wishes that she had an actual answer for that question. Something that might actually help. But she can't think of anything. For all she's survived a war, for all she's nearly made it two years since, she doesn't know how she's dealt with it. How she's kept surviving. Especially when she had tried to kill herself so shortly after. And tried to do so again less than a year ago.

Her hand squeezes his at the memory, needing to hold tight to someone. To remind herself that she is still alive. Alive and well and, surprisingly, thriving.]

I have people like you.

[She smiles a little shyly. It's true. She has Zevran. She has Richard and Prim. Teddy. Would she have made it this long without them?]

[antivanleather]

[Perhaps that is enough- but he has no one in Thedas. No family, no lovers, only allies made of circumstance that swiftly departed once the war was over. He could not rely upon the Warden forever...but those are concerns he can wallow in when he returns. For now? He is in Luceti and he has his family.

He tugs her in once more simply because he can, because she is here and real and needs him just as much as he needs her.]

I still think I may have the better deal, here.

[stillplaying]

[She doesn't hesitate in hugging him back. Admitting to emotions like that is never easy. Saying the words aloud, actually meaning them. But he clearly returns them. He wouldn't hug her like this otherwise. He wouldn't let her hug him back just as fiercely.

Her head tucks under his chin and she closes her eyes. How long will these hugs last? If she doesn't find a way to keep him here, how long until the next time he leaves? These aren't the things she ought to be thinking about. She should be grateful that he's back.

But she can't stop worrying.]

You have me.

[antivanleather]

Which is why I think I have the better deal, Solano.

[He chuckles softly and that, that felt real. Warm. Natural. Bit by bit he's feeling less hollow, less locked in shock from the war and his waking and remembering. How appropriate that he feels most himself in the arms of the one he first considered an ally. Family. Something he had far to little of and oh. She had a sister.

He'd made a promise.]

I believe I owe Prim some lessons. And you a dinner.

[stillplaying]

[Prim had understood when those lessons had ended. She probably understood and accepted it better than Katniss ever could. She spent far too much time mourning what she had lost. She always had. It was too difficult to be rational when it came to losing those she loved.

But even then, it hadn't been Zevran's fault. None of this had been his fault.]

You don't owe us anything.

[antivanleather]

Allow me to correct myself: I wish to resume lessons with Prim, and I wish to cook for you a dinner. Something for your family, something small and cozy and warm. Just you and Prim and Richard and myself.

[Some braized deer, some potato pasta, root vegetables, a bottle of cider for the girls.]

Just- something for us. To remind me of what it is in this world that is worth all the blood.

[stillplaying]

[It's a really nice thought. A family dinner. Though they have them regularly - her and Richard and Prim - it's been some time since they've included anyone else. Since she's really wanted them to, too.

It could be nice. Zevran's back. She thinks that Teddy's starting to do better. Having a family, having her whole family in one room for a dinner she doesn't have to cook? It sounds like it would be one of the best experiences she's had in a long time.]

Could we invite Teddy, too? He- he's had a hard time lately.

[antivanleather]

Of course. Your family is my family- and I should take steps that they are aware of it. [Being back in the village is step one. Cooking? Step two.]

Shall I refrain from preparing anything overly complicated once more- or may I stretch my creative muscles just a little. No gold leaf, I promise. Just hearty stews, a pasta or two, perhaps roast deer?

[stillplaying]

[That gets her to smile a little bit more. Even if they're not related, it's nice to have Teddy in her life. Their guitar lessons have since turned into times for the two to sit and chat. Share life experiences, both here and back home. For her to teach him how to sing. She'd like to think, sometimes, that this is how life could have been like were she to have an older brother. Were Finnick to have survived the uprising.

But to hear it acknowledged from someone just as equally important to her makes it all the better. Makes her think that she's not living a life full of useless delusions.]

Whatever you want to make. [She smiles warmly.] Prim and I aren't picky.

[antivanleather]

Perhaps some berry tarts. I remember you both enjoying those when I baked for you last.

[The party, it feels so distant now to him. That he'd be a part of any manner of celebration that didn't involve murder at the end, that he'd be in the kitchen gladly, that he'd volunteer said services just to see someone smile. It's a strange thought that doesn't quite fit in with the past few months of his life but it had been and might yet be.

Thought thoughts of murder do remind him of one other person in the village.]

Is that trinket woman still here?

[stillplaying]

Effie?

[Katniss looks up, almost surprised that Zevran asked after her. He hadn't liked her very much, had he? Not that she blamed him. Effie Trinket was a hard woman to like. Most of the time, she couldn't stand her. She was very much the epitome of the Capitol. Of their behaviors and fashions and culture all together. They were a hard people to like.

But not all of them were bad. Cinna wasn't. Her prep team. Even Effie had her moments every now and then.]

She is. But she moved out.

[antivanleather]

Tell me- did she make much fuss about the garden you kept? I may or may not have insinuated she take care in what she ate before I vanished.


Just a little.

[stillplaying]

...you threatened her?

[Her grey eyes go wide and a hint of a smile appears on her face. It's not funny. It shouldn't be funny. But somehow, just picturing this, the look that must have been on Effie's face? She wants to laugh. How indignant and outraged Effie must have been.]

[antivanleather]

Maybe a little. It was after her announcement about making games in the village.

[stillplaying]

[She remembers that announcement. More than that, she remembers the announcement that she had made afterwards. The smile instantly vanishes from her face. She had been angry then. Hurt and full of self-loathing for having fallen for Sokka, even a little. And she thought it easiest to lash out. Not at him, not at the boy who had hurt her when lacking any sort of soul. But at herself, for being stupid enough to think she could deserve something better. That someone, someone aside from Peeta or Gale, could love her for who she was.

It's been a long time now. Months since that day. And in that time, she'd like to think she's gotten better. She's found something to live for again, in the small family living under her roof. Prim and Richard might not love her in the same way Peeta did, but they love her nonetheless.

Quietly,] I remember.

[antivanleather]

[The smile vanishes, and his hands slide out to catch hers. An anchor to the present. A better time- he knows well that he could have, and should have been there for her at the second announcement. Regrets that he never stepped forward to say anything when it came to pass. But he is here now, and she is- she seems better. Perhaps she and he might find something better to look forward to and to live with, to live for.]

I took issue with the concept- for how it would effect you and your Prim. I would like to say I'm not proud of it- but that would be lying. A woman like her should learn to live with a little fear if she's so quick to mete it out herself so carelessly.

[stillplaying]

She can't help it.

[It's the same argument she made then, even as she squeezes his hand tightly, pushing past the memories to the present day. He's here now. Back in her life again. She still has Prim, still has Richard and Teddy. Life is better now. Katniss doesn't hate herself as much as she did then.

But, at the very least, the argument still stands.]

It's what they're taught, in the Capitol. That the Games are good. They're entertainment. She was only looking for something to keep her sane.

[antivanleather]

Were she more honest about such things, it would not bother me. She's not clever enough for the subtle deceptions such a stance would require. Far better to simply admit to what it is that she means and all will be well.

Besides.

It is not as though I've done her any real harm now, have I?

[stillplaying]

Only because you haven't been here.

[She says the words a little gruffly, a little angrily. It hadn't been Zevran's fault, being sent away like he had. He had as much control over that as any of them had in coming here. But at the same time, there's a little bit of amusement in her voice. Because she knows he wouldn't really hurt Effie. Not without her permission.]

[antivanleather]

I wouldn't go out of my way to cause harm...unless she deserved it. And you said it was fine for me to do so.

[Rules to be minded and lines best not crossed without due cause. He is ever mindful of these things.]

Perhaps I should pay her a visit since I have returned, mm?

[stillplaying]

There are better things you can do. She slips her hand in his as she shakes her head, still smiling a little ruefully at him. It’s good to have him back. Better than she could imagine it being. And most of all, he remembers her. He hasn’t forgotten.

That means more to her than anything else she can imagine.] Dinner. Telling me stories of what you did while you were gone.

[antivanleather]

I do not know if it would make for the sort of tale one would tell over a meal, Katniss. I returned to a war.

[And have they both not had more than enough of war? But there are other stories he could share, certainly. Warm things. Easy, amusing things. Hunts and prison escapes and mountains scaled. He will thing of something.]