Chapter Text
Irrehn kept his hands placed over his mouth, muffling any sound of pain that might have escaped from his throat. Sage continued to drive the small tattooing knife over his cheeking, leaving black ink in its wake. Irrehn had his eyes shut, but he knew a few people had gathered around, including a few he knew. Not everyday you would see a dalish undergoing blood writing outside of the clan. A few of the voices he recognized.
“ Why would you want that? It's not even like, badass or anything. It's just like… a tree.” remarked Sera, probably scoffing at him.
“It's important to him. He wants it. I am happy for him.” Cole, ever so polite, was crouched above on some crate or something similar. Cole had been so enthusiastic about this, even more so than Irrehn was. Must’ve been his first time ever seeing anyone get a tattoo.
“Come on, Kid, you’re almost there! Like… a few more branches and you should be good as gold!” The warden cheered him on. He was glad the warden had stayed around for this, as he thought after the party, he would’ve just left and gone back to whatever business the wardens had to put up with when they were being diplomats.
“Can you all back up?! You’re going to suffocate the poor boy!” Sage exclaimed, stopping the writing for a moment. He got straight back to it after the sounds of everyone shuffling a little bit back. As much as it hurt, all Irrehn could tell him over and over in his head is that ‘You’ve felt worse, you’ve been through worse,’ which, yes, in fact, he had. But it still hurt! Damn. A few minutes (or seconds) later, Sage had finished the final part. He pulled away.
“You can open your eyes now, Irrehn, I’m not tattooing them.” Sage spoke. Irrehn took a second to process it before complying. He blinked several times, trying to get his bearings. Everyone had now gathered in front of him, staring at his face. The sight was certainly overwhelming. Perhaps it was from their angle as well.
Irrehn’s eyes glanced between everyone, trying to decipher their expressions.
“How’s it, uh… look?” He asked nervously, not entirely sure what all the attention was about. Sage pulled away with a hand on his chin, seemingly examining his handiwork. The silence made Irrehn all the more uncomfortable. Was it that bad? He knew he should’ve never agreed to having sage do his vasselin.
After a moment of everyone gawking at him, Sage held out his hand to the boy to help him up.
“Whelp! Looks like you’re a man now, Da’len.” Irrehn groaned as he stood, feeling the need to rub his sore cheeks. “ Yeah, unfortunately that comes at the price of not being able to chew comfortably for a week or so, but hey! You did so well!” Sage smiled. Sweres pushed his way to the front to get a good look at the boy, grabbing him firmly by the shoulders. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve been terribly intimidated by such a large man barreling towards him. Sera also peered at him over the warden’s shoulder.
“Still don’t get what the big deal is.” She chimed in. Irrehn was tempted to tell her it wasn’t for her, but decided he didn't want to make hopeless discourse. Sweres, on the other hand, gave a hearty chuckle with a proud smile and a firm slap on the shoulder (ow).
“A man now! Good job, fella! Looks good on ya’!” Irrehn gave the man a faint smile, unsure what to say after. He was just hoping he wouldn’t pinch his cheeks as well. He was certainly going to hurt tomorrow, or in a few hours. Unfortunate. He quite liked talking when he could.
Cole came up to him as well, as the warden was still latched onto his shoulders. The boy got his finger worryingly close to the fresh tattoos, but luckily didn’t actually touch them.
“They’re tree branches,” he observed, his finger tracing over them in the air.
“Yeah, it represents Mythal, the all-mother. She was always my favorite of the divines.” Irrehn tried to give him a bigger smile, but his face hurt too much to do so.
“I think it fits you well. Very nicely.” Irrehn could tell Cole was trying to hold back some of his excitement, while also trying not to touch the newly implemented blood writing. Irrehn, knowing how very excited the boy probably was, Irrehn pulled away from Sweres and opened his arms to the spirit. Cole leaped at the chance, being careful not to touch his face. He really was like an oversized puppy.
“Remember, I’m apparently gonna be sore for a few weeks, so you can’t go giving me random pecks on the cheek.” As much as Irrehn was disappointed by the information, it was quite true. Cole’s head popped up, a look of thinking on his face. He eyed the elf up and down.
“I’m not a chicken, I do not peck…”
“I meant kisses, Cole. If you were a chicken, I would’ve never gotten close to you.”
“Oh. That's… not a problem. I can just do this.” Cole lowered his head to the crook of Irrehn’s neck and began to nibble lightly. The sensation made Irrehn jump and let out a small yelp. Not that he didn’t like it, he was just quite sensitive all over. Cole also gave the boy’s hair a little ruffle as well, which
“Gah, Boys, Let up, will you! Do that on your own time.” The warden called to them, before grabbing Cole’s shoulder this time, tugging him away. Irrehn was a bit disappointed at the lack of sensation but used the moment to adjust himself back to acceptable standards.
“Cole, Please, you’re killing the poor lad.”
“No…He’s fine.”
“Heh, Yeah I’m sure he’s more than fine.” Sweres gave a laugh. Irrehn crossed his arms, unamused. “Just kidding ya, lad. Anyway, feel free to find me in the tavern in a little bit. Drinks on me, if you can stomach them.
“Yes ser, I’ll see you soon.” He nodded to the older man, who waved goodbye as he walked off. Sera followed. She seemed to have an admiration for the Warden, he meant- who wouldn’t? He was quite the charming feller, and not in the Sage way.
Speaking of Sage, Sage began packing up the blood writing items back into the satchel he’d brought them in.
“Just don’t rubbing mud on your face while the wounds are open and you should be fine,”
“Isn’t that what you did?” Sage gave him a light backhand to the chest.
“Ey, Shall I remind you of everything you’ve done since you were 5? Let's start with busting your ass on ice in the SUMMER.”
“Ah, whatever, old man.” Irrehn said affectionately, elbowing him. Sage slung the satchel over his shoulder gave Irrehn a parting nod. A few other people after gave him basic ‘congratulations on becoming an adult’ but none really stood out to him all that much. He thanked them as they left, until it was just him sitting alone in the garden of the hold. It was quite calming, if a bit nippy. Just him.
And the spirit who followed him like a dog. Not that he minded all that much. It was comforting to have a presence to watch over him all the time. A guardian of some sort, some might say. Cole sat atop a barrel, rocking back and forth with ease. Irrehn found his behavior so charming, even when he didn’t realize it. They both just sat there, in their own little worlds until Irrehn finally broke the silence.
“Not sure what to do now, hm. Might work on something, sewing- writing. What do you think.”
“I like it when you make music.” Cole continued to rock.
“Oh? Do you? What kind?”
“Any, really. Though, I like the one with animals. Or boats.”
“Have I really written that much about boats?”
“A few I saw.”
“Breaking into my room again, are we?” Irrehn said teasingly. Cole dodged his eyes. “I’m simply jesting, dear boy. I confess, I’ve never been on a boat before. Not a big one anyway. Though I have seen many animals before. Too many.”
“You always say what your least favorite is but… what's your favorite?” Cole asked. Irrehn had to think about it for a moment. He’d never truly considered what his favorite animal actually was, as strange as that was. He’d always had a least favorite, never favorite.
“Eh…. hm…. Well, Fennecs are quite cute, they mind themselves as well. Rabbits are messy little bastards, but they are affectionate. I’ve seen many wolves, and I have to say most give them a bad name. They’re just forrest puppies.” Cole smiled in reaction, shifting to sit criss-cross across the barrel.
“Wolves don’t always mean harm… Sometimes they’re just a little too rough. Like a dog.”
“Mm. Mm, Yeah! Yes! Hold on,” Irrehn quickly ruffled through his bag, pulling out a piece of parchment and quill. “That gives me an idea, yes! I had it a while back, but I lost it as I couldn't find anything to write it down on.”
“Do you want me to leave? So you can focus?”
“Not at all! Quite the opposite, come, sit!” He patted the ground next to him. “You can help all you want.” Cole smiled at the revelation, jumping down from his barrel and sitting besides the elf as he wrote. Cole placed his head on the boy’s shoulder while telling him all the random little things he knew. Relevant or not, Irrehn adored hearing it. Y’know- He was actually quite glad he had been egged on to steal that goat. Who knew where he would be now without it. Perhaps it wasn’t so evil after all.