son , you are no island.

        oh, alright, it’s that kind of talk. well, given the choice between the sisters who might want to kill her and a bloke about to shatter her heart into a thousand tiny pieces, georgie thinks she’d choose the b—no, no, she’d still choose to go back into battle with her sisters, because for all georgie’s casualness, she’s terrified. constantly, about her love life and just about everything else, too, all of it mixing up into one big fear stew. but she likes to think of herself as brave, so she shuts the front door behind her, even if half the reason is so that nobody else can replay her being dumped on a loop when they want to win something.

        she wraps her arms around herself, though, and heads down the drive. what else is there to do? shit, her mascara’s not waterproof and everything.

        ❝ we don’t have to go to a park for you to break up with me. ❞ she thinks they’re good. in a terrible place, both of them, but good for each other, good together. she thinks that she’s falling for him, even though she promised herself that she wouldn’t, not after all the bullshit. she thinks that she’s going to be pretty fucking inconsolable, if this really is what she thinks it is. he’s…balfour’s the only fucking thing that makes sense.  ❝ so, um… ❞

     ‘ Break up with you? ’ He sounds --- and looks --- stunned by the accusation. Apparently, Balfour is unaware of how... vague and ominous he’s being, which is fair enough, isn’t it? It’s not like he’s being this way intentionally. It’s just that he’s scared and sometimes the only way to get through a scary thing is to be anxious and fret and be bad at communicating your feelings until you manage to force yourself to say what you mean. ‘ Fuck no. Christ. ’ 

     He stops, anyway, at the bottom of her drive, reaching out to touch her arm. A walk might’ve been useful, might’ve helped him get his thoughts in order, but if she thinks he’s trying to break up with her then clearly he’s going to have to do this sooner rather than later. 

        ❝ nope, absolutely not— ❞ somewhere behind her, marie yells, i’m gonna kill you, georgie! well, okay, maybe it’s slightly a bad time, but last week, she and marie were united against lulu, and the week before that, the three of them were ganging up on their dad, so she reckons it’ll all be fine. at the end of the day, they love each other. it’s because of that love that they can bicker and still get along fine. or so she hopes. maybe it’s a little wishful thinking.  ❝ i—a phrase nobody wants to hear. but it’s probably best i make myself scarce for a bit, so i’m all yours. ❞

     ‘ Could we go somewhere, um... ’ He swallows, lets out an extremely shaky breath. Honestly? Balfour doesn’t do this often enough not to be terrified of it --- and, the last time, it all ended in tears. For him, at least. He isn’t sure about Aoife, whether she still thinks about him, whether she’s moved on and found somebody else. Part of him is afraid that it’ll all happen again with Georgie, or that she’ll end up like Fergus or... or any number of horrible things that keep him lying awake at night, anxiety twisting so tightly around his chest that he can hardly breathe. 

     Maybe it would be smarter to run away. The thing is, though, that he doesn’t want to. He wants to try.

“my mother might kill you..” comes a soft chuckle before you shake your head and step into his space, arms wrapping around his body and embracing him in a small hug, “but it might just be worth it to see you once again, doctor. i’ve missed you.”

        mei clocked the pretender almost as soon as she set foot in skyhold, the calling too strong in her blood to mistake the taintless for a true warden. she’s still considering what to do about blackwall when a drop in the river of her veins flairs to life, her body shivers, and she rubs a hand over the goosebumps on her arm as she turns to scan the courtyard for a source. 

        but barkspawn spots him first. the mabari bolts from his mistress’s side with a joyful yip, jumping up onto a figure he recognizes even after all these years. mei recognizes him too, and follows slowly, stopping a few paces short to watch the reunion with a bittersweet twinge in her chest. 

       “kind of a weird place for a royal vacation, don’t you think?” 

@dllsprk​​ for bal ofc 

     He’s walking through the courtyard, deep in conversation with Leliana when he hears the bark. It doesn’t bother him at first --- Skyhold is a loud and busy place --- but then he catches sight of the mabari barrelling towards him. For a moment, he thinks that it might be Hohaku, until he remembers that his own hound is keeping Kieran company. Realisation hits him almost the same moment that the mabari does, and Balfour is laughing, thrilled, as he greets Barkspawn with many scratches and pats. 

     As the dog flops onto his back, Balfour dutifully crouches down to rub his belly, conversation with Leliana apparently completely forgotten. She’s far more patient than a mabari ever could be, though, and they weren’t discussing anything urgent. Surely she can give him some time to be reunited with an old friend? Or two, it would seem, when a familiar voice meets his ear. 

     When he looks up, the smile takes on something... sadder. Doesn’t it always with her?

i am here but unfortunately only bc clara has the hots for 11 and 13 at Peak Weirdness