Surf's up - so am I

Her fingers trace around the lip of her mug as she listens and thinks. The longer she stayed in one place, the more likely it was one of the rogues would find her and then all the void would be let loose. She would not wait for death, and this man has provided a quick escape if she would but take it. 

“Women aren’t the ones who cause trouble, gentlemen, it’s always the men. Maybe if you traveled with more of my fellows you’d have less trouble across the board, as it were.” She takes a sip of her ale,  doing her best not to betray how much she hates the stuff. Truly she should have just said hang it all and bought the wine, it would have been worth the extra silver.

The mug thunks against the table and her lips smack together. “I think I would like to go with you.  There is more to this world than Thedas, after all.”

He claimed to be a simple fisherman - but he doesn’t look like those masses of sun and sea weathered men she’s spoken to and bartered with in the market. He smells of the sea, but it’s different somehow.  Elle idly starts to braid her hair as she scrutinizes the man. 

“So you’re a merchant then? Where you sail to? Do you take passengers?”

“A merchant, me?” It is his time to give a startled look. He still acts a lot more drunk than he really is. “Nay. More like a soldier of fortune, really. Am not a ship-owner, either. Just a sailing-man an’ rover. In search of a ship, actually. Been a deck-hand on several merchants, though. Why? Ye wanna see a bit of the world yerself, lassie?”

He grabs an apple and pulls out a knive, cutting out a brown spot, then eating a chip of apple before biting right into the rest of the sweet fruit. 

“You’d take her with you?” one of the fellows he’s been drinking with asks. “Thought it would mean bad luck? To take a woman on board of a ship?”

Did this superstition exist in all worlds?

“If that’s true then I wonder how any settlements have ever been founded. The ones with crossing oceans an’ rivers, aye?” he asks, stumbling over his tongue and thoughts just a little and waving his knife, but with an amused glint in his eyes. “O’course women-folk aboard almost always means TROUBLE, though, mate...” he readily agrees.

tellmewebelongtogether:

mynameiseyyyyyy:

THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE LORD OF THE RINGS

He just smaCKED THAT OTHER OTTER RIGHT IN THE FACE

“I must say that I’m not surprised to say. You give off that vibe of someone that likes the water.” A soft hum as walking next Alec down the beach. It was interesting to hear about what it was like for Alec to grow up on the sea more than the land. “ I see it must been fun to experience that at least. In some way or another. Do you still like the sea the more then land ?”

He nodded, digging his toes into the fine, soft sand. “Hmm-hmmm. She claimed me many tides ago, did the sea, an’ it seems I’ll always be hers, bound by her magical charms”, he played oracle here, maybe having a bit too much fun doing so. But it was so much truer than she could know!

“What about you, though? What’s the place you feel most at home? Up in the clouds, or is there some place else?” he asked, watching the dark waves reflect the sickle moon. Look at that, the skies mirrored in the sea!

She was glad to hear that Alec didn’t want her to get hurt and not something weird or anything. Isabella smiled back when she saw him smiling at her.

“Yeah good to hear that. I mean I’m glad that it’s not nothing serious or anything. Nothing like the feel of sand under your feet. It’s nice.” Her gaze turned back to the little beach, not fully sure what else to say. There were moments like this, where Isabella didn’t know how to deal with the awkward moments.

Isabella was happy to hear that it was okay for Alec to take the stroll. She usually didn’t show people this place because she liked to think of it as Her own secret place. “Good to hear it’s okay.”

She looked at Alec for a moment before she glanced out the window as she looked over the beach again. Isabella hummed when he asked about her being able to walk on the beach in her heels. She honestly was gonna toss them in the car and walk barefoot. “Actually, I wanna leave them in here. I like the feel of sand on my feet. I mean unless you’d prefer I keep them in.” Isabella said not sure if that’s why Alec was asking or not.

“What? Oh, no why! The last thing I want is you spraining you ankle or getting hurt or uncomfortable in any other way!”

He gave her a somewhat bashful smile, for really, this age’s fashion, especially when it came to the women-folk, was SO beyond him in so many ways! Especially with him still spending most of his time out at sea.

He knew about those new swim-suits for lasses, for example, but ask him which one to pick and you might as well as a goat... He was happy enough that he was able to dress himself halfway decently.

“Yeah it’s magical to be honest.” Isabella told Alec as they got into the car. She didn’t know where they’d end up but she had to admit that she was enjoying the break from work and worrying about her dad.

“There’s a nice spot up ahead Alec.” She pointed out to him while they were driving around. It was a common spot that she came when needing to unwind and get away from things. It had some trees that had been planted to bring more to the little coast line. Something about sitting in the sand was calming for the blonde. She always enjoyed it, no matter the time of day that she came here. 

There was a couple of picnic tables at each end of the little beach. Isabella leaned against the window as Alec drove up to park into the little parking lot that was just a couple steps around the beach. “ Is this okay? I mean we can go somewhere with a bigger beach if you want.”

“Oh, no, this is perfect!” he assured after giving the place a good look, and the tone of his voice gave proof that he meant it. 

The tables also meant that they could sit down without getting her dress all dirty with sand but - 

“Say, will you be able to WALK in those heals?” he asked, a bit worried. It was beyond him how women walked in those shoes on even pavement, let alone sand and rocks, and the last thing he wanted was Bella hurting herself. 

Isabella leaned against the car as Alec spoke. She was aware of his eyes taking in her form once more but didn’t say anything much. “A stroll sounds good to be honest. Enjoy the sights a little.” She gave a small shrugs as she spoke knowing that she was being a little rambly. Something the blonde chalked up to nerves.

He nodded with a reassuring smile. “There something about the sea at night”, he agreed. “A beauty so very different from the bright blue, sunny skies and glittering teal waves...”

Her hair is odd for a woman of her age, or lack of age. It had been part of her magical manifestation, and for people who knew that a dead giveaway to her identity. But they are so far away from where she’d formerly lived, that Elle hadn’t thought to cover it. People didn’t ask as many questions in these parts. At least not usually.

“Thank you.” Her smile is wan, voice soft as she reaches for her glass of sweet win to lift for the toast and drink. 

“But, what about you? I’ve never heard an accent quite like yours.”

“Ah, that must be ‘cause o’ all the travellin’”, he explains readily, then adds: 

“Grew up in a tiny fisher village on Llomerryn.” Lying through his teeth here came easy for him. He’d had to learn this a long time ago - and learned how to do it: 

Stay close enough to the truth that you can sprinkle in all the tiny details that will make your story believable. Exchange only the things that just won’t fit in your recent situation.

So he had picked Llomerryn the moment he’d gotten a chance to study a map - horribly vague rag it had been! - for its size and position. It made sense to assume that life there would not be all too different from how he’d grown up. 

He allows his accent to thicken and his words to slur as if too much alcohol makes his tongue heavy, yet his eyes glitter in the lamplight.

“Father n’ grandfather took me a-fishin’ soon as I could stand on me own twa feet. But grew out o‘em fisher boats soon. Been travellin’ ever since, ever the seafaring man, me. Shared ship with people speakin’ a hotpot o’ diff’rent tongues. Sands yer own talk, adds ta it ‘s much as it takes from it, like the tide changin’ the shores. Yet I s’ppose ye’ll a’ways hear the li’l islander-laddie in me...”

Oh, that was a lie as well. He’s learned to properly mimic many different accents - but that game took lots of concentration...