theattic | PSL: A COUPLE OF MISFITS

"Oh! So it's...a little like a horoscope that you actually get to pick. But it's also real. I think I get it!"

Maurice hesitated, watching her work on the flower crown a little longer.

"Which do you think would be the best for me?"

"I don't know what a horoscope is."

She thinks on his question for a bit, though, expression thoughtful. It was a question no Dalish took lightly, when answering for themselves. After all, it was something that would be on their face until the day they died--there was nothing (that they knew of) that could remove it--magic or knife. They spent most of their childhood contemplating it.

"I think...that's your own choice to make, Maurice. What do you value the most? Justice? Knowledge? But I suppose since you can't really learn all about the Creators with a few short sentences...Perhaps Falon'Din, who gives peace to the dead, or June, who created all manner of things with his hands." She hummed thoughtfully, tilting her head. "You work on cars, right? June might suit you well."

"A horoscope is...a symbol you're supposedly born under--in the stars, I mean." He pointed upward. Just in case Beleth somehow didn't know where the stars were. "Mine's Sagittarius but I don't think it fits me too well. They're supposed to be fun and outgoing and chill about everything."

It was true that he'd mellowed out after his years in Ruby City, but most days he felt like a strained violin string.

"I do like to make stuff...I've never built a car but I know how to cook. I'm glad you don't think I'm tryin' to edge in on your whole--" Here he waved his hands in a gesture that meant ELFHOOD. Or something like it. What did he value? "I think...what's most important to me is..."

His brows furrowed. Oh, no, it sounded so corny in his head.

"Nevermind."

"Oh." She glanced up at the sky thoughtfully, studying the stars as she listened to Maurice. "I don't know, I think you're fun, Maurice. And you're pretty cold, too." She reached over with a smile, to press her fingers against his arm. "See? Very chill." An accidental misunderstanding, or purposely doing it as a joke? WHO KNOWS.

Okay, the way she's smirking means she probably did that on purpose.

"I don't think you're trying to edge in on anything. It's nice to have people have an interest in my culture--I mean...I probably would protest if you actually tried to get vallaslin, but I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to know more about it." She gave a little shrug, at that. She was...pretty sure that Maurice couldn't have a vallaslin. They were a symbol of the Dalish gods, the culture that humans tried to snub out, but would never yield.

Unless he wanted to become Dalish, but...she's pretty sure that wasn't possible, either.

"But--hey, I want to know. I told you what's most important to me!" She puffed her cheeks out, because reasonable adults pout in order to achieve their desired goals.

Maurice opened his mouth to explain himself and then he saw that smirk of hers. He rolled his eyes and dared to lean forward and plant a chilly hand gently against her face.

"I don't think I'd look too good with a face tattoo anyway. I'll stick to keepin' mine on my arms. I've been thinkin' about getting a new one while I'm here. I know it won't last forever, but hey, it's fun!" He moved his hand shifted uneasily in his seat. Great, he'd been trying to distract her from that topic!

Maurice reached down to pick up one of the flower petals that had fallen from her project so that he'd have something else to look at. "I dunno, I just. It's been hard and I've learned a lot of stuff. Some stuff I didn't even wanna know. And I think the most important thing is to just...be good, I guess. Lame, right?"

She huffed at the cold hand touching her face, swatting half-heartedly at his hand.

But he was talking about important things now, and she listened with interest. It was a difficult question to answer, and she didn't blame Maurice for struggling to voice his answer. But when he finally did answer, she nodded, eyes suddenly darting down to her project, and starting to twist the two ends together.

"You think that it's lame that you consider your priority being a good person? Maurice, that's a perfectly acceptable answer. A good answer, even. Not that there really are wrong answers."

Finally, she held up her project, and Maurice could see that it was a flower crown. She shifted, standing up to plant the crown right on his head, like a priestess crowning a valiant king. "That is a good goal, Maurice. Don't be ashamed of yourself for prioritizing something like that."

Maurice could feel color rising in his cheeks. She didn't laugh! Of course she didn't laugh. This was Beleth--probably one of the most non judgmental people he knew.

Unless you were a human.

"I guess I got it in my head most folks would think being brave or heroic would be more important. Having a cause to fight for, or a family to protect stuff like that. But I only--"

AND LO! HE WAS CROWNED. She shut him up good and he rolled his eyes up in attempts to see the gift she'd made him. Had she been making it for him the whole time?

"Okay. I'll try to get better about that."

Humans are LAME, Maurice. Also, complicit in attempted genocide.

Beleth leans back to look at him with the flower crown, squinting critically. "I think I underestimated how big it needed to be--next time, I'll get flowers with longer stems, I think. But it'll do." Then she reaches up and readjusts it. "But I like those colors for you. They don't have quite the flowers they do in Thedas, but I got things that looked pretty close."

She reached up, touching the flowers gently. "This one is for a gentle spirit, and this one is for steadfastness. And this one--just looks pretty." Cough. Liar liar pants on fire. "And the braid I used for them is a sacred braid, dedicated to Sylaise. When you wear this, she'll protect you."

And she stepped back, taking another look at him. "I think you're already a good person, Maurice. Next time, I'll see if I can find some flowers that...represent that...? Hmm."

Maurice squinted at her and teased, "Are you sayin' I've got a big head?"

But he fell silent again as she shared even more of her world. Gentle. Steadfast. And pretty. He could dig that. The vampire secretly wished someone thought he was pretty some days. Not handsome or cute, but pretty.

He also wondered if Sylaise would protect him if she knew he used to be human.

So Maurice the vampire sat there on his bucket in his flower crown and tried his best not to smile too big while Beleth looked him over. "These are nice too though!"

PSL: A COUPLE OF MISFITS

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