Khari yelped, ducking away from a heavy swing. The scrambling required to do that put her on her ass, though, and with a muffled curse, she waved a hand to concede the match. Some days, she'd have been happy to make Leon work for it and actually pin her, but today was not such a day. Especially since she was also not armed with anything more impressive than her fists. With a huff, she got back to her feet, dusting grass and dirt off the seat of her pants and scowling up at him.
“Everyone should know how to throw a punch, he says. Too bad you don't actually gimme a chance." She crossed her arms and tilted her chin back so she could actually meet his eyes properly. Stupid Leon and his stupid huge self. Huge, punchy self. It occurred to her that in her case, the sword really was compensating for something. Just not anything funny.
He shrugged, entirely too nonchalant for the broad smile he was wearing. Since Corypheus was killed and the thing with Cyrus as resolved as it was going to get for now, he'd seemed a bit lighter, somehow. Maybe it was because he'd been able to send so many of his people home after nearly five years with nothing much worse than a hell of a lot more life experience. It probably felt good, after all the letters he'd had to write to people's homes when they were lost.
Spreading his arms wide, he took a single step back. "How about a free one? Go on: take your best shot." His eyes glittered with mirth. Definitely lighter.
Khari wasn't going to say no to that. Cracking her knuckles, she bared her teeth in a rather vicious grin. “Hey, if you're offering." Curling her fingers the way he'd taught her, she took a step and thrust forward in the same motion, aiming for the dead center of his chest, which was a ways up, for her. She didn't really think she was going to hurt him, but she wasn't going to aim for any weak spots, either. Just in case.
A completely unfounded worry, as it turned out. Leon let out a breath that sounded like amusement, one of his arms lashing forward to catch her at the wrist. Her momentum neutralized, he stepped in and bodily lifted her off the ground, throwing her over one shoulder like she was just a sack of grain. Or potatoes or something. "You can avoid telegraphing with a sword, but not your own hands. It's really quite remarkable." He used the same mild tone to inform her of this as he did to talk about tea or whatever was growing in his garden. "Now—how are you planning on getting out of this predicament?"
“You absolute shithead. Of course I was telegraphing; it was a free punch!" Khari struggled, but of fucking course Leon's arm was basically made of iron—she still hadn't figured out what the hell those Anderfels Chantry people had fed him when he was a kid, because now he was all into veggies and still didn't have to exert effort to lift her entire person. And she wasn't a waif, despite her height challenges.
She made her dissatisfaction with this situation known by beating at his back with her fists, kicking at his front too. Not a lot of leverage, sadly. On the other hand... “Put me down or I swear we're both gonna find out where you're ticklish, and I know you don't want that."
"Negotiation. I'm impressed." Or maybe more intimidated by the threat, because he did put her down, and gently at that, rather than letting her fall from his height, which he'd been known to do when he threw her in a spar. "Though in fairness, I don't think most of your future enemies are going to be quite so easily daunted."
“Yeah, well." Khari balled her hands and set them on her hips. “I don't plan on fighting any of my future enemies without my sword, thank you very much." At least not the hand-to-hand specialists among them. Talk about stacking the deck in his own favor. Her brows knit, then, and she pushed a hard breath out of her nose. “Which future enemies are we talking about here, anyway? Cause I'm pretty sure Lucien's endorsement means that my future chevalier enemies are all obligated to come at me from the front, and I'm not worried about that."
It wasn't that she thought she was the best fighter ever now or anything like that. Khari knew very well that she could still lose, especially if she was careless. She also knew there were people in the world who were just better at this than her, and would win against her more times than they'd lose. The proof was towering nearly a foot and a half over her head, after all.
He gave her a strange little smile at that, shaking his head faintly. "Well, not those, no." He gestured towards the fence rail, moving to lean against it himself, crossing one ankle over the other and his arms across his chest. Despite this being the main bailey of Skyhold, they were practically alone outside right now. There were still a few guards on the wall, and the scouts were around, and Ril's people, but... with the departure of the army had gone most of the daily activity, enough that Skyhold was starting to feel a little empty. It wouldn't be long before the rest of them moved either, down from the mountains and into rolling Orlesian plains. Not that far from the Dales, honestly.
It was obviously a place in transition, but honestly Khari was glad of it. Skyhold didn't feel right like this, still only patched up after the battle and missing so many of the people who'd made it home. Not all of them—not by a long shot. But enough of them that she didn't want to remember it like this. A new home, new memories... she was perfectly okay with that. But she didn't want to think of Skyhold and be reminded of the days after, when things were slowly unraveling. It just didn't feel right.
She followed Leon to the fence, hopping up to sit on the top bar. It closed the gap in their heights just a bit, though she figured she'd always look slightly ridiculous next to him. Not that she minded.
"I actually meant the future enemies of the Inquisition, should any show themselves. While I agree that a Commander should keep all of her options open, it seems unlikely that most of them would concede to threats to, ah, tickle."
“Hey, I'll have you know that tickling can be torturous if the other person wants it to—wait, what?" It took a second for his use of the pronoun she in reference to the Inquisition's Commander to sink in.
Khari could be pretty dense, but she was fairly sure she knew what Leon was implying. He wasn't the type to yank her chain about something like this. “You—I—what?" She stared hard at his profile, demanding explanation that way when the words wouldn't quite come.
Leon chuckled, entirely sanguine, it would seem. He turned to meet her glare with something much warmer, making an ambivalent expression and shrugging. "It's not ser, but it's something, isn't it? Something you've earned. Something you deserve." She'd known already that he would not be staying forever, that eventually the transition would take him away as well, put him in that group of people who'd left, though perhaps not quite so completely as some of the others. It wasn't too hard to guess where he'd go, after all: he was still a Seeker, still a Chantry man, at a time when effective, experienced members of that group were in low supply and high demand.
“I—but—" It had been a while since she'd struggled this much just to form words. She'd known he was going, but she'd never really thought of what would happen after that. “Leon... I dunno. It doesn't feel right. If it's not you." She was honored; humbled even. But that definitely wasn't the main thing she felt thinking about it.
Reaching over, Khari grabbed the hem of one of his sleeves, leaning sideways so her cheek was smashed against his bicep. Seriously, shouldn't human beings be softer than this? She was crazy jealous, even if she knew she was pretty built, too.
"It will," he assured. "Give it time. Truthfully, I expect it won't be much more than you already do—the paperwork is already drastically reduced. But..." He shifted, pulling away a bit so he could settle his hand on her head. "Even if it were the whole army, I wouldn't choose anyone else. The others agree, you know."
Khari, usually a font of confidence even if it was mostly put-on, still wasn't entirely convinced. “This better not be some excuse for you to leave us and never come back. I expect visits, Leon. Regular ones. Wherever you're going can't be that far from Lydes, right?"
His brow knit, as though he were perplexed by something. "Of course I'll visit," he said, quiet voice rumbling over the words. "You won't be rid of me that easily, Khari. I've few friends, and not a one of them like you."
She released a quiet ha at that. “Utterly shameless, you mean?"
Leon laughed, full-throated and easy. Clearly he remembered the last time he'd called her that. "That," he said, as though it were a concession. "And also utterly singular. Never change, Khari."
“I'll do my best to stay this awesome forever." She grinned up at him, rather ruining her own attempt at solemnity, and then hopped down off the fence. “I—thanks, Leon. I've gotta do some thinking about this, but... thanks. Really." It meant the world to her that he thought so much of her, but it was a lot to take in. Expelling a breath, she reached up to pat his elbow. “See you for dinner?"
"Of course. Until then."
From there, she mostly just let herself wander wherever, contemplating the future. It was sort of a weird exercise—what had once been monolithic and so very distant was now... right in front of her and a lot messier than she'd thought it would be. Better, honestly, but messier, too.
Unsurprisingly, she found her way back to Rom's room. Their room, really, though some part of her was still getting used to that. Khari had messed around now and then in her roving days, like pretty much everyone did, but she'd never really had anyone be part of her life in quite the way Rom was. Not that it was a bad thing—in fact he struck her as the perfect person to talk to about this. His opinion mattered, and he'd give it honestly.
Pushing open the door, she caught sight of him immediately and grinned, pausing and crossing her arms, leaning sideways into the frame and letting herself appreciate the view for a moment. She doubted he'd mind.
The view was of his rear, for one, trousers shorn off at the knees and rope-bound loosely at his waist. He performed push up after push up, until the muscles all along his bare back and arms strained with the effort. He stopped just before giving out, not pushing himself too far, and rolled over onto his back on the floor mat, breathing heavily. His eyes wandered to Khari in the doorway, and he grinned back. "I trust you're enjoying yourself... Commander."
That was going to take some getting used to. Fortunately, the rest was easy. “Oh, I'm having loads of fun. Really. I think the visual feast that is the Inquisition is just sadly underappreciated by our detractors." Letting her arms drop, Khari stepped into the room, taking a seat on the couch. “So, uh... Commander, huh? I guess you knew about that."
Rom slowly picked himself up off the ground, wiping his face and neck with a nearby towel. "Leon made sure we were okay with the decision before he settled on it." Dropping the towel, he sank down onto the couch next to her. "You've been one of my advisors for years already, so there's not much change in it for me." He hesitated a moment. "I'll, uh... I'll miss Leon, though. When he moves on. This whole Inquisition really was quietly built on his back."
It really had been. Not that Leon was the kind of guy who'd ever want any credit for that. “It's... it's a lot to live up to." Khari scooted over until she was nestled into Rom's side. “I mean, it's not a whole army anymore even, but this—I gotta say I never thought I'd be leading anybody. Not for real, you know?" Small groups were one thing, when her strategies had all been cleared through Leon first. But to be that person, that everyone else went to for the expertise? That was pretty hard to imagine.
"I think you'll be great." He lifted his arm and draped it over her, his left hand settled on his thigh. It had already been marked when she'd first met him. He didn't seem too broken up about losing it, especially since keeping it would've killed him, but she did catch him glancing at his palm every now and then. "You've always been good at remembering what you're taught. And you've been taught a lot. We're all here to help, too. Anything you need."
“Heh. Guess I really don't have anything to worry about then, do I?" Though she was never going to be happy about Leon leaving, the idea of being the Commander was getting nicer the more she thought about it. She still had her own goals to meet, but this could only help with that, too.
Breathing out a short sigh, Khari turned her face in towards Rom's shoulder, resting her cheek in the slight dip between it and his chest. “What about you, Lord Inquisitor? You ready for the bright and beautiful future?"
"I hope it turns out that way." He seemed contemplative, unwilling to be blindly cheerful. "I don't really know how we're going to handle this situation with Harellan, and Cyrus. We have to stop him, obviously, but... we don't know when we'll see him again. Or where. Or what to do when we find him. Somehow I doubt he'll make for an enemy as straightforward to fight as Corypheus."
He had a point about that, she knew. Honestly, it was a problem she'd have to think about a lot more closely than she'd ever thought about the logistics of fighting Corypheus. That was the kind of thing she'd left to other people before. Not if she was going to be Commander, though. “I've said it before, and I guess I feel like I should say it again. I've gotta believe we can win, Rom. We've done so much already. Each of us, and all of us, you know?"
She felt a squeeze from his arm, his lips briefly kissing the side of her head. "I'm gonna miss this place, too. But I'll never forget it. What we started in Haven, and what we finished here. And now we get to start again. A new adventure."
“I'm always ready for an adventure."
“Everyone should know how to throw a punch, he says. Too bad you don't actually gimme a chance." She crossed her arms and tilted her chin back so she could actually meet his eyes properly. Stupid Leon and his stupid huge self. Huge, punchy self. It occurred to her that in her case, the sword really was compensating for something. Just not anything funny.
He shrugged, entirely too nonchalant for the broad smile he was wearing. Since Corypheus was killed and the thing with Cyrus as resolved as it was going to get for now, he'd seemed a bit lighter, somehow. Maybe it was because he'd been able to send so many of his people home after nearly five years with nothing much worse than a hell of a lot more life experience. It probably felt good, after all the letters he'd had to write to people's homes when they were lost.
Spreading his arms wide, he took a single step back. "How about a free one? Go on: take your best shot." His eyes glittered with mirth. Definitely lighter.
Khari wasn't going to say no to that. Cracking her knuckles, she bared her teeth in a rather vicious grin. “Hey, if you're offering." Curling her fingers the way he'd taught her, she took a step and thrust forward in the same motion, aiming for the dead center of his chest, which was a ways up, for her. She didn't really think she was going to hurt him, but she wasn't going to aim for any weak spots, either. Just in case.
A completely unfounded worry, as it turned out. Leon let out a breath that sounded like amusement, one of his arms lashing forward to catch her at the wrist. Her momentum neutralized, he stepped in and bodily lifted her off the ground, throwing her over one shoulder like she was just a sack of grain. Or potatoes or something. "You can avoid telegraphing with a sword, but not your own hands. It's really quite remarkable." He used the same mild tone to inform her of this as he did to talk about tea or whatever was growing in his garden. "Now—how are you planning on getting out of this predicament?"
“You absolute shithead. Of course I was telegraphing; it was a free punch!" Khari struggled, but of fucking course Leon's arm was basically made of iron—she still hadn't figured out what the hell those Anderfels Chantry people had fed him when he was a kid, because now he was all into veggies and still didn't have to exert effort to lift her entire person. And she wasn't a waif, despite her height challenges.
She made her dissatisfaction with this situation known by beating at his back with her fists, kicking at his front too. Not a lot of leverage, sadly. On the other hand... “Put me down or I swear we're both gonna find out where you're ticklish, and I know you don't want that."
"Negotiation. I'm impressed." Or maybe more intimidated by the threat, because he did put her down, and gently at that, rather than letting her fall from his height, which he'd been known to do when he threw her in a spar. "Though in fairness, I don't think most of your future enemies are going to be quite so easily daunted."
“Yeah, well." Khari balled her hands and set them on her hips. “I don't plan on fighting any of my future enemies without my sword, thank you very much." At least not the hand-to-hand specialists among them. Talk about stacking the deck in his own favor. Her brows knit, then, and she pushed a hard breath out of her nose. “Which future enemies are we talking about here, anyway? Cause I'm pretty sure Lucien's endorsement means that my future chevalier enemies are all obligated to come at me from the front, and I'm not worried about that."
It wasn't that she thought she was the best fighter ever now or anything like that. Khari knew very well that she could still lose, especially if she was careless. She also knew there were people in the world who were just better at this than her, and would win against her more times than they'd lose. The proof was towering nearly a foot and a half over her head, after all.
He gave her a strange little smile at that, shaking his head faintly. "Well, not those, no." He gestured towards the fence rail, moving to lean against it himself, crossing one ankle over the other and his arms across his chest. Despite this being the main bailey of Skyhold, they were practically alone outside right now. There were still a few guards on the wall, and the scouts were around, and Ril's people, but... with the departure of the army had gone most of the daily activity, enough that Skyhold was starting to feel a little empty. It wouldn't be long before the rest of them moved either, down from the mountains and into rolling Orlesian plains. Not that far from the Dales, honestly.
It was obviously a place in transition, but honestly Khari was glad of it. Skyhold didn't feel right like this, still only patched up after the battle and missing so many of the people who'd made it home. Not all of them—not by a long shot. But enough of them that she didn't want to remember it like this. A new home, new memories... she was perfectly okay with that. But she didn't want to think of Skyhold and be reminded of the days after, when things were slowly unraveling. It just didn't feel right.
She followed Leon to the fence, hopping up to sit on the top bar. It closed the gap in their heights just a bit, though she figured she'd always look slightly ridiculous next to him. Not that she minded.
"I actually meant the future enemies of the Inquisition, should any show themselves. While I agree that a Commander should keep all of her options open, it seems unlikely that most of them would concede to threats to, ah, tickle."
“Hey, I'll have you know that tickling can be torturous if the other person wants it to—wait, what?" It took a second for his use of the pronoun she in reference to the Inquisition's Commander to sink in.
Khari could be pretty dense, but she was fairly sure she knew what Leon was implying. He wasn't the type to yank her chain about something like this. “You—I—what?" She stared hard at his profile, demanding explanation that way when the words wouldn't quite come.
Leon chuckled, entirely sanguine, it would seem. He turned to meet her glare with something much warmer, making an ambivalent expression and shrugging. "It's not ser, but it's something, isn't it? Something you've earned. Something you deserve." She'd known already that he would not be staying forever, that eventually the transition would take him away as well, put him in that group of people who'd left, though perhaps not quite so completely as some of the others. It wasn't too hard to guess where he'd go, after all: he was still a Seeker, still a Chantry man, at a time when effective, experienced members of that group were in low supply and high demand.
“I—but—" It had been a while since she'd struggled this much just to form words. She'd known he was going, but she'd never really thought of what would happen after that. “Leon... I dunno. It doesn't feel right. If it's not you." She was honored; humbled even. But that definitely wasn't the main thing she felt thinking about it.
Reaching over, Khari grabbed the hem of one of his sleeves, leaning sideways so her cheek was smashed against his bicep. Seriously, shouldn't human beings be softer than this? She was crazy jealous, even if she knew she was pretty built, too.
"It will," he assured. "Give it time. Truthfully, I expect it won't be much more than you already do—the paperwork is already drastically reduced. But..." He shifted, pulling away a bit so he could settle his hand on her head. "Even if it were the whole army, I wouldn't choose anyone else. The others agree, you know."
Khari, usually a font of confidence even if it was mostly put-on, still wasn't entirely convinced. “This better not be some excuse for you to leave us and never come back. I expect visits, Leon. Regular ones. Wherever you're going can't be that far from Lydes, right?"
His brow knit, as though he were perplexed by something. "Of course I'll visit," he said, quiet voice rumbling over the words. "You won't be rid of me that easily, Khari. I've few friends, and not a one of them like you."
She released a quiet ha at that. “Utterly shameless, you mean?"
Leon laughed, full-throated and easy. Clearly he remembered the last time he'd called her that. "That," he said, as though it were a concession. "And also utterly singular. Never change, Khari."
“I'll do my best to stay this awesome forever." She grinned up at him, rather ruining her own attempt at solemnity, and then hopped down off the fence. “I—thanks, Leon. I've gotta do some thinking about this, but... thanks. Really." It meant the world to her that he thought so much of her, but it was a lot to take in. Expelling a breath, she reached up to pat his elbow. “See you for dinner?"
"Of course. Until then."
From there, she mostly just let herself wander wherever, contemplating the future. It was sort of a weird exercise—what had once been monolithic and so very distant was now... right in front of her and a lot messier than she'd thought it would be. Better, honestly, but messier, too.
Unsurprisingly, she found her way back to Rom's room. Their room, really, though some part of her was still getting used to that. Khari had messed around now and then in her roving days, like pretty much everyone did, but she'd never really had anyone be part of her life in quite the way Rom was. Not that it was a bad thing—in fact he struck her as the perfect person to talk to about this. His opinion mattered, and he'd give it honestly.
Pushing open the door, she caught sight of him immediately and grinned, pausing and crossing her arms, leaning sideways into the frame and letting herself appreciate the view for a moment. She doubted he'd mind.
The view was of his rear, for one, trousers shorn off at the knees and rope-bound loosely at his waist. He performed push up after push up, until the muscles all along his bare back and arms strained with the effort. He stopped just before giving out, not pushing himself too far, and rolled over onto his back on the floor mat, breathing heavily. His eyes wandered to Khari in the doorway, and he grinned back. "I trust you're enjoying yourself... Commander."
That was going to take some getting used to. Fortunately, the rest was easy. “Oh, I'm having loads of fun. Really. I think the visual feast that is the Inquisition is just sadly underappreciated by our detractors." Letting her arms drop, Khari stepped into the room, taking a seat on the couch. “So, uh... Commander, huh? I guess you knew about that."
Rom slowly picked himself up off the ground, wiping his face and neck with a nearby towel. "Leon made sure we were okay with the decision before he settled on it." Dropping the towel, he sank down onto the couch next to her. "You've been one of my advisors for years already, so there's not much change in it for me." He hesitated a moment. "I'll, uh... I'll miss Leon, though. When he moves on. This whole Inquisition really was quietly built on his back."
It really had been. Not that Leon was the kind of guy who'd ever want any credit for that. “It's... it's a lot to live up to." Khari scooted over until she was nestled into Rom's side. “I mean, it's not a whole army anymore even, but this—I gotta say I never thought I'd be leading anybody. Not for real, you know?" Small groups were one thing, when her strategies had all been cleared through Leon first. But to be that person, that everyone else went to for the expertise? That was pretty hard to imagine.
"I think you'll be great." He lifted his arm and draped it over her, his left hand settled on his thigh. It had already been marked when she'd first met him. He didn't seem too broken up about losing it, especially since keeping it would've killed him, but she did catch him glancing at his palm every now and then. "You've always been good at remembering what you're taught. And you've been taught a lot. We're all here to help, too. Anything you need."
“Heh. Guess I really don't have anything to worry about then, do I?" Though she was never going to be happy about Leon leaving, the idea of being the Commander was getting nicer the more she thought about it. She still had her own goals to meet, but this could only help with that, too.
Breathing out a short sigh, Khari turned her face in towards Rom's shoulder, resting her cheek in the slight dip between it and his chest. “What about you, Lord Inquisitor? You ready for the bright and beautiful future?"
"I hope it turns out that way." He seemed contemplative, unwilling to be blindly cheerful. "I don't really know how we're going to handle this situation with Harellan, and Cyrus. We have to stop him, obviously, but... we don't know when we'll see him again. Or where. Or what to do when we find him. Somehow I doubt he'll make for an enemy as straightforward to fight as Corypheus."
He had a point about that, she knew. Honestly, it was a problem she'd have to think about a lot more closely than she'd ever thought about the logistics of fighting Corypheus. That was the kind of thing she'd left to other people before. Not if she was going to be Commander, though. “I've said it before, and I guess I feel like I should say it again. I've gotta believe we can win, Rom. We've done so much already. Each of us, and all of us, you know?"
She felt a squeeze from his arm, his lips briefly kissing the side of her head. "I'm gonna miss this place, too. But I'll never forget it. What we started in Haven, and what we finished here. And now we get to start again. A new adventure."
“I'm always ready for an adventure."