riverviewlogs | Merry Month of March

who: Cullen Rutherford and You?
what: March Catch-all
when: The month of March
where: The Wall, the city, miscellaneous
warnings: Nothing so much

Cullen is a creature of habit. He works as a member of the Perimeter Guard because it is something he's used to doing. He's even gone for a more specialized team because he doesn't do well with just waiting around for things to happen. A part of him needs to be out on the front lines again, after so long of waiting back in Skyhold on Thedas.

He goes from the barracks to his patrol area to the barracks most days. (After one very embarrassing digression into the part of the town that is holding most of the strange celebration that he'd rather not discuss, he takes extra care when traveling through the city.)

He makes a few digressions from his pattern, of course. He's promised to meet a certain young lady for drinks at the Quarantine Bar and Grille.

There is the day where decides to explore the inner city as a day off and wanders into the Sampremi celebration, pulled in by all the sounds and colors of the raves. (He'd rather not talk about that, but feel free to find him there.)

After that, he stays away from that particular part of the city and spends more time searching other parts. Shopping happens, of course, but he does end up at the beachy shores of the river a few times, face drawn and pensive each time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I am a frontline fighter and I'm not afraid to take a hit."

He gives her a crooked smile that only emphasizes the scar running through the left side of his mouth.

"Much better I do so than an archer or my healer."

"I can understand that. Send the big guy up front so the more delicate types don't get squished."

Even if the terms are different, it's a sound enough theory for Shalimar to get behind. Though she tends to prefer being up-front not taking hits.

"Though that's not to say I count myself as delicate. But bloodstains are just so difficult to get out, you know?"

And when she heals as quickly as she does, of course she's worried more about her wardrobe than anything else.

"Believe it or not, there is someone much bigger than I am, but the best person to send out to take all of the hits is a woman about a foot shorter than me."

Of course, Cassandra is a fucking beast and is scary on a good day. Corypheus really picked the wrong Seeker to screw around with when he decided to murder Divine Justinia while Cassandra Pentaghast was anywhere near by.

"I have heard that from time to time. The woman who cleans my shirts as part of her duties has lamented the blood stains that come from both training and when I return from battle."

Of course, none of it is his. Not anymore.

"Well that's not so strange. Just because we're little doesn't mean we're not strong." And she can say that confidently, as the shortest member and strongest fighter of Mutant X, even with Jesse having the edge on taking hits. True, she's got genetic enhancement on her side but that's true of the rest of her team too so it's not like she has an unfair advantage.

But then, all things considered, it sounds like a much bigger deal where he's from.

"Sounds like some pretty intense training. Tell me you at least set aside specific clothing just for those occasions." Because if Shalimar was undergoing training that would see her bleeding on herself - or other people bleeding on her - on a regular basis then she'd definitely keep a separate wardrobe for that.

"Oh no, don't get me wrong. Plenty of women fight and are extremely proficient in doing so. Cassandra is just... a different sort altogether."

No one would ever consider her weak or pampered if they saw her in battle. She's hardly the stereotypical princess, Nevarran or no.

He laughs at her comment. "Yes, I do, but it also helps to wear darker colors more often so it doesn't matter. Besides, if there's no blood on armor, it hasn't been used properly."

"Sounds like someone I wouldn't mind meeting." Even without knowing the fuller details, Shalimar can't help but be at least a little intrigued - though she says nothing more, knowing what that would entail and that's not a wish she would ever land on anyone's head, whether she knows them or not.

It hasn't been bad here so far. But the point still stands.

His response to her comment earns a laugh from her in kind. "Man after my own heart, at least with the darker colours. Never really owned armour to know about that but I do know whites don't tend to stay white for long when I do wear them." Even when she's been hoping for no trouble, it has a tendency of finding her, after all.

"It would depend entirely on how you meet her. Trust me. She is very much an acquired taste."

There are some that are still a little bitter at possibly having been manhandled by the Seeker, and rightly so. Cullen respects Cassandra, but she is a hard woman sometimes. Not everyone has the determination to really push past that.

"White is a hard color to keep clean. It certainly has its place, but not really in the wardrobe of someone who fights for a living." He's still not sure why so much of the Templar uniform is white. Then again, few members of the Order saw much action while he was still part of it. And after he left, he'd hardly call some of the rabble in the Hinterlands Templars.

"Nothing wrong with that. I find a lot of people are." Less so now that she doesn't feel like there's someone stepping into her territory but in general it can take her some time to warm to people. Doesn't make them not worth knowing, but she'll leave it at that - she can't really know for sure how she'll respond to a person she knows nothing about.

She shrugs at the rest, amusement plain in her expression. "That's true. I try to keep it for my days off but sometimes the universe decides I don't need one of those." Hard to know when something would kick off with Genomex again or they'd find a rogue mutant and everyone would have to drop all plans to go fight and save the day. But never let it say she can't be optimistic from time to time.

"Off days? What are those?"

It's a joke, but it's a sad fact that Cullen Stanton Rutherford has a hard time with "days off". He is a fighter, a leader and a man who needs something to do with himself.

"The only time I've avoided actual fights is when I've been tossed into 'diplomatic affairs', and I would rather be in the middle of a broiled death match than another one of those any time soon."

"Usually an invitation for things to start heading south. Sometimes we actually get to enjoy them, though."

She's not really a workaholic by choice, more a side effect of the life she led back home where things were a lot more unpredictable. She's not sure she really knows how to live otherwise, really, though she's aware she has no real choice but to make a go of it and hope for the best.

He does get a sympathetic grimace at the mention of diplomacy. "Yeah, I'll be the first to admit I don't have the patience for that. Politics I leave to people who are better equipped to handle it." Whether that be through natural experience or the ability to psionically manipulate the people in question, neither of which she's capable of.

He laughs lowly at her answer. "It's certainly been my experience that days off lead to trouble as well."

Cullen's smile falls as they wind back into politics. "Oh yes. I've been told that I'm really only need to stand there and look pretty."

He is INSULTED by that. And a great many other remarks that have been made over the space of the last few years about his lack of political finesse being outweighed by his pretty face and physique.

Merry Month of March

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