WHO: Sabrina & Dorian WHEN: yesterday! WHERE: Beketh's mountain city WHAT: Being asked to join a coven RATINGS/WARNINGS: nah STATUS: complete
When you got down to it, living in a cave - or literally carving a home out of a cave, rather - was actually a smart idea. Caves and passages, nooks and crannies, were usually quiet and maintained a constant temperature - helpfully cool in the summer, helpfully warm in the winter. Rocks and stones were natural materials that provided excellent sound insulation - and, as a bonus, fresh water was easily accessible due to the flow of underground springs. In Beketh’s case, the ‘lack of natural light’ problem was solved by the way they’d installed large windows that faced south - that way the light shone inside the structure all throughout the year.
They’d been around for a very long time - since ancient times, and they’d had lasting power which was something Dorian respected. He’d been patient and worked diligently to try to endear himself to them, and he knew others had done the same - so when they invited him and Sabrina to their cave dwelling, of course they accepted.
Dorian brought wine. A bottle of Rowan’s Rosé, from the basement in Skyhold - he technically didn’t live there anymore but he still felt welcome enough to raid the collection of ‘bottles on the wall,’ and offer one to his hosts for the evening. They arrived at the cave and were shown further in - it was a home that lacked straight lines. Instead it was all alcoves and niches, organic architecture, terracotta art pieces, and each bedroom as kind of a ‘mini cave’ (a cave within a cave?). Heaps of pillows covered in vintage linens was where they sat near a lovely goldfish pool that was fed by a natural spring, and Dorian uncorked the wine while Beketh offered blackberry chocolate fig bars - a delightful dessert, especially since the blackberries were freshly picked and had been quite plump.
Their hosts had gone to fetch more fresh water (since staying hydrated was important) which left him with Sabrina for the time being. “So they asked you to join?” he inquired, once they were alone.
Sabrina had been wondering when they might do it and slightly dreading it as well. She’d been down inside of the cavernous city more times than she could count over the last year and some change, engaged in plenty of rituals with the group that hadn’t been open to the public, and she knew the teachers from the coven all had great things to say about her. But joining anything didn’t quite sit right with her, not after her own disastrous experiences with covens back in her world.
Though they had invited Nick as well, at least realizing it was going to be a package deal where Sabrina was concerned. She wasn’t about to start out on a life with him while needing to hide one aspect of it from him. That just seemed ridiculous.
She glanced around at the different artwork in the room they were in, taking in the different precious stones placed about and depicting various scenes from what she guessed was Beketh’s history in Vallo. They were a proud group, secretive to a point, but didn’t seem to be exploitative like Vorerra was.
“Yeah, did they ask you too?”
“Yes,” Dorian nodded, pouring a little bit of wine. The glasses were stemless, swirled with all sorts of colors - he would guess handmade, like much of Beketh’s interior was. They had built up their dwelling and were certainly proud of it and of the longevity and success of their coven - which he couldn’t blame them for. They had a right to be proud - and a right to be choosy; they’d earned it by now. They also didn’t go out of their way to flaunt anything or hurt anyone, unlike Vorerra. “I...am unsure about it. The coven aspect I have no problem with, I’ve never actually been a part of one before - we didn’t really have them back in Thedas. Just the Circles, and they were mage prisons run by Templars - not based on any decisions actually made by mages.”
The idea of a coven wasn’t the problem - Tevinter was very open about practicing magic too, his homeland didn’t try to squelch what mages could do. More like the culture encouraged the idea of the more power, the better and use all that power to get ahead. Much like Vorerra - they would have thrived in Tevinter or perhaps been squashed like bugs, because honestly, even the most corrupt coven member with their mind tricks had nothing on a Magister using slave blood for magical sacrifices.
So, what was the problem? “Our time here is so tremulous,” he sighed. “I wouldn’t want to cut myself off from other Outlanders, or leave Beketh in a bind if I do happen to vanish.” He didn’t want to consider that - but had to be realistic about how it was always a possibility.
“I think it would cut us off from interactions with the other native covens too.” Sabrina didn’t know how connected Dorian was to the rest of them, but she’d built ties with pretty much all of them. She didn’t particularly want to lose those either by gaining a little more--or well, probably a lot more--with Beketh. No matter how great they had been.
“I need to talk it over with Nick though. They’re extending an invite to him as well.” She sat back down on the cushions and picked up one of the glasses of water, letting the cold liquid ease her nerves some. “It just seems like a really big step, you know? Pick the coven I want to be with for the rest of my life here.” Which would be a long one, spanning centuries. Not the blink and miss life she’d had back home.
“We just got an apartment together. The club just had its grand opening. I thought I was done with any more big decisions for at least a month.” Vallo seemed to think differently.
Dorian was sympathetic - making so many big decisions, at such a young age? He wished it didn’t have to be that way - but, as he’d come to realize during his tenure as Headmaster of the University, a lot of the students were burdened with that sort of thing. Whether they were from other worlds or this one, encouraged to follow the traditions and orders of their respective coven - he knew a thing or two about that. About following tradition.
And a lot of it was complete horseshit, quite frankly. But he attempted to mind his own and not get involved in student-family affairs unless absolutely necessary.
“It’s not a decision to make lightly,” he agreed. “I’m certain you and your partner will talk it out and come to agree upon something that will best serve you both during your time here.” And Beketh wouldn’t be offended - it wasn’t a join or die situation, luckily. There were choices to be made.
Dorian helped himself to one of the blackberry bars, and he was quite fond of figs and dates so this particular delight was rapidly becoming one of his favorites - Beketh was admirable in the sense that they knew how to utilize their dwelling to their advantage; their cave garden sprawled far and wide, showing that one could indeed live well within the earth and also, miraculously, grow things. Fruit trees - dates and olives, perhaps these very figs also. “Tell me about the apartment though,” he encouraged. “You feel as if you are thriving there?” He’d been to the grand opening of the club bearing his name (a different Dorian, granted) and it was a place he’d be sure to frequent now that it was available.
If it had been a join or die situation, Sabrina wouldn’t have needed to even think about her answer. She’d have just ended up killing the lot of them. Those kinds of extremes were just not something she was willing to play around with or try and pacify people with any longer. It wasn’t worth constantly looking over one’s shoulder for the rest of a life.
“We found a small two bedroom downtown near a pretty large park.” Funny how they’d deliberately looked for a place by a park so Shadow could get out and run around and yet Nick was still taking him out into the forest to run. It suited the familiar more. “Its by a lot of food places so its been fun trying them out. Nick left most of the decorating to me since he was focused on getting the club in order.”
She loved the place. It had been coming along perfectly in her opinion. A little oasis for the two of them to figure out their own lives and grow forward from the black hole that had tried to swallow them both.
The way Sabrina spoke of her new home, she definitely sounded like she was in love with the place - which was wonderful, Dorian was pleased to see it. They all had been through quite a bit lately, hadn’t they? Both her and Nick were students at the University (plus he saw them at Outlander coven gatherings and Solstice events) and Zelda had been dour too (though - one could argue that was her default mode) and while he didn’t know the exact details (wouldn’t press about them either) he sussed out enough to deduce that it made for Trying Times.
“Living by a park is a nice touch of nature, I presume?” he chuckled, sipping on his wine. This particular rosé had been raided from the second level of a tower keep in the Hinterlands - where a cult resided, a bit looney tunes as they say (the cult really believed Max was some kind of Herald of Andraste, that the rift whereupon demons shat out happened to be opened by the Maker himself) but also useful to the Inquisition.
Good wine though. He’d give them that.
“That way you’re not entirely free from greenery. For me it’s been quite a switch living at the Sanctuary with so many animals - but we expanded Atreus’s home, made it a home for the both of us.” And it worked well for them.
“We have a lot of plants in the apartment too.” There were so many that were essential with certain spells that it’d seemed prudent to make sure they had the usual ones around. The large balcony allowed for some to even be kept outside and gave all of the animals a nice place to rest and watch the world go by.
“I can’t even imagine how many animals must be living in that house with you guys too.” She laughed as she shook her head. Everyone always said the mortuary had been full of them but they truly had nothing on Atreus and his Sanctuary. Especially with those who came in and out of it, getting the help they needed before heading on their way.
“Did they offer him a spot too with you?”
It really was a lot of animals - but luckily, most didn’t live in the house portion. Their slobbery dogchild, Blackwall, was often the exception to that rule. Sometimes the wolf. However, Dorian would probably lose his mind if he had to share a bed with Atreus and a giant python (so many snake jokes to be made, so little time). But overall, he didn’t mind the menagerie so much - it made Atreus happy, was a part of who he was as a person, and Dorian certainly loved that person very much; he was glad to be supportive and wouldn’t ask him to give up anything about his adoration of and care for animals.
Even if they were all just - so dirty. Literally, they rolled around in the dirt and Maker.
“I don’t believe they did?” he responded thoughtfully. The blackberry dessert bar was almost finished, and Dorian dusted off his hands - careful not to spread crumbs anywhere or make a mess in Beketh’s immaculately-kept cave. “Or, well, if they had - Atreus didn’t tell me yet. I suppose I have that to consider too. Ideally, if I was to join a coven it would be something I’d like to do with him, if that makes sense.”
He knew Beketh had taken to Atreus (it was easy for people to be charmed by him), so perhaps something could be worked out.
Sabrina knew the hardships of sleeping with a lot of animals all too well. The cats might have been small but at least Salem liked to take up as much space as possible and to sleep right up against her as much as possible. Shadow might have been the biggest of the familiars and still growing but he seemed to take up the least amount of space, sticking to his spot toward the bottom of the bed. Going from their full beds at the mortuary to kings had definitely helped give everyone even more room. Though they still seemed to all end up squished together in the middle of it.
“It makes sense to me,” Sabrina nodded before taking another sip. “I wouldn’t join something without Nick. Not when there’s secrets to be kept and everything.” It just wouldn’t feel right. “I wonder what it means to join something here too. The Outlander coven is very easy going with its membership and most covens I’ve been in are definitely not like that at all.” Which was why Sabrina had purposefully created it to be open ended, allowing people to come and go in as they pleased and for others to show up to see what it was all about. There was no secrecy with it and she was glad Bonnie had kept that up when she’d handed over the reigns to her.
The secrecy of it all was a bit off-putting for Dorian personally (though if that was how Beketh operated, then that was how they operated) - because he was in the same boat himself. He didn’t wish to keep anything from Atreus, and hoped in turn Atreus wouldn’t keep anything from him either - having one of them in a coven and the other excluded, it seemed like it’d become a point of contention over time. Dorian was aiming to avoid that.
“Yes, I think more details about joining wouldn’t go amiss,” he nodded. “To really figure out what the expectations are, and how many rules there are to be followed. Plus they have to know that any Outlander they ask to become one of them, we’re not from here and as easily as the magic brought us here, it could also take us away.”
So in a sense it was flattering that Beketh had reached out in such a manner - because it said they wanted to share their coven’s intricacies with an outsider (though granted, it wasn’t as if anyone who disappeared could go blabbing about the inner workings anyway). “I personally like the Outlander group - I would assume it’s a situation where we would be asked to leave that one in return for joining something local.”
“I honestly have no idea.” They definitely needed to get some more answers, but Sabrina had a feeling the others would answer them once they were asked. It wasn’t like they were trying to hide things from them. It probably wouldn’t hurt to make a list of the things she did want to ask so she was prepared for that part.
But first she needed to talk to Nick. There was little point in creating a list if the two of them weren’t going to consider joining anyway. She needed to get on the same page with him. “I should probably get going. I promised the hounds I’d stop by after this and don’t want them to start tearing apart the forest.”
“Oh, yes, of course - “ Dorian set down the glass he’d been sipping from - and he was all out of wine (what was left was in the bottle, and Beketh could have that; he’d brought it as a gift for them anyway). “The forest finds itself at the mercy of enough trouble - we shouldn’t add to it.”
It was difficult to pull himself away from the cloud-like pillows (literally difficult - because he’d sank into this seating arrangement) but then he stood up and dusted himself off once more. A pleasant visit to be certain - and he hoped that even if he turned down Beketh’s invitation that they would invite him back on occasion, both him and Atreus. They were, after all, essentially the only coven he’d really connected with, simply because their interests and practices aligned so closely with his own.
“Shall we say a proper farewell and thank you to our hosts and then head out? I’ll go with you toward where your hounds are, on the way to the Sanctuary.” Not because he didn’t think Sabrina couldn’t handle herself, but because it was good company.
And if they got a chance to practice more elemental magic together, like they tended to do, well - why not. You never knew what would pop up around here.