WHO: Jim Hopper & Max Trevelyan WHAT: Hopper gets caught snooping around Skyhold and they have a get to know you chat WHEN: Shortly after Hopper's arrival WARNINGS: None STATUS: Complete
Flames from the magelights flickered green and peaceful in the dim light of a castle long since put to bed. Max Trevelyan wasn’t asleep, however. It wasn’t unusual for him, staying up too late, particularly once his mind began to churn one idea over another. The activity of the last week hadn’t helped, either. Appearances, and more disappearances - his heart ached for Hazel’s loss even as it was glad for the arrival of one Jim Hopper. El’s joy had been infectious, particularly after her despair regarding the loss of her powers.
Max prowled up the stairs to the library where he and Dorian had once flirted in what they had believed to be a covert manner. It hadn’t been the case, but by now the sting had long since gone out of the end of their relationship, and the library was just a place of fond memories now. He was surprised, however, to make out a tall figure in the shadows (when he knew that Richie was already in bed), and with a flick of his staff, illuminated the room.
Hopper was learning it was a little difficult to sneak around a castle from an unknown world. Not that he was ever especially good at being stealthy at his size anyway, but still. He managed to get all the way into the bowels of the Hawkins lab that one time and that had been way before he'd had half a clue what he was even dealing with. Now he had a much better idea, even if Vallo flipped everything sideways.
Even if knowing the people here helped El flipped everything sideways.
He'd found his way to the library, sideways or not. And had a little mini flashlight out, running over the books, when he was caught. He didn't fumble the flashlight or even look all that startled. He just flicked the light over his shoulder at Max and then turned it back to the books.
"Why do you have so many books about necromancy?" Hopper hummed.
“It’s a magical practice like any other where I’m from,” Max answered, switching effortlessly from “intruder!!” mode to that of his usual amenable self. He gestured to one of the tables stacked with books and took a seat there, leaning back in the chair. “Well. Perhaps not just like any other - it does attract more than its fair share of detractors. But magic itself isn’t much liked so much as used, for that matter.”
Max didn’t think that Hopper’s question was really his actual question, so much as one he’d thrown out there. He didn’t mind talking the specifics of necromancy, but it was more Dorian’s focus than his own - and it was one of the showier specialities, anyhow. He smiled, just a little. “Couldn’t sleep?”
Hopper wasn't about to tell this stranger that him and sleep were like exes that still got together every once in a while and avoided each other the rest. He just parked the new information about magic not being particularly liked where he came from. Maybe that had been part of what drew El to him.
"I wanted to see where she'd been living." He had the grace to look a little apologetic but not much. "And maybe snoop a bit. You two are an unknown and this place is…wild." Wild didn't really cut it, but weird tended to roll off his back like water off a duck these days. He stepped away from the bookcase and towards Max, pocketing his flashlight. His body language was relaxed but his gaze was shrewd. "Do they treat you better about your magic here?"
“Bother Richie and I anytime. I promise we’re only mysterious because you don’t know us. Usually anyone within a five kilometer radius is begging us to shut up before too long.” Max grinned, not particularly disturbed by being examined. Who knew a life of being on display - at the Circle, and in the Inquisition? - would have prepared him well for Jim Hopper?
“And they do,” he confirmed, giving a nod toward one of the stained glass windows, and whatever lay outside them. “It helps that there’s such a wide variety of magic itself, and powerful people to counteract it should something go wrong. Most everyone who arrives in Vallo is used to being among the most powerful person whenever they enter a room. A few weeks here? Disabuses them of that notion relatively quickly.” Vallo did not suffer egos. It was one thing Max loved about it here - the chance to be normal. He suspected (without stating it explicitly) that such a thing appealed to El, as well, and that Hopper would grasp that one way or another. “Am I correct in assuming your skills lie… somewhere other than where El’s do?”
Max wasn't wrong; Hopper's thoughts immediately went to El and the hope that her time here had seen her treated as a fellow refuge more than a superpowered freak. He didn't like that he hadn't been here to protect but maybe that was part of why she was doing well. His track record wasn't great, after all.
Hopper nodded and glanced away, giving Max a break from the stare. "I'm a cop. I…was a cop. I've been gone a while. Not by choice." He blew out a breath and tried to let the tension out of his shoulders. It wasn't really aimed at Max so much as anything unknown. He attempted a smile, squinty eyes and all. "How have you been feeding her eggo fix here? This place doesn't feel like it's toaster friendly."
Max knew cops, in a manner of speaking. He knew Templars who minded the Circles - and they were a mixed bunch. Driven, sometimes. Corrupt, sometimes. A strong nose for justice, occasionally. They all had notions of how the world should be, and sometimes he agreed with them. So he took the news of Hopper’s old profession with a slight nod of his head, and moved on to the part he actually could speak on:
“We learned that one pretty fast,” he said with a laugh. “Richie’s from a more modern time than I am, and we saw to it that the castle be wired for electricity because I think the notion of instant coffee made over the fire just about ended him.” Honestly, at this point, it just about ended Max, too. “So we’ve a toaster, and a microwave. Richie and El have bonded over consuming vast amounts of total junk. Not that I’m any better,” he added graciously, “I just don’t know half of what I’m eating. But I’m an awful cook, so ah--” he shrugged, chagrinned, “I’m afraid El hasn’t exactly been eating from all rungs of the food pyramid, but we’ve done our best.”
Hopper was a small town cop but he'd been a detective for a time, and Max's lack of enthusiasm for his profession didn't go entirely unnoticed. It wasn't like many people were enthusiastic about it, though. So he let it go easily enough. He was more keen to focus on El's experience here in this world anyway.
"Food pyramid," he huffed. "I fed her frozen dinners. I'm just glad she's had someone to encourage her not to live on only eggos." And while that was true, it wasn't the whole truth. It made him feel extra protective. Maybe a little afraid. Like he'd lost her to magical strangers in a goddamn castle for fuck's sake. How was he supposed to compete with that when he'd brought her mostly rules and bad luck? He sighed and paced a few steps towards the banister that looked down upon a muraled room below.
"I'll be honest, I'm going to need some time to trust you like she does. But I don't want you to think that I'm ungrateful. Everything you've done for her…thank you."
“I love frozen dinner,” Max said with the enthusiasm of a person who had sometimes been forced to dine on freshly-caught reptiles during his exploration of the Storm Coast… and worse, even, when out in the Hissing Wastes. “Richie’s introduced me to all the big ones - pizza rolls, Hot Pockets, taquitos…” He sighed, propping up his face on his prosthetic. “There are so many wonderful things to eat in this world. Truly not something I miss from home.”
At Hopper’s addition, Max sat a little straighter, his smile turning serious. “Of course,” he said with the simple sincerity of someone who genuinely wanted the best for others. “I can’t imagine what it must have been like, arriving here, learning what Vallo is like, and hearing your little girl was living in some castle. I’m just glad we were able to win her over from the woods, and get her situated in school. You - and any of her friends, mind - are welcome at Skyhold anytime.” Max gave a little gesture. “...we’ve obviously got the room. I know your cabin is here, though - and that may be more familiar and comfortable. What are your plans for your livelihood?”
Hearing someone with magic wax poetic about pizza rolls was an experience that reminded him of learning about El's fixation with eggos. People were just people, even when they were crazy powerful. It helped move Max a little further down the line towards friendship, but it didn't magically seal the deal or anything. He hadn't even taken a seat at this point, after all.
"Uh, yeah. I mean, I'll check with El, but I think I'd rather get settled at the cabin first and work my way up to things like castle dweller." He said it with a smirk and no heat. He probably could adjust to living in this place if El really couldn't bear to leave. But the cabin was comfort and security after months in an old stone prison. "As for my livelihood…I don't know yet. Maybe I'll do some private detective work. Only thing I know for sure is I'd like to keep some distance between me and the government. At least until I get my bearings."
Max could read between the lines there, at least a little. He’d known that El had been… an experiment, of sorts, and isolated in a way that had been even worse than the Circle. Whatever the government had done to her, Max was fine with that government being distrusted and avoided. “There’s nothing that says you can’t take your time,” he said neutrally, and added in a much-less even tone: “I hope you’ll find here that there’s no one remotely capable of doing anything like that to anyone, much less El. But I won’t tell you not to check up on the DoA. If they have nothing to hide, well.” Max shrugged. “They shouldn’t mind you poking about, right?”
Andraste, what time was it? “Are you hungry at all?” he asked, and gestured down the stairs. “When I can’t sleep, I read a little, and if that doesn’t work, grilled cheese sandwich. You can follow me down to the kitchens, if you’d like. Get an idea of this place.”
"Exactly." Hopper eyed Max thoughtfully for a second, clearly moving pieces around in his head. It made sense that Max, and likely Richie too, weren't protective of the government. He couldn't imagine El getting close to someone who was without a lot of choice being taken out of the equation. Still, he wasn't forthcoming enough to say anything but a quiet, "And anyway, I'll be laying low for a bit."
After a pause, he pushed away from the banister and turned towards the stairs, gesturing ahead of himself. This was a good start to getting to know El's new people, but the mention of food zoomed right to the top of the pile. He still had a lot of eating to catch up on.
"A grilled cheese sounds like just the ticket, honestly. Lead the way."