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[doneisdone]

[Correspond at your own risk.]

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In person

[justice_is_blond]

[He'd come here to ask Teren a question. What question, exactly, fades from mind as he hears Wren's voice and words. And while he doesn't mean to eavesdrop, Anders can hardly knock and interrupt a conversation.

Maybe he should go. No, he really should go. Except his feet aren't moving and he's standing there outside the door listening like an idiot even as Teren implies she's heading out. Through the door he's standing at, hand raised to knock, frozen in place.]

[doneisdone]

[This is the door that opens, and abruptly Anders is looking up at Teren, who is looking back down at him, her eyelids fluttering in a surprised blink.]

What, [she asks brusquely, having no reason to think anything is amiss. Anders is just being a weirdo like usual.]

[justice_is_blond]

[He's supposed to have an answer to that.]

...You think a Templar ass is pretty?

[Definitely not the question he came here to ask.]

[doneisdone]

[She shuts the door.]

[justice_is_blond]

[Now Anders knocks, remembering what he intended to ask and not sure that he's going to ask it, considering.]

[doneisdone]

[She doesn't answer, back pressed against the door, mind racing. Maybe he'll think she died and go away.]

[justice_is_blond]

[Okay then. He knocks again.]

Teren.

[Another knock.]

Teren.

[He spent seven years writing letters fruitlessly. Knocking on a door for ages is so much easier.]

[doneisdone]

[This goes on for about half a minute before the door wrenches open again and Teren stands behind it, staring flatly at Anders.]

Listening, were you.

[A different tack: maybe if she's stern and grumpy enough he'll get scared off and won't say anything else. That works sometimes. Maybe not with him, but there's always a first time.]

[justice_is_blond]

[He's never been a good liar, so he goes with the easy option: sarcasm.]

No, I've clearly developed some sort of thought reading ability and know that you're heading out the door fantasizing about Templar ass.

[That Templar's ass, no less. The one whom he'd given a couple of chances to and had had everything thrown back in his face. Teren deserves better than another person who will probably stab her because they feel like it.]

[doneisdone]

[To be fair, the last person Teren was into stabbed her several times because she felt like it, so it's not like that's unprecedented.

Her face is incredulous, caught between outrage and something that may even resemble embarrassment, if Teren were capable of feeling such things.]

Well that's-- [she begins, and it dies immediately; if she doesn't know how much he heard, how can she lie about it? Because that's the question here, not whether or not to tell the truth, but how much truth she's being forced to work with.]

You're--

[Her mouth screws up like she wants to say something and can't make it form.
She'd demand to know why he was listening, but that would obviously suggest there was something he wasn't supposed to hear, which, in the Shady Person's Handbook, is tantamount to admitting guilt.]

[justice_is_blond]

[He's never seen Teren like this, searching for words. There's a little temptation to let her continue to wriggle, and if he didn't like her as much as he did he'd give in. Instead, Anders waves off the half-statements.]

I don't want to talk about her ass. She is an ass, actually, so it's likely you think her very--no. No. Anyone else I'd be all for gossip about, but I'm going to ignore...

[He trails off and waves his hands again, as if to distance them from the topic of Wren.]

How much information did you keep from Nate might be the better question, in light of your answer to her.

[doneisdone]

[Normally, even when caught in something, Teren will stand there and weather it without shrinking away. That's technically what she's doing now, resisting pinching the bridge of her nose or bolting, simply glowering at Anders as her mind clearly goes a thousand miles a minute to try and keep ahead of him. Her face is too dark to color much, but there's a bit of redness to it that wasn't there before.]

...what?

[His question stops the gears for a moment. She certainly has kept things from Nate, many things, but none of them are relevant to the conversation upon which Anders has so rudely eavesdropped.]

What are you talking about.

[justice_is_blond]

I came to knock as she asked what you'd do if a warden was keeping information from you, and you said you'd have them thrashed. Or you'd thrash them, one of the two.

[There will probably be a reckoning for this later. Anders isn't actually serious about what she's hidden from Nate, because he's hoping she's changed from when he went to intercede and is treating his husband better, but he might be enjoying her inability to answer ever so slightly.

...not probably. She will almost definitely make him pay later, but at least he'll survive it.]

That's what I'm talking about.

[doneisdone]

[Teren blinks once, then twice, and what little color was just pooling in her cheeks abruptly drains. Her eyes even go a little glassy as she connects the dots-- oh, yes, that is what she said. And that is... what... has happened.
Yes.
She looks gingerly down at Anders, as though suddenly realizing he's been a venomous snake this whole time. Not necessarily one that's even interested in biting, let alone killing, but it's time to move slowly and carefully.]

Well,

[She swallows hard.]

I, ah.

May have.

...exaggerated.

[justice_is_blond]

Um.

[She's gone pale, like she's... afraid? That's about the last reaction he'd wanted to inspire in her; he's spent so much time afraid that making someone he cares about possibly fear him cuts deep. The slight amusement he'd been feeling curdles in his stomach as his brows draw together in his worry.]

I'm not... I'm not threatening you. Yes, I'd like you to be honest with my husband, but I'm not saying I'm, I'm going to use this, or something. I'm even against thrashing in general. I've been thrashed. Thoroughly. Multiple times. You don't... Please stop looking at me like I'm going to hurt you.

[doneisdone]

[Some part of Teren is touched by how quickly Anders suddenly folds, another part is abruptly furious, and yet a third is just mindlessly relieved. She sighs and slumps against the doorframe, pressing two fingers to her temple as though trying to quiet her pulse, Teren you idiot, what did you think would happen?

The danger has temporarily passed, but there's a lot to process here. There's one especially pressing question, which Teren vocalizes, looking at Anders as though she'd rather be anywhere but here, having this conversation.]

Why were you listening?

[justice_is_blond]

I came to ask after your kit, see if you needed any potions refilled, heard the talking and...

[He shrugs. The storm seems to have passed, though he's got plenty to think about for later. Some of it uncomfortable, too. Teren could do so much better. Should do so much better. Then again, one of her former lovers had stabbed her in front of him. Maybe she just had bad taste.]

[doneisdone]

[She certainly doesn't have safe taste, but anyone could say that about Teren. If only he'd known her when she was younger, seen how she'd do things just because they were rebellious and wrong, it might be all the clearer that some parts of people never change.]

It's fine.

[She waves him off with her other hand, still pressing her forehead with the other.]

The kit's fine. I have to go.

[Finally closing the door behind her, Teren steps out around Anders, tense and gloomy like a dog who's just been given a bath. She makes it several strides away before she stops, and, hating herself for it, turns.]

Are you going to tell him, [she asks dully.

No one chafes under authority more than Teren, and even if she hasn't strictly broken any rules here, she's always able to guess at how things will play out. It may not be life and death, but it will be a nuisance.]

[justice_is_blond]

[He doesn't watch her go, losing himself in thoughts until she speaks again. There's not an easy answer to her question, and Anders frowns for a moment.]

Are you still hiding things from him that would impact how he does his job?

[Being a good leader means so much to Nate. Anders is therefore a little invested in this answer, though he'd never imply that she should be beaten for leaving something out.]

[doneisdone]

[She watches him for a moment, considering. Finally,]

I don't know.

[Her life sufficiently tangled in falsehoods that, at this point, Teren can't confidently give an answer to that. There are things she hides every waking moment of her life, and for all she knows, they might be useful to Nate.

But in a way, there's pride in that. She will always be her own, no matter what blood she drinks or to whom she reports.
Giving a weary shrug of one shoulder, she turns and continues away. Anders can draw his own conclusion. It's the best she can do.]

[justice_is_blond]

[He'll have to take it. At least it doesn't seem like she's doing it to spite Nate anymore. He watches her go this time before his mouth overrides his brain.]

Please be careful around her.

[Anders doesn't trust Wren as far as he could throw Boots. Not like that's entirely uncommon when it comes to Templars, but she's in a special category for him.]