The next morning, Viviana was awoken by the sound of bickering outside her tent.

"You wake her up!"

"Why should I? You're the one who woke me up. I'd hate to stop you while you're on a streak of ruining people's mornings." Jarri's voice was deep, indicating his accusation was true.

Lanna's voice broke through Vivi's morning haze and she felt a bubble of irritation burst from within. Tossing back the flap of her tent, Vivi glared at the pair with whom she was beginning to question as her friends. They turned to look at her and Vivi really tried her best to not be internally amused by the sight. The height difference between the two had always brought a smile to her face as they each tried to be intimidating to one another.

"What?"

"Oh..." Lanna straightened her back when Jarri relaxed himself and gave no indication he was going to answer. "Breakfast is starting soon and I have good intel that there are pancakes."

Vivi knew there was more to it but couldn't find the energy to ask. Instead, she nodded and turned back into her tent to get ready for a day she was sure would be long. The smirk of Branson Rutherford was still lurking in the back of her mind.

By the time she had made it into the great hall, there were plenty of people filing in and out with their plates. She caught sight of her group, offering a nod before getting in line to eat. She'd never before witnessed a castle where there were buffet style meals; let alone a military-style group. She sighed in happiness as she filled her plate with food, finding herself overwhelmed by warm caresses of the various scents and flavors in front of her. A hand cut through her gaze at a fruit assortment, one she followed up to see Branson grinning down at her. She wondered what the consequences would be if she were to throw her plate of food at him. He irked her and the way he seemed so confident all the time was no different than the other men she'd had to deal with. They didn't break her, and neither would he.

"Good morning, Warden Commander."

She calmed her face enough to bring it down to a resolved expression, "Rutherford."

"So cheerful this morning. We could push our meeting to later if you'd like to get more sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead, Rutherford." With that, she left little room for him to continue on-or at least she ignored whatever his response was as she made her way towards her group and sister.

Breana greeted her with a smile as Vivi leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead.

Branson Rutherford's gaze followed after the small woman he was meant to be leading with. His attention had gone completely hazy the moment she began to walk away.

"Wild one," he muttered under his breath.

"What's that?" Cullen's voice pulled him from his thoughts and he cleared his throat before grabbing a biscuit from the table.

"Eavesdropping, brother?"

"I'm not Mia. I wouldn't do that." Still Branson looked up and raised an eyebrow at the older man. The men walked together towards a table to eat. It had become a tradition for them to spend as many mornings as possible eating together; at least it was forced upon them when Mia came to visit one month. Since then, they hadn't been able to break the habit.

Bran glanced up towards the sound of laughter across the hall. Cullen followed his gaze, as did Josephine's when she joined them. "Our new allies seem to fit right in," she remarked.

"You think?" Branson asked.

"Very much so. Breana has become a valuable assistant. I think her skills will help me with my overflowing workload."

"If you needed an assistant, the Inquisitor would have helped you find one," Cullen's voice matched the frown on his face.

She waved a hand at him over her tea, "No, no. I could manage but having a few extra moments to myself and someone to talk through the day with has proved very...calming." Branson didn't know Josephine too much, but he was well aware he never wanted anything to do with her position. Just like his brother, the dealings of nobles was none of his concern.

Breana's wave to the Inquisition's Ambassador made Vivi's worries calm a bit. At least it seemed her sister was finding a place for herself again. The disagreement they held when deciding where to go after showing up on Breana's doorstep had been fresh for some time until they arrived at the Inquisition. They still needed to talk that over, but neither seemed to have the time since arriving at Skyhold.

Vivi offered a polite nod to the Inquisition advisors as they made for the war room for their daily meeting but offered no greeting to the youngest Rutherford. Breana and Lanna noted the interaction-or lack thereof-and glanced at one another before stepping on either side of Vivi in a businesslike manner.

"Not getting along with the Commander's brother, Viv?" Breana asked.

"Of course not," Lanna replied quickly, "They're too alike to get on well enough so soon."

"We are nothing alike," Vivi snapped back.

"Sure you are. You'll both end up spending the meeting this morning butting heads for no reason. It's happened before." Lanna ignored the glare her friend was trying to send her way.

"Before was different."

"No it wasn't," her voice sang as she gave Vivi a shove towards the keep. "Go on. You've got your meeting to get to. Don't want to be late." There was little room for debate so she simply glared as she walked away from their laughter.

There were already familiar voices in the gardens when she arrived. Her eyes panned until they arrived at Jarri standing tall in front of Branson and a few of his men.

There was tension and while they had stopped talking when she arrived, one look into Jarri's gaze was all she needed to figure out the situation. Without hesitation, she stood beside her friend and lazily glanced to the men Branson had arrived with, then to their leader.

"If they stay, Jarri stays." Branson opened his mouth to protest but she repeated her phrase once more. He gave her a nod then waved off his men. Vivi placed a hand on Jarri's arm, giving it a light squeeze, and he walked away as well.

"Didn't take you for someone to have a guard dog," Branson baited.

She unknowingly rose to the challenge, "Do you really expect us to feel safe here? We can only trust our own." The honesty of her answer threw him off.

"You're a strange one." She glanced up at him but didn't feel a need to snap back since his expression was one of curiosity, not that familiar smirk he always seemed to have.

"Shall we begin?" she asked, wanting to get through their meeting as fast as possible.

Two hours later, both seemed to be in agreement over the path they would take. It had taken them an extra thirty minutes simply to decide when they would leave and how long they would be gone. Jarri had gone by a couple times to ensure she was alright, and Vivi had caught gaze of a couple of his men in uniform wandering by, playing a game of chess.

She had to admire their loyalty, at the very least. Still, as both leaders stood up, rolling up their maps and plans, Viviana was feeling satisfied with their goals. She still wasn't quite sure why the items were needed, but with time, she was sure she'd be able to find out.

Her gaze caught onto Breana's who was bustling by with a basket. She nearly tripped as she stopped walking and headed straight for her and Branson.

"What are you doing?" Vivi pointed a rolled parchment at the basket.

Breana snatched it up, catching her breath, "Our rooms are ready. I'm moving your things there now. I'll take these. You head to lunch, they'll be serving soon." Viviana was utterly thrown off when suddenly everything that was once in her arms were now in the basket and Breana was looking up at the taller man. "Pardon me, commander...and my sister's rude manners." Viviana glared at her, "My name's Breana Beauvois." She gave a small curtsey.

"Don't worry about it, Breana. Just Bran is fine, the commander's my brother's title."

Continuing to ignore the exchange, Viviana interrupted, "Why don't you let me handle moving my own things? Don't you have to eat too?"

"Oh no. I mean, yes I do, but I'm having a lunch and tea with Josephine and a noble family from Rivain today. We won't be eating for a couple hours from now. I have the time to spare. Besides, you won't do it unless I do it myself." Bran let out a snort and Breana turned her attention to him once more, "Can I trust you to get her to the great hall? She gets irritable if she doesn't eat lunch."

He gave a bow and nodded seriously, "It would be my honor, milady."

Breana gave a chuckle, turning to her sister, "Follow him. I love you and I'll see you at supper tonight." She was about to turn when a thought struck her, "Oh also, I saw Lanna and Jarri lurking around the training grounds, you may want to make sure they haven't killed each other...and by that I mean make sure Jarri's still breathing." With that she skipped off.

Viviana let out a long breath, momentarily forgetting her company, "You would think I was the younger one."

Bran stepped in front of her gaze, "I'm under orders to get you to the great hall." She was becoming too hungry to want to argue anymore with him, so she nodded.

"Fine, but we need to stop by the training grounds first."

"Understandable," he held his arm out for her to take, but she merely stared unamused at him and walked around his bulky form towards their destination.