"Do you need help with that?"

Holly looked around the massive crate of supplies she was carrying to see Cullen standing at the bottom of the steps that lead up into the great hall. He had a slightly worried look on his face, and his hands looked like they were ready to reach out and catch the things she was carrying. For a moment she thought about him catching her instead, but she pushed that thought from her mind. Saving the glass beakers and flasks was a little more important. That and, he looked a little ill, or more so than usual. She had been pestering him about his health, but he kept brushing her off. At this point she had a chart of the symptoms that he had that she knew of in one of her journals.

"Thank you, but I've got it. I'm a lot stronger than I look. Besides, I need to build up strength to prepare for the very unlucky event of having to drag Bull to safety so I can heal him."

"I think Blackwall or Cassandra could take care of that," he chuckled.

"In most circumstances, you are right, but I must prepare for the worst, and hope for the best, and all that."

"That is very true," he chuckled.

Holly let out a relieved sigh as she reached the final step of the stairs. She glared over at the steps next to the Herald's Rest. Going up was going to be an entirely different struggle. She wished the garden had already been cleared out.

"Are you bringing this up to the mages' tower?" he asked.

"Yes. Part of me wishes that I was bringing all this to my office. It would have been much, much easier."

"Are you sure you don't want help?"

"Yes, and I'm sure you have other, more important things to do."

"Actually, your brother has ordered me to take a break."

"So, he's starting to be worried about your health as well."

He closed his eyes for a moment, and sighed, "I've told you before. I'm fine."

"Clearly not if Graham is able to notice."

"Or your worries are rubbing off on him."

"Cullen. My primary job is looking after your health. This is what I spent years of my life working on. I know illness when I see it."

"I'm not ill. I promise."

"Then what's the issue?"

"I… just haven't been sleeping well."

She narrowed her eyes at him. That was always his excuse. He always said he had too much work to do. She never believed him. Josephine and Leliana could look harried, but they never looked like they were about to doze off at any moment.

"If you insist."

A silence fell between them. He gave her a fond smile that made her stomach feel like it was doing somersaults, and almost made him look normal. He then realized that they were just standing there staring at her. He coughed, and rubbed the back of his neck, "I should probably let you go. So it doesn't get too heavy."

"That is a good idea. Have a lovely day, Cullen."

"You as well, Enchanter."

She smiled to herself about the fact that he was still referring to her by titles, and not her name, but she froze just as she passed hm. She had taken a breath through her nose, and while it was absolutely not her intention to smell him, she did notice something was off. He didn't smell like lyrium. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that he never did. Did… did he stop taking lyrium? She thought. If he had, it would explain why he looked so ill.

"Are you alright?" he asked, voice interrupting her thoughts.

"Oh, uh, yes," she lied, "Just thought I broke something!"

"Are you sure you don't need help?"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure!" she said, and began to walk over to the far stairs near the building they had decided to use as a tavern. Graham and Dorian exited together as she walked by. They were so engrossed in each other that they did not notice her as she walked by. How Graham had been so oblivious to his own feelings, she would never know.

As she struggled up the steps she wished she had taken Cullen's offer for help. She had to stop every now and then to ensure nothing was going to fall. She had to rest at the landing for a few minutes, and by the time she got to the top she felt like she had just spent the last half hour as a recruit training. Her new theory about Cullen's poor health didn't help matters either. She was so focused on her equipment, and the fact that it took her smelling Cullen to realize what was wrong, that she didn't realize people were in the room that she was passing through.

"You alright there, Spirit?" Varric asked.

"Andraste's Flaming Ass," Holly cursed as she accidentally dropped everything she was carrying. Luckily she would have walked into a table otherwise, so nothing came crashing onto the floor. She was able to react fast enough with a bit of force magic to keep everything on top of the table. She turned back to Varric with a hand over her heart, and laughed, "I had no idea you were in here. You nearly scared me to death."

She realized that Varric was standing next to a woman, a human woman, and they looked like they had been talking. The woman was on the taller side, and looked lean even with her red dyed armor on. She was tan with black hair swept back into a neat bun. She had twin daggers strapped to her back, and a swipe of blood red war paint over the bridge of her nose. Holly wondered why the woman looked so familiar, and then she realized she was likely staring at Hawke herself. Everyone knew that Varric's 'secret' friend he had invited to the Inquisition was Hawke. He wouldn't be so protective of her identity otherwise, but Holly still hadn't been prepared to run into her so quickly. Holly plastered a smile on her face, and pretended she had no idea who was looking at. The ignorance wouldn't be able to last long, but if fame affected Hawke even remotely like it affected her brother, Holly believed she needed at least a tiny break.

"And I had no idea you were talking to someone. I don't believe we've met before. Holly Trevelyan," Holly introduced herself, and held out her hand to Hawke.

Hawke looked a little hesitant before shaking Holly's hand, "Morgan Hawke."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"That's not the reaction I was expecting," Varric muttered, both a little confused and impressed.
Holly glared at him, and sighed, "I thought she could use a break from the constant notoriety. If it's anything like what Graham has had to endure…."

Hawke smiled, "I appreciate the thought."

"I try," Holly shrugged, and then looked at Varric, "So, judging from the lack of bruises, I take it Cassandra hasn't found out yet?"

"No, and I'm trying to keep that from happening for as long as possible. Only Nightingale, a handful of guards, and now you know that she's here."

"Would you like me to distract her? At least once I have all of this taken care of?" Holly asked.

"Good idea, but so long as we talk to your brother soon enough we should be fine. Speaking of which, do you know where he is?"

"I passed him as I was making my way up here. He and Dorian left the Herald's Rest just as I passed by. They were… very engrossed in their conversation."

"They'll probably still be talking once you're done with whatever this is." Varric said as he waved his hand towards the equipment she had been carrying. "'Those two are probably doubling the amount of work Ruffles has."

"What are you talking about?" Holly asked trying to play dumb. She was more than willing to tease Graham about his crush on Dorian, but she wasn't about to shout it out to the world.

Varric didn't buy her attempt at ignorance, "Spirit, the only people more obviously in love than those two are Hawke and Choir Boy."

Holly looked at Hawke who simply said, "Well, I haven't seen them, but I believe it."

Holly sighed, "I hope you'll help me convince them that it's their own fault when everyone knows they're in love, Varric."

"You could probably just sick Nightingale and the Seeker on them, and call it a day."

"I think I'll go with Josephine instead," she said as she finally started putting all of the equipment back into the crate she had been carrying."

"That would work too."

"Indeed," she said, and picked the crate up again, "I should get these put away, and leave you to continue hiding from Cassandra."

"Do you need help?" Hawke asked.

"Other than just opening the door? No, thank you."

"What is all this stuff anyway, Spirit?"
"Equipment for the mages' tower we're setting up, and before you ask, yes, Cullen approves."

"I'm a little surprised," Hawke said.
"If it was Spirit's idea, then I'm not shocked he agreed," Varric smirked.

Of course Varric had picked up on Holly's feelings for Cullen as well. She rolled her eyes, "You're surprised that the ex-templar agreed to have a designated space for the mages to practice magic?"

"Well when you put it that way," Varric chuckled.

Holly just shook her head, before putting a smile back on. She turned back to Hawke, "It was lovely to meet you, Hawke. I look forward to working with you."

"You as well, Holly."

Holly took a step forward, but immediately halted. She looked at Varric, "Oh, erm, have you seen Vivienne by any chance?"

"Iron Lady? No, why?"

She narrowed her eyes, "I… have a theory, and I need to double check with her."

It wasn't a lie, though she would have preferred to talk to Dorian. Vivienne would definitely know what she would be talking about when she brought up… well she still wasn't sure how she would word the fact that Cullen smelled wrong. She felt herself blush. It was such a weird thing to say, but she knew she was right. She hoped she wouldn't get more than a raised eyebrow from Vivienne. She could handle Dorian's teasing easily, but Vivienne making some backhanded remark was how one knew they had really messed up.

Varric raised an eyebrow at her, "Okay… she should be easy to find at least with the Orlesian sense of superiority."

"True. Do you mind getting the door?"

Hawke moved, and opened the door opposite to where Holly had entered the room.

"Thank you," Holly said, and left. The rest of her trek to the mages' tower was easier than the first part since there were less stairs. She passed a few guards who all offered help, but she waved them away as best she could. Her arms hurt like the void once she was finally able to set the crate down in the decrepit tower. Like the rest of Skyhold, the tower had holes in the roof and walls. Old, worn tapestries hung on the walls. Broken furniture and various pieces of rubble were strewn all over the floor. It was a mess, but it still had potential like the rest of the keep.

She heard some shuffling on the floor above her, and she shouted up the ladder, "Who's up there?"

Thia's voice came back down, "Thia. I'm getting some stuff up here organized."
"Ah. I brought some more supplies, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, but if you could send some other people to help, it would be much appreciated."

"Oh, of course."

"Thank you!"
Holly hummed in response, and left. She had two tasks at hand now. Find a messenger, and find either Dorian or Vivienne. Solas technically was an option, but she had no idea how to go about that conversation with him. Dorian was easy to talk to, she knew that already, and Vivienne knew exactly what templars were like, but Solas… that was just asking to be put in an uncomfortable situation.

Luckily for her, she didn't have to find a messenger as one found her instead. He gave her a message from Leliana that simply told Holly to speak with the spymaster when she had a chance. She was unsurprised that the message had no other details, but it did get her curiosity going. Whatever she wanted to talk about had to wait, though. She thanked the messenger, and rattled off a list of names for the messenger to find and send to Thia.

She scanned the main courtyard as she drew closer to a set of stairs that led down into it. She found both Dorian and Vivienne standing next to the main stairs that led into the main hall. They were having some kind of conversation. Dorian looked rather stiff, so she doubted they would mind if she interrupted, or at least, Dorian wouldn't mind.

Just as she suspected, Dorian perked up as she approached. He grinned at her, and the slightly annoyed look on Vivienne's face melted into something far more neutral. She clasped her hands behind her back as Holly drew closer.

"Holly," Dorian greeted.

"Enchanter," Vivienne said.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Holly said.

"Not at all. We had just finished speaking," Vivienne said.

Holly glanced at Dorian. He said nothing, and simply kept smiling at her. She narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't press the issue.

"Did you need something?" Vivienne asked.

"Yes. I need to speak with both of you, actually. I, er, well, I have a theory as to what exactly might be affecting Cullen's health, and I wanted to double check before approaching him."

"Well, this should be interesting," Dorian said.

"I was starting to wonder when you would jump on this. He can be concerning at times," Vivienne said.

"Yes, well, I've been on this for a while. He just refuses to talk about what is going on, which makes it more difficult to deal with whatever is happening, but I noticed something when I was speaking with him earlier."

The both gave her inquisitive looks as she paused to think about how to word what she was about to say. Dorian looked like he was priming a rather teasing remark when she felt her cheeks warm up.

She took a deep breath, "I don't know how to go about this, so I'll just say it exactly. You know how when someone takes lyrium, whether it's a mage, or a templar, or some random person, you can… erm, smell it? Like alcohol on a drunk?"

An almost evil grin spread across Dorian's face as Vivienne started looking a little concerned. They both nodded before she continued.

"And, you know how when you pass someone you can smell their perfume, or cologne, or… lyrium? Well, when I finished speaking with Cullen, we passed each other fast enough that I, uh, could smell his cologne. I realized that I couldn't smell any lyrium on him. I've thought about his other symptoms, that I've seen anyway, and I think that he's stopped taking lyrium. I know that he won't exactly be pleased if I just ask him, so I wanted to know what you both thought."

"That would make sense," Vivienne said, "Though that would mean he is a very strong willed person to be as sane as he is."
"I think the fact that he is as sane as he is despite everything he's already been through is proof enough that he is very strong willed," Holly said.
"True enough," Dorian nodded, "I doubt I have nearly as much experience with lyrium withdrawal as either of you do, but from what I've seen, it does seem like that's what he's going through."

"I do have to wonder why he's not taking lyrium though. The Inquisition has set up the proper contacts with Orzammar."

Holly sighed, "Hopefully, I can find out if this is indeed what's wrong."

"I hope so too, my dear, now if you two don't mind, I have a meeting with Josephine," Vivienne said, and they all said their farewells, leaving Dorian and Holly alone.

Dorian turned back to Holly with that evil grin from earlier, "So, what did he smell like?"

Holly groaned, "I am not answering that, and please, never mention this conversation to him."

He gasped dramatically, "I would never, however, I will absolutely be bringing this up again."

"Does that mean I get to bring up the fact that you give my brother puppy eyes all the time?"

He faltered, and it was her turn to smile, "I thought so."

"I will be eagerly waiting to know how he reacts to finding out how you figured it out, though," he said.

"Who said that I would tell him the truth?"

"I didn't take you for a liar."

"Is it really lying if you just never say anything about it in the first place?"
"Fair enough."

"I would hope so. Now, thank you for lending me an ear, but I have to talk to Leliana. She sent me a very straightforward, but very short message."

Dorian winced, "Have fun with that."
"I'll try," she smiled, and turned to start her trek up to the rookery.