Grim hadn't been doing all that great since leaving the Chargers, but so much changed after the veil was torn down. He wasn't even entirely sure how things had changed, only that they had, and he felt different. Even the dogs seemed to think something was off, as many times he'd come to after blacking out to find Floki and Cheese Ball looking at him funny and acting weird around him. Almost like they didn't know him, which was absurd. Then again, the blackouts were also absurd. Usually, he only lost a few hours at a time, but occasionally he lost a couple of days.
After turning in a bounty on an escaped thief, he decided to hit the market. He needed provisions for his trip back to Ferelden and food for the dogs. Floki kept in step with Grim, but Cheese Ball kept running on ahead. He stopped at a few stalls, all the while keeping his eye on Cheese, but then he turned his attention off for a few minutes while looking over some trinkets, and when he turned around, Cheese was nowhere to be seen. Fear immediately filled his veins, as he looked left and right frantically. Floki barked a few times and seemed to want to go to the right. Grim followed Cheese through the market as Floki darted around, following Cheese's scent.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Grim, Cheese had swiped a pig's foot from one of the market stalls and taken off. Frantically looking for a place to hide and savour its prize when it saw an opening to duck into a tavern.
Imogen was cleaning the tavern, using one of the few more “downtimes” that their job could offer. There were only a few clients and now they weren’t ordering so they could do a bit of maintenance while awaiting for things to pick up a little.
Suddenly they saw a little dog entering the tavern, bringing some food in his mouth “Hey little one, where are you from?” asked the brunette as she looked for a bowl to give the poor thing some water. Her boss didn’t allow pets in the tavern but she wasn’t going to kick out such a cute dog, specially with how friendly it seemed. The dog followed her behind the counter and started to eat merrily while moving the tail frantically.
Finally Floki stopped and sniffed at the entrance to a tavern, he sat down and wagged his tail excitedly. Clearly for some reason, Cheese had decided to take off into the tavern. Grim sighed and hoped his little dog wasn't getting up to no good. Grim gave Floki a scratch uner the chin and told him he was a good boy for having followed Cheese's scent. He pushed into the tavern and looked around, after giving Floki the command to sit and stay outside.
Has anyone seen a little black and brown dog, probably getting up to no good?! There was worry in his voice, it wasn't like Cheese to take off like that, but he was a young dog, and nothing was entirely unexpected, he wasn't quite as trained as Floki was, partly because of how spoiled he was.
“Yeah!! Said the brunette as he left the kitchen “I gave him some food and he’s kind of playing in the staff room, is he yours?” asked Imogen as she moved towards the man “I basically gave him food because I didn’t know where was the owner, let alone where to start to look so I figured that I could keep him until the end of my shift” explained the brunette.
“Follow me” she instructed him, so that he could get his dog back. “Let’s get him back with you, I am sure of that your buddy misses you” said Imogen with a smile "I always wanted to have a dog but I doubt I'd have enough time to look after one"
Grim was visibly relieved as the person spoke up about having not only seen the dog but also having taken care of the little guy. Not everyone would have gone through the trouble. So Grim was relieved and had no idea how he could pay back the kindness, it may have seemed like a small thing, but Cheese and Floki were everything to Grim.
I don’t know what came over him. One minute he was just ahead of me and I turned my eyes off of him for one minute and suddenly he was gone and one of the merchants was yelling about something. He’s not usually one to wander off, but then he is young and not as trained as he could be. It was a lot easier looking after the little guy when Grim was with the Chargers, but it had been nearly four years since he’d quit them, though he regretted his choice, he still felt like it had been the right one to make given his black outs an mood swings since the veil fell.
“I mean he’s a pup, you will have time to teach him all the stuff I am sure of it” said the younger woman as the dog returned happily with the owner.
“How did you get him?” Imogen asked curiously, the stranger had all the right to tell them to mind their business but Imogen loved pets and was always eager to hear stories about them and this dog was especially sweet which made her more curious about him. “Only if you wanna share the story, you can also keep the rest of the chicken he was nibbling is not like I can serve it like that to the costumers” said Imogen laughing as she placed the plate near Cheeseball for him to finish the meal.
A friend and I found him actually, I was in the Free Marches at the. Some little village off the beaten path. From what I guessed someone abandoned him. Don’t know why, but we found him in an alley way, alone, scared and hungry. Already had Floki at the time, he took to the little guy pretty quickly so I just let him come along with us. I was with the Chargers back then so caring for them was a bit easier. He explained, though he didn’t go into why he was no longer with the Chargers, who were probably at least a little bit infamous after they’d joined up with the Inquisition, since Bull was their leader and high up with the Inquisitor. cheese was already nom’ing away at his chicken treat, quite pleased with himself, tail wagging excitedly as he ate.
“The Chargers? The one that were with the Inquisition?” they asked as their eyebrows rose incredibly up. “Wow I didn’t know that a dog’s celebrity had came to my workplace” said the bartender with a smile. “From your words you are no longer with the chargers?” asked Imogen, likely asking something that was not their business but well, they had always been quite curious.
He nodded, though a dark cloud passed his face as he thought about his decision to leave them. It hadn’t been an easy one, and he’d probably regret it the rest of his life, but it was what it was, there was no going back now.
We parted ways about four years ago now, a few months after the veil came down. Things were chaotic then. It’s, a long story. He wasn’t sure explaining to a stranger that he started hearing voices and having black outs was something he really wanted to do.
“Well I hope life goes well for you” she said with a smile “I need to get back to work, feel free to visit again, specially if you bring this little guy!” she said pointing at the dog who had finished the platter of food.
Cheese finished his noms, and wagged his tail. Grim figured he was probably ready for a nap about now, but they still had quite a walk to go before they got back to their camp. Grim smiled warmly at Imogen. Thanks again, I really do appreciate it, and so does Cheese. I don’t get out this way often, but I’ll keep you in mind when we do. Cheese went up and sniffed at Imogen to say goodbye, and then they left.
