Title: Ex Libris

Fandom: Dragon Age

Characters: Calpernia, Merrill, Anders, Isabela

Rating: K

Warnings: modern AU; OOC?

Summary: Calpernia didn't pay much attention to her at first, treating the girl as yet another customer. But no other person ever came here so often. / modern AU; oneshot

Disclaimer: Dragon Age is not mine, although the writing certainly is.

A/N: got a 'Calpernia/Merrill' prompt on tumblr, and I have to admit, I had no idea how to make it work in the canon setting, so this is a modern AU that still has elves, dwarves and other fantasy creatures? Let's pretend it makes sense :') This is really silly…

Written for the International Day of Femslash '15. I can't believe I wrote something so fluffy…

Calpernia glanced discreetly at a petite elf girl who stood in the fiction section searching for a book to buy. She was wearing a long bottle green dress, got a handbag on her shoulder, and like most elves, she was barefoot, her toenails painted red. Calpernia didn't pay much attention to her at first, treating the girl as yet another customer. But no other person ever came here so often. She visited the store at least three times every month, usually buying one book or two.

Besides this elf was always interested in hearing Calpernia's opinion about books she purchased. She also actually listened to Calpernia's suggestions on what she should read next. It was simply pleasant, talking to a person who liked reading so much.

"A friend of mine said these are good," she said, putting two books on the counter.

"They are not bad," Calpernia replied. She wouldn't call the novels she chose good, they were highly predictable, and not that interesting. But she decided to keep her opinion to herself.

As the girl was paying, she opened her mouth again, hesitated and finally decided to say what was on her mind.

"You could... put some nice flowers here or by the window. To brighten up this place a little."

Calpernia frowned. She liked her shop just like it was. "This is a book store. I sell books. If you want to see flowers then go to the flower shop."

Her voice was so cold and hostile, the girl's eyes widened, her whole face turning bright red. It looked like she wanted to quickly turn around, run away and never come back again. Seeing the expression on the elf's face, something very close to pure terror, Calpernia cursed in her thoughts. She didn't mean to sound so harsh.

The feeling of guilt clawed at her throat; she even considered apologising, but then the girl spoke before Calpernia could even think how to fix this embarrassing situation.

"Oh, I'm... I'm sorry. That was just an observation, I thought that maybe you'd like to make this place more, um..." she took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm rambling. My friends often tell me I do that sometimes. Hawke says it's okay, but Fenris gets annoyed, and Varric– Oh, sorry, you don't know them, obviously," she scratched her head, visibly uncomfortable. "And I'm rambling again. Sorry."

Stop. Apologising. Calpernia nearly screamed. She was glad she didn't, it would only make the situation worse. And it was her fault, she practically yelled at this girl for merely saying a completely innocent comment. About flowers. She almost yelled at a customer for saying she could decorate the shop with flowers. Great. Apparently she was losing her mind.

"Is that... Is that all?" Calpernia blurted out. She had to say something completely neutral to end this awkward conversation as soon as possible.

The girl frantically grabbed her books. "Yes, thank you!"

She took a step back, nearly tripped over her own feet. She gave Calpernia a nervous smile, and quickly left after mumbling, "Goodbye!"

Calpernia took a deep, calming breath.

When the girl returned one week later, she was accompanied by a tall man who looked so tired like he hadn't slept since last year, his blond hair tied in a messy bun. When he was paying for the book he chose, Calpernia noticed his sweater was covered in cat hair. She wrinkled her nose, almost suggesting he should take care of his clothes instead of buying books.

"Did you find anything interesting for yourself, Merrill?" the man asked.

She shook her head. "Maybe next time. But it's a good thing I'm not buying anything today, I already have too many books, you know that."

"Well, books are like cats, you can't have too many," he smiled.

Calpernia's gaze shifted from the cat enthusiast to the elf who was half hiding behind him. Perhaps she wanted to shield herself from more harsh words that could come from the mean lady working here (Calpernia imagined that was how the girl saw her now, some mean lady yelling at people). Their eyes met for two seconds; Calpernia forced a smile on her lips, so she could at least try looking less intimidating. The result wasn't what she expected, as Merrill seemed terrified, hiding even more behind her companion.

Merrill. The name sounded interesting. And it was good to finally know the name of one of those few people who visited the bookstore regularly.

Merrill. Calpernia wanted to say it out loud just to hear how the name sounded, check how it tasted on her tongue. She couldn't do it, obviously; that would be... improper.

"Nice shop you got here," the man's voice brought her back to reality. He was looking around, then his eyes returned to Calpernia. "Although it seems a bit… uninviting."

She could hardly believe in what she was hearing. She shot a glance at Merrill who was now trying very hard to become invisible, fidgeting nervously behind her friend.

"But anyway," he shrugged. "Thanks. And goodbye!"

After the elf girl also squeaked a goodbye, they left Calpernia wondering if she should really redecorate this place.

Calpernia didn't see Merrill for the next two weeks. She found herself wondering if the girl was coming back or not, because truth to be told, she got used to seeing her in the bookstore.

Just like before, Merrill brought someone with her. This time it was a woman with long, wavy hair that framed her pretty face. Her unbuttoned shirt revealed just enough cleavage to make dumb men drool and forget what they were saying. She walked around the store with confidence like she owned the place, her honey eyes sparkling with curiosity. She was the kind of woman you could see on the cover of a fashion magazine. She was, to put it simply, stunning.

They spent about half an hour wandering around, browsing, and after listening to the other woman's comments, Calpernia was sure they wouldn't get along.

As Merrill was paying, taking out crumbled bills from her tiny wallet, her companion openly stared at Calpernia. She had a mysterious smirk on her face, and eyes narrowed as if is she was getting ready to pounce on her prey. Just when Calpernia started to feel uncomfortable, her face slightly flushed, the woman spoke.

"What do you think about this one?" she pointed at the "book of the month" that happened to be the latest part of Swords and Shields.

"It's decent, but nothing more, and the characters seem highly unbelievable", she replied.

She had read all parts of Swords and Shields, of course, though she never understood why this series was so popular. To her surprise, the woman gasped, looking truly offended.

"Varric will be devastated! I know the author, you know. Personally," she winked.

Is that supposed to impress me? Calpernia pursed her lips, then glanced back at Merrill who was now blushing lightly.

"Come on, Isabela, we should go or else we'll be late," she mumbled, pulling on her companion's clothes. She gave Calpernia an apologetic smile. "Thank you."

The woman, Isabela, rolled her eyes then let Merrill grab her hand and pull her towards the exit. As the door was closing behind them, Calpernia overheard her saying, "But did you hear what she said? Decent? No book is decent when a certain pirate queen is one of the main characters!"

Confused, but also a little bit intrigued, Calpernia wondered if all Merrill's friends were so… interesting.

Standing on the other side of the street, Merrill once again glanced at the door of one of her favourite places in the city. She truly hoped that this time she would not make a fool of herself. The girl who worked here was so… Merrill searched for the right word, but it was difficult to describe this woman. She was not like any other person the elf ever met. It was nice, talking to her, and she knew so much.

But Merrill was certain she ruined everything, like always. With a sigh of resignation, she crossed the street (she forgot to look around first, but gods were kind enough to protect her in that moment), and stopped in front of the bookstore.

Asking her friends to come with her was not an option anymore after Isabela started babbling about a cute girl who worked there but who couldn't appreciate good literature ("She said it was decent, decent!"), and then Hawke asked Merrill why she really kept coming back to that bookstore, and everyone looked at her in a funny way, and then…

Merrill never felt so embarrassed in her entire life. Now, that was something because at times she felt like her life was a constant series of embarrassing situations. So asking yet another person to accompany her was not an option anymore. Besides, she didn't want to ask Fenris because she was certain he would decline; and only Creators knew what would happen if she took Varric with her. And Hawke… Well, Hawke was simply too unpredictable.

So Merrill waited another week, and eventually went there alone. She simply didn't want to say anything stupid again, and make that girl dislike her even more. This was her favourite bookstore, she kind of admired the person who worked here, and it would be a shame if she couldn't go to this place anymore because of her own stupidity.

Merrill took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Noticing other customers, she let out a sigh of relief. Then she saw something that wasn't here before, and her eyes went wide, all her worry disappearing.

There was a small flower in a blue pot standing on a table by the window. She looked up to see the girl, Calpernia if she remembered correctly, glancing at her. When their eyes met for a brief moment, Merrill smiled, her fingers intertwining nervously.

Perhaps she should be brave enough to talk to Calpernia, not only about books.