Chapter One
An Artist's party, A Night Encounter and the Residual Feelings
It was a warm, still night and the full moon made it all the more enchanting. Those elements made it the perfect night to venture out in search of fun and revelry, but one, dark-haired girl could care less about the perfect conditions. Thedas University was the largest and most diverse campus, but Morrigan could care less about the school's social benefits. She was a chemistry major and, although the majority of other students were out partying tonight, she was content staying in and studying… until she heard a feeble knock on her door. She only had one roommate in her two bedroom apartment, so she knew it could be none other than Merrill.
"Come in," Morrigan said while remaining put at her computer.
The lithe girl walked in and Morrigan noticed that she was dressed up far more than usual. She rose a brow in question and the smaller girl immediately put on a fretful expression. Morrigan had known Merrill since grade school, and the green-eyed girl had spent many a night over at the aspiring chemist's house. She was fond of her company and that didn't happen often.
"I was thinking," Merrill started as she twiddled her fingers nervously, "there's this party down the street, I was invited by a girl who helped me when I dropped my books, and I was thinking that maybe I should go, but I'd rather not go alone, so maybe…" she paused to find the right words, but her face was beginning to overheat.
"You want me to go?" Morrigan asked incredulously; if Merrill had learned anything about her time spent with the stern girl, it was that she absolutely loathed gatherings.
"I know it's not your sort of thing, but maybe this one will be different. The girl that helped me was really nice, you see." Merrill's large, green eyes looked up at Morrigan in a pleading way. "And it's Friday… please come with me." She all but begged.
Morrigan rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but feel sorry for Merrill. Recently, she had had a falling out with her family and that had caused her to lose touch with a bunch of her old friends. It was all because she had chosen to study chemistry, like Morrigan, instead of the path that her family had chosen for her. Morrigan found Merrill's resolution admirable and had supported her decision, but that hadn't made her family's decision to outcast her any easier. Lately, she had been tagging along wherever Morrigan went, and that strictly consisted of visits to the library and long study sessions in the apartment. Back at home, Morrigan had been the top student and amongst her chemistry classmates she had been known as a "witch" because of her uncanny ability in labs. At first, Morrigan wasn't sure if it were meant as an insult, but soon enough she realized she didn't care.
She could tell Merrill to go on her own, but even that idea seemed more treacherous than her venturing out. Then there were Merrill's puppy eyes to consider, and Morrigan felt her resolve to stay in dissipate.
"Fine." Morrigan stated as she closed her laptop, "but if it is to my displeasure, we will come back."
Merrill's smile was priceless as she hugged her roommate who refused to smile or hug her back. She pulled the lithe girl off of her and went to her closet. Unlike Merrill, she would not be dressing any different than usual, which meant that she'd probably get a few stares. Morrigan knew that her nickname had come to her partially from her manner of dress, which was, she had to admit, very different from what would be considered fashionable. It bothered her to fit in with the other students, so she did her best in deviating and thus her unique style was born. It also brought her joy when someone would assume that a girl in tight leather pants, wearing an assorted variety of belts, and with a crimson shirt that was rather tattered and rebellious could not also be a bright academic; it bought her delight to prove them wrong.
"Alright, let's go before it gets any later." She instructed and Merrill followed her happily.
Merrill walked by her side and knew better than to express her thanks to Morrigan. The chemist didn't like being thanked for things she had willingly chosen to do regardless of her distaste.
"So, you were invited by a girl, who was a stranger before today?" Morrigan asked as they made their way down the street.
"Yes, you see, I got lost looking for my next class."
Morrigan's brow twitched and she muttered, "but all of our classes are in the same building."
"Which is why I usually never get lost, but today the wind whisked a paper from me and before I knew it, I was in an unfamiliar place on campus." Merrill whimpered as Morrigan sighed. "I began to fret as I walked haplessly in a direction and then I tripped and dropped all of my books." Merrill smiled warmly as she thought of what happened next, "and that's when she helped me." Morrigan waited as Merrill paused with a dreamy gaze. "She picked up some of my books, helped me up and then asked if I was ok; when I told her I was lost, she even walked me back to the chem building, and that's when she invited me to her party."
"Does this mysterious savior of yours have a name?"
"She introduced herself as Hawke, but I believe that's her last name." Merrill looked ahead to a house that was emitting a fair volume of music and various colors of light were spilling forth from its windows. "This is the place!"
"What have you dragged us into this time Merrill?" Morrigan groaned as they walked to the front door.
Morrigan waited as she watched Merrill fret over whether to knock or just go in, but before Morrigan could make the decision for her, the door opened on its own.
"New people!" a cheery, red-headed girl pulled them in before they could protest. "Welcome to the art co-op's kick off party; I am Leliana, one of your generous hosts for the night!"
Morrigan was easily annoyed by the girl's touch and booming voice. She apparently had an Orlesian accent and her manner of dress also indicated she was from Orlais. Merrill watched with trepidation as Morrigan's expression became cross, so she quickly removed her and Morrigan from the girl's hold.
"Ummm, thank you, I'm Merrill and this is Morrigan, do you know where Hawke is?" She asked meekly.
"Of course you're here to see Hawke," Leliana winked and then sighed, "I can't believe she's attracted more cute girls than me."
Morrigan didn't catch what the Orlesian had said but apparently it was something that had made Merrill blush. Leliana grabbed Merrill's hand, who in turn grabbed Morrigan's before the ecstatic girl could whisk her away. The house was large, but the mass of people in it made it hard to navigate without rubbing up on each other. Morrigan squirmed through various bodies as she held onto Merrill's hand and cursed ever so often at her situation. So busy was she cursing people, that she didn't realize they had stopped and were being introduced to Merrill's savior.
"Incognate beast," Morrigan muttered of the last person who had bumped into her.
"Hopefully that wasn't meant for me," a pleasant voice interrupted her thoughts and caused her to look ahead.
Morrigan found herself drawn to a pair of clear blue ones and a boyish smile that put her at ease. So profound was the feeling in her chest that she almost forgot to maintain her stern expression.
"Oh, no, that surely was not meant for you!" Merrill stuttered and waved her hands in the air. "Right, Morrigan?"
Morrigan regained control of her emotions and replied, "right, unless you insist on casually bumping into me." Her tone was still tense, but the playfulness in Hawke's eye remained constant.
The girl with short black hair laughed and placed her hand over her heart, "I solemnly swear to never casually bump into you." Then Hawke looked at Merrill, "hopefully you didn't tell her that it was because of me that you and all your books scattered on the floor earlier today."
"I didn't trip?" Merrill squeaked.
"You don't remember me crashing into you?" Hawke asked. "Then I may have ran into you harder than I thought; my apologies again. I trust you'll enjoy yourself here, as well as you Morrigan."
"We shall see," Morrigan looked around and found that aside from Hawke there wasn't much to hold her attention.
"Could I start you two off with a drink?" Hawke offered as Leliana made her way to other guests.
"Yes that would be great," Merrill replied even though Morrigan had prepared to say no.
"Alright, I'll be right back, try not to get lost again," she winked at Merrill and headed off towards the table.
Merrill turned to look at Morrigan as if to ask her how she was doing and was met with a shrug. Merrill smiled knowing that meant they would be staying longer, but her expression fell as a boy appeared behind Morrigan.
"Hey there," the boy greeted them.
Morrigan turned and backed up to see a rather familiar sight: the same black hair, same blue eyes and the same boyish grin, but this time it was actually a boy.
"Can I help you?" Morrigan asked partially curious to know what he wanted.
"Sorry, I noticed you were talking with my cousin, are you friends of hers?" He asked innocently; his gaze focused more on Morrigan than Merrill.
"Mayhaps, why do you ask?" Morrigan took control of the conversation seeing as Merrill seemed too nervous to converse.
"It's just I've never seen you at any of our gatherings before." He smiled and offered his hand, "I'm Daylen."
Morrigan shook the boy's hand and examined how similar he was to the girl she had just met. Merrill also shook his hand and blushed profusely at the contact.
"Hey Daylen!" Hawke returned with the drinks in hand. "I see you've met my two newest friends," she said as she handed each girl their drink.
Daylen nodded and was about to speak when yet another person entered their growing group. A voluptuous girl with wavy brown hair and sun kissed skin wrapped her arms around Daylen's waist from behind.
"Well, well, look who I've found." Her voice was velvet.
"Isabela…" Hawke's eyes averted to the floor and Morrigan took notice.
"Oh, hey Hawke," Isabela smiled but her tone was dismissive, "mind if I steal your cousin?"
It was more of a demand than a question as Daylen was dragged away even as he insisted he wanted to stay right where he was. Morrigan watched Hawke carefully and noticed her smile fade ever so slightly.
"She seemed nice." Merrill broke the awkward silence that had settled, and then took a huge swig of her drink.
Hawke chuckled but still seemed out of sorts. Morrigan held her cup of what looked like fruit juice and then back at Hawke. It shouldn't have bothered her to see a complete stranger in a sullen state, but she found herself caring nonetheless.
"Here, you look like you need this more than I do," Morrigan handed her cup to Hawke, "and I suggest you honor my sacrifice in light of the fact that partying is very hard for me to do."
Hawke took the cup with a gentle smile and a nod. She took a small sip and then held it up towards Morrigan, "share?"
Merrill nearly spit out her drink when Morrigan took the cup and sipped out of it. Morrigan never shared anything with anyone on account of her being a germaphobe, so her actions were completely unprecedented. The chemist patted her friend's back and handed the cup back to Hawke.
"Do you guys want to see the studio? It's the main reason why we have the party, but ironically enough it's the quietest and less crowded area." Hawke scratched the back of her head, "I guess drinking is somewhat more entertaining to most, but I can show you guys a few of my pieces that are up."
"That sounds wonderful!" Merrill exclaimed and raised her cup with such velocity that some of its contents spilled onto the person behind her.
"Time to go," Morrigan took Merrill's hand and hurried Hawke to lead.
"This way!"
Hawke led the girls through the party crowd and eventually led them out to the backyard. There were a number of people mingling under the trees and all of them acknowledged Hawke as she led them to a smaller building out back.
Hawke ushered them in and to Morrigan's pleasure it was less crowded as the girl had promised. The artist found herself eyeing Morrigan and Merrill's clasped hands and wondered what their relationship was. While Hawke was wondering about Morrigan's relation to Merrill, the chemist had already pieced together which painting was Hawke's. Upon the wall was a rather large canvas of a woman walking away so that her back was most prominent. Sun kissed skin, wavy brown hair- it was, without a doubt, the girl they had met earlier. She was completely naked, save for a blanket she was pulling along the floor.
"She's so beautiful, was this the girl we met earlier?" Merrill asked.
Hawke wore a sad smile, "yes… she's a muse of sorts," then she sighed and sipped some of her shared drink. "And it's incredibly hard finding someone that can pose nude with as much confidence as Isabela."
"I most definitely could not do anything confident while naked," Merrill giggled and Morrigan couldn't help but widening her eyes at the lithe girl's forwardness. "But I bet Morrigan would be even more captivating."
"Merrill!" Morrigan hastily took her cup away from her and muttered "you really are a lightweight."
"Heyyyy," Merrill whined but a hiccup stopped her short of complaining any more.
"You've never drank before tonight?" Hawke asked while looking at both of them.
"We don't drink often enough to build a tolerance," Morrigan explained, "Merrill dragged me to this party on account that you were kind enough to save her from being lost."
"Oh so you're her…?"
"Roommate and friend," Morrigan clarified although usually she'd answer curtly and say it was nobody's business.
"Well, if ever you have any free time, I'd like to explore Merrill's assumptions."
"Are you talking about posing nude for you?" Morrigan felt her face heat up and held back her reaction to slap the artist regardless of how amiable she had been.
"Oh, no, I just meant posing in general; you do have a…" Hawke searched for the right words, "enchanting aura about you. I'll be needing a new model for my next project."
"You can't just stick with your old one?" Morrigan wanted to prod the subject of Isabela further. She took the cup from Hawke's hands and gulped what was left.
"Well… I could, but I'd rather work with you… I mean, new material." Hawke stumbled over her word choice.
"So I am to be new material, hmmm," Morrigan looked ahead to see Merrill dancing from picture to picture; at least she was distracted for the meantime. She closed her eyes and thought of what it might be like to venture out of her carefully crafted bubble, but could not foresee such a thing. "I'm sorry, but I'm just not that kind of person."
"What kind of person is that?" Hawke asked, intrigued at Morrigan's response.
"The kind of person to draw your attention," Morrigan responded and assessed herself. "My nose is always in a book, my hands always typing away at a computer, I hardly ever go outside and am thus pale as can be."
Hawke laughed much to Morrigan's surprise, and replied with, "you've already gotten my attention, but I won't force you into it. You're unlike anyone I've met thus far, so if ever you change your mind, you know where to find me." Hawke looked back to the main house, "I should be getting back to the party; Leliana probably needs help hosting."
"Of course, thank you for attending to Merrill and me." Morrigan smiled and Hawke found herself wishing she could just stay by her side for the night. Instead she gave her a trademark smile and continued on towards the house.
That night, after getting Merrill in her own bed which was no easy feat, Morrigan lay awake thinking of the blue-eyed girl. The chemist had wanted for little in her life, but when she found herself desiring something, it wasn't long before she made it hers. People had never fallen into that category before, and Morrigan was the better for it, or so she thought. Hawke, her manner had been playful, her address friendly… everything Morrigan usually despised in another, so why then was she interested in seeing her again?