Satinalia.

A time for colder temperatures, ending harvests, and a day filled with masked people and lowered inhibitions.

Solona, having lived in the Circle her whole life, never once imagined that the wild tales told to her by Leliana and even Zevran would at least come close to what she was seeing. Under the full moon and by light of torches, many street performers dotted along the sides of buildings, singing and playing tunes that nearby people danced to. Children ran in between the swarms of people, laughter bubbling up though the general noise. Lightly tipsy couples danced that much closer together, holding and touching each other fondly as the music and free flowing ale or wine carried them along through the night.

The stands of Denerim were open as well, but selling more festive items like masks, sugar cakes or candied fruits, costume jewelry, and many other trinkets. Behind the safety of her feathered, butterfly shaped mask, the mage Warden watched it all with wide eyes.

There were a couple of folk tunes playing that Solona recognized, from Leliana playing them in camp for general amusement. As she lingered too long in one of the crowds, softly humming the tune to herself, she found herself swept up into a slightly clumsy, but no less enthusiastic dance by one of the men in the crowd. A strong arm wrapped around her waist and with a hand grasping hers, he spun her around in circles, adding the occasional dip, until peals of laughter were spilling from her lips. Only then did he release her with a final spin and an extravagant bow. "That, my dear, is the spirit!" he proudly proclaimed, before turning his attention elsewhere.

She continued to smile broadly at the act, tucking her hair back behind her ears as she traveled through the throng of celebrating people. It seemed that they weren't lying when they said inhibitions were lowered. To what extent, she had to wonder to herself, passing by another couple making out with each other, regardless of their surroundings. Here she thought Zev was merely being his usual loveable scoundrel self.

And the night was still young...

"Look at these shoes!" Leliana exclaimed, catching Solona's attention once more. She looked at the bard to see her flaunting a pair of slippers on her feet, as red as the autumn leaves, with satin strips crisscrossing over the tops of her feet and around the ankles.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," Solona casually commented.

Leliana's blue eyes blinked at her through the eyes of her own feathered cat shaped mask, before pinning a mischievous look. "I am, as well you should be. This is the Satinalia! A celebration meant to be enjoyed!"

"Since this is the first one I've experienced, I'm not quite sure how to take it," she replied, watching a small group of men chasing after their collective women, squeals and half-hearted attempts of evasion accompanying them.

The bard smiled, wrapping an arm around Solona's shoulders. "Do not think so much about it, my friend. Simply relax, and enjoy." Leliana steered the two of them towards the Gnawed Noble Tavern, where a line of tables were surrounding the entryway, and the line of various labeled barrels propped up outside. She gave a name of an unknown drink that Solona had never heard before, and it wasn't long until a goblet of a steamy brown drink was pressed into the mage's hands. A curious sniff of it produced apples, and the first sip warmed her thoroughly.

Leliana started to lead them back into the crowd as she took a second drink, this time feeling an after-burn in the back of her throat. Solona stopped, staring into the goblet. "Leliana?"

"Yes, my friend?"

"What am I drinking?"

The bard smirked and sipped at her own goblet, her eyes shining with humor.

Wonderful, another attempt at getting me drunk... As she searched around her for someone to casually pass her drink off to, a flash of light and a collective gasp drew her attention to the right. She just missed the light, but could easily see a crowd of people staying a distance away from... something. As curious as she was, she started over in that direction, her hand lightly grasping Leliana's and taking her with. As she drew closer, she could hear music playing over the partiers as they clapped in time with the tune. They spotted a small open space in between people and squeezed themselves in... before witnessing something they both knew they'd never see again.

Alistair, wearing nothing but a set of soft leather pants and a golden mask over his eyes, was twirling a staff in time to the music. If that wasn't enough, it appeared that both ends of the staff had wraps of cloth on them, which were on fire. Solona's eyes widened at the sight, particularly when a distinct twirl drew too close to his abdomen for her comfort. He seemed so at ease with the staff, however, twirling it from one hand to the next, switching direction every so often, bringing the staff behind his head and back, and all of this done with the utmost concentration. There were flashes of light across the gold color of his mask that she knew would match his eyes...

Solona took a drink as her throat suddenly went dry... a large drink.

His hands manipulated the staff into intervals of spinning faster and slower, swinging his arms overhead and around his body, stepping wide legged circles back and forth, all done with the grace and skill of a trained warrior. Some of his hair was plastered to his forehead and sides of his face, and something in her could just imagine trails of sweat going down his strong neck, toned arms, ripped stomach...

"Leliana..." was spoken, more breath than voice.

"Yes?"

"I love the Satinalia."

She watched with amusement as Solona took another rather large gulp of her spiked cider. She just knew that the holiday would grow on the shy mage, given a bit of time and spirits. She managed to look back in time to see Alistair finish his impromptu performance, before joining in with the applauding crowd. That same boyish smile spread as he bowed once, blowing out the flames on the staff before setting it carefully to the side and collecting his discarded shirt, boots, and drink. Having spotted familiar faces during his performance, he made his way through the sea of half-drunk admirers, his smile not fading. "Ladies," he greeted, raising his goblet in a toast.

"Alistair," Leliana greeted, raising hers in a toast as well, noticing how wide Solona's eyes grew before they were cast down to her drink. She could almost see the blush starting to form. "I must say, I didn't know such talent existed before."

Sheepishly, he wiped most of the sweat from his face with his shirt. "I admit, it's not something I show off... this cider is really good," he changed the subject quickly, finishing the rest of his drink quickly.

"Indeed it is... I believe Solona would like some more," Leliana suggested, nudging her friend forwards.

Wide eyes darted to Leliana, then back down to her goblet. "I... I think you were a-amazing," she quietly stated.

Alistair grinned. "Really?" Solona's quick nod and returned smile, paired with Leliana's "subtle" head nodding in the mage's direction spurred the Templar into action. "Oh! I could... tell you how I learned this," he added, offering his arm for Solona to take, leading them back towards the Gnawed Noble.

Leliana relaxed against the nearest building, watching the pair walk off together. It warmed her heart to see the festive holiday bring people together, even if a bit of persuasion was involved.

That, and a bit of special cider, she casually thought to herself, as she took another drink and rejoined the partying crowd.

AN: Okay, this is a DAWC challenge to show off a hobby you wouldn't normally see a character have, partly inspired by Eve Hawk's characters reaching Redcliffe in time for Summersday (shameless plug time! If you haven't read her works, DO EET NAO!), and also partly inspired by a video sent to me by a friend a couple of days back: youtube .com /watch?v =Lq0W0ZV -6N4&feature =youtube _gdata _player (take out the spaces, haha!). Yes, I know that this isn't exactly a secret, but come on... we all wanted a chance to see it. xD Mops and buckets for excessive amounts of drool, aisle 5 at Walgreens!

Word count: 1,319

Bioware owns all things Dragon Age related... gotdangit...