Shaelyn Tabris was annoying.
I mean, she stole my boots and attempted to wear them, leaving me more often then not barefoot for the good part of a morning. She dumped cold water on me when I outright refused to get up, despite my protesting that it wasn't even dawn yet and that devilishly handsome men like me should get some sleep. She was nearly constantly poking fun at me, though it was admittedly harmless...most of the time.
She called me Ali.
She was also completely nuts and possibly the most reckless person I'd ever met. I mean, I didn't follow the rules all the time either, but it was like they didn't even exist to her. She constandly regaled the party with tales of her exploits in the city of Denerim;escaping from the guards, dodging certain imprisonment and death with good humor and reflexes and other such insane things that I was sure was true after assessing her personality. Lileana and Zevran would hang on her every word-for I had to admit that she was quite the tale spinner, even if the tales changed subtly each time. Even Sten, Wynne and Morrigan would pay attention when it suited them, and Oghren too, when he wasn't blind stinking drunk.
Shae was insane, that was obvious, so it really confused me as to how I suddenly found myself completely and totally in love with her.
It was probably last week that it finally clicked that I loved her. It was nighttime, and the lot of us had made camp for the night. Zevran and I were playing Bourré with a set of cards he had in his pack-despite the fact that the elf annoyed me, he was still good for a game or two. Sten was sitting next to the fire, being the strong and silent type he usually was. Oghren was sitting next to him; drinking deep from a flask he had while telling some nonsensicle story. He offered the flask to Sten nearly every five minutes, who refused every time with a shake of his head. It was funny at first, but got a little boring after awhile. The women-Shae, Morrigan, Lileana and Wynne- were down at the nearby stream, probably bathing or washing things. Yvaine was with them, trailing after Shae with single-minded loyalty that only the imprinted Mabari Wardogs possessed.
"Ante up." Zevrans thick accent pulled my attention from Sten and Oghren and I dropped a couple bits into the pile of glittering coppers at our feet.
"Your turn." Zevran dropped a silver into the pot, then began to deal out five cards to the both of us, one at a time. We flipped our trump cards over and got to playing, dropping coppers into the pot or occasionally chatting over the crackling of the fire. A rustle off to our left caught the attention of the three of us that weren't currently inebriated, but after a single tense moment of our hands reaching for weapons, Morrigan and Wynne strode into the clearing, the other women trailing after her, and we relaxed after that. Zevran and I went back to our game, Sten went back to staring into the fire and Morrigan and Wynne went to their tents as they often did.
A short yip followed by bell-like laughs directed my attention to where the noise came from. Yvaine crashed into the clearing, spinning around a couple times before sitting and tilting her head as Lileana and Shae walked into the clearing, still laughing, their arms clutching baskets of washed clothes. They looked a little disheveled, but otherwise normal. Lileanas cheeks were slightly pink from laughter, and her short hair cut in a bob looked a bit damp. She was certainly pretty, and that Orlesian accent did wonders for her, but it was the little elf next to her that caught my attention.
From the moment that I first spotted Shae, I'd thought her pretty. She'd come upon me in Ostagar, during that confrontation with one of the Circle Mages, who I couldn't help but bait. She had been silent the whole time, and I hadn't noticed her until she laughed, startling me and causing me to spin quickly towards the noise. I hadn't expected to see a lovely elf woman with her dark red hair pinned back laughing at me. She brushed away some tears from her eyes and made her still giggling way over to me, introducing herself as Shaelyn Tabris-though she preferred Shae- and congratulating me on a job well done with the mage. I'd found myself smiling back at her merry face and introducing myself as well. I'd kept that conversation close to me, and at the oddest times would play it back in my head.
She was laughing now too, presumably at something Lileana had said, her head tossed back with the movement. Her cheeks were bright pink, and her eyes were sparkling with mirth, which usually happened when she teased me. She'd always been beautiful, but what caught my attention was that her hair was down.
In all of my memory of my traveling with her, Shae had never had her hair down. Even when she slept she had it braided or pinned, even though it would get horribly messy as she tossed and turned next to the fire, suffering through dreams of the Darkspawn that I also experienced. She would always bear those with a brave face and a smile, even though it was clear she hated them. She'd sit up with a frown, that bright red hair messy like it had never been brushed in her whole life, and then would turn to me and smile, like she was trying to reassure me that she was just fine.
I watched her from the fire; Zevrans attention temporarily on Lileana as she answered his question of what was so funny. I didn't hear her explanation, still fixated on Shae. She was looking at Lileana, her laughter halted for the moment, though a smile was still twitching at her mouth. My eyes traced over the contours of her face; red mouth with an impish smile, arched brows that often gave her face a determined look, slightly upturned nose and almond shaped eyes that ensured she was a trickster of the bone. Her dark red hair was still a bit wet and glistening from the light cast from the fire, slung over one shoulder an framing her face.
Her eyes flicked over to me as she felt me looking, and her smile took on a new shape, softening warmly like she was greeting me. I felt a twinge in the bottom of my stomach and I looked away, back to the cards in my hands, staring at them like they were the most important things to me and trying to get her out of my head.
I failed, of course.
Later, while everyone was gathered around the campfire for dinner, I snuck a glance at her and her eyes met mine. Her smile returned, but this time she flushed and winked at me. I smiled back, and that was pretty much it.
Damn gorgeous elf.