Title: Dog
Fandom: Dragon Age
Characters/Pairings: Merrill, Isabela; Merribela
Rating: K
Summary: Merrill takes care of Hawke's dog while the Champion is gone.
Disclaimer: Dragon Age is not mine.
A/N: written for the "send me a sentence and I will write a drabble" thing on tumblr; prompt: "The blood's just from a nosebleed; don't worry about it." + Merribela.
Very creative title, I know.
Isabela knows she shouldn't come to the Hanged Man so often. Varric can praise his favourite place in Kirkwall all he wants, but it doesn't change the fact that it's filthy, full of scumbags that leer at her every five seconds, and the alcohol somehow gets worse with every bottle she opens.
But old habits die hard, and sooner or later Isabela always ends up in her usual spot, drinking liquor she may only hope isn't poisonous (it sure tastes awful). With Hawke gone there's not much to do in Kirkwall. Supposedly the Champion is helping some elven girl, Isabela didn't listen carefully when Hawke explained it (or she didn't care that much to listen), but the important thing is that they're going to Chateau Haine. Isabela hopes Hawke brings her something pretty. And by brings she means steals, of course.
Sudden silence creeps into Isabela's thoughts. Something's not right.
She looks up and glances around to notice that there's someone standing by the door.
It's Merrill, and seeing the elf something warm wakes up in Isabela's chest. By her side stands Hawke's loyal pet, Dog. At times Isabela wonders why the hell Hawke named her mabari Dog. Perhaps it's ironic. Or maybe Hawke really didn't have any better ideas, so she went with the easiest option. She makes the dumbest decisions sometimes.
Then Isabela sees a dark stain on Merrill's chest. At first she wonders what she's spilled on her clothes this time; she's adorably clumsy, that elf. But the pirate soon realises the stain on Merrill's clothes is blood.
As Merrill walks in, all eyes immediately move to her, noticing every small detail just to gossip about it in the near future. Her eyes scan the room until she finds Isabela. She takes a step forward, Dog following behind her.
The moment of silence is gone, people go back to talking and drinking. An elf with a big bloody stain on her robes isn't the most unusual thing they've seen. This is Kirkwall after all, in this city weird things happen every day. Merrill feels their curious glances on her, one man is whispering to his companion's ear, but other than that people generally stopped caring about her a second ago.
"What happened? Are you hurt?!"
Isabela runs to the elf, grabs her hands, checks for injuries. Other than the horrible stain on her clothes, Merrill seems to be fine.
The elf blushes and blinks, startled. "The blood's just from a nosebleed. Don't worry about it."
Isabela guides her to a chair. The dog follows, excitedly glancing around.
"Sit down and tell me what happened."
"No dogs allowed!" shouts the barkeep.
"He's not dangerous," Merrill tries to explain. "Sure, he looks like he could crush a man's skull in his jaw… But he's a big softie once you get to know him!"
"No dogs allowed!" he repeats in an angry voice. "We have rules in this place!"
"Oh, shut up," Isabela hisses. Fortunately she has some money to spare, and when the man gets just enough coins he not only forgets about the rule but also puts a bowl with fresh water in front of the dog.
"I'm fine, Bela," Merrill gives her a reassuring smile.
"Tell me what happened," the pirate repeats. She gives Merrill's hand a gentle squeeze. The dread she felt merely a moment ago doesn't quite leave her. She refuses to admit how scared she was, so she asks the elf to explain her everything.
"I wanted to take Dog for a walk," Merrill begins. "The weather is nice, so I decided to pay Anders a visit. You know how pale he is, he should spend more time outside his clinic."
"Oh," Isabela says, realisation waking up in her mind . She lets out a sigh. "He didn't tell you?"
"About his cat shelter? No, he didn't! I don't know why! I helped him rescue cats before. I'm so going to talk to him about it!"
Merrill is fuming with anger. Isabela has to bite his cheek to stop herself from smiling, all her fear disappearing. It's quite amusing seeing the elf so irritated because Anders didn't tell her about such trivial thing.
"I had Dog on the leash when he saw all those cats, and… I guess you know what happened next. I fell. Hard. On my face. And, well…" she gestures at the stain.
The dog whines apologetically.
"It's okay," Merrill pats his giant head. "I know you didn't want to hurt me."
"Oh, Kitten…" Isabela reaches out to touch the elf's face. "Please be more careful next time."
"Can you come with me?" the elf asks with a hint of hope in her voice. "We could go to the docks. He likes going there. It's because the place smells funny, I think."
"It's a date," Isabela says and laughs.
Not the best date idea but everything is always better with Merrill at her side.