Title: The Great Escape IV: Bonded By Circumstance
Pairing: Jowan/f!Surana friendship.
)O(
The house, as she later discovers, is a decent size but rather plain. Not that Emma claims to have much of an eye for interior decorating having spent most of her life in the Tower. Even the wooden frame and imperfect wood floor is preferable to cold stone. Plus, Namaya is a pretty good cook, too. She likes Namaya immediately. The other elf seems to have a personal grudge against the Chantry, but she insists it is a long story and Emma does not ask.
Emma hovers in the kitchen doorway, watching a blond man with a golden earring spread jam on a piece of toast. The smell of fresh bread had lured her out of her room. Now Emma feels very much out of place. He's a mage so he can probably sense her presence anyway.
"Hey, you're up early!" the man's gaze settles on her and his eyes light up brighter than she ever thought eyes could. "How are you feeling? Are you hungry?"
The elf shrugs. "Why do you care?" she asks, suspicious of his motives.
His smile falters a little. "Well, perhaps I wanted to see if my healing skills have improved at all." the blond man pauses. "Or maybe it's because we're going to be housemates. At least until the templars track me down, that is. I'm Anders, by the way."
"Emma," she says. "So, they still got your phylactery as well? Join the club." The blood mage takes a seat across from him and serves herself some toast.
"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, my dear lady." Anders says.
"No, it's not you, it's just..." He is not the Whistler. "It's nothing." The toast is delicious. "And to answer your questions: I'm fine and I'm starving."
"I hear you." Anders smiles again. "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." he says, then winks at her. "I already have two of those things."
Emma can feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. Is he flirting with her? Really? What in the name of the Black City is he thinking? And for that matter, why does this bother her so much?
"You're embarrassing her, you idiot, and you're embarrassing yourself." Namaya scolds him as she enters the kitchen.
"Jealous, Namy?" the healer teases. "You know you'll always be my favorite girl in the whole world."
Namaya scoffs. "You only say that because I'm lettin' you eat all my food and live here for free." Although that isn't entirely true since the Collective pays her a hundred silvers a week for the trouble. It's enough for them to live comfortably, not lavishly, but comfortably. "And I'm starting to think it isn't worth it since your damn cat never leaves me alone!" The feline in question is curled up beneath Emma's chair.
Anders' face looks confused. "But...Mr. Wiggims is taking a nap on my bed," he explains. "That's Joan..."
"Oh." Namaya goes very still. She tries to apologize but the cat is already gone.
Joan, Emma learns, is the name of the shapeshifting woman who resides in the attic and occasionally haunts the rest of the house in animal form. It is rare to see her as a human and even rarer still to hear her speak. Everyone is a little afraid of Joan.
After a while, being cooped up inside starts to get to Emma. She begins to feel like she did in the Tower. Namaya tells her she is free to leave whenever she wants, but it would be wise to use a fake name and avoid any templars.
Jowan is still sleeping when she steps out of the front door and into the blazing sunlight of autumn. She is worried about her friend but now is not the time to think of it. Emma has never seen a city before, at least not that she remembers. There are so many buildings and people and things that at first it's too much to take in all at once. She absorbs each little detail of her new surroundings. It's a beautiful day. You wouldn't even know that almost everyone in Denerim has recently lost a friend or family member or king to the darkspawn, and a Blight still ravishes the land. You wouldn't even guess that Ferelden is on the brink of civil war.
But now is not the time to think of that either.
Emma feels a hand on her shoulder and turns, expecting to see Jowan, but it is not him.
"Did I startle you?" Anders asks.
"Were you trying to?"
He shrugs. "Not particularly," he says. "Do you mind if I walk with you?"
"Not at all." she replies, surprising herself. They are both dressed as commoners, since robes and a staff would be a bit obvious. Anders jokes that he could pretend to be her husband, until she points out the fact that she is an elf. He accuses her of not being fun. She is only being realistic. This isn't a game, after all.
Honestly, she expects an angry mob to be upon them any minute with torches and stones. But no one seems to notice Emma or her companion at all. No one gives a damn who or what she is. No one cares, and it is liberating.
The market district is an obvious place to start. However, it is also alarmingly close to the chantry. Despite her protests, Anders buys her a lovely Tevinter ring he saw the blood mage eying while they were in the Wonders of Thedas. There are dragons and runes engraved into the metal, and ancient magic laced through it.
Anders has a way of making her laugh. She hopes the templars don't get him.
By the time they head back to the house, Jowan is awake and appears to have been waiting for them. Well, waiting for her anyway, since he is sitting on her bed when she walks in. He looks well rested but still just as worried as before.
"Where have you been?" he demands to know.
"I went out...into the city...with Anders." Emma replies calmly. "Is that a problem?"
"Yes, that's a problem! Something could have happened to you, Emma, the templars are looking for you! They know where you are! I could never forgive myself if you were put into harm's way..." Jowan sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I just worry about you, Emma."
"I worry about you, too." she says softly.
"I know..." he sighs again. "It's just that...we're so close to being free of all this and I keep thinking everything will fall apart again and it will be a trap or something. I can't lose you, too..."
"You're not going to lose me, okay?" Emma assures him. "The Collective will send someone to destroy my phylactery and then we can go somewhere far away from templars and Circles and this whole damned world if we like."
She is not an Isolationist by any means, but for the first time in a long time, he actually smiles. And Emma thinks that maybe with a little luck, darkspawn or no, everything will be all right.
)O(
"So," Anders says at supper that night, "How many times have you two managed to escape the Tower?"
Emma looks up sharply, slightly confused. "Just the one time," she replies. "It's not something we planned, really."
"Huh, and you made it all the way here? I didn't even get across Lake Calenhad my first attempt. This is my seventh or eighth time out."
"Congratulations, then."
She never has been very good at making small talk.
They continue eating. Emma notices that Joan isn't with them, not even skulking around as an animal. Namaya explains that a Collective representative - hopefully not the Whistler - will stop by tomorrow to look over the paperwork and discuss something else that the blond elf is incredibly evasive about.
Conversation is not without awkward silences. The only thing that they have in common, after all, is the fact that save for Namaya they are apostates. Whether blood mage, or shapeshifter, or spirit healer, they are hunted by the templars. More than anything, they want to be free. They are bonded by circumstance and nothing more.
)O(
At night, this house is very different.
Namaya, in a very uncharacteristic move, is sitting alone in the kitchen and drinking a cup of tea. This surprises Emma because of how very not like her it is. Maybe even mage sympathizers need a little time to themselves every once in a while.
But even more surprising is that, as Emma is walking to her room, a willowy black-haired woman with shockingly dead eyes materializes in front of her. And Emma actually lets out a very short, but loud, scream. The woman, who she now realizes must be Joan in human form, merely brushes past without saying a word or even reacting to the elf's obvious terror in any way.
Emma is no longer sure if this is better than the Tower.
