Cornflake Girl

"Oh no, you didn't. Tell me you didn't, Macha," Lucía said, mortified.

"I'm sorry!" the blonde woman said, putting her hands over her mouth. "I swear I just wanted to forward it to the rest of the girls of the Dept, not to the Captain!"

Lucía covered her face embarrassedly. Her leg was up and Lia had brought her some ice for her swollen ankle. Lily had examined her and told her that it was not a sprain; she had just twisted it badly.

"You go. I'll stay here. I have no shoes anyway," Lucía sighed.

"I'll lend you one of my pairs," Isabela shouted from the kitchen. She was thoroughly washing the things that had fallen out of the box before. "What size are you?"

"8 ½," Lucía shouted back.

"Shit, I'm an 8. Well, I suppose you can manage. Some simple flat shoes, yes?" Isabela came out of the kitchen, swinging a string of beads. The girls in the living room lowered their eyes, looked away, coughed a little, and blushed. Isabela laugh. "Oh, come on! I didn't know I'd be going out with The Prudettes tonight! Well, at least you know what this is for –that's something."

"If the Captain is coming, though I don't think she will, do you think you could make a small effort to be decent? If it's not too much to ask?" Bianca said, coming out of the bedroom, half-dressed.

"Oh, sod it," Isabela scoffed. "It's a girls' night out! The last night of abandonment you'll be able to have before tying yourself down to some guy that I still haven't met!"

"You'll love Varric," Lucía said. "He's… very much like you, in a sense."

"Ooh, I like him already. Same tits?"

"He will, one day," Lucía said. "He's bound to develop moobs. Genetics."

"Moobs?" Melindra asked.

"Man-boobs, kitten," Isabela laughed. She looked at Lucía. She wasn't so bad. She could see why her sister had warmed up to her so quickly, though. There was an air of self-sufficiency around the Fereldan that Bianca had always approved of.

"So what do we do if the Captain gets here?" Macha asked the others.

"We hide the things that Isabela brought," Bianca shouted from the bathroom.

"I didn't bring these cute toys; that was your friend!" Isabela shouted from the kitchen.

"Total set-up, 'Bela! Don't try to fool me!" Bianca shouted back.

There was a knock on the door. All the girls went silent.

"Who is it?" Isabela answered.

"It's Capt- Er… Aveline Du Lac! And Brennan Smith!" a voice replied.

Isabela opened the door with a grin painted on her face. "Well, hello, big girl! Come in, don't be shy. I'm Isabela, the bride's sister. You know the rest of the girls, don't you?"

Aveline looked at the girls. They looked back at her. She silently cursed her father for having persuaded her to attend the soirée. She noticed that Lucía's foot was hurt.

"What happened, Hawke? Hm. Lucía, right? Leandra's daughter."

"Yes… Aveline." Lucía smiled, rather uncomfortably. "I was coming up the stairs, bumped into a guy, almost rolled down the stairs, dropped what I was carrying, the heel of my shoe got broken, and well… Here I am!"

"You bumped into Leto?" Bianca asked, coming into the room. "Hello, Capt-Aveline."

"Bianca," Aveline nodded.

"Oh? He was coming from here?" Lucía asked.

"He's my boyfriend, so don't go getting any ideas into that pretty head of yours," Isabela said, feigning jealousy.

"Oh… No, don't worry. I met him when I arrived in Kirkwall. He's just our immigration officer… And my sister's doctor's cousin."

"Well, how about that? What a small world," Aveline mumbled, a little confused.

"Ooh, a doctor. Is he your plus one?" Isabela winked.

"No, he's my sister's plus one, actually. Mine's my brother," Lucía sighed.

"Ouch. No fun there. Anyway… Ladies, now that we're all here, whatddya say if I show you what these things are?" Isabela said enthusiastically. "And then we can all get to the club. Who's pouring the booze?"

The talk had been rather informative, actually. And Macha and Bianca actually knew more about some of those things than anyone would have suspected. All of them were a little light-headed when they got to the nightclub. Isabela had managed to find a place with male strippers, something that Bianca was not particularly looking forward to seeing.

"No, no, no – you don't get it. They'll take advantage of me because of my size and they'll grab me and toss me in the air and twist'n'turn me as if I was a human pretzel!" Bianca protested.

"I'll take your place if you want," Brennan laughed.

"Ooh, we're getting good seats, girls!" Isabela dashed towards the front area of the runway where the strippers would be dancing. Lucía and Aveline looked at each other and giggled nervously. Why am I here, they both thought. The other women sat down and waited for the show to begin.

Nobody was able to take their eyes away from the guys' chiseled torsos. Their undulating hips were far more distracting, though. After one hour, the show finished, Brennan had achieved her lifelong dream of being twisted like a pretzel, and the nightclub opened its doors to average-looking men who would reap the benefits of the excitement provoked by the male strippers. The girls got on the dance floor, drinks in hand, and found partners really quickly. Except for Aveline and Lucía – sitting side by side, sipping on their drinks.

"So… Your father and my mother…" Lucía started.

"Dead-end conversation," Aveline said. "My father doesn't talk to me about his love life."

"Oh. I see," Lucía said. She looked away. Isabela was dancing between two men. A third one joined in, and offered her a drink. Lucía peered at them. The smoke machines had started working again, and she couldn't get a clear view of them. Something felt off. Aveline had said something.

"I'm sorry, Captain?" Lucía answered.

Aveline sighed. "Never mind. Feeling sorry you can't join them on the dance floor?"

"No," Lucía stated. "It looks like a DR-96F in progress. Isabela."

Aveline raised her head and followed Lucía's sightline. "Looks like it," she frowned. One minute later, the smoke machine was used again, and Isabela had vanished.

Lucía stood up and followed Aveline onto the dance floor. Lia saw them and made a discreet signal to Macha. The two girls followed the others towards the restroom area.

"We need to find Isabela," Lucía said. "She might be in trouble."

"My sister is trouble," Bianca snorted. "She'll probably be around with some guy, don't worry."

"Regardless," Aveline said. "It didn't look like harmless fun. Smith and Hendyr, you come with me; Elgard, Jansen, Veirl and Alleille – look for her in the girls' restroom and near the entrance. Hawke – your foot's injured. Stay out of this."

"Sure," Lucía grunted. She wasn't planning on staying behind. She waited until the women had parted ways to get to the back exit and go out. She looked around. There was a group of three men near a van. She clenched her teeth, trying to hide her limp, and saw a man leading Isabela towards the vehicle. Isabela's legs looked wobbly from a distance, as if she was about to pass out.

"Hey you, get outta here," one of them shouted when he saw Lucía walking towards them.

"Shut up, idiot. Hello, sweetie. Looking for some fun?" Another man smirked.

Lucía looked at him in the eye. "Leave her alone."

"Ooh, whatcha gonna do, eh? Bite me? Come on, don't be shy. Join the party, precious" the man said, reaching out to touch her. Lucía grabbed the man's wrist and dodged behind him, forcing his wrist up behind his back.

"Don't precious me," she hissed, forcing his arm further up behind his back and pushing him forward and down. The man screamed as she forced him to his knees.

"You're going down, bitch," one of the other men said. Lucía touched her leg. Shit, she thought. She'd left her gun back at Bianca's place. The other man was almost there when he saw movement behind Lucía.

"So," Aveline said calmly, pointing her gun at him, "feel like taking a trip to the station? Beautiful night for that." Melindra, Lia, and Brennan were also pointing their guns at the men.

The others let Isabela go, got in the van and left. The last man standing picked up the other one from the floor and both ran away. Lucía limped towards Isabela, who had just got sick.

"Nice grip, Hawke. Foolish, but nice. You're lucky we're not on duty; otherwise, I'd suspend you for disobeying direct orders," Aveline told Lucía.

"Calm down, biggirl," Isabela's words came out slurred. "I was the s-stupid one."

"Of course you were," Aveline said. "Let's consider this evening finished, shall we?"

"Stick in the mud," Isabela mumbled. Lucía couldn't help but smile. "You're not bad, y'know?" Isabela patted her. "But seriously, stay 'way from my L-Leto." She threw up and passed out.

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Title: a song by Tori Amos. The lyrics are more connected to Aveline and Isabela than the rest of the girls.