A/N: No Cole in this chapter.

Pairings: friendship JosephinexMara, mentioned JosephinexBlackwall, slight MaraxBlackwall

Mara leaned forward on the bar resting her chin in her hands. Since the new club had opened up down the street not as many people came to the bar. Not that it mattered. The family bar wasn't here to entertain the normal masses. It was here for a very select clientele, the seedy underbelly, people who her father and brother dealt with. All Mara had to do was run the bar and look the other way, not that she had much of a choice, even though Cadash Bar was all she had to her name. It wasn't like she was laundering money or anything. She was just painfully aware that a lot of the people who came to the bar were part of the Carta, the Cartel of the Free Marches (though honestly all of Thedas). Technically she was a member as well, but only by family relations, in name only. Mara shook her head at her depressing thoughts and tried to focus on her dreams and aspirations. Maybe someday she'd save up enough money to move away from Free Marches and start up her own bar. Orlais was far enough but Mara thought she might like Ferelden or Antiva better.

Mara sighed again loudly. Her baby blues drifted out the window where the rain was pouring down hard. She thought about her day, earlier Blackwall had been in. He had been coming for a while now, Mara mused. He was slowly moving past bar regular into the territory of friend. Although Mara loved to see him, she wasn't sure if she liked their budding friendship (she couldn't use the word relationship, it would give her hope). Pining over a stranger was easier than pining over a friend. Before, Mara had never had to talk to him, even if she had wanted to. Before, Mara had never run the risk of getting even more attached- or saying something stupid. Still, Mara had to admit, she liked being his friend. Perhaps she could be satisfied with that? Mara tried to ignore the way her heart dropped at the thought of only ever being his friend.

Her emotions made her feel guilty, Mara knew Blackwall was hurting just like her. He managed to bring Josephine up at some point no matter what they were talking about. It was a cruel twist of fate that Blackwall happened to see Josephine after he had been cursed. They ran in completely different circles. Josephine was upperclass, Blackwall was directly in the middle class if Mara was being generous. The only reason Mara even knew Josephine, outside of Blackwall's obsessive love with her was because Josephine's siblings frequented her bar and on more than one occasion Josephine had shown up to drag one of her rowdy siblings out.

Mara sighed again, feeling particularly melancholy. The worst part of the situation was there was no way to rationalize it. Mara didn't have the luxury of claiming that Josephine was prettier than her or any of those things girls did when they were on the losing end of a love triangle. The whole situation was purely accidental. Blackwall could have saw anyone in that moment. He just happened to see Josephine. Mara tried to comfort her aching heart with what she would do that crazy witch, Calpernia, should she ever find her. There was a bottle of good alcohol with particularly hard glass that Mara was saving for the occasion.

It had been a week since Mara had resolved to help Blackwall with Josephine. Mara felt as if she were getting no where with her resolution. She hadn't even given him advice yet. To be fair, she didn't have much advice to give. What did she know about winning crushes over? Her first love was with Blackwall, and that was a doomed love manufactured by a witch. Mara's thought process stopped abruptly at that. She had never realized how utterly depressing that sounded.

Mara shook her head again. She couldn't wallow in despair, that wasn't going to get her anywhere. Deciding that she needed to do something or else she would continue to dwell, Mara pushed her weight off the counter and began to survey her bar. It was empty. On a rainy night like this she was unlikely to get any stragglers in. It was best to close up shop. She walked around the bar, getting everything ready for closing. Mara was just pulling on her jacket to leave when the door flew open and a dark skinned girl with a plethora of files bustled into her bar letting in the cold and the rain.

Mara openly gawked at the flustered woman who was trying to secure everything in her arms. What in Thedas was Josephine Montilyet doing in her bar? There were obviously no siblings for her to drag out. Someone like Josephine did not hang out at Cadash Bar. Josephine looked at Mara, her jacket already half off, her hazel eyes dimming as they took in Mara's state of departure. She let out a groan of utter despair. "Do not tell me you're closing up already?" She begged in her Antivan accent, "But you aren't supposed to close for another hour or so!"

Mara stared at her blankly for a moment, still trying to process what had just happened. "It's pretty dead," Mara managed to say after a second. Her voice sounded strained and weird to her ears; she faked a cough as an excuse to pause a moment to gather her composure, "So, I was going to close up early…" she trailed off. Mara almost never closed early. The money was already spent, she lost the opportunity to make money by closing early. There was nobody at her small apartment to miss her. Still, in a twisted sort of way, it would be rather satisfying to throw the woman who stole Blackwall away from her out of her bar. Oppertunities to get even with your rivals and have a personally rational and logical reason for doing so barely happened in a person's lifetime after all.

"I can keep the bar open for you," she said instead. Mara looked just as surprised as Josephine did by her words. She mentally berated herself while trying to figure out why she had said that. Was she doing this for Blackwall? What wouldn't she subject herself for his sake?

Luckily, Josephine was too relieved to even notice Mara's shocked face, "Oh thank you, Miss Cadash! You are a treasure!" She exclaimed, bustling over to the bar. She dropped her slightly soggy files onto the table. Mara winced. She had just washed the table and now she would have to again. Josephine bustled back and took off her drenched coat, hanging it on the coatrack that Mara was suddenly thankful Cole had dropped off a day or so ago. He always seemed to know just what she needed.

Her thoughts of Cole warmed her a bit and made Mara more able to deal with this bizarre situation. Mara slowly made her way back behind the bar, dazed, "Can I get you something?" She asked. Josephine asked for a drink, an expensive drink. Mara couldn't tell if Josephine was just a snob about her drinks or if she was trying to make it up to her for keeping the bar open by buying one of the more expensive drinks. Either way, Mara made her the drink and passed it to her. Mara could admit that she had been tempted to spit in it. She had resisted the baser desire. After all, it wasn't Josephine's fault at all that she had captured Blackwall's heart.

Mara was surprised to discover that despite the strangeness of the circumstance that the novelty wore off quickly and she found herself Bored. She tilted her head slightly and watched Josephine pour over the documents she had been carrying. From what glimpses she caught of them, they looked complicated, boring, and tedious. "What are you working on?" Mara honestly didn't care about Josephine's life. She didn't want to talk to her. She didn't want to know her. Petty as it was, Mara had a fierce dislike for her on the principle that Josephine was unwittingly making her life miserable. But, she was bored, and boredom drove people to do strange things. "Oh, I wouldn't want to bore you," Josephine protested politely. Mara looked around at her empty bar and raised an eyebrow. Josephine laughed and nodded, "Alright, if you insist."

Mara quickly discovered that Josephine needed no partner to conversing. She told Mara everything Mara could have thought to have asked about, without any prompting. Apparently Josephine worked for an Antivian company that was just opening branches into the Free Marches. Her boss was a workaholic who didn't seem to understand that not everyone was. Although in Mara's opinion, Josephine seemed like a micromanager who couldn't pass off tasks to others because that would mean relinquishing control. Josephine was one of three assistants who worked for this CEO. There was a young man named Dorian who drove Josephine crazy with his flippant manner. The other was a young woman who was Josephine's friend but was apparently too business cutthroat for her taste so they crossed verbs swords often over the acceptable way to handle, well everything. Despite Josephine's rambling Mara was horrified to discover that Josephine was pleasant to be around. To Mara's mortification, she discovered that she enjoyed Josephine's company.

"Ugh, Dorian never takes anything seriously, unless it suits him. Everything is just one big joke! Never mind that we have three high profile clients who need to be briefed. And every time Leliana offers to help her ideas are so manipulative and cruel I feel guilty for even thinking they might be a good idea!" Mara chuckled, "I know what you mean."

"You have a friend like that?" Josephine asked.

"Try my whole family."

Josephine laughed, "Do not get me started on my family."

"I know your family plenty. They are regulars."

Josephine groaned, "Do not remind me. I know your name so well because of how often I see it on our bills."

"Well thank you for paying for the new lighting," Mara joked. Josephine laughed before blinking as if just remembering something. "Maker! Have I been complaining for an hour?" She asked. "Two actually," Mara said with a laugh. Josephine shook her head, "I apologize-" Mara cut her off with a wave of her hand, "I'm a bar tender, I'm used to it. And besides I find you much more amusing then my usual customers who whine, puke on my floor, and then pass out." Mara was surprised and confused that she meant every word.

"I am glad you consider me a step above that," Josephine responded with a wry smile, "This... this has been fun," she agreed, sounding just as surprised as Mara felt, "I really needed someone to talk to you. You are a very good listener. I see why your bar is so popular."

"You should stop by again sometime."

"I should," Josephine agreed with a slight smile, and she left Cadash bar with a lighter feel then she entered it with. Mara watched her leave before slamming her head down on her counter, not caring about the pain that immediately shot through her head. If things were screwed up before. Now things were royally really screwed up. How could she like and hate someone at the same time?

"Why is it always me?!" She demanded to her empty bar.