53. Settling Debts
Sigrun straight up stares for a few more seconds before a grin splits her face. "I knew you two were acting weird!"
Jowan smirks-an interesting combination with the red shading his face-and shifts his weight to one elbow so he can hold out the other hand. He shoots me a knowing look as he wiggles his fingers, as if to say Pay up.
I wrinkle my nose at him as I hop off the bed and toss him his shirt instead. "Thanks for knocking, by the way, Sig."
"Why would I need to knock?" she retorts, grinning. "I know he slept with his pants on, an' I've seen you change before, boss."
I have to concede the point, which I do with a grumble and a nod as I root through my pack for my money pouch.
By the time Jowan's gotten out of bed and pulled on his shirt, I've dug out the ten silvers. He's in the process of rolling up his sleeves when I cross back, coins jingling in my hand.
I hesitate before I hand them over. "Y'know, she said she knew we were acting weird, not that she knew we were together."
"That was my best theory for why you were actin' weird, though," the dwarf chirps.
I glare at her. "Did I ask you?"
"Nope," she replies cheerily.
Jowan chuckles and holds out his hand again. "C'mon, Rahna, don't be such a sore loser."
"You, ser mage, are lucky I like you so much," I grouse, slapping the money in his hand.
He grins and kisses my temple. "I love you, too."
Aenya snickers. "Do we need to leave you two alone? Again?"
"No!" Jowan and I protest in unison.
Both dwarves laugh at us for that. "Good. The food's getting cold."
"Well, we can't have that..."
"So, boss," Sigrun begins as we settle around the table to eat breakfast. "What was the exchange of money for exactly?"
"Jowan bet me ten silver you'd figure us out before we broke the news. I'm still not convinced he won." I lightly kick his ankle under the table.
"Y'know, Jowan, if she wants to argue semantics, I think she actually has a good case," Sigrun mumbles around a mouthful of food. "I may have had you mostly figured out, but we walked in on you two swappin' spit. It's not like she sat me down and told me." She shoots me a reproachful look.
"I was going to!" I protest, coughing as half a bite of porridge goes down the wrong pipe.
"So she had us figured out before we told her," Jowan shrugs, smiling mischievously. "I still won."
"Y'know what? Since it's you, I'm gonna let it slide," I tease. "B'sides, if we apply that line of reasoning, Declan had us pegged before she did, which means you owe me twenty silver."
Jowan thinks about it for a second and grimaces. "Drat. You have a point. I didn't think of that..."
"So you were makin' bets on us, Commander?" Sigrun pretends hurt. "I'm crushed."
"Yep. It's payback," I grin.
"No, I'm crushed you didn't have more faith in me," she elaborates, matching my grin.
"Ah. Well, at least Jowan did," I point out.
"And that's why he's my favorite," she teases. "Well, him an' Declan."
"Gee, you talk about Declan almost as much as I talk about Jowan..." I let the sentence trail off, raising an eyebrow at the brunette dwarf.
"Nope. Sorry to burst your bubble, Commander, but Pretty Boy an' I are just friends." She's so unfazed by my teasing tone that I believe her.
"So, how much ground d'you think we can cover?" Aenya asks, nibbling on a piece of toast.
I can't really blame her for being antsy; this is her significant other we're going to rescue. "Depends on the weather, how full the roads are. It's been clear and chilly for a while now, so weather shouldn't be a problem. And we're not near enough to a holiday for there to be an overwhelming number of travelers. We should be able to make a good amount of progress, I think, barring unforeseen circumstances."
"Shh!" Jowan covers my mouth with one hand. "This is us you're talking about, Rahna. Mentioning 'unforeseen circumstances' like that is like inviting them to occur."
I push his hand away. "Well, then, you're just as guilty now, should something happen."
"No, I mean the way you phrased it. Far as we're concerned, saying 'barring whatever' is like asking for the 'whatever' to happen."
I snort. "And you being a doom and gloom pessimist helps us, how, exactly?" I ask with a sweet smile.
"Ooooh, she's gotcha there," Sigrun chuckles, polishing off the last of her food and hopping down from the table. "C'mon, slowpokes. We need to get movin'."
"Alright, alright." Aenya's laughing as she slurps down the last bite of her porridge and joins her friend in packing.
Jowan and I exchange glances and hurry to finish our own food. She's right; we do need to get moving.
oOo
We've barely made it out of the town before Sigrun looks at me with a devilish gleam in her eyes. "Care to answer a few questions, boss?"
Oh, sod it all. I blow out a breath, debating if this is worth it. "Depends on the questions," I finally hedge.
"How long you two been a thing?" She nods in Jowan's direction.
"Ummm... since something like three weeks after Aeonar?" I shrug. "The day Velanna and I got back from Amaranthine." It already seems like it was ages ago and yesterday all at the same time.
"And you managed to keep it under wraps this long?" She looks impressed. "Gotta say, Commander, that's no mean feat. Wait a minute..." Pale blue eyes narrow. "You two came to your senses the day you got back from Amaranthine?" She scowls when I nod. "Damn it, that means Nate won the bet." She winces, as if expecting me to make some demands of my own, then looks confused when I don't.
"He caught us kissin' the day he got back from the city," I explain. "Practically had to beat it out of him, but he already told me about the pool."
"Ah."
"And you can blame Jowan for Nate winning. He's the one who confessed his feelings first. Maker only knows how long it would have taken me otherwise."
"Damn mage," she laughs. "But I'm happy for you, Commander. Part of why we tease is how perfect you two are for each other."
"Oh, really?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Uh-huh. You don't care about his past, he doesn't care about the Hero thing. Plus, you obviously cared a lot about each other, even way back when I first met you and he was just a name in stories you told."
"I vaguely remember insisting we were just friends," I remind her.
"And that may have been true then, but it sure as soddin' stone ain't now," she refutes with a grin "Not considerin' what we walked in on."
I shrug, trying-without success-to ignore the fact that I'm blushing. "It was just a kiss, Sig. It's not like you walked in on us doing the deed or anything." Now that would have been embarrassing.
"Still, given how long you were 'just friends'-" she makes air quotes with her fingers- "to walk in on that kiss-and it was not just a kiss; you shoulda seen yourselves-was a... well, surprise doesn't do it justice. Shock, maybe. Not in a bad way, though. More like 'Sweet Stone, it took them long enough'," she laughs. "Given what you've told me about Zevran, I imagine he'll have some commentary for you when we find him."
"And I will endure it with a smile on my face," I counter. "Because if he can tease, it means he's not dead."
"You're really worried about him, aren't you?"
I nod. "I'm tryin' to be lay on extra optimism for Aenya's sake, but with what Zev told me about the Crows... We get him out of there alive and able to talk, I will let him tease me as long as he wants about whatever he wants."
"I'll remind you you said that, when a month post-rescue you're tryin to come up with way to shut him up because he's driving you crazy."
"Yes, thank you, just what I needed," I rib. "An extra conscience. That's Jowan's job; you'll have to take it up with him if you want it."
"Not for all the gold in Orzammar," she laughs. "He's doin' a great job, and watchin' you bicker is adorable."
And just like that, she swings the conversation in a more upbeat direction; even managing to draw Aenya and Jowan both into it. I'm once again extremely grateful for the Legionnaire's eternally cheerful outlook on life. Maker, do I dread the day she finally makes good on her intention to leave. But no, right now we're thinking happy thoughts.
oOo
Something was bothering her. He could tell. Something in Rahna's eyes, even as she laughed at Sigrun's stories, warning that she was worrying something to death. She didn't do that nearly as often as he did, but Jowan knew when she did it, she tended to overdo it.
So he subtly slowed his pace until he was next to her and reached over to squeeze her hand. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was worrying her now. "We'll find him."
The elf looked at him skeptically. "Look who's suddenly the optimist."
He let out a small chuckle and rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. "I said we'd find him. I didn't say everything would be okay."
"That's more like it. But actually, I wasn't worrying about Zev. I was thinking about Sigrun. A while back, she told me that after we dealt with the darkspawn threat on the surface, she wanted to go for her Calling."
"I see she's right on top of that," Jowan commented dryly, eyeing the dwarf as she laughed and gestured broadly to go with her story.
"Nah, that's my fault. Sort of." Rahna shook her head. "I keep finding things I need her for; bein' in charge while we were in Denerim, comin' to Aeonar... Plus, she has Varlan now, and she feels like she should wait for him to grow up before takin' off on her suicide mission. I just..." A sigh. "I have lost so many people I care about. My mother, Nelaros, Alistair, Anders... The thought of losing another friend is giving me a mild panic attack," she admitted, grip tightening on his hand. "'Specially if Zev's-"
"Don't," Jowan cut her off. He knew what that thinking could lead to. Better than maybe he should've. "Don't think like that. For Aenya's sake and your own."
"I can't help it," Rahna whispered. "He told me enough about the Crows-"
"Rahna. Don't. Do it bit by bit if you have to: 'I won't worry about this until we reach Markham'. Once we're there, push it to not worrying 'til we reach Ansburg. Like that. It's what I did after I left the Circle. And Redcliffe. Kept me from worrying to much about things I couldn't control."
"No, you needed help not worrying too much?" the rogue snarked, grinning impishly at him.
"I know, so out of character," he deadpanned, lightly bumping her shoulder.
"Watch it, sweetheart," Rahna murmured coyly, bumping him right back.
"Seriously, you two, get a room!" Sigrun laughed, walking backwards so she could grin at them.
"When we stop for the night, maybe I will," Rahna shot back, blushing that adorable shade of pinkish-red that somehow made her even more attractive.
And with that, conversation devolved into teasing and the impending air of doom was dispersed. They made sure not to give it an opening to return all the way to Markham.
A/N: And now begins the balancing act between skimming the boring parts and giving enough details their arrival isn't a jarring 'how'd they get there?' sort of thing. I'm also really, really tempted to get a commission of Rahna and Jowan's kiss, because Sig's right; it was a kiss. I am having entirely too much fun with this gang. xD
