Chapter 2 – A Plan in Motion
The first thing Leliana needed to decide was who she would nudge the inquisitor towards. She didn't want to force anything; it was the inquisitor who needed to choose. Leliana only wanted to encourage a decision to be made. The more she thought about it, the more she hoped the inquisitor would choose Cullen. Blackwall was with the inquisitor on most of her missions and having your lover with you in dangerous situations where the success of the mission was paramount could be a problem. And Blackwall had something slightly dark about him. Leliana wasn't sure what it was but she had a feeling he had a dark past. It wouldn't be exactly surprising, considering that he was a warden. If that was something that would someday come back to haunt him remained to be seen. Either way, Cullen seemed like the safer choice.
Leliana also thought that the inquisitor seemed more interested in Cullen than Blackwall. She thought she had noticed that the inquisitor directed most of her smiles towards the former templar. Or maybe that was because Cullen kept smiling at her like a lovesick puppy every time she looked at him. Leliana smirked at the thought. Leliana was quite sure that the inquisitor didn't have any feelings like that for the Iron Bull, however. In fact, she had overheard the last sentences of a conversation that sounded a lot like the inquisitor told him that she wasn't interested in him that way. Not that Bull seemed to care about that, he kept watching her openly anyway.
She thought about doing something very simple and arrange for the inquisitor to be shut in a room with Blackwall and Cullen, one of them at a time, and see what came of it. That could potentially just make it worse though, if the inquisitor encouraged them both. Since the inquisitor had failed to notice that three men were ogling her whenever they could, Leliana decided that she must be a bit dense when it came to romances. As a result, the inquisitor could accidentally encourage both men to continue their clumsy advances without meaning to. Leliana wouldn't be surprised if that happened. She shook her head slightly at the idea. She needed to find out more about what the inquisitor wanted first. And she knew just who to ask.
Leliana got up from the chair she'd been sitting on and made her way downstairs to find Josephine, who was sitting at her desk and working as usual. Leliana leaned in and put both her hands on the desk and looked closely at Josephine while asking the question.
"Say, Josie, has the inquisitor confided in you if there is someone in her current company that she finds… particularly interesting?".
Josephine immediately started giggling and Leliana smirked and took her hands off the desk. So there was someone.
"Thank you, Josie, that was all I needed to know". Leliana smiled as she walked away, hearing Josephine call out to her back as she closed the door behind her.
"I didn't tell you anything!".
The only thing that remained now was to keep an eye on the inquisitor whenever she was with any of the men to figure out which one she liked the most. That was easily arranged by inviting everyone to the tavern for drinks later that night. She made sure the inquisitor would show up by saying how it would be good for morale, and made sure Blackwall and Cullen were showing up by telling them that the inquisitor would be there. Piece of cake. The rest of the team could show up if they wanted to but there was no need to go out of her way to convince them.
By nightfall, Leliana made her way to the tavern, where Cullen, Blackwall, Iron Bull, the chargers, Cassandra and Varric were already gathered. Leliana sat down opposite Cullen and Blackwall, who conveniently enough had chosen seats next to each other. The inquisitor arrived shortly afterward and Leliana made sure to move out of the way and offer her the spot she had been sitting in. She then offered to get drinks for everyone. It was almost a little too easy.
All Leliana had to do now was sit back and observe. With both men in front of the inquisitor, it didn't take long for her to see who the inquisitor favored. She was engaging in conversation with both of them, but one man received more of her attention than the other, and she seemed unable to take her eyes off him whenever he spoke. That man was Cullen. Leliana tilted her head and watched Cullen when he was telling a story about a templar recruit. She could understand why he had caught the inquisitor's interest. He was very handsome but had a bit of darkness to him, and his eyes showed that he had gone through a lot in his years. He was the sort of man you immediately knew you could trust.
The conversations continued and Leliana made sure more wine was brought in when they were running low. With a little bit of luck, this problem would solve itself as the night wore on. She had a hard time understanding how no one else seemed to see what was going on between the two of them, since it was quite obvious to her. Only Varric seemed to have noticed. She could see him smirking and looking over at the pair of them several times during the evening.
Leliana could see the inquisitor's eyes lingering at the scar above Cullen's upper lip.
Just as she had started thinking that it would be a good idea to get the two of them alone somewhere, the whole thing was interrupted by a bucket of cold water being emptied on everyone around the table from far above. She quickly looked up at the ledge above them and couldn't see anyone, but she could hear Sera's cackling laugh as she ran away.
Leliana groaned and closed her eyes in disappointment for a moment. Everyone had jumped up, exclaiming angrily at the unpleasant surprise, and the magic of the moment was gone. Thanks, Sera.