It was the time of the year every sensible person hated. The air was still warm from summer and the leaves had a little bit of life left in them. It was the beginning of the school year. It was time be confined inside, rigorously tested, and fit in with the status quo. What wasn't to look forward to?
Students ran up the steps of Rydell University, mages and Templars shoving each other as they passed one another. Elves gracefully weaved through the crowd and dwarves shoved past everyone with their Napoleonic complexes. A booming ram's horn was blown as a warning to get to class and everyone rushed into classrooms. A lone group waltzed through the hallways, donned in black leather jackets with Chargers embroidered in white letters. They tripped the stragglers and blew raspberries at the freshmen.
"Hey, Krem, how was your summer?" Skinner asked, nudging him in the ribs. "Land any gals?" He proceeded to make a crude gesture with his hips and Krem shoved him.
"Shut it, Skinner," Krem chuckled. "I spent the summer working."
"Working?" Stitches clarified, looking aghast. Krem shrugged.
"Yeah, some town needed protection from bandits, killed an infestation of spiders, the like."
"Got all lot of money out of it?"
Krem shook a pouch of gold and tucked it back in his pocket. "You could say that."
Dalish raised an eyebrow. "What do you need the money for?"
"I'm saving up for a new mount. I'm gonna beat that Dorian at Thunder Road."
"Those good for nothing Vints," Dalish grumbled.
Rocky nodded and Grim grunted in approval. Krem leaned against the lockers, and crossed his arms. A couple of freshmen elves passed by them, giggling and blushing. Skinner winked at them, causing them to giggle even more and scurry away. The Chargers chuckled. At that moment, Iron Bull strutted through the doors. Krem caught sight of him and grinned. All the boys called out to Bull. He smiled and bumped fists with Krem, throwing his arm around his shoulders.
"Hey, Chief!" Krem greeted.
"Hey, Krem. How's it goin'?" Bull said.
"Not too bad. What you do this summer?" Krem asked.
Bull shrugged. "Not much. Spent some time in the Brecilian Forest, took a couple of jobs."
"Any better ladies there?" Skinner asked.
Bull shrugged again. "Nah, just the same we got here."
The boys paraded jauntily down the halls, the only stragglers left behind. They playfully punched and dodged each other, scuffing up the floors. Bull threw in a couple of tosses but otherwise, grinned at his boys. Krem elbowed him.
"So you pin a few hussies?"
"Eh, there was this one elf…"
The Chargers gathered in close to hear the juicy details.
"Yeah? She put out?"
"Aw c'mon, try to think of something else for a change," Bull scoffed.
"Only if you do, Chief."
Iron Bull shook his head, but was still grinning. The Chargers swaggered into their classrooms, teasing and laughing at each other.
As the group disappeared inside classrooms, Lavellan timidly walked through the hall, tugging at her hair. This was the last place she wanted to be. Why did her Keeper have assign her here? This was way out of her comfort zone. At least she wasn't totally alone. She had bumped into Cassandra on the way inside and the tall human had taken it upon herself to show Lavellan the ropes. Cassandra followed close behind, talking rapidly about their schedule and the social norms. From what she understood, there were classes for all the different classes and some basic foundational classes everyone had to take, no matter their class or specialization, like how to brew a healing potion or basic fighting skills.
"Mages and Templars don't mix for obvious reasons, stay clear of the dwarves because they'll sell goods for a higher price, and watch out for the warriors, they're an angry bunch…" Cassandra rattled off.
Lavellan stopped in her tracks and fidgeted with her books. All this information was so overwhelming. What if she couldn't find anywhere to fit in? What if everyone hated her? Cassandra paused and laid a hand on Lavellan's arm.
"Are you alright?" Cassandra asked.
Lavellan slightly nodded. "I just liked it back in my clan."
Cassandra patted her arm. "Don't worry. Just stick with me and you'll be fine."
Just then, the front doors burst open and a couple of girls in dark red jackets came sashaying in. One of them was an elf, which lifted Lavellan's spirits a little. Maybe she was a fellow Dalish from another clan.
"Aneth ana!" Lavellan greeted.
The elf gave her a stony stare. "Say that again?"
"Oh, erm, hello!" Lavellan tried again. Upon closer look, she saw that the elf lacked the tell-tale vallaslin of the Dalish. She bit the inside of her check, hiding her embarrassment. The elf looked her up and down, unimpressed.
"Who are you supposed to be?" the elf asked.
Cassandra gave the elf a warning look. "Sera, cool it. This is Lavellan, she's new."
Sera rolled her eyes. "Goodie. She can join us in our torture then." She paused. "Welcome to Rydell, I guess."
A tall dark mage joined Sera's side. "But this time, we're on top of the food chain. The scum will wipe our shoes."
"Vivienne," Cassandra greeted. "Always a pleasure." Lavellan caught the sarcastic edge to her voice and liked the human girl a little more.
Vivienne put on a charming grin. "Naturally." She turned away from Lavellan, and to Sera. "So did you see him? He's looking pretty fine, don't you think?"
"Oh, c'mon, you know I just like to mess with him. He's got a bit that I don't like," Sera said.
Lavellan shuffled her feet, feeling uncomfortable as the girls continued to chatter. She thought fondly of the summer and wished she could travel back in time. She missed her clan, the forest, and, as much as she wanted to deny it, Iron Bull. Sighing, she followed Cassandra to their classroom.
Students were in a raucous. They were cast spells, showing off dagger tricks, and bragging about their skill in the battle field. Cassandra excused herself to talk to one of the dwarves. Lavellan stood awkwardly for a moment before sliding to sit towards the back of the classroom, hoping not to be noticed. The teacher began to take roll, glancing up at the students every so often and didn't even try to quiet them down. Right as he reached Lavellan's name, the intercom chimed with announcements.
"Welcome back to Rydell, students! We hope you had a safe and fun summer. We'd like to remind everyone that spells and fights are not allowed in the halls and blood magic is punishable by expulsion. Also, we encourage you to attend the pep rally this Saturday and show support to Coach Lysete and the jousting team. And the most exciting news – the courts of Ferelden has chosen Rydell as a representative of good and wholesome students. King Alistair will be hosting a ball from our courtyard and will be evaluating the quality of our campus. So be on your best behavior. Thank you for your time!"
Lavellan seemed to be the only one paying attention to the announcements. The teacher seemed to have forgotten about roll and didn't call Lavellan's name, much to her relief. After several demands and threats from the teacher, the students quieted down enough for a lesson to be taught. Silently sighing, Lavellan pulled out her notebook and began to hurriedly jot down the recipes being displayed on the board.
It was a relief when lunch period came. Cassandra escorted her to a table where Sera and Vivienne were already sitting. Lavellan clenched her lunch tray tightly as she sat down. These girls were so intimidating and rather rude and Lavellan didn't know if it was the best idea to associate with them. There had to be better people who wouldn't give her such a hard time about being a new kid. But Cassandra had been so merciful with accepting her and helpful with showing her around. She didn't want to seem ungrateful. Sighing, she pushed her food around instead of eating. Vivienne slid next to Lavellan, nudging her gently.
"So what do you think of Rydell, Lavellan?" she asked.
"It's nice. Much different than what I was expecting. I've never been around so many…" she trailed off, not wanting to sound stupid.
"Have you only lived in the Brecilian Forest?" Vivienne asked.
Lavellan nodded, fixedly staring at her food. Sera laughed cruelly.
"Sheltered, much?" Sera asked scathingly.
Blushing, Lavellan stood to get napkins. Cassandra punched Sera in the shoulder, frowning.
"What's wrong with you? Don't you think she'd make a good addition to the Red Jennies?" Cassandra asked.
Sera snorted. "Too soft to be Red, don't you think?"
"I like her. Seems nice," Vivienne said.
Cassandra smiled smugly and Sera rolled her eyes. Lavellan rejoined the table, ready to tell the girls that she was going to find somewhere else to sit. Cassandra began a conversation with her and she felt a little more at ease. At least someone here liked her.
On the other side of the cafeteria, the Chargers exchanged filthy jokes and laughed loudly. A few of the boys made crude gestures at the girls passing by, who just ignored them. Krem bumped into Iron Bull, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"Hey, I think that I speak for everyone when I say we wanna hear more about what happened in the Brecilian Forest," Krem grinned.
Iron Bull shrugged nonchalantly. "It was nothing. Just drop it."
Judging by the looks on their face, the Chargers weren't going to drop it. Iron Bull sighed and leaned in.
"So I met this elf who was crazy for me. She was cornered by a demon so naturally, I saved her. Took her to a tavern to calm her down, bought her a drink, and got talking," he started. "Next thing I know, she's all over me and well, she was good, if you know what I mean."
The Chargers crowed and nodded for more. Iron Bull gritted his teeth. He didn't want to say how it was the best summer of his life, how he had never met anyone like her before, how he was pretty sure he more than just liked her. But he couldn't seem sappy in front of the Chargers. They'd think him weak to be so committed to someone. So he continued to lie.
"I told her we'd still be friends, seeing as it was all just a fling."
Krem frowned. "That's all you've got to say, Chief? That doesn't sound right."
"It is what it is. Now quit asking me about her," Iron Bull grunted.
Back at Lavellan's table, she was answering similar questions as Iron Bull. She smiled timidly.
"I met this Qunari, he was sweet as could be," she started.
Sera barked a laugh. "A Qunari? Sweet? That's unheard of."
"Well, he was. He was a real gentleman, never treated me wrong."
"Sounds like a creep to me."
Lavellan pursed her lips, wanting to freeze Sera into a cube and smash it into a million pieces. What was with this elf? She was rude for no good reason and didn't seem to care about anyone but herself. Lavellan made a movement to stand but Cassandra laid a hand on her arm and smiled.
"Don't worry about Sera. She's like this with everyone. She grows on you," Cassandra said quietly.
"I don't think I want her to grow on me. She seems like a fungus," Lavellan snapped.
Cassandra nodded and shrugged. "Yes, but she's a good person."
Lavellan didn't want to give Sera a chance to prove her so-called goodness but she didn't think Cassandra was the lying type. She forced a nod and picked at her food.
"So, what was this guy's name anyways?" Sera asked.
"Iron Bull," Lavellan answered.
Sera gaped and chortled. Cassandra and Vivienne exchanged surprised looks. Lavellan didn't understand why they reacted this way. Maybe they'd heard of his accomplishments. He claimed to be widely known for his mercenary work. She didn't think much of it. The ram horn boomed, signaling the end of lunch. Sera and Vivienne rose to leave.
"Well, maybe if you're lucky, your Prince Charming might show up again," Sera said over her shoulder.
Cassandra glared at Sera while Lavellan threw away her remaining food. As they walked to their next class, Lavellan couldn't help but wish that she could see Iron Bull again. She'd never met anyone like him before, someone so seemingly fierce and ferocious but as gentle as could be when it was just the two of them. Maybe in the morning, she'd send him a raven to how he was doing. She knew they agreed it would be a fling but she didn't want it to be a fling anymore. She only hoped he felt the same way.