It was late after midnight when the club finally closed. Fenris made sure that all guests left and called cabs for those who weren't able to walk or drive on their own anymore, than he checked all security systems, had one last conversation with Danarius and finally came to her. She had helped Hawke tidying up the bar, and now she was tired and exhausted.
The elf had changed into leather clothes and a turtleneck.
"Change", he ordered and handed her new clothes over. "You have 5 minutes."
She frowned, but did as she was told and changed into the jeans and a top in the bathroom. When she came back, Hawke was just about to leave and winced at her. "See you tomorrow, Sweetie?"
She could not help but smile and nodded. "Yes." At least there seemed to be one decent person in this place. Turning to Fenris, she saw him watching Hawke out of narrowed eyes and had suddenly the urge to defend the other man. "He just tries to be nice."
Ignoring her words, Fenris went outside. She followed him into the backyard of the club where he stopped next to a motorbike.
Her eyes widened. She hadn't driven with something like this since... quite some time, and the memory of driving was the best of what was left of the person she had been driving with.
"Come", he ordered, and again she followed his instruction without arguing. Climbing behind him on the motorbike, she wrapped her arms around his waist and held on when he started the machine and drove down the alley next to the club and on the main street of the Red Lantern dictrict.
She felt that he was tense, but he definitely was a good driver. Soon she found herself leaning into him and enjoyed the wind in her hair while he was steering the bike on the highway and accelerated. She couldn't remember any other moment when she had ever felt so free. In this moment, there were no worries, no doubts, only the road and the sound of the motor and the wind in her ears. Fenris and she were a good team: She leaned with him in every curve, trusting his abilty to bring them savely to his home, even though he drove fast.
They left the Highway not as expected nearby the noble quarter of the town, but drove towards one of the human worker quarters. Before entering it, Fenris turned into a side road leading to an old, abandoned building which must have been in earlier times a manor, but now it only seemed fit for demolition. Ivy was covering the walls and stairs and weed sprawled in the garden. Several windows were destroyed and graffiti sprayed at the outside walls.
"You are kidding", she gasped. "Don't tell me that you are living in this hole?"
"I am", he answered and stopped the motorbike. "In case you have a problem with this hole, feel free to look for something else."
"But then how would you look after me?", she asked dryly and got off the bike, approaching the main entrance. The door opened with a rusty creak when she pushed against it.
The mansion was immense. Corridors over corridor and rooms over rooms remembered of a time when it had been filled with life. Unfortunately most of them were barely inhabitable anymore. Time and weather had left signs on the old stones, and a chilly wind was blowing through the corridors.
Fenris lived in one room on the first floor. It only contained a bed, a desk and a fireplace plus bench. Nothing more.
For a long moment she simply stood in the doorway and looked at it. There were so many things she could have said, but none of them seemed fitting. All she could think about was how damn lonely life had to be in such a place. But he probably did not want to have it any other way.
"Why this house?" She had to ask.
"Danarius gave it to me", came the answer.
That explained a lot. Not accepting this gift would have been unwise. And in some strange and cruel way it was an honor to be able to live in such a place as an elf.
"Have you worked for him all your life?" It wasn't unusual: A lot of elves were born into a household and simply stayed, just like their parents and grandparents had done.
This time she felt his hesitation and curÃously turned to him. "No", he eventually said. "Danarius saved me some years ago and gave me a place to live at."
She raised an eyebrow. "He saved you?"
"Enough of that", he answered harshly. "You can have the room next to mine. Meet me tomorrow at two o'clock in the afternoon, than we will drive to the club together. Until than, I do not want to see you. And don't dare leaving this place without my permission."
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "How would you even know?"
"The whole place is equipped with video cameras."
She coughed. "Are you kidding? You have no windows, but CAMERAS? Are you fearing that someone could try to break in? Not to destroy your illusions, but there is nothing you could get from here..."
The door closed in front of her face. Well, obviously the argument was finished.
"Very mature", she said and turned to have a look at her room.
At least its windows were intact. That was sadly the only good thing she could say about it. The bed creaked, and the old dressing tables' mirror was so clouded that she could barely see her face.
"You should have told me that I should buy bed linens as well", she shouted, slamming her luggage to the ground. "And curtains. Oh, and CLEANING POWDERS!"
No reaction. Frustrated, she left the room and went downstairs, looking for the kitchen. Next to it she found a small lumber-room and everything she needed to clean her room.
One hour later she had removed all spiderwebs, a dead rat out of the corner and more than a bit of dust. The mirror was still clouded and she definitely needed to buy linens, but for this night it would work. Changing into her sleeping clothes, she took the toiletries she had bought in the supermarket and went looking for the bathroom. She found it in the cellar, a big area with several basins and showers. Carefully she switched the water on and sighd in relieve when it became hot quickly.
Against all expectations she fell asleep quickly once she was in bed and woke up late in the morning. Yawning, she stretched and got up, leaving her room drowsily... and stopped midway when she realized that Fenris was training in the entrance hall below her. His upper body was naked, and he moved with fluent grace. There were no unnecessary movements, every step was precise and powerful. What he did reminded of material arts, and yet it was different, something she had never seen before. But maybe she was only distracted by the fact that the silver markings he wore on his chin and neck covered his whole body and seemed to shimmer in the sunlight falling into the room.
Shit, he WAS an attractive bastard. She should make sure that she stopped drooling before he recognized her...
"Like what you see?"
Caught, it took her some seconds to get her composure back. Than she shrugged and stepped to the railway of the stair. "Let's put it that way: You are much more enjoyable when you do not talk... or stick your hand in other peoples chests..."
A dark sound could be heard, reminding her of a mixture of a chuckle and a growl. He still wasn''t looking at her, but continued doing his training session.
"I am hungry", she stated when her growling stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten in hours.
"There is breakfast in the kitchen."
"How sweet", she said while going downstairs. "You bought biscuits for me?"
This time he REALLY chuckled. "You can have what is left. And afterwards you can start making yourself useful and do the dishes..."
Liz spent her first day as Fenris' room mate with exploring his mansion and ignoring his scowls whenever they met. She had never been good in listening to others advices, so his wish that she stayed out of his way had more or less fallen on deaf ears. Besides: She preferred to know the place she was living in, especially its' escape ways. After all she was a thief and hadn't exactly had the best relationship with authorities in the past.
Unfortunately exploring the mansion did not really distract her from her real concerns, namely the fact that she still had no idea how to get out of her new employment. She didn't believe one second that Danarius would simpy let her go when he could earn money with her skills as gambler. And if she failed he probably would ask Fenris to do his "fist in the chest" trick again, an experience she certainly did not want to repeat.
One way or another, she was in real trouble.
Sighing, she met with Fenris at two o'clock in fron of the mansion. He didn't say anything when they drove down the alley and towards the highway, so she shouted eventually: "How was your day? What have you been doing after training?"
"Making sure you did not get into any trouble", came the dark answer.
"And how did you do that? I have barely seen you... well, apart from the few times I had the honor to witness your scowling face..."
"I told you that I have cameras installed in the whole house."
She froze. "So you STALKED me?"
"Don't be ridiculous", he growled. "Of course I did not stalk you. I only made sure that you did not do something stupid."
"Don't tell me that you have one of those things in my room as well...?"
He sighed annoyed and accelerated instead of answering. Pressing her lips together, she wrapped her arms more firmly around his hips. If he thought that she would forget about this little discussion, he was completely mistaken!
Half an hour later they arrived at the club, parked in the backyard and entered the building. Fenris showed her where she could change into one of her dresses and instructed her afterwards how to behave in front of the guests. She was told how to talk, how to look, and especially how to NOT look and NOT talk...
"You know, I have done this", she eventually hissed when he explained her once again that she should NEVER insult a guest. "I know how to give my opponent the feeling that he is always right and I am only a small, silly wannabe gambler. I won't win too often, I make sure that nobody sees me cheating and I always smile. Been there, have done that before. Alright?" Irritated she realized that the male waiter who had prepared the room for the evening had fallen silent during her rambling and was now staring at Fenris and herself. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "What? Have you never seen anybody talk like this to your mighty security boss?"
The waiter - a half elf with white-blond hair and a beautiful young face - averted his eyes and murmured: "I... need to pick something up outside..." Than he was gone and she alone with Fenris.
Sighing, she looked the elf into the eyes. "Don't tell me that I can never-ever critisize anything you say or do when someone else is present!?"
His answer was surprisingly calm. "You can, but you have to live with the consequences if you do so."
"Consequences?" She nearly choked on the word. ""Are you planning on locking me up if I speak my mind?""
There was the smallest hint of a smile in the corner of his mouth, but his answer was serious. "I don't fear your opinion, and I certainly won't forbid you to speak your mind. But what I doubt is that you are wise enough to know what to say and what NOT to say. So we'll see where this will lead." Getting up from the seat next to hers, he finished: "Anyway: Feynriel - the waiter who just left - is still young and has never seen anybody talk like this to me. He... overreacted."
"Well... there is always a first time", she said and grinned.
Her smile faded when she got a glimpse at his expression. "I will tell you this only one more time, Liz: Don't make any problems. Rules in this etablissement are probably different from what you have known so far. I am quite sure you don't want to experience any consequences for something which is in your little world not problematic at all. Just bite your tongue and do your job. Than there won't be any need for... consequences."
Only when he was gone she realized that she had stopped breathing for a moment. Not because of anger - even though this had been her first reaction when he had started talking - but because of anxious agitation. A part of her understood that he had not wanted to teach her a lesson, but had given her one last warning.
Alright, Liz, she thought and inhaled deeply. Just shut up for a while. That isn't so difficult, is it? But it was, at least for her, and she knew it damn well... Oh Maker...
Fortunately the next days were too busy to get into any trouble. After a long evening of entertaining stupid guests and laughing about bad jokes, she slept long and trained afterwards in the courtyard behind Fenris' mansion to make sure that she did not loose her climbing and fighting skills. Than it was already time to drive to the club and start working again.
It didn't take her long to make herself a picture about her new life and the people who were part of it. Jamie was funny and sexy and the only really friendly person in this place. The waiters were efficient and friendly as well, but it did not appear to be genuine. There was always a hint of fear and dispair surrounding them, especially when Danarius appeard.
Feynriel was the only exception. The young half elf was as kind-hearted as he was beautiful and the favorite of most female - and some male - guests.
The complete opposite to the young waiter was Hadriana, the clubs singer. She was one of the finest examples of a bitch. She had the cruel arrogance of an Orlaisian diva and treated everone else - except of Danarius and the guests - as inferior. Even Orana, her assistant, was treated like a slave.
When it came to Hadriana and her behavior, Liz' vow to bite her tongue had been put on a test more than one time. She had never met anyone who had managed to provoke such an intense disgust in such a short time in her. Not even Danarius gave her this feeling, maybe because he barely spoke to her and also was rarely seen within the club. He only appeared when really important guests were present, otherwise he left it to Fenris to make sure that everything was under control.
The elf acted in his position as security boss with cool efficiency and saw everything. Whenever there was the slightest sign that a guest might have drunken too much or a man became pestering, he took care that he - or she - was driven back home without having a scene. At least he did this in case of wealthy guests. The less wealthy ones found themselves in one of the side streets at the end of the evening.
"Liz!"
"Mmm?"
Fenris stood in front of her. "It's time to go."
"Aye sir", she said, stood to attention and grinned at his scowl. "But I need a coffee first."
He sighed annoyed. "Why am I not sursprised...?"
She shrugged and followed him outside. When she had told him the first time that she needed to have a coffee before and after going to work - and preferably every hour AT work - he had simply ignored her wish; whereupon she had simply left and walked to the little coffee shop nearby the alley to his mansion. It was managed by an Elven woman named Merrill who also exhibited her drawings in it and did not seem to have any problem with the fact that most of her guests were workers who could barely differentiate between a real work of art or an amateurs work. Liz had no idea how the young woman could afford the rent for the shop, but in the end it didn't really matter: She got great coffee in a place which was warm and cozy and could listen to Merrills sweet - and quite naiv - stories about how she had gotten to Kirkwall. To sum it up: The elfs' way of living had not quite fit to what her family had had in mind for her, so she had left.
Fenris had picked Liz up half an hour later after, furious about the fact that she had left without his permission, and dragged her out of the shop - at least he had tried. They had fought - physically and verbally - and only stopped when Merrill had asked them how long they had been married.
Since these unsettling words Fenris brought Liz to Merrills shop without arguments; and she for sure did not complain.
After all you had to be thankful to have such an attentive husband...