Aerowena and Cullen – Chapter 9 – If Only It Were Just Awkward

Two months of swaying hips, low cut robes, batting lashes and red lips had gotten Aerowena nowhere. It was as if she was invisible. Half the men in camp had propositioned her in one way or another. From lecherous older Wardens to the young whelps with puppy love in their eyes, she'd gently rebuffed and, sometimes rebuked, each one. Yet she couldn't even get so much as a disapproving glare from Cullen. She'd thought herself too old and wise for pouting, but that's exactly what she found herself doing.

Elbows on knees, hands cradling her face she sat on her bed and wondered if she should just give up. She'd resign herself to celibacy and join the Chantry, hah. Oh, she'd like to see the reverend mother's face at the Chantry at which she tried to take vows.

The door flew open, startling her out of her reverie, and in flew a muscle bound ball of fur the size of a small cart. Baby flew at her knocking her off feet and the bed. Leliana followed in close behind.

"Baby!" She screamed, joyfully, as her face was nearly licked off. She hated to part with him, but he seemed so confined here. She'd sent him off with Leliana knowing both would come see her often.

"Leliana" she beamed, getting up and hugging her dearest friend. She opened her eyes to see Zev standing there. Looking from one to the other she detected a knowing smile from Leliana. "Well, how interesting", she said quietly. Seeing her friend frown she smiled broadly "And wonderful!" She clapped noting the relief in both their shoulders.

"I want to hear everything!" She drew her friend to the bed.

"I shall leave you to talk. Unless, of course, you needed me for something? Yes?" His leer made her giggle, but she managed out a "No" at the same time as Leliana, both of them were reduced to more giggles.

"Oh how wonderful for you Leliana. Is it…" She wanted to ask about love, but Leliana had become so different since Marjolaine's death. Perhaps her dear friend had decided for something less substantial.

"It is what it is, no? A little love, a little fun, but so much more"

"Ah you're ever the enigmatic soul, Leli. Are you happy then?"

"Yes, very much so, my dear friend. He is…" Leli seemed to search for the words, "more complex than I had thought; than either of us had thought." Leli seemed to really look at her friend for the first time. "But you must tell me of this gown and those marvelous shoes!"

"Well, not that it makes much difference; the gown is for a particular man. One that hasn't noticed this gown nor any other. And though my hair is longer, he is completely oblivious to my coy little hair twirls. I dare say he doesn't even notice my existence, except every once in a while I catch him staring. Sometimes it seems contemptuous, but others…I don't know Leli. Perhaps I'm fooling myself."

"Are you certain he enjoys women?" Leave it to Leli to go there, Aerowena smiled.

"Oh yes, quite sure."

"Perhaps he isn't a man to be moved by looks or wiles then. Perhaps he is a man moved by deed and word." Leli looked deeply into her friend's eyes. "You are too used to getting your way, my dear friend. Did you think I hadn't noticed. You've always been able to use your beauty to, shall we say, urge men. But as a minstrel, I can tell you that not all men can be moved by the way your hips move. Some men are moved by what you say."

"I'm not completely daft, Leli. I know that not every man will fall at my feet. But how can I possibly show him more of me when he won't even look at me?"

"If I was trying to seduce a man like that, I would dress more as a man, sometimes, and speak gently. Such a man would feel no threat from friendship, no?"

It hadn't occurred to Aerowena to try and be friends. She'd tried that once, with Alistair, only to be brought roses and told how much he enjoyed her company. After a dreadful moment, where she felt as if she'd just smashed kittens with her feet, she had told Alistair, regretfully, they could only be friends. He was so much like Cullen it actually ached when he stumbled over words.

"You are wilier than the reddest fox, my sweet Leliana", Aerowena smiled and finally figured out what to do with those roses.