Andra sighed groggily as her alarm blared its patented brand of irritation. She wanted to throw it at the wall, but that required movement. She briefly weighed the pros and cons, and then settled for slamming her fist onto what she thought of as the "shut up mean wake-up machine" button. How Leliana, with whom she shared a bedroom, hadn't heard it was beyond her. She drowsily opened her eyes and looked at the time, which read 6:45am. Andra confusedly wondered to herself why she had needed to be awake so Maker-damned early until she noticed a note written on her hand which read "Photo shoot today!" Crap! That's right, The Wardens had another publicity photo shoot at 9am today. It had been hard enough getting everyone up and out the door for the last one, and that had been at noon. How in Thedas was she going to pull this one off?

She pondered the various options for waking up her bandmates while her coffee brewed. Just as the mug was filled nearly to the brim, the doorbell to the apartment they all shared rang loudly several times. "Damnit, Morrigan!" After nearly spilling her coffee, Andra irately strode to the door and opened it to find none other than the band's raven-haired manager on the other side. Morrigan smirked and strode right inside the apartment as though she owned it, and Andra couldn't help but comment. "Should we just get you a bell to wear around your neck? You know, so that the rest of Thedas can know you're coming too?"

Without hesitation, Morrigan quipped "Only if you think it will help awaken your inert comrades."

Andra snorted and closed the door. "That's not the worst option I've come up with so far."

A door at the end of the hallway leading off the living area opened, and Leliana's bathrobe-clad form materialized from the depths of her comfortable bedroom. Too much pink for my taste, thought Andra. Leliana mumbled a hello to Morrigan before gratefully accepting a cup of coffee from Andra. "Now, to wake up the males." Stated Morrigan as she immediately began digging through the cupboards.

"What are you looking for?" Asked Andra.

"A large bowl." Came the reply.

"Ah, yes, a bowl. Because everyone needs a bowl in the morning. No wonder you're not awake yet, Leli. You don't have a bowl."

Morrigan smiled as she found a large enough one and looked at her friend. "The bowl is to be filled with water. Can I assume that that quip-filled mind of yours can reach the logical conclusion as to what will happen after that?" She asked as she began to fill the bowl.

Andra protested. "Now Morrigan, that's just wrong!" She left the room and returned a moment later holding a small object in her hand. "Dumping water on Alistair while he's sleeping and not even bothering to film it. What's wrong with you?" The two women smiled conspiratorially at each other, and even Leliana could not suppress a giggle as they crept toward the room he and Oghren shared. She paused in her coffee drinking as she watched the two women quietly open the door and then disappear. There was a brief pause and then a splashing noise followed by "ANDRASTE'S ARSE!" and then "BLEEDIN' NUGHUMPERS!" as Andra and Morrigan fled the room, breathless from laughter. The front door opened as Sten returned from his morning workout. "What's going on here?"

Andra calmed herself and replied, "Oh, nothing. Just trying to make sure everyone's awake and clean for the photo shoot today."

Later

The Wardens were taking two separate taxis to get to their photo shoot. Thankfully, Morrigan had been more than happy to avoid having to share one with Alistair, for whom the feeling was very much mutual. Andra, Alistair, Sten, and Leliana all piled into the first taxi while Morrigan and Oghren grudgingly agreed to share the second. Andra, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned toward Alistair and gave him her most winning smile. "Ah come on, Ali-Bear! If you keep sulking like that you'll get frown lines! And then no woman will ever want to punch that V-Card of yours!"

"ANDRA!" Alistair shouted, nervously glancing at the driver.

"Oh, so you're a virgin, lad? Nothing wrong with that, but should you like I know some very fine young ladies who would be more than willing to-"

"Thanks, Bodahn, but I think Alistair's about to explode." Andra interrupted before he could finish that sentence. "His face just turned a shade of red that wasn't known to man until now." Andra was desperately trying not to laugh at her best friend's predicament as she settled back into her seat. She was never quite sure what Alistair was waiting for. He was young, good-looking, funny, and kind. There was certainly no lack of women practically throwing themselves at him at any one of their gigs. She herself felt no particular spark for him, but she could see why any other woman could.

"Well, suit yourself, mesere. Should you change your mind though, the offer stands." Bodahn offered congenially.

Alistair ran a hand through his hair. "Thanks, Bodahn, but could we, um, talk about anything else, please?"

To Alistair's great relief, the conversation then shifted to the upcoming Battle of the Bands in Denerim. It was still a few months away, but the winners would receive not only a record deal, but also a national tour. "If we can just tighten up our sound in a few key places, I know we can win!" Andra beamed optimistically. "This could be such a huge opportunity for us. No more playing in dirty bars where the mics haven't been cleaned in ten years. No more cages between us and the audience."

"No more driving out to the middle of nowhere to play at some 12 year-old's birthday party." Sten chimed in. "Exactly, Sten." said Andra, "Though I still won't pretend I didn't see you playing with their cat."

"I was not playing. It was a training exercise." Sten grumbled. Andra looked back at him sardonically. "Yeah, and I'm the queen of Ferelden."

Finally they arrived at their destination, Kinloch Towers. As the group walked into the large room where the photo shoot was to be held, they were greeted by a flurry of noise and activity centered on the man who looked to be the photographer. Andra approached him, cautiously avoiding the many assistants carrying a variety of scopes, props, and other things she couldn't even put a name to. "Excuse me, are you Master Wade?"

The man turned with a flourish, "Am I Master Wade? Is there anyone else who would be put upon with such chaos? The backdrop is all wrong, the large props aren't here yet, and the band has not even shown up!" Andra gave the man a moment to catch his breath. "Well, as it happens we can solve one of those issues right now. Hi, we're The Wardens. Sorry we're late."

Wade's expression instantly warmed. "Ah, of course! I was told to expect a lovely redhead as their leader. Pleasure to meet you, I am Master Wade! Now if you will please step this way and my costumer will show you your outfits!" With another flourish he gestured the band toward a corner of the room which was filled with racks of clothing. Andra approached the older woman who was rifling through them. "Hi, are you the costumer?" The woman looked up from the suit in her hand. "Yes, I am. My name is Wynne, and I take it you are Miss Tabris?" She smiled kindly and extended her right hand, which Andra readily shook. The rest of the group was introduced, including Morrigan, before they were redirected to Hair & Makeup. "It is the first rule of fashion that one must not dress before setting one's hair or putting on one's makeup." Wynne warned them sagely. Oghren grumbled to Andra. "Still not used to this fancy-pants hair stuff. Better to just be natural. Hehe. I'm sure the ladies would love that."

"I'm sure they would, Oghren. Not get your butt in the chair."

As Andra herself was about to sit down, she turned and noticed a very attractive man standing against the wall to her right. Moderately tall, tanned skin, long blond hair. By his press pass she guessed him to be a reporter of some kind, but she couldn't tell from where she was seated which publication he represented. He had been chatting with one of the other reporters, but he turned when he felt someone's gaze on him, and their eyes met. He smiled flirtatiously at her and she started to smile back, then a loud voice in her head called her back to her senses. Hello! You're at work, remember? No flirting! Even if he is gorgeous! Gotta keep up that man-hating, ball-busting image! She busied herself with pretending to look through the makeup tools which had been left at her station until a hair stylist came bustling over to her. She told herself to remain cool when she noticed the gorgeous man coming toward her out of the corner of her eye.

"Pardon me, but are you Andra Tabris?"

Andra aimed for an air of indifference, trying especially not to swoon at his foreign accent. "That depends on who's asking, and what you're going to print." Whoops. I think i missed 'indifference' and hit 'almost hostile'.

For his part, however, the beautiful man seemed unruffled, and laughed as though she'd said something clever. "My apologies. My name is Zevran Arainai. I am, as you can see, a reporter for Crow magazine. A foreign correspondent, actually, as we are based in Antiva. And this particular interaction is currently off-the-record." He smiled charmingly.

"Alright then, I am Andra Tabris. Is there something I can help you with, or do you just like staring at women?"

He paused for a beat, but his smile only grew wider. "Not all women, just the ones I find both interesting and beautiful."

Andra swallowed. I swear, if I wasn't experiencing a dry spell right now, this would SO not be working. "Is that supposed to make me swoon, or something? Look, if you don't mind, I'd rather not chat with anyone right now. Ok?"

The smile faded slightly, but his eyes remained hot, and his gaze bored straight into hers. "Of course. I hope to see you again sometime, Bellissima."

As he turned to walk back to where he'd been standing before, Andra both cursed herself and made a mental note to later look up what "bellissima" meant. A slight smile quirked her lips. Well, if I just HAPPEN to see him again sometime, and we just HAPPEN to end up talking again, that's not my fault, is it?

A lofty voice came from behind Andra, startling her. "So, am I included in this request to avoid conversation, or is it only very good-looking men you're desperately trying not to flirt with?" Said Morrigan as she sidled next to her friend. Andra winced slightly. "I was really hoping no one saw that. No, Morrigan, you're not included. What's up?"

"I was simply wondering how we're paying for all of this, since you've been very mysterious about it all. Refusing even to tell one's manager. I was beginning to think something was amiss, to be truthful, yet here we are and all appears to be well."

Andra had known that it was only a matter of time before Morrigan asked about this. She motioned the other woman closer and whispered to her. "I can't tell you everything right now because Alistair really wanted this to be kept quiet, but his uncle is paying for everything."

"And this mysterious uncle no one save you has ever known about would be...?"

"Eamon Guerrin."

"...the CEO of Redcliffe Industries?"

"It's a long story, just promise me you won't say anything until Alistair is ready to tell everyone, ok?"

Morrigan eyed her skeptically. "As you wish. Though I reserve the right to disbelieve this claim until proof is brought forth."

"Pics or it didn't happen. Got it." Andra smiled as Morrigan walked away. She allowed herself one more glance at the handsome Antivan reporter before she turned back to the mirror and started to focus herself. I get the feeling this is going to be a long day.