Just party stuff, no plot things here. Mostly amusing conversations that I noticed in-game. You can skip it if you want, all you'll miss is the start of Amellistair officially. Thankyou PheonRen, I worship you! You'll probably be getting a chapter every second day now that it's school holidays, so watch out! PLEASE REVIEW!
Asleena woke in her warm tent in camp, completely refreshed from last night's battle. Inspecting her body, she found several wounds that had been attended to sometime in the night. She had no memory of how she had gotten there; the last thing she remembered was sitting on a bench with Alistair. She raked her hands through her unruly raven hair, trying to undo some of the tangles. She straightened her robes and with that, exited the tent.
Alistair was the only person awake. He sat on a log beside the fire, eating the remnants of last night's stew. He saw her, and offered her a bowl as well. With an appreciative smile, she sat down on the log beside him to eat.
"So, uh…" Alistair began, desperately trying to think of what to say. "I noticed you didn't use your armour or sword last night."
"Oh, yeah," Asleena replied. "I think I'll wait until I'm a little more confident with a blade before I start fighting with one."
"Would you like to spar? With me?" Alistair asked. A huge grin formed on Asleena's cheeks.
"Sure!" She said. "Just give me a minute to get my armour and sword."
When she returned, she was just in a tunic and breeches; she held her armour and sword in her arms.
"I'm sorry; I'm having a ton of trouble putting it on right now. Can you give me a hand?" She asked innocently, unaware of his beetroot-like face.
"Oh… umm… s-sure!" He stammered. He walked over to her, face blazing. He helped her don her armour, fastening buckles and brushing blood off it.
"Ready?" She asked, without waiting for a response. She charged, waving her sword at him. Their battle was again, challenging and long. She moved with elegance that he had never seen from someone in armour. She was too fast for him to hit. However, he moved slowly in his silverite heavy plate armour. He was down with a quick succession of blows to the backs of his knees, ribs and back. With that, she placed the tip of her sword on his throat. By now, the clanging noises of their swords had roused the rest of their party and they looked on in disbelief at the hardened warrior on the ground.
"Ha-HA! I am the champion!" She cried. At her words, the crowd dispersed. Holding out a gauntleted hand, she helped Alistair to his feet. He was amazed; this beautiful, intelligent, amazing woman had beaten him with her second turn wielding a sword. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, forcing him to do what he did next. Leaning closer to her face, he brushed a corkscrew curl out of her eyes, and laid a hand on her cheek. She held her breath, knowing what came next. She gazed into his eyes, then closed them in anticipation. She could feel his breath on her face. Her hand came up to the back of his neck seemingly of it's own accord and then-
"Asleena! Alistair! Breakfast is ready!" Leliana sang from her place beside the camp fire. Alistair had released her face and she had let go of him, too. The moment was broken. Asleena released the breath she hadn't realised that she was holding.
"Just a minute. I'm going to put this sword back in my tent." She crossed the campsite to her tent, she could practically feel Alistair's eyes drilling into the back of her skull. Once ensconced in the privacy of her tent, she fingered her face where he had touched her wonderingly. She guessed this meant that they were taking their relationship to the next level, and she went to the fire with a smile. She parked herself beside Alistair, gratefully accepting the food from Leliana and turned to him.
"So, if you lived in the Chantry, have you never…?"
"Never… Never what? Had a good pair of shoes?" he asked with a boyish grin, colour rising in his cheeks.
"You know what I mean." Asleena said.
"I'm not sure I do. Have I never seen a basilisk? Ate jammed ham? Have I never licked a lamppost in winter?" His grin grew on the last metaphor; he clearly thought it brilliant.
"...Now you're making fun of me." Asleena muttered.
"Make fun of you, dear lady? Perish the though. Well, tell me: have you ever licked a lamppost in winter?" he asked her.
"No, I've never licked a lamppost in winter." She said with a smile playing about her lips.
"Good. I hear it's quite painful. One of the initiates did it on a dare, once and there was pointing and laughing… oh, the humanity." He said, his voice riddled with nostalgia. "I, myself, have also never done it. That. Not that I haven't thought about it but…" Asleena couldn't resist an opportunity to tease him.
"Oh, I see. You lack the proper parts."
"You wound me! Such cruelty from such a beautiful lady. If you hear sobbing later, that's me crying myself to sleep." Alistair said in mock hurt, a hand clasped over his heart.
"You think I'm beautiful?" Asleena asked wonderingly.
"Of course. You're ravishing, resourceful and everything else you'd probably hurt me for not saying." He said it as though she should have been accustomed to hearing such things. As a mage from the Circle, she had been told that she was worthless, dangerous and other such things by the Templars. Compliments such as beautiful just did not come to her.
"I would never hurt you." She whispered, face down, embarrassed at revealing so much of herself to him.
"Nor I you," Alistair confided. "Now, let's be off, lest your risqué talk make my ears blush." Leliana shot Asleena a knowing glance with a suggestive smile.
On the road back to Redcliffe, Asleena heard her party conversing.
"So... let me get this straight. You were a cloistered sister?" Alistair asked Leliana.
"You must have been a brother before you became a templar, no?" Leliana responded.
"I never actually became a templar. I was recruited into the Grey Wardens before I took my final vows." Alistair informed her snarkily.
"Do you ever regret leaving the Chantry?" she inquired.
"No, never. Do you?" Alistair said.
"Yes. You may not believe it, but I found peace there. The kind of peace I've never known." Leliana said wistfully.
"It used to get so quiet at the monastery that I would start screaming until one of the brothers came running. I would tell them that I was just checking. You never know, right?" Alistair said.
"I... no, I never did anything like that. I enjoyed the quiet." Leliana said, surprised.
"Suit yourself. The look on their face was always priceless." Silence reigned for a while, until Leliana continued.
"What was that... soup you made for supper last night?" she asked curiously.
"Ooh, that? That's a traditional Ferelden lamb and pea stew. Did you like it?"
"Oh, so... it was lamb then? It had a certain... texture I don't normally associate with lamb." Leliana said, looking queasy.
"They didn't make lamb and pea stew for you in Lothering?" Alistair asked.
"We ate simply there. Whole grains, made into biscuits or bread, and vegetables from the garden, cooked lightly. No heavy stews." Leliana informed him.
"Ah, so the last lamb you had was probably cooked Orlesian style. Food shouldn't be frilly and pretentious like that. Now here in Ferelden, we do things right. We take our ingredients, throw them into the largest pot we can find, and cook them for as long as possible until everything is a uniform grey colour. As soon as it looks completely bland and unappetizing, that's when I know it's done." Alistair told her with relish.
"You're having me on." She said shakily, uncertainly. Alistair laughed.
"You need to eat in more Fereldan inns." Asleena giggled at this, and then remembered she was not supposed to be listening, and grew silent.
"So... you're female, Leliana, right?"
"I am? That's news. When did that happen?" She giggled.
"I just wanted some advice. What should I do if... if I think a woman is special and-" Alistair stammered.
"You want to woo her? Here's a good tip: you shouldn't question her about her female-ness." Leliana said with a smile.
"All right, yes. Good point."
"Why do you ask? Are you afraid things will not proceed naturally?"
"Why would they? Especially when I do things like ask women if they're female." Alistair sighed, downcast.
"It adds to your charm, Alistair. You are a little awkward. It is endearing."
"So I should be awkward? Didn't you just say not to do things like that?"
"Just be yourself. You do know how to do that, don't you?" She instructed him.
"All right, forget I asked." Alistair said, resigned. Asleena was touched that he felt the need to ask for instruction from another female. Glancing around, she saw Alistair turn to Sten, hopefulness apparent in his eyes.
"Don't you ever talk? You know, make polite conversation just to put people at ease?" he asked the bronze giant.
"You mean that I should remark upon the weather before I cut off a man's head?" Sten asked rhetorically.
"... Nevermind." Alistair waited a moment before continuing. "Were you really in that cage for twenty days?"
"It might have been closer to thirty. I stopped counting after a while."
"What did you do? I mean... twenty days is a long time to sit in one place and do nothing." Alistair asked him.
"On good days, I posed riddles to the passersby, offering them treasures in exchange for correct answers." Sten said sarcastically, no emotion portrayed in his voice.
"Really?" Alistair asked, eyes wide.
"No."
"Awww. Too bad. That's got serious potential." Asleena bit her lip to keep from laughing. "So how did you seriously pass the time in that cage?"
"A training exercise. I would observe an object and then try to think of all the words in your language which began with the same letter as its name."
"That... wait. Just wait. You're joking again, aren't you?" Alistair clearly thought it was boring.
"No."
"You are not telling me that you played, "I Spy," against yourself for twenty days." Alistair asked incredulously.
"There are a lot of things in Lothering that begin with, "G."" Sten said with a straight face.
"Hmmm... I spy with my little eye, something that begins with... "G."" Alistair challenged the Qunari.
"Is it a Grey Warden? Is it, in fact, you?"
"Oooh. You're really good at this." Alistair remarked. Sten sighed. Abashed, Alistair was quiet for a long time. After a while, Sten addressed Leliana.
"You were in the Chantry. You are a priest?"
"No, no. I was a lay sister of the Chantry." Leliana said quickly.
"Which means?" Sten inquired.
"I lived and worked in the Chantry, but I did not take any vows."
"So you... dabbled in priesthood, then?"
"Oh no," Leliana said, annoyed. "The lay sisters don't have the same sorts of duties as priests at all."
"So you were not a priest, did none of their duties, and took no vows, but you lived among them?"
"Yes!" Leliana cried, exasperated.
"...You were a house guest of the Chantry?" Sten asked scathingly.
"Um... sort of..." Leliana trailed off, and there was silence the rest of the way to Redcliffe. All that could be heard was the clank of their armour and the occasional humming from Leliana.