Varric studied the Crow over the rim of a wine glass. They had done their little dance, swapping glasses, offering diversions, exchanging barbed banter, and now it was down to this – two men, two glasses; two men drink, one man leaves.
He picked up the wine glass and raised it in a toast before draining it in one long swallow. In the back of his head, he could hear Isabela offering a quip about how well he swallowed. He missed the Rivaini; without her, he had to make his own ribald comments.
The Antivan assassin leered and picked up his own glass, proving that the Crows knew a little something about swallowing too. More than a little something if some of Isabela's tales were to be believed.
He wiped the wine off his mouth and leaned across the table at Varric. "You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is: 'Never get involved in a land war in Orlais.' But, only slightly less well known is this: "Never go in against an Antivan when death is on the line!"
Varric cut his eyes to the right and Maraas took a step forward to pass Varric a potion vial.
"You fell victim to the classic blunder," Varric corrected as he flicked the cork off the vial. "Never get involved in a battle of wits and poison with a dwarf who has more wits, a stronger stomach…" he tossed back the contents of the vial and made a face, "… and the antidote."
He watched the surprise spread across the man's face just before he fell sideways off his stool.
The Qunari mercenary caught the coin Varric tossed him and picked up the body for proper disposal. Knowing Kirkwall, Varric thought he'd probably see the dead man shambling around again, but that was trouble for another night.