"The war between the mages and the templars seem to have stopped."
"Yeah."
"But it seems that the area is now overrun with bandits, we must be cautious."
"Right."
"Perhaps we may even see elven ruins here."
"Yeah."
"And I'm thinking I should grow hair and be a bard."
"Sure… wait what?!"
Blackwall and Varric laughed out loud as Alex turned to her companions, particularly at the bald elf, who was smiling at her when her attention finally turned to him. His chuckle meant that he was joking, and Alex looked incredulously at him, "Is that serious, Solas?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint, Inquisitor, but no." He said, smiling a little at her as they continued to walk, "I was just testing whether your attentions lie elsewhere, and it seems that I was correct."
She blinked, and flushed a little before turning away from them, "Right, sorry. I was just thinking…. that's all."
Varric chuckled as he hefted Bianca's strap on his shoulder again, "Might that have anything to do with our dear commander, perhaps?"
Blackwall and Solas looked down at the dwarf, who wiggled his eyebrows, and Alex puffed her cheeks, "NO! No, you idiot. I was thinking that… all this incline must be wearing on your teeny, tiny legs."
Varric flushed, but he laughed, "Ahhh, diverting the issue with insult. Sorry, Rosy, but I've met enough people to recognize that tactic."
The Inquisitor stopped walking, causing her companions to halt as well, "Rosy?"
The dwarf grinned, "Well, Leliana has already claimed the nickname 'Red', so I had to think of something else for you. Not to mention you blush into this lovely, rosy shade whenever you look at golden-haired commander."
Alex's face heated, and she turned around to walk again, but it was too late. Varric laughed again as he pointed at her face. "See? Exactly like that, and Curly's not even here."
"Oh, just shut it, dwarf." Alex said as she continued walking, while Solas and Blackwall chuckled.
"Oh, why not, Lady Trevelyan?" Blackwall said as he followed her, "The Commander is a good man… strong, dependable, handsome. I bet a lot of ladies are all after him."
She scoffed as she planted her foot on a rock and started climbing up a hill, "All over him, more like. You should hear them on the hall way in the throne room." She stopped in front of them, and straightened her back, fanning a hand over her face in mock coyness, " 'Zat Commander Cullen iz quite ze man in armor, no? Andrazte's fire, what I wouldn't give to play 'Ze Naughty Mage and Ze Templar' with him. I would bite zat delectable rear of hiz everyday.'"
The Warden and the dwarf laughed so loud that they startled a nearby fennec fox, while Solas merely chuckled and shook his head. She grinned as she started walking backwards, talking to Blackwall, "Besides, he doesn't have all your adorable hair, Blackwall."
"Mind what you say, girl. Lest all this hair will be buried in your blanket one night." Blackwall said, winking at her in jest and making her laugh. But Varric smacked Blackwall on his upper thigh. "Don't bite, Hero, she's been flirting with everyone ever since Haven."
"Me, included." Solas said, raising a hand and smirking at Alex, who laughed.
"Well, what can I say? You people are so… fluffy." She said, and the elf looked confused, "I'm… fluffy?"
Alex shrugged as she continued walking backwards and pointing at them, "Well yeah. Fluffy. Solas is fluffy with magic, Varric and Blackwall is all fluffy with hair. Cullen's got his feather… thing and Bull is so muscled that I could practically hug him all day."
"Don't let Bull hear that. He's going to mistake it for you wanting him on your bed." Varric chuckled, and the mental image of the Qunari on her bed made her wince.
"Maker, no. I'll pass." She said, "I don't think I can handle that. He must be quite…"
Alex's last word turned into a squeal as she slid backwards from the hill, rolling all the way down with Blackwall, Varric and Solas crying out in alarm. Her body barrel-rolled down a good six feet of incline, before she practically flipped, and fell head over arse on the ground. She cringed, feeling a rock pressing against the back of her neck just as a shadow passed over the sky. Blinking hard, her emerald green eyes widened at the sight of a gigantic, winged creature, with flashes of yellow and green, emitting fire and crying out a guttural roar.
"…huge." She finished, as to end her previous sentence, and also to describe the dragon now flying overhead. Blackwall and Solas reached her, with Varric following soon, and they looked up in the sky in fear as well.
"Solas… is that a…" She muttered out.
"Dragon." Solas finished for her, before turning his attention back at her, "But it seems it's distracted. Come, perhaps we can leave before it sees or smells us."
Solas passed a healing spell over her to heal her bruises, and Blackwall and Varric helped her up, carefully and quietly so that the dragon wouldn't catch them. As they crawled away, they heard Alex whisper, "Hey… I just remembered…"
"What, Inquisitor?" Solas whispered back.
"Nobody says anything about me falling arse over tea kettle, do you understand?" She whispered vehemently, and Blackwall sputtered out his silent laugh.
"No a damned soul, Rosy." Varric said, even though he was already thinking about what words he was going to use once he got a hold of his pen.