Monday Morning - Organic Biochemistry

Does this man ever stop talking? I groaned, scratching down notes so quickly that I'd have to spend hours deciphering them later. But still the professor kept speaking in his thick Indian accent, waving his arms about wildly. Is this what getting a Ph. D does to you? Makes you stark-raving mad and completely obsessed with your $500 textbook? I'm rich and even I think that's highway robbery. But I continued trying to pay attention as best I could, scribbling down diagrams and cursing under my breath. When the two hours were over and my pencil was nearly worn down, I shoved my notebook into my purse and quickly vacated the auditorium. On the way out, someone tapped my shoulder. I turned to see someone who really didn't belong.

"Ashley?" I blinked in surprise. She didn't even go to Kirkwall. In fact, she was a liberal arts major at a local college on the other side of the city. She only came here to work or party, and it was too early for either.

The blonde just stared at me. "You act like you've forgotten what I look like or something." She joked, pushing at my shoulder. "Aren't you going to ask why I'm here?"

I scoffed. "Fine. To what do I owe the pleasure? And please don't say you're sleeping with one of the Chemistry professors." I made a disgusted face, walking over to a nearby table and taking a seat. Ashley followed, chuckling all the way. She pulled her hair from its bun, shaking it out as she took the chair next to me.

"I'm not into wrinkled old men with saggy balls. Tenure doesn't pay that much, anyway." She rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair. Her coat opened slightly, revealing a purple blouse and quite a bit of exposed chest.

I raised an eyebrow, my gaze back on her face. "And being a rugby coach does? Or was Elissa independently wealthy?" I prodded, reminding her of her last relationship. From what I gathered, it was good while it lasted. Until, of course, Ashley saw a cute guy at a party and couldn't keep it in her pants. Or maybe he couldn't keep it in his pants. I'm not sure there were pants involved, actually. The blonde cleared her throat.

"Speaking of rugby… How's Hawke?" She interjected. "She's still around." She smirked, looking utterly amused at the whole situation.

I crossed my arms under my breasts. "We have a mutual arrangement." I pulled my phone out of my purse, noting the time and the lack of unread messages from Cassandra, who was in class. As far as I was concerned, that was the end of the conversation. But my cohort felt otherwise.

"Oh, come on. I'm blonde, not retarded. This is serious." She pointed out, jabbing her finger into the table. "If it weren't, you wouldn't keep checking your phone." Ashley looked me up and down, watching as I groaned and tucked the device away.

"And to think, you got a C in psychology." I slighted her, sinking back into my chair.

"I know you, Isabela. Or did you forget?" Her green eyes bored into mine as she sat forward, propping her chin atop her interlaced hands. Her chest was much more exposed in this position, even behind her unbuttoned coat, and she looked so damn smug.

I laughed, slapping the table louder than I intended. "It wasn't exactly memorable." It's not as if I didn't remember. I did. We crawled into a cab, so wasted we couldn't recall our names, and Barbie was frisky. I was too drunk to say no, had I wanted to. We got a free ride across town, but that's about as interesting as things got. Not like with Hawke. The sounds I make… I'm amazed I haven't shattered windows. And that contented growl thing she does in her throat is just so delicious it should be illegal. Oh, the glorious, continuous, mouth-watering sex…

The blonde scoffed. "That taxi driver probably disagrees." I simply nodded, somewhat distracted by my own thought process.

"Alright Ashley, why are you here? There's no way you got up this early to talk about things we did when we were drunk." I asked seriously, watching as her body tensed and she shifted in her seat. She sat up straight, buttoning her coat.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't of tried to take your… Hawke from you." She rubbed at the back of her neck, looking entirely awkward.

I sighed, pulling my phone back out to check a message that just came through. The woman in question was complaining about walking stiffly after that thing I did with my piercing. I grinned mischievously, typing a quick 'you're welcome' before hiding my phone once again. "I can't blame you."

Ashley smiled. "Good." She nodded, leaning forward again to resume chattering at me. "So, Valentine's Day. You two got plans?" I couldn't hold back a wince. "Alright, alright. That was a stupid question. Bad Barbie." She slapped herself on the hand a little too hard and had to shake it off. I chuckled and began to relax. She did know me rather well. She changed the subject. "How was your break, at least? I missed you on New Year's."

"Hawke's roommate, you met her, short, skinny, black hair, rarely seen without a big ginger bodyguard…" The blonde nodded a few times. "Well, she stayed with me during the break and kept me company while Hawke visited her family for the holidays. She's the cutest thing. She made me get a fake tree and host a small get-together and give presents and everything." I chuckled.

Ashley just raised an eyebrow, looking at me curiously. "You mean you actually celebrated Christmas?"

I sighed, entwining my hands in my lap. "With everyone but the winger. We had agreed to not exchange gifts, but-"

"She got you something anyway, didn't she?" My friend smirked, leaning forward into the conversation again.

"Yes." I admitted plainly.

The blonde looked over at my purse, which lightly vibrated. "And she wants to celebrate Valentine's with you, doesn't she?" She pointed toward my bag and phone.

I cleared my throat, shifting awkwardly in my seat. "More than likely."

"What are you going to do?" She asked seriously, no longer smiling.

I buried my fingers in my hair, cradling my skull. I was getting a headache already and I still had three more lectures to attend. I groaned, not at all comforted by Ashley's hand on my shoulder. "I haven't the foggiest idea."

Tuesday Evening - Rugby Practice

One more match until the Division Championship. Gotta stay focused. One more match until the Division Championship. Gotta stay focused. One more match until the Division Championship. Gotta stay focused.

Our conference was about to end. The Dartmouth Darkspawn (or so we called them) would be easy to defeat. They were relentless and fast, but they weren't well organized. The only reason we didn't crush them last year is because four members of our team got food poisoning the night before the game and we had to forfeit. Those bitches tainted our food at the team dinner. But the match was scheduled for Kirkwall, so we had the home-field advantage. And a safe food supply. After that, the real fun could begin. If our team could beat the Queen City Aristocrats (the Qun'ari, for short), then we would finally hold the Division Championship. For the first time in our university's history, the women's rugby club would actually get some respect. And funding. But I didn't care about that. I would continue to pay for my uniform if it meant being out on the field (or, in this case, indoors, considering the foot of snow on the ground outside). The adrenaline kept me going. With every practice I could run faster, jump higher, and keep pace longer. I was stronger than I used to be. I had Isabela to thank for that. I got a lot of offseason cardio.

I was on the sidelines with my headphones turned up full blast, listening to 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' while jumping rope. I used to suck at it growing up, but my coordination increased with time. Tallis was keeping busy showing off front and back flips. Apparently her high school years were spent as a gymnast or something. Aveline was on the bench chugging water after going tit-for-tat with Natia again, trying to see who could do more medicine ball drills. She won, barely. And Mad-Dog was…

… Standing right in front of me, waving her hands wildly and wondering why I wasn't paying attention. I dropped the jump rope and ripped out my headphones. "What?" I almost shouted, a little deaf from having my music so loud. I shook my head, lowering my voice. "Sorry about that. What's up?"

"Your head apparently. It's in the clouds." She joked, pointing toward the ceiling.

"I was in the zone." I admitted, picking up the jump rope and laying it over my shoulder.

"Obviously." Madison rolled her eyes at me. "Anyway, I was trying to ask if you had Valentine's Day plans. If not, a bunch of us single ladies are going to hang out at my place eating tubs of ice cream and watching The Notebook." She informed me as we wandered toward an empty bench.

I plopped down, using my shirt to wipe the sweat from my forehead. "I… I actually don't know." I mumbled.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You don't know about your plans or you don't know about The Notebook? I voted for Rocky Horror and alcohol, but there was a coup and-" She started waving her arms about in explanation, but I was eyeing the clock on the wall, wondering how practice went by so fast and if I should ask Mad-Dog about Michael. I had a gut feeling they had sex at least once since Halloween. But that wasn't my business, so I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Isabela and I haven't talked about Valentine's yet." That stopped my fly-half in her tracks.

"But it's this weekend!" She shouted, throwing her hands up, then covering her face to grumble something under her breath. I watched her pace back and forth for a few seconds. "Even Aveline has something in the works!"

I sat up straight, surprised. "She told you that?" Ave doesn't talk about her personal life. Not at work, not at rugby, not even in front of Varric.

"I caught her looking at the meaning behind different flowers on her phone. Which is funny, because she still won't tell anyone who she's dating. But it's obviously a chick." The brunette stopped in front of me, placing her hands on her hips and looking dead serious. "Do you know who it is?"

I gulped nervously, glancing over at my best friend. Natia was beside her on the bench, obviously poking fun at her headband. Man-Hands was being relatively patient, but I caught her nearly biting off a prodding finger. She was really protective of that headband. She only took it off to shower or when she was washing the sweat out of it. All because Daisy said she liked it. I chuckled quietly, looking back up at my teammate. She cleared her throat at me, trying to get my attention again. "Due to the risk of Kalli overhearing… No."

"Ah." Her eyes darted to the far corner of the gym, where our resident gossip was attempting to lift weights. She was bench-pressing maybe thirty pounds, and Greenie was spotting her as she struggled, biting her lip to keep from laughing. We both shook our heads and Madison sat down beside me, quickly changing the subject. "But seriously, you have no idea if you have plans?"

I groaned, pushing my hair back. "I want to do something, but… Well, Isabela doesn't do holidays, really. Except for Halloween and New Year's." I pointed out. "And anything on the calendar that involves costumes, fireworks, excessive alcohol, and/or ceremonial feasting."

"Sounds like my kind of party." I turned my head to find Tallis, appearing out of nowhere... again. How does she do that?

The woman chuckled, then strutted her way from behind the bench. She sat beside me, our shoulders and thighs touching. I shook my head, trying not to grin. "For someone who so dislikes my girlfriend, you have a lot in common."

"I never said I dislike her-" She began.

"Bullshit." Mad-Dog coughed into her fist.

"- I just think you deserve better." My fellow winger confessed. "I, for one, would take you out on Valentine's. We'd go to a really expensive sushi bar downtown, I'd dazzle you with my knowledge of Japanese cutlery, then we'd go back to my apartment so I could dazzle you with my-"

I knew where that was going, so I elbowed the crimson-haired woman lightly in the ribs. She laughed, but didn't continue her monologue. "For all I know, Isabela has some secret plan cooked up for us that I don't know about yet." It was mostly wishful thinking, but it was entirely possible. Stranger things have happened, right? I propped my elbows on my knees, cradling my cheeks between my hands.

Madison put a hand on my shoulder. "And if she doesn't? You don't want to see the Notebook, do you?"

"No." I admitted, chuckling at her. "In that case, I'll make a Plan B. Something romantic, but not too sappy."

Tallis cleared her throat, counting on her fingers. "That rules out stuffed animals, poems, songs, roses, chocolates in heart-shaped boxes, kittens, puppies…" She looked up, continuing to make a list in her mind.

"And sex." The fly-half added, ruffling my hair. "You have enough of that every other day." She joked.

I leaned back on the bench. My teammates soon took their leave to shower while I considered my options. It didn't take long for me to realize I was clueless. I was about to give up when my pocket vibrated, a clear sign that Isabela was thinking of me. I couldn't help but grin. "I guess I'll just have to get creative."

Author's Note: Holy crap, I haven't posted anything here in far too long. I'm so so so so so sorry, everybody. My job has been insane, and my overworked (and underpaid) brain is just plain tuckered out most days. But I do have a peace offering: three chapters in one week. Angst, banter, a little bit of sex, and some interesting character interactions. Bouncy bouncy bouncy bouncy, fun fun fun fun fun.

In other news, I'm on my 9th playthrough on this game, so I've decided to romance Sebastian. Talk about boring. I can't flirt, I can't side with mages, Anders is the enemy, and worst of all, my personality is drier than Elthina's nethers. I just want to get it over with and get my achievement. Then it's back to Origins for me, so I can get back to boning Morrigan. Oh Warden boy, the pipes the pipes are callin'...