Glad you're still with this mayhem. As stated before, if you have a request for certain character interactions or couplings or specific scenes interpreted through the crazy eyes of my OC, let me know in a review. Cheers!

Morning Brew

Melusine sat bleary-eyed at the tavern table. She couldn't identify the soupy goo in the bowl before her, but she was thankful it didn't have as bad a smell to match how bad it looked. It was still early, the sun barely lighting the sky, and only a few others had stumbled in to get a bite to eat before attacking the day. Normally, Melusine would still be buried under her covers on the uncomfortable cot that they called a bed, but the bastard dwarf Varric had demanded he train with her first each day, so her mind and body weren't completely shot by the time she got to him. Cassandra and Cullen inherited her mentally exhausted body in the afternoon, Josephine and Leliana took turns filling her brain with names and locations and diplomatic needs before and often during supper. Solas did what he could to train her into knowledge of the Fade and other such context-appropriate nonsense in the evening after supper. This trying routine had been going on for nearly a month already with still no sign of being retrieved by Raymond.

But as exhausting as all this was, Melusine had assessed her abilities truthfully to Cassandra. She was a quick learner, and while she rarely did things exactly as instructed, Melusine was clever in how she applied the tactics to suit her own abilities. This frustrated the hard asses of the group, like Solas and Cassandra, but Varric and even Cullen seemed to appreciate her innovative tendencies. And while Josephine didn't seem always to appreciate Melusine's sardonic comments regarding the nobles of this world, Leliana had cracked a few smiles at Melusine's more objective and fairly ruthless assessments of what needed to be done. Once they started doing things beyond training her and the continued recruitment to their cause.

In all areas of training, Melusine had improved. The archery, memorization of lore, and tactical observations of people and diplomacy were her best areas thus far. Still, with the lighter and more flexible blades and dirks, she was excelling by leaps and bounds. Cassandra didn't groan nearly as readily when she trained with Melusine, Cullen didn't wince quite so "loudly," and Varric, well Varric would never cease to poke fun at her, and that was endearing. She dished out as good as she got.

Thinking of the dwarf seemed to make him appear. Looking across the table, Melusine glared at the smiling dwarf as he perched himself on the bench opposite her own. It was his fault she wasn't still in bed, and though this had become routine, it didn't get any easier.

"Good morning, Herald." Varric's voice was far too chipper for this early in the morning. "Sleep well?"

"I have a name, you bastard," Melusine stabbed her spoon in the goo and marveled at how it stood up without aid, "and I don't know how you can be so delightful this early in the morning."

Varric laughed, the deep rumbling sound bringing a smile to Melusine's face despite her morning angst. He had an infectious laugh, and no one was immune to its sound. Not even Cassandra, though she'd rather have a dagger shoved up her nose than admit to liking the sound or being affected by it.

"I used to be like you, Mel," he used her nickname same as Raymond, and for a moment, Melusine missed the man who'd condemned her to this place, "but then I discovered the elixir of morning life." He raised the mug she hadn't noticed yet and took a sip. "Its bitter as hell, but it'll put a bounce in your trounce in no time."

Melusine leaned closer. Her eyes widened when she recognized the smell, and without warning, Melusine seized the mug from his hands and guzzled the steaming contents. She didn't care that it seared her throat, burned her tongue, or that Varric was pawing at her from across the table. Only when she downed the last of it, did Melusine look back to Varric, drew a hand across her lips, and smiled.

"How come no one told me we had coffee?" She handed back the empty mug and only felt a smidgen of guilt when Varric tipped the mug upside down, and not even a drop came out.

Varric looked back to her with concern on his face, "Are you sure you're okay? That was fresh out of the pot, hot as dragon's breath?"

"It was worth it." Melusine imagined the caffeine already influencing her neural pathways and relaxed. This world would be far more tolerable now that she knew they had coffee. "Again, I ask, how come no one told me we had coffee?"

"That's what you call this?" He waved the mug and she nodded. "Well, Mel, I hate to tell you this, but that stuff isn't easy to come by, and aside from the two of us, I don't think anyone else here knows much about it or appreciates it. I'd say that mug cost you about three hundred coin."

Melusine's eyes widened, "That expensive?" Then her heart stopped, "Like, how scarce is this stuff?"

"I haven't seen another supplier in nearly a year. Last one I came across was in Kirkwall but he-"

Melusine jumped to her feet and slapped her hands against the table, "We MUST find another supplier! And right away!"

"Well, now," Varric smirked at Melusine, "if only you could be this enthusiastic about your training."

"I will be, if we find a steady supplier of coffee. You're right, Varric, this is the elixir of morning life, and I'll be ten times, no thirty times, better in my training if I can have more." Melusine sat back down and shoveled a spoonful of the goo into her mouth. She was so happy about the coffee that she ignored the bland taste and slimy texture. "Where I come from, it is common for people to drink this every morning."

Varric's eyebrows rose, "They must get a lot of stuff done then."

"You have no idea." Melusine tipped the bowl up and shoved nearly half of the contents down her throat without chewing. When she put the bowl back on the table, Varric sat staring with a mixture of disgust and fascination. "We're burning daylight, dwarf. Let's go!"

Varric followed her out of the tavern, "Are you always this sensitive to the…coffee?"

"Yup. The only time I don't hum with energy from it is if you put a few shots of whiskey in it too. The mixture of the two steadies me." For the first time since her arrival, Melusine felt light on her feet and nearly happy.

"I never would have thought to combine them. Maybe you should be a tavern keeper." Varric led the way toward the archery course with Melusine at his side.

"I was once." It was one of the few times she hadn't pursued a more prestigious career in the sciences. During her angsty stage of life, much to her mother's annoyance. "Had a grand time and heard a lot of great stories."

Varric stared at her, "I would never have guessed that."

"What? That I know good stories, or that I was a tavern keeper?"

"The latter." Varric handed her the crossbow he intended she train with this morning. "You don't look the type."

Melusine laughed as she accurately loaded and armed the crossbow, "Oh, Varric, the great misleads an appearance may cause."

"Too true, Mel." Varric added his laugh to her own before starting the lesson.