Chapter Text
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Chapter 1: A Haunted Home
Rook gathered herself up from the cot, glancing warily at their new surroundings. She tried not to let her eyes stray too long on Neve’s face: a deep gash on her forehead, purple bruises blooming around her dark brown eyes. She had already assured her, as had Varric, that she was fine, but Rook remained sorry that she had already caused her team injury.
“It’s rude to stare, you know,” Neve said playfully, easily catching Rook's eyes and furrowed brows. “I really am fine.” Rook pressed the subject no further, and conceded with a breath as she looked to the floor and stood up. Varric had already begun to snore softly.
Neve and Harding had mentioned they were somewhere in the Fade, and that she ought to go see their unusual lodgings. Harding was already outside, and Neve was heading to investigate the books. Rook stretched their body gently, feeling for points of pain and any effects of her injuries. Other than a general soreness and a deep headache, she felt fine, and strode out the door to explore. The hallway opened into a large circular room with vaulted ceilings. Rings of stone floated and orbited around each other in the middle of the air. Rook's eyes widened as she began to understand how much they were in the Fade. Over the ledge onto the main floor, she could see Neve parsing over the bookshelves, using her finger to scan the titles. The huge wooden doors were flung open, and Rook could just make out Harding’s figure gazing at the sky with wonder. Rook descended the wide stone steps that curved around either side of the room, and met Neve at the door as they went to join Harding.
“This place is huge,” Harding said emphatically, gazing around at the floating buildings and crumbling rocks. “I wonder if Solas ever threw parties,” she said with a chuckle.
It felt more like an abandoned graveyard than their makeshift home, and the thought of a party more grim than festive. The wind darted over the aged stones, catching some unknown plant leaves and carrying them through the air. Each building resembled a mausoleum, forgotten for an age. Rook shivered.
“Caught a chill?” Neve asked, smiling slyly, as Harding continued ahead into the courtyard.
“It’s not the cheeriest here. Feels haunted.” Rook replied, gazing around at the crumbling buildings.
“It’s definitely haunted.” Neve answered, walking after Harding and leaving Rook on the steps. Rook wasn’t scared, but she continued after the other two women with haste.
After a thorough explorative tour together, the three claimed and settled in their respective corners of the lonely stronghold, and regrouped to investigate dinner together by the fireplace.
“I’m afraid I’m not much of a cook,” Neve said with a sigh. “Much better at scouring food carts.” They were sitting at the much too large dining table, making a running list of necessary supplies, and examining the kitchen they had to work with.
“Unfortunately, neither am I.. but I’m sure we can figure something out! Oh, I’ll message my ma. She can at least share some recipes I’ve forgotten.” Harding said brightly as she finished the shopping notes.
“Thanks, Lace. I can’t cook either. Not to be trusted,” Rook added sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.
“What’d you do?” Harding asked humorously. “Burn your place down?”
Rook chuckled, and Neve let out a quiet snort.
“Not quite.” Rook replied.
“Too much salt?” Neve asked coyly.
“Too much everything.” Rook responded with a broad smile. “My strengths lie outside the kitchen.”
“Well, let’s not waste any more time! I’ll go to Arlathan and get what we need. Shouldn’t be gone more than an hour or two,” Harding said, as she got up and began to gather herself.
“Should we accompany you?” Rook asked hastily, standing up as well. Neve remained in her seat watching the proceedings with interest.
“No, no! I mean, no, thank you. I just… I want to spend some time alone. Not because of you! I just need to think. Try to get my thoughts together about… All of this. I promise I’ll be safe.” She replied.
“We’ll hold you to that,” Neve said with a smile, and Rook nodded in agreement. Harding beamed at the pair and headed back towards the Eluvian & the Crossroads, and Rook returned to her seat.
She looked over at Neve, frowning with concern as she once again beheld the bruises and cuts upon the mage’s face.
“It’s not nearly as bad as you’re making it out to be, Rook.” Neve said with a strained smile, her facial muscles sore. That did little to assuage Rooks’ worry, and she took a long breath.
“Regardless… I’m so sorry you got hurt. Not a fantastic first meeting, to leave all bandaged.” Rook said, hoping her concern was clear and she didn’t seem ingenuine. Neve smiled softly.
“You’d be surprised.” Came her response. “But I appreciate the sentiment. And it wasn’t so terrible.” She added with a sly smile. Rook felt her heartbeat speed up and she quelled the feeling, finding her mouth quite dry. She stood up and walked over to the small kitchen and filled a mug with water from the sink. As soon as she quenched her thirst, she grabbed another mug and filled it, bringing it over to place in front of Neve.
“Thank you, Rook,” She said, taking a long sip. She considered it for a moment and took another slow drink.
“Does it taste different to you, the water? In comparison to Dock Town, I mean.” She asked. Rook considered it for a moment as she drank.
“Hmm, it does taste different. I guess it’s not coming from a well… It’s got to be magic, right?” Rook replied.
“I think it has to be. I miss the minerals.”
“Ah, the famed Minrathous minerals! I can add some rocks to your cup, if you’d like.” Rook offered with a cheeky smile.
“Well aren’t you helpful,” Neve served back with a smirk.
“No way else to be,” Rook was quick to reply. Neve looked at her for a moment and narrowed her eyes with interest, a smirk still on her face. Rook’s confidence wobbled, and she felt her heart pounding in her ears. Just as quick as she had looked at her, Neve turned back to her water and downed the glass.
“I’m going to look over my notes. If Lace isn’t back in a few hours, we’ll go get her.” Neve stated as she stood from her seat and placed the empty mug in the kitchen sink. She looked to Rook for confirmation of their next steps, who nodded in affirmation. The Mage strode out the door, the clink of her prosthetic leg growing quieter and quieter as she returned to her wisp-filled room.
Rook sank back into her seat at the dining table with a sigh, pretending not to notice how the air smelled after Neve had been there: a gentle spice, cardamum or clove, and a touch of a perfumed flower, veiled within the cool heat of frankincense and rain.
“Uh oh,” Rook thought as she held her head in her hands for a moment, then ran a hand over her horns, spinning the metal rings and fiddling with the fabric affixed to them. Rook had always loved women, from as young as she could remember, and never seemed to be able to stop herself from falling horns over heels. In her adolescence and young adulthood she had followed her heart with a burning passion, much to the stress of her parents, and to the joy of her older siblings who loved to see Rook’s beet-red face when confronted about a secret kiss in the woods or a fervently blooming crush. As she grew it became easier to temper her heart, but ever did the creature inside her call out for more. The reality of their world, of the darkness closing in from so many corners, made it simpler to focus on work and the problems at hand. She pressed the voices in her heart as far from her mind as she could, assuaging its cries with promises of safety in solitude and endlessly repeating the unbearable importance of their quest.
“I’m not a child anymore.” Rook whispered to herself, making a final effort to distance herself from the growing feeling within her. “I am not a child anymore.” She said again, much more resolutely, and felt a familiar warmth envelop her stomach. It was a sentiment of letting go, of a deep and comforting sadness that comes with concession, surrender, and collapse. A friend she knew all too well, as the days of her adulthood grew dark and the pain of their world crept deeper into her soul.
Seeking to focus on the next steps of their mission, Rook stood quickly and placed her empty mug to join Neve’s in the sink- and she saw the faintest imprint of dark mauve lipstick along the rim of that other cup, and felt her breath hitch- before hurriedly leaving the room, running from a feeling she knew all too well.