Red String of Fate (Dragon Age FanFic)

Party at the Tavern

Neria didn’t bother to glance to see if Luca was even following her. She went straight to the Collective and checked herself in, not mentioning anything about the mission. As she walked away from the main building, she was approached by other mages who volunteered.

"Would you like to get a drink with us?" A man asked with a smile.

Neria hesitated before catching sight of Luca approaching. Smiling brightly at the mage in front of her, she let him take her by the hand and tug her towards the tavern. She looked once more towards Luca before turning away again.

Luca checked himself in, his grimace turning into a deadly glare as Neria walked off, not saying a word about the mission to the woman at the desk. He sighed, ran his fingers through his hair, and gave the woman a very brief, unimpressive retelling of the last hour. She took notes with a scowl, explained that he would be summoned by their superiors no late than tomorrow evening, and then sent him on his way.Luca headed in the direction he had seen Neria walking.

“Did you happen to see where she went?” he asked one of the guardsmen, who seemed to have a particular interest in people-watching.

The guardsman focused his eyes on Luca. “I did. She went off to the tavern with some of the men.”

He felt a sharp pang in his stomach. He couldn’t understand why, so he elected to ignore it. “Thank you,” he said, marching straight for the tavern.

He found Neria at a table with two men, smiling like she had never had finer company. Luca scowled at her. He knew those men - he had been unfortunate enough to have to work with them - and they couldn’t hold an intelligent conversation for more than ten seconds. He headed over to them, pulling a free chair from an adjacent table and setting it in between Neria and the closest man.

He sat down, turned to face Neria so that it was quite obvious that he did not plan to pay the others any attention. “I think you owe me a drink.”

Neria noticed Luca enter the tavern immediately, she watched him look around and felt like a fool for being so captivated by him. Then he forcefully inserted himself between her and the mage, Devon, turning the full force of his blue eyes on her. Shaking off the intensity of his stare, she managed to regain some bit of her thought process.

"Why in the world do I owe you a drink?" She demanded hoping her voice came out steady.

"I just had to deal with the grumpiest desk lady in existence, alone. Because you ran off, I might add,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her. “You owe me at least three drinks.”

He turned to the men at the table, leaned toward the closest, Devon, as though he were about to share a secret. “Don’t worry. She likes to be yelled at. I do it all the time.”

At his not so whispered secret to Devon, Neria felt her face heat up either out of anger or embarrassment, she wasn’t sure. She twisted her fingers together under the table, biting her tongue to keep from snapping back at him.

She waved to the bartender, holding up three fingers for three drinks then stood and tossed the coin in front of Luca. “Enjoy your drinks, they seem more your type anyway.” She gave Luca a smile and walked off from the table. He wanted to ruin her night, he would have to try harder than that. Settling at the bar, Neria leaned towards a man who was drinking there and began to flirt mercilessly.

Luca watched her go, doing his best to hide the shock from his face. Usually it took more than that to set her off. He wasn’t sure whether he was pleased or uncomfortable. When he saw her sit down next to the man at the bar, he realized he was neither. He was fuming.

He gathered the drinks around him and looked between the two men at the table. “If I give you one of these,” he said to Devon, looking at him in distaste, “will you go somewhere while I chat up your friend?”