Red String of Fate (Dragon Age FanFic)

I Quit

Luca narrowed his eyes at her and took a hesitant bite of the cookie. It was delicious, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “I must admit,” he said, staring at her and chewing thoughtfully. “I was expecting it to be some sort of curse word.”

Idiot. Prat. Ass. Neria had called him all of that and worse. He had begun to find it endearing, in its own way. He hadn’t realized it until now.

Neria raised her brow. "I can call you that stuff in English, why waste my breath calling you it in Elvish when you wouldn't understand it?"She asked simply. 

Then she shrugged and looked at him again. "If you want me to insult you in Elvish, I will start."

"You can insult me however you’d like, sweetheart," he said, finishing the rest of his cookie and shoving the wrapping paper in his pocket. "I’d thank you for the cookie, but then I’d have to admit I enjoyed it, and things would get awkward. So I’ll save myself the trouble."

He glanced off into the distance, his staff suddenly feeling heavy on his back. “Are you ready to go?”

Neria completely ignored the sweetheart remark and pinned Luca with a stare. “Blackwood was wrong, there is no way we can be partners in a civil way and manage to find his stupid tome.”

Finding the tome was important and they couldn’t spend longer than ten minutes being civil towards each other before returning to hating each other. If she stuck around, she’d have Luca completely distracted again with insulting her.

She rubbed her face roughly before returning her stare to him. “Find yourself a new partner, I quit.”

For a second, Luca thought she was joking. He was going to laugh at her, but then he saw the look in her eyes, and his smile crumpled. “What? You’re serious?” He frowned at her, doing his best to keep his temper in check. “If you want me to be civil, I can be civil. I just don’t see the point in it. It’s boring.”

You’re fun to argue with, he wanted to say. You make the cutest faces when you’re angry. But for some reason, he didn’t think she would take that well.

"I don't want you to be anything, harellan, but yourself." Neria stated quickly. Did he have to look like a wounded puppy? Maker. "You will be too busy trying to be witty instead of finding the tome."

She paused and tried to think of a way to make this easier, to make him understand but all that popped in her head was to take it back and stay with him. She shook her head and forced the thought from her mind.

"Why don't you ask Trevor?" She suggested quickly, hiding the flinch the idea caused her. "The mage you were with at the tavern, you two seemed taken with each other."

"He’s handsome," Luca admitted, though his mouth was turning downward at the corners. "But he couldn’t think his way out of a paper bag. You know that as well as I do."

His frown deepened as he stared at her. “I assure you, I can be witty andfocused on this mission at the same time. If you really don’t think I’m capable, then perhaps you should go on your own.”

Neria glared at him putting her hands on her hips, the admission of him thinking that Trevor was handsome flipping her mood. "Yes, yes. You are the king of multitasking." She practically snapped at him.

"Go play hero." Neria stated in a dismissive tone. "Dareth harellan.." The simple gesture of telling him to be safe made her uncomfortable. She turned and started to walk away.

Luca’s hand darted out of its own accord, grabbing her wrist and turning her to face him. “I don’t want to be a hero. I just want to find Corwood and this damn tome, and I want to do it with you.”

Luca grabbing her startled her.

What he said next startled her even more.

Neria just stared at him. Maker. Did he have to be so confusing? One minute he acts like he can't even stand her then he says something like that, like he doesn't want to see her go. She sighed and shook her hand free from his grasp.

"After you, fearless leader."