A Candle in the Darkness (A Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfiction)

Pranks

20 Haring, 9:41

Antonia leaned on the railing of the tavern, listening to the hum around her. Something seemed off today, and she said as much to Sera, who was leaning next to her.

"Ya think?" Sera said, looking at her as though she were daft. "Whole tavern full o' people, all drinking alone. What you want is everyone drinking together, havin' a little fun, but they're all so up their own arses about the Inquisition."

Frowning, Antonia surveyed the room. Despite the Sera-speak, it was a fairly accurate assessment of what was going on. "Any ideas how we can fix it?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm thinking pranks. You and me, messin' around in people's stuff."

"How does that help?"

"Well, we bother the big folks, and then they seem like little folks, and that makes everybody happy. You and the general knockin' boots helps, naturally, makes everyone else think it's all right to do the same, but it's still you two big mucky-mucks, so only to be expected, really."

Antonia didn't bother to correct the sadly incorrect assumption about her relationship with Cullen. "That makes an odd kind of sense, Sera. Let's do it."

"What, you mean it?" Sera stared at her in disbelief.

"Yes, I do. I think it's a good idea."

Sera laughed, still looking a bit surprised. "I knew you were different! Let's go."

"Where do we start?"

"Oh, the big three, of course. You know if any of 'em are likely to be out of their offices?"

Antonia frowned. It was just after lunch—Josephine would be taking her afternoon siesta, a holdover from her childhood in Antiva. In another hour, Cullen would be heading for the practice grounds, and then they'd all be meeting in the War Room in another hour after that. She said as much to Sera, who was delighted by the information.

They stopped in Josephine's office first, where they balanced a bucket of sticky syrup by the door to Josephine's private quarters. Antonia felt a little guilty about it, but Sera had a good point—Skyhold was intimidated by the "big three," as Sera called them, because they seemed so aloof and so competently in charge all the time. Shaking their composure a bit would make them seem more accessible.

If she were telling the truth, Antonia had to admit that she, too, was as much in awe of her advisors, and felt nearly as inadequate in front of them, as she had been in those first days in Haven. Even her growing intimacy with Cullen had only served to make her admire him and everything he had accomplished more.

Sera caught her eye. "Now, see, you're going all serious again. Can't have that."

"No, I suppose not."

"They scare you too, eh?"

"Something like that."

"See, that's why we need you. 'Cause you're not one of us, but you're not one o' them, either, and we can all see that." Sera nodded firmly. "Yeah."

On the battlements high above, Cullen was just leaving his office. He'd follow through the abandoned guardhouse and take the stairs to the training ground in the upper courtyard. Antonia grabbed Sera by the arm, pulling her down the stairs to the lower courtyard, before he could see them. Then they took the stairs from the lower courtyard up to Cullen's office.

Sera looked around it, wrinkling her nose. "Lots of books. He read them all?"

"As far as I know."