viara_tremaine (viara_tremaine) wrote in thedas, @ 2010-08-31 15:30:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! narrative, & 9:45 (5) molioris, @ viara tremaine |
Who Viara Tremaine, various ex-slave elf NPC’s. Mentions of thren_canondais and conlandelaine .
When 9:45, morning of 20 Molioris
Where Denerim, Conlan’s shack. (or is it Conlan’s ex-shack?)
What Captain Vi goes to check on Conlan and give him some news, and instead, gets some news for herself
Rating PG-13, mild language, references to adult situations
Author’s Note Yes, Viara, Thren, and the crew of The Northern Star are in Denerim at the same time that G3 is there, but this is designed to be a near-miss. Viara cannot be recruited at this time!
It was a little bit surreal for Viara to be standing in front of Conlan’s house. It wasn’t the first time she’d been there, of course, nor the first time she’d trekked to see him alone. Over the course of months she’d met Conlan here oh...perhaps up to four or five times since their initial meeting, and she’d always ended up staying the night. It had been a fair amount of time since her last visit - two months, three months perhaps? Longer? Viara wasn’t sure, time got warped at sea - but it seemed like a lot more time had passed than even the most outside of her estimates. Vi would swear that something about the house looked...strange. It had a different feel, like there was something off that the Captain couldn’t quite put her finger on.
She supposed, really, that what had changed had been within her own self.
While her relationship with Conlan had been the epitome of casual, Vi had grown fond of the mercenary in a quiet way. He was...perhaps not predictable, but... comfortable. Viara felt that she’d always known what she would be getting with Conlan - when they met, it was inevitably a fun, pleasant time, and neither he nor she had felt obligated to tie too many strings to the whole affair. The closest they’d come had been...well, the last time that they were together and Conlan had mentioned to her that she was the only woman in his life. Vi hadn’t returned the sentiment because it was simply not true -- while she’d slept with Conlan when she docked in Denerim, she took her pleasures with other men in other ports. Viara was many things - a pirate, a cheat, and a difficult woman, but when it came to those she cared for, she would never be a liar. It had been both flattering and humbling for her to hear from Conlan that she was probably the best thing in his life. She hadn’t quite been scared, but it had left her mulling over the nature of their relationship. At least...it had, before...
Well, before she’d met Thren. Which seemed like a lifetime and a blink ago, but was in actuality something like a month ago. Viara furrowed her brow and looked down at the mud which passed for a street on this side of town. The reality of having Thren in her life was magnified in the moment. Things had changed, irrevocably. Viara regretted nothing about it. Taking a lover on her boat and keeping him long-term had changed her life, and the very nature of her days and nights. She’d struggled, and was still struggling, with the implications of it, but the good had most certainly outweighed the bad, even in her darkest moments with Thren as he’d revealed his apostate status to her. Her feelings for him were strong - she cared for Thren more than she’d cared for anyone in her life, with the exception of her brother. While she wasn’t the sort of woman to go declaring her feelings to strangers or acquaintences or flashing her heart on her sleeve -she was far too practical, and still unsure of exactly how deep her emotions ran - she’d be a fool if she tried to lie to herself about it. And she’d be a bigger fool, and disrespectful to boot, if she didn’t confront Conlan with the situation honestly. That had been her plan until she’d come up to the door and found herself hesitating.
Viara knew that she’d explained to Conlan her solid rule about never having a man in her bed on the Star, and perhaps even some of the reasoning behind the strict limitation. To go in and proclaim that she’d broken - well, more like annihilated - said rule on the first basis of a lusty whim would probably prompt questions from Conlan. Reasons. Things that he probably deserved to hear and things that she didn’t feel like explaining. How would one even go about that? Viara chewed her lower lip, as sentences started to buzz through her brain
So, do you think you’d like to be my friend even if we no longer slept together?
Conlan! How are you? It’s been awhile, and that’s because I’ve been busy with someone else...
I can’t do this anymore because I think that what I want out of a relationship has changed...and someone else is providing it.
None of it was anything that she wanted to say. These were things that she could barely say to Thren, let alone to Conlan. Were Conlan a whore, it would be easier to end the relationship by simply not coming back, but he wasn’t. Moreover, it hadn’t been simply about sex - he was a friend, and their physical relationship had grown out of a genuine liking that she still felt. However, she had no idea exactly how much to divulge. Would Conlan really want to know any of it? Did she even want to tell him anything beyond her desire to end things? Viara’s mind worried over the possibilities until she was sure that the market around her was buzzing, and then mentally kicked herself.
Worrying would do no good, nor would over-thinking the thing. She always managed herself poorly when she over-thought, and did better when she went with her gut instincts and acted with an unwavering confidence. Owning any situation came as second nature to a pirate Captain - sometimes she survived on swagger and bravado alone. She took steps to close the distance to the little shack where she knew Conlan lived, but before she could quite get to the front door, a skinny brown-haired elven woman opened it and proceeded to throw out some liquid from a bucket into the gritty street, splashing the contents all over the front of the Captain’s new boots.
Viara blinked down at her muck-covered shoes, slowly, before looking up at the woman with a mixture of annoyance, curiosity, and shock. Well now, just who in name of the Stone are you? Viara wasn’t jealous -- in fact, some tiny part of her was relieved -- but Conlan had never had another woman in his house, and she was throwing questionable fluid out of the front door as if she owned the place. For her part, the elf blinked at Viara and then made a little strangled sound of apology, looking off to each side like a scared mouse and scurrying forward with a ragged cloth.
“Sorry, miss...” She murmured a little, doing a halfway decent job of cleaning up Vi’s shoes. However, the sight of an elf cleaning her boots made Viara intensely uncomfortable and she backed off, quickly waving her hands in front of her with a few quick snaps of her wrist. “No, no...off with that, it’s...it’s a dirty street, my boots are...sorry, but, just who are you?”
“I’m sorry?” The woman, or...perhaps an older teenager? It was hard for Viara to tell - blinked a little owlishly at the Captain and Viara clicked her teeth. “I mean, who are you? You’re obviously not Conlan, is he around? Did something happen to him?” Vi crossed one arm tightly under her breasts and waved the other emphatically.
“Oh, Conlan.” The woman made what Vi could only think of as a gushing sound of breath. “He gave us this house! I mean, he helped us, took us away from the slavers that captured us, and he said since he was a Grey Warden now that he wouldn’t be needing it anymore, and just handed it right over there. It’s not any worse’n the alienage, really...” The woman trailed off, continuing to talk about herself, but Viara was no longer paying attention. Her brain was slowly absorbing three pertinent facts...
Firstly, Conlan was a Grey Warden. A Grey. Warden. When, in the name of Andraste’s perky little tits, had that happened?
Secondly, he’d saved some elves from slavers, for which she would pat him on the back should she see him. He’d learned which side of that line to lay on, it seemed, and she knew he’d had it in him to stick up for a cause if he deemed it so worthy, especially when it came to slavery. Viara knew about those portions of his past.
Thirdly, he no longer lived at this address, and had given it to the souls he’d saved, which was a damn nice of him to do.
But mostly...A Grey Warden?!. Viara was sure she probably looked like some sort of fish, her mouth slightly agape as the woman prattled on, and Vi made an imperial arm-waving gesture that usually tended to make everyone around her cease talking -- it worked in this case as well. The diminutive Captain clicked her teeth together a few times, walking forward and peering in the house, where she saw a few more pairs of eyes looking back at her. It really wasn’t a dwelling fit for more than one, but when people were freed, that tended to matter very little, and they were making it work with some cobbled-together furniture and a fire cheerily crackling away in the otherwise gloomy space. It appeared that Conlan hadn’t given them his furniture along with the domicile, and that was curious but not really relevant.
“So. Conlan. Grey Warden Conlan...gave you this place. Did he say where he was going? When did this happen?” Viara was concerned with finding Conlan, even though...well, Maker’s balls, if he was a Grey Warden it was possible that he was quite well taken care of...and gave the woman her best impatient ‘hurry up’ expression, slowly arching a red brow. The elf just sort of shrugged, looking back at everyone else inside before answering.
“Don’t know, but he had a big group with him, said they had Grey Warden business. All’s I know is they helped us with our slavery too, and we just...couldn’t be more grateful, Maker bless them!” She sounded practically whimsical and Vi couldn’t help getting a little melt to her expression, brown eyes softening.
“Aye.” She nodded a little at the sentiment, though not caring a lick for the Maker’s blessing. “So, they’re not in Denerim anymore?”
“Left us here yesterday evening, miss.”
Viara twitched at being called ‘miss’ for a second time, but let the point lay. It didn’t matter if this woman knew of her Captaincy. “Yesterday... must’ve just missed him.” She mused to herself with a little smile playing around the corners of her mouth, murmuring. “Well, Conlan Delaine, Grey Warden. Wonders never cease. Told you there was more to you, Con.”
The elven woman blinked as Vi started to speak to herself, and the Captain just waved her away. “If...he happens to come back, tell him the Captain was looking for him. He’ll know what it means and where to find me.” She waved politely at the woman and turned on her heel before she’d have to answer any more questions. By the time she got to the end of the street, Viara was full-out laughing and shaking her head in disbelief, earning herself a dubious look from a member of her crew.
“Grey Warden. A merc like him. Maybe a pirate like me can be princess someday, eh?”