selcouth
Heavenly Words | accepting
(adj.) unfamiliar, strange, yet marvelous
A little over twenty minutes south of Hightown, Marian's convertible revved up the wide stretch of road that ran toward Kirkwallâs industrial district. The stars were just starting to come out as she decelerated onto the ramp. As much as you could see the stars with the perpetual layer of fog that lazed in the air this close to the foundry.Â
Next to her, Fenris was a much quieter passenger than Varric, and a much more stationary one than Isabela who liked to lean out and hoot at passerby while Marian tried to disappear behind her sunglasses.Â
She glanced furtively at the elf when she pulled up to a red light, watching him watch the alleys and shadows in that forever wary way of his. In the open air of the convertible, his silvery hair stirred; swept back like thrown starlight...
The signal turned green. Marian snapped her eyes back to the road and cleared her throat. âAlmost there.â she promised.
They were bound for the comedy club she liked to go to, housed in a repurposed warehouse. Usually it was Varric that accompanied her, but the dwarf was feeling sick tonight and, citing that it would have been a shame to waste the extra ticket, she had convinced Fenris to come in his place.
The car rumbled into the dirt lot, unlit save for the headlights of other vehicles pulling in. The place was filling up quickly by the looks of it.
âHere we are.â Marian got out and began the difficult ritual of wiggling the top just right to get it back down. The car, once her fatherâs, was too old to have anything automatic, but Marian liked it that way. After some squeaking and shuffling she got it closed and smoothed her hair back in readiness. âThe entrance is round the side,â she tossed her head in the direction of the warehouse. âCome on.âÂ
Leading the way, Marian wove a silhouetted path through the blinking highbeams of parked and parking cars. Eventually she swung around the shiny top of one of the brass poles they put outside when there was a line up. She liked passing through their black velvet ropes, they were softly worn to the touch and made her feel like she was walking the red carpet. After checking over her shoulder to make sure Fenris was still behind her, she pushed open the door of the club.Â
Inside the air was warm, heavy with the smells of spilled alcohol and vintage upholstery. She stepped close to Fenris for a moment and pushed up onto her tip toes to try and see over the jostling heads and shoulders.Â
âThereâs a free table! Iâve got it.â
Zipping ahead, Marian shucked her jacket and dropped it on the back of a chair then plopped into the one next to it; the universal sign of a seat being on reserve. By the time Fenris caught up, she had settled in and was accepting a liter of red wine from the server, the pair of worry rings Marian wore on each thumb clinking off the glass. âI took the liberty.â Her lips curved in greeting as she tipped the decanter.
The overhead lights began to come down and bluesy music tha-thump-tha-thumped out of the speakers piled alongside the stage. Marian leaned over to Fenris, whispering in his ear as she slid a glass of wine for him across the tabletop by its stem. âThanks for coming with me, by the way.â
The opening comedian was a dwarf, a big bearded and even bigger bellied chap whose lumbering around the stage had everybody cracking up. Even Fenris. In low, covert chuckles that pulled Marianâs attention sideways. She took a slow pull of her drink, smiling behind the rim of the glass. In truth, she wasnât really here to watch the show tonight. Sheâd brought Fenris to see him laugh, for he did seem so much like he needed it.Â
And if the other ticket was never for Varric in the first place? Well, no one needed to know that but her.



















