Dragon Age Secret Santa fic for @styliferous, featuring her Tabris, Anila, and camp bonding time. Anila was a delight and super cooperative, so this was extra fun to write. :D Merry Christmas!
It was the little things in life you didn’t miss until they were taken away that made this difficult. Warm baths after a long day, sleeping in your own bed, not having to pick darkspawn guts out of your hair....
Of course, Anila couldn’t be too mad about the last one, because the darkspawn she was picking out of her hair had looked dead-set on decapitating Zevran before Morrigan put a rather spectacular end to it. Didn’t make her current state any more enjoyable, but with the likely alternative fresh in her mind, it was more tolerable.
Still this was going to take a while. All she had to work with was a single wooden comb, a shallow bowl, and the stream near camp. Sooner you start, the sooner you’re done, she encouraged herself, and reached back to unpin her hair. The twin carrot-orange braids had scarcely unwound down her back when she heard footsteps behind her. Anila half-turned to look as she dipped her fingers into the stream to test the temperature. Brr. “What can I do for you, Leliana?”
Her fellow redhead smiled. “Actually, I came to see if I could help you. Alistair told me what happened, and I figured it might be easier to clean up if you had some help, no?”
Anila smiled gratefully. “Help would be wonderful. It went everywhere. I can clean it off my armor and other gear easily enough, but I’m paranoid I’ll miss some in my hair and smell to high heaven for the next several days.”
“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Leliana sat next to her at the stream’s edge, filling the shallow bowl and setting it on a mostly flat rock nearby. “Mm, that’s brisk.”
“I know,” Anila said as she untied her braids, running her fingers through the strands to loosen them. “This’ll be fun.”
Leliana laughed softly. “I’ll try to keep the rest of you as dry as possible.”
“I appreciate that,” Anila replied, settling herself with her back to the stream. “I’m sorry we were so late getting back to camp. I know we said midday, but-”
“Anila, please, a darkspawn ambush is among the better excuses for not sticking to your timetable,” Leliana said wryly, running her fingers through Anila’s hair. “I’m just glad you all made it back in one piece.”
“Well, mostly one piece,” Anila muttered sourly, picking at the grass and trying not to dwell on how heavily Alistair had been leaning against her the last half-mile back to camp.
“Wynne will have him patched up in no time,” Leliana assured her, as if she’d read Anila’s mind. She poured the bowl of water over her hair, and Anila barely repressed a shiver. “And he seemed in good spirits when I talked to him.” She picked up the comb and ran it through Anila’s hair. “Maker’s breath, Anila, how close were you standing to this darkspawn when it exploded?”
“Pretty damn,” she admitted. “You should see my armor.”
“No, thank you,” Leliana said with half a smile.
“I’m just glad most of it landed on me and Alistair,” Anila sighed. “So we don’t have to worry about Morrigan or Zev catching the Taint. On that note, be careful. I don’t need you catching the Taint either.”
“Oh, I am, trust me,” Leliana promised. The two women lapsed into silence for a few minutes as she worked section by section to comb out Anila’s hair. Despite the water’s chill, and the awkward position she was sitting in, there was something undeniably relaxing about having someone wash your hair, and Anila closed her eyes to better enjoy the simple pleasure. She tried not to worry too much about Alistair, or the risk involved with Leliana combing darkspawn ichor out of her hair, but it was hard with no distractions. Leliana hummed softly to herself until she broke the silence to comment, “I really do love your hair, mon ami.”
Anila smiled, remembering their last conversation on this topic. “Thank you. It took ages to get it as long as I wanted. Nice to have that work appreciated.”
“How come?” Leliana asked idly, pouring more water over to hair to wash out loosened ichor. “About growing it, I mean.”
Anila shrugged. “Just circumstances in general. Growing up in the alienage meant going without food sometimes, or not getting enough, or getting the same thing every day for a week. And malnourished hair falls out or breaks much more easily, so it wasn’t until I got older and could help provide that it got healthy and I made any kind of progress growing it out.” She sighed, smiling slightly at a memory. “Shianni was furiously jealous for weeks, until the first time she caught me trying to brush it.” As if on cue, the comb snagged a knot and she winced.
“Sorry,” Leliana murmured. “That’s a tricky spot...”
“S’alright. But you can see why Shianni decided she was okay with short hair,” Anila said wryly.
“Indeed I can,” Leliana chuckled. “And I’m sure it suits her just as well as yours does you.”
Anila hummed in gratitude, and the two women let silence return until Leliana finished.
“There you go,” she said, sitting back and working a cramp out of her hand. “Completely gore free.”
“Thanks,” Anila smiled. She picked up the comb and parted her hair precisely down the middle, deftly split each half into thirds, and had it back in twin braids before you could say The last Grey Wardens in Ferelden. She left them hanging down her back and bent to collect up the bowl. “If I pin them up, it’ll take forever to dry,” she explained to Leliana.
“I figured as much,” Leliana nodded. “I’ve never had my hair that long, but I have friends who did.”
“Any of these friends bards?” Anila asked idly as they walked back toward camp.
A half-smile quirked Leliana lips. “One tried it. She found the lifestyle was not to her liking, no?”
“It does seem the sort of thing that would only appeal to a very specific type of person.” Anila swatted at a cattail, sending it bobbing back and forth long after they were past.
Leliana nodded. “Very true. Alistair, for example, would fail miserably. Poor dear is a terrible liar.”
Anila giggled. “As faults go, that one’s not too bad.”
“Also very true,” Leliana concurred as they reached the edge of the camp, walking into the middle of a playful yet spirited debate.
“I’m still not clear on why you get to cook tonight,” Alistair was saying, as he shifted position against the tree serving as his backrest. He rubbed briefly at the bandages encircling his left thigh before his hand returned to rest atop Cyrion’s head. The mabari whined softly, and Alistair absently scratched between his ears. “It was s’pposed to be my turn, and there’s nothing wrong with my hands.”
“Ah, yes, but you need rest, amico,” Zevran countered, flashing Anila a grin when he noticed her approach. “Besides, we all know the food I cook has actual flavor. And I know what my cara likes.”
“Your cara likes Fereldan lamb and pea stew just as much as her fellow Warden,” Anila interjected, amused.
“Ah! I am betrayed,” Zevran said, clucking disappointment but grinning even as he pressed one hand over his heart. “I must rescue your taste buds from this dreary Fereldan cuisine, yes?”
“Not if it involves as much spice as last time,” Alistair grumbled. Cyrion let out a low wuff of agreement.
“I have to side with them, Zev,” Anila said with a smile. “You can have a little fun, but please do keep it simple.”
“Fine, fine,” he conceded with a theatrical sigh. “Your wish is my command and all that. Though it is criminal how little you Fereldans appreciate good food, is it not, Leliana?”
“Oh, non, mon ami,” she laughed, raising her hands in protest. “Even if I agree with you, you’re not pulling me into that. I’m sure whatever you make will be good, and let’s leave it there.”
The rest of the dinner preparations, as well as the meal itself, passed in a swirl of laughter, teasing, and good-natured ribbing. Anila was still smiling when she crawled into her bedroll, heart warmed and worries calmed by time spent with her friends. It was the moments like tonight--Alistair laughing ruefully as he cave to Cyrion’s umpteenth plea for belly rubs, Zevran’s smile as he tucked a stray wisp of hair back behind her ear, Leliana skillfully balancing all the dishes on her way to the stream to wash up--that carried her through the harder ones. The little things, that made this saving the world business a little easier.
The 2nd place prizes for the follower giveaway, Anila Tabris for @styliferous, Deu for @robokittycat, and Maurki for @Krossydraws! All good kids, beautiful children
I’m concepting a cousin of Anila’s for a Surana run but honestly it’s looking like she’s closer to a sibling or twin. She doesn’t start out ripped but she’s gonna be an ARCANE KNIGHT and gets shredded arms just like Anila because nobody can stop me.
More on the suits idea from that last card. Continuing the light/dark contrast and exploring what concepts those things can get across, not as good/bad but as different flavors of the same thing. For example, the warm steadiness of Anila and Shira, and the frightening intensity of Venassan and Lady vs the hazy comfort of Athene and Sian. It’s pretty fun! I have like, one more of these to go and I’m more or less done with the series.
