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Aveline furrowed her brow over the present. Sun-Blonde Vint-1? She was not a wine conniseur, but even she knew that a bottle of Sun-Blonde was . Around it was a red band with a little handwritten note: 'One of my weaknesses to another. Your's always.' A symbol she'd never seen before was scratched under it in red ink.
Sure, Solstice eve was a common time to give and recieve presents, but this seemed almost... romantic. Who did she know outside of the guardsmen and Hawke's circle?
Nearly on cue, Marian came through the door with her quiet, confident stride and leaned against the doorframe in the cool, relaxed manner she did whenever she was waiting for the right moment to talk Aveline into another of her escapades of dubious legality.
"I heard there was some trouble down at the docks." "Something about mages, blood magic, Tevinter smuggling... the Kirkwall special.
"And I don't suppose it has any chance of resolving itself?
Hawke sighed. "It never seems to work out that way. The mess always gets bigger if you leave it alone."
Ordinarily, she would have had her shield and sword strapped in a matter of minutes, but that little gift had thrown her off-balance in a way no sword or spell had ever managed. A thought crossed her mind, and she picked up the gift. "Hawke, did you...?"
Aveline should have known better. Hawke was always cautious. Too cautious, some might say, but Aveline respected that. Certainly too cautious to barge into her office after secretly leaving her a gift. She gave a look over at the bottle in Aveline's hand and shook her head with a thin smile. "Looks like you have a secret admirer."
Aveline Vallen, the woman who faced down dragons, darkspawn, and demons with much the same attitude, began to panic. Internally. "Right."
Hawke coughed. "Well... I'll leave you to it, then."
"Didn't you want me along?"
"You have bigger mysteries to tackle, Aveline. We'll survive without you."
"Right." Aveline got the feeling that she'd be cleaning up the bloody remains of some manner of scumbag. She had half a mind to get started on the paperwork to the Viscount before Hawke came back covered in blood and pleading (With suprising sincerity for someone who seemed to attract bloodbaths like flies to honey) self-defence rather than after, but her eyes drifted back to the mystery present.
For that? The paperwork could wait.
*****
The Hanged Man was her first location for information, even it was the last place she wanted to be on Solstice eve – or any day, for that matter. She found her quarry in his room, door open to the world and eyes open to more. "Varric," She said "why in the Maker's name are you covered in velvet?"
He tugged on the collar, covered in white fur. "Ancient family heirloom, Aveline. I only break it out for special occasions – balls, royalty, drinking on Solstice eve..." Varric shrugged. "I should be asking you why you're down at the Hanged Man on Solstice eve. I thought you'd turn to stone if you ever thought about having a good time."
Aveline ignored his last remark. "I've a present and I don't know who it's from. I don't know who to thank or give to in return, or anything. If anyone hears anything in this town, it's you. Who would send the captain of the guard... this?"
"The merchant's guild does something like that. We all draw names from a hat and give a gift in secret to whoever we pull. When I was younger, I replaced all the names with my own, just for kicks." Varric chuckled. "Of course, that broke my record for 'number of assassination attempts in one day'. Now I just make sure my name is 'unfortunately' absent from the hat."
"Do you know who sent it?"
"No, Aveline, I don't." Varric steepled his hands with a smile. "I think that's the point."
"Nothing. Nothing at all?" She flipped over the note and pointed at the bottom. "Can you at least tell me what this means? There's got to be something more to this. A prank on the guard, maybe."
His eyes lit up. "I think the Rivaini might know a thing or two about that symbol."
"Isabela?"
"Just how many Rivaini do you think I know?" He kicked his chair back and crossed his legs on the table. "I just saw her down by the bar. Better hurry – she's usually not sober long past sundown."
Sure enough, Isabela was down by the bar, getting two mugs filled for a table of one. "Isabela. I need to know what this means."
"Are you joking?" Isabela's exasperation was written clearly in her tone. "You still haven't put it together?"
"Put what together?" She said defensively
"You're absolutely hopeless." Isabela rolled her eyes. "Those are my initials. It was me."
Shock struck Aveline, and not because of Isabela's illegible signature. "You? But..." She studied Isabela's face carefully. There was none of her usual amusement or composure. She was just... frustrated, and evasive. "Why?"
The pirate tried to bury her discomfort with her normal lackadaisical tone. "Oh, I thought it would be obvious. Solstice, spirit of giving, even you must know about that." She slammed her mug down to catch the attention of the bartender who had the misfortune of dealing with the Hanged Man's impatient patrons. "Are you on holiday or not?" The barkeep was, as was natural on Solstice eve, overwhelmed by the hopeless and lonely. Isabela sighed and draped her upper half over the counter. "Don't read too much into it, big girl."
"Isabela, if this is your idea of getting me-"
"Don't worry about it." She said as she sashayed back to her table in the corner, away from the vomit-breathed drunks who frequently the inn. "It was just a silly thought, it really was." She left Aveline puzzled in her wake. But a puzzled guardswoman is a guardswoman resolved, and she refused to let the matter die.
She kept close behind Isabela, trying to put all the pieces together. "If this was one of your pranks, you'd be laughing yourself into hysterics by now. Was this... sincere?"
Isabela sighed. "You can never leave anything alone. This is why no one likes the guard. They can never leave well enough alone."
"Why me?" Aveline supported herself on the table, towering over the Rivaini half-draped across from her. "Of all your conquests, why go after me? I'm not like them."
"Know many of my 'conquests'?" She snorted. "You weren't a conquest."
"You always call me mannish and dull."
"And you always call me strumpet and whore." Isabela grinned halfheartedly. They both knew Aveline's jabs had no sting for a woman so at ease with herself. "If I wasn't comfortable with the captain of the guard, I wouldn't talk like that to you." Then softly: "But I am."
There was an honesty in her voice that surprised both of them. A silence settled for a few minutes, and then both women slunk away from each other without so much as a word.
*****
Each of Aveline's steps were hesitant, swaying side to side, inching forward through only sheer force of will. The morning light peeked through the overcast sky and through the lone hallway window in the Hanged Man.
She rapped her hand against the open door to Isabela's room and stepped in. Hunched over a little corner desk, Isabela only half-looked back at Aveline. "Happy Solstice, Captain." She said, somewhat sullenly. "At least one of us can wear that title honestly."
Arms holding the present in front of her chest, Aveline cleared her throat. "I have a gift for you."
Isabela stiffened her arms to force herself out of the chair. "Aveline, please, I'm really not in the mood to-" Aveline pushed against her lips quickly, awkwardly as she turned, and shoved the plaque into her hands.
A smile replaced "This is..." Her smile took on a questioning look, and she half-laughed. "something I don't understand."
"It's... copper, because it's long lasting, and marigolds for beauty."
Isabela grinned. "You are hopeless."
"If you don't want it-"
Isabela twisted away, cradling the engraving to her chest. "I never said that." Her eyes took on a wistful look as she ran her fingers across it. "It's hopelessly romantic." She felt it was silly and provincial and sentimental. She wouldn't have given it up for the world. "Do you think I'm the hopeless romantic type?"
"No, but I am." Aveline crossed her arms. "So it's now or never, Isabela."
"Oh, don't be so bloody serious." She uncrossed Aveline's arms for her. "You think I would go through all the trouble of going after you, captain do-gooder, if I didn't want you?"
"'All the trouble'?"
"You've been missing my hints for months." Isabela pressed Aveline down onto the bed, breath warm against her skin. She smiled. "I thought I was going to have to flip you over that damn desk of your's and-"
"-put some wind in my sails?"
"I was thinking more 'take the captain's helm'. Maybe you have picked up something from me." Seeing the gears turning in her head, Isabela cut off the line of thought before it could connect. "I just saw Anders the other day."
"Is that how it's going to be? Me always worrying about you, off with..." She took a sharp intake of breath as Isabela's lips travelled down her neck. "everyone else?"
"Oooh, feisty." "As long as you're with me, I'm with you." "I wouldn't dare do anything without my captain's permission."
"Somehow, I doubt that." Aveline gasped as Isabela's wandering hands found their way "This is going to be hell for us."
"I can think of worse fates." Isabela flipped her on her back. "Now, let's see about working off some of that pent up frustration, big girl."