#been bleseed w DA oc brainrot gotta ride that high

[alistairssock]

Neria is so funny bcz she took one look at Leliana and was like wow babygirl you are batshit off the rails insane, wanna join my merry band of delinquents? Only to later get all silly and mushy when Leli attempted A Flirt by complimenting her so untrusted crow's nest of a hair. Weirdos find a way (love edition)

Like Neria's not particularly religious by any means. She grew up in a mostly human-dominated village, tho be it a fair amount of diversity depite the size of it. Not many years later she gets sent to the Circle after her magic manifesting. Then at some point decided there are no gods of any shape or form or culture, or else they'd interfere by now and she wouldn't be there.

Lived a good chunk of her life with unprocessed trauma prior Circle life, in addition to Circle trauma as well. Got snatched up by Duncan as soon as the whole Situation with Jowan happened, and in her grief and hurt, she had no hesitation of getting out of there. Ideally Jowan had come along with her. And Anders (but she knew he'd manage somehow, his atrocities to authority were always a bit...more delicately handled than Jowan's stunt).

Somber and with a head buzzing like a thousand bees she followed Duncan all the way to Ostagar. There she met Alistair, who she found both peculiar and refreshingly earnest. The two bonded quickly and she found comfort in his presence, despite the hurdle that kickstarted their adventures together. She had insisted they both drank their share at the same time during the Joining ritual (despite Duncan protesting a little, he allowed them both a shot each).

Not long after, they stumbled across this Very Devout murder nun. Neria had come by crazier, but was wary a good while while travelling. Suspicion didn't exactly lessen when the met Zevran. But he was somewhat easier to accept. Had he tried to kill them? Yes. But was he a fanatically devout believer in this Shem god? No.

Soon after Morrigan joined the team and at that point Neria was just so accustomed to her outcast traveling companions, that a bog witch was nothing. She seemed nice enough, y'kno. Despite her hissing cat behaviour. Nothing she couldn't get used to.

For a while, it was only the five of them on the road. And it was nice. Depite the challenges. Despite the impending looming shadow that followed them, whispering at every convince that the world might end. The damn Blight.

Aside from that tho, Neria had never felt more free and at peace with herself. It was a learning curve, but she was finally allowed to figure more out of who she was as an individual. It was refreshing and new and exciting and wild and scary, all the same. If it wasn't for the stakes at hand, she'd prefer not to wear Warden outfits 24/7, but part of her also enjoyed the familiar uniformity. It was the only comforting memory from the Circle.

Neria picked up Leliana trying to flirt and hint that she had feelings for her. Not that it was anything new to her. She had had a few lovers back in the Tower, even multiple at the same time. Surprising how little the Templars guarding them payed attention at times, and it worked in her favour.

Leliana was a bit diffrent tho. Something she couldn't pinpoint drew her to her, and it didn't help she had a wonderful singing voice. And of course she was pretty too. Carried herself with such elegance and grace she'd only see in cats. And yet she knew what she was capable of, and that intrigued her no less.

It wasn't until they were about to enter Orzammar, and Leliana started babbling about her love for Nugs, that Neria had a few bangs of epiphanies. These budding feelings were real and they were about to spring into full bloom if she wasn't tactful. At the same time she didn't know why she was so hesitant. The rouge clearly had some feelings for her, and it wasn't like they hadn't had some vaguley romantic moments now and then.

But it was kinda hard too. Doing all this political stuff she was practically just flung into, and then supposed to make a relationship flourish. For a long time she didn't know how to do that. Until she brought back a Nug to camp and held it up to Leliana, and Leli leaned in to kiss it but crashed and the nut leaped out of her arms and her lips...met Neria's. That's when the deal was sealed. She was in love and so was her crush and it all just kinda flooded over her like a bucket of cold water. She allowed the kiss to last as long as it needed, before Leliana pulled back flustered and bewildered. The kiss had been nice, but it also caused Neria to bail and overthink things for a week in the Dwarven tunnels.