#isolde guerrin you will always be famous

[princehendir]

One thing that must be said about da:o is that it is an excellent "meeting your friend's parents and finding out that they are not actually generally good people who made some damaging but well meant mistakes during the child rearing process and are in fact just kind of really evil and mean and your friend is in a truly insane amount of denial and oh god how are you ever possibly going to fucking navigate this" simulator

[jchb32273]

Fictober 2019 - Day 6

Fanfiction - Dragon Age AO3 Link

Dang it, I will get back on track... lol! 

Here is Day 6 

Yes, I’m Aware. Your Point?

~~~~~

Alistair hummed as he set up his new artificial tree in the corner of his condo. Mid-term exams were over, Satinalia was approaching, and Kylara promised to come over and help him decorate his tree before she would head home for the break.

Pity, she can’t stay here in Denerim for the holidays, he thought. But I get to have some time with her before she travels, so I am happy enough for that.

Holidays like this had always been very lonely for Alistair, so in the past, he hadn’t cared much for them. Growing up with Eamon and Isolde Guerrin, Maric’s wife’s relatives, had made them even more so.

He had just finished stringing up the lights on the tree when his phone chirped. With a smile, he flopped down on the couch and opened his text messages. However, it wasn’t from Kylara… it was from his father.

[14:22] I need you to come to my office.

                                                                                                           Why? [14:22]

[14:23] You don’t question me. I need you here, now.

                                                            But I have someone coming over… [14:24]

[14:24] Then you’d best call them and cancel. I don’t know how long this will take.

Alistair slapped the phone down on his couch. Damn you, Maric. He took a few deep breaths then picked the phone back up.

                                                      Fine. Give me 20 minutes. I’ll be there. [14:26]

[14:27] Fifteen.

Alistair closed the text message app. He stared at his brightly lit tree, the boxes of decorations, and tinsel. He sighed. Then he reopened the app.

[14:30] Hey, Kylara… Maric has called me into his office and I don’t know how long I might be held hostage there…

 Do you want to reschedule? I don’t leave until tomorrow afternoon. [14:31]

[14:31] No… I still want to see you today. I want to make the most of our time together before you leave. Maybe I can find some way to… ugh… butter him up… so I can get back here asap.

                    All right. Please don’t get into trouble with him over me. [14:32]

[14:32] I promise I’ll be on my best behavior. 😉

                                                         Text me when you get back home. [14:33]

[14:33] I will. ❤️

He closed the app, shoved his phone into his pocket, grabbed his car keys, and ran out of the condo.

As he drove towards Maric’s office, he started thinking back on his unorthodox upbringing.

His earliest memories were of his various nannies. Eamon was always too busy… and Isolde? For reasons that had never been explained, she just seemed to hate Alistair from day one. When they both decided to send him away to a private boarding school, Alistair thought he would finally be free… but the school’s restrictions had been even tougher than living at the Guerrin’s mansion. Alistair had managed to make one friend his entire time there.

Boarding school had been dull and Alistair a quiet boy. He tried pulling pranks and making a few jokes in the early years there, but no one found him funny… just annoying. So he threw himself into his studies – and quickly excelled at them – probably because there hadn’t been much else to do. Once he’d graduated, Eamon told him to apply for college, so Alistair did just that… choosing a school far from Redcliffe and the Guerrins.

College brought Alistair out of his shell. He continued to excel at his studies, but he took the time to make friends and become very active on campus. He was also glad when Cullen – his one friend growing up – had applied and was accepted to Denerim University the following year.

Then, out of the blue, it seemed, Alistair received a letter from a man claiming to be his father. He was summoned – he would have said ‘invited’, but that was too nice of a word for the situation – to Maric’s office.

He got to meet his half-brother, Cailan, that day… who accepted and welcomed him as though they had grown up together. It was hard to dislike Cailan, he just had the kind of personality that made him get along with everyone.

Maric, however, was anything but warm and welcoming. He basically told Alistair that he had been the one paying for all of his education… and he would continue to do so as long as Alistair kept top grades.

Alistair had no problem with that part. He liked his school and classes very much. He still wasn’t sure what he wanted to major in… even though he was already in his third year. For the moment, he wanted to keep his options open.

So he had his schooling, he had his band, and he had his friends. He was happy… for the most part. The one thing that he wanted above all else however… was love. He didn’t have it growing up since the Guerrins pretty much ignored him. His nannies had cared for him, but he really couldn’t call that love. Cailan was cool for a half-brother he’d known for only a year. He liked him, but that was as far as it went. Maric was his father, but he was cold and distant. He often wondered who his mother had been. Had she loved him at all? Why had she not been there for him? Was she even alive?

He’d asked Maric once, but the man refused to talk about it.

He thought he’d finally found love when he dated Ellie Cousland. Maric had introduced her as the daughter of Lord Bryce Cousland at one of his famous parties. She was thin, blonde, and beautiful. Alistair had been very taken with her in the beginning… but after they began dating, her true personality began to emerge. She was cold, calculating, and she loved manipulating people to her own advantage.

Alistair let it slide for a time, but it slowly began to wear him down. They began to fight more often than not… but what finally broke him was when he found out she was cheating on him with another man.

He ended the relationship, right then and there. Ellie tried to wheedle her way back in, but Alistair didn’t budge on it.

Then he met Kylara. Quite by accident, too. He had just finished a set with his band at his All Souls/Halloween Bash (which he had decided to throw to help get Ellie off his mind) when his friend Cullen had told him about another friend of his that might have gotten hurt accidentally. He had gone outside to see if the girl was okay… and his life changed.

Kylara was nothing like Ellie. She was quiet, reserved, sweet and smart… but at the same time, not afraid to speak her mind at times. He did feel a little sorry for her at first since others seemed to tease and ridicule her, but Alistair quickly found that he enjoyed her company. Her intellect challenged him and he found he could talk to her with just about anything.

Then there was the disastrous dinner party at Maric’s where she felt that maybe they were too different to be friends.

They were different, but it was these differences that made him realize that there was something really special about her.

Then they had shared their first kiss.

He had initiated it, yes, but Kylara clearly had enjoyed it. They went out together later that evening to a movie… where their lips met more than their eyes were on the screen.

They were only two weeks into this new relationship and Alistair found he cherished every minute of it. A smile broke on his face as he pulled into the parking lot of Maric’s office. I don’t know if this is love… but I am happy. Happier than I have ever been this last year.

He still had a grin on his face when he walked into Maric’s office.

“You’re late.”

Alistair’s smile faded. He glanced at his watch, then half-jokingly said, “Can I blame it on the traffic?”

“No, you may not.” Maric frowned. “When you are running a business, punctuality is key. Early is on-time…”

“…and on-time is late,” Alistair recited along. “Yes, I’m aware. Your point?”

“My point is that I asked you to be here at a specific time and you were not. You waltz in here with a silly grin on your face and jokes on your lips. I am surprised that this lackadaisical attitude of yours hasn’t gotten you in trouble at school already. You are about to be a senior and you still haven’t decided on your major? How do you think you will be able to contribute to society when you just float-along in this manner?”

“Is this all you called me in for? To lecture me?” Alistair almost growled. “You could have just as easily called me on the phone for that…”

“Watch your tone with me, young man. I am your father and I still have control over your life.”

Alistair was seething inside. He wanted to yell, scream, berate… tell Maric just what he really thought of him, but then Kylara popped into his mind, acting like a balm to his frustration. He swallowed his anger and then in a calmer tone said, “I am sorry… father. It’s just… I was looking forward to spending some time with one of my friends before they left for the holidays.”

“Who?” Maric asked, suspicious. “A girl?”

“I think I can answer that question for you, sir,” Zevran suddenly spoke, making Alistair jump. He hadn’t even seen the elf in the office when he’s first arrived. Zevran moved in swiftly and plucked Alistair’s phone right out of his pocket.

“Hey! Give me back my phone, Zevran! This is none of your business!”

“It is when your father pays me,” Zevran smirked. “Now let me see…” He studied Alistair’s lock screen for a moment, then quickly drew his finger in a pattern across it. “Here we go, sir. Unlocked. Now let us see just who your son is so anxious to see. Hmm, quite a few calls to this one number… and many of them late at night too. Ooh…”

Alistair was sick to his stomach. Maric had hired Zevran to spy on him? “Please,” he begged. “Just give me back my phone.”

“All in good time, friend.” A few taps and then, “Here we go, texts.” Zevran then nodded. “It is as you feared, sir. He is still in contact with her… and it seems to be getting more serious.” He showed Maric the latest text.

Maric’s face turned red as he glanced at the messages. “Hmm… I am ‘holding you hostage’? You want to ‘butter me up’? Just what is going on between you and this girl, Kylara?”

“Nothing! We are friends! That’s it!”

“Ah, ah… don’t lie to your dear father,” Zevran cooed. To Maric he then said, I think this will speak for itself.” He tapped the phone and a message began to play on the speaker.

“Ali, I really miss you. I know I’ll get to see you again in a few hours, but I can’t help but remember your last kiss to me. So soft… so tender… You really are amazing at them, you know? No one has made me feel the way you make me feel… loved… special…”

“Turn it off. I’ve heard enough!” Maric fumed. To Alistair, he then said, “I thought I told you the day after the dinner that she was not appropriate for you! She is a nobody! A commoner! I expect you to pick someone more refined, proper! Girls like her only go after you because you have money, influence… power! Gold diggers. Money-grubbers… all of them!”

“Kylara isn’t like that! She is sweet, innocent. She likes me for who I am, not because I have money!”

“Don’t be naïve!” Maric yelled. “You will break it off with her, or so help me, I’ll…”

“What?! Write me off again as you did twenty and one years ago when I was born?! Oh, how that will hurt! Not having a ‘father’ like you in my life! Well, you know what? I did just fine without you then, and I can do just fine without you now!” Alistair turned and stormed out of the office.

Maric went to the window and looked down. He saw Alistair jump into his car and drive off.

“He’s going to be a trouble-maker, that one,” Zevran mused.

Maric sighed. “Tell me something I don’t know.”