#raina is honestly a raccoon in human form

[greypetrel]

oh!! for gestures of affection, how about "Tucking a flower behind the other’s ear" for Raina and Merrill?

Here I am, better late then never!

Ahahahah this was just perfect for them, right? :P

Coming! During Act 2. Also some references to GarrettxFenris on the side. Raina knows nothing of what happened, she noticed they were getting closer… But they’ve both been private.

Also some platonic flirting with Varric because yes.

Tis the prompt list

"Tucking a flower behind the other’s ear"

The good thing about the Bone Pit was that everything, in comparison, was lovely and fascinating. Even that small flat clearing in the Wounded Coast, more sand and dried vegetation struggling to grow in that terrain, had its own fascination while compared with the depressing atmosphere of the mine.

Cursed the day she ever decided to listen to that idiot Hubert and tell him yes. Sure, the mine was a stable source of income, but her business partner got ideas when she first helped him herself. And so, the visits became a nasty, regular occurrence.

But the nice thing about those, was that even Darktown, after, became prettier. And stopping to have a quick break to eat in a quiet spot, sitting on the ground and looking at the sea and at the shipwrecks in the bay, had almost something idyllic about it. Even if the grass and the plants were awfully spiky and Raina had sand in her boots and, somehow, inside her socks as well. At least tho the air didn’t smell like sulphur. It smell of salt and wind, and she tried to ignore how it reminded her of Isabela. Because whatever was going on, feeling were very clearly out of the question.

Instead, she concentrated on the company, biting another morsel of her sandwhich -Orana always put those diced tomatoes seasoned with oil, garlic and some other herbs that just were out of this world- and focusing again on what was going on.

Varric was lying on his back, groaning loudly and complaining about the sand and about how he hated it. Nobody even listened to him anymore. Garrett was still brooding, as he’s been doing ever since the morning they left – Raina didn’t know what happened, she heard… Happy noises coming from the wall that separated their rooms the night before, which definitely woke her up, threw a boot against said shared wall, and got back to sleep with a pillow above her head. The next morning he snapped at her instead of replying to her joke with another, as they would usually do, actually yelled at her -something he never did, the one she had yelling matches with was Carver. And he’s been deadly silent for all the trip down there, ignoring her and Varric’s trials to joke and lighten the mood with humour and exchanging some words just with Merrill. Who’s the one that actually have been kind with him, and now was dragging him around to pick up sea lilies and malvas and some oleanders that were still blooming so late in summer. She was the one speaking, he just… Looked at everything and picked up flowers with the air of a sad dog that has been beated, Beowoof dragging along them, running around happily and barking at seagulls, sniffing around and enjoying himself, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

Which was weird. And made Raina happy to have asked Merrill to tag along. Merrill was good with these things, talking about feeling and being delicate and make people feel welcomed. And, she was very cute, there, hopping between thorny bushes with a smile on her face, bending down to collect flowers as she chatted of this and that, not that she could hear them from this side of the clearing. They were cute.

It would have been nice, she thought, spending time like that on a regular basis. Going out of town to properly have a pic nic and enjoy a nice summer day, pic flowers and talk about feelings and mushy things. Not just to solve people’s problems.

In another life, maybe… In another life it would have been her in Garrett’s place, following the elf around and smiling at her. Maybe holding hands and-

-And, no.

Bela had said she didn’t want feeling, that it was just sex between them, and something fun but… But, Raina never actually talked to her about… Feelings and preferences. She didn’t know what they were, how they stood with each other, if the piratess was ok in her seeing other people on the sideline. And really, she liked Isabela, she was having fun, she didn’t want to ruin it. And a little part of her heart, one she was desperately trying to hide and bury deep, deep down, was hoping in something more, was hoping in actually bringing feelings on the table. Maybe add a third person to the equation.

Merrill, hence, was off limits, no matter how cute and adorable she found her when she picked flowers, when she was kind to her, when she laughed at her jokes -she always laughed, even to the bad ones- when she said something that actually let on that she wasn’t just competent, no. She was brilliant at it.

But, off limits. Garrett could be her friends, they got along well, had lots of things in common to talk about. Much, much more than what Raina had with her, anyway.

So, she just sighed and finished her lunch, dragging herself down from pointless dreams that just couldn’t come true. She would have drowned her frustration in Orana’s cuisine, she decided. Yes. A barrell full of tomatoes and garlic and herbs. That would have made her perfectly happy, she decided as she licked her fingers with gusto.

“Why did you ask me to tag along, exactly?” Varric asked, groaning loudly from beside her.

“Because I love you and can’t stay away from you for so long, Snoogums.” She remarked, blowing him a kiss.

“I am sorry, pumpkin, I don’t love you enough for this. Too far away from civilization, too much sand.”

“How could you do this to me, you foul!”

“Alas, I think I sweated all my love away.”

“What a cruel, terrible and smelly destiny! Two star-crossed lovers separated by a small trek!” She sighed, closing a hand on her heart and tossing her head behind her. “You should write a book about it.” She concluded, returning serious and rubbing her hands on her trousers. They were dirty anyway.

Varric snorted at that. Starting to explain that sweat wasn’t really a plot device that sold many copies, people tended to find it gross, they kept on bantering back and forth, not noticing that, in the meanwhile, the two mages had gained a bountiful of flowers that Merrill deemed sufficient, and were walking back to them.

Raina wasn’t easily startled, from basically the fact that she rarely let her guard down and was hyperactive enough to be always more or less aware of her surroundings. But right now she maybe was tired, or distracted, the balmy sea air, the golden light and the distant noise of the tide relaxing her nerves. The result was that she actually jumped on her spot when a hand delicately placed on her shoulder, snapping her head on the side just enough to quickly assess that there was one Merrill far, far too close to her face. Smiling brightly and approaching her hand to her face.

She froze in place, brain totally blocked and running amock in scenarios it didn’t need to go. Her eyes were a very pretty shade of green, and her tattoos -vallaslin, she called them- were not black, from up so close, or grey as she thought before, but another dark, muted shade of green. It suited her, it really did, the curved lines complimenting her features. She was pretty, and Raina lost ability to function for one moment. One long, dragged moment when the elf raised her hand, a white, spiky flower held between her thumb and index finger, and tucked it behind her ear, combing back short hair so it could sit more securely there.

“There. A sea daffodil for you. It suits you!”

The elf declared, smiling as she sat back on her heels, in front of her, admiring her work. And the eldest Hawke, still staring with her mouth open.

“Spiky and with an open mouth?” Varric chuckled, propping himself up on his elbow.

A quick glance on the side revealed that the dwarf was looking at her with a smug, knowing face Raina really didn’t like at all. She swatted his shoulder, in all reply.

“Hey!” He complained, chuckling.

“No, it smells good, it’s intense, and it flowers even in difficult conditions and it’s the prettiest on the beach.”

And with that, Raina’s brain just flew out of her nose and yeeted itself in the sun. It was said innocently, and Merrill just giggled and rose up, going to sit on Varric’s side, where she left her staff and her pack before.

Varric was still smirking at her, as did Garrett, sitting beside her.

“You’re drooling.”

“And you’re moping.”

“Maybe, but I’m the prettiest on the beach.”

“Shut up.”

Merrill was, actually, forbidden territory. Not before a talk. But Maker, did Raina wanted to kiss her, as she giggled quietly in her corner, making a flower crown to give Varric.