In Another World | locked to apostate_amell

[amellsinferno]

Solona had been giving it some thought ever since Anders brought it up. Escape the tower together? Her, Nellie, him and even Cullen? It was crazy but the way Anders explained it, it just might work. Surprisingly, Cullen agreed to do it, with Nellie's powers of persuasion of course.

So now the four of them are off to escape the Tower. Hopefully everything goes according to plan.

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[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"You're the best!" Solona grins, practically pouncing on her sister for a hug. "Besides, alone time with Cullen." She waggles her eyebrows.

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Nellie smiles slightly, hugging Solona back.

"You owe me, sister dearest...and I know."

She's gone a nice shade of pink now, blushing.

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"So, if ever you two... Well, you know. Not that I want to think about my younger sister in that way much." Solona makes a face. "Be quiet."

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Nellie goes bright red.

"Solona! We're...not yet, okay? Jeez!!"

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"Oh, thank the Maker!" Solona exhales in relief. "Because if you two were..." She gives Nellie a look. "Cullen and I would have to have the talk and all."

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Nellie groans.

"We're not like that yet, Sol, we're taking it slow...so don't go scaring him with the talk yet, okay?"

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"Oh, Nel," Solona looks at her sister with a knowing smile. "Don't you notice the way he looks at you? Even if I gave him the talk or scared him shitless with a fireball to the face, I don't think he'd ever leave your side."

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Nellie blinks for a minute, before slowly smiling and shaking her head.

"I know, Sol. I'd never leave him, either...just try not to scare him anyway, please?"

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"I'll try my best not to," Solona winks. "Now, I hate to interrupt our little bonding moment but on to the distraction, yes?"

Cullen was downstairs talking to the owner of the tavern about possible routes to take, any news of the roads and the current situation in Lothering.

uh...what IS the situation in Lothering?

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Nellie sighs and nods.

"Okay, okay...but you owe me, sister!"

Ze Blight, right? RIGHT? Must inbox this discussion. Brainstorming must occur.

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"When have I not owed you?" Solona smiles back sweetly.

Yes, because has the Blight started yet or is it just a rumor?

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Nellie laughs and smile, shaking her head again.

"Remember when I used to be the one owing you all the time?"

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"For your little rendez-vous back at the tower? Yes." Solona laughs.

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

"Even before then, silly. I used to get in so much trouble at the Gallows...I owed you all the time."

Nellie smiles and laughs a bit. It's hard to imagine that she was once the problem child, not Solona.

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"Don't worry too much about it." Solona gives Nellie a good pat on the back before pulling her in for another hug. "You're my sister. That's what sisters do."

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Nellie hugs her sister tightly, pulling away with a smile.

"Okay, I'll go talk with Cullen. You have fun, but keep it quiet."

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"Will do," Solona winks. She takes the bag which concealed the bottles of wine and exits the room. She sneaks her way across the hall to knock on Anders' door, the same way she or he always used to knock when they snuck around the tower.

Cullen however is engrossed in conversation with the tavern owner.

"A lot of people have been moving into Lothering," says the man. "A handful of them claim that we might have a Blight on our hands-- Would you believe that? A Blight!" The owner emits a hearty laugh. "Most of them just follow the ones that move really. Still, with the amount of people there now, I'm sure the Chantry is making its way to Lothering is just so they can accommodate more people, yes?"

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Anders smirks as he opens the door, leaning on the doorframe, eyebrow raised.

"You knocked, m'dear?"

Nellie just looks at them from around the corner, rolling her eyes. those two...

She starts to head downstairs, but she overhears what the conversation is about. And it looks like Cullen is completely engrossed in it...she'd feel bad just taking him away from that.

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

Solona holds up the bag, trying her best to suppress her giggles and sound seductive. "A pretty girl, wine and freedom." She smirks. "It must be your lucky day, Anders."

Meanwhile, downstairs...

"Yes, that's exactly why we're on our way there," Cullen replies, trying his best not to sound awkward. He takes another sip of his ale. "But also, we're trying to get the blessings from the Chantry there to spread the Chant of Light to the Chasind."

"That certainly is heavy stuff for just you four," the owner replies surprised. "Are you sure that just one templar can handle barbarians?"

Cullen just laughs. "Do not doubt me, good ser. I have seen more than my fair share of battles." T'was a lie, but he did spar often enough to be fairly more advanced than even some of the templars his superior.

[chantrygoesboom.livejournal.com]

Anders smirks and lets her into the room. "Now if only I could shoot lightning at fools without getting into trouble."

He motions for her to sit down on the bed with him.

"Dare I ask how you convinced your sister to cover for us?"

Said sister is just sitting on the steps that lead down to the tavern, listening to Cullen and the owener speak.

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

Solona walks over to the bed and hands him one bottle. She bought two for a reason. She uncorks hers and drinks straight from it, grinning as she takes her seat next to him on his bed.

"I just persuaded her through sisterly affection. Nel's a sweetheart. You should thank her later," she beams, taking another drink. Maker, wine tasted amazing.

Cullen keeps on talking to the owner. Suddenly the conversation steers to each individual member of their group. Cullen groans inwardly. Oh, Maker...

"That red-headed one, she's a bit chatty, isn't she?"

"Quite. She does most of the sermon work. Very charismatic." He decides he'll keep everything short to avoid going into too much detail.

"And the one with the ponytail. Are they allowed to wear earrings in the Chantry?"

"Apparently so," Cullen chuckles awkwardly. "We've been trying to persuade him to take it off but apparently he pledged to get that earring for the poor."

"Odd," the merchant says thoughtfully, but he buys it. "That blonde girl though. A bit quiet that one."

"Ah, yes, sometimes she can be a bit reserved." Cullen can't help but smile now that he has a chance to actually talk about her.

"But she is beautiful. Just like that red-head. But I've always been more of a light haired kind of man. Red-heads can sometimes get too feisty."

Cullen chuckles. "I know what you mean."

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Anders smirks and repeats the action, uncorking the other bottle and taking a swig from it, sighing in relief.

"Maker, I needed that...Cullen was drinking in front of me to taunt me, I swear. Prick. What does your sister see in him, Sol?"

He shrugs, taking another swig.

"Still, I owe her...and he is helping us escape, so he can't be all bad."

Nellie blushes and smiles a little bit at that. She'd never thought of herself as beautiful...pretty, yes, but Solona was the beautiful exotic fiery one. There really wasn't any competing with her.
She felt a bit bad, just sitting and eavesdropping on them, but she wasn't sure what she'd say if she went down...and it was weird being at a bar and not drinking.

Still, Nellie doesn't move just yet. She's a bit curious to hear what else they say...

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"She sees a kindred soul, perhaps," Solona chuckles. "And he's doing a pretty good job predicting the templars' actions." She takes a gulp of wine again and sighs happily. "Do you always drink like this after your escape attempts?"

Cullen keeps on chatting on with the man. It was nice to actually have conversation that wasn't about planning their next route or bickering with either Anders or Solona.

"So, where are you from exactly then, ser?"

Cullen gulps down his drink, hissing a bit at the burning sensation the alcohol sent down his throat.

"Denerim, actually," Cullen admits.

"Denerim? That's a bit far off, don't you think?"

"A bit, yes," Cullen smiles. "But that's where I was born and raised."

[apostate-amell.livejournal.com]

Anders shrugs and takes another swig, nodding a bit.

"Well, he is a templar...if he couldn't predict them, we'd be screwed...and of course I do! It's a sign of freedom, and I need this! Besides, every other time, I've been dragged back, so I take what I can get...you know?"

Nellie bites her lip, listening in. She didn't know much about Cullen before he was a templar, and it never really came up...was he really from Denerim?

[amellsinferno.livejournal.com]

"Ah, but I know what you didn't have all those other times you escaped," Solona smirks. She sets the bottle down for a second by the night stand. Her fingers were beginning to tingle. She's never had that much to drink in one go and the less than half full wine bottle may have been a bit too much to drink so hurriedly. But it only made her a bit bolder than usual. She takes Anders' bottle as well and sets it down beside hers. Then she straddles herself on top of him and pins him down on the bed. Chantry clothed and all.

Downstairs, Cullen can't even believe that he was baring his life out so easily to this man. Maybe he should stay away from alcohol for a while.

"So, tell me about yourself then, ser. What brought you to becoming a templar?"

Cullen takes another swig from his mug. "My father actually," he admits. "He was in the Order as well and, well, I suppose it was just expected of me to follow in his footsteps."