Cut To The Quick [Closed]

[Nicolette O'Hara]

Celeste spun off a list of the charms she found in Nicolette, and both of them had colour on their face when she paused. Nicolette was watching Celeste with nothing short of wonder. Of course she had hoped for something like this almost her whole life, raised on a diet of the tales and songs her mother taught her, all of which had threads of romance in them somewhere. But as she had grown she had come to the conclusion that anybody who wanted more than a quick fling would attach conditions. The captain left her utterly unfettered, and it was entirely Nicolette’s choice when she finally made her confession – that she did not wish to leave.

Enough words had been said, for now. Celeste pulled her close, and Nicolette kissed her captain, the world outside the cabin door disappearing entirely once again.

-

If she had been boneless after the massage, she was liquid now. Small muscles still jumped slightly in her legs, but the pulse was easing off and left behind a languor that was as complete as it was comfortable. Even when her skin started to prick a little at the increasing chill, Nicolette did not move, instead opting to enjoy the little heat she was stealing from Celeste. The captain had just enough energy left to cover them both up, and Nicolette nestled beneath the blanket, contented beyond measure.

“Did you want to hear about the errand the mages sent me on?”

Oh, well. If there were not uncomfortable moments in life she would not appreciate the good parts nearly so well. Nonetheless, while her imagination immediately kicked into a high speed as she thought through all the dangers Celeste might have gone through, the captain was right next to her, unharmed, and warm, and so Nicolette did not tense up.

Besides, now that fear and hurt had been left behind, she was curious. She would not be herself not to be. She brushed her nose against Celeste’s, a hand resting idle on the other woman’s hip. “Yes. If nothing else, to find out if they were trying to send me into the deep end again.”

Although the mission with the landlord had been a success, Nicolette was under no illusion it would have failed appallingly if Celeste had not followed her. The underground appeared to have an exaggerated opinion of her abilities.

 

[Celeste Monroe]

The faintest shadow passed across Nicolette’s face when Celeste mentioned the previous night’s mission, but the minstrel did not try to pull out of their embrace, and after a moment, she responded.

“Yes.” She nestled closer, the tip of her nose nuzzling Celeste’s, and the sailor tightened the circle of her arms with a contented hum. “If nothing else, to find out if they were trying to send me into the deep end again.”

Celeste considered this. “Not as deep as the first time,” she conceded, “but they definitely don’t seem all that concerned about the safety of the people they’re recruiting to their cause.

“They needed someone to escort two people from the Wounded Coast into Kirkwall,” she went on. “I figured mages, but one of them turned out to be a templar. Former templar. Whatever.” She shook her head and shrugged. She didn’t know how that shit worked, and she really didn’t care.

“Said they were from Ansburg.” She looked questioningly at Nico. “You know anything about the mages there? I heard something a few months back, but damned if I remember what it was.” Normally, if it didn’t concern Celeste, her crew or her ship, she gave it little thought, but now it was niggling at the back of her mind, refusing to come into focus, which was annoying.

“Anyway, you’ll like Harmon - he’s the mage.” Her lips quirked in a grin. “Good kid. Said he was a ‘spirit healer’; not sure on the spirit part, but he’s a damn good healer. I’ll take you to meet him once they’ve had a few days to settle in.” Magical healing could come in handy in a pinch, and she wanted Nicolette to know where to find him if she got caught out alone.

“The templar’s name is June.” Celeste wrinkled her nose. “Not much in the personality department, but she’s good in a fight.” That probably wasn’t going to go over well, but hopefully the fact that she’d been healed up would help smooth things over. “Interesting currents between the pair of them. They’re not lovers - June’s too straight-laced and Harmon’s too clueless - but I’ll give it a month once they get settled in.” That would please her romantic minstrel.

 

[Nicolette O'Hara]

Nicolette wondered if somebody at the mage underground had received a vastly overstated dossier of her skills. Apparently the latest assignment had not been quite as immediately dangerous as breaking into the landlord’s house, but it had been dangerous all the same. Walking along the Wounded Coast unarmed was suicide, and it was hardly better for somebody who was armed but alone – as Nicolette might have been, had her last experience not made her decide she would be informing Celeste of any mission she was given going forward.

An apostate and a renegade temple had required passage. Nicolette was not sure what she could have done for them, other than guide them to the city, but maybe that was all that was required. Apart from fighting off anything that got in the way. The number of altercations Nicolette had been in had increased over the last few months but she had yet to take a life and aimed to keep it that way.

“Said they were from Ansburg. You know anything about the mages there? I heard something a few months back, but damned if I remember what it was.”

Nicolette knew. She did not want to throw a shadow over their comfort, but Celeste did ask. “Their Circle was Annulled. If they had not run, they would likely be dead by now.” Nicolette had been vaguely aware of Annullments through the occasional historical text, but it was freshly horrifying to think about an entire group of people being wiped out on the mere possibility of something going wrong.

“Anyway, you’ll like Harmon – he’s the mage. Good kid. Said he was a ‘spirit healer’; not sure on the spirit part, but he’s a damn good healer. I’ll take you to meet him once they’ve had a few days to settle in.”

“I would like that.” Nicolette smiled slightly. “The only healing mage I know currently is, to borrow the Fereldan, something of a git.”

“The templar’s name is June. Not much in the personality department, but she’s good in a fight.” Which implied Celeste had been around to see her fight. So they had run into trouble. “Interesting currents between the pair of them. They’re not lovers – June’s too straight-laced and Harmon’s too clueless – but I’ll give it a month once they get settled in.”

Nicolette warmed to the idea. “Oh, that would be quite the reward for their bravery. It is no small thing to escape the Circle, I am told, and even templars find it hard to leave. It would be just for them to find some sweetness together after the fact.”

She traced her fingers over Celeste’s shoulder, before dipping her head forward to kiss the skin softly. She knew every inch of the other woman by now, but the motion was not intended to elicit any particular reaction; she simply enjoyed sharing the small gestures of affection as well as ones more overt. It also kept thoughts of what-ifs from her mind. Nothing had gone so wrong as to keep Celeste from returning, and that was the important thing. Nonetheless, curiosity pricked. “Who was the fight with?”

 

[Celeste Monroe]

Nicolette evidently paid a bit more attention to non-maritime news than Celeste. “Their Circle was Annulled,” she said of the Circle at Ansburg, and Celeste sucked a breath between her teeth. She might not know much about mages, but she knew that term and what it meant. “If they had not run, they would likely be dead by now.”

“Well, shit.” Not much else to be said for it. And maybe there had been a reason for it. Harmon seemed all right, but who was to say about the other mages? Fortunately, she didn’t have to worry about them, and she promised to take the minstrel to meet him.

“I would like that,” Nico replied with a smile. “The only healing mage I know currently is, to borrow the Fereldan, something of a git.”

“Well, you’re ahead of me,” Celeste remarked. “I’ve run into a handful of apostates here and there, but none of them could heal.” She quirked a sly grin. “Knew one that could throw his farts across a room. We nearly caused a riot at a soiree in Montsimmard that way.”

As she had expected, Nicolette was pleased with the prospect of the fugitives finding romance together. “Oh, that would be quite the reward for their bravery,” she said, her voice warm with approval. “It is no small thing to escape the Circle, I am told, and even templars find it hard to leave. It would be just for them to find some sweetness together after the fact.”

The warmth of her fingertips along the curve of Celeste’s shoulder was followed the warm press of her kiss, and the sailor turned her head to let her own lips brush along the minstrel’s temple. This sweetness was something she had never expected to find, but as startling as the realization had been to someone with a longstanding no-strings habit, she wasn’t fool enough to deny it now that she’d been knocked upside the head with it.

She calms you.

Kalindra had been right. That they would make love again before leaving the bed was a safe bet, but Celeste was content in this moment with the warmth of the other woman in her embrace, so close that she could feel the steady thrum of her heartbeat.

And no, she had not missed the passing reference to combat. “Who was the fight with?”

“Tal Vashoth.” A rueful smirk ghosted across her lips. As sweet nothings went, it was decidedly lacking. “The bad kind. The smart ones, like Gideon, get fed up with the Qun bullshit and walk away. The others get driven mad by it.” She twitched one shoulder in a slight shrug. “The good news is that that kind don’t fight worth a damn. The bad news is they’re still big and strong enough to hurt you. I got cut up a bit, Dax had some broken ribs, but Harmon healed us right up after.” She hugged Nico just a bit tighter, feeling a renewed spark of irritation at the idiots that would have had the gentle minstrel out there on her own without giving a damn whether she was suited for the task or not. “Even healed the bruises that other asshole left,” she added, lifting her hand and turning it to display the unblemished skin that had been black and blue the day before.

 

[Nicolette O'Hara]

Nicolette decided she would like to know this mage. Whatever his situation with the templar – and while the idea of a romantic relationship had troubling overtones, Nicolette was too much of a dreamer not to enjoy the idea of them overcoming the obstacles between them through the righteousness of their feelings – it had to have required great trust on his part to follow her. At any moment she could have turned on him. Perhaps the templar was worth getting to know as well.

Although it seemed as though it was better that she had not met them when she was initially supposed to do so. Celeste had encountered trouble on the path, and it was not a variety Nicolette could have handled alone. “Tal Vashoth. The bad kind.”

Nicolette had met maybe two qunari in her life that were actually willing to do more than scowl. One had informed her, in an unnervingly placid manner that reminded her of a Tranquil, that she would suit the Qun. Artisans and performers had their place as much as warriors, apparently, although what sorts of songs and dancers she might weave for such a stoic audience, Nicolette did not care to know. She had actually been a little insulted. The other had been a bodyguard for a caravan and had mentioned briefly that he was part of the Qun, until he was not. Nicolette had taken the hint in his eyes and not pushed for further details, as much as she wanted to.

Celeste had more experience. “The smart ones, like Gideon, get fed up with the Qun bullshit and walk away. The others get driven mad by it. The good news is that that kind don’t fight worth a damn. The bad news is they’re still big and strong enough to hurt you. I got cut up a bit, Dax had some broken ribs, but Harmon healed us right up after.”

The captain pressed Nicolette a little more tightly, and Nicolette burrowed into the embrace as Celeste lifted her arm. “Even healed the bruises that other asshole left.”

It was on the tip of Nicolette’s tongue to apologise. Neither situation would have befallen Celeste had Nicolette not decided to offer her slightly questionable aid to the mage underground. Twice now she might have died or worse had the captain not come along, and while the circumstances surrounding today had not been ideal, instead of shame she felt a wave of gratitude. Nicolette traced the inside of Celeste’s wrist. “Thank you.” Her voice was soft. For stepping in, for helping – for Nicolette would have requested her help, had the messenger got to her first, and she knew Celeste would have accepted without a pause – but for another, more important reason. “For coming back safe.”

She wanted to say promise me you always will, but the words stayed where they were, for the moment. Instead she stole another kiss, revelling in the unbroken skin, the steady beat of Celeste’s pulse.