Daddy's Girl [Merrill]

[Aedhan]

DATE: Haring 9:40 Dragon
LOCATION: Kirkwall Alienage
TIME: Midday

This was it. Their new home. Aedhan stood at the entrance of the Alienage holding his daughter's tiny hand in his. She held her small raggedy bear tightly in her arms, and their luggage tied into a sack on his back. There wasn't much inside, just an extra set of clothes, a pack of food and water, and a few extra things they needed to keep on themselves.

He looked around at the small block of houses, each one lined up together in a square with a large tree place into the middle. It wasn't large. The one in Hunter Fell was a bit bigger than this one, but it didn't turn him away. Maybe it was what they needed. Moving into a smaller neighborhood seemed more appealing than a large city of elves like in Orlais or Nevarra. This was what Lilly needed. It would make bonding with the others much easier, and it would make it much safer for Lilly. He could only hope that she'd bond with the children here more as well, as he watched a few children play around the large tree in the center of the block.

Aedhan looked down at his daughter, still holding on tightly to her bear. She looked back up at him with large blue eyes, "Is this our new home, Daddy?" It took him a minute to respond as he forced back a tear. He grew up in Hunter Fell, it was all he knew. Now he suddenly had to acclimate in this place he never once stepped foot in? It was weird, thinking it'd be the same for Lilly and Kirkwall when she was his age. She'd consider this place to be the home she grew up in and always knew. This was going to be her reality, like Hunter Fell was for him.

"Yes it is, Sweetie," he said forcing a smile on his face as he looked into her eyes and squeezed her hand. "Let's go," he lightly tugged her hand as he lead the way forward and down the steps to the ground floor. There were a couple women who passed them, giving warm smiles to him and his daughter. A woman standing at a stand selling dresses who was too busy to notice them. A man who looked to be in his 40's or 50's standing a ways away with his wife, and a look that sent a shiver down his spine.

Aedhan nodded at each of them with a smile of his own, but never once stopped. He even tried to say 'hello' to one of them, and while they replied with the same, they didn't stop to make conversation.

A cold start, but maybe after a day or two, they'd warm up. It was a tough life in these parts. He understood their behavior, he just hoped they'd warm up to Lilly more than him, if anything. She was already getting a few smiles and waves from others, but most were too busy to stop and make conversation.

They finally approached the door of their new home. It was small, but it was a home nonetheless. Homes in the Alienages were always small, but no-one living in them every complained. They were luckier than most others. A home here in Kirkwall was safer for Lilly than living in the wilderness alone, susceptible to wild animals that would probably eat her whole. Even here, the only protection she had was that of her daddy's dagger, which he was willing to use on just about anything dangerous that crossed her path.

"You must be new here!" A particularly older voice sounded from his left as his hand pressed against the handle of the door to his house. He turned around to see the voice belonged to an older woman, most likely in her late 30's to early 40's. Her hair fell long and shiny. Despite the youthful blonde color, grey was starting to peak around her temples and part. Her eyes showed years of stress, but still kept a bright golden glow to them. "Don't worry about the others, they'll warm up to you in due time. We don't get very many newcomers here, not anymore at least... Where you from?"

"We're from Hunter Fell," Aedhan began as he turned to her. He saw her eyes drift downward to his knees, most likely just now noticing the little girl he had with him as her eyes grew wide with glee. He followed her eyes, feeling a set of small hands wrap around his leg. She was hiding behind his caff, and peeked out slightly around the side to the woman before them. "This is my daughter, Lilly. Say 'Hi' Lilly," he reached down and lightly brushed the top of her head, as she let out a small 'hi'.

"She's a little shy... Do you live here? Aedhan asked as he pointed with his thumb to the house on the other side of them.

"Oh, she's precious. I think she'll warm up fine with the children here. They're quite lovely. I live over here, actually, with my husband and two kids," she said pointing to the house she stood in front of. "Merrill, lives in that one. She's a darling. And I bet you'll get along just fine with her." He couldn't help but notice the small wink the lady gave him with her last comment. He only chuckled though, accepting the flattery from her. "I better get going, though. Gotta get dinner started before the old man starts whining!"

And with that she gave a wave and set off for her door, as he and Lilly stood in front of theirs. The greeting from the lady was hopeful, at least. It told him not all here were completely cold and willing to make conversation. It was hopeful for Lilly.

[Merrill]

Crash!

"By the Dread Wolf!" the startled Dalish woman cried as a fuzzy black rat ran past her feet, causing her to fall back in surprise, thus knocking the wooden halla carving off a small table and landed on the poor girl's head with an audible thump. "Ouch..." she groaned quietly, rubbing her delicate head, her eyes scanning the room for the little rat thief "if you rats paid a bit of rent to live here then I wouldn't mind you scurrying about. Then again, how does a rat pay rent? It'd seem weird for them to scurry about carrying tiny little pouches of coin... though that does sound rather cute."

The babbling elf gave a sweet smile, lifting her small frame off the floor, her lips parted as a playful giggle escaped her. "I guess I'll have to go out and buy more breadcrumbs, we all need to eat. Maybe this time I can try to cook a little something, Arianni always did bake the most delicious pies! Perhaps I could try that and hopefully it won't be a recipe for disaster!" Merrill grinned without a care before grabbing the key to her door and tucking it safely away in her pouch, taking a last glance at her home.

Truth be told, it had improved quite a bit over the years, thanks to Varric - of course. If not for him, it wouldn't be as clean as it was now nor would the furniture be placed in a suitable manner and her sheets itch-free. He remained a good friend to her despite everything she had done, all those foolish mistakes she had made...

Her wide eyes softened in sadness for a brief moment, but before she could reminiscence on the past, she forced a smile and left her home. She breathed in deeply, oblivious to the damp smell of the Alienage, though one would think she had inhaled the scent of roses. Many greeted her, some engaging in conversation for only a few short minutes. Once done chatting of things that held little to none importance, she frolicked her way over to a stall selling a variety of foods.

"Hello Asha!" she beamed a cheerful smile at the brunette haired woman in her late thirties, placing her hands behind her back as she swayed slightly. The woman gave a warm smile, nodding a greeting. "Why, if it isn't my favourite Dalish," she chuckled heartily "how are you this noontide, Merrill, dear? Run out of food already?"

Merrill gave a slight giggle before repsonding in her usual positive attitude. "The rats have to eat, too, Asha. Poor things will starve otherwise," she said matter of factly, unaware of how silly she sounded. Typical Merrill.

Asha could hardly believe her elven ears, though then again, this was Merrill after all - poor sweet Merrill..She continued to smile at the young'un, much like a mother would do towards their own child as she began placing what Merrill always often bought into a sack for her. "Well, perhaps I could take off say a silver of two for this week's purchase," on the outside she was smiling, though inside there was concern. When is this girl going to start learning to take care of herself?

"Oh! That's very kind of you, but you don't have--" Merrill paused as she met Asha's gaze, something told her to just keep her mouth shut and accept the kind gesture. It was then she remembered. "Ooh, could I get a few apples, too? And maybe a bit of flower?" she asked politely, holding her coin out eagerly as she couldn't wait to begin her very first day of baking.

"It's flour, dear," Asha corrected her, shaking her head as she smiled once again, Merrill never failed to make those around her laugh, she counted it a blessing that the poor girl was too oblivious to realise they were laughing at her, not with her.

Merrill tilted her head like a confused puppy. "Isn't that what I said?" she asked innocently before then being handed the sack in return for a small amount of coin "ma serannas, Asha!"

From the looks of her, one would think a dragon had set her near on fire as she hurried back home like an excited child eager to show his parents a drawing. This excitement was short lived, however, as the black haired elf soon collided with someone tall in stature, her sack fell to the floor and a few apples rolled out of it. She had landed on her behind, a slightly pained expression appeared on her sweet features. "Ohhh! That hurt..." she groaned, once composed, in a manner of speaking, she looked up to apologize to her newest 'bump' victim. Her pale dirt brown eyes meeting ones of blue.

[Aedhan]

Aedhan returned the woman's wave as he realized he had never gotten her name. The woman was so busy with other things on her mind that she probably forgot. And that was alright, he knew he'd get it eventually. He was just thankful that someone here bothered to give him some kind of friendly greeting.

"Daddy! Daddy!" He felt a tug on his pant leg as the tiny voice sounded through the air.

He hurried to look down at her beaming eyes staring back up at him. The look of excitement on her face caught him off guard. What could have suddenly warranted this kind of reaction out of her? "What is it, Sweetie? What?" He hurried to ask her with worry on his face, crouching down at eye level with the child.

"Can I go play?" The little girl asked in an innocent, angelic manner as she pointed to the tree behind her. He followed her finger to the group of children that he saw playing before. A boy and another girl around her age was calling out to her and waving her over, almost as if they had already known her. Aedhan could do nothing else but smile. He may have been having problems making friends so far, but his daughter sure wasn't, and it made him happy.

The daddy let out a chuckle as his hand pressed up to her pale cheek, "Of course!" He stood up and the hand that was previously on her cheek drifted to the top of her head once again and rubbed around quickly. With that she immediately ran off towards the other children with the largest grin on her face, as he stood and watched his daughter enjoy her new life.

He was beginning to wonder if he made the right choice for her, and it was this moment that he knew he couldn't have made a better choice. Some may have asked him why he would subject his daughter to such a life. This was why. The fact was he couldn't give her a better one. He couldn't live amongst the humans in a large estate in the highest part of the city. It was the Alienages or the wild. He did everything he could to give her a decent life. If he could give her even the littlest bit of happiness, his goal was accomplished.

But everything changed when his thoughts were shoved out of his head... Literally. Within seconds something hit him with full force, sending him forward with a sac of fruits tumbling around his feet. Thankfully, he was able to catch his balance, but it seemed whatever had collided with him didn't see such luck.

The dark haired elf immediately turned around to meet the unseen force, to only lock eyes with a brown eyed beauty. She had innocent, youthful features about her; large brown eyes and short dark hair that fell around her temples perfectly. Instinct outstretched his hand to the young woman, helping her back up to her feet before turning his attention to her fallen goods. "Are you all right, Miss?" He gave her a warm smile despite the worry on his voice. "I'm terribly sorry about my idleness. I spaced out a little. I'm Aedhan."

[Merrill]

Once on her feet, Merrill began to dust the dirt from her knees, completing ignoring the man's offered appendage as she was too busy tidying herself up. "It's fine, really, I'm always bumping into things, or getting lost, I should use my ball of twine more often... though I don't think twine would warn me when I'm about to bump into someone, that would be wonderful if it cou-" she began chirpily before pausing, this poor stranger must've thought her stupid what with all her babbling.

Looking down at the ground, she noticed her newly bought goods and began placing them back into the sack, a rather goofy smile curved her lips. "Hopefully, I can still make that pie, a little dirt won't hurt, will it?" she asked to no one in particular before then focusing once more, she caught his name just in time.

"Oh! You must be the new neighbors! Aneth ara! I'm Merrill!" she spoke, rather excitedly with a much kinder smile "I suppose you've just moved in then, haven't you? Which house is yours? The Alienage isn't so bad, it's improved quite a bit... but if you ever get bored, you should go to The Hanged Man... I'm not sure why they call it that, but my friend Varric stays there, he tells the most wonderful stories... though most of them I don't really seem to understand, perhaps I must've missed something dirty... I'm not very good at understanding dirty things."

She stood there for quite a while, going on and on about various topics, even to the point of rarely paying attention to him. She told him not to go out during night times, ways not to get lost like carry a ball of twine with him or drop bread crumbs, how fix leaks in his roof, and all sorts of things.

It was then when she caught his gaze that her speech slowed until it eventually stopped. She seemed embarrassed,

"I'm... babbling, aren't I? My friends often tell me that I do, but not Varric... he's nice to me. Uhm... you'll probably want to leave now? Not many people would stand and talk to me for long," she said still smiling with a light blush on her cheeks, so innocent was she at that moment that she hadn't realised that she was still doing it.

Poor Merrill.

[Aedhan]

This woman was definitely the talkative one. And he didn't care. He enjoyed the fact that someone could engage in such a conversation with him... even if he didn't need to say a word in order to do so. It gave him a new sense of hope about this place. That not everyone here was too serious and had a lick of energy inside them.

She reminded him of Anastasia. She was always rambling on and on, and all of her conversations always ended completely off topic. Everyone would always joke how she could cover 5 different topics in one conversation. She was energetic, scatter-brained, and even a little klutzy; and he found it adorable. It was the one thing he found most endearing about her.

It was the same with this woman. Aedhan stood there with a small smile on his face as she rambled on about things ranging from balls of twine to taverns. Most probably would have slowly walked away, but he actually found it cute. So, this was the girl that the previous woman mentioned living on the other side of him. Now he could see what she meant by "I think you two will get along". He already thought the same thing.

"Hey, don't you worry about it. I found it all informative and quite... entertaining. And no need to fret, I won't be making too many dirty jokes." He chuckled as he extended a hand to her for a friendly shake. "I suppose you live right here then?" He pointed to the house that he was informed was hers, "I actually live right here too. Guess I'll be your new neighbor!"

Aedhan gave another warm smile to the woman when he felt a familiar pair of hands wrap around his calf. "Daddy? Who is this?" The tiny voice sounded from down below as he looked down to meet her wide blue eyes again.

"This is our new neighbor, Merrill. Say 'hi'," he requested, hoping that she would actually greet the person this time.

"Hi," she said in an innocent voice as she moved to hid more behind his leg, but not taking her eyes off Merrill.

All he did was chuckle in response and returned his gaze on the woman. "This is my daughter, Lilly. She's still a bit shy around others. Sorry about that." He didn't want the conversation to end, and remembered her mention something about making a pie. That was when he got his next idea, and while it might have been gutsy, it couldn't hurt to ask. "Forgive me if this is too forward to ask, but, would you mind if we joined you for some of that pie? That is, if you don't already have any company."