Alcohol, Cats, and a Boat [Mari]

[Anders]

"No more."
"One more!"
"No more."
"No...I'm saying one more, not no more! Can't you hear?"
"Get this drunkard out o' 'ere!"

Two rather large men came up behind the drunken apostate, causing the man to hold up his hands, "Oh...are you gonna walk me home?" he smiled, "I don't think you're going to get lucky with me tonight...but we'll see what happens."
"Out!"

Anders held up his hands again in a 'I surrender' fashion, as he exited the tavern. The two men followed him to the door, before slamming it behind him.
"Oh! Hey that was harsh. Not even a goodnight kiss?" he frowned, as he slowly turned away from the door.

It hadn't been a good day for the exWarden. Instead of the 'bad day' of a hero - where cities fall, innocents burn, and there's a rather drawn out 'no' that's screamed from the hero at some point...Anders' was simply a lot of little things. Minor little parts of his day that simply translated into the apostate's mood being dark and brooding.

He was kicked out of his 'home', robbed, spat on, and possibly even violated at one point. Just...not a good day. While Anders' tried to avoid 'self medicating' with alcohol - today was an exception. Okay - a lot of days were the 'exception'.

In short, he had a bad day and drank it away.

As he wandered down the street with no destination in mind, he toyed with the strap on his bag slightly, before he halted all forward motion.

Why?

Because a cat was within view.

The feline was next to a wall licking its paw. The dark grey creature glanced up at the apostate and meowed quietly at him.

He waved, "Hello.
The cat fled.
"Don't go - we just met!"
The cat continued to quickly walk down the streets - keeping low as if to avoid being seen by Anders.
"Give me another shot - we barely know each other!"
The cat darted down the street and moved to the docks.
"Was it something I said? Well I was wrong. I was wrong and you are right."

In pursuit of the feline who appeared so close, Anders sped up slightly - eyes glued to the ground.
"Kitty...kitty...kitty..."

Then he was on the ground.
Blinking, he realized he had crashed into another person in chase of the animal.
His foggy mind took several seconds to comprehend what had just happened.
So instead of saying the normal phrases one would say in such a situation, the word, "Cat," fell from his lips. His expression held solid as if he had just made a valid point on why it was okay to be crashing into another person.

You go, Anders.

[Mariana]

Now where did that bloody fuzz-pot get to this time... Blasted cat was more trouble than he was worth, and Mariana wasn't entirely sure why she kept chasing after him. "Oi puss, you only get fish if you're aboard ship when there's leftovers!" Bloody cat. Really, she wasn't looking because she was attached at all.

"Come on fuzzy, where are you... Hah!"

With a gleeful shout she scooped the wayward cat up off the ground and held him at eye-level. Lucky bloody little beast. Mariana was just opening her mouth to reproach him when something crashed into her from behind.

"Maker's hairy balls, what now..." Oh, he was pretty. Very pretty, in fact, and oddly reminiscent of Alistair. Suddenly her mutter sounded rather more like a purr, little grey cat tucked under her arm. "Need something love?"

Though perhaps the alcohol fumes wafting off him weren't as beneficial as they usually were, his attention more focused on her friend with fur than on her. Not fair. Very well, she turned her most alluring pout on him and nodded.

"That's right, he's one of mine. Found him the day I got my new ship, he's sort of a good luck charm."

Usually. At the moment, however, her good luck charm appeared to be keeping her from getting lucky. Bloody cat. Why, exactly, had she been so bent on finding him again?

[Anders]

In the back of Anders mind, he was keenly aware that what he was doing was stupid and could get him killed - but he really didn't have a choice, once the alcohol set in his system. Without a 'home base' to drunkenly stagger to, aimless wandering was his only real choice.

Then he chased a cat into the back of a person.
His mind screamed, 'MAKER IT'S A TEMPLAR RUN!' as he made contact with the mysterious person. As he hit the ground however, he realized that a very non-Templar looking woman was staring at him - holding the cat he had been pursuing only moments before.

She greeted him kindly - much friendlier than one typically greets a drunkard who runs into them in the streets during the late hours.

Thanks to his lack of focus and the sheer shock of everything that had happened to the apostate in the last few moments, he simply responded with the type of creature she was holding.

Again, the rather attractive (as Anders slowly observed) woman reacted in a nonviolent way, to the mage's awkward reaction to reality. She explained it was actually her feline, that she apparently owned a boat, and that the animal was a source of luck of the positive nature. Anders nodded, finding the situation slightly sobering.

"Sorry for the crashing into thing," he fumbled, making slight hand motions to try to explain himself better, "You have a nice puss...cat. A nice cat. Maker I don't even know what I'm saying," he scrunched up his face - pressing his hand against his forehead in annoyance.
"If you stab me on principal, I understand."

[Mariana]

Maybe the little fluff-bucket was good luck after all. If nothing else, he'd dropped a very tasty tidbit right in her lap, so to speak. And better yet, he seemed to be getting his wits back.

"Trust me love, that's not the stabbing I had in mind. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Captain Mariana Dacosta of the Bastard's Kiss, and you are most assuredly welcome aboard any time you get the idea in your pretty head that you'd like a ride."

Oh, had she gone thick on the innuendo? Yes? Good. Drunks didn't tend to pick up on subtlety, after all, and Mariana wasn't good at subtle anyway. As most of her life could be held as evidence for.

Tossing the man a wink and a grin, she sat down right there in the street with him. For all she knew he was an off-duty templar or guardsman, but that was half the fun. The other half could come later, and with any luck she might just convince Alistair to join.

"Want to pet something soft, love?"

After a brief but very deliberate pause she held out her cat, a saucy smile playing at her lips. Problem was, people had a very unfortunate habit of living on bad timing, and something shiny and loud down the street caught her attention. Oh, well would you look at that. Templars, while she was flirting.

"You know, I think they're after me." With something of an over-dramatic sigh, she pulled herself to her feet and tucked her cat under her arm. "Last time a bunch of templars started chasing me I set Kirkwall on fire. Really, you'd think they'd learn. Well, let's piss off, shall we?"

Tossing another grin and wink the stranger's way, Mariana offered her hand. Maybe he'd try capturing her for the templars, but a daring escape was always fun. Besides, if she needed a quick getaway there were all kinds of sensitive places to stab a man as lightly armoured as he was.

[Anders]

What had they put into his drink? Perhaps it was a few drops of pure Lyrium, and this was entirely a hallucination? Or maybe he had passed out as soon as he was forced out of the tavern. Because this...this couldn’t be real. First there was a cat that led him on a chase - that part he could believe. But this?

The attractive cat-owner announced her title - weaving innuendos with nearly every word. There was stabbing, kissing, and riding. His cheeks flushed further as his mind followed the path her words were trying to get him to follow.

“I...uh...I’m Anders of the...ground.”

No - this was not real. He was hallucinating, dreaming, or he was dead. Dead seemed like a good option. People had been trying to kill him for a good time now - perhaps they succeeded with poison or just attacked so suddenly he wasn’t aware of it. He was in the streets rotting, or perhaps somewhere near the bottom of the sea by now.

She winked and smirked, before joining him on the ground.

Then she offered to let him pet ‘something soft.’

“Why not?”

If he was dead and the Maker was real, then apparently he had done something good in life.

The woman - Captain Mariana - held out the creature for him to pet. He smiled kindly and reached forward - scratch the animal behind the ears. Her eyes were suddenly locked onto something behind Anders, causing the man to glanced up from the cat and at the woman.

She mentioned that they were after her - before huffing a sigh and standing. Raising a brow, he was about to glance over her shoulder when she said the word. The one word that proved that if he was dead, that the Maker was not a fan of how he lived his life.

“Templars?” he whispered, taking her hand to help haul his drunken self off the ground, “I...I need to leave here,” his eyes grew panicked, pulling the hood from his tunic over his head.

Hopefully this dream would not turn into a nightmare.

[Mariana]

Oh, Anders - what an interesting name. Was that a nickname for a man from the Anderfels? How mysterious! The pirate approved. The pirate approved a lot.

If only the templars had better timing. Somehow it rather seemed like they showed up every time she was getting somewhere with someone pretty, and the moment she mentioned them Anders' expression darkened. Well, maybe they weren't after her after all. That was good. Ish.

Helping Anders to his feet didn't take a moment and the templars were still in the far end of the street. That was almost definitely good. When he pulled his hood up looking panicked, however, Mariana started to worry. Panic was bad, because panic drew attention when it wasn't necessarily already there. And when drunkenness was laid on top of panic, it was only a matter of time before there were templars swooping down on them.

What was it Alistair was always saying? Ah yes. Swooping is bad.

"Alright love, let's find a brothel. There's a good one around here where we can hide."

Brothels were wonderful places and whores were wonderful people, especially when well taken care of. Fortunately, Mariana was on very good terms with rather a lot of whores and she slipped her arm around Anders' waist to guide him to it. If, perhaps, her hand dipped a little lower than necessary it was entirely accidental. If she then proceeded to squeeze his hindquarters as they made their way to the brothel that was also accidental.

Really, pirate's honour.

[Anders]

Anders never had the best luck around Templars. They had the tendency to restrain, beat, threaten, maim, and occasionally capture the apostate.

In their defense, he did blow up a Chantry causing a war. Well - Justice did that. Before the spirit had binded itself to his mind, the Mage would have never gone that far. He never really wanted this - any of this. Just...equality. That's all. Mages shouldn't have to be treated like animals. Perhaps a rule about them seizing power (thanks to the demon threat). But the Circle? No. Being carefully watched by Templars who are just waiting to make them Tranquil? No. That wasn't right for another human nor even elf.

Thanks to the intoxicated state, his natural logic didn't allow him to stealthy leave the area - nor even fathom the idea. In the moment Captain Mariana stated that Templars were behind him, Anders was convinced that they had seen him, they knew who he was, and that they were going to walk right up to him and stab him through the shoulder.

Drunk logic: activate.

Suddenly, his new cat-friendly friend was leading him away from the Templars - mentioning something about a...brothel?
"Did you just say brothel?" he asked, as she guided him with an arm around his waist.

Ah brothels. It's where it originally met his old friend Isabela. The Pearl to be exact. The women and men who worked within, were technically the most powerful people in their respective cities. They knew the darkest secrets from the most powerful people. The only reason any city had order was because the prostitutes allowed it.

As Anders' drunken mind slipped back to the present, he felt Mariana's hand...slip. Then squeeze.

"Oh. Well. Hi there," he awkwardly stated, as his foggy mind momentarily relaxed from the Templar threat.

"So...why a brothel?" he asked, finding himself trusting this attractive stranger. Perhaps it was her love of cats. Or maybe it was her similarities to his old friend Isabela.

But most likely it was because he was still pretty drunk.

At least he wasn't throwing up.
Yet.

[Mariana]

Aw, poor Anders seemed to feel awkward about Mariana's innocent little feel. Shame, really - he had a very nice bum. All round and firm and just really very, very pleasant. She liked a man with a nice tush, and he was even blond. And scruffy. Alistair was always so tidy, she never got a lot of scruff anymore and dammit, sometimes a pirate just wanted some stubble and shaggy hair and... oh wait, he was asking a question.

"Because it's closer than my ship, obviously - we can hide there. Whores second only to pirates on the list of people you didn't know you want to friends with, and I am friends with a lot of whores."

Exactly what that said about her character she wasn't really sure she wanted to know. Except that she was fun to be around, of course, but everyone already knew that.

Leading Anders through the twisting maze of the city streets, Mariana reached behind her and grabbed his hand. Really, they were stumbling through the streets together! They needed to put on a show for the templars, and he wasn't being nearly familiar enough.

"This goes here," she said, dropping his hand on her shoulder. "From the looks of things they're not looking for a couple if they're after you, and if they're after me they're not looking for a couple wearing so many clothes. Come on now, we're here."

Blowing kisses at the girls as they stepped inside, she asked for a room for the two of them. The girls, of course, picked up on their intent to hide immediately, snorting and bustling them off to a quiet back room. They knew Mariana perfectly well, and if she'd just found a bed-mate for the night she'd be spending the night on the water.

"Well now, we're hidden all nice and snug. Tell me love, whatever will we do to pass the time?"

[Anders]

The average night for Anders was a bit different than this. It differed from town to town - but most of the time he would either be hiding on some odd smelling cot, or still on the move.

Being groped by a ship Captain while running to a brothel to hide from Templars was...new. It was causing him to sober up a bit faster than he normally would have. Or maybe the alcohol was only just starting to kick in, and he was too drunk to realize it.

Very possible.

Captain Mariana explained her reasoning behind seeking a brothel, causing the apostate to raise a brow, "So you're a pirate?" he smiled, "I had a friend a bit like you, once."

As they moved through the streets, Mariana grabbed his hand and placed it on his shoulder - explaining the stealth of hiding as a couple.
"You've done this before," he observed with a slight smirk, as they entered the brothel.

The women showed familiarity with Mariana - as the woman blew them kisses. With a request of a room 'for two', Anders found himself being herded by the beautiful young ladies to a back room that was quite well hidden.

It was at this point, that Anders found himself locked into a back room of a brothel with an attractive young pirate, who was asking 'how to kill the time.'

"Well we're locked in a backroom of a brothel. We should clearly play cards or tell embarrassing stories from our childhood," he smiled, feeling the fuzziness in his mind clear slightly.

He was by no means 'sober' - but at least he was past the incoherent phase.

Hopefully the Templars wouldn't follow a random couple walking into a brothel. But wait...did couples go into brothels? Sure, he had accompanied Hawke to the Blooming Rose several times - but that was normally to investigate something. Technically the Templars had no reason to follow them.

But the Templars didn't need much reason anymore.

[Mariana]

Mariana tossed Anders a wry glance at his observation that she'd been on the run before.

"Like you said, love, I'm a pirate, I don't really get on with templars. Or guards, navy, Qunari, Tevinters, most nobility or pretty much anyone who likes things to be a certain way."

Reaching the brothel, however, ended the conversation as her very good friends the whores bustled them both off into a back room. Oh, perfect... Unfortunately, Anders only responded to her flirtation with a joke. She could appreciate a sense of humour, certainly, but that didn't stop her from turning her sexiest pout on him. See how well he could withstand that.

Problem was, they weren't in Antiva, Rivain, or Tevinter - in short, any country where it might be considered normal for a couple to enter a brothel together. She did, however, have an idea. One that would the sodding purer-than-bloody-thou templars soiling their smallclothes.

"Oh, by the way, if templars show up - pretend you like to watch."

If the girls were willing to hide them from templars they'd warn them if anyone excessively shiny came in, if only to save their own perky arses.

And speaking of perky arses, she had a particularly delicious one trapped in a small space with her and she was getting curious.

"Now, if you want embarrassing stories I could tell you how I got my ship. I was my pai's mate, see, only the Antivan's caught up with us just south of Bastion. Spent the next few years looking for ways to get a ship of my own and I slept with some important people. Oddly enough, it was the one I wasn't banging yet who gave me my Bastard, and she's a right beauty. Never seen a faster ship, and all I had to do was piss of the Crows. Recruited one of them, too, now I think of it. Your turn!"

[Anders]

As they moved towards the brothel, Mariana explained on how - thanks to being a pirate - she was wanted by basically everyone and everything.
“I know the feeling,” Anders sighed, as they entered the brothel.

Inside, they were quickly helped and thrown into a quite hidden back room.

At her remark on how to spend the time, the apostate shrugged it off with a joke. It was his natural go-to whenever he felt uncomfortable or simply didn’t know how to react. Thanks to his still intoxicated state, mixed with the strangeness of the pirate, he really wasn’t sure what to think since he first bumped into her. First there was alcohol, then angry guards, cats, pirates, and now prostitutes.

He was fairly certain he had a dream like this once...

Mariana responded to his joke with a pout that caused to man to pause in thought. She had done this before and knew what she was doing with that expression.
Damn her.

“Or...whatever sounds good to you,” he quickly corrected, honestly unsure what the unusual woman would have in mind. He still felt a bit foggy in the head, so he wasn’t sure if her blatant flirts had been flirts at all - or if the alcohol was just making the attractive woman’s words far more sexual than they actually were.

The subject switch to Templars for a moment - as Mariana instructed him to ‘pretend that he liked to watch’ if they showed up.
Mentally, Anders repeated the phrase in his head again - before it finally made sense.
“I...oh. Alright.”


Then Mariana wove a strange tale on how she acquired...her Bastard? Oh! Her ship. Which involved more sex than he was expecting. But coming from a woman who dragged him into a brothel’s backroom to hide from Templars - he probably shouldn’t have been surprised.

Now normally Anders would not want to participate in ‘story time’. His past was constantly chasing him, and informing people about it would most likely get him killed. Strike that. It would get him killed. He was the catalyst of the war. The starting spark against kindling. Thousands died because he agreed to allow Justice into his body. Allowed himself to lose control of who he was and how he thought - and destroyed everything.

It was going to happen eventually. An event that would force everyone to choose a side. It was inevitable - especially in Kirkwall - with Orsino and Meredith at each other’s throats. He was just the one to make the move.

Now with all that in mind, add alcohol, an extremely flirtatious woman, and being stuck in the backroom of a brothel on the run from the Templars.

What do you get?

“Well I think I’d win for awkward stories. I...” he laughed under his breath, “I blew up the Chantry in Kirkwall and started the war between mages and Templars,” he continued laughing, “Because the spirit of Justice needed a host and I let him for some blighted reason!” he shook his head, feeling the alcohol in his system dull his senses, “Oh - and to boot, I’m an apostate, and an exWarden,” he laughed a bit more, before shaking his head once again.

“Ah...how am I not already hanged?”

Way to stay hidden, Anders.

[Mariana]

Well, look at that - Anders was that Anders. Now wasn't that an interesting development.

"Well piss on me, someone the Chantry hates more than me. Always nice to have them around, they don't make a habit of trying to turn me in. I was serious about giving you a ride though, you wouldn't be the only apostate aboard and I really bloody need a healer."

Life had just gotten... complicated with Luna around. They'd grown up together, yeah, but thy hadn't seen each other in years and the girl was just possessive. Never a good idea to have any ideas about having a claim on a pirate. They were pirates because they weren't tied to anything but the sea, after all.

All thoughts of the last healer she had aboard her ship were banished by a whore's sudden and somewhat frantic entrance.

"Templars miss. Captain. Mariana. But they're searching the house and they were right behind me, scaring the piss right out of the other clients. Sober ones anyway. Am I babbling? I think I am, Sorry, just scared what they'll do to us if we're caught hiding you. Both of -"

It might be considered a bad thing that Mariana had half been hoping for just that situation, but the girl was pretty. What was her name... Cathryn? Catelyn? Kaitlyn? Something like that, anyway.

"Remember what I said love?" she asked Anders, tossing a glance over her shoulder at him.

Pressing a few coins in Cat/Cate/Kait's hand Mariana pushed her up against the wall, unlacing the whore's bodice and slipping her tongue in Cathryn's mouth. Oh, she tasted good. That was entirely besides the point, however, as a templar broke into the room just as Mariana was pulling the other woman's legs around her waist, holding her against the wall and kissing her neck.

"You've got to be kidding..." she muttered, tossing a glare at the templar. "Look shiny, we're a bit busy so do you mind? We're paying by the hour here."

[Anders]

As the words fell out of Anders’ mouth, a slight panic creeped up his spine. Did he just say that...outloud? His eyes widened in the realization, as Mariana absorbed his words - then...offered him a ride? Apparently she wasn’t a fan of the Chantry either - nor anything that wanted his head. And they needed a healer.
“I spent years working as a healer in Kirkwall, actually,” he added, feeling his panic settle within the back of his mind. While she was technically still a stranger to him, she was all he had right now. If he chose not to trust her, the Templars would have captured his drunk ass back when he was chasing a cat. As strange as Mariana was - she still was his best hope. Riding around on her ship would be a good way to stay moving away from the Templars and law in general - plus allow him to help people with his healing.

As he began to relax slightly, a woman who most likely worked at the brothel, burst through the door.
Templars. They were here. They were coming.

Then something amazing happened. Mariana shot a glance over at Anders, attempting to remind him of what she had said earlier.
Pretend you like to watch.

In this moment, Anders was convinced he was dead. Dead and at the Maker’s side.
Mariana pushed the woman against the wall, and began unlacing the woman’s bodice. Her mouth seeked the working brothel worker’s mouth, as the pirate began pulling the woman’s legs around her.

There was no pretending here.

Who cares if the Templars were coming?

This made it fine.
Very fine.

To ‘get into character’ Anders hand began moving downwards.

Then the door burst open.
“Hey! Occupied!” Anders shot out, before his intoxicated brain reminded him that he was talking to a Templar. He held his glare on the Templar as Mariana informed him that they paid by the hour.
His mind - nearly sober - felt Justice toss and turn below the surface. Templars were to blame for all of this. If Anders hadn’t had such anger towards the way the Circle functioned, Justice would have never turned to Vengeance. The Circle of Magi in Kirkwall wouldn’t have been filled with blood mages if they hadn’t been so oppressed.

The Chantry would have never been exterminated and this war never would have began.

Justice pushed a bit harder at the boiling anger at the Templars - causing the apostate to close his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose. It was a normal reaction to being annoyed - as well as keeping the Templar from seeing his eyes flash.

“I’m sure there’s another room you can use?” Anders asked, glancing up at the suited man.

Hopefully the Templar would apologize and move on.
If not - they would most likely either take him for questioning or murder him on the spot. It could go either way.

((OOC: While typing this post I was browsing tumblr and found THIS. WHY.:BIC))

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[Mariana]

Anders was beautiful, and Cathryn was beautiful, and everyone was beautiful in their performance for the templar. Anders' annoyed face was nothing short of brilliant and Cathryn's needy whine as she pressed closer against Mariana could - and probably did - make men pop right out of their trousers. Pure art, and Mariana could just imagine all the different shades of red the templar was turning beneath his helm.

"I... see. If you find any word of an apostate in the area there will be a reward paid in gold. I'll be leaving now."

Well now, wasn't that just perfect? Mariana always had been good with luck and she pressed a lingering kiss to Cathryn's lips before scooping her up and depositing her on the bed. And wasn't the damned cat sitting right there by the door.

She really should get around to naming him.

"Gorgeous, both of you! I swear, we should all start up an acting company and drown ourselves in gold. And Cathryn, how do you manage to always taste like that?"

Cathryn smirked. "I chew fresh orange peels. Makes my lips tingle. Keep dried ones in my pillowcase and closet, too, so I smell nice without having to bathe in perfume all day." Oh, citrus. Mariana might have known - she loved citrus. "Now those templars might be keeping an eye out here so we can't leave until they figure we ought to be done and you ain't putting your hands on me without paying Theresa first, so how are we going to pass the time?"

Well, there went Mariana's first idea for what to do, and her gaze fell on Anders. Now what did he taste like... Booze, probably, but then she liked alcohol. Especially rum. Spiced rum. Dark spiced rum. Oh, maybe that's what he tasted like. Well, there was only one way to find out and she kisses him, the sharp taste of the pickled ginger she'd been eating all day mixing with the alcohol on his breath before she pulled back and winked.

"Crew sleeps on deck, there's passengers bunked in the hold, we're headed north on the fastest ship you'll ever lay your pretty eyes on, seven cats in need of names deal with vermin and your captain's a bloody lunatic. You in?"

[Anders]

Anders carefully held his annoyed gaze as the Templar awkwardly shifted in his armor. The man was believing it. He awkwardly stuttered out something about a reward if they saw an apostate - and made his exit.

A relieved sigh escaped from between Anders lips, as the man passed beyond earshot - eyes falling to a cat by the exit. The exact cat that had caused drunken him to run into the woman that just made out with a prostitute.

This was definitely a unique evening.

Mariana smiled - going on how they could all easily be rich off of the acting. Anders laughed under his breath, shaking his head from how surreal it all felt. His eyes fell to the lovely third member of the room, as she explained her intoxicating scent.. Citrus. That woman put so much thought into how she both smelled and tasted, Anders couldn’t hide the surprised expression on his face.

That was commitment.

“Quite impressive,” he commented, raising a brow, as the woman went on about Templars. Apparently they were stuck here for a bit longer.

Oh no.

The horror.

Stuck in a back room of a brothel with two attractive woman that had the tendency to touch each other.

Anders had to admit he had definitely been in worse situations.

Oh - no touching for the non-Mariana one since she needed to get paid upfront. That made sense. He had seen many brothels that had people ‘pay after’ who couldn’t afford it. Always ended in either someone dying or holding a strange job at a brothel for a long period of time.

At the announcement that the prostitute was off the menu, Anders found Mariana’s eyes on him. He suddenly felt a bit like prey.

Then suddenly, he was being kissed by the random stranger he had run into because he was drunk off his ass and chasing a cat. He jumped slightly at the sudden contact mixed with her exact aim. She tasted like ginger. It was a slightly bitter taste against the now dull taste of alcohol that still danced across his tongue. Mariana pulled back and winked at him - causing a smirk to slide across the apostates lips.

He had been with another woman for years, in the past. A quite famous woman. Hawke, to be exact. She was brilliant, beautiful, cunning, and somehow dealt with his problems without once making him feel like he was broken. But she had left. And here he was - slightly buzzed with a prostitute, a sexually adventurous pirate, and a cat...in a back of a brothel.

“Ginger?” he attempted to clarify, still amused at how they had avoided Templars. If hiding from them had ever been this enjoyable in the past, he would have tried harder to piss off the Chantry...or at least done it sooner. Blowing up a Chantry is a pretty big no-no in their book, he assumed.

Mariana suddenly explained where the crew slept versus passengers and the direction they were heading in. This information was quickly followed by the boat’s speed and the fact that they had seven cats.

“Hmm...being on a ship with a ginger-flavored woman and cats where I can freely heal people without fear of Templars...or Templars. Such a hard decision...” he smiled, “I’m in.”