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Varric came into the girl’s house to find her sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her creepy-ass mirror, cards scattered on the floor.
“I,” she declared loudly to the mirror, “have four songs and a dagger.” She held her proud face for a moment, then dropped her eyes. “Okay, not really.”
The dwarf laughed. “What are you doing, Daisy?”
“Practicing.” She shuffled the cards, mashing them all together in a pile like a child. Varric winced. “Isabella and I have been playing, but I’m not very good.”
“That’s not your fault. Rivaini cheats.”
Merrill sifted and turned the cards in her hand. “Can you teach me to cheat?”
“I’m not sure if that’s something you can teach…”
“Or teach me how to bluff?” Her enormous green eyes blinked up at him. “Isabella says she can read everything on my face.”
Varric grinned. “I have an idea.”
---
Varric settled in his chair at the table, watching Isabella shuffle the cards.
“Daisy’s been practicing,” he said.
“Oh?” Isabella laughed. “I would have loved to have seen that.”
Merrill sits on her knees in the chair across from the pirate and picks up her hand.
From where Varric’s sitting, he can see that it’s terrible.
Instead of letting her voice sound disappointed, Merrill smiles. “Isabella, did you know you have really pretty hair?”
“I- well, thank you. I’m rather fond of it.”
“It’s so curly. I wish I had curly hair.” She sighed, then played her card.
Isabella blinked. “That was a good move.”
The little elf beamed.
Next hand, Merrill drew equally bad cards, and said, “Is it very fun, living on a boat?”
“Oh yes. Very, very fun.”
“Can I live on your boat? When you get it back?”
The pirate’s laugh was warm. “Of course you can, Kitten. Although I’m not sure if you’d like it.”
“I like the sea. And you. And both of those things will be there.”
“True. But sea life is rough.”
With a little blush and a small smile, Merrill said quietly, “You’ll protect me,” and played her card.
Isabella opened and closed her mouth. “How are you doing that?”
It took three more hands of chatter before Isabella figured it out.
Merrill tapped her chin below her lip. “Did that hurt?”
“What, this? A little. I don’t really remember it. I was drunk.”
“Hmmm. Can I have one? It’s very pretty.”
“You think my piercings are pretty.”
“Everything about you is pretty.” She smiled, lilting the sentence up into a giggle, and played her card.
Isabella slammed her fist on the table. “That’s it. No more talking. I forbid you to speak.”
“What?” Merrill’s ears drooped and her eyes grew wide.
“You’re using wiles on me! Little blushing elf wiles!” She whirled on Varric. “This is your doing.”
Varric held up his hands, laughing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Merrill scooped her winnings up in her arms – coins from Isabella and mostly odds and ends from her own pockets – and beamed. “Does this mean I win?”
Isabella narrowed her eyes at the dwarf. “Yes. I suppose it does.”