Chapter Text
“Hopefully your contact Varric is better at playing cards than you are, my friend,” chuckled Riley as he pulled a large pile of gold towards him. It glittered in the low lights of the bar, making a gentle tinkling sound as he shoved it into his quickly overflowing purse.
“How the hell do you always do that?” groaned Garett across the table as he lost yet another hand. They had been playing Wicked Grace for most of the evening, and as usual the Qunari was easily winning. At this rate, Riley was going to make a small fortune off his best friend alone.
“Well the secret is…” began the Qunari, but he was interrupted by the door to the Cobbled Swan banging open.
Riley took in the two dwarves that stepped through the entrance. He could only assume they were Hawke's contacts Varric and Harding, but the small slip of a woman behind them made his mouth go dry. She was pale, short, and impossibly beautiful. He found his feet moving before his brain could even catch up. His entire focus narrowed to her alone as he made his way through the sea of patrons and towards the woman who was staring at him with those wide haunting eyes.
“Riley, wait!” called Hawke, though the Qunari couldn't hear him over the rushing sound in his ears. His heart thrummed like the wings of a wild dove as he approached her, and he noted her tentative smile as he looked down at her with a confident gleam in his mismatched irises.
“There's no way something as beautiful as you is real,” he grinned as he extended a large hand towards her. “But if you are, I'm Riley. And it would be my honor to show you around my town for the night, angel.”