10 song meme.
1) “Family Affair” by Mary J Blige.
She wanted to celebrate after their successful robbery; she was pleased that under her tactics, they got the goods to please Beraht, and managed to hide the “spoils” from him they picked up on the way. The merchant was dead, so was his pretty whore and they had silver in their pockets enough to celebrate, and gate crashed a party of Renam’s.
Renam was a camp little dwarf who was the “go to” man for the rich and the wealthy of Orzammar who wanted a little dirt, sleaze and booze in their lives. As Leske dryly noted as they entered the sweaty, stone building, he and Missa were definitely branded dirt and sleaze.
He watched with wonder as she picked up the nearest bottle, stripped off of her tunic to reveal a stolen silk top of Rica’s underneath and danced until she fell over. She laughed, and picked up another drink, delicate straps falling off her shoulder. How the hell were they not chucked out yet by their ears with all the racket she was making?
She wiped her mouth and drained her bottle; a daughter of a drunk knew how to drink, it seemed. Desire glazed her eyes, and she bit her lip; Leske knew her friend well, and booze made her either want to tumble or to fight. Considering the party and considering the patron, he was glad it was the former. Raising an eyebrow, she smiled him a question. Leske would, at this point, rather kiss a genlock corpse, and with a shrug, she grabs a thuggish duster to her right who hadn’t moved his eyes from her since they arrived, dragging him off into the shadows.
He picked up her tunic, and tucked it into his. Tomorrow, Missa Brosca would have one hell of a hangover.
***
2) “Temptation,” Jarvis Cocker and Beth Ditto.
They were making fun of him again, because he retired early. For once, he was in agreement with Morrigan, and thought they were all foolish idiots. Ben Amell was singing about the temptation of a rather promiscuous mage to a Templar, and was singing about touching hands and quivering thighs and oh Maker would they just stop it now? Leliana giggled over the din and was trying to offer a back up harmony, but Amell was such a bad singer it was a pointless activity.
With an annoyed groan, he rolled over in his bedding and shoved his hands over his ears.
***
3) “Warrior’s Dance” by the Prodigy.
He waited, weapons in his hands, kneeling on the floor. They surrounded him, and he smiled. With a tilt of his head, he closed his eyes once, and breathed.
He rose, slowly, and turned to see the face of each of his potential killers, and with a jump he leapt over one, slashing his blade; the momentum carried him through to kick the other, and he turned and punched, as graceful as a dancer.
Morrigan watched this, and waited. The Warrior’s dance was just as seductive, and she knew of its power. As she watched her lover thrust and parry, she knew she had picked right, laughing at the cruelty of his blades as mage fire danced in her hands. Oh yes, she wasn’t done with him yet.
***
4) “Vacant Heart” by FrankMusik.
Zevran held her journal in his hands, tracing the embossed leather with cold fingers. His gift to her, apparently; she left a note tied to it, with the words “for Zev” simply written in a hasty hand on the dirty, battered leather. They discovered it in her packs, when they cleaned her things out ready for the funeral. It was pitiful how little possessions she had.
He sat on the docks, waiting for his boat to arrive; a pretty sailor was already flirting with him, coiling rope in calloused hands and tying it firmly with expert knots. Zevran flirted back half heartedly, the words coming easy. They always were.
“Another time, perhaps,” as he nodded at the elf. It was too soon to drown himself in warmed flesh just yet, and he cracked open the journal instead.
***
5) “Old Fascinations” by La Roux.
She had been to Orzammar and returned with new armor as befitting a Paragon, three potential recruits and sheathes of diplomatic nonsense she couldn’t be bothered to deal with just yet. She also had a present for the man she loved.
Alistair held the beautifully sculpted miniature onyx dragon being slain by a warrior in his hands and his eyes grew wide. Sereda smiled, an eyebrow raised, and removed her weapons, placing them carefully on the rack they had in their room.
“Don’t thank me or anything,” she said, and sat on the edge of the bed and began removing her armor. Somehow she was dragged half naked across it instead. Sereda allowed herself to giggle, and kissed his cheek.
“I missed you,” he whispered in her ear.
“Foolish man,” was all she managed to gasp, as his hands trailed lower.
***
6) “Bright Phoebus” by Emily Barker.
The ship of the Bright Phoebus arrived, sails billowing in the dirty Feralden light.
“There she is, Ser!” Said the sailor to his left, the one who offered his body with a warm smile and shrugged good naturedly when he refused. “ A beauty, no?”
“So I see.” Zevran put his note she wrote him as a bookmark to the page he was reading, and jumped from the crates he was sitting on. One passage she wrote in the years before he met her stayed with him as he waited for the planks to be brought down to the dockside, even after reading it an hour ago: you do what you have to survive, and morals don’t apply. Morals disappear when there is a knife at your throat. Morals disappear when you think your lover, your brother your wife is in danger and you would do anything to save their lives. Love can be used and held over you. It is a weakness, a chink in the armor where a well aimed dagger can pierce. Fuck love, what has it done for me?
Soon he would be heading to Orlais; when he got there, he had no idea what he would be doing.
***
7) “Pretty Ploughboy,” by Eliza Carthy.
Ben turned on his heel and raised an eyebrow at Leliana, who was currently leaping and dancing in step to Alistair, singing. Alistair clapped a gentle applause at her act, and carried on with stoically walking one foot in front of the other as Leliana bowed graciously.
“What was that song about Leli?”
Leliana fixed him a gorgeously warm smile and walked faster to catch up to him. “About a maid who runs off to sea to find her handsome sailor, of course.”
Ben laughed, and picked up the pace again. “Oh, of course.”
Leliana hummed under her breath for a while, content. “Do you know any songs?” She said after awhile.
“I do.”
Leliana adjusted the hold of the bow and fixed him a wicked glance. “Why should it be fair I sing all the time? You sing me something.”
“Ha! This should be good,” said Alistair at his back.
He thought about singing the song about the lovers in the tower, but as Leliana looked at her, he forgot the words. Blushing, he looked away. She looked at him expectantly still, and Ben blushed more.
“I, uh, can’t think of anything to sing.” Leli shrugged good naturedly, and skipped on back to Alistair.
“Then I will sing for us all.” As she started a new song about a pretty ploughboy, he gripped his staff tightly and willed the heat of his cheeks to cool down.
***
8) “Bird Song” by Florence + The Machine.
“I have a song for you, Shale. It’s about a bird.” Ben looked sideways at Wynne at the camp and grinned. Even Oghen was sober enough to giggle.
“Pah,” the golem rumbled.
“Oh no, You’ll like this one. It’s about a bird who sings so loudly and horribly, that a man murders him.”
At that, the golem walked over to the bard. “I like it already. Make the noises from your flappy mouth, then.”
As Leliana started singing, Shale interrupted. “You promised me murder! Where is the squishing of the tiny feathered heads?” Leliana scowled.
“I haven’t gotten to that part yet!” Leliana stopped and glared at the golem further. Ben had collapsed into silent giggles, hands held over his mouth to stop him from betraying his laughter.
***
9) “Travelling Woman” by Bats for Lashes.
She was alone now, one foot in front in the other despite the snow storm. The cold had penetrated her thoughts and left them disjointed.
Sacrifice, it was always there in her life; it was part of survival, and Morrigan knew how to survive.
Why did she get involved? She loved him; foolish, foolish love. The cold closed around her heart, tightening it further.
The baby in her stomach kicked. She opened her eyes, and carried on.
***
10) "Audacity of Huge," by Simian Mobile Disco.
Rica knew how to play hard to get, and it was a game that would keep her family and herself from starving. As Bhelen's mouth grazed her neck, she blushed and danced away, pretending to be flustered.
The gifts arrived when she didn't open her legs straight away. The first was a collection of poetry, and she was shocked at the thoughtfulness; he remembered her talking about it. The second was a necklace; not of the finest metals and stone, but pretty nonetheless. The third was another book, this time on Elvish songs.
Rica frowned. She wasn't meant to be feeling anything with her marks, and the stabbing guilt jagged across her stomach as she thought more about him.