Hawke couldn't suppress the grin on his face as he walked into the gaol, Varric and Solas with him. The two other men seemed to feel somewhat responsible for Holli and Cole for some reason. Hawke was here for the laughs. And because he was the Inquisitor and his word would get them released with minimal fuss.
Waking up this morning to find the three of them gone had been a bit of a scare. Some of the others were worried there had been a kidnapping. But given who all was missing, it was more likely they'd snuck out to make mischief. Then when they had gotten the message from the Friends of Red Jenny about where they could find their missing members, fear had given way to relief, which had given way to anger and irritation in some. Good thing Cassandra was back in Skyhold because she would be frothing at the mouth.
The guard showed them through to the cells. There were a fair few of them, and most of them were quite full. Seemed the city guard had had a busy night last night.
And there were his three wayward youths. Cole sat between the two girls, Sera with her back leaning against him, seemingly asleep. And Holli was lying down with her head in his lap and his coat over her like a blanket, definitely asleep. All three had bruises, some cuts and scratches, hair unkempt and clothes ruffled. It was clear they'd been in some kind of fight.
When Cole saw them, he perked up, an innocent smile on his face like they hadn't been arrested last night.
He wasn't sure what quippy little comment to open with; he was spoilt for choice. It might have been more satisfying if the girls were awake. His sarcasm would likely be lost on Cole.
"You're positively giddy, Inquisitor," Solas noted, disapproval written all over his face.
Hawke gestured towards the three in the cell, like the reason for doing so should be obvious.
"Holli has not been entirely herself since Adamant; be gentle with her," Solas warned.
All right, that reminder did dampen the joy he was gleaning from this. He had been there; he'd watched her world get destroyed and seen her try and hold the pieces together in the aftermath. He'd certainly spent more than his fair share of time inebriated after losing so much of his own family. And a bit of drunk and disorderly was to be expected in teens, he supposed. Maker knew he, Carver, and Bethany got into their share of it in their teens. Beth not so much, but he and Carver for sure.
"Fine," he conceded. "But I am going to give her a little shit for it. That's sort of what our relationship is built on."
He had come to see her as something of a little sister figure.
Solas rolled his eyes but made no other admonishments.
"Rise and shine, Inquisition babies!" Hawke called into the cell. He looked to the guard. "Guardsman, we'll take these three."
His voice at least stirred the girls, Sera sitting up with a groan, sluggishly planting her feet on the ground. Holli let out a sigh, pulling Cole's coat up to cover her eyes. Oh, they had clearly overindulged last night.
Holli wasn't usually much of a drinker; he'd seen her have one now and again at an event but was always adamant about nothing more than that. After learning a bit about her mother, he came to understand why.
"Aw, rough night, children?"
He knew Sera was in her twenties, but she certainly made it hard to remember that most of the time.
The guard that had led them in here unlocked the cell door, all three of them flinching at the loud sound. Hawke suspected the man put a bit of extra oomph into his duty this morning.
"Holli," Cole said softly, urging her up.
Holli did sit up, the coat falling off of her. She rubbed at her head, and from behind her hands, he could make out one bloodshot eye. She shrugged off Cole's coat and handed it back to him, standing up with the others. The three of them sort of shuffled out; clearly every movement caused them pain and discomfort. Cole a little less so. Alcohol affected the boy?
They followed Hawke and the others, wincing at the bright light as they stepped out into the mid-morning sun.
"Come on, let's find some shade, get some water into you three and maybe some food if you can stomach it," Varric told them.
He was clearly amused by the whole thing as well, though not quite to the lengths Hawke was.
"Are any of you seriously injured?" Solas asked.
They all shook their heads. Would they even really notice if they were?
A few minutes later saw them sitting at a small eatery not far from where they had been locked up. Holli felt absolutely miserable. Her head was pounding, the light hurt her eyes, her body felt slow and sluggish and there was a horrible taste in her mouth. Sort of... stale beer and old vomit. She could vaguely recall throwing up into a bush last night. Or a potted plant maybe; it was a bit fuzzy.
She hadn't intended to get drunk; she hadn't even wanted to drink since all that they had was ale, and it tasted like shit. At least where she came from, they had a pretty good range of lollywater. Or juices that they could mix with alcohol. Why had she even started drinking?
"What happened last night?" Hawke asked.
Most of it was a blur. They were led inside by Sera's friend to a sort of underground-looking tavern-type thing. There had been a lot of people there, some of whom Sera knew, some she didn't. Some she seemed to know of, and it was the first time she was meeting them in person.
It did remind her of the few house parties she'd been to back in her own world. But normally she didn't drink more than one bottle or one cup. She'd never gotten blackout drunk before. Sure as shit had never been involved in a brawl before.
She leaned forward, her elbows on the table and her head in her hands. She wished she had her sunglasses.
A tray with glasses and a jug of water was set on the table; the sound of clinking glasses sent ice picks through her brain. Sera seemed to be feeling similarly to Holli. Cole looked a little under the weather, the shadows under his eyes more pronounced than usual. He had a bruise forming on his cheek.
"There was a brawl," Sera replied with a shrug.
"What were you three even doing wherever you were?" Hawke asked.
"Trying to convert more bodies for the Inquisition," Sera told him.
Both Varric and Holli let out amused snorts at that. The action had her wincing in pain.
"Drink some water," Solas said, pushing a half-full glass towards her.
Holli took a couple of sips; it did sort of help with the dry mouth.
"Without the nonsense, just tell us what happened last night," Hawke sighed.
"We snuck out of the inn," Holli said. "Not long after we got back from the Winter Palace."
"We know that much," Hawke scoffed. "Where'd you go? What did you do?"
"We went somewhere and got drunk," Holli replied.
"Where?"
"A place I know," Sera said. "With friends."
"Friends of Red Jenny?"
Sera nodded. "We just went to have a bit of fun. Proper fun. Not that crap fun at the palace. How was I supposed to know these two can't handle their liquor?"
That's right, they had wanted to see if alcohol even affected Cole. Turned out it did.
"Well, I don't usually drink; my tolerance is low. I've never gotten skull-fucked drunk before," Holli said.
"How did the brawl start?"
Sera let out a low laugh, looking at Holli meaningfully.
"Oh, fuck, I think I started it," Holli breathed out, flashes of memory coming back.
Oi, you fucking slag! Get off him!
She looked to Cole. Some girl had been trying to hook up with him. He'd looked super uncomfortable, leaning away from her, but she was practically on top of him. By this point Holli had had a few to drink, and she may have been overzealous. She remembered swearing at this girl, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her off him.
"I'm sorry if I – if I misconstrued the situation," she apologised to Cole. "With that girl, when she—"
Maybe she had been so drunk and thought she'd seen what she wanted to see, that Cole wasn't into it. They still hadn't really talked about what happened between them at the palace. Maybe he was just looking to experiment.
"You didn't", Cole said.
"What girl? What happened?" Varric asked.
"A young woman was trying to kiss Cole. Little Miss Violent here grabbed her by the hair and dragged her off him," Sera laughed.
The others looked at her, a mix of surprise and amusement.
"Yeah, I sort of remember," Holli said. "She was leaning over him, and he was sort of trying to scoot out from under her. She was being uber-aggressive. Then she slapped me."
Sera laughed again.
"I remember shoving her back. That must have been how it started."
"It wasn't," Sera told her. "We had a lot more to drink after that."
"We did?"
"Don't remember making room in your stomach into that pot plant?"
"Since you seem to remember everything, why don't you explain it to all of us, then?" Holli asked petulantly.
"I've got gaps too. I do remember our singalong up on the tables," she grinned.
Girls just wanna have fun! Holli groaned at the flash of memory. That stupid song was something she'd sung at karaoke with Curtis and Yvette loads of times. It was easy and fun to sing. It was just a stupid good time.
Holli let her head fall onto the table.
"All right, next time you three do something like this, I want to be invited," Hawke said.
"Yeah, it won't ever be happening again. I'm a bit of a cow when I drink, apparently," Holli sighed.
She could be a bit of a cow sober too, but usually more eloquent and smarter about it.
"A funny cow, sounds like. Starting fights and singing on tables," Hawke grinned. "Never would have thought it of you."
"Yeah, neither," Holli muttered.
"And how about you, Cole? First time drinking alcohol?"
He nodded.
"How did you find it?"
He gave a sort of sloppy grin. "All blurred and muffled, fuzzy like hot clouds." Then his smile dropped. "Then a hammer in the morning."
"Sounds about right. And what about this girl? Did you like her?"
Holli frowned at Hawke. Why was he asking about this? But Cole shook his head.
"She kept trying to kiss me; I didn't want her to. She wouldn't listen."
"So Holli defended your honour," Hawke chuckled.
"And I defended hers."
Holli frowned, wondering what he meant by that.
"Shit, that's right," Sera laughed. "Varhel was trying to get into your pants."
"Who's Varhel?"
"Maker's Breath, Holli, how drunk were you?"
"Very. Don't worry; I won't be doing it again."
"No, don't say things like that," Hawke moaned. "I want to meet this Holli."
"Varhel was that elf with the long blonde braid," Sera told her. "Thought he was all charming, then he got handsy. If Cole hadn't stepped in, I would have. You were still recovering from your puking."
"Ugh, that's attractive," Holli mumbled, rubbing at her eyes.
"Is that how the brawl started?" Varric asked.
"Nah, when me and Holli were up on the table singing that dumb song, Holli called Lisha a fucking muppet."
Holli laughed a little, recalling that. Lisha was the aggressive woman coming on to Cole. "She chucked her boot at me."
"Then you dived off the table and tackled her."
"Yes! We hit a table and knocked over a bunch of drinks. It just sort of full-throttled nuts to butts after that."
"Yeah, in my experience it doesn't always take much," Varric said.
"Well, I am just... over flowing with pride for you three," Hawke told them sarcastically.
"Speaking like someone who hasn't caused his own share of bar fights," Varric quirked a brow at him.
"I'm older and wiser now; it's time to impart my wisdom."
"Where have you been hiding that?" Holli asked snidely.
"Cute. In my vast experience, bar fights are just unavoidable. Best advice: learn to throw a good punch. None of that poncey hair pulling or girly slapping."
"That is terrible advice," Solas said.
"No, no, it's quite sound," Varric said.
Solas rolled his eyes, eyeing the three young ones. They looked positively miserable. Perhaps that was punishment enough. After all, youth was a time for mistakes and foolishness. And no one was seriously hurt.
"All right, drink up. Are any of you actually hungry?" Hawke asked.
They all shook their heads.
"I hope you three are going to be well enough to travel today."
Three simultaneous groans sounded out from each of them. They were going to be delights.