They gathered around the table in the dim light, the fireplace roaring and heating up the room comfortably. There were a few lit lanterns dotted about and some candles on the table.
Solas had never seen a game of Wicked Grace end in actual violence, but watching the growing pile of coin in front of Holli, he suspected tonight might test that precedent.
Solas sat with a goblet in hand, the wine untouched, letting himself observe.
Around the table sat Cassandra, looking like she'd rather be reading but determined to understand the appeal; Dorian, dramatic as ever, talking with his hands more than playing; Blackwall, gruff and terrible at bluffing; Josephine, all elegance until she lost a hand and swore fluently in Antivan; Cullen, who kept glancing between his cards and Holli like he'd missed a step somewhere; Varric, narrating everything whether anyone asked or not; and Hawke, slouched deep into his chair, dealing cards like a man born to bluff and con.
Then there was Holli, all smug grin and sharpened sarcasm, watching them all like she was simultaneously playing the game and a far longer one.
And beside her sat Cole, less a participant, more a fixture. He didn't play, not exactly, but he watched. Attentive and quiet, like her laugh was the centre of his awareness.
Solas noticed everything.
"I don't understand how you keep winning," Cullen said, frowning at his hand like the cards had personally betrayed him.
"Maybe I'm just brilliant," Holli offered sweetly, not even looking up from her cards.
"You're not," said Hawke, voice dry. "You're lucky. Or cursed. Possibly both."
"Why not all three?" Dorian mused.
"Can't argue brilliance," Varric muttered. "She learnt the game just a few weeks after landing here, and she's cleaning us out."
"She's cheating," Cassandra declared, with the conviction of someone who very much did not like losing.
"If I were cheating, do you really think I'd be this obvious about it?" Holli said, faking offence. "Come on, give me some credit."
"Absolutely not," Cullen said, still frowning.
Cole tilted his head. "You watched her fingers. Checked her sleeves. You're worried she's lying, but she's not. Just fast."
Holli beamed. "See? He gets me."
Cullen blinked. "You're not even playing."
"I still see," Cole said serenely.
There was a moment of silence before Hawke snorted and tossed a card down. "Maker's breath. We're all doomed. We're up against a card shark and her Fade-gifted beau."
Cole didn't respond to that. Neither did Holli, but Solas saw the faintest curl of her mouth, like she wanted to smile and didn't. It was subtle, too subtle for most. But he'd come to learn her well in all the time they had spent together.
As Holli won again, she scooped the pile of coins towards her with a laugh.
"Yeah, suck it, Hawke," she grinned.
"Suck it?" He questioned.
"Yeah, ma dick," she told him.
A chorus of 'heys' and 'whoas' came up from around the table.
"What?" She blinked. "Obviously not literally."
Hawke at least looked amused. "So, metaphorically? You want me to suck your metaphorical dick."
"Absolutely. Don't forget to cup the balls."
Varric snorted into his goblet, choking a little on his wine.
"What? It's just trash talk."
"It's incredibly crass," Cassandra said.
"Don't you hang out with soldiers? I'd think they'd be way worse," Holli pointed out.
"Compared to you, surprisingly, no."
"Man, really? This is just how we talk to each other where I come from. Especially when it's competitive."
"And you remain friends?" Josephine asked.
"Well, yeah, it's just shit talk; we all know we don't mean it seriously. And it's fun to see who can be the most offensive. One time my friend told me my mum should have swallowed me."
That drew a round of disgusted groans and laughter. Josephine redealt the cards, and they continued the game.
"So, how many cards are in this deck again?" Hawke asked, pretending to count. "Because I swear you've played that one three times now."
"That's because I'm casting illusions," Holli deadpanned. "I learnt from Solas."
Solas blinked slowly. "If I were to teach you illusory, I assure you it would not be for card trickery."
"I dunno," Hawke mused. "You strike me as the 'quietly competitive' type."
"He's the quietly everything type," Varric muttered.
Cole leaned closer to Holli and murmured something. She didn't answer, just nodded, eyes still on her cards. Her shoulders had relaxed since the game began.
Solas watched the way Cole looked at her when she wasn't paying attention, so openly tender it almost hurt to see. The boy had not been made for this world, and yet, somehow, this small flame between them made him seem more present than ever before. Especially after Redcliffe.
Cassandra sighed as she threw down her hand. "This is ridiculous. She wins again."
"Beginning to think you are the Herald of Andraste," Cullen muttered, squinting at her. "No normal sixteen-year-old should be this ruthless."
Holli grinned. "Andraste told me to take your coin."
Solas shook his head, lips curved faintly. For all the weight they carried, they still found time for this, for warmth, for play.
The next round ended with Holli sweeping up a good portion of the pot, again.
Varric groaned. "Maker's hairy left toe, that's it. We're being hustled."
"She didn't even blink during that hand," Dorian said, looking personally offended as he pushed his meagre coins toward her. "Do you have a demon of luck bound in your pocket? Be honest."
"I am honest," Holli said sweetly, scooping the winnings. "Mostly."
"You've only been in Thedas for a year, and I haven't seen you play that often," Hawke said, pointing an accusing finger at her across the table. "How are you this good already?"
"I'm talented," she replied, flashing a grin.
"No. No. No one's that talented. Are you cheating?"
"I am not cheating."
"That is exactly what a cheater would say," Hawke insisted, crossing his arms. "Come on, Holli Herald. We all want answers. Confess now, and I'll go easy on you."
Cullen frowned thoughtfully. "She's not palming cards; that much I can tell."
"She's not casting over them either," Solas offered with a smirk.
"I'm not cheating," Holli repeated, dragging her fingers through her hair. "I just… count cards."
That silenced the room.
Varric raised a brow. "You what?"
"I count cards. Like—" She paused, glanced around at their blank expressions, then gave a theatrical sigh. "You don't have that here? Okay, so, counting cards is when you keep mental track of the cards that have already been played so you know what's still in the deck. That's it. Just math. Like... fast math."
Cassandra blinked at her. "That sounds like cheating."
"It's not cheating," Holli said, suddenly defensive. "It's not illegal. Where I come from, it's frowned upon if you're in a casino, but it's not illegal. You just get kicked out for being too good."
"Math?" Blackwall repeated, squinting at his cards. "You mean to tell me you're winning this game with math."
Solas watched them all react, half of them suspicious, the rest incredulous. Josephine was visibly trying to work it out, mouthing numbers to herself. Cullen looked betrayed by arithmetic.
"You're just… remembering the cards?" Dorian asked.
Holli shrugged. "More or less. It's just math," she repeated. "And memory. I watch the cards that come out, I remember who played what, and I know the odds of certain cards showing up again. It's basic probability."
"Basic for you," Dorian said, looking personally attacked. "The rest of us rely on luck, liquor, and bluffing."
"And that's why I'm winning," she said sweetly.
"Maker preserve us," Varric muttered. "You're here, what? A year, little more, and already playing like a seasoned Rivaini shark."
"It's not my fault no one else here does it," she said, leaning back smugly.
"Because it's unnatural," Cullen said.
Solas sipped his wine, finally. "She did say she was brilliant."
"Wait," Cullen said. "When you assisted in my office!"
There was a beat of silence. Even Solas looked over with interest.
Cullen glanced around, then gestured vaguely toward Holli. "She helped in my office for a few days after her recovery from that healing incident; Solas told her not to use her magic for a few days. I gave her half a dozen reports, thinking it'd keep her busy for the morning. I came back twenty minutes later," Cullen said flatly, "and she'd not only finished them, she'd corrected a date error in three separate troop reports, cross-referenced something Leliana sent over, and remembered the name of a Knight-Captain mentioned once in passing. Who, by the way, she'd never met. I asked her about it again a week later," Cullen added. "She recited the report back verbatim."
"I have a good memory; it's very helpful."
"See? She's not cheating," Cole said softly. "She just remembers. Every card. Who played what, when. The weight of it, how the corners bend. The sequence. The shuffle. The patterns. She stacks it in her mind and runs the math like a river."
Everyone turned to stare at Holli.
"What?" She said, a little defensive. "It's not cheating! Where I'm from, we have entire games built around this. Poker, blackjack, gin rummy…"
"You're speaking gibberish again," Hawke said.
Solas watched them, watched her. So sharp and unassuming, casually dismantling every round with quiet delight. Her face barely changed during each hand, but her eyes were alive with calculation, darting across the cards and the players. She had always been happiest when she got to use her mind.
Cole sat beside her, quiet, but Solas noted how his body was tilted toward her, always attuned. He didn't gloat with her victories, but he smiled at her joy. When she laughed, open and sudden, he relaxed in a way Solas had rarely seen him do.
"Right," Hawke said, pushing his chair back. "We're starting a coalition. Anti-Holli. Everyone against her."
Holli laughed lightly. "A coalition with you in it? I like my odds."
Solas couldn't help it—he laughed. It was quiet, low in his chest, but it earned him a shocked look from Cassandra and a pleased one from Varric.
"I think," Josephine said carefully, "that we're at a disadvantage we didn't even know existed."
"Well, now you do," Holli said, brushing her hair back. "So just get better."
"You sound like Solas," Varric muttered.
"She does," Dorian agreed. "That's unnerving."
Solas just lifted his goblet in silent acknowledgement.
Another round began, and the laughter resumed.