A Terrible Liar
"Over here, c'mon!"
Sera practically dragged Lira towards Adan's hut, though instead of going in she led them around the side of the building.
"Right, so here's what you're gonna do- and listen, this is important, yeah?"
Lira nodded, puzzled. This wasn't exactly what she had been expecting. Though, to be fair, she wasn't exactly sure what that was to begin with.
"I need you…," continued Sera gravely, "to go in there and distract him."
Lira blinked. "Distract who?"
"Who d'ya think?! The healer!" Sera clambered onto a wooden crate on the side of Adan's house and pulled herself quickly up onto Adan's rooftop. Lira could only stare after her, mouth agape. Only when Sera leaned over the edge of the roof and made dismissing motion with her hand did Lira move. Convinced that she was probably about to make a horrible mistake in trusting the blond elf, she knocked on Adan's door.
Distract him? Lira thought. Distract him from what, exactly?
Half a second after her third knock the door swung violently inwards. Adan stood in the doorway, and he wore the scowl of someone who had been interrupted doing something important.
"Yes?" he asked, voice clipped. Lira stared dumbly at him, at a loss for words. Inwardly her mind raced, trying to come up with a plausible excuse as to why she should be there.
"Well, what is it?" Adan huffed. When Lira still hadn't said anything he stepped back, and Lira had the distinct impression that he was going to shut the door in her face. But as he turned to grab the edge of the door Lira saw a thin elven arm sneak in through the window, groping blindly at a bundle of elfroot drying above the stove.
"Ow," mumbled Lira, grabbing his arm.
"What?" questioned Adan, eyebrows furrowed as he turned back towards her, snatching his arm from her grip.
Lira grabbed her left hand and doubled over a little.
"Owwwwwwwwuhh."
"What's wrong with you?" said Adan. This guy could really work on his bedside manner, thought Lira glumly.
"It…it hurts." she said, massaging her palm. Adan was still glaring at her. She was beginning to lose her nerve. "I, uh, didn't know what else to do so I came to you," she explained lamely.
"I don't know why you're coming to me about it," he said, turning away. "That apostate elf is the one who fixed you up last time. Go see him."
"Wait!" cried Lira, shoving her foot in the door before he could close it. "My stomach hurts, too."
Adan looked her over scrutinizingly for a few very long moments. "Well come in then," he sighed. "Lean over the bed and drop your pants."
"WHAT?!" shouted Lira, backing away.
"Well the only thing that I have for you right now is embrium, and the only way you're going to cure a stomachache with that is the rear way."
Lira backed away slowly and turned to run from the healer's hut, Sera be damned; only to collide with the person standing a few feet behind her. They fell, and Lira had just enough time to register a surprised pair of blue eyes before she ended up laying face-first atop a warm, rather broad-shouldered body. She blushed as she realized who she had knocked over in her haste, rolling off of him and away from the tantalizingly masculine scent of his chest. "I am…. SO sorry," she muttered, cheeks red. The vision of his naked torso refused to leave her mind.
"Please do watch out," said Solas coolly, brushing himself off as he stood. She did not meet his eyes as she raced down the path and out of sight. She doubled back around the bar and approached Adan's from the back, hugging the rock wall until she reached the wooden crates she'd seen Sera use to reach the rooftop. Hoisting herself up, she was greeted by the blond elf herself, smiling like the cat who caught the canary and proudly holding out a fistful of elfroot leaves towards her.
"Nicely done, that. Well, could have been better, but got the job done, dinnit? This is your share, by the way," she spoke in an excited whisper, pressing the bruised leaves into Lira's palm before sitting back and rolling her own leaves into a tight cylinder. She patted herself down and held out her hand to Lira. "Got a flint?"
Lira smacked her hand away. "What were you thinking?" she hissed, still stung by the anger and humiliation of her encounter with the healer.
Sera scowled. "Wot? Ain't nothin' wrong with it. Don't be snooty, thought you Dalish were all about getting' back to nature and stuff."
"These herbs are for people who are sick and in pain," admonished Lira. She cringed a little, inwardly. Way to sound like a stuck-up goody-two-shoes.
"Hey, I've got pain!" scoffed Sera. "In fact, I suddenly have a giant pain in my arse." She thrust the rolled up elfroot into her pocket. "Besides, Adan's a leech- charges too much and everyone knows it. He can afford to donate some root for the cause." Sera said the last bit defensively, crossing her arms and staring at Lira as though daring her to argue.
Lira stared back, unflinching. "If I'd known what you were doing I wouldn't have agreed to help you," she said, mentally noting that she hadn't really had a chance to agree or disagree to much of anything, "You should have been up front with me."
Sera rolled her eyes. "Wha'ever." She turned and clambered off of the roof, leaving Lira alone. Lira sat on the roof, shivering from the chill breeze and staring at the crumpled elfroot leaves in her hands. It wasn't as though she hadn't ever stolen anything before. Whether it was on a dare or from being truly in need, she'd pilfered her fair share in her time. But never from healers. Adan was an ass but there were people who needed this, and there was a significant amount of it… could she put it back? Without being seen? It would be a challenge, if not downright impossible. Lira briefly considered waiting until nightfall to try, but who knew if the window would still be open then? Or she could leave the leaves on his doorstep, but who knew what other unscrupulous characters might just grab them and make a run for it? No, it had to be done here, she decided. If nothing else she could just drop them through the window and run.
Guess it's now or never, she thought to herself. She crawled to the edge of the rooftop and peered down towards the open shutters.