trying to take a nap but i am. consumed with thoughts about josie and dorian teaching anya to dance for halamshiral

she's a hillbilly nomad she literally doesn't know shit about fuck about what flies in the winter palace ball room, josie can't just let it lie like that and leave her out to dry but she can't watch teach and dance with her all at once

she considers involving cullen for Two Seconds Exactly before she realizes cullen would be flushed and uncomfortable touching anya in front of her and also he's a big fucking oaf who doesn't know how to cut an orlesian rug

i'm imagining josie sitting with her face in her hands considering hiring a professional dancing instructor while anya is busy rearranging the furniture in her office to make it more conducive to a makeshift dance studio

dorian is her best and only bet on such short notice , tevinter balls weren't too different, she wouldn't have to teach him how to dance too, And anya and dorian are attached at the hip she's baffled at how they're more comfortable touching each other than anya and cullen

their first few rounds go absolutely horribly, dorian dips her and she looses her balance, she dips dorian too hard and smacks his head against the arm of one of josie's chairs, the girl has two left feet

dorian and anya are having a literal fucken ball tho they're having so much fun and josie is just like "if i don't get an extremely stiff drink i'm going to perish "

dorian finally dips her successfully but he nuzzled into her neck to tickle her with his mustache and the delighted /shriek/ anya lets out as she pushes his face away makes varric poke his head in curiously

and then varric and josie are sharing a bottle of wine as they sit on her desk and she very politely barks instruction at anya and dorian

and then there's the DRESS UP they play with her and LELIANA gets involved, anya feels like a pretty little shem plaything but they josie and leliana look so giddy and the way dorian laughs at the first attempt at doing her hair makes it worth it

she also recognizes that it's important to the game but Lord all this practice just to keep celene from being murked is. a lot

their first attempt has her hair pulled down for maybe the first time around the Gang and she's just like "do you always wear your hair down??? does it not bother you??? on the ears????" and leliana grins and pulls it into a half up half down to get it off her ears

"you sound exactly like a very good friend of mine. i had to trim his hair during the blight, or his ears would start twitching." and anya sits up a little straighter, ears peeking at the mention of theron and the comparison between them

anya is playing it as cool as she possibly can but leliana never talks about him o she's trying to figure out how to ask some questions without prying and dorian /laughs/ and he's just like "can't you see the poor girl is bursting at the seams? give her /something/."

dorian is definitely no help in the actual doing her hair or getting her into these complicated gowns, hes 100% lounging on her bed, eating all the grapes on the snack tray josie had brought up, and sipping on a fancy wine

it goes by a lot quicker when leliana starts talking to her about theron, anya is Absolutely Fascinated by all the stories leliana has to tell, she doesn't even mind being the fancy little shem porcelain doll for an evening

cassandra has her tawdry romance novels, anya is a complete and utter fool for the royal couple (but especially the elven king of fereldan), everyone's got their thing

dorian's interest is even piqued when leliana starts talking about how The witch of the wilds, the left hand of the divine, And an ex antivan crow all keep an eye on the fereldan palace, keeping theron (and alistair) safe

at one point she giggles and she's like "you should've HEARD those two going at it... i swear, it was every night! little rose wasn't born so far into their rule for lack of trying, i assure you"

josie is SCANDALIZED she cannot believe leliana is openly discussing the sex lives of fereldan royalty, anya is cracking up at the fact leliaba made a sex joke, and dorian is just like "i mean honestly, can you blame them? have you /seen/ the two of them?"

and then leliana starts spilling about how sweet their little courtship was and she realizes she's hasn't spoken this much about something fun and personal in Ages and it feels good, especially to see their smiles or laughs or rolled eyes

i'm obsessed with this sweet night of bonding between this three fucken ding dongs and josie

they finally get her hair twisted into a pretty updo, find the right dress, the right shoes, and the right make up and mask, and she's admiring herself in the mirror, smoothing her hands over the front of the gown, still not used to seeing herself like this

dorian is just like "darling, i had no idea we'd find a /lady/ under all the grime," teasingly, and he takes her hand in his and she laughs as he spins her in a little circle and goes "you're going to kill our poor commander. he can hardly look at you covered in bloody armor"

and the /grin/ that cracks across anya's face, she's still not sure about all this but she wouldn't miss the chance to make cullen sputter for the world