#atims

Cassandra and Nicoline hadn’t made it ten steps out the door before they were accosted by the same blonde dwarf from before.

“Finally!” he groaned as he stomped over towards them with a younger, annoyed looking dwarf in tow. Cassandra nodded for Nicoline to leave. She gave a grateful smile before heading towards her car. Cassandra could feel the blonde dwarf’s glare without looking at him, she braced for another argument.

“Can I help you?” she asked tersely.

“Yes, detective, you can.” he spat. He held up his phone. “I just got off the phone with your superiors, they’ve agreed to take on a guild representative for the duration of this case.” Cassandra’s jaw dropped.

“Excuse me?” she sputtered. The blonde dwarf rolled his eyes.

“Piraht Goka was a close friend to house Tethras. And with obvious foul-play involved the guild will not leave you morons to your own devices. So, to protect merchant guild interests, my brother will be accompanying you.” he gestured to the younger dwarf beside him.

“I- no, no! That’s impossible,” Cassandra insisted. “You are asking me to allow a civilian to take part in the investigation of a homicide case! It can’t be done!”

“According to Captain Corin and Commissioner Valen it can be done. And it will.” before Cassandra could protest further the blonde dwarf’s phone started ringing. He looked down at the caller ID and then back to Cassandra. “This is not up for discussion, detective,” he said before leaving to take the call. She huffed her frustration before turning to glare at the younger dwarf standing next to her. He had strawberry-blonde hair and a slightly crooked nose with a small scar across the bridge, like he’d taken a bad hit years prior. He wore a red V-neck shirt and jeans beneath a grey leather coat.

“You’ll have to forgive Bartrand, he can be a real shithead sometimes.” he reached out his hand “Varric Tethras, pleased to meet you,” Cassandra stared down at his waiting hand for a moment before looking away.

“You will not be accompanying me,” she said plainly. “There’s no way Corin would have approved this.”

“He did, I was listening in on the phone call. Bartrand had me call in a few favors with the viscount.”

“You were involved in this!” she accused. Varric sighed.

“Detective, when the head of a dwarven house tells you to do something, the last thing you say is ‘no’, especially if it’s Bartrand. He’s a real bastard when he’s pissed.” he pointed over at his brother. Cassandra turned to see him waving his hands dramatically as he shouted into his phone. He glanced over at her and glared when he caught her looking. “Trust me, detective, it's best to just go with it.” Cassandra took a deep breath and stared Varric down.

“Fine,” she said. “But you will have no part in the investigation, you will not speak to any of our witnesses or have access to any of the evidence. You will follow and observe-silently. Is that clear?”. Varric nodded.

“Loud and clear, detective.” He said he said with a mock salute. Bartrand stomped back over to them.

“Is everything resolved, detective?” he asked harshly.

“It would seem so,” she said. Bartrand sighed.