Hazelnuts and plaid

[NPCs]

"You refused to answer a question, that is not cooperation," Vosang observes blandly. "Identify the girlfriend and the nature of the argument." 

[Marian Hawke]

"I have been nothing but cooperative until then, answering questions that had nothing to do with the investigation, and volunteering more information than you asked for. In exchange you're taking advantage of your position to obtain gossip."

[NPCs]

Vosang frowns, eyes flicking to Panis, who stares back without any expression. A slight frown forms on the ratfolk's face but he nods slightly. "It pertains to establishing motive," he begrudgingly explains. "As well as cross-checking information gained from other sources."

[Marian Hawke]

Marian blinks. Other sources? Who knew I was fighting with Merrill? Hells, who stepped forward to testify about this? She sighs, raking a hand through her hair. "Merrill was angry with me for, as she put it, chasing Seli away. That's Joyous Seline zaFrane. I was angry at her for-- for-- for not taking my side," she admits begrudgingly. "For preferring Seli over me. Is that enough?"

[NPCs]

Perhaps making an effort to be less golemic, Vosang shakes his head minutely. "How serious was the argument? Was this the first time the topic was raised or was it an ongoing point of contention?"

[Marian Hawke]

"I don't know how to judge how serious it was, but it's an ongoing point of contention."

[NPCs]

"To what scale of duration?"

[Marian Hawke]

"Um. A few weeks, maybe a month?"

[NPCs]

"To return to the degree of severity, please attempt to describe it as best you can."

[Marian Hawke]

"I don't think she was going to leave me or anything. But it was uncomfortable. We'd be cuddling and then I'd say something wrong and remind her and we'd both end up mad all over again. Neither of us felt right apologizing."

[NPCs]

Another slight nod, then an almost uncomfortable pause. "Thank you." He clears his throat. "What expectations did you have in regards to resolving the issue? Given the issue was ongoing and relatively long-lasting, it is expected to have a varied, even contradictory answer. Please be comprehensive but you do not need to cover insignificant aspects."

[Marian Hawke]

"Expectations... honestly, a lot of days I felt hopeless. Like it would never be solved. I spent a lot of time avoiding Merrill, trying to focus on people who weren't angry with me. There's a lot of people in my life, and I spend a lot of time on campus now -- more than I spend with Merrill for sure. I spent a lot of time with Isabela, who doesn't push me to talk about stuff, and at Voice, where people are busy working so they don't want to get into a huge serious talk with me. Um. Other times... I kept feeling if I could just explain well enough how I felt, she'd agree with me and apologize. But that just lead to more fighting. Seems like no matter how well I explained, she didn't understand. Maybe she wasn't listening. I don't know. Um. I guess I just wanted her to be on my side for once and I didn't know how to get there. Does that answer the question?"

[NPCs]

"Are those all of the significant expectations for outcomes you had?" When she confirms this, he asks, "Have you had any other significant arguments or disagreements with Miss zi'Hawke that were still unsettled as of last night? Or that were settled but not in a way that you were able to accept?"

[Marian Hawke]

"Merrill has been... arguing, or, sort of having a cold war with Zevran. I don't... I'm not comfortable with that. But my attempts to help patch things up have gone awry."

[NPCs]

"Do you know-- Do you know if the nature of that conflict is, and if so, is it at all relevant to this investigation using your most generous estimation?"