I have a mild fascination with what Varric might not want to tell Cassandra and with Cullen. Why not combine them? Some Cullen lines are taken directly from the game.

All Dragon Age characters belong to Bioware; I just borrowed them.

Varric rolled his eyes as the siblings began their usual sniping before they were even well away from the now demon-corpse infested crossroad.

"You just had to use magic in front of the blasted Knight-Captain, didn't you?" Carver growled. "Are you stu-"

Lilian stopped directly in front of her brother, offering no apologies when he crashed into her back. Glaring, she turned on him, ignoring the robe that tangled around her ankles and nearly sent her sprawling. "No, I am not stupid, nor have I taken leave of my senses, nor do I suddenly think he'll be merciful toward apostates." Anger flashed in her eyes as she scowled up at her brother, her chin thrust out. One leg shaking free of her robe rather spoiled the effect.

"Perhaps we could keep moving.." Anders suggested quietly with a wary glance back toward the desolate path where a shaken Cullen knelt over the abominations. "I'd really hate for him to come to his senses right now."

Even the healer drew Hawke's ire, and he lifted his hands to ward off the threat of lightning blasting his head. "Just an idea."

Another furious glare took in her brother, but Lilian began marching on again, only to trip over the hem of her robe within a few steps. "Maker take you, you worthless, tight-arsed, leg-humping skirt!" she snarled, shaking off Anders' quick support at her elbow.

Varric covered his own smirk with a glance behind them, but when he turned back, he was greeted by a pair of skinny legs bare to the thighs. His eyes rose slowly, and he found Hawke defiantly clutching at the lower portion of her robe as she stalked forward, limbs freed now. Anders stared openly while Carver just glowered as both scurried to catch up with her.

"Andraste's ass, Lil, you can't just-" the warrior finally caught the look on Anders' face, and he slapped the back of the healer's head hard enough to make Varric wince. "Stop looking at my sister!"

"I suppose it would have been better if Anders and I had done nothing. Let the three of you be eaten by demons?" Lilian ignored their expressions and Carver's protests, continuing on with her robe hiked up. "Mother would never forgive me, and those templar recruits knew we were headed out here." She was using her how can you be this stupid, Carver? voice, and Varric shared a long-suffering look with Anders before falling back a few steps. "I'm sure it would be absolutely brilliant for us to be alive and the Knight-Captain dead or possessed. No one would ever think to blame us."

"You go ahead." Varric informed no one in particular, since they weren't listening to him anyway. "I have to take a piss."

Anders gave him a pleading look while Lilian's distracted wave told him she'd heard, but Carver was intent on needling his sister."You still shouldn't have used magic in front of-"

"What exactly was I supposed to do? Hit them with my staff? Stab them? Those bastards are mean! They're demons..."

Their voices began to fade away as Varric quickly sauntered back to the templar, the dwarf catching another muffled nudge from Anders that they really ought to be going.

Quickly, he made his way back to the crossroad, and with a low whistle, he stepped into view. "Maker, those things are vicious. You aren't injured, are you, Knight-Captain?"

The dwarf's pleasant inquiry snapped the templar's head up, and he just stared for a moment, his eyes focused on some distant spot that Varric was certain existed more in memory than reality. Finally, he jerked himself back to the present and shook his head. "No, thank you. Your friends..."

Varric just waved dismissively. "They've gone on. I thought I would make sure none of these got back up and snapped at you again." He gave the Knight-Captain his smoothest smile, undeterred by his narrowed eyes. "It's a shame about your recruit though. I didn't know templars could be possessed too."

Cullen's jaw tightened. "They can. Under...certain circumstances as you have seen."

All amiability, Varric shook his head with regret. "Still, it's unfortunate. I suppose it's good that we showed up when we did though. I'd hate to think of you facing those bastards on your own."

"What do you want, dwarf?" The Knight-Captain snapped impatiently, no doubt furious that he owed his life to not one, but two apostates.

Varric just shrugged as he leaned against an outcropping of rock. "I thought I would offer our services to help you deal with this threat. It's not often you find someone who doesn't piss themselves when a demon pops out, I'm certain. She's," he jerked his head in the direction Hawke had gone, "got a knack for it though. Hates them. It's a golden opportunity, Knight-Captain." Varric drawled casually.

Cullen stared at the dwarf as though he'd lost his mind. "She's...she's.."

The dwarf interrupted. "She's discreet. She'd have to be, and you and I both know you need someone like her to deal with demons infecting templars." Cullen winced, but Varric pressed on. "Can you imagine the scandal if this got out?"

The Knight-Captain's paling skin and taut posture told Varric he could quite well. "I-"

"Or if it reached the Knight-Commander's ears? Maker, the Gallows would run with blood, and not just from mages." Varric shook his head slowly before confidently meeting the taller man's worn gaze, a calming expression on his face. "Trust me, my friend, you need someone who can handle this quickly and quietly."

Varric waited as the Knight-Captain turned over his offer, practically watching the thoughts form as the templar considered it ponderously. "And the cost for this service?" he finally asked quietly, and the dwarf knew he had him.

Varric just chuckled, shrugging it off as insignificant. "You forget about that little display by her and Blondie. Those staves? Walking sticks. Something to hit people on the head with."

Cullen bristled at the suggestion and drew himself up to full height, all affronted bluster loading his glare. "And if I say no?"

The dwarf smirked at him. "Like I said, it'd be a shame if word got out about the templars. Some might think they can't do their job. People might lose faith. The Knight-Commander might-"

"You Maker-forsaken-"

"Oh, now, I think that's between me and the Maker," Varric chided with a smirk. "We have a deal?"

The stiff-necked templar stared at him for a long moment, stunned by the dwarf's audacity. His lips curled in a snarl, but he finally dipped his chin once an almost imperceptible nod. "I've been looking for a promising recruit named Keran. He was last seen at the Blooming Rose with Wilmod." The Knight-Captain's teeth snapped with every reluctant word. "I've had no luck interrogating the...ahh...young ladies there."

Varric wasn't sure how a grown man's ears could grow so red on the topic of sex, and already a story of the handsome templar trying to get information from whores began to grow in his head. "Leave that to us, Knight-Captain," the dwarf assured breezily. "We've got friends there, and I'm sure they'll open up more easily to us."

Cullen's cheeks darkened at the innuendo, and he glared before deflating with a sigh. "The order would truly be in your debt if you can resolve this," he muttered without gratitude.

"So they would," Varric agreed with a smirk. "We'll bring word to you at the Gallows soon, Knight-Captain, and if you'd ever care to join me for a drink, stop by the Hanged Man."

The templar merely jerked his head in irritated dismissal, and the dwarf took his leave, humming jauntily as he made his way down the path. Hawke and the others two had stopped to wait when he hadn't immediately rejoined them, and he saw Lilian peering curiously down the path from the boulder she'd perched on.

"Varric," she called with a wave, interrupting whatever Anders had been saying. "Took you long enough. And here I thought you were just full of-"

"Lilian!" Carver cut her off, and she just laughed, blue-green eyes twinkling as she winked at Anders and Varric.

Their chuckles joined her, and Carver sighed with a roll of his eyes. "Must you two encourage her?"

"Yes," Varric answered. "Anyway, you'll never guess who I ran into while I was taking a piss."

"The Queen of Antiva," offered Hawke cheerfully.

Anders chimed in, "The Arishok."

"It was obviously the blasted Knight-Captain," Carver grumbled, glaring at the two mages for their apparent lack of concern over the whole mess.

Lilian rolled her eyes as Varric shook his head. "Junior, you really know how to blow a man's set-up, don't you?"

Carver scowled.

"Anyway, it turns out the last place Keran was seen is the Blooming Rose." Varric had all of their attention then, and he watched the amused quirk of Lilian's brow and the faint smirk on Anders' face. "Apparently our dear Knight-Captain has had difficulty getting information out of the young ladies there."

Hawke snorted a laugh at the image of the earnest templar trying to seriously question the whores. Anders chortled with her, but Carver looked vaguely disconcerted, the boy trying to edge out of his sister's line of sight.

"Maybe Carver can help us with that!" she giggled, her brother's move far too late. "Surely you can convince Faith to point us in the right direction, can't you? Just bat your pretty lashes." Lilian demonstrated for him.

He glared back. "Shut up."

Varric patted him firmly on the back. "No shame in liking a pretty girl, Junior, but if you'd rather we talk to someone else, we can." Somehow, the dwarf's attempts to mediate their arguments always made Carver bristle further, but the warrior said nothing more. "Not only is this a good job.."

His trailing words grabbed the attention of both the mages, and Lilian tilted her head curiously as he continued. "If we can solve it, the order would be in our debt."

Even Carver had to concede that was good with a grunt, and the mages positively beamed at the idea.

"Furthermore, the Knight-Captain didn't see any mages today. We keep this quiet, he keeps quiet."

Lilian spun to stare at the dwarf, her eyes bright with disbelief as she grinned at him. "Really? He didn't see the lightning or paralysis or.."

Anders seemed frozen, his face painted with relief as he studied Varric, and the dwarf could see the nerves he'd hidden display in sudden quickened breath. Neither mage was as casual with their worry as Carver thought.

"Nope, not a one. Just a couple people hitting demons over the head with staves."

Delighted laughter poured from her, and she swooped in to hug Varric tightly. "What would I do without my favourite dwarf?"

"I don't know, Hawke, I really don't know."

As they made their way back to Kirkwall, Lilian rested an arm loosely around Varric's shoulders, chattering companionably with both him and Anders, her smile brightening every step.