Author note: Hi, everyone! I decided to write this to help out with the shortage of Varric/Inquisitor fanfics. This is a short story, and will probably have 3 chapters. Enjoy! (Don't forget, I don't own this IP, Bioware does!)

Auraglor Cadash loved camping. She wasn't a fan of the bugs, or the smells, despite being a topsider. No, Aura loved the campfires. Every night when camping her companions would gather around the fire before bed. They would talk about their lives, both past and present, and she would learn more about them with each campfire they lit.

But Aura was most interested in the story of one companion. The one companion that talked least about himself, yet most about others - Varric Tethras.

After the other companions would head off to bed, Aura would sit alone with Varric. They would talk about her time in Ferelden, and his time in Kirkwall with Hawke, but he rarely spoke of a time before he met Hawke. For a while, Aura just assumed that there was a traumatic event in his life, one that kept him from talking until he got to know her better. After many months of fighting together, though, she wasn't sure why he didn't feel close enough to tell her. She had opened up fully to him, talking about her family, her rogue training, even her first love. Varric would smile and insert clever comments when she spoke, but he never offered his own story, and Aura desperately wanted to know why.

One evening, when the group was out in the wilderness near Redcliffe, Aura finally had enough. The two were the only ones left at the fire. Varric was telling a story about his friend Fenris and trying to convince him to phase through a wall to steal alcohol. Aura half-heartedly smiled, but didn't reply.

Varric moved over closer to Aura and smirked at her. "Why Inquisitor, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you had something else on your mind. That or you have forgotten humor, because that was a great story."

Aura shrugged. "It's no big deal," she said, then stopped. "No, actually, it is a big deal. Why don't you ever talk about yourself to me? I hear lots of stories about Hawke and Fenris and Merrll's past, but your stories all have gaps in time. I've told you everything about me, the good and the bad. I just thought we were closer than this." She huffed and folded her arms as she finished her rant.

Varric's smirk fell. He wanted to share more with her, he did, but had no idea where to even begin. He sighed and rubbed his neck. "Inquisitor, Aura, I like to tell stories about the heroes. I thought you knew that? Haven't you heard me talk about you at the bars? I'm just the handsome side character, no one is interested in me."

Aura looked back at him over her folded arms. He looked so sad, so unlike he usually did, and her heart broke. "Varric, I'm…" she trailed off, catching herself before admitting that she was interested in him. "I'm interested in hearing more about you." There, caring but not enough to scare him off.

Varric put his hands back on the log they sat on, one almost close enough to touch Aura. His body tensed, though his voice remained calm. "So, then, what would you like to know? I have a great story about taking down a group of mercenaries going after Anders - caught them trying to sneak into his clinic when he was passed out."

Aura held up her hands, "No, Varric. A real story, no bullshit. Tell me something personal."

Varric placed his hands behind his head and leaned back.

Aura continued, "Maybe tell me how you got Bianca. She seems important to you."

Varric tensed again, but this time he didn't try to hide it. Aura grimaced, she dug too deep too fast. There was definitely something painful in that memory.

Aura was about to apologize, but shouts came from outside the camp. Aura sprang up, drawing her daggers. Varric heard the shouts, too, and picked up Bianca before quietly walking to the edge of camp. The shouts grew louder, and Aura tiptoed to Cassandra and Solas's tents to wake them up. Before she made it to the tents, however, another shout rang out in her ears.

"Varric!" She yelled, spinning around and rushing towards him. A large qunari had knocked him to the ground and was holding his neck. The qunari looked up at Aura. "You, dwarf woman, give us your money and the man lives."

Aura was pissed now, but she was a good actor. "Of course, sir, take all I have." She tossed him a small bag from her hip. The qunari let go of Varric's neck and grabbed the bag as it reached him, but the bag exploded on impact with his hand and smoke seeped out across the field.

Cassandra and Solas ran out of their tents at the sound of the commotion. The camp was covered in smoke and the sounds of multiple qunari could be heard fighting and running. Everyone fought the qunari they could see closest to them, but there would be no telling how many were near until the smoke cleared.

A few minutes passed before Aura was able to see Varric, again. The smoke only barely lingered, but the fire had also gone out during the fight. Aura looked around frantically to see Varric buried half-under a fallen qunari. A dagger stuck out of the enemy's neck, and Aura was suddenly very glad she had bought new, stronger daggers for the whole team to keep on them, just in case. Varric was struggling to push the large body off him. Cassandra and Aura helped him while Solas check on the firepit and put up new wards.

One the body was off of Varric, Aura dropped to her knees to check him for injuries. He coughed and then laughed as he sat up, slightly cringing at the pain. "Don't worry, this wasn't my first qunari dog-pile. Takes more than one to keep me down. I should tell you about..."

Cassandra cleared her throat, drawing the attention of both Aura and Varric, and interrupting his story. "Varric," she said, "I'm afraid that battle did more damage than it seemed."

They all looked over to see Bianca smashed to pieces on the ground.

Author note: A big thank you to YodaCloud for the cover art! She is an amazing artist! art/Varric-Aura-472163926

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy the beginning of this piece and follow it as I finish the last two chapters. Please review and let me know if there is anything you'd like to see or not see included.