A little rambling of the love scene between Anders and Hawke, from Hawke's p.o.v. I wrote this as it came to me so it may not flow too well. I've tried my best to capture the nervousness of women trying to get ready for a 'date' they've waited for, for years. Especially someone like Hawke who seems like the kind of woman who wouldn't know where to start.

It's rated M for a reason, if sexual content is not your thing, then move along.

Please read and review and enjoy the story.

As usual Bioware own everything, I've just spiced it up a little.

Isabella's List

Seren Hawke had fought Darkspawn, killed blood mages and Templar's and rendezvoused with Quanari. Not much scared her, she thought of herself as a fearless warrior, more man than woman. But today, today she was terrified. Her heart was racing at a hundred miles an hour, her throat was dry and hoarse. She wasn't in the midst of battle, nor was she trying to persuade the Arishok to her way of thinking. No, she was standing in her small clothes in her ransacked bedroom trying to pluck a drop of courage from its emptying container.

She had waited for what felt like a lifetime for this moment. Had played out how it would it happen countless times in her head. In each of these scenarios she was beautiful and confident, doing everything right. In reality she was a 21 year old virgin who seemed to be a wreck around the one thing she truly wanted: Anders.

She cast her sea blue eyes around her bedroom. It was more of a disaster than she was. Clothes strewn all over the floor and her unmade bed, her vanity desk covered in cosmetics and other products she had no idea how to use. She took in a deep breath and tried to compose herself, she could do this, she knew she could. She just needed somewhere to start.

Her eyes fell upon a piece of vellum and a magnificent smile spread across her face. I knew Isabella would come in useful for something. She rushed over to the vellum. It was a list that Isabella had had delivered to her mansion earlier that afternoon, it would apparently aid her in preparing herself for the nights events.

Eager eyes scanned the list, widening in shock the further down they moved. No smallclothes…Maker, she was disgusting. Seren smiled cheekily. Nobody knew men like Isabella and Seren wasn't going to disagree with anything on the list.

Seren ran her slender fingers through her midnight black hair and began to relax a little. The first thing on Isabella's list suggested she take a bath infused with scented oils, ensuring she wash her hair. It was as good a place to start as any. A few moments later Seren was downstairs asking Bodahn to help her fill the bath, she was determined to be relaxed for later.

It took almost half an hour to fill the bath. Seren cursed herself for having such a big tub, remembering with fondness the tiny wooden tub in her family home in Lothering. That wouldn't have taken half an hour to fill. She had decided to put jasmine oil in her bath, it was the scent she was wearing when she had first met Anders, the moment she first laid eyes upon his handsome face. Ducking her head under the water, she revelled in the warm liquid that embraced her face, washing away all of her worries. She understood why Isabella suggested she take a bath. She felt amazing.

When she pulled her face from the water she went on to wash her hair and every inch of her body, ensuring her skin was perfect. All clean, she emerged from the bath and wrapped herself in a towel, deciding it was time to face the mess in her bedroom.

She was pleasantly surprised. Bodahn had taken the time to tidy her bedroom whilst she bathed. It was spotless, at least that's one less thing I have to do. Isabella's list sat on her bed and she studied it intently. There were ten points Isabella thought were essential when preparing for a man. By now it was early afternoon and Seren began to panic she wouldn't have enough time to do everything.

Number two told her to rub some rose oil onto the ends of her hair before airing it. Isabella had sent a vial of rose oil with the list and Seren proceeded to rub four drops of the oil into her palms before running it through the ends of her hair. It smelt wonderful, she couldn't deny that.

Number three suggested she rub olive oil into her skin, giving it at least an hour to sink in, to add a sheen to her skin and keep it soft. Seren had never used olive oil for anything other than cooking and when she asked Bodahn to deliver some to her bedroom, he too looked at her with confusion, but asked no questions. This seemingly easy task proved difficult for Seren, she wasn't sure how much to use and her first application resulted in her leg looking like a wet salmon. She rubbed the excess off with the towel and was impressed by the result it left.

When finished she felt disgusting and slimy, she hoped it was worth it or she was going to have a word or two with Isabella.

Seren didn't understand the fourth item on the list, she didn't know what an erogenous zone was, was it even real? If not, where else was she supposed to put perfume? She didn't understand why Isabella couldn't make things simple. She called Bodahn to her room and the dwarf bowed and looked at her intently.

"Bodahn… what on earth is an erogenous zone?" she asked boldly. She noticed the dwarf blush under his beard and he cleared his throat. She looked at him expectantly.

"Well, my lady.. I…uh… believe they are areas on a person's body that cause pleasure…"

Seren looked at the dwarf incredulously, her eyes wide with shock. What on earth was Isabella playing at? She only knew one area that caused her pleasure and she definitely wasn't putting perfume there!

"I… ummm… don't supposed you know where they are? Isabella says I have ten and can put perfume on five of them" she asked nervously, watching Bodahn shift uncomfortably. She knew she was being bold and un-ladylike, but she was desperate, though she never intended to make the man uncomfortable.

"I… uh.. My wife used to put perfume behind her ears, her knees, on her wrists, on her neck and uh… between her bosom" he blushed as Seren smiled at him. She kissed him on the cheek and sent him on his way.

She ran over to her vanity unit and searched for her favourite perfume. It had a hint of jasmine and she thought it would play off the essential oil well, she didn't want to assault Anders' nose. She de-robed and began anointing herself with the liquid, the scent carrying to her nostrils. She loved the scent of jasmine, it reminded her of her father. He had shown her how to mix her own perfumes using the flower and she had used it ever since.

Happy with the outcome she re-visited the list. Point number five called for her to get candles and flowers, preferably roses, and scatter them around the room. She wasn't one for showy displays of love, but she sent Bodahn to fetch some roses, before lighting her fire and drawing the drapes. She found some candles and put them on her mantelpiece and bedside tables. The room looked a little better and she smiled in satisfaction, though she knew Anders probably wouldn't even notice.

Bodahn returned shortly after with two bunches of red roses, she thanked him and went on to place one bunch in a vase on her windowsill and the other on one of her bedside tables. She breathed in their heady scent, she loved roses almost as much as jasmine.

She was only halfway through her list and she had used up almost four hours. She guessed by the position of the sun it was about four o'clock, giving her four more hours at the most before he arrived. Her hair was still drying and she still hadn't found anything to wear. Her relaxation was fading as panic set in, this is going to be a disaster she thought to herself, trying to think what else could possibly be on the list.

Number six required that she stand in front of a mirror and look at herself for fifteen minutes, focusing on all the areas she liked and displacing all the ones she didn't. Seren didn't see the point but followed the instruction anyway. She stood in front of her full length mirror naked as the day she was born. She had never considered herself overly attractive, though her mother had always told her she had blossomed into a stunning young woman. Her skin was as white as snow, her rosy cheeks setting off her high cheekbones. Her eyes were as blue as the sky and bright and intelligent, she may not have inherited her father's magic, but she had definitely claimed his cleverness and her eyes were proof of this. Her hair was long, falling to her waist in lazy, dark waves. Her breasts were high and full, the best thing she had inherited from her mother and probably her most treasured part of her body. She smiled as she ran her hands over them, her thumbs grazing her nipples, her mind reverting to Anders and his hands.

She snapped back to the mirror and focused on her stomach. She was a little more muscular than most women, but Bethany had always told her she had curves in the right places, she'd adored that her sister always made her feel better about her rounded tummy. She caressed it and could feel the hatred for it slipping away, she could have something much worse than a rounded stomach.

Her eyes gazed over her long, lean legs and she frowned as they settled on the birthmark on her right thigh. She'd always hated it, begged her father to scorch it off with magic, but he'd always refused, telling her it was a part of her and should remain that way. He had told her he had loved and she should learn to love it to. She smiled as she remembered how her father said it looked almost like a love heart. She ran her long fingers over it, displacing her hatred and accepting it for what it was, a gift from her father and her mother; a part of her for now and always.

Seren couldn't get a good look at her behind in the mirror, but she knew it looked good. She'd been told countless times that it was small and tight, perfect in almost every way. Ok, it was by Bethany and she was biased, but she'd never had a problem with it and wasn't going to start having one now.

Content that she'd scrutinised every inch of her body, Seren turned, decided to leave the robe off, and continued through the list. Number seven stated she brush her hair for a hundred strokes, leaving it down and natural. Whilst number eight gave her a detailed description on how to apply the many cosmetics in front of her.

Seren grabbed her brush and detangled her waves with her fingers before brushing her hair softly, counting aloud as she did so. When she hit one hundred, she stared at herself in satisfaction. Her hair glinted in the light of the flames in her bedroom, it was soft and smelt wonderful.

She studied her face in the mirror, it glistened slightly thanks to the olive oil and felt wonderfully silky. It would be a wonderful base for the cosmetics Isabella had suggested she used. She had never used make-up before and the bottles in front of her were as foreign as the Antivan language. The pirate had suggested Seren use something called powder and mascara, two things she's never heard of before. Eyeshadow and lipstick were easy enough, though why Isabella suggested she use red lipstick, she would never understand.

After a few moments of fumbling she found the powder and began to apply it to her face. It made her already flawless skin look even and dewy, instead of its usual shiny self. She followed the instructions to the latter and applied some rose pink eyeshadow to her eyelids, it made her eyes look even more striking and when coupled with the mascara, her eyes looked positively dazzling. Isabella was a genius.

The final step was the lipstick which she dabbed onto her lips so it looked more like a stain, as per Isabella's instructions. She was impressed by how she looked and had to tear herself away to look at the list.

Number nine called for her to ensure her sheets were as soft as a babe's bum. Having never been around a baby, Seren didn't know how soft their bottoms were, but she'd seen Isabella's bed, felt how soft her sheets were and understood exactly why hers needed to be the same. She pulled on a robe and marched defiantly to her mothers quarters. She hadn't been in there since her death, but she knew her mother had some expensive sheets. She barely had time to register her surroundings before she was marching back to her bedroom to strip her bed and redress it. She practically ran downstairs with the dirty sheets, throwing them into Bodahn's hands and running as fast as she could back to her quarters, leaving the exhausted dwarf wondering what had gotten into his mistress.

The sheets felt as beautiful as they looked and she allowed herself a moments rest on them before turning to the tenth and final item on Isabella's list.

Isabella was calling for Seren to dress in a long gown, something that showed off her cleavage but would allow Anders' imagination to wonder what was beneath it, which would of course be nothing as she was also advised to wear no small clothes. Seren hunted through her wardrobe, but found nothing. It was all tiny housedresses or tunics and leggings or her filthy old armour which she couldn't bear to throw out. Great she thought now Anders is going to think I'm as easy as a whore. She stole a glance outside and noticed the sun was almost setting. She guessed she would have about two hours left before Anders arrived and her stomach began to turn. She had nothing to wear, she couldn't stand in front of him naked, that wasn't very ladylike!

There was a gentle knocking at her door. She leapt against a wall and hid. That couldn't be him, surely. He had definitely said night, not sunset… or had she heard him wrong.

"Mistress?" came Bodahn's thick voice "I have a parcel here from lady Isabella".

She sighed a heavy sigh allowing herself to smile, before walking over to the door to Bodahn. He handed her a thick parcel to which was attached a note in Isabella's familiar handwriting. She thanked the dwarf before turning back to her room and reading the note:

Sweetcheeks,

Just a little something I picked up at the market. I gathered your wardrobe would contain nothing as beautiful as you. I'm not as selfish as I act, I promise. Hope you and your companion enjoy it.

Isabella x

P.S. If anyone finds out I'm nice, I'll kill you myself x

Seren laughed as she read the note and was intrigued by what was in the parcel. She pulled apart the thick, brown paper and let out a gasp. The parcel contained a beautiful blue, silk dress. It was cut low at the front, but a network of crisscrossing, light blue ribbons would protect her modesty. The gown felt heavy and sumptuously soft, she couldn't wait to get it on.

She'd never been one for womanly things, but she practically squealed with excitement when she pulled the dress over her head and the silk brushed her skin. It was stunning, she would never be able to thank Isabella enough. She secured the ribbons and stood in front of her mirror. The dress was perfect, it made her breasts look incredible and hugged every one of her delicious, womanly curves. She couldn't help but think she looked beautiful, she was finally ready and it had only take seven hours. She still had at least an hour until he finally arrived, she was excited.

She called to Bodahn to bring up some wine, two glasses, some strawberries and some cheese. The poor dwarf looked exhausted, so when she returned with everything she asked for, she handed him two gold sovereigns and told him to take the rest of the night and tomorrow off. He smiled his infectious smile at her, before bowing and rushing down the stairs.

She turned her attention to her desk and quickly cleared everything from it, before setting the wine, the glasses and the food upon it. She looked thoughtful for a moment before grabbing the roses from the windowsill and placing them on the desk. It looked perfect. She took one more look around her room, the candles still burned brightly, the fire was still alive and warm. The bed looked soft and inviting, whilst a beautiful scent filled the room. She flopped into a chair in front of the fire and allowed herself to smile. For three years she had waited for this moment and right now she had never been more ready for anything.