In which Hawke and Varric breifly discuss sidekick status.

It had been days since the Inquisitor's chosen few made their way to Adamant Fortress. The ride there would take some time, as would the ride back. Each day Varric would see Leliana, and the look he gave her asked questions unspoken. She would shake her head - no word yet. Neither of them had to discuss their concerns in the open, Leliana for the wardens and her absent lover, Varric for Hawke. Cassandra had been left behind, much to her chagrin. The Inquisitor had taken Blackwall, Dorian and Sera. It was no secret that even within her inner circle she had her favourites, but the same could be said for anyone. They all worked together, but it would be impossible not to prefer some people over others.

"Would you stop that." The Seeker had chided him this morning, he shot her a disgruntled frown.

"Stop what?" He asked incredulously, and a little more short than perhaps he might usually be.

"That, pacing."

Varric hadn't realised he'd been pacing, but it turned out that he had. As time wore on he was more and more impatient for news. Each new day marked another twenty-four hours without knowing what had become of Hawke. He felt a little guilty, but he spent next to no time worrying about the rest of the party. As long as she came home safe. Andraste's flaming ass.

"Sorry, Seeker."

His response was out of character, even for him, and Cassandra watched him eyeing his desk.

"Varric?" she offered, and he picked up something from amongst his piles of work before turning to hand it to her.

There were reams of paper, manuscripts in old ink on faded paper - alongside newer pages written hastily. She stared at them for a moment, wondering why Varric would hand her such a thing. Sensing her confusion he chuckled a little bit.

"For the Champion's biggest fan."

There was silence, neither of them were the kind of people to speak openly of their deeper feelings. It was much easier to hide everything beneath aggression or sarcasm.

"They're stories." Varric continued, shaking the papers in her direction. "Adventures I never wrote into the book."

Taking them reverently Cassandra was grateful for the gesture, but also suspicious of his motivations.

"For what reason am I worthy of such a gift?"

Chewing his lip a little the dwarf struggled to put his feelings into words. He didn't want to sound accusatory even though he was feeling it.

"You asked me why I never wanted Hawke to join the inquisition." Came a quiet response. "And I know you've been watching me since she left."

Nodding silently the human clutched the papers to her breast. She understood not what their content might be, but she grasped their importance.

"Mostly they're silly things, adventures that didn't contribute to the story but things that happened. Maybe you'll grasp the group dynamic a bit better from them." He made air quotes with his fingers when he said the words 'group dynamic'.

Cassandra thanked him and turned on her heels to leave. She would read these stories elsewhere - she had a feeling Varric didn't want her to read them in his presence. So she sat down on the grass under her favourite tree in Skyhold and she began to read.

Hawke had never beaten around the bush when it came to things people didn't want to hear. She was much more subtle with things people wanted to hear. Today, this meant there was no room in her heart for a dwarf's pride.

"He's my sidekick." She had offered in response to some bandits who were looking for a woman travelling with a surfacer. We fit the bill.

"Sidekick?" Asked one, the tallest of the bunch with an accent that reeked of the free marches in a way that neither of us had heard before.

"Yes. We're entertainers." She offered, smirking to herself as she leaned back in the squeaking wooden chair. It wasn't uncommon for us to be in the hanged man - and really if there had been any more thought given to it we might have found a less conspicuous way to spend our time. Sidekick! She was going to get a side-kick once this was all over, but I knew not to interrupt her mid flow.

"What are you gentlemen looking for?"

The group of men looked around at one another, seeming to ask each other for permission to give away their precious secrets. Idiots.

"We're looking for a woman and a dwarf."

"Well isn't it just your luck that you found us? I don't know if you can tell but we are, in fact, a woman and a dwarf!"

I did laugh a little at that one, couldn't help myself. You see Hawke and I were growing accustomed to each other's social cues by this point. A synchronised show of jazz hands left us struggling to keep our composure - that and the drinks we'd already had before our company arrived. The group of men, however, were unamused. They were also too stupid to notice sarcasm when they heard it which was a bonus for us.

"A specific woman and dwarf. Hawke and Tethras. Seen around with an elf and a man." He drawled again staring her in the face. She wore that stupid smile she always had on when she was drunk.

"Nope, sorry, not us."

I snorted into my drink. Her bare faced cheek was not helping our situation, but the marcher's oblivious stare was the icing on the cake.

"Sorry, he's challenged." She gestured downwards to where I was now staring up at her. I like to think my expression read as her crossing an unspoken line, but it was probably more of an 'I'm drunk and you're making me laugh' face.

"That's one word for it." I murmur eventually. "Every day is a challenge being with you."

Our mutual brand of self depreciating humour aside, it was only a matter of time before we were caught out. Actually, it was barely any time at all. A regular patron looking for revenge after losing several rounds of wicked grace came staggering in, already had a skin full by the looks of him.

"Hawke!" He yelled angrily, pointing right in our direction.

Of course the bandits by this point realise they've been duped. They round on us all eyes of fury, and Hawke gestures around to the bar at large. Her legs were now crossed one over the other and propped up atop the table.

"Gentlemen," she began calmly. "Surely you don't want to cause damage to such a fine establishment?"

They made no motions to back away, because of course they don't. I readied myself for what would come next.

"No? Have it your way."

I can't imagine the thoughts going through the poor guys' heads during what immediately followed. It was at that moment that Hawke kicked the two empty flagons next to her across the table to where I was waiting, they were sent flying into the faces of the two closest men. The others had second thoughts and spent just enough time weighing up their options for Hawke to bowl them over and allow us to run for the door.

Mostly we must have been giggling like school children, running out in the snow with our bellies full of ale.

This is one of the first fights we've ever been in, and I can tell it won't be the last. Raising the money for the deep roads expedition was taking some time, but I knew Hawke wanted to do it this way. Besides, there was still debt to be paid on her uncle's behalf.

Unfortunately for us the gentlemen from the tavern had friends waiting outside. It was over pretty quickly - Hawke could fry most of them before they could make a move, and the ones she hadn't set alight I had poked full of holes myself. There was something stark about the blood stains on the snow, the red contrasting with the white, the heat of Hawke's spells contrasting with the cold. It seemed we were the very opposite of what the world wanted us to be at that moment.

It was at this time that I realised that Hawke had become somewhat of a constant feature in my life. I hoped that we could consider each other friends. Which reminded me.

"Sidekick?"

She shrugged at me, feigning indifference though her face gave away a childish grin.

"Well nobody would believe the human was the dwarf's sidekick."

I raised an eyebrow at her, surveying the aftermath of our skirmish.

"I'm not being sidekick to anyone who kills less bandits with magic than I did with a crossbow."

She stuck a tongue out at me for that one as we went through the less savoury task of patting down pockets and looking for loose change. There was nothing of substance, but we didn't expect much.

"I guess we're kicked out of the tavern for the night." She grumbled, her face was still flushed from the alcohol in her system.

Maybe it was the excitement of the night now that we were away from the scene of the fight, or the new layer of snowflakes that settled over the city streets but I decided that going home with our evening cut short wasn't an option. Walking slightly out of pace with Hawke I gathered what I considered to be the best damn snowball in all of Thedas and aimed it at the back of her head.
We spent the next hour or so chasing and pelting each other with them. After this started to wear down, still drunk as ever, we began to track down everyone who belonged to our merry band of misfits and made it our mission to assassinate each and every one with a frozen surprise.

Some took it better than others.

Truth be told I'm still not sure when we decided to turn in that night, but I do know it was the start of something, something good.