Family Friends

* Author's warning: If you're squicked out by the idea of Hawke's daughter hitting on Zevran, don't read. I was simply wondering what it would be like if your parents had 'friends' like Hawke's. *

Zevran raced Isabela for the last part of the way to Hawke's country estate. Within minutes, he had left her far behind, the pretty young mare he had won last night at a game of Wicked Grace easily outrunning her rented horse. It had been almost four years since his last visit, and he felt an odd sense of homecoming as his eyes swept over the familiar buildings, taking note of the inevitable small changes. The most notable of those was the Archer's Range someone had set up in the old orchard close to the road. As he approached, he could see a young woman practising there. Reining in his horse, he watched approvingly as she let loose a swift sequence of arrows, each of them neatly finding the bull's eye of her target.

She'd seen him coming and was walking towards him, the setting autumn sun behind her back. He wondered idly who she was. She was wearing a soft, light leather armour and carrying an impressive longbow - both of Dalish make, his experienced glance told him. One of Merrill's friends, maybe? Whoever she was, she was a beauty. Long legs, a slim, lithe body, with soft curves in all the right places, her coppery hair pulled back neatly from her face into a long braid that hung all the way down to the small of her back, golden-brown skin that starkly contrasted with her bright green eyes...

He automatically gave her his most seductive smile as he looked her over from under half-closed lids, pleased to see that it elicited a smile and a brief blush in return from her. That smile was familiar, somehow...

At that moment, he heard Isabela gallop up beside him, and heard her cry out "Rhi! Come here and say hello to me, my pet!" The realization hit him hard. Of course! He should have seen it right away. She was the perfect combination of her parents' looks. In his defence, the last time he'd seen her she'd been a shy fourteen-year-old, visibly uncomfortable with her body, avoiding the company of her parents' friends as much as possible.

She was smiling at both of them now, as she readily embraced Isabela, then held out a hand to him. "Zevran, isn't it? It's been a long time."

He took her hand, greeting her politely.

"Father's with the horses, as usual," she said, "and Mother's upstairs having a bath." She turned around and began to walk toward the house. "But I will be perfectly happy to... entertain the two of you until they come," she threw casually back at them with an impish smile and a fiery glance that made him swallow briefly.

Isabela grinned at his stunned face. "She's quite grown up, our little Rhi, isn't she?" she remarked.

Zevran watched her gracefully swaying hips, firmly reminding himself who he was looking at. Little Rhi who'd peed on his lap when she was a year old. The dirty little toddler happily rolling around with a bunch of Mabari puppies on the floor of the hall. The earnest little girl who had watched his hands in deep concentration when he'd shown her how to pick a lock. "Quite," he agreed with a wan smile.

When Caitlin came down the stairs to greet him warmly, he had recovered sufficiently to make pleasant conversation. It was good to see them again, he realized, and good to be among people he trusted, something he'd missed for too long. Neither of them was getting any younger, though the years had mostly been kind to them. They spent the evening happily talking, eating, drinking wine, laughing about old times.

When he finally retired to his room, he fell asleep almost immediately, but was soon awoken from his customary light sleep by a tiny noise next to his bed. His reflexes took over and within a split second, he was pressing the body of the intruder firmly down onto the sheets, his dagger at the other's throat.

Then he breathed in her scent, wild flowers and leather - damn it, leather! - and recognized her. "Rhianna! You never, ever sneak up on an assassin like this! I could have killed you!"

Zevran heard her soft giddy laugh and realized immediately that this had been the wrong thing to say. At eighteen, she was still young enough to see the danger as an added enticement. He sighed. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

She looked up at him with a mischievous smile. "What do you think?"

His breath caught for a moment as he looked down at her. She had unbraided her hair and the soft golden-red strands of it framed her pretty face in waves. Her eyes were luminous, her lips full and moist. She was wearing a short thin green linen dress and not much else from the feel of it. Zevran was intrigued. Did she really think she could play this game with him?

"And what do you intend me to do now, hmmm?" he purred at her. "Ravish you? Make love to you till morning? Break your heart?"

He'd expected her to blush and stammer, but instead she looked back at him, her eyes hazy and her voice thick with desire, as she breathed "I wouldn't mind."

Her words and the tiny sinuous movement of her hips that brought her closer to him took him completely off guard. He managed to suppress a gasp, but there was no way of hiding the reaction of his body, not with her so close.

A tiny triumphant smile played around her lips as he hastily slid off the bed, withdrawing toward the fireplace. He swore under his breath when he realized it had been too long since the last time, a casual roadside encounter with a pretty young wench a few weeks ago. He was simply in no state to resist such a determined advance. "You'd better... go back to your room," he managed, his throat dry.

Rhianna settled back into the cushions, stretching languorously. "I'm not going anywhere."

He recognized the tone. Just like Fenris when he made a point.

Fenris. His eyes widened for a moment. If Fenris caught her in here with him, Zevran knew he would be lucky to escape with nothing more than having his heart torn out. "Brasca!" he cursed as he left the room, her laughter tinkling in his ears. With a deep sigh, he knocked on Isabela's door. "I need your help, Bella," he muttered, when she opened the door and let him in.

The next morning he walked up to Caitlin's study with a determined spring in his step. She was sitting at her desk, Fenris keeping her company in a worn armchair near the fireplace. Both of them. Well, that was even better, really. Zevran cleared his throat, wondering how to best approach the topic.

"What is it, Zev?" Caitlin sounded curious.

He decided to be blunt. "I... think I should tell you... that I found your beautiful daughter in my bed last night."

"What are you saying?" Fenris was out of his chair in the blink of an eye, backing him against a wall, looming over him, his face a mask of fury, his tattoos lighting up with a soft blue shimmer. "Damn it, Zev, what did you do to her?"

Zevran swallowed hard, both with fear and with sudden desire. Oh, but he is magnificent when he's furious! He admitted to himself that this had been the reaction he had secretly hoped for when he'd spoken so plainly. Still, he felt slightly relieved when he heard Caitlin's cool, reasonable voice.

"Calm down, Fen," she looked at Zevran, and he detected a hint of amusement in her face. "I take it you didn't invite her there."

He shook his head, ignoring Fenris' angry snort of disbelief. "Trust me, it was her own idea. She can be very... persistent." He noticed that Fenris had relaxed a little and the blue glow was slowly disappearing. A pity, he thought longingly, but then returned his attention to the matter at hand.

Caitlin was nodding, her face pensive. "She has always had a crush on you," she said calmly, "and of course she meets few enough men her own age." She looked at Fenris. "I think we should ask Merrill and Kelys to take her to the Dalish camp for a visit. Maybe she'll make... friends there."

Fenris was clearly not happy with the idea of letting his little girl go out into the world without his protection. "And what do we do about him?" he gritted out between clenched teeth, with a quick toss of his head in Zevran's direction.

"Oh, don't worry," Zevran was unperturbed. "Isabela said she'd take care of this."

It was just past noon, and Zevran was practising with his sword and dagger down in the old stables. When Isabela walked in, she immediately noticed Rhianna up on the gallery, her face enraptured as she followed his every move. Well, he is still worth watching, she conceded as she took in his graceful moves, his slim body clad only in tight pants and a leather vest. Really, it seemed unfair how Elves never seemed to age. Fenris was just the same, looking hardly a day older than when she had first met him. As for Zevran, his muscles were still trim and taut, his skin like golden silk, his long blond hair thick and shiny, and if a few creases lined his face, they only served to make him look more interesting. Whereas she... Isabela sighed. A few years ago she had reluctantly decided that her customary skimpy attire was no longer appropriate and had switched to plain black leather pants and a simple blouse. She was still attractive, she knew, but compared to them...

"So, my pet," she drawled as she walked up to Rhianna's side, "are you admiring the man or the moves?"

Rhianna gave her a crooked grin. It hadn't always been easy to grow up with parents who were so focussed on each other as hers, and she'd been glad to have Isabela and Merrill around occasionally. The pirate especially had become a trusted confidante for all the things she couldn't possibly tell her mother. "Both, I guess," she replied with a wink.

"Aaaah," Isabela smiled. "He's still attractive, isn't he?"

The girl looked down at Zevran and sighed. "Dreamy," she breathed, not taking her eyes off him.

"A bit old for you, though," the pirate said casually.

"Hmmm," Rhianna barely spared her a glance, and Isabela sighed. Completely undeterred, just as I expected. Well, it was time for a more drastic approach.

"I should think, though, that you would be more than a little put off by the fact that he's likely slept with both your parents." That got her Rhianna's attention.

She grinned inwardly at the girl's shocked face. "What do you mean, both?" Rhianna's voice was shaky.

Isabela shrugged. "Not to mention myself, of course, and quite probably your dear Uncle Anders..."

Rhianna seemed stunned. "Anders? But I thought he and Mother..." Isabela just smiled, a contented, cat-like smile, as the young woman paced up and down in agitation. "Maker's breath, Bella, is there anyone among you that hasn't had sex with all of the others? I thought you were busy fighting blood mages and templars!"

Isabela grinned openly. "Well, I drew the line at Varric, but of course I couldn't speak for the others..."

Rhianna shook herself. "Ewwww. I really didn't need to know this. Or maybe... maybe I did."

She looked at Isabela ruefully, and the pirate smiled, a fond, gentle smile this time. "We all go back a long way, pet, and it was... complicated, more often than not. Really, you shouldn't waste too much thought on this."

When the girl had left, still shaking her head in dismay, she went down to join Zevran. "Your little problem has been taken care of," she announced, waving off his thanks as she drew her blades, circling him and looking for a gap in his defences. "That's what friends are for, after all."