What Do We Say? What Do We Do?
Inspired by David Andersson's Blind Let's Play of DA2
Being tall man with tanned skin unusual for a Ferelden and black hair that hung to his shoulders and framed his face in a masculine beard, Alexander Hawke definitely held a presence in whatever room he walked into. At first, that is. But as soon as his kind personality took control, he wasn't really the form of someone the public would have to watch. Not someone they'd have to fear.
Though, none of that mattered as he walked into the rundown mansion in the quieter part of Hightown. It was Fenris' turn to host the party's weekly card night, which meant ruins of would-be elegant decorations, broken furniture, and probably not enough food but plenty of alcohol. Oh, the fun to be had.
Alexander made his way up the steps in the main hall, heading to the 'office' of sorts. He could hear only a select few voices, concluding that he was at least not the last to arrive. Upon entering the room, he found four people, only three of which he knew.
Sitting at the table, on the side near the end farthest from the door, was Varric with his characteristic smirk. Sitting across from him was Isabella, her boots kicked up onto the table as she tilted the wobbling chair back. They were both talking with the two at the head of the table who were sitting very close together.
Fenris had what looked like a small smile on his face, one arm resting against the back of the chair next to him while his other hand held loosely onto a bottle with some copper colored liquid in it. In that chair next to him, with her legs crossed and thrown over his and hazel-green eyes trained strictly on Alexander, was a woman with an oddly familiar face that he was very sure he had never met before.
Varric looked over at Alexander, the wheels in his head spinning quickly to form his teasing perfectly. "It's not just you and daisy anymore. Broody here has got himself a girl."
He ignored the comment about him and Merrill, focusing instead on the woman as she stood to introduce herself. She stood at a fairly average height, maybe slightly on the short side for a human woman. Her hair was a bright blond and framed her pale, round face in straight layers only to stop neatly at her collar bone and shorten towards the back. Her hazel eyes held a stubborn pride to them, but her smile was genuine and kind, and her handshake was firm.
She was dressed in simple black lounge wear, the skirt stopping at her knees and the sleeves cut off at her shoulders to show her muscled limbs. She held a presence just like Alexander, but this presence didn't go away. Not at first. So, it might have been fit to say she held a presence more like Fenris, one you'd hopefully get used to.
"Dain Graise," she introduced herself in a voice that was equally strong and feminine.
"Alexander Hawke," he smiled kindly, tilting his head in respect and watching as she did the same. "You sound Ferelden."
"That's where I was raised since I was young, but blood wise I'm from Tevinter and the Anderfells."
Alexander nodded, taking a seat at his regular spot beside Varric who looked intrigued, "Wasn't Blondie taken into the Circle from the Anderfells?"
Isabella nodded, "He claims that's how he got his name."
"Odd," Dain commented almost to herself, but before Alexander could ask her why, voices sounded from the entrance hallway.
"Thank you so much, Aveline. I always get lost on the way here." Merrill entered first, looking sheepish.
Aveline followed suit, sighing, "I only wonder why you didn't have Hawke bring you. He'd probably have been more than happy to."
Merrill didn't respond, only scurrying to take the seat next to Alexander. Aveline chuckled, stopping short when she noticed the newcomer. "Dain?"
"Guard Captain?" Dain didn't seem as confused as Aveline, but there was a slight waver in her voice to show some pause to question.
"You two know each other?" Fenris asked, speaking for the first time since Alexander arrived.
"She likes to spar with my men. A good fighter, too. But I still wonder why a woman such as yourself would have so much time on your hands."
"'Woman such as yourself'?" Merrill sat forward, intrigued.
Dain just shook her head, becoming stiffer as if she wasn't pleased with the topic. Alexander took this as a sign, sitting up straighter as he tried to change the subject, "Are Anders and Sebastian going to ever show up?"
Aveline finally took a seat next to Isabella, "Sebastian isn't. He's still debating whether he ever should or not."
Varric chuckled, "Blondie should be showing up soon, but being 'the Healer' must take up a good amount of time."
"Speak of the devil," Isabella sung, gesturing towards the door as she began to shuffle the cards.
In walked Anders, plume and all. His hair was still tied neatly up but his hazel eyes looked frazzled. "Haven't started without me, I hope."
"Never," Alexander smirked, absentmindedly scooting closer to Merrill. "We've got an extra player tonight."
Anders' eyes quickly scanned the room, resting on Dain with a questioning gaze. She didn't bother standing up and any emotion had left her face, eyes becoming void and voice hollow as she spoke, "Dain."
"Anders," he responded before taking a seat.
Alexander didn't know why, but he felt it in his gut that this night would be interesting.
It had been a few hours. A few hours of playing cards, of drinking and chatting, and of the paranoid and intrigued keeping their watch locked on Dain. That's when, with cheep whiskey as a confidence booster, Alexander decided to start putting the pieces together.
"Dain?" he started, bringing his eyes up from his cards. She didn't speak, just raised an eyebrow in response and waited. "When we brought up Anders and the Anderfells earlier, you said something."
"Yes, I did." She stated matter-of-factly.
"What was that?" Anders asked.
"Odd," she repeated.
"What's odd about me being from the Anderfells?"
She took a deep breath, one that most probably wouldn't have noticed if they weren't paying close attention to her, "I was born in the Anderfells as well, that's all."
Anders sat up straighter, catching a thread, "You wouldn't happen to know any of the families there, would you? Maybe one that lost their son to the Circle of Magi?"
Dain didn't make eye contact, keeping her eyes to her cards, "We moved to Ferelden when I was fairly young."
Alexander kept his eyes on her, looking for a slip, "Anders was taken to the Ferelden Circle."
"So?" Fenris spoke before she could respond. "Why interrogate her? If she does not know, you won't get anything from her."
"If she doesn't know anything, why is she hiding behind her cards?" Varric entered the conversation with a very good point, but this seemed to be enough for Dain. She stood with a violent push of her chair and walked angrily from the room before turning to go down one of the halls.
Then they looked to Fenris. He had known her the longest, she was living with him, shouldn't he know what was going on? But, instead, he just looked confused on what he should do.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, even Isabella paused deep in thought, Fenris stood up quietly and followed Dain.
That night had passed without another word, and it had all but left Alexander's mind. That was, until he went to visit Aveline in the barracks. When he walked into her office, she looked deep in thought, and when she noticed him she didn't say anything. Instead, she held up a hand before he could get a word out and began rummaging through her desk.
"I was hoping Dain would come back to spar so I could speak with her about this without any of the others there, but I haven't seen or heard any trace from her. So, I'd like your opinion on what I should do with some information I found."
"Snooping isn't the best way to make friends, Aveline," Alexander commented, but walked to the desk to look at the papers she pulled out.
"They keep records of every family that's ever lived here. Usually most are small, even the richer ones. Nothing too important. And when I heard Dain's name at first, I just figured I recognized it from one of these small files I may have had to deal with before because of some thieves or street trouble with a son or brother."
"And that wasn't the case, was it?"
"Not at all. I went looking and it turned out to be someplace I already had dealt with. The mansion in which Fenris is squatting had once held Denarius, but it wasn't even his to begin with. He got it from a Tevinter merchant. One who apparently didn't have the deeds to the place to begin with."
"Where would he have gotten them, then?"
"Either sold to him unofficially or stolen. The deeds are still in the name of a very wealthy family that originally came from Tevinter. They have estates in every town in the Free Marches and every country in Thedas."
"And this family was?"
"Graise."
"Is that why she's staying there with Fenris?"
"I suspect so, not to count their apparent relationship brought to our attention by Varric himself. I figure she came to Kirkwall planning to get the estate back and ended up meeting him there."
"And I'm guessing something you found out about this family is why you're conflicted."
She rummaged through some of the papers absentmindedly, even though she seemed to already know everything she needed to say. "The Graise family was originally very high up magisters in Tevinter, known for having purely mage blood. They left Tevinter when the Chantry started getting bigger, though it was never explained why this caused them to leave. The family continued through generations, of course, the name never dying due to the women of the family having their husbands change their names instead of vise versa. The latest head of the family recorded left Kirkwall after meeting a mercenary from the Anderfells to get married in his home town. They lived there for a while, long enough to have four children."
"And this file has all of this information?"
"Apparently they like keeping people well informed with what their up to. It's surprising they all hadn't been brought into the Circle by now, but I guess they had enough money to stay safe, for a while."
"Lucky them," Alexander commented under his breath, thinking of Bethany who was currently in the Gallows. But then he realized what she said, "For a while?"
"Anderfells' Templars must not rely on the bribes of the rich mages, or maybe they just got careless, but one of their children was taken by the chantry. And brought to the Ferelden Circle."
Alexander didn't speak, letting it all soak in. "I knew she looked familiar."
"It says the children were two sets of twins, and Dain and Anders look to be about the same age."
"That must have been why she looked like there was something she wasn't telling us."
Aveline nodded, "She may have realized as soon as she looked at him."
"Why would she have remembered, but not him?"
"Records say he was five, and depending on how traumatic the event was, he may have repressed what happened and anything before it. Or maybe that's one of the things they train out of young mages they bring in."
They both stayed silent, as if waiting for the other to speak.
"Why would she have not said anything to Anders, if she realized who he was?" Alexander finally asked.
"I don't know. That's why I'm not sure what I should do. If I tell Anders, I maybe start something I shouldn't. But if I don't… it just feels like something he has the right to know."
After another bought of silence, something Alexander was really getting tired of, he voiced his opinion. "Whatever may start would probably happen eventually anyway. Anders does have the right to know. You should tell him."
Alexander was stalling, and he knew it. He was afraid to go to Anders' Clinic, worried as to what he might find. There was no telling with this man. But, three days after Aveline had decided to speak to him, Alexander finally went.
Only walk into the eye of the storm. No, this wasn't the eye of the storm; it was right smack in the midst of the chaos of winds. Or, in this case, shouts.
"I thought you'd be different," Anders snarled as he stood in a standoff with his newfound sister.
Dain was dressed in expensive looking armor made from obsidian colored metal, the family crest Alexander recognized from the papers on the chest plate. The armor was designed with sharp edges and details, coming in tighter at the waist before cutting down in horizontal plates like a skirt. Her legs were covered in a red net of sorts like chainmail and her silver boots came up to her knees. A large rectangular metal shield rest on her back and the fancy hilt of a sword jutted out of its sheath on her hip.
"Really," she spit, expression void of all except slight annoyance, "Because you're exactly how I thought you'd be."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Anders was getting louder as he spoke, causing Dain to do so in response.
"You're just like mother: pompous and arrogant and any other word that means that you think you're entitled to more than the rest of us."
"All I think I'm entitled to is freedom!"
"Freedom? You already have your freedom! You just don't want to lose your esteemed title as a freedom fighter!"
"I'm fighting for the right to not be feared just because I am what I am!"
"To not be feared is something you must earn!"
Alexander didn't know what to do, or better yet what to say.
"How did I earn any reason to be fear in the first place?! It's not my fault I am what I am! I didn't ask to be a mage!"
"I didn't ask to not be one, yet I am still blamed! It's not my fault I am not the one thing our mother wished for in a daughter! And it's not my fault you couldn't stayed behaved long enough to not be snatched up by the Templars! But, no, I'm the one who has to deal with our madwoman of a mother who hated my guts just because I wasn't her version of perfect! No, it was your fault for not keeping yourself in line!"
There it was, another long pause of silence. Pent up anger had just been released, if only a little bit.
What was Anders supposed to say? What was Alexander supposed to say? What was Dain supposed to do, now that she had said it all?
AN: Yay! Another One-shot! As any of you who have read whatever the other DA2 one-shot was called can tell, I've definitely gotten better at writing and have been able to think through this character and, well, all the characters better.
Anyway, this is dedicated to David Andersson, a blind let's player on Youtube, and his DA2 character: Alexander Hawke. You should check him out.