Title: Shoot anything that moves
Summary: It's not that Hawke dislikes the occasional philosophical discussion with Sebastian; it's just that he's far too sober for this. Sebastian Vael and Greyjoy Hawke have a discussion about faith, featuring a cameo by Isabela in her ongoing quest to make Sebastian break his vows.
Timeline: Act 2 post 'Repentance' pre 'All that remains' and definitely pre 'A Bitter Pill' and all the romance-y stuff.
Rating: K (subject to change depending on what the ficlet entails.)
A/n: Now taking prompts over at my tumblr; stop by and say 'hi'. Also, that last chapter was written in a different tense and will probably be the only one like that. Sometimes I think 'hey, let's change things up' only to realize halfway through that I don't actually want to change anything.

2. Faith

"How do you do it then, if not through faith?" Sebastian asked one evening as they sat in the Hanged Man; Hawke sitting with his feet on the table with tankard in hand and Sebastian doing neither. "You've lost just as much as I but I do not know how I could manage without my faith." This was the continuation of another conversation, in which Sebastian had asked how Hawke could be so mirthful having lost his father, then his home and brother to the blight and lastly his sister; unfortunately he had inquired this in the middle of a battle against a group of bandits. Hawke had replied that 'he was a little busy at the moment, but ask again later'. He had never seen an ounce of faith from the other man. In fact, the only time he heard either the Maker's or Andraste's names on Hawke's lips was when the warrior was taking them in vain.

Hawke sighed and downed the last of his drink before sitting the tankard on the table, the 'thunk' of metal hitting wood was drowned out by the chatter of the other patrons. This conversation was going to get very weighty, very fast—he could just tell. It wasn't as if he minded the occasional philosophical discussion with Sebastian, quite the contrary—he rather enjoyed them but he was far too sober for this. "It's not that I don't have faith Sebastian," he replied, running a hand through his hair. "But that can be a discussion point for later. To answer your question: I can continue to smile and laugh despite everything because my only other option is to wander aimlessly through the streets, weeping openly. That does no one any good. Those I've lost would want me to be happy and to help people—so that is what I do."

"It must be hard though." Sebastian pressed. Hawke waved the question off with one gauntleted hand, the metal creaking as he did so.

"Not really. It simply is what it is." They sat in silence for a few moments after that, until finally Sebastian spoke again.

"But back to the issue of you saying you actually do have faith…" Hawke smiled, he knew Sebastian wasn't going to let that one go. They had easily fallen into a brotherly relationship. Hawke suspected it had something to do with the fact that he'd lost a younger brother and Sebastian had lost older brothers; those were roles they knew how to fill for the other.

"Can I get another drink before you start interrogating me?" he asked.

"By all means," Sebastian waved a hand towards the bar. Hawke swung his feet off the table and stood up, brushing himself off before heading to the bar. It was a few minutes before he returned and when he did he was not alone: Isabela was with him. The pirate dropped down into the seat to Hawke's left (which was coincidentally, the chair across from Sebastian's.) "Hello Isabela." He greeted cordially. There were sometimes (only for a moment) when Sebastian wished he'd never taken Chantry vows and most of them were whenever Isabela was around; she was the type of woman his old self would have loved.

"Hello yourself choir boy." She had picked up Varric's nickname for him and used it almost as much as the dwarf did. There was something in her smile that made it seem as if she were trying to envision him without all the armor on (and she definitely was.) Instinctively, he slouched down into his seat a ways which only made her smile more.

"I hope you don't think that Isabela being here is going to place this conversation on hold Hawke." Sebastian said.

"Well," Hawke replied with a smile. "It was worth a try." He took a deep breath before continuing. "It's true that my belief in the Maker isn't as strong as some—too many things have happened that shouldn't for me to believe the way my mother does. But I'm willing to concede that just because he's never done a thing for me doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't exist; I didn't exactly believe in Flemeth before she swooped out of the wilds and saved my life."

"I've never heard that story." Sebastian commented. Hawke had told him that his family had fled to Kirkwall during the blight and he'd heard rumors about mysterious things concerning the hero but he'd never heard that particular story told.

"Really?" Isabela asked in disbelief. She placed her arms on the table and rested her head on her palms, giving Sebastian an unimpeded view of her ample cleavage; someday she would break him and then she could finally add 'prince' to her list of conquests—he'd go on the list right under 'hero'. "Ask Varric to tell it sometime—it's one of his favorites, mine too. Ogres, werewolves, chases, escapes, hoards of darkspawn, sword fights, deals with witches and Hawke being Hawke; what more could you want in a story? Except nudity of course, but then I think every story could use a little more nudity. Especially Hawke stories. There's something so refreshing about a hero not afraid to flaunt what he's got; especially when it's that nice." She said the last part with a look at Hawke, who laughed in return.

"So what you're saying is I should run around naked?" he asked, successfully changing the subject.

"It's a sin to cover up something that beautiful." Isabela nodded.

"Well, as you wish then 'Bela, from here on out I shall be utterly naked; I could never deny you anything."

"So if you don't exactly believe in the Maker, then what do you believe in?" Sebastian cleared his throat, trying to turn the conversation back to the original topic at hand. Hawke ran one hand along the rim of his tankard and thought about lying (but only for a moment); he exhaled loudly.

"I believe in you," Hawke replied before turning to Isabela. "And you and all the rest." He took a drink before continuing. "I'll tell you why: we are a group with religious and political views that shouldn't allow us to work together and yet, somehow we do. I believe in all of you because not a single one of you has let me down and that's more than I can say about your beloved Maker."

"I don't know what to say to that." Sebastian replied. He supposed he could try to convince Hawke that the reason his circle of friends worked as well as it did was a miracle—a gift from the Maker, but somehow he thought Hawke wouldn't appreciate it. Hawke was gracious enough to not give him too much grief over his beliefs and so the least he could do was return the favor. That didn't mean he was going to stop trying to convert him; somewhere along the line, Sebastian had decided to make it his personal mission to save Hawke. But he could tone things down for a while. "I'll try to be worthy of the faith you have in me."

"Well good." Hawke replied with a smile.