CHAPTER 3 pt 2 YO. I'm so so so sorry this is a week late :( I can't believe it's actually been like 4 or so weeks since I uploaded this fic haha, thanks for the review/views/favs & follow :'3

I think I've finished introducing the main characters now, for those wondering why Sebastian isn't here it's because I never got the expansion that included him… I only was aware of his presence in the game through reading fanfic's (-_-') so I don't feel like I know his character well enough to put him in this one. If I make another fanfic later on I'll try to include him, don't worry Seb' fans :') Also, the DA Online game in this AU is a lot like other MMO's, there are players everywhere until they get into boss battles/key fights - then it's just whoever is playing and whoever is present in the party until they leave the area.

p.s. if you want an idea of what Kimi's in-game character looks like here's my tumblr, i've posted a pic on there :) .com

Chapter 4

Kimi and Fenris had teleported to the character changing NPC. Fenris had said that his name was Xenon, and that he could change the entire appearance and class of an avatar, for thirty sovereigns. Kimi only had twenty, so Fenris transferred her the remaining ten. She then took the opportunity to completely redesign her :character: before changing her class, shamelessly spending around half an hour doing so. Kimi was (always) a perfectionist when it came to character customisation. She eventually chose the rogue dual wield option, and the assassin specialisation - with Fenris telling her the best build for that specialisation.

"Was it really necessary to spend so long creating an avatar?" sighed Fenris. After the first ten minutes of her designing, he had disappeared from camera's sight to get a sandwich from a vending machine nearby; when he came back seeing her not even close to finishing yet, he checked the group chat. It was around half past one, so many members of the guild were awake - and playing the game too.

"Finished! Yes, Fenris. Unlike our guild, other players can't see my face. Your avatar is the first thing other players see, so you have to make the right impression if you wanna be friends... or enemies - it's also the thing you'll spend most of the time looking at, I see no problem in making mine aesthetically pleasing to do so." She heard Fenris laugh lightly at her logic.

"I suppose so, if you actually care about what people think of you."

"And you don't?" she asked. Kimi was a naturally self-conscious person both in real life and in the game, despite her semi-good looking figure and appearance. It wasn't to a mental illness degree, she simply liked to look somewhat attractive in other people's eyes.

"I see no reason to, I am what I am and what others think of my appearance is none of my concern. Of course I'll make an effort to make myself look presentable and healthy but I find no logic in going out of my way to look like eye candy."

'He's either lying or is in fact effortlessly attractive.' Kimi thought. He was no doubt the most visually appealing being to walk Thedas in her opinion, how he could not see that astonished her - or perhaps he was aware.

"And your avatar?"

"I merely wanted him to look like me... but more badass," he shrugged, "Besides, I'm not the most threatening looking man in the world." He stroked back his hair, which Kimi had come to notice he did when he felt uncomfortable.

"Hah! You may say that, but the first time I saw you do the glowy-thingy I think I shat myself, I'm pretty sure Anders did too… you should have seen his face!" Kimi clutched her stomach as she laughed at the memory, so did Fenris.

"I am glad that I left that impression on him - come, the guild wishes to see your new character." He stated, and his avatar disappeared - she presumed to wherever the rest of the guild was. Her phone was still on charge all morning, but she could hear message alerts from the group chat. She warped to Fenris' location and picked up her phone, tapping on the chat. She scrolled down to the elf's first message of the day.

Fenris [broody_elf], 13:40PM

- Hawke has changed classes, I thought everyone would like to know.

Aveline [vallen], 13:40PM

- Oh really? I can understand why.

- No offence Hawke if you're reading this.

Varric [bianca's man], 13:41PM

- What to? She better still be a rogue, it's bad enough I'm the only archer now broody

Fenris [broody_elf], 13:41PM

- Don't worry dwarf, she is still a rogue, but a dual wielding assassin.

- I am sure Isabella will be pleased.

Aveline [vallen], 13:41PM

- I bet she will be, she isn't awake yet though.

- I can imagine that class suiting Hawke better actually, well done Fenris.

Kimi laughed at that, Isabella would be jumping off of walls when she found out. She wondered why Fenris even told the group chat, they would have found out eventually anyway. Her screen loaded and she was somewhere on the Wounded Coast again, this time with Varric and Aveline, who Fenris both invited to the Skype call.

"Well done to me too! I'm pretty sure I got an achievement for how many Darkspawn he made me kill!", she whined.

"There were no more than thirty, if I am not mistaken," retorted Fenris playfully. Kimi stuck out her tongue at him in a childish manner and Maker be damned he did the same back to her.

'He needs to stop before I become the first person to die from infatuation'.

"Okay okay break up the fight children, we have to rescue a Viscount's son… so if we may proceed?" said Aveline, her voice was firm but her face said she was enjoying the bickering.

"Hey, nice character, Hawke! Much more attractive than your other one! If I was alone I'd -"

"And that's enough from you too, dwarf, I wasn't aware that you were interested in animated women." exclaimed Aveline. She could joke too, but her humour was much more dry than the others. Much more.

"Oh ho ho! My dear Aveline, haven't you heard of hentai?"

"VARRIC!" screamed both Kimi and Aveline, Fenris also reacted to the dwarf's words, his hands covering his face.

"I'll take that as a yes…"

They made their way up the beachy landscape, the conversation changing swiftly to something else, when they encountered a group of bandits. There weren't that many to be of any trouble , but they could be if the group charged through aimlessly.

"Hawke, think of this as your first training session. Do as you did in the Deep Roads and remember what I told you about your build." said Fenris.

"I know what I'm doing, which ever move sequence looks coolest is probably the best…"

"You're not in the background now Hawke, you have to defend me and Fenris up front, but without making yourself a target as well", stated Aveline. "But do have fun." she finished.

Fenris and Aveline charged at the group, and Kimi quickly activated and threw a Miasmic Flask at the cluster of enemies, she then activated stealth and backstabbed an enemy attacking Aveline with Explosive strike. She then used Evade and told Varric to use Triple Shot at the bandit she just attacked. She activated stealth again, coating her blades in a poison and repeated the sequence again on a bandit attacking Fenris, this time using assassinate - with the poison doing 10pts of damage per second, he eventually dropped dead along with the rest. The battle only lasted two minutes at most, they wanted to swiftly get to the quest location, after all. When it finished everyone congratulated Kimi, saying how she was much more useful and effective than before (Aveline), much more attractive in combat than before (Varric), and suited fighting up front despite her shy nature (Fenris).

"How did you know I'm shy? I could just be deep in thought… like you!" Kimi had enquired.

"I'm good at reading people, I have to be - considering the circumstances. You didn't strike me as the outgoing type. When I first saw you at the café you acted… bubbly, but that did nothing to mask you avoiding eye contact and your hands shaking."

"Oh… and I'm like that with all customers?!" her hands smacked her cheeks, she hid her face from the web camera.

"From what I observed, yes bu-"

"HOLD ON! Hold on! When did you two meet up?!" blurted Varric, the jealousy in his tone greatly apparent.

"We didn't!" Kimi shouted, with the elf speaking much calmer after her.

"We did nothing of the sort."

"Then how did you meet? How long ago was it?" asked Aveline, who didn't believe either of them. All those present had forgotten that their avatars were stood still, open, and would make easy targets for unexpected PvP battles or computer controlled enemies.

"I had finished training at my gym, I had done a particularly vigorous work-out and wanted to reward myself. I went to the café, unknowing that Hawke worked at that one in particular. Neither did I know that it was her who served me until I forgot my jacket there."

'And I agree, it does look… cute on you. Keep it, I have others.' his words crossed her mind from the day before, but it felt like a lifetime.

"Well that seems awfully convenient, but nevermind. We have a mission to do." stated Aveline, Kimi thanked the Maker that at least one of them had their head screwed on right.

The group came across two other clusters of bandits before reaching the Viscount's son. His name was Seamus, Kimi learned, and apparently he wasn't kidnapped, but was with his friend - a Qunari. Kimi already knew what was about to happen, she was somewhat familiar with a majority of the main quests in the game.

"Guys if any of us have suddenly realised they need to level up now would be a good time." she said cautiously.

"Why? Is this going to be a difficult fight?" enquired Aveline. It crossed Kimi's mind that it would have been a good idea to tell the group what they would be facing, but her timing was hardly ever right when a situation came around when she could actually apply her lore knowledge.

"I have done this before on another account, it is somewhat difficult - but we will manage no doubt if we conserve our potions." Fenris replied.

"Why did nobody think to say this? I could have looted a lot more bodies if I knew it was going to be bad..." sighed Aveline. Varric's character walked up to Seamus, who was bent over a dead Qunari, the boy said that 'they were still here' and 'to run away quickly', referring to the wave of mercenaries who jumped out from behind the large boulders that were dotted around them.

The fight lasted ten minutes, Kimi could sense everyone was on edge; trying to do their best not to die and skip out on earning the XP. Kimi said that there were going to be three waves, with the third being the most difficult. When they had gotten to the last wave, the group was low on health potions - namely due to the assassin that kept popping up, backstabbing, then moving to the next guild member. Kimi was very fed up, she activated stealth (which she had come to realise was her favourite move), and creeped behind the assassin. Aveline saw what she was attempting and acted as a decoy for her, drawing the assassins attention by using Shield Bash. Kimi took the opening and used Assassinate on him, taking his health down by at least forty percent. The two women then kept attacking him until he fell, and carried on with the fight. Aveline nodded to her on her camera, and Kimi winked back in thanks - but she was distracted by a blinding blue light that flooded her monitor.

'The Lyrium Ghost' Kimi thought, she couldn't move her hands to carry on fighting, she didn't want to. She had seen him fight for just over half a year now, but it was still beautiful to watch his character fight. Fenris' avatar sank his hand into Ginnis' chest (the leader of the mercenaries), ripping out her pixelated heart. The fight was over soon after.

"Now that is probably the coolest thing I have seen in this game." exclaimed Varric. Kimi too was in awe, he had described his character's powers previously, but she hadn't seen him pull out someone's heart. She was so in awe she forgot the nagging sensation in her abdomen - not from finding him hot, but needing to use her bathroom very badly. She silently wished her body would give her more warning.

"I am glad you see it so.", she heard Fenris say in her urine controlled frenzy. She scanned the room for Bethany, seeing that she was playing on her 2DS silently on her bed. She must have walked in without making a sound, Kimi reasoned.

"Is something wrong, Hawke? You look troubled." Aveline prompted.

"Yes! Everything is fine, BETHANY TAKE THE WHEEL I NEED TO PISS!" she screamed across the room to her sister, who shot up and squealed from the sudden outburst, clambering over to the desk chair where Kimi was no longer sat.

"Erm, hello again! My sister needs to pee so…" Bethany's voice trailed off as Kimi sprinted towards her bathroom. She finished washing her hands with honey scented soap, after she emptied her bladder, and fixed her hair in the mirror. She took the opportunity to take a short break from the game. She went downstairs and made herself a drink along with a peanut butter sandwich, and ate it at the dining table. She looked over to her mother who was sifting through what looked like Gamlen's bills, with a grimace on her face.

"Is there something wrong mother?" she asked.

"Oh, no, don't worry child. Nothing I can't handle. We're just late on a few bills is all."

"I can help pay them, mother! I have about two thousand sovereigns saved u-"

"No! I will not allow you to pay for your uncle's shortcomings!" Her mother said sternly. Kimi snapped.

"Then make him find a job! He can't keep holding us back like this! What if his house gets repossessed? Where will we go then?!" she had realised too late that she had lost her temper again, and instead of her taking it out on Gamlen, it was her own mother.

"I know!" Leandra took in a deep breath, "I know… we have already pawned off all of Gamlen's unnecessary furniture. I am not smart enough to take up stock trading, nor do I have the money to do so, or the time to get another job on top of my own." Her mother came to the dining table and took a seat next to Kimi. "My dearest Hazel, what are we to do." It wasn't a question, but a plea.

"I - I heard father saying you used to have a house here, in Hightown somewhere."

"Yes, Amell Estate, I used to live there before I met your father."

"What happened to it? Can't we get it back if it is still in your name?" Kimi asked.

"No, I spoke to Gamlen about it when we arrived from Ferelden. He said he lost it in a gambling match, your father lost his temper and roughed him up a little," Leandra smiled at that, "apparently my parents, your grandparents, left it to me in their will. I would have to petition to get it back, or buy it off of the housing agency holding it."

Kimi leapt up from her seat. "So let's buy it back! How much is it?" she demanded. If they could just buy back the mansion they wouldn't have to live with Gamlen anymore, and Kimi would be indebted to him no longer.

"If it was that simple, don't you think we would have moved out of this hovel by now? It's two hundred thousand sovereigns, Hazel! The only way of obtaining that amount of money is to win the Maker damned lottery!"

"But can't we appeal? Tell the company of our situation, they would understand! Surely they would!" pleaded Kimi, and Leandra sighed in response.

"It wouldn't be like a mortgage, we can't just negotiate with them. We would have to pay it upfront or else they would put it back on the market." she ushered Kimi to take her seat again who sighed, placing her head on the table, forgetting that her plate was still there.

"I do not wish to talk of this any longer. I have come to accept that this will be our new life, as did your father whilst he was alive. I ask that you do the same.", and with that Leandra walked back into the living room and went through Gamlen's bills again. Kimi wiped her hands over her face, both in frustration and as an attempt to get the peanut butter off. She placed the plate into the kitchen sink and walked up the stairs to her room.

Bethany sat down in the desk chair. She enjoyed playing her sister's game, mainly because of the friends she would play with. They were all friendly with her, especially Anders and Izzy - mainly because she knew Izzy from… before. She placed on the headset and spoke into the mic.

"Erm, hello again! My sister needs to pee so I'm gonna take her place for a bit!" she beamed at the web camera.

"Why hello there, Lady Bethany, what a pleasant surprise!" greeted Varric. He would always treat her as a princess, she knew it was due to her age but she would still pretend she was clueless to it.

"Hello, Sir Varric, the pleasure is all mine", she replied, nodding her head in acknowledgement and giggling. She returned to her normal dialect. "So what are we doin' now?"

"We are returning to the Viscount's office, we just killed a bunch of people and found his son who ran away." Aveline briefed Bethany.

"Okies', how much do we get for this?"

"Depending on our grade of combat, anywhere between five hundred and one thousand XP." stated Fenris.

"Hey! You're the guy my sister was gush-I mean talking about earlier! She was right about the deep voice." exclaimed Bethany, nearly giving away her sister's secret. Bethany had only seen him every so often, and due to her sister using earphones, she had never actually heard him speak. He was just that guy with white hair, in her eyes.

"Err… she was, was she?"

"Yes! She was all, 'Fenris is gonna train me to be the best player ever yaaay!', she was pretty excited to say the least lol."

"I wouldn't be so sure about the 'best player ever', but I have placed her under my wing."

"Aww - so when are you gonna date?" Bethany heard Fenris choke on air, as well as Aveline. Varric just burst into laughter.

"I - we are not dating and we shall never do such a thing!" said an incredibly flustered Fenris, using an array of hand gestures to illustrate his point.

"Geeeezz, I was only kidding, don't need to put her in the friendzone and all…" she sighed.

"Oh... I see. May I suggest we make our way to Hightown now?", he was looking away from the camera, she noticed. 'I flustered a twenty year old man lol, I mean he could pass for eighteen, I can't even tell his real age', Bethany thought.

They all warped to the Viscount's Keep, and made their way up the steps to the Viscount. The man had thanked them for returning his son, Bethany had no idea what was going on, so when the character's dialogue option came up, she clicked 'You are both fools', or something - she wasn't really paying attention.

"Woah! Seven hundred XP! Is that a lot?"

"It is a decent amount. Not enough to make up for what I lost out on in the previous mission, but I can drink to that." Bethany was stunned, 'He drinks and plays?! What a loser, what does Hazel see in him lol.' But she stood corrected when he reached for a can of Rockstar.

"What flavour?" she asked, pointing to the can as he drank from it.

"This? Blueberry." Fenris responded.

"Aww... Hazel says I can't have it 'cuz I go hyper…" she whined. The previous time she downed a whole can at her school, got too energetic, and punched the first school girl that looked at her funnily.

"I shall drink to you as well, then." he lifted the can, seemingly toasting to her, and drank some more.

"Thank you! - oh, hey sis. You got seven hundred XP from the last battle."

"Only? Damn." Kimi said. Her eyes were rested enough to play some more, but her mind wasn't. She kept thinking of strategies to make quick money, but it all came down to prostitution - not that she would actually try it, though she technically was one already.

"Well, bye guys, tell Izzy I said hi!", Bethany bid farewell to the group, then settled on her bed to play on her 2DS again.

"I take it she wasn't too much trouble considering everyone got to Hightown in one piece." she jested. She liked letting Bethany play every once in awhile, it was a hobby they both shared, even if Kimi took it much more seriously than her sister.

"Nah, she was fine, she might have gotten on the Viscount's bad side, though." said Varric in response.

"Oh really?" Kimi turned to face her sister, who said she 'only called him a fool'. They both laughed lightly, "Beth, you can't say that, his kid dies later on!"

"Hey! No spoilers!" shouted Aveline.

"Sorry…" she uttered, stroking a lock of her hair.

"So what's next? It's three o'clock now, me and Aveline haven't had lunch yet, so how about we all come back in an hour and figure out what to do next?" suggested Varric.

They all agreed, and went offline, both in-game and on the video call. Kimi reached for her phone and messaged Isabella, wondering why she hadn't come online. She knew Anders worked Sundays, only working half-days in the week and full-time on weekends. Merrill worked Sundays too, but doing school work - mostly marking student's work as she worked at an art's school. Merrill was an amazing artist, Kimi had always thought. She could see her paintings and drawings hanging on her wall in the background of the video call, and some of them were based on creatures and scenery in the game. On the other hand, Isabella had no reason to not be playing. She worked at a bar in Lowtown most days, but never Sunday.

Kimi [kimi_chan], 15:02PM

- Hey! Are you awake yet?

- I've literally been playing all day and you haven't come online or messaged the group :/

Isabella [xbella_69x], 15:05PM

- Sorry Hawkey xx

- I have a really bad hangover

- Me and my work friends went out last night at like 10 lol

- It was last minute i know but YOLLLOO

Kimi [kimi_chan], 15:05PM

- Yh but you missed Beth

- She came on for like 15 mins

Isabella [xbella_69x], 15:06PM

- OMG UR KIDDING

- Nah :(

- I'm sorry… I'm literally in my flat right now with all the curtains closed

- Bc the sun is burning my eyes, I doubt I could even look at the PC screen :(

Kimi [kimi_chan], 15:06PM

-I've heard alcohol does those things…

Isabella [xbella_69x], 15:07PM

-haha Hawke

-Now leave me 2 sleep pls

Kimi [kimi_chan], 15:07PM

-If you insist my pirate companion ;)

The time quickly flew by, it was now completely dark outside, and judging from the loud racket of drunken teenagers walking up and down her street, it was most likely past ten o'clock. Why and how people partied on a Sunday night she didn't know, Monday's were the worst even without a hangover, she thought.

The guild had been doing a number of small quests, clearing caves and other tasks; the four of them were the only people in the guild online so they couldn't exactly kill a High Dragon, even if Fenris could just shove his hand through it's chest.

Aveline had not long ago bid farewell and went offline, so Kimi did the same - she did have to wake up in eight hours or so,; she didn't want to keep Bethany awake due to the monitor's light, on a Sunday night. She got up after saying goodnight to Varric and Fenris and switched off her PC, then went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face before returning back to her bed. She wasn't even half way through the doorway before she saw Gamlen towering over her sleeping sister.

"What do you want?" Kimi cautioned, her hands shaking.

"Nothing, just watching. I can see her growing into her body nicely."

'He wasn't drinking was he? I didn't see any bottles downstairs, he isn't slurring or wobbling at all so why is he behaving like this?!'

"Riiight, well I'm going to sleep now, I suggest you do the same, Uncle."

"No need to be so defensive Girl, I was just leaving." Gamlen retorted, brushing past her as he exited the room.

Kimi let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding, and walked over to Bethany. She brushed her cheek before whispering that she 'wouldn't let him hurt her', and went to her own bed. She was so tired, emotionally and physically, that she didn't even reach for her phone before she fell asleep.

Two weeks had passed, and Kimi's situation didn't change for the better, but not any worse either. The only positive things that happened were her and Morrigan finding a common ground - hating snobby people and generally people in general, her training sessions with Fenris as he would invite Isabella to help with the rogue side of things, and Kimi levelling up again. Oh, and Fenris had been slyly saving up money for a gaming laptop, the rest of the guild pooled together and transferred him the money online required to buy a headset and decent USB mouse. The thought had occurred to her how he could afford something so expensive considering his situation, but it soon disappeared.

It was a Friday, so everyone at work was generally in a better mood, including Meredith of all people. Kimi and Zevran manned the coffee machines, Morrigan and Feynriel were in charge of baking and selling cakes - not that the raven haired woman was any happier there.

"Morrigan, can I ask you something?", Kimi said to her from across the counter.

"If you must."

"Why do you work here? I mean don't take this in a bad way but you have significantly less enthusiasm than the rest of the crew, you haven't once worked overtime and you make no effort to socialise with the rest of us outside work. To the average person it would seem as if you don't even want to be here." she explained.

Morrigan breathed out heavily and scanned the café floor for customers before speaking. "I don't know why I'm telling you this but once I do you must swear that you won't tell another soul, that includes you two." Morrigan gestured to Zevran and Feynriel.

"Okay…" said Kimi, with the other two nodding in response.

"Right then, me and my mother are what you would call travellers. We don't have a permanent home apart from our caravan, we move locations every week or so. We don't have the money to buy a flat and my mother insists that we live this way until she passes. I, on the other hand, do not want to live like this any longer. So, I applied for this job as it pays well and am saving up for alternate accommodation." Despite the depressing explanation, Morrigan didn't seem moved at all when talking.

"So how do you get paid if you don't have a permanent address?" asked Feynriel, who usually kept to himself. He had worked there for some time as an apprentice, but the crew hardly knew anything about him.

"Meredith pays in cash, she said as long as I look appropriate and am punctual she didn't care. She seemed rather impressed with my cooking talent, if I do say so myself." Morrigan stated. "I do not work here because I want to, but because I have to in order to be free of my witch* of a Mother." she concluded.

"Ah, I see. I'm here to buy a house too!" exclaimed Kimi. Morrigan scoffed and returned to the oven under the counter where she was cooking muffins.

"I wonder why I expected more of a response from you… never the matter, we have similar goals - I propose that to make the time between now and achieving them more bearable, I shall be more 'approachable'..." Morrigan leaned in, almost whispering in Kimi's ear making sure no one else could hear, "if... you get that blighted Zevran to cease flirting with me.", she proposed. It was no secret that the blonde flirted with anyone, but most people liked it, the rest learning to accept it. Morrigan wasn't one of these people, however, she made it clear she despised him. He didn't listen to her pleas, evidently.

"Deal!" Kimi shouted, gaining even more attention from the two males standing opposite them, who were both shamelessly trying to hear what was just discussed. Morrigan slapped her hand to her forehead at Kimi's response, and carried on baking. It was a wonder how no customers came in during the whole scene. The rest of the day went by in a blur, Kimi had exchanged phone numbers with Morrigan, after spending the remaining hour begging her for it, and got Zevran's and Feynriel's too to minimise suspicion.

Kimi went to her locker after staring at the clock, waiting for the hands to hit three o'clock, and pulled out her rucksack - which was much heavier due to the added weight of her gym clothes. She worked out at Hightown's gym after work every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, in order to 'keep off the added pounds - a consequence of the gaming lifestyle' she reasoned. But deep down, it was just one of the few things she had control over in her life; she needed control.

She took off her apron and went to the staff toilets to get changed into more sporty attire, a black tank top with an electric blue mesh shirt on top, and simple black leggings. She still wore her black monochrome Converse to work out in, they were comfy after all. Kimi bid everyone farewell and plugged in her earphones, beginning the twenty minute jog to her gym. It was somewhat relaxing, in a way, despite the cold October-soon-to-be-November weather. The bitterness of her warm skin reacting to the cold climate felt good, as well as the burning sensation of her warm up exercise; she wouldn't let herself stop jogging, only to slow down to a speed walk before starting again until she reached her gym. She scanned her ID card at the gates and walked to the women's locker room, putting her bag inside before leaving to the women's side of the gym.

Kimi's schedule was very strict, she would use the rowing machine for twenty minutes, the cross trainer for ten. A five minute break, then yoga ball training for ten minutes, back to the cross trainer for another, then using an aerobic step she practiced a combination of inclined press ups, crunches, and squats, and another five minute break before repeating the same sequence again for another hour.

By the time she had finished her whole body ached, her stomach growled, but she felt good. She could feel the endorphins surging through her and that made her feel alive. Kimi returned to the locker room and grabbed a towel, shampoo and soap and quickly went to the shower room to cleanse herself. She got changed into her work clothes again before scanning herself out of the gym and beginning the hour and a half journey home. She wasn't ten minutes to the station when a familiar blonde haired man waved to her, from a black Civic, he honked at her and pulled over.

"Hawke? It's me, Anders! Can I give you a lift?"

"Anders?" she said the name, trying to picture the man in front of her as the man she was familiar with during video calls. "Anders! Oh my gosh it's you!" she exclaimed, when she put one and the other together. She was itching to just jump into the car and squeeze him in a hug.

"I'm hurt, Hawke. I recognised your purple hair instantly, I had to do a double take because it's dark out, but the fact remains." He pouted as he turned his radio volume down.

"My apology's your lordship, I'm not used to being called into sissy cars, you see." she mocked.

"It is not a sissy car! It's small and cosy." He pouted, "So where are you headed? What are you doing out so late?"

Kimi opened the passenger door and got in, embracing the warmth of the car and sinking into the seat, letting her worn out muscles relax.

"I'm going home, I just came from the gym, and it's not late it's almost quarter past five!"

"It's nearly Winter, Hawke, it's dark out; the dark is dangerous for pretty young women such as yourself!"

Kimi blushed deeply at his words. He had complimented her as if it was a fact. She struggled to formulate a response, Anders was looking at her intently with a large smirk on his face. He had flabbergasted her and he knew it.

"As well as guys… I mean women aren't the only people targeted. Where do you live? I'll drop you off." Kimi snapped her head towards him, suddenly realising something.

"Why are you in Hightown? Why are you in the Free Marches?"

"I think I asked the first question, did I not? I told you before I work at the hospital-"

"Yes but you didn't state which hospital! It could have been Orlais Central for all I knew!" she cut him off. Kimi was suddenly angry, again. Anders, one of her many close friends, lived in Kirkwall… why wasn't she aware of this?

"Why is this a surprise to you?" he scoffed, "Everyone lives in Kirkwall, the guild Hard in Hightown operates within the Kirkwall server." He said, almost laughing at her ignorance.

"You mean to say that Varric, Aveline, Merrill and Fenris all live in Kirkwall?" Her eyes widened in disbelief, 'Why haven't we met up? How come no one said anything?!'

"It would be impossible for them to access the Kirkwall server if they weren't in range, so yes, everyone in the guild uses a computer or laptop that is based in our wonderful city." Anders deadpanned. Kimi closed her mouth, realising it was wide open, and cleared her throat. Meeting her friends, her first actual friends, was now somewhat achievable. "Why didn't you say Isabella before?" he enquired.

"Oh pshh," she waved her hand, "I already know Izzy lives in a flat in Lowtown near me." Anders put his seatbelt on and started the car again, pulling off the curb.

"At last we have a destination! I guess you're wondering why we haven't all met up yet." he stated, as if reading her mind. Kimi put her seatbelt on too and placed her rucksack, that was resting in her lap, underneath the glove box. She nodded in response.

"So have I, I guess we're all just really shy. That or we're all really lazy… apart from you and Fenris, you two actually work out." Kimi laughed softly and scanned Anders' face.

He had gone from being a pixelated image in her bedroom to here, in the flesh. His blonde hair was cut at shoulder length, half of it tied up with parts of his fringe loose. He had rich amber coloured eyes that anyone could get lost in if they starred in them for too long. He was wearing his blue doctor's uniform, with a long sleeve black shirt underneath, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows showing off his blonde arm hair. Anders was a physically attractive man, but not like Fenris was. Fenris was mysterious, with a dark aura about him; Anders' presence felt warm and inviting, he smelled like honey which matched his sweet personality.

The car conversation was varied, Kimi learned that he lived in Darktown to which she responded with 'So how many times have you been stabbed?', before he clarified that he lived in the better sides towards Hightown. She also learned he was a cat lover, he showed her pictures of his previous cat 'Ser Pounce A-lot', while they were at traffic lights, and she fell in love with it. Kimi revealed her address to him, and he grimaced at finding out how rough the area was, but as the topic darkened she went through her bag and pulled out the bluetooth speaker she had and switched it on, connecting her phone to it.

"I do have a radio." Anders scoffed.

"Radios suck balls, you can't choose what comes on and they're full of ads. Now, what are you into?" she asked, scrolling through her abundance of music.

"Hmm, surprise me, Hawke." he responded. She put on 'Nightmare'** and they both head-banged their way to her house. She had learned his preference in music and created a playlist in his name. A couple minutes after, Anders had offered to pick her up from her gym until it was Spring and was brighter in the evenings, and she accepted; overwhelmed by his generosity she kissed him on his cheek, which had a hint of stubble. His face turned pink in response and she giggled at the flushed tint. The hour's drive went by quickly, and Kimi felt happy, happy that she had finally met her friend of six months. In truth she didn't want to leave his car, she wanted to stay and talk all evening and night, but they both had work, 'not that he would take up the offer anyway' she thought. Kimi offered him to come inside for a warm beverage but he kindly declined.

"So… I'll see you Monday after gym?"

"Definitely, I'll see you then!" grinned Anders, before pulling her into a loose hug. Kimi froze at the sudden contact, but melted into it after breathing in his sweet scent.

"Erm, Hawke, you can let go now…" Anders said awkwardly.

"Oh! Sorry, I just-"

"It's fine! See you soon, Maker willing." He waited until she went inside before driving off, Kimi noticed. He really did have a heart of gold.

When she entered her house, Leandra asked her a number of questions regarding the car she had appeared out of; Kimi, tired from overexerting herself, dismissed her saying it was a friend.

She went upstairs to her room and threw her bag at the foot of her bed, with herself falling into it. Her muscles still ached, but her heart felt warm after her encounter with the blonde. Kimi always thought that Anders would be the kind of man to preach about mages outside of the game as well as in, but he was surprisingly down to earth, as well as being chatty; she didn't need to force conversation like she did with others, namely Morrigan and Aveline.

Kimi reached for her phone which was placed in her bra, and sent a message to Anders - not that he would be able to text and drive at the same time anyhow.

Kimi [kimi_chan] 18:03PM

-Thankies for the lift :'3

- It was awesome to finally meet you lol

- Get home safe :)

"Who are you texting, sis?" asked Bethany who was sat at the desk, completing what looked like math homework on the computer.

"Erm... just a friend. Need any help?" Kimi quickly tried to change the subject. Bethany already knew about Fenris; if she told her sister about Anders knowing the drama queen she was, she would accuse her of cheating - whether she felt anything for the mage or not.

"Thank the Maker! Yes, please, I'm dying!" Bethany said, obviously relieved. Kimi was naturally quite good at math, she believed that once a person can understand the principles of a calculation, it was easy. There was a time when she wanted to be an accountant, but two weeks into her accountancy apprenticeship she became bored of it.

It took an hour for Kimi to explain to her sister ratio, as well as having to complete all of the homework for her because Bethany had given up; Kimi was good at math, but not at teaching math to others. They submitted the online homework and Bethany happily went downstairs to help Leandra make dinner. It was then that she realised how tired she was, she could barely keep her eyes open - and early fell asleep until a notification came from her phone.

Fenris [broody_elf], 19:10PM

- Hey, Hawke.

- Are you coming online tonight?

Kimi sighed after reading the message. Playing with Fenris had become one of her favourite past times, they would just train and talk without any pressure or awkwardness - and they could stay up later now that he had a laptop. But recently Kimi had become so tired, both emotionally and physically that she would fall asleep after coming back from the café. She didn't know where the fatigue had come from.

Kimi [kimi_chan], 19:11PM

- Not today, sorry Fenris

- I'm so exhausted after gym that I might even skip dinner :'(

Fenris [broody_elf], 19:11PM

- That is not advisable, you need energy after exercising. :-)

- This is the third time you have declined, is there something wrong?

'Is there something wrong with me? I love going to work, I love playing Dragon Age, I love working out… so why do I feel like death?'

Kimi felt her cheeks wetten, she touched them and realised she was crying. She sent a reply and rose from the desk chair, flopping onto her bed. She cuddled her pillow, burying her face in it to muffle the sound of her sniffling.

Kimi [kimi_chan], 19:13PM

- I'm fine, don't worry :-)

'I'm fine, I'm okay, just tired.'

"I love everything… how can I hate everything too?" she mumbled to herself, slowly falling into her dreams.

* THE IRONYYY... IM SORRY I HAD TO XD

** nightmare by a7x, i dont own them or any brand, company, software ive mentioned in this fic etc...