I promised the morning after, and here we go!

Again, Bioware owns the people and the places. ::insert witty comment here::

Hawke slowly opened her eyes, bracing herself against the sunlight that she already felt on her face. She groaned, finding that she was sore in places that she wasn't aware she had until just now. She slowly rolled off the bed and made her way to her bathroom, where she started to draw a very hot bath, hoping to ease some of the aches away.

She also wanted to relax and think about what had happened last night. She and Isabela had finally given in to each one another and slept together. And now, Hawke wasn't sure if she regretted it or not. It had been… amazing, but will it change anything? Will Isabela want to do it again? Has she already moved on to some other conquest? If she has… She shook her head. Best not to stress about anything until it happened.

In the meantime, she reached for her bath salts. She was very tempted to use the mango, tobacco and sea salt, but thought better of it. She didn't want to be reminded of Isabela if things were awkward or worse, over.

After a quick bath, Hawke got dressed and headed down to the Hanged Man for breakfast. It had quickly become a given that her group of friends would congregate there in the mornings for a shared breakfast, people showing up or not as they felt. The constants were always Varric, Isabela and Hawke, though.

As she entered the main door, she saw Varric and Isabela sitting at their normal table in the back corner, each already finishing a plate. Hawke nervously made her way over to them. Isabela looked over and saw her approaching and waved. "Good morning, sunshine! Come, sit next to Isabela!" She patted the seat next to her.

Hawke sat down, not fully expecting how to act around the pirate who, just a few hours ago, had been in her bed, fulfilling every carnal desire Hawke had. And now she was sitting next to her casually eating her hash and sausage, not giving any indication that anything had happened.

Isabela, for her part, had to resist every urge to throw Hawke on the table and take her again. The night before had, instead of easing her desire for the woman, increased it exponentially. She was similarly unsure of how to act with Hawke now, but she refused to show it. That would have been a sign of... Isabela shook the thought from her head. No emotions! She chastised herself. Besides, it was clear to her that Hawke was perhaps uncomfortable, so she decided to try to have some fun with her. "Hawke, did you eat yet? I have some sausage left over."

"No thanks, Isa. I-"

"That's right, you don't like sausage, I forgot." Isabela winked at her as she picked up the sausage herself.

"Uh… I feel like I missed something." The dwarf looked from Hawke to Isabela, the gears in his mind clearly turning.

"Did you ever, Varric!"

Hawke almost blushed. Isabela smiled to herself. And yet another game begins… Hawke, though, immediately realized what Isabela was doing, and decided to play along. After wall, there is no reason for anything to be awkward. "Yes, Varric. It seems that, at some point last night, Isabela decided to become a Chantry sister!"

Both of her companions looked at her with shock on their faces. Isabela spoke first. "A Chantry sister?"

Hawke hid her wicked smile behind a mug of juice. "Why else would you have been screaming 'oh Maker, oh Maker' all night?"

Isabela smiled at the Fereldan. Good, we're good. Varric still looked slightly confused. "Wait..."

Isabela sat back in her seat. "Well, when one is given as many… visions, as I was last night, one begins to believe in miracles again."

"Oh, my dear Isabela, I do believe that what you call 'visions' were nothing more than simple tricks. If you want a real vision, I think that can be arranged."

"Wait a second you two…" Varric stood from his seat, which brought him only an inch higher than he was before. "Something happened… oh nug-shit, did you…?"

"Yup." Hawke smiled as she answered. "Several times."

Varric sat down, his shocked look now melting to one of resignation. "Well, I guess it was only a matter of time. Any way a storyteller can get the details?"

Isabela leaned in towards the dwarf. "Twenty pieces of gold will make me sing like a bird."

Hawke nudged the pirate. "I know something else that can make you sing like a bird for a lot less."

Both Varric and Isabela leaned back and laughed. "I guess that's true, Hawke." Hawke toasted herself, and, confident that she and Isabela had avoided any awkwardness, threw her leg over Isabela's rubbing her skin against the pirate's. Isabela just smiled at her and winked, mouthing "later." Hawke smiled. "Anytime you want" was her silent reply.

At this, Merrill, Fenris, Aveline, and even Anders arrived. It took Hawke a moment to remember that they had planned to spend the day planning on how best to get rid of several of the street gangs plaguing Kirkwall, as well as starting their trip to Merrill's people to help her with a personal issue.

Hawke's initial reaction was to pull her leg back, but after that first thought, she settled, and left it where it was. She had no cares as to who in their group knew about her and Isabela, though what exactly she and Isabela were at the moment was still anyone's guess.

For Isabela, a small part of her was offended that Hawke was seemingly laying a claim by having her leg over her own in front of their friends, but a larger part of her didn't mind that at all. In fact, the fact that she could have Hawke anytime she wanted brought immense pleasure to her, and only made the contact that much more exhilarating.

Out of all of their friends, though, only Aveline seemed to notice the change between the two. "Oh for Maker's sake…" was all she muttered at their almost girlishly grinning faces.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Plans were made to confront the gangs once Hawke, Isabela, Aveline, and Merill returned from Sundermount. After that and a light lunch, the group dispersed to pack and ready for the short trip to see the elves. In the back of both Hawke's and Isabela's mind, though, one question remained and would not be pushed aside: "where exactly do we go from here?"

As always, all reviews and such are welcome!

Up next: the making of an orphan...