Chapter 10: Sleeping Arrangements
With Miracle safely off to her new home in the mountains, we head north again. I'm grateful for Darkforge. I hate to think what this trek would have been like had we been making it on foot. What starts as a gradual slope uphill grows steeper and steeper with each passing mile. There are no more Fade rifts or enemies in our path, much to Iron Bull's disappointment.
It's sunset again when we reach an Inquisition camp at the base of the foothills. We dismount and find a few agents already here, having set up the camp and maintained it in Declan's absence.
Garrett announces, "My friend is holed up in a nearby cave. If we go first thing in the morning, we should make it back to Caer Bronach by dusk."
"Sounds good to me. I'll take a bed over the hard ground any day," I state. "Speaking of..." I sigh, looking at the tents. There are two tents, but with the extra three agents, we're still stuck sharing, and this time, it's four in one tent, three in the other, while one agent stands guard. I shake my head. They're somewhat large tents, but we're going to be close together, regardless. Ours, of course, is the smaller of the two. I look at Varric, who nods.
"I'll join you this time," Declan offers.
"Still not a good idea, Declan," I reply. "We'll go with Hawke. Varric will make sure he minds his manners."
Garrett seems a bit surprised, but shrugs. We arrange our bedrolls inside. Since there is still the ever present damp here in Crestwood, Garrett and Varric agree to take the outer sections of the tent near the edges, leaving me with a better chance of staying dry in the middle. Such gentlemen.
"Why did you choose me?" Garrett asks quietly once we've made the arrangements.
"Because I still want to contact my brother and you two won't raise a fuss when I sneak out in a little bit."
"Oh, right," he responds, a small smile forming on his face. "So it's not because of my devilish good looks."
I laugh, and playfully slap him on the arm. "Knock it off, I told you I'm not here for that sort of thing."
"But, for the record, I am really good-looking," he jokes.
"Then how could I possibly stand a chance, when you're already so in love with yourself?" I retort with a chuckle of my own.
"She's got you there, Hawke," Varric comments. "We should turn in. We've got a long day ahead of us again tomorrow."
"Not a bad idea," I agree. "Hopefully we can get back to Skyhold soon and everyone will listen now when I try to tell them about the dragons."
"Firefly, after what I saw, I think you could ask for a private suite for them at this point and get it," Varric responded, sitting down on his pallet near the angled roof of the tent.
I crawl into my own blankets. "Told you I wouldn't die."
"You made believers out of all of us," Garrett says with sincerity, pulling his covers up to protect him from the chill in the air. He has a bit more difficulty sitting up in the sloping tent due to his height, and after messing with it for a couple of seconds, gives up and puts his head down. I smile at him before turning away.
"Goodnight, boys," I say, and blow out the lantern.
I wait for the right moment, until I can't hear the noises of talking from the other tent, and at least one snore. Then, throwing the covers off, I make my way out of the tent. I peek out of the flap, but there is only the one guard on duty. He's looking the other way, and I could sneak past him, but I decide a direct approach is probably best.
I walk up to the agent, who notices my footsteps, and whisper "I need a moment of privacy," allowing him to think what he will about my need for it. He looks a little uncomfortable but nods. "Latrines are that way," he gestures, to a small area around a rock formation. Close enough.
I head toward the latrines, but keep going, finding a small depression in the rock that should shield the light from reaching anyone. It's not a full cave, really, but it will do. I kneel down again, take out the locket, open it, and bring the magic to life. The pendant emits the blue glow, and I'm relieved to see Etiam's face already there.
"Where were you yesterday? Tenebris caught me trying to contact you."
"I know, sorry, I stepped away from the Well for a moment."
"And you just told him I was with the Inquisition? Way to keep a secret, brother."
"I warned you not to go to that place. It seems I was correct. Your thinking is being compromised by your affection for the humans. They're not our people anymore. The magisters saw to that long ago. You don't have a place there with them. You belong at home with us.
"I saved a dragon today, Etiam. A newly grown high dragon; she was beautiful. They would have cut her down, but I was able to save her."
"One out of how many, Ferox? Don't forget that Razikale and Lusacan still sleep. Do you think they'll just sit by and let you save them too? The dragons of Thedas are already lost, sister. Your efforts are pointless."
"No, I refuse to believe that. You, with all your logic, and you won't listen to reason. We need the dragons to stay alive here. If the killings stop, there could even be some that live to become ancients. Imagine it, new ancient dragons, new magic born into the world to replace that which we lost, but you're not giving me a chance."
"I am glad to see you are well, Ferox. Tenebris should be there soon."
"Damn it," I curse as the connection is severed. "Why will nobody listen?"
I stumble in the dark back to the camp, and into the tent. I pull off my boots, and set my staff down toward the front edge of the tent, but don't bother with anything else. I lay down on top of the covers, exhausted, and I'm asleep almost immediately.
When I awake, the first thing I notice is that I'm very warm. Surrounded in warmth, in fact. But, I don't remember pulling the covers up over me last night. Something doesn't feel right. I open my eyes and see skin, illuminated by the dim light coming into the tent from the campfire outside. I'm lying halfway between my side and my stomach, and my left arm is resting on a hairy chest. Varric? I attempt to sit up, but something pulls on my hair, and I notice it's pinned under someone that is pressed up against my back. If Varric's in front of me, that has to be Garrett, but how in the world did this happen?
I realize I'm laying on Varric's left arm, and his other hand is curled around mine on his chest. Garrett's torso is pressed up against my back, and his hand is on my hip. Garrett's deep breathing tells me he is definitely not awake. I don't remember moving in the night, but then again, I'm a pretty deep sleeper, too. This...isn't good. I look up at Varric and find his face close to mine, eyes closed in sleep. How had he slept through all this with his cat-like reflexes, anyway?
"Varric?" I whisper. I try to pull my hand back from his chest but he grabs it, and opens his eyes.
"Ferox?" he asks groggily. Wait, he called me by my name. He hasn't done that in days. "Why are you…" he notices the predicament we've found ourselves in.
"Help," I plead quietly. "I'm really sorry about this, Varric, but he's on my hair and I can't move."
Varric gives a soft chuckle. "I'll wake him up," he decides, and, realizing he's still holding my hand, lets go. I pull it back, feeling a blush start to warm my face, and I hope it's dark enough in here that he can't see it.
Varric moves to try to reach Hawke, but unfortunately, his arm is still pinned under my head, and I can't move enough to let him extract it.
He sighs. "Sorry about this," he says.
"Sorry about what-" my question cuts off into a squeak of surprise as Varric shifts his weight overtop of me, partially rolling me with him. My heart beats faster, and if he can see at all, I'm sure he notices my red cheeks now. His face is very close. If I turned even a hair, our lips would be touching. I risk a glance up at Varric, and he pauses, looking down at me for a long moment, before reaching over to nudge Garrett.
Garrett mumbles something incoherent, and I feel his grip tighten on my hip, pulling me closer to him. I shift my leg, trying to kick him, only to have him wrap one of his own on top of it. Varric tries poking him again, but to no avail, and moves back to his own side, giving up.
"Damn it, Garrett, if I wanted to be manhandled, I could have invited Declan," I whisper. Now that my hand is free, I elbow him, hard.
"Ow! What did you do...oh…" he says, coming to awareness. "Um...did we all get drunk last night or something and I forgot?"
"Can you just get off my hair now so I can move please?" I grumble.
"Right," he says. He removes his hand from my hip and backs up. I exhale a breath of relief as I can sit up again, and I run my fingers through my hair. Looking over at Varric, I remember his closeness a minute before, and have trouble meeting his eye.
I mouth the word "thanks" to him anyway, even though his attempts to wake Garrett hadn't worked. Now that I'm able to sit up, I notice that we're all the way on Varric's side of the tent. Garrett's blankets have been dragged across from his side. It's evident who started the tangled cuddling fiasco. I'd probably involuntarily moved away from him in my sleep and ended up over by Varric.
"We speak of this to no one," I announce, but then see the look on Hawke's face. It's a combination of sleepy and guilty, and I start laughing. "I told you last night you could cuddle with Varric. I didn't mean you could catch me in the middle of it."
"Sorry, Ferox. I think my body just realized there was a woman next to me, and...well, reacted. My apologies."
"You don't get to share a tent with us anymore, Mr. Octopus."
Varric guffaws from his side of the tent.
"Hey, I don't see you complaining about Varric. You two were awfully snuggly a minute ago too."
I blush again. "Sorry Varric, I think an octopus chased me across the tent in my sleep. Thanks for trying to protect me."
Even Garrett snickers at that.
Declan's voice calls out from outside the tent. "If you all have the energy to be that lively, you might as well get up."
A glance at the tent flap shows that it is lighter outside than when I first woke up. Dawn is breaking. I'm a late sleeper, so I'm almost never up this early. I scramble outside and stand at the edge of the short drop-off next to Declan, looking out at the valley below us. The light is coming from our right, over the hills where I know Caer Bronach stands, casting a silhouette of the landscape. It's a pretty morning. I look up at the multitude of colors hitting the low hanging clouds, casting them in varying shades of red and orange.
"Looking up so as to not miss anything, right?" Garrett asks, standing next to me.
"That's right."
"And you wish you could fly," he adds.
"I think the next dragon we encounter, I will. Time to ride one."
"That would be something," Delcan states with a grin.
"You're joking, right?" Varric asks from my other side, joining us outside the tent.
"Guess you'll have to wait and see."