Chapter Ten
Varric loses his bed again
The crowd at the Hanged Man was in full swing, for all the time it seemed to take them at the mansion, it had only been a couple of hours. There were a few barmaids on tables, doing rather provocative dances. Any other night, he might've ended up with one of those girls in his bed. But after the night he had, he simply trudged up to the bar, yelling to Corff,
"Did Hawke come in?" Corff grunted a moment, as he was pulling a new barrel of home-brew out of the back room. But after he got the barrel where he wanted it, he looked at Varric, wiping his brow.
"Hawke? The hooded man with the red scarf?"
"That's the one. He here tonight?" The human scratched his stubbly chin, before he got back to work filling drink orders, not a hard task when there were only three ales on tap; piss weak, watery, and barely drinkable. The stuff with an actual kick was special order and expensive, and anything someone might actually want to enjoy... well, you were better off at the Blooming Rose, but not much. Varric accepted his pint of the barely drinkable stuff, and waited. Corff was not a man that could be rushed, hence why he married his quick thinking Nora, but she was no where to be seen. Probably getting supplies for tomorrow's meals.
"Yeah," Corff finally said, "Nora put him in your room. Said you knew him. Seemed hurt, but didn't say." He paused a moment, in thought, and Varric once again had to wait. At least this time he had booze. He took a draught and sighed a bit, at the old, familiar burn and foul taste of the ale. "Didn't say a word, but seemed thankful at least. Nora didn't brain him." For that Varric was thankful, Hawke didn't always have control of her magic, and if she was wounded and exhaughsted…
"Thanks, Corff, where's Nora, anyway?" He asked, converstionally. Corff grunted, wiping out a glass with the same rag he used to wipe his brow. Varric took a drink, as he glanced around him, looking for the woman,
"Trying to baby the man, probably." Varric sputtered, and coughed, and left a mildly confused Corff as he sped through the throng to his room. He threw a couple of men out of his way, starting a couple of fights because of it. He nearly ran into Nora, who looked surprised at him,
"Master Tethras! What's the hurry?" She asked, a basket at her hip, showing she had been doing the laundry rounds, instead. He breathed out a sigh, waving at her,
"Sorry, Nora, Thought I'd… forgotten something." He said, a little out of breath, Nora blinked at him,
"Well, your Hawke is in your room, he wouldn't let me help at all, but at least he was polite about it." Varric raised an eyebrow, and Nora shrugged, shifting her load, "Well, he ushered me out without slamming the door, and gave me a silver for the trouble." She added, hinting at Varric, as well. As always, he thought with a sigh, Nora's compassion did not come free. He passed a silver, as well, begrudingly. It was typical that Hawke was generous, and if he paid anything less, he'd have actual piss in his ale for a week. Nora bobbed a curtsy, unable to keep the grin off her face and scampered off, skillfully making her way through the crowd, avoiding the fights and the drunks that would want her to dance and sing with them. How Varric envied that ability. Especially right now. He sighed and turned towards his door, and stared at it a moment. He finally grumbled and just opened it, having to use his key for once.
"Hawke, its me." Varric called, half hoping she was dressed, as he locked it behind him again. The other half pictured seeing her if not mostly undressed, at least bare chested. The view that greeted him, wasn't too unpleasent, actually.
Hawke had her back to him, and while her armour was off, she wasn't completely bare, nor was she bare chested. She had a tight bodice around her breasts, that flattened them and hid them disappointedly well, and was tying a series of bandages around herself, the harsh scent of simmering elfroot filling the room. She glanced back at him, a stalk of elfroot in her mouth to help ease any pain she was in. It didn't stop her face from being pale, nor her cheeks shining a bit as she clearly had been crying with the pain of it. She turned away again, embarrassed it seemed. Not surprisingly really.
Varric undid the clasp on his holster, carefully putting Bianca back into her rack, and flung his rather dirty duster to its hook. He made a mental note to ask Nora to get it cleaned for him, then tried to
think what he could do, to keep himself distracted. He now remembered the ale he had left at the bar, and a sigh escaped him. Begrudingly, he moved towards the fireplace, grabbed his rather banged up kettle, and added some water from the bucket Hawke had managed to smuggle in.
"Want some tea? Got a couple of different ones a frend gave me a few years back, said its supposed to help "relax your nerves", whatever that means." He glanced back to see a faint nod, and he grabbed a second cup for her, putting it on the table, then settling in his chair, unable to keep from glancing at her. Her silver hair was fairly long, it reached past her shoulders, and was very distracting as it kept reflecting the firelight. She was gritting her teeth, and Varric frowned, "Here, let me help, I promise, no funny business." She jerked her head up, and ended up gasping, because of it. He moved to her side, and he waited until she nodded, before looking to see what he was dealing with. "Maker's breath, Hawke…" He hissed, seeing the state of it.
Hawke had managed to hide most of it in sticky, gray-green poltices and a large bundle of crushed elfroot. However the extent of the mess spanned from just above her hip upward past the band covering her breasts. Stop thinking about her breasts, Tethras! He carefully unwound her disastorous attempt at binding her ribs, and shook his head. Vibrant pink arcane burns, dark purple bruises, green poltice, and pale alabaster skin turned her side to a patchwork of colors.
"Shit, Hawke, you managed to do all that with this?" Varric asked, as he fixed the elfroot bundle firmly over her ribs, and began to tightly wrap her wound, trying to ignore the pained sounds that escaped her. Too distracted by the pain to answer, Hawke simply gripped her knees tight, grinding her teeth into the elfroot in her mouth. He started to hum then, something he always did to distract himself, and hopefully her as well. It did seem to, as she stopped tensing and relaxed enough for him to tighten the binding. When he wiped his hands, she sighed and touched the bindings with a faint, if sheepish, smile,
'Thanks, Varric.' He smiled back, fetching the kettle off the fire, and pouring them both a cup of tea, before settling in the chair near her own, noticing with amusement how long she had to stretch her legs to slump into the stone-carved dwarven seat. She accepted the cup with a thankful nod, blowing on it, in perfect lady-like fashion, taking a dainty sip, then nearly turned green. He gave an evil grin, sitting back in his chair, 'What is this crap?!' She signed emphatically wiping her mouth, her tongue hanging out as if that would help ease the taste.
"Rashvine, prophet's laurel, and deep mushroom tea, tastes like a snuffluer rotting in your mouth. But! Its apparently good for helping increase the effects of all healing, so drink up! I'm enjoying a nice dragonthorn tea myself, nice and spicey." He said with wicked grin, sipping his delicately, and making satisfied noises. She stared at him, looking horrified, then scowled, and, with impressive endurance, downed the entire cup. She coughed and gagged, but thumped her tea cup down with a solid bang,
'You are an evil, evil dwarf, Chest Hair.' She signed then, then blinked several times, yawning widely. Varric simply smiled, and nodded toward the bed,
"Go sleep, Hawke, your brother is probably going to be here at sunup anyways, to drag your ass over to rub Gamlen's nose into his shit." He said with genuine amusement. She wrinkled her nose at the thought, something he hadn't been able to see her do. Focus on the tea, its not like you've never seen a pretty face before. But it was almost a blessing to see her face, after the night they had. To actually see that smile, even though her face was pale, and her eyes surrounded by dark circles. Andraste's tits when was the last time she had slept? His bed? Two nights ago?
' You need sleep as well, we have a mine to clean out, tomorrow. Remember?' He stared at her a moment, he had almost hoped she had forgotten. The knock and burn to her ribs should put her out of commission for a couple days, at least. And here she was trying to finish yet another big job. She met his gaze, raising a pale eyebrow, ' I heal quickly, This will just be a twinge come morning.' Disbelief remained on his face, and she stuck her tongue out at him, rolling her eyes, 'Do not make me flash you, in the morning, I will do it.' That Varric had to laugh at,
"Careful, Hawke, one might think you were flirting with me, like you were flirting with Broody McBroody." He grinned as she blushed somewhat, and dodged the swat that was aimed at his head. He grinned and sipped his tea, noticing that it was getting cold already, and losing its bite. Hawke made a rude sign, then sighed, running a hand through her hair, scratching her head irritably,
'He looks like he has been through the same shit I have. Worse even.'
" And that is so very attractive." Varric drawled, teasing, but feeling almost like he had been punched in the gut. She tweaked his nose, and shook her head,
'No, he has chisled features, haunting eyes, and a mouth that should smile more, that is what attracts me. The horrible past makes me want to help.'
"And the brooding?" Varric asked, curiously, finishing his tea to hide the downward twist of his mouth. Her head thumped back on the back of her chair, staring at the ceiling,
'Makes me want to slap him.' Varric snorted and had to laugh, not able to dodge the smack this time. Unfortunately, her blow landed on one of his marks from the shades, and he ended up cursing, wiping the spot with a scowl, making sure it wasn't bleeding, 'Sorry, sorry, let me see.' She signed quickly, standing and moving to his side,
" Its not that bad, I am a dwarf, takes a bit more for things to actually do any real damage." He said, distracted, the spot was so cold it burned, and now was extremely uncomfortable. Her soft fingers suddenly touched his arm, immediately drawing his attention. Why did she get his attention so quickly, she had barely touched him! But she had his gaze now, and those hypnotic blue and gold eyes were making sure he knew it. She then raised an eyebrow at him, and he finally rolled his eyes. "Fiiiine." She just nodded a bit, and he shrugged his tunic lower, allowing her to examine the lucky hit from a shade. It seemed to ignore his armor, and managed to rake the base of his neck, but he had been able to ignore the blow. He was a tough son of a bitch, after all.
' You are lucky you are a dwarf, shades can cause sickness with their claws. You just got an arcane burn.' She told him, her fingers tracing the stratches. He stayed rigid, her touch almost teasing with her gentle touches. A sudden sharp sting made him gasp, then sigh, as her fingers suddenly turned cool, soothing and healing the burn.
"Damn, Hawke…" Varric said with a sigh, making a soft, single laugh escape her. Pain and burning gone, Hawke moved her hands off, and settled back in her slumped position in her chair,
' If you liked that, should try one of my massages one time. Magic or no, even Carver can't say no to them.' A sudden wicked grin from the very tired looking human, made Varric raise an eyebrow, 'How else do you think I get him to come with us, most times? If I asked Mother to make him, he would just get resentful, bad enough as is.' He laughed, and shook his head, moving his silk tunic back into place on his shoulders.
"Hard to imagine Junior being even more sulky. At least now you have Broody to turn to." He added with a suggestive wink, she made a face, and suddenly stood, saying with her head held high.
' And just for that, you don't get to have your bed afterall.' The human then impishly kissed the top of his head, and moved purposefully to his bed area, and was out like a light. Leaving Varric sitting in his chair staring where Hawke had been just moments before. Maker, help me… Did she even get that blanket and pillow for me? Shit….