I HAS UPDATED!
WHO'S MISSED ME?
Or, well, Hart and Torpor's complicated love/hate relationship? I've put in a little bit of fluff, for all you Hart/Torpor lovers, since Sebastian and Hart only have Fluffy!Friendship going on right now.
Enjoy the chapter!
|…..|
Hart frowned, simply looking down at the letters and notes in front of her before sighing and pushing them away, ignoring the curious look Sebastian had.
Her thoughts drifted away from the work she and Sebastian were doing and to Hawke's Deep Roads mission, her frown only getting worse when she thought of Bethany down there. She let out a sigh, lying her head down on the table.
"Hawke's an idiot," she finally muttered, tired of feeling Sebastian's gaze on her.
"I told him to take Anders with him, just in case one of them get infected by Darkspawn blood, and what does the fucker do? Ignores me! Who knows what could be happening right now; Bethany could be infected as we speak and he won't know it because she's an idiot! Hell, both Hawke's are idiots!" she growled, sitting up abruptly and making the chair fall to the ground.
She heard the sound of papers shuffling stop and felt Sebastian watching her as he calmly listened to her rant, eyes following her pacing.
"It just bothers the fucking hell out of me that he'd simply ignore me with the words 'I won't let that happen.' when he knows how Aveline's husband, Wesley, looked when he was infected." she rubbed her face, frustration written clear on her face. "It doesn't even take a lot for you to become infected either. It's like the Darkspawn blood soaks in through your skin."
"The first thing you do is clean all wounds and have them all healed, especially in the Deep Roads. You have to, and I mean have to, wash the blood off right after the last one dies. If it gets into your mouth, eyes or wounds, you are pretty much guarantied to carry the disease, and the choice is to either die, or find the nearest Warden and hope you can survive the Joining."
She groaned, burying her face in her hands and coming to a stop.
"He's an idiot. You can't stop the Darkspawn blood from infecting you, he's in the fucking Deep Roads for God's sakes!" she growled, turning to face Sebastian.
"Ye sure kno' a lot about Darkspawn," he drawled, quirking an eyebrow at her. "Just the perks about living with Wardens for three years," she let out a sigh, sitting down on the floor. "How dae ye know so much, an' yet ye arenae a Warden yerself?"
Hart looked up at Sebastian, eyeing him and deciding whether or not she wanted to answer.
"He didn't want me to. Originally, it was so me and Zevran could give each other comfort when he answered his Calling. He told me he didn't want me to shorten my life, just so I could become something I already am." she huffed. "Lot of good that logic did us." she grumbled, glaring at the floor.
She knew Sebastian was rolling her words around in his head, digesting them. "So he said ye were awreddy a Warden, but he didnae want ye tae be a Warden by blood?"
Hart stopped picking at her pants. "Pretty much, yeah. I already knew what to do, who might be good Wardens, I was Titan's second in commander, the Warden-Captain. But I never went through the official Joining, even if I did know it," she let out another sigh, dropping her head into her hands.
"Did ye want tae go back?"
Hart stopped rocking back and forth slowly at his words, she knew if she wanted to that she had enough coins to go back to Amaranthine. The kleptomaniac inside her and money hogging making it plausible to buy the ticket back.
She could go back to living with her family, going back to Amaranthine meant she didn't have to stay here and watch Kirkwall go downhill and be here to see the Mage-Templar war begin. If she left, she had a chance to see Titan before he went missing.
But then she thought of everything here, and things she could possibly stop. The Mage-Templar War was unstoppable, she figured, it was bound to happen even if she managed to stop Anders.
She tried to tell Hawke to bring Anders with him, despite Anders protests. She could try steer Merrill away from blood magic and keep Marethari from dying, she could try to find the Tome of Koslun before Isabella and have the Qunari's on their way; hiding from Sten was becoming unbearable, but she thought she saw a curious look in his eyes, questioning, as though asking her why she was hiding. So she was pretty sure Sten knew who she was, but wasn't going to acknowledge her first.
She let out a sigh.
"I have things to do before I even humour the idea of going back home." she finally said, standing up and dusting the backs of her pants off.
She gave Sebastian a small, tired smile. "I should go home, it's probably dark outside and I have a meeting." she mumbled, waving as she left.
"Goodnight, Hart."
|…..|
When she realized Merrill had fell asleep at the table, her giant book opened in front of her, she chuckled softly, about to go over and carry her into the bedroom when she remembered that she was covered in blood from the people who tried to rob her and grimaced, placing her weapons near the fire place, ready to be cleaned.
Hart slowly took off her bloody armour, placing each piece down as carefully and quietly as she could before going over to Merrill's slumbering body and gently picking her up, moving to the bedroom and placing her on the bed.
After tucking Merrill into bed and tip-toeing back into the main room, she sat down at the table, closing Merrill's book and pushing it to the side and taking off her boots.
She padded into another room, coming back with cleaning materials and grabbing her armour.
She glanced at the mannequin and grimaced, looking back at her clean chest armour and set it down, reaching for her other armour. "It's already been, what, three months since Hawke's been in the Deep Roads? Bartrend's already betrayed them, I think, and they're currently trying to find their way out." she whispered, frowning.
When she was finished cleaning her armour and had it on the mannequin, she let out a sigh and lied her head down on her folded arms. And before she knew it, Hart was falling asleep, faintly feeling that familiar pull from Torpor as she entered the Fade.
Hart blinked up at the ceiling, vaguely recognizing it as the Keep in Amaranthine but seeing differences, letting a small smile cross her face when it changed-although she'd never admit it, being as it was Torpor's work.
Usually.
Her smile quickly went away and she was giving Sheba a cool look when she appeared over her, a grin on her face.
"You live!" she cried out, arms shooting out and lifting her off the ground for a hug. Hart simply let her hug her, knowing if she tried to resist, the hug would only last longer simply because Sheba knew it annoyed the hell out of her.
Hart raised an eyebrow at Torpor as he sat in the throne, simply lazing as Sheba gushed and let Hart go, saying how it had been a long time since she had saw her.
"I was gone 14 hours, tops." she deadpanned, ignoring Sheba pouting and getting up.
"14 hours is like 14 months here in the Fade, my Hart." Sheba cooed, wrapping her arms around Hart's shoulders with a grin on her face, nuzzling her neck. "You are very weird. Aren't you supposed to be a desire demon?"
Sheba only pulled back from Hart, staring at her before smiling. "How can I concentrate when all I desire is you," she crooned, smoothing Hart's hair back and rubbing their noses together.
"You're too much. Literally."
"Sheba, leave my bird alone, we have things to discuss." when Sheba moved away from her reluctantly, Hart raised an eyebrow at Torpor, letting out a sigh when he beckoned her over to him.
She stopped within arms length of him, letting out a yelp of surprise when she was suddenly yanked down and in his lap.
"I have a proposition for you,"
"Does this proposition involve me in your lap, by any chance?" Hart asked dryly, watching as Torpor smirked, his hands resting on her hips lightly. "No, this is simply for my own…" he trailed off, his smirk widening at her narrowed look. "my own pleasure."
"I take it back, You're too much. Sheba's a saint compared to you, and she's the fucking desire demon," Hart shook her head, letting out a wince when Torpor grabbed a fistful of her hair, rougher-then-intended if she was reading his expression correctly, and forced her look him in the eyes. Her hands, of their own accord, immediately shoot up to try pry his hand away from her hair.
"It is about Bethany."
He felt her hands still on his own, stopping her attempt to make him let her hair go. "What about Beth?"
"I can help you save her," he said simply, watching her eye him suspiciously, her form still having not he waited for her response, he massaged her scalp gently, patiently waiting for her reply as Sheba poofed away. He didn't have to wait very long for a reply, and was glad at her response.
"What's the price?"
He grinned at her, pulling her closer to him, centimetres apart and watched as she tried not to squirm at his look. Still proud she was able to resist him after being around them for three years years.
"The price, is one day."
He let his hand slowly slide through her silky, shoulder length hair and sat back as she dutifully stayed in his lap, even if it was reluctantly. "Just one day?" she asked slowly, that suspicious look in her eyes growing. "Just one day, anytime I want." he agreed.
He watched the war in her eyes, the need to save Bethany from dying in the Deep Roads and the suspicious of his attentions, his trade.
He knew it was a hard choice for her, he knew which is why he said one day. Trust the powerful demon who brought her here to save an innocent life who didn't deserve to die, or decline his offer and knew she could have made a difference.
"All I have to do is say yes, and let you do whatever you have to do so I can save Beth, and all you want is a day, anytime?"
"Anytime, one full day." Torpor repeated, patiently as he looked up into her face. "Whatever you want, for a whole day," she mumbled, letting out a sigh.
"Okay, I…I'm going to trust you." she frowned, glaring at him.
He raised an eyebrow at Hart, surprised she had used the word trust on him, when she hadn't even told her companions she trusted them yet. "No tricks, I promise," he chuckled when her glare didn't lessen.
Before Hart knew it, she was in the Deep Roads standing in front of her Wardens.
She stopped at the thought, heartache and joy making a brief appearance before she pushed them away, her worry for Bethany increasing.
"Wardens." she said, for once glad that Torpor flushed that voice changing potion out of her system and letting her use her actual voice. Taking a glance at a reflection surface nearby, she saw she had her braided, waist length hair back and her Warden armour on, the symbol on her chest.
"Warden-Captain!" Destain's eyes widened at her appearance, the other Warden's turning sharply to see.
She gave the apparent leader of the pack a frown-What was his name again?- and turned slightly, looking into a passageway that held Hawke and Bethany. "There's a girl deeper in here, she's infect and wants to become a Warden." she said, glancing back at them.
"Are you still recruiting, or are you going to ignore me?"
She watched as the one with the moustache frowned, sharing a look with the others.
"Where is she, Warden-Captain?"
She hide a smile as she turned and started walking towards the direction she could sense Hawke, silently thanking Torpor and praying that no one else but her Wardens could see her as she gestured for them to follow her.
Losing Carver was bad, she knew. Finding out Bethany was tainted and having to kill her because of it, losing her and having to go home to tell Leandra that she was dead would destroy him.
At least this was one heartache she could save him.
|…..|
So what do you think?
I've posted chapters for Virtual Love up and only got, what….three reviews for three chapters? Sad. Really, really sad but not really, really. I mean, it has the most reviews, out of all my stories, so I'm happy.
But what I want to know is this:
What do you guys think so far? Of Paper Sun, and everything you think it stands for, that is. What do you think of, that's happened so far; what do you think of this chapter, what do you think is going to happen in future chapters?
What do you think of Hart and Torpor's strange relationship?
Fun Fact: Did you know Paper Sun was originally going to be about Anders?
Oh, and I posted ramblings and things about the stories in my profile, too.
Review, and tell me all your thoughts.