"Shut up, that came out wrong," Loretta quipped, but did not have the energy to put any force behind her words.

Both the elf and the girl knew better than to dismiss her words as mere mistaken phrasing.

Loretta ran her fingers through her hair and covered her face. Fenris heard her say in a muffled voice, "Anders makes it look so easy because he's got everything figured out already. But me? People already think I'm some sort of weird blighter of a person... now I'll just be some weird blighter that people want dead."

Fenris stopped smiling, and looked at the woman seated before him. His eyes watched as she crossed her arms around her body and slouched over as if to give herself a hug. If this would have happened to someone else- - - to anyone else- - - Fenris would have expected them to have broken down in tears by now. But Loretta just wrapped herself up in her arms. He knew deep down that the woman was trying everything in her power to keep from falling apart at that very moment, so he cleared his throat to get Loretta focusing on him rather than her overwhelming feelings.

But when their eyes met, Fenris looked off to the side before addressing her. "I-I did not know your sister..." he started to say in a low voice, "But, if she is anything like you, she was a strong-willed person. She would not succumb to the temptations all other weak people do. And, perhaps her advice is sound..."

Loretta looked at him from underneath her tousled bangs as she swung her shoed feet along the smooth floor anxiously. Rubbing the back of his neck, Fenris added, "You should train with the abomina- - - um, Anders."

Loretta's feet stopped moving and planted themselves firmly on the ground. "You...you can't be serious, Fenris," Hawke said with a scoff as she eyed the elf with uncertainty.

"I am very serious, Hawke," Fenris said tersely. "If you are untrained, you put yourself and anyone else you come into contact with in danger due to your...abilities."

Fenris stood up to tend to the fire, leaving Loretta to dwell upon what was just said.

She heard him speaking to the fire almost inaudibly, even though he was addressing her. "Do not give anyone or anything the chance to take advantage of you. Have the same sort of fire you use when you defend others- - - but use it for yourself."

Loretta stood up, feeling uplifted at his insightful words. "Wow," she said with a laugh, "And here I was thinking you'd send me straight to the Circle to become Tranquil."

Fenris approached her with the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. "That just goes to show you how little you know of me, my vertically-challenged friend."

Loretta headed for the door, but not before sticking her tongue out at Fenris. "Oh ho ho, starting with the short jokes so soon, Fenris? Let me know how that works out for ya'..."

Fenris opened the door for Loretta again, and the afternoon sun flooded the main room with light. "Just make sure the dwarf doesn't hear about our little 'chat'," Fenris mused, "It would be a shame if he had to rewrite my character portrayal in his book if he found out I was so flexible on this matter with you."

Loretta walked out to stand on the steps of Fenris' mansion with a laugh that threatened to overflow from her lips at any moment. "I'll make sure to tell him you scowled profusely, yelled at me irrationally, and ended the conversation by overturning a table."

"How very fitting," he said as he bid farewell to his human friend.

Although she had started to walk away, Fenris was surprised to see her turn back around. Her smile had faded. "I'll promise not to tell Varric if you promise me something in return." She waited for the elf to turn his full attention to her. "If you suspect me of being possessed by a demon...if my mind is no longer my own, I want you to kill me."

Fenris looked shocked as he ogled at the woman."Hawke, I can't- - -"

"Promise."

Her words did not waver, and her expression looked serious and stern. It was a look of fierce determination that Fenris had only seen in times of battles when he fought alongside the rogue.

He bowed deeply at the waist with a hand over his heart. "You have my word."


Twilight washed over the land of Kirkwall, painting the sky with brilliant cobalts, violets, and greys. A repetitive thumping noise broke the oncoming silence of evening in the Lowtown district as Loretta sat leaning back on a rotting wall in her uncle's shack. The thumping came from a small, rubber ball she had bought while in town which she then used to throw up against an adjacent wall only to catch it again.

The constant "one-two" sound of the activity soothed the woman's mind and concentrated her thoughts. Before discovering her love of riding, Loretta would spend countless hours hitting targets with anything she could find; it was most likely this reason that her father suggested the bow as her weapon of choice. Hawke had done an excruciating amount of thinking within the last few hours, and her mind wandered back to her sister, Bethany.

Did she ever feel afraid like this...afraid of her power? If she did, she never let me or Mother in on it...

Her thoughts began to revolve around her interactions with her mother earlier that day. Bethy would be heartbroken to see how me and Mother get along...or don't get along as the circumstances are. I should try harder to have some semblance of a relationship with her...

The small door to their home creaked open and threatened to fall off its hinges at any moment. Leandra stepped inside just as Hawke was standing up.

"I see you've finally decided to come back after throwing that unsightly hissy fit," the woman's clipped reply came when she saw her daughter standing near the kitchen.

Loretta swallowed down a particularly sarcastic remark before saying, "Sorry, Mother, I just had to clear my head."

Leandra glided elegantly past Hawke while carrying bundled up fabrics of different textures and colors.

She heard her mother's infamous cluck of disapproval. "I can also see that you didn't bother to do the dishes after eating, hmm?"

"I didn't get to that quite yet," Hawke said while trying to keep her irritation under control. "I was distracted because um," she grabbed a large piece of paper with a drawing on it, "I saw the cutout design for the dress you are making me and- - -"

"Are you still going to fight me on this, Loretta?"

Hawke shook her head. "No, I was just wondering if you needed me for a proper fitting before you actually start making the dress..."

Leandra dragged a stool out from the corner of the kitchen and into the middle of the main room. "Step up here, and I'll get my pins."

...。. o.。. o.。. o.。. o...

"Ouch, Mother, watch it!"

Pinning a dress for a short woman like Loretta was no simple task, and with all of Hawke's constant fidgeting since she was already practically wearing a dress, it was no wonder she kept getting poked and prodded.

"Oh hush, Dear, it was only a little prick," Leandra replied with a mouth full of sewing pins, "Beauty is pain, after all."

The click-clack sound of boots on an unkept stone pathway caught Loretta's attention.

"Stop it, or you'll wind up hurting yourself," she said as she tried to insert another pin into the material. "It's probably just Carver coming back from his meeting with the Order."

"You mean the Templars?" Loretta asked in exasperation, Leandra nodding wearily.

Of all the times to be interested in Templar work, this could not have come at any worse of a time for the woman who had just discovered she possessed mage powers. But the steps grew louder as the person approached, so Loretta had no time to worry about her brother. A green cloak appeared in her field of vision followed by a broad set of shoulders covered in feathers.

"Anders?!" Hawke yelped as tried desperately to move away from the window.

"Loretta, don't!"

Unfortunately, long, pinned fabric did not mix well with Hawke, and Anders shook his head with a chuckle when he heard a loud crash after she disappeared from view.

Leandra sighed audibly as she stared at her daughter now sprawled out on the dilapidated floor.

"Maker give me patience, is there even an ounce of grace in you, Child, or are you destined to trip over your own feet every time you turn around?"

"I'm alright, no need to help or anything," Loretta groaned as she stumbled back up into a standing position.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Anders called from outside the window.

Leandra suddenly turned into a preening peahen, pushing grey strands of wayward hair out of her face.

"Why, who might you be?" she said in a voice too high too be natural.

Hawke rolled her eyes: Leandra always played up her "noble accent" when guests came to visit.

"My name's Anders, and I'm a friend of your daughter, Messere," he replied with a nod of his head.

"Well there's no use standing outside," Leandra called as she bolted towards the door, "Come in, come in."

Once inside, Leandra properly curtsied for Anders, and he kissed the back of her hand in return. "I had no idea Loretta had a gentleman friend like yourself," she said as she gestured for him to make himself at home.

"And your daughter failed to mention to me that she had a mother with such poise and beauty," he replied, winking at Loretta and causing her to choke back a snort.

"Well," Leandra said as she knelt down next to Loretta's feet to make one last alteration before straightening up, "As you can undoubtably deduce, Anders, I am preparing Loretta for her 'coming-out party' which I'm sure you know all about."

"Ah yes, she did mention...something of the sort."

Leandra hummed as she took a brush to Hawke's hair. "If only this mop on her head wasn't so dreadfully sho- - -rt," she sang the last syllable as a way to annoy Loretta. "Now she just looks like a blighted street urchin...so boyishly messy and dare I say it, ugly- - -"

Anders could see Loretta becoming increasingly embarrassed as her mother continued to rake a brush through her hair. Something clicked within Anders that spurred on feelings he had been trying to suppress since the first time meeting the archeress.

He grabbed one of their freshly picked flowers. "On the contrary," Anders said as he moved closer to Loretta with the flower in his hand. He tucked the flower behind her ear before going on, "If you just put a braid across the front, a flower accent right here, and some killer shoes, I think it would look quite..."

Anders looked into Loretta's doe-like face, and something flashed in the mage's eyes quickly that made her heart leap into her throat.

"Enchanting," he whispered.

Leandra laughed softly to herself. "Shoes? So you're that kind of man...I guess we won't be sending you an invitation to Loretta's ball once we get the estate back since you're clearly not interested in her type..."

Anders never looked over to Leandra, but rather, kept his focus on Hawke as his eyes moved over the soft contours of her body made visible by the fabric she wore.

"I wouldn't count me out just yet..."

Loretta felt her cheeks flush even redder, and her mind began to get hazy as the seconds ticked on by.

"W-will you excuse us, Mother?" She asked breathily without breaking her gaze with him.

Anders followed Loretta outside where the cool air of spring evenings provided a welcomed change. The pair walked behind Gamlen's house where wooden shipping boxes had been stacked and discarded.

Loretta traced the wood grain of one of the boxes with her index finger before turning around. There he was, smiling at her once again with the same inviting smile she suddenly realized she had come to long for. "Listen, Anders," she started in a shaky voice, "about what happened earlier- - -"

Anders interrupted her with a wave of his hand, "I understand, Loretta...you don't have to say another word. I won't force you to do something you are uncomfortable doing. That's why I came by, actually...to was to tell you that you don't have to- - -"

"Will you train me?" The woman blurted out suddenly.

Loretta saw the change in his demeanor instantly, and touched her hand to her cheek shyly when Anders' laughed in response. "Wha? Of course I'll train you!" He said, nearly dancing in happiness. "That's wonderful news, Loretta!"

What in the Void? Hawke thought to herself her eyes lingered on Anders' exuberant appearance, Why am I suddenly shy...it's not like me to be shy, is it?

Amber eyes softened in her direction as a question occurred to him. "What made you change your mind?"

Loretta grinned. "Fenris and I talked, and he said it'd be a good idea for me to learn all I can."

"Fenris?" Anders exclaimed, and then proceeded to pull the tie out of his hair. Smoothing his carmel-colored bangs off to one side, he lowered his voice until it sounded gruff and angry like their companion's, "The 'brood-brood-brood-I-hate-mages-and-my-life-is-hor rible' elf, Fenris?"

Loretta giggled, but when her eyes met Anders', she quietened down. She seemed to gaze at Anders as if this were the first time she had ever seen him before. Her voice sounded like velvet to the man's ears when she did speak to him. "You're pretty cute with your hair down, you know that?"

Anders stepped closer, and Loretta held her breath. The glimmers of emotion she had seen, the flickering of a deep yearning that was always just beyond those golden eyes, did not disappear this time.

He stepped even closer, and the gap between the two of them nearly closed completely.

"And you're pretty tempting underneath this lovely moonlight, do you know that?"

This was the moment Loretta had been wishing for- - - the moment where the world slowed to a standstill, and the only thing in focus is the one single person that is sharing that exact moment with the other. She could feel the heat from his body warming her where she stood, and her heart pounded madly in her chest when she saw Anders begin to lean forward ever so slightly.

I can't believe this is finally happening...dear, dear Maker it's actually going to happen- - -

"Lore—-tta!" Leandra's voice cut through the moment like an intrusive howler monkey. "I need you on the pedastool again!"

Anders straightened up like a boy who had been caught stealing cookies from a glass jar.

Loretta scrunched up her face, but tried not to look too devastated that the kiss was delayed. "Duty calls," she said with a weak laugh.

The mage smoothed out invisible winkles from his cloak. "Meet me tomorrow at the clinic at 9? We can pick up where we left off..." Anders began, but then coughed nervously when Hawke raised an eyebrow at the comment, "About the magic stuff, I mean," he finished rapidly.

"Right, tomorrow at 9...I'll be there."

Loretta waved goodbye, and went back inside to find her mother sketching out further design details for her dress. She nearly hopped back onto the stool, and Leandra proceeded to walk over to her daughter with a perplexed look on her face.

"You look pleased with yourself," she said.

"Mother," Loretta replied softly, "What should I do if I want to let a man know I fancy being more than just friends?"

When Loretta ventured to look down at her mother's reaction, she was surprised to see a genuine smile on the older woman's face.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Perhaps this day didn't end so poorly for Loretta after all.