Guardian, 9:34 Dragon
Kirkwall
Someone pulled the blindfold off my head and I clutch the joyful mabari puppy to my chest, overwhelmed. Now, you might be thinking 'why is she getting so worked up over a dog?'
Well, I've already mentioned how much I'd love to have a mabari, and Lord only knows how the others found out about it, but I am ecstatic.
It's a girl, I'm pleased to discover—boy dogs always freaked me out, with the… parts… and whatnot… I never know how to hold them properly—and she's just as happy to see me as I am to see her, if the barking and licking my face is any indication. I've only ever seen one mabari (Tigre), but he's a tannish brown color, while the darling in my arms is black with little white feet. Not normal mabari coloring, to be sure, but I am just in love with her.
"She's a mongrel," Garrett pipes up after watching me study the darling little white socks for a moment. "That's why she's black."
"She's precious!" I insist, and I nuzzle her short black fur with my nose while she wriggles and tries to give me kisses. "How did you know I wanted a mabari?"
Varric's lips stretch into a sly grin and Anders shifts uncomfortably. "Blondie noticed how taken you were with Hawke's mutt, and brought it up while we were brainstorming."
I blink and look over at Anders, who's smiling a little but studiously not looking at me, and I tear up just thinking about it. He had noticed me. He could only have observed me with Tigre at that ball he seemed to want to pretend never occurred, and it was heartwarming to know he had noticed little things like that in between the dancing and the fleeing.
"Her name is Dawn," I smile as I press a kiss to her forehead, and she barks an affirmative.
Garrett looks puzzled. "Dawn? But she's black."
I smirk up at him mischievously. "The night is darkest just before the dawn."
Oh yeah. I just quoted Batman to a group of people from Thedas. Hah.
I stand to my feet, still cradling Dawn in my arms and I beam at my group of strange friends. "Thank you all so much!" I am about this close to bursting into tears, and it's ridiculous, but it's great at the same time.
I glance over at Anders, and he's still smiling his crooked little half-smile at me and Dawn, and I jump up on my tiptoes and peck him on the cheek, grinning. He stares wide-eyed at me while the room erupts in hoots and whistling, and I claim my seat again with Dawn in my lap, catching him raise his hand to his cheek out of the corner of my eye, and I smile.