I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! In the next few I'll be moving into act 3; it's so weird to think about, I've been writing act 2 for so many months now. It's exciting though!
(10) Harvestmere 22nd
Shifting at my side wakes me from a deep peaceful sleep. I blink my eyes open to see Hawke sit up and stretch. Trails of light dance across her unclothed form.
"Daaaamn." She says through a yawn.
I prop myself up on my elbow and watch her. That… worked out far better than I had even imagined. Thank the Maker those memories remained repressed this time.
Hawke gives me a sly sideways look. "See something you like?"
"Hmm…" My eyes slowly travel down her body as I pretend to ponder the question. "You're sexy. For a mage."
Her jaw drops, and she shoves me. "Hey!"
I laugh and sit up, kissing her on the cheek. "I believe I made it quite clear yesterday how I feel about you."
Hawke pokes her lip out in a pout. "You could remind me."
"Uh-huh." I narrow my eyes at her. We really have things to do today. It's already late. "Hawke, you know—"
Tossing her head back, she grumbles incoherently and scowls. "Having responsibilities sucks. What's the point of being the champion if I still have to get out of bed and do things?" The blanket shifts down, just barely covering her thighs, as she arches her back in a stretch.
Oh, fuck it. I tackle Hawke onto her back and press my lips to hers.
She squeezes my shoulders and pulls back grinning. "Wow. I didn't think that would work."
I raise an eyebrow at her. "It didn't."
"That's fair. If complaining were a turn on you'd be dating Anders." Hawke snickers.
My expression turns to ice. "Hawke. If you ever bring up the abomination when we're naked again, this will be the last time I sleep with you."
Horror covers her face. "I won't! I won't! I won't! It was just a joke. I'm sorry!"
Rolling my eyes, I reply, "Alright then."
I pause for a moment and Hawke peeks through her fingers at me, clearly trying to decide if I'm angry or not.
She's adorable. I shake my head with a chuckle.
A bewildered look comes across her face. "What? What did I do now?"
In response, I kiss her again. Pulling the blanket up to cover us, I slide my hands down her body. "You're right, I think Kirkwall can manage without us for a few more hours."
"A few more hours?" Hawke asks with delighted surprise. "And what do you suggest we do with all that time?" She smirks.
I press my lips to her jaw, her neck, her shoulder. She sighs and leans into me. "I believe we can come up with a few things." I trace one finger down her side. "As I recall, we have several years to make up for."
"That's enough," She pushes me onto my back and swings her leg over to stand on her knees over me. "Less talking, more doing. You're too sexy, I can't take it."
Fine by me.
After finally managing to drag ourselves out of bed, bathe, and look nearly presentable, we quietly exit Hawke's bedroom.
"Good evening Serah Hawke and Fenris!" Bohdan calls out to us from the bottom of the stairs.
Hawke cringes slightly at being detected by the dwarves. Although there isn't really a way around it, we would both prefer if the house mates didn't know our every move. "Oh, hey Bohdan. Is there any news?"
We descend the stairs and walk over to him. Sandal looks up from a rock he's holding and waves at me. I nod to him. "Enchantment?" I ask.
"Enchantment!" He replies with a toothy grin.
He is such a fascinating person. I feel that there is much more to Sandal than meets the eye. It would be interesting to know more about him, but I doubt that's likely to happen. I believe he possesses a great deal of power that is either very new or quite ancient.
"Indeed, there is!" Bohdan begins. "The Captain of the Guard would like to speak with you, your presence is requested at the Hanged Man, and, if you will direct your attention above the fire place, you'll notice the Arishok's weapon has been mounted there."
"Oooo!" Hawke exclaims and runs over to examine it. "That's amazing, thank you! Look Fenris, it still has my blood on it!"
I hold back a shutter at the memory of her in my arms with that blade clean through her. That might be a glorious memory for her, but it was one of the more terrifying moments in my life. I can handle having my life threatened, I'm accustomed to pain. But not the kind that losing her would bring. Torture, wounds, fine. But not that. Never that. I avoid looking at the weapon and pretend not to have heard her. "It's fortuitous that the fires never reached here during the siege." I say to Bohdan.
"Quite so. But if they had, my boy and I would have done our best to put them out!" The dwarf nods.
Hawke rejoins us. "I appreciate it. Well, we'd better get to the Hanged Man."
My eyebrows knit together. "We have yet to check on Sebastian. I am not interested in drinking until we find out if he's alright."
"Oh, Maker. You're right." Her face falls. "I've been so preoccupied… Damn, I hope he's woken up. We are not losing anyone else; He's going to pull through." She clenches a fist. "Bohdan, have you seen Anders? Do you know where he is?"
"He left this morning heading to his clinic, I haven't heard from him since. It is possible that he would still be there, but it's been some time." The dwarf holds up his hands.
Hawke thanks him and we exit the mansion. "We'll head straight there. Hopefully Anders will be inside, so we can find out exactly what's going on."
I'm hoping neither will still be there.
We pick our way through the city to Darktown. This is takes a bit longer than usual; the streets are still filled with rubble, and a lot of them are entirely impassable. Still, we manage to make it before all the light is gone from the sky. Inside the clinic, Anders is wrapping a woman's bloody wrist. A child with a patch of cloth covering one eye sits on the ground playing with a ragged doll. Sebastian is laying on the table just as we had left him.
Hawke and I exchange a worried look and walk over to his side. She takes the chantry man's hand in both of hers. "Sebastian?" There's no response.
Fasta vass! I force myself not to punch the wall. I worked so hard to keep him alive! And I was just starting to… Venhedis! I like Sebastian. He doesn't deserve this. I dig the claws of my gauntlets into my palms.
"Anders, has he woken up at all?" Hawke asks, her voice thick with worry.
The healer shakes his head, still focused on the woman he is attending to. "No. He's alive, but nothing I do seems to have any further effect. He just stays like that."
I think for a moment before replying. "So then we wait. Would it be possible to move him to Hightown? However long he remains like this, it shouldn't be on a splintering table in this rat hole."
"I wouldn't risk it." Anders dismisses the notion. He releases the other patient and she thanks him, leaving with the child. "I need to have him close at hand. In his condition, he requires a lot of attending."
Fine. I make a mental note to bring something softer, and less concerning, to cover the table with.
"Can he hear us? Does he know what's going on?" Hawke asks sadly, still holding Sebastian's hand and brushing her fingers across the back of it.
Anders moves to his desk and begins straightening up his supplies as he talks. "Now that, I wish I knew. If he were asleep as he appears, the answer would be no. But considering he clearly isn't, I have no way of knowing what his mental functions are. If he were a mage, I'd say he was trapped in the Fade, but he isn't, so I can't say whether or not he's present with us."
To be conscious but unable to respond for such a long time… I shudder at the thought. He might be a slave to his own physical shell. How abhorrent. I hope for his sake that is not the case. Perhaps he does merely sleep. Although, if there were any who could reside in only their minds without losing their sanity, Sebastian would be among them. With his strong connection and faith in the Maker, he probably wouldn't doubt his waking up and would spend the time reverently in prayer. I'd sit there in a hell of fury.
"So, there's nothing we can do to help?" Hawke persists.
Anders shakes his head. "No. I'll continue to do everything I can and inform you if there has been a change. Glad to see you've healed up so well." He smiles at Hawke. "I didn't expect you to stay away this long, but that's good. You needed the rest."
Rest. I almost chuckle. That's probably what we should have been doing. Well, there was some sleeping involved.
"Oh, yeah, I—I just didn't feel like getting out of bed today. I knew there was a lot I probably needed to do but only one thing I wanted to do—sleep and all." Pink creeps into Hawke's cheeks.
It's funny how uncomfortable this makes her when she often goes toe to toe with Isabela on dirty humor. I suppose I expected her to not be bothered by it, considering everyone has believed we have been in a sexual relationship for years. But, in a way I'm glad. All of this is new for us; things are different, and it's not a bad thing to treat them that way.
The blonde man doesn't appear to pick up on Hawke's embarrassment and switches topics. "You should head to the Hanged Man. If you don't show up soon the others will start to worry."
Hawke sighs and gives Sebastian a long looking. "You're right… but I hate to leave him. He went through so much, it seems wrong."
"I'm staying here. He won't be alone. You can come back tomorrow and sit with him for a while if you want," Anders explains.
For a moment I consider staying, wanting to support my friend and not particularly excited for a trip to the disgusting tavern, but I decide against it. Sitting here with Anders wouldn't do anyone any good.
Reluctantly, Hawke releases the archer's hand and moves with me to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow Anders. Stay strong Sebastian: you'll be just fine."
