"Are you sure you're going to be all right, Marian? You and Carver both?"

Marian restrained the urge to sigh and forced a pleasant smile onto her face as she answered, for what felt like the fifth time that hour, "Yes, Mother. We're bringing Anders along too, just in case something happens. You know he runs that clinic in Darktown for illnesses and injuries. We'll be looked after."

Mother nodded slowly, folding the linens that had just finished drying in front of the fireplace. Her bright eyes shone in the flickering lights, as though she was trying to prevent tears from forming. "Right, yes, of course. I… I am very glad to hear he will be joining you. It gives me a little peace of mind."

"I'm glad it pleases you, at least. Anders doesn't want to set foot in those Deep Roads. Come to think of it, Varric isn't the fondest of the idea, either…"

In truth, there were only two people who were genuinely looking forward to the trip: Bartrand and Carver. While Marian was intrigued by the possibility of seeing dwarven ruins and obtaining gold, she was just as apprehensive of the journey as she was excited. There was no telling what would be lurking in those caverns: darkspawn, corpses, undead, ogres. She was well-able of taking care of herself, and she was grateful to have her brother and two of her closest friends accompanying her, but the fact of the matter was that the adventure would be perilous.

But she didn't mention that fact to Mother. It would only upset her further, of that she was sure. Mother had enough flashbacks of what happened the day they had fled Lothering—she didn't need to be haunted by nightmares of it happening again to one of her other children.

"Marian?"

Marian blinked and looked up.

Mother chuckled and glanced towards the door. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say a number of people are waiting for you."

Sure enough, there was scuffling outside the door and a bunch of poorly hushed whispers. Marian immediately recognized Aveline's voice among them, taking charge as usual by telling everyone else who was congregated to be quiet because it was a surprise—

The two women exchanged exasperated looks and stifled giggles. Mother gestured for Marian to open the door, a sideways smile upon her face as she finished folding up the linens.

When the door swung open, Marian was met with a vast majority of her friends squished upon Gamlen's entryway: Aveline was in front, looking highly aggravated as Isabela squeezed her way underneath the Guard-Captain's arm. Merrill was standing on tip-toes behind Aveline to see inside the shack, Sebastian was standing a little ways off with crossed arms and a hopeless grin, and Fenris was scowling as he watched the debacle from the bottom of the stairs—but when he caught Marian's eye, he allowed himself a small wave.

"What's the meaning of all this?" exclaimed Marian, feigning surprise.

"We're here to corral you to the Hanged Man, cupcake," said Isabela with a flirtatious wink. "If you're going to leave us bored here in Kirkwall for so long, we might as well give you a damn good send-off."

"Whatever we do, we're not going to the Blooming Rose," said Aveline, her eyes narrowed and directed towards the clouds.

Isabela scoffed and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Killjoy."

Before Aveline could retort, Merrill began hopping up and down. "Ooh, I see your mum! Bring her too!"

Marian laughed and looked back over her shoulder towards her mother, who was watching the scene with obvious amusement. "What do you think, Mother? Want to come to the Hanged Man with this ragtag bunch of anti-heroes?"

"Anti-heroes?" protested Aveline's voice.

It was Mother's turn to laugh now as she shook her head. "An older woman like me will only slow you down. I'll stay here, but you go on out and have enough fun for the both of us."

"I'll bring you back a bottle!" Marian promised as she was promptly swept out of Gamlen's shack and into the street.

As soon as she wriggled her way to Marian's side, Isabela threw an arm around her shoulder and mock-pouted, "I can't believe you're not taking me to the Deep Roads with you."

Marian raised a finger and swiftly bopped Isabela's nose as she replied, "I know, I know. Everyone was just dying for the chance to go on a five-week death trip to find treasure that may not even exist. But you know how worried Mother was when I told her Carver was coming, too. She only calmed down when she heard I was dragging Anders along."

"You're a peach to your mother, you are," Isabela said, steering Marian in the direction of the Hanged Man. This close to her, Marian could tell that the pirate had already done a bit of celebrating on her own: she smelled like rum, vanilla, and seawater—not a bad combination of things at all.

As it was, Marian just cleared her throat and turned towards Aveline. "So we've got a lot of us already present and accounted for, but where are my future travelling companions?"

"Already in the Hanged Man. If Anders isn't careful, he's going to make the journey that much harder for himself, though," answered Aveline, her standard scowl present on her freckled face. She shook her head, and the scowl melted as she added, "Varric said he'd look after him."

"Look after him or help him drink more?"

"I'm never sure with Varric."

Marian sighed, her eyes rolling skyward. "It might be both." She couldn't help but laugh to herself afterward—the more she thought about it, the more she was certain that this would be the case.

Fortunately, the Hanged Man was not too far off from Gamlen's shack. The group arrived in no time, and were immediately greeted by the aforementioned dwarf, who gestured them all over to the table that he, Anders, and Carver had been saving. Glasses of beer and shots of whiskey awaited each person—except for Sebastian, who did not drink and thus had a glass of water—and within fifteen seconds flat, each person had downed their shot and obtained an ale.

The tavern was as busy as always; it seemed a number of pirates were also visiting from out of town, which meant there was even more rowdiness and chaos than usual. Marian did not mind having to shout in order to be heard, although she felt a number of the men's gazes boring into her back and wished they'd keep their eyes to themselves. She didn't like having to whip out her infamous death glare each time she went for a sip of her drink.

Eventually, however, the men seemed to get the hint and stopped ogling her. Smirking to herself, she changed the topic of conversation from Merrill's latest midnight sojourn to the upcoming trip by saying, "So, my friends… what will you miss most while we're gone?"

"You, obviously," scoffed Isabella, wasting no time in shooting Hawke a very suggestive pout. Hearing Carver's groan from across the table, she waved a dismissive hand and exclaimed, "What, you think there's going to be any excitement around this city without the Hawke family here? I'm going to be bored, and bored isn't good for my aesthetic."

Sitting next to Marian, Merrill nodded in agreement. Her eyes were ever wider than usual; it almost looked like the elf was about to cry.

Throwing an arm around Merrill's shoulder to prevent such a development, Marian turned to Fenris and asked, "Are you going to clean up your mansion while I'm gone, perhaps?"

The corners of Fenris's lips turned upwards. "Unlikely."

"Oh? Why not?"

Fenris took a sip of his drink. "I do not know if it would be worth the effort."

"Spiders," Marian said in a sing-song voice as she raised her glass to her lips. Her blue eyes were bright as they stared into the elf's.

He seemed to realize that she was teasing, because Fenris merely rolled his eyes and retorted, "I cleaned out the cobwebs, per your request. The rest, however, shall remain as it is."

It was nigh impossible for Marian to hide her grin at his response. Even though she loved all of her friends and enjoyed all of the misadventures they constantly found themselves in, even though she and Fenris had the least in common, the fewest shared viewpoints… there was something about him. Fenris would be the one that she would miss the most during her journey.

Not that she would ever say it aloud.

Marian's glass was empty before long; knowing it was wise to keep one glass close while at the Hanged Man, she rose from her chair and asked, "Anyone else wish to come with me to get another drink?"

"No need, Hawke," said Varric with a wicked smile. He gestured towards an approaching barmaid with a wave of his arm. "I've already paid the whole table's tab for the night. I thought we deserved a royal send-off, after all… the expedition certainly cost a royal's pension…"

This last was said as a mutter, but it was not unheard by Marian or Carver, both of whom snickered.

"Eh—Marian?"

She looked to the right of the table and noticed Sebastian waving almost hesitantly, trying to catch her eye. Noting that he held her attention, he said, "Mind if I ask you something, just there?" He pointed towards a corner of the room that was near empty; somewhere they might not be overheard.

"Of course, Sebastian," she replied.

The two of them left the table and were followed by Varric's shouts of, "Hold up, we just got more drinks!" as they went. While both Marian and Sebastian chuckled at the dwarf's good-natured revelry, they did not pause in their departure.

After having thoroughly inspected the corner of the room for any spiders, Marian turned to Sebastian and smirked. "Wanted to get me away for a moment, did you?"

She knew that Sebastian was terrible at flirting—he always got flustered when she jokingly laid a pick-up line on him. But instead of turning pink like he usually did, he chuckled and shook his head. "Yes, but not in the way you insinuated. I have a favor to ask you, when you come back."

"Of course. What is it?"

Sebastian glanced around before leaning conspiratorially forward. "You remember my suspicions that my parents were murdered by one of their friends rather than their enemies, do you not?"

Marian's throat went tight. "Are you in danger? Sebastian, if it would be safer for you to come with me, I can tell Anders to stay here and take you with me—"

He interrupted her with a laugh and seized the hand she had launched onto his shoulder. "No, no, it's nothing like that. It's… I've been tracking down the people who hired those mercenaries. I think they're right here in Kirkwall. I can't be sure yet, but I should know for certain by the time you return from your trip. If I'm right… if they're here… then I need answers. Can I count on your support?"

Never once had Sebastian asked something of Marian; not once during the many months they'd known each other, fought side-by-side. He had always been happy to help, because they had become unlikely friends… but now, the look in his eyes was intense.

Desperate.

"Absolutely," she said with a nod. "It will be the first thing I direct my attention to, the moment I'm free here in Kirkwall again."

Sebastian sighed in relief, as though he had been afraid she would say no. "Thank you, Hawke. I… will owe you."

"You will owe me nothing at all," she insisted.

A loud round of laughter emerged from the table they had left only moments earlier. When Marian glanced back to it, she noted that Varric was emulating some funny jig, perhaps one he'd seen at the Blooming Rose—everyone was cackling save for Aveline, who was rolling her eyes and leaning back in her chair, and Fenris, who hardly even smiled at anything.

Marian sighed and shook her head as she watched her friends. They were all beginning to have pinkish hues to their faces, exempting Anders—the spirit keeping him company gave him a remarkable alcoholic tolerance. Her eyes returned to Fenris, who had just put a hand to his forehead at an inappropriate joke Isabela had just told. "Keep an eye on them while I'm gone, will you? I'd ask Aveline, but there have been a number of things the city guard has to keep watch on…"

"Naturally," said Sebastian, though the tug at his lips revealed his amusement.

"Especially Fenris, if you please."

Now he smirked, and fully. "A bit of favoritism, Hawke?"

Marian blinked, unaware that she'd spoken her last words aloud. She made an unintelligent noise in the back of her throat and blustered, "W—of course not. But out of all of them, he seems to be in the most danger. He could be evicted from the mansion by the city guard, or maybe that disgusting master of his comes back—"

"I understand," Sebastian interrupted. He held up his hands, a sign of platitude… but there was still amusement underlying his sharp features. "It will be as you say. Shall we get back to the table? I'd hate to keep you from your send-off."

So it was that Marian and Sebastian began returning to their seats, each of them laughing as Isabela and Varric began draining their glasses of ale like there was no tomorrow at all.