They were supposed to be toasting, but to what... none of them really knew. How did one properly pay their respects and send off a Grey Warden before their time? How was anyone supposed to raise their glass to honor a man that never should have had to die in the first place? Especially not when someone else should have stayed behind in his place...
Garrett knew why she had chosen Stroud over him. It was because she was as fond of the smart-mouthed dwarf as he was. The Inquisitor had spared him in order to spare Varric the pain of losing a friend and while he couldn't blame her for her choice, he could still harbor a small seedling of resentment.
He had started this mess and therefore it was only right that he do his due diligence to see it ended, too. He had failed to kill Corypheus once and that over-confidence was now tearing the world asunder and splitting Thedas down the middle. Or maybe that was just his guilt speaking for him and Garrett stared down into the dark depths of whatever ale had been poured in his tankard. It smelled like wet earth and he brought it to his lips, thought twice and lowered it back down.
He needed to say something but no words were coming to him and he glanced over at the other solemn faces seated around the table, staring down into their own drinks or gazing off in the distance. Not even Varric, the master of words, had been able to come up with anything fitting and after two failed attempts, he slumped in his seat and sighed. The Inquisitor looked deep in thought and her brow was furrowed as she traced shapes absently against the worn tabletop. Dorian and The Iron Bull were also uncharacteristically silent and Garrett could only assume that they were both reflecting on their tumble through the Fade.
Demons and nightmares... Grey Wardens and old gods... Templars and mages... It was a lot for anyone to properly digest and he let out a long sigh. He would need to travel to Weisshaupt soon and hope that someone had enough sense to grant him an audience and listen. This was not just an isolated incident―it concerned all Wardens―and Weisshaupt needed to heed the warning lest the entire Order fall, assuming that it hadn't already. That was the thing with Wardens, they were fickle. They were uselful in the hour of need but otherwise they served little purpose other than getting in the way and Garrett frowned. Perhaps that was unfair of him to judge them so harshly... but his experience with Wardens hardly yielded favorable results.
Dorian finally rose from his seat, his drink untouched, and muttered a pathetic excuse about something or other. The Inquisitor barely lifted her head in acknowledgement and without another word, the Tevinter mage was gone. Bull followed soon after, but not before finishing his and Dorian's drink. He needed to check on the Chargers, he said, and then he too was gone.
And then there were three.
The silence still persisted and Garrett could feel himself growing restless. It may have been best for him to leave too. He had already vastly overstayed his welcome in Skyhold and he had other matters to attend to now that the Grey Wardens had been dealt with. He would leave the rest up to Varric and the Inquisitor. She was far more adept at saving the world than he was, after all. His efforts to play the hero had leveled a city and left him without a family.
"I―" He was cut off as the door to the tavern flew open and a disheveled guard rushed towards their table, tripping over his own two feet. For the first time since returning from Adamant, all three of them looked lively and alert.
"Lady Inquisitor!" The guard was huffing and puffing as he doubled over on his sword, pushing his visor out of his way. "Lady Inquisitor!"
"Yes, I'm right here. What is it?" She raised an eyebrow at his urgency, though she held none of it herself.
"There is... someone... an elf.. storming the hold..."
"An elf?" The Inquisitor looked both amused and confused. She exchanged a look first with Varric and then with Hawke, but both of them merely shrugged to indicate that they were just as lost. "How does one elf storm a hold?" She asked, more curious than concerned. One elf was of no consequence when Skyhold housed an entire army and then some.
"I-I don't know," the guard stammered. "He just... appeared. Like he could walk through walls or something," he sounded unsure of himself now. But no one was laughing and Garrett stared at the red-faced man.
"Like he could what?" Hawke asked, his heart sinking into his stomach. Maker, this was not good and he looked to Varric only to find that the dwarf was conveniently avoiding his gaze and intently focused on something inside of his tankard. "Varric..." His name was an exasperated groan. "What did you―"
"HAWKE!" If the door hadn't already been thrown open when the guard rushed in, it would have certainly been blown off the hinges with the fury that followed the elf into the tavern. His dark cloak billowed about him and his green eyes were burning hot enough to melt the icy caps of the mountains with once glance.
"I may have sent a bird," Varric finally said, half-mumbling into his drink. "A really fast one."
"A bird..." Garrett mumbled back, arching a brow and sighing in defeat as he turned to face the elf that had the guard cowering near the Inquisitor.
"Hey, Fenris..." Hawke said, smiling sheepishly as he slowly got to his feet. He couldn't help but shrink a little as the elf turned that molten stare to him directly and crossed the tavern in a few long strides to stand just in front of him so their chests were nearly touching.
"You disappear, get thrown into the Fade and all you have to say is, 'hey'? Try again, Hawke," Fenris said, his top lip curling in a quiet snarl.
"Maker, Varric! Did you tell him everything?" Garrett asked, glaring at the dwarf as he got to his feet and shrugged in feigned innocence.
"Well, looks like we know why the hold was being stormed," the Inquisitor announced with a small chuckle as she also got to her feet and nudged the guard towards the door. "Since the only one being threatened here is Hawke, I should check on my guards and make sure they're not too dazed by this sudden intrusion."
"Allow me to help you with that," Varric offered.
"I'm not done with you!" Hawke called after the dwarf, watching him hurry out the door after the Inquisitor, leaving him alone with a fuming Fenris.
"Look... I can explain," Garrett began lamely, holding up both hands in surrender. "I knew if I gave you the chance, that you would follow me and I didn't know what I was walking into so―"
"Damn right I would have," Fenris snapped, causing Garrett to wince.
"How did you even get here so fast?" Hawked questioned. It hadn't been long since they had returned and yet Varric had had time to send word to Fenris and Fenris had made it to Skyhold in record time.
"I was tracking you," Fenris responded, as if that much should have been obvious. "I wasn't that far off when Varric's bird found me. All I had to do was follow it back here."
"Right..." Garrett wet his lips with a swipe of his tongue and sighed. "So... you know about the whole Fade thing and the Wardens... and..." He glanced away and trailed off. "We should... go somewhere else to talk." But Fenris wasn't budging and Garrett shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. There was no one else around but the tavern was still not the place for such serious conversation and he didn't fancy Varric strolling back in just to rile them both up.
Deciding to just step around Fenris and hope that the elf would follow, Garrett barely had time to lift his foot and put it back down before something hard was slamming into his chest. It knocked the wind out of him for a second and he blinked, glancing down at the body wrapped around his. "Uhm..." His cheeks were growing red and he held his arms awkwardly at his sides for a few seconds before giving in and embracing Fenris back. "I know," he murmured, burying his face in that silver-white hair and breathing deeply.
He had been so ready to throw his life away that he had forgotten all about the one person that made it worth living. That stubborn prickly elf was the center of Garrett's entire world and as much as it hurt to leave another behind to pay for his mistakes, he was glad that he didn't have to suffer an eternity in the Fade without this―without Fenris.
"Hey..." Garrett finally managed to peel himself away from Fenris and he searched those bright green eyes for a moment, cracking a small smile. "Ready to go?"
"Don't think I'm letting you off easy," Fenris warned him. "I don't believe Varric that everything is fine, so I'm going to check you from head to toe and if so much as a single hair is out of place..." He trailed off and Garrett tried to stifle his laugh.
"You won't hear me complain. C'mon, let's get out of here before they kick us out."