Morning, Fenris's Mansion
Fenris had been fired up all morning talking about Divine Age. He held his game book and kept following Hawke around as she got ready. He barely noticed the bathroom door close in his face.
"You can have personal vision quests for each player tailored to their class, morality, political leanings and back story, and—" he said to the door.
"Cool, cool," the door said.
"—and you can take your companions with you for a chance to bond, but there is also a chance to sow discord in the team, plus as with any quest, there is a 1 in 5 chance every one of you will receive an ailment like a weak body part, a phobia, some kind of game-breaking compulsion—"
"Great stuff."
"No, but wait. Wait…" Fenris said to the door with a raised finger. "You can also combine classes."
"Yep. That's where it's at."
"Moreover," he went on passionately, leaning on the door, "there is a mechanic called Death's Door. When a player is near death, they get a second health bar and can an activate good or bad traits to help them fight, but there is a 1 in 3 chance they get a permanent ailment if they survive, and mages have a 1 in 3 chance to get possessed. But—" he said sharply. "The other players won't know they are possessed straight away and the affected player has no choice but to do what the demon tells them to do," he said, smirking and crossing his legs, "namely myself."
"Holy fuck!" the door said.
"I know, right?" he said proudly.
"No, there are talking ravens on the windowsill! Come in here!"
Fenris smiled and went in. "That's Jake and Judith," he said proudly.
"Who's bowing to whom?"
"Jake's a gentleman."
"Aww."
He sat on the windowsill and let them climb on his shoulders.
Hawke was in the bath tub, staring at him with a dumb-founded expression.
"Friends of yours…?"
"Indeed."
"Aww," she said. "Bird Boy and the Jay-Jay's taking on the town. How'd that happen?"
"I just set up a little sanctuary under the window and they started visiting," he said, giving Judith head-scritches. "They're smarter than chimps—"
Suddenly a third raven flew on his head. Jake didn't like it one bit and shooed it away, taking to the top instead.
"Competition?"
"No. That was his son." He looked back at the tree. "Jeremy."
"Ah, a hierarchal father."
"He doesn't like it when Judith goes on my head either."
"Great…"
"Well, it's not a perfect metaphor," he said, coming to the tub and sitting on the edge. "They're still animals."
"We're better animals, I should think," she said with an arm on the edge of the tub, her face signalling she wanted a kiss.
So, he bowed, but didn't oblige. He just smirked and stared.
"Oh, kiss me, you animal," she said curtly.
So, he did.
Jake was cawing.
"Think he misses his buddy."
"He's probably approving," Fenris said, chuckling and crossing his arms. "Plus, he's there with his lady, I'm here with mine."
"Woof," Hawke said approvingly.
Jake and Judith got bored and went in the bird bath.
Fenris looked back at her with questioning eyebrows.
"Hard no," Hawke said, leaning back proudly under the bubbles. "It's a literal bloodbath in here."
Flashes of his… flashes came to mind. How he saw his hands bloodied, the whole tub red. He didn't like it at all.
He cleared his throat and looked away. "Speaking of, I think I'm not quite over what I did to my people."
"Well… wounds don't heal in a second," she said, shrugging. "But I'm happy to hear you calling them your people."
"I always considered Seherans my people," he said, pondering. "I just… kept a cool, weary distance from the notion. I don't think betraying your kind leaves you with the option to think yourself one of them any longer."
"Hey," she said with a warm smile, water rippling around her as she came forward. "Remember the beautiful pyre you made. You are all Seheron. They're in your heart forever."
Fenris looked down, rubbing his chest. It was more peaceful now, but the wound was still open, and it was secretly crawling with doom. Something still didn't feel quite right.
They aren't the last of your people you fucked over, Mr Pissfaggot, the intuitive voice said.
Shut the fuck up! the gruff one said.
THE DARKEST TIMELINE IS ALREADY DONE, AND THE ABYSS IS WAITING FOR YOU, LITTLE WOLF! the half-blind man shouted.
No, the boring band-aid bath guy said. Stop. There is no darkest timeline. There is only this one. The happy timeline. Focus on the future. Leave that shit behind.
Fenris inhaled quickly, uncrossed his arms and took the game book from the chair. "Thank you, ma adorae," he said, kissing her head.
After Fenris had his own bath, he donned a black jumper with medium dark red stripes under his armour. Hawke's jaw landed in the Deep Roads.
"Hot, hot, hot!" she said excitedly, putting on her dark leather jacket. She had her old choker and a deep metallic teal turtle-neck sweater underneath the breastplate. She had her nice and tight dark combat trousers and her signature boots. She gathered the long part of her hair in two pig-tails.
"Oh? Clown Girl is having a comeback?" he said, pointing at her hair.
She shrugged curtly. "Hey, I'm breaking in the Gallows, not going on a date."
He huffed and came nearer, brushing along one of the tails. "Hot, hot, hot," he said with a smirk, leaving.
She laughed after him. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"
Late morning, Lowtown
As they descended down the stairs, Fenris kept reading out bits from his book and Hawke wasn't paying attention. It was all very exciting, the game as well as hearing him talk so much, but at some point he just wouldn't shut up.
"You can find people to teach you special skill trees, like Templar or Blood Mage, but I would never urge anyone to specialise in blood magic. You can't heal, and there is a 1 in 5 chance every time you activate the mode that you will go insane and spawn a demon army and/or get possessed."
His arse was more interesting. It was all out and tight in those leggings and the sweater wasn't covering it up.
"Which reminds me, I was thinking I should get some templar training from one of your buddies."
"What?" Hawke said, springing up alert. "You want to become a Templar?!"
Fenris noticed what she was doing. "Pay attention, you anus. I said learn templar abilities."
"Oh," she said, scratching her head. "Yeah, that makes sense. You wouldn't have to use lyrium. You already have the veins."
"I have all the veins," Fenris said vainly, turning the page.
Hawke chuckled, rolling her eyes. "How come you never learned that before? I thought Danarius wanted a perfect weapon against rival mages."
"Templars in Tevinter don't use lyrium. They don't use anything. They're just guards."
"Oh, that's… not great."
"No."
"I could ask Emeric. He has nothing better to do these days. Then again, he's a little cross with me and Aveline."
"What about Thrask?"
"No… Thrask is icing me out. I think I got him in trouble with the Order."
He kept on thinking. "Samson?"
She guffawed. "Sure. That guy will do anything for a buck. But he may not be able to keep both eyes open at the same time, so…"
"So, he's literally no threat to me."
"That doesn't exactly spell 'great teacher', but sure, if you're desperate."
"Alright. Talk to Emeric, then."
"Okay, Daddy."
Fenris's head came up from his book and gave her a murderous glower.
Hawke bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I told you I won't call you that in the bedroom."
"You won't call me that," he said, taking a step closer, "period."
"Okay, Daddy."
He took out his notebook and wrote it down.
"Daddy."
He wrote it down again, his glower deepening.
"Daddy."
He couldn't keep up.
"Da—"
"Okay, will you stop?!" Fenris snapped, pointing the pencil at her. "No spamming," he said, putting the pencil behind his ear and closing the notebook loudly. "That's just unfair."
Hawke was on the floor. "Your wish is my command, Da—"
"Sunset," he said with unimpressed eyes.
"Ugh, fine."
Late morning, The Black Emporium
Fenris followed Hawke to a new and strange place. It was dark here, very dark, the bridge adorned with peach lanterns. Then the most deep, unsettling gentleman's voice came, "Hawke!... Here again for more… sssocks?"
What the fuck had he stepped in?
"You can never have enough socks," Hawke said candidly.
"Exxxactly," the deep, unsettling gentleman's voice said. It was coming from a horrific, decaying body on a throne. He was sitting in a lantern-lit display smackdown in the middle of the room.
"Where in Void's bloody bells have you taken me, Hawke?" Fenris said grumpily.
"Just a cool shop," Hawke said nonchalantly, perusing the wears. "Hey, look! Night-vision goggles!"
"Ahem," the corpse said.
"Oh, right. Fenris, this is Serah Xenon the Antiquarian; Xenon, this is Fenris."
"Welcome to the Blaaack… Emporium."
"Yay," Fenris said insincerely.
"Xenon was a Kirkwaller nobleman who wanted to live forever. He made a deal with a witch for immortality, but forgot to ask for eternal youth. Four hundred years later, he's still funding anti-aging research and… drooping," she said, scratching her head.
"Urchin bathes me every hour so I dooon't… dry up," Xenon said.
Fenris saw a quiet child in a corner and his scowl was ready to tear the corpse to shreds. "You have a slave?"
Xenon scoffed dramatically. "Urchin makes mooore than you will ever make… in a lifetiiime…"
"Doesn't he have a name?" Fenris said passive-aggressively.
"Urchin's name is urchin," Xenon said. "When he wishes to be called something else, he will tell me…"
Hawke was busy putting about a thousand stripy socks on her forearm.
Fenris saw a golem statue that he made the mistake of coming near. The golem's eyes opened, and it was looking at him.
"That is Thaddeus Gigantus Crumbum the Third…" Xenon said proudly. "He's my… favourite."
"Are we leaving soon…?" Fenris half-shouted, unable to get his eyes off the golem.
"Oh, score!" Hawke said in the distance, taking off her combat boots and putting on long purple fluffy socks.
Fenris growled lowly.
"Wait…" he said, seeing a mirror that looked exactly like Merrill's. "Did Merrill finally get rid of the mirror?"
"No…" Hawke said tiredly.
"Don't stare too intently at it…" Xenon said. "On second thought," he said, laughing evilly. "Do."
He stared in the mirror and he looked distorted, like a misaligned monster in a dark abyss. He couldn't stop staring. It was staring back.
Thud!
A fearsome bestial growl came from the quaking floorboards. Fenris almost had a heart attack.
HE'S COMING FOR YOU, LITTLE WOLF…! the half-blind man warned in a cruel, playful tone.
Do not go to sleep tonight, the intuitive voice said.
"What the fuck was that?!" he said with owlish eyes.
"You needn't… concern yourself… with that," Xenon said, laughing.
"Unless you're a Templar," Thaddeus said from behind.
He felt it in his throat, panic taking over. "Hawke, I'm leaving."
"Sorry, Fen Fen. I'm done now," she said, paying urchin. "Are you okay?" she said, concerned.
"No," he said quickly, flatly.
"Alright. Let's leave," she said. She had those goggles on her head now, the loose short strands of hair coming out in the front and behind the strap. She took him by the hand.
As they were leaving, he passed a chestplate that looked… amazing.
"Shut… up," Fenris said, stopping and staring. It was a dark, onyx-tinted chestplate, similar in form with his original one, but the two indentation lines at the top curved down like a violin's F holes, only broader. The next rows of indentation lines were coming down in V's. It was reminiscent of a heart shape. The blood spilled in battle would probably collect redness in the depth of the heart. He found it… romantic.
He took off his stupid, good-for-nothing replacement chestplate and donned the glorious one.
"Uhm…" Hawke said with a raised eyebrow, shifting her weight on one leg. "With the spiky shoulder pads and this… it kind of looks like your old armour."
"I have a style," Fenris said, buckling it in place. "You have a problem with that?"
"No, not at all," Hawke said, biting her lip. "I just thought you wanted to forget about the 'Reaper'."
"He's free now," Fenris said, paying the urchin and leaving. "He wears what he wants."
"Well, shut me up," Hawke said, impressed, watching him go.
"Immm… possible…" Xenon said.
Noon, The Alienage
As they descended the stairs, Hawke's clownish youthful look started to wither. Her eyes said something wasn't right.
"What's wrong?" Fenris said.
"I…" she said, touching her pocket. "Let's go."
He followed her through the mass of people, and looked at the majestic Vhenedahl. Lia was under it with her friends, and she waved at him with a smile.
Fenris tried very hard not to smile back, and nodded in her direction. She had a knack for kicking things, indeed, and he had no trouble believing she would be an excellent warrior.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zath in the same group, sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and making a gesture like he was watching him.
Fuck that little imp. He can't do shit to you, the gruff one said.
Ahem… your adora is turning purple, the boring band-aid bath guy said.
Right. He went beside her, in front of Merrill's house, and she had the Arulin'Holm in her hand.
"You're giving it to her?" he said, holding back his irritation.
"Even now," she said, sighing with lifeless eyes. She was shaking her head. "I can't decide…"
"I thought you were good at making decisions," Fenris said flatly.
Hawke glowered. "This is personal," she said, looking up at the door and starting to knock.
Noon, Merrill's House
"Hawke," Merrill said very flatly, turning her back and going down the corridor.
Nothing like the kittens and rainbows they showed the world the other day. Merrill just held her ire back because Hawke was sick.
"I can already feel this isn't going anywhere pleasant," Fenris said in the doorway.
"Two awkward elves and a human with a turbulent attention span?" Hawke said, resorting to defensive jokes. "What could go wrong?"
When they reached her living room, Merrill replaced cold ire with complete fire.
"How could you do that to me?!" she said with the biggest scowl. "How could you steal a priceless relic of my people?" Then, the final, sharpest accusation. "I trusted you."
"Merrill… you're my friend," Hawke said, already very purple. "And I don't like what this is doing to you."
Merrill crossed her arms. "Don't talk to me about friendship, Hawke. This isn't friendship. This is control."
Fenris had decided, for the sake of everyone involved, to just shut down and go to a happy place. He took a seat, started reading his game book, the occasional pentagram tits floating in the camera of his mind.
"I disagree," Hawke said with a scowl. "Friends don't just support each other through every bad decision. They call each other out when needed."
"Alright. Have it your way," Merrill said, her nails sinking into her crossed arms. "I am concerned, 'friend Hawke', with your romantic interest."
Fenris's eyes came up from his book.
Hawke crossed her arms slowly. "Why…?"
"You think I am unwell because of my 'obsession'?" Merrill said with air-quotes. "What about Fenris, or should I say, Fen'Harel's Pissfaggot?"
Fenris felt like he was falling out of the chair.
RUN! the half-blind man screamed.
"Excuse me?!" Hawke said, extremely offended.
"Your boyfriend hates mages, can't let go of the past, and he gets drunk in the Alienage and corrupts our youth by calling himself slurs and paying teenagers to beat him up!"
"What?!" Hawke said, dumb-founded. She looked back at him.
"That was…" Fenris said, his throat having too much throat in his throat. "One…" He pushed the book on the table with one little finger. "One time…" he said in barely more than a whisper.
"He also gave a teenager alcohol," Merrill went on.
Hawke's eyes were ping-ponging between them, looking more and more horrified by the second.
"I didn't give him alcohol," Fenris said. "I gave him one 2.7% sip of nothing."
"Why?" Hawke said, her eyes as big as her goggles.
"To learn where I could get Divine Age. They were playing it yesterday."
"Liar. You struck a deal for a beer and then took it away!" Merrill said.
"Yeah, but that's just because he was being a dickhead," Fenris said, crossing his arms and legs.
Hawke's tripled eyes finally started blinking. Rapidly. "Why did you pay elven teenagers to beat you up and call you a Pissfaggot?" she said, crossing her arms.
"Fen'Harel's Pissfaggot," Merrill added with a raised finger. "It's an ethnic slur too."
Fenris face-palmed himself, and buried himself there. If he could cringe with enough force, maybe he could wake up in a real coffin. Or never wake up at all. That also worked.
Just come clean, the boring band-aid bath guy said. She may understand.
Be a man and own it, the gruff one said.
THE DOOR IS ON YOUR RIGHT, PISSFAGGOT! the half-blind man yelled.
Meanwhile, The Hanged Man
Varric was having a nice morning. His coffee was at perfect sipping temperature, and the headlines today were booming with gossip. There was even a minor article giving 'evidence' that him and Hawke were an icon. He was so amused he could piss himself, and he couldn't wait to see both Fenris and Bianca's faces when he showed them the news clipping.
"Alright, dwarf…" Isabela said suddenly, leaning forward with an arm on the table. "Place your bet."
"Huh?" Varric said.
"On the Adora/Fen Fen Apocalypse."
"What?"
"You don't know?" Isabela said, sitting down. "Everyone's placing bets on when those two break up."
"Oh," Varric said, staring inwardly with a big fat magnifying glass of dread. "Why…?"
Isabela scoffed. "Come on."
Varric couldn't swallow.
"You look like a drowning kitten. What's the matter?"
"No, uhm…" Varric said, scratching his head. "I was just… weighing it out."
That was a lie. He had nothing to weigh. He had to tell Hawke… and… Oh, Maker, no. That could go so wrong. And he was partly to blame because he kept indulging in drama bets.
"I have next month, Merrill has three months, Anders has six. Sebastian said never," Isabela said, rolling her eyes. "What's your guess?"
"Who… came up with this bet?" Varric said weakly, clearing his throat.
Isabela shrugged, all coy and dramatic at the same time.
Well, shit.
Noon, Merrill's House
Fenris had a decision to make and he had no time to brood over it. Run for the hills or admit his terrible choices. He sighed heavily.
"It was one time, a year ago…" he said, avoiding her gaze. "On the anniversary of my…"
"Oh…" Hawke said, her shoulders sinking. "That makes more sense." She closed one eye and tilted her head. "Ish."
"You're excusing him?" Merrill said irately.
"Look, he has trauma," Hawke said defensively. "Who doesn't?"
Fenris breathed out quietly and his bum was a bag of rocks. He knew this wasn't over.
"True," Merrill said, hand to her chest. "I have trauma right now, as my human 'friend' keeps an ancient artefact that does not belong to her from me."
Hawke sighed painfully. "I know how this looks, but it's what your mother wants."
"My mother?" Merrill said, guffawing.
"Mother figure, whatever," Hawke said, shrugging.
Merrill was so lucky, and she threw it all away, Fenris thought. He was also very confused as to why Hawke, who had made herself surrogate mother to virtually everyone in her group, couldn't hold this conversation now. She should have been angry at Merrill; doubly so because she knew what blood magic did to people. To her own people.
Idiot, the boring band-aid bath guy said. She's triggered as fuck right now and can't think straight.
"Your obsession with this mirror got you exiled from your people and turned you to blood magic," Fenris said flatly. "It's ruining your life. Let it go."
Hawke looked at him, and there was sadness there, and a bit of gratitude.
"Blood magic and exile were my choice! The eluvian had nothing to do with it!" Merrill maintained. She wandered around, resentful and angry. "You and the Keeper may not like it, but I chose this path with my eyes open," she said to Hawke.
"Merrill, when I took you to Kirkwall, I vowed to take care of you and keep you safe—" Hawke said.
"I'm not a child," Merrill said curtly. "I'm not asking for a puppy. I've trained my entire life to be a Keeper!" She turned to the lantern. "Everything I do, everything I've ever done was for the good of my people. Don't talk to me about responsibility!" She shook her head, looking down. "I can't believe—"
"I know what blood magic can do to people!" Hawke snapped, hand on her chest. "I've done it myself and it damn near destroyed me! It's not something you or I or anyone can just 'handle'!"
Fenris felt it in his heart. A serrated feeling of pain. There was hope, disappointment, and then utter terror. He felt he had had this fight before with someone.
"That's because you don't know how to wield it!" Merrill said, gesturing aggressively. "I have discipline. I know the in's and out's. I take measures."
"What measures?" Hawke said, scoffing.
"I only attempt to work on the mirror once a month, so there is little to no chance I fall to corruption," Merrill said, crossing her arms. "Only an idiot would use blood magic every day."
"You can micro-dose with blood magic as much as you want," Fenris said, very contained. "But sooner or later, it becomes an addiction, and you will be unrecognisable."
"I can't risk that…" Hawke said, shaking her head.
"Hawke, listen to me very carefully," Merrill said, staring into her eyes. "If you keep this away from me, you and I are done."
Hawke exhaled deeply through her nose, her hand trembling on the Arulin'Holm. She looked at him for a moment, a cornucopia of emotions on her face.
Fenris watched her, and he stopped breathing. He didn't give a shit what Merrill did. The sooner she destroyed herself and Hawke could stop babysitting a lost cause the better. But he knew Hawke too well now… Whatever decision she made in this moment, it was going to hurt her deeply, and he couldn't, simply couldn't allow that.
But him…? He could be the asshole. He already was one in Merrill's eyes.
He sat up and came in-between them, taking the Arulin'Holm. "You are a lost cause."
"Who in Elgar'nan's name do you think you are?" Merrill said irately.
"Fenris, this is not your decision," Hawke said flatly.
For fuck's sake.
"If you wish to keep consorting with demons and practising blood magic, Hawke cannot stop you," Fenris said. "But if you are going in this with eyes wide open, then you must recognise that a second pair of eyes to watch over you as you do it is warranted and necessary. For everyone's sake."
Hawke sank into her thoughts. "Yeah… let me watch over you as you do it. It's not just about you, Merrill. If Maker forbid you fall to corruption, this whole neighbourhood would be in danger. What about them?"
"Aren't they your people, too?" Fenris added. "Zath, Lia, Elren, Arianni…"
Merrill rubbed her forehead, looking down. "Fine… If you give me the Arulin'Holm, I will let you watch over me. You can strike the killing blow for all I care."
Hawke laughed nervously. "Yeah, totally. Just… kill you. No problem." She looked down, holding her forehead. "Maker, I'm just realising now this is why they don't encourage friendship between mages and templars."
"I don't care about her," Fenris said gruffly. "I will do it."
Merrill scoffed with crossed arms. "He's been waiting for that chance ever since he met me."
"No," Fenris said. He shrugged lazily, shaking his head. "Whether you live or die, makes no difference to me." He looked at Hawke. "I am perfect for the job and you know it. You won't have to live with any regrets this way."
Merrill looked at him, and for a moment, she looked like she was about to burst into laughter. "Oh, you two…"
"Killer combo, I know," Hawke said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She still looked conflicted, couldn't get a word out. "Ugh, I don't know…"
"You make all the hard decisions, all the time, and now faced with the 'moral abhorrence' that is myself, you are paralysed by indecision," Merrill said, very amused. "It's like Mythal when she couldn't judge the one who dared to fly as a dragon, so she made Elgar'nan do it instead."
"Well…" Hawke said, looking at Fenris with a raised eyebrow. "He can be an angry dickhead at times."
Fenris shrugged with crossed arms, very confident. "I am better than Elgar'nan. I offered."
Merrill looked like she wanted to kill him.
Noon, Anders's Clinic
Hawke and Fenris returned to Darktown, Merrill joining them as well. They tried Anders's door after they got out of the Black Emporium, but no one answered. The snoring however, clued them in.
The door opened this time. It was a young noblewoman looking out of her element. She had a blond bob haircut, a big blue bow on her head, and her flowery dress with a strap dangling down said: Thedas was built on elven breast milk.
Fenris made an audible sigh. "What are you wearing?" he said tiredly.
"What he said," Merrill said, frowning.
"What they said," Hawke said with half-lidded eyes.
"It's my new line!" the noblewoman said excitedly, making a pirouette. "We've got to spread awareness of the injustice elven slaves and servants have faced for a thousand years! All noble babies are essentially raised by elves." She looked at Hawke and Merrill. "I'm Bonnie, by the way."
"Hawke…"
Merrill didn't even want to open her mouth.
"Ohhh!" Bonnie said excitedly. "You two make a cute interracial couple."
"Thanks…?" Hawke said unsurely.
"How much?" Fenris asked flatly.
"Oh, this?" Bonnie said, looking down at herself. "Four sovereign. But I'll give you a discount, since you'd look dashing in it," she said, trying to hit him on the arm. Fenris moved away and looked unhappy. "I'm just kidding. Discount's for book club members."
"Book club?" Hawke said, raising an eyebrow.
"Book club," Fenris said flatly. He looked back at Bonnie. "That is way too expensive. You are just selling finery to your noble friends and capitalising on our oppression."
"Alright. What if I donate some of my designs?" the noblewoman said.
"To whom?"
"I don't know. To elves."
"You would look pretty in a social justice dress," Hawke teased him.
Fenris's face said it all. His notebook was going to say it even louder.
"If you want to help elves, do something real," Merrill said suddenly.
"Hey, I am doing something real!" Bonnie said defensively. "I'm learning. I go to the Alienage and audit Elven Lives Matter's seminars."
"Elven Lives Matter?" Fenris said, crossing his arms.
"They're a social justice movement," Hawke said.
"It's barely a movement," Merrill said with disappointment. "It started with three or four people when children in the Alienage were getting murdered by Kelder. They had a protest once when you were in the Deep Roads, and another while you two were sucking face in Orlais, then it all died down because of the terrorist attack."
"Hey, I support elves, but not terrorism, just so we're clear," Bonnie said.
"I'm pretty sure nobody supports terrorism, Bonnie," Fenris said grumpily.
"Hey…" Anders said, coming outside, looking quite dishevelled. They all but Bonnie looked at him strangely, putting two and two together.
"I thought you were going out with a Fereldan," Hawke said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Anders said, adjusting his coat. "That's just Bonnie."
"You are not taking advantage—" Fenris tried to say, but Bonnie stopped him.
"Calm down," she said, putting a palm up. "I got mine."
"Got what?" Merrill said suddenly, curtly. She was already having a bad day. "A little vacation in the ghettos 'learning' about our lives?"
"We will talk about this later," Fenris said with crossed arms.
"Alright…" Hawke said, a massive headache pounding in her head. "Hanged Man?"
Afternoon, The Hanged Man
"I was thinking," Hawke said at the big table, Fenris having an arm over her shoulder. "If this movement can gain momentum, we can totally back it up. Whoever started it must be interested in taking the elven rep position at the Keep, right? The Viscount said he'll basically take anyone I champion."
"Why would he do that?" Merrill said, frowning.
"No one wants the job, or probably even knows the position exists," Hawke said. "It used to be chaired by a human four years ago, but nothing ever since. When I found out, the Viscount basically gave me the job."
"And…?" Fenris said with sharp eyes, his hand about to grasp her pig-tail.
"And nothing. I didn't take it. It's not for a human to do."
"Champion me, then," Merrill said.
"Yeah, just champion Kitten," Isabela backed her up.
"You're a blood mage," Fenris said flatly. "You don't get to play politics."
"You're Dalish, Merrill," Hawke said softly. "This should be chaired by a city-born elf, who's lived in the Alienage their entire lives."
"Champion Elren, then," Fenris said. "He is strong and proud, and never shuts up about injustice. His daughter was put in grave danger and many Alienage children were murdered because of the neglect of the Guard and judicial corruption. He is perfect for it."
"You have a point…" Hawke said, thinking. "I would love to see the look on Magistrate Vanard's face when Elren takes a seat the table."
"Ah… nothing like a bit of justice to start off the day," Anders said, coming to the table with a drink.
"I didn't introduce you to Bonnie so you'd fuck her," Fenris said curtly.
"No? Why did you, then?" Anders said, drinking.
"I thought you wanted a girlfriend," Fenris said.
"I do," Anders said, rubbing his lips together. "I have my eye on Pheobe."
"So… what's your game? You sleep around because she won't?" Fenris said.
Hawke was completely confused. When did Fenris make more friends? He was acting very protective, too. It made no sense. Why? When did he have the time? What was this book club he was suddenly a part of? Ugh, he probably signed up out of spite when he found out she and Isabela had a smutty book club. But most importantly, why did he give a shit about a kinda-sorta racist noblewoman doing social justice the wrong way?
"I… have fun, so I don't act all desperate with Pheobe," Anders said, shrugging. He narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what your problem is."
Fenris grunted.
"She came to me."
"Whatever."
"So…" Hawke said, drawing circles on the table. Varric was taking a suspiciously long time in the loo, so she had to change the subject. "You're courting a fellow Fereldan?"
"Yes," Anders said proudly. "We have a lot of things in common."
"Great," Hawke said. "Can't wait to meet her."
"Soon, soon," Anders said assuredly. "I think I might win her over in no time."
"Yeah, you will," Isabela said sultrily.
"How?" Fenris said, squinting.
"I have my ways," Anders said, crossing his arms smugly. "Powerful panty-dropping ways."
"This, I have to hear," Isabela said, laughing.
"Yes, do tell, Lord Heartbreaker," Hawke said, amused.
"Ah, balls," Isabela said, seeing a group of mercenaries at the bar waiting for her. "One second. Don't start without me!"
They all looked at each other.
"So, powerful panty-dropping ways," Hawke said, shrugging.
"So, powerful panty-dropping ways," Anders said, putting his crossed arms on the table.
"This will be so bad. I can feel it," Merrill said, chuckling.
Anders held his palm open, as if for Hawke to take it.
"O… kay?" Hawke said, taking his hand across the table.
Anders looked deeply into her eyes and said, "Thousands of years ago, two lovers met in secret, for their love was forbidden. When their families found out, they broke them apart. They couldn't live without the other, so they decided if they couldn't be together in life, they would be in death. The spirits watched and cried so loudly, that they carried their souls up on their wings, and made them the two brightest stars in the sky, Nova and Lapis. So, each night, on their anniversary, the spirits come out of the Fade into the sky, holding each other and forming a bridge between the stars, so that Nova and Lapis can meet again."
"Aww…" Hawke said with sad eyes.
"That's enough…" Fenris said.
She took her hand away quickly and cleared her throat. "That's not panty-dropping, though," she said, leaning back in his embrace. "It's more…"
"Heart-warming," Merrill said with a smile.
"It's bullshit," Fenris said. "There are no stars in the sky called Nova nor Lapis."
"What are you, an astronomer?" Anders said, scoffing.
"He knows his stars," Hawke said, winking at Fenris.
"Hah. The spiky Tevinter has a soft side," Anders said with a shit-eating grin.
"Yeah, he does." Hawke put her head on Fenris's shoulder proudly, but his spikes dug into her neck. "Ish," she said, rubbing it.
"Silly me," Fenris said with a little smile, and snapped the strap so the shoulder pad dangled at the back.
"I'm back. What did I miss?" Isabela said, sitting down again.
"Literally nothing interesting," Fenris said.
Anders scoffed. "Hear this," he said. He did his 'method' on Isabela too, and her eyes were going at the back of her head.
Fenris laughed. "Not even heart-warming?"
"It's warming the inner lining of my stomach," Isabela said.
In the meantime, Fenris whispered to Hawke, "Happy?"
"Well… the soul-sucking hate has died down to something like brotherly banter, so I guess that's good enough for me," she whispered, shrugging.
"Good," he said, kissing her forehead. "I can't give you more than that."
"Oh, great. More PDA," Isabela said, rolling her eyes. "Have you no sympathy for my poor stomach?"
"No," Hawke and Fenris said.
"It's love season!" Anders said happily. "Hawke and Fenris. Aveline and Donnic. Me and Pheobe, fingers crossed."
"Did you tell her about Justice?" Fenris asked.
"That's… more of a seventeenth date kind of thing," Anders said, bringing his arms between his legs.
"She may even like it," Hawke said. "A kind of 'look what this spirit did for my people' kind of thing."
"I have treated virtually every Fereldan in Kirkwall at this point."
"What about the elves in the Alienage?" Merrill said.
"Hey, you send whoever you want my way," Anders said. "Unless they're a blood mage."
"Smart," Fenris said, holding out his fist.
Anders looked confused for a second, then fist-bumped him.
"That's like literally the first time I touched you," Anders said, snickering.
"Consensually, yes," Fenris said. "I remember a few times in the Deep Roads after the dragon you wouldn't understand the words, 'No, I do not want you to have a look at me'."
"I learned," Anders said, sighing. His eyelids twitched up. "Violently."
"I was knocked out at the time. What happened…?" Hawke said, worried.
"Relax. I just pushed him away," Fenris said. "I wasn't going to lyrium-rip the healer."
Anders flashed his eyebrows, looking down unconvinced. "Even though you wanted to."
Fenris made a fake smile. "Let's not dwell on the past, shall we?"
Merrill and Isabella squinted, hard.
"You're weird now…" Merrill said.
"Yeah, this is freaking me out... I'm gonna go…" Isabela said, taking her drink.
Hawke crossed her arms with a proud smile.
"Hey, uh…" Varric said, coming at the table and looking weirdly purple. "We breaking in the Gallows, or what? By the way, 'No' is a perfectly acceptable answer."
"We are," Hawke said.
"We are!" Anders said happily.
"We are?" Isabela said, raising an eyebrow.
"You will break into the restricted library, and gather any books on spirits or the Fade," Fenris said. He was so adamant for her to research her condition, it was equal parts sweet and annoying. She was building up a library she had no real interest in consuming, because to her, learning was done through the Fade. But to shut Fenris up and put his worries aside, she started searching the black markets. He was very happy to share the labour of reading.
"Please," Hawke said with a smile.
"Okay," Isabela said, squinting. "Why…?"
"Since the whole Feynriel debacle, we all need to be better prepared," Hawke said, resorting to a half-truth.
"Yeaaah…" Anders said, staring into nothingness. "That wasn't great."
"It was pretty terrible," Fenris said, a smirk building up on his face. "But, seeing Hawke demolish you remains a happy memory I hold dear to this day."
"Let's not dwell on the past, shall we?" Anders said, making his own fake smile.
Fenris nodded knightly. "Touché."
"Yeah, I think we're gonna go…" Isabela said, squinting hard.
"Oh, no. You're coming with me, missy," Hawke said, standing up. "Alright. Anders, check. Varric, check. Fenris, check. Isabela, check. Merrill? You wanna come?"
Merrill gave Fenris a look. "I've had enough templars for a day."
"We will see you in two weeks then," Fenris said, shrugging. "Unless you want to join my Divine Age campaign."
"Your what?" Anders said, raising an eyebrow.
"Role-playing game," Fenris said.
Anders gave Hawke a confused look. So did most of the others.
"Everyone's invited!" she said with open arms.
"I need to test it out," Fenris said, coming out of the table. "Who better to use as my guinea pigs than you lot?"
People seemed less confused now.