Author's Disclaimer: I don't own a thing belonging to "Dragon Age 2!" None of it.

Author's notes: And here we are in the three years of Isabela's absence. We're seeing how Hawke is handling it. Not very well at that. Let's give Merrill a chance to shine :P

Many thanks to CharlieBarrow for getting me into this series and helping make sure Merrill's lines were kept in character. All the thanks for your help as I've never played the game :P Some of Merrill's more cheeky moments, such as the "tits" area, were your idea :P Thanks again.

QueenTyzula: Enjoy :P this is a fun thing to get into!

"Catching the wind"

Chapter four "Merrill's Seduction"

Hawke was angry again.

Merrill followed the Champion of Kirkwall and at a good few paces behind. She had taken to offering her help whenever she saw Hawke, in hopes that abit of cheer would clear her mood. And Hawke HAD been in a mood ever since Isabela had vanished.

Anders was certain the Rivaini had just come to a nasty end at last at the hands of Castion or one of his underlings, but after a fervent search of the city, no remains or body had been found. Hawke had to concede that the pirate had merely left for the open sea. She had come and gone over the past few years, and finally, she had up and left Kirkwall for good it seemed.

A whole year had passed and no sign of Isabela. And the Champion of Kirkwall was angry about it.

At first, she had mourned, then she was bereft, then finally, angry. Merrill had seen all the stages. Every time she had seen her anguish, shoulders broad beneath her heavy armor, lines of stress pressed between her eyes.

Merrill wondered if she had decided to visit brothels to at least alleviate her bodily needs. When she woke in her hut now, hand between her thighs, she wondered how the alpha was doing, her mind going over Hawke's curves and lines.

Merrill bit her lip and caught up. She took hold of Hawke's shoulder.

"Just for abit, Hawke. You don't have to come over if you don't want to," Merrill said cheerily. Her heart lightened as Hawke's eyes shifted guiltily.

"Just abit. I hope your neighbor isn't "borrowing" your wine still." Hawke's tone was heavy. Merrill was too trusting and even when people acted against her, the elf took it cheerily in stride. Hawke told her to seek out a soldier or guardsman if her neighbor stole from her again, but Merrill never did. She claimed she didn't have to. Hawke didn't want to have to worry about her; but Merrill was just too naïve sometimes!

"Oh, he's not! I'm out of wine," Merrill said cheerily. "Maybe we should buy some?"

Hawke grunted. "If you need to…" She waited as Merrill bought a bottle from a street vendor. The odd vagrant scampered out of the Champion's way as they entered Merrill's rough neighborhood.

Merrill opened her hut's door, humming under her breath. Hawke waited, giving a sharp look to a few scoundrel-looking people down the street. "There! Come on in, Hawke!"

Hawke sidled in, and made sure to latch and lock the wooden door behind her. Merrill straightened up a few odds and ends from her small table and Hawke sat opposite.

"It's…cozy." Hawke gave a small smile. "Just like I remember it."

"Oh, you're too kind. I only showed you my place when I moved in. You helped me find it," Merrill smiled. Her green eyes positively shone as she poured wine into two glasses and offered one to the Champion. Hawke sipped politely, transfixed despite herself. Merrill was cute for a Dalish elf, but when she smiled, she positively shone. It was refreshing, given her dark days as of late.

"I did," Hawke said. "So, why ask me over? If you feel unsafe walking these streets in the Alienage, just say the word; a guardsman can walk you to your door."

"Maybe I feel safer with you." Merrill's attempt at teasing put a blush on her own face instead. How DID Isabela do it so effortlessly? She made teasing second nature. Hawke leaned back in her chair, armor heavy upon her shoulders.

"I guess you do," she said. Hawke let the words roll off her shoulders. Merrill was just being cute as ever. At least she wasn't fawning over her. No one had ever told her the Champion would have so many fan boys and girls.

By and by, the conversation went a weird bend. Hawke blinked in surprise as Merrill tried her hand at flirting. It came off so stiff that Hawke was certain she was misreading things. They were merely friends. But when Merrill made to pull off her heavy over tunic, and got stuck in the neck of it, Hawke helped her pull the article of clothing up and over her head. Clad in a simple under shift put her small breasts on display. Hawke was startled to feel a twinge of interest between her legs at the sight.

Merrill made to cover herself with her hands. Her nipples were erect beneath the thin shift. Just as Hawke was politely averting her eyes, Merrill decided to follow a line of advice from Isabela. 'If all else fails, just slap your tits in their face!'

Blushing, Merrill stood on her tiptoes, arms coiling around Hawke's neck. The Champion froze, blinking in surprise. "What's all this?" she asked. Taking a stab at courage, Merrill pulled her face low, against her breasts covered by the faintest of shifts.

"I-I thought you'd want to get a closer look!" Okay, her lines really sucked. Hawke's exhale of surprise made her nipples stiffen. Warmth throbbed between her legs.

Hawke's gloved hands were at her waist and she firmly pushed her back, straightening her.

"I didn't think you had a thing for me." All of Merrill's ham-handed attempts earlier came back. So, it was flirtation on her part; it was just done so clumsily it went right over Hawke's head.

"Oh, not that bad…. we're friends. Good friends. And I think of you, wondering if you're doing alright…. or if you're….. I'm babbling again. Sorry," Merrill stuttered.

Hawke sat back down at the table, shoulders hunched. "It's flattering, I guess. But so many people want me. It does get old."

"Does it? I would think you'd be happy so many want to share your bed. A Champion's bed," Merrill's eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Right," Hawke agreed.

"Have you…slept with anyone else, since…?" Merrill didn't say Isabela's name but Hawke's eyes narrowed at the near mention. "Unless….unless you don't like other people's beds? Do they have itchy sheets?" Merrill made a gesture to her small bed frame in the corner. "My sheets can be terribly itchy, so I mostly go without them, though it does get awfully cold at night…."

Hawke blinked at Merrill's last outburst of thoughts. "Whether I have or not isn't something to bring up," she said tactfully. Merrill gave a nod.

"Well, if you had, I don't think anyone would blame you. It has been awhile since…." Merrill bit her tongue to keep off the topic. Hawke was downright brooding. The elf cleared her throat. "Do you want to take off your armor? You could stay awhile…. with me….. if you wanted."

Hawke's eyebrow raised high. "It hasn't been THAT long for me," she insisted. And indeed, she had shagged a random beta male the other night. It was unfulfilling for Hawke, even if she had come. The recipient wasn't who she wanted it to be.

"Do you feel unsafe? I could stay awhile, I suppose…" Hawke was wondering if she should ask Merrill if she wanted to stay at a room at her family's estate. There was plenty of room, but Merrill was so independent, she could say no. Well, as independent as an elf could be. There was so much clutter around her hut, and her sheets were unfolded on the aforementioned bed.

Hawke's cheeks burned as she tried not to imagine Merrill naked in the sheets, trying to catch a cool breeze on a hot summer's night. "How are you getting on? Are you even eating, Merrill? You look downright thin."

Merrill folded arms across her small breasts. "I AM a Dalish, Hawke! We tend to be on the small side."

"If your neighbors are stealing from you again, you need to tell me. I can protect you," Hawke insisted. Merrill blushed, shaking her head. Her short hair flew with the gesture.

"They aren't! I promise…."

"Where is your coin then? Have you given all of it away to the beggars of the Alienage?" Hawke's mind was going over ways to protect her friend, when Merrill tried something different.

Her hands pressed along the inside of Hawke's sleeve, touching the bare flesh of her forearms. Hawke stopped talking as Merrill explored the muscles of her arms with a thoughtful blush on her face. Hawke saw her trying, reaching for her, and decided to go with the moment.

It may be a more fun experience to go for someone who was a friend and knew her than one of her many fandom. Merrill tugged at the fastenings of her shoulder armor and Hawke helped shrug it off. Shoulders lighter, she leaned back in her chair as Merrill fussed over her tunic, pushing up her sleeves to grip and feel her musculature. Hawke's eye made out Merrill's lithe subtle curves beneath her shift. She WAS thin, much too thin for some tastes, but Hawke saw only desire in her.

Merrill gasped when Hawke grasped her elbows, and tugged her onto her lap. Hawke could feel her shift happening under Merrill's squirming. She spread her knees wide, allowing it to happen. The surprised gasp against her cheek made Hawke smirk in her head. Merrill slung her arms around Hawke's neck, a blush staining her pale features.

"I….I…." she began, for once at a loss for words. Hawke dove right in. One hand behind Merrill's neck urged her mouth closer. Merrill started, but her lips parted and Hawke dove further into the kiss, stroking her tongue inside her mouth. Hawke was pleased when Merrill slung her arms around her neck and got comfortable in her lap. Her shift certainly wasn't complaining. Merrill gasped prettily against her lips, feeling the urgent protrusion of her flesh.

Hawke rose to her feet, easily lifting the thin elf in her arms. A neat swipe of one hand tore her shift off and Merrill was naked. The elf blushed prettily, trying to cover herself with one arm. Hawke gently urged her arm aside. She bent her head low to taste the small curves open to the cool air. Merrill's gasps as she pulled one nipple, then the other, between her lips was arousing to say the least.

Merrill's hands awkwardly pushed at her clothing, and Hawke paused to help. Off went her tunic, her gloves tossed aside. She toed off her boots. Hawke had to admit, pulling all her clothes off was a plus for sex. She'd only gotten Isabela to like it recently before…. No, don't think about it.

As Hawke unlaced her trousers and tugged them low, Merrill's high gasp was music to her ears. The elf's attention was between her legs, staring at her shifted flesh. Hawke rolled her shoulders and preened, giving a grin to the stunned elf. Merrill's hand was between her thighs, trying to pour more wetness from herself. It had been awhile for her and Hawke was…well, substantial. Much larger than the average Dalish alpha.

At that moment, as Hawke stepped closer to the bed, bare flesh open, Merrill's mouth formed more nervous words. "I…. wow….I saw it before…after well….after….the attack….but it's even bigger than then!"

Hawke's eyebrow raised. Was Merrill merely rambling again or had she somehow seen her naked and shifted before? After the attack from the Arishok? How? "Uhm…."

Instead of ruining the moment, Merrill took the initiative to slide off of the bed onto her knees. Hawke started in surprise as small hands pressed against her hips, holding her still. A hot wet mouth took her head and the first few inches of her erection with gusto and Hawke's eyes rolled back in surprise and pleasure.

Her fingers tangled in Merrill's short hair. The elf's technique was abit slow, and she struggled to engulf her shaft with her mouth. The base was throbbing and Hawke was startled to feel her knot grow rapidly. Merrill touched it with slender fingers, a blush staining her cheeks. Hawke gave an experimental thrust of her hips, gently nudging her erection further down Merrill's throat. The elf tried to keep up, blushing horribly.

Hawke waited, erect, as Merrill brought her mouth off, and wiped her lips delicately with the back of a slender wrist.

"You must want more than that…that I can give you….if you'll have me…" Merrill's words slowed as Hawke helped her stand. An arm slung low around her waist, the Champion lowered the elf to her bed. Merrill's knees spread on reflex and she waited, upraised on her elbows as Hawke climbed onto the bed after her. Hawke had to admit, she didn't think anyone of her friends would want her in this way. She had lived and seen only Isabela for so long that….no, don't think about her. Damn her!

The high gasp Merrill gave against her ear as she fell into waiting arms was worth it. The elf's bare flesh felt good against her own, and Hawke ground against her wetness, trying to loosen up the elf. Merrill was just so thin…. And entering her took quite abit of time. Merrill was sweating profusely under her, face bright red as she panted for breath. And only the first inch past the head was inside her.

Hawke banished the memory of sliding into Isabela's wet cave aside. She always blossomed open for her and took her strongly. The comparison was strange, and Hawke told herself to banish the thought. Merrill was beneath her, not Isabela, and she was having a hard time of it getting her inside.

Hawke set her lips to Merrill's upturned throat and gently sucked as her hand stole between their bodies. Her fingers pinched and rolled the elf's clit gently in waves and Merrill slowly opened, wet folds burning around the inch Hawke had buried inside. By and by, Merrill urged her on with her feet along the back of her calves and Hawke knew it was okay to press on.

She still kept the pace slow, congratulating herself on her new-found stamina. Isabela had worked so hard on stoking it up…. damn it, stop thinking about her!

Merrill gasped prettily against her cheek when Hawke nudged the end of the elf's limit. She stole a glance down between their bodies as her hips gave a powerful thrust, slow and languid. Merrill had taken her up to near the base, but there was still a good half inch to the base, and her throbbing knot. Hawke felt a flash of guilt. If this was what the elf could take of her, she would have to go slow. She didn't want to hurt her.

But Merrill was burning around her, thighs trembling around her waist. "Please, Hawke, I know I'm not …her….but could you?..."

"Yes…." Passion coiled in Hawke's belly, and she pulled back slowly, guiding her length back inside to the limit. Merrill's thighs shook around her and she cried out. Hawke set her face against the elf's shoulder as her hips worked slowly, guiding her stiffness in and out as firmly, and slowly as she could manage. She wasn't in danger of spilling her seed, and she did want to make it good for Merrill. The cries and moans she pulled from the elf's throat told Hawke she was doing a more than passing job of giving passion instead of just taking it

Her knot throbbed heavy, and yearned to be encased in slippery wet heat. But Hawke grit her teeth and continued her maddeningly slow thrusts. Merrill was just too small. Knotting was out of the question. But watching Merrill gasp and moan beneath her, small breasts bobbing as she writhed beneath her stoked Hawke's ego.

Her lover may have left her for good, but she could still make another feel so good….. And Isabela was probably screwing the first alpha she met anyway. Hawke growled silently, and pumped her hips abit more forcefully. Merrill cried out, enjoying the friction. Hawke buried her face in her shoulder, enjoying the slippery wet strokes.

"Hawke….yes….Hawke!" Merrill muttered against her head. Hawke grinned, and continued her slow pace. She knew when the elf came undone, clutching her tightly, and crying out. Hawke took her lips in a swift kiss, body draped atop hers and holding her down. Merrill clung to her muscular frame, sobbing with relief. Her thighs shook around Hawke's hips as she shuddered.

Hawke wondered if she was hurting her now, for Merrill's whole body was shaking. "Should I…?" Hawke asked. Sweat plastered her dark hair to her forehead.

Merrill touched her face with both palms beneath her. Her green eyes shone with a touch more adoration than usual. Hawke's heart sank, but she was transfixed. "But…you haven't come yet…you can, you know. I want you to." Merrill's babbling took on a hopeful twinge.

Hawke wanted to come badly. She wanted to pound away in Merrill and fuck her frustrations away. But while it felt good inside her, she couldn't go as crazy on her as Isabela would have liked it of her. Damn her!... Hawke gave a wavery smile and tugged out. She had to go slow, for Merrill's walls clung to her, making her grit her teeth at the friction.

When Hawke pulled out, cock still erect and painted with their juices, Merrill sat up suddenly, ignoring her body. She pushed Hawke back against the pillows. Surprise lit up the Champion's face.

"What…"she began.

Merrill leaned up and kissed her longingly. "I want to make you feel good too….you were so good inside me…."

Hawke blushed as the elf slid between her legs, and took her cock in her mouth. Merrill's hands wrapped around her knot, massaging and gripping firmly as she engulfed as far down her length as she could. Hawke's hands twisted in the sheets. They may have been a touch scratchy, as Merrill had said, but Hawke didn't care.

Not when she was so close, not when Merrill was applying just the right amount of suckling along her length, hands massaging her knot… Hawke grunted as her orgasm wrenched through her middle, slamming hot come into Merrill's mouth. The elf brought her mouth off in surprise and a few jets spilled onto her face. Hawke gasped for breath, stomach muscles tightening. Merrill gripped her hips and engulfed her again, sucking as much out of her as she could give.

In the end, it was just simply too much. Hawke's knot strained, and her cock surged, spilling more and more of her seed across her thighs, Merrill's face, and the scratchy sheets. Merrill wiped her mouth with the sheets and carefully cleaned her off, face in a red blush. Hawke leaned back on her elbows, cock falling between her legs. She struggled to catch her breath.

Merrill continued cleaning her up thoughtfully, a blush staining her pale features. She would take Hawke's thunderous breathing as a compliment. Hawke raised an eyebrow when the skinny elf stole into her arms, pressing into her torso.

"I thought that was enough for you," Hawke teased. Merrill smiled up into her face.

"It was, I just….thought you needed a hug. Everyone likes to be held, ya know," she said. Hawke stroked her hand up and down Merrill's back thoughtfully.

"Thanks, Merrill…."

"If you…ever wanted to do it again…you know where to find me," Merrill stammered. Hawke gave her a slow smile.

End for now

End notes; And Merrill takes Isabela's sex advice….to land her ex-lover! Bad Merrill :P Stop being so cute. Like it, smash that button and do that review thing!

Sincerely, pen

7/31/2017