Hawke scowled as she stormed through the door to the Hanged Man. She didn't understand why Anders wouldn't catch a hint. She attempted to be just friendly with her fellow mage, thinking that he knew about her and Varric, yet he would stare after her with that lovesick look. Dragging a hand through her short dark hair, she scanned the bar, looking for Varric.
Not seeing him at their usual table, she made her way towards the stairs, headed for his room. Seeing the glow of lantern light under his door, Hawke smiled. Not even bothering to knock, she opened the door, finding Varric where she expected him to be, bent over his desk, working away at the newest installment of Hard in Hightown.
With a sly smile on her face, she walked silently, using the Rogue tricks Varric had taught her over the years. At first, she didn't understand why he had insisted on teaching her when they first met, but looking back, it had come in handy hiding from Templars if she could leave her staff behind for the daggers Varric had taught her to use.
Grinning wider, Hawke waited until Varric had moved his fountain pen to get more ink before covering his eyes with her hands, making sure to avoid his glasses. With a smile of his own, Varric set the pen down, pulled off his glasses, and leaned back in his chair, already knowing the only person who would dare walk behind him and cover his eyes,
"Hawke, have fun with Broody, Daisy and Red?" Pouting a little, Hawke let her hands fall, moving just enough so that Varric could push his chair away from the desk, allowing her to slip into his lap. "What good are all these rogue tricks you showed me if you always know it's me?" Chuckling, Varric wrapped his arm around her, "You're the only one who would think to surprise me like this, Beautiful, it's easy to know it's you."
Laying her head on his shoulder, Hawke could only smile. "To answer your question, when is cleaning out the Bone Pit of dragonlings ever fun? Especially without you by my side, quips as fast as bolts from Bianca?"
"You know I would have rather been there, but the Merchant's Guild demanded I actually appear today. Now, I can tell something's bothering you Beautiful, what's going on in your head?"
Sighing, Hawke closed her turquoise eyes, laying her head on Varric's shoulder. Never in her life before meeting him, had she been glad for being shorter than the average human woman. Sitting with Varric, her height meant she wasn't twisted at an odd angle. Gathering her thoughts, Hawke finally started talking. "It's just Anders again, I've always told him that I only want to be his friend, I know he's seen us together, we've never hidden anything from anyone, yet he still looks at me with these lovesick eyes. Even Carver, Maker-blunt in the way of emotions, Carver mentioned it."
Sighing, Hawke snuggled further into Varric's neck, not wanting to think of the friend who wouldn't catch a hint. Shaking his head, Varric ran a hand through her hair, speaking calmly. "Blondie will eventually catch on Beautiful, he'll see that you've been leaving him behind more on missions, and he'll stop." Smiling up at him, Hawke found herself hoping it would be so.
"Want to go see if Corff has any actually drinkable ale and if we can make some more coin off of our friends in Wicked Grace?" With another smile, Hawke stretched her back, moving to get up so they could do just that. Before she could leverage herself from the chair, Varric caught her by the back of the neck, pulling her in for an intense kiss. When they finally pulled apart for air, he had a smug look on his face. "If Blondie is down there and sees us come down, there won't be any questions as to what happened up here."
With a smirk of her own, Hawke kissed him again, making sure to mess up his hair and wrinkle his shirt a little. "I know you don't like leaving the room looking less than your best love, but just imagine their faces if we come down looking disheveled." With a look in his eye that promised trouble, Varric pulled her in yet again, making sure that it was her hair and clothes that looked mussed this time.
Luckily for him, ever since he began training her, Hawke had abandoned her mage robes for a set of leather armor in the field, and usually one of his shirts otherwise. He had swiftly popped the first couple buttons that she usually had done all the way up, creasing the collar and making her hair stand up even more than it usually did.
With sly grins shared between them, the couple finally stood, Varric blowing out the lantern before they left the room to find their friends. As they descended the stairs, the two grinned at each other, already imagining the looks on their friends' faces. Finally coming into the main area of the bar, they looked for any of their usual compatriots, surprisingly finding all of them, even Aveline, at their usual table.
They couldn't help but laugh when the looks on their friends' faces were exactly what they expected. Fenris was completely unfazed, not even looking up from his mug when they reached the table. Aveline looked horrified that someone would willingly walk into public with their hair and clothes that messed up. Merril was grinning like a loon, just happy for her friends, and Isabella looked like that cat that caught the canary. Sebastian had put his face in his hands, most likely praying to the maker for their souls. Carver merely shook his head, used to his sister's antics by now. The reaction that surprised them all was Anders. The Apostate's face twisted into a broken, almost betrayed look, before he merely stood up and exited the bar without saying a word.
Anders' mind was clouded as he made the trip from the Hanged Man back to his clinic. He sifted through every interaction he had ever had with Hawke, wondering if he had missed something, or if she had just led him on and played with his feelings. He was nowhere closer to figuring things out when he collapsed onto a bed in the clinic, he only had the time to toss his staff in the corner and divest himself of his coat before Justice was pulling him into his own mind, forcing a meeting.
Anders kept his head bent, even as he found himself in front of his spirit friend. Justice glowered at the mage before him, wondering how the man had been so blind all of these years when even the spirit could see that Hawke's heart belonged to another. Shaking his head, Justice placed his hand on Ander's shoulder, forcing the mage to see what he had made himself miss over the years. Anders' head jerked up, finally seeing behind the wool he had pulled over his own eyes. All these years, he had stood there, staring after Hawke, wanting something she had never even hinted at. He finally saw how all of the moments he had assumed were her flirting with him, were really just her being a good friend. He saw all the little moments between her and Varric that he had made himself ignore.
The times where she had jumped at learning rogue techniques, even though as a mage she didn't need a conventional weapon. The terrified look on her face every time the Dwarf took even a single hit in a fight, and the corresponding look on his face when she did. The small glances between the two when the group made camp, always sat close by the fire, her head on his shoulder, hands laying together. Shaking his head, Anders softly thanked Justice before pulling himself back to the waking world.
Shaking his head once more, he quickly threw his coat back on, brushing a few feathers flat again before grabbing his staff and heading towards the door. Now that he had seen the error of his ways, he knew he had to apologize. After Justice made him see the truth, he could also see how uncomfortable he had made Hawke, every time he stared after her as she walked away.
Anders slowed as he reached the door to the Hanged Man, anxiety making him pause. Now that he could see how uncomfortable he had made the woman who was one of the best friends he had ever had, he wondered if he would even be welcome at the table anymore. Violently shaking the thought from his mind, he reminded himself that he had still been welcome even when he had the wool so closely over his eyes.
With a deep breath, Anders opened the door, smiling a little when he saw his friends exactly where he had left them. Walking cautiously, Anders approached the table, still a little worried that they would send him away. He let loose a breath of relief when Hawke greeted him with the same smile she always used.