A/N: I want to thank all my readers and reviewers for spurring me onward!

Special thanks go out to my native PR and it's sweltering weather and how It compares to other places. I too have been the odd duck happy to be in 85 degree weather while everyone else is becoming puddles all around me. ~Penguin Regina

Tevinter

"Fenris it's sweltering! How can you wear all that armor all the time?" Hawke looked at me askance. The trip up to Sundermount had been long and tiresome under the summer sun, but to me the temperature was just right. We had just made camp on one of the flat outcroppings on the mountain path the Dalish hunters sometimes used as camp grounds. Tomorrow would be another full day of battling oversized spiders and who knows what inside the caves, but for now we were resting. Everyone looked peeked, especially Anders, whose stupid feathers pauldrons positively drooped on his shoulders.

I shrugged and kept sharpening my sword, but my sweaty companions apparently had nothing better to concentrate on.

"It's been a very sunny day. I don't ever remember the mountain being this warm at this altitude before. If we were with the clan, we would be mostly undressed by now." Merrill added, unasked.

Anders looked close to fainting. Hawke had removed most of her armor and Merrill seemed about ready to make good on her promise of nudity.

"Well, it's not an elven trick, if Merrill is hot too. So, what's the secret Fenris?" Hawke asks me as she fans herself with a bit of cloth.

I sigh before answering. "I'm from Seheron, Hawke. This is like a mild spring day there. Even in Minrathous, the temperature is much warmer than it generally gets in Kirkwall." I shrug again."If you must know, I'm usually cold. This is the kind of temperature I prefer."

Hawke's mouth forms a silent 'o' at the information. Anders snorts and begins to rip off his pauldrons, finally giving up on battling the temperature. Merrill has been surreptitiously taking off her armor. She's now in just a light shirt and leggings. She splashes herself with some water from her canteen. She offers a bit to Anders who nods enthusiastically.

"You never talk about Tevinter. Do you miss anything from home?" Hawke asks more quietly as she mops her neck with her kerchief. I kind of like how she looks when she glistens like that.

"Home? I wouldn't go so far as to call Tevinter home. It's the place I suppose I was born in and where I escaped from. The weather is warm and the vegetation is lush. Otherwise I can't say I would recommend it." I respond without much heat. I presume she must still think of Ferelden as home and probably assumes the same for me.

"At least they have less barbaric ideas about mages there. That's something for Tevinter, even if it's bloody roasting all the time!" Anders butts in gracelessly.

I start feeling the heat now, but it has nothing to do with the weather. It had been going too long without his smart mouth going off. Why couldn't Hawke have dragged along Isabela or Varric instead? I tighten my grip on my sword and try to ignore him. I cut my eyes at him and he smirks at me.

"That is the most ignorant, short-sighted. idiotic thing I have heard you say in a long time Anders!" Hawke barks at him. For once, Anders and I react the same.

"To say that a corrupt, slave-driven abusive nation like Tevinter is superior because it allows its mages to indulge in any magical perversion rather than have some regulations is beyond offensive! I would kill Bethany with my own hands before I saw her become a monster like Danarius!" Hawke is now flushed with anger, the rag in her hands is twisted into a knot. I would gladly recreate that knot with Anders throat if she said the word.

My heart melts a little with every insult she tosses at Anders. When did she switch over to my side?

Anders must be wondering the same. "So has this wild animal convinced you that everything about magic is evil? Now you are being narrow minded! I just mean that mages there have freedoms that we can't even imagine in the south!" His eyes flash blue as his demon is attracted by the conflict.

I tighten my grip on my sword. If he so much as flicks a finger at Hawke, his head is coming off.

Luckily, that's when Merrill, all good intentions and no forethought, burst into the exchange. "Goodness, you all certainly have very spirited conversations about the weather. I can't say I've ever had such an exciting time with such a bland topic before! What can we talk about now? Oh! I know, how about the unreasonable closing of the viscount's garden to the public? Everyone should be allowed in there, don't you think?"

Anders takes control of himself and I see his eyes are brown again before he stalks off into the bushes. Hawke is still simmering, but carefully unfurls her rag on her knee before she faces Merrill. I am dumbstruck by what has just happened.

Seeing as Hawke is unable to answer, I pitch in. "I guess they should be open to the public. I believe it's city funds that maintain them. They are quite nice...in a floral sort of way." I finish lamely.

Merrill flashes me a smile and nods contentedly, looking at Hawke to see if this will also bring about another heated argument. Her face darkens some as her 'hot topic' falls short. She shrugs and wanders off to find Anders.

Momentarily alone with Hawke, I have to say something, but she beats me to it. "I'm sorry I brought up Tevinter. I'm sorry about Anders and I'm sorry I brought the whole thing up..." she shudders as her body starts releasing the tension.

I tentatively touch her hand. "Thank you for understanding, I didn't know you had absorbed quite so much...Thank you for understanding." I say huskily.

"Let's not talk about Tevinter anymore." She says ,her usual good humor returning little by little.

I nod and remove my hand. 'Yes, let's not. 'Tis an awful place."