Varric had convinced Hawke to come stay with him for a few days. Give her back a glimpse of normalcy that she once had in Kirkwall. All of that included pints at the Hanged Man... err, newly reformed Hanged Man. It'd lost a lot of its allure during the fighting between the mages and Templars. Still, it was the beginning of what made their friendship so special.
He'd even convinced Hawke to walk down to the alienage to see all the great work Merrill had done there. With how fast news spread about Solas and Fen'harel – she was surprised to still see as many elves as he did living peacefully there. Merrill had started her own clan right there in Lowtown, giving the elven peace of mind.
"Merrill did all of this?" Hawke couldn't hide the disbelief in her tone. The elves living peacefully among the people here in Kirkwall? Had she ever truly left the fade? Lowtown had really changed, for the better it seemed. Varric swore it had everything to do with Merrill coming back to Kirkwall and less of his being viscount, but a lot of the people in Kirkwall had accused him of favoritism among the people. Hawke continued to make her way through the alienage, the merchants that had set up shop and smiled, again in disbelief; this time mixed with an emotion an older sister would have for her younger. "Does she know about Solas?" Of course she did, who didn't at this point?
"I think she took the news worse than the Inquisitor – and she was in love with him." Varric vehemently let out before leading the way down an alley. "Daisy will be alright though. How are you holding up? Been pretty quiet today."
"Are you keeping tabs Varric?"
"Can't an old dwarf just be curious about a friend?"
Hawke grimaced at the thought before noticing that they'd walked all the way back to the Hanged Man. Had the alienage really spread that far into town? Once inside the old building, she propped her feet up on a table and smiled to herself. This was nice.
"I ever tell you about the time the Inquisitor and I..."
Before he could get out another word the door came swinging open and a tall stocky ginger haired woman came walking straight through it. Behind the woman was someone Hawke quickly recognized as Ser Donnic. "Aveline. I know you're ups.."
"Upset? You think I'm upset? Leave Kirkwall without a word, Sure, I'm upset. Follow Anders all throughout Ferelden without contact with any of us, yes. I was upset. Reading Fenris' letter about how he lost your tail – yes, upset. Hearing you almost died, again upset. Finding out from that scum Gamlen that you've been back in town for nearly a months time?" Aveline leaned in and gave a look of disappointment. "I'm livid Hawke."
"I accept that." There wasn't much else Hawke could offer as an apology, but she gave it her best go at it and followed up with several more rounds of ale as the night progressed.