A/N: from here on out the story is going to be told in third person. Its a lot easier and more believable to write it this way.
It was only after the dragon flew away that they noticed somebody was gone. Hawke remembered seeing Nero leave the cavern with them but he did not recall seeing him since. And so they spent more than an hour searching and calling his name just outside of the cavern before Varric said that he found footprints over top of their footprints, leading in the opposite direction.
There was more concern than irritation as to why Nero had left before them, this being the first time the sort-of-elf showed any signs of being unreliable. They trail disappeared before they reached the Dalish camp and spoke to the Keeper Marethari, so Hawke sent Isabela, Varric and Fenris on to see if the trail picked up. The sun was setting when Hawke, Bethany, and Merril were leaving the camp and they came across Varric; he informed them that Isabela and Fenris had gone ahead when they picked up the trail again. If either of them found Nero they promised to bring him to the hanged man.
When Isabela and Fenris arrived back in Kirkwall they made their way to the mansion, silently passing by men lighting lamps in the streets and merchants closing their stalls.
"You have been uncharacteristically quiet." Fenris mentioned to Isabela, "One would almost think that you were actually worried."
"Of course I am! He is a good lay, and I cannot find him." She laughed, "what an inconvenience."
Fenris snorted and they continued in silence until they reached the estate. They came across the mess in his room and shared grim looks but did not comment on it. Upon searching the mansion they found an empty bottle in the yard, but no signs of Nero.
"Maybe he is at the Hanged Man?" Fenris suggested.
Isabela furrowed her brows in concern, "I doubt it, but I'll look. You should stay here in case he returns. Try not to maim him too badly, it would be an injustice to the world if you ruined that gorgeous face."
Fenris rolled his eyes and headed up to his suite. Leaving Isabela chuckling as she left the estate. On her way to the hanged man she made sure to look down alleyways and almost took the initiative to ask a couple of people if they had seen him, but decided against it despite the cold concern she felt in her chest. In an attempt to smother these feelings she forced herself to draw up memories of Nero naked, naked and moaning, naked and pleading, getting naked, partially naked...she chuckled in spite of herself. I do hope he has found his way to my room, what a perfect end to the day it would be to walk in on a very naked man pleasuring himself on my bed, mmmm...
Hiccups interrupted her thoughts and she glanced over to an empty stall that usually sold bread. She did not place the source of the hiccup until another one sounded. It was only then she noticed the person leaning against the leg of the table, facing the wall, a tangled wreckage of black hair covering his face.
"Nero?" despite being a frequent drinker herself she still had to force herself not to recoil from the harsh smell of rum that assaulted her senses as she approached the languid form. She had to say his name a few more times before she got a reaction in the form of him turning his head to look in her direction, his glassy gaze taking a lot longer than necessary before it could focus on her.
"Is...Isabe...*hiccup*...Izzy?" he slurred as he shifted his position to face her, and then he smiled a big toothy grin and held his arms out as if for a hug, "Izzy! T'is you! You lerft ...hiskaayy...I founded it and it tasteseses " he giggled as he held up the mostly empty bottle, "irt tastes gerd, yoo shud 'ave sum!"
"Maybe in a bit, I should probably take you to the hanged man. Try not to vomit on my shoes." Isabela tsked, she took the bottle from his hand and helped him up. He stumbled and put his arm around her shoulders, humming a tune, as she dragged him towards the tavern. She took note of the deep scrapes and dried blood on one of his hands, when she inspected it more she found another gouge on his palm. "what did you do to yourself, Nero?" she mumbled, but he didn't reply. His hair seemed less gory than before, but there were shards of wood in it and it was a tangled mess gathered into a poor excuse for a pony tail.
When she got him to the hanged man she put him in a chair at the table of Varric's suite where he immediately put his head in his arms and groaned. Isabela chuckled, a wry smile on her face, "all that rum is finally getting to you, is it?"
She heard a muffled 'no' before Nero raised his head again, "is juss too bright in here. Hurts me eye, it does."
"What's wrong with your eye?"
"Nuffink, is juss drunk!" He laughed.
Shaking her head slowly Isabela turned towards the door saying "I'm going to get you some water...and something to eat. Stay here."
At the bar she had to settle for some of the tavern's leftover bread from lunchtime, the cook was out for the night and that was all they had. So she asked for a pitcher of water to be brought up to Varric's room and, after eyeballing the bottle of rum in her hand added "gimme a shot glass too, I think I'm going to need it."
By the time Hawke and Varric arrived from dropping Merrill off at her new home in the alienage Isabela was fairly tipsy and had switched over to ale after she drank the remaining rum. Nero was sobering up although he was still having a hard time convincing the world to stop spinning. The empty bottle and plate lay in the center of the table and Isabela had herself laying half across it, giggling as she tried to wrap Nero's wounded hand.
"Nero, good to see you alive, what happened to you today?" Hawke asked, settling himself in to the chair beside Isabela. When he realized what she was trying to do he took over for her, despite her protests that she could do it. "What happened to your hand?" he added.
Nero met Hawkes gaze with a guilty expression. "I apologize Hawke, the Dalish girl, she reminded me of things...I needed to get away. I should have said something to someone, but I didn't think to at the time." Although still slurring his words a bit, Nero was making an obvious effort to speak clearly, and he nodded in thanks when Hawke tied off the bandage, "I tripped on the way back, it doesn't hurt at least."
"I think the more pertinent question here," Varric interrupted, walking behind Nero to sit at the head of the table "Is why there is a bunch of hair on the floor."
"That was me!" Isabela said cheerfully, "Nero's head was a birds nest, so I set the little birdies free." She giggled.
"Isabela, are you drunk?" Hawke laughed, taking her drink from her he took a sip and cocked an eyebrow at her "from...is this ale form the bar? How much did you have to drink of that to get this drunk?"
"I drank it 'cause the rum is gone!" she chuckled, snatching her mug back and taking a long drink.
"Sorry about the floor Varric, we tried to clean it up as best we could, but I'm still pretty drunk myself. I also couldn't convince her to wait till tomorrow to do it" Nero offered with an apologetic smile.
Varric shrugged, "its alright. That you've been drinking does explain why you would let her go near your head with something sharp in her hand." he laughed.
"Does it look ok? I haven't seen it yet, although she keeps assuring me that it's a 'masterpiece'."
"Actually, it's not bad." Hawke said as he eyed the man's shorter hair. Nero's black locks were now cut into a bit of a shag. Because it was now only a few inches long it was curling at the tips and falling into his eyes, despite Nero's attempts at keeping it pushed back. "I'm surprised Isabela, I didn't know you were a hairdresser."
She laughed "when I'm out at sea it gets very annoying hearing the men complain about their hair. Boys are such women at times, besides, someone needed to doll them up when we reached port. They had to look good for the lasses you see"
Hawke smiled coyly at her, "and I'm sure cutting hair was the only method you used."
She gasped dramatically, "of course Hawke! A smart captain never sleeps with her crew, it upsets the balance of power. Once you start shaggin' a sailor he thinks he has something on the others."
"I can't tell if that's a legit excuse or if she actually did sleep with them." Varric said to Hawke.
"I'll never tell!" Isabella giggled, finishing her drink with a flourish. "I need meself some more liqueur." she said, standing up.
As she stumbled out the door Hawke sighed loudly and also stood, "I'll go make sure she gets there and back safely."
Nero smiled crookedly, "I never knew the trek from your room to the bar was so treacherous."
"Evidently you don't come here often enough then." Varric chuckled.
Nero smiled but didn't reply, absentmindedly toying with the edge of the wrap Hawke had tied around his hand. His mind jumped from one topic to another rapidly, without actually hanging on to anything long enough to form a coherent thought. He desperately wanted to fill in the silence before Varric could-
"So kid," Varric began, "you sure you're ok?"
Before Varric could inquire about that. Nero sighed and leaned back in his chair, "I'm fine." he let his hands rest on the table and smiled before adding "I'm doing exceptional now that I can actually see sort of straight and it doesn't feel like the world is spinning so fast."
Before Varric could reply he heard Isabela's voice yelling downstairs followed by a crowd of cheers, "were you tanked before or after she got tossed?"
"Before, I think." Nero laughed, "from what I remember she seemed to feel left out. Or maybe she was angry that I accidentally-on-purpose drank her rum. Don't look at me like that, she left it in my room."
"I'm not surprised to be honest." Varric smiled fondly, "just try not to get too attached to her, kid, I know you're both sharing a bed, but I think she has a thing for Hawke."
"I've noticed, she teases him like it's going out of style and I'm sure she has had ample opportunity to bring him to her bed, but hasn't. I don't know much when it comes to courting someone, but from what I can gather that's what shes been doing. Thanks for the concern Varric, but I know my bed isn't really the one she wants, I'm okay with that."
Varric leaned over and clapped him on the shoulder, but before he got the chance to add anything Hawke appeared in the doorway, "Isabela finished off another glass and dragged some girl back to her room, and forbade me from watching," he smirked, "but it's getting late, before heading home I was thinking I should take you back to Hightown Nero. If you run into trouble I think it would be better if you weren't alone and weaponless."