A/N-After the last depressing bit I felt like I had to hurry up and post something a little more...cheerful. Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Fenris showed up at the Hanged Man at the usual time, and was surprised to see Varric waiting for him at the top of the stairs. The dwarf motioned to him to move further down the hallway, and then leaned close to say in a low voice,

"Look, Blondie is in a bad way tonight. He showed up a couple of hours ago all broken up over some kid dying in his arms, and then proceeded to get shitfaced. Rivaini and I have had our work cut out just getting him to cheer up."

He felt a wave of concern for the healer that was becoming all-too-familiar lately. He pushed it to the back of his mind and frowned down at the dwarf,

"And why are you telling me this?"

Varric just gave him a hard stare and a raised eyebrow as he said,

"Really?"

Fenris' frown deepened but he found he couldn't hold the dwarf's gaze, so he turned to look at the wall, as if the woodwork had suddenly become fascinating. Varric just sighed,

"Dammit Broody, you are so stubborn. Just try not to say anything upsetting tonight, okay?"

The elf nodded without looking back at him, and then went on into the suite. Isabela was in the middle of telling Anders an outrageous story, complete with a lot of swearing and rude hand gestures, and the healer seemed to be enjoying himself. Whatever the two rogues had done to lift his mood seemed to be working, because when Fenris walked in Anders looked up with a huge smile.

"Fenris! Isabela was just trying to convince me she'd once had a threesome with King Alistair and the Hero of Ferelden. D'you believe it?"

He could tell from the overly careful way the healer was speaking that he was just on the upright side of being completely tossed. Remembering what the dwarf had said, he sat down across from Anders and shrugged his shoulders.

"With Isabela, anything is possible I suppose. In fact, I'm surprised it was only the three of them"

Anders snorted into his cup while the pirate shot him a pleased grin.

"Actually, they did bring along this red-headed Chantry sister. I thanked the Maker for her that night! Several times, in fact."

Naturally Sebastian and Hawke chose that moment to walk in. The priest looked scandalized, and opened his mouth as if to say something but then looked as if he'd thought better of it. Fenris wondered if Varric had a word with them too.

Merrill soon joined the group, but the evening didn't go as their card nights usually did. Generally their two dealers kept everything moving, in spite of the drinking and banter that always occurred. Tonight, the two of them engaged in a competition to see who could tell the most unbelievable story. They soon gave upon cards altogether, and pushed the table back so they could all sit in a semi-circle around the fire and their main "performers."

Sebastian gave up and left as soon as he realized the jokes were only going to get dirtier, but the rest of them enjoyed themselves enormously. Even Norah stopped by frequently, ostensibly to check on them but really to laugh at their antics. She even managed to bring up a cask of honey-mead, which tasted much better than the stuff Corff passed off as ale.

Despite the fun, Fenris still kept a careful eye on the healer. He wasn't used to drinking and if he'd been upset enough to start his mood could go sour at any time. But Anders seemed to be genuinely having a good time. The elf studied his face as he guffawed along with the others, thinking that, while he was a handsome man even when he was ragged and tired with circles under his eyes, when he was carefree and smiling like this he was almost…dazzling.

Fenris shook his head at the direction his thoughts were taking. Perhaps he had had too much to drink. As he glanced around at the companions he noticed a speculative look on Hawke's face as he looked at Anders, and he didn't like it at all. Luckily, he didn't seem to be the only who noticed, and as the night wore on he was pleased to find that between himself, Varric and Isabela, Hawke never had a chance to get close to the healer.

That little worry aside, the two rogues had most of the group laughing, and when Isabela started singing drinking songs and Anders joined in even Fenris had to chuckle. And when one of the songs involved an elaborate pantomime where Isabella was the dashing bard and Anders the naive virgin, complete with mincing steps and a high-pitched Orlesian accent, the elf found himself laughing out loud.

During the part when the virgin begged to be rescued, Anders swooped up a handful of cards to use as a fan that he waved in front of his face, batting his eyelashes and sidling up beside the elf. Fenris couldn't keep from grinning up into his face at the absurdity of his behavior, and by the end of the song most of them were in tears from laughing.

Varric wiped his eyes and tried to catch his breath enough to talk.

"Hey, broody, I knew you had a sense of humor in there."

Fenris brought himself under control and looked at the dwarf with a perfectly straight face,

"I told you I wasn't always serious."

That set Anders, Merrill and the rogues off on another bout of giggles, but Hawke had apparently decided he'd had enough fun for the night. He stood up and announced that it was late and that he should walk Merrill home since it wasn't safe for her to be alone.

Varric stood up too, and giving Hawke a sly smirk he said,

"You're right. In fact, the alienage is so not safe Bianca and I should come along for good measure."

He insisted despite Hawke's protests, until finally the warrior gave in. The three of them headed out, leaving Isabela, Anders and Fenris sitting by the fire.

Anders had just polished off another cup of mead, and was listing dangerously in his chair. The pirate looked at him and then grinned at Fenris,

"It's not safe for him to go home alone either, at least not in this condition. And since I am home, that leaves you to do escort duty. Why don't you go see if you can scrounge a glass of water from Norah to try and sober him up a bit?"

Somehow Fenris found himself agreeing to this plan, and he returned with the water in time to walk in on Anders and Isabela discussing sex. Of course they were, what else would he expect?

Whatever she had said to the healer just before he walked in had sparked some thought in his mind, because he had sat up and was wagging his finger at her as he slurred,

"See, there. You always shay, say…that about being on top. I've wonder..wonder, wonder is a funny word. No, no…I've wondered that about you and Hawke. It must've been a…a battle in the bedroom,"

Here he waved his arms around in gestures that were apparently meant to suggest sex, or fighting, or maybe both. He caught himself just before he fell out of his chair, and the pirate was laughing so hard she could barely hold her head up,

"Oh sweet thing, you are so much fun this way! I am going to ask your spirit to let you get drunk every night."

Fenris thrust the mug of water under the healer's nose while he said to the pirate,

"I am going to see to it he never gets this drunk again."

Isabela just smirked at him, but Anders ignored the cup and turned his wagging finger on the elf.

"You too…s'never got you and Hawke..what with you…your stuff…Now me. Me."

He paused significantly, looking at the two of them with the intent seriousness only a really drunk person can achieve.

"I kinda like it…like being… bossed around in the bedroom. Y'know? Big, strong men…know what they want…makes me feel…something. What was I saying?"

At this point Isabela was choking on her own laughter, and when she looked at Fenris' face she gave up and just fell onto the floor.

Fenris didn't pay her any attention however. When Anders had said that about…being bossed around, he had a sudden vision of the blonde man, kneeling on Hawke's bed with his face and shoulders pressed into the mattress and hands bound behind him like his had been. Only instead of Hawke standing behind the healer he saw himself. At that vision he felt a bolt of lust go through him that was so strong his muscles all clenched up and he almost crushed the cup he held in his hand.

Forcing himself to relax, he cleared his throat several time before he could say normally,

"Here, drink this so I can get you home."

Anders finally took the cup from him and drank it down, while Isabela sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Oh, yes. I do think you need to take him home, and undress him, and tuck him into his bed. He's too drunk to manage himself, so you'll probably have to be quite bossy."

Her voice cracked with laughter on the last words and she fell over again. Fenris growled at her and pulled the blond-haired man to his feet, leading him out of the room. As they made their way, carefully, down the stairs he could hear her saying to herself,

"Oh, I am so sad Varric missed that."