Hello there! :) Thanks for reading!
This chapter was supposed to be longer, but work has kept me busy lately.
As you noticed, the pace of the story is going slowly for now, but I can't change it for now. I hope nobody mind that. :)

Hawke stayed still for a moment. Varric? He wondered what kind ofispecial package/i it could be. It had to be important.

He took the handle of the door and slowly opened the door. Varric was here, with a scowl on his face. And he wasn't alone: a red-faced Fenris was trying to stand still beside him. It didn't take a genius to see that he was drunk. Very drunk.

"What the..." he said to the dwarf, before looking back at Fenris. The elf had his eyes shut, mumbling under his breath. "Fenris? Are you alright?"

"Whyamihere..." He heard the warrior saying. With no warning, Varric walked behind him and slapped him on the back. It wasn't painful, but still hard enough to have him falling forward against Hawke's chest, who quickly grabbed his arms to steady him. "Wha..."

"I planed on taking Broody back to his mansion, but I decided it might be better to bring him to you instead." The dwarf said to answer Hawke's confused look. "In case he gets sick, you'll help him. I don't know why he drank so much, though."

"Why did you let him do that, anyway?"

"Hawke, as far as I know, Broody can make his own decisions."

"I don't think drinking that much can be seen as a good decision, my friend." The man said as he put Fenris's arm around his shoulders, and wrapped his right arm around his slim waist. Varric shook his head.

"I agree, but I didn't leave him on his own. Beside, you can take him in, right?" He said. Fenris just mumbled something unintelligible, his head low. "By the way, where is the kid elf?"

"Selek? He's here. I'll bring him to the Chantry tomorrow." He turned around, making sure his former lover was following him. As drunk as he was, he could still walk. But not without help. "I better take care of Fenris..."

"Yeah... Sorry, Hawke." He paused, turning his head to look at his dwarven friend. Varric did look sorry, and he was sure it wasn't about the child. Was it for letting Fenris drunk to this point? He doubted it. Sighing, the man just shook his head.

"Don't be... thank you for bringing him to me, Varric. I'll see you tomorrow." He said, before walking back inside his mansion and kicking the door shut. Fenris had stopped mumbling, but was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Hawke decided to take care of him without Bodhan's or Orana's help. He preferred to have them taking care of Selek. "Fenris? Listen, I'm going to bring you to bed. You need your rest."

The elf stayed silent, but the rogue didn't really mind. Fenris was not the most talkative guy he knew. With a sigh, he led him toward the steps, where he careful helped him going up. If it was up to him, he'd simply scoop him up in his arms and carry him to his bedroom. But as drunk as he was, he had a feeling that his companion would inot/i appreciate. Either way, the rogue would have to bear with Fenris being so close. The elf's body heat pressed against his side was making his heart swelling and he had to bite back a groan of frustration. He could only hope the elf wouldn't notice anything out of ordinary... if helping the elf while he was drunk wasn't strange enough.

"Maker, help me..." He whispered to himself. Fortunately, the elf seemed more focus on watching his own feet. It took a moment but they finally reached the top of the stairs and Hawke pondered whether to get Fenris in his bedroom or to bring him to the guest one. It was smaller but comfy enough for the elf...

Or for Selek.

With a frown, he shook his head and helped Fenris to his bedroom. The little guy would want to be at peace tonight, and not sleep in the same bed as another man, even if said-man had saved his life.

As for Fenris, Hawke would just need to get up before he do, so that he wouldn't wonder why they were sharing a bed.

Things were already kind of awkward, the rogue didn't need to make them worse.

He walked to his bedroom, his pace a little faster. Fenris seemed to slowly fall asleep, and Hawke could feel him slipping from his grip.

"Come on, Fenris, help me..." he said as he moved to sit him on the left side of his bed. Then he reached and unstrapped the great-sword away before walking to the closet and putting it against it. As drunk as the elf was, Hawke wouldn't let him sleep with his weapon and armor on. Just the though made Hawke chuckling a bit. Maybe he should get him something? The elf was slender, no doubt that the rogue's clothes would be too big. But it would be better than nothing.

"Fenris, do you want some-" He stopped as soon as he turned back around: Fenris was now laying on the mattress, his eyes closed. He wasn't making a sound, but his breath was deeper than unusual.

He had fallen asleep. Still clad in his armor Hawke pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. No need to count on the elf to get changed.

He'd have to undress him. "Maker, what a night..."

The rogue didn't want to feel like playing dolls with Fenris a big alive one. But he knew that the elf would surely feel very uncomfortable at sleeping like this and wake up with sore limbs, sooner or later. Finally, he sat next to him and worked on removing his steel claws. He was going slowly, carefully slipping them off his hands before putting them down on the floor.

Fortunately, the elf was sleeping soundly and unmoving as Hawke worked on each piece of metal. He had a hard time to resist touching the elf's lyrium-scarred fingers, but knew if Fenris woke up and found Hawke touching him in such way, he could get rightfully upset. And the rogue would never take advantages of him. It had taken a long time to win the elf's trust, he didn't want to risk it out of hopeless desire.

With a frown, he began to remove the elf's bracers and stopped at the one with the red ribbon tied around it. He looked at it for a moment, before taking it off along.

Fenris had been wearing it since their first night together. As tempting as it had been, Hawke had never told him what this ribbon really was. Its history, its meaning... Fenris had found it on his desk while he had been sleeping. He didn't know it wasn't a simple red ribbon. Maybe Hawke would tell him, if things ever worked out again...

He shook his head with a frown. Why was he thinking about this now? All that matter was to making sure that Fenris would be fine and go check on Selek. There was no time to think about this.

Once the bracers were gone, he unstrapped both pauldrons and took them off as well. The rogue was impressed that the elf was sleeping still. But his breath was still deep and steady, there was no faking involved. He looked at the chest plate and removed the leathers straps before taking it off, leaving the elf with only his pants and tunic on. After putting everything down on the floor, he stopped for a second, wondering what to do next. He should get the tunic off, but it might be difficult to do without waking the elf up. Or maybe he should just leave it like this. As tempting as it was to see the elf bare-chest again, covered in these fascinating lyrium markings that were reacting to his touch...

"Maker, this is not the right time for this!" he grumbled to himself as he felt his face heating up. He looked at Fenris's face for any sign that he was waking up. But he just heard faint mumbles before the elf's head moved faintly in his sleep. There was a slight frown on his face, his rest disturbed by some nightmare. Hawke hesitated for a moment, before gently brushing a few white locks off Fenris's face. His skin was hot and still flushed. The rogue let his knuckles gently caressing the elf's cheek, before letting his middle finger gently touching his bottom lip for a second. The elf seemed to relax faintly. Hawke couldn't help smiling faintly at the sight. "Sweet dreams, Fenris."

He stood up and took an extra blanket from the closet, before putting it on the sleeping companion. At first, Fenris didn't react before turning on his right side and curling sightly, burying his head into one of the pillows. Hawke had a hard time not to laugh at the cute sight. The fierce warrior could be so adorable. Like a child.

Thinking of this reminded him of Selek. He wanted to go and see if everything was still alright downstairs.

Slowly, he made his way to the door and gently closed it behind him, making sure not to make any noise.

When he came back downstairs, he could hear Bodhan talking to someone about porridge, how it was good for his health and to eat slower. A smile crept on his face as he entered the living-room: Bodhan was standing next to the table where Selek was sitting, his legs dangling down and still covered by the very large old shirt. He was happily eating... or rather, gulping down his dinner. He obviously hadn't had a proper meal in days.

"All is well, I assume." Hawke said as he walked over. Selek looked up from his plate, his cheeks puffy, full of porridge. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, ser Hawke. I really do!" The boy answered after swallowing his meal, nodding enthusiastically. "It's delicious. The bad men only gave us bread and water."

"Well, you have some too, but we weren't going to give you only these." The rogue moved to sit near the boy and looked at his mabari. The huge dog was sitting beside Selek, panting happily as if to expect something. "Jep, heel. Stop begging for food."

"He can't eat?" Selek asked as Jep moved to lay down at his master's feet.

"He already had his meal, tonight. That dog is just a glutton."

"What's a gul.. glu... glutton?" The boy asked, trying to pronounce the word correctly.

"Well, someone, or an animal, who eats a lot of things... and not only because they're hungry, can be called a glutton." The rogue said with a smirk. "But Jep as another name: the wastebasket."

The dog huffed at the nickname, but it also caused Selek to giggle again. It was short and not very loud, but enough to make Hawke smiling again. Apparently he wasn't only one to be affected by this, due to the soft smile Bodhan was wearing. Sandal just grinned and stayed silent, while Orana filled Selek's glass with more fresh water. They fell in a comfortable silence after that, Selek's spoon hitting the plate each time he took a bit of his porridge being the only sound in the room.

After a minute, Bodhan walked to Hawke.

"May I talk to you in private, messere?"

"Sure." Hawke stood up and left the room, following the dwarf until they both stood up in front of the fireplace. "So... what did you want to tell me?"

"I was wondering, messere... you said young Selek would only stay for tonight, right? You're aware that nowadays, things are still not going very well for a lot of people in Kirkwall, due to the Qunari attack. I was wondering what exactly you had in mind for the young boy."

"Well..." The rogue looked at the opened door leading to the living-room. "You remember my friend Sebastian? I'll go talk to him and see if the Chantry has a solution. I'm aware that Selek isn't the only child in need, but I still hope there's some way to help him."

"I understand." Bodhan bent down, took a log from the wood holder and put it among the dying embers of the fireplace. "And I hope you're right. But, if I may ask, how hopeful are you? I'm afraid the young boy will be sent to the orphanage. Maybe you'll have a few candidates willing for an adoption if you use your Champion status, but..."

"I'd visit and make sure things are going well for him..." Hawke said, his voice trailing off as Bodhan used the bellows to revive the fire again. He wasn't too hopeful, to be honest. But he had to be. For Selek's sake. He let out a small sigh and shook his head. He didn't want to think about it right now. If he did, he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to get much rest. And it was already very late, probably close past midnight.

"Bodhan..." Hawke looked back at the elder dwarf. He might as well give them instructions for tomorrow. "Selek will need new clothes. I want you to buy some for him, tomorrow morning. Oh, and try to find some comfortable shoes too."

"Clothes and... shoes?" Bodhan looked at him with a bit of confusion.

"Well, I know that most elves normally don't wear shoes, but- oh, that reminds me! Fenris is here. He was the one at the door. He's now sleeping in my room. He's... not feeling well, so he mustn't be disturbed."

"I see..." The dwarf nodded slowly as Hawke kept on talking. An amused smile slowly crept on his face.

"Anyway, you and Orana will check for Selek's cloth and shoe sizes, I don't want them to be too large or small. I'll bring Selek to bed after that, and..." The rogue finally stopped as he saw Bodhan chuckling. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Oh, no, messere." He said with a smile. "You just sound like a father who wants to spoil his child. I understand perfectly, though. You remind me of myself, after I found Sandal and- Oh! I better check what he's doing, now. I'll tell Orana about it."

Hawke just stared at him as he left the room, leaving the rogue alone. Him? Acting like he wanted to spoil his son? He chuckled a bit at this. An amusing thought, though unrealistic. Selek wasn't his son and would not be. His place was at the Chantry... to be adopted.

He tried to imagine the elven child in a new family, with loving parents. Right where he should be. And not alone, in an orphanage, with other children who had suffered as well. He'd be alone, without anyone to really call him their son and giving him love.

The thought made him frown. He wanted to make sure the child would be adopted, and not go through this. He closed his eyes, and imagined him wearing nice clothes, and not old dirty rags anymore. He'd be learning to read, helping the elven servant if he wanted to, before going outside to play with the family's mabari. Under the smiles of the dwarven servants and his father.

"Maker's breath..." The rogue groaned as he realized he was picturing the boy not staying with a new family, but here, at the Amell's mansion. It disturbed him. What was happening to him? Why did he keep on thinking about this? "I must ireally/i be tired..."

He knew fatigue could make one delirious. Bodhan was wrong. The man just wanted to be nice to the child, and nothing else. There was nothing wrong with wanting to spoil someone. Even if it was usually his friends, when he paid them a round of drinks. Or Fenris, when he would bring him new books to train with.

Thinking of his elven companion reminded him that he was still upstairs, sleeping off a night of drinks. He decided to go check on him, knowing Bodhan and Orana would take care of Selek for now.

He walked up the stairs and walked to his bedroom door before opening it faintly and leaning in. There was no sound. Fenris had to be asleep, still.

He opened the door completely and stepped inside before walking to the bed. The elf hadn't moved since he left, still lying on his right side. Hawke couldn't help remembering that this was also how he had slept after their first and only night of passion. The difference being that the elf was naked and being hold against his chest.

He stiffed a yawn, trying not to think about this night, before walking to the other side of the bed. After hesitating for a moment, he took off his shoes and laid down, being careful not to move the mattress too much, and not to be too close to Fenris. Fortunately, the elf didn't move. His breath was still steady and deep. Hawke couldn't help noticing that his face seemed a bit less flushed than before. He gently brought his hand to the warrior's face before touching his cheek. The heat wasn't so strong anymore.

He sighed faintly, slowly moving his hand away. He rarely had the occasion of seeing Fenris so relaxed. The exception might be during their reading lessons. His companion still had a lot to learn, but was making steady progress. He'd be less hesitant, though he'd still need help on long or complicated words. Hawke was always eager to help him to learn, once he had convinced the elf he wasn't doing it out of pity. The man enjoyed hearing Fenris talk, being so concentrated on something he had been forbidden to learn all his life. Things had been so tense between them since their first night, the lessons had helped to bring some sort of truce.

Things still weren't the same as before, but it was better than nothing. The rogue would never have nothing at all. He wanted the elf by his side, even if it wouldn't be as a lover. He still had hope, that maybe one day it would change.

"It's official... I'm thinking way too much." he mumbled very lowly before yawning, as he watched the elf sleeping, curled around the extra blanket Hawke had given him. As he kept staring at him, he could feel himself relaxing a lot and slowly closed his eyes, failing to stay awake...

To be Continued...

Thanks for reading! See you! :)