Promises: Side Story D
Disclaimer: Dragon Age and all assorted characters/places/etc belong to Bioware, not me.
Author's note: This is the fourth alternate POV that came along in this fic although the second in terms of time frame. I thought I might as well post it here especially since Hawke never made it to the end of Zev's letter.
My Dear Hawke and Fenris,
For starters, let me warn you, little one, against making such faces. Didn't your mother ever tell you that your face might freeze that way?
But with that piece of advice out of the way, undoubtedly the two of you are impressed by the sum of gold I have handed over. It is half of my take, just as I promised, though I suspect you thought I would not carry out my end of the bargain. Indeed it would have been very easy for me to fool you regarding the size of the payment owed. I have no doubt that you are well and truly surprised about how well being an assassin pays. Better than being a couple on the run, no? Ah but who needs money when they have love? At least that's what poets write, but I myself am the more practical sort.
Hopefully you are not blushing too much as you read, little one. I feel as though I must apologize again for disappointing you so. I am sorry that I am unable to live up to your standards, but I feel I should point out that you are lucky that you have a warrior with you who can. In general, I fear that you are too trusting for your own good. In particular, you should be wary of strange elves with tattoos that approach you. The only exception to this rule would be that grumpy friend of mine, Fenris.
And as for you, my grumpy friend, I have some advice to pass on as well. Isabela has scouts posted all over this city watching for my arrival so undoubtedly she will catch up to you soon if she hasn't already. She is awfully persistent like that. You should know that in addition to being very handsy, Isabela is notorious for having sticky fingers. I suggest you take great care when it comes to safeguarding the coin I have given you from her and her raiders.
Beyond that, I wish you all the luck in the world. You do not have an easy task ahead of you, with trying to keep the little one safe, and so I fear that you will need it. You will also need great patience when dealing with Hawke. Perhaps you haven't figured this out, but the little one is most likely inexperienced when it comes to the ways of love. If I am right—and I usually am about such things—the little one has never lain with a man so you must take the utmost care when you finally give into the deep passion that you've been trying to repress for her. You will need to be gentle and you will need to be slow, but I have every confidence that you will be able to rise to the occasion—multiple times even—and make Hawke's first time a night to remember.
And by the way, little one, if you haven't tossed this aside from embarrassment and are actually still reading this, I would suggest you question why you're the one always doing all the reading and not Fenris. Our grumpy friend will never confess what he believes to be his shortcomings to you.
With my sincerest regards,
Zevran Arainai