The next morning, Varric visited. Fenris was surprised to see him. It was not common for the dwarf to come by his house. He was usually busy enough with whatever it was Varric could be busy with. Yet here he was. The purpose of his visit became clear soon enough.

"Oy, broody. What have you done to Hawke?"

Fenris frowned. "What do you mean? I haven't done anything. He teaches me to read," he added.

Varric chuckled in that hoarse way he always did. "Well, you're a bad student then, apparently. That, or your brooding has turned out to be contagious."

Irritated, he folded his arms in front of his chest. "I have told you I don't brood. What is it you want? What do you mean with "contagious"?"

"Hawke's got it too, that's what I mean. When he came to the Hanged Man yesterday, he looked at his ale as if he wanted to drown himself in it. And he almost did." Seeing Fenris' wide eyes, he chuckled again. "Not literally. But he drank enough to amaze even the Rivaini. We had to deliver him back to his mansion or he would have ended up somewhere at the docks. So, I ask you again: what did you do to Hawke?"

"I haven't done anything." Suspicious, Fenris leaned forward to bring his face closer to the dwarf's. "Why are you asking? You truly don't know... Isabela hasn't said anything?"

The chuckle turned into a laugh. "Of course she has told everyone who wanted to listen all the details, and I was the first. Even if she hadn't told me, I would have known."

"How could you..."

Varric brought a hand to his hairy chest. "Elf! You wound me! I know everything that's going on in Kirkwall that is worth knowing, and knowing what is going on with Hawke has become my specialty. That, and even a blind man could see something was going on between you two."

"Nothing is going on. It was nothing." He frowned as he gave more thought to Varric's words. "Wait. Isabela told you all the details? She doesn't know any details!"

"Ah, she might have used her imagination a bit to embellish the story. Every storyteller would do so, and she has a feeling for it. However, if you want me to tell it realistically later, you could provide me with your details. How did it go? Did Hawke sweep you off your feet?"

"I am not telling you anything, and you are not going to tell it in any way, realistically or not."

"Elf, right now, this is the most interesting story in the entire city. Everyone is talking about it. You broke more than one heart by conquering Hawke's. So you'll forgive me if I make sure it will be my version that is remembered. So, did he sweep you? Or did you sweep him? The other way around seems most logical. He is the tall one."

Conquering Hawke's? That dwarf is out of his mind. Fenris straightened. "There was no sweeping involved."

"Great! Every piece of knowledge counts. And can you tell me now if I can paint you a nice pretty sunset to walk into together? A romantic happy end?"

Fenris felt his shoulders slump. "I think we both know Hawke's story cannot have a happy ending. The man attracts trouble in every possible way."

"Now, now, broody. Until now Hawke has done pretty well. But I take it you are not going to give him that happy ending?"

He looked away. "It is better this way. His chances of that are even smaller with me by his side." Why am I even telling this? It's none of his business.

"I know! I told him that as well."

His head snapped back in Varric's direction. "You did what?"

Varric shrugged nonchalantly. "I warned him, that's all. Hawke is a good guy. I don't want to see him get hurt. I just said he had to watch out for all your spikes."

He let his arms fall to his sides. "I... see."

"The point is, you see that, I see that, but I think Hawke doesn't see it. Or doesn't want to. The guy is stubborn that way."

"He will," Fenris said in a somber tone.

The dwarf studied him closely. "Are you sure you don't... regret your decision?"

"Is there something else you wanted from me, Varric?"

"Only that you come to play cards with us the day after tomorrow. We missed you last time." At the sight of Fenris' doubtful face, he continued: "I promise you we won't bother you with questions. Much."

"I'll think about it."

Varric turned to leave. Fenris' thoughts raced. He had tried to think of ways to search for his sister, but had come to the conclusion that it would be nearly impossible to do this alone. He still did not want to ask Hawke for help, and he had already told him he did not intend to look for her, so he had to find someone else he could trust. Varric and his connections could be very useful. They were not really friends, but knew each other well enough. But Varric was loyal to Hawke. Would he agree to keep something from him? Fenris decided he had to take the risk. Without taking any risks, he would never find his sister. This would most likely be the smallest one he had to take. "Varric."

The dwarf halted on his way to the door. "Yes?"

"I need your help with something."

Varric smiled in a friendly way, but Fenris recognized the more guarded look in his eyes. "Sure, what do you need?"

"Hadriana told me I have a sister. I want to look for her, but I don't think I can do it all alone."

Varric's eyes narrowed. "You don't want to ask Hawke for help in this?"

"This is none of Hawke's concern."

"You know he is not going to like it you keep this from him."

"We tend to disagree a lot as it is."

Varric snickered. "Very well. I'll see what I can do. Do you have some kind of plan?" Fenris shook his head. "Well, talk to me when you do, and I'll try to help you."

"Don't tell Hawke."

"Why would I? It's none of his business, is it?" Varric opened the door and shut it behind him.

At the end of the day, which had remained quiet after Varric had left, Fenris went to Hawke's estate. Bodahn let him in and told him Hawke was waiting in the study.

The study was well lit, with a lot of candles burning in strategic places. The walls were covered with bookcases, and they were filled with books. Amazed, Fenris stared at all the covers. He had never seen this many books in one place, except for Danarius' library, and the main library of the Tevinter Circle.

Hawke sat in one of the two chairs that stood in front of a large desk, which was already covered with blank sheets of parchment and a few books that were placed on a neat pile. He looked up when he heard Fenris' footsteps.

"Did you read all those books?"

"Most of them, yeah. Except for Anders' manifesto, I think."

Fenris took a seat next to Hawke. Up close, he noticed that Hawke did not look very good. His hair, which was normally braided with care, was now bound together in a sloppy ponytail. His eyes had dark circles underneath them and looked a little red. Even his beard seemed messier.

Hawke cleared his throat. "So, let's get started. Let's try if you still know the alphabet. And please keep your voice down. I have a bit of an headache."

"Hawke," Hawke closed his eyes and Fenris lowered his voice. "Are you... alright?"

Hawke opened his eyes but did not raise them to meet Fenris' gaze. "You currently have no right to ask me that."

"If you... don't feel well, I could go. We could do this another time."

"No. No, it's fine. You'll never learn if we go postponing this." Hawke managed to put a smile on his face. Even now Fenris could smell the last remains of alcohol. "Come on, name the alphabet for me. But not too loudly."

At the end of the second lesson, which turned out to be more difficult because Fenris had to put more effort into focusing on reading and writing and could not stop casting glances at Hawke while he tried to decipher the meaning of the letters, Hawke stopped him when he was about to leave.

"Before I forget: could you come earlier tomorrow? Mother asked me to invite you for dinner."

"I don't think that is a good idea."

"I'll say it in other words. My mother asked me, meaning ordered me, to invite you, meaning to order you,for dinner tomorrow. There is no choice involved. You have no option to decline."

"Why would she even want to invite me?"

"Eh... I don't know."

"Hawke."

"Hmpf. Alright. I told her I am teaching you how to read, and she found that very sweet of me. And then she decided she wanted you to feel welcome here and get to know you, and how else to achieve that than by inviting you for dinner?"

"Why?"

"Stop looking at me like that. I haven't told her. It's just... before you and I... Mother and I spoke, and she hinted at..."

"At what?"

"She sensed something was going on between us. She said something about how we were looking at each other. I don't know when she ever could have seen something like that, but..."

"Nothing is..."

"Yes, yes, I know. Nothing is going on. No need to repeat it for me."

"Then why..."

"It will be out of her head soon enough. Perhaps her suitor will help distracting her. Don't read too much into it." Hawke's eyes went to the book on the desk. "Ah, no pun intended. But she just wants to get to know you. It doesn't mean the intimate things you are associating it with. She would like to socialize with a few of the people I hang around with."

"If she wants to socialize, then why doesn't she invite Varric?"

Hawke sighed. "I'm not sure if I want him telling all his ridiculous stories about me to my mother. Just... don't make this so hard. Eat with us tomorrow. I swear to you this is not something I conspired with Mother. She has come up with it all by herself."

"That's supposed to reassure me?"

"Well, yeah."

Fenris stared at Hawke, who was still sitting in his chair. How is it possible this seems to be getting harder every time? "Fine," he grumbled eventually. "I'll come."

Hawke smiled, and this time it was not a faked smile. This was the genuine Hawke smile. He looked better as soon as it lit up his face. "Bodahn's soup is very good."