A/N: Yes yes yes, I know I'm late with this but I didn't really feel like writing until now. So here. Have a chapter. Also I have a soccer game in two days! Cheer for me plz!
When my eyes open, everything is extremely blurry, but dear Maker, does my side hurt! I throw back the huge, puffy quilt that covers me in delicious warmth, pull up the side of my shirt, and I see a rough, bloody bandage. It smells weird. Then memories start flooding back. I remember Hawke, and Merrill, and a barfight. If I'm alive that probably means I won. I like winning.
I hear rustling outside of my room and see the fancy, golden doorknob turning. Maveria bounces in with a lady following her, holding her hand. At first I don't recognize my sister, because she's so clean. Her hair is wrapped up in a fuzzy looking red towel. The lady must have given her a bath. Mavvy almost seems to glow.
She bounces onto my bed and rolls around in the quilt, smiling and giggling like she used to when she woke Mama up.
"Sleep good, Ella?" She asks, finally sitting still and staring at me with those big, amethyst eyes of hers. I yawn.
"I slept great, considering there's a hole in my side." I grab her and pull her close, tickling her all the while. She screams with glee. She's the only kid I know who absolutely loves to be tickled.
The lady chuckles and Maveria seems to remember her. She wiggles out of my arms, rolls off the bed, and runs up to her and grabs her hand.
'"Ella, this Miss Leanra. Hawke's Mama."
"Leandra, dear, not Leanra." Leandra corrects. She looks very well-to-do. I remember my manners (what few of them I have). Bowing my head, I politely say
"How do you do?" even though I don't give one about how she's doing. Honestly, since she's Hawke's mama I'll be polite and friendly, but I'm not sure I like her.
She chuckles. "I do just fine, thank you, but you don't need to be so formal. My daughter and I certainly aren't." Her show of friendliness takes me by surprise, but before I have time to ponder what motives might be behind it, she's already talking again, so I politely listen.
"Well, Ella, if you're going to stay here you'll need to be cleaner than that!" she says, " So I will show you where the bathroom is and you can scrub up in the tub. After you're all clean and dressed you can have breakfast and I can show you around, or Niri can."
"Niri?" I ask, "Who's she?" Leandra laughs just the slightest of laughs and explains. "Aniria Hawke. My daughter. 'Niri' for short."
I try to get out of bed, but my side hurts too bad and I more fall out than get out. Leandra picks me up with ease, and I'm surprised. She did not look that muscular.
"No, no, I can walk" I protest, and Leandra gently puts me down.
"Come on Ella, I'll show you where the bathroom is." and off we went, Leandra with her graceful step, hand in hand with a bouncing Maveria, and me stumbling behind. An odd procession we were.
The water in the tub was warm but not hot, and it was filled with blue-hued bubbles. The bathroom smelled like fresh fruit and gentle flowers. It was all blue and green. It was so relaxing! Leandra had gotten a new, waterproof bandage for me so I could wear it in the tub. It felt wierd and jelly like.
The bar of soap was a blue-green colour, and it smelled delightful. It also worked very well, I realized as the layers of dirt that encrusted me came of quite easily.
I scrubbed and I scrubbed an I scrubbed some more, until the once clear water was black and grimy. I pulled the plug and watched the water swirl down through the pipe with a swish, gulp,whir as I rub myself down with a fluffy blue towel.
"Step one" I say out loud, to myself, "Put on clothes." I wriggle into a pair of soft, grey pants, slip into a white, sleeveless shirt with 'The Amell crest' printed on top and what was obviously the Amell crest below it. It was very comfy.
Maveria pushes the bathroom door open without even asking if I'm dressed, and she's riding on a great big dog. It's a rather comical sight, a little elf on a huge dog. I don't like the way she's waving a brush around, either. By the devious look on her face I think she means to kill me with it.
"Come on Ella!" She shouts, "Hop on Lady!" I assume 'Lady' is the dog's name and I also assume it's a bad idea to 'hop on Lady'.
"No, I don't think I will, Mavvy." Maveria sticks out her tounge and pouts. Lady turns and walks away, obviously eager to do something. I follow them.
We end up in the kitchen, where I see a sleepy, wet-haired Niri Hawke in the kitchen wearing a 'Team Warden' shirt with a griffon replacing the a. The rest of the shirt is grey and she has black, stretchy pants on, too. She seems to be brewing some coffee or something. I also notice a rather large pan of many foods frying over a fire. It smells yummy.
"Good Morning, girls." Leandra enters the kitchen and immediately starts setting the table.
"Hi, Mom." Niri yawns as she fills up a big bowl with meat and dry, round bits of gross-looking stuff. She sets it on the floor and Lady starts gobbling it up.
A dwarf comes in, carrying a board that he slips into the table (to make it bigger, I assume) as he talks.
"Messere Hawke, Aveline is here to see you." Niri looks confused, but she tells the dwarf to tell Aveline to come to the kitchen and have some breakfast.
Aveline walks in, not wearing her clunky armor, but an outfit more comfortable. It was almost formal, too. Aveline smiles at me and she nods.
"Hey Aveline!" Niri says, "What's the occasion? Sit down, we're about to have breakfast."
"What do you mean, 'what's the occaasion'? Varric told everyone you told him to invite us all over for breakfast. You mean you weren't planning on having us?"
"So everyone is coming here? When?"
"In about ten minutes." Niri sighs and starts rummaging through the larder.
"We're gonna need a lot more food."
Yes I know the mabari is supposed to be a boy but I named him after a dog I loved a lot, Lady. She lived for 16 years.