Aria coughed awkwardly and smiled as much as she could with her face muscles freezing in the snow, "Um no…I'm not used to these kinds of encounters. Thank you."
The elf smiled and pulled her to her feet. He snatched the crutches up under one arm and ordered her to hold his shirt against her head as he supported her waist with his free arm.
"So, where are we headed Lady Hawke? I highly recommend the circle of magi considering the wound on your head, but with your state and the weather being what it is I don't think we will make it that far. Perhaps I can help you get home and If you will allow me, I can deal with the wound on your head myself."
Aria froze against his side, "How in the Black City do you know my name? We've never met."
The elf chuckled, "I found your name on the orders those buffoons were carrying. For assassin's they really were terrible. Carrying your orders on your person is such an amateur mistake."
Aria sighed and began to lead the way back up the Hightown steps toward home, glad to have her new companion to support her in these weather conditions.
"So they were assassins, huh. I can't say I am not surprised with the number of enemies I've happened to make already in this city. Do the orders say who hired them per chance?"
The elf sighed, "Some pissy noble family. The Von Liechtenstein's I believe."
Aria sighed, "Fantastic."
"So, you've had dealings with them in the past then?"
"No actually, quite the opposite. I have no idea who they are."
The elf chuckled lightly, "Ah, city states and their politics. Always such fun, mmm?"
The pair rounded the corner and began the second flight of city steps.
"What do you mean, politics?" Aria inquired.
"Word is on the street, Lady Hawke, that you are going to be Viscount one day. These Von Liechtensteins must be out for the position themselves."
"How do you know so much about me? I don't even know your name." Aria snapped.
The elf became suddenly serious, "My name is Zevran Arainai, and I am in Kirkwall on business: Namely taking down the guild master for the Antivan Crows, a man named Nancio. As a result, I have my ears to the ground and I know everything about everyone in order to keep Nancio from killing me before I kill him."
"Who are the Antivan Crows?"
Zevran stopped short and looked down at Hawke in surprise, "Seriously? What is it with you northern countrymen? The Antivan Crows are the most prominent crime guild in Antiva. They are a group of assassins who take contracts around the globe and are heavily integrated into Antiva's political system. In short, they are very expensive and very effective. For them to come after you, Lady Hawke, you must have some exceedingly wealthy enemies."
Hawke rolled her eyes and continued forward, "So, what then? You pissed off some rich people who sent assassins after you too and now you are out for revenge on the guild?"
Zevran chuckled, "On the contrary. I was one of them, and I left. They are not happy about that and want me dead."
"You were one of them!?" Aria half shrieked, "And you are walking me home?"
Zevran became serious again, "While I am dangerous, I am not dangerous to you. In fact, I was the one who took out your attackers. Also, rescuing you was a favor to my love back home. She has connections with your dear friend Merrill, and would be devastated to find that one of Merrill's greatest advocates and protectors died at the hands of my former guild."
"So, you rescuing me is simply 'business' as well…"
Zevran shrugged, "More or less."
They finally reached Hawke's front door.
Hawke retrieved her crutches from Zevran and smiled at him gratefully.
"I have a friend who is a healer who can be sent for by my manservant, So you don't have to waste your time dealing with my head. However, I'd like to invite you in and offer you a cup of tea…and maybe a shirt…"
Zevran threw his head back and laughed boisterously, "Both would be much appreciated."
Hawke smiled and shoved the entirety of her weight into the door to open it. In the vestibule, panicked voices ricocheted off the walls disjointedly.
"…He is going to absolutely murder me Aveline. He already hates me. All he needs is one reason to run me through, that's it. I was supposed to check on her two hours ago, but I figured She couldn't go very far in her state…"
"That was Mistake number one, Anders. You know her personality."
"Oh, I really hope she's okay and hasn't run into any rude people." Merrill sniffed, "There are a lot of people who would just love to gossip about how thin she's gotten."
"I think people gossiping about Hawke's weight is the least of our problems, Kitten." Isabella chimed in, "Also, I don't know why none of you would take her out with you. If you idiots recognize Hawke's personality as much as you claim you do, you all should have known that three months cooped up in the house would have lead to something like this. Honestly, and you lot are worried about the Elf needing space. This place has probably become a prison for Hawke."
"Oh, shut up whore! If you think you know everything, why didn't you try taking Hawke out." Aveline snapped.
"I did." Isabella clipped, "When I suggested it to Anders he almost bit my head off, and when I suggested it to Fenris while emphasizing that Anders said it was a bad idea and hoping that this alone would be enough for him to agree with me, he said that for once in his life he was going to agree with Anders. And then he said, 'If you ever tell the apostate I said so, I'll rip your vocal cords out.' Naturally I had to tell you all this because I love a good challenge…"
Aveline Growled audibly and the kitchen door creaked, "I got word from one of my Contacts." Varric sighed wearily, "One of them saw a couple of Antivan Assassins spring from the shadows and attack a woman with crutches. When they returned to the scene the Assassins were dead and there was a lot of blood, but no Hawke. In this weather, they could have taken her anywhere."
"Oh no." Merrill squeaked.
It was Aria's turn to sigh heavily as she entered the living room with her damp cloak still draped around her shoulders and her handful of Zevran's shirt clutched to her head. "I'm alright." She grumbled, "A little weatherworn but perfectly alright."
The whole room whipped around to stare at her with varying degrees of concern and anger. Anders was the first to allow his concern to develop into full on rage as he jumped to his feet with his lips pressed into a hard, thin line.
"Andraste's Knickers, You're fine. Why are you clutching a cloth to the back of your head?" He stepped closer and removed the blood-soaked shirt from her hand to look at her wound. His eyes met hers and they were hard and fierce, "This does not look fine." He summoned some healing magic from the Fade and it swirled around her body closing the head wound and relaying valuable information about her injuries back to the mage. After a few moments the wound was sealed, and Anders continued to glare down at her, "You are lucky that was shallow firstly, and secondly you have a concussion which means no sleeping for you tonight until we can be sure you won't slip back into a coma. You are also lucky you didn't cause anymore trauma to your older injury."
Aria rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry the fact that I was attacked by assassins inconvenienced you, Anders."
"It wouldn't have happened if you stayed put in the house as I told you. You would not have been confronted with assassins."
Aria opened her mouth to protest but Zevran chimed in for her, "Actually, that would not have stopped them. They would have kept surveillance on her home and waited for the opportune moment to make her death look like a tragic accident. Or, they might have framed one of you. If anything, she is lucky they attacked her in the streets."
All eyes were now on the Antivan rogue leaning shirtless in the living room doorway.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Aveline clipped.
"Zevran!?" Isabella piped up, "What on Earth are you doing here?"
"Ah, My dear Isabella." Zevran smiled, "It has been too long, no?"
"I'll say." The pirate sauntered over and raked her eyes over the elf's half naked body. He smirked, clearly enjoying the attention.
"I was in town on business when I came across some of my former comrades attacking a defenseless beautiful woman in the streets. Naturally, I sprang into action."
Isabela smiled, "Is that so. What kind of business brings you to Kirkwall? Furthermore, sense when do you save damsels in distress instead of confronting them?"
Zevran chuckled lightly, "I'm here for a guildmaster. A contract of my own creation, if you will. The orders revealing his location just so happened to be on the bodies of the assassins who cornered our dear, Lady Hawke."
Hawke's eyebrow quirked, "Something tells me you didn't know those orders were there until after you rescued me…you are a nicer guy than you are letting on."
Anders rolled his eyes and huffed as he crossed his arms across his chest.
Zevran tossed his hair over his shoulder, "On the contrary it was…two birds with one stone, as the Ferelden saying goes…or I suppose two crows with two daggers in this case"
"Is anyone going to explain why this man, who supposedly saved Hawke from assassins, walked her home shirtless in a snow storm?" Aveline demanded.
"With a body like this, does he need a reason to be shirtless?" Isabella sniggered, "The man is practically a gift to all of Thedas the fewer clothes he's wearing."
"Shut up, whore."
Hawke sighed heavily, "He used his shirt to help slow the bleeding on my head. You know what Anders always says about head wounds…"
"They gush like a river." Anders glared, "I'm not letting this concussion go…"
Hawke rolled her eyes, "Anyway, I promised Zevran a shirt in return. That's why he's here."
"Really, he doesn't need one." Isabella smirked as she put her arm around the foreign elf's shoulders, "How about a drink my old friend."
Zevran's eyes twinkled and he chuckled lightly, "I'd like that Isabela, but nothing more I'm afraid. See, my Warden would get jealous and there would be some unsavory consequences. She might send more recruits from Weisshaupt after me. I've seen my wife take the head off an Archdemon, I am not going to make her angry."
Ander's face paled, "Your wife is the warden commander and Hero of Ferelden…?"
"The one and only." Zevran winked, "Do not worry though my apostate friend, The Calling comes for you all I am afraid."
"Is that a threat?" Anders scoffed.
"If he was threatening you, blondie, you'd be dead. The stories say he's a former Antivan Crow. He knows what he's doing." Varric chided.
And with that, Isabela began whisking the half-naked elf back out into the snow storm.
"You know Zevran," she added on her way out, "I never thought you'd be the type for monogomy."
Zevran chuckled lightly, "Neither did I, my dear Isabela…neither did I…"
No sooner did the door whip shut in the wind, than did it gust open again with the arrival of the Elf of the house. Fenris was home early from his mercenary task, no doubt cut short by the storm. Aveline, Merrill and Varric all slunk to the cellar to take the passage into Darktown before things got ugly.
"Varric!" Fenris bellowed through the house, "Please tell me you have news. The trail of blood on the streets has already been disturbed by the storm and…" He stopped short when he saw Aria and Anders sitting on the couch in the living room. His eyes flashed between relief and rage in half an instant.
Aria smiled awkwardly, "Hello, darling?" she offered meekly.
Fenris stomped to the center of the living room, lyrium brands ablaze, and glared down at his wife and the healer seated before him. "Explain." He spat.
"I had nothing to do with it." Anders raised his hands in defense and jumping to his feet.
"This time…" The elf growled.
Anders glared at him for a moment, before storming off to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea.
"Explain." Fenris ordered.
Aria sighed heavily, "Explain why I left the house? How I got caught up in the snow storm? Or how I got confronted by assassins? Because I am sure Varric's informants told you the basics by now…"
Fenris continued to glare at her, hands balled into white knuckled fists at his side as his arms shook with rage.
Aria sighed once more, "I'll take your silence as a request for all of the above. Firstly, I left home because I was sick of being here. I was sick of being cooped up in this house dependent on everyone around me and burdening everyone I care about with my inability to do basic daily tasks on my own. So, I left for a bit of fresh air to clear my head. The plan was to only stay out a while at the market, but then the storm started faster than I could safely travel alone. I was cornered by foreign assassins hired by some noble family here in Kirkwall who probably want me out of the way as a future contender for Viscount, which is a job I never want anyway, and I couldn't defend myself. Next thing I know, I am flat on my back in the middle of the street with my attackers slaughtered at my feet. A kind gentleman explained that he took care of my attackers and walked me home…That's it. That's all that happened. I'm alive, and I'm alright."
"Really? That's all?" Fenris Quirked his eyebrows menacingly, "Nothing else you want to share?"
Aria gaped at him, "Yes, that's it." She insisted.
"What did I tell you about lies of omission?" He snapped as he nodded to Zevran's blood soaked shirt still laying in the corner of the room by the fireplace where it had been chucked nearly an hour ago.
Aria sighed, "ah yes…I hit my head pretty badly…Although, in my defense that was not a lie by omission. I genuinely forgot I hit my head…In fact, my short term memory in general is a bit off at the moment. See, Anders says I have a concussion…which means…he will be staying the night…again…"
Fenris set his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut, inhaling deeply. He pinched the bridge of his nose and growled, "You understand what this means, don't you?"
"I'm not leaving your sight until I'm fully healed, am I?"
His eyes flashed open, "Not. A. Chance."
