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Unresolved Tangles (Through a Glass Darkly 4)	By : Anesor Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 3510 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: The Dragon Age world, plot, and their characters aren't mine but belong to Bioware. Some characters may be my creations. I get no money for writing this sequel.

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The Dragon Age world, plot, and their characters aren't mine but belong to Bioware. Some characters may be my creations. I get no money for writing this sequel.
--- x x ---
Limp bodies were lounging or draped over the furniture around Varric's suite of rooms, already feeling the effects of the respectable amount of alcohol they'd brought in with them. Not all of Hawke's... circle were there, but it was nearly so.
He was feeling relaxed, even given the lesser amount of ale that Justice allowed him to enjoy over the evening. It had been much more than he'd had in a long time, so he was feeling relaxed.
After snacks and alcohol, talk turned to funny stories, and he wasn't the only one feeling mellow.
Varric was there, of course, with his Bianca sitting uncocked on a low shelf behind him. This was a wise idea with the steadiness of the others, who moved around as they enjoyed themselves. The dwarf's eyes glittered as he took in details of the stories that the others recounted, even if he did not openly take notes.
While their host was possibly drunker than he appeared, Aveline was probably more sober than she appeared. She had arrived later than the rest and still in her guard armor, drinking sparingly. Her quarters were in Hightown, so she often escorted the others home after one of these evenings. Aveline's tales were of training and testing Kirkwall's guards, who she was now commanded. These stories were funny without being witty, and usually one of the rogues would add an extra punchline even as they laughed at her trainees.
Fenris didn't share any stories, though he was doing his expert best at out-drinking everyone. Isabela and Hawke might tease him with his silence, and his more open expression while drunk and flush made him much more attractive than his usual behaviors. His reactions to the pirate close-up teasing were funnier than some of the others' stories.
Merrill's tales from Dalish legend were polished, probably from generations and ages of retelling. Tonight's didn't have the bite of some stories he'd heard. Her recounting of how a particular Keeper tricked Templar after Templar, in what he thought was the Blessed Age, helped explain why the Chantry didn't put much effort into hunting them that often. As she drank, her occasional random comments were her contribution to the humor of the evening, intentional or not.
He leaned forward to put his elbows on the low tabletop as he quietly sipped from his mug as Isabela and Hawke sang from both sides of Aveline, a bit off key.
Of course Isabela also added many comments to the others' stories, usually salacious ones, in addition to her own stories of her travels. The stories of her lovers and the brothels she'd visited were enough to get many of the group to flush. The one that got her the most laughter came from her story of a former Templar who'd gotten lost in a brothel in Denerim. Seemed she and her first mate Casavir had cornered the man and he'd stuttered his way out of the brothel with his tail between his legs.
That got laughter from most and objections from Hawke and Aveline... as well as the mabari.
His attention had stayed on Hawke for most of the evening, though it was often out of the corner of his eyes. Justice wasn't fooled, but he hoped the others were.
She smiled much more lately, even if the family had not gotten any notice from the Wardens about her sister's survival.
That still gave him a feeling of guilt. It had been the girl's only chance to survive, but he knew how hard being a mage could be, even inside the Wardens. Those days at the Vigil had been almost fun at times, until Wardens from outside Ferelden arrived. Stroud had been the best of that lot, and he would not have been very welcoming to another mage.
Still, Hawke smiled as she told a story about the disaster of a smuggling operation to move a long-missing shipment of very rare Antivan brandy, bound for points south and a Denerim mansion. Hawke laughed telling of the problems with securing payment, as the noble or his steward made even smugglers more wary than usual. All that expense, and the noble never enjoyed it; he died, even before the Archdemon destroyed much of the city.
Now, nobles and princes tried to hire her. Some who heard about her success were watching to see if she was going to play the nobility games of Orlais or Antiva now. He worried about that.
Her story of the fine brandy had been toasted with some brandy that was not quite as good, but it was enough to warm him after the small sip he allowed himself. Hawke's story finished when they 'retrieved' the unpaid brandy, and she slid over on the bench to lean against him, smelling of ale.
Part of him was glad that she only leaned her back against his side as he leaned on the low table in front of him. That part would have moved away if she sat beside him to play any of the pirate's games. Part of him wished she had. Part of him wanted to lean back and put an arm around her to draw her warm and soft curves closer, sliding his palm and fingers across her waist to hold her against him.
He turned a little to check if she was trying one of Isabela's tricks, but her eyes weren't sparkling with mischief as Varric began another tale. He could see that her eyes were drooping shut and she was listing to her side, leaning away from the table.
The one part silent for an instant, his arm slipped around her, exactly as he imagined it. More than just holding her and feeling her breathe, despite that other part's wishes, he felt as lightheaded as if he had finished the brandy. His eyes closing and breathing deeply, he spread his fingers along her curves slowly, feeling the warmth through her leather armor.
The silence caught his attention and his eyes snapped open again.
His eyes met Varric's as the dwarf put his mug down with a clink. There he saw amusement and perhaps a touch of pity, even as the storyteller resumed his story.
When he looked around, most of the others were close to dozing as well, slumped or leaning against each other.
Part of him objected that she wouldn't fall now. But the other part insisted that he lock his arm and not slide in any direction... not feel what was only a few inches away.
Hawke stirred and leaned back against him, wriggling a little under his fingers before settling back into her doze.
He stirred as well, and ignored that part again. He would pretend... for a little while... that he could hold her like this forever, that this wasn't another dream in the caved-in cubby of his clinic, that she would be safe and warm in his arms.
A deep breath let him smell her hair as the story ended.
He straightened and began his first tale of the evening. “I hadn't gotten really drunk for years; that's the first thing taken away and the last privilege returned. But I had escaped again late one summer and fled east that time, finding brief work at distasteful kind of chores that even the poorest farmers were happy to hire out, like cleaning privies in small towns and large farms...”
Varric's chuckles came just before he revealed one of his better tactics for hiding. He hadn't planned to give those details, but was very distracted when Hawke began shifting as he spoke.
“It wasn't the most pleasant way to earn a stake for travel, because a privy in a Bann's town had a rotting corpse in it. Cleaning that during the investigation paid very well and no one, not even the local Mother and her guard, came close enough to smell me.” Distracted more by Hawke's stifled laughter than even her curves, he almost slid his hand up to end what was now a pretense at best.
Part of him wanted to, desperately. But part also wanted him to let go.
Amusement shone in Varric's eyes and voice when he suggested, “This must have been good practice for Darktown, Blondie.”
His agreement was abstracted, even to him. “True. That got me through several more villages and I hadn't known that Highever even had a brothel, let alone more than one to help prevent my having extra coin if I was captured. One morning, I woke on one of the streets with all my money gone, along with the rather faded and stained pants I kept it in...”
Hawke wriggled a little closer, but made no other demands... to his relief. “...if only I could figure out where I'd left my pants.”
No comments or chuckles told him he was the only one awake.
He never did figure out which establishment he'd lost them in, but he didn't care right now at all. Everything was quiet, within and without, as he laid his cheek against her hair before joining her in a doze.
He only wished he could dream of her.
--- x ---
A/N: This is the result of a Writer's Digest email prompt. Thanks to my beta readers who have been kind enough to read this and point out stupid flubs. Any typos that remain are not intentional... Reviews or a PM to let me know what you think would be very appreciated.
BTW: The first mate's name is taken from DAO, don't blame me for this coincidence.
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Unresolved Tangles (Through a Glass Darkly 4)