Romance Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction ❯ Friends With Benefits ❯ Part Two ( Chapter 2 )

Merrill declared the boy mostly blood magic free the next morning and informed them that so long as they kept an eye on him for the next week or so for demonic possession, he would be fine at the end of it. Camp was summarily disassembled, the loot was stored, and everything else unnecessary was quickly burnt by the three mages to hide their trail in case anyone was hunting them.

As the ashes were being scattered, Isabela sidled up beside Hawke and asked, “So, what went down last night? Between you and Fenris, that is?” When she got a blank look in return, she sighed and explained, “You've been avoiding each other all morning where the two of you normally work together. It would be rather nauseating if you weren't such an effective pair. So, did you do the deed? Seal the deal? Ride the bronto?”

That last one finally caused Hawke to blush and sputter indignantly. Isabela merely smiled as she slipped out of easy fireball range, reflecting that it was, indeed, very easy to get a rise out of their *fearless* leader when it came to her sex life.

Upon setting out, Fenris found himself walking alongside Varric. Which, he realized, must have been the dwarf's intention. The dwarf never did anything without a purpose. He glanced ahead of them at Hawke and, for a moment, contemplated lengthening his stride to catch up with her, but last night…A light blush stained his face for another moment before he gained control over his memories. Besides, the abomination was speaking with her and he had no wish to be drawn into a debate with it that would ultimately fall to her to smooth over.

“You know,” Varric said in an offhand manner that made Fenris immediately wary. “Hawke is a beautiful woman.” *That* made him almost growl, but he was not an animal and Hawke was not his to defend like that, he reminded himself. “Just a friendly piece of advice, but if you don't move along soon, Blondie there will make a move on her.” Then, Varric fell back to walk with Isabela where they immediately began whispering.

For a moment, Fenris contemplated simply attacking the abomination. It would have made things so much easier and life would be a lot simpler without having to watch him every second of the day they spent together. His eyes flicked to Hawke and he felt the desire to kill drain out of him. Hawke would never let the abomination die without defending him. It would take something far more extreme than their hatred of each other to convince her to kill him.

As it was, Anders and Hawke were involved in a rather pointed and heated discussion about the mage child they had rescued. “His parents hired us to find and rescue him. They have to be willing to do more than that,” he said.

“And who's to say that once they find out that their boy was *almost* possessed by a demon they won't turn on him like…” her voice trailed off and she looked ahead. “Look, there is no telling that they'll want him back after they find out he was controlled by blood magic. His best bet might actually be with the Circle until he's older.”

A scowl settled over his features. “Who's to say they won't already have a plan in place?” he asked.

She stopped and looked at him. He paused at her side and stubbornly met her gaze. “What-” she began and then shook her head. “No, don't tell me. I don't want to know. If you can convince them that their son is no danger to them then I have no objection to their taking him back. If, however, they freak out upon finding out that there is still a chance he could be under the influence of blood magic then he goes to the Circle when he's entirely free of it at the weeks end.”

“A chance is all I'm asking for,” he said, a smile softening his scowl, but she was already moving again.

(A note on my Hawke: she isn't necessarily pro-mage or pro-Templar. She's somewhere inbetween, but when pressed at the end she sides with the mages.)

They reached the city by nightfall relatively unharmed from their scrape with bandits and another group of slavers. Upon entering the city, Varric suggested they meet in the residential district of Lowtown and vanished to retrieve the boy's parents. When they got there, it was deserted save for a single inhabitant that quickly scampered off at the sight of five armored individuals and a child.

Hawke realized a little uncomfortably that they were sticking out. “Isa,” she said quietly, scanning the streets. “Fenris, Merrill, why don't you three head off. Anders and I can handle any ruffians that happen along between now and when Varric arrives.” When they looked to protest, she fixed them with a glare and said, “It is far easier for two robed individuals to blend into the shadows than it is for five individuals to remain unnoticed.”

“But I can-” Isabela began but she huffed out an aggravated breath when Hawke simply glared at her. “Fine, but if your stupid ass gets captured, don't expect me to save you without saying `I told you so' a good dozen times.” Then, she slipped into the stealth of being a rogue and made her way back to the Hanged Man.

Fenris simply stared at her for a moment longer, before he silently backed into the shadows and vanished, leaving the mages blinking in surprise. “I didn't know he could do that. Did you know he could do that, Hawke?” Merrill asked.

Hawke sighed and Merrill grinned sheepishly before turning her attention to the child still clinging to her hand. Kneeling beside him, she murmured her goodbyes before embracing him and handing him off to Hawke, whom he clung to like a lifeline. Gently petting his hair one last time, she smiled sadly and said, “If you've no place else to go, little one, come find me in the alienage and we can go a wandering like my clan. We'd have a wonderful time of it, too.”

Her eyebrows rose in shock, but before she could so much as comment, Merrill waved cheerfully to them one last time and set off towards her home. Anders chuckled ruefully, still staring at the spot she had turned the corner. “Well, there's an interesting thought. Merrill as a mother?”

Something about his tone made her bristle and though he was her friends as well, she snapped, “She'd make a wonderful mother.”

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Minus the whole `I made a deal with a demon to fix a giant mirror,' sure, why not.”

The boy stared at them with wide, blue eyes and Hawke sighed. “She's not evil and she would never let something possess her,” she said soothingly and the boy nodded.

They waited in silence for a good twenty minutes before they heard the jingle of armor. Glancing over their shoulders, she saw some of Aveline's guardsmen on patrol. They nodded to each other and Hawke and Anders moved deeper into the shadows to remain a little more inconspicuous while the guards silently continued on their patrol. “You wouldn't really send him to the Circle, would you?” Anders asked casually and Hawke repressed another sigh.

They'd had the same argument at least a good hundred times since they had met three years previously. Smoothing a hand against his head, she looked at the boy and considered her answer. “I can't take care of him without raising suspicion. You can't take him in and guarantee that he'll be safe. We can't turn him lose on the streets with a few coins and hope he'll survive just like you can't send him off to live with some strangers who knows they'll do to him once they have him to themselves. The Dalish won't take him because he's human and the Chantry would send him to the Circle anyways. Sometimes, the Circle is the last and only option that someone has. It's not a perfect system, but it's better than always being on the run for one as young as he is. If it can be avoided, then I say, yes, let's seek that option out, but I will not abandon him to an unknown fate.”

For once, he didn't have a response to that and they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. It was, at best, a stalemate she knew wouldn't last and as much as she cared for him she wasn't sure what she would do to him the next time he tried to choke her with his view that “all mages should be free.” Thankfully, Varric's soft voice made his presence known before they even saw him.

“-and the demon was twice as tall as we are. It tried to grab her but she remained as calm as anything-” he was saying. Her ears burned as she realized that he was embellishing their latest trip, but when he came into view with a male and female following him she swallowed any remarks she had on the subject when they spotted their little boy and rushed forward. The boy released her with a glad cry and threw himself into their arms.

She and Anders moved a little out of the way at the reunion and watched instead for any sign of the gangs that might be stalking the streets these days. After a few moments, the mother disentangled herself from her boy and approached her. “Thank you, Serah Hawke. We owe you everything,” she whispered gratefully.

Hawke managed to stutter something between “I had help” and “It was no problem” before the woman gave her another smile and then returned to her family. Coin exchanged hands and Varric frowned at the amount, pressing more than half back into their hands and easily sliding past their stammered thanks.

The father glanced at Anders and they exchanged a brief nod that Hawke willed herself to *not* think about too hard. She knew he was part of something underground with the mages, but she had no desire to know any more than that unless he wished to tell her of it. Anything beyond that, well…she'd helped him out of more than one scrape along the way and she was willing to do it again provided he hadn't done anything too incredibly insane.

After that, it was just the three of them standing in the Residential District of Lowtown. Anders was the first to excuse himself with nothing more than a nod and a murmur about checking up on his patients. Hawke and Varric eyed each other for a long moment before the dwarf simply shrugged and handed her the money pouch. “Divide this up how you see fit,” he said.

She raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned. “They can't come complaining to me if they don't like their share if it's you that hands out the shares,” he said, shrugging Bianca back over his shoulder. “Besides, they all like you too much to believe for even a second you'd even think about cheating us out of our fairly earned coin.”

“Right, and you would have absolutely nothing to gain from spinning tales about me?” she returned and his smile simply widened.

“Good night, Hawke, and try not to stay out too late with certain broody elves,” he said with a wink before he turned and walked away.

Hawke flushed but otherwise managed to ignore the comment as she started on her way back home as well, tucking the pouch into her inner robe for safe keeping. Most nights, she only needed the company of her mabari and her reputation to ensure that she was left alone by the gangs that prowled Kirkwall, but that night was different. There was something restless to the night air and she was more than happy to see the familiar shape of Fenris silently emerge from the shadows to fall into step beside her.

It was a comfortable silence that they walked in and any shadows that might have been following her melted away upon registering the presence of a mage and a skilled warrior. They said nothing until they reached her Hightown manor and paused.

Hawke glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, suddenly very aware that every light in the house was out and that her mother, Bodhan, and Sandal were all asleep. Fenris shifted his weight slightly and considered her. They stayed that way for a moment before he began, “I should-”

Right about the same time Hawke said, “Mother will be worried.”

They paused and she grinned at him and he looked away, smiling slightly as well. “Well, this is awkward,” she remarked and shook her head. “Look, Varric gave me the earnings for our little outing and I'm going to divide it up tomorrow. Shall I stop by and give you your cut sometime tomorrow evening?”

He paused and considered it. She was giving him a chance to walk away. “Then, I shall see you tomorrow,” he said, his voice dropping in pitch. “Goodnight, Hawke.”

She stood there for a long moment, staring at the spot where he had been, and attempting to control the butterflies that had arisen in her. Blinking a couple of times, she shook her head and opened the door. Tomorrow wouldn't come soon enough in her opinion.

If anyone noticed her acting strangely the next day when she gave them their cut, they were kind enough not to mention it to her, but that didn't stop them from talking to each other. It also didn't go amiss that both Fenris and Hawke were missing from that nights round of Wicked Grace.

Hawke had finally given up on fidgeting with her appearance after an hour of looking at and discarding all of her clothes. It wasn't like she was going on a date, she reminded herself, but that still did nothing to cool the nervousness she felt rising when she approached Fenris' mansion and saw that one of the windows flickered with firelight.

She let herself in and made her way up the stairs to where she usually found him in his room. The room itself was in no way different from its usual decorum, he was nowhere to be found. Approaching the table, she pulled the money pouch out and set it on the wooden surface. As she released the bag, she felt a shiver run up her spine. Turning her head slightly, she caught sight of Fenris standing in the doorway, holding an unopened bottle of the Aggressio.

Her stomach twisted nervously at his silence so she smiled and said, “Hi.”

An answering smile flitted across his lips as he entered the room and sat down before the fire, motioning for Hawke to do the same. She sat on one of the benches and leaned one her elbows on her knees so that she could rest her chin in the palm of her hand. He opened the bottle and offered it to her.

“I started last time,” she protested. “Your turn.”

“Ah, yes, but I seem to recall sharing first the three times before that,” he remarked.

“Damn,” she said, accepting the bottle and taking a swig. “Alright, I convinced Beth to set a Templar on fire back in Lothering and made it look like an accident. Father wouldn't let us out of the house for close to a month.” A sad smile twisted her lips as she handed the bottle back.

“When I was with the Fog Warriors, one of the females took an interest in me and every attempt I made to dissuade her was taken as an indication that her attentions were welcome. I finally challenged her to a fight and requested that she back off as my prize for winning,” Fenris returned, taking a drink and offering the wine back to her.

Hawke rolled the bottle between her palms and considered him. For all intents and purposes, he looked to be very much at ease with their trading of painless anecdotes from their pasts, but she was not. It was hard to forget the feeling of his armored hands raking through her hair to pull her closer. Setting the bottle aside, she asked, “May I kiss you?”

It took all her willpower not to blush and try to melt into the bench she sat on while he studied her with an unreadable look. Finally, he rose to his feet and it was though his muscles were uncoiling. Desire boiled in her veins as he closed the distance between them and leaned down to capture her lips in a searing kiss. She rose and hooked her arm around his neck, pulling him closer and flattening her breasts and stomach against his chest plate.

His hands ghosted down her sides to rest on her hips, but he didn't let them linger long before he unfastened the belt of her robe and pushed it back to hang off her shoulders. Deft fingers unlaced the fastenings of her under armor and tugged the material apart to slide one clawed hand inside to gently cup her breast. The cold metal contrasted with the heat of her skin so sharply that she broke away from the kiss, tilted her head back, and gasped at the sensation. Flicking his thumb over her peaked nipple, he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth and traced a trail of fire to her rapid pulse with teeth and tongue where he could taste her heartbeat. Then, he kissed her again and slid his tongue past her lips to entwine with hers.

He moved back just enough to make her moan at the loss of contact and she followed him without breaking the kiss as he slowly backed into a sitting position. She moved with him, eager fingers flying across his chest plate and fumbling with his clasps as she followed him down to straddle his hips before the fire with her open robe hanging off her shoulders.

*Snick!*

They startled apart and both glanced at the door at the sound and then grinned at each other when they realized that it had only been the last of his chest plate clasps coming undone. He shed the plate and she sat back on her heels to examine the lyrium markings that twined down his chest in intricate patterns before disappearing under the leather material of his breeches. He reclined back on his elbows to watch her take in the sight of him with a closed expression, as though he were waiting for rejection.

She bit her lip and reached a hand between them to touch one of the markings, but she hesitated and glanced at him. “May I?” she whispered breathlessly.

A slight smirk tugged at his lips as he nodded and laced his fingers with hers to show her exactly how much pressure to apply without hurting him. She mimicked his movements and the lyrium reacted to her touch and swirled to the surface of his skin to glow slightly and send sensations through him that had him dropping his head back and biting off a moan. He released her hand and she continued to trace every groove and defined muscle the markings dipped into, watching in fascination as they reacted.

“They're beautiful,” she said.

A chuckle vibrated between them and sent more heat spiraling to her core as he caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Coming from you, Hawke,” he rumbled, “that means a great deal.”

He tugged her down onto his chest where he claimed her lips in another searing kiss while he worked her robe off and tossed it hazardously close to the fire before he smoothed his hands down her back to settle his hands on her buttocks. Giving a gentle squeeze made her inhale sharply and buck her hips forward to brush against the hard bulge of his erection, earning her a hiss from his lips.

Wrapping one arm around her waist and the other around the base of her skull, he rolled them over in one fluid move that settled him between her thighs with her legs wrapped loosely around his waist. One hand trailed up her side to continue working at the lacings of her under armor until they were completely free on one side and he could slide one clawed hand inside to trace the planes of her stomach. She bit back a moan at the sensation.

Freeing his other hand, he worked at the other side of her lacings until he could slide the chest piece off and throw it next to her robe. “Fenris,” she breathed, tilting her head back and arching her back in invitation.

He broke the kiss and pulled back a little so that he could tug her breast band off and see her cleavage unhindered. Lowering his head, he flicked his tongue across the hardening peak of her breast, glancing up at her to observe her eyes flutter closed. She gasped when his teeth grazed her nipple and his hand closed around her neglected breast as he laved the other with attention. Pools of desire raced through her, setting her blood on fire and making it difficult to breath. She fisted her hands in his hair and arched into his touch.

After a moment, he kissed the valley between her breasts and nipped a path down her stomach and soothed the little bites with a swirl of his tongue, exploring every inch of her exposed skin until she was squirming beneath him and panting his name like it was part of the chant. Planting a final kiss on her hip, he sat back and undid the clasps to his gauntlets while her fingers traced the markings on his chest again until she reached the waistband of his breeches and she gave an impatient tug.

He wrapped his free hand around one of her wrists and stilled her eager fingers. “Patience, Hawke,” he rumbled when he had her attention.

She huffed in frustration, but dropped her hands to her chest to fill the sudden ache the absence of his touch had left her with. He watched her for a moment, running her fingers over her exposed skin and feeling himself harden a little more before he finished removing the other gauntlet. Then, he stripped her of her breeches and removed his own so that there was nothing but their smalls between skin on skin and those didn't last long at all.

They paused for a moment to take in the full, naked form of the other and Hawke unconsciously licked her lips when her eyes finally stopped at his full erection. She glanced back up at him with a small smile. “Well, that's…you're impressive,” she managed.

Fenris simply leaned over her again and claimed her lips in another kiss that made her forget how to breathe. His hand brushed over her nipple, tweaking the bud and making her gasp against his mouth, before trailing down her stomach to brush against her sex. She bucked against the light touch. He repeated the motion and then dipped one finger into her folds, smiling when he found her wet and wanting.

“Eager, are we?” he whispered, sliding his finger into her to the first knuckle. She pushed her hips up to meet his hand, but he pulled back a little, making her moan in frustration. She gripped his shoulders to steady herself and parted her legs for him.

Fenris rotated his thumb over her clit and slid another finger in to join the first before thrusting them in and out. Hawke moaned his name and bucked her hips in an attempt to meet the pace he was setting, but he stilled her motions with his other hand. When she began to tighten around his fingers and her moans reached a fevered pitch, he pulled his fingers out and positioned himself. He leaned in, bending his head to take her nipple in his mouth, and her breath caught at the feel of his warm lips and tongue on her, taking her in. They were both breathing faster, the movement of his hips becoming more insistent, her soft cries and his muffled moans filling the silence. She fisted one hand in his hair and splayed the other across his back, urging him on. He shifted, then, mouth leaving her breast as he moved the head of his cock to her tight, wet entrance, pushing slowly but insistently, both of them crying out at the sensation as he filled her, rocking back and forth until he was fully seated inside her.

There were no words, then, as he held her tight, leaning her back as he increased the pace, short, quick thrusts that made her whimper. “Fenris,” she gasped. There were no words to describe the feeling of him, so hard inside, rocking against her, building a heat and pressure that threatened to consume her. He slowed, then, and sat back slightly on his heels, and she watched, dazed, as he put his thumb to his lips, licking it, eyes on hers, before moving to rub her at the joining of their bodies. Her eyes fluttered shut and she was lost in pleasure as he stroked his callused thumb over her nub in time with his thrusts. “Fenris,” she gasped, arching against him as he coaxed more pleasure from her. He picked up the pace, then, the desperation hitching in her voice as she constricted around him making his own body begin to tighten. He felt it then, the moment she began to crest, crying out as she vised around him, so tight and hot and wet, and he moved to cover her body with his own, cradling her head in his hands, pounding harder, faster as his own pleasure found him, his deep cries blending with hers as they rode out the waves of their release together.

Sated, they collapsed together in a boneless heap. They stayed like that for a long moment and she nuzzled his shoulder, rubbing at his back as she did so. He grunted and eased out of her until he could flip onto his back beside her. They considered each other before she rolled onto her stomach and nestled her head against his shoulder, tracing the markings on his stomach.

“That was…” he began, but stopped when words failed him.

“Mmm…” she supplied. “We might have to do that again sometime. Preferably in a bed.”

She glanced at him from beneath dark eye lashes and a chuckle rumbled from deep in his chest. “And perhaps more than once more,” he agreed, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her tight against his chest so that he could bury his nose in her hair. “If you're willing?” he added uncertainly.

It was her turn to laugh. “Of course I'm willing, but right now, I think sleep is in order,” she murmured.

“Mmm…” he agreed and, together, they drifted off into a fitful doze before the fire.

Dawn rose bright and clear, banishing any traces of the lingering darkness that the night had brought. Hawke stirred in the cold air and pressed her nose closer to the familiar scent of Fenris, sighing happily when the memories of the previous night trickled slowly back. They'd slept together, it had been good, and there had been the tentative discussion of it happening again.

Lifting her chin to look at him, she grinned at the emerald gaze that watched her. “The fire went out,” he remarked and she blinked.

What did…? Her heart skipped a beat and some of the warmth drained from her body as the implications registered. Did he really mean…?

His eyes slid to the fireplace and she felt a blush starting to creep up the back of her neck. Oh. That's why the room was rather cool. He hadn't meant it as anything other than a statement of fact and she'd been getting herself twisted into a knot over nothing then. Well…how silly of her.

With his arm still loosely wrapped around her waist, she couldn't seem to dredge up the urge to move or do anything that would require her to leave the warm cradle of his body. She studied the fireplace as well. “So it is,” she returned. “There also isn't any wood left so conjuring fire would be a waste of energy.” He didn't even flinch at the casual reminder that she was a mage and she felt a different kind of satisfaction thrum through her. They'd been working on reaching a middle ground for a number of months by that point and it was good to know they had succeeded to a certain degree.

She wedged a foot under his knee and watched his reaction from beneath dark eyelashes. He glanced at her, a curious expression registering on his face. She grinned in return and lifted herself into her elbow to lean down and kiss him without any real urgency. “Morning,” she said when she broke away.

“Indeed,” he laughed and they stared at each other for a long moment.

Hawke was the first to move, reluctantly breaking away and rising to her feet. There were other things to be doing than lying about all day, even if it felt good to lounge about in her lover's arms. The thought made her grin stupidly. Her lover. Fenris was her lover. Well, it wasn't as though they'd been flirting for the last three years and working their way towards that point and it wasn't like anything had really changed. Right?

She was beginning to process the question as she reached for her smalls when strong fingers gripped her hips and slid up the planes of her stomach to cup her breasts, pulling her back against a muscular chest. His teeth nipped lightly at the rim of her ear as he chuckled. “There is a bed and a promise I believe we made last night. If you're willing?” he asked, one hand drifting slowly down her stomach to trace her hip bone.

Her breathing hitched slightly when his hand slid around her thigh and one finger curled up to brush the slit of her entrance. She wound one of her hands around the back of his neck and leaned her head back. “Yes,” she breathed, thrusting to meet his fingers as he sank two into her.

How she wound up kneeling in the middle of the bed with him thrusting into her from behind, driving her towards that blissful edge, holding her there, and then driving her screaming over was something she would never quite understand nor care to attempt to piece together. All that mattered was that she felt satisfied again and sore in a good way. It was almost a shame when he decided that they did, indeed, have other things that needed to be done that day, not least of which was attending to the meeting with the Viscount on some important matter or another.

The Qunari were a proud race of fierce warriors whose dedication and focus quietly earned her respect, but that respect was sorely tested when the Arishok sent her after the creeping mist. After that, when the Viscount asked for her help in finding the missing Qunari delegates, she almost refused and at the end, when she found them, she was glad that she hadn't refused. Zealotry was not the way to get things done, it only led to more bloodshed and the loss of innocent lives.

The aftermath left the people of Kirkwall reeling with fear and whispers of war, but Hawke balanced peace as best she could. Days passed and the Qunari made no move of aggression and the people began to relax again as a week turned to two and the “heredital giants” remained their ever watchful selves. As a third week came to pass, the city turned their attention from the Qunari and distracted themselves with gossip about the return of the Amell family and its scion.

Some rumors pegged her as a woman that had earned her families place back through a trade of “favors” and blackmail. Others painted her as a woman on her rise to power to protect those that could not do it for themselves. Still others reflected on a darker side of her nature and warped some of the things she had done to pain her as a blood mage or worse. The one thing they all had in common was the fact that a silver haired elven warrior rarely left her side.

Hawke ignored the rumors, the skeptical glances, the curious whispers and continued on with her life. Fenris, as always, remained a shadow to the city of Kirkwall and remained impervious to their gossip. Within their group, however, the dynamics shifted a little as everyone realized what was going on between their leader and the warrior. Anders avoided the pair like the plague unless Hawke physically dragged him out of his clinic for a job. Merrill thought it cute. Aveline remained silent on the matter, but kept a closer eye on the pair of them and tried a little harder to make sure that Fenris went unseen by the Viscount office. Isabela and Varric continued their relentless, light teasing and insinuations and Hawke and Fenris continued to deflect and ignore.

The relationship between Fenris and Hawke shifted only slightly. They continued to meet after every job they did together, for Fenris' weekly reading lessons, and whenever the fancy struck them to visit each other, which, with their newly acquired set of activities, was at least every other day. Most of the time, those visits between them found them in an exhausted, sated, sweaty tangle of limbs. Afterwards, when they were satisfied, Hawke would curl up against him and he would loop an arm around her waist or stomach and they would drift together for a few hours before they parted ways.

Over the weeks that followed, they continued to have casual sex and Isabela noted with interest that Fenris was less broody and that he engaged more with them when they played Wicked Grace in a less hostile manner, especially towards Merrill. Even Aveline commented on his being less prickly. With Anders, they remained as hostile as ever towards each other.

Hawke nearly swallowed her tongue when she heard some of the tamer things Isabela was saying to Fenris and how Fenris was guardedly responding. She tried not to get jealous, she really did, and she pretended not to notice every time Isabela “accidentally” brushed against the elven warrior and she pretended to be absorbed in something else every time Fenris would glance at her on those occasions, but it was harder to ignore when Isabela looked like a smug cat and Fenris smelled like the pirate. After the first time she went to see Fenris and he sported a bite she hadn't made, she took off like a spurned lover and disappeared into Darktown where she spent time with Anders and helped him to wade through his sea of patients.

With two skilled healers to patch up the people that came to him, Anders finished earlier than he ever had and over the course of a week, Hawke and Anders began to patch up the friendship they had neglected to maintain for a long while. They spoke of topics that didn't hurt and avoided anything that had to do with Fenris. Small things began to make better sense to her and when he accidentally brushed against her a second time that evening, it finally clicked into place that he cared for her beyond friendship.

Looking at him with new eyes, she watched as he finished sewing together a woman's badly split lip and watched him smile and gently reassure her as he cleaned the blood off her face and off his hands. Anders really was a decent sort of man that she might have, at one point, fallen in love with if not for…She sighed and rubbed her neck. Well, wasn't this quite the conundrum. She had fallen in love with Fenris without even realizing what was happening and it had taken Anders to figure it out.

When he walked her to the edge of Darktown that evening, he gave her a curious look and paused just short of the entrance to Lowtown. Rubbing a hand across his shoulder, he sighed and said, “You don't have to keep doing this, Hawke.”

She stopped and looked back at him. “Doing what?” she asked.

“Avoiding Fenris,” he said, biting the name off bitterly. “I know you and he are practically joined at the hip when it comes to fighting and life outside of it. I also know the looks Isabela has been throwing him these past few days and that you missed the weekly gathering of Wicked Grace. You. Are. Avoiding. Him. And using me to get away with it.” His tone took a bitter edge at the end and he turned his face away.

Hawke felt a slow flush creeping up the back of her neck. It was true that it had started out that way, but it had changed after the second day when they actually began talking about the different uses and specializations of magic. It had been…*nice*…to be able to talk to another mage and compare notes without worrying about whether or not they would go to the Templars telling tales and it had been nice not to have to worry about prying eyes or shrieking passer-bys when they had demonstrated different spells. He was easy to be around and that was something she had come to

She spun on her heel and engulfed him in a tight hug and then released him before he had a chance to react. “I value your friendship more than you seem to think, Anders. This week may have started with avoiding him, but I stayed and continued on because I enjoy spending time with you.”

Something like a cross between heartache and hope flashed across his face before he nodded and said, “Then I'll probably see you tomorrow,” he said lightly before he turned heel and walked briskly back into the darkness of Darktown. Hawke watched him go, feeling her heart wrench, but knowing it was for the best that she had killed something before it had started. One glowing, broody male was enough for her and she still had to patch up whatever damage her week absence had done.

Sighing and turning around again, she walked towards Hightown once more. Anders was right. Of course he was. It was time to stop avoiding him. She would see him tomorrow, after everything was done and settled.

Fenris, however, had a different idea and was waiting for her when she got home. He didn't look pleased, but he also wasn't glowing. When he moved towards her out of the shadows it was very much like his muscles were coiled in preparation to pounce.

Hawke stopped just short of entering her house and waited for him, suddenly wary. “Fenris,” she said by way of greeting.

“Hawke,” he returned. “You've been avoiding me.”

Well, that was blunt, though she couldn't say that surprised her. Rubbing a hand across her neck, she studied him. “Yes, I have,” she admitted. “Would you like to come in and I can explain inside?”

He nodded slightly and followed her inside to the library where she paused before the fire where she fed the flames a little. Fenris stopped just inside of the doorway and leaned against the frame. When she remained silent a moment longer he asked, “Well?”