#Hawke before DA2

[theluckywizard]

Happy Friday :D For Hawke & Bethany, perhaps "The best of the best and the worst of the worst" from the Florence & the Machine prompts?

Hey phantoms!!! I wrote most of this one last Friday and then passed out and finished it Saturday morning for @dadrunkwriting

Summary: Garrett Hawke requires the healing services of his sister after a run in in Lothering. Carver comes by too!

WC: 1012

Rating: Teen

Sucker Punch

“Well if it isn’t my favorite sister,” Hawke says with a knock, ducking under her bedroom door frame, and leaning on the inside wall without waiting for her answer. 

“What do you want, Garrett?” Bethany asks, without looking up from her desk. He assesses her fondly even as he’s eager for her assistance. Bethany has been murderously studious since her magic manifested when she was nine. Not that there aren’t other benefits, but he knows it’s because she’s terrified of being impressed into the Circle. If she’s widely read she’ll have an easier time of it.

“Oh you know, that little waggle of your fingers you do whenever I get a sucker punch to the face,” he says. Bethany turns to her brother, raising her brows pityingly at the swollen, smarting eye and gestures for him to kneel down so she can reach it. She wanders over to her herbalism workbench for some gauze and grain alcohol.

“What was this one about? Did you make eyes at some lady in front of her man?”

“Oh, that would have been so much more interesting. Better yet if someone had made eyes at me in front of their man. But no. I won at cards again and there were a couple of poor sports.”

“You’re always finding the poor sports, Gar,” she says, shaking her head. “They got you good today.”

“Only because it was a sucker punch.” Bethany grabs his right hand and inspects his knuckles.

“I see you had your revenge,” she remarks, dropping it again.

“If I didn’t, everyone would try to sucker punch me after cards.”

“That’s because you get all giddy like a nine year old boy. I want to punch you in the face after cards.”

Bethany dabs his eye carefully, wincing slightly as she moves it closer to the contusion. The grain alcohol sings its terrible song in the busted skin of his cheekbone and he grits his teeth and whimpers slightly.

“Did you have to do that first!?” he complains.

“If I heal it up and there’s something nasty inside it it will be a lot worse than whatever sting that was,” she says forcefully, her prickly answers always catching him by surprise. He’s a fan of her growing feistiness, though he has strong suspicions being locked down in their cottage in Lothering for so long is the main contributing factor.

She positions her fingers carefully over the wound and pushes her mana through, the healing energy tingling pleasantly as his skin stitches itself back together.

“Andraste bless your blazing fingers, sister,” he says with a smile though it feels stiff in his swollen cheek. “And I have just the thing to pay you!”

“What am I going to do with your silvers, Gar?” she asks.

“Better,” he says, reaching into his doublet’s inner pocket and withdrawing a sealed letter. A flush springs into her cheeks and she snatches it from him, pacing away with it. “He caught me on my way home.”

“Gar!” Hawke rolls his eyes to his sister as Carver bounds up the steps in their cottage three at a time and appears in the door frame.

“Brother,” says Hawke cheerily with a grin. Carver snorts a laugh behind his hand and instantly apologizes.

“Maker, I heard Patter socked you, but I didn’t think he had this in him.”

“Surprise was on his side,” says Hawke.

“Patter said he was going to tell the barkeep to ban you from the tavern,”

“Barkeep would never ban me.”

“You keep punching his patrons!”

“They punch me first!” says Hawke. “Besides, I always give barkeep a cut to keep him happy. If you’ve ever wondered how I top off the family coffers, that’s how. Grease the wheels that need greasing.”

“One day one of your sore losers is going to come for me.”

“And I suspect you will handle them with all the aplomb I expect of you, Carver.”

“Are you two done?” Bethany asks. She slips the letter behind her back but it’s too late. Carver’s seen it. Hawke groans, his eyes rolling far back into his head.

“What’s that?” he asks. “Is that– Gar– no.”

“No? What are you going to do about it exactly, Carver? Bethany isn’t a girl anymore. She can have a mystery beau.”

“Will you two just stuff it and get out?”

“You’re seriously ferrying letters for her? What if the templars find her out? What if he– Maker, Gar. Who is it?”

“You could ask me, you know,” scoffs Bethany.

“Well who is it then?” Carver demands, illustrating with great precision the need to keep the information from him in the first place.

“Ren Fernsby,” says Bethany, her chin held out proudly, defiantly.

“Ren. Ren!? I wouldn’t trust him with our dog for an hour, let alone Bethany’s safety,” says Carver. “How could you help her with this?”

“I hardly think it’s fair that you and I get to go off and canoodle with whomever we please and Bethany has to sit in the cottage all alone.”

“She’s not alone. She has us. And Mother.”

“Carver, points for demonstrating your concern about her physical security, but first of all Bethany can handle herself, and second of all, there’s more to her well being than just keeping away from the templars,” says Hawke. 

“Sod it. If Ren spills the beans about Bethany when he’s drunk, and Ser Donnall comes sniffing around I’ll know who to blame.”

“I love blame. I’m hoarding it like a big fat dragon,” says Hawke. “Heap it right on top.” Carver rolls his eyes and walks out leaving his two siblings to cast knowing looks.

“Thanks, Gar. You don’t need to do this for me. You’re the best,” she says, popping the seal open on the letter.

“Don’t get too far ahead of yourself,” says Hawke. “I told Ren that if he broke your heart I’d roll him in nug shit and feathers and tie him to the village message board.”

“Ugh, you’re the worst!” she cries, smacking him with the letter with gritted teeth.

“The worst of the worst!”

[sparemoon]

[itseghost]

very straightforward redraw because this quest and this whole scene have been ON my mind.

[ruushes]

throuple of all time to me

[contrivedcoincidences6]

Romancing Fenris as a mage like:

[crows-of-buckets]

Au where Carver, instead of fleeing Ostagar, ends up with the hero of Fereldan, and follows them around to help stop the blight. He eventually ends up at Amaranthine, and becomes a full warden alongside all the others. He becomes kinda friends with Anders (I think he would be a bit less of an ass to pre justice anders) and somehow the two end up leaving for Kirkwall together.

Hawke walks into the clinic looking for grey warden maps and runs into their baby brother they thought was dead. He's just chilling in the sewer clinic like it's a normal thing to be doing.

[zkretchy]

It's 2am and I can't sleep, have this silly doodle

[kylominis]

After the battle at the Gallows, he just needs to make sure they're both truly alive. [♡]

[dalishious]

[legoprime]

On the topic of the previous post, I've been having some Thoughts about Varric and my (pro-mage, Andersmancing) Hawke lately, let me see if I can get them down into words.

Like... okay, let's start at the beginning. Varric meets this refugee who he's heard a lot about, hires him onto an expedition. They start working together and Varric realizes this guy is pretty funny, always down for a laugh and a drink at the Hanged Man. They have very compatible personalities and quickly become good friends.

Varric is settled in deep in Kirkwall, and over the years Hawke gets settled in pretty well too. His family retakes their estate, he starts doing jobs for and around the Viscount, and he seems to be the only one the Arishok will talk to which is pretty important for the overall wellbeing of the city. This culminates in Hawke becoming the literal Champion of Kirkwall, the savior of their city. That's about as entrenched as you can get.

Alongside all of this is Anders, who is also friends with Varric and generally down for a joke and a good time, but who can get a bit too serious about mage rights for Varric's tastes. It's not that Varric has a huge difference of opinion on the matter, it's just that he'd rather not have to think about difficult things like that. He's happy and content in his life, and he has everything he needs right where he is. What happens in the Circle stays in the Circle, it doesn't affect Varric.

When Hawke begins his relationship with Anders, Varric jokes about it. "Are you sure about the possessed mage?" It's taken lightheartedly, because Hawke is his best friend and he supports whatever weird relationship choices he makes. "You do you, Hawke, but that's probably gonna end badly."

And then The Last Straw happens. And then the Chantry is destroyed, and fire rains down over the city, his city, and Varric watches his best friend side with the man who did it, his lover and partner who he has supported all of these years, and for the first time Varric is forced to actually recognize that Hawke and Anders share the same values. "I'm not sure we should be doing this" he says, in some vain hope that, I dunno, maybe Hawke will turn around and say, "You know what you're right bestie, let me just put the lid back on this stewing mage rebellion and then everything will be normal again and we can forget this ever happened".

Instead he watches Hawke put a different cause above the wellbeing of his city--their city, the one he thought they both cared just as deeply for--for the first time, and then he watches Hawke and Anders and all the newly freed mages leave.

Years later when the Inquisitor asks Varric about all of this and he reminisces about Hawke and scoffs about Anders, it's in this almost longing, mournful way of someone who lost a friend and blames their significant other for it. There's a part of Varric that, even then, is still thinking, "if only Hawke had never gotten in bed with Blondie, then maybe he'd have made the 'right' choice and we'd all still be together having drinks at the Hanged Man." But he knows that will never happen again, because he knows even when Hawke comes to Skyhold that when he leaves he's going back to Anders.

When he tells stories of Hawke's adventures and leaves out the parts about Anders, or actively talks shit about him, it's because it's easier to blame everything that happened solely on Anders rather than admit Hawke was a different person than Varric thought he was.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

You ever think about how in spite of knowing their exact locations, the game never gives any indication that templar Carver has reported his mage sibling, Merril (a blood mage) or Anders (an abomination) to his superiors?

I do think about that a lot, even though I tend to ignore the Templar Carver route because I know Warden Carver to be true in my heart and soul... but I totally get the appeal of Templar Carver within DA2's narrative, y'know?

It's so fascinating, really. I've never played a run with Templar Carver, I just can't bring myself to do it, so I know I'm missing out on smaller details of it. From what I do know, this drives me crazy in the best way possible.

Deciding whether to bring him or not to the Deep Roads is such an important choice, not only because it affects his fate, but how it affects his relationship to Hawke. He tells you that he wants to go, he makes it very clear that it's important to him that he goes, too... and Hawke can just leave him behind and it hurts him. I don't think that registers enough with some people just because of how Carver is, like it doesn't matter what Hawke's motivations are [staying behind for his safety, not wanting to bring him, thinking someone should stay with Leandra, etc] it still hurts him because it tells him that Hawke doesn't need him, and Carver wants to be needed.

And yes, there are other contributing factors to why he joins the templars, but it doesn't matter what your relationship is to him, it doesn't change the fact that he doesn't turn Hawke or his companions in.

Sure, the meta reason is it's a video game and you're playing the main character. You're never in any actual danger of being captured by templars, and you're not going to lose your companions to them that easy.

But if we look at it through the narrative and Carver's character, that's when it gets interesting. You can max out his rivalry and be an utter asshole to him [there's a point where you can call him a brat and mock him for being stuck in your shadow, like Hawke can be real cruel about it] but it doesn't matter, you're still his sibling. He even makes a remark about how you might not know what that means [referring to leaving him behind] but he does. He refuses to kill Hawke in the end when Meredith makes the order, too.

Which can I just point out that Hawke has the option to let Bethany die in the end if she's with the circle and they side with the templars? Just saying, Carver NEVER does that no matter what, but Hawke has the option to betray Bethany like that and it's fucked and interesting and it makes me want to eat my chair-

As for Merrill and Anders, I think he knows that if he turns either of them in, then the chances of Hawke being brought in as well skyrocket. They're all friends, they're in the same group... bring one in, and you'll probably get the other two.

I also think Carver just genuinely likes Merrill. Yes, I'm a Carver/Merrill shipper, so I have a bias, but even if you remove anything romantic from their dynamic I believe that's true. Of all the companions, Merrill is the only one who doesn't make fun of him, or find him annoying, in party banters. He never snaps back at her, like he's never defensive with her, he's just a little awkward and nice.

Like, HE'S SO NICE TO HER! He tries to find common ground with her! She asks him about "swording" and he's taken aback by her saying he's good at it, but you KNOW that if someone like Anders asked him the same question, he's be all, "shut up, you're stupid, stop talking to me >:["

Think back to that banter Carver can have with Aveline post-act 1 where they're talking about how the guard wasn't the right place for him [hard disagree with you there, Aveline] and Carver says he was a bit of a tit, wasn't he.... and every companion will agree except Merrill. She doesn't say anything, whereas other companions like Anders will be like "ugh maker YES" and if you have a purple Hawke, they'll go on to other ways Carver was a tit like?? I think Carver and Merrill got along and he doesn't want to turn her in because she was nice to him! And she's a blood mage! He knows what will happen to her if the templars get ahold of her! He doesn't want to see her made tranquil or killed!

At that point, he's witnessed what bad blood mages can do, assuming you've brought him along for those quests, but even so. He knows Merrill isn't like that and he likes her, so of course he's not going to turn her in despite that being his literal duty.

Then there's Anders who Carver doesn't like. If you're in a romance with him, Carver will tell him that's why he doesn't turn him in but c'mon Carver, you know that's not the only reason. My theory is Carver may not like Anders and he knows the man's got a spirit of justice inside of him... but Anders also runs a free clinic. If he's ever taken in by templars, then so many people [including a LOT of Fereldan refugees] will be without free health care and will suffer for it. I think in Carver's eyes, Anders might be irritating but he doesn't more good than harm. Carver knows first hand how shitty refugees and poorer people are treated in Kirkwall. Anders' clinic is the one place they can go for help and actually get it, and he's not going to be the one to take that away because the templars say "magic bad."

So yeah, I'm not as informed about the Templar Carver route, but I do think about how if I did do that route, he wouldn't betray Hawke or their companions no matter what and what that says about him.

[daggerbeanart]

some cosy doodles 💜

[x-letsbreaksomerules-x]

now all he has to do is figure out how to leave

[madmanzai]

i love that sebastian gets a mention by varric in datv (via letter) despite being a dlc character and having no worldstate choice related to him. in every world varric is on first name basis with the prince of starkhaven. in every world they would find each other and sebastian would piss varric off so so badly.

[wardencallings]

Dragon Age OC Question!!

If your Warden, Hawke, and/or Inquisitor -- or even Rook if you're an overachiever -- fell into a Desire Demon's trap, how would the demon manipulate them? What (or who) would they see? Where would they be?

[perilegs]

i've felt iffy about only three choices (all from inquisituon, most from a dlc) carrying over since it was released but hearing someone who got to play the game say "the appearances of certain returning characters are going to feel pretty hollow now knowing that they don't know their own past" which. yeah i knew that but worded like that it hurts a lot. we have a morrigan who doesn't know anything about the warden. who may or may not be under flemeth's control. morrigan who cannot mention her potential son.