#reading lessons

Day 1 ✦ Day 2 ✦ Day 3 ✦ Day 4 ✦ Day 5 ✦ Day 6 ✦ Day 7 ✦ Day 8 Day 2 of @fenhawke-week 2026

(Fenris, Dragon [the Mabari] & Eleena Amell Hawke, 9:37 Dragon)

Fenris: "Do you think they teach slaves to read?" Hawke:"It's not too late to learn, Fenris." Fenris: "Isn't it? Sometimes I wonder..."

WIPs

Updated Chapter for @fenhawke-week Day 2: Reading Lessons | Grief

Excerpt: It is the first time he has visited her bedroom since the night he came to her all aflame and left her alone and cold. Her ember eyes sad beneath her ever-present smile as he slunk away in cowardice.  Fenris creeps up the stairs like an intruder. He is uninvited this time after all. He intrudes regardless. His pulse quick, a sharp pain in his chest. No less than he deserves.  The door is ajar and Dragon lays across the entrance, guarding what he loves. His ears twitch and his eyes roll in Fenris’ direction. His stumpy tail begins a sad thump-thump against the floor.   “Good boy,” Fenris tells him and the Mabari’s tail thumps louder.   Her bedroom is so quiet. It is strange being here without the warm peal of her laughter. The way she lights up every room until all anyone can see, think, feel is Hawke.  There’s the dull echo of people shouting and birds singing their warning calls coming from the Hightown courtyard below. The stench of sewers, and baked goods from the market streaming through the open window. Outside, Kirkwall is as mad and bustling and craven as ever, but inside these walls everything is muffled beneath the veil of Hawke’s grief.  He scans the room for her, expecting to find Hawke nestled in her bed like a creature hibernating for winter. The bed is messy and unmade, but there’s no sign of Hawke.   “Hello? Hawke...” He coughs to clear his throat, suddenly wishing his hands were not empty, and he had at least thought to bring some nice pastries, flowers, a book, a blade, something that might offer her comfort.  

Read the rest:

“Your voice was made for this,” Ione whispered, her words barely above a breath, the warmth of her tone wrapping around them like a soft blanket. She relaxed further into the pillows beneath them, her gaze fixed on his face, fingers never straying from their gentle rhythm. He glanced at her, his ears warm then quickly turned his attention back to the book. Fenris stumbled over the words again, his growing frustration creasing his brow and interrupting her tender touches.

“You’re distracting,” he muttered, a hint of a smile playing on his lips despite the gruffness in his voice. “You weren’t made for teaching.” Ione’s laugh was a soft melody, her chest rising and falling under him as the sound filled the space around them. She shifted, gently cradling his head in her lap, her curls falling like a curtain around them, the ends tickling his nose.

“Well, I can’t argue with you there,” she teased, her voice playful yet full of affection. “But you’re a natural, so there isn’t much for me to do.” The book rested forgotten on his chest, his hands instinctively reaching up to tuck the loose curls of hair away from her face. Fenris traced the lines of her tattoo with his thumb, his gaze locked onto the dark depths of her eyes, losing himself in them.

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3 Warnings: none! Tags: Gale/Tav (pre-relationship), illiteracy, fluff

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This was humiliating and painful and a severe blow to Devi’s ego. Any adult well into their twenties should have been able to read on their own just fine, thank you very much – and yet Devi lacked that skill. And gods, how she hated it.

It was still a mortifying ordeal that the man she fancied had to teach her how to read. Devi suspected that everyone in the camp knew she was illiterate; everyone was just too polite to say anything. Gale had been the one to step up and offer to teach her how to read, and at the time Devi had accepted the offer, but now, as she sat at his side, following his finger moving underneath some words on a page, she had regrets. This is stupid.

“The… cat… ch-ch-ch… fuck, I don’t know that word,” she grumbled as she tried to follow Gale’s finger.

“Sound it out,” Gale responded, surprisingly patient – more so than Devi would have been in his boots. “Go as slowly as you need to.”

Devi scowled down at the page. “Ch-chaaaaaassssssed? Chased?”

“Well done!” Gale sounded so proud. “I knew you could do it.”

“Most kids could,” Devi muttered. “What do you get out of this anyway, Mister Former Archmage? You gotta have a reason for helping some poor, stupid thief learn how to read.”

“I don’t need a reason,” Gale responded as he poked her in the ribs. “And if you refer to your good self with another derogatory word like ‘stupid’ again, I will throw you in the river.”

Devi looked at the wizard askance, one brow raised. 

Gale sighed and rolled his eyes. “All right, I’ll ask Lae’zel to throw you in the river on my behalf. But I hardly think I’ll need to do much persuading to get her to do it. And if she doesn’t agree, I’m sure Shadowheart–”

“Okay, fine,” Devi interrupted Gale. “I’ll shut up with the bad words about myself. But you still gotta have a reason for wanting to help me so badly.”

That got a shrug from the wizard. “Everyone deserves to be able to read,” he said. “And it’s hardly your fault that you weren’t afforded the chance to go to school as a child. Reading is a valuable skill, and a pleasure – and I want you to be able to use it and enjoy it.” He winked and gently nudged Devi again. “Besides, I enjoy a challenge, and you present a complexity that has my mind thoroughly intrigued. Teaching an adult may be harder, but it’s far from impossible.”

“I’m glad one of us is hopeful,” Devi muttered as she looked down at the page again.

“I’ll be hopeful enough for both of us,” Gale retorted. “And you already know your letters – that’s a very good start. Your brother did a good job teaching you that as a child. Every skill needs a strong foundation, and knowing your letters is an essential step to being a fluent, proficient reader.”

“I guess,” Devi mumbled. She scowled down at the page in front of her that Gale had written a few simple (by his standards) words. “You sure this isn’t just a hopeless cause and you’re a glutton for punishment?”

“I’m very certain, my dear,” Gale responded. “If I thought you were a hopeless cause, I wouldn’t have offered in the first place.” He gently tapped the page on Devi’s lap. “Go on. ‘The cat chased…’”

Wrinkling her nose, Devi looked back at the words. “The cat ch-chased the… the rat, down the… path?”

“Very good,” Gale murmured, a proud smile on his face when Devi looked back up at him. “You’ll be a voracious reader in no time.”

my Elden Ring brainrot is so severe that I have yet another AU longfic in the works. This one involves both the Heart Stolen "ending" and the question: "what if Ansbach met us at the First Step instead of Varre?" (this was crossposted to AO3 if you prefer to read there)

Reading Lessons: The Books We Read at School, the Conversations They Spark and Why They Matter

Reading Lessons

I couldn't sleep, so this happened :D

It looks like you're getting the hang of it, m'boy!