#sorry anders

Extremely tired but I had a ✨vision✨ inspired by ten years as a commuter and I just had to sketch it. He started snoring/drooling a little bit after 0.25 seconds but somehow Hawke still found it sooo endearing.

+ bonus / relatable aftermath

Prompt fill for @k2e4 for “Fenhawke + fenris learning to baby talk the mabari like he does in blue wraith.”

~~~

One thing that Fenris learned from his time in Kirkwall was that it was easy to pick up habits from others when people spent a lot of time together.

Of course, what happened was inevitable.

He, Garrett, and some of the others would often venture to the Wounded Coast with Barkspawn in tow. It gave Barkspawn a chance to exercise, to stretch his legs and run free outside of the confinement of the city.

When they weren't busy taking out bandits and raiders, Garrett would play fetch with his noble canine companion. Barkspawn would instantly take off into a sprint.

Sometimes, he would bring back whatever stick Garrett originally threw for him. Other times, he would go searching for a random bauble that caught his eye in the moment.

The end result was always the same.

Garrett would accept Barkspawn's offering; and in turn, Garrett would shower him with praise and affection. As soon as he started to croon, Barkspawn would roll around in delight, coaxing Garrett into giving him plenty of belly rubs and head pats.

At first, Fenris thought it to be a little silly but adorable nevertheless.

That was, until he started treating Barkspawn like that himself. Then, he understood.

The first time he did so, he was at the Amell estate, roaming the library late into the night. His thirst for knowledge only grew when he started to learn how to read, opening up an endless amount of new worlds and possibilities.

Garrett let him pick the next title on their list, but Fenris always had trouble simply picking one, the desk soon piled high with books and scrolls of various sorts.

When Garrett excused himself to go speak with Orana, Fenris found a warm, cozy spot to sit in front of the fireplace, scouring a heavy tome to his heart’s content.

Barkspawn came in not long after, curled up at his side.

Fenris spared him a small smile, which quickly soured when he turned the page.

There, wedged into the book, was yet another copy of Anders's manifesto.

Fenris had tolerated it when they showed up here and there, but even Garrett was grumbling more often about their random appearances.

Very convenient that more of them popped up in the mansion, seemingly out of nowhere, after Fenris and Garrett spent a single night together.

Fenris took the manifesto in hand, more than ready to tear it to shreds and use the scraps as kindling.

But then he paused, an idea forming in his mind.

He glanced over at Barkspawn with a smug smirk.

Fine. If Anders wanted to play that game, then Fenris could be petty himself.

"Hey," he called out, whistling loud enough to attract Barkspawn's attention. The mabari sprang up, ears stiff as he focused on Fenris. "I have a task for you, dog, if you're interested."

Barkspawn whined, his head cocked to the side in question.

Fenris waved off his concern.

"Worry not. I will reward you." When Barkspawn refused to move closer, Fenris sighed. "I'll get you a treat from the kitchens, and I'll scratch behind your ears."

Barkspawn perked up at that. He bounced around with an excited bark, tail wagging in agreement.

Fenris snorted.

How easy it was to gain a dog's favor.

"Here." Fenris offered the manifesto to him. "What I need you to do is sniff out the rest of these papers that Anders has hidden around the house. Bring them all back to me, and I'll see you rewarded."

The look Barkspawn gave him was way too intelligent for his own good, and Fenris couldn’t help but to get a tad bit defensive.

"Listen, I don't need any judgment from you." Fenris poked him playfully on the nose. "Need I remind you that Anders is a cat person?"

His responding huff was offended, resigned.

Barkspawn stepped forward and took a big whiff of Anders's scent. He then placed his nose to the floor, sniffing loudly before peering around, eyes narrowed in concentration.

Without warning, he took off.

While Barkspawn scouted each room, Fenris returned to his tome, slowly but surely making progress.

Eventually, Barkspawn returned with a whole wad of manifestos stuffed into his mouth. He dropped the pile at Fenris’s feet, covered in drool, and grinned.

Fenris laughed aloud.

"Good boy!" He exclaimed without thinking.

One by one, he fed each page into the fire's crackling flames. Barkspawn helped out in his own way to dispose of the pages, scratching at the pile until the papers were torn apart.

Once they were all burning to a crisp, Barkspawn stared up at Fenris, wide-eyed and expectant.

With a fond roll of his eyes, Fenris gave in.

"Oh, alright," he said. "You've earned it."

Fenris knelt before him. His hand hovered above Barkspawn's head, but the mabari didn't even hesitate. He leaned into Fenris’s touch, panting happily at the attention.

Fenris combed his fingers through the short fur. At first, his hands were slow, experimental. But when Barkspawn's tail wagged enough to shake his body to and fro, Fenris took that as a sign of encouragement, more than certain of the smooth motions.

Mindlessly, he started to croon at him, mimicking the higher pitch that Garrett used in such instances.

"Who's a good boy?" Fenris asked, green eyes alight with joy when Barkspawn flopped over onto his back. "That's right!" Fenris scratched at his tummy, sending the dog into a wiggly fit. "You are!"

It was easy to forget where he was. Petting Barkspawn was safe, calming.

Suddenly, he stopped to squint his eyes at Barkspawn in warning.

"Do not let anyone know about this, dog," he grumbled. "I have a reputation to uphold, after all."

"Good thing I was here to witness such a heartwarming moment then."

At the sound of Garrett's voice, Fenris startled.

Barkspawn tore free from his grasp at the sound of Garrett's voice, rushing over to jump on him instead. Garrett laughed, wrinkling his nose when Barkspawn kept hopping up and down in an attempt to lick at his face.

"Ew, dog breath," he snickered. "Down, you needy beast."

Immediately, Bark settled in front of him, his expression all too innocent.

Garrett looked between him and Fenris.

"Alright, what did you two do?"

"Why do you assume we did something?" Fenris huffed, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Barkspawn has that look on his face," he explained. "Like he just peed on the carpet or something."

Fenris glanced at the culprit in question; and lo and behold, there Barkspawn sat, his head hung low with his ears drooping.

The second he whined, Fenris knew the secret was out.

Not that he was trying to hide what they did in the first place.

"We might have used a certain apostate's strongly worded letter to stoke the fire," Fenris told him, his expression filled with amusement. "A rather nice alternative to getting more firewood."

Garrett eyed him, then promptly choked out a laugh.

"Is this where I'm supposed to give the obligatory 'you shouldn't have done that' spiel?"

"Perhaps, but it would be worth it."

"Mm-hmm…" Garrett hummed, his gaze straying over to the fireplace. "Truth be told, it was getting a little bit excessive, wasn't it?"

"Only a little?" Fenris scoffed.

"Okay, a lot. It was very excessive," Garrett sighed, dragging his fingers through his hair. "But you know he'll just try to slip some more copies in, right?"

As if Fenris wouldn't rise up to the challenge.

"Then, I'll just have to stick around more often to make sure that he knows the meaning of the word 'boundaries.'"

"Is that so?"

"With your blessing, of course."

"Of course." Garrett's small smile sent Fenris’s heart aflutter. "You know you're always welcome here."

Fenris cleared his throat, bashful in the face of such a bold claim.

"Right. Uh, well, then…" Fenris fumbled for his words, rushing to pick up the book he had been working on. "Can you—" He swallowed thickly, unable to meet Garrett's eyes for a moment. "Can you help me with this one part? I was trying to figure out the way this sentence is structured, how to make it flow properly when I read it."

Before he could explain further, Garrett's hands settled into place over his own. His touch made Fenris’s markings spark to life, glowing a soft blue where their skin made contact.

They exchanged a soft, tender look while Barkspawn watched them knowingly.

"I'd be glad to," Garrett murmured, nodding to their usual spot in front of the fireplace. "Shall we?"

We are all ok so far, friend, knock on wood. I hope you and yours are all right too!

Sorry for the long wait on this. I’ve reworked it several times and I’m still not happy with it, but I hope it will suffice.

--

Leopold Hawke’s friendship was like Leopold Hawke himself – blunt, straightforward, and strong. Nigh unbreakable. Once Leopold Hawke came to care for you, he would continue to care, no matter how little you deserved it, or how hard you tried to squander it. Wasn’t Fenris proof of that?

Hawke was not perfect. His judgement could be hard, harsh, and final, aligned, implacably, with the stern set of beliefs his father had drilled into him. Never cruel, but not always right, or even fair. He knew he made mistakes. But he never acted out of anything but the desire to do the right thing, even if the right thing was also the thing that hurt. That was what mattered. That was what had drawn Fenris to him in the first place.

That, and those shoulders.

It was remarkable, how the world had changed in such a short span of time. Danarius was dead, and Hawke was in Fenris’s bed. Hawke still loved him, still wanted him. Three years, and far too many mistakes, and somehow, impossibly, suddenly Hawke was his.

Fenris had never slept like he’s been sleeping since Danarius had met his well-deserved end. He’d never felt like he felt, when he woke up to find himself in Hawke’s arms.

So it didn’t bother him this time when he walked into the Hanged Man to find Anders had commandeered the disputed territory that was the chair next to Hawke. He could be gracious and take the seat across from him without a fight.

“You look terrible,” Hawke told Anders, in that blunt, harsh way of his, and he reached out without warning to press a hand to the healer’s forehead to check his temperature and Anders practically glowed under the attention, and Fenris could be gracious enough to decide not to care. How could he care, when his body still hummed, sated and satisfied after the morning’s slow lovemaking, waking to each other and the still-new thrill of reunion, of rediscovery.

No one, he knew, had ever seen Hawke smile the way he did in the mornings, when he woke up to find Fenris at his side.

“Didn’t sleep well,” Anders said, and tried to lean into Hawke’s touch, and Hawke retrieved his hand.

“It’s been a long week,” Hawke answered gruffly. He almost let his eyes linger on Fenris for a moment too long. Where once, three years ago, they had been open and upfront about their budding relationship, they had decided this time to keep their reunion to themselves for a while, to give themselves time to enjoy it before their friends butted in.

Under the table, Fenris stretched out his leg and found Hawke’s foot, slid it against the side of his leg. Hawke gave no reaction as he lifted a hand to call over one of the waitresses.

Anders had perked up, Fenris noticed, his sallow cheeks flush, his eyes bright. Maybe he really was feverish. Hawke ordered breakfast for the table, expecting the others to soon arrive, and, indeed, they did, like dwarven clockwork, just as the food was arriving.

But Fenris’s good mood was beginning to deteriorate. It had been years since Anders’s flirting with Hawke had been so open, so blatant, and Fenris knew he had no need to be jealous, he knew that Hawke would not wait three years for him only to change his mind now, but the healer was acting as if Hawke encouraged him, and everyone could see it, and Hawke clearly could not think of a graceful way to stop it, and Fenris, before the second round of coffee, lost his temper. He kicked Hawke under the table.

Little piece of an au (bartender!au, I think) I've been working on with a friend! ✨