Ghost Story

[Aveline Vallen]

Aveline almost misses the soft creak of wood across the room amidst her reaction to Marian's words, but brushes it off as the house settling almost immediately. "That's--" Fifty years ago. On vacation. Comfort and care, then smiting. So much smiting. "I cannot even begin to work my way through all the ways what you just said is horrible and sad," she says, her throat tight and her free hand curled tightly into a fist.

 "How old were you? Fifteen? Sixteen? You had parents, why was she your responsibility? You-- that sceleratis in flesh raped you. And yes it's rape," she snarls before either can contest it. "I'm a fucking guard captain and a paladin of Vangal, I know what I'm talking about and that was thrice-rotted rape."

[Carver Amell]

"Mar," says Carver gently. "I had no idea."

"Yeah, well, you were never any good at listening. You just got so angry and we were yelling before you heard me."

Carver sighs, lifting his head to show his eyes wet with tears. "I'm so sorry, Marian. I should have remember you were my sister too. A sister isn't the same as a twin, but you're still family, and I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"I'm just sorry it didn't work," she mumbles, looking away with a blush on her cheeks. "It wasn't a big deal. Just a-- Just a blowjob. Nothing... that extensive. Not like with Drake."

[Aveline Vallen]

I think I understand, really understand, why Carver got blackout drunk after Mari and Cassius had that fight, Aveline thinks with a slight shudder. The genders are reversed, but... "It is a big deal. It's not always about the details, Marian," she says gently. 

[Marian Hawke]

"It's not," she insists. "So I let him use my mouth, so what, it's just one time. If it had worked it'd be fine. But we had to watch Beth die. That's not okay. And it was my fault. I didn't manage to save her."

[Aveline Vallen]

"It is," Aveline fires right back. "He. Raped. You. That is never a small thing. You were a child, you were raped by someone charged with upholding justice, and the adults in your life let it happen."

[Carver Amell]

"And blamed you for it," says Carver, slowly. "We blamed you for what happened to her, and all this time, you gave more than anyone else to save her."

[Marian Hawke]

"Look, I couldn't just not save her," snaps Marian. "I said yes. I agreed. I was almost an adult anyway, practically seventeen. Sometimes adults have to do things they don't want to do."

[Varric]

Well damn. I guess he has grown up from the idiot (bully/murderer) boy in the journal. Miracles abound!

[Aveline Vallen]

"He had power over you that he used to coerce you into granting a sexual favor you wouldn't have consented to doing without that pressure. Rape. Your age just multiplies the injustice and harm."

[Marian Hawke]

"If you define it that way, most sex is rape," she snaps. "That's absurd."

[Carver Amell]

"Mar," says Carver slowly. "What did you and Drake get up to?" 

[Marian Hawke]

"Nunya."

[Aveline Vallen]

Aveline's expression is soft, almost pleading and her eyes look faintly wet. "Marian... Most sex isn't rape. Because most sex doesn't met that definition. But I think you've had a lot of bad experiences."

[Marian Hawke]

"Look, maybe I let Drake do things I didn't like because I didn't want him to break up with me. Most people do that. Again, being an adult means making hard choices sometimes."

[Carver Amell]

"It does," allows Carver. "But not like that. Not with your body that way. You shouldn't have to sell your body to get what you need in life, and I'm sorry you had to do that."