Under Darkness [AU]

[Marian Hawke]

She gives a small nod, going back to drawing as Varric lets Carver into the room. 

[Carver Amell]

"Hullo, Marian," he says, gently, squatting so he can get down to her level. He remains some distance from her, not wanting to get too close, to spook her. "Do you remember me?"

"Yes," she answers, without looking up. 

Alright... "I've come to help. Is there anything you want me to bring you?"

"No," she replies, in the same tone. 

"What're you drawing?" he tries again, a moment later.

"Rose." 

[Tethras Clan]

"Would you mind if Carver drew a bit with you?" Aveline asks, rubbing Hawke's arm slowly to try and pull her focus a little.

[Carver Amell]

"Can't." Her tone is odd here -- less stoic, more playful.

Carver blinks. "Why can't I?" he asks slowly. 

"Doghouse."

Carver frowns, then his eyes widen and he jerks upward a little. "You little--!" Hawke sticks her tongue out at her brother, and he laughs, settling back into a squat. "You brat. I had entirely forgotten about that little incident until now, you know."

"I didn't." 

"Yes, well, clearly." He rakes a hand through his hair. "At least I know it's you in there," he jokes. "No other sister of mine would have such a good memory and yet be so cruel." Her face falls slightly, and he winces. "Sorry, I'm-- I didn't mean--"

"Fine." 

[Tethras Clan]

"Teasing isn't cruel, not really," Varric says gently. "Carver just isn't as smart as us, so sometimes he uses the wrong word. We should make him read legal contracts with us to help him practice, eh Hawke?" Hopefully Carver realizes what I'm doing (at least the first layer).

[Carver Amell]

Hawke doesn't answer. Carver winces. "I'm sorry, I'm an ass. I just wanted to tease you back. But then, you've always been better at teasing than me." 

"True," she says, quietly. 

There's an awkward pause before he adds, "Do you know, I ran into Elizabeth Summers the other day? She's grown up to be an adventurer too. Fancy that, huh?" When Hawke doesn't respond, he adds, "I knew I should have gone with her instead of Marianne."

"Ugh."

"Yeah, well, she had tits, alright? I was fourteen."

"Ugh."

"Hey, just because you're into elves doesn't mean everyone is."

Hawke grimaces, sketching in a ground for the blood drops to puddle on. 

[Tethras Clan]

"Ahem," Aveline says pointedly. "Hawke is into people, not races."

"Can I remind everyone that I'm here? And really not comfortable hearing about my daughter like that?" Varric chimes cheerfully. "And I'm more curious about this doghouse incident anyway."

[Carver Amell]

"Ugh," he groans. "I had to have been, what, four or five."

"Eight."

"Eight, apparently, thank you oh ye of long memory. Anyway, an artist came to our school, and we had a competition. We were all meant to do a still life, and each group of ages was judged by the artist. Well, he said my drawing was unique, very impressionist, and showed real sign of talent... but that the still life in question was meant to be a bowl of fruit, not a doghouse. I was mortified." 

[Tethras Clan]

Aveline chuckles softly. "Well, if we're talking about the fine arts, then you're doing better than Varric," she says, setting up Hawke for a joke. Hopefully.

[Marian Hawke]

"Cooking." She draws out the syllables, making her displeasure known. 

[Tethras Clan]

"I am a perfectly fine cook!" Varric playfully growls, his broad grin making it clear he's not offended. "It's not my fault none of you can appreciate fine dwarven cuisine."

"Char," Aveline coughs.

[Carver Amell]

Carver makes a face. "Remember that winter Bethany made us all go Elven?"

Hawke scowls at him. 

Carver rolls his eyes. "Well, I hated it. And so did Bethany."

"Bunnies," says Hawke, with a small nod. 

"Exactly. Meanwhile, I'm over here all, I've seen cows, they're not cute or fluffy."

[Tethras Clan]

Varric snorts. "The only good elven cuisine is their jams."

"I enjoy a good salad," Aveline disagrees. "And no-one makes a dressing or crouton like the elves."

"Salad's only use is as dinner for your dinner."

[Carver Amell]

"It just gets so samey. Salad after salad, day after day. How many green things can one person eat anyway?"

Hawke snorts. But she does start focusing on the petals of the rose, not the stem. At least for a little bit 

[Tethras Clan]

Later that day, after dinner,Carver finds himself being shown into another small dining room for another talk with a broken woman. At least this one isn't his sister... His sister's elven lover but not his sister. So. Better?  Varric had gone over Merrill's triggers as he had with Hawke. Many of them are the same- distance, keep things light, soft voices, don't bring up what happened to them and so on, but he's also warned to not make snapping noises, to not wear leather and to not block the lights. Doubtful it'll come up, but Varric also makes a rather disturbing comment about not restraining her, even if she panics, and for the love of all the bright gods, no rope, chains or manacles.

"She gets distracted kind of easily too. Always did but... worse now. If she does go off track, try and follow but if you can't make the leap, ask. It doesn't bother her to explain or backtrack," the dwarf adds as they sit.

In the bedroom, Merrill stares at herself in the tiny hand mirror she'd demanded from Anders an hour ago. For various reasons, she'd not had a mirror in the cottage prior, but evidently her appearance is suddenly important. She makes a fierce frown, then a stern gaze- neither of which are all that intimidating but the fact that she's even trying to be aggressive or firm about something is probably nice to see for Anders.

"Okay. Okay. I'm ready. Need to be sure, need to make sure myself," she mutters, smoothing down the heavy cotton dress she's wearing. The shaman's easy comfort with nudity is a thing of the past, nowadays wearing heavy dresses with breeches underneath almost exclusively. Nodding sharply, she turns to the healer and asks, "do I look ready? I've never had to give a shovel speech. Is it still a shovel speech if it's turned around? What's the opposite of a shovel?"