Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Varric]

"Perfectly reasonable. Brook, your shirt should be dry, why don't you go get changed and then maybe you and your sister can head home with I talk with your mother?" Varric suggests. Seeing Leandra's frown returning, "the front of it was caked in blood. Besides being gross and uncomfortable, it's not very hygienic. Blood can spoil and make her sick," he clarifies.

[Leandra Hawke ne Amell]

"...that sounds acceptable," Leandra allows, nodding curtly. "Straight home, the both of you, and Marian, you're to get right to your chores. I expect you to be hard at work when I get home."

[Marian Hawke]

"I-- I'll help. C-carver should be home by now, so, we'll go make sure he's not alone while you talk." Marian's already heading for the back door by this point, linking arms with Bethany to pull her along.

[Bethany]

Who goes along with this readily, clearly eager to be away from this Adult Discussion she's sure is about to happen.

[Marian Hawke]

"Don't make a fuss," hisses Marian as they get inside. "I got expelled. Tell everyone it's my fault, it's too late to help me anyway. He threatened to expel you too, so we need to keep quiet about your being involved, okay?" Her tone sounds harsh, for Marian; it's all she can do to keep a lid on her growing panic and impart the necessary information to her little sister at the same time. 

[Bethany]

"What? No! Marian, you didn't do anything wrong, you were protecting me, he's the one that-"

[Marian Hawke]

"It doesn't matter," she hisses. "You and I both know the truth. But they don't, and all protesting will do is get you expelled along with me. I'm almost fifteen," she lies, "and that's basically an adult, I'm old enough to work now. So it'll be fine."

[Bethany]

Bethany stares at her. "Marian, I'm your sister. I kind of know how old you are," she says sarcastically. Since when does Bethany talk back? Since when does she know what sarcasm even is?

[Marian Hawke]

"Fourteen is almost fifteen," she snaps. "Look, just, get changed, okay? I have to-- I have to figure out how to fix this before Carver gets hurt somehow."

[Bethany]

Bethany frowns. "Why is Carver- what do you have to fix?" she asks, though she does start unbuttoning the loaned shirt.

[Marian Hawke]

"This!" she waves her hands. "This mess. I've been expelled, Bethany. I can't--" She takes a deep breath, trying to quell her panic and failing. 

[Bethany]

Oh Marian... Without another word, Bethany steps over to pull her big sister into a tight hug. "...thank you for protecting me," she whispers. "I'm sorry this happened."

[Marian Hawke]

Marian takes a deeper breath, hugging her sister. "...yeah. Of course."

[Bethany]

"Varric's real nice. I think you'll like working for him. It'll be okay," Bethany says after a moment. "It'll be okay. We're Hawkes, we can handle this."

[Marian Hawke]

"...yeah. yeah."


"Can you tell Carver?" asked Marian, with a sigh, as she opened the front door.