Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Varric]

"Alright. If you need to rock or move your hands, that's perfectly fine. It's okay. Are you thirsty? Just water, nothing... in it, I promise."

[Marian Hawke]

She shakes her head again, still rocking. 

[Varric]

"Do you recognize me?"

[Marian Hawke]

She doesn't answer, hunching her shoulders slightly as she rocks.

[Varric]

"Come inside, close the door and find a seat somewhere out of eyesight," Varric instructs the other two. "She... she might take a bit to calm down."

[Isabela]

Isabela takes a deep breath. "I'm going to check the other rooms. Make sure there's no twist or, or extra surprises," she says, turning from the doorway where she'd stopped. 

[Tethras Clan]

"I shall come with you," Zevran says quickly.

[Varric]

Varric barely even notices, his attention on... on the Trauma Avatar of his eldest daughter. Very carefully, he reaches over to rest his hand lightly on hers, still not looking directly at Liz.

[Marian Hawke]

She freezes, her breath catching in her throat, eyes wide. Then she lets out a small, strangled noise, and buries her face against her knees, still rocking, shutting out the world.

[Varric]

Varric doesn't move his hand, either to pet or withdrawl. He just sits there, letting her adjust.

[Marian Hawke]

Slowly, she seems to calm somewhat, taking deeper breaths, rocking slower.

[Varric]

Once she does so, Varric slowly, voice low and even, starts to tell her a simple story. Just a recounting of one of his days at work, the topic amusing but not shocking or personal.

[Marian Hawke]

She lifts her head, staring ahead at the wall. Slowly, her eyes drift closed as she listens to his story; she doesn't stop rocking, giving him no illusions she might be asleep. 

Finally, near the end of his story, she shifts sideways, her head coming to rest on his shoulder.

[Varric]

Voice never changing, he segues into another story, this time about him and someone named Helene working on some kind of lineage project. "Brilliant mind, you'll love them. Helene's agender, neither male nor female, so they prefer them, they and their pronouns. Really... earnest, I think is the best word, about everything."

[GamesMaster]

Partway through this story, the nurse comes to, sitting up with a groan. "What..." she begins, rubbing at her head. "I was-- Liz!" 

Her eyes snap open, but she sags in relief when she sees Liz and Varric still sitting there. "thank the bright gods," she mutters.