Imprints in Stone [AU]

[GamesMaster]

Don gives her a gentle squeeze. "Hey. Language. You're a Light's daughter now. You're not fucked up, you're eccentric." He drops to Common for that last word, putting on a stuffy accent.

[Bethany]

Bethany makes a rather rude sound, then giggles a little. "Thank you," she murmurs, shifting around so her head is in his lap. "I needed... this release."

[GamesMaster]

"Any time," he says, then shakes his head. "No, I can do better than that. Please come to me when you need this. I can manage my image fine -- I'll tell you if you're doing anything that's really unmanageable -- so please, don't shut me out. I was wrong, to think I should put you aside. This, us, we're worth fighting for."

[Bethany]

Bethany's heart quivers and melts, then flows into her gut. "Uuuugh, that's really unfair," Bethany moans. "It's so damn cliche but I get turned on by commitment and romance."

[GamesMaster]

"Do you?" he asks, smirking faintly. "Then if I were to say I want to be with you forever, that I want you by my side throughout my life, that I want you in my heat chambers, to raise my kits, to love me and want me until I am old and my fur is grey..." 

[Bethany]

Bethany shivers a little. "Then... then I'd say that thinking of a cock like a giant, oversized clit is surprisingly effective... and that I don't have any problems with things going in my mouth."

[GamesMaster]

Days pass.

Carver stays with Aveline for nearly a week, and if there's more times when he begs her, or incidents when he thinks he can sneak past the Mabari, he's not in a hurry to tell anyone. His skin remains unbroken in any case, or it does after Aveline heals the occasional toothmark from his right wrist. Slowly,  between working himself hard enough to get out of his head and writing down his feelings, the cravings lessen, and he starts to feel more in control of himself.

Beth doesn't impose nearly so much on Don, but they get lunch several times while he's between running errands and doing Light stuff. It helps; he has a place he can talk about his frustrations with the nobility of the city, and she has a place she can break down and cry. They learn to lean on each other, giving each of them one more person they can rely on in a pinch.

Merrill remains asleep. Helene remains asleep. Cindy and Hawke remain asleep. Until, one evening, they're not.

[Marian Hawke]

The door to Varric's study stands open as he chats with Helene, his pen scratching across the forms he's filling out. And then, abruptly, it is occupied: a pale, nervous half-elf with brown hair and dark eyes is leaning against the doorframe, watching him. Her skin is clear, bare, nut-brown, and her hair falls to her shoulders, as it once did in Golden Shores; he knows better, knows what must be under that disguise hat, knows what the body looked like as it slumbered, but his eyes are telling him this is Marian, his Marian, back from the dead, standing before him, silent, unsteady on her feet, but present. With him.

[Varric]

"M- Apprentice," Varric blurts out, vaunting over his desk to get to the door. He pulls himself to a stop, making himself not grab her. "You're awake. And- why didn't you just- stubborn git," he says thickly, answering his own question about they she didn't just ring the bell left by her bed to get someone's attention.

[Marian Hawke]

"Varric," she whispers, eyes brimming with tears. "Varric!" 

Then she throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around him, hugging him tightly, like she's afraid he'll vanish if she lets go. 

[Varric]

"I've got you," he whispers, rubbing her back gently. "I've got you. Safe now. Home now."

[Marian Hawke]

She cries, there in his arms, for some time, clinging to him, trembling just a little. His presence (warm, solid, comforting) soothes her, reassures her that she's really awake now, that she's truly present. 

Unfortunately, as she calms, her other biological processes kick in. A few moments after her sobs quiet to sniffles, they're interrupted by the growling of her stomach. 

[Varric]

Varric chuckles softly. "You'll be pleased to know that Beth still does all the cooking, as I know none of you were ever able to understand the complexity and value of traditional dwarven cooking. Got your choice of meatloaf, rabbit stew or some kind of fish... bake thing. Root veggies with a cheese sauce or something."

[Marian Hawke]

"Stew," she says, finally pulling back. "Please."

She follows him to the kitchen, sitting at the table, glancing at the back door and the window as she does, as if marking the exits. She still doesn't look at the sky. But she seems less panicky, more settled, than before. And, as she eats, she begins to ask him questions:

"Beth's cooking is better. Is she a chef?"

[Varric]

Varric leads them to the kitchen as he talks. "No, healer. Sorta. She's getting healer training but she spends most of her time leading... social causes, I guess. She and Carver became very good friends with a few catfolk- Adonis, Arius and... one more whose full name I can't recall. They have permission to use Miki but catfolk reserve that right for friends. Adonis and Arius are twins, the eldest of their Keeper- think mayor slash head priest. They- the catfolk- get looked down on a lot and Beth is... well, she's as protective in her own way as you or Carver."