Blood from Stone [AU]

[Varric]

"Off-iss. Spills." Because of course Varric would keep spare clothes in a house he only uses once a month at most.

[Tethras Clan]

"Right then. Kevin, pass that on to Merrill?"

"Yes'mum!" Not wasting time, Kevin hurries off. 

"Alright. Let's get him up and settled in," Aveline says, rising to her feet. 

[Carver Amell]

It's difficult to get Varric upstairs; even with Aveline's pick-me-up, the dwarf is solidly-built and the chains aren't light. But he manages it, and by the time he gets upstairs, Merrill's found the spare clothes and he can hand off to Aveline to dress him in the bathroom and get him dry and warm.

When she leads him out to the infirmary in the parlor, Don's starting to wake, though he's still burrowed deep into the blankets, shivering a bit -- not from cold, but from nightmares. Beth's sitting beside him, petting him gently; Merrill's not far off, sitting next to Helene, who is curled up in a blanket in the big soft chair, rocking, not looking at anyone else. Silence is lying by the door, guarding everyone with her one good eye, and Miki is still sat again the window, looking out, wrapped in a blanket of his own. Only Carver is on his feet, pacing, restless, worried about the various members of his family, worried about everyone being whole once more. 

[Varric]

Moving slow, moving careful, Varric enters the room. He had insisted on at least rinsing himself off. And given the filth he had been laying in, Aveline hadn't been able to refute his demand. Despite his continued infirmity, the dwarf also insisted on walking on his own power into the room, needing to have some degree of independence. He stills in the doorway for a long few seconds, taking it all in, then forces himself to continue. His gaze lingers on Helene, repeatedly, but he heads for Bartrand at his slow shuffling pace. 

Neither Beth nor Merrill notice his entrance at first, too focused on tending their respective loved ones. Silence does of course, but she doesn't give an alert given that Aveline and Carver are already paying attention to him. Reaching his brother, Varric doesn't waste time in grabbing his hand and yanking it to his face. He has to try twice to say something despite drinking deeply while he rinsed off, but his real difficulty in taking off the half-glove Bartrand is wearing is that he's doing so one-handed. In fact, his right hand is completely hidden by the heavy cloak he's wearing despite the pleasant temperature of the room.

[Carver Amell]

Carver is at his side instantly, though he keeps a step back, letting Varric do this himself. He'd taken the chains from Aveline and used them to tie Bartrand up, though he was nowhere near as thorough as Bartrand had been, giving Varric free access to his brother's hand. 

He doesn't stop him. He doesn't help, either. He watches, ready to step in if it seems Bartrand won't survive the encounter -- they need to question him, before they enact revenge. 

[Varric]

Varric glances at Carver, hesitating with the glove half off. He swallows, then moves out of the way. Nodding at the glove, he rasps, "'ianca. Gove." Oh. Yes, well aside from taking away a treasured possession, making sure Bartrand doesn't have a near minor artifact weapon literally at hand is probably a good idea.

[Bethany]

Hearing the noise, Beth glances up and her eyes wide. "Dad? Dad!" She half rises, then falters, glancing at Don. "Where have you been?"

[Carver Amell]

Carver kneels, taking the Storing Glove off Bartrand's hand. Somehow, despite everything, that still has the power to make his stomach twist -- the idea of Bartrand, the evil bastard behind all this, having Bianca seems utterly wrong. Nobody touches Bianca but Varric. It's almost like he's raped two family members today. 

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene glances up as well, as Varric steps back -- not all the way, not enough to risk eye contact, but enough to properly get a look at him -- very rare, for nonverbal headspace, but something ne's done for him from time to time, when he's said something startling. Likely ne just wants to judge how he's doing, in this case.

The next motion is something that ne's never done before to Varric: ne flinches back, shuddering a bit as ne rocks more, lowering nir eyes to the floor again.

[Varric]

Varric swallows again, hating his condition, hating... well, a lot of things right now. "Hid-na... Kih-d-nnn- Kih...."

[Tethras Clan]

Aveline moves next to Varric, lighting resting a hand on his shoulder. She gives him an questioning look to which he nods curtly. "He was kidnapped, by... him. Bartrand, his twin brother."

[Varric]

Varric growls a little, shaking his head. "Stull. Fake. Maag- maaag..."

[Tethras Clan]

"Stole... Oh! He stole your face with magic. Not a twin, just..." Varric nods curtly. "He was... tortured and cursed. Repeatedly, I think."

Merrill makes a distressed noise and grabs the wheels of her chair quickly to come over. Varric steps back at her sudden movement, then forces himself to still at the look of pain on her face. He smiles at her gamely and she, though slower, continues. "I can... inspect and..."

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene's rocking doesn't stop, but a hand reaches out, groping for something. 

[Carver Amell]

Carver nods, stepping aside. "I'd say it's time for everyone to go around and share details, but I'm worried about Liz. None of my notes have reached her, and I don't know where she was running off to last I saw her. Hunter's with her, but.." 

He pointedly doesn't glance at Silence.