(Untitled)

[queen_chihuahua]

Anders knew that he should have refused to follow Hawke into the deep roads the moment the charming rouge had insisted he come. But for whatever reason he didn't, and now they were trapped in the blighted deep roads with hardly enough supplies to last them another week. If he was going to place fault in someone it should rightly be Bartrand, but he

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[wardennolonger]

Varic couldn't help but chuckle "well, I've always said there is nothing more attractive in a woman than high self confidence," he said, smirking and returning the flirtation. "As much as I hate to spoil a good thing, I suppose I should be gentlemanly and call you my name, which is Varric," he paused for just long enough to make a shallow polite bow. "And this is Bianca," he added after a moment, gesturing grandly to his crossbow.

Varric was happy to fall into comfortable flirtation; it soothed him while he kept half an ear of the distant scratching and growling of darkspawn. Couldn't let anything neak up, could he?

"I would say 'it's nice to meet you', but I think that would be a little inappropriate, considering."

~*~*~*~

"No one asked you to carry me," Anders grumbled with irritation. Without much choice he clutched at Fenris' side and stumbled along beside him. Stupid elf; now Anders couldn't gloat about saving him.

"That cavern there," Anders knew the mind of the darkspawn, and he knew something was dagging a horde of them northwest. If they could squeeze into a smaller path that didn't lead in the same direction, they were less likely to run across one.

"Handy having a Grey Warden on hand isn't it?" he panted, trying desperately to focus on anything but the scratching of the darkspawn at the insides of his skull.

[wardennolonger]

Varric chuckled remarking with a grin, "you should see my hair in the sunshine; I bet it would have taken your breath away. The view could be better, believe me." Still, it was nice to have his ego stroked.

"You're quite fine company, you know; such a lovely complimentary lady. Perhaps you are of noble blood?" he ventured a guess; bluebloods could always kiss ass with the best of them, and Decembra was laying it in almost as thick as he was. It was only a wild guess, but his instincts on these things were seldom wrong.

~*~*~*~

"You always know just what to say," Anders panted, peeling himself away from the elf and instead resting his weight on the stone close to his side. It was a very narrow passage, but it went a long ways. If there were darkspawn coming through, they would be caught in a bottle neck.

Anders tried to catch his breath, but the stampede was close, perhaps even close enough that Fenris could hear the scraping of thier claws on the stone. It made him want to curl into himself. There was no way he wanted to show that kind of weakness to Fenris, but he did go ridged and start to shake. It was a step up from crying and vomiting like he wanted, so he was pleased.

His fingers dug against the stone so hard he threatened to rip off a nail. He grit his teeth together, expression strained as the sheen of sweat began to glimmer on his brow.

[wardennolonger]

"Maybe not obvious," Varric relented with a smirk, "I've got excellent attention to detail. That, and every blighted member of the merchant's guild like to act like they're royalty, so I've come to recognize the signs," he chuckled.

"Oh my, usually I can tell the difference between a noble and a princess," he bowed deeply, his grin tipping just a little to the taunting side. "My apologies for not dropping to my knees the first moment upon seeing your highness." He snickered at the end, somewhat ruining the act.

Something troublesome dawned just then; "so that game of hide and seek you're playing... it's really a deadly match."

~*~*~*~

Anders looked up to Fenris, more than a little surprised by his kindness. "R-right," he managed; easier said than done with a horde of darkspawn crawling around the inside of his skull, but he could try.

His own breathing was not quite enough to distract him, so he focused as well on the elf's breathing, and the warmth of a hand on his shoulder. Agonizing minutes passed. By the end of it, Anders was exhausted.

"Maker, I hate the deep roads," he panted, using a sleeve to clean the sweat from his brow.

[queen_chihuahua]

"Sounds like quite the political tangle," Varric remarked, real concern flavoring his usual dry wit.

"I suppose you're addressing your problems in the proper order; no point worrying over your errant brother if you can't escape the roads." He chuckled, like he was coughing to cover a wince.

"Same can be said for me, I suppose," he muttered, mostly to himself. Something about over hanging doom made him feel a little looser to speak of little intimate things. Ah well, fifty-fifty chance no one else would ever come to know.

~*~*~*~

"Right, right..." Anders pushed himself to his feet and managed the awkward task of shrugging away from Fenris' warm hand. It wasn't as if he wanted to, but it was strange to feel reluctant. He pushed into an unsteady walk down the narrow path, and tried to keep from getting too claustrophobic before it came open again.

"You pick which way we go; I don't have enough fondness for these darkspawn filled pits to choose one over another," he muttered, suddenly a little ruffled by the whole situation. He growled in frustration, "I feel as though I should have known better than to come back here."

[queen_chihuahua]

"Is it that obvious?" he said, grinning sheepishly. Varric was hesitant to think about the traderous little nug, but he realized that he was in understanding company. "It's such a terrible thing to have in common with someone," he said offhandedly. "Back stabbing siblings isn't the best getting to know you topic."

"Seems wise," he agreed, strolling along at her side. The silence was heavy, so he groped for something to fill it with. "I know it's a terrible cliche, but I miss the sounds of birds. It's always so quiet under ground; I'm not sure how a whole race of people can just get used to it."

~*~*~*~

"I hate when he gives you that I need you look, the one that makes you feel like you're the only one in the world that he needs right then," in his effort to relate Anders made quite the overshot. He was quite displeased that he'd said so much, but it was already out and there was nothing he could do about it. He wanted to say anything, just to fill the silence, but nothing was springing to mind.

[queen_chihuahua]

"It's true; though I am genetically inclined to thrive in these dank dark taigs, I just can't stand it down here. I was burn on the surface, and sunshine siuts me just fine," he said, comfortable in his confidence about the surface.

"As far as I'm concerned, my entire race is subject to an unfortunate misunderstanding about the dreariness of their own situation." It was sentences like that which usually earned him a wary look from Avaline, so he;d become accustomed to clarify by habit:

"In short, I don't think the dwarfs of Orzamar know what they're missing."

~*~*~*~

The silence grew and thickened. Anders wished he had not said it, but he had, and given life this awkward heaviness between them. He liked to imagine that in the silence there was some kind of reaction on the elf's part. Perhaps part of him understood, perhaps part of him had experienced the same thing. Or maybe Anders was just imagining the whole thing. He was eager to forget the topic.

"I think he'll come to a wider path soon... perhaps one of the main roads. That's what it feels like, at least," Anders reported, tentatively cutting the silence. "We might be able to backtrack, and find were Varric and Decembra were trapped on the other side of the collapse."