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Sebastian had spent several weeks with Hawke and the others and he still couldn’t make heads or tails of any of them.
Hawke was friendly. From what he could see, Isabela and Merrill were very good friends of hers. Varric sometimes told them to “get a room,” but there was nothing wrong with public displays of female friendship. What did Varric have to complain about? It was normal for women to embrace closely and press their lips together. Nothing noteworthy about it.
It was the men in Hawke’s company who confused him. Fenris, he thought he could understand. He was withdrawn, grumbling occasionally about the mages of the group, although that didn’t explain why Merrill, a Dalish mage herself, laughed and nudged him whenever that was mentioned, or why he smiled fondly in response. Anders, on the other hand…
Between the group’s ribbing and the staff on his back, it was plain to see that Anders was an apostate mage. What was he doing with Hawke and the others? Why had none of them turned him in?
It was a question Sebastian didn’t dare to ask, but he got his answer after a particularly grueling run-in with one of Kirkwall’s many gangs. While Hawke charged into battle, Anders usually kept to the back, attacking at range and ready to heal allies when necessary. This time, however, Anders rushed into the fray after their leader sustained a severe-looking shoulder wound.
Once the ruffians had been dealt with, Anders turned his attention to Hawke immediately despite her insistence that it was only a flesh wound. He watched at his usual distance as the mage tenderly patched up the warrior’s arm.
With the injury healed, Hawke had more skin showing than earlier. Sebastian promptly excused himself.
---
It was plain to anyone with eyes that Hawke and Anders were romantically involved. She flaunted their involvement especially whenever Sebastian was around. The way she spoke to him was nothing but civil, but only a complete fool could miss the deliberate eye contact she made with him as she wrapped an arm around Anders’ waist, gently caressing the back of his hand with her own.
He understood. Okay? They were together. He got it. They didn’t have to be so in-your-face about it.
What complicated matters, however, was that Hawke was far from the only one to treat Anders in this way. Isabela had interrupted multiple conversations to “casually” lay a hand on his shoulder. Merrill would always make a point of standing between him and Sebastian and grabbing his arm whenever the three were out together. Even Fenris had a tendency to lean on the mage’s shoulder, even as he gazed at Hawke with what Merrill had termed “puppy eyes.”
Something else was going on and Sebastian didn’t like it. Hawke wouldn’t like it either if she knew, and it didn’t seem like anyone else was going to tell her. So as soon as they were alone together, Sebastian cleared his throat.
“What is it?” Hawke asked him.
“This is an uncomfortable thing for me to tell you,” Sebastian began, “but I feel that I wouldn’t be a very good friend if I let it remain a secret.”
She raised an eyebrow with interest.
Well, better to just say it. “I have suspicions that your… paramour… may be unfaithful.”
Hawke’s eyes widened. She glanced rapidly back and forth, muttering under her breath, “Shit, which one?”
No time to process what that meant. “This is difficult, but I’ve seen Anders with… well, several of your companions.”
“Oh no,” said Hawke, her voice empty of all emotion. “How horrible.”
Sebastian blinked in confusion, resolving to ask Varric for an explanation later.
---
“Choir Boy.”
Sebastian nodded at the dwarf, ignoring the way he bristled at the acknowledgment. “I have... a question for you,” he muttered, feeling his face grow hot. “Regarding Hawke.”
Varric went back to examining his crossbow. “Taken, unfortunately for you.”
How did he…? “It’s not about that,” he insisted. “Well, it is, but not in the way you think.”
“Isn’t it?” Varric looked up from the crossbow, eyeing him skeptically. “Then in what way, exactly, does it concern our fearless leader’s love life?”
“It’s a matter of faithfulness,” he clarified. “I’ve seen Anders with not only one, but two of Hawke’s closest friends, and I could’ve sworn I’d seen him with Fenris as well, even though he’s clearly interested in Hawke. I’ve tried to tell them, but she doesn’t seem to care, and all Fenris ever says is ‘You can never trust a mage’ and then he just carries on as before.” In response to Varric’s confused expression, he continued, “Hawke is seeing an unfaithful man.”
Varric blinked at him twice in confusion before bursting out laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
The dwarf continued laughing for a minute or so before taking a deep breath to calm down. “Oh, Choir Boy,” he managed eventually. “If you only knew.”
“If I only knew what ?” Sebastian was getting irritated with this whole game.
Varric sighed. “How do I explain this…” He looked around. “So, it’s like this. Three years ago, Hawke met the five most attractive people in Kirkwall, myself included. As it turns out, numbers two through five thought she was cute. Things were complicated at first. But the longer we all spent together, the more common ground there was, and they made something work with all five of them.”
Sebastian nodded slowly. “All… five? As in… they’re all…”
Varric nodded.
“Even Merrill?”
Nod.
“But…” Sebastian struggled to formulate thoughts. “Fenris hates mages!”
“Not mages necessarily,” Varric corrected. “Just the ones who own slaves. There are two mages he’s fond of, and they hate slavers as much as he does. The stuff he says is kind of an inside joke.”
The explanation only served to make Sebastian more confused. Would he ever understand these people?