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Hawke reaches up to the laceration on his temple, her fingers wiggling as she draws on healing magic to mend his skin.
“Ow.”
She frowns in concentration, Varric watching uneasily. It feels like she’s trying to stitch the skin closed with thick, dull needles.
“Your healing touch leaves something to be desired.”
“I’m not a healer,” she states impatiently, laying her other hand on his shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. “Now hush, or I’ll end up sealing your eyelids together.”
“… I might prefer the gaping head wound.”
“Shush.”
Varric gives in with a sigh and closes his eyes. He can hear the thrum of magic at her fingertips, feel its warmth. If it weren’t for the fact that he was feeling the sting of a blade slashing his skin in reverse, it would almost be nice.
Add to that the warmth of Hawke’s closeness, the gentle sound of her breathing, her scent…
No, that’s something he definitely doesn’t need to focus on.
He opens his eyes, only to be met by a close view of her armored breasts and the long, smooth column of her neck. Even heavily covered, the leather strains against her chest with every labored breath. He can even hear the leather creaking.
“You know, Blondie never takes this long…”
Hawke pulls back with a frustrated sigh and withdraws her hand, taking with it both the warmth and the sting of her healing magic.
“That’s the best I can do, anyway.”
Isabela and Fenris shuffle noisily on the other side of the cave. Varric can’t make out what they’re saying, but Isabela speaks with an uncharacteristically somber tone as he kneels next to one of the fallen slavers they’d just killed.
Hawke draws his attention back to her with a hum of pain. She holds her fingers to her temple, eyes scrunched shut, and then pulls her hand back to find her fingertips covered in blood.
“Shit, c’mere,” says Varric as he scoots closer to where she’s sitting.
She dips her head down, leaning towards him so he can get a look at the head wound. He removes the glove from his right hand so he can better feel around her dark hair for the source of the —
Hawke hisses in pain.
Wound.
“The cut’s small,” he assures her. “Barely wider than my fingertip. Head wounds just bleed like a bitch.”
He’d steadied her head with his gloved hand, and Hawke leans into it, eyes closed, humming distantly in reply.
“Hey,” he says, his voice low and gravelly with concern as he holds her face in his hands. “Keep your eyes open, Hawke.”
“I just need to rest…”
“You could have a concussion. You need to stay awake.”
“Hmm…”
She tries to lean against his shoulder, but he lifts her head back, earning a tired groan of disapproval.
“C’mon, gorgeous. Open your eyes. Why don’t you tell me that story about how your father accidentally sold Junior for three silvers in exchange for goat?”
Hawke’s lips twitch and she snorts with amusement. “The look on his face…”
“That’s it…. Tell me all about it.”
She blinks her eyes open, irises dark and wide as they shift to focus on his face. It’s only then he realizes how close he is to her, his palms cupping the side of her head to keep her steady.
“Here,” he says, taking her hand and lifting it to the bleeding lump just shy of her left temple. “Work your magic and then you can rest before we head back.”
She frowns at this plan. Varric chuckles.
“Yeah, not to fond of your own bedside manner, are you?”
“Shut up,” she groans, sitting up to focus on healing.
Varric continues to cup the side of her head, his other hand holding hers steady as she pulls the healing magic from the Fade and focuses it on her own head wound. He doesn’t tease her as she tenses and groans at the sensation, catching her when she slumps forward lethargically after the magic stops.
“Ow.”
He laughs as she leans her forehead against his shoulder, her voice and posture a lot clearer now that she’s mended the damage to her head. Her ear brushes against the stubble of his chin, and Varric stills, breathing carefully until she pulls back to look him in the eye.
“How we managed to bash our heads together in the middle of a fight, I’ll never understand.”
Varric hums with agreement. “Great minds are drawn together.”
She laughs with a groan and stands, and his world grows to encompass the rest of the cave, and not just the eerie light it cast on her face.
