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Hawke did a double take when he saw the stall in the market, lit up with a smile that could have brightened a ballroom before rushing off. And leaving behind Aveline mid lecture. Her teeth clacked together in an angry snap, and Anders found himself trying very hard not to laugh for a moment there before following after his boyfriend, a livid Aveline and curious looking Fenris trailing a few steps behind.
Hawke was already eagerly handing over coins as the bemused Rivani man running the stand handed over a heavily waxed paper that smelled overpoweringly of fish. When the smell hit them Fenris’ face twisted like Hawke was holding dog shit barehanded. Anders pinched his nose shut and narrowed his eyes distrustfully at the package. Aveline deflated with a disgusted huff.
“What is that.” She asked pointedly.
Hawke jumped slightly having only then realized that he ran off in the middle of a conversation. He turned back to them with a guilty smile, “Lox.”
Fenris raised an eyebrow, “What?” Anders inched a little closer to him trying to get a peak inside the already half open package.
He opened it with a wide grin, “Lox. It’s a type of smoked fish, my father used to get it sometimes. For special occasions, of course.”
Anders had thought the smell was strong before the rogue fully opened the package to reveal what looked like uncooked fish. “Is… is that raw?”
“Yup.” Hawke brandished the package proudly before jumping into a story his father had told him about growing up as a child and eating it at religious holidays. Fenris hadn’t taken his eyes from the fish once the package had been opened and looked slightly ill gazing at the contents.
Hawke pulled off a sliver and popped it in his mouth, humming happily at the flavor, Aveline blanched. “You really… That’s not exactly meant to be eaten.”
He snorted, “Of course it is.” He raised an eyebrow and gestured to the three of them, “Wanna try some?”
Fenris took a small step back frowning slightly, “No. That reeks. And so does your breath after just one bite.”
Anders tilted his head to the side thoughtfully for a moment before nodding, “We’ll stink together, love.” He held his mother open and Hawke popped a piece of fish in with a grin. His eyebrows went up, “Hey that’s not half bad.”
Aveline rolled her eyes, “If your quite finished-”
“Oh sorry, did you want some-?”
“No. Now as I was saying, when the qunari left last month…” She turned and went back to gesturing where buildings still needed reconstruction and didn’t notice that Hawke and Anders were taking turns breathing at each other to try and see just how bad their breath really was and quickly eating the rest of the fish, not paying any attention to the guard captain.
Fenris snorted and counted himself lucky that Bethany had never professed a strong love of fish. That he knew of. He paused. “Hawke, your sister… does she also enjoy… that?”
Hawke halted mid fire breathing dragon impression, “Hm, no not really, why do you ask?”
Fenris looked away quickly cheeks starting to darken slightly, “No reason. We should move along.”
Anders and Hawke shared a look. “Fenris, just what type of letters have you been sending to my sister in the circle?”
“We should catch up with Aveline, she’ll be mad that we’ve lagged behind.” The elf was definitely blushing now and began walking quickly to catch up with Aveline as Anders began to laugh.