Chapter Text
Fenris stifled a sigh and pulled his sword free from the slaver's torso, slinging the blood off the blade in an arch before shouldering it. It was always something with Hawke, always difficult in some form or another, and always a lie when she said it would be a quick one. All they had to do was find the slavers on the coast that had taken the husband and bring him back. Not only had it taken four different caves, each with their own hoard of slavers, but they had gotten attacked by yet another group on their way back, the husband running back to Kirkwall.
And to top it all off, it was freezing.
Fenris had been cold before, the autumn and winter nights of Kirkwall carrying a chill, but nothing this cold.
"Well... He had quite the scream, didn't he?" Hawke grinned, crouching and rifling through the corpses' pockets.
"At least you had some distance from him, Fenris and I were flanking the bastard." Fenris couldn't help but agree with Anders, his right ear still faintly ringing from the screech the man had released upon the slavers' appearance. Anders stuck the blade of his staff into the ground when Hawke moved to the next body, wrapping his coat tighter around himself and tucking his hands under his arms.
"Hawke, do hurry up. It's colder than a Darkspawn's arsehole out here."
"That's just a gross image, Anders."
"I've got plenty more if you don't let me go home and get warm."
"Darktown is never warm, and doesn't your clinic have windows?"
"I can start a fire."
"Or you could come to the Hanged Man with us. I'll even buy you warm food and cider," Anders paused and she looked over her shoulder with a knowing grin.
"Won't even make you play cards with us too."
"Varric most likely already has a fire going too, you know how he hates the cold," Isabela laughed, pocketing the gold she pulled from the bodies.
"You're coming too, Fenris." It was card night, he had fully planned on attending.
"That was not a request."
"What if I said 'please'?"
"Would you?"
"Please? I'll buy you food and drink too."
"You need not-"
"It's dark, it's cold as balls, and this job wasn't supposed to be this hard. It's more of a thank you, anyway."
"Hawke-"
"So it's settled! Food, drink, and cards at the Hanged Man, on me. Unless you gamble, then I'm only helping Anders." Hawke popped to her feet, brushing off her hands as she hurried down the path back to Kirkwall and ignoring Isabela's calls of playing favorites as the pirate followed. The two disappeared around the bend and Anders reveled in the sudden quiet broken only by the waves on the shore.
He glanced over and met Fenris' eyes, gesturing with a faint smile before he grabbed his staff and began following Hawke, the warrior walking beside him.
"How are you not cold?"
"I am, it is freezing and the wind from the sea does not help."
"You aren't even shivering!"
"There is no need to sound offended." Anders' eyes narrowed when he noticed Fenris' tiny smirk, the smirk growing smug under the observation.
"I hate you."
"Liar."
"We leave you alone for five minutes and you're already fighting again," Hawke complained as they rounded the bend, Anders jumping and biting back a curse.
"How do you always do that? I could have sworn you kept walking." He leveled a frown at Hawke before turning it back to Fenris at his muffled snort of laughter.
"I noticed you guys weren't right behind me like Izzy was. Come on, it looks like snow and I want to be inside before that happens." She turned on her heel at that, linking arms with Isabela and marching her way back to Kirkwall.
The Hanged Man was blessedly warm, the large fire in the hearth and multitude of patrons providing more than enough heat to counter the chill. Hawke grinned widely at the cheer of her name, taking a bow before heading up the stairs. She flashed the room a grin when Varric and Merrill happily called her name after she flung open the door.
"We have arrived!"
"Later than we expected. Run into trouble?"
"More slavers than expected, but we got the job done," She waved Norah over as they settled in, placing the order for food and drinks. "I think I'm done doing jobs in the winter."
"You would go mad before the month was out."
"You're so mean to me, Aveline. Anyway, cards? I'm only covering Anders."
"You must be desperate to rid yourself of your coin."
"You're quite the bastard, Fenris, I hope you realize this," Anders drawled, crossing his arms. "I'm not that bad."
"You lost to Dog."
"... I hope you catch a cold."
"Anders, that's mean," Merrill admonished gently.
"Besides, you'd have to heal it anyway."
"Sorry, Hawke, not even spirit healers can heal illnesses."
"Then you'll just have to take care of him in your clinic until he gets better," Varric chuckled, dealing the cards as he directed the conversation back to their day on the coast.
The rest of the evening passed quickly, jokes and laughter being shared as the night wore on. Anders bowed out of the game before too long, settling back in his chair to enjoy his cider. The room and the cider were both warm, quickly making him content to simply watch the others play.
"All right, I think it's time I head home," Anders announced, finishing his cider and pushing himself to his feet as Hawke protested.
"You're leaving already? Why?"
"Because it's late and I have these things known as 'responsibilities'."
"Sounds awful."
"Worse than you could imagine." Hawke sighed loudly, pouting when he merely raised an eyebrow.
"At least let one of us walk you then."
"I am a grown man, Hawke-"
"Please? For me?"
"... That isn't fair, Hawke, and you damn well know it." Fenris stood beside him, placing his cards on the table as he turned to Hawke.
"I will make certain he makes it to his clinic." Hawke blinked, taken aback but quickly recovering with a signature grin.
"Well, good! I'm surprised you volunteered, but I'm glad too." Fenris shrugged.
"I would not have won the round regardless." Anders waved goodbye as he left, Fenris shutting the door behind them. They were halfway down the stairs before Anders spoke again.
"You just wanted to walk with me."
"Surprisingly, I find your company enjoyable," Fenris quipped, his lips quirking into his half smile when Anders brushed their hands together.
"Enjoyable enough to brave the cold, I see." Fenris only hummed in response, twining their fingers together when Anders brushed their hands again.
Fenris pushed open the door, pausing in the doorway as he stared at the ground, Anders gasping in delight beside him.
"It's snowing! Oh, I haven't seen snow in years!" Anders moved forward excitedly, happily stepping into the snow. "I forgot how pretty it is," He breathed, looking around at the layer covering the ground as Fenris stepped up beside him.
"It is certainly beautiful. Does this occur often in Fereldan?"
"Ridiculously often, but I haven't exactly been in Fereldan lately," Anders smiled and turned to look at Fenris, the elf watching the fluffy flakes float down with a look of mild wonder, the snow sticking to his hair and armor. "Have you not seen snow before?"
"I am from Tevinter, Anders. The only sign we have that it is winter is that the days are shorter and certain foods become unavailable."
Anders laughed easily, taking Fenris' hand again as they began their walk to Darktown. He couldn't tell if Fenris was fascinated or confused by the snow, his ears twitching minutely as he kept watch along their walk, though his eyes still strayed to the sky to watch the snow fall every now and then. Fenris sighed, the puff of air betraying the silent huff and leading Anders to snicker.
"Not a fan?"
"It is beautiful, I will not deny that, but sounds are muffled. Ambushes could be easy in these situations."
"Once it settles it makes noises clearer, and sometimes crunches underfoot. Besides, there's so many fun things to do in the snow! And they're all really easy too." Fenris' eyebrows lifted slightly with a quiet laugh.
"And just what, exactly, could one do in this weather that they cannot do in any other?" He turned to look at Anders, a small frown of confusion furrowing his brow when he noticed the blonde wasn't beside him anymore. "Mage?" He turned around and spotted the blonde a few feet back, the warrior having only a split second to register Anders' eyes widening in horror.
And then something hit him in the face.
He stumbled back a step, hands quickly lifting to wipe away the cold, biting substance. Fenris blinked at the snow in his hands, eyes slowly lifting to stare at Anders incredulously, the other only looking back with a mix of horror and sympathy, the hand over his mouth dropping as he spoke hesitantly.
"You weren't supposed to turn around..."