Bethany stumbled around Darktown, trying (and failing) to find the lantern that Hawke never had any trouble locating. She didn't find the lantern, but she did walk smack into someone as her eyes were on the walls to one side, and not the path before her.

"Ooof! Bethany?"

"Anders? Oh, wonderful! I was just looking for you," Bethany smiled brightly, more relieved than she was willing to admit that she'd found him and not some... predator.

Anders blinked at her effusive reaction. "Any particular reason why?"

Bethany hesitated to reply. "Um, well..."

"Or did you just seek the pleasure of my company?" Anders suggested dryly.

"The thing is... I need your advice, Anders."

"My advice? Is Hawke not willing to offer you some words of wisdom?" Anders asked, brows arching in surprise.

"Can we talk somewhere... privately? Please?" Bethany begged.

Anders sighed. "Oh, all right. You're better at the puppy-dog eyes than your sibling, you know."

They made their way to Anders' clinic (Bethany was appalled to see how very far from it she had been - and heading even further from it when she'd bumped into the healer) and sat side-by-side on a cot.

"I'd offer you something to drink, but your sibling would murder me for plying you with wine, and the water here needs to be boiled to be considered less-than-hazardous," Anders joked.

"That's alright," Bethany murmured shyly.

"Care to tell me what the big secret is?"

"Promise you'll never tell, first."

"Who would I tell?" Anders asked, eyes wide in innocence. Bethany just looked at him. "Alright, alright, I swear. Nobody will ever learn of this conversation from me."

"Thank you. I ... don't quite know how to say this... Where to start," Bethany confessed, laughing nervously.

Anders picked up her hand and squeezed her fingers lightly. "Try starting at the start, and carry on from there," he suggested.

"All right, short version," Bethany murmured. She took a deep breath, and began. "There's this guy I like, and I don't know how to find out if he likes me, too. Which is where you come in."

Anders dropped her hand like it burned, and stood abruptly, striding across the floor. "How do I come in?"

"Well..." Bethany stood up, twisting and wringing her hands, as she followed the mage across the clinic. "I - You are not the first person I've asked for advice on this, you see. And if... your advice tallies with Isabella's, Varric's and Aveline's, then I'll know what to do."

"I ... see," Anders said doubtfully. "And what did they suggest you do?"

"That I kiss him and see where things go from there. What do you think?" Bethany asked quietly.

Anders huffed in amusement. "Isabella and Varric I can see recommending that, but Aveline?"

"She said that's how she knew Wesley - her late husband - was the right one for her," Bethany replied.

Anders turned around, starting slightly when he noticed how close Bethany was. "I somehow doubt this would be advice Hawke would give - or approve of."

Bethany snorted. "My name is Hawke, too, you know. So should I?"

"So it is. Wait, should you what?"

"Kiss you."

"ME?"

Bethany stood on her tiptoes, and gripped Anders' Tevinter robes by their feathery pauldrons. She smiled slightly and pressed a soft, chaste kiss to his lips.

"You," she said.

Anders stood, blinking like a deer in a hunter's sights. Briefly, Bethany wondered if he was conferring with his spirit. His arms came up to grip her elbows, and pull her even closer against him. His gaze dropped to her lips, and he licked his own in anticipation. Ever so slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers, mirroring her kiss with one that was anything but chaste.

He drew back after a moment, breathing hard. He looked at her, eyes utterly serious. "Hawke must never learn of this. I quite like being alive, with all my bits attached."

Bethany leaned up and nuzzled his face. She smiled against his lips. "Agreed. This will be our little secret."