MAJOR spoilers for Inquisition. I've tried to be vague beyond "archer male Hawke who romanced Fenris", though I gave him my Hawke's name (Stefan).
This is like 1000 words of Bethany&Hawke fixit fic and 25 words of Fenris/Hawke, because that's what it took for me to convince myself of a happy ending after [spoilers]. But now I am much happier so thank you for the inpiration :) --------- He was dreaming again.
It wasn't always easy to tell. Awake or asleep, the Fade was always dreamlike, the landscape an impossible shifting mish-mash of ideas made solid, filled with memories and spirits. But it was only when Stefan was asleep that the visions of people he knew seemed real. At least it wasn't his mother this time.
Bethany smiled at Stefan with tears in your eyes. "Are you well?" she asked. "Can you get up?"
"I could," he said. "But why not stay here and have a peach?" He gestured up at the fruit hanging sideways from the tree above his bed. "I'm fairly sure they're peaches today. Yesterday they were tiny curled up kittens, but they don't look as fuzzy now."
"Oh, Stefan, that's...very sweet" said Bethany. "But we have to go. If you come with me I can get us home."
"Are you in danger?" he asked getting up. He had a lot of dreams about protecting Bethany. They were stressful, but better than the ones about protecting Carver. Or that one where a sobbing Fenris had refused to believe he was real.
"Well, I am in the Fade," she said. "And I don't know how long the spell will hold...brother, you do remember where you are, don't you?" She led the way across the uneven ground with a determined stride. He'd forgotten how tall she was, he kept dreaming her as child.
"Of course I do," said Stefan. "I'm in the Fade, and I'm dreaming that my sister has come to rescue me."
"How do you know I'm a dream?" she asked.
He poked her gently in the shoulder. It was soft and slippery, like pushing against a strong stream of water. His fingers slid across the surface without hitting anything solid. "Real people don't do that," he said.
"They do when they're projecting into the Fade," said Bethany. "But...fair enough. As long as you know that..." She went to reach for his hand before thinking better of it. "I'm just really, really glad you're alive. It's been so long, I'm so sorry we left you here..."
"It's not so bad, really," he said lightly. He didn't like to see Bethany sad. "I mean, it was at first, obviously. What with being left for dead to be eaten by a giant spider. But once I survived that things weren't so bad! The Fade's not all giant spiders. Some parts of it are actually quite nice, once you get used to how odd everything looks."
"How did you survive? The way the Inquisitor described it, if Fenris hadn't told me he'd seen you I would have never believed you were alive."
"Fenris told you?" Did that mean Stefan had actually spoken to the real Fenris? Perhaps during one of Fenris's dreams...was that possible? Was it possible that he was speaking to the real Bethany now? Stefan's hard won equanimity started to crack. The only way he'd survived out here for so long without going mad was by holding onto what he knew was true. And one of the things he knew for sure was that noone he met out here was real.
This is a dream he told himself. Enjoy your time with the nice fake Bethany because it's the closest you'll ever come to seeing her again, but never forget that she is fake. And better not to think about Fenris at all. Time to change the subject.
"The great thing about giant spiders," said Stefan. "Is that they can't fit into tiny cracks. So I found myself a nice safe little niche in the rocks and shot arrows at the monster until the others had escaped, then I sat and waited until it was safe to sneak away. Took a while, but the fight went out of the thing once it's master was dead."
"So you could have defeated it if the others hadn't abandoned you?" Bethany's voice had a sharp undertone.
"I don't think so," said Stefan. "It was a pretty big spider. And...hey, an eluvian!"
"Yes," said Bethany, cheerfully. "That's how we're getting you out!"
The cold grey surface of the mirror shivered and rippled. It looked a lot more alive than the other eluvians Stefan had seen, in the Fade or out of it. "You're not going to do blood magic, are you?" asked Stefan. "I know it's a dream but I wouldn't want to risk it."
"Of course not," said Bethany, making glowing shapes in the air with her staff. "Merrill suggested it, but Morrigan and I found a way to...there!"
The surface of the mirror began the boil, and then flashed bright green. "Quick," said Bethany, grabbing his hand. She felt slippery and cool. Stefan thought about saying no, his experiences with eluvians and glowing portals had not been very encouraging thus far. But he wanted to see what would happen next.
He stepped through and Bethany vanished. He was facing a small room filled with furniture and people: Varric and Fenris watching the mirror, Merrill and some woman he didn't know helping Bethany up from lying on the floor. And at the front, the Inquisitor, her hand flashing green as she closed the portal to the Fade. The eerie light flickered across straight solid walls and a flat even floor, and then faded, leaving them all bathed in what looked exactly like clear, normal sunlight.
This. Is. A. Dream. thought Stefan.
"Hawke," said the Inquisitor, "You're alive! I am so sorry I..."
She did not get to finish. Fenris strode across the small space to throw himself at Stefan. "Hawke," he said. Fenris kissed him fiercely, and his lips were smooth and solid and warm.
"Oh," said Stefan. He kissed him back. It felt just as real as the first time.
Eventually he remembered that everyone else existed. He looked at them all, his friends and saviours, and smiled. "So I guess the world didn't end after all."
Dreams: Fenris/m!Hawke, Bethany fixes [Inquisition Spoilers]
This is like 1000 words of Bethany&Hawke fixit fic and 25 words of Fenris/Hawke, because that's what it took for me to convince myself of a happy ending after [spoilers]. But now I am much happier so thank you for the inpiration :)
---------
He was dreaming again.
It wasn't always easy to tell. Awake or asleep, the Fade was always dreamlike, the landscape an impossible shifting mish-mash of ideas made solid, filled with memories and spirits. But it was only when Stefan was asleep that the visions of people he knew seemed real. At least it wasn't his mother this time.
Bethany smiled at Stefan with tears in your eyes. "Are you well?" she asked. "Can you get up?"
"I could," he said. "But why not stay here and have a peach?" He gestured up at the fruit hanging sideways from the tree above his bed. "I'm fairly sure they're peaches today. Yesterday they were tiny curled up kittens, but they don't look as fuzzy now."
"Oh, Stefan, that's...very sweet" said Bethany. "But we have to go. If you come with me I can get us home."
"Are you in danger?" he asked getting up. He had a lot of dreams about protecting Bethany. They were stressful, but better than the ones about protecting Carver. Or that one where a sobbing Fenris had refused to believe he was real.
"Well, I am in the Fade," she said. "And I don't know how long the spell will hold...brother, you do remember where you are, don't you?" She led the way across the uneven ground with a determined stride. He'd forgotten how tall she was, he kept dreaming her as child.
"Of course I do," said Stefan. "I'm in the Fade, and I'm dreaming that my sister has come to rescue me."
"How do you know I'm a dream?" she asked.
He poked her gently in the shoulder. It was soft and slippery, like pushing against a strong stream of water. His fingers slid across the surface without hitting anything solid. "Real people don't do that," he said.
"They do when they're projecting into the Fade," said Bethany. "But...fair enough. As long as you know that..." She went to reach for his hand before thinking better of it. "I'm just really, really glad you're alive. It's been so long, I'm so sorry we left you here..."
"It's not so bad, really," he said lightly. He didn't like to see Bethany sad. "I mean, it was at first, obviously. What with being left for dead to be eaten by a giant spider. But once I survived that things weren't so bad! The Fade's not all giant spiders. Some parts of it are actually quite nice, once you get used to how odd everything looks."
"How did you survive? The way the Inquisitor described it, if Fenris hadn't told me he'd seen you I would have never believed you were alive."
"Fenris told you?" Did that mean Stefan had actually spoken to the real Fenris? Perhaps during one of Fenris's dreams...was that possible? Was it possible that he was speaking to the real Bethany now? Stefan's hard won equanimity started to crack. The only way he'd survived out here for so long without going mad was by holding onto what he knew was true. And one of the things he knew for sure was that noone he met out here was real.
This is a dream he told himself. Enjoy your time with the nice fake Bethany because it's the closest you'll ever come to seeing her again, but never forget that she is fake. And better not to think about Fenris at all. Time to change the subject.
"The great thing about giant spiders," said Stefan. "Is that they can't fit into tiny cracks. So I found myself a nice safe little niche in the rocks and shot arrows at the monster until the others had escaped, then I sat and waited until it was safe to sneak away. Took a while, but the fight went out of the thing once it's master was dead."
"So you could have defeated it if the others hadn't abandoned you?" Bethany's voice had a sharp undertone.
"I don't think so," said Stefan. "It was a pretty big spider. And...hey, an eluvian!"
"Yes," said Bethany, cheerfully. "That's how we're getting you out!"
The cold grey surface of the mirror shivered and rippled. It looked a lot more alive than the other eluvians Stefan had seen, in the Fade or out of it. "You're not going to do blood magic, are you?" asked Stefan. "I know it's a dream but I wouldn't want to risk it."
"Of course not," said Bethany, making glowing shapes in the air with her staff. "Merrill suggested it, but Morrigan and I found a way to...there!"
The surface of the mirror began the boil, and then flashed bright green. "Quick," said Bethany, grabbing his hand. She felt slippery and cool. Stefan thought about saying no, his experiences with eluvians and glowing portals had not been very encouraging thus far. But he wanted to see what would happen next.
He stepped through and Bethany vanished. He was facing a small room filled with furniture and people: Varric and Fenris watching the mirror, Merrill and some woman he didn't know helping Bethany up from lying on the floor. And at the front, the Inquisitor, her hand flashing green as she closed the portal to the Fade. The eerie light flickered across straight solid walls and a flat even floor, and then faded, leaving them all bathed in what looked exactly like clear, normal sunlight.
This. Is. A. Dream. thought Stefan.
"Hawke," said the Inquisitor, "You're alive! I am so sorry I..."
She did not get to finish. Fenris strode across the small space to throw himself at Stefan. "Hawke," he said. Fenris kissed him fiercely, and his lips were smooth and solid and warm.
"Oh," said Stefan. He kissed him back. It felt just as real as the first time.
Eventually he remembered that everyone else existed. He looked at them all, his friends and saviours, and smiled. "So I guess the world didn't end after all."