Title: To reveal a heart
Fandom: Dragon Age
Rating: T
Length: 812 words
Content notes: No content warnings apply.
Author notes: Inspired by the ‘mischief’ challenge in fan_flashworks, and conversations in the Dragon Age OC’s discord server.
Summary: Fenris tires of deceiving their friends about the nature of his relationship with Hawke and Anders.

***

It was too dangerous for Fenris to sit next to Hawke. As much as he longed to occupy his place on her right, while Anders sat on her left, he could not rely on his ability to hide the change in their relationship. Her warm proximity, the cheerful conversation, the free-flowing ale would all conspire against him. He feared he would not be able to hold himself back from nudging her shoulder with his own, sliding an arm around her waist, even pressing his lips against her cheek.

So instead he sat opposite, all the better to gaze upon her while she drank the Hanged Man’s sorry excuse for ale. The desire to touch her filled him so intensely it made it difficult to concentrate on his cards.

It was Wicked Grace night, as it was every Tuesday. Isabela had taken it upon herself to sit next to him, as usual, and was stealing bits and pieces of the fried whitebait he had ordered as a snack. Sometimes, she would try to feed them to him, but Fenris feigned turning away or taking a drink of his ale. He felt Sara’s eyes upon them and wondered what she thought when she saw Isabela flirting with him.

He was the one who had asked them to keep it a secret from their friends. He thought he could not bear their knowing he had entered into a relationship, however indirectly, with the mage. But that concern had waned over time. In its place had grown the desire for the people who were most important to him to know that he belonged to Sara too. Not in unrequited devotion, but as an accepted and welcomed part of her life. Anders was the only one who had that status now. It should belong to him too.

“Hey, hey,” Isabela said, clicking her fingers in front of his face. “It’s your turn to play.”

Fenris blinked and looked down at his cards. He had almost forgotten they were playing. His hand was terrible, but he threw another coin in the pot anyway. Anything to keep the game going. Isabela did the same, nudging his shoulder with her own as she did so.

“I’ll pay to see what you’ve got,” she said with a wink.

The call passed to Merrill, then Hawke. She looked at her hand, then placed it face down.

“Too rich for my blood” she said. She glanced at the empty carafe in the middle of the table, “I’ll grab the next round.”

Anders smiled up at her as she stood, touching her hand as she moved to leave Varric’s private suite. That small act of intimacy in front of their friends, as brief as it was, felt like a punch to Fenris’s chest. It wasn’t yet his turn, but he placed his cards face down on the table.

“I fold too,” he said, and stood up.

“What?” Isabela said indignantly, “But you upped the ante!”

He ignored her, pushing back his chair and stepping around it to follow Hawke. She had left Varric’s suite, and was on her way down the stairs, slightly unsteadily. He caught her hand when she was two steps from the bottom.

She looked up at him, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

“Sara,” he said, and his tone and the use of her first name seemed to indicate some of his intention, judging by the change in her expression. He descended a step to her level, caught her in his arms, and kissed her.

“Fenris,” she gasped, and her eyes drifted up towards Varric’s suite. “They’ll see.”

“Let them,” he said, and kissed her again. After a moment, she started kissing him back, and he gently pushed her back against the wall.

“I thought you didn’t want to-” she started, when he pulled back.

“I changed my mind.”

She looked concerned for a moment, her eyes searching his face – for what, he did not know. But then her lips curved into a smile and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Finally,” she said, and pulled him back into a kiss.

When they returned to Varric’s suite, it was without the ale Hawke had gone to get, and with Fenris’s arm around Hawke’s shoulders.

Their friends looked up as they entered the room. Fenris waited for the inevitable comments, but there was nothing but a low whistle from Isabela.

“Well then,” Varric said, adjusting his cards. “Merrill, could you swap seats with Fenris?”

“Of course,” Merrill said cheerfully. “I thought you’d been looking happier, Fenris. I’m so very glad for you both – or all three, really.”

She moved around next to Isabela, leaving the seat next to Hawke’s free. He looked at Hawke, and she was smiling. Then she leaned forward and kissed him, right in front of everyone.

Accepted. Welcomed. Hers.

When they broke apart, he took his place at her right side.