A Princess, a Knight, and an Assassin Walk Into a Tavern...

Clarity

At first Clarity didn't see the issue. She assumed it was a simple matter of threatening the barkeep. Then they would get their room back, and she could put some fear into the man. All good as far as she was concerned.
Varric however, saw this as a prime matchmaking opportunity, and voiced that he didn't think threats were a good idea because he "didn't want to get kicked out and have nowhere to sleep in Maker forsaken Brelle." Peter seemed to be a little too emphatically behind this idea.
When everyone else voiced their consensus to this thought, she had a brief clenching of her stomach. Peter and Varric had been sharing a room, as had Batu and Merrill, for obvious reasons, and it was only she and Hawke who had their own rooms. This automatically left one or both of them in the lurch. She...hadn't been expecting to share a room, and certainly not with Hawke. The thought made her palms sweat. So far in their "relationship" going to bed had been an end to the stresses and decisions of the day. When one of them would lose themselves, they could simply be excused to bed, and would start with a clear head in the morning. The prospect of not having that safety net made Clarity's whole body go rigid, and her hands go to her daggers.
But wait, they didn't necessarily have to be the ones sharing. "Merrill and I can share, then." She piped up helpfully after a moment. This idea made Hawke eye Batu warily, as if sharing a room with the man would be fine during the day, but turn into something terrifying at night. Varric looked disappointed, Merrill looked excited, and Peter was eyeing a woman's bracelets. Batu, however, took one solid step forward, in front of Merrill, and simply said, "No." Ending the discussion entirely.
"Okay, then Varric...?" She tried pitifully.
Peter piped up and said, "There's no reason for all this fuss. I'm not getting kicked out of a room twice in one night. Varric and I can bunk up as per usual, and you and Hawke can shack up like you want to. There's no need for all the secrecy, we're all adults and you two can..." Luckily at that point Varric stopped him, because Clarity's knuckles had turned white, her lips were in a tight line, her eyes glinted, and she had taken a solid step forward.
Peter shruggecd off Varric's warning hand and announced, "I've had enough of this tonight. I'm going to bed." He left then, carefully bumping into the woman with the bracelets and taking one of them, before heading upstairs.
"Batu and I can make room if you want! Three would be so cozy!" Merrill sang, but Batu shook his head at her, and started up the stairs. Merrill whispered in her ear, "As long as you keep that leg on, I'm sure Batu would say yes!" Before joining the witchdoctor, and flinging her arms around his waist.
It was just Varric, Hawke and Clarity still standing in a loose circle. Hawke opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it and rubbed the back of his neck. Varric smirked a little at the corner of his mouth and looked between the two of them. He couldn't believe he'd pulled it off. 'The Assassin's Blush' was getting another chapter tonight! "You kids have a good night." He turned to leave, and then paused to say over his shoulder, "Go easy on him, Pointy. We need him and all his limbs tomorrow." He chuckled happily at this statement and went to join Peter.
Clarity was blushing furiously and hadn't relaxed her hands from their fist. Hawke, on the other hand, was trying desperately not to smile. Blushing and smiling yes, but still smiling. He couldn't believe his luck. There was no way she would kill him for something that wasn't his fault, and he had carefully stayed out of the conversation, so it looked like he wasn't forcing her into his room. He had known how it would turn out, but he couldn't believe it actually had nonetheless.
Clarity decided she was going to go sleep in the woods. She shot a look at Hawke, and started towards the door. She hadn't gotten three steps when he said her name. "Clarity." She froze. "I promise I'll mind my manners. It's just sleeping. Surely it won't be that bad?" She shot him a look that said that it might be. He chuckled, "Alright then, we've already paid for the bed so we might as well use it. I'll sleep on the floor, if you'll stay." She met his eyes for a long moment and nodded slowly. Then making the decision, she headed up the stairs to THEIR room. The thought made her stomach have butterflies and clench at the same time. She scowled.
When she stepped into the room, it was suddenly smaller than she had remembered. There wasn't quite enough room to breathe. She opened the window and stood in front of it, just breathing.
Hawke walked in behind her and said, "Surely I don't stink that bad." And laughed. "It's been a long day but," he gave an experimental sniff, "on second thought maybe I do."
"You don't." Clarity mumbled before she could stop herself. "You smell..." Good. She was going to say good. It was really what she thought, but she couldn't quite get it out, and stood there blushing furiously at her admission.
"I smell...?"
She sighed through her blush. "Good." She whispered.
Hawke grinned widely at her. Eyes dancing. "Well, that's a relief." With that he started dropping clothing. Starting with his bag and axe, then his boots, next his socks and jacket, piling them all neatly in a corner of the room. Clarity stood open mouthed just watching. She knew she should look ANYWHERE else, but she couldn't.
When he was just down to his linen breeches and loose shirt, he turned around to catch her watching him. She snapped her mouth closed and blushed yet again. He gave her a very self-satisfied smile, pleased that she had enjoyed the show, which wasn't entirely on accident, and blinked one eye at her. He nodded his head, that it was her turn, but turned his back to her, and fiddled with his equipment, giving her some privacy.
She supposed it was her turn...but she felt ludicrously self-conscious. But she figured she might as well get it done while he was looking away. So she started, being quiet and poised, while being as fast as she could, pulling off equipment and clothes. She paused when she was about to put on the shirt she slept in, though, because, well, it was Hawke's. It had gotten torn on the ship, and he was going to throw it out, but she had retrieved it, because she had hated sleeping in her day clothes, she had told herself, but she wasn't lying when she said he smelled good. Really good. And it was so comfortable, and smelled like him...and...well she couldn't stand here without a shirt on, so putting her mouth in a thin line, she pulled it over her head. Then there was the problem of deciding whether or not to sleep in her prosthetic and pants, or to be actually comfortable. She decided to put that decision off for now, and unbraided her hair. And walked over to touch him lightly on the shoulder, telling him it was okay to turn around.
Hawke was speechless for a moment when he turned around. He recognized the shirt instantly, of course, and felt warm that she had kept it. The loose shirt hung wide on her shoulders and she left it untied, which was beautiful. Her long blonde hair was everywhere, and seemed to make her eyes even bigger. His smile was small and quiet, not wanting to scare her off, but he couldn't help a "You look beautiful." Clarity looked instantly at the floor and started blushing again. She was immensely pleased by his words, and wasn't sure she liked that.
Hawke looked around the room, and his eyes landed on the bed. There was only one blanket. It was a cheap hotel, so that was expected, but if they were going to sleep with the window open, it was going to get cold, and even more so on the ground. Clarity noticed this too. He started pulling on his jacket again, "Okay, I'll sleep here," gesturing to the side of the bed, "And you can take the bed."
Clarity shook her head, "It's your room, and you should take the bed."
"That is not happening. You take the bed, end of discussion."
Clarity nodded slowly, "We can at least share the blanket, if I sleep on this side, the blanket should reach."
Hawke chuckled, "Good call." And with that he grabbed one of the pillows, took his jacket off again, and got as comfortable as possible on the ground. He sighed, this was going to be a long night. He watched as she removed her prosthetic slowly, and gave a sigh as she pulled it off. Rubbing the stump a little.
The blanket didn't quite reach around her and down to Hawke, which made him laugh as she tried to make herself very small so it could accommodate both of them. "Forget it, it's a hopeless case, gorgeous." Shoving it back up to her, and he laid very still, on the ground, without any blanket on. Clarity shook her head, this was ridiculous. They were adults. They should both be able to sleep comfortably in a room they paid for.
She made another quick decision, and before she had time to second guess herself, she reached down and grabbed Hawke's hand, which automatically closed around hers. She pulled it ever so slightly towards the bed, but he didn't react, so she started to pull his arm toward herself. At first he didn't understand what was going on, but he soon got the hint. Or, thought he did, he had rolled his body toward her, but she kept tugging on his arm. So he stood, and started very slowly giving her a wary and confused look, carefully beginning to crawl into bed beside her. Giving her every opportunity to say no. She scooted to the far end away from him, and laid very still, not looking at him.
The bed tipped and moaned as he got comfortable beside her. He was a large man, and it was impossible that they didn't touch a little bit in the small bed. Clarity shrank away until there was just a hair's breadth between them, and laid rigid, her body halfway off the bed. All was quiet, but she could feel him smiling at the back of her head, and the warmth from the body so close to her. It made her whole body hum.
Then something unexpected happened. Hawke reached one of his big hands over, and brushed her hair behind her ear, and down its full length to the middle of her back. "Thank you." He said, his voice a deep rumble in his chest. "I know this...I know a lot has changed between us, and it hasn't been, well, none of it has been easy for you. And I want you to know that every part of this is preferable to sleeping on the floor." All this was said as his hands ran slowly through her hair.
She turned to face him, a small very soft smile on her face. Her muscles had relaxed at his words, and his hand had come to rest between them. She nodded, wanting to let him know she appreciated it and appreciated him, so she blinked one eye at him. Unsure of what it meant. He let out a surprised loud laugh that continued to wrack his body for a while. The stump of her leg bumped against his lightly, and she suddenly felt tense, like he would be disgusted, but his smile just widened. She put her fingers feather light on Hawke's hand between them. And his large hand wrapped slowly around her fingers, and brought those fingers slowly and softly to his lips, and kissed them. Fingers still against his lips he said, "Goodnight, Clarity." And though he returned their hands to the space between them, he didn't let go.
Clarity's heart was beating hard and quickly against her ribs. Her blood was pumping faster than it ever had, she was sure of it. Here in privacy she suddenly wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him hard. Like Tollie had kissed West, and the thought terrified her. Her fingers contracted in his hand, and he simply squeezed them lightly. She didn't dare move her hand, or move at all. She could barely breathe. Hawke's breathing slowed and got heavier, though she didn't think he was asleep. The thought struck her that this was maybe the most terrified she'd ever been, but it was wonderful as well. It took her a long time to fall asleep that night, committing every breath of Hawke's to memory.
When she awoke her first thought was that she had never been so comfortable in her entire life. There was warmth at her back, and a weight across her waist that made her sigh in contentment. She just wanted to lay here forever. But she was also heavy. She was pinned down by the weight...and all of a sudden she was wide awake. She realized where she was and who she was with, and she sucked in a breath. They had left the window open, so the room had gotten cold, and had progressively moved closer together. She was now laying with her back to Hawke's chest, his nose in her hair, and one of his large arms draped loosely across her waist. Practical for warmth purposes, and she found great for sleeping, but all of a sudden problematic in her wakeful state. They were sharing a pillow the other one on the floor, and she didn't know what to do now.
It was still early. Maybe if she got up early and had time to compose herself, they wouldn't see all the thoughts that she'd had last night and this morning. Maybe she could find another room. She started extricating herself very slowly, careful not to wake the large man beside her. Though in his sleep he made a few mumbled protests at the loss of her warmth. She quickly pulled on her prosthetic, then her clothes, grabbed her daggers in a big messy pile, and tiptoed out the door.
Just as she opened the door, she was met with large familiar eyes and freckles. "Tollie!" She said in surprise. "What are you...How did you...Um...?" Then realizing the bed was in full view of the door, she snapped the door shut behind her. There was an unusually long pause. Her head was reeling and she was sounding like an idiot. Making the situation seem worse than it already was. "I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast." Tollie just looked surprised. And with that Clarity fled downstairs.