Soothe
At the request of @aeriamamaduck: Fenris is sick (and grumpy), but Eden takes care of him anyways. Featuring Ezra Hawke (Eden’s twin) and his sometimes-successful home remedies.
Eden woke up to a blast of cold air.
She shivered and reached out for the covers only to find them pulled to the other side of the bed.
“Fenris?” she murmured as she lifted herself off the pillow. “You’ve taken all the covers.”
A low groan came from the cocoon of blankets beside her. Eden furrowed her brow as she nudged down the blankets, trying to see just where the blankets ended and Fenris began. “Are you all right?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “I feel terrible.”
“Aww,” Eden said as she pulled the covers away from Fenris’saeri face. “What’s wrong?”
Fenris sneezed. “Cold,” he muttered. “The sickness and the feeling.”
“Just wait here, love,” Eden said before leaning over to kiss him on the forehead. “I’ll get you something to make you feel better.”
“Don’t bother,” he said. “I’m sure I just need some rest.”
“Of course you need rest,” Eden said as she got out of bed and wrapped her robe around her. “But you also need something to help you feel better.”
Fenris sat up and slowly turned towards her. “Hawke, just forget it,” he replied. “I’ll be fine.”
“I know you will, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stand by and do nothing.”
She heard Fenris groan as she left the room and hurried downstairs and smiled to herself. Despite his protests, she knew that Fenris would benefit from someone taking care of him today.
“Morning, E,” Ezra said as Eden entered the kitchen.
“Good morning yourself,” Eden said. “Do you have anything that might help with a cold?”
“Feeling under the weather?”
“No—it’s Fenris,” she said. “Do you mind if I take the day off? I want to make sure he actually rests up.”
Ezra arched an eyebrow at her. “Do I mind?” he asked. “Eden, I’ve been telling you to take a break for weeks now.”
Eden had a vague memory of Ezra telling her to take a day off, but it was a comment that she’d pushed aside in favor of the more important things she had to do. “And now you finally get your wish,” she said.
“If I knew that Fenris getting sick would get you to finally rest, I would’ve told him to fake a cold ages ago.”
“Fortunately for you, he has a real one,” Eden said drily. “Do we have anything that could help with that?”
“Hmm,” Ezra mused as he opened the cupboards. “I have a few things that might work—give me a minute.”
Ezra had always had an interest in medicine. Since Bethany had been taken to the Circle, he had learned how to treat common and non-serious ailments: a relief, since he and Eden had enough chronic conditions between them to make any healer sigh in exasperation. His cough syrup and calming tea had helped Eden through more than one rough spot over the past several years and even though Anders’s clinic wasn’t far away, she was glad to have a healer at home again. Besides, going to Darktown on the cusp of an anxiety attack wasn’t a sustainable idea.
“Ah, here we go,” he said. He took a bottle from one of the cabinets and handed it to her. “Heat some water and add a few spoonfuls,” he said. “Add some honey for good measure—it’s pretty disgusting, but it’ll help his throat and his nose and give his immune system a gentle kick in the ass. Give him more in the afternoon if he still feels shitty.”
“You’re the best,” Eden said as she wrapped her brother in a one-armed hug. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”
“Just take care of Fenris and enjoy your time off,” Ezra replied. “That’s more than enough.”
“Thank you,” Eden said, setting the bottle down on the counter before reaching for the kettle. “I suppose you’re going to see Sebastian first?” she asked.
“Naturally,” Ezra replied. “He lives closest. It wouldn’t make sense to head down to Lowtown only to come all the way back to get him.”
“Of course,” Eden said as she filled the kettle with water. “And this has nothing to do with the two of you getting to spend some time alone together, right?”
Ezra flushed. “That’s certainly an upside of it,” he admitted.
“Well, I’m sure he’ll be just as excited for that time alone as you are,” Eden said. “I know you want to give him time, but with the way he’s been looking at you, I doubt he’ll need much more of it.”
“I hope you’re right, E,” Ezra replied. “I just hope I don’t embarrass myself.”
“If you do, there’s no one better to do it in front of,” Eden said. “It might be a little awkward at first, but he won’t ever tease you about it.”
“Is this about the time you answered the door in a bedsheet and it was Sebastian instead of me or Amaryllis?”
Eden flushed. “It might be,” she said. “At least he didn’t mention it to anyone else. I’m not sure Varric would’ve ever let me hear the end of it, but Sebastian hasn’t breathed a word.”
“True,” Ezra said. “Speaking of attire, should I change my shirt? I think I wore this one the last time I saw Sebastian.”
“Ezra, please tell me you’re not about to go out fighting in nothing but this,” she said, gently tugging at the sleeve of his thin shirt.
“Ah fuck, that’s right—stabbing is a thing that could happen,” he muttered. “He’ll see the sleeves, though, and he might know it’s the same one.”
Eden sighed. Her brother was overanalyzing the situation, but she knew better than to talk him out of changing his shirt. If that was what he needed to feel a little less nervous, then so be it. “Wear a blue one,” she said. “It brings out your eyes.”
“Perfect,” Ezra said, already removing his shirt as he ran upstairs. “Thanks, E!”
Eden shook her head and smiled as she took a mug out of the cupboard. Her brother might be the more organized and rational of the two of them, but having a crush always made him a little frazzled. She could only hope that today would ease his anxiety around Sebastian instead of increasing it.
~~
A while later, Eden carried the diluted medicine into hers and Fenris’s room.
Fenris’s brow furrowed as she entered. “You’re staying home today?” he asked.
Eden nodded. “Ezra’s handling things,” she said as she sat beside him on the bed, cradling the mug between her hands. “Now drink this.”
Fenris peered suspiciously at the mug. “What is it?”
“Medicine,” she said. “It might not taste good, but it’ll help.”
Fenris took the cup from her and sipped cautiously at the beverage. As soon as it passed his lips, he shoved the mug back into Eden’s hands.
“Hawke,” he said, “that is disgusting.”
“You don’t have to drink it all at once,” Eden said. “Just take it a little at a time and it won’t be so bad.”
“Did your brother tell you what he put in it?” Fenris asked.
Eden shook her head.
“Taste it,” Fenris said. “I’m not going to drink any more until you know what you just made me put in my mouth.”
Eden took a sip, expecting a bit of unpleasantness, but she was not prepared for the acidic sourness that assaulted her mouth. “Oh sweet Maker,” she sighed once she’d recovered from the taste. “He must’ve used apple cider vinegar as the base. It is good for you, but it tastes awful.”
“Perhaps because it’s so disgusting that it makes everything less disgusting by comparison.”
Eden smiled. “You’re supposed to dilute it a lot,” she said. “The taste doesn’t bother Ezra, so he must’ve gotten the amounts wrong.”
“How does it not bother him?”
“Sensory issues,” Eden said. “Believe me, you’re not the one who’s been unpleasantly surprised like this. Just think of it as initiation into the family.”
“I’d prefer something less painful,” Fenris replied.
“I don’t blame you,” she said, leaning forward to kiss Fenris on the forehead. “I’ll try adding this to some tea. Hopefully then it won’t taste quite so bad.”
Fenris chuckled darkly. “If it does, I’ll just stay sick.”
~~
Half an hour later, Fenris had finished the drink and was swaddled under no fewer than six blankets. He’d initially protested, but Eden had felt how cold his extremities were and immediately dragged three more blankets out of the linen closet. He was sending halfhearted glares in her direction every so often, but Eden hadn’t heard him complain about being cold.
“Do you need anything else?” she asked.
“Yes. For you to stop asking me that.”
“Anything besides that,” she said. “And don’t tell me to go away either. You’re stuck with me for the day.”
A smile flicked across Fenris’s face. “Shame.”
“I know,” Eden replied, sighing in mock exasperation. “How terrible.”
Fenris chuckled. “I can think of worse punishments.”
Eden arched an eyebrow. “Like what?”
Before Fenris could answer, Ezra strode through the door, clad in the blue shirt that Eden had suggested.
“Like him,” Fenris said.
“What?” Ezra asked as he spread his arms in surrender. “What did I do?”
“Apple cider vinegar,” Fenris spat.
Ezra’s brow furrowed for a moment before his face lit up with realization. “Ah fuck, I didn’t tell Eden to dilute it enough.”
“Yes, we figured that out,” Eden said drily. “I fixed it, though—or at least I managed to give Fenris something drinkable.”
“Good,” Ezra said. “Try giving him two more doses—that should do the trick.”
Eden nodded. “Anything else that could help?”
“Ah, I nearly forgot,” Ezra said, turning his attention to Fenris as he placed a small tin on the nightstand. “I have some salve for you too—not for your cold, but for your pain. I’ve been working on it for a while now, but I think I’ve finally got it right. Let me know if it works and if it doesn’t, I’ll try tweaking it.”
Fenris picked up the tin, rolling it between his hands before tossing it back onto the nightstand with a sigh. “Now you’re both fussing over me,” he muttered.
Ezra chuckled. “You signed up for it when you moved in with us,” he said. “We’re good at taking care of people, even when those people act like they don’t need help.”
“I don’t,” insisted Fenris.
“I know,” Ezra replied. “But it’s easier to have someone help you than to struggle along by yourself.”
Fenris’s mouth quirked up into a brief smile. “Thank you, Hawke,” he said. “You didn’t need to go to all this trouble.”
Ezra waved away the comment. “It was nothing—just something I’ve been working on here or there.”
“Ezra,” Eden chided, “you’ve been working on that salve for months.”
“Only because I had to wait until I was sore to test it.”
“Don’t believe him,” she murmured to Fenris. “I know exactly how much time he spent on this.”
“Well, thank you for tarnishing that image of me as a medical genius,” Ezra teased. “I’d better be going now before you make me look any worse.”
“Be safe,” she said as she pulled him into an embrace.
“Of course,” he replied, giving Eden a final squeeze before he headed for the door. “See you later, E.”
Eden waved to him one last time before shutting the door and sitting down on the bed beside Fenris. “So, should we try out the salve?”
“I’m honestly not sure,” Fenris said as he eyed the tin. “At least I don’t have to worry about the taste, but after that...I don’t exactly have full confidence in your brother’s medical skills.”
“You know,” Eden said, “I don’t blame you.”
