There are fifteen clouds in the sky, or he thinks there’s fifteen clouds in the sky. White and puffy like the smoke coming out of his mouth. He practices making rings, framing the clouds with clouds.
His arm is tucked in behind his head, pressing into the garden dirt. Elfroot grows up all around him, except where his body smashes it down. Usually he’s alone but today is different and new and Zevran’s head touches his own.
“Some people see things in the clouds when they watch them,” Han says, “I wonder what those things are.”
“Well I see two lovers entwined together in silk sheets.”
“You see all that?” He takes a puff on his joint. Savors it a bit before he blows it out.
“You don’t?” Zevran chuckles. “Oh, and over there is a dancer wrapped in a scarf.”
“There’s no dancer. There’s no way in hell you see a dancer with a scarf in the fucking clouds. You’re making all this up aren’t you…” Han squints at the sky. There are no dancers, no lovers there. But he double checks anyway.
“I see what I want to see. Does that mean I am making it up? Or does it simply mean you lack imagination?”
“I certainly don’t lack imagination.”
“Says the man who sees nothing but clouds.”
Han purses his lips, puffs and blows then points at a tuft of white straight above him. “I think I understand your meaning. There. Just there.” He points again with a wag of the joint. “Is a family of three elves and their dog.”
“A dog? I hope it isn’t a Mabari.”
“What do you have against Mabari?”
“Let’s see.” Zevran begins to tick off reasons with a flick of his fingers. “Horrible breath, slobbery, terrible at bathing and steal your favorite pair of gloves when you think you can trust them.”
“That last one sounds personal.”
“I will never forget a betrayal.”
“Well, even if it’s a traitorous Mabari, I’d say they’re one of the only decent things to come out of Ferelden.”
“On that, I can agree.”
They both have a chuckle and Han sits up, putting out the stub of his joint in a small patch of dirt. A blue butterfly flutters past him as a gentle breeze ruffles the hem of his shirt. He glances at Zevran who is still gazing longingly up at the clouds.
“A family of three and their dog,” he says almost as a whisper.
“Yeah,” Han says. “Or maybe it’s a cat.”
Zevran side eyes him.
“Fine. Fox it is.”
“I only see two,” Zevran says and Han has to laugh.
He bends down toward Zevran and plants a small kiss on his lips before pulling away and saying, “then a family of two it is.”
↖ - The diary entry from the day our [characters] met.
13 August, 9:41 Dragon.
I met the fabled Man Of The Hour today. Well, I met him twice. The first time, I got a fairly dirty look when I addressed him. He found me on the roof, and I asked what it was like to be the only one left. I’d seen him coming up on the ladder against the wall of the building. I mostly saw the ears and the mostly-shorn hair, which were the two things I was told about this Herald man, so I made an assumption.
Had to go down the ladder to actually meet the Herald. It’s a little odd still, calling him that, but it feels improper to refer to him by his given name, and every other descriptor, surname and all, could refer to his twin.
His twin, I can easily refer to by his name. Han Lavellan. He seems raw, somehow. I suppose watching the building your brother was in blow itself to hell would do that to a person. I suppose I would know. I wonder if he thought the same about me.
At least he got his brother back from that.
- an excerpt from the personal journal of Halla Trevelyan, future captain of the Inquisition’s “crack team.” Notes: a) Han Lavellan was later under Lady Trevelyan’s command as a member of said crack team, b) Lady Trevelyan’s brother Luke did survive the Conclave explosion, having been just outside the blast radius. She found this out two days later.
With a soft groan, Nansa untangled himself from Han’s hold and pushed himself out of the bed. He padded to the bassinet that a refugee child had outgrown and peered into it to find his daughter red-faced and squalling. “Hey. Hey, Mars, it’s okay. You’re okay,” he murmured as he gently picked her up. He continued to coo and she continued to fuss as Nansa headed for the door, with a glance back at Han and Raf still curled up in blankets. He headed down the stairs with the baby in his arms, talking softly all the while. “Gonna wake up Papa and Babae if you keep yelling like that, da’len. Wouldn’t want that, hmm? You know Babae gets cranky when he’s woken up. Well, not at you. He’d never get cranky at you, sweetling.”
The crickets were singing their midnight song when Nansa stepped out into the courtyard with Marta. The grass was cool, nearly cold, under his feet, and he breathed in deeply, savoring the chill night air. He checked Marta’s bundle of blankets to make sure she stayed warm before he started out around the garden.
Night cast a blue darkness over the flowers. Most of them were closed, waiting to bloom when the sun rose. “The opposite of you,” Nansa mused. “You scream all night and then sleep like a—well, like a baby—come morning.” He smiled down at her as her screaming subsided to whimpers. “Maybe you’ll be awake for sunrise today. It’s always so beautiful over the mountains.”
“Nah,” yawned someone behind him. “She likes to sleep late. Takes after me like that.”
Nansa turned to see Han padding toward them, still with no shirt and only cloth breeches. He shivered as he approached, rubbing his arms and hugging himself. “Wondered where you’d got to with the kid.”
“See, Mars, Babae’s here,” Nansa murmured, pushing back the blankets on one side of Marta’s head so she could see Han. She abruptly stopped fussing as she turned her head, confused about the sudden lack of warm on one side. But her blue eyes saw Han, and as he leaned down to brush her cheek with a finger, something about his red vallaslin triggered her months-old memory, and she gurgled happily at him.
“Hey, Marta,” Han murmured, kissing her forehead. “Woke your Da again, I see.” He straightened to see Nansa again. “Raf says it’s time for her to have a meal, so you should bring her back upstairs.”
“Let’s stay a while here first,” Nansa invited. “The crickets and the wind and the smell of the grass…it makes me miss aravels.”
Han stepped closer, still shivering. “Aravels were warm, Nansa. Inside is warm. Bed is warm. Come on.”
Nansa chuckled and shifted Marta in his arms so he had a hand free to cup Han’s chin. “Let me warm you up a bit while we stay out here, then.”
The kiss was softer than usual, Han’s sleepiness and Nansa’s contemplative mood combining to form something gentle, something pleasing, something loving that lingered on both their mouths for several seconds after they broke apart and started for their bedroom once more.
“The sign Nansa and I put up for you! With when you’re working this week.” Han pointed at the piece of parchment nailed to the back of the bedroom door. “You’re not scheduled today; you don’t have to go to the infirmary!”
“I just want to check some things,” Raf protested.
A large pair of hands picked him up from behind. “Oh, no, you don’t,” Nansa warned, turning around to set Raf down facing away from the door to their room. “Let the other healers cover it today, okay? You rest. Can’t have you shutting down on us again, okay?”
Raf turned to snap at Nansa, but stopped when he saw those honest blue eyes pleading at him. “All right,” he sighed. “I’ll stay here. For a while, at least.” He hugged Nansa and held out an arm for Han. “Can’t disappoint my boys, after all.”
Han went down with a thud and a grunt as Halla stood up from sweeping his legs out from under him with her own. “Ow,” he muttered, glaring up at her.
Halla grinned. “I think we’re done for now.”
“You just wanted to end on your win,” Han grumbled, but accepted her help back to his feet.
She brushed some of the dirt from the shoulder on which he’d landed and pushed him toward one of the logs that outlined the training ring. “Get some water,” she told him as the next combatant—Aiyan—stood up, quarterstaff in hand. Halla picked hers up as Han sat down on the log to watch.
Aiyan was as good with a staff as Nansa said, but Halla was his match. She ducked under the staff, jumped over it, landing blows with dull wooden knives and finally a kick to his middle that landed him on the ground. “If you’d let me use magic…” he grumbled as he pushed himself back to his feet.
“You’d never be prepared to fight templars,” Halla finished.
“I’ve been fighting templars longer than you have,” Aiyan answered.
Han lost track of the conversation after that, thanks to the feeling of lips pressing against each side of his face. He yelped and nearly tumbled backward off the log, but two sets of hands steadied him.
“Whoa,” Raf laughed. “I didn’t think we’d scare you that much.”
“I wasn’t scared,” Han insisted.
“Of course not.” Nansa sat on the log next to him, turning Han’s face for a proper kiss. “Just surprised.”
Raf sat close enough that Han was pressed tight between him and Nansa. “It’ll be your turn with her soon enough,” Han grumbled.
“No, I think she’s starting to tire.” Raf pointed just as Aiyan landed a blow to Halla’s wide-open side with his staff. “Sethi would never have been able to land that one at the beginning. I think Nansa and I are safe, and moreover, I think you’re done for now.” He looked at Han with a light in his eyes. “And I think I need a bath.”
“You need a bath?” Han asked indignantly. “I’m the one who just got knocked to the dirt—” He swung around to face Nansa when he was elbowed in the ribs. “What?”
“I think we all need a bath.” Nansa said pointedly. He wrapped an arm around Han’s waist and stood, drawing another yelp from Han as he was picked up off the log. Han started to squirm, and it was a testament to Nansa’s strength that he held on for as long as he did before he was forced to let go. Han punched him in the side—lightly—and the three of them headed into Skyhold and upstairs for a bath.