Waited for anything: a letter, a messenger from the east, a vision in a dream, anything. That was all she wanted, was for him to go, far, far away from Darkspawn and all the flight and fancy that was beckoning her to a new corner of the country for quests she seemed none-too-eager to pursue.
It was pure agony for him, but, nonetheless, Atticus left…
He was never one to sit still for too long, and ended up wandering, just a little, between places, keeping himself in motion, active, distracted from the mere idea of waiting. His sleepless nights became even more sleepless, sometimes days would pass with nary a wink, waiting, until exhaustion pulled him into fitful slumber, only for him to wake bleary-eyed, and begin a brutal all over again. He had grown to look almost sickly in that time. His fair skin had been rendered pale, his weary eyes bloodshot and ever-scanning, and his face had begun to be claimed by patchy facial hair. Though this would have made him a little harder to recognize, whether this was intentional or not, not even he was sure.
He kept his ears to the ground and eyes to the skies, still waiting. Had anyone within a mile of him looked, sounded, or acted like a Grey Warden, he followed them, sometimes approached them, asking from news from the east. Sometimes he would get nothing but vague hand-waving; other times, he would get nothing, at all.
And one day, after uncountable ones had come and gone, he’d had enough.
To hell with his own safety. Whatever they faced, they would face it together, come what may.
Nothing in his bleak little life made sense without Marian as a part of it.
From the north-westernmost point of Highever, he mounted a horse and tore off to the east, the city of Amaranthine in his desperate sights. He was unrelenting, stopping only in cities and villages for a fresh horse before returning to the Imperial highway at a breakneck pace. Days had passed before his final horse barreled through the gates of the city of Amaranthine, late in the night. He brought the horse to a stop, clicking and screeching in a fury enough to wake the dead. Bounding from the horse, he knew exactly where to go, and burst through the door of the Crown and Lion.
He sprinted through the empty bar, up the stairs, and made for the largest door at the end of what felt like the longest hallway of his life. It was then it hit him. All that waiting, all the sleepless nights, all the days and nights of feeling like half a man, they were about to end here. Eyes wide like red-cracked saucers, he knocked.
Before he could stop himself, he turned the doorknob and pushed it open, standing in the doorway, a silhouette a weary man, in a long coat, the handle of a warhammer protruding upward over his right shoulder. For the first time in what felt like an age, he smiled.
It took both of them a moment to recognize him. In a sea of aggressors and terror, an ally was an odd sight to both mistress and beast, but Bear was the first to recognize the mage. The massive canine ran to him and tried to jump on Atticus as if he were still a small pup, barking gently and licking at his chin and neck. It took Marian a heartbeat or two longer to make the connection, and when she did her reaction was similar.
“Atti...!” The tiny Warden Commander threw herself at the warhammer toting mage, Bear ducking out of the way in just enough time, her arms around his neck as her fingers gripped onto his road leathers so tightly her knuckles were white. How long had she wanted to be in this exact position, holding onto him like he was her anchor in this world? How many nights did it feel like half her bed (more often than not, her bedroll) was too cold? They were uncountable, innumerable, and she didn’t want to think about it any more. He was there as the dust settled had he had been once before. Her lips found his countless times as she reacquainted herself with the feeling of having him close again. “But Maker, I missed you, Atticus Foster.” She murmured against his lips and laid her forehead against his with a final kiss. “I don’t care that you didn’t listen to me, I missed you so much.”