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At Kirkwall, it would be used for even minor offenses. Even on mages who passed their Harrowings.

[He takes a shaky breath.]

When I first went to Kirkwall, it was because I was worried about a friend. Someone I knew from my youth. He had been transferred to Kirkwall shortly after our Harowings, because 'they needed more experienced mages.' [He says it like he doubts that was the real reason.]

He stopped writing to me. I got worried. I went there to find him, and maybe escape with him. I thought... Oh, I don't know. I thought I might feel better about what had happened with the Wardens if I had him at my side.

It turned out they knew I was coming for him. They made him Tranquil so that they could use him as bait. He never would have gone along with it otherwise.

[A stunned, silent pause. Nathaniel briefly stops breathing, imagining it. If someone dear to him, like Tabris or Maker forbid like Delilah had been taken away, used...

Maker

Used as a weapon against him

Sweet Maker

He's ranted to Cassandra and Cullen about what Anders has been through when he didn't know the half of it. All that targeting Nathaniel had witnessed, he'd assumed ended when Anders disappeared in Kirkwall. No, they were saving the worst one for last. And this...this had been before Anders had done anything worse than be annoying. He wants to fling all those platitudes and justifications back at Cassandra.]

Maker, [he breathes at last.] Just to find you? Or to hurt you?

They drew me into the Chantry and attacked. Hawke was with me, as back up. I traded him maps to the Deep Roads for the support.

[He frowns deeply at the memory.]

Karl wasn't just a friend. He was... he was the first person I was with. When I had him, I didn't try to run. Not once. When he was taken away they doubled the templar guard around me. They knew I'd try again, and I did. Then I kept trying.

I don't know what I had been hoping for. Perhaps I just wanted to know he was all right.

When Justice saw what had happened, he took over completely. That's how Hawke discovered I was possessed. As everything settled... the templars were dead and Karl was himself again. He said that Justice had brought a piece of the Fade with him and brought him back, but only for a moment. As he slipped back into Tranquility he begged for me to kill him.

Maker.

[Nathaniel had thought the solitary confinement story was bad. This...

His arms tighten around Anders. He knows there's nothing he can say, no promises he can make. He can't tell him it will never happen again, because it's still happening. Every waking moment with the memory makes it keep happening.

Maybe he hates what Anders did, but Andraste give him strength, he hates it less at the moment, while he is angry for someone he deeply cares about. Maybe that makes him a terrible person.]

You didn't...?

[Anders tenses then.]

I would rather die than be made Tranquil and he begged me to end it.

I did as he asked. For a long time, I thought that was the right choice. It had to be better to die...

[He feels himself losing it again and he stops for a moment, takes a couple deep breaths, and then tries again.]

Today I found out there's a cure. Cole told me mages of the White Spire stumbled upon it.

[Fuck.]

You couldn't have known.

[Because if it were him, Nathaniel would be thinking about what would have happened if he'd just left him alive, if he'd given the possibility of...something impossible. Something everyone knew was impossible.]

I couldn't have.. you're right.

[His voice sounds a little hollow.] I'm not done.

I asked the Inquisitor if she knew because I wanted to make sure the information got to someone who could use it to do good. She told me that the Seekers always knew. Not... not the one here. She just found out recently.

But they knew. They were agents of the Chantry and they knew.

[People condemn Anders for a hundred deaths. It was the wrong thing to do, but that isn't the point. The point is that those same people don't care how many people are killed quietly, in the shadows, by powerful and righteous men. Even worse when the murderers don't even know their victims and make their choices in ivory towers just prior to sitting down for a glass of wine and a story for their grandchildren. Why are those people pardoned while Anders is hunted?

How can Cassandra of all people...?]

What is Lavellan going to do about it?

[Anders just feels empty, drained. He's already raged and cried and done everything else he can over this. He just wants to lean on Nate's strong form for a moment, and let that hold him up.]

Good things. I trust her with it. She's a good woman. And a mage.

Good. [That'll be enough for Nate, then. He kisses Anders' temple once, twice.]

Do you need anything of me?

[He bought a rattan recently, but he doesn't think this is that kind of situation. Anders seems exhausted.]

This?

[Anders suggests after a moment and moves his arm tight around Nate.] Just this.

[Nathaniel pulls a blanket over them both.]

I can do this. I'm not going anywhere.

[He tucks Anders' head beneath his chin and buries a hand in his hair.]

[Anders lets out another shakey sigh. He settles against Nathaniel, just cuddling him for now. He feels safe here. He hasn't felt that safe since he and Karl were kids together. It still hurts, aches deep in his chest, but having Nathaniel there somehow makes things a little better.]

Will you talk to me? Or read?

Of course. [Nathaniel picks up his book and reopens it to the last page he was on. He doesn't understand Anders' thing about his voice, but he's very much aware of it. So he plunges into Gulliver's Travels with his free arm tightly around Anders, reading about Lilliputians and their patchwork clothing for the protagonist.]

[It's a very soothing voice. More than that, though, is that hearing another person is a reminder that he really isn't alone. He settles in and listens. He isn't really paying much attention to the story so much as the fact that Nathaniel was there with him, willing to hold him and do what he needed. After a long while of just leaning against him the rouge and enjoying it. Then, after a moment, when Nate pauses]

Where do you keep getting these books?

Public library. [Nathaniel fingers his way to the next page.] You'd like this one. It's a satire about society.

Hmm. You do know how to speak to my heart, Nathaniel Howe. [He teases lightly, because teasing is better than dwelling and cuddling has already calmed him enough to feel comfortable to do that.]

It's a language worth learning. [Nathaniel kisses the top of his head.] Do you want me to keep reading?

[Anders nods after a moment.] For as long as you want.

Well. Take off your shoes and get comfortable. I'll read till I have to sleep.

[Slowly, he pulls himself off of Nathaniel. He takes off his shoes and some of his clothes, getting to a layer he's comfortable sleeping in. Then he's back lying against Nathaniel.]

[Nathaniel fits Anders against himself and starts reading again. The reading continues until his vision is blurring and he has to put down the book. He wraps his arms around Anders tightly.]

You're... [he's not as good at this as some people, not even as good as Tabris, but it needs to be said.] You're dear to me, Anders. I'm always here for you.