hawkethat | gargleblasted Contact

Of course she does.

[He turns his attention from Anders to Pearl, who is still yipping and bouncing excitedly at Anders' feet.]

Pearl!

[At the sound of her name, Pearl begins bouncing and squeaking over to Hawke, her fluffy tail waving merrily like a little curly banner]

Pearl, focus!

[He holds up a hand, fingers together and palm flat, when he speaks, and Pearl obediently quiets down, watching him intently and waiting to see what he'll do next, although her back end is still quivering slightly with energy.]

Sit.

[He reinforces the command with a motion of his hand, pointing down with his index finger, and like magic, she sits, bright button eyes moving back and forth between his face and his hand, eager for her next command. Hawke will wait a moment or two before speaking again.]

Good girl. Go see Anders.

[and with a happy yip she bounces right back up and runs back over to Anders, whining and panting and excited to see him.]

[Anders has seen Hawke order her around before, but really, it still seems bizarre to him. He doesn't get how it works, and he doesn't see why it's important, and the result is that neither he nor Pearl ever really try.

Really, he's going to end up ruining all of Pearl's training.]

Sit.

[he tries again, feeling foolish. She wags her tail at him, and he frowns.]

Pearl, sit.

[she plops down into a sitting position, although he has a sneaking suspicion it's mostly because Hawke got her attention a moment before. But, good enough.

He bends down, giving her the bowl.]

[...Good enough. Hawke shakes his head a little and turns back to the frying pan with a smile.]

[Anders puts the rest of the puppy food away again, Pearl now much too busy eating to pay any attention to him. But that just means he can focus entirely on Hawke.]

You might want to take care of her training yourself.

She's got the basic commands down. All you have to do is help me reinforce them.

[He starts flipping the eggs over, one after another]

Dogs want a leader. And she wants to make you happy. You just need to have a little more faith that she'll do what you ask when you ask her to do it.

You make it sound so easy.

It is easy, once you get used to it.

[He sighs a little, and leans against the counter. He doesn't even feel in control of himself at the moment, let alone a dog he doesn't understand.]

Is the food nearly done?

[He's carefully watching Anders out of the corner of his eye, but his voice is cheerful and unconcerned when he replies to his question.]

Yes, nearly. Why don't you grab the toast and some plates, and I'll serve?

Alright.

[He finds the plates as told, placing a slice of toast on each. The water has boiled as well, so he finds a tea bag (the last one left, he notes) and some instant coffee, preparing a mug of each and carrying them to the table.]

Meanwhile Hawke divides up the bacon and eggs onto each plate, and follows after Anders to the table, where he serves their breakfast and drops another kiss on Anders' cheek before seating himself.]

Thank you, love.

You must be hungry as well. We never did eat much at the tavern.

[Anders, at least, is going to start eating right away, focusing on his food for now. He does keep glancing towards Hawke, though.]

A bit, yes.

[Ravenous, truthfully; the food in front of him is definitely not going to be enough to fill him, especially considering all the spell-casting he'd done yesterday. But it should be enough to tide him over until they can go out to purchase more, at least.]

[In the mean-time, he'll begin shoveling it in. No need to wait any longer, after all.]

[Eating briefly cuts off any further conversation. Anders hadn't eaten much the previous day, and vomiting is not good for retaining food and nourishment. At least if he's actually hungry now, that's a good sign, and for a while he'll just focus on the eggs and bacon.

Then he grabs his coffee, looking up at Hawke again as he drinks.]

Do you think the pirates have been fought off completely?

[if not, he'll enjoy killing a few as they go to the market.]

Mmm--

[Give him a few seconds to finish chewing and swallow here, and he'll answer.]

They began to seriously pull back not long after you were taken. I haven't seen any around here for several days, now.

That... shouldn't be surprising to me.

[It's a little bit bitter. Apparently he'd only have needed to hold on for another few days, and the pirates might not have been able to get to him at all.]

...If you need something to take frustration out on, I'll help you come up with alternatives.

I'm not sure if that's a good idea.

[he's not really sure if he can control his spellcasting, and he wouldn't want to accidentally hit Hawke. And what if he panics again?]

Why not?

[he's been trying not to focus too closely on Anders, hoping to avoid making him uncomfortable, but now he can't help it, and the concern he's feeling is obvious in his expression.]

[and some things are too important to be anything but upfront about.]

What if I lose control again? I might hurt bystanders, or even you.

[he doesn't trust himself.]

[Oh Anders...]

...There are other ways to relieve frustration than fighting, you know.

[he shakes his head a little.]

I'm alright, Hawke. Though I'm not saying no.

I'll figure something out.

[Like hell he believes Anders is alright.]

We'll definitely go to the market after breakfast, though.

[Maybe just getting out and walking around will help...though Hawke really wishes there was somewhere they could go that's outside.]

I could show you that lake.

[Because a swim really might help. It's something he enjoys, but hasn't really had time for in-- years, actually.]

That sounds perfect. And a swim, as well?

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