Author Note: This is a stand-alone story, but can be read as a companion piece to With Each Passing Day. The companion piece has a lot of story that leads up to this, but is not necessary to understand what is happening so long as you know who Varric is! (The Fluffy chapter is chapter 6, if that is what you're looking for, feel free to skip to it!) Bioware owns all.

Today was the day. Today, Varric was going to tell Hope how he felt about her.

Was…

Unfortunately for Varric, nothing ever seemed to go the way he planned anymore. Sure, he acted like everything was okay, but he was thousands of miles from home surrounded by warriors and demons. The only stable thing left was Hope. She was so pure, so good, and so… normal. He loved just sitting with her in front of the fireplace and swapping stories or walking with her through the woods as she delivered goods to the towns nearby. Everyone else tried to make him gather supplies or fix weapons, but he was a bard, not a servant! Hope appreciated him for what he was, though, and he loved her for it.

Love. What an interesting concept. He didn't think he would ever love someone again, and yet, here he was, wrapping up his journal full of stories about the tall mage.

As Varric walked towards the door with his journal in tow he noticed a blank envelope on the ground next to the door. He opened the envelope and read the letter inside. Curses flew from Varric's mouth as he grabbed his crossbow, Bianca, from the chair next to the door. He mumbled, "Looks like we've got some unfinished business to deal with, Bianca," before exiting the door.

Hope was sitting at her desk in front of the fireplace. She was finishing up some letters and finishing supply orders when a knock rang on her door. She smiled, knowing it was the time she agreed to meet Varric. Supposedly he had something pretty important to talk about for her ears only, or so he had said. Honestly, she expected just another piece of gossip. He was always sharing information that he shouldn't know about the other members of the group, but she loved spending the time relaxing and laughing with him.

She called out, "Great Varric you're… you aren't Varric."

Sera opened the door slowly, looking at the ground. "Hey, Q, Varric told me to tell you he'd be late. Freak ran outta here pretty quick, yelling orders to me like I'm some slave." She rolld her eyes. "What's going on with you two anyway?"

Hope chuckled. "We were just going to talk, Sera, same as always."

Sera wagged her eyebrows. "Yeah, taaaaalk. I sure could use a talk myself, you know, Q."

Hope waved her arms at her, "Oh shush, you know things aren't like that."

Sera flopped herself down across the table from Hope. "But I also know you want them to be. So why fight it?"

Hope sighed, the elf had a point. "Okay, you got me, but that doesn't mean that he wants anything more, Sera."

"Oooooh, Q, let me tell you, he definitely wants something more. I was poking around his journals the other day…"

Hope gasped and swatted at Sera's arm. "I told you to stop going through our things!"

Sera just laughed. "I'm a rogue, Q, that's what we do."

Hope shook her head. "Fine, fine, but you know he probably knows you're going through his stuff."

Sera stood up, "I'll take that as my cue to snoop then. See you later Q!"

Hope waved goodbye to Sera as she left. The elf girl had been a lot of trouble since she got there, always snooping and creating mischief, but damn if she wasn't a good friend. Hope sat back in her chair and stared at the letters again, unable to read. She thought to herself, I wonder what she found in his journal.

Sera couldn't believe what she found.

Usually Sera came across outlandish stories about Hawke, directions to the merchant's guilde, and more often than not some musings about a certain female mage that they had all come to know and love. But this was different. This was a note to Varric from someone called Bianca. It was a short note, not a lot of details, just I need you - Bianca.

Sera stared at the note confused. Sure, Varric's crossbow was called Bianca, but that didn't mean anything, right? She thought that Hope was the only woman on Varric's mind, but now she wasn't too sure. She had to go ask Cassandra about this. It was too early to upset Hope with details that probably were just a misunderstanding. But still… something didn't feel right to Sera. Something didn't feel right at all.

Author Note: Thanks for reading! I imagine something like this will happen in Dragon Age Inquisition. Bianca can't be dead… but what does that mean for our Inquisitor? Please leave me comments!