Granted, he's not exactly sure what he was expecting, but whatever it was, it wasn't that. If Hawke hadn't brought up Anders, Varric’s mind would have immediately gone there, and he honestly doesn't know what to think.
He trusts Hawke, though. ]
Let me guess, it's the kind of something important he doesn't want you to go around spreading to strangers, even one as infamous as me?
[ As glib as Varric sounds - and as strange as it feels not knowing something as important as whatever it was probably is - he does understand that. Steven doesn't really know him, after all.
He sits with that - or flies with it, technically - for a moment. ]
Do I need to be keeping an eye on him?
[ He says it like it's a joke, but he means it - in more than one way. Varric likes Steven, and he's important to Hawke, which already meant Varric is inclined both to know more about him and to look out for him.
It's just that there's also the Anders of it all, and just because Varric has no desire to look more closely at that tangled mess of anger and hurt and guilt doesn't mean it's not still buried in there, making him feel things. ]
no subject
Granted, he's not exactly sure what he was expecting, but whatever it was, it wasn't that. If Hawke hadn't brought up Anders, Varric’s mind would have immediately gone there, and he honestly doesn't know what to think.
He trusts Hawke, though. ]
Let me guess, it's the kind of something important he doesn't want you to go around spreading to strangers, even one as infamous as me?
[ As glib as Varric sounds - and as strange as it feels not knowing something as important as whatever it was probably is - he does understand that. Steven doesn't really know him, after all.
He sits with that - or flies with it, technically - for a moment. ]
Do I need to be keeping an eye on him?
[ He says it like it's a joke, but he means it - in more than one way. Varric likes Steven, and he's important to Hawke, which already meant Varric is inclined both to know more about him and to look out for him.
It's just that there's also the Anders of it all, and just because Varric has no desire to look more closely at that tangled mess of anger and hurt and guilt doesn't mean it's not still buried in there, making him feel things. ]