"What do you take me for? Of course I'll make sure he eats."

"You have free reign to bully him if you get any push back," Karl says, winking. 

He heads upstairs. 

"As your father, I disagree with that. Do not bully me."

"Nah, I'll just pout at you until you do what I want."

"That would actually be far more effective." 

He wraps an arm around eir shoulders and tugs them up. "Come on, tiny, let's go do some work."

"Tiny? Really? You couldn't be more creative?"

But Cia'll let Anders tug em up and away.

"Cia, c'mon, everyone's tiny to me, someone had to get the nickname."

Their voices fade away as they head into the clinic. 

Meanwhile, Karl mounts the stairs into the Hawke mansion, going through the cellar and the vault, and heading into the kitchen. 

"Hello? Anyone home?"

Talia's sat at the kitchen table reading.

Karl steps into Talia's line of sight and waves. "Hey, Talia."

She twitches slightly, a little startled, but smiles up at him. "Good morning, Karl."

"I had a favour to ask."

"Well, we do appear to be the ones to come to for favours, by all means: ask away."

"I want to propose to Anders, and then also marry him. At the same time. And your gardens I thought would be both the safest and nicest place to do that."

"Oh. We'd be delighted to host your wedding! Of course you can use our garden!"

Karl seems to tear up at that, and swipes at his eyes. The weird sense of 'relief' and also 'belonging' is near overwhelming. 

"Talia, I can't begin to tell you how much this means to me."

"You guys are pretty much family. Never mind the bonds formed with Anders from surviving the Deep Roads together."

"I won't lie to you, that is what I was banking on, should all else fail."

"Well. You don't have to rely on it. Henri will be thoroughly eager to decorate the garden."

"Redecorate? Looking that shabby, is it?"

"No. My brother just likes an excuse to mess around with things."

Karl laughs. “That sounds far too much like Anders. No wonder they get along.”

"I'd worry about setting them loose on the world, but we kind of already have."

"Thank goodness they've got us to keep them in line, hey?"

"To try at least. They don't always listen to us."