And who would've thought that you could be the one 'cause I
Title: We Are the Last
Characters: Elissa Cousland/Alistair Theirin
'Verse: Dragon Age
Rating: PG-R
#1 Comfort
At night, they're the only ones still awake after the others have fallen asleep; they sit side by side, watching the flames of the camp fire die out into glowing embers, and he never fails to tell her that he will watch her sleep for the first shift.
#2 Kiss
Alistair is not the best kisser she's had, but it's his giddiness and willing nature that makes him her favorite to have ever kissed.
#3 Soft
Her fingers brush over the rose petals, glad she had the foresight to at least take off her armored gloves before she accepted the flower.
#4 Pain
“Elissa, if you would stop moving around, it would not hurt as much,” Wynne chastises as she holds her hands over the Warden's body, clicking her tongue against her teeth as she speaks to the other occupant in the tent, “And Alistair, she was the one who was stabbed, so please, sit down.”
#5 Potatoes
“You've never really had to cook a day in your life, have you?” Alistair asks; Elissa glares at him.
#6 Rain
The rain smothers the camp's fire, and it goes out with a loud hiss, tendrils of smoke spreading into the air; Elissa laughs softly as Alistair runs to grab a blanket and throw it over her head, pretending that he doesn't need it until she pulls him under it with her.
#7 Chocolate
“I'll trade this for a kiss,” Alistair bargains, holding up the sweet for her viewing, and she takes her time trying to decide if it's worth it, enough time that he's giving her those eyes.
#8 Happiness
Elissa collapses against the wall outside of Morrigan's room, her legs going weak as the door closes behind her, leaving her husband-to-be in the arms of her friend, the Witch of the Wilds.
#9 Telephone
The rumor begins that she is the lover of an assassin before the gossips begin talk of how she seduced the young king, how she only convinced him to become king so that she could take the power for herself, that the beloved king allows her to sacrifice children to the demons of the Fade; what they don't know is that Elissa and Alistair spread the rumors themselves, to see how far they can be twisted before getting back to them.
#10 Ears
“Your ears sort of stick out on the side of your head a bit,” Elissa tells him in a cool voice, and he attempts to process that all while huffing, “Yes, but they are much cuter than Zevran's, aren't they?”
#11 Name
“My entire life, I've gone around as Alistair No Name, Alistair the Bastard, Alistair the Templar, Alistair the Gray Warden, and now they wish to give me the name Theirin,” he complains loudly, stalking around their room like a chicken with no head; Elissa sighs as she says, “Would you like them to name you Alistair Cousland instead upon our marriage?”
#12 Sensual
His hands drag up her thighs, calloused and rough and shaking, but her head falls back on the makeshift pillow, a moan on her lips as his fingers crawl, achingly slow, over her inner thighs and up to her hips; it's the first time he has touched any woman, but it's the first time she's been touched by a man who loves her.
#13 Death
She wants to stand over Howe's body until the worms get to it, until she sees the flesh rotting from his bones and he disintegrates, but Alistair's hand is on her elbow, tugging her out the room because they still have a queen to rescue.
#14 Sex
Their first time together after Morrigan is rougher than usual, and wrong, and they both turn away from each other when it's over, silent tears streaking their face as neither sleeps.
#15 Touch
“I wish he wouldn't touch you so freely,” the new king grumbles hotly, staring after Zevran as the elven assassin spun away from the both of them.
#16 Weakness
The lords are staring at Alistair, hoping to expose an open weakness on him, and Elissa has to admit, her husband and king has many, but she's already spotted one each lord has as well.
#17 Tears
They both kneel before Duncan's memorial, her hand in his as she weeps with him for the loss of the once great Grey Warden.
#18 Speed
She's pinned to the wall, surrounded by a horde of genlocks and hurlocks, still green around the gills when it comes to fighting darkspawn of all things, but he makes short work of them, diving in and slashing them before they have a chance to do anything to her; she decides then that his personality is at odds with his swordsmanship.
#19 Wind
“The wind smells like demons,” Alistair whines, and Elissa grins, “I don't know, I smell cheese.”
#20 Freedom
“There's no freedom for a king,” he sighs to her as he tugs off his royal armor, letting it clink to the floor, and his wife merely smiles as her deft fingers help to unlace him; she doesn't want to say that there was no freedom in being a Grey Warden either.
#21 Life
They make the decision to go to their Calling together, regardless if the other has heard it yet, and the queen can't think of a better person to go down fighting with.
#22 Jealousy
When Alistair confronts her about Zevran, she is shocked enough to actually look over at the elf-it was only one time, and he is her friend, nothing else-but the action is enough to make him stomp away from her; she rolls her eyes at the fact that his jealousy warms her more than his behavior at the moment.
#23 Hands
He kisses each one of the scars on her hands, always remarking how new ones seem to show up so often.
#24 Taste
Elissa stares at the thief who had died from the drink, at the good knight whose blood splashed the stone floor, and finally into her goblet, thick and bubbling; Alistair grins cheekily-even though the smile doesn't quite reach his eyes-and says it's the taste that will knock her off her feet.
#25 Devotion
“He would follow you into the Fade itself if it meant watching over you,” Leliana whispers, cooing happily, “Oh, they will sing such sweet songs about your love.”
#26 Forever
Her head rests against his chest, their fingers laced together as they enjoy the calm and quiet of their time together; she fears that it'll end when they finally battle the archdemon.
#27 Blood
“Maker's breath, Elissa, your arm,” Alistair yells, catching her as she slips, blood staining her armor.
#28 Sickness
It's the Taint, the Blight, that they carry in the bodies that doesn't allow them to produce an heir for the throne, but she can admit to herself that she was never going to be mother material, either.
#29 Melody
“I can hear him, in my dreams,” she whispers in the dead of night at camp after they've gone on the run to Lothering, and he nods in agreement as he asks, “It's hard to tell whether you loathe it or want it more, isn't it?”
#30 Star
One night is spent with the entire camp, pointing out stars and telling stories of the heavenly bodies-like a real family.
#31 Home
They have no home, the last two Grey Wardens of Ferelden, just a dirty campsite with other refugees that have no home now, but Elissa watches them all with a smile, her eyes flickering over to her friend, and she knows she's at home anyway.
#32 Confusion
The archdemon roars as his claws dig up the stone, and she loses Alistair in the onslaught of the incoming horde, in their allies rushing in; she stands around looking for him wildly before the roar pierces her and reminds her of her duty.
#33 Fear
Nothing is more terrifying than the chant Hespith sings, surrounded by so many bodies of the dead, the walls crushing in on them beneath the earth.
#34a Thunder
The storm rolls in fast, the sky dark and ominous, and the sound of thunder seems to shake the foundation of the Keep; she stands at the window, looking out towards Denerim and wondering how her husband is faring.
#34b Lightning
The bolt strikes the tree, smoke curling into the air and the stench of burnt wood stinging his nose as one of his knights ride up beside him, “Your Majesty, we should pull to the side of the road; I wouldn't want to be the one to tell the queen we allowed you to be electrocuted.”
#35 Bonds
It's a series of bonds that bring them closer together-surviving the Joining, the betrayal and being the last of their kind, the journey-each event tying them until they can't even breathe properly without the other.
#36 Market
Her foot is pressed none-too-gently into the back of the Antivan merchant's head, her voice menacing as she speaks, “So I hear you attempted to overcharge my idiot companion.”
#37 Technology
“You realize how much easier it would be to keep in contact with you, dear wife, if we had like... a magical mirror, that recorded messages so that I could see your beau- Ow!”
#38 Gift
The look on his face when she places the amulet in his hands is enough to forget that she took the blasted thing from a dying man's study in the first place.
#39 Smile
Elissa doesn't remember the last time she smiled (lies, because she remembers that it was during some stupid joke of Fergus' before he left the castle...) but it feels like so long that it weighs down on her, chest aching, body tired-until she watches this Alistair deal with the mage, and her heavy gloom lifts, if only minutely.
#40 Innocence
He's never been with a woman before, and the idea of that turns her on more than she thought it would.
#41 Completion
They lie in bed, facing each other, their grins wide, the words of the Revered Mother still bouncing around in their minds as they begin the rest of their short lives together under the eyes of the Maker.
#42 Clouds
They all stand in the burning remnants of Denerim, the sky filled not with clouds, but the ashes of the dead; Alistair touches her arm, metal on metal, and she gives him a tight grin, finger pointing skywards as she says, “Look, that cloud reminds me of an archdemon.”
#43 Sky
She doesn't give it a thought as the doors to Orzammar open up for their little party, but once they are wrapped in stone and dirt and ancestors, Alistair complains about the missing sky.
#44 Heaven
The tears roll down Elissa's face slowly when Alistair gives his speech before the final battle-she had worried that maybe, maybe she had been wrong in making him king, wrong in loving him, wrong in convincing him to sleep with Morrigan, but his words are no less awe-inspiring and filled with love; she could die and know that all would be well.
#45 Hell
The archdemon's breath is hot in her face as her sword slams into its throat, all of her strength going into this final blow as she rips downward, the hot blood bathing her, sizzling into her armor, and all she can do is internalize her screams of justice and panic and death.
#46 Sun
The sun comes up after the battle is over, and even though the sky is covered by clouds of smoke, beams still manage to come through as her and Alistair fall into fits of hysterical laughter.
#47 Moon
The luminescent light of the moon hits Anders at just the right angle, and suddenly Elissa feels her heart skip a beat, because he looks far more like her husband than he had any right to.
#48 Waves
The darkspawn never seem to run out as they fight on for their lives until it's only the two of them left, her back pressed up against his, despair and fear heavy in the air as another wave rushes up the tower stairs, and Elissa is grateful that she will not die alone.
#49 Hair
He runs his fingers through her hair when the others are asleep, marveling at its color and telling her that it reminds him of fire; she laughs, touching his hair in return and telling him that his could use a good washing.
#50 Supernova
Elissa dons her armor with quiet unease as Alistair watches her; their eyes meet, for a final time maybe, though the idea hurts her more than anything ever has, but she smiles for him anyway, thin and wan as she explains, “You are the only one who can keep the peace in Ferelden, Alistair; the murder of the Grand Cleric, the uprising of the mages because of Kirkwall, these are things I must find a way to end before Thedas explodes just as brightly.”
Characters: Elissa Cousland/Alistair Theirin
'Verse: Dragon Age
Rating: PG-R
#1 Comfort
At night, they're the only ones still awake after the others have fallen asleep; they sit side by side, watching the flames of the camp fire die out into glowing embers, and he never fails to tell her that he will watch her sleep for the first shift.
#2 Kiss
Alistair is not the best kisser she's had, but it's his giddiness and willing nature that makes him her favorite to have ever kissed.
#3 Soft
Her fingers brush over the rose petals, glad she had the foresight to at least take off her armored gloves before she accepted the flower.
#4 Pain
“Elissa, if you would stop moving around, it would not hurt as much,” Wynne chastises as she holds her hands over the Warden's body, clicking her tongue against her teeth as she speaks to the other occupant in the tent, “And Alistair, she was the one who was stabbed, so please, sit down.”
#5 Potatoes
“You've never really had to cook a day in your life, have you?” Alistair asks; Elissa glares at him.
#6 Rain
The rain smothers the camp's fire, and it goes out with a loud hiss, tendrils of smoke spreading into the air; Elissa laughs softly as Alistair runs to grab a blanket and throw it over her head, pretending that he doesn't need it until she pulls him under it with her.
#7 Chocolate
“I'll trade this for a kiss,” Alistair bargains, holding up the sweet for her viewing, and she takes her time trying to decide if it's worth it, enough time that he's giving her those eyes.
#8 Happiness
Elissa collapses against the wall outside of Morrigan's room, her legs going weak as the door closes behind her, leaving her husband-to-be in the arms of her friend, the Witch of the Wilds.
#9 Telephone
The rumor begins that she is the lover of an assassin before the gossips begin talk of how she seduced the young king, how she only convinced him to become king so that she could take the power for herself, that the beloved king allows her to sacrifice children to the demons of the Fade; what they don't know is that Elissa and Alistair spread the rumors themselves, to see how far they can be twisted before getting back to them.
#10 Ears
“Your ears sort of stick out on the side of your head a bit,” Elissa tells him in a cool voice, and he attempts to process that all while huffing, “Yes, but they are much cuter than Zevran's, aren't they?”
#11 Name
“My entire life, I've gone around as Alistair No Name, Alistair the Bastard, Alistair the Templar, Alistair the Gray Warden, and now they wish to give me the name Theirin,” he complains loudly, stalking around their room like a chicken with no head; Elissa sighs as she says, “Would you like them to name you Alistair Cousland instead upon our marriage?”
#12 Sensual
His hands drag up her thighs, calloused and rough and shaking, but her head falls back on the makeshift pillow, a moan on her lips as his fingers crawl, achingly slow, over her inner thighs and up to her hips; it's the first time he has touched any woman, but it's the first time she's been touched by a man who loves her.
#13 Death
She wants to stand over Howe's body until the worms get to it, until she sees the flesh rotting from his bones and he disintegrates, but Alistair's hand is on her elbow, tugging her out the room because they still have a queen to rescue.
#14 Sex
Their first time together after Morrigan is rougher than usual, and wrong, and they both turn away from each other when it's over, silent tears streaking their face as neither sleeps.
#15 Touch
“I wish he wouldn't touch you so freely,” the new king grumbles hotly, staring after Zevran as the elven assassin spun away from the both of them.
#16 Weakness
The lords are staring at Alistair, hoping to expose an open weakness on him, and Elissa has to admit, her husband and king has many, but she's already spotted one each lord has as well.
#17 Tears
They both kneel before Duncan's memorial, her hand in his as she weeps with him for the loss of the once great Grey Warden.
#18 Speed
She's pinned to the wall, surrounded by a horde of genlocks and hurlocks, still green around the gills when it comes to fighting darkspawn of all things, but he makes short work of them, diving in and slashing them before they have a chance to do anything to her; she decides then that his personality is at odds with his swordsmanship.
#19 Wind
“The wind smells like demons,” Alistair whines, and Elissa grins, “I don't know, I smell cheese.”
#20 Freedom
“There's no freedom for a king,” he sighs to her as he tugs off his royal armor, letting it clink to the floor, and his wife merely smiles as her deft fingers help to unlace him; she doesn't want to say that there was no freedom in being a Grey Warden either.
#21 Life
They make the decision to go to their Calling together, regardless if the other has heard it yet, and the queen can't think of a better person to go down fighting with.
#22 Jealousy
When Alistair confronts her about Zevran, she is shocked enough to actually look over at the elf-it was only one time, and he is her friend, nothing else-but the action is enough to make him stomp away from her; she rolls her eyes at the fact that his jealousy warms her more than his behavior at the moment.
#23 Hands
He kisses each one of the scars on her hands, always remarking how new ones seem to show up so often.
#24 Taste
Elissa stares at the thief who had died from the drink, at the good knight whose blood splashed the stone floor, and finally into her goblet, thick and bubbling; Alistair grins cheekily-even though the smile doesn't quite reach his eyes-and says it's the taste that will knock her off her feet.
#25 Devotion
“He would follow you into the Fade itself if it meant watching over you,” Leliana whispers, cooing happily, “Oh, they will sing such sweet songs about your love.”
#26 Forever
Her head rests against his chest, their fingers laced together as they enjoy the calm and quiet of their time together; she fears that it'll end when they finally battle the archdemon.
#27 Blood
“Maker's breath, Elissa, your arm,” Alistair yells, catching her as she slips, blood staining her armor.
#28 Sickness
It's the Taint, the Blight, that they carry in the bodies that doesn't allow them to produce an heir for the throne, but she can admit to herself that she was never going to be mother material, either.
#29 Melody
“I can hear him, in my dreams,” she whispers in the dead of night at camp after they've gone on the run to Lothering, and he nods in agreement as he asks, “It's hard to tell whether you loathe it or want it more, isn't it?”
#30 Star
One night is spent with the entire camp, pointing out stars and telling stories of the heavenly bodies-like a real family.
#31 Home
They have no home, the last two Grey Wardens of Ferelden, just a dirty campsite with other refugees that have no home now, but Elissa watches them all with a smile, her eyes flickering over to her friend, and she knows she's at home anyway.
#32 Confusion
The archdemon roars as his claws dig up the stone, and she loses Alistair in the onslaught of the incoming horde, in their allies rushing in; she stands around looking for him wildly before the roar pierces her and reminds her of her duty.
#33 Fear
Nothing is more terrifying than the chant Hespith sings, surrounded by so many bodies of the dead, the walls crushing in on them beneath the earth.
#34a Thunder
The storm rolls in fast, the sky dark and ominous, and the sound of thunder seems to shake the foundation of the Keep; she stands at the window, looking out towards Denerim and wondering how her husband is faring.
#34b Lightning
The bolt strikes the tree, smoke curling into the air and the stench of burnt wood stinging his nose as one of his knights ride up beside him, “Your Majesty, we should pull to the side of the road; I wouldn't want to be the one to tell the queen we allowed you to be electrocuted.”
#35 Bonds
It's a series of bonds that bring them closer together-surviving the Joining, the betrayal and being the last of their kind, the journey-each event tying them until they can't even breathe properly without the other.
#36 Market
Her foot is pressed none-too-gently into the back of the Antivan merchant's head, her voice menacing as she speaks, “So I hear you attempted to overcharge my idiot companion.”
#37 Technology
“You realize how much easier it would be to keep in contact with you, dear wife, if we had like... a magical mirror, that recorded messages so that I could see your beau- Ow!”
#38 Gift
The look on his face when she places the amulet in his hands is enough to forget that she took the blasted thing from a dying man's study in the first place.
#39 Smile
Elissa doesn't remember the last time she smiled (lies, because she remembers that it was during some stupid joke of Fergus' before he left the castle...) but it feels like so long that it weighs down on her, chest aching, body tired-until she watches this Alistair deal with the mage, and her heavy gloom lifts, if only minutely.
#40 Innocence
He's never been with a woman before, and the idea of that turns her on more than she thought it would.
#41 Completion
They lie in bed, facing each other, their grins wide, the words of the Revered Mother still bouncing around in their minds as they begin the rest of their short lives together under the eyes of the Maker.
#42 Clouds
They all stand in the burning remnants of Denerim, the sky filled not with clouds, but the ashes of the dead; Alistair touches her arm, metal on metal, and she gives him a tight grin, finger pointing skywards as she says, “Look, that cloud reminds me of an archdemon.”
#43 Sky
She doesn't give it a thought as the doors to Orzammar open up for their little party, but once they are wrapped in stone and dirt and ancestors, Alistair complains about the missing sky.
#44 Heaven
The tears roll down Elissa's face slowly when Alistair gives his speech before the final battle-she had worried that maybe, maybe she had been wrong in making him king, wrong in loving him, wrong in convincing him to sleep with Morrigan, but his words are no less awe-inspiring and filled with love; she could die and know that all would be well.
#45 Hell
The archdemon's breath is hot in her face as her sword slams into its throat, all of her strength going into this final blow as she rips downward, the hot blood bathing her, sizzling into her armor, and all she can do is internalize her screams of justice and panic and death.
#46 Sun
The sun comes up after the battle is over, and even though the sky is covered by clouds of smoke, beams still manage to come through as her and Alistair fall into fits of hysterical laughter.
#47 Moon
The luminescent light of the moon hits Anders at just the right angle, and suddenly Elissa feels her heart skip a beat, because he looks far more like her husband than he had any right to.
#48 Waves
The darkspawn never seem to run out as they fight on for their lives until it's only the two of them left, her back pressed up against his, despair and fear heavy in the air as another wave rushes up the tower stairs, and Elissa is grateful that she will not die alone.
#49 Hair
He runs his fingers through her hair when the others are asleep, marveling at its color and telling her that it reminds him of fire; she laughs, touching his hair in return and telling him that his could use a good washing.
#50 Supernova
Elissa dons her armor with quiet unease as Alistair watches her; their eyes meet, for a final time maybe, though the idea hurts her more than anything ever has, but she smiles for him anyway, thin and wan as she explains, “You are the only one who can keep the peace in Ferelden, Alistair; the murder of the Grand Cleric, the uprising of the mages because of Kirkwall, these are things I must find a way to end before Thedas explodes just as brightly.”