Teach Me: Dragon Age Story
Alone, finally alone.
She'd been a noble before, and she'd never fit with that crowd, never had she been able to play the games that a lady was supposed to play.
She'd been born a rogue, she was sure of it. She could think of no other way for her to be. She hadn't grown her hair out, though it was dark and lustrous and every told her it would be beautiful long, she'd kept it short, convenient. She'd spent most of her time alone, choosing not to spend her time with those who would scorn her practices. She'd enjoyed the solitude, wandering through the halls of her home, silent as a shadow. No one could detect her presence.
The attack, her family's death. Her brother was the only one who remained other than herself. But she couldn't mourn, not yet. Not until the Blight was over, not until she was finished pretending to be a hero.
Becoming a Grey Warden had seemed like a good idea, a chance to escape, to be herself. Grey Wardens wouldn't judge and disapprove of her methods. But when her and Alistair were thrust into the position they were... Well it was time to start pretending. Pretending that she could carry the responsibility alone, that saving everything and everyone was nothing out of the normal. She had to pretend to be compassionate and kind and sweet. She could be, but her instinct was to get things done, and then forget about it. But no one forgot what she did, every little task was remembered, kept, like a sparkling gem that the owner was reluctant to let go of. The gems were beginning to pile up, and their value was considerably more than she thought she was worth.
She didn't care about money, so if she did something for someone, she didn't ask for it. She didn't bother getting into needless fights. Her silver tongue could convince even the most stubborn to lay down their arms. She fought well when she had to, and she enjoyed it. But she battled with wit and cunning, circling around her enemy to take them down in a single,, unpredicted stab with a thin blade. She was a rogue, and she was an assassin. She didn't mind killing without warning, without honor. She had her own kind of honor, and that was getting her job done whatever the cost.
"You enjoy wandering off like this, don't you? I sometimes wonder if you are coming back..." That accent, it charmed her every time she heard it. She'd sensed him coming, of course she had, but it didn't matter to her if he was here. His company was the only company she preferred to her own.
"Zev... How is it that you always know where to find me?" she asked, smiling wryly. "It's almost as if you have a sixth sense for finding me."
The Antivan elf just shrugged. "I think of where I would go, if I wanted to be alone. You are usually in the same place I would be." His smile was contagious, his lips as tempting as they always were. He always tempted her, from the moment she'd taken the time to look at him, laying on the ground at her feet, charming her into letting him live. Even in such a position he had not begged for his life, he'd simply asked for it. And how could she resist such a request as that?
"We do think alike, don't we?" she said, leaning back against the thick trunk of a tree.
"I think we are alike in many ways. It that not so?" He walked in closer, ever closer, and always the air was charged between them, thick with something that was akin to lust but that was so much more.
"The others would like to forget the parts of me that are like you." The assassin, the rogue, the non-hero.
"The others do not see you as I do."
"Naked on the floor of my tent? I assure you, they have all thought of it." she laughed, and it was so easy to laugh with him.
"Oh, I do not doubt that you are everyone's fantasy. The lovely Leliana in particular is very eager to show you her "affection"." His easy smiled widened into a grin. Jealousy was never a concern between them. After all, they both knew that they would come back to the other in the end."I meant that I see the parts of you that the others do not accept. The, how should I say? The darker parts of you."
"The parts of me that are not governed by my duties as a Grey Warden."
"Exactly."
They were so close now, standing just a hair's breadth apart, and the thickness of the air threatened to choke her. Her hands reached out automatically to touch, to grip his shoulders. her hands fit there, fit on him, as if her hands were the missing piece of him that only she could fill.
At the same time his hands had moved to cup her waist, where his hands fit in exactly the same way. He'd tried to kill her when they first met, and she had spared his life. What if she hadn't, what if she'd killed him? She would have missed out on this perfect fit, this perfect understanding, this complete perfection that was their interaction. And then what would she do?
"You know... all of me, Zevran. And the fact that you still want me never ceases to amaze." she murmured, leaning slightly down, so her mouth was next to his ear.
"There is nothing about you that I do not want. Even the side of you that is truly the hero the others portray you as. That woman, who saves all of us again and again, she truly exists inside you."
"Does she? I cannot help thinking that it's all just a game of pretend."
"She exists. And she is just as glorious and beautiful and dangerous as the rest of you." His smile was wicked and his lips on her neck were soft and hot. Such a wonderful and familiar sensation.
She turned her face just a little away from his, a thought straying into her mind that never failed to dampen her mood. He did not accept the part of her that loved him. That was the one thing he could not understand. And that hurt so much more that anything else...
"You spoke to me of love, once." he whispered, the words caressing her ear, soft and tender and warm, making her shiver. He truly could sense her thoughts. "I told you the truth when I said I knew nothing of it." he slid his arms around her, pressing their bodies together, because that too, was a missing piece that only they could complete together. "I wonder... If you will teach me... Aarin."
Her breath caught, trapped in her throat, along with her fluttering heart. Her name, her name sounded so sweet on his lips, so completely right.
"Teach me to love you, and I will, with everything that I am capable of." his words seemed to break something inside her, like a barrier that had finally been breached. Her lips on his were as desperate as they were tender and the tears in her eyes seemed to well up from deep inside her.
"I will. I will show you. And if you can love me than that is all that I could ever ask." she whispered into his mouth, cupping his face in her hand. His hand moved to cup hers as well, their fingers tracing over the tattoos on their faces. They matched, even in this. the same crisp black swirls under their eyes. How could anything be this right?
"Come." he murmured. "Let us find somewhere quiet and warm. I would prefer to see your body lit by candles, on an altar, like the goddess you are."
"Well then you'd best lay on the altar with me, because I will not let go."