Just a drabble I wrote, hope you like it!
When Loghain looks at Maric he sees a fool. You'd have to be, to think this rebellion could work, to work and fight all these years for the chance to take the throne back. But, he always tells himself, only a fool would stand by his side after all this time.
When Loghain looks at Maric he wonders if Maric knows how angry he made Loghain when they first met, how much he hated him. He wonders if Maric knows how much that has changed.
When Loghain looks at Maric he sees sacrifice and pain, the hard work it takes to win back a kingdom. He tries to stay away, to let him be happy. It is Maric who chases him, who tells him that he can't be happy without him. It takes time, but Loghain listens.
When Loghain looks at Maric he wants to kiss him, hard enough to make Maric know that he means it. Sometimes he does.
When Loghain looks at Maric he sees a newly crowned King. You cannot be friends with a King. You cannot be an equal lover, not truly. He is wrong, but he doesn't know that yet. He almost learns it too late.
When Loghain looks at Maric he sees the women that stand between them. It's what is needed, he knows, but not what he wants. He loves his wife fiercely in defiance of that. He learns to love her for her, and he is happier for it.
When Loghain looks at Maric he wants so much. He doesn't know that Maric wants the same thing when he looks at Loghain.
When Loghain looks at Maric he knows they have each other. He tells himself this when they bury their wives. They mourn together, strong hands pressed together as unwilling tears are shed.
When Loghain looks at Maric, Maric sees, and they have a few stolen years together. It is like a bad romance novel, Loghain grudgingly admits to Maric one night, tangled sheets and hidden romance, all of the silly tropes Loghain so hates except when they apply to him.
When Loghain looks at Maric, he waves as he boards that ship. He doesn't know why he does it, except that he feels a sudden urge to remind him that he's there, that he's thinking of him, and that Maric matters. Maric sees him and waves back. His grin is infectious, and Loghain smiles back. It is the last time he looks at Maric Theirin.
When Loghain thinks of Maric his chest aches so badly he thinks that he will never recover. He stands at the prow of a ship and searches, eyes squinting into the harsh sun. He wants to look at that face one last time. He never does.
Loghain never stops thinking of Maric.