A/N: Pervinca T, this one's for you, my dear! Thank you so much for all of your reviews, conversation and help. You rock.

This is the kind of sort of implicit version... I really suck at writing implicitly, so if you wanted to see the fully explicit version you'll have to hop over to Archive Of Our Own. The only thing you need to know before reading this is that there are two Wardens running around - Surana and Zev are together and my Cousland is obviously with Alistair.

Enjoy, and please leave a review; Pervinca and I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Some time before the wedding.

He was penning out more of the name cards; how he had got stuck with this job he'd never know. Actually, no, that was a lie, he knew exactly how he had gotten stuck with it: those damn rogues had cheated when they drew straws, he was sure of it. And Neri always had a trick or two up her sleeves as well, and so poor Alistair had been stuck with the tedious task of writing out hundreds of name cards. Worse still, apparently all of their servants were too busy to do this instead of him. Bah. He didn't mind much, though; he'd always been complimented for his penmanship and he had to admit the name cards were looking lovely. The black ink swirled across the thick card with beautiful whirls and flicks.

"Whaddaya doing?" a voice suddenly said in his ear, making him jump and ruin the name card he was writing.

"Ah! Neri, don't do that! You ruined the card," he whined, face pouting.

The elf chuckled and sat her bottom down on his desk; he leaned back in his chair and gave her a mock glare, folding his arms for emphasis.

"I am terribly sorry, Alibear. How can I make it up to you?" she purred.

He rolled his eyes. "My name is not Alibear; I do wish you'd stop calling me that." He grinned suddenly. "That's how you can make it up to me, actually."

She pouted. "You want me to stop calling you Alibear?"

"Yes, yes I do."

She let out a long drawn out sigh. "Very well, Alismount."

He nearly choked on his own breath. "What sort of nickname is that!?"

She grinned mischievously. "I have it on good authority that Arietta likes to be on top…"

"Ah! La la la, not listening! Wait, how do you know that!?"

Neri burst out laughing. "That was just a shot in the dark!"

He blushed as he groaned. "Well you can't call me that either, it is not very kingly, you know."

She laughed again, her brown eyes flashing with delight. "It's so good to see you taking your position as king so seriously!" She smirked at him and he sighed.

"As you can see, I'm very busy doing important kingly things. Was there something you needed?"

"Mmm, I'd hardly call scribbling on parchment very important."

He gasped. "I am not scribbling on parchment. I'm doing the name cards that you all stuck me with!"

She snorted. "You're actually doing those?" She laughed, hunching over as she tried to contain her giggles.

"What? Of course I am; I was asked to! Why are you laughing?" he poked her in the ribs and she screamed. "Answer me; that's an order!"

She cleared her throat, still laughing slightly and then picked up one of the cards he had already done. "Lord Mike Hunt and Lady Anita P. Ness…" She picked up another as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Duchess Anya Neeze and Duke Ben Dover…"

Realisation hit him and he groaned.

Neri continued to laugh. "How many of these did you write?" She flicked through his very large pile and he sunk back into his seat, hiding his face with his hands. "Alistair, how did you not realise it was a joke!?" She chortled.

"I'm…. I lived a very sheltered life, okay!"

She burst out laughing again. "Lord Clint Toris! Come on Alistair. They could not have been more obvious!"

He started to laugh, completely embarrassed and exasperated. He picked up one of the cards and laughed some more. "Lord Frank Lee Gay," he chuckled and then flicked through more, only now seeing more of the same. "Maker, how did you think up this many?"

"I had help from an expert," she explained and then her eyes caught sight of something behind him.

"What can I say, Antiva is a filthy place, friend," Zevran laughed as he moved around to kiss Neri passionately on the lips.

Alistair nearly groaned but just as soon as they had kissed they were pulling a part. "What? That's it? Usually you put on a show just to make me feel awkward."

They both chuckled. "We can give you a show, if you like?" Zev husked. "But I rather thought we might talk, instead…"

They both eyed him hungrily. "Oh no you don't, whatever you're planning, you can stop that right now!"

Neri licked her lips and Alistair swallowed thickly.

Zevran took a seat on his desk too; he was now hemmed in by their legs either side of him, and he gulped.

"My dear Warden," Zevran began, fingers running along the smooth edge of the desk. And then hazel eyes snapped up to him as a smile curved across the elf's face. "What do you have planned for your wedding night?"

"I, uhhh." He hadn't expected that to be what they wanted to talk about. "I don't have any plans… well I mean, besides the obvious. Why… should I have plans?" His brows threaded together as he eyed them both wearily.

"You'll need to consummate your marriage," Neri informed him.

"Yes, I know that… we're hardly blushing virgins anymore. We know how to have sex," he replied, puffing out his chest as he tried to act more confident under their intense stares.

"I don't know; you appear to be blushing quite spectacularly right now, my friend," Zevran mused and Alistair shifted in his seat as he cleared his throat loudly.

"There must be a point you are both trying to reach. Why don't we hurry this along so I can… leave, yes I'd really like to go, like right now," he rushed out and they both chuckled again. He really didn't like their chuckles especially when it was him they found so amusing.

"Alistair," Neri said softly as she shuffled closer to him. "You need to do something special on your wedding night."

"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking then the answer is no."

"Oh Alistair, don't be such a spoil sport…" Neri whined. "She might love it."

"We haven't discussed it and I don't want to do something like that on our wedding night!"

"Tsk tsk, my dear Warden. Where is your sense of adventure?"

"I am plenty adventurous, but there is a time and a place and that time and place is not on our wedding night!"

"Aren't you even a little bit curious?" Neri asked, smirking.

"No. And now, if you're quite done harassing me, I will be leaving now!" He shoved his chair back and escaped the snickering elves.

0o0

The wedding night.

Arietta rushed up the stairs, bunching up her wedding dress so as not to trip on it. She somehow managed to trip anyway but Alistair caught her and hauled her up, carrying her in his strong arms. She giggled against his hard chest and he gave her a goofy grin, which looked even goofier thanks to the Orlesian woman's hat he was still wearing. It was as tall as his head was long, a bright turquoise colour with a dozen different feathers sticking out of the top. As soon as she had seen it on the silly woman's head she had wanted it, a few minutes later it was hers and she had run around showing it to all of her guests. A small part of her mind told her that she would probably have a lot of apologising to do tomorrow for her behaviour but she was still far too drunk to care about such things.

"I like fis," she slurred as she ran her fingers over the hat again.

"I d' too," he giggled. "I like it so much it's ne'r coming off."

"What? Not eve'in the bath?"

"Nope!"

She giggled against him again. "You can't hold court with tit on."

He laughed boyishly. "You said tit."

She tried to slap his chest but somehow hit her own face instead and he laughed loudly as she cried out. "You're not nice," she said as she pouted.

He smirked down at her. "I'll make it up to you, pwomise."

"'Kay then." She smiled brightly at him.

Alistair carried her into their room and she gasped; there were rose petals everywhere. Everywhere! The floor, the bed, the windowsill, all over the rug. They were so pretty! She wanted to grab a handful of them and smell them. Was that vanilla? She hummed appreciatively. It was vanilla! Some pretty little fire things on the mantle were smelling the room with vanilla. She grinned widely up at her husband and he beamed down at her. He stumbled toward the bed and they ended up as a pile of limbs splayed across all the pretty rose petals. She grabbed a handful and brought it to her nose, inhaling deeply before stuffing them in Alistair's face.

"Smell them!"

Some of the petals got stuck to his lips and he spat them back out and started to giggle uncontrollably on his back, wheezing as he tried to sit back up; instead he just ended up rolling on the bed laughing his head off. She couldn't stop herself from laughing either, not that she wanted to, he looked so funny.

He ended up leaning over her, grinning down at her. "My…wife!" he said, over enunciating the word wife, as he planted a wet kiss on her forehead. He pulled back, frowning and pulled the hat off of his head as it was getting in his way; she opened her mouth to comment but he pressed a finger clumsily to her lips. "I know, but I want to kwiss you," he said around a hiccup as he placed the hat on the bed.

He trailed sloppy kisses down her face and eventually found her lips. She lifted her hand to stroke his hair but ending up poking him in the ear which made him owwy against her lips. She started laughing again and he pouted at her so she bit down on the sticky-outie lip, sucking it gently, and then that turned into another drunken kiss but with a bit more heat this time. Alistair moved over her, and rubbed his groin against her leg. She moaned into his mouth and her hands successfully found his hair, pulling him closer to her.

Their tongues swirled together, dancing back and forth inside their mouths, she couldn't help but smile against his lips; she loved the taste of him, the feel of him, and he was aaaallll hers. His fingers trailed down her neck, ghosting across the top of her full breasts, still bound and pushed up by the tight gown. He groaned and moved down to kiss the pulse point of her neck; she shuddered and kneaded his hair, murmuring his name.

His tongue licked across her breast and then down the valley between them. His hands cupped her breasts through the fabric of her dress, squeezing them gently as he moaned into her flesh. One of his hands roamed lower and she licked her lips as she watched him lifting the layers of her dress, he finally found what he was looking for. Drunk as they were though, his fingers lacked their usual dexterity. She arched into his touch, but neither of them could get a good rhythm going.

She ran her fingers up his cock, over the material of his doublet where he knelt beside her, an arm lost under her dress still trying to get his hand to obey his head. She felt him twitch under her fingers but usually by now he would have been at full mast.

He leaned down and kissed her again, pouring as much love and heat into it as he could. He leaned over her and their bodies ground against one another, out of sync and clumsy. She flipped him onto his back and straddled him; she looked down at him and smiled, and then leaned in to kiss him once more. He started to giggle as the strands of her long hair fell out of her… her hair thing, and tickled his face.

She picked up the discarded Orlesian hat and pushed her hair up and under it, stopping the strands from falling onto his face but that only made him laugh harder, and soon she was giggling too. She flopped down against his chest, giving him a mouthful of the hat's feathers which he spat out and shoved to the side.

She peered up at him, smiling and he hugged her tight to him, his arms around her waist. "We were 'sposed to constum…consume…" He frowned. "Consunmate."

"Cosummate," she tried to correct, her tongue tripping over itself in the process.

She both chuckled again. And then she shook her head and she smiled at him. "I only need you, love. I will only e'r need you," she said slowly, concentrating on her words.

"'Mm'sure I can man'ge that; I'm ne'r letting you go."

She pulled the hat off of her head and snuggled up against him, letting his warmth seep through to her. His fingers idly stroked down the material of her wedding dress and she sighed softly.

"D'you think things will be dwifferent now?" she asked him as her fingers clutched the silky fabric of his doublet.

"Everweething else might change, but not us. I…for certain, you're the one consont thing in my life," he slurred as he kissed the top of her head.

0o0

Arietta awoke to ruffling sounds; she opened an eye to see Alistair lifting up all of the layers of her dress, muttering to himself. "I know it's here somewhere!" His voice was muffled and then she felt hot breath against her –

She gasped, back arching. "Alistair!"

She felt him smile against her before that hot mouth of his moved over her most sensitive area. She writhed on the bed, already sweating from the heat building at her core. She moaned loudly, hips bucking off of the bed as two fingers filled her, curling in that way that she loved.

He said something from under her dress but it was too muffled to hear. "What?" she groaned.

He pulled back and pushed the layers of the dress out of the way and came up for air. "I said, I thought I'd wake you up with something special, seeing as we didn't you know, last night." He grinned at her, his face red and his hair a mess.

Her core was burning up, desperate for more attention. "Please, don't stop, love."

He grin turned into an affectionate smile. "I'm going to make love to you in this wedding dress, Arietta."

…

She lay on top of him, her head resting over his heart, happy and sated and content. She felt so at peace, for once nothing else mattered. But of course, the real world was already awake outside their bedroom door, busy preparing the breakfast they were to attend, and probably already late to, in truth. She had spent so much time worrying over all of her queenly duties the past few months, of all of the things they needed to do as a royal couple. But lying on top of her husband as his wife… she couldn't help but think about their duties as a married couple, or their inability to do them, she supposed.

She lifted her head to look at him. "Alistair," she said softly as his eyes flicked open to look at her, the warm hazel so bright and welcoming. Her hand rested over his heart and she curled her fingers slightly. "What do we do if we can't have children?" It was probably something they should have considered more thoroughly but it was a topic neither of them really wanted to consider. The chances of two Grey Wardens conceiving a child was extremely unlikely, but without an heir…

His hand cupped hers and he smiled at her. "I don't know, love." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed each of her knuckles. "We could adopt, I suppose?"

"They wouldn't be of your blood, though," she whispered.

He smirked at her. "Perhaps Cailan left some royal bastards behind?"

She chuckled. "Anora did tell me he often slept around…" she said thoughtfully, smiling down at him.

"They'd probably be a right pain in the arse, though," he mused.

"Yes, definitely. One royal bastard is quite enough, I think."

He grinned at her. "Had your fill of them, have you?" He wiggled his hips, his cock hardening inside of her once more.

She laughed. "Never," she said as she leaned down to kiss him again. "It's so weird," she said as she tucked her hair behind her ears. "Before the Blight my parents had wanted desperately for me to marry – they had even considered Thomas Howe as an option," she said with a crinkle of her nose. "It seemed like something I could put off forever. I wanted nothing to do with men and I had all of the time in the world." She sighed slightly and he cupped her cheek. "And now here I am, barely a year on." She smiled at him. "And I couldn't be happier."

"Here we are," he corrected, smiling as he stroked her cheek.

"Yes, we," she said wistfully. "So much has happened in such a short time. Highever seems like a lifetime ago, even the Blight does too. They all feel like bad dreams, distant and faded, only the emotions of it all still lingering. And this life we lead now feels more like a fairy tale than anything. How else did I end up marrying a king?" she said with a girlish giggle.

He chuckled, his chest rising and falling with his laughter. "This king happens to feel the same way about his queen. I still wake up each day, lying next to you, thinking how did someone as incredible and beautiful as you, ever fall in love with silly old me."

"How could I not?" she replied softly.

He gave her a goofy half-smile. "It was the terrible jokes, wasn't it?" he laughed. "Or my cheese fetish. Or my exceptional cooking skills."

She giggled and he wrapped his arms around her and flipped her onto her back so he was over her again. "Really, though," he said more seriously, staring down at her. "You are my fairy tale, my dreams come true and my prayers answered. You are the only thing I need, the only thing I want; we'll figure the rest out later." His stomach rumbled. "Preferably after breakfast," he added, grinning at her.

She stared up at him, smiling brightly and started to laugh.

He snorted. "Too cheesy?" he asked with an arched brow.

"Cheese is a quirk I have come to love about you, dear," she replied, grinning. "Seriously, though. I'm glad we found each other through all of the darkness," she whispered as she traced his jaw with her finger.

"As am I," he said firmly before kissing her passionately.

"I suppose we should go to breakfast now?" she said, almost sadly.

"Mmm. Back to business?"

She nodded. "Back to business."

He stretched as he sat up and hopped off of the bed and then gave Arietta a hand up. He would never tire of seeing her in the nude, her creamy skin, flushing from their love making, her face bright, lit up with a grin, her hair around her face, tangled and messy. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

She pulled out her clothes from the wardrobe and glanced over at Alistair who was smirking mischievously. She watched him with a curious smile as he started to slowly put his socks on, running his hands up his leg in what she assumed was supposed to be a sexy manner; he was biting his lips and everything.

She laughed. "Alistair?"

"Mmm?" he asked as he ran his hands up his bared chest.

"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to keep her voice serious, she was failing, though.

"I call it the reverse strip tease," he said in a seductive whisper.

He picked up his other sock and swung it through the air as he sauntered toward her, hips swaying. She covered her mouth with her hand to hold back her laughter; he looked so serious, and to her utter confusion quite sexy. He suddenly propped his leg up on a nearby chair and slipped his foot into his sock as he wiggled his ass for her.

He grabbed his doublet next and slid his arms into the sleeves, dancing in front of her. She watched eyes wide as he ran his hands over his chest again before beginning to button up the doublet. She growled as she stared down at his broad chest, annoyed he was slowly covering it all up.

With a sigh she dropped the dress she was holding and planning to wear. "We're already late as it is," she muttered as she pushed Alistair back onto the bed and climbed over him; he smirked up at her and she devoured his lips with hers, nipping on them playfully.

…

"You know," said Alistair, as he stroked her back slowly, "Neri and Zev were trying to give me advice for our wedding night…"

Arietta grinned at him. "Oh really?"

He nodded. "They told me to do something special."

She snorted. "I think what you just did could be described as very special," she laughed as she glanced down at the socks still on his feet. He chuckled throatily in response. "What exactly did they suggest?" she asked, suddenly curious what the two kinky elves had in mind.

He shifted slightly and a blush crept up his cheeks. "Well, they were talking about us… youknow…"

She looked at him blankly.

Alistair sighed. "They suggested that I should put it in… there."

Arietta's eyes widened and then she smiled. "Interesting."

"You're not… opposed to the idea?" he asked, incredulous.

"Oh! No! I mean, I don't think I'd want to, unless you wanted to?" she asked, getting flustered.

"Maker, no! No, just no."

She chuckled. "My interesting comment was in regards to Neri. She's actually never done that."

"She hasn't? But I didn't think there was anything she hadn't done."

Arietta shrugged. "Her and Zev agreed it was too dominating, I think. Neither of them wanted that."

Alistair nodded and gave her a small smile.

They cuddled up with one another again, the sounds of their breathing the only thing she could hear. "You don't think we need anything special do you?" she asked quietly.

He glanced at her, giving her a questionable look.

"I dunno, to keep things exciting, or something."

He smiled at her, shaking his head. "As long as we have each other, we don't need to do crazy, kinky, exciting things. You are all I need." He kissed her. "Although, I liked how worked up you got when I reverse stripped for you," he said through a smirk.

She giggled. "Maybe I'll have to actually strip for you sometime," she whispered huskily.

His eyes darkened and he grinned. "A little bit of excitement is good, right?" he asked sheepishly.

"Definitely," she replied as she grabbed him and kissed him again. "But we really should get to breakfast now…"

He groaned. "You're right. We have to go be king and queen again."

"No," she whispered. "We'll be husband and wife from now on."