Lightning flashed across the dark room, illuminating the sparsely furnished room. The light left as soon as it came, lingering only for a moment as a pair of restless eyes gleamed in the dark. The light from the eyes faded, lingering a little longer than seemed normal. Thunder rumbled through the inn, vibrating the floor and furniture. In the impenetrable darkness there was a rustling of sheets and the floorboards creaked. There was a small snap, and a light illuminated the room again, this one pale and tinged with green.
The Warden stood there, a small orb of light suspended between his fingers. He stepped over his sleeping hound and padded down the hallway past his sleeping companions in their rooms, thunder growling and snarling outside, the wind causing the timbers of the aged inn to creak like a ship at sea. He silently went down the stairs, remembering his days of sneaking as a youth in the circle. Keep to the sides of staircases his mentor had told him, the boards are better supported there and less likely to creak. "Mentor" was perhaps a bit over kind, the Warden reflected. He was really a young apprentice, only a year or two from his Harrowing. However the older man was rebellious, and to a young child chafing at being taken away from home, and the constant rules, he was a hero.
His musings were interrupted by a sound coming from the kitchen below. He extinguished his light and went down the final steps and peered around the corner. There in the kitchen was Leliana, engrossed in the making a pot of tea. He walked up behind her, watching her for a while. After a moment's observation made his presence known.
"A cup for me as well, please." He said. Leliana jumped and swore as she spun around.
"Maker! I'm sorry I- I didn't see you there." She stammered, clearly flustered. The Warden raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Since when are you that easy to startle? Or that easy to sneak up on?" he said, teasing the bard. Her skills were a source of pride for Leliana, and something the party had come to rely on for information. Leliana was usually good for some light-hearted joking, but tonight she seemed distracted, anxious. The Warden's easy manner dropped, replaced by an uneasy feeling in the bottom of his stomach.
"You aren't being bothered again are you? Followed?" he asked. "I hoped letting that woman live wasn't a mistake but-"
"No no, it's not that." She said, pacing back and forth across the inn kitchen. "It's this damn weather." She sighed at the Warden's confused face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to put this on you. You have enough on your shoulders without my problems. Let see about getting you that tea shall we Warden?" She had a cheerful and happy smile, but it didn't quite work. The Warden shook his head.
"I think we've known each other long enough to forget the formalities Leliana." He said, giving her a warm smile. This time when Leliana smiled back there was sincerity behind it.
"What shall I call you then? Amell? Using your surname seems to defeat the purpose of being informal no? What about Aronne? Not too personal I assume?" She seemed to have regained some of her usual energy after talking, and was smiling just like herself again.
"That's fine." Said Aronne, "Although I'm curious, why be afraid of thunder? Seems far less intimidating than what we usually face."
"It's not fear per say," Leliana replied, "more like anxiety. Back home the weather can be quite severe, even dangerous to those inside their homes. Everyone's heard the stories of farms or villages out on the plains that after a storm just… disappear. Likely the work of the twisting winds the storms produce. Even in the big cities these storms are terrifying." Leliana looked outside the window of the kitchen, the storm battering the windows and trees as it lashed across Lake Calenhad. The tower of the circle stood at the center of it all, the only unmoving object. "You'd hear stories about giants playing in the storms, or dragons above the clouds feeding the storm's strength. They were like the stories told to children to make them behave, but some nights you could believe them yourself."
"I always loved storms." Aronne said. He walked to the window and stared out at the tower that they had come from less than a day ago. "Thing about the circle is it puts a lot of magical energy in one place. Aside from the general build-up you get from that, all of them are practicing and researching. It has its side effects. A weakness in the barrier to the Fade, strange things in the fishing nets, that sort of thing. The most dramatic happens during storms. The weather seems to pick up the residual energy, makes it stronger." Aronne shrugged. "Probably why they made it a tower, so it could pass on the energy." He laughed. "Like a reverse lightning rod!"
Leliana nodded. She couldn't help but notice the way the lightning gleamed off of his white hair, unusual for a young human, or the way the light seemed to linger in his crystal blue eyes. His deep voice seemed to resonate on a similar harmonic to the thunder, like a musical chord. "Why do you enjoy the storm then?" she asked, "Seems to me knowing it would get stronger wouldn't be a comforting thought."
"But it was the power that I liked" Aronne said. Seeing her confused expression he continued. "At the very top of the tower there is an observatory. The teachers use it to teach astronomy. Only they couldn't do that on stormy nights so it was empty. Perfect place to think without interruption." Aronne placed his hand on the glass window, as if feeling the storm outside. "The storms have so much power, enough to kill a man, or destroy his home. Yet the only thing separating me from all that was a thin pane of glass. It was exhilarating."
"That certainly explains a lot about you." Said Leliana, drawing closer with their tea. She handed him his tea as she seemed to wrestle with herself. Finally she spoke. "I'm glad I met you, Aronne."
"I'm sure you would have managed to get out of Lothering just fine if we hadn't." said Aronne as he sipped the steaming tea. Leliana smiled.
"I misspoke then. I mean I'm glad I got to know you personally. Everything's changing, shifting. Nothing is the same as it was before. But not you. You seem to be the one thing that isn't moving in the storm. It's… comforting." Aronne stepped closer, looking straight at her.
"Don't worry Leliana. I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here." He said. She wasn't sure now if the warmth in her face came from the tea or his words. Either way she decided that it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. She had been with many lovers, most far more poetic and amorous than Aronne. But something about his simplicity and honesty was appealing. He seemed more grounded than the other men, and seemed to care about her as more than a pretty face. Not that he forgot about that either though she thought with some satisfaction. She wasn't sure if making an advance would be a good idea, he hadn't seemed to be giving his approval. On the other hand, she had been fairly forward so far and he seemed receptive at the very least. She closed the gap between them, placing a free hand on his arm and smiling in a charming way.
"I think I'll be sleeping much easier knowing that." She said, her voice warm and soft. Aronne set down his tea, and for a moment Leliana worried that she had been too forward, had blown her chance. He then placed a hand on her cheek, smiling.
"It's good to know I'm doing something right for a change" Aronne joked. Then, slowly, he lowered his head and kissed her gently. Now Leliana was certain the where warmth was coming from, and definitely liked it. As she kissed him, she thanked the Maker for this moment. A storm raged outside, but inside she was warm and safe in her tower. Neither could ask for more.
AN: We've been having some crappy weather down here in North Carolina, and I've always been fascinated by thunder storms. The vague idea has been floating around in my head for a while but I just now decided to write it down. Let me know what you thought of the writing, sometimes what makes sense in my head doesn't for others.
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