A little something that has been floating around in my head while I work on Such Times. Hope you enjoy!

"Tell me about your assassin."

The request took her by surprise, and she turned to stare at the blond man that was currently resting against the pillows of the bed. "Don't you think that would be a little odd considering what we were just doing?"

He chuckled and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed so he matched her position, and reaching up to tuck a piece of wayward hair behind her ear. "Maybe, but I think you want to talk about him, and I also think we have been doing what we were just doing long enough that we are comfortable enough with each other for you to. Plus," he added lightly, and leaned over enough to bump his forehead against hers, "I thought we were friends."

She smiled at the last part and tried not to think about the fact that they were both stark naked. "Well, I can't argue with that logic. What would you like to know?"

He leaned back on his hands, his heels kicking lightly against the stone of the floor. "What is his name?"

She turned to face him, her legs pulling up to cross in front of her. "I can't imagine that Oghren hasn't told you that. He tells stories about our travels often enough. How else would you know he was an assassin?"

He sent her a tilted grin and rolled a shrug. "Maybe, but I don't think I have ever heard you mention his name, and you tell stories also."

She couldn't deny that claim.

"Zevran."

"Ah, and where does your Zevran hail from?"

"Antiva."

"Should I ask his age, or would that be a little too much like a father?"

She laughed before she could help herself, and folded her hands in her lap. "It would be very fatherly for someone only 6 years my elder, yes, but to answer your question he is 27… no 28 now. I think at least, it's not like I ever asked when his exact birth was."

He shifted to mirror her, his grin still in place. "You do seem to have a thing for older men."

"Oh, I always have, it's nothing new."

She knew he wanted her to smile, that he had seen the way her mind had been distracted, not fully into what they had been doing, and she gave it to him because she still felt guilty for that. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy their times together, she did, he was very good at what he did, but sometimes she couldn't help it.

"So, I know from Oghren's stories that he tried to kill you on Loghain's orders. It seems a strange thing to tumble into bed with someone like that."

"Oh, better with someone trustworthy like you?"

His grin turned slier and he leaned forward to kiss her lightly. "I am irresistible."

She laughed and reached up to tug at his ear. "You are, but I have to assure you that I didn't tumble in as soon as I met him."

"Oh no, of course not. You are much too smart for that, Commander. So what was it that you liked so much to tumble eventually? Was he as dashing as myself?"

She thought it over for a moment, her gaze wandering over his face with its curious expression. She pictured him next to Zevran, making a list of them both in her mind. "You know, you two are very similar. Handsome, loyal, quick talking, flirts, but Zev… he had an edge, a sharpness that came from being a crow I suppose. You never quite knew where you stood with him, no matter that you might have known him for a long time, and you could never quite tell when he was being serious, or when he was lying, or when he was weaving a tale to distract you from what you had originally wanted to know."

That wasn't quite true. She could tell. She could still see the way his face would soften when he began talking about something true, something real. The falsehood would melt away and it would just be her Zevran, and she would know that she was the only one in their group that got to see it, and it made her love him even more.

She shook her head, clearing the thoughts from it before looking back to her bed mate with a shrug. "But, he isn't here. We fought and… well, he left."

"Back to Antiva?"

She nodded and looked off to the side, her gaze fixing on the wall sconce, and the way the flame in it flickered. "Yes. We were supposed to go together, but I was given the posting here, and I knew I couldn't simply walk away. I had a duty." She said the last part more harshly than she meant to so she paused and cleared her throat. "So he is there, and I am here."

She could see him staring at her from the corner of her eye, and turned back to look at him. "What?"

"And that's it?"

"What else would there be?"

He seemed genuinely confused, which was enhanced by the way his hair sat mussed around his face. "You all fight, he runs off, and you are just never going to see him again? You're not even going to go after him?"

She blinked and scrubbed a hand over her face. "Of course not. It was his choice to leave, and I need to be here."

He snorted, causing her to frown. "He was angry, of course he was. If you handled telling him about coming up here the same way you handle other things I'm going to assume that you made your decision without talking to him about it first, and simply told him what you would be doing even after promising to go with him to Antiva. Am I right?"

She stared at him a second then simply nodded, adding a bit begrudgingly, "I wouldn't put it that way, but… perhaps."

"And if I was keeping correct count, he wrote you three times before the one that started this little interlude." He made a circle with his finger between the two of them, and she sent him a bland look.

"A little interlude?"

"And a very entertaining one at that." He tilted another grin at her. "But that is not the point. The point is that when someone really wants to be completely cut off from someone they don't usually send them letters to update what is going on."

She bit at her lip as she thought that over. "His last letter said he was never coming back, and that I should move on."

"And you're just going to listen to him? That doesn't seem like you at all."

She smiled at the observation because he was right. It didn't seem like her. But she had been hurt by the leaving, and sometimes it was better to not keep up hope for something that seemed so impossibly far away.

"It doesn't matter anyway. We have the Architect to deal with, and I have a Fortress to run. Sometimes… sometimes we just don't get what we want."

"That is bullshit."

She shot her eyes back to his, knowing her mouth was gaping, but not being able to do anything about it. The statement, as well as the heat behind had just been so out of character though.

"Of course you can't run off tonight, or even next week, but eventually the Architect will be dealt with and practically anyone can run a fortress. Aren't you the one who told me that I could do what I wanted when this was over, that I had choices and a life that were waiting for me? Doesn't that apply to you also?"

She had, but she often said things to others that did not apply to herself. "So you think that I could just leave? Just hand the command over to someone and go off to Antiva in hopes that a man I knew for a year might still be there, and might still be willing to talk to me?"

"Yes, that about sums it up."

She looked down to where her hands were twisted in her lap. It was ridiculous. Ridiculous, and against everything she had ever been raised to do, and crazy because who was she to go off by herself to a foreign country. But, even as she thought those things her gaze was drawn to the glint of the small ruby earring where it hung next to her Joining pendant. Ridiculous, and crazy, and against everything… but it was possible. She would have to deal with the Architect, and train a new commander, and deal with Alistair, but… but if she did it then there might be a chance… just a chance.

She launched herself at the mage knocking him back, her arms wrapping around his neck even as she peppered kisses over his face. "You really think it might work?"

He smiled and gripped her hips to steady her. "I think, Commander, that you could do just about anything you put your mind to. And I think anyone lucky enough to have your love would be insane to give it up."

She laughed and tucked her head to nibble at his ear. "I love you."

His smile widened, and he slid one of his hands down to pat her behind lightly. "And I love you, but we both know it's not the type of love that sends people rushing off to other countries. I want you happy, Lyna. You of all people deserve it."

She squirmed as his hand dipped lower. "But it's still been fun, and I do believe you might have been the best thing to happen to me since I came here."

He rolled her over, pinning her to the mattress, and gave her a wink before sliding down her body. "Now that is most definitely true."