"Bodahn is worried if I don't show up to at least one of these stupid parties it might tarnish my reputation. I'm not worried, mind you. But, alas, I don't want to upset the balance of things."
"Truly," Anders remarked as he continued his writings without a glance to her.
"I'd like it if you came with me," she asked kindly. She was thumbing the invitation as she looked on at him hunched over the writing desk in their bedroom.
"I couldn't bare to spend one minute with those wretched nobles."
Moira frowned at the ferocity in his voice. "I understand it's silly, but-"
"There are more pressing matters Moira," he looked to her sternly. "I don't have time for the prattling of the nobility."
Her brow furrowed. "That was rude, Anders."
"What do you want from me!" he shouted. She was shocked at the sudden volume of his voice. "I can't stand this Moira!" he turned in the chair to face her. "I don't care about, about parties, or balls or keeping up appearances. I don't care! None of that matters, don't you get it? Can't you understand what's important from what's not?"
She was fuming. "Of course I can! But what am I to do? Sit here with you, all day and all night, grumbling and frustrated because I am a mage? I want to show people that mages are indeed people! Capable of attending functions and having restraint over our powers and simply being! I am trying to live a life, my life, and I want you to be a part of it!"
"But it is all meaningless! There is no point to showing what you are capable of if the Chantry-"
It was all meaningless. His voice and those words scattered themselves all about her thoughts and she grew furious. She felt her rage boil over and she lost control. "Forget it!" she threw her hands up in the air. "You have no thought for patience or understanding. None!"
"Moira!" he stood as she moved to leave. He reached out to snag her arm, Moira turning her shoulders just in time for him to miss catching her elbow. She stopped and stormed right up to him.
"Don't!" she yelled into his face. "Leave me alone!" He wanted to grab her shoulders to keep her there, but the look in her eyes stopped him. He seldom saw that look on her face. It was hurt mixed with the end of her patience and it was ever intimidating.
He watched on as she left the room, leaving the door open. He went to the doorway as she hurried down the steps and into the greeting room. She pulled down her cloak from where Bodahn had hung it for her earlier and swiftly left the house.
His shoulders sagged. "Maker's breath," he sighed to himself as he covered his face and rubbed it harshly. He groaned with frustration as he fell roughly back into the chair, placing his face into his hands with a sigh. "I can't do this," he vented to no one as he tried to calm himself.
Moira walked briskly towards Lowtown. She couldn't stand it any longer. Vengeance was all there was left of him, nothing more. She told herself she would no longer be tricked by the tender way he would hold her as they slept. She wouldn't let his charming quips make her smile as she knew they were only a ruse as to what was truly brewing in his mind. He wouldn't get the best of her with the selfless side of him that spent days on end at his hidden clinic in Darktown, helping the sick and aiding the poor refugee's in whatever way he could.
She stopped walking as she felt her love for him overpower her anger. She leaned her shoulder into a wall and hung her head, fists clenched at her sides in frustration. She felt stupid for leaving so abruptly, now. She never wanted him to think she would just abandon him at the first moment of tension between them. But he was so spiteful, so hateful and mean, she wanted away from it. It was eating her up and she had to get away in order to not be swallowed whole by it.
Why couldn't she have Anders and him alone?
His words from years past floated to the surface of her memory. He had warned her away so many times, she'd lost count. But she could see then what she still saw now beneath Vengeance. He was a caring, kind, loving and tender man that loved her more than anything. He wanted to see mages free, just like everyone else. He was benevolent, but the spirit inside of him twisted his emotions every which way and it was unbearable. For him, as well as for her.
She didn't care. Her heart was his the moment she heard him speak with fervent belief in setting them free from the Chantry. His bright, amber eyes captivated her, and she was lost to them from that moment on.
But tonight was too much. They couldn't go on like that. Never again did she want to feel that rage towards him. After placing her hands flat over her heart to try and calm her quaking heart, she took a few deep breaths before turning back to the house.