Warnings for this chapter: None. Well maybe some spoilers.
Chapter 1: "Hate to admit it, but..."
Dorian sat staring at the scene before him with glossed over eyes and a fake smile on his face.
Why did she have to be so beautiful?
The Inquisitor hadn't looked away from her for more than that second necessary to scoop up some greens onto his fork. Dorian wondered why he and the others were even invited to the feast if she was the only one Trevelyan chose to focus on.
"Why… I don't think you've introduced us, Inquisitor, please do tell us the name of the woman who wears such marvelous jewelry." Dorian tried to sound polite through his gritted teeth. At least his eyes concealed his envy when they focused on the shiny emeralds on her neck. He couldn't complain about her fashion sense which only made it that much more difficult to hate her. Maker, why did she have to be so pretty? Why did her skin have to flatter her neckware so well? The inquisitor's eyes had been fixed on her chest for the past five minutes-only when she spoke did he try to meet her eyes. And Dorian always saw him struggle there too. Her eyes were just as spectacular, if not more enchanting than her chest.
As a mage he'd say they were the color of true Lyrium- a blue as light as clear skies and as bright as light itself. It was no wonder the Inquisitor hadn't paid attention to his darker hazel ones since she arrived.
"Oh, I'm Hawke, just Hawke. I presume you are Dorian. The Inquisitor has told me a lot about you. All good things." She blushed as she caught the eyes of the Inquisitor. He hadn't even blinked the whole time she spoke. It was flattering truly.
Dorian hated how the blush tinted her cheeks just so to make her look adorable as well as admittedly a pinch sexy. Even when she wasn't trying she caught Trevelyan's attention. It wasn't fair. He supposed he couldn't be too angry though if all his friend had spoke of to her was him. Maybe he did have a place in the Inquisitor's heart. The question was-was it as all encompassing as the place the Inquisitor had in his?
"I am, Dorian. Dorian, Pavus. You might have come across my father if you've ever been to Tevinter." Dorian's fake smile never faltered, not even when he spoke of the man he so detested. He couldn't let Hawke see one of his weaknesses. She was competition and the odds were already against him with the way her flawless, ivory, skin glowed in the candlelight and the way her sun kissed blonde hair danced around the curves and edges of her powerful, yet graceful face. She was as intimidating and as elegant as her namesake and it would take all he had to win the Inquisitor back from her grasp. There wasn't any time for her to discover weaknesses. If that meant putting on a show and pretending to live a perfect life with a happy family then so be it.
"I had no idea you were a blood mage." Hawke seemed to squirm in her seat- whether from excitement or fear she could not say.
"I never said I was." Dorian looked her twice over in her seat hating the way she looked at him like she knew everything about him at first glance. He wasn't so simple...at least he hoped he wasn't. He hoped he wasn't boring to the Inquisitor.
"But you are, aren't you? Mages from Tevinter have to be blood magisters don't they?" Hawke asked innocently. Her eyes bore into his, she was only curious, but Dorian didn't want her snooping around in his life anymore than she already was. In fact the quicker she could leave Skyhold the quicker he'd get back to his happy little relationship with the Inquisitor. If she'd just leave.
If her damned boat hadn't been delayed..
If Trevelyan hadn't fallen prey to her pouty doe eyes when she asked to stay a few more nights in his chamber...
If she had never come...
The thought of her sleeping there, warming his bed while he went away collecting herbs for Skyhold, it just made Dorian frustrated. Why couldn't it be him? He had been by Trevelyan's side for so long it seemed only fitting that they'd share company in the bedroom too. Even just sleeping...how had a stranger gotten to that level with his man first? What did she have that he didn't?
"Ignorant." Dorian whispered under his breath. Whether she heard or not he did not care.
Solas's elf ears picked up on it and he was surprised to see Dorian losing composure. He noted that the last time he had was when he first met the Inquisitor.
"We don't have to be anything. Don't place all my people in a box. I know my home does not have the best track record for honest, friendly mages, but they are my people. I am a mage and I'm a damned good one, that doesn't make me a murderer, a magister, or any kind of abomination. Do you understand? That is a person's choice." Dorian seemed to get increasingly aggressive as she worked him up. How had a woman got him this worked up? Ugh, she was frustrating. He had to leave the table to keep his civility.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or any of your people. I'm a mage myself. I had a friend in Kirkwall who was a blood mage, really I'm not judging. I'm just…" Marian was ignored though because Dorian was already walking out. He didn't want to see her maneuver her way out of this, didn't want to hear her beg him for forgiveness. If she wanted forgiveness she'd have to leave and stop being so perfect in front of his amatus. Even when she was flustered and anxious she had a way of making everyone smile.
Out in the hallway he covered his face with his palms. Hiding himself in a corner in shame. The last time he had an outburst like that was when he left his father.
Trevelyan could sense his friend was in distress. He excused himself from the table with one last longing look to the enchantress Hawke that had her squirming in her seat, and Sera making inappropriate side comments one of which was faintly heard as he walked out.
"He looks at her like he sees through her breeches", followed by Varric's roaring laughter and Solas's disturbed sigh.
He rushed over to Dorian, the door to the dining hall closing behind him, leaving the two friends to their privacy. Trevelyan instantly pulled Dorian's hands from his face and started wiping the tears with his thumb pads. "Dorian I'm here, what's wrong?"
Dorian only wanted to cry harder and hide his face that much more now that Trevelyan was seeing it at its worst. "Inquisitor, please, don't look at me right now. I'm a mess. It's embarrassing~." His own eyes however, never wanted to look away from the kindness behind the Inquisitor's at that moment. Maker, he was so protective and considerate, it was like he was a dream, the perfect man to sweep Dorian off his feet. If only he felt the same way. Before Hawke came Dorian felt that their relationship had been getting somewhere, he had found out that Trevelyan was a man very open when it came to love. He did not find out the Inquisitor's feelings per se, but he now knew that there was the possibility that the Inquisitor could develop feelings for him.
And that was… something.
But, then Hawke came and whatever feelings might have been developing in the Inquisitor immediately got pushed down to make room for the new ones towards the enchantress. Dorian was left back in the dreadful friend zone and it'd take a miracle to get out of it a second time.
"Dorian, you haven't told me what's wrong. " Trevelyan chuckled. His friend was more worried about his looks then the actual issue. It was just like Dorian really to worry about the silly things first. It was cute. The Inquisitor's palms still held his friends face for moral support and if his body stepped into him for warmth and protection-well that was just what friends did. Best friends anyway.
"It's nothing Inquisitor, nothing I can't handle anyway. Why did you leave your dinner for me? You have guests waiting."Dorian looked down upset that his manners came out now when he should just do the unmannerly thing and jump the Inquisitor right in the open hall for being such a great guy.
Trevelyan lifted up Dorian's chin to help him cheer up and to make sure the man looked in his eyes and saw the sincerity. "You are my best friend. Dinner isn't that important if you aren't there. Now let's go back in. I know you're hungry." Dorian had closed his eyes by this point pursing his lips debating whether or not this was the moment to tell his best friend he was in love. He was just about to lean forward when Trevelyan started walking away killing whatever courage Dorian had. He supposed their first kiss shouldn't be now anyway. Not when the Inquisitor was feeling sympathy for him. Not when Dorian wasn't looking his best.
Definitely not when that Hawke woman was just in the other room. The odds were that Trevelyan still had her in the back of his mind. If there was only a way to get rid of her, or even just a way to make her so undesirable to the Inquisitor that he'd forget her.
Dorian smirked and suddenly all the sadness on his face had vanished. His mind had hatched an idea, a juicy, convoluted plot that would have Hawke out of the Inquisitors head in less than 3 weeks. It was simple.
All Dorian had to do was get her to fall in love with him. She had no idea he only liked men, and the Inquisitor would never go after her if she liked Dorian. It was a friendship rule or something, a code. A code that Trevelyan was too honor bound to break. Yes, it was perfect.
All he had to do was admit to having a tiny girl crush.
