Dorian leaned over the railing, peering into the room below. Where normally he'd find little of interest, he noted today a quite disturbing image. His gaze narrowed on the pair sitting on the couch below. The image far more repulsive to the mage than the typical pile of rags that occupied the space. Though perhaps if the company itself were not so… terrible, Dorian mused it would not be so dreadful an image. Even adorable.
But in the current case, adorable was far from the word that Dorian would use. He curled his lip. The Champion sat on one end, legs crossed at the ankle and propped up on a table she'd dragged over. Vaxus was laying across the couch on his back, head in Hawke's lap as he laughed and gestured with his hands. No doubt telling a story. But that wasn't even the worst of it! Even from his vantage point, Dorian could see the filthy rogue playing with Vaxus' hair. Her fingers curling, twisting, and gently tugging in a repetitive motion. Like she was petting that noisy mabari of hers.
Dorian snorted and pushed off the railing, a sneer on his face as he whipped around to hunt for a book. Something, anything to distract himself from that… that… mess going on below him. He shuddered as his thoughts wandered. Rushing off without his consent and leaving vivid and waking visions in his mind's eye.
"Kaffas!" he hissed under his breath.
His fingers curled into a fist, ready to lash at the nearest inanimate object.
"Careful Dorian, or you will give yourself away." Leliana's cool voice slid through his ears and curled around his mind like a viper.
He hissed, but she was not wrong. With an exasperated sigh, he relaxed his hands and looked over to the spymaster. "That obvious, am I?"
"Terribly so, I'm afraid," she answered with a light chuckle.
Leliana stepped up to the railing to peer down to the bottom floor of the rotunda, gaze easily settling on the pair upon the couch.
"Perhaps instead of this," she turned and gestured toward him with one hand. "You could be happy for him?"
Dorian scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. Leliana shook her head, gaze narrowing on the mage.
"Hear me out." She instructed, cooly. "Look at him, look how happy he looks." She turned and set her hands on the railing as she peered down. Dorian hesitated, but joined her after a moment. "You would rob him of a moment of contentment?" Leliana glanced at Dorian from the corner of her eye. "The Inquisition demands much of Vaxus, I would not be so quick to find anger in the scarce times he finds peace." A soft, nearly inaudible sigh escaped her lips as she looked away again.
Dorian watched Vaxus and Hawke as Leliana spoke, his heart twisting and wrenching uncomfortably. And yet, he knew deep down there was truth behind her words. However, hearing such things and being able to accept them were vastly different matters for the mage. He sighed, pushing off the railing and stepping back.
"Thank you for your advice, Leliana. I… need some time to think," he said after a long moment.
The spymaster merely nodded, watching as Dorian retreated out the nearby exit. She soon shifted her sharp gaze back to the pair below, watching them with studious interest. A small, ever so slight smile curled the very corners of her mouth.
