Chars: Male Lavellan (Noalanniel "Noah") & Male Inquisition Solider/Charger (Oberon O'Tiekrenal "Tek"), Noah & Iron Bull,

Sum: "Oh? My art sucks, you say? Well then, sit down! I'ma draw the hell out of you!" Noalanniel hated humans, didn't he? Then how did this human manage to worm his way into his heart? Though, with everything else in his life, when it seemed everything was going well for him - tragedy always struck...and when it struck, it struck hard and fast.

Note: This is a WIP that has been plaguing me for as long as I can remember. The format of this story is kind of similar to my Bloom series.

Horns Up

Love's Requiem

"Just hang on!" the rain stung as it pelted against him, weighing his head down as his long black hair became water logged. He'd long since lost the tie that kept it up in a bun. The biting cold of the rain and wind made it hard for him to feel his body – though, even through the numbness, he felt the sharp sting underneath his nails as he clung to the rock face with one hand and the other gripping tightly to an arm clothed in heavy armor.

They'd gone to investigate a potential lead on another red lyrium smuggler in the Storm Coast. Corypheus was dead, but the red lyrium remained a serious problem. If the stuff got into the wrong hands again, they'd be dealing with an army of red Templars all over again. "I'm….not making any promises…" The elf chanced a glance downwards at his charge. The man's head was tilted downwards. His grip on the elf's own arm was steadily slipping. The elf's gaze went back up towards the top of the rock face. If only he could climb up…

His charge was heavy – made even heavier by the fact he was soaked. He could still hear the battle raging on at the top of the cliff. If the others didn't finish up soon, his charge or both of them would fall.

They'd been set up. Instead of finding the smugglers, they were surrounded by Venatori.

"A fall from here…even into the water…not sure anyone could survive that…" Noah looked down as his charge continued to speak. "I won't blame you for letting me go…I mean I'm pretty heavy…"

"Tek, shut up. We're going to come out of this alive." As he said that, he felt the piece of rock he was holding on to crack and jolt downward slightly. He looked up and let a slew of elvhen cusses pass his lips.

"Language, language…" leave it to Tek to joke at a time like this.

"Only you would joke at a time like this," Noah growled. Tek snickered.

"Remember what I said before when we first met? I laugh in the face of danger!"

"You did not say anything close to that, you sputtering idiot." Noah rolled his eyes as he recalled what the other did say. It was along the lines of 'I'm sorry' and a bunch of broken and incomprehensible elvhen and Trevene.

"You're hurting my feelings now, Lanny," Tek snickered. Another creak and they jolted downward again. "Sounds like the fighting is all done…" Just as he said that, Noah saw Bull, Dorian, and Cassandra's head pop over the cliff side.

"You two okay down there?" Cassandra shouted over the roaring wind.

"As much as we love the view, we could use a little help here!" Tek shouted back. "Not that I don't trust Lanny to hold both our weight – believe me I know he's capable-" Noah felt his face flush. "- but I don't really trust the rock to do the same!"

"Must you be perverse at every turn?" Noah growled. He heard Tek snicker.

"My – Lanny! Whatever do you mean? Am I starting to rub off on you – and I mean…influence you not the other rubbing off…we can do that later…"

"Oberon!" Noah snapped, while Tek just laughed.

"Grab on to the rope!" A rope was flung over the side and smacked Noah in the forehead. He shook his head and glared up. Dorian was smirking down at him.

"Bastard," a sudden thought struck Noah. How in the world was he going to grab the robe if he had to hang on to the cliff to keep from falling and hang on to Tek to keep him from falling? "Tek, you have to grab the rope first."

"Already ahead of you, babe!" Tek tugged on the rope a few times. Noah felt the rock under his hand crumble and break.

"Fenedhis!" Noah cursed as he began to drop, only stopped by the fact Tek was holding onto his wrist tightly.

"I got ya!" Tek shouted. "We're good. Pull us up!" Several grueling minutes later, Tek and Noah were pulled up over the side of the cliff. Tek stood while Noah sat with his hands planted in front of him.

"How, in the maker's name, did you two end up down there?" Cassandra asked, crossing her arms.

"You know how there was a big explosion right?" Tek grumbled, crossing his arms. "Yeah…that happened…God…I need a nice hot soak…I can't even feel my feet and my legs feel like jelly-!"

"Well…there is nothing for us here anymore. We should head back to Skyhold and follow up on the person who gave us this lead…" Cassandra frowned, ignoring the rest of the tanned man's complaints. He complained entirely too much…She wondered if it was a Tevinter thing because Dorian had been complaining nonstop since she had met him too.

Her attention, now, was solely on Noah who'd yet to get up.

"You okay, boss?" Bull asked the question she had been thinking.

"I can't feel anything…" Noah grumbled. A shiver ran through his body.

"We can get you checked out better when we get back to camp…dried…" Dorian grumbled under his breath.

"Ah, you're just cold. Allow me!" Tek grinned widely as he swooped down and picked the elf up bridal style. He grunted at the extra weight but complained no farther. "Was this just an excuse to get into my arms?"

"If I could feel my arms, I would throttle you," Noah grumbled in a huff. Bull and Dorian snickered. Cassandra rolled her eyes as she began to walk off, Bull and Dorian following after her. Tek leaned over and pressed his lips briefly to Noah's.

"I knew you loved me – I didn't know you loved me to the point of violence! You know I love 'em feisty," Tek smirked down at the flushed elf in his arms.

"Shut up and walk!" Tek laughed until he heard a loud crack. The ground under him shifted and jolted downward. "Ah, fuck me!" Noah yelped as he was thrown forward onto the ground. He rolled a bit on the ground, finally stopping on his back. He heard a crash and the sound of rocks crumbling and falling. He jolted upwards quickly just in time to see Tek fall with the crumbling cliff side. "OBERON!"