"You asked to see me, Inquisitor?"
Solas stopped at the edge of the practice yard, taking in Fen'lath's pose. The spark that had lit in the Exalted Plains was there, burning in her eyes, and flickered in every small movement of her body. For a moment, he could see her in Arlathan. Silver and bronze armor, jewels that glittered like motes of sunlight and chimed like bells when she moved glittering against her midnight hair and dripping from her ears. A crown of silverite and a wolf's skull to let all who saw her know whose partner she was. If only… She was so voracious for any knowledge of Elvhen history, what would she make of the Vir Dirthera at the height of its glory?
"Well?" Fen's head was tilted to the side. He'd missed something.
"I apologize, would you say that again, Inquisitor?"
"Ugh." She tossed him a practice staff. "So we're back to Inquisitor? Am I imagining that you kissed me on my balcony not five days ago?"
He caught the staff and raised an eyebrow at her. "We should be preparing to return to the Exalted Plains, Fen'lath."
"Soon. First, we're going to practice, and I'm going to work off this frustration with you one way or another."
She whipped the practice staff behind her, taking up one of the Elvhen combat forms. She had expressed interest in learning a form of combat that didn't require magic, just in case, and he had gladly shown her.
Fen circled him, eyes flashing as they caught the late afternoon sunlight. She had been driving him mad for the past two days. Bumping up against him at every opportunity, walking so close, too close. She didn't know what she was asking for, who she was asking it of. If she ever found out… His eyes caught hers. Fen's chin lifted, taunting him, inviting him. The doubt melted away in the heat of her fire. Solas bowed his head, then dramatically rolled his shoulders.
"If you say so… vhenan." She froze, beautifully imperfect lips parting in shock, and he whirled towards her, the blunted blade on the practice staff sweeping towards her shins. Fen leaped back, swinging her staff around to catch the blow.
A fierce, triumphant smile lit her face, and the staves snapped against each other as they moved through the practice forms. He did love watching her like this. The flexibility cultivated by dance allowed her to swing low under his staff, move her strong legs in kicks that curled around him and would have thrown him off-balance if he did not know the counters.
They flowed from the practice forms to dancing around each other, staves still slapping against each other with loud cracks. He caught her in a hold and bumped his nose against hers, taking deep breaths with the delicious burn of the exercise. "Very good, Fen. Now, add the Step."
She nipped his jaw, then misted out of his grasp and across the field. Their staves whirled as they charged each other, Stepping together with a loud crack of wood on wood. His stave swung to catch her in the small of the back, and she Stepped away and around, sweeping the blunted blade at his shins. Solas let out an exhilarated laugh as he leaped over it, then Stepped around and caught her in another hold.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Bull and the Chargers leaning against the fence, Varric sitting on the top rail with a book spread over his lap. It appeared the bets were flying fast. Solas breathed on Fen's ear, feeling her shiver. "Are you letting me win, vhenan? Tsk, tsk."
She grabbed his elbow and dropped, flinging him over her back. He Stepped in mid-air, and swung back towards her with a growl. Fen snarled back at him, then Stepped to him at full speed, crashing into his chest and sending them tumbling. Dust kicked up as they grappled, and he pushed himself up, attempting to catch her in another hold. She rolled across his back as he stood, and with a triumphant bark he Stepped out from under her, dropping her into the dirt with a billow of kicked-up soil and a loud, "OOF!"
Solas picked up his staff, and leaned on it as he stood over her. "Do you concede, Fen'lath?"
Her staff swept him off his feet. Blue sky was replaced by a dusty, dirt-caked Fen, the tip of the blunted staff blade nudging his chin as she straddled his chest. Her eyes sparkled and her tone was snarky, "Never again will we submit, Solas. It's kind of the motto."
Laughter bubbled up, and he dropped his head back into the dirt as he let it loose with a freedom he had not felt in far too long. She started giggling too, and then stood carefully, reaching a hand down to help him up. He took her hand and stood, then stepped in closer to her.
Fen's breathing quickened, and he brushed a smear of dirt from her cheek. "You are more than I could have ever dreamed, Fen'lath."
"Nice to know I rate higher than your dreams." So breathy and her pupils had blown wide, a bare ring of Fade around deep, dark, sparking pools. He draped his arms around her shoulders in a hug, pulling her small form to his, and he nuzzled his nose in the dusty mess of tangled midnight on top of her head.
"Shall we go in and clean up, vhenan?" Hands slid down her arms, skipping to her hips when they bent to wrap around his waist.
"My chambers?" She stood on tip-toe and nipped at his collarbone.
"Yes," A knuckle lifted her chin, their eyes meeting. "I sincerely hope your advisors are not planning for anything later. We will be quite occupied."
"Oh?" Fen tilted her head, looking up at him through inky lashes.
"This is only the beginning, vhenan." He flung the practice staves in the general direction of the weapon rack, and lifted Fen up against his chest. "I intend to take my time with you."
"Whew, I need a drink! Didn't know the Fadewalker had that in him." Bull slapped a few sovereigns into Krem's hand. "By the way, Dalish, you been holding out on us, or is that something all elf mages can do?"
"I'm not a mage! I wouldn't know." Dalish smirked at Bull and sashayed away, arm-in-arm with Krem to help him drink his winnings.
Varric hopped off the fence after tucking his book into the satchel that never left his side. Slapping his hands together, he grinned at Bull, "What do you say, Tiny? Should we go in and get a bath and food ordered for those two? I don't think they're thinking about the finer details of the romantic evening that appears to be on the horizon."
"Sure thing, Varric," Bull rolled his shoulders with a few pops. "After we get that taken care of, I think I'm gonna go track down my mage and see who can set the most curtains on fire."