AN: I still don't own Dragon Age or its characters. Oh well, one can dream. I haven't written an actual fanfic in a very long time so I'm probably very rusty. I appreciate an constructive criticisms offered and reviews. This story blossomed from one of the many small ideas that I have jotted down. Thank you! Aria.
Chapter One
It had been such a long day in the field; he was cold, wet and slightly sticky. Tamlin ran a hand over his face grimacing as it came away covered with dirt and caked on mud. His dark brown hair was matted to the side of his face and his olive skin had turned gray from the dirt and mud that covered him like a second skin. His golden eyes dulled as he realized they would not be getting back to Skyhold tonight. He resisted the urge to whine because a leader would never do something as childish as to whine. They had set up camp in the recesses of a small cave so no one could surprise them from behind. It would be easier for the first shift to keep watch, especially with how tired and cold everyone was.
He looked around the camp, trying to decide whom to appoint to take the first watch. Vivienne had already disappeared into her tent, which meant she probably wasn't going to come back out unless the camp somehow spontaneously combusted. Blackwall busied himself with setting up a small fire, while Bull disappeared out of their makeshift camp and into the wild, probably to hunt down some type of dinner with his bare hands. Dorian was standing in front of his tent, pulling off his mud-caked armor with a disgusted look. He flung each piece to the side until he was down to his small clothes. He turned, catching Tamlin watching him strip and leered at him, moving a bit slower now and with more purpose as their eyes connected.
Tamlin turned away first, hiding his embarrassment by marching to the halfway point between where the camp was set up and the entrance of the cave with Dorian's quiet laughter following him all the way. He found a good spot to sit where he could easily see outside of the cave but hard for anyone outside to spot him. Since everyone was busy, he would just take the first watch. He sat and well, watched.
"What are you doing Boss?" Bull asked, trudging back in with what looked like a slaughtered goat tossed over his shoulder.
"I'm taking first watch," Tamlin said as convincingly as he could, trying to keep his voice from shaking with exhaustion. Bull laughed, dropping the goat into Tamlin's lap and laughed louder when he watched Tamlin scramble to his feet holding the bloody carcass away from his body.
"You know Boss, I think you should find a way to cook that. We're all so hungry and no one here can cook but you. Vivienne would rather starve to death then touch that herself, Blackwall would just burn it to a crisp and Dorian, well I'm not quite sure what Dorian would do with it but as of right now you're the only one I trust to cook anything decent. I guess I'll just have to take over the first and probably the second watch while you go get cleaned up and make dinner for us all."
Bull's voice was stern and brooked no argument as he sat in Tamlin's vacated spot, leaning his great sword against the wall of the cave next to him. He looked at Tamlin still standing there holding the carcass and shooed him away, muttering about all the sacrifices he made for the Inquisition and that he deserved a raise. Tamlin guessed that that was Bull's nice way of telling him that he looked like shit and probably couldn't overpower a nug at the moment.
Tamlin brought the carcass to Blackwall and handed it to him, he couldn't cook it but the man could cut several steaks out of it that Tamlin could cook over a small fire. He promised that he would be right back as he nabbed a change of clothes from his pack and headed out of the cave to the stream they had passed earlier. Once there, he dipped a small wash towel into the cold water and tried to wipe as much mud off his face as he could. Dipping it back in for a second pass before scrubbing the towel down his arm in a bid to get as clean as possible.
"Hmm…" Dorian's voice came out as a hot puff across Tamlin's cheek. "You always pick the most roundabout way of doing things. If I was a Venatori soldier I would have already pounced on you and gobbled you all up." He whispered suggestively into the shell of Tamlin's ear. Surprised, Tamlin bit his tongue to stop the startled yelp that wanted to emerge and he would have fallen into the stream if Dorian had not hooked an arm around his waist keeping him upright.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! " Tamlin bristled, trying to pull himself together and seem like the intimidating leader he was supposed to be. He disengaged himself from Dorian's embrace and went to fetch his fallen wash towel before it floated downstream. "Don't sneak up on me like that. I could have lit you on fire or something." He growled testily, making his hand flare with ominous magic, or at least what he hoped looked ominous but Dorian seemed unfazed.
"When I look at you, I can't help but tease you. Your eyes get so big and round before they turn into little slits and then you puff up like an angry cat. I wonder if I can get you to a climb a tree and hiss at me the next time I give you a little scare." He leaned back against a tree, giving Tamlin a big Cheshire grin while stroking his mustache. "That would be a wonderful sight to behold."
Tamlin frowned, they had done this dance many times before and he was certain Dorian was toying with him. They flirted and teased, with Dorian doing most of the teasing but he was sure that once the man had gotten what he wanted Dorian would lose all interest in him. The man didn't seem to take anything seriously and Tamlin wasn't interested in a one night stand.
Dorian pushed himself away from the tree and sauntered closer. Tamlin resisted the urge to back up and held his ground. 'I'm not interested in a one night stand, I'm not interested in a one night stand….' Tamlin kept that thought in his head as Dorian approached him again.
Dorian was only a few inches taller than he was but his self-assured nature always made him seem even bigger. He did not seem to lack any of the confidence and guile that Tamlin had always yearned for. Growing up in the circle, he was ignorant too much of the ways of the outside world. Preferring not to leave his gilded cage after his father abandoned him there. His mother had come to see him on several occasions, begging to at least let her lay eyes on her son and see that he was all right but like a pouting child, Tamlin had ignored every one of her summons. They had abandoned him as if he had committed some crime, as if he wasn't part of their family anymore. So be it.
Distracted by his revelry, Tamlin didn't realize what Dorian was doing until he had stripped off his under shirt and had his hand in the waistband of his underwear sliding them down his strong legs. "Wha... what are you doing!?" Tamlin stammered, holding the wash towel to his chest as if the small square material would protect him from the man intent on getting naked in front of him.
Dorian sighed and pulled his underwear completely off and tossed the offensive scrap of clothing to the side. "Surely you jest, they're putrid and should be burned. Do you think I would actually put those back on? That is why I said you have the most roundabout way of doing things. You make everything complicated while the solution is so easy to obtain. Strip, get in, wash and be done, unless you'd like to get a bit dirtier before we bathe." There was that leer again.
'Strip?!' Tamlin's pulse pounded in his ears as his eyes took in Dorian's naked form. A strong chest that tapered down to a narrow waist, a soft trail of hair leading from his belly down to his… Tamlin's head snapped up and focused on Dorian's face. 'I'm not interested in a one night stand,' his brain chanted but his body was already responding. He did not want to have a one night stand but he couldn't say that he did not want the man in front of him. He just wanted Dorian to take this more seriously. He didn't want his first…. No, he would not do this now. He pulled his eyes away from admiring Dorian and tried to make his escape.
"Ah, how about you go first, I was almost done anyway." He moved to the side but Dorian blocked his path. "Strip," Dorian ordered again, this time hooking a few fingers into Tamlin's undershirt and tugging it up. Tamlin batted his hands away and held tight to his clothing, glaring at the man in front of him.
Dorian peered at the other man quizzically for a moment before his mouth pulled up into a half grin and his dark eyes gleamed with wickedness. "What's this? Are you embarrassed? Have you never seen another naked man before? How does a man that commands large armies and makes lords and ladies shit themselves in blind terror tremble before me now? Don't tell me you're a… well I see." He laughed as he answered his own question and looked at Tamlin in a new light.
"Don't look down on me, I may not look like it but I've been around the wagon more than once." Tamlin boasted, it was a lie of course, he had never done it once, not interested in the older residents that resided in the circle. He looked at them as more of a new family instead of romantic partners, but blast the Maker he would not be cowed by this man. He shucked his shirt off and shimmied out of his underpants in false bravado. He should have known better than to give into Dorians' teasing but he hated feeling like he was being made into the butt of joke.
Dorian's grin widened even more as he took a long look at Tamlin from top to bottom, then bottom to top. His eyes lingered over the slender body and watched the flush climb Tamlin's chest all the way up to his face, turning the man an exquisite shade of red. His eyes dipped even lower. "Well someone's happy to see me…." He trailed off slowly, his eyes hovering at Tamlin's midsection. Tamlin whipped the small wash towel in front of his erection that had a mind of its own. His body always betrayed him in the end.
"This isn't what you think it is, we've been on the road for a long time and I haven't had the chance to…" To what, what could he say that did not make him sound like he was a floundering greenhorn? Nothing. He shut his mouth and stomped into the stream, sloshing into the shallow water with new determination. The water was bitingly cold but it helped clear his senses and kill any awkward lust he was starting to feel towards the arrogant man watching him from the bank. He leaned over and dunked his head a few times to make sure that he got as much filth out of his hair as he could. 'You can do this Tamlin, just wash, dry and go back to the camp. No need to engage this man any further.' His stomach growled in agreement and he remembered he was supposed to be making dinner for everyone. Damn.
Hurriedly he splashed the cold water over his body before climbing out and heading to the bank where Dorian was still waiting. Tamlin was surprised the man hadn't run off with his change of clothing as some sort of juvenile prank. Instead, Dorian held a towel open for him. "Thank you Dorian," Tamlin said genuinely as he moved to take the offered towel from the man but Dorian moved it out of reach.
"You washed so I'll dry."
Tamlin was gearing up for another round of back and forth with the man when he heard Blackwall's rough voice call through the trees. "Inquisitor, did you forget that you are still needed back at camp. If something or *someone* is delaying you I would be happy to take care of it."
Tamlin snatched the towel from Dorian's hands and wrapped it around himself, moving over to his pile of clean clothes. "No, I just lost track of time, let me just finish here and I'll be right down." He was sure Blackwall could tell he was lying, the man's intuition focused and sharp. He hurried to dress now, it would not be good if Blackwall actually did come over and take care of it. He pulled on a clean pair of undergarments, pants and a warm shirt then sat on the ground to stuff his feet into wool socks. He shoved his now covered feet into his boots but left the laces undone as he jumped up and headed past Dorian who had rolled his eyes and was now focused on getting clean.
Blackwall gave Tamlin a small nod when he came into view his eyes lingering in the direction Tamlin had come from. "You should be cautious Inquisitor. I hear there are wolves out there, ready to devour prey that wander too far away from camp." Blackwall said as he turned and started walking in the direction the cave, Tamlin in tow.