"How much deeper will we go?"
Nathaniel was not completely sure, but he could swear he heard that undertone of fear in the mage's voice again. Anders was holding his cat like he was his last life line, but his posture seemed fairly relaxed otherwise .

It was hard to read the mage. He seemed to be so open about his emotions, blowing everything out of proportion if he could. The jokes, the sarcasm, the smile - they were all too carefully orchestrated. They all looked too suspicious, and all too honest. Anders was hiding something, but whether that was something small or something huge, was impossible to see.

But now he could hear it, hints of fear seeping into his voice and into the way he held his cat.

Nathaniel almost felt a sorry for suggesting he'd leave the kitten at the Keep, even if Anders hadn't exactly reacted badly to it. Or not openly. Who knew what that man was thinking?

"We need to find that Thaig," the Commander explained in hushed tones. "We'll go deeper until we found it."

"Andraste's bosom," the mage muttered, hitching his cat a little closer to his chest, fingers tightening around his staff.

Nathaniel decided to sidle up next to the mage, despite his attempts to stay out of his way. It was more than dark enough down here, and he doubted Anders would be able to see him blushing if he ended up doing that again. It was annoying how easily his face grew red, he wouldn't even have to be embarrassed for it to happen. It was just that tingling feeling of attraction he held to irritating man, and talking to him was enough to send his mind reeling with what he really wanted that obnoxious mouth to be doing.

"Are you going to be alright?" He asked quietly as he was next to Anders.

The mage jumped slightly, but managed to compose himself so quickly it was like it never happened. Nathaniel knew better now. He really was scared. Of the dark? Of the deep?

"Worried about me again?" The mage teased, quickly poking at Nathaniel's side to make him step away with a huff. Yes, face burning again. The dark was welcome. "My back still aches, you could massage me?"

"You seem tense," he explained, his voice gentler than he had intended it to be. He meant it to be sharp, disapproving of the flirting. Maker knows what Anders would start saying if he felt he was getting somewhere with the flirting.

"It's dark," Anders shrugged, strangely serious in response to his tone. "Of course I'm tense, I'm trying not to fall over any corpses or rubble."

"That's not it, is it?"

There was clearly a pause before Anders replied, voice hushed. "It won't affect my capability to fight when we run into darkspawn, so don't worry about it."

"That's not why I'm asking." This man was tiring, even when he wasn't teasing. Did Anders really think he just asked because he feared he would falter in battle? "As a friend... I'm worried as a friend."

A longer pause this time, and he noticed the pace of the mage faltering. He cast a look to his side, finding the light of the Commander's torch reflecting in wide surprised eyes that refused to look at him, and a kitten wriggling in discomfort at being held too tight.

"Anders."

"Thank you Nate," the other muttered quickly, turning his head away so Nathaniel could no longer even try to read him. "I'm really fine. You should probably keep an eye on Oghren instead, before he runs himself into a wall taking a swig from his drink."

The message was clear, and with a soft displeased grunt Nathaniel obeyed, moving ahead a little to get closer to Oghren instead. He had never realised Anders could get that uncomfortable with kindness, and it worried him even more than the tenseness the mage was currently showing. Anders always played around, always had someone close and someone to chatter away with. So why did he react like a simple act of friendship was such an odd occurrence?
Or did he notice Nathaniel thought of him as more than a friend, and he felt disgusted?

A loud rumbling noise distracted him, and he swivelled around just in time to see Anders' eyes widen in shock. With a shout Nathaniel sped back towards the mage, the tunnel crumbling around them. He could hear Oghren shouting and a scream in pain from the Commander, but then he was hit by something heavy and everything went black for a moment, his ears ringing into a sudden empty silence.

When he blinked his eyes open again he cursed, unable to see a thing in the darkness. Without the Commander's torch, these tunnels were darker than a hurlock's ass.

"Commander? Anders?" The tunnel remained silent. Not even an echo. Was the wall before him as close as he thought it was?
He reached forward, only to have his fingers bump into gravelly debris immediately. He grunted in frustration, kicking his feet and finally aiding with one hand to kick the rocks off his legs, glad to feel both were still working - if burning in pain, clearly cut and bruised. He tried to sit up, but his headed knocked painfully in a smooth slab of stone above him.

"Fuck."

He paused until the white stars disappeared from his vision, everything going black once more and the sound in his ears dulling to the muffled silence of the deep roads. After a deep and careful breath he felt the floor around him, touching until he found he wasn't completely blocked in. There was more space to his right. It would be fun crawling around the debris with his bow poking into every ridge ahead of him, but it would have to do. Staying here was no option.

And he needed to find Anders.

Nathaniel had no idea why the tunnel collapsed, and he didn't want to waste time wondering about it. All he knew was that the Commander and Oghren had been ahead of him, and Anders behind him. Anders was cut off from the others for sure, and he wouldn't stand a chance if he got attacked by darkspawn now.
Not that he sensed any darkspawn nearby right now. That didn't matter. It was the principle, the idea of the mage being left alone by himself in this darkness - he had looked afraid before-
He cursed again, pulling himself forward by his elbows, wriggling and squirming every time the bow caught on something. Everything was pitch black, but it seemed a pillar had toppled over him, shielding a path among the debris. He could only hope there was a way out before the end of the pillar.

It was difficult to decide whether the first sound he heard again was a relief to him or the opposite. As Nathaniel struggled his bow underneath a wide ridge of the pillar - which he feared would be the end of the pillar - he heard a soft sniffling. It didn't take many guesses who it was, considering the pitch of the voice, but it was rather horrifying to realise the ever cheerful mage was crying in the dark.

"Anders?"

He heard a soft gasp, but no reply. Nathaniel grumbled to himself, managing to work his way out until he bumped into new gravel. This was a lot looser though, and with a rough shove it crumbled down. He still couldn't see, but with the last obstruction gone he could breath in relatively fresh air and hear the soft whimpers of the mage properly. Still on his hands and knees, he crawled carefully to where he heard the sound, only finally feeling leather under one hand.

The foot jumped away as if burned, and the sound Anders made didn't even sound human. A light flickered into existence, lighting scared eyes in a blotched red face, only to disappear again immediately.

"Anders, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" The light had been short, but long enough for Nathaniel to know he had space to move now. Anders was sitting against the wall, knees drawn up to his chest. The ceiling was as high as before here, and would not trouble him in getting up. In the mere moments Nathaniel had not been able to spot the cat, nor did he hear it anywhere. "Talk to me Anders!"

"I-I'm sorry," the man opposite of him hiccupped, and he heard leather creaking as his grip on something tightened. Nathaniel shifted closer, slowly touching Anders' shoulder now, trying not to startle him again. Surprisingly, the reaction was the complete opposite of before, and the rogue suddenly found his arms full of mage.

Another light flickered on, this time to stay behind Nathaniel's back. It wasn't much, but after such complete darkness it was more than enough to start adapting. And it wasn't like he had anything to look at right now either, so he found himself closing his eyes again, rubbing the shaking back of the quietly sobbing mage. He had no clue what was wrong, what had upset Anders this much, but he was painfully aware this was not one of his little games for attention. This was real.

Was it because of the cat? It seemed... an overreaction even for Anders. Even if the cat was not with him, it was unlikely it would've been killed by a collapse of the ceiling. That cat had survived dozens of fights with darkspawn with elegant ease, he would not get himself caught by some rubble. So Anders couldn't be this upset thinking the cat was dead.

He just kept rubbing the man's back awkwardly, until finally the crying subsided again.

"S-sorry," Anders muttered quietly, face still buried against Nathaniel's shoulder.
"Will you tell me what happened?"

"The uh... the tunnel collapsed."

Nathaniel sighed, shaking his head. "That's not what I mean."

He felt a shiver wrack through the mage's body, and a shuddering breath being taken in.
"Remember I talked about being locked in solitary for a year?"

Nathaniel sighed once more, but this time not in exasperation. This time in understanding.

When Anders had told them before, he had looked a little pained, but mostly angry. Back then he had hardly known Anders. He had still been bitter, still been convinced anger was the best direct defence and quietly infuriated with having been made a warden. He had not bothered to read behind Anders' words, and had not bothered to remember it.

Now, it was a lot easier to understand. Now he knew the mage, knew how he clung to company. Anders would rather poke Nathaniel until he snapped than sit somewhere by himself in quiet. Anders couldn't handle being alone. Being locked alone in a cell... it suddenly became a lot clearer, and Nathaniel selfishly wished he never knew, that it never was true.

"You're not alone now," he muttered, patting Anders' back. "And neither are you locked up. We're here together and we'll get out together."

"Ser Pounce-a-Lot is gone," the other mumbled, but without the dread of someone who feared their companion was dead.

"You know he can take care of himself," Nathaniel stated clearly. "As can we. Can you stand?"

He felt a nod, and he slowly pulled away from the mage. The light was still glowing faintly behind him, allowing him to see the scared face. It was unlike anything he had ever seen on Anders' face, and it was painful to watch. He did recognise this look. It was the look of someone haunted by nightmares. It was the look of someone who wasn't sure what he was living for anymore.

"We'll be fine," he promised, grabbing Anders' arms to squeeze tightly for a moment. "We will be fine."

Anders' eyes finally met his, and a weak little smile that looked as much scared as relieved flitted over his face. "Thank you, Nathaniel."

Nathaniel squeezed the man's arms one more time, before releasing him and gingerly climbing to his feet. His legs were hurting badly, but working. The mage however, saw him wobble and put his hands to the rogue's thighs, a soft blue light enveloping them as he healed his legs.

"That should be better," Anders muttered, slowly standing up himself. He seemed a little more composed already, and Nathaniel was almost grateful his legs got hurt before, seeing Anders getting a grip on himself again with the minor distraction of performing a healing. He quickly caught the mage's hand, giving that a small squeeze now before tugging him along, back up the dark tunnel in search of a way around the collapse, to find their commander.