DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Dragon Age: Inquisition or anything associated. Still belongs to Bioware. Elodrin is mine, but again, only because I made him as one of my Inquisitors.

Warnings: Slash, implied sexuality, and mild language

Iron Bull and Elodrin
You Say Jump

Elodrin walked to the edge of the waterfall, looking over. He swallowed, reeling back and breathing hard. Wow, that was… a lot further than it looked from the bottom. The bottom where the Bull's Chargers, including their leader, lined the river watching expectantly. Why did he agree to this?

"It's just a little initiation test," Bull had said. "I know you're the toughest guy in Thedas despite that pretty face, but the Chargers are a little harder to convince. All of them had to go through some kind of initiation, though. Just do what we agree on and they'll practically make you one of the family."

Why did the elven mage have to take it to heart so quickly? He charmed, manipulated, and magicked his way through being the Inquisitor so far. Why couldn't he do that with the Chargers? What did he have left to prove? He saved the world more than once. Ended a civil war. Killed multiples of dragons, killed a god. What in the name of the rest of them did they want from him?

"We're waiting!"

That was Rocky. Making him feel like reinforcing the old stereotype that dwarves and elves hated each other. That was complete nonsense, of course. Some of Elodrin's closest friends were dwarves. Rocky wasn't making that list right now, though.

The auburn-haired elf inched back to the edge, looking at them while at the same time not thinking of the fact that he was looking down. He wasn't scared of heights, he was rather known for jumping great distances to keep from taking the long way. Never this high, though. This was too much. "Don't rush me, I'm having an internal crisis!" he yelled down. It wasn't as if he could hide it from them anyway. His fear was clear and plain on his face as he looked at them.

"You don't have to do this, Boss!" Bull replied. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, despite the grin on his face. "No one's gonna blame you for not going on the insane suicide mission! Just come back down if you don't feel up to it!"

Elodrin tried to make a reassuring noise, but it came out a non-committal whimper. He could have kicked himself, ducking back behind the cliff in embarrassment. "Come on, Elodrin," he told himself, running a hand over the Dalish markings adorning his face. "It's just a little jump into a river… the water will break your fall…" His breathing picked up again. "Or your neck. Or maybe you'll just miss and break every bone in your body." This wasn't helping.

He leaned against a tree nearby and looked to the sky. Why was he doing this? Did he really care that much what the Chargers thought of him?

No, not really. He liked them well enough, even if he didn't spend much time with them. He sent them out on missions and thanked them for their service. He liked Krem, though. The former Tevinter was great to listen to when he had stories to tell. It was fun to listen to him and Bull argue and tease each other. From what he could tell all of the Chargers had that kind of relationship.

He never really thought of it before, but maybe Elodrin should start hanging out with Bull and his Chargers. The more he thought of it, the more they reminded him of his Clan. He missed Clan Lavellan, though he wouldn't admit how much to anyone but Bull, Dorian, and Liliana. Perhaps the mercenaries who practically lived in his tavern would be a nice substitute family.

Mostly he was doing this to prove himself not worthy of them but worthy of Bull. He knew there were a lot of people who were baffled by and questioned the relationship between the petite elven mage and the giant hulk of a Qunari. Were the Chargers among them? Elodrin didn't actually know, again he didn't spend time around them. Krem never said anything, but his circumstances made it hard for him to judge anyone. Not that Elodrin particularly cared what others thought of their relationship, which was personal business. He cared what they thought of a lot of things, but that wasn't one of them. Then again, the Chargers were the Iron Bull's family. He cared about them, so Elodrin should.

"Don't do this for you, don't do this for them," the mage told himself, taking a deep breath. "Do this for Bull. Do this because you love him."

()()()()()

"He's not gonna do it," Skinner snorted. "I told you he wouldn't do it."

"I still can't believe you told him we have something as dumb as a 'Charger's Initiation'," Krem said to his boss, voice dripping with disapproval. "I wouldn't ask my worst enemies to do something this dangerous just to prove something."

"Don't worry about it, Krem," Bull waved him off. "I wouldn't have made it something this stupidly life-threatening unless I knew he wouldn't do it. I just want him to know he doesn't have to prove anything to you guys."

"Why couldn't we have just told him that instead of going through this nonsense?" Rocky growled. "I'm sweatin' my ass off out here. I wanna get back to the tavern for some ale and dinner."

They had found the perfect waterfall to psyche their Inquisitor out with in the Emerald Graves. One that wasn't too high nor water so shallow that he'd immediately back out of it. They wanted him to make it all the way to the top of the cliff before he decided risking his life just to impress a bunch of mercenaries wasn't worth it. It was working pretty well, too. When he'd looked over the cliff at them he had an expression Bull had never seen before. The Fears and Terrors they faced in the Fade didn't even bring out such an expression of pure horror as that.

"Just saying it doesn't have the same effect," Dalish answered, waving a finger. "Especially for a Dalish mage. Not that I know what that's like. But if I had to guess, I'd say that being two things the world has been taught to fear and avoid packed into one person makes you think hard about what people think of you."

"And add being the Inquisitor on top of that," Bull added. "He has the pressure of being scrutinized by the entire world, including people he has no idea who they are or why they're important. He has to worry about what everyone thinks about him. When he comes down thinking he failed and you'll all hate him, it's gonna make a big impact that you didn't actually care if he went through with it or not."

"What if he does it?" Stitches asked. "I can heal a lot of things, but 'gooey paste' isn't one of them."

"Don't worry, he's not dumb enough to-"

The Qunari mercenary was cut off at the sound of bare feet running across leaves and grass above them. After a few seconds, the subject of their discussion threw himself off of the waterfall cliff above them. Eight stunned warriors watched as the lithe elven form flew through the air. It wasn't exactly a graceful dive, as his limbs flailed desperately as if realizing how stupid of a mistake he just made as he rapidly descended towards the river below. As his scream pierced the peaceful forest surrounding them, the Chargers could only watch in awe.

The first to speak before he hit the water was Stitches. "Holy…"

"…mother…" Dalish continued.

"…of…" Rocky added.

"…Andraste!" Skinner finished the exclamation right before impact.

SPLOO-ASH!

The Chargers cringed and almost felt like they shouldn't be baring witness as Elodrin hit the river hard, water violently splitting and spreading from under him as if angry that he disturbed its calm, steady flow.

"Kadan!" Bull finally found his voice, jumping in the river as the others continued to stare in disbelief. He waded as far as his huge height could get him without struggle before swimming the rest of the way to where his elven lover had landed. Elodrin wasn't moving, floating on the water like a piece of debris. Without his armor, which he'd removed for the stunt, he luckily wasn't being dragged under. Bull quickly pulled him up and tossed him over his shoulder without a second thought, only worrying about getting him back onto dry land.

When the Qunari reached the embankment Krem, Grim, and Stitches took Elodrin from him, laying him out on the ground. The others helped pull Bull out, being as he actually was wearing armor and his clothes were now being weighed down by the weight of the water as well. By the time they dragged him onto dry land the doctor was checking the Inquisitor for breath and pulse.

After a few seconds of pressing his ear to Elodrin's bare chest he took a breath and let it out in relief. "Good news, he's breathing. Nothing seems to be broken on a preliminary check, either. I'll see how he's doing when he wakes up, but I'm pretty sure a potion and some good thoughts and he'll be fine. Miracle and a half that he didn't get more hurt than he did, but I think the impact with the water just knocked him unconscious."

"I can't believe that crazy son of'a bitch actually jumped," Rocky said.

"Yeah," Krem agreed angrily, standing up when he was sure Elodrin was in good hands with Stitches. "He jumped. Funny thing that, huh, Chief?" He jabbed his boss in the chest with a finger for emphasis.

"Don't you start with me, Krem," Bull growled.

"You started it when you asked the Inquisitor to jump off a damned cliff!"

"Enough, this isn't the time!" Dalish snapped, getting between them and facing Krem. Skinner joined her, facing Bull instead. They both held up their hands, willing to stop them if the argument got physical.

"This is exactly the time! I can't believe you let him do that!" the Bull's second-in-command snapped. "I can't believe I sat by and didn't stop you!"

"No one's at fault that the crazy bastard jumped," Skinner said. "It was his choice, we didn't put a sword to his throat and make him do it. Now, can we concentrate on more important matters?"

"Yeah, like who's going to tell the Inquisitor's advisors we stood here and watched him almost kill himself?" Rocky grunted.

The Chargers all had the same horrible realization at his words. Josephine, Cullen, and especially Liliana were going to kill them if they found out about this. They'd be lucky if it was Cullen. He'd at least motion for a public execution. Something quick and controlled. Josephine might just have them exiled. Or imprisoned. Anything that would make an example without projecting a bad light on the Inquisition itself. Liliana, though? Oh, they dreaded thinking what she might do if she found out. Elodrin and her were as close as it was possible with the extremely secretive woman. They'd never see it coming. Ghosted away for torture, maybe. Assassinated in their sleep if she was feeling generous.

Before they could further let their imaginations get away from them the Elven mage let out a light moan. "He's waking up!" Stitches called, waving the others over.

Bull pushed past the others to get to his lover. Bright green eyes opened slowly. "You with us, Kadan?" he asked, kneeling down as Elodrin let out a cough.

"Yes… I'm good…" the Elven man muttered. He tried to sit up and cringed. "Okay, maybe 'good' isn't right, but I'm alive."

Before the Qunari could respond, Stitches spoke up. "You're lucky you didn't break every bone in your fool body, Inquisitor," he said in disapproval.

"I can't believe I actually did that," Elodrin actually laughed, finally managing to push himself up into a sitting position. "Of all the crazy things I've ever done…"

"I can think of a few better words than 'crazy'," Bull muttered.

The Elf's laughter faded quickly, looking puzzled. "You… but you're the one who asked me to do that," he pointed out in confusion.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it!" the mercenary snapped. He knew it wasn't fair to be angry at Elodrin over this, but he was still feeling the tail-ends of the adrenaline his fear had created when he saw his lover throw himself off a cliff. "You weren't supposed to actually do it!"

"What do you mean I 'wasn't supposed to'? Why would you go asking me to do something that stupid if you didn't want me to?!"

"You were supposed to see how stupid it was and stop! That was the point!"

"That's… that's ridiculous! You told me to do something we both knew was dangerous with the intention of me not doing it?!"

"That's what I said!" Krem cut in, crossing his arms over his chest.

Elodrin turned his attention on the Charger, having forgotten the others were there. They were all standing back, looking awkwardly at anything but the arguing couple. "Wait… you knew about this, Krem? That I wasn't… that this was all just some kind of…" He couldn't seem to get the words out with how flabbergasted and furious he was feeling at the same time. He pushed himself to his feet painfully. He felt like a dragon had hit him at full speed. Every bone and muscle screamed at him to lie back down and rest.

The former Tevinter flinched, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, I wasn't for this happening. But you know how the Chief can get when he has an idea. Nothing can stop him…"

"You could have told me! If you knew this was all part of some idiotic scheme of his, why didn't you warn me before I went throwing myself off of a cliff?!" Elodrin couldn't stop himself from unleashing his anger in any direction he deemed worthy at this point.

"Hey, don't yell at him!" Bull grabbed Elodrin by the shoulder and turned him so they were facing each other. "He didn't ask you to jump off a maker-damned waterfall! And I told him not to tell you! It would have defeated the purpose of my 'idiotic scheme' if you knew what was going on!"

"You're right, he didn't ask me. You did!" Elodrin reminded him again, slapping the hand on his shoulder away. The fact that the grab had hurt with his sore muscles did nothing but exacerbate his increasing fury. "All he did… all any of them did was sit here and watch me embarrass myself!" He shoved the huge Qunari, who was almost three times his own size, out of his way as he marched over to the pack holding his light armor. His staff sat next to it, which he plucked off the ground and pointed at the Chargers with, causing them to flinch in half-expectance that he would actually incinerate them on the spot. "I'm going to go dry off and change, and then I'm going home. You all can do whatever you want except follow me. I don't want to see any of your faces for… for I don't know how long."

The Chargers watched him go off on his own into the Graves. They knew better than not trust him to take care of himself. Despite his size and pretty face, he was the Inquisitor. Short of a Fade Rift pouring out demons, a dragon, or a giant, they knew he could take care of most anything out there.

"Congratulations, Chief," Rocky patted the Qunari on his giant, muscular arm. "You did exactly the opposite of everything you were hoping to achieve today. Usually takes a paying customer before you achieve that."

"Not the time or place, Rocky!" Dalish hissed.

"No, he's right," Bull deflated as soon as Elodrin was out of sight, covering his face with a hand. "This whole thing was a cart-wreck. Krem was right; I never should've gone through with this whole thing. Should've known his pride would've made him go through with it."

Skinner snorted. "You think this was about pride?" Instead of elaborating, she threw her hands in the air. "You're hopeless."

"What?" Bull asked, looking from her to the others. They all displayed varying levels of disbelief. From Rocky whose eyebrows shot upwards, Dalish who leaned on her staff sighing, and even Grim who just slapped his forehead. "What?" he repeated, finally looking at Krem.

"Maker, I can't believe we have to talk about this. You know what he 'needs' in bed, but you don't know a thing about what he wants outside of it," his second-in-command groaned, turning and picking his equipment up. "Come on, Chief. We'll trek back to Skyhold and I'll explain it nice and simple."

()()()()()

"Is there a problem, Inquisitor?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Well, considering you only get this way when you're upset…"

Elodrin looked up at Dorian, his face painted with sulkiness.

It was five days since he and the Chargers had gone off somewhere. Five days since he'd returned on his own in a foul mood and no mind to speak to anyone about it.

This night the Tevinter mage had been sitting in his favorite chair in the library, reading a thick book on Orlesian lore. He was waiting for another book he'd ordered to be delivered and it was the most interesting thing he could find to occupy himself with in the meantime. The Inquisitor had dragged himself up the stairs looking like someone had dragged his favorite robes through the mud. He shuffled over to the reading man, who lifted the book in perfect synchronization with Elodrin dropping to his knees in front of him, arms crossed upon Dorian's thighs and face buried in them.

"I think I may be unfairly angry at Bull," the Elf sighed, laying his head back down, though turned to the side this time so his voice wouldn't be muffled.

"I'm not sure how that's possible. Being disgusted by that brute is my norm," Dorian muttered. He reached down and threaded his fingers into the Elf's long, auburn strands. He turned a page in the book he'd set on the side table next to him. "What did he do this time?"

"It's… a very long story. But it ends with me nearly killing myself to impress his crew."

Dorian snorted. "What in the world did you do? They're a bit of a simple bunch. Not the hardest to impress."

"I jumped off a cliff," Elodrin admitted.

"You do that all of the time."

"It was probably the size of Skyhold's main tower."

"Fasta vass!" Dorian nearly knocked his book off the table at the shock of that statement. "You jumped off a… you could have been killed! What were you thinking?!"

"The whole fortress doesn't need to know it, Dorian!" the Elf hissed at him. "And I landed in a river. I've been sore ever since, but the healers say I didn't do any permanent damage."

"Even so, why in the world would you ever do something so reckless? That isn't like you. You're usually at least somewhat sensible. You wouldn't have gotten as far as you have if you weren't."

"Because Iron Bull asked me to," Elodrin explained, pulling himself to stand up. He slid into Dorian's lap, resting his head against the Tevinter's shoulder. It was late, so not many people were still in the library. They knew Liliana was still working on the top floor, as the woman never seemed to sleep. Otherwise, most of the staff had retired to bed. Not that Elodrin and Dorian particularly cared what anyone said about their unique relationship.

"He asked you to jump off a cliff?" the human mage asked incredulously.

"Well, he then said I wasn't actually supposed to jump. It was some kind of… I don't know… test, or something. I suppose I didn't pass. The worst part is that all the Chargers knew about it, even Krem."

"And he didn't tell you? I always thought he was at least reasonable," Dorian said, going back to petting Elodrin's hair. The Elf found it soothing when Bull was unavailable for… more pleasurable stress-relief.

"Bull asked him not to. I don't have the heart to stay mad at Krem. He tried to talk Bull out of it, and it's not his fault we're both stubborn asses."

"I suppose that's why you two work so well," Dorian sighed. He couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice, though he tried. As much time had gone by, and as close as he and Elodrin remained, he was still disappointed that the Elf had chosen Bull over him. He couldn't bring himself to be angry at either of them, though. Even he could see how much they loved each other.

"I know it was foolish of me to jump. But I can't forgive him for asking me to do it in the first place. Or being angry at me for going through with it. What was he thinking?" Elodrin muttered, closing his eyes and snuggling in. He really was still sore, it was late, and this was comfortable.

"Maker if I ever figure out what the lug is thinking. In fact, incinerate me if I actually do start understanding it. It will mean I'm likely completely insane." When the dark-haired man paused and didn't get a response, he looked down. Elodrin had fallen asleep. That suited him just fine, turning his attention back to his book. Let the Elven mage rest.

The candle on the table hadn't burned too much shorter before the sound of heavy footsteps announced another visitor. "You know, if you weren't such an ass he wouldn't need to keep seeking out my attention," the Tevinter said dryly, not even looking up from his page.

"You say that as if it's any of your business," Bull growled, coming to a stop in front of them.

"It is when he keeps making it my business. Also when you ask him to do ridiculous things like jump off cliffs." Dorian finally looked up from his book, his frown pinning the Qunari in place. "What were you thinking, asking Elodrin to do something so thoughtless? You know he would never say no to you."

Bull ran a hand over his face, trying to stay angry but instead slumping in defeat. "I know…" he admitted.

At the sight Dorian softened. He looked back down at the Elf in his lap and sighed. He then looped an arm under the Inquisitor's knees and stood up, facing the giant before him. "I won't ask you why you did it, because I have a feeling whatever you say will only make me angrier. But I will demand that you do your damned job as his lover and take care of him. Elodrin may not be the delicate creature he looks like, but if you don't protect him from everything that's trying to kill him, including his own foolishness, then I will take him from you and do it myself. Understood?"

The Iron Bull almost didn't know how to respond, he was so surprised by the declaration. He knew Dorian loved Elodrin, but he hadn't actually thought that deeply on the subject. He recovered from his surprise, though, and set his jaw determinedly. He wouldn't be shown up by this… preening, pampered Tevinter mage. "Don't worry your pretty head," he replied, taking the sleeping Elf from him. "I don't intend to let anything happen to him."

"See to it," Dorian insisted, poking him on the arm. He sat back down in his seat, picking up his book testily. This conversation was over. Not even a 'goodnight.'

Bull rolled his eyes and carried the sleeping Inquisitor to his own room, laying the Elf on the elegant bed he kept in his quarters. The Qunari walked around the bed and lay down in it next to Elodrin but didn't do anything that might wake the mage further than that.

The mercenary hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep. The next thing he knew he was being awoken by his lover lacing his fingers through his, face nuzzling into the massive muscles of his upper arm. It was easy for Bull to forget that that Inquisitor was so small at times, but those thin, delicate fingers never failed to remind him.

"I don't like being mad at you."

Bull looked down at Elodrin, whose words were muffled in the mass of muscle. "I don't like you being mad at me, either," he admitted in return.

"I mean it," the elven mage turned his bright green eyes up to him, pushing himself up onto his elbow. The other hand didn't let go, though. "And I still am, you know. Furious, I mean. I humiliated myself in front of the people you care about the most. I did it because you asked me to."

"I know," Bull sighed, running his free hand over his own face. "I fucked up. I'm sorry, Boss."

Elodrin's features softened, finally letting go of the Qunari's hand. He crawled up the much larger man, using his left pectoral as a pillow as he lay back down. He sighed contentedly and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry as well. You were right, I could have just backed out at any time. I just…" The auburn-haired man trailed off, realizing how ridiculous it sounded five days later.

"You just…?"

"The Chargers are so important to you, and I thought… I don't know exactly what I thought, honestly. I just wanted to make you happy, and I thought them liking me would do that."

"They already like you, Boss."

"And you couldn't have told me that before I threw myself off a cliff?"

The Iron Bull sighed heavily, slapping his free hand against his forehead. This conversation wasn't going anywhere, simply running in circles. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm just… I guess I'm used to dealing with mercenaries. Any of my men, if I asked them to do something that stupid they'd tell me to fuck off. And that's what I want from them. I don't want any of the Chargers to do something they know is going to get them killed."

"Was that what I was supposed to do? Tell you to 'fuck off'?" There was an edge of humor behind the words. It was a good step forward.

"I'd expect it in somewhat more elegant words from you, Kadan."

Elodrin chuckled, lifting his head so he could look at the former Qunari. "Is that what you want from me, then? Elegance?"

"No, I think that's what Josephine wants. I'd prefer you just be… you know… Elodrin," Bull answered, pushing a stray lock of auburn hair from the elven man's eyes. "Honestly, it's what the Chargers want, too. And even if it wasn't, then fuck 'em. You don't have to please everyone."

Elodrin tilted his head thoughtfully, looking at a place on the wall behind Bull's head. After a minute of contemplation, he finally said, "I'm trying to remember the last time anyone told me such a thing. I seem to be drawing a blank. In my clan it was 'master everything I instruct to you and stay out of trouble.' With the Inquisition it's 'piss off as few powers as possible while making near impossible decisions no one would ever expect of an elf, let alone a mage, if it weren't for your extremely specific circumstances.' No one has ever told me not to try and please anyone before."

"You don't. I mean, I know it's part of your job here and all, but if we're talking strictly non-business related, then yeah, fuck 'em," the Qunari reiterated. "If there's a person out there that can't see that you're the most fantastic person in Thedas, then they don't deserve your time."

"Okay, now you're just trying to flatter me."

"Is it working?"

Elodrin laughed, pushing himself so he straddled his lover, smiling impishly. "I don't know, I'm considering staying mad at you for a lot longer."

"Hey now, Kadan, you said you don't like being mad at me," Bull said, chuckling.

"Well, there is one way to help me get over it," the elf said, voice low and seductive as he leaned forward. He pressed a kiss to the Qunari's lips, moaning softly as he felt massive arms cocoon him protectively, pinning him in place. When he broke the kiss, grinning lopsided, he added, "There is one person I wish to please whenever I can."

Bull's grin widened as he let Elodrin go, sliding him back onto the bed. "In that case, give me a moment. I need to find some rope."