Good Idea
"So what is it this time?"
Jael's teasing question yanked Jowan out of his rather heated internal debate, and he looked up as the elf plunked down next to him. "Huh?"
She grinned. "What's makin' you frown like that this time?" She shot a suspicious look toward the Antivan elf flirting with Leliana. "Zev didn't come on to you again, did he? I really will kill him this time if he did."
"Maker's breath, no!" Jowan's face went red at the mere mention. "After the way you jumped down his throat last time? He'd have to have a death wish."
"Haven't you listened to him and Morrigan? A good assassin doesn't worry so much about death," Jael reminded him with a cheeky smile."You're really cute when you blush like that, by the way."
"Jae!" he protested, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, to answer your original question, I was just... thinking."
"Which can be dangerous, or so I hear," Jael teased.
"Not really. You should try it sometime," he shot back with a grin.
"Oooh. You, ser, have been spending entirely too much time with me," Jael laughed. "But I did walk myself right into that, didn't I?"
Jowan nodded. "You did."
"So what were you thinkin' about that had you so worried looking?" Jael propped her chin on her hand and looked over at him.
He sighed and raked a hand through his hair before giving a one word answer. "Lily."
"Ah." Jael bit her lip but didn't say more.
"I can't stop thinking about her, to be honest," Jowan admitted reluctantly, rubbing the back of his neck.
She sighed but stayed silent.
Jowan winced at the look in her eyes. "Oh, Maker, Jae, not like that. I just... I feel guilty that she got punished for something I did."
"Oh. Well, what can you do about it? Do you even know where she is?"
"Aeonar."
Jael sighed, huffing hair out of her eyes. "She may as well be in the bloody Imperium. No one knows where Aeonar is, except a few high-rank templars."
He bit his lip. "Including Knight Commander Greagoir. And since blood mages can read minds... I know, too."
"You read his mind? Was that really a good idea?"
"Just to find out where Aeonar is, that's all," Jowan promised hastily. "I want to... I don't know... help Lily somehow. Get her out of there." He sighed. "She'll probably still hate me, and I don't blame her, but she shouldn't suffer for my choices. She didn't know about the blood magic; I never told anyone."
Jael slid her hand into his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'll help."
"No, Jae, I wasn't tryin' to-"
"I know," she interrupted, scooting closer to the mage. "But if it's important to you, I want to help. 'Sides, it's probably not a good idea for you to go alone."
"Mm. Good point," he conceded. "Thanks, Jae."
"My pleasure," she smiled. "Just show me where to go."
"You got a map?"
o.O.o
The journey was uneventful, their arrival at the mage prison, not so much. They'd hardly taken a step past the door when one of the templar guards saw them and led off his attack with a very familiar burst of pure white light.
Alistair was the only one who managed to resist getting knocked off his feet by the Holy Smite.
Jael shook her head, trying to clear away both the ringing in her ears and the double vision as all six of the front hall guards converged on the warrior, who gave them a taste of their own medicine a few seconds later. See, I knew it was a good idea to bring him along, she grinned as Alistair's Smite sent them reeling back. She lunged at the first to recover, her sword clanging against the templar's shield as she and Alistair did their best to keep the guards away from the mages.
o.O.o
Holy Smite still felt like getting kicked in the chest by a horse. The only difference the armor Jael gave him made was to make more noise when he slammed into the wall.
Ow. Everything had gone white, whether from the Smite itself or from his head bouncing off the wall, Jowan wasn't sure. Probably both.
"Jowan!" Jael's voice was muffled, like he was hearing her through water.
He blinked, tried to focus, tried to regain his feet but couldn't. He'd been hit by more of the Smite than Wynne, so even when the older mage made it back to her feet, he was still struggling to do the same.
"Jowan!" She sounded desperate, almost frantic this time. The white finally faded from his vision enough for him to see why.
There's too many of them. Jae was good, with Alistair backing her they were even better, but there was still only so much they could do. And holding six templars at bay did not fit in that category. Jowan barely managed to scramble away from the one that got through to come after him, the lightning spell that flared from his hands more instinct than anything else.
It was enough to knock the attacker back for a minute, at least. His battle to clear his head prevented Jowan from paying as much attention to the fight as he should've, and he'd only made it halfway back to his feet when one of the templars caught him off-guard, bashing his shield against the mage's chest hard enough to knock him back into the wall.
Oh, come on. Jowan groaned, sagging against the wall and letting it support him. I'm going to be even more black and blue than the armor at this rate. He blasted the templar with an ice spell, freezing the man to the floor long enough for Jael to decapitate him. Alistair and Wynne finished off the last two a second later.
"Are you alright?" Jael demanded, grabbing his arm. "Jowan?"
He laughed, leaning his head back against the wall. "You were right, Jae."
"Huh? And is that a bruise?" She pushed up on tiptoe to brush his hair out of the way and probed a sore spot on his forehead.
"Ow! You said it would be a bad idea for me to do this alone, and you were right." He winced as she worried at the bruise. "Jae, it's just a bruise! I'm fine."
He saw the raw worry in her eyes before she could hide it behind one of her customary grins. "You sure? That thick skull of yours harder than a stone wall?"
"Apparently," he replied, pushing away from the wall. "Honestly, I'm fine."
"Still, you're lucky I was here to save you," she teased, the last of her concern fading. "And kiss it better," she amended, lightly kissing the bruise before she stepped back. "This is why it's a good idea to listen to the genius redhead elf."
"That and you have a bit of a temper," Alistair chipped in.
"You-" Jae rolled her eyes and laughed, lightly punching him in the arm. "You're asking for it, ser knight. Let's have a damsel in distress to rescue."
Jowan was glad she didn't look back before she led the way futher into the fortress, because he was sure he was blushing.
o.O.o
Jael couldn't help but wince when they finally found the auburn-haired woman they sought and her reaction to seeing Jowan was to scream and back away. The pure hurt that flashed in the mage's eyes as he tried to calm her down was so deep Jael swore to herself she'd die before she hurt him like that.
"Lily, we're here to get you out," the elf explained as Alistair wrestled with the rusty lock.
"No, no, I can't leave!" Lily shrieked.
"Why not?" Jowan demanded.
The explanation came together in pieces in rapid-fire conversation between mage and initiate that Jael didn't understand in the slightest. Except the word demon. She sighed, because she could guess the jist of why Lily wouldn't or couldn't leave. When Jowan filled her in, she wanted to swear.
There was a demon somehow loose in the deepest recesses of the dungeon, corrupting the mages, loosing lesser demons, and preventing any of the prisoners from leaving. They'd have to find and destroy it before they could get Lily out.
This is for Jowan, it's for Jowan, it's for Jowan... Jael reminded herself as they fought off three desire demons and a blood mage. The reminder was repeated multiple times the futher they went into the corridors and caverns. And the final fight against the pride demon in the subterranean chamber had the words circling in her head so fast they ran together.
I wouldn't do this for anyone else, Jael had to admit as she went flying into one of the stone columns that dotted the room. By the time they finally won, her arms were burning with fatigue, and she could see Jowan's hands shaking when he cast his last spell, a sure sign he'd pushed himself dangerously far.
Alistair cut the demon's legs out from underneath it and jammed his sword into its head when it fell. "Now... can we go?" he panted. "I'm sick... of this place."
Jael chuckled as she slipped Jowan a lyrium potion. "Let's."
o.O.o
He'd been right, but he wished he wasn't. Lily still hated him. Jowan couldn't blame her, not really. He'd lied to her, used her, broken her heart. The lingering hate in her eyes hurt all the same.
It's my own fault... he reminded himself as he silently followed Jael out of the fortress.
She must have seen something in his eyes upon glancing back, because she slowed to walk next to him and slipped her hand in his with a gentle squeeze. "One thing I've learned the hard way," she said softly, "Don't let your past mess up your future."
"Thanks, Jae," Jowan half-smiled, squeezing her hand back.
"Not to ruin the moment," Alistair interrupted, "But we're going to need to buy more supplies before we head for Orzammar."
Jael groaned in exhaustion and rested her forehead against Jowan's shoulder. "Way to spoil the mood. I'm too tired. Can't we do it tomorrow?"
Jowan chuckled. "I can go, Jae. What do we need?"
"Lyrium potions, health poultices, and more bandages," Alistair rattled off, tugging the small tail of white fabric hanging out where Jael's arm guard met her armor. "Somebody was a little too reckless."
"So I was supposed to let Wynne get decapitated?" the elf demanded, slipping her hand free of Jowan's to cross her arms and glare at the warrior.
"Well, no," Alistair conceded. "But still, Jae. You're more than a little crazy."
"This I know," she retorted. "Jowan, you know how to get to the nearest town once we hit the shore, right?"
He nodded. "I do."
"Good," she yawned. "Just be careful."
o.O.o
She fell asleep before they made it halfway across the channel seperating Aeonar from the mainland, so she missed her chance to reiterate the warning before Jowan left. And he was back by the time she woke up from her nap.
"Just in time, Jae," Alistair teased. "You can help put all this stuff away."
"Why can't Jowan help?" she protested, stretching to get the kinks out of her spine.
"Because I want to get out of this armor," the mage answered, already tugging off the gauntlets. "That's why."
I'd rather help you with that... Jael grumbled to herself as she sighed in concession and moved to help Alistair. "Oh, fine."
Putting away the supplies turned into arm-wrestling over dinner duty, which Jael lost, as always. She was so busy cooking and then cleaning up-the result of losing to Zev at Wicked Grace -that it was dark before she made it back to her tent.
It was firelight glinting off silver that revealed something sitting on her pillow.
No way... She bit back a squeal as she slid her fingers around the twin slender blades. No sodding way.
It was a pair of daggers. When she pushed back the tent flap to let in more light, she couldn't fight the small gasp.
It wasn't just any daggers; it was the daggers. The ones with amethysts in the handles, the ones she'd wanted so very badly over a month ago. I must be dreaming. A hard pinch on the inside of her elbow proved she wasn't. And that was when she saw the note.
Thanks, Jae. For everything.
She didn't even need to look at the signature. There was only one person in camp with such messy-bordering on horrible-handwriting. And she'd teased him about it enough times to recognize it on sight. So that's why he's looked so nervous since he got back. The daggers dropped on her bedroll as she all but flew back out of the tent and made a beeline for a certain dark-haired mage sitting off by himself.
o.O.o
"Thank you!" Jael's hollered gratitude was all the warning Jowan got before the elf crashed into him hard enough to knock him over, his spellbook tumbling in the grass as the two of them sprawled next to it.
Well, I guess that clears up whether or not they were a good idea... "And what exactly are you thanking me for?" he asked, pushing off the ground enough to lean on his elbows as he looked up at the elf straddling his stomach.
"Oh, you." Jael whacked his arm, but hastily followed that with a hug. "The daggers, silly goose. How did you know?"
"Know you like purple? You told me that, Jae," he grinned. "And you're a rogue, so daggers made sense."
"No, I mean-" she took a deep breath and started over, not moving off him. "The town where I got you that spellbook, I saw that exact set of daggers and I wanted 'em so bad, but they were too expensive; Alistair would've killed me for spending that much money." Her eyes narrowed. "How did you-"
"Don't you worry about that," he cut her off, reaching up to briefly lay one finger against her lips. "I didn't steal them, don't worry. But beyond that, I'm not telling. I'm glad they were such a good idea."
o.O.o
"Good idea-" Jael huffed. You precious, wonderful idiot... "Jowan, they were more than a good idea."
"Really?" He was giving her that lopsided, sheepish grin that made her stomach flip in ten different directions again. It was just too much for her to resist this time.
"Yes, really," she retorted, "Just like this." With that, she kissed him, grinning to herself as she braced one hand against the ground and slid the other into his hair.
o.O.o
Jowan had to agree with her on that. He shifted all his weight to one elbow so he could curve his other hand around the back of her neck. Between the two of them, they managed to keep balanced longer than they could hold their breath.
Jael finally pulled back and grinned at him again, cheekily this time, loose strands of red hair dangling in her eyes. "See?"
"Uh-huh," Jowan mumbled, almost as dazed as he'd been by the Holy Smite in Aeonar. "A very good idea."
And he kissed her.