This week's prompt was 'languid'. As I couldn't get my mind out of the gutter I decided to dispense with my pesky smut-virginity. So yes, that rating has gone up! Vivien Hawke is fed up with Anders' terrible lute playing and decides a distraction is in order.

Nimble Fingers

Twang.

Vivien tapped her quill against her chin and tried not to wince at the sounds coming from across the room by the fire. Anders had a fine singing voice certainly, but one thing he was not possessed of was any skill whatsoever with the lute.

A collection of discordant notes had been assaulting her ears for the better part of thirty minutes now, and it was severely impairing her ability to respond to the pile of correspondence on her desk. Vivien tried to drift off into that happy place where the air smelt of wet grass and the only sounds punctuating the silence were birdsong and the scratching of her quill. Tried and failed. She heard Anders curse under his breath as his fingers murdered yet another chord.

She gripped her quill tightly in an effort to restrain the urge to break that blighted lute over Anders' pretty head. He seemed so determined to improve that such an action would be like kicking a puppy. A puppy that hadn't been fed for days. With liquid brown eyes and a 'love me?' expression. Besides, that lute was pretty much the only thing Orana owned, and the poor girl didn't deserve to be punished for Anders' shortcomings.

Vivien reached a decision. She was obviously going to get no work done, and Anders had to be dissuaded from future reinterpretation of the word 'music'. Surely she could soften the blow by wrapping it in concern for his wellbeing. This could become a much more pleasant distraction from pandering to inane requests from Kirkwall's nobles.

She set her quill down and scraped the chair backwards. Anders stopped playing abruptly at this unexpected movement, but Vivien did not turn around until all trace of the smirk at her cunning plan had disappeared. She left the desk and sauntered across the room to where Anders was sitting, noting that he watched her as she did so.

When she knelt down in front of him he smiled at her, so full of genuine affection that she almost felt guilty for the less than favourable thoughts she had been having about him. Almost.

"Come to listen to me play?" He asked, turning back to the lute and giving the strings an experimental strum which wasn't wholly terrible, as a sardonic edge crept into his voice.

Vivien hummed noncommittally. "You're distracting me." A statement that was both true and accurate, if not intended as an entirely positive remark.

Anders merely raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'd better stop then. I know how much you love writing notes to Kirkwall's finest." He said sarcastically.

The laugh that escaped her lips was harsh, and she rolled her eyes, before returning her gaze to his face. She fixed him with an intense stare. "Actually, I was more concerned for you. You've been playing for a while now, and you're not used to it – your fingers will get sore."

The mage stared back at her incredulously, then lifted a hand from the neck of the lute and wiggled his fingers. Tiny sparks arced across the small gaps between them in waves, crackling with power. "In case you'd forgotten love, I am a healer." He leaned in closer to whisper.

Vivien smiled indulgently. "Yes, but lute players have calloused fingertips. I like your hands Anders; they're so soft and dextrous, and there are so many wonderful things you can do with them. I wouldn't want anything to happen to them."

She reached for the hand still resting against the lute, holding it gently in her own cupped palms. The electricity wreathing his other hand fizzled out and died as he allowed her to pull his hand towards her, watching curiously.

"Your fingers are so very talented, I'm sure we can put them to better use." She said, her voice a sultry whisper. She drew light circles around the palm of his hand, moving with almost reverent care. Anders' eyes fluttered closed as he breathed a sigh, the barest hint of an 'ooh' escaping his lips.

Pleased with herself at achieving her goal without wounding Anders' pride, Vivien continued her exploration of his hands. She trailed all four fingers across his palm back towards herself, and along the gaps between his own impossibly long fingers. The lute slipped in his lap as he shifted a little, and tutting he grabbed the instrument and discarded it somewhere behind himself.

Turning her hand over she ran her nails back down his fingers, brushing across his palm again and down to his wrist. She barely made contact with his skin, but he gasped all the same. Vivien continued the feather light touch along his forearm, almost painfully slowly, stroking her meandering way towards the crook of his elbow. Anders hummed quietly, and lightening quick grabbed her hand, holding it still against his arm.

"Vivien, that's really lovely, but uhh . . ." He breathed, brain stalling as she drew a languorous pattern over the hyper sensitive flesh of his wrist with the other hand.

"Why in such a rush?" Vivien said, bending her head to press a butterfly kiss to his palm. As she did so she found that his fingers curled to cup her chin, grazing along her neck. She felt a pleasant shiver run through her body.

"I don't rightly know." He replied, as though in a dream. The grip on her hand became lax, and his fell away.

Vivien had only wanted to tease him a little, but she found herself becoming steadily more enraptured by the reactions she was drawing from him. And now that Anders could reach her skin, and was returning the barest hint of a caress over her cheek she felt the familiar creep of desire move steadily down her spine.

She turned into his touch, brushing her lips along the length of his thumb. He obviously had been over zealous in his strumming because the skin was just slightly too warm and too smooth. Vivien breathed out a chastisement. "Anders, you must take more care of yourself, let me make it better." Her tongue darted out to flick against his thumb-tip.

Anders sucked in a sharp breath as he bit his lip. Vivien shot him a sideways glance, a dirty smirk blossoming across her mouth. Humming appreciatively she gripped the digit gently between her teeth at the knuckle and swirled her tongue around it. A stifled whimper reached her ears as Anders watched her.

She looked up at him then. The hand that was not already preoccupied was gripping tightly onto his knee, in an effort to prevent it from travelling further up his leg to where Vivien noticed a distinct bulge. A voiceless 'hah!' issued from her, and she caught his gaze with her own. Without breaking eye contact she slid the full length of his thumb into her mouth, sucking on it gently.

Anders couldn't help but let out a moan then at the wanton expression on her face and the implications of her movements. His hips jerked ever so slightly. Vivien seemed to have broken his resolve because he swiftly uncrossed his legs to kneel in front of her. Those long fingers found their way past her cheek and into her hairline. She released her grip on him ever so slightly as she sighed contentedly. Anders took the opportunity to slide his saliva slicked thumb free, running it over her lips as he tilted her head back.

Then his mouth was on hers, crushing their lips together with a muffled 'mmph' as he pulled her head upwards. He leaned into her pressing the length of his body against hers, seeking all possible contact. Vivien felt the heat of his arousal through their clothes, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders to pull him closer as she felt herself tip backwards. He lowered her gently onto the rug, settling over her.

He dragged his hand over the planes of her neck and collarbone, catching at the fabric pulled taught over her chest, and down until he found the hem of her dress, kissing her deeply all the while. Fingers slid beneath the cloth as he pushed it up to her hip. He toyed with the edge of her underwear between thumb and forefinger. Vivien let out an incoherent noise, and Anders broke the kiss.

"Talented fingers, eh?" He considered, voice low and laced with promise despite the smirk which tugged at the corner of his mouth. He tapped said fingers gently not quite in the place she wanted them.

"I wanted to go slow." Vivien protested through a low moan.

Anders smiled at her with feline indulgence, then leaned in close to her ear. "Oh don't worry," He whispered. "I think turnabout is fair play. I plan to be excruciatingly slow."