A/N - I am very grateful to my lovely beta, Kelcat, for helping me revise these earlier chapters. It was her probing questions that made me aware that revision was necessary in the first place!
o o o o o o o o o
Aleesa had declared a week of rest and recovery for her Wardens. She was obviously enjoying her own decree, as she and Alistair rarely left her room except for meals and minimal sparring. Nate observed that even their time in the practice yard seemed to be a type of foreplay.
Nate had enjoyed a couple of days of rest, but was not one to be idle; he practised his bow everyday, duty or not. He had taken up sparring with Sigrun to replace the extra time Aleesa no longer spared him. The dwarf's fighting style was different, and Nate was grateful for the challenge. He and Aleesa could read each other so well that their sparring matches almost seemed rehearsed.
With the practice session over, Sigrun left Nate to meticulously tend to his weapons as he always did. Daggers sharpened and polished, he had some time before the midday meal. He was sweating from the exercise and decided to indulge in a long bath to soak his muscles. He had been quite sore since the intense fight against the Mother.
He stopped by his room to strip down to his breeches and then walked to the keep's baths. He stopped at the door when he heard merry voices and laughter within.
The door opened, and a soldier emerged. The man flushed at the sight of Nate and stammered "Good morning, Ser," before scurrying away. Nate walked inside knowing Anders would be there.
Sure enough, the mage was sitting in the large soaking tub. His head was tilted back, resting on the edge of the tub, and his eyes were closed. The tips of his dark blond hair were wet from the water, while the strands around his face were damp with sweat. Nate wondered if the hot water alone was responsible for Anders' flushed appearance.
Nate dropped his gaze and noticed two goblets and a dark glass bottle on the floor. Nothing about the scene matched Nate's experiences from the Free Marches of austere military living.
He cleared his throat noisily and the man in the tub opened an eye to look at him. A flirtatious grin spread across the mage's face.
"Are you next?" Anders asked, leaning forward invitingly.
"Please just tell me you weren't doing anything in the water." The other tubs were empty, so Nate would have to join Anders or forego the comfort of a hot soak.
Anders pouted and leaned back against the edge of the tub again. "You are no fun at all," he commented as he closed his eyes again.
"You didn't answer my question." Nate was seriously considering leaving, but his body simply did not want to move.
"It wasn't a question; it was a request," Anders' tone was mocking him. "But 'no,' we didn't defile your precious water." Then with an impish grin and a single opened eye he added "you might want to avoid that bench though, if you're so picky."
Nate had stripped naked and been about to leave his breeches and smallclothes on a bench. At the mage's words, he simply dropped his clothing to the floor. He scrubbed himself from a bucket of soapy water and rinsed. Then he joined the mage in the hot water of the large tub, deliberately sitting on the exact opposite end.
Anders eyed him with his flirtatious smile. Nate felt exposed under the lecherous gaze, but simply raised an eyebrow to show he was unimpressed.
"I could help you relax, you know," the mage purred. "All that bow work, you should really have those shoulders rubbed down."
"Maker!,"Nate thought. "Your last conquest just left!" He did not let his thoughts show, however, maintaining a look of cold boredom.
"You are as transparent as a sheet of glass, Anders," he said simply.
"Okay, so perhaps I had other things in mind." Anders' grin was unapologetic. "But I'm still right about the shoulders and the bow use. You'll come crying to me when you strain yourself fighting and need to be healed. It's far safer to do preventative treatment now. What if that strain came mid-battle and you were unable to fight?" Anders was wearing an exaggerated look of concern.
Nate eyed him suspiciously, but had to concede that his muscles were in need of treatment. Dare he give in and allow Anders to massage his aching muscles? He had no doubt it would feel good, but it felt decadent and dangerous.
Anders pressed on. "I am the healer of the Grey Wardens and you are a Warden. Keeping you in top fighting form is my responsibility. Now turn around so I can deal with those neglected muscles."
Nate doubted the sincerity of Anders' sudden concern with his responsibilities, but he found himself giving in to temptation. Reluctantly, he turned his back to the mage and felt strong, soft hands begin rubbing his shoulders. Healing spells mixed with the motions of long, smooth fingers. It felt divine, but Nate could not forget that he was sitting naked in warm water with an equally naked Anders. That the naked mage was touching him in ways that made breathing more difficult only raised his guard further.
"Relax!" Anders scolded. "I can't heal you if you don't relax your shoulders!"
Nate was still rigid.
There was a pause before the healer spoke again. "When you aren't fighting, you unstring your bow, right?"
"Yes" the archer agreed cautiously. He was surprised Anders had paid any attention to the basics of archery.
"Well your body needs the same as your bow. Time to unstring."
Anders was using only three fingers on the back of Nate's neck. It seemed innocent enough. Nate took a deep breath and tried to relax. This was his healer. This was part of keeping his body fit to fight. That it felt so good was irrelevant.
Anders' able fingers dug into tense muscles, warming them with magic as he massaged. The healer slowly moved to shoulders and carefully unknotted the muscles there. Nate could feel his shoulders ache as they slowly opened and released their tension. He moaned as Anders worked a knot under his shoulder blade.
The combination of massage and hot bath were working to create a level of relaxation Nate had not felt in years. He let a contented smile creep along his lips and his breathing deepened. He could almost have fallen asleep in Anders' care.
o o o
Anders smiled as he finally felt Nate relax into his hands. He worked his hands along the bowman's muscled shoulders and delighted in the feel of the other man's bare skin. It seemed to have taken forever for things to come this far. Anders' repeated attempts to flirt with Nate were usually met with irritation. This was the most intimate they had ever been after months of Anders' effort.
He wondered why he still bothered. Vigil's Keep was full of attractive and willing bed-mates, but Anders repeatedly dreamed of Nate. He might have written the noble off as an impossible conquest, but there had been those very rare times when it seemed the bowman was flirting with him! And for some ridiculous reason, a single flirtatious smile or comment from Nate turned him into a blushing, bumbling fool.
So it seemed an act of the Maker himself that Anders now found himself naked in a tub with the rogue of his fancy, being allowed to rub his hands along the man's strong shoulders and back. Having made it this far, Anders could not resist seeing how much further things could go...
o o o
Nate's eyes flew open at the sensation of a tongue gliding up the edge of his ear. The tongue flicked inside and Nate pulled away. He moved to the far end of the tub and glared at Anders.
"That was not part of the healing process," he said sternly.
"I am the healer here. And I use many different techniques." Anders' tone was calm and seductive as he moved across the tub toward Nate.
Nate turned away from the mage, stood up, and stepped out of the tub. He wrapped a towel around himself as he faced the wall. He was afraid Anders would notice the swelling of his groin. "Weak, treacherous flesh." He quickly dried off with a second towel.
"Like I said before," Anders pouted, "You are no fun at all."
Nate found himself suddenly angry. He rounded on the mage. "If you're already bored of all the serving girls and soldiers at Vigil's Keep, perhaps you should ask Aleesa for leave to visit Amaranthine. I hear they have a brothel there. Maybe they are hiring."
Nate knew he had gone too far, but he doubted the mage would care. The man took nothing seriously. He grabbed his clothing from the floor and stormed out.
o o o
Anders sat in the tub long after Nate left. Rejection and insults were hardly new to the mage. Why did it sting so deeply this time? Anders did not want to think about it, but it was not long before hurt turned to anger.
"Self-important, pretentious bastard! Just because he is noble-born he thinks he is better than everyone else. Does he even count as a noble any more? His family was stripped of their title and lands!"
Anders sat and fumed.
Finally he dressed and went to the dining hall. When he arrived, he sat apart from the other Wardens and ate in a silent sulk. Even the arrival of Ser Pounce-a-lot, who playfully batted at his robe, did little to change Anders' mood. He was angry at Nate for his insult, but he was far more angry at himself for caring.
Anders saw Sigrun watching him and then turn and comment to the table of Wardens. He could not hear her words, but one by one every Warden turned to look at him with concern. Every Warden, except Nate.
o o o
"So why is my healer sulking?" Aleesa had cornered Nate in the practice yard later that afternoon.
"Why would I know?" the bowman asked defensively.
"Because you were the only one who didn't seem surprised that he was sulking."
"He's always sulking. He's just moody. Give him a bit and he'll be all jokes and smiles again."
"Do I have to make it an order, Nate?" She was giving him that stubborn look that made it clear she would not drop the matter.
"Fine! He came on to me, I turned him down, and" his voice got very quiet as he reached the actual confession, "called him a whore."
"What was that?"
"I called him a whore," Nate repeated angrily. "Not in so many words. I told him to visit a brothel and then added that they might be hiring."
Aleesa stood quiet for a long time. "Go apologise," she said simply.
"What!" Nate had a flashback to Adria making him apologise to Delilah for one of his many pranks. He did not care for little Aleesa Cousland making him feel like a child.
"Apologise! You insulted your comrade, go apologise." Aleesa, still looking stubborn, clearly felt this was a matter of principle.
"You have got to be kidding! And what about him? He came on to me!" Nate was trying very hard to feel justified.
"And you have every right to say 'no,'" Aleesa said, still talking to him as if he were a child. "But you do not have the right to insult a Grey Warden."
"You're being absurd, Aleesa. This is an order of fighters, not Orlesian ladies at a high tea worrying about manners."
"We are a small, elite order of fighters who rely heavily on our camaraderie to make up for our small numbers. I enjoy some teasing and banter, but I will not tolerate in-fighting."
Her tone shifted from annoyed to disappointed, and her stubborn expression melted to pleading.
"I see you as my second-in-command, Nate. I need the Wardens-all of them-to feel they can talk to you and trust you in my absence. Please go apologise to Anders."
The fight went out of him as he gave a simple nod; he really could not justify his actions. Most people simply did not get under Nate's skin, so he was not used to losing his temper so easily. The mage, however, irritated him in a way no one else could.
Was it really so bad to be flirted with by a handsome man? He had never been so irritated with the many fake and ambitious young nobles who had flirted with him in his youth in hopes of an advantageous marriage or liaison. And many of them had lacked Anders' more redeeming features.
Nate stopped his line of thought. It felt too much like walking over a barely-frozen lake.
He took a deep breath and left the practice yard.
o o o
When Nate reached Anders' door, he realised he had no idea what to say. "Perhaps 'sorry' will be enough." He knocked on the door.
There was no reply, but Nate could hear hear little noises within. He knocked again and was ignored again.
"Okay, I am coming in. If you are in the middle of something...you might want to say something now."
"Go away."
"Are you alone?" Nate really did not want to walk in on something, again.
"Surprisingly, the whore is alone." Anders spat bitterly. "It must be my break."
"Can I come in?" Nate was still hoping this could be handled civilly.
"No."
"I want to talk...please?"
"No."
Nate sighed. He needed to apologise, but the mage was not letting him.
"Listen, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said the thing about the brothel."
Silence.
"Anders? Did you hear me? I said -"
"I heard." The mage sounded petulant. "You may be sorry you said it, but you still think it."
"That's not -" Nate stopped himself. He would not deny it just to spare feelings. He was honest to a fault, and Anders did behave like a whore. Worse, actually, in that he was not driven to his behaviour by a need to earn coin and survive.
Anders correctly interpreted his silence. "See! You do think it!"
Nate deeply resented having this conversation through a door. He was worried someone would walk by and witness the scene.
"I am coming in," he declared, and he opened the door despite the mage's protests.
Anders was lying in bed. From his bare arms and chest, Nate knew he was not in his robe.
"Lying in bed, naked, in the middle of the day is hardly the way to refute accusations of being a whore," Nate said with a low chuckle. "Although being alone is a good start."
Anders sat up in bed and glared daggers at him.
Nate sat on the edge of the bed and looked the mage in the eyes. For some reason, he was struck by the warm amber colour. He ignored the thought and spoke his mind.
"You haven't been to the practice yard in days. Nor have you made a single potion. You have done nothing to contribute to the Wardens since we slew the Mother."
Nate felt his control slip as he rattled off the list of grievances he had been mentally collecting against the mage.
"Instead, you have done your best to distract every soldier and servant from their own duties. You claimed to be interested in my health in an attempt to add me to your list of conquests, immediately after using a public room to get up to Maker-knows-what with a random soldier!"
Nate took a deep breath.
"I am sorry I said what I did, but it is hardly surprising that I am not impressed with your behaviour!"
Anders' face was scarlet and his eyes raged as he glared at his accuser.
Nate could see the intensity of the other man's emotions. He had come to make amends, and he had made things far worse. He ran his hand over his face.
"I'm sorry. You were right. I should just go."
The bowman stood and left the room in silence.
o o o
The next morning, Nate was up with the sun like usual. He dressed and grabbed his bow for his pre-breakfast practice. Moving into the hallway, he nearly tripped over the health and stamina potions sitting by his door. So many potions would have taken the mage all evening to make.
Nate walked to the practice yard and had his second surprise of the morning. Anders and Alistair were in the throws of an intense fight. Anders was doing his best to char the warrior; the warrior was using his Templar training to reflect the spells back at the mage.
They had both worked up a serious sweat by the time Nate arrived. Anders was wearing the low-cut robes they had looted after their battle against the Architect, and Nate absent-mindedly watched the way the mage's chest glistened in the sun.
Alistair took a step back and held up his hands in surrender. "Mercy, Mage, mercy!" He was smiling and gasping for breath. "Being king doesn't afford much time for sparring. I'm not in the shape I once was."
"Well all the more reason to push you while you're here," the mage retorted with a grin.
"After breakfast. A man needs food!"
Anders beckoned to Ser Pounce-a-lot, who was chasing a leaf nearby, and the two smiling men and the cat went into the keep.
Nate reflected on the morning's surprises as he sent arrow after arrow into the far target. He had viciously criticised the mage, and the mage had responded by rising to the challenge. Perhaps he had judged too harshly. Perhaps he had been wrong in his assessment of the man.
o o o
At breakfast, Nate silently watched Anders banter with his fellow Wardens. He observed their laughter and noted that each left in high spirits. When the other Wardens had left the hall, the bowman pulled the mage aside. The healer's face was unreadable.
"I'm sorry," Nate began, "for what I said yesterday. For saying it and for thinking it. I was wrong."
For a long moment, the two men stood, each assessing the other as if they had just met. Then Anders cracked a smile so infectious Nate could not help but mirror it. He ignored what the mage's smile did to his breath.
"Forgiven," Anders said simply.
o o o o o o o o o