author: aimorai

Word count: 2,660

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She was the quiet center in the midst of a raucous evening at The Pearl.

Zevran studied her over the rim of his mug. He actually wasn't drinking too heartily - just enough to quell suspicion. Besides, Nell was drinking enough for two. His eyes took in the sight of her without a robe. Leather pants only succeeded in highlighting the length of her legs, and a green tunic belted at her waist whispered over the rest of her lithe curves. In truth, she was more covered than he usually saw her, but twice as alluring - if only because it was different. Even her hair was altered - normally pulled back, tonight she'd let it down, long brown curls with hints of red in the firelight.

It certainly wasn't alluring at all, however, that she was drowning in cheap ale and swallowed tears. That was frustrating. And intriguing. And playing right into his hands. It was though fate had plucked her and dropped her directly into his lap - figuratively speaking of course. He hoped it would soon be literal, as well. She had become more and more distracting as the days had gone by and it was high time he did something about it before it drove him down dangerous roads.

He was certain that Alistair wasn't going to do anything about it anytime soon. Granted, some of the nightly interruptions of their relationship were entirely his fault. But there were also the bandits, and Wynne's illness which added to the stall in affairs. Who was he to not simply... help fate along? The two of them seemed more than willing to constantly put things aside for others. A curious thought. They had all died, and Alistair still couldn't seize the woman and take her like she so richly deserved.

He swallowed heartily, trying not to think about her face as it had looked in death and the curling cold that had settled within him at the sight, and refused to entirely go away, as he slid next to her, leaning an elbow back against the bar.

"You know, my dear, if you merely wish to drown your sorrows then we could have gone somewhere a little more... quiet." He grinned.

Nell hiccupped.

He lifted a brow. "I thought you said you required distraction."

"I do." She pushed away her mug and stared at it, not really meeting his eyes or looking anywhere else, in fact.

"Ah...if you have not noticed there are many scantily clothed men and women not too far from here. I believe they are a bit more entertaining than your drink. Although I could be wrong." Deftly, he reached across and plucked the offending cup before she could reach out and grab it. Nell blinked, hazel eyes coming up towards Zevran's face, and her brow wrinkled.

"This wasn't... exactly the sort of distraction I had in mind." Her voice was still clear, not slurred. That was good. Sopping drunk would be no use to him at all.

"No? What better distraction? It is what you want after all, no?" His leaned closer slowly, though not forcing more intimate boundaries. Men and women were different in this; with women, it was much better to be invited.

She blanched, her eyes focusing more harshly on his own. Whatever surprise he felt, Zevran attempted to cover with a grin.

"Zev... You of all people should know what I've been going through. There always seems to be some reason I can't..." She gestured, harshly, towards a man being led towards the back by one of Sanga's girls.

"...Convince the good Warden to come to your bed. Yes. I admit I always thought the man was foolish, but until now I did not believe him to be a fool."

She snorted a little, as if she might agree. Zevran felt his grin widen and he sidled closer, until his leg was touching alongside hers. He could almost smell victory, now.

"...Can I ask you a question?" She looked at him, hesitant. Almost vulnerable.

"Yes, but I get to stare at you luridly while you do so." He looked at her with slightly hooded eyes, just enough to catch her wry grin and pithy response.

"Ah yes, that would be a change." She looked down, smoothing non-existent wrinkles from the bottom hem of her tunic. Her hair slid down across her shoulder as she did, and his hand twitched. "Do you.. think I said the right thing?"

"What, earlier? When he came running out of that house as if he'd lost a bet with a Crow?" Zevran couldn't stop a hard edge from coming into his normally lilting tones, and he paused for half a breath to silently clear his throat. She is still thinking about him. The thought did not sit well, and he shifted - though, try as he might, there was a stone settled low in his belly that refused to move. And the antidote was proving... trying. If it was, in fact, the antidote. A man could only hope.

She nodded and he sighed, waving a hand in the air as if directing the most melancholy verse in the world.

"In truth, my dear, I think you should have told him how things really are. He needs to learn a thing or two about taking what he wants and not relying on other people to make him happy." He felt his teeth snap together and he finished the thought on a purr, his hand coming down of its own volition and the tips of his fingers going under her chin to lift her eyes toward his again. "The man, gorgeous as he is, does not deserve your sorrow tonight. He left you alone, did he not?"

Her face became pained and he almost regretted pushing her. Almost. Though maybe she requires it. She lifted her chin out of his grasp and he steeled himself.

One step forward, two steps back.

"He said he needed to think."

"Several hours ago."

She pinched her lips together in response to the truism and looked around the room, shaking her head and changing the subject. "I don't want to be here...but I also don't want to go back." She looked towards him again with her multi-colored eyes and Zevran was forced to sigh.

"I thought you would be so much more... fun." His voice was dramatic, but his eyes glittered, and Nell in return was forced to chuckle.

"I know... it was very kind of you to take me away, even if it was to...here. Everyone else wanted to talk about it." She wrinkled her nose. Zevran reached out and touched the tip of it after she did so, causing her eyes to fly wide.

"And all you have done since we have been here is talk about it." His voice mocked her prior emphasis, and he was rewarded with a self-deprecating grin forcing its way across her lips. "Perhaps you should have stayed, no? At least then I would already be enjoying myself with a much more loud and lively companion."

She arched a brow, some color returning to her cheeks at the challenge. "You think I'm not loud and lively?"

"Normally you are an enchanting, vivacious woman, it is true, but tonight I confess that you bore me." Their voices were back in their normal bantering range, and it seemed to be working to draw her out of her alcohol-induced haze.

She lifted her brows, opening her mouth slightly. Zevran could see the pink slip of her tongue click against the top row of her even teeth. She tried to be smooth and quick when her arm jetted out to grasp his wrist and pull him to his feet but rather failed at the attempted graceful maneuver- inwardly, he smirked and pretended to be overtaken, allowing her to keep the ruse.

"Perhaps I'll just have to surprise you."

"... I like where this is going."

Nell smirked, her eyes flashing, as she turned and dragged him behind the bar, where Sanga had allowed her to keep her satchel. She hoisted it without relinquishing his arm and turned into the hallway. He half believed they were marching towards a room but... ah, no, he was not quite so lucky.

Instead, she actually did surprise him.

"Stand here." Nell let him go and he did as he was bid, amused at the commanding tone of her voice. She squatted down, rifling through her satchel. It was somehow a very feminine thing, watching her mutter and curse as she sought out whatever she was after. He tilted his head and enjoyed the view of her practically on her knees before him before she finally let loose an 'aha!' and returned to her full height.

In her hands, she held some kind of fabric, dark and leathery - the smell filled his nostrils with its divine, heavy scent - tied hastily into a bundle with a bit of twine. She handed it to him with a smug look taking over her features and he glanced at it.

Gloves. Zevran felt the muscles in his jaw tighten. They were supple and soft, cut for elvish hands, with Dalish embroidery around the edges. He gripped them tightly for what seemed like an interminable moment, until her voice cut across his curiously blank mind.

"Don't you like them?" He could hear the uncertainty creeping into her voice. Say something.

"These are.. Dalish make, are they not? They are... like my mother's gloves. The stitching is different and they are not quite as supple, but yes, they are very similar." It was like reciting his thoughts straight from brain to mouth. She remembered? A strange tightness crept its way from his stomach and up the sides of his throat, causing it to work. He swallowed to hide the offending emotion, although it seemed to still slowly burn, behind his eyes and much lower. Finally, he felt ready to glance up.

Nell's face was soft and studying, with a smile that he wasn't expecting. Happy, not smug.

"I... was not expecting such a gift." Ever. "Thank you. Very much."

"You're welcome." Her voice was quiet, and then she tilted her head and burst open into a sunny grin. "Surprised you?"

"Ah, yes." He was forced to admit it, curling one corner of his mouth into a smile. Inside, everything was havoc. The urge to kiss her reigned over everything else, even the urge to bed her. His muscles seemed to be not under his control - an unusual thing for any rogue - but some deep knowledge that such would not be her ultimate desire stayed his hand, even if it would earn him one night.

Because, even now, she was thinking of the other Warden. She always was.

He is...an idiot. Her kindness did not deserve to be taken for granted. Alistair too often did just that.

He would never forgive that man, friendship or no. Zevran was convinced that Nell's feelings for Alistair had developed simply because the Warden got there first.

Zevran nearly growled at the thought, holding onto the precious gift with one hand and reaching out to snag her with the other, marching her back towards the rooms in the Pearl.

"Now, it is my turn to surprise you."

Nell made a startled noise right on cue as she allowed herself to be hauled down the hallway. "Zev...?"

He twirled her around in front of an empty doorway and she leaned on the frame, curious, not at all wise enough to be scared of him in his current condition. Instead, she pressed.

"What's wrong with you?"

He gripped the gloves tightly, squeezing them in his hand, and looked directly in the eyes that haunted him every night in his tent. Eyes that he wanted, despite himself, to look at him in a certain way. She never will. Even with the knowledge, it wouldn't stop the want.

"My dear, I want to bed you. I would give you everything you desire tonight. You are gorgeous and kind, and you deserve such a kind gift in return for what you've given me." What you've done to me.

Her eyebrows flew upward and he raised a hand to stop whatever verbal assault he knew was coming. "That is the first surprise. The second surprise is that I am not going to bed you. I am going to leave you here and pay for two rooms. You will take this one. You need to sleep, and I need to leave your alluring company for the rest of the evening."

Nell stilled. There was no retort. She simply stared, eyes roving his face, seeing... who knew what. The very thought that she was trying to read him was annoying and unnerving. He took in a breath and then let it go, though not breaking the look.

"I do not expect you to understand, but I do expect you to never bring this up again. I have a reputation, you know." One corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. He started to bid his retreat, when her voice caught him from behind.

"Why?"

He turned slowly, looking over his shoulder.

"Why what?"

"Why won't you?"

Zevran swallowed, his mind flying. He thought of half a dozen lines to throw her way, but they all fell flat when he tried them on his tongue. In the end, he shrugged, and answered honestly for once, without wit or guile.

"Because it would be dangerous." Their eyes met, held. She licked her lower lip and the urge to go back and remove all he'd just said waxed strong. But one night would be all he would get.

And then she would regret it.

And he didn't want that. What he wanted...No. He tamped down the thought and locked it deep inside his mind. Her lips formed a few unspoken words before she settled on a response.

"Still thinking about killing me?" She had meant to lighten the mood, he knew, but it fell flat. Suddenly, he wasn't much in the mood for games. Not with her.

"Not that kind of dangerous, my dear." His voice was a low, soft purr. He hadn't heard himself use that particular tone in a long while.

She kept his stare and then finally nodded, once, faintly, and he turned his head about and went back into the main room. He heard her door close behind him and he closed his eyes at the same moment, shrugging his mask back into place as easily as if it had never left.

Immediately, he scanned the room, walking towards Sanga and lifting his finger to point out two girls. He pressed enough coin for two rooms, and two nights, into her hands and the woman smiled graciously. "I will need them both. The rooms, and the girls. I like a... change of scenery." Sanga nodded archly, turning to wave the two women he'd pointed out in his direction. Zevran turned and led the way to an empty room, ushering their giggling, perfumed bodies inside.

"Ah, ladies. We are in for a very long evening, you and I." They sprawled on the bed, expectant and obedient.

As Zevran undressed, he looked them over.

They both had brown curls on the top of their heads, and the one had nice long legs. Their bodies were well-used, and the faces... well. He would dampen the light. It would have to do. It was the best he could expect. He just needed to get her out of his system.

The fact that his heart dropped as he crawled onto the bed, and his stomach twisted each time he sank into the substitute flesh, that had nothing to do with it at all.