Nostalgia


It had been another long day of traipsing around Kirkwall and solving other people's problems. They'd been exhausted when they finally returned home, taking a long, hot bath together before holing up in their room for the night.

Anders was on the verge of sleep, his head pillowed on Olivia's stomach, her fingers running through his loose hair. The gentle scrape of her fingernails across his scalp sent pleasurable tingles down his spine, his body sinking into a state of relaxation.

"Anders?" she murmured, unsure if he was still awake.

"Hmm?"

"Do you remember the day we met?"

He smiled, letting out a short huff. "Like it was yesterday, love," he replied.

She hummed in delight, no doubt smiling that beautiful smile of hers. "I think I fell in love with you right then," Olivia mused.

He cracked an eye open and slightly turned his head so he could see her face. She was indeed grinning, her smile lighting up her face. Anders opened his other eye so he could fully appreciate the sight.

"You didn't know me," he started. "How could you have fallen in love with me?"

She laughed, the sound music to his ears. "You don't believe in love at first sight?"

"That would explain the starry-eyed look in your eyes when I tried to warn you away."

"What did you expect of me?" she said, fighting back more laughter. "You were the first apostate I'd seen since…" Her face fell, brows knitting together as she looked away from him. He knew she meant her sister and her father even though she couldn't say it. Olivia shook her head and took a deep breath before focusing on him again, a soft smile gracing her lips. "You were healing that little boy, and you gave it everything you had," she continued. "You put your entire self into healing him, just like you do with everyone. I was amazed, to say the least."

"So it wasn't my good looks and charm that enthralled you?" he joked.

"Oh, that was also a part of it," she said, laughing. "That and the affectionate way you spoke of Ser Pounce-a-lot."

"Ser Pounce-a-lot! I miss that cat." Anders frowned. "Blighted Wardens. I'm not too soft," he bitterly muttered.

"I don't know about that," Olivia started, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She reached out and leaned forward, tapping his bare stomach. "You seem to be gaining some weight."

"You're the one who feeds me!" he said, sitting up and playfully narrowing his eyes at her.

"I know, and it's a good thing I do or you wouldn't eat at all." He rolled his eyes and sat back against the pillows, the lengths of their bodies comfortably pressed together. She shifted onto her side, bringing her lips up to his ear, her fingers aimlessly tracing shapes over his stomach. "Besides, I happen to like pudgy men," she purred, her fingers dipping down below his navel, teasingly toying with the laces of his pants. Olivia nibbled on his earlobe, sparks leaping from her fingertips to his skin.

Anders inhaled sharply, all previous sense of exhaustion vanishing in an instant. He grabbed her hand and flipped her over, pinning her wrists on either side of her head as he settled over her. She squealed, the sound of surprise quickly changing into that of laughter. He was going to make a quip about that "pudgy" remark, but he couldn't, too transfixed by her.

Her hair was fanned out on the pillow below her head, her laughter making her chest heave underneath the shirt of his she was wearing, her bare legs tangling with his own. When she calmed, her bright eyes stared up at him and he could see how happy she was in that moment, and it warmed his heart.

"What?" she asked, confused at his sudden change in demeanor. "Anders, are you all right?"

He smiled at her, her gleeful mood contagious.

"I am now," he said, that beautiful smile returning to her face. Anders closed the distance between them, tenderly pressing his lips to hers, losing himself in her kiss.

He spent the rest of the night in the arms of the woman he loved, thanking the Maker she'd walked into his clinic that fateful day… his life had never been the same since.