Heads nestled close together while bodies spread out to cool on a soft, sweat soaked blanket. Their breathing slowed from labored to gently strained. Anders finally broke the stillness by reaching for his boot laces. Fenris swatted the hands away and took their place. The elf gently pulled off one boot and then the other, taking the socks with the leather, palms and fingers caressing each leg as it withdrew.
As they lay back down, the blonde twined his legs around the lanky figure beside him. Green eyes closed in contentment while honey clouded eyes glazed over, staring out towards a distant starry sky. Time passed as thoughts turned together and apart and together again without a need for outward exchange.
"Fenris?" Anders finally found cause to disrupt the calm. He did not turn his head to speak.
"Hrmh?" From the sound of his voice, Fenris was threatening to fall asleep before he heard his name.
Anders had to know before morning. "Is there really such a thing as an Uthenkaari?"
Fenris shifted his head towards Anders but did not fully turn to look. He only opened his eyes a crack. "It is a rumor I heard." The elf sounded wistful. His honest reflection blended back seamlessly to his usual sarcastic deadpan. "I have never seen a Qunari compound in person. I am sorry if that disappoints."
Anders pouted, then curled into a ball facing away from the elf. Fenris raised his eyebrows at Anders' reddened back and ruffled hair. He gave a genuine smile at the blonde's back. The warrior released a deep chuckle, sympathetic but pleased at pulling off an epic bluff from the smallest grain of reality.
"You manipulative beast!" Anders cursed half-heartedly with drowsy irritation. "Maker's balls." The mage rubbed at one eye with his hand, then turned it gently to inspect chafe marks from the cuffs.
Fenris stroked Anders' hair affectionately. "It was a parable." He began to gently caress Anders along the arms and shoulders, seeking any available unmarked skin. Anders could feel a sexual tingling wherever touches landed. This went a long way to soothing his ego. The bliss turned his head towards the sky.
"Right," came the resigned sigh. "It's a parable where you urge me to sew my mouth shut and hand you my control rod, rather than give my body to legions of foreign men." By now both their eyes were open, the corners of Fenris' mouth turning up while Anders' turned down. "You realize we could have just had a private conversation. 'Dear Anders, you're fantastic, really, but do me a favor and don't be a whore.'"
Fenris' eyebrows raised as his lips curled into a full smirk. "If I said that, would you have listened?" Anders turned fully onto his other side to face the lyrium threaded elf. Before their eyes met, Fenris reached over and retrieved Anders' smallclothes to wipe at the various fluids on the mage's stomach.
"No. I admit it." The mage looked down, noticing the mess for the first time, and contemplated. "Coming from you, it would be arrogant. I would act out at the next opportunity, probably before the day was out." He seemed unlikely to engage in petty misbehavior now. He hummed as his stomach gathered goosebumps. With a snarky grin, Fenris collected fluids as high up as Anders' collarbone.
Fenris dusted over Anders' glittering chest hairs. "That is why I delivered a parable instead. Consider it… a warning. Something to think on when you next desire to' act out'." The elf gave himself a quick wipe and threw the smallclothes to the side, satisfied enough for now. He considered that they'd probably need to bathe again the next morning. Next time, he would keep his companion in plain sight.
Anders grew thoughtful. He now felt every inch of his skin as if it were newly formed. He pulled Fenris' hand over to his hip and felt pleasurable heat radiating from where it rested idly. He compared this to the destructive path he might otherwise be on. "I really wish you weren't making sense right now."
Fenris shrugged amiably. "For what it is worth, you will always be both Sarebaas and Uthenkaari to me. Equal parts dangerous and merciful." Fenris fondly brushed Anders' hair back from his face.
"Mrm," Anders responded. He liked the sound of it. He could almost feel in colors now. "Fenris?"
"Yes?" Fenris smiled as Anders reached out his arm to caress lyrium branded skin in kind. The brands sang back distantly, serene wind chimes as heard from a house on the other side of a steep hill. Anders drew long fingers around the brands on Fenris' arms and chest, listening to the fadelike harmonies.
"Thank you. For the warning." Anders smiled sheepishly. The possessive grin he got back tasted like iron.
"You're welcome." The conversation finally outlasted Fenris' initial desire for sleep. He looked back at Anders wondrously tracing the edges of his lyrium brands and found he rather liked the sensation. The thrum of Anders' Panacea kept his skin healed around his brands before it had a chance to chafe or pull.
Somewhere in the past week, Fenris got past the constant expectation of pain. He mind released the unthinking instinct to protect himself, opening him up to simple touching. It scared him a little, how much he liked it. It was a gift, he knew, that could only be given by a born healer who was completely comfortable in both his skin and his magic. Throughout the evening's entire events, Anders never once dropped the steady spell that kept the pain from Fenris' brands at bay. It was proof of what Anders had once confessed, that keeping up the aura was like second nature, and that dropping it felt contrived.
Now the soothing aura pulsed even stronger, more vibrant and deep. Anders' magic throbbed with his contentment. Fenris was beginning to recognize Anders' moods from subtle variations in his magic.
Fenris stretched, testing the tiredness in his muscles and finding that pleasant as well. Yawning, he reached over to pull the pot from the fire. "Now sit up before I start to warn you again. You should eat."