"In case you need help, just let me know."
Fenris felt her look and heard her snort when he entered his room and closed the door behind him, fighting a smile. Actually he had to fight himself from smiling a lot since he had met her and was not sure what to make out of this behavior.
Apart from the fact that she was the first woman in years he had wanted to kiss.
The first woman in years he HAD kissed.
Shaking his head he laid the towel over the chair next to his bed and prepared everything for the night: His broadsword in arms reach, two daggers under his pillow and his armor pieces directly next to the bed. He remembered that at the beginning of his escape he had not even dared sleeping without armor, but that had changed in Kirkwall. A lot had changed in Kirkwall, mainly – only – by meeting Hawke, becoming his companion, starting to trust him, earning his friendship. Once he had said this to Hawke – after they had emptied his last bottle of Aggrevio Pavalis – but Devon had only raised an eyebrow and answered: "Isn't it more the fact that I have earned YOUR friendship?"
And he had been right. The man Fenris was now, he was mainly because of Hawke. He knew that. And the truth was: There were worse things.
A load knock on his door dragged him out of his thoughts.
He stayed silent, as he always did when someone came unannounced to him, waiting for the reaction of the visitor.
"Fenris!" Cassy, and she was angry. "Don't tell me you are already asleep!"
Well, even if he had been, now he would be surely awake again.
"I don't want to burst into your evening beauty session, but…"
He opened the door, and she stopped talking, but handed him his broken comb instead. "I am sorry, it is broken!"
He raised an eyebrow and took it. "Obviously", he eventually answered and looked at her again. "How so? I don't think that your hair did this…?"
She made a face and blew a strand of her hair out of her face. It was still very… messy. "My hair has nothing to do with it. But the wall in the washroom…" Now she looked slightly embarrassed and started to move from one foot to another. "Look, I simply did not want to lie, alright? I tried to use it, it got stuck in my hair, I got angry… and threw it against the wall. That's it." Stubbornly she crossed her arms in front of her chest and obviously waited for him to reprimand her.
He was tempted to do so, if only to see the little frown appear between her brows again. This whole situation was absolutely ridiculous, and again he had to hide a smile. Not an annoyed or a sarcastic one, but a genuine smile.
"Don't smirk", she told him and then pointed accusingly into his direction. "This is all your fault."
"My fault? I wasn't aware that I should have told you beforehand how to use a comb properly…"
Her eyes became narrow. "Don't make fun of me, or…!" She stopped herself before ending the sentence.
"Or what?" he calmly asked and approached her. Slowly.
She bit her lip and followed his movements, the look into her eyes changing into what he had seen before he had kissed her. "Or I might not get so quickly a replacement for you." Her back bumped against the wall opposite of his door. "And I assume your hair care is very important for your… prick."
He could hear how her voice had become a bit irregular, and he liked then sound and the thought that he might be the reason for it. "Don't worry", he heard himself answering, "as long as you are looking for a replacement, you can simply comb it with your fingers."
Her breath got caught in her throat when he pressed his flat palms to both sides of her head against the wall. All the while he was wondering where this sudden change in his behavior came from. Here and with her he was acting like the man Mynari had described, but who had always appeared like a stranger to him. Now he seemed to come back: A man confident in his body and his soul.
He tensed as he saw her raising her hand, first hesitantly, then with a challenging look in her eyes when she approached his hair. For a long moment they looked each other in the eye, than he slightly bowed his head and allowed her to touch it.
It was a dangerous composure. His neck was vulnerable like this, and in the past he would have never allowed anyone to touch him like this…
A shudder ran down his spine when he felt her fingers move through his hair, stroking and sliding, combing it. Involuntarily he moved closer, felt her breath on his cheek and knew that he only had to move his face to the side to be able to kiss her again.
"So soft", she murmured. "I guess I have to ask you for your secret, Prick…"
"I told you" he answered huskily and moved his lips to her ear. "I don't like to be called like that."
Her breathing became quicker, as did her heartbeat. Now she was moving closer, and her breasts grazed his chest.
It was pure instinct that brought him to turn his head and press his lips against her neck, feeling Cassy shudder against him and moaning his name…
"Fenris…"
Her voice, saying his name, sounded husky and strange, but what should she do with his lips on her neck? It was as if she had completely lost control over her body and her thoughts. Never before had she been so aroused in such a short time, and it was kind of embarrassing and exhilarating at the same time.
She had not come to him for this…
Well, that was a lie. Part of her had hoped that she would see more of the starving wolf who had kissed her in the wood. What she had not expected was that she would meet a playful tomcat instead.
His mouth moved to her ear and wandered over her earlap. Oh, she loved it when she was touched there, especially with lips… A small noise escaped her lips, and she decided that she should take over control before she completely turned into a brainless doll in his arms.
So she turned her head and brought her lips to his.
He tensed, and she could see that he was watching her mouth out of half closed eyes.
"Do I get my kiss now?" she managed to whisper, and a small, intimate smile appeared on his lips.
Slowly his mouth wandered over hers, and with a sigh she closed her eyes. He carefully nipped at her upper lip, then her lower one, teasing, so damn hot. Her pulse was hammering so quickly that she could nearly hear it, and her blood seemed to burn. And he hadn't even kissed her properly…
When he finally did it, she wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth to welcome him. It was different from the last time, less hungry, much more sensual. His tongue tangled with hers and pulled playfully back so that she had to follow him and opened her eyes again. He still was watching her, and this time it was her who initiated the next kiss, shoving him against the wall on the other side of the floor and pressing herself against his hard, muscular body.
A low growl erupted from his throat and vibrated through her body, making her even hotter than she already was. He was big for an elf, so she went on tiptoes to reach him better, and he grabbed her hips to support her and hold her in place while they feverishly kissed each other, not playful anymore, but deeply and passionately and without restraints.
His hands were moving from her hips to her waist and then over her back until he reached her hair and buried his fingers into it. Before he was able to bend her neck and kiss her there again, she playfully escaped his grip and lowered her lips to his markings instead, caressing them with her tongue.
They had already been glowing before, but under her intimate caress they inflamed, and heat flickered over her mouth.
Astonished she pulled back and watched the markings fascinated.
"I… I am sorry…", he suddenly said and moved to the side, creating space between their bodies.
"There is no need…", she started to say, when he added: "I shouldn't have done this. It was my fault!"
She froze and turned to look into his eyes. "What exactly was your fault?" she eventually asked, her voice no longer husky, but frozen.
"This", he answered and made a vague movement with his hand.
"THIS?" she hissed and imitated his movement. How could he call what had just happened between them THIS?
"Cassalia…"
"Oh, don't start with this again. You…" Oh, she had simply no words for this behavior! He did not even look like he was effected at all, but was simply watching her with his damn, beautiful eyes as if she was behaving like a stupid child… again.
"You don't understand…", he started to add, but she did not allow him to finish the sentence, but stormed off without another word, rushing into her room and slamming the door with so much force that it must have been heard in the whole house.
Then she went to bed… and could neither find sleep, nor stop thinking about him.
Normally Cassy was a morning person and lost her good temper during the day – at least this had been the case in the alienage when watching dumbheads like Sinus – but on the next morning she barely was able to get up. Of course she knew whom to blame: HIM! Because of the damn prick she had not slept a wink and fallen asleep only two hours before dusk.
When she went downstairs and into the kitchen, Aidan was sitting at the table and looking up to her. Through the window she could see movements outside and did not have to take a closer look to know that it was Fenris who was training. Ignoring the mage's look, she caught something to eat and sat down cross-legged on the ground.
Aidan raised an eyebrow. "No morning person?"
She simply snorted and started to eat. During all the time she felt his gaze lying on her and eventually looked up to him again. He had a small smile on his lips, and she shot him a warning glance. When he started to talk, he was wise enough not to say anything else about the topic or to ask for the reasons of her bad mood. Instead he explained: "There is something Fenris and you should know before we are heading down. I want to be fair…"
She watched him warily when she heard the hesitation and concern in his voice. In the same moment Fenris voice said: "I already had the feeling that you are hiding something, mage…"
"And I have the feeling that you think that of ALL mages", slipped the words from her lips before she was able to stop herself. In sounded accusingly, and she knew that she was behaving childish. So she simply ignored him and said to Aidan: "Tell us."
He nodded and shot a short glance to Fenris who crossed his arms in front of his chest, clearly expecting the worst.
"Before he had left, Derrik had talked with me about his friend, the mage he is looking for in this village. Both had been grown up together in the circle and promoted to fight at Ostagar because of their battle mage abilities, even though they still had been quite young. But from what I gathered, this other mage had always been…", again he looked at Fenris, then sighed and ended: "Let's say he had been … ambitious and ruthless."
The Elven warrior chuckled darkly, while Cassy was watching Aidan thoughtfully. "There is more, isn't it?"
The mage nodded. "When Derrik told me that he had heard rumors that his friend had survived as well, he seemed… concerned. I asked him why, and he told me that the two of them had been at the same place when the Darkspawn had overrun them. And he had seen his friend's wounds before he had been buried under the bodies and what the Darkspawn had done to him…"
Cassy tried to avoid shuddering, but it did not work completely. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Fenris watching her and starting to move… to do what? He did not really think that she would allow him coming close again after how he had behaved last evening?
Obviously he had had other intentions or read her body language – who was screaming loud and clearly to stay AWAY FROM HER – because he did not come, but said instead: "Let me guess: Your mage friend thinks about HIS mage friend, that he has either used blood magic to save his life or made a pact with a demon. And that HE might be the reason why this whole village is empty and there is a hole in the ground leading into the Deep Roads."
Aidan had become pale, but nodded eventually.
"But if that was the case", Cassy asked, "why the Deep Roads? Shouldn't he hate them in case the Darkspawn had nearly killed or tortured him?"
"Sometimes what you hate most is what you cannot let go", Fenris answered, his voice calm and dark, his thoughts far away. She wondered what he was thinking about and had to fight the impulse to go to him.
"I just wanted you to know that", Aidan added. "In case…"
He did not finish the sentence, and Fenris raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically: "In case for what? In case we – I – would rather stay here?" He shook his head, clearly frustrated. "We have a pact as well, mage. I help you to find your friend – and if necessary to kill this other mage – and then you tell me where my sister is."
Aidan had watched him and relieve appeared on his face. Cassy did not blame him: The thought of going down there alone – and she was sure that he would have done it – was frightening.
When she felt his gaze on her, interrogative and patient, she understood that he was waiting for her decision as well.
"Of course I will come with you", she said. "Or do you think I will let you go alone in the darkness, only accompanied by the firefly? No way. Besides", now she was smiling at him and he returned it amused, "I still like your idea of taking care of this lyrium depot. The last templars I met have not been very nice, so I think I will help you with this as well!"
He was clearly taken aback, while Fenris was clearly NOT amused. She did neither care for the one, nor the other reaction, but simply grabbed her baggage and opened the door to leave the house.
"Alright, than let's go and get this over with!"