Worth the Risk

by lyviel

Elden Trevelyan hadn't expected to ever lead anything but now that he was the Inquisitor he would do all he could to ensure their success. Dorian couldn't help but find his determination endearing and let's face it, the Inquisitor stood no chance against Dorian's charm. A series of scenes taking place over the course of the game mostly focusing on Dorian and Elden's relationship

14. Cold Hands

"Mountains, cold, let's bring Dorian!" Dorian muttered darkly as he trudged through the heavy snow, lagging behind the others. His lungs ached from the cold every time he breathed and each step sunk deep into the snow. "Look at my hands, amatus," he said to Elden who had fallen back to walk beside him. "They're going to freeze like this. Someone will find my corpse come thaw and it'll still be gripping my staff. They'll have to pry it loose"

Elden smiled at him so fondly, so warmly, that Dorian forgot what he was going to say next and fell silent as they both came to a halt. Elden reached out and took one of Dorian's hands, freeing it from the staff. He rubbed it between both of his own, paying special care to his fingers. He didn't stop until the ache of the cold was completely gone. Then he placed kisses along Dorian's knuckles and palm before taking his other hand, doing the same to it.

He was so gentle, not releasing him until his hands were properly warm and when he finally met his eyes again with that same gentle smile Dorian was at a loss for words. Then Elden leaned in and placed a kiss to his nose before moving away and continuing after the others. Elden was no mage and yet somehow the places he had kissed tingled and Dorian wanted nothing more than to pull him close again and never let him go.

Dorian had been expecting none of that. He was a mage, after all, and perfectly capable of raising the temperature around him or summon up a ball of fire to warm his hands if necessary. Now, however, Dorian felt flustered and overwhelmed and more than anything disappointed at the loss of Elden's warm presence. More than just Dorian's hands felt warm. In fact, he loosened his collar slightly, sure he must be bright red from all of the attention.

As he began walking again he decided that perhaps this place wasn't so bad after all. A few minutes later he quickened his pace until he was walking beside Elden again.

"You know, amatus," he said. "I'm losing feeling in my fingers again. You're going to have to do that regularly if you expect me to cast with any sort of accuracy."

Elden laughed and took his hand, squeezing it tightly as he brought it to his lips for a brief kiss.