Dakorien

CONTENT:
Rating: Mature
Flavor: Adventure/Drama
Language: yep
Violence: no
Nudity: no
Sex: discussed
Other: none

Author's Notes:

Another chapterlet. Didn't expect this...

Dakorien

==#==

Zevran hunkered down between two boulders under a tree. He could have leaned on tem, but they would sap his body heat. He was also unusually glad he had thick legging rather than his leather kilt. Ferelden was damned cold.

Half of the Hunters had taken up positions here along the ragged edge of a meadow, waiting for the other half to drive a herd of deer this way. Bannon had gone with the others, probably a smart plan, since he could at least move around and warm up.

How long was this going to take?

Zevran's ears picked up a whisper in the snow. He turned slowly, hoping for a deer or rabbit or grouse, or something edible he could kill and use as an excuse to go back to camp.

But no, it was Dakorien creeping up on him. He joined Zevran. "You have sharp ears," the Dalish complimented him.

"I am an assassin," he replied with a shrug.

Dakorien looked at him with a somewhat intense gaze, holding Zevran's attention. He closed his eyes slowly, deliberately, a lazy blink.

Zevran pursed his lips. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

Dakorien smiled. "It does. I am not sure how things are done in your world. However, I will endeavor to follow your example and be forward." He placed a hand on Zevran's forearm. "I have a small lodge nearby, small but warm. I would like you to spend the night with me."

Ah, so there it was. Zevran quirked a brow. "I am afraid that is not going to happen."

The raven-haired elf withdrew his hand, head lowered, lips drawn into a moue of disappointment. "I apologize if I have offended."

"No, no. I am flattered." Zevran shifted his weight. "The truth is, I am bespoken."

"Oh." The wild elf seemed truly surprised. "I did not think... The way you act..." He really was confused. "Your lethallen... does not mind it?"

"What? Me flirting outrageously? Not at all."

"Your lethallen must have great faith in you."

Zevran smiled a secret smile. Somehow the thought warmed him. And this new word, lethallin. It had a beautiful, poetic ring to it.

"Your friend does not like me," Dakorien said after another few minutes of waiting in the cold.

Zevran wondered how Dakorien knew he and Bannon were lovers. Had he been overly obvious? His confusion must have shown, for Dakorien clarified: "The Warden."

"Ah."

"I'm afraid I insulted him when we first met."

"By calling him a weak little slave under the thumb of humans? Ah yes, I was there. I do recall."

Dakorien looked abashed. "He did subsequently call me a pointy-eared shemlen who was born in a bush."

Zevran couldn't help snorting. He remembered that, too. Bannon had been in fine form.

"I did take heed, and re-examined my judgments. I have tried to be more respectful, to carry on as I would with one of my people, but..."

"Perhaps you should have this conversation with him."

The words were barely out of his mouth when Dakorien struck forward and clamped a hand over his lips. Zevran recoiled and tensed to fight; Dakorien leaned his weight on him, pinning him to the snowy ground. Zevran's eyes flared, and he reached for his dagger. Dakorien was desperately mouthing something at him, but he couldn't read the wild elf's lips.

Dakorien's eyes snapped to the side, then back, and Zevran followed the look. At first, he saw nothing but the whie meadow, but then he realized that shape of jumbled rocks was a stag, looking right at them. He instantly stopped struggling, and Dakorien removed his hand.

The deer, still wearing an impressive crown, ducked its head and peered more intently. Neither elf dared to move or breathe.

This is just perfect, Zevran thought. Two hunters, and we can't even move to draw our bows.

They needed the stag to believe they were part of the boulders, that the sound of their voices and their brief scuffle had only been the wind, a clump of snow falling from a tree limb. Nothing more.

It took another hesitant step. Then its ears twitched back.

No! If the drivers kept pushing forward, they'd scare the deer out of the meadow. The fool thing would probably leap right over him and Dakorien in its escape.

A hunter-shaped shadow broke from the far treeline. The stag turned and bolted. The hunter stopped and drew his bow, fired. The arrow went wide, and the stag disappeared.

Zevran shoved Dakorien up off of him. The wild elf jumped to his feet, while Zevran clambered up off his butt. They stood brushing snow off knees and backsides whie the hunter trotted over to them, soon followed by two others.

The first drew up and pushed his hood back. Of course, it was Bannon. "What the hell is going on here?"

Zevran winced. Dakorien half-bowed. "Warden," he said respectfully.

Bannon looked like he wanted to tell Dakorien where he could shove his 'Warden,' but the others arrived.

"Even the mighty Hunter, Dakorien, misses," one said, grinning at their leader.

The other said, "Perhaps it was too small for his mighty prowess - beneath his skill level."

"Maybe," Dakorien countered, "I was waiting for the rest of the herd, that you were supposed to bring us."

The Dalish continued ribbing each other. Zevran said quietly to Bannon, "We were just talking."

The thief turned his angry glare on Zevran. What? He didn't believe him? Zevran huffed.

Dakorien sounded the Hunter's horn, a low tone that would let the rest of the party know the hunt was over. "let us return home. We can at least be warm, even if still hungry."

"Yeah," Bannon agreed. "I'm freezing my tits off out here."

The three Dalish gave him puzzled looks. The youngest ventured, "You have... little birds on you?"

Bannon gave him a blank look in return.

Zevran couldn't help but snort out a laugh.

Dakorien joined him. "It is a city term. I'll explain later."

Zevran said, "You go on ahead. I'll help Bannon look for his arrow."

"Don't spend too long," Dakorien admonished warmly. "Your tits might freeze as well." He went off, snickering, with his two proteges.

Not helping, Zevran thought at his back. He dared a glance at Bannon. Yes, the Denerim elf was now glaring icicles at him. "Come on."

They made a pretense of shuffling through the snow, at least until the Dalish were out of earshot.

"Look," Zevran started.

"No, I'm sorry," Bannon interrupted. "It's none of my business."

Zevran frowned. "He came over to ask me for a tryst."

"I see," Bannon grated out.

"Really?" Zevran stopped and turned towards him, arms folded. "I told him no, as you asked."

"Still waiting for the explanation of what you two were doing rolling around in the snow together."

"We were talking-"

"-Just talking; I got that part."

"Then the deer came out and... well, he tried to shush me, I thought he was... I guess attacking me, so we struggled a moment, until I saw the deer, too."

"Because that makes sense." Bannon turned aside and kept on, head down, kicking the ground.

Zevran threw his hands up. "Of course, because us 'rolling around in the snow,' freezing our asses off, makes so much more sense!"

Bannon didn't have anything even remotely rational to say to that. "It's not your fault," he muttered.

Zevran frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?" He stepped over and got in Bannon's path. "You don't believe me?"

"Look, Zev. I told you: I'll never tell you who you can and can't have sex with."

"And I told you, I told him no. What? You don't trust me?" he demanded.

The other elf slowly clenched his teeth, but said nothing.

"Oh, you don't trust me!"

"That's not fair!"

"Oh, the whore - of course you cannot trust him. The slut!"

"You're the one always going on about it!" Bannon snapped back.

"I-!?" Fire boiled inside Zevran, heating his core, hsi limbs. "I...!" Fuck! It was true. He deflated, turned away. "I thought you knew me better than that."

Bannon shifted his weight, turned more towards him. "Look, if you said no, and he jumped you..."

"Not like that." Zevran waved it off. What was this? Bannon had confessed his true feelings, the depth of his... Oh. And he had not responded in kind. Oh shit. I am a fucking idiot.

"Bannon..." He gathered himself. "You were right. It is time to be honest." He took a breath. "He asked me for a tryst, and I said no. I told him I was bespoken."

The Denerim elf blinked and quirked a brow.

"This is not some fling, this thing between you and I. I thought... well, I supposed I was a coward and thought I could get away without saying it. I am your man. I always will be, so long as you will have me. I..." Damn, why was this so hard? "I will do anything for you. If you asked me to never have sex again, I would..."

"Jump off a cliff?" Bannon guessed.

Zevran chuckled. "Perhaps. But ask anything else of me, and I shall move mountains to see it done. I..." His throat dried.

"You don't have to say it," Bannon told him gently.

"No, I do." Still, he hesitated. He wanted to, didn't he? What was stopping him? Fear? Of what? Daring to hope for something he could never truly have? As if the fickle Maker would strike him down? Or the Dalish gods? What would they care about one elf's happiness? But they could, should they even exist, destroy it all in an instant.

Bannon came close, took him in his arms. "Zev, I know. I'm sorry I went off like a jealous twat. And not in a sexy way," he added to lighten the mood.

Zevran leaned closer, tucked his face close to Bannon's neck, moving so his hood encompassed both of them. "Te amo, lethallen," he whispered, hoping the gods and fate didn't hear.

"I love you too, amore'," his lover whispered back. He found Zevran's lips, and they kissed, pressing even closer.

After a minute, they had to part. Zevran turned, brushing a glove over his face. "Come on. Never mind your tits, I'm freezing my balls off."

"Yeah, well your balls don't have a metal ring through them."

"Oh ho, you want to remedy that?"

"Yeah, where's that arrow? Never mind." Bannon pulled one out of his quiver. "I can use this one. Here, let me poke this through your tenders!"

Zevran ran off, Bannon chasing.

==X==

End Notes:

okay, i thought 'lethallin' was what you called your love(r), and 'da'len' is what you call a friend/child whatever. the wiki indicates it's used for casual acquaintances? but doesn't have a word for... oh, is it 'vhenan'? ...okay that's a term of endearment.

know what? screw it. bannon and zevran call each other lethallin/len/lan, and i'm sticking with that, since it's the 11th hour, and i'm late posting this as it is. i'm SURE i said at the beginning that this diverges from canon! THERE!