The sun had set little more than an hour ago, but it was already cold enough to make Skylar think about turning in early like Varric and Bull already had. Every small gust of the icy Ferelden wind set a shiver right through her. She seemed to have kept it hidden well enough though. Delrin and her had found themselves alone beside the campfire they'd made between the small cabins the quartermaster had given them for the night. They sat in a surprisingly comfortable silence. It had been a long day, for everyone.

She likely would have been asleep by now if it weren't for that damn Mark. Delrin had definitely been eyeing their designated cabin for the last few minutes, too. Not that she could blame him. No matter how crappy those beds would be or how small the accommodations were, they were the best damn luxury one could expect in this middle-of-nowhere town. She just hoped the place wasn't as spider-infested as it looked. If she had to deal with creepy crawlies during her early morning pee, someone was going to have to answer for it.

She found it kind of funny that the quartermaster just assumed that she wanted to sleep in the same cabin as Delrin. She absently wondered if there were rumors getting out by now…The Mark pulsed harshly again, making her suppress a wince. She should have said something about it hours ago. Now she was stuck with a hand that hurt so bad it was next to useless.

She happened to catch Delrin looking at her from the corner of her eye. She flashed him a nervous smile, hoping she didn't do anything to make him worry. "Something on your mind?"

"Just wondering how you're feeling." He replied, carefully.

She shrugged as casually as she could manage. "You could have just asked."

"I thought that wasn't allowed." His tone was lighthearted, but the concern in his expression was evident. "Are you hurt?"

"Not exactly."

"What does that mean? Did you get hit?"

"No, no, no, it's not like that."

His eyes narrowed at her. "You promised you'd say something. What is it?"

"It's…" She looked him over, carefully trying to gauge what his reaction would be. She wasn't sure of whether he'd be uncomfortable or enthused about the idea, but she was running out of options quickly. She just had to try it at this point. "Can I hold your hand?"

Delrin was sure that he was hearing things. No way she just asked him to do that. You know, like that. He'd done so before obviously, but there was always a sense of necessity behind it to explain it away. Doing so now…well, it seemed to have more intimate implications, given the circumstance. But there she was, sitting there with a heartbreaking amount of hope in her eyes. No one else around—save for the guards occasionally passing them on patrol. She was rubbing the palm of her marked hand with a grimace on her face. She shifted her weight nervously and looked away, obviously embarrassed.

He suddenly found himself scrambling for something to say. "I…uh…whatever for?"

Damnit, you idiot! Do you really have to question everything?! Look what you did!

Skylar's shoulders slumped reflexively, but she fixed it quickly as if she were trying to act normal. She looked away at the ground, shuffling her boot into the dirt. "Nothing, nevermind. That was stupid, just forget it."

"No, of course not!" He needed to do something to fix it right now or be might actually self-implode. He reached for her marked hand, hoping that would quiet any of her immediate fears. Maker, what she must have been thinking…He brought it closer, laying it out flat to get a better look at it. The Mark was as bright as he'd ever seen it. The skin directly around it seemed red and irritated. "It hurts, doesn't it?"

She shrugged, keeping her other arm wrapped around her waist. Her long hair fell in front of her face but she didn't make a move to correct it. It felt like she was attempting to hide in plain sight. "It's just sore. I shouldn't have said anything. It will go away, eventually."

Well, that wouldn't do at all. He silenced every little voice in his head that it was wrong or inappropriate or any of that other bullshit. "I'm not sure how it would help, but if that's what you need…"

He laced their fingers together and flattened his palm against hers. He felt the magic thrumming from the Mark heavily. It was a wonder she didn't complain earlier. He tried to imagine having to deal with that; it would have been near impossible to fight properly. Probably a good thing she usually didn't need to hold a weapon then.

She blushed but she seemed to relax. A nervous smile crossed her face when she looked at him again. "Well, it's just a theory, really. But Cullen said that the templars could suppress the Breach. I figure if the Mark effects the Breach, maybe you could suppress it too?"

Delrin hadn't considered that—but theoretical applications of magic weren't really his strong suit after all. "I could try it, if you'd like?"

"Please? I'm kind of out of options, otherwise."

He gave her a reassuring smile as he wrapped his hands around hers. He could throw a dispel on a sprinting mage from dozens of yards away but this was different. It was experimental, uncharted territory. He couldn't afford to be anything but absolutely careful. When he felt ready to attempt it, he looked up at her for permission. She was already fixated on him, she seemed hopeful. It brought an easy smile to his face, knowing that this small thing he did brought out such a positive reaction. "You'll let me know if this hurts you?"

"Yeah, of course, don't worry." She huffed a laugh. "If it goes wrong, I'm sure I'll be screaming and next thing you know we'll be ass-deep in demons."

He snickered, trying to maintain his focus. "Maker, I hope not…"

"It's alright, I trust you." She definitely hadn't expected herself to say that…or expected it to be true. Well, there it is. You're screwed now.

Delrin seemed surprised as well. He blinked a few times and looked away, evidently to try and hide a nervous smile himself. He took a deep, calming breath. Soon enough, his palms glowed slightly. It looked like a bright, golden aura—If Skylar wasn't positive that he was a Templar, she might have accused him of being a mage. It was fascinating to say the least; she'd never gotten to see a templar's abilities up close.

She felt the mark pull uncomfortably for a moment. But before she could even complain about it, she felt the ache dull. She watched the bright green light dim steadily until it seemed to recede into its normal state. For the first time in a long while it wasn't bothering her in the least bit, she was almost worried that it was gone for good. Delrin seemed to notice too. He laid her hand out flat again to inspect her palm. He ran his thumb over the Mark just to make sure that he hadn't accidentally altered it in some way.

Ah, fuck that feels good…She closed her eyes, feeling probably a little too relaxed now. She felt his fingers freeze in place suddenly, making her open her eyes again reluctantly.

He was staring at her, seemingly shocked. His mouth hung open just a little. He cleared his throat nervously and withdrew his hands, only to fidget with the spare cloth attached to his armor. "That was, um…I'm glad I could help."

Skylar felt her pulse quicken. Heat flooded to her face, her stomach. She definitely felt herself start blushing again. "Please tell me I did not say that out loud."

Delrin tried and utterly failed to contain a prideful grin. "You were…very vocal."

"Ah, fuck." She covered her face in her hands, letting her hair fall in front of her again. "Andraste's ass, do not tell Varric!"

He burst out laughing, which did nothing to curb her embarrassment. "I'm sorry," He continued, chuckling between words. "I swear that dwarf will never hear a single word about the, um, noises you were making."

"Maker's fucking Breath, I'm so sorry! That was so awkward."

"Unexpected, I suppose. But not awkward."

She lifted her face back to look at him, her cheeks were almost totally pink. "Yeah, unexpected is a word for it. For the record, I really didn't think it would feel like that…definitely doesn't happen when Solas messes with it."

"You have Solas do that?" He blurted it out before the logical side of his head could talk him out of it. Now he could only hope that she didn't take that the wrong way.

She huffed a nervous laugh. "No, nothing like that. I mean, he stopped it from spreading when they found me, right? So, I asked him to see if he could try to do that again. But, yeah, he didn't like that."

"He wouldn't do it?"

"I mean, he took a look at it and said he couldn't do anything. Which is fine, if it's true. But I don't know if I believe him."

"You think he lied?"

"Maybe. He definitely made it seem like I was bothering him. Like it was some kind of offensive request or something."

Delrin shook his head disapprovingly. "The man is a fool."

Skylar's head cocked to the side as she looked at him curiously. She leaned forward a little, resting her folded arms on her knees. Which was definitely not the thing to do if she wanted him to look at her face. It was as if she were silently daring him to elaborate.

He shrugged, trying his best to act like he was still cool and calm beneath her gaze. Because he was definitely not feeling like he was about to jump out of his own skin at any moment. "Well, if I made you feel unwanted, I'd be begging for your forgiveness."

"Oh, really?"

"Really." He couldn't help but notice this little twinkle of excitement in her eye. He made a silent vow to himself that this wouldn't be the last time that he'd see it.

She smiled bashfully, looking away for a short moment. "You've made me feel a lot of things, but I can safely say that unwanted was never one of them."

"Would it be too forward to ask what kinds of things?" He smirked as he watched her mull that over. A nervous chuckle, a fidget with her hair, a blush flashing further down her chest…he was starting to anticipate her exact reactions. And Maker, all he could think of was the hope that he would only get more familiar with her…

"Lady Herald!"

The both of them jumped as an Inquisition messenger seemingly materialized in front of them. They were on their feet almost simultaneously. Delrin couldn't help but glare at him a bit. Whoever the man was had truly disastrous timing.

"M-Message for you, your grace, it's urgent." The messenger's hand shook as he held out the small piece of paper.

"So urgent they couldn't send a text?" Skylar snarked, but smiled reassuringly as she took it. "Calm down, Soldier, try not to wet yourself."

"Right—yes, sorry, ma'am."

She shook her head, folding open the note carefully. A frown came over her face.

"I-is there a reply, ma'am?"

"No, no, nothing I can't tell them myself." She tossed the note unceremoniously into the fire. "You, uh, you can go now or whatever."

"Uh…what, ma'am?"

Delrin rolled his eyes. Quickly donning his 'no-nonsense' demeanor, he stepped towards the soldier. "Report back to the Commander. Dismissed."

"Right! Yes, sir!" The messenger left a small dust trail as he scurried away back to his car like a frightened nug.

Realizing that the messenger had to have pulled up on the gravel path leading to this small, guarded town was a bit of a shock to Delrin. That's the kind of noise he typically would have noticed. He hadn't even heard him speak to their lookouts, but he must have had to do that too. It was hard to believe just how distracted he must have been for all that to get passed him.

"Maker's Breath, where does Cullen even find these people?" He muttered, turning back to Skylar. She was staring down at the fire now, seemingly lost in thought. Something about her demeanor seemed so sad, so distant.

"Hey," He reached for her hand slowly, hoping he wasn't overstepping. She seemed surprised but she laced her fingers with his. It felt like she needed it. Somehow, he understood without her saying it; she needed to ground herself. He could practically feel her anxiety himself. He gave her a moment to calm down a little before asking carefully, "What did it say?"

"Not much…just that the last of the Knight-Lieutenants have arrived."

"That's good, then. We have the numbers to help you seal the Breach now." He eyed her curiously, hoping to find the true answer to her dismay written somewhere in her expression.

"Yeah, of course." She hesitated. Whatever she said next, he just knew it was going to be her way of hiding behind something. "I just, um, wanted more time to close the other rifts."

He nodded slowly. "Well, we've cleared out the most populated regions already. Closing the Breach may close the rifts themselves for all we know. But if not, then we can always come back and finish the job."

She scoffed bitterly, her grip on his hand tightening just a little. "Yeah, here's hoping."

There it was. She was afraid to die. She actually believed she would. It seemed like the worst possible scenario to him, and an unlikely one at that. He simply wouldn't let it happen. Magic can be wildly unpredictable but she'd be standing with a small army of trained mages and Templars. If something went wrong, they were in the best possible situation to deal with it quickly. With all the help she had managed to procure, sealing the Breach surely wouldn't be as hard as what she was imagining.

But still, she was scared. The nearly irrational kind of fright that logic doesn't seem to affect. She could be practical and objective when she needed to be. But not this time, it seemed. He searched for anything to say to comfort her. It had never been something he would have claimed he was good at, but he had to try for her sake.

"Have faith." He squeezed her hand encouragingly. "Andraste will guide you, just like before."

That earned the smile he was looking for. She looked up at him, the fire lighting up her eyes in the most captivating way. "You think so?"

"I know it." He made sure to put on a brave face for her. But he'd be a liar to claim that he wasn't worried himself. It was impossible to know what Andraste's plan was, just how long she'd have use for a Herald—or if the Templar's alliance with the Inquisition might end once the Breach was sealed…

"Thanks, Delrin…for everything." She was blushing again when she looked up at him.

"Always where you need, I swear it." Feeling a sudden rush of boldness—likely from not knowing what would happen tomorrow—he lifted her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. She gasped, or was that a squeak? Whatever it was, it was immediately accompanied with her eyes going wide. She bit her lip, as if she were physically forcing herself to shut up. It only served to amuse him though. He chuckled as he brought her hand back down, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. "You should get some rest."

"What? Oh, right. Sleep." She laughed nervously. "Because I'm supposed to share a tiny little cabin with you and not think about that—this—whatever that is—was, whatever!"

Delrin shrugged as he began guiding her to their cabin. "I could always sleep outside if it makes you more comfortable?"

"Oh, come on, that would me mean." She shot him a mischievous look. "Maybe I should just go squeeze between Varric and Bull. The quartermaster said they'd have to share a bed."

He shook his head. "I wouldn't recommend that."

"Aww, was that jealousy I heard?" She said it just about as playfully as she could have but it still struck him on a level he really wasn't expecting.

"A little." He said it quickly, without thinking. He even stopped in his tracks, starting to pull away from her. "Maker, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"Make me feel wanted?" She smirked as she pulled him towards her, backing her way into the cabin. "Perish the thought."

He huffed a nervous laugh. Absently, he was hoping that Varric wasn't still awake and hearing all of this. "Wanted? I thought it sounded a little…um…possessive."

The cabin was so bare-bones, it only had one dim table lamp for a light. They both noticed the glaring problem with the cabin the moment they stepped foot inside on those old, creaky wooden floors. It only had one bed, just like Bull and Varric's cabin. There were two sleeping bags laid out next to each other, barely fitting on the narrow mattress. Their backpacks were neatly placed on their respective sides of the bed. There was no way it was a mistake. Someone had purposely organized that, and they each had a suspicion it was a certain annoying dwarf who went to bed suspiciously early...He was at a total loss for what to say. No way that dwarf wasn't getting punched in the morning. He had half a mind to march over there and do it right now…but judging from her reaction, that wouldn't be necessary.

The look she gave him was positively dangerous. Like she was daring him to follow her lead. She let go of his hand as she laid out across her sleeping bag, flashing him a suggestive smirk. Something in the way she did it made him think she was putting herself on display for him. Like she wanted him to look, to watch. He had to focus hard to get that thought out of his mind. Maker's Breath, she couldn't even manage to blink right now without it seeming suggestive to him. "I might not mind that, coming from you."

He nearly choked. On nothing but air. His whole body froze. Bees. Abominations. Darkspawn. Red Lyrium…Whew, okay, that was close. Maker, this woman is going to kill me.

She giggled as she quickly folded herself under her covers as if she were retreating. "That got a reaction."

"An…inappropriate one, I apologize."

She pushed herself up on her elbows, locking her gaze with his. She patted the empty space next to her with her hand, inviting him to sit. "Do I look offended?"

The question certainly sounded innocent enough. But he felt the need to put her back on her toes so to speak. He smirked as he carefully accepted her invitation, slow enough for her to object. "You look as beautiful as always, Skylar."

She blushed furiously, sinking down under her covers to hide her face. Her voice was muffled but he would still hear the laughter in it. "That's not fair."

He snickered as he began unlacing his boots. "You started it." The realization dawned on him that he hadn't seen her do the same. "Are you really going to sleep in your clothes?"

"Yeah, you know, it's crazy. I thought it might be weird not to considering the, um, situation…" She poked her head out of her covers, hesitating for a long moment when she became aware that Delrin did not seem to have the same modesty policy that she did. He'd nearly removed everything but his pants already.

He still had his back turned to her but he could practically feel her staring. He shrugged, "Templar recruits don't get much privacy in their quarters, you learn to deal with it." He shot a knowing look at her as he climbed under his covers. "Go on, get comfortable. I promise I won't look."

"Uh huh, sure you won't."

"I won't!"

"Yeah, because men don't like to watch beautiful women strip. That would be weird."

His eyes widened for a moment. There's an image…it was a damn good thing they were in separate sleeping bags or he'd have a lot to explain right now. Maker, where's a Chantry when you need one. Flirt now, repent later. Solid plan. "As appealing as that sounds, I wouldn't. Not without your permission that is." He couldn't help but smile, watching her stare incredulously at him.

"Are you real?"

He huffed a laugh as he turned away from her. "Just tell me when you're done."

There were a few moments of stillness where the only noise came from the quiet crackle of the fire outside. But soon he heard the covers shuffling. A twist, a snap, some sort of dragging and then the rustle of the covers again.

"Done." She muttered quietly.

He made sure to turn back around slowly, just in case she decided that she needed more time. It was pretty obvious from the pile she'd made in the corner of the room that she'd only left herself in her undershirt and panties. Bees. Abominations. Maker, she's not even wearing her bra—Darkspawn! Red! Lyrium!

She looked at him curiously. "Something wrong?"

"No!" He shifted onto his side and discreetly crossed his leg, hoping the covers would hide anything that might be…awkward. "I'm just, uh, glad you're comfy."

"Right." She turned towards him with a knowing smile, keeping the covers close to her chest. She had such a grateful look on her face that almost seemed out of place. "Not to…kill the mood or anything, but…thank you."

"Whatever for?"

"For being, you know, trustworthy, I guess." She looked down for a long moment, like she was debating whether she should say what was really on her mind. "I'm sure the rumor mill has been spinning, but…you should hear it from me: Something bad happened to me a long time ago and it…makes it hard for me to trust certain people—men especially."

So, it is true…Maker damn the bastard to the void! Heat swelled in his chest. His thoughts were nearly overcome with anger and outrage. "Maker's Breath, Skylar, I'm so sorry."

She shrugged sadly, looking away again. "It's fine—okay, not really. It happened like 10 years ago. It's not exactly a raw wound anymore, but it kinda changed me for a while. I've been just assuming that every man was like that since then…I just wanted to say that I appreciate you proving to be the exception."

His expression grew serious quickly. "I won't ever give you a reason to think otherwise, I swear it."

"I know, I trust you." She smiled at him for a long moment before she lowered herself under the covers fully. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Skylar."

He clicked the lamp off and rolled over on his back, propping his hand behind his head. His mind wandered right back to what she had just told him as he glared at the ceiling. The thought of someone doing that was downright sickening in the first place, but to Skylar? Maker, if he ever found the man, he'd lop his fucking head off the first chance he got. Maybe Leliana could find out? If she didn't know already, that was…maybe he was dead already. Delrin sorely hoped he was, or he'd be sending him to the Maker shortly.

"Delrin?" She looked over at him sheepishly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Can I hold your hand?"

He smiled as he found her hand in the darkness, lacing their fingers together. "Always."

She was asleep quickly then, looking so calm and peaceful with a small smile imprinted on her face. She was happy, he realized. His last conscious thoughts before sleep took him were of her, and how he was going to try to make her happy again and again until she grew tired of him.