So yesterday my town was wrecked with power outages that went on for over twenty-four hours. It completely knocked my wireless on it's ass and so I didn't get to update, so today you'll have two chapters to read to make up for the lost time.

Moonpriestess30: Oh yeah, seven chapters and it's not slowing down.

Eiris: I'm so glad! Thank you for your review.

Chapter 8 - Tantalising

For the first time in his life Fenris felt genuinely embarrassed. Evelyn looks around the foyer and tilts her head as she notices the broken floor tiles and worn wallpaper. 'It's... nice,' she signs with a teasing expression on her face.

He clears his throat as he puts down her bag. 'I was not planning on staying here so I have not got around to cleaning it, or fixing things,' he adds as he rubs the back of his head.

Eve shrugs her shoulders and wears a calculating frown, 'alright, well, let's get on with it.'

'On with what?' He asks confused.

'I'm not staying here in this, I'm sorry but you deserve better. Come on, open the drapes and let some light in and I'll grab some water to start cleaning,' she signs simply as she takes a tie from around her wrist and puts up her hair into a messy looking bun. Fenris tries to protest but Evelyn doesn't buckle, she was determined to do something useful while she was here and not think about anything but the problem at hand. After a few hours of solid cleaning the place was looking a lot better, they had mainly focused on the foyer and bedrooms that they would be using. Evelyn had a little trouble on concentrating at first as Fenris worked around her. She cleaned while he fixed and cleared things away.

They had both gotten changed so that their clearing up was easier, but it didn't really make it easier on Evelyn. Seeing Fenris in a cotton tunic, his markings still showing through the longer sleeves made her cheeks flush. There was one moment where he was fixing a window and she happened to glance up and she saw that his tunic had ridden up and there was a strip of his stomach peeking. She had an awkward moment explaining how she knocked her bucket of water over before it was brushed over. 'I have to admit,' Fenris says as he throws a floor tile into the corner of the room they had designated for mess, 'it is looking a lot better,' he looks around.

'So much better,' Evelyn agrees with a grin on her face. 'I'm tired now,' she admits and then wipes the back of her hand across her forehead. 'Have a wash, some food and then I'll teach you some reading?' She signs as she looks at him.

'Sounds like a good idea,' he clears his throat from the dust that had been gathering from their disturbance. Fenris suggests she uses the bathroom first while he does the last of the clearing up. She disappeared for about half an hour before returning, he looks up as he hears her coming down the stairs and has to mentally blank out his expression. She was dressed in a light green, floaty styled dress and she had washed her hair, it's slightly damp waves bounced as she walked towards him.

She gives him a bright smile, 'sorry I took so long, I put away my clothing. This is Isabela's, isn't it lovely? I can't ever imagine her wearing it,' she signs as she twirls happily. As a slave she had been privy to well tailored clothing and food but it was always on her master's terms. If she displeased him they were the first things to go, choosing something for herself for once was a novelty.

Fenris nods and brushes his hands on his leggings, 'yes... it is not her style. You look … pretty,' he allows himself to admit.

'Thank you,' she signs as her cheeks go pink. The tension rose between them rapidly and she clapped her hands. 'I had better get the things we need ready, oh, I'll make some food. Do you mind what I use?' Eve asks as she walks backwards towards the kitchen door. Fenris shakes his head and gives a non-committal sound as he makes his way to the stairs. Evelyn bumped into the door frame as she walked backwards spinning around with a silent giggle, practically running into the kitchen. She leaned against the table and covered her face with her hands. 'Oh Maker, what is going on?' She mouths to herself as she groans, feeling only the vibration of her non-existent voice. 'Come on, pull yourself together. He's just a man. He's just helping you. It means nothing. I don't have time for attachments anyway, and it's not like he's going to want to be with someone who literally makes no noise. It's just... not possible regardless of anything else.' She sighs as she talks to herself making them some basic food, cutting up some fruit, cheese and bread that she found. His cupboards weren't particularly stocked but she had been taught to cook so she was sure she could whip up something proper later.

Placing the plates on a tray she made her way upstairs to the main room they had cleared out. With foresight in mind they had set up a desk near the window with plenty of natural light. Evelyn places the tray on the desk and starts to build up the fire. Once that was done she nipped to her bedroom to gather the things she needed to teach him. When she returned he was already in the room drying his hair. For the first time in her life, Evelyn was glad she was a mute, the squeak that left her lips was unheard as she saw that he was completely topless and she could see the entirety of his tattoos. Forcing herself to stare at the ground as she walked past him trying to make as much noise as she could by moving. Fenris turns to see her and smiles a little as he puts down the towel and pulls a clean top over his head. 'Sorry, didn't mean to walk in on you changing,' Eve signs as she sees out her peripheral vision that he had gotten dressed.

'It is fine, the dust had gotten everywhere, a wash did not suffice,' he explains. Moving over to the desk he pulls some of Varric's work towards himself. 'Are you sure I can do this?' Fenris asks in a moment of vulnerability.

She looks at him and reaches out to touch his arm lightly, she gives him a small squeeze. 'I have no doubt,' Eve signs as she smiles. 'Let's eat first and learn later,' she adds. She could tell he was almost nervous which she understood, when Varric first broached the subject of teaching her she was sure that it was going to be far too difficult. Eve was a little worried about her mutism making it unnecessarily hard for him to learn but she was hoping that they would be able to work around it. After eating in a comfortable silence they sit at the desk beside each other and she begins to run through the basics.

It was a learning curve for both of them, it was tricky with her one sided silence but they had managed to find a groove that worked. She followed Varric's example and ran through the alphabet teaching him each individual letter first. Eve wrote down a word, it was the easiest and one of the first that Varric had taught her. 'Okay, what does this say? Remember you can break it down letter by letter,' she signs.

Fenris rose a brow as he leaned on the desk and looked at her writing, she was a little shy as it wasn't the neatest but she knew it didn't matter. She could tell he was figuring it out, saying it in his head before he spoke out loud. 'Nug?' He answers with a slight chuckle. 'The first word you have me read and it is nug?'

Evelyn giggles and shares a smile with him, 'I had never seen one before and Varric showed me a picture in a book. I almost laughed till I cried,' she explains, her smile beaming.

He shakes his head a little and runs his hand through his hair, 'I do not know whether it is evil that you made me read that or incredibly funny,' Fenris said; not knowing the small action of him playing with his hair made Evelyn's inner woman yowl with hormones.

'Both?' She suggests with a cheeky look in her eye. 'But you should be proud regardless, you read a word!' Grabbing his arm she gives him a squeeze. He tenses as her fingers tighten around him and the familiar burn runs across his skin. Fenris forces himself to relax and just breathes through the instinct to move. Evelyn basically loops her arm through his as she pulls forward another sheet of paper that Varric had written on. There was a plain looking sentence on it and Fenris already recognised one of the words.

'More nugs?' He asks making her giggle and nod.

'It's a short sentence and makes no sense but I'm confident you can do it already,' she signs not bothering to move her arm from his as she did so.

Fenris looks at the writing and again, mentally sounds things out in his head before speaking. Evelyn doesn't rush him and simply leans her head against his shoulder, that made it a little more difficult for him to concentrate. He knew that it meant nothing, she was just a physical person and he would be a fool to read too much into it. 'Evelyn, I am not reading this out loud. It is ridiculous,' he says after he's fairly confident what it says. She giggles silently and shakes her head tapping the paper with her finger and giving him a look. Fenris sighs and rubs his eye with a hand as he clears his throat. Begrudgingly he speaks, sighing first. 'The... pink nug... has a .. ' he mentally swears as he can feel her bouncing next to him, 'big, red, ball.'

Evelyn wriggles in her seat and he can tell she's laughing. 'It's still funny!' She signs, if she could speak he would say that she was squealing.

'Evil. I have decided it is definitely evil,' he muses making her snort and cover her mouth with her hand. Fenris can't help but wear a half smile as he watches her, the moment was so genuine.

She squeezes his arm again, 'well done! Fenris, that's so amazing, you've read something after only a few hours of trying!' Evelyn signs happily. He had to admit... it was a nice feeling. It was something that he didn't ever feel he was going to achieve and to his surprise, it was easier than he thought.

Another thought hits him and he looks at her as she begins to look at different pieces of paper to decide what to teach him next. 'Evelyn...' he says softly getting her attention, she looks at him with a bright expression and it slowly fades as she notices his body language. 'Do you wish to speak of last night?' Fenris asks. Normally he wouldn't enquire but after dealing with Hadriana the way he had and taking it out on Hawke, he thought he should at least try.

She puts down her papers and clasps her hands together as she looks out the window. There's a few minutes of silence between them before she slowly signs. 'What's the point? It happened. I can't change that.'

'It does not mean you cannot feel angry or upset about it,' Fenris said knowing full well that he's on the other end of that line, where she's repressing her emotions, he amplifies.

'If... I allow myself to think about it... I'll break,' she signs looking at the table, trying to hide the tear that rolls down her cheek.

Fenris sits up straight and hesitates for a moment before putting his hand on her arm, 'you are much stronger than you think,' he says quietly. 'If you wish to speak about it... for what it is worth, I am here.'

Evelyn smiles as she looks at him and wipes her eye with her other hand, 'Thank you,' she mouths with a sign, touching her chin lightly before moving her hand down. 'You're sweet to me,' she signs gently dislodging his hand as she has to move her arm.

Fenris clears his throat and she notices the tips of his ears darken, making her smile. 'N-No more than anyone else,' he says in a vain attempt to regain control of the flush of heat that he felt. Evelyn doesn't tease him any further and simply wears a soft smile.