ACT II: The Laughter Heard
Note: You know those times when you come back to Skyhold and everyone's interaction triggers go off? Yup. We're there.
Thanks again to my beta, xXFallenSakuraXx52, for assisting in checking for my mistakes!
I shot out of the main hall like a comet, leaping down the steps two or three at a time to the amusement of all who could see me in the courtyard. I hit the dirt with a stumble and launched back into my run toward the tavern where Krem and Bull stood at the doorway, wide-eyed in surprise.
"Cassandra!" I barked. Krem responded first with a pointed finger toward the storage and requisitions building. Bull watched me rocket off with my boot heels digging through the mud and coat flapping behind me. Into the building I slammed, knocking the door back and startling our requisition officer. I waved at him and took the stairs, but I could already hear the sounds of a scuffle above my head.
Fucking hell, she already found him!
I cleared the railing just in time to see Cassandra slug Varric across the face, the dwarf putting up a valiant effort to protect himself as the taller human pressed him against the protective railing for the second floor.
"Cassandra!" I barked again, hoping to startle her into stopping. Cassandra didn't, she didn't even glance my way and continued her assault on Varric, her fist raised over her head for another blow.
"You knew where Hawke was all along!" Cassandra snarled and swung down. Varric was ready for it and shoved her back with a hard shoulder. She nearly tumbled into me as I came up from behind, but I dodged her at the last minute. My hip collided with a table's corner and I winced, holding my hand over the pain.
"You're damned right I did!" Varric spat back, straightening up and rolling out his shoulders. Cassandra was back on her feet in a flash, her lips pulled back as she stormed back up to him. I tried to reach for her to pull her away, but she yanked her arm out of my grip, burning my finger tips. Holy fuck!
"You conniving little shit!" She swung at him again with a wild haymaker. Varric dodged under her arm and shot past me toward the stairs. With a hearty step, I blocked view of him from Cassandra. The woman turned hot on her heels, glaring at me and then glaring past me to Varric.
"You kidnapped me! You interrogated me!" Varric growled, ducking behind the railing on the stairs. "What did you expect?" Cassandra hounded on us like a mad dog and I raised my arms to block her passage, our chests briefly colliding as she tried to shove past me.
"Hey!" I snapped, baring my own teeth at her. "Enough!"
"You're taking his side?" Cassandra growled into my face, her arm waving at Varric.
"I. Said. Enough." I enunciated each word, returning her glare. Months ago I wouldn't have dreamed of standing toe to toe with my Viper, but that was then and now I wasn't going to let her temper further get the best of her. Stand down, Cass. Don't make make this worse. Heartbeats passed, but she finally stepped away from me.
"We needed someone to lead this Inquisition." Cassandra growled at us, stepping back toward the other end of the floor. "First, Leliana and I searched for the Hero of Ferelden, but she had vanished." Varric had stayed by the stairs, unwilling (hopefully) to leave me with a pissed off snake.
"Then we looked for Hawke," Cassandra continued, her voice cracking from anger, "but he was gone, too. We thought it all connected, but no." She hissed the word through her teeth, aiming for Varric.
"Cassandra," I tried again, trying to get her to calm down. She continued to glare past me, her eyes trained on the dwarf as he hid behind me and halfway down the stairs.
"It was just you. You kept him away from us." Cassandra spat, ignoring me. "Hawke was the Champion of Kirkwall. The mages respected him."
"The Inquisition has a leader." Varric called from behind me. My eyes closed in betrayal, that was not going to help her. Sure as shit, Cassandra riled up again, her shoulders tight to her neck as she shifted to get a better look at him.
"Hawke would have been at the Conclave!" Cassandra shouted, smacking a fist on the railing. "If anyone could have saved Most Holy…" Her voice trembled and a stack of bricks crashed on my head. She's not pissed they couldn't find Hawke. She's pissed because it could have saved the Divine.
Oh, man.
"What's done is done, Cass." I replied steadily. I didn't want to ignite her again if she thought I was pitying her. For a moment, Cassandra seem to struggle with her throat and words, silently choking back the emotion that threatened to take her down.
"So I must accept — what? That the Maker wanted this to happen? That He, that He..." Her words were strangled in her throat, fighting her tongue as she looked at me, desperate for answers. The Mark thrummed with her broken heart and the threat of tears blurred my vision briefly.
"I was protecting my friend!" Varric huffed from his hiding place. I winced again and shot Varric a look; read the room, dude! Of the three of us, Cassandra was the most volatile and though I wouldn't make an excuse for her abuse, I didn't want any more being triggered until I could address it.
"Varric is a liar, Inquisitor. A snake." Cassandra retorted, her nose pinching angrily on her face. "Even after the Conclave, when we needed Hawke most, Varric kept him secret."
"He's with us now." Varric threw his two cents into the fight. I was about ready to slap him. "We're on the same side!" Cassandra's gaze rounded on Varric and she sneered with a shake of her head. She clenched her hands and took a deep breath, all of which I was thankful to see.
"We all know whose side you're on, Varric." She spat his name, glaring at him. "It will never be the Inquisition's."
"Attacking him now won't help us, Cass." I exhaled, exhaustion flooding through me. When did I turn into everyone's medium and caretaker? I was quite tired with dealing with betrayals and liars and deceits.
"Exactly!" Varric agreed from the stairs. I turned on him with a snap, my fingers clicking at him impatiently with a hard point at his face. Varric reeled in surprise, his eyes wide with his attention snapping. Maybe Josephine isn't wrong. The scars probably make me pretty hard to look at. Either way, I was getting tired of constantly needing to defend myself from a backstabbing.
"And you," I roped his responsibility into my words tightly, "better not be keeping anything else from us. From me. I am not in the mood for it anymore." Both parties glanced at me warily before sharing a look. Cassandra turned away and walked toward a bench.
Varric sighed, "I understand." Cassandra sat on the bench, leaning against the armrest and holding her temple with a hand. She sighed as well, her eyes closing with a flutter.
"I must not think of what could have been. We have so much at stake." Cassandra muttered quietly, defeated. She shook her head, her eyes still shut. "Go, Varric. Just… go." Varric glanced at me and it took a lot of willpower not to glare at him. I could understand them, their tension, definitely. Fighting about it changed shit all. I waved at him gently; you can leave. It was the best he could do now. Varric made his way down the stairs and paused.
"You know what I think?" Varric's voice carried to us, but his attention was at his feet. "If Hawke had been at the Temple, he'd be dead, too. You people have done enough to him." He was silent as he exited, the door slamming shut once he was out. A sigh escaped me and I turned to Cassandra and prepared for damage control.
"I… believed him." She lamented quietly. She slumped on the bench and the hand against her head rubbed across her face. "He spun his story for me, and I swallowed it. If I'd just explained what was at stake… If I'd just made him understand…"
"You can't wring your neck like that, Cass." I murmured to her, watching as she left the bench and moved over to the table closer to me. She sat and gestured to the other chair across from her. Hesitantly, I accepted and sat with a quiet huff.
"I suppose not. It's what I deserve for not explaining why we needed Hawke." She stared at her hands on the tabletop. "I'm such a fool." More hesitation gripped me. The last thing I wanted to do was lecture her, because I didn't have the answers. Good, bad, or indifferent, we were here because of the decisions we made and there was no changing that.
I exhaled, relaxing. "We shouldn't be so ready to break ourselves over the choices we make. What we do now makes a difference."
Cassandra chuckled sadly. "Honestly, Hawke might not even have agreed to become Inquisitor."
"Why is that?" I asked quietly, folding my hands on the table, the picture of patience.
"He supported the mage rebellion. He wouldn't have trusted me for a second." Cassandra murmured with a deep sigh. She shook her head and scratched at her ear, her gaze avoiding mine. "But this isn't about Hawke, or even Varric. Not truly." I relaxed further, relieved I wouldn't have to drag it out of her. You've come so far, Cass. I'm so proud of you.
"I should have been more careful. I should have been smarter." She lowered her hands back to the table and finally brought her eyes up to me. My Mark pulsed with the smallest amount of regret laced with fear, and it left me unprepared for her confession. "Sometimes I wish I could see the world as you do… I don't deserve to be here."
"Hold the fuck up." I said gently and reached for her hands. She almost took them from me. I wasn't going to force her into physical contact she didn't want, but it was only a moment that she jerked away. Immediately after, she wrapped her fingers around mine and I smiled at her.
"You deserve to be here, Cassandra." I said vehemently. "Have you actually looked at our Inquisition, Cass? We're all fools here." She choked on her laughter and gripped my hands tight, desperate to keep herself in one piece. I held on as tight as I could, willing her to believe me.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" She muttered through her amusement, her eyes watering.
"More at home, maybe." I answered her. It was all I wanted for her, because she deserved to feel like she belonged. We wouldn't have gotten this far if she had not been a driving force behind it all. Saying it to her now would sound sour and practiced. I would have to find some other way to make her see it. She breathed deep and held it as she brought her earnest gaze up to mine.
"I want you to know, I have no regrets." She started, holding my hands in both of hers. "Maybe if we'd found Hawke or the Hero of Ferelden, The Maker wouldn't have needed to send you."
"But he did." I murmured gently, a dip of sadness touching my smile. She nodded.
"But He did." She released one of my hands and rose to her feet, taking me up with the other. I stood and eased around the table, waiting to allow her the moment she wanted to be completely free of me. She smiled, "You're… not what I'd pictured, but if I've learned anything, it's that I know less than nothing."
"You know just enough to keep your head above the water, Cass." I chuckled and squeezed at her hand. She paused and glanced down at our fingers, seemed to nod to herself and then stepped toward me, her other arm coming around my shoulders. Without a thought, I raised my arms under hers and hugged her to me.
"Thank you." She murmured, her cheek against mine.
"Anything for you, Cass."
-0-
"How come I always find you wandering around at night?"
"You know what, Bull? Bite your own ass, it's barely sunset."
The Iron Bull stood in the shadows of the trees along the side of the tavern. It hadn't quite turned to night just yet. The sun was setting over the edges of Skyhold and the first glitters of starlight were kissing the sky. My feet dragged me over toward him, the Qunari's lips tucked up into half a smirk once I was closer and he tilted his head with a curious swipe of his eye over my face.
"Anyone dead?" He asked, glancing up at the building I had escaped.
"Not currently." I sighed. Both of my hands reached up and rubbed at my forehead. "Cass is no longer breathing fire and Varric's life has been spared. All in a day's work."
Bull chuckled and crossed his arms. "Scared Krem pretty bad, barking at him like that."
"Ah, fuck me, I did bark at him, didn't I?" I sighed harder, my hands dropping to my hips and resting on the curve, I had been in a slight panic trying to find Cassandra and Varric in my haste. "Rude."
"I'll say." Bull's smirk grew and he tilted his head the other way. I had the sneaking suspicion he was attempting to be cute, or some version of it. My gaze narrowed and I pursed my lips, waiting. I don't like that look on his face. He's needling for something.
"Spit it out." I fought the smile on my lips. "What do you want?"
"I think you owe Krem a drink." Bull teased lightly. "How about it? You did promise you'd have drinks with us at some point."
I laughed, relaxing. "Right, right. I did promise. Alright, then, lead the way, Bull."
"Yeah, come on, it'll be fun." Bull reached out and clapped me on the shoulder. A small puff of breath escaped me in a laugh and I allowed myself to be dragged along, his arm slung over my shoulders. Enfolded against his side, his heat bled into my muscles and melted me to my core. This is dangerous. We wandered around into the tavern, the warmth from within a meager fraction of the one at my side.
The tavern opened wide as we stepped through. At the center was a large hearth already roaring with its fire. All along the walls were tables and chairs, stools, and barrels. Tapestries hung from the walls and fluttered with the passing currents or people. Stairs jutted up into the second and third floors where more people were crowded in, laughing and passing drinks.
"You know, I don't think I've been in here since we arrived." I murmured. Bull's arm around my shoulders tugged me toward the stairs and released me so I could go up first. I waved to Maryden who stood at the base of the steps and waved back, her lute for the moment quiet in the dim lighting of the tavern.
"No, you haven't. Figured it's about time people see your face around here." Bull said from behind me. Up the stairs I rose, my gaze fluttering around at the different faces that passed by. A few of the patrons would nod their heads or bow briefly at the sight of me, but the rest of them would ignore me. I grinned; definitely my kind of scene. At the far end around the curve of the stairs I could hear shouts and jeers, a loud crash hit the floor and from below I could hear Cabot holler.
"Any guess who that would be?" Bull teased, his voice startlingly close to my face as he leaned over to speak. I jerked in my skin and ducked my head, laughing off my nerves before he could spot them. So not cool, dude. My loins are not ready for that.
"No guesses, I know the kind of chaos the Chargers make." I followed the railing around toward the back corner and soon enough the familiar faces of the Chargers greeted me. Cheers went up with pint steins when they saw me, alcohol sloshing to the ground from their excitement. Maryden's song echoed from below, mixing in with their happiness.
"What the fuck." I laughed.
"Ah, good, we're not drinking alone." Bull slapped me on the back and pushed me forward. With a stumble, I tripped forward and found a chair by the group to inhabit. Krem grinned at me and reached over on the table, snatching a drink from Stitches and holding it out to me. Stitches rolled his eyes, but didn't protest the stolen drink. I took it, cupping it in my hands as I sat on the nearest chair.
"How you doin', Krem De La Crème?" Bull dropped onto a barrel propped up against a pillar that held off the corner from the rest of the floor. Krem's eyes dipped into the deepest eye roll I had ever seen and that alone had me chuckling into my drink. The Chargers around them snickered at the name.
"Your Worship," Krem greeted me, a hint of exasperation in his tone, "I'm so glad he has someone new to hit with that joke." Grim sitting at Krem's foot smirked with a huff of his shoulders, clearly amused. Dalish and Stitches at the crate-table behind their lieutenant ducked their heads together with their smiles.
"I can think of worse places to go with Cremisius." I took a sip of my drink, hiding behind it. Rocky grinned from his place at the wall just off to my left with Skinner huffing, mildly amused by the scene.
Krem snorted, waving his drink at Bull. "So can the Chief, believe me. He loves his nicknames." Bull's mouth flooded his face with a smirk and he leaned forward on his barrel, his near-fingerless hand pointing to Krem.
"Hey, when I was growing up, my name was just this series of numbers." Bull poked at Krem's knee teasingly. "We all give each other nicknames under the Qun." I squirreled away that information into my little encyclopedia of Shit I Don't Know. Very dystopian, that. Do they get branded, or are they just expected to remember? The idea of anyone piercing a tag into Bull's ear like cattle rattled a lava pit at the bottom of my gut.
I took another sip of the murky ale to ignore it.
"They ever wear shirts under the Qun, Chief?" Krem fired back, grinning. "Or do they just run around binding their breasts like that?" Whatever sip I had taken shot right back through my nose, laughter bubbling up through my chest and fighting with the cough that choked me. Bull shot me a look of betrayal, but the half smile I could see told me another story.
"It's a harness, Krem." Bull said warningly.
"Yes for your pillowy man-bosoms," Krem drawled, his drink back in the air with a wave at Bull's chest, "Let me know if you need help binding. You could really chisel something out of that overstuffed look." My drink had to take refuge in my lap, otherwise it would have ended up on the floor. I wiped at my mouth with the back of my hand and hid a grin from Bull when his one good eye shot toward me.
I snuck a look at Krem and the lieutenant rewarded me with a wink. Such bravery.
"That's not fair, Krem." I decided to butt in, smirking at the lieutenant. "I asked for pointers and you shot me down." Like fireworks, the crew around Krem lit up with jeers and jabs, poking at him teasingly. Krem's face flooded with heat and clipped his jaw shut in surprise.
"Krem," Bull abolished teasingly, "what did I say about turning down nice ladies who ask for help?"
"Look, that was a loaded offer and I know my place." Krem shot back, smacking off Rocky's teasing punch with a grin of his own. "Bad enough she got mad at me for looking the way I do." Krem laughed, but I could see Bull's eyes shift from humor to curiosity, his smile set to a protective twitch of oh really?
"Oh, don't you dare throw me under the wagon, Aclassi." I backpaddled, not wanting to have an angry Qunari Dad on my hands. "I said it wasn't fair that you could pull off the ambiguous look where I would look like a dead mabari."
Krem snorted, laughing again. "You're fitting the part, Your Worship. You've got the scars to match." The group around him, for the briefest of moments, hesitated. No one had really brought up the scars so directly, but Krem grinned at me with fearless humor. I returned the grin; thank you, Krem.
"What, being ambiguous or looking like a dead mabari?" I teased right back.
"Aye, here we go." Krem lifted his arms and dropped them in defeat, chuckling. "Never going to hear the end of it." I broke out into laughter at his eye roll and leaned over to pat his knee, squeezing it for a moment in thanks.
"It's okay, I still love you. You're an idiot, but good try." I sat back in my chair and crossed my legs, pleased at the opening he had given me to address the small elephant in the room. The Chargers relaxed minutely with Bull's grin growing across his face warmly.
"I'm surprised to see that Krem wasn't a secret." Bull hummed between us, a curious eye danced over our faces. "How long before you figured it out, Boss?"
"I didn't, actually." I cleared my throat after another sip of the ale, setting the pint down in my lap. "I just accepted Krem as Krem, until he told me about it. No reason to trip on it, he is what he wants to be."
Bull grinned, pleased. "You know, in Qunandar, Krem'd be an Aqun-athlok. That's what we call someone born one gender, but living like another." Krem blinked sideways at Bull, surprise catching his face in a second before he could question it. Huh, I held my drink with tapping fingers, Krem never heard of that either? Interesting.
"And Qunari don't treat those…. Aqun people any differently than a real man?" Krem asked tentatively. Sad affection slithered up around my heart for the young man. Oh, Krem. Why would it be any different in this world than it was in mine? The fear would still be there, the trauma, the want, the need to be what you felt.
Now I really wish he knew that I meant it, that I loved him like the brother he truly was.
"They are real men." Bull said firmly. "Just like you are."
Goddamnit. I stared down into the half empty stein, wishing my heart would stop racing against my ribs. I don't need to make this infatuation worse, you stupid organ. Could you not? Please? A heavy sigh escaped me and I took a slightly longer drink from my stein.
"Hm," Krem relaxed into his armor, a sense of ease overcoming him. He grinned, "Maybe your people aren't so bad after all."
"Don't get your hopes up, Krem." Bull warned, shaking his head. "We still come down hard on the back talk." The echo of snickers that went through the rest of the Chargers told me how often that happened from their beloved Chief. Bull rolled his eyes and shifted his attention to me.
"Anyway," he huffed, ignoring his children, "Here's the rest of the Chargers. Or what's left of the rest. A lot of them went looking for stronger drinks."
"It's about time we got official introductions." Krem lifted his drink to me, excitement dancing through his smile. Dalish and Stitches shared a look behind him and not for the first time I wondered what secret these chuckleheads had hidden away amongst themselves. Bull shushed him with a wave of his hand and then pointed to the first two furthest from us, at the wall.
"We've got Rocky and Skinner there, who you've seen in passing." Bull gestured to the dwarf and elf that had taken to the shadows against the wall. Skinner gave me the smallest nod and Rocky followed up with a giant grin stretched under his mustache.
"You, of course, should know Stitches, since he's patched you up." Bull teased when he turned to his medic. Stitches greeted my gaze with a two-finger wave and stayed silent. I grinned at the man with a nod, he might actually be one of the few that knows my story, aside from Krem and Bull.
"And then we have Dalish," who waved at me as well with a winning smile, "and Grim down here." All eyes fell to Grim who was cuddled up to the barrel and between Stitches and Krem. The man gave me a stern face with half a smile, nodding in greeting.
Bull grinned at me, "Crazy bunch of assholes, but they're mine." A few playful boo's went out from his team. A small chuckle left me and I glanced between them, noting that I had seen them all at least once or twice. Rocky was the one I knew very little about.
"Could I ask, Rocky? Were you born on the surface, or are you from Orzammar?" I pronounced the name as best I could, silently thanking Varric for the educational lesson on his homeland. Rocky seemed the excitable type, his grin flashed wider for a second before he shifted briefly forward to answer me.
"Orzammar. I got exiled. Stupid noble crap." He huffed, his mustache twitching. "Also, I accidentally blew up a bit of the Shaperate." Surprise blinked through me, that is one hell of an Also. Who the fuck makes an accidental bomb? Vividly, I remembered Jacob accidentally pressure-firing a piston from an engine and kept my mouth shut.
"Rocky's one of our best sappers. He can take down enemy fortifications faster than a golem." Bull said proudly, sharing a look with Rocky. I tilted my head wondering at the term golem but allowing it to store away in my head. This is one part education, one part drinking, one part meet-the-parents, isn't it? My face flushed as I took another sip from my drink.
Rocky bounced on his feet a bit, "I'm also working on my own version of Qunari black powder. I've almost got it!" Rocky enthused. My drink caught in my throat and I choked, coughing up a dirt devil twist from my tongue as my mind raced away with the word black powder. With some minor alarm, my gaze shot to Bull with a disbelieving look.
They have gunpowder here?!
"Yeah," Bull snapped a small glare at Rocky, "you really don't." I'm not sure if Bull meant that as a reassurance, but it didn't work. If they have gunpowder — if the Qunari have it, how the fuck have they kept that from spreading? Time to switch gears, new topic, stat. I cleared my throat with another small cough, turning my attention to Dalish.
"Annnd, next." I forced a laugh. Dalish smiled at me. "If you don't mind my asking, Dalish, did you have a clan before this?" I knew very little about the elves and their culture. Solas was a wealth of information about spirits and the Fade, as well as anything that was close to a thousand years old, but not much else. Sera avoided any association with elves like they were the source of a plague.
"Our Keeper thought I should see the world a little." Dalish answered politely, her smile warm. My brow pinched over my nose. The smile and the words are practiced. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, she's probably answered that question a hundred times or more.
Bull caught my look, adding: "Dalish don't have Templars, so they can't have too many mages in a clan at once." My frown deepened. Since when did the number of mages become the issue? Are they expecting a riot? An attempt to usurp? Dalish huffed with a pointed look at Bull.
"Now, ser," she murmured quietly, "you know I'm not a mage! That'd make me an apostate." Oh. It clicked. Mages were dangerous because they were supposedly doorways for demons. Or that too many people who could sling a fireball with a flick of their fingers and level whole towns.
"You carry a staff, Dalish." Bull retorted with a laugh.
"It's a bow!" She replied firmly.
"A bow with a giant glowing crystal at the tip?" Krem raised an eyebrow at her. I was hiding my laughter behind the last drink of my stein, clearing it to the bottom. Dalish's nose scrunched at Krem and she leaned on the crate, shushing him with a finger.
"Yes. It's for aiming." She nodded. "Old elven trick. You wouldn't understand." A laugh did escape me at that, catching the attention of those around me. I smothered it as best I could with a hand, but I had already been snickered at with Bull giving me a wide grin. These morons, you wouldn't think they were deadly if you hadn't seen them on the field.
My gaze shot to Stitches, "And you got roped into being the company healer?"
"Yes," Stitches chuckled, turning on his seat to face me around Krem. "First time I ever picked up a sword was when the Blight hit Ferelden. Never put it back down." I nodded my head to that. My own backstory had placed me in the Blight at the tender age of seventeen or so, which could potentially mean Stitches was around the same age as I.
"He makes a potion that'll put you right back on your feet after even the toughest fight." Bull interjected and the grin gave away his excitement. "It tastes terrible, though."
Stitches rolled his eyes, "That's because it's a poultice, ser. You're not supposed to drink it." A very ugly snicker and snort shot through my nose and I slipped down in my seat, nearly losing my ass to the floor as I tried to hide from Bull. Krem laughed with me and ducked into his drink when Bull turned around to him with the stink eye.
With a cough, I found Skinner. "You and I had a moment back in Crestwood. Those were some amazing skills, Skinner. How'd you join up?" I was pleased to see that the tips of her ears twitched in surprise at being addressed directly. She spared a glance at Bull and after his head tilt, she returned to me.
"Killed some people." She tested the waters, watching my face. I blinked at her, patient. When she didn't continue, Bull cleared his throat next to me and my attention shifted over to him, knowing the cue when I heard it.
"Skinner didn't take kindly to nobles testing their new swords on the elves in her alienage." Bull explained lightly. I knew that word, alienage, Solas and Leliana had given me a brief rundown of what life could be for the average elf that wasn't in a clan or out in the wilderness on their own.
Skinner brightened slightly, "Bull took me in. Now I get paid to kill shems."
Well. I wasn't going to be one to judge.
Bull chuckled, "This is actually really good behavior for her. She's not marking her territory or anything." Skinner ducked her head, but there was a small smile at the corner of her lips, pleased either at the odd compliment or that she was behaving. Who knows, right?
"And last, but certainly not least," I grinned at the man between Stitches and Krem, "Grim." The man eyed me for a careful second, his honey eyes flashing over my figure and resting on my face. He stared for a hard moment and then grunted.
"Grim doesn't talk much." Bull elaborated. "I'm pretty sure he's the lost king of some small country. Or a chieftain. Something like that." Bull glanced back down at the man by his feet. Grim spared him a quick look and only offered another grunt in reply. I fought very hard to keep a smile off my lips; maybe I should have gone with that technique from the start.
I laughed, "You really take in anyone, don't you?"
"Anyone who can carry their weight in a fight." Bull agreed, grinning at me.
"And who can put up with your bullshit, Chief." Krem teased, the Chargers with him laughing at Bull's sour face. It warmed my soul up to the back of my teeth, making them ache with the camaraderie they held together. Bull cared not at all for the gender or reputation of his men and took them for their worth, expanding it so they could stand taller for it. Maker be damned, this man is just going to take my heart and run with it, isn't he? Maybe I was just thirsty.
I looked at my empty stein in disappointment.
"Here you go, Your Worship!" Krem laughed, taking my empty drink and leaving his half-full one in my hands. Sheepishly I grinned at him, thankful for the distraction. I tipped the stein to my lips and sipped as Rocky egged the Chargers into a song, their voices colliding like crashing birds and their hollers echoing out through the second floor. As their steins bumped together and the alcohol was drained, Bull leaned over toward my shoulder, mindful of his horns near my head. I tilted my ear up to him, waiting.
"Thanks for coming by, Boss." He murmured against my cheek. A shiver went screaming down my spine and I could feel his grin against my skin, "Glad you could meet some of my team." He pulled away and I hastily shoved my stein into my face, hoping against the Maker the flush could be mistaken for drunkenness and not desire.
"They're a good bunch." I answered thickly after my swallow. "I'm not surprised I've come to trust them so much." A hint of pride flickered through Bull's gaze and he tensed happily under my gaze. Distance. I need distance. He's going to drive me nuts. My attention swam over the other faces of the Chargers, watching them as they broke out into another song, Krem leading them along this time.
"You've paid us quite a bit, good business sense to make sure we don't let you down." Bull answered with a grin. It deflated my balloon a bit and added a cold slap of water to my chest. Right, mercenaries. The loyalty only extends so far as the money does. My hands tightened around the stein.
"Hey, Bull." I asked quietly, my gaze jumping between Rocky and Stitches, both of whom now fought for a seat at the crate-table they had made. Bull turned to me, his brow raised curiously. My tongue tied in my throat for a moment, fear and hesitation pulling at my nerves.
"Yeah, Boss?" Bull prompted, nudging my foot with his own when I took too long to answer. I swallowed back my heart and shivered at the sweat that collected at the back of my neck. My gaze found his green eye and with more emotion than I intended, I replied.
"When this is over, could The Chargers take me in?" I asked quietly, would you take me in? It was, for one glorious moment, the most outlandish thing he wasn't expecting and the brick hit his face, making him blink a wide eye at me with open surprise. A lifetime crossed his face as he contemplated my question, wondering at the honesty in it.
He relaxed, his tone affectionately amused. "Yeah, Boss. We would."
"I guess I shouldn't die, then." I replied, taking a hearty drink from my stein.
Guess I better make it to the end.
