Layel stood up and stepped out of the bath tub. She quickly grabbed the towel near her wrapping it around her naked body, she was reaching for the second towel when Loghain's voice startled her

"Are you decent yet?" His voice was impatient and Layel could discern what sounded like a cold anger, a little irritation as if the room was his and she was the intruder. Even so, she felt pressured and guilty and said without thinking "yes…you can turn"

Loghain faced her. He stared at her from head to toe. Layel stayed immobile as the warden checked her with an unveiled scrutiny, only her rising and falling chest betrayed her nervousness in front of a face who let none of his thoughts come out. The cold drops falling from her shoulder-length hair and tracing their way to her back and chest broke the spell of his stare. Layel took the second towel and started drying her hair.

"Please take a seat," she waved toward the two living chairs next to the fireplace. Her voice was sweet and comfortable and the little smile on her lips seemed to please him and hopefully didn't expose any of her inner nervousness.

Layel went to the armoire next to her bed and took a dressing gown, the most luxurious one made of white silk and trimmed with lace. She put it on facing away from the man sitting next to the fire, then she let the towel slip to the floor as she tied the waistband tightly around her waist…she was completely naked under the gown, this would have been a good attempt at seducing him but she feared that it would send the wrong message.

"Is there something I can do for you, warden?" Layel accompanied her inquiry with a smile, he should not feel like he was bothering her.

"I should be the one asking this question, Inquisitor," the man's voice was calmly seductive, looking the elven young woman in the eyes.

Layel crossed her legs immediately, the timbre of his voice was meant to make her feel strange in some intimate parts when the things his discourse was suggesting did confuse her and unleashed her imagination.

"I…" Layel shook her head slightly. In front of her confusion, Loghain barely hid his amusement.

"This morning you said that you had an important question to ask, unfortunately, I had some urgent matters to attend to, so you suggested that we talk before supper," Loghain explained "I have been informed that the Inquisitor took her supper in her room, and rarely leave it after…So, what is the important question?"

Layel swallowed with difficulty and pursed her lips…she had not a damn idea about what made up inquiry she was going to come up with just to speak with him and hear his voice…she had to invent one right now, right here.

"It's about warden-commander Clarel," Layel finally said.

"What about her?" Loghain's face hardened at the mentioning of the woman's name. Layel concluded that the woman didn't leave him a good memory.

"I was wondering, how she is like," Layel said and it was Loghain's turn to feel confused.

"She is an Orlesian warden-commander," he simply said

"No... I meant, physically," Layel was inventing as she spoke and this last line was far from smart.

"She looks like a woman, or do you need her measurements?" Loghain sarcastically asked.

"Do you know her measurements?" Layel laughed awkwardly trying to take his attention away from her uninspired first question. But she found herself to be the only one laughing at her own joke. Loghain narrowed his eyes looking at the dalish Inquisitor who cleared her throat and opened her mouth to say something.

Layel instinctively raised from her chair when Loghain stood up without a word.

"Are you leaving already?" she sounded plaintive and demanding and the man froze on the spot. She continued "I…I will ask the servants to bring the supper here and we can dine together…if you…"

Awkward, odd, bizarre…this was how she constantly felt since she met him, like she was again this adolescent trying to make herself desirable for an uninterested crush. A clumsy rogue was the most pathetic thing that could exist.

Loghain turned around and she discovered a smirk on his face,

"You are really something Inquisitor," it was sarcastic… He took another step toward her "I am finally in your chamber, and you find nothing better than Clarel and supper to talk about?" His voice was soft and feignedly disappointed and despite the smirk that didn't leave his lips, Layel could glimpse at the desire in his eyes. she couldn't decide if it was the luckiest day of her life when the man she was coveting came to her room without an invitation just after she had scrubbed her skin and bathed with water rose or was it the worst day as he seemed more interested in laying with her for one time and leaving as soon as he could.

Loghain stopped when only a few inches were separating them, his neck was craned low and she could feel his hot breath grazing her cheek but she wouldn't find the courage to stretch her own neck and meet his gaze not until he put one of his arms around her waist as his other hand delved inside her thick, wet locks and tugged gently at them forcing her to look up.

"Not like this," she muttered with a breathy voice at the man who obviously was only waiting for her to voice her consent to throw her on the bed and have his way with her…at this thought, her loins yearned for such a conclusion.

"Like what, then," his husky voice was but a murmur.

"I want more," she was in the incapacity to formulate a more detailed explanation, hoping that a smart man like Loghain would catch the meaning.

"What a young dalish Inquisitor wants from an old disgraced warden?" he chuckled, tugging playfully, or menacingly, at the waistband that kept her gown in place and eyeing by the same occasion her visibly erect nipples . It was not a question, it was a confession, exposing not only his cynical point of view but also his loneliness and self-loathing, or that was how she interpreted this sentence.

"To give him a reason to live," Layel's face was more tender than lustful and it did destabilize the man in front of her, his expression was surprised, almost choked and obviously displeased.

The knocks on the door came in time to break their embrace. Loghain released her and turned to leave quickly… "I leave you to it, Inquisitor," he said with his usual composure and ran from her without looking back.

The servant who brought Layel's dinner didn't hide her surprise when Loghain opened the door for her she stayed immobile on the spot watching the old warden leave hurriedly until the Inquisitor's called her, the second surprise was for her to find the young elf wearing nothing but a thin dressing gown who left nothing to the imagination…the girls in the kitchen would never believe her but she was going to tell them, anyway.