Winter's hands shook with nerves as she stood outside the Hanged Man, her eyes staring at the grotesque sign hanging right above her. She had so many things she wanted to say to Blaize but could never find the words; she wanted to tell him how much she meant to him, how he made her smile in the toughest of times and well…That she was in love with him.
It was silly when she put some thought into it; she was the daughter of a powerful magister and an elf-blooded somniari, and he was a dwarven mage who had the powers of an Embracer that could go unstable at any moment due to his lyrium markings. They had both changed so much since they first met; especially Blaize. Winter had never seen a dwarf before Blaize, and that didn't matter to her. He might be small in stature, but she knew his heart was made of solid gold. There was also a bit of an age gap between the two; she was fourteen and he was seventeen. Winter may be extremely mature for her age, but the age gap may be daunting on the pair of them, especially when Blaize was soon to come of age and will start dating seriously, even though she never knew Blaize to go out with women. Of course, he caught the eyes of many female dwarves but he never seemed to be bothered with them.
Finally gathering her thoughts, and courage, Winter reached for the door handle but immediately bumped into someone that knocked her off her feet.
"Winter? Oh Maker I'm sorry!" a familiar baritone rumbled, a black gloved hand outstretched to her. Blaize was dressed in a matching outfit to his father, apart from the fact his outfit was black instead of tan, and where Varric had chest hair, Blaize had black lyrium markings.
The young mage peered up and her mouth fell open slightly as her eyes met Blaize's pale grey ones, a worried frown ruining his chiselled features. Winter had no idea how handsome Blaize had become; after meeting him when she was ten and he was thirteen. Winter nervously took his hand and he pulled her upright with ease, causing her to stumble forward onto him slightly but Blaize's lightning-quick reflexes caught her in an instant, his hand at the curve of her back as they both blushed as red as Hawke's hair.
"I…Sorry," Winter whispered as they both seemed to stare into each other's eyes for what felt like a millennia.
Blaize just smiled, "I was just coming to look for you."
"Oh…Really?" Winter's blushing intensified, which caused Blaize to frown slightly. He had never seen her so embarrassed around him before; what in the Maker's name happened? Then he took in her appearance; she simply looked…beautiful. Winter cleared her throat as she dusted off her dress, regaining her usual smile.
"Yeah I err…Was wondering if you wanted to come to the docks with me? I know it's not exactly the prettiest of places but I wouldn't want to ruin your beautiful dress by forcing you to traipse around the Wounded Coast," Blaize tried to smile confidently, but he was suddenly finding it hard to speak to the young mage.
Winter simply nodded as they both casually strolled towards the Lowtown docks in complete silence, both too stubborn and nervous to speak to one another.
Despite the terrible smell of rotten fish and the noise of roaring seagulls, the docks seemed pretty peaceful that day; the waves were slowly crashing against the stone of the docks, the creak of ships gently rocking in the breeze and it was actually heard for once since all the seagulls had suddenly disappeared, or the survivors had eaten them.
They had both continued to sit there in an extremely awkward silence, both not knowing what to say to each other for the first time in years. Winter was desperately trying to gather her thoughts and put them into spoken words whilst Blaize tried to get his head around why his heart thumped through his chest whenever he peered up at her.
Blaize had never felt this bizarre feeling before; the constant need to protect Winter, the craving of wanting to be by her side and to take her away from the pain she silently suffered ever since her parents' deaths. Was this feeling…Love? Blushing madly, Blaize glanced up at Winter once more, taking in her full appearance.
She was a majestic creature to be loved and protected. Sure the age gap was weird, but he would be extremely patient and careful with her, only do things when she was ready despite fighting back his urges. Her long, ginger hair gently cascaded over her shoulders in gentle curls as they delicately flew in the breeze. The fabric of the forest green dress clung to her body like a second skin, boosting all her best bits without showing too much. He remembered the time where these men were leering at Winter, making fun of the fact that she didn't have the curves of Hawke. Those men now have no tongues. Winter was simply the most beautiful person he had ever met, both on the inside and out.
Without thinking, Blaize twirled his index finger around one of her ginger curls. Winter immediately blushed, her startled eyes darting from Blaize's hand to his eyes.
"Blaize what are you doing?" Winter whispered, but his hand then moved to her cheek.
"You're beautiful, Winter."
Her blushing deepened as she hid behind her hair, a complete nervous wreck. Suddenly, Blaize felt tears streaming down her cheeks and onto his hand. He promptly moved himself closer to her, his other hand carefully turning her head so that she would face him. Winter's eyes were filled with tears as they silently trickled down her freckled cheeks.
"Winter…What's wrong?"
Winter simply blinked before whispering, "I'm moving to Ferelden with uncle Fen and Hawke. She is being chased down by seekers and I just…I needed to see you before I had to leave," she had begun sobbing hysterically, nuzzling her face into his gloved hand before flinging her arms around him, crying into his chest.
Blaize winced slightly, the tears flowing from Winter's eyes burned his markings slightly but right now, he couldn't care less. Holding back his own tears, Blaize comforted Winter by holding her in a loving embrace, delicately running a hand through her hair. When Winter finally ceased sobbing, Blaize knew it was his time to talk.
"Will we ever see each other again?"
"Hawke says it will be impossible to…"
"Then I will make it possible."
Blaize hastily took off his gloves so he could feel her cool skin against his as he cupped both of her cheeks, delicately wiping away tear, "I will write a letter to you every day that you are gone, I will think of you for every second of the day for the rest of my life until I can finally see you again."
Winter smiled, "You truly have your dad's way of words."
"What can I say…I'm a Tethras," Blaize smirked.
Suddenly, they both heard Hawke's voice calling out to Winter in the distant. They both started to panic as they stared up at the sky; the sun was setting a deep amber colour. Winter immediately stumbled to her feet, brushing herself off and was about to walk away but was stopped by a grab of her hand.
"Winter wait; I must tell you something before you go."
Winter spun around on her heel, looking deeply into Blaize's pale grey eyes that were full of love and admiration.
"I know our age gap is big, and that this should have been done sooner, but I love you Winter."
The young mage was absolutely speechless, tears of joy silently pouring down her face. Blaize gently grabbed her face with both of his hands and kissed her chastely on the forehead, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand before taking off a plain silver ring from his finger and affectionately placed it on her ring finger.
"On your eighteenth birthday; I promise I will crawl through all of Thedas to find you, and I will marry you."
"Blaize I…I love you."
Blaize planted another chaste kiss on her hand that now bore the ring, Fenris' impatient yells now tearing the young couple apart. Winter immediately grabbed the dagger from Blaize's hip and cut a long clump of her hair, tying it with one of her hair ribbons before gently folding it in a piece of cloth she hastily tore from her dress. She gently placed it in Blaize's hand, kissing him quickly on the lips before running off to board the ship, constantly peering back at the dwarf.
The young dwarf could do nothing but watch as his newly-found love sailed away to Ferelden, her lock of hair clasped gently in his hand. Fighting back tears, he carefully placed it in his pocket before returning to the Hanged Man.