Thanks for the review Chiyo2323! I DO know what you mean ;))) Trust me, I've entertained the though of them together! (Wow, that sounded dirtier than it should have!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age

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The Commander of the Inquisition; a Hopeless Tale of a Hopeless Dancer – By Varric Tethras. That was the name of the soon-to-be masterpiece of the dwarven storyteller. It had seemed like an insignificant joke at the time, just a friendly jest thrown his way by the fireplace.

Cullen had just walked by Varric in the main hall one evening; nothing out of the ordinary there. He was a polite man, and would always stop to exchange a couple of words with his acquaintances. Little did he know that this act of common curtesy, would lead to a whole series of uncomfortable situations.

The dwarf had humorously inquired if the Commander – or rather 'Curly' as he called him – "anticipated a lot of desperate dance-partners throughout the evening at Halamshiral." Cullen was used to these friendly banter with the dwarf, and confined to him that he didn't expect much floor time – for he had never learned to dance.

Just his luck that Josephine would walk past them at the exact moment Varric jokingly announced the title of his new book.

Cullen had never been at the right place at the right time…

The ambassador dragged him to her office. There she strongly suggested that the commander undertook dance lessons. He managed to calm her by claiming that dancing wasn't a necessary requirement for a soldier. The matter had seemed resolved by the end of their discussion.

Maker's breath had he been wrong...

By their next strategy meeting at the War Table, Josephine had recruited Leiliana to her cause. The women declared that they would not give him intel on any matter; he would only get information after he agreed to learn how to maneuver the dance floor. It was a bold bluff to be sure; but Cullen knew they wouldn't rest until he agreed to their demands. A good general knew when to back down after all.

He was glad that the Inquisitor had departed for the Hinterlands earlier that morning; the spectacle put on by Leliana and Josephine would have been to awkward to handle in front of her.

To be completely honest, he didn't want her to know that he couldn't dance. He'd never given the activity much thought. Not until Leliana kindly pointed out that noble women enjoyed a skillful dance-partner; heavily emphasizing the words 'noble women'.

Like most people with eyes, the spymaster had caught on to his little crush. It was only natural that she would use that sensitive information to her advantage; she had not gained her role in the Inquisition by being modest.

Both Leliana and Josephine offered to be his partner, but the thought of their whispers and snickers during advisor meetings made it impossible for him to accept. He foresaw a sore neck with little to no hair from frantic rubbing in a hopeless endeavor to calm himself.

He would have asked Cassandra to teach him, but she was off with the Inquisitor. So was his second choice – First Enchanter Vivienne. They had gone to procure a lost tome for the First Enchanter, and there was no way to know when they would be back at Skyhold. He'd also heard that Scout Harding was a capable partner, but she was off to the Forbidden Oasis.

The only other member of the Inner Circle who was capable enough to teach him, was none other than Dorian Pavus.

It took Cullen two days to muster enough bravery to ask Dorian for help.

As he'd suspected, he found the mage in the library. Dorian usually busied himself with literature if he wasn't needed elsewhere. He was now seated in a corner by himself.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"No need to worry dear commander, I was just finishing up a book Lady Cassandra borrowed me," he lifted the cover so Cullen could read the title Swords and Shields.

In attempt to make the request seem a little more… organic. Cullen attempted to start a conversation by sking if the book was any good.

The Tevinter snorted, "hardly! I feel dumber for reading it." He shook his head and closed it, letting it rest on his lap. "I can't fathom why she would enjoy such a tale."

"What's it about?"

"To put it nicely; it's a love story. A filthy one."

"Oh," was all Cullen could reply. He didn't know that Cassandra had… such interests.

"Seems like Lady Pentaghast is a great fan of Varric's work," Dorian continued. "I absolutely must inform him of it when I get the chance to." He put the book on the table next to his chair, "but I'm sure you're not here to join my book club. Did you want something Commander?"

Cullen reached for the back of his neck, nervously rubbing it. "I was wondering… if you would teach me how to dance?" Cullen's eyes wandered from Dorian's corner and up to the rookery. How anyone could concentrate with birds flapping above them was beyond him. He was glad that he had his own office. Though he'd preferred a better sleeping quarter; preferably one without a big hole in the ceiling.

"Well of course Commander!" Dorian exclaimed with a sly grin. "The Lady Ambassador stopped by the other day and said you would request this from me. I had expected to meet with you that same evening, but you never came by. Why is that?"

The commander gave him a quick glance before he answered, "I've been very busy. There's a lot to be done with Skyhold. The trebuchets' in dire need of an adjustment."

"I'm sure the trebuchets' kept you plenty busy, dear Commander." Dorian winked. "When do you want to start?"

"I want this to stay private between the two of us. I'll… come and get you at dawn; I know a place we can practice undisturbed."

"Don't worry Commander. I'll keep it our little secret; we don't want to embarrass you in front of your ladylove"

Cullen could feel the tip of his ears turn red, "how did you know!?"

Dorian let out an exasperated sigh while rolling his eyes, "oh you know mages like me! We do this nifty little trick where we use our eyes to observe those around us."

"Point taken."

Nearly a week went by without much progress. Dorian had managed to teach Cullen a simple waltz, but it wouldn't be enough to impress anyone at Halamshiral, nor the Inquisitor.

The waltz they were now working on was highly advanced; it required complicated spins and several lifts. Cullen would step on Dorian's feet whenever the mage let him lead – and it always resulted in Dorian making loud grunts of agony.

Cullen had expected to be finished by now – teaching a soldier to dance was no easy task.

Not that Cullen felt like a soldier anymore. He had to remove his armor in order to move better, he felt almost naked with nothing but a white cotton shirt and brown linen pants covering his body. To make matters worse, Dorian had taken the lead in order to teach the Commander the proper steps.

He had half a mind to call the whole thing off, but he'd overheard a conversation between Varric and Lady Evelyn. Evelyn was apparently anxious to attend the ball, and she had admitted that she would very much like to dance.

"Watch it Commander!" Dorian barked at him.

Cullen noticed that he'd yet again stepped on the toes of his dance master. "Oh, my apologies," he said and let go of Dorian.

The mage waved him off. "I think it's time we took a little break. You're not focused enough to learn anything right now," he said while massaging his temple.

"Maybe your right," he sighed. Cullen sat down on a wooden box and burrowed his face in his hands. "Maybe I'm unteachable."

Dorian walked up next to him and placed a calming hand on his shoulder, "I don't think you're unteachable… but I do think you're not comfortable enough to dance with a man."

"No Dorian, don't think that I'm," the mage cut him off.

"It's quite all right Commander. I know you're not uncofertable with my situation; but I do think you're having a hard time leading a man. Especially one who's such a marvelous dancer as myself."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"I think you should ask Cassandra or Vivienne for help, they surely know their way around the dance floor. Vivienne especially, she live for those sort of things."

The thought of switching teachers hadn't occurred to him. Both Vivienne and Cassandra returned with the Inquisitor a couple of days ago; but he'd enjoyed spending time with Dorian and had totally forgot that they were great dancers.

The events in Cullen's life had made it hard for him to make friends along the way; but he felt that he could call this particular mage a true friend. It was a somewhat surreal experience to be able to trust a mage to this extent. Not to mention that Evelyn herself was a mage, and yet he saw the people behind the magical powers – not the pre-abominations Knight Commander Meredith had though him to fear.

Cullen stood up, "maybe you're right." He let his hands down and met Dorian's brown gaze, "I want to thank you for your effort." He stood up and shook the mages hand.

The commander was about to put on his armor when soft knocks on the cabin door filled the room. They gave each other confused looks before Dorian called to the person on the other side.

"Who is it?"

"It's me Dorian, may I disturb?" the Inquisitor's voice echoed through the door.

"You may enter Evelyn!" Dorian gave the commander a sly grin, "I think I just solved your partner issue."