Disclaimer: I own absolutely and completely nothing. Bioware has that particular pleasure.

Author's note: Slightly higher rating for implied sex but I'm pretty sure it's not glaring. I tried to do it as best as possible but I'm positive it's not my strongest point. Thanks for the support, guys, you know who you are. And thanks to Rox for, yet again, beta the original version of this to make sure I wasn't going overboard and horrifying everyone.

In this chapter: She cannot be selfish, he doesn't truly knows how to do it for her.

010.

It is awkward at first. A kiss in the back alley, touches against a wall and then a planned marriage, she had never been one to fool around. Especially when thrown into the middle of humans and constant war. This is awkward and marvelous all at once, fumbling in the dark even though there are still candles in the room, every movement uncomfortable and tentative. It makes her wonder, just in the beginning, if this isn't one more proof against their existence together. Tasha cannot avoid it. There is always that voice which is part her and part education, always repeating elf and human and how they don't belong in the same street never mind the same bed. Teagan appeases it though.

His hands move gently, more experienced, hold her like she is some piece of glass which will break with too much strength and takes the lead. Slide down, caress, kiss her when she seems unsure, show her that this isn't a battleground but something much more important, much sweeter and it is fine to give in and give in return. With each kiss, her little voice fades into the background, as he moves, grips her against him as if she's some sort of lifeline and all she can think is I love you and how it feels right.

"Is there a moment in which we are asking too much?"

Skin against skin. There is no waterfall but there is no light either; they can safely assume it is outside. Underneath her ear, she can hear the steady drum of his heart just as she can feel his arm encircling her waist as if to make sure she is going nowhere. It all seems a miracle.

"Depends," he starts, familiar amusement all over his tone. Like the day he finally convinced her to stop being a fool. Her gratitude has no limits but she has tied herself to someone who thinks he knows better than her. All the time, silly man. "If you ask for the sky and the moon, I can't believe it will be possible for me to carry them home. I can try?"

The elf laughs against his flesh, fingers playing distractedly with his hair. It feels soft, a little courser like a soldier's is supposed to be but so much softer than hers. How foolish that sounds, how romantically foolish. Marriage was never supposed to be like this. Laughter and friendship, warm arms and round ears, no fear whatsoever as that is saved for later. Maker, she sounds like a fool herself.

"I would never ask for anything that elaborated." She shifts to look at his eyes, darker in the half-luminescence, so dark they look almost like hers. He also smiles, a calm lazy smile she had yet to know. Her hand lowers, traces his jaw, slides on his skin to draw his lips gently. Memorize them. By touch, by taste, until she can be a thousand miles away and remember clearly.

Another movement and she's draping herself over him, replacing the sheet they had discarded earlier on. His eyes never leave hers, that little smile not fading. Tasha finds herself wishing she could keep it there. Yes. A romantic fool, that is what she is becoming. A little fool and still she crosses her arms over his chest, doing little more than looking at him.

"What would you wish more?" Teagan asks in what almost seems a challenge. "If I could give you anything, what would you ask for?"

Once, Tasha had asked him the same thing. A long time before, when they were little more than strangers. He remembers it too, as his smile turns a little more amused, verging on thinking himself with the upper hand. She decides there and then he is far too amused.

Again her fingers trail, trace every feature of his face before following with her lips, gently, softly, almost not there.

"Tasha," it is a warning, her reply unsaid. She laughs against his cheek, somewhere along his neck and she can feel more than hear his quiet sigh. Inexperienced she may have been but she is no fool. Lower and he isn't exactly as comfortably, not nearly as focused as he was.

"They tell me," whispered against his collarbone while his hands move on her hips, gentle circles drawing patterns over her flesh in what she can swear to be fire. But she kisses his skin, focus on him alone and speaks against his flesh. "They tell me I am selfish."

A scar just below his neck, a little thing almost invisible, how curious. She finds another close to his heart, a dangerous injury. Another near his ribs, the right side. The many times he could have left this world and she would have never known this.

"You." Teagan flips their parts suddenly, pushes her against the bed and under him, a kiss that's not completely gentle, not completely innocent. They will never be again and she finds no reason to complain. "You need to stop saying those things," he states forcibly. "Whatever they say, whatever demands they do of you from now on, you have given enough already. I won't allow you to feel guilty about this."

All she sees are his eyes, dark, so dark they seem almost dangerous, almost worried, almost fearful and that curtain of strands which tickles her cheeks every time he leans forward.

"No, you don't understand," she interrupts him. That had not been her point. And, Maker help her, she won't remember how to continue if he continues to move because whatever this is, love or romance, companionship or something unnamable, it is addicting. "Because I am not just myself. I am many for too many. Because I swore."

Tasha decides his frown doesn't belong inside that room and especially not between the three curtains which surround them.

"But you see. In the chantry, I swore to another." Confused. Of course, he would be confused. He is but a man and she isn't the most normal woman he could have chosen. Her mind works in curves, knots and straight corners right into odd conclusions, didn't he know? "I swore I would fight for them," she continues, low, almost a whisper. "They would have the leader they want. And they have the Warden. But I swore to you before the Maker, you would get the woman, didn't I? So, my wish is."

He waits. Dark but not dangerous, not to her. On behalf of her and it's been some time since someone has bothered. It strikes her how lucky she is, to have all this to return to.

"Be selfish," she raises her hand to caress his face all over again, to push those strands to the side so she can see him better. For him to understand. "Do me a favor and be selfish. As much as you can dare, as much as possible."

There was probably more to be said but her last coherent thought is how she should have done this sooner before her husband discards words and makes her forget everything else.

When Tasha awakens in the morning, Teagan is no longer in their bed. Somewhere in the background she hears voices, some annoyance, sharp commands over a bark that speaks of Assan's presence nearby. She allows all sounds to pass right by her and burrows against the blankets which covered her at some point during the night. It's not every day she gets to oversleep. One more moment and she is just so close to slip away again when her husband returns, pushing the covers aside to slide next to her.

"You will be staying with me for the next month," he informs rather bluntly. "I have talked with the King and my brother, all the arrangements have been done." Talked or stated without waiting for a reply? "Loghain and your mage will be going to Soldier's Peak for the time being, they requested to meet someone. Assan is at the care of the Kennel master. Your family is housed within the castle and will be well looked after."

Might be the sleep but the elf can't think of anything else to keep track of.

"I will?"

"You will."

"Hm." Doesn't seem a bad idea at all to her sleep-muddled mind. "Fine."

His arms return to their original place around her waist, tucking her properly underneath his shin, tightly held like a children's favorite toy.

"It wasn't a request. Return to sleep, my wife."