An hour later, Anders finally spotted an appealing location. He guided his horse nearer Fenris and yelled conversationally over the clop of the horse's hooves. "How about over there?" He pointed out a smooth, partly formed arch a story tall. The rock in the middle hadn't fully worn away, leaving a natural hollow. A pair of sparrows flew past heading back out of the desert, one following the other in a mad spiral. Their chirping lent an air of cheer to an otherwise arid environment.
Fenris stopped his horse to examine the hollow but ultimately declined. "No. We sheltered under an outcropping over a week ago." The elf swatted a gnat from away his eyes, grunting in annoyance.
"What, you mean that mad story about the Qunari?" Anders smirked, reminiscing.
"That's the one," Fenris concurred. Anders reached an arm out, and Fenris took it despite the awkward distance between their horses. Anders squeezed nervously, shifting anxiously in his seat.
"I wouldn't mind doing that again," Anders proposed hopefully.
"I'm sure you wouldn't." Fenris mused, returning the squeeze before dropping Anders' hand. He returned his eyes to the path ahead, still extremely smug. "I recall I specified something different."
Anders didn't bother to hide the disappointment dripping from his voice. "Fine. Somewhere else then."
"Somewhere else," Fenris acknowledged. His nostrils flared as he noted at Anders' deep discomfort.
A half hour later, Anders made another attempt. "Over there?" Anders pointed to a row of vertically stacked stones, their forms rounded over by persistent winds. The largest on the bottom was the width of a chair and half its height. The topmost rock stood above eye level, no larger than a mug of ale.
Fenris looked skeptical, but he stopped his horse to look closer. Anders elaborated, guiding his horse alongside as he tried to sell the idea. "You can tie my wrists on either side of the rocks. If any topple over, we stop. And I won't complain no matter how long we wait after that. I swear I won't. Please?"
It was a risk, Anders knew. Stopping midway through would be even worse than his current condition. However, he remembered reading that vertical rock columns usually have packed earth between them, serving as a sort of cement. Chances are they would not topple unless considerable force was applied.
Fenris looked over, bemused. Trust Anders to answer one challenge with another. He noted that Anders did not seem very worried at the risk. He decided not to fall for what he assumed was a clever gambit.
"No, I'll pass." Fenris glanced aside and snorted, noting Anders' mouth left open in bemused shock.
"Really? I would have thought that was 'different' enough for your tastes." Anders gathered himself, his feathered pauldrons puffing out as he drew his back straight in false indignation.
"Different, yes," Fenris agreed. "Comfortable, no. If you recall, I require both." Fenris found himself tapping his fingers against the saddle horn, watching Anders' reaction with cold calculation.
Anders pouted. "I'm beginning to think you're doing this just to spite me." Thin lips beneath furrowed brows attested to the current frustration burning into a heady pique, threatening to spark into anger.
"No," Fenris countered. "It's a challenge, not a punishment." Fenris again watched the blonde's expression carefully, trying to provide enough hope to keep going but not enough to kill the suspense.
"But is it a challenge you expect me to overcome?" Anders asked. The blonde seemed unaware that his hips were sliding back and forth, rubbing him against the saddle's front while he waited for an answer.
"Perhaps," Fenris responded. Anders released a throaty, frustrated sigh. The terrain was unpredictable, and so was the wager. Lost in an inner argument, Anders debated whether to officially forfeit the game. Instead, he shook his head with a rueful grin and started them back on their westward path.
Two hours later, the creek reemerged from the canyon's end as wide as a city street but barely ankle deep. Fenris slowed his horse and dismounted, guiding it to the river to drink. Anders was still so distracted that he had to double back after noticing that he was riding alone. As the mage dismounted, Fenris pulled the cantina from his pack and filled it with water from the river. They passed the canteen between them in silence, shoulder to shoulder. Then Fenris reattached the canteen to his belt.
"At this point," Anders admitted with a blush, "I'd lie down in the creek bed if you wanted." The river's dregs burbled in assent, smooth rocks adding an inviting sheen where they poked above the water line.
Fenris chuckled, shaking his head, smiling. "Thank you, but no." They stood in companionable silence.
Anders shifted uncomfortably, their mere proximity enough to cause his excitement to grow unchecked. He refused to be embarrassed over a bodily reaction that defied his control. He just watched the horses with a pained expression. Finally he whimpered and leaned in, propping his head onto Fenris' shoulder.
"I notice you stopped pointing out noteworthy places," Fenris mentioned, more statement than inquiry.
"Well, you didn't seem very interested," Anders stabbed. His temper was clearly ramping up again. The mage clutched Fenris' upper arm in a desperate grip. The delectable feeling of firm skin over taut muscle caused him to whimper again. He clutched harder, rubbing a thumb along one brand with a sigh.
"I don't know," Fenris hinted. "I was enjoying our talks." He put his arm around Anders' waist. Anders let out a shudder, enticed and yet distraught at a wanton impulse to forgive. He released his posture, letting half his weight fall into Fenris' arm, his head dropping lower. Fenris took the extra weight without comment, hand still gentle though his arm muscles tightened. It would be a comforting moment if Anders wasn't so terrifically on edge. Instead his whimper stretched into a cry in a fit of mixed emotions.
"The thing is," Anders confessed. "I see places everywhere now. Just none that you would like."
Fenris looked over with compassion. "How do you know for sure know unless you ask?" He tipped Anders' head back up to look him in the eyes. He measured the dilation of the blonde's pupils, the heaviness of his breath, the speed of his pulse, and above all the expression of dazed desperation in his face. Fenris lowered his gaze to the tent in Anders' trousers. Anders' eyes followed as the elf's palm snaked over to provide a gentle squeeze. Anders buckled, and Fenris caught him in an awkward hold.
The elf removed his palm, the arm around the mage's waist urging him to resume holding his own weight. Though Anders lurched in drunken desire while standing back up, he finally angled his mouth to Fenris' ear for a gentle attempt at seduction. "I just know." It was a three word confession of what they had both noticed that day, that they had learned to read each other like the back of Anders' hands. Or the underside of Fenris' feet. The observation lightened Anders' pointed accusation of chicanery.
Fenris' grip tightened possessively around Anders' waist. He turned, gently guiding Anders to face him. Their eyes locked, rendering the desert and its suffocating heat immaterial for several long seconds. Fenris nodded, dropped the pitch of his voice, using a slower drawl that he knew affected his companion. "From now on, tell me. Every place you consider. No matter how unlikely."
"Okay," Anders breathed. The mage couldn't resist reaching forward for a hug. Fenris allowed the contact, then chuckled unsurprised when Anders used it as an excuse to rub the evidence of his excitement against the elf's hipbone. Anders added, "But only because you asked me to."
Fenris shifted his posture. Anders hummed contentedly upon finding his companion equally hard. He moved with a steady, grinding friction until Fenris grunted in displeasure and pulled back. As their bodies reluctantly separated, their eyes locked in another timeless moment. Anders' open adoration even in the face of neglect made Fenris' breath catch in his throat. A tumbleweed drifted by, unnoticed.
Fenris broke the silence with a cough, his horse having wandered back over. "We should go." Anders nodded, reinvigorated by their discussion. "Right." They remounted their horses and headed back out.