'I knew it,' Anders broke the silence with a self-satisfied smirk. He deliberately brushed his hair out of his eyes tugging a few strands behind his ear. The expression on the elf's face was priceless. Serah-I-hate-everything-magic had the hots for blonds. And not any blond. This blond. The blond mage. Anders wanted to crow. It tasted like victory to see the haughty bastard completely flustered. It felt even better to see all that heat directed at him. He had almost forgotten what it was like to be desired, and it felt so damn good.
xXx
Until a few weeks ago Fenris had never even imagined that he had ever had a lover and never entertained the idea of pursuing one. The memory of the lyrium being carved into his flesh turned any physical contact into agony. A caress or a slap, it was all the same in different measure: pain. A pain that denied him the most basic intimacy and had robbed him of his memory creating a void that he filled with the only emotion he seemed to know: hate.
Pain and hate – a vicious cycle that he had only ever escaped for the first time when red-gold hair flying in a gentle breeze had opened a door to his past when he must have known what it was like to love, to touch and be loved. It was shameful but he would give anything to have this part of himself back.
And Anders knew, he knew and he dangled himself in front of Fenris like a toy ready to snatch it out of reach should he make a grab for it, taunting, teasing, mocking.
Every instinct in Fenris screamed to punish the mage for his insolence. Rush at him and rip his heart out and rid the world of another abomination. It hurt to just look at the man. Everything about Anders, his posture, the way he smiled, his fucking hair, reminded him of how it felt to be loved and it stung. Undoubtedly the mage thought Fenris was hopelessly infatuated with his looks and tested the waters of how he could use it to his advantage. Fool!
xXx
Subtly Anders had readied a spell under his breath, if necessary he could stun the bastard long enough to make it to the door. He had expected an attack, had expected the volatile temperament he knew so well to explode in his face. Come to think of it, approaching a vicious killer in his own home was not the smartest thing Anders had ever done. In the back of his mind Justice concurred.
But Fenris was still calm. Anders watched him carefully setting the bottle he was holding in front of the fireplace before he slowly got up, never breaking eye contact. The smirk slipped off the mage's face when Fenris moved towards him like his namesake stalked his prey. The elf was many things, a warrior and a gigantic pain in the arse came to mind but right now Anders had to acknowledge that he was also drop-dead gorgeous!
When Fenris moved into his personal space and did not stop Anders had to force himself not to flinch. The elf was touching him. Fenris did not touch. Never. The only time anyone was allowed this close was for healing purposes and even then he had to use magic from as much a distance as possible. So far Hawke was the only one who had ever been allowed to patch the warrior up when Anders was too knackered to help.
Lyrium marked hands came around his neck, gliding into hair until they were cradling the back of Anders' skull. Maker, it had been so long since anyone had touched him like this, he wanted to purr. If this was a dream he would smite whoever woke him up from it with a lightning bolt, even Fenris, especially Fenris. He had suspected that the man was attracted to him but he hadn't expected the elf to act on it.
xXx
Fenris suppressed a hiss when his hands made contact with the mage's skin. One of the cardinal rules of warfare was to keep your foes on their toes and off balance. The abomination had probably expected an attack and readied himself for one. Better to slip past his defences before showing him his place.
xXx
'So what is it exactly you think you know?' Fenris asked, his voice deep and seductive, sending fuck-me signals to the blond's cock.
At first Anders had been too stunned to react when the other had started to touch him but that sinful voice so close to his ear spurred him into action. He raised his arms to draw the elf closer against him. What had Isabela called him? Lanky. Yes, lanky he was. Lanky and solid muscle that made Anders sorry his coat was providing so much padding between them.
'Mmmh. I knew you...,' Anders began to answer the question but before he could finish the sentence Fenris' hands had left his hair only to grab his wrists, giving them a painful twist that made him yelp in pain before he was spun face first into the stone wall.
'You know nothing!' Fenris snarled, one hand still twisting his wrist, pinning him in place, the other fisting in his hair, pulling so hard it brought tears to Anders' eyes. 'Why are you here, mage?'
'Let go, you bastard!' Anders spat back between clenched teeth. If anything it made Fenris pull even harder.
'I will not repeat myself, answer the question!'
To the Void with that. '...ouch...'
'Mage.'
'I wanted to see whether I was right about you and my hair...please leave it where it is... and I wanted you to look at me like that again.'
'Like what?'
'...like you want me!' Anders admitted.
For several moments nothing happened before Fenris suddenly released the hold on his hair and wrist, allowing Anders to turn and with a groan slide down the wall to sit on the floor. The elf looked at him with an unreadable expression. 'You are delusional. I do not want you,' he finally said before he turned his back on Anders.
'Oh yes, you do,' Anders snapped back defiantly, watching with satisfaction how the elf's shoulders tensed under his accusation. His scalp still stung where Fenris had tried his best to rip his hair out.
The elf rounded on him, all snarling rage. For a second Anders was sure he was going to get punched but instead he was boldly dragged onto his feet and unceremoniously shoved into the direction of the door. 'Keep your fantasies to yourself. Never come into my house again. And get out!'
Anders stared at the other man as he walked back to the fireplace to resume his drinking no doubt as if this little episode hadn't happened. If that arrogant son of a bitch of an elf thought Anders would leave it at that, he was dead wrong.
'Never taunt a mage!'