A/N-Thanks so much for the reviews! Sorry this took so long, things have been a bit crazy. I had the hardest time editing this chapter to make it M rather than MA, so quite a bit got cut out. The full, extemely smutty version is on AO3 for those of you who are interested.

All day long the question that nagged at Anders was…why did the elf want him? The healer knew that he was an attractive man and, Hawke's comments aside, he knew he had a reputation as a skilled lover, but Fenris did not seem the type to choose a lover based on either of those things. In fact, except for whatever had happened with Hawke, Fenris wasn't the type to choose a lover at all.

The fact that the white-haired elf would make an exception for him made him feel flattered and very nervous.

By the time Fenris actually showed up, late in the evening, Anders had spent so much time analyzing all the possibilities of this encounter that he was torn between running and hiding from the elf and just jumping him right there in the doorway.

Justice had been no help whatsoever. Normally the spirit thought sex was just a bothersome distraction that humans focused on way too much, but when the sex came in such a pretty lyrium package it seemed that he was very supportive. In fact, Anders knew that some of the why aren't we naked yet? thoughts were coming directly from the spirit, and that was just…odd.

Fenris was wearing his normal, inscrutable look, which didn't help the healer in determining how he should behave. So he just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Fenris, fancy seeing you here."

One dark brow reached skyward as the Tevinter said in his driest tone.

"Yes, I can see how you'd be surprised since I left here this morning and said I would see you later. Very sneaky of me."

The amused glint appeared in those green eyes. Well, good. Always good to know he could entertain the grumpy elf by saying idiotic things.

"Yes, well, it's just a thing that people say. Idle chitchat. You know, to help fill up those awkward silences."

Fenris moved a little closer, the faintly amused look still in place.

"Hm. I do not make chitchat but then, I do not find silence to be awkward."

The elf's sharp gaze swept him head to foot, and then back up to look intently at his face.

"You have rested today? Are you feeling better?"

It was one thing to think will-I-won't-I when he was alone in his clinic, it was another thing to stand here looking into those marvelous green eyes with that growly voice running down his spine and pretend for a second that he wasn't going to jump at the chance to have sex with this gorgeous creature. It may be a bad idea, and it would probably all end in blood and screaming but, really, which of his life choices hadn't ended up that way? So he grinned roguishly and answered,

"I feel fantastic. Got rid of the headache and had a chance to clean up, although I had too many visitors to get a nap in. First Varric, as you know, and then Hawke decided he had to stop by."

The narrowing of those mossy eyes and a furrowed brow old him that the Tevinter was not pleased to hear that.

"Hawke? What he did want? Not that I can't guess."

"Well, it seems he thought that we could, how did he put it, still have fun together. He didn't think that his breaking my heart ought to be a turn-off or anything"

The tone he was taking seemed to mollify the elf, if his posture was anything to go by. Fenris was wearing a measuring look and his voice was a still little sharp when he spoke again.

"And? What did you tell him?"

"I told him I wasn't in love with him anymore and that I didn't want to have sex with him."

At that, Fenris' stance relaxed completely and his brow smoothed out again. Anders was never one to leave well enough alone however, or to just stop talking so while he looked down to pluck at a spot on his robes his mouth just kept rolling right along.

"Also, and I swear I didn't do this purposefully, he may have gotten the impression that you and I were, uh, sleeping together."

He snuck a peek at the elf to see that his whole body had stiffened, presumably with surprise, and he was regarding the healer with an unreadable look. Well, in for a silver, in for a sovereign, so Anders just kept on babbling,

"As I said, it's not that I lied, but he misinterpreted and…whoa."

He cut himself off in surprise as he found Fenris suddenly right there, just inches from his face. He had forgotten how fast the elf could move when he wanted. Those eyes were once again lit with amusement and something much hotter than that, and when he spoke his voice had that sexy burr to it that seemed to speak directly to Anders' groin.

"Hm. We'll just have to make sure he doesn't have any reason to call you a liar."

Before Anders could think of a reply a strong, gauntleted hand wrapped carefully around the back of his head and pulled him down into a fierce kiss. Fenris wrapped his other arm around the healer's back and pulled them tightly together. As the elf swept his tongue along his lower lip and then plunged it into his mouth he found himself melting into that embrace, his own hands gripping those slender hips and pressing them firmly against his groin.

He wasn't sure how long they stood there like that, but when Fenris finally pulled back a little he found that one of his legs was wrapped around the elf's waist, so that Fenris was supporting most of his weight. Anders found that he didn't care; he was ready to climb him like a spiky tree right in the middle of the clinic. Once again the Tevinter demonstrated that he had more than his fair share of self-control as he said,

"We should continue this in your room. I would rather not be interrupted by one of your patients. Unless, of course, you wish me to leave instead?"

He asked the question in the tone of a man who already knew what the answer was, but Anders appreciated being asked all the same. So he gathered his wits together enough to reply,

"No, we should definitely continue. This. Continue this in my room, that is."

Afterward, while Fenris was rummaging around in the clinic for something, Anders lay on his stomach, feeling sated and tired and properly fucked. Part of him wanted to give in and fall asleep, but he had enough manners to stay awake until Fenris left. What he would like most would be to curl up around his lover to sleep, but after what Hawke had said about him being too cuddly, and what he knew of Fenris' general attitude towards touching, he just assumed the Tevinter wouldn't be spending the night.

So when Fenris came back in with a clean cover and proceeded to spread it over him and then climb back onto the cot he was shocked enough to wake up, at least a little. The elf propped up the pillow so that he was half lying, half sitting with his back against the wall, and sort of slid in underneath the healer since there wasn't room to lie beside him. He pulled Anders up so that the healer was lying on his side with his head on the elf's chest.

He glanced up at the Tevinter's face, noticing that although his eyes were half-lidded he still looked fairly alert. Anders struggled to form a coherent thought. He and Fenris were…were they snuggling? Experimentally he turned his head just enough to press a soft kiss against the elf's chest, running his hand over that firm abdomen as he did so. In response Fenris blinked slowly, hummed deep in his throat and then threaded his fingers through the healer's hair, gently stroking. They were snuggling. Anders felt sleep rising up to claim him so he gave into it and promised himself he would be properly astonished in the morning.