A/N: As always the reviews and alerts just make me smile. Thank you all so much for reading!
It was a damn good thing that Anders was a cat person.
As was his habit of the past couple days, he was spending a few quiet moments in the new clinic thinking about his lover while he recharged his mana.
When he had compared Fenris to a cat before he was being whimsical, but while actually trying to negotiate his way through this new relationship he discovered that being a cat person was his most valuable attribute.
He was familiar with having a companion who was aloof, disdainful, had eyes that missed nothing and judged everything…but who, when they felt like it, could be suddenly, surprisingly affectionate. Haughty and dignified, but occasionally abandoning that dignity to show a playful side. It was true that he hadn't seen much of the playful side yet, but he had seen enough glimpses to know it was a good possibility. He also hadn't been awakened by Fenris sitting on his head yet, but he supposed that was a possibility too.
Anders was a cat person, and not only that, he was a person cats liked…which wasn't always the same thing. Maybe it was because he was an expert in differentiating between the various flavors of being ignored by a cat. There was: actually ignoring you so that you'll leave them alone, pretending to ignore you to enhance the cat mystique, and pretending to ignore you so that you'll work harder to get their attention. Not to mention the whole pet me, pet me, now I'm suddenly going to bite your hand thing.
That was exactly like dealing with Fenris.
In just the few days that they had been keeping company he was already learning when to give the Tevinter some room, or when to push a little further into Fenris' personal space because the elf wanted him to even though he would never deign to say it. He had also figured out a few of the things that made his lover purr, although he had yet to find that special thing that would make him roll over and expose his soft underbelly. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
So needless to say, in spite of the fact that Fenris could be exasperating, he was enjoying every minute of it. Because Anders was a cat person, and he'd be the first to admit that cat people…are crazy.
Smiling ruefully at himself, he stretched and went back out to see to the rest of that day's patients. It had taken no time at all for word to spread through the Undercity that the healer had a new location, and he was as busy as ever. Hawke hadn't shown any interest in having him along for the past couple of days, so he had plenty of time to devote to getting the new clinic in shape.
Towards evening he was helping a very pregnant elf woman named Drina down off the exam table when Fenris, Varric, Merrill and Isabela came into the clinic. Merrill had her arm around the pirate's waist, supporting her as she walked with a noticeable limp.
Anders escorted Drina to where her sister was waiting near the door, promising her that he would start dropping in on her daily, since she was due to give birth any time now. By the time he walked back into the clinic Isabela was sitting on one of the tables, grimacing and rubbing at one of her legs. Merrill fluttered around her looking worried, but the pirate just laughed and said tiredly,
"Oh, stop worrying kitten. It's nothing Anders can't fix up in a second."
There was a large gash running along the upper thigh of her right leg. It was long, and fairly deep, but it hadn't hit any arteries and the edges were clean so it didn't take much effort for Anders to close the wound. As she got down from the table and bounced on her leg experimentally the healer couldn't help but tease her.
"You know, a pair of regular pants could have prevented that; they don't even have to be armored."
Isabela tossed her head back and gave him a saucy look.
"Oh sweet thing, pants are overrated. Every once in a while someone gets in a lucky hit, and it doesn't matter if you're wearing armor or not. I move faster without pants on.
She waggled her eyebrows as she said the last part, so he would know she meant that in more than one way. Or actually, that she meant it in one way, but it was the dirtiest possible way. Then she chuckled and continued,
"Besides, if you had been with us it wouldn't even have slowed me down."
At that Varric nodded his head in agreement and looked up at the healer.
"Speaking of, Hawke wants us to go to the Bone Pit tomorrow and we all refused to go unless you're going too. If we're going to go fight dragons, or who-knows-what in that deathtrap, we want to have our healer along."
Anders nodded resignedly, but he was a little relieved. The Bone Pit was a deathtrap and he didn't relish the idea of Fenris going off to fight there without him. Varric smiled and hoisted Bianca onto his shoulder,
"Ok, Blondie, we'll meet…"
He was interrupted by a high pitched yelp and Fenris' threatening voice,
"What do you think you are doing, mage?
The three of them turned to look across the room where Merrill was standing in front of the bookcase with her hands held guiltily behind her back while Fenris scowled down at her.
"I was just looking, not touching...well, there was a little touching because not all of the titles are easy to read…and I did flip some pages, but I didn't take anything."
Anders frowned, irritated that the Dalish was poking around in his stuff again. Isabela patted his arm and said,
"I'll go stop the children from fighting."
He tuned back to Varric, who rolled his eyes and gave a little chuckle,
"As I was saying, we'll meet at the Hanged Man in the morning. Bring extra potions and I'll make sure the clinic gets restocked later."
Dwarf, Dalish and pirate took their leave after that, and Anders couldn't help but check and make sure the little blood mage hadn't done any damage to what few books he owned. As he was inspecting them Fenris pointed to a large tome, lying on its side on the bottom shelf.
"I think that is the one she was looking through."
Anders picked up the book and held it towards the elf,
"You think that's the one? I would think you'd notice the one marked Book of Spells even if it was just so that you could avoid it like a plague. Or try and burn it when I'm not looking."
Fenris scowled at him, green eyes flashing angrily and then looking away, leaving Anders to wonder what he had done now. The Tevinter didn't keep him wondering for too long however, because he looked back up at the healer with an almost defiant look on his face.
"I do not know what it says. Slaves are not taught to read unless they are scribes."
Andraste's knickerweasels he hated Tevinter. To think he had once thought they were enlightened because of their views on magic. He silently regarded the white-haired elf, wondering if this was a time when he should back away or push forward. Finally he offered hesitantly,
"I didn't realize that. I could…teach you. You are a free man Fenris, and an intelligent one. You should know how to read."
Fenris stood as if frozen, and for a long moment the healer wondered if he had made a mistake. But then the expression in those mossy eyes softened and the elf spoke wryly,
"I have no interest in reading your magic books."
Anders laughed quietly,
"No, and I imagine my books on anatomy and the healing arts wouldn't be interesting for you either. But we can start with just reading and writing basic words, and then we'll find some books you like later."
The elf nodded in acceptance, white hair falling over his eyes as he looked down at his hands. When he met the healer's gaze again those eyes were dark with feeling, although his husky voice was determinedly casual.
"I would like that."
There were no dragons in the Bone Pit this time, but that was small consolation when they had to face a spider that was nearly as large, and poisonous to boot. Almost the whole group had come along: Hawke, Sebastian, Isabela, Varric, Fenris and Merrill. That was a lot of bodies to track and make sure weren't wounded during a fight. Luckily he was in top form that day, both for fighting and healing, after his fourth night in a row of full, uninterrupted sleep.
Justice had no patience for the weakness of the mortal body, and in the years since they had been joined he had rarely been able to snatch more than a few hours of sleep before the spirit was prodding him awake again, anxious to do something productive.
That had changed since he had begun spending the night curled up against his elvhen lover. Justice had always said that lyrium was like a song that he loved listening to. Apparently, while raw lyrium was like an untrained singer, and processed lyrium had a little more harmony, the markings on Fenris' body harnessed the song of the lyrium so that it was like listening to a Master bard. The markings did not even have to be activated, the song was captured within the design; and so Justice was perfectly content to lie there against him and just listen. Which in turn allowed Anders to get some real sleep for once.
So it was with a slightly guilty conscience that he took in the blue shadows showing under Fenris' eyes as they started the long trek back into the city. While he had been getting excellent sleep, the elf had been getting no sleep at all.
He had stayed with Anders in the clinic every night, and despite its new location he was paranoid about the healer sleeping in a place where everyone knew to find him. So, just like their first night together, he had been keeping guard all night while Anders lay sleeping against his chest. Usually he managed to slip off to his house and get some rest for a few hours each day, but today he just…endured.
Anders could admit to himself, and to Justice who agreed, that that kind of single-minded purpose and display of willpower was...pretty damned hot. Well, Justice didn't think the hot part, but he did approve of the purpose and willpower.
Still, he had kept a sharp eye on Fenris to make sure he was all right during the battle, and he worried that the elf wouldn't be able to keep this up in the long run.
His gaze sought the source of his worry, walking up ahead with Hawke, Varric and Merrill. The little blood mage was currently teasing Fenris, and that reminded Anders of something so he hurried to catch up with them.
"Merrill, were you looking in my grimoire?"
"Me? What? No! When?"
"Yesterday, when Fenris caught you looking at my books. You know, those are private."
Fenris, Varric and Hawke watched with varying degrees of interest while Merrill blushed and stammered.
"I know that's why…oh, fine, I admit it. I was hoping you'd have um... dirty spells."
That brought the four men to a halt as Anders stared at her, certain he hadn't heard right.
"Dirty spells?"
Merrill looked at him earnestly.
"You know to um, make things more exciting. Oh I shouldn't have said anything."
By this time Isabela and Sebastian had caught up to the rest of them. Anders mind was struggling to process what Merrill was up to when Hawke gave him a smug, almost triumphant grin. Maker's balls the naïve little Dalish wasn't doing this because she wanted to sleep with Hawke was she?
He wasn't sure what was worse at this point, knowingly consorting with demons, or knowingly consorting with the conceited warrior. Well, it was her choice if that's what she wanted, but he certainly wasn't going to do anything to help. So he decided to just tell her the truth.
"Look Merrill, I know what spell you were thinking of, and here's the thing about that. Someone called it the electricity trick once and the name just sort of stuck, but it doesn't actually have anything to so with electricity. It's really an adapted healing spell."
Merrill's puzzled brows drew together over widening eyes,
"Oh…it's a..healing…really?"
"Yes. Healing spells make you feel good, you just don't notice how good because you're too busy not being in pain any more. So while I was in the Circle I developed a healing spell that would make the… activities of the apprentices more enjoyable, by concentrating the pleasurable sensation on the nerves. Plus, it had the bonus effect of keeping any nasty little diseases from making the rounds through the Circle."
The Dalish was so disappointed her ears drooped a little, and her voice dropped to a sad little whisper,
"Oh, well, I can't do healing magic at all."
Before Anders could say something about, yes, not being able to heal is one of the downside's of blood magic Hawke stepped up and put a consoling arm around her shoulders.
"There, there Merrill. It's not like it's necessary, even without the magic we can find a way to make things exciting."
Merrill looked up at the big warrior in pure confusion.
"Well…that's, that's very supportive of you, I suppose. I hadn't really expected to make it a group project but if you all want to brainstorm ideas I guess we could. It seems a little…strange."
Varric had covered his face with his hand while muttering, "Oh, Daisy" while Isabella stepped up beside the little Dalish, wrapping an arm about her waist and pulling her out of Hawke's grasp. The pirate started guiding her along the path again, and she gave the warrior an arch look as she practically purred,
"Sorry Hawke, for once I'm not interested in any group projects. This is just between kitten and me."
At first the big Fereldan looked too surprised to be upset as he blurted,
"Isabela! You and Merrill?"
The pirate kept walking as she gave a throaty laugh and tossed back over her shoulder,
"She asked me to show her the six things women are good for. I guess she wanted to show me something in return."
As the two women walked slowly away they could just hear the pirate saying,
"You know, I was thinking. Can you still do that spell with the vines? Because if you can cast that on yourself I have an idea…"
Hawke was still standing in place, spluttering angrily. Finally he turned to Varric and practically shouted,
"You! You're...you're ok with that?"
Varric just shrugged and answered calmly,
"Rivaini and I have already had a little talk."
The dwarf turned and started walked after the women, and Anders, Fenris and Sebastian all turned to follow. After a moment Hawke joined them, cursing under his breath. As they got closer to the city Hawke seemed to have regained control of himself, although he had a disgusted expression on his face as he and Sebastian took the lead once more.
The pirate dropped back to walk beside Anders, giving him a curious and slightly miffed look as she spoke,
"I can't believe that was a healing spell."
"It's just the flash of light and the zinging feeling along the nerves that brings electricity to mind. A healing spell is really a lot more practical; a jolt of electricity can stop your heart, you know. Kind of a downer when you're having a go with someone."
He glanced over at Fenris to see the elf regarding him with an unreadable expression. The pirate's voice still sounded put out when she answered,
"Yes sweet thing, but the danger added to the excitement."
Anders just shrugged his shoulders and said wryly,
"For mages, breaking the rules in the Circle was dangerous enough."