A/N: I do not know if the Saddleback pig would reside in Ferelden but I just find that breed of pig absolutely adorable and the idea of teenage Fenris talking to a pig was just too amusing not to write :-p
BioWare own everything! I'm just playing in their dragon and darkspawn-filled sandbox.
Chapter 8 - Gift Giver
The Crown of Arachnid-oria had fetched him a royal sum of gold from a noble in Denerim.
He had become the richest elf in Lothering.
He shared the coin out between the Grey Warden and the Hawkes buying each of them expensive/meaningful gifts, and spent the most part of that year repairing and renovating Danal's tavern.
The only things he got for himself out of it was a set of Ancient Elven Armour reinforced with the thickest leather and a stronger metal breastplate. Modified so the pauldrons spiked, and the gauntlets stretched lowly across the forearm and flared into a crescent of spikes before the elbow, a metal plate with Dalish carvings covering the back of his hand and the underside made of thick Halla hide (as the Lyrium heated the metal to the point it scalded him)
And a beautiful sword made with Aurum called The Blade of Mercy from the noble that bought the crown from him. Danal was always saying one day he'd slay dragons so he was now prepared for the fire-breathing beast if he ever ran into one by installing a Grand-Master cold and damage vs. beasts runes to his blade.
Carver stopped mid-stride, jaw falling open when he spotted Leto adorned in his new fancy spiked armour leaning casually against the door frame of his room on the second floor of Dane's Refuge. Maker, how can a suit of armour intensify his handsomeness like that? That green tint to the metal that goes so well with his eyes and all those spikes… Mentally Carver was bashing his skull into the wall. Stop staring. Close your mouth, idiot, close your mouth!
"Carver" The Tevinter chuckled, closing the distance between them with two strides and lightly slapping his friends jaw closed with a gauntlet clad hand "Close your mouth man, it's not that impressive"
The words came falling out of his mouth before he could stop them "Oh? So your plan wasn't to stop enemies in their tracks with this – Dashing-Dalish-Hero look then?" Maker, Carver get a hold of yourself! You are just looking for a broken nose saying things like that…
"Flatter?" He looked at the raven-haired human with an arched brow.
"C-Can't a friend give a compliment when it's needed?" Nice save bone-head
"Sure you can. Forgive me if I seem ungrateful, I am just not accustomed to being on the receiving end of such a… honest compliment." He smiled, his best friends' words sinking in, did Carver just call him attractive?
A praise like that from another boy should have sparked a nightmarish flashback from his past, should've make him feel sick to his stomach. But they didn't, the words made his soul swell with such magnitude of pride he was almost sure he would burst.
"It would be impossible to pull off such an outlandish battle strategy since there are very few females on the battle front." He chuckled, how naïve is he to think an enemy would stay their blade at the sight of a scrawny elf in well-crafted armour "I've just always liked Dalish armour it's light, strong and comfortable but never had the coin until now to get them to craft me a set even with the friend-of-the-clan discount."
"Anyway, I asked you here for a reason. I have a surprise for you" Leto walked with the human to the closed door of his room "But you have to close your eyes"
Carver paused, a puzzled expression on his face, "What? Why? The door is closed and I don't have x-ray vision"
"Just close your eyes, Carver." he waited for the human to close his eyes before opening the door and ushering him inside. "Surprises are more fun that way"
"I swear, if you got one of those spiders stuffed and mounted for my birthday I will not hesitate to break your nose, elf" he murmured, blindly following the Tevinter into the room
"Stay here." He said, "And no peaking." Carver obediently did as told, as much as he felt like a fool standing in the centre of the room with his eyes tightly closed as the elf spent some time rustling around with some fabric followed by the clinking of metal. Curiosity was driving him insane, What in the Void is he doing? Changing into another set of armour? Changing out of that… No, no, no that's definitely not it! Damn it. Why can I not get my head out of the gutter today?
"Alright, you can open your eyes now" He was a startled when Leto spoke next for he did not hear the elf approach
He opened his eyes slowly, one at a time, suddenly anxious to what the surprise was. Leto was holding up the top half of a leather and red steel armour set with King Cailan's seal on the breast plate, a blue bow tied loosely across the torso the bottom half of the set draped over the bed behind them. Carvers jaw dropped for a second time today as he took the object from the elf's hands "Is that… Is that what I think it is?"
"If you think it is armour for King Cailan's army, then yes. The King has personally asked for your blade to join his ranks after Alistair told him of your 'fear-conquering swoop into the heart of the enemy'." He laughed at the face the blue-eyed human made, no doubt remembering the feeling of his arm covered in spider insides "And I pulled some stings got Cailan's personal armourer to forge this for you, soldier. What do ya think?"
"I love it!" He beamed, all but talking the Tevinter into a bear hug ( his chin narrowly missing the spikes) "The King seriously asked for me?" He could feel the elf nodding against the side of his head "Wow… I can't believe it. Thank you, Leto. This means a lot to me you know"
"I know" He clapped Carver on the back and stepped out of the embrace "I have one more surprise for you. A companion piece if you will, it also doubles as something to complete your birthday present" he pulled back the blankets to reveal the Greatsword, he then held it out for the human. "She is called The Grace-Maker."
Carver ran his fingers over the blades long cold flat surface, the runes in the Forte and the Mabari paw print made from jades in the centre of the wide Crossguard. "She's beautiful, Leto. Thank you."
"Glad you like her, I searched half of Ferelden for a blacksmith skilled enough to put gem stones, runes and inscription into a blade."
Inscription… huh? He moved his hands to see the bold letters running down the length of the hilt one side saying 'Loyalty' and flipping it over to the other which said 'Bravery' "You put a lot of thought into this" He mused, the smile nearly splitting his face. "I am speechless. I cannot express in words how thankful I am for these gifts. Best birthday ever!"
"Well, what are you waiting for? Try it on and let us introduce Grace to my girl, Mercy"
Leto was nervous, so much so he was sure that lunch would come back up to say hello. Giving a gift to a friend was not unheard, he'd given one to Carver earlier that week of so why did he feel so damn nervous all of a sudden?
Now he finally had it in his hands he wondered if she would even like it. What if she hated it? Would he be able to get his coin back if she thought the twisting Ironbark branch unworthy or ugly? He'd gone through so much trouble to raise all the coin. Was all those months of sleeping in the woods, fighting bears, wolves, bandits and taking on an angry hoard of giant spiders all for nothing? The elf scowled at the thought, a fresh wave of nerves twisting his insides.
He twirled it in his fingers, for a brief moment understanding why mages took to using these branches to shoot out fireballs and ice shards over having them explode out of their palms.
He had been pacing back and forth in front of the pig pen with such vigour the past hour he had created a mini trench, mud and leaves curling over his ankles with each step.
The black and white swine in the far pen regarded him with its large head tilted. "Would you stop looking at me like that?" he said to the Saddleback pig, not breaking his stride to look at the animal.
He didn't need to look at it to know it was staring at him to the point he was convince the great swine was attempting to burn a hole in his skull. It grunted at him. He stopped this time and looked at the pig with bushy dark brows raised. "You're never going to burn a hole in my thick skull you know that, don't you?"
The pig made a screech like oink almost as if calling the elf a liar.
"Maybe one day, pig, am I to believe you'll be all powerful Magister and burning holes into elven skulls with your eyes alone?" The swine snorted happily, nodding its head. He chuckled and approached the pen resting his forearms on the wooden fence.
"Do you think she will like it?" he asked the swine, sighing, and twirling the staff in his hands idly. The creature seemed to consider the question before oinking its approval.
"Maker, I kept my word. I worked so hard to fix the wrong I made to save her life from the claws of that mage-hunter 3 years ago… but why do I feel so nervous about giving her the gift similar to what she seeks?" he asked the clouds this time with a frown .
He must be losing his mind from too much time spent in the forest because he could have sworn the short series of noises the pig made translated clearly to 'you like her'.
His green orbs jumped down to the swine "You think so?" his voice a few octaves higher than normal.
The pig threw its head up and down happily, its floppy ears bouncing about the large swine skull.
He thought for a moment of Hawke, her delicate blonde curls, amber-gold eyes, those curves (Maker, those curves) that charming smile and playful/kind personality. She was a beautiful person both inside and out. What do ya know, the pig is onto something…
"You, Ser Pig, are the smartest pig I have ever met" the swine dropped its head down in a sort of bow before it disappeared into the shelter to eat.
"Leto?" He could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke from somewhere close behind him. He held the staff along the length of his body so she could (hopefully) not see it. "Who are you talking too?"
He wanted so badly to say 'no body' but she had heard him speaking but to whom was a little embarrassing. His ears flushed red as he answered her honestly with a one-shouldered shrug, "The pig"
"You asked me here to test if I would still call the handsome elf in shining armour a dear friend after finding out you are a Pig Whisperer?" She asked, a fun tone dancing in her voice as she came to lean on the fence next to the tall dark skinned elf.
"Hawke I…" Another compliment? What is with these Fereldens and fuelling his ego this week? "I want to apologize for missing our first sparring session." He started, and held a hand up to stop her interrupting, he knew the words she'd be planning to say would be along the lines of 'don't worry about it'.
"I thought it would be best if you had your own weapon to familiarize yourself with instead of learning with mine or your brother's daggers or greatswords. Because what if neither of us are around to give you our weapons if you run into trouble" Hawke nodded. "So I've been hunting with the Dalish elves again while their crafters crafted something" He chuckled at his own words "A gift. It's a bit late but, happy 19th birthday, Hawke" Leto pulled the Ironbark staff into view.
A wide smile split Hawke's face, the light of the setting sun making her amber eyes sparkle with pure happiness. He watched her delicate fingers running over the blade attached ¾ of the way down, the elegant twisting wood over the Rune of Healing shining as blue as the ocean at its centre and the smooth white pebble under it that (Leto thought) looked like a pigeon.
"Do you… know who I am?" Hawke asked Leto anxiously, shortly after she had herd he'd woken up after the battle with the Queen Spider.
The mischievous glint in the elf's eyes went unnoticed as he kept features blank, rubbing his chin in thought before he answered "Pigeon.. is that you?"
Hawke gaped at him as if 3 extra heads had sprouted out of his shoulders.
He sighed, looking at Carver and shaking his head. "After all this time, Blondie still doesn't think I am capable of a jest every now and then"
"Oh, Leto, it's beautiful!" Hawke cooed, springing onto her tippy-toes, throwing her arms around his neck and dragging him down to kiss him hastily and then pulled him into a tight hug somehow managing to miss the spikes of his pauldron.
He froze.
He hadn't expected a reaction like this. He had steeled himself for the staff to be thrown to the ground in disgust or to be told it was ugly, useless and the pigeon-shaped stone was just outright insulting. He hadn't even thought of the possibility she'd like the staff, not this much.
Flooded with relief, she likes it! His chin came to rest on top of her blonde hair and his arms hesitantly found their way around Hawke unsure of where to set them without stabbing her with the spikes to return the hug. "How dear of you, thank you so much" she mumbled into the metal of his breastplate, squishing him flush against her. "I can't believe you did this for me."
Wait… did she just… she did! Hawke. Just. Kissed. Me.
They stayed in this embrace for a time, he wasn't sure how long a gift-giving/receiving hug with a girl lasted. Were they the same length as the one-armed awkward yet comforting hugs or that one bear hug he'd shared with Carver when he gave him Grace?
"…Does this mean you still want me to teach you how to fight?" He asked, popping the bubble of silence. He was looking forward to teaching her and silently preyed to the Maker she would still want to. He'd love to one day go against her new weapon with his pride and joy Mercy.
Before he could finished his question Hawkes head shifted out from under his jaw so fast his tongue was crushed mercilessly between his teeth. He removed his arms from her and brought his hands to mouth to check on his bleeding tongue.
"Of course I do, you dolt!" She laughed, pushing playfully at his breastplate. Hawke looked up at him with an almost bored expression, trying desperately to keep her voice serious as she said, "What if a dragon eats the magic shooting end of my staff? What would I do, tickle it do death?"
She eyed the gasping, squeaking elf with momentary concern before realizing he wasn't choking, he was in fact laughing.
The sound was foreign even to the elf it came from, normally when Carver or Hawke had said something funny he'd snort at it, chuckle lowly or make an amused hum-like noise in the back of his throat.
She tried to calm herself by taking in a deep, slow breath. "Why would you think I wouldn't want to?"
He shrugged, "Your brother could teach you how to use the blade end of your staff. He is a fine young swordsman who's won the King's respect for his skill in battle."
"But I want you to teach me" It was a logical excuse to get some quality alone time with the white-haired elf. "Having some skill with a weapon could one day save my life, the life of another Hawke, or I could even use it to save you one day. So I will need to learn how to twirl my staff without cutting myself off at the knees. I am already short enough as it is"
"You are not that short, Hawke" He observed, his hand moving on its own and tucking a fly-away strand of gold back behind her ear "I am just a really tall elf"
He had not run away screaming when she had kissed him, and had just made a subtle affectionate move to her hair. She was flooded with a sudden confidence, she grabbed his wrist before he could move his hand away locking her honey-coloured eyes on his. "I really like you Leto… as more than a friend. I have for a long time I put of saying anything because of your… dislike for magic. Even though I am a mage, I'm still a woman and I can't resist such a witty, skilled swordsman and very good-looking elf any longer. Be mine, Leto?"
His insides went to war happiness, uncertainty and raw fear hurling explosives around in his gut.
As a slave he'd been used for years against his will to satisfy the needs of his Master(s) and their high-ranked apprentices.
He'd never thought it possible for someone to offer him a choice and a chance to say 'no' because they actually had feelings for him.
He wanted to tell Hawke what had happened to him but such a personal and traumatic thing he didn't feel as comfortable talking to Hawke about it as he did with Carver.
"I… I... I don't know… uhhhh…. I've never…. Um… okay" he should have just nodded and not made a fool of himself, stumbling over and choking on his words nervously trying to find his answer.
Hawkes triumphant smile ran ear to ear. 'Okay' was as close as what she was going to get to a 'yes' from the anxious elf. "S'alright, just follow my lead" She turned them around so his back faced the fence and pushed him up against it claiming his lips.
"Hawke wha–?" he started to ask. The mage's tongue forced its way through the gap, he made a muffled surprised noise at the contact. She moved against him, one hand gripping at his hair the other against his breastplate, it was like that day-dream scene he created when he'd seen Hawke in that green silk dress on her 18th only this was real.
He was unsure of how to go about returning the kiss, his movements light and somewhat awkward.
The mage made a wispy moan, her teeth sinking into his bottom lip and tugging at it.
He clamped his jaw shut, held his mouth in a firm line, and angled his head away.
The torments of his past flashed before his eyes. The apprentice Hadriana. Chains. Screams. That dark room that reeked of death and sweat…
"Leto?" Hawkes soft voice and hand on his cheek brought him from his flashback "Is it really that bad? You need to relax; you'll enjoy it more if you do." She took his gauntleted pinky-finger and wrapped hers around it as best she could "Promise."
Leto regarded their hands for a moment before looking to her face noticing the deep pink hue of her pale skinned cheeks. How had a broken ex-slave caused such a beautiful creature to blush? "I am glad you like your gift. But I… I need some time. I'm not ready for this." He said in a rush, bowing his head and side-stepping around Hawke.
"'Not ready'?" Hawke snapped, catching his arm "What kind of an excuse is that? You're almost 21. You are in your prime there should be a hoard of broody elven babies running around Lothering in your wake"
"Excuse me!" His voice dark and threatening, his scars lighting up with the rage now running through his blood. "You have no idea what I've been through. How dare you call my past a fucking 'excuse'" He barked, snatching his arm back not caring that he sliced open Hawkes palms with the sharp spikes of his gauntlets.
"I'm so sorry, Leto, I honestly didn't mean to upset you. I didn't expect you to react like that… Forgive me?" She said softly, reaching up to put a comforting hand on the un-spiked shoulder "Take all the time you need. You know where to find me if you want to talk or anything"
He bowed his head and walked off without another word.
Idiot. He slapped himself in the forehead once he was sure the mage couldn't see him. Not even together 2 minutes and already we've had a fight because of my flaming past.
Hawke watched him disappear into the shadows of twilight. She was kicking herself for snapping at him when he didn't 'melt' under her like the other boys did. His lips had ghosted against hers, unsurely then suddenly he turned into a brick wall his jaw clenched so tight. What happened? Was her magic hurting him even when she wasn't even trying to cast a spell?
She hurried home for dinner to show off her new staff and inform the twins and her mother that she and the elf were together (leaving out the part where they had yelled at each other) and telling them of his rather adorable squeaking/choking laugh.