Chapter 12
~Roses are Red~

Alistair

I woke early in the morning the next day, so I got out of bed, washed, threw on clothes, and went off to get breakfast. There were only a few people up, Sten being one who was. He sat in the kitchen and said nothing as I entered. I called out a "good morning" and he nodded. Maker, that man is more quiet than Gergior's sense of humor. I grabbed some of the meat that was there and ate. When I was done I went back to the work I was doing earlier. I got one of the Templars to help me move a book shelf back into place and began putting books on it.

"Having fun?" I jumped at the voice, which cause me to drop the book I was holding. I looked to Morriana standing in the doorway. She smiled when she saw I dropped the book and I blushed, bending down to pick it up. "Need help?" she asked as she limped over to me.

"Maybe you should rest." She shook her head.

"I'm fine." Wow, haven't heard that before.

"Why do you always say that?" I asked as I picked up a book and handed it to her to put on the shelf.

"Because I am."

"But you say that, even when you're not." There was a pause. "You know… I'm here if you ever want to talk about anything." I said. She sighed as she put another book on the self.

"I'm—"

"If you say 'I'm fine' I hope you know I won't believe you." She huffed.

"Why must you keep going at this?" I straightened and looked at her.

"Because I want to help you." I stated and she laughed, almost sounding like a scoff.

"Why?"

"Because we're in this together and… I thought we were friends." She looked at me a moment. Her face was etched with confusion. She started to say something but I held up a finger to make her wait. It's now or never. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the cloth that held the rose and put it in her hand. "Here, do you know what this is?"

Morriana

I looked at the rose in my hand. The color was bright red and the thorns had been neatly cut off. I had seen roses only a few times and they were always darker and near dead with a few brown spots because they had begun to wither. But this . . . was perfect. I turned it in my hand and found no signs of being withered.

"Your new weapon of choice?" The words slipped out before I could even think of what I was saying.

"Yes, that's exactly it," Alistair replies. "Watch as I thrash at our enemies with floral arrangements! Fear my thorns, darkspawn." He said and acted as though he were fighting. "Watch as I defeat you with my rosy sent." I shook my head at him. "Or, you know, it could just be a rose. I know it's pretty dull in comparison. I don't know, it could be a pretty potential weapon. I could slap someone in the face with it!

"So, why are you giving this to me?" I asked. He was silent for a moment. Then moved away, coming back with a chair.

"You need to sit and rest your leg," he went off subject. He walked away and came back with another for him. He sat in front of me and sighed.

"You didn't answer my question." I pointed out. I saw him bit his lip. I lowered my head to smell the rose. It smelled sweet and very flower-y.

"Well, I picked it in Lothering. I remember thinking 'How could something so beautiful exist in a world of such despair and ugliness'." He set a pause before continuing. "And in a lot of ways I think the same thing when I look at you." My head snapped up to look at him. At first I thought he was joking. He wasn't.

"You . . . you think . . ." I found it hard to speak. "It's… beautiful." I whispered, unsure of what else to say.

"I'm glad you liked it." His cheeks were now coming close to the color of the rose and I was sure mine were too. "Now, if we could just . . .move on to the steamy bits I appreciate that." I looked at him, lifting an eyebrow but inside my heart was pounding. Was that what he wanted? Was the rose just something to try to get me in bed? I began thinking of something to say.

"Taking advantage of me in my weakened state? What kind of person are you?" He started laughing and I knew there that the 'steamy bit' thing was just a bluff I called. I looked at him and bit my lip. "You know, you didn't have to do this." He looked at me, confused. "I mean… this." I waved a hand in front of my face. "I mean the rose is nice and all . . ."

"Wait," he stops me. "You think I did this so you would, like get along with me or to make you feel like I was just pretending to like you or make you feel . . ."

"Like you're trying to get me in bed." I finished for him. He nodded.

"Believe me, it's not like that. I just saw it and it reminded me of you so I wanted to give it to you. I mean, you've had none of the good experience since becoming a Grey warden. Not a word of 'thanks' or 'congratulations'. It's just been all this . . . death and destruction. I thought I could say something. Tell you what a rare and wonderful thing amidst all this darkness." He babbled. I chuckled at his babbling, which cause him to blush deeper.

"A rare and wonderful thing amidst all this darkness?" I repeated. He nodded. I looked up at him and smiled. I was silent as I thought on what he said.

And suddenly, I felt guilty.

Ever since I had met Alistair I had been so mean to him and ignored him when all he had ever done was try to help and make me smile.

"Thank you. For the rose. And for helping me." He warmly smiled at me, which I returned. He handed me the cloth he had use to hold the rose and I wrapped it up. I stood up and winced at my leg.

"Dose it still hurt?" he asked, also standing.

"Yes, but I'm okay. Wynne said it'll hurt for a bit." He nodded. "Let's just go back to cleaning the tower and putting up these books." He nodded and we continued the book placing on the shelf.

Short chap, I know. I just thought the rose part should have its own chapter!