A/N: There is NSFW material in this chapter.
(Hope it's not too cheesy!)
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She couldn't sleep.
She tried to at least lie still so that she wouldn't keep Nathaniel awake, but her mind simply refused to shut down. The farther they had gotten away from Orzammar over the past two weeks, the more she thought about how much closer they were to Highever. And Denerim. And maybe even Amaranthine. I'm going to have to face all the angry people eventually. Should they try to go to Redcliffe first? No, Teagan wasn't angry with her. Well, not yet, anyhow. What about...?
Elissa shook her head slightly. Any more motion might rouse Nathaniel and he had been extremely tired when he went to bed. She took in a long breath and let it out slowly, willing her body to relax a little, and let her eyes wander over her sleeping companion.
There was a small amount of light in the tent, let through from the campfire outside. As a result, everything was in shades of gray, no actual color manifesting, shadows alone defining the shapes within their sleeping space. Nathaniel didn't look much different than he did in broad daylight, since he physically embodied contrasts. His skin was as pale as the moonlight, even after spending countless hours in the sun, and his hair was as dark as jet. The main difference was that his face was at full rest, serene in its appearance, and his lips were slightly parted as he slept deeply. Elissa studied his face as he slept. There is the sleep of a man with a clear conscience. She smiled to herself as she took in the high cheekbones, the strong jaw, and the slightly hooked nose. They were nearly overbalanced by the delicate eyebrows and full lips. These last features were more desirable for a woman, and she knew that Nathaniel thought they made him look odd, but he didn't have the pleasure of watching himself use those brows and lips to broadcast his emotions. He was so expressive while still being undeniably male that Elissa frequently found herself watching him out of fascination. She wondered idly if she should tell him that keeping that small bit of beard just under his lip only emphasized the fullness of his mouth, then decided against it. She really liked his mouth.
The night was warm, even for springtime, and so their blanket had slipped down to their hips without either of them noticing. Nathaniel was laying on his side facing her, one arm under his head and the other laying against the side of his body. His muscles seemed even more defined by the shadows cast in the tent, his unconscious strength obvious on sight. He had a very square build instead of extremely broad shoulders tapering to the narrow waist and hips that so many men strove for, but it suited him. He was solid. Elissa marveled, not for the first time, at how silently he could move given his size. He looked like he should be swinging a broadsword around instead of scouting in the shadows.
Suddenly, Nathaniel's breath sped up. Elissa looked back to his face to see his brows knitted and his mouth moving as he started to pant. Is he having a darkspawn dream, after all this time? He doesn't usually have nightmares, unless I sleep through them. She lay there, undecided whether she should wake him or not, when he flung himself onto his back in his sleep. His chest was heaving and his head tilted back. She got up on one elbow, intending to wake him, when she noticed the blanket had slid down farther to reveal … oh my.
I don't think it's exactly a nightmare.
She looked back at his face for only a moment. He was still panting heavily, the hand that was now above his head opening and closing rapidly. She couldn't resist looking back down at … whoah. It was twitching. Rhythmically.
Do I wake him? She had never been confronted with … this … before.
Soon, the decision was made for her. His whole body tensed and his head snapped back farther as he groaned quietly before whispering, "'Lissa..." Her eyes widened as she saw his erection pulse. It emptied in waves, creating an impressive mess on his stomach and chest. He remained tense for a moment longer, then suddenly his entire body relaxed completely and he lay still as he let out an unconscious sigh. His eyes had remained closed the entire time.
Elissa's first response was to giggle. She hurriedly clamped a hand over her mouth as she forced the surprised sound back, afraid to wake Nathaniel after his … uh … nocturnal adventure. He must be tired, after all. This thought did not help her repress the inclination to release her mirth. Her face was burning, although she couldn't tell whether it was from excitement or embarrassment. She only knew that she was definitely not going to be able to sleep after seeing that. She felt warm and tingly all over and suddenly the thought of a cold bath seemed like a very, very good idea.
She looked over the clothes that had been discarded when they went to bed and noticed Nathaniel had left his tunic out. She decided to borrow the shirt, since it was significantly longer than hers. She could wear it almost like a short dress, although she had to roll up the sleeves to have use of her hands. She quickly dragged her boots on, then used her own shirt to gently clean off Nathaniel's torso. He slept right through it all, his body and face radiating peace yet again in his slumber. Elissa looked down at him and an unexpected surge of affection made her smile as she took her soiled shirt and her pack and made her way out of the tent.
The sky itself was gray, the air completely still in its pre-dawn state. The fire was still burning, thanks to the efforts of the night watches, although the weather was warm enough that it wasn't truly necessary. Still, that meant not having to start it up again when they got ready to cook breakfast. Speaking of which, it was Elissa's turn to make the food. She figured she still had a couple of hours before the rest of the camp awoke, and there was nothing to cook yet anyway. Nathaniel was going to be hunting again that morning and he was obviously not up yet.
If I wash the shirt first, it will probably dry before we have to get dressed to leave. That decision made, she nodded to herself and made her way across the camp where Eric was standing watch. She stood next to him for a minute as he faced out from the camp, keeping a watchful eye on the treeline.
"You're awake early," he said quietly.
"I couldn't sleep. I figured I might as well get cleaned up before the day started." Elissa hoped Eric didn't notice her sudden blush when she mentally visualized the reason she was out of her tent already. She changed the subject. "How are you getting along these days?"
Eric smiled briefly. "I'm doing well. Anders has been much more comfortable, I think, since I got rid of the templar plate. We've tried to make an effort to talk regularly as well. He's a good man."
Elissa smiled. She had thought that Eric and Anders seemed to be getting along better, and it was good to have her observations confirmed. "I'm glad. You both are good men." He nodded in thanks and stood quietly for another moment before he cleared his throat.
"Will we be passing by a Chantry soon?" His voice was hesitant. "I need to … replenish some templar supplies." His brows furrowed a little.
"I was planning on going to the Circle Tower next, since we have time. Will that work?" Elissa asked, looking at Eric questioningly before she realized what templar supplies he needed. "Maker's Breath! I forgot about that!" She fully turned to face Eric. "Listen, we salvaged all the lyrium potions from the other templars. They're in Anders' pack. I completely forgot you would have a need for them." She felt bad. "Are you all right now? Do we need to go wake him up?"
Eric looked relieved and let out a long breath. He looked sideways at her, his eyebrows raised. "You know about that? That helps quite a bit." He closed his eyes and took another large breath. "I used my last potion last night. I try to use as little as possible, so I would have been all right for a couple of days before withdrawal would have started to set in. But this is a huge relief." He shifted his feet for a second before catching himself and standing still again. "We don't need to wake Anders. I'll be fine until he wakes up."
Elissa nodded. "All right, then. Well, I'm going to head over to the lake and get washed." He nodded in acknowledgment and she set off for the lake.
There was a small section of woods between the camp clearing and the shore of Lake Calenhad. Elissa quickly made her way over and set up her bathing supplies before taking off her boots and wading into the lake up to her knees. She quickly scrubbed her shirt, then wrung it out and looked for a good place to hang it to let it dry. One of the trees nearby, a sturdy oak, had a number of horizontal branches that jutted out from the trunk just above her head. She smiled and straightened out the cloth before hanging it on one of the thinner branches, making sure to smooth the fabric so that it wouldn't wrinkle too badly. She had just finished this task when she heard footsteps approaching, quiet ones. She turned to see Nathaniel, wearing nothing more than his breeches and boots, walking over to where she was standing. Somehow she avoided drooling outright at the sight, because the view had suddenly improved tremendously.
"Ah, there's my shirt," he said conversationally. "That explains why I couldn't find it in our tent." Mmm, our tent. I like the sound of that. He walked the rest of the way to her before continuing. "You're up early."
"I couldn't sleep. I was thinking too much." Suddenly, Elissa sighed in frustration as she leaned back against the tree trunk, crossing her arms in front of her while she tilted her head back and closed her eyes. "I'm worried about having to face my brother and Alistair again. Not to mention we still have to figure out who is after us besides Vaughan, and get proof of Vaughan's plots." She sighed. "I wonder who else will be angry with us in the near future?"
She felt Nathaniel's hand on her cheek, and opened her eyes to see him leaning over her. "You should wake me up next time," he said seriously. "I would have been happy to talk about it." He shifted his hand so that it was cupping the side of her neck and started to stroke the line of her jaw with his thumb. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his thumb stroking her skin and the warmth of his nearness, before opening her eyes again and answering.
"Well, I might have," she said, trying not to smile and failing miserably. "But you were having such a nice dream that I didn't want to take you away from it." She grinned wickedly as his eyes widened and he blushed. He looked at her, then noticed the shirt drying on the tree branch near their heads, then looked back down again at her face. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers, his cheeks now tinged pink, and chuckled wryly.
"I … see," he said. He sighed. "I haven't done that in years. Thanks for … cleaning up."
She laughed quietly. "It was my pleasure." She wrapped her arms around his waist then and pulled him closer so that he was pressed against her. "Did you have a good time?" She smirked at him as he leaned his head back and studied her face.
It took a moment before a predatory smile slowly stretched across his face. She shivered at the look, her entire body suddenly alert and her senses tingling. "You tell me," he murmured, and took sudden possession of her lips. The kiss was demanding; her head reeled and she felt like her entire body had burst into flame. Her knees buckled underneath her and she would have fallen, except that Nathaniel had her pinned to the tree. She scratched at his back as he grabbed her bottom, grinding his hips against hers, and somehow everything felt hotter. She gasped at the sensations of his coarse breeches pushing against her thighs, the roughness of the tree bark pushing through the shirt on her back, and Nathaniel's mouth devouring hers with a ferocity she had never felt before.
Suddenly, Nathaniel broke away from her, causing her to moan in disappointment until she realized he was fumbling with the laces of his breeches. "Need you," he gasped as he finally got his fingers to work and shoved the offending garment out of the way, grabbing her and pushing her back against the tree they were using for support. He grabbed her bottom again and she responded by throwing her legs around his hips and her arms over his shoulders, whimpering as he teased her by rocking against her harshly.
"Hurry!" she moaned, and he obliged by shifting his hips slightly, filling her swiftly and completely on his next thrust. They both groaned at the sensation before he took possession of her mouth again and started to really move. Oh, yes. Yes. Ohyesyesyesyes...
When her sanity returned, they were collapsed together at the base of the tree. Nathaniel was half-kneeling, half-sitting, and she was in his lap with her legs still wrapped around him. His head was resting on her shoulder and his arms were around her waist. Likewise, she still had her arms around his neck and was leaning on him. She was having trouble breathing and it looked like he was too. She was trembling, or was that him? Maybe they both were. She couldn't really tell.
After they both managed to somewhat catch their breath, Nathaniel lifted his head and smiled at her. Well, aren't we all sorts of pleased with ourselves? Elissa grinned back at him and murmured, "I'm surprised the tree hasn't caught on fire." Nathaniel laughed.
"We'll have to try harder next time." His smile widened as she shivered at the words next time. He gave her one last, long kiss and helped her up, doing his best to keep her swaying to a minimum as he righted himself to pull his pants back up. "Let's go clean up and start our day."
After bathing and taking a short swim, they caught and prepared breakfast for everyone. Once the meal was done and the camp packed, they were on their way. Travel that day progressed quickly, for the most part, until they got to the intersection of the North Road and the Imperial Highway. They reached the intersection and Elissa turned right to continue to follow the highway. At this, Anders spoke up. "Aren't we going back to the keep?" He sounded confused.
That's right. I hadn't said anything to most of them, in case we didn't have time. Elissa turned around. "We've been making good time traveling, so I thought we could stop by the Circle Tower to recruit." She hurried on before the objections started. "I thought that we could take rooms at the inn on the shore so that whoever doesn't want to go into the tower has a place to stay. And this is a good opportunity for Oghren to visit with Felsi and the baby." Erna nodded and Ragnar shrugged, their travel plans not mattering to them. Anders looked relieved once he heard that he didn't have to go into the Circle Tower and Oghren looked downright pleased at the mention of his family. Eleanor, however, looked petrified. Elissa supposed that was a reasonable response, given that she'd thus far been able to avoid being anywhere near the tower, but she still thought it was a particularly strong reaction. I'll talk to her once we make camp tonight. Hopefully I can ease her fears a little. "Anyway, we should probably keep going. There's plenty of daylight left."
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The next few days saw their normal travel schedule, save that they needed to deal with bandits a couple of times. The groups of highwaymen were disorganized, but alarming in number. Elissa thought that it was probably a sign that the Bannorn was recovering from the blight more slowly than the rest of the country.
Between bandit attacks, the group seemed to be getting along well. Ragnar still didn't speak much, and Elissa guessed that it was just his way, although he seemed to be watching her more. She thought the look on his face during these times was akin to him trying to figure her out. She didn't mind; after all, the entire surface world must have been really strange to him, and she wasn't exactly a normal surfacer. Erna seemed quite comfortable, listening avidly to the others' stories and telling a few of her own at the campfire. She was also able to hold her own when someone in the group tried to sass someone else and gave out as well as she received. Elissa found that she liked her quite a lot.
Eric seemed to continue to get along with everyone very well, but the most marked difference in relationships within the group was between him and Anders. Anders was starting to really relax around the templar and Elissa frequently caught them talking intently about something or another. She guessed that maybe they were comparing notes about the Chantry. Nathaniel, as had been his habit, observed everyone and listened when someone needed to talk, offering advice if asked and teaching the dwarves and Eleanor camping and survival skills where needed.
Eleanor was the only person in the group who seemed to be having issues. She got along with everyone well enough, but she became even more withdrawn than she had been previously and kept nearly constantly to herself. Elissa worried about her, but she didn't know what to do. All attempts to talk to her, whether it be herself, Nathaniel, Anders, or Erna, ultimately failed. Her shyness seemed to be getting exponentially greater every step that they took toward the Circle Tower.
Finally, it was the night before they would reach the Spoiled Princess Inn and the docks that would take them to the Circle Tower. They had set up camp early that day; another group of bandits had attacked them early in the afternoon, and after defeating them too much time had been lost to make it all the way to the inn. Their camp was right on the shore of Lake Calenhad, giving them a beautiful view, so after dinner was over Elissa found a large rock to perch on and just watch the moon reflect on the lake.
She was enjoying the view, just letting her mind wander, when she heard a timid voice ask, "Can I talk to you?" She turned around, and Eleanor was standing there, her hands wringing and her head in its customary lowered position. Elissa blinked. This is unusual. She moved over on the rock and indicated that Eleanor should sit next to her, then waited.
Eleanor settled herself in and looked down at her hands before speaking. She said, "You've been nice to me. Thank you."
Elissa was surprised. "It's no problem. I'm glad I could help." She leaned back and watched Eleanor, who straightened her shoulders and raised her head to look Elissa directly in the eye. Elissa started; this was not what she expected from the woman who had been incredibly meek and insecure over the past several weeks. She raised an eyebrow and waited for Eleanor to speak again.
Eleanor sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just that," she said slowly, "before I started traveling with you, I had heard all sorts of things about the Hero of Ferelden. About how she was tough and ruthless when she had to be, but had a soft spot for children and the weak. I never expected you to be so kind to someone like me." Eleanor shrugged. "I mean, you bought all those nice things for me back in Orzammar and you let me be part of your group, and you never asked for anything awful or did anything but make me feel welcome. It's really different than I thought it would be."
"I have to admit, in this case I'm glad to disappoint," Elissa said quietly. "But you've proven that you won't act against us, so why wouldn't I behave that way?"
"You treat mages like they're people. Hardly anybody does that." Here, Eleanor dropped her head again to study her lap, her bravado dissipated. "Most people just swallow what the Chantry says about the dangers of magic and forget that it's also a gift, that it can be useful. I can see why Anders is so faithful to you."
Elissa thought for a moment, then shrugged. She didn't know what to say to that. Eleanor waited a moment, then seeing that no comment was forthcoming, continued.
"I wanted to thank you, but also I wanted to clear the air." Her voice was hesitant again, and quiet. "The life of travel isn't for me. I hate having to fight bandits and deal with all these politics and worry about plots. Your life, frankly, stinks right now."
At this, Elissa laughed. "You'll get no argument from me," she said, amusement lacing her voice.
Eleanor sighed. "I just want to go home."
Elissa sat up, concerned. "Are you sure that's such a good idea, Eleanor? After all, you had to run away from home, and I'm sure there are templars there keeping watch for you."
Eleanor closed her eyes and turned to Elissa. "Not keeping watch for me, exactly. I haven't been honest with you."