Sebastian started the tub filling, tipping in some scented oil as he did, the room filling with a sharp piney scent. Anders paused in stripping off his clothing. "That's not your usual scent," he said, and took a deep sniff of the air. "That's mine."
Sebastian looked over his shoulder and smiled warmly at him. "I like the way you smell. And I got tired of smelling like a citrus orchard."
"But I like bergamot. It's even in my favourite tea," Anders pointed out plaintively, as he balanced on first one leg, then the other, to strip off his leggings.
Sebastian smiled, and rose to walk over to Anders. "Are you saying you liked my preferred scent because it reminded you of tea?" he asked, one eyebrow flying high.
"What? No! I just..." Anders paused, and frowned, looking, Sebastian thought, rather adorably confused. "I just like the scent."
Sebastian laughed, and leaned forward to kiss him. "I still have it," he said, between kisses. "I'll even still use it," another kiss, as he pressed the mage back against the cool stone-tiled wall. "Just for you. Because you like it."
Anders smiled at him, their faces just inches apart, bodies pressed together. "I like this, too," he murmured, then ran a hand down Sebastian's side. "Except you're in too many clothes still, while I'm... not."
"Mmmm... I've noticed," Sebastian all but purred, leaning down to kiss the top of Anders' shoulder, then the side of his neck, then just below his ear. He pressed himself a little harder against the mage, letting Anders' feel just how much he liked it, feeling the mage's body respond in kind. "May I?" he asked, a whisper right in Anders ear.
"I stink and I'm filthy..."
"I don't care."
"...All right." Anders laughed breathlessly as Sebastian pressed hard against him for a moment, squashing him against the wall as he kissing him again, on the mouth this time, demandingly. He kept kissing him, even as he backed off enough to unfasten and push down his leggings, Anders' hands reaching to push down his smallclothes, to touch and handle him for a moment. He growled into Anders mouth at that.
"Oil," he said, breathlessly, ending the kiss at last, looking away to fumble on the nearby counter, grabbing the first container that came to hand; bath oil. It would do. He fumbled it open, poured some out in his palm. They both laughed as the citrus scent of bergamot filled the air. He slicked it over himself, then reached back to prepare Anders, the mage taking him in hand and stroking him slowly as he did so.
They were both impatient; after a minimum of preparation Anders growled, pushed Sebastian's hand away, and hooked one leg around Sebastian's hips. "In," he demanded, pushing himself up on tip-toe against the wall at his back.
Sebastian nodded, grabbing Anders' thighs to lift him even higher up, then lower him down again, both of them gasping as he slid slowly inside the mage. Anders wrapped his arms tightly around Sebastian's shoulders, then lifted his other leg, locking them both around Sebastian's hips, supported by the wall at his back and Sebastian's arms around him and their intimate joining, his weight pressing Sebastian firmly into him, as deep as he'd ever gone.
They kissed again, over and over, on mouth and cheeks and chin, on necks and shoulders, while Sebastian took him right there, slow and hard against the wall, among Anders' discarded, dusty clothes, and clouds of balsam-scented steam.
Anders sighed blissfully and closed his eyes, concentrating on the feel of Sebastian's fingers massaging his scalp as the prince washed his hair. As promised, Sebastian had scrubbed his back for him. His back, and everything else, his sure-fingered touch lingering on favourite bits, to much mutual enjoyment. Anders liked being pampered like this, being so lovingly handled and cleaned, from the top of his head right down to the tips of his toes. With kisses, lots of them, stolen, or passed back and forth, or given as little surprises, in odd locations – Sebastian nuzzling into his armpit, licking his soapy thigh, pressing lips and tickling tongue-tip against the arch of Anders' sole as he massaged his foot with firm, dextrous fingers. Anders smiled, remembering how that had made him laugh, and the look full of mischief Sebastian had given him, before startling a yelp out of him by sucking on his toes.
He'd never have thought that having his toes sucked on would feel so... intense. But it had, even more so than having his fingers nibbled on – which Sebastian had also done in the course of washing him – and he'd retaliated with his other foot, sliding it up the inside of the Sebastian's thigh before kneading at him with his toes, drawing a startled squawk and then a smouldering look from the prince. Which had led to other things, including Anders perched on the edge of the tub while Sebastian applied his mouth to more than just toes. They'd gotten the floor quite thoroughly wet from all the splashing around before they finally went back to continuing the actual bathing part of their bath.
"Rinse," Sebastian instructed him, and he ducked under the water, holding his breath while Sebastian stirred his hair around, removing the lather from his hair.
He felt clean when he sat up again; clean all over, and pleasantly relaxed from the heat of the water, and from being there with Sebastian. He shifted to leaned back against Sebastian's shoulder, turning his head to kiss the side of Sebastian's neck, nose nuzzling against the underside of his chin. Sebastian laughed, then leaned down to kiss him as well, on the mouth again.
"We're going to turn into prunes if we stay in this water much longer," Sebastian pointed out, lifting Anders' hand in his, supporting it in his cupped hand with their fingers interleaved together, examining the wrinkled tips, alternating tanned and pale skin.
"Don't care. This is the first time I've felt this good in days," Anders said, and ran his other hand up Sebastian's thigh under the water, pouting when he found Sebastian still flaccid. "Curses."
Sebastian laughed, released his hand and kissed him again. "I don't have your stamina, love," he said, then smiled slightly, and ran one hand in a caressing motion down Anders' belly, smile widening as his hand encountered Anders' own erection. "That doesn't mean I can't enjoy doing this for you, however," he murmured, and began a slow, lazy stroking, sinking down in the tub and drawing Anders back against himself.
Anders sighed happily, and co-operated, lounging back against Sebastian, eyes drifting shut as he enjoyed the gentle, gliding touch, lying loose and languid in the water. Listening to the sound of his own breathing echoing around the room, the tiny slaps of the water against the sides of the tub from their movements, Sebastian's wordless sounds of approval right beside his ear as the prince brought him off once again, his own body showing a stirring of interest by the time Anders finally came, a gentle pressure against the back of Anders' thigh.
Anders turned over, kneeling between Sebastian's legs and leaning down to kiss the prince. "Thank you," he said, then let one hand touch Sebastian under the water. "Let's take this to bed," he said, squeezing slightly to make it clear just what he referred to. Sebastian laughed, and grinned, before putting his hands on the rim of the tub and pushing himself up to his feet, water sluicing down off his body, his partial erection bobbing tantalizingly in front on Anders. The mage leaned forward and lightly kissed it, before rising to his own feet, winning another amused smile from Sebastian.
They towelled dry, then wrapped towels around their waists for the short walk to the bedroom. Anders leaned down and picked up his discarded clothes before leaving the room; no sense in making it any more obvious that he and Sebastian had bathed together, even if he was beginning to suspect that keeping their relationship secret was a lost cause. He thought the servants had enough loyalty to their prince to not talk about his affairs with others, but still... it just felt polite, somehow, to not leave any unarguable evidence of it lying around. As if as long as he and Sebastian didn't do anything to rub people's noses in the fact that they had become lovers, that the servants would be purposefully blind to it. It might even be the truth, given what he now knew about the closeness of the relationship between the majority of the castle servants and the Vael family.
He dropped the clothing on the floor of the bedroom, the towel from around his waist on top of them, then joined Sebastian on the bed. They spent a long pleasant time just touching each other, exploring each other's bodies – familiar territory now, but made strange by their few days of being parted. As if, Anders thought, they were checking each other to be sure that all the remembered bits and pieces were still there and in working order. He arched his back into Sebastian's questing hands, liking the way the prince's strong fingertips explored the rough texture of his scarred flesh, remembering the night Sebastian had licked and kissed every one of them.
His own hands ran along Sebastian's smoother flesh, feeling the swell and stretch of muscles as they shifted positions, reaching to brush along the firmness of Sebastian's erection. He wiggled away from the prince's hands eventually, moving down between Sebastian's legs so he could take him into his mouth. Sebastian gasped, hands moving to hold Anders' head, fingers threading though wet hair as he held his legs spread, knees bent and raised, little cries of pleasure escaping him as Anders teased him with lips and tongue and mouth and sometimes just the merest hint of teeth. He was all but whimpering in need by the time Anders finally sat up, the mage's own erection hard and ready. He oiled himself first, then readied Sebastian, teasingly, taking his time, pausing whenever the prince showed signs of being too close to coming.
Sebastian was reduced to saying just two words over and over again, in different pattens, "please", and "Anders", before he finally pushed the prince's legs up and back, folding him almost in half, and pressed himself slowly into him. His own control was nearly gone by then, and the urgency with which he pounded into Sebastian was a match for the force with which Sebastian clung onto him, their cries loud as they crested and came.
Anders lay draped over Sebastian for several minutes after that, both of them gasping for breath, the two of them still intimately connected. After a while Sebastian sighed, deeply, and ran his hands gently up and down Anders' back, then pushed his hair back from his face, to kiss him gently on the lips. "Don't ever leave me again," he said quietly.
"Not by choice," Anders answered, voice cracking. "Not ever by choice."
"Then I choose for you to never leave me," Sebastian said intently.
Anders smiled crookedly at Sebastian, and kissed him, then pushed himself back, sliding wetly out of him. He rose to his feet and padded over to his abandoned clothing, stooping down to pick up the towel, and retrieve something from his belt pouches. He wiped himself clean with the towel as he walked back to the bed. Sebastian had already retrieved his own towel from the floor beside the bed, and was doing the same. He sat down on the bed beside him, legs curled under him. "Give me your hand," he said softly.
Sebastian looked at his questioningly, but held one hand out. Anders opened his own hand to reveal what he held; a simple vial of clear, thick glass, corked and sealed with wax, filled with a liquid dark red substance. "My phylactery. The templars made it," Anders said, matter-of-factly, and placed it in Sebastian's hand, closing his fingers around it. "So you can always find me."
Sebastian opened his hand to stare at it, then stared at Anders for a long moment, before his hand closed protectively around it. "I will keep it safe," he said, voice rough with emotion, then closed his arms tightly around Anders, and hugged him tightly. "Never leave me," he said again.
Anders nodded. "Not by choice," he repeated, then swallowed, knowing there was one choice he could not unmake, one that Sebastian should be told of. "There are things you should know. About my being a Grey Warden," he said hoarsely. And told him what else it meant, besides strength and stamina, nightmares, hunger, and a seeming immunity to the taint.
Sebastian held him afterwards, both of them silent for a long time, just clinging to each other, neither wanting this togetherness to ever end, and yet knowing there would be an end to it some day; years down the road, yes, but still there, still knowable, a foreseeable end to their time together.
Anders had almost drifted off to sleep, cradled in Sebastian's arms, pillowed on his shoulder, when the prince finally stirred, and spoke, voice barely more than a whisper. "It doesn't matter. We have no guarantees – either of us – of how long we'll live, of when or where or how we'll die. A year from now, five years from now, ten – we could both be dead. War, sickness, assassination, accidents... you might never live long enough to feel this... this calling. I might not live long enough to see it come to you. If you do – if we do – we'll worry about it then. But for however many days we do have, I want you with me, Anders. That's the only important thing; that I love you, and I want you with me, for as long as you can be."
Anders nodded, whispered a response. "I love you too, and I will stay, for as long as I am allowed to."
They made love again after that, long and slow and gentle, erections sliding slowly back and forth in the circle of their hands, with kisses and small smiles and a few tears, because as good as this was, as perfect as the moment felt, they both knew it could not last; not forever.
But then nothing was forever; not life, not even love. Everything comes to an end, sooner or later, good things and bad. And maybe they'd see some of those endings – the good, and the bad – before their own ends came. The future had no guarantees, but they would face it together, whatever it brought to them.
And that was enough; that was more than enough. That they were together, then, and for as long as they could be.