"Hello?"

"Hola, amor." Zevran smiled. She usually answered on the second ring… this time she answered on the fourth. He held a paintbrush between his teeth and picked up another. "Took you awful long time to answer," he teased.

"What are you painting over there?" He could hear the smile in her voice. "I hear that paint brush between your teeth."

"Zevran is pretending we are famous bachata dancers," he spoke, using his smallest brush to paint fine lines on her bright red, pouty lips. "I need to see you wear more red."

"I will wear more red for you," Nyla smiled, her cheeks heating with flattery and utter endearment; he was painting them together again. "Do you want to take some bachata classes with me?"

"Cannot afford, or you know I would."

"Oh." She refrained from saying, I'll pay for it. "Did you call for a reason, sweetheart, or did you just need contact?"

"Both. Tonight you work?"

"I'm already back from work." Nyla spoke patiently; he never remembered her schedule, especially when deep in his own work.

"Missing you. Hang out tonight? Watch a movie, play video games, screw, have tacos," taking the brush from his teeth and replacing it with the other, he continued, "screw more."

She sniffled deeply and cleared her throat. "Sure. Maybe around nine? You can spend the night if you want."

"Hmm." Zevran furrowed his brow and put down his paint brushes, holding the phone with his hand instead of his shoulder. Her sniffles, failure to laugh at his joke, and, come to think of it, she sounded a little somber. "Amor?"

"Still here, honey."

"Do you need anything from me?" He asked gently, knowing tears did not always mean trouble.

"No thank you. I'm going to go take care of some things before you arrive."

"Love you, amor," he spoke with a soft smile.

"Love you, love," Nyla giggled, hanging up the phone.

Zevran stopped to rent a movie. One he thought she would like. Something with lots of emotion, lots of dialogue, and low action because it stressed her out too much. Three tacos, chicken and green pepper, two beef and cheese; her favorite. Too early to go over, he stopped and bought her a small bouquet of wildflowers.

Amor
Hey
Nyla
Nyla
I left the house too soon so Zevran is coming now.
Say absolutely nothing if this is ok.

Receiving no answer felt odd, a little painful, especially that she had been crying. He reminded himself that she was not at his beck and call, he didn't own her, and the possessive part of himself, the part that worried for her oftentimes far too much, calmed. Which was good! Showing up in a bad mood was never a good thing.

Approaching her door, he tilted his head at the distinctly male voice coming through. Not a good feeling, Zevran frowned, and knocked. Do not make assumptions. He sighed deeply to settle himself, and felt much better. Of course, his Nyla was no cheat. Everything is fine.

The door swung open and the crestfallen face of his girlfriend startled him. "Zev, you're too early," she shut the door behind herself.

"Yes, for the sake of my sanity, please explain the man voice I heard," he spoke calmly.

"Oh, honeylove, it's nothing like that," Nyla wrapped her arms around him, pressing her head firmly in the space between his head and shoulder with an exaggerated sigh.

"Preciosa," he crooned, believing her completely, his hands too full of things to return her hug. "Something is wrong?"

"It's Fergus," she whispered. "I thought he would be gone by now but he just keeps talking."

"I wish to meet him!" Zevran spoke quickly. "I'm sad you did not invite me to meet him. Also not surprised."

"Ah." Nyla sighed nervously, clearing her throat. "Okay, listen. He sent me a text, I never answer his texts, and he said he's coming over today and… fuck. I figured I could face him now because I have to but it just feels like shit." Slowing down for a moment, she looked into his eyes, "Okay, Zevran, will you come in and meet my brother?"

"So nice of you to ask!" he chuckled, "Yes. And seriously, fucking relax a little, hmm?"

Nyla opened the door with a snort. "Don't tell me what to do. You don't know what I'm contending with."

Following her into the kitchen, Zevran saw the dark-haired, dark-eyed man sitting on their chair in the livingroom. The only chair in the house. The chair Nyla sat in while Zevran stripped for her. The chair Zevran and Nyla referred to as 'the sex chair.' Meeting her eyes, cringing with a little giggle and a shake of his head, Nyla elbowed him with a tsk. He took a vase out of the cupboard, filled it with water and flowers. His girlfriend always had a delayed reaction to flowers, she would fawn over them later when it sunk in.

Big brother saw the blond man follow her in, tattoos on his face. How… unorthodox. Fergus shook his head and sighed. The blond man made himself right at home, putting flowers in a vase; little sister was apparently seeing someone, and she hadn't told him. Figures, he thought sadly . Leather jacket. Fergus sighed again. Unbelievable. Great. A bad boy in a leather jacket with tattoos on his face. Dad would lose his shit.

"Fergus?" She spoke up headed toward the living room, "Someone here I want you to- ow fuck! God fucking damn shit fucking fuckballs!" Nyla hopped for a moment and fell over, running out of swear-word creativity. "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!"

"Ohh, shit." Zevran watched her go down with a sympathetic gaze. Just like her, to take this special moment and make it as weird as humanly possible. Kneeling by her where she sat on the floor, he pulled her close. "Ahh. Preciosa, perdón."

"Does it look broken?" She cringed, wiggling it with a pained hiss. "God damn."

"It looks like a toe, amor." He spoke gently, tilting his head at her. "Tylenol and ice pack?"

Alright, that's good, he's not cramming hydrocodone up her nose. Fergus ran a hand over his head, realizing he had just called her 'love.'

"I think it's okay, maybe later if it still hurts," Nyla pouted.

"Okay, amor?" A hand on her cheek, he met her apprehensive gaze and smiled, "Introduce me to big brother, si?"

Fergus relaxed, after all, anyone who looked at his little sister like that couldn't be too bad. "Fergus," he stood up from the sex chair with a hand out and Zevran stood up to shake it firmly.

"Zevran Arainai." He smiled, meeting the very tall man's eyes; he looked very similar to his Nyla, and it made him like the man immediately. "I see who got all the height in the family."

"Mmm!" Nyla's exasperated voice rang out. Mother fucker. With a defeated sigh she stretched her legs out and scooted to lean back against the wall. "Fergus, this is... the man who did my tattoo."

"I see." Fergus spoke sitting back down in the sex chair; Zevran died a little inside as their sex chair was officially ruined.

"He also did the painting hanging above my head," she pointed.

"Also the one hanging in her room." Zevran added, sitting next to her and taking off his jacket.

Nyla elbowed him, "That one is mine," she spoke calmly, ready to explode. How did you ever think this was a good idea, Nyla? HOW, NYLA, HOW?

"Were you ever going to tell me you were in a relationship?" Fergus spoke, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "How long have you been together?"

"Let's see..." Zevran bent his knee, lacing his fingers around the front of his calf. Gesturing toward Nyla with his head he spoke, "This dork has been my girlfriend for seven months. How about you, anyone special in your life?"

"Zev." Nyla chuckled, nervously, looking at the floor and beginning to sweat. "It's not our business."

"That… that right there, Nyla." Fergus shook his head. "It sucks you don't even have curiosity about me anymore."

"I'm sorry." She spoke softly, head falling forward. "It just feels so weird with you."

"Weird how?" Zevran looked at her curiously. "Big brother seems a decent fellow."

Meeting Zevran's gaze she spoke softly, "It's like I feel too guilty to face him."

"Do you still think I blame you for what happened?" Fergus asked, keenly aware of the stranger in the room, but she had relaxed so much since he arrived. Zevran's question encouraged her to open up a little more, and she even shared something personal.

"No, Fergus. I know you don't blame me for what happened." Nyla relaxed into Zevran's touch, feeling a lot about that he would hold her hand in front of her brother. "I feel guilty for the last fight we had, how I walked out the way I did, and that you still support me after all that I had done."

"It was just a fight," Fergus insisted. "It wasn't so bad. Not worth losing the last of my family over."

"Because you weren't a colossal asshole." Nyla tried to pull her hand away to cover her face, and Zevran held her tighter, leaving her with only one hand to hide behind. "I was a colossal asshole , and I don't fucking want to face you. I just want you to leave me alone and keep paying for my shit, and that makes me more of an asshole. I just hate myself so fucking much when I think of you."

"I'm not that hurt over it." Fergus spoke quickly, fucking finally something other than cold dismissals. "Really, it's not that hard to manage your finances, I'm glad to help. Just… everything you had been through… I want you to have it easy until you're ready to get back on your feet. Get back to doing something with your life again."

"I am doing something with my life!" Nyla wiped tears away and looked up at him with an angry stare.

"Take it easy, amor," Zevran spoke up. "We all know you're too smart to waitress forever. This is what he means."

"I didn't even know she's a waitress." Fergus spoke incredulously. "We used to talk every night. Every single night. I told you everything ."

"Yeah, you did," Nyla chuckled, shaking her head. "Fergus, why are you even here?"

"You said you wanted to move. I didn't know why. I wondered if you were in some kind of trouble, you didn't follow up with me."

"I said I was thinking about it." Nyla pursed her lips, glancing at Zevran, his curious stare on her. "Forewarning you a move might happen soon."

"Did you want to come home?" Fergus asked hopefully. "You are welcome back to the house."

"Nope." Zevran cut in with a playful tone, "Fergus had her for several years, she is Zevran's now."

"Doesn't it drive you crazy that he refers to himself in the third person?" Fergus repressed a smile.

"Zevran is still right here," he chuckled. I needed another tall asshole in my life .

"It's endearing." Smiling at Fergus, she began to remember what she loved about her big brother; he was hilarious, and they really did tell each other everything. "And also yes, it drives me a little crazy." Her hands raised to display two thumbs up, "But the sex is fantastic."

Zevran snorted and withheld laughter wondering if she was trying to get him killed, while Fergus laughed hard, clapping his hands together, and then hid behind them for a few moments. Lowering his hands, he clasped them in front of himself. Fergus looked square at her and spoke with a sigh, "Dork."

"Says the man who does finger guns," she rebutted, rolling her eyes.

Fergus did finger guns, the siblings laughed hard, and Zevran had no idea what was going on.

After taking a minute to pull his shit together, Fergus spoke, "You were saying, about moving?"

"Zevran is keeping her," Zevran reminded them in a sing-song voice, not betraying at all his fear that she might actually want to move away.

"God damn, Fergus, I haven't had a chance to talk to Zevran about it yet." Nyla spoke, exasperated. "Making it fuckin' weird."

"We will talk about it now." Zevran spoke softly, biting his lip and betraying his nervousness. "In Nyla's room."

"Be right back, Fergus." Nyla stood with Zevran and they headed toward her room. "Dipshit."

Closing her door behind them Nyla sighed nervously. "Our father was a stickler for clean language, so we all swore liberally behind his back for fun. Kind of an inside family joke thing so you'll hear me insult him at random intervals for no particular reason. My mom and I used to call each other hoes."

"Amor." He met her eyes and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Please tell me about this moving business." She sighed, her eyes grew moist and she bit her lip. "Nyla, are you leaving me?"

"No!" She answered quickly, her eyes wide, "Shit, darling, no absolutely not. Jesus. No. Zevran I… want you to live with me. Live together. In the same place. One we choose together."

"Ah." Zevran let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

"You don't have to answer right now." Nyla spoke quickly, "No pressure, I don't even know if I'm asking too soon or… or… whatever I mean… I just…" she slowed down, stepped closer to him, looked into his golden-brown eyes, and told him the truth. "We fucking belong together, Zevran."

Meeting her soft, ernest stare, he wanted to fuck her brains out, and he may have if they didn't have company. "Zevran knows this, brave Nyla."

Reaching a hand out, he cradled her face, dark, sparkling eyes staring at him in adoration. A place of their own. No more dragging clothes from one place to another. No more wishing she was there to go home to. No more missing each other for days because of work schedules. And they could have sex whenever they wanted it. His lips met hers for a soft and satisfying kiss, and he pulled away to rest his forehead against hers.

"Amor," he whispered, meeting her smile with his own, "I want furniture."

"Done." Nyla responded softly, kissing him again. "You have made me very happy," she spoke between kisses, "and I will show you later, exactly how happy."

Taking his hand, they headed back to the living room.

"I am excited to tell Leli," Zevran smiled, raising her hand to press a kiss to it.

"I bet she'll cry." Nyla sat against the wall and looked at Fergus, curling up close to Zevran beneath his arm. "Okay, fuckface. Definitely moving, Zevran and I are going to live together."

"You just decided this now? Don't you need time to think about it?" Fergus paused and looked at Nyla, "Skank."

Nyla chuckled, "Do you think that line of questioning will make us come to our senses, fuckboy?"

"Never once, have I seen you come to your senses, bitchface."

A sweet moment Zevran witnessed, Nyla and her big brother beaming at each other in the glow of a familiar game of a most unpleasant nature.

"So," Fergus continued, "Do you plan on staying in the Bay Area?"

"Yes, I'm hoping to find something where Zevran can have his own studio, and roof access."

"And then Zevran will make her have his daughter," Zevran teased with a smile, distracted by the buzz of his phone. He retrieved it from his jacket pocket. "Hola, tall asshole, what do you want?" The sound of Anders' voice made him jump up and walk to the kitchen.

"Nyla, I'm not sure if I want to tell you he's adorable, or punch him for saying he wants to knock up my sister."

"Both is good," Nyla spoke absently, her eye on Zevran as he paced the kitchen, "assclown." Standing up, she went toward him, a finger held up to Fergus indicating for him to wait a moment. "Something is wrong."

Approaching Zevran, his eyes flicked over to her briefly, brow furrowed, nibbling the inside of his cheek. She could vaguely hear the urgent chatter of Anders, words indistinguishable. Zevran palmed his face with a sigh.

"Si. Si. Of course." He paused, "Si, I am sure she will come. Have you eaten today? Can I bring anything for you? Okay. See you soon." Hanging up the phone, he met Nyla's eyes, his lips quivering. "Leli is hurt."

Nyla woke from her nap on the couch with Zevran cuddled up beside her; his head on her belly, arms snug around her hips. Watching him sleep, his breath even and face relaxed, Nyla matched her breathing with his; how she loved these intimate and domesticated moments. The smell of eggplant parmesan wafted from the kitchen, Anders voice carried from Leliana's

"Ow… ow… okay. I'm okay." Leliana whimpered, her voice carrying down the hall as her bedroom door opened.

"Can you make it?" Anders asked softly, "We can turn around and you can have dinner in bed."

"No I want to eat at the table with you. When I say I am really really tired of being in my room, I'm not kidding."

"Okay lean on me as much as you need okay?"

Leliana's groans and whimpers carried through the house, ribs still healing from the accident. A car had rear ended hers going fifty miles per hour, sending her vehicle careening into the back of another; Anders had almost lost her in a very real way.

Nyla watched with a full heart as Leliana took her seat at the table for the first time since being home. Anders tried helping Leliana move her chair nearer the table which caused her a great deal of pain, and Nyla smiled at the sweetness of Leliana's joyful cooing as he moved the table closer to her.

"Anders, I'm in a different room!" Leliana chuckled happily, clasping her hands together with a satisfied sigh.

"Dinner still has to cool. Zevran told me how to make his eggplant parmesan for you. I hope it came out right. What kind of tea would you like?" He asked, leaning down to be eye level with her.

"Thank you, Anders," Leliana smiled. "I'd like something bitter I think."

"A strong cup of oolong?" He grinned at her nod and spoke, "You got it."

"Anders?" Leliana reached out and took his hand just as he started moving away.

"Hmm?" He met her eyes.

Nyla nudged Zevran, and his head shot up to look at her. With a finger on her lips, she indicated for him to be silent, mouthing the word Lelianders with a smile , pointing toward the kitchen. Snuggling his cheek against his girlfriend's soft belly, he witnessed something that made him want to immediately throw a fucking parade.

"I don't know what this would have been like without you," Leliana gazed at him longingly.

Anders rested a palm on her cheek; she blushed beautifully, with softness in her striking blue eyes. "I don't know what I would have done if I lost you. I really don't." Anders leaned in, his lips meeting her forehead, closing his eyes so not to cry. "Love you, Leli."

"I love you." Leliana responded softly, pulling him in for a gentle kiss on his lips. "I really do."

Zevran looked at Nyla with his eyes wide and pointed at them with his mouth hanging open, while Nyla's hands flapped through the air, mouth agape with silent screaming. They shushed each other with frantic hand gestures, laying still on the couch. Leliana and Anders shared a long kiss; long overdue and much needed.

Their tender moment outlasted the kiss. They chuckled at each other tearfully, blushing, gentle fingers tucking hair behind ears, soft caresses on cheeks.

"Would you like your tea now?" Anders spoke lovingly, beaming and blushing, holding her hand, pressing gentle, loving kisses to her knuckles. "Always wanted to do that," he whispered, feeling the new territory in which they were treading, and loving every moment.

"I'd love some tea now," Leliana sniffled, and Anders swept her tears away with a smile. "Anders? Didn't you say Zevla were going to be here to have dinner with us?"

At the mere mention of their names, they went limp and closed their eyes, feigning sleep.

"They're upstairs I think, I'll get them." Walking to the bottom of the stairs he shouted, "Come down for dinner, you cowards! You fools!"

"We're napping, tall asshole." Zevran spoke groggily from the couch. Nyla stretched with a fake yawn.

"You've been on the couch the whole time?" Anders quirked an eyebrow at them, blushing.

"The whole time we have been napping, yes." Zevran stood, helping his girlfriend off of the couch. "And then some tall asshole started shouting obscenities about Zevran's tiny girlfriend. How dare."

"I'm not tiny. I'm average." Nyla went into the kitchen, brushing her hair with her fingers. "Don't fuck with me yet I'm not quite awake."

"National average is still 5'5." Leliana reminded her.

"And I'm 5'3, which is very close to 5'5."

"That's a full two inches below average! You can't be still average while being shorter than average ." Leliana insisted with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh my god!" Nyla looked at Leliana with eyes wide and brows furrowed.

"Leli, what have you done?" Zevran sighed, seeing the devastated stare on his girlfriend's pretty face.

"Oh no." Nyla's palm raised to lay on her chest, expressing incredulity and exasperation. "I'm- I'm fucking short!"

Author's Note:

I commission a lot of art for this story, and this site doesn't allow me to share it. If you would like to see the art, find me on tumblr under TurboOtaku, I tag everything for my pairing as #Zevla.

Alternatively, you can follow me on Archive of Our Own under TurboNerd, where I embed the art in the chapters.