Disclaimer: I own nothing, I make no money.

Author's Note: Okay, so I know I said less than 24 hours ago that I was taking a breather and now I'm a horrible liar. Because I just absolutely had to post this. And now I've got a bit more inspiration to continue. Pft, sorry guys, false alarm on that last Author's Note, haha. I'm hopeless for these two.

Interlocking

Chapter Sixteen: Just People

"'Harding's important then?' Krem is silent for long moments, and then quietly, 'Yes.'" - Krem and Harding find each other in a world torn apart. A story told in brief glimpses.

"Harding, huh?"

Krem raises his gaze to Bull at the Qunari's question. He holds his large battleaxe against the whetstone for sharpening and keeps his eyes focused on his task while he speaks to Krem. They are both sitting inside the smithy's building on the other side of the Skyhold courtyard from the tavern, the fire from the pit warm even from across the room. It fills the space around them in flickering, dim orange.

Krem weighs the small obsidian rock in his hand that he uses for sharpening blades. He sets his longsword next to him on the wood surface of the table, and reaches for his heavy maul instead. He pockets the obsidian and sighs. "Yes, Harding. Now let's have it."

Bull chuckles. "Have what?"

Krem reaches for the oiled cloth along the table top and starts to clean his maul. "The teasing. The jokes. Whatever it is I know is bubbling up inside you just ready to burst. Come on, let's have it." Krem watches his hands move along his weapon. Something inside him keeps him from locking gazes with his hulking commander when he says it.

Bull shifts his weight in his seat and throws a smirk Krem's way. "What makes you think I have any jokes about it?"

"Because you have jokes about everything."

"Not everything."

"Everything important," Krem clarifies.

Bull can hear the tight swallow that follows the man's words even as he scoffs playfully, and he does not have to look up from his work to imagine the furrowed brow of his comrade, the tight frown gracing his features. He reaches a hand up to scratch at the stubble lining his jaw, pulling his axe away from the whetstone momentarily. "Harding's important then?"

Krem is silent for long moments, and then quietly, "Yes."

Bull's smirk is small and unseen by Krem. "Then I'm sure I'll have jokes before long."

Krem risks a glance at his commander and finds the Qunari placing his axe back against the whetstone again. There is the grating screech of metal as the axe is slowly sharpened. Krem speaks with a hesitant longing. "I just…I haven't been with anyone in…" Krem stops and swallows, his grip tightening on the handle of his maul. "In a long time," he finishes in one slow, heavy breathe.

Bull offers his warm chuckle in response. "I know. I've been trying to get you laid for ages."

Krem levels Bull with heated and narrowed eyes. "Harding isn't just a lay."

Bull smiles at the staunch and ready defense in Krem's voice, the sudden assurance of meeting his eyes, but he isn't intimidated by the man's glare in the slightest. "But you think you're ready for that with her? Because that's the issue here." Bull pulls his weapon from the whetstone and settles his gaze on Krem. "Intimacy," he continues. "That's what this is about. What you're scared of."

Krem grits his teeth minutely. "I'm not scared, I'm…cautious."

Bull sighs and places his axe along the table beside them, leaning one elbow along his thigh as he watches his lieutenant. "She knows about your…predicament."

Krem is unsure whether Bull is asking or clarifying, so he simply nods in answer.

The Qunari shrugs one shoulder. "And she chose you anyway."

His eyes steady on Bull, Krem rolls the words along his tongue before speaking, one hand moving to rub the back of his neck. "I just…I just want this to go right so badly." His eyes fall to the floor, his hand slipping from his neck to rest stiffly along the thick shaft of his maul. "She's…Maker, boss, she's something." His eyes flick back up to Bull and there is everything certain and desperate and needful in his gaze. "I don't know what this is between us. And you know I've never been great with words, but this…whatever this is, it's intense and uncontrollable and it keeps me awake at night wondering what kind of man I want to be. What kind of man I need to be. To keep her close." Krem shakes his head, closing his eyes at his admission, chuckling in self-admonishment. "Shit, Chief, I don't know. I think maybe I'm too far gone for the saving."

Bull watches his lieutenant steadily, cocking his head slightly at the way Krem shifts his weight uncomfortably in his chair, turning to gaze across the room at the fire that casts them in shifts of hazy light. He cannot help the warm promise of contentment that flickers softly in his chest at the sight. If there was anyone in this world he wished happiness and love and a life well lived to, it was Krem. If there was anyone he wanted to spare the tender throb of regret, it was Krem. If there was anyone he thought deserved the assurance of another's touch in this dark terror that was their lives nowadays, it was Krem. Always Krem. Always this brother of his.

Always this man who bleeds honor and loyalty and unspoken trust that keeps him constant in an unconstant world.

Bull rubs at his chin gruffly. "You've got good instincts, Krem. So does she. I don't think there's anything you need to be but exactly what you are at this very moment.'

Krem tries to keep his hands from shaking.

Bull throws a smirk Krem's way. "I'll be the first one to call you on your bullshit. But Harding?" He chuckles. "Nothing to call there. That's just people. That's just connection. Don't think too much about it. Just trust yourself. And she will, too." Bull picks his axe back up and puts it to the whetstone. Light sparks jump from the contact and Krem is still and silent before him.