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Interlocking
Chapter Twenty: Home
"She is all freckles and sun-kissed cheeks. 'I'll see you tonight then?'" - Krem and Harding find each other in a world torn apart. A story told in brief glimpses.
After returning from Crestwood, Krem is stuck at Skyhold for a couple days while Harding scouts out the Western Approach. Among the expectance of Venatori and the common wildlife, there is word of a Grey Warden presence. The Inquisitor, Hawke and a small party, including Blackwall, travel there shortly after Harding sends missives of the Warden locations.
Krem finds himself spending an inordinate amount of time in the rookery. Leliana watches him with knowing and sad eyes, and she shares the news she receives from the missives out of the Approach. Krem doesn't bother asking why she does. She isn't their spymaster by chance. But he's secretly grateful that the bard's inner romantic is supportive of his involvement with Harding, even if she does so silently.
Finally, Bull receives orders to take the Chargers out to the Approach. Something anxious lights within Krem when he hears the news. And it is not solely because he knows he will see Harding again shortly.
The reports Leliana has shared with him do not bode well for the Inquisition.
The Western Approach is dry and hot when Bull and his Chargers arrive. They look around camp for Harding. Krem finds her easily, sitting before a crate of dried food, maps spread over the wood of the crate, her form crouched over the parchment in determination. She rubs her chin in thought, her eyes grazing over the marked routes on the maps before she hears the approach of Bull and the Chargers. She looks up from her seat and a smile breaks across her features.
Krem motions toward her and Bull makes his way toward the dwarf. "Chargers at ease," he calls. And then, "Harding. Good to see you."
"And you," she answers, standing from her seat. Her eyes glance over the Chargers in appreciation. "Can't say I'm not glad to see you."
"I'm sure," Bull teases, his eyes glancing toward his lieutenant beside him.
Krem crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at his commander. He wants nothing more than to rush to her and pull her tightly against him. But he resists. He knows they will have their time when business is taken care of. "And what have you found?" he asks Harding purposefully, ignoring Bull.
Harding cocks her head behind her as she speaks. "There's a nasty bit of Venatori off to the west. An unexplainable straggling of darkspawn further north, and expect phoenixes and quillbacks across the whole Approach. Also, there are rifts to the immediate south and north. I'd avoid those until the Inquisitor makes their rounds."
Krem cannot help the measure of pride that fills him when she speaks. So efficiently. So precisely and competently.
Bull nods and hoists his battleaxe over his shoulder. "Sounds good. Looks like we're heading west, Chargers," he calls to his comrades behind him.
"Alright!" cries Rocky. "Taking out Vints is always fun."
Krem turns a raised brow to the dwarf.
He grins sheepishly, his hands coming up in a surrender. "Present company excluded of course."
Krem shakes his head.
Harding's words pull their attention back to her. "The Inquisitor wants us all to push north toward Griffon Wing Keep while they handle the Grey Warden outpost with Hawke and their contact. I don't know what's going on over there exactly but it doesn't seem to be anything pretty."
Bull shrugs his shoulder with the axe resting over it. "Inquisitor knows what they're doing. I'm not too worried."
Krem watches Harding as she looks off past the dunes.
She sighs. "Glad one of us isn't." She shakes her head and pulls in a deep breath, looking back at the mercenaries before her. "We're moving on to the keep in the morning, with the Inquisitor and their party, if all goes well at the Warden outpost. We need you to make enough ground this afternoon for us to move in and make camps at Nazaire's Pass and Craggy Ridge. That will give us control of the south and we can commit troops to taking the keep without worrying about being boxed in from the other side."
Bull smiles. "Why, Harding, you've the soul of a strategist. Ever consider moving up in the ranks?"
Harding chuckles and shakes her head. "I'm good where I am, Bull. Let someone else deal with the heavy decisions." She waves a hand through the air dismissively. "I just wanted to get out of Redcliffe and shoot things."
"Well, you're doing a damn fine job of both." Bull chuckles and motions for his Chargers to head out. "Good catching up, Harding. We'll see you by nightfall."
Bull does not urge Krem into motion when he catches him staying back behind the group. He knows he will follow shortly and lets the man say his goodbyes.
A warm smile breaks across Krem's face when he looks at Harding, his comrades heading past him in the warm sand. She answers with a blinding smile of her own, stepping closer, so that she can reach for his hand. He links his fingers with hers softly.
She is all freckles and sun-kissed cheeks. "I'll see you tonight then?"
He nods. "Tonight."
She squeezes his hand in her hold and sighs. "Be safe." She begins to pull away, regretting the work she still has yet to do.
Krem smirks and pulls her quickly into him before she can release his hand. She stumbles and laughs in mild surprise, bracing against his solid form. He wraps his hands around her frame and leans down to hold her. "Always," he breathes softly above her head.
Her fingers curl into the armored leather at his sides and she sighs into the crook of his elbow. He smells like copper and spice.
Krem pulls away reluctantly, his hand grazing over her arm and then the soft skin of her palm in quiet farewell. He gives her one last smile and turns to join the Chargers. Harding watches him go for several minutes before she moves to return to her maps.
Krem finds himself moving fiercely and quickly through the Approach. Venatori agents fall before his mighty swings, bloody and cursing. His bellowing war cries are followed by swift and earth-shattering blows. The heavy flood of his own labored breathes in his ears slowly begins to drown out the sound of crunching bones. He does not know why he is such a sudden storm of power. He only wants to be rid of enemies. To clear the hot sands. To finish his duty with the Chargers and make the way safe for the Inquisition troops. He is anxious to make his way back to camp where he knows Harding is waiting. He only wants to return home.
He stops at the thought.
Return home.
He realizes that he has just thought of the meaningless, temporary camp as "home". Only because she is there. Only because she is waiting for him
Krem wonders when she had snuck into his heart and planted herself there.
He wonders when the thought of her began to come as naturally as breathing.
When the sight of her alone was enough to settle his heart and his breath and his fears.
He wonders when she had become his Home.