Fenris had his back turned at the moment; taking his time in packing the gifts that the small group of servants had given him to see him off. He figured that this departure had been the best to do, and hoped that he didn't have to run into either Anders or Leliana in the process. Fenris just couldn't stay here anymore, because there was too much bitterness in him to remain. He didn't want it revealed but it found a way to resurface nearly every time he looked at Anders.
Just from knowing that the mage had managed to live this long—even by his own given vote at one time—made Fenris sick to think of it. There was just so much that Anders should have been grateful to, or to forever repent from and the elf just did not see either trait from the mage. Perhaps he didn't even want to see it, because then he couldn't keep that rekindled anger; which had been the only crutch he's had throughout losing everyone that has ever meant anything to him.
From hearing more footsteps, at first Fenris had thought of it to have been more workers of the Keep approaching to have seen him off. Though, he heard Leliana's voice speak to him which kept his eyes still staring back down at the mare's coat. He had continued to brush the horse; mainly because at that moment it was the only idle thing he capable of doing.
He didn't want to see her, and certainly didn't want to talk about anything. What good would it have done other than to pour salt on an already gaping wound? Closure was for the weak and undecided. Women always did that to him; always wanting to talk about decisions that have already been made when clearly the topic should have been left alone. Women could be sadist at times without even knowing it, and right now he didn't see much of an escape.
Fenris sighed, having his head during the moment that Leliana had spoken. There was no point in giving any answer to her right away; because despite of how she reacted Fenris had known all to clearly that this approach had not been about learning or understanding anything else from himself. If anything, this was just Leliana requesting for him to understand or learn about her decision. However, he had understood all along, because he dreaded it.
Briefly turning around to have faced her, he lifted his head once Leliana had finished. His eyes matched towards her gaze after sensing of how close she was. It was at that moment, he acknowledged of her touch and even though he felt the notion to have shrugged her away he didn't give the attempt.
"You sound just like Naomi." He spoke softly and returned his gaze back towards the side of the horse as he began to put away the brush into a pocket in the saddle. His attention then had moved towards the fastenings and buckles of the saddle to make sure that they were strapped on securely. "I couldn't hate someone without reason, Leliana. Perhaps the influence of those around me have left a grand scale of my morals flawed… So, what I've done, I have done to myself. As for Anders—"
He paused a moment, lowering himself down in a bend, as to possibly check the fastenings from the other side of the horse before standing back up and walking around to the other side of the steed. "—He took too much from me. I hold no remorse or sympathy for him; not anymore…. And he deserved much worse than of what I did—if I was to have attacked him with you in mind. But that was actually for Anna, and believe me—it was a long time coming for that one."
Leliana blinked a few times after hearing Fenris's statement of her being like Naomi. She was worried then that she had said something that Naomi had said to him long ago. Ugh she was such an idiot at times, she should have just said she was sorry and not given him a big speech. But that was Leliana, she never knew how to just shut up before she had gotten ahead of herself and stepped into something she couldn't have backed out of.
"I never wanted to hurt you Fenris…" She confessed he had to know what she had said was true. Because as she stood here knowing he was in anger and maybe even pain, she had wished she never had brought this upon him to only have pushed him away when they might of seemed so close too.
Since Fenris's had allowed her to speak without any interruptions she had done the same for him and listened to every word even when she had wanted to jump in when he spoke of Anders. All she could do to fight it was chomp down onto her lower lip and fold her arms over her chest when she felt her hand being taken away from his forearm. When she believed to think he was done, her eyes shifted back up to him and gave what softened look she could. Leliana could still remember the day Anna died like it was just yesterday and how broken Fenris was when it had happened. He loved her and she expected him to have always loved her, but that still didn't make it right to have pointed the opposing finger to Anders. As his intentions were to kill another and not Anna.
Leliana had wanted to defend Anders, to have said it wasn't his fault and Anna knew what she had been doing the time she had jumped out in front of the attack. But it would get nowhere along with only hurting Fenris more and Leliana wasn't here to do that. So for both their sakes she had stayed silent as she had watched him ready his saddle.
"Where are you going?" She asked quietly but she figured her voice would have been picked up by his ears since they weren't a great distance apart. "Back to Alistair?" It was more as a realization than a question then. Since it would have been one of the few places he would have gone since he went their last time when he'd left Kirkwall. But what she didn't understand is why a part of her didn't want to let him leave. They had been through so much over the past year that it would have made sense for her feelings to have wanted him to stay in fear of missing him. She had relied on him so much that it almost felt awkward that she didn't need to anymore. "After everything, how you've been there for me… I will miss you." She confessed in a step towards him. Her intentions were to have hugged him as she walked around him and wrapped her arms firmly around him, she figured they had needed some kind of closure point but also because she had wanted to since she didn't think she would have seen Fenris again for a very long time, if ever again.
She could hear his heart and feel the coldness of his armor plated chest on her cheek when she rested the side of her head to his shoulder and chest. Leliana had soon caught herself closing her eyes but she quickly stopped herself in this and pushed herself slowly off of him. After all Leliana didn't wish to linger too long to have had eyes watching them or Anders to have come, if he hadn't already. It might have looked too badly on her part even if it was just a simple farewell after how long he'd been there for her. "Be safe out there…?" She asked in a soft tone as soon her arms had dropped from each side of him and back down to her own sides where she had stepped to the side to allow him to finish getting ready to have left.
He hadn't answered her from her first question since it wasn't something he would have wanted to share. Though even then, it didn't need to be answered because Leliana had managed to guess his next location anyway. His green eyes glanced towards her briefly before turning an walking towards the side of the stable. He picked up his huge sword and adjusted it back into its holster.
It would have seemed almost as if he was banishing himself from Kirkwall and from her, but in truth—Fenris had hoped that finding Alistair would have helped him gain the solace he needed. The elf's life had been influenced by many different women, each of them he either loved or wanted to protect, but was always crushed in return. King Alistair was the only person any of those women had requested for him to protect—and the request itself was not entirely a pointless merit to him. Another excuse, perhaps, but it was still something Fenris could cling to that wouldn't leave him awake or feeling guilty in the middle of a cold-sweat.
Fenris had almost prepared to have mounted the horse, but something had collided against him. He looked down to realize that it was Leliana hugging him and he felt a brief startled sensation. Fenris gulped some and closed his eyes. He had to think of it almost being over, just so that he would keep himself from abruptly pushing away. Rather instead, his arms had slowly reached up to touch her shoulders.
It wasn't a notion to have held her back, because he had inner conflicts with actually attempting. After all, he had always seemed to keep Leliana at a distance, even when he tried to show his feelings. When in doing so, he only ended up pushing her directly into the arms of another. Perhaps that had been his curse.
When she had stepped back, Fenris made his quick escape in the process of mounting the horse. He glanced back to Leliana's slight question…or rather it was more of a request—and nodded some before looking away and gave the reigns a light shake. After the horse had rushed into a gallop, he had soon rode out of sight.
Leliana had stood in the stables even after she could no longer tell out where Fenris had rode off too. She wasn't sure if it was because she couldn't move or if she didn't want to. It wasn't until she felt a gust of wind pushed against her back that it caused her to have stepped forward one step. It was this same gust that brought her to feel the single tear streaming down her face in a cooling effect from the cold breeze. Reflectively Leliana reached up and wiped the tear from her cheek and looked to her hand in a blank stare after she held the smeared tear between her fingers. In a broken smile she wiped her hand to her pants and carried forward to have seen if Anders woken up from his sleep yet.
When she had returned, Leliana stopped closely to the door and began wiping her face of any other tears that may have fell from her eyes before pushing the door open and allowing herself in a quiet manner. For if Anders was still asleep she didn't want to wake him and if he wasn't awake then it wouldn't have bothered him at least when she began to kick off her soiled boots as quietly as she could in one area of the room.
She still couldn't believe he was real or that he was still here with her. That she soon found herself not being able to take her eyes off of him as she started to remove her more unneeded accessories that she sat down on a table next to their bed. After her hand slipped from the area she began to climb on the bed and on top of Anders, each of her legs had straddled him gently as her hand had reached out for his chest and began to outline the indentations of his skin and more importantly where Fenris had speared him last night.
Leliana had felt badly for what had happened. And in her guilt it brought her to lean down towards the mage as her hand pulled away from the area and her lips were put there in its place. Each of her hands had cupped to both of his sides as she grasped at his undershirt in between the palms of her hands and spoke out in a whisper… "Anders…" She rose up afterwards in her kisses along his chest, neck, cheek and then soon his lips that she had only given a tempting peck to. "If you don't wake up I'll soon find other ways to do so."
Anders still had his eyes closed at the time of feeling an extra weight resting onto him. He could feel his senses reacting to knowing of it being Leliana before he had even heard her draw her first breath. He smiled a little to her words and gently moved his hands up along her waist. The slight joke had only left him smiling peacefully a bit more. After all, it had felt good for a mage to dream (he hadn't had any dreams in so long), but it would have been just as grand to have woken up.
A long rumbling moan emitted from his throat as his grip around Leliana's waist had tighted slightly. He slid her body a tad lower and arched his hips in a manner to have had his morning "excitement" noticed from underneath her. The posture on top of him had just seemed to have been too good of a compromise, but their clothes had been quite the problem to it.
"Oh, I don't think I'll mind the other ways." He spoke with a smirk and carefully opened his eyes to look back up at her. "Where did you run off to? I woke up and saw you had disappeared again."
Leliana closed her eyes as she drew in a sharp breath after feeling his hardening member press against her more sensitive parts. It had felt so warm and strong that she couldn't stop herself from tilting her hips more downward to his as she began to grind herself against him in a gentle way. This was how she didn't expect her morning to have started truthfully since she just came here to get him up if he wasn't already, after all there was much work waiting for them to be done. But a little voice was telling her it could wait, while the more stronger one made her speak out.
"Anders… We can't, we have work to do…" But by the ways of her body moved above him it seemed like it was more of a choice on his part since she didn't let up on the motion of her hips.
Soon after her lips turned away from his in her broken breathing pattern, she heard his question towards her and if she didn't know any better she could have sworn she felt her body stiffen after he asked it. She didn't want to tell him she had gone to find Fenris, since she didn't want to make him jealous in anyway. She had to think of something, anything, but what? "Err… You know… I was just checking on Baelfire…" She said with a slight grin accompanying her features. "I'm sorry if I worried you. I guess I'll have to ease that mind of yours." She said upon reaching out for him with one of her hands as she started to run her fingers through his hair in an attempted soothing touch. Within this time she bent down towards him and joined their lips in growing need from her endless love her pent up desires for him. While her hands had shifted down his chest, abdomen and lastly to the edges of his pants. Her fingers fumbled purposely in a tease against the lining. She wanted nothing more than to have all of him taken and flipped her over, quickly and fiercely. But Leliana was a tease, Anders knew this and she didn't even know half the time why she was since it had driven her insane as much as it possibly had done to Anders.
Leliana felt a blush rising to her cheeks in a flustered manner as she began to lean back from him and sit straightly upon his upper legs while her hand had slowly began to slip between the folds of his pants. She immediately felt the budge inside and smirked at realization at how eager he actually was. "My bad bad mage." She soon teased as she gently tangled her fingertips into his hairs before sweeping past where she rubbed and coaxed his cock in a gentle massage.
He held his breath and finally had started to relax his hips once she was touching him. He couldn't help the smirk that was still tugging at his lips when she taunted him a bit. Sliding his hands up towards her back, Anders attempted to pull her back down towards him.
"If you keep that up, you'll find out how bad this mage can be." He started to tease and pulled her towards himself for a kiss.
He paused for a moment and then blinked some before suddenly reaching towards the nightstand. "Oh wait a moment, that's right…"
After grabbing Leliana's ring that rested there, he grasped it and brought it back between himself and her. Looking for her hand, he reached to grasp it and started to slide it back onto her finger. His right eyebrow lifted slightly towards her and he ran his thumb back across her knuckles.
"Now, I do believe I had put this on here for a reason." He started to tease her and kissed her hand afterwards.
Leliana's eyes had widened as she let out a little surprised yelp when she had felt Anders grasp her and bring her down towards him in a full force. In fear she would have hurt him; she swiftly slipped her hand from Anders pants and used that same hand as her bracing point so she didn't collide face to face with the mage or at least so harshly. "Anders-!" She exclaimed in a shocked voice. But she couldn't finish in this as his lips joined with hers before she could have and just like always she felt herself melting into him.
When it broke Leliana still had her eyes closed slightly, the only sight she had was by peaking through her lashes at him. She was curious as to what he wanted her to wait for, that she began to try to distract him and bring him back to her as her lips were pressed to his neck in multiple kisses. But then she had felt him grab her hand and it brought the rouge to curiously glance down between them.
After she saw what he had between his fingers and after she felt the ring slipping back on her ring finger she had smiled brightly and with what little room she quickly lunged towards him with arms wide open as hugged him tightly. "I love you. It's never coming off again as it should have been the first time." She admitted towards him and tilted her head some to the side to rest a kiss to his cheek.
"Now I think I need to show my gratitude in other ways… And earn your forgiveness… What do you say?" She asked with an inquisitive arch of her brow and without waiting for much of a reply she started to slip down his form until her sights were aligned with his hips. Her fingers played along each side of his waist, tugging and plucking at the edge of his hem until she inched the fabric slowly off.
Leliana had gotten far in her attempt though, she only had gotten as far as seeing his growing happy trail before the sound of the door knob brought the rouge to quickly jolt up and lay next to Anders as if she was doing nothing and was as innocent as she had been in the Chantry. She wasn't even aware of the pitter patter of feet until she had looked in the direction of the door to see Baelfire running towards them at full speed in a fit of laughter.
"Dadaaa!" Is all she heard shouted from Baelfire's lips after he began to frantically climb up on the bed and since the bed was to cushioned to be walked on, he quickly crawled until he was securely between both his father and mother. Though Leliana had noticed the toddler had cuddled up to Anders warmly which had brought the rouge to smile brightly upon seeing such a bond.
"Looks like he missed someone." She said in a cheerful tone and looked toward Anders in realization. In truth she never had stopped talking about Anders to Baelfire even after he was made Tranquil. She didn't want the boy to have forgotten about him just because of what had happened, she needed to keep that memory alive somehow and seeing this had proved that it was the best thing she could have ever done.
Anders was a little relieved that Leliana had accepted the ring after all. It might have been a bit selfish for him to have considered the thought that she would have been able to easily just accept his promise to her for a third time, but to Anders time hadn't really moved that much at all. It was just as though he had taken a really long nap. Finding that she was happy had given him joy as well. His arms had wrapped back around her in a warm embrace and Anders had chuckled some to her words. It was as if he couldn't have agreed more.
When she asked him her question and had started to move further south over him, Anders's wiry grin had been pulled tight. He started to wiggle his hips from one side to the other; just to have made Leliana's small journey there a little difficult. "Hm… I don't know if your 'other ways' can make amends so fast, my dear. Remember, I have been very traumatized…"
Hearing the door open, Anders had started to turn his head towards the sound and quickly reached for the blanket; almost as his precaution to have kept himself covered. From the glance of blonde fuzzy hair being spotted at such a short height, Anders's peripheral vision had glanced back to Leliana and he started to chuckle some at the sight of how quickly she had moved. He couldn't recall the last time she her lightening reflexes had ever been displayed so swiftly before.
But his attention towards it had been distracted at the sound of Baelfire's laughing upon climbing up and onto the bed. Anders was then, secretly worried that his precious jewels might get smacked or jumped on from a hard colliding force if he didn't do something to prevent the incident fast. So, he started to sit up and grab one of the throw pillows near his head to use as protection in his lap; in between whimpering under his breath in small pleads for Baelfire not to have jumped on him.
Safe. Baelfire landed between safely between his mother and father; which was exactly where he should have been, if he was to ever jump on the bed. Anders's eyes lit up at hearing the name being called from his son's joy, and looked down at finding he was hugging him. It was a little odd and still much of a surprise for him in acknowledging that his son had grown so much.
Baelfire was his miracle in so many ways. The fact that he was even born was something most Grey Wardens wouldn't have believed. Yet, here was the son of a Grey Warden who shared the same tainted blood as one and Baelfire even more surprising was that he accepted his father. Well, at least for now. Anders didn't know if Baelfire was old enough to understand much about his father to even determine if he would accept him or not. Still, it was nice to have moments like this.
"He just... He said his first word!" Anders laughed and after his stunned moment, reached down and hugged Baelfire close to him. He glanced back up towards Leliana brightly. He felt tears reaching his eyes and Anders quickly reached up to wipe them away; hopefully before his face began to turn into a faucet. However, the tears had just kept coming, and he picked up the boy and gave him a tight hug while the water just streamed down his face in amidst of his ravings.
"Oh, my son, you are the brightest boy in the world!" The mage praised, nuzzling his cheek practically against the back of Baelfire's head due to how securely he was holding him. "That was his first word right? Oh, who cares. We'll say it's his first word. It's the first word I've heard, so it counts."
He laughed and reached up in the attempt of drying his eyes. Anders really hated the swelled mixture of emotions that his new condition had provided. He overreacted towards anything, cried over almost anything, and he couldn't rationalize decisions nearly as clearly as he used to. Still though, … It was way better than being tranquil.
Once he felt that his tears would have stopped, Anders lifted his right wrist in between his hug to wipe away the tears in his eyes. He had then looked over towards Leliana cautiously and started to smile. "Oh! You know what we should do? We should have a picnic. I haven't been outside in a long time. I'd want to spend my first day of it with my family. What do you think?"
Leliana watched Anders as he rose up to a more upright position and in this it brought her to follow even though she didn't want to. If she could have had it her way she would have stayed in bed all day with him no matter how unrealistic that may have seemed. Since at one point or another Baelfire would find them as he had now, if not one of the staff members or Rhy's and Evangeline.
Speaking of those two, she hadn't seen them in sometime and in her curiosity she looked towards the door almost tempted to have hunted them down, it was almost as if they had fallen off the face of Thedas. Whenever they had gotten the chance to climb out of this bed and be productive in other ways Leliana would have had to take the time to find them. Since she was so use to Rhy's being, well… Loud and much like a child… But weren't all men? And then Evangeline following slowly behind him.
Looking back at the more important people in her life, Leliana had smiled brightly to Anders comment of Baelfire speaking his first word. Even if this wasn't true. It was still the first time he had said the term dada to Anders and it was like living it for the first time.
She could remember when Baelfire was first staring to talk, mostly gibberish of course but when she had caught onto it she quickly spent hours with the boy rehearsing the simpler words a child should have learned. Those being able to call out for his mother and father when he wished and even though Anders couldn't have reacted like a proper father could when he was tranquil it was still her job as Baelfire mother to let it be known that his father was near. She remembered clearly after he learned it that he wouldn't let off the word for weeks and Leliana had to redirect his speech to other words. Leliana just had wished she could have brought the boy to him. So when she had spoken about Anders, there was a face to be put with the stories.
From the corner of her eyes she had seen what seemed like tears flowing from Anders eyes and even though she shouldn't have been as concerned as she was… Since he was emotional now. She still couldn't have stopped herself from reaching out towards him and wiping away the few tears which flowed out. In reality she felt her heart swell with the love she had for both man and boy once the concern had faded. It would have taken time to get used to seeing Anders without a barrier with his emotions but she wouldn't of had it any other way as she had him back and her family back, that's all that had mattered.
During the time of Anders embracing their son Baelfire's own laughter filled the room and in response to this and Anders more opened reactions she had felt her eyes stinging in a sensation that brought her to blink and feel the few tears that had escaped past her sockets and down her cheeks. In response she quickly slipped her hand from Anders jawline and wiped her own tears of joy from her eyes and before Anders had looked at her.
Leliana blinked a few times, in hopes to have cooled her eyes before they reacted and had turned red from the salty tears. Afterwards she returned the smile Anders had given her while she had reached out for Baelfire head and had given it a little rub with her fingertips. Between this time she had heard Anders words to her she had looked up towards Anders and smiled brightly to the offer. She couldn't have thought of a better way to have spent the day with her family that she had quickly nodded .
"Yes I would love that… But where would you want to have our family outing?" She asked curiously as at first she didn't even feel the raise of her eyebrow until she had begun to think on all the possibilities they could have gone too. "How about the shore again? I'm sure we can find a nice place there somewhere, Baelfire can play in the sand or we can all take a swim even." She added cheerfully with a pause before continuing her broken sentence in a tease. "Surely the water has to be warmer now during the day."
"Right, the sun—uh—would be out." Anders mentioned, feeling his cheeks lightly redden from the sudden memory of what he and Leliana had done last night.
He had practically forgotten about being outside that one evening. Though, from what he had meant was that he hadn't seen the sun in a while. He missed the sun; and came to realize there were a lot of things he had missed just because he hadn't experienced it in a while.
Anders had a lunch packed for Baelfire, Leliana and himself. The staff had actually packed them their lunches. The day was a lot warmer than now that the summer had started to approach. They had chosen to go near the outskirts of the docks, because they didn't want to get in the middle of the ships' way at the docks. At the same time, they didn't want to have gone all the way out to the Wounded Coast either. No matter how pretty it was, the place was still a bit dangerous to take children. There was plenty of shade to retreat to.
Both boys were wearing swim trunks to dress accordingly; though honestly, Anders had felt a little naked without his robes for a change. Baelfire had ran towards the sand. He was trying to build something but it was difficult to tell if it was going to be a castle or not. Anders had been laying down at the sand, not really paying attention to the commotion that was taking place in the water farther off in the distance.
There had been only one couple that had seemed crazy enough to have been in the water within that hour. It was Evangeline and Rhys, and they two had been dressed for the swimming occasion. It was difficult of the actual patters due to have far out into the water that they were, but Evangeline had looked to have been wearing a long sleeved, long-limbed one piece.
"Let me go, Rhys!" The Templar female squealed, splashing at the water and beating onto Rhys's shoulders.
Rhys smiled and soon removed his grip from around her. He watched as Evangeline blink at the sudden weight underneath her and starting to sink. She panicked and quickly waved her arms up and down in the water, causing Rhys to snicker more at her.
"Don't let go! Don't let go!" Evangeline pleaded and reached to grab him helplessly.
"Watch your arms—Ow!" Rhys pouted, but he was still laughing in his struggle with trying to keep her in his grasp again.
Anders sat up from the sand and covered one of his hands above his brows to peer out into the ocean. He mumbled lightly to himself, "Have they always been so loud?"
The sun had been shining brightly and soaking into Leliana's softer complexion. But the rays had felt nice on her skin as it had also felt good to get out in the daylight for once. Besides yesterday's stroll to the Hanged Man, she couldn't remember the last time she had just went out to soak in the sun or get a breather. The Maker knew she had needed one that was sure with everything that had occurred so tensely around her that she needed some kind of way to relax for once.
She had been wearing more reveling clothing than Evangeline, but also they were modest enough to have covered her body for the most part. It had consisted of short shorts that had hugged tightly to her hip bones and inner thighs and a form fitting halter top. The colors fit accordingly to her skin and the day as they were of a lighter gold tint embodied with designs at the edges of her shorts and the hem hugged around her chest.
Once Baelfire was settled in his spot, safely away from the crashing waves washing in. Leliana had turned to the screaming coming from the ocean out of curiosity she had seen Rhy's and Evangeline in the waters. Only a little giggle had shifted out of her lips and brought her to roll her eyes to the sight before turning over to Anders who asked his question. She wasn't sure if it was directed at her to answer or not, but had given a shrug of her shoulders in response anyways. "Not sure…"
With only a wide grin smearing across her lips she had quickly sprinted towards her mage and knelt down beside him where she rested a single kiss to his cheek and hopefully before he could react in grabbing her to stop her she had stood up with reflexes like a cat and twirled around like a energetic child to run towards the ocean. She had figured Baelfire would have been easily satisfied with where he was since the boy had done so before many times. The only time he had chased after the ones he loved was when they were nowhere in sight and had finally realized they weren't in sight.
Leliana was quickly regretting she had darted into the waters after first wave had crashed against her legs as her prickly ice water she had stomped in place a few times almost ready to have turned around and ran back to Anders. But if she had done that then she knew Anders would have never gotten in the water with her, she didn't even know how he had stood in this at night! With a forced smile and silent whimpers, she began to turn around to face where she could have seen Anders off in the distance. "It's not that cold! You should come on in." She called out to Anders in one of her brightest smiles as she attempted to have coaxed him over with a wave of her hand.
Anders had to glance over his shoulder towards Baelfire in order to make certain that he was going to be alright with the one staff member who was left with watching over him. He then started to stand up and look towards the group who had already gotten in.
"Are you sure?" Anders started to question and dipped a toe into the waves. He quickly jumped back onto the warmer sand and hugged himself with chattering teeth. "Maker, that's cold!"
Though before he could have really declined, Rhys, had taken the highest jump that he could in order to time himself and Evangeline with the wave that started to approach them. As they came crashing down the wave had gotten bigger and soon big enough to swallow Anders from the shallow end. It seemed after feeling the harshness of the water, Anders's fat had been decided. His eyebrows perked up as to have searched for pity and reached up to smooth back his bangs against the rest of his ponytail.
"That was horrible, Rhys! Don't ever do that again! You know my feet can't touch the ground!" Evangeline had cried out and reached up towards Rhys for more support.
"Relax. I'm right here…" Rhys cooed and reached out to hold onto her.
"But you can't—" Evangeline clung to Rhys as he sheepishly had started to shift up and down into the water. Her expression flattened and looked at him dully. "…You're standing. Aren't you?"
Rhys grinned a guilty grin back at her and tightened her hold around him. "Heh… Well, I'm actually jumping up and down. The water's not that deep, Evangeline. I was trying to show you—"
"Oh, you are so not cute." Evangeline cut him off with a grumpy pout. She felt her cheeks turn a light pink, but she still clung to him.
"Teaching her to swim?" Anders once he had reached the group.
Rhys laughed and looked back towards Anders. "It's not every day I get her to cling to me. I had to think of something."
"You are losing a lot of brownie points for this mess, Rhys. That's it! I'm done. Take me back to shore." Evangeline started to scowl.
Rhys returned his grin back towards the woman in his arms and smirked. "Hm… No."
"No?" Evangeline blinked back at him.
"You've got to learn to swim, Evangeline. You can't be the only templar in Kirkwall unable to." Rhys reminded her and then tilted his nod over towards Anders, who by then was swimming more towards Leliana. "What if one of the mages escape you this way? You know our Icon over there's probably been swimming most of his whole life. No telling how many years he was able to live on the outside because of it."
Leliana playfully smiled when she had seen Anders finally make his way on over to the shore. After all this was their time spent together, even if they weren't alone it was still a chance to spend a day without having to worry about work for once. Clearly all of that could be pushed aside for a day, even rulers had deserved a day off once in a while. Or so she tried to believe and tell herself.
In watching Anders come into the waters, Leliana was hardly aware of the wave coming to shore. Only her peripheral vision had caught on and thank the Maker it had done so just in time for her to have defensively have raised her arm to protect her face while she held her breath. When she surface and the waves had ceased momentarily and she began to shake her head and run her fingers through her tangled hair in a side and back sweep of her hand.
"If there's anyway to get use to the temperature of the water I guess it's that way…" She soon muttered and looked behind her just in case if any other waves have been coming their way. Thankfully though only small ones had pushed to the shore which Leliana could have easily avoided just as Rhy's was.
When Leliana had seen Anders swimming out towards them, Leliana had smiled to his approach and closed in on him once he was close enough. Upon hearing Rhy's giving his little explanation of Anders and his escape artist tendencies had caused her to chuckle lightly and nod her head. "Yup, how else was he supposed to get free of those mean old Templars?" She soon found herself teasing in a joke as she took her arms out of the waters and with only the palms of her hands half way in she gave a forcible push towards Anders, thus splashing him.
Hopefully before the mage could react, Leliana stuck her tongue out at him in her taunt quickly before slipping it back in her mouth as she dived into the waters. She swam where she thought it was safe, behind Rhy's. Even though it probably wasn't since he could have easily chased after her, she just hoped the splashing war wouldn't begin with her being here since Evangeline was still securely propped onto the mage like a cat in water.
"Me, catching mages, probably shouldn't be the motivation I need in order to swim…" Evangeline remarked and carried her grin back from Leliana and then Rhys.
"As long as I'm the only one to catch, I don't see the problem." Rhys teased back and grinned.
Feeling the splash hit him, Anders leaned back and tilted his head away before rubbing his eyes. He laughed and raised his hand slightly in his retaliation to splash back. "Oh, we're going to play that game are we?"
Rhys had to lean to one side in order to dodge the water that was coming his way. He looked back towards Anders with a pout so full of pity that his black beard began to dip even lower into the water from his chin. "Heh-heh. Careful."
He could have explained more but Anders was already swimming around him just so that he could catch up to Leliana from the other side. So, carefully, Rhys attempted to guide himself and Evangeline away from the two water sprites before their water war had actually gotten out of hand. Rhys had been on a mission, after all—a mission that he wanted his prize from soon.
That hadn't triggered in Anders's head thought. He lowered himself into the water and swam up to Leliana's form with ease. Suddenly appearing from the surface, Anders had wrapped his arms around Leliana and plunged her down into the water along with himself. He at least allowed her to have came back up for air; though by doing so, the mage proudly stood up and wiped the water from his face briskly. He started to give off posses in the water; displaying what medium-built muscle mass his body could muster.
"And that's why, I am King of the Sea!" Anders cheered in a slight lower—but playful—tone of his voice briefly.
Leliana soon widened her eyes at seeing Anders swim towards her. She should have expected no less after all. Since she was kind of asking for it. Though no matter how quickly she swam or tried to struggle playfully she had felt Anders' grasp around her and she couldn't have helped but to let out a little pitiful whimper. "Anders! W-Wait I-I didn't—" She tried to say but as she had done so she felt herself being pulled under the water with him. Thankfully Leliana had taken a breath before being submerged under as her grasp tightened around him pleadingly.
"Oh aren't you the funny one…" She teased after they surfaced, with her face still drenched in salty water she began to reach up and wipe away what excess water that had been there before opening her eyes to look up at him. Afterwards her arms reached out towards his neck holding him tightly as her legs had wrapped around his waist for support since it would have been a little difficult after all for them both to stay afloat, kicking their legs without kicking each other.
"You're grounded, and aren't getting any sweet lovin' from me for another year." She joked towards him as she smiled ever so brightly. It was a harsh punishment even for her that she soon chuckled to the thought and leaned in towards him as she shifted her head to one side almost ready to have pressed her puckered lips against his. "Okay maybe not a year." She whispered towards his lips before finally pressing her lips against his which had started out innocent and grew into a deeper passion, purposely for when she pulled away she wanted the moment to linger in his mind.
After opening her eyes slightly, she had gazed to him through her lashes as one of her hands had shifted further down off of his neck and her fingertips concentrated on outlining his chest. "I love you…-But—" She softly whispered and in between her broken sentences she shifted her legs off of Anders waist and went to rest both hands to his shoulders. "I have to get even." She finished with a smirk and without a second passing and before Anders could hopefully react, she had pulled herself away from his grasp and shoved him into the brisk waters that weren't so cold after spending as much time as they had in there. In her cheerful laughter her intentions after that were to have swam and ran up to shore, if she had safely made it and if Anders hadn't pulled her back into the ocean.
"I don't think you can resist me for that long." Anders had teased back after Leliana had attached herself to him briefly.
He had fell in to Leliana's guidance and returned of what passion she had given him. His toes could barely touch at the end of the shallow end, much like Rhys had at the moment. So it left the mage hopping slightly in the process as well. At least then, he was able to hold onto Leliana whenever he moved. In between his kissing to her, his hands had lowered more towards her waist and buttocks in order to have given the area a little squeezed. He did this in order to have seen her reaction; and to acknowledge just how far he could go in public, in order to have had her embarrassed again.
But the notion had stopped once she had pulled away and ducked him back underneath the water again. It had to. Anders had barely enough time to gasp for air before the water was suddenly reaching over his head and the sudden weight plunged him downward. Reaching to grasp her ankle, his fingers had only managed to graze their touch against her skin and she was gone.
Meanwhile after finally being able to teach Evangeline how to swim, Rhys had started to scoot farther away into the ocean. He had wanted to see how confident Evangeline became; of course wasn't surprised that the templar with nerves of steel was able to handle her own. Evangeline didn't like to be coddled; like many of the strong women in the Order; and Rhys it was admirable—even attractive.
"Got you!" Evangeline cheered after finally swam out to catch him.
Rhys laughed while wading in the water; using most of his balance to rest up against one of the rocks behind him. "Only because I let you… And look! You're out of the shallow end."
Evangeline stiffened some from the mild stricken worry; but it passed nearly as quickly as it came; on the thought of leaving her previous safety zoon. After all; it was long before her safety zone had only been considered the sandy beach. Now, thanks to Rhys, she could go just about anywhere—land or sea.
"I think this calls for a reward, don't you?" Rhys questioned with a broadened grin. He reached up and twisted the ends of his of beard between two fingers while pondering in a moment of thought. "After all… I did just betray all mages everywhere by teaching a templar how to swim."
She 'hmpnhed' in a sour tone and rolled her eyes; floating a few paces to the side. Evangeline was feeling the sting of how mages and templars alike here tended to still tease with left wedges between each other. She didn't find the jokes funny, nor productive, if both sides were truly attempting to break down the barriers between "mage" and "templar" titles.
"What? No smile? No giggling? No kiss for the awesome sea monster-?" Rhys questioned and grinned as he started to pull her closer to him. "From the pretty mermaid?"
Evangeline blinked a bit after realizing she had been pulled into his grasp. She had no idea from when it even happened, but it was causing her cheeks to blush. Her arms shifted around Rhys's neck as she began to draw him in closer.
"Ohhhh. So you 'are' going to give a kiss after all." Rhys shifted back slightly in his tease and lightly rubbed his nose against hers in return.
"Only because you're charming." She answered and was almost ready to have pressed her lips against his.
It wouldn't have been their first kiss, because they have shared moments similar to this before. However, their particular relationship—if considered one—was actually moving exceptionally slow. Templars and Mages were not seen as the most blessed of couples. So, it was always through a reward, and displayed as some relief from a previous exertion or stressful decision on Rhys's part. So when the sudden splash from Anders's swimming had disrupted the their kiss Rhys had known that it was over with. Evangeline turned away quickly and removed herself from his grasp just so that she could try her luck at revenge.
"Anders!" Rhys had shouted in his vain attempted and after failing in trying to catch Evangeline, he too began his chase.
"Why's everyone always after me?" Anders had glanced back over his shoulder at seeing somehow he had gained a popularity streak. His impish grin flashed from over his shoulder as he pulled himself out of the water to chase after Leliana still. Wadding himself out of the ocean, Anders continued in his chase after Leliana. When he finally caught up her, his grasp around her shoulders had tightened and spun himself and her around with him to have used her more as a shield. "Hide me! Hide me before the baddies get me!"
From behind Leliana she heard Rhy's shout towards Anders, it was her que to try and find somewhere to hide and quickly before Anders caught up to her and had gotten his sweet revenge on her. But there were little to no places for the rouge to hide. She could have used Baelfire as a shield, but the boy was so content and happily entertaining himself still on the shore that she'd left him be for the meantime.
About this time Leliana heard Anders statement of why everyone was always after him, and of course this brought the red head to smile brightly upon hearing it as she turned towards him. After all there was no way she could have avoided him if she wanted to and the worst he could have done was drag her back in the waters.
"They just love you is all" Leliana finally mentioned with a little giggle. During this time she felt Anders hands grasp her shoulders and instinctively she rose up her shoulders due to the coldness still within them. After a moment she turned her gaze from over her shoulder back to the incoming of Evangeline and Rhy's giving a warm smile while playfully defending her mage. Even though she knew the Templar wouldn't have done any harm to him she still played along with Anders antics. "If you want him you have to go through me."
With this short joke she twirled around where her arms draped over Anders shoulders and her hands clasped behind him. "After all we don't want him more traumatized." She whispered as she tilted her head to one side to peck his rough unshaven cheek while she reached for his hand to lead him back to the waters. Even though she didn't want to enter the water again she had to tease Anders even further… Maybe to make up for lost time or just for fun. But whatever the reason it was worth it for going back into the ocean.
"Come on…" She taunted in a little peak of her tongue past her lips to him. Her hand tightened around his as she stepped back quickly into the deeper area of the waters, leading him all the way. She felt her muscles tightening the second she stepped back in, but this only briefly brought her to slow down until she was adjusted again back to the waters lining around her chest. Between this time Leliana's hand released Anders's as her arms wrapped around his torso. "Now I think we were somewhere along the lines of here…" She teased just inches away from his lips that her warm breath grazed across his lips. In the middle of this hopeful distraction the rouges fingertips worked diligently and carefully at the lining of his trousers.
From the moment Leliana had taken her defensive Evangeline had attempted to dodge and turn to her opposite side. She continued to try and catch Anders; however every time she attempted at one angle, Anders always hopped to the opposite side and tugged Leliana's form so that she always was facing their front.
Rhys paused in thought and then stretched his fingers out in a threatening manner to tickle him. "I have a way to calm him down."
"Don't you even think it." Anders narrowed his eyes briefly, but was soon dragged towards the water.
It only caused Rhys to snicker; at least until Evangeline had elbowed him in his side.
Regardless of how sidetracked it had almost seemed, Leliana had proven the victor in regaining Anders's attention. Around her, he felt safe. He reached back to her, holding her close once he was pulled into the ocean. The water hadn't bothered him much, since he was already submerged in water previously. He had sensed Leliana's mild shudder from the chill but he wasn't completely certain as to why. He felt Leliana's grasping around his trunks and he started to try and clasp his hands around her hands nervously.
"Um… Leliana, we're not exactly alone out here…" He mentioned shyly.
Leliana smirked and looked up innocently towards Anders when she had felt his hands cup over her own. Poor mage, little did he know what she had in store for him. Hopefully he forgave her after this and well, if he didn't then she would have to make it up to him in other ways. Which she knew he couldn't have denied and would have accepted gladly.
"That's what we're in the water for…" She whispered towards his ear in a mused tone, Leliana's hands didn't cease though in their taunt with the hem as she continued speaking towards him. "… No one will even notice and I know you want too… Just like I want to." With a slip of her hand, she had taken his in hers and led it towards her center so that her hands had more free will to have shifted his trousers down his hip bones and legs, as far as he would allow her to have done so at least before stopping her. Between this time of her face burying into his neck she lightly rested kisses along his neck. But so she wouldn't have caught the attention of the others she had made it seem like she was holding herself close to the mage and was just resting her features to one area of his neck.
After straightening she looked up to Anders while Leliana's one hand that had still worked at slipping his trousers off. Her other free one had reached up to cup along his jawline to close the gap between them slowly in a start of simple kiss which led to a more sensual one with her lips parting just so that her tongue could slip past and taunt his own lips to part for her.
"B-But Leliana—" He hesitated and he continued to have struggled a little in trying to keep her hands at bay.
However, his hands were slipping and he was having to remain focused on trying to keep himself and Leliana still floating above the water. Having her teasing him in such ways was making it rather difficult for him to have resisted. So he started to drift themselves closer towards the rocks for the moment.
From the shore, Evangeline was keeping her eyes towards the servant who was tending to Baelfire for the time being. Once she turned back towards the ocean, she had seen Anders drifting off towards the rocks to hide behind; taking Leliana along with him.
"What are they up to now?" She started to question.
"What we should have been doing earlier." Rhys sulked a little and folded his arms. He then turned his eyes towards the ocean and started to call for them. "Let's not get too carried away out there. Some of us would still like to swim, you know."
Anders would have responded back, but he found himself trapped by Leliana's kiss. Soon his attention had quickly shifted and his hands had finally relaxed from their attempts of calming Leliana down. Instead, his fingers had returned towards her breasts, in between their mild teasing and fondling.
Leliana of course hadn't fought Anders in the least when she felt the mage start to lead her behind the rock. When her back pressed up against the hard surface she paused momentarily to have looked up at him with an innocent grin. A part of her was second guessing if she should have done this, since feeling him in this new way enticed her to continue. In the middle of her thought her hand from his jaw shifted down his neck and to his chest drawing little patterns on his chest where her eyes were set until she looked back up at him, between drawing herself in to him again and wrapping each hand along his lowering hem, was when Leliana had neared his lips for a brief meeting.
"I love you…" She breathed across his lips as her eyes closed to a flutter due to his touch and also for what she was going to do next.
Without a single word Leliana slipped between him and the rock and into the depths of the waters. Her hands still held to Anders trousers and with the force of her diving down brought them to slide completely off and once they had Leliana gathered the only piece of attire Anders had and instead of surfacing from which she went. The rouge had swum in the opposite direction under the water for as far as she could have gotten until reaching the swallower area.
Once she surfaced, she begun to playfully run in the direction of the shore but not get out completely as the small waves had only crashed over her feet. She had proudly twirled around and held Anders shorts between her each index and thumb finger, while waving the garment his way. "And this is why you never let your guard down around a rouge." She teased in a little stick of her tongue out at her mage.
Anders had returned the kiss in between heated breaths. He welcomed the feeling of her hands roaming over him, and forgetting of where they were momentarily. It wasn't as if he had much control over his resolve anymore, anyway. With as much that Leliana was leading Anders on with, the mage was certain to have been taken and quickly.
He tugged at her swim top, but had been considerate enough to have left her clothed. In between Leliana parting her kiss from him, Anders had started to breathe back in return. "I love you too—"
Anders had started to reach for her as Leliana was quick to have drifted away from him. He would have swam after her; and almost had done so in amidst of his confusion; however, the rather "openness" of the water surrounding him was a reminder to him that somehow Leliana had slipped him of a valuable piece of clothing. Quickly the mage "eeped" and rushed back behind the rocks to hide behind.
"Leliana!" He pouted and started to climb partially, but only enough so that he was still visible.
"Did she just-?—Oh dear Maker…" Evangeline blushed and quickly turned away while Rhys had just seemed to laugh at Anders's expense.
"I think the water just got contaminated!" Rhys shouted more in a tease towards him.
Leliana nodded her head with delight after she heard Evangeline's words. That was all that needed to be said after all. Yes it was slightly mean, but it was also mean that he had lost her pants in the ocean the night before. Not that she didn't have an extra pair back at the Keep but still it was a sweet revenge if any to have seen him out there. But during this time even she knew she couldn't leave him out there, alone… At least for long… But she could always pretend like she could have.
"This is what you get for last night mister. My poor pants are lost forever out in those waters." She teased while finishing with a pout at the end of second sentence. After turning around to walk away in her alluring stalk she had tossed the shorts over her shoulder where they rested. "And you still can come to shore, I'm sure Rhy's will shield Evangeline away or she'll look away in time."
Even though Leliana knew Anders wouldn't do such a thing. He had to worry about the servant too and anybody else that decided to come to this secluded area that might see him. Now if he was drunk then maybe he'd be more carefree to have done so. But not now, or so she believed. So she had little choice in the matter but to pull Anders out of this predicament one way or another; but in truth she wasn't brave enough to have gone back in the waters to have him done some time to her in return. So once she reached Rhy's she pulled the garment off her shoulder and handed over the trousers to the male and smiled. "I think if I go out there he'll get his revenge on me… Maybe if your realllll quick you won't get contaminated."
"Okay, now. Hah-hah. That's very funny!" Anders called out to her more nervous than before.
He heard Leliana's declarations, but he certainly wasn't brave enough to venture out too far into the open. At first, he waited almost as if to have been in true faith that Leliana would have returned to him after such a scare. She didn't. In fact she did something of the complete opposite and handed the swimming trunks over to Rhys who had seemed all too eager to twirl the clothing around like a proud flag into the air.
"Leliana, I thought you knew better-!" Anders started to pout, but his voice was cut short from Rhys's practically triumphant taunt.
"You know, I thought she did too! Mwahahaha! Now… What should I ask for in returning these… Hmm…" Rhys pondered and stroked the ends of his wet beard. "The throne, perhaps?"
"Andraste's Flaming—" Anders smacked his forehead and shook his head a little before raising his voice across the ocean so that he could be heard. "You'll get a boot to your hindquarters, if you don't toss them here…!"
"Leliana gets a pout and I get a threat? That's not very fair. Come on, Icon, barter with me a little!" Rhys taunted and walked towards the water's edge. He dangled the trunks more taunting in his direction, after dancing on one foot to the next in his continued teasing. He paused a moment and looked towards Evangeline who was shaking her head in a slight frown at something so disapproving. Though her judgment hardly phased Rhys any. "I know. I want a kiss-!"
"Not going to happen. My lips are sacred." Anders quickly retorted and lowered his arms back to folding them against his chest.
"Not from you, , from the beautiful Evangeline!" Rhys swooned slightly in his glances back towards the dark haired templar.
Evangeline blinked a couple of times and then shook her head to the suggestion rather quickly. "What? No! I don't kiss bullies or villains."
"But you would kiss an awesome sea monster!" Rhys argued and puckered his lips towards direction in a brief tease.
Evangeline moved towards the shoreline while picking up one of Baelfire's many pails that was used in making sandcastles. Upon gathering water along the shore, she tossed her collection into a wave against Rhys's face. After watching him rub away the water from his face and give his head a light shake, Evangeline started to laugh a little. "Looks like the sea monster needs to cool down fore a little while."
Leliana smiled brightly towards Anders direction as a soft snicker shifted from her lips when hearing barging's between Anders and Rhy's. It was quite amusing, since there weren't many times that Leliana had the chance to pull harmless little pranks like this on him with other people involed for that matter. So clearly she couldn't give up so easily and allow Anders to have his shorts back so quickly. So this time she'd stand aside and listen before jumping in so quickly to save him, for who knew what Anders would have done when he actually had gotten out the waters. Though she doubted it would have been as bad as she had done to him.
Looking beyond the group bantering Leliana narrowed her eyes towards Baelfire and walked towards him shortly after, where she had knelt down. Even though she was playing with their son she still had her attention on the conversation the two males has back and forth between one another. It wasn't until the suggestion of kiss was brought up that Leliana peered over her shoulder and smiled towards the female Templar secondly.
With only a little point in Evangeline's directions with the stick Leliana had in hand, she had begun doing some motion with it as if to have coached the woman forward to kiss the mage. This wasn't for Anders sake of course, but in a way to have helped Rhys's out in some way. Since the man had tried far too many times and Evangeline was one a stubborn women. Which was no surprise since where she stood and with Rhy's being a mage would have made things more difficult for them. But not impossible.
"Oh just give him one already." She teased with a little wink of her eye in the direction of the couple. After and without waiting to see such confirmation if they would have kissed, Leliana turned back towards Baelfire where she took a second pail the boy was playing with to begin helping the child in his adventure have built him the biggest sand castle on the beach.
Evangeline blinked some at Leliana's coaching, which had only caused her to look back at Rhys who was busy wiping away the water from his face. She blushed a little at the thought and shook her head. Reaching over to one side, Evangeline quickly snatched the swimming trunks away and rolled up to throw in Anders's direction.
Rhys attempted to turn and jump in his reach to grab them but the shorts were already air-born. "Wait—Evie-!"
Rhys had fallen flatly on top of Evangeline in his struggle, since he had lost his balance. The templar had proven to be nearly as solid and unyielding as stone, but she was also top heavy against the collision of the bumbling mage. So when Rhys had fallen on top of Evangeline, he blinked looking down at her and felt his body slightly freeze.
Anders swam to the waters and started to slip them on from underneath the water so that he could spare anyone his embarrassment.
In the meantime, Evangeline reached up to rub her head from the sand. She then rubbed her eyes and lifted her hand slightly to shade her sights away from the sun. "Uh… Rhys, you do realize this is the only thing I'm wearing, don't you?"
"I'm—I'm sorry!" Rhys started to say and his eyes widened a lightly.
Evangeline blinked a little and looked back up at Rhys flatly once more. "Is that what I think it is-?"
"I said I was sorry!" Rhys whimpered and squinted his eyes shut.
Once Anders had walked out of the water, after he had gotten dressed, he rested his hand back onto Rhys's shoulder and knocked him into the sand. He started to make his way towards Leliana and Baelfire in his path.
Leliana rolled her eyes some to Evangeline's stubbornness, but for Rhy's she felt she had to give a little shove on the woman's shoulders just to see if she would budge and seeing as how she didn't at least not much brought the rouge to turn back to Baelfire in the sand. Though from the corner of her eyes she saw Evangeline's attempt to grab the shorts and toss them towards Anders brought Leliana to quickly stand to her feet and step one foot in the woman's direction. But just as Rhy's was too slow, so was she. All she could do was watch her hard work being undone so quickly that only a pout came over the red head.
"C'mon Evangeline… After everything we've been through and you decide to do that." In a sigh Leliana folded her arms over her chest and glanced back down the Baelfire momentarily.
After the struggle between the lovers, Leliana had glanced back over to the couple for a second time. Seeing the aftermath of Rhy's resting on top of Evangeline and only a small perk of her brow caused her to speak towards the two. "Now, now you two get a room first before going ahead and jumping each other's bones." She teased.
During this time Leliana had seen Anders begin to make his way out of the ocean and in her slight fear Leliana had knelt down toward Baelfire, but instead of grabbing the boy up into her arms in some kind of protection she had started to whisper to the boy. "Watch this…"
When Leliana heard Anders steps nearing, she had begun scooping up sand into one hand, then in a pail of Baelfire's which held water Leliana used to have made the sand more compact and into a pancake like shape. Of course this hadn't taken long to form so when Leliana shifted to her side to see if Anders was still far enough away, she was correct in her thinking that she had grinned devilishly and with her free hand she pointed over Anders shoulder and widened her eyes as if to be shocked. "Anders what's that!?"
After waiting for his response, Leliana had quickly tossed the slosh of sand in the center of his stomach. Between the splattering sound and close of Leliana's eyes a joyous chuckle was heard from her side, coming from Baelfire. In receiving such a quick action Leliana had looked over towards the boy to have smiled at his glee at making his attempt to gather sand like his mother had, but of course he had forgotten about the second step of the water.
Turning back Leliana had hesitantly looked towards Anders, hopefully before he made his attempt at her. In some kind of defense Leliana raised her arms up and waved her hands in front of her as if being apologetic but by her wide grin and own slight chuckle Leliana had hardly felt as such. "I love you... I uhh I just have to teach our son how to keep you on your toes is all."
Evangeline blushed some after hearing Leliana calling back towards them. She quickly rolled back to her hands and knees, and then proceeded to jump up to her feet. She quickly brushed away as much sand off of herself. "I don't know what you're talking about…"
Rhys pouted some as he started to stand up. "Awe come on, Evie."
In between that time, Anders continued to walk towards Leliana and Baelfire. He only paused briefly after feeling the solid crumble of sand hit him into the chest. He jumped back and looked down just in time to have the soil fall and slide down himself. He merely wiped at his chest and casted back a rather devious smirk at her. Resuming his march to her, he hadn't said a word as he wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her up and onto his shoulder.
Anders then turned towards Evangeline, who was at the moment attempting to inch away bashfully away from Rhys. "Could you two watch over Baelfire for me for a little while?—Thanks."
Before either of them could have really voiced anything, Anders had already turned away and started to make a mad dash towards the Keep.
"Anders… No… Wait… I have more a reasoning, I swear!" Leliana's eyes widened some when Anders hadn't said anything but instead made a quick closing point towards her. She would have gone and said something to have stopped him again but he had already thrown her over his shoulders so quickly that she had little time to react or try and stop him. She could have struggled out of his arms, but of course she didn't want to since this was all a harmless game to them both and seeing as how he wasn't going to do what she believed at first she had no worry in her mind when she heard they were to have gone to the keep.
All she could have done is watch helplessly as Baelfire eventually was no longer within her sight range and in time of Anders dashing through Kirkwall, Leliana attempted to have looked away in her blushing fit as the people they passed seemed to have been staring. After all she didn't run through the streets half naked and even if she was in her bathing suit she still felt partially naked out in front of everyone that was supposed to have looked up to her.
So when they entered the Keep Leliana couldn't have felt more relived and when they reached their quarters she felt more at ease, that Leliana had shifted some to have shimmed off of Anders shoulders if he allowed her such freedom.
"Now, now… Don't tell me you're going to spank me and teach me a lesson?" Leliana teased in a reach towards Anders features where she tapped his nose playfully with her index. But without waiting for much a reply Leliana had dipped out of where he could reach for her and stepped towards the vanity of the room to grasp a towel which she had used to brush off the excess sand. From the corner of her sockets she shifted her eyes some to have looked to Anders and more importantly the sand collected still to his chest and stomach. In some form to help in cleaning him off as well, she approached him to have brushed off the sand she had impaled him with moments ago. Between each stroke she chuckled and spoke. "You have to admit though that was pretty funny. I think I missed pulling pranks on you."