"Come sleep with me: We won't make Love, Love will make us."
― Julio Cortázar
Dorian opened the door to Bull's room, but found it dark and empty. Sparking his fingers, he summoned flames into the lanterns in the room.
Much better.
He found Bull had tidied up the room carefully and made the bed neatly.
Hospital corners! he smirked, noticing the precise, rigid folds. Must be a hangover from his Qunari military days…
He realized with annoyance there was nowhere else, other than the bed, comfortable enough to sit and wait in.
Nowhere to wait and read a book while doing so, he thought, glancing around at the bare space, thinking of all the improvements he would have made to the room.
He finally sat on the bed and exhaled, displeased.
Where is he? It's already late.
A impish impulse seized him and he began to unbutton his shirt.
I'll save us some time.
The voices carried in from the hallway.
"…and don't go exploding stuff randomly—you have to thoroughly search through the rubble before blasting it," Bull warned, stopping by the door.
"You telling us how to do our job, chief?" a low voice chided him.
"Yes. That's why you call me 'chief,'" he stated with annoyance.
Dorian startled from the light slumber he'd fallen into while waiting. He immediately reached for the covers to pull up over his naked body, but the door banged open and he was confronted with three faces staring at him.
"Dorian!" Bull said surprisedly.
Behind him Krem was straining his neck to catch a glimpse and Rocky was leaning out sideways to peek in.
He hastily sat up, covering himself with the sheet the best he could. He noticed Krem glancing around the hallway, confused.
"Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?" he puzzled.
Bull had an exasperating little grin on his lips, Dorian noted, thoroughly flummoxed.
"Meeting's over. See you tomorrow morning," he announced, slamming the door in his men's faces.
He glanced at Dorian, who cast him an alarmed look. Bull opened the door again as an afterthought and stepped into the hallway as if about to yell something out to his men. He hesitated, waved his hand dismissively instead, and closed the door.
"I could tell them to keep it on the down low, but you know it's no use. They can't help themselves," he explained.
Dorian was annoyed that what he had intended as a seductive maneuver had backfired so formidably.
"Ah…" Bull sighed heavily. "They're going to have a ball with this one."
"Can't they be discreet about these matters?" he asked crossly.
Bull crossed the room and sat on the bed, next to him.
"Nah. It's too good of a story, you have to admit," he concluded, taking off his boots. He paused. "You don't mind, do you? They won't behave like idiots for too long."
Dorian thought about the enormity of what Bull was asking him.
Do I mind what? That it will be known within the hour among all the Chargers that I was naked in The Iron Bull's bed? Who'll know next? Possibly all of Skyhold…Why not all of Thedas, while we're at it? he frowned.
But he did not have time to articulate his thoughts—he felt the covers sliding off his skin.
"Still, as far as surprises go, this is pretty good…" Bull said, admiring Dorian's perfectly proportioned and toned body.
What was that? he wondered as their lips met ardently. Bull was his usual wiseass self, but in his expression there had been something more. Even the way he was kissing him, caressing his face.
Warmth. Perhaps even… tenderness?
Don't do this to me.
Don't plant the idea in my head that there may be more to this.
Because this is the last time.
Really.
He still felt somewhat off, and not in an entirely bad way. The whole day he felt he had wandered through something of a light daze.
Three times.
And he'd lost control. Lost himself. And worse: hadn't cared one bit. They had stopped briefly after the second time only because at one point things had become so frenzied that the heavy velvet curtains began to smoke, his emotions and power rising and surging together. They'd had to tear the curtains down, tossing water over the quickly spreading glow, and stamping furiously to put it out.
"Damn!" Bull marveled, turning to Dorian, impressed.
Dorian simply pushed Bull back down on the bed and kicked off round three.
At the end of the day he was meeting with Evelyn and a few others at the Herald's Rest to drink under the pretext of discussing the details of their next away mission. He hadn't known what to expect from Bull, but everything seemed to proceed as normal, even as he occasionally slipped his hand beneath the table to squeeze Dorian's knee.
"Stop doing that," he warned when for a brief moment everyone had directed their attention to the barmaid, who was taking their orders.
"You can try to stop me anytime," Bull dared him.
"I don't want to cause a scene," Dorian hissed.
"Then I get to squeeze as I please."
It all would have gone splendidly, despite the knee grabbing, if the Chargers hadn't filed in later on, making it a point to walk by their table and greet them loudly.
"Chief," they acknowledged Bull ceremoniously, one by one. "Dorian," they all added to their little act, with another obsequious nod, grinning and snickering suggestively.
Varric, Cassandra, Blackwall, and Evelyn all watched in slight confusion.
"What was that all about?" Cassandra wondered aloud.
Bull glared at the group as they settled at the back of the tavern.
"Very classy, you assholes!" he yelled out.
Jeering erupted. Some obscene hand gestures were exchanged.
Dorian kept his napkin over his taut lips. Bull sat down again and extended his arm across the back of Dorian's chair with a resigned sigh.
"Ah, well. Since there's no point in keeping it under wraps now, I might as well ask, before I forget: about last night…"
Dorian glared.
"Discretion isn't your thing, is it?"
"Three times!" he announced proudly, to their bewildered companions, holding up his fingers. "Also, do you want those silky underthings back, or did you leave those… like a token? Or …Wait…" Bull paused. "Did you forget them so you'd have an excuse to come back?… You sly dog!" he said with delight.
So much for privacy and subtlety.
"If you choose to leave your door unlocked like a savage, I may or may not come," he stated patronizingly.
"Speak for yourself," Bull retorted.
Things can't get worse than this, Dorian tried to console himself. Iron Bull took stock of their table and turned towards the bar.
"Cabot!" he yelled. "One more round of ale!" He pointed at Cassandra's goblet. "Another goblet of wine for the Seeker." Before Dorian could interrupt him, he added, "And another Fereldan beer for our friend here."
A complete, resounding disaster, Dorian winced, well aware of all the eyes affixed upon him.
There is nothing to salvage from this carnage.
I am through.
"I didn't know it was a big deal," Bull said afterwards in that disarming, matter-of-fact way that made Dorian feel like he was overreacting. They stood outside together, in the courtyard, as the Herald's Rest emptied out for the evening.
"Besides, what do you care?" Bull chided him. "You and I are adults. We owe no one any explanations."
He has a point, Dorian reasoned.
"And so what if you like Fereldan beer…No one is perfect," Bull taunted him, walking ahead.
Dorian groaned, recalling all the ribbing he'd had to endure, especially from Varric, after that one. Bull stopped a few feet before him and held the door to the stairwell leading up to his quarters wide open.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Let's go!"
No secrets. No lies.
Interesting.
Might be worth trying.
As he passed the awaiting Qunari and crossed the doorway, Bull slapped his rear with gusto.
"Festis bei umo canavarum," Dorian grumbled accusingly.
Bull chuckled and tossed his arm over his shoulders affectionately.
Dorian couldn't help grinning as they climbed the steps together.
A/N: Curtain burning is taken from in-game dialogue as is Bull's bragging about Dorian's silky underthings and their prowess in bed, and of course, the rear smacking...The Tevene here was learned from Fenris. I suspect exasperated Tevinter lovers, parents, and people trying to hire reliable contractors say that a lot.
I love that these two can get together in the game. They are complementary opposites. There's still another part to this- an epilogue of sorts, and then I think I can afford to give them a little privacy. ;-)