Dear Nonny: You asked. I finally delivered. Sorry about the wait.

Playlist:

Sia - Cheap Thrills

Fun - Carry On

Miike Snow - Genghis Khan

Blue October - Sound of Pulling Heaven Down

Sam Smith - Diamonds

Jonas Brothers - What A Man Gotta Do

Taylor Swift - Style

Rihanna - Dancing In the Dark

Chapter 17:

Emma had always been into the science part of things. Which is why a nursing student took both psychics and organic chemistry despite not needing either class. She could just as easily have taken a few random easy electives way back when. Like art. Art, she'd always been good at. Not necessarily well enough to do anything with it, but she probably wouldn't have had trouble passing an intro to drawing class.

Her fingers smoothed over the sketch she'd been doing of Mother Giselle. Angles. She was full of angles. Then again most of the people here were. Especially the elves. Hard lines and angles. No one here ate enough, or properly. Though, she assumed, they probably ate better than most people in the entire world of Thedas.

The science of the human body, and the art behind it fascinated her. It had since she was a little girl. Her mother said that's why Emma became a nurse. Science of the human body.

Emma thought it was because she liked helping people.

There was a thump behind her when the door opened and someone came in. She wouldn't normally have looked up, but the freezing winds hit the back of her neck from the door when it stayed open. She raised her head to say close it, when she saw- The sound that left her mouth was something any scream queen would have been proud of.

The high pitched scream, Fenris still couldn't believe it was a joyful sound, Emma gave upon seeing Brandon and Elyria's sister Viola still rung in his ears when he exited the chantry. His love asked him a simple favor while she worked with her extended family and the council to find them shelter. Please, find Alistair, bring him back to the cabin. She is worried. Their friend didn't have anywhere else to sleep, and she didn't want to drive him back to the drink.

Truthfully he'd been planning to.

As he said to Elyria, he had two options, and one he couldn't live with. His other was...thought provoking. Though, if he was honest with himself, he desired to speak to Elyria about it prior to finding Alistair. However the Maker or his bride didn't feel the same. They seemed to thrust an obstacle in the way a moment after the idea crossed his thoughts once more.

Despite the size of Haven, it took Fenris nearly a quarter of an hour before he did indeed find Alistair. He'd been passing Elyria's cabin on his way to the soldier's tents when he realized the door was open a crack. Fenris paused before the door, thinking back whether he'd pulled it behind him when he went after Elyria. Yes. He had. And no one in the Inquisition was reckless or dumb enough to steal from them.

Surreptitiously, Fenris placed one hand on the door, pushing it open quietly. Alistair's back curved as he picked up his thing, quickly stuffing them into his pack. The sound of the Calling must have been loud enough to cover the sound of the door, his warrior friend gave no sign he heard Fenris. Instead Alistair went about gathering whatever he'd left in the room in quick, desperate movements.

Since the Calling began, Alistair's hearing had suffered greatly.

"I need to not be here." Alistair muttered to himself. He glanced around the room one more time. Clearly Fenris and Elyria made love. The bed, the sheets smelled like heat and sex and held the evidence of both. Alistair's chest ached thinking of it. He was happy they finally figured it out but...one hand touched the mottled bruise on his jaw. If he wasn't so damn slow and stupid maybe-

"Alistair."

It took a moderate amount of self control not to jump at the sound of Fenris' voice. Alistair bowed his head, shoulders hunched, "I'll be gone in a moment."

Fenris moved into the cabin, closing the door behind him. "Elyria will be upset if you simply leave."

Alistair almost laughed. He choked on the sound, it sounded sour and harsh to his ears. "Elyria ordered me out of her sight."

"When she was angry. She told me." Fenris came to stand in the small doorway that led to the room at the front of the cabin. He took another step. "How hard did she hit you?"

Pausing, Alistair looked at Fenris in the semi-darkness. He'd lit the candle by the bed when he'd come in a little while ago. It gave him enough light to search for his things. How had they migrated all over the room, he wasn't quite certain. He'd only been in Haven a couple of weeks. "It doesn't matter. I'll leave you two to-"

Fenris laughed, it sounded off, dark but amused. It threw Alistair. He fully expected to have Fenris agree to him leaving. They were friends, true, but they were in love with the same woman. A woman who chose Fenris.

"Not an hour ago I told Elyria you two would suffer silently for my benefit." Fenris too looked around the room, then turned serious green eyes on his friend. "I will tell you the same thing I told her, in this I had two choices, one I cannot live with. The other," he watched the way Alistair looked at him in return, sad and desperate, "I can live with."

The templar's brows drew together. "I don't understand?"

Fenris shed his coat, tossing over the bed he assumed had been Emma's. They'd need to change the sheets before pushing the beds together. It wouldn't be comfortable for any of them. If Alistair agreed. " Did you know I enjoy the company of men?"

Huh. Alistair hadn't known that. He'd known Fenris enjoyed throwing a suggestive jibe his way once in a...oh. Oh. Oh! Hazel eyes widened in surprise, the wheels turning in his head. "I...uh...I don't...um...I'm not-" Alistair stuttered, flushing a ruddy shade of red.

"I am aware," Fenris replied with a small shrug, "you've never shown interest in anyone who was not female. However, Elyria loves us both, despite how angry she was with you." And now that he got a good look at Alistair's jaw line, he grimaced. "Does it hurt you still?"

Fingers reaching up to touch the bruise. "Not so much, Solas healed me the first time."

"She's a temper." Fenris chuckled.

"And a hell of a right hook." Alistair muttered, "I've never been on the other end of it."

"You taught her."

"I corrected the way she hit people. I didn't know how hard she could hit someone." He also realized two things, Fenris was much closer than he'd been a moment ago and he was decently taller than Fenris. Alistair always knew he was taller but now, seeing Fenris like this, after he was told...Alistair swallowed. "Fenris I'm not...I don't…"

"I'm aware, I won't push the subject." Fenris reached out, taking Alistair's pack from loose fingers and discarding it at the foot of the bed. "I want to speak to you about something else. We remain friends, correct?"

"Of course." Alistair said without hesitation, still moderately confused about where this was going.

Fenris nodded, "and we are both in love with the same woman, correct?"

Taking a deep breath, Alistair said softly, "I'm an idiot for not knowing sooner."

"Mmm, I cannot speak for her, but I believe she thinks the same of herself." Fenris replied. "I won't lie. I suspected it for some time before she returned to Thedas."

Shocked, Alistair's mouth worked but his brain had trouble translating everything he thought to his mouth. He managed a higher pitched, somewhat embarrassing, partial screech of: "What?"

"It was why I refrained from pursuing a relationship with her once you moved into the flat. She assured me you two weren't involved, I pursued her, and you seemed not to care."

He cared, he wanted Elyria to be happy. "You made her happy." Alistair told him. "I would never stand between Elyria and her happiness."

"No would I." Fenris nodded at him. "And you too, make her happy."

Alistair felt like Fenris was trying to tell him something, but he'd never been one for subtlety. There was a reason he was a warrior and not a rogue. He did better with things smashing over his head than with attempting to understand the complexities of subtext. "I don't understand what you're getting at." He said finally. "What are you getting at Fenris?"

"We both know Elyria can be…" he searched for the right word.

"Stubborn?" Alistair supplied. "Obstinate. Ill tempered. Hot headed."

Fenris, chuckling, added, "Argumentative."

Alistair huffed, "and somehow, I can't think of anything I want more than her." Guilt ridden, he met Fenris' gaze. "I'm sorry, Fenris. I'm a terrible friend. I need to go. I should go." But his feet did not agree. Nor his legs for that matter. His body steadfastly refused to adhere to the directions he tried to give it.

"If you go, I'll be asked to find you again." Fenris motioned to the empty bed, the one Emma slept on. Neatly made. "Stay. Save me the task of trekking down the mountain after you in this snow, if you would?"

Surely Elyria wouldn't ask Fenris to follow Alistair down the mountain. Not if she was as angry as Alistair thought her to be. Something in Fenris' tone gave him pause. It might have been nothing. It might have been his imagination. It could have been nothing at all. Alistair, holding a shirt in one hand, his fist clenched around the fabric, watched Fenris with a critical eye.

"She's going to punch me again." He said finally, "and I don't want that."

Sighing, Fenris clapped his hand on Alistair's shoulder. He steered Alistair toward the other bed. "Sit. She'll return soon. We can talk then."

Alistair, feeling as if he was missing something, sat.

Brandon and Emma squealed like piglets upon sight. My ears hurt. Fenris had winced (elves and their sensitive ears - Tolkien got it right.), excusing himself. Viola has been withdrawn, observant and quiet. I'd bet ten crowns she's attempting to figure out how to break the world to get out. I told her how. Hell Fenris figured it out by sitting with us while we talked.

One of the things I didn't plan on when I hauled Brandon and Viola into the chantry: Other party members hanging out to avoid the storm. I knew Shale would be here, eyes closed, standing silently In what I could only assume was an attempt to sleep.

The look on Sera's face was goddamn infuriating and smug. I love her and I hate her. "You know what you look like?" She asked with the most impish grin.

I pointed in her general direction, "shouldn't you and Shale be patrolling up on the ridge?"

She hung over the back of one of the chairs, backward, looking up at me. "Shows what you know 'leery. We've been back a couple of days now. Took out a whole regiment of those slimy shits. Arrow to the face!"

"That's my girl." I held out my hand for a fist bump. She hit it in return with enthusiasm and a little force. I taught her that.

Sera righted herself, draping herself in reverse on the chair to face me. "Look at you, all glowing."

I sighed while Emma squeezed Viola so tightly my sister actually hunched for a moment. "My hand always glows brat."

"Wasn't talkin' 'bout your hand," Sera sniggered in return. "Can't understand why you like the elfy ones, but he did the job if you're all shiny 'n stuff."

I flipped her off. "Shut it."

She howled like a banshee, smacking her thigh. Of course Vivienne and Mother Giselle, who were conversing in an entirely different part of the hall, cast her one withering, and the other concerned, glance.

Emma, nearly vibrating with excitement, began to rapid-fire off a whole list of things she thought my sister and Brandon would want to see. "Oh my god, Orlais was so damn cool. Also, I think I invented crepes. I was really hungry and the cook had no idea what I meant by a super thin pancake. Also, get this - there's no such thing as pasta here."

"What?" Brandon balked. "Nope. Forget it, I'm going back. I'll deal with Grind…" the words died on his lips as Dorian, who was talking to Josie, came from one of the corridors. Brandon E. Lee, heartbreaker, notorious flirt, endlessly searching for the one, turned three different shades of red, averted his eyes and pointedly stared at the stone above a sconce for a good three seconds. The light must have bothered his eyes because he quickly looked at me with a very clear 'oh god help me' look on his face.

"Who's the pretty one?" Sera asked just as I began to stand up.

"You'll need to be more specific, Sera." I replied with a raised eyebrow in her direction.

"The tall one, with the wavy hair." Sera huffed. Like I was supposed to know which one she found attractive.

My other eyebrow went up. "My older sister, Viola."

Sera's facial expressions were as follows: Wait, what? No. Wait. No. Holy shit. My friend knows I think her sister is hot. I just told my friend her sister is hot. Oh no. My friend is going to tell her sister that I think she's hot.

Sera pushed out of her seat. "Going to the bar." I can honestly say; I've never seen Sera run that fast before. I'd be laughing, honestly, but I kind of just want to get back to my cabin and wash up. I probably reek like I got laid twice today.

And I want to snuggle with my boyfriend.

"Elyria," Leliana said with a small, if bemused smile.

"There she is, savior of the timeline." Dorian, vying for an Emmy, spread his arms. "I thought you'd at least take the day off and…" brown eyes met brown eyes, and my new friend had the same problem my old friend was having. The oh no, 'he's attractive' moment. Dorian recovered faster, coughing into one hand. "Ah...you've guests?"

Leliana, being the sneakiest woman alive, beat him to the punch by greeting Brandon and my sister first. "Brandon Lee," she took one of his hands in hers, squeezing it. "I had not thought to ever meet you."

Brandon, brow furrowed quizzically, "you know who I am?"

Nodding Leliana replied, "Of course. Emma has shared many pictures. I especially enjoyed the…" she searched for a word, "Fourth of July party? I have never seen so many fireworks at once." This coming from an Orlaisan.

Beaming, Brandon relaxed a little. "See El, I told you it was cool."

"The party was fantastic. Your attempt to find me a boyfriend," I rolled my eyes at him, "not so much."

"Dude, don't even go there." Brandon shot back, arms crossed over his chest, "I didn't know you were sleeping with one of the hottest men I have ever seen in like, ever."

Which of course caught Leliana's full attention. Sapphire blue eyes lit up with private amusement, and I think I heard her murmuring something about Josephine owing her money. Were my friends seriously betting on my love life? Also what did they bet?

"Wait, what? You're sleeping with…" Emma's eyes narrowed in my direction. "Alistair or Fenris?"

Now I was turning red. "Em."

"Hold up, Alistair or Fenris?" Brandon's voice was much, much, much too goddamn loud for my liking.

"Alistair, is that the fellow you punched?" Dorian threw fuel on the fire.

Dear god. I hate them all.

"Woah," Emma held up one hand, pushing past Brandon and Leliana to stand in front of me. "You punched the literal puppy dog in human form?"

"Puppy dog?" Leliana mused quietly, I think to herself. "I have known him for ten years, why did I never make that connection?"

"What does he mean you punched Alistair?" Emma demands. "You know he's like head over heels for you right? Please tell me you didn't go back to moody, broody pants."

This is me, full on body blush while Brandon did what Brandon did best. Gossiped. "You're sleeping with more than one hot guy with an accent?"

Fuck my life. Fuck my fucking life. And fuck this conversation. I'm done. "Leliana, please find my friends and sister new accommodation, my cabin is booked the hell up. Dorian, I hope you're settling in. This is Brandon, he's my friend, that's Viola, she's my sister. The short mouthy one is Emma, also a friend, and I'm going back to my cabin. Everyone have a good freaking night and if a single one of you comes to my door before ten bells tomorrow - I will be very angry. Good. Night."

I'm not running. I'm walking away at a brisk pace.

We can address the disapproval on Mother Giselle's face another day. When I'm not at emotional capacity. I push the door open only for the cold winds atop the mountain to snap at my face.

Of course Emma is team Alistair. Also, how the hell did she know before I did? Also not okay for Leliana and Josie to have a bet going on. Did they also know before I did? I feel like there was this big sign somewhere that both Alistair and I missed. How did other people see it when I didn't?

I want to go to the tavern for another drink.

Instead I trudge through the inch or so of snow that's hit the ground since Fenris left me in search of Alistair. Sooner or later I need to face the music. Sooner or later someone's heart is going to get broken. I don't want to be the one breaking Alistair's, but hell if I want to lose Fenris. The idea leaves me aching. I can't. I won't. I love him. I love him so much it hurts.

It also hurts to think about losing Alistair.

The cold winds sting as I move past dying torches.

It's late. I need to get back.

Alistair was still somewhat confused. It's been at least a half an hour now. Fenris has changed the sheets, warmed some water in the hearth to reheat the cold bath. He put up another sheet he found in the chest at the base of the bed from the doorway, pinning it back and to the side. All without asking for help. He allowed Alistair time to sit, think, ponder and attempt to understand what Fenris told him earlier.

His brow furrowed while he thought about it. There was a reason Fenris brought it up. Alistair simply can't fathom why. He was mulling it over when he heard the door at the front of the cabin open. A sharp knife of nervous energy and anxiety spiked in his chest, his heartbeat stuttering into a rapid pace. His palms began to sweat despite the cold air. Unable to sit any longer Alistair stood.

This is how he loses both Fenris and Elyria. He was absolutely certain of it.

Fenris paused in reheating more water when the door opened. She smiled tiredly at him, "hey."

He let go of the warming pot to take her in his arms. Fenris pressed a slow kiss to her lips, distracting her (at least momentarily) from seeing Alistair in the next room. "Any better?"

"Not really." she squeezed one of his hands in hers. "Vi gave me this look, like she doesn't know who I am. I think she's going to try to convince me again."

He squeezed her hand in return, pulling her closer, against his chest. "You are here of your own free will. She will learn to accept it eventually."

Elyria sighed deeply. "You don't know my sister. She's a lawyer, she used to defend incredibly guilty rich people from having to go to jail or pay for breaking laws. Now she's a lawyer for the ACLU suing the pants off really shitty corporations and the government."

He has no idea what a lawyer is. Or what a corporation is. He understands the term government only because once, a long time ago Elyria explained there was no king of her country. Then she attempted to explain a truly complex system of rulership that confounded everyone except Leandra, Varric and, much to the surprise of all present, Isabella.

"Wanna curl up and sleep?" She murmured quietly against the fabric of his tunic.

"Perhaps, in a bit." He pressed another kiss to her lips. His voice is low, near a whisper when he tells her, "Alistair is in the next room."

In his arms she tensed. "Oh." Her lower lip found itself pinched between her teeth. "How bad does his bruising look?"

"Should we have another fight," he brushed pale blonde strands back from her eyes, "I will avoid your right hook."

Elyria groaned, her forehead falling on his chest. "I am a horrible person." She wrapped her arms around his middle, "I don't want to hurt him, or you, and I don't want him to feel like he should leave. I don't want him to leave. He's my best friend and..."

Alistair's voice came from just beyond the doorway. "You're my best friend too."

Elyria, hesitantly, raised her head from Fenris' chest to look at Alistair. Her eyes, the pale, bright green eyes Fenris loved, began to brim with tears. She reached the arm closest to the doorway out and beckoned Alistair closer. He took one step, holding his distance for fear of being punched again.

She gathered the cloth and leather of his clothes in one fist and tugged to drag him closer. Alistair took one more step, holding himself just inside the doorway despite the fisted hand trying to pull him near.

"You're an idiot." She told him, "a complete and total idiot."

"I know." His gaze turned downward.

"They executed you." Her frame shook with emotion. She pulled and pushed at his chest, at his shirt. "You tried to raise an army and avenge me. Never, ever do that again."

Brow furrowed, Alistair said, "Ellie, I didn't."

She let go of Fenris entirely to take another fist full of Alistair's shirt. "No, you didn't in this timeline, but in that one, you did. You did and they made an example out of you. They killed you because of me, because you're an idiot who fell for a crazy woman and-" tears began to fall from her eyes, "you're so stupid. I love you, you big dummy and you died. You died. Then the other Fenris tells me you loved me and he loved me and I was in a completely different timeline and I couldn't do anything to save either of you."

Alistair had, before that moment, a vague understanding of what happened in the minute Elyria had been gone. He knew she'd been sent forward to next year. He knew the magisters had twisted time to break the world. He knew he'd been dead in that place. He knew Leliana and Fenris died to make sure Elyria got back to stop that future. She watched them die. He knew these things because Dorian, the magister who had gone with Elyria to the future told him, Varric, Solas and the others at the Inquisition camp.

He did not know, until then, that Elyria hadn't fully recovered from what she saw. What she found out. And, he realized, Elyria was only so strong. Knowing he died, knowing Solas and Varric died, watching Leliana and Fenris die, and then finding out that Alistair loved her on top of it all.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest while she cried. He set his chin atop her head. "I will never do it again. I promise Ellie."

She wrapped her arms around him as well, mumbling into his chest. "I'm sorry I punched you. You didn't deserve it. I'm a horrible person." Elyria lifted her head from his chest and tried to smile up at him. Alistair let go of her with his right arm to wipe away her tears.

It was at that exact moment something changed. Fenris, had someone asked him, would have defined it as a small shift in the air around them. He'd been thinking, perhaps he need not ever broach the subject. Things would go back to the way they were.

Then he witnessed the way they looked at one another.

Alistair stroked her face gently with his thumbs and Elyria in turn leaned into the touch. He touched her like a man wanting to make the most of a moment. One last moment.

Had Fenris not been in the room they might have kissed.

He was in the room, though, and Alistair's gaze strayed to him a moment before Alistair let Elyria go. The templar took a step back putting space between them all.

"I'm sor…" Alistair began, the words dying before they ever left his mouth. He wasn't sorry. He wasn't going to lie and say he was. He loved Elyria. Elyria loved him. She said as much just a minute ago.

In the end she would choose Fenris. Alistair might have been an idiot when it came to his own heart, but he wasn't blind. Fenris and Elyria loved each other. Much more than either of them-

Fenris cleared his throat. He supposed it was now or never.

I'm missing something. Not as if my cabin has been one here is that stupid.

I'm missing something that's going over my head. Five minutes ago I was hugging Alistair, and Fenris was completely calm about it. I told Alistair I loved him and again, Fenris was completely calm through the whole thing. I was standing there letting Alistair hold me, and Fenris? Still calm as Lake Placid. At one point, if for just a second, Alistair looked like he was going to kiss me. Fenris didn't make a move. Didn't react.

Alistair let go, took a big step back, and then, for some reason Fenris asked if I wanted to take another bath. Out of the blue. We were having this extremely complex moment of...I don't know. A lot of emotions running around. And he asks if I want a bath. Seriously, I feel like I just missed something huge.

I think I stared at him for a good minute before replying, "yes?"

So here I am, bathing in lukewarm water for the second time today. Fenris and Alistair were in the front room to give me some privacy. And, if I was very, very quiet, I could almost catch snippets of them murmuring quietly to one another. Fenris' voice was low, steady and even while Alistair's voice hit a high note at one point.

What are they talking about?

Finally clean, I threw my dirty clothing in the growing pile of laundry at the base of the bed. I guess one of them had… Wait. Why? One glance at Emma's bed told me those sheets had been changed too. Did Fenris? Did Alistair? Emma sure as shit didn't.

Thoroughly confused, confounded and bewildered, I pulled the sheet back from the doorway.

Immediately Alistiar practically jumped out of his skin and off the chair. "Ellie," he sounded off, jittery, nervous almost.

I looked to Fenris only for him to stand and very calmly (there's something so off about this, I swear) he asked, "are you hungry?"

"Not really…" The way Alistair kept glancing at Fenris hit me as odd. "Are you two?"

"Nothing happened." Alistair said in a rush of breath.

Now I'm really confused. What? "Okay?" Shouldn't I be saying that? To Fenris? I literally just confessed to loving another man in front of him. A man I've shared a bed with. Platonically.

Fenris let out this low, dark, tired but kind of amused chuckle. Not a sound I'm used to from him. "I told you both, for my benefit you would both choose to suffer." He sighed and shook his head when Alistair opened his mouth to say something. "I know you both too well for either of you to deny it. Alistair would distance himself from us in self preservation. He may leave Haven. Elyria would allow the guilt to eat at her, silently. Eventually it would drive a wedge between us."

Ouch. My boyfriend held his anger at the situation in check with an enormous amount of (what I thought might be) restraint. Guilty as charged I suppose. When I glanced at Alistair I found his gaze already on me. He looked almost torn. Like he wanted to say something, maybe. To me? To Fenris? To us both?

"I told Fenris I would leave if he asked." Alistair said finally, if a bit hesitant for some reason. "But he said…'' a flushed red tint turned Alistair's cheeks and ears bright with color. He couldn't seem to meet my gaze anymore.

Now I know I'm certain I missed something. Something big. Standing there, between the two of them holding a damp towel in one hand I looked from one to the other and back again.

"I won't stand aside." Fenris stood to move in front of me. He cupped the back of my neck and pulled me in for a kiss, one I returned a little shyly with Alistair standing right there. Apparently my shyness wasn't acceptable. He slipped his tongue into my mouth, coaxing my tongue with his. Oh my god. Did he really expect me to make out with him while Alistair watches? I went to step back, pull away and my back hit something hard. Fenris chose that moment to let me up for air. "You can say no if you truly want to." The roughened voice of Fenris said in my ear.

I turned a bit to see what I hit when another hand cupped my chin. More calloused and rough than the hands of my elf. Alistair's green-gold-hazel eyes above me, his hand tilting my head up. "Please don't say no Ellie." He whispered before he lowered his lips to mine.

No lie. When I first started Origins, kissing Alistair was a big part of my Aeducan, Brosca, Amell and fem Cousland's time. Like a lot of it. Those ladies kissed this boy silly, had lots of sex. and I was a tiny bit envious.

I had every right to be.

Alistair kissed me like he was afraid I would push him away. When I didn't, desperately he pulled me against his body, wrapping his other arm around me. Hell if I didn't kiss him back. I threw my arms around his neck and pushed up on my toes, returning every frantic, longing kiss until I felt a very prominent part of his anatomy pressing insistently on my belly.

"What was that?" I whispered in the small space between our lips.

"Something I wanted to do a long time ago." He supplied with a small, self deprecating chuckle. His gaze, adoring as it was, loving as it was, still held some trepidation. like he was afraid of something.

"I really am sorry I hit you." I told him once more, adding a small kiss to his chin. "And side note, you need to shave."

A crooked smile touched his lips, "did I scrape up your knuckles?"

"No," tilting my head a little to the left, "you're giving me a rash."

Blushing, "I promise to shave." His expression shifted from quietly happy to serious as he watched my face. "Is this okay?"

Was it okay? With one glance over my shoulder I met Fenris green eyes with my own. He didn't seem angry or upset. "Were either of you going to ask if I wanted to be shared?"

Alistair's arms loosened their hold on me, "Fenris…"

My boyfriend (do I technically have two boyfriends now?) who was leaning against the table, replied, "this is the choice I can live with."

He said earlier he had two choices. One he couldn't live with. the other he could. This, sharing our bed, he can live with? "Fenris, you delayed even trying to pursue me because you were afraid I was with Alistair."

His gaze darkened just a little. "If it were anyone else, I would never entertain the subject. Alistair," he nodded at Al who tightened his arms around me the slightest bit, "understands I enjoy the company of other men."

"Fenris knows I don't, but I know you love him." Alistair's lips pressed to my temple, the spot just below my ear, his fingers flexing on my waist. "For you I'm willing to try."

I…

Fuck.

Well I have never written something like that before. Sorry about the delay. I'm genuinely not as miserable as I was in NY. Writing takes longer when you're happy. Who knew?