fadewalk | RP: Fenris (broodyfadewalk)

Anders was...having a conversation with himself, and wandering through Skyhold aimlessly in the meantime. Which was not as crazy as it sounded because he did share his body with a Fade spirit, after all.

He was certainly not brooding.

...maybe a little.

He could have sworn Varric had shown up to take over watching over Hawke for a spell, but time was weird in this place, and to hear Varric tell it, he had been gone - to another realm entirely? For perhaps more days than Anders thought had actually passed. Not that there were days and nights in this place to tell time by, but still. It meant that he had in fact left Hawke alone for who knows how long, and thankfully apparently nothing had happened - she seemed well on the mend, actually, but Anders still felt oddly guilty about the whole thing.

He huffed and focused instead on this new Varric - Hawke reveal. Now, at the time, he'd expected Varric's overly stubborn grief over his Hawke to be just typical Varric - no matter what way you looked at it, Hawke and Varric had always been close. That much was unlikely to change even between different versions of history, right? In retrospect, however, Varric had seemed pretty...distraught.

Anders waited for the inevitable huff of disapproval from Justice's corner of his brain, but the spirit hummed in interest instead. SHE DESERVES HAPPINESS. IT IS ONLY JUST, Justice offered, and when Anders countered that Hawke had claimed to be happy already, Justice just sort of...snorted. NOT EVEN YOU BELIEVE THAT, ANDERS.

Anders conceded the point, and realized he wasn't entirely sure where in Skyhold they had wandered to. He still hadn't slept, and sudden exhaustion weighed down his limbs. Then there was a bluish glow from down some corridor ahead of him, and Anders found his feet moving towards it without really stopping to judge the wisdom of that action.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Reforming the Circles?

A powerful military group? An Inquisitor?

The Fade splitting open?

It was a lot to take in--almost too much--but living with Hawke's crazy band of misfits had made Fenris remarkably adaptable. He simply gripped a handful of Anders' robe and gave a short jerk of his chin, trying to sort through the waterfall of information and grasp to the points that were the most important.

(And why, why was he determined to think of that easy endearment as the most important part?)

"I...see," he said.

Anders squinted at him.

"No, you don't," he said, with an amused huff. "But I don't really either, so we're even."

He looked down at Fenris's hand gripping the black fabric of the robe he'd chosen specifically to suit the mystique of a man who would do what it took to bring justice to the mages, to change a world, and felt vaguely ill. He really needed to stop wearing this coat.

Fenris caught the look Anders shot that connection as well as his expression...and, naturally, misread Anders' thoughts.

He immediately let go and moved away, putting distance between them.

"Sword," he said, more to himself than Anders. He needed to focus.

Anders frowned as Fenris moved away so quickly, his head bobbing slightly as he followed Fenris's movement with his eyes. He was fairly certain he'd done something stupid just then, but couldn't for the life of him figure out what.

Bah. His brain was mush.

"Sleep?" he mumbled hopefully, feet moving after Fenris and then on again automatically.

"Yes." He selected an appropriate sword, testing its weight and balance before sheathing it. He was already in full armor, so the greatsword was all he needed. "I will follow you."

I enjoy following you.

"Hang on, let me just..." Anders scribbled a quick note in the ledger for Cullen about the removal of the greatsword. "Cullen's particular about inventory, and things," he said vaguely, blotting the quill and setting it aside.

He straightened, glancing over to be certain Fenris had what he needed. His eyes swept down Fenris's frame and he very nearly sighed. Maker, even just the sight of him was so welcome it was absurd. He had thought he'd mostly gotten over this debilitating loneliness in the past few years. Obviously not. He was taken from Hawke and Fenris for a handful of days, or so, and immediately he started feeling like he would crawl out of his skin, and stopped sleeping, and generally became not much better off than he had been before either of them.

He turned. "All right, this way."

Fenris followed close at Anders' heels, gaze sweeping the halls as they walked. He kept expecting something to happen--some attack, some threat. This was too much like the time he followed Hawke into the Fade after that dreamer.

When they had wound their way through several hallways and at least one flight of stairs, Anders led the way down a modestly extravagant hall clearly designed for housing guests of varying levels of import. He went straight for the door at the opposite end, the one conveniently located right next to a servant's stair of some kind. He had chosen it because he thought it would help if he didn't have people on both sides of him, and it provided a quick escape if he needed it. Not that any of that had done any good; he still hadn't managed to sleep at all the few times he had tried.

Fishing a key he'd found on a hook inside the door out of his pocket, he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Inside, the room was dark, curtains drawn, fire dead, and it smelled musty, like it had been closed up for some time. The only sign Anders had used it at all was the ash in the grate and the fact that the blankets on the bed, while not awry, were slightly mussed.

Fenris caught Anders' arm, casting him a look. Stay there. He stepped past him and moved into the room, prowling about and checking to make sure it was safe. Then he gave Anders a nod before turning to push open the window.

The mage didn't get enough fresh air. He'd heard Hawke say that once.

Anders obeyed automatically, watching Fenris stalk around the room with a lump in his throat. He was seriously way too damn emotional when he was tired. He needed to stop.

At the nod, he stepped inside and latched the door behind him, hanging the key on the hook and shucking off his coat to toss it over the back of a chair. He went to the pitcher of water on the sideboard and poured some in the basin before splashing it on his face. The cold would help to clear his head. He hoped.

Fenris watched Anders for a moment, then set aside his new sword--propping it gently against the wall--before padding over to investigate the fire.

He began preparing it methodically, letting the silence stretch. It wasn't uncomfortable or hostile, the way it would have been even a few months ago. In fact, for a moment, it almost felt as if they were home again.

Anders toed off his boots and debated the merits of taking his shirt off before he settled on leaving it on. He perched on the edge of the bed, rubbing at the back of his neck and casting nervous glances at Fenris from time to time.

"Um," he finally said. "Are you going to - would you - lie down with me? I don't know if I'm going to be able to fall asleep if, if you're not..." Touching me. He was afraid to say it aloud, not sure where exactly they stood at Fenris's point with that level of touching. Cuddling, really. He frowned down at his hands in his lap.

Edited Date: 2015-09-06 08:33 pm (UTC)

Fenris stood, fire beginning to catch, and wordlessly turned away from Anders. That may have been taken as a rejection...until his first gauntlet hit the mantle, followed by the next.

He began stripping methodically out of his spiky armor piece by piece, eyes carefully averted from the mage. He barely hesitated before grabbing a fistful of his loose underarmor and shucking it, leaving him only in the black leggings.

Fenris tossed the shirt aside--it needed cleaning anyway--and turned back toward the bed, firelight catching glinting whorls of lyrium. Then he paused, looking up. His dark brows drew together slightly. "Which side?"

Anders licked his lips, his mouth going dry, and tried not to gape at the half-clothed elf in front of him like a starving man presented with a feast. He jerked his head at the opposite side of the bed from the one he was dangling off of, one brow lifting in a wordless question if that was all right.

Fenris crawled onto the bed wordlessly, eyes canting toward Anders as he settled amongst the pillows, hair half-falling across his face.

Then he reached across the mattress and grabbed Anders' arm, tugging him down. "Sleep."

The grabbing was definitely not expected, and Anders tipped back gracelessly, landing with his face smushed against Fenris's shoulder.

"Mmf. Bossy," he complained, without bite. He wiggled around until he was more or less draped across Fenris's chest, wrapping one arm around his waist.

He just grunted--probably agreement--and settled back. One hand lifted reluctantly to brush through Anders' hair, tugging it free of its leather tie.

Anders sighed, inching up to bury his face in Fenris's neck, his sharp nose definitely poking him. He inhaled deeply and then slowly relaxed, eyes closing as Fenris's fingers brushed his hair.

"Missed you," he mumbled.

"...yes," Fenris said, pausing for half a breath before sinking his fingers deeper into Anders' hair. He lightly raked his nails along his scalp.

Anders arched back into the touch with a greedy breathless noise, one that sounded too unconsciously done by half. His limbs felt leaden, like a great warm weight was pushing down on them, and it was with some effort that he managed to move an arm and tug the blankets half-heartedly up to his shoulders.

His breathing began to slow.

Fenris kept stroking his hair until he was certain Anders was asleep. Then, hesitating against the temptation, he brushed his lips against his temple.

Then he cleared his throat quietly and relaxed back to watch over the mage as he slept.

(OOC: *awws and flails* These two are ridiculous oh my gosshhhh.

I'm going to actually be going out of town for the next couple of days and will be around spottily if at all; what do you say to ending this thread here and maybe picking back up when Anders wakes up when I get back?)