“So what are you up to?”
Hearing Alistair’s boyishly cheerful question made Marlana’s head jerk up in confusion causing the long flood of her silver-white hair to come tumbling out of the leather strap she’d been using to hold it out of her face. Since the last time she saw him in deep conversation about something with Zev she hadn’t expected him to wander over so soon so she’d indulged in allowing herself to concentrate on the book she’d been slowly reading on and off. As was usual for her the last few weeks, seeing the warm smile on his ruggedly handsome face was more than a little distracting.
Because she was more annoyed at her reaction to Alistair than the fact he managed to startle her, Marlana’s answer was more curt than she intended it to be, “Reading.”
To buy herself a moment to think as she retied her hair she glanced around the campsite for something to distract him and froze. Off on the opposite end of the usual evening campfire Zev was apparently entertaining not just Leliana, but Wynne as well with one of his outrageous stories. Since Wynne was normally not very pleased with the ex-Crow that she was laughing at his tale was disturbing. Even more disturbing was seeing Shale and Sten talking with Morrigan in the distance where the dark haired sorceress normally set up her own small fire. She firmly decided she did not want to know what they were up to.
Using the young woman’s momentary distraction, Alistair swooped down and grabbed the small book off her lap, “I could see you were reading. But more to the point, what was it that required such concentration. You can usually hear a rabbit running a few hundred yards off, much less me stomping up to you” His warm golden brown eyes glinted with the mischief that shown so brightly in the smirk he wore.
Keeping a finger to mark the spot she’d been reading, he closed the book to read the title and gave a whoop of laughter cause their other traveling companions to turn and look in their direction. Their reactions caused her to slouch down somewhat while her cheeks flushed with color from embarrassment.
“The Traveling Cook, huh? I knew you could be a saucy wench, but this really does take the cake.” Grinning at her exasperated expression, he flipped open the book to the page he saved, then frowned at what he read. Still keeping the place marked he flipped through a few more random sections. Watching his growing confusion, Marlana’s annoyance was quickly replaced by a growing amusement.
“Maker’s Breath! A cookbook, ‘Lana? Really?”
As he stared at her, she took the opportunity to snatch her book back.
“Yes, a cookbook. If I must eat like my brother did at my age I want to eat something edible”, while she spoke she marked the latest recipe she was learned with the scrap of fabric she’d been using as a bookmark. Curious, Alistair carefully settled down on the log next to her. Even though he was wearing plain traveling clothes at the moment, he was still solid enough to be careful about what he sat down on. Especially when Marlana was involved because she weighed less than half than he did and tended to choose perches that couldn’t support his bulk. When the log didn’t even creak in protest, he relaxed.
“Can’t stand anymore of Morrigan’s wildwood stew?”
‘I don’t have any problems with her cooking, but I seem to be the only one. Everyone else seems convinced she’s going to poison us all. Or worse. Except for Zev, but he says that danger tends to give life a certain spice.”
With her big blue eyes sparkling with amusement and her generous mouth curved up in a grin at the templar’s pained expression, she was unaware of how lovely she looked in that one brief moment where she wasn’t a Grey Warden and simply an 18 year old woman laughing with a friend. Even more unaware of what it did to that friend’s heart. He gave himself a mental shake before he put his foot in his mouth around her. Again.
“Well, we all know that Zev prefers not to cook which is a good thing. But what about Wynne or Leliana?”
“Wynne is kept busy enough with keeping us alive despite ourselves. And after the time she mixed up a potion she was brewing and dinner… No. As for Leliana, did you really want bread and steamed vegetables again?”
He thought that one over and visibly shuddered. It wasn’t that it was bad, it was just not a very filling meal for either Warden. Like many other things that were never explained to either of the last Wardens of Ferelden they both had increased appetites that required something more substantial to keep them going. Alistair was unphased about it for the most part, but he was also a warrior who needed the energy that meat provided. Marlana still wasn’t resigned to the fact she was eating more than when she entered puberty, but being a practical soul just dealt with it.
Neither of them mentioned about his infamous lamb and pea stew. The supposed stew was an experience no one else in the group was willing to repeat. A thick, greasy, grey-brown sludge no one, not even Alistair, had been able to choke down more than a mouthful. Even Oogie, Marlana’s bottomless pity of a mabari hound, had flat out refused his mistress’s uneaten portion.
While Sten wasn’t an awful cook, but his idea of cooking was to stick whatever they happened to hunt that day on a skewer and roast it. Which not only could get tiresome quickly, if it wasn’t fully cooked someone could get sick. Marlana didn’t care to have a repeat of that situation, even if Wynne’s healing magic was able to cure the worst of it.
“Besides, you seemed to like what I made tonight.”
Since it involved meat, potatoes and vegetables swimming in cheese, he’d of course loved it. Well, he didn’t care about the vegetables, but he liked the meat and cheese. Especially the cheese. Judging by how it was devoured by everyone else, it’d apparently had enough to appeal to everyone. The mabari was put out at having to eat his regular food since there weren’t any leftovers for him to have.
Alistair looked at her in amazement, “You made that, really?”
Still amused she nodded. “That and dinner for the past week.”
“Huh. I noticed that there’d been an improvement lately, but I didn’t realize it was you.”
Then he looked at her with concern, “You don’t really have to do that you know. There’s so much else that you’re doing, you don’t need to do that too.”
She crossed her arms, trying not to glare at him, her amusement fading, “This is my contribution to camp duties. I may have ended up leading this menagerie, but it’s not fair to let everyone else take care of camp.”
He wondered if he knew that was part of why the “menagerie” followed her. At first it had been a mutual desire to stop the Blight, or in Shale’s case, to see the world and squish soft fleshy creatures. What kept them together and smoothed all the jagged edges to make them a unified whole was her obvious care for people she had come to consider friends.
Not for the first time he wondered what she truly thought of him beyond being a fellow Warden and fighting partner. Because when they were in battle, be it Darkspawn, bandits or abominations, the two fought as a unified whole, neither having to think about what actions the other were going to take on the battlefield. He’d charge their enemies to keep their focus on him while her blades flashed with lethal grace from behind. They even seemed to generally have the same outlook on life, though she was sometimes more cynical.
“So you are the reason why everyone else seems to give me a hard time about doing anything in setting up or breaking down camp.” The slight edge in her voice jerked his thoughts out of his speculation. Damn, he had managed to put his foot in his mouth again with her.
He placed one hand over his heart in mock hurt, “Perish the thought. As if I could get away with ordering anyone around. Particularly Morrigan.”
Marlana couldn’t help herself, the image of Morrigan actually listening to Alistair made her laugh, unaware that the sweet, velvety sound made his knees weak and very grateful to be sitting down. He shifted a little closer to her on the log. At her questioning look he made a broad gesture at not just the camp, but the world beyond it.
“So all this time we’ve spent together… you know: the tragedy, the brushes with death, the constant battle and the whole Blight looming over us… Will you miss it once it’s over?”
Wondering where he was going with the sudden change in topic, she responded lightly, “It makes me tear up just thinking about it.”
“Ha!” He shook his head slightly, “Eh, there’ll be no more running for our lives… no more Darkspawn… Ugh. And no more camping out in the middle of nowhere.”
Clearly amused at his last comment, “You know, for someone who lived in a monastery for most of his life, you sure do you like your creature comforts.”
“Hmph, shows just how much you know about life in the monastery. We had things like beds with pillows and proper baths. While we had to use an outhouse, at least it wasn’t the bushes.”
As he intended she laughed hard enough to make her hold her stomach and caused odd glances in their direction. He abruptly got to his feet and began to pace restlessly, not letting himself look at her closely, because otherwise he’d be undone. In more ways than one if he’d made the move he wanted to and she wasn’t receptive.
Concerned and slightly dizzy from watching him for a few moments, the slight woman gracefully got to her feet and lightly touched his arm, “What’s the matter?”
Seeing that they had an audience when he didn’t answer right away and figuring that there was something private that needed to be discussed she came to a decision, “Right, let’s take a walk.”
Instead of relaxing once out of the immediate line of sight of the others, Alistair seemed even more nervous. Concern quickly changed to worry and wondering what she may have done to upset him she reached out again to him again. Before her hand touched his arm, he stopped and gave her a shy look without speaking. She looked up at him, sapphire eyes gone dark with worry, “Alistair, talk to me. What’s wrong?”
Finally he spoke, his entire manner strangely hesitant, “I…know it might sound strange, Lana. Considering that we haven’t known each other for very long, but I’ve come to… care for you. A great deal. I think maybe we’ve gone through so much together.” His voice softened, “I don’t know. Or maybe I’m imagining it. Maybe I’m fooling myself. Am I? Fooling myself? Or do you think you might ever”, he lightly tapped his chest, “feel the same way about me?”
Listening to his hesitant speech ripped at her heart, the hopeful yet guarded expression in his eyes and the slightly self-deprecating smile kept her speechless for a moment. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she whispered, “I, I think I already do.”
All she could see was the sudden joy that lit his face as he moved in on her. He cupped her face in his warm, calloused hands that were surprisingly gentle considering the strength in them and he practically purred, “So I fooled you did I? Hm, good to know.”
Then he kissed her. He’d obviously intended to be a light chaste kiss, but as his lips met hers, it felt like she was filled with a fluttery warmth that spread from her center and out through her whole being. One of his hands slid up along her cheek to cradle her head as the other slid down her side to wrap around her waist and pull her close. Not stopping to think she wrapped her arms around him as the kiss deepened and she let go of everything except she was in the embrace of the man who made her feel alive.
When they finally came up for air, she staggered slightly against him, he held her still and asked hoarsely, “That, that wasn’t too soon was it?”
Trying to gather her wits about it, she blinked up at him, eyes gone blurry and her cheeks flushed a delicate pink. For the first time since the templar had met her, he could see the sharp mind that was constantly ticking over was stopped in its tracks. She coughed slightly, “I think I need more testing before I can tell you.”
Giddy from the emotions running through him he smiled, “I guess I’ll have to see what I can arrange then. Maker’s breath, but you’re beautiful. I am a truly lucky man.”
He reluctantly started to disengage but paused as she quietly said his name.
This time she looked away shyly as he looked down at her, “I’d like to ask a favor.”
“Anything that is within my power, my dear.”
“Will you hold me? For just a little while?”
“That is a pleasure, not a favor.” He held her close again and marveled at the fact she fit just perfectly under his chin. Indulging himself just a little, he buried his face in the silken hair that shimmered in the brilliant moonlight.
Marlana sighed in contentment, glad for the moment to forget about her worries and responsibilities. For the first time since her life turned into a waking nightmare she had something, someone, to make it all worthwhile. And so she let herself dream just a little bit on that beautiful early summer night that was lit by the full moon overhead that maybe things would end up okay after all. And held tight to the man who had captured her heart.
Aww! This made me smile. Adorable. Found this over on the forum where you linked to it. :D
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