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“What the fuck is he doing now?” Anders hissed as he peered through his window blinds to spy on his next door neighbor. Hawke, who was lazily sprawled out on his worn down brown sofa, lifted her head from the cushions.
“Who is he?” She drawled out, emphasizing the word he. Anders rolled his eyes. There was only one he. Him. Everyone knew who Anders was talking about when he talked about him. He had ranted about his rivalry with his nameless neighbor for ages! Everyone knew about it! Well, everyone he knew who knew about his love of gardening which, now that Anders thought of it, was a shockingly small number of people. He was not exactly good at making close friends or meeting people. He worked at the Warden clinic in Darktown, so most of the people he encountered were his patients. Patients weren’t exactly there to talk to about his hobbies- they were at the clinic for healing! So in the end Anders talked to Justice, his supervisor at the clinic, and Hawke and her friends. Of course, he could talk to him, but Anders would rather die first.
“He’s digging something up, and his body is in the way so I can't see!” Anders complained, craning his neck to try and catch a glimpse of what his neighbor was doing in his front yard, right next to the wall of his house. Anders could barely make it out, since his neighbor kept moving around and the wall between their yards blocked part of the view.
“Such a shame that he’s solid and not opaque. Such an inconvenience.” Hawke mocked. “Anders, do Isabela and I need to buy you binoculars for Wintersend?”
“Opera spy glasses, please, I’m trying to look sophisticated.” Anders retorted. “Andraste’s Knickerweasels, move your ass!” His neighbor was not moving, just methodically digging for something buried under his front window. What did he have under that window last year? Bulbs of some kind, Anders remembered. Tulips, perhaps? No, no, they were gladioulouses, which were a riot of color against the pale stone of his house in the late spring and early summer. Anders was filled with envy when he saw them. His neighbor had planned his garden well, and it got Anders’s gardening juices flowing. He had a competitive streak carefully fostered from his school days, and Anders was decidedly competitive gardener, and there was no worthy competition in Kirkwall. Save for him.
Gardens in Kirkwall were small affairs, usually a little plot of grass in front of the home and surrounded by thick stone walls. Anders’s neighborhood had, historically, been part of a grand promenade in the Dragon Age. The homes on and around Hightown square were large and difficult to maintain and modernize as time went on, and most were split into row houses during the Steam Age. The long, narrow gardens in front of those mansions were transformed into small, walled off squares of land for every row house. Only a few of the fine mansions in Hightown remained mansions- like the Hawke-Amell estate, which Hawke now ran as a bed and breakfast with her siblings and her mother. Her home was fine and fancy, Anders thought, save for her garden. Her poor, neglected garden. Anders nearly wept when he saw the sorry little hedges and grass just on the edge of being under watered. Perfectly respectable and clean, but so, so bland! Not at all like his garden. Or, Anders could begrudgingly admit, his neighbor’s garden.
“You’d like that, wouldn't you? Him moving his ass, that is.” Hawke said with a leer. Her blue eyes twinkled with mischief. His neighbor was damnably attractive. He was an elf with the most beautiful aquiline profile and dark brows. His skin was dark, and white tattoos wound down his well muscled arms. His hair, whenever Anders happened to see it from underneath that ragged straw hat his neighbor insisted on wearing when he gardened, was white. Bone white, Anders thought, and he wondered (not for the first time) how old his neighbor was.
“See, you’re thinking about that ass right now, you randy rascal!” Hawke whooped with delight. Anders wrinkled his nose, as if he smelled something particularly foul on the air.
“You disgust me. I would not lust after my greatest rival!” Anders exclaimed. “That would be wrong!” Anders offered no further explanation, instead returning his attention to his neighbor and whatever he was digging up outside in his front garden. Ah! There were the bulbs! His neighbor was carefully taking the gladiolus bulbs from the earth and placing them in the wicker basket at his side. Splitting the bulbs, Anders realized. But why? Did he need more gladiolus for some reason? Anders wondered, somewhat guiltily, if he could ask Hawke to ask his neighbor for some bulbs. He wanted gladiolus, and his neighbor had so many beautiful ones. Anders had plenty of room to store the bulbs over the winter, and he could already see where he could plant the bulbs- they wouldn’t flower that summer, of course, but the summer after that he would have a bold splash of color, a wild array of spear like flowers piercing out of the foliage...
“I can leave if you want to keep staring at him.” Hawke offered slyly, and Anders dropped the blinds. His neighbor would still be there tomorrow, Anders reasoned, just as he was every day for the past three years. So he turned from his window and faced Hawke, who was grinning like a madwoman.
“Nonsense! I am not staring!” Anders protested. “Now, what was it you needed, Hawke?” Anders swiftly changed the subject to Hawke and her business, and she entertained him with a long, humorous story about the latest bridal couple looking for a nice place to honeymoon, and the chaos that came with maintaining such a large estate. The tourism money kept the mansion running, Hawke said, but it was good old Hawke ingenuity that made the business thrive. Anders sat back on his beat up old couch and listened, scratching his cat’s ears when Ser Pounce jumped onto his lap for snuggles. But though he laughed at the appropriate beats and replied when needed, Anders’s mind was still with his neighbor and the gladiolus bulbs. What, by Andraste’s saintly granny panties, was he planning to do with them?
-
Anders grinned as he spread more compost and mixed it into the already established soil. His task today was to fix the raised planters in the south east corner of the garden, and after he had turned over the soil and made sure everything was clear of grubs and all was good, Anders poured in the compost he was cultivating in a large trash bin in the side yard next to his tool shed. It smelled something awful, but Anders was pleased with the results. His vegetables and herbs were always enormous and flavorful, and he was certain that no one could ever dispute the quality of his crops. Not even him, Anders thought smugly as he spared a glance towards his neighbor’s home.
They both may have had tall stone walls surrounding their property, but Anders heard the tell-tale sounds of gardening: the creak of a wheelbarrow, the snip snip of hedge trimmers, the sound of a shovel breaking and overturning earth- winter was just the time to get the groundwork of the garden started. Groundwork, ha! Anders chuckled and dug further into the soil of the planting bed. This was for herbs, Anders told himself, and the one to the right would be for different varieties of root vegetables. Leafy greens would in the planter behind that one, and vine plants would be next to it. Lots of beans and peas and tomatoes, Anders thought. It was going to be a lovely kitchen garden. Last year he used the planters to attract pollinators, bees and butterflies, but this year he planned to move that section of his garden away from the entrance of the house. While it was fun to see his friends squeal and run away from the bees, Anders didn’t want to treat any more bee and wasp stings. Hawke was the worst, crying and carrying on whenever she got stung. She wasn’t even allergic, like Isabela was, and Isabela just screeched and bolted to the door. She hadn’t been stung once.
A soft touch of fur wound around his ankles, and Anders grinned before crouching down and patting his cat on the head. Pounce trilled at him, then wandered away to sit on a stone bench under the tree in the corner of the yard. Thank the Maker that whoever planted it thirty or so years ago hadn’t put it near the house, Anders thought. He had no wish to pull out a ladder and clean leaves from his rain gutter. He would, however, climb up a ladder if he could spy on what his neighbor was doing. What was he up to? Anders was so busy wondering, his hands automatically turning over soil as he pondered and hypothesized, that he didn’t hear his front gate open and someone walk into his garden.
“Anders? Anders, hello?” A woman asked, startling Anders out of his thoughts.
“Merrill!” Anders exclaimed, staring at the elven woman standing before him. “Merrill, did you knock?”
“Yes. I even rang your little bell at the gate, but you didn’t respond even though I heard you in the garden, so I thought I would open the gate. Why do these houses have gates? It isn’t as if you don’t have a door.” Merrill said, rambling on in her light, cheerful voice that sounded like a little songbird. Anders wondered what she was doing at his house. She hardly had a reason to visit. Merrill was the interior designer that Hawke hired to fix up the bedrooms in the bed and breakfast, but she had quickly become a friend of Hawke’s. Merrill was always happy to visit and chatter on about everything, and Anders didn’t mind the noise too much. It was soothing.
“Anyhow, Hawke asked me to drop by and give you this.” Merrill shoved a big cardboard box at him. The top of the box was folded in, so Anders looked inside at the rows and rows of neat brown paper bags lined up inside the box.
“Why don’t you set that down on the bench over there? Right next to Pounce- don’t worry, he won’t jump in. Yet.” Anders said hastily, following Merrill as she heaved the box up in her arms and trotted over to the bench. Her legs moved quickly, the little white halla on her leggings leaping with her every step. Her giant ugly yellow rain boots seemed an odd choice for the day. It hadn’t rained in weeks, Anders thought.
“There! Don’t see why you didn’t just go and grab them yourself- unless it’s Hawke getting a present, but she could have just asked Fenris to give them to you!” Merrill said cheerfully. “It is a present, isn’t it? Oh, Hawke is very good at guessing what sort of gifts we’ll like, isn’t she?”
“Fenris?” Anders asked. Who, by Andraste’s sainted mabari, was Fenris?
“Your neighbor. He’s quiet so I’m not surprised you haven’t said hello- he didn’t seem to like me much when we first met. Magic, I think. He doesn’t seem overly fond of it. But at the last few meetings at the Alienage Community Center he asked me all sorts of questions about magic and elvhen culture-” Merrill was nearly hopping around the garden with joy as she spoke. “I’m so glad Fenris is finally opening up! It’s about time!”
“He doesn't like mages, huh?” Anders muttered. Good thing he didn’t make his proper greetings to his neighbor, then! They would assuredly never get along if Fenris didn’t like magic!
“Not exactly. He just seems… wary? Like a dog who got kicked a lot and needs to trust again.” Merrill replied. “I don’t know anything about Circle methods, but I’ve told him everything I know about Dalish mages!” Anders gave her a shrug, accepting Merrill’s explanation. Plenty of people were wary about mages, and Anders could deal with it as long as they kept their opinions to themselves. As his neighbor hadn’t done anything reprehensible towards him, Anders would leave him alone. He decided to investigate the contents of the cardboard box instead.
Anders wordlessly lifted up a paper bag and read the neat handwriting labeling the different bags. Gladiolus, “Wine and Roses.” Anders looked at another one. Gladiolus, “Starry Night.” And another. Gladiolus, “Rising Sun.” Anders gently touched each bag and murmured the names to himself, and his heart felt full of gratitude, gratitude towards Hawke and a little towards his neighbor. Quite a bit towards his neighbor, truth be told, for Anders knew that Hawke wouldn’t have been able to resist telling him all about Anders and his rivalry. She was a cheeky gossip. Yet the elf gave Hawke the gladiolus bulbs. Fenris, Anders corrected himself. Fenris gave him the bulbs.
“Thank you for bringing me these, Merrill. It is a very good gift.” Anders murmured, and he wondered what he should do to repay his neighbor. There had to be something he had from his garden that he could give in trade- Anders thumbed through the bags of bulbs and pondered, and the sliver of an idea grew in his mind. A plant for a plant, Anders thought, and he told himself he would look through his garden shed as soon as Merrill left.
-
Under the cover of the setting sun Anders carefully deposited the cardboard box in front of his neighbor’s gate and rang the little gate bell before dashing back into his yard and shutting the gate. He hurried into his house and rushed up the stairs so he could observe his neighbor from his upstairs window. He watched as the elf exited his home dressed in a thick black sweater and jeans. He was, Anders noted, barefoot, and he crossed the cold ground without flinching. He threw the gate open and seemed to hesitate for a long moment. Anders could not see his expression, but he watched as he bent down and retrieved the box.
He held the box in one arm, the box half balanced on his hip as he walked. He scanned through the packages in the box, brown paper bags marked with Anders’s scrawl. Seeds, Anders thought with some pride, all sorts of seeds he had collected and planted- cheerful flowers, mostly. Anders liked having a cheerful country garden. He had given his neighbor- Fenris, he told himself, his name is Fenris. Anders gave Fenris a bit of his own collection from his garden, a wild assortment of the flowers he loved to repay Fenris for the bulbs. Anders gave Fenris sunflowers and hollyhocks, chamomile and zinnias, lupines- anything he thought was sweet and lovely, Anders threw into the box. And though he could not see Fenris’s eyes (they were shaded by the fall of his bone white hair), Anders saw his lips curve up in a smile. And then Fenris looked up and gazed over the garden wall and up to Anders’s house. Anders waved a quick hello, even though most of his instincts told him to run and hide. And Fenris hesitantly raised his hand and waved back before retreating into the house with the box of seeds. Anders retreated downstairs to his kitchen and sat down at the breakfast nook. Maker help him, he waved to his neighbor, and his neighbor, his rival, the man he had never spoken a word to, waved back.
Maker help him.
-
Anders sat at his favorite coffee shop with a pad of grid paper on the table and a pencil in hand. He carefully plotted out his garden and the raised bed. He carefully plotted out his sitting area and flower garden. On the next sheet he started listing areas where he could plant his newest acquisition- the gladiolus bulbs. Somewhere where he could show them off, Anders decided. Visible from the front gate. He started circling potential areas on his garden map.
“Furrow your brows any more and they’ll get stuck like that, sweet thing.” A sultry voice murmured in his ear. Anders rolled his eyes. He could feel Isabela pressing against his back and shoulders as she embraced him from behind. He could smell her spicy perfume, cinnamon and clove and rum and vanilla- and she was soft and warm with a bit of muscle to her arms and strength to her embrace. Dependable Isabela, a flirt with a heart of gold. Anders gave her a light pat on her arm.
“Isabela.” Anders greeted the woman warmly and gestured to the empty seat in front of him. “Want to join me?” Isabela let go of him and came into view with her dramatic blue pea coat and wide brimmed felt hat. Anders always thought she should put a feather or two into it and bring them into fashion again.
“Are you drinking that over sugared filth again?” Isabela asked as she flopped into the plush seat of the bench in front of Anders and stared pointedly at his drink. Anders glanced over at his drink, a caramel whatever it was, and rolled his eyes again.
“You do it too, so don’t judge me and my life choices!” Anders retorted. Isabela snorted and removed her hat. Her hair spilled everywhere in dark curls, mussy and beautiful. She pointed to Anders’s notepad and scribbled out plans for his garden.
“More plotting?” Isabela teased. Anders nodded.
“Moved the pollinator flowers further away from the main path. Thought I’d be nice this year.” Anders explained, and Isabela chuckled.
“I didn’t mind. Hawke would cling to me when the bees were out, and I’ll admit it was nice.” Isabela said with a chuckle. “Very cute.”
“Mmmm. My neighbor gave me some bulbs. Gladiolus. A lot of varieties.” Anders said. “I gave him some seeds in return about… last week, I think? And this morning when I went outside I found a packet on my doorstep.”
“A packet?” Isabela’s eyebrows rose up to her hairline.
“All wrapped up in brown paper and a bit of twine.” Anders explained. “And when I opened it… he got me gloves, Isabela. Gardening gloves!” And they were perfect gardening gloves with thick padding at the palm and reinforced fingertips. His own work gloves were falling apart at the seams. The new gloves were perfect and exactly what he needed. How had Fenris known this was exactly what he needed? How did he know?
“That’s awfully nice of Fenris.” Isabela commented. “He’s always been a bit prickly, keeps to himself, you know. He must like you!”
“You know him?” Anders asked, his voice sounding more like a strangled squeak than his actual voice.
“He drinks at my bar.” Isabela replied airily, waving her hand in a vague sort of gesture. “Handsome as sin, with a voice like dark chocolate and red wine and- well, whatever decadent things you can think of.” She grinned and waggled her eyebrows lasciviously. Anders sighed and set his pencil down. He had wanted a rival, someone to compete against in his favorite hobby. But instead he forced this insane rivalry with a man who was not only considerate but apparently had a voice to die for and was unbearably handsome. Anders remembered that smile, that gleam of white in a dark face, and had to agree. From what he had seen, Fenris was handsome. And Anders was a fool who had decided to be his rival instead of his friend! Idiot.
“I’ll take your word for it.” Anders muttered.
“You haven’t talked to him?” Isabela asked.
“No, and it would be awkward now, wouldn’t it?” Anders said. “We’ve been neighbors for nearly a year now, it’s a little late for introductions.” And half the time Anders had glared suspiciously at Fenris from over the garden wall, so introducing himself now would be bizarre.
“But sending secret gifts is normal.” Isabela retorted. Anders shrugged.
“It’s just being polite.” Anders argued. A gift for a gift, and now Anders had to think of something- oh. He grinned and scribbled down a little note in the margins of his garden plan. Yes, Anders thought as his mind raced over brands and sizes and weather patterns. Yes, that would do nicely.
-
“You bought Fenris a hat.” Varric said flaty, leaning on Anders’s garden gate and staring at him with an unimpressed look. Anders, who was busy turning over earth for the gladiolus bulbs, returned Varric’s look with his own.
“Hello, Anders. Lovely day we’re having, Anders. The sky is blue and the city smells like spring instead of mud and sea damp, Anders.” Anders replied. “Much better than abrupt accusations, don’t you think?”
“Hello, Anders. You bought Fenris a straw hat, Anders. Didn’t realize you two were getting friendly, Anders.” Varric said easily. “Better?”
“Not really, but I don’t think you were trying all that much.” Anders sighed before taking off his (brand new!) gloves and stuffing them into the back pocket of his work jeans. He approached the gate and opened it. Varric stood on the sidewalk dressed in his usual finery, and Anders gestured for him to come inside. Varric shook his head.
“Nah, just stopping by for a chat, Blondie. Can’t stay long.” Varric said. “Thought I’d ask about this new friendship.”
“It’s a… gift exchange.” Anders explained. “He got me gloves when mine were worn down, I bought him a new straw hat. And how do you know Fenris?”
“He translates my work. He’s my main translator, really. Gets the tone I’m going for instead of doing literal translations. Lots of colorful Tevene curses, you know.” Varric said easily. “Can’t say I get it. If I were wooing someone I’d get them something a bit fancier than a straw hat!”
“I’m not- he’s not-” Anders stuttered, then huffed out an irritated puff of breath. “Varric, you are impossible! I’m just being polite!”
“Huh.” Varric made a casual observation of his nails, a deliberate movement that told Anders just how not-casual it was. Anders waited for Varric to speak, knowing that the dwarf had a penchant for dramatic timing.
“If you were polite you’d nod at each other. You go and deposit thoughtful gifts in front of his house.” Varric said. “Or you get Hawke to ferry things for you. I’m sure she won’t be willing to do that forever.”
“We’re just being neighborly.” Anders insisted, but he was no longer so certain of himself. Was he being pushy, handing unasked for gifts to his neighbor? Was it too much? Even after Varric shook his head and left, Anders sat down on his bench and thought about his actions regarding his neighbor. Was he going too far?
No, Anders decided. Fenris continued to drop off gifts in front of his home, and Anders returned the favor- more seeds (delphinium and poppies), more bulbs (tulips and daffodils), and few snippets of articles on growing vegetables and fanning trees along walls. And Fenris gave Anders gifts in return- stem cuttings from rose bushes, articles on root rot and animal safe ways to keep pests off plants, and dahlia root balls. Anders had learned, based on what he was getting, that Fenris seemed to prefer the romantic sort of flowers. He had also gotten papaya seeds, and Anders wondered how Fenris managed to grow papaya in Kirkwall’s climate. Sure, it was muggy and hot enough in the summer, but how did he keep them alive in the winter? Anders was curious. He wanted to go over and tour Fenris’s garden, let Fenris see his, and then they could talk and have a cup of tea or something and- no. Anders shook his head and stood up.
It was no use dreaming over possibilities, he told himself. And it was no use to push too much and too fast. He returned to dropping seeds in the planter beds and hoping that he got them in the ground at just the right time.
-
“Hello, Anders.” A man said politely from Anders’s garden gate. Anders grimaced and turned away from his watering to look at his visitor. He recognized that thick Starkhaven accent and overly polite manner, but Anders always held out hope that Hawke’s priest friend wasn’t stopping by for a chat.
“Oh. Sebastian.” Anders stated flatly. It wasn’t as if he hated Sebastian Vael, Anders thought. He just thought the man was a little too sanctimonious for his own good. Not everyone was a born-again Andrastian, and Anders wasn’t about to hear more sermons on Andraste’s great works that ignored her obvious mage status. Blasphemy, of course, but Anders was never one to follow the rules. It meant that he and Brother Sebastian Vael could never quite see eye to eye.
“I was visiting Fenris and thought I would drop by and say hello.” Sebastian added.
“Yeah, well, you said it.” Anders muttered. “Don’t have to trouble yourself any further, just watering my garden.”
“I wanted to speak to you about Fenris. Also, he asked that I give you this.” Sebastian held up a small cardboard box, and Anders reluctantly set his watering can down to approach the gate and look what was inside the box.
“Cacti!” Anders exclaimed before hastily gathering the box from Sebastian, his eyes greedily taking in the collection of little plants in various pots and containers. “Cacti and succulents! Oh, a Wintersend Cactus, and he got it blooming! And an aloe plant, those are good for sunburns-” Anders could have hugged each little plant in sheer joy, but instead he just cradled the box in his arms.
“I am glad to see that you appreciate his gift.” Sebastian said stiffly. “Fenris spent a good deal of time picking out ones from his collection he wanted to give you.”
Anders stroked the spine of aloe with a finger and smiled to himself. Fenris gave him cacti and succulents from his own collection! Anders had to return the favor somehow- and he knew how!
“Wait here, I’m getting something for Fenris.” Anders ordered Sebastian, and he hurried back to his house and walked into his dining room. It was a mostly unused room, because Anders dined alone with his cat on most occasions, but Anders had found another use for the large room with so much indirect sunlight. He had filled it to the brim with orchids.
Orchids were what truly started his love of gardening, Anders mused as he walked through the dining room and tried to pick out the plants in his collection he would be willing to part with. He was always responsible for taking care of the plants in the greenhouse of Kinloch Hold when he was a child, and when the Enchanters picked up on his skill in the garden he was given more challenging plants to care for. Orchids were finicky little things, and Anders lavished his care on them the way he never could with people.
It was dangerous to love people in the Circles. The system was designed to crush mages so that when they reached their majority they were too frightened to ever use their magic. Isolation was just one technique to keep young mages frightened and oppressed, and Anders was often isolated from his peers. But they could never stop him from taking care of plants. He poured his love into the plants, and he was always rewarded for his care.
Anders picked out three orchids from his collection, a comet orchid (Star of Andraste), a vanda orchid (Blue Monday), and a cattleya orchid (Crimson Cattleya). He carefully removed the cacti and succulents and placed his orchids in the cardboard box, then hastily scribbled a note with the words “Care Instructions to Come” on it. He tucked it into the box and hurried back outside.
“Here. For Fenris. A thank you for the cacti.” Anders said as he shoved the box into Sebastian’s arms. Sebastian gingerly took the box and gave Anders a considering look. It seemed as if he was inspecting him or something.
“You… care about Fenris, don’t you? Even though you haven’t talked.” Sebastian murmured, more to himself than to Anders.
“Of course I care! We’re-” Anders bit off his retort. He didn’t know what he and Fenris were, really. Anders just knew that he liked having someone around who understood gardening the way he did, who felt the earth and water and air in his bones. Fenris understood him, even if they hadn’t said a word to each other. Fenris noticed that his gloves were worn down and got him new ones. Fenris traded his romantic flowers for Anders’s cheerful ones. Fenris gave him cacti and an aloe plant from his personal collection because he thought Anders would like it!
And Anders returned each and every gesture with his own.
“I was going to warn you away from Fenris.” Sebastian confessed. “He’s a bit fragile, though his past is his own and I will not tell tales. But…”
“But?”
“You do care. You aren’t takin’ advantage.” Sebastian gave Anders a smile, a genuine sort of smile that didn’t seem forced or false and made Anders wonder if Sebastian was a decent man under the pretentious Andrastian lectures.
“Fenris is a good man. If he likes you, well... “ Sebastian shrugged. “I think you’ll treat him right. You’re a decent fellow, Anders.”
“You aren’t so bad yourself, Choir Boy.” Anders replied. “Get those orchids to Fenris right away, they hate the cold.” Sebastian seemed to find that amusing, as he chuckled and shook his head.
“They’ll be in the perfect home, then.” He remarked. “Goodbye, Anders.” He walked away from the gate and entered Fenris’s yard, and Anders hesitantly creeped over to the wall and tried to listen in. Though he couldn’t hear words (Sebastian and Fenris were talking in a low murmur), Anders thought he could recognize a pleased tone in the unfamiliar voice that rumbled after Sebastian spoke. Anders grinned and walked back to his watering can.
All in a day’s work, Anders thought.
-
Anders was shopping for green beans and sighing over the fact that his own crop would not be ready for many months yet when he nearly slammed into Aveline. It wasn’t like he would have hurt the woman. She was built like a tank. Maybe two tanks. Anders would have just bounced off her. But he still apologized for almost hitting her with his grocery cart. Aveline eyed his groceries and raised a single thin eyebrow.
“Are those…?”
“Hush. A man can indulge in powdered donuts if he so chooses!” Anders said, and he wondered what was more pathetic- the many cans of tuna and nug ham for Pounce or his random assortment of junk and healthy food.
“Powdered donuts and brussel sprouts.” Aveline remarked. “Healthy.”
“I still have vegetables I canned from last year.” Anders muttered. “I just don’t have brussel sprouts. I can’t seem to grow them”
“So you’re buying that and powdered donuts.” Aveline gave him a once over and shook her head. She was quiet for a moment, and Anders was just about to make his farewells when Aveline started and stared at him open mouthed, her green grey eyes wide with shock.
“You’re Fenris’s neighbor!” Aveline exclaimed. “You’re the one he’s been driving us batty about!” She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe- well, like she couldn’t believe something. Anders had no idea what.
“I should have known, I knew you lived around there and you’re mad about gardens, and I should have guessed- golden haired, can’t carry a tune in a bucket, tall and adorable-” Aveline said with a wry smile on her face. “Who else do I know who is blond, tall, and gardens?”
“Uh…” Anders just stared. Fenris talked about him? How did Aveline know Fenris? He didn’t even want to know. Aveline seemed to know everyone. Anders wondered if it was just something members of the Kirkwall Guard were supposed to know. Maybe guards had to know everything about everyone. And Fenris called him handsome?
“He talks about you all the time. Yesterday at the gym he was gushing over the orchids his- well, you- sent him.” Aveline said, and then she shrugged her strong shoulders. “At least, for Fenris it was gushing. He said more than three sentences in a row and was smiling the entire time.”
“Oh. Uh, well…”
“It’s good that you’re getting along. Fenris needs friends.” Aveline said, but she shook her head again. Her expression seemed rueful and a little bit sheepish.
“He’s a bit fussy, but he’s a good man. Fenris fretted for months over how to best court you, so when Hawke came by and mentioned that you kept staring at him fussing over his plants, he gave you the seeds.” Aveline added.
“Bulbs.” Anders corrected her. His voice was hoarse. Fenris was courting him? He was the one who gave Hawke the bulbs, but Anders had thought Hawke had asked for them as a gift! But no, Fenris had gladly given them to Hawke to give to Anders, and then Hawke asked Merrill to deliver them. It was a bit convoluted, but Anders’s heart still fluttered about somewhere up near his throat.
“Right, bulbs. Anders, Fenris is- well, I don’t want to say he’s difficult but…” Aveline seemed to be struggling for words, so Anders thought he’d spare her the effort and talk.
“Merrill mentioned that he’s a bit mage shy, and everyone seems to think that we won’t get on.” Anders said lightly. “But we’re both avid gardeners and have plenty of things in common.” How many articles did they swap? How many plants? Anders was losing count. They had been trading gifts for a few months now! Anders had even attached a little basket to the front of his gate for the presents!
“One shared hobby does not make a friendship. Or a romance.” Aveline retorted. Anders rolled his eyes, but he could not deny the truth in Aveline’s words. But it felt as if he truly understood Fenris. The plants he sent were colorful, dramatic, usually suited for warmer climates, and often romantic. He had a few fruits, figs and papayas, and he had just rigged up some sort of water feature in his yard. Anders could hear the burble of flowing water floating over the wall. Fenris wanted his garden to be an oasis, a calm place to relax, and Anders understood that need. They shared it.
Even when Aveline made her goodbyes and Anders finished his shopping and drove home, he considered the new revelations Aveline had given him. Fenris had been watching him for some time, just as Anders had watched Fenris. Fenris was eager to get to know him. Fenris found him attractive. Fenris was courting him.
And Anders was courting him back.
-
“Anders, I know it is last minute, but would you consider it? Please?” Bethany Hawke asked, blinking her big brown eyes up at him. Just like Hawke, Anders thought sourly. Ask for an enormous favor, but send the twins to handle it instead of do it herself! She knew that Anders couldn’t deny Bethany when she made a sad face and begged, and with Carver Hawke’s big blue eyes and gruff shyness Anders knew he was already a lost cause.
“Mum really wants the garden done.” Carver muttered. “And Marian’s talkin’ to Fenris about it, so we thought we’d talk to you and get started faster.” A pink flush was crawling up Carver’s neck, and Anders couldn’t help the little smile.
“Leandra has no idea what you three are planning, does she?” Anders asked.
“No.” Bethany said swiftly. “And we want it to be a surprise. She’s going to Ferelden to visit her cousin Revka Amell, and we want her to return and have a nice garden.”
“So you can’t breathe a word. Got it?” Carver added, glowering at Anders. It would almost be impressive, but Carver still had a little childish roundness to his face so it was more like a puppy trying to be intimidating than actually being so. Anders chuckled and raised his hands in defeat.
“I see why Hawke sent you two to convince me. Can’t get a word in when you both get started.” Anders remarked. “Of course I’ll help. Do you need to go next door and help your sister convince Fenris now?”
“No.” Bethany said airily. “She’ll say that we’re talking to you and he’ll jump on board.” And when Bethany gave him a little knowing smirk Anders felt himself flush. Carver saw the blush and pounced.
“Fenris has been dying to meet you. In his own weird Fenris way.” Carver said. “Lots of ‘I would like to see his garden’ and ‘I am curious about him.’ Which, when you translate it to normal speech-”
“He wants to take you to dinner and then jump your bones.” Bethany finished gleefully. Anders’s face heated, and he dropped his head into his hands.
“You’re both worse than your sister.” Anders groaned. “Humiliating an old man like me-”
“You’re not that old.” Carver grumbled.
“An ancient, feeble old man who can barely defend himself! You are both so cruel!” Anders declared, but when he finally recovered from his small humiliation he looked up and smiled at the twins.
“You two go and tell your sister that I’m more than willing to help draft a design and work on that garden so long as you pay for supplies.” Anders said. “I’ve been dying to get my hands on that plot of land for ages!”
“And Fenris?” Bethany asked.
“I’m more than happy to cooperate with Fenris. He has an eye for color and design in a garden.” Anders replied. “And you can tell him I said that.”
When the twins left, Anders started plotting. Not the garden, no. He would wait until he met with Fenris to discuss what should be done with the Hawke property. But Anders plotted how he would casually bump into Fenris, suggest a coffee date or that Fenris come for tea, invite him to tour his garden and talk about working together to help Hawke and her siblings, and then…
Well, if Anders was hoping to finagle a few kisses and a little more out of the meeting, it was only natural! He had been courting the man, after all! Anders absentmindedly gave Pounce a little rub between his ears when the cat jumped up on the table and purred at him. Yes, Anders thought, it would all work out perfectly!
-
“You seem happier as of late.” Justice stated. Anders looked up at his coworker at the clinic. The man practically lived here, working all hours to keep the clinic operational for those in need. While Anders was devoted to his work, he knew when to step back and let himself rest. Justice looked as if he was running on his last drops of energy.
“I suppose I am.” Anders replied as he washed his hands in the sink. “We’re doing flu shots today, aren’t we?”
“Yes. I had wondered at the change in your manner. You are more upbeat and smile more.” Justice’s bright blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he stared at Anders “You are plotting something.”
“Nothing malicious. Just thinking of the best way to woo my neighbor.” Anders said truthfully. Honesty was always the best policy with Justice. He found out everything about everyone and had a mind like a steel trap. He forgot nothing and always ferreted the truth out of someone through force of will alone.
“Ah. The elf with the pale tattoos. He also gardens.” Justice said. “Fenris.”
“You know him too?! Am I the only person who has never spoken with Fenris before?” Anders asked.
“Statistically speaking, there are-” Justice began to say, but Anders held up a hand.
“No, Justice, don’t even start.” Anders sighed. “It was a hypothetical question.” Justice patiently waited for Anders to continue speaking, even after the silence stretched beyond the point of an ordinary silence between thoughts and sentences.
“I… I’m interested in Fenris. I’m planning to romance him. He likes romance.” Anders said hesitantly. “At least, I think he likes romance.”
“I had thought you were already wooing him.” Justice said. “He said so.”
“I- Maker, I’m not going to ask how you know that.” Anders sighed. Justice shrugged his massive shoulders.
“He broke his toe and came in for treatment. I attended to his injury. We spoke about you.” Justice explained. “He was complimentary.”
“Ah.” Anders fell into silence and thought. Anders wondered at the whimsy of fate and how it was that everyone around him met and knew Fenris before he did, but somehow he was the one who had the greatest insight into his character and being. People described him as prickly, stern, brooding- and Anders saw the softness, the devotion, the care Fenris so clearly exhibited. Anders’s friends warned him that Fenris was difficult to know and had trouble opening up to others, but Anders read his actions as clearly as an open book.
“You should talk to him.” Justice said firmly. “You are being foolish, drawing out your meeting. Talk to him and take him to dinner.”
“I’m getting to that!” Anders grumbled. “I just have to plan it-”
“Excuses. Go. Take. Him. To. Dinner.” Justice repeated. “You are being unfair to him and yourself. And get the shots ready, the clinic opens soon.”
Anders rolled his eyes and obeyed, but the entire day Justice’s words rang through his head. He wondered if it was unfair to Fenris to be so cautious. He wondered if he could gather the courage to ask Fenris out. He wondered if Fenris would accept it.
And most of all, Anders hoped that he would.
-
“Hello, Anders.” A deep, unfamiliar voice called out from the garden gate. It was dark and sensual and filled with promise- like every decadent thing, Isabela had said. Anders, feeling self conscious and uncertain in his work jeans and t-shirt stained with dirt, turned to face the garden gate.
Fenris was lounging against the garden gate. Was it even possible to lounge on a vertical surface? Anders wouldn’t have thought so, but the best way to describe Fenris’s slouch was lounging. He may have been wearing a simple long sleeved shirt in a dark green and worn down jeans, but he looked as though he had stepped out of a fashion magazine. His bone white hair gleamed in the spring sunlight, and Anders didn’t know what to do. He had a dozen different plans on how to introduce himself to Fenris. He had none for if Fenris made the first move!
“Ah, hello!” Anders squeaked out. “Fenris. It’s, uh, nice to meet you. Face to face, that is. I feel like I know you already, everyone talks about you and all-” Anders knew he was rambling, but he just couldn’t stop himself! The words flowed out faster than he could control them, a bubbling brook of meaningless babbling that could not be contained!
“And I know so much about your gardening- the gladiolus bulbs have taken, you can see the sprouts already- and I’ve potted the rose clippings and the cacti are inside the house! I- are you laughing at me?” Anders asked. Fenris had raised one of his elegant hands to his mouth as if to hide his face, but he set it back down to rest on the gate.
“No.” Fenris said shortly, a small smile on his face. “Hawke told me you get chatty when you’re anxious.”
“I do. Get chatty. And I am anxious.” Anders confessed as he approached the garden gate. “I was planning to call on you and visit, but I could never get the courage up. Kind of weird to introduce myself now, isn’t it? We know each other and all our friends know us, it’s just…” Anders was going to say awkward, but Fenris shook his head before offering his hand out to Anders.
“My name is Fenris. I am from Minrathous and moved to Kirkwall last year. I work as a translator. I like to hike, read trashy romances, and drink wine. I’m an avid gardener and collect cacti.” Fenris said. Anders took Fenris’s hand and shook it. Fenris’s hand had callouses, just like his did. They were strong, just like his. And Fenris’s hand was warm.
“My name is Anders.” Anders croaked out, but he coughed to clear his throat and started again. “It’s a nickname but it’s what everyone calls me and I prefer it. I’m from Amaranthine and moved to Kirkwall three years ago for work. I’m a healer at the Warden clinic in Darktown. I like playing with my cat, organizing protests against the Knight Commander of the Kirkwall Templars, and I also like trashy romance novels. I love gardening and am especially proud of my kitchen garden.”
“I know.” Fenris said automatically. A flush spread across his cheeks and up to the tips of his ears, and he glanced away from Anders. His eyes were green, Anders realized, the green of olives and moss. Pretty eyes.
“That is, I assumed as much. Your tomatoes last season were impressive.” Fenris explained. “I wanted to introduce myself and ask you out for coffee. We can start planning our reclamation of the Hawke estate gardens together.”
“I was going to ask you the same thing!” Anders exclaimed brightly. “But I kept losing my nerve! Of course we can get coffee, just let me change into something a little less stained with dirt- won’t you come in?” Anders quickly let go of Fenris’s hand (and he already missed that warmth and steadiness!) to open the gate. Fenris gingerly stepped into the garden and looked around, his eyes taking in every structure and sprout coming to life.
“I have always wanted to see your garden, ever since I moved next door.” Fenris murmured. “It’s much more satisfying to see it as it was meant to be seen instead of an aerial view.”
“It will look even better once these sprouts have grown a bit.” Anders stated. “Maybe we can give each other tours? We are planning out Hawke’s gardens, it’s important to know each other’s style before we do something with that sad plot of land.”
“I think I’d like that.” Fenris said slowly. “So, coffee?”
“Hmmm. It’s a bit late for coffee.” Anders replied, looking up at the sun overhead. “How do you feel about lunch?”
“Even better.” Fenris said, and when Anders had changed into a clean shirt they left Anders’s home and walked down the street to a local cafe to eat sandwiches and discuss Hawke’s neglected garden. They walked and talked like the oldest of friends who had much to catch up on.
And if their hands brushed and caught and gripped tightly as they walked, that was only a small part of the catching up they had to do.