Chapter Text
It was a busy day in the clinic. There was a bit of an influenza epidemic running rampant in Darktown, and Anders had his work cut out for him. Olivia watched as he healed patient after patient, his face set in concentration, tendrils of blue magic pouring out from his hands. As much as she hated to see people sick, she was glad for the distraction it provided. Healing was something that kept him in one of his better moods.
He caught her staring and smirked at her, sending his newly healed patient off so he could take care of another one. For a brief moment, electricity danced between his fingertips, and he suggestively waggled his eyebrows at her.
"You’ll get your turn later, sweetheart," he said, and Olivia laughed, rolling her eyes at him.
"You should pay attention to your patients," she playfully chided, gesturing to the young woman who had settled herself onto his examination table.
"And you should pay attention to your potions," he shot back, beginning to heal the woman. "We don’t need a repeat of last week. That poor boy had the runs for three days straight."
"Oh, Maker, don’t remind me," she groaned. She felt horrible for accidentally screwing up that potion, and she’d apologized to the boy repeatedly.
"You’ll never live it down, love." Anders shot her one last smile before fully focusing his attention on his patient.
She shook her head and waited for him to finish before shooting a spark of electricity right at his behind. He jumped in surprise, his hand darting back to cover where she'd hit him. Olivia quickly returned to her potions, suppressing a giggle and pretending to be innocent. It was her turn to be surprised when he stepped up behind her and pressed his lips to her neck. She sighed contently at the tender kiss, enjoying the way his stubble softly rubbed against her skin.
And then he zapped her right back.
Olivia jerked away from the little burst of electricity, turning around and shoving him in the chest. "You are such a tease."
"You started it."
"Just get back to work," she said.
"As you wish, oh, mighty Champion," Anders replied with a mock bow. He smirked at her again, and she softly smiled back at him. It was good to see him happy like this. Maker knows he deserved it.
Both mages got back to their work. Patients flocked into the clinic sick and left healed, with the bonus of a potion to help keep them that way. The rest of the day flew by quickly, and soon enough the last of the patients trickled out of the clinic, leaving them to clean up and close for the night.
Olivia was putting away various medicinal plants and other ingredients, when a lone man walked into the clinic, looking around for Anders. She recognized the man as one of his contacts in the mage underground, and gestured towards where Anders was. The man quickly nodded at her before going to discuss whatever it was he was there about.
She didn't bother trying to eavesdrop; Anders would tell her what was going on if it pertained to her. After he decided to get involved with the mage revolution again, she'd demanded he let her help. She needed something to do instead of lying in bed alone while he was out traipsing all over Kirkwall to save mages. He'd refused, said that it was too dangerous, but she pressed the issue and finally got him to cave in. His only stipulation was that she only involve herself with the actual rescuing of mages, leaving all dealings with the mage underground's contacts and connections to him. He wanted to keep her from that world as much as possible, again, for her safety. She wanted to be a part of everything, but she saw how serious he was when he spoke of the dangers it would place her in. So she agreed to his terms—and thus "date night" was born.
Anders approached her as his contact left, stepping up to her and placing his hands on either side of the table she was leaning back against.
"So, is tonight date night or not?" she asked, looking up at him expectantly.
He let out a light laugh. "If you're interested…"
Olivia scoffed and shot him a wry grin. "If I'm interested. You should know the answer to that." She stood up straight, loosely draping her arms around his neck, his arms wrapping around her waist. "Freeing mages and maybe even taking out a templar or two… it's so romantic… and exciting! It really gets the blood going, you know?"
"You're absolutely mad."
"You know you love it," she said, and he shook his head, trying not to smile. "Besides, you'd be lying if you said you didn't enjoy taking out templars."
"It's one of the best parts of date night," Anders replied.
Olivia laughed. "Yes it is." She pressed her lips to his, and he pulled her body flush to his as he deepened the kiss. When they broke apart, he rested his forehead against hers, and she smiled as he gently nuzzled her face with his. "We should prepare," she murmured, even though she didn't want their little moment to end. Once they helped the mages they'd have time for more sweet stuff—another bonus of date night.
Anders nodded and released his grip on her. He held out his hand and she took it, lacing their fingers together as they left the clinic. They had a date to get to.