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It takes Tabris almost three months of dating Alistair to convince him to invite her to his house.
It sounds bad, but it's actually worked out pretty well. Alistair is always welcome at her house, and he's started making friends with her cousins. Her father asks after him if he doesn't come by for dinner at least twice a week. Given how important her family is to Tabris, this is a very good thing.
But the whole house is a one-floor shoebox filled with Tabris' relatives. She shares her bedroom with Shianni. Their futon has long since gone from being a couch to being Soris' bed-in-the-living-room. Her dog follows her around the house. There's no privacy anywhere. She's so tired of making out for five minutes only to be interrupted by a school bell, or the dog leaping onto her bed, or her cousins getting home.
She is a horny teenager and she has a willing, hot as hell boyfriend. It's almost criminal not to figure out a time and place to get her hands all over him.
So she was very into the idea that his family was out for the night at some kind of school interview for Connor. Alistair had seemed nervous about inviting her over. At first she'd thought it was an extension of his embarrassment over popping a boner when they were cuddling the last time they hung out, but it seems to go past that.
Maybe if he knew she goes from zero to soaked panties when his breath brushes against her ear during a hug he'd be less embarrassed about that boner.
Alistair's aunt and uncle live in one of those houses that's just big enough to border on being called a mansion. From the outside, Tabris can tell they have three floors, and somebody is probably paid to take care of the garden and lawn. If that's what Alistair is worried about, he's freaking out over nothing. Tabris has known his family has money since before they were even friends.
She gets her first real hint of the actual problem when they're taking off their shoes.
“We can hang out in the living room, the, uh, the TV's pretty great!” Alistair says, laughing in a way that isn't quite genuine. Tabris decides to cut straight to the chase. She grins, letting her expression morph into a promise.
“I don't feel like watching TV, Al.”
It takes a moment for Alistair to put two and two together, but the reaction when he does is glorious. He has this expression he always makes when she expresses physical interest in him-- a sort of compulsive shy-but-pleased little smile that makes him look like a hopeful puppy. It makes her want to pin him to the nearest solid surface and rub against him until he comes in his pants.
It's probably best that she doesn't actually say that to him. He'd probably lose the power of speech for at least two minutes. But damn, it's a nice thought.
“Show me your bedroom?” Tabris asks, a little bit flirtatious but not too sexual. If he doesn't want to go farther than they've gone already, she's cool with that.
She thinks, for a moment, that she's laid it on too thick and made him uncomfortable; he's gone all stiff and silent. She waits to see if he'll start talking, but he doesn't. She gently sets a hand on his arm.
“If you don't want to make out, that's cool. We can watch a movie.”
And then he looks at her, and his expression is downright fragile. It starts a cold little trickle of dread in her stomach.
“Alistair?”
“So, uh. I don't actually... have a bedroom? I kinda. Sleep in the basement,” He admits, not meeting her eye. He sounds a little bit defensive, like he's explaining some weird hobby instead of something horrifying.
“Please tell me you have one of those basements with the carpeting and slightly beat up couches and not the kind full of mice and damp cardboard boxes.”
Alistair attempts a sheepish smile but it doesn't meet his eyes. He looks embarrassed and uncomfortable. The cold trickle of dread catches fire and Tabris swallows hard on the rage bubbling in her gut.
“Show me,” It's barely a request, almost an order, and she regrets her tone when Alistair winces. He's already started walking when she reaches out and entwines their fingers, stopping him mid-step.
“Hey,” Tabris murmurs, unsure what else to say. She can see the hesitation in Alistair's body language, and she gives him a worried little smile.
“Before you show me... Is this why you didn't want to hang out here?” She asks, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. Alistair sighs and nods.
“I had a few friends over when I was little. They... weren't exactly impressed,” He tells her, and Tabris pushes up on her toes to kiss him. She can't quite make it to his mouth, but planting a kiss on his chin does make him smile. It melts something in his eyes, and in the back of her mind, she remembers one of her unspoken theories about Alistair-- that he thinks it's really cute that she's so much shorter.
“Already impressed, sweetheart. Even after the vending machine incident,” She says, sounding grumpy even to her own ears. Alistair laughs sincerely at that, and tilts his head down just enough to kiss her on the nose. She frowns up at him.
“How about this. I'll drop it until tomorrow. We'll go make out or cuddle or whatever, and then tomorrow, we are talking about the fact that you live in the goddamn basement.”
She can see Alistair hesitate a little, processing the offer. Then he nods.
“I can work with that,” He says with a little smile. Still holding her hand, he guides her to the basement door.
They have to let go of one another to go down the stairs safely. The basement is actually somewhat of a surprise, once Alistair pulls the cord to turn on the light. The cardboard boxes are definitely there, but Alistair has clearly made it his own.
The boxes have been arranged to make a little nook in the corner like walls. They close off the vastness of the musty room to surround what is clearly Alistair's 'bedroom'. It's weirdly placed, not in a corner or in the exact center, probably set up around the hanging lightbulb that lights the space. There's a twin bed with a cheap frame and a stack of comic books next to it. He has a laundry basket but his clothes are strewn all over the floor like a makeshift carpet. There's an orange industrial power strip that attaches to cords for Alistair's laptop and phone charger.
“Well, now I understand why your internet connection sucks so--” She starts, intending to make a joke to avoid getting upset, right up until she notices the decorations on the cardboard boxes serving as walls. A Worlds of Thedas poster, a bunch of stickers that look like they've seen better days and, most importantly, three pictures of her, taped up right next to the bed.
In one of them, she's grinning stupidly, showing off a new haircut by literally pointing at it. In another, she's sitting on the hood of Zevran's shitty car in her burger king uniform and sticking her tongue out. The last one is her laughing with Alistair kissing her cheek-- she recognizes that one from his phone background.
When she turns to look at him, he's smiling sheepishly.
“I, uh. Hope you don't mind.”
“Do I mind? That's so cute, holy shit. Kiss me right this instant,” She says, laughing and holding out her arms for a hug. She can actually see the tension flow out of Alistair's shoulders, and when he wraps his arms around her, she sighs happily.
And then he kisses her, a little bit rough around the edges from lack of practice but so needy that it sends a shock of desire up her spine anyways. She moans delightedly into his mouth and feels him shiver against her.
She tugs him with her towards the bed. He goes willingly.
Tabris knows exactly the mood that Alistair is in right now; when he gets anxious, he gets desperate for physical affection. Sometimes it creates a feedback loop when the thing he's anxious about is wanting the physical affection in the first place, and all Tabris can really do is try to keep up.
She flops onto her back on the bed, pulling him along with her. He makes a little 'oof' noise as they fall together, and she giggles when his weight comes down on top of her.
“You ever think about having me down here?” She asks, kissing his neck. Her tone is playful but Alistair still looks nervous, which was not her intention.
“Um. Is it alright if I do?” He asks, and Tabris snorts.
“I think you severely underestimate how into you I am,” She says with a laugh. Before he can reply, she presses her mouth to his again. There's something deeply rewarding about the way his eyelids flutter before he closes them.
“You want to take a nap before we talk about all of this?”
Alistair nods. Tabris snuggles in close and gets comfortable.
"Love you," He mumbles into her hair, and Tabris can't keep a lid on her smile. She hides it in his chest.
"Right back at you, sweetheart."
She's definitely going to have a lot to say about Alistair's aunt and uncle making him sleep in the basement, but right now?
There's nowhere she'd rather be.