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Normally, it would be Dorian who was tucked away in the corner of the library. His nose would be buried in a book, trying his best to find Corypheus’ name — and on certain days, when hours trickled by, and The Iron Bull was out training with the chargers, Dorian would watch. Of course, he’d never tell anyone that. Just as the Iron Bull would never tell Dorian he knew; that would only stop him and even though Bull should have told him to stop, he slowly began to realise he didn’t want him to.
But today was different, Skyhold was quieter than normal, even with the Inquisitor around. It was one of the nicer days, well as nice as it could get in Skyhold, and it seemedpeople were taking advantage of that. Even Dorian was making use of the sun, as when Bull made his way past Solas and into the library, the spot Dorian normally vacated was empty. Normally, this would cause The Iron Bull too worry, Dorian always had a schedule, hardly ever broke it—
Then his eye fell upon the window, gazing outside, you could see the whole courtyard from here. It was busy, people mingling, buying items and selling them. Despite that, however, there were only a few of the inner circle out there. Cassandra was by the practice dummies, hacking away at it with her sword, and he could vaguely see Sera as she ran through, her figure a blur. Scanning the courtyard for a minute or so, he finally found Dorian. If anything, he expected him to be fussing over something with Vivenne, like the poor wine choice they had. He wasn’t, instead however, he was with the Inquisitor.
Bull knew they became fast friends. He didn’t know how or why, but they had just clicked instantly. If Dorian wasn’t having a drink with Bull or his chargers, which he seemed to do more regularly now, he was with the Inquisitor. The Bull watched from the library window for the moment, keen to know what they were doing. It didn’t take long for the two to start, and Bull knew a moment later they were sparring. Strangely enough, Bull had not seen Dorian actually spar with someone before. He had of course seen him fighting, as they had fought and killed Venatori and Templars before. Anything else, however? Either Dorian didn’t do it often, or Bull hadn’t seen him do it before. The first option was the more likely one.
As they circled each other, Bull noted that magic seemed to be out of the question for this round. Though Dorian had an advantage with magic, this wasn’t a real life situation. He had no need for magic — only the weapons they had both dawned on themselves before entering the ring. Dorian had his staff, as even if he could not use it for spellcasting, with the right amount of force, it was still useful. The Inquisitor was with her daggers, spinning them around her fingers as the two continued to walk in circles around each other.
The Inquisitor was the first to strike, though unsuccessful as Dorian used his staff to block the attack from above. With ease, Dorian had stepped away, and with what looked like a well practiced move, he had managed to move his staff to hit the back of the Inquisitor’s legs, causing her to topple over and onto the floor. A small smirk had flickered onto Dorian’s lips — he was satisfied with himself, though it only lasted a fleeting moment before the Inquisitor was up again. This went on for a while, the two dancing around each other, learning each other’s moves, trying to figure out what the other's next could be. The sun was beating down on them, and even from afar, Bull could see the sweat begin to build on Dorian’s olive skin. Dorian hadn’t sweat before (at least not outside the bedroom), as the places they travelled were too cold to, even if you were walking for hours upon hours and fighting every demon you saw. Bull couldn’t help but enjoy the view of him. He understood now why Dorian couldn’t help but peek out the window, it was, after all, fun to appreciate the other.
The Bull didn’t know how much longer the fight had gone on, as he began to watch, the minutes slowly drizzled away, and Bull couldn’t pull his eye away from the fight. He might as well see who wins, he told himself, it’s only fair. He also thought it would be great teasing material for the next time he saw Dorian if he lost to the Inquisitor. From what Bull could see, although it was close, it looked like Dorian was going to lose. He had begun to miss a few more hits, although he had still managed to get out of the way of the majority of hits the Inquisitor threw back. It was getting tense now, any moment now, someone was going to win.
It seemed Dorian was full of surprises, as just when it seemed the Inquisitor had the upper hand, the mage had striked out at her calf, making her lose balance and topple over. Before she could stand again, Dorian was already on her, staff pressed across her neck. They sat there for a moment, Dorian on top of the Inquisitor with another one of his smirks. This time, though, Bull couldn’t help but smile along with Dorian. The big guy had actually done it, despite the small doubt from Bull. It looked like the Inquisitor had finally tapped out, allowing Dorian his victory. As the mage got up off the Inquisitor, and helped her up, he had turned his head. Back towards the library, probably out of habit — though when Dorian and him locked eyes, he perhaps thought Dorian felt someone watching him.
For the few moments they stared at one another, it felt like an eternity. Bull would not look away, after all, it would just make Dorian more smug than he already was. Bull thought that even just the idea that Bull had watched the fight would make Dorian more cocky, however instead of looking at the Bull in amused disapproval, he smiled at him. An actual smile, that showed off his teeth. Bull felt his heart flutter, then a moment later the dread had settled in as realisation suddenly came upon him. He loved Dorian—
“You think he’s beautiful.” Bull actually jumped, he hated that even with the amount of spy training he had, the damn kid, Cole could still sneak up on him, “You look at him now, the smile, the messed up hair and clothes and think he’s one of the most beautiful things you’ve seen.” Bull hated how Cole was right, how he could pluck a thought out of his mind so easily. How he couldn’t deny it, because it was his own thoughts.
“Everyone thinks he’s beautiful.” It was the best he could muster up at the suddenness of his thoughts being said aloud. It was true, Dorian was beautiful, he had men pursue him before The Bull had. For a moment, Cole and him had lingered in silence before the kid had finally spoken up.
“No,” Cole pursed his lips, as if he was thinking for a moment. Bull assumed he was, his mind, after all, must be hectic, with everyone’s thoughts running through them daily, “They think he’s handsome, hot, good-looking. I can’t explain it, but that is different from beautiful.” Bull thought he might have understood, but the look on Cole’s face made him unsure if he actually would, “Most men just want to sleep with him.”
“I sleep with him.”
There was a nod of agreement from Cole, before he spoke again, “Yes. You do. But some men would only sleep with him once. Then throw him aside.” Cole's eyes casted down sadly to Dorian, who was now wiping his forehead with a cloth, “It’s okay. He’s used to it.”
Bull felt a pang of pain at the statement, and he turned away from Cole to once again watch Dorian, who was now laughing softly with the Inquisitor. He seemed happy, happier than he was when he first joined the Inquisition.
“He is happy.” Cole confirmed, after a long moment of silence, “He’s happy with you, too.” A moment passed, and Bull’s mouth opened, went to argue against what Cole had said, but the kid had interrupted before he could, “You love him.” It wasn’t a question, and Cole left no room for argument, “You love him, and that scares you.” Another silence that felt like a lifetime, but Bull could not find the words to say anything. He just waited for Cole to speak again, which he did.
“And that’s okay, The Iron Bull. Sometimes love can be scary. It’s not like a fight, it’s not something you can just tackle or swing your axe at. Love is soft. Sometimes, softness is okay.”
Bull’s mind was racing, but when he had finally found what he thought was a suitable response, he turned and Cole was gone. Of course he was, the kid always left them alone to mull over what he had just said, to really think about it.
Shit, Bull was in love with Dorian.