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“Look, you sound really angry, ok? Just come over. Get out of that apartment and come over. Or do you want me go there? I can,” Anders shifted the phone and wiggled his free fingers at Pounce, wincing when the cat nabbed one with a claw. “Fenris, just come over here. You sound so upset.”
Sighing minutely as the phone went dead, Anders glanced over at Pounce, “He sounds so cranky, Pounce. Think cookies would help?”
Pounce’s response was to roll to her back and flick her tail, giving Anders a short mrrp.
“Cookies,” Anders decided, standing. “Cookies make everything better.”
***
The holidays were fast approaching. The end of the fall semester was nearing; finals were causing all kinds of work pile-ups, and then it would be Wintermarch break. As the semester’s end grew closer, Fenris grew more waspish – something eating at him. Anders hoped it wasn’t him…they had been dating for close to four months now and he had thought everything was going well.
His mind worried over his boyfriend, school, his job, and those applications for med school – all while his hands mixed and stirred up a batch of chocolate chunk cookies. Maybe it was First Day. Some people just weren’t big into holidays. Maybe Fenris was worried Anders expected a big to-do. Maybe he was trying to find a way to break up.
All of the worrying was enough to almost put him off eating the cookie dough. Almost.
The knock on the door interrupted both his thoughts and his cookie-dough nibbling. “It’s open,” he yelled from the kitchen, quickly putting the spoon back into the dough and wiping bits of chocolate off his lips.
The sound of the door closing and a “hey Pounce” preceded Fenris’ appearance, the man slouching across the apartment and into the kitchen. Morose green eyes were turned up to meet Anders’ honey-brown, a dejected sigh puffing from the upset looking man.
“Fenris?” Anders shifted and then moved forward, wrapping arms around his boyfriend. “You look sad. You’ve been so upset. Can we talk about it?”
“Shit,” was the response. Fenris wrapped his arms around Anders and squeezed. “You noticed.”
“How could I not? You’ve been a ball of brooding for two weeks now. I didn’t want to push but…” Anders jolted as the kitchen timer let out a loud buzz. “Let me pull these out.”
Chocolate and vanilla wafted through the air as the cookies were pulled from the oven and transferred to a waiting rack. Fenris leaned against the counter and watched Anders fuss, his lips quirking up as he finally realized his boyfriend was a in an apron: a bright blue one covered in cat faces with the word “Miaaoo” in big red letters swirling over the fuzzy faces.
“Nice apron,” He reached out and grabbed one tie, yanking slightly. “Domestic.”
“Saves my clothes from the flour. Plus, Pounce approves of the subject matter,” Anders shot him a grin. “So…want to talk about it?”
“Not much to talk about. Hawke’s little brother is transferring from the University at Denerim. Wants to go into the military and Kirkwall has a good ROTC program. The kid doesn’t want to go in enlisted.” Fenris reached for a cookie and hissed when his hand was slapped. “Dammit, those smell good.”
“They need to cool, you can wait. So what’s the big deal?” Anders asked, grinning when Fenris growled.
“Carver’s moving in. I have met him and he is an ass. Loud, likes to party…messy,” Fenris gave the cookies a look of pure longing and turned puppy eyes on his boyfriend. “I cannot afford to move out on my own…”
Anders sighed dramatically and handed Fenris one cookie. Watching as the cookie disappeared in two bites, he twitched his nose and wondered if he dared make the suggestion. “I…I may be able to help…”
“Mm?” There was chocolate on the corner of Fenris’ mouth and a gleam in his eye. He arched a single eyebrow at Anders and then rushed him, pinning him to the counter and reaching around to grab another cookie. “Yeah?”
Breathless laughter exploded from Anders, “Yeah. Move in with me and Merrill.”
The hand holding the cookie stopped - the melty-chocolaty-gooey-goodness hanging just in front of Fenris’ gaping mouth. “Wha?”
“Move in with me. With Merrill and I. She spends every weekend with Isabella. And when she’s home she’s pretty quiet. My room’s big enough to fit my stuff and your stuff. Pounce actually puts up with you…and…you’d be closer to campus…” Anders tried to think of other positives to list. “You could have cookies more…and my other cooking…um. Oh! And snuggling!”
Slowly laying the cookie on the counter, Fenris moved his hands to grip Anders’ shoulders. “You would be ok with me here? All the time? Sleeping next to you…”
“Maker yes!” Anders blinked in confusion. “Why wouldn’t I be alright with that? I love you for…Maker’s…sake…”
Silence. Breathless silence as both men stared at each other. Anders twitched and then lifted a hand, brushed fingers over and down sharp cheekbones. “I love you.”
The surprise morphed slowly into a full smile, green eyes lighting up, “I, rather, love you too.” Fenris covered Anders’ hand with his. “Can we negotiate on where Pounce sleeps? He has a tendency to perch on my ass.”
“Mm…I think we can manage that, yes,” Giddy happiness was in each word. “How soon?”
“First day of break. I’ll move in the first day of break. That’s not but a few weeks away.” Fenris tugged Anders closer and nuzzled against his neck. “We really doing this?”
“Yeah…yeah we are,” Anders exhaled and tilted his head back.
“Will Merrill care?” Fenris placed one, careful bite, making Anders shiver.
“No…no she won’t,” Anders inhaled. “My bedroom?”
“Our bedroom,” Fenris growled.
Stepping back, Fenris grabbed one hand and stopped. “Grab the cookie dough. I have ideas…”
Laughter trailed from the kitchen and across the apartment. Pounce watched the bedroom door slam shut, gave the cat equivalent of a shrug, and went to sit on the still-warm cookies.