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Zevran shivered for a moment in the cool mountain air of Skyhold before gripping the Warden on the shoulder.
“Be safe mi amor” he said.
“I always am,” Zolas smiled.
Zevran shook his head, the last ten years told a different story, but they were both still alive so maybe there was some truth in those words.
He leaned in for a kiss, while leaving a few more vials of antidotes in the Warden’s pocket, one could never be too careful.
“I’ll be back soon,” Zolas said, trying to sound hopeful, despite them both knowing the Western Approach was at least a week’s ride away.
“And I will be waiting” Zevran smiled back, “I think there is plenty of trouble for me to get in to around here”
“Not too much trouble” Zolas poked him in the chest.
“Lelianna will protect me” Zevran winked at the Warden and got an eye roll in return.
Zolas gave him one quick last hug before he turned to heed the Inquisitor's call.
Zevran stood there for a while longer observing the coming and goings of Skyhold. All these people working together for the Inquisition, a far cry from the small camp the Warden had established with his allies. He was about to head back into the castle before a single word caught his attention.
“Watch out for yourself, kadan,” a voice said to his right.
Kadan. That was what Sten always called the Warden, but Sten had never said it with such care, such devotion. Zevran wondered what it could mean. He chanced glancing to the side, ah the Qunari mercenary Lelianna had mentioned. And even more strangely the Tevinter mage Zevran had seen in the library. Not that Zevran was a stranger to odd couples, but this one made even him do a double take.
Zevran took dinner with Lelianna, catching up on the adventures of the last ten years. They hadn’t been very close while helping the Warden, but over time, many letters and many favors they had become friends and confidants. He treasured her company, good friends were few and far between.
After dinner with Lelianna and the Warden gone, there wasn’t much for Zevran to do but the obvious, head for the nearest tavern.
The tavern was lively and loud as any good tavern should be, and even better had a stock of Antivian brandy. Zevran wondered if Lelianna had ordered a stock before he arrived or if the beautiful Antivan ambassador indulged in it herself. Either way he wasn’t one to complain. He looked around for a place to land and spotted the Qunari mercenary again, sitting by himself, but with the best view of the place.
“May I sit here?” he asked, wandering over toward the Qunari, giving him an appreciative look.
“Of course” the Qunari responded with a wave of his hand, “though you strike me as the type that wouldn’t have cared what my answer was”
Zevran laughed, “you would be correct my friend, Zevran at your service”
“The Iron Bull, emphasis on the The”
“Pleasure to meet you,” Zevran said, sitting down with his drink.
“You’re lucky you found a seat, if the boys were here you wouldn’t have a chance”
“The boys?” Zevran asked curiously.
“My mercenary crew, The Bull’s Chargers, they’re doing some cleanup work in Haven right now” The Iron Bull beamed with pride.
“Ah, Haven, quite a strange place then and now, terrible what happened though” Zevran shook his head and took a drink.
“You’d been there before?” Bull asked.
“Many years ago, we encountered a cult and a dragon, many many terrible things, but also I got to kill a lot of terrible people, so it wasn’t all bad” Zevran shrugged.
The Iron Bull laughed, “sounds like my kind of time”
They drank their drinks in silence for a few moments, Zevran started flipping a copper between his fingers on the table, enjoying the bard’s music.
“Let’s get it out of the way, you’re a Crow” The Iron Bull simply stated.
Zevran laughed and twirled the coin, “I must be losing my touch if I’m that obvious now”
The Iron Bull shifted in his seat, “I have a specific set of skills just like you”
Zevran had assumed as much, from the seat Bull had chosen, to the way he watched everyone when he thought no one was looking. Everything about him screamed spy if you were a well trained eye. Even so it took Zevran by surprise that the man admitted as much.
“Ah, my friend, I see you’re a spy but not a historian, I was a Crow, I consider myself disowned” Zevran replied.
“And you’re still alive?” Bull said incredulously.
Zevran winked, “Kill enough of one’s enemies and they get the point eventually”
Bull shook his head and raised his glass, “I’ll drink to that”
“And one could say you’re a spy,” Zevran continued.
The Iron Bull sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair, “I could say the same thing, I’m disowned now too”
“And you asked me how I’m still alive? Seems like I should be asking you. I don’t know who’s worse the Qunari or the Crows”
“It was the same answer, I dosed myself with antidote and killed the men sent to kill me” the Bull shrugged, “not that hard when you know all their tricks”
Zevran downed the rest of his brandy, old wounds made him thirsty.
“May I buy you another round?” he asked.
“Never going to turn down a free drink, though try not to poison it” Bull said, slowly blinking his eye.
“Did you just try to wink at me?” Zevran asked in disbelief.
“Hey you gotta work with what you’ve got. And it worked didn’t it?”
“Just for that I’ll buy you two rounds”
Zevran returned with the drinks, spinning and weaving around the other tavern guests determined to make him spill.
“I’m still getting used to it” said Bull after he had quickly drained one of the tankards of ale.
“Hmm?”
“Being disowned,” Bull replied, staring into the table.
“Ah, it is not an easy road my friend, but I suspect if you were in a similar position to what I was in, it is a better road, but incredibly more difficult”
The Iron Bull took a long drink from the other tankard and Zevran did the same. It seemed both old and new wounds made one thirsty.
“They expected me to choose between saving the Chargers or a full Qunari dreadnought”
“My lovers were involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the king and I was forced to kill them both” Zevran added.
“Fuck” they said in unison.
“You wanna get incredibly drunk?” The Bull asked, already getting up to head to the bar.
“Cheers to that my friend” Zevran lifted his glass in agreement.
Zevran groaned as the light streamed into his borrowed bedroom, he hadn’t drank that much in a very long time and in return had a roaring headache. He couldn’t complain too much, he was pretty sure he had beaten The Iron Bull at arm wrestling at least once, after that it got kinda fuzzy on what happened. He might have fallen up the stairs to his room too, that definitely happened. Even with the bruises he was sure Bull and him were going to be friends for life. His headache wore off as the day went on, and he had never had a good memory so back to Herald’s Rest he went that night.
Sure enough The Iron Bull was in the tavern again, looking no worse for wear as Zevran made his way over.
“Up for another round I see?” The Iron Bull asked.
“With you? Always,” Zevran winked.
The Iron Bull winked in his strange way back and slid a glass of brandy over to Zevran.
“Red told me you traveled with the Arishok?” he asked.
“Red?” Zevran replied, he knew many people that could be called Red.
“Lelianna”
“Ah, a fitting nickname, but yes we did, though I only know him as Sten. If we ever meet again, I think he would still be Sten” Zevran said wistfully. He missed Sten, honestly he missed almost everyone that had traveled with from time to time. Nothing like a Blight to bring people together.
“What was he like?”
“Strange, but I suppose we all were in a way, misfits from all over. It sounded like the beginning of a bad joke, you know, a Crow, a Qunari, and a Grey Warden walk into a bar. Not unlike the Inquisition as I’ve seen it now. But he was a good man, never backed down. I suppose that has made him a good Arishok”
“At least better than the last one,” Bull muttered.
“Though now that you bring up Sten, I do have a question about Qunlat”
“What about it?”
“What does kadan mean?” Zevran asked as innocently as he could manage.
“Where do you know that word from?” Bull stiffened immediately and Zevran knew he had hit something interesting.
“Kadan? Sten used to call the Warden that after the Warden found his sword, and I mayyyy have overheard you say it to the mage in the courtyard when he was leaving with the Inquisitor, but your use seem to have a very different meaning”
“Ah you heard that, did you?” Bull said. It was a strange thing to see a Qunari embarrassed, he was not sure if Sten had ever come close, but Zevran was definitely seeing it happen now.
“I was a Crow, remember? Always watching” Zevran tapped the side of his face.
“Are you going to buy us another round? Because I’m gonna need it” Bull sighed.
“Of course my friend”
Zevran quickly reappeared with another round of drinks and Bull nodded his thanks.
“Literally it means ‘my heart’ or ‘where the heart lies’ and usually you would say it for someone you hold a deep respect for, like a brother in arms” Bull stared intently at Zevran.
“Or someone who found the sword you required to not be killed when you arrive home, that’s what the Warden did” Zevran offered.
“Yes, they are someone deeply important to you or have done you a great service”
“Ah, which is why Sten called the Warden that, it was a sign of great respect. But you mean it more literally do you not?”
Bull narrowed his eye at him and didn’t answer.
“It is not a shameful thing to be in love my dear Bull”
“Under the Qun it is”
“And did you not say you were disowned?”
“I said I’m still getting used to it,” he replied gruffly.
“May I offer you some advice then? From one who found love under the wings of an archdemon?”
Bull nodded.
“Hold on to it tightly, for it is still love wherever it may come from, I for one never thought it a possibility, most certainly not during a Blight, and not from the man I was sent to kill” Zevran laughed at the memory. It had certainly been an unexpected ending to a bad job from the start.
“Try a mage from the country you’ve always been at war with”
“Ah yes, it does find us in the strangest places does it not?” Zevran focused on his brandy for a moment.
“Under the Qun there is no need for romantic love, we are a whole, but—I have been away for a long time now even before I was disowned—”
Zevran nodded sympathetically, “I never thought I would find love again after I left Antiva, and yet”
“Here we are”
“Does he know what kadan means, the mage?”
“Dorian? I think he knows its a term of endearment”
“But not its true meaning?” Zevran asked, raising his eyebrow at Bull.
“You really know how to stir up trouble don’t you Zevran” Bull leaned back against the wall.
“Besides being an assassin, love is my greatest gift, my friend. Tell me, does he call you something?”
“Amatus, which I assume has a similar meaning”
“But you’ve never asked?”
“I—okay, you’ve got me there Zevran”
Zevran laughed in delight at his victory, maybe there was hope for these two after all.
“Well how did you do it?” Bull asked intently.
“Do what?”
“Tell the Warden how you felt”
“Oh, now that is an embarrassing story” Zevran felt his cheeks heat up. It had been ten years and still the memory managed to make him blush.
Bull nodded to Zevran’s empty glass, “More brandy then to help you through it?”
“Please and thank you”
Bull made his way to the bar, as Zevran watched the way people watched him. It was strange to see people relaxed around a Qunari, much less one as large as The Iron Bull. He had endeared himself to these people and though it may have started off as a spy gig, Zevran could tell it was genuine. He really did care about the Inquisition and the people in it.
Zevran nodded along to the bard's song as Bull returned with their drinks, “So you want to know how I wooed the Warden, the so-called Hero of Ferelden?” Zevran started.
Bull nodded as Zevran drank with a dramatic flourish, “well first I instructed him in the art of the Antivian massage, though it sounds like you have also been successful in those endeavors”
“A little too fucking sucessful, I never sleep because you never bloody sleep” a voice called from above before a knife and a crude drawing landed in the table. Zevran could appreciate the fine craftsmanship on both accounts.
“Alway appreciated Sera!” Bull yelled back, “And that’s Sera, somehow I think you two would get along” Bull chuckled.
“So many interesting people to meet here” Zevran mused, “anyways, after a while I came to the realization that I was slowly falling in love again, and I tried to give him an earring I had kept for a long time, from my first contract.”
“What do you mean tried? Did a darkspawn steal it?” Bull nudged Zevran in the shoulder.
“Oh my friend that might have been better, I did give him my earring but then” he paused, “how does one say, I became afraid of being in love”
“And the Warden?”
“He was understandably confused by my sudden withdrawal, but once he convinced me that he felt the same way, well, you see us now”
The Iron Bull took a long drink, “more or less terrifying than the archdemon?”
“More, though at least the Warden could not crush me” Zevran said without a touch of sarcasm.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday Zevran” The Chargers were still not back from Haven so Bull and Zevran had the table to themselves.
“I said many things yesterday, you’ll have to remind me” Zevran gestured to his drink.
“About the earring”
“Ah and what about it?” Zevran asked curiously.
“There’s an old Qunari legend about killing a dragon and breaking its tooth in half, that way you are always with the person that has the other half” Bull said thoughtfully.
Zevran could tell immediately where this was going and his heart was full.
“So you’re going to invite this Dorian to a dragon hunt?”
“I’m going to invite the Inquisitor to a dragon hunt and strongly suggest Dorian comes along” Bull corrected him.
“You know I chose that word on purpose, kadan” Bull continued, “it felt like a freedom—to be able to choose what it meant, to use it for love”
“It is strange to be so full of love when no one wants you to have it. As an assassin they try to train it out of you, to be cold, heartless, can’t have Crows falling in love with their marks, we’d never get anywhere” Zevran remarked.
“Romantic love is not needed under the Qun and Tevinter is—”
“Tevinter” Zevran rolled his eyes, “the less said the better”
It was at that moment Varric appeared at their table with a deck of cards, a sack of coins and a challenge Zevran couldn’t turn down. He won of course, the game wasn’t about who had the best cards it was about who could cheat the best and Zevran knew he was the best. He knew all of Varric’s tells and despite being a spy, the Bull wasn’t very good at cards. Though most of the money went back into buying everyone drinks, which Zevran considered winning in its own way.
A week later The Chargers returned and Zevran found himself with more friends than he could count, and a week after that the Warden and the Inquisitor finally returned.
“How much trouble did you cause while I was gone?” Zolas asked as Zevran greeted him with a hug and a long kiss in the courtyard.
“Ah, just enough, though I may have signed you up for a dragon hunt while you were away”
Zevran’s gaze turned to the other part of the courtyard where The Iron Bull and Dorian were arguing, probably about the bandage on Dorian’s arm.
“I may have also done a tiny bit of matchmaking,” he added, throwing his arm over Zolas’ shoulder.
Zolas followed his gaze, “Those two? Really?” he asked in amazement.
“They remind me so much of us, ten years ago. New to love and bumbling over their own feelings, I found my assistance was needed”
“And that ended with me going on a dragon hunt?” Zolas asked disapprovingly.
“It is very important!” Zevran exclaimed, “I’ll let The Iron Bull explain the details to you”
Then Bull was waving Zevran over and Zevran did not miss the wide eyed stare Dorian fixed them with as he saw the way him and the Warden were standing together.
“Oh? Did you not mention me on the trip, mi amor?” Zevran teased Zolas as they walked over to the tavern together.
“Between the demons and the cultists personal relations didn’t really come up” Zolas muttered, his cheeks reddening.
“Then let us introduce ourselves properly” Zevran replied as they reached the door, “And then I will fill you in on all the excitement you missed, and you can tell me if you needed those extra antidotes or not”
“As long as you buy me a drink I’ll do anything” Zolas replied in earnest.
Zevran laughed as they entered the lively tavern. His love was back safely and he could rest easy once again.