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Anders sighs, leaning into the gentle touch of Garrett's hands. Thick, callused fingers massage his scalp, avoiding the bruising along the right side of his face. The bath turns red as Garrett rinses the blood from Anders' hair. “Thank you.”
“Don't!” Garrett almost yells it, dropping his hands away. “Don't...I'm sorry.” The last is so quiet Anders can barely catch it. “I...I shouldn't have let you go alone. If I'd been there-”
“Shh. You got there. You saved me.” Anders lifts a hand to caress Garrett's cheek, biting back a groan as his arm throbs. Garrett had done his best to heal his injuries, but he will still need a lot of time. He doesn't have the heart to tell Garrett the worst of it. Carver. Carver had been the one to point him out to the other Templars. Carver had been the first to throw a blow. Carver had fled soon after, upon realizing what he'd unleashed.
Garrett leans in to brush his lips against Anders' forehead before returning to his task. “I'm not leaving you alone again. If I leave you alone in a room in this house, Dog will always be guarding you. I won't lose you.”
Anders stays quiet, eyes wet.
Garrett finishes with Anders' hair, picking up a towel and wetting it in the bath before beginning to wash the rest of Anders' body. He's slow and tender, fighting back tears the entire time. When he's finished, he starts again, as if he's trying to wash away all the signs of the Templars' abuses.
Anders has to stop his lover, catching his callused hand in his bruised and broken ones. “Garrett, stop.”
Garrett looks up for the first time in a long while, eyes haunted. “But-”
“I'm clean. I need rest. Help me to bed?”
“Yes, of course.” Garrett reaches for the towel, gently lifting Anders out of the bath, patting him dry before carrying him to bed. “I'm just going to empty this tub and get a little bit of fresh water for me and then I'll join you, alright?”
“Yes.”
Garrett whistles and his big brown mabari comes charging up the steps. Looking into the dog's eyes, Garrett orders, “If anyone comes into this room while I'm gone, kill them.”
Dog growls and curls up at the foot of the bed, on full alert.
“Good boy.” With that, Garrett rushes through dumping out the tub, before getting a bucket of water for himself. He bathes quickly, rinsing off the blood of the Templars and of his lover. He towels himself dry and then he's crawling under the sheets, afraid to pull Anders close for fear of hurting him. Minutes pass and he's about to ask when- Anders is shaking.
“Please hold me? I don't care if it hurts- I need to feel you. Please.” And then he's crying, but Garrett cradles him close, as tightly as he dares.
“I've got you, love. I've got you.”
But Anders cries until he's too exhausted, drifting off in the safety of Garrett's arms.
Garrett doesn't sleep, soothing Anders each time his dreams turn dark, and silently swearing to himself and to Anders that he'll catch every single bastard that did this, that has ever had thoughts of doing this, to Anders and to any mage.