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The Iron Bull leaned against one of the inn's walls. It was a good thing they were here for work, because as a night on the town, it was very boring. This crowd couldn't even come up with a good drinking song. It was as if they weren't even trying to act normal. That wasn't exactly a good sign. He didn't want to be too paranoid, but in his experience, any job that looked too easy was going to hit you some nasty surprise.
It didn't take long until he was proven right. Dorian swayed over to him, acting far too drunk considering the amount of beer Bull had seen him drinking.
"Upstairs. Now."
"Whatever you say, big guy."
He exaggerated his own swaying gait as he followed Dorian towards their room. They were definitely being watched, so it was better to play it safe. Neither of them dropped the act until the door was closed and locked behind them.
"What's wrong?" he asked then. "Tell me it's not some magic shit again."
"They drugged the drinks," said Dorian. "I think. This tastes odd, and not in the way Ferelden beer always does."
"Of course they did," Bull grumbled. "Is it poison? Do we need to get Stitches here?"
"It doesn't feel like poison. Then again, that might be the point, so we don't notice until it's too late. But surely someone who could do that would also be able to disguise the taste , and they very much didn't--"
"Dorian. You're rambling," he interrupted. "That's not like you. What's going on?"
"I'm not rambling, I'm just thinking aloud. I can't stop myself for some- oh. Oh, no."
"What do you mean 'oh no'?" Bull asked, alarmed. Dorian's expression promised nothing good.
"It's worse than poison," he said, "it's a truth potion."
"That is worse than poison," said Bull before he could stop himself. "I guess now we're sure they really were spies."
"And they must be getting away already," Dorian realized. "But we can't go back down there and spill all our secrets."
"If they try to escape, they'll meet Krem and the rest of the guys on the way. That's not the problem. I'm more worried about this truth thing."
And what a thing to say out loud, that was. Sure, it probably wasn't a surprise to Dorian. Neither of them was too fond of opening up and they both knew it, but it was nice to keep up a polite fiction about it.
"All right," he went on, mostly so he could give himself something - anything - else to focus on, "how do we handle this? Because sooner or later one of us is going to say something stupid."
"Yes, well, it's a little too late for that." Dorian had crossed his arms, and now he was glaring at a wall as if he wanted to set it on fire. Or, given the circumstances, perhaps he was making an effort not to do that. "Still, I suppose we can avoid making it worse. We should stay in different rooms tonight, until the effects wear off."
"Clever," said Bull. It looked like things might work out after all. And then, of course, his own mouth betrayed him. "That's why I love you."
There was a moment of silence that seemed to last an eternity. Then Dorian finally turned around to look at him.
"What."
"Hey, this is news to me, too." He raised his hands in a placating gesture. It was strange: he'd been worried that he might starting bringing up things about his past that he'd rather not talk or even think about. But this? He hadn't thought it was even a possibility. And now he could not stop babbling about it. "Sure, I like you, and I enjoy your company outside of sex, and you make me think some very corny thoughts, but I don't... I never really thought about being in love, you know. That's a thing that happens to other people."
"You need to stop talking. Right now."
Bull didn't actually manage to do that, but at least he could redirect his thoughts towards something else. With any luck, it would make Dorian look a little less alarmed.
"Don't overthink it," he said. "That's just how I feel. It's fine if you don't."
"No, it's not!" Dorian snapped. So, that had been the wrong thing to say, then. "And you can't just say that when you're on a truth potion, do you know how terrible that is?"
"I can't help saying it because of the truth potion," Bull pointed out. Then he looked to a side. "But I guess it is pretty bad, huh."
"It's the stupidest thing I've heard in a very long time, and that's saying a lot given the kind of people we work with," he huffed. "You're lucky I love you too, you big oaf."
"You... do?" That was a big enough surprise on its own, and then Bull realized something that made it even weirder. "You don't sound like you're just figuring this out."
"Well, of course not. I'm not an idiot."
"But you didn't say anything."
"Obviously. Then you'd know."
"You know, I don't understand you at all sometimes," Bull admitted. He wondered if his smile looked as goofy as it felt like. Judging from Dorian's face, it probably did. "It's part of the appeal, though. Keeps me on my toes-"
"Seriously, stop talking. I don't want to do this right now. Or ever."
"Well, we're gonna have to do it at some point." He shrugged. "But it can be now, or it can be when the truth potion isn't affecting us anymore. I say we pretend nothing happened and put both our mouths to better uses."
"I can't believe I find your awful jokes endearing," said Dorian. "So, yes, I would very much like to shut up now. Glad we have an understanding."
In spite of everything, Bull grinned again. He had a good feeling about the future.
"See," he said, "it's all going to work out."