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Alistair was breathing heavily as he finally sat down on the fallen tree, eyeing the bodies in front of them. He was almost bitten, but no fangs could pierce through his armor nor his shield. The shield in question was covered in blood and Alistair lowered it to the ground. It could lean on the log for a while now as he tried to catch his breath.
"Quite a show you put on", a cheery voice said near him. He felt the log shift only a little as the assassin sat on it. The elf had been increasingly nicer to him after Morrigan's harsh words at Redcliffe, and recently he had sought Alistair for small-talk. Alistair noticed he quite liked the attention Zevran was giving him. The fact made him nervous.
"Truly?" he muttered back, still avoiding longer words to not sound like he was dying. The humid air in the forest together with his heavy armor and the rush of the battle made him exhausted, but he didn't want to seem that weak in front of Zevran who was barely out of breath.
Zevran nodded in return and pulled his other leg on the log with him, leaning on his thighs. He was smiling as he usually was. "Truly. A fine man such as yourself, throwing a mighty sword around, slaying our enemies in a blink of an eye! How could I not enjoy such a view?"
Alistair felt his face turn hot- again. Sure, it could be just from the exhaustion, but Zevran seemed to know it was his doing, and his smirk grew wider.
"Ah, well... Thanks", Alistair muttered back and turned his gaze down as he grew silent. Looking at the dead werewolves made him feel somehow sad. He had lived in kennels and spent most of his childhood with dogs. Killing wolves felt wrong, but then again he did what his fellow warden told him to do. And what his insticts told him to do. And when a mean-looking angry wolf came at you with its mouth open, you could only protect yourself and your friends.
Still, it made him feel bad.
Zevran's voice brought him back from his thoughts. "I also wish to thank you."
Huh? "Thank me?" Alistair straightened his back and turned to look at Zevran. He was leaning his other cheek on his hand, his other hand toying with his throwing daggers, whipping them around. Was he trying to show off? What was he thanking him for?
"For protecting me", he said, his voice surprisingly sincere. "For it wasn't for your shield, I would certainly be dead or at least turning into a similar creature."
Alistair kept looking at Zevran's eyes as if looking for signs of him being made fun of.
Zevran seemed to understand his uncertainty and he tilted his head to the side. "At the beginning, do you remember? The brown one jumped and hit me to the ground."
"Oh, that", he quipped and relaxed. He had seen a shadow jumping from the bushes and something knocking Zevran down. It was an instict to bash his shield at the attacker, who had been an angry, blighted werewolf. The force of his shield had stunned the wolf, his foot had kicked it off Zevran, and his sword had done the rest. He remembered exchanging glances with the elf after that, but after a heartbeat he had had to jump in action to proctect the others.
But maybe he had saved Zervran. A smile tucked on his lips. "It was nothing."
"Bah, it was more than that!" Zevran roared and threw one of his daggers up just to catch it a moment later with his other hand. "Your actions did not go unnoticed."
"Well, it's nice to get gratitude", he answered and noticed he couldn't fight the smile anymore. He did feel good now.
"I bet I could thank you in other ways too", Zevran pushed on. He again threw a dagger up in the air and caught it between his fingers.
"Like how?" Alistair laughed and turned to look at Zevran. He understood immediately after locking eyes with the man, and he blushed. That seemed to bring more joy to Zevran than he was expecting.
But his smile didn't fade, nor he didn't want to look away from the elf. Zevran kept staring back, and a warmth he had never experienced before was burning in his stomach. Alistair was suddenly breathing heavier again, and he felt his nervousness returning.
Zevran grinned at him again, threw two of his daggers in air and now caught both of them between his fingers. That broke the tension.
"Oh now you're showing off", Alistair barked, smiling again and Zevran erupted in laughter. He leaned forward to pat Alistair's arm, or as much as he could through the armor. Alistair could swear there was electricity in the air.
Zevran's voice was light as a feather. "And you are enjoying the show."
Some highlights!
And little snippets!
AAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand my funny little error where I accidentally deleted one important layer and Alistair looked bit more sexier..
No wonder Zevran is targetting him (if you ask me, this should be the new warden armor).
oops