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If anyone had told Maric he would have been involved in a battle that saw the death of the king, been saved by an apostate mage and her biting daughter, recruited a failed assassin and fallen in love with a chantry pretty boy, he probably would have laughed until he choked. Add the fact in that he was going to be responsible for stopping a blight, he probably would have died.
Well, at least he got a dog out of it.
Lonnie followed after him, tongue lolling out. The dog pressed his cold nose into Maric’s hand and then darted ahead. There were some rabbits that scrambled to get out of the way. Hopefully, Lonnie could catch them for dinner.
Behind him, loud voices echoed up the path. Alistair was in yet another heated debate with Morrigan about the nature of…something. And it would seem Zevran decided to join in, playing the other two against each other. The result was a noisy argument that probably scared off any chance of prey. Lonnie came back, whining sadly and Maric had just about enough. He was hot, tired and hungry.
“Will you three shut up? It’s like dealing with children.”
They did shut up and now he felt bad. Morrigan and Zevran could handle it. But Alistair reacted the same way he did whenever Maric snapped at him. He awkwardly looked to the side and unconsciously bit his lip.
Maric cursed inwardly. Why is it that he could fight darkspawns with no problem but have his heart wrenched whenever Alistair looked even remotely sad? With a growl, he muttered, “Let’s camp here for the night.” Without waiting for a response, he stomped over to a relative clearing and started to set up his tent. He met eyes with Morrigan who gave him a knowing smirk. Damn her.
Sometime later, after the sun had set, Maric sat in the treeline by himself. The fire was close enough so that he could see it and the orange glow covered his dark skin. The three figures by the fire murmured to each other but he had no desire to join in. His thoughts were chaotic, darting between what had happened to his family and what lay ahead. He was so caught up in his focus he didn’t realize someone was joining him until Alistair plopped himself down. The other man leaned back against a tree stump and sighed. Lonnie came over and sat next to them. The dog nosed at Alistair’s hand until he pet the short fur on the head. A silence neither comfortable nor anxious settled over them. The dog sensed he wouldn’t get any attention and trotted back to the fire to bother Zevran.
“We don’t mean to annoy you, you know. Sometimes silly arguments make the day go faster.”
Maric glanced at Alistair. The shadows from the branches covered his face but the tension in his shoulders said he was worried. For all his jokes and sarcasm, Alistair was a serious person who didn’t want to cause harm. Even over something as simple as an argument.
Maric exhaled and gave him a smile. “It’s not annoying. I was in a bad mood. Nothing some food and good company couldn’t fix.”
The tension in the other man’s shoulders lessened and Alistair moved into the light. His eyes were bright and there was a genuine smile on his face. “Good. I would hate to think you were avoiding me. You had me doubting my manners for a moment.”
He laughed at the joke. Leave it to Alistair to lighten the mood. Suddenly, the rush of feelings he had for the man made it difficult to breathe. He ached to reach out, brush the hair back from his forehead and kiss him breathless. But Alistair had seen too little kindness in his life and Maric refused to frighten him with the depth of his feelings. Alistair had given him his friendship. That would be enough.
But Alistair wasn’t moving back, but leaning forward. He looked almost shy and Maric couldn’t take his eyes off him. Acting against his better judgment, Maric closed the gap between them and sealed their lips together.
Immediately, Alistair made a muffled noise and Maric pulled back, mind coming up with a million excuses. But the other man didn’t let him go, hand tangling in his shirt to tug him back into the kiss. Maric carefully maneuvered them so Alistair was leaning over him and the two broke apart.
Maric took a deep breath and whispered, “Your manners are just fine.” He licked the taste of Alistair into his mouth and grinned. Above him, the other man blushed to the tips of his ears, visible even in the dull light. Maric wrapped a hand around the back of Alistair’s head and tugged him down for another kiss. The man was obviously unused to this so Maric gently licked at his mouth until Alistair opened and let him in. Alistair tasted sweet and unsure so he kept it simple, coaxing the other man to respond with tender touches. The need for air broke them apart and Alistair simply stared at him in wonder. Maric was more than fine with this because he couldn’t stop touching Alistair.
Maric sighed happily and gripped the other man’s hand. “Can you sleep in my tent tonight? Nothing else. Just sleep.” The kisses had left him with a buzzed sort of satisfaction that would last for a while. As much as he wanted to pursue more, he wasn’t going to risk scaring Alistair off. This time, Alistair didn’t blush but nodded silently. Maric pushed him off and the two made their way back to the camp.
Zevran raised an eyebrow at their dishevelled appearances. “So when you said you were going to talk to the boss, you meant comfort him, clearly.” Alistair glared at him but was saved from answering by Maric’s intervention.
“Well, since he was the only to actually care about me, you two can take the watch tonight,” said Maric drily. Morrigan and Zevran squawked indignantly but quieted down when Maric tugged Alistair to his tent.
Alistair moaned, “Why would you do that in front of them? Now they’ll never keep quiet.”
Maric simply pulled him inside and kissed him.