Work Text:
“You didn’t like them, then?” Hawke nodded at the box of chocolates sitting mostly untouched on the side table.
Fenris raised his head enough to follow Hawke’s gaze, and then made a noise of assent as he settled back against Hawke’s chest.. A pause where he seemed to think, and then he continued, a little unassuredly “I do not wish to seem ungrateful.”
Hawke smoothed his hands over the elf’s hair, settling the stray pieces behind an ear. “You’re allowed to not like chocolate, Fenris. I won’t be too offended,” he joked.
“It is fine, in moderation.”
“Ah, yes, Orlesians .” He’d come to say it in the same tone as Adelaide did. He barely even knew any Orlesians. Maybe it was a by-product of living in Kirkwall that made him scoff at the idea of over-excess. “Doing their best to make everything as rich as possible. What would they ever do with Kirkwall cuisine?”
“Cuisine?” The raised eyebrows was practically audible, even though Hawke couldn’t see his face.
“You know what I mean.” His fingers stilled in Fenris’s hair. “You do like it when Orana cooks for us, right?”
‘Yes, Hawke.” Fenris pressed his head into Hawke’s chest, fingers crawling around to take his hand. He still remained to be hesitant about initiating gestures of affection, and Hawke remained to be patient. He didn’t really need him to kiss him with an inch of his life, he didn’t need him to explicitly say I love you every day. He knew that he loved him. He knew .
He was actually incredibly proud of him when he did, even in the comfort of Hawke’s own home. He didn’t say that, though. It was likely to get him a dirty look and an even more poor reaction if Fenris was in a bad mood. But at his own time.
“The stew that she learned from her father is quite good,” Fenris was saying. “She seems to be experimenting with it, now.”
“Really?” Hawke looked down at him. “I didn’t know that.”
Fenris inclined his head in a nod. “She speaks to me some days, while I wait for you to return. I… believe she expects camaraderie that I cannot give her.”
“Your camaraderie is fine, Fenris. And it’s good that she makes some friends, you, Aveline, Merrill. I think she’d get along with Anders, too, but he’s gone a bit grumpy lately. And Sebastian is overwhelming to her, I’m not sure why. He says it’s because he’s a Brother.”
“It can be overwhelming,” Fenris agreed. “But Sebastian does not push. Perhaps after time.” He smoothed his hand over Hawke’s, trailed his fingers over his knuckles.
Hawke didn’t want to talk about Sebastian, though. He would much rather kiss Fenris, if he wasn’t lying on his chest. As it was, he swept a thumb over a pointed ear and hummed quietly.
Hawke had had far too many chocolates and probably too much wine; Fenris was warm and pliable in his arms and Hawke wanted nothing more than to curl around him, kiss him a bit, and sleep. Or kiss him a bit and have sex again. They’d had it off in the library after dinner, on the soft, imported rug in front of the crackling fire. It had been kind of cliché like that, but it was Valentine’s Day , it was warm and comfortable and Fenris’s book had quickly gone unnoticed.
Surely they were allowed a few cliché moments, now and then. Weren’t they? Yeah. Definitely.
“Love you, Fen.”
Fenris inhaled slowly, a breath that Hawke both heard and felt, and then exhaled just as slowly. There was a smile in his voice when he replied “And I you, Hawke.”
They were quiet then, while Hawke went back to stroking Fenris’s hair and looping an arm around his chest, and Fenris kept his hand over Hawke’s. They weren’t buzzed enough to be chatty, and it was too early for sleep, and while they may get up to other things before the night was through, Hawke was content. Cliché and warm and content.
He shifted his hand so that it was on top of Fenris’s, resting his fingers against the smooth strip of silk wrapped around the elf’s wrist. “Thanks for a good Valentine’s Day.”
“Hm, yes. Thank you for introducing it to me. It is… surprisingly nice.”
“Are you just saying that so I’ll buy you more chocolate?” Hawke teased, and he was greeted with Fenris tilting his head up to roll his eyes at him.
“Yes, Hawke,” he deadpanned, staring into Hawke’s eyes. “I care only for the chocolate.”
Hawke grinned. “Oh? Let me just put a piece in my mouth and–”
Fenris took Hawke’s face in his hands and kissed him, propping himself up just enough to do so.
Oh, Hawke would take it. He would definitely take it.
He kissed him back, long and slow and with all the joy of their day spent together, of every day spent together. Fenris’s hands were warm against his cheeks, and Hawke had slipped his arms over Fenris’s shoulders, around his back, holding him close.
Fenris pulled away after a long moment, smiling softly.
Hawke beamed back at him. “Hey, what was that for?”
“You don’t need the chocolate,” Fenris replied, after a moment of simply looking at Hawke, and leaned in to kiss him again.