I am alive and writing! I've been busy dealing with family stuff and getting some grant proposals done. Add in strep throat and my laptop crashing (thankfully, repaired with no data loss! YAY!)... So, I'm back at it finally!
“Am I a fool?”
Resa arched a brow at Alistair as she looked up from her blade and whetstone. She grinned, “Do you really want me to answer that?”
He frowned and moved to sit next to her. Well, flopped down beside her was more like. She managed not to roll her eyes visibly as she quickly moved the dagger out of the way. Alistair’s shoulders slumped, “No, really, Resa. I should have known what would happen when I walked into that house.”
Ahh, now she understood. Resa set dagger and whetstone to one side and turned to face the defeated form of the Templar. She had wondered when this was going to come out. It had obviously been eating at him all evening. Seeing his unhappiness had all but convinced her to return to Denerim and speak with Goldanna once more. All right, perhaps “speak” was too broad a term. Maybe “break her like a piece of kindling” was more appropriate.
“Alistair,” she said, her voice gentle, “You went in believing the good in a person you had yet to meet. You reacted with dignity and honor when the expectation was revealed as false,” she laid her hand on his, “There is nothing foolish in that.”
He stared down at their hands for a moment. Alistair turned his hand to link his fingers with hers, “You were right. I need to start looking out for myself more, making more decisions. I can’t continue on pretending,” his voice trailed off.
“Can’t continue pretending that you won’t have to grow up and be king some day,” Resa asked, squeezing his hand as she moved to lean against him. She rested her head on his shoulder and he turned to place a kiss on her hair.
“You will keep me from doing something foolish, like trying to read a map, right,” Alistair found it easier to smile and joke with her small frame resting comfortably against him.
Resa chuckled softly, and nodded, “Of course. You once told me that such things lead to you losing your pants,” she paused and slanted a glance up at him through her lashes, “Although, in the right circumstance, that might not be so bad.”
Alistair cleared his throat nervously, “Yes, well, it would have to be a very special circumstance.”
He watched as Resa’s smile took a decidedly wicked cast, “Let’s work on finding that circumstance, shall we?”
Alistair gulped and shifted. When she looked like this, firelight dancing over her skin and sparkling in her dark eyes… Eyes that seemed to hold secrets he would be both blessed and damned to learn… He cleared his throat once more and Resa laughed. She leaned up and teasingly brushed her lips against his, “I leave you to figure out the circumstances,” she stood in a single, fluid motion that made his mouth go dry.
“After all, they are your pants.”
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