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An Unlikely Pairing (Dragon Age Inquisition)	By : Elvhennan Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 949 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Dragon Age: Inquisition. I do not own the fandom nor the characters and I make no profit off of this story.

Chapter List
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The ride to Redcliffe was peaceful. Dorian was quiet the entire way, seemingly lost in thought. I respected that as I’d often been in the same position. We reached the Gull and Lantern in good time without incident.
Dorian stopped outside the door, reaching but not opening.
“You ready?” I asked. If he’d said no I’d be willing to mount back up and ride home for Skyhold in an instant.
“As I’ll ever be,” he replied.
Upon entering the tavern we immediately noticed how empty it was. I moved my hand to the pommel of my sword, fearing that this was a trap after all.
Then a voice came from the stairway. “Dorian.”
Dorian turned to face the man, “Father.”
Andraste’s ass. This was not how I pictured things turning out. Dorian’s father was handsome in a dignified kind of way, I could see the resemblance though some of his finer features must have come from his mother. The Magister was dressed in a robe befitting his station, lustrous fabrics elaborately embellished. He made even Dorian look a peasant in comparison.
“So that whole story about the family retainer was, what? A smoke screen?” Dorian asked.
“Then you were told,” his father realized, looking at me rather than his son. “I apologize for the deception, Inquisitor, I never intended for you to be involved.”
It bit into me that he was apologizing to me for the deception, and not to his son who he’d intended to deceive.
Dorian looked at me, his face contorted with ire as he turned back to his father.
“Of course not,” he said, “Magister Pavus couldn’t come to Skyhold and be seen with the dread Inquisitor. What would people think?”
I hadn’t thought of it like that. Was Dorian’s father Venatori? Could that be why he was so reluctant to talk about this before?
“What is this exactly, Father? Ambush? Kidnapping? Warm family reunion?” Dorian’s voice was brimming with contempt.
His father sighed heavily. “This is how it has always been.”
“You lied to get him here,” I said, incredulous that his father dared to play the offended party. “Dorian has every right to be angry.”
Dorian turned to me, “You don’t know the half of it,” he growled. “But maybe you should.”
“Dorian, there’s no need to...” Magister Halward tried to say, but Dorian was already speaking to me.
“I prefer the company of men, my father disapproves.”
At that my heart broke. Dalish clans did not care about such unimportant details as who one chose to bed. At this point I had gathered that Dorian was indeed attracted to men, attracted to me even, but I had never imagined that was the reason for his exodus from his homeland. Perhaps I’d judged his life in Tevinter prematurely. I’d assumed it was all luxury and riches, I’d never imagined he’d had to hide who he was.
“That’s what this is about? Who you sleep with?” his father really was an arse if that were true.
“That’s not all this is about.”
“Dorian, please, if you would only listen to me,” his father pleaded.
“Why? So you can spout more convenient lies?” Dorian demanded of his father and without breaking his glare at the man he addressed me, “He taught me to hate Blood Magic. ‘The resort of a weak mind’. Those are HIS words.”
He began to pace. “But what was the first thing you did when your precious heir refused to play pretend for the rest of his life? You tried to... change me.”
I watched Dorian’s face contort with grief. I couldn’t stand it. I knew next to nothing about Blood Magic, but the thought that someone COULD be changed, that someone TRIED it, disgusted me. My eyes narrowed as I turned back to the Magister.
“I only did what I thought was best for you, Dorian,” he was saying.
“You wanted what was best for YOU!” Dorian countered, “your fucking legacy! Anything for that.”
He walked away and leaned on the bar. I approached him, not sure if it was okay to touch him, though I wished I could offer him comfort.
Part of me wanted to believe in the reconciliation that Mother Giselle believed in. All of me knew his father hardly deserved it.
“I think it’s time we left,” I said.
“I agree.”
We left his father standing there. He looked despondent but I could hardly care about his feelings and I imagined Dorian felt the same. We mounted our Harts and galloped out of Redcliffe.
We were well past the Crossroads before he spoke again. We had slowed to a walk, riding side by side.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t,” I stopped him. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
He sighed heavily.
“That’s a big concern then? In Tevinter?”
“Only if you’re trying to live up to an impossible standard,” he explained. “Every Tevinter family is intermarrying trying to distill the perfect mage. Perfect body, perfect mind. The perfect Leader. Every perceived flaw, every aberration is deviant and shameful. It must be hidden.”
“Well, you don’t have to hide anything from me, Dorian. And I rather think they succeeded in distilling the perfect body. Don’t know what more they could want,” I let him ponder that for a moment before I turned my head to smirk at him, trying hard to lighten his mood.
“Very funny,” he said sarcastically, but he did give me a very small smile.
“Listen, not that it makes any of this easier, but I want you to know that you have a family in the Inquisition. Bull, Sera, ... me.” I shrugged and inclined my head towards him. “Sorry we’re so shitty.” I gave him an ear to ear grin, knowing our ragtag little unit was probably never one he would’ve imagined himself being part of, then I dropped the smile to reveal a much more threatening face. “But I’d like to see anyone even try to fuck with you while we’re around. That’s all.”
“Inquisitor,” he put a hand to his chest, “Who knew you had such a way with words... or facial expressions.”
I nodded, trying and failing to suppress a smile at my own expense, “There’s the Dorian I know.”
I left it there, knowing that if I were in his shoes I’d need time to digest how everything had unfolded. I just wanted him to know he was supported while he did that.
“Let’s get you home,” I said to him, spurring Elgar’nan back to a gallop. He followed suit with Ghilana.
The Harts loved the running as there wasn’t much space for them to do so at Skyhold, they even maintained their gait through the mountains where horses would have had to be much more cautious. As I always said, the only place a horse was better than a Hart was where a Hart’s horns didn’t fit. We even made it back to our castle before sundown.
Dorian dismounted, patted Gil, gave me a look, and walked towards the keep. I occupied myself with removing saddles and storing tents. I gave each of our mounts a bucket of oats and refilled their water troughs before I too headed into the castle.
I could not resist going to check on my friend before calling it a night. I found him in his usual nook, but the book he’d been reading lay open on a small table, pages face down, and he was staring out the window at the setting sun.
As I watched him a part of me thought I should stop pestering him. It told me that I’d made a fool of myself trying too hard to make him feel better earlier. That I should probably not have come.
Just then he looked over his shoulder at me and I couldn’t just awkwardly walk away so I approached him where he was leaning on the windowsill.
“Are you all right?” I asked softly, it was all that was left to say.
“No, not really,” he admitted. “He’s a good man, my father, deep down. He taught me that Principle is important. He cares for me, in his way, but he won’t ever change. I can’t forgive him for what he did. I won’t.”
“Back in Redcliffe, you said... he tried to change you?”
“Out of desperation. I wouldn’t put on a show, marry the girl, keep everything private and unsavory secret and locked away. Selfish of me, I suppose, not to want to spend my entire life screaming on the inside,” he looked so devastated as he talked about it. “He was going to do a Blood Ritual and alter my mind, make me.... acceptable. When I found out what he planned, I left.”
“Could Blood Magic actually do that?”
“Maybe,” he sighed. “It could also have left me a drooling vegetable. It crushed me to think he found that absurd risk preferable to ‘scandal’. Part of me has always hoped he wouldn’t have wanted to go through with it. If he had.... I can’t even imagine the person I would be now.”
He looked back over his shoulder at me. “I wouldn’t like that Dorian,” he said.
“What your father did was wrong,” I growled, thinking both of Dorian and the elven slave likely to be sacrificed on such a stupid, unnecessary thing. Dorian didn’t need to change.
“It’s too bad he’ll never understand why,” he lamented.
He turned from the window to face me directly. “Thank you for bringing me out there,” he said. “Maker only knows what you must think of me now.”
I didn’t understand that at all. Had he listened to a word I’d said? What I saw was a man whose family turned their backs on him and had now plotted against him twice to my knowledge. I saw a man who joined the Inquisition because it was the right thing to do, and saved my life doing it. I saw a man who could be wealthy and powerful if he had chosen that and instead he had chosen to live a life true to himself. It took courage and strength to do all of that.
“I don’t think less of you,” I said truthfully. “More, if possible.”
He smiled, relieved. “The things you say...”
“I mean it,” I assured him.
“My father never understood. Living a lie...” he shook his head, “it festers inside of you like poison. You have to fight for what’s in your heart.”
The way he was looking at me, Gods, I didn’t know what to make of it. Maybe I was inspired by the bravery I saw in him, or maybe I just couldn’t take the tension between us anymore, but I was going to put myself out there for him to take or refuse. It was begging to be done.
“I agree,” I said. This time of day most of the usual occupants of the tower were in the Hall having supper. I would not have cared if they’d been around anyhow, the desire I’d been feeling for Dorian eclipsed anything I’d ever experienced before. I took a step toward him. It was deliberate, it was an invitation.
He stepped toward me in turn. We were this close again. I studied his face. My eyes flickered between his gaze and his lips and he closed what little distance was left between us. It started cautious, a test of conviction. His mouth was sweet and soft and... fuck... he didn’t smell of sweat after two days of riding, just that alluring, irresistible scent all his own. His hand clasped my shoulder and mine found his waist. We pulled away for a moment, each to gauge the others’ reaction. We both found we could not stay separated for long.
It became passionate, his tongue tracing the Vallaslin on my bottom lip and entering my mouth, his hand coming to rest on my neck, then tracing my ear out to the tip. I groaned into the kiss at that. Is this what he’d been thinking about when he stared? I pulled him into my body, relishing the feeling of his muscled chest against mine. His hand was on the back of my head now, fingers curling but not finding enough hair to hold on to.
I felt as though I couldn’t breathe. I ground my hips into his, looking for friction, my erection pressing uncomfortably against my leather breeches. I could feel him as well, equally excited.
But he pulled back. “I see you enjoy playing with fire, Inquisitor,” he used my title provocatively.
I just stared at him, if he was afraid I was going to get burned it was not a concern we shared. I was a warrior, after all.
“At any rate,” he took a deep breath and a step back and I already missed him. I wanted more. “Time to drink myself into a stupor. It’s been that sort of a day. Join me?”
“Gladly,” I said. Fine. I’d give him his space. He deserved it after what his father had put him through.
He shuffled some books around and pulled a bottle of wine and two goblets from the shelf. I chuckled a bit.
“Was that always there?” I questioned.
“No,” he said playing coy, “I replaced the old bottle last week. One never knows when he might find a piece of history in these books that warrants a drink.”
“And the second goblet is for...?”
“Hoping one day you’d join me.”
He poured generously into each cup.
“Well now I feel guilty for making you wait,” I said taking a gulp. It was sweet, similar to the way his kiss had tasted.
“Quite rude of you, I agree,” he grinned at me deviously. It did not help ease my arousal.
“What’s rude,” I smirked back at him, “is breaking off something like THAT and then shamelessly flirting with me while I’m still hard.”
He just took a long drink from his cup, but there was an air of satisfied arrogance to the way he did it that let me know he knew exactly what he was doing.
“If this is what you wanted, why did you leave the tavern the other night?” I asked, it still nagged at me.
He was already refilling his drink and topping mine off. Stupor indeed, Dorian.
“I was... surprised.”
“What?”
“You had never flirted with me so openly before that,” he clarified. “I wasn’t sure until that night that my attraction to you was reciprocated.”
“Dorian,” I was embarrassed to say it but I’d already had enough wine to loosen my tongue. “My attraction to you has been consuming me for weeks. I wasn’t sure you’d be interested until Bull started antagonizing you.”
“Weeks?” he laughed. “I was quite sure you hated me after we met.”
“I hate Tevinter. I AM an elf as you’ve likely noticed,” I said, gesturing to my ears. “YOU have defied my expectations of what I thought your country had to offer.”
“Yes, I’m well aware of what you are,” his eyes crinkled in amusement. “And I’m certain you won’t let me forget. But an elf is not ALL you are, Amheotil, you are also the Inquisitor, another reason to give me pause.”
He rarely addressed me by my first name. Hearing it brought a smile to my face, but I was concerned by his insinuation that my status in the Inquisition could keep us apart.
“What are they going to do? Cut off my Marked hand and give it to someone else?”
“Who knows,” he chuckled. “They might try.”
“Would you still take me as a lover with one hand?” the wine was now asking the important questions.
“Are we lovers now? By Bull’s standards I thought we had just become closer as comrades.”
“Did you ever...?”
“Perish the thought,” he retorted immediately. “He is quite the well built fellow, I’ll give him that, but I do not imagine there’s much tenderness to him.”
“And you imagine there is with me?”
“I imagine it’s there somewhere,” he said, studying me once more, “and I relish the challenge of trying to find it, should I decide that this is at all a good idea.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” I challenged him.
“First, there is the concern of an evil Darkspawn Magister out there, right now, with a plot we know nothing about. We could both die horrible deaths at the hands of any of his followers on any given day,” he emptied his second cup and began pouring a third. “Second, as I’ve said, there’s your position at the head of an entire political and military force, which could be threatened by having relations with the evil Tevinter Magister, who of course has wormed his way into your midst to steal your soul.”
I laughed at that, taking the bottle and refilling my own goblet.
“Is there more?”
“Third,” he leaned across the little table between our two chairs and spoke in what could only be described as a purr, “The entire castle would hear you screaming my name. We can’t have that, can we?”
And just when my erection had settled down, he went and said something like that. My dick twitched, begging to be in his soft, sweet mouth. I actually had to lean forward and pinch the bridge of my nose to stop the images in my mind. Remember when I had said I would kill him? Why hadn’t I done that?
“I take it all back,” I groaned into my lap.
“Hmm?” Dorian vocalized, casually sipping his wine, clearly entertained by my distress.
“The people of Tevinter are ALL cruel,” I joked. “You are what they say, an Evil, Evil Magister.”
He cocked an eyebrow at me and grinned. I couldn’t help but follow suit. Stupid, smug, sexy arsehole. I drained what was left in my cup.
“I need to be more drunk,” I said, refraining from adding a hearty ‘to put up with this without bending you over this chair’.
“And THAT, was exactly what I wanted to hear,” laughed Dorian who got up and pulled yet another bottle from the bookshelf, the first apparently emptied.
“How many of those do you have in here?” I was suddenly skeptical of my surroundings.
“Enough to cover us for quite some time.”
“And how long do you plan to torture me?” I asked.
“For as long as I can resist you.”
In an hour or two, I imagined, I was going to cum incredibly hard, alone in my chambers, those words echoing in my head.
“Be warned,” he continued, “as a mage I have superlative willpower and self control.”
I groaned and shifted my weight uncomfortably in my chair. “Is this at least making you feel any better?”
“Yes it very much is,” he said so with such a handsome smile that I forgave him for all of this immediately.
“Glad I could help.”
He was right, of course, there were a number of legitimate concerns about the two of us entering a relationship of any kind beyond friendship. Dorian wasn’t a liar, I’d know, but some small minded people still thought he was a spy, and would believe I was an idiot for letting myself be seduced by him. I believed he wanted to return to his homeland on day and attempt to make it a better place, but I certainly couldn’t imagine myself stepping foot in Tevinter, that would likely be the end of it. There was also the matter of the Iron Bull. Would this hurt his feelings, did he harbor more than lust for Dorian?
Then I tried to imagine losing him on the battlefield, having to carry his body back up the mountain to... what? Bury him in Skyhold? Send him back to his awful parents to be buried in Tevinter? That image caused me no small amount of pain, and at this stage he was still just my very attractive friend.
I drank from my cup until all of those thoughts became fuzzy little things, twinging at the sides of my mind but unable to take solid form. I didn’t want concerns, I didn’t want responsibility, I had never asked to be Inquisitor and AS the Inquisitor I believed I should be able to choose whomever I wished.
But even through the wine I knew he had to choose it in return. Being a noble he had more appreciation for the effects of a scandal than I. In a Dalish clan a ‘scandal’ meant the other elves picked on you with smiles on their faces before they asked if you were all right. In a court, it seemed to be taken more seriously.
Leliana appeared in the stairway, apparently she had been in the rookery the entire time.
“Inquisitor,” she gave me a wry smile as she walked by. Of course my spymaster had heard, and likely seen, the entire exchange from start to finish.
“Care for a drink?” I offered her, laughing because I knew she knew and at the moment that was quite funny to me.
“That is a very kind offer,” she politely refused. “And it is good to see you smiling.”
She inclined her head to my companion, “Dorian,” she acknowledged him and then continued on her path down the next flight of steps.
Leliana had a good heart. She had mistrusted Dorian in the beginning, as I had, but I knew he had helped her gather information about Qarinus and the Venatori and who might be scheming against us and I believed she now saw him as a valuable ally.
“Well,” Dorian began, “At least a spymaster should know how to keep a secret.”
“Ha! No way,” I said in earnest. “Josie will know before the sun rises and Cassandra will know before it sets tomorrow.”
He looked a tad perplexed at that.
“They SHOULD be able to keep it between the three of them,” I said to reassure him.
I don’t think it worked.
“I mean,” I continued, drunkenly poking fun at him, “we could have taken this to my quarters ages ago, but YOU made a decision.”
“Ha! Quite right,” he chuckled a bit and cocked any eyebrow at me.
This was the first time I was not in control with a desired partner. Usually I was the seductive one, the measured one, the one making someone else beg for me. I wasn’t going to beg for Dorian, I still had my pride, but we both knew he could have me whenever he wished it. I was not going to pretend differently and he wasn’t going to let me.
I was in unfamiliar waters but I thought I rather liked the adventure.
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An Unlikely Pairing (Dragon Age Inquisition)