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In good times and in bad	By : kruemel Category: +A through F > Dragon Age (all) > Dragon Age (all) Views: 14749 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Dragon Age and the characters of the game do not belong to me. This is a no profit fanfiction

Chapter List
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Oh that bloody blasted dragon! There's not a single spot on my body that does not hurt. Cuts, burns, blisters - and a broken shield arm - again. I wiggle around uncomfortably and pull at the bandage at my arm. The itching is killing me. I have to scratch it. "Ow!"
"What? Stop fussing with it. You'll make it worse." Wynne glares at me and swats my hand away. She has done everything she could and still we had to stay another two days at the inn until we were able to move on.
Rori has a serious concussion. It's not very healthy to get sent flying by a dragon tail and hit a wall. Wynne says without the helmet I make her wear, she'd be dead. Sten has several broken ribs and a broken nose. But he has not once as much as groaned. Creepy! He just sits there silently with closed eyes, unmoving like a statue. Do Qunaris feel no pain? Rori and I groan and moan, we whimper and whine, we complain, sulk and pout. But Sten? Not a sound.
"It itches," I complain sulkily.
"Yes, it's healing. Don't touch it." Wynne scolds.
"But it's distracting," I whine, rubbing the bandage to ease the uncomfortable itching. "Can I rub it through the bandage? That's not really scratching."
"Alistair," she says sternly, "if you open that wound up, I'm not going to heal it again. You can just treat it yourself. And if it festers, weeping bloody pus and burns like the flames of Andraste's pyre, don't come to me. All I'm going to say is: 'Alistair, didn't I tell you not to touch it?'"
I stop rubbing the bandage. "It won't really fester, will it?"
"Why don't you try scratching and see?"
"I... uh, I guess it doesn't itch so much now." I take my hand of the bandage. It's not the only one I wear. And they are all itching! Wynne said she has done whatever she could do but magic can only do as much and nature has to help. I wish nature would hurry. It's unbearable to wear any armour. Sleep only conquers me when I'm close to fainting. The pain keeps me awake. It's not like it hurts in a way I'd call agony. It's just... distracting, you see. And it drives me mad.
Rori comes to sit next to me. Wynne glares at her pointedly. She told her a thousand times she should rest. "It's so boring all alone in my tent," Rori complains. "Can't I rest here?"
"Stop behaving like babies, both of you," Wynne growls. "I have better things to do than pamper you."
"Yes, granny," Rori and I blurt out in unison.
Wynne sighs, shakes her head and walks off to treat Sten's wounds.
"How are you?" I ask Rori. She rests her head against my shoulder but removes it when I wince.
"My head is still spinning. But at least I don't get sick anymore." She starts rubbing a wound on her arm through the bandage.
"Don't," I say and take her hand in mine.
"But it itches!"
"It does, doesn't it?" I laugh and whimper when a sharp pain seems to pierce my face. Argh, I forgot about the burns and cuts in my face. I lift my hand to touch the cut on my forehead but decide I'd better not when I catch Wynne stare.
"Where does it hurt most?" Rori asks.
"Here." I point at the cut I was about to rub. Rori scrambles to her knees and leans in, gently, oh so gently kissing the wound.
"And here." I point at a burn right beneath my cheekbone and she brushes her lips across it. "Here, too." I lift my chin for her to kiss it. "And here." My fingers move to my lips. I can hear Rori smile. Not touching anything but my lips, she kisses me. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't feel it, but the sensation of her soft touch, her lips on mine, tongues mingling in a velvet dance, it erases all the pain and itching.
When we break apart, Rori smiles at me. She has a lot of bruises and cuts herself. We both aren't the epitome of prettiness at the moment. To me she still is the most beautiful creature I have ever laid my eyes upon. Wynne is watching us across the fire. I didn't know anybody paid any attention to Rori kissing me. I don't want any audience. Rori couldn't care less. She just kisses me whenever she feels she needs to, no matter who is watching. I can't read Wynne's expression. It's something in between serious and sad as if there's something bothering her.
When Rori lays down beside me, she rests her head in my lap and I let her because that's probably the only part of my body where I do not hurt. I gently run my fingers through the soft strands of her short dark red hair. It has grown a bit longer since I first met her in Ostagar. I wrap one curl around my finger. With long hair she has to have a mane of wild curls as untamed as herself.
After some more days of resting, we're on the road again, finally heading towards Denerim. Our wounds have healed enough to allow us to pick up pace. I try to make some conversation with Sten...
"Don't you ever talk? You know, make polite conversation just to put people at ease?" I inquire curiously. The grumpy Qunari hardly ever says anything at all - and when he does it's a complaint. Maybe he's just shy?
"You mean that I should remark upon the weather before I cut off a man's head?" Sten says in his monotonous voice.
"Nevermind." Ooookay, I'd call that a major failure. Creepy fellow. Though, maybe that's not that bad after all. I wish Morrigan would be as silent.
In front of us Rori and Wynne are lost in conversation. As Sten prefers silence, I entertain myself by watching Rori's swaying hips as she walks. Her leather armor clings to her like a second skin. I am wondering if she minded if, next time I kiss her - and when nobody is around to spy - I dared to cup her buttocks and maybe squeeze them a little or if she punched me for groping her. I'm not sure, but I might give it a try anyway. I am the adventurous type it seems.
"Draw your weapon."
Huh? What? Maker's Breath, he talks! "Are you talking to me?"
"Your weapon. Draw it." Sten's glare pierces me as if it was a weapon of its own.
I am confused. What does he want of me? "Why? Are we under attack?"
"I want to see what you can do."
"You want to fight me? Just like that?" Really, he is a strange guy. Why would he want to fight me?
"You are a Grey Warden. How are you going to face an archdemon if you cannot face me?"
"It is a mystery, I'll admit." Right now I can't believe the archdemon to be any scarier than Sten. I wish he'd go back to his silence.
"I should let your weakness damn us all? Draw your sword. I'll try not to injure you permanently."
"I don't have to prove anything to you. Forget it," I snort and leave him standing there. If he wants to have a fight, he can wait for the next darkspawn. It's not as if we're going to run out of them soon.
"So you do have a spine. Pity you don't use it."
I am still thinking of a smart reply when Rori, the very moment her conversation with Wynne ends, turns on her heel, runs towards me and pounces. She throws herself at me and kisses me feverishly, almost desperatedly. It's not like the kisses we shared before. There's an urgency in it that makes me wonder what is wrong. When we break the kiss, we both are breathless. Rori clutches my armour as if I was going to dissolve should she let go. There is fear in her huge dark blue eyes.
"Rori, what is wrong?"
"Nothing," she whispers, then hugs me tightly. When wearing a suit of plate armour, hugging is more like clinking two cans together. Even her studded leather armor makes it less exciting to hold her. Still I can feel her tension.
"Nothing did get you so upset? What did Wynne say to you?"
"Nothing." She presses her face to the crook of my neck.
"Rori!" Now I am worried.
"Nothing of importance." She won't tell me no more and silences me with another kiss. The rest of the way she stays at my side, holding my hand while we walk. I am determined to find out what is bothering her so i corner Wynne as soon as we set up camp for the night and Rori leaves with Leliana for a bath in the nearby lake.
"What did you say to her, Wynne?" I demand to know.
"Why don't you ask her?" Wynne doesn't have to ask who I talk about. She pretty sure knows my concerns are about Rori only.
"She said it was nothing of importance."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because she is upset. How could nothing upset her?" I snarl. Wynne's calm manner drives me mad. I had a trembling girl kissing me as if it was the last thing she'd do in her life. My girl. And I want to know why she did this.
"Alistair, Rori is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. You don't need to worry about her."
I snort. "Everybody keeps telling me that she can take care of herself. And at the same time they say I cannot."
"Take care of yourself or of her?"
"Both, I guess."
"She does not need you. She is strong. She has a great task ahead of her. She is the one to unite Ferelden, raise an army and end the Blight. It is her duty and she shouldn't get distracted by anything else."
"Rori is a very young woman, hardly more than a girl. She is burdened with more than she could possibly carry alone. I think you are wrong. Not about her being strong but about her needing nobody. Not needing me. Is that what you told her? No wonder she got upset."
"You are very protective about her." Wynne observes calmly. Her blue eyes never cease watching me intently. It's rather unnerving.
"For sure I am. She's our leader as you pointed out."
"And you care about her."
"That's rather obvious, isn't it?" I sound defiant. Why does she have to make this complicated? I can't see what's wrong about me caring about Rori. And still I feel like I have to defend myself.
"Alistair, have you ever wondered where this will lead? One day you could have to decide between your duty and your love. What if you had to choose between saving her or saving us all? What if she had to make that choice? What are you going to do then?"
"That's a ridiculous question! Morrigan asked me the same and it hasn't become any less ridiculous just because it's you asking it."
"Why so angry, Alistair? Maybe it's because of the truth behind my question, a truth you do not want to see?"
"There is no truth as there cannot be a choice. We fight the Blight. Not ending it will kill us all. That's Rori's and my duty. That's how I protect her and all the rest of Ferelden. How can there be a choice?"
"What if you became king?"
"That's very unlikely. It won't happen."
"It could happen, and you know it."
"But it hasn't happened yet. And if I got anything to say about it, it won't happen." I storm off into the forest, fetching my pike on my way. I need some time alone. I need some space. I need to work the anger and frustration out of my mind. Now I understand why Rori was so upset. Her answer must have been similar to mine considering how she kissed me afterwards. Or was it her kissing me goodbye? The mere thought makes my heart contort painfully. No, that's not it. If Rori was to end things she'd do it face to face straightforward and quickly. She would never leave me guessing. That's not how she is.
The ongoing battle, our brushes with death, all the tragedies... Rori is like a ray of light in the darkness. She makes me happy. She keeps my spirits high. She gives me hope. I don't want to lose her but I am not that stupid to not realize it could happen... but... if I don't accept this little bit of happiness I am allowed to feel...
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In good times and in bad