howtoactfereldan | (no subject)

"We should -- "

Alistair starts to snicker.

"We should celebrate with jam and shortbread."

"...are you going to go get it, then?"

"Not a chance." Cheerful, and punctuated by Alistair pressing a kiss to Cullen's collarbone. "I'm comfortable right here."

"Did you want me to go get it?"

His grin's more crooked, now, but no less cheerful.

"Did I not just warn you of the agony of putting on trousers?"

"Then come up with a better way to celebrate." Another light tug at Alistair's hair.

Alistair hums again, lower; his hand slips further down Cullen's abdomen to match.

Whispered in his ear: "You'll help me come up with something good, I trust?"

As low and resonant as he can:

"I've missed the biography of Kordillus Drakon."

Alistair stops.

"Aaaaand it's over," he declares. (Between snickers, it must be noted.) He lets go of Cullen, flopping to the side. "The moment's passed. Ruined. Gone forever."

Cullen pats Alistair's chest.

"The wonder isn't that the thrill is gone," he remarks. "It's that it was ever there in the first place."

Alistair rolls his eyes, and catches Cullen's hand so he can lace their fingers together atop his chest.

"Give it some time, I'm sure it'll return," he says.

"Until then," cheerful, "might as well read aloud. It's very edifying."

Try 'stultifying.'

"You're the worst," declares Alistair, "and I love you a very great deal."

He kisses Cullen's fingertips.

In response, smile gone very crooked, Cullen reaches out and presses the tip of Alistair's nose with the pad of one finger.

Alistair makes a tiny squeaking sound and wrinkles his nose. He rests their hands on his chest again; his own smile's warm and fond.

Carefully, Cullen settles down next to Alistair, propped up on his side, head in hand.

He ought, he thinks, to ask what else Alistair needs. (What Cullen needs is time to rest.) But maybe he can be -- a little selfish, a little while longer. Instead, he smooths his thumb over Alistair's chest, and doesn't say anything.

A soft, contented sigh. He tips his head so he can keep watching Cullen.

"All right?" he asks quietly after a moment.

Cullen nods, eyes lowered. He's calm enough, at least; easy to interpret as a lack of something to say. Given his taciturn nature, it's nothing out of the ordinary.

And like Alistair's said: he's learning how to enjoy the quiet.

His smile's gone smaller, but no less warm. He keeps their fingers linked; squeezes Cullen's hand, lightly, before rolling onto his side to face him.

With a soft sigh, Cullen lowers himself to rest, eyes closing all the way.

Quietly, he asks, "What do you need?"

"You're here." No louder. He smooths Cullen's hair with his free hand. "That's good."

A moment's pause.

Hopeful -- and more hesitant than he realizes -- "If we could make up for some of the time we didn't get in the Basin...I'd like that. If you could -- "

(The color in his cheeks is higher than he realizes, too. It's not like he's asking for anything scandalous; rather the opposite. It's the asking that's more difficult than he anticipated.)

"Take care of me?"

There. A task -- an enjoyable task -- with a clear start and finish. Something that will ease both of them into normal life again.

Soft, and deliberate:

"At your order."

He disentangles their hands so he can push Alistair's shoulder in the direction of the mattress.

So often, he feels like he asks too much from Cullen: that after everything Cullen's done for him, requesting even more would be greedy. Unseemly.

But if they're letting themselves be selfish with one another tonight -- if Cullen has promised to be here in full --

Alistair exhales a shaky sigh as he lets himself be pushed flush against the bed. He cups Cullen's face; draws him down into a long kiss.

When it breaks, he doesn't move far -- keeps his forehead touching Alistair's, draws his hands slowly down Alistair's chest.

"Look at you." Softly. "Too handsome."

His breath catches; he pushes up into the touch. Hoarse, "You think so?"

The instinct to deflect is still there -- twist it into a joke, turn it around into complimenting Cullen -- but he doesn't give in.