[sandbox]

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair surprises himself: he adapts to the Basin a lot quicker than he expected.

The camps feel -- snug, he decides. In a good way. Trees overhead, a limited number of egress points, a vantage point so high it puts every night by the ladder to shame: they're not the stone walls of Skyhold, but maybe they're the next best thing. After an initial restless night or two, he sleeps soundly.

(Knowing he's surrounded by lots of people with sharp, pointy weapons? Also helpful.)

Joining the patrol rotations seems like a decent next step. No point in being in the field, especially after all that training with Bull, if he's just going to twiddle his thumbs all day.

Comments

[howtoactfereldan]

Cullen shuts his eyes tight.

"Maker," he mutters, "now I'm trying to think about how that would work."

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair hums; the sound stutters into a tiny laugh. "A guard gurgut. Enormous ropes wrapped around the whole tent. Yelling 'go away' very loudly whenever we hear footsteps."

[howtoactfereldan]

"I was thinking something achievable." He taps Alistair's arm. "Putting a blanket or a sheet up just inside. With a sign. That says 'go away.'"

[bringspeopletogether]

"Hm. Simple, effective..." He drops another kiss on Cullen's neck. "I like it."

His hands drift to Cullen's hips. Alistair takes a step to the side, urging Cullen to turn around.

[howtoactfereldan]

He takes advantage of the opportunity to properly wind his arms around Alistair, fingers linking at the small of his back.

(There's that voice at the back of his mind that says, don't forget you need to make rounds. And another that says, hang rounds, they did fine before you got here and they'll do fine after you leave.)

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair closes his eyes, leaning his head on Cullen's shoulder. He wraps his arms more snugly around him.

It's not like he slipped too far during patrol. Hardly at all, really. But the reminder's never unwelcome: he's here, Cullen's here, they're together. Anyway, it's just nice being close to him.

(And kissing him to the point that he starts to forget about all those less-fun Commander duties. That too.)

[howtoactfereldan]

Something like that has crossed Cullen's mind.

Soft: "You spoil me."

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair shakes his head, just a little. "I give you exactly as much as you deserve," he murmurs, gentle.

[howtoactfereldan]

"I suppose I'll have to take your word for it."

[bringspeopletogether]

He chuckles. "I appreciate the indulgence."

One hand winds into Cullen's hair; Alistair lifts his head and kisses him, no less gentle.

[howtoactfereldan]

The sweetness of it overtakes him for a moment, and he's glad of it: it's safe, when Alistair gets like this, to become pliant. To shed all armor, just for a little while, and to stop fearing any (and every) kind of exposure.







He leans his forehead against Alistair's and murmurs, "What brought this on?"

[bringspeopletogether]

Alistair smiles crookedly; runs his fingers through Cullen's hair again.

"Do I need a reason?"

[howtoactfereldan]

"It's... out of the ordinary." He kisses the corner of Alistair's mouth. "Nice, though."

[bringspeopletogether]

"Mm."

He cradles the back of Cullen's neck; starts running his thumb along the line of Cullen's jaw, slow, a bit absentminded. Alistair's smile is still more lopsided than not.

"I just like knowing you're around." Quiet. "That I can come here, after patrol, and you're here too."

[howtoactfereldan]

"I... still don't understand." Cullen's eyes are closed. "But note I'm not complaining."

[bringspeopletogether]

"Good." A thread of self-deprecating laughter winds through the word. "Not sure I can explain it better."

Another light kiss; another small laugh.

"I can't figure out what to say. Maker, the world really might be ending."

[howtoactfereldan]

"It was already ending before this."

He rubs the small of Alistair's back. "And yet you seemed to have no problems with words before."

[bringspeopletogether]

Except when he's had a bad enough day that he can't get his thoughts to cohere properly.

(But today wasn't a bad day. Not by any stretch.)

"I was about to say, 'maybe I'm just rendered speechless by your presence,'" says Alistair, thoughtfully, "but...no. The exact opposite, most of the time."

[howtoactfereldan]

"I noticed."

[bringspeopletogether]

He dissolves into snickering.

"Really? And I thought I hid it so well -- "

[howtoactfereldan]

"By definition -- " Cullen taps his back once or twice. "A great deal of talking isn't something one can hide."

[bringspeopletogether]

"What if it's very quiet talking?"

Over the course of that sentence, the volume of Alistair's voice drops lower and lower.

"Like this. Just...very. Quiet. Talking." He's almost to a whisper. "All the time."

[howtoactfereldan]

Cullen pulls back so he can give Alistair a very dubious look.

"You realize I can hear you."

[bringspeopletogether]

You can? Alistair mouths, affecting a shocked look. Oh no.

[howtoactfereldan]

"What's that? I should go back to my reports, you say?" He makes as though to pull away. "If you insist -- "