NOTHINGGLORIOUS

𝚜𝚑𝚎 — 𝚜𝚑𝚎

𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎 — 𝚜𝚑𝚎

𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚎

𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚢

Alistair was well aware that he’d never met anyone quite like Liz before and it hadn’t taken long for him to find himself a little enamored with her. It wasn’t like he’d known many girls from his time at the Chantry nor with the Grey Warden’s and even as a child, he wasn’t allowed to play with the other children at the castle. So when he looked at her, his heartbeat quickened and his hands grew clammy and it was a feeling that he didn’t understand too well, but he knew enough to understand he was falling in love with this woman. 

Being close to her was something he was familiar with, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever been as close as he was now. Their bodies were flush, her back against his chest and his hands on her in a way that seemed more sensual then anything. He found it strange and yet, he wanted to explore more, but fear of scaring away her stopped him. He wasn’t trying to rush anything, not when their fates were not decided. 

He did know that she could do this, however, and that she needed to know how to hunt in case something happened to him. Duncan had helped him perfect his technique while hunting and it was how he ended up packing on much needed pounds while training. 

He caught her when she turned around and pressed her face against him and he held her, rubbing her back. “You did, we need to track it down. It didn’t get far.” He liked how kind she could be, even now. He brought his hands to her cheeks and cupped her face as he lifted her face so he could look down at her. “You made it quick, okay? Don’t feel bad, please. I know you’re empathetic but we have to eat too and it’s been days since we’ve had any actual meat. If we don’t have some protein, then we’re not going to be at our strongest. That deer can be the reason you save a family or even someone else who needs it.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, giving her one last squeeze before slipping his hand into hers. “Follow me, we can just follow the trail.” 

          ❝ i did? ❞ the arrow had vanished from her vision before it had landed, either because of her inability to see it or because she’d turned so abruptly at the deep, hollow side of it striking it’s target.  the soothing feeling of his hand on her back would’ve have been enough to calm her suddenly frayed nerves rather quickly, but his hands cradling her face soothes her in an instant.  she stares up at him, momentarily in awe of… SOMETHING, the fate of the deer forgotten.

          he’s lovely.  it’s something she’s thought privately to herself since the moment they met, but somehow it seems as though he’s grown more handsome the longer they’ve been together.  little features that she hadn’t noticed before stand out to her now - freckles on the bridge of his nose and the way his eyes soften when he looks at her ( maker, she could stare into those eyes for HOURS ).  she nods along in agreement to what he’s saying and it MAKES SENSE.  they needed to eat, but the SOUND.  not as bad as the squelch when her blade sinks into flesh, or the dying gasps of men as they go falling to the ground, but still GRUESOME. 

          if the way he’d been cradling her face or the look in his eyes had been A LOT to handle, his lips against her forehead is too much.  she licks her lips and stares, WIDE EYED, after him as he turns to leave.  he’d said it himself, the deer couldn’t have gotten very far.  if she’d hit it in the chest, where she’d been aiming, it couldn’t have made it past the brush on the other side of the stream.  her fingers tighten around his hand, pulling him back towards her.  ❝ alistair, you can’t just- ❞ LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT.  but instead of finishing the statement she reaches out with her free hand to hold his face still, leaning all the way on the tips of her toes to kiss the corner of his lips.  not a proper kiss - all of her courage is so tied up in being a warden that she doesn’t have any left to kiss him properly, but it’s enough to sate the dull ache in her heart. 

He’s ready to search though, but he’s caught my surprise and his entire heart stops when she leans up as high as she can to press the softest of kisses to the corner of his lips. He’s not sure when his heart restarts but it must because all the blood in his body floods to his cheeks and he turns a scarlet color all the way to his ears. He can barely think, let alone walk and he toes forward, his gaze on her rather than the trail before them.

“Uh Liz?” He’s standing where the deer once had and he knows which way they need to go, but they’ve got a moment to spare. He wants to make the moment they were having last a little longer and actually enjoy a second alone. He can’t really share a kiss with her when everyones staring at them. At least alone in the forest, the only things watching were the animals and they weren’t interested in what the two of them were doing.

goodbye :  my  muse  kissing  and/or  hugging  your  muse  goodbye.

secrets :   my  muse  sharing/confiding  their  deepest,  darkest  secret  with  your  muse.

nightmare :   my  muse  coming  to  your  muses  aid  when  they  awake  from  a  nightmare.

push :   my  muse  pushing  your  muse  out  of  the  way  of  danger.

embrace :   my  muse  abruptly  throwing  their  arms  around  your  muse,  hugging  them  tightly.

bloody :   my  muse  coming  to  your  muse  with  blood  stains  on  their  clothes  and  hands,  shaking.

drunk :   my  muse  takes  care  of  your  muse  while  they  are  in  a  drunken  state.

bed :   my  muse  wakes  up  in  the  same  bed  as  your  muse  with  little  recollection  of  the  night  before.

slap :   my  muse  slaps  your  muse  across  the  face  out  of  anger.

gone :   my  muse  stays  by  your  muses  side  while  they  take  their  last  breath.

scream :   my  muse  hears  your  muse  scream  and  quickly  runs  to  their  side.

sleep :   my  muse  falls  asleep  on  your  muse,  making  it  hard  for  my  muse  to  leave.

stalk :   my  muse  gets  caught  by  your  muse  trailing  behind  them,  watching  them.

sacrifice :   my  muse  jumps  in  front  of  your  muse,  sacrificing  their  life  for  your  muses  life.

trail :   my  muse  watches  as  your  muse  traces  one  of  my  muses  scares,  asking  them  about  it.

love :   my  muse  confronts  your  muse  about  why  they  never  say  ’ i  love  you ’  back.

piggyback :   my  muse  jumps  on  your  muses  back,  my  muse  gives  yours  a  piggyback  ride.

jump :   my  muse  runs  to  your  muse  and  jumps  up,  my  muse  holding  yours  up  by  their  thighs.

dance :   my  muse  holds  their  hand  out,  waiting  for  your  muse  to  come  out  and  slow  dance  with  them.

carry :   my  muse  carries  your  muse  to  their  house,  either  drunk,  or  a  weakened  state,  can  specify. 

lighter :   my  muse  pulls  out  a  lighter  and  lights  it  for  your  muse  to  use  to  light  their  cigarette.

shot :   my  muse  gets  shot  and  struggles  to  your  muses  house  for  aid.

wound :   my  muse  patches  and  bandages  a  wound  your  muse  has  gotten.

fight :   my  muse  stops  your  muse  from  getting  into  a  physical  fight  with  someone  else.

arrest :   your  muse  finds  my  muse  arrested  in  cuffs  with  swarming  police  everywhere.

hospital :   my  muse  awakens  in  a  hospital,  finding  your  muse  by  their  side,  asking  what  happened.

gun :  my  muse  pulls  out  a  gun  on  your  muse,  your  muse  tries  to  talk  them  into  putting  the  gun  down. 

betrayal :  my  muse  finds  out  that  your  muse  has  betrayed  them  in  same  way  and  confronts  them  about  it.

nude :  my  muse  walks  in  on  your  muse  accidentally  seeing  them  naked.

karaoke :  my  muse  pulls  your  muse  up  on  stage  with  them  to  sing  some  karaoke  songs. 

laughter :   my  muse  hears  your  muse  laughing  uncontrollably  and  approaches  to  see  if  they  are  okay.

murder :   my  muse  walks  in  on  your  muse  committing  a  gruesome  murder.

The sky was painted in vibrance – oranges blended pinks and purples as the sun began to set. Alistair and Liz had fallen behind the others, because Alistair had claimed they were going to hunt and try to find something for supper, but honestly he just wanted some time alone with her. He walked beside her nervously, carrying the bow that they kept for hunting smaller game when the area permitted and fond himself brushing her elbow every now and again, he corners of his lips tugged into a smile.  “It’s pretty, isn’t it? It’s almost as if there isn’t a Blight going on. I feel like it hasn’t been this peaceful and serene in a very long time.” He pulled a branch to the side for her to step through the tree line and when he followed her past it, noticed the small creek, the trickling water nice and clear. “Here, come get some.” He took a step down the bank and held his hand out for her, even though he knew she could manage on her own. He just wanted an excuse to hold her hand, because he’d been a little nervous about taking it himself. 

When they got down to the water, he knelt down and scooped a handful of water from the trickling stream and brought it to his lips, a satisfied noise leaving his lips. “Taste this.” He scooped up more and lifted it to her, offering her to take it from his hands. “It’s so crisp. I bet it’s coming down from the mountains.” They were just outside the Hinterlands, closing in on Haven. Stream water was always fresh and nothing tasted better. He’d always try to go hunting for it as a child, but would either get caught before he could even get outside of the walls of Redcliffe or he’d be scolded for wandering too far from the hunting parties as a boy. 

         it’s been months. long enough that, while the beauty around her still makes her heartCLENCH in her chest, she’s not so enraptured by her surroundings that she barely notices him. indeed, HE manages to hold her attention better than the scenery, eyes drifting in his direction more often than she cared to admit. even when they weren’t walking TOGETHER, she frequently found herself gravitating to his side, nearly shoulder to shoulder, the comfort of proximity meaning more than she could possibly express. a safe, grounded feeling, and the smile that pulls at his lips when he notices their arms brushing together makes her heart dance in her chest.

         he talks when he’s nervous, but he talks when he’s comfortable too. not the way people in the circle used to talk either. round and round, big elegant speeches where they didn’t ever actually say anything. no, there’s something sincere and honest, almost childlike about the way he shares things with her and she could listen to him tell stories and crack jokes and whisper confessions to her in the dead of night…FOREVER. was that an unusual notion?

         she reaches towards him when he offers the water, her hands cupping his to hold them steady as she dipped her head. lips pressed against rough fingers, lingering perhaps longer than needed, but when she does pull back a surprised look as painted her features, ❝ i’ve never tasted anything like- ❞

         he stops her before she can continue the thought and it’s gone as soon as he passes the bow to her. hazel eyes sweep the area, desperate to find whatever had caught his attention, falling upon the doe just as he presses against her from behind. she can’t tell if the racing of her heart is because he’s impossibly close, holding her from behind, whispering in her ear, or hunter’s anticipation but it’s quieted as he runs his hand down her arm. the entire world is quieted to a soft hum until all she can hear is the deer in the brush and the sound of his breathing.

         AIM FOR THE HEART, he tells her. but the doe is blurry and out of focus. had she told him before that she can’t see more than a few feet past her face? she looks at him out of the corner of his eye and then back at the animal he expects her to shoot. the string is harder to pull back than she’d expected, but it’s not difficult. a deep breath. relax your elbow. aim for the heart. aim for the heart.

         the arrow flies and the sound of it sinking into the animal’s chest causes her to squeal, dropping the bow and turning to press her face into his chest, hands over her ears. her’s was a heart too kind for violence, irving had told her when she’d proclaimed her interest in becoming a knight-enchanter. a need to protect and preserve. to cling to what mattered and keep it safe. one fulfilled within the wardens, but sinking her glaive into darkspawn or bandits or men who most certainly meant to do her harm was different than killing an innocent deer looking for water.

         ❝ did i- did i get it? ❞

Alistair was well aware that he’d never met anyone quite like Liz before and it hadn’t taken along for him to find himself a little enamored with her. It wasn’t like he’d known many girls from his time at the Chantry nor with the Grey Warden’s and even as a child, he wasn’t allowed to play with the other children at the castle. So when he looked at her, his heartbeat quickened and his hands grew clammy and it was a feeling that he didn’t understand too well, but he knew enough to understand he was falling in love with this woman. 

Being close to her was something he was familiar with, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever been as close as he was now. Their bodies were flush, her back against his chest and his hands on her in a way that seemed more sensual then anything. He found it strange and yet, he wanted to explore more, but fear of scaring away her stopped him. He wasn’t trying to rush anything, not when their fates were not decided. 

He did know that she could do this, however, and that she needed to know how to hunt in case something happened to him. Duncan had helped him perfect his technique while hunting and it was how he ended up packing on much needed pounds while training. 

alistair:

𝐈 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒 -                              𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋. Ⓒ