#castorthecaster

Don’t let Tal fool you this was totally me

He grinned, the tips of his ears goingslightly pink at the question. What was going on between them huh?Well, that was an easy one to answer by this point.

“Castor is my lover, and as redundantas this will sound, I do love him. I never really expected ithonestly, not in the beginning. I kissed him as a joke, and thingsjust kind of…kept going from there. I didn’t expect him to becomeso important to me, but he has, and I’m grateful to have met him. Ontop of that, he accepts me, every part of me and that’s a rare thing,and something I cherish about him.”

He ducked his head a bit, smile turningsomewhat shy, “I can only hope he feels the same about me.”

Max barely noticed the other man's departure, but he was relieved that Castor had decided to heed his request instead of remaining with him. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the mage's willingness to stay, he simply didn't want his lover subjected to the horror of the change itself. If they were lucky, even as a wolf he would be able to recognize the other, and would remain calm in his presence. Unfortunately, he'd never been given the chance to test that particular theory. Hopefully he wasn't wrong.

Tossing his trousers into the pile with the rest of his clothes, he sank to his knees as another wave of pain rolled over him. Gritting his teeth, he braced himself on his hands and knees to make the shift a little easier. Not that it helped much. He could feel his bones shifting beneath his skin, hear the sharp cracks as some of them broke and reformed to fit his new shape.

Despite his best attempts, a few short, sharp cries escaped him, the sounds changing gradually from that of a man, to the pained yelps of an animal. After what felt like an eternity, but was probably not even a half hour later, a large gray wolf lay on the floor of the cell. Sides heaving with labored breaths, the animal whined softly, but did not try to rise from where it lay until the ache subsided.

“It’s actually illegal for me to go flying off of bridges.”

Send a heart for a specific kiss ll Accepting

It was rare that Max was able to takemuch time for himself these days, which also meant he hadn't beenable to spend as much time with Castor as he'd have liked. Oh, theystill saw one another daily, usually in passing or sometimes forlonger if the mage decided to join them on their forays into foreignterritories. Even then Max was more focused on fixing the problems inthe area than on any of his personal relationships. By the time theymade camp each night, it was all he could do to force himself to eatsomething before he collapsed into bed to sleep until it was his turnfor watch.

However, he'd finally managed to setaside some time and with Josephine's help, he'd even managed to keepthe whole thing a secret. It wasn't anything over the top of course,just a simple meal and some expensive drink he couldn't pronounce thename of (that had been Josie's donation, and he was grateful, becausenothing they served in the Tavern was all that appealing), and a fewhours of uninterrupted time with his lover.

Which was how he now found himselfsprawled comfortably on the couch in his quarters, Castor settledagainst him, relaxed for the first time in what felt like ages. Infact, it's Castor who starts it, tipping his head up to press lightkisses against Max's neck and then his jaw, the corner of his mouth.It's easy then, to turn his head just slightly to catch thosegrinning lips with his own, one hand coming up to cup the smallerman's jaw lightly, holding him in place so that Max can kiss him athis own pace. Slow and warm, a silent show of affection with no urging for anything more than that.

Despite having grown up hearing about the 'Championof Kirkwall', Max never asks about Castor's time there. From whatlittle he knows from Varric himself, it was not a pleasant time andhe figures if Castor wants him to know anything, he'll tell him inhis own time.

Castor is one of the few people Max has actually toldabout the future he witnessed in Redcliffe. The only ones who knowotherwise are Dorian, because he was there, and his brother.

*castor wants*