#zevran week

October 5th - 11th

ZevranWeek over on Twitter has put out prompts for this themed event.

What prompted you to romance Zevran?

I went into DA:O and DA2 with plans to do a different character to romance every LI option. Zevran was romanced second because I played the Cousland origin first and had a Queen path set out for her. After falling in love with both Zevran and the Dalish elves I put my Cousland on pause and made Terron.

Do you prefer Zevran and the Warden having just a friendship rather than a romance?

I can’t say I prefer one to the other, as they’re both equally important to Zevran’s growth as a person and as a character. Honestly no matter what form Zevran’s relationship with the Warden takes, so long as he’s happy I’m happy.

From First Meeting to the End, what sort of relationship did Zevran and your Warden have?

On the subject of my Cousland, her friendship with Zevran is one of the most important relationships I’ve ever seen play out in media hands down. She never outright distrusted him, and she quickly grew to like him because he was one of the few people to make her forget about the Blight long enough to laugh. By the time of the Landsmeet they trusted one another without a second thought.

He and my Amell never truly grew past a wary distrust of the other. They liked one another well enough they both lived to see the Archdemon defeated. My Brosca liked him well enough, but they never really got past the fact a foursome with him and Isabela made her realize how truly gay she was. “If it helps, you were the best man I’ve slept with,” might be the closest thing she’s ever said to a joke.

I hope I’m not too late. Anyway...below the cut, as per usual.

I usually give names to my characters, but I wanted to leave this as vague as possible, so you could imagine your Warden with Zevran. (Hence the use of they and the Warden.)

Ciao! Let me know what you think, if you get a chance. I love romanced Zevran.

Lyna gave him a shy smile as she sat cross-legged on the ground next to him. She reached up to sweep her hair out of her face, revealing a hoop of gold—an earring, his earring—dangling from the lobe of her delicately pointed ear.

Zevran froze, unable to tear his eyes off it. He should—he should feel happy, he should be pleased to see her wear the earring he had given her. His token, as much as he tried to avoid calling it such. But the feeling roiling in his gut, clenching in his chest… it was wrong. It was guilt and anguish and revulsion—not at her, but at himself.

What had he done?

“Excuse me, Warden, I must—”

Words failed him and he broke off, scrambling to his feet in his haste to get away from the campsite, to be alone with his thoughts before he did something terrible. He ran through the trees until he could no longer hear the sounds of Leliana cooking or Alistair and Morrigan bickering.

Silence. Or as close to it as one could get in the middle of a forest, anyway. In the relative quiet his thoughts echoed in his head, and he collapsed against the trunk of a tree, his face in his hands.

The earring was a mistake. He had convinced himself it didn’t mean anything, it was a simple payment for services rendered. He laughed dully to himself. What a fool he was. No matter his words at the time, he had presented Lyna with a token of affection.

And she had accepted it.

Braska. Who was he to claim her so? He was a tool, a puppet, a killer, playing at love. What had he done, what had he ever done in his pathetic life to think he could be worthy of her? She was laughter and sunshine, a savior, a friend, a hero. He was a blade in the shadows. He would only bring her destruction, just like—

He bit off the thought with a harsh cry, his hands clenching into fists. He stared at them, his lip curling in disgust. Hands that were calloused, worn, filthy. He should never have touched her with these hands.

This… thing between them, whatever it was, it had to stop. He would not leave; he had sworn an oath to her, and he would see it done. But he would remember his place. He was a weapon. One more blade between his Warden and the darkspawn. When this was all over, he would leave, and her life would be better for it.

A deep whuff startled him out of his thoughts, and he had a dagger leveled at the source of the sound before he recognized it as Lyna’s mabari, Bear.

“You should not startle a person like that,” he said to the dog.

Bear growled in response, walking around him. A wet nose prodded at his arm.

“Leave me be.”

Another whuff, and then he suddenly he found himself with a lapful of dog. A very heavy lapful of dog.

“Braska! Perro loco,” he grumbled, trying in vain to shove the dog off his legs. He sighed when it was obvious the dog wouldn’t budge, and collapsed backwards against the tree. “You are crushing my legs, Bear.”

Bear let out a sharp bark in agreement.

“I don’t suppose you would be kind enough to move?” Zevran asked, frustration getting the better of him as he shoved uselessly at the great lump of a dog.

A growl. Zevran took that as a no.

“Is there a reason you are doing this?”

Bear leaned up and licked a massive stripe up Zevran’s face, leaving him dripping with dog slobber.

“That was disgusting, Bear,” he muttered, despite the laugh that escaped him at Bear’s enthusiastic bark of response.

“Zev?”

Lyna’s voice cut through the quiet, and Bear’s ears perked up at once.

“Over here,” he said, letting his head fall back against the tree. A moment latter Lyna appeared, her eyes going wide when she saw him.

“Oh no, I’m sorry! Bear!” she called, and then let out a sharp whistle. Bear leapt up and ran to her side. “Go back to camp, Bear.”

The low whuff Bear gave this time didn’t sound terribly pleased, but he retreated towards the campsite as instructed.

“I’m sorry about him. He does that to me all the time. Is… is something wrong?” she asked.

“What? No. Why?”

“Sorry, I just—he usually does that to me when I’ve had a bad day. His way of trying to cheer people up, I suppose.”

“Oh,” Zevran said. “No, I am fine.”

“You sure?” Lyna asked, holding out a hand to help him up. He took it, letting her pull him to his feet.

“Of course,” he said, letting a smile slide onto his face.

“Well, good,” she said. “We should get back to camp before the others start to worry.”

Zevran nodded, and they walked back in silence.

“Care to join me in my tent tonight?” She smiled up at him, eyes sparkling in the dim light of the moon. It would have been so easy to say yes, to slip into her tent that night, as he had so many times. He couldn’t, he reminded himself. This was for the best.

“No.” He said it with too much force, and Lyna recoiled physically. “I… no. I mean no offense, I simply… no.”

Lyna’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure everything’s okay?”

“I do not wish to talk about it.”

“Are you sure? You know you can tell me anything, Zev.”

“Enough!” he spat. “I said I am not interested. Can you not understand that? There are other things for you to focus on besides me, I am certain. Do… do those!”

Lyna took a step back, staring at him. After a moment she recovered herself, mouth snapping shut.

“Fine,” she snapped. She spun on her heel, marching across the small camp to the other side of the fire. Zevran retreated to his tent. After that show, the least he could do was spare her his presence for the rest of the night. He collapsed onto his bedroll, turning his face into the ragged blankets.

A familiar jingle of keys preceded the doorknob turning. Zevran glanced over to see Lyna shuffle into the apartment and drop her backpack on the counter. She ran a hand through her hair, eyes downcast.

“How was your day?” Zevran asked, though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

When Lyna gave no reply but a noncommittal grunt, his suspicions were confirmed.

“Do you wish to talk about it?”

Lyna shuffled her feet and then sighed, shoulders dropping as she brushed the hair back out of her face. “No, not really.”

Zevran regarded her critically, stroking his chin for effect.

“Zev, I really just wanna go get in bed and—”

“Do deplorable things to me, yes, I know.”

“Zev.”

“Sorry. I couldn’t resist that one. But, if you’ll allow me, I do have a proposal for you,” he said, giving her an easy smile.

She rolled her eyes at him, and he knew his joke had done its job. “Alright, what is it?”

“Here is what I propose: You go change into your pajamas. I will make some of that chai you like so much, and then you will join me on the couch under a nice pile of blankets and we will watch whatever movie you choose while you forget about the nastiness of the day you just had.”

“You don’t even know what happened,” Lyna said, her brow furrowing in confusion.

“Do I need to?”

“No, I suppose not,” she said with a tiny smile. “Okay, you got a deal. One one condition, though.”

“What is that?”

“Cookies. I require cookies.”

Zevran laughed; “Of course! How foolish of me to leave out the cookies. Your wish is my command.”

Lyna retreated to her room to change. She came out a while later in pajama pants and a baggy t-shirt and grinned at the setup Zevran had for them. Tea and cookies were on the coffee table, blankets were piled on the couch, and Netflix was already up on the TV. Zevran patted the couch next to him and Lyna sat down, pulling the blankets over them both.

While Lyna busied herself picking a movie, Zevran watched. He saw the minute smile pulling up the corner of her mouth. He saw her eyes drift shut in contentment when she picked up her mug, inhaling deeply before she took a sip of tea. The smile widened as she apparently found a movie to her liking and turned it on. Zevran looked up to see what it was—ah, The Princess Bride.

Ten minutes or so into the movie, Lyna pulled her feet up onto the couch, leaning over to curl up against his chest. Smiling, he wrapped an arm around her, sliding a hand over her hip.

“Don’t get any ideas, mister,” she said, looking up at him.

“I am the very picture of innocence, I assure you,” he replied with a grin that very much belied his words. Lyna laughed, slapping at him playfully. “Cruel temptress!” he cried melodramatically. “Laughing even as she spurns me.”

“You are ridiculous,” Lyna said with a giggle. “Also shush, I can’t hear the movie.” 

 I wrote a drunk kiss for them here, so for this prompt I just wrote sort of a continuation of that!

A low groan is the only thing that announces Lyna’s presence before she collapses onto the bench next to him, cradling her head in her hands.

“Good morning, my Warden,” he says.

Without lifting her head, Lyna mumbles something rather garbled in response. He’s pretty sure he catches the word ‘bad’, but that’s about it.

“I didn’t catch that, I’m afraid.”

“Shem ale. Bad.” Lyna says, lifting her head up and blinking groggily at him through the curtain of her hair.

Zevran can’t help but smile at her endearingly rumpled appearance. “You seemed rather fond of the ‘shem ale’ last night.”

“Changed my mind. Head hurts. My mouth tastes like halla dung!”

“Do I wish to ask how you became familiar with the flavor of halla dung?”

“No. I—Shut up! Wait. How did I get back to my room last night? The last thing I remember… Something about cheese? But I was definitely still down here!”

“You do not remember?” Zevran asks, his brow furrowing.

“No. Shit, tell me I didn’t do anything completely embarrassing. The last time I got that drunk Merrill and I put flower crowns on all the statues of the Creators. We even did Fen’harel! We were in so much trouble for that. I even sound like her now. Babbling. Um, yes. Just tell me I didn’t do anything stupid. Please.”

She didn’t remember. That delicious kiss, his less-than-subtle promise afterward. Hm. He’s… disappointed. Why is he disappointed? The kiss, objectively, had not even been that good, but… mierda, he could not stop replaying the moment in his mind, the feel of her lips against his, the warmth of her body—

Lyna was staring at him, eyes growing wider by the second. “Oh shit, what did I do?”

“Nothing, my Warden. My mind wandered, I apologize. You may have spilled a little ale on our friend Alistair, but I am sure he can forgive you for that. After that I walked you to your room, and you went to bed. That is all,” he says, hoping she wouldn’t notice how shaky his smile was.

“Oh. You… you did?” she asks in a breathy voice, giving him a small smile.

“Yes,” he says, chest fluttering strangely at the gratitude and… and fondness in her voice. “And now, you should eat some breakfast. Can’t have our heroic Grey Warden fighting the darkspawn on an empty stomach, no?” He flashes her a grin and pushes a plate her way. “The porridge tastes like parchment but the bacon is passable.”

---

That night at camp, Lyna plops down next to him around the fire.

“All right, out with it. What really happened last night?”

“What—”

“You haven’t flirted with me all day,” she says, cocking an eyebrow at him. “So I have to assume something… happened between us last night. Am I wrong?”

“No. We… that is, after I walked you upstairs you… you kissed me. You were drunk and I did not wish to… Well, we parted ways--you into your room and me into mine. Nothing sordid, I’m afraid.”

Babbling like a fresh-faced recruit. What is wrong with you, Zevran?

“I… oh.” Lyna’s cheeks flush scarlet and her gaze drops to her bare feet. “Zev, you told me I didn’t embarrass myself!” she hisses, still refusing to look at him.

“And you did not. Would I lie to you, my Warden?” he says, turning her face with a light touch under the chin. Finally her eyes snap up to meet his.

“But—”

“Ah-ah,” he tuts. “I happen to enjoy kissing beautiful women. Since when is doing something we both enjoy an embarrassment?”

“But you didn’t want to do… more than that.”

Zevran laughs, head tilting back. “Whatever gave you that idea? Please tell me so I can correct it immediately.”

“Sorry, I just assumed, since we didn’t…”

“No, my Warden. I will tell you now what I told you last night: when we do choose to take our pleasure in each other—for I feel it is safe to assume it is only a matter of time at this point—I want you to be fully aware. Present in that moment. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she says in a hoarse whisper.

a playlist for zevran/rinna/taliesen day of @zevran-week

UPDATE: now also on youtube

Tracklist & some lyrics under the cut. It’s meant to be in order, but what do I know? Shuffle at your own risk.