Archive of Our Own

'Get him killed and I'll feed you your eyeballs.'

The line replayed over and over in Inquisitor Trevelyan's head. She had been too taken aback to give Bianca a reply and that had bothered her ever since they surfaced from the caves. After the fact she'd wanted to tell the woman off in a thousand possible ways - or just kick her ass. She had no right, the Inquisitor thought, her hands balling into fists.

'Inquisitor?' Vivienne interrupted her thoughts. 'Are you sure you should be wandering about in such awful weather? You look dreadful enough already.'

The Inquisitor snorted a little. She was used to a life of comfort as well, but being with the Inquisition had quickly made her forget about all the luxury she used to have back home. Now she was just focused on eliminating Corypheus and gathering as much information on him as she could before she did so - because she was planning on surviving. So she nodded. 'Don't worry, I will be back soon. The rift there has been closed and the dragonlings are dead, so I'll be fine.' She looked up from under the tent flap and saw that the area was truly starting to live up to its name. The Storm Coast.

'You can come with me, if it makes you feel better,' she said to Madame de Fer.

'Absolutely not. It is horrifying enough to stay in these tents, but at least I will be dry.'

Bull just shrugged. 'I could come with you, boss.'

'Or I could,' Varric suggested. 'Didn’t bring my writing equipment, so might as well join you to get that shard. As long as we bust down the doors on that red templar hold after the road clears up and Iron Lady here is comfortable traveling again.'

Vivienne just stood there, arms crossed, not even offended by his statement. 

The Inquisitor suddenly felt her cheeks heat up. 'I will be fine by myself.'

'I'd feel better if Varric or I joined you,' Bull chimed in again. 'If something happens, at least you won't be alone.'

'Alright, fine,' she mumbled. 'It's better to split up than for both of you to be with me. Bull, are you okay with staying behind and defending the camp with Lady Vivienne if necessary?'

'Sure, Boss.'

Suddenly she realized the implications of what she'd done. The consequences. Her cheeks started heating up, but it would look strange if she'd turn back on her decision, so she decided she'd run with it. 

'Alright, let's go then,' she said with a neutral tone in her voice, turning to Varric. 

The moment she stepped outside the tent she instantly regretted her choices, but she was intent on finding that stupid shard. She'd noticed she was getting more and more resistant to the elements and knew it was because of the magic inside the temple. The feeling was addicting, plus she needed every edge she could get against Corypheus. One shard seemed like nothing in the grand scheme of things, but she was in the area and they wouldn't travel further because of the weather anyway - and she was desperate enough to gather one single shard because it just might mean that she would have the upper hand once Corypheus came to kill her.

She took a deep breath when Varric nodded, ready to accompany her. A shiver went down her spine and she didn't know if it was the rain that was seeping into her jacket or if it was because of… something else. She swallowed and started walking.

'This is crazy,' Varric sniggered when they arrived at the edge of the peninsula, where the shard was. The rain had picked up in intensity and the storm was almost blowing them off their feet. 'I could do with a roof over my head right about now.'

'Me too,' the Inquisitor admitted as she put the shard in her satchel. It had stopped making that awful noise once she'd touched it, which made her calm down immediately - even though she was soaked down to her underwear. 'Let's go back to camp.'

'Good plan!'

They could barely hear each other over the sound of the wind and the waves slamming against the rocks. Just as they were heading back up to get to the other side of the small peninsula, back to camp, a gust of wind blew the Inquisitor off her feet, smashing her against the rocks. A scream left her throat and immediately got whisked away by the wind.

'Shit!' Varric yelled. 'Are you okay?'

She gritted her teeth, groaning from the pain in her shoulders and rib cage. 

'Shit, shit,' Varric said again. 'Are you bleeding? Do you have healing potions on you?’

‘No!’

‘Me neither! We have to get you someplace dry!'

He ran up to her and lifted her arm, checking for any open wounds. There were none, she could feel it, but her shoulders and ribs were badly bruised. 'I'll be fine,' she grunted and started walking, but the wind almost pushed her over again.

'Andraste's ass!' he shouted. 'You can say that, but we won't even make it to camp if you keep limping like that,' he added angrily. 'Let's get inside that cabin up there, we'll wait out the storm there.'

'It's on top of the hill,' she hissed. 'It might fly away!'

'It's still standing after all these years, that's enough for me. I won't take no for an answer.'

'But-'

'Let's go!' He moved her non-affected arm around his neck to hold her up, careful not to let her accidentally set off his crossbow, and she gratefully accepted. Even right through the pain, leaning on his broad form made other parts of her body burn.

This is madness, she thought as they made their way up the hill, fighting to stay upright while crossing the wobbly wooden bridge to the cabin - they fell over twice, but not as bad as the first time. The ladder was another challenge, but she managed with one hand. All this for a fucking shard. I should have known better. But as soon as Varric kicked the door of the old cabin closed behind them, she breathed out in sheer relief. 'Maker, I didn't think it would get this bad…' 

He guided her to a chair and sat her down. She rotated her shoulder and hissed, but the pain was manageable as long as she didn’t put pressure on it. She looked up and saw that the roof was open in the middle, but somehow the greenery on top prevented most of the rain from falling down through the hole - the storm was blowing mostly from the side and had kept the interior of the cabin fairly dry.

Varric put Bianca - the bow - on a table, then opened all the pots and chests he could find and returned to her with a pile of blankets. 'I'll start a bigger fire. We should dry our clothes. There are two shabby beds behind those dividers; we can wait out the storm here. Get some sleep. I need to take a look at your bruises, too.'

She looked at him. 'Where is your usual wit? I was waiting for you to make a joke out of this.'

'Because you're hurt, and I am freezing,' he sighed. 'When I write all of this down later, I'll add the fun, don't you worry your pretty little head about that.'

She tried to smile because knew he was trying to crack a joke, but hearing him call her pretty made her blush instead. 

Maker, I'm far gone.

The moment she'd first run into him after Cassandra had taken her to the Temple of Sacred Ashes was still fresh in her mind, even though it was almost a year ago. Varric Tethras. She still remembered her heart skipping a beat, recognizing his name right away. She'd read all of his books. Even the romance novels - Maker, the romance novels. Delicious. The reaction his introduction had caused… he was full of himself, he knew he was good looking - he'd had to know he was. She'd been awestruck. Sometimes she still was, even though they'd grown closer and she'd become Inquisitor. She'd expected to be thrown off after a while, to just see him as one of her companions and not have that feeling of desire flow through her whenever he looked at or talked to her. But it had only gotten worse. 

'Come on, Inquisitor. Take off your jacket. I won't look.' He walked to one of the braziers on the wall and lit a piece of old basket so he could make a larger fire. She scoffed. 'Like you have eyes for anyone other than Bianca.' Hoping that the sound of the storm outside drowned out her voice, she focused on taking off her jacket.

He turned towards her. 'Are you serious right now?'

Shit. 'You named your crossbow after the woman, for Andraste’s sake. Of course I'm serious. I don't get what you see in her after that whole Deep Roads… screwup,' the Inquisitor sighed. 'She's not even that pretty.' She snorted. 'Sorry. Apparently my good behavior got smacked out of me by the wind.' 

He didn’t answer.

When she couldn't get her jacket off by herself, she looked at him helplessly. 'Please, can you help me?'

He chuckled. 'I've almost got a fire going. Then I'll help you undress all you like.'

'I might take you up on that,' she said. At that exact moment the storm slammed against the cabin, leaving it rattling on its foundation. She looked up at the wooden planks. The rain was now seeping in through the windows and hole in the roof, but it was still dry enough. And the building held its ground, like Varric had said; it was still standing after all this time for a reason, probably because of the greenery on top.

'I should apologize, Inquisitor.' He poked around in the fire he'd made and then looked at her. 'For Bianca's behavior. And everything she's caused.'

'You already did,' she said and pressed her lips together, shivering from the cold now that the adrenaline was wearing off. 'No need to keep apologizing, we have to move on. Even though I am still mad at her.' She averted her eyes. 'I know she’s a brilliant smith, rich, even famous maybe because of the whole paragon thing, but I wonder what you see in her.'

'Saw.'

'Saw…?'

'Yeah.'

'You're… over her? Just like that?'

'Nah. Not just like that. ' He stood up, walked over to the Inquisitor and grabbed the collar of her armor. She'd already opened it, but hadn't managed to shove it over her shoulder, so he carefully slid it off her arms. She was too busy not wanting to care about his closeness to worry about if it hurt. 'There you go, Inquisitor.'

Inquisitor. 'Thanks.’ She squinted her eyes. ‘Why don't I have a nickname? Like Tiny or Iron Lady. Or Daisy, Rivaini. Blondie.'

'Ah, so you actually read my book.' He nonchalantly laid her armored jacket on one of the pots next to the fire.

'Of course. I've read all your books.'

She could tell he was taken aback by the revelation, but that he pretended to shrug it off. 'All of them? Even-'

'Even the one you wrote Cassandra. In fact, I still haven't given it back to her. I am rereading it for the third time. That doesn't answer my question, though.'

He threw his hands in the air. 'Andraste’s tits! Fine. You do have a nickname. I just don't say it to your face and trust me, that's for the best.'

She took off her boots and threw them close to the fire. ‘Is it that bad?’ 

He didn’t answer and took off his chest plate, followed by his signature tunic. She tried not to look, she really did, but she couldn’t help it. Her mouth dried up at the sight of his muscled, broad chest. The chest hair went all the way down his toned stomach and she wanted to feel. To caress. It took all her strength to avert her eyes, but she succeeded. Somehow the Anchor was flaring up as well - apparently reacting to her emotions - and she closed her hand to prevent him from seeing it.

She stood up, grabbed one of the blankets and slowly walked towards the room dividers, seeing that there were indeed two beds standing behind each of them. She started to take off her pants; her pace was steady, but slow. She threw the trousers on the divider. 

Her underpants followed next. The hardest part would be taking off her tunic and breast band, but they were less rigid than her armored jacket, so she hoped she would be able to do it herself because she didn’t know if she would be able to control herself if he would help her undress… So she tried. The pain was manageable up to a certain point, and she was grateful that she managed to take the rest off by herself. It would have been too cliche to have a handsome half naked man help her get undressed, and then one thing would lead to another… That'd be something for Swords And Shields. She blushed, realizing that she was alone with the author of those novels. Slowly she wrapped herself in the blanket, leaving one arm bare so she could take her clothes and put them next to the fire.

‘There.’ She straightened her back and winced a little, then looked at Varric, who was wearing a blanket as well, but from the waist down. He was standing next to one of the chairs that he’d put beside the fire and stared into the flames.

‘I still need to take a look at your bruises,’ he said, trying to be louder than the wind outside, but his voice sounded hoarse. ‘If your shoulder is dislocated or broken… Tiny will kill me.’ 

‘Cassandra as well,’ she chuckled.

‘I can handle the Seeker.’ 

‘Of course. You’ll just write her another book.’ 

‘See, now you’re getting it. Sit down, Inquisitor.’ He came closer and gestured to the chair she was nearest to. She obeyed, turned her back to him and slowly let the blanket slide down a bit to show him the place of impact on her ribs and shoulder, fully aware that she was completely naked if it weren’t for the piece of fabric draped across her body.

‘Shit, you fell hard. Tell me if this hurts.’ He grabbed her upper arm and lifted it until she groaned in pain.

‘Doesn’t seem dislocated. If I press here…’ He touched her ribs and softly pushed, ‘what kind of pain do you feel?’ 

‘I don’t know,’ she snorted. 

‘Is it sharp, like you’ve been stabbed by a knife, or dull, more like you got mauled over by a druffalo?’ 

‘Yes, that. The druffalo.’ 

Varric palpated the flesh of her back across her ribcage. She didn’t know what he was doing, but it felt like he was looking for fractures. ‘I think it’s only bruised, but you should see a healer once we get back,’ he concluded. ‘As far as I can tell, the only concerning thing about you physically is your green glowing hand.’ 

She smiled and pulled up the blanket. ‘Thanks for checking, Varric.’ His touch still burned in her skin, but she tried not to get too lost in the feeling. 

He gave a nod and then walked back to the other chair. ‘You’re welcome.’ 

For a while they sat in silence, looking at the fire. Then he turned his gaze to the window, as if he was hoping to see something other than the sea.

‘Do you miss Kirkwall?’ she asked.

A slight smile appeared on his face, but his eyes didn't join. He seemed melancholic, in a way. ‘Always. It smells and they’ve only just started rebuilding, but it’s home. Always will be.’ 

‘I would like to go there one day,’ she admitted. ‘When this… is all over. I’ve formed images of it in my head and seen some drawings, but I want to see where you- the Champion lived. I know Ostwick is not that far away, but I’ve never had the chance to go to Kirkwall.’ 

Varric threw his head back in laughter. ‘Andraste’s tits. Even after everything you’ve read? My rendition of the city is somewhat… embellished. And still, you’re the first to actually tell me you want to visit.’ 

Maybe I’m biased, she figured. She looked at the floor, not wanting to tell him the truth about why she wanted to go there. That she wanted to see where he grew up. To take a walk through Lowtown, get a drink at the Hanged Man and visit his quarters there… To take it all in. But she was Inquisitor now. Even before all this, she was noble. She wondered what her parents would think if she’d tell them she had fallen in love with a dwarf. A dwarf who was very important in Kirkwall, but really nowhere else, apart from his books. A dwarf who claimed to dislike nobility. Managed a spy network. Cursed in half the sentences that left his mouth. One who’d written all her favorite novels. Who had a personality that you couldn’t help but love, because he could instantly make you feel better, but he also cared. Deeply. Even if it meant being loyal to a woman who could only break his heart.

'Get him killed and I'll feed you your eyeballs.' There it was again; Bianca’s threat.

The cabin got caught in another gust of wind and she looked at the sky outside - it still had the same gloomy grey color, but it was getting dark now.

‘They’ll wonder where we are,’ she remarked.

‘If they’re smart, they’ll wait out the storm. Tiny wouldn’t do something so reckless as to leave camp to look for us. You don’t get to command an entire mercenary band by being thoughtless.’

‘That is… very true,’ she nodded. ‘Iron Lady wouldn’t even want to leave anyway.’ 

Varric chuckled. ‘They are my nicknames.’

‘So?’

‘It just sounds weird coming from you.’ 

‘Tell me what mine is and I won’t use them again.’ 

‘Is that an order?’ He moved on the chair and she could tell he was uncomfortable. ‘You should know I’m inclined toward extravagant lies.’

She sighed. ‘Fine, don’t tell me. Can you tell me about Bianca then?’

‘Maybe one day.’

‘Yet you say you’re over her,’ she scoffed.

His brown eyes locked with hers. ‘Are you jealous?’

She didn’t know if it was the cozy, intimate setting or the feeling of being locked up, but she blurted out: ‘What if I was?’

‘You’re human,’ he stated without skipping a beat. ‘And the Inquisitor.’

‘So?’

‘I just didn’t expect… Sod it. Are you joking? I can usually tell, but…’

‘I’m not,’ she confessed. 

He sat there, baffled by her declaration. ‘You don’t have to do this,’ he then said, almost too quiet for her to hear over the rain and wind, but she did.

‘Don’t have to do what?’

‘You’ve obviously seen me ogling you. Now you’re just throwing me a bone, after what Bianca did. You don’t have to, it’s fine. I’ll survive.’

Now it was her turn to be taken aback. She swallowed. Ogling me? ‘I…’ she started, but then stopped. She frowned, not knowing what to say. ‘What do you mean?’

Varric shook his head and walked past her, disappearing behind one of the dividers. She didn’t know if he was just going to bed already without saying goodnight, or if he needed to gather his thoughts. How could he have thought she was just being polite or kind? 

After a while she decided to check in on him. As soon as she left her chair she missed the direct heat of the fire, but she had to know what was going on. She’d been in danger ever since the explosion at the conclave, but this was the first time she actually felt her heartbeat in her throat. He was sitting on one of the beds, staring at the sea through one of the small windows. Her eyes danced over his body until she forced herself to look him in the eye.

‘Andraste have mercy,’ he then grunted; noticing what she’d just done. ‘You weren’t trying to make me feel better?’

She shook her head.

‘Maker’s breath. Get over here.’

‘Why?’

‘So I can finally have you!’ he exclaimed. He stood up and pulled her face down until his lips were just a breath away. 

It was too real, too much. Her heart pounded in her chest, feeling hot and cold at the same time. He wants to have me? The words resonated in her head over and over until her body took over. Maker, he wants me too. She closed the distance, pushed him on the bed with her good - Anchor marked - arm and straddled him with her legs. She was nervous, but knew there was no going back now. The blanket got caught beneath her knee and dropped to the floor. A look of hunger appeared in his eyes and he immediately grabbed her neck and pulled her in for a heated kiss. He touched her like she was water in a bone dry desert. He drank her. Devoured her. Her hand was placed next to his head to hold herself up, the other slowly roamed over his chest, not planning on letting a little bit of pain ruin this. Maker, his lips... His fingers grabbed her hair and he licked into her mouth, thoroughly tasting her, while his other hand slid down her body and grabbed her waist, drawing her even closer until her breasts were pressed against his chest.

'Shit,' he groaned into her mouth. 'You're so soft.' 

She just quietly moaned and kissed him again, grinding up against him, only separated by the blanket he was covered in. His hand reached down and he swiftly pulled it loose, letting it fall open to the sides. She pushed herself up and looked down at his body. He was rock hard. Maker. 'For me?' she whispered.

He gazed up at her body. 'Do you see anyone else here?' When she felt him buck upwards, she took a sharp breath and felt her body respond to his movement. 

'It's Gorgeous,' he confessed as if he was in pain and caught her lips between his again. The feeling of his impatient but passionate touch was exhilarating; she could get lost in it. And he was touching her.  

His words resounded in her head. Gorgeous.

'What is?' she panted when he let her go to take a breath.

'Your nickname.'

Her brain short circuited.

She lowered her hips and watched his face as their bodies merged, her warm heat welcoming, stretching and taking him in.

He moaned loudly and her breath hitched in her throat, unable to comprehend and almost exploding from the sight of Varric Tethras beneath her, inside her, losing control. 

'Fu-uck,' he uttered. 'Finally…'

She smiled at his confession and felt herself contract around him slightly, his words making her go crazy with lust. 'You could say that,' she breathed.

He held her by her hips and pushed upwards, cursing again and holding still to adjust.

She bent over and kissed him passionately, his head tilting upwards ro reach her.

'I've never,' he confessed, 'felt anything… anyone… like… you.'

Smiling, she rotated her hips and watched his response, feeling his nails dig into her ass. 'I'll make sure of that,' she promised.

When she woke up, the fire had died down and so had the storm; light seeped in through the roof. Varric had moved the bedrolls from their bedsteads to the floor so that they were closer to the fire. His hand was resting on her waist beneath the blanket and she suddenly remembered everything that had happened between them. She groaned when the pain also returned; the hardness from the wooden floor beneath the bedroll hadn't done any wonders for her shoulder. She slowly rotated it to get the stiffness out and realized that even though it hadn’t gotten any better, it also hadn’t gotten worse. Having a warm body behind her probably helped…

‘Good morning, Gorgeous.’ 

His voice was heavier than usual and she instantly felt her body respond to that. ‘Good morning.’ She turned around so she was laying on her stomach, and looked at him from the side. ‘Sleep well?’

‘Better than I have in years,’ he chuckled. ‘All the sex probably helped.’ His fingers danced on her back, tickling her skin. 

She let out a slow moan. ‘Can’t believe you actually wanted me too.’

‘Right back at you,’ he smiled. ‘How could the Inquisitor want a random dwarf from Kirkwall?’

‘You’re so not a random dwarf,’ she retorted. ‘You’re famous. And even if you weren’t, I’d still want you. You just… it’s who you are. And all of this,’ she let her hand slide down his chest. 'Maker, I don't think I can ever get enough of you.'

He kissed her shoulder tenderly and then grabbed her ass. She laughed at the difference in touch and took a sharp breath when he removed the blanket from her naked body. He licked his lips while blatantly ogling her, as he'd called it. 

'Shit, you're beautiful,' he groaned.

It was obvious that he had no intention of returning to camp right away. 'They'll wonder where we are,' she giggled. 

'Let them. I have the Inquisitor here in my arms, naked. They can wait. Maybe take a stroll, read a book.'

'That's true. And the new Swords And Shields just got released, have you heard?' she asked with a mischievous grin. 

'I did, I've also heard it's awful.'

'It's cute. Although maybe it's because I have a thing for the author.'

'As it turns out, the author has a thing for you as well… And really, really needs to have you. Right now.' He left a trail of slow, wet kisses from her shoulder down to her back until she couldn't handle it anymore.

'Take me, Varric. Please.' She tried to get up, but he gently pushed her back down on her stomach. 

'Stay just like this. We don't want you lying down on your bruises.'

'Yes, sir.'

Hearing those words made him swiftly close the distance between their faces, kissing her roughly. Even though she'd just woken up, he deepened the kiss and touched her as if it was the first time all over again.

He let her go, moved himself on top of her and grabbed her hips; she knew exactly what he wanted and was eager to comply, tilting them slightly, allowing him better access. She knew he could see that she was turned on which meant he'd have no trouble with the angle - oh yes... He slowly slid inside her. She softly sighed, the feeling being so overwhelming that she just closed her eyes and automatically met him halfway; letting him in as far as she could handle, which was exactly everything he had to give. Perfection.  

'It feels like you're made for me,' he hissed and she moaned in agreement. He snapped his hips backward and then moved back inside her, repeating the motion until she was convinced that nothing else in the world mattered but them, right in this moment. ‘Yes…’ she panted.

When he moaned her name in response, she knew she was ruined forever. 

Varric…

'Inquisitor, you’ve returned! We have been worried sick about you!' Vivienne beckoned them to come closer to the camp.

'No, we haven't,' Bull nonchalantly stated. ‘We were fine. Mostly because we saw that the cabin up that hill on the peninsula suddenly was lighting up from the inside. Figured you two were waiting out the storm there.’ 

Trevelyan nodded. ‘Yes. I fell and hurt myself and Varric forced me to get in there to take shelter because we didn’t have any healing potions.’

Bull grabbed his greataxe. ‘Smart thinking. It was probably bad out there.’

‘Are you alright, my dear?’ Vivienne asked and the Inquisitor genuinely couldn’t tell if she really meant it.

‘Yes, I just bruised some ribs and my shoulder. I’ll be fine. We will be leaving for the Red Templar stronghold today, we just have to gather our things first.’ She disappeared into her tent and collected everything she needed for the trip. As she walked back outside, she bumped into The Iron Bull and groaned a little because of the impact.

‘Are you sure it’s only your shoulder and ribs?’ he said, his voice low. ‘Because you’re walking funny.’

Her eyes widened. 

‘Ben-Hassrath, remember?’

She looked around and saw that Vivienne was nowhere to be found, so she nodded. ‘I… Yes. Nothing escapes you, apparently.’

‘He’s wanted you for a long time. Never thought you’d feel the same way. Guess some things do escape me.’

‘So you’ve seen the ogling?’ she smiled. ‘I… I have had those feelings ever since I first met him. Personally, I never expected him to feel the same way. Bianca and all that.’

Bull patted her on her good shoulder. ‘Nah, Bianca hasn’t been on his mind for a good while. Congrats, you two. Don’t mess it up.’

Varric had heard the last part of their conversation and was walking over, ready to explain himself, but she just held up her hands in defense and pointed at Bull. ‘He’s Ben-Hassrath. He knew.’

‘Of course,’ Varric chuckled. ‘Thanks, Tiny.’ He put his crossbow on his back. ‘Who’s ready to take on a bunch of red templars?’

‘I’ll need a healing potion first, then I’m good to go.’ She walked over to the potion table, lined up six bottles and smashed up some elfroot, her thoughts wandering off to last night - and this morning. She still couldn’t believe everything that had happened and hoped that it would only be the start.

‘Hey Gorgeous, can I have some too?’ Varric then asked nonchalantly as he appeared next to her. ‘For on the road.’

‘In case we end up wounded in an abandoned cabin again?’ she chuckled, blushing from hearing her nickname again.

‘Especially then. Then I can put you down on your back for once.’

She took a sharp breath and felt her body heat up. ‘Maker. Better give this healing process a head start then.’ She downed the potion in one go, put two in her satchel and gave a few to Varric. He put them on his belt.

‘There. Let’s go break down that hold!’ 

He quickly grabbed her wrist as she started to move away. ‘Visit me tonight?’ he asked quietly. 

She smiled. ‘Thought you’d never ask.’