elfhame | A bit of fluff

"I have a problem, actually." If Anders turns, he'll see a boneless Purrelden on Nate's lap, draped so far over one wrist that if Nate moves his arm, the sleeping cat will slither to the floor.

There's no actual worry in Nate's voice, which has Anders turning around with a smile and a raised eyebrow. The former widens at the sight, and Anders leans back against the counter to take in the sight for a few moments.

"That's certainly a predicament. Should I be the hero and swoop in and rescue you? Or should I simply sit here and enjoy the scene?"

"You can't move a sleeping cat. Or dog." Lady, who has been half-asleep on the floor near the fire, thumps her tail on the floor a few times at the sound of her other name.

He chuckles and dries his hands before coming over to kiss Nate's temple.

"No, you can't. It would be cruel. She's earned her rest." As had they. All of them. The dishes can wait; he's going to linger here and loop his arms around Nate's shoulders from behind, resting his head against Nate's.

"The house will never be clean at this rate... but I'm not certain I mind."

Nathaniel shuts his eyes briefly, resting against the solid warmth of Anders, feeling the slight scratch of stubble against his cheek. He turns to kiss his jaw.

"An evening off to enjoy our retirement?" Which is the best word he can think of for life after the taint or the next fifty years.

"Mm." That sounds nicer than he has words for.

"Those could be dangerous words. Thedas could conspire to draw something up to our doorstep." A beat, and he turns his own face to gently kiss Nate's lips. "But I like them. Let's do that."

Nathaniel gives a grunt as he starts to stand up. "Come along, cat."

Purrelden finds herself scooped up in Nathaniel's arms, squeaking in surprise as she begins her airborne journey to the settee, where the husbands can get comfortable and cuddle together.

"Poor Purrelden," he says with a laugh, coming over to join the two and snuggle close. "To work as hard as she does and then, when she's just found comfort, to be jostled like that..."

He's not serious, and he's rather certain Nate knows it. But Purrelden gets the first touch anyway, a finger rubbing underneath her chin as he closes his eyes at her and she settles back down. After that is when Nate gets fingers brushing through his hair gently.

"I like this." Even now he's still quiet when he admits to liking something. He's come a great way, enough that he's not feeling guilt or fear when he says something like that, but there's a lingering shyness as if being too loud or proud about what he has will draw the Maker's ire.

"I love this," Nathaniel says in answer, still looking at the cat as she settles back down on his lap. "I didn't think I would, somehow. I thought I'd miss the action. And I might, eventually. Though we get plenty of action here as well." He turns to Anders and gives him a light kiss on the lips.

"I love you."

"I love you too." He's smiling so hard his cheeks hurt a little as he burrows close.

"I didn't think I could enjoy this either. It feels almost unnatural to be still and not rushing from one emergency to another. But it's nice." This is what having a life is, apparently, when one isn't fighting to save one's people or the world. "I have... I have you, and a home, and..."

Anders exhales and kisses one of Nate's eyebrows. "A place."

A soft chuckle.

"Loved. If you'd sat either of us down ten years ago and told us we'd be loved, let alone everything else, would we have believed it?"

He shakes his head, thinking back ten years. Kirkwall. He'd been in Kirkwall, in the middle of everything going wrong, Karl was dead and Hawke had turned him down.

"No," Anders says, eyes closing as he leans against Nate again. "I thought I was gone beyond any hope then. And then you gave me some back." His arms slip around Nate. "You've come into my life four times. I'm glad you've stayed this time. Without you, I don't think I would have ever felt happy again."

"Not another day," Nathaniel answers, settling against Anders and petting the cat, who has settled back down and is purring with her eyes closed. "Not another day without you. Life before you had no sun. No day. You are air and light to me. Music and song."

There's a moment where it's just the crackling of both the fire and the cat's purring.

"I brought new books. Shut the window against the snow and bring one here to read together. I love listening to your voice."

It means so much to him that he brightens Nate's life in return. He knows he does, but hearing it said again makes him feel it all over again.

Anders runs his thumb against Nate's cheekbone before getting up and doing as has been asked.

"One day maybe we'll live somewhere there is no snow." Warmth would be so nice. But it's hard to get a Fereldan to leave mucky snow behind, it seems. He runs his fingers over the spines of the books, reading them. "...Andraste's Mabari? I really hope they were giving that one away. Mm. Here we are. The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Griffons."

He comes back and snuggles close. "I request arms around me, please. It helps me read."

"Yes." Nathaniel shifts enough to get Anders resting up against him, then holds him close, nuzzling in and breathing the scent of his hair. "Yes, of course."

The cat stands, stretches luxuriously, then begins to go about finding where between them she can tuck in comfortably.

He could so easily forget about reading and just snuggle close and drift off to sleep here. Nate holding him close feels safe and welcome.

Purrelden finds her spot and smooshes in, and Anders starts to read. The book is clearly not written by someone who had insider Warden knowledge which makes it pretty interesting. Wrong, in many parts, but interesting.

"This is when I wonder if any of the scholarly attempts at explaining Kirkwall without gaining the anger of the Chantry would be decent reading. But then I remember it's far too personal and I'd likely not enjoy them."

"Someone tried to give me someone's biography of my father, though I don't know what made them think it would be a good idea. He said it was supposed to deal fairly with the facts, but that's only what liars say when they're trying to make a profit of going against popular opinion. No. Those books aren't for us, love."

He inhales and exhales slowly before pressing the side of his face to Nate's chest.

"It would be one thing if they went in wanting to understand. But they go in feeling like they know the facts and backing them up how they like, and that's how it all falls apart. I've... I've been thinking about writing on the topic. Having been there and being involved gives me an advantage over most when it comes to knowing more than most. I don't know that it would be welcome, though."

A lot of scholars are wrong, and no scholar likes to hear that they were wrong.

"You ought to write it, welcome or no." Nathaniel kisses the top of his head, then presses his cheek to that hair. "That way, years in the future, people will have it. Once they want to know what you said, what you saw, they will go looking for it. And it will be priceless to them."

He brightens, much as he always does when Nate encourages him. The archer is right. Maybe right now it won't be entirely wanted, but down the line hearing his take on the topics could be invaluable.

Anders turns a little, carefully so as not to disturb the cat yet again, and nuzzles his head against Nate.

"You always know just what to say, love. I'll pull my notes together. Tomorrow. Tonight is just for us. We've... we've earned it, together."

Nathaniel breathes in deep, then lets it out, relaxing, reveling in this completely perfect moment. This is what all that fighting, all that suffering was for, and it's worth it. Peace and bliss.

"You know," he says after a moment. "If we wanted to make love on any surface of this house, there is absolutely no chance of anyone walking in on us. Even if we wanted to do it outside, no one would be the wiser."

He snickers, about to dismiss the thought of doing anything out in the cold, and then he stops.

"The first time we had sex was in the tent. But the second time, when it suddenly meant something, it was out in the snow, on your cloak." He reaches up and finds Nate's hand. "Do you still have that cloak?"

"Of course I do." Nathaniel remembers cleaning that cloak afterward. He hesitates, clearly uncertain, as it is really coming down out there. "When I mentioned doing it outside..."

The romantic in him is not really the most practical. He considers suggesting he put a force barrier around them, but the problem with that is it takes a little concentration to maintain. Once they really get going, it might collapse.

"Mm. Maybe not today, then." He sets the book down to the side and gently urges Purrelden off the settee so he can straddle Nate's lap. "I remember the way you laid me down on it, how you made me feel precious to you."

Slowly he leans down to kiss Nate's lips briefly, lingering right there. "I'd been interested in you for so long. But that was when I felt like begin to turn into love."

Nathaniel leans up for another kiss, his arms coming to spread across the back of the settee, bracing himself already.

"I remember that. I remember how you looked at me. Ever since I met you I'd been trying to get you to open up, and when you looked at me then, you were completely unguarded. I was folding your shirt, I think, after taking it off you, and there was no wall between us. You were perfectly yourself."

He makes a pleased noise with the kiss, eyes closing.

"I lived in so much more fear then. Fear of my control slipping, fear of setting him off, of the Wardens changing their mind about taking me back, fear of always being possessed... and yet there you were. For me. It cut through everything. That you could..."

Anders trails off and takes a breath before moving in for a deep and slow kiss, hands threading through Nate's hair. Fear had been his life and everything that drove him. And now he's breathing. The world isn't fear-free, but he feels it in moderation now.

"That you could love me despite everything shifted my whole world, love," he whispers when he finally breaks the kiss.

Anders kisses him like it's the first time, and Nathaniel's heart pounds. He's left a little breathless after.

"Despite nothing," he laughs softly. "Your eyes opened and poured all that passion, all that strength straight into me. It was like coming awake. And it never stops being so exciting."

He kisses him again, hips rolling, feeling himself stiffening already.

"Oh, my love." His voice is hoarse from emotion and budding arousal. The risks of Justice and all Anders had done hadn't scared Nate away and Anders is the luckiest man in Thedas here.

He shivers, opening his eyes and looking back into Nate's eyes. He loves this man absolutely, trusts him absolutely, and has never felt a peace like this before. His hands drop down from Nate's hair to start undoing his clothing, working his shirt open and off.

"I love you, I want you, and I need you. You gave me my life back and it is yours."

A bit of fluff

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