There’s no sound as he climbs the steps. Scorn and chastisement chase each other in circles round his chest. Muffling his movements with magic. Considering accepting this ridiculous offer. He should just turn around and go back to his own room.
A flash of a smile appears in his mind’s eye.
That smile. It never fails to bring him to a pause. For some unfathomable reason, he seems to be the cause of it. And not only when they engage in the more scandalous moments. It seems all Dorian has to do is exist.
One deep breath. Another. And then he continues up the stairs until he’s passed silently through the door and into Flynn’s quarters.
Said man is hunched over his desk, hair standing on end like he’s come in contact with one of Dorian’s storm spells, the fingers tangled in it stained with smudges of ink. A frown tugs at his lips, bright eyes dull and heavy lidded. Dorian imagines him with less worries, dressed in Ostwick finery – no, that would be horribly unfashionable and Tevinter finery would suit him better anyway – and attending to the mundane matters of his house. Of course, that was never in Flynn’s future.
This is preferable to the possibility of never finding his brilliance under the glow of red lyrium.
His head jerks up, hand grasping at the abandoned quill blindly. The way his tense and slightly guilty expression softens brings a smile to Dorian’s mouth. He pushes away from the desk and crosses the room. Dorian meets him halfway, letting the quieting spell dissipate. Flynn wraps him in an embrace, clinging to him like a lifeline.
“You came,” he breathes.
In short order, they’re curled beneath the decadent covers on Flynn’s bed. And Dorian wonders why he’s been so resistant to this idea. Why the few offers of spending the night, even without more amorous activities afoot, sends him running for the tavern and the cheap wine. Why, when Flynn looks at him like … like he might actually feel something for Dorian.
The night closes in around them, the fire dimming. For once, his mind is blessedly silent. All he does is enjoy Flynn’s fingers tracing patterns across his skin. He thinks he might be dreaming, feeling the echoes of young and foolish fancies of being loved in a way Tevinter would never accept.
But then Flynn’s lips brush across his temple. Soft. Reverent. The kiss he lays on Dorian’s forehead is full of promise. And maybe, Dorian thinks as he finally succumbs to sleep, maybe he doesn’t have to just dream anymore.