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the-void-writes · 2 years

Note

Happy Tiny Scene Sunday :3

(don't look at the calendar it's whatever day I want it to be -)

I know we typically send in 3 words as prompts but could I request a stargazing scene with Will and Dante? :3

Potential 3 words: golden, whisper, kiss @bloodlessheirbyjacques ✨(:

🤣 @bloodlessheirbyjacques We ignore calendars here for the sake of Will and Dante content. Funny how you just posted your spicy Elijah stuff, and now you get to see how I can't write that stuff at all 😂😂😂

“Which one is that?”

Will followed Dante’s pointed finger up to the sky. He squinted at the cluster of stars above them, a fiery and tangled mass like dusty yarn. Back in the day, he could have listed every constellation in a matter of minutes, but King Gazali was an artist. He made stars and planets whenever his friends wanted, and he built more stars on the already existing constellations to make them more reminiscent of their names. It was gorgeous, but Will kind of missed having to study the sky for answers. He took a sip of champagne and laid back down on Dante’s shoulder.

“Cassiopea,” he said.

“Something tells me it didn’t look that complicated back home.”

“It was just a squiggly line that people decided resembled a sitting woman.”

Dante hummed and drank some whiskey from his glass. “And that one?”

“I think it’s Cepheus, just much more detailed. He used to look more like a gnome.”

Dante chuckled. “Was he a gnome?”

Will shook his head, smiling softly. “He was a king who had to sacrifice his daughter, Andromeda, as punishment for his wife’s boasting. Perseus saved Andromeda and married her, but another man claimed that she belonged to him, and there was a fight. Perseus used the head of Medusa, and Cepheus didn’t look away in time. Andromeda lost both of her parents.”

Dante whistled. “Leave it to His Majesty to turn stargazing into school.”

“I’m sorry,” Will said, “I guess I still talk too much about stuff.”

“Don’t you dare apologize, baby. I never paid attention to this stuff before.”

“Well, you were busy.”

“Nah, just lazy, but I’m glad I get to learn from you now.” Dante winked. “Cutest astronomy teacher I’ve ever met.”

Will buried his face in Dante’s shirt. He laughed and ran his hands through Will’s hair, so unbelievably happy to be in love with someone so gentle and sweet. He wanted to spoil him, to worship him the way he deserved, the way no one on Earth ever dreamed of doing. It was perhaps a bit excessive, but Dante’s feelings were overwhelming. He shifted a little on the picnic blanket as he determined how to best express his thoughts.

“Hey, if I tell you something slightly inappropriate, will you get mad at me?”

Will looked up at him. “How bad is it?”

Dante shrugged lazily. His hair was all messy, but the stars sparkled in his golden eyes.

“Here,” Will said. “I’ll try not to overreact.”

“Okay… I think about you a lot.”

Will wheezed. “You think that’s inappropriate?”

“I’m not done, baby. I think about how gorgeous you are, how shiny your eyes get whenever I kiss you.”

He took another drink for confidence and looked over at Will, who was waiting patiently for him to continue. Oh, that gorgeous and peaceful smile…

“Then I start thinking about holding you,” he said with a smile, “kissing you all over… seeing your precious face as you melt in my hands, hearing you whisper my name.”

Will held his hands up to his red face. “Dante.”

“Too much?”

“Not at all.” Will sat up. “Honey, you don’t have to hide that from me.”

“But with everything you’ve been through… I just don’t want to scare you away.”

“You could never scare me away, Dee. I want to be with you for the rest of our lives.”

Dante wheezed. “You want to spend your immortality with me?”

“For all eternity, if I can help it.”

Will gave him that beautiful and sincere smile again, and Dante held his face tenderly as he kissed him. The burn of whiskey still lingered on Dante’s lips, but to Will, it felt like home. Hands curled around shoulders and necks, as though they were trying not to float away from each other. Dante had to pull away for a second, his heart pounding in his chest like a marching band drum.

“Not here, baby. You’re getting the luxury treatment.” He stood up and took Will’s hand. “May I escort you, Mister Shapiro?”

Will couldn’t help but giggle. “I’d be honored, Mister Briggs.”

They sprinted back to the club. Patrons waved at them, though they were more abstract blurs than people. After a quick elevator ride, they reached Dante’s suite. The lights of Paradise glowed softly below the windows, even more so in the bedroom. Dante started taking off his tie, but Will took his hands gently.

“May I?”

Dante grinned. “Be my guest.”

His fingers moved delicately as they slid the tie off his shoulders. Still moving down, Will undid the buttons on Dante’s shirt. The gold of his Ichor shimmered under his skin, outlining his body like art. Will ran his hand over Dante’s chest.

“Admiring the view?” Dante asked.

Will laughed shyly. “I’m sorry, I’m probably going to be awkward.”

“Nothing I won’t love, doll.”

Dante grabbed the hem of Will’s shirt and started pulling it upward. The sickly blue growths engulfed his left side like an ocean in a storm. It hurt Dante to see how much worse Vesely’s disease had affected Will. When he removed the shirt fully, he brushed his hand over the discolored area, hoping to show Will that he loved every part of him, no matter what. Will squirmed a little under his touch, and Dante couldn’t hide his amused smile.

“Is it still sensitive, or are you just shy?”

“Do I have to answer that?”

“That just means it’s both.”

Will pinched his arm.

“Ow!” Dante chuckled and kissed his cheek. “Okay, sorry. I’ll be nice.”

“Thank you, Dee.”

Dante sighed. “I love when you call me that.”

With a smirk, Will leaned up to his ear. “Then make me say it again, love.”

For everything Dante had said about making Will melt, he was the one turning into jelly. They fell gently onto the silk sheets of Dante’s bed. The distant lights, the contrasting shadows, it made Will look like a painting. Dante couldn’t stop the words that came out of his mouth.

“I am so in love with you.”

Will smiled and kissed him. “I love you, too.”

#writeblr #writing community #wip: for all eternity #tiny scene sunday

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bastionkeeper · 6 years

Note

Can I prompt you tres horny boys in the dragon age universe?

This got so long omg I was just on a roll, consider this extra long fic a thanks to everyone who donated today!! I love y’all, enjoy!

It was supposed to be a routine mission, in fact it was soroutine that the Director wasn’t even sure they’d find a relic when theylanded.

She’d told them there’d been some magical interference in asecluded part of the forest they were currently floating over, and that whileit was doubtful anything would come from it, it would be best to check it out.Better safe than sorry.

Of course the boys had felt a lot safer before their orb hadbeen pulled way off course by some sort of arcane energy that neither Taako norMerle could identify.

The orb hit the ground HARD, and everything was black for astretch of time none of them knew and then suddenly…

“Where the hell are we?” Magnus asked, peering out into thestretch of land before them. It looked nothing like their target landing spot,much less like anything in Faerun.

“I have never seen so much brown before in my entire life,”Taako remarked, kicking at a clod of dirt with a look of disgust. Merle noddedempathically, there was barely any vegetation around. Anything that grew in thearea seemed dry and….stubborn.

“I’m not getting any signal here,” Taako said, jostling hisstone of farspeech, he tapped it with the umbrastaff hoping to enhance it witha bit of magic, but all that happened was a shower of sparks that had himducking behind his arm to avoid.

“We should take a look around,” Magnus suggested. “Merle geton my shoulders.”

“Why the hell would I do that?” Merle asked.

“Well, you’re the smallest,” Magnus said. “And I mean…ifyou’re higher up you can see farther?”

“Oh hell no, last time we tried this you threw me and thenyou dropped me, not again,” Merle said.

“Yo, guys?” Taako said.

“I won’t drop you this time!” Magnus said. “The sun was inmy eyes last time.”

“Like hell you won’t, use Taako this time,” Merle argued.

“Hey, dumbasses!” Taako shouted this time to get theirattention. Magnus and Merle turned around and saw that Taako was pointing theumbrastaff at a squadron of armored and heavily armed men.

“Apostate!” one of the men said, pointing straight at Taako.

Taako looked behind him, then turned back around and pointedat himself in a comical double take. The templars didn’t seem to find it veryfunny. They drew their swords and began an approach.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down now,” Magnus said, one hand on hisaxe and the other in the air placatingly.

“Step aside, this is a dangerous apostate, clearly not oneof the dalish,” the templar said. “You’re coming with us.”

“Yeah, okay, you gonna buy me dinner first or what?” Taakoasked. Then he raised the umbrastaff, intending to fire off a magic missle tosend the tin cans running, but nothing happened. He tried again, and once againhis magic was blocked. He looked up at the templar with confusion and saw ablue light emanating from the man’s hand.

“You’re not just gonna take him,” Magnus said, and he andMerle both moved up towards Taako.

“Yo, Mags, chill maybe fighting isn’t such a good idea rightnow,” Taako hissed under his breath. “They’re doing something with the magic,which means only one of us is any good right now. Why don’t I just go with themfor now and slip away once I get a chance, huh?”

“…are you sure?” Magnus asked, but there wasn’t time for asubversive conversation, as the templars were already grabbing Taako by eitherarm and dragging him into their ranks. The one that had been talking to themlooked Magnus and Merle up and down with a judging gaze.

“We technically could bring you in for harboring a mage…butI’m in a forgiving mood. I won’t be next time,” he said, and then turned tojoin his brothers.

Merle rolled his eyes at the showboating, but he wasstarting to get worried. Taako was an ace with magic but without it? Againstseveral armed men?

“Should we follow them?” Merle asked.

“Well, yeah, I’m not just gonna leave Taako with them,”Magnus said.

The pair started trekking after the templars, not too close,across what neither of them would be able to know was the Wounded Coast.

Magnus and Merle ended up losing their friend in the crowdof Lowtown. All the people in a rush to get to work or the bar, pushing andshoving past them, was a big difference from the organized and honestlysparsely employed moonbase.

Three separate people tried to pickpocket them, one wasalmost successful but a quick prayer to Pan and a carefully placed bush trippedthem.

“This is getting us nowhere,” Magnus growled. “I don’t knowwhere the hell we are or even where we would go if we knew.”

“Well getting upset isn’t gonna help,” Merle said, notunkindly. “Why don’t we try asking? Hey uh, excuse me there ma’am?” Merletapped a passing dwarf on the shoulder to get her attention.

“Well, you’re new in town huh?” she asked. “I thought I knewevery surfacer in Kirkwall.”

“Surfacer?” Magnus asked.

“You know, topside dwarf,” the lady said, folding her armsover her chest.

“I’m a beach dwarf,” Merle said proudly.

“Riiiight…” the dwarf said. “Look you need something or-?”

“Yeah! A friend of ours got taken and we’re looking forhim,” Magnus said. “Elf, bout this high, really noticeable sense of fashion?”

“All the knife-ears live down in the alienage,” the dwarfsaid, jerking a thumb to the left, and Magnus and Merle grimaced at what wasclearly some sort of racial epitaph. “What, I have an elf friend, I can say it.You said he was taken? Was it Vints or ox-men?”

“Who or who?” Merle asked.

“Tevinters or qunari,” the woman elaborated not veryhelpfully. “Slave traders have been big in these parts the past few months, butalso a lot of elves are converting to the qun. Was it a bunch of humans infancy clothes or some huge gray bastards with horns?”

“Neither,” Magnus said. “It was humans in armor. Armor with like…a sword withsquiggly lines all around it?”

The dwarf suddenly looked fearful, her eyes going wide.“I-I…I don’t want anything to do with that okay?”

“With what?” Magnus said, grabbing her arm to keep her fromleaving. “Sorry ma’am but…please, he’s our friend…”

“Where the hell are you from that you don’t recognizetemplars?” the dwarf said.

“What like a paladin?” Merle asked.

“Like a holy knight that kills mages,” the dwarf said. “LookI don’t want any part of that whole fight, they’re both bad and they can bothstay miles away from me. I thank the stone dwarves don’t have magic, that shitis too much trouble.”

“What?” Merle gave a confused chuckle. “I have magic.”

The dwarf woman looked at him like he was crazy. “Yeah,whatever, I’m out of here.” She pulled free of a grip Magnus had forgot he washolding and vanished into the crowd. Magnus and Merle shared a worried look.

“Where the hell are we?” Merle said.

“She said templars kill mages, Taako’s in trouble,” Magnussaid. “We have to find him.”

Taako, was in trouble, though not the immediate sort.

The templars were unable to find a phylactery matching theirconvict, so they sent out word to all the nearby towers to check for missingmages. Meanwhile they put Taako in a room and grilled him for answers.

“Which alienage were you born in?” the man asked.

“Uh…New Elfington?” Taako gave his usual sarcastic answer,though it failed to get any laughs from the interrogator.

“Are you dalish then?” he asked.

“I’m Taako…you know, fr-“

“Not your name, dalish, the people?” the man asked. Taakojust looked over to the door. He was worried about his umbrastaff, they’d takenit from him when they got to the tower and he didn’t know where they werekeeping it. Finding it would be easy enough, he always had a location spell onit, but he didn’t feel good with it so far away from him.

“How long have you been an apostate?” the man asked.

“I…I don’t really know what that is,” Taako said.

“A magic user outside of the circle or the protection of thedalish people,” the man explained with a sigh.

“Oh…well…all my life I guess?” Taako said. “I mean…where I’mfrom, magic is just really common.”

“So dalish then,” the man said. “That wasn’t so hard wasit?” then he grumbled under his breath: “don’t see why these knife-ears can’tlearn a proper language…”

Taako’s ears twitched at that.

“Well, until we can find your clan to verify your status,you’ll be our guest here in the Kirkwall circle,” the man said, standing up andtaking his notes with him. “Obey the rules and you’ll stay out of trouble.”

With that he left Taako in a shabby room, alone.

Taako first searched the room for anything useful, but hefound no wands or components. Just some musty old books on magic techniqueshe’d never heard of and an empty closet. Then he went to the door, and wassurprised to see no guards posted outside. Someone caught him poking his headout though, but it was just a girl dressed in robes exiting her own room.

“…they don’t follow you everywhere you know,” she chuckled.“I was scared too my first day.”

“Oh, you’re an old hand at this?” Taako said.

“You could say that, I’ve only been here about two yearsnow, most of the others have been here their whole lives.” The girl smiled andextended a hand to Taako. “I’m Bethany. Need a tour?”

A merchant had told them that the best place for informationwas a local tavern called The Hanged Man. It was easy enough to find, if thesmell of booze and vomit weren’t enough there was always the giant stuffed manhanging at the door.

Magnus gasped as they approached, noticing the large dogpainted with red stripes laying outside with its head on its paws. It noticedMagnus and wiggled a bit, but otherwise made no move.

“Did they leave you alone out here without any water oranything?” Magnus asked, petting the dog and scratching it behind the ears. “Ilike your ink, it’s badass.”

The mabari warhound seemed to smile at that, and lickedMagnus’s hand.

“Oh jeez, we were almost lucky,” a drunken patron said,stumbling out of the door. “Another few days and the damn thing woulda starvedto death. But noooo we got another Fereldan here. You’re all like fleas. You’vegot the dogs, and you’re like fleas.”

“Hey,” Magnus said, his voice growing hard at the threat toan animal’s life. “You leave it alone.”

“I’m not going near it, that thing would tear my throat outin a second,” he said, swaying and supporting himself on the wall. “His masterdrank himself to death a couples days back, but the damn things are loyal forlife. He’s still waiting for his master to come out. Dumb animal shoulda seenhis sorry corpse getting dragged out of here.”

Magnus looked sadly at the dog, who lowered its ears as ifperfectly aware of the conversation. No, Magnus was sure it understood, thatdog looked smart.

“…you hungry boy?” Magnus said, jerking his head towards thedrunkard. “You want dumbass for dinner?”

The mabari seemed to catch on, standing and barking happilywith a wag of its nubby tail.

“Oh shit, leave me alone!” the man said, practicallytripping over himself to run away. “You Fereldans and your damn dogs…you bothsmell as bad you know!”

Magnus patted the dog and pulled some treats out of hispockets, he was always prepared for a puppy. “I’ll see if I can get you somereal food inside, okay?” he said.

He was expecting the dog to stay at its vigil, but when heand Merle went to enter the bar the dog came with, pressed against Magnus’sside with an alert look.

“I think you made a friend,” Merle chuckled.

“Okay, not even Pan himself could keep me from keeping thisdog,” Magnus said.

“They really make you eat this shit?” Taako grimaced, pokingat the ‘food’ on his plate with a disdainful look. He and Bethany sat in thedining hall at one of the long tables. Taako noticed that though there weremany rooms in this tower, there were few people attending lunch.

“It’s not mom’s home cooking, that’s for sure,” Bethanysighed. “But it’s not the worst of the circle.”

“Shitty interior design, shitty food, barely any hunks, dotell me what the worst part is,” Taako said, earning a chuckle from Bethanythat quickly faded into a frown.

“Do they not talk about the circle in the dalish clans?” sheasked.

“Look, whatever a dalish is, I’m not one,” Taako said.“Elves in this world seem real binary huh? I’m a high elf, okay?”

“I’ve never heard of them,” Bethany shrugged. “Look…there’sa reason I tried so hard to stay out of the circle for so long. I have it luckycompared to what I always feared about this place.”

Almost as if on cue, a man entered the dining hall.

He looked…half in a dream as he robotically got his food andsat down to eat. He took stiff motions, clearly not tasting the food but justeating to sustain himself. Right in the middle of his forehead was a bright redbrand in the shape of the sun.

“That’s the worst thing to come from the circle,” Bethanysighed. “That’s Oscar. He’s seventeen. He just went through his harrowing andthe templars said he failed and tried to bargain with a demon but I know hedidn’t! Demons are tempting but…Oscar was so strong willed, so happy…they madehim tranquil and took that all away…”

Taako looked at the man and cast detect magic, and foundsomething strange. There was remnants of magic around the boy, but it felt likesomething had been cut from him that he needed.

“No emotion, no will…no magic,” Bethany said, stabbing ather food with a fierce look. “The circle should never have turned out likethis.”

Taako was normally a “look out for number one, and that’sme” kinda guy, but he felt the need to put a comforting hand on Bethany’sshoulder when she said that. He was in a world he didn’t understand and she’dbeen kind to him. The way she acted felt almost…familiar.

“You kind of remind me of someone,” Bethany said, startlingTaako with déjà vu. “It’s stupid but…my twin brother, Carver, he was like you,an asshole who cared even if he tried to never show it.”

“Tried?” Taako asked, focusing on the past tense.

“He’s dead. Died fleeing the blight…” Bethany looked down ather feet. “Sometimes….I feel a part of me died with him.”

Taako suddenly felt a great need for the umbrastaff, a weirdsad compulsion to hold it even if he wasn’t going to use it. His ears flattenedand he patted Bethany’s shoulder again.

Magnus and Merle got a few looks bringing a dog into thebar, but the dog was so big no one bothered to say anything about it.

“Uh hi?” Magnus addressed the room, always the subtle one.“We’re uh….we’re looking for some information?”

Some of the patrons looked at Magnus, then went right backto their drinking.

“Information comes from a library, we got beer,” thebartender spat onto the floor.

“Oh, not even that one might argue,” a dwarf piped up from atable near the fireplace.

“You still pay to drink it, I don’t see why you’re complaining,”the bartender said.

“I’m a writer, I get paid to complain,” Varric replied,winking at Magnus and Merle. “I think I can help you gentleman, what is ityou’re looking for? I take it it’s not the dog park.” He gestured towards themabari.

“Ha, no…” Magnus chuckled sheepishly as he and Merle took aseat at Varric’s table.

“My buddy Hawke has always wanted one of those,” Varricsaid, letting the dog sniff his hand before gingerly removing it from the bitezone. “I can see why, they’re both tough slobbering puppies.”

“We’re here about a friend too,” Merle said.

“Yeah, what do you know about the templars?” Magnus asked.

“Too much,” Varric replied, taking a sip of his drink. “Yourfriend a templar?”

“No, he’s a wizard,” Magnus said, and Varric winced.

“You’re trying to spring a mage from the circle aren’t you?”he sighed. “Andraste why can’t I have normal days. I do bring it on myself Ireally do.”

“Please,” Magnus begged. “We’re…not from around here, wedon’t know how any of this works and we need to get our friend back. He couldbe in trouble.”

“I’m always here to help an underdog, kid,” Varric said.“Er…pun not intended,” he said to the mabari. “Look, the old tunnels Blondiewas using to get into the circle have been under a lot of heat lately, so I canonly think of one way in. You gotta be a templar.”

Magnus and Merle sighed, shaking their heads. Another deadend.

“Or…” Varric continued. “Just…look like you’re a templar.”

“What do you mean?” Merle asked.

“You boys familiar with the Blooming Rose?” Varric askedwith a grin.

There was a lot of gossip in the circle, and Taako washearing all of it.

Apparently, whoever was running this show was a realhardass, and coming down on the mages with an iron fist. He had to admit he wasa little frightened by the tranquil he’d seen earlier, and what Bethany hadtold him about the process.

“Basically they make you go into the fade, and see if you’retempted by any demons, and if you are they make you tranquil…but these daysthey just make anyone tranquil. Talk out of turn? Show some talent with magic?Badmouth a templar? Anything is an excuse. They can always claim abomination.”

Apparently magic users here didn’t actually need a focus tocast spells, they just made it easier. While most wizards from Taako’s worldcouldn’t cast spells without a focus until they’d reached a certain level ofexperience. Taako was a damn good wizard, but he wasn’t quite there yet.

Which is why he was currently sitting cross legged on thestiff bed he’d been assigned, meditating and well….

…trying to talk to a demon.

It was easy enough to enter this thing they called “thefade”. Apparently most anyone could enter it just by dreaming, and Taako hadthe advantage of being an elf which meant he could just slip into a trance andfind himself there.

From what he’d read in the pile of books now layingdiscarded on his floor, the fade appeared differently to everyone. To him, itsort of looked like the plane he went to whenever he cast blink. In fact, therewas even a moment where the staring eyes were there before blinking out ofexistence.

Taako took a step, watching as the fade shifted around him.The washed out colors of his room becoming something else as he traveled. Therewas a stone path that led him through a twisting valley and through a door thathad no building around it.

When he walked through the door he found himself in akitchen. A damn good kitchen.

It was enormous, and stocked with everything a chef couldever need. Taako ran his fingers over the island counter in the center of thekitchen, appreciating the detail that had gone into the illusion.

“Like what you see, hot stuff?” a voice came from behindhim.

Taako turned slowly to see a purple man wearing nothing butchains and a smile. His horns seemed to be aflame with a light that Taako foundit hard to look away from.

“Yeah, it’s alright I guess.” He shrugged.

“Is it missing anything?” the desire demon asked, leaningforward and caressing Taako’s face. “You’re not pleased? Perhaps you…prefer adifferent view?”

As he said that, the demon’s features shifted to a familiarface. Kravitz, or rather a demon that looked like him, was suddenly standing infront of him.

“We went on like three dates!” Taako huffed. “I’m not likein love with the guy or anything!”

“Oh, I beg to differ,” demon Kravitz said, playing withTaako’s hair and pressing a series of kisses to the elf’s neck. “I knoweverything you want, and I can give it all to you. Everything your needingheart desires, Taako. I know you desire so much…”

“Yeah, right now I just desire a little space,” Taako said.

The Taako that still resided in the material world reachedinto his pocket and pulled out the wedding rings he’d stolen from templarsthroughout the day and held them at his side. The Taako in the fade mirroredhis actions with a cocky grin.

“So this is how it works, huh?” he said. “You lure people inhere and trap them with this shit?”

“I only give them what they want,” the demon said with ahurt look. “But really…don’t you want to stay here…with me…forever?” the demonslid a hand down Taako’s stomach down towards his pelvis.

“You know what I want?” Taako said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, anything,” the demon breathed.

“A little dramatic irony, ya trapped bitch,” he lifted thediamond rings up. “My name is Taako, and you work for me now.”

The demon hissed as otherworldy magic rose around him in theform of golden chains. It bound him, turning him back into his original formand holding him still. Back in the waking world Taako opened his eyes andsmiled.

Well, he had a magic focus now.

Magnus was very uncomfortable.

For starters Merle was surprisingly popular, and wascurrently regaling the….young ladies…with stories while they played with hischest hair or giggled.

Secondly, employees kept approaching him when he’d made itclear he wasn’t interested.

“Hey there, sailor,” a woman said, stroking his chest.

“I’m married,” Magnus said.

“So am I,” she said, leaning down as if to removed hiswedding band with her mouth. Magnus lurched away and went to find a moreprivate table. The mabari followed him closely. As if Magnus’s kindness hadn’tmade it loyal enough, the warrior had also bought it a plate of food and let iteat off the table like a person.

Suddenly, a glint of armor caught Magnus’s eye as twotemplar recruits entered the brothel. They quickly found their entertainers forthe night and went off to their separate rooms.

“Merle, Merle we’re on,” Magnus hissed.

“…and that’s when my wife took a shot at me with a crossbow,classic,” Merle laughed and the men and women gathered around him laughed too.

“MERLE,” Magnus said forcefully.

“Aw well, duty calls, you know how it is,” Merle said,shooting his crowd finger guns as they laughed and winked.

“You take the one on the left, I’ll take the one on theright,” Magnus said gesturing towards the doors. Merle nodded and gave Magnus athumbs up.

The boys entered the room the templars went into, and exiteda few moments later wearing templar armor. The lady and gentleman that had beenseeing to them didn’t seem to mind Magnus and Merle knocking out their patrons.

“I get paid no matter what, and I’m a few chapters behind inthis book,” the one had told Magnus.

Merle could really only wear so much of the armor, as it wasmade for a human, but he made do.

“Alright, now we just gotta follow the map he gave us to thetower,” Magnus said, unfolding the piece of paper Varric had given them.

Lights out at the circle meant more guards in the hallway,but Taako wasn’t concerned about that. He had unlimited spell slots thanks tothe demon powering his magical batteries, so it was simple enough to turnhimself invisible and walk right past them.

He could feel the demon wailing in the back of his mind,swearing and threatening him one minute and then begging and tempting him thenext. He just did his best to ignore it as he moved through the tower.

He’d searched four locked rooms before he finally came tothe one he was looking for. There were staffs all over the walls, some piled ontables, and there in the middle of it was the umbrastaff. Taako triumphantlycollected his focus.

He had his focus now, so technically he didn’t need thedemon anymore…but…

It felt good having this much power, and there was so muchhe could do with it…technically he had the demon bound so he couldn’t become anabomination right? He knew more than the mages in this world, he wasn’t boundby their rules…

“Taako?”

The elf whipped around, pointing his umbrastaff at Bethany.When he saw it was her he lowered it with a sigh.

“The one and only,” he said with a wink.

“Taako, please tell me I’m not feeling a demon in you,” Bethany hissed. “Afterall I told you? Are you fucking stupid?”

“Well…yeah.” Taako shrugged. “But listen, I bound it. It’sharmless, okay? I just needed some magic juice to get my stuff back.”

“Taako, demons are tricky, it might seem like you’re incontrol but that doesn’t mean you are,” Bethany said. “Let it go, quicklybefore the templars find out or worse.”

“…I have it under control,” Taako said, frowning. “I’m notletting it go.”

“Taako,” Bethany hissed.

“No!” Taako said a bit louder than he meant to. He coveredhis mouth, remembering only after that he’d already cast silence on the room. Bethanylooked at him in fear, he’d raised the umbrastaff again without knowing it.

Something about this girl just felt so…so familiar and safeto him. He…he couldn’t do this to her. Taako sighed and closed his eyes. Hedropped the spell and felt the demon leave him with a gleeful rush. He feltdrained and almost fell to his knees before Bethany caught him.

“…man, he didn’t even stick around to cuddle,” Taako jokedas the girl helped him to his feet.

“C’mon…let’s get you out of here,” Bethany said, but Taako’selven ears had heard the footsteps before she had, and he’d quickly cast invisibilityand silence on her as he pushed her aside and faced the templars that enteredthe room.

“What are you doing out of your quarters?” the lead templarsnarled. “I knew this one would be trouble. Take him, we’re going to performone more rite tonight.”

With their disguises on, Magnus and Merle had no troublegetting into the Gallows. Navigating it was a different problem, as there wereso many rooms to check.

“Taako?” Magnus whispered as he opened one door. The elf inthe bed was not Taako, but he was rather alarmed to see a templar creeping intohis room. Magnus apologized and closed the door.

“Did you say Taako?” a voice asked.

Bethany, the spells worn off, had been making her way backto her room to mourn another tranquil when she heard the voices. They clearlyweren’t templars, anyone could see that. The one had a dog and a non-regulationaxe, and the other was a dwarf.

“Yeah! Have you seen him?” Merle asked.

“They’re taking him to be made tranquil right now,” Bethanysaid. “Come on, I can lead you to him.”

They followed the young woman through the twisting halls ofthe tower until they came to a round empty room. There was a circle of templarswith their swords drawn, one of them stood in the center holding a brand, andkneeling before him was Taako.

Magnus was about to classically rush in when Taako looked athim and jerked his head toward something. Magnus followed the movement to wherethe umbrastaff lay on the floor nearby. Magnus grabbed it and slid it acrossthe stone floor towards Taako, who took it in hand and immediately vanished, nodoubt using blink.

The templars swore and slashed their swords through openair, and the trio in the hall ducked out of view. When Taako reappeared next tothem, a finger over his mouth, they quickly fled from the scene.

They reached the gates when Bethany stopped. Taako stopped tooand looked back at her.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “Come with us?”

“They have my phylactery, they’d just find me again,” shesaid.

“They won’t be able to find you in our plane,” Taako said.

“…I can’t leave my sister here, or my mother, or any of myfriends here in the circle,” Bethany said. “It’s horrible here but if I leave I’llnever make it better.”

Taako’s ears lowered and he frowned, but he nodded. “…okay…goodluck, kid.”

Bethany stepped forward and hugged him, Taako looked unusedto hugs but managed to return the gesture with only a little awkwardness.

Suddenly there was a ripple of magic behind them, and whenthe boys turned they could see a space where the air had become like a window.Their world was on the other side of the portal and it was calling them back,it knew they didn’t belong here.

Suddenly, Magnus knew that his dog wouldn’t belong in hisworld either.

“Oh man…” he knelt and pressed his forehead to the mabari’s.“I really wanted you to come home with me, boy…”

The dog whimpered and licked at Magnus’s tears. Magnus gavehim a hug and scratch behind the ears.

“I know someone who will want him, trust me,” Bethany said,rolling her eyes and thinking of her rambunctious sister. “She’s due for avisit by now anyway, maybe the dog will outweight her guilt and make her comefor once.”

“You be good, I’m sure you’ll have a good home with lots oflove,” Magnus said, hugging his dog again. “Don’t let anyone give you shit,okay? Just eat ‘em if they do.”

The mabari barked and licked Magnus again before sitting obedientlynext to Bethany.

With one last look at the weird world they’d entered, theboys stepped through the portal, glad to be home.

#blatantbalderdash #taz #the adventure zone #taz balance #the adventure zone balance #dragon age #dragon age 2 #da #da2 #long post #crossover #Anonymous

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