stolen kisses while hiding away from a crowd for Maria?
Thank you for asking! This fits them beautifully 💗
(Kissing Prompts)
'Til Evening's End
(Maria Hawke/Fenris | 1,895 Words | No warnings)
Golden light spilled from every window of Hawke’s manor, reflecting on fresh snowdrifts in the courtyard beyond. Inside, the fancy crowd laughed in little clusters. Serving staff, hired for the evening, circulated with little trays of food. A discreet quartet of Ferelden musicians sat at the gallery above the library, playing soft tunes that held the strains of Hawke’s childhood.
Hawke loved people. She loved the way they spoke to each other, the way the right sort of party brought out the more amiable side of the fine lords and ladies of Kirkwall, the way a certain sort of feeling drifted into a room of people who were enjoying good food and company. She liked presiding over such things—how funny that she should agree with her mother now, after it was far too late to tell her she’d been right in this much—and knowing that their happiness was because of her.
But it was far too fucking hot in there.
Hawke stepped out of the house with a swish of skirts now, breath immediately rising in a cloud before her. Orana had hurriedly draped a shawl over her bare shoulders when Hawke had darted for the back door, but she let it slip to her elbows now. How perfect the cool night felt over her flushed cheeks, how sweetly the cold air twined about her ankles; for a moment she just stood there in the night, breathing in the fresh scent of snow and listening to the echoes of the party inside.
“Maria.”
The voice startled her—she’d neither heard nor expected him before that moment—but she was smiling even before she turned.
“Fenris! But you said you wouldn’t be here tonight,” she stepped forward, lifting her hands to him, and let him draw her into the quieter shadows beside the kitchen wall.
“I forgot, and came to see you,” he told her, running a hand over her arm. His nose was red with the cold, his fingers ice against her bare upper arms. “When I saw the lights, I thought I might make my way upstairs and wait.”
“Poor thing—you’re freezing,” she said, and cupped one of his hands between hers. His free hand lifted, tracing a curl back over her shoulder.
“I do not know how you stand it,” he said. “Especially with your shoulders bare.”
“The cold?” Hawke cupped his hand between hers and exhaled warm air over it. “I don’t feel it. It’s an oven in there; I thought I might choke on the air itself if I didn’t step outside. And here—I have been soundly rewarded for it. A lovely man, skulking about my kitchen garden.”
“I was not—” Fenris began, the sentence cut off when she took a step closer and nudged his cold nose with her own. Music drifted from the windows—something cheerful, she thought. How lovely it would be to share it with him, for she hadn’t joined the fray even once tonight.
“You ,” she murmured, her lips brushing against his, “should dance with me. We could dance.”
“It is cold,” Fenris told Maria, his eyes drifting half-closed.
“Dancing would warm you.”
Her grip on his hand shifted slightly, drawing slightly further from their bodies. Her other hand rested lightly over the armor on his shoulder.
“So would going inside,” he told her, his voice as quiet as hers.
Something about snow did that, she thought—made one want to whisper. Snow had a way of swallowing sound, making one feel like one dwelled in a world of one’s own. Fenris’s hand lifted, finding her waist easily, and rested just over the curve of her hip.
“But if you go back inside, you won’t be with me,” Maria said.
Inside, the quartet struck up a new, slower tune. She swayed slightly, taking a step back, and Fenris stepped with her. He’d told her many times that he was not a natural dancer, but battle and other, softer activities had taught them well how to read the movement of each other’s bodies. He found the rhythm readily enough, fitting his steps to hers after only a slight hesitation.
“One dance,” he told her, a smile hiding in the corner of his mouth.
Hawke adored the pink in his cheeks and the light snow dusting his pale hair, visible only when the ice crystals caught the light. She adored the way he sped up to match the tempo, the way his eyes wrinkled slightly at the corners when he looked at her.
“One dance,” she agreed, “and I shall steal you the finest bottle of wine to keep you company until I can.”
“Is it stealing,” he began, and the hem of her dress scattered snow when he spun her around, “if the wine is yours?”
“I think, since the wine is mine, that I should get to decide if it’s stealing or not,” she countered, smiling broadly at him. Fenris snorted, but caught her tight against him when they turned again.
They might have kissed in that lovely moment—with the moonlight soft over his shoulders and warm affection in his eyes—but just then, the door to the kitchens swung open with a bang.
“Lady Hawke? Are you out here? Messere Godfrey was just telling me the most charming story about your battle with the Arishok and I thought I saw you walk in this direction…Lady Hawke?”
As soon as her guest began to speak, the two of them darted away into the shadows beyond the kitchen, Hawke with a hand clapped over her mouth to stifle the laughter that wished to escape. Fenris left his hand on her waist, head angled to listen.
“I could have sworn I saw her—Bea, didn’t you say she went this way?”
Fenris pressed closer, knocking her arm away from her mouth, and she couldn’t help herself; this was a perfectly ridiculous situation, hiding away from her own party with her beau while her guests hunted through the snow to find her. She was going to laugh and give them both away. She was going to—
Fenris shook his head at her, his eyes widening slightly. Hawke bit her lip, shoulders already shaking, and would certainly have given them away if he hadn’t pressed her back against the wall and covered her mouth with his.
“I do say, what an odd place to be gathering, ladies,” a harsher voice came from the doorway, but Maria hardly noticed it. Fenris’s mouth had been cool at first, but it warmed as it pressed against hers. What had begun as a measure of utility had very quickly slipped into a more familiar and beloved dance.
“We were simply looking for our hostess!” One of the younger voices protested. “Mama—”
Hawke huffed with suppressed laughter and Fenris lifted a hand to the wall beside her head, angling himself more fully against her. The soft fabric of her dress caught on his breastplate, but she could not have cared less. The way he kissed her—so deeply, as if he was trying to press some hidden meaning into her skin—
“What ho,” came a fourth voice. “Quite warm in there, isn’t it?”
“Quite,” said the icy voice. “Young ladies?”
“Yes, Mama,” the first voice sighed, and after a moment the door shut again.
Hawke relaxed slightly, closing her eyes, and Fenris went on kissing her for several sweet minutes. He kissed her like he’d forgotten why he was doing it and didn’t especially care. He kissed her like they had all the time they could care to take, and he would have gone on doing it if he hadn’t shivered, just a little, and reminded Hawke that her lover tolerated the cold far less cheerfully than she.
“You should go in,” she murmured against his warm mouth, and pressed her forehead to his. “Or I shall have an icicle for a beau.”
Fenris scoffed and stole another kiss, eyes still softly closed, but he broke away a moment later.
“Perhaps you are right,” he told her, and brushed his lips over her cheek.
“It’s been known to happen sometimes,” she told him, closing her eyes. Fenris hummed in acknowledgement, dipping his head to kiss her bare shoulder. “If you—go on doing that, we are going to find ourselves in a rather scandalous situation.”
She could almost feel him considering it, mouth still pressed just over her collarbone, but he straightened a moment later.
“You promised me stolen wine,” he reminded her.
Hawke smiled at him—and thought it was a shame that he hated the cold so, for he looked beautiful in it.
“Here,” she said, and took the shawl from her elbows to drape it over his shoulders instead. The red was shocking against his dark armor and pale hair, though it almost perfectly matched the ribbon tied around his wrist. Fenris raised a hand to hold it in place, brows lifting in silent question.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, curling her hands in her skirts. A few moments later, she was back, a basket hanging over one arm.
“That isn’t wine,” he said, and she pressed a hand to her chest.
“Such accusations, messere. It is like you don’t know me at all.”
“Of course, we are perfect strangers,” Fenris said, deadpan, and extended a hand. “What have you brought me, Hawke?”
“Wine,” she said, and laughed easily at his expression. “And food, for I am certain you’ve forgotten to eat, and something to read while you wait. I shouldn’t be long. Of course, if you’ve changed your mind…”
Fenris shook his head, but he was smiling at her in that quiet way he sometimes had, as if he hadn’t noticed he was doing it.
“Not tonight,” he told her, but stepped forward to press a kiss to her forehead. “Soon, then?”
“Soon,” she promised, and kissed each of his winter-touched cheeks. “As soon as I can shoo them all away.”
“Don’t hurry on my account,” he told her, and stepped back with a last brush of his fingers against her cheek. “I will be fine on my own, Maria.”
“I know,” she said, and took a step back. “Nevertheless.”
Fenris inclined his head and turned away, snow caught in his hair, shoulders wrapped in her shawl, and she laughed a little at the vision he presented. A lonely wanderer, trudging long through the snow—she would spin him a tale later, she decided as she watched him go. It wasn’t until he slipped away to the back stair that Hawke turned back to her party and the guests that still waited for her.
It was warm in her room. He didn’t need her to rescue him from the cold or solitude. Fenris would be comfortable and entertained enough, if he did not fall asleep while he waited. He didn’t need her to hurry on his behalf. It was part of the reason why—with a house full of people who might place demands on her attention or time—she wanted to follow him immediately.
There was no reason to rush. She knew he would wait, patient as a mountain in a snowstorm, for her to make her way to him again. Even so—if the party ended slightly earlier than intended, she was the only one who needed to know the cause.
And the only one who knew how warm his arms were when she made her way to him at last.
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19, 20, 21, 22 for the polycule of your choice? :0
whoops we're doing it for two of them :3 and I'll include Heith too
19 - Summarize your character's goals in one sentence.
Marcus: be okay and go home, but also never have to tell Heith about all of his lies by omission
Heith: figure out if she's actually for real serious about Marcus (she thinks she might be actually for real serious about Marcus) and one way or another move out of her hotel room on Aephar
Yera: be a mom and try to make peace with the fact that Marcus is not here to be a part of the family
Hossan: be a dad and help Umedes figure themself out
Gren: see Marcus again and hopefully find out that there was no need to be jealous about his girlfriend, and make sure everyone's okay, especially the baby
Pali: prevent Kiatcarmen from finding Marcus (though that isn't a very active job), make sure the shifter coalition in the court doesn't budge, and get somewhere with her studies of shifter magic
Umedes: figure out whether they want to have a kid or not help
Kiatcarmen: find Marcus, because Minaya must not ascend, and do whatever else she can to preserve her accomplishments in the kingdom
Pirianus: broaden Kiatcarmen's vision beyond legacy, or, failing that, as he has for some 30+ years, get her to open up to him
Caladea: see Marcus again, and for his polycule's sake believe with all her heart the lies they tell Kiatcarmen
Thade: continue completing the political project du jour and end up in a happily ever after with Pirianus, which might also make him more welcome in the palace
Orvi: complete the one thing he was installed in the palace to accomplish
20 - Who's in the way of those goals?
Marcus: his mother. Always his mother. And honestly a little bit himself
Heith: herself, mostly. This is so not like her - well, specifically the part where she's still here when there have been plenty of times to go home
Yera: realistically, Kiatcarmen. But she still sometimes feels like she's lost some of her verve
Hossan: Umedes is the big challenge here. They're just so indecisive
Gren: Kiatcarmen, but sometimes it's easier to focus on the fact that Marcus has an interstellar girlfriend that none of them have ever met and that's so frustrating
Pali: herself. There aren't enough hours in the day for everything, and she has to sleep ugh
Umedes: themself, because they were the one who said this would be a great idea for when Marcus comes back. Who 100% believed Pali and Minaya and her ferasca spouses that this would go great. And who also took one look at Yera & Hossan's baby and thought that maybe they were signing up for more than they realized
Kiatcarmen: Marcus. Always Marcus. But she also blames Minaya and Yera and Pali for his disappearance, and she needs Pirianus to just shut up. This would have been so much easier with Jimmy
Pirianus: Kiatcarmen because he put his eggs all in one basket. But he mostly blames himself
Caladea: Kiatcarmen, but she tries to focus on what she can do better, and how she's getting in her own way
Thade: he's beginning to suspect he's been in his own way this entire time but it can't be understated how much Pirianus is constantly hot and cold
Orvi: it changes frequently, but always some contingent of the court
21 - What is your character's relationship with their emotions?
Marcus: he can't control his bad emotions, so he suppresses them. This has never caused any problems
Heith: she's just as cynical about her emotions as she is about everything else, but sometimes she just can't not feel something completely unironically
Yera: she's gonna feel them whatever they are so [grits teeth] negative emotions are part of the fullness of experience (she will be screaming into this pillow later)
Hossan: left to his own devices, he would feel his emotions, and then let them cast away upon the wind. Being with Yera and Gren has made him learn how to interrogate them more
Gren: he feels everything. A lot. He also conceptualizes things in terms of feelings a lot
Pali: she would like to believe she doesn't have them, but then she lays awake at night deconstructing them
Umedes: they tend to put intense feelings away for later, but don't ever get to later unless later comes for them first
Kiatcarmen: her emotions are so rich and nuanced and nobody understands that, so all of her emotions collapse into some flavor of annoyance
Pirianus: don't like that feeling? Repress it! This will never result in it returning in continually more warped and incomprehensible forms
Caladea: being in the palace seems to have stunted her emotions - they're flatter, duller, and way more anxious no matter what they are
Thade: don't like that feeling? Deflect it! The more mirrors there are between you and your emotions the less you will ever know what they are and the less you can ever be responsible for them
Orvi: he has a mental Tupperware for emotions that allows him to keep control of himself. He is the only person on this list who will actually open that Tupperware on purpose later
22 - What regrets do they have, if any? (From any part of the story, not just exposition.)
Marcus: missing out on eight years of his "real" life, and especially not being there when Gren's grandmother died. If only he'd been stronger, he could have stayed
Heith: before finding out about Marcus, that she's kind of a flake to her band, but they don't seem to mind that much. After finding out about Marcus, that she ever thought there was some kind of "magic" between them and maybe she could feel naïve about love for two seconds
Yera: she regretted drifting away from her father and sister, so she's fixing that now
Hossan: most of his regrets are from the now-distant past and don't make much sense - even he will say so - but he always finds himself regretting that he can't seem to do more for people
Gren: not going home even more before his grandmother died, even though he was practically splitting his time between his home city and the palace. He also regrets letting Marcus leave, even though he had to, and there was no other real choice
Pali: after getting married, she got more distant from her professor mentor, and the regret hit her hard when they died
Umedes: most immediately, thinking that having a kid was a good idea (they are beginning to think that this is a pregnancy kink that got out of hand). But more than anything they regret not going with Marcus, even though they couldn't
Kiatcarmen: Ashmalo was a liability, but she still regrets that he died (despite her image she does not think that assassination is the right way to deal with most problems, including Ashmalo). Conversely, she regrets that she couldn't save Jimmy, even though medical science itself could not have saved Jimmy. She also regrets letting Minaya slip out from under her thumb, because if she hadn't, she wouldn't be stuck looking for her runaway son
Pirianus: that he can't seem to permanently extract himself from Thade. If he stops and thinks about it (read: gets drunk and sad) he regrets spending so many years of his life trying to get through to a woman who would just as soon throw him to the dogs
Caladea: that she couldn't do more for Marcus or Minaya or Ashmalo, and that she still can't. And that being stuck in the palace has left her struggling to try and pick up the pieces of her creativity and her passion even though it should have given her unlimited resources to pursue them
Thade: things he's said to people. Most of them used to be seared in his brain because he thought they were funny, and eventually he figured out that oh, maybe they weren't. But some of them seemed bad from the moment they came out of his mouth (not before that, unfortunately, because he wasn't thinking about it) and he wishes he could take them back for real, especially the things he's said to Pirianus
Orvi: that he's still here. He had one thing to accomplish, and even though it was complex, it's taking SO. LONG. He knew that marrying into the royal family meant that he probably wasn't going to permanently go home again, but the longer this drags on the less he even wants to show his face there, and he wonders if it was worth it at all
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