Her softness and kindness towardshim was something he was so unaccustomedto. In his previous life, not many had had kind words for him – the only onelong since passed – and he had soon found out that the Wardens had suffered thesame fate – no longer the respected warriors, protectors of the lands, now asmall group, laughed at, treated as ajoke. He was used to that, used toclosing himself off to interaction, to being on his own, ignoring the reactionsfrom others… but now… surrounded by so many, and to feel something from Leonie – was this what it was like to be respected?
He let the elf guide theirway, following along without protest – truth be told, though just a scratch bycomparison to his past wounds, he neededtreatment – what kind of warrior would he be without his hand? What would hehave to offer the Inquisition then – and who was he, if not a warrior? “Ok,”Blackwall nodded, forcing his voice to be less gruff, less him. He sat down on the edge of the cot, turning his palm upwards,his other fingers curled around his wrist, holding himself steady. A nasty cut,surely, but one he would survive.
Talking had never been hisstrong point – not before, and not now, mostly getting by with nods and gruffmurmurings under his breath, and as if to make up for his skill in words, histaciturn nature had given him a gift that was truly greater – perception. He saw more than mostthought he did, noticed subtleties,changes in the air. Handy in battle, and handy when observing the game. And right now? It told him thatshe was nervous around him – why, he didn’t quite know, but something about hispresence made her uneasy. So he stayed quiet until she spoke, startling him fromhis thoughts. “Aren’t all Wardens?” he responded gently, a slight raise of hiseyebrows. He knew of The Calling(capital T and capital C – thank you verymuch) and though not so much an issue for him, he knew he often courteddeath, with the way he fought, the way he threw himself into battle. He was notan overly reckless man, but sometimes, in the heat of battle – well, that wasthe way he should die, when the time came, he’d decided that long ago. “Deathcomes to all eventually, sweet one,” he said softly. “There is no point fearingthe inevitable.”
“ ...i don’t know, are they? ” oh, lèonie’s brow arched on that one. she could hear just a hint of sarcasm hiding beneath the underlay of his tone... weird, considering blackwall didn’t really seem the sarcastic man. she thought it fun, honestly. made her nose scrunch up, but fun. even if he wasn’t teasing her--the more likely probability--the dalish elf kept her eyes narrowed. he’d know that question better than she, anyway... wouldn’t he? she moved on mentally when her thoughts took her back to first grey warden she’d encountered. he’d been a man; there were two other men that’d been following behind him, made him look to be the one in charge. he saw a young lè and gave her a little wink before passing by --- that little wink was enough to have her train harder as a mage so that she could be considered for conscription in the following years.
lèonie looked back at him, then --- her vision dreamy, holding a little half-smile on her face that seemed happy but somehow sad, too. her expression changed at his next response, however. she jerked her head back; almost appeared offended. it was very hard for her to think that way... perhaps she had her clan to blame for that. she--especially--couldn’t think so casually about death when it came to him... but the first words out of her mouth were, “ teach me. ” hazel hues focused on his, for a moment because she was trying to decipher his eye color, ( she landed on green, but that could’ve just been the way the light was hitting them ) before lips parted once more and sights dared glance down to his own. “ i-i--... i’m not the quickest learner, that’s true. but... i want to think like you. it’s the only way i can think to stand losing you. ” oops... loose lips. it didn’t seem to phase her, though. yet. did she really want to learn? well... yes. ‘ losing him ’ wasn’t the main reason why, however. firstly, it was, but secondly, she wanted to understand him. he was a very silent and mysterious man. after the first day she met him, she only ever spotted him from afar ‘til weeks after... because she sought him out; and it took her an hour to find him even then because he wasn’t where he usually was and no one knew where he’d gone! truly, a master of shadows. thirdly, this was war... and she’d nearly fallen unconscious almost two times today leaving somebody alive for a few minutes only coming back to find them dead. others had helped... and she had gotten better, but she just couldn’t... get over that one mental hump in her head. death was too permanent. death was too harsh.
“ ...sorry--i just... blackwall, you mean a great deal to me. ” the petite elf confessed, finally realizing what she’d said, reaching forward to place her hand on his leg comfortingly... but that might not have been the wisest of actions. “ i know we’ve said little... but i care for you, deeply. ” of course it worried her each time she did not see him in his barn at skyhold. was he gone for good this time? she always thought. it seemed like, at any point, he could just disappear. her sights had been fixated on his lips. even past his beard, they seemed to be calling to her. lèonie’s brows arched in response --- and softly, without warning, she pushed forward. the mage’s shoulders fell toward him first, giving in, and met his lips with a hunger.
