testing waters
HAPPY KISS WEEK YEEHAW Asher Gideon Trevelyan is mine Jasper Cadell belongs to the bootiful @jewishzevran <3 —
“How about a kiss?”
Jasper snorted. “Absolutely not.”
Asher, grinning ear to ear, stretched his arms out wide. Arms coated in the detritus of the giant spider that they just encountered in the Emerald Graves, after an already eventful day of battling Freemen and Red Templars. As far as giant spiders went, though, this one had to have been the size of at least three of its kind. Being the one who delivered the killing blow, Asher’s entire front was covered in viscera. In fact, the mage was more filth than he was mage at the moment.
“Not even an embrace?” “That’s even worse, actually.” Jasper genuinely laughed, a silly, syncopated rhythm that never failed to make Asher’s heart flip. The mage joined him for a moment before recovering to give the archer his best pout.
“But Jasper. You love me.” This chapter of their relationship was still new, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. For one, the look Asher got in return from Jasper was one he was already familiar with. It was soft, reverential, but hesitant. Not out of uncertainty, but a fear once quietly confessed in the dark behind closed doors. Jasper’s eyes told him the words his lips couldn’t yet form.
I do. I love you more than words can say.
Suddenly and wordlessly, Jasper pulled a kerchief from his pocket and stepped up to Asher, deftly wiping the flecks of ichor from his face. Asher blinked up at him as the soft cloth touched his chin, tilting him up for a gentle kiss.
“There. All better?” When the archer pulled away, his signature smirk was in place. Asher forgot how to quip back, instead giving Jasper a small smile and blushing so brightly it made his freckles stand out across his cheeks.
Someone cleared their throat from the edge of the clearing. The two whipped their heads around in near-perfect unison toward Bull and Solas, the other two in their party, who pretended to be looking at anything other than them. Asher straightened himself out. “Right. Well, with that thread tied, I believe now would be a good time for us to return to camp. Since we closed all the rifts in this area, we should have respite for the night.” Even in saying it, he glanced to Solas, who nodded his assent. Asher’s shoulders relaxed a little more at that. “Fairbanks will still be there in the morning. Let’s head back, then.”
As they walked away from Gracevine, Bull clapped Asher on the back with a knowing smirk and walked ahead, taking Solas with him to continue their mental chess game. After another moment, Asher tapped Jasper’s arm with the clean end of his staff.
“I love you, too, darling.”
