faderift | [Closed] Camping!

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[Closed] Camping!

WHO: Iskandar and Waver
WHAT: Iskandar and Waver go on a small camping trip just to gather some supplies together from the area around Skyhold.
WHEN: Early in the month
WHERE: Forests mostly. Probably.
NOTES: Probably just going to be really cute. And more than likely funny in places.

It had been Iskandar's idea for the two of them to go out. Not only for them to spend some time together to figure out how they were to manage things together but also because it could be a good way to get food and herbs and such. People could always use those. They could always use those. So he'd packed them up to go out and ride to a decent camping location where they set up with the tent he'd obtained for the two of them.

It was hardly fancy but it was easily large enough to house the two of them comfortably. The bed rolls were even decent enough to be used together or apart depending on whether or not they were cuddling. Really Iskandar saw no reason for them not to cuddle but one never could tell with Waver. Best to give him the option of space if he desired it.

Setting up the fire for them, he nodded to the pack by his horse. "That will have food we can eat for the night. The meat may be dried but it will fill us well and we can always soften it with broth if you like." He'd brought that too.

Really it was good to have some real alone time with the mage. They honestly did need to get to know each other again, after all. For Iskandar it had been but a couple of months but for Waver many years had passed. It was important for them both to find a path that worked out well.

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"Please."

Waver focused on cutting from there on out, making neat piles off to the side of the rock whenever he finished one vegetable or the other. The effect of the whole thing was extremely domestic, and that left Waver at a loss for a moment. There had been the rare day dream about something like this but--

--He shook his head, like that would dislodge the thought.

"You didn't have a lot of time to do this kind of stuff in life, huh?"

"Cooking? No. I had campaigns to plan and a kingdom to run. It would have been good to learn such a skill but I knew that my talents were best directed towards other matters."

Sitting down, he got out the meat he'd brought with him and started to cut it into chunks, setting it back in what it had been wrapped in as he went. That seemed the easiest thing for them to do. Though he was wondering what salted meat would be like in this soup. Perhaps it would add delicious flavor to it!

"A man can seek to learn a great many tasks and perfect none or he can learn a few and master them better than others. I chose the latter."

Waver shook his head no. "I meant things that were closer to a stay at home life, rather than that of perpetual nomad."

He wasn't about to say the word domestic. Iskandar could fill that in himself if he so desired.

"How salty is that meat, exactly?"

"That might mean something very different for you than I, boy. I was a King and a conquering one at that. What is it you refer to when you speak of things I would not have had time for?"

It was mostly curiosity really. He'd learned much in life but he'd also had his duties as King to attend to. That meant living very differently from what others might expect as normal.

"Hm? I'd say saltier than the crackers I would eat in Japan."

"Just sitting home and being there, I suppose. A normal routine."

What anyone who wasn't a king and a conqueror might have. Waver then wrinkled his nose.

"Okay then that's probably more than enough meat. We don't want this so salty that we won't be able to eat it."

"Sitting idle seems a dull life to me. Good for some but never a life I could be satisfied with. To find an end to all conquest seems a miserable thing."

He paused in his preparation of the meat to look down at what he'd done then back up again.

"Would the water and other things not cut through the salt?"

"Mmm."

It was what Waver thought. And it gave him another thought, more private, and he shifted it aside in favor of explaining science.

"No. The water will draw some of the salt out and hold it, so the other things in the soup will take on the salt."

"I see!"

Being a man who highly approved of science, he appreciated the explanation and went to carefully wrap up the rest of what he had. Bringing the cut pieces over, he looked into the pot. They would need more water than what they had presently but at least the stew would last once it was made.

"I shall fetch the water we require."

He smiled then headed off with another container for water. Bucephalus would be there so he was sure the mage would be fine until he returned.

"Thanks."

Waver was mostly satisfied with the explanation. He carefully put the stone down when he was done cutting, then moved the veggies into the pot.

Satisfied, Waver laid back down on the ground, his eyes now looking skyward.

"Good night for stars, at least."

"We should create our own stories from the patterns in the sky," he offered as he went to get the pot over the fire and started to add water. It seemed the best way to go about this. Whether it was right or not was a mystery that he'd soon learn an answer to though.

"I want to find one cluster that reminds me of you."

Waver thanked everything it was dark out, because at those words, he went bright, tomato red.

"Buy someone dinner first, huh?" he muttered, face in his hands.

"Hm? Why would I buy you dinner before creating a story of you in the stars?"

Obviously he'd missed something there.

Waver sighed. He had to really say it, didn't he?

"Iskandar. Half the stuff coming out of your mouth sounds like stuff that's said on dates. Forgive me a little confusion here."

Iskandar's eyes widened. Obviously he hadn't been intentionally flirting with him (not that he wouldn't, he found him attractive) but he was realizing now that it would come across like that. He broke out into a laugh, scratching his cheek then.

"Ah. Well, I was not meaning it as such. Of course I would date you as your modern phrasing suggests. However, I have been unaware of how you might feel or if you would even wish to share me at such an intimate level. After all, even were I not with anyone here already, which I am, I would still be a man with many lovers and three wives."

"I know," Waver said, his focus now on the pot of stew rather than Iskandar. "Which is why I haven't said anything about the matter."

There's an unsaid even though I've wanted to. Waver's hand rested flat on the ground, fingers splayed, and he forced himself to keep talking.

"I've had romantic feelings for you, but I also know that I can't do what you do with multiple partners. I'm too selfish on that front.

There. He said it. Done. Now any feelings would have to go away.

Ah so that was it. Iskandar let the smile fade so that way Waver would know he was treating this seriously as he listened to him. After a moment, he lifted his hand to stop him.

"I wish for one small explanation first. Is it that you do not feel that you can share me were we to be together on such a level? Or is that you could not share yourself?"

There was truly a major difference there.

That gave Waver pause. And also meant he had never considered the matter before, which under any other circumstance he'd label embarrassing - he thought everything through! But the angle seemed wrong. All he knew was that he couldn't picture the arrangement working. The underlying cause seemed pointless to examine.

"The first one. I'm selfish," he concluded. "That's all."

"And do you ever feel that this could change or would you feel better if it did not?"

Of the two of them, Iskandar as the flexible one. If something didn't work then he wouldn't go about doing it. If it did then he put all of his heart into it. Right now it was a matter of finding out where the mage's comfort zones were and what to do with that. And at the moment that was best done with words.

"I think it'd create more problems for me than solve the one I have now."

He could see any number of ways for jealousy to go wrong. Waver knew that so much of him was still spiteful and jealous, and that the learning curve would be too steep here and tank relationships that were vital to his well, everything.

"I dealt with this for a decade. I'll be fine."

"I know that you are fine but that does not mean we should brush aside your feelings."

Iskandar reached over to rest a hand on Waver's shoulder. Offering him a warm smile, he gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before he went to stir the food in the pot.

"I am pleased to know your feelings. It means now I can find how best to make you happy. After all, your heart is not likely to change quickly or at all. But we can still work together to do something that will bring you comfort."

"Such as?"

Waver didn't mean to sound cynical, but it came out that way regardless. Perhaps cynicism was needed. In his experience, there wasn't anything but time to get over unrequited feelings. Or well, requited feelings but also knowing that the relationship wouldn't work.

He laughed gently then gave him a wink. "Well, we are still here are we not? I feel that our bond goes deeper than being romantic or being friends. We share something no one else here can ever share with us."

Honestly it was like how Hephaestion and himself had shared something he'd never shared with anyone else. "Love is a powerful emotion and can extend to many levels."

"I'm listening." Cautious, his tone suggested, but listening. Waver's eyes went down to the fire, trying to make sure there was enough fuel to keep the stew at a reasonable simmer.

"We were once Master and Servant. We have shared moments and feelings that no one else has. You have sworn yourself to me. I would say we are not lovers and we are more than friends. We are partners. Companions. We do not require things to speak of how we feel and anything we express is simply a wonderful addition." He looked at him again with a wide smile. "After all, I would like to point out I live with no one but you. And you and I even share a bed. Each day I think of you when I do things. It is very powerful what we have already."

Waver sighed. Everything Iskandar said were things Waver knew. They were good to keep in mind, but they had never helped with getting over emotions. They weren't helping now either, not even coming out of Iskandar's mouth.

So he sat in silence, struggling to find something to say. Anything.

"I know all that."

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