OPEN | We're all told to dance but we never pick the tune

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WHO: Nathaniel Howe and YOU
WHAT: Open log
WHEN: Wintermarch and Guardian
WHERE: The Kestrel House & Camp Shady
NOTES: Reading aloud of bad smutty romance novel.

Camp Shady

It's proper winter, which is aggravating the crap out of Nathaniel's rheumatism. On good days, he can practice with weapons. On bad days, he is wrapped up in layers of blankets and writing or drawing with a grimace on his face. Every day he reads reports from Warden scouts, scouring the world for signs of the Architect. Most leads become dead ends.

The Kestrel House

On one truly abysmal day, Nathaniel doesn't get out of bed. Every movement creates agony. He stays in the barracks wing with curtains drawn around the bed he and Anders share, sometimes rolling out to make tea at the fire. He is very pale to anyone who sees him, but makes no sound or complaint.

Closed to Anders

At the end of one of the bad days, Anders arrives back at the Kestrel House to find Nathaniel inside, working on a drawing. He glances up and gestures for him to come closer.

"I've something to show you."

Comments

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Nathaniel smiles and takes Anders' hand to lower himself into the bed. Once Anders is settled against him, he picks up Spears of the Qunari and begins to read. Obviously this won't be Anders' sort of thing, but it's a book and it's cuddling.

Shortly in, it starts to become clear this is not a military treatise. Nathaniel frowns when the petite Lady Fontainebleu, who he has never heard of before, is picked up in the arms of the qunari castaway.

"'Forbidden,' her mind told her, but her heart did not care, and her loins--"

That's when he stops, thumb keeping their place in the book as he flips it around to squint dubiously at the back cover, which only has an 'about the author' on it.

[justice_is_blond]

He gets comfortable and listens, closing his eyes so he can just enjoy the sound of Nate's voice. They open again when he hears a frown in Nate's voice, and by the time Nate's stopped he's grinning.

"You can't stop there. Her loins what? Burned, likely. Burned with a fire so deep only he could put it out? Are you sure it was Aleron who loaned you this book and not someone in a very clever Aleron disguise?" Shifting up, Anders peers at the unhelpful back as well.

"I want to know how well he wields his spear, Nate. Or spears. Maybe that's a very well-kept qunari secret - some of them have two."

reading aloud of smutty literature

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A choking laugh at the last one. "It was most assuredly Aleron. I thought it was about actual qunari sp..eeear-wielders, not. This. Maybe he did as well."

A shuddering laugh this time, and he continues to read with a grin: "and her loins cared very much; she was already wet and throbbing when he pressed her into the mattress and opened her legs. His massive hands slid over her bodice, and she tingled in anticipation. If his hands were so big, what about the famed spear of the qunari? Would it fit? She shuddered under his touch.

'You are very eager,' he growled. 'Soft and pliant. Not at all like a qunari woman. And your sex is very small. But it will be made to fit. In this way, we qunari conquer. Once I have taken you, you will belong to me.'

Lady Fontainebleu could not help moaning at the words. He had barely even touched her and she was certain, despite being a virgin, that sex could not get better than this."

[justice_is_blond]

Anders rubs Nate's chest, working a blend of creation, fire, and ice in to the damaged areas to make those laughs a little less pained as he reads.

"Eager, soft, and pliant. This is a very educational book, on reflection. I've learned I'm not like a qunari woman in bed either." The grin on Nate's face is warming. Despite how he's not feeling well, he's enjoying himself and that makes Anders enjoy the reading all the more.

"I hope this isn't how Aleron became educated in the matters of pleasing women, though. Made to fit doesn't sound promising. Or barely being touched meaning unequaled sex. Do you think someone needs to have the talk with him?"

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Nathaniel wheezes a bit, the pain of the laughter eased by Anders' casting. Maker, there are benefits to having a healer for a partner, though that is far from the reason they are together.

"He's been married before, I'm certain he will have no trouble with Bethany. Let's see."

He clears his through, though he's still grinning. "And so he began his to conquer her, ripping open her bodice with his strong hands and smoothing over the linen chemise beneath.

'Your breasts are very small,' he said critically, 'but I can make do. My orgasm will be no less for it.' Now tell me love, have the size of my breasts made for less pleasure on your part?"

[justice_is_blond]

"Mm. Let me consider this." Anders opens Nate's tunic up before giving his chest a critical look. He lets the moment linger as the corner of his mouth quirks up despite his efforts to keep a straight face, and then he's shaking his head.

"They've always seemed rather perfect to me. Then again, all of you has seemed rather perfect to me, and I've never thought small or large was a deterrent to enjoying one's self. This qunari is an idiot who doesn't know that it's about how one uses what they have is what matters." He leans down to press a chaste kiss to Nate's collarbone.

"Mm, sorry, did I do that wrong? Should I have torn your tunic? Tell you how my pleasure last night was all the better due to how you're shaped?"