Jongin did not like the expressions on either Baekhyun's or Chanyeol's faces. The nervous, halfway hidden gestures on the first, the open-faced scowls on the latter. The three of them stood huddled slightly away from the vicinity of their newest 'friend', as Tao had immediately started calling them, recognizing just enough emotion and empathy to have him practically cleaving onto Baekhyun's form. 

"This isn't good, Jongin," Baekhyun said now, eyes darting back behind him where Kris was set up on guard duty. It was more akin to Kris standing stoically gruff while Tao tried curiously to reach for his horns, eyes alight in wonder. He seemed mesmerized by anything out of the norm, Kris' large stature almost no different than his belief that Kyungsoo's hands must really be green. The second the smaller man had pulled off his gloves to show that his hands were made of skin like the rest of his body, Tao had grown even more fascinated. He had a grayish print now against his nose where he'd tried to sniff Kyungsoo's palm.

"Not good at all," Chanyeol reiterated, although he certainly didn't need to. Jongin knew as well as they did that the situation was... beyond worrisome. A mage that could transform something: cure or not, it was powerful, terrifying magic. 

"Not only are we left now with a boy who acts more like a wolf than an elf, what... what exactly is Xiumin playing at?" Baekhyun wondered aloud, gaze still set firmly on Jongin, as if questioning his motives, and not the mage's. 

"I..." Jongin hesitated.

"I think the mage is not what we should be focusing on here. If we run into him again, we'll deal," Chanyeol interrupted. "Our main priority though is as it always was: Sehun. We're already far off the mark on where we're supposed to be. If we can't find him a safe spot to rest for the winter, then we're doomed. Him, and us if we fail."

Jongin agreed with just about all of that; Baekhyun, did not.

"So, we're just going to wait until we come up against Xiumin again? See what other secrets he may have been hiding? I don't know about you, Chanyeol, but a mage that can do what he did to Tao seems tricky, and just a bit too clever for what our 'friend' has been claiming. And, this happened a little too recently, and too close for comfort."

"He's a friend though," Jongin put in. "And close, as you say. Which means the others might be close too."

"Close to what!?" Baekhyun said. "Us? Orzammar? A hole in the ground tunnel? Jongin, we don't have a plan. We didn't have a back-up plan. They don't know anything more than we do, and all we're going on is that fact that Sehun's aunt wasn't home, so we're going north. Why? I don't even know!" The elf huffed and practically threw his hands up into the air, frustrated beyond what Jongin had seen before.

"They were going to meet us at the manor."

"That's only half the question, but it's a good start. The manor, Yes. The manor, which likely burned to the ground. How do you even know they got there? Or went there at all?"

"Because they said they would."

Baekhyun sighed again, rolling his eyes this time, and Jongin could see Chanyeol beginning to side with him. "Who said. Who agreed. Luhan, the besotted templar? Xiumin, the blood mage, probably, likely? Jongdae the wandering assassin? Yixing, the apostate who almost killed Sehun?" Baekhyun stood now with his hands on his hips.

Chanyeol's lips tweaked, but his seemed also lost for words, and since the others, including Kris, Kyungsoo, and Sehun, were occupied conversing with the wolf-boy, Jongin let the seconds take over while his mind turned and he stared intently at the ground. They weren't far from the opening of the tunnel; they were definitely way north of the manor and grounds. Behind them was an open road where bandits and assassins (the ones who actually tried to kill Sehun) likely awaited, as well as a dragon and a lot of unanswered questions.

Baekhyun let him have the moment of silence, sighing as well as he frowned and looked upset. 

Finally, Chanyeol broke through the air. "At least Suho seemed like a nice dwarf."

Jongin laughed. So too did Baekhyun, for a least another few seconds. Then he said, "Yeah. But Suho was kidnapped by the Carta, and we don't even know if they got him back alive. Jongin, we can't wait on the others. It's too dangerous if we do." He spoke softly, and Jongin knew he was right, even if he didn't want him to be. 

"I know," Jongin sighed, still stalling for time.

Baekhyun took a step closer, Jongin flinching minutely as the shorter elf placed a hand gently against his arm. "Look, I know you liked Luhan and you wanted to wait for him. But Jongin, we don't know where they are. We don't know who they are. We've already got a hired qunari mercenary, a possible half-Darkspawn, and a werewolf who might transform again at the next full moon - we don't even know what he's capable of - and all of them hanging about Sehun like they're cute little puppies who wouldn't harm a fly." Even closer, voice softer, slower, and just a little strained, he whispered so only the three of them would ever hear. "And we don't know for sure they aren't the ones who tipped off the people who want Sehun dead. It's three against three, and if we're going to try to return to West Hills or fight our way into Orlais for the winter, you need to decide, and you need to do it now."

Half an hour later, after they'd persuaded Tao to come along with them, Jongin had something resembling a plan. They were journeying north again, northwest towards Orzammar, towards Gherlen's pass, through which they could pass into Orlais and hopefully make it to the Dales before the worst of the winter season overtook them. Chanyeol wanted to go straight through without stop, but Orzammar was Jongin's plan. There they might rest for a day or two, and then they would purchase five sturdy mountain horses and leave Tao behind, maybe persuade him to find sanctuary with the surface dwarves who lived at the mouth of the dwarven kingdom. Somehow, they would work towards leaving Kyungsoo behind too (Baekhyun had a plan just in case Jongin's failed), and with just Kris to accompany them, make a dash through the pass, and be on their way. 

It was a long shot at best, but Jongin knew of no other way, and currently the path forward was a lot less scarier than the path behind and the numerous ways they'd almost died already on that accursed road. With just a whispered apology upon his lips, Jongin prayed his master, the Arl of West Hills, would forgive him the trek so far out of their way. But Jongin's mission, first before delivering Sehun to his father, was to keep the boy alive. 

"So," Luhan surveyed the scene before them. "This is the great Orzammar?" 

Minseok smirked, and then smacked the templar on the back of the head. "This, is the surfacers' hangout. Call it a city, or a market, the place where guards turn their backs on illegal shipments coming out of the deeps. We haven't even seen Orzammar yet, and we're probably not going to."

Luhan looked just a bit disappointed. 

Suho looked like a girl. Literally. By his own free will, he'd allowed them to dress him up as a female dwarf, wig and all, and it took Minseok back to the day when they'd first met Sehun and he'd been in disguise as well. It hadn't been a great disguise then, and it wasn't now, but Suho was absolutely terrified of being spotted and recognized, and since this was the feeding grounds of the Carta, it was just a tiny bit safer for him to sashay around as a woman.

Minseok had last seen him/her and Jongdae camping out on the post markers that lead out to Gherlen's Pass. If Jongin, Sehun, and the others hadn't already passed this way, there was no way they would miss them now. Heechul hadn't been able to remember where the other part of the tunnel came out afterall, mentioning something about it being well hidden. So unless the steward was lying, they had little choice but to pretend the tunnel opened up north and that Jongin would continue in this direction. Yixing had Alistair and Heechul on the Ferelden side of the road, and that just left Minseok and Luhan to explore the makeshift village of surfacers camped out before the great doors of Orzammar. They were also, as Minseok nervously noted to himself, alone. 

"I want to buy you something," Luhan whispered, eyes not on Minseok but on the many vendors' stalls and wares. Minseok followed him slack-jawed.

"What? Why?"

The templar hummed, disappointed that Minseok wasn't quite as giddy as himself. Luhan seemed tired these days, worn out from all the travel. It was a state they all shared after so many weeks on the road, but Luhan especially was just a bit glum, his energy flagging, slight circles forming under his eyes. And still his eyes sparkled excitedly at the prospect of trinkets and jewels and cloths. Minseok could not deny him this, not if he had a heart. And wandering with Luhan through the small dwarven settlement felt oddly like, courting. 

This was not the first time he'd been here. Side by side with Luhan however, it felt like it. He took in the templar's wonder as if from his own eyes. Dwarven made armor and weapons, armor and clothes, crafts so intricate they could not be found anywhere else except in the capital cities of nations, and for so much more gold than either of them could afford. Here it was crowded, an intimate market throng nestled into the cliff directly below the great entrance of the only surviving dwarven kingdom. It made him seem so small, yet in spite of all that Luhan had no other aim than to buy him something? His heart thumped a few times and he hastened to remember why they were actually here.

"Keep an eye out for Jong-"

"Yes, I know. I know."

For good measure they asked around if a troop of travelers had come through, matching the description to their friends, but none claimed to have seen them yet, not even the liveried dwarf selling nugs and donkeys. Luhan barely heard the dwarf's answer before he tugged Minseok on by, distracted by an elderly dwarf matron selling all kinds of cheap trinkets that Minseok definitely had no use for. The templar had other ideas, of course.

"I told you," he tried in vain to dissuade him, "I don't need-"

"You can stop talking now, Minseok," Luhan replied, still coolly not looking at him, otherwise he would have seen the look of mixed exasperation and softening curiosity on Minseok's face. "We couldn't go out before, in Redcliffe, because you were... you were..."

"A prisoner?" Minseok suggested.

Luhan faltered for barely a moment. "Y-Yes. Anyways now, well you never know what'll happen later."

Truer words Luhan had probably never spoken.

"But not more than I like you." 

Except for maybe that...

In another time, another place, maybe... But the present was so uncertain. Minseok was still, for lack of a better word, an apostate, and Luhan was a templar on an extremely long side quest, dead set on helping a group of strangers on the reason for no better reasons than, because we should.

If that was Luhan's whole rationale for traveling all the way to Orzammar on the whim that they might catch up with Jongin and the others, it was flimsy at best. Luhan was willfully distracting himself from the actual issue on hand, and Minseok was not unintelligent. He knew why Luhan did it, and it all came down to one thing: Minseok himself. He was the distraction in Luhan's life, threatening not only the templar's career, but his actual life. 

Maybe, if Minseok could think rational thoughts too, he would leave. Not because he feared being arrested again and sent to lock-up in a Circle Tower somewhere, but because there was no point in... this. In continuing to aid Luhan's infatuation with a mage he could not hope to hold onto longer than some flimsy 'mission'. And yet, there was a part of him that wanted to see it through, to pretend that maybe it could work, or at least enjoy it while it lasts. 

"Minseok," Luhan's voice drew him out of his reverie. "Minseok, look. Isn't this... pretty?"

In his unoccupied hand Luhan held up a small pocket-sized mirror. It had a gilt oval frame, clear glass mirror with a slight chip towards the lower face. He rolled it over in his palm, having already seen the painted back of a fawn in a meadow beside a lake bluer than any waters they'd yet encountered.

"A gift for a lover," said the merchant dwarf, her eyes beaming in intrigue as she eyed their still-entwined fingers from where Luhan was refusing to let go. Minseok purposefully dug his hand away, bashfully worrying about appearances and ignoring the slight frown upon Luhan's lips.

"Hmmm," said the templar, turning the mirror back around. He played around with it, as if checking himself out and his frown turned deeper as he ran a hand across the stubble forming thickly across his chin. However, he acted like he liked what he saw, and cheerfully dug through his robes for the purse string in which he kept his gold. 

"Is it for yourself then?" the merchant asked after Luhan didn't appear to acknowledge Minseok at all.

"Hmm. No, not for myself. Just a simple present."

He didn't give it to him either. Not then, not right away. Not until they'd walked the whole of the market, dutifully inquiring after the others. Not until they walked the slightly less crowded path back to the main road where Yixing and Heechul were stationed as look-outs. 

Luhan stopped though before they got too far or too close. Minseok suddenly shivered as a cold mountain breeze wafted down through the pass. Luhan made to fix the collar of Minseok's robes to cover up more of his neck, but Minseok got there first and the templar backed down, bashfully waiting. 

"What... what is it?" he asked Luhan, knowing exactly what the man was about to do. The mirror was already back out of his pocket, rolling between Luhan's two hands while he hesitated actually giving it to him. 

Luhan hung his head, and Minseok counted the seconds. All the way to ten, and when Luhan looked up again his eyes shimmered, a nervous hesitation not entirely dampened by his desire.

"Minseok," he spoke softly. "You know, if... if... well, when I asked you a few days ago about where you wanted to go, and you said Tevinter, or Orlais, or just anywhere."

"Yes?"

Again Luhan paused before he continued. "You can go any of those places. Any time. Whenever you want. I won't stop you. On just... one condition. You accept this present from me." He pressed the mirror into Minseok's palm, and closed his fingers around it. Something like tears threatened to form in Minseok's eyes, and he batted his lashed furiously to make them stop. It did nothing to get rid of the feeling of Luhan's hand still vaguely touching his. Now that his offer had been accepted - Minseok couldn't refuse it now - Luhan was reluctant to step back.

"It's not enchanted to track me down wherever I go, is it?" Minseok joked. 

Luhan laughed. "You're the mage. You tell me. I might have bought a necklace or some other piece of jewelry if I thought it wouldn't remind you of that cursed ring you touched." He huffed, scoffing. "Shame we lost that and the horse when the dragon attacked. Oh well."

Another sensation threatened to burn through Minseok's eyeballs this time. Guilt. "Oh, oh the ring. Yeah, shame." 

"Anyways, that's best lost probably," said Luhan, still caught up in his own thoughts. "The mirror though. I think it's just... normal."

"Just a simple present, right?" Minseok echoed, chuckling slightly.

"Yeah."

"So, with this mirror, I can now disappear on you whenever I want."

Luhan looked wounded, playfully so. However, there was just enough truth in both of their positions for Minseok to wince as well. Here was a templar offering him freedom, a templar he'd effectively if not accidentally charmed in a hundred different ways. 

"That's... my condition," he stated firmly.

"And you only had the one?" Minseok pressed. He carefully pocketed the mirror into one of the safest places on the outside of his robes and took a step forward. It took Luhan by surprise. Therefore Minseok continued to . "Not going to arrest Yixing in my place?"

The templar's eyes widened for a second, and then he laughed. "No. No, I wouldn't dare."

"Good, because you'd probably die in the attempt."

They laughed it off, successfully stalling Luhan's plight for a few more moments. However, once their soft voices died down, every raging what if surfaced again in Minseok's mind.

"Surely you've got one more condition?" He smiled, inclining his head, and Luhan just gaped.

"I d-do?"

"Yeah. Something you started before, under the fallen tree. But I... couldn't help you much then."

He waited, watched for the spark of recognition to make its way across Luhan's face, and there, there it was. A memory and a blush, and Minseok couldn't wait any longer. He took one more forward step, arms reaching out to embrace him, but their lips met first anyways. Luhan kissed him hungrily, heads colliding, arms and bodies only seconds behind. After having gone from nothing, to suddenly getting... this, Minseok didn't know how or why he would ever want to leave it. They had nothing to lean against, nothing to fall against except for each other, Luhan's hands wrapping low around his waist, and they made no noise as they kissed, as if sound itself could tear them apart, break their fragile reprieve before they wanted.

Minseok held him close, pulling his head back only when Luhan did as the templar settled instead for nuzzling at his neck, nose first and head tucked against him completely. Minseok slid his arms up to clutch at the templar's shoulder blades, an effective body lock from which no one could upset.

No one except a slight cough and an embarrassed clearing of a throat.

Minseok and Luhan sprung apart, whipping about to see the reddish cheeks of Heechul, the steward, a fist clutched nervously before his lips as if he dared to speak and earn even more reproach.

"Ahhem."

"What is it?" Luhan asked first.

Heechul smiled, only one side of his mouth actually working right now. "Yixing... told me to run and fetch you too. We think we've spotted your friends coming up the road. If you wanted to... meet them... say, when you two are through... then..." He completed his smile finally, and Minseok just sighed.

"We'll be right there."

Heechul turned tail rather quickly at Minseok's scowl and scrambled back from the way he'd evidently come. Minseok shook his head, digging a boot into the earth in metaphoric pain and sighed heavily again. He glanced up and Luhan hadn't moved. He was almost frozen like a statue except for his lips which were reddened and damp and quickly drying out before of the strong winter breeze. 

"Smells like snow," Minseok said to bridge the silence. Moments ago it had been so nice. Now, however...

Luhan's face broke, and he too smiled and chuckled, still somewhat embarrassed. "Bet you like snow? Frost mage?" His eyes twinkled again, and Minseok felt part of his heart start to beat rapidly all over again. 

"Yeah. I do. Come on, let's go see what assistance Jongin needs from us now, huh? Otherwise, what good are we to them?"

For what good reason are we still together without them? He left that part at least unsaid. 

3,400 words

Gasps! Look at me! Updating within a week like the good old days. I want to say that we've reached a slight pinnacle in the story, arriving at a new location so get ready because plot's about to take off! A whole lot of plots all at once! I also left a couple clues along the way, but never mind those. Xiuhan finally kissed! Like reciprocal kisses!! 

♡ Rosie

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