I am but your Humble Servant *a Dragon Age: Inquisition Fanfic*

Chapter III: Heartbeats

Cole dragged his gaze from the book to look through the hole in the old bedroom's roof, only to realise he had spent the whole night reading and it was now just coming on dawn. He shut the book and left it on the bed, before walking out through the door and onto the battlements. He sat on the stone ledge and kicked his feet to a rhythm, watching as the sun clambered its way over the snowy mountaintops and stained the sky a beautiful orange. Thunk, thunk, his feet hit the stone in time with his own heartbeat as he sat idly, watching the sight. He thought about what he had read in Varric's romance serial. So close, so warm, so soft. They share intimate moments together, becoming one unit. Their hearts race with the thrill of it all, but not just because of excitement. They also thunder so loudly with love. Their feelings are not unlike those I feel when Artemis is near. So how come our encounters are so different? So much further away and far less heated. She must be feeling something different.

Cole continued his steady thudding of his feet on the wall. Do I want to have those encounters with Artemis though? Happy, hot, hungry? The rhythm he tapped with his feet had subconsciously began to quicken. Heart so full it might burst, stomach so fluttery and thoughts so hazy, yet whole body and being overcome with pleasure? Two souls so close they intertwine and become one? Cole's legs hit the wall so erratically that the new pain in his heels brought him back from his musings. He realised what he had been doing and took off his hat, running his hand through his straw-coloured hair.

The sun had fully risen over the mountains and the sky had changed to a dull blue with heavy clouds off in the distance that promised rain, perhaps even the first falling of snow. Cole hopped down from the wall and scooped up his hat, returning it to its usual spot before returning to the top floor of the tavern. As he passed the old bed with Varric's book atop, his mind drifted to Artemis before he caught himself. No. She does not want that, and most of all not with you. Once she might have, with Solas, but not now. Distance is what she desires, and so she shall have it. I can help if I just stay away. Cole sat down in the corner of the tavern and began to sharpen his daggers on a smooth stone he'd brought back from the courtyard. The blade against stone almost drowned out the light footfalls of someone coming up the lower tavern steps.

Artemis reached the second floor, but before climbing further up to visit Cole, she decided to talk with Sera. She knocked gently on Sera's door and a grunt signalled her access. Artemis pushed the door open to find Sera sprawled out on the pillowed bench under the windows, twirling an arrow around in her hand. Artemis took a seat on the floor in front of the peculiar elf and brought her braid around to her front, touching the messy twists.

Sera looked over, still twirling the arrow and frowned. "How come your hair is so messy today?"

"Just couldn't be bothered with it this morning. Don't have anywhere I'm going so I thought it only needed to be a rushed job."

Sera ceased playing with the arrow and placed it in an unnervingly large pile of assorted ones off to the side. "Well, it looks like shit and it's pissing me off. Come here so I can fix it. But you don't tell nobody about this alright, or I'm cutting it off in your sleep."

Artemis nodded slowly and surely, taking the threat seriously since it came from Sera. She shuffled around and leant against the bench Sera was sitting on. She closed her eyes as Sera untied the thin, black leather stands that wound around the end of the braid and was attached to a heavy, metal, pointed ornament, not unlike a sword pommel. These metal ornaments and leather bindings also adorned the bottom of the sections of hair which hung in front of her ears, and Sera wondered what purpose they served.

"Hey elfy?" Artemis murmured in response, prompting Sera to continue. "What's these heavy things you put in your hair? They look like you took some spiked pommels off some swords and tied some leather to it and then wove it into your hair." Sera dangled the ornament in front of her face, not aware of the fact that Artemis had her eyes closed.