Summary:
Aiden makes it clear what he wants. He wants Áine.
Something seemed off that day. Something seemed very off that day.
She woke up early as usual to continue her studies with the children in the library, but there was this weight, if that is the correct word, in the air.
It wasn't common for the circle to be filled with mages at this time of the day. They usually started waking up and walking around the tower some time past 7, but it was barely 6:30, and the tower was full of busy people. There were no friendly smiles, no laughter... they were just walking, their faces showed anxious frowns and uneasy smiles.
Okay, maybe she was just seeing things, maybe the conversation about the blight had her on edge, but it was not likely to come to the tower, right? No, they were safe! Many saw the circle as oppression, she saw it like that too, but the circles kept them safe from themselves and others.
She heard horrible stories about the different circle towers around Thedas, of how the templar treated the mages. There, things were okay, she guessed. They were fairly treated. She just thought that maybe, they could go out? The templars could get them to see the cities, the forests, the lake that surrounded the tower. They had the power to stop them if anything went wrong, didn't they?
Alright, enough, stop it. She had to prepare the library and herself for the activities with the kids, the "we have so much energy" kids... "Ugh!"
She was walking, lost in thought, when someone grabbed her by the arm and pushed her into a room. She couldn't help, and a gasp escaped her mouth.
"Hello there, beautiful! Good morning." Aiden brushed his thumb on her cheek.
"Could you please explain to me what the hell do you think you are doing?" She was not happy with him.
Aiden looked at her with his biggest confident smile.
"Honestly? I saw you walking, head down, lost in thought. You looked so beautiful. I had to take my chance. It is not always we can be alone..."
"You know what, Aiden? You're right." She lowered her guard and looked down at her hands.
"I am?" He was suspicious of her behavior. It was the first time she agreed with him on those matters.
"Oh, yes. We never get the chance to be alone, and we will not get that chance today either, now excuse me 'cause I have work to do." She didn't want to be rude, but he was always so intense around her. Made her feel things she didn't understand.
He blocked her way out, placed his hand on her waist, and gently pushed her against the wall. Their eyes were locked. She was breathing heavily. Her arms crossed over her chest. He slowly got closer to her until he had his body pressed against hers.
"You know what I think?" He asked with his lips almost touching hers. "I think that deep down, you want us to be together. I can show you many things..." He was whispering in her ear. His lips touching her skin. "I can make you smile for reasons you never felt before, one of those big bright smiles that you have." His slow, warm breath touching her earlobe. She couldn't keep herself from shivering.
Áine didn't know when or how, but her hands were now pressed against his chest; she could feel his heartbeat. It was as fast as hers. She could feel his lips curling into a smile of satisfaction.
"Aiden, I... You... We should go back," She whispered with a trembling voice.
"Are you sure that's what you want?" He was facing her. His lips brushed hers when she gasped after his hand slip to the back of her thighs, pulling her closer to him.
"Yes." She couldn't take her eyes off his.
"Show me then. You say you wanna leave, but your body says it wants to stay. Which one is correct?" His left hand was on the back of her neck, his fingers going up into her hair. His right hand on the back of her thigh, right below her bottom, tightening the grasp. Squeezing, pulling her ever so close.
A moan, a quiet, shy moan, slipped out her mouth. Shivers all over her body, making the hair stand on end. He started kissing her neck, her collarbone. She grabbed his robes when he trailed the way up her neck to her chin, aiming her mouth. Her mind was foggy, and she couldn't think properly. He called her name in her mouth, and she heard his voice.
"No, I am sorry..." She pushed him away, trying to catch her breath again. "This is not right. I can't."
What was that she saw in his eyes? Confusion? Hurt? Rage? Hate?
"He will never be yours. You will never be his. You are mine." His tone was as cold as ice. He calmly left the room and closed the door.
She was trying to gather her thoughts when the door opened once again, and Cullen came in.
"Are you okay? I just saw Aiden leaving, and he gave me a funny look." The templar laughed light-hearted.
"Yes. I'm fine, thanks. It's just..." She gave her words a second thought. "Never mind." She pretended to clean her robe.
Cullen touched her face, and she shivered from it. It was better, much better than everything that had just happened between her and Aiden.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked with narrow eyes.
She nodded and left the room in a hurry.
What in the Maker's will was happening that day? Aiden never behaved like that. She never behaved like that. What was she thinking? Almost making out with Aiden in that room, and the worst is that she had liked it. She liked being touched that way, being desired...
"No, no, no, nooo! Stop with these thoughts right now." She didn't notice she was thinking out loud, and when Áine stopped in the middle of the library, she noticed the kids were already there waiting for her, so they obviously heard her.
"Are you okay?" Colin asked.
"Of course, I am, sweetheart! Where is Amell?" She put on her biggest smile.
"I'm here. I'm here!" She was panting. Of course, she was. She was always late when the class was in the morning.
Áine cracked a loud laugh, her friend could be difficult sometimes, but no one could say she wasn't kind-hearted, determined, and hardworking, well, when it was interesting enough.
Amell gave Áine a tight hug, and she took the opportunity to tell her friend she needed to talk to her about what had happened between her and Aiden.
After the activities were over, Amell called Áine to a rather quiet place in the library to talk.
"So, what is it? Are you okay?" She looked Áine up and down. Her eyes full of concern.
Áine told her everything. Her worries and impressions. What happened in the room with Aiden and Cullen's touch. Amell's face was focused. She was trying to understand, to absorb all the information.
"I told you to stay away from Aiden..." She paced the small place. "I always thought something seemed off with him, but now? I just want to freeze his face and then punch him! How does he dare to do and say that?"
"Hey, calm down! I agree with the part of saying it, he really shouldn't have, but well, he stopped when I wanted to. He didn't force me to do anything..."
"He is... if he gets near you again, Maker help me."
"Okay. If I knew you'd get like that, I wouldn't even tell you anything. Just calm down. Things already are very strange around here." Her hands rested on her waist, and she studied the sun through the window.
They spent the rest of the day doing their normal duties, but Aiden's words kept coming back to her head over and over. Did he really mean them? What about that look he gave her? Was he planning something? No. She was overthinking it.
Wasn't she?
YOU ARE READING
Áine.
FanficÁine is a mage from Kinloch Tower. She was there during the blight and had Cullen as one of her acquaintances. She fell in love with him but was too shy to say something about it. Nevertheless, he was in love with her friend Amell and didn't know sh...