Dragon Age x Reader (Oneshots)

Courtly Disdain (Alistair x Reader)

(AN; This goes out to all my non-human noble Wardens who would have made excellent Queens. I present to you my take on it. This will have a part two after the Landsmeet. I always thought there should have been a dialogue option before the Landsmeet though discussing this with a romanced Warden)

You considered yourself to be a woman of reasonable and considerable patience. You had brought down hordes of Darkspawn as they battled against you, sending them to a painful and fiery death with each flourish of your staff. You had stood to face dragons as they bore down on you with their own flames and razor teeth and even found the ashes of Andraste herself. You were a woman of integrity, compassion and no end of skill in monster slaying.

But politics was a world beyond anything you had ever experienced. The circle had its fair share of them but you had only just taken your Harrowing before Duncan had swept in to save you from yourself and invite you into the Grey Warden fold. So this, the Landsmeet, was all completely beyond anything you had ever done before. You were wordy and educated better than maybe any other Elf in Ferelden but you were not a noble. It all made you feel very aflutter as you waited for the time to come.

"Riiiight, so I'm not Thedas' leading expert on women or mages or women-mages but that's normally the looks you have before you cast a lighting spell on a legion of darkspawn. Is something wrong?" You had hardly noticed Alistair's entrance behind you, staring too deep and perhaps too bitter into the fire place as your Mabari snored loudly next to the heat. This was what you were truly angry about or maybe angry wasn't the right world. Frightened might be better.

You took a deep breath. None of this was his fault after all, he didn't ask to be the bastard son of the King, nor did he want to be King in the first place as he'd insisted since before any of you even arrived here. You didn't want to risk sounding angry at him when you spoke, for surely you were not, you were angry at life. Why couldn't you have have been born a pretty little human girl? Life would be easier but then again, the Chantry Mother at the Circle had always told you that you were being punished for something by the Maker and that you were a sinful little urchin so maybe the pointy ears thing just meant you'd been particularly terrible. Maybe you called Andraste a whore in some past life, who knows.

"Yes," You answer is delayed and a little more gargled than you had meant it to be. Very attractive, you're sure. "Have you... Given any thought to the path you're heading down?" You ask a little more reserved than you normally ever were around him. Alistair had been the joy of your life since he first walked into it, save for the occasional quip about your being a Mage which you returned tenfold at his past of being a Templar.

He seems to notice this change in you and he comes closer, setting his hands on your shoulders. The slightly pressure there was comforting, just the sensation of knowing he was close at hand, his breath soft on the back of your neck. You're trying to be serious here but it's increasingly difficult when he's leaving butterfly kisses down your neck and nuzzling into you. Damn that man.

"I'll assume you don't mean ending the Blight because last I checked, we're both Wardens. Is this one of those things where I'm supposed to know what I've done but I don't because I'm a man?" As his arms moved downwards to wrap around your waist, your ability to be too greatly upset was drained from you as you settled your hands over his. His smile was contagious, even now.

You indulged him with a small laugh, fleeting from your lips, which seemed to encourage him. That's what he was after, your happiness, as he ever was. He was exceptionally good at cheering you up, he had been there for you all the while whenever you needed anything at all.

"No, I don't mean the Blight. I meant you being Kin--- " Before you could so much as complete the word you were interrupted by the suddeness of his movement from behind you. Instead of being stood stationary you had suddenly and very much without your consent suddenly been dipped, your hands instinctivly clinging to Alistair's chest to keep you from falling. The small yelp you made was not very flattering.

Without exchanging a word, simply acting on instinct, you attempted to shove him forgetting he was the only thing keeping you upright. This ended with gravity, the ever harsh mistress, sending you tumbling to the floor as Alistair clumsily failed to try and grab onto before you hit the stone.

"What in Andraste's name was that for!?" You demanded, looking up at him from next to your startled dog who had been woken by your ungraceful tumble to the ground. Ever a credit to his own intelligence, the beast got to his four paws and trodded off to find a more peaceful fire to snooze beside.

"I didn't mean to--- No that's not--- I moved too quickly didn't I? My bad. I've made a mess of this haven't I? Maker's breath, I only mean to turn you. Honestly this whole 'King' business is driving me crazy, it's all anyone wants to talk about with me anymore. I didn't expect to hear it from you, I'm sorry," He explains, offering his hand down to you which you graciously accept, allowing him to bear you back to your feet.

That made you feel marginally bad. You suppose you would be on edge too if all of a sudden an entire kingdom was put on your shoulders. You were struggling just to cope with the responsibility of killing an Archdemon but that seemed infinitely easier in comparison, just shoot it with a couple spells, maybe stick your staff in eyes, job done.

"No, no, it's okay. I didn't consider that you didn't want to talk about it, I was just wondering about, well, us," You explain, as he uses your hand in his to draw you back into an embrace, your head coming to rest against his shoulder.

"I... Don't know, honestly. I suppose if I were to be King, which I'm not going to, Anora is the much better choice, but if I were certain things might be expected of me," He seems to clock on to what it is your implying. His hand ghosts over your hair where a single rose he had once gifted you is intertwined with a braid. You had enchanted yourself shortly after it had been given to you, it was your desire that it would never wilt.

"That's what I'm worried about. I'm an Elf.... A mage. That's not a popular combination with Royalty," You try and phrase like one of the many jokes the two of you share but you struggle, the possibility of losing him all too real for you to stomach.

"Nor are bastards normally but I suppose these aren't normal circumstances, but I know one thing for sure. I love you, more than I thought possible. That isn't going to change," He assures you, more seriously than you think you'd ever seen him be about anything. Even in your most romatic moments he tended to bumble a little and trip over his own anxieties.

At least for tonight, you were comforted even while the future seemed uncertain.