WHO: Knight-Captain Cullen & Alistair, King of Ferelden WHAT: Cullen needs to work out more. Going for a run with a Warden seemed like a good idea. WHERE: Out and about WHEN: Morning, backdated to the end of June RATING: Low STATUS: Complete
He was exhausted, more than he had been in a very long time. Admittedly, he was out of shape though -- not unhealthy, just not the kind of strong man that he was in the dreams. Or that Alistair was in real life. The Warden seemed to be doing fine after the run, only slightly winded, while Cullen just wanted to collapse on the sidewalk and take a nap. His entire body pretty much hurt, but he also felt...good. It was nice to start getting more active, even more nice to do it with someone as appealing as Alistair.
Ever since that night on his couch where they became more intimate, they’d only been getting closer. Cullen was glad he wasn’t turned off by his lack of experience, if anything, Alistair seemed to want to spend even more time with the Templar. It was what led up to their early morning run.
Cullen checked his phone for the distance they had gone so far and his eyes suddenly widened. “...Hell… I feel like you are literally trying to torture me.” But at the same time, he was pleased with himself that he had been able to go such a distance. “Is this the part where I get to have a breather?”
Ever since Alistair had become a Grey Warden, he’d not only had a larger appetite, but he had more stamina and energy. This led to him working out more often despite the fact that becoming a Grey Warden had given him a much better physique than he’d had previously. Either way, he needed to do something to burn off the extra energy he had and that usually consisted of early morning runs. He usually ran by himself, but he had decided that it might be nice to start running with Cullen so he had suggested it to the Templar and was quite happy when he’d agreed. He’d tried to stay at Cullen’s pace, but sometimes Alistair forgot and ran ahead.
Stopping when Cullen did, Alistair laughed softly, “Oh, I’m sure it’s not that bad.” He glanced at Cullen’s phone to see how far they had run, “I usually end up doing more than this. It’s one of the curses of being a Grey Warden. I don’t have to exercise, but I have all this extra energy, so I need to do something with it. Let’s take a short break though. Don’t want you collapsing on me.” He glanced around and spotted a nearby bench. “How about that?”
Cullen sort of glared at Alistair, though it was soft around the edges. He understood that it was quite different being a Warden as the man had explained a bit more about it during some of their times together. The darkspawn taint affected them and left them more than human, and the energy seemed to be boundless. The Templar blushed a bit following that thought, mind wandering for a moment to other ways to blow off some excess steam. “Ah...I suppose you do.”
He followed the other man over to the bench and let off a huge sigh when he took a seat, leaning in to rest his head on Alistair’s shoulder. He was still breathing hard, licking his tongue over his lips. “I feel so damn old right now.”
“The first time I saw my family after I became a Warden, my brother couldn’t believe how in shape I was.” Not that Alistair had been out of shape before, but becoming a Warden had changed his body significantly. Aside from the abs, his shoulders were broader, his chest more defined and his arms were toned. “You’re not old. You just have to get used to it.” If Alistair was honest, he actually didn’t know how old Cullen was, but he assumed they were about the same age.
“I’m sort of old… I know I don’t look thirty, but it’s times like this when I really feel it,” he joked as his eyes fell shut with the comfort between them, a soft breeze cooling the sweat on his skin. Cullen shifted closer and very slowly reached his hand out so his fingers grazed over the Warden’s, curling slightly. “Thirty years old and this is the first time I’ve felt like this… Not tired, I mean, but…”
Alistair smiled and watched as Cullen’s hand moved towards his, “Thirty isn’t really old. I’ll be there soon enough.” Of course, in Alistair’s case, thinking about getting older caused him to wonder just how long he would live. Whether or not the Taint would kill him at some point. As of his last dream, he had already reached thirty, but that was as far as they had gone, so he had no idea how long he’d live in them. “You mean how you feel about me, right?” At least he hoped that’s what Cullen meant.
Carefully, Cullen tilted his head and opened his eyes to stare up at the other man, his cheeks flushing from more than the exertion he was still recovering from. “Yes, how I feel about you,” he replied, finally allowing himself to take full hold of Alistair’s hand, giving a reassuring squeeze. “I’ve been thinking about you quite a lot. More so since...that night on my couch. Erm… I want more of that, but also...I just want to be around you. I fancy you, you know.” He paused for a moment, uncertain of what else to say. “I’m not good at this.”
At one time Alistair would have glanced around to see who else was around before holding another man’s hand, but he’d gotten more comfortable with holding hands in public since dating Zevran. Sure, there was still that worry that someone would say something, but Alistair would simply try to ignore it. “I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t also want more.” He bit his bottom lip lightly, his own cheeks flushing slightly.
“Does that mean that...you’d like to be with me? Like my boyfriend?” He was smiling, mouth tilted up higher on one side, his bright eyes wide and eager while his cheeks were still red. Cullen could feel his heart beating quick like a rabbit in his chest from excitement and disbelief. He wasn’t sure if Alistair would ever want to take a step further, but here the Warden was, telling him to his face that he did.
Alistair’s lips turned up into a smile at the word boyfriend and he nodded, “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like to be your boyfriend. I mean, if you want to be mine.” Alistair had wanted to ask Cullen sooner, but he hadn’t wanted to scare the other man away, knowing that this was still all new to him.
Immediately, he pressed his lips to the Warden’s in a kiss that was firm, but chaste. It lasted for a few heartbeats before Cullen pulled back, still grinning like a fool. “I would be honored, your majesty,” the Templar teased, taking another kiss that was slower and so incredibly pleased. “Mm, boyfriend. You’ve just made me the happiest bloke around.”
Alistair kissed him back, one hand coming up to cup the other man’s cheek, “Then I guess that makes me the second happiest guy around,” He grinned and kissed Cullen back again before getting to his feet and holding his hand out, “Race you back to my place.” After Zevran had left almost a year earlier, Alistair hadn’t been sure if he’d be able to trust someone else enough to get to this level again, but he was extremely glad that it was Cullen who he’d gotten to this level with.
He placed his hand in the other man’s, allowing Alistair to pull him up from the bench and back to his feet. He gave a huff at the challenge, before nodding his head. “Just be sure to go a little easy on me, yeah?”