InsaneJournal

Who: Alistair Theirin and Bo Dennis
What: Talking over coffee
When: Backdated: Mid June
Where: Croft Manor
Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly
Status: Complete

Things had seemed to come one after another. Dream traumas for both her and Lara, then the Star Wars invasion, then another dream trauma for them both. At least Lara’s dreams seemed to be at an end for the time being. Bo’s, however, were still on going. But that morning she’d woken up without having had one. That was a win in her case, especially since she tended to wake up injured more often than not.

After pulling on a tank top and pajama pants, Bo headed down to the kitchen where she started making some coffee. Once the pot was on, she poked around for some breakfast, finally settling on cereal. Grabbing a bowl, she poured some cereal in it, then added milk. Coffee and cereal, the breakfast of champions. Though it would work well enough for her.

Alistair had gotten up early, as he did most mornings and had gone for a run. Ever since becoming a Grey Warden a few years earlier, he’d been working out a few times a week despite the fact that he didn’t really need to in order to maintain the physique that the dreams had given him. It was more that he got antsy simply sitting around, partly because as a Grey Warden he was designed to be on his guard for danger from Darkspawn and other threats. So he stayed on his toes and kept active.

As he let himself in the front door, he heard moving around in the kitchen and headed that way as his stomach grumbled. The other part of being a Grey Warden meant that his appetite had been doubled ever since so he ate more than he ever did before. Stepping into the kitchen, he saw Bo there with the cereal, “Is there enough in there for two more bowls?” Sure, he could have just gotten a large bowl, but that just made him feel like more of a glutton than when he ate two separate bowls.

Eating a lot or not, Bo didn’t exactly care. She packed a lot of food away herself, most of it the unhealthy, junk food sort. While she wasn’t rail thin, she didn’t really gain weight either. As such she’d never comment about someone else eating a lot because she herself would binge at times. Especially if she was with Kenzi and they were having a movie marathon. Between the two of them, they could pack away more pizza, ice cream and popcorn than most people would think they could.

Looking up at Alistair, she checked in the box and grinned. “I believe you’re in luck. There should be enough for another two bowls. Maybe even three, but that could be pushing it.” She said and slid the box over to him. “Do you want some coffee? It should be just about done brewing.”

“Coffee would be great. Thanks.” Alistair grabbed a bowl from the cabinet then went to get a spoon and the milk before sitting down at the kitchen table to start on his first bowl of cereal, “Lara still asleep?” While he didn’t know the details of Lara’s dreams aside from the fact that she was an explorer of sorts, he knew that some of her dreams weren’t exactly pleasant. So he could understand if she slept in later.

“You’re welcome.” Bo grabbed a second mug, then poured them both some coffee. She took the mugs over to the kitchen table, setting one down in front of Alistair. She’d already set out some creamer, sugar and the like to dress the coffee up. And she took creamer and a healthy dose of sugar in her coffee. “No, I think she might be working already. Or working out.” She hadn’t checked, but that was her guess. After taking a drink of her coffee, she looked at Alistair, noticing his aura. It seemed there was someone he liked, she could see the attraction plain as day in his aura. Though she didn’t point that out just yet.

“How are you doing?” She’d start off conversationally and see where things went from there.

Alistair nodded as he began eating his cereal, “What’s she up to these days? It’s kind of crazy that we live together and we don’t cross paths nearly as often as you’d think.” He’d have to make it a point to see if Lara and Bo would want to go to the Hanged Man one of these nights. In response to Bo’s question, he shrugged, “I’ve been pretty good. Still dealing with crap with my dad, but otherwise pretty good.”

“She’s delving deep into research for an expedition she’s planning. Getting funding is proving a little difficult, but I know she’ll get it.” It was going to be exciting to see Lara in her natural habitat when they went on the expedition. She took a drink of her coffee. “I’m sorry that you’re having to deal with that.” Some days, Bo was glad that she’d run away twelve years ago and had no clue who her biological parents were. It made having a girlfriend so much easier. Though she smiled at the other part of his answer. “I have noticed you’ve been out a lot.” Even with the house being the size it was, Bo was observant of people’s comings and goings. At least when she wasn’t in the middle of emotional crap she was dealing with.

“I bet she’ll have a good time. Are you planning on going with her?” Alistair took a sip of his coffee then finished off the rest of his cereal and began to pour a second bowl, “Yeah, my father has this specific image in mind for our family and me being bisexual doesn’t fit that image.” His mother didn’t appear to have the same problem with it that his father did and for that, Alistair was grateful. “A lot? Really? I didn’t think I’d been out any more than usual.” While Alistair and Cullen didn’t go out all the time, ever since they had met, Alistair had been out with him more then before.

“I am, yeah. She asked me a while back, and I couldn’t refuse the offer of seeing her in her element.” Bo said with a smile. She was looking forward to going somewhere that wasn’t in the United States or Canada for the first time in her life. “I’m sorry, though I completely understand that. Neither of my parents were accepting of my being bisexual. It was one of the reasons I ran away and never looked back.” But she could definitely relate to Alistair on that level. She didn’t fit her parents’ worldview, and so she’d left. “Alright, maybe not a lot a lot, but you’ve been out more often lately. Any particular reason why?” She took another bite of cereal, watching him, mostly to judge his reaction compared to his aura.

“That’s awesome. Are you going to be able to take pictures and stuff or is it gonna be sort of top secret?” Alistair didn’t really know how expeditions like this worked. If Bo could go with Lara then he assumed that it wasn’t really as top secret as he was teasing her about, because otherwise they wouldn’t let a civilian go along. “I hadn’t even planned on telling my parents. They found out accidently. I went to Pride last year with my ex and he’s sort of famous so there were pictures and someone my father knows saw them and sent them to him.” Alistair had been horrified when it had happened, but before he’d really had a chance to deal with it Zevran had left again and he’d had to deal with that instead.

Alistair took a sip of his coffee and placed the mug down on the table, a small smirk upon his lips, “Well, since you asked, I have been sort of seeing someone.” He and Cullen weren’t exactly dating, but they had gone out on a couple of dates.

“I think pictures will be allowed. So I’ll be sure to take some and share them with you.” Bo then glanced around just to make certain Lara wasn’t within earshot. “Between us, I totally want an Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to happen, but Lara hates it when I even say his name.” She chuckled a bit as she looked around again to see if she had to duck any sudden objects flying at her head. Though she frowned softly. “I am sorry that’s how your parents found out. It’s not easy having a parent who doesn’t approve.” It was one of the reasons Bo refused to ever go back and see her parents again. Especially with having a girlfriend, she didn’t want to expose Lara to their cruelty.

Bo smirked. “Good for you! So clearly things are going well thus far?” She was trying to not let it slip just yet that she could see auras. She wanted to get a little teasing in first.

Alistair couldn’t help but laugh as well, “I don’t think that archeologists like to think about huge boulders coming after them.” Having spent time underground in the Deep Roads, Alistair knew that the last thing he wanted to think about were boulders falling on them. Actually, the last thing he wanted to think about while in the Deep Roads were Darkspawn coming after them, but boulders falling on them was certainly on the list.

He smiled at the thought of Cullen and he was fairly certain that his cheeks were flushed as well, “Yeah, it’s going well. We’ve been hanging out. He’s actually from the same dream world as me. We only met once in them.”

“No, I don’t think so either. And the fact it’s not precisely archaeology either.” Bo was acquainted with Lara’s opinion of such movies. But everyone had something that they had such feelings on. Typically, anyway.

She saw the flush of Alistair’s cheeks and she had to smirk a bit. That only confirmed what she saw in his aura. “It definitely makes things easier when people are from the same dream world. Though I do hope things continue progressing well for the two of you. You seem to like him.” One of these times she’d probably confess to being able to see his aura. But that time wasn’t right this moment.

“I do. He’s new to the whole dating thing and I only have a little more experience than he does, so I feel like we’re close to the same level.” Alistair might have dated Zevran and hooked up with Isabela once, but that didn’t make him an expert at dating or relationships. “We’ll probably just keep taking it slow for now.”

“Being close to the same level certainly helps. There’s probably less pressure of trying to match the other person’s level.” It had been something Bo had been self-conscious about when she’d first started dating Lara. Bo didn’t really do relationships much, but she was one who engaged in casual sex rather often. Lara had been on the other end of the spectrum, but they had found a happy medium. “I’m happy for you. I do hope that things will continue to go well for the two of you. And if you ever wanted to double date, pretty sure I could talk Lara into it.”

Alistair smiled, “Thanks, Bo.” As much as Alistair had loved Zevran, he’d always felt a little inferior to him because he was so experienced, so being on a much closer level with Cullen made all the difference, “Now that would be interesting. I’ll keep it in mind though.” Getting up, he took his bowl and mug to the sink, “I’m gonna go grab a shower. Probably should have done that first, but I was starving.”

“You’re welcome, Alistair,” Bo said with a smile. She hadn’t realized just how lonely she’d been before she’d come to Orange County and met Lara, and reconnected with Kenzi. And now she was making friends left and right here. “Hey, food is important! But it was good to catch up. I’ll catch you later.” She said with a smile and finished up her own breakfast, grabbing some more coffee for herself.