Under the boardwalk

"Don't tell me you've never read smutty romance novels," Bull said as he carried Dorian away from the remotely populated part of the boardwalk, toward the actual beach. It was still early in the season - there was no one around.

Dorian was solid and warm in his arms, easy to carry. "Remember the first time I carried you like this? Maybe you don't, you were almost delirious and injured, probably dehydrated. Out in the Western Approach. I think you burned yourself out - you were so angry about the Venatori. You went down on a mission, and I carried you back to camp."

Bull had never really mentioned it after the fact, because, on the off-chance that Dorian did remember, Bull wanted to preserve his dignity. It was before they'd fallen into bed together, anyway.

Now he was carrying him across a much different kind of sand, with absolutely no concern for Dorian's dignity. Well, maybe a bit: he hadn't thrown Dorian over his shoulder yet.

Wish Plot [June]

"Dorian, you were in public. In daylight. You brought a dead animal back to life!" Bull scowled when Dorian retorted with something about his professionalism, with his skill. Bull didn't doubt Dorian's skill, of course he didn't. He had seen Dorian wield the power of the Fade on battlefields; he knew Dorian had figured out how to solve whatever it was Alexius did to him and the Inquisitor to move them in time.

But that wasn't the point.

"This is not Tevinter, and there is no Inquisitor here to protect you."

Even though he was annoyed, his voice remained even and calm, even in the face of Dorian getting sarcastic and sharp. All he could think of was the potential danger. There could be plenty of people out there interested in someone that could manipulate the dead like that. Maybe Darrow was more or less accepting of magic and mages, but that didn't make them safe.

Eventually, it wasn't worth keeping up the fight. Bull shook his head, and for now, he let it go. He fell into bed, wanting to just sleep the night off.

Come morning, Bull ached. He was awake early and couldn't quite make himself fall back asleep. So he rose and shuffled his way downstairs to start coffee for the two of them.