"If that deer walks all the way to Tevinter are you still going to follow it?" Micah asked under his breath while they stalked the fawn through the Knotwood hills.

"Do you want something to eat or not?" Colbert whispered back without taking his eyes off their prey.

"Rabbits, boars, two foxes and a bear. The pelts alone would have brought us through the winter. But no, you want this deer."

"Look at her, she's a beauty."

"I looked at her. That's why I'm still here and not in Amaranthine, waiting for you in a tavern."

"Then why are you complaining?"

"Because you're a stubborn, pigheaded - "He never got to finish his sentence because suddenly the earth underneath his feet crumbled and he fell.

"Micah!" Colbert tried to catch him but their hands missed each other and Micah tumbled down the chasm with the soil and the stones.

He felt a sharp spike of pain in his left leg as he landed on the ground. Looking up he saw that he had been lucky enough to roll down the slope instead of falling straight down as that would have undoubtly killed him.

"Stay where you are", Colbert shouted from above. Micah rolled his eyes. His legs were pinned by the rubble so he couldn't exactly go anywhere. More stones were rolling as Colbert climbed down.

"Are you hurt?" Colbert asked when he reached Micah, running his hands over Micah's head, half to check for injuries and half to assure himself that Micah was still alive.

"My leg."

"Our luck, huh?" Colbert grinned, setting their bags aside to push the rubble aside.

Suddenly a bloodcurdling scream cut through the air. Colbert and Micah both flinched when they heard it.

"That's not an animal", Colbert said. And then they could smell it: the stench of rotting flesh and darkness.

Colbert was up and peering over the rocks into the chasm before Micah could stop him.

"Darkspawn", Colbert whispered. "A whole army of them."

"Get out of here", Micah hissed. If Colbert hurried he could still make it out of the chasm before the darkspawn found them.

"Not without you", Colbert said, pushing and pulling more rocks aside.

"You stupid shem! What use is it if we both die?"

Colbert grabbed Micah's neck and forced him to look him in the eyes. "Either both of us or no one, get that, knife-ear?"

"You're still stupid."

Colbert snorted and shifted the lasts stones aside to pull Micah's leg out of the rubble. The darkspawn were so close that they could hear them and smell the foul stench coming from them. Colbert pulled him behind one of the larger rocks, hoping that maybe the monsters wouldn't notice them. Micah bit his lips to distract himself from the pain in his leg. He had heard once that the darkspawn could smell blood and he was covered in it. He should have made Colbert leave.

The darkspawn were now so close that he could hear their grunts and the stench was making him sick. Colbert's arm around his middle pressed their bodies closer together, as if he could shield Micah from the monsters should they discover them and they would any moment now.

The seconds passed but nothing happened. No darkspawn ripped them apart; no crude blades spilled their blood on rocks and dust. The monsters marched past them as if they weren't there. Micah barely dared to breathe, too frightened that the beasts would find them if he did.

And then the darkspawn were gone and he and Colbert were still alive. For a few moments neither of them did anything until Colbert said quietly. "What was that?"

Micah shrugged. Five seconds ago he had been certain he was about to die and now he wasn't sure if that had actually happened. He turned around, ignoring the pain in his leg as he did so, and pulled Colbert down to kiss him.

"Let's get out of here", he said once the kiss had ended. Colbert still looked slightly dazed but he nodded and helped Micah up.

"Can you walk?"

Micah tested the strength of his injured leg carefully and grimaced.

"Stay here", Colbert said and knelt down next to their discarded bags. Micah rolled his eyes again and watched as Colbert quickly packed the most necessary things from both of their bags into one and gave it to Micah. He slung it over his back and bit his lip as Colbert picked him up as carefully as he could. Micah wrapped his arms around Colbert's neck and his legs around his waist and hoped that his leg would have heal enough to walk on it before they reached Amaranthine.

/

The innkeeper of the Crown and Lion gave them barely disgusted looks as usual when Colbert requested a room for a week. He had learned not to make any comments about Micah after Colbert had threatened to take their business elsewhere but that hadn't stopped the sneering. Micah couldn't care less. He had found a life outside of the alienage or a dalish clan, he was no one's servant and as sappy as it sounded, he had Colbert.

Who was snoring into his ear rather loudly at the moment, sprawled across Micah like a human blanket.

The way back from the Knotwood Hills had been long and exhausting especially for Colbert and they both had collapsed onto the bed almost immediately after their arrival.

His knee throbbed with pain but Micah chose to ignore it. Instead he wrapped the arm Colbert had flung over his shoulders more closely around himself. They didn't have the luxury of a bed all too often and Micah was determined to make the most of it.

He closed his eyes and while he didn't fall asleep he dozed off, basking in the softness of the mattress and Colbert's warm body on his back. Micah stayed in the hazy state between sleep and wakefulness until he felt Colbert press his face against his neck. It was a typical sign that he was waking up, even more so when he tightened his arm around Micah.

"Are you awake?" He asked, a slow smile spreading against the back of Micah's neck.

"No", Micah said, keeping his eyes firmly closed.

"Not even a little?" He started to kiss a line from Micah's neck to the edge of his jaw.

"No." Micah turned his head slightly so that they could kiss lazily. It would have been a pleasant way to spend the morning but Micah, forgetting about his knee, twisted around only to gasp in pain.

"Let me take a look at your knee", Colbert said, worry written all over his face.

"It's fine", Micah replied.

"It doesn't look fine", Colbert said after he had rolled up Micah's trousers. "It looks worse."

It did. The scrapes from the fall had almost healed but the knee itself was swollen and bruised, not to mention that Micah could barely move it.

"I'll see if I can find something. And send a message to the wardens. They probably want to know about those darkspawn."

When he was at the door, Micah said, "Bring me some eggs."

Colbert did a mocking bow and rolled his eyes. "As you wish."

/

He did come back with the eggs, ale too and a black eye.

"Did you fight the chickens for the eggs?" Micah asked when he could guess the reason easily enough.

"I asked Sorcha for a kit. And for breakfast."

Micah tilted his head and waited. Colbert clearly wasn't finished although Micah knew how the story was going to end.

"One of the patrons, he, he asked", Colbert's voice trembled with anger; "he asked if I had broken my elven whore. And why I won't find a new one if your arse wasn't tight enough anymore instead of losing money on you. I hit him. A few times."

Micah had long since learned to let comments like this slide. But Colbert took offense to each and every one of them when he knew Micah hated it.

He rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly. "Come here you stupid shem. My eggs are getting cold over there." Colbert did as he was told, setting the tray down in Micah's lap before sitting down at the edge of the bed. It was quite a feast: eggs and bacon, a few pieces of fruit pastry and more eggs. Micah took the tankard with watered down ale and pressed it not too gently against the edge of Colbert's black eye.

"You need to learn to let it go." When they were together Micah was usually able to hold Colbert back.

"I can't. They think just because you're an elf they know you when they don't know horseshit."

"This isn't a beast you can slay if you hit it often enough."

"I know but if I don't do anything it feels like I'm letting them hurt you. And I don't want to see you hurt."

Micah sighed and stroked over Colbert's cheekbone with his thumb, just underneath the black eye. "I don't want to see you hurt, either. Understood?"

Colbert gave him a loop-sided grin. "No promises."