"They did not!" Cassandra gasped, a horrified yet delighted reaction accompanied by a sound that might have been characterised as a giggle had it been anyone else who made it. "Iron Bull and the Inquisitor?"

Cullen nodded as he sipped his beer - a good, solid Fereldan brew drawn by his own two hands. "Drugged us, stripped us half-naked, and threw us into bed together. A 'date', Iron Bull called it. I suppose given what you and I saw between him and Aeddric that one time, I should be grateful they didn't tie one or both of us up." Cullen thought about it. "Or strip us half-naked the other way."

Cassandra pressed a hand over her mouth, obviously doing her best to suppress laughter. "You never told me this before! I am quite wroth with you, Cullen. This is better than anything Varric could have written."

Predictably, even after all these years, Cullen's face reddened a bit, highlighting the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. "Yes, well, Varric still being at Skyhold at the time was a large part of the reason I didn't tell you. The man has an infernal habit of picking up gossip he has no business to, and- Well…"

"And he already had enough fodder on you and Dorian after that Wicked Grace game," Cassandra noted with a fond smile. "You were hardly subtle, Commander. No man who plays chess as well as you do could possibly lose that spectacularly in cards, even against an Antivan."

"Dorian still thinks I lost to Josephine fair and square. And if you tell him any differently-" Cullen added, raising his finger in mock warning.

"Don't worry, Cullen," Cassandra said with a twinkle in her eyes. "Your secrets are safe with me, I promise you. They always have been, as well you know."

Cullen smiled, then reached out and took her hand in a gentle squeeze, aware that the pain in her joints grew worse with every passing year. "I know, Cassandra. You have my thanks."

Her hand turned over and wrapped around his, as unselfconscious in the motion as only the best of old friends could be. "It was a brilliant set of tactics, I must admit. No one would expect you, of all people, to accept defeat in the short-term to gain the advantage in the long-term."

The comment brought a broad smile to Cullen's lips even as he held up a finger and corrected her with a wink. "Strategy, Cassandra. Just the first step in a winning strategy."

Cassandra laughed. "If you insist," She drank the last bit of her wine, then carefully stood. She moved less easily these days, though the years fell on her gracefully. The few grey hairs on her head dated back to early years of the Inquisition, and when Cassandra was in the best of moods, she could point to each one and declare which of Aeddric's decisions had caused which streak of grey. As it was, she seemed a handsome woman who had survived most of four decades, not someone approaching her sixth decade of life. "It was good to see you again, Cullen. Give Dorian my regards, will you?"

"Of course, Lady Seeker," Cullen said as he stood and bowed. "As always."

Dorian looked up as the knock came at the front door and smiled. Setting aside the book in his lap, he rose from his chair and called out, "Coming!" When he opened the door, he wasn't at all surprised to find a special courier on his doorstep, complete with the ubiquitous badge of the Inquisition on his arm.

"Message for you, ser!" the man said, thrusting out a sealed envelope.

Ah, Aeddric, still abusing the privileges of the Inquisitor's position, I see. Dorian nodded to the courier. "Thank you, my good man." Plucking the package - clearly addressed to Inquisitor Aeddric Cadash - which sat waiting on the table next to the door, he handed it to the messenger. "Here is my response for the Inquisitor."

"Yes, ser! Thank you, ser!" The courier saluted, then pivoted and dashed away before Dorian could say anything else.

Dorian smiled, then looked down at the envelope, knowing what he'd find written upon it, written in Iron Bull's strong, unmistakable writing.

To Dorian Rutherford, From Me

The name still sent a thrill through him. Without opening the envelope, he pressed it to his chest and sighed happily, closing his eyes as he thought of the past few years.

"What, Bull's letter arrived already?" came a voice from the doorstep.

Dorian's eyes flew open, startled, and he found Cullen standing just outside the still open door, a grin on his handsome face. With a smile, Dorian stepped forward into his husband's arms and squeezed him tightly. "Yes, it did, Amatus," he said, then plucked a kiss from those beautiful lips. "It is our anniversary, after all."

"True." Cullen pulled him abruptly close, drawing him into a deeper, more lingering kiss, and for a moment, it was as if they were back in Skyhold again, half-naked on a bed with the sunlight caressing their skin. Then the moment passed, and they pulled apart so they could enter the house. "I admit, I did reconsider going to see Cassandra when I got her letter, if only because of the timing."

"Now, now, you know how important it is that you saw her," Dorian said. "She was the one who held your head above that blue liquid until I got there."

Cullen grimaced, then sighed heavily. "The one time Aeddric truly let me down," he murmured softly.

Dorian drew Cullen down to sit on the couch next to him. "I'm here, Amatus. I'll protect you."

"I know. It's one of the reasons I love you, even after all this time."

The kiss that followed those words led to two, then three, and after that to clothes flung onto the floor. The letter was forgotten until much later, after the now-naked men had moved to the bedroom to complete their reunion amidst the soft silk and warm woolens that Dorian insisted upon. As they lay entwined on the bed, Cullen pressed a kiss to Dorian's temple and mumbled, "We should probably open that letter."

Dorian blinked sleepily, then chuckled. "Ah, yes." A thought and a furrowed brow fetched the envelope with a slip of magic, and he looked at the name upon the envelope with a smile once more on his face. "Dorian Rutherford. However did I let you talk me into taking such a rustic name? Oh, yes, that's right, because I love you." Gone were the days when Dorian could only express his emotions by pre-emptively downplaying them or pretending they didn't exist at all. That had been a hard-fought battle for both of them, but Cullen was a warrior. And obstinate, to boot.

"I honestly can't think of a better reason," Cullen said with a chuckle as he kissed Dorian's hair. His hand reached up to lightly touch the amulet around his neck, acquired after a rather thorough browbeating of a certain merchant in Val Royeaux, and he smiled. "Go on, open it."

"We both know what it says," Dorian pointed out as he broke the seal and pulled the envelope open.

"It's still amusing," Cullen said with a chuckle.

Sure enough, when Dorian pulled the paper out and unfolded it, they found the same four words that Iron Bull sent them every year, and likely would for years to come.

I told you so.

"He is never going to let us forget it, is he?" Dorian mused as he set the envelope and letter aside and snuggled close to Cullen.

"Does it matter?" the ex-Templar and ex-Commander asked softly, pulling the mage close.

"Hmm, no, I suppose not." Dorian's fingers reached up and stroked the pendant which hung around his neck, an old, simple coin that meant more than all the treasure in the world. "I have what truly matters, Amatus."

"As do I," Cullen murmured.

With a contented sigh and one more gentle kiss, the men fell asleep, comforted by the knowledge they would awaken in the arms of the one they loved most in the world.