justice_is_blond | Inbox for Fade Rift

"Oh, my love." He kisses Nate's cheek before pulling his husband close.

"The straight man is never the one everyone flocks to. It's always the clown, because the person who makes them laugh can make them forget the harsh reality in front of them. You're important and you're needed but you're not going to be as popular as Alistair, Nate. Please don't look at the way people respond to him as feedback about you. It's not fair to you, and you happen to have someone right here who thinks you're amazing as you are and wouldn't change you."

"I don't care about being popular so long as my orders are being followed and people aren't showing me up just to prove my authority is imaginary--all authority is imaginary, but it's still needed." He rests his cheek on Anders' hair again. "And you already follow all my orders," he adds in a lighter tone.

"I enjoy many of your orders," he says teasingly, reaching down to give Nate's ass a pat. His voice gets serious again as he continues, though. "It's just Teren who doesn't follow them, right? You and her were equals when you... didn't quite ask her to step down. She's probably still upset by that. Leave her be as much as possible. No one enjoys consequences to their actions, and the entire mission was a mess for her. She's likely going to hold a grudge for a while yet, and fighting her on that will only give satisfaction to her, not to you."

He takes a breath. "Don't fight the battles you don't have to. This is one to let go." He's aware of his hypocrisy. Anders has rarely seen a battle he didn't take on, but Nate's different.

"I didn't--" Nathaniel breaks away enough to look at Anders again. "I didn't fight this one. It began with a crate of her work dropped on my doorstep. And what happens when she starts letting the others know I can be pushed around? They already know insubordination means nothing, what happens when they think they don't have to follow my orders if their feelings are too hurt? I'm not interested in whether Teren holds a grudge, or whether it upset her, she did something so completely out of line, so inexcusable--we can't afford abuse of power in our ranks, no matter how much injured pride she has. She doesn't get to wield that power to her advantage at the expense of those under her command and then decide my orders can't be followed."

He reaches up, gently brushing Nate's hair back, listening and making sure he's hearing everything that's being said. Teren's sinking a little in his opinion with this - she'd clearly laid a trap for Nate and Anders doesn't approve of that.

"The spider invited you into her parlor on terms she set, waited for you to come in, and was prepared. Alistair has a good rapport with her. If she tries to do something again, give it to Alistair. It's not easy to not engage. I know it's not. Especially when someone who knows better isn't showing it. But don't engage, please."

Maybe engage is the word that will be more clear than fighting. Anders isn't too attached to the wording, just the man he's speaking with.

Right. Right, it's not required that he be the one Teren listens to. Alistair hasn't countermanded him yet, another reason it's important they start presenting a unified front. He sighs softly, letting pressure go out of him with the air, and offers an apologetic grimace.

"Of course. You're right. I'm tired. I'm ready for things to finally settle back into a routine."

He chuckles quietly.

"Kirkwall and routine rarely seem to go hand-in-hand. But I understand, love." Anders waggles his eyebrows at Nate. "Would you like to give me some orders? I'll follow eagerly. Or we can get some rest; I've some reading to get through and we can curl up with that together."

"Orders can wait for the morning," Nathaniel admits. "But reading sounds completely lovely. I adore your sweet voice."

He takes Nate's hand and leads him over to the bed before grabbing a book and joining him.

"It's a treatise on alternative uses of herbs found in the Fereldan. There's apparently a flower that can cure mabari of the Blight, but I've only got a description, not the name itself. I'm reading through in hopes of finding it."

He opens the book and turns to the feather he'd left as a mark and starts reading, comfortable against Nate.

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