Dorian squinted at the book in his hands, fighting the fading light of the day and yet too stubborn to light a candle. He'd gotten up on more than one occasion to shift his chair and get better light from the window.

"Kaffas," he hissed as the waning light finally slipped away.

He squinted in the dark, glaring in the direction he was certain a candle was. The dim light from below in the rotunda wasn't quite enough to reach his little alcove and Dorian sighed. He felt around for his bookmark before closing the book and carefully setting it down. He lit the closest candle, shifted his chair, and nestled back down to keep reading.

"Dorian?"

He jumped in his seat, a small gasp of surprise escaping his lips. He slammed the book shut, not even a care to marking the page he'd been reading. Dorian's eyes zipped wildly until they settled on the bemused owner of the voice.

"Amatus," he murmured, holding a hand against his chest. "You startled me."

Rohirian lifted his brows, his eyes darting down to the book and then back up to the mage's face. "Something I should know about?"

Dorian shook his head, waving the elf off. "Just a bit of light reading."

Rohirian snorted, shaking his head. He folded his arms across his chest, rocking up to his toes before sinking back down to his heels. He rocked back and forth a few times, watching his boyfriend expectantly.

The man in question cleared his throat after about a minute of the awkward silence. "Was I needed for something?" he asked, carefully.

"Hmm, I don't know. Do you like sleeping in that awful chair?" Rohirian asked with a smirk.

Dorian scoffed, standing and stretching. He pushed the book onto the nearby shelf rather haphazardly.

"Well if you insist, I suppose sleep does sound good." He paused, hesitated just a moment as he sifted through the words he'd been studying all afternoon and well into the evening. "Ma'sa'lath,' he said, awkwardly.

Rohirian's eyes widened, arms dropping and his fidgeting stopped immediately. He took half a step closer.

"Wh-what did you say?"

Dorian flushed, mentally praising the Maker for the low light of the single candle in his alcove. "Ma'sa'lath"," he repeated, still struggling to wrap his tongue around the foreign words.

"Dorian…"

Rohirian moved in a rush, pulling his love close and giving him a powerful hug. He pulled back just enough to look Dorian in the eye, an overjoyed twinkle in his eyes.

"Ma vhenan, you are wonderful!"

And before Dorian could retort, Rohirian crashed his lips against Dorian's in a thankful, passionate kiss.