Hey there everyone! This is my first attempt at Fanfiction, I hope it has some semblence of sense.

I own nothing. Bioware owns all.

Enjoy!

**I've made some edits to this so hopefully it reads a little better!**

The Trip

Alistair slumped into a chair by the fireplace. That trip was completely pointless. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Maker, but what was he going to do? A hand squeezed his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see his wife smiling down at him.

"Not a good trip huh?" He couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Not so much." He sighed. "Kirkwall is in chaos." She snorted.

"Isn't everything lately?" She moved away from him and stood closer to the fire. He nodded in agreement.

"It is our luck right? But this was worse than I had expected. There is no viscount in Kirkwall, no one in power. Knight Commander Meredith seems to be running things, but no one is particularly happy about it." Alistair shuddered. "I can see why," he muttered to himself.

"No one is happy these days." Alice crossed her arms over her chest. "Here they think that you are some imposter put on the throne so that I can have a crack at power… Like I haven't had enough experience with leadership in my life." She rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Ungrateful bastards. They forget what we did for them, what we sacrificed for them to live in their cushy little houses…" She drew a deep breath. "Anyways, back to your lovely little trip. Surely it wasn't all bad?" He puzzled over this question before he responded.

"Well, there were a few… surprises," he started slowly. Alice merely raised an eyebrow in response. He sighed before continuing. "I saw Anders there." Her other eyebrow shot to meet its companion on her forehead.

"Really?" He couldn't read her expression. "He was supposed to be dead. Or gone in a permanent sort of way… How very interesting. Did he recognize you?" Alistair chuckled darkly at this.

"Oh, he recognized me. Some smart remark about me being a Warden. I threw him the same question, but he brushed it off just as I did." Alistair cocked his head to the side. "I suppose that means he's left your service now." Alice dismissed this comment with a swat of her hand, moving on.

"Who was he with?"

"Hawke. The powerhouse of Kirkwall it seems. I did some background research on her." His wife looked impressed. He grinned. "I know, crazy right? Anyway, she came out of Loethring, left when the darkspawn attacked," he paused, trying to shake the guilt that grew in the pit of his stomach every time he thought of the little village they had left to rot in the darkspawn filth. "She has made quite a name for herself in Kirkwall. Worked her way up from nothing, retook her family's old estate and pushed the Qunari out to become the Champion of Kirkwall." He gazed at his wife for a second before adding, "She reminds me of someone." Alice smiled and looked away, into the fire, a light pink touching her cheeks. When was the last time he had seen her this modest, Alistair wondered. Probably their wedding day, Alice had never really been one for attention, despite all of her accomplishments. He was pulled from his reminiscence by her voice.

"It sounds like you've developed a bit of a crush, Alistair." He looked up sharply.

"What? No! Never! How could—There is no way—that is not even—!" He spluttered, jumping to his feet. Her face was so serious; his mind scrambled for some sort of response as he closed the distance between them in two steps and wrapped her in his arms. At the sound of her laughter, he jumped, startled.

"Oh, Alistair. You never cease to amaze me." He pulled back slightly, taking in her smiling face. "We've known each other for, what, ten years? We've been married for eight and you still don't seem to know me very well sometimes." She buried her face in his chest for a moment before looking up at him again, expression soft. "You seem just like the little, bashful boy I met at Ostagar all those years ago." He pulled her closer to him.

"'Seem' is the key word in that sentence I believe," He paused before continuing. "Surely I'm not exactly as I was back then?" He let the question hang in the air, wriggling his eyebrow down at her. She laughed, and then pushed away from him.

"Oh sure, because you never ever tripped all over yourself at all back then to make sure not to upset me." She had turned her back to him, but he snatched her arm and pulled her back to him in a flash.

"That's not what I meant." His voice took on a husky tone. She stared up at him in earnest contemplation, her pale blue eyes running over his face. A small smile turned up the corners of her mouth.

"Well, I suppose you aren't entirely the same…" He smiled down at her before leaning in for a kiss. She let it linger for a while before pulling away.

"So, Anders was with this Hawke character… does that mean your little jealousy spell has ended?" Alistair was amazed at how well she could pull off that innocent look. She really should have been an actress.

"That man," he growled his eyes dark, "is more trouble than he's worth." Alice cocked her head to the side, considering her husband. She stretched up on her toes and kissed his cheek before saying,

"Perhaps, but he has nothing on you, dear." She smiled and then extricated herself from his grasp to go get a glass of wine. His face scrunched up in a look of confusion that never failed to make her melt inside. He was just so adorable when he was bewildered.

"Umm thanks? I think?" He shook his head. "I suppose my 'jealousy spell', as you say, is over, he wasn't exactly hiding his interest in Hawke when I saw him." Alice laughed as she poured two glasses of wine.

"He was never very discrete about his feelings was he?" She didn't have to turn around to see what Alistair's face must have looked like as his he spoke again in a dark voice.

"No. The last time I saw him his eyes were all over you, he had no sense of propriety. I almost slipped on the drool as I came up. Did he fail to notice how everyone addressed you and I? Did he miss the whole wedding announcement thing? Did he miss that I am the damn king and you are my damn queen?" Alice turned around, a smirk pulling at her lips.

"Well, well, I didn't know I was anyone's property." Alice raised an eyebrow at him. Alistair's face fell a little bit.

"That's not what I meant. I—" He couldn't think of what to say. Alice shushed him with a chuckle, handing him his glass of wine.

"You're so cute when you're jealous, you know that?" Alistair blushed, refusing to look his wife in the face. "I still remember that conversation, years ago, when you questioned me about Zevran." His blush deepened. Alice giggled. "It was just adorable how flustered you were when I caught on to your barely concealed questions of jealousy. There was no need to worry, I assure you." She made a face at the thought of Zevran's vulgar advances. He was a good friend, but he was far too over the top in his pursuit of her attention.

"Yes well, I had to be sure didn't I? I couldn't have the woman I love getting all caught up in that elf's… presence." She offered him a small smile before taking a sip of wine. They were quiet for a time, Alice wrapped an arm around herself and stared into the fire, Alistair watched her. He couldn't help himself really. The way the fire glowed off of her golden hair, creating a halo around her head was just mesmerizing. He wondered whether this habit was a product of the days of the Blight, when he had no idea of whether he would see her alive after the next battle that was always just around the corner. His eyes had a habit of drinking in her face, memorizing every feature, filing away all of the little emotions that crossed it as she thought. He didn't really notice when she began to return his gaze, a smile on her lips and light dancing in her eyes.

"What?" She asked quietly. He bit his lip, only half smiling in return.

"You have that look."

"What look?"

"The look you always get when you're planning something. Something I'm not usually supportive of." She grinned into the fire before looking back at him.

"I want to go to Kirkwall."