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“That sounds like it would be fun to watch.”
Cremisius Aclassi turned his head to see Dalish leaning towards him. Soon, her chin was propped on his shoulder as she looked at the piece of parchment he was holding in his hands.
Snorting, Krem once again focused his attention on the posting Scout Lace Harding had left on the wall in the Herald’s Rest.
The last time Lace had been offering dance lessons, Krem had taken too long to make up his mind about talking to her, and lost a perfect opportunity to spend more time with her. When he had finally managed to ask her about the lessons, Lace, looking regretful, informed him that she had had to give up on the idea after all, because she had been busier than she had expected.
Krem had told her it was not a problem at all, and wished her a good day, before retreating to the tavern, since he had had no idea what else to do at the time. He still remembered the way Grim had patted him on the shoulder, a small comforting smile appearing on his face as they had sat down at their usual table.
Lace decided to give dance lessons another shot, looked like.
“Agreed,” Rocky added, grinning as he leaned against Krem’s other shoulder. “You’re goin’, right?”
“You bet he is,” Stitches walked up to them and set down five tankards on the table, before sitting down next to Rocky. “I mean, Scout Harding did hang the posting right next to his chair. You can’t tell me that was accidental.”
“I hate all of you, I hope you know that,” Krem grumbled. Hiding the posting in a pocket of his trousers, he ran one hand down his face in a halfhearted attempt to hide his reddening cheeks from the others.
Rocky only patted him on the back. “Sure you do.”
Taking the first gulp of beer, Krem decided to talk to Lace as soon as she, along with the Inquisitor, came back from Emprise du Lion. It had been more than a month since they had seen each other last, because right after the Chargers had came back from Val Royeaux, the Inquisitor had asked Lace to travel to the Emprise to check on the people of Sahrnia. According to Sister Leliana, the Inquisitor and Lace were supposed to be back any day now, and barring any unforeseen changes of plans, something that Krem learned to expect at all times, he would finally have a chance to talk to Lace again.
Krem was far from the worst dancer in their group, that particular title belonged to Stitches, but he definitely could use some pointers, and that was the point of attending Lace’s lessons, wasn’t it? Even if he ended up embarrassing himself at one point or another, spending more time with Lace would be more than worth it.
He couldn’t help wondering how many people would turn up for the lessons, however. Would he even get a chance to talk to Lace if other people were there as well? He could always wait until after the lessons, of course, but considering how long she had been away, Lace might already had other plans. It wouldn’t be surprising in the least, and the last thing Krem wanted to do was to bother her.
Fortunately, he still had some time to work out the details.
Lace came back to Skyhold two days later.
Three days after, Krem was leaning against the wall of the tavern, waiting for the first dance lesson to start. As he watched soldiers walk in and out of the building, once again he started wondering how many people would be attending. Lace’s plan assumed lessons taking place in the tavern, but if the need arose, they could easily move outside, since the weather was surprisingly nice. Both options sounded appealing to him, honestly.
Krem waited five more minutes, but since no one else entered the building in the meantime, he decided to finally step inside.
Save for Maryden’s soothing, gentle voice, the place was surprisingly quiet. He could hear a few people talking among themselves upstairs, but the ground floor was empty, except for Cabot tending bar, Maryden singing, and Scout Lace Harding sitting at a table, studying a few pages lying before her.
She looked up when Krem walked over to her, and when their eyes met, the corners of her lips rose in a small smile.
“Am I early?” Krem asked, sitting down on a chair next to Lace, and she hid a few locks of hair behind one ear, glancing around.
“Just on time, actually. After the last time didn’t work out I was wondering if anyone was going to show up, honestly.”
“I told you I would,” Krem leaned back in the chair, running one hand through his hair to keep himself occupied. “We could wait a bit longer, if you want.”
“It seemed like a fun thing to do, after the ball at the Winter Palace, you know? A lot of people talked about wanting to learn how to dance,” Lace folded the papers she had been looking at earlier, and hid them in the bag hanging off the back of her chair, before turning to look at Krem once more. “Maybe they changed their minds after all.”
“Or maybe they’re just nervous. Or busy,” Krem added, hoping his words would bring Lace at least some reassurance.
Just when he was about to offer to buy her something to drink, they heard someone approaching. When they turned their heads, they saw Dalish and Rocky enter the tavern, followed by a couple of people Krem saw wandering around Skyhold. There was one of the mages who usually worked with Helisma, two guards, a cook who sometimes made pies for the Chargers, and two scouts who worked for Sister Leliana.
“Sorry for bein’ late,” Rocky walked up to them, his bright smile matching Dalish’s. “We had to make a small detour.”
Surprised by the arrival of his friends, Krem glanced at Lace, whose smile positively lit up the whole room right then. He watched as she approached Maryden with a slight spring in her step. After talking quietly for a minute or two, the bard nodded with a smile, while Lace turned to look at the people gathered in the middle of the room.
“Well, hello there,” she greeted them cheerfully. “I’m so glad to see all of you. Since there are quite a few of us here, how about you tell me what kind of dances would you like to learn? That might help us come up with a plan for our meetings. Any volunteers?”
The mage, who was now standing near the door, raised one hand hesitantly. “Maybe ballroom dance? Or something Fereldan?”
The guards and the cook nodded at the suggestion, and soon Maryden began to sing a slow ballad Krem wasn’t familiar with. After everybody paired up, Lace made sure to talk to them and adjust their stance, before walking up to Krem, who was standing in the middle of the room, as he was the only one without a partner.
With the corner of his eye he spotted Rocky and Dalish smirking at him, but he decided to ignore them, and instead he turned his attention back to Lace. Holding out one hand, he smiled at her.
“May I have this dance?”
A delighted smile that appeared on Lace’s face as she took Krem’s hand made her look even more beautiful.
It seemed like everyone had a good time as they moved to the rhythm of the music, even though multiple people stumbled in their initial attempts to repeat numerous steps Lace kept demonstrating, in some cases more than once. From time to time Krem heard muttered curses, but just as often also soft words of encouragement, and sometimes even giggling.
Lace was a good teacher. She was patient, and kept reassuring anyone who felt like they were not grasping what she was trying to teach them. Whenever she smiled as she repeated some complicated step over and over again, Krem found it difficult to look away.
After a while he found himself leaning against a wall, observing as Lace caught the mage’s hand in hers, and repeated a few steps once more, telling her not to worry if she stumbled.
“If you keep smiling like this, your face might get stuck that way.”
Krem turned towards Dalish, who just put down her tankard on the table. She and Rocky took a break from dancing a while ago, and apparently decided to sit down at the Chargers’ usual table to watch everyone practice. Or, Krem suspected, rather to watch his attempts to ask Lace out. He knew them both far too well.
“And then you won’t be as scary when you’re swingin’ your maul around,” Rocky added, before taking a large gulp of whatever he ordered. “A real shame, that.”
Krem was about to respond to the comment, but then Lace patted one of the scouts on the arm and started walking towards him, so he turned away from Dalish and Rocky, who were failing to hide matching smirks behind their tankards.
Lace smiled at them briefly, before catching Krem’s eye. “I think we should call it a night. We’ve been here for over two hours, and I have a feeling Cabot isn’t very happy about us taking over the whole floor.”
“Is Cabot ever happy about anything, though?” Dalish pointed out, making Rocky and Krem snort.
Lace just shook her head at that, but her smile did not fade, not even a little bit. “Yes. Well. Thank you for coming. I really hope you enjoyed yourself.”
“It was fun,” Rocky told her. “You plannin’ to do more of these?”
“If I find the time. The Inquisitor tries to inform me beforehand about all the trips, but you know how difficult it is to plan anything when you don’t know how long you’re going to be away. But I’d like to continue, if people are still interested.”
“If you do, we’ll try to be there,” Dalish said, raising her tankard. “Just let us know when and where.”
Once Lace bid farewell to the attendees, all of whom promised to be back for another lesson, with help from the Chargers, the scout started rearranging tables and chairs, so that they were once more in their rightful places. Krem could hear Lace hum quietly as she worked, and when she finally put away the last chair, she sighed, relieved.
“That would be all, I believe,” she told the Chargers. “I should probably get some sleep. All of this was a little bit more exhausting than I expected. Thank you again for all the help, guys.”
She turned to leave, and that was when Krem felt a sharp elbow connecting rather painfully with his ribs.
“What the…”
‘Go!’ Dalish mouthed at him, one corner of her lips raised in a half-smile, before she pushed him gently towards the door behind which the scout just disappeared.
When Krem made his way outside, he saw Lace leaning against a wall, as if waiting for something, or someone, and once their eyes met, he felt himself smile again. Lace looked down at the ground briefly, and when he reached her, she hid behind her ears locks of hair that had escaped from her bun.
“Would you mind if I walked you to your quarters?”
“I’d like that,” she responded, and soon they were crossing the main grounds, walking side by side in comfortable silence.
It felt nice to walk around without having to fill the silence with chatter for a change. He was used to the Chargers always doing that, because they were a bunch of gossips, and it made him appreciate silence more. Sometimes.
They were walking slowly, Krem matching Lace’s pace, but considering that it usually didn’t take anyone that long to reach the building they were walking towards, Krem suspected Lace must have been slowing down on purpose. That, as well as Lace’s shoulder brushing against him from time to time, made him feel ridiculously giddy. Good thing the others couldn’t see him right then, or he would have never heard the end of it.
“Thanks,” Lace looked up at him when they reached the door to her quarters. “I’m glad you came today.”
“Me, too.”
They stood there for a while, Krem had no idea how long, but he didn’t care much. Until Lace stepped closer to him.
“Krem?”
“Yes?”
“Would you like to go to the tavern with me? Tomorrow, maybe? If the Inquisitor doesn’t send us anywhere?”
Licking his lips briefly, Krem leaned against the wall. “Under two conditions.”
Lace frowned slightly at that. “What is it?”
“First condition, I’m paying.”
“I can agree to that, yes,” Lace leaned against the wall next to him, tilting her head slightly. “And the second condition?”
“May I kiss you?”
Was it a trick of the light, or was that a blush on Lace’s cheeks? Krem didn’t have time to think about that, because a second later Lace touched his cheek, and soon they were kissing, Lace’s soft, full lips against his, her fingers tangling with his. It was a pretty damn good first kiss.
When they pulled apart, Krem squeezed Lace’s fingers gently. “I’ll ask Cabot to save us a bottle of that red wide the Inquisitor had ordered a week ago. How does that sound?”
Lace pecked him on the cheek in answer.
“It’s a date.”
It was a date, indeed.
All Krem had to do now was to convince the Chargers to stay away from the tavern for the afternoon, which should not be too hard, once they found out the reason why.
Krem couldn’t stop smiling for the next hour at least, and he was sure Dalish and Rocky would keep teasing him for it for a while, but he was far too happy to care.
The next day was going to be a good one, that much he already knew.