Alister/Reader
During the beginning of the Blight, a group of shemlen (humans) had infiltrated the camp earlier that day and tried to kill everyone. No elves had been killed although some of the warriors would have scars from the battle including yourself. Not even a day later the Darkspawn came. Now, all of your clan mates were lying beside you, their bodies broken and bleeding: all dead. You laid there in a puddle of your own blood that was slowly expanding and heard the screams of children, elders, of all the elves that you had lived with since you were a child. All of the dead now. You gazed up at the sky and waited for death to take you. Your vision was blurry as a figure loomed over you; darkspawn filth most likely. You closed your eyes and waited for the sting of a blade, but instead, you were picked up by someone but passed out before you could figure out who it was. That was six months ago. It had been a Grey Warden who had picked you up, Alistair to be precise. He had carried you to the nearest healer, then took you back to the Wardens' keep. It was there that you met Duncan who had explained to you what the Wardens did and asked if you would like to join to which you said yes. You had nowhere else to go so you thought you might as well make yourself useful and slay all the darkspawn who came across your path.
Now, you were traveling around with Alistair and a few other people, taking down as many darkspawn as you could. Your first impression of Alistair was that he was like any other shemlen, ignorant and annoying. He would always try to talk to you but you wanted nothing of it. Eventually, you started to accept that not all shemlen were the same and that Alistair was actually funny and sweet. He would always say good morning to you when you awoke and good night just as you fell asleep. He had told you about his heritage, that he was a bastard child and not only that but a royal bastard as you liked to call him. His father was actually the king of Ferelden and his half-brother Callan, was now ruling the continent. Alistair wanted nothing to do with them because he did not want to be next in line for the throne which you thought was a shame. He would have made a great king but never told him that because you knew it would make him mad. In return, you told him about your life when you clan was still alive. You told him about Landon, the only man you had ever loved and how, while battling darkspawn, he had fled and left you to fight at least twenty-five darkspawn on your own. If another patrol hadn't passed by and helped you, you’d have been dead. After you told him this, he finally understood why you didn't let anyone have your back. Slowly, you began to trust Alistair with your life until you finally trusted him enough to guard your back. You felt a hand on your shoulder and was pulled out of your thoughts by none other than Alistair.
"Hey, were ready to go (y/n)." He said and helped you to your feet. "What were you thinking about?" He asked.
"I was thinking of that day that you saved my life." You replied and smiled at him. "You know, I don't think I ever thanked you for that."
"Yeah, you were too busy trying to bite my head off after that." He replied with a lopsided grin.
"I don't know if biting your head off is the right phrase." You said and laughed.
"The way you looked at me, I was scared that you were actually going to bite my head off." He claimed. You just shook your head and laughed. You strapped on your sword and picked up your pack only to have it taken away by Alistair.
"Hey!" You shouted as he took off running, toting your pack with him. "Give it back!" You yelled laughing. You took off after him as we weaved between trees. He was fast, but not fast enough. You pounced on his back but he didn't topple over like you had hoped, he just grabbed onto your legs and hoisted you up. You wrapped your arms around his neck and giggled as he said, "I will be your carriage today My Lady." in a thick accent. He carried you back to the group pretending to trot like a horse and when you arrived back at the camp he announced, "Make way for Lady (y/n) and her noble steed!" Everyone in the camp laughed as Alistair came to a halt and you slid off his back. You grabbed your pack from him and patted him on the head saying,
"That's a good horse. Now off to the stables with you!" Alistair's eyes danced with amusement as someone announced that it was time to head off. You smiled at Alistair as he strapped on his sword and picked up his pack. You noticed how his muscles rippled under his armor and how his hazel eyes sparkled when they looked at you. You’d been noticing these things a lot recently. You looked away to hide the blush that you knew was forming and tried to gather your thoughts. Why hadn't you noticed this sooner? He looked at you the same way that Landon had before he abandoned you. It scared you. What if it turned out just like before and Alistair left you to die in a field full or darkspawn?
"(y/n), are you okay?" Alistair asked, concern shining in his hazel eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine." You lied with a tight smile.
"Okay." He said reluctantly as you walked away from him. You sighed and didn't know what you should do about the situation, you were just so rattled with the thought of Alistair having feelings for you. Well, you didn't actually know if he did have feelings for you. Maybe you were fooling yourself. Your heart clenched at the thought of this. You decided to dismiss it the best you could and would try to act normal around him.
Eventually, after a long and abnormally quiet walk, the group found a new place to spend the night. The walk had been dreary and not talking with Alistair had left you to deal with your thoughts. Everyone was getting ready for bed when you quietly snuck off to be alone. You followed a creek that led you to a clearing in the forest with a clear sparkling pond in the middle. The pond was filled with the reflection of the stars and the full moon. You walked to the edge of the pond and sat down in the soft green grass, gingerly submersing your toe to check the temperature. Sighing at the coolness you slid both feet into the water, disturbing the surface. The grass was long and silky as you ran your fingers through it, your thoughts drifting back to Alistair. You thought about all the times he had looked at you with that sparkle in his eyes. It had been a year since Landon, but you didn't know if you were ready to love again. You heard soft footsteps approaching you and you immediately knew that it was Alistair.
"Did I do something?" He asked quietly. You sighed softly and didn't know what to say. "Because if I did, I'm sorry (y/n)." He came closer and you motioned for him to sit beside you.
"You didn't do anything Alistair." You assured and leaned back to gaze at the stars. You took in the magnificence of them and glanced at Alistair to see his beautiful eyes dampened with concern and worry. You looked away from him and felt your heart constrict at the sight of him not being happy. Could you make him happy?
"(y/n)," he pleaded, "tell me what's wrong." You turned to him and decided to tell him what you were thinking, even though there was the possibility that you were fooling yourself.
"Alistair, I," you began, "I don't know what's happening between us. Whenever I look at you, I see the same sparkle that was in Landon's eyes when he looked at me. But maybe I'm fooling myself. I don't even know if that's what I want." You took a deep breath, "I'm scared." You whispered. "I'm scared that if this is real, that you will leave me, like Landon did. Leave me alone to fight and die by myself." You finished, warm tears running down your warm cheeks. You looked away from Alistair but he gently grabbed your chin and made you look at him. He lifted his thumb to your cheek and wiped away a tear with a gentleness you didn't know he possessed.
"You're not fooling yourself (y/n)." He whispered. "Ever since I met you, you have enthralled me. I would never leave you to fight alone like that coward Landon. I will always be there for you (y/n), and when the time comes, I will proudly fight beside you to the death. And if that time does come, I wouldn't want to die fighting beside anyone other than you. You are the most amazing woman that I have ever met and I would be honored to be with you." You looked at him through tear-filled eyes and smiled.
"Alistair," you whispered before letting the tears flow freely. Quietly, he pulled you into his arms and held you close as you sobbed. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you buried your face in his warm shoulder. This man, this amazing man, did have feelings for you. How could you have gotten so lucky? He held you tighter as another sob racked your body.
"I love you (y/n)." He spoke softly into your ear. "Will you be mine?" You looked up at him and a fresh batch of tears filled your eyes. "And if you're not ready, I would, will, wait until the end of time for you (y/n)." The tears cascaded down your cheeks as you put your head against his chest.
"Stop making me cry." You laughed between tears. "I'm getting snot all over your shirt." He quietly chuckled and held you tightly.
"Slowly," you finally said, "I-I just want to go slowly."
"I can do that," Alistair replied as you looked up into his hazel eyes which held a question in them. "But can I kiss you? Just this once? And then we can take it as slow as you want." You felt butterflies in your stomach as you nodded. You closed your eyes and felt his warm calloused hand caress your cheek before moving down to your chin. You waited in anticipation for his warm lips to meet yours. Finally, you felt his warm breath, then the softness of his lips on yours. He rested his hand on the small of your back and you reached up and ran your fingers through his hair. The kiss was slow and it held the promise of Alistair never leaving you. He finally pulled away and looked into your eyes. "We will get through this together (y/n)." He murmured.
"I know." You whispered back.
"We should get back to the camp before they send someone out looking for us," Alistair said and helped you up. You wiped your face and looked at Alistair.
"Does it look like I was crying? Is my face puffy?" You asked him and rubbed your eyes.
"No, and if anyone says anything, I'll tell them that a giant horde of bees came at you but I came just in time to rescue you." He said, the amusement back in his eyes.
"That's a great cover story." You said and laughed. Alistair smiled and motioned to hold your hand. Before he grabbed it, he looked to you for permission which you granted. You took a deep breath as you and Alistair walked back to the camp, hand in hand, and you knew that Alistair meant what he said, that he would stand by you, to whatever end.