Anders most certainly laughs at that and, Maker, he needed that, but he doesn't dwell on it either. "Alright, fair enough. It is pretty and it does look lovely on you."
His free hand delves into the pocket closest to it and comes back with the golden cuff that he wore for Alaric. "You see...I had the thought that...perhaps it could mean more. It could be more. I suppose, a couple thoughts, actually. One of them is simply this: the city says that this cuff means you belong to me, but I wear it for the opposite. That I belong to you. Perhaps the collar could mean something similar, if you'd like. A statement that you do belong to me, but in the way we've chosen: love and protection and loyalty. If you're wearing the collar, it means anyone seeking to harm or exploit you will have me to deal with. An implication I've attached to the cuff, for me, at least." Because it was still true, the meaning verbally attached or not, it still was the case. The healer and killer behind Alaric's proverbial throne, ready to lash out if anyone tried or did harm the general.
"Is that something that would interest you? If not, it doesn't preclude the other idea I had for it."
He wonders, briefly, just how much of this is prompted by the situation with Hawke. He does not question the feeling or motive, though, just the timing.
He listens willingly enough, inclines his head and turns his hand over to close his fingers around Anders' forearm. He actually has thoughts and things to say - about meaning and oaths and the design of the collar and-- just things. He wants that to wait until he's heard everything Anders has to say.
"I am not disinterested, but I want to hear the other idea as well."
He nods. Alaric, ever the tactician, wants all the angles and facts available before moving anywhere. It was something he admired and something he was learning to remember as well.
"An option for while we're at home. We've talked about how communication can be difficult sometimes. Perhaps it could be a way to communicate when finding the words isn't so easy." He curls his fingers around Alaric's arm and repocketed the cuff so he could reach around to his other pocket. It was a touch awkward, but he wasn't willing to let go of Alaric either. He drew out the collar and rested his arm on his knee so the band was between them.
"Considering the original intention of this, perhaps we can repurpose it there too. You may give this to me to put on you while we're at home for the times you need me to take over and take you out of your head, whether that be through sex or care or both. If you give this to me, then whatever else I'm doing will wait while I take care of you and what you need."
He hasn't had a whole lot of tactical thoughts in a while, at least not very good ones. He still wants the information and once he has it his expression is - briefly - openly surprised.
"What you suggested that it mean, here, and what you collar means has always been what it was meant to be. It's a physical symbol of an oath of fealty - and service." Just... throwing that out there, the double sided nature of being a Duke - to serve and be serve, protect and be protected, depending. "I do wear it because it is pretty but giving it meaning beyond Duplicity perverting it is appealing."
He has a part two, addressing the other suggestion, but that's going to take him a little longer and some more thought.
That gives him some small pause that turned into quiet consideration. His eyes went back to the designs, his thumb running over the lines and ridges with a touch more understanding.
He couldn't pretend to understand what that meant to Alaric, to have his trappings and responsibilities at home as something bindingly worn about his neck. It was enough that, given nothing else, Anders might have gone back on the suggestion entirely for not want to...overstep? Overstep or presume.
But it wasn't all Alaric had said, he'd said he'd liked the idea of it having a new meaning. A meaning here instead of the meaning it had before being lorded over him. He nodded and looked back to Alaric with a small smile. "Then may I put this on you before you go out for the day? Or, if I am to be gone before you, may I take up my own little ritual? Something to affirm it's meaning for us?" An image came to him, a kiss to the metal and a kiss to Alaric, a small affirmation that it meant what it was supposed to mean: but for them alone. Something to remind them until the symbol of it was changed in them as well as just verbally.
That was not at all what Alaric had said, no, and what he did say he meant very, very much. He found the idea incredibly appealing, even as he turned over the other suggestion and, frankly, did so with a very tactical and somewhat scheming mind.
Namely considering how he could make asking Anders for that peace could benefit them both.
Meanwhile he smiled, just a little but with so much warmth. "I think I would very much like that. ...This is not a response to anything happening with Hawke, is it?"
Anders' smile mirrored, though a touch of humor entered his soft smile with the question. "No. Not everything is about Hawke. This, in fact, is about you. His collar already looks like how the coat I used to wear was designed, the meaning is there inherently. As for what I'm offering with taking care of you and taking you out of your head, I may make the same offer to him when things have settled again. For now, I wanted to offer it to you first."
If only because, while they would likely both benefit from the offer, Alaric was more likely to admit and accept it.
"I'm very glad you like the idea. Perhaps it's silly, but it means something to me." He wouldn't press on the other one, not yet. He didn't doubt Alaric was still thinking it over and he was more than happy to start with this one, at least.
"I don't know why it would be any more silly than anything else happening in this city," he says, dryly. In truth it's all 'silly', though some of it in a far darker way. This - "This means something, and bringing meaning to it is important and good."
With that out of the way he turns his attention back to the other. "I want to know more of the second offer. It is appealing, but what do you do?" Specifics please. He needs to find a way to make this work for Anders.
And forgive him if he is a bit... pointed sounding. He's analyzing.
He couldn't really argue with that. 'Pulled into a broken society built around sex and arbitrary designations where they measure your sexual activity to see if you have "the lie gene"' really wasn't something he could argue the validity of. Dark, certainly, but still silly.
He cocked his head a bit, his expression dipping into consideration while his hands idly played with the collar. "'What do I do?' I take care of you, of course, whatever needs you have. I'm imagining...it's like when you feed me sometimes, you're taking the...burden off me, however small or large it may be. You're taking over for me and giving me permission not to worry or think for a little while."
His smile turned a touch depreciating and his eyes fell to the collar. "Maybe it would do nothing for you, but I think you get stuck in your head more often than you let on. And I do know you aren't used to people caring for and about you for you as 'Alaric' rather than as 'Morgan.' This would very much be for that exact thing. A chance to let go for a little while."
He let his eyes trail back up to Alaric's face. "As for 'what' that could easily range from making sure you take time for you, feeding you, simply brushing your hair or holding you. It could just be for sex, it could be for all that and sex. We'd have the times, uncollared, when it's you and I sleeping together as normal, but collared would be more like...with the cock ring or the first time the three of us slept together, where I just take you out of your head for a bit. Make the decisions so you don't have to worry. And the collar allows you to tell me all that without words by simply handing it to me. From there, I'd put it on you and the only decision I would need is which sort of care you're looking for."
That idea is completely appealing to him for his own sake. There's something in his expression, however briefly (and guiltily), that is just a little... wistful, maybe even yearning.
It's gone in a blink though because he stops to weigh his desire for that break, against a much stronger desire: the ability to make this work to benefit Anders.
Once he sees that - and sees it clearly - he smiles.
"I'd like that, too. I can't even pretend that not having to turn thoughts into words and express them isn't sometimes difficult." Sometimes, that's cute. Thoughts aren't the problem, though. "As long as there are a variety of options for what comes next." Meaning ways to make it useful for Anders when he decided that was a thing, but also just practically for his own sake.
"And I sincerely wonder what this place is doing to me."
There's something in Alaric's expression, but it's come and gone to quickly to pinpoint. It didn't seem bad, however, and Anders' smile returns to something gentle and warm.
"I'm glad. And, for the record, I will always be open to suggestions as to what 'comes next' it need not always be the same thing. It only needs to be what you need."
He wasn't without benefit for it himself, it wasn't meant to be an activity that saw Anders sacrificing for Alaric's happiness, it wasn't that at all. Spending his energy and focus and time, absolutely, but there was something to be gained in having someone to dedicate those things too specifically. His everything would always be for the men he loved, but having that time to simply apply them instead of holding the feeling generally would be nice. Like when he brushed Alaric's hair and nothing else mattered in the world for a little while.
He tucked the collar back into his pocket and brought his hand over to take Alaric's off his arm so that his fingers might play with and rub over his love's hand. Small presses and circles that moved from the palm to the back of his hand then down to his wrist and arm like a small massage.
"Letting you discover who you are as a person? What it feels like to be cared for and about?" He brought Alaric's hand to his lips, but continued his touches after. "I think I know what you mean, though. I didn't used to...this sort of thing wasn't something I indulged in. I healed and took care of people, but not to this level with this much intimacy. I hadn't really considered it."
He stood and pressed Alaric's hand to Anders' chest, over his heart, while Anders leaned down to kiss Alaric. Slow, lingering, then deeper before he pulled back To meet Alaric's eyes. "I very much enjoy being with you, caring for you and your needs, supporting you, holding you, touching you, having conversations with you of all sorts. I don't need you to say anything back, just know I love you and I'm grateful every day to have you near."
There was a moment, just one, when he thought he would have to find a way to respond and knew he would not be able to do so in a way that satisfied him - or lived up to what Anders had just said to him.
Things he'd tried to express and could feel in the kiss he both accepted and returned, emotions he shared but had no words for.
That was a moment of frustration, followed by relief and his hand tightening on Anders. With that came a soft, feather light almost mantle of gratitude, love, and admiration for Anders that settled gently (and with practice) in Anders' mind.
"Will my collar be spending the evening in your pocket, or will I get it back before morning?" Gentle tease there, in the words, even if the feelings he'd chosen to share were much, much deeper.
The push of emotion is something he's not sure he can ever fully express his gratitude for. It lets him know what Alaric is feeling and that's all he rightly needs. Words are meant to do that, but they're a middleman, a medium he likes to use to paint his picture. Alaric doesn't need it and the result is something Anders cherishes.
He has a good head for words, as many of them as he uses, the use of them on paper or to turn a phrase the way he wants, he has a good head for remembering them as well and they can be Maker-sent in those dark hours when his mind tears at him and the tar rears up. However, his way with words is in his mind and those words can be twisted and changed and turned in the darkest of times. These pushes, this mantle of emotion that warmed him, it was a lifeline for later. A memory his mind would discount, tell him Alaric was pushing what he knew Anders wanted to feel and not what he actually felt. It would tell him he would ruin it with his blundering and lose the chance to feel it ever again.
And still, the memory would be there. Warm and solid and not immune but stronger than what tried to tear at it. A blanket in the cold and lonely night.
He leaned in and braced his knee on the couch so he could wrap his arms around Alaric's shoulders and back. A simple moment for a simple embrace as he murmured his response to Alaric's hair. "You'll have it back before dessert. Which I'll make with dinner."
He wraps his arms around Anders in return, fingers loosely against the back of Anders' neck. There's a kiss to the corner of Anders' mouth, too, warm and understanding - something and somehow.
"And I will look forward to it all."
Mostly the time.
He suspected Anders could use that right now and, while he worried about both Anders and Hawke right now... Alaric could use it too.
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He tilts his head at the question, looking for some deeper meaning and feeling his answer was going to be horribly anti-climatic. "It's pretty."
It is, really, all he has.
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His free hand delves into the pocket closest to it and comes back with the golden cuff that he wore for Alaric. "You see...I had the thought that...perhaps it could mean more. It could be more. I suppose, a couple thoughts, actually. One of them is simply this: the city says that this cuff means you belong to me, but I wear it for the opposite. That I belong to you. Perhaps the collar could mean something similar, if you'd like. A statement that you do belong to me, but in the way we've chosen: love and protection and loyalty. If you're wearing the collar, it means anyone seeking to harm or exploit you will have me to deal with. An implication I've attached to the cuff, for me, at least." Because it was still true, the meaning verbally attached or not, it still was the case. The healer and killer behind Alaric's proverbial throne, ready to lash out if anyone tried or did harm the general.
"Is that something that would interest you? If not, it doesn't preclude the other idea I had for it."
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He listens willingly enough, inclines his head and turns his hand over to close his fingers around Anders' forearm. He actually has thoughts and things to say - about meaning and oaths and the design of the collar and-- just things. He wants that to wait until he's heard everything Anders has to say.
"I am not disinterested, but I want to hear the other idea as well."
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"An option for while we're at home. We've talked about how communication can be difficult sometimes. Perhaps it could be a way to communicate when finding the words isn't so easy." He curls his fingers around Alaric's arm and repocketed the cuff so he could reach around to his other pocket. It was a touch awkward, but he wasn't willing to let go of Alaric either. He drew out the collar and rested his arm on his knee so the band was between them.
"Considering the original intention of this, perhaps we can repurpose it there too. You may give this to me to put on you while we're at home for the times you need me to take over and take you out of your head, whether that be through sex or care or both. If you give this to me, then whatever else I'm doing will wait while I take care of you and what you need."
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Not in a bad way, just surprised.
More to say now.
Still mostly... not saying it, but it is coming.
Probably.
"Have we talked about my collar's design?"
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"No, I don't believe so." He...hadn't even considered it might be special, the one Hawke had been assigned hadn't been. "What does it mean?"
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Which is a good place to start talking, actually.
"What you suggested that it mean, here, and what you collar means has always been what it was meant to be. It's a physical symbol of an oath of fealty - and service." Just... throwing that out there, the double sided nature of being a Duke - to serve and be serve, protect and be protected, depending. "I do wear it because it is pretty but giving it meaning beyond Duplicity perverting it is appealing."
He has a part two, addressing the other suggestion, but that's going to take him a little longer and some more thought.
no subject
He couldn't pretend to understand what that meant to Alaric, to have his trappings and responsibilities at home as something bindingly worn about his neck. It was enough that, given nothing else, Anders might have gone back on the suggestion entirely for not want to...overstep? Overstep or presume.
But it wasn't all Alaric had said, he'd said he'd liked the idea of it having a new meaning. A meaning here instead of the meaning it had before being lorded over him. He nodded and looked back to Alaric with a small smile. "Then may I put this on you before you go out for the day? Or, if I am to be gone before you, may I take up my own little ritual? Something to affirm it's meaning for us?" An image came to him, a kiss to the metal and a kiss to Alaric, a small affirmation that it meant what it was supposed to mean: but for them alone. Something to remind them until the symbol of it was changed in them as well as just verbally.
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Namely considering how he could make asking Anders for that peace could benefit them both.
Meanwhile he smiled, just a little but with so much warmth. "I think I would very much like that. ...This is not a response to anything happening with Hawke, is it?"
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If only because, while they would likely both benefit from the offer, Alaric was more likely to admit and accept it.
"I'm very glad you like the idea. Perhaps it's silly, but it means something to me." He wouldn't press on the other one, not yet. He didn't doubt Alaric was still thinking it over and he was more than happy to start with this one, at least.
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With that out of the way he turns his attention back to the other. "I want to know more of the second offer. It is appealing, but what do you do?" Specifics please. He needs to find a way to make this work for Anders.
And forgive him if he is a bit... pointed sounding. He's analyzing.
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He cocked his head a bit, his expression dipping into consideration while his hands idly played with the collar. "'What do I do?' I take care of you, of course, whatever needs you have. I'm imagining...it's like when you feed me sometimes, you're taking the...burden off me, however small or large it may be. You're taking over for me and giving me permission not to worry or think for a little while."
His smile turned a touch depreciating and his eyes fell to the collar. "Maybe it would do nothing for you, but I think you get stuck in your head more often than you let on. And I do know you aren't used to people caring for and about you for you as 'Alaric' rather than as 'Morgan.' This would very much be for that exact thing. A chance to let go for a little while."
He let his eyes trail back up to Alaric's face. "As for 'what' that could easily range from making sure you take time for you, feeding you, simply brushing your hair or holding you. It could just be for sex, it could be for all that and sex. We'd have the times, uncollared, when it's you and I sleeping together as normal, but collared would be more like...with the cock ring or the first time the three of us slept together, where I just take you out of your head for a bit. Make the decisions so you don't have to worry. And the collar allows you to tell me all that without words by simply handing it to me. From there, I'd put it on you and the only decision I would need is which sort of care you're looking for."
no subject
It's gone in a blink though because he stops to weigh his desire for that break, against a much stronger desire: the ability to make this work to benefit Anders.
Once he sees that - and sees it clearly - he smiles.
"I'd like that, too. I can't even pretend that not having to turn thoughts into words and express them isn't sometimes difficult." Sometimes, that's cute. Thoughts aren't the problem, though. "As long as there are a variety of options for what comes next." Meaning ways to make it useful for Anders when he decided that was a thing, but also just practically for his own sake.
"And I sincerely wonder what this place is doing to me."
no subject
"I'm glad. And, for the record, I will always be open to suggestions as to what 'comes next' it need not always be the same thing. It only needs to be what you need."
He wasn't without benefit for it himself, it wasn't meant to be an activity that saw Anders sacrificing for Alaric's happiness, it wasn't that at all. Spending his energy and focus and time, absolutely, but there was something to be gained in having someone to dedicate those things too specifically. His everything would always be for the men he loved, but having that time to simply apply them instead of holding the feeling generally would be nice. Like when he brushed Alaric's hair and nothing else mattered in the world for a little while.
He tucked the collar back into his pocket and brought his hand over to take Alaric's off his arm so that his fingers might play with and rub over his love's hand. Small presses and circles that moved from the palm to the back of his hand then down to his wrist and arm like a small massage.
"Letting you discover who you are as a person? What it feels like to be cared for and about?" He brought Alaric's hand to his lips, but continued his touches after. "I think I know what you mean, though. I didn't used to...this sort of thing wasn't something I indulged in. I healed and took care of people, but not to this level with this much intimacy. I hadn't really considered it."
He stood and pressed Alaric's hand to Anders' chest, over his heart, while Anders leaned down to kiss Alaric. Slow, lingering, then deeper before he pulled back To meet Alaric's eyes. "I very much enjoy being with you, caring for you and your needs, supporting you, holding you, touching you, having conversations with you of all sorts. I don't need you to say anything back, just know I love you and I'm grateful every day to have you near."
no subject
Things he'd tried to express and could feel in the kiss he both accepted and returned, emotions he shared but had no words for.
That was a moment of frustration, followed by relief and his hand tightening on Anders. With that came a soft, feather light almost mantle of gratitude, love, and admiration for Anders that settled gently (and with practice) in Anders' mind.
"Will my collar be spending the evening in your pocket, or will I get it back before morning?" Gentle tease there, in the words, even if the feelings he'd chosen to share were much, much deeper.
no subject
He has a good head for words, as many of them as he uses, the use of them on paper or to turn a phrase the way he wants, he has a good head for remembering them as well and they can be Maker-sent in those dark hours when his mind tears at him and the tar rears up. However, his way with words is in his mind and those words can be twisted and changed and turned in the darkest of times. These pushes, this mantle of emotion that warmed him, it was a lifeline for later. A memory his mind would discount, tell him Alaric was pushing what he knew Anders wanted to feel and not what he actually felt. It would tell him he would ruin it with his blundering and lose the chance to feel it ever again.
And still, the memory would be there. Warm and solid and not immune but stronger than what tried to tear at it. A blanket in the cold and lonely night.
He leaned in and braced his knee on the couch so he could wrap his arms around Alaric's shoulders and back. A simple moment for a simple embrace as he murmured his response to Alaric's hair. "You'll have it back before dessert. Which I'll make with dinner."
As soon as he peeled himself off his love.
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"And I will look forward to it all."
Mostly the time.
He suspected Anders could use that right now and, while he worried about both Anders and Hawke right now... Alaric could use it too.