Now Dorian's not going to leave. Selfish, asking that question, the question that kept him here. On top of not being careful enough, letting that noise slip, now Dorian is going to stay. But then, if Dorian did go on alone, went too far, ran into darkspawn all on his own- people can rationalise anything, when they really want to. When they think they need to. As much as the Iron Bull depends on most people not realising it, his mind has as many weaknesses and cracks in it as anybody else's. He knows that up close and personal. He's known it for a long time.

But that doesn't mean the Bull is wrong. Maybe Dorian would be safer if he stayed. Hard to figure out what he needs to commit to. Hard to think.

He leans his forehead against the wall, eye watching the light through one of those cracks. He takes a breath, slow, in through his nose. Darkspawn smell just as far away as they did before, not that that tells him much. Especially when he doesn't know how this place is laid out.

Think about what needs to happen. Go from there.

"I've got to keep moving too. There's a- I don't know. A hallway? Something. Running along this wall, at least so far. Might take me away from here anyway." Better than that. Do better than that. If Dorian should actually go, actually commit to that. What would the Iron Bull say?

"Don't want to bore you anyway," he tries, with some echo of something like bravado. Asking if he was going to leave played on Dorian's sympathies, even if accidentally. Bad move. If the Bull had kept his chin up in the first place it wouldn't have happened. He could manage this, usually. It's just all the little parts, building into something big enough to rush him on his blind side.

That's fine. Manage it. What would the Iron Bull say?

"I know how you intellectual types hate sitting around with nothing to do."

That doesn't feel like it hits the mark, exactly, but at least now he's shooting for it. They'll find out if he can keep it up.