"Sure," the Bull says, the dry humour in his voice wound tight like a short string stretched across a long bow, ready to snap the moment an arrow draws it back. "You'll be the first to know."
Because if it really comes to that, Dorian will be the first to find out, one way or the other. If it was a little easier to do, the Bull would be laughing right now. As if he hasn't needed a break since this whole thing started - wanted one, anyway. But if it makes Dorian feel that little bit better to think the Bull might put them both back into danger just for his own peace of mind, the Bull can let him pretend.
Because he isn't the only one shaken up here, is he? The Bull would have to be a lot more out of it than he is not to notice Dorian's shudder, the unsteady undertone that crept into Dorian's voice for a moment. Only happened once the Bull brought up the idea of Dorian fighting darkspawn though, the way that would inevitably end right now, with Dorian's only backup mostly just a dead weight carrying an axe. What the Bull needs to do, what Dorian probably needs him to do, is find Dorian some kind of distraction. But his mind isn't really his own right now; like it or not, it's only going to obey him so far.
"If we do go back out there keep me in front," is what his mind comes up with for him. "We'll stick close to walls, find a corner, try to let you keep your distance." If he can make that work. If he can stay upright long enough to be any kind of barrier between the darkspawn and Dorian at all.
He can, if it comes to that. He's going to make it work. It's the closest thing to comfort that he has, even if it isn't quite enough. "I would just give you this stupid mask," he mutters, frustrated, "if I knew it was clean."
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Because if it really comes to that, Dorian will be the first to find out, one way or the other. If it was a little easier to do, the Bull would be laughing right now. As if he hasn't needed a break since this whole thing started - wanted one, anyway. But if it makes Dorian feel that little bit better to think the Bull might put them both back into danger just for his own peace of mind, the Bull can let him pretend.
Because he isn't the only one shaken up here, is he? The Bull would have to be a lot more out of it than he is not to notice Dorian's shudder, the unsteady undertone that crept into Dorian's voice for a moment. Only happened once the Bull brought up the idea of Dorian fighting darkspawn though, the way that would inevitably end right now, with Dorian's only backup mostly just a dead weight carrying an axe. What the Bull needs to do, what Dorian probably needs him to do, is find Dorian some kind of distraction. But his mind isn't really his own right now; like it or not, it's only going to obey him so far.
"If we do go back out there keep me in front," is what his mind comes up with for him. "We'll stick close to walls, find a corner, try to let you keep your distance." If he can make that work. If he can stay upright long enough to be any kind of barrier between the darkspawn and Dorian at all.
He can, if it comes to that. He's going to make it work. It's the closest thing to comfort that he has, even if it isn't quite enough. "I would just give you this stupid mask," he mutters, frustrated, "if I knew it was clean."