The Deepest Sea and the Deepest Affection
This is my gift for @lildevilbutt. I wrote them a Pirate AU from @elthadriel
“Oi! Krem, it’s flipping Fancy-Pants again!”
Dorian had always been rather on the fence as to if there was a god or not. He was now convinced that there was, and, more importantly, that this god hated him.
Krem appeared next to Sera and his laugh echoed across the deck of the ship. It was enough to gather the attention of the rest of the infamous Iron Bull’s pirate crew.
“Are you people following me?” Dorian asked. He folded his arms over his chest. The first time he had encountered the chargers they had bound his hands behind him and kept him locked in a cabin until the captain had decided he had stewed long enough to ask him about who to ransom to.
This was the third time his ship had been raided by them, and his treatment was slightly different.
“Nah,” Krem said. He wasn’t grinning as widely as Sera, but he did cross over the ship to clap Dorian on the back. “I guess we just have terrible luck.”
Krem waved his hand at Dorian and went off to find Bull. Very wearily, Dorian followed behind.
“Captain, look who we found,” Krem said. Bull was talking to his men who were busy dealing with Dorian’s.
Bull turned, framed by the light behind him, silhouetted against the sky. He was shirtless, as always, and wearing ludicrous trousers, that wouldn’t even have been allowed in Tevinter as a warning against bad fashion, never mind being worn.
“Dorian!” Bull bounded across the deck of his ship and gathered Dorian up into arms.
“It’s Admiral Pavus,” Dorian insisted, voice muffled into Bull’s skin as he was shaken like a rag doll as Bull hugged him hard enough that he swore he heard his ribs creak. Dorian’s feet finally found the ground, but the moment he was holding his own weight Bull’s hands were cupping his face, kissing him passionately.
“You can’t keep doing this,” Dorian mumbled between kisses, but he was grabbing at Bull just as desperately.
“Doing what?” Bull asked. He had tugged up Dorian’s shirt enough to press the flat of his hands against Dorian’s bare skin.
“Capturing my ship and taking my crew captive so that you can have your wicked way with me.” Dorian was very aware that they were being watched, but fortunately, only by Bull’s crew, his own were still back on his ship, unable to see their Admiral being ravished by an evil pirate captain.
“Why not?”
“It’s embarrassing.”
Bull laughed, slapped Dorian’s arse, gave him a wet kiss, and turned back to his group of sailors.
“All right boys! Looks like the Admiral will be staying with us again, congratulations on the promotion, by the way, but the rest of his crew are free to go once we’ve disabled their weapons and taken everything of value from the ship. Krem, make sure his lieutenant is told to tell Dorian’s superiors that we’ll be sending details of our demands for the safe return of their Admiral.”
Krem clapped Dorian on the shoulder as he passed, hard enough that Dorian stumbled a few steps. He clutched his shoulder and glared after Krem.
“I’m going to go deal with this,” Bull said to him. “Make yourself at home; you know where everything is.”
Dorian sighed, wondering over to the railing, watching as his ship was disarmed and sent on its way. If his calculations were correct, it would be two weeks before the ship made it to port, and likely another couple of days before the situation was brought before the relevant people. Who knows how long negotiations for his freedom would take on top of all of that. It seemed he would be here for a while yet.
He could use a holiday anyway.
—
Sera arrived just as his ship dipped below the horizon.
“Nice to see you again, Tight-Britches. You gone and got yourself a bigger hat now.” She flicked the rim of his hat. “What’s with the feather? All you ‘Vint’s compensating for sommit?”
Dorian reached up and touched the feather self-consciously. “Despite your captain’s best efforts to sabotage my career, I am very good at my job. Besides, the feather is very fetching.” He looked her over. “I do believe you are jealous.”
She made a noise that was half dismissive snort and half laughter. “Didn’t say you weren’t compensating though.”
Dorian looked up to the sky and asked whatever deity that so clearly hated him, what he had done to deserve this.
“How do we wreak your career anyhow?”
“Every time this happens, I’m hauled up in front of some politicians to explain how I managed to get my ship disabled, and get myself kidnapped. Surprisingly, informing them that there is a pirate captain out there who’s gotten himself rather fond of my arse isn’t an accepted explanation.”
Sera laughed, falling against him. He stared out over the sea while she got herself back under control, after some deep, gasping breaths only dissolved back into laughter.
She finally stopped as Krem approached.
“The Captain wants you down in his quarters, says he’s,” Krem paused to pull a face, “Going to interrogate you.”
Dorian let out a long sigh and climbed to his feet. “I’m sure I’ll see you all at dinner.” He gave them a mock bow, dipping low and sweeping his hat from his head, before turning on his heal and making his way below deck. Sera threw her shoe at his retreating back.
—
Dorian knocked on Bull’s cabin door, but entered without waiting for a response. Bull was sitting at his desk, charting a course, but he glanced up at Dorian and shot him a quick smile before looking back down at his work.
Dorian pushed the door shut behind him, and locked it before coming forward to drape himself over Bull’s back.
“You shouldn’t turn your back on me, I’ve been informed I’m rather dangerous. I might manage to overpower you.”
“Eh, we haven’t done that in a while, but we both know your pretty little asshole is already clenching in anticipation, so maybe we should start with that.”
Dorian laughed despite himself, and smacked Bull’s shoulder.
“I was trying to set the mood. You are after all, the most feared pirate captain on the water, and you have me, Admiral of the Tevene Navy at your disposal,” he purred into Bull’s ear. “Do you plan to tie me up, fuck me slowly, torturously until I spill all my secrets?”
“I think it’ll be something else you’ll be spilling,” Bull muttered. Dorian ignored him. Bull continued with a smug smile. “Actually, I was planning on having you sit quietly on my bed until I finish this up, maybe massage my knee after.”
“Scandalous,” Dorian said drily. “It’s been years since the last time you kidnapped me, and this is the best welcome you can manage. Did you miss me at all?”
Bull turned to face him, pulling Dorian onto his lap. Dorian went with only token fuss, settling, legs spread onto either side of Bull’s thick thighs. Bull reached up and ran the back of his fingers down the side of Dorian’s face.
“Did you miss me?” Bull asked.
“Not in the slightest,” Dorian said quickly, catching Bull’s fingers in his own and squeezing.
“I missed you terribly,” Bull announced, smiling, like it was something to be proud of.
Dorian brought Bull’s fingers to his mouth, lapping at the very tips, looking at Bull through his eyelashes. He was still fully dressed, his heavy coat, admiral’s hat and all. He suspected Bull would be happy to fuck him while he kept the hat, and maybe the boots on. He tucked the thought away for later.
Bull let Dorian suck on his fingers for a moment, grinning as Dorian licked at them obscenely; eyes lidded, unconsciously rocking slightly in Bull’s lap.
“You know I need to get this done?” Bull asked, gesturing at the map on the table with his free hand.
Dorian hummed around Bull’s fingers.
Bull pulled his hand free and gathered Dorian up into his arms, carrying him to the narrow bed and placing him down. Bull towered over him until Dorian reached up and tugged him down, gripping his horns tightly with both hands.
—
“How much are you asking for me this time?” Dorian asked a little later, boneless from sex and snuggled into Bull’s side. His clothes were dumped on the floor, even the things that would definitely wrinkle; only his hat as hanging on a peg, and that was from luck as Bull had thrown it across the room to catch on the hook. He had taken his mouth from Dorian’s cock to whoop, and hadn’t continued until Dorian had agreed it was impressive.
Bull laughed, and tangled one hand in Dorian’s hair, scratching at Dorian’s scalp. “Just as much as you’re worth, sweetheart.”
Bull’s tone was too innocent to be trusted and Dorian sighed. “You know, if you keep hiking up the price eventually they are going to decide I’m not worth it and you’ll have to keep me.”
“Would that be so bad?”
Dorian sighed again, they had had this conversation before, both in person and in their secretly exchanged letters.
“You could stay with us, sail the sea, but without having to take any orders. You could drink and have adventures with us, and at the end of the day, I’d help keep you warm.” Bull wiggled his eyebrows. Dorian couldn’t actually see him from his position, but he knew. “And, when the weather gets bad and you get seasick I wouldn’t laugh.”
When Bull put it like that it sounded so appealing. Dorian of course was aware of the flipside. “The rest of your crew would still laugh at me; an admiral who gets see sick, they think it’s the best joke told this age.” He wished that was the only thing stopping him. “I’m in the navy, Bull. I’m supposed to be stopping pirates, I can’t join them. I do actually believe in protecting merchants you know. Besides, you could retire too, settle down. You could be my kept man.”
“Me and the boys are all Wanted, remember? We couldn’t make a life on land, we’d be arrested within the week.”
“I suppose.” Dorian shifted, rearranging Bull’s arm around him to his liking.
“Guess I’ll just have to make do with courting you like this. Kidnapping you and keeping you prisoner in my bed.”
“I never agreed to this,” Dorian insisted.
“Is that what you’re telling people? I was there Dorian, I remember the wild declarations of love. Or, what was it you called it? Deep affection.”
“I never said that.”
“Uh huh?”
“Yes, I’m certain this is non-consensual courting,” Dorian informed him, snuggling deeper into Bull’s side.
“That so?” Bull said. He huffed a laugh into Dorian’s hair. “If you want somewhere else to sleep, I can arrange that. Won’t be as nice as you’re used to, what with being such a Big Wig, but it’ll be passable and you won’t have to share with me.”
Dorian made a noise of disgust. “Don’t even suggest that; this is the warmest I’ve been since I left port.”
“You know, I was planning on having dinner with the crew, so I wouldn’t get to comfortable.”
“Do we have to?” Dorian asked, dragging the blankets tighter around himself, and looking positively pitiful. He was a powerful man, and wasn’t normally allowed to show any vulnerability, even if in this case it was highly exaggerated, but with Bull, putting on that act seemed unnecessary. It was nice.
“Yeah, sweetheart. They miss you.”
Dorian rolled over, tricky due to the narrowness of the bed, and the fact there were two of them in the small space, and lay face down in the flimsy mattress to groan. Bull just stroked his hair and let him get it out of his system.
“Fine,” he said at last, “but you have to get my clothes and bring them over here so I can get dressed in the bed where it’s warm.”
“What do I get in return?”
“Besides from the pleasure of my company, and my undying gratitude?”
“Yeah, aside from all that.”
“I suppose you’ll have to wait and see. It does seem like I’m going to remain your captive for quite some time yet.”
“You’re rubbing off on me-”
“I certainly was earlier,” Dorian cut in, because it was worth the shame of making a pun in return for Bull’s wide grin.
“-because I’m feeling very impatient.”
“Something in particular you were hoping for?” Dorian sat up. His hair was a mess, sticking up at all odd angles, and he knew Bull had marked him all over, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.
“What about your deep affection?” Bull asked, smiling softly.
Dorian flushed, but returned the smile. “I suppose I can offer you that.”

