Merry Christmas, @hotrodngold! Hope you like how this turned out—I tried to hit as many of your requests as I possibly could while staying true to the story I had built in my head. It was fun to write, even if it took longer than it should have. Hope you enjoy, and Happy New Year!
– @http://toddnyallison.tumblr.com/
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“How many languages do you speak, Bull?” Dorian asked suddenly.
Dorian and The Iron Bull were sitting in Dorian’s room, light filtering through the window. The mage was sprawled across his chair, slouching away from a pile of books. Bull looked up from the book he’d been reading, his eyes refocusing on the real world.
“Huh?”
“How many languages do you speak?” Dorian repeated patiently, looking over at Bull with an expression that said I’m bored. Please distract me from all of this.
“Good question.” Bull placed a bookmark where he’d stopped reading and set the book aside, sitting up slowly. “Let’s see…Qunlat is my first language, obviously. I also speak fluent trade tongue.”
Dorian rolled his eyes. “Obviously.”
“I also know Orlesian,” Bull scratched his head. “And a little Tevene, though my accent is shit. I also know a few Rivaini words and phrases, but not enough to actually get myself around. Gatt was better at Rivaini than I was.”
“Gatt?” Dorian frowned. It was a moment before he remembered. “Ah, yes. That elven man we met in the Storm Coast. The viddathari.”
Bull raised his eyebrows. “I’m surprised you know what a viddathari is.”
Dorian smirked. “Why should that surprise you?”
Bull chuckled and leaned back. “Maybe it shouldn’t. What about you? How many languages do you speak?”
“Not very many,” Dorian sighed, twirling a pen between his fingers. “Tevene is naturally my first language, and I know passable Ancient Tevene, though that hardly counts as speaking a language.”
“Why’s that?” Bull asked curiously.
“Because no one actually speaks it,” Dorian rolled his eyes again. “No one has been able to read or write Ancient Tevene in over a thousand years. It’s a dead language. In Tevinter, only the upper class use scant phrases now and again to sound educated.”
Bull laughed. “Sounds about right.”
“I wouldn’t mind learning Orlesian,” Dorian continued. “I know enough to get by, but I’m hardly fluent.”
“I could teach you,” Bull offered, sounding amused. “It wouldn’t be hard, if you already know the language. All I’d be doing is expanding your vocabulary.”
Dorian hummed, setting the pen down and facing Bull properly. “Would you be interested in teaching me Qunlat as well?”
Bull arched an eyebrow. “Why would you be interested in Qunlat?”
“For the same reason you’re interested in Tevene?” Dorian suggested, smiling innocently.