#her stuff links directly with my other Trevelyans

[melisusthewee]

Fic - The Brothers Trevelyan (Dragon Age)

Summary: Templars, mages, and Chantry soldiers mingle uneasily in the Valley of Sacred Ashes.  Among them is a single templar who doesn’t care about mage rebellions or broken Circles, and is content to stand guard and do as he’s told.  Moments before the world turns itself upside down, Aloysius Trevelyan is just trying to be a good soldier while his brother Quinn seeks to stir up trouble.  A look at two very different brothers and a tumultuous relationship in a place where only one of them gets to be the hero.  Based again on a prompt from the DA Subreddit’s Weekly Writing Challenge.

Fandom: Dragon Age

Pairings: none

Rating: G

Words: 1,367 words

Notes: Introducing the “Archers Do It With Flair” series - a collection of all the little one shots and drabbles written as part of the DA Subreddit Weekly Writing thread that quite frankly don’t fit into any larger or longer fics but serve to flesh out my world state and all the poor souls who inhabit it.  (Or at least the Inquisitor.)  Some will be long, some will be short, some will be smutty, and some will be... I don’t know.  Stuff.  And things.  This one is more character introduction than anything else, but was the drabble which led to me developing Quinn and his relationship with his family more.  And I’m kind of proud of that.

As always, click the link below to read this on AO3 or you can read the rest directly on Tumblr below the cut.

The Brothers Trevelyan on AO3

His relief was late.  It had been nearly half an hour and Aloysius was beginning to grow hungry.  Some of the other templars who had passed by his post had mentioned there was a bit of a commotion further down the mountain, something about the Champion of Kirkwall… or maybe it was someone else from that corner of the Marches… everyone he asked told it differently.  In any event, it didn’t seem too relevant to active guard duty around the temple, and was no reason for his relief to be as late as they were.

Movement off to his right caught his attention, and Aloysius turned hoping to see an approaching soldier.  Instead it was a mage, hurrying from some small side entrance of the temple.  Aloysius frowned on instinct; seeing mages running about the place unchecked was not something he was used to.  But they’d been told to stand down and not bother anyone unless something seemed suspect.  And very little about the woman looked suspicious, especially when a second mage appeared shortly after her, his cheeks flushed and his robes still slightly askew.

Aloysius sighed inwardly.  He was fairly certain that romantic entanglements on sacred ground was cause for discipline, but as his stomach growled he realized he had far more pressing concerns than a couple of mages sniffing around beneath each others robes.

He turned back to his diligent watch up the mountain path, hoping for any sign of an approaching figure.  But once again his concentration was interrupted by the sound of a door being swiftly shut and Aloysius turned to see a familiar person appearing from where the mages had come from.  He made a sound of disgust, loud enough for the person to hear.  The man looked up from where he was pre-occupied buttoning up his coat and adjusting his trousers, and flashed Aloysius an arrogant grin.

“Is nothing safe from your debauchery?” he said, frowning in disapproval.

The grin wavered only for a moment as the man ran his fingers through his hair and sidled up next to Aloysius.  “The Maker loves all his children, dear brother.”

Aloysius looked his younger brother up and down carefully.  His cheeks were flushed and he wasn’t quite quick enough to wrap his scarf around his neck in order to hide the several telltale marks that made it very clear exactly the sort of thing he’d been up to with the mages.  “I doubt the Maker gets involved in any of your business, Quinn.”

His brother looked entirely unapologetic.  “How are we to know?  He never speaks, no matter how loudly one calls out His name.”

Aloysius thought he was going to be sick and made a very distinct sound at the back of his throat.  “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

“Eventually,” Quinn replied, reaching into his coat and taking out a well-worn pipe.  It wasn’t long before the pungent smell of smoke filled the air.  Aloysius hated the smell, and his brother knew it.  His brother also had likely figured out that Aloysius was on duty and therefore unable to leave despite how much both men preferred to avoid each other’s company.  “Sadly, they don’t give me the exciting jobs like standing vigil on a mountain far removed from anyone of any importance.”

“Being assigned to the temple is an honour,” Aloysius said stiffly.

Quinn laughed, although Aloysius thought it sounded more like a snort.  “So you’ve seen the Divine then?  She’s come round to bring the blessings of Our Lady upon you?  The Lord Seeker requested that Ser Trevelyan specifically guard this out of the way corner of the temple?”

“Shut up.”

Quinn looked surprised at the outburst.  Yes, Aloysius was usually patient with his brother and not only because his patience often frustrated Quinn to no end, but his belly was empty and his temper short - especially in his present company.  Aloysius watched as Quinn took a step back, seeming to consider him carefully in a manner that looked like there was far too much going on inside that silly blond head to be good for anyone.

“You haven’t seen the Lord Seeker, have you?”  That insufferably sly smile was back on Quinn’s face.

“I’ve spoken with a Seeker,” Aloysius said, choosing his words carefully.

“But not the Lord Seeker?  The one who’s supposed to be leading your side in the talks?”  Aloysius began to tell Quinn how the templars were not his side and that he wasn’t invested in the ongoing war beyond whatever orders or duties his commanding officer gave him these days, but his brother wasn’t listening.  “The mages hadn’t seen the Grand Enchanter either.  They’d been told she was supposed to be arriving from Redcliffe, but everyone of importance is just… around… somewhere.”

“You managed to get all of that out of a couple of mages?” said Aloysius, his voice dripping with skepticism.  For the first time, Quinn appeared to look genuinely offended, gesturing to himself as if the answer should have been obvious.  Aloysius rolled his eyes, and went back to staring up the mountain road, praying his relief would come and give him an excuse to leave.

He heard his brother grumble something to himself, and smiled knowing that his reaction had not been the one Quinn was hoping for.  For a moment, he thought that perhaps the man would leave to find some sort of entertainment elsewhere, but no such luck.  Instead Quinn kicked absently at the snow with his boot, pouting like a spurned child.

“You’re grumpier than usual.”

“My relief is late,” Aloysius replied stiffly.

Quinn scratched his head, looking genuinely confused as he cast about the area, taking note of how empty their surroundings were.  “You could just leave.  I don’t think the Conclave is going to fall apart just because a single templar went for lunch.”

“I take my duty seriously.”

The younger man sighed dramatically.  “Yes, yes, we know… darling Aloysius, pious as a saint.  It wouldn’t kill you to break the rules once in a while.  You might even find you enjoy it.”

“We all have our parts to play.  You might consider yours sometime.”

The frown that fell upon Quinn’s face made him look an awful lot like their father.  Aloysius considered that was something better kept to himself, however.  It was clear that his words had touched a nerve, regardless of whether he’d intended to insult his brother or not.  In retrospect, he probably should have known better.  It was common knowledge among their siblings that despite their best intentions in trying to bring the youngest of them around to a respectable path, any time one of them said a word, Quinn doubled down on his embarrassing habits at the best of times, and tended to cause a scene at his worst.  Aloysius wasn’t sure which one he was about to be witness to.

“Oh, believe me, I’ve considered it at great length,” Quinn said coldly, tapping the bowl of his pipe and scattering the ashes across the snow.  He took a moment to stamp on them for good measure - a bit aggressively, Aloysius thought - before returning his things to his coat pocket and turning to leave.  “I hope your relief arrives soon.  Mother and Father would be terribly upset if they lost one of their good sons because he starved to death in the line of duty.”

He knew he should let him go.  Quinn was not a child and should not be treated as such.  But he was still his brother, and a Trevelyan, and ever since he’d turned up among the Chantry brothers, Aloysius knew that he was expected to try and keep him level headed and out of trouble if not for the family’s sake but for Quinn’s.  But as he called after him to stop, Quinn only replied with a rude gesture and kept walking.

Well, if that’s how he wanted it then fine with him.  Aloysius straightened his shoulders and settled back into his post, watching the top of the path that led back to Haven.  Still no sign of his relief.  And try as he might to ignore his stomach, he was becoming awfully hungry…