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Apart from being very obviously Dalish, Dorian thought Fen was rather unremarkable after he burst through the gates at Haven. Aside from the ears and the lines of green that marked his face, nothing stood out. The lad that stood before him looked almost emaciated he was so thin, and being taller than your average Elf just made him look gangly. Really, not the sort Dorian would ever find himself drawn to. But maybe that was just the effects of nearly losing his life, the ensuing chaos, and the urgency of the situation.
He'll admit, he was rather impressed by Fen's work with the trebuchets and the way he snatched Corypheus's victory out from under him. But other than that, there wasn't much that was attention-grabbing. For this fabled "Herald of Andraste," Fen was one of the most plain people Dorian had ever set eyes on.
However, "set eyes on" might just be an overstatement. In the time it took to reach Skyold, the Elf was so busy running to-and-fro and scouting ahead with Solas and Leliana's agents, Dorian never had the chance to speak to him or even look at him up close. And even after, especially once he was officially named Inquisitor, the boy just never stopped.
The first of Dorian's reassessments came when they did finally have their first real conversation. Fen, while still very thin, was far from emaciated. He had the build of nearly all Elves, small but powerful. Fen was far from the burliest of the Elven men, but he wasn't the smallest either. He kept himself in shape, not putting on a lot of muscle but he won't run out of breath mid-battle either.
And then his eyes. It was hard to see at Haven with the combination of it being dark and everything else that was happening. This would be the first time Dorian took back his 'this guy is the most unremarkable man I've ever laid eyes on.' Fen's eyes were remarkable. So very green like Dorian had never seen before, nearly the same color as the Breach and the rifts. Was this a Dalish trait, or something unique to only Fen? Or maybe, considering the similarity in color and clarity, something caused by the Breach? Maker, that boy has beautiful eyes. Dorian was almost too eager to join the Inquisition after that.
Where Fen may lack in looks when they first met, he more than made up for in personality. The way he so readily went back and forth with Dorian's jokes and willingness to see things from another perspective were enthralling. Passing remarks every time Fen would visit the library would turn into discussions that lasted long into the night. Never had Dorian met someone so educated in one area, but utterly clueless in another. So inexperienced yet still able to make the right decisions based on the council of his peers and what his heart says is right. 'Unremarkable' quickly became the last word Dorian would use to describe Fen.
Dorian never noticed when he started looking forward to Fen's appearances in the library, or anywhere in the Rotunda if he's going to be honest. He never noticed when his heart beat a few extra times whenever Fen would playfully flirt back at him. Or when the most unremarkable man he'd ever laid eyes on became the one thing he'd never tire of looking at.
Suddenly, he noticed everything. The pinch between Fen's eyebrows when he was concentrating too hard on something, or the way his right eyebrow went up every time he smirked. He began to notice the way Fen actually does wiggle his fingers when using the Anchor. The amount of times Fen has singed the fingers on his left hand and had set more than a few gloves on fire, some of them not his own. He noticed the look of longing Fen always held when watching the herds of halla in the Dales, and how he can charm any animal they came across in the wild.
Dorian never missed the shade of pink Fen's ears turned every time he flirted with him, no matter how confident Fen tried to make himself look as he flirted back, and the way Fen's voice sounded while he spoke Elven. And, Maker's breath, he wouldn't be able to tear his eyes away after Fen started training with Cullen even if he wanted to. Noticing everything quickly turned into missing nothing.
And then Fen kissed him. Dorian barely had time to relish in the way Fen stumbled on his words and how his ears had gone almost crimson. He made sure he had plenty of time to memorize the feeling of his lips, among other things. From noticing everything, to missing nothing, and finally landing at memorizing everything. Dorian was wrapped around Fen's little finger long before he even realized what was happening.
If someone had told Dorian that this gangly, unremarkable young Elf would evolve right before his eyes and become the only thing he would want to see at the end of a long day, he'd have set their eyebrows on fire.