[ Asher had always been kinder than he had appeared, at least to Merrill. A honey badger with emphasis on the honey, with claws that he hadn't ever dug into her. So many of those who had come to the Inquisition had seemed alone even when surrounded, and Merrill thinks that she's drawn to them because she understands it.

Mal is like that, sometimes. They all have their pasts that they don't want to bring up, emptiness that they can't fill by themselves. ]

I hadn't, [ but she laughs slightly, thumb stroking his cheekbone. ] I know when I went to see him, he'd tease me about how you'd be offended that I was seeing him without you. I told him that you'd just have to deal with it.

[ No romantic relationship will prevent her from seeing her friends. But that is something she thinks Mal will understand himself, will appreciate. ]

I'm sure it would have been a lovely ceremony, though.