the mask of the spymaster wears heavy on her features, pulling her brow, her cheeks, the corners of her lips down & down until she feels even her very soul dragging behind her. it’s necessary, she knows this, yet there is no time she anticipates more than the moment she can set the reports aside & slip away to her bedchambers, free of the mask & the responsibility &, maker, the heaviness.
there is a near skip to her step as she makes her way through the halls of skyhold, the image of the warm, plush bed goading her ever forward in near childlike excitement to fling herself upon it & bury her face in the fluffy pillows. one might gape at the sight, but in this moment it is only her & her own whimsy to keep her company. it is liberating.
said sweet siren call of a bed greets her as she enters her chamber, but before she can throw herself upon it, the creak of the windowpane catches her attention. the mask falls on her face once again in an instant, hand reaching for the dagger ever-present at her side as she steps forward, cautious.
& then it is gone once again. the guard, the caution, the feeling of dread creeping through her stomach, all replaced with a glow in her chest that spreads through her like the sun. “ vehra, ” the name escapes her like a curse, breathy & involuntary, yet filled with love like that of a prayer. a moment later & she is upon her, arms looping around the other’s neck despite their precarious situation on the sill. she can worry about that in a moment, all that matters now is that finally she is whole. her heart is here. “ sneaking into my room through a window in the dead of night ? ” she laughs, the sun in her chest bubbling out of her throat as she pulls away & guides vehra into the room after her. “ how scandalous. certainly, what would one have thought if they saw you outside, scaling the walls like a vagrant or storybook hero ? ” she can’t stop her giggling, giddy at the imagery, giddy at the company, giddy at the fact she is, admittedly, wildly sleep deprived. “ all you’re missing is a cravat. ”
she sheds layers and layers and / layers. parts and pieces of herself, slipping off of her skin, each drifting to the ground as she gets closer and closer to her heart. she has rushed ——— a poor move on her part, yet to go from one place to another in a certain amount of time moving on her own ( others gone and dead and gone ) there is a certain amount of speed required. speed which is hastened by the promise of the arms of the one she loves most and she sheds layers of herself with every step, not feeling younger but feeling, almost, renewed.
not the warden—commander, now. simply vehra. leliana’s vehra.
the weight of responsibility vanishes, for now, a brief departure she knows but cannot bring herself to care as she perches so precariously, dangerously, be careful lest you fall lest you split your head open and what good will you be then? but danger is so far from her mind when she feels utterly safe in leliana’s arms, her heart fit to bursting, happiness bright in her chest, as if her lover has placed the sun within her.
worries and anxieties flee as she wraps her arms around leliana in turn, allowing herself to be pulled from the sill and set onto the ground, HAPPY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN WHAT FEELS LIKE AGES ——— her love !! her love !! her sweet beloved, the lilt of her voice, the smile that she gives ( ... )
❝ should i go? ❞ one layer still not yet shed ( likely never to be shed ) the firmness of her tone, the hint of demand, but softened by the brightness of her eyes / the hands which grasp her lover’s face so gently, a kiss pressed to her cheek. her nose. her forehead. this is love, this is love, this is love. ❝ fetch a cravat and fly back to your side? be a proper hero? ❞ thumbs brush just beneath leliana’s eyes as she leans back, simply wanting to look at her, wanting to kiss her, wanting to wrap herself in her and never leave again.
❝ ——— i could sweep you off your feet when i return, ❞ it feels like a DREAM. they always are together in her dreams but for when dreams turn dark and aren’t dreams at all.
