How things developed between Freya and Lucanis…
This is just the storyline I’ve drafted briefly in my head. Combining that slow but also adding in stuff…mostly off screen content.
For many Rooks, they saw Lucanis and fell for him right away. Not Freya (I really need a new name). Her own journey with the crows and training tainted her view a little. She is aware of the stakes of a job. She is aware that she could die if she doesn’t perform as they need her to. And the killing the elvhen dweebs and stopping Solas’ circus is the same. It’s an ever present mindset that doesn’t go away. Getting Lucanis out of prison was just part of the job. Just another heist. Though this entire quest line has been different than norm. She goes after people to destroy them. But she’s being used to stop destruction.
Some jobs require her to flirt her way to the kill. So she knows how. Rarely has she flirted because she wanted to. It was something out of her control. She did what she has to do to get the job done. Flirting with Lucanis was helping her find a little independence and differentiating thinking from the crow ways. It surprises her evermore when he responded to it. But she figured he saw things the same as she did. Goodness, it didn’t even bother her when he flirted with Neve in front of her. They were all colleagues getting along. None of their flirting (hers towards Lucanis included) meant a lot.
But during a night discussion and heart to heart with him, she realized that it wasn’t harmless anymore. At least for her. She liked him (though she never downright thought “oh wow I like him.”). And as time went on, those feelings flourished and blossomed. And then he almost kissed her. She didn’t second guess why he stopped. She was aware of his situation. She could only guess how that impacted that moment, but she concluded it the source. A part of her thought that an accident. But it seemed unlikely because who accidentally leans in intending to do that?
What truly got her was the flirting. His flirting towards Neve didn’t relent. She pretended not to notice. She continued teasing them as she had before. But her own heart shattered. And confusion rippled. But this is when she drew the conclusion that, despite logic, maybe these feelings weren’t replicated. And this is when she’s thankful for poker face training when she was training with the crows!
She couldn’t remember the kind of coffee he liked, so she went to ask him which beans to buy. And when he tried to tag on to their conversation, “If I could…I want…” She drew a greater confusion. Even more when she heard from a distance a conversation between Neve and Lucanis at the lighthouse. She believed it about that moment where he nearly kissed her. But after that, neither flirted. Boundaries had been drawn out of earshot. Neve would tell her at a later date about this. And when all this is over and she reflects, Freya would become grateful her friend was observant and able to take action when neither Freya or Lucanis know how to handle this.
There would be so many unknown stolen moments during this time. Neither realized what they were. They were growing closer and closer and closer. They weren’t touchy feely. There was no “touching his arm” or “lean in so close you can their breath moments” but there would be little things in the in between. Talking over coffee. Bonding over crow training memories. Making fun of Viago (he heard about one incident, and Freya made sure not to consume anything he gave her for weeks afterwards).
But the conversation eventually strayed towards that almost kiss during a venture (Lucanis initiated). And Lucanis admits he’s been thinking about it for sometime. Now he thinks he knows what he wishes to say, but at the light house. And that leads to a night long private conversation. They talk about everything and anything over coffee (well tea for Freya, much to Lucanis’ disgust). Long after others have gone to sleep, the flirty charm has been turned back on. Both admit they don’t know what this is…but it’s something they want to pursue. So they’re going to go forward and see where it takes them.
No kiss happens until after he makes her the dessert that pairs well with tea. They’re running from antaam they’d been tracking (and of whom caught on and gave chase). They don’t want to get caught. They’re hiding in a squishy place. They started flirting and sassing…and then they lean in. There’s no almost kiss this time. It’s the kiss. They linger for a few seconds and pull away. Freya is about to comment on what she thinks and suddenly, they hear one antaam alerting the others to their location and they run.
That’s how I think it may happen. But these are just thoughts.
