“Really, amatus? Again?” Dorian said he reached the top of the stairs to find the Inquisitor still at his desk. He gave a heavy sigh although he was fairly certain Elden could still see the slight smile on his lips he was failing to hide. “You should have been in bed hours ago.”
“You’re one to talk,” Elden replied and he wasn’t even bothering to hide his smile. “You were nearly in the library all night again.”
“I’m far too tired, let’s skip the scolding and jump right to going to sleep, shall we?”
“In a minute, I just need to finish--”
“Oh, no you don’t,” Dorian said, marching over and tugging on his arm until he stood up and began leading him towards the bed. “The paperwork will still be there in the morning, unlike you if you die from exhaustion.”
“I’m not that tired,” Elden objected weakly.
“I’d rather sleep than wait around to find out.”
Elden let himself be shoved into bed and Dorian crawled in after, curling against him and settling in. The chill of Skyhold at night had been getting to Dorian, but pressed against Elden’s side he finally felt warm again in a way a simple fire or blanket could never hope to achieve.
“Sorry,” Elden said after a long pause. “I would have come to find you if if I hadn’t lost track of time.”
“You are joking,” Dorian deadpanned. “Don’t be ridiculous, we both have a habit of sacrificing sleep for work. You’ve dragged me out of the library countless times, I’m simply returning the favor.”
“Still,” Elden objected. “I should be doing a better job--”
“No, you shouldn’t,” Dorian cut him off. “That’s the whole point. You’re doing too good of a job already.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Elden said.
“You are,” Dorian said, the finality in his voice bringing their conversation to an end. “You’re doing fantastic, but you need to get some sleep now.”
It was frustrating, knowing Elden could work so hard and achieve so much and still think he wasn’t doing enough. Dorian wasn’t exactly one to talk, even back with Alexius when their research didn’t have lives on the line he would still often work well into the night. Now that his research could impact the success of the Inquisition he could definitely understand the urge to work himself into exhaustion.
That wouldn’t help anyone, however. They may have trouble stopping on their own but at least they were looking out for each other.
Gil and Luke Ryder talk and drink and just enjoy each other’s company. Spoilers for the quest “Ryder Family Secrets” so make sure you’ve done that before reading!
AO3
-
Luke wasn’t quite sure what he was doing, sitting here on the floor of engineering. He leaned back against the wall with a sigh, drawing his knees up and wrapping his arms around them. Was he hoping Gil would come by? Or was he here specifically because he knew the ship was empty and he’d be guaranteed privacy no matter where he went? It’s true the hum of the drive core was soothing, but it was more the connotation of it, the countless hours spent poring over blueprints and tinkering with Gil.
His thoughts were too loud, clamoring for answers he had no hope of grasping anytime soon, anger and grief and fear all battling it out but still he didn’t know how he should feel. He buried his face in his arms with a sigh, trying to focus on anything else but he was just so tired. He’d barely slept since–
“Ryder?”
Luke jumped at the voice. Apparently the ship wasn’t empty after all. “Oh, sorry,” he said, quickly rubbed at his face and hoping he looked vaguely composed. “I thought everyone was out for the evening.”
“And you just decided to come to engineering to, what, mope about?” Gil asked.
“What about you? Working late?” Luke said evasively.
“I’ve never been great at taking it easy. You wanna talk about what’s up?”
“It’s nothing, really,” Luke said, trying for what he hoped was a convincing smile. “I’m fine.”
“Hang on just one sec,” Gil said, turning to leave.
Ryder readjusted so he was sitting cross-legged, hands fiddling in his lap while he waited. Gil came back a moment later with a bottle and two glasses. He dropped down beside him and poured them each a glass of beer.
“I keep some around for emergencies,” Gil explained, handing Luke a glass. “My secret stash. You look like you could use it.”
“Thanks. I guess next time I’ll be buying the drinks,” Luke said, taking the glass.
“You know it,” Gil said, taking a sip. “So, you wanna talk or what?“
“You really sure you want to encourage me?” Luke asked with a laugh before downing a large portion of his drink. “This could take all night.”
“Why not? You’re always listening to the rest of us go on incessantly,” Gil replied, retrieving the bottle to top off Luke’s glass. “Honestly, your patience is impressive. Only fair I return the favor now and then. Besides, I wouldn’t leave my guy hanging.”
Luke smiled at him, resting a hand on Gil’s knee for a moment and feeling like he must be the luckiest man in the world. “Just remember you asked,” he said, chuckling. “We may need more beer.”
“We can always move this to a bar if we need to,” Gil said, elbowing him gently. “Can’t have you completely emptying my stash.”
“So there’s more? Good to know,” Luke said. He took a deep breath, staring down into his drink as he gathered his thoughts. “It’s just–” he began slowly, “A lot’s been going on. I just found out my mom’s alive.”
“Wow. That’s good, though, right?”
“Yeah, it’s just– suddenly my dad’s dead but mom’s alive, only not really. She’s still sick and there’s no guarantee we can save her. Or that she wants to be saved. And then, of course, there’s the whole Pathfinder thing and all the people constantly reminding me how many lives are at stake. No pressure there, right? It’s just– too much is happening all at once, I don’t think I can handle all of it.”
“All of it?” Gil asked with the slightest bit of uncharacteristic hesitation. “Does that include– us?”
Luke couldn’t help himself, he chuckled as he leaned into Gil. “You’re the only thing in this whole mess I actually am sure of.”
“Look at you, being all sentimental,” Gil said, putting his arm around him and kissing his cheek.
“Look who’s talking,” Luke said, bringing a hand up so he could pull him closer and kiss him properly.
“So, about your mom,” Gil said after they’d drawn apart. “What’s going on there?”
“Wow, way to kill the mood, Brodie,” Rider said, nudging him.
“Hey, you’re the one being all dour. We can’t have that, now can we?”
“Fine, fine,” Luke sighed again. It was nice that Gil was so concerned, but to be honest he wasn’t quite sure where to begin. “Fill my glass again, will you? I have sort of a complicated family.”
“Don’t we all?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll slip in some embarrassing stories of my sister you can tease her about later. Gotta keep things interesting.”
“Good, I’ll be sure to use them to get her to tell me some embarrassing stories about you.”
“Now that’s just not fair,” Luke said with a laugh. Still, it would be nice to recount some of the good parts of his childhood for a change.
I saw the ask of Thomas’s ticklish spot, and with the video I just couldn’t stop myself to write a little thing. It sucks because I’m tired and because I suck at writing, but well haha.
TW: None? I even made sure to include at least a bit of consent, so ???
- - - - - – - - -
The four personalities were sitting at both sides of their host, watching the already finished Bloopers Reel video, and all the comments that followed it, people getting crazy all over Twitter, Tumblr and Youtube. While the Host and his personalities were talking and laughing about them, the darker trait was trying to break the laws of physics, begging the ground to simply make him disappear.
You see, he didn’t like the bloopers. At all. They made him feel nervous, his mistakes now all over the internet. Yeah, with time he’ll be laughing at them too, kinda, but the first few days after uploading it will be a complete torture to his mind.
To make things more credible, they used daydream mode so Thomas would actually look like each personality. It would be weird to explain while even in bloopers he kept on character, so instead of giving a long and unnecessary explanation of how Hosts and physical personalities and Viewers worked, they simply made him redo all the scenes he could, while being dressed as them.
It was fun actually, specially after so many hours recording the actual part. The tongue-tied, the laughs, the burps. Still, one of the most discussed things right now among the Fanders, was a specifically shocking scene.
Anxiety’s smile.
With this in mind, we go back to the scenes. Anxiety was getting even deeper inside the sofa, his eyes fixed in the phone screen in front of him, headphones on and music so loud it hurt, but shut up his thoughts. It was because of this that he didn’t notice when he was being called.
“-le Anxiety” He looked up, moving one of the cups.
“What do you want?”
“I asked you if you actually laugh like that” Prince was pointing at the oh so famous scene, a wide and unnatural for him grin plastered on his face. Thomas was looking at his Tumblr asks with Morality and Logic on the other side of the couch.
“I don’t laugh at all. The hole in my chest is too cold for that kind of stuff.” He could see by the corner of the eye how Thomas and Patton laughed about an specific ask, then looked at him. Trying to ignore them was the best. “Tho if you are so determined to do so, why don’t you go and fall down the stairs? That would do something.”
“Ha ha, so fun-” His talk was interrupted by the Emotional trait whispering things on the Fanciful side ear. His face morphed into a mischievous smirk, but when he was about to do something, he stopped him. It was time for the older to act.
“You think we can’t make you laugh?”
“Oh I can assure it” He felt skeptical over the other’s whisperings, but he wasn’t backing down for something like that. “Laughing it’s not exactly in the job description”.
“Wanna bet?” The parent smiled playfully at him “If we win, you get to prove Prince was wrong, nothing new”
“Hey!”
“Buuuuut, if we win” He pinched Anxiety’s cheek and talked to him in a baby voice “You’ll have to admit how cuuuuute you are”
“Deal” He felt the parental side pull away, and almost immediately felt both arms getting locked with a pair of hands. Looking at both sides, Thomas and Prince were holding him down to the couch, similar smiles on both of them. “What the-” He was stopped by a pair of fingers lingering on both sides, tickling him slightly.
He bit his lower lip with force and tries to squirm away from them, fighting the strong hold, but that only seemed to make the hold stronger. Light touch quickly became fingers digging in his body with precision, and in a matter of seconds he found himself a mess of laughs and begs to stop, too weak to keep fighting. The grip moved away and the fingers stopped searching for his sweet spot, giving him enough time to catch his breath again, the remains of the laugh and a few tears still on his face.
“Aha! I think we have a winner!”
“Awww, your smile is soooo cuuuuuuute”
“I hate you all. So much.” He tried to sound serious, but failed. It wasn’t what he expected, but it helped him lift his mood, the smile still on his face.
Pairing: Cullen/f!Trevelyan
Rating: SFW this chapter, but warnings for a liberal application of swear words.
Summary: Modern AU, inspired by too much Real Genius and too many romcoms. Evelyn Trevelyan, a PhD candidate and all-around science nerd, meets Cullen Rutherford, a civil engineering major on the GI Bill, when he shows up for her tutoring session. If Evie didn't have bad luck, she'd have no luck at all.
Notes: So the reason why I do not write fic is because fic is HARD and I am LAZY. But I do get things done eventually! Thanks for sticking around, I appreciate it. Chapter artwork here by the incomparable @feylen, who is an infinite delight.
(Previous Chapter) (AO3)
Chapter 2: Good to Be Alive (Hallelujah)
Evelyn had made it halfway through her first lecture Friday morning before she had the horrified realization that while she'd given Cullen her number, she'd completely neglected to ask for his -- and that was, of course, a complete catastrophe. At the break, she immediately pushed her way into the hallway and called Varric.
He picked up right before it went to voicemail. "God's balls, do you know what time it is?"
Unfortunately for him, she had no time for any whining that wasn't hers. "Varric, you have to help me."
"Are you literally on fire?" She heard a rustling noise that may or may not have been Varric making rude gestures at the phone. "Because unless you are literally on fire, I don't have to do anything at eight thirty in the fucking morning." She was almost positive he was indeed making rude gestures at the phone.
She tapped her fingers on the railing in front of her. "You have Cullen's number, right? Of course you have Cullen's number. You have everyone's number. You have to give it to me."
"Well, princess, I believe you will find that to be false."
"Wait, what?" Evelyn pulled the phone away from her ear long enough to stare at the display and make sure she hadn't called someone else by mistake because surely the real Varric would never let her down like this. "Why not?"
"He has your number, right?"
"Yeah?"
"And you're doing dinner tomorrow?"
"Yeah." She switched ears, flipping the phone around just to have something to do with her hands, and heard him sigh.
"That means if I give you his number now, you will spend the next thirty hours sending him increasingly unhinged and ridiculous texts while you try to psych yourself out of hooking up with a dude who seems nice and would probably be pretty good for you."
Evelyn was quiet for a moment and let that sink in. "Not all thirty," she finally said. "I'd sleep somewhere in there."
"Princess. Breathe. Calm the hell down. Don't you have lab today? Go to lab, forget about this for now."
The sheer sterility of the hallway mocked her with a blank canvas of everything that could possibly go wrong. "But what if --"
"No. Stop. Go bang some atoms together, and maybe if you ask really nicely someone tall, blond, and curly will bang your atoms together later on."
"Varric!" She burst into laughter so sudden and unexpected that a passerby was startled into asking if she was all right and had to be shooed away. "That's horrible!"
"There, see? Isn't that much better?"
"Actually yes, yes it is," Evelyn said after a moment, pleased to discover that this was totally true. She still wanted that number, but she felt much less like a raving freak about it. "You're a good friend, Varric."
"It's my job to save you from yourself, princess. Now go do your thing and do not ever, ever call me before ten o'clock ever again."
She couldn't resist a final jab. "What if I'm literally on fire?"
"Unless you're literally on fire."
"Thanks, man. Love you."
"Back atcha, princess."
Evelyn swiped the call off and slid the phone back into her pocket, then did her best to make it to the lab without worrying about big brown eyes and how catastrophically poorly their dinner date could possibly go. She'd already done everything but spill something directly on him, so surely that was the worst possible thing that could happen and since that wasn't entirely that bad, she could totally stop worrying.
That logic was actually successful for quite some time, even through her lab work, dinner, and an evening curled up with a draft of her dissertation notes. It took some personal convincing to not needle Varric again the next morning, but she buried herself in work even though it would totally have been worth it to call him at eight again. In fact, she was focused enough on her research that when the default message chime on her phone went off around lunchtime she was startled into frowning at the unknown number. Evelyn had carefully selected different chimes for every member of her social circle so default usually meant random solicitation, but when she swiped the phone on she had to stare at the text for a few moments.
H = E + p V
If that was an ad, it was the strangest one she'd ever seen. In fact, it looked less like some kind of scam and more like the formula for enthalpy, and why some unknown number would be texting her thermodynamic functions --
Her train of thought fragmented into a bubbling, delighted laugh, and she immediately added the new contact and thumbed out a reply.thrmodymnics! obvs thinkin of me :D
It was some time before a reply buzzed back, but when she read the message she understood why. Working on coursework on break, was reading through your notes and wanted to say hello. I'm really looking forward to seeing you tonight. Absolutely perfect spelling and grammar in a text message, and she'd seen his phone; that thing was a flip phone, for god's sake, so ancient it didn't even have a real keyboard and probably took him a million years to type on it. It was a little thing, but definitely flattering.
Also, he was looking forward to seeing her again, which was more than just flattering. me 2! hahahahahahaaah varic can suck it :D :D she sent back. Limiting herself to only two emoticons was a triumph of will, but Evelyn still stared hard at her phone for what seemed like forever to resist the urge to send even more.
The cheerful Cullen-assigned chime rang again just before Evelyn was about to snap and send a series of smileyfaces of varying hues and expressions just to break the tension. Sorry, I have to go back to work. Is it still good for me to come by around seven?
def look 4wrd 2 it she sent back, and then immediately set her phone aside before she could go off on one of the unhinged tangents Varric warned her against. She eyed the clock; seven meant she had time to change her clothes at least four times and do her makeup twice. It was always best to approach second-guessing one's self logically and with decent limits.
That was where her roommate found her at t-minus fifteen minutes amidst the wreckage of her closet. "Holy mighty fuck, have we been robbed?"
"No," Evelyn said miserably. "I have a date."
Sera's eyes narrowed. "You look like shite. Do I gotta stab somebody or something to get you out of it?"
Evelyn shook her head. "No! No, it's not that. It's just... I couldn't decide where to make reservations for, and then I thought maybe dropping right into a place that needed reservations wasn't the best idea for a first date even though you know how I feel about candles and wine." She shrugged, a weak flick of a movement that echoed her utter defeat. "But without knowing where I was taking him I couldn't get dressed, and then I ripped up my closet thinking I'd find something and that would decide me on dinner, and now I'm babbling in my underwear and he will be here any minute and my life is endless tragedy."
"Just go down there with your tits hanging out and you'll have him eating out of your hand, yeah?" For Sera, the world was very simple. Evelyn, however, responded with an affected side-eye that had Sera throwing up her hands in disgust. "Oh, for fuck's sake." She waded through the pile of clothing detritus and flung her choices into Evelyn's lap. "These jeans make your arse look amazing; keep the top three buttons on the shirt open for some acceptable tit action. Order in some decent pizza, mainline Netflix, and light your own fucking candles. God, Evie."
Evelyn's sense of relief was a physical thing. "Oh my god, you're brilliant."
Sera just rolled her eyes and skipped down the stairs to her basement apartment, muttering under her breath about smart people with no goddamned sense.
A quick shimmy into the directed jeans, some eyeliner, and a call to Fino's for an extra-large pepperoni later, the doorbell rang and the only thing that saved Evelyn from skidding around the corner and into the wall in her haste was actually having remembered to fasten the straps on her shoes. She swung the door open a little too forcefully, still in the process of catching her breath, and almost sagged against the jam. "Hey," she said, trying for exaggerated calm.
Cullen had brought flowers. He was in a tie, again, and carrying flowers, a bouquet of daffodils and carnations. "Hi," he said with that quirked half-smile that made her breath catch, and she giggled like an over-shy idiot before covering her mouth to try and keep it together as he held the flowers out to her. "Thanks for not screaming this time."
Evelyn took the flowers and held the door open, gesturing for him to come in. "These are beautiful. You're not going to let me live that one down, are you?"
"Would you, if you were me?" He grinned at her, flashing a dimple and, to Evelyn's mind, playing dirty. "It was pretty memorable."
She made a disappointed noise as she wandered into the kitchen, Cullen following behind like a particularly tall and well-built duckling as she stretched on tiptoes to get a vase off the top shelf. "'Memorable' is not precisely what a girl dreams a cute boy is going to call her, you know."
Cullen reached over her shoulder and pulled it down easily, presenting it with a flourish. "You surely don't prefer forgettable? But I could come up with an entire host of adjectives if you'd like." She looked up and could have sworn that he was blushing, and he was definitely doing that thing with his hair again. "I've been thinking about it. A little. Maybe. Just these past couple of days or so."
"I'm terrible with adjectives, so you can help me out over dinner." Evelyn carried the vase, now festooned with flowers, out to the dining table and placed it carefully and precisely in the center alongside a steaming pizza box. "And I hope you are cool with Fino's pepperoni because as of twenty minutes ago I didn't even have pants on."
"Fino's delivers? That's amazing! I will never buy groceries again. And you know, I'm going to keep talking about how amazing Fino's is because it is much too soon for me to think about you not wearing pants." It was definite: Cullen was blushing, and as Evelyn turned to lay out plates on the table she saw his eyes keep snapping away from her to stare fixedly at the ceiling. Well, at least Sera had been right about the jeans.
"They don't actually deliver," Evelyn said with a grin. "But I just give them Varric's name and they fall all over themselves. It's amazing. I make a damn fine pizza, but I only just came up with this idea and that isn't enough time for the dough to rise. Have a seat."
Cullen slid into the same chair he'd claimed for poker night, and Evelyn fetched Varric's shiraz bribe and a pair of glasses. When she started to pour, he shook his head. "Oh, no thank you. I don't drink."
She stared for a minute and then very slowly slid both glasses in front of her own plate. "Don't you work in a bar?"
"I work at the door, not behind the actual bar." He cleared his throat and helped himself to pizza. "For what it's worth, that's only one job. I also do some training at the gym on campus and volunteer at the VA twice a week alongside the monthly reservist duties."
"The VA? You're a vet?"
He grinned at her, nothing more than a quirk of that scarred lip, and Evelyn felt her stomach drop. "Really? That's the part you focus on?"
Evelyn saluted him with her wine glass. "I need to think about your biceps probably much the same way you need to think about my pants. The vet thing is way safer, trust me."
With a smiling nod, he conceded her point. "I joined the army right out of high school, and did three tours in Afghanistan."
Well, that answered one of Evelyn's mathematical puzzles. "And that's why you're not a teeny little freshman in Chem 101."
"That's why I'm not a teeny little freshman in Chem 101." He shrugged. "Well, I was never really teeny, even when I was little."
"Three tours, though?" She cocked her head a little, looking him over. "Jesus."
Cullen shrugged. "It was always something I wanted to do, even as a kid. Protecting people, serving the country -- it was a dream. And I kept going back because I still believed in that, even when it didn't turn out the way I expected." he kept his eyes down on his plate, only occasionally flicking his gaze up over her head, past her shoulder -- anywhere but her face. "What about you?"
Evelyn allowed the subject change because even she knew better than to pry at something so obviously uncomfortable on a first date. "Oh, I blew up part of the cellar when I was six and I haven't been out of the interesting classes in school since," she said with an airy wave, like massive explosions were no big deal. "Eventually I'll finish up my dissertation and have to decide what I want to be when I grow up, but until then chemistry tutoring is serving me pretty well."
They continued on in that vein through dinner, covering all the bases of small talk: he was in Civil Engineering, and she was in Theoretical Physics; they both had three siblings, though she had two brothers and him two sisters; his family still enjoyed tangible physical correspondence and sent letters once a week, and she had her mother's ringtone set to the Imperial March.
Cullen threw back his head and laughed, that dimple flashing again and the briefly uncomfortable moment was long gone like it'd never been. "Oh come on, she can't be that bad."
Evelyn made a face, turning down the corners of her mouth. "I'm not saying Talky Tina would trip her down the stairs or anything, but even Varric is scared of her."
He froze, and for a nanosecond she was afraid she'd said something inadvertently horrible. "Evie, did you just make a Twilight Zone reference?"
Her jaw dropped. "Did you just get my Twilight Zone reference?"
"Of course! Living Doll, Telly Savalas." His grin was boyish and infectious, and Evelyn thought it was so glorious the only thing missing was its own swellingly triumphant musical score. "Man, I haven't seen those since they were airing them on PBS when I was a kid."
Oh, there was no way Evelyn was going to let that go, not when Netflix was available. "You're kidding. Come on, get your pizza, we're moving this to the living room and we are going to get our Rod Serling on." Evelyn exchanged her bottle of shiraz for two bottles of water and the living room remote, and they settled on the couch side-by-side to start up their old-school marathon. "Time Enough At Last is my favorite," she murmured as though imparting some profound and precious secret.
"Time Enough At Last is everyone's favorite," Cullen said, laughing, and she chucked him in the shoulder.
Hours flew by as they bonded over 1960s visions of the future, taking turns pointing out unrecognizably young actors in early roles and swapping childhood PBS memories. They had gradually shifted closer over the evening until their thighs were pressed together and every nerve ending on that side of Evelyn's body felt like they were on overdrive.
He had a way of looking directly at her while they were talking as though even the most inconsequential bullshit was interesting and important and the feeling of his regard was a weighty thing that felt not unlike a liquor buzz. It was so easy to meet his eyes and drown in that unfairly long-lashed gaze that she didn't even realize she'd been staring at him until he broke off mid-sentence to furrow his eyebrows at her. "What?"
Evelyn wanted desperately to play this cool. Her coolness was vital and paramount because Varric had an actual literal notebook of all of the ways her coolness had inevitably failed her in past relationships and this was too awesome to fuck up. Unfortunately, her small mental voice of social self-preservation was entirely silent, and so what came out of her mouth was the complete and unvarnished truth: "I would really like to kiss you right now."
Cullen's grin made her blood pound, holding as it did equal parts relief and trepidation. "Oh, thank god." Then his hand slid to the back of her neck, tangled in her hair, and pulled her close for a kiss that fuzzed out every last neuron.
Evelyn wasn't entirely sure when, exactly, she'd made the move to straddle his lap on the sofa, her hips bracketing his and kisses progressing to moaned featherings along his jaw; nor, really was she entirely aware of when she'd started unbuttoning her shirt, with his broad hands on her waist and thumbs stroking the bared skin over her hipbones, though it was probably about the same time his tie had come loose. She was, however, completely aware of when everything came to a screeching halt: when her roommate decided to surface from the depths of her studio and declare, brightly, "Well thank fuck you wore the pretty bra."
She and Cullen jumped apart like guilty teenagers, his sharp move to the right tangling up with hers to the left and sending her sliding gracelessly to the floor. "My god, are you all right?" He reached down for her, expression utterly mortified and the tips of his ears singed red. With an aborted laugh that he shifted to a throat clearing, he gave her hand a gentle tug. "So, uh, you have a roommate?"
Evelyn held her shirt closed with one hand and pulled herself up with the other, eyes screwed tightly shut. "Is she gone?" she stage-whispered. "Yes, I have a roommate, because I am a sucker who hates living alone. Tell me she's gone, or this is a horrible nightmare that I will wake up from at any second." She cracked one eye open and grinned at him. "Well. Not the kissing part. That was more dreamy than nightmarey."
"I'm in the kitchen and I'm seeing nothing," Sera sang back with a brassy cackle and a clatter of glassware. "And now I am leaving, so you can go back to slobbering!"
Cullen glanced at the clock over the television and ruffled his hand through his hair with a sigh, embarrassed amusement still stark on his face. "I don't mean to compromise your dignity and flee the scene of our crime, but I do have to be at work in four hours."
Evelyn rebuttoned her shirt with still-fumbly fingers, not even caring that the right side was jumped up a buttonhole. "You're fine. My dignity fled years ago, just ask Varric." She paused, reached for his hand, and gave it a squeeze. "Or, actually, don't. Let me keep some of my mystique."
They walked down the hallway to the foyer hand in hand, and it was interesting to feel comfortable, safe, and also like her blood was on fire. She didn't want to open the door, but couldn't think of a respectable way to suggest he stay, preferably in her bedroom and preferably with that tie on the floor or employed in a vastly more interesting way. "Cullen," Evelyn started hesitantly. "This is going to sound a little strange, but do you own a tuxedo?"
He was quiet for a long minute. "Something like. Why?"
Evelyn tightened her grip on his hand for a moment, then released it. "I need you to be my date at a wedding, but it's white tie and it's also total bullshit."
"Of course," Cullen said immediately, not even batting an eye at her claim of bullshit. "When?"
"Um." She winced. "Next weekend?"
"Are you serious?" he asked, staring at her with raised eyebrows.
"Deadly," Evelyn said, and couldn't keep every hint of dread out of her voice. "Varric already refused to go with me. I can't go alone or my mother will try and hook me up with someone and I am the most not interested in that."
Cullen cleared his throat and looked away for a moment, running a hand sheepishly through his mussed hair. "To be honest I find I'm not really interested in that either. Who's getting married?"
"My elder sister," she said, so pleased by even the most minor strains of reciprocal jealousy that she had to firmly hold the reins of her id before it did something stupid like ask him if he liked her liked her.
Cullen frowned, and Evelyn had another second to mentally catalog the differences between their respective familial feelings. "And you're not in the wedding?"
"Oh good god, no." She shuddered, mouth curled in exaggerated distaste. Were Sera still upstairs, Evelyn probably would have made a gagging noise to go with it just to make her laugh. "There's a week of parties with twee little cucumber sandwiches and Great Aunt Muffy and second cousins in fancy hats and I couldn't spend that much time away from the lab, so they let me off the hook for the pre-wedding crap. Just ceremony and reception, next Saturday night."
"You don't seriously have a Great Aunt Muffy," he said with a laugh. "Evie, no one seriously has a Great Aunt Muffy."
She shook her head. "No, I totally, totally do, but she's a blue-haired terror and I can't talk about her or you'll say no. I know it's last-minute and you have eleven million jobs but please say you'll come. I will personally..." Evelyn broke off, wracking her brain for something she could do to make this work. "...Get Varric to bribe someone to cover your shifts," was the best she could come up with. His loosened tie and that little triangle of skin at his throat were completely melting her brain. "Or -- whatever you need. I can't face this without someone sane and excruciatingly handsome with me."
His eyebrows flew up again in time with his deepening dimple in a self-satisfied grin. "You know you just said that out loud."
"Of course I did. I'm desperate." Evelyn shrugged, and it was her turn to look sheepish. "Look, I'll be real: it's probably going to suck, and I'm sure it's technically too soon to subject you to my family at all, let alone my family in white tie, but I promise I will make it up to you."
Cullen reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear, trailing his fingertips along her cheekbone with a tantalizing gentleness that made her shiver. "I'll call in some favors. All day Saturday?" When she nodded, he leaned down and kissed her forehead like a blessing. "Please believe me when I say I am happy to spend any and all time with you."
She grabbed his tie and pulled him down for a searing kiss that might as well have made time stop entirely, and when they finally broke apart they were both having trouble catching their breath. "I had a really nice time tonight, Cullen," Evelyn said with a quiet earnestness that right before that exact moment she was pretty sure she didn't even possess. "Thank you for coming." A split-second after the words left her mouth she froze and tripped over her own tongue. "Over. Thank you for coming over. To my house. For dinner."
When he laughed, his entire face lit up and Evelyn decided then and there that it would be one of her life's missions to flip that switch whenever she could. "I knew what you meant," he murmured, and kissed her lightly in a sweet goodbye. "I'll see you Thursday?"
"Yes, Thursday," Evelyn said. "I promise not to stalk you before then, but I will probably text you eighty billion times. You have my permission to ignore me, I've seen your phone."
Cullen grinned down at her and Evelyn fought the urge to preen like a cat. "I'll see what I can do. Sleep well, Evie."
Evelyn gave up trying to play it cool and blew him a kiss like a dork as he turned to wave at the end of her drive. Oh yeah, she was definitely going to sleep well, with the best dreams.
Dorian was miserable. They were currently trudging through the Storm Coast so of course his boot would choose now of all times to split. He’d already felt terrible, chilled to the bone, but now his left sock was absolutely soaked and he was fairly certain things couldn’t get any worse.
Biting his tongue, he stopped himself from grumbling. They were all equally miserable and he needed to keep it together and stay focused if they were going to get through this. The darkspawn were all over the place here and he couldn’t afford to lower his guard. He might end up with a cold by the end of this but he wasn’t going to let anyone get hurt because of it.
When the Inquisitor finally called it for the night, they all set up camp as quickly as possible, all of them glad to be able to finally rest. As soon as everything was set up, he all but collapsed in front of the fire that Elden had just finished lighting. Immediately he pulled off his boot to dump out the water, breathing a sigh of relief as he stripped off his wet sock, stretching out as close to the fire as possible and finally feeling warm for the first time in recent memory.
“When did that happen?” Elden asked, settling down beside him with a concerned look.
“Oh, never mind, it was bound to happen eventually,” Dorian waved a hand dismissively
“Do you at least have a spare pair of dry socks?” Elden said. He always did stress the importance of keeping their feet warm and dry.
“So long as my pack hasn’t also decided to break.”
“Sorry, I know it’s miserable here,” Elden said.
“No, no, please don’t apologize,” Dorian sighed again. The last thing he wanted was Elden to feel bad, especially for things he had no control over. “We’re all in the same boat here. Unless you can actually control the weather and just never told me. Then we may need to have words.”
“Not the weather but I might be able to do something at least,” Elden said with a smile. “Can I see your boot?”
“Sure, knock yourself out.”
Elden carefully examined the extent of the damage before pulling out his pack and digging around inside.
“Wait, do you actually know how to repair boots?” Dorian asked, surprised.
“Yeah,” Elden said, turning bright red. “Back at the Chantry we had to repair all our clothes. I guess I picked up a lot of odd tricks there.
“Well, lucky me,” Dorian said, shooting him a warm smile. “Thank you.”
“I don’t have everything I need but I can at least keep you dry until we get out of here. Just let me know if it springs another leak, I don’t want you to have to walk around like this.”
Dorian couldn’t help but smile as he watched him work. Here was the grand Inquisitor, their esteemed leader, taking the time to fix his boot of all things, tongue poking out slightly in concentration. But then, that was Elden. He probably would have tried to force Dorian to switch boots with him if this hadn’t worked, as ridiculous as that would have been.
Dorian felt a little guilty, making more work for Elden, but he also felt warm beyond just the heat given off by the fire, knowing that Elden was so willing to drop everything just to help him. He reminded himself that Elden likely would have done this for any of their companions, but that didn’t really make it any less meaningful.
Elden always had been an early riser. His schedule had always required it of him and he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to break it. As the sun began rising over the mountains, bathing the room in an orange glow, he sat up with a heavy sigh, stretching his tired limbs. There was a groan from the bundle of blankets beside him and an arm reached out, patting across the bed until he found Elden’s wrist.
“Just a little longer,” Dorian said, voice groggy with sleep.
Elden couldn’t help but chuckle, moving the blankets aside enough to see his face. Dorian squinted unhappily at the sunlight and burrowed a little deeper.
“It’s morning,” Elden pointed out, leaning in to place a quick kiss on his cheek.
“How very astute of you,” Dorian said, fixing him with an annoyed look.
“All right, all right,” Elden chuckled, lying back down beside him. “I guess I still have a bit more time before I need to be anywhere.”
“Good,” Dorian said with a self-satisfied smile as he scooted closer, letting Elden wrap his arms around him. “Why you insist on getting up at the ass-crack of dawn I will never understand.”
“Some of us go to bed at a reasonable time,” Elden pointed out, burying his face in Dorian’s hair to hide his grin as he pulled him close, wrapping the blankets more tightly around them both.
“I have more important things to do than sleep,” Dorian grumbled. “Except right now.”
Elden never loved mornings more than he did at times like these. It was warm and peaceful, the rising sun signifying the hope of a new day. And more than anything, there was Dorian, so relaxed and completely himself in his arms, his hair mussed and mustache askew. He was happy and at peace and here with him and, honestly, that was all Elden could ever ask for.
Elden kissed the top of his head, smiling at Dorian’s contented sigh, and closed his eyes. He probably wouldn’t be able to actually sleep again, but it was still nice, listening to the gentle breathing beside him and the world slowly coming to life outside. He wondered if a time would ever come when they wouldn’t have anywhere urgent to be and could do this every morning.
“I’m sorry for dragging you out here, I know you hate the cold,” Elden said, voice apologetic.
“Nonsense,” Dorian said, waving a dismissive hand as they tromped through the wilderness. He just desperately hoped no more snow would slip off of any branches and down the back of his neck. “It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
He didn’t mean for it to sound sarcastic, not really. Things were bad enough without him adding to it, and Elden was far too stressed as it was. He didn’t like complaining unless it was to commiserate. But it was true, he was painfully cold and he hated it here in the mountains. But this was where Elden was and therefore it was where Dorian needed to be. Whatever battles lay ahead, he wasn’t going to let the Inquisitor face them alone.
“Well, here, maybe this will help,” Elden said, coming to a stop.
He dropped his pack to the ground and fished around in it for a moment before pulling out a green scarf that matched the one he was currently wearing. He brought it up and wrapped it around Dorian’s neck in one quick motion, folding it in on itself to hold it in place. He apparently did this all without much thought because a moment later his face turned bright red as he registered their proximity and he quickly released him.
Dorian, for his part, was taken completely off guard. He was pretty sure he stopped breathing for a moment there when he felt Elden’s warm breath ghosting against his cheek and he had to cough to try to get his brain working properly again when he realized he should say something.
“Do you just carry multiple scarves with you wherever you go?” Dorian joked, hoping he wasn’t also bright red. Maybe his face had already been red from the cold and no one would notice. “What else did you manage to fit in there?”
“I just always have an extra,” Elden said with an embarrassed smile.
“Well, lucky me, then,” Dorian said and he couldn't help the soft smile he gave in return. Somehow it struck him as painfully sweet that Elden always had a spare. Of course he did, he was always looking out for others. “Thank you.”
They fell back into step with their party and as they walked, Dorian pulled the scarf up to cover the lower part of his face, telling himself he was doing it to block the cold wind and not because it smelled like Elden. It was soft and warm and it left too many emotions swirling around in his gut.
Not only had Elden been considerate enough to loan him the scarf, but he had also apparently been paying enough attention to notice his discomfort in the first place. It left him feeling warm and much too happy, even if there was a little guilt mixed in at worrying him. And he’d rather not even put a name to how he felt when Elden had been so close, close enough to touch if he’d just leaned forward.
It had been altogether too pleasant and he had to stomp that thought down quickly. He was beginning to enjoy the Inquisitor’s presence far too much and he needed to get himself under control before he slipped up and made a fool of himself. It was silly and childish and-- kaffas, he kept catching himself glancing in the Inquisitor’s direction even as he was scolding himself. He was completely hopeless, wasn’t he?
Dorian let out a heavy sigh. This was going to be a long day.
