@inquisimer sent in the prompt "you are very endearing when you're half-asleep" from the fluff starters, but I tried to save the ask as a draft and tumblr decided that meant it should disappear forever. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You Will Find Him Next to Me
The last thing Gideon remembers, he was resting against Dorian’s shoulder, and struggling to stay awake. It takes his sleep-addled mind a few moments to process the position in which he finds himself, and to realise that Dorian had frozen in the process of lowering him to the chaise. He lazily grips Dorian’s wrist.
“Don’t get up,” he mumbles. “I’ll miss having you next to me.”
Dorian laughs, softly, and presses a kiss to Gideon’s forehead. “As endearing as you are when half-asleep, amatus, I doubt you’d be quite so happy with me if you woke up with a sprain in your neck.”
As he talks, he doesn’t, in fact, lower Gideon to the chaise. Instead, he wraps one arm around Gideon’s back, slides the other under his knees, and lifts him up.
“I can walk,” Gideon protests.
“Of course you can,” Dorian replies, “but this is much more romantic, don’t you think?”
“As long as none of the rank and file think the Tevinter magister is spiriting me away to steal my soul,” Gideon mumbles in reply.
[ AID ] for the taller muse to pick up the shorter one to lift them over something ( stairs, while hiking, a large puddle etc. ). for Kali and Bull?
tol and smol prompts | @dadrunkwriting
In At the Deep End
It’s official: the Fallow Mire is the worst place Kali has ever been to, perhaps even including Future Redcliffe. At least Future Redcliffe was dry in some places, once they’d found their way out of the dungeons. Out here, everything is wet, and getting wetter by the second. Water covers much of the land, and the rare places the ground breaks the surface are mostly made up of mud that sucks on her bare feet with every step. Even the few houses they’ve come across have sheets of water pouring down the walls inside.
Their only way of crossing the marsh is a series of battered wooden walkways. The planks and posts are rotting through in places, and slippery everywhere, which makes for treacherous passage. So far, both Gideon and Sera have planted feet into the bog, and disturbed the possessed corpses slumbering beneath its surface. Somehow, the Iron Bull has managed to avoid going into the drink, and perhaps that’s why Kali thought she could avoid the same fate.
No such luck.
She takes the next step on the walkway, and it gives way underfoot. She cries out in surprise. An awful decision, really – she’ll get a mouthful of corpse water and die of some horrible disease. Only she should have done so by now. Opening her eyes, she takes in the large, grey hand closed tight around her upper arm. Bull pulls her back onto the platform, but doesn’t let her go.
Of course, the broken wood still hit the water, and the second of confusion gives more corpses time to rise from the marsh.
“Crap,” Bull grumbles.
“Quick, let me down!” Kali blurts.
Bull, however, seems to have other ideas. “Hey, remember that idea I had about throwing someone over the enemy line?”
“The enemy are in the middle of the bog!” she protests.
“Same principle, different tactic.”
He shifts the hand on her leg to her backside, lets go of her arm, and then she’s in the air. Not heading for the enemy, heading for the shore. She manages to twist in the air enough to go hands-first, rolling over and up into a crouching position. Turning around, she sees Bull running after her, kicking up huge sprays of water. The walkway had collapsed completely. More bodies unfold themselves from beneath the surface, wielding jagged swords and driftwood bows.
Arrows fly in both directions. Sera picks some off with her bow. Gideon calls forth fire and, once Bull is clear of the water, lightning. Kali attacks with throwing knives before the undead swordsmen come ashore. She draws her dual-blades, but Bull gets there first. He swings his greataxe, and they topple to the floor, legs separated from their bodies. Though they try to crawl onward, they don’t prove much of a challenge. Kali and Bull make short work of them.
With the corpses dispatched, for at least the second time, the group are relatively safe for now. Kali sheathes her dual-blades, and hurries over to Bull.
“Are you alright?” she asks.
“Fine,” he replies, grinning. “You went further than I thought.”
“Oh, but all that wood. You didn’t get cut, did you? And what about your leg? I’m so sorry. I never should have…”
“Kali, the leg’s fine,” Bull insists. “I’m fine. Not even a scratch.”
She trusts him, and she would hate for him to think otherwise, but she also knows just how well an injury can hide. He notices her hesitation quickly, because he speaks again. “You can look me over when we get to camp,” he offers. And then smirks. “As much of me as you want.”
Sera cackles, Gideon snorts, and Kali heats up like a dragon’s belch, despite the cold rain. “Bull!”
“What? You’re worried.” He pats her on the shoulder – hard enough to knock her off balance, but not quite hard enough to really hurt – and walks off up the path. He pauses just long enough to look over his shoulder and add, “and I know how much you enjoy checking me out!”
Kali finds herself wishing that the bog would swallow her up and she’d never have to be looked at again. Instead, she has to deal with Gideon smirking at her. “Do you want us to hang back here, or…?”
She fights the urge to hide her face in her hands. She turns her chin up, and looks him straight in the eye. “What are you laughing at? You said you wished you could sleep with him too.”
Sera and Gideon laugh with her this time, as she turns on her heel and follows Bull up the road.
from the 50 wordless ways promp, "Tucking the sheets around them when they stir during the night." for Samson and Torunn
50 wordless ways to say I love you | @dadrunkwriting
A Second Time for Everything
Samson has nightmares almost every time he sleeps, these days. He’s had them for years, but lack of lyrium has made them worse. As such, he’s used to being woken up in the middle of the night, though not usually by an errant elbow to the ribs. Last time that happened, he was still in barracks.
He sits up, massaging the spot on his breastbone where Torunn caught him. Not that it particularly hurt, it was just a surprise. They’d fallen asleep with him wrapped in her arms, but one or both of them must have rolled away at some point. Now she has her back to him, breathing heavily, curling in on herself. As Samson looks on, she mumbles something like “let go of me.” Her arm twitches, and the blanket slips further down her body, exposing more of her grey-white skin to the now-chilly room.
Rutherford used to have nightmares like this. Maybe he still does, he wouldn’t know. Touching her or waking her is liable to make things worse for both of them. Rutherford lashed out at him once, and if Torunn did that, he’d be in deep shit. Nothing to do but wait her out.
Luckily, it doesn’t take her long to settle. She grumbles again, shifts onto her back, and falls still. Her breathing slows into that deep, even rhythm that comes with restful sleep. He watches for another few minutes, just to be sure, but she’s sound asleep. Whatever it was had clearly let go.
So he pulls the blanket back up over her shoulders. Torunn makes a contented little noise, but doesn’t wake. Satisfied, Samson gets comfortable himself, and closes his eyes. He’s still well within elbow range, but he’ll take his chances.
I think most Fereldans have some residual resentment towards Orlais, and Rian absorbs a lot of that growing up. I imagine there are a lot of rude jokes still going around. They don't have anything against individual Orlesians, though, and they get along well enough with the few they've met.
4 - What is your Hawke's attitude towards Andrastianism?
Rian is an Andrastian themself, but they don't believe in the Chantry doctrine. They know the Chant of Light pretty well and they kind of have their own thoughts about it. They certainly don't buy into the whole doctrine about mages being cursed by the Maker, or humans somehow being more holy than everyone else. They pray, as well, though not in any particularly structured way.
18 - Does your Hawke have any irrational fears?
Canonically, spiders. Headcanonically, anything to do with childbirth. Under a cut, trigger warning for miscarriage/stillbirth:
Basically, when they were very young, they overheard Leandra going through a late miscarriage. The baby was named Garrett. Rian has carried him with them ever since. They also have an early miscarriage during their relationship with Anders, which they consciously know is not their fault, but they never manage to fully forgive themself for. However much they'd love to have a baby, it's something they'd have real trouble dealing with.
