thinking about inky and cullen living together on a farm right by his family's home and them having a baby and all of a sudden there's a bunch of visitors at their house like. oh some blonde elf girl, a blond boy, normal people, and then the viscount of kirkwall and a seeker and the knight-enchanter and the fucking divine
Love me some great Cullen Rutherford ships! So going with Lavellan/Cullen and a dash of "stop looking at me like that. i’ll fall in love all over again" from the drunken confessions list.
Thank you for this prompt!! I had so much fun writing it, and I miss getting to write these sweet little moments while they are in their established relationship 🥰
Set post-DAI
Read here on ao3
"You smell nice.” Elderflower and armour polish and…whatever else scented his tinctures that Ash could no longer recall in her booze laden memory.
“Oh?” Cullen’s quill stilled, and he tilted his head, glancing sidelong at her—as difficult as it was, given she’d draped herself over his shoulders like a much more fashionable mantle.
The world spun around her, illuminated by the warm light of the melting candles perched on his desk. Vague memories swirled around her mind of being deposited against her will by large, grey hands and a deep, rumbling chuckle, but anything else was beyond her. Not that she particularly cared when Cullen was there, the corner of his lips ticked up in an amused smirk.
“Mhm,” she hummed, shifting her weight, bringing her nose against his neck and taking several short sniffs. Cullen laughed, cringing away from her tickling breath, but she followed. “Very-*hic*-nice.”
“Ashvalla,” he admonished with no real bite, “you promised you would refrain from interrupting.”
Ash frowned. “I don’t…remember that.” Then, she sniffed again, and this time he twisted from her grasp. His hands gripped her shoulders, her eyelids drooping as she shot him her best smile. He rolled his eyes, but he sighed in resignation, and Ash applauded herself for having won a game she had no idea she’d been playing.
“We should get you to bed before I cover this report in ink blots. You’re far too distracting like this.”
Her smile sharpened into a grin. “Flushed and ready for you, vhenan?”
Over a year of their courtship, and he still blushed at her flirtations—though not as fiercely as he once did, much to her dismay. “Drunk and likely to regret your decisions in the morning,” Cullen corrected. “Come on, you will need help up that ladder.”
Without waiting for a reply, he stood, rounded his chair, and lifted her into his arms. She flopped uselessly, pressing her face against the crook of his neck, her legs wrapping around his waist, and buried her fingers in his mantle for stability. Surrounded by the safety of his embrace, she pressed her content into his skin in the form of many small kisses.
His arms tightened around her. “Ashvalla, I would rather not drop you.”
“Then don’t.” She punctuated her words with another kiss, followed by several more.
He scoffed, but he did not request her to cease her affectionate activity. “Hold on tight, alright?”
With all the power of a drunken woman on a mission, she clasped her thighs around his waist, locked her arms around his neck, and hiccuped. Cullen released her, testing to ensure she’d followed his instruction, and once satisfied, began his climb. This was not the first time they’d ascended to his room like that, sober or drunk, and she was well versed in how to hang on.
In a matter of seconds, he safely maneuvered them into their loft and carried her over to the bed, placing her down on the firm mattress. She flopped back with a breathy giggle, gaze fixed on the stars winking at her from the hole in the ceiling. Chill night air hit her feet, and she frowned, certain she’d had her boots on to avoid the large muddy puddles from the recent spring thaw. Ash glanced down, understanding dawning as Cullen gently removed her second boot. Moonlight shone against his pale skin, illuminating his strong jaw and the golden strands of his hair. Painfully handsome, as always. If she were lucky, perhaps he’d let her play with them before sleep took her.
Once her boots were removed and she’d started shimmying out of her robes with little success, he helped her out of her stockings, cueing her with softly murmured instructions when he needed her cooperation. Ash grumbled as her arms got trapped in her sleeves, and he chuckled, shaking his head with fond exasperation, but he helped her out of her sticky situation, too.
The restriction of her breast band irritated her, and she rolled over onto her stomach with a dramatic groan. She reached back, haphazardly tapping her back in hopes that he understood what she was asking.
“Yes, dear,” he said patiently, and set about freeing her from the bindings. She took a deep breath and was relieved to find he’d made quick work of her breast band. Fresh air filled her lungs, and she released it with a happy sigh.
Ash mumbled her thank you and rolled onto the open side of the bed he created for her, landing on her back. Shuffling sounds came from her bedside, and she cracked an eye open to find Cullen opening her jar of moisturizer—a necessity for her burn scars, lest they grow itchy and likely to tear. How lucky she was to have someone who cared for her so deeply, and how far they had come to get there. Through strife and pain and far too much to name, they’d settled into the comfort of their love. She closed her eye again, her love an ache in her chest she would never wish away.
The mattress dipped as Cullen sat beside her, prodding her gently to roll onto her opposite side, and he began working moisturizer into her scarred skin. He began at her cheek, moving down her neck, her arm, lingering over her stomach, and to the worst of the burns at her hip.
"Spending a lot of time on my backside, hm?" she teased.
He huffed a quiet laugh, though it failed to hide the melancholy of his touch and the light kiss he placed on her hip bone. "I know you dislike when I take the blame for your injuries, but I would have liked to have the foresight to commission a tasset for you as well. More protection could have saved you some pain."
She wrinkled her nose, searching for her limited knowledge on the different parts of armour—taught almost entirely by Cullen himself. Tasset…right! Metal plates that sat over one's hips. "None of us could've known."
He hummed his agreement. "Yet the sentiment remains."
Had she the wherewithal, perhaps she would have corrected his way of thinking, but words of reassurance swam in her mind, firmly out of reach no matter how hard she tried to grab them. Cullen continued moisturizing her leg in silence, and once finished, he moved back up the bed, his fingers ghosting over her skin as he brushed her bangs from her face. She turned onto her back, her eyelids fluttering open, heavy with exhaustion but needing to gaze upon his handsome face like she needed air. His hand cupped her cheek, his lips curved in a soft smile, and his eyes…Love pulsed in her heart, sending her pulse into an erratic rhythm. If someone were to tell her that he was the one possessed by a spirit of love, she would be inclined to believe them. It practically radiated from every pore, lighting up his face and warming her down to her core.
“Stop looking at me like that.” Her hand flopped about in a useless attempt to ward him off. “I’ll fall in love all over again.”
Cullen chuckled, ducking his chin, though his love did not dim. “Would that be so terrible?”
A smile stretched her cheeks, and she giggled. “No.”
“Then the matter is settled.” He tucked the sheets up to her chin, and she didn’t have the heart to tell him she’d kick it off as soon as he left—too warm already. When he returned, he’d see for himself, but hopefully her bare breasts could distract him from thoughts of sheets. In her opinion, they were much more important.
“G’night, Cullen,” she said as she nuzzled into his palm.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Goodnight, Ashvalla. I’ll return with water for you, should you need it.”
Ash hummed in lieu of acknowledgment, and before Cullen’s weight beside her could ease, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
cullavellan is so fun to write, i love the idea of him having a really weird girlfriend. vali'then is evolving the more i write her, maybe one day she'll be more than just that adorable elf i cry over when i play the game
