TYSM for the tags @bronzieinthedas @in-the-drowning-deep @serensama @jenn2d2 @sorcerousadventurer & @kogarashi-art! Like always you have blown my flippin' socks off with your gorgeous art, cosplay, and writing!! 💕🔥
I'm still DEEP in Sylvie Mode over here!! TY for showing my girl so much love on her Song For Every Letter Post, it's been fun slowly dragging her grumpy ass (kicking & screaming) into the spotlight and trying to flesh her out even more as a character.
Speaking of, this Cowboy AU 'minific' has turned into a multi-fic highlights reel of Western!Sylvie and Dav's love story (Fern?? Writing more than she said she would?? Quel suprise lmao. 😂) Yes, even as my backlog of languishing WIPs scream at me from Ellipsus.
Me: "I'm gonna get to you I promise!!"
The WIPs: FINISH OR KILL USSSSSS
Me: "Shhhhhh"
*closes the door and backs away slowly*
Anyhoooo, in the bit below, Sylvie is desperately trying not to feel things for a certain saloon owner...and y'all she's hilariously bad at it. As per usual I couldn't find it in me to cut any more from this post bc I'm just too damn excited to share more #Davellan. Like always there's no pressure to read, and I put the cut at a good stopping point if you'd like a taste and not the full meal.
Cheers! 🍻
🍹 Sylvie, at the Griffon, *definitely* not flirting with Davrin
"What about this one?"
She caught the glass Davrin slid across the bar and brought it up to her nose, giving the suspiciously red contents a cautious sniff.
"I'm not trying to poison you," he snickered.
Sylvie smirked. Davrin had steadily supplied her with random drinks throughout the entire night, incredulous upon discovering she didn't have a good answer when he asked what her typical go-to was. She just sort of drank what was available, or whatever made her seem the least suspicious while waiting around for a mark. And Dav had apparently made it his mission to help her figure it out.
"But what is it?" she asked.
"Just shut up and drink it."
Sylvie narrowed her eyes at him, but took a sip.
"Ackkk—fucking shit!" she sputtered. "Whatever the hell it is, it's bloody awful!"
Davrin let out one of those loud booming laughs. "Damn, Sylvs. Don't sugarcoat it or anything."
She snickered. "Sorry. But it's like drinking cold soup…that burns."
"Can't say I disagree with you, there," he said, chuckling. "I hate Bloody Marys."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Then why the fuck did you make me one??"
"I wanted to see the look on your face."
"And? Was it worth it? I'd hate to disappoint," Sylvie deadpanned.
He leaned over the bar with a cheeky smirk, grabbing the glass and letting his fingers linger when they brushed against hers.
"Even better than I imagined."
…Bloody hell.
"You're a real piece of work Mr. Mahariel."
Davrin laughed again, somehow even louder this time. "Really? Wow. That's like Lucanis calling someone else 'broody'."
A loud scoff came from further down the bar.
"Mierda. I'm right here you know."
The two of them burst out laughing, Lucanis unexpectedly joining in.
"Gimme your glass," Dav said, gesturing towards him. "I'll give you some of your fancy wine on the house to make up for it."
Sylvie couldn't stop herself from smiling at him when the offer made Lucanis' face light up. "Thank you, Davrin."
"Don't mention it."
Sylvie took the opportunity to take a careful look around the saloon from her barstool. Her favorite one—all the way at the end of the bar, so that nothing but a small piece of wall was at her back.
It was slower than usual, but there were a few visitors scattered around the regulars going about their typical routines. Mr. Tethras and Mayor Cassandra were at their usual table, squabbling away about something while little grins began to form on their faces. Sylvie snickered again, and estimated they were about a pint away from getting out of there in favor of the Mayoral Residence.
"Squawk!!"
Sylvie let out a loud laugh when Assan nudged her hand under the bar, and she knelt down to give him a hug. "Hey—I've missed you! What's my sweet boy been up to all day?" she cooed, scratching him behind the ear.
"Stealing sausages apparently."
She looked up at Davrin where he was peering at them from over the bar. He had a sickeningly earnest look on his face, even when Sylvie scoffed. "Lies and slander, I'm sure. Just look at him! He hasn't done a single thing wrong in his entire bloody life! Isn't that right sweetie?!"
Assan made an enthusiastic chirp and bumped his beak up into her hand to demand more pets. Which Sylvie was all too happy to provide.
"Sounded an awful lot like a yes to me, Dav."
He rolled his eyes, but grinned at her. "Bellara said he ate half a case!"
"Well, he's a growing boy! Aren't you, Assan?"
"Squaaawk!"
"See?" she teased, giving Davrin a satisfied smirk as he scoffed.
"The two of you are lucky you're so damn cute," he quipped, breezily floating away to grab someone a drink as if he didn't just make Sylvie's traitorous heart flutter around her chest like a bloody fucking butterfly.
She let out a pissy sigh.
She'd promised herself she'd never do this. Whatever this even was, anyway. It was just way too fucking inconvenient to give a shit about people.
Sylvie was pretty sure she hadn't always been this way.
Unfortunately, it was sort of hard to remember the little girl she used to be anymore. And it was much, much harder to forget all of the lessons she'd since learned over the past decade or so, telling her that forming any sort of attachment to literally anyone was insanely stupid.
So it pissed her the fuck off when she felt her heart flip around again whenever she stood up and Davrin flung another drink across the bar at her.
"Another one?"
He folded his arms over his chest. "Just try it."
Sylvie studied it. Whatever was in the glass was thankfully clear and much less smelly than that bloody Bloody Mary. She took a sip.
Mmm.
Davrin smirked. "Thought so."
It was bitter, but not disgusting like Tal's absinthe. And it was almost…spicy? But floral. With a hint of citrus, and an earthy, kind of woodsy aroma that…
She blushed, and Davrin raised an eyebrow at her.
…Well it sort of reminded her of how he always smelled. Resiny. Warm. Like the trees back home, and the wood he whittled away at when he got bored behind the bar.
"What is it?" Sylvie asked.
"Gin. A gin martini," he said, a triumpant look in his eyes.
"What's that smug face for? I didn't say I liked it."
"I can tell."
"Well you're wrong, 'cause I don't."
"You're full of shit."
She smiled like an idiot in response, and Davrin reached down behind the bar to grab a jar of something, laughing at the face she made when he set it down in front of her.
"I hate olives."
"Now that I believe," he snickered.
"What are they for?"
"Martinis usually have an olive in them."
"Blegh—no thanks. I'll take my mine olive-free, thanks." Davrin snickered again as he put them away, and Sylvie's eyes landed on the big jar of cherries she always stole from whenever he wasn't looking.
"Can I have a cherry instead?"
He laughed. "That's not a thing."
"Dav!" Sylvie put her hands on her hips. "I thought you owned this place!? You've bloody told me you do enough fucking times."
"…Yeah. So?"
"So—it's a thing now if you say so! A Golden Griffon specialty!"
Davrin chuckled. "What? Shitty martinis??"
She ignored him, and held out her glass in response, giving him the same look Assan did when he begged for druffalo jerky.
"Fine," he grumbled, plucking one out of the jar and dropping it into her glass. "Well?"
He looked her expectantly, so she took another sip.
"Perfect."
It was delicious. Shockingly good. But not as shocking as when Sylvie felt herself lean over the bar, as if she were being conrolled by fucking blood magic instead of her own idiot brain to kiss him on the cheek.
They just sort of stood there for a second or two, blinking at each other in surprise.
Gods knew Sylvie had done much, much worse to seduce her way into the beds of countless marks over the years. Creators—it's not like she'd never kissed a man on the fucking cheek before. But, besides Bravmi…she'd never actually liked the person.
…And wasn't planning on gutting them like a fish later.
"Thanks, Dav."
"Don't mention it."
She felt the panic tighten around her chest when Dav gave her one of those way too pretty smiles, and found she couldn't do anything else besides give him a wobbly one in return.
Fenedhis.
…She was a fucking idiot.
Dav also starred in Sylvie's first-ever POV here:
Sylvie Hunts with Bartender Dav 🐍
🐴 Yeehaw Peepaw! Master Post
You know the drill! Plopping the tag list below plus a few Dav-enjoying pals I think might get a kick outta this/the graphic lol. Gentle tags as always for y'all and everyone readin' - show us what you've got cookin' if you're so inclined!! 💕
"I used to be a Warden," Davrin explained. "But before that, I hunted monsters."
She looked up at him in surprise. "Me too."
My Inky Sylvie Lavellan guest stars in @sunny374940 & I's crazy Cowboy AU, and I've been listening to her playlist non-stop while working on an upcoming backstory for her. So I figured she should have a shot at this game too. TYSM to everyone who tagged me since I posted Ayla's songs! @casa-dei-corvei, sunny374940, @tieflingsorcerer, & @shadowknight19kay 💕
In the main story of Yeehaw Peepaw!, Sylvie's known as saloon-owner Davrin's knife-loving bae. She's also Tal Lavellan's cousin (Sunny's Inky), but they're more like brother and sister. Sylvie grew up with good ol' cousin Tal but was kidnapped by Tevinter slavers when she was only 8. Sylvie survives her time as a slave in Minrathous by fighting for her evil shem owner in underground gladiator slave-fighting rings, eventually escaping around the age of 16, when she begins an Arya Stark revenge quest that spans years.
Girlie's got all sorts of survivor's guilt, and lots of complicated feelings about what she was forced to do in order to survive. She is incredibly badass, but I wish she didn't have to be, ya know? 😭
I'm only doing Sylvie's first name, but I'm going to include a few random songs with some snippets too, because I love my gal so much and she's always playing second fiddle to the Golden Child Goblin Queen.
A few are from stuff that is still in-progress, and the one below is from this minific: Sylvie Hunts with Bartender Dav 🐍
Here Come the Wolves | Lola Blanc
Here come the wolves
They're coming to get ya
I run through the woods
I'm not gonna let you go
I'm baring my teeth, I'm ready
My tongue is a sharp machete
So why do I feel unsteady?
You can run, run, run, little lamb
And it's not, not, not who I am
But I'm a wolf now
Guess I'm a wolf now
"What's the worst monster you've ever killed?" he asked.
“The man who owned me."
Sylvie winced when the words came out of her before she could stop them, and she regretted it instantly. Bracing herself for the awkward, stilted silence that was sure to follow. Davrin appeared at a loss for words, and she couldn't bear to look at his face. Not when he must either think she was insane, or even worse…
…something to pity.
So it sort of surprised her when he muttered a bunch of filthy Dalish curses instead.
"Good," he spat, his deep voice low and full of rage. It rumbled straight through her, and Sylvie absolutely could not deny that it made her feel things. Dangerous things to be feeling around a man that damn pretty.
"Your 'list'?" he asked. His was scowling, all his normal good-natured charm replaced with fury.
"Every single bloody shem responsible for what they did to me and Mira." Sylvie gasped. She hadn't said that name out loud in…
Fuck. Not sure how long actually.
"…Your?"
"Sister." She stopped walking and focused on the big black birds overhead when she answered the question she knew he probably wanted to ask next, but was too kind to. "Dead."
Davrin didn't say anything for a while. He just stood next to her, closer than she probably would have liked. Staring at those damn birds.
"Ir abelas," / I'm sorry / he finally murmured, breaking the silence.
"Ma nuvenin." / As you wish.
Despite everything, Davrin nodded his head and gave her the ghost of a smile when she mirrored his unusual reply from earlier. Like he understood.
Which was impossible.
S - Start A Riot | BEGINNERS, Night Panda
Arms to the sky screamin', "Rah, rah, rah"
Head to the side with a na-na-nod
Hit that switch, make it hotter
Ya homegrown rebel spin 'em 'round, 'round, 'round
Late-night trouble goin' down, down, down
Hit that switch, make it hotter
They call me wild child
So what you heard 'bout me?
Dangerous, wild child
I know you heard about me
Y - You Wrote the Role for Me | Kiki Rockwell
Let go. Yes I am in your hands but I am snow.
Let go. I vanish more the harder that you hold.
Let go. No warm embrace can cancel out the cold.
This friendly shrug's a ragin', screaming no from me.
'Cos I only feel the love if there's uncertainty.
Don't wanna play the villain but it's like...
You wrote the role for me.
Let go. You can't usurp the queen of ice's throne.
Let go. Your hands around my waist feel like my throat.
Let go. You can't reap what refuses to be sown.
L - Lilith | Kiki Rockwell
God made me first
From the same dirt
Made me with thirst
And thoughts inside my brand new head
Oh how we fought
'cos I would not
Bend nor bow
And break in Adam's brand new bed
"She's making a mess of my garden Lord"
Can't put me back
"She's crashing the story I starred in Lord"
Can't put me back
I made me grow
Reap I don't sow
And soon he'll know
That I will always put me first
"Faster, rattus—or are you so eager to feel the sting of the lash again?"
Sylvie squeezed the potato in her hand so hard it broke in two, very much wishing it was that fucking shem's face. It earned her a smack, and she winced. Her back still stung so bad from the day before.
She glanced at the knife she'd dropped on the cutting board beside her…
No. She couldn't risk getting in trouble again so soon. It didn't even help the other new girl anyway since Sylvie got caught helping with her share of the potatoes. Sylvie got a lash for each one she'd done for her. Ivy, the other girl, was just so bloody slow. Probably because she never stopped crying. Cook didn't like it when they cried.
Well, Sylvie didn't much like Cook.
But she would very much like to see what kind of sound Cook made when she slashed her face like she had slashed Sylvie's back.
V - Vendetta | UNSECRET, Krigare
Fool me once and it's shame on me
But you know you better tread carefully
Fool me twice, I'm your enemy
I'm your enemy
If you push, I push back
Try to hide
But I'll hunt you down like a maniac
Down, you'll go down
So if you hide
I'm gonna hunt you down
Run, you better run
Vendetta
I - In the Dark | Klergy
Walk with me while the sun exits the sky
Show me what you feel without the light
It's your choice to turn around again
We could just try to forget
'Cause in the dark
You find out who you are
What's in your heart
In the dark
E - Empire | Saint Mesa
From a lonely stage
In a dark room
Past the golden age
I will sing my broken hymns
Though the demons stay
Still my light burns
I can only say
Welcome to my empire
'Cause I am an empire of one
SYLVIE & DAV 🐍
For some reason she couldn't wrap her head around, Davrin didn't treat her like the mangled broken thing she'd become.
It was as if he looked past the shoddy repair job she'd done. Pretending like he didn't notice how she was nothing but the bits and pieces of herself that she'd clumsily attempted to glue back together into the Sylvie she remembered.
Halu 🦊
Tal's pet name for Sylvie is Halu or 'little fox' in Dalish. And this song is 100% Western!Sylvie x Dav to me.
With a gun in hand and my man, we go into the woods
I know just what I need to do and yes, it's understood
Rumbling bellies, shaking limbs, we're gonna try and make a stand
No, we're not going anywhere without a prize from the land
I'm just a hunter
Just tryna survive
You know the drill: I'm plopping the taglist below to say howdy, absolutely no pressure to read!! Love y'all!! 💕
