five times kissed do it. write me more drabbles.
she’d always admired the surrealistic atmospherethe fade tended to provide. even in a place like this, a glorified memory of columbia, there issomething that renders it unreal. easier. simpler.there are no people around other than the mani-festations of the fade, and they don’t pay attentionas elizabeth and solas sit side by side on the edgeof the pier. it’s almost like their first time going to the fade together, but this time there’s something…different about the atmosphere. they’ve been talking back and forth for what must have beenhours but feels like minutes, and it seems as if theywill never run out of things to say. even so, a silence falls over them as the fade’s version of the sun sinks below a blurred horizon. she turns to him, and the light upon his face is soperfect that something – some driving force in the heavens, in the earth, she doesn’t know –compels her to turn solas’s face towards hers. it’sa quiet moment, their noses touching and warmbreath on each others’ faces, before she closesthe gap and presses her lips to his for a fleetingfew seconds. as soon as regret blossoms over her face in tandem with a deep flush, she compels herself towake up.
it seems he’s fallen asleep in the courtyard again. on restless nights like this, when every noise threat-end to wake her from slumber, elizabeth finds her-self wandering empty halls, watching the moonlightbathe the gardens in liquid silver. it’s a bonus, ofcourse, if she finds whatever absurd spot solas hasdecided to rest in. he marks the center of the gaze-bo as if he were tiled in mosaic on the floor to doso, but one thing about his position bothers her. if living in the tower as she did has taught the girlone thing, it’s that sleeping with your head at thatangle will bring nothing but regrets in the morning. she crouches by him, hair tickling his forehead,and slides her hands under his neck to position hishead in a more forgiving way. light illuminates hisface now, and it occurs for the first time conscious-ly that he is handsome in the way his cheekbonesare set high on his face, in the way that his skin isfaintly but abundantly freckled. it’s almost divine, insome sense. but she smiles to herself, shaking her head, for it’sa silly thought. if you like them enough, anyone canseem divine, after all. she brushes her ponytail tothe side and leans down to press a gentle kiss to solas’s cheek before returning to wander the hallslike a ghost once more.
the heat of summer presses down on the exaltedplains, suffocating and lifeless. the halla have bunched in the shade of whatever trees they can find, the fennecs scurrying around in the dust toavoid the wrath of predators. elizabeth and solas travel alone between inquisitioncamps, sharing stories and water along the way. perhaps the heat has contributed to electricity in theatmosphere, but this time around they’ve picked upan argument. it’s about her tears, quite a common topic for the fights they have. they stand under a tree having argued for at least twenty minutes, thetone of both of their voices rising steadily in thenear-flammably dry air. it honestly feels as if staticpulses within the few inches of air separating theirfaces. the wheel turns. the conversation goes on. neither can reach a satisfying conclusion. why is heso insufferable?the kiss is compulsory. one moment, she’s rolling her eyes and preparing an argument back to him,but he just won’t shut up, and the next she’s grabbed his face in both of her hands and pulledhim down towards her to smash their lips together. it was, in retrospect, her subconscious’s way of shut-ting him up, but a mental note was taken that day that sometimes, kissing is a good outlet for pent-upfrustration for both parties, seeing as he returned thekiss with a hand in her hair and another around herwaist.she’ll have to remember to do it more often.
unfortunately, her body’s alarm clock failed her thistime; he knows of her presence, given his armswrapped around her in an iron grip. despite the factthat she can’t move, a smile spreads across herface and she cranes her neck to kiss his jawline. "solas." and his chin. "solas, i have to get up." andthe corner of his mouth. it is to no avail, of course,just half-asleep mumbles from him as he holds hereven tighter. god damn it, solas.why did she visit him last night? it’s hazy, but she vaguely remembers crying. a dream, probably one of the ones that always fades away in the morningno matter what she does to try to remember it. shehadn’t been able to sleep after that, and so soughtout the only one able to quell her fears. it didn’t ma-tter that he was already asleep. elizabeth had cometo sleep beside him, anyway, which was preciselywhat she’d done. something brings her back into the present – thefeeling of a gentle kiss to her eyelid, and then anoth-er to her cheek, and another to her neck. her eyesflutter open to be faced with a final kiss to the lips. when he pulls away he gives a devious smile. thesneaky bastard. elizabeth gives him a tired scowlbefore turning her head to the side to rest against his shoulder.
"… just a little longer, then," she murmurs into hissweater, and he hums in agreement.
he’s bound to notice her unhealthy sleep cycle soon.it’s the third night she’s gone completely without, and she assumes he went and curled up in the court-yard or the stables or something, as is usual. and so she sits on the very edge of one of skyhold’swalls, feet dangling above what would quite obvious-ly be a fatal drop. the rush of adrenaline to her finger-tips, though, is what keeps her awake on nights likethis. just her and the wind and the threat of falling. it isn’t often that she sings, but something about thenight and the promise that no one will hear draws asong from her throat. a french song, one she heard on a phonograph once upon a time and fell in love with. her jacket is off in order to better feel the cold bitinginto her flesh, yet for some reason there isn’t as much of a breeze as there should be. she sighs, stands to move somewhere better suited for keep-ing her awake. as soon as omniscience turns to thedoor, though, she spots a silhouette leaning upon it.his gaze tells her that he knows, he knows about her avoiding sleep and about the nightmares andtremors that plague her when she attempts it; heknows, and the relief at that realization sweeps overher in a tidal surge. the next instant, her arms arearound him and she’s burying her face in his chest, met in return with a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “i’m sorry,” she says, but it’s carried away bythe wind.well, if he’s this relaxed, perhaps he doesn’t yet know that she’s dying ––– and elizabeth intends to keep it that way.