For all the new eyes out there: meet the characters of my long fics, starting with Monachopsis.
Aravae, originally of Arlathan and servant/general of Falon'din, now taken in by the Lavellan clan. She was directly caught up in the war among the Evanuris and she lost everything: her brother(Nuvian), her husband(Rienmar), and her daughter(Estelar). She managed to find her way to Fen'harel, where she immediately swore to help him in any way she could so that he could come out on top against all who had taken her life away. When Solas vanished after the Veil was raised, Aravae lost all hope in life. She went to the temple where her family had been laid to rest and fell into uthenera, where she hoped never to wake again.
Only she did. Lost and confused in this new world, she stumbled about until happening across some Templars. Not understanding them or their power, she was quickly overwhelmed and about to be killed, but she was rescued by Ena'fen Lavellan, or Ena.
Ena brought her to the clan to heal and rest and when it was discovered she was a mage, the Keeper offered her a home if she would be their Second. Aravae accepted, but Ena was ever her only true friend and she vowed to repay the debt she had to Ena for saving her life.
Ena, however, was all but an outcast within the clan. Because of her golden eyes, they all believed she was possessed by the spirit of Fen'harel and he could use her at any point to see through her eyes and spy on them. Even her own parents were hesitant around her. When her father died fighting against Templars, her mother believed it a sign - or a curse - and she starved herself to death, leaving Ena in the hands of her grandmother. But even then, Keeper Deshanna had to intervene to ensure that she was actually being taken care of. Despite her upbringing, Ena is a ray of sunshine and an optimist, believing in the silver lining of most situations...up to a point, at least.
And now, for The Voice of a God, Samahl Lavellan.
Samahl was born into clan Lavellan, but at the age of five, she was caught up in an explosion that robbed her of her hearing. Being such a liability, she was shunned and exiled from the clan. However, her parents refused to just abandon her. They all went together, making way for a city. Along the way, her parents were killed by bandits. She managed to escape and made it to the Denerim alienage, where she was taken in by a kind elderly woman. She was taught to read and write, but in time, the woman passed, leaving Samahl all alone once again.
However, one day, a strange elf comes to the alienage seeking shelter and Samahl offers it to him. Meeting him, Solas, recently woken, drastically changes the course of not only her future, but the future of Thedas. She accompanies him on his journey and becomes precious to him, so much so that she will grow in her own confidence and become a fiercesome leader in her own right. After all, the world was cruel to her...so why should she be kind in return?
---
I am in the process of writing the epilogue for Monachopsis and The Voice of a God has honestly not been touched in quite a long while, but if I can keep this sudden momentum going, I can feel myself coming back to these writings. I'm always around to chat about the stories or the characters, so feel free to drop anything in my inbox!
Occupation: Occasionally-recurring alien of the series
First Appearance: "Rajin" (ENT, 2003)
Summary: These twelve-fingered humanoids were known for remarkable strength and dexterity in their hands. There were over 200 registered Nuvian masseuses on Risa in the mid-22nd century. Unfortunately, they were occasionally sold into the slave trade for some fairly illicit purposes as a result.
Ena looked up at the dragon nervously, her daggers at the ready. “Does anyone have a plan? I can’t charge at this thing by myself.”
The dragon snorted, as if responding to her words. It crouched, its claws flexing and digging into the dirt.
Aravae drew her knife from her waist and rolled her wrist, stepping up to her side. “I can help. I’m not the best knight enchanter, but I suppose it’ll be better than you being a melee fighter alone.”
Ena glanced over at her and nodded in thanks, a grateful smile on her face. To their surprise, Abelas also came to their sides, an empty sword hilt in his hands. “I am also better with distance magic, but I will do what I can.”
“Thank you, Abelas,” Ena said genuinely.
“We can focus on barriers and glyphs,” Solas called from behind them, readying himself.
“Yes.” Morrigan glared at the beast, magic pulsing around her. “Be ready. It approaches.”
A claw struck out towards the three standing together and they quickly scattered, diving out of the way, Ena and Abelas going on way, Aravae going the other. Aravae cursed herself for not tying her hair back before they left as it flew around her and tangled in front of her face. She jerked her head around to fling it back out of her way before pouring her magic into her knife and willing the spell take the form of a long blade. She dug her feet into the ground and darted forward with a cry at the side of the dragon. It had been so long since she’d done close combat in a real fight with such dangers. Were it not for the cooling sensation of Solas’s barrier clinging her to skin, she would not feel nearly as confident.
She swung upwards with her spirit blade at its side, grunting as the hard scales resisted the magic. It didn’t quite bounce off, but it absorbed the majority of her blow and it sent a tingle up her arms. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Ena and Abelas circled around the other side, but the dragon turned its sights on her. It spun around, lowering its head and opening its jaw to snap at her. She ducked, practically dropping to the ground, a shudder running down her spine as she felt its hot breath pass not far above her head.
The moment it was gone, she rolled to the side and jumped back up to her feet. The dragon turned its attention to Abelas, continuing to turn until it was facing him. She couldn’t see what it was doing next, thanks to its enormous body, so she took the opportunity to charge her magic for a spell. Her electricity crackled around her body, running into the ground. There were loud explosions as the beast spat a couple of fireballs at the others, who all managed to get out of the way of. She released her spell of forming an electric cage, not entirely certain if it would work or not, but it was worth a try.
She directed it to the dragon and held her breath. It gave out an aggravated roar, but it was held still for a few seconds. During those seconds, the other mages released a flurry of spells while Ena went into a frenzy, twirling and slashing and stabbing at the beast at its chest, between its front legs. A few groans came from the dragon, but once it broke free of the spell, it spread its wings and gave off a mighty roar, causing its enemies to flinch and come to a standstill, hands reaching up to cover their ears. It flapped its wings with such strength, the resulting gusts sent the melee fighters flying backwards. Aravae landed with an oof as she landed on her back. She scrambled back up to her feet, craning her neck to see that the dragon was taking off.
It definitely wasn’t running. They made it far too angry for that.
“Watch out!” Solas shouted as the dragon took a deep inhale.
It spat out fireball after fireball towards them, forcing them into defensive mode and dodging. Aravae felt the pure heat of the flames singing the hair on her arms. As she pivoted on a foot to avoid another fireball she saw coming, she heard a strangled grunt come from someone. She turned her head and saw Abelas flying backwards, a few articles of clothing lit up with small flames. As he landed, Ena darted to his side and helped pat at the fire to smother it. He gave her a nod of thanks as he sprang back up, his face now smeared with ash.
The dragon ascended just a little higher before it fell into a dive, aiming at Morrigan. She knit her brows tightly and fade-stepped her way to safety, but stumbled when the ground trembled at the beast’s landing. They all resumed their attacks, glyphs, and barriers, but Aravae found herself glancing around the clearing. There were now multiple spots that were now feeding fires, the grass blackened and burnt to a crisp. They were running out of room to fight.
“We all need to aim for the same areas!” she shouted. “Go for either its head or its chest!”
She didn’t hear anyone confirm that they’d heard her, but the direction of spells immediately shifted and Ena and Abelas began to circle back around to the front of the dragon. She moved in, too. She fueled her magic into a spirit blade once more and charged in, dodging a swipe of a claw as she did so. She swung the magical sword upwards, making it collide with the chest. In the same motion, she spun around and brought her staff up as well, sending a bolt of lightning into the same spot. She darted back out of the way, allowing Ena space to move in and unleash a fury of attacks.
The dragon gave off a noise that sounded like a mixture of a groan and a growl. It jerked back, bringing a claw up to its chest, where it was still steaming from the powerful spells that had been assaulting it. Everyone froze and held their breath, waiting to see what the beast would do. It lifted its head and narrowed its eyes in Abelas’s direction, then flapped its wings, sending them all stumbling back from the force of the winds, and it took to the skies. Only when it was out of sight did Ena dare murmur, “Is that it?”
“It will come when I call,” Abelas informed them, though his tone sounded grave and exhausted.
The group relaxed for the most part. Aravae looked around at the burning grass and waved a hand, sending out a pulse of ice magic to consume and smother the flames. It wouldn’t do for them to leave it and have it burn down the forest. She sighed heavily and her knees felt weak. She unconsciously set a hand to her stomach. What was she thinking? She had just fought a dragon when she very well could have injured more than just herself.
“Vhenan, are you okay?” Solas asked softly, stepping around in front of her, face wrought with worry. “Were you struck?”
“N-no, I’m fine. I’m fine.” She forced herself to stand back upright and her arm fell to her side. “Is everyone okay?”
A low murmur of concurrence went among them, everyone sharing glances with each other. What they had just learned and experienced was not easy to comprehend. It seemed they were all struggling with words.
The one to break silence once more was Ena. “Solas...did you… Did you know she was alive?”
He went slightly rigid. “...I had heard whispers, but nothing confirmed. I...can honestly say I am not surprised.”
“Her spirit endured,” Aravae whispered with a tremble in her voice. “What of the others?”
“I do not think we have anything to worry about with the others. They are trapped. Mythal was killed before the Veil was raised, so her spirit managed to escape the prison I set for the others,” Solas replied, giving her a reassuring look.
“The Veil… A prison…” Morrigan furrowed her brows. “You speak as if-”
“There is a lot to fill you in on,” Solas interrupted.
And that he did. They slowly relocated to the steps by the altar and he shared all the information with Morrigan that he had with the others. They sat down on the stairs, all relieved to do so after the energy and mana expended from the fight. The Witch of the Wilds listened closely, asking no questions until he was done. She only wanted clarification on a few things and once answers were given, she hung her head with a humorless laugh.
“I always knew there was something more to her,” she said softly. “I just couldn’t quite figure it out. Her grimoire should have given more away to me, being adorned with a leafless tree. But I suppose hindsight is useless now. I had thought there was more to you two as well, since Mythal’s Temple. No common elves would have known about the magics within that temple, especially when being threatened with dragon fire.”
Aravae gave a small shrug. “There wasn’t much other choice. I knew that hadn’t slipped by your notice.”
The smallest of smiles came to Morrigan’s lips. “Well, have no fear. I will share this information with no one. I must say, for stories of the Dread Wolf, you are far from what I expected, but I am glad that Aravae had the capability to turn you from...well, potential mass genocide.”
Solas made a dry expression, but didn’t direct it towards her. He knew he deserved that small jab.
“So what now?” Ena inquired. “Abelas, you know how to call the dragon?”
“The voices will tell me when the time comes.”
“Right. Corypheus’s dragon will be dealt with and once it is, he will be vulnerable. All that’s left is...to find Corypheus himself.”
“That will likely not be easy. He is surprisingly elusive.” Morrigan tapped a finger on her leg. “But your advisors are hard at work on that, I’m sure. Or rather, they will be, once they return.”
“There’s plenty of people working on it,” the redhead confirmed. “I guess now we just...wait?”
“That’s always the worst part,” Aravae muttered.
A heavy and foreboding silence fell over them as they all sat, collecting their thoughts. It was Abelas who finally stood first, announcing that they should return. The others agreed and with extra weight now upon their shoulders, they made their way back to Skyhold.
Abelas split ways with them on the journey back. He informed them that he would return by the following day. Now that he alone had the ability to summon the dragon for them, he couldn’t very well be away when Corypheus could appear at any time. He wanted to ensure that things would be transitioning smoothly with the elvhen and leave instruction with a few underlings. As for the others, they weren’t sure as to what precisely they should do with their newfound information. Ena decided to call a council with the inner circle to inform them of what had happened and she would let Cullen, Josephine, and Leliana know once they were back in Skyhold.
Aravae and Solas headed straight for the war room, only a little astonished that Morrigan followed after them. They didn’t think she was entirely keen on joining the councils of just the inner circle, but they were also constantly unsure of what was going on inside her head. At the least, she’d promised to not share their identities. They would have to trust her on that.
The reactions of the group were quite mixed. Several demanded to know more about Flemeth, some asked why Ena didn’t think to call backup, but the voice that roared above them all was Bull.
“You fought a dragon without me?!” he cried, sounding personally attacked and offended.
Ena’s eyes bulged, though she had a hint of apology in them. “How was I supposed to know we were going to fight a dragon?!”
“All four of you look like you could use a long, hot soak,” Vivienne pointed out, eyeing them and their singes and dirt.
“Believe me, that’s in the plans,” Aravae nodded affirmatively.
“I can’t believe you, Kadan!”
“Bull, can we talk about this later?” Ena arched a brow and gave a glance at the others.
He sagged his shoulders and pouted, but fell silent.
With everyone now knowing that Morrigan knew about Solas and Aravae’s true identities, questions were openly asked and directed at them about Flemeth-Mythal and her dragon. They answered them as best as they could, but things were a bit clouded for them as well. Aravae very vaguely remembered talk of Mythal having a dragon that served her, but she had never seen it in action. It had been quite a frightening beast, now that she thought back on it. In the heat of the fight, she could only focus on survival and how they could beat it. Now, leaning on her leg assuringly, Banal’ras seemed to be demanding attention, as if upset that she’d left him. She couldn’t help but smile softly at him as she rubbed his ears.
She did notice that Cole was hovering in the back area of the war room, silently observing. It was unlike him to not be honing in on person to person and speaking their fears aloud. Perhaps there were too many emotions swirling around for him to focus? But when his icy blue eyes met hers, she felt a small chill run up her spine as she saw the knowing gaze he gave her.
When the group decided to split up for the rest of the day, she felt slightly relieved to be out of there and away from Cole’s eyes. She didn’t want him to give anything away. She needed to do it on her own, but she wasn’t ready yet. She hadn’t gotten her head wrapped around it yet, but she also felt bad for keeping Solas in the dark. They walked together slowly, making their way through the gardens and towards her tower. Well, their tower, since Solas slept there more nights than not these days. Their fingers brushed against the backs of each other’s hands. On her free side, Banal’ras kept rubbing up against her leg and bumping her hand.
“He sure is rather affectionate today,” Solas commented.
“He is,” she agreed, arching a brow at the panther. “I’m not quite sure why. I’ve left him for short periods before and he’s been okay. He hasn’t been physically affectionate like this before. Maybe he’ll even let you pet him.”
“I won’t push my luck,” he said with a hint of a laugh. “He’s being this way towards you, not I. You are his favorite person, after all.”
“He’s getting used to you. And Ena. He enjoys her company, I think.”
“Mmm.” Solas stepped in front of her and opened the door for her, allowing her through first.
Once their bath arrived, they promptly got in and slowly helped each other scrub clean. Aravae could see the exhaustion evident in Solas’s body language from the fight. He looked worn, his shoulders slumped forward and his head practically hung as she rubbed his back. She felt very similar and thought that it was increasingly hard to keep her eyes open. She had expended a lot of magical energy. She hadn’t used a spirit blade in so long that it took a lot of focus and concentration of her magic in order to keep its form and to use it properly.
She really felt the extent of her weariness when it was Solas’s turn to help her wash her hair and scrub her back. She could tell that he was pouring a minute amount of magic into his hands as he rubbed her shoulders soothingly. It felt like a tingly warm sensation worked its way into her tense muscles and unraveled all of her knots. The more it made her relax, the more it made it harder to resist the lull of sleep. She heard Solas say something, which broke through her haze and she snapped her head up. “Hmm?”
He laughed softly, his chuckle making her heart flutter. “I suppose that would answer my question.”
She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. What was it?”
“If you were tired and ready for sleep.”
“Mmm. Indeed so. I am just...yes. A lot has happened and I think I’m just ready to try and catch up on some rest.”
“Well, then…” He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to the backside of her neck. “I guess we should finish up here?”
“Mm-hmm,” she mumbled.
He worked his long fingers through her hair as he scooped up water to pour down on top of her head. The steaming water - kept that way with the help of a rune - washed down her scalp and her back before rejoining the water in the tub. Once her hair was washed, Aravae wringed it out and stood up, shivering slightly at the cool air in the room. Solas wrapped a towel around her shoulders and she accepted it with a tired smile, drying herself off before using almost the last of her energy to heat her hair and dry it so that she didn’t have to collapse into bed with wet hair. She felt some pangs of hunger, but she was not going back out to find any. At this point, she just wanted to curl under the blankets and sleep.
Which is exactly what she did. She discarded the towel and didn’t even find her clean pair of smallclothes. She crawled under the blankets and set her head upon the pillow. She heard Solas say something else to her, but she couldn’t catch what it was because she just fell hard into the realm of sleep.
It was a familiar sight - a forest with singing birds and lots of sunshine breaking through the canopy, warming the ground. Normally Aravae would set off and wander, but she remained precisely where she was. Time and time again, she fell into this trap and though it had been some time since she’d last had this dream, she made a very conscious decision to not follow along the path it normally took.
The sunshine did not diminish as she sat down in a ray of it, the moss shining lusciously around her. There she sat and meditated, focusing on her breathing and ignoring any itchings she had to move.
“Mamae?”
The small voice snapped her from her state of concentration. She opened her eyes and lifted her head and saw before her the small figure of her four year old daughter. Estelar was beaming at her with her still slightly chubby cheeks and her eyes shone with nothing short of innocent joy. Aravae knew it wasn’t, it couldn’t, truly be her, but the sight of her likeness made her mouth and throat go dry and tears spring to her eyes. A hand went to her stomach before she shifted how she was sitting, tucking her legs underneath her. “Da’enasal?”
Estelar giggled and spun around, her simple white dress flowing about her and her black curls bouncing. “Mamae, I miss you.”
“I miss you too, my little Estelar,” she replied, her voice thick with emotion.
“Papae is here, too,” she said excitedly.
“Is...is he?”
“Yeah!” she clapped her hands and ran into the shadows of the trees. “Stay there, Mamae!”
“Estelar-!” Aravae instinctually sprang to her feet and started to make a move after her, but she stopped herself. It was just a spirit or demon. It wasn’t Estelar. She needed to stay put and not get distracted-
“Aravae,” a warm voice purred.
She turned to face this new voice. Now before her was Elgara, the golden-haired woman smiling as kindly as Aravae remembered. Nowhere was the sight of blood and her eyes seemed full of life. It was nothing like the horrible image that was forever burned into her mind of their last moments together when Elgara was alive. “Ma falon.”
“I know you are suspicious,” Elgara whispered, “but we only wanted to come to say how proud we are of you.”
Aravae narrowed her eyes in question. “...What?” As she focused, she could almost see a dim glow around Elgara’s body, but it was so faint, she wasn’t sure if it was just a trick of the light.
“It has been a long road and much has happened, but you have endured. You endeavored and now you are here.”
“...Here?”
She smiled knowingly. “Here again, I should say. I will let the others voice their thoughts. I will wait here.”
Aravae shook her head slightly, her brows furrowing. “Wait, the others? Who are you-”
“Sister.”
A small gasp escaped her lips as she spun back around, where Estelar had disappeared. Nuvian was leaning against a tree, his arms crossed and his hair in an unusual state of hanging freely with no braids. He looked just as she remembered. He rarely showed up in her dreams, much to her despair, and seeing him now unlocked a flood of emotions. “Nuvian.”
“At a loss for words?” he inquired with his typical grin.
“Quite the contrary. I have so much to say to you, I don’t know where to begin.” Her initial excitement of seeing him turned into shame and sadness as she hung her head. “Your...your dagger. I lost it.”
He scoffed, completely unfazed. “Only a dagger. Plenty of others in the world.”
“But no more that are yours,” she insisted, her voice choking.
His gaze turned rather serious. “I understand your sentimental attachment to it, but the most important thing are memories. All the times we shared together. We had some good ones, right?”
“And some bad,” she added with a dry laugh.
“And some embarrassing. Actually, wait,” he tilted his head, “that was mostly me.”
Aravae scoffed, wiping away a few escaped tears. “No, there were still plenty with us together.”
Nuvian chuckled and it fell quiet between them, Aravae absorbing the details of her little brother. She watched as his gaze softened. “Aravae, Elgara said it just right. We are proud of you. When all hope seemed lost, you kept going and now you’ve made a decision - well, a few - that will bring you so much happiness again. We never wanted you to stay stagnant and be trapped in the past forever.”
Before she could say anything, Estelar reappeared from the shadows, tugging on the hand of her father. The hand of Rienmar. When he fully emerged into the light, an audible choking gasp caught in Aravae’s throat. Her body tried to move forward and her hands wanted nothing more than to extend forward and hold him, but the back of her mind kept screaming that reminder at her.
It wasn’t him. It wasn’t him.
Still, she couldn’t help but be completely mesmerized by him. His striking eyes and feathery light hair. His stance and his clothes. His tender way he held his daughter’s hand and the loving way he looked at her. She could barely breathe, let alone whisper his name on her lips. Estelar beamed and looked between the two of them expectantly.
“Vhenan’ara,” Rienmar murmured.
“Ma lath,” she managed to say, her words trembling.
“I am the most proud of everyone. You have come so far and done so well to have fought through everything that came at you, both mentally and physically.”
“No.” She shook her head and wanted to tuck her chin in, but she didn’t want to look away from him. “I’m not strong. I… When…” She sighed heavily. “When I lost all of you, I didn’t want to keep going. I wanted to never wake up.”
“But you did!” Estelar chirped, as if completely undisturbed by what had just been said. “You took a long sleep to get better!”
“You kept going,” Rienmar added. “You didn’t simply give up. You were trapped for a time, but...you’ve had help. You’ve found your way out of the darkness and now you are back within the edge of the light.”
“Not quite yet. There’s still plenty of darkness left yet.”
“Perhaps immediately before you, but in comparison to what it was, it’s nothing.” Nuvian gave her an encouraging smile. “You’ve gotten through the worst of it.”
Aravae felt her cheeks warming at all of their words. She suddenly found it hard to maintain her eye contact with Rienmar. “I don’t deserve this.”
“You deserve it all and more,” Elgara called out from behind her.
Rienmar let go of Estelar’s hand and stepped forward, looking down at Aravae, one of the few people who had ever lived that could make her feel truly small - though not in a bad way. She could almost imagine his warmth and smell, neither of which were present because, as she kept trying to remember, it wasn’t him. His gaze moved from her eyes down to her stomach, where he lifted his hand and hovered it just above it. There was barely any space between her belly and his hand. A sudden wave of guilt overcame her and she parted her lips to speak, but Rienmar, as if reading her mind, shushed her gently. “You have nothing to feel sorry for, Aravae. You have no idea how happy I am for you.”
When she looked back up at him after looking at his hand, she couldn’t stop her tears from breaking free from the corners of her eyes. Her stomach twisted up into a knot. Rienmar’s words were genuine, but they had a hint of a tremble in them, and his face was contorted with emotions. Still, a smile pulled at his lips. He looked back at her, his eyes shining with his own tears. “I truly, truly am. You are an outstanding mother and will be so again. You deserve a second chance at happiness. You deserve a second chance at a family. I am only overcome with jealousy… I wish with all of my heart that we could have had more time...and more children.”
Aravae sobbed and couldn’t help herself - she leaned forward, pressing her head into his chest. In that moment, everything shifted violently. The forest went dark and her family and close friend all disappeared. When she stepped back, where Rienmar had been was a shadowy figure that quickly took form of Viddathari. The elven woman sneered and reached out towards her with a sneer and wrapped her fingers around Aravae’s throat.
Hiiii~ I hope you're doing well! ❤ I'm sending this for 07 of that prompt list...with Aravae as the instructor! Giggles will ensue??? ❤❤❤ Love you! ❤
Ohhh yes. I did enjoy this one. Perhaps too much. xD Thanks for the prompt!
Prompt: You’re my hot ski instructor and i’m failing the bunny hill
—
Conquer the Bunny Slope
Words: 1400
—
Rienmar looked out to the long, intimidating slopes of snow, the ski lift, and all the people coming and going, smiling and laughing with red cheeks and noses. The sky was a beautiful blue and he was surrounded by friends and coworkers.
It was too damn late to back out now. What was he going to do? His work had given them a weekend vacation up to one of the best ski slopes in the area, all expenses paid for, but…
He didn’t know how to ski.
He sighed and cursed at himself internally. He lived close enough to them all his life. Why didn’t he ever just go? Now he was going to thoroughly make himself look like an idiot. Or break an ankle. Or his neck. Or all of the above.
This was just great.
“Alright guys, we’re heading up without you!” one of the guys called out, a large group of them running ahead. “We’ll see you losers at the bottom!”
“You’ve gotta get there first!” someone else shouted, just behind him.
Nuvian stopped when he realized Rienmar wasn’t following them. He arched a brow, an excited grin on his face. “Hey man, aren’t you coming?”
“Yeah, I’ll, uhh, I’ll be right along. Just…taking in the view,” Rienmar replied.
Nuvian stared at him, unconvinced.
Rienmar huffed. If there was at least one person he could admit this to without being judged, it was Nuvian. He closed the distance between them, his feet crunching in the snow. “…I can’t ski.”
“Why not?”
“I…don’t know how.”
Nuvian’s eyes widened a little in surprise and he nodded slowly, his lips parting into an O. His eyes veered away from his friend and to somewhere behind him when he suddenly snapped back and said, “Hey, no biggie. There’s a full-time instructor that works here. Why don’t you go get some lessons? No time like the present to learn!”
Rienmar glanced behind him, where Nuvian had been looking off to. “…Really?”
“Really. Go on! I won’t tell the others. Pfft, you think any of them are pros at this? We’ll be a while.”
The sight of the small learner’s slope did make him feel a bit more at ease. Though the sight of little kids scurrying down it without grace smacked him in his pride. Still…like he said. No time like the present. He nodded in defeat. “Alright. I’ll go find them.”
“Her,” Nuvian called knowingly as he ran for the ski lift.
Why did it feel like a trap now?
Rienmar dragged his feet over to the small hill, which had a small sign that said, “Bunny Slope”. Another jab at his pride and he considered walking away, despite the fact that now the kids that had been working on it were excitedly running over to the next level slope. That is, until a woman’s voice said, “Excuse me? Can I help you?”
He turned to face the owner of the voice. It was a woman with long mahogany colored hair held back into a braid, her forest green eyes locked onto his. She was bundled warmly, her cheeks and nose a lovely rosy shade from the biting chill in the air. Tucked under her arms were skis and ski poles. It took Rienmar a moment to find his voice. “I’m, umm… Yeah, I need…lessons. On…skiing.”
The woman smiled knowingly and Rienmar felt his chest flutter. “Don’t be ashamed of that. We get just as many adults that come to learn as kids. I’m Aravae. If you’d like, I can help you out.” She extended her free hand.
He shook it. “Thank you. I’m Rienmar.”
“Alright then, Rienmar. Shall we get started?”
“Sure.”
Aravae began him at the very beginning, instructing him how to put the skis on, find his balance, how to move in them. She set her own skis aside so that she could walk alongside him, ensuring he wouldn’t fall. He felt confident in that. He could do this! Moving on the flat bottom of the slope was proving easy enough. Once he found his rhythm, he’d surely be able to start working on going downhill.
Once she was confident that he had the very basics down, she told him to take the skis off and they would walk up to the top of the small hill and start practicing. She gathered her own skis and poles and walked alongside him, continuing to instruct him. More specifically, on how to fall. Though he tried not to focus on how much falling on the bunny slope would make him feel like an idiot, he listened as best he could. He rather liked the sound of her voice and she was very helpful. Clearly, she’d been doing this for awhile. Perhaps she was one of the locals who grew up nearby and skiied her entire life.
He was suddenly overwhelmed by the thought of wanting to see her ski. He cleared his throat and tried to focus again on what she was saying.
When they got to the top, they stopped and put their gear on. Aravae looked over at him and smiled encouragingly. “Are you ready to try? We’ll take it nice and slow and I’ll be right with you to help.”
“I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” he said.
As it turned out, going down even a small hill was far more challenging than he thought. On the very first attempt, only about a couple feet down, he wiped out and fell flat on his ass. He heard a stifled giggle from Aravae, who hurried to help him up. Though he felt slightly annoyed at being laughed at, that melted away when he saw the delight in her face.
They tried multiple times. She kept shouting encouragements at him and hurrying over when he stumbled or fell. When she finally cracked and giggled out loud, she apologized quickly, but he only could find himself smirking at her. She had an absolutely precious giggle. He may have even fallen an extra time or two just to hear it. It got to the point where his pride had all but been forgotten. He started laughing with her and cursing lightheartedly when he couldn’t quite get the hang of it.
On the attempt when he successfully made it down to the bottom with assistance, she cheered with him, then demanded that he do it again without her going down with him. He set his shoulders back and accepted her challenge. He started down the slope a little wobbly, but found his balance and managed to successfully make it down on his own! …With one little mistake.
He started slowing down too late and before she could dart out of the way, Rienmar completely collided into Aravae, knocking her down underneath him. He caught himself before he fully landed on top of her. He looked down at her, flustered. “I-I’m so sorry!”
“It’s okay,” she laughed. “I guess I’ll give you a pass on this one.”
There was a small pause before Rienmar picked himself up and offered a hand out to her. As she was getting to her feet, a voice met their ears. “Well, well, well.”
Upon spotting the familiar figure, before Rienmar could say anything, Aravae released his hand and ran over to hug the man. “Nuvian! I was wondering when you’d get here!”
Rienmar’s heart dropped a little.
“I’ve been here since this morning,” he informed her, hugging her in return while smirking at Rienmar. Why was he smirking? “I see you’ve met my friend Rienmar.”
“Oh! So you’re the Rienmar!” Aravae spun back around with realization. “I should have known! I’m sorry. My brother talks about you all the time!”
His heart lifted a little again. “…Brother?”
“Yep! This is my older sister.”
“I knew you said that she worked at the slopes, but…”
“You weren’t expecting an instructor?” Aravae filled in, arching a brow and resting a hand on her hip. At Rienmar’s stuttering words, she laughed and waved it off. “No, it’s okay, I’m just picking on you.”
“So how’d your lesson go?” Nuvian inquired with a sly grin.
While Aravae proceeded to inform her brother on how well Rienmar had picked up on things, he glared lightly at his friend. He should have known that it was a trap this entire time…not that he minded.
Thank you for the tag, @dreadhobo and @dragynfox! I think all of mine are either shy/awkward or super outgoing, so let’s see!
Aravae
Poor Aravae hasn’t had much experience with the flirting game. She can be a bit oblivious to others who have feelings towards her - she’s the kind to just mistake it for kindness, though she can see clear as day when it’s flirting if it’s towards others. However, once she gains confidence with Rienmar, she occasionally gets bursts of temptation where she wants to flaunt the power she has over him, though subtly. She give him hooded looks or ghosting touches with her fingers, then slide away from him with a sly grin. He loves every moment of it.
---
Ena Lavellan
Ena is rather unaware of how to flirt. She never went out of her way to look for love. She didn’t think anything of attraction until something in her finally clicked that she liked Bull. Even then, she didn’t do much in the realm of flirting. She knows what she wants, but she was hesitant to go for it. She just flashes him sweet smiles and will sometimes shyly look away from him when he returns it.
---
Rienmar
Veryyy smooth son of a bitch. His words as silky smooth, just as his actions are. He’ll usually try to be considerate and only truly flirt when he is not in the presence of a group, but sometimes he just can’t help himself.
---
Nuvian
Also relatively smooth, except the big difference is he has no filter. He will flirt with anyone at anytime. He’ll sometimes try to play it off like he isn’t flirting, just being complimentary. With that said, he can tell if he is pushing boundaries or not. He isn’t in the game of making people uncomfortable - he just wants to have fun.
---
Samahl Lavellan
Flirting doesn’t exist in her book. She forces feelings down and hides them away because she doesn’t want to be clingy or seen as a lovesick puppy. She does blush very easily, though, all the way to the tip of her ears.
---
Captain Iselan
If a woman can ooze confidence, it’s Iselan. She will walk straight up to a person and tell them what she thinks. She will figure out what they like and she will embody it. If they like sexy, she definitely knows how to own that. If they like more conservative, she can still do that with ultimate class.
How about someone's downright disrespectful and hateful towards Nuvian whilst Rienmar can hear it? Maybe some shem with the good old 'knife-ear' mentality
I have to admit, I kind of snorted at ‘the good old knife-ear mentality’. It’s nice to see that humans are pretty much jerks no matter what world it’s in. xD Good thing we have Rienmar here to get shit taken care of! I hope you like it, sweet Anon!
And since it’s a brotherly one with Rienmar and Nuvian, let’s have the precious picture drawn by @kawereen too!
---
Hateful Actions
Words: 1329
---
It had been a long morning, helping Cullen and Blackwall with the recruits. Rienmar had grown rather bored of it, especially considering they did it morning after morning and he wasn’t quite sure why they bothered to call him to help anyways. It wasn’t like he was an outstanding soldier. Cullen’s reasoning was that his ‘sharp eyes could point out even the smallest of mistakes’ and that ‘the smallest of mistakes could be the difference between life and death.’ How much of that was actually true, he didn’t know.
Either way, it was nice to break away from them and go out for a nice, quiet stroll just outside of Skyhold. Aravae was busy with all the others with meetings and planning and loyal Banal’ras had stayed with her. Estelar was apparently quite interested in Dagna’s workings since the dwarf had arrived, so most days, that was where she would be found unless she was in the healing tents. Nuvian...well, there was no telling where he would be at. He flitted about Skyhold from one end to the other all day long, it seemed. He’d found him several times in the tavern with Bull and the Chargers, talking rather animatedly with them.
The Inquisition was so fast paced and flooded with things to do constantly. Why couldn’t things just slow down so that they could take a breather every now and again? He knew Aravae could use it. Much of the inner circle could, really.
Some voices rose to meet his ears as he turned and went down a side path that led to the western side of the fortress’ walls. He sighed and almost turned back, not wanting to be around others again so soon. However, a particular phrase caught his attention and demanded that he pause. Knife-ear. He’d heard the slur more than his fair share of times since Haven. He personally never put much thought into it. It didn’t bother him. He just scoffed at it, thinking what an unclever insult it was. Since the Inquisitor was an elf, the organization and its leaders were rather strict on no hate language. Naturally, not all cases were caught. He’d found some verbal abuse mainly occurring with the staff of the keep. Some had been slaves in Orlais, so they were used to such things. Others had been castouts from Dalish clans and some were eventually actually from Dalish clans. They did not take to the insults nearly as passively. Rienmar made sure to step in each time he heard it and put a stop to it.
As he continued walking on, he saw a small group of humans - some men, some women - gathered in a semi-circle, boxing in whoever was the subject of their abuse. It looked to be a lone man, his long mahogany hair looking rather disheveled-
Wait. Mahogany.
He furrowed his brows and stopped walking for a moment to try and get a better look.
Fenedhis. It was Nuvian. He was standing with his head down and his guard completely nonexistent. Why was he doing that? Why wasn’t he fighting back against them?
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, knife-ear!” one of the men scoffed with laughter. “Just because your rabbit sister is some powerful chick close to the Inquisitor doesn’t mean that you’re actually anybody, are you?”
“Can’t you see that you’ve all just messed up the world?” a woman hissed, stepping forward to shove him. “Why can’t you all just go on and off yourselves?!”
“If it weren’t for all you damn knife-ears, Divine Justinia would still be here! Everyone knows that!”
“Yeah, fuck off!” a man stepped up and threw a punch, directly in Nuvian’s face. Rienmar heard the knuckles make contact with his cheek and the grunt of pain from Nuvian, but still, he didn’t move.
He inhaled sharply and removed a throwing dagger from his waist. He approached them with quick, long strides and with practiced precision, he flicked his wrist, sending the dagger flying towards the man who had struck his brother. The blade grazed along his upper arm and landed in the snow on the other side. The man cried out in surprise and raised his arm to investigate his scratch before he spun around to see where it had come from. The entire group turned with him, a few of them taking a step back.
Rienmar glared dangerously at them. He recognized their faces because he’d already dealt with them before, abusing other elves around Skyhold. Nuvian looked both surprised and a little alarmed that Rienmar was there, but he said nothing. The man’s electric blue eyes locked onto every single person’s for a few seconds until he came to stand just before the one who had thrown the punch. “And just what...do we think we’re all doing?” he snarled softly.
There was silence for a couple of moments before one of the other men spat, “All you rabbits think you can just up and roam around like you own the place! It’s disgusting!”
“Is. That. Right?” Rienmar took a step around people, emphasizing his slow and intimidating movements with each slow, clipped word. Since he stood above all of their heights, he looked down at the man who had spoken. “Don’t you know that we feel exactly the same?”
The man parted his lips to speak, but he was cut off when Rienmar grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him from the ground. The others around him shouted and stepped back some more. Rienmar tilted his head slightly, his nose scrunched with anger. “What gives you the right, a lowly grunt in an army, to challenge and abuse a man belonging to the inner circle of the Inquisitor?”
“Rienmar,” Nuvian murmured softly, “don’t hurt them. I don’t want to cause trouble for Aravae.”
He paused, taking a moment to glance at Nuvian. So that’s why he hadn’t been fighting back. Still...these people were not going to get away with this. He released his grip, dropping the man straight on his rump and jerked his head. “Go. I had better not ever see you again.”
They scrambled up and started to make their way back towards the keep when Rienmar called after them, “Start thinking of where to run when I tell the Commander of this.”
A woman whirled back around, her eyes wide. “You wouldn’t dare-!”
“Go ahead.” Rienmar drew his daggers, rage flashing in his eyes. “Fight me. Make things worse.”
He could tell that she thought about it from the way she tensed and her flexed hand went towards the hilt of her sword. However, she made the wiser choice and huffed, following after the others. Rienmar waited until they were out of earshot before sheathing his daggers again and looking to Nuvian, who was dabbing at the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, where some blood had been drawn from his lip. “You idiot,” Rienmar muttered, laced with affection. “Aravae can handle herself. Don’t stand there and take that.”
He gave a guilty shrug, not meeting Rienmar’s gaze. “I just figured...if I fight back, it would only prove what they were trying to say.”
Rienmar sighed slowly. “I see where you’re coming from, but still. Is that the first time you’ve been approached like that?”
“Eh, I’d heard whisperings before, but violently, yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair, trying to make it orderly again, wincing slightly as he did.
Rienmar clapped him gently on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go get you something cold for that lip. Maybe Bull will help you out.”
“Don’t poke fun at that,” Nuvian said with a smirk, finally raising his eyes. “You can’t deny you’re a little curious about Qunari.”
He shook his head while furrowing his brows. “No, thank you, I’m quite fine. Don’t feel like you need to report things like that to me if you ever go that far.”
