I wish the scene where Eugene tried to kiss Negan’s hand went differently.
Negan: *doesn’t pull away and lets Eugene kiss his hand* Eugene, I was going for a handshake, but I’ll take that to. *Careless Whisper plays in the background as sexual tensions rise*
Seriously, though. I feel like Negan wouldn’t have pulled away.
“Let us talk... Preferably somewhere more interesting than this.”
“Why here?” She looked around Haven in confusion, glancing over to the cabin where they had slept when they weren’t camping all over the Hinterlands.
“Haven is familiar. It will always be important to you.” he walked ahead, while she bit back a grimace. She had mixed feelings about Haven. She hated it at first, seeing it as nothing more than a prison, only caring about it when she had gotten closer to it’s occupants.
“We’ve talked about that already.” she retorted. He glanced back, smiling slightly and led her into the dungeon. “Well, this is certainly more interesting than a giant castle hidden in the mountains that I have barely had time to even explore, Lethallin.” he gave her a stern look, and she grinned at him. He stared intently at the ground where she had woken the first time.
“I sat beside you while you slept, studying the Anchor.” Telahn was surprised he hadn’t tried joining her in the Fade and said so. “I tried, but you kept me out. It was surprising, and you became even more of a mystery. You still are.” her heart accelerated and she looked away, flustered.
‘Stop. Remember your duty. Remember Ferith.’
“I ran every test I could imagine, searched the Fade, yet found nothing. Cassandra suspected duplicity.” His mouth formed a bemused grin “She threatened to have me executed as an apostate if I didn’t produce results.” She laughed.
“Cassandra’s like that with everyone.” He laughed with her and her heart warmed. They walked back out to the cold air of Haven, grins on their faces.
“You were never going to wake up. How could you? A mortal sent physically through the Fade! I was frustrated, frightened; the spirits I might have consulted had been driven away by the Breach.” She wondered out loud which spirits he would have talked to. “You have not met these yet, and although I wished to help, I had no faith in Cassandra, nor she in me. I was ready to flee.”
“I can understand that.” Telahn said sardonically, and a grin spread across his face. She had complained about the Seeker many times in their tent and in their dreams, frustrated with the woman, only softening towards her after much trial and error on both of their parts. It was a burgeoning young friendship still. “I am glad you stayed, Lethallin. Where would you have gone?”
“Someplace far away, where I might research a way to repair the Breach, before it’s effects reached me,” His ears turned red as she snorted. “I never said it was a good plan. I told myself, ‘one more attempt to seal the rifts’. I tried and failed; no ordinary magic would affect them. I watched the rifts expand and grow, resigned myself to flee, and then... It seems you hold the key to our salvation. You had sealed it with a gesture! And right then, I felt the whole world change.”
Her heart accelerated, leaving a dull roar in her ears. It had never occurred to her that Solas could feel anything for her aside from the friendship they both treasured. He was her best friend, her source of amusement and advice. She felt more comfortable, more at home with him than she ever had with anyone save Ferith. But Solas was looking at her in a way that was much different, and she wondered.
“Felt the whole world change?” she watched him, the roar becoming louder as his face and ears reddened.
“A figure of speech.” she knew him well enough to know when he was trying to talk his way out of something, and she drew closer.
“I’m aware of the metaphor, Lethallin. I’m more interested in ‘felt’.” He stared at her steadily, with a look she’d never seen on his face.
“You change... everything.” Telahn warred with herself. She knew she had feelings for Solas, they began emerging when she told him about Ferith and her clan, but she had tried, apparently in vain, to suppress them.
‘It is wrong.’
‘It is not betraying Ferith to love someone else.’
‘Love?! You barely know Solas. You have a duty.’
She closed her eyes and saw an elf covered in blood, tears in his eyes, a knife in his stomach.
’Live, Vhenan. Live.’
Her eyes opened. She had a duty to herself.
“Sweet talker.” she murmured, smiling at him. His face grew redder still, and he began to turn away. Without thinking, she reached and pulled his face towards hers, their lips meeting. She kissed him softly, gently, and hesitantly, breathing him in, letting him into her space as she had let him into her dreams. She wondered belatedly what he could be thinking and, with that sobering thought, she pulled away. She watched as he stared at her in shock, his face flushed redder than she’d ever seen it. His scent stayed with her, a combination of parchment, fur, and, oddly, sugar.
Telahn panicked. She could not lose her friend. He was more important to her than that. What had she been thinking? Why had she done that? Could she play it off as a joke? She began to turn away when she felt herself pulled towards him and felt his mouth on her again, only this time, harder, more insistent. He opened his mouth, his tongue seeking entrance, and when she complied they both moaned. He leaned towards her, keeping a firm grip on her hips as his leg moved between both of hers.
Their tongues danced and she clung to him, gasping when one of his hands strayed south of her hip, and she ground on his leg, trying to get closer to him. Finally, he pulled back, a grin on his face. At her expression, his eyes hardened and he kissed her once again. She was stunned. Had he been holding back the entire time? He let her go and backed away from her.
“We shouldn’t, Telahn.” her heart stopped “It isn’t right. Not even here.”
Of course. She had been in dreams with him for months, but had been too distracted with her feelings and her internal struggle with herself to even stop to think. She knew the Fade fairly well now, and was ashamed to admit that she hadn’t realized it.
“What a poor pupil in dreaming I am, Lethallin,” she murmured. “I didn’t realize that this isn’t real.”
“That’s a matter of debate,” he grinned at her smugly. “Probably best discussed after you wake up.”
Telahn’s eyes flew open. Creators, what had she done?
“You finally talked to yourself. You let your feelings out, instead of shoving them down under the knots of hurt. You are right. Loving him is not a betrayal.” she wondered when she got used to Cole showing up out of nowhere and reached out for his hand as an anchor. “Do you want to know what is happening in his head? It’s funny.”
“No, Cole,” she said, steeling herself. “I‘ll find that out by myself.”
