There was an influx of Papae!Solas content and I wanted to share a WIP I was working on that I'm not sure what I'm going to do with or where it's going to go in the grand scheme of my Inquisitor and Rook's story.
For context:
Neria is my Lavellan and Solas's twelve-year-old daughter. She is at the Lighthouse because of reasons.
Ren is my Rook. He is my Lavellan's oldest brother.
Solas is busted from the Fade by Rook and Co. Because that is going to happen Bioware.
Neria does not appreciate the strange man who is suddenly in her and her mother's lives.
To Neria, he is the Interloper and must be Stopped.
Stuff happens, and Neria has a change of heart and is willing to give the guy a chance.
However, first, she needs to set some ground rules.
Enasali (who is briefly mentioned) is the Ill-Advised Pre-Veilguard Solavellan Hookup Baby
AKA why it was Varric trying to talk Solas down and not Lavellan.
AKA why Varric has gray hair. Sorry dude.
Neria is too much like her father. I love her.
Neria found him in the library, speaking in low tones to Emmerich and Uncle Ren as they poured over some massive tome. Unnoticed by the three men, Neria used the opportunity to study the bald elf, whom Mamae claimed to be her father.
He had quite a bit more color since her uncle pulled him out of the Fade. He no longer looked so pale and sickly, and the dark circles under his eyes had started to fade. He still looked tired, to be sure, but it was less somehow. He also stood straighter, taller, as if he had been carrying something heavy on his back and was finally able to relieve his burden.
There were other things Neria noticed about him as well. Features that were familiar to her. Features that she knew didn’t come from her mother but never truly seemed to realize that they came from someone else. Like how his ears were shaped similarly to her own or how they both had a cleft chin, though hers was noticeably less prominent.
And then there were the eyes.
Neria knew that she had her father’s eyes; her mother had told her as much growing up. But it never truly registered with her, until she met the man they called Solas and saw her own grayish purple eyes stare down at her.
The same grayish purple eyes that were currently watching her intently.
Apparently, she had been noticed. Great.
“Neria, did you need something? Is everything alright?”, her uncle asked.
Neria fought the growing urge to run away, and instead crossed her arms and tried to give her best “serious” face, like her Aunt Cassandra wore when she meant business.
Neria wanted to show that she meant business, too.
“I wish to speak with Solas,” she said, in her best Aunt-Cassandra-Serious-Business-Voice. Figuring that might have been a little too demanding, she added, “When he has a minute to talk. If that’s ok?”
“Of course,” Solas said, perhaps a little too quickly. Emmerich and Uncle Ren shared a look. Emmerich shrugged.
“Yeah, sure, we could use a bit of a break,” her uncle agreed. He and Emmerich grabbed the book and left the library, her uncle giving her shoulder a small squeeze as he walked by.
And just like that, Neria found herself alone with her father for the first time in her life.
“You wished to speak with me, Neria?” He asked, gently.
Neria cleared her throat.
“Yes. I wish to parley,” she declared.
She wasn’t quite sure what she was expecting Solas’s reaction to be. She had figured he would laugh at her and tell her to stop being childish. Or maybe even get angry at her for being so demanding of an adult. What she wasn’t expecting, was for Solas to nod with actual, genuine seriousness. He clasped his hands behind his back, like one of those statues in Orlais of human generals.
“Very well,” he said, before gesturing to one of the many plush chairs seated around the table in the center of the library. “Please, take a seat.”
“Solas, it has come to my attention that I might have been a little bit mean to you.” Then, because she didn’t want to him to think she was going soft, she added, “Just a little bit, though!”
Solas nodded, solemnly, his face carefully neutral. Neria continued.
“As such,” she said, “I wish to declare a truce.”
Solas’s neutral mask slipped, and Neria noticed the corners of the man’s mouth tick upwards ever so slightly. With his hands folded on the table, he leaned forward so that he was eye level with Neria.
“Ma nuvenin. What are the terms of this potential truce?”
“First; I will not call you ‘Papae’ or ‘Father’.”
“Of course,” Solas agreed, “I would not ask that of you if it made you uncomfortable.”
Neria blinked. This was easier than she thought!
“Um, ok. Good,” she said. “Second term; you will call me Neria and only Neria. No stupid nicknames, like da’vhenan. Ok?”
For a fraction of a second, something flashed in Solas’s eyes. Something that looked a bit like hurt. Or maybe regret? However, it came and went so quickly that Neria wasn’t sure if she actually saw it at all.
He nodded.
“Third; if I want to be left alone, I want you to leave me alone. Ok?”
Once again, Solas nodded.
“I would not wish to encroach upon your space.”
Neria mirrored her father’s pose, clasping her hands together and laying them on the table in front of her. She didn’t quite strike the same imposing figure as Solas, but, for being twelve, she thought it was close enough.
“Good,” she declared. “Now, in return, I will permit you to continue to court my Mamae and help her take care of Enasali. But if, and only if, you continue to make Mamae happy.”
Solas’s neutral mask slipped once more and it was obvious he was actively trying not to grin. Neria narrowed her eyes at him, not appreciating the lack of seriousness on his part. Solas coughed and his face went carefully blank once more.
“Ir abelas,” he said, his voice serious despite the twinkle still in his eyes. “Neria, I promise that I will do everything in my power to make your mother as happy as I possibly can for as long as she will allow me to do so.”
Now was the part that she didn’t necessarily want to agree on, but she knew it was only fair. It was the whole reason why she was speaking to her father in the first place.
“And finally,” she said, reluctance clear in her voice, “I will do my best to… to give you a chance.”
@buttsonthebeach, @beardedladyqueen and everyone else who have been waiting for Truce.... this is not it. BUT it is another Solavellan Kid Fic.
This takes place about three years after the events of Veilguard, when Solas and Lavellan finally have their happy ending because that's what's going to happen. Right BioWare? Right?????
Nan is Aisling's first child from a different relationship. He's 17.
Neria is Solavellan child #1. She's 15. If you have read Truce, you will be happy to notice that by the time this fic happens, Solas has earned the coveted title of "Papae".
Enasali is 3.
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Aisling sat and embroidered underneath the shade of the massive oak tree in their garden, listening as her youngest child shrieked and ran away from the large monstrous wolf chasing her. It was the size of a small dragon, with six glowing eyes and razor-sharp teeth as tall as the toddler it was after.
Yet Aisling knew her daughter was in no danger, for she knew the man beneath the beast and that he loved Enasali as much as she did. She also knew, as she felt the child growing within her kick, that their lives would be changing yet again (this time for the better) and that soon Solas would have much less time to play their daughter's favorite game of “Chase (and Be Chased By) the Giant Puppy.”
She and Solas had both agreed to spend as much time as possible with their children, particularly Enasali, before the baby came, and most of their time and energy was taken up by the baby.
Aisling’s thoughts were interrupted by peels of laughter, and she looked up from her embroidery to see Solas belly crawl through the flowers, his tail wagging rapidly as he inched closer and closer to Enasali.
“Not through my bellflowers, please!” she called out.
Solas stopped in his tracks and glanced back at her with two of his six eyes. He had the decency to flatten his ears to his skull in a sheepish expression before rolling over slightly to the left to get out of the way of Aisling’s precious bulbs. The fact that he smashed more of them in the process was not lost on her. Or him, for that matter, given the fact that he was now, very pointedly, not looking at her.
Aisling stifled her laughter and decided to let it slide for now.
She was just about to return to her embroidery when she heard a scream, followed by a large crash. Solas, too, heard the crash, and he immediately froze, jumping to his feet with his ears perked up and all six of his eyes focused in the direction of the noise. They both settled, however, when they realized it was their two oldest children screeching down the steps of their Fade home and not an intruder.
“GIVE IT BACK, RENAN!” Neria yelled, trying to grab at her brother. Nan leaped over the banister and made a beeline straight to his mother, a leatherbound journal in his hands and what Aisling could only describe as a shit-eating grin on his face. He ran behind his mother and opened the journal to read it out loud.
“’I saw him again today,’” he read gleefully. “’How have I never noticed how blue his eyes were before now?’”
“I swear, Nan,” Neria seethed, “if you do not give me back my journal right now…”
They chased each other in circles around their mother, who was trying in vain to make them stop.
“That’s enough, you two,” she said warningly, but her children seemed too busy antagonizing each other to hear her. Nan continued to read from Neria’s journal, ignoring her threats and holding her journal up high so his sister couldn’t reach it.
“’I hope I can see him again soon!’” he crowed. “’If only so I can see those pretty blue eyes again!’”
Neria’s face turned as bright red as her hair, and she, in a fit of rage, punched her brother in the gut. Hard.
“STOP IT, THE BOTH OF YOU!” Aisling shouted. Both children looked down in contrition as she stood up, abandoning her embroidery. With her real hand resting on her swollen stomach, she held out her artificial one to Nan expectantly.
“Renan, give me her journal. Now,” she commanded.
Head still bowed, he handed his mother the journal. Aisling then gave it to Neria, who practically yanked it out of her mother’s hand and held it close to her chest.
“Neria,” Aisling said in a severe voice to let her daughter know she meant business, “how many times have your father and I told you that not every problem can be solved with your fists?”
She glanced over at said father, who was conveniently pretending he could not hear the argument as he entertained Enasali. Aisling supposed it was for the best. Their youngest hero worshiped her older siblings and was distraught whenever they argued, and Aisling was unsure if she could deal with a sobbing toddler on top of two misbehaving teenagers.
“Now,” she said, giving both of her children very pointed looks, “I want the two of you to apologize to each other immediately.”
“Ir abelas, Neria,” Nan said. “I shouldn’t have taken your journal or told everyone about your secret boyfriend…”
Aisling glared at her son while Neria looked ready to punch him again.
“Renan Lavellan!”
“He’s not my boyfriend!”
“What is this about a boyfriend?”
They all turned to see a massive lupine head looming down at them, six eyes darting between the three of them in concern.
“Neria, is someone courting you?” he asked, his voice taking on a slightly panicked quality to it. “Who is this boy? How old is he? How did you meet him?”
Neria’s face got redder and redder with each question, while Nan’s grin broadened.
“She met him at one of Uncle Varric’s parties!” he said gleefully. Neria gave him a withering look, and Aisling was suddenly very concerned that Neria would skip the fists and start setting her brother on fire. Then she looked over at Solas, and judging by the look in his six eyes, Aisling knew that he was mentally going over every known associate of Varric Tethras, trying to determine who this mysterious suitor was and how to adequately dispose of them. Probably also with fire.
It took her breath away at times how alike father and daughter were. It was also just as likely to give her a headache.
Aisling pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Solas…” she said warningly.
“What?” Solas replied innocently. “I merely wish to know more about Neria’s boyfriend…” Then, he narrowed his eyes and added, “…whom I would also very much like to meet. Privately.”
Neria threw her arms up in the air in exasperation.
“PAPAE!” she screeched. “THERE IS NO BOYFRIEND!”
Neria clutched her journal to her chest and glared at her family.
"You are all the worst!" she cried before stomping off towards the house.
Aisling heaved a heavy sigh. She had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time she'd hear of this.
This fic is fighting me guys. But here are two snippets so I can share something and get the fic worms out into the ether. Enjoy.
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"If there was one truth Neria Lavellan knew above all else, it was that she hated Solas with every fiber of her twelve-year-old being. It was her opinion that the man who abandoned her and her family before she was even born did not have any right to any of their time. Yet in the days following his release from the Fade, Neria noticed her family’s carefully constructed unit begin to shift and change to make room for him anyway.
It started fairly innocuously, with Mamae checking in on him when she could. It seemed Solas was apparently left weakened by his stint in the Fade and needed the bedrest. This was fine to Neria; it meant she wouldn’t have to see the man, and it gave Mamae a chance to do what she loved most: fret over people.
Yet, as Solas regained his strength and could leave his bed, he continued to weasel into her family’s lives, starting with Neria’s mother. Unless Solas was needed for Veilguard stuff, he was stuck to Mamae like a tick.
A stupid, bald tick.
Wherever Aisling Lavellan was, Solas was not far behind. If Mamae was cooking, Solas would be there to “help.” If Mamae was holding Neria’s new baby sister, Enasali, and she began to fuss, Solas would sweep in out of nowhere and offer to hold her. If Mamae was doing embroidery work in the library, Solas was close by, reading a book.
What was worse was that Mamae seemed to enjoy having Solas around. It did not escape Neria’s notice how Mamae would leave Veilguard meetings with her hand (always her real hand) entwined with Solas’s own. Nor did Neria miss the look on Mamae’s face whenever she would feed him a bite of whatever it was she was cooking… By hand.
It made Neria want to hurl..."
-
"...The leather was old and worn, covered in a thick layer of dust like it had been forgotten for years. Upon opening it, she saw that the writing was tiny, impeccably neat, and seemed to alternate between common and Elven. Along with what looked like regular journal entries, there were also diagrams, formulas, and countless sketches.
Neria had a sneaking suspicion as to who this journal belonged to. So, with a vindictiveness she didn’t even know she possessed, she turned to a random page.
It was a journal entry written in common and, according to the date, was written on what would have been her fourth name day. It read:
‘I have a near mountain of work, yet I have accomplished nothing. Today is Neria’s name day, and is the case every year, I am finding it hard to concentrate.
She is turning four years old this year. Four years old! I am still unused to the flow of time in this new world, and I fear that when I next see her, Neria will be a woman grown…’
The next passage had what looked like water droplets smearing the ink and making the text nearly illegible. Neria thought she saw the word ‘heart’ and perhaps ‘mother,’ but she couldn’t be sure. Frustrated, she skipped to the next few lines.
‘I had one of my agents deliver the gift I had picked out. I found it while I was working with my contact in Kirkwall.
It was a toy stuffed wolf, and it was quite the odd-looking thing with its misshapen body and mismatched buttons for eyes. Yet I found it endearing (and incredibly soft), so I couldn’t help but purchase it.
I can only hope that Neria enjoys it as well...’"
@buttsonthebeach @beardedladyqueen and all the others, thank you for cheering me on. It helps a lot. :D
@buttsonthebeach and @nerdanel01 both gave an open invitation to post the last six lines of a WIP so I’m taking this opportunity to force more of this fic upon Tumblr:
There was an influx of Papae!Solas content and I wanted to share a WIP I was working on that I'm not sure what I'm going to do with or where
This snippet is technically not the last six lines (the last six lines are in the previous post) but they are the last bit of lines I wrote…
Enjoy:
She began to draw with slightly more aggression than what was probably necessary.
“Neria…” she heard her brother sigh, “…why does that man you’re drawing look like Solas?”
“Coincidence,” she said, refusing to meet Nan’s eyes. Instead, she focused all of her attention on getting the little details of stupid Solas’s stupid armor just right…
“Riiiiiiiight... And he’s getting eaten by a dragon because…?”
“Because,” she said, stabbing her charcoal against the paper so hard it nearly snapped, “dragons need to eat, and some people need to be eaten.”
“…Right.’”
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I tag @weavewithshadow and anyone else who wants to do it! Please, tag me in your WIPS!!
I would also tag nerdanel01 again to try and get another sneak peak at Love is a Stranger, but I don’t think that’s how it works lol.
I’m writing my DA:TV prologue, part 2, Solavellan Bugaloo, and it quickly escalated from a heartfelt discussion to fucking nasty on my Lavellan’s bearskin rug.
