#( &. 𝗏: 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖾𝗑𝗍𝗋𝖺𝗈𝗋𝖽𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗋𝗒. ) dragon age!main. ❜

[honnleathrose-a3]

@higheverlost​. ellis ;

        for the first time since they began traveling together a few days before, rosalie woke up before the sun was up in the sky. ellis, a kind man that had offered to accompany her on her trip to skyhold (since he was also going there), very graciously offered his tent for her to sleep in. however, she had a sneaking suspicion that he hadn’t been getting any sleep himself. this time, since she woke up hours before she usually did, she decided to check.

        sure enough, there he was, sitting by the fire, completely awake.  ❝ i knew it. ❞ she said, her voice still a little husky from having just woken up.  ❝ you haven’t been sleeping. ❞ she sighed, getting out of the tent and sitting next to him before clearing her throat.  ❝ alright, off you go. i’ll sit watch. i can’t really fight but i’ll make sure to call you if i see or hear anything weird. ❞ how long had he been doing that? staying up to make sure she was safe when rosalie was sound asleep pretty much the entire night?

        not that she didn’t enjoy being taken care of, but he didn’t owe her anything. they had only just met a few days ago. 

[honnleathrose-a3]

@higheverlost​ :         ❝  i don’t think i’m the best person for you,  i don’t.  but i do know i’m the one that can keep you safe  ❞

           they were almost at skyhold’s gates and for some reason she felt the need to stop, to look at him in the eyes and ask him if he felt something different --- something new between them. not in a thousand years rosalie would have thought that after roughly a month of traveling with a man she had only met at the beginning of that journey she would develop feelings for him beyond companionship. 

          but there she was, struggling with the end of their time together. once they arrived at skyhold it wouldn’t be just them. her older brother would be there and rosalie would have to spend so much time with him to get to know him and make up for lost time --- would ellis even stick around? she had no idea what his business there was. so rosalie stopped just short of the last few steps to the fortress’ gate and looked him in the eyes, demanding an answer --- did he feel the same as she did or not?

          his answer had her stunned. if he didn’t think he was the best person for her, then... he had considered the idea. considered the two of them as more than what they were... for the first time in weeks, rosalie stepped in his direction and trespassed the invisible line that defined intimacy. she rested the palm of her hand softly against his face, her thumb brushing against his cheekbone.  ❝ that’s not what i asked, ellis. ❞ 

          but maybe talking wasn’t enough. rosalie had no trouble talking about her feelings or expressing them really --- it was something that came easily to her.

          she decided, then, to skip the talks and follow her heart. her instincts. slowly, carefully, she leaned forward and stood slightly on the tip of her toes so her lips could reach his, giving him plenty of time to pull away should he want to. once their lips were pressed together and the ground felt soft beneath her feet from euphoria, rosalie retreated a little to watch for his reaction.

[honnleathrose-a3]

@higheverlost​ :       ❝  turn around.  you don’t need to see this part.  ❞

          it had been almost a couple of weeks since they first started traveling together and until that point, their journey had stayed peaceful despite the war raging in thedas. ellis knew how to travel efficiently and where to go to avoid most of the action, but bandits were not something they could predict. there were only three of them --- large men, one elf and two humans. still, they were outnumbered. rosalie didn’t fight. she didn’t even have a weapon.

          her breathing started getting heaver and faster as their eyes settled on her: the weakling. she could tell that their enemies thought this would be easy. it was just about getting past ellis and then it was all over. what did the want? money? violence? something else?

          still, once she heard ellis’ voice, rosalie knew she could trust him. she turned around with her back to them, stepping away from the action to give him more room. with her eyes closed and her hands balled into fists, fingers clutching against the fabric of her light blue dress, she waited until the fighting noises started and stopped. all the while, much to her surprise, a few fearful tears streamed down her face because ellis would either win that fight or he wouldn’t, and that could mean death.

          she didn’t want him to die. thinking about it made it harder to breathe.

          her own heart racing made it harder to hear what was going on behind her, but she felt a hand landing on her shoulder and, with a hopeful smile, she turned around. it wasn’t ellis’ face that she saw, however, but one of the bandits.  ❝ you’re not going anywhere, missy. ❞ it took her seconds to register the scene in front of her --- one of the bandits was already down on the ground and the other one was falling to his knees to ellis’ blade. 

          the man’s grip on her arm got tighter and rosalie whined.  ❝ no, let me go! ellis! ❞ he was trying to drag her away and rosalie’s resistance upset him enough that he slapped her across the face. she felt the soft skin on the corner of her lip tearing and heating with the blood dripping from it and the world spinned around her.

[honnleathrose-a3]

@warpaiint​ . aloy :  ‘ who are you looking for? ’

         dark brown eyes rolled expressively as she sighed.  ❝ what is new? cullen, of course. he wasn’t in his office and i’m almost entirely sure he’s avoiding me to avoid spending TIME with me. ❞ should rosalie get the inquisitor involved in her personal familial matters? probably not, but it didn’t matter. because she was RELENTLESS. rosalie had a way of always getting what she wanted. maybe the inquisitor would even help.

        ❝ do you know where my arsehead of a brother is? ❞

[honnleathrose-a3]

@multusxcastalides​. yvesse ;

        ❝ how do you stand him? ❞

        rosalie’s complaint was out of her mouth as soon as she spotted and managed to get close enough to the inquisitor. perhaps she was resting or simply enjoying some alone time, but none of that crossed the youngest rutherford’s mind. she was way too upset at her older brother --- as per usual. 

        ❝ i mean it, inquisitor. he’s the most stubborn, persnickety, work-obsessed person i’ve ever met. it’s unbearable! ❞ granted, she hadn’t met that many people in her short life, but still. rosalie threw herself on the nearest chair, exhaling in outrage, waiting for yvesse to fill the silence. hopefully to agree with her. 

        ❝ i just want to spend some time with him. i mean, i BARELY know him and he’s my brother. can’t he make SOME time? ❞

[honnleathrose-a3]

@multusxcastalides​. mia ;

         ​it just so happened that rosalie was near the gates when she watched them walking through and her heart nearly stopped. branson was a welcome sight, and she would have gotten excited about the endless possibilities they would have together to get on cullen’s nerves but he wasn’t alone. a little ahead of him, walking as if she owned the very ground she was stepping on, was her older sister mia. 

        ❝ oh, maker. ❞ rosalie whispered to herself.  ❝ oh, no. ❞  

        the only person she truly feared --- not because mia was cruel, but because she was the only authority figure rosalie actually respected. and she commanded such respect all the time, really. it was no surprise when she suddenly found herself in a position to inherit the arling of south reach after living there for a little over a decade. 

        she should have guessed mia wouldn’t have left that alone --- rosalie traveling alone to skyhold without permission? even worse, against mia’s word. 

[honnleathrose-a3]

@oathkcpt​. aedan.

            ever since they exchanged their first LOOK, something had been different about their dynamic. rosalie thought she had just met someone who enjoyed having fun as much as she did. he didn’t mind her playful flirting and even started flirting back, starting a game neither of them went in with the intention of playing but after a while, both wanted to WIN. who could flirt more? who could make the other person lose focus and just... fluster!

            rosalie came close a few times, but she held her ground. she was sure aedan must have had a few close calls as well, right? it was the most fun part about being in skyhold, ever since she stepped foot in there. things with cullen were moving very slowly --- although they WERE moving, in his defense --- and rosalie wasn’t a patient young woman. 

            so when her small amounts of time with her brother came to an end, she went around skyhold looking for something to do. she’d either help the healers, go tend to the gardens or read there or, and recently, the option she chose more often, find warden cousland to keep their little game goign. the fact that cullen HATED how much time they spent together was only a bonus, of course.

            that morning, however, rosalie didn’t expect to see him. she was too nervous about having to ride a horse to the market in val royeaux to buy some things for the kitchens --- something she was also involved with now. after making sure everyone knew she couldn’t ride them on her own, leliana went to look for someone to accompany her. much to her pleasant surprise, that was aedan.  ❝ oh! ❞ she smiled subtly.  ❝ warden-commander. i’m sure a man of your rank would have better things to do than to accompany me to val royeaux, no? ❞

            ❝ i agree. ❞ cullen said, nearby. rosalie smirked. 

[honnleathrose-a3]

@wanderism. cullen ;

             from the say she stepped foot in skyhold, rosalie has made a POINT in trying to spend as much time as possible with her brother. after all, he was the whole reason she traveled there in the first place. and although his constant ‘i have too much work to do’ responses in no way deterred her, she was starting to grow tired of reading a book next to him while he went over paperwork. she had been patient, and now she was done.

            so, that day, as soon as the sun was down, she made her way to his office and waited for him there. on HIS chair. when he finally arrived, she smiled seemingly innocently, but anyone that KNEW her would be able to tell it was anything but. 

            ❝ i’m glad you’re here. you’re done working for today --- at least for the next couple of hours. ❞ she stood up, gently taking any papers he had in his hands and placing them carefully on his desk. he could get to those LATER.  ❝ i’ve been here for a couple of weeks now and you STILL haven’t taken the time to give me an actual tour. so let’s walk, shall we? ❞

            knowing him as much as rosalie did --- which wasn’t a whole lot, but that was what she wanted to change --- cullen would surely try to protest. she stopped him before he could.  ❝ cullen. don’t make this difficult for me, because i promise, it will be so much MORE difficult for you. ❞

[honnleathrose-a3]

@higheverlost​ asked: ❝   oh,  i am one of the monsters.  but that just means i can keep all the other monsters from ever hurting you again. ❞

          she had moved her tent next to his ever since the attack. while rosalie didn’t enjoy reliving the incident, talking about it helped. she could tell he felt guilty somehow about the way he tore through those bandits, ripping them apart to make sure she would be safe. although she didn’t leave the incident intact, it was still BETTER than what could have happened.

          ❝ no. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. you’re nothing like them. ❞ she was sitting with her back to her tent, in front of the fire he had built. this time they chose a safer place to camp, less isolated.

          she felt safe with him. protected. rosalie truly and compeltely believed he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her again, no matter what happened or what he had to do to prevent it. and as far as she was concerned, she never wanted to leave his side.

[honnleathrose-a3]

@highaevr​ . elethea :  ‘ you have more kindness in your little finger than most people possess in their whole body. ’

          it was true. rosalie was kind --- kinder than many. softer than most. but if anything, it just made her feel out of place coming from a family of potent warriors and rogues, watching everyone around her excelling at the things she simply couldn’t (and wouldn’t) do. she absolutely detested violence. ❝ considering the current state of the world around us, isn’t that a bad thing? ❞

          if rosalie had her way, the world would be beautiful all the time --- flowers would pave every single path, music would follow every journey and every single impass would be decided with words. of course she knew it could never be this way. rosalie wasn’t THAT naive. but if she could make it so, she would: the world would simply be b e a u t i f u l.

          ❝ isn’t it a weakness? ❞

[honnleathrose-a3]

❛  were you … spying on me ?  ❜ from cullen!

@hcroesjcurney. cullen ;

             brown eyes held his gaze and rosalie frowned, tilting her head slightly and making a face as if his question was simply outrageous. 

            ❝ yes! of course i was! ❞ completely unashamed, really.  ❝ you’re always so private and so... strict. i thought that your private life was probably more interesting and maybe you were involved with someone. and i was RIGHT. so, are you going to tell me more about it? if not, i can just keep spying. ❞ she shrugged, smiling very proudly of her recent discovery.