#abevellan

[galadrieljones]

Riptide

❤️ masterpost ❤️

Dragon Age | Solavellan | Abevellan | Amerivellan | Mature ❤️

Over the past ten years, Sene Lavellan, through her romantic pursuits, her gritty fight for the south, friendships that will last a lifetime, finds herself forever in love with a ghost, yanked down by the riptide, Solas. She is hunting wolves through time and space, anguish and joy as she pursues him without end. But as she learns that she does not have to fight alone, Solas must learn that the only possible answer for him, and the only true fate, is the love they share.

Only @ AO3

Chapters will be published every week or so!

Part I: Abelas

Chapter 1: You're Welcome (9/23/24)

Chapter 2: Inertia (9/25)

Chapter 3: The New World (9/27)

Chapter 4: Digging (9/29)

Chapter 5: Lighthouse (10/1)

Chapter 6: Paper Flowers (10/3)

Chapter 7: The Storm Coast (10/5)

Part II: Ameridan

Chapter 8: Inquisition Folklore (10/7)

Chapter 9: Last Call (10/9)

Chapter 10: Fireflies, Marshes (10/11) - NSFW

Chapter 11: Dragon Slayer (10/13)

Chapter 12: Winter's Bone (10/15)

Chapter 13: Unlocked Doors (10/17)

Chapter 14: The Dragon, the Redhead, and the Wolf (10/20)

Chapter 15: Who Are You Now? (10/22)

Chapter 16: Goodnight, Halamshiral. (10/24)

Part III: Fen'Harel

Chapter 17: What the Dread Wolf Takes (10/26)

Chapter 18: Valor (10/28)

Chapter 19: Haven (10/30)

Part IV: Solas

Chapter 20: All New, Faded for Sene. (11/30)

Chapter 21: Sweet Sorrow (12/6)

Chapter 22: Wise Men (12/13)

Chapter 23: Possession (12/20)

Chapter 24: Lovers at War (1/3)

Chapter 25: The Dread Wolf's Girl (1/10)

*** Chapter 26: Weight (1/17) ***

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

Beginning in Part IV, this fic contains spoilers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard ❤️

[fiadhaisteach]

On This Day

(previous TIRTWs & TIRTW Key/Legend)

Things I’ve Read This Week* - 2021.10.16

New Stories

Trio AU, even afraid, we build our home by apfelgranate (@notenoughdragons) & bluebeholder (@wanderingnork) - {Solas/F!Adaar/F!Adaar} - 4,635 words - complete

Salt, Flesh, Heat by hes5thlazarus (@5lazarus) - Solas/Iron Bull - 2,105 words - complete

BTV Artober 2021 by raven4138 (@drag-on-age) - Solas/F!Lavellan - 5,343 words - WIP

The Sound of Steel on Stone, ⚜️In the Wolf’s Shadow, ⚜️Lost Elf by lavellan22 - Solas/F!Lavellan - 8,922 words - 1st work complete, last work & series WIP

Rereads

In Another World by fenkyuubi (@fenkyuubi) - Solas/F!Lavellan - 81,513 words - complete

The Dread Wolf’s Heart, ⚜️The Dread Wolf’s Heart, ️⚜️Sanctuary, ️⚜️Subtle by Feynite (@feynites) - Solas/F!Lavellan - 186,784 words - complete

All the Time Before Us by bluebeholder (@wanderingnork) & art by apfelgranate (@notenoughdragons) - {Solas/F!Adaar/F!Adaar} - 6,911 - complete

The Sound of Steel on Stone, The Fresco by lavellan22 - Solas/F!Lavellan - 1,948 words - complete

Tumblr (re)Reads

What happens to Dog if the Warden dies fighting the Archdemon? prompt by @blue-eyed-jenna - Falon the mabari & friends

Subscription Updates

Lingrean Rosal'sule'din, The Future Is Not Yet Set In Stone by angelslaugh (@skyerie) - Dorian & F!Lavellan, F!Lavellan/F!Warden, past?Solas/F!Lavellan (Ch. 63-65)

Wicked Things, What a Wicked Game to Play by Cracking Lamb (@crackinglamb) - Solas/MGiT (Ch. 51-52)

Unwritten by UnrealRomance - Solas/MGiT (Ch. 226-227)

Emerald Eyes Amidst Golden Vows - Bound Brighter by Elysia45 (@emerald-amidst-gold) - Solas/M!Lavellan (Ch. 13)

The Well by SerialChillr (@serial-chillr) - Abelas/F!Lavellan (Ch. 5)

Love, Delivered by beaubashley (@beaubartley) - Solas/F!Lavellan (Ch. 8)

Scars of Light by Kallypso (@kallypsowrites) - The Darkling|Kirigan/Alina (Ch. 55-56)

beware the forest at night, when there are miles left to go, the forest is dark and deep and i’ve seen you here before by victoriousscarf (@victoriousscarf) - Solas/M!Lavellan (Ch. 171-172)

Vena Eolas: The Journey of an Elvhen Spirit, Sule Tael Tasalal - Until We Meet Again by faerieavalon (@faerieavalon) - {Solas/OFC, Felassan/OFC} (Ch. 69)

She’s Lived a Good Life by Kinako - MCiT (Ch. 20)

Dreams, In Waking Dreams by AParisianShakespearean (@a-shakespearean-in-paris) - Cullen/F!Trevelyan (Ch. 88)

Into the Cosmos, Into the Chaos by Pakhet (@shiver-the-tiefling) - {MGiT~MBiT, Solas/MGiT, Solas~MBiT} (Ch. 82)

Til It Squeaks: A Modern Girl’s Take on Thedas, Twist Some More by CrackingLamb (@crackinglamb) - Solas/MGiT (Ch. 33)

The DA Alternate Universe Chronicles, Vir'vhen'an by RogueLioness (@roguelioness) - Solas/F!Lavellan (Ch. 3)

✔️ All the Time Before Us by bluebeholder (@wanderingnork) & art by apfelgranate (@notenoughdragons) - {Solas/F!Adaar/F!Adaar} (Ch. 2), complete

Bloodied & Broken World State, Bloodied and Broken, Rogasha'ghi'lan (The Brave Guide) by youworeblue (@dreadfutures) - Solas/F!Lavellan (Ch. 13)

lover, your back is bruised from what you carry, In the face of your light by noverture (@noverturemusings) - Solas/M!Lavellan, past Dirthamen/M!Lavellan (Ch. 101)

Just Like Fire by CrackingLamb (@crackinglamb) - Solas/F!Lavellan (Ch. 16)

Echoes Across Time by JLHall (@jlhallares) - Solas/MGiT (Ch. 235)

Shameless With a Side of Egg and Noodles by Cease_Sphire (@csphire​) - Varric/MGiT (the slowest of burns), also Solas/MGiT, M!Hawke/MGiT (Ch. 8-9)

The Guardian by HumblePeasant (@mogwaei) - Solas/OFC, Dorian/M!Lavellan (Ch. 149)

Coiling Time by Enceladus (EspressoComfort) (@espressocomfort) - Solas/MGiT (Ch. 28)

» side note - multiple chapters may mean multiple updates; or might just be me refreshing my memory, reorienting myself in the story, or rereading some for fun.

*TIRTW & can recommend (previous weeks & TIRTW Key/Legend)

[gala-art]

Abelas makes Sene paper cranes in the evenings. They fly around the tent, and they get tangled in her hair. They are beautiful, and they make her laugh, and this makes them both happy.

But sometimes, outside, where the world is mean, and the light is too bright, she gets lost. Solas made butterflies, not paper cranes. Where is the line between nature and the thing you wish you could love? Sene asks herself that, sometimes.

[ma-revas-an]

Asha’belasan

If you look closely, you can see that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.

[galadrieljones]

Thank you so much for this, amburu. I love how you capture Abelas and his patience, and how Sene, with all of her wrath, is always just out of his reach. Of course Solas is in the middle 😭 This is beautiful and expressive and I'm so thankful for a friend and reader such as you ❤️

Here's a tribute to the entire first arc of Riptide, an AO3 fic from @galadrieljones where we watch over Isene Lavellan's as she scrambles through a painful decade in Solavellan hell.

Please go check it out ! :)

Over the past ten years, Sene Lavellan, through her romantic pursuits and journeys post-Solas, her gritty fight for the south, deciding who she will become, finds herself forever in love with a ghost, yanked down by the riptide, Solas, hunting wolves through time and space, anguish and joy as she pursues him without end. Solas will come to learn that the only possible fate is the love they share.

[kestrelsansjesses]

Even if Abelas’ immortality vanished once he rejoined the waking world, he would outlive Maiwe. She has a mayfly’s life in comparison to him, brief and fleeting and gone too quickly so that he’s left alone just when he thought he had found something so concrete and real. 

:) :) :) 

[galadrieljones]

Riptide (Chapter 1)

❤️ Dragon Age | Sene Lavellan/Abelas | masterpost ❤️ AO3 ❤️

Chapter 1: You're Welcome

Almost a year after Solas's disappearance from Skyhold, Sene runs into Abelas while investigating a threat in the Frostback Basin.

"Oh dear," said Dorian. "Sene. Did you feel that?"

They were camped out at the mouth of the Frostback Basin. Sene Lavellan, lying on her back in the cool grass, was staring up at the stars, which blinked down like violent little fireflies. Something lovely about them, she thought, and how they swarmed the canopy. It was springtime. Dorian picked up her left hand, gave it a good one-over. She turned to watch.

"What's the matter?" she said.

"Your hand is flickering," said Dorian. "It's kicking off the Veil like bacon grease. Don't tell me there's a rift nearby."

Sene sat straight up, spring-loaded. She hadn't noticed before, but he was right. There were little green sparks emitting from her finger tips, and now she could feel it. It wasn't hot or cold or pain. Just weird. "Shit," she said, making a fist. "Why?"

Dorian glanced around. It was late. He had an odd feeling. "I don't know."

Iron Bull and Thom Rainier were out there in the weeds, stomping around, checking the perimeter for hostiles. There is something going on down there, with the Avaar, the Commander had said, back at Skyhold. He sent them to investigate, on behalf of the Inquisition, and here they were.

"I didn't used to be so scared of this thing," said Sene, staring at her hand, shaking it out like it was on fire. "I was at first, but—" She bit her tongue, literally, until it hurt. She lowered her voice so the memories wouldn't hear her. "This sucks."

"It's all right," said Dorian, setting the oil lamp between them so that he could get a better look. "We'll figure it out. There may be a rift. Or perhaps it's just, I don't know, the altitude."

"We're in a basin," said Sene. "You're supposed to be a genius, Dorian."

"I am a genius."

"Can't you just, I don't know, knock on the Veil or something? Have it tell you what's going on?"

"I may be a genius, Inquisitor, but I am not Solas. I can sense the Veil. I can even do things to it. I cannot, however, commune with the Veil."

She crossed her arms and looked down at her threadbare boots. They were heavy and worn to shreds. She hadn't had a replacement made in months. Dagna had offered several times to stitch her new ones before she left, but Sene would not accept. She just didn't feel right. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm just...stressed."

"Try not to be." He gave her back her hand, and she put her gloves on. "Still no word from Solas I assume. Nothing, not even a dream?"

Sene shrugged. "I have felt him from time to time, while asleep, but he never gets close. It only lasts for a moment, like a breeze."

"Leliana seems to have zero leads," said Dorian. He took out a little handkerchief from his pocket, began to polish the great, blue gemstone at the helm of his staff. "I've pressed her, believe me."

"It doesn't matter," said Sene. "If he doesn't want to be found, then he won't be."

"Have you thought of all the possibilities?" said Dorian.

"What do you mean?"

"Sene, what if he's—"

"He's not dead," she said. She pressed her palms to the earth. It was cold and wet. There was a fat earthworm.

"How can you be sure?" said Dorian. "When was the last time you felt him on the breeze?"

"I don't know," she said. "But I think I would know if he died."

"Well, then we'll find him," said Dorian. "I'll help you."

"Thanks," said Sene. She tried her best to smile, but it was hard. She didn't like talking about Solas. It made her itch. Then they heard a snap, somewhere in the foliage to the north. They both got to their feet. They had camped in a clearing, an orchard that seemed to have been scrubbed in the previous years by a fire. Only a few trees remained. Apples, maybe. Or pears.

"Amatus, is that you?" called Dorian.

"Yeah, it's me," said Bull. He and Thom came out of the darkness and into the advancing moonlight. The setting was strange, almost romantic, thought Sene, in a decaying sort of way. It was the kind of place that Solas would have liked, full of remnants from another time, spirits cropping up where old trees had died. It would have made him playful, acting stupid. Sene could imagine him here, smirking and making his butterflies, his little magics, which he would conjure up just to dazzle her. They'd get caught in her hair.

"Are we good?" said Sene.

"All good," said Thom, heaving his ax from one shoulder to the other. "I have to say, Inquisitor, it would be nice if Sera were here. She's better at perimeter security than anyone I know. Bloody sneaky, that elf."

"I couldn't get ahold of her in time," said Sene. "She's somewhere with the Jennies."

"We'll be fine," said Dorian. "Let's all just get some sleep. I'll take first watch."

"No, I will," said Sene. She got up and dusted herself off. She picked up her bow, trying to feel like a new woman. She was done feeling like a child. That was bullshit. It had been a year since Solas left. It was still somehow raw, but at this point, she had learned to manage. She was the leader of a major war time organization. She had her own fucking military, and she'd defeated a god. She was pretty young, but the least she could do was deal with her break-up. "I'm the Inquisitor," she went on. "You boys...go to bed."

Bull chuckled. He nudged her slightly in the ribs. "Okay, mom."

It amused her. Maybe it was all bullshit, but at least she still had her friends. She was safe. "You know what I mean," she said. "I'll come back in a few hours."

***

They all went into their tents, which were patchwork but durable leather, sent to them on a small caravan earlier that day, on behalf of Scout Harding. She was inland, awaiting their arrival in the morning. Sene took a walk. She wasn't tired. She fidgeted with her gloves, tried to stop obsessing over hear hand. Ever since Dorian had pointed it out, she was anxious. It had not acted up like this before, and she was starting to wonder if this had something to do with Solas being gone. If he'd used to have some sort of effect on its balance, or he knew how to tighten loose bolts or something in the magic. Like a puzzle piece shoved out of place, it needed to be shoved back. Or that's how it felt, the best way she could think to describe it.

Outside the orchard, the woods were thick, and she couldn't see for shit beyond the moonlight that filtered through the trees. She understood now, what Thom meant about wanting Sera. There were too many hiding places. You needed somebody who understood this sort of business. Sene was better than most, but her expertise was more attuned to animals. She was a huntress, and so of course, she immediately began to search for the high ground. She found a plateau, hanging out over the thicket, which was scalable, and so she started to climb. It would be a good look-out spot, she thought. She'd be able to see the whole orchard from up there, with a particular view of the tents.

The climb was not difficult. Once she got to the top, she flung her bow over the ledge and got her feet up. Then she stood and took inventory of the view below. All was clear. The Frostback Basin had a haunted sort of beauty about it. Everything seemed foreign. The sky was pink at the horizon, the aurora floating and swirling as milky fire. It reminded her of nothing that she knew, or that she could understand. It looked like magic. In the distance, she could hear the sounds of weird birds and animals. Mating or hunting, she couldn't really tell. The plateau felt alive, and as she was searching around to find something to lean on, she suddenly sensed the vague notion of being watched. Though she figured it was probably just the creatures of the wilds, she picked up her bow anyway. There were trees behind her. The plateau didn't seem large enough to hold enemies. The feeling though, it was getting big, like a clear vibration in the Veil. Solas had taught her to sense the vibrations early on, a skill that she was good at, because she was an elf, and because the anchor held some connection there deep in its nervous system, and it helped her detect enemies before they detected her. It could also help her sense Solas. He was so strange, and unique. She had been with him for so long, and she had loved him so hard, but she never really understood him, what he was made of. He seemed like an ordinary elf, and yet, she was certain: he was made of something else.

As she gazed into the trees, past the grip of her bow, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her. She swung around, thinking perhaps she'd been followed. Dorian, or Bull. They were nosy. They loved her, and they worried about her, and it would be so like them to follow her up here. But she didn't see them. They weren't there. Instead, she saw somebody else. Somebody she knew, but whom it took her a moment to place.

She lowered her bow. "Abelas?" she said.

He was there. It was him. The large, stern elf from the Temple of the Mythal, the man who had used to protect the Well of Sorrows. He had a large staff, which was strapped to his back by some sort of magical harness. He held his hands where she could see them, like a half-surrender. His hair was long and blond, knotted off at the back of his head. and his eyes were a brilliant green, and he was so starkly handsome beneath the of weight of his vallaslin, the effect it had on her was almost alien. He was not of this world, and she knew right away that the magical vibrations she had felt on that plateau were coming from him.

"Inquisitor," he said, taking one step toward her. "What are you doing here?"

Read the rest @ AO3 ❤️

[galadrieljones]

Riptide: Chapter 22

Dragon Age | Solavellan | Abevellan | Amerivellan | Mature ❤️

Chapter 22: Wise Men

After an arduous journey through the Frostbacks, Inquisitor Ameridan arrives at Skyhold where he helps Sene try to make sense of her role in what's to come. Far away, a new romance blossoms. Where will it lead?

AO3 (Start from the Beginning)

MASTERPOST

[fortheloveofsolas]

Lavellan: “Why won’t you come home with me????”

[galadrieljones]

Riptide: Chapter 21

Dragon Age | Solavellan | Abevellan | Amerivellan | Mature ❤️

Chapter 21: Sweet Sorrow

Sene and Abelas find what they were looking for in the Crossroads, but a well-intentioned interloper takes them by surprise. Abelas opens up to Sene about what happened to him and Solas during their service with Mythal.

AO3 (Start from the Beginning)

MASTERPOST

[galadrieljones]

"Riptide" (Part IV: Solas)

Dragon Age | Solavellan | Abevellan | Amerivellan | Mature ❤️

"Riptide" continues, into the canon era of Veilguard. Follow Sene Lavellan's journey from the year Solas leaves Skyhold, through her various relationships and regrets, and her journey toward her destiny.

AO3 (Start from the Beginning)

MASTERPOST

Chapter 20: All New, Faded for Sene.

Alarming developments in the south have roused the Inquisition from its relative slumber. Unable to feel Solas through the Veil, Sene is worried. Abelas fears that he has begun his ritual, and so the two venture into the Crossroads, looking for clues.

[galadrieljones]

For the ask game:

Which work of yours have you reread the most?

Hey there. That's a great question lol. My guess would be either Riptide or The Dead Season. The Dead Season is old, and it's complete, and I have revisited it often, as there are just certain aspects of that version of Solas and Sene and their universe that I miss. They were really very happy. TDS Solas was such a dream boat to write. I have also reread a lot of my old Young Wolf pieces to relive my Arlathan AU with him and Ghilan'nain in their youth, because I just miss him. I also miss his mother from that universe, Leanathy, who I was very proud of. And I miss my version of Mythal, who was not an awful person.

Re: Riptide, I have reread those chapters many times. In the early chapters of Riptide especially, I repurposed and expanded several older pieces from tumblr, from way back when I was casually writing Abevellan and Amerivellan on the side in like 2017. I had to reread those old pieces quite a lot to coordinate how they'd all fit together in time. I have also reread Riptide quite often because it contains a lot of information, and it's my second canon for Sene and Solas lol, so I need to keep everything straight. I like to look back as well to try and relive the details and the memories so that I don't forget them. So like, right now, I'm writing an Ameridan-heavy chapter, and so I've revisited the other Ameridan-heavy chapters quite often over the past week to get into his mode. I feel the need to steep myself in these voices that I have largely invented, like Abelas and Ameridan, so that I never forget their motivations, agendas, and the way that they speak.

AO3 Wrapped Asks - Feel free to send some more ❤️

[fortheloveofsolas]

I’ve seen other people use Abevellan, which is completely fine. To me, Abellan has a nice ring to it. (But I’m bias aren’t I? 😏)

Does Lavellan/Abelas have a ship name? Is it Abellan? 🤔

[galadrieljones]

Riptide: Chapter 26

❤️ Dragon Age | Solavellan | Abevellan | Amerivellan | Mature ❤️

Chapter 26: Weight

With Skyhold finally clear of darkspawn, Sene is met with a surprise. Solas fights a major battle with the past.

BACKED INTO a corner in the gardens of Skyhold, Sene put down three more little zombies with her arrows, then she stabbed another with the knife from her belt, but there were too many. It was loud, like screaming and metal scraping, and she had blood on her gloves and in her hair. She smelled like the Blight, and she was fucking sick of it. But they were getting too close. The eaves were right behind her, and there were people inside.

"Abelas?" she screamed, trying to find him in the circus smoke.

"Ise," he said, out of nowhere. "Get down—"

He grabbed her by the collar and shoved her down into the dirt. He covered her with his whole body, and then he sent a blast of white energy through the gardens, taking with it all the darkspawn, yawning and gargling in the leaves, bubbling up from the earth like a disease. They basically turned to ice then vaporized and went singing into the air. But the spell, whatever it was, was such an enormous shock to her system, that the moment it was over, she threw him off of her with some unseen strength and stumbled to her feet like some sort of dumbass baby deer. Dizzy as hell, she tipped over, almost hit the ground once more, but he caught her firmly by the shoulders. He looked right into both of her eyes like he was making sure she wasn't horribly concussed. She was not concussed, but she was extremely confused.

"What the fuck, Abelas?"

"You're fine," he asserted. He dusted her off, picked a couple of leaves out of her hair, a stick, a feather. 

"What was that? I can't fucking breathe."

"Yes you can," he said. "Breathe. They're all dead. I had to take a piece out of the air, but it should be back to normal now." 

When she looked around, she saw that he was right. The whole garden was steaming, and sparkling, and clean. It looked like snow. And the darkspawn were gone. "Holy shit," she said. "Did you wipe the whole castle?"

"This should be the last of it."

"Whoa. Good job, Abelas."

"Thank you, Ise."

She was still a little wobbly.

Those past couple of weeks, at Skyhold, fighting demons and darkspawn with Abelas, it felt like old times, just without all the sex. The darkspawn came in waves, flooding in from the mountain passes, where they seemed to be migrating out of Orlais. This was an accident, an accidental byproduct of Ameridan's literal dragon army, meaning: he was training dragons to kill darkspawn out of the Emprise du Lion, and they now roamed freely in the western skies. It was an enormous boon for Orlais, but he was doing a little too well. It turned out that whatever they couldn't kill seemed to be bottlenecking straight into Ferelden, drawn to the anomalies in the Veil around Skyhold, which was not something he could have foreseen. Ameridan had several hundred men in the Frostbacks already, building blockades that would redirect the darkspawn to the south, where the Veil was even thinner, and the spirits and the Avaar could cleanse them quickly, but of course, there was fallout. When he'd sent Sene his missive, it said...

Keep Reading at AO3

AO3 (Start from the Beginning)

MASTERPOST

[galadrieljones]

Riptide: Chapter 25

❤️ Dragon Age | Solavellan | Abevellan | Amerivellan | Mature ❤️

Chapter 25: The Dread Wolf's Girl

Rook meets with Inquisitor Lavellan in Minrathous. She is everything Solas promised her to be, and more.

ROOK, HARDING, and Emmrich arrived early to the Cobbled Swan that day. Or, at least they thought they did, but when they walked in the door, the place was completely cleared out. A lone man tended bar, shining a glass with a red bandana, eyeballing them like they didn't belong. 

"You Rook?" he said. 

"Uh, yeah?"

He kind of scoffed then, disrespectfully, giving her a very impolite one-over. Rook thought about punching him in the face, but she'd gotten in trouble for that sort of thing before, and now was really not the time.

The exchange, however, had pissed off Emmrich. He stepped up to the bar, asserting his height, and stuck the bartender with a very dark and withering stare. "Kindly assist us, or leave," he said.

It worked. The bartender backed right off, seemingly terrified. "Your people are in the back," he said.

"Wonderful," said Emmrich, smiling now, which only served to unnerve him further. 

"Where's everybody else?" said Harding. "Hey, bartender! Did you hear me?"

The bartender snapped back into place, looked at Harding like he'd seen a ghost. "Place was bought out for the afternoon."

"Bought out?" said Rook. "By who?"

He shrugged, perhaps in fear for his life. He then glanced back to Emmrich one more time, placed a single toothpick between his teeth and proceeded to actually leave the bar, in a hurry.

"Look at him go," said Harding, sort of wistful, watching through the window as he disappeared into the crowded city streets.

Meanwhile, Emmrich took a deep breath and looked down at Rook with a tender smile. "Shall we?"

Rook got a little hot around the ears. Despite his soft-spoken nature, Emmrich had a rather high factor of intimidation. Something about the Mortalitasi demeanor. Like a switch he could flip on and off, so fast. He rarely put it on display, but whenever he did, it really could freak people out. She had become a bit of a moron for him lately. She was well aware. "Thanks for that," she said, holding it all inside like some sort emotionally fucked up safe. 

"My pleasure."

They progressed toward the back of the bar where there was a large red door flanked by two shiny armed guards, each of them holding a sword and an unmarked banner. It all felt very cloak and dagger to Rook. Emmrich, meanwhile, seemed to know exactly what was going on. He leaned close to Harding and said, "I sense the deep pockets of Chantry influence."

"Oh yeah," said Harding. "This is Inquisition for sure. Didn't you see those guys at the front door?"

"The big ones? With the armor? And the unappealing facial scars?"

"Those are Cullen's personal guys. I remember them from Skyhold."

"I presume you mean Cullen Rutherford," said Emmrich. "Commander of the Inquisition Army."

"That's the one. They go where he goes, and if he's here, then that means Sene is here, too."

Rook stopped cold in the middle of the bar, surrounded by the empty chairs and empty tables, little dust piles on the floor. She glanced to the window. There were flies there, buzzing at the corners, searching for escape. Harding went up ahead, to touch base with the scouts at the door, who she seemed to know personally. It was all just business as usual for her.

She felt Emmrich's hand then, firmly on her shoulder. He didn't have to say anything. She could just feel him, and his calm disposition, reassuring her that everything was going to be all right. 

"I still don't know how to approach this," said Rook. 

"Would you like advisement?"

"Yes," she said, turning around, looking up at him, wondering at how she could possibly repay him for all of this. It was complicated, the nature of their relationship. Even if she was a moron. "Please, tell me what you think."

He smoothed her hair. He placed it behind her ear and lifted her chin, ever so gently. He did this to make her feel safe and confident. It worked every time. 

Keep Reading at AO3

AO3 (Start from the Beginning)

MASTERPOST

[galadrieljones]

Riptide: Chapter 24

❤️ Dragon Age | Solavellan | Abevellan | Amerivellan | Mature ❤️

Chapter 24: Lovers at War

Solas, who has been toiling in the Fade, has a tense conversation with Rook. With the south at a dire stalemate, Sene and Morrigan prepare for the meeting in Minrathous.

SOLAS WAS in the nursery, painting the walls with a wide paintbrush. Line by line by line, a pale yellow, almost cream. Sene had picked the color. She said it reminded her of the Hinterlands. Solas didn’t bother to ask about the significance of cream in the Hinterlands. Loving Sene those days was like rifling through an ancient hope chest. She was filled with countless, strange curiosities. The oddest things would delight and surprise her, and this was just one of her many small quirks.

The other day, for example, she’d found a tarnished coin in the grass on their way to the village of Crestwood. She talked endlessly of Halamshiral as they walked, how she missed it. "The feathers," she kept saying. The feathers. “The women of Orlais. They are all trying so hard to be loved,” she said. She admired the coin, close to tears in the sun. It endeared her to him so greatly, this mystery, that he let her demand of him as many magic tricks as she pleased for the rest of the afternoon. It was mostly butterflies, of course, and flowers that he conjured right from the depths of her red, curly hair. She never wanted big or flashy spells. She liked small. She liked nature, but glowy.

She came into the nursery. She was very tall, barefoot, and showing quite a bit now beneath her blue dress. In her arms, she was holding a puppy.

Solas stopped what he was doing. Sleeves rolled up, the paint clung to his arms and his hands. He wiped them off on his slacks and went to her.

“Sene,” he said. “Is that a puppy?”

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