#cullen DAI

[charmedcleric]

Cullen Rutherford + text posts 4/???

Part 3

[cullenssweatyballsakk]

[kimberbohwrites]

Been aging the dragons for a few weeks so far and I cannot believe what I'm willing to put up with all for some hot pixel idiots. <3

[lavendarr00]

[aerynwrites]

Comfort

Cullen Rutherford x Female!Inquisitor

A/N: Okay, second foray into DAI fic and I think I like this better! I've switched to just using a named inquisitor, the one I created for my game, instead of doing it "x reader". I hope you all enjoy! I also know that the backstory I gave the inquisitor in this story isn't cannon of the inquisitor, but hey - fanfic right? Hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: angst, the inquisitor is very overwhelmed and has a lot of self loathing in this, BUT! lots of comfort, lots of fluff, Cullen being amazing and supportive, fluff!!

Her room feels too big.

The room at Skyhold feels too big. But so did her small cabin at Haven. Even the cell she was kept in before she woke up felt like a luxury. Everything is just too…big. 

Too much.

It's been months since the Conclave. Months since she was blown to smithereens but somehow wasn’t. Months since the anchor latched onto her and the name Herald has been whispered everywhere she goes. 

It’s only been a couple weeks since they named her inquisitor. And suddenly, only then did it seem to finally hit her. 

This is real. 

The inquisition, the breach, the fade bleeding into the physical world, Corypheus…everything. 

And as she stands in front of the mirror in her too big room in this too real world…She counts. She counts the white and pink scars that litter her skin as she lifts her tunic ever so slowly. Eyes cataloging each one and how she got them. Some she can’t even remember. She counts the pulses of energy flickering from the anchor embedded in her hand. She counts her fingers too. 

At least she still has all of those. At least that’s the same. 

Then she counts the knocks that sound at her door. She counts the number of times she ignores them before it opens without invitation. It is a surprisingly respectful five times - but she would expect nothing less from the man that walks into her room. 

Cullen is deathly silent when he doesn’t have his armor on. So much so Celaena would have mistaken him for elven if she’d never met him before. But she has met him, she met him all those months ago when she was nothing but a mystery and a threat. She met him and he didn’t treat her like an immediate threat. Soon he treated her like a friend. Then a confidant. Then a lover…

Which is why it seems to be the final straw when that one word leaves his lips..

“Inquisitor-”

“Don’t-” she just manages to choke the word out before tears follow it. 

Cullen is at her side with just a few steps, strong arms wrap around her waist and she leans into him fully, chasing the familiar warmth of him around her as she falls apart in this unfamiliar place. 

The fabric of his shirt is soft beneath her fingers as she clutches onto it as if it’s the only thing that will keep her tethered to this world. And in a way maybe it is. Maybe here, now, away from her responsibilities, away from the expectations and the possible end of the world…maybe Cullen is the only thing she needs.

“Celaena, what’s wrong?” Cullen’s voice barely seems to reach her through the tears, but she can feel them reverberate in his chest. 

“My love, please…talk to me.”

Celaena wants to talk to Cullen, she needs to. Yet, when she opens her mouth she can’t bring herself to say anything. How can she? How selfish would she sound? Complaining to Cullen of all people about duties being thrust upon them, about leading when she doesn’t want to lead. 

How could she do that to him when all he’s ever done is give - give, and learn and grow and become a better person for all the things he’s done. 

Cullen must sense her hesitation - because of course he does - and gently leads them to sit on the edge of her too big bed. Celaena moves with him, only because he holds her so tightly and she can’t bear the thought of being alone again. Not now. 

“I can’t - I can’t-” she chokes on yet another sob. “I can’t do this, Cullen.”

There. She said it. Her weakness out in the open, her selfishness-

“It’s alright,” Cullen says after a moment, voice soft as he presses a gentle kiss to the crown of her head. “Tell me.”

It’s silent after that, the only sounds being her occasional sniffles and cries until soon it’s just their breathing. Only then does she find the courage to speak again. 

“I lived in a little village,” she begins, voice wet. “Less than one hundred people. Mostly farmers, some shepherds…” she trails off. “But that’s all there was. I saw the same people every day, ate the same meal almost every day, I…I was a healer, Cullen. And even then the worst thing I ever saw was the occasional broken bone or bump on the head…”

“Yes, I remember, you told me about your family and the quaint life you had-”

Celaena pushes away from him then, tears bubbling up once more, “But that’s just the point!” she cries. “That was my life. On the farm with my small little family, in my small little village, with my untrained magic and my biggest worry being what bone the local kids broke, I-” she gasps as she struggles to take in air. 

“I can’t. Do. This.” 

Then, and only then does Cullen reach for her again, his hands cradling her face in a firm but not uncaring grip. He doesn’t speak again, not right away. Instead, he pauses, amber eyes searching her face, brows furrowed with a grief that she’s only ever seen when he laid bare to her his struggles with Lyrium. 

Calloused thumbs wipe at the tears on her cheeks, before one moves up to card through the hair that has fallen from her usual braided style.

“It’s too much,” she sobs again, softly this time. “I don’t…I don’t think I can do this anymore, Cullen. I’m not…I’m not meant for this.”

Celaena takes the momentary silence that follows to breathe, tongue darting out to lick dry lips. She can taste the salt of her own tears, and it almost makes more pour over. 

How pathetic.

“No,” Cullen’s voice is firm as he leans forward, nose brushing her cheeks. “You are not pathetic. How could you even say that?”

She didn’t know she said that out loud. Celaena opens her mouth to speak but Cullen beats her to it. 

“Would someone who couldn’t do this have stood up to Cassandra the moment they woke up in a cell?” he begins. “Would they have willingly offered their help to fight something none of us know anything about?”

“Cullen…” she sighs.

“No!” he says again, voice full of passion, the voice he uses with his troops coming through. “Look at me, please?” 

Celaena wants to refuse, but she can’t refuse him, not when he asks her so gently, his breath fanning over her ear before he places a ghost of a kiss on her cheek as she moves to obey. 

She expects to see pity. Pity or disgust or something that will make her realize she is exactly who she thinks she is. A fraud. 

Yet, the only thing she sees when she looks at the man she loves, is admiration. His eyes shine with it, glinting in the low light as he gazes reverently upon her. He wipes away her tears again, and this time, she realizes they��ve stopped. 

“Would someone pathetic,” he practically spits the word, “have faced Corypheus, alone, with no help and the very slim chance of making it out alive, to save hundreds of people?”

Celaena shakes her head, “That’s not-”

Cullen pulls her closer again, nose brushing her own. “You did those things. You saved us. Saved -” he clears his throat. “You saved me. You can do this.”

His lips meet hers before she can blink, arms enfolding her in an embrace he can only hope is comforting. It is. Celaena melts into his embrace, molding against him like fresh clay. 

His hands card through her hair as they kiss, savoring one another in this moment until it too ends. She pulls away first - but not far - pressing her face into the crook of his neck, as he does the same. The familiar scratch of his beard is a comfort against her skin, his hands a soothing balm as they run up and down her back. 

“You can do this,” he whispers against her again, pulling away only to rest his cheek against the top of her head. “But that doesn’t mean it will be easy. It won’t.”

His words make your lips tremble again, but he speaks before the tears start once more. 

“But you won’t be alone. Not as long as I draw breath, will you have to bear this burden alone.”

Celaena can only nod, fingers clutching the fabric of his tunic in her fists as she tries to hold him closer. 

“Will you stay?” she asks, voice almost imperceptible.

But Cullen hears, he always does. 

“Of course.”

It takes only a moment for Cullen to help her into bed, the covers warm as he pulls them over them both before tucking her against his chest. She curls against him as if he can shield her from the world, and maybe…maybe just for tonight he can try. 

“Do you promise?” her voice meets his ears. 

“My love?”

“Do you promise to be here? Through all of this? I…I can’t do it alone.”

Cullen smiles, kissing the crown of her head. 

“Always. We do this together.”

And for the first time tonight, Celaena feels just a little bit of hope.

[flekh]

testing a ballpoint pen brush

[mostwantedpotato404]

Cullen Rutherford- DAI

[baldursgrave69]

Im playing Dragon Age: Inquisition right now so have some pics of my Inquisitor Eve and Cullen bc I’m obsessed with the two of them

[sasha199]

I kissed Cullen today 😻😻😻 That’s the whole game right? I saved Thedas right? No more demons and all is good with the Veil and the Fade and whatever Solas keeps talking about.

Cool. Y’all I won Dragon Age 😻

Oh shit…wait 😳

[sweetjulieapples]

"Dear Commander" a Cullen x Trevelyan fanfic

Read on AO3

Their correspondence would often push the boundaries of professionalism and to prying eyes would be out right scandalous. Coy smiles and stolen glances at the war table were just the beginning.

chapter list under the cut

Chapter One: Dreams of Lady Trevelyan

Chapter Two: "Welcome To Haven"

Chapter Three: War & Blasphemy

Chapter Four: Hope Is What We Need

Chapter Five: The Greatest Love Of All

Chapter Six: Adventure Awaits!

Chapter Seven: Modest In Temper

Chapter Eight: Bold In Deed

Chapter Nine: A Moment To Breathe

Chapter Ten: The Things You Find In Ferelden

Chapter Eleven: In Hushed Whispers

Chapter Twelve: Reprimands

Chapter Thirteen: By The Maker (Pt1)

Chapter Fourteen: By The Maker (Pt2)

Chapter Fifteen: The Herald's Green Inquisition-issued Scarf

Chapter Sixteen: A Victory Of Alliance

Chapter Seventeen: In Your Heart Shall Burn (Part One)

Chapter Eighteen : In Your Heart Shall Burn (Part Two)

Chapter Nineteen: Beg That I Succeed

Chapter Twenty: Contemplation

Chapter Twenty One : Skyhold

[artygenasi]

Here's a quick sketch, because Cullen and the Inquisitor have my entire heart with their constant hugging.

[charmedcleric]

Cullen Rutherford + text posts 3/???

Part 2

[cullenssweatyballsakk]

Kyndra Lavellan at dinner with Cullen when he's tweakin off that Lyrium Withdrawal

[kimberbohwrites]

Damn, i'm out here trying to save Thedas and you expect me to focus when this man is just out here looking like this?

[banal-nadas]

The Lion of Ferelden

[emmahdraws]

cullen rutherford & some progress canvases

cullen is softer

but demons asked questions that hurt him