#dad solas fic

[rosella-writes]

RO! GIVE ME CUDDLY SOLAS, RO! I mean, ehem, for today's prompt: Solas x literally anyone for "feeling the rumble of their chest when they talk while cuddling" PLEASE?

@bluewren and @plisuu asked for this too! I decided to keep it platonic and make it Solas and Tulin, since I've wanted an excuse to write this for a while. 💚 Thank youuuuu. For @dadrunkwriting

Relationship: Solas & Tulin, father and son Rating: G Words: 648

~~~

Papae’s voice sounds different in the Waking. 

Of course, now Tulin knew that this was his papae. Before, he had been the Walker, his teacher, the one who’d found him in the Fade and taught him to dream. Tulin had shown him how he’d learned to turn into a mouse, just like Kieran taught him, and he’d sounded just as proud then as he does now. 

Tulin yearns for Solas’s praise. He wants so badly to be near him, but is sure he has to earn it somehow — maybe if he brings an interesting fact he learned, or a new talent, or maybe even a newly-sprouted, rare plant from the garden. His heart still pounds with the knowledge of who he is, and why he’s here, and what he means to Mamae. He’s afraid he’ll do it wrong, whatever it is. 

But Papae seems to be able to tell, and smiles softly at Tulin when he tries to tell him a story Tulin knows Solas already knows. He puts out his hand, as if asking for a hug, but something in his eyes pulls him back. Tulin can tell, right now, that he’s being very careful. 

“Da’len,” he begins, “do you remember the time you showed me how you changed shape?”

Tulin nods and sets aside a tomato sprout in its little cup. It rests just fine on the table in the rotunda — the room Mamae had shut up years ago, only to open it when Papae came back. “I can do it again! It’s easier now. Not as easy as when I’m dreaming but yeah!”

“Do you remember when I held you in my pocket?”

Tulin does. He smiles at the remembrance of how warm and safe he’d felt there. 

Papae sits on the old chaise against the wall, and he crosses one leg over the other and clasps his hands over his knee. His eyes seem old and kind when he nods and says, “Will you show me again? And may I read to you a while in that shape?”

Air whooshes out of Tulin’s lungs. “Oh. Oh yes, that’s okay.”

He’s afraid to show how much he wants that. He doesn’t want to seem too eager, or in too much of a hurry — but he’s never turned so quickly into a mouse before in his life. His fingers itch with the speed with which the magic overtakes them, and the sudden sense of smell almost knocks him dizzy. But before he can orient himself with his new surroundings, a large hand plucks him up from the ground. 

“Incredible, da’len,” Solas hums. “I have not seen such a rapid change since… well, you performed that so naturally I would have thought you had always had the gift.”

The world spins as Solas leans back, and when he’s released, Tulin realises he’s been set upon Papae’s worn-out sweater. Papae’s leaning back in the chaise now, a book in his hands and resting against his belly. Tulin is thrumming with pride, and doesn’t feel so sheepish anymore, so he trots up the length of Papae’s chest and settles under his chin. 

This is nice, he decides as he curls up in the warm curve of Solas’s collar. Not the same as in the dream, but nice. 

Papae keeps his voice low and quiet when he begins to read, as if he’s aware of how sensitive Tulin’s ears are in this shape. His narration of his book is a low rumble, one that Tulin can feel through his whole entire body. He can’t help how sleepy it makes him, even as he tries so so hard to stay awake — he feels safe here, lulled by the vibration of his papae’s voice and the warmth of his shirt and the soft, familiar smell of paper and green, growing things. 

Yes, Papae’s voice sounds different here. But it’s nice. Still nice.

[fade-touched-shenanigans]

And so I decided to be shamelessly self indulgent for once and thus a cuddle pile was born

There's no one sleeping uncuddled in this housesold, not even the varghest 😌

[phoenixyfriend]

marriage of convenience and hair brushing/braiding for rexwalker, if you feel up to it?

Fanfiction Trope MASH-UP: Send me two (2) tropes from this list + a ship and I’ll describe how I’d combine them in the same story.

This ask meme is from over a year ago. Please don't send new prompts.

52. Marriage of Convenience 94. Hair Brushing/Braiding 

Is it bad that my first thought is actually inspired by the Ob*kin fic Their fragrance came from you? There's a whole thing about Tatooine marriage braids that my mind immediately jumps to lmao

I think... let's say modern AU. Anakin is a single dad, has been for a few years. Padme died in childbirth, and while her will was made out in favor of Anakin and the kids, the executor of her will was her lawyer-mentor, Palpatine, who couldn't touch the trust funds set up for the twins (which are very large, and will become available when they turn 25, but can only be accessed for education costs before then), but did manage to somehow take almost all the liquid assets left for Anakin in bogus fees.

Anakin's still got the house, but as time passes, he's having more and more trouble with paying the property taxes. He's still managing, but the money Padme left for him is slowly dwindling, and the kids are going to start costing more as they get older, and he's already got Ahsoka living with him (she helps out with the kids so he can work, coding from home, since he's paying for her college tuition; she doesn't have to pay rent since she's a commuter student, and she's got a partial scholarship, but that's still a few thousand a year coming out of Anakin's pocket to put his little sister through underrad). Obi-Wan offered to help, but Obi-Wan lives on the other side of town and even tenured professors don't earn that much, compared to Coruscant's standard cost of living, especially since Obi-Wan adopted recently, a little girl called Reva, and--

Anakin's struggling financially, basically, which isn't a new circumstance, but he really doesn't want to lose Padme's house. Worst comes to worst, he can probably sell it back to Sola so it stays in the Naberrie family, and she'll let him keep living there, but... that's not a sure bet. The Naberries are comfortably wealthy, but it's still an entire house.

Rex, a college friend of Anakin's that went to the same aerospace program, comes back to town. He was on a military tour overseas, but got honorably discharged due to a head injury. Anakin offers to let hm sleep in the guest room, since Padme's house (it's still Padme's, in Anakin's mind), is a lot bigger than Cody's apartment, even if there are toddlers at large. Rex initially promises that he'll only stay long enough to find an apartment of his own, except he overhears Anakin on the phone with Obi-Wan about the finance stuff one day, and reaches out to a few people who have been in town more consistently for a better idea of what's going on without getting too deep into Anakin's business.

Rex manages to get a job locally; there's an airfield for hobbyists a few miles out of town, and the place is looking to hire a new engineer on staff to do repairs and checks on the small planes they keep on site. He starts making noises about moving out, and then, 'subtly,' suggests he just stay at Anakin's place and pay rent.

Anakin does not like the idea of Rex paying rent; friends don't do that! Anakin isn't going to make Rex pay rent in Anakin's home.

They don't talk about it for a few days, and then there's... IDK a night 'off,' where Obi-Wan or Sola or Aayla or Beru takes the twins for an evening, and Ahsoka goes out with friends, so Anakin can take some time off from being a Dad and just Relax.

He and Rex break out the wine, get tipsy not truly drunk, and Rex pokes at the 'just stay here' option again. The house is closer to the airfield than most apartments, and Rex can help take some of the weight off of Anakin and Ahsoka's shoulders with regards to childcare! Even if Anakin won't accept him paying rent!

Anakin argues this. Anakin's kids aren't Rex's responsibility, and Anakin doesn't need his charity (which is, of course, how he views Rex's suggestion). They go back and forth on the topic a few times, and then Rex throws out something about getting married 'for lower taxes' and 'it's not rent if it's my house too, right?' and it's. It's a joke.

Except they're both still thinking about it the next morning, with faint (but not faint enough) memories of a tipsy kiss before bed, and--

Months pass with the two of them circling around each other and Rex never quite moves out, and tax season rolls around, and Anakin is stretched so thin, even with all the cuts for children and covering a dependent's tuition and so on.

Rex quietly floats the idea of a convenience marriage again. It doesn't have to mean anything, if Anakin doesn't want it to. It's not an insult to Padme's memory, just a way of keeping her children in the house she chose for them. And it's not charity, because Rex will get tax cuts too, and better health insurance once Anakin can put him on the family plan he's got. It won't do anything for this year, but by the time the next year rolls around, Anakin will have less of a problem paying those taxes, even if that promotion he's been hoping for doesn't come through.

Anakin, eventually, agrees.

Just four months later, they tie the knot. It's a small ceremony, more than just a courthouse and a paper, just to... well, Anakin wants Rex to have this. Leia and Luke don't entirely understand what's going on, but Ahsoka told them that it means Rex is going to be staying for a lot longer than they originally planned, and they're pretty excited about that part. They're four, and 'Daddy's friend that we like a lot is staying' is pretty clear.

They don't have a 'traditional' wedding night, because they're still both looking at this as a platonic thing (it won't stay that way, but it still is for now). They do share a bed, because someone is sleeping in their guest room (IDK who, maybe a guest was too drunk post-wedding to get home and they just offered the room). Anakin's hair is long enough for an evening of people and, importantly, sticky toddler hands to have tangled it. He washes it out, comes to the bed, and looks so tired--because he had to wash the toddlers first--that Rex offers to brush it for him.

It's intimate. Gentlemanly, but intimate. They go to bed with warm cheeks and pounding hearts, and eventually, one of them rolls onto their side to cuddle.

Neither of them get much sleep that night.

[shrinkthisviolet]

Do you have any Star Wars fic recs (with or without OCs, canon or AU, any ship)?

I do!! My AO3 bookmarks are a good place to look, but I'll just hit a few of the highlights (my 10 favorites, though these fics are listed in no particular order):

dreamless nights by @ahsokryze is an amazing Anakin & Ahsoka fic 🥹 so soft and wonderful. Captures the big-brother/little-sister dynamic so so well

bound by the things we choose ‘verse by @nspx is so wonderful!! It tackles such relationships as Leia & Vader, Qui-Gon & Obi-Wan, and Mara & Vader (love that third fic fr)

the skywalker palindrome by @cringewerewolf is the coolest take on time travel EVER 💞 the series page explains it better than I could, but I will say that it’s Anakin and Luke centric.

hendiadys for a dream by @ozvezdja is THE Anidala fic series of all time (especially now i want my letters white again)!! Like omg…bees, you GET IT!! You get them!! Sola’s POV for that first fic is INSPIRED 💞 I am OBSESSED, please go read this fic if you’re even lukewarm towards Anidala

Frozen in Time by @fanfictasia is some of the most heartwrenching Luke & Vader angst I’ve ever read (while also being short, which is an impressive feat). I just…Vader having visits with Luke supervised by Palpatine?? Luke being periodically frozen in carbonite?? THE TRAGEDY OF IT ALL

The Tatooine Cycle by @fialleril, because I’d be remiss to exclude them from a SW rec list—their fics are a must-read, their worldbuilding of Tatooine is absolutely amazing 💞

Misunderstandings by Livsy, which tackles Anakin’s oft-neglected (in fandom) slave background!

All The Right Reasons by bethagain is such a sweetly heartwrenching look at Luke & Ben (Solo, not Skywalker), how quickly Luke bonds with his nephew…and how he hesitates at first to train Ben because (“I can’t see through…how much I love him”) 🥺 I just. I can’t. I am MELTING, this is so emotional (and it was written pre-TLJ! A nice bonus for me, as someone who hates how their relationship was handled in that movie)

The King’s Gambit by @elli-incarnate…oh it’s a masterclass. The epitome of Sith Luke fics, and absolutely beautiful to read. Every sentence is written with so much care, Luke/Mara is written wonderfully, and I just…I love it so much. So, so very much 💞 it’s Legends-leaning, but tbh it can be enjoyed without knowing Legends

Enter the Foreign by Viari is for absolutely anyone who loves time-travel fics…especially ones featuring Anakin! You don’t need to be terribly familiar with Legends, though it helps (I’m somewhat familiar, but not totally, and this was accessible to me). The spin-off AUs are such a delight too (and an inspiration for me to write my own 😅), and it’s just so much fun and so clearly a labor of love, and such a sprawling, intricate AU. I can’t recommend it enough.

Adding an 11th because why not:

The Sun in the Storm by @basimibnishaqs is such an adorable Rey-is-Luke’s-daughter fic 🥹 she’s an adorable sweetheart, and Luke is her protective dad, what more could you want?? (Also OP has galaxy-brained takes about Rey & Luke so…you know. There’s that too)

[demigoddessqueens]

Main Masterlist II

Critical Role - multi party changeling // multi party birthday headcanons // multi party flower headcanons // vampire leader // morning after headcanons // multi party love languages // multi party fluff alphabet // defending reader from family

I need a fourth image for the Vax, Alucard, Trevor graph because it’s a spectrum

Vox machina - surprise dad Percy // reunion with Percy // Percy confession // asleep with Percy // see the good in people // smut with Vax (the first time) // like I love you (smut with Vax) // protective Percy // tiefling with Pikelan // Vax and Percy raising teen daughter // briarwood parents // big family headcanons // poly Vax and Percy // warlock with Vax // sick headcanons // afraid of doctors // Percy wedding // mad witch // Percy rescue // poly for all VM // Percy with inured reader // suspicious noise // blind sibling/kid // pining Percy // scanlan as dad // Cassandra de rolo // Cassandra angst fic // Cassandra with vampire // Cass with vamp fic // Cassandra with briarwood reader // Vex’ahlia romance // comfort during storm // reviving reader // child of Everlight // uncle Vax drabble // dragging you away // Scarlet Witch reader // lost daughter Mother’s Day // VM baby first steps // Renfri reader // Vax and terrible two // Vax and Percy + RQ dream // saving Scanlan // perchalia kid bonding // checking on kid // terrible twos and diaper duty // scanlan daughter meeting // youngest de rolo sibling // post siren proposal // post battle love confession // haunted boots 👢// protective vax’ildan // Dalen’s Closet with Raven Queen // encouraging Percy // Percy and Vax with sneaky babe // hurt and comfort injuries with Vax

The Mighty Nein - fjord ft grog // Cadeuces dialogue prompt // nicknames // having to drag you away // poly with Caleb and Essek and Molly

Crown Keepers/Bells Hells - proposal with Percy & Vax // wolfwalker poly + VM // polycule + OT3 // perchalia daughter + Scanlan // perchalia kid renaming // Ashton with song hc’s // separate dorian and dariax and Ashton

EXU Calamity - angsty Loquatious

Nezha Reborn - singer headcanons

Dragon Age - solas

Star Wars - anakin

Genshin Impact - things to say in labor

Blood of Zeus - water nymph // Hermes drabble // trap kiss // heron headcanons // Apollo and hyacinthus + reader

Castlevania - kiss on cheek // cuddling in cold // types of dads // linked pinkies // flirty kisses with VM and forge masters

Alucard - the boobs post // prompt 50 kiss // yandere headcanons // dragon riding // prompt 26 dialogue // pickachu personality

Isaac - with Unicorn demon

[fadedsweater]

Hello! For no particular reason whatsoever (jk this is for the Arlathan Exchange), what is Eira Lavellan's canon timeline of events in DAI? How does her relationship with Solas evolve?

Oh hello anon, and thank you for the ask! 👀

Great question! Definitely not helped by the fact that most of my published fics are post-trespasser stuff and aus and smut 😂

This is gonna be a LONG one. So I'm putting it under a cut and tagging it with "OC lore" to make it easy to find. Feel free to skim as needed! Some of this may be a bit repetitive from my exchange letter.

Before I start though, I just want to make it super clear that you absolutely don't have to use my OC, and I will love whatever you make whether it's an OC or a generic Lavellan. 💛

Eira's timeline follows the in-game canon pretty closely, except I usually lengthen the amount of time the events of Inquisition take (because a single year feels very unbelievable to me.)

Before the events of the game start, she's in her mid-thirties, has been the First of her clan for many years, and is probably expecting to become the clan's Keeper in the next few years or so. Her father is a halla keeper and her mother works with textiles. Her name is Eira (loosely translated as "snow" in Elvhen) because she was born during a rare cold snap, during which the snow stuck around for longer than usual.

When she was a child, she thought she'd become a halla keeper like her dad, but then her magic revealed itself and she became the clan's First instead. Her clan travels around the Amaranthine Ocean's coast outside of Wycome, sticking to forests when they aren't trading with humans. They take their halla up into the mountains in the spring to graze and harvest their wool. (I like to imagine halla are similar to different breeds of cashmere goats!)

As the Herald, Eira sides with the mages. She doesn't love being the so-called "Herald of Andraste," but is shrewd about her position -- she has the Anchor, there's a hole in the sky, someone has to deal with (and if she can leverage that position to help her people, she will). She's patient (if at times a bit cold) with her advisors and new companions. She warms up to most everyone eventually (particularly becoming friends with Dorian, Bull, Cole, and Cassandra) but is keenly aware of her position and the weight and baggage that the title of Herald and later Inquisitor hold. I haven't actually decided how she deals with the Winter Palace yet. My gut says she probably finds a way to ally with Briala. Later on she also allies with the wardens, much to Solas’s chagrin.

Other decisions: she becomes a knight enchanter, she saves the Chargers, she (gently) convinces Solas to spare the mages who accidentally kill Wisdom, she keeps Cole as a spirit, she helps Vivienne with the wyvern heart, she helps Cullen stop lyrium, and she forgives Blackwall. She does not drink from the Well (which she later feels regret and grief about). She keeps her vallaslin. Her clan survives the events of Inquisition, and she maintains a good relationship with them.

Her "sit in judgement" decisions rely on empathy and the desire to see people become better. She isn't cruel and doesn't enjoy suffering, and doesn't make decisions out of revenge. She's diplomatic where she can be, and values harm reduction. If someone can be better, and be useful or helpful (like in the case of sparing Alexius and having him study under the Inquisition's watch), she'll pursue that. This of course informs her desire to save Solas at the end of trespasser. She not only sees him as worth saving but as capable of being saved.

I'd say her relationship with Solas also develops pretty closely to what we see in canon. They start as kind of hesitant allies, then become friends, and then realize they have feelings for each other, have the Fade kiss, etc. In the very beginning, they're kind of wary of each other, but Eira soon comes to enjoy talking with Solas. While she does disagree with him on several subjects (like the Dalish), she finds that he's usually open to hearing her out and admitting when he's wrong, which she respects. She almost sees him as an odd sort of puzzle, and is kind of compelled by him, and starts to enjoy their discussions and their arguments. Having spent much of her life aware and embedded in Dalish politics, she's used to dealing with difficult people, so I don't think she's too put off by Solas’s more difficult nature. It helps that he does seem to genuinely care about helping people -- that means a lot to her. Here's a summary (from a wip of course 😂) of that relationship stage from Solas’s POV:

Still they argue often. He challenges her Dalish beliefs about spirits and the Fade, about their gods and their stories, and she challenges his own assumptions in turn. He finds she is not as ignorant as he once feared. He finds instead that her beliefs are nuanced, her opinions carefully crafted and born from research, from a life spent in the scholarly pursuits of magic and history. He begins to enjoy their arguments, their rhetorical sparring and endless discussions. He begins, despite himself, to look forward to them. 

She surprises and confounds him at every junction. He fears, even, that she has become a friend. 

They don't develop a Proper Relationship until after Solas's balcony confession scene, and probably have their first time sometime shortly after that. And while Solas is quick to say "I love you," she's a lot more hesitant. That level of emotional intimacy is a bit difficult for her.

Because of who they both are as people, they're a little cautious and awkward around each other at first. Eira's worst fears revolve around losing control, and so emotional vulnerability can be difficult for her. She's always wary of pushing Solas’s boundaries and is very gentle and careful with him. She probably realizes she loves him sometime mid-game, and probably at a really innocuous moment when they're traveling or something. By the time the Winter Palace happens, I'd say they're very comfortable with each other and at like, the peak point of their relationship in terms of comfort, vulnerability, and trust (it's a smut fic, but this is a pretty good summary of their dynamic at that point.)

To me her relationship with Solas is all about like...two very guarded people who haven't had a relationship in a long time learning to be *people* with each other. With Solas she doesn't have to be the "Inquisitor" (him calling her this post-breakup hurts even more for this reason), and can just be her nerdy awkward self around him. Similarly, Solas can mostly forget his own position while he's with her. They still enjoy the occasional verbal sparring match and banter, but there's an undercurrent of love and trust.

Eira knows throughout most of the relationship that Solas has secrets and a past he won't share. She's patient with him about it, and never pushes him. When he breaks up with her, she assumes it's likely related to that. She's angry and bitter, but she doesn't hate him.

After he leaves, though, she's pretty wrecked and heartbroken. It takes a lot for her to open up and trust someone, so to have him leave (without even saying goodbye!) feels like a stark betrayal. She can't stand the way her friends seem to pity her and feel bad for her, either. Leading up to Trespasser, she sort of just squares that part of herself away and focuses on the Inquisition.

During Trespasser, she learns that Solas is Fen’Harel before he can reveal it to her himself. Her reaction is less shock and horror and more a grim "this makes sense." She's mostly upset that he never trusted her enough to tell her.

Post-Trespasser, she's determined to save both Solas AND the world, in part because it's what she *wants* and in part because she's convinced that its the only way forward. She has a theory that the Veil is already failing, and that if Solas dies bringing it down -- that's just one less powerful ally the world has against the Evanuris and all the other horrors to come.

Post-Tespasser Eira is reclusive, secretive, and kind of a hot mess. She's that meme of the big conspiracy theory board with all the red lines connecting everything.

She disbands the Inquisition, convinced that it only presents Solas more opportunities to spy. She takes heart in Leliana's assurances that they have their own network of contacts and spies, and also in the fact that Cassandra as the Divine is a powerful ally. She spends her time traveling and learning everything she can about the Veil and Solas’s plans, making time for her clan and her friends where she can.

In my happy ending au, I basically skip over how this would all actually resolve because I simply don't have enough information. The basics: she and Solas are together, and the Veil is peacefully coming down, though there may be issues to deal with once that happens. It takes awhile for her to trust him again, and to work through all of her complicated feelings. Their relationship is pretty delicate for awhile, but eventually becomes fairly healthy and loving.

Okay 😂 that was a lot! I hope that answers your questions, and if not feel free to send another ask if you need to! And again, feel free to use your own OC or a generic one! I promise I will love whatever you create 💛💛💛

[greypetrel]

Hello! The prompt 'I'm just a phone call away' with modern AU Aisling? 👀✨

Heeeeey! 💜

Long time no see, uh? Well, here it is. xD Some shenanigans and a more or less direct sequel to this other piece. Wow it's starting to look like a proper fic, go figure.

Anyway, hope you'll like it, it was a will they won't they prompt list and well. (then it more or less follows canon so no, it's NOT gonna be just a phonecall and it's NOT gonna be all right. Sorry Cullen your canon is shit, but in this storyline you'll get therapy)

Also a note: I don't know if the Dream Theatre shaming was just an Italian thing amongst metalheads… But I couldn't resist. (no harsh judgement, Dream Theatre was the band more or less everyone loved to hate, I'm pretty indifferent to them. I don't love them but eh, there's worse).

Tis the prompt list

Two Birds on a Wire (🎶)

'I'm just a phone call away'

The evening was for celebrating. As much as both siblings were extremely stubborn in saying that it was just a dinner, it wasn’t a party, please dads don’t call it a party or you’ll jinx it, none ever really doubted that their letters would have ended in two admissions. Not for the stories they had to include in their motivational essay -even if they both had one, as much as Solas absolutely loathed the need of the essay-, but for their grades and all letters of recommendations of all their professors. And of course, when they had opened their letters and found that they both had been admitted to the faculty they chose, the “normal, absolutely not peculiar Saturday barbecue” had turned instantly into a party. Solas and Varric had been prepared, after all. And it was worth it, seeing the two not-so-little-anymore former balls of destruction hugging each other tight, tension from months of stressing over grades and the uncertainty of the future melting visibly. Aisling of course had cried -she had always been emotional and by now none in their enlarged family got surprised or overly worried by her tears. The surprising thing was that Dorian too had melted a little, cheerful façade cracking a little to show vulnerability. Aisling had hugged him tight, they all four had hugged together -a rarity, these days, they were “too grown up” for hugs they used to say. And then the music had started, all three families easing into a cheerful celebration for yet another set of kids to spread their wings. Raina -back from Kirkwall for the summer- had taken control of the karaoke program, and lead the evening on, as per her usual naturally occupying the centre of attention and dragging people along with whatever she put her mind to. She looked so much like Malcolm.

The evening was still going strong, laughter and cheer and people singing coming into the kitchen from the backdoor, left open to allow people to come and go as they pleased. But right now, there was just Solas in the kitchen, taking a pause from the noise and confusion. He had to admit he quite liked this life, in spite of everything. But sometimes, hosting all the Hawkes and the Rutherfords in the back garden became a little too much and required some personal space to recharge batteries.

Oh, he knew it was ending, he knew that as more and more of the younger members would have found independence and flown away, they all would have missed the confusion, the lack of privacy or quiet, the chaos during weekends when the children all got together in one big, extremely loud group. Nonetheless, he needed just a moment of quiet to recharge batteries.

So, he just grabbed a bottle of liquor, something special he brewed himself with a recipe as old as he was -and that was currently well hidden under too many spells and glyphs, so that the other two mages in the house wouldn’t have been able to reach it. Hopefully. He gave them another couple of weeks before finding a way. And sipped it on his own, in the relative peace of his kitchen, breathing down.

But of course, the house being what it was, the moment of peace couldn’t last: someone stepped fretfully in, and slammed the door, falling down with a humph. From the noise of the steps and the soft tip-tap of bare feet, he knew exactly who it was.

“Ga’son?” He sighed, greeting her and asking if it was all right. Varric may have won the public-school feud, but he insisted on teaching at least Aisling Elvhen himself. Which resulted in teaching Dorian too, because they seldom did anything separated, and if Dorian took some other interests, Solas still insisted with Aisling to use Elvhen when the pair of them were alone. A matter of heritage, she may have grown up amidst humans and dwarves, but he wanted her to know where she came from.

“Din. G’t’lom.” She answered, saying that no, it wasn’t all right.

As he turned towards her, he found her sitting on her butt beside the door, hugging her thighs and face buried between her thighs, he lost all willingness to scold her for the contraction -he hated contractions. He went to crouch before her, rubbing her shoulders in the way she liked.

“What happened?” He asked, calmly, leaving her time to sob a little.

“He’s leaving.”

“Who?”

“Cullen.” She told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He frowned, not understanding what was going on. As far as he knew about them, the boy had had a crush over Aisling since years, but never acted on it. He wasn’t worried, hadn’t been for a minute since she never took notice or showed any signs of being interested too, the boy was trustworthy and the unruly one was Aisling. But leaving? This was new.

“Leaving? Where for?”

“Denerim. In September. Got accepted.”

Ah. That was it. He had been, indeed, extremely slippery over the university speech, never answering directly when asked, and being particularly evasive and ill at ease over the subject. A pity that he wasn’t a liar, and the one that hadn’t suspected anything was Aisling. Naïve Aisling who was too mature out of trauma on certain things, and yet still firmly believed people she liked without questioning.

“Oh. Well, that’s good for him. And Denerim’s not that far away. He’ll be back often, and we can visit.” He tried to reason.

“No, he won’t.”

She started with the same oppositive tone she usually had with him in the last period, full in her rebellious phase. He suspected it was to be expected, he had insistend in teaching the both of them to stand up for themselves and not bend their heads to anyone… But it was tiresome. Now, it surely was.

“I don’t understand if you don’t explain, da’len.”

Being more worried and lenient than irritated at the zillionth little act of rebellion wasn’t so difficult if she was crying, at least.

“H-he got accepted in the military, babae. He won’t be back so often.”

That was a blow and something he didn’t expect. As many qualities he recognized Cullen to have… He was soft, and in the military… It wasn’t the time to dwell on that, or to deconstruct the issue, as much as he wanted to. No. Right now he had an 18-y.-o. in tears at the idea of her best friend leaving, and in need of help in front of him, and she never reacted well in analysing problems that had no numbers.

“Do you need me to call it off? Or tell everyone you’re sick?”

“N-no. I’m…” She sobbed. “I promised him I won’t cry. I told him I was going to the bathroom, I’ll just… Cry a little and get back. I’m ok. It’s just Denerim. Just Denerim. Not far.”

Solas wondered exactly how much time it would have passed since seeing her crying -or her brother, but Dorian was much more private when it came to feelings- would have stopped feeling like someone was stabbing him. She was grown, almost an adult, taking decisions for herself not caring for what everyone think, and yet, when she cried she got back at being a little child, alone in an orphanage. So, he sat beside here and opened his arm in a silent invitation she was quick to accept, in spite of everything, in spite of the fact that they quarreled fiercely but yesterday. She threw herself at him and hugged him, crying on his shoulder as if nothing happened. He sighed, hugging her back and caressing her hair, letting her spill everything out.

“It’s gonna be ok.”

“I know.”

She didn’t sound convinced, and Solas didn’t push the topic further, just offering support.

Five minutes later, the very object of the current drama opened the back door, peeking in with a distressed expression on his face, calling aloud.

“Ash?”

Solas felt the very same becoming rigid in his hold, her breath catching. Hiding them won’t work, he supposed, and as avoidant she was until she had her thoughts collected… Maybe she wouldn’t have reacted badly in him choosing for her.

“Here. We need five minutes, if you want to talk.” He told Cullen directly, and he nodded, mortified as a cat left under the rain. “Go up, boy, it’s ok.”

He hesitated, trying to say something, but thinking better of it, before slowly padding his way to the living room and the stairs, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. Aisling, on her own, didn’t move. She didn’t move in the next minute as he knew she wouldn’t have.

“Go up and talk to him.”

“I don’t want to. Not now. You-”

“Listen to me.” He stopped her, pushing her away enough so he could look at her face. He cupped her cheek, rubbing fat tears away with his thumbs, ignoring the annoyance when he took off some of that horrible blue eye pencil she had used. “You can stay here and cry your heart out and avoid this conversation for this evening, for tomorrow and for the next weeks. That’s fine, if you don’t want to, you can be sad and angry at him, all you like. But if you don’t, da’len… You’ll just waste time you could spend together. Go up, talk to him, tell him you’re sad. Cry now and tomorrow you’ll go all together for a swim in the lake and have a good time. You still have time until he leaves, don’t waste it because you’re afraid of a conversation. You’ll regret not talking to him now, believe me.”

He smiled, waiting for his words to sink in. Telling them the truth had been scary, but Varric was right: it paid off. She knew why and whence these words came from, and knew the truth. Slowly, she melted, blinking away some more tears and sniffing aloud.

“I can’t go to the lake, I’m still grounded.” She complained, whining.

“Well, seen the situation…” He sighed, faking some regret he didn’t really feel. She didn’t need to know how much she had him wrapped on her little finger for real. “…I think you may be un-grounded. If you promise me that you’ll be on your best behaviour and won’t get any more tattoos.”

“Well I’m not getting a Vallas-”

“Any kind of tattoo, ok? Even not-Vallaslin.”

“Ok.” She smiled, shily.

“Deal, then. Best behaviour on my standards.”

He specified, knowing full well that she would have taken that loop to get out of the accord. She giggled waterily and nodded, bending forward and smacking a kiss on his cheek.

“Deal. Thank you babae.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s going to be all right.”

She nodded, not so convinced, and hugged him once more before standing up and, with a deep breath, walking towards the stairs somewhat rigidly. She didn’t bother to turn on the light, and before she disappeared behind the archway that led to the living-room, Solas called her back.

“Aisling.”

“Yes?”

“Door open.”

“BABAE.”

---

Aisling slipped in her room on tiptoes, standing on the threshold and hiding behind the door for a minute, heart beating wishing to just turn back, run away, don’t listen to Solas and hide in the bushes until the lessons started in autumn. She didn’t want to have that conversation, because it wasn’t a conversation she ever planned on having: in her mind, they would all have three have been accepted in Redcliffe and then… She would have had three years to think of a “then”.

And still, the “then” arrived and fell upon her, and the more she thought she didn’t want to cry, she had promised, the more she felt tears pricking on her eyes, as she looked at Cullen’s back, nervously shifting through her cds. The way he always did when he was nervous and needed to find something to occupy himself with.

… The way he always did when they talked of university and she had asked him about what he wanted to do.

Because he knew.

She cleared her throat, and he jumped on the spot, startled. The album he had in his hand fell on the ground, case opening and letting the cd out.

“S-sorry!” He fumbled, and they both crouched down to pick it up.

“It’s nothing…” She looked which cd it was: Dream Theatre. “… It isn’t a good one. Don’t mind it.”

He hummed in affirmation and nodded, waiting for her to put the cd back in the case and closing it. The silence was tense and gloomy, in a way it has never been between them. Not even once, not even when they quarrelled over something. Aisling hated it and she sat on the ground, turning the case around as she tried not to cry, with failing results.

“Shit, I- Ah, I’m sorry, I’ll… I’ll buy it back, I-”

“It’s not for the cd.” She stopped him.

He fell back on his butt as well, back resting on her bookshelf and slouched down forward. So curved, he didn’t seem all that taller than her.

“I-I’m sorry.” She went on, rubbing her eyes angrily with the heels of her hand. “I… I won’t cry starting tomorrow. Leave me this evening and I’ll be fine and smile and laugh, ok? J-just this evening. I’m sorry, I’ll stay up here, you get down and enjoy the party.”

“I am sorry, Ash.”

“Why for. Don’t be.”

“I wanted to tell you, I swear, but…”

She sniffed, still not looking at him, eyes closed as her eyes rubbed away tears, trying to be as quiet in it as possible. Trying to stop didn’t work, so she just let the tears flow as he collected his words.

“… I didn’t want to make you sad.”

She knew the answer and the explanation before he made it. She knew him like the back of her hand, and he her. She nodded and laughed, waterily.

“You’re leaving. Of course, I’m sad. Who’ll protect you from bullies?”

He snorted, at that, pushing on her calf with his foot, delicately in reproach.

“I don’t need you to protect me from bullies anymore.”

“You say that, now. They’ll know of your insane love for Ed Sheeran and you’ll want me there to punch their noses.”

“Will you even reach?”

Her turn to kick his calf playfully, which made him laugh.

“I’ll get a ladder.”

She giggled as well, leaving her foot against the rough texture of his jeans. He let her, and they stay there, looking down at the carpet, without saying anything. From the open window could be heard laughter and merriment from the backyard, the party going on without them, still not enough to fill the heavy silence. It felt final but it wasn’t: they still had weeks since he left, and they had plans even before they knew -now more plans, since she was apparently un-grounded. She shouldn’t feel like it was the ending page of a book, but she did. She wondered if she should tell him something, and what that she hadn’t already. 12 years of friendship and being in close contact almost daily left her without much unsaid that didn’t feel redundant. Still, she felt like she had to tell him something. Something that wasn’t deflecting from what she really felt. It felt too raw, tho, too close for comfort and… And maybe too much. Because honestly she didn’t exactly know how she felt.

“Why military academy?” She asked, instead. “You like history… Why not History?”

He sighed, deeply, sliding his bottom forward and crossing his hands on his belly, looking up at the ceiling, legs long before him, and crossed one ankle over the other. She absent-mindedly turn to lean her legs on his calves, needing the contact even if he furrowed minutely at it and seemed to get more rigid than before.

“I like history, but… With all that’s happening, with the Circles coming back and the situation growing tenser… I don’t know, I want to help.”

“You could help with-”

“I’m not an academic, Ash. I… I like the anecdotes, but I can’t see myself researching forever, my nose stuck in a book. I like the anecdotes, but those alone won’t help many people on their own…”

“… You sound like babae, now.”

 “Well, he’s right.” He snorted.

“You could write. Get into television, speak up.”

“Not my style. Can you see me speaking to a public and riling up a crowd?” He peeked up, with a lopsided smile.

She couldn’t but shake her head, looking down as the realization that no, he would actually be terrible at it, start fumbling after three words and not bring his point across. He hated public speaking. The thought made her want to cry more, since she was running out of reasons to make him stay.

“I want to protect people. Other mages like you and Dorian, not just you when Raleigh calls you freaks.”

“He doesn’t-”

Another eyebrow raised at her, in silence, without the smile tho. She thought about it, and realized that, indeed, Samson hadn’t told them a single word in the last year… Just when Cullen was around. The slurs have been there, but just when they were alone.

“… How long-”

“September.”

“… The black eye wasn’t for football, then?”

“No, it wasn’t.”

He didn’t need to say much else. Aisling cried more: she had believed it without asking, and hadn’t questioned further. Hadn’t noticed anything. She felt stupid, and felt her heart clenching at the idea of the next year without him. Yes, Dorian would have been there but…

“I will miss you. A lot.” She sobbed, and she couldn’t stop, this time, covering her face with both hands. She didn’t know how to word it better, and the lack of words and definitions made her cry even more. She wished this was another math problem: math was simple, math was black and white, there was a correct answer for everything, you just had to think about it better. Here, there wasn’t anything right or wrong, no number to calculate to magically stop crying.

It was also true, tho, that math couldn’t bend forward, fumbling even more, and hug you tight, holding you as you cry, and crying as well.

“It’s just Denerim, Lavellan, I’m not going to war.”

“It’s three hours of train away.”

“We have cellphones, I’ll be just a phonecall away...”

“You hate them! You always forget to answer to messages!” She complained against his shoulder, unwinding her arms to hug him back.

“I’ll make an effort, I promise, just… Please, don’t cry.”

“Look who’s talking…”

In spite of everything they laughed, both crying in earnest nonetheless. They stayed there for a while, just unwinding. He promised her he would have called, again, and she believed him. She wanted to believe him, and so she did.

Luckily, no one commented of their absence, when eventually they got back down, eyes red and puffy and not really wanting to party. Dorian hugged Cullen as well, joking about it as they sat down, as per their usual, on a bench, cuddled all three together and just watching the rest of the party pass by. The next day was for stopping moping around and enjoy the summer, and they all would have put extra effort in having the most fun together. A last summer of freedom, some last weeks of being inseparable and have their parents joke about them and call them the three musketeers.

Some last weeks when no one was just a phone call away.

But now, it was for feeling things and crying, and pretending they were all crying because Raina couldn’t, for the love of her, reach the higher notes of Dancing Queen.

[aicosu]

11 for the ask game

11. Has a fic you’ve written ever caused issues/controversy?

Hmmmmm. I could say Message Sent, but not because the only allegory Bioware left me for modern Dalish was native american. But because I have never recieved more harassment ever, even when I brownfaced for cosplaying, than for not updating that fucking fic.

The backstory being that my grandma died. I had to drive home from LA help with thr funeral. So two months went by without update, then my dad had a heart attack. Twas not a great year. After scores of tumblr asks, reddit callouts, and literal mean comments, I just got super spiteful? Why update when someone badmouthed my grandma for dying and give them what they want? Why update when I was being accused of depriving people of "their coping" it was bad.

After that Sy convinced me to update again, but right after Trespasser came out and tbh i fucking... HATE SOLAS with how they wrote him? It made me really bitter.

Then a reylo plagarized it. Lol. So I wanted nothing to do with it if it was that cursed. Especially since some reylos still post about wishing it wasnt deleted and praising scenes that were stolen from my husbands and Is personal roleplays. Yikes.

Message Sent was a fun prompt turnes nightmare. It doesnt help that next chapters would mean me writing them fucking YELLING at each other. Who wants to get into anger vibes on a tuesday?

[therulerofallpotatos]

I was in desperate need for fluff (or just "not ending in tragedy") solavellan fic so i started looking through pregnancy fics and now I'm thinking about like mid-game, Solas' daughter shows up and he just has a daughter for the rest of the game. She could be 5 and was safely kept in Skyhold for Solas to lead the inquisition to. She could be like 20 and decided to come to him. Could be a forgotten member of the pantheon who woke up a year after her dad. I could keep going. There's so many ways to do this. I just love having the rest of the inquisition, especially Varric and Dorian, reacting to this and Solas thinking they're all making a big deal out of nothing.

[buttsonthebeach]

River

Pairings: Solavellan, very minor Adoribull, and OC x OC (oh! and briefly mentioned Maevaris Tilani x Unnamed Husband)

Rating: Teen? I guess? For implied shenanigans? Nothing serious.

Note: Solas and Ellana’s twenty-year-old daughter has a (human Tevene) boyfriend and Solas is being a grump about it. Ellana decides to finally confront him. Humor and some sweet feels ensue.

This is a deleted scene from the epilogue of Awakened, so it does contain some spoilers for that fic. You can just read it as random grumpy dad!Solas fluff without further context and be fine.

****

Ellana never thought that fruit preserves would play an important role in her life, but a week into their family stay at Dorian and Bull’s villa, that opinion was rapidly changing.

The problem wasn’t so much the preserves as it was Lucius and Ashara and the preserves, and the fact that the two were very obviously coming down from the same room together each morning, and the fact that whenever they passed the preserves their fingers brushed, or that sometimes Ashara tried to keep the preserves from Lucius so he would have to put his arms around her in an effort to steal them back. But it really came to a head on the morning when Ashara got some of the preserves on the corner of her mouth, and Lucius reached out and wiped them away with his thumb, and their eyes met and Ashara blushed just enough that Solas finally stood and left the table.

As he seemed tempted to every morning that week.

Dorian laughed until he had to put his cup of tea down.

So, really, the problem was between the preserves and Ashara and Lucius and Solas, and Dorian wasn’t helping, and Ellana wasn’t sure who to scold first.

“What?” Ashara kept asking. “I don’t see what’s so funny.”

“What’s so funny is seeing the Dread Wolf himself, creator of the Veil, rebel god, acting like a child. Maker, his face. Do you think you two could do that again at dinner?”

Now Ashara was really blushing. Lucius wasn’t looking up from his plate.

“Hush, Dorian. Solas isn’t the only one acting like a child,” Ellana said at last, though there was little heat in her voice.

It was unseasonably warm, so they made plans to go to the nearby river later in the day when it got too hot for anything else. There was some scrambling for appropriate swimming clothes for everyone to wear - Ellana joked about swimming nude, which won her a scandalized look from her own daughter - and then it was time to go through the kitchen and see what they could pack. She found Solas in there, seated on a low bench, rewrapping the leather straps that protected his staff.

“Please tell me you aren’t planning on using that on anyone in particular,” she said.

“What?” he replied, distant.

“I take it you’re over your display at breakfast, then?”

“Display? I was simply done with my meal.”

Ellana rolled her eyes, though he didn’t look up to see it. She was holding the plate with the remains of his breakfast in her hand. If he didn’t feel like acknowledging what was going on, she didn’t feel like pressing at the moment.

“There are plans to go down to the river. Will you come?”

“Of course.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. This has been an awful lot of socializing for you, this past week. I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to spend a little quiet time alone.”

“I will be fine, vhenan.”

She set down his plate and ran her hand along his shoulder on her way to see what they could pack. The corners of his mouth lifted in response to her slight touch and he looked up at last. So he wasn’t in a completely foul mood - at least not anymore.

She managed to catch Ashara alone before they left for the river to speak to her about it.

“You know, you might save a little more of your affection for Lucius when you are alone,” she said when they were waiting for the others to be ready.

“I’m sorry,” Ashara said. She fiddled with the clothes she’d borrowed from Maevaris’s older daughter. They did sit strangely on her narrower frame. “Have we been bad? We didn’t mean to. It’s just…”

“No, da’vhenan. You haven’t done anything terribly wrong. I know that restraint is hard when you’re in those first stages of love. I only wanted to point it out to you. You might want to consider that there are other people around you who might not - appreciate the displays of affection.”

“You mean Papae,” she said flatly, her blue eyes narrowing.

“Yes.”

“He’s being ridiculous.”

“And this surprises you?”

Ashara snorted. “Not really. It’s just - we only have a few more days here, then Lucius goes back to Minrathous and we go back to Enasan. I don’t really want to spend that time worrying about what Papae thinks.”

“Fair enough. I’ll talk to him, if you’ll promise not to try and irritate him.”

“I’m never irritating,” Ashara said, lifting her chin with a comical superiority.

“Yes,” Ellana said dryly. “And I’m the queen of Antiva.”

In retrospect, Ellana might have done well to speak to Lucius, as well. She would hardly have thought it necessary. He was a kind, even-tempered young man - a good balance to Ashara’s flurries of feeling and action. He watched her with a bemused adoration as she went on about whatever thought had popped into her mind. He teased her gently when she started to take something too seriously.

He was also the one who picked Ashara up and threw her straight into the river not long after they arrived.

“What’s the matter?” He said as she walked back up the bank towards him, drenched and furious. The loose clothing she’d borrowed from Mae’s daughter was plastered to her every curve and angle now. “Didn’t you spend the entire walk here claiming it was better to go in all at once? That the shock to the body is actually healthy according to several studies conducted at the University of Orlais?”

“You -” Ashara sputtered. “That was -”

“I don’t think I’ve actually seen you speechless before, Ash,” Lucius said with a chuckle. He snuck an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. She put up only a token resistance. “Maybe I should throw you in there again.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Ashara said, pushing him back.

It led, predictably, to a bout of chasing around the waterline, and though soon they weren’t the only ones involved, when Ellana looked for Solas she saw that he had already moved further down the river from everyone, and was watching with a scowl. While Dorian and Bull lounged and Mae and her husband began setting out the food, Ellana decided to join her bond mate, and finally deal with things head on.

“All right,” Ellana said when she reached him, sitting down in the sand beside him. “Out with it.”

“Out with what?” he said.

“How irritated you are with them,” she said, nodding towards the ongoing display. Ashara and Lucius had separated from the others, even their friend Claudia. It was just the two of them now, crossing a sandbank to the other side of the river, hands loosely linked. “We’ve danced around it long enough. Just admit it. You hate that she’s found a lover. You hate that they’re running about the villa every day hand in hand stealing kisses when they think no one’s looking and that they’re clearly sleeping in the same room.”

“It is not that at all.”

He was indignant, and in denial, and there was a time that might have irritated her - his constant obstinance. There would surely be times in the future when it still would. But she had a feeling she knew what he needed now, so she simply leaned against him.

“Well then - enlighten me. What is it, exactly? Why can you barely seem to stand the sight of them?”

Solas flicked away a leaf that had fallen into his lap, harder than necessary.

“He calls her Ash. We gave her a beautiful name full of meaning and promise and he reduces it to a single mispronounced symbol that means only death and destruction in the human tongue.”

Ellana snorted, considered making a comment about human tongues, and thought better of it.

“Is that all?”

“He is intelligent enough but too quiet. He cannot possibly challenge her the way she deserves.” There was more heat in his voice now.

“And?”

“And he should not be encouraging these - displays. He is old enough to know better than to behave like this in public. And for that matter, he is too old for her.”

She had to laugh at that and look him in the eye now. “Oh, really? Remind me - did we ever figure out exactly how old you are compared to me? Even setting aside your actual age, you didn’t seem to have any issues pretending to be a man in his forties pursuing a woman in her late twenties. He’s only five years older than her.”

He did blush and press his lips together at that. It made him look younger. “That was different. You were - older. In many ways. Ashara is still a child.”

A shout drew their attention and Ellana saw that Ashara had successfully pushed Lucius into the river at last. She was bent double on the opposite shore, laughing, her dark hair still dripping around her face. And - she had to admit, it was strange to think of the daughter who climbed chairs in search of sweets to steal or begged her father to do one more little spell before bedtime now that Ashara was so tall, and now that Lucius who was taller still was coming towards her, clearly ready to scoop her back into his arms, wet clothes and all.

“She isn’t,” Ellana said. “Not really.”

Solas sighed and his face twisted back into a pained expression. He dug his feet deeper into the sand. “I cannot make myself accept that. I fear - I fear above all else that he will hurt her. Child or no, she is too young, too curious about the world and everything in it, for this to end well. I cannot begrudge him his human birth - but you know that alone will cause problems, before the end. I can only see that, when I look at them. The pain.”

Ellana looped her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder. After a moment, she felt the weight of his head on top of hers.

“You are allowed to worry about her,” she said. “We both are.”

Lucius had put Ashara back down by that point. Claudia crossed the sandback to join them, the youngest of Mae’s children in tow. Ashara turned to them, shading her eyes against the sun and keeping her other arm tight around Lucius’s waist. She was saying something, but Ellana couldn’t make out the words. She felt a sudden rush instead: the person she’d known from the inside first, as stray flutters and kicks and sleepless, painful nights, was whole and grown and out in the world and she was a good person who drew other good people to her, and she was loved.

“We did well, you know,” Ellana said, though it was hard to get the words out. Solas was still, and then he moved so he could wrap his arm all the way around her shoulders and kiss her forehead.

“We did.”

They sat together on the warm, coarse sand and watched their daughter across the river as she laughed and ran in the shallow water. Ashara didn’t turn to see them until some time later, and by then almost all of the tension had ebbed from Solas’s shoulders, and the smile and wave he offered her in return was genuine. By the next morning his lips were pursed again at the sight of them, swanning down the stairs arm and arm, but Ellana just shook her head at him and smiled. He did offer to show Lucius what he meant about casting barriers later that afternoon, after all - and Ellana was well versed, by now, in watching small seeds take root and grow.

[nocteleum]

That's his son.

Solas, carrying an adolescent Romeo, to where? A mystery. But he seems determined, and Romeo is more than happy enough to be carried.

[crackinglamb]

Chapters: 33/35 Fandom: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Female Lavellan/Solas, Fen'Harel | Solas/Female Lavellan Characters: Felassan (Dragon Age), Varric Tethras, Female Hawke (Dragon Age), Deshanna Istimaethoriel Lavellan, Abelas (Dragon Age), Dorian Pavus, The Iron Bull (Dragon Age), Bethany Hawke, Original Elvhen Character(s), Alistair (Dragon Age) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Modern Girl in Thedas, Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sex, and unrelated to that, Mild Kink, negotiated boundaries, Solas Is a Gentle Dom, You can't change my mind, References to Tevinter Nights, Plot Bunnies - Freeform, Mild Angst, Headcannon Glitter, Self-Indulgent, Unrepentant Fluff, The Dad Wolf Rises, This Is My Love Letter to Carly and Solas, Background Relationships, Male-Female Friendship, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Additional Characters to Be Added As They Show Up, Childbirth Series: Part 5 of Til It Squeaks: A Modern Girl's Take on Thedas Summary:

The Breach is sealed. The Qunari invasion of the South was stopped in its tracks. Solas didn't leave. Carly didn't either. Negotiations for the return of the Dales went about as well as expected. The Veil is...in progress.

And is that a cradle?

A sequel to Twist.

NSFW will be marked with **. Beta'd by Iron_Angel. Updates on Tuesday.

Chapter 33 - Wisdom’s Child

They'd known it would be soon.  For weeks Carly had had an almost frantic level of energy, but that had run out and now all she wanted to do was sleep. She rested often, letting Solas take over the day to day business in Skyhold as Justinian ended and Solace began.  The first strange feeling caught her unaware at the end of the first week of the new month, just waking from another nap.  Strange turned to breathless and she counted the minutes in between.  When Solas came to check on her, she greeted him with a small smile.

“I think it's time,” she said.

He smiled back, anticipation clear on his face.  She was helpless to do anything other than bask in the glow of his joy.  “I'll fetch Ivuna.”

“And Deshanna,” she called after him as he literally turned on his heel and ran. In the meantime, she kept breathing.  And counted the minutes.

[swarmkeepers]

i can’t believe the way that i learned i’d just gotten my fic podficced for the first time was by 

a) being super excited that tyler myclericalromance’s “certified dad vibes” got podficced in the tags of tyler’s post 

b) getting DMed by tyler that i in fact had also got multiple podfics today in the same event

[ladylike-foxes]

@thevikingwoman @honestly-wilde @talesfromthefade Thank you both so much!! Have a little angsty melancholy a la Solavellan ❤️

~~~

Catching a glimpse of moonlight reflecting opalescent, he finally found her. Halesta was sitting on the cliff at the edge of the camp, staring at the sky as though listening intently. As he approached, Solas saw she was chewing her nails with vehemence. Obviously, she was still processing the... events of the day.

Coming to a stop behind her, he stood patiently. It was beyond doubt that she heard his footsteps, recognizing the rhythm of his steps, measuring the length of his stride. Her consciousness was uncanny. And there was something regal about the way she made him wait for acknowledgement, a show of dominance.... He rather liked it. Halesta looked up at him abruptly, in an aching, almost haunted manner. 

"My fucking father," She breathed, searching his face, "He was your 'source' on me?"

Solas nodded, dumb, the rise of panic in his throat nearly suffocating. He was surprised when she reached up for his hand, pulling him down to sit beside her. More surprised still when she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. He could feel her pulse just beneath her skin, fast and a little thready. His own breath was short and shallow, fear still heavy in his lungs. Surely she was angry with him: Eanellas reported to him, was one of his closest generals. Still, she kept him waiting for the blow to land.

Sighing, she pulled away a moment, glancing into his eyes. This is it, his breath caught. But she didn't say anything; merely leaned back against him with that same, hallow face. His hands shook, desperate to smooth her hair, to touch her at all. He didn't dare. 

"The sky's looking awfully dazed."

Hesitating, confused, "What do you mean?" 

"I don't know. Something about the clouds. They're wandering aimlessly, like lost souls."

"That is," Uncertain, "Poetic."

She breathed a laugh, and he thought there was a hint of sincerity to the sound. Something in his stomach fluttered at the sound.

"Maybe I'm projecting," Wistfully, returning to bitting at her fingers, "I could've gone my whole life without seeing him. Now that I have...I feel like I've lost my footing."

A long pause, but the nervous words bubbled up his throat unbidden.

"Halesta—"

"I'm not mad at you, Solas," 

"But, Eanellas—"

"—Is the one who betrayed me this time," Tender fondness in her voice, "Not you. You were just playing your hand. And cleverly, I might add."

"Ir abelas, Vhenas."

"Stop that," Stern, but he can hear the smile in her voice, "Just hold me or something, I'm cold."

Wrapping his arms around her, burying his face in her hair, his head ached. It would have been better if she were angry with him; her tears and screaming a salve for his guilt. But there was no relief lifting the weight from his chest. If she was drifting aimlessly, he was adrift alongside her.

[authorellenmint]

Daddy Solas

He paid no heed to the weight upon his shoulders, nor the feet smearing red sand across his chest. All of Solas’ attention was upon the book before him.

At least it was until a small arm enveloped around his eyes. Somewhere behind his head, a tiny chest leaned tighter trying to inspect the words she couldn’t possibly understand.

“I know that,” the voice rang with certainty in the face of facts.

“Is that so?” Solas asked while tugging her arm higher so he could continue his studies.

“Uh huh. That’s the tale of the beautiful princess.” His daughter didn’t waver for a moment. No, her tone was bold, her words stark, and her grip constricting. He’d often leave instructions for the librarians to come running should they hear him fall from his chair due to a lack of air.

Prying her tight fingers from his throat to the safer shoulders of his sweater, Solas asked, “What else does it say?”

“Can’t you read it, Daddy?” her smart response bit back and even as he sighed internally at her obstinance he couldn’t discount her wit.

Patting her back to make certain his little wren remained safe in her perch, Solas said, “You read it better, da’len.”

That was enough, his daughter trying to lean closer. Solas pitched with her bringing his nose nearly to the table as she slowly told the tale in her imagination.

“The princess was beautiful, but stern. She wouldn’t let any of her people have sweets for dinner.”

“A most terrible tyrant,” Solas interceeded.

“Daddy, shush! You’re interrupting the story! ‘One day she was walking through the forest and a spirit came upon her. ‘What spirit are you?’ she asked because she was too hard of heart to recognize it.”

His daughter's hand slid lower, her fingers digging into the bridge of his nose. “‘Why, I am compassion, my lady.’ The princess was happy to hear this, ‘And you have come to reward you for all of my good deeds.’ ‘No,’ the spirit said. ‘You have let your people starve, your crops rot, your rivers dry.’”

Solas’ lips thinned at the macabre images his little girl spun. How much of his work did she overhear from her bed?

“The princess gasped, falling to her knees as she learned how bad she was. ‘Spirit, what will you do to me?’ The spirit took her hand and said, ‘I will do what you cannot. I will teach you compassion so you may share it with the world.’”

As her lips stilled, Solas blinked away a tear in his eye, the certainty of her simple world striking deep. He patted his daughter’s leg, wishing that a child’s dreams were applicable to real life.

“Well,” she asked, a hand to her hip. “Did I get it right?”

Tugging her off his shoulders, he placed his little wren upon the table. As her wide eyes beamed up at him, Solas bounced the tip of his pinkie against her nose. “You read it perfectly.”

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Star Wars Wednesday

(Sorry it's late, the day after Christmas threw me off)

Owen almost closed the door in the man's face out of reflex.

Just what in the name of storms and sand were people with clothes like that doing out here? Even the families who owned multiple farms, like the Darklighters, didn't wear silks or colors like those. Which suggested to him that they were offworlders.

"Owen, what is it? Who's at the door?" Beru asked, coming in from the courtyard.

"Um," he said eloquently, and squinted at the dark haired woman. "I don't know, but they've got kids."

A lot of kids. Owen and Beru stared wide-eyed at two small girls and two red-faced infants.

He could have sworn he'd seen a familiar face behind the two at the door a moment ago, but dismissed it. Surely if it had been him, he'd have come straight to the door to greet them instead of sending strangers first.

No sooner had this thought crossed his mind than a familiar voice came floating up from the left of the stretch of sand that passed for a yard.

"Threepio, you know how to walk on sand! I can't levitate you the whole time, you can do this." Anakin marched into view looking a little exasperated and towing a golden protocol droid behind him. Walking behind him with an amused expression was the lady Owen remembered Anakin bringing to the farm the last time he'd visited.

"Sorry about that," Anakin sighed and reached over to take one of the babies from the other man. "Threepio almost went right over a dune. This is what happens when Artoo isn't there to supervise him, apparently?"

"He's been a little out of sorts, with the new babies and everything," Padme added sympathetically. "He just needs some time to adjust."

As Owen appeared to have temporarily lost the power of speech, Beru took it upon herself to find out just what in blazes was going on.

"It's...good to see you again, Anakin," she said, "We heard in town about the peace talks. It's probably too much to hope that the Republic will agree to find common ground with the Separatists, but at least the fighting's stopped in the Core, right?"

Anakin grimaced and bounced the baby girl in his arms. "The Core, sure, but what about all the chaos everywhere else? There's a lot of things that need to be fixed."

Owen snorted. "Yeah that's about as likely to happen as overthrowing the Hutts and becoming Senator of Tatooine."

Anakin looked a little too interested in that idea.

Owen stepped back and Beru invited them all inside to get out of the sun. After a brief, awkward silence, introductions were made.

"You remember Padme?" Anakin smiled softly at the woman in question. "We got married not too long after meeting you."

"So did we," Beru beamed at them. "I'm glad there was some happiness to follow the circumstances we met under."

Padme had taken the second baby from the other woman by now, and held him up towards Beru. "We wanted you to meet our children! This is Luke, and that's Leia."

Anakin took the other baby's hand and made her "wave". Neither infant looked particularly impressed.

"Good heavens, twins?" Beru gasped. "May I-? I mean, is it alright if-?"

Padme shuffled closer. "Well, we'll try it, anyway! Leia's a bit more cautious, but Luke is our little extrovert."

Soon enough, Beru was cradling the tiny boy, who waved his arms and made happy growling noises. Padme turned back to gesture to the other couple and the little girls.

"This is my sister, Sola, and her husband, Darred," she said, "And these are our nieces, Ryoo and Pooja!"

Anakin nodded. "We wanted you all to meet each other so that you'd have someone to contact in case of emergency."

Owen pondered that, then nodded. "Family takes care of family," he said gruffly.

Darred made an approving expression, and after some awkward attempts at beginning conversation, the ice began to melt, so to speak.

Anakin would later admit that his tinkering habit plus his stepbrother's ideas for improving machinery plus his brother-in-law's architectural skills did make for some potential chaos. However, he did not admit that until after the chaos had already been unleashed.