#mahanon lathdahlen lavellan

[crackinglamb]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @theluckywizard and @anneapocalypse. Thank you! 💕

Tagging @lilbittymonster, @ir0n-angel, @mogwaei, @serial-chillr, @fadedsweater and @fiadhaisteach. No pressure!

By now you all probably know I've been absolutely swallowed whole by a Bullmance fic. And now it's a series because I'm trying to be kind to myself in terms of trying to write epics these days. The first fic is completed and will start posting next week (June 5, in fact). So here's a bit from the second fic, which is the Inquisition era.

“This the famed brother?” he asked, laying down a card to discard and drawing a new one.

“Yes. The Iron Bull, meet Mahanon Lathdahlen Lavellan.” The two men eyed each other up for long seconds before Bull stretched his hand across the table. Mahanon took his wrist the Dalish way and they shook once.

“Pleasure,” Bull said, half his attention still seemingly on his cards. Mira wasn't buying it and snorted. His head tilted towards her, accepting the callout and he made a more visible effort to appear friendly. “So, tell me how the clan thing works. Lathdahlen is the one you were born to, right?”

“And Lavellen is my current one, yes.”

Bull turned to her. “How come you never use it?”

“I wasn't formally adopted. No right to call myself a Lathdahlen. Plus, I'm not actually Dalish.” These were all things he knew already, but having her say it aloud made it obvious that he knew her history enough to clarify. It was blatant and would have been rude in other circumstances, but she also knew that the pair of them would be testing each other. She could read the set of Mahanon's shoulders just as well as Bull. He had something to say and it was likely to be defensive. Even Varric was reading the vibe accurately. He'd shifted so he could keep all three of them in his line of sight and he'd moved his glass so it wouldn't be in the way if a fist flew.

“Go ahead and say it, kid. I won't take offense with her sitting here,” Bull said lightly, not looking at Mahanon but his cards. Mira scowled at him, even though he couldn't see it. The 'we're all friends here' act wouldn't necessarily have been her choice, but Bull generally knew what he was doing.

“I know she makes her own decisions, but you hurt her, you'll have me to contend with. She is not without kin now.”

“Noted.”

“Mahi,” Mira scolded, turning her scowl at him. Honestly, the pair of them were going to drive her to distraction, weren't they. “Play nice.”

“He is, Chestnut,” Bull interjected. He was smiling now. “I'd've been disappointed not to get a threat from him at some point. He's your brother and all he knows about me is big, horns and long history.”

“Yes, well...you're not doing much to improve that impression.”

Bull grinned wide, showing off all his teeth. “We know where we stand.”