#this has literally been in my drafts since...at least four months lol. I pulled a bunch to finish it and I'm glad I did lowkey.

[emblazons]

Note: I am finally posting this (something that has been in my drafts for actual months) because @pinkeoni hurt my feelings talking about Will and Alan Turing). So...you can inavertently thank Robin for this LMAO

I don’t delve much into Stranger Things analysis anymore, but having just watched The Imitation Game, the biopic they made about Alan Turning in 2014—I’m thinking that maybe Will doing his presentation on the man might have an delightful (secondary) parallel to this film’s exploration of him, given Will’s burgeoning queerness + ongoing relationship with normalcy.

Throughout the film, the ongoing theme of "differences bringing about greatness/change" permeates every character, but Turing especially—something that the conversation he has with a character named Joan near the end of the film showcases well:

In this conversation, Joan is trying to encourage Turing to come out of depression and rely on her, given he is struggling immensely with physical effects of chemical castration—which he obviously resents, but feels is better than giving up the life he has and being “entirely alone” because of his sexuality / desires (sound familiar)?

This ongoing exploration of queerness as tied to greatness and/or otherness is something that is very often explored in Stranger Things as well, primarily with Will—to the point where Will has nearly the exact conversation Alan has with Joan with Jonathan in S2:

—in addition to us exploring the relationship between a lack of normalcy, queerness and even nerdiness through/by other characters like Robin, Mike & Lucas.

Now (as we all know), Will’s homosexuality has been forever and inherently linked to his otherness/lack of normalcy—whether with how he was bullied in S1-S2, his struggle to be open with his feelings for Mike in S4, or the million literal / metaphorical things in between, Will has always been encouraged not to conform, but still struggles to self-actualize enough to embrace himself fully…which most of us expect for him come S5.

Basically: the underlying theme of this film for Turning (much like the underlying themes at the heart of ST) revolves around how most people strive for normalcy, despite normalcy being undesirable if you expect to do anything great/interesting. While Turing was a homosexual man, he was also one who struggled greatly with fitting in overall—much like Will, which I think perfectly reflects how the Duffers have set up their S5 resolution + solving Will’s ongoing internal struggle with his romantic feelings for Mike + ongoing dissonance with normalcy.

(sidebar: there are articles exploring the idea of "embracing difference" in this movie that parallel Will's "Being Different." See: Embracing Difference - The Imitation Game)

Both TIG!Turing and Will exist in on the fringes on their respective worlds due to their differences and homosexuality—just as both of them are both most inspired by their (romantic) love for their male best friends....to the point that those relationships define their contributions to the story: Turing with the machine that helped the Allied powers break the Nazi Enigma code, and Will in ways I'm sure we'll be talking about in 2025.

TL;DR: While Will still has another season to sort through what his love for his best friend means for both his rejection of normalcy and his greatness, it's fairly apparent that (much like Turing) it is the embracing of both difference and homosexuality that leads to greatness—no matter how the world feels about that overall.

(We love it when the gays learn life lessons (and when they win)).

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

curtain call, m | myg

pairing(s): yoongi x reader

summary: You know that TikTok trend where girls would drop their towels in front of their gamer boyfriends? As expected, Min Yoongi didn’t until he was informed by his six troublemaking friends. In this case, his girlfriend was the pro streamer and he was the guy in the towel... so what’s the result?

warnings: rated M (18+) for language, tiny bit of crack; sexually explicit thoughts; smut (fem reader, handjob, cowgirl); very fluffy; non-idol!AU - established relationship, music producer!Yoongi x LoL streamer!reader

-

“Hahaha, oh my god, chat, did you see that? He bounced so many times from the CC, he literally went sky, holy shit!”

Min Yoongi opened the front door of his apartment to the jovial, laughing voice of his girlfriend. He shut the door, smiling to himself. Her streaming room was in the extra bedroom. The door was open, and he could see the bright RGB lights of her computer tower reflecting off the walls. He took off his black coat, placing it on the hanger in the hall closet.

“Stop cursing because it’s not ladylike?” He heard her scoff. “No, fuck you.”

Yoongi smirked. That’s my girl.

He pulled out his phone from his pocket, scrolling through social media. His friends always told him to reply to their posts, but Yoongi was a lurker. The only reason he even had any social media was because his friends set it up for him. He literally only followed six people – his six friends. Everyone else he just stalked from memory, even his own girlfriend. Mostly because he didn’t want random people following him for no reason, because they most certainly would with how popular she was.

When she had asked him what he thought of her full-time video game streaming, Yoongi told her to go for it. She had been obsessed with League of Legends for over nine years, even before she met him. At their first date, she first question was if he knew what League of Legends was.

“Uh… I got to Gold in season 2?”

Later, she told him his answer had seriously tilted her and she even considered not going on a second date.

“But you did. Because of this face.”

She had laughed and nodded.

She had been playing solo queue for a long time. When she finally started streaming her games, her channel grew slowly. She would immediately start playing after she got home from work. Hours and hours, growing a fanbase. Yoongi later learned she was startlingly good – “I was Master for a long time, got Grandmaster this season” – and when she asked him if she could quit her job, he pointed to her bank statements.

“Do you even need to ask? You might make more than me at one point and I’m Big Hit’s top music producer.”

And she did end up making more than him, at least some months, because the team that picked her up as a content creator this year was none other than T1, the most beloved (and hated) organization in Korea. Had she ever met Faker? No, but it was cool to say she was under the same umbrella as him.

Yoongi rounded the corner, knocking his knuckles on the doorframe.

“Hey.”

-

You looked up from your game, grinning. Twitch chat had just said some dumb shit, but your eyes were on Min Yoongi now. The love of your life, standing in the doorframe, looking amused at your antics and dressed sharply in a white dress shirt and black slacks with a matching black tie. Very different to your black T1 hoodie and sweats.

“Whoa, fancy, fancy,” you teased, eyes going back to the game. You pushed back one of your headset’s earcups to hear him better. You clicked rapidly, autoattacking the towers swiftly. You were about to win after a hectic Baron fight. “Why are you dressed like that, Yoongi?”

Your chat was exploding with cat emojis. They had only seen Yoongi a few times and someone had compared him to a cat once. It stuck and now every time Yoongi spoke, your chat was spammed with cats. You even had a custom white cat emote made with Yoongi’s signature black hair.

Yoongi appeared next to you on the cam, only his slacks and bottom of his shirt visible next to you. He patted your head.

“Meeting today,” he said simply in his lovely deep voice. The chat was exploding due to Yoongi’s appearance. Everyone was thirsty for him. You couldn’t blame them. You too. “Looks like T1 Curtain Call is kicking ass.”

You fired the last shot at the Nexus, earning fifty gold. Was it necessary since that was the end of the game? Absolutely not, but it gave you bragging rights. You sat back, smirking. You were in your promos to Challenger, the highest rank in the ladder. It would be really exciting if you could make it to Challenger this season.

You turned to Yoongi as you honored your support Nami. “Chat wants you to say hi.”

Yoongi stuck his large hand out in front of the camera and waved it once. “Hey everyone.”

You chuckled as Yoongi retreated his hand. You clicked on the stats for the chat to read before reentering the lobby. T1 Curtain Call. That was your in-game name, or IGN. It was named after your favorite champion, Jhin, the Virtuoso, mercenary gunman with a sniper ultimate and an obsession with the number four. Your IGN was Jhin’s ultimate ability name. You were an attack-damage carry main, also known as ADC.

You felt Yoongi ruffle your hair, messing it up under your headset.

“Going to take a shower before making dinner. Bye, chat.”

Yoongi stuck his hand in the screen again, right in front of your face.

You leaned forward to read the chat as you queued up. It was going to be a long queue, so you answered questions in the meantime.

“Ask Yoongi to play with you?” You chuckled. “Trust me guys, I’ve tried, even if it was just normals. He’s confused as shit.”

-

Yoongi worked the shampoo in his hair, feeling the hot water hit his back. Before getting into the shower, Yoongi had gotten multiple texts from the group chat. Normally he would ignore them, because he always ignored the group chat. This time, however, he saw his girlfriend’s name pop up in the texts, along with his name with multiple exclamation points. He frowned at it, opening the chat. He did not like his friends typing her name heedlessly.

It was some dumb TikTok trend.

“Hyung, you gotta do this to noona,” Jeon Jungkook had typed with multiple ‘kekekeke’ behind it. The youngest was an idiot for even suggesting this.

“Please do it,” Kim Taehyung typed with multiple laughing emojis.

“I want to know her reaction,” Park Jimin typed with a bunch of winking faces.

“The fuck is this?” Kim Seokjin had typed. “Oh my god, you have to do it, Yoongi.”

“But don’t film it,” Kim Namjoon warned. “Don’t want to make her look bad or anything.”

Jung Hoseok had just typed multiple laughing symbols. Yoongi could hear him laughing through the phone even if he wasn’t here.

It was a stupid trend where girls wrapped themselves in towels after a shower and then dropped said towels in front of their gamer boyfriends while they were playing, with varying reactions. Yoongi had sighed, putting his phone down. He shouldn’t have clicked on the chat. Those guys were loons. Besides, his role was reversed in his situation. A guy’s flaccid dick was a thousand times less interesting than his girlfriend’s perky tits and round ass. And her squeezable thighs. And her glistening pussy.

Yoongi rinsed his hair off, muttering to himself.

Why would he even consider distracting her like that anyway? He rubbed soap on his arms and legs. She took her games seriously and Yoongi wanted her to win them. It would just be dumb to be the reason that she dies in game. It was her job, after all. It was true they had less sex, but that was also partially his fault. He had been working on an album and it ran long hours. He had to finish before the deadline after all. Yes, sometimes Yoongi woke up late at night with a massive hard-on and her warm body next to him, only in her underwear. Sometimes he took her hand and wrapped it around him, considering on waking her up to do it.

But her peaceful, sleepy face was too cute to wake up, so he never did.

Yoongi puffed his cheeks as he rinsed off, thinning his mouth and eyes into lines. They used to mess around, right here in the shower, where he would jerk off on her face and chest, just to watch it drip down her body. He could see her pretty face in his mind, cum sprayed across her cheeks and chin, mischievous smile on her lips. They had different schedules now, so she always showered before her stream, while he was at work.

Yoongi clicked his tongue and turned the water off, body still hot. He grabbed the white towel from the rack and dried his hair, making it stick up in every direction. He rubbed himself down, wicking the water away. It made him remember how her hair used to stick to her body after their shared showers and how he would lift it away to play with her nipples.

He huffed, seeing his phone on the bathroom sink. His friends needed help. How could they even suggest such nonsen–

Yoongi tried to wrap his towel around his waist. He could feel a draft. He looked down, raising his eyebrows.

His dick was pitching a music-festival, VIP-member-only sized tent.

Well.

He pursed his lips. He shouldn’t be that surprised. He had literally been thinking about his girlfriend’s naked body the entire time. His eyes glanced to his phone once again before he opened the bathroom door. He heard her sigh loudly.

“Noooo, that’s the third dodge! Am I ever going to play a game, chat?” she whined.

Yoongi padded out into the hallway. Technically he was already halfway there. Might as well. Was this the stupidest shit he was ever going to do? Maybe. But she wasn’t going to expect it, that’s for sure. The thought made Yoongi smirk.

“When is Jungkook going to duo with me again? I don’t know guys; he said he has finals soon so he has to focus on school.” He heard her click her tongue. “Get him on cam again? Oh, I see, that’s what you all wanted... At least let him get through university.”

Yoongi stopped at the doorframe. Her hands were on her chin and she was sighing, looking depressed at her long queue time.

“Ah, so unlucky. It must be everyone’s dinnertime.”

He called her name in the same tone he usually used.

Her head lifted and her eyes floated in his direction.

Yoongi dropped the towel.

In less than a second, her eyes grew three sizes, jaw dropping. His wet hair stuck to his forehead, shading his eyes a bit. He cocked an eyebrow, slow smirk on his lips.

“Anything you want for dinner?”

-

What.

The.

FUCK?

You heard your queue pop, but you were frozen in place, gawking open-mouthed at your boyfriend standing in the doorframe of your streaming room, butt-ass naked, cock hard as a rock, towel on the ground. Did he just..? What the…? This was Min Yoongi. Your mild-mannered, somewhat-lazy, preferred-to-be-asleep boyfriend. Not suddenly-trying-to-send-you-to-horny-jail-in-front-of-three-thousand viewers boyfriend! You blinked at him, stuttering.

“Y-Yoongi…?”

Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit. Your voice was a little too breathless, a little too shocked. And slightly too needy for Twitch chat. Your face was heating up fast. You whipped your head back to the screen, realizing you missed the queue. At this point, you didn’t give a single shit.

“You know what, guys,” you said shakily, laughing awkwardly. “I better help Yoongi with dinner and be a good girlfriend.” You rose, feeling the wetness between your legs. “See you tomorrow!”

And you immediately turned off the stream, fuck, you turned off your whole damn computer, mashing the power button, and throwing one of your spare hoodies over the webcam. You exploded from your T1 gaming chair, literally shooting it back three feet into the League plushes behind you, ripping your headset off, tossing it onto the keyboard. Yoongi looked surprised, as if he expected you to be demurer about it.

Yeah, that’s not kind of woman you were.

“Min Yoon-gi,” you hissed, stressing every syllable of his name. “How the fuck do you think you can just show up naked and not expect me to want to immediately fuck you?”

Yoongi chuckled. “I wanted to see your reaction.”

You narrowed your eyes, pressing him against the door with your body. “You don’t watch TikTok. Who put you up to this? Jimin? Taehyung? Jungkook?”

His voice was low and husky. “You know the mankae line are trouble.”

Your hand snaked up into his damp hair and you pulled him down for a sensual kiss. His soft, pink lips parted and you nipped at his lower lip, grinding deliciously into his hard cock. Your sweatpants and underwear were in the way, but you moaned into his mouth, tongue grazing against his lips.

Mentally, you thanked the three mankaes for giving Yoongi this wonderful idea.

He breathed against your lips, smirking.

“How many pieces of clothing are you wearing?” he purred.

You grinned into his kiss, tongue between your teeth. “Four.”

“On brand for you.”

And then you two stumbled into the hallway, Yoongi’s hands on the hem of your hoodie, pushing it up as you kissed him over and over, whispering his name, telling him how handsome he was, how perfectly sexy he was with his wet hair and soft skin. His lips curved upwards under yours, basking in your compliments, drinking them up.

“Count for me,” he drawled, pulling the black T1 hoodie up.

You slipped out of it, sliding down, hands splaying over Yoongi’s chest.

“One.”

He tossed it aside as your hand wrapped around his cock. A sharp gasp left his lips feeling you stroke him slowly, your hand snaking around his neck and bringing his face close to yours, lips on lips. His hands curled around your waist, moving up, grasping the hook-and-eye of your black bra. All the while slowly making your way to the bedroom, nipping at his lips, sucking on his tongue.

Yoongi pinched, releasing your bra. You released his cock, letting it slide off your shoulders.

“Two,” you moaned, feeling his hands on your breasts, rolling your nipples in between his fingers.

“Hah, your body is so fucking hot,” Yoongi murmured. “Missed fucking you.”

You snickered, licking his lips. “Why don’t you actually try to wake me up for once instead of using my hand to jack yourself off at two in the morning?”

His dark brown eyes went wide, shock creeping into his voice. “W-what? How did you…?”

You pushed him through the doorframe of the bedroom. “You think I don’t notice your dick in my hands?” You reached down now, gripping it again, sighing softly at his hardness. “I’m a light sleeper.”

He sputtered at you, fingers curling under the waistband of your sweatpants. “No, you’re not.”

You grinned. “Yeah, you’re right, but this your cock we’re talking about, and I love your cock, Yoongi, fuck,” you continued, pumping him slowly as you felt his length twitch in your hands, his hands pushing down your pants, sliding down your legs.

“Three,” he breathed softly.

You took his larger hand and wrapped it around yours, stepping out of your pants.

“Go on, Yoongi. Show me what you do when you think I’m asleep,” you said softly, nudging him to the bed and laying him down, down, crawling over him, staring into his beautiful dark eyes, falling more and more in love with him every second. Yoongi bit his lip, looking back at you, shifting your hand up and down his cock, whimpering as he jacked himself off, but with your hand and your eyes on him.

“Fuck, you look so pretty,” he mumbled. “Such perfectly shaped eyes.”

You leaned down, squeezing him a little harder, a tiny gasp brushing against your lips. “That’s you, my love.”

He smirked, his free hand hooking on the side of your panties.

“Hit me with the fourth shot,” Yoongi teased, grinning.

You kissed him lightly, smiling. “That’s going to be a critical hit.”

“Better be a critical hit all over my dick.”

You laughed, reaching over to the nightstand and pulling out the drawer, taking out a condom. The two of you pulled down your black panties, Yoongi completing the final number.

“Four,” he exhaled, nearly moaning at the sight of your juices snapping against your thigh.

“Me on top?” you asked, ripping the condom open.

Yoongi’s naughty smirk grew. “You do love me.”

You slid the condom down his length, both of you gasping as his cock throbbed in your hands. You slid up, holding him with two fingers as you sank down on him, tipping your head back at the feeling of Yoongi’s cock buried deep inside.

“I’ve determined we don’t fuck enough,” you muttered, rolling your hips at the delicious sensation of being stretched out by your lover.

“I should wake up earlier,” Yoongi hissed, hands twisting in the sheets. “So we can shower together again.”

“You miss that?” You began to move, riding him deliberately slow but rough, slapping your hips together. You were leaking all over his crotch and balls, adding to the sound. “Miss me on my knees for you, wet from head to toe?”

“Hah… I was thinking about it in the shower,” he panted, feeling you lean down to change the angle, rolling the entire lower half of your body to fuck him hard, fast, intensely squeezing his cock at every descent. “You look so good covered in my cum, my love.”

You smirked, arching an eyebrow. “Yeah? Take some pictures. Show your friends.”

Yoongi laughed, that attractive raspy laugh that showed his pink gums and his pretty white teeth as you rode him, chasing your orgasm and determined to get him to his. “They fucking wish they could see this body,” he growled, a touch of possessiveness in his voice that made your spine shiver deliciously. “Bet they wish they could see you riding my dick right now, your perfect tits and ass bouncing on top of me.”

You clenched him harder and he moaned, head pressed into the pillows, eyes closing, drowning in the feeling of you.

“Ask them,” you snickered. “I already know Jimin’s answer.”

Yoongi gave you an open-mouthed smirk. “That fucking pervert.”

You slammed your hips together tightening your jaw and your core, sucking in his entire length, every contour imprinted into you, every vein pulsing into your walls, Yoongi so fucked out and gone under you, the best image in the entire fucking world. You leaned your head back, gasping triumphantly as the pleasure finally dropped, showering over you, your hips shaking, pussy throbbing all around him, splattering onto his crotch. Yoongi groaned, smacking his fists against the sheets as he shot up into you, cock swelling against your walls, choking out your name due to the strength of your orgasm. You felt your pussy milking him for every drop, draining him. Yoongi’s hips jerked involuntarily up towards you, squelching loudly and lewdly.

Fuck, you loved him.

You bent down, hand between your bodies, holding the condom down as you kissed his open mouth, tongue sliding in to stroke his, murmuring to him how much you loved him. Yoongi panted into your lips, hot erotic breaths that made you moan as you slowly removed yourself from his softening cock. He opened his eyes, half-lidded, drunk with pleasure. His voice was breathless, content.

“I love you.”

You smirked.

“Drop your towel some more, but maybe when I’m not live streaming.”

Yoongi laughed and you laughed too, because in the end it was still hilarious.

-

masterpost

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

Moth Work Intro + False Idol | Writing Update

Hey People of Earth! 

Today I thought I’d do a writing update on a project I’ve mentioned a lot in my vlogs but haven’t mentioned as of yet on here! This is a personal ‘passion project’ that I’ve been picking away at since January and have recently taken on as my transition project from Rewired to my next book.

So yee! MOTH WORK (or ‘boys on a boat’ for those who keep up with the vlogs lols) has been my current project for the last few weeks since finishing REWIRED. I didn’t really mean to expand it as much as I have as it simply started off as a spinoff story of my boys Lonan and Harrison which I write every few months when I’m having a breakdown and need something to cheer me up. :-)

I’ve mentioned a few of these stories in the past (like Fishbowl and Mandarin), though this story is a bit different, as I’ve expanded it quite a lot more than I intended to! If you aren’t super caught up with Rewired, I’d definitely scroll through a few of my last updates so this one will make more sense! 

What’s it about? 

Moth Work is a FOSTERED spinoff story following Lonan and Harrison (dumb+dumber) at the peak of their relationship. I *was saying* that the plot went loosely as follows: after finding a photograph of a woman in Lonan’s father’s dark room, they set out to find her, HOWEVER, because I never stick to plans, I have yet to follow through with this main plot thread, lol. Vaguely, I’d just say the most important part of this story is their relationship at its most fragile because who is plot I don’t know her. 

Moth Work follows the events after REWIRED, and is a bit of a bridge between it and the next book. This makes it kind of hard to explain because a) it’s in a different POV, and b) context, but hopefully that makes sense! In essence: Lonan + Harrison’s relationship is big sad and Harrison tries to make it less big sad and it gets even more big sad. 

I’ll share a very quick profile of both of the boys so there’s some context for the following excerpts I’ll share!

Harrison

My boy

Generally very outgoing, tho around Lonan this fizzles. Only wants the best for Lonan despite their history. He’s the ‘main’ narrator of the piece (third limited to him though I’m guilty of head hopping lol), so the work has a softer tone than I’m used to. Though Harrison tries to be a Macho Man, around Lonan he’s most himself--mellow, a lil stupidly romantic, and vulnerable. 

Lonan

My problematic son/probably should be cancelled 

The “issue” in the relationship loool. He’s emotionally immature and lacks accountability, but because of his past, lacks the ability to recognize these faults and work on them. Because of this, he’s fundamentally stayed the same for the last few works he’s been in (if not gotten worse). Lonan requires a lot of emotional assistance, though he isn’t self-aware enough to recognize this. This is often the cause of much conflict. 

Conception:

Like I mentioned, I often write short spinoff stories following these boys because it’s a safe happy place for when I’m feeling stressed. This is basically how this piece started, though I’ve continued it for different reasons which I’ll get into. I don’t remember how the first scene was brainstormed, but I do know when I started writing this a few months ago, I wanted it to be a lot longer than my previous stories--a place where I could just dump my writing, even when it wasn’t good. I think I did this to cope with the stress of my writing class honestly, lol, I think I needed a break from ‘serious’ writing AKA a place I could just goof off and have some fun. 

The writing bit: 

Writing this story has been a bit inconsistent. I’ve been drafting it in little pieces since the beginning of the year, and only recently picked it up as more of a ‘full-time’ work. This is subject to change depending on whether or not I get more of book 7 done. I’ve gone from writing 20 words a day to 0 to 1000--there’s really no consistency with the drafting process here. 

I have recently decided that I’ll most likely expand this into either a novella or novel itself because there is literally so much tea left to explore and it’s surpassed 10k words. Drafting Moth Work has been so helpful in easing me back into the world of FOSTERED and piecing together the huge time gap from the end of book 6 to the start of book 7. I’ve been a bit anxious to really dive into book 7 for the fear of the unknown, so inching myself closer to that timeline through this project has been very helpful!

The editing bit:

I recently did an edit around the line level for this entire piece (it’s about 12k words right now) because a) it really needed it b) I was losing steam/starting to get embarrassed and c) I needed a refresher of what had happened because je suis tres forgetful. This edit made me feel so much better about the project. It initially started off as a work where the writing didn’t actually matter and this mentality was working until I got so embarrassed of the prose I found it difficult to read through old scenes to refresh myself and thus couldn’t productively draft. 

This project isn’t written exactly in my usual style--it’s pretty stripped back and actually reminds me a lot of how my style would’ve been in book 3 had I been a better writer four years ago lol. I think the looser style works for the voice/the story itself but I def wouldn’t categorize this as litfic (what I usually write). Although the prose isn’t very complex, it took me a really long time to get comfortable enough to edit?? But once I got into the rhythm of it a few days ago, I completed the edit fairly quickly, and I’m 100% feeling better about the project overall! Though the prose is still not my top priority I’m not as embarrassed of it currently lols. 

I also divided the project into chapters because it was getting pretty long to just be one mass of text. I currently have 3 chapters. This update will cover chapter 1. 

Playlist:

Yo this is literally the best part of writing this project, lol, I get to listen to so much different music?? I’ve made a comprehensive playlist for this story with a character by character breakdown (if anyone wants to see that/highlights, let me know!). This playlist pulls from every song from my library, so we span genres and artists like crazy. Nothing But Thieves has been the primary artist for this story (specifically their self-titled album). These songs (all NBT oop) are the most relevant if you want to get the general tone lol (anything with a star has explicitly inspired the project):

Excuse Me*

Honey Whiskey*

Tempt You (Evocatio)*

If I Get High (II)

Gods

Lover, Please Stay*

I Was Just A Kid*

Get Better

Hell, Yeah*

Afterlife

Reset Me

Particles

Sorry

Number 13

Excerpts:

I don’t have *many* because prose hasn’t really been a top priority for this project, but I’ll try to include at least one per scene. 

This is one of the opening paragraphs from chapter one which I’ve titled ‘False Idol’. In short, the chapter follows the boys first attempting to destroy the dark room and then getting distracted and eventually not pulling through after Harrison finds a picture of Ominous Lady. 

The chapter’s chronology is wild so we can break it up as follows:

Scene A

The boys enter the dark room with the intention of burning it down

Harrison reaches for his lighter and drops it which prompts him to find the photograph of Ominous Lady

Him and Lonan mildly argue about Ominous Lady until Lonan takes it too seriously and throws a tantrum :-DD

Scene B

Not really a full scene, just a bridge between scene A and C.

Harrison has been waiting for Lonan to return to their campsite for the entire day and he decides to at the very last moment

“hey so i’m unable to apologize for anything but also! cigarette! let’s share it! lungs!” 

Scene C

The boys exercising their canoeing skills

This leads us to our first “beat”.

Lonan interrupts Harrison’s peaceful evening by having a mild crisis

This takes place right after the events of Lolita, Lolita (chapter 16 of REWIRED). We then jump back to the fictive present.

 This alternates like 5 more times lol then the chapter is done!

The following excerpt describes their entry into the dark room. Don’t know how smart it is to be smoking in a room full of highly flammable material but we out here.

I don’t think she’s particularly special but I also don’t hate her so!! hoping an aesthetic photo will make it read better :’)) I ! don’t ! think ! it does ! but !

Harrison shoulders the door first, traps it open with the clip of his boot. Dust and streaks of light rake behind him as he pushes through cardboard boxes, mountains of photo paper on the ground. Lonan follows silently, still wearing Harrison’s jacket. Trails of smoke from his cigarette catch in the negatives hanging by the clothespins, chemical peel between the layers of ink. In one hand he tends to his cigarette, and in the next, lugs in the canister of gasoline they found in the cabin’s cellar. As Harrison fumbles for his flashlight, Lonan sets it down by the table so it sloshes like the Pacific. 

This is a bit of when Harrison finds the photograph of Ominous Lady:

He turns the photograph over, and shines the flashlight on it. It’s scratched and developed wrong, little bits of orange obscuring the woman’s face, but it’s very much a woman. A dark bob and bangs in her eyes, jewelry hanging from her septum. Sunshades enough to reflect the European street behind her. The discreet jet of ink on her skin, blues and greens peeking out from under her sleeve. Izzy, he recognizes. Lonan’s mother. 

Nudging Lonan with an elbow, “I didn’t know your mom has tattoos.” 

Lonan takes the photograph cautiously, holding it by the corners like it’ll burn him. His brow trembles, but it takes him only seconds to say, “That’s not my mom.” He takes the flashlight from Harrison and examines it closer, fingers nimble and tracing the edges. In the grey light of the dark room, he looks nullified. Just a monochromatic hum of chromosomes and skin. 

that’s not my MOM

After the boys find the photograph, Lonan gets triggered at Harrison’s suggestion to find the woman (he presumes her to be someone involved with his father) and promptly has a tantrum and exits. This leads us into the next scene where the boys! actually! get! on! boat! In this scene Lonan tries to say sorry for his tantrum by offering Harrison a cigarette (lol) and because Harrison is hopelessly romantic and also hopelessly dumb, says yeeeees sir! They go for a canoe ride on the water. Thought it was going to be sweet, ended up being a shitstorm but!

This paragraph is kind of toast but:

The canoe isn’t hard to get into the water. After a few nudges from the dock into the slow dip of tide, it stabilizes easily. Harrison is convinced it will capsize but Lonan knows it won’t. They take one ore each, and ignore the life jackets at the back of the shed.

The moon is large and mesmerizing. As Harrison and Lonan take turns pushing the canoe into the water, mast first, then its entire belly, it colours them silver. Lonan’s protected the cigarette in the pocket of his shirt. Harrison stares at its faint outline stretched under the fabric. Lonan steps into the canoe first, rocking with the current, and extends a hand for Harrison. He pulls him in and they row until the cabin is the size of a fingernail, the wave steady and dense. Each cut of the paddle feels like plunging a scalpel into flesh and Harrison watches Lonan do it easily. In the distance, the cabin doesn’t look so menacing. Reeve has left the lamp on by the loft, and it glimmers back like an eyeball, effervescent and tiny. Nothing but a reflective penny in the distance.

Here’s some Harrison being lame:

The water laps at the base of the canoe, and Ris reaches over and touches it like it’s holy. He makes the sign of the cross and it feels perverse, cold water dripping from forehead to chin.

For a while it’s quiet. Just the distant hum of crickets, the slash of the paddle, and the off-chance flash of something in the distance; an animal, a flashlight. Ris tries not to think about Lonan’s dad, like a dead man slithering through the water, following their boat. He picks at a saltine, sucks it between his tongue meditatively. Against the sky, Lonan is backlit and lovely and flecks of his hair peek up from around the jacket’s collar. Harrison wonders if as a child, everyone said he looked just like his father. 

On top of lacking accountability, Lonan is also a professional canoeist so he takes over while Harrison eats saltines and reminisces about an encounter they had weeks prior. This leads into the solid chunk of backstory that I weirdly jump in an out of for the entire chapter. :)

Backstory consists of drunk Lonan having a crisis while Harrison tries to have a peaceful evening of taping up his drawings to his bedroom ceiling. The following excerpt describes the moment right after Lonan enters the room.

Harrison’s lips secured around his cigarette, his hand mid-air with packing tape and line drawings of the moon. A tinny country song dribbled through the radio. The minute-meal he’d heat up in the microwave lying forgotten and cold on his desk. Harrison set the pile of drawings down and turned off the music.

“Emily left?” Lonan asked. He kept his face upward, stared clumsily at the ceiling. Harrison watched his eyes trace the new drawings, following the uncalculated pattern. 

This paragraph is made up of 5 similes and this is the only reason I’m sharing it :)))):

Lonan has stopped paddling. The canoe sits in the middle of the lake, lifeless, like a bone in the water. He’s turned so Harrison can see him in profile, and Ris can’t tell if it’s relieving or worrying to see his face. Lonan’s jaw is taut, like there are words he wants to say there but can’t. Filling up the hollow bone. He blinks slowly, like he’s trying to re-centre himself, his chest quivering with breaths meant to steady him. The water laps at the base of the canoe, whirling. Dark hair tangles down his cheeks like the fingers of a poltergeist. 

I think that’s a pretty good way to end this post lol! How many similes have you put in one paragraph? What’s your record lol this is probably mine!

Hope y’all enjoy the intro to MOTH WORK. I have two other chapters already written which I’ll update on in a separate post! For now I hope you like this more laid back project, let me know what you think!

---Rachel

[kpopidolsarehumanstoo]

“Unexpected Meeting” Xu Minghao (The8) : Drabble

Pairing: Xu Minghao (Seventeen) x male reader

Genre: Fluff 

Relationship with reader: They don’ t know each other yet.

Quick Summary: You and your friend came back to Korea and it just so happens that Seventeen also just landed their plane. 

Warning: The usual cursing lol. 

A/N: This was previously a draft my friend made on my laptop. @livingheartimes and then I realized it was quite nice so I contacted her asking for permission to edit her stuff, and she approved my request so this happened lol. 70% of this was from her and the 30% was from me editing it (mostly changing the pronouns from “I” to “you”. @livingheartimes if you do not like it I'm sorry pls don't kill me TwT lol. I mean I took out quite a huge chunk of your previous plot TwT.

Ps: I hope that yall will like this, again credits go to @livingheartimes  UwU.

Word count: 1,677

You and f/n came back to South Korea from a summer vacation in Iceland. Iceland was really great. It was so peaceful. No one bothered the both of you, literally. The both of you stayed there for only 4 months. You wished you could stay forever, but sadly nothing lasts forever.

You and f/n had a lot of differences despite being the bestest of friends. Your friend disliked Korean music yet he is Korean. He dislikes his own race, he dislikes his own language, he dislikes South Korea. I am (nationality) but, i personally love Korean music. Specifically, K-pop.

He’s usually optimistic, so it’s weird hearing him say such negative things. He’s the type of person that whenever someone bullies him, he looks in the mirror and just says that he loves himself. He’s a bit weird, but in a good way. He hates books. Whenever we go to the library, he always falls asleep. Sometimes, the librarian would even kick us out. He tends to play computer games. He uses social media but is so addicted to computer games.

He is also aromantic, he does not feel any romantic attraction to any sexuality or gender. It’s fine though. You personally don’t care what his romantic preference is (or lack thereof), he’s your friend, you respect him.

You met him when the both of you coincidently, got buried in a mob of books. The books from the upper shelves fell on top of both of you. You were irritated at that time. You were about to freak out but then you heard him laugh. He seemed to enjoy what just happened. You thought he was insane until he helped you up. Since then, he’s been following you for a month and soon enough the both of you became friends.

Crazy isn’t it. You have a friend, after like a zillion-years. Three to four months into your friendship he said he was going to leave for South Korea. You were also going to leave for Kore at that exact date but you decided not to tell him. He suddenly invited you to go with him. He’s totally crazy, in a good way.

Anyways, the both of you arrived in South Korea. A lot has already changed after only 4 months. Well, South Korea is one of the most advanced countries in Asia. Explains it though. You walked together out of the airport. While the both of you were walking, you glanced at him. You noticed he had a smile on his face, but his eyes said it all. You noticed in his eyes that they were filled with hatred. You knew it then, he wasn’t really excited at all.

You told him to come with you away from people but then you heard someone call out.

“y/n! y/n! Here! Come on!”  f/n heard her, too.

“y/n, let’s go!” He said cheerfully and made you follow him. He stopped and waited for you. You just walked and realized how cute he was.

You reached the girl. Her name was g/n. She was a childhood friend of yours.

“g/n , what are you doing here?”

“Well, I heard you were heading here so I decided to wait for you. And for your friend I guess.”

“Thank you, miss g/n. My name is f/n. Nice to meet you.”

“F/n? Nice to meet you, too. But, please, don’t call me miss.”

The both of them laughed it out, leaving you in the side lines.

“G/n, were you waiting for anyone else? You don’t seem to have the intention of moving.” You asked.

“Seventeen. They’re arriving from Japan. I want to see them so badly. Y/n aren’t you a fan of them?”

“Yeah, I am a fan of theirs, Is it ok if we wait for them f/n.”

“Sure.”

“F/n, do you have a place to stay?”

“We were planning on booking a hotel.”

“Just stay at my place then. I have spare bedrooms. The both of you could stay there.”

“Are you sure? We don’t want to inconvenience you.” You asked.

“Yes, I am quite sure.”

Suddenly the airport erupted in screams, when you decided to look towards the screams you saw Seventeen and you immediately stood still. You can not believe what you are seeing. Seventeen was passing by in front of you. Your eyes started searching for your bias right away, and just in time, the guy you were looking for stopped right in front of you.

In front of you was no other than Xu Minghao.Your heart skipped a beat and your breath stopped. Your brain is still processing that the guy you have always looked up to was right in front of you.

Minghao pulled his facemask down and smiled at you. Your brain immediately shut down.

“Hey, what’s your name?” He asked still having that cute smile directed towards you. By your side, you hear g/n squeal.

“Y/n-y/n I’m, Holy shit. Mi-Minghao?” You cursed at yourself for stuttering and stumbling your words.

“Ahh! Cool name. Were you waiting for us?”

You nodded your head yes.

“Ohhh okay. Who would’ve known we had Carats as good looking as you?” The words made you blush. His words were definitely having an effect on you, and you just wanted to hide your face.

“I’ve only been a Carat for on-only a few mo-months.”

“Fair enough. Anything fun happened to you, lately?”

“We just came back from I-Iceland.” You said.

He chuckled at your antics. He finds your stuttering cute and just wants to protect you.

“You’re really cute. Was Iceland nice? I want to visit Iceland someday. Maybe we could both go there together?” He said, ending with a suggestive wink. Your face becoming redder with each word he said.

You smiled as you replied cheerfully, “Iceland was amazing. Very peaceful, perfect for reading books.”

“Could you suggest a good book? I’ve been trying to read lately.”

Before you could answer, one of their guards called them, telling them that it was time to go.

“Wait for a while.” Minghao said to the guard. The guy was clearly pissed but obliged anyways. “Y/n, may I ask where you live? I would like to visit you sometime.” Minghao said with an akward tone on his voice.

You raised your eyebrow at him. “Dude, isn’t it quite weird to ask random people where they live? We barely know each other.”

With this, the cool front that Minghao tried his best to put up, immediately crumbled. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Now that he thinks about it he should’ve asked for your number instead.

“78 Gokdo Street.”

“Huh?” He asked, confused.

“I’m currently staying at 78 Gokdo Street, so if you want you could take a visit.”

Minghao smiled brightly, but his smile faltered when the guard was already having a hard time holding back the rabid fans.

“I’ll visit you soon, Y/n. Goodbye.” He said with a shy smile and puts on his mask. When he walked away, Jun took his hands and ran fast towards the impatiently waiting driver.

A smile blew up on your face. When you looked back towards your friends they had this teasing smirk on their faces.

“Can we just go now?” You asked.

They both nodded and then y’all took the taxi. You arrived at approximately an hour. You went inside your room right away. You still remember everything inside it, but it was cleaner. G/n must have cleaned the room. You lay down your bed right away and before you knew it, you went fast asleep.

The next day, you heard laughter and what sounds to be a strangled goat from downstairs. It woke you up. You tried covering your head with a pillow but the sound of strangled goat was getting on your nerves. You went downstairs frustrated and carrying your pillow. You just wanted to slaughter that fucking goat that ruined your sleep.

“Where the fuck is that goat from?” When you opened your eyes towards the living room, the first thing you realized was that the sounds came from g/n, and then you realized that she made those sounds because Seventeen was in her home.

You halted. Minghao was there talking to F/n. The rest of Seventeen were just there looking awkwardly at the girl having a seizure. And then they all stopped and looked towards you.

You ran back to your room as quickly as possible and locked the door. You stayed sitting behind the door.

“What the fuck? He actually tried visiting.” You whispered to yourself, baffled. You hastily changed your clothes and tried to present yourself at least somewhat decent. You mustered up your courage and went downstairs.

The view in front of you was a wild one. You see G/n on the floor quite possibly dead, the other members seem to be quite close already, they were currently at the kitchen and are emptying liquor cabinet (which makes you happy that F/n was starting to enjoy Korea, and with K-pop idols at that), and then there was Minghao. Ooh boy. He was sitting down properly on the couch, looking at G/n, visibly concerned. Yes, a few minutes with you gone and shit has already gone down.

You went towards Minghao and he immediately stood up straight like a pole when he saw you. You chuckled a bit and went to grab his arm.

“How about we go out and eat ice cream?” You asked.

He smiled but then it faltered when he looked back at your friend that is currently on the floor. “That would be nice and all, but what about her?” His face was filled with concern for the girl that has fainted.

“She’ll be fine. This happened quite often when we were in high school together.” You chuckled and he reciprocated.

“Fine. Let’s go.” Minghao said, a boyish grin set on his face. And with that the both of you set off.

The day ended with a new couple, 13 drunk guys, and a girl still asleep with a puddle of saliva by her side.

A/n: UwU. As always I don't know how to make titles UwU. Also my editing is quite shitty lol. Hope you liked it UwU. Time to make my Jeno fic now.

[princeofdespair]

Don’t Screw It Up

Pairings: Platonic Polyamsanders/LAMP

Summary: Thomas has a date and his sides do their best to keep him out of trouble, all the while looking after each other.

Warnings: Minor food mention, minor swearing, negative thinking. Let me know if I need to tag anything else!

Word Count: 4,992

A/N: This is a...very different format then what I usually write. I wrote this in just a couple of hours but it usually takes a few weeks when I'm working on a fic, so I apologize if this isn't my best work. I just had this idea floating around in my drafts for a while and thought it would be a good fic for the one year anniversary of the Sanders Sides! I really hope you guys enjoy it!

Side note: I didn't give his date a name and kept his features up to the imagination because the alternative felt almost like making an oc to ship a real person with and I wasn't comfortable with that. Also, if the sides are arguing while in Thomas' mind think of it as when you're trying to make a quick decision and your brain is running a mile a minute, as in, Thomas is not just standing there blankly lol.

[Read on AO3!]

“Here, Thomas. This red shirt looks amazing on you. Wear this tonight.”

“I think the blue one would be a better match, it doesn't clash with his hair as much.”

“Um, excuse me?”

Roman turned his attention to the logical side, holding the red button up shirt in one hand, the other resting on his hip. He looks Logan up and down and sneers, “The last time I checked, I was the romantic side, not you.”

Logan rolls his eyes and grabs the blue polo from the closet. “I wasn't aware that made you the designated fashionista out of the four of us.”

“Well of course it does!” Roman exclaimed, clearly not picking up on his sarcasm. “The red shirt is obviously-”

“Blue. You'll thank me later, Thomas.”

“Red.”

“Blue.”

“Red!”

“Blue!”

Thomas puts his hands up and says, “Guys, please! Can we just agree on something!”

Logan and Roman are too busy glaring at each other and arguing to notice Patton slip between them to set a simple, gray long-sleeved shirt on the bathroom counter. It matches. Thomas silently thanks him and slips it on, ignoring his creativity and logic so he can start working on his hair. Patton goes back over to Virgil and sits down next to him on the bed where the anxious side is currently holding his head in his hands. Patton pats his back and Virgil only grunts. Did they really have to pull this crap already? They didn't have much time before Thomas had to leave to go pick up his date. Virgil was already on edge and the arguing wasn't helping his nerves one bit.

Roman finally notices Thomas' choice of an outfit and he huffs, throwing the shirt on the ground. “Fine, don't listen to me! You're romantic side! I mean come on, Thomas! This,” he gestures wildly around him, “is my thing!”

Thomas runs more product into his hair with his fingers and sighs. “I know, Roman. But you have to work with the others too, we've talked about this.”

Roman deflates a little and drops his arms to his side. “I...you're right. I apologize, Thomas. I'm just...”

“Are you nervous, kiddo?” Patton asks from his seat next to a still distressed Virgil.

Roman bristles, “No! Of course not! This is a date after all! Why would I of all people be...” He trails off. Who was he kidding? They were all connected, of course they knew. Roman sighs and joins Patton, sitting on the other side of him and quietly says, “Yes.”

Patton just smiles and rubs his back with his free hand, “Hey, that's okay! This is the first date we've had in a while, it's normal to be a little bit nervous!”

Roman leans against Patton's side and Virgil feels those old scars from Thomas' last relationship start to sting again. They needed to keep it together and play their parts if they wanted this to go smoothly. Virgil wasn't expecting anything good to happen tonight but he could at least hope it was just disappointment they had to deal with and not sadness or anger. Disappointment fell on him, sadness was Patton's to bear and although the moral side was currently smiling and excitedly trying to keep everyone’s spirits up, Virgil knew Patton was just as nervous. Maybe even downright scared.

Logan rubs the sleeves of the polo still in his hands and says, “Ten more minutes before we have to leave, Thomas.”

Thomas nods and walks out of his bathroom and back into his room. He spreads out his arms and asks, “How do I look?”

Roman sits straight up, a smile planted back on his face and exclaims, “Amazing as ever! Though, I still think the red-”

“Adequate. You're date will most likely find you more appealing than usual.”

Patton claps his hands and says, “Aw, you look so gosh darn handsome, kiddo! He'll love it!”

Virgil bites his tongue, thinking that the outfit was alright but not great and his face could be clearer and his hair was always a mess and they'd probably think he was a slob...but the others don't wait for his opinion anyway and it wasn't like Thomas didn't know that was what he was thinking. Virgil could let them boost him up a little, no harm in that.

“Right. Okay. Got my keys, wallet, pants are on, I think I'm all set!”

Logic hangs the shirt back up in his closet, brows furrowed in thought but Virgil is the only one who seems to notice. Great. He hates having to be the one to call them out.

“What's on your mind, Lo?”

They all turn to Virgil and then their eyes are on Logan who clears his throat and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“It's just...I'm not sure I understand why you're all so nervous.”

Patton cocks his head to the side. “Well, it's a first date, Logan. Anyone would be-”

“But the two of them have already established that they have, ugh, feelings, for each other. This isn't a stranger Thomas met online, it's someone he's known for years and had started to develop a romantic interest in months ago. Isn't the more obvious response to be excited about the beginnings of a potential relationship?”

Roman is the first to answer him saying, “Why, that's precisely why we're worried, Specs. We want tonight to be as perfect as it can be.”

“But one can assume that everything will turn out just fine! Thomas likes him, he likes Thomas. They've been friends for years, they're far past the awkward getting to know each other stage. They date, they become partners, maybe copulate-

“Logan, please!” Thomas yells, turning bright red.

Logan sighs and his voice is calmer when he says, “Apologies. All I’m saying, is that there doesn't seem to be a need for all this tension.

“Yeah well, I'm trying my best here.” Virgil draws his knees up to his chest and looks down at the floor. He really wanted them all to be happy but, he was anxiety. He couldn't always help it.

Logan reaches out and then draws back, he shakes his head and says, “That's not...Virgil I didn't mean to-”

Thomas' phone goes off and all five of them jump, Virgil actually whimpering as he's startled. Patton puts an arm around him.

Thomas turns the alarm off and says, “It's time to go. Guys, look...”

The sides turn their attention to him and Thomas does his best to literally pull himself together.

“Yeah, I'm pretty nervous. Heck if I'm being honest, I'm terrified, but I know it's been long enough and I really miss having someone to take care of and vice versa. Just...be on you're best behaviors tonight, okay? It'll be...it'll be fine. More than fine. I'll have an amazing night.” Thomas knows full well that he's saying this to himself, just as much as he is to the sides.

Logan beams at him. “That's the spirit, Thomas!”

Virgil buries his head against his knees and tries his hardest to calm down. Those nagging shadows won't leave him alone right now. They've been whispering to him all day and the closer they got to the date, the harder it was to tune them out.

Because, what if it's all some cruel trick and they get stood up? What if Thomas says the wrong thing and he gets upset and leaves right in the middle of it? What if he turns out to have been an asshole this whole time or what if-

“What if we get hurt again?”

Patton looks up when he feels everyone's eyes on him and quickly puts a smile back on his face. “Oh don't mind me! I was just-”

“No. We're not doing this again.”

Logan walks over to them and kneels down in front of Patton, he puts a hand on his knee and says in a hushed voice, “Patton, while that is an unfortunate possibility, nothing good will come out of dwelling on those thoughts. Thomas has learned a lot since...since the last time. We won't make the same mistakes again and we certainly won't let someone else hurt him.” He glances over at Virgil who clings tighter to Patton. No. He would not let that happen again. He'll keep them all safe but...what if keeping them safe means making Thomas unhappy?

Virgil stays silent but gives him an understanding nod. Logan turns back to Patton and says, “We have to look forward to the future, Patton, not shy away from what it has to offer.”

Patton wipes at his eyes and this time when he smiles, it's genuine. “Okay. Thanks, Teach.”

Thomas takes a moment to get a good look at each of them and then says, “Alright...you guys ready?”

Roman is the first to go, stopping to rest his hand on Patton's shoulder before he sinks out. Logan follows, then Patton. Virgil and Thomas meet eyes for a moment, and then he joins the others.

Thomas thinks, as he gets into his car and heads over to his dates house, that it's both a blessing and a curse to have the ability to deal with oneself so intimately.

One thing Thomas still didn't know about his sides is exactly what happens when they sink out and into his mind. He knows they have rooms sure, and he knows now that when he visits them, he's just projecting a part of himself into that section of his mind while his physical form stays where it is. What he doesn't know, is that when Thomas doesn't need to see them directly, they assumes a new form entirely.

The closest thing to describe them would be ghosts. They seemed to float around in the openness of the mindspace, a giant window where they could see through Thomas' eyes in front of them. They all glowed a different color. Respectively, Virgil was a deep purple, Logan a dark blue, Roman a brilliant red and Patton a light, teal blue. They had no solid facial features but they could feel each other more intensely than they could in the physical world. Right now, Patton was beaming and the feeling from his smile was warm against the others forms.

P – He's almost there!

R – We should have gotten him a gift! If only someone hadn't talked Thomas out of stopping to pick up flowers.

He glares at Virgil who just rolls his eyes and repeats himself from earlier.

V – That would be too awkward. He would have to go back inside his house and find a vase and someplace to put them and, ugh.

L – Do not forget this dates circumstances are different from the others Thomas has been on recently. We know this person fairly well. There's no need to try and 'woo them' with trivial gifts.

R – It's still a date, nerd! You're supposed to shower your love with gifts!

P – Now kids, there's no need to fight...

Thankfully, the sides had gotten good at keeping their arguments low enough that Thomas didn't have to pay much attention to them. He was pulling up into their driveway now and Virgil could feel how anxious he was, which in turn, made him anxious and if he wasn't careful they would just bounce back and forth until one of them started to panic. Virgil kept his breathing even, the nervousness Thomas was feeling now was healthy. This was a new situation, he needed to have his guard up.

Thomas got out of his car and took a deep breath in and out, shaking his hands as if trying to shake off some of his nerves and then walks to his front door. He knocks three times. His date answers exactly thirty seconds after. Logan was counting.

He grins as soon as he sees him and says, “Hey, Thomas!” His date looks him up and down and whistles, “Looking good, man.”

R – DID YOU HEAR THAT?! HE SAID-

P – Hush!

Thomas swallows the sudden lump in his throat and chuckles nervously. He had always been very outspoken, this shouldn't be so surprising. “Thanks. Um...”

R – Tell him he's the most beautiful man you've ever seen. That his eyes sparkle like-

V – Do you have any chill?

“...you too.” He cringed inwardly, feeling Virgil cursing his awkwardness.

His date just laughed and started to head towards his car. “You don't have to be so worked up, okay? Let's just, you know, hang out like we always do.” He smirks as they get into his car and adds, “It's just not so platonic this time, if you know what I mean.”

He raises his eyebrows up and down and Thomas snorts out a laugh. They could all feel him starting to relax. It was just like Logan said, they knew this person, there shouldn't be anything to be afraid of. Virgil still wasn't convinced. The others could get all comfortable if they wanted to but he wasn't letting up. He promised Logan he wouldn't let Thomas get hurt again. He wouldn't break that promise, even if it meant making Thomas a little more anxious.

They stop and get dinner first. A nice sit down restaurant, but nothing too fancy. Despite what his date said earlier, everything still felt somewhat stiff. They stuck to safe conversations while they waited for their orders (“How's work? “Good, good. And you?”) but after a while, they slowly fell back into something familiar. Making dumb jokes and geeking out over things just like they always did.

Virgil feels Logan's presence behind him as he reminds Thomas (again) to stop drinking so fast or he'll choke.

L – I know what you're doing.

V – Making sure we don't die? Yep.

Logan actually chuckles and settles down next to him.

L – Thomas is doing really well, but I can still sense that he's anxious.

Virgil doesn't respond. He was determined. Not even Logan could talk him out of this. To his surprise, Logan smiles at him.

L – Thank you.

V – What?

L – I asked you to protect us and that's what you're doing, isn't it? Making sure he doesn't put too much of his heart into this one date?

Virgil stays silent, he's not sure how to respond to that.

L – You're managing to keep his anxiety levels low enough that he can enjoy himself, but high enough that he doesn't go too far. I'm quite proud of you, Virgil.

Logan leaves him then, just in time to go over and stop Roman from throwing another unnecessary compliment at his date and Virgil stares at the screen, trying to process all of what he said. He never really learned how to take a compliment.

After dinner, they go to an aquarium, an idea all four of the sides could easily agree on. A little nerdy, a little romantically cliché, fairly quiet and basically perfect. Roman pushes Thomas to slip his hand into his dates before Virgil can stop him, but he just intertwines their fingers and smiles at Thomas who's thankful that the dim lighting could shadow his blush.

They enter a room with a giant jellyfish tank right in the center and his date runs towards it, eyes wide and full of wonder like a little kids. The butterflies Virgil was doing a good job of controlling up until now, fluttered helplessly inside Thomas and he sighed.

He turns around and says, “I love these guys. They're so freaking cool, don't you think, Thomas?”

Thomas hums in agreement and walks over to them, he's feeling nervous all over again. “Some jellyfish can actually clone themselves.”

R – Oh no, not this again.

L – What? I was just thinking how fascinating it is that in some cases, an injured parent can create...

“...hundreds of baby jellyfish with pieces of itself”.

V – Logan! Knock it off, you're making us look like an asshole!

P – Virgil, watch your language! But...Lo, maybe ease up just a little before-

“Seriously? That's freaking awesome!”

They all stare in shock at the screen, even Logan who truly didn't mean to get over excited. It had proven to have negative effects on people in the past.

They take Thomas' hand again and drag him to another tank. “Alright smart guy, know anything about these cuties?” He points to the butterfly fish swimming around in the tank and looks at him expectantly. Thomas looks at the fish and then back to his date and gulps. “Um...”

The three of them focus in on Logan who would probably be sweating right now if he was in his physical form.

L – Uh. Those are-

R – He knows what they're called, Genius!

P – Be nice...

R – You got us into this, Logic! Just dig down in that big head of yours and tell him, Logic! What do we know about butterfly fish, Logic?!

L – I don't know, okay?! Do I look like a marine biologist?

R – No, but you do look like a jackass!

P – Creativity!

Roman flinches at Patton's raised voice. Virgil tries his best to tune them out while he focus on keeping Thomas from sinking.

(V – Tell him the truth. It's fine, Thomas.)

“I actually don't know anything about them.” He laughs nervously and adds, “But I got a whole lot of jellyfish facts if you want!”

He raises an eyebrow at him and Thomas wishes he would let go of his hand because he's trying hard to keep them from shaking.

“Why do you know so much about jellyfish?”

Thomas shrugs. “I don't know, I get bored and start researching random stuff when I can't sleep. I just happened to have read the entire Wikipedia article for jellyfish once and managed to retain some of what I learned.” He gives another awkward chuckle and then adds,“Super weird, right?”

“That's actually kinda cool.”

“It-it is?”

“Yeah! I mean I always knew you were smart, just another reason why I fell for you I guess. Among other things.”

Roman stares at the screen, and then slowly turns to Logan who looks just as surprised. Then his aura glows a little brighter and a smugness, that could only have been directed at the fanciful side, washes over them.

“Oh,” was all Thomas managed to get out.

His date quickly looked away from him, and cleared his throat. “Ahem, anyway! Give me more facts about jellies.”

Thomas feels Logan's presence flex happily in his mind and says, “Yeah...I can do that.”

They had been out for several hours but it felt like only a short amount of time had passed. When they walked out of the aquarium they were greeted with the night sky. It was past ten p.m and they both had work to do the next day which meant...this was it. Their date was coming to an end.

There was a strange atmosphere in the mindspace. Happiness, because the date went so well. Sadness, because it was over. A hint of fear, because...what comes next? Virgil feels Roman sigh and glances over to see Patton circling around him. Trying to cheer him up, whispering to him.

P – Don't worry! We can ask him out another time! I'm sure he had a good time too!

Virgil got the feeling it wasn't just Princey he was trying to convince.

The drive back was quite but the atmosphere was much more comfortable than it was at the start of the date. Thomas catches his eye at every stoplight and he always greets him with a warm smile. Virgil can't help it as he flickers and the butterflies in Thomas' stomach flare up, every single time.

When Thomas pulls into his driveway, there's a sense of sadness around them now. He didn't want this night to end but it was getting late. Logan reassures him in the back of his mind, that the date seemed to go well so he would most likely ask to meet again. Roman pushing for Thomas to ask first this time, ignoring the anxious energy Virgil pushes onto that idea.

They sit in the car in silence for a few moments until his date says, “Well...this is my stop.”

“Yeah. Sorry, I drove as slow as I could.”

He laughs and then bites down on his lip nervously. He hesitates, then finally manages to say, “I know this is gonna sound dumb but...can you walk me to my door? Please?”

Thomas tenses up. That smile driving the butterflies in his stomach crazy. Such a harmless request and yet-

R – Oh my god.

L – What? He is simply asking Thomas to walk with him to his door? Perhaps he has some irrational fear of the dark or-

R – He wants us to kiss him.

L – Roman, please, he's obviously...

Logan's words trail off as he reassess the situation, then his form flickers. He goes to push his glasses up, forgetting momentarily, that he was in the wrong form. A nervous habit he pretended he didn't have.

L – Oh. Ahem. I believe you may be right for once. This scene does look very textbook.

Roman's form is glowing brighter than ever now. His smile is so wide and bright the others can't directly look at him without squinting.

R – Thomas! Listen, as soon as you get to his door you sweep him off his feet and-

V – NO! Are you freaking kidding me?!

Roman fixes his gaze to Virgil and glares, his form changing to a fiery, dark red.

R – This is my territory, Anxiety. I'm not letting you ruin this for us.

V – They don't want a kiss you idiot! He’s...he’s going to tell Thomas he doesn't want to see him anymore...

R – What?!

Fear shoots through Thomas but he's thankfully gotten good at hiding it. He puts on a smile on says, “Yeah. Of course I will.”

They both get out of the car, his date leaning against the passenger side as he waits for Thomas to walk around from his side. He smirks at him and, man it would be great if his sides would stop bickering in his head and just let him enjoy this.

They all get the message loud and clear and the three of them turn to Virgil. He shrinks into himself but his aura starts to glow brighter as he works himself up.

V – Oh god, what did we do wrong this time? Shit. Shit, shit, shit this was a bad idea, I knew it! Thomas has been lead on before but this bad?

P – Virgil...

V – I messed up. I messed up so bad Thomas is gonna get hurt again I messed up I messed up I-

Virgil feels a warm presence wrap around him, he tries to shrug it off, literally holding his arms around himself and shaking back and forth. The presence doesn't relent, moving all around him, annoying but somehow comforting all the same. Virgil looks up at Patton's smiling form. He sticks close to him, pushing as much positive energy as he could on the darker side.

P – You're doing so good, Virgil. You've been such a great help tonight, I'm really proud of you.

Virgil shakes his head and Patton brushes his fingers through his spectral hair.

P – I know you're scared...I'm scared too, but...we'll be alright, Verge.

V – You can't know that.

P – No. But you can't know that this will all fall apart either.

Virgil stares at him wide eyed. Patton was giving a lot of himself to this person and after they were burned so hard the last time...that should scare him. Virgil should be pulling him back in, protecting him. Protecting all of them. But...

Thomas and his date have reached the door. Logic thankfully taking over for the small talk that was commencing. Roman, for once, patiently waiting beside him. He glances at the other two, a pleading look on his face. Virgil looks back to Patton who just nods reassuringly.

Maybe this time...

“I uh, had a really great time tonight, Thomas. Seriously you're um...pretty great.” He snorts and rubs the back of his head, his cheeks are flushed and gosh he was so pretty. Roman is practically whining as he looks back and forth between Thomas' vision and Virgil. They wanted this so bad. Virgil takes a deep breath, in for four seconds...

“I'm so dumb...sorry.”

“No, no! You're...you're perfect.”

...hold for seven seconds...

He giggles and Thomas' heart is racing so hard he's starting to worry that they can actually hear it. His date hums and rocks back and forth on his heels, not quite meeting Thomas' eyes. “I know this is cliché as hell but I didn't want to do this in the car. I just...look I know this is only our first date but I've liked you for so long and you...said you felt the same?” It came out as a question and Thomas could only nod, as Logic was busy keeping Roman and Patton in line. Both of them waiting with bated breath, their forms blindingly bright.

…breath out for eight seconds.

“Yeah. Yeah uh, fuck it. You want to skip all the awkward dates and just...be my boyfriend?”

Logic short circuits. Princey is staring starry eyed and completely dumbstruck. Anxiety can feel how fast Thomas' heart is beating and that usually works him up but now. Now he doesn't know what the hell to think. They're all frozen and just vaguely aware that Thomas is staring at his date (boyfriend? Boyfriend?!?!?) mouth agape like an idiot and they're finally snapped out of it when Morality let's out a joyous shriek.

Thomas squeaks out a giggle and then quickly slams his hand over his mouth (Patton, please!). His date just laughs and says, “You're such a dork. A cute dork.”

R – I'm going for it.

V – Roman, wait!

R – I'M GOING FOR IT!

V – ASK FIRST YOU IDIOT!!!

Thomas takes a deep breath and says, “Can I...kiss you?” They're cheeks flush pink and he nods.

Logan and Virgil stand back and let Roman and Patton take over as Thomas takes his face in his hands and gently pulls him into a kiss. Everyone is glowing now, a feeling of pure happiness washing over them so strong, not even Virgil could overpower it. It's short, far too short in Roman's opinion, but he lets up and when Thomas pulls away, his date is the one looking love struck and dazed for once and a fierce sense of pride, coming from Roman, fills all of them. Roman turns to Virgil and smirks and Virgil just shakes his head with a smile of his own. Patton is floating around the space, cheering and Logan finally gains some control back and goes to calm him down.

“Wow.”

“Yeah...”

“So...is that a yes?”

Thomas let's out a surprised, oh! And then nods, “Yes! Of course!” They both laugh and their date boyfriend pulls him in for another kiss, much to Roman's delight. It is late and Logan insists on saying goodnight, so Thomas does just that. A kiss on the cheek, a wave as his new boyfriend goes back inside and then he just manages walk, not skip, back to his car. Once inside, he leans back against the seat and-

V – Hold it...

-makes sure that no one can see him-

V – Okay, now.

-and then loses his shit. He actually screams and bounces in his seat, throwing his hands up triumphantly. Virgil feels Patton around him again, whispering 'thank you', over and over, he doesn't say a word but he smiles. Yeah, this was kind of terrifying. It could end just as bad as the last relationship, or way worse even. Virgil had no way of knowing but the others might be right, something new didn't have to automatically spell out disaster.

On the ride home, Virgil feels Thomas call out to him and he manifests in the passenger seat. He beams at him and says, “About what Patton said earlier. I'm proud of you too, Virgil. I couldn't have done it without you.”

“Ahem!”

Roman had appeared in the backseat, arms crossed in a pout. Thomas glances at him in the rear view mirror saying, “And you too, Roman. I'm so blessed to have all of you, just the way you are.”

“Eh, good enough, I suppose.”

Thomas shakes his head and chuckles as Roman sinks back into his mind. Virgil rubs the sleeve of his hoodie between his fingers, his voice is soft when he says, “He can still hurt you.”

Thomas lets out a heavy sigh, “I know. I'm not letting my guard down but...I got a good feeling about this, Verge.”

Patton had a good feeling about his last partner too but Virgil keeps that to himself. There was no reason to upset him right now, especially after all the good that came out of tonight. Thomas was still riding on that high and he wasn't going to bring him down just yet. He does however, sit up and give him his best menacing glare and says, “Don't screw this up.” He couldn't not pump at least a little bit of fear into him, couldn't let him think he was going soft.

Thomas doesn't seem to be fazed, he just grins and says, “I'll try.”

Virgil shakes his head, “Nope. Not good enough. Don't. Screw. This. Up.” And then, as he sinks out he adds, “You got this.”

As Virgil retreats back into his mind, Thomas grips the steering wheel and whispers to himself, “Yeah. I got this.”

A/N: *blows a kiss to the sky* I put a lot of energy into this, here's hoping it helps the universe send Thomas an amazing boyfriend.

[heartowrite-o]

hrghgh okay this is long as shit so i’ll be uploading it in parts as i finish (i actually have several parts like immediately done but whatever. i might post them immediately after this idk) SO UMM i want to like clarify some stuff first! because im a jerk and i didn’t do it in text lol

Its a soul mate au for Dragon Age! featuring my Inquisitors and my friend’s! So im a loser and really into soul mate aus so in this particular one, basically when people are kids they get words on their arm that are the first words their soul mate ever says to them, and the words disappear when you meet them. CHEESY but its one of my fav soul mate AUs i ever saw so im using that.

so. only one of the Inquisitors is actually Inquisitor in this, the rest soooort of take the place of companions kind of?? I actually did put a lot of thought into who it would be so...It wasn’t chosen at random or anything! Also, if any characterization of your Inquisitors is wrong TELL ME! I am more than happy to rewrite things! In fact I would love to do so! i have so much fun writing for our Inquisitors that tbh i would be perfectly happy to change things to make sure i get it right!

theres also a lot of time skips in this. sometimes they aren’t clear. This is a rough draft! I have to go in and change how much time passes in certain parts, and also change up the tense. I wrote a lot of it in present tense but sometimes i slip into past (i tried to make it like, when characters are thinking, its past, when its actions, its present, which is not at all proper BUT LMFAO i was experimenting and trying to get in some present tense practice so idk it was fun!)

anyway hi. btw when i say its long as shit, i mean it.

The Trevelyan sisters are still just little girls when their markings show up.

Huddled beside the fireplace, Lana and Ariadne roll up their sleeves, exposing their forearms to the glow of the flames. Their parents stand in the doorway, eyes soft and smiles gentle as they watch their daughters giggle and compare the newly printed words on their skin.

“Hm...At least its not 'Hello'.” Lana muses, running her small finger along the length of her arm. “I was really worried. Mother says Aunt Lucille's soulmate mark was just 'Nice to meet you', and it took her nearly four years to figure out Uncle was meant for her.” She holds her arm up just a little higher, speaking the words on her arm slowly. “'Is it? I hope they're right about you'...I wonder what I'm right about!”

Lana erupts into another fit of giggles, and Ariadne can't help but release a sigh of relief as she looks at her own arm. She's just glad she has one at all.

“Mine says...'Perhaps you can talk some sense into her then.'” Ariadne tilts her head slightly as she speaks. “Interesting.”

“'Interesting'? That's it?” Lana feigns outrage, pulling her sister's arm closer to her face to inspect the words with a grin. “Its so specific! Mine is too though, we're very lucky, I think.”

“Lucky indeed, but its time for bed, girls.” Their mother finally says from her spot in the doorway. Lana opens her mouth to protest, but their mother gives her The Look, and continues on. “You'll have all the time in the world to gossip about your marks.”

Reluctantly, the girls rise to their feet, little hands clasped together as they follow after their mother. They whisper about what they hope their soulmate is like as they make their way down the hall, heads ducked low and hands raised to their mouths to hush one another's laughter.

For the next year of their life, the marks are a frequent topic of conversation, as the girls wonder and daydream about where and how they'll meet their future partners. Ariadne pictures a life growing up with her sister, being the first to hear the news when her sister finally meets whoever's words are on her skin.

Her magic manifests just two years after the arrival of their marks, and two months after that she's made to leave home, and spend what she assumes will be the rest of her life in the Circle. Lana and her write to one another, with the topic of soulmates dying out after her third year away from home.

-------

Ashala and Adahlen are just two of the many Clan Lavellan children who discover their marks on the same day.

Ashala stares down at her arm, like sheer willpower alone would make the words change. 'Greetings. My name is--' but it just stops there. It could be worse, she knows that deep down, but that doesn't change the fact she can feel tears beginning to sting at the corners of her eyes. She wants to know the name. That would make it so much easier...Why did they cut themselves off? What if something terrible happens to them when she finally finds them?

Beside her, Adahlen seems completely oblivious to her distress, and is looking down at his own arm with a knitted brow. “Mine just says 'Dragon!'...” The young elf suddenly pales. “Oh no. Do you think my soulmate is a dragon?”

Adahlen's brother—still too young to receive a mark of his own, yet old enough to not want to be left out of the loop, rolls his eyes. “Dragons can't talk. Why would a dragon shout 'dragon' at you anyway?”

Adahlen glares at him, but he visibly relaxes.

“Maybe,” The younger sibling continues. “Its a warning. Maybe you get eaten by a dragon when you meet them.”

Just like that, Adahlen tenses again, but the sibling's strange back and forth was enough to make Ashala giggle, and lighten her spirits.

After the initial excitement of the markings die down, the Lavellan clan children go their separate ways, except for Ashala and Adahlen, who linger beside the halla pen.

“You didn't say what yours was.” Adahlen notes with a hint of curiosity. “I bet its something embarrassing, isn't it? Was it as bad as Taren's said? I've never seen his face that red before.”

“No, it's...” Ashala clasps her hand over her arm, teeth worrying into her bottom lip. “Nothing like that. Its just a little strange, that's all.” When Adahlen raises his eyebrows at her, she shows off her mark with a resigned sigh.

“...That's hilarious.”

Ashala scoffs at him.

“No, not in a bad way! I mean, thinking about it is funny, isn't it? You meet your soulmate and they can't even get their name out. Isn't it fun to think about what they're interrupted by? Could be anything.”

“But what if its something bad?” Ashala looks down at her arm again. “What if...I don't know. Something goes wrong? You're right, it could be anything.”

“Anything. Sooo...why focus on the bad stuff? Maybe they can't finish their sentence because they trip, simple as that. Or maybe you talk to them first, and they're so nervous about meeting their soulmate they...throw up on their shoes, or something.” Adahlen grins at her, and Ashala can't help but smile in return.

“Creators, I hope not.” She giggles. “But...I guess,” Ashala eyes Adahlen slyly, “That's better than them being eaten by a dragon.” At that, Adahlen gasps, and although the two of them try very hard, they can't contain their laughter.

The two children spend a few more minutes discussing their future soulmates, before the Keeper calls Ashala away for training.

Over the years, the two come up with many more theories behind the words on their arm.

-----

Lana's head is swimming.

The dull throbbing pain she had awoken to had faded, but her hands were nearly numb with cold, and the bright green mark on her palm would send occasional stings through the entire arm. She shudders, mind still reeling as it desperately attempts to catch up to the situation at hand. She hardly notices another person has joined her newly formed entourage.

Cassandra seems to know the blond man who approaches, but Lana hardly pays him any mind. She's too busy staring down at her hand, at the glow that slices through her palm. It still feels unreal, like she'll wake up at any moment and find herself at home, waking up just before her trip to the conclave, when things had been normal...Or at least, a single thread of normal, among the tapestry of absolute chaos Thedas had become.

Lana vaguely processes that Cassandra has singled Lana out. Closing the rifts was hers, 'the prisoner's', doing.

“Is it? I hope they're right about you.” The man--Cullen--says. “We've lost a lot of people getting you here.”

Lana forces a thin smile to her face. “Well, that makes two of us then, doesn't it?”

There is little time for chatter after that. Lana finds no respite until after the fight against the Pride Demon, when she wakes up in a strange little cottage. From there she's ushered to the chantry, where her world continues to be thrown upside down. The mark on her hand, the Inquisition, the rift...It's all too much.

Its not until nearly a week after the incident at the conclave that Lana realizes her mark is gone. She's rolled up her sleeves to run through some training exercises with the soldiers (one activity that gives her a semblance of normalcy), when she sees her forearm is blank, the words she had stared at nearly every day since she was 9 years old suddenly gone.

Her training partner knocks her to the ground, and Lana doesn't get up, mind racing as she tries to remember all the conversations she's had with the dozens and dozens of new people she's met in the past week.

Cullen, she finally realizes. Her first conversation with Cullen. She'd been so busy being the 'Herald', she hadn't noticed...Did he know yet? Had he realized?

Lana accepts the soldier's hand, and pulls herself to her feet. She immediately scans the training grounds for Cullen, only to see him already staring at her. Another soldier is talking to him, but she's too far away to hear.

She is, however, close enough to see Cullen's face redden as their eyes meet. Close enough to watch him fumble and drop the stack of papers he had been handed. Definitely close enough to watch him scramble to pick up the papers, turn around, and flee up the stairs towards the chantry, while the soldier left behind scratches his head in confusion.

He definitely knew.

-----

The conclave had been a disaster in the most literal sense, yet Ariadne had managed to walk away from it not only unscathed, but with a new friend.

She had arrived with her Circle, and left with the only other survivor she had seen, an elven girl by the name of Ashala, who had gone with a few members of her clan. The chaos at the Temple of Sacred Ashes had been...unimaginable. The strange green  gashes in the sky, that spit out an endless supply of demons...it felt like something the templars would have made up to scare mages into behaving. Stay in the Circle, or the sky itself will split apart because of you, naughty mages.

Ariadne was sure she had survived only by running—quite literally—into Ashala, who had been nearly as terrified and disoriented as her. The two mages had fought their way out of the temple together, and after not being able to find any of the parties they had arrived with, decided it would be safer to put off parting ways.

They put it off for days, then weeks, then a month, as the girls wandered the Hinterlands, and avoided the templars together. Ashala should have been safe from them, but the templars camping along the roads didn't seem to care if a mage was Dalish or not, as the two girls had discovered the hard way. They had escaped, however, and now tread a bit more carefully through the woods.

“I think we can reach Redcliffe by tomorrow.” Ashala smooths the map out along the ground in front of the fire Ariadne was attempting to tend to. “We're somewhere around here, so if we get up early, and don't make any stops, we could get there before sundown.”

“Thank the Maker.” Ariadne sighs, leaning back onto her heels now that the fire was steady. “We can get more supplies before we keep going north.”

Ashala nods, and for an hour the girls sit in a comfortable silence with one another. It isn't until the flickering of the fire casts light onto Ashala's arm that Ariadne breaks the silence.

“You've still got your mark...Is it weird that I was worried about meeting them at the conclave? I didn't talk to anyone while I was there.”

Ashala turns to look at her. “I don't think its weird. Nobody was expecting it to go as badly as it did but...I don't think many of us thought it'd end well, either.”

“I was so worried about it being a mage from another Circle. If things went badly, I never would have gotten to see them again...But my mark's still here. I suppose I've still got a chance to meet them.”

“I'd say you have a better chance now than you would have before, wouldn't you? You're not stuck in one Circle anymore. They could be anywhere out here.”

“It feels silly, doesn't it? What happened at the conclave, us just trying to make it back to the Free Marches...yet I keep thinking about my soulmate. I've got much more important things to be doing.”

Ashala laughs, and pulls a blanket out of her pack. She nestles down besides the fire, the flames flickering in the reflection of her eyes. “Its silly, but silly can be good. I'd rather feel silly than hopeless...We should sleep though. We need to be up early to get to Redcliffe tomorrow.”

Ariadne hums her agreement, and after a few more minutes of silent contemplation, she drifts to sleep.

------

Lana had only returned to Redcliffe to grab a few supplies needed for Skyhold repairs, but the sight of the lake and the cool air wafting off of it was a welcome change from the heights of Skyhold, beautiful as it may be. Weeks of overseeing rampart repairs and breaking up arguments over just how many pots the garden really needed, could certainly make even a fortress begin to feel cramped. It was nice to be at sea-level again.

She hadn't come alone, of course. Now that she was Inquisitor, it would just be too dangerous to wander about on her own, she was far too important. Not, however, important enough to avoid manual labor, or personally picking every single elfroot in the Hinterlands for the garden back at Skyhold.

Vivienne, Varric, and Sera had all accompanied her, a party that she had regretted nearly the moment they had left the gates. Sera and Vivienne could hardly be expected to be civil to one another for more than thirty seconds at a time, with today apparently being an especially bad day, as they couldn't even make it five.

Now the four of them stood on Redcliffe's docks, bags full of plants and minerals Lana couldn't be bothered to scour the hillsides for herself. Its uncharacteristically quiet for her group, but she figures that Vivienne and Sera have finally run out of insults for one another. It only took them fourteen hours.

Sera finally breaks the silence, not with insults towards Vivienne, but to stand beside Lana as she overlooks the lake, and offer her a sly grin.

“You avoided Cullen when we left.” She says.

“I didn't.” Lana replies.

“Did too. I saw it. You two looked right at each other, didn't say anything, then left. Cullen nearly fell down the stairs.”

“The soldiers caught him.”

“Yeah. So whats wrong? Why are the lovey-dovey soul mates not talking?”

Lana pinches the bridge of her nose. “We keep trying to talk about it but its just...Its weird. I hardly know him at all, but I know I'm supposed to be with him.”

“What, you don't like him?”

“No, that's not it. I like him a lot. When we do talk, hes very sweet. He just gets weird when I bring up the soul mate thing, then he always finds an excuse to leave. I'm the Inquisitor, you think I'd be the busy one, but Cullen can make anything into an emergency.”

“Ha.”

“Its not funny!”

“It is.”

“Alright, sometimes its a little funny. I just don't know why he's so nervous. We already know we're each other's soul mate, that cat left the bag awhile ago—the bag is in absolute shreds. I just want to talk to him about it without him getting up to leave, or spitting up on his shoes.”

“Lana?” Both Sera and Lana lift their gazes from the lake, turning with mirrored curious looks to see who had called out to the Inquisitor.

Lana stares at the two girls standing on the dock, one human, one elven, both with red hair. The human girl's hair was a much brighter shade of orange, framing her freckled face and her wide blue eyes that were beginning to water.

There was no way.

After the conclave, Lana had refused to believe her sister had been among the casualties. She had given Leliana a description of her sister and begged the spymaster to find her, because she had to be out there somewhere still. Lana wouldn't let herself think otherwise, no matter how many times Leliana returned to her empty handed. She couldn't believe her sister was dead, but over time, she had begun to lose hope of the possibility of ever seeing her again.

The red-haired woman in front of her—Ariadne, her sister, opens her mouth to speak again, but Lana rushes to her, pulling her in for the tightest hug she could manage. Ariadne wheezes at the sudden contact, but quickly squeezes Lana just as hard.

“What are you doing here?” Ariadne says, her voice wavering.

“Me? What are you doing here?” Lana huffs out a laugh. “I don't even care. I'm just so glad you're okay. I thought I'd never get to see you again. After all the Circles...I just didn't think I'd ever find you.” She finally pulls away, but she keeps her hands on her sister's shoulders, studying her at arms length. “Are you alright? Your clothes are so dirty! And whats that scratch on your face from?” She glances at her sister's companion, who is looking a touch uncomfortable to suddenly be scrutinized by both Lana, and Lana's friends who are all still lingering on the dock, who watch with expressions in different stages of 'befuddled'. “Who is this?”

“This is Ashala. We ran into each other at the conclave. I don't think I would have survived without her help.”

“Oh. Well then, thank you, Ashala.” Lana says sincerely. Ashala squeaks out something unintelligible in response, nods, then quickly averts her gaze again. Lana doesn't push her for more—Ariadne was shy around strangers too. She knew when to back off.

“Lana, what are you doing in Redcliffe though? I thought for sure you'd be back home. I was going to make my way there, we could have just barely missed each other.”

Lana blinks, now hit with the realization that Ariadne has no idea about this messy Inquisitor business. “Its...a very long story, Ariadne. I've got a camp set up, how about I tell you on the way there? Your friend should come too...”

-----

When Ashala had decided she and Ariadne should stick together, she wasn't sure exactly how things would end up. She had assumed they would travel together until they reached the Free Marches, then go their separate ways in search of their families. Of all the possible outcomes to their fateful meeting, she certainly hadn't pictured winding up at an old fortress, with Ariadne's sister leading a literal army, to be one of them. It wasn't really even on the list.

She was grateful nonetheless, even if she felt terribly out of place in Skyhold. After they camped outside Redcliffe and heard Lana's tale, they had made for the mountains immediately. The air was much thinner than she was used to, but she'd learn to deal with it.

Ashala was overjoyed for Ariadne, she really was, but she did miss her company. Ariadne had spent the last few days trailing after Lana, while Ashala mostly stood around feeling and looking rather awkward. She'd eventually made herself cozy in the library, where she met a few member's of Lana's Inquisition—Dorian, in particular, who was quite nice, and despite how nervous and out of sorts she was feeling, he could still get a chuckle out of her now and then.

The rest of Lana's friends had been out running errands for her, so aside from the advisers and the trio she had met back in Redcliffe, Ashala and Ariadne were both still waiting to be introduced to the rest of the essential members of the Inquisition.

Ashala was currently passing her time in the library, nose buried in a book. She glances up over the top of it just as Lana pokes her head into the library, beckoning Ashala over once she catches sight of her curled up in a plush chair.

“There you are! Should have figured,” Lana grins at her, and Ashala offers a much softer smile in return. “The rest of the gang is back. I sent them to look for stuff in the Fallow Mire, so they're all just a tiny bit crabby I think, but come on, I'll introduce you.”

“What about Ariadne?”

“Oh. I accidentally let slip that I've got the arcanist working on something, and she left to go check it out. I'll grab her in a minute, but come on.”

She was a little reluctant to leave her chair and book behind, but Ashala slowly unfurls herself from her seat, and sets the book gently onto the table beside her. Lana gives her another smile, and although her enthusiasm couldn't be called 'infectious', it does help ease Ashala's nerves, just a little.

They don't have to go very far before the first bit of introductions were to be made. The two girls merely go a single floor down, to the rotunda that had been empty during Ashala's initial stay here. Now it containes a single occupant, who was standing on a wooden scaffold, paint brush in hand, staring intently at the wall.

“Welcome back.” Lana says. The elven man on the scaffold glances down at them at first, but then turns to regard them directly when he sees Lana has someone with her.

His hello takes the form of a simple “Inquisitor.”, and a nod.

“We've got some new guests. My sister and her friend.” She pats Ashala on the back. “This one is the friend. Her name is Ashala.”

“Greetings. My name is--”

He doesn't get the chance to finish, as an interruption in the form of an absolute cacophony of bird shrieks erupts from above them. All three crane their gaze up towards the spymaster's third floor, where crows flit about, and dive down towards them.

Sera runs out from the stairway soon after. “Didn't do it!” She claims as she sprints past them, Leliana hot on her heels.

Its chaos after that, agents running this way and that, trying to corral the birds back into cages. The painter from before has come down off the scaffold, and is busy trying to pry a bit of parchment from a bird's beak.

Ashala is ushered away from the scene of the crime, and is given introductions to the rest of Lana's team, but she doesn't process any of it. Her mind is still back on the man with the paintbrush, of his words to her, his unfinished introduction. She still doesn't know his name, but she knows who he is now. Ashala knows that when she next rolls up her sleeves to look at her arm, the words she had spent her whole life pondering over will no longer be there.

Once she had met everyone, Lana says her goodbye, then leaves Ashala alone with her thoughts in the library. Her face is still flushed with embarrassment, and excitement, and although she already knows what will be there—or won't be there, Ashala pulls up her sleeve to look down at her arm anyway. She can feel her heartbeat in her throat when nothing but bare skin is underneath the fabric.

-----

“Tomorrow I want you to meet everyone then.” Lana says, chin resting in her palm, her elbow against the arm of the chair she's pulled up next to the fireplace.

Ariadne is seated on the other chair beside her, practically mirroring her sister. “Of course. Sorry, I just got kind of carried away. Your arcanist is amazing.”

“Amazing, hm?” Lana wiggles her eyebrows.

“Not like that!” Ariande laughs. “I admire her, but not in that sort of way. Besides, my marks still here, and I exchanged plenty of words with her.”

Lana moves her gaze to the fireplace. “I met mine.”

“Your...? Oh!” Ariadne leans in close. “You did?! When? Who? Just recently? Awhile ago?”

“Temple of Sacred Ashes. Cullen. Just after the conclave.”

Ariadne stares at her. Lana has no clue what else she should say. Cullen was an ex-templar after all, maybe Ariadne wouldn't approve. Lana couldn't make them get along, she wouldn't even try, because that wouldn't be fair to her sister, but--

“Cullen? The blond sweaty one?”

“Sweaty?!”

“Every time we went to talk to him, he'd sweat like Andraste herself had descended from the sky and told him she didn't like his attitude. I honestly thought perhaps he's been grievously ill all this time, Lana. It makes much more sense now.”

“Oh. Well. Yes. The blond sweaty one.”

“So...how is it?”

“Hows what?”

“I don't know. Whatever happens when you meet your soul mate, I suppose.”

“We...haven't talked about it much. He gets a little weird when I bring it up.”

“Hence the sweat.”

“Yes. I don't know, Ariadne, maybe he doesn't like me? Maybe that's why he's so uncomfortable with all of this. I didn't even think it was possible to not like your soul mate, but what if I'm just the exception to that? What if he's so upset that I'm his soul mate that he can't deal with--”

“Lana I think its probably the opposite? He's likely just anxious.” Ariadne leans back into her chair again, crossing one leg over the other. “Like... he meets this girl, his soul mate, and she's also the Herald of Andraste? Maybe...Don't bring it up anymore. At least for awhile?”

“Are you sure that's a good idea?”

“No.” Ariadne shrugs. “But it makes sense, don't you think? If you're soul mates, you'll always be soul mates, even if you don't talk about it. You're meant to be together, so maybe get to know each other first. Then everything will fall into place.”

“Aw.” Lana reaches over and ruffles Ariadne's hair, her sister letting out an indignant squawk as she did so. “You know just what to say to make me feel better. You always do.”

------

Ariadne had spent the morning in the library with Ashala, who seemed more quiet than usual. She had been perfectly polite of course, greeting Ariadne with a smile, and a pat against the empty chair beside her to welcome Ariadne's company, but hadn't said anything further.

Ariadne was curious, but wouldn't pry into Ashala's affairs unless she was invited to. If something had happened, Ashala would tell her in time.

They read in silence most of the morning, until Ariadne began to grow restless, thinking that Lana would have come to get her to introduce her to the rest of the team by now. Ashala had already gotten the grand tour—which, now that she thought about it, might be the reason her friend was so quiet. Perhaps the rest of Lana's friends were...not great?

She excuses herself, offering a goodbye to Ashala before returning her book to the shelf, and descends the stairs to hunt down her sister. Her days in Skyhold had yet to be enough to really give her any sense of direction in the place, and Ariadne ends up wandering through the halls, finding the kitchen, the garden, the stairs up to Lana's room, and even winds up going through Cullen's office (where the two of them awkwardly nod at one another before Cullen flees from his own room), until finally Ariadne finds herself in the courtyard's training area.

Lana was there, luckily, talking to a tall woman with dark hair cut short to her head. Perhaps 'talking' wasn't the proper word for it, since both of their faces were contorted into scowls—with the woman Ariadne didn't recognize having a much more impressive one.

“Inquisitor, its not that easy.”

“I didn't say it would be easy.” Lana retorts. “That doesn't change the fact I think it needs to be done. Or do you still not believe what I saw?”

“I read the report, Inquisitor, I believe you. That does not mean we should--”

“Cassandra, I've talked to the blacksmith and Dagna, they both agree that its the strongest--”

“I'm aware of the strength of dragon scales, but the dangers outweigh any potential--”

“--So if we can just get even a little bit of dragon scale or bone, we could craft weapons to give us the advantage! I think its worth it, Cassandra. You and I have fought demons countless times, we both know how strong some of them can be. I saw that future Corypheus created back in Redcliffe, I want any edge we can get.”

The woman Lana was arguing with—Cassandra, apparently--throws her arms up in the air with a frustrated sigh. “So we risk our life, your life, for this? Slaying a dragon isn't--”

“Haven't you already done it?”

“Which is exactly why you should listen to me!”

Lana was ready with an argument, Ariadne could see it on her face., but her sister's mouth snaps shut at the sight of Ariadne lingering just a few feet away. There is a moment of tense silence, where Lana and Cassandra quietly fume and glare at each other, but eventually Lana waves Ariadne over.

“Cassandra, this is my sister, Ariadne. Ariadne, this is Cassandra.” Lana says through clenched teeth.

Cassandra looks Ariadne up and down, before sighing. “Perhaps you can talk some sense into her then.”

Ariadne's spine goes rigid. Lana doesn't seem to notice, and barrels ahead to resume her argument. “Really? Cassandra, you can stay here then. I'm going after a dragon, we need the materials, but I don't need your help to do it.” Lana pats Ariadne on the back. “Ari, come find me in the tavern. I'll introduce you to Bull.”

Lana leaves after that, and with the way she had worded things, Ariadne assumes she does not intend for her to follow right away, and needs time to cool off.

Which leaves Ariadne standing alone in the courtyard with the woman her sister had just been arguing with. A woman who was apparently her soul mate. Ariadne didn't spend days in the Circle staring wistfully at the words on her arm just to forget them now.

“I apologize. This was not very becoming of me. Your sister...She's a good leader. I do not want you to assume I disrespect her decisions, I just...”

“Question them?” Ariadne finishes.

Cassandra nods, then her eyes suddenly light with an understanding that Ariande was sure had been flickering on her own face just moments before. “Oh! You--”

“Yes. Um...”

Cassandra seems to have been just as aware of her own markings as Ariadne had been. She steps a little closer, and for just a split second Ariadne is sure she's going to go for a hug, but Cassandra sticks out her hand instead.

Ariadne takes it lightly, and shakes. She giggles a little, feeling like they're sealing a deal, agreeing to some sort of contract instead of meeting their soul mates.

“I'm Cassandra Pentaghast. I should have introduced myself properly earlier, rather than wait for the Inquisitor to do so.”

“Its fine! Please don't worry about it. Um...Well, Lana already said so but, ah, I'm Ariadne. Its very nice to meet you, Cassandra.”

They fall silent, but their hands remain in one another's grasp. Ariadne isn't sure how its possible, but this meeting is managing to be both more awkward than she had imagined, but far better than she had predicted. She's uncomfortable, but in her usual sort of way that she is around strangers. Yet there is this underlying feeling in the pit of her stomach, a spark of understanding that yes, this is her soul mate, she doesn't even know her, but Ariadne already loves her. Or she will. She knows she will.

“Lana is waiting for you so...” Cassandra is looking down at their hands.

“Oh. Right.” Ariadne still doesn't let go. Some spell might be broken once she does.

“We can talk about this later.” Cassandra says it, but Ariadne can detect a hint of hopefulness in her voice. She's asking for permission, this isn't a statement.

“Yes. Of course.” Ariadne replies, and both of them relax, finally letting their hands fall back to their sides. Cassandra nods at her as she turns to leave, and although Ariadne is still excited to meet the rest of Lana's friends, she's pretty sure none of them will top this one.

-----

Ashala ends up going along with Lana to find a dragon. After hearing the rundown of the argument from Ariadne, Ashala and her brainstorm a way to get supplies the safest way possible. There was no way for it to be entirely danger-free, but the two of them had come up with a plan to possibly get at least a small amount of scales without confronting a dragon at all.

A large portion of the Hinterlands was dragon territory, one that was predominantly active during the day. If they camped out on the outskirts the night before, they could possibly make it to the nest early in the morning, when the dragon was out hunting. If they were lucky, perhaps the dragon would leave a few shed scales behind.

Ashala was not prepared, mentally, to fight a dragon, but she had jumped at the chance to go when Ariadne said she would be accompanying her sister on this ridiculous task—she kept the ridiculous bit to herself, but she really did think going out of their way to trek through dragon territory was a phenomenally bad idea, even with their plan in place.

So it was her, Ariadne, Lana, and Lana's friend Iron Bull who set out to the Hinterlands a few weeks after the plans had been made. Iron Bull was another of Lana's friends that Ashala already liked—He was a little crass, yes, but funny at times, and willing to keep conversations going even after Ashala and Ariadne ran out of practiced niceties to say. He and Lana led the group, chatting to each other once the two mages had become obviously exhausted by conversation.

Ashala's time with the Inquisition was now numbering at roughly two months. In that time she had gone on a few missions with Lana, and had spent some time with all of her friends by this point. A few, she got along better than others, but she didn't dislike any of them, not really.

She had yet to talk to Solas. At all. She wasn't sure what to say, and was worried too much time had passed. It had started out as her just wanting to think of something good to say to him, since it would be the words that define her as his soul mate, but all that time stressing had led her to putting it off for weeks, and now here she was, nearly two months after meeting him, and still had yet to say a single word. He'd probably be so upset with her, wouldn't he?

Ashala had plenty of opportunities, too. Lana had brought the both of them on missions together, yet Ashala still couldn't bring herself to say anything. Lana had stopped putting them on teams with one another altogether, likely under the impression that they didn't get along.

Her self loathing followed her out to the Hinterlands, and stayed with her even as they made camp. Their two tents housed Iron Bull in one, and the three girls shared the other, with Ariadne lying in the middle, and Lana and Ashala on the edges. It was cramped, but oddly cozy, and it was nice to chat with the two sisters before falling asleep. It helped take her mind off things at least for a little while.

In the morning they were up before the sun, and making their way to the dragon nest. Ashala was embarrassingly jittery, jumping at every little rustle of bushes, or snapped twig.

By the time the nest was in sight, the sun was up just enough to cast the valley in a pink glow.

“This would be pretty, if I wasn't expecting a dragon to swoop down and eat us.” Lana comments. Iron Bull snorts in response.

“We...aren't the first ones here?” Ariadne sounds astounded, and Ashala follows her line of sight up towards the nest itself. There is one lone figure up there, crouched down and examining something in the dirt. There's a bow strapped to their back, and for a moment, Ashala tenses, wondering if they were in for a fight if the stranger was feeling particularly territorial about whatever spoils the dragon left behind.

When they stand upright, and turn around to regard the group below, Ashala gasps, and the elf up on the nest does to.

“Adahlen, what could you possibly be doing up there?” Ashala asks incredulously.

“Looking for you.” He says, then glances behind him. “Well. Not looking for you here, but I was scouting the area when I noticed the dragon leave, so I went to check it out.”

“By yourself? What if the dragon came back?”

“I didn't think that far.”

“Wait, you said you were looking for me?”

Adahlen nods. “Well, yeah. Lots of us are. After the conclave we went to the ruins to find, well, you know. Remains. But we didn't see any sign of you, not your body, or your staff. The Keeper thought you might have survived, so she's been sending out search parties all over.”

Ashala's eyes begin to sting. She had been so caught up in the Inquisition, she had forgotten all about her original goal of getting home. She hadn't even remembered to send a letter, or any kind of sign she was okay. But they'd been out here looking for her, even though its been months, because they still thought there was a chance for her to be okay...

Her stomach turns. She feels guilty. And happy. So happy, that they all cared enough to search for her even after all this time.

“I take it you two know each other?” Lana says, regarding Adahlen with uncertainty.

“Oh, yes. He's another member of Clan Lavellan, we grew up together.” Ashala answers quickly. From up at the nest, Adahlen waves. “Adahlen, this is Inquisitor Lana Trevelyan, um...Well, have you heard about--”

“Yes.” Adahlen says before she can finish. “We looked in all the major cities for you, and the Inquisitor is all anyone's talking about. So you're working for her?”

“Its kind of a long story, but yes.”

A horrendous shriek bellows from above them, bringing the conversation to a screeching halt. The sound of large, flapping wings fills the air around them long before the beast soars into view.

“Dragon!” Iron Bull calls up towards Adahlen, who immediately heeds the warning and scampers down off of the nest, just barely escaping before the dragon slams down where he had been just seconds before.

He runs over to them the moment he's on level ground, bow drawn in one quick movement and aimed up at the dragon, which has its eyes trained on the five of them. Iron Bull has his ax out as well, stance screaming for a fight. Ashala is horrified and a little impressed that the qunari is actually smiling.

“Nope, no, put it all down, we are leaving,” Lana is already backing up, with Ariadne mirroring her at a much faster pace. “I planned for sneaking in there, I didn't bring enough potions, I wasn't expecting—just--just go, lets go!”

Ashala sprints after the two girls who are already fleeing the scene. Just before she's out of earshot, she hears Adahlen laugh and say to Iron Bull: “Your friends aren't much fun, are they?” but the two of them are soon following close behind her.

---------

Lana is amazed they make it out of there in one piece, but they somehow manage. The only bruises they bring back to Skyhold are on their pride.

They cross through the gates of the fortress with nothing to show for their trip—Aside from an extra person. After a little bit of discussion, they decided it would be best if Adahlen returned with them to Skyhold, where they could send word back to Clan Lavellan about what happened. Lana very pointedly does not look in Cassandra's direction, not wanting to see any sort of smug satisfaction, or worse, genuine pity. Apparently not even weeks worth of planning was enough to get dragon scales without actually fighting one.

They're greeted in the courtyard by a few soldiers, and from there, the five of them go their separate ways. Ariadne and Ashala walk side by side up the stairs, seemingly no worse for ware, since they're chattering with a surprising amount of gusto.

Iron Bull puts a hand on Adahlen's shoulder. “We've got a lot to talk about.” He says, and Adahlen laughs as he agrees. They head towards the tavern together, leaving Lana alone with her thoughts, which is the last thing she really wants to be alone with right now.

She has little time to stew before she sees Cullen walking towards her, hand on the back of his neck, a nervous tick Lana had noticed weeks ago. He rarely initiates conversations with her, so her desire for a distraction, as well as her curiosity, keeps her rooted in her place as he approaches.

“Can we talk?” He asks, and Lana nods. He leads the two of them up to the ramparts, just to the side of his office, where they look out over the mountains surrounding Skyhold. He doesn't start to speak right away, which doesn't surprise her, but she is surprised at herself for not starting up a conversation in his place like she normally would.

“I'm sorry.” He eventually sighs.

Lana looks at him. “For what?”

“I've been...a little foolish. Which Leliana and Josephine have told me many times. I've been unfair to you, avoiding you, refusing to talk about—about this.”

“No, Cullen, its fine. I know I keep pushing you, and that's not fair of me. I shouldn't force you to talk about if if you're not comfortable.”

“I do want to talk about it. I just don't know how. I think I can, but then I see you and I'm at a loss for words. I keep thinking I'm not worthy of you, that there must have been some sort of mistake.”

A little voice in the back of her mind wants to comment on how cute it is that he's blushing so hard, but she knows her face is just as red right now. “I...was worried for a long time too. That you didn't like me, or something had gone wrong, but, Cullen, I do really like you. When we talk, I always feel so much better. Anytime we spoke about strategies, or our friends, it felt so natural. I just have this idea in my head of how soul mates--” She doesn't miss the way his face flushes to an even deeper pink color the moment that word leaves her lips, “--are supposed to act, but...I'm pushing it. I want to get to know you. I want it to be real. So can we talk more? Not about what we're meant to be, but just normal conversations first? We don't have to rush it. I'm sorry for making it seem like we should.”

Cullen smiles at her, a small but sincere one, and Lana's heart skips a beat at the sight of it. “I'm sorry too. For avoiding you. But, yes, I'd like that.”

“...Can I ask though, what made you change your mind?”

She's not sure how much redder Cullen can get. “When you left to fight the dragon. I was angry. At you, at anyone who didn't stop you. The thought of you never coming back left me so empty inside...I realized I felt the same way back at Haven, when you went back out there to give us all a fighting chance. I had just met you, but I still couldn't imagine a life without you.”

Lana stares at him for a long time, struggling to think of anything to say to that confession. It was unfair, to be told such a thing, when she didn't have anything nearly as mushy in return.

She responded by burying her face into her hands, and murmuring that that was a sneaky move on his part.

-------

Adahlen had been with the Inquisition a grand total of two days, and he already forgot where the room Lana had given him to use was. He hadn't actually set foot in it since thanking Lana for her kindness, and probably would not be able to find his way back to it if you threatened him at knife point.

“Oh shit,” He murmurs. Lana. Lana was supposed to introduce him to everyone else today. She had stopped by the the tavern yesterday afternoon to tell him the rest of her friends would be back, finally all in one place again.

The light shining in through the hole in the ceiling let him know it was late morning. Lana probably went looking for him in his room, only to find it empty.

Adahlen literally rolls out of bed, uncaring of the amount of noise he made, since he knows Iron Bull is already awake—it had only taken two days to learn his soul mate was a light sleeper. “You ass. You didn't wake me up.”

“Whoops.” Iron Bull does not sound very sincere.

It takes him a few minutes to get dressed, delayed by the amount of time it takes him to find his shoes. When he's finally clothed and finds them, he's out the door, still pulling his boots up as he stumbles out onto the ramparts—he's honestly amazed that Bull's room has three doors into it.

“Oh, Adahlen, there you are!” Ashala was apparently part of the search party, as she finds him first, and jogs over to him. “You weren't in your room, we've been looking for you all morning. Are you alright? We thought something might have happened--”

“I'm fine,” He reassures her. “I was with Iron Bull.”

“This early?”

“It was late when I got there.”

He can practically hear the gears in her head turning. When it finally clicks, Ashala gasps. “Adahlen! You didn't.”

At that, he doesn't bother to suppress a grin. “I did.”

“I mean, its fine of course, I just wasn't—I didn't expect you two to get along so well so quickly!”

“Oh,” Adahlen rolls up his sleeve, showing off his blank arm. “Soul mates. Found out right after we met. We decided 'fun bits now, important discussion later'...I don't have any idea where that room Lana gave me is anymore, by the way.”

“You're not exaggerating that conversation at all, are you? Well...Congratulations, really. I'm very happy for you. Lana's still looking for you though, to introduce you to the others. Are you still up for it?”

“Yeah, lead the way.” He lets Ashala take the lead. “So...how exactly did you get wrapped up in all of this, Ashala?”

“Creators, its a long, long story.”

“Then lets walk slower.” He smiles when Ashala slows her pace, falling in to step beside him. “I'm glad you're safe. We were all really worried about you.”

“I'm glad you're here, honestly. I've made friends, but its nice to see a familiar face. Anyway, I met Ariadne first...”