#yune being a pure dragon who likes to sleep on people's shoulders? CHECK.

[emerald-amidst-gold]

33 from the kisses prompts for fane and solas? <3

Ooo, a challenging one! I had to sit and think on this one for a bit! o3o

Thank you so, so much for the prompt! Let's see if I've done it justice! :D

33. An unexpected kiss that shocks the one receiving it.

--

Initiation. Solas was familiar with the concept. The process that one did to enact and perform one's desires, goals, or will was something he was intimately versed in. After all, he would not be where he was in life if he had not initiated plans, ideas, or actions. Initiating was the first step in seeing one's ambitions come to fruition, like a gardener sowing their seeds, hoping that the ground would take its own initiative in response to their own. That's not to say every act bore fruit or proved beneficial, however. He knew that from experience, from folly.

Sometimes action was worse than inaction. Sometimes desiring to do good, do better led one to do worse. However, act he must, and act he would. He was needed, and duty called from beyond and over ages. It could not be ignored. It could not be forsaken. It could not be changed. Not now, not ever.

Although, this one time, Solas wished it could change. Not his duty to the People precisely, he may desire an out in some regards to that, but rather...he wished the hands that guided initiative's reigns would change. It was a selfish whim, but the reason for such a want, he felt, was...innocent. It could only prove fortuitous in the long term. Sadly, specific people were slow on picking up specific cues. Namely, one dragon. How a being granted keen observational skills was ultimately oblivious to the messages he attempted to give would forever be a mystery.

Solas sat before the table in the rotunda, staring down at the various passages of books that littered the expansive surface. However, his mind was not on reading or retaining or discovering. No, that was the farthest thing from his mind. What he was truly doing was thinking, or more precisely, trying to piece together a very complex puzzle of a man. And he wasn't alone. Well, in presence he was not alone. In thought? Alone.

Yune was with him, sitting atop one of the thick tomes before him. Glittering emerald eyes were peering down at him, flecks of gold still unaccounted for due to infancy, but one tone was enough to show curiosity. Usually, such a sight would have Solas unable to hold back a fond smile, quietly happy to see a race near extinction thriving anew. Sadly, right now, those bright eyes only made his mind churn with his thoughts turning into butter.

The thought of Fane was turning his entire being into butter. Solas enjoyed a challenge, willing to ponder and turn the pieces until each fit exactly so. But the riddle he was trying to decipher now had him one hundred percent flummoxed.

And that riddle was: Fane. Or more accurately, Fane's lack of initiative when it came to matters of the heart.

"I do not understand it," Solas said, idly tapping the surface of the table with a few fingers. Yune let out a curious sound, a quiet 'mhh?', at his words, causing him to look upwards with an apologetic smile, "Apologies, ma'da'isenatha. I am afraid your kin has me...confused." It felt odd to say such a thing. He knew practically every, minute and subtle detail of his dragon. But right now, he felt...lost.

Yune's serpentine tail began to swish to a more rapid pace, and his head perked up with a high chirp. Solas instantly recognized it as excitement, and the display had him chuckling despite his confusion. Just the mere mention of Fane spurred the tiny infant to become filled with unbridled joy. He wished he could feel such right now, as usually the same did happen to him, but the desire for understanding was outweighing all other emotion.

Solas leaned back in his chair with a quiet sigh, "Beyond confused, truthfully," he muttered, tilting his head back to stare upwards towards the rookery and absently pondering if the secrets housed up with blackened wings could somehow point him in the right direction. It was a fanciful thought, obviously, but every avenue was worth strolling down, even if it led him to more dead ends.

Unfortunately, no raven would be delivering him any pertinent information regarding this particular investigation. He was truly at a loss, and it did not sit well with him to be this unknowing. Especially when it came to topics regarding Fane. He would never be so arrogant to believe he knew everything about the other, time changing them both, but he liked to think he knew enough to understand the more complex aspects of Fane's personality.

He liked to think he knew them--their relationship. Sadly, he felt he didn't because as time passed, the more it seemed that Fane was...uninterested. The mere idea of that made Solas' heart grow tight. He knew it was a foolish fear, but it lingered at times, like Cole did when his pain eked out during a moment of weakness. He was just...he didn't know. He didn't know.

Solas lifted a hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. All of these circles were beginning to make his head ache. All of these irrational thoughts were driving him to near insanity. Fane undoubtedly cared for him, loved him, and Solas undoubtedly loved him back. He knew how his dragon was wont to be. He knew that displays of affection were neither of their strong suits. He knew Fane was still growing accustomed to wanting and acting upon those wants. So, why was he was bent out of shape about...

...the lack of initiative?

"Chrp!"

Solas startled in his seat at the sudden, excited, and loud chirp that Yune let out, blinking and taking his hand from his nose to steady himself. Like confusion, he wasn't used to being...jumpy, but it was more common these days. Fear permeated the air so thickly most days. He would always have his guard up.

Although, maybe he could lower it a bit due to who was before him now--the object of his deepest adoration and immense confusion.

"Easy, little wing," Fane urged Yune with the gentlest of the thunder his voice possessed. Solas watched with somewhat wide eyes, still reeling from his shock, as a gloved hand reached out to pat a tiny head. The tiny dragonling practically screeched with pure joy at the touch and snowy hair fluttered as Fane shook his head with a fond smirk, "In one ear and other the other, huh?"

Solas continued to stare for several moments before his mind finally decided to rejoin him, shaking his head a bit and letting out a small sigh. He was completely out of sorts, wasn't he? Yet another thing he was unused to...

"You gonna be okay, old man?" Fane asked, a more teasing smirk pulling at one corner of his lips. Emerald and gold were now trained on him entirely, Yune seemingly content with just touch.

Touch... Solas felt his heart squeeze at that echo; a feeling he recognized as yearning. So many oddities, so little time to acclimate himself. He was truly lost, in more ways than one...

Solas let out a small sigh, "I truly wish you would quit calling me that," he said. Why Fane continued to poke at age when he was older would be yet another mystery in an endless sea of them.

Fane snorted a bit, smirking more, "Would you rather I call you a 'pup'?"

He felt his face deadpan, "No."

"Then, old man it is," Fane said with a shrug, but chuckled when Solas only responded with a withering glare, "Relax. I'll stop. I can tell when you're not in the mood."

Solas blinked before shifting his gaze away a bit, "I suppose that is...one way to put it. I have certainly been better," he admitted, knowing full well that if he attempted to dance around the issue that Fane would only call him out on it. Honesty was the one thing he cherished in their relationship, and he would not abandon it now just because he was...troubled.

Fane's smirk dissolved into a frown, "What's wrong?" he asked, voice taking on a slightly urgent edge, even if it was still calm, subdued. He even began to making his way around the table, but Yune let out a tiny chirp in question at the sudden disappearance of Fane's hand, making him stop and offer an small smile, "Sorry, little wing. Shoulders?"

Yune immediately shifted, turning joyous once more and energetically leaping from the tome he was perched on to Fane's broad shoulders. Solas glanced up to witness the spectacle, and couldn't help but smile slightly at the display; Fane lightly bumping his head to his kin's, who in turn then draped themselves across his shoulders to settle down. Such a blatant show of care, of kinship had Solas' heart growing tight once more. There was yearning again, but there was also tender affection like the kind he could see before him.

"Solas?"

Solas blinked, snapped from his love-lorn state to see Fane gazing down at him worriedly. His dragon was next to him now, bent a bit with one hand upon the back of the chair and the other resting on the arm. The proximity had Solas' face growing a bit warm, swallowing thickly and letting out a steadying sigh to compose himself. Why was he suddenly so...flustered? It wasn't like this was anything unusual. Or, well...perhaps it was. Fane rarely invaded his space so...openly, waiting or standing at a distance until Solas made the indication or move. This subtle display of initiative was...

...exactly what he yearned for.

"Ah.." Solas uttered, warding off a wince at his lack of eloquence. Of all times for him to be at a loss for words, now was not precisely the time for it. It was just...Fane was close and seemingly growing more concerned. The latter wasn't something he yearned for, Fane's distress was upsetting, but it was a warming thing to know his dragon cared.

As was his presence. Something inside of him was growing tight, growing impatient, and it took all Solas had not to act upon it. What was going on? He was never this...this needy.

Fane's gaze was unrelenting, "...Are you sick?" he asked suddenly, voice flat, assessing.

Solas blinked, mouth going slightly agape, "I'm...sorry?" His mind was short circuiting, his tongue felt heavy, and he wanted to... Why did everything feel so hot?

"You're flush," Fane pointed out, lifting the hand situated on the arm of the chair to tentatively touch one of Solas' cheeks. The whisper of fingers had Solas shivering like a leaf and his breath hitching, which only spurred usually stoic features to tighten with more concern, "Solas, what's--!"

The touch had done him in, he knew. That was why, despite how Solas knew he should probably explain and assuage a whirling, worried mind, he surged forward and upwards, cupping ivory cheeks and crashing his lips to ones that always seemed to be unattainable. He couldn't hold back. He couldn't control this want any longer...

He heard Fane let out a surprised noise, his whole form going rock solid as Solas kept their lips sealed. He didn't move, didn't force, but rather, waited. If Fane was truly against the act, truly against him, then he would pull away. That was what Solas was expecting, knowing surprises generally didn't sit well with the all knowing dragon before him. He was ready to face the consequences of his actions, of his selfishness. However, a deep chuckle against his lips and strong, warm arms suddenly snaking around to embrace his middle had Solas' eyes blowing wide open. Emerald and gold greeted him with a truly enticing glint of amusement and satisfaction.

"If you wanted a kiss, my sky, all you had to do was ask."

Solas blinked, feeling his whole face flush as Fane took the initiative then, and sealed their lips together once more, offering the last piece of the puzzle that he had desperately searched for.

And that piece looked awfully like a smirking dragon--a silent being that appeared uninterested, but was merely waiting for its chance to strike.

---

Look! They're both surprised! >:D Consent is a huge theme in Solas and Fane's relationship, but they do get to a point, later on, where certain things don't require it. I see this happening about mid-relationship, when both Solas and Fane are still learning what's open to them now that they're a couple. Suffice it say, Fane is a massive tease, and where Solas thinks he's uninterested, he's actually highly interested. There are advantages to being a stoic dragon. No one, not even your lover, can see you coming~ >:3

Also, YUNE. YUNE. Pet the baby dragon. Love the baby dragon. Cherish the baby dragon. That is all.