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Description

I now present my artwork for Day Six of Cullen Appreciation Week 2019! The theme for today was as follows:

A Templar, a Krogan and a Winchester walk into a bar…
- AU, Crossover and Non-Canon Pairs
Is Cullen a Sophomore at Denerim College? A Sole Survivor travelling around the Commonwealth? Or… wait- is he the Inquisitor?! And what if he never fell for the Inquisitor but for… well, you tell us!

For this theme, I chose to depict a scene from my "Modern Girl in Thedas" fanfiction (naturally an AU), in which my main protagonist finally garners the nerve to kiss her crush on the cheek during a Wintersend ball at Skyhold.
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"After he gestured for me to go first, I grudgingly moved ahead of him, none-too-eager to go back to the throng of watchful and judgmental eyes. But before I made it entirely back to the threshold, something stopped me in my tracks.
I couldn’t leave it like this. Couldn’t let it end like this. Not a night this beautiful.
'What is it?' Cullen asked, concern lacing his tone again as he drew closer behind me.
Heart pounding like a hammer against my sternum, I balled my gloved fists to steel myself. Then, whirling back, I gestured discreetly with my finger and pretended I was going to whisper something in his ear. His brow knitted, and he bent towards me obligingly. But before he had gotten very far, I met him halfway on tiptoe, planting an audible kiss on his cheek. Familiar, but chaste, lingering just long enough to let him truly feel it…
It shouldn’t have been shocking to me, but the smooth firmness of his skin against my lips and the heady scent of sandalwood nearly knocked me off my feet. The sensation lingered with me even after I pulled away from him, a blush surely tinting my stinging hot cheeks… though perhaps I would be lucky and he would mistake any coloration with the effects of the cold.
He froze in his bent position, eyes widening slowly before he stared at me with nothing less than an astonished expression on his face. For a moment, I was deeply afraid I’d done something terribly wrong – having crossed a line somewhere I’d dumbly overlooked – but when nothing else followed but his look of shock, I gave him a sheepish smile and said simply, 'Thank you, Cullen.'
He visibly swallowed, everything else about him unmoving. 'For… for what?'
My gaze trailing away, I patted him firmly on the chest, right over his heart, and replied, 'For everything.'
And then I resumed my walk back indoors, lacking the courage to look behind me to see what his reaction might be. It seemed my bravery, especially around him, couldn’t last very long.
But then again, no one ever said being brave was easy."

~ From Ch. 58 of From the Beyond: archiveofourown.org/works/1136…
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Texture: Texture Pack 17
Various brushes by redheadstock and Chrisdesign
Fancy floral brushes from auriv1.deviantart.com/art/Flor… by surfing-ant
Magic/Sparkle brushes by spiritsighs-stock
Pose ref: fav.me/dbbwoty by Gnewi-Stock
Cullen Rutherford and Dragon Age Inquisition © EA and Bioware

Description

I now present my artwork for Day Six of Cullen Appreciation Week 2019! The theme for today was as follows:

A Templar, a Krogan and a Winchester walk into a bar…
- AU, Crossover and Non-Canon Pairs
Is Cullen a Sophomore at Denerim College? A Sole Survivor travelling around the Commonwealth? Or… wait- is he the Inquisitor?! And what if he never fell for the Inquisitor but for… well, you tell us!

For this theme, I chose to depict a scene from my "Modern Girl in Thedas" fanfiction (naturally an AU), in which my main protagonist finally garners the nerve to kiss her crush on the cheek during a Wintersend ball at Skyhold.
----------------------------------

"After he gestured for me to go first, I grudgingly moved ahead of him, none-too-eager to go back to the throng of watchful and judgmental eyes. But before I made it entirely back to the threshold, something stopped me in my tracks.
I couldn’t leave it like this. Couldn’t let it end like this. Not a night this beautiful.
'What is it?' Cullen asked, concern lacing his tone again as he drew closer behind me.
Heart pounding like a hammer against my sternum, I balled my gloved fists to steel myself. Then, whirling back, I gestured discreetly with my finger and pretended I was going to whisper something in his ear. His brow knitted, and he bent towards me obligingly. But before he had gotten very far, I met him halfway on tiptoe, planting an audible kiss on his cheek. Familiar, but chaste, lingering just long enough to let him truly feel it…
It shouldn’t have been shocking to me, but the smooth firmness of his skin against my lips and the heady scent of sandalwood nearly knocked me off my feet. The sensation lingered with me even after I pulled away from him, a blush surely tinting my stinging hot cheeks… though perhaps I would be lucky and he would mistake any coloration with the effects of the cold.
He froze in his bent position, eyes widening slowly before he stared at me with nothing less than an astonished expression on his face. For a moment, I was deeply afraid I’d done something terribly wrong – having crossed a line somewhere I’d dumbly overlooked – but when nothing else followed but his look of shock, I gave him a sheepish smile and said simply, 'Thank you, Cullen.'
He visibly swallowed, everything else about him unmoving. 'For… for what?'
My gaze trailing away, I patted him firmly on the chest, right over his heart, and replied, 'For everything.'
And then I resumed my walk back indoors, lacking the courage to look behind me to see what his reaction might be. It seemed my bravery, especially around him, couldn’t last very long.
But then again, no one ever said being brave was easy."

~ From Ch. 58 of From the Beyond: archiveofourown.org/works/1136…
----------------------------------
Texture: Texture Pack 17
Various brushes by redheadstock and Chrisdesign
Fancy floral brushes from auriv1.deviantart.com/art/Flor… by surfing-ant
Magic/Sparkle brushes by spiritsighs-stock
Pose ref: fav.me/dbbwoty by Gnewi-Stock
Cullen Rutherford and Dragon Age Inquisition © EA and Bioware