HOME | DD

Description
Title: Real
Author: FyreQueen89
Game: Dragon Age Inquisition
Characters/Pairings: f!Lavellan/Solas
Disclaimer: World and characters belong to BioWare, I'm just writing my way through the pain.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPOILERS FOR THE END OF DA:I

'No matter what comes, know that what we had was real.'

The words haunt them both. He hears them in a waterfall, the rushing water pounding the words into his mind as it reminds him of That Night in the glen, when he came within a whisper of telling her everything.

She hears them echo around her bedchamber, rebounding off painted stars on her ceiling. The servant sent to rouse her come morning finds her curled up on the balcony, muttering apologies and something about needing the real thing over her head.

He hears them whisper from worn statues in crumbling ruins. It makes the dreaming harder with such ready distraction.

She hears them dance under the goading of her sparring partner and falters. Cassandra wins for the first time that day.

They both hear them in the shadowy realm between sleep and waking. He begins hoping to pass through more swiftly, distracts himself with exploring and spirits before the words taunt too loudly. She prays to linger, if only to hear his voice and remind herself his presence was real.

The first time he sees her where he shouldn't--the ashes of a battlefield fought hundreds of years before she was born, crimson blossomed across her chest--he manages to convince himself he was imagining things. Missing her so much his subconscious had incorporated her into the dream. But then she appears again. And again. And again. Fallen ruins, battlefields, abandoned fortresses, she's always there. And Mythal begins to whisper that maybe, just maybe, he feels guilty for not telling her the real truth. Maybe she deserves the real truth.

The first time he appears in her dreams--a dim face across a throne room crowded with strangers--she jolts awake panting and crying and doesn't sleep the rest of the night. The second time she locks eyes with him, hoping and daring him in equal measure to come closer. She needs to hit him again, harder this time. And then hold him close and never let go. After the third time, she seriously considers asking Cole to make her forget. She doesn't. Badly as this hurts, feeling broken in half and empty, she knows it will be worse if she doesn't remember him when she sees him again.

The fourth time he appears in her dreams, it's different. They are in a glen, lit by fireflies and secluded. He is closer. Close enough that when she punches him she opens a gash along his cheekbone.

"Why are you here?" she demands as he regains his feet.

"Because what we had was real, and you deserve the truth." He does not wipe the blood away as it trickles down his cheek.

"I thought you already gave me that." She does not rub her knuckles, even as they sting, gesturing at the teal lines that still mark her face.

He shakes his head. "Not that truth. The real truth."

And he tells her.

Everything.

Description
Title: Real
Author: FyreQueen89
Game: Dragon Age Inquisition
Characters/Pairings: f!Lavellan/Solas
Disclaimer: World and characters belong to BioWare, I'm just writing my way through the pain.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPOILERS FOR THE END OF DA:I

'No matter what comes, know that what we had was real.'

The words haunt them both. He hears them in a waterfall, the rushing water pounding the words into his mind as it reminds him of That Night in the glen, when he came within a whisper of telling her everything.

She hears them echo around her bedchamber, rebounding off painted stars on her ceiling. The servant sent to rouse her come morning finds her curled up on the balcony, muttering apologies and something about needing the real thing over her head.

He hears them whisper from worn statues in crumbling ruins. It makes the dreaming harder with such ready distraction.

She hears them dance under the goading of her sparring partner and falters. Cassandra wins for the first time that day.

They both hear them in the shadowy realm between sleep and waking. He begins hoping to pass through more swiftly, distracts himself with exploring and spirits before the words taunt too loudly. She prays to linger, if only to hear his voice and remind herself his presence was real.

The first time he sees her where he shouldn't--the ashes of a battlefield fought hundreds of years before she was born, crimson blossomed across her chest--he manages to convince himself he was imagining things. Missing her so much his subconscious had incorporated her into the dream. But then she appears again. And again. And again. Fallen ruins, battlefields, abandoned fortresses, she's always there. And Mythal begins to whisper that maybe, just maybe, he feels guilty for not telling her the real truth. Maybe she deserves the real truth.

The first time he appears in her dreams--a dim face across a throne room crowded with strangers--she jolts awake panting and crying and doesn't sleep the rest of the night. The second time she locks eyes with him, hoping and daring him in equal measure to come closer. She needs to hit him again, harder this time. And then hold him close and never let go. After the third time, she seriously considers asking Cole to make her forget. She doesn't. Badly as this hurts, feeling broken in half and empty, she knows it will be worse if she doesn't remember him when she sees him again.

The fourth time he appears in her dreams, it's different. They are in a glen, lit by fireflies and secluded. He is closer. Close enough that when she punches him she opens a gash along his cheekbone.

"Why are you here?" she demands as he regains his feet.

"Because what we had was real, and you deserve the truth." He does not wipe the blood away as it trickles down his cheek.

"I thought you already gave me that." She does not rub her knuckles, even as they sting, gesturing at the teal lines that still mark her face.

He shakes his head. "Not that truth. The real truth."

And he tells her.

Everything.