Dragon Age Inquisition: Their Wonderful Abnormality

The Dance of Fireflies

It was odd. Neither of them quite knew where they stood. It had happened so fast and in such a fluster it was hard to tell what it had meant... or just how much. In any case she was here now, her hair, longer than when Cullen had first met her, a stream of crimson in the wind that swept over the green planes. The wind that turned the grass into a sea, like rippling golden-green silk. He could hear the joyful whinnying of the wild horses, who threw back their shaggy, sandy heads and sang their songs of freedom to the breeze that whipped them away across land and river. They frolicked and kicked, manes and tails flailing. One caught his scent and for a heartbeat of held-breath and fleeting emotion, their eyes locked. The young pony, slender and muscular, blinked a slow blink then galloped after her heard. Then, she was gone.

He checked to see if Elsa had seen too. Her reply was a grin.

She was sat upon her young mare she named Fawn. Fawn's body was sleek, a rich, dappled honey and her mane a complimentary cream. Elsa constantly leaned forward to rake her fingers through it, hushing smiling words to the graceful creature.

Now, the girl sat upon her beloved mare raised her chin to the breeze, taking in the sunlight. Cullen had reigned his grey stallion beside her and they must have looked, the Commander thought, most picturesque on their jutting rock, outcropping from the thick, whispering forests behind them. Below them, the planes dipped and swooped like the flight path of a swallow for as far as eye could see.

The woodland hushes washed over them with the waves of the winds; somewhere deep in its labyrinth, far behind them, lost after an entire morning's ride, the Inquisition prepared the camp for the night. Elsa turned to look at the Commander, as though checking whether he saw the beautiful day too. Perhaps he could concentrate on it more, if she wasn't smiling like she did.

He was staring. But she didn't mind much. She was happy to have him here, beside her. She was happy to hear his voice and his laugh and the little "woah there" he often made to his stallion without really realising it. But how to view him now? She wasn't sure. He had always been a friend, not even that at first; more of polite acquaintances, bound by profession. Now? Now it was a mess. But it was a mess that made her grin and a mess that made him blush and stutter.

She recalled that afternoon as her gaze scanned the horizon. One moment they had been talking, she had been flirting but only how she usually did, a light smirking and eyelash battering, then an interruption. She was going to leave, it had felt exceedingly awkward after he had snarled some Cullen-The-Commander demands to one of his men. Then something happened she should have anticipated. She hated how her wits were addled, how he made her melt with a smile or a muttered word. She never missed a target, she was trained by the best, she was quicker than a whip... but caught off guard... by a kiss? A kiss.

He had whirled around and his lips had been upon her own within a heartbeat. His hands had been upon her waist, his pelvis pressed against her own. She had felt his warmth shoot through her like flames beneath her skin. So close he had smelt of comforting familiar things, leather, pine, horses and his lips were so surprisingly soft. Before she could fully comprehend what was happening and before her hands raised in surprise could settle, he pulled away. She realised something as their faces parted. He had looked just as shocked as she was.

It had made her want to laugh.

"I didn't think it was possible." He had said. She should have agreed, told him she thought it surprising, ridiculous even, that everything that has happened, before, could turn into something like this. "This", she laughed at herself silently, and what is "this"?

"When you first met me," Elsa began, looking back at the Commander. "What did you think? Honestly."

"Honestly..." He chuckled a low chuckle, "I was a little scared of you."