Purr-suing her warmth

It was an uneventful day in Skyhold, the winter was upon Thedas, and snow drifted from the sky in almost constant levels. And Sera found herself excruciatingly bored by midday, having played snow-related pranks on (almost) everyone at this point, and causing trouble for the soldiers and cooks. There was only one other person that had any hope of brightening Sera's bland day, the Inquisitor herself, the herald of Andraste, and saviour of the world.

Sera grabbed her coat, it was several sizes too big, and her hands barely reached past the elbows, the back of the coat dragging like a train behind her, but the size - and how it belonged to the Inquisitor- was all part of its charm, the other half being its warmth. Sera left the tavern by her window, hoping that the high vantage point would give her a hint at where her Inky was. It didn't, and Sera spent what she counted as too long, looking for the one person who stood out the most.

Sera eventually made it up to the Inquisitor's bedchambers, and found the woman asleep on her couch. She paused to think about how boring days like this were rare, and how the Inquisitor must not be able to sleep in much due to the constant state of the Inquisition.

"Inky?" Sera asked as she wandered up to the soft beige sofa, Inquisitor Adaar was asleep, one hand tucked behind her head, long black hair spilling over the arm of the chair and around her head like a puddle, legs stretched out, and a scattering of papers on the qunari's body and on the floor around her.

"You're adorable Inky" Sera chuckled softly to herself, mentally commemorating the moment, she'd have to draw Inky like this later. Sera shed her coat, discarding it on the floor as she moved to her lover's side. Packing up the files on Adaar's chest she placed them on the floor in no particular order, then crawled onto the Inquisitors chest. Adaar was radiating warmth, her chest slowly rising up and down as Sera got comfortable, placing her ear against the qunari's chest, listening to the calming breaths and beating of her heart. She felt safe and warm, closing her eyes and focusing on how Adaar felt as she slept peacefully.

Sera wasn't sure how long she was asleep, or when she had fallen asleep, but she was woken by a new sound, a deep, soft, rumbling buzz coming from her lover. Sera opened one of her storm grey eyes so she could look up at Adaar's face while still listening to the sounds of her chest.

Adaar had a small open mouthed smile set on her mouth, a soft, sleepy expression on her strong features. She was wearing one of her usual sleeveless shirts, despite the snow outside, and her leather-hued tights, her bare feet hanging over the opposite end of the three-person couch. Sera recognized the sound, she'd been around animals enough to recognize purring when she heard it, it just surprised her that it was coming from the qunari.

"Are you... Purring?" Sera whispered, but no response came from the sleeping woman, and Sera decided to close her eyes and listen to the purrs until Adaar would awake.

✧~~✧

"So qunari can purr?" Sera asked The Iron Bull that night over drinks. She was confused, excited and offended at this new concept, and she wanted more. Bull hummed thoughtfully, scratching at the stubble on his jaw.

"We can." Bull began, looking down into his brandy "Under the Qun it's seen as rather childish, and so most qunari don't purr in public" he took a long drink, finishing half the cup in one go.

"First time I purred in public was when Krem joined the chargers. And since whenever someone joins my chargers, I purr." Bull reminisced, looking briefly over his shoulder at where Krem stood upon his chair in the corner, peeking around the stairs he couldn't quite see around. Sera smiled, The Iron Bull and his Chargers were fun, and always great to hang out with.

"How come I only heard her purr today? We've been dating for weeks!" Sera asked, turning their attention back to the matter they were discussing.

"Qunari can forget they can purr if they have had... traumatic events in their life, some of those qunari don't even learn about it 'till adulthood." Bull answered calmly,

"My guess is that the boss is one of those 'subconscious purrers' and so she doesn't know she's doing it" the pair of them took long drinks of their alcoholic beverages, ordering a new round as they fell into a calm silence between them.

"So... I know before she does?" Sera asked, clarifying her thoughts out loud. Bull hummed in agreement, another small silence followed.

"How do I make her do it again?"

✧~~✧

After several days of attempting, Sera was beginning to believe she'd never hear her Inky purr again. She had tried playing around in the snow, playing pranks, getting drunk, hunting, more pranks, and private bedroom activities.

But now they lay on the couch that Adaar loved napping on, it was getting towards lunch, and as the final day at Skyhold before the Inquisitor and the inner circle had to go do more missions, Sera and Adaar were lounging about, as were many others. Sera had her ear pressed against Adaar's chest, absorbing the feelings of her girlfriend around her, the warmth that radiated from her core, the soft rise and fall of her squashy chest, the feeling of her hands in Adaar's hair, and Adaar's arms wrapped around her lithe frame.

Sera's eyes flew open at the sound beginning in the larger woman's chest, a deep rumbling purr.

"Finally!" Sera whispered gleefully trying to burrow deeper against the qunari. This action must have disturbed Adaar as the purring stopped, Sera sat up in disbelief, a pout adorning her face in seconds.

"Noo!" she whined, placing her hand on Adaar's chest.

"Wha- what's with the pouting?" Adaar asked hazily, bringing her marked hand to rub at her eye.

"You were purring! I've been trying to make you purr for days!" Sera whined, laying back down,

"Purr-? you heard me purr?" Adaar sounded surprised as the two settled back into the positions they had just been in.

"Yeah, I heard you purr when you were napping here, and I came and joined you, laying down and then you started purring! It was friggin cute!" Sera rambled, looking up at her partner. Adaar was blushing, her dark-freckled face reddened with embarrassment.

"I can't believe I was purring" Adaar muttered, avoiding eye contact.

"Bull said that he guessed you are a subconscious purrer-er-er...er."

"I know I can purr, but I thought that only children purred" Adaar admitted sheepishly, blowing some of her hair from her face.

"Soooo..." Sera drawled, bringing one of her hands up to Adaar's face, brushing the loose hair back, then stroking her cheek with a thumb.

"Can you purr again for me? Please?" there was a long silence before a quieter, shyer purr arose from Adaar's chest, Sera beamed as she felt the purring, she reached her head forward and kissed her girlfriend, the purring strengthening,

"You're perfect Inky, purring, scars, size and all, and I love you for it"

Sera lay back down, listening to Adaar purr, and she knew that if she could, she would be purring right along with her.