My love

"Hahren" she said, standing next to the door, her delicate lips slightly parted as if wanting to add something else, blue eyes fixed on his face, not knowing, not questioning, blind to the truth .
The Inquisitor, the so called "herald of Andraste", was unaware of the effect she had on him; Solas would have never thought he'd be so drawn to someone, but Eiris was special.
She was young, maybe too young, and beautiful and innocent, oh, so innocent, but there was more energy in that slender body that in any person he had ever met: she ran around carrying the weirdest errands without any complaint, always wearing a smile. She was Dalish, born and raised in the woods of the Free Marches, but showed none of their pride or stubborness, on the contrary, the Inquisitor was quick and ready to learn anything new and to consider other options instead of being close minded like those of her kind. Another aspect that separated Eiris from all the Dalish he had met before, was her being quite fond of his company: she enjoyed hearing him talk for hours about his journeys into the fade, and even agreed with his point of view on certain matters, instead of marking him as a weirdo.
She put great value in Solas' opinion and often, when she had to take an important decision, her gaze would wander to him, as if waiting for some sort of approval. It was only natural that she respected him, her keeper had probably taught her to always seek out her elders for help, but he knew there was more to it than just an habit rooted in her childhood. Well, at first he didn't, he had just imagined it, with all that flirting and not-so-subtle hints she left him, he was too old not to notice, but then she had made her feelings clear by kissing him first.
"Good evening Inquisitor, did you need something?" he said, putting his hands behind his back, after that trip in the fade he had expected things to become rather awkward between them, but they didn't, actually, Eiris went to visit the rotunda more often, even late at night, snuggling on the floor next to his chair with a blanket and a book. He would pat her head and she would call him "hahren", there was no reason to break the magic, but every time she mindlessly bit her lip or licked her finger to turn a page he felt an animal urge rise inside his body. It had been so long since his palms had fondled the soft skin of a woman. Eiris' body was muscular and well trained by the years spent hunting in the forest, far from the sensual curves of the noble women of Orlais, but all he wanted was to trace her defined abs with his fingers and bury himself into her strong tights, he couldn't care less about anyone else.
"Not really" she entered the room, approaching the table where he was studying the project for the next painting, walking slowly, as if still unsure if she had been granted the permission "Are you busy hahren? Can I stay?". It sounded more like a prayer than a question, she looked pale and tired from a long day of work, her cheeks had lost their usual redness and she had blue circles under her eyes.
The whole world weighed on her shoulders, too small, in his opinion, for such a burden, but she carried it fiercely, hiding her insecurities from her colleagues and her followers, except maybe for Dorian and him.
"Can't see why you souldn't" Solas answered, turning his back on her to look at the paper sheets "did something happen?".
"Do I need an excuse to spend time with you?" Eiris whispered, almost in accusation, then shook her head to let go of whatever thought had crossed her mind "What are you doing?".
"To celebrate our most recent progress, I was thinking of adding another part of the painting" he watched the girl lean on the table to observe his work. Her hair reached her shoulders, it was practical, but Solas wondered how she would have looked like with a longer cut.
"When I was a child I used to make colours out of rocks and flowers, we liked to mark the places we passed through" she commented, squinting her eyes and pinching her lower lip as if trying to recall a distant memory "Cousin Shea once said my drawings sucked".
"Were they so bad?" he laughed, imagining a six years old Eiris with paint splattered all over her round face, wishing he had been there to see it.
"No, my drawing skills are excellent" she pouted, crossing her arms "So I put the paint in her meal and she almost died from poisoning, that stupid bitch, she married one of the best bachelors in our clan and now she acts like she's a queen" Eiris mumbled something to herself that sounded a lot like "I should have put more".
"I'm speechless, Inquisitor, I didn't think you had such a dark side" Solas teased.
"I didn't know it was poisonous ... ok, well, maybe I did, since I had used poisonous flowers to make it, but no one ever found out it was me, so it's fine" she smirked, with a malicious light in her eyes.
"Will you poison my meals too if I am so careless to offend you?"
"I may, so watch your back" there was no hint of a threat in her voice, but he made a mental note not to make her angry, Eiris was gentle at heart, but she had not become Inquisitor by chance, her enemies feared her and she knew how to make others respect her.
"Are you shocked?" her cute laughter filled his ears.
"May you believe it or not, Inquisitor, there are very few things that can shock me, save from the stupidity of some of our companions" he never missed the opportunity to make his distaste for them clear. Eiris rolled her eyes at his words, then sat straight on his chair and furrowed her brows to appear menacing "Look at me, I am Solas and I hate tea ... and people"
"Is that supposed to be me?" he chuckled "Are you serious? Is that how I look from the outside?"
"Something like it" she smiled again, adjusting to be more comfortable "I like this place, makes me feel smart" Eiris had that weird habit to consider herself less smart than most people, but she wasn't, she was curious and brilliant even if she didn't see it. It went back to the days she spent with her clan, he had assumed it by putting together all the stories she had told him: being the youngest of her generation, she was often the target of stupid pranks organized by older children.
She was made fun of and mocked, it wasn't a lonely life since she had many dear friends, but those words and actions had left her scarred.
"You are smart, da'len" Solas said, reaching to touch her cheek "you should never doubt it".
"They said I'm not. They said I couldn't do it, that I'd never reach the temple, because I'm a scatterbrain, because I'm not smart" she gripped the fabric of her shirt, twisting it in anger "I bet they still say it, they'll say I've had luck, that Mythal is watching my steps cause she pities poor little Eiris" she inhaled deeply, avoiding his gaze "I'm sorry, it's just ... I received a letter of reply from my beloved cousin Maven and some things came to my mind again" .
"You should have told me sooner" he said, letting his hand slide to her shoulder "I'm here to listen".
"I came here because I wanted to be with you, not because I wanted to talk about ... just, forget it" Eiris reclined her head to nuzzle on his knuckles "My family is alright by the way, they are glad I am not the only elf here".
"Oh, you wrote about me? I suppose they asked you how much do I know about elven and Dalish history" .
"Yes of course, Father asked me to show you the way of truth" she let out a small laugh "I am sorry, I should not interrupt you when you work"
"I must contradict you, da'len, your presence here is actually crucial" he said, handing her some of his drawings "Tell me, which do you like best?".
Her whole attention shifted to the drafts, she studied them carefully, like their life depended on it, Eiris liked to feel useful and he was glad to have given her a reason to distract herself from those dark thoughts.
His eyes lingered on her statuary profile, the freckled bridge of her nose continued with her forehead, it was pretty common among elves and even though Eiris had confessed him she hated it, Solas found the Inquisitor stunningly beautiful.
"Is there something on my face, hahren?" he had got dangerously close without even noticing. Hahren, hahren, he could kiss her, pin her body against the mahogany and satisfy that unholy desire, but she did not deserve to be treated like that, Eiris was too precious to be hurt.
"Oh, I thought so, but it was just a wrinkle" he joked, backing away to a safe distance.
Horror appeared on her face "A wrinkle??" she immediately touched her forehead, searching for the proof of his claim.
"I was kidding, hamin da'len" Solas smirked when she retreated her hands and puffed her cheeks in disappointment "You are so loud, what will Leliana think from up there? Or your Tevinter friend?" .
"Dorian has already went to sleep" she stood up in anger and for a moment he feared she would punch him in the stomach "And I doubt Leliana can hear us over her evil spy-laughter"
"Is that how you see her? I thought you were pretty fond of our spy master"
"I am, but sometimes she scares me, I wouldn't mess with her" Eiris gave him back one of the sheets "I like this one in particular".
He took it, still with the ghost of amusement on his face and grabbed the charcoal to start drawing on the wall. It helped him relax when they came back to Skyhold after long missions and missions with Eiris could be very long, since she was a perfectionist and wanted to carry out every single possible operation.
"You know, Solas, I had made this weird assumption that you just painted the wall without any sort of guidance" .
"I am good, Inquisitor, but this is necessary for the whole painting to come out well" he explained, climbing the stairs of the wooden platform next to the entrance.
"Dorian says he likes watching you paint, I wonder why don't you two get along, he's a nice man"
"He's an alcoholic spoiled child, so full of himself he can't see beyond his nose" Solas said, leaving dark lines on the surface of the wall.
"It's not true" her tone dropped, she didn't like it when he talked ill about her friends, but he loved to see her angry "Dorian is kind and always apologizes when he makes a mistake"
"It's not enough"
"What is then? You can't condemn him for what other Tevinters did. Maybe you are the one who is spoiled"
Silence fell between them as minutes passed, until he heard light steps coming to his direction.
"Hahren, ma isala halani? Do you need help?" he heard her say, she had got close to the ladder and was staring at him from below the platform, nose up and eyes wide, just like a little girl. Her anger was already gone.
"You don't need to translate when you speak to me, I understand you" he motioned her to join him and received a delighted giggle in response. In a matter of seconds Eiris was up there, shifting impatiently from one foot to another, she was truly a child. He gave her the charcoal, then guided her small hand to the stone, tracing elegant lines on it. Eiris' back rested on his chest, she was so close he could feel the sweet smell of flowers and honey of her gold hair, count the small freckles that covered her neck and probably went down to her shoulders and her breasts.
"I've noticed that you enjoy speaking elven" Solas tried to distract himself, concentrating on his own voice. " I do, feels like being home" she confessed, leaning on him a bit more "Ma vhenas sumeil?"
"No, da'len, I'm afraid my home is really far" he sighed, hoping she wouldn't ask for more and she didn't, she never did.
"Sometimes I miss it, I was happy among the trees, if I went back ... I wonder if things would change" she was completely leaning on him, her other hand on his tight. There was no malice in her actions, just blind trust, Eiris was sure he wouldn't harm her in any way.
"You could make them see they were wrong" he suggested, circling her waist with his free arm "Or, you could slip some paint in their food".
"Solas, just so you know, if one of our companions drops dead I'll know immediately who did it" she turned slightly to wink at him, her cheeks were red again "So don't get weird ideas".
"There goes my plan to get rid of your nasty friends". He softly kissed her lips.
"I wish it wouldn't end" she whispered, as if she were afraid of what those words really meant.
"Corypheus must be defeated, da'len" Solas sighed, leaving a kiss on her head, I wish this wouldn't end either, he thought.
"I know, hahren" Eiris fell silent after that, losing herself in her thoughts.
They stopped drawing after a while and ended up cuddling on the sofa.
"So Dorian said he likes to watch me while I paint?" Solas smirked "I guess he must not be that bad"
"See? You just need to see people in a different perspective" murmured the Inquisitor, burying her face deep into his chest "Can we stay like this for a while longer please?"
It wouldn't last forever.
No, it wouldn't last at all, but he was thankful for those little moments with her.
"Ar lath ma vhenan" he whispered when she fell asleep.