Stuck on the Puzzle - Dragon Age Inquisition - Bull/Cullen

Cullen Rutherford, overwhelmed with his duties at Skyhold, wants to manage his anxieties with controlled pain, and decides The Iron Bull is the best person for the job. But The Iron Bull wants to do things like 'aftercare' - which Cullen has no interest in at all.

*

Once, back in Kirkwall, Cullen had an arrangement with a member of the city guard that satisfied his needs. But time changed all things, and he despaired of ever finding a similar arrangement again - that was, until he met The Iron Bull. Problem being that Bull seemed to care far more about sorting out the nitty-gritty of such an arrangement than Cullen ever has.

Kink negotiation? What on earth would there be to talk about? Safewords? Defining what one wants and doesn't? Cullen doesn't understand why The Iron Bull wants all of these things, and slowly, The Iron Bull comes to understand that someone has treated Cullen badly in the past.

Content Warnings - Explicit sexual scenes, Graphic violence, Explicit BDSM including pain-play, CBT and flogging (including non-sexual BDSM), PTSD, Past emotional and physical abuse, Disturbing themes (including around religious brainwashing), Drug use, Drug withdrawals, Past torture

[[Finished wordcount: 230,000 words]]

[[Originally published on AO3 under the username @thespectaclesofthor]]