A Good Friend

“This is ridiculous,” Cullen muttered. Cassandra stopped to read whatever book she had on her hands - he couldn’t see the cover from where he stayed. “Maybe for you it is. Nevertheless, I’ll stay until you’ll finish.” Grumbling under his breath, Cullen took another spoon of the soup from the tray the Seeker had slammed on his desk ten minutes ago.  “Slow down, Commander” she scolded, “I said eat, not choke. Your work will still be there in five minutes.” “Cassandra, I really appreciated your concern…” “No, you don’t.” she interjected dryly, closing her volume “But you’re my friend and since Demetra is not here to remind you to take care of yourself, I volunteered to do it in her place.” Cullen frowned “Did the two of you plot against me?” His voice was stern, but they both knew he wasn’t really angry. Maybe mildly annoyed that Demetra and Cassandra had arranged things behind his back, but he couldn’t truly stay angry towards a gesture inspired by affection for him. The Seeker wasn’t impressed at all “We had to, since we both knew you were going to bury yourself between training and reports.” “Soon we’ll march into the Arbor Wilds. We need to be prepared.” he countered, gritting his teeth slightly. Maker, he had so much work to do, so many people to select. The best of them would escort the Inquisitor as near the Temple as possible and he had to be sure they were truly the best. “I know you want to see her safe,” the woman sighed crossing her legs “I do as well. But killing us overworking is not going to help her. Or none of us. We need to calibrate our resources. So, you need to take care of yourself.” Cullen ate his food. And he went to bed at an almost decent hour.  Cassandra was right, but he couldn’t stop his worries. He knew Demetra was capable to take care of herself. He had seen her fight. He trusted her.  But he had also seen so many things go wrong in a battle, Cullen groaned kicking away the light sheet. What if a Rift would appear suddenly? What if the Temple would hide something feral and dangerous and too much for a human to handle? What if the Inquisition would lose the battle because of he didn’t plan things enough? What if he would lose her because he hadn’t been careful well enough? He sprinted out from his bed as soon as the first ray of sun raised under the mountains. Demetra returned four days later and she found him bent over a neverending stack of maps and notes, a group of officers around him.  Cullen saw her just when one of the soldiers greeted her, immediately imitated by the others. Cullen sent her the most sincere smile, but he didn’t adjourn the meeting “Inquisitor, welcome back. We’re glad to see you safe and sound. Would you like to join us? We are discussing the best disposition for the supplies’ carts during the march.” Demetra excused herself - Sister Nightingale had already asked her to inspect the new weapon Dagna had enchanted - and before she could finish, Cullen’s head was already lowered to look at a piece of paper.  He did hear, though, the little hesitation in her leaving. Cassandra entered in his office a couple of hours later “Commander, sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I need to confer with you.” Alone, her eyes declared.  Despite still having some details he wished to discuss, Cullen agreed, and he couldn’t avoid feeling a hint of pity seeing his men’s tired faces. Maybe he should have checked the time earlier. Cassandra waited to be alone with him before scolding Cullen “You missed the dinner.” “I had to…” “Go to her, Cullen.” “I had to…” “We’re going to be even busier in the next days. And after that, we have an arduous battle to deal with. I think…” was she blushing?!, Cullen wondered, “I think you should take advantage of these last moments of calm the Maker granted us.” She was right. The realization hit him abruptly. He had done all that he could. For that evening, at least. Cullen didn’t hug his friend, but the pat he gave her on her shoulder while leaving his office wasn’t an inch less grateful. 

I love their friendship!!! As always, like, reblogs and comments are very much loved!!!

Headcanon: Dragon Age Inquisition Romanced Characters during St. Valentine’s day

Cullen: he organizes a wonderful dinner in the gazebo in the garden, after asking Josephine to keep the place just for him and his Inquisitor. The Inquisitor thinks that’s the present, but he smiles, blushing and rubbing his neck, holding out a packet. It’s wrapped simply, with a little bunch of her favorite flowers carefully tied there. “I hope you like it, I wasn’t sure… I can buy you something different if you don’t like it!”. Inside an exquisite leather bag, there is compass “For when you’re far away, so you’ll always find your way back to me.” he explains, smiling while she kisses him.

Cassandra: she blushes furiously, handing out to the Inquisitor a little packet, clumsily wrapped in an adorably cheesy pink paper printed with hearts. “It’s just a little thing.” she mumbles, shifting on her feet “If you don’t like it, tell me. I wasn’t sure what you might prefer.”. It’s a book. A book of love poems. Her own copy. The inscription tells simply “To my beloved.”, but the Inquisitor knows she spent hours thinking about it, pouring all her affection in the words.

Dorian: he gives the Inquisitor his present during the breakfast, as if it isn’t such a matter. But he’s holding his breath, and when his amatus opens his mouth, surprised and delighted, Dorian is radiant. In an elegant jewelry box, there is a solid gold bracelet, composed of two snakes wrapped together “I enchanted it.” Dorian smiles, smug “It’ll keep you warm when you are in cold places and vice versa. And look inside!” he urged. Where he points there is a single word “Together”.

Blackwall: of course he has carved something. It’s a little chest, easily transportable during her travels. He has surely worked for weeks, the Inquisitor realizes, looking at the complicated arabesques carved all over it. “I thought you might like something useful.” he explains, with an embarassed laugh. Inside, the wooden trunk has different compartments, and a secret one that he shows excited. Carefully carved in the precious wood, it’s written “My heart lies in your hands.”.

The Iron Bull: he gives to the Inquisitor two gifts. The first one is for both of them and the Inqusitor smirks seeing the complicated underwear, all laces and buckles. “Well, this is just for you instead, kadan.”. It’s a little dragon, made by a shining ruby. As little as the sculture is, it’s extraordinary detailed, but the Inquisitor can’t recognise the race. Bull smiles “It’s not one of the ones we fought. This is you. Well, you as I think you’d be in that form.”.

Solas: the packet is perfectly wrapped, with a sober cream paper. He smirks, when the Inquisitior opens it, finding an agenda. It’s handcrafted, with the Inquisitor’s favourite flowers dried and pressed on the cover. Inside, he has left some pages for her to full as she prefers, but the others are drawn. Flowers, scene from ancient places, and suddenly her portrait. She’s beautiful, radiant, and he caresses slowly her face “It’s how I see you, venhan.”.

Sera: she is super nervous, almost throwing her present to the Inquisitor. It’s a series of little notes, carefully tied with strings in the Inquisitor’s favorite color, placed inside a basket full of fresh flowers. “Look, I don’t say smoochy things. So I wrote them.” she mutters, blushing. Every note has a compliment or a witty consideration about the Inquisitor. Sera kisses her “I wrote everything I like about you.”.

Josephine: she has a little present, of course, a marvellous embroided new coat for them when they travel, but her true gift is a day to spend together. They have a lovely pic nic full of smiles, kisses and delicious dishes she serves personally. Josephine has made sure to have cooked all the Inquisitor’s favorite foods, as a bottle of the finest Antivan wine is ready to be shared.    “I thought the most precious present is giving you a break from our busy life.” she blushes, kissing their cheek.

Blow a Kiss My Way for Good Luck

There we are, dear @shadesyste ! I hope you like it as much I liked writing it! Thanks for the prompt, I hoped someone would sent me this one!

Cullen Rutherford X Demetra Trevelyan

“Blow a kiss my way for good luck." She blinked “Are you serious?” Cullen grinned, behind the jaws of his lion helmet, stealing her breath. For a moment, the Orlesian crowd and the Inquisition people gathered in the courtyard disappeared. She could only focus on his face, fierce and stunning, the halo of red and black fur which fell on his board shoulders, matching perfectly the one on his cloak. Fully dressed for a battle, Cullen truly showed he was a warrior. He was steel and flesh and blonde curls and sharp blades. A thing sometime she didn’t realize, not fully. Because she had the privilege to see more often his tender side, his blushes, his yawns in the morning. She was blessed enough to be tenderly embraced and passionately loved by him, and the Cullen she was accustomed to see more often was that one, not the warrior who now was standing proudly in front of her.  Andraste and all her friends!, he was positively sinful in his battle attire. She could easily picture the new ways the Orlesians there would start to call him. She didn’t like it as much as she knew he wouldn’t.  Despite Cullen’s objections in having his helmet shaped in that leonine way - Josie once told her all the story, making the Inquisitor laugh hard - Demetra thought it suited him.  Calm and quiet until the occasion requested a powerful roar, she thought with a little smile. Her lion. Maker, she was reading too much Cassandra’s books, she scolded herself. But it was undeniable Cullen’s ferocious side was a rare and exciting view. A reminder that he held his position in the Inquisition because he had deserved it, because he knew what a battle was.  “I’m sure you don’t need good luck.” she murmured, adjusting an already perfectly fixed buckle on his breastplate. Ignoring the prying eyes all around, he grabbed her hand, pressing her fingers against the fangs of his helmet, mimicking the kiss he was unable to give her “A little luck can’t hurt, right?”. They shared a smile, remembering the similar conversation had near the lake he loved so much.  “Commander Cullèn!” the ironic voice cut the air, deliberately putting the accent of his name in the wrong way. The general Vasieaux - former general, since Gaspard had formally put an end to the war - looked at him from behind his masked helmet “As lovely as the Inquisitor is, I’m here for the challenge that has been promised me, not for looking at the two of you.” Demetra was truly tempted to remember him he was the one who had challenged Cullen during the banquet, the previous night. Oh, it had been a perfectly polite request to see if the Commander was as able as the general had heard. But nobody in the Main Hall had missed how the Orlesian man had wrapped is request, with not so subtles hints about the supremacy of Chevaliers above the rustic - he had used that word too much - way Fereldans fought usually. Even when Demetra, with her sweetest smile, had reminded him the rustic Fereldans conquered their freedom form Orlais, the man hadn’t stopped. The general was angry, that was clear. Even more clearer, he considered the war the only worth occupation and saw in the Inquisition the cause of his forced retirement from the battlefield. Still, he hadn’t the balls to challenge her directly - Bull’s words - so he had directed his barely masked grudge on Cullen.  Huge, stupid mistake, Cassandra had rightfully pointed out greeting them that morning. And menacing Cullen to punch him if he was going to lose against such a poor opponent. A friendly match had been organized by Josephine, the Ambassador herself irritated by the man’s arrogance, after he had been welcomed in Skyhold. With a sly smile, Vivienne had murmured to Demetra that she was going to bet hundred sovereigns on Cullen’s victory. The only ones who had bet on the general had been the members of his entourage, Varric had whispered, and not all of them! The Commander straigthened himself, releasing her hand, and marching toward the training ring. Rylen was waiting with Cullen’s shield, to help him to put it on. She called her Commander “Cullen?” When he turned, Demetra blowed her kiss. He laughed, grabbing it with the hand he was going to use to carry the shield, putting it on his heart. She blushed and their people cheered openly.  Later, in the tavern, Vivienne bought a round of Cabot’s best ale to all the presents with her winnings, to celebrate the victorious Commander. In a corner, the above -mentioned Commander was totally busy to receive the kiss - the kisses -  of victory from his Inquisitor. This time with no helmets between them.