#adelee

adelee. YES. thank you for the prompt, mary!!

113: “Where did all these puppies come from?”

Lee/Adele

Fluff

Modern Thedas AU

546 words

Adele pulled her coat tighter around herself, tugging herhood lower as she watched spirals of breath dancing in the frigid air. Tiny furrybodies squirmed in the cardboard box, their “owner” fast asleep, newspaperclasped in their gloved hands. She clenched her jaw and looked away, gatheringwhat resolve she could, but found her feet were glued to the pavement. Onepuppy was pushed over, blinking up at the mage, little legs flailing as theystruggled to turn itself back over. Sighing, she bent down and helped it backonto its feet, a smile cracking at her stony expression when the puppy rubbedits head against her hand in thanks.

“How adorable,” a voice interrupted her pleasant train ofthought and Adele glanced upwards. “So small as well.”

The woman stood by her side, peering down at the wrigglingpuppies, her gaze trailing up to meet Adele’s. Pink pinched at the mage’scheeks and she withdrew her hand from the box, smoothing out her face. Thestranger’s grin was a knowing one, however, and she bent down, knee brushingAdele’s own. She watched as the woman picked out a dog with a white body andbrown markings on its face, cooing at it.

“Where do you think they came from?” She asked, pressing akiss to the puppy’s head. “They’re not mabari, and they’re all I see aroundhere.”

“I don’t have a clue, if I’m honest.” Adele shrugged, thensquinted now that she had a proper view of the woman’s face. “Wait…Lee, is it?”

“Adele. Eric’s friend. I knew I’d seen you before,”she said. “I didn’t know you were a dog person, darling.”

Darling. The mage balked for a second, dismissing theendearment. “Well…man’s best friend, you know? Could do with someone elsearound the clinic.”

Lee snorted. “Still running that place, hm? That’sdedication. How many years now?”

“…A couple. Last time I saw you, you were still doing thatdesign degree. How’d that work out?”

“Well. I did an internship for a while, butapparently my ideas weren’t traditional enough for them. I moved out here tostart up my own place, and, besides, Eric is here.”

Adele cleared her throat, tearing her eyes away from thecurve of Lee’s lips. “So, are you going to get a puppy?”

“I think so – they make for great chat-up lines.” Themage raised an eyebrow at that, but Lee just tittered in response. “No, but,seriously; I’m living here for the foreseeable future and I’ve wanted to haveone of my own for years. What about you, darling?”

“I…well, could do with a chat-up line or two, rate my lovelife’s going.”

“A joke, Adele? I’m impressed.”

The man offering the puppies didn’t appreciate being wokenfrom his nap, but hand-waved when they offered money, claiming they were free. Adeleand Lee straightened up, puppies tucked inside their coat, the former avoidingeye contact with the latter, fearing she’d see how nervous she was.

“I need to, uh, get some stuff for the puppy now, and I assumedyou do too.” She cleared her throat.

“And you assumed correctly.” Lee flashed her most dazzlingsmile. “Would you escort me to the pet store, darling?”

“Yes- I mean, of course.”