#fade daddy

They became light, hopeful. In that year her dreams were … chaotic. The most noteworthy was a scene where Dorian had lit himself on fire and was happily spreading the flames throughout their group of friends while hosting a house warming party in Skyhold. He allowed himself to enjoy that one, smiling the entire time. Expressions of happiness felt foreign on his expression nowadays.

His orb was shattered, his dream was crushed, and he was utterly alone.

The new dreams were difficult to interpret. Lavellan seemed…happy, strangely so. There was an aura of sadness around her now, but it was overshadowed by her bottomless joy. Its source was unknown, but he couldn’t help but notice that she kept her hands around her lower belly in those dreams.

And then they were gone, her sleep patterns disturbed. It was rare when she could get enough sleep to fall into a dream. Even then, she was not strong enough to hold the barrier that kept him out, but he did not dare to betray her trust and cross the threshold into her mind. She saw him as the Dread Wolf, her brown hair falling as a veil in front of her face, his eyes always being drawn to the one streak of white that was in the front.

He loved it because it always drew his attention towards her eyes, and it was his favorite to tuck behind her ear when she was laying in his lap. She smiled at him once, her eyes glossing over the form of the black-furred wolf that stalked the edges of her memory. She waved, exhaustion setting into her features. She was always interrupted from a sound in the physical world and she did not hesitate to tend to it.

The year had passed and he still stalked through the Fade, the rhythmic pads of his paws falling into the dirt beneath him. The spirits had been a buzz over something new within the forests where he tended to rest. It was a neutral place to be. Wisps of spirits sang their songs in the branches of the trees and curious spirits of Nature kept to the sides of his vision.

The target of their curiosity walked, well attempted to, her small paws reaching out one in front of the other before she deliberately put them down in front. The pup let out a small whine of anxiety with each step, her small legs trembling as she stumbled in the clearing. Solas paused, arching a brow and looking to the spirits with a tilted head. They smiled in response, all gesturing with movements in unison towards the pup. He slowly walked forward until the russet colored pup was underneath his nose. He sniffed it and nudged it with the tip of his wet nose, huffing out as it fell back on his backside and yelped.

The pup blinked, slowly looking up towards him, its voice a mental projection through his mind. “Mamae?”

Solas chuckled, shaking his head back and forth. “No, da’fen. Where is your mother?”

She whined and shook her head, falling forward and itching her maw on top of her paws. She was unable to answer but as she fell forward Solas was able to see a trait that was hidden from afar. His eyes widened, his heart drumming within the center of his throat. There was a single trail of white fur from the back of the pup’s neck to the tip of its tail. The Dread Wolf took a step back, his head shaking back and forth as his mouth turned dry.

The pup looked up and wordlessly called out, her tail curling between her legs as he walked back towards the edge of the clearing. The whines were universally understood, even if she was too young to form the words. He then paused, an instinctual pull turning him back towards the pup. He didn’t know what to say, his mind was blank as a thousand unknown possibilities ran through his head. He was on the track of the Qunari, distracting them and trying to lead them off of his trail and the trail of the Inquisition.

The latter was vital, especially now.

He layed down in front of the pup, nudging him with the tip of his nose as his tail slowly wagged behind him in curious anticipation. The crying pup silenced, her own small nose twitching as she smelled the wolf. She buried her face into the side of his face, her nose traveling to the inside of his ear and he attempted to stay still even as the pup licked the inside of her ear. The pup sniffed again, making a barking sound that was resemblance of an exclamation.

“Papae!”

The pup excitedly licked around his maw, her small tail wagging back and forth in what seemed to be at the same rate as her small heart that fluttered inside of her chest. Solas closed his eyes and fought the tears that formed, allowing the pup to nibble at his nose. His chest felt warm, happiness encroaching on his sorrow for the first time in months. Everything felt light, hopeful, and he could not imagine prying himself away from the sensation until there was a knock at the door in the real world.

He groaned, turning his head over his shoulder to look at the intrusion. The pup’s continued whines of joy brought him back, a soft sigh falling from his maw. “Come on, da’fen. Let me take you home.”

“H-h-home?” The infant stammered, recognition of the word absent but she attempted to mimic him regardless. He nodded, standing, and grabbing the pup by the scruff of her neck and carrying her out of the clearing. He walked towards the familiar glow of Lavellan’s dreamscape, lamenting the responsibilities that awaited him in the real world. But for now, he attempted to memorized the sound of his daughter’s voice, the feel of her fur, and the glow of the pure, untainted joy that existed inside of her.