#librivore42

Bittersweet

I had the privilege to work with @librivore42 as part of the @bg3-winter-big-bang for their fic Bittersweet, a tantalising story about learning to find new things (and people) to love after a life of loss and I cannot recommend it enough. It's sweet, it's fluffy, it's funny, it's exactly the antidote to life as we know it

Day 2: Tavern Coffeeshop

Featuring @librivore42's Lux

"the first time Solona thought about kissing Cullen"

Give me that tasty mutual crush

@librivore42 @thedasweekend 😄🥰😄🥰

For context, Solona is seventeen and Cullen is newly-turned-eighteen when he first arrives at Kinloch Hold.

The first time Solona Amell thought about kissing Cullen, she could claim, was the first time she saw him.

She passed him in the corridor outside the library. He — fresh-faced and wide-eyed from his first dose of lyrium, still wearing the off-duty uniform issued to new templars before they could be fitted for a full set of armor — trailed after Greagoir like a lost puppy on the way to the Knight-Commander’s office for his induction.

“Maker’s breath, who’s the new templar?” Anders whispered to her, once they had safely vanished around the bend.

“My thoughts exactly.” Solona hummed her appreciation, craning her neck in a theatrical attempt to catch a last glimpse of the newcomer’s backside. “Imagine how tempting it’ll be to run your hands through those curls once they’re all sweaty and tousled from a helmet.”

Anders shot her an incredulous smirk. “Keep it in your pants, girl. I meant he looks like he was plucked straight from the cradle. I swear, they keep getting younger.”

“Or you’re just getting older,” Solona laughed.

“You take that back!”

The first time Cullen Rutherford thought about kissing Solona was the first time she talked to him.

He stood stiff-backed on guard at the entrance to the library. She — precariously overladen with books and scrolls in her arms, yet moving with a grace that suggested a lifetime of experience navigating the shelves — glanced in his direction as she passed by on her way to the nearest empty table where she could deposit her reading materials.

Cullen gave her a nod and a smile through his helmet, like his parents taught him was polite to do with strangers. Instead of returning the gesture, however, she paused. Her head turned fully to look at him. She was roughly his own age — he guessed — and pretty, with the kind of angular features his mother would describe as “striking” and his sister would describe as “pointy”, but what was most notable about her appearance in that moment was the baffled expression that crossed her face.

Taking care not to damage any of the delicate scrolls in her arms, she abandoned her load on the table and walked right up to Cullen.

This, in Cullen’s experience, was unusual. He’d been with the Circle for little over a week, but in that time, not a single mage had approached him so far, whether on- or off-duty. He wasn’t sure how to respond to it now.

“You’re the newest templar recruit, aren’t you?” she asked, regarding him with her head tilted curiously to one side.

“Um… yes,” he said. “Cullen Rutherford. A pleasure to meet you, Lady…?”

He held out his gauntleted hand, like his parents taught him to do, and her eyes widened. She stared at his hand like it was some foreign concept, her gaze flickering up to his face a few times, as though trying to gauge his sincerity through his helmet. Finally, her long, slender fingers grasped his own in a handshake his father would describe as “bold”.

“Solona Amell,” she said, her cheeks colored faintly with something other than makeup. A questioning smile tugged at her lips and turned sly when, through batted lashes, she added, “Though, I assure you, I’m no lady.”

Cullen instantly choked on air. He’d never been more grateful for a templar’s obstructing helmet, as his eyes grew wide with panic and his face flushed hotter than he thought humanly possible in the cool air of the library.

“Oh! N-no, I wasn’t — you — that is, — er…” he spluttered. His hand shot up to scratch the back of his neck and clanged against his helmet instead. He winced audibly, making a noise Mia would describe as a “squeak”.

Solona just laughed.

“You know, most templars won’t even speak to us 'lowly' mages?” she said. Cullen couldn’t decide if her tone was teasing, or mocking, or something entirely different.

“I can stop, if you’d prefer,” he mumbled.

She tilted her head again and studied him for a moment.

“Don’t,” she said, her eyes twinkling with something like mirth, or surprise. “It’s… refreshing.”

And with that, she turned and disappeared into the maze of library shelves.

Cullen stood there staring at the space she had occupied for several seconds more before he remembered to lower his arm. He blinked. He breathed in deeply and slowly let the air out through puffed cheeks.

“Oh, merciful Maker,” he whispered, barely louder than an exhale. He could only imagine how Mia, Branson, and Rosalie would describe him now. “I’m in trouble.”

Yes, that is intentional because the twins are only 4 or 5 years old at that point (and English is also possibly not their first language).

Tagged by: unofficially @librivore42 :) Tagging: idk who all has done this one already, so if you see this and want it, pretend I tagged you!

Rules: post your OC and then 4 (or more) random pictures with no explanation to convey your character's vibe

As usual, I went and made it Extra for no good reason, just because it's fun to mess around in photoshop sometimes lol

You: 'I would kill everyone in Kinloch hold and then myself'

The other Templars:

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