Ahhhh, here we go, my favourite DA event is here. I’m so happy I can join for a second time. You can find the prompt list here. Thank you for this fun event.
Here’s my Solavellan take on the prompt Flirty Banter. For @14daysdalovers You can also find it on Ao3, if you feel like leaving a kudo/comment.
"Iron Bull," Solas began as silence settled over the camp, "how do your people put on shirts?"
Elluin snorted, the bowl she held on her knees dangling dangerously and a few drops of the hot stew staining her trousers.
Bull gave her a sidelong glance, but shrugged, holding his spoon halfway to his mouth. "We don't, usually," he blew into the hot stew before slurping it carefully so as not to burn his lips. "It's pretty hot where we're from."
"Don't tell me you run around half-naked all the time," Elluin interjected. "Maybe I should visit Par Volen more often."
She winked at Bull and a shit-eating grin spread across her face, eager for his response. This game of words between her and Bull always brought a smile to her face and pulled her out of the shadow of fear that followed her every step of the way.
"You don't have to move there, Boss," he said, abandoning the stew on the ground and flexing his arms. "I'm here."
A ripple of laughter rang out in the forest, and with it came the warmth Elluin craved after two days of trekking through mud and rain. Bull always knew what to say to bring back the cheerfulness she had lost on the road. She slurped the last drops of the stew and smacked her lips contentedly.
"I am still waiting for an answer," Solas murmured, and for a second he reminded her of a pouting child whose questions are ignored by adults.
"Right, sorry, Solas." Bull continued, '' I can get into anything with a loose collar. Just gotta ease one horn through and then angle it up."
"That sounds like a pain," Elluin commented. "No wonder you don't wear one. And here I was thinking you wanted to show off your muscles."
Solas tsked, as if annoyed by Elluin's remark. She giggled with amusement. Teasing the man had gone from an anger-inducing event to a delightful activity lately.
"There's a term for getting caught unprepared that translates to "running around with clothing stuck on your horns," Bull said, as if to relieve the tension between them.
"Colourful," Solas smiled at Bull, the joy of a new realisation written on every line of his face.
In Solas' eyes, Elluin recognised the same giddiness that touched her soul when he spoke of the stories found in the Fade. She frowned, for the information Bull shared sounded like something that would interest her or Varric, but not the mysterious apostate who preferred the company of spirits.
"You're so strange, Solas," she found herself saying, her mouth opening without a second thought.
"Excuse me?" he retorted, frowning, and the smile melted from his face like spring in summer.
Bull's eyebrows lifted, an unspoken question hidden in them. He and several others suspected the reason behind Elluin's growing affection for the elf, and this sudden affirmation contradicted the secret they hid from Solas.
Elluin winked at Bull before looking back at Solas with her head tilted to the right. "Just when I thought I knew how your mind worked, you ask that question. I never suspected you'd be interested in how Qunari dress. Strange, indeed."
He huffed. "I am merely curious. If you find my curiosity strange, then you do not know me at all."
Elluin saw Bull mouthing something that looked like what are you doing? as Solas looked down at his bowl and avoided her insistent gaze, but she shrugged in a gesture that beckoned him to wait.
She hummed and tapped her lips with a finger. "You got it wrong, Solas." Her voice wavered between a whisper and a purr. "I like strange. Strange excites me."
Solas' head jerked up so quickly that Elluin feared for the integrity of his neck muscles. His lips parted as if words waited to be released, but to her disappointment he said nothing, staring instead at finger pressed against the self-satisfied smirk playing across her red lips.
Driven by the desire to see the pink blush that tinged his freckled cheeks from time to time, Elluin captured her finger between her teeth and bit the fingernail as the grin widened.
The blush followed more quickly than Elluin had expected, and with it she hoped for a smart remark to follow, a sentence uttered in a low, husky tone that would send a shiver down her spine.
"Is that so?" The spark of playfulness, so rare and precious, emerged in the grey of his eyes, promising to give her what she desired. "You flatter me, Inquisitor. If you crave excitement, I am more than happy to provide it."
A giggle rushed through her lips as soon as the words reached her ears, and with it a wave of heat rose from her belly up to her cheeks.
"You two need some time alone? I can go," Bull commented, breaking through the lure of the moment. Elluin startled as she found herself drawn to the stormy grey of his eyes.
"Are you jealous, Iron Bull?" To Elluin's disappointment, Solas turned to face him.
"Nah, I know I can't compete with you, Fade Walker."
"Now, now, Bull," Elluin laughed, watching Solas out of the corner of her eye. "You're strange in your own way."
What Bull replied went over her head as she started back at Solas, following the now fading blush from the tip of his ear down the sharp line of his jaw to his neck, where it disappeared beneath his tunic.
Eluin gulped when her mouth watered as her imagination ran wild. The need of Solas to provide other methods of excitement spread like wildfire through every fibre of her being.
One day, she thought, wrestling her mind back to the present. One day, when we're both ready.
Until then, she would have to settle for flirting.
