#thale lavellan

Thank you so much for the ask! I haven’t written anything for Thale in literally forever, so this was fun :0) Shameless fluff of my grumpy elf and Josephine. Enjoy!

30: Can I kiss you?

“Now, I’ve sent invitations to Seleneand the Orlesian court. I don’t expect the Empress to make the journey toSkyhold, of course, but an invitation is a necessity,” Josephine said, pacinganother line across Thale’s chambers.

Her clipboard held at the ready andoverflowing with lists and party plans she scrawled another note in themargins. More than a few curls hung down from her meticulous up-do causing herto swat them from her eyes with an annoyed sigh and flick of her hand. Afterwatching her take another anxious lap around the desk Thale pushed up from hisperch on the bed. His aching muscles groaned in protest, the injuries sustainedduring their last fight still not entirely healed. He swung his bare feet to thefloor and quietly cursed the brief moment in which the room seemed to spin in arather fast circle.

“Jo,” he said, his hoarse voice barelymaking a dent in Josephine’s continued avalanche of worried party planning. “Jo,”he tried again, this time succeeding in gaining her attention. “You need torelax. The party will be fine.”

She blinked at him over the top of herclip, pen held at the ready. He saw her thoughts turn on a dime. A sharp, determinedtwinkle in her eyes as she set the notes aside and crossed the short distancebetween them. The back of her hand was on his forehead in an instant, checkinghis temperature even though a fever was never the issue for his bed rest.

“And you need to lie down,” shecountered, switching to her other hand to make certain he hadn’t suddenlydeveloped a fever. “You’re still on the mend.”

He succumbed to the light push on his shoulderand held back the urge to roll his eyes when she lifted his legs back onto thebed. A heavy blanket seemed to materialize out of nowhere and tuck itselftightly around his chest. The hand on his forehead came back for a third checkand then moved to fret with the multitude of pillows surrounding him.

“Jo.”

“Honestly, the healer should havestopped in again tonight. I told her she should check on you once more beforemorning. She said you needed to sleep, but I knew you wouldn’t sleep this early,”she muttered, tucking in the blanket once more before swiping her hair awayfrom her eyes. “You saved Thedas and she can’t even be bothered to make sureyou’re properly healing.”

“Can I kiss you?”

The question took her off guard as hehoped it would. A flustered, ghost of a smile graced her lips even as she attemptedto regain her composure. He reached up to slide a stray curl behind her ear,his fingertips brushing against the increasingly warm skin of her cheek. Shesmiled and smoothed back his hair in turn.

“You need to rest,” she said.

He took hold of her hand. “That’s notexactly an answer.”

She laughed, the quiet sound sittingwarm and welcoming in his chest. He didn’t know what would happen now, with theInquisition, with them. If there even still would be a them. She had family andresponsibilities back in Antiva and he would never begrudge her either of thosethings for his own selfish desires. That was a worry for another day, another time.Now it was as it should be; just the two of them with a roaring fire andJosephine’s warm laughter filling the room.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked again, givingher hand a gentle squeeze.

“If I say yes will you promise to liedown and at least attempt to get some rest?” she replied, as though not sayingyes even occurred to her.

“Will you rest with me?” he asked, doinghis best to look pitiful. “I sleep better with you at my side.”

“Do you now?” Josephine said, another laugh,dangerously close to a giggle leaving her lips.

“I do,” he said. “You’ve done all theplanning you can for tonight. The party will be fine, better than fine. It willbe talked about for years to come. It will be amazing, because you are amazing.”

“Flatterer,” she said, sitting down onthe bed before curling up beside him. “I’ll rest for a few minutes, but then I mustgo over the food orders again. The bakery keeps trying to raise their pricesand I know I have their original invoice somewhere.”

“I’m sure you’ll bring them to heel,” hesaid, pressing a light kiss to her temple. “No one outdoes Josephine Montilyetwhen receipts are concerned.”

She rested her head on her chest with asigh. “I know you’re teasing, but it’s true.”

He laughed and placed another kiss tothe top of her head. “I would never tease about your bookkeeping skills.”

She arched her head up to level him witha stern look. “Not if you know what’s good for you,” a smile cracked her stoicexterior and she pushed up on her elbow. “Now, I’m rather disappointed if thatis the type of kiss you were asking for.”

Sorry this took so long to finish! Not to get too sentimental but thank you so much for your kind words. I have really been struggling to write anything lately and this meant a lot to me. I chose Thale for this prompt, as he’s the grumpiest of my Inquisitors :0) Thank you again and hope you like it!

Bitter

The Winter Palace smelled funny. Atleast that’s what Thale told Leliana when she asked how he found the party. Theentire grounds filled with over-perfumed humans in ridiculous outfits dancingto cloying music and stuffing their faces with pretty food that tasted awful.His own jacket buttoned too high on his throat and fit a bit too snugly acrossthe shoulders. Even after foiling an assassination attempt and helping tosecure Selene’s place on the throne his advisors still insisted his presencewas required. The entire evening felt like a trap that constricted with eachpassing moment; and he wasn’t kidding about the smell.

“And then she said, I’ve seen moreimpressive inch worms.”

Varric’s hangers on erupted into a pealof laughter that only worsened Thale’s mood. The young masked ladies clung tohis every word and cackled at every punchline regardless of how effective. Theywere fake and self-serving, like everything in Orlais, apparently. Thale caughtsight of Varric’s eyes flickering his way and groaned internally at the smirkthat followed. He always walked right into Varric’s traps. The dwarf seemed tofind never ending joy in annoying him.

“Aw, come on, Sunshine,” he said, thenickname making Thale cringe as it always did. “That one was funny. Can’t youat least crack a smile?”

Thale rolled his shoulders back andtried not to wilt under the intense gaze of Varric’s vapid audience. “I’llsmile when you say something funny,” he replied.

Several of the women gasped or titterednervously. Varric however, laughed and shook his head, as though they sharedsome deep-seated inside joke. He pointed one finger in Thale’s direction with aplayful waggle.

“I’ll get you some day, Sunshine. Ialways like a challenge,” he chuckled, his followers giggling in relief at theamicable response.

“I do hope you’re not telling stories ofthe Inquisitions’ secrets, Varric.”

Author’s notes: Thank you so much for the prompt! I offer a fluffy little Thale/Josephine fic. They’re my grumpy/sunshine pairing and I need to write more of their story :0) Enjoy!

You Know How I Feel About Birthdays

Thale looked down at the paperoverflowing with unfamiliar names of nobles and then back up into the grinningand expectant face of Josephine. She stood, bouncing on the balls of her feet,her hands clasped in front of the ruffles along her blouse. Thale looked backdown at the list to buy himself some more time. He thought he might recognize afew of the invited guests, but would be hard-pressed to pick any of them out ofa line up. He scratched behind his right ear, the nervous gesture a glaring admittanceof his displeasure.

“You don’t like the guest list?”Josephine asked.

He flinched at the twinge of disappointmentin her voice. It made his insides twist and turn into an angry ball of guiltthat seemed determined to take up permanent residence in his guts. He snappedhis head up, the small pout on her lips making his stomach do another painfulturn. Were it anyone else he would roll his eyes and wave away their feelingswith a sarcastic remark, but not with Josephine. Never with her.

“No, I mean…it’s fine…I,” he sighed andlowered his voice, speaking as if to a wounded animal. “You know how I feelabout birthdays, Jo,” he said, the words almost pleading.

She crinkled her nose and took the guestlist from his hands, the paper snapping like a whip. “How you feel aboutbirthdays?” she said, rolling up the scroll. “What is there to feel about them?You have a lovely party with your family and friends. The best pastry chef inall of Orlais is traveling here to make the cake. I planned the menu, thedrinks, that guest list is some of the most influential…”

“I don’t like parties,” he snapped, theguilt-ball in his stomach bucking like a wild halla. “I don’t know any of thosepeople. I don’t want to spend the whole day pretending I do or pretending thatI care what they have to say. I wanted…I wanted one day, Jo. One day where Ididn’t have to be the Inquisitor. I wanted to go for a walk in the woods…withyou. I wanted to be with you.”

The words kept coming in a horrible, unstoppablewave, pouring out of his mouth ever faster with each clipped syllable until hewas left red-faced and out of breath. She slowly raised an eyebrow, armscrossed as if to ask if he was finished. His shoulders slumped and he droppedhis head in contrition, quickly preparing his apology. A few quick whacks ofthe rolled scroll to the top of his head made him jump back in surprise, hishand reaching for the quiver that usually hung on his back.

“Why didn’t you say so?!” Josephine askedamid a frustrated sigh and another smack of the paper. “I thought you wouldlike a party and you loved those pastries we had in Val Royeux. You said theywere delicious! You knew I was planning this, why didn’t you tell me not to?”

Ears burning he dipped his head and felthis shoulders roll inward. “You were so excited,” he mumbled. “I didn’t want toruin it for you,” he said, adding with a deep sigh. “I’m sorry…I know you put alot of work into the party, but…please don’t make me host snooty nobles on mybirthday. I cannot be held responsible for my actions if any of them call merabbit.”

Josephine’s expression softened in aninstant and she reached up to lock her arms around his neck, the guest listfalling to the ground forgotten. She leaned forward and pressed a chaste kissto the tip of his nose before adding another to the corner of his frown. Thesquiggling ball of guilt in his stomach lessened somewhat and he wrapped hisarms around her waist, gently pulling her close.

“Well, we can’t risk having you put anarrow through some Lord’s eye, now, can we?” she asked, nuzzling his nose. “Justthink of all the paperwork that would cause me,” she leaned in for anotherkiss, parting to whisper. “Next time, please promise me you will tell me howyou feel. I tend to…take over when I get an idea in my mind.”

“I promise,” he said with a solemn nodand less-than-chaste squeeze of her backside. “But I like when you take over.”

A blush flared to life across her face whileshe giggled and gave a half-hearted push against his chest. “Inquisitor,” shesaid in her best impression of a deeply offended Chantry Sister. “Whatever willpeople say?”

“I haven’t a clue,” he replied,shrugging. “Probably something about my impeccable taste,” he added, stealinganother kiss. “Although, if you think we need to go someplace a bit moreprivate so you can take over…”

She giggled and covered her mouth withher hand, swatting his shoulder and blushing crimson. “Well, first thingsfirst, my Lord,” she said, pulling away to smooth her clothes and regain somecomposure. “We have a list of nobles to inform that the party is cancelled.”

A smile pushed aside his usual scowl ashe linked his fingers with her’s. “Thank you, Jo,” he said quietly, offering anappreciative smile.