#witandcharm

the place was swarming with spiders that had called the keep and it's rotting wood and overgrown greenery their home for what looked like hundreds of years. dust caked every surface, he could scarcely imagine how the others were able to BREATHE without a mask in a place such as this. it would take a village to flip this castle back around, and luckily they had just that.

it didn't take long for everyone to find and claim their little corners of skyhold as their own. leliana and the other scouts had agreed to the very top floor of their tower where they could make the most use out of their fleet of ravens. simon was agreeable to the idea, knowing he'd be harder and more difficult to reach on the days where he wanted to be left alone (which was most days). however, unfortunately for him, he was also the biggest and strongest of the spies, meaning they used him to their full advantage and had him hauling the several scraps of lumber and trash that was needed to clear out the tower, down SEVERAL flights of stairs until he deposited them by skyhold's entrance for disposal.

that meant he had a lot of run ins with the tevinter mage below him and the hermit mage that was another level below that for at least the first week. and with full respect, the hermit wasn't all that fun to talk to.

❝ you've done this place up nice, ❞ ghost comments as he checks up on his companion's progress on his way back up. perhaps stalling, or perhaps genuinely impressed, it was difficult to tell. ❝ cozy over here, are ya? ❞ he eyes the carpet and the plush chair he had somehow found in pristine condition.

lucky bastard.

@witandcharm​​ sent: He runs his fingers through his messy locks, the other hand resting atop his broad shoulder as a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Strange, how despite all your time running about in the woods alongside the Inquisitor, you still manage to look so... handsome. In an rugged and unwashed way." It was a gift to have him return in one piece, which is why he didn't hesitate to lean in, lips meeting his own in a kiss that felt all too brief. "Shall we get you cleaned up? In private- preferably..."

Among all the things Hawke expected to find with the Inquisition when he followed Varric’s call, a reason to survive this new blight as sweet and enticing as Dorian Pavus was not one of them. It’s been a while since he had such motivation to return home in one piece and while he stands there, the gentle caress of fingers in his hair and a loving gaze on him, he acknowledges that for the first time in years life feels finally like more than just surviving again.

“Do you mean to say you don’t like my new perfume? Freshly ground demon with a hint of deepstalker. At least I hope that’s what’s dripping down my neck,” Hawke offers with his usual level of seriousness. The kiss he’s given is decidedly too short and he chases it for a moment, but Dorian is out of reach too quickly.

he  accepted  the  touch  greedily,  back  bowed  as  a  plant  toward  sunlight.     hard  features  melted  for  those  fingertips  with  ease,  as  did  the  taut  line  of  his  mouth  soften  and  part  for  his  love.   other  inquisition soldiers  bustled  about  them,  back  from  another  excursion,  but  their  well  meant  teasing  went  unnoticed.

‘   surely  you  didn’t  miss  little  ol’  me  !   ’     his  own  teasing  came  paired  with  a  grin  that  crinkled  the  burgeoning  crow’s  feet  about  his  eyes.     ‘   i  seem  to  recall  that  i  was  a   -   what  was  it  you  said   ...   a  reckless  fool,  before  i  left  ?   ’

Send “Adore me” for my muse to describe yours sensually. // Selectively Accepting─ @witandcharm

In earnest, Solas had come up to the library in search of a book that would shed a little more light onto the how various magicks interacted with the veil. Though when he was done picking out all the books that could possibly contain something useful, it was clear that it was a task too big to accomplish alone. 

Thankfully, he didn’t even need to ask. Once Dorian saw the load of books Solas was picking out, he quickly offered to lend a hand with the arduous task of combing through them, and Solas was not so foolish as to turn him down. With books sprawled out into an organized mess on the floor, hours passed with the two of them pressed into multiple books at once. It honestly came as a surprise to Solas when he noticed that he was no longer actually reading the words on the page and instead found himself staring at Dorian out from behind his book. 

Dorian was an attractive man. There was no getting around that. Insofar as aesthetics, putting aside anything else that made a person alluring, it was not subjective taste but objective fact. And thus Solas took no shame in noticing him. Of course, it still wouldn’t be anything he would ever dare to speak out loud, lest anyone start to think he was wholly attracted to him. But, in the privacy of his own mind, he allowed himself the observation.

Elegantly disheveled hair that seemed soft as silk, and styled in that feathered, layered, undercut.  Solas had berated him before for how much effort he put into his appearance, but in this moment, he admired such attention to detail. Strong, focused eyebrows accentuated his piercing eyes. What color were they, exactly? He narrowed his gaze in focus but couldn’t tell from the distance. If only he could get closer, just to know... Moving on, his eyes passed over his handsome, angled jawline and distinguished nose. He looked almost like a marble statue, flawless, except for that one mark upon his right cheekbone that seemed almost intentionally placed. The mustache, Solas thought, was a step too far; Dorian’s taste for the over dramatic literally worn on his face, but all the same it was a statement Solas was keen on reading. Inevitably his eyes fell to Dorian’s full and no doubt practiced lips. He lingered there for a beat too long, not daring to think more on them but being trapped there all the same. 

‘👄 + CHARACTER NAME’ AND MY MUSE WILL SAY IF THEY FIND THEM ATTRACTIVE.

he   almost   expected   not   to   see   him    ,    perhaps   too     distracted     by   the   idea   of   the   long   journey   ahead    ,    or   getting   some   well   deserved   rest   before   the   venture   out.     the   commander   was   busy   gazing   over   paperwork   that   could   barely   hold   his   attention    ,    his   mind   somewhere   else   in   this   particular   moment.     it    was   often   that   he   was   caught   thinking   of   the   mage               once   a   sworn   off   enemy                now   someone   he   couldn’t   imagine   a   life   without.     a   man   written   with   sorrows   kept   lock   and   key   while   keeping   a   steady   head   held   high   above   those   he   surrounds    ...    a   valiant   effort    ,    BUT     ONE     CULLEN     COULD     SEE     RIGHT     THROUGH.     maybe   that   is   why   he     admired     him   so   much.     saw   past   his   flaws   and   underneath   the   pain    ,    to   love   him   for   who   he   was   now. 

the   sound   of   hinges   struggling   under   the   pressure   of   being   opened   cause   him   to   crawl   away   from   his   thoughts    ,    drawn     to   the   one   now   entering   his   chambers.     he   half   expected   one   of   his   scouts   to   be   the   culprit   of   disruption     ;;     SURPRISED     to   see   dorian   standing   before   him.     he   almost   can’t   help   a   smile   from   arriving   against   his   features    ,    happy   to   see   the   mage     more     than     he     was     willing     to     admit.

“    it’s    late    ...    “     he   comments   on   the   obvious    ,    leaning   back   in   his   chair   as   he   let   out   a   soft   sigh.     his   attempts   to   show   nothing   was   on   his   mind     failing     miserably.    “    you    should    be    getting    your    rest    ,    you    wouldn’t    want    to    be    exhausted    for    the    road    ahead   tomorrow.    “

Dorian’s words are met with a scoff and what seems to be a smirk. It cuts through the dwarf’s impassive expression well enough, but anyone who’s ever met Varric could tell the difference between this vague tug of lips and one of his devilish grins. Someone like Dorian would certainly never miss it. WHATEVER. It’s not as if Varric can pretend he’s at peak performance anyway, not when he’s been eyeing the steady flickers of the fire long enough for someone to call him out on it. 

Tired clear eyes turn, his body shifts. Maker, the log he’s been sitting on is so uncomfortable he makes a mental note to always sit on the floor whenever they make camp. Where he sits is a variable he can control, after all, while the aching muscles and bruised skin are part of the job. Truth be told, he wouldn’t mind the PAIN so much if he at least got to feel like himself after the action was done. In Kirkwall he fought all the time and enjoyed it, but in Kirkwall his foes bled on hard cobblestone, while here their blood spills on the soil, turning dirt into mud that ruins his favorite boots. Traipsing through the countryside is simply not for him. Gosh, how he misses being in the city. How he misses that city, specifically. 

      “Don’t we all, Sparkler?” 

His smile is honest and characteristically mischievous, now. He might be brooding over his extreme homesickness and the taxing field work he’s been tasked with for weeks on end, but he knows Dorian will relate to that.

tell grayson i’ll fist fight him in the denny’s parking lot over that eye sore jkladfksdf;