sundials ain't meant to be in the shade, darling

here is my submission for the @secret-st-waidwen-exchange !!! my person was @the-vet01 i hope you like it!!!

I LOVE THIS!!!!!!

Chapters: 4/? Fandom: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zevran Arainai/Female Warden, Zevran Arainai/Female Cousland Characters: Female Warden (Dragon Age), Female Cousland (Dragon Age), Alistair (Dragon Age), Morrigan (Dragon Age), Leliana (Dragon Age), Wynne (Dragon Age), Sten (Dragon Age), Warden’s Mabari (Dragon Age), Oghren (Dragon Age), Shale (Dragon Age) Additional Tags: No Beta We Die Like Duncan, Slow Burn, or as slow as this romance gets anyway, Demisexual Warden, Hurt/Comfort, 5+1 Things, it’s just a very long version of that tbh, Gift Giving, Fluff and Angst, perfectly balanced as all things should be, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, First Kiss, Canon-Typical Violence, MOSTLY canon compliant actually, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added Series: Part 1 of Tales of the Fifth Blight Summary:

Set during the events of the Fifth Blight. Five times that the Grey Warden who would later become the Hero of Ferelden gave her would-be assassin a treasure that he could not repay, and the one time he repaid it.

Cats/Love/Safety

Process and thoughts under the cut

"I love you, Zevran. I hope you know that."

"Yes... Yes, I know that."

Archdemon aftermath

Reposting my magpies because I love them. And they love each other.

"I think you're royally tough to kill...and utterly gorgeous."

Forgive me for the extended metaphor but I also want to simultaneously celebrate what I’m calling Bakery Display Case Philosophy. You know when you walk into a bakery and the display case is full of beautiful treats? And there’s a variety of different colors, textures, and flavors to discover? And that’s so deeply exciting?

You might say to yourself, “No one is going to want to read this pairing. No one is going to want to want a character study of that character. No one wants genfic in this fandom, only shipfic.”

And you might use that to discourage yourself from writing a certain fic.

Fandoms, like bakeries, need cakes and cookies and éclairs and cream puffs and shortbread and brownies and pies and tarts and petit fours and turnovers and cinnamon rolls and madeleines and meringues—and so many other things—to survive.