Chapter Text
Lavellan could swear that when she walked into Solas’ rotunda that day, she had no intention of ending up in her current position, which was straddling Solas’ lap while he sat on the couch. She wasn’t very sure of how they’d ended up in that position, not that she’d complain, but still, she could promise she had not gone there for that.
She had gone to speak with Solas about Corypheus, to review all their information about him. At some point, she’d sat on the couch while Solas explained her what he knew. Then, he joined her. Then…then she wasn’t very sure how the conversation had turned into kissing.
The kiss had soon heated into something more, with Lavellan moving to straddle his lap, all thoughts of Corypheus and even where they were gone from her mind, as it always seemed to happen when Solas kissed her like he was starved and she was all he needed.
His hands on her hips caressed their way to her thighs, then to her ass, squeezing it and pushing her even closer. Lavellan moaned softly into the kiss, grounding down on him, and Solas gasped, their lips parting as he pulled back from the kiss.
“Vhenan…” He breathed. “We shouldn’t…”
This again. He always kissed her senseless, made her feel all heated and crazy with want, just to stop at the last moment. Lavellan wasn’t sure how much more her frustration could take. He never told her why, and it only added to it.
“I think we should,” she replied, barely a whisper, kissing him again and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She could feel he wanted her too, hardening under her, but still, she made herself pull back, just in case she was reading this wrong and he didn’t want it.
“Do you want to stop?”She asked quietly, leaning her forehead against his.
“Want?” Solas let out a humorless snort, his forehead nudging hers as he shook his head no.
“Then don’t.”
Lavellan rocked on his lap, purposely grinding against him. Whatever Solas was going to say, probably some variation on how they shouldn’t, turned into a moan that sounded heavenly to her ears. He kissed her again then, his hands back on her ass, holding her to him.
His lips moved from hers to her neck, kissing the underside of her jaw, then a spot under her ear, and the feeling had her rolling her hips against his again. His gasp against the skin of her neck made her shiver in delight, and she hummed as he kept kissing her sensitive skin, until his lips reached the high collar of her shirt.
Lavellan let go of Solas’ shoulders so she could unbutton the high collar, while Solas’ hands, still on her ass, held her securely to him. She began to undo the buttons, tugging the fabric loose and open, while Solas kissed her newly exposed skin as she went.
She kept going past the neck, opening the buttons down her neckline, tugging open the fabric so Solas could keep going, kissing down her cleavage. Solas placed warm, open-mouthed kisses on the exposed skin at the top of her breasts as he grasped her ass tighter.
Lavellan tilted her head back with a moan, pressing down against him, one of her hands flying to the back of his head, desperate for more.
A loud thump next to them startled them both. Solas lifted his head from her breasts, removing his hands from her butt but keeping his arms around her, holding her securely to his chest as he looked around, scanning the room for threats while Lavellan did the same, half expecting a breach to show up there somehow, spitting demons.
There was no threat, breach, or demons, though, but a big, heavy book that seemed to have fallen from the library upstairs, barely missing the couch.
“Ups, my bad,” came Dorian’s voice from upstairs. “I hope it didn’t hit anyone…but that’s the perils when you set your quarters under a library in which people are researching, right Solas? No need to bring it back, I’ll go get the book myself.”
Lavellan almost jumped from Solas’ lap, rushing to get up, remembering where they were and afraid Dorian was about to walk on them like that.
“Apologies, vhenan, I forgot myself,” Solas mumbled while he got up too, seeming a bit flustered and out of breath…Lavellan guessed she probably looked just the same.
“No, don’t apologize,” Lavellan replied. The only thing Solas could apologize for was not choosing a more private place to set his quarters.
She hurried to button up her shirt again, so Dorian didn’t walk in to see the Inquisitor with her boobs practically falling out of the garment, and Solas reached to help her. When they heard the heavy wooden door opening, they pulled away as if they were burning…considering how heated Lavellan was feeling, it wouldn’t surprise her that much if her skin could actually burn Solas’ fingers.
“Good afternoon,” Dorian greeted as he walked in. “Apologies again, the book just slipped past my fingers.”
Lavellan didn’t know if he’d gotten a peak of them from upstairs, or if he’d heard them, or if he’d just had a lucky guess, but with the way Dorian was looking at them, she knew he knew what he’d interrupted.
Lavellan wasn’t sure if she should throw the book to his face or actually thank him for reminding them where they were and how little private Solas’ rotunda actually was.
“So, how’s your research going?” Dorian asked with an arched eyebrow. “Great, I bet.”
“It’s…” Lavellan’s brain suddenly seemed unable to recall a single thing about what she and Solas had talked about before ending up on the couch. “...going.”
Dorian snorted at her coming short of words, his amusement growing. At least, he was not openly commenting on what she and Solas were doing instead of researching, though Lavellan knew better than to expect no teasing from him on that matter from then on.
“We weren’t researching, merely putting in common what we know and the information we have until now,” Solas said, more articulately than her. “I thought you were the one researching…still for nothing, I presume.”
Lavellan rolled her eyes. The last thing she needed was Solas and Dorian bickering or, as Varric and she called it, engaging in their contest to see who had the biggest staff. Did they really not see how silly they sounded when they got at it? So much for the wise mages…
“Oh, I am researching, I swear if you follow me around you’ll see my face buried only in books and not in other places.” Dorian shrugged, all innocent and serious looking despite his obvious teasing.
Solas gave him a murderous look, but the blush that spread across his cheeks and the top of his ears took away from it. It was kind of cute, but Lavellan knew that he’d be beyond mortified if she pointed it out.
“Are you still trying to find his real name?” She asked, trying to steer the conversation into serious matters.
Dorian nodded, picking up the book from the floor. “Once I know who he really is, I’ll expose him to the magisterium.”
“Okay…” Lavellan didn’t know much about Tevinter’s magisterium but she trusted Dorian knew what he was doing. “Let’s get to it, then.”
*
Lavellan walked into the tavern, heading to the bar. She tried to do so every couple of days or so, to ask the bartender how was morale doing. There were always people there, drinking, sometimes looking rather down, other times celebrating victory. The Iron Bull and his Chargers had taken residence there, and Lavellan waved at them.
The minstrel was singing a song about Sera. It was quite catchy, but Sera herself, who was sitting on a wooden banister, looked rather unhappy about it. Lavellan’d heard her muttering how the song was creepy, although the Inquisitor found it cute.
“Good day to you, Cabot,” Lavellan greeted the bartender. “How’s people lately?”
“Fine. Drunk. Got some complaints about you having time to bed your allies,” Cabot said and Lavellan blinked at him, feeling frozen in place. Had she heard right? “I don’t judge. Much.”
She had heard right. Lavellan gaped like a fish out of water. How and why were people saying that? Had Dorian told people about Solas and her? No, he might tease them, but he wouldn’t go around talking about them.
There were many things she wanted to say. Many things that she should say, like how it was nobody's business. Or why wouldn’t she be allowed some happiness and love, in her sparse free time? Wasn’t she doing enough, wasn’t she fighting enough, sacrificing enough. Were they going to judge her forever, no matter what?
Instead of saying anything of that, though, she heard herself saying, in a slightly panicked and high-pitched voice that didn’t seem her own, “there were no beds, only a couch.”
What, why would she say something like this?! Now the situation was even more embarrassing, if that was even possible.
Lavellan heard Sera’s laugh and she turned to see her looking so amused, that it made Lavellan feel more embarrassed and upset. Was it her who’d told people about Solas and her? How did she know? Or she didn’t know and had just wanted to joke around for her own amusement.
“On the couch!” Sera cackled, running upstairs when Lavellan rushed to her…she didn’t know why, she was probably looking even worse, running after Sera like an idiot while she kept laughing. “Did he call out ‘elven glory’? I bet he did!”
Still laughing, seeming thoroughly amused, Sera rushed into her room and tried to close the door in Lavellan’s face, but she was quick enough to get into the room too.
“Stop it!” She demanded, upset, but Sera just burst into another fit of giggles. “Is it you who’s been saying those rumors about Solas and me?”
“Rumors? You just said you did it on the couch!” Sera kept laughing and Lavellan was more and more mortified. Why’d she say something like that…and why would she run after Sera afterward. “Besides, no, I didn’t! It’s pretty obvious with how you two look at each other…ugh.”
“We don’t look at each other in any way.” Lavellan hated how childish she sounded. She thought they’d been keeping it private…
“Sure you don’t!” Sera huffed. “You look at him, like, all…Oh, Solas, come here!” She mimicked a high-pitched voice, dreamy eyes, and then smooching sounds, before pulling a face. “It’s embarrassing and disgusting, really. And he? Even more disgusting! Looking at you like he wants to eat you, ugh.”
“He doesn’t look at me like that!” Lavellan felt heat spreading across her cheeks…but maybe Sera had a point, the way Solas looked at her sometimes made her feel…things.
Sera snorted. “He does. The other day, you were sitting judgment, and he was looking at you like he wanted to kneel right there and eat you…yikes.” Sera put on a face before cackling again. “Better bang him on the couch than on the throne, though.”
Lavellan felt her face on fire, and she tried very hard not to imagine Solas kneeling between her thighs while she was on her throne. “I haven’t banged him on the couch!”
“But you just said-”
“I know what I said,” Lavellan interrupted her. “I just…I was just pissed at people talking about my love life…” Not only that, but also talking like she didn’t deserve one.
“You’re the Inquisitor.” Sera shrugged. “People’s gonna talk and gossip about you no matter what.”
“Yeah, I can see that…” Lavellan scoffed. It’d been like that since back in Haven. “I hate it anyway.”
“Why do you care?” Sera shrugged again. “Just ignore them, or better yet, scandalize them more!” Sera laughed. “But maybe Josephine will have a heart attack. She wants it all to be so proper,” she scoffed.
“Wait until she hears that the Inquisitor was shouting at the tavern that she banged the elven apostate on his couch,” Lavellan groaned, mortified, and Sera laughed again.
“But why have you not done it for real?” Sera asked and Lavellan just shrugged…if only she knew herself why Solas kept backing out. “I think you should…I mean, it’s disgusting, but I think maybe if you get Solas laid it’d fix whatever is wrong with him.”
“Nothing’s wrong with him!”
“Sure it isn’t.” Sera snorted. “And I think you need to get laid too…even if it’s with Solas.” She made a face of disgust, cackling when Lavellan huffed. “You deserve it. Every time you win a fight, he should get his face bet-”
“I really, really don’t want to keep talking about this,” Lavellan rushed to stop Sera’s lewd comments. “I’m gonna go and try to do some damage control, say I was trying to joke or something…”
“Pfff…good luck with that.”
Sera’s laugh echoed as Lavellan walked out of her room.
*
When Lavellan walked to Solas’ rotunda, her mood was sour. She had caught some more insinuated comments about her love life and some looks, and she felt pretty done with the day. As she went to open the door, she heard someone snickering behind her, and she turned to glare at everything and everyone, but couldn’t catch the culprit.
Solas smiled when she walked in, but it turned into a frown when he noticed her face, as if reading her mood.
“Something wrong?” He asked.
“No, not really.” She didn’t want to tell him about the rumors. She didn’t want them perhaps ruining his mood too, and maybe turning him self-conscious. The last thing she needed was Solas pulling away from her. “But I just feel done with people for today…no matter what, nothing I do is enough and it almost seems like I don’t deserve anything good of my own,” she ranted.
Solas moved closer to her and took her hand in his. “What happened, vhenan?”
Lavellan considered telling him, but it still felt too embarrassing. She shook her head with a sigh. “I’m just tired of people acting like I’m not a person, just, The Inquisitor, always ready to be used…”
Solas squeezed her hand gently, but before any of them could say anything else, the door opened, revealing Sera there, grinning as she aimed her bow at…them?
“What are you doing?!” Lavellan yelled, she was not scared, just perplexed and angrier.
Sera just laughed, losing an arrow that embedded into Solas’s desk. With a curse, Lavellan jumped to grab Sera, hearing Solas curse in that way he reserved for the rogue, but Sera was quicker, closing the door in Lavellan’s face. When she reopened it, Sera’d disappeared through any of Skyhold’s multiple, labyrinthic corridors.
“Ignore her, vhenan, don’t go running after her,” Solas said, sounding as pissed as her. Sure, the Inquisitor running after Sera yet again, in a hall full of people, would have people talking and giving Josephine a headache.
“What in Mythal’s name has gotten into her…” Lavellan wasn’t sure if she was more angry or confused.
Sera and Solas tended to argue, but it was usually childish and petty (not that Lavellan would say that to any of them and become the new target of their disagreement), but it’d never escalated into shooting at each other…this was probably another of Sera’s odd pranks, but someone should talk some safety into her.
Lavellan turned to inspect the arrow on the desk and saw that Solas was tearing a paper from it. So the prank was not only shooting arrows but also leaving notes with them. Sure, who needed Leliana’s ravens when they had Sera’s arrows.
“So, what is it?” Lavellan asked but Solas didn’t answer, eyes on the note. He made to crumple it, seeming flustered, but Lavellan’s curiosity took the best of her and she reached for the paper.
On it, there were only two words “eat her” and then the doodle of a cat…a pussycat, Sera’d say.
“Oh…” Lavellan said, feeling her cheeks heating…why had she told anything to Sera?
The door opened again, saving them from having to acknowledge the note that Solas quickly crumpled. This time, it was Varric who walked in.
“Was that Sera shooting at you two?” He asked, eyeing the arrow on the desk.
“One of her new pranks, it seems,” Lavellan sighed and Solas scoffed. He still seemed flustered, though Lavellan wasn’t sure if it was due to the note or to Sera’s arrow-shooting antics. Both, probably. “Who cares she might fail and kill one of us.”
“It could be worse.” Dorian’s voice came from upstairs and Lavellan looked up to see him leaning over the library’s banister. “She could have thrown a bottle of bees. She likes that.”
Lavellan grimaced. “Did many people see her?” She asked Varric, who nodded.
“Most of the hall, they’re talking about what’s going on with her now,” he confirmed and Lavellan let out a frustrated groan. “Wait until Josephine hears about it.”
“I’m going out, and you all are coming with me,” Lavellan was more begging than commanding. “We’re going to loudly talk about how good our ‘surprise attack defense’ drills are going. Save Josephine the trouble.”
“If you say so, Inquisitor,” Varric chuckled.
“Then, any of you is going to distract Sera while I fill her quiver with ants.”
*
Today had been an odd day for the Inquisitor.
Instead of researching their enemies, training, listening to reports, planning, and everything else she did on an usual day, she’d been studying Orlesian politique and learning about etiquette and manners with Josephine. She’d even practiced ballroom dancing with her.
Definitely, an odd day for Lavellan.
It was late in the evening and almost everyone had retired to their quarters by the time Lavellan walked into Solas’ rotunda.
“Vhenan.” Solas was on his desk, studying some papers, but he looked up to smile at her when she walked in. “Do you know everything about proper Orlesian etiquette?” He joked.
“Almost everything. I think Josephine’s going to test me tomorrow.” Lavellan snorted, rolling her eyes. “Do you know what else I’ve been practicing? Ballroom dancing.”
“Oh?” Solas arched an eyebrow at her.
“Yes…do you happen to know anything about ballroom dancing?”
“As a matter of fact, yes I do,” Solas replied, taking Lavellan by surprise. She’d not expected that.
“Really? Where did you learn? Have you ever been at a ball before?” Lavellan couldn’t imagine him, considering what she knew of him, the lonely mage who studied the Fade and dreamed, but who knew.
Solas seemed a bit uncomfortable at her questions and Lavellan wondered if she was being intrusive, but she couldn’t help how curious and intrigued she was.
“I’ve seen some at the Fade,” he finally answered. Lavellan supposed it made sense, but she was still a bit unsure of how the Fade and Solas dreaming worked.
“Did you ballroom danced with spirits? It sounds good.” Lavellan half-joked and Solas gave her a half-smile.
“Something like that.”
“Dance with me now, then.” Lavellan smiled, reaching to take Solas’ hand. “So I’ll have more practice and I’ll surprise Josephine tomorrow with my improved technique.
“My pleasure, vhenan.”
Solas got up and Lavellan giggled when he pulled her to him. His hand was lower on her back and he held closer than it was probably proper in Orlesian etiquette, but Lavellan was certainly now going to complain.
She smiled as she let him guide her, feeling butterflies in her belly at the way Solas looked at her while they danced without music.
Eventually, she stopped, letting go of Solas’ hand to wrap her arms around his neck instead and kiss him.
“Is this a step in orlesian ball dances?” Solas joked.
“Only if I get to dance with you,” she answered before kissing him again.
“Dancing with the elven apostate won’t be good for the Inquisitor’s reputation,” Solas said.
“I don’t care.” She didn’t, she refused to hide Solas as if this was something to be ashamed of, and everyone was talking anyway.
Lavellan kissed him again and Solas pulled her to him with his hands on her hips, holding her so tight to him that Lavellan had to almost cling to his shoulders to keep upright and stay on her feet, bending back at the intensity of his kisses. She felt like she was melting, dizzy and light-headed almost, and still she couldn’t get enough.
She took a few steps back, struggling to keep her balance, and her ass hit Solas’ desk. He pushed at her until she sat down on it, opening her legs to accommodate him between them.
Solas let go of her hips to instead hold her face, kissing her deeply, before he moved from her lips to place kisses down her jaw and neck. Lavellan was wearing one of her high-collared shirts and she rushed to unbutton it, leaving more skin free for Solas to kiss, shivering in delight at the feeling of her hot mouth on her sensitive skin.
She kept unbuttoning past her neckline, reaching her cleavage. She forced herself to open her eyes, glancing upstairs. She couldn’t hear anyone at the library and it was late, probably everyone was already gone. Solas sucked on her neck and she gasped, squeezing her thighs to his sides, her fingers moving again, unbuttoning her shirt past her chest, not stopping until it was fully open.
Solas pulled away from her neck to look down at her now open shirt, nothing under it, before leaning to hold his forehead against hers, nudging it ever so slightly. He slid a hand down her exposed skin, caressing it softly, from her neck down to her chest, his fingers brushing her nipple as he cupped her breast, making Lavellan gasp and press closer to him, kissing his lips again, while Solas’ hand kept its journey down, leaving a trail of warmth on Lavellan’s skin as he caressed her.
Solas pulled back from her lips to lower his mouth to her neck, trailing a path of kisses down the length of it, past her collarbone, down to her chest.
He kissed a spot between her breasts and then moved to kiss her nipple. His warm tongue brushed over it before he sucked it into his mouth and Lavellan let out a moan, pressing her thighs harder against him and crossing her legs behind his hips, trying to push him closer to her.
She felt Solas gasp against her breast at it, before he circled her nipple with his tongue, moving then to her other breast, kissing his way to her nipple and giving it the same treatment. Lavellan placed a hand at the back of Solas’ head as her hips rocked and writhled, trying to brush and press against him.
Solas released her nipple and trailed a path of warm, open-mouthed kisses down her body, unwrapping her legs from him so he could fall to his knees, kissing her lower belly, before pulling back to look at her. The sight of him knelt between her thighs almost made Lavellan moan.
Solas had her hands half over her naked skin, half over the waist of her trousers, and Lavellan rocked her hips again, trying to lift them to him and encourage him to keep going, if he wanted to. She really hoped he wanted to. It seemed like so, with that hunger in his eyes and that way of looking at her like he was starving for her, but it was not the first time he stopped when things got heated between them, though they’d never gone this far.
His fingers pressed harder on her warm skin and Lavellan let out a small, needy sound, her hips writhing again, desperate for more of his touch. Solas smirked at it and leaned over to kiss her belly.
He pulled back so he could unbuckle her boots, taking them off, and then he hooked his fingers on the waistband of her uniform trousers, looking at Lavellan’s face, waiting. She lifted her hips, trying to encourage him and help him take off her trousers, and so he did, sliding them down her legs along with her small clothes, leaving her completely exposed.
“Vhenan…” Solas whispered as his hands caressed up her thighs.
Her only response was a small, needy moan. Liquid heat pooled between her legs, and the heated way Solas was looking at her, like he couldn’t wait to devour her, was not helping.
Lavellan thought he was about to bury his head between her thighs, and her hips bucked towards him at the thought, but instead, Solas pulled back slightly to kiss her ankle, then up her calf, placing her leg over his shoulder.
His lips reached her thigh, placing open-mouthed kisses on it, while his hand caressed and kneaded her other thigh, opening her leg wider. He kissed her inner thigh and Lavellan called his name in a needy whisper, the ache between her legs unbearable.
Finally, he lowered his mouth to her. His tongue slidded up her wetness, slowly, and Lavellan took in a shaky breath, closing her eyes. She moaned when his tongue reached her clit, circling it, and her head tilted back. She reached a hand behind her, trying to grab onto the desk somehow so she wouldn’t fall back on it, her other hand flying to Solas’ head.
Small moans and gasps left her lips as his tongue kept pleasuring her, every nerve on her feeling like it was on fire. He stroked Solas’ scalp, gently first, but when he sucked on her clit, she couldn’t help but push his head closer to her with a moan.
His slow pace, with lazy, deep licks along her wetness and clit, alternating with his warm lips sucking her nub, was maddening and yet it felt so, so good.
Her hips kept writhing and lifting, trying to rock onto his mouth, and as they picked their pace, so did Solas, his tongue flicking her clit before sucking on it again. Lavellan moaned, and her thighs tried to close around his head, but Solas kept them open, grabbing them tight, and he moaned into her, making her cry out again.
Whimpers and moans kept falling down her lips as Solas kept going, his tongue and lips moving on her until she couldn’t take it anymore, the pleasure building up until she exploded.
Lavellan cried out, pushing Solas’ face even closer to her while her quivering thighs closed around his head again. This time Solas let them, moving one of his hands to hold her ass instead, squeezing.
His lips were wrapped around her clit, sucking on it as she climaxed, and he kept going while she spasmed and moaned, slowing down only when her grip on his head relaxed. Lavellan stroked his head, trying to catch her breath while small moans still fell down her lips.
When her thighs stopped shaking and fell open, her legs unwrapping from around him, Solas pulled back, kissing her thigh a few times before looking up at her. Lavellan smiled at him, feeling a bit out of herself still, and she caressed his face, cupping his cheek and brushing her thumb over his lips, wet with her moisture.
The intensity with which he was looking at her made her belly flutter and her heart squeeze. He seemed as out of breath as her, and Lavellan tugged at him gently until he got back onto his feet.
“Come here, ma’arlath,” she whispered to him. Holding his face, she leaned to kiss him, and Solas seemed to almost melt into her as he kissed her back, holding her tight to him.
Lavellan slid a hand down his body, reaching the hem of his shirt and pushing it under it, caressing his warm skin, and she felt Solas taking a sharp breath against her lips. She moved to kiss his neck instead and Solas let out a half-gasp, half-moan.
“Vhenan…” He whispered, shivering when Lavellan trailed a path of kisses across his neck.
When she slid her hand down towards his groin, though, Solas reached to stop it, taking her hand on his. Lavellan pulled back to look at his face, worried that something might be wrong. Solas didn’t say anything, but lifted her hand to his lips, kissing it.
“Are you okay?” Lavellan asked him quietly, and Solas nodded with a soft smile.
“You?” He asked back, his voice huskier than Lavellan was expecting.
She smiled. “I believe I need another word…I’m much, much better than okay.”
Solas’ smile turned into a smirk, and he let out a low chuckle before he leaned to kiss her again. Lavellan didn’t try to touch him again or pushed him for more, this was the further they’d gone without Solas pulling away and stopping, and she didn’t want to risk it, even if she wanted to make him feel as good as he’d made her feel. She could wait.
Solas pulled back and reached down to take her small clothes and her trousers, sliding them up her legs again, and Lavellan wiggled until her trousers were back in place. Next, he got her boots, carefully putting them back on her feet and buckling them. Lastly, he carefully buttoned up her shirt.
Once she was dressed again, Solas gave her lips a soft, brief kiss, and pulled back, holding her hands on his and helping her off the desk. Her legs felt a bit shaky and bobbly, she felt like she might just melt or perhaps float, and Lavellan had to hold to Solas to keep her balance. She didn’t miss his quick smirk at it.
Lavellan wasn’t sure of what to do or what to say now, they’d never done anything like this before…she knew she wanted to stay with Solas as long as she could, though, and have him hold her again.
“I know it’s late but do you mind if I stay here with you for a bit longer?” She asked.
Solas smiled in a way that made Lavellan’s heart skip a beat. “Of course, vhenan.”
He took a book from his desk and walked her to the couch with her hand on his, sitting down and pulling her close until Lavellan was snuggled against his chest, his arms wrapped around her and the book angled in a way so she could read it too.