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Evelyn Trevelyan swished through the elf Solas’ study with a curt nod and a quick compliment for the new addition to the mural he was painting in the rotunda. She had become accustomed to using his room as a shortcut to the Inquisition Commander’s office on the Skyhold battlements. Typically, the quiet elf barely looked up from his studies or painting when she breezed through, but today he called out for her to stop. She turned toward him abruptly - aggravated that he was slowing her progress but the steady look in his steely blue eyes cooled her temper.
“What’s wrong, Solas?” she asked concerned because the elf so rarely spoke to her outside of their regular luncheon meetings. The few times he had sought her out inevitably led to revelations much deeper than she was prepared to handle so early in the morning. “Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if you might consider moving the Commander’s offices closer. It would certainly save you a great deal of exercise and me an equal amount of interruption.” Solas drawled in his typical hypnotically cadenced speech. He insouciantly watched as Evelyn’s eyes widened while her cheeks went red then gave a small grin to show his jest.
“Solas, I’m sorry I’ve been so rude. I can find another route. I just ...” her voice trailed off as she realized how often she had been using this particular shortcut recently. And she had been telling herself that she was playing it cool with Commander Cullen. If her infatuation was so obvious that the taciturn elf was teasing her about it, then she knew it was hopeless to keep fighting it.
“No need to find another route. I had wondered if my suspicions about why the frequency of your visits to Cullen’s office had increased exponentially were accurate.” Solas opined with a devious smile. “And from the blush of your cheeks, I can tell my assumptions were correct.”
An elegant voice drifted down from the floor above them as the suave Tevinter mage Dorian added, “You could at least consider the terrible draft you let in each time you race off to ogle the strapping young templar, dear.”
Evelyn’s felt her face growing redder. So Dorian was selling her out, too. Maker’s breath ... she thought as it dawned on her that the Inquisition’s spymaster Leliana was peering down from her third floor perch in the rookery with a bemused look on her normally impassive face. Deciding that a hasty retreat was her best option rather than face more scrutiny, Evelyn bolted for the door hearing the raucous laughter of her friends echo behind her.
Once she had slammed the door to Solas’ study with an emphatic thud, Evelyn slowed her pace. Luckily, the bridge leading to Cullen’s office was less windy than usual, so Evelyn took her time crossing thinking of how best to approach this situation. Her innocent flirtations (well, so they weren’t always innocent she had asked if he had taken vows of celibacy once on a dare from Iron Bull) did not seem to be registering with the commander. She was going to have to be more direct about her feelings if she ever wanted to find out if he was willing to be more than her advisor and friend. There was just no way around it. If she could face demons and dragons, surely she could ask the golden haired Fereldan if he had any interest in her beyond the strictly professional.
Chest tight and stomach in knots, Evelyn turned the handle to the heavy wooden door leading to Cullen’s office. By the Maker’s grace, it was empty except for Cullen who was shuffling papers that were stacked all over his desk. Why does he have to be so gorgeous? she thought as she took a deep breath and croaked out, “I thought we might talk... alone.” Well that was smooth... she chided herself.
Cullen’s startled expressions and breathy “Alone?” response had her ready to run, but she stayed the course. Walking with him along the battlements silently for a few minutes, she worked up the courage to admit to him that she couldn’t stop thinking about him well all the time and wondered if he would be able to have feelings for her - especially given that she was a mage. His adorably awkward response that he could and did care for her set her heart racing. Then as Cullen leaned in to kiss her one of Leliana’s messengers interrupted. Evelyn wasn’t entirely convinced that the wickedly devious Leliana hadn’t sent the messenger just then as a prank.
While Evelyn tried to hide her embarrassment at the situation, Cullen whirled on the young man growling, “What???” with such ferocity that Evelyn felt a mixture of fear and desire. The messenger stammered something about a report that Cullen had wanted right away. Noticing Cullen’s near murderous irritation and Evelyn’s awkward attempts to look casual, the young man skittered away declaring he would just put the reports on Cullen’s desk. Evelyn worried that the moment might be lost, but Cullen grabbed her waist and kissed her like man possessed. “That was umm... nice.” Cullen whispered. Evelyn beamed and replied, “That was just what I wanted.” before they kissed again.