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Faena found out something very important about Solas completely by accident. One ordinary night they were lying together, his arms around her as they drifted into sleep. Just before she let sleep take her, a fuzzy thought popped into her head; something that vaguely smacked of philosophy.
“Solas?” She asked, unsure if he was awake, her fatigued brain making her mouth roll the sound around.
“Hm?” The other elf replied.
“You know how they say that people see colours differently..?”
“Hm.”
“Well I wondered what colour you see your eyes as.”
“Grey.”
“No!” She said with a giggle. “What colour exactly? For example, I see them as a bluey-grey. Oh! Slate grey.” She nodded as if to congratulate herself on finding the word.
“I don’t think about such things.” He replied.
“Aw, come on! What colour do you see my eyes as?”
“Burnt gold. Light from the setting sun warming the ground, one last comfort before the inevitable cold of the encroaching night. Home.” Faena blinked in surprise.
“So much for not ‘thinking about these things’.” She teased with a laugh as she looked up at him, but her eyes found his face the relaxed expression of one deeply asleep. “Solas?” She ventured, but he did not respond this time. And sure enough, she could feel him in the Fade, like a caress on the wall that was lifted between her mind and the land of dreams that was present when she was awake. Soon enough she was with him, sitting in the garden of a deserted Skyhold. It was where they met in the Fade, familiar enough that she could find it, but made strange by the slight differences. He had manipulated the space so that purple flowers covered all of the ground; violets, bluebells, forget-me-nots, lavender. She wondered when she had told him that they were her favourites.
“Couldn’t sleep, vhenan?”
“Well we were having such a riveting discussion…”
“Oh? What about?” Faena blinked.
“You don’t remember?” She asked, and he shook his head with an amused look on his face.
“I was probably asleep.”
“Oh…”
“Why, what were we discussing?” Faena paused before answering.
“Just some rubbish about colours.” She said with a grin. Solas laughed and pulled her into his arms.
“That does sound like something you would talk about that would put me to sleep.”
“Rude.” He laughed again and kissed the top of her head.
“Where do you want to go tonight?”
***
She thought about their conversation over the course of the next week while they were apart, her in Val Royeaux for some talks with nobles, and he left behind in Skyhold to help train the mages in the ways of the Rift Mage. Faena often had to be prodded subtly by Cassandra when she didn’t answer right away, because of being lost in thought. She hoped that maybe the nobles believed that she was giving great thought to their trivial questions.
She eventually came to two conclusions. The first, that there must be a period of time where Solas was asleep but not yet in the fade, in which one could speak to him and he would apparently answer without the very careful control that he normally exhibited. The second conclusion was that it was very good thing to know about someone who spoke half-truths and kept a tight rein on himself. But something didn’t sit right with her when she thought about exploiting this knowledge. Sure, there had been thousands of instances where she wished that she could know what he was really thinking. But at the same time it felt like an abuse of his trust; so she decided against using this weakness to her advantage.
The return to Skyhold couldn’t come any sooner; between their never ending grievances that bore her and angered her in equal measure, and the amount of times she was offered carrots with thinly veiled amusement, she never wanted to see another Orlesian noble again. As soon as they were through the gates, she slipped off of her horse and sprinted through the fort to the rotunda. It was the longest she and Solas had been apart since they had met, and as they were together, the parting was made ten times worse.
Faena only realised how late it actually was as she made it to the deserted great hall, so slowed her pace and very quietly padded to her destination, and peered in as she waited in the doorway. She hadn’t needed to, as Solas was still awake, sat at his desk pouring over some tome. Her eyes flicked to a previously blank wall that now had a new mural painted on it.
“Is life so boring without me that you have to vandalise the walls?” She asked with a grin. He instantly stood up when he saw her, making her heart flutter a little in her chest.
“Much quieter, and there is certainly less risk of danger and death.”
“Sweet talker.” He laughed harder than she expected, throwing his head back a little, and she bathed in the sound of it. She grinned back at him, and his face was soft and full of care as he stepped away from the table and motioned for her to come forward. She ran the short distance into his arms, nuzzling into his shoulder and breathing him in.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He told her.
“You have a thing for danger and death and noise?”
“No, but I do have a thing for you.”
“Well that’s good, ‘cause you can’t get rid of me that easily. Next time you’re coming with me and you too will have to be subjected to those insufferable tosspots…” Her rant muffled with her face buried in his chest.
“Ah. I take it that the trip was not enjoyable.”
“They were trying to convince me to help remove the Dalish from their lands. Told me that either I could aid them and limit the bloodshed, or refuse and be assured that every single one of those ‘trespassing savages’ would be eliminated. It’s like they can’t even see the obvious tattoos on my face.”
“I think that they assume that being the Herald of Andraste would cause you to turn your coat.”
“Well they assume wrong. I know you aren’t a fan of the Dalish but…”
“No-one deserves to be treated as they are, no matter what differences I may have with them, that much I believe. And neither do I wish the heartache on you that would be caused.”
“I’m a big girl, I can deal with a bit of heartache.”
“I do not doubt it, but I’m not sure I can watch you go through it.” He said softly. She sighed deeply, then promptly decided to change the subject.
“Anyway, the home-coming was nice.”
“I can make it even better.” She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh really?”
“Really.” He said with a smile as he leant in to kiss her.
***
As Solas dozed, Faena was kept up by the buzzing of thoughts in her head. The events in Val Royeaux were too much for her brain to handle enough to let her sleep. What she needed was to calm down, distract herself. She looked up at Solas, running a hand down the line of his jaw, and he did not stir. She also couldn’t yet feel him at the Fade wall, so she knew that if she started asking him questions, he would answer. Faena reasoned that there was nothing wrong with asking harmless questions, if just to keep her mind off the Orlesians.
“Solas?”
“Hm.”
“What is your favourite colour?” She began.
“It used to be green but now it’s orange.”
“Why orange?”
“The colour of your hair. The colour I imagine our children’s hair to be.”
“You old softie. And my hair is not orange.” She muttered tenderly, a smile on her face and heat flooding from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. “What’s your favourite animal?”
“Dogs.”
“What are you, Fereldan?”
“No.” She giggled at him, shaking her head.
“Alright, what’s your favourite thing about me?”
“Your spirit. You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met; even your flaws are good. You have brought light into my existence.”
“Serves me right for fishing for an ego boost.” She said as she leant up to plant a kiss on his chin. The act of trying to find questions to ask him had already cleared her mind, but she had to ask one more question; something that she wanted to hear without him thinking about it. “Solas, do you love me?”
“More than anything in my long life, despite my best intentions.”
“Good to know.” She said as she squeezed him tighter to her. Then she could sense Solas in the Fade, waiting for her. “But you know, I think I like you better conscious.”