Aideen Lavellan had always considered herself a strong, confident woman. Her magic had made itself known at an early age, and while that would have made her an outcast among humans, it was something to be respected among the Elvhen. She'd blossomed in her studies, proven herself to be capable, bright, and a natural leader. She'd actually looked down on other young women, even when she herself was a teenager, as they tittered over cute boys and lost their composure over the smallest things. Never had she ever truly felt young, and rarely did she find herself flustered.

But one blonde man with a husky voice had completely unraveled all of that.

She hadn't really noticed it when she met him on the mountain, as she was rather preoccupied with trying not to die, but later in the war room when they'd been properly introduced, she'd been shocked to feel her face warm simply from his smile and the way he'd said her name. Luckily, Josephine had surprised her by speaking to her in Elvish, and she'd been able to distract herself and calm the blush. It wasn't as if she could ignore the Inquisition's Commander however, and she was determined to get to know him along with her other advisors. The blush had been a fluke, she was sure.

However, out in the snow, after he'd been calling out orders to his men, the huskiness of his voice was even more noticeable, and she found herself stumbling over her words. She'd never experienced anything so strange, and it quite perturbed her.

It was several days before she understood what was happening. She happened to be passing him in the Keep, and he shot her one of those crooked smiles of his, and she was surprised by the way her heart fluttered – fluttered! – and the realization hit her so suddenly she stopped in her tracks. Cullen, luckily, had passed her by this point and did not notice her pause. Creators above, she was attracted to the man, to a human! She'd ran and hid in the small room she'd been given, heart pounding and unable to get a full breath. Never once had she felt the smallest hint of attraction to anyone in her life, man or woman, elf or otherwise. She'd been happy to be chosen as First, actually, because it meant there wouldn't be any pressure for her to choose a mate. Keepers did marry, of course, but it wasn't uncommon for them not to, preferring to focus on keeping their clan safe and preserving the ancient ways. Aideen had always found the idea of sharing her life so closely with another…uncomfortable, at best.

She took deep breaths, calming herself. Okay. Just because she found the Commander attractive didn't mean she had to do anything about it. She could keep it to herself, it would fade, as many attractions do, and she would forget all about it. He probably didn't even realize how she felt. Everything would be fine.

So why is it she wondered, as she stood in the snow with Cullen that I just teased him about a templar's vows? Isn't this exactly what I told myself not to do? Try as she might, she found herself flirting shamelessly with the man, shooting glances and smiles at him when they passed one another, and then immediately scowling and cursing herself afterwards. She'd seen more than one recruit scurry off when they saw her stormy expression.

Despite her annoyance at herself, she couldn't help how giddy she felt that he always returned her flirtations and little smiles. And she was relieved that it was all quite casual and tame…until Haven was destroyed.

After she'd found them at their camp, she'd been surprised at just how relieved she was to see him safe, and how badly she wanted to talk to him. She didn't get a chance until they were at Skyhold, and she could tell things were different. Their flirtations had been teasing and playful before, but now she could tell he wanted to pursue something with her, and how relieved he was that she was safe.

And for the first time, Aideen finally considered pursuing a relationship with him. What would that mean? She was the Inquisitor, and he her Commander. For one thing, people would talk. She didn't particularly care what others thought, but would he? She didn't want him hurt. And what did being in a relationship even entail? She'd never been in one, she had no idea what happened. Sure, she supposed they kissed and did…other things. But what were the rules? Did she just grab him and press her lips to his? And what about going further? Was it all in one go or would she have time to get used to the idea? All of the questions were almost enough to make her not want to try anything at all…almost. But she had discovered she deeply cared for Cullen, and wanted to try, and learn.

She'd been surprised on the ramparts when she realized he was going to kiss her, but his voice had taken that husky quality that she couldn't resist and she was leaning forward before she could stop herself. The recruit interrupting them was almost a relief. She was looking the other way, face heated and eyes wide as Cullen spoke to the man. Creators, she'd wanted him to kiss her. She still did!

Nevertheless, the moment had been ruined, and she'd been about to release him so that he could leave without dealing with the leftover awkwardness, when he'd kissed her anyway.

She'd been missing out, and immediately vowed to make up for lost time.

"I just don't know what to do, Josie," Aideen sighed to her friend. They were sitting in her quarters having tea. It was a smooth blend from Orlais that Josephine had recommended, and Aideen had fallen in love with it. The two women had become fast friends. Josephine had expressed an interest in learning more Elvish, and Aideen had been happy to teach her what she knew. Soon after that, her relationship with Cullen had begun, and as Josephine was almost as much of a novice as she was when it came to this kind of thing, she was excited to share with her, and titter over him, just like those girls from so many years ago, and discuss the problems she had. Such as this one.

"I don't see why it's a bad thing," Josephine laughed in her lilting voice.

"It makes things so difficult!" Aideen insisted. "We'll be discussing something normal, and then suddenly I just get all flustered, and it's not like I can explain why my face is red all of the sudden!"

Josephine giggled. "All this, just because of his voice?"

Aideen found her face reddening again and huffed. "Its not like its all the time. I can listen to him talk without wanting to…to jump him! But every now and then he just gets a certain tone, like it's sort of…raspy and whispery and he doesn't even know he's doing it, and I just…" the woman trailed off and hid her face in her hands.

Josephine smiled kindly and put a hand on her friend's arm. "You've only been together a few weeks. Perhaps you'll get used to it."

Aideen peeked out at her from between her fingers. "You think so?"

Her advisor then gave her a surprisingly impish grin. "Either that, or he'll figure it out and use it mercilessly against you."

Aideen's eyes widened comically. "Creators, I hope not!"

A few days later, Aideen and her advisors had just finished up a meeting in the war room, and while she was still poring over the pieces and their plans, the others filed out of the room, Cullen trailing behind. However he paused beside the elven woman, unnoticed to her.

"Aideen," the woman jumped at how close the husky voice was and the use of her first name. She glanced up at Cullen to see him give her that disarmingly attractive smile, and lean in to continue speaking to her with that tone. "Come see me in my office when you're finished. I'd like to spend some time with you. Alone."

He moved to leave before he could see her shiver, but the smirk he wore told her he knew her reaction anyway. It wasn't until the heat in her face faded that she suddenly realized just what he'd done.

Creators. He knew.

A/N: I'm sorry I know this is so dumb lol, but seriously, every now and then Cullen gets this tone in his voice and hot damn. Yum.

Happy reading!