Cassi sat huddled in her blankets, scowling at anything and everything inside her quarters at Skyhold. She'd fled to the dark comforts of her private room the minute they'd returned from Halamshiral, needing the quiet and peace to brood. Especially at the imaginary Orlesian nobles. Horrendous, infuriating Orlesian nobles. The Winter Ball at Halamshiral was simply maddening. Filled to the brim with horrible nobles who couldn't be bothered to even whisper the words knife-ear properly. Speaking just loud enough for her elven ears to catch that damned phrase. Mean, irritating Orlesian nobles, the lot! She scowled.
But her hard-won solitude was soon interrupted by Sera, as the other elf smashed her door open and bounded up the stairs with a cheerful "Hey you!"
"Go away, Sera. I'm not in the mood!" Cassi threw her fluffy pillow at the girl, who simply laughed as she caught it and bounced onto her bed.
"Yeah right, like I'm going to leave you all up your own arse after that ass-shite Ball?"
Sera snorted before giggling out "Balls, yeah?"
"That doesn't even make any sense," Cassi muttered, slumping back onto her bed.
"You are whinging. I can't have fun, yeah? So obviously pranks. Set a few up, knock a few down, the usual. You in or not?"
Cassi threw another pillow at Sera. There were so many pillows in her bed, and she didn't even know where they came from. But for the moment she was glad because Cassi possibly couldn't run out of pillows to throw at this girl that was so rudely interrupting her private brooding time.
"I am brooding, Sera! Leave me alone to my miserable scowling,"
"Oh horse piss that! Don't be a stuffy-arse, let's go!" Sera grabbed Cassi's arm and started to pull, dragging her off the blanket-fort she's built on the bed for brooding.
"Fine, fine! Let go, I can walk on my own two legs," Cassi caved, sighing exaggeratedly as she climbed out of her plush bed. She supposed pranking people was better than moping in her huge room alone, though she was loathe to leave the blanket-fort.
"Okay, Sera. What do you want to do?" She jogged after her.
"Pppbbthh, General Uptight first!" Sera giggled as she shot off and Cassi couldn't help but laugh too. Pranking Cullen really was the best – his reactions were truly priceless.
They raced to his office, giggling and tossing ideas back and forth between them. Fortunately Cullen was out of his office – probably training the new batch of soldiers that just arrived from some noble-city somewhere in Orlais.
"Okay, I'll get the books, you do that cookie thing!" Cassi scrambled towards the huge bookshelves, pointing Sera towards the desk.
"Your soldiers will have a laugh!" Sera snorted and laughed, bringing a couple of cookies wrapped in a cloth out of her pocket. Cassi watched out of the corner of her eyes while her hands busied themselves with shuffling the books around as much as she possibly could. Cullen will have a fit when he sees this, she giggled. His perfectly alphabetized and categorized books mixed up hopelessly, with few maps and reports to boot as well.
Sera placed the cloth with cookies on top of the reports on Cullen's desk, and started to jot something down on a parchment. Cassi craned her neck around to read what she wrote, her hands messing up the book order automatically.
"Sera! What are you writing?" Cassi hissed.
"Telling him it's from me! The books will piss him royally, and cookies will confuse him!" Sera snickered.
Cassi chuckled, realizing how perfect it was. The moment Cullen read the note from Sera, he would instantly be suspicious of the cookies despite them being perfectly normal and, well, safe.
"I'm done! You?" Sera hopped over to the bookshelves just as Cassi finished mixing the books around.
"I am too, let's get out of here before he comes!"
She scampered after Sera as they bolted for the door. That girl was fast.
"Right, next one! Next one, Little Lady Prissypants?" Sera asked as they raced through the keep.
"No, we already stole her smalls last week. Gotta give her some time to recover." Cassi shrugged. It wouldn't do to piss people off too much. Just a little, for a laugh here and there.
"Fine, Birdy? No, did that two days ago. Ooooh, ooh! I know, your high and mighty Elven Glory," Sera drew out the syllables, long and somewhat sarcastic.
"Would you stop calling him that?" Cassi snapped, before sniffing. "And how would we go on about doing that?"
"Let's see. Books? Arse, no. Those pictures he hangs over? No, not for bit of fun. Too… serious. And… uh. Huh."
Sera screwed up her face as they padded over to Solas' rotunda, indecipherable words tumbling out of her mouth.
"Shh quiet," Cassi gestured, before peeking around the door to check if Solas was there. Luckily, Solas was out of the rotunda at the moment.
"Cakes!" Sera jumped, rushing over to the table where a half-eaten frilly cake was left on the plate.
"Sera?"
"It's perfect, innit? Hates tea, doesn't he?"
"You want to… replace the water with tea?" Cassi slowly sounded the words out. It was… perfect, except for one tiny detail.
"Solas would know it was tea. He can smell the stuff a mile away I swear."
"Oh pish posh, magic it."
"Sera, I'm an assassin. Not a mage."
"Pppbbthh, I know that. There's one right above us, silly!"
Before Cassi could stop her, Sera shouted up to Dorian in the library above them.
"Hey you! Mustache!"
Cassi covered her ears as Sera boomed, cringing.
"Venhedis, what is it?" Dorian shouted down at them, looking over the rail.
"Hey, magic a tea!"
"You want me to what?" Dorian seemed mystified, and Cassi watched with apprehension as the two continued to shout at each other.
"Magic tea!"
"A bit more detail please! There's lots of magical things I could do with tea."
Before Sera could repeat 'magic tea' again, Cassi clapped a hand over the elf's mouth.
"She means, magic the tea so it looks and smells like water. But tastes like really strong tea." She shouted up at Dorian instead.
"You two expect me to help your abhorrent pranks, after what you two did to me last time?" Dorian huffed with an insulted look, and just as his head disappeared from the sight Cassi threw the bait.
"We won't mess with your clothes for a month!"
There was a silent pause before Dorian's head reappeared above the railing.
"You won't touch my clothes?"
"Shite, yeah! No messing up your undergarments," Sera finally dragged Cassi's hand away from her, seconding her offer.
"Two months, you both swear and I'll consider it," Dorian haggled, wiggling a finger.
"Fine, two months. I swear," Cassi held up her hand, jabbing Sera with her elbow to make her do the same.
"Fine. I swear," Sera muttered.
"Deal,"
Dorian grinned down at them before disappearing once more from the sight. But his voice rang out clear above them.
"Well come on, come grab the tea!"
Cassi and Sera looked to each other, before nodding.
"You keep watch, and I'll go grab it." Cassi whispered before stepping towards the stairs.
"Right, watch."
She climbed the steps easily, coming to stop by Dorian's table just as the last of purplish sparks disappeared.
"Solas won't be able to tell it's tea?" Cassi murmured as she picked up the cup on the table, sniffing it.
"Who do you take me for? Of course not. Not unless he habitually checks for residual magic in his perfectly normal water every day." Dorian flipped his hand, taking on that perfectly haughty look that Cassi was half-certain he practiced.
"Thanks Dorian," She giggled, turning around to head back for the stairs.
"Oh do remember our deal if you will? And of course I was not involved in this at all if Solas asks." Dorian called after her.
"Naturally," Cassi winked before walking down the stairs.
She came down to find that Sera had already grabbed the water cup that was on Solas' desk, making it disappear to who-knows-where.
"Perfect," she walked over to the table to put the new 'water' cup down by the cake, just as Sera hissed "Oh, frig! Run!"
"Sera?" Cassi turned around to catch the glimpse of the girl whipping out of the room, right before his voice startled her.
"Ma vhenan?"
"Oh!" Cassi whirled around guiltily, her hands clasping behind her back. Too late, the cup was already on his desk.
"Solas!"
"Did you need something, vhenan?" He asked, a brow quirked.
"I was, just… uh, not really? I mean, I did but," Cassi mentally kicked herself, screaming at herself to just stop talking!
"You weren't here so I was just about to go look for you," Nice save, Cassi. Masterful.
"Oh? One would have thought that you were more interested with that cup than my whereabouts a moment ago." Solas walked towards her with that knowing look, and Cassi blushed. Hard.
"No, of course not!" She leaned backwards, scrambling for an escape route but found none as Solas' arms wrapped around her.
"Vhenan," Solas laid a soft kiss onto her hair, feathery light while he enveloped her in a tight hug. "Everyone heard you shouting," He sighed and whispered.
And with that Solas began to tickle her mercilessly, his one arm holding on with an iron grip while his other roamed over her, easily penetrating her guard and rubbing his fingers over her sensitive skin.
Cassi gave a surprised squeal and squirmed, wiggling desperately to escape those long fingers that tickled and poked relentlessly. But Solas gracefully avoided her wildly kicking legs, a quiet amused smile curving his lips.
"Solas, stop!" Cassi begged, gasping and twitching. She half-sobbed and half-laughed, clawing desperately at thin air to escape his light-hearted (but no less severe) retribution for her failed prank.
"Please!" She panted and wheezed. Trembling weakly under the assault. "I… won't… ever! Do it again," She giggled helplessly.
"Really?"
"Really, really! I'm begging you, stop!"
The agonizing torture continued for a moment longer, then two, but then Solas released her from her torments.
Cassi sagged within his arms, exhausted.
"You… really didn't like the tea thing, did you?" Cassi panted, staring up at Solas as he chuckled and gathered her up.
"I admit, I enjoyed watching you come undone by my hands." Solas smoothed her frizzled hair, carrying her over to the chair and settling her down on his lap.
"There are other ways to do that Solas," Cassi grumbled, leaning on his chest and looking up at his amused grin. He leaned down to press gentle kisses onto her hair.
"Ir abelas, ma vhenan. I did not mean to offend,"
"You didn't," she sighed, raising her hand to stroke his cheek.
"I wanted a good laugh… I guess I got it. Just… not the way I was expecting to," She smiled, pulling him in for a quick kiss on the lips.
"But I want you to know, it was Sera's idea."
"I suspected, of course." He shrugged, pulling her into a tight embrace. "But it was you who I wished to touch."
Cassi flushed, burrowing deeper into his hold and hiding her heated face. Truth be told, this was much better than sulking in her room alone. Had he known how desperately she needed to be distracted?
"I'm sorry about the tea thing," She mumbled into the nape of his neck. And thank you, she added silently.
"It is no trouble, provided that you do not attempt it again."
"No promises," She giggled, twisting around to push a finger into the frilly cake's cream and scooping up a little.
"Did you not just say you won't ever do it again, vhenan?" He chuckled, watching her.
"People will say anything under duress, won't they? I'm afraid my memory's gone a little hazy on me." She popped her finger in her mouth, tasting the sweet cream. De-licious. She scooped up a little more of the cake.
"I am not above putting you under said 'duress' again," He threatened lightheartedly, his bright eyes playful.
"Fine, I won't. Just don't tickle me again, please?" Cassi popped a finger into her mouth again. What did they make these cakes out of? It was all fluffy and sweet. No wonder Solas liked them so much.
She made another scoop, getting ample amount of cream piled high up on her index finger.
"But Solas?"
"Yes, vhenan?"
"You never said anything about this!"
Cassi smeared the cream onto his face, dragging her finger down his lips. His eyes widened in shock and in that split second she wiggled free of his embrace, her feet hitting the ground already running.
She laughed as she bolted from the rotunda through the same door Sera had fled out of. Cassi was certain she would pay for this little bit of prank later on, but the surprised look on his face had been totally worth it.
"I love you!" She called over her shoulder as she fled, giggling uncontrollably.
She supposed that the day wasn't so bad.