Disclaimer: Dragon Age is owned by Bioware and EA games.

Warning: There are slight spoilers from Dragon Age: Inquisition in this story.

Note to readers: I've done these sort of stories in the past with another series I write here and had the idea for this while I was working on chapter 17 for Final Hour. This is going to be a several part story and takes place a few weeks after the events of the quest "All New, Faded for Her." It is a Lavellan x Solas pairing story but the story is told from both my Inquisitor's point of view and her older brother's who is coming to visit. That is basically the plot of the story there. It's a little happier than what I have writing in Final Hour and have been itching to write my Inquisitor for a while now!

Also, I don't think I will have Solas being a point of view character in this story. I don't want to give away anything from the other story I have going in this one. So the only two who are telling the story are my Inquisitor and her brother.

Last note, the parts are going to vary in length depending on what I want to happen in each part.

I hope you enjoy this story and if you do, please, leave a comment.
Thank you,
Flame

"Like this?" Theria Lavellan straightened and held out the bowl to the Solas.

Solas looked up. The two of them were in the rotunda seated at the table placed in the center of the room. The normal books and artifacts that covered the table had been replaced with bowls of water, a verity of other foods and plaints, and flour for the most part.

Careful not to the spill any of the liquid in the bowl, Theria set it down by him. She watched as he dipped one of his paint brushes into the freshly mixed paint and spread the blue over the paper he was using to test each of the paints. Her heart sank as the paint appeared, thin and watery over paper. There was only one pure color out of all those spread across the paper and it was the only one Solas had made himself.

"Better, vhenan." His soft, pale blue-gray eyes locked onto her face.

"Better?" Theria sighed and fell back into the chair beside his. "It's no better than the last attempt. This is nothing like mixing herbs." She looked at him out of the corner of her and grinned. "But it is fun to learn how to make paint. It's the last time I give the craftmaster of the clan a hard time over the paints she's mixed."

Solas chuckled at this. "It gets easier with practice."

"I hope so. I feel more like I'm holding you back at this point than actually helping." She eyed the three attempts she'd made at mixing paint. The first one he was still trying to get to the right consistently and color. "Perhaps I should try fixing my own mess with the paint while you make ones you can actually use?" She smiled, lips curling in the light of her humor towards how she couldn't mix something as simple as paint.

"Here." Solas stood and gestured for her to do the same.

Curious, Theria stood.

"Turn to the table," he instructed her.

She did as he said. He moved in behind her. She was distinctly aware of the warmth of his body against her back as he reached around her and took her hand with his. The sharp sent of pine and earth surrounded her.

"There's little difference between this and mixing poultices and potions." His breath was warm against her ear. He moved her hand from one bowl to another, helping her measure out just the right amount of each piece for the paint.

He released her hand, allowing her to finish up the mixture without his aid. Theria could still feel him close to her. The warmth of him made it all the harder to focus on mixing the paint. Despite this she could already feel that this paint was a lot thicker than the last one she had made.

"See?"

Theria laughed and turned to him. "Ma serannas, ma lath." She moved in closer to him, standing on the balls of her feet until her lips touched his. Her heart fluttered. Would he pull back like the other times? Would she have to try to make him stay again or would it be like that time in the Fade?

Solas returned the kiss in full. His arm wrapped around her waist and he pulled her towards him. Not once did he break from the kisses. Then he was pulling back. Theria found herself staring up into his pale, blue-gray eyes. His arm was still wrapped around her waist.

"I'm proving to be more a distraction than a help at this point," Theria said with a shy smile.

"You're a welcome distraction, vhenan." His normally hard, impassive features softened as he looked at her. One of his hands moved from her waist and touched her face.

Theria leaned into the touch before moving and kissing the palm of his hand. It tasted of flour. She found she didn't mind much and moved so that she could kiss him again. This was the furthest they had gotten yet and she found her heart beating all the faster.

Solas returned the kiss just as passionately as the time in the Fade. His hand ran down her face, arm; to her hip. He pulled her closer, not breaking the kisses.

The door opened.

*~ X ~*

Eridian paused and stared up at the stairs leading into the tower, his eyes wide. The last rays of the sun, the hold looked all the more impressive. Theria hadn't been kidding in her last letter. He took a deep breath of the sharp, cold air before he started up the long steps towards the tower.

The guards in the tower eyed him as he entered.

"Name your business?" One of the shem glared at him from under his helm.

"I have a letter here." Eridian showed the shem the letter Theria had sent him. Though the letter didn't say anything on it that told he was visiting or supposed to be here. He had to admit it hadn't been his brightest idea. But so far the fact he had a letter from the Inquisition had let him pass through the shem lands unharmed.

"I see," the shem said, his eyes locked on seal. "You can enter then."

"Ma serannas." Eridian bowed his head to the shem and managed a small, weak smile. He moved passed them onto the long bridge. The view of the hold made his breath catch in his lungs. He'd seen countless ruins when he and Theria had been younger and she'd wanted to explore them, but nothing as awe-inspiring at this.

Eridian stumbling a little. He shook his head and forced himself to focus on where he was placing his feet instead of the hold. Though, he did admit Theria's letter hadn't done the great walls and sheer size of justice.

When he entered the hold proper, Eridian had to stop. Even craning his neck he couldn't make out the entire hold. This pace was larger enough to fit every clan in Thedas comfortably. Well, maybe not that many of the People, but close.

He tore his gaze from hold and looked at the letter. Theria hadn't said anything in the letter about where she might or might not be. In fact, she had barely given him enough information to find the hold by. He had to rely on the information shem gave him on his way here. He took a deep breath and glanced around before he started towards the steps leading to the upper grounds.

He passed by what looked to be a makeshift infirmary. There were a few injured and all of them were shem. A shiver raced through Eridian. To believe Theria had been alone here with nothing but shem and flat ears for company made his stomach churn.

Eridian's foot caught on the last step and he staggered, nearly falling to the ground. He straightened and glanced around. It was lucky perhaps that few people were in the open right then. The sun was getting low and he guessed most had retreated into one of the buildings or the hold proper.

"You lost?"

Eridian jumped. He had thought he was alone. It took him a moment to realize that the person who had spoken was shorter than he was. Sure enough a durgen'len was moving towards him from the building opposite the stairs leading into the hold proper. Eridian couldn't stop himself from staring at the dwarf. He had never seen one before in his life.

"S-sorry," he forced himself to stop staring at the dwarf and instead held out the letter. "I'm looking for Theria," he confessed. "I'm from Clan Lavellan," he found himself explaining, "Keeper Deshanna sent me."

"So you're looking for our esteemed leader." The dwarf grinned, his gray eyes shining. Somehow this dwarf looked nothing like how Eridian had imagined them. He had no beard at all.

"Leader?" Eridian asked. There had been nothing about that in Theria's last letter to him or the keeper. Oh, creators, what had she landed herself into this time? "Look, do you just know where she is?"

"Hmm, as of late, she's with Chuckles in the evenings," said the dwarf. "I was heading that way as it is. I can show you where she's at."

Eridian felt his heart lift. "Thank you," he remembered not to speak in elvish this time. He followed the dwarf up the stairs.

"You're arriving rather late."

"I wanted to get here as soon as I could," he explained, but didn't tell this dwarf that he didn't trust shem especially around Theria or, really, any member of his clan. He hesitated as they came to the top of the stairs. "I'm Eridian, Theria's brother."

"Really?" The dwarf sounded rather shocked about this. "I didn't know the Inquisitor had family. Granted, she doesn't talk much about her clan."

"I'm not shocked." After all the keeper had told her not to tell most people about the inner workings of clan life. It was dangerous enough trying to trade from time to time with shem cities.

The warmth increased as they stepped into the hold's main hall. It took a lot for him not to stumble. The room was massive, long, and ended in a throne. A fire flickered in the hearth close to the door. The light helped light the construction around the room. But even in this state, the main hall was impressive.

"In here."

Eridian tore his gaze from the hall and saw the dwarf standing by the first door to the right. He moved after the dwarf. The two of them entered a small hall which ended in yet another door.

When this one was opened, Eridian stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes locked on his sister and a tall, bald flat ear, locked in an embrace. If that wasn't bad enough, they were kissing.

Elven phrases used:
Vhenan – heart
Ma serannas, ma lath – thank you, my love OR my thanks, my love
Shem – quick, but is used as a slang word referring to humans.