While I was writing this, I got a lot of help and input from my beloved boyfriend, who seems to share a soul with the Iron Bull. They both get turned on by dragon fights. Go figure. This one's for you, my love.

It was when they killed their last dragon together (though they did not yet know it was their last), when they conceived their child.

"This will be the tenth dragon we've killed," Adaar had said the night before. She handed him a drink, and he smiled as he recognized the burning taste. "I want this one to be just you and me, but it will be a harder fight with just the two of us. Are you up for it?"

"Is that actually a question, Kadan?" Bull had laughed, nearly spilling his drink. "Oh, I'm in."

She had brought all of the healing potions she could carry, saying that there was "no need to be completely stupid". But it was a good fight. The best fight. The Abyssal High Dragon was beautiful, her eyes lighting up just before she shot flame. Her head darted at him again and again, constantly trying to bite him in half. It reminded him of Adaar.

And when the battle was won, and the two of them stood over its corpse, panting, their bodies covered in blood and burns...

They had exchanged a look. That was all. And in the next moment she was turned over on the dragon's head, taking him inside her. He pulled her horns as he thrust, and she screamed like the dragon had, ferocious and wild and his. Just as he was hers.

The rest of the day passed quickly like that. There was none of their usual play, no toys or talk. Just as rough as they wanted it, which was very. When they finally stopped, just as night fell, they shared the last of the healing potions and lay together on the cooling sands.

"That was...the best. Ever." Iron Bull paused, then pulled the inquisitor close. "Well, for now. I'd enjoy trying to top that."

"You always enjoy being on top," Adaar replied, her voice sleepy.

He chuckled, holding her as she dozed for a few moments. This was worth being Tal-Vashoth for. Not the amazing sex-the tamassrans had always been very creative-but the time after. The time of kost, of peace, together. Where he was free to hold her and love her without it being wrong, or something to worry about and set rules around. And he could kiss her forehead without her knowing.

An hour later, Adaar woke and they looted the dragon's carcass before setting out for home. And they were both walking a little funny.

"Bull?"

Instantly Iron Bull's full attention swung away from the training session with Krem to Adaar. Krem picked that moment to swing his shield into Bull's face.

"Ow."

"Sorry, Chief."

"Shut up, Krem. What is it, Boss?"

The inquisitor paused and looked at the ground, and Bull knew something was very, very wrong. Adaar did not hesitate even when facing down dragons. He noted her stiff posture, the way she couldn't meet his eyes, and the way one hand kept drifting down to her belly.

No. It couldn't be. Not Adaar.

Krem glanced between his commander, who had gone completely still, and the Inquisitor, who shifted from one foot to the other and back again.

"We'll pick this up later then, Chief." He said, turning to go. "Good day, Your Worship."

But Krem was not quite out of earshot when he heard the Inquisitor say, "I'm pregnant." He picked up speed and disappeared into the tavern.

Adaar sighed. Bull still had not moved.

"I just went to the healer, and she confirmed it," she said. "I've been feeling a little off for the past few months and I thought...Bull, please say something."

He put down the shield he'd been using, then pulled Adaar close and cupped her face in his hands. She finally met his eyes, and he held her gaze. She felt like he was looking right through her, seeing her like a Ben-Hassrath would. When he did that, she thought of him as Hissrad, and she hated it.

"What do you want me to say, Kadan?" He asked.

"Don't pull that. Don't. That's not how this works."

Bull closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Hissrad was gone.

"Kadan, I don't really know what to do with this kind of crap. I don't have any frame of reference for it, for being a father. It doesn't work that way under the Qun."

Adaar sighed. "How does it work, then? You said the tamassrans...breed you. Do you know if you've ever fathered a child before?"

Now Bull was the one to look away. "Maybe. I'm not sure."

"They don't tell you?"

"Why would they? We have no involvement in raising the kid, the mother never even sees it after it's born. Even if I wanted to take care of this one, I wouldn't know how."

Now she was the one to pull his face back to hers, to meet his gaze and search for truth.

"Do you want to take care of this child? Our child? Do you want to be there?"

"I wouldn't know what to do."

"That's not what I'm asking."

"I'd just fuck him up."

"You think so?"

"Of course!" He swung around, punched a nearby practice dummy and sent it crashing to the ground in an explosion of straw. "I'd lose my temper, go full fucking Tal-Vashoth, and I'd hurt him. Or you."

He turned to look at her and she finally saw just how afraid he was. "I don't want to make things worse, Kadan. I don't want to be responsible for ruining another life."

"Bull..." She embraced him, pulled his forehead down to bump hers. "It's going to be okay. I don't really know what I'm doing, either. No parent does. But we won't be alone. If you're in this with me, you know everyone in Skyhold will help us through this. Even if we mess up, someone here will get it right. It can't be harder than fighting a dragon, right?"

He chuckled and brought up his hand to caress her cheek with his thumb. "All right. I'm in."

"That's a relief." Adaar smiled, and then a look of horror fell over her face.

"Oh, crap. Varric's going to write a story about this."