"Solas," the Inquisitor whispered to him out of the corner of her mouth, leaning towards him slightly. She was staring down at the opulent gold encrusted dessert plate the servants hand set before her a few minutes ago with a suspicious little squint, obviously trying her best not to frown. For someone the Orlesian nobles had been all too happy about calling a savage in hushed tones a few hours ago, Aili had been rather deftly winding them around her little finger throughout the course of the night. A heathen Dalish apostate she may be, but she was also powerful and intelligent…and beautiful. It was a potent combination; one that Solas himself had fallen prey to, despite his better judgment. He knew she would laugh and complain about how out of her depth she felt later, but she could have easily mastered these fops and their 'Great Game' if she'd had a mind to. He doubted that it would have sat well with her gentle nature however, which was just one more reason to love her. He smiled, and inclined his head slightly in a show of deference like a good 'man servant'.
"Yes, My Lady?" He asked. She blinked at him in surprise, clearly having forgotten the role he had assumed for the evening. Making sure her movements where obscured by the tablecloth, she reached over an placed a hand on his thigh.
"I like 'Vehnan' better," she told him in Elvhen, apology shining in her eyes and a slight curl of mischief on her lips.
"As do I," he assured her warmly, also switching to the ancient language of their race. He moved his hand to cover hers and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Did you need something from me?"
"A dangerous question," she commented with a truly wicked grin, but then she gave her plate another dubious glance. "What is that?"
He looked over at her plate and then back to her face, confused. "Do you mean the cake?"
"Is that cake?" Aili asked, scrunching her face at it a bit. "Why is it the color of shit?" Solas gave a snort of laughter despite himself, earning the curious glances of a few nobles seated across from them. The Inquisitor gave them a winning smile and complimented one of the ladies on her atrocious choice of headwear.
"Vehnan," he called her attention back to him a few moments later, giving her a long searching look, "Can it be that you have never tried chocolate?"
"That's a…sweet, right?" She asked, rolling her eyes at his startled expression, "I was raised out in the woods remember? We didn't have bread half the time. There is no place for an oven in an aravel, and when we traded with humans it wasn't for things like fancy Orlesian desserts."
"Perhaps you should have," he said with a smirk, taking a small bite of his own piece of cake, "it is delicious." She looked unconvinced.
"Why does this feel like a trap?" Aili asked him with a raised brow, "You just want me to eat something gross so you can laugh at the face I make."
"I am not Sera." He told her, mildly affronted. "Are all Dalish this suspicious?"
"Fine," the Dalish mage grumbled, slipping back into Common. She scooped the tiniest bit of cake possible onto her dessert fork before shooting him a distrustful glare and muttering, "Ass."
"You like my ass." He reminded her in Elvhen, his grin victorious. The Inquisitor rolled her eyes at him and laughed.
After one last glance of suffering, Aili scrunched her eyes closed and licked the morsel of chocolate off of her utensil. Her face instantly shifted into an expression of pleased surprise, and she quickly shoveled a larger bite of the dessert into her mouth. Her astonishment quickly melted into complete bliss as her eyelids fluttered closed again and she moaned quietly in the back of her throat. The rest of the cake disappeared shortly afterwards.
"Creators," she said, her voice low and rasping, clearly unaware of how quiet the conversation around them had become, "This…this food might be better than sex."
Farther down the table, Varric gave a loud bark of amusement as several Orlesian nobles broke into a flurry of diverted titters and scandalized whispering. The male elf could practically feel Josephine's horrified expression as she quickly tried to placate the ruffled feathers of the dignitaries surrounding her. Cullen was chuckling quietly and Leliana was wearing a knowing smile. Cassandra had simply buried her face in her hands, though he couldn't tell if it was to hide her mortification or her laughter.
Solas glanced back at Aili, who had flushed a bright shade of red all the way to the tips of her pointed ears. She blinked her wide violet eyes up at him pleadingly, clearly humiliated and practically frantic for a way to escape the situation. There was chocolate smeared across the corner of her mouth. He smiled warmly as small huff of laughter broke past his lips. He didn't know if he had ever loved her more.
"My Lady," he said gently, making sure to speak just loud enough for their neighbors to hear. "I believe," he reached over to her with a napkin in his hand, "you have a dirty mouth." He wiped at the area in question, causing the nobles around them to break out into another round of sniggers and guffaws. Aili stared at him for a moment, still trying to process what had just happened, before bursting out with a laugh of her own.
The Inquisitor raised her glass of champagne towards the head of the table where Empress Celene was seated and called up to her, "My compliments to the chef, your Majesty!" To which the Empress smiled faintly and gave a nod of her head in affirmation, and the rest of the table erupted in applause. When their noise had subsided, Aili found Solas' hand again beneath the table and gave his fingers a grateful squeeze.
"Ma Serannas," She breathed, still blushing slightly. He shifted his hand so that their fingers were interlocking.
"But of course, My Lady Inquisitor." he answered quietly, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. His smile turned wolfish as he switched back into Elvhen, "Though I believe a thorough investigation is required regarding your claims that this dessert was better than our love making."
"Ma Nuvenin," Aili responded, biting her lower lip and gazing at him hungrily. After a moment, she broke into a fit of quiet giggles and added, "You would make a terrible man servant."
