Of Pranks and Marriage - Part PUPPY!
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age
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When they finished their tea, Lady Trevelyan asked Evelyn to stay back and help her clear the table. "I let Lariana go for the day," she explained. The other guests said their goodnights and left the mother and daughter alone in the library.
Lady Trevelyan began to stack the empty teacups on top of the tray. Evelyn had never seen her mother do 'physical work' prior to this day. She therefore reveled at the sight before she helped by clearing the biscuits away, dearly hoping a certain topic would not come up.
She was not that fortunate.
"So, he loves you then?" Lady Trevelyan giggled. "That's wonderful don't you think?"
Evelyn cringed. She had hoped her mother at least hadn't heard what Dorian said to her. The hug would be easily explainable, his words less so.
"I think" Evelyn said and cleared her throat, "You might have misunderstood what you saw and... heard earlier."
Lady Trevelyan gave her a perplexed look. "It seemed as clear as day to me, how could I have misunderstood a man's love confession?"
"Well…" She said, grasping for the right words in her mind, "You're taking what you saw out of context."
"And what is the context my dear?"
"Dorian loves me like a friend, nothing more."
Lady Trevelyan picked up a white cloth and used it to wipe the surface of the coffee table. "Well, the best marriages spring out of friendships."
"And I'm sure they do," Evelyn sighed, "But I'm also sure that Dorian doesn't want to marry me."
"Why not?" The ladyship threw the cloth on the table in exasperation. She crossed her arms, "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing! I did absolutely nothing! I just know that he can't love me the way a husband should love his wife."
"Well I think he wants to marry you... and you should say yes if he asks you, a loveless marriage is better than no marriage."
"I know he won't ask me to marry him."
"And how could you possibly know that? You just met the man and he's telling you he loves you. I give him a week before he's down on his knees, begging for your hand."
"Mother…" Evelyn knew she had to fess up, at least to some of the lies. It would be better for everyone in the long run, especially since everyone had promised to stay until the Spring Salon. Evelyn took a heavy breath before she confessed to her sins, "I have known Dorian and Sera for a while now… they're a part of the Inquisition."
"They're what?" The revelation was too much for her mother to bare standing up. She fell down in her chair, covered her face with her hands and began to sob. "Then they lied to me, you lied to me."
"No-no-no!" Evelyn hurried over to her mother's side. Her ladyship's rapid mood swings was nothing new, Evelyn gently rubbed the lady's back; a 'trick' Hill had learnt her the first time Lady Trevelyan had broken down in front of her. "I'm sure he didn't know we were related when he… saved you." Evelyn coaxed, though with little conviction. 'This will have to be my lie' she thought.
Her closeness and choice of words seemed to calm her down, even if her tone had been somewhat untrue. "Well, I guess you might be right." She wiped her face with the sleeves of her evening gown, "But why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Evelyn smiled, "We never got a chance; you have quite the appetite for conversation."
"I guess I didn't give you the opportunity." Lady Trevelyan giggled, "I feel so embarrassed…"
"No, don't be!" Evelyn said in an assertive tone. "We were the ones who didn't tell the truth… it just seemed a little... inappropriate in front of the great Lord Trevelyan."
"You're right. He's not as levelheaded as I am, he would have thrown an even larger fit." Lady Trevelyan put her hand on Evelyn's cheek. "My sweet girl." She let go of her daughter and stood up from the chair. She picked the withe cloth up again and placed it on top of the tea tray, and then she picked up the tray itself. "Go to bed my dear, I'll take this to the kitchen."
"Are you sure?"
"Quite sure, just get some sleep. You deserve to rest."
Evelyn opened the door for her mother so she could more easily carry the tray out of the library, "Goodnight mother."
"Goodnight my dear."
x - X - x
Evelyn felt something scratchy and wet eagerly moving around her cheek. "No, stop Cullen…" Evelyn mumbled, half asleep, waving her hand in front of her face.
"What do you guys do to each other?" Sera wanted to know.
"Nothing weird!" Cullen shrieked.
"I told you to stop Cullen…" Evelyn mumbled again, "We can do it in the morning."
Dorian leaned in and whispered sensually in Evelyn's ear, "Do what my dear?"
Eager to keep his love affairs his own, the Commander shook Evelyn awake before she could reveal anything too embarrassing.
Evelyn sat up, yawned and stretched her arms as far as they could reach. She wiped the sleep out of her eyes and blinked a couple of times before she looked at her friends hovering over her. "What's going on?" she asked sullenly, annoyed that they had woken her from her well-deserved slumber.
"This!" Cullen placed a cute, little Mabari puppy on her lap.
"What!?" Evelyn exclaimed. She wrapped her hands around the puppy and brought it up to her face. She couldn't believe how endearing the dog was, and she shrieked in excitement when the pup licked the tip of her nose. "Is this little guy for me?"
"Yes, but only if you're responsible enough to take good care of it," Dorian joked.
"Of course I am! I've lead an army, training a dog will be simple in comparison… but... why did you do this for me?"
Sera leaned in and scratched the puppy behind its ear. "After you let us see that embarrassing portrait of you, we knew you deserved the puppy you were promised."
"You saved the world as well. Saviors deserve puppies."
Evelyn barely paid any attention to Sera or Dorian's words; she was too engrossed in the endearing creature in her hands. "How did you get a Mabari, and how did you find one who would imprint on me?"
Sera continued to show the puppy affection by ruffling the top of the little dog's head, "I stole your brush earlier. I was gonna use it myself, but I thought the stink of it would be enough for this little mongrel to start loving you."
"Keep the brush," The Inquisitor smiled. "Whose idea was this?"
"The Commanders, of course."
Cullen rubbed the back of his neck. "I know a Formari not far from here. He used to raise Mabari hounds for the Ferelden nobility, but he moved to the Free Marches after the Blight. He's doing pretty well for himself."
"There are a lot of Fereldens in the Marches now, it's not bad business to breed them here," Sera noted.
Evelyn only cared about her own Mabari. "He's so dear, what should I name him?"
"How about naming him Lord Trevelyan," Sera suggested.
"I'm sure my father would be pleased. Could you imagine me yelling: Don't eat my shoes Lord Trevelyan!"
"Don't piss on the carpet Lord Trevelyan," Sera continued.
"It might be a bit inappropriate," Evelyn laughed. "Besides, this cute little fellow deserves a better name."
"It's a shame Varric's not here. He's good with these sort of things," Dorian noted. Cullen scoffed in disagreement. "What do you suggest, Commander?" the mage continued.
"I don't know. The only other Mabari I've been this close to was the Hero of Ferelden's Mabari."
"What did Lady Cousland name hers?"
Cullen furrowed his eyebrows, "Dog."
Dorian drew his brows and wrinkled his forehead, "Dog? Is she a simpleton?"
"Not that I know of. The way King Alistair always spoke of her, made me think she might be the smartest and most impressive person in existence."
Dorian rolled his eyes. "And I'm sure King Alistair isn't partial to the Hero of Ferelden. It's not like they're married or anything..."
"I actually have a real suggestion," Evelyn interrupted.
"What?" Sera asked with excitement.
Evelyn met Cullen's honeyed eyes. "Would it be okay with you, if I named him Stanton?"
"Oh, no… not at all," he gave her a shy smile. "It's not a name I regularly use."
"Then it's settled." She took the dog up to her face and nuzzled his snout with her nose, "What do you say boy? Do you like the name Stanton?" The puppy barked happily, "I'll take that as a yes."
"Looks like the two of you will be getting along splendidly." Dorian said and yawned, "But alas my dears, I will retire to my room and sleep 'til noon. Do not wake me up."
"Good night Dorian." Evelyn said as the mage left through the door. She gave Sera a stern look, "Good night Sera."
The elf sighed, "Okay, okay. I get a hint..." Sera said and hurried out, but not before she had ruffled the top of Stanton's head a last time.
When the door closed after the her, Evelyn put down her new puppy and grasped for Cullen's hand.
"I've explained everything to my mother."
He sat down on the edge of her bed, "Everything?"
"Well, not everything. The shock I would give her with a full disclorsure... she would die and I would be put away for premeditated murder."
Cullen snickered. "Before I met your parents, I was absolutely certain you over exaggerated."
Evelyn smiled, "Then you agree that 'Dragon's den' is a suitable description of this household."
The Commander smirked, "You might even go so far as The Lair of the High Dragons."
"I think The Archdemon's Realm would also suffice."
Cullen snickered and leaned in to kiss Evelyn, but the Mabari popped up in front of him and licked him on the lips. He smiled and ruffled the top of the pup's head. "Seems like I've overstayed my welcome."
"I wish you could stay here with me."
"There's nothing I would like more." He kissed her on the hand, "But I have to get back to my room before the servant wake up."
x - X - x
Ask, and you shall receive… a puppy for the Inquisitor. You go inquisitor!
And as always, thank you for your nice reviews. Note that I will in fact do as you wish (though I actually wanted a puppy in here ass well), so you're most welcome to suggest other improvements. I need to fill in the four weeks until the Lady's Spring Salon. I have a lot of ideas for that event, several of Evelyn's inner circle will make an apperance during that week if everything pans out the way I want. Anyone particular you want to see?
Blindluck92: I'm sure we'll Discover the root of Lady Trevelyan's problems, maybe even... well not fix, she's unfixable... but make her see that the Inquisition is more than just a face. Or she might just get in trouble if she meets the wrong person, who knows?
Rebfan90: Alas, Evelyn finally got the puppy she so dearly deserved!
MP: No need to apologize for your English. At least not to someone who's not a native speaker herself (Norwegian here). It's both a shame and satisfying that Dorian's gay. It adds to the story, though Lady Trevelyan's incredibly oblivious to him being so. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this fic!
PetalsOfSin: I'm so sorry! It was too long to wait, I'm sure! This one took even longer! :( Hope the puppy helps ease the pain :(