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Chapter Eleven: Pluto
Chapter Track: Pluto -Sleeping at Last
Her ribs were broken, not merely bruised, and still they held a banquet in her honor. Vivienne ordered the Inquisitor to wear a brace and sent her out into the throng like this was another normal night, like she hadn't just brought down the greatest evil to lay waste to Thedas in the past hundred years. Cole fretted and Dorian agreed with him, but they were in the minority. Everyone else wanted to carry Sindarel on their backs, to clasp her hand and cry on her shoulder, to have her sit at the Inquisition throne as they showered her with compliments and offered her the hand of their sons in marriage. She found it amusing. Something that would have annoyed anyone else to no end and it only made Sindarel feel like laughing.
He loved that so much.
Eventually the bard began to play festive music and the party-goers gathered in the center of the main hall and danced, smiles upon their faces, cheeks rosy red with joy. As he watched Dorian drag Cullen out onto the floor for a lively trot, he wondered what it would feel like to move that way himself. It seemed overly complicated and a bit embarrassing, but the others were having so much fun that he lamented being unable to try it.
By the third song Varric had joined him in watching the others, a wily grin on his face as he propositioned the blond boy.
"Why don't you go try it out for yourself? Who knows, you might actually enjoy it."
"I can't." Cole was quick to disagree, "Only important people dance."
The dwarf seemed confused, but asked his friend to explain before arguing against him.
"People high up like to dance so the people who are lower can watch them at this sort of party."
"Is there another sort of party?"
"Yes. If you have a party with your friends, anyone can dance. No one feels like they don't belong."
The dwarf let out a low chuckle and shook his head.
"That was surprisingly deep, kid. Maybe I'll throw you that sort of party one day."
He was gone before Cole could ask him not to go through the trouble and the boy found that he was alone again, with nothing to do besides lean against the banquet table behind him and watch the others enjoy themselves. Like him, Sera and Iron Bull weren't dancing either. Like him, they too felt out of place. He had just begun to consider winding his way around the tables and across the hall to join them when Sindarel pushed through the dancers and nearly toppled into his arms.
"Cole!" she exclaimed, grabbing his hand, "I've been looking for you. Dance with me!"
She was speaking a bit louder than usual and he wondered if, perhaps, she had too much to drink. Before he could protest she pulled him into the throng and placed his right hand on her waist and took his left one into hers.
"Sindarel, I can't! I'm not one of the important ones."
Anyone else would have asked for an explanation at this point, in fact Varric already had. Sindarel, however, merely fixed Cole with a scowl and tugged him closer.
"To me, you're the most important person here."
He felt his heart shudder as a familiar warmth spread through him and she began to force him to twirl around, him following her lead instead of her following his. They were terrible at it, and this attracted quite a lot of attention, but before long Varric and Cassandra were dancing alongside them and Leliana and Iron Bull came soon after. Pretty soon every member of Sindarel's inner circle and each of her advisors were dancing in the middle of the hall, all besides Solas who had performed a disappearing act upon Corypheus's defeat. Blackwall had maintained that the elf would likely show up by morning, but Cole wasn't so sure. When he had raced up those ruined stairs after Sindarel, something about Solas had seemed different. However, as Sindarel began laughing at his footing, he found that he could not focus on anything else.
They had to sit through three courses of Orlesian food before Josephine allowed them to leave the party, and while the others wanted to go down to the tavern for one last drink, Sindarel rejected the invitation. She waited until they'd departed and then thrust her arms around Cole's middle, seeming to no longer care who was watching them
"Your hat's strange." she mumbled, her face pressed to his stomach. He wasn't quite sure how to react, what with the pressure of a hundred eyes on them.
"I like it."
She snorted and then, without warning, reached out to touch it.
"I know. You like strange things." she took in an unnecessarily large gulp of air and thrust her arms out above her head, "I love that! I love everything you do!"
He couldn't help it, she had made him laugh once again. Even so, Cole was certain the Inquisitor would regret her drunkenness in the morning so he half helped her walk and half carried her back to her chambers. Upon arriving he had hoped that she'd just stumble into bed and they could go to sleep as they usually did, but instead she hopped onto the sofa closest to the stairs and put her hands on his shoulders, forcing him turn and face her. Once they were at about an equivalent height she brought her lips crashing down on his, kissing him for the third time that night. Although he enjoyed it, he was still inexperienced and quite unsure of what exactly he was supposed to do with his mouth. He didn't have to worry for long, however, because she soon pulled away and merely clung to him instead.
"Cole, you're beautiful." she said drunkenly, and he smiled, "I love you."
"I love you." he repeated, both enjoying the sound of the words and wanting to return the gesture. Suddenly, the Inquisitor's expression became a very solemn one.
"Will you marry me." she asked him, but it didn't come out sounding like a question. Because she was out of it and he still didn't fully understand what exactly marriage entailed (besides what Dorian had told him of it), he agreed. Besides, neither of them would remember this particular exchange in the morning, Sindarel due to her lack of sobriety and Cole due to his misinterpretation of its importance.
"If that's what you want."
"You know," she began, already having moved past the previous topic, "You talk kinda different now. Is that part of the whole human thing or what?"
He hadn't really considered it until then, but he had begun speaking less in riddles and more in natural sentences since it was decided that he'd be human. Cole tried to explain this to the Inquisitor, but she was too far gone to truly listen. Instead she used his shoulders to pivot herself back onto solid ground, slightly off balance but still graceful as only a Dalish elf can be.
"Things are gonna get hard after this. I don't know whether the others will stay or not," she said as she moved towards the balcony, suddenly introspective, "But you'll stay, right? I can deal with the rest if you're here."
He followed her out onto that stone platform beneath the darkened night sky, the remnants of the breach still visible in the distance. They'd gone through so much together, past and present, only to arrive here, staring at the one thing that had started it all.
"I will stay." he promised, taking her hand just in case she decided to try climbing over the barrier that held them back from a deathly high drop. She smiled at him, drunk and childish and naive, bright and beautiful and brave, and he was so thankful she had decided to love him.
Months ago, when he was still a spirit, he had asked Solas for the answer to an ageless question: What is love? He was human now, and he had learned the answer for himself. Cole had experienced confusion, reluctance, the most piercing of aches, but he had come out of it all to this: Her hand wrapped around his, his eyes watching her as she gazed into the starry heavens above, an undeniable feeling of warmth and safety and joy spreading slowly through every inch of his body-She was enough. She was everything.
I am real. This is real.
A/N- I can't believe I finally finished it! Sorry this took so long to upload guys, I needed to get a few things in order before I could mark this story as complete. I've had an amazing time writing this and the support I got from you guys was why I could enjoy it the way I did. Thank you all so much. There's no way I can properly express my gratitude, I know that, but I hope you guys feel it anyway. Let's all toast our mutual love for Cole and keep him in our hearts for a long time to come :) UPDATE: I'm sorry you guys but I've decided to delete A Nightmare In Constellations because I realized, after I stepped away from DA for a while and gained some perspective, that it wasn't really a necessary part of Cole and Sindarel's story. And then it bothered me a lot to just leave it there unfinished so I decided I'd rather take it down. I really hope that doesn't upset anyone as that's definitely not my intention.
~NiraKaulitz