"No, please...leave me!"
The words reached Eleanor on some level of subconscious, tearing her away from sleep.
"Leave me!" they repeated, causing her to awaken with a start. She was disoriented briefly, forgetting where she was. She looked beside her and there laid Cullen, thrashing slightly in his sleep. A look of pain twisted his face into a grimace. Eleanor placed her fingertips gingerly on his bare chest in an attempt to wake him. He jolted, clenching his fingers around her wrist. His eyes burst open and darted wildly around the room, taking in his surroundings. He noticed Eleanor, wrapped in a sheet next to him and gazing down at him concerned, and his face softened. A thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead and she felt his tension slowly relax as he realized where he was. It was still early; the sun had probably just risen an hour ago.
"...Ellie," he said quietly, loosening his grip on her wrist. She brushed her fingers across his forehead.
"You're warm," she observed. "Are you feeling ill?"
"No, just a bad dream," he said, yawning. He ran his fingers through her hair and twisted a curl around a finger absentmindedly.
"Aside from the nightmares, how do you feel?" Eleanor asked. The soft rhythm of his heart thudded in his chest just beneath where she rested her head.
"Like I could take on Corypheus himself," Cullen chuckled. "Thank you, by the way. Last night was...amazing."
"It really was." Eleanor smiled dreamily.
"I wish we could stay here all morning," he sighed, sitting up. The sheets draped loosely around his hips and he arched his back, stretching.
"I suppose it'll be back to business today, then?" Eleanor said, a hint of sadness in her voice. She stretched her arms, and felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She brushed her hair aside and there was a small series of blue bruises in a half circle, in the shape of Cullen's teeth. He smirked and kissed the bruises gingerly.
"I suppose I got a bit carried away," he said softly. "You must have that effect on me."
"You won't hear any protests from me," Eleanor told him. Cullen rose to his feet and began rummaging through the clothing that they'd tossed aside the night prior.
"Shall we go find some tea and breakfast?" Eleanor asked hopefully, standing and plucking her dress from the ground. She pulled it on over her head and smoothed it out. Cullen buttoned his pants and grinned.
"That sounds perfect," he nodded. While Cullen finished getting dressed, Eleanor made the bed, humming quietly to herself. As she gave the last pillow a final fluff, her thoughts drifted to Sophia and she wondered how the rest of the celebration went. She hoped that her cousin was feeling better about her new role, and that maybe she'd gotten some alone time with Josephine.
"Are you ready?" Eleanor asked, glancing over at Cullen, who also seemed to be in thought as he gazed at the ceiling.
"I am! Ladies first," he said, gesturing to the ladder. Eleanor climbed her way down and when Cullen joined her, she linked her arm in his.
"What do you say, shall we return to the real world?" she asked.
"If we have to," he pretended to pout. "But let's try to take a break from reality again sooner rather than later, yes?"
"Yes, please," Eleanor nodded, as they walked along the battlements. At the bottom of the stairs, they ran into Sophia and Josephine, who were both giggling but stopped abruptly when they spotted Eleanor and Cullen. Eleanor waved and they walked over, Sophia's eyebrow raised suspiciously.
"Well, how did your evening go? You two disappeared so early that you missed half the real party." she said, eyeing Cullen. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly; without his liquid confidence he seemed to be back to his former, shyer self. He cleared his throat.
"It was, uh...Ellie, how about I go and find us a table inside?" he asked. She stifled a giggle and nodded.
"Sure, I'll see you in there in a few moments." she said. He dashed off in the direction of the tavern and Eleanor watched him disappear through the door, before turning back to Sophia and Josephine's knowing smiles.
"How was the rest of the celebration?" Eleanor asked, trying to keep her voice casual.
"Oh, save it Ellie! You and the Commander finally...you know..." Sophia waggled her eyebrows and Eleanor hid her face in her palm.
"Oh, Sophie, really!" Eleanor exclaimed. "Why do you assume-"
"Well, you are still wearing the dress from last night...and I know for a fact you never came back to the room." Sophia interrupted, looking proud of herself. "Plus, come on, a blind man could've seen the charged looks between the two of you last night!"
"Oh please," Eleanor scoffed, though she knew Sophia was right. Between the tension and the alcohol, she knew neither she nor Cullen had been anywhere near subtle last night. "What about you two?" she asked, attempting to divert the topic of conversation to her cousin and the ambassador.
"What about us?" Sophia crossed her arms. Josephine rolled her eyes.
"Sophia and I enjoyed each other's company, to be sure. But our time together was without any added...distractions," she said, her eyes sparkling with hidden mischief. "I have to say, I really hope Cullen was...accommodating, despite his inexperience." Sophia snorted and Eleanor felt her cheeks turn red.
"Well?" Sophia looked to Eleanor, waiting for confirmation. Eleanor closed her eyes and nodded languidly, a tiny smile forming across her lips.
"It was...a wonderful night," she said quietly.
"Woo!" Sophia cheered, pumping her fist. "Maybe now the Commander will be a little more relaxed in our War Room meetings, eh?" she elbowed Eleanor, who rolled her eyes.
"It was a wonderful night indeed," Josephine agreed, reaching over and taking one of Sophia's hands. Eleanor wondered what they had gotten up to, but thought it best not to pry. They had their reasons for choosing to remain hushed about what was happening between them, and Eleanor respected it.
"It sounds like the celebration was a success on all fronts." Eleanor said.
"Yeah, we haven't even slept yet. The party didn't even stop until really late last night." Sophia hid a yawn. The ambassador smiled and tugged gently on Sophia's sleeve.
"I believe you promised me pancakes, yes?" Josephine asked. She glanced back to Eleanor. "Please convey my congratulations to your Commander," she winked, dragging Sophia towards the kitchens.
"Bye Ellie!" Sophia called, letting Josephine lead her away. Eleanor shook her head, her smile growing, and walked towards the tavern. She pushed open the door and Cullen waved her over to a table in the corner. Being so early, Eleanor was initially surprised at how empty the tavern was, until she realized most people were probably still sleeping off the effects of their partying. She joined Cullen at the small table where there was a small basket of muffins and various pastries waiting. As she sat, the waitress brought a steaming mug of tea.
"I hope you weren't getting teased too hard for what happened," he said, breaking a piece off of a fruit muffin and popping it into his mouth. Eleanor waved her hand dismissively.
"Let them tease," she said, blowing on the surface of her tea. "The joke's on them, because I have what I want."
"Good. So do I." Cullen winked. Eleanor noticed that he was breaking up his muffin into small pieces absent-mindedly.
"Is there something on your mind?" she asked.
"I, ah...I'm just thinking about the Winter Palace." he said.
"Orlais? Why?"
"Well, that experience Sophia had in Redcliffe, with the future being that nightmare...It all seemed to hinge on the event that the Empress was...assassinated." his voice hushed, Cullen leaned forward. "It happened when she held peace talks at a ball, the same ball that's a little over three weeks away."
"So we'll be intervening, I assume," Eleanor said. Cullen nodded.
"You assume correctly. I'm not a fan of The Game, but I can't say I'll object to seeing you in a formal gown," he grinned.
"I will be dressing formally as well?" Eleanor's eyebrows shot up to meet her hairline and she sputtered on her tea.
"Of course," Cullen chuckled. "Everyone will have to be. It's a ball."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt all this talk about balls," Bull interrupted them, towering over their tiny table. Eleanor snickered. "I thought you both might like to join us over there," he pointed at the long table in the front of the tavern, where Sera and Varric were sitting, bleary-eyed and yawning. Eleanor wondered how they managed to come in without her hearing them, but none of them looked quite awake yet. Eleanor looked to Cullen, who shrugged.
"Sure, we'll be over there in just a moment," Eleanor said. Bull lumbered back to the long table and Eleanor returned her attention to Cullen.
"I'd be willing to bet ten sovereigns that they want all the juicy details," he glanced at the table and rolled his eyes.
"Well, sorry to disappoint them but I'll be keeping those all to myself," Eleanor smiled.
"That's probably for the best," Cullen laughed. He scooted backwards in his chair and stood, grabbing the basket of pastries. Eleanor carefully carried her cup of tea and walked over to the other table, sitting across from Varric and Bull. Cullen sat beside her, and Sera brought up the head of the table on Eleanor's other side, resting her head on her arms.
"So, Varric, did Bull drink you under the table last night?" Eleanor asked quickly, not giving them the opportunity to interrogate Cullen.
"He wishes," Varric scoffed. There were dark circles under his eyes, which were slightly bloodshot.
"I dunno dwarfy, pretty sure I saw you literally under the table at some point," Sera laughed. "Ow, yeah, laughing makes the head hurt," she frowned.
"Ouch, Varric, she got you there," Bull said, chuckling.
"Hey at least I made it to bed last night. Bull, why don't you tell everyone where you ended up sleeping?" Varric crossed his arms. Bull coughed and glanced towards the back of the tavern.
"You passed out on the table face down!" Sera announced. "Which was lucky for you, innit? I would've drawn on your face otherwise."
"Yeah, yeah," Bull groaned. "Speaking of face down..." he raised his eyebrows at Eleanor, who choked on her muffin.
"Oh, Maker," Cullen rolled his eyes.
"Bet you said that a lot last night eh?" Sera nudged Eleanor and winked. Normally, the teasing wouldn't bother her, but with things being new with Cullen, she could tell it was making him increasingly uncomfortable. She was sure it didn't help that he'd had nightmares and probably had at the very least a minor hangover. Eleanor shot a pleading look to Varric.
"All right, I think we've teased them enough," Varric groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Plus I've got a splitting headache."
"Oh fine," Sera frowned. She plucked a pastry from the basket and took a large bite. Some of the filling stuck to the side of her mouth. "You know we tease because we like ya, right," she said, her mouth full.
"Suuuuure," Eleanor smirked.
"Is that why we do it? I just thought it was fun," Bull shrugged, flashing Eleanor a smile.
"You have some, uh..." Cullen pointed at Sera's mouth. Sera wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and grinned, her teeth stained lightly blue from the berries.
"Thanks Cully!" The door banged open and Eleanor looked up to see Sophia hovering near the entrance to the tavern. Josephine wasn't with her, and she beckoned Eleanor to meet her outside.
"Be right back," Eleanor said, excusing herself from the table. She hurried outside, and Sophia waited near the edge of the tavern, in a corner near the stairs.
"Over here," Sophia waved her over. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking anxious.
"Are you okay? Where's Josephine?" Eleanor raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she peered around, looking for the ambassador.
"I'm fine. She needed to rest; we were up really late. Talking, before you get any ideas." Sophia gave a sharp look to Eleanor, who raised her hands defensively.
"I wasn't going to say anything," she smirked. "What's up?"
"Here," Sophia said, shoving a packet into Eleanor's hands. Eleanor looked at it; it was a loose bundle of herbs and leaves that looked like a tea blend. She sniffed it curiously; it smelled like ginger and lavender and another scent she couldn't quite place.
"What is this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's...okay, look. I know that you like Cullen, and you guys are having fun, but..." she stammered, and looked hesitant to continue.
"Sophie, what is it?" Eleanor asked, starting to become worried. She furled her brow as she waited for an explanation.
"I'm not ready to be an aunt okay? This will...prevent that from happening. Don't ask me how, because I've no idea. It's a recipe the girls at the Pearl used to use, and it always worked for them. I just...oh, Maker, I had a whole speech prepared, and I don't want you to think I don't support you guys..." she tugged at the ends of her sleeves nervously. Eleanor laughed in relief and gave her tiny cousin a hug.
"Sophie, thank you. I know you did this with my best interests in mind. Believe me, I'm not ready for a baby either, and I don't even know if that's where Cullen and I are heading, so I appreciate it." Eleanor pocketed the pouch of herbs.
"You only need like...a tiny pinch of that per cup of tea. That parcel should last you at least six months, if you use it sparingly enough. Just take some the day after you, uh..." Sophia scratched her head and her nose wrinkled. "I don't want to think about this, ugh. I'm glad I already ate, otherwise this conversation would've killed my appetite." She crossed her arms and Eleanor put an arm loosely around her tiny shoulders.
"Well, either way, thank you for thinking of me. Now that that's over do you feel better?" Eleanor bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to laugh.
"Yeah, yeah," Sophia rolled her eyes. "Is it too early to start drinking?" she asked, pushing her way through the tavern door.
"Sophia..." Eleanor warned. Last night had been a celebration, but Eleanor worried; now that Sophia was the Inquisitor, people would surely notice if she were to make drinking a more regular habit.
"I'm only joking. Come on, let's get some tea or something. I ate pancakes but I'm still starving." Eleanor followed Sophia into the tavern, laughing to herself and marveling at the tiny mage's ability to eat what seemed like her body weight in one sitting and remain so fit.
Sophia plopped into the chair next to Bull, who tousled her hair affectionately.
"Hey, Boss. We were just talking about last night. Did you tell Ellie that you sang for us?"
"What?" Eleanor exclaimed, looking to Sophia for an explanation. It was true that Sophia had always had an affinity for tavern songs, but Eleanor was sad to have missed out on the opportunity to sing some of their favorites together.
"It's true," Sophia nodded, grabbing a muffin. "We started talking about famous bar songs, and then I taught them a few I learned at the Pearl...needless to say, they weren't the most innocent of songs, but everyone seemed to really like them."
"Oh, hell yes," Bull agreed. "We will definitely be doing that again. Maybe this time, though, you guys don't let me sleep on the table? My back is killing me."
"It's your own fault, Tiny." Varric laughed. "You are impossible to wake up." Bull beamed, looking quite proud. Eleanor took the opportunity while everyone was distracted to slip a pinch of the herbs from Sophia into her tea. She stirred them in quickly, then took a long drink. The combination was bitter and Eleanor swallowed her disgust. She knew that this must be done; no matter what the future held for her and Cullen. Now was not the time to focus so far ahead.
"What can I say? It's a gift." Bull puffed his chest slightly. Eleanor saw his eye fall on her mug, and she knew that he must've noticed; Ben-Hassrath noticed everything. He gave a slight nod, as though in approval, so imperceptible that nobody else noticed.
"So, I'm assuming we have the next couple of days off, or until Hawke sends us a message? Does this mean things won't fall apart if I go take a nap?" Varric asked, yawning.
"Go, nap!" Sophia waved him away. "We have at the very least today and tomorrow. I assume we'll get her message tonight or early tomorrow morning, and we'll leave the day after if that's the case. So get some rest. I'm not sure what meeting this Grey Warden is going to entail."
"All right, then I'll see you guys later," Varric stood, shuffling off.
"That's actually a pretty good idea," Bull agreed. "I think I will go sleep on my actual bedroll and let my back recover from that table."
"Well, I'm not going to be the only one not taking advantage of nap time! Anyone wanna gimme a ride up the stairs?" Sera poked Sophia in the side.
"Oh, what the hell," Sophia sighed. "Come on, up you get." She pulled Sera to her feet and she immediately leapt onto her back, nearly knocking the mage to the floor.
"Andraste's dimpled ass, Sera!" Sophia groaned, wrapping her arms around the elf's legs. "You weigh more than a bloody bear."
"HA! I'm cuter though," Sera giggled. "Those ugly farts we saw in the Hinterlands looked better with arrows in their eyes."
"And don't forget the one you put in that poor bear's arse. Come on, time for bed." Sophia rolled her eyes at Eleanor, who was shaking with silent laughter. "Be right back. OW. Don't kick me, you daft twit!"
"Giddyup, horsey!" they heard Sera yell as she climbed the stairs.
"I'm going to throw you off in a minute!" came Sophia's reply.
"No you won't! You love me!" Sera's maniacal laughter rang out. Bull shook his head as he turned to go.
"Those two are something else. I'm fairly certain the Boss is the only one who can keep up with her insanity."
Eleanor grinned at him. "They make a good team, you have to admit." Bull yawned widely.
"Okay, bedtime for real. See ya later, Ellie, Cullen." He nodded at each of them in turn and ambled off across the tavern. It was a while before Sophia bounded down the stairs, her hair and clothes a complete mess.
"She tried to snuggle the horse," she explained, catching Eleanor's stare. "Took me a while to get away. Girl has one hell of a grip."
"Don't worry, we won't tell your girlfriend," Cullen said, a twinkle in his eye.
"Who, what? For the love of-she's not my-"
"So! What do you have planned for today?" interrupted Eleanor. Sophia shot a grateful look towards her cousin.
"I am going to the library, to learn what I can about Crestwood, before our trip," Sophia stretched, her back making little pops. "And see how Dorian is doing, if he's even out of bed yet. He cannot handle his alcohol as well as the rest of us."
"Aren't you tired?" Eleanor asked.
"Oh, yes. But I doubt I'd be able to sleep right now. I'll sleep later, I'm fine." Sophia gestured dismissively.
"All right. We'll see you for dinner at the latest, maybe before then," Eleanor nodded.
"Oh, and just so you know, Josephine's napping in your bed, since you didn't need it this morning. So...maybe stay out of there until she's up?"
"Sure," Eleanor nodded. She secretly had been hoping for a hot bath and to change into some clean clothes, but she preferred to let Josephine rest.
"Thanks. See you!" Sophia said, pushing the door open and skipping away. Eleanor finished her tea, and pushed the empty mug away from her on the table.
"A nap sounds really nice, honestly," Cullen said.
"Were your nightmares that bad?" Eleanor leaned her head on his shoulder and yawned.
"I wouldn't say they were worse than normal, but they were frequent. I woke up a lot. Granted, that wasn't awful, because then I was reminded I had a very beautiful woman in bed next to me, but regardless, the sleep was not sound." Cullen kissed her on the forehead.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Eleanor stood, and pulled Cullen from his chair. Eleanor, holding his hand, led him outside, up the nearby stairs, and along the battlements.
"Your friends love you, you know." Cullen said, walking in a slow stride beside her.
"What makes you say that?" she asked.
"I got reminded in a few choice words that we are in the middle of nowhere and that accidents happen, so I'd better treat you right." Cullen smirked, seemingly unaffected by the friendly threats.
"Ugh, Bull," Eleanor groaned. "I'm sorry, I guess he's just protective."
"Oh, that wasn't Bull. That was Sera," Cullen chuckled.
"What?" Eleanor asked, incredulous. "Well, you know she means business." She snickered. "I guess you'd better be good to me." They continued along the battlements until they reached his office.
"Well, if you insist, but I was going to let you recover from last night first," he winked, closing the office door behind them. Eleanor giggled.
"Yes, sleep, I could use a bit more of that I suppose," she said. Cullen climbed lazily up the ladder, with Eleanor following closely behind him.
"I hope it's all right with you, but I'm not sleeping in this dress," Eleanor said, pulling the dress over her head and tossing it aside.
"Oh, no, I'm going to protest you taking your clothes off, really, Ellie," Cullen laughed. Leaving her underclothes on, Eleanor collapsed onto the bed and wrapped the blankets around her; the sun-touched fabric was warm and she could already feel her eyes growing heavy. She felt Cullen crawl into the bed beside her, wearing only his thin cotton shorts.
"Come here," he said, pulling her over to his side of the bed. She rested her head on his chest and tangled her legs in his. "You know, by the way, what Sera said..."
"Cullen, don't worry about it. I trust you." Eleanor said simply.
"I...thank you." Cullen said. "That's more of a gift than you might realize." He kissed her on the forehead. In moments, she heart his breath slow its rhythm, indicating he had fallen asleep. She let the soft sounds of his breathing lull her to join him, and they slumbered together in the sunlight, temporarily untouchable.