He's been planning to invite her for a trip to Honnoleath for days now, just saving up enough courage to ask her.
It's not that Cullen thinks she'll say no (although his mind tells her she won't want to); it just takes him time to dare to ask.
She comes into his office and Cullen feels his heart stop for a moment and he feels so, so nervous.
Lavellan does that to him, and Cullen finds he doesn't mind being turned into a stuttering fool.
He opens his mouth to ask her, but is interrupted by sounds outside; people running, talking loudly.
Then he hears a sound he's barely heard before; that of a Hart.
But this sounds different than the Hart already in the stables.
Before he has time to react, Lavellan is out his door, standing on the bridge leading to the hold itself.
Cullen follows her outside, and what he can see is a Hart with colours he has never seen on an animal before.
As if that wasn't surprising enough; following it are two Halla.
He draws his breath at the beauty of the rare animals and how the white pelts of the Halla shines in the sunlight.
The crowd below murmurs, but none approach the animals, and he realises they came alone, with no one to guide them.
Cullen looks to Lavellan, only to find her gone.
Moments later she appears, running out the front door of the hold, down the stairs.
She almost trips in excitement but steadies herself just in time.
When she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she slows to a steady pace, both hands extended towards the new arrivals.
The hart approaches her, and the halla slowly follows.
The entire crowd, Cullen included, holds their breath as Lavellan reaches out and strokes the halla.
None dear speak out of fear of breaking the spell that seems to have fallen across the courtyard; the magical meeting of a Dalish elf and animals associated with her people.
Lavellan looks around then, appearing confused until she spots him atop the bridge where she left him.
She waves to him, invites him to join her in meeting the animals for the first time.
Cullen doesn't run (yes, he does, and he doesn't care if anyone sees him), and soon he's only a few steps behind her, waiting to see the reactions of the animals, to see if they will allow him to come closer.
They do, and he marvels at the feel of the fur underneath his fingers, and the shape of the twisted horns and how trusting the halla seems.
He stares at them in marvel, incapable of turning away until Lavellan takes his hand.
Together they lead the halla to the garden, and as they find themselves alone there, Cullen finally musters the courage to ask her to join him on a trip, and the answer is everything he hoped it would be.
