Day 2
Meet the Family
Alya was absolutely freaking out. "Stop worrying so much, they'll love you." He squeezed her hand, as the marked glowed in response to her nerves. "But what if they do not love me? What if they think I am not good for you? You are a former templar, vhenan, and I am an elven mage with two different sources of magic at my fingertips at all times." She emphasized her point by shaking their clasped hands as they glowed. "you worry too much, love." "you are just as worried as I am, Cullen," she accused "I can tell." Cullen rubbed at his neck with his free hand "Well yes, but I'm more afraid that they'll scare you off than anything." Alya laughed "you do not need to worry about me. I would fight dragons for you, your siblings will not scare me off." Cullen laughed heartily. "say that in front of Mia, and you're golden! However, on that note… please don't fight any more dragons."
They were coming up on Cullen's childhood home, and Alya's nerves came back tenfold. "What if they do not like that I am an elf? What if they hate my accent? What if they do not want you being with a non-Ferelden? What if-" Alya cut herself off as Cullen knocked on the door. A tall blonde woman opened it, and immediately she started to frown. This was it. She hadn't even said anything, and they already hated her. "Cullen Stanton Rutherford, you are late. Are you physically incapable of picking up a pen and paper and sending your poor sister a letter every now and then?" Alya watched in morbid fascination as this woman who towered over her, but just barely came to her commander's chin, chewed him out like she would a disobedient child.
"Well? Come in, what are you waiting for? And where's that Alya woman you're seeing…?" That is when Mia cast her gaze down to the little, raven haired elf. The woman's face lit up. "Oh! but you are simply adorable! Welcome to the family!" before she knew it, Alya was wrapped up in a hug and dragged into the house. "Everyone this is Alya, Cullen's Fiance!" Cullen panicked at this "Mia. Kitchen. Now." As he dragged his sister somewhere to argue, Alya stood awkwardly in the door. Her common wasn't strong enough to know that word… or perhaps it was a Fereldan term? Either way Cullen seemed upset that Mia had referred to her in such a way, which made her even more uncomfortable as the rest of his family introduced themselves. His younger sister grasped at Alya's hands, (ignoring the fact that one glowed, to Alya's surprise) and began to ask her millions of questions. "You're Dalish right? Was learning common hard? How stressful is your job as Inquisitor? Surely it's not as hard now that that nasty magister is gone. You have an older brother as well, yeah? Ronnin? Is he a mage also? How are you in the kitchen? Would you like to help us make dinner?" there were so many questions to answer that it made Alya's head spin. "I am...Dalish… yes." She decided to answer one at a time. She'd gotten through half of the questions when Cullen's brother, Branson, stepped in. "Rosalie, let the woman breathe. Alya, would you like to sit down?" Alya nodded gratefully as she sat in the chair offered to her.
As she was sitting down Mia and Cullen emerged from the kitchen "Well then you better do it soon, or she'll slip right through your fingers like that Amell did." Cullen crumbled something unintelligible as he moved to stand behind Alya. "Rosalie," Mia called "come help me prepare dinner. Alya, would you like to join?" She sat still, not knowing what to do. She knew many Dalish dishes, but when it came to Ferelden food preparation, she was completely lost. She did not wish to make a fool of herself in front of her lover's sisters. Cullen squeezed her shoulder. "Go. If you don't know how to do something, they'll show you." She relaxed into his touch. He always seemed to know what she was thinking. "Alright, then." Alya agreed as she got up from her chair. Before she could follow the sisters into the kitchen, Cullen hugged her to him from behind. He dug his nose in her hair and kissed the top of her head "See? I told you they'd love you."