Of Leaders and Impressions

It was a long two days Cullen spent following someone instead of leading men for once. Not only was the snow deep enough to impede everyone but the stoutest draft horses, but the mountains were disorientating. After the first five peaks they passed, even he noticed they were all starting to look alike. But Solas and Trevelyan never wavered.

And that was the other thing that made his days long: watching her stumble and wade through the snow out ahead of them. He knew just what shape she had been in when they found her three days ago, knew what still needed to be healed, just like the rest of her inner circle. So to see her out there, in such conditions when she should still be on bed rest was difficult. But all of them knew better than to try and stop her now.

That was why when Skyhold came into view, he saw it as a relief in more than one way. Shelter, defenses, rest. Or so he thought from far away. When they actually entered the castle, his relief fast became a headache.

A ransacked main hall, arrows still in the roof tiles, towers destroyed, all sorts of animals nesting in covered corners, and no usable buildings whatsoever. It would take months, if not years, to fully fix it. Already Josephine, Leliana and he were making mental notes of everything they would need to fix. They each had their own areas of expertise which meant there would be no real stepping of toes in this, aside from manpower and coin. It was why they needed a leader, and thankfully, that discussion on the way to Skyhold was a quick one. Like him, the three women had the same person in mind for a leader.

After everything they had all just lived through, after everything they knew they would still need to endure, making the announcement of Trevelyan as leader of the Inquisition was just the morale boost everyone needed. She held the sword like a natural, still unwavering in her desire to end the chaos the world suffered from.

With renewed determination, everyone went to work to clean up their new home. Naming a leader had been the easy part, now to clean up everything (and not just in Skyhold) would be the challenge.

Space was limited still as no place other than the main hall had yet to be deemed "livable" by anyone's standards, so when night fell, he took his work into the main hall. With debris everywhere, rotten drapery, and working candelabra, it was the only place to work in once night fell. Only Leliana, Josephine and Solas had really cleared out their own rooms and areas, on top of a library. As for everyone else… Well, that was just another task to add to his already extremely long list of tasks.

He sighed, sitting down at one of the sturdier tables and unrolling his outline of Skyhold and the problems left to him, it seemed, to sort out. Training regiments, patrols, scouts, guard shifts, barracks, an armory, a main area for his own use… It seemed to be never ending.

Just as he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stem the headache he could feel building not only from stress, but the withdrawal and lack of sleep, a piece of paper was set in front of him. He opened one eye to see the familiar leather wear of Trevelyan. And it just occurred to him that he hadn't seen or been able to talk to her since she accepted the position, and he almost made a very embarrassing slip-up in revealing some of his deeper feelings toward her.

He stopped trying to will away his headache and turned to look at her, only to receive a sheepish smile in return. "You look like you could use some help. Well, sleep. But I figure that won't happen for any of us for a while."

"Both would be welcome just about now." Curious, and more than a little hopeful, he glanced down at the paper she gave him only to find two more maps. One was of the Exalted Plains, as he was sure she just arrived from there not too long ago, and the other was of Skyhold.

"All right," she said from the other side of the table. He wondered when she moved, and how he didn't hear it. It likely meant he needed sleep or lyrium more than he thought. "What should we start with?"

At how eager she looked, despite still having road filth on her face and tiredness lacing every word, he couldn't stop his smile. He pushed her map of Skyhold into the center of the table. "Leliana, Josephine and myself have a list of amenities we need, but no real consensus on where to put them. Thankfully, the prison took care of itself." He rifled through his papers, pulling out the one that listed all the services and amenities they needed or would like to have and handed it over to her. "Once that's sorted, I can send men over to start clearing and making the necessary repairs."

She took the list from him, her fingers grazing his own and warming them. He cleared his throat and looked down at his papers, trying to ignore the tender feeling that aroused in him. But an amused cough had him glancing to the side.

He sighed and glowered. He forgot about the troublesome dwarf pretty much staking out the fireplace nearby for his own little area. And when Varric noticed his glower, he had the gall to smile and mimicked the motion of zipping his mouth.

"Well, what did you have in mind? And the others?" Her soft question brought him out of his annoyance at always being caught making a fool of himself by Varric. But this was a very thankful distraction. He leaned forward and began pointing out areas that were suggested and debating the benefits between them.

The night passed and dawn approached without either noticing as she made decisions and they debated the finer points of having an armory and a tavern so close together, and why the stables would need to be a little further away from everything else since they were in Orlais, inviting mainly nobility…

She sighed and stretched in her chair, popping a few of her joints and Cullen could only watch in quiet appreciation. He had never been one to oogle a woman, but there was something about her… And then with how she stretched her torso out, her arms above her head, and that satisfied smile on her face—

He groaned and rubbed his face. He needed to get a grip on himself and focus on things other than how to make her look like that more.

"I'm sorry, I've kept you up all night," she said, likely interpreting his groan as one of displeasure.

He didn't have the courage to correct her. "It's quite all right. With everything you've helped with, this will make the rest of the week that much easier."

She smiled at him, that same wide, happy smile he had seen only a few times before and never at anyone else. "Anything to make your life easier, Commander." Then she stood. "I'll go inform Bull and his men to start taking care of that tavern they want so much."

He nodded and watched her go, before gathering all his things and heading for the war room where he was sure Leliana and Josephine were waiting. If he could get through it without any teasing, it would be a continued streak of good luck that he wasn't sure meant something good.

"And the Inquisitor? Did you both forget to see about where she will be staying?" Josephine asked, not even bothering to hide her undertone. And Cullen knew his luck at not being teased by either woman was up. It was a good three days and two hours, though.

"She said all she wanted was someplace quiet that wouldn't be a bother," Cullen replied. And that was truly all she had said about the matter when he breached the subject. He let it drop with that answer as he learned very early that she was not the most comfortable talking about herself. Plus as a Templar, he knew what kind of rooms and privacy she would have been used to. Some place quiet and out of the way fit in perfectly with that.

"And she mentioned, jokingly, that she would like a marble bath to wash away the filth of the last few weeks." Josephine sighed and Cullen stared determinedly at the reports before him, trying not to think about that comment. "It won't do at all."

"Why not? She's a simple woman."

"No, she's not," Leliana interjected. "Not anymore. She's still thinking she's a simple circle mage, not the leader of a military and political force. Simplicity in her quarters will not do to impress any nobility or kingdoms, Commander."

"And this is why I leave the Game to you ladies." He smirked at them. "She makes so few requests of us, I would like to see them followed through." Even though he knew that was slightly hypocritical of him. She requested once that he call her by name, and he still had yet to actually do so.

Josephine made a few notes on her ledger. "Trust me, I know. By the time she returns again, I shall have found a way to fulfill her requests."

In two weeks, when she and her companions returned from the Hinterlands and the Exalted Plains again, the look on her face and the true gratitude in her voice when they showed her, her room was worth all the trouble and extra shifts he made his men pull to have it ready and perfect.

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