Running The Gauntlet

by foxfire79

Lilah and Cullen have embarked on their romantic relationship, and all of their friends have decided to lend them a helping hand. Though some of their 'helpful' ideas may not be to the Inquisitor and the Commander's liking. So much for keeping their relationship a secret! Rated M for adult situations and occasional swearing. Directly follows 'I Dreamed a Dream (of banana pancakes).

3. Keeping Secrets Part 03

Running the Gauntlet - A Dragon Age Inquistion Fan Fiction by Foxfire79 (Cullen/Inquisitor)

Disclaimer: I don't work for Bioware, nor have I ever been involved with the creation of any of the characters within the Dragon Age universe. I'm just playing with them (as we were meant to). The only original characters are the ones I created in-game, and have brought over to the fanfic universe, namely Lilah Trevelyan, my human female rogue Inquisitor who is now living through a second incarnation and yet another playthrough (and another romance with Cullen, of course). Apparently I still like being a rogue, human and female. Who knew?

It's happening!

~Lilah's Morning~

No matter how many times she slept in them, Lilah could not find bedrolls comfortable. She blearily blinked her eyes open, urging her muscles to allow her to sit up on the stony ground as she perused her companions. Sera was still snoring, lying on her back, one arm flung over her face. Dorian was sitting up, looking in equal parts stupefied and annoyed. He gave her a slight wave, then excused himself to the 'Little Mages' Room' to relieve himself. Seeing as there was no actual room to do this, he wandered down to the creek where they'd washed themselves and their armour the previous night. The Iron Bull was nowhere to be found. Lilah assumed he was visiting the 'Little Qunari's Room' to do the same as Dorian, then laughed out loud. Iron Bull had probably never been referred to as little in his life, even as a child. She wandered up to the small pond behind the palatial residence they'd now 'acquired' for the Inquisition and knelt down, scooping some of the cool, clear water into her hands to wash her face. Her reflection looked a little pale in the rippling water, and she sighed. Maybe this is what having a near-death experience did to a person, she thought, as she ran her fingers over her no longer bruised but still slightly tender throat.

"Feeling alright, Boss?"

Lilah jumped as Iron Bull's reflection appeared in the pond next to hers.

"Maker's Balls, Bull! Don't sneak up on a woman at this time of the day!" Bull appeared indifferent to her outburst, now looking into the pool at his own reflection. He reached up and scratched behind his right horn, then looked down at her as she sat on the ground.

"Sorry. I told you I could be sneaky when I had to, though. But you could never look bad, Boss. If this is as bad as it gets, Well, I'm certainly not put off." Lilah closed her eyes, swearing inwardly. She definitely had to put him off, before he tried to flirt with her any further. She climbed back to her feet, brushing non-existent dust from her pants as she turned to face him.

"Listen, Bull..." He silenced her by placing one of his substantial fingers over her lips, while shaking his head.

"Sorry Boss, me first this time. You know I was Ben Hassrath, right? I can read you like a book. You're seeing someone else. It must be serious too, I mean, you're turning down all this..." He gestured at his amazing physique at this point, and Lilah giggled at his brashness. "I can't say I'm not a little upset, and I will stress at this point..." He reached out and grabbed her shoulders, gently but with enough force that she couldn't move away, "That I think the both of us will be missing out on something... Well, if not certainly something very good, at least something interesting that we would remember for the rest of our lives, however long or short that is. That being said, I'm not going to interfere with this relationship of yours, but whoever this guy is, if he turns out to be a bastard and hurts you in anyway, I will kill him." Lilah could tell he was being serious. She placed her hands over his and looked up at him, trying to hold back a smile.

"Thanks, Bull. I'm fairly certain that I won't need any of your extensive services. Any of them. Thanks for the offer, though." Bull nodded, releasing her shoulders, and stretched his neck to both sides, cracking it loudly. He smiled, then turned to walk away, heading over to where they'd slept the previous night in the left-hand pavilion. He stopped after a few steps, then turned around to address her again.

"We're still going after the dragon today, right?" Lilah nodded, following a few steps behind. "Yes! I swear you are the best boss we've ever had. The fighting, the drinking, proper living quarters... This! This is the life!" He fell in step with her, clapping her on the back so hard she almost went flying. He reached out and grabbed her arm before she actually fell over, a look of concern crossing over his face. "Shit, sorry! Maybe it's a good thing we're not getting together, I'd probably throw you out of a window or something..." Lilah started laughing, grasping Bull's arm as she stumbled back to her feet.

"I'm glad you like my leadership techniques, I'll be sure to tell the Advisors when we get back..." Upon mentioning the Advisors, Lilah could feel her cheeks turning an unwanted pink. She glanced at Bull, then looked away when she noticed his eyes widening and his nostrils flaring slightly as he undoubtedly sensed a certain shift in her demeanor. If anyone could figure out she was seeing Cullen, it would be him. He wouldn't even have to pry, he'd just have to see them together and he'd know. She decided to take the bull by the horns, so to speak. "Listen, Bull... Once you realise who it is I'm seeing, please don't tell anyone else. Especially Varric. He's already writing a new serialised novel based on the Inquisition, I'd prefer if he left my love life out of it. I would owe you quite a big favour..." Bull stopped in his tracks, raising one hand. Lilah stopped speaking, hoping the favour wouldn't be too ridiculous.

"The only thing I ask is that whenever you hear of a dragon, I want to come along and slay it with you." Lilah blinked up at him, then broke into a huge smile.

"No problem. You'll be top of my list for dragon slaying. Now I suppose I have to try and wake 'that' up..." They'd made it back to the pavilion to find Dorian standing over a still-sleeping Sera, looking exasperated.

"I've tried rolling her over, nudging her feet, blowing in her ears... I stopped short of using magic to throw a bucket of water over her because, well, Sera hates magic, but still! We need to get moving." Lilah sighed and shoved him lightly aside, moving in close to whisper in the elven woman's ear.

"Dagna's taking a bath in the woods!" Sera's eyes sprang open, and she all but flew out of her bedroll. Lilah leaned back, chuckling to herself as the elf took in her surroundings, her confusion giving way to annoyance. She scowled at Lilah even as Dorian handed her the still-slightly-bloody boots and her arm brace and started rolling up her bedroll. Iron Bull barked out a laugh and finished strapping on the rest of his gear, and Lilah just shook her head. "You're incorrigible. Hurry up, there's dragons on the menu!"

"Oh, ha ha. Just wait until I find out who you're shagging, then it'll be payback time."

All four of them grabbed a chunk of bread and some cheese for breakfast and started heading back down the hill towards the road they'd come up the previous afternoon. It was still littered with dead mercenaries, who would begin rotting soon enough under this scorching sun. Ah well, the Inquisition troops would undoubtedly burn the bodies once they came to claim the palace for themselves. Their packs were already almost too heavy to carry, so they'd placed them on the three remaining horses and had elected to walk for the rest of the day. It would be a long walk, too, looking at the 'map' that had been drawn for them. The vague area where the dragon had been sighted was a rather large wobbly blob drawn in by hand on the right side with the words 'Dragon, Possibly?' scrawled into the margin. It wasn't much to go on. All they could do was head North-West and hope for the best.

~Cullen's Morning~

Cullen yawned, then frowned, wondering why something felt different this morning from any other morning. He didn't feel as rested as he usually would, for one thing, and he knew he'd slept well. The it hit him. He missed her. He missed Lilah. He frowned to himself, shaking his head. No, that couldn't be it, she'd gone away many, many other times before... But this time it was different. This time he could have been holding her in his arms after sleeping together in his bed again, he could have been kissing her secretly in his office before she sneaked back to her own chambers to start the day. He could have had his hands all over her sweet body, breathing in the intoxicating perfume of her skin while they intertwined beneath his sheets... He could feel his body heat rising just thinking about her, and his temperature wasn't the only thing rising... Maker's Breath.

He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, willing himself to calm down before getting dressed and heading down the ladder to his empty, lonely office. He glanced at his desk, and remembered her perching on the edge of it, chatting and laughing with him just two days earlier. Maybe today would be a good day to see how the troops were faring. He knew the Bull's Chargers were out on a scouting mission around the Haven ruins, so there was no point looking for Krem. That new young fellow, Sutherland, was also out with his band of friends, doing some easy patrol work around the Hinterlands. The only option left were the fresh recruits, the people who'd only just arrived and had literally just been handed a sword and wished good luck. He pushed his sword into the scabbard at his waist, dismissing any dirty thoughts that image brought to him, and headed down to the kitchen to grab some food before the morning's advisors' meeting. Since he was actually running early he'd be able to linger in the hall and actually eat properly before heading in.

The kitchen door was already half open, and he could hear the head cook bellowing something at his underlings about 'leaving the bloody ice chest open again'. Cullen at least knew that it wasn't himself or Lilah this time, and he couldn't help smirking about that as he slipped into the room. The staff all fell silent as they recognised the intruder as the Commander of their standing army, and allowed him to grab a wooden bowl which he filled with the still steaming porridge in the pot. One of the kitchen girls also handed him a chunk of cheese and some bread, whispering at him 'not to forget lunch this time' before the cook started bellowing again, this time about the state of the mashed potatoes.

Cullen sidled out the back door, and went to climb up the back stairs which led to the Main hall, when an almost hidden door caught his eye. It was to the far left of the large empty space they were still yet to fill, an area he never generally frequented. He knew the wine cellar was down here, somewhere, but he'd never really had to go in there either. Perhaps I should explore this place a little more, he thought as he shoveled a hot spoonful of porridge into his mouth. He headed towards the mystery door, rubbing some cobwebs from the doorknob with his sleeve before grasping it and opening the door. A large puff of dusty air blew into his face, making him blink and sneeze. Once the air cleared, Cullen blew out an impressed breath as he surveyed what he'd discovered.

"Is this... It is! A secret library." His first thought, of course, was that Lilah was going to love this, and possibly love him for finding it. The place looked untouched. There was inches of dust on the floor, and as he stepped inside his boots kicked up little flurries of grey particles which made the air almost sparkle. He suddenly remembered he still had the bowl and spoon in his hand, and he ate another mouthful while he surveyed the shelves. The books appeared to be mostly arcane in nature, but he knew from watching her around the library on occasion that she enjoyed all manner of reading material. There was a huge desk in the centre of the room, also covered in dusty tomes, and dust. Dust seemed to be the running theme of this room. Cullen hoped that the contents of the books hadn't also crumbled to dust, and he was delighted when he plucked a random volume from a shelf and found all of the pages to be intact. He nodded to himself, replacing the volume on the shelf. He now knew what he was going to do for the rest of today.

He gobbled down the last few bites of breakfast in his bowl, then backed out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. He grasped the empty bowl in his hand and loped up the stairs, two at a time, reaching the top quickly and pushing the door that led to the Main hall open. He left the empty bowl on one of the long eating tables, and took a large bite of the cheese wedge the kitchen girl had given him. It was Orlesian and not as bitey as he would have liked, but still, in the end, cheese was cheese. He finished the wedge, but left the bread in his pocket. Last time, Leliana and Josephine had eaten almost all of his breakfast. Today he wasn't going to let that happen.

He opened the door leading down to the Council room, and found Josephine still seated behind her desk, issuing orders to one of her long suffering assistants. She stifled a yawn, then noticed Cullen standing just inside her doorway before nodding at her assistant slightly and returning her pen to its inkwell.

"Thank you, Mari, that will be all for now. I'll see you in around an hour." The poor young woman nodded, looking slightly bewildered, and started to back out of the room.

"Yes, Lady Montilyet. I'll try and work my way through your list until then." Josephine sighed, rubbing her right hand over her forehead.

"These young ones... They don't want to fight, or scout, or spy, or cook, or do anything slightly out of their comfort zone. Even at a time like this. This will be my third assistant in as many weeks, I can see the pressure getting to her already. I'm not even overloading them, Cullen, this is just the overflow of what I can't deal with every day. The easiest things..." She threw her hands up in the air, rolling her eyes. Cullen chuckled and moved further into the room.

"Everyone will eventually find their place. It just seems to take some longer than others. And these young lords and ladies, who've never had to work a day in their lives are suddenly thrown into a situation where they have to pick up swords, or rakes, or pens and just start doing things they've never had to do before... I'm surprised they're doing as well as they are." Josephine looked at him with wide eyes and stifled a giggle.

"Why, Commander Cullen, that sounded almost... tolerant of you. I thought you hated the nobility?" Cullen looked away quickly, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Maybe the nobility is growing on me." He almost growled the sentence, as he felt the heat in his cheeks rising. Josephine smiled, and sighed dramatically.

"Ah, young love, it's a truly beautiful thing..." Cullen glowered at her, even though his cheeks were burning, which made her laugh even harder. Young love, indeed! They were around the same age, if anything he was older! He knew she was just teasing him, but still... Maker's Breath... While Cullen was still huffing about Josephine's teasing comments, Leliana entered the room and surveyed the situation.

"Now, now, Josie, leave our poor Commander alone. You know he doesn't like to discuss these things." Josephine sobered up, looking suitably contrite, before standing up from her desk to head into the Council room with both of them. "Now, let's not waste any time today. Maker knows we wasted enough yesterday discussing Cullen's love life and how he should best satisfy the Inquisitor..." Cullen looked over at Leliana and saw that she, too, was struggling to hide a grin. His left hand went unconsciously to the back of his neck as the heavy door closed behind them, sealing them in for the morning meeting. Hopefully they would actually get some work done today.

~Lilah's Afternoon~

"What on Thedas are they doing?" Dorian handed the spyglasses back to Iron Bull, looking confused. Sera reached over and snagged them from the Qunari's hands before he had a chance to lift them to his own eyes, and squinted in the direction they'd been peering.

"No idea, but they're certainly not acting like any bandits I've ever seen before..." Lilah reached over Dorian, pulling the spyglasses to her own eyes to scope out the situation.

"Why do they keep ducking behind that rocky outcrop? Are they playing hide and seek?" Sera giggled at this, and Iron Bull took the opportunity to grab his spyglasses back so he could professionally assess the 'bandits' activities.

"I think they've noticed us looking at them, seeing as we're not exactly quiet. And for some reason, they're trying to lure us into that ravine." He wiped the end of the glasses clean on Sera's pants, which elicited an 'Oiy, watch it!' from the elf, and hung them back onto his belt.

They'd decided to leave the horses at one of the Inquisition camps they'd passed through, along with the superfluous weaponry they'd accumulated during their many mercenary battles. At any rate, it was easier to sneak about without the horses. Then they'd noticed movement in the hills heading towards the edge of the map, where they may or indeed may not stumble across a dragon. Iron Bull still had his hopes up. They'd stopped atop a small hill a kilometre or so away from where they'd seen something reflecting, and this was where they'd been ever since, watching the bizarre antics through Iron Bull's magnifying goggles. Lilah looked down the hill at the now tiny marauders.

"Well, what do you want to do? Run into that fairly obvious trap? Or just forget the whole thing?" Bull looked at her incredulously. He stood up and pointed in the direction of the ravine.

"That's where the dragon might possibly be, right?" Lilah nodded, and Dorian sighed melodramatically.

"Fasta vass, not this again! You know how he gets about dragons... 'Are we there yet?', 'Is this where the dragon is?', 'When do I get to kill a dragon, finally?!' I think we all know what the answer is: Yes, we are going to run right into the fairly obvious trap, hopefully survive it, and then go and kill the bloody dragon!" Iron Bull blinked, or possibly winked, and smiled crookedly at Lilah.

"It's like the Vint can read my mind!" Sera yawned and stood up also, stretching out her shoulders.

"I'm up for whatever; Dragons, bears, bandits, if it wants an arrow in it's eye, I'm your girl!" Lilah scrambled up onto her knees, then took Dorian's offered hand to help her stand the rest of the way.

"Well, that's settled then. So are we just going to go straight... Oh." Her sentence dwindled away as she watched Iron Bull and Sera sprint down the hill at full pelt, Sera already firing arrows as she went. Dorian glanced at her sideways, then peered gingerly down the green grass before them. "Well, if they managed it, we should be able to. Just maybe... can you cast barrier on us? Just in case we trip and fall. Not that I'm saying we will, but..." Dorian patted her on the shoulder, still looking rather green.

"Good call, cousin. Very good call. Barrier up..." Lilah felt the comforting drape of the magical shield fall over them, and she reached out and grasped Dorian's hand again. He grinned and gripped it tightly, then faced down the rather steep hill. They could see Bull running around, and hear him (albeit now muffled slightly by the barrier) whooping with joy every time he made a hit, and Sera jumping about firing arrows like she had an endless supply. "Let's not let them have all the fun. Ready... Set..." They both leapt forward on 'Go!', still holding hands, screeching with terror and delight as they simultaneously slid and ran down the slippery slope towards the battle. Bull looked up from his newly dead quarry, wiping his axe blade clean on the grass as the breathless rogue and mage made it to the bottom of the hill.

"Glad you could make it, we saved the big guys for you." Lilah groaned loudly when she saw the two burly men in heavy armour approaching, both hefting identical mauls over their shoulders.

"Not more of these..." Dorian laughed, and threw down some ice mine runes at the two advancing figures. They didn't notice and walked right into them, both getting thrown up into the air only to be smashed into the still frozen rocks below. Lilah swooped in, slicing into their shoulders while they were still prostrate on the ground, and soon the ice was slick with blood. One had lost his helmet in the fall, and Lilah deftly leaned in and slit his throat, while Iron Bull crushed the other unfortunate man's head with his heavy boot. "Ha! Now that's what I call teamwork!" Bull nodded, grinning in response.

The light was starting to fade, as they made their way into the ravine to scope out what the bandits had been protecting. Surprisingly, there was nothing there, except an almost hidden path which seemed to lead further into the valley. They could hear an occasional faint noise like a roar coming from the tunnel, but it could have just been the wind. Lilah unlocked the cage with the homing raven the Inquisition camp had lent them, and wrote a quick message saying they'd found a new place suitable to set up camp. She included a small map showing the area and where the ravine was, and hoped the troops would be there before it was too dark. They hadn't even brought tents with them, assuming they'd be coming out to kill a dragon then heading straight back. How long did it take to kill a dragon anyway? She patted the bird on it's head, and it nibbled on her finger before flying off in the direction they'd left from at midday.

Lilah sighed, realising she'd be spending yet another night away from Cullen. She'd really hoped they'd be able to get these simple tasks done within the day. Mercenary fortress, found. Key to Valammar, found. (Varric was going to be so annoyed. He didn't want to go anywhere near the Deep Roads). She hadn't factored getting almost killed by the Mercenary leader into her timing schedule, or how far away the dragon sighting was from the palace. She was going to be away a lot longer than she'd proposed. Lilah hoped Cullen was feeling just as frustrated as she was. Every time she thought of him she could feel her heart starting to race. Luckily she'd managed to not give in and pleasure herself last night, seeing as they had all been sleeping in a group out in the open, but within the confines of a tent... She knew she shouldn't but the need was there. Cullen had started the itch, and by the Maker it was only thoughts of him, or the man himself, that could scratch it. She hoped the troops would arrive soon. The sooner the better.

~Cullen's Evening~

"Well, that's slightly better." Cullen wiped his hand wearily across his brow as he surveyed the slightly less dusty secret library. Lilah was going to be absolutely thrilled. The shelves were now clean, and he'd wiped the spines of all of the books before replacing them. He'd been at it for hours, of course. Pretty much as soon as the morning meeting had finished, he'd grabbed some old clothes and found himself a bucket and some rags and had headed down into the basement. His clothes were now completely black, and he imagined his hair and face were not faring too well either, from the amount of dust and soot coming away every time he wiped his eyes. Luckily he had been wearing a cloth over his mouth and nose, because the amount of dust he'd stirred up had been phenomenal. He had found himself sneezing quite a bit anyway, and was now hoping he hadn't made himself ill from being stuck in the dusty room all day. It was absolutely worth it though.

The library looked amazing, the braziers were so clean they could almost have been new, and the polished oak floor was almost dazzling to behold. Cullen couldn't wait to sneak Lilah down there to show her the secret place he'd created for her. Then his mind started to wander again. A secret space, only for Lilah and himself... He imagined how she'd thank him, by pressing that lithe body up against his while kissing him, letting her hands wander over the muscles of his stomach until she reached the waistband of his trousers, only this time he wouldn't stop her from going further. On 'Potion Night' she'd tried to strip him bare, but he hadn't allowed it, knowing she wasn't in her right mind. Now, with all the thoughts that Leliana and Josephine had put into his head yesterday, and from his own knowledge of Lilah's body and how she reacted to him, well... If she wanted to strip him naked and take him on the floor of this quiet little sanctuary, by all means he'd let it happen! The large leather chair in front of the desk lent itself to fantasies as well. Cullen could already imagine sitting there while she pleasured him with her mouth and tongue, and vice versa. Since the ladies had first put that idea into his head the previous day he'd hardly been able to think of anything else. He curled his hands into fists, resting them gently on the edge of the desk while trying to get his body under control.

He needed a bath. A cold one. He left the bucket and rags outside the kitchen door and sneaked through quietly, heading out through the Skyhold gate to one of the few places he'd managed to keep secret. On their travels, before they'd finally discovered Skyhold, Cullen had found a natural hot-spring pool, right next to another pool fed by a waterfall. The cold water mixed with the hot water near the centre, but if one wanted a cold shower, well, you'd just stay near the waterfall. And that was what he needed now. He looked down at his clothes, looked at the pool, shrugged and jumped straight in, fully clothed. He would have had to have washed his clothes anyway, and this was saving time. He waded through the chest deep water and stood beneath the waterfall, letting the chilled water sluice down over his head and shoulders. If this didn't stop him from pleasuring himself tonight, nothing would. He eventually climbed out of the water and walked the short distance back to Skyhold completely saturated. His body was definitely under control now, except he had, of course, missed dinner. Cursing, he wandered back to his office, thankfully not running into anyone in his oddly damp state.

He climbed the ladder up to his bedroom, and berated himself once more for not fixing the hole in his roof. The fireflies were fine. The moths were not. He gave his hair a light toweling off and dried the rest of his body before climbing into bed and crawling under all the blankets. He was definitely feeling quite chilled, and once more hoped he wasn't coming down with something. It just wouldn't do to be sick when Lilah returned... He started to think about how he'd welcome her home and he immediately felt his member twitch. Bloody Void! But then again, wasn't it bad to deny the body what it wanted? Cullen sighed and reached down, finally giving in to his baser instincts. Hopefully he'd sleep better tonight.

~Lilah's Night~

Lilah bit down on her hand as waves of pleasure shook her, and prayed to Andraste that nobody had heard her giving in. The men had arrived with the tents, and there had been enough for one each, and all set up before moon rise. Bull had insisted on seeing where the tunnel went, and had returned triumphant stating that the new area 'had the smell of dragons about it!'. Sera had asked him what dragons' smelled like, and he's simply stated 'you'll find out.' before wandering off into his own tent. They'd all decided on early nights because the dragon was 'literally around the corner, guys, come on!'. Then, of course, Lilah had started thinking about Cullen, and his clever fingers, and his love bites, and the way his body seemed to fit perfectly between her thighs... She couldn't help it, and now she was done, completely embarrassed, and hoping nobody had heard her fervent almost breathed whispering of Cullen's name as she'd reached completion. Sweet Maker, she hoped they hadn't heard that.

~Iron Bull, Sera and Dorian's Night~

They'd all crept into Dorian's tent as soon as Lilah had retired to discuss who they thought the lucky man was. Dorian's money was on Blackwall, Sera had been backing Iron Bull, but once he told her straight up that it wasn't him she'd had to regroup and rethink, and Iron Bull had told them he was convinced that it was Solas.

"It's just because he keeps going on about elfy-elves all the time, right? He's trying to put us off by saying all that, and then he's off shagging a human. I can totally see that now!" Sera collapsed back onto Dorian's bedroll, nursing her bottle of wine like a baby. Dorian shook his head, thumping his fist against the floor, almost spilling his goblet.

"That's just what he wants us to think, him with his sneaky Qunari spy-ways. It's Blackwall, I'm certain. They always used to have those little chats out by the stables at Haven. 'Little chats'! My aunt's hairy chin! That was pure foreplay!" Iron Bull was distracted. He was only half paying attention to their slightly drunk conversation as he could could hear slight movements coming from Lilah's tent. He was certain that had been a sigh... Oh no. He knew what he was listening to. Curse his brilliant Qunari hearing! But since he was already listening... He could hear her nearing her climax, then... Oh my.

"Cullen?!" He blurted it out before he could stop himself, and Sera and Dorian just stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Cullen? What about him?" Sera looked confused, but Dorian's mouth dropped open as he realised what was happening.

"Did she just...? Did you just hear her...?" Bull nodded numbly, as he realised he'd just broken the promise he'd made to Lilah earlier that day. Dorian's mouth opened and closed a few more times in shock, then he put down his goblet. "Well then. Good for her!" Sera still looked confused.

"What do you mean? Good for who? Wait, wait, wait, hold on..." She seemed to be regaining her senses, very slowly. "Are you saying... Lilah... and Cullen? Cullen was the one that left love bites all over her? Ex-Templar Cullen, the giant jack-boot?" Bull still looked shocked about giving up the secret so easily, but Dorian nodded back at her, grinning widely. "Well. Yeah, good for her, I guess..." Dorian grasped Iron Bull's shoulder, sensing his ire at himself, and tried to placate him.

"Don't worry, Bull. We won't tell anyone. If they find out on their own, however, well... That's an entirely different story!" Bull glared up at the overly gleeful mage, and silently wished him a painful death. Sera, on the other hand, had started giggling hysterically.

"Oh, Maker's Balls! He heard her! He heard her with his super Qunari spy hearing! 'Oh, Cully-wully, I love you so! Kiss me with your mighty templar lips!' I am going to get her tomorrow morning! Payback!" Bull let his head fall forward, resting his horns on his forearms. This was a bloody nightmare.

END OF PART 03

Sooo... How's everybody doing? Yeah, firstly I am so sorry about the, what, like six month gap where I didn't write anything. That was entirely my bad, but hey, you know, work and stuff! I'm on holiday until the end of January, so hopefully I'll be able to knock a few chapters out for everything by then! So yeah, in summary, I am still alive, I am still writing, I was just really distracted playing Fallout 4... Forget I said that! As always, read, review and enjoy!

Foxfire out!