Oh my god I am overwhelmed. You guys are so sweet. It's been literal years since I've been active on this site, so I'm not quite sure what the etiquette is for thanking the reviewers but please be assured that I have been reading them ten times a day. My ego is at maximum capacity. (Also people specifically liking Cha'cer? That is so sweet of you, oh my god.)

So I guess here's another update because I am right there with you on the cravings and these two will not get out of my head. Be forewarned, there is smut. I… have actually never written smut before and I agonized over whether or not I should post this. But the joke potential was absolutely overwhelming and I had to take it.

Adi, don't you dare judge me and please don't tell my mother.

…

I

…

Midnight had come and passed at Skyhold. The usual patter of feet that could be heard until late into the night had died out. A few of the torches adorning the walls flickered out with inattention and the halls echoed with the sounds of leaves brushing against stone. For the first time in her entire life, Cha'cer was struggling to stay silent.

…

II

…

It had started as a prank. The rogue had discovered her bizarre talent for moving silently could have some incredibly entertaining effects when applied to those who weren't stiff lipped Dalish Keepers. The first victim was Sera who had made the mistake of starting a prank war. The other elf was an easy enough target if a mite unpredictable. She crouched in Sera's corner waiting for her to return from the kitchens and leapt out to surprise her with a shout. She nearly got shot (again) and did not avoid the crash and tumble out of the recently repaired window. But it was worth it for the horrified shriek. Next she tried Iron Bull (nearly got skewered), Josephine (slapped), Cassandra (punched), and—once she felt ballsy enough—Leliana. The last of whom promptly threw her off the balcony with no sign of mercy.

It took her a week to properly walk straight again after Blackwall tackled her to the ground thinking she was a thief but it was so very, very worth it. Cha'cer had discovered that she had a one hundred percent chance of succeeding when sneaking up on her comrades. The previoiusly distant inquisitor was suddenly all too happy to be a part of everyone's daily routine if it meant a small chance of playing tricks and games. Her pranks got more elaborate with practice, too. She managed to tie a bow on Bull's right horn before he noticed one night at the bar. She had even stolen Cole's hat and worn the damn thing for a whole ten minutes before he snatched it back. She was getting better and better at drawing laughs from the new recruits.

Unfortunately being popular with her people made her a bit less inconspicuous. Her stealth was well renowned after three or so weeks and the element of surprise had gone. Like her Keeper had once begged her to do, she let the pranks go and things settled back into a comfortable simmer.

Except, of course, where Solas was concerned.

She took incredible joy in surprising him. He always managed to look so flustered. Once she had tapped Dorian's shoulder, whispered 'watch this' then lept silent as an owl from the balcony down to Solas' office. She caught herself with a padded roll and pushed herself lightly onto her feet again. She stood a hairs breadth away from his back but was not quite tall enough to whisper in his ear. Instead, she blew a gentle puff of air at the back of his neck. She very quickly got a paintbrush full of blue slashed across the bridge of her nose. Dorian just about died on the spot.

"V-Vhenan," Solas tried to catch his breath, "I am not sure how you manage that. Perhaps the anchor—"

"'May the Dread Wolf never hear your steps', right? I just happen to be better than most," she said. Cha'cer recited the words like the good Dalish hunter she was supposed to be with a wolfish grin of her own. Solas looked taken aback for a split second before relaxing into a small smile.

…

III

…

The next time she tried her stunt, it was less dramatic. This was partially because it was unobserved, she would admit later, but mostly because she was hoping for a very specific reaction. She hardly had to tip-toe around the scaffolding to escape his notice. A few carefully placed steps and watching the dance of her own shadow in the firelight gave her enough guide to stay out of his vision as long as she intended. Luckily for her victim, Cha'cer had never been known for her patience.

She pressed her chest into his back with a soft nuzzle and drew her arms around his waist. He gave a small jump of surprise. No indignant squawk however, she noted with a pout. Solas carefully set down the paint palette and brush before turning around in her locked arms to kiss the top of her head.

"To what do I owe this surprise, vhenan?" His voice was softer at night, hushed to match the halls of Skyhold. She felt a comfortable smile spread across her face.

"Well I was sitting in my office thinking about the millions of people I have yet to disappoint and thought, ah! What a perfect time to seek the advice of my personal fade expert." She paused for effect, looking to him to say what he was supposed to. Solas smiled and played along.

"I hardly think you are capable of disappointing anyone, da'mi. If anything—"

"Wrong answer," she interrupted with a melodramatic sigh. "We were looking for 'And what, O all-powerful Inquisitor, could you possibly need to know about the fade?'"

He laughed. "Alright, I can manage that I believe. O tiny glowing vessel of luck itself, how could I lend my assistance to your quest for knowledge?"

"Close enough," she grinned. "And I was hoping you would answer a question for me."

"I can certainly try."

"I know I'm no mage," she started, "but is it possible to use the anchor to my advantage when, well…"

"Sneaking?" he offered.

"I prefer shadow walking. It sounds less skeezy," she said, scrunching her nose up at the word. He lifted an eyebrow that she pointedly ignored. "But that thing you do with the fade where you—"

"Fade stepping?" Solas looked surprised. It was not an exceptionally complicated maneuver but he was surprised at the source of the request. Cha'cer had confided her discomfort with the Fade to him in private. Or rather, her discomfort with the consequences of visiting the Fade. The place itself didn't seem to bother her so much as the carnage she had come to associate with it. It was a fair correlation in a case such as her own.

"Yes," she said hesitantly. "Sort of. Though perhaps more like a boost. You know?"

He gave her a quizzical look. She huffed a bit and stepped out of their embrace. She positioned herself a meter or so back from him and mimed throwing the smoke pellets she used to vanish into thin air. Once her hand was splayed outwards she paused the motion and pointed to it with her other hand.

"It's my anchor hand. Right?" She glanced up to make sure he was watching. "So why not cast a small rift of my own to give me a boost to get where I'm going? Like a gust of wind or something."

The thought intrigued him. He paced over to where she stood and slid calmly behind her. He did not miss the small intake of breath or the flush creeping up the back of her neck. With a gentle hand he pulled her back into her neutral position. Again she slowly mimed the action and froze just as she threw the imaginary smoke pellets. This time his hand followed hers. The hum of the anchor buzzed against the skin of his palm.

"Do you feel that?" he asked. She swallowed thickly and nodded. He couldn't stop his smile if he had tried. "Not me, vhenan, the anchor. It pulses with you. Listen to it and wait."

She repeated the movement, this time with Solas squeezing her palm just lightly to help her find the heartbeat that lived separate from her own. She closed her eyes and tried the movement again. Again. And again once more, before nodding. She stepped forward away from his grasp with some reluctance.

"I believe I can try," she said. He walked swiftly back to where he had stood in front of her and she shot him a puzzled look. He offered a look of complete confidence.

"I'll catch you if it fails, da'mi. Remember to focus."

…

IV

…

The first time she did it successfully in the heat of battle she nearly shrieked with joy. It had been months of training but now with one fluid movement, she could vanish from her enemy's eyes only to appear again once she had used the momentum of a closing rift to rip through them like cloth. It was fearsome to watch, even if the wielder of the new trick had a tendency to gleefully shout, "Did you see that?"

Solas was proud.

The next time she did it was supposed to let her practice finesse. She had ditched her armour in favour of light movement and faced her opponent in the warmth of Solas' study. Their shadows danced across the half-way painted walls behind them as they mirrored each others footsteps. Solas loved watching her like this. Her normally wide-eyed and cheerful demeanor swapped to something lethal when she applied focus. Her eyes unashamedly met his with cold determination and she did not have to waiver from her gaze to know exactly where to place each step with careful deliberate action. He matched her as best he could but there was something graceful in her movement that he could not mimic. Instead, he watched for her tells. Trying to predict when Cha'cer would attack was a deadly gamble.

There. A twitch.

He Fade Stepped quickly out of her path, or so he had thought. Cha'cer pinned him to his own desk with the tip of her finger just barely touching the skin above his Adams apple. She dragged her finger slowly across his neck with a grin.

"I win again, vhenan."

His breath caught. The orange light from the torches highlighted the tips of her eyelashes and the feathering of her hair. Her lips were so close to his, so unbearably close. His struggled to look anywhere other than those lips and she must have noticed. It did not take her more than a second to stretch up onto her toes and close the gap. His hands slithered around her waist as he sat back onto the desk and pulled her closer.

Her fingers pried under the hem of his tunic cautiously, pulling at the fabric. He pushed his own hands under her shirt in response, relishing the heat radiating from her skin. He murmured something in Elvish in her ear and watched her shiver with giddy delight. Suddenly he was thankful for the long row of brass buttons being on the front. He had planned on taking his time with each one to savor the moment, but now that she was here in front of him insistently tugging his tunic over his head he had to contain himself from ripping them apart. The clothing was tossed roughly aside and ignored in favour of pressing skin to skin.

Her hands spread across his chest and shoulders with fingernails scraping down, down, down. His own hands found their way behind her and pressed enough to guide her into his lap. The pressure and heat had him swollen and eager. By the way she rocked into him and drew patterns on his back, he assumed she had noticed. He broke their kiss hastily.

"Vhenan, are you sure—" he started, but her hands spoke for her. With several slow pulls and flicks of her wrist she had him in her hands. He bit down hard on the soft patch of skin between her shoulder and neck and waited until she could adjust atop of him. She lowered herself with such maddening delay that he couldn't help but push her hips down lightly until she whimpered.

"Brace yourself," she whispered.

It dawned on him that it was an odd thing to say in the position she was in only fast enough that he registered the rift she opened behind them. The blast from it threw them clear across the room. Cha'cers back took the brunt of it, slamming against the wall and winded her slightly, but she kept her legs wrapped firmly around him. His eyes were wide in shock as she giggled. He opened his mouth to protest but a quick roll of her hips changed his mind

Instead he pushed her bare back against the cold slick paint still wet from his earlier work. There was nothing to shelter her skin from the torchlight save for the barracks he had built to reach the ceiling. The wooden planks offered a small intimate space enough to make her feel like he was going to fuck her into the tapestry. He was hot breath and teeth against her throat. One hand pressed her arm into the wall and the other wrapped tightly around her reaching low enough to rake his fingertips across her ass. In kind, she clawed her free hand into his shoulder with muttered encouragement.

Her mouth was hot and wet against his cheeks and ears. She whispered broken phrases of praise and adoration with each thrust. She pushed and arched her back off the wall to press further into him. He watched her with reverence, hungrily taking in every detail. She lowered her gaze to meet his with heavily lidded eyes and parted lips. He pushed deeper into her with a shudder she matched with an appreciative whine. He crashed his mouth against hers in a futile attempt to quiet them both breaking away shortly when they remembered to breathe. Cha'cer whispered something he couldn't quite hear.

"Emma isala ma, Cha'cer. Speak up." he growled into the crook of her neck, annunciating the important words with a soft bite on the muscle beneath the end of her collarbone and the start of her shoulder. She gasped.

"Fen'harel take me, Solas. I cannot take much more of this." Her voice was hushed but eyes were pleading. He pressed her into the wall as with gentle deliberation and held. She quaked with impatience but he stood firm. His eyes locked on hers full of desperate want.

"Say that again."

…

V

…

Solas found himself in the comfortable embrace of a naked elf for the first time in a very, very long time. Cha'cer nuzzled closer, unable to have enough contact. She pressed the anchor hand close to his heart. The twinge of fade magic mingled with his heartbeat in a way that reminded him of the Fade. They had managed to find their way to her quarters eventually. Something about bare skin mixed with the chill of late night air had guided them towards soft quilts and furs.

She pushed herself up on her elbow to look at him, tugging the blankets around her torso. That crooked smile he so loved spread across her face. The spark in her eyes had him lifting an eyebrow warily. She looked like she was trying to stop herself from giggling again.

"By the Dread Wolf, I'd say that went well," she grinned from ear to ear. Solas was suddenly as red as the stained glass on the windows. His hands reached up to cover his face in horror. She had no idea what she had stumbled into and he hadn't a clue how he was going to backtrack out of this. Cha'cer laughed and pulled his hands away from his face.

"It's okay, vhenan. Your secret is safe with me." She kissed him on the nose. Solas breathed a sigh of relief so deep he'd be feeling it for weeks.