The lub-dub of his heart echoed softly in your ears, it sounded so far away as you slipped slowly into your dreams.
Or you tried, to slip off into your dreas.
His heartbeat came back like a gentle drum, his hand gently rubbing your back. "Inquisitor?" He asked quietly his eyes closed.
Solas so easily drifted in and out of sleep and into the fade. It wasn't as simple when actually trying.
Yet even still, that wasn't what was hindering you now.
Heat inched across your face, and your own heartbeat fluttered quickly. Your ear lightly pressed to his chest as the two of you rested nestled in the tall grass that reached out from the crumbled foundation of a old tower deep within the arbor wilds.
More than the fear of what you well knew lie within the thick foliage of the forest, your nervousness is what troubled your attempts of dreaming.
"I'm sorry Solas, I can't seem to drift to sleep." You say.
Tightening his arms around you, Solas opened his eyes "I have left wards for all manor of creatures, the battle is over, I'm sure any of Corypheus' men are long gone and well..." Solas paused and you could feel his chest heave a great sigh " I am sure the elves of the temple have fled from the area. You are safe, no harm will come to you here. I wouldn't let it." He said.
If only it were that simple.
It was almost cruel to be so close even after....
You fought the urge to reach up and touch your face and relaxed as best you could. Still he was so close, close enough even he seemed to forget the distance he had forced between the two of you.
"It wasn't this hard before was it? When you first sought me out?" He asked.
"When you took me to Haven? I didn't even know I was in the fade then." You answer.
Solas chuckled "I suppose you're right. It wasn't intentional." He hummed.
You lay silently, listening to the wind move through the leaves of great trees in the dark of night.
Somehow, here in the dark in his grasp, you felt safer than you had in a long time.
He was breaking your focus, and more than that, you didn't want to sleep. At this moment you did not need the aid of dreams. You did not was to leave this moment. For all that mattered was the two of you cuddled together in the memory of an ancient tower, the only witness to a moment of sweet rest between to paramours.
You wanted to listen to the haunting song of his heartbeat, to remember the moment his lungs fell in sync with your own.
"Inquisitor?" Solas asked for you had been quiet for so long.
Grasping his shirt lightly you said nothing but shut your eyes tightly as you could feel water well in your eyes.
The real reason you could not sleep, could not dream....
"Vhenan." He called, his voice seemed farther now, and the warmth was filled in a void sort of sadness.
"I still cherish my dreams." Solas whispered softly, you could feel his gentle breath brush your ear, it was fleeting and left a tingle against your skin.
Opening your eyes you found yourself curled between familiar sheets.
Your chest ached with bitter pain. Reaching across your body you grasped the stump of your other arm.
Was it a dream? Or had he been...
Wait -
You shift your blankets to find they were heavier than you remembered. Feeling about you find a fur mantle had been draped over you.
You can't help but smile.
"I will cherish my dreams as well." You whisper into the night. Your eyes glued to the eluvian looming in the shadows of your quaters.
