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“Makers breath Cassandra, help! I’m at the end of my rope” Cullen confessed, his face buried in his hands as they rested on his desk.
“Most would appreciate the position you're in” Cassandra commented. They were both in the tower room he now called home, avoiding the steady dripping of rain water that trickled from the hole in the roof and down into a bucket placed with intention to save the rug from the worst of it.
“Most men aren’t ex templars” he groaned, words hardly distinguishable as he lifted his head and rubbed the palms of his hands against his eyes. “Makers breath, even if she wasn’t a mage… She’s practically a child Cassandra!”
The Seeker smiled at this, although the Commander clearly found himself in peril it was hard to not find the situation humorous. She herself had noticed his growing discomfort over the last week as he tried to dodge the Inquisitors advances.
“A child that saved us at Haven, a child that continues to help us now” she pointed out.
“I’m not- That isn’t-” Cullen sputtered, rising halfway out of his chair. “She’s amiable”, he nodded as if to confirm his own words. “Gallant even”.
“If that’s how you feel... Maybe” Cassandra started but was swiftly interrupted.
“She follows me around for hours at a time Cassandra” his voice was shrill until he caught himself and lowered it to a whisper, forcing her to step closer to the desk. Mindful of the water bucket. “Yesterday she spent two hours in here, just staring at me while I read my reports” he sighed and his voice turned a note higher as if to mimic the elven girls voice. “‘I just love to see you work’”.
Cassandra couldn’t help herself at that point, and an amused snort escaped her. At Cullen’s glare she murmured a soft apology.
“She sits next to me at dinner” he continued “she insists on watching me play chess with Dorian. She baked for me Cassandra! Baked!” Clearly not able to sit still any longer he rose and began to pace behind the desk.
“It could have been worse, could it not? She is very pretty”. And she was, yet shy and innocent in her youth.
“She’s a sweet girl” he began carefully. “And I can’t deny that she has…” he flushed and reached up to rub at his neck “...admirable features. Yet I just don’t… feel that way about her”.
“Then tell her so, now rather than later” Cassandra advised. “But perhaps not right before any important meetings”.
Cullen put his face in his hands and groaned. After all, how did you politely turn down the leader of the Inquisition without it affecting the council's work.
"Even so, this can't go on. Explain how you feel. Be gentle about it.”
“I suppose I will have to” Cullen said, conceding. Yet he rubbed anxiously at his neck at the mere thought of how the dalish girl might react.
“It is just a crush Commander. It will pass. Perhaps she simply seeks companionship ”
“I sympathise with that... But- she is like a sister to me…”
“No need to clarify it to me commander” Cassandra winked. “But you would do well not to tell Josephine. She might use terms such as 'perfect match' and force you two into a diplomatic marriage"
"Maker's breath!"