#|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

strokes hand down her cheek.

           nothing moves but her eyes, slowly, deliberately. muscles tense. cheeks color. there’s an unspoken guilt clutching her entire person, smothering the desperation that comes from a seemingly innate loneliness -- a body born to be alone shies from such kindness. and so she says nothing, merely waiting for some kind of recoil.

#( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #SPELLBLCOM #`` posts once every 400 years at this point lskdfj #`` heLLO !! #spellblcom #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

varric waits until he finally finds her when she's sitting so he can kiss her cheek without embarrassing her.

           CURLED UP LATE at night in a windowed nook in the library is where he’ll find her. a common spot at this point. but in general the library is much too cold at night to facilitate a large gathering a people, and so most of the time she has it to herself. so when varric bestows his very gratifying very surprising gift, her lips purse into a shy, but ultimately thrilled little grin. he makes her feel younger. like a lovely maiden worth these delightful games. and for now, it seems, seraphina is content with pretending she is something innocent and not something monstrous.

            ‘ wait, ’ she says when he pulls away from her. ‘ did you see the stars? ’ she points behind and above her, towards the window’s view of the constellations above skyhold. but instead of explaining further, she takes the opportunity of his distraction to reach up and hold his face between her hands, gently insistent, and to kiss him on the mouth. sweetly, with full intention. it’s an unusual gesture from such a reserved creature, but the way she prolongs their kiss with heartfelt sighs and tender thumbing of his cheek could not be any more earnestly genuine. ‘ ...well? how were they? ’

#( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #LEFTHOPE #`` :^) #lefthope #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

‘ come on, bedtime. ‘ from varric 😊

soft family thingsnot accepting.

       SHE’S WEDGED HERSELF in his windowsill with a book as he writes, legs curled up in a pretzel-like fashion and wedged just enough to where she cansit as a compact little ball. it isn’t the most comfortable position in which to fall asleep, but any space that varric occupies offers the very rare opportunity for the witch to feel safe. and thus she has many, many sleepless nights that she has to make up for.

         ‘ mn-- no-- ’ she protest, furrowing her brows as her eyes remain closed. there’s a kind of desperation that trembles in her fingers as they curl in his shirt. ‘ no, i don’t want to leave. please let me stay. ’ here. in this warmth. in this light. in his company.

#( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #LEFTHOPE #`` doesn't varric know its against the LAW to move a sleeping cat??????????????? #lefthope #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

I'm glad you came into my life. -from gabe lol on the wrong blog

soft family thingsnot accepting.

@illusivexemissary

          SHE’S SITTING AT her desk, porcelain doll perfect. back rigidly straight, shoulders pinned low, she could be a queen sitting for a portrait if her stillness were not so unnerving. a marbled statue whose eyes moves, whose chest rises with only the most shallow of breaths. she can meet his gaze for only a moment, for doing so reminds her of how handsome he is, how good he is, how he is gabriel the joybringer, and she is…a hungry, greedy sinkhole of that joy. impulse suddenly drives her hands to reach out for his, but they stop midway, and instead she pins them to her lap, re-assuming her position of statuesque fragility. her voice is made small by earnest, and by an instinctive smothering to make herself…more manageable.

         ‘ not half as glad as i am to have the privilege of being part of yours. ’

#( V: I AM BOUNDED TO ENDURE. ) #ILLUSIVEXEMISSARY #mamawclf #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

is that a box of chocolates left on her bed? with a note because varric couldn't find her? why, yes it is!

         THE EMERALD WITCH has no idea what holidays are what, save for important ones like solstices. other lesser ones that are more recent in creation are lost on her. thus when she enters her chambers after a long day of...disappearing without telling anyone, the presence of sweets on her bed first makes her freeze with paranoia. 

          she approaches slowly, as though it were a bomb, but her hackles quickly lower as she recognizes the handwriting. she stays like that for a while, just standing while she traces her fingers over his handwriting. her acute arcane senses can still feel remnants of his life force on this page, and she commits his signature to memory like one would a favorite painting.

          a lovesick seraphina is like a stray cat venturing into warmth for the very first time. shy, quiet, and poised for an escape at the first sign of harm. she knocks softly on his door, chocolates in hand, earnestly waiting to share.

#( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #LEFTHOPE #`` ljsldkfj THIS IS ILLEGAL !!!!! UR GONNA BREAK HER !!! #lefthope #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

‘ want me to stay? ‘ varric!

            SHE’S SITTING AT the side of her bed, scratching idly at her wrists, shifting uncomfortably. words do not come easily to her, especially in the wake of an episode of sleep paralysis, thus she can only look at varric in nervy flits of her gaze. no one sees her like this. were it anyone but him, she would’ve have retaliated with enough cruelty to certainly get her suspended from the inquisition.

            but varric is sweet to her. he treats her with a kindness that does not pity her, but uplifts her. there is always a playful lilt to his words, so that even in light-hearted teasing, she is gratified. it could all be a trick in the end, leaving her as alone and as desolate as she always has been, but she’s accepted the risk. for once in her god damn life, she wants to be warm, and that’s what varric is.

                     ( the only thing she had not foreseen is wishing him the same. )

                                                 in the darkness, she nods.

#( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #LEFTHOPE #`` cries real jesus tears ;______; #lefthope #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

' wanna bet? ' from varric,,,,,,,,

sexual tension sentence starters.accepting selectively!

         SERAPHINA MAY FALL short in discerning moments of emotion, but even she can tell when a wild, but silent energy is exchanged between the proximity of two people. where she does falter, however, is in dealing with it. no one has ever stayed long enough around her to even take a chance in this sort of thing, and thus she hasn’t a clue how to reciprocate -- that is, if he even wants her to reciprocate. it is her turn in this game however, and the emerald witch licks her lips and drops her gaze to his own lips. she’s shown her hand...but perhaps this is what she’s meant to do.

         ‘ that depends on the currency with which we gamble, varric. ’ a rare use of his first name, and rarer still, a movement of her hand up towards his jaw. ‘ is it money?...or something more precious still? ’

#( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #LEFTHOPE #`` SEXY SAX IN THE DISTANCE. #lefthope #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

varric comes in with a potted plant, which looks like it's on the downward fall to withering. why seraphina chooses to sleep on his desk instead of somewhere isolated, he doesn't know, but at least he doesn't have to look for long. ' i rescued this from our lady seeker. she was looking at it like it was a stray infant qunari. thought you could do better with it. '

         ONE UNNERVINGLY BRIGHT golden eye opens as varric enters his room, looking less like a cat and more like a very compact shadow with a pair of eyes. the other eye opens, and she proceeds to yawn lazily before unwinding herself from her curled up position right atop his stack of papers. graceful legs carry her elegantly down into his chair with a soft thump, then down to the floor, where she shifts back into her humanoid form. varric is the only one who can get away with seeing any part of this process -- anyone else would be met with either a choice slash to the face or a very quick, ill-tempered exit depending on her mood.

             saying nothing, she strides towards him and just sticks her hand right in the dirt, holds it there for about three seconds, then pulls it out. another thing varric gets away with is seeing seraphina as she first awakens, that is, completely oblivious and slow on the uptake. she grouses in her low, sleep-roughened voice, ‘ soil’s off. ’ and then proceeds to unthinkingly reach up with her dirt-covered hand to pat his cheek with surprising affection before stalking down the hallway in search of bread.

#( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #LEFTHOPE #`` dskjflskdjl ksdjfldkfj best gf ever tbh #lefthope #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

' well, shit, that hurt. ' not on the meme list but i wanted this with varric

          ‘ i’m sure it did, ’ she replies with actual sincerity steadying her voice, eyes focused on the heavy slash wound marring his abdomen. delicate fingers peel back the temporary bandages that had been all they could scavenge out on the battlefield, and her lips pull back in a wince on his behalf. ‘ ...stars above, varric. you should not have continued to fight like this. ’

          no one in the inquisition has ever seen seraphina lift a finger to heal someone, but in the quiet calm of this tent, a golden-green flourish now weaves between her fingers to prompt the bleeding to stop and at least some of the flesh to close. and without telling him, she casts another bit of magic that further binds the flesh, but it is at the cost of her own health. her face doesn’t change, even as she feels her lungs begin to burn and her stomach begin to twist. she just pulls off the rest of the bandages, and looks back over at the supply table to pick her way through various herbs and potions.

        ‘ i am prescribing you a rather strong dose of ‘if you try and exert yourself, i am confiscating your writing utensils for a month.’ ’

#( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #LEFTHOPE #`` sera u can be mean all u want #`` but he's the only one you'll heal(tm) u dumb binch #lefthope #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

“You never know what might be prowling around out here.” wyverna, an asshole

attacked starters.accepting!

          ‘ on the contrary, inquisitor, i know exactly what is prowling around here on account of my arcane specialities, but since you are deciding to be a brat and endeavor to scare me, i am not going to inform you about any such prowling creatures. ’

#LEFTHOPE #( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #`` lskdjflaskdjfs (momcat sera voice) THATS IT TIMEOUT. #lefthope #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

!!! ♡

party banter.accepting!

VARRIC: so let me get this straight. you can talk to trees.SERAPHINA: hmn? oh no. no, i touch trees and grass on a daily basis because it just gives me a thrill like nothing else can.VARRIC: listen, there are worse methods of thrill-seeking. but seriously, what are they saying right now?SERAPHINA: that it doesn’t work that way and that you’re a twat.VARRIC: sorry, allow me to clarify. i meant the trees around us, not the one walking next to me and doling out all kinds of verbal abuse.SERAPHINA: if you consider that abuse, then you really do not wish to hear what that birch tree has to say about you.VARRIC: really?SERAPHINA: oh yes. i’m afraid we are in quite a seedy neighborhood.VARRIC: ...i’m sorry did you just make a pun?SERAPHINA: savor it, tethras.

#( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #LUCIOUSCHEST #`` a True sign of sera's love: loathes puns with every ounce of her being #`` ...makes a pun when talking to Him. #luciouschest #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

a low whistle to get the cat’s attention, smiling when she pads over. a surprise waits on his desk, a crate cole smuggled out of the kitchen (she enjoys your company when she enjoys little else, he’d said. varric didn’t ask him to explain further.) with a pillow stolen from dorian’s stash and filled to the brim with blankets. ‘ got something for ya, ‘ he says when she jumps up.

           IT TAKES A GOOD ten minutes for her to actually make the journey inside this crate. during that time she’s walked around it three times, sniffed it daintily twice, and stuck one paw in it, just one, four times, only to retract it and stare at it. perhaps any other cat would’ve been thrilled to jump straight into this box, but this one pins its ears against its head and hunches its shoulders, looking like it’s going to bolt any second with pupils so dilated that it swallows up the honeyed gold of its eyes.

             it then does something very odd. it opens its mouth and clamps down right on one of the blankets, proceeding to pull it right out of the crate. it takes dainty steps onto varric’s lap, and leaves the blanket there, over his legs. it does this repeatedly, until exactly half the blankets are on his lap, and half of them remain in the box. then, and only then, does the cat step into the box, without a meow, without a peep. it rests its little chin on the edge, staring not at varric but at the door behind him, clearly keeping watch. it then makes a very peculiar sound, a clumsy, rasping kind of rumbling, as if it hasn’t made that particular sound in its whole life and doesn’t know how.

                                                               it’s purring.

#( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #LUCIOUSCHEST #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask ) #`` shUT UP THIS IS SO CU TE ??? THANK YOU ????? #`` SHE GAVE HIM BLANKETS WHAT A FUCKING WEENIE.

[motherednature]

:) mistletoe

send ‘mistletoe’ to get caught under the kiss plant!not accepting.

          IT’S JUST A KISS, he’d told her. sitting beneath this bundle of mistletoe, he’d asked her, why not? she had no answer. so he said. it’s just a kiss. seeing her further silence and further fidgeting, however, he said she didn’t have to if she didn’t want to, at which point she jumped in protest. told him no. that she wanted to. she had never wanted to, with anyone else.  he’d smiled

         ‘ you know mistletoe is a parasitic plant, ’ she informs him, voice soft and trembling. she is very much aware of the closing distance between them, but is woefully bewildered as to just who is closing that distance. all she can register is how her heart beats in her mouth, hot and fast, and turns her tongue to charmless lead as she looks at him. not just his lips, but every exhausted line of his worry, the slope of his nose, the way his smile is reaches his eyes. why is he smiling. the bastard. why is he smiling. 

          she clears her throat quietly. ‘ the reason it--it...stays green all through the winter is because... ’ her lips are ghosting against his. she’s speaking into them. murmuring. she can just barely feel the warmth of his skin, and it’s making her voice grow distant, almost as though she’s in a daze. ‘ because it takes all the water and nutrients from the tree it -- ’ 

          he cuts her off with that inevitable kiss, decisive but soft, cupping her face to hold her steady and safe. no need to get spooked, no need to run. it’s safe. seraphina savors this exception. there are no guarantees about whether this happens again. so she reaches up to caress his jaw, she sighs into his mouth, she provides every intimate care she can think of just so that he won’t regret taking that leap with her, however fleeting it might be.

          y’see? he’d told her. just a kiss. with fingers brushing over her mouth in wonder, she’d laughed. then you won’t protest, she replied. to another? and he smiled.

#|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask ) #( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #LUCIOUSCHEST #`` HI I GOT CARRIED AWAY SORRY. #`` tense agreement Whom i'm drunk fuck ya tense agreement. #( I SEE ONLY QUEUES. )

[motherednature]

"I’m sure I just need some rest."

sentence prompts.accepting!

                       ‘ …you must be gravely ill to admit something like that. ’

#( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #thxwarden #|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask )

[motherednature]

‘ you look beautiful. ‘ context? don’t know her

         THE REASON FOR the inquisitor’s choice of seraphina attending the ball at the winter palace is quite lost on the apostate, yet here she is, formal attire and all, a far cry from the earthly wraps and drapes of which she is so fond. and when she hears that familiar, steady voice speak something so profoundly confusing, she cannot help but turn with her characteristically furrowed brow and snarling mouth. but as ever, the harsh angularity of her features is softened by the minute curve of a smile, and she lets her gaze drop to the floor as she steps towards her friend…what a novel title this is. he is her friend and he is her…

          ‘ i never was fond of uniforms… ’ she’s smoothing out the invisible wrinkles on the shoulders of his jacket, and straightening the already straight epaulets that rest there, using all of this as excuse just to be near him. a dark brow raises in mild mischief as she continues pointedly, ‘ i think others cut a better figure in them than i. ’

         ‘ what are you going to do about this collar, all buttoned up and closed off like this. how will you survive? ’

#|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask ) #LUCIOUSCHEST #( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #`` sera u kno damn well that ur the one who Wont Survive w/o that chest hair p l s.

[motherednature]

carefully brushes her hair back behind her ear

               TO HAVE ALLOWED him within her dwelling place in the outer gardens of skyhold is a show of trust indeed, however, she seems to be rather enjoying herself. for the first time in decades she has held a conversation full of quick witted remarks, mischievous banter, candid opinions, and even the occasional huff of laughter. books are her delight. to be coaxed into sharing such delight has brought her more satisfaction than she could have ever expected. she realizes, with a sudden, and poignant ache, how lonely she is.

                  he must’ve seen the way her features tightened and dulled to their customary guardedness – he is quick, she thinks offhandedly, feeling a breath catch in her throat and her lips part inexplicably. taken by gentle surprise, she keeps still for the first few heartbeats, then, faced with the prospect of his hand leaving her skin, she makes a sudden move to turn into his palm, nuzzling the warmth there much like a cat pushing up against a favored touch.

                she’s clearly embarrassed by her own silent and earnest plea for his affection, but she takes a very long look at his features, and murmurs with distant wonder, ‘ why are you doing this? ’

#|| ⚘ SEND THY PRAYERS UPON A SPRIG OF EVERGREEN. ( ask ) #LUCIOUSCHEST #( V: AND IN HER WAKE TREES DOTH SHIVER. ) #`` 2 soft must dig own grave.