100% a contrarian old crank. I write fic for Dragon Age, Witcher, and Horizon: Zero Dawn, primarily. On AO3 as RedEris, Etsy at www.goldenapplebeads.etsy.com. Expect fandom, lampworking, and homesteading content. Icon is my Samhal Lavellan by kirkwallgirl, header Aedan Cousland by me, Shale by rhodaperdition.
For those who aren’t reading the latest fic, or at least not right now, Arden absolutely peaked on flirting at the first trip to Cafe Pietro when he said he thought a first kiss was like aged whiskey–smooth on the tongue, burning on the way down.
And then, though this is not in the fic, immediately ruined the effect by putting like three scoops of sugar in his coffee.
If I told you that 1. Roughly a third of the song is just the lines “run motherfucker run” and 2. You should listen for the gorgeous harmonies over metal backing, would you believe me?
Arden Mercar/Lucanis Dellamorte; demisexual Lucanis, Lucanis point of view
…
It began with respect.
Not all clients earned Lucanis’ respect. Not all clients deserved his respect. But this one was hardly an ordinary client. Rook was quick-witted, and kept his head in a fight. He fought with skill, and didn’t send people into danger he wouldn’t face himself. He smelled of military training to Lucanis, but if Rook didn’t want to mention it, that was his business.
What mattered was that he kept everyone calm and moving, even against darkspawn in the tunnels under Minrathous. And if they shared a love of ending Venatori, all the better.
Faster than Lucanis would have believed, respect began to blur into trust.
Trust was a rare enough thing in a Crow’s life, and even more rare to Lucanis. He trusted Viago. Probably. Somewhat less Teia, who was inclined to make decisions that were too rooted in sentiment, but somehow turned out right regardless. He trusted Illario to be Illario, which was a different sort of trust. Sometimes predictability was as close to trust as you needed. He trusted Caterina the way the tide trusts a cliff.
