Through the Trees (I see you)
Fandom: Dragon Age
Pairing: F!Mahariel/Tamlen
A short ficlet I wrote in like, 15 minutes and originally posted on pillowfort. Has a happy ending! Not really canon compliant! Healing Ghoul!Tamlen via deus ex machina via Flemythal, basically. There’s an even shorter lil sequel I will probably post tomorrow.
Read on AO3 (the small second chapter is here)
How many times has she dreamed of that day?
It must have been every single night since it happened, even after the Joining filled her nights with visions of the darkspawn. Even after that, the parade of nightmares that plague her each night still find a space to revisit those ruins, that mirror, that loss.
Every night, she tries again. Tries to convince Tamlen to turn around. Tries to keep him from opening the door to the room containing the mirror. Tries to pull him away, to keep him from reaching out to touch it.
Every night she fails.
And when morning comes, the aching grief crashes down on her again, like chains, like a hole in the world where she'd expected solid ground. He isn't there. When she sees a cloud that looks like one of the halla and wants to point it out to him, he isn't there. When she masters a new fighting technique and wants to show him, he isn't there. When she nearly dies in battle against an ogre and she cries out, confused and in pain, reaching for his hand, he isn't there.
But every night she sees him, hears him, and even though the nightmare is a memory, sometimes she swears he sees her too. She finds a look in his eyes that hadn't been there that day, or his hands tremble slightly as he replays the motions.
Maybe she's imagining it. She has to be. He's dead. He couldn't -- there's no way he could have survived. And yet....
The night the shrieks attack their camp, she thinks she knows what's coming. She feels it, somehow. Hears his voice in her heart, maybe. They'd been tainted at the same time. It stretches like a tie between them, despite their disparate outcomes. She finds him at the outer edge of camp. Waiting. Waiting for her. His eyes, whited out by the taint, still manage to find her own. And in that instant they both know. Deep to the core of them. It goes beyond words, this knowing, this loss. He tries to smile for her. He tells her that he loves her. That he's sorry.
She's sorry too. Sorrier than she could ever express in words.
"I see you every night," she tells him.
"I... know..." he rasps. "I... see... too."
"Don't make me do this," she pleads. This can't be how it ends for them.
Her companions all watch from a distance. A distance she knows that they could close in an instant should Tamlen try to attack her. Like they know that she would just stand there and let him kill her, if that was what he wanted.
"No... help for me," he says.
She shakes her head. She won't! She won't kill him!
He draws his daggers.
"Wait!" she says. It's aimed at her companions as much as at Tamlen.
Everyone freezes.
Mahariel has a secret. Physically, it is very small. Figuratively, it is enormous.
When she took a pinch of the Sacred Ashes, she pinched with two fingers instead of just one. She'd done it right under the watchful eye of the Guardian, and he hadn't said a word. Either she's just that good of a rogue, or... it had been allowed. Either way, when they went to wake Arl Eamon, she only gave his healer a single fingered pinch. It served its purpose and the man awoke.
Mahariel still has that second pinch. Tucked carefully away in a small leather pouch inside a compartment on her belt.
Everyone stares at her, unmoving. It's not simply that they stand still. Even the wind stops. Everything stops moving except her. She wonders for a moment if this too, is a dream. But she reaches out to cup Tamlen's tainted cheek and finds it feverishly warm. This is real.
"Aren't you going to reach for the secret you carry?" a voice, familiar, old, impossible, calls.
"Flemeth?" she asks.
She had killed Flemeth at Morrigan's request.
"Perhaps," the voice replies. "But surely you've more important things to do than question me. Time won't wait forever, after all. Not even for two children of the People."
There's something almost... kind in the voice. But the voice is right. There's no time to ponder it. She opens the compartment on her belt and pulls out the pouch of ashes.
"What do I do?" she asks. She is no mage. It had taken a healer to make use of the ashes for Arl Eamon.
She receives no reply. But the wind picks up suddenly, drawing the sprinkle of ashes out from the open pouch. They swirl around Tamlen just as he begins to move again, glowing like fire-flies. His hands drop to his sides and he blinks against the light as it swirls ever-faster, ever-closer to his body, until the light enshrouds him entirely, obscuring him from view.
He cries out in surprise, and it's his voice again, not the dry, painful rasp of a ghoul.
Her eyes water at the brightness of the light, but she keeps them open anyway. She watches and she waits.
When the light finally dies, the darkness it leaves behind is nearly just as blinding. But even with the afterimage of the light leaving coronas in her vision, she can still see Tamlen.
And she sees Tamlen as she's seen him every night in her dreams since that day. Tamlen with his cloudy sky eyes and summer-wheat hair. Tamlen with that wryness permanently stamped in the curves of his lips and the arches of his eyebrows.
"How...?" He wonders, startling a little at the sound of his own voice.
Mahariel throws herself at him, laughing with joy.
His arms come up to catch her on reflex, as warm and reliable as they ever were. And just like that, she's home.
"I don't know, and I don't care," she says to the side of his neck. She presses her smile to his skin, reveling in the sensation of his steady pulse beneath her lips.
"Lethallan," he murmurs, still sounding stunned.
"I have so much to tell you!" she says.
"And I want to hear all of it," he replies.
That night, the dream comes again. One last time. They look at each other as they stand outside the entrance to the ruins. She takes his hand. They turn around and head back into the forest.
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Confusion (Late S6 vibes. I found a use for William… I’m sorry?)
The Catco elevators opened to a chaotic scene as Lena stepped out. Despite being afterhours - it had just passed 6pm - employees were shuffling around everywhere, with frequent murmurs and occasional shouts flying by.
“Looking for Kara?” Nia said, passing by Lena while holding a large stack of papers on the brink of falling. Lena opened her mouth to speak, but Nia didn’t wait for an answer. “She’ll be back in a few minutes, I think she’s meeting with Andrea.”
Lena nodded as Nia quickly disappeared into the backrooms. Guess this is normal when they crash the issue, Lena thought, making her way to Kara’s desk and setting down the mocha and pastries she had brought from Noonan’s. She had been lucky to get there just before closing, after Kara’s text that they’d have to skip movie night in favor of a late night at work.
“Lena,” came a deep voice behind her, “What are you doing here?”
Lena turned, nodding to William as he approached. “Just bringing Kara some stuff,” she said, gesturing to Kara’s desk. “Late night for you too?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Hopefully the last, before I move back to London.”
“You’re moving?”
“Looking forward to going home,” William said. “I’ll be leaving in a few weeks. Just enough time to hand off my responsibilities at Catco.”
“Going back to The Times?” Lena asked.
William nodded. His eyes drifted to the coffee and sweets, and Lena noticed a tinge of confusion. “I best get going,” he said, not remarking on what he was thinking. “The senator’s fraud case means I have an article to rewrite.”
“Good luck,” Lena said, as he waved and left. Lena turned back, finding Kara as she rounded the corner with Andrea. Kara met Lena’s eyes, and the blonde smiled wide.
---
“You smell like smoke,” Lena said, brushing ash off of Kara’s shoulder, eyeing the charcoal hues that tinged her supersuit.
“A forest fire will do that,” Kara said, practically shaking like a dog to get other ash off her hair. “Luckily we got it before it spread very far.”
William glanced over curiously from where he was jotting notes. He had been working with Alex and Brainy on mapping out city hotspots when Supergirl had arrived back from her firefighting. It hadn’t taken long for Lena to make her way out of the lab and go up to the super.
“I think we gotta spray you down,” Lena teased.
“Brainy said the nanobots can handle it,” Kara said, tossing her hair back. “I just gotta deactivate at some point.”
“Yeah, you gonna get around to that soon?”
“Will you two knock it off?” Alex said, her voice aggrieved. “Some of us are trying to get work done.”
The two had the good sense to look a little bashful, and William glanced over curiously. From his side, he could hear Alex mutter “just good friends, my ass”, and he watched as Supergirl threw her head up towards Alex, flushing slightly, and seeming suddenly unable to look a confused Lena in the eye.
This is going a bit too far, William thought, eyes darting to Lena. Flirting with Kara? And Supergirl?
---
“Well, it’s been great working with you,” Supergirl said, extending her hand.
William returned the gesture, then doing similar with Alex, and J’onn, and Lena. “Please do keep in touch,” he said. “I’d love to hear from you when you’re back in London.”
“Have a safe fli-” Supergirl suddenly turned her head.
“Something going on?” Alex asked.
“Bank robbery downtown. Might be a big one,” Supergirl said. “Safe flight, William. We’ll see you later.”
William nodded as Supergirl left, J’onn and Alex following. That left him behind with Lena, who didn’t frequent the field unless magic was afoot. Which left him a bit grateful for the chance…
“Well, William-”
“Don’t break her heart, Lena.”
Lena’s brows furrowed, utterly perplexed. “What?”
“I see you,” William said, a serious expression on his face. “The way you flirt with Supergirl. The way you flirt with Kara.”
“Kara- flirt-” Lena’s eyes widened.
“Look, they’re both clearly interested in you,” William said. “All I’m saying is be clear with your intentions. Kara doesn’t deserve a broken heart.”
“I don’t have intentions. With- with either of them,” Lena answered.
William’s face tensed with skepticism. I’ve said my piece, he decided. “It’s been great working with you, Lena.”
---
William tilted his head back against the plane’s headrest. The 5hrs from National City to Metropolis had been annoying enough. Now it’d be another 6hrs to London. I hope I can get more sleep this flight, he thought, glancing out over the Atlantic Ocean.
He looked down at the gossip rag he had purchased in Metropolis Airport, beginning to flip through it. It was mindless garbage, hopefully boring enough to lull him to sleep.
As he turned the pages, he was surprised to find a picture of Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor - but then again, it was only a matter of time. It’s just so fucking obvious, William thought, wondering if the tabloid suspicions would force Lena to choose.
But he was also unsettled - it was an odd location. To any casual reader, it would simply be a random picture on the street, the two perhaps on the way to get a cup of coffee. But he knew they were just feet away from the Tower. A location that, according to Alex Danvers, Kara had no awareness of.
He stared, and stared. Would Lena be so foolish to ask Kara to meet there?, he thought, knowing the Luthor was too smart to make such a casual mistake.
That’s when his already-jetlagged brain began to scan Kara again. The blonde hair. The emphatic voice. The way she fiddled with her glasses. The way Lena flirted with her, just like-
Wait, William thought, startling awake with a shot of adrenaline. Wait, WHAT?!
---
It was early morning when Lena took her seat at a lab bench, her mind still swimming from William’s observation the day before. Have I really been that obvious?, she wondered to herself. Does Kara know? And if she does, she hasn’t said anything because…
Lena put her face in hands. God, I hope I haven’t been making a fool of myself.
“Are you okay?” came a voice.
Lena’s head popped up, finding Kara wandering into her lab, a hint of concern highlighting the blonde’s face. “Your heartbeat is fast,” Kara said, “I just came over to - to see if something was wrong.”
“I’m fine,” Lena said, her voice a high-pitched squeak.
“Lena,” Kara said, taking a seat next to Lena, pulling her into a hug. “Lena, I’m here.”
Lena sighed, relaxing into Kara’s arms. What am I so afraid of?, she thought to herself. That Kara doesn’t feel the same way? That our friendship will change? While the first was the only likelihood Lena could really see, the second… just didn’t seem like a real possibility.
Lena pulled back from the hug, gazing into Kara’s face. Didn’t we learn we should be honest so long ago?, she thought. Even when it’s hard? “William… said choose,” Lena said slowly, feeling the heat rising in her cheeks, “Between Kara and Supergirl.”
“Choose?” Kara said, confused.
“I’ve, er,” Lena swallowed harshly. “I’ve apparently been flirting. With both of you.”
Kara’s eyes widened. “On purpose?”
“No…”
“Oh.”
She sounds… disappointed?, Lena thought, and she knew Kara could hear her heart beginning to pound a little faster. “I- I can do it on purpose? If you want.”
And this time Lena felt a growing joy in watching Kara flush. “I’d like that. And, um,” Kara paused, shifting shyly. “Maybe after we do that for a while, I can ask you on a date?”
Lena smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.”
------------------------
This idea has been floating around in my head for a while. I did do a 9-word fic for it - but then I figured hey, may as well write out the full thing.
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busted ✩ cl16
Charles Leclerc x Fem! Wolff! Reader
IN WHICH... charles leclerc becomes toto wolff's nemesis.
user1 i just know the mercedes admin is fighting for their life trying to salvage this mess
user1 mercedes said "you saw nothing 👁️👁️"
user1 they dug up the only pic they had of her y/n is not a blonde anymore jdkshjslkd i cant
user4 "quick act natural guys"
yourusername so glad to be here!
⤷ user5 girl we both know you're not in england rn
user6 deuxmoi works hard but mercedes admins work harder
⤷ COMMENTS
Anonymous RIP Charles. I would've loved to see you become a WDC. Sad you had to leave us so soon. Fly high angel 👼
Anonymous I so hope DTS will include this in their next season
Anonymous Oh they are dating DATING 👀 like full making out in public. Not disappointed nor surprised.
user1 in times like this, toto not having social media is in fact a great thing
susie_wolff You're both so cute!
⤷ yourusername thank you susie i love you 🥺
user2 i don't know if i want to be charles or y/n
netflix DTS S6 moment? 👀
user3 they're living their best lives while toto is definitely having a mental breakdown
lewishamilton traitor.
⤷ yourusername blocked. i don't have time for your negativity.
user4 i love them your honor
user5 they look so good together wth
charles_leclerc i love you mon amour ❤️
⤷ yourusername and i loved you too ❤️
⤷ charles_leclerc loved?
⤷ yourusername im practicing for when my dad kills you :)
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