#When i did this i was very frustrated with my inability to draw sora after yk...always drawing sora

[mahikoto]

Day 7

not following a prompt, but instead posting the second piece I did for @infinitum-zine ! Thanks again to everyone who supported us!

[chibi-mushroom]

Just as a heads up, I wanted to add a disclaimer. This story is not necessarily canon to my AU's canon. I'm a long way off from these two getting to interact and I still have some things to think through. I also need to decide if Namine's backstory is going to stay the same or if I'm changing it slightly. So please bear with me and enjoy!

It was a warmer morning in Skyhold and for once there hadn't been a lot of snow. Riku and Ava were checking the Inquisition's mail when he heard the smaller girl chuckling a little to herself. He didn't know that he liked the smirk that filled her face.

"Did you get a love letter or something?" Riku inquired.

"Not at all. In fact, I think Namine's going to have quite the headache when she sees it."

"What is it?"

"Oh just another letter from Lord Odin in Kirkwall."

Riku rolled his eyes. Usually Namine handled all of the correspondence between the Inquisition and the noble class. After all, she had a knack for working with nobles, despite coming from a poor Antivan trading family herself. Still, this was the third letter this month from the man. Lea never liked to talk about Kirkwall even though he was a viscount there. Surely Namine would have told him if Odin had been reporting trouble, wouldn't she?

"He's been writing a lot recently. Is everything ok in Kirkwall?"

"As terrible as it's always been." Ava shook her head. "Listen, I have a job for you to do today."

"A job? But I promised Sora and Ephemer we'd-"

Suddenly Riku felt a very sharp point at his neck. He knew without looking that Ava had unleashed one of her daggers with the fancy waves on the hilt. She was good with a bow, but he had personally seen her be absolutely deadly with her daggers. The smirk that had been on her face once was now gone, but she still looked amused. He wondered what she looked like under that fox mask, and whether her eyes shone with good or ill intent.

"Ask Strelitzia to take you to the greenhouse and pick Namine a nice big bouquet of flowers." She instructed.

"You want me to…?"

The dagger pushed a little deeper into his throat. She hadn't broken skin yet, but the blade was really the only thing he could pay attention to.

"Pick the girl some flowers. I'm sure she would be grateful for them."

The bard removed her dagger and beamed at him. She was dangerous alright. He was relieved she was on their side, although there were days he had questioned even that. As she sauntered away with the letter from Lord Ordin, Riku rubbed the spot where the dagger had been just moments before. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see none other than Sora himself.

"So, I guess we gotta take a rain check, huh little boss?"

"I told you to stop calling me that." Riku brushed the Qun's** hand off. "It's Riku."

"Force of habit. No more difficult to stop than Lea and his nicknames."

"I guess. So, what's going on with the ambassador? Ava certainly seems quite amused."

"Namine's got a letter from Lord Odin in Kirkwall. Again. So I'm supposed to go get flowers for her for some reason." Riku sighed. "You have a good idea about how women work; what's all this about?"

"Dunno, I'm not in on the war table conversations." Sora shook his head. "Hey, I've got an idea. I'll go visit Namine and see what's up. That way you can stop being shy and tell her how you feel."

Riku sputtered, trying to argue about the way he felt. They had gotten close, but it was out of a need, not a want, right? The sky was tearing apart and they still needed to find out about so many loose ends that hadn't been resolved yet. Besides, he had no idea how Namine even felt about him. It would make meetings at the war table much more awkward if he couldn't even look at the ambassador.

"I'll take your inability to speak as a yes then. Don't worry buddy, old Sora will figure out exactly what's going on with the woman of your dreams." Sora clapped him on the back.

Sora left behind a still sputtering Riku as he hurried over to the ambassador's door. Ava had just left and Sora took a moment to listen in at the door. He didn't know Namine as well as he probably should have; she was usually working on something at her desk while he was out with his chargers**. She seemed super sweet though, and harmless enough.

He did have to admit that his horns made it hard to actually get his ear to the door, but he managed to hear the faint sound of vellum being shredded while Namine muttered something. There was a movement. She must have been tossing the vellum into the trash. More steps- walking back no doubt. The room was silent now as far as he could tell, although knowing Namine, she was likely writing out some forced and overly polite response. It was how all nobles tended to write. He waited a moment and then knocked on the door.

"Come in." She replied.

"Hope I didn't catch you at a bad time or anything." Sora entered.

"No, just writing a response to a noble in Kirkwall. After that I have a few personal responses to send out. One of which is to my parents. They've been mailing me nonstop since your chargers swooped in and kidnapped my sister on her wedding day."

With a chuckle to himself, Sora crossed his arms over his chest. He recalled how Noctis had asked him for help to rescue his beloved Lunafreya from having to marry a man from some wealthy Antivan family. The chargers had been a little less….formal than they could have, running in while the ceremony was going. But the look of relief that crossed over the bride's face when she saw Noctis made it all worth it. They had even gotten a chantry** brother to marry them in a small but intimate ceremony a few days later.

"That's right; it was a lot of fun. Hard to believe it was only a couple of months ago." Sora smirked.

"No Sora, it wasn't fun. Swooping is bad."** Namine sighed. "It's been a headache just trying to reassure both sides that the other will come around eventually."

She paused.

"Although I'm happy for her. She smiles so much now, and I know that's because of Noctis and the other chargers."

"That's what we do. Brighten the world one smile at a time."

Namine held her tongue. Luna got off easy. Although her parents were fuming, her potential groom found someone to replace Luna rather quickly. The marriage was supposed to help the Montilyet family work their way back into being able to trade in Orlais again. If it hadn't been for that rival family… She breathed out a sigh. There was no way to turn back time. She just hoped when it came time for her own nuptials that she could avoid the worst.

Sora leaned in satisfaction on the table where she worked. Most of the tables here were quite sturdy- none as steady as the table closest to the commander's quarters, of course. But then, that table was hardly ever used for writing these days, it seemed. At least once he had heard some sort of magic being made between the templar commander and their apothecary- but he was just getting off on a tangent. Namine had eyed him as if to ask what he was there for.

"Why don't you give this Odin guy what he wants?" Sora asked, hoping to draw out what was in the letter and change the subject.

"Give him- Sora, this is politics. You can't just give people what they want at face value. There are usually strings attached. Things go wrong when you simply ask for what you want."

"Someone smuggling some ancient book out of Kirkwall again?"**

Namine tilted her head, unsure if she were supposed to understand what he was referring to. He waved off her confusion, looking over her desk. There, sitting on the top of a pile of papers was a letter written in very fine ink. There was a green wax seal on the envelope that held a picture of a lotus. The ink itself was also of a high quality. The letters didn't have an occasional blot from the way it came out of the pen. Someone had spent a lot of money on the supplies for this letter.

"Nevermind." Sora shook his head. "So, this one of your responses?"

One glance at the pile of papers told her exactly what he was referring to. She raced to cover them up, a slight blush on her face from embarrassment. He didn't need to know details of the Montilyet household. He had already learned of her parent's reaction to the scandal that was Luna's wedding. Seeing how everything happened there would likely cause extra precautions when it came her turn for matrimony. She was a caged bird with no hope of escape.

"Hey, sorry, I swear I was just trying to lighten the mood. I know you're frustrated about that Lord in Kirkwall." Sora softened his voice when he saw the way her face fell.

"If you must know, his name is Naveen. He lives in Tevinter and he's the son of a very prominent magister." Namine spoke just above a whisper.

"Is he helping the Inquisition?" Sora looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.

"Not….exactly." Namine responded.

She gripped the letter harder and her hands began to shake while she bit on her lower lip. It was just like her to ruin everything. Sora could likely understand everything now. It wasn't her place to tell about Naveen, and yet there they were. The Qun likely hadn't meant to see the letter, Namine hoped. Sora didn't seem to be the kind to snoop. Still, she hadn't told anyone about this yet and needed a chance to vent a little. The letters were coming more often and Naveen had been speaking more frankly of his heart in them. Whether that was sincere or flattery she had no idea. Namine quickly moved to the entrance. Before closing the solid door, she checked the hallway to see if anyone was coming.

"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it. Sorry, Namine." Sora pouted.

"No, please, it might be better this way." she wrung her hands together. "But anything we say can't leave this room."

"What's going on, Namine?"

"Promise me you won't laugh."

"On my honor as a Qunari"

Namine took a deep breath before sitting down and replacing the now crinkled up letter from Naveen. She wasn't looking at him, but instead at the hands she had neatly folded in her lap. Without realizing it, she was biting her lips again. Slowly, she looked up at Sora who was waiting patiently to hear what it was that she needed to get out of her system. Even if he couldn't tell Riku about the letter, he could at least assure his friend that Namine would be alright.

"Had you ever heard of the Montilyet family before you met me?"

"Well, not really, but I was also pretty busy doing jobs all over for the longest time." Sora shrugged. "Why?"

"Well, a long time ago, our family owned hundreds of naval ships. We protected merchants leaving and coming into Antivan waters. After a scandal, we lost nearly everything and had to settle being small scale Ferelden merchants. We get by, but I can tell my parents miss it." Namine explained. "Then when I was younger, I made some choices I'd rather not talk about before being invited to come join the inquisition."

"But…"

"But in all of this commotion trying to set my family up, I guess...I sort of lost who I am….and what I care for. Now there are important decisions to be made and I'm just expected to sit still and look pretty."

Sora nodded, understanding what it was she was trying to say. She continued on about how she had met Ava when she was younger and learned about the ways of the bard from her. Although Namine was slim on the details, she did mention how much of that training now helped her avoid having to pick up a weapon again. Still, all of that had come to naught, as she still had no leads as to where to find the contracts that would help regain their trade ability. There was a wistfulness that came from her voice; it wasn't about the trade at all, even though she hadn't said it straight out.

"I may not know what path will be best for you, but I do know this: you just keep on trying and you'll reach your goal."

"Do you really think so?" Namine asked.

"Of course!" Sora stood, placing a foot on the seat of his chair. "For the Inquisition!"

She looked at him with confusion. What on earth was he doing? Sora looked down at her in the hopes he could rally her to join him. When he looked down and saw that she didn't understand what he was doing, he held his hand out for her to pull him onto the chair next to him.

"For the Montilyets!"

He placed one foot from the chair to her table. She followed his lead and scrambled onto the table afterward. With more confidence, she repeated her own family name. There was something about Sora and his rallying cry that made her want to believe that she could restore the trade abilities before she would have to face her future.

"For Namine!" Sora raised a fist into the air.

She raised a fist as well, although she kept silent this time. A small smile played on her lips. Maybe there was hope after all. Odin would give up trying to marry off one of his daughters to Riku, and Namine would find a way for her family to trade again. There was hope, there was work to be done-

There were still papers covering her desk.

Subconsciously she had stepped back to get down from where she was standing. It was sort of silly how they were standing on the table, no matter how old and sturdy it might be. Besides, Sora never seemed to wear shirts, even into battle. Instead, he opted for the Qunari vitaar, which was a poison that was fatal if it touched anyone who hadn't been born into the Qun. He wasn't wearing any now, but Namine became aware of just how close they had been standing by the strong smell of the soap he applied to get it off afterward. He didn't want to risk Kairi touching it by accident.

It was the strangest thing. Somehow she felt like she had begun falling in slow motion. As she stepped back there had been a knock at the door. Something registered in her mind that someone had entered the room, and something dropped to the floor. She gave a yelp and closed her eyes, expecting to hit the floor.

But she never did.

Instead, the scent of firewood and smoke crossed her senses and she could feel a strong pair of arms around her, holding her up. She hadn't even fallen very far. When she opened her eyes, she saw the Inquisitor. Her cheeks went crimson and she looked back to Sora who was smirking like a cat.

"Did...I interrupt something?" Riku asked.

"No, not at all." Sora hopped off the table. He picked up the bouquet and turned around before taking a step out the door. "Saving these for anyone?"

"Actually, those are for Namine." Riku responded.

"Aww, what a kindly gesture. You'll have to let her go at some point if you want to give them to her. Unless you *wanted* to hold her this long. Here, I'll leave them here for you both to enjoy." Sora put them down and then headed down the hall a short distance so he could still hear what was happening.

Riku nearly dropped Namine upon hearing that, but after catching her again, he carefully let her down. She wasn't quite ready to stand on her own, so she placed a hand on his arm to steady herself.

So that was the result of so much violence. She thought, which caused her to only glow more red.

"H-here. Ava suggested I bring these over for you. They're from the greenhouse." Riku handed her the bouquet.

"Thank you. I-I'll have to send her my thanks as well."

There was silence for a moment.

"Is everything okay? Ava said you might get aggravated by that letter from Kirkwall." Riku inquired.

"Yeah, it was just another noble. With you being the leader of one of the most influential groups in Thedas**, it only makes sense that everyone wants you to marry their children, but I figured you'd want to focus on the rift for now."

He stared blankly at her as if he didn't quite understand what she had said. Namine looked away and bit her lip again. Maybe she should have just said something to him when she got the first letter. She had learned a lot from her past, but nothing like this was covered in her training. She wasn't sure if she even *should* be feeling anything in this particular moment.

"Namine I-"

Riku was interrupted when Kairi ran into the room, Sora attempting to stop her.

"I heard a scream. Is everything ok in here?"

"It's fine! Nothing going on!" Riku blushed.

"I was just trying to reach something and Riku caught my fall!"

Both spoke at the same time in a rushed voice that Kairi knew as being a lie, but with the way they were blushing and how Sora had been trying to stop her, she automatically understood what was going on to some extent. When she smirked the same way Sora had only a short time ago, the Inquisitor and the ambassador looked to realize that she hadn't let go of his arm since he put her down. Quickly they slid apart, blush laying heavily on their cheeks.

"Sure, sure." Kairi chuckled, now dragging Sora out of the room.

When they had closed the door behind them and walked a short way away, Kairi slipped her hand into Sora's.

"Let's sweeten the pot on our bet, shall we? An extra fifty gold goes to the winner if they get together before the empress's ball at the Winter Palace."

"My dear," Sora smiled as he squeezed her hand "I think you have a deal."

Okay, notes time!

So if you saw my picture for Sokai week, you'll have an idea of what Sora is supposed to look like. For those who haven't played Dragon Age, the Qun or Qunari is both a type of people who are born with horns on their heads (with a few very rare exceptions) and the religious lifestyle they lead. They're super interesting and I love learning about them.

Sora's chargers are his best friends/band of fighters. In this particular au it consists of Mulan, Noctis and the Chocobros.

The Chantry is the major church of the world, and it kind of controls the templars who keep the mages from letting demons possess them. Long story short, a lot of people have lost confidence in the Chantry in telling them the truth and doing the right thing.

For those of you who have played Dragon Age Origins, the 'swooping is bad' line should be very familiar to you. I laugh so hard at it with every playthrough that I was practically contractually obligated to include it.

Can't say too much about the book getting smuggled out of Kirkwall, as that goes into spoiler territory. But just know that the Qun tried asking for their book back and someone ended up dead. (in canon. Not sure what I'll be doing in the au yet, haha)

Thedas is the name for the world in Dragon Age.