It's My Birthday And I'll Meme If I Want To -- A Quote Prompt Meme

[desertions]

The Quote Prompt Meme
similar to the picture prompt memes but intended solely for QUOTATION PROMPTS shenanigans.

i'll leave headers for various characters of mine
others will leave a quote (or two, or three...)
i'll reply to them with a starter based on the quote.
embed quote images or simply write them in the comments; warn if including NSFW content. here's some inspiration!

fancy html for quotes: <blockquote><font face="courier-new"><big><big><big><big>WHAT CHU GOTTA SAY BRA</big></big></big></big><br /><small>— who said it first</small></font></blockquote> embed an image in your reply: <img src=IMAGEURL _fcksavedurl=IMAGEURL> control height and width of your pictures: <img src="IMAGEURL" _fcksavedurl="IMAGEURL" width="500"><br />OR<br /><img src="IMAGEURL" _fcksavedurl="IMAGEURL" height="INSERT">


Tweaked from 221_b

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[traumatized]

He kisses her back, bringing his hand up to cup her cheek.

"They will. I promise you, whatever we need to do -- we'll make this one stay."

He refuses to put this all on her, it's something they'll accomplish together. He's sure of it.

[vowedtostay]

In his arms, here in the darkness of the night, she has to believe him. Anything else hurts too much; they have to have faith that things will be different.

"Just think," she murmurs, pulling one of his hands down to her middle, "a son or daughter by Wintersend next year. No matter what."

[traumatized]

"A little child to call our own." He smiles, leaning in to brush his lips against hers briefly. "I can't think of anything better, can you?"

And this time they'll have a happy ending, he can't allow himself to believe the Maker would put them through that twice.

[vowedtostay]

"Nothing in the world could be better than having a child with you." There's no doubt in her mind that Cullen would be a fine father, and Maker knows he would love any child to the ends of the world. Betrys touches his cheek gently, then his temple, then runs her fingers up over his scalp. "I've wanted this since you brought me to Honnleath that first time, you know."

[traumatized]

"Did you really?" He asked with a small smile. "I'll be honest, I never thought about it before you got pregnant the first time. When I became a templar I gave up any ideas I might have had for a family -- when I left the order I had thought that way so long it didn't occur to me I could have one until I did. And now I cannot think of anything I want more."

[vowedtostay]

She ducks her head, a touch embarrassed. "Not--children, exactly. But I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life, if I could. And I've always wanted this."

It sounds silly now, not much different than scribbling Lady Betrys Rutherford in the margins of books. But it's the truth, for better or worse. "I'm so glad you've decided you want this, too."

[traumatized]

"As soon as you entered my life I couldn't imagine a life without you in it," He admits with a soft smile, brushing some of her hair out of her way. "But I never thought I would get that lucky. I'm glad you wanted this too."

That they wanted the same things, a life and family together.

[vowedtostay]

"So am I. I couldn't have been with a man who didn't want a family." Even if she'd loved him as dearly as she does Cullen. Thank the Maker she hadn't had to choose between him and her dreams of being a wife and mother. Running a household and studying the Chant--that's what she wants from her life.

Betrys reaches for his hand and brings it to her lips, kissing his knuckles. "But you are exactly the man I wanted."

[traumatized]

"I'm glad. I don't think I could stand watching you with another."

Of course, had she chosen someone else he would have respected it, but he's glad it's never come to that.

"Luckily, we seem a perfect match."

[vowedtostay]

"As though I could have been with someone else." Another kiss for him, for the thought of her somewhere other than right here, curled up in his arms. "Not after you kissed me on the battlements. It was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to me."

A perfect match indeed, each passionate and loving but not without sense. Precisely what Betrys wants to balance her.

[traumatized]

Cullen chuckles softly as he recalls that first kiss up on the battlements.

"That poor scout. I did apologize to him later on, I assure you." It wasn't his fault that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, after all.

[vowedtostay]

Betrys laughs. "So did I."

She'd felt so bad for the poor young man that she'd asked Leliana to find him and bring him to the war room so she could make her apologies. If she'd said something at the time...but she'd found Cullen's frustration at being unable to kiss her terribly flattering. "I think you found him first--he seemed a bit amused to be called in."

[traumatized]

"Probably. I doubt he expected one of us to apologize to him, let alone both of us."

The Inquisitor and the Commander hardly ever apologize to people, after all. There's rarely need for them to.

[vowedtostay]

Admitting wrong can feel like a weakness in fraught political times--but to a soldier who did nothing wrong, it seemed like the best way to keep his trust. And it certainly didn't hurt, considering how Cullen's officers and soldiers always seemed to clear out when the two of them needed some space to themselves on the battlements.

"I don't miss those days," she says, drawing a finger over the curve of his lower lip, "but I was rather fond of how pleased the soldiers were to see you with a sweetheart."

[traumatized]

"They were happy for me. It was nice to see." Cullen cares a lot for those under his care, the soldiers under his command. It was nice for tangible proof that they cared about him in return. He hadn't wanted to assume they did, after all. He knows he can be tough on them, sometimes, but it's only because he knows they can do better.

[vowedtostay]

"They have such respect for you. You've been a good leader for our troops." Even now that their work requires far fewer soldiers, he commands with firmness and dedication. She smiles in the dark room, her wandering fingertips moving down to his jaw. "Sometimes I love you more than I can possibly say."

[traumatized]

"I try to be. I know how it feels to follow a leader you can't trust, I never want to be that for my men." He smiles at her words, tipping his head to press a kiss against her palm.

"And yet I am certain I love you even more than that."