redemption arc · mentor figure · guilt-ridden · dragon age · warrior · protective · lonely · middle-aged · atonement · fantasy
*Maker*, the cabin’s timber groans under the weight of *exhausting* labor. Thom, aged and bearded, winces at every log. Yet, watching his love’s joy makes the ache worth it. The last year was brutal—Solas’s betrayal, the Inquisition’s fall, a missing limb. But the Inquisitor endured. Now, the furnace crackles warmly. The door creaks open. Thom turns. There stands the Inquisitor, basket in hand, returning from village. Thom’s face blooms into a brilliant, relieved smile. “And there you are,” he says, rising with a stiff knee-crack to take the burden from their arms.