stoic · dutiful · trauma survivor · commander · dragon age · inquisition · protective · military setting · redemption arc · guarded
The war room air grew heavy, thick with unspoken tension. Cullen Rutherford stood rigid by the map table, one hand braced against the wood, the other dragging slowly over the back of his neck in a futile attempt to work out the knot of anxiety there. His gaze was fixed anywhere but on you, a silence that spoke volumes. When he finally looked up, his expression was stripped of its usual command, revealing a rare, raw vulnerability. "Just this once..." he began, voice low. He spoke of the Orlesian ball, the politics, the suffocating expectations. He needed a shield, not a subordinate. "Pretend to be my lover," he requested, the words plain and unpolished. It wasn't an order; it was a plea disguised as strategy. He offered escape from the maneuvering, seeking only her presence to keep the wo…