Who: Elsa and Gale When: August Where: Skyhold What: Plotting wedding plans Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
During a couple seasons of the year, Ortega Falls was an idyllic swimming hole, with shimmering water and shallow, sandy pools. Perfect for taking off your hiking boots and dipping tired feet into after a long trek up the Santa Ana mountains. But in the summer? Bone dry, unfortunately. Not like they needed to take advantage of the cool water now anyway - the Falls were mere a focal point, a landmark, when it came to finding Skyhold. Which was the medieval stone fortress nestled right across the way.
Gale had been once or twice with Leliana, and her friend Max - who technically owned the castle, since it was the Inquisitor who settled with those who had a stake in saving the world from a Magister-turned-Darkspawn, along with the rifts not unlike the ones opened here. They needed a place to regroup, to strategize, to plan. Any army or band of special forces would - and Leliana had told him a lot about the landscape of her dreams, the climate of them, how the world had changed and what she’d personally done during the various wars. It was a lot, but Skyhold was important to her too - so it was where they’d say ‘I do.’
Not to mention, the scenery was breathtaking. One of a kind wedding, he thought, having it in a medieval castle.
“You can see why we’re aiming for snow, right?” Gale asked, extending a hand to help Elsa up the last incline, before they reached the walkway. The path to Skyhold awaited them - across the bridge, there was the fortress itself. “It would look kind of amazing as a winter wonderland.”
Elsa wasn’t a hiker but when Gale had asked to show her where he and Leliana planned to marry there was no way she was going to say no. She was ridiculously excited for her friend and couldn’t wait to help him make the day the most special the happy couple had ever had.
Arriving at the top she took a deep breath and then smiled brightly, it reminded her slightly of Arendelle. “Oh my, it’s incredible” she said looking over at him, before nodding, “You’re right, it would” she agreed. Spreading out her arms she brought forth her magic and gave him a little preview of what she could do for them, turning it into a sparkling dream.
“Holy shit.”
Not very eloquent, but Gale couldn’t help the surprised utterance of swears. Because one second, it’d been summery and breezy and the next? Their surroundings glittered like wintry diamonds - icicles that looked like crystals and the bit of snow; it was pure, white, a blank canvas. Definitely a suitable preview.
“That’s way impressive - wow, I...” He laughed, a giddy and rare sound from the likes of him, stepping closer to swoop Elsa up in a brief hug. “It’s amazing.” And he had to take pictures of it, whipping out his phone to snap a few and send them to Leliana and a couple other friends as well. Just so they’d get an idea of what the December nuptials would look like. “You want to cross the bridge? See it up close?” he asked.
Elsa couldn’t help laughing a little at his exclamation, it had been a while since she’d been able to use her powers on a large scale. She was pleased it had such a reaction.
She smiled as he hugged her, ridiculously happy and somewhat relieved to see him honestly so happy. There was still part of her that expected fear and outrage like in her dreams.
“I’m so glad you like it and of course I can add more or less of anything you like” she added, they wanted less ice and more snow it was no problem. She had full control now.
“I’d love to” she nodded, drawing back the ice from the ground so that Gale wouldn’t slip over, she apparently had no issue with balance on icy ground. Which made sense she guessed.
Creating ice and then drawing it back was also a cool (pun intended?) spectacle to witness. To have domain over the elements like that was a powerful thing, but Elsa was one of the most peaceful Gale knew - he couldn’t imagine why anyone would be afraid of her. Unless she or her loved ones were threatened, but then again, most tended to lash out when they felt threatened.
His combat boots, what he’d worn for hiking, were sturdy - he’d handled a lot of terrain in these suckers but that walkway looked a little daunting. He’d crossed it a few times before though, so they’d be fine. “Apparently it was in ruins when they got to it in Leliana’s dreams,” he said, referring to Skyhold, as they drew nearer. “They fixed it up and it began to feel like home. Which is a nice idea.”
It was very powerful and Elsa respected it, possibly more than she did in her dreams. There she had been afraid of it most of her life, thanks to the dreams Elsa’s own experience in the real world had been much better. Having a loving wife and wonderful friends had helped a lot.
“It’s amazing. It sort of reminds me of my home from the dreams, it has that regal feel to it” Elsa said with a smile as they made their way closer to the building. “The work certainly paid off, it looks lovely”
“It does have a regal feel to it,” Gale agreed - from what he understood, as the Inquisition gained power and influence, Skyhold became more of a hub too, maybe even like a small village with merchants and workers at both markets and the daily functions pertaining to the fortress itself. He didn’t think they should go inside - it felt weird without Max there, or someone else from Thedas since this wasn’t his dream crossover - but the courtyards were open, beautiful, and he could just picture the bustle of them when they were actually populated.
Part of the main courtyard had been turned into an infirmary - he could see that’d be necessary, given the medieval era they were in. It was so quiet, as they went past the gates and headed for the courtyard, but being up in the mountains meant far less noise pollution. “Ever think of coming up here and making a castle made of ice of your own?” he grinned.
Elsa hadn’t been told anything about it but even she could imagine the hustle and bustle of people coming and going about their business. It was a lovely image made even better by the beautiful architecture.
It was incredible as they entered the courtyard, so tranquil and beautiful. “Now I’m considering it” Elsa admitted, “It would be amazing. I did so in the dreams and created a snow monster to guard it”
The more ice castles, the better. Or actually, the more castles in general the better - Gale came from humble upbringings, never an excess of anything because it couldn’t be afforded, but even he had to admit that a large place reminiscent of medieval times with all the potential for secret passages was way awesome. It harkened back to the giddy little kid in all of us, something that had been stamped out for him at a young age.
“You made a snow monster?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow. “Now that’s one way to guard a place.” One of the benches looked cozy - he headed there, to sit for a minute and offer Elsa what he’d brought in his pack up here with him. Various granola bars, a bottle of vitamin water. Gotta replace those electrolytes. Transporting wedding guests was still a work in progress but something would be figured out so people didn’t have to hike. “What happened to it? Did it have a name?”
Perhaps Elsa did need to start looking for a suitable place to create her castle, the one good thing about an ice version was it wouldn’t do much damage to the area as long as she chose the right place.
“I did. I wanted to be left alone, hide from the world and that guaranteed nobody disturbed me” Elsa explained. Once they started talking about it Elsa was sure she could do something to help with that, maybe an ice slide with trays for people to sit in which was hooked to some kind of winch. “He was called Marshmallow. And he came with me when I returned home, he serves as a kind of bodyguard. But he’s much nicer now”
Marshmallow. Elsa the Ice Queen had named her snow-creature Marshmallow. It was actually sort of cute. Maybe because the moniker didn’t invoke images of something terrifying, but that didn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t. Or he wasn’t. “That’s sad, that you wanted to hide from the world,” Gale frowned a bit. People shouldn’t have been so shitty about her magic - it wasn’t like she could help it, or asked to be able to control ice and snow.
He unwrapped a granola bar and bit into it - mmm, peanut butter. “You were probably kind of lonely?” In a way, he had been too - so consumed by fire and anger, that he lost sight of everything which was important to him.
It seemed to fit, after all he’d never been scary to Elsa. She’d created him and he’d protected her from everybody. “Well when the world wants to lock you away or kill you it makes you want to hide” Elsa said, she should have confided in Anna but her parents had always insisted she hide it. “Conceal don’t feel, that was the motto my parents gave me growing up” was it any wonder she’d been a little messed up for a while.
“I was but it was freeing too. On my own I didn’t have to hide my powers or who I was, it was nice for a while but it was lonely. I can’t deny that. I should have believed in my sister more. She would have helped me”
Conceal don’t feel? Damn. That was more than a little messed up. “Not the best parenting approach,” Gale shook his head. “But I can’t blame you for wanting to hide away, or for being hesitant to trust. Sometimes it takes awhile for those wounds to heal.” But obviously things had worked out - Elsa seemed to have reconciled with her sister, and got her kingdom back along with the support of her people. Which was nice, she deserved that.
He realized something else then too. “Oh hey, I think I know your sister,” in fact, it just occurred to Gale. Wow, small world. “Or I mean, I plan to meet her soon. Anna, right?” The one sleeping with Gale’s best friend, the two of them engaging in that whole song and dance of ‘it’s just caaaasual, it doesn’t meeeeean anything.’ Yeah, right.
But he wasn’t sure how much Elsa knew about it. She probably didn’t want the details of her sister’s sordid sex life anyway.
“Yes it does but luckily, as she always is, my sister was there to help me” Elsa said, it felt sometimes like Anna was the older sister in certain areas anyway but here they were much more settled and closer. Though Anna hadn’t yet confided in her about her current relationship.
“Oh? Do you have a mutual friend?” she asked, after confirming that was indeed her sisters name, curious about who Anna and Gale would both know.
“I think we do. My friend Wash?” Gale wouldn’t blurt out the nature of their relationship, such as it was. It probably wasn’t his business to be gossiping. “He’s going to be my best man for the wedding. We both served in the armed forces, but he was Marines and I’m Army.”
Still, there was a camaraderie there - a brothers in arms type of thing, and when you experienced what they both had gone through, it created bonds. Since sometimes it was difficult for civilians to understand fully - through no fault of their own, naturally, that’s just the way it was. “They met at some Memorial Day thing, from what Wash said,” he offered. Something like that, anyway. Gale had been out of town at the time. Proposing. On Bald Knob.
“Oh I think she’s mentioned him” Elsa said, though it seemed maybe not as much as she should. She’d have to ask Anna about it when she next came over to the house. “Friends like that must be good, to have someone who knows the kind of thing you’ve experienced” she smiled softly.
“Well if he’s your friend he must be a good guy, I’m glad. Anna deserves someone nice, she has such a big heart and it’s been used against her too much” Elsa said a little sadly.
Figures that Wash would go for a big-hearted kitten type - he was a bit of a softie himself, even if he’d never admit it. Gale had a spine dipped in steel, he was forged from iron, and he’d fallen in love with someone very much like him. Their dreams took place during two different time periods, but he was sure that he and Leliana would have been on the same wavelength when it came to decisions made during a war. Birds of a feather, as the saying goes.
“Yeah, he’s good people, I vouch for him,” Gale’s grin cracked the usual stoicism of his face. “Well, you want to work our way around to the gates again and then head back?” Now that they’d rested, they had the trek down the mountain to do - but it was a nice day, and they could chat more about snow and ice contraptions to maybe help guests up here when the time came.
Elsa had a big heart but had been very guarded, just like Kate so it seemed like did attract like. There was no question that her wife had brought out her braver more confident side and for that Elsa was grateful. She had needed to come out of her shell a little and she couldn’t deny she enjoyed the vigilante evenings they spent together.
“I can worry about Anna a little less then” Elsa smiled before nodding, “I think that’s a good plan. At least the walk down will be a little easier, right?” she winked before they made a move.