After the sheer cheese I put up last time, this popped into my head. A very short one-shot, in which F!Mahariel turns the tables and makes Leliana flustered.
-Genjutsu-Dragon-
The Warden's mouth is stained red and for a heart-stopping moment Leliana thinks that it is blood. A small trickle of it winds out the side of her mouth, curving around her chin, and she lazily wipes it away before lifting a small object up. The bard feels a wave of relief as she realises that Saeri is consuming the strawberries she found while they travelled that day. She eats each one slowly, luxuriating in the too-sweet taste, biting the fruit almost to the stem and then sucking on the remainder, drawing the juice out. Leliana is amused at this odd fashion of eating to begin with, but heat begins to build in her cheeks and she realises that the Warden's enjoyment is reminding her of another pastime altogether. Her mind wonders before she can stop it. Visions of dark hair flowing over her fill her head, while she recalls what it was like to have mouths and hands upon her skin. It has been some time, and Leliana had thought that the woman who enjoyed those moments was long since gone.
Saeri is not unaware of the bard lurking nearby. She wonders at first why Leliana does not join her. Would she like strawberries? Probably. They are a rarity in the cities. The few ones that existed seemed bitter, preserved by artificial means. These were wild strawberries, and while they paled in comparison to the ones that the Brecilian forest could offer, they were unadulterated bliss after months of the heavy stews Alistair and Morrigan seemed to favour. Leliana had a light touch with food, but the others complained, and she still did not trust Zevran enough to get anywhere near the supplies. Sten was completely out of the question. She turns her attention back to Leliana, crooking a finger at her as she takes another bite.
Leliana's heart nearly stops as Saeri shifts around, looking directly at her. The firelight casts shadows across her face that gives the dusky-skinned elf a sultry appearance. Saeri beckons and as she does so, she lifts another strawberry to her lips, and her lids lower slightly with enjoyment. Leliana swallows thickly as she walks over, taking up a place next to the Warden on the log without getting too close to her. Saeri moves the basket around to sit between their feet, gesturing for her to take one. She is offering you food, nothing more. Calm yourself. Call yourself a bard? Another voice, one that sounds like Marjolene's, whispers in her head. You know what you can do if you want her, it says temptingly. Look at her eyes. Brush against her skin. Make her feed you. Take her. Leliana shakes the thoughts away and reaches down to take a small handful. Hesitantly, she pops one in her mouth.
The taste is overwhelming and strong, far too sweet, but delicious all the same. As soon as it slips down her throat, she wants another, and wonders at Saeri's ability to eat them so slowly. It seems almost a form of pleasurable torture. Of course, that would explain it. Leliana controls herself, eating the next one more slowly, imitating the elf's method. It's almost as good as sex. She craves more. Saeri gestures for her to help herself, continuing to chew leisurely.
Saeri notices the flush spreading across the bard's cheeks. She thinks it is the heat of the fireside, at first, or simply an overreaction to the fruit. But Leliana is shooting glances at her from time to time, her gaze focused on Saeri's lips. The elf is confused at first, but realisation dawns. She smiles. The bard is far more worldly than she, and could tease well enough to make Morrigan blush, and it would be entertainment indeed to make Leliana flustered. And if the end result was that she got some respite from the aching between her legs that was beginning to drive her mad, so much the better. She turns her head, catching Leliana's glance the next time she looks, taking a bite of the fruit in her hand and then running it across her bottom lip.
"So," she murmurs. "What would somebody like you be doing in Lothering's chantry?" She suppresses a laugh as Leliana looks taken aback. She doesn't seem to know if this is a compliment or an insult. The bard takes another strawberry, and seems to unthinkingly touch it against her lips in a mirror of Saeri's action. Her glance is wary, one eyebrow raised as she weighs different responses against each other.
"What is meant by 'someone like me?'" Leliana cannot fight the niggle of worry as she waits for the elf's reply. Saeri, being uncertain about human interaction, can be very blunt, and there are times when she has made harsh statements, made worse by the fact that they are true. She had told Leliana right at the beginning that she was in dire need to training to knock the rust off, and made the occasional comment about the nature of the chantry that made the bard wince. Since speaking with Alistair about the use of lyrium on Templars, her distrust had grown further, and Leliana had been afraid that as an ex-chantry sister she would be subject to that suspicion. Saeri's throaty chuckle breaks the spiral of panicked thoughts in her brain.
"You know," Saeri says, her eyes looking somewhere over Leliana's head with an amused smirk. "A beautiful, charming woman like yourself." Leliana laughs. She can't help it; of all the things she had been expecting Saeri to say, that had not been it. The elf looks pleased, although she still does not meet Leliana's eyes.
"And there were no beautiful, charming women in the cloisters, you'd think?" Leliana's amusement carries in her voice. "You would be wrong. There were many lovely young initiates in the Lothering cloister. All of them chaste, and virtuous." Saeri turns her eyes back to rest on Leliana's face, interested; the bard's Orlesian accent seems to be becoming heavier as she recalls her companions in the Chantry. Saeri smiles. The thought of a sensuous person such as Leliana living such a life baffles her a little; she has more self-control than Saeri would have, although it is clear from her tone that she has indulged in the odd fantasy during her time as a lay-sister.
"It added to their mystique," Leliana continues, aware that Saeri is watching her intently now. She has stopped eating, but rolls a strawberry between the fingers of her left hand, unheeding of the red stain left behind. Leliana continues speaking, fighting to ignore the hammering in her chest. Saeri shifts slightly, moving just within her personal space. Maker sod it, Leliana thinks. Let's give this a try. "Because then, they were forbidden. And…" she dips her fingers into the basket again, holding up another piece. "…forbidden fruit is the sweeter, no?"
Hmm, you are good. Saeri studies Leliana, realising that she knows what Saeri is up to and is giving as good as she gets. "Indeed," she murmurs, and holds up one to Leliana's lips. Leliana bites it slowly, never breaking the gaze. As she is about to swallow, Saeri smirks. "So what of your fruit? Is it forbidden?"
Maker! Leliana chokes and Saeri's hand lands flat between her shoulders, making her project the chewed mush into the fire. A flush spreads across Leliana's face at the thought of what any of her partners in Orlais would have said at that display. The elf was just cheeky enough to throw her off balance, and Leliana stumbles over her words. "M-my fruit?" Saeri nods, the smile never leaving her lips. "W-well, it's not…technically forbidden…" Saeri grins now, almost feral, and Leliana has to concentrate to continue speaking. "…but it isn't freely given either. Not everyone can have a bite."
But you're not saying I can't. Saeri lifts her hand, brushing her thumb across Leliana's lower lip. The bard freezes, surprised at the outright contact. "Your lips are stained," Saeri murmurs. She lets her hand rest against the side of Leliana's face a second too long, before indicating that she should continue speaking.
Leliana wonders if it possible to go any redder than she already has. She has technically answered Saeri's question, but the elf wishes to know more, and Leliana struggles to try for some of the propriety she had garnered in the chantry. "I can't believe I am having this conversation with you," she mutters. Her cheek still tingles from where the elf touched it. Maker, had it really been so long that one brush could awake her fantasies? "But no, I did not take vows. The Chantry proves succour, and safe harbour to all who seek it. I chose to stay and become affirmed."
"So you were seeking safe harbour." Saeri catches Leliana's hand, tracing a circle on the palm. Her body language could not be clearer, but Leliana is panicking; she does not wish to continue down this path of conversation. It is too early. Saeri seems to feel the increase of her pulse, but chooses not to question it. "You…picked up your skills on the road, I assume." Maker, if Saeri had been born in Orlais she would have been deadly. One glance into the elf's eyes tells Leliana that Saeri does not believe the excuse she has provided Leliana with at all; however, she is not interested in the truth at this moment. She lifts Leliana's hand and plants a kiss on the inside of her wrist, and Leliana suppresses a gasp as the elf's tongue flickers across her skin. This isn't a game anymore. Saeri wants her, and Leliana's entire body begs her for more contact. But it is too soon. She is a changed woman now, not the Orlesian seductress she had once been. She softly pulls her hand away.
"I'm…I'm sorry," she says, standing up and almost running for her tent. Saeri's eyes follow her. The elf had seen the conflict flicker behind Leliana's eyes. There is pain there, and Saeri doesn't plan to make it worse. Far from it. She grins, licking a scrap of strawberry flesh from one of her canines. This would be far more entertaining than any hunt she had undergone with the Dalish. More rewarding, too.
O
Hope you enjoyed I'm going to be starting work on a longer piece soon, Tabris/Leliana, if anybody in the universe is interested.
-Genjutsu-Dragon-