Her first thought was that it couldn't possibly be morning already, anything other than the end of their perfect night. But the early sun refused to be overlooked as it tried to slip under her eyelids, leaving no doubt to what time it was. Josie squeezed her eyes tighter, bringing the blanket up to her chin and rolling onto her side. Her nose bumped a soft…something, some part of Eleri. Josie finally opened her eyes. At first she feared she disturbed her lover as her eyes were met with the elf's back, Josie raised herself up on an elbow to see her face. The fear melted and a smile formed at how the big bad Dalish Inquisitor was sprawled across the bed. The blanket had fallen to her waist and had been kicked out of the way around her feet, leaving only knee to hip covered. One leg was tucked under as the other was stretched out; both arms seemed to be reaching for the other side of the bed, something smaller than a soft snore occasionally escaped her. Josie let an exasperated chuckle out as she realized just how much of the bed Eleri had taken up. But she couldn't find it in her to be see it as anything other than endearing. Especially with the soft morning sun hitting her elf just so.
Her thoughts took her back to last night. Their first night together. Every thought was of Eleri, of her touch, her voice, lips. A smile grew with the flush of Josie's cheeks. She chided herself for acting like a silly little girl but she couldn't help her feelings, the excitement that accompanied falling for Eleri. Every breath around the elf was filled with a sweetness that stained her lungs, a sweetness she couldn't find anywhere else. It was intoxicating and their night only increased the feeling tenfold.
Josie let her fingers trail the muscles of Eleri's back as she rested her head in her hand; her mind floated back to her time as a bard. How would she have described the feeling then, in one of the many stories she would have told to gain favor? The desperate need to get it down, to put a finger on the song pieces that played in her mind when her thoughts were preoccupied with Eleri seemed stronger in the morning sun with soft skin under her fingertips. A quiet laugh escaped at herself but she entertained the idea. Song lyrics were putting themselves together in her mind, a quiet melody being hummed without her consent. Then the muscles she was committing to memory shifted and flexed as Eleri turned toward her, one eye shut against the light, the other squinting with her brows furrowed. She shifted onto her back and then to her other side before scooting closer to Josie, one arm working its way between the Antivan and the mattress to meet the other to pull her closer.
"Have you been up long?" was muffled by Josie's chest. She kept her head propped up but let her free hand resume its tracing along Eleri's back. She smiled at Eleri's involuntary shiver.
"No." She answered simply. In the silence that followed, Josie heard Eleri's breathing eventually slow again. Her exhaustion getting the better of her. Josie was vain enough to feel a rush of pride at being the cause but she knew that while she did help to add to it, the real reason for Eleri's lack of energy had been her last mission. It had been a rough several weeks for her. The trip her and her companions took was shorter than most they were sent on but more brutal and the success of the mission was not guaranteed. Eleri had left Josie with a searing kiss, worry in her eyes once they parted.
Josie had welcomed the elf back with a kiss much like the one she was left with. It had been late, not many awake in Skyhold. Josie waited up, her office door left open to hear any noise in the main hall. She was on her feet at the first scrape of the large hall door opening, at her door before Eleri could notice that her candles were still burning. Josie had barely noticed Varric still sitting by the fireplace he claimed or that Dorian and Vivienne were following her through the hall to their own rooms. All she had been concerned about was that Eleri was back and safe. The greeting waiting for her was cut off as Antivan lips crashed into Dalish, hands pulling at Eleri's neck to keep her in place.
"What were you humming earlier?" Josie started at Eleri's voice, shocking her back to the present. "Sorry."
"I thought you were asleep." She laughed at herself. "It's okay. What did you ask?"
"What were you humming?"
"Oh," another laugh, this one nervous, "nothing."
Eleri pulled back to look up at Josie, eyes narrowed. The expression softened as she craned her neck up to kiss Josie. She pulled away with a smile. "I liked it, whatever it was."
Josie returned her smile and gave a quick peck of her own, her thoughts focused on how it would never get old being able to kiss Eleri whenever she pleased. Another kiss quickly followed just because she could.
"And," Eleri began again, "I like waking up with you. I could get used to it. Especially, if it's always like this."
"I think we can make that happen." She leaned to give Eleri another kiss but the elf seemed to have other plans. Josie was vaguely aware of arms tightening around her as her lips met Eleri's, then she was on her back, a small 'oh' escaping her, and Eleri on top with a grin lighting up her green eyes. "Maybe not if you do that!"
"You liked it." Eleri smirked then met Josie's lips once again. Eleri's arms stayed wrapped around Josie but the Antivan ghosted her fingertips along Eleri's back, to her sides then up over her shoulders, neck and into her hair. A rush of air blew from Eleri's nose as Josie tightened her hold and sucked in her bottom lip, biting down. Josie trailed kisses from her lips and jaw down to her neck. One of Eleri's hands moved to grip Josie's shoulder as she tilted her head to the side.
A loud knock drifted up the stairs, followed by three more. "Ignore it." Eleri mumbled, voice thick, as Josie paused what she was doing. Long, pale fingers guided her face toward Eleri's so lips could find her own. More banging interrupted them. This time Eleri huffed and let her head fall to Josie's shoulder. The Antivan rested her cheek against the side of Eleri's head.
"I think it is time to get up." Josie pressed a kiss to where her cheek just was, pushing on Eleri's arm to get her to roll off of her. The elf did so with a dramatic sigh. Josie smiled as she began getting ready for the day. The knocking came again. "You will want to see to that sooner rather than later."
"They can go to the fade for all I care."
"Eleri."
"Fine."
The annoyed elf rolled out of bed, taking the blankets with her and wrapping it around her body as she stomped down the stairs. Josie rolled her eyes with a smile, sending up a prayer for whoever was behind the door and about to receive the elf's worse. She looked into the mirror she had hung in Eleri's rooms to put her earrings in but her mind wandered as her own eyes met, this time to a story her mother told her before she left for Val Royeaux.
"There was one morning, many years before I was betrothed to your father, and the fields were painted gold with the morning sun. It was so beautiful; the perfect morning." Her mother sighed, a far-away look in her eyes and a wistful smile turning the corners of her lips up. "I was with my first love. He was a sailor, a young man working his way up the Antivan naval rankings, and getting ready to leave on a voyage. We were young and in love and that was all that mattered but we had yet to tell each other. Our relationship was beginning to blossom, my father just starting to give approval."
Young Josie listened with hands clasped near her heart, imagination running wild with the romance. Her mother had mentioned a lost love before; Her father had nodded and held her mother's hand at the mention of the other man's name. That was years before. Now she was finally getting the whole story. Her fear of leaving her family was momentarily forgotten as she got lost in the tale.
"I did not have to wait long for his feelings to be revealed. He told me he loved me under the lemon trees at my family's estate that beautiful, perfect morning, but I didn't return the sentiment. I was young, yes, but I was not like so many girls who confess what they are not truly feeling; I have always been timid with my emotions. My mind needed to work through the practicality, the possibilities. I told him I wasn't ready and he accepted it with a smile that was trying to hide the sadness in his eyes." Her mother looked down at her hands, her voice shaking before she took a deep breath to steady it.
"I walked with him to the docks and kissed him goodbye, heart guilty but I didn't understand why then. I also did not know it was to be our final kiss. I never got the chance to tell him that I did love him and I live with that regret even now. It pulls at my heart whenever the morning sun paints the fields and those memories of feelings left untold hang like lemons ready to be picked from the trees around this country."
Josie gasped, her young heart breaking for her mother. That wasn't how romances were supposed to end. She felt betrayed by the beauty of the beginning. The woman's sad eyes locked with the identical orbs of her daughter's, taking her hand tightly.
"Do not let that happen to you, Josephine. If you are lucky enough to find that feeling on your own, do not hesitate to seize it. Learn from this old woman's mistakes." A watery smile met Josie's confused stare. It was more than a story; she knew it was based on her mother's past but it wasn't supposed to still make her sad.
"But don't you love Father, and me, and "
"Of course I do, my dear." She was pulled into a hug. "My life has played out how it should and I love your father dearly but that had not always been the case. Arranged marriages don't burn with the same fire that their rivals do but I am happy and have a perfect family."
Her mother pulled back, her hands cupping Josie's cheeks as she touched the tips of their noses together. A giggle came from the young girl as she crinkled her nose, pulling away.
"Hey." Josie started again as Eleri's voice came from over her shoulder, arms snaking around her waist. "Everything alright?"
She turned to face the elf, resting her hands on her still blanketed stomach. Josie rose an eyebrow at the makeshift robe. Eleri shrugged with a smile. "You said sooner or later, I chose sooner."
"Your confidence seems to have…grown recently."
"That tends to happen when a beautiful woman steals your heart." Her mother's words echoed in Josie's head, pulling her thoughts away yet again. The situations were similar but this could not be what her mother meant. Her mother would not mean for her to fall for a Dalish elf. Only rumors of the wild elves reached Antiva. Few knew what the race was truly like. The warring thoughts must have shown on her face as Eleri's eyes turned serious. "Hey, seriously, what's wrong? You've been distracted this morning. Did I…did I do something that upset you, or um…made you uncomf "
Josie's lips cut off whatever doubts Eleri was going to come up with next. Shock melted quickly as Eleri returned the kiss, Josie could feel her relax. Josie felt herself relax.
"I love you." Eleri's eyes had barely opened as Josie whispered the words. She watched as green was further revealed and a brow furrowed. Then a smile, a smoothing of a wrinkled forehead and crinkling of eyes.
"I love you too." She paused to let her answer stand on its own. Then she added, "even though you're confusing me."
"I'm sorry, amor. It is nothing, just a story my mother told me long ago that has been nagging at me. Do not worry."
"What does that mean? You've called me it before."
"Amor? It means love." Eleri's smile grew, she leaned in to give Josie another kiss.
"I do love you but Leliana sent this." Eleri stepped back and held a folded piece of paper between them. Josie took it, quickly reading what was written. "The agent said you need to see her at your earliest convenience. Then he gave me a weird look like he wanted to say something else but I'm the inquisitor so he didn't. I think that means she means now."
Josie stepped closer to Eleri, leaving her with one last kiss before she set about her morning routine yet again. "It means now."