"Why not?" Blue asked, feeling the pout on her lips but unable to stop it.
"Would you like a list?" Vivienne whispered into the dark, casting a glance around. "There are guards-"
"Nah, I told them to find somewhere else to guard for an hour or two," the elf said dismissively. "Any other concerns?"
"That there are no guards," Vivienne shot back, arms crossing tightly across her chest, hip tilted forward slightly. "We'll be rather... exposed, don't you think?"
"Well the guards haven't left, they're just... nearby. Near enough to help if there's trouble, far enough they're not watching."
"Unless they're voyeurs."
"Hmm, true," Blue furrowed her brow, eyed the ground thoughtfully, shrugged. "It's dark anyway, they won't be able to see anything."
"And if Sera or Blackwall should wake up?" Vivienne pressed, but there was a note of resignation in her voice, and Blue clung to it, sensing victory.
"If anyone comes out of the tents, hide behind me," Blue insisted. With no warning she pulled her nightshirt over her head, holding it out in front of her to make sure it was folded along the seams. "I'm going in, with or without you." Vivienne's eyes darted away, cheeks suddenly warm.
"Oh Maker..." she muttered. "Fine. But for the record, Inquisitor, I wouldn't even consider this if I wasn't in such dire need of a bath."
"That Fereldan air is invigorating, isn't it?" Blue mused, setting her folded shirt on the bank, shedding her pants next. "The sweet smell of dog, burning, and of course demon muck. Though to be fair, that's everywhere these days." Hesitating only a moment, Vivienne followed the Inquisitor's lead, shirt first, then pants.
"Don't forget the slightest hint of Blight." Vivienne stood on the bank next to Blue, scanning the area nervously, her arms returning to their usual position across her chest. They stood, appraising the water quietly, noting the way the glassy surface rippled slightly with the breeze, the moon's reflection distorting, shimmering.
"Looks cold," Blue noted, and Vivienne nodded in silent agreement. "Well... ladies first."
"Oh no, beauty before age, my dear."
"That's still you, Vivienne. We could draw straws, or both go in at the count of three. Thoughts?"
"Thoughts!" Vivienne said with a sharp sigh. "I think I must have taken a harder blow to the head than I realized this morning, to even be considering this." At that Blue stooped, plucked a handful of grass, held it out towards her friend.
"Shortest blade goes first," she said, and they both chose a blade, pulled them out of the bunch.
"This is hardly fair," Vivienne protested, staring in dismay at her grass while Blue held hers up triumphantly. "You could have... I don't know, arranged the blades somehow so that..." The elf's grin grew wider by the second, and Vivienne sighed heavily, letting her arms fall to her sides.
"Alright," she drawled, taking a hesitant step towards where the water lapped at the pebbled shore. "I cannot believe I let you talk me into this..." Deciding it better to go quickly than to drag it out, she plunged her foot in all at once and regretted it immediately, letting out a muffled groan, balling her fists, and bristling at the unmistakable chitter of stifled laughter from behind her. "Is there something funny, Inquisitor?"
"Of course not," Blue insisted, but her voice shook with the effort of keeping steady. "I just... had a tickle in my throat, that's all."
"I'm sure," Vivienne said, wading in further, up to her knees now. "Well, my dear? Will you be joining me, or was this all part of a cruel prank? I assure you, should you take my clothes and run you will live just long enough to regret it."
"I would never do that to you," Blue insisted, shuffling towards the water's edge, eyeing it apprehensively. "Just let me work up to it."
"Sometime before the guards come back, Inquisitor," Vivienne pressed, casting another glance around the surrounding woods.
"Just... just give me a-" she was cut off by a hand around her wrist and a sharp tug just forceful enough to send her stumbling into the knee deep water.
"Ohhhh nooooo," she whined under her breath, every muscle in her body tensing as she waddled further in. "I should have pushed you in, you absolute monster." Vivienne let out a laugh, as loudly as she dared.
"Need I remind you whose idea this was in the first place?" she said, smiling widely despite herself, teeth chattering.
"We need to get out of the wind immediately," Blue insisted, shifting their hands so that she was holding Vivienne's wrist, and they waded further into the lake, into deeper water.
"I don't even want to think about what could be lurking in this water," Vivienne shuddered, letting herself be led for what must have been the first time in years.
"So don't."
"There may be something dangerous, something... hungry. What would people say if the Inquisitor met her end chasing a whim?"
"Josephine would find some way to make it sound heroic. She could tell people you fell in and I jumped in to save you." The water was up to their waists now, but they didn't stop, feeling their way along the mucky bottom with careful feet.
"That's just selflessly idiotic enough to be something I'd believe you actually did."
Blue chuckled, shifting their hands again, now so that she was holding Vivienne's fingers.
"There was a compliment hidden in there somewhere," she smiled.
"And an insult," Vivienne reminded her, sure that if it weren't for the freezing water, she would be uncomfortably warm. "I trust you didn't miss that part." When the water reached their necks, Blue released her hand, and they swam out a few more feet until the muddy bottom was out of reach.
"I don't supposed you thought to bring the soaps?" Vivienne asked forlornly, suddenly struck by how flimsy her excuse for agreeing to this had been. The thought of washing in the mud and bits of debris swirling about her legs was not a pleasant one.
"Hmm..." Blue hummed. "Shit." For a moment they stared blankly at each other, Blue looking bemused and Vivienne more exasperated by the second.
"Inquisitor, I..." she trailed off, but Blue's face was so something, so... adorable, she had no choice but to let out a short burst of loud laughter.
"Shshhhhhh," Blue chuckled, leaning forward. But the more Vivienne tried to stifle her laughter, the funnier it sounded, and the more Blue laughed along, their occasional halfhearted shushes doing nothing to actually calm them.
"Admit... admit you really wanted to do this," Blue said, her voice wavering and trilling both from the cold and from the giggles bubbling up from deep down. "And that bathing was just an excuse." Vivienne shook her head, teeth clattering together as she composed herself enough to answer.
"Never," was all she said, meeting Blue's gaze and holding it. Laughter faded to giggles, giggles faded to chuckles, and Blue's stomach fluttered nervously as it often did when the enchanter was around. They'd drifted closer, much closer over the course of their episode, and she realized suddenly that she could practically see herself reflected in the other woman's eyes, could feel every breath and smell fading perfume.
"You have freckles," Vivienne remarked in a hushed tone, eyes darting over Blue's face, across blue tattoos, trembling lips, wide, cat like eyes. "I'd never noticed before." But before Blue could respond, there was a rustle from the camp, and one of the tents shook.
"Oh wonderful," she huffed, swimming around Vivienne, blocking her from the view of whoever was about to emerge from the tent.
"Please Maker let it be Blackwall," Vivienne breathed. "Anyone but- "
"People are sleepin' here, Inky- tryin' to anyway. You wanna maybe keep your wanking quiet? I know, makes you giggly, but-" Sera's voice carried easily across the surface of the water, broke off suddenly. "Hang on is that..." Suddenly wide awake, she scrambled out of the tent entirely and to the water's edge. "Vivvy, didn't think you were the swimming type!" Her eyes drifted downward, to the two sets of clothes folded neatly on the bank. "WOOAAAHHHH are you naked out there?!"
"I am. Vivienne isn't. She's still got her underclothes on." Sera saw through the lie, eyes narrowing as her hands came to rest on her hips.
"Then why're you hiding behind elfy, there?"
"Because despite my near -nudity I still have a modicum of dignity- "
"You said you had a moody cum?!" Sera asked incredulously. "I knew it! I'm proud of you Inky! "
"No, no, modicum," Vivienne snarled. "It means 'a small amou- '"
"I know what it means," Sera giggled. "Any time you do it it's bound to be moody."
"Sera, please," Blue pleaded, somehow managing, despite the cold, to feel her cheeks warming. "We're just swimming. There's nothing inappropriate going on." And Sera frowned at the admission.
"Well why not?" she deadpanned. "Might as well be, right? You think I haven't noticed how sparkly-eyed you get around her, Inky? Your taste stinks, but whatever floats your boat, right? So why aren't you floating her boat right now?"
"Sera..."
"Here, I'll help- "
"Sera!"
"N-not like that." They watched helplessly as Sera, mischievous grin returning, bent down, gathered their clothes.
"Drop the clothes, Sera," Blue warned, swimming forward until her feet found purchase in the mud.
"You two spend some more time out there together," Sera said, dancing back from the water's edge. "And in the woods, in the dark, together, looking for your clothes. Or not looking." She turned, darted away into the wilderness.
"Oh for the love of..." Blue sighed heavily, turning to face Vivienne. "I... ok, here's the plan..." Vivienne raised an eyebrow patiently, tilted her head. "I'll get out first, get the blanket from our tent, and since this is entirely my fault, you can wait by the fire while I find our clothes. And maybe murder Sera."
"Whichever of us sees her first gets that honor," Vivienne said, clearly in agreement with the plan. Blue laughed softly.
"Just to be clear..." she said. "Don't actually murder Sera."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
Blue continued to shore while Vivienne waited a short distance out, the water just above her chest. She kept her eyes on the water's surface, brow furrowed when Blue was no longer under the cover of the lake, and kept them there until the elf called her name.
"I'm sorry about all this," she whispered, wrapping the blanket around Vivienne's shoulders and leading her to the fire, guiding her to sit on the log. "We shouldn't have- "
"Quite the contrary, darling," Vivienne said, one hand snaking out from under the blanket to grasp Blue's wrist lightly. "We should do this again some time. Somewhere warmer, perhaps?"
"Oh," Blue, suddenly feeling very exposed now that she was standing in the firelight, laughed nervously. "I... of course. Maybe leave Sera at Skyhold next time?"
"Oh yes, no maybe about it," Vivienne laughed, releasing the pale, slender wrist, pulling the blanket tighter around herself and smiling fondly as her friend retreated into the woods, chasing the devious cackle drifting out from the brush.