A/N: I own nothing of Bioware's places, characters or stories. I just like to play on their playground. Thanks for reading!
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(Dust Town. Erna, age 17)
Leske was sitting in front of her and watching as she fumbled with the locksmith's tools. "That's the idea, Erna. You can do this. Just go by the feel and you'll be able to tell where to push to make the lock open."
She knitted her brow and concentrated really hard as she poked around with the end of the pick in the rusty old padlock, but after several minutes she sighed and put it down in her lap. "I just don't get it, Leske." She was frustrated and tired, and she couldn't figure out why she just didn't get it. She could whip up an entire dress in a few hours with little more than cloth and the future owner's measurements, not that Leske knew that. That secret was closely held between Papa, her brother Ragnar and herself. Nobody else, no matter who they were, knew that particular secret. The family didn't want to be tossed into the Deep Roads for their transgressions. But even with her quick hands, she couldn't tell how to open a simple lock? She sighed. "I'm hopeless. And you've been working with Ragnar so much recently – he's really been improving, hasn't he? - I feel bad that you're spending all your time here when you could be out doing something fun." Like spending time with one of your many girlfriends, her mind supplied helpfully.
She didn't voice that thought aloud, for fear that it would make her sound petty and jealous. After all, Leske was risking a lot just by befriending her and her brother. The wrath of the carta was fast and severe, and while what he was doing wasn't disallowed, it did toe a particular line of Beraht's. Maybe Beraht figured if Leske was good enough friends with Erna and Ragnar that they'd be more willing to agree to working for the carta themselves. It was a vain hope, and one that Leske and Erna and Ragnar and Papa all knew was a false one. In fact, Leske was trying to show her how to pick locks in case the carta managed to nab her for something-or-other – he said he wanted her to be able to get out of the cells that the carta used for their prisoners and sneak away.
She could sneak all right if she didn't have to open and close doors. She was nearly hopeless with a dagger, but she knew just enough moves to buy herself some time. ("Go for the stones – if you damage them, then you'll be able to get away quick," Leske had said as he held her wrist and showed her a quick slice-and-twist motion. She would remember that one for the rest of her life, to be sure!) This lockpicking though … she was used to working with fabrics, where the feel of the fabric was certainly part of the work, but she dealt with fluidity and motion, with making the vision in her head become a reality in the cloth. Making metals bend to her will and do what she wanted just seemed so foreign to her. Metal locks didn't change their shape; she didn't understand how to coax the mechanism inside to do her bidding.
Leske sighed. "Erna, I've told you. I don't mind being here. Besides, you can do this. Maybe it'll work better if I try to show you different," he said, and stood up. He walked around her and sat on the floor behind her, then scooted forward so that he could wrap his arms around hers. She stiffened a little and her eyes widened as she felt his presence surround her – nobody had ever, ever been that close to her physically. She stared at his legs on either side of hers, then at his arms which were around her. His hands covered hers and he started working on the lock as he spoke quietly. His breath tickled her ear. "Now, pay attention, all right? I want you to watch what I'm doing, but more important, ya gotta feel this. Now ..." He flexed his fingers over hers as he guided her to poke around inside the lock, while his other hand helped her hold the lock in place. "Do you feel that?" He made her hand poke around inside the lock.
Erna's problem was that she had trouble focusing on the lock. She thanked the Ancestors that Leske didn't seem to notice that her heart was pounding and that if he hadn't covered her hands with his, she'd be shaking. Leske was really warm and she felt like everywhere her body was touching his, which at present was all of her back and shoulders and legs and arms, that there was a lava flow. His breath and voice right by her ear were not helping her concentrate either.
She forced herself to focus, to sodding pay attention, as she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Leske's hands manipulated hers into prodding around with the tool, and it took her a minute, but once she settled down a little she realized that she could feel differences inside the padlock. "I … Yes! I think I can feel something in there!" She spoke in an excited whisper and Leske laughed at her tone.
"Good, Erna. Now, if you feel that, you feel it doesn't move, right?" She nodded enthusiastically and he moved her hand over just a little bit. "Do you feel how that part moves, but not real easy?" Her mouth made an O as she focused on the change in feel, and she nodded again. "Good. That part that moves – that's the part you have to shift." He wiggled the tool for Erna and the lock popped open. "See? Easy." He pulled the tool out of the lock, then closed it again. "Your turn now. I want to see if you can do this on your own." He pulled his hands away from hers and out of her field of vision. "Remember, go by the feel. Just because you can't see it, doesn't make this any harder." His voice held some amusement to it as she blushed.
"All right," she said, more to herself than to Leske, and determined now, she set to work on the padlock. It took a few minutes to poke around on her own, but eventually she grinned in triumph as the lock fell open with a quiet 'click.' "I did it! Leske, I did it!"
"I saw." She could hear the smile in his voice as he reached forward and closed the lock again. "Try again." This time, when she went to work on the lock, he put his hands on either side of her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. She wondered if he knew how distracting that was, but figured she probably needed to know how to do this with distractions. It took her much less time on this try though, and she got the lock open more smoothly.
They practiced several more times until Erna got fast with the lock. She got to the point where she could open it quickly and she could hear the smile in Leske's voice as he praised her. "Good job, Erna. You learned that pretty quick."
Erna turned around to smile at Leske and found her lips almost touching his. She didn't mean to blush, but the color creeped into her face all the same. She watched his smile widen, then looked up into his eyes. They had a strange look in them; it made her stomach flip-flop strangely. "Thank you," she almost whispered.
"Anytime." Leske took the lock from her hand; she hadn't realized she was still holding it. Then he tucked a hair that had fallen loose from her braid back into her thick tresses. "You know, you're really pretty," he murmured. "You get prettier all the time." He leaned forward and touched her lips with his.
Erna closed her eyes and let him take control. She wondered if he knew that she wanted to kiss him, or if he was kissing her because he wanted to all on his own. She didn't think she cared very much about the answer though. He started out gently then his kiss became firmer as she put her arms around him and he supported her by wrapping his arms around her as well. Her mind went fuzzy, so when he stopped kissing her, she blinked a few times before her eyes focused on his face. He was smiling at her and he reached a hand up to stroke her hair.
"Pretty, pretty Erna," he murmured. He smiled again and the fluttering in her stomach started again. "I want you, you know," he said, almost conversationally, but the look in his eyes spoke about something that Erna didn't understand, but that made the fluttering go faster and caused her to feel excitement and alarm and all sorts of things she wasn't used to.
"I've … I've never tumbled before," she whispered. Leske's eyes widened in surprise. That made her blush more, only this time in embarrassment, so she stumbled on. "I mean … I want to, but with working all the time and then training and trying to avoid Beraht I don't go out much and-" Leske put his hand on her mouth to quiet her and he chuckled.
"It's okay, Erna. I was just surprised. It's not a bad thing, it's just … unusual. Especially for a pretty girl like you." She felt her face heat up again; this was the third time he'd said she was pretty. He started stroking her hair again. "It's up to you, Erna. We can or not. You know I'm your friend, right? So if you say no it's all right."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she thought. Leske kept stroking her hair patiently while he waited for her to answer. I know he won't be just with me, but he won't promise it either. He is my friend and I know I can trust him, and he doesn't ever have to know that I … well, that I feel the way I do. This is as good as it's ever going to get. She opened her eyes and smiled at him.
"I .. I'd like to, Leske. Will you show me what I need to do?" She was answered with a grin and another kiss that wiped all her thoughts from her head.