ISABELA

The slight break of sunshine and warm weather was gone and replaced, once again, with a grey dreary sky that cast a heavy, gloom filled shadow. Only one day prior, had the exact spot that she was standing on now, radiated with warm soft yellows and lush inviting greens. The looming winter chill nipped at her skin, sending goose bumps up her arms and Isabela cursed out loud. "Maker, I hate this blasted weather!" She sighed with frustration. "I long for the ocean!" She added, emphasizing a deep need and yearning. "She's strong and beautiful and wonderfully inconsistent! You never know, from one day to the next, what she will have to offer. One day, she will coddle you like a sweet and gentle lover and then the next; lash out at you like a wild and ferocious fire breathing dragon! Every day is an adventure in her arms, but here..." Repulse filled her tone. "Maker, we have months of this shit and it's only going to get worse!"

Hawke smiled sympathetically and replied. "But then Spring always comes."

She noted the obvious chatter in Hawke's response and realized that, despite her optimistic response, she too was miserably cold. Hawke was typically dressed in her armor, thin leather layered on top of small intricate pieces of chainmail, but today she was in nothing more than cotton trousers and a bodice. No wonder she was shivering, she was used to wearing a thicker, heavier, garment. Not to mention that her body was already working overtime to repair her wound. Isabela moved in next to her and wrapped her arms around her, brushing her hand in a quick repetitive motion over Hawke's arm, to ward off the cold. She was beginning to wonder if it were such a great idea to take her back to her estate today, when she suddenly spotted Drake's towering form, at Karan's side, as the two rounded the corner towards them. A smirk lifted on her face, and she instantly dismissed the idea entirely.

"Well, well, look who it is." She stated quietly, more to herself than to Hawke.

Hawke chuckled lightly. "Can you blame him?"

She turned her head towards Hawke and grinned with pleasure. "Of course not—did you know?"

Hawke shook her head softly. "Keran made no mention of it."

Even clad in plated armor, she could still perfectly visualize his long muscular form. She watched enthralled as he moved towards them with casual confidence. She had almost forgotten how magnificently self-assured he was. "What a delicious turn of events. It would seem that my day is certainly beginning to look up." She cocked her head to the side and winked at Hawke, "No offense Hawke. I'm just as happy as the rest of our silly little group, that you are on the mend, but acting as your escort back to Kirkwall wasn't exactly on my list of eventful things to do."

"You're not mad then?" Hawke asked, surprised.

"Mad?" She shook her head at the absurdity of Hawke's question. "Of course not."

"But—you've been avoiding him." Hawke replied, her blue eyes probing into hers as her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"Yes—and it's actually quite annoying that it's taken him this long to take the initiative." She added with a minor inflection of irritation. "No matter, here he is and still firmly wrapped around my tiny little finger." She added, as she wagged her eyebrows playfully at Hawke, while massaging the base of her pinky.

"How do you do it?" Hawke asked, suddenly.

"Do what, love?"

"Stay so completely unattached?" She asked, her tone teetering between perplexity and seriousness.

"Simple. I keep it strictly at sex; none of that emotional… feelingsshit." she added, with a ting of repulse. She studied Hawke, eyeing her distant, deep in thought, expression. "Having men troubles, Hawke?" She asked, lightheartedly.

Hawke snapped out of her thoughts and sighed deeply. "You don't know the half of it." She mumbled.

She had initially been surprised when, not soon after her arrival to the Dalish camp, she had first observed the unmistaken tension between Anders and Hawke. Irritated, at first, that the gossip had not made it back to her, but even more so intrigued that Anders had somehow managed to tear himself away from his drawling mages rights antics, long enough to bed her. She didn't have to wonder what was amiss between them long, before Fenris had appeared with a book for Hawke. She had never been in a room that had felt so uncomfortably small. The tension radiating off of all three of them had almost been unbearable, even for her, had she not been equally amused by the scene.

"Let me guess… it has something to do with a certain sexy and fiercely broody Tevinter elf?" She inhaled softly and continued. "With intensesmoldering green eyes and a hard, taught, warrior's body." She bit her lip and grinned to herself at the thought of Fenris's bare lyrium covered chest. "Or…" she added with inflection "Is it the very moody rebel mage, who glows blue when Templars are near?" She lifted her left eyebrow and conceded "And, surprisingly, happens to be hiding a rather nice body under that robe of his."

Hawke wrinkled her eyebrows back at her, a mixture of confusion and surprise flickering in her bright blue eyes. "How do you know what's under his robe?"

She ignored her question. "The half abomination it is!"

"No! I mean, yes—sort of—it's complicated!" She sighed heavily and dropped her eyes to her feet. "Don't—don't call him that." She added softly.

She ignored Hawke's obvious discomfort over the subject, and continued whimsically musing to herself. How Hawke could be torn up between Fenris and Anders was beyond her. The choice was simple, in her opinion. Who could possibly prefer a simpering mage, over a dark and tempestuous elf between their thighs? She was still fantasizing over the tingling feeling of Fenris's lyrium infused skin against her tongue—and his body's reaction to the sensation. "I think—it's bothof them." She added, coyly.

Hawke glanced back at her sheepishly and then quickly broke eye contact.

She laughed heartily and shook her head. "You've certainly been busy these past few months!" Hawke sighed deeply, clearly burdened by her thoughts. "Let me guess, Anders is in love with you and crying it from the mountain tops, while Fenris is—well—Fenris; broody, closed off, distant…."

"Something like that." Hawke muttered, cutting her off, clearly trying to emphasize that she wanted to change the subject.

Hawke peered silently off into the distance and as if suddenly forgetting her worries for a moment, an endearing smile lit up her face. Isabela turned in the direction of Hawke's smile, just in time to catch Keran's grin widen back at Hawke. He and Drake were now not more than a hundred feet away from them.

A crooked grin crept upon her cheek with sudden realization. "Oh… have I missed someone?" Hawke's eye suddenly locked with hers in confusion. "We can't forget the boyishly sweet, lovesick, handsome, Templar-to-be, now can we?" She smirked. "Juggling three men Hawke?" She made a playful tsk, tsk sound. "I never took you for the type."

Hawke stared at her dumbfounded and then shook her head. "Isabela, you have it all wrong—and…" she fumbled for words "Keran's just…" Before she could finish, Keran quickly closed the distance between them and lifted Hawke into his arms.

Hawke winced and Keran quickly pulled away. "Maker, I'm sorry—too hard?"

"It's still tender." Hawke replied, her facial expression twisted in pain.

He pulled her back into his chest, gently, and Hawke's face immediately softened. Hawke glanced over at her and Isabela grinned satirically back at her. Hawke quickly looked away and a knowing smile deepened on her cheek. She could feel the warmth of Drake's gaze on her and slowly turned, a seductive grin replacing her astute smirk, as she locked into his light green eyes.

"Isabela." He stated, while bowing his head, without breaking eye contact with her. He then politely turned towards Hawke. "Sera Hawke."

"What a surprise." She replied coquettishly, pulling Drake's gaze back to her.

"Ah, yes, as you can see Drake is with me today." Keran interjected. "The Knight Captain did not approve of me traveling the Wounded Coast alone. It was the price I had to pay for the pleasure of your company, Hawke." He said smiling sweetly down at her. "I had no choice but to bring him." Keran added while flashing his friend a teasing grin. "I hope that's alright?"

Hawke smiled. "Of course—it's nice to see you again Drake. The more the merrier, right Isabela?"

She deliberately turned her gaze from Drake to Keran and smiled suggestively back at him. "Absolutely, I always prefer two men over one, especially when they are both so strong and…" she paused, slightly, as she bit her lip and roamed her eyes freely over his form, adding with purposeful accentuation "capable." She batted her eyelashes and Keran's cheeks immediately blushed pink.

Hawke's smile faded as she watched his reaction, her body language unconsciously answering the impending question on Isabela's mind, as she quickly stepped out of Keran's arms. Perhaps it was unwise to provoke Hawke merely to sate her curiosity, but she couldn't resist. Even though Hawke had seemed genuinely happy to see her, and their conversations had carried on over the past few days, as if eight weeks of silence had not lapsed between them, they hadn't exactly cleared things up.

"Where's Titan?" Keran asked, quickly changing subjects in attempt to regain his composure. His eyes searched over zealously, amidst the Dalish camp, in search of any sign of the War Hound.

"I sent him back with Anders early this morning." Hawke replied, sullenly.

Keran laughed, evidently, unaware of the change in Hawke's mood. "I'm sure that he loved that!"

"Well… he does prefer cats." Hawke replied, a bit guarded.

"I was talking about Titan." Keran replied, sportively, and Isabela watched as Hawke's polite smile slowly faded.

Keran's face dropped, suddenly aware of Hawke's response to his casual farce. He cautiously studied her and then carefully looped his arm around her waist. "Are you ready to go then?" He asked, hesitantly.

She skeptically eyed his arm around her. "Yes, but I am quite capable of walking by myself." She replied, mildly attempting to free herself from his grasp.

His grin widened and he pulled her in tighter next to him, dropping his voice an octave lower as he spoke with jovial mockery. "But my Lady, I beseech you to comply! I truly believe it to be in your very best interest, that I hold you close and keep you safe!" He flashed her a playful smoldering look and Hawke burst into laughter, but then instantly recoiled in pain. "See... now I must insist." He added, his voice wavering with concern. "Hawke...?"

Hawke glanced sideways at him and giggled. "Clearly, it's only necessary if you make me laugh!" She added, lightening the mood once more.

"Then I shall never cease to make you laugh!" He replied, with a wink.

Their flirtatious exchange was so sickeningly sweet that she wondered if Hawke truly was oblivious to how completely enamored that the boy was with her. She was so entranced by Hawke and Keran's entertaining exchange, that she had almost forgotten Drake's presence until he spoke, pulling her attention back to him.

"You have been avoiding me." He whispered, so that only she could hear.

Her eyes snapped back to his and she grinned. "I would have to have seen you to avoid you."

"Are we ready then?" Keran asked, glancing between her and Drake. He waited for them both to nod in acknowledgement before setting off ahead of them, while still supporting Hawke gently around her waist.

They moved forward onto the path that led out of the Dalish camp and after a moment of silence, Drake spoke again. "Then you are ignoring me."

She followed Keran and Hawke's forms, not bothering to make eye contact with him as she replied. "No; it's much simpler than that. I've just been busy."

There was another long stretch of silence before Drake grabbed onto her wrist and came to a sudden halt, forcing her to stop and look at him. "Isabela, I must know…" he implored; his expression clearly betraying the magnitude of his confusion. "Do I no longer hold your interest?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "You could assume that." His light green eyes flickered and his gaze dropped to the ground. A slight grin crept upon her face and she continued. "But then… you would be wrong."

His eyes shot back up to hers in surprise, before trailing down to the smirk on her face, and he paused, studying her expression. "You are toying with me."

Her grin widened. "Was that a question?"

He moved in close to her and wrapped his right arm around her waist, pulling her hips in next to his. He focused in on her eyes, his desire permeating in the depths if his gaze as he whispered huskily back to her. "No."

He tipped his head down towards hers and brushed his lips gently against hers before softly nipping at the bottom of her lip. Just as she thought that he was going to deepen their kiss, he pulled away from her and began to walk forward, leaving her slightly stunned. She quickly recovered, however, and smiled as she watched, beguiled, as he moved forward without glancing back at her. She began moving forward again, not bothering to quicken her pace enough to catch up to him. After a moment, he ceased in his tracks and waited until she was at his side.

"You play this game far too well, my dear." He stated, rigidly, his eyes focused squarely in front of him.

She turned her gaze to him, an impish grin lifting on her cheek. "What game would that be?"

He ignored her question, his eyes still focused on the path before him. "A single day has not passed that I have not thought of you."

His confession held a dark and ardent tone, which caused her body to stir in response, and her lips curled at the corners. "Hmm… do tell me about these—thoughts." She purred.

At last, he turned towards her. His green eyes were intense and lascivious as he peered silently into the depths of her eyes. She held his gaze, daring him to continue, when Hawke suddenly cried out. Instinctually, Isabela tore her gaze away from his, only to find that the sound was merely Hawke's pained laughter. Keran was attempting to wrap Hawke's legs around his waist in piggy back fashion, but was having difficulty in his armor. Normally, she would have laughed at the scene, but she was more irritated, than anything, that their frivolousness had pulled her attention away from Drake at such a moment. She glanced to the side and eyed a small path that led down towards the ocean.

"I feel like getting wet… care to join me?"

Drake glanced back at her in surprise and then quickly perceived her meaning and grinned back at her in response. She nodded in the direction of the ocean and his smile quickly faded."I think… that the water will be too cold." He replied with sudden apprehension.

"Nonsense. The trick is simple… submerge yourself as quickly as possible." She arched her eyebrow and then winked at him before dropping her eyes, below his waist. His eyebrows lifted in response and she turned her back to him, taking the detour off of the path and leaving him behind. She stopped, only shortly, to unlace her boots and remove them. Her toes suck into the sand and she released a light sigh of pleasure as the soft granules seeped between her toes. She continued forward, basking in the contouring sensation as she continued down the path. She was more than half way down the hill, her fingers mindlessly unknotting the shawl around her waist, when she heard Keran's exclamation.

"Are you bloody mad? The water will be ice cold!"

She chuckled to herself. She was too distant from the rest of their little party to hear how well Drake was doing in his persuasion to Keran and Hawke. She didn't care; she was far too determined. She no longer felt the cold nip of the biting winter air; she felt warm and tingling, driven forward by the seductive siren call of the ocean's gentle waves and the pungent smell of its salty spray. She had one thing on her mind, and no longer held the patience to wait for it. Besides, wasn't it probably for the best that they took a break—for Hawke's sake?

She waited at the edge of the ocean's reach, its frothy waves teasing her as they lapped playfully at her toes. Her feet slowly sunk into the wet sand as she waited impatiently for the rest of the group. Drake appeared at the top of the hill and smiled seductively down at her as he moved with haste towards her. She unlaced her tunic as Drake hurriedly shed his armor, leaving the shiny silver plated pieces strewn throughout the sandy path in his wake. Just as she was wondering if he had simply given up on Hawke and Keran, they appeared at the top of the hill.

She grinned and then freed herself of her last restricting garment, exposing her naked body to the cool ocean breeze, while in perfect view of the entire group. Both Drake and Keran stopped dead in their tracks, and a devilish smirk lifted on her cheek before she turned and dove into the ocean's depths. The cold water assaulted her with the feeling of thousands of tiny needles, all at once, piercing deep into her flesh. The sensation paralyzed her temporarily, but then released its hold on her, allowing her the necessary mobility to push her face above the water's surface.

"ANDRASTE'S FLAMING CUNT!" She screamed out, as she struggled in vain to control her convulsing body.

She caught a glimpse of Drake's impeccable bare ass, before it disappeared beneath the hungry waves. Within a moment his head bobbed up near her, his green eyes flashing wildly in a shocked response to the frigid temperature. He spotted her and swam quickly towards her, instantly pulling her in against his naked body.

"Your trick did not work!" He said through chattering teeth, while cupping her face and planting a forceful kiss on the lips. "Let us quickly move over there." He said gesturing towards the peninsula's bend.

He released her and swam hastily to the rock formation, pushing his back against the hardened structure, while reaching his arm out to her and pulling her in tightly against him. He rubbed her body against his own, his hands quickly moving over the curves of her form, more for the need to create warmth through friction than actual desire. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he gradually slowed his searching hands, taking his time to properly explore every inch and curve of her naked skin. Heat suddenly flooded deep within her and she no longer noticed anything other than the feeling of his tight muscular body rubbing hard against her own. She deepened their kiss, their tongues moving in perfect motion with the rolling waves, as her hands wandered gradually down south past his abdomen.

A sultry smile stretched across her face, forcing her to pull away from their heated kiss. "It would appear that you've warmed up; it's time to show you the rest of my trick."

(Isabela, Keran, Fenris, Anders, Dragon Age Universe ©Bioware)