Lara had known Anna all of two weeks and yet found it incredibly difficult to not go along with just about anything the woman wanted. She was a lot like her best friend Sam, in that. 'Going along with it' was how she ended up at the farmer's market, of all places.

Like Sam, Anna seemed determined to expand Lara's horizons beyond books and homework. Between the two of them Lara might actually end up not being a shut in.

But to Lara, dinner was typically something that came out of a can, the microwave or a ramen pot. Technically, she was incredibly wealthy, but her fortune was in a trust by her own choosing and thus out of reach for the foreseeable future.

So, ramen. Lots, and lots of ramen. And Jaffa Cakes for a treat.

Studying some of the stalls, Lara thought that maybe she could get some fresh veggies for a treat too. Sam would appreciate that.

"Oh, oh! I almost forgot!" Anna grabbed her arm. "We're meeting my sister for coffee. She's been studying at the Bartlett School of Architecture and like she's half the reason I'm in London." Anna made a little huffing sound, her grip strong on Lara's arm, "At least she would never leave me stranded at the airport unlike certain ex-girlfriends."

"Are you sure you don't want me to strangle Hanna?" Lara asked, raising one of her eyebrows as she punched her fist into her palm. "I toss blokes three times my size out of the pub on the regular and every time you talk about her I like her less and less."

"As mind-blowingly hot as that would be, I can totally handle myself," Anna assured her as she started to drag Lara past the stalls of fruits and vegetables. Lara was about to stop Anna so she could buy some apples when she spotted a blonde woman approaching them.

The woman's hair reminded Lara of a passage she'd read once; hair gleaming like spun gold. It was pulled back into a French braid, and she wore a light blue sundress with bare shoulders. Like Anna, there was a smattering of freckles on her shoulders, cheeks and across a nose above ruby lips. But it was her eyes, pale as ice, that drew Lara in.

"Elsa!" Anna called out, waving her hand. "You're early!"

And then Lara found herself standing in front of the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen.

She felt like a mess in comparison, dressed as she was in jeans, muddy boots and a t-shirt that read Take me Bach to the good old days on the back with the composer's face on the front. It made her feel silly and she kind of wished she'd worn her Metallica shirt instead.

"Hello, Anna," Elsa said. Unlike her sister, she still had a hint of an accent that Lara placed as scandenavian and her analytical mind quickly settled on Norway as the most likely country of origin. She'd need to hear more to narrow it down any further than that but somehow that didn't seem like much of a sacrifice to make, really.

"Elsa, this is Lara, my friend I told you about." Anna gestured at Lara, then at Elsa, "And Lara, this is my big sis, Elsa."

"So this is the archaeology nerd you've been hanging out with?" Elsa asked with a smile, lifting her eyebrow in a way that was absolutely fascinating to Lara.

"Archaeology nerd?" Lara asked, glancing at Anna. She wasn't upset, because it was true. Just like Sam was a camera nerd and … "And you're not, Anna? We share classes."

"We're both archaeology nerds," Anna amended cheerfully.

"I'm nothing like her," Elsa said, eyes twinkling.

"I don't think I could handle two of you. Anna and Sam together in the same room is punishment enough. It's nice to meet you." Lara held her hand out to Elsa, who looked at it a moment before taking it.

Anna looked at their hands, then squinted at Elsa for a moment before she danced around to her sister's left side and locked arms with her. "I can't wait to introduce you to Sam."

"She talks about her even more than you," Elsa observed, automatically letting Anna loop her arm through hers before she offered her own to Lara with just the slightest flush on her face.

'Did she now?' Lara filed that info away for later, before she took Elsa's arm. "I believe I was promised coffee and Jaffa Cakes?"

"I never promised you cakes," Anna retorted.

"Yes, you did."

Elsa smiled, and attempted to defuse the situation. "I'll buy you some, don't worry."

"Careful, sis. Buying Lara Jaffa Cakes will make her fall in love with you."

Another thing that Anna was probably not wrong about, but Lara kept her mouth shut before she put her foot in it. Elsa was making it hard to think and she'd just met her.

And the most concerning thing was that Lara was pretty sure Anna had noticed.

❄️

Elsa didn't typically like people getting close to her but as she got to know Lara over the next few weeks she found herself making an exception. Maybe it was because Lara was like her and they could sit in silence together without it feeling awkward. Elsa might be scribbling some notes on her next project while Lara was neck deep in some book. Or vice versa, with more and more frequent touches between them. Lara had quickly become Elsa's favorite footrest.

So maybe there were other reasons that Elsa was only really beginning to make sense of. She'd spent several of her formative years in near isolation and she still sometimes had trouble peopleing.

Tonight Elsa was trying to enjoy that closeness without thinking too much about it as they sat on the balcony of Lara's little flat that she shared with Sam. Lara had a book open in her lap that she was drawing in, and Elsa scooted a little closer to watch. Almost subconsciously, she leaned against the brunette, their hips and shoulders touching in ways that sent the most pleasant sparks through her.

Clipped to the left side of Lara's book were several pictures. They were of scrolls and paintings and all of them appeared to have Japanese lettering. Elsa knew that Lara's specific field of study this year was Japan and she watched Lara write down the letters and then scribble notes next to or below them.

"What is that?" Elsa asked, leaning her head on Lara's shoulder. The characters were so pretty but they didn't look like the usual Japanese she saw when she was watching Lara work.

Lara stiffened for a moment, before her cheek pressed into the top of Elsa's head. "It's an ancient form of the Japanese language from when they were using Chinese characters. I'm translating them into modern Japanese."

"I know four languages," Elsa said, her eyes starting to pick out the differences between the Chinese characters and the Japanese. She wondered if there was any drift or evolution between the ancient Chinese letters and the modern language. She had no idea what any of it meant but she thought she'd like to learn. "Maybe I should add a fifth."

"I'd be happy to tutor you." Lara squeezed Elsa's knee, an action that momentarily short circuited any ideas about learning new languages that didn't start with Lara's lips and end at her toes.

Feeling a little out of breath, Elsa asked. "How many languages do you know?"

"Mmm." Lara tapped her pen against the side of her journal, "I'm fluent in Japanese, Spanish, Greek and Farsi. I've been working on my Mandarin but I wouldn't call it fluent. I haven't touched German since boarding school. But there are a number of dead languages I can read." Smiling, Lara turned her head into Elsa's hair and inhaled deeply. "At least one of those isn't as dead as most people think, it's just that it's being forgotten with each passing generation. Usually because of outside influence."

That made Elsa feel sad. "My maternal grandmother was from the Sámi people in Norway and my mother spent her childhood there. I never got the chance to learn before she died. And I … don't know why I never thought about it before."

Lara lifted her head, peering at Elsa curiously. "Luckily, that language is recognized in several countries in an effort to save it. There's still a chance to learn."

"Would you like to learn it with me and Anna?" Elsa gazed into Lara's eyes, wondering how Lara just knew these kind of things. It was like she was some kind of knowledge sponge that Elsa reallyreally liked that about her, nearly as much as she liked it when Lara info-dumped on her. Elsa had to berate her brain for going places. []

"Yes!" Lara grinned at her, "We can start once I finish this project."

The only reason Elsa was able to look away was because Lara did. "So what is it you're doing this for?"

"It's something Sam and I are working on together. I'm pretty sure that if Sam ever had the chance to talk to you about it you'd know," Lara said, pointing her pen at one of the pictures. It was of a scroll depicting a woman, arms outstretched over an island. "Because once she gets started on this you won't be able to stop her."

Elsa laughed. "I made the mistake of asking her about a camera once and ended up with a lesson in lighting techniques and apertures."

Lara smiled fondly, and Elsa felt something like jealousy. It was a feeling she didn't particularly like. Lara and Sam were close, but she could never figure out how close they were and for the first time she realized she wanted them to be friend-close and not lovers-close. But she wanted the latter for herself.

Was that selfish?

"Sam claims to be descended from an ancient Queen. Her name was Himiko and she lived on a lost island in the Dragon Sea called Yamatai. There's enough evidence to show that she and the island both existed, but no one has ever found the island. There's also a lot of supernatural rumors and stories surrounding them both. Himiko is described as a goddess, the Sun Queen, able to control the weather. It was this power that led her to being able to control an empire."

When Lara got really into something, her entire face lit up and grew animated, and this was no exception. Elsa loved it when that happened and took any opportunity to get Lara going on a subject of interest. "But she just disappeared one day? A whole empire?"

"That does happen on occasion. A civilization disappearing from history. That's part of the mystery!"

"I didn't know you were a poet," Elsa teased, her focus more on lines of Lara's jaw than anything else.

"I'm a woman of many talents."

"So what's your project?" Elsa asked, needing her mouth to do something just then.

Lara's eyes burned with ambition, "I am going to find Yamatai!"

❄️

It was nice to have a friend. And maybe Elsa was something more than a friend, the way they danced around each other, growing ever closer to something, a something that was refreshingly new to Lara. And just a little scary.

Maybe it was that she felt Elsa's absence like a piece of herself was missing, even if she'd only gone to her own home last night. Lara sighed, taking a bite from a Jaffa Cake as she pored over her notes for the upteenth time. She was certain she had everything she needed, and it was just a matter of finalizing the dates for her expedition. Lara was looking forward to it, but she had to set aside her growing feelings because being away from Elsa for that long would be harder than she'd anticipated.

Maybe she should do what Sam had suggested just the other day and ask Elsa out on a date before they left? Or maybe not. Lara had climbed Kilimanjaro last summer with Roth and Sam and yet the idea of a date felt like it was a more difficult summit to climb.

But then, Sam got dates super easily and, judging from the noise the previous night, she'd come home with someone yet again. Lara was less one to judge and more one to have preferred a better night's sleep. Still, if Sam was happy, she was happy. And maybe Sam did have a point about Lara being a shut-in.

Before she could think better of it, she reached for her phone and sent a text to Elsa. As she did so, a pair of pale legs sticking out of a sweatshirt with the Canon logo emblazoned on it walked past. Thinking it was Sam, she looked up to tease her about her late night activities only for no sound to come out when she recognized Anna.

"Hey!" Anna grinned at her, bouncing into the tiny kitchen.

"What?" Lara asked, mind trying to catch up with what she was seeing.

"Coffee's up in the cupboard," Sam said, emerging from her room wearing what was clearly Anna's sweatshirt, judging from the sandwich on it. She leaned over and kissed Lara on the top of the head, "Morning, sweetie. Sorry if we were too loud last night."

"No louder than you usually are," Lara said, keeping her voice low. This felt… different. Anna and Sam were both her friends and then there was Elsa to think about too. Lara's stomach clenched at the idea of her growing friendship circle suddenly exploding over relationship drama.

Sam had always been able to practically read her mind, "I know what you're thinking, but this is… I really like her. I'm going to try to not actually fuck up this time."

"How did I not notice this?" Lara asked. "How long?"

"Like two weeks. Between this," Sam tapped Lara's notes, "and Elsa, you've been like, super distracted, sweetie. And-" Her eyes widened and she snatched the phone from Lara's hand. "Oh my god! Babe! Lara asked Elsa out on a date!"

She was out of Lara's reach and thus saved from being throttled as she danced into the kitchen. Lara sighed heavily. "You're both very lucky I love you."

"Not as much as you love Elsa," Anna chirped in a sing-song tone, grabbing the phone from Sam. Her eyes lit up and she waggled it in Lara's direction. "She said yes!"

Anna started to tap something out on the phone while Sam wrapped her arms around her and watched her over her shoulder. Lara scrambled out of her chair, notes flying everywhere, "Wait, what the fuck are you two doing?!"

"Setting up the date, duh." Sam winked at her, "It's gotta be fancy. You should see Lara all dressed up."

"Are we sure? Put a slinky dress on Elsa and we'll probably kill Lara."

Giggling, Anna darted out of the kitchen as Lara entered it, then squealed when Lara leapt over the counter and nearly tackled her. She rolled over the couch then passed the phone to Sam when she ran past.

That wouldn't really do either of them much good; Lara was faster and had more stamina. Sam had often called her the Terminator and she quickly caught up to her, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her up over her shoulder.

"Hey!" Sam punched her in the kidney, "You could at least carry me like the princess I am."

"Just because you're descended from some ancient Sun Queen doesn't make you a princess," Lara retorted, dumping Sam on the couch and finally rescuing her phone.

"It totally does," Anna protested. She took a charging jump at Lara, only for Lara to catch her one handed, flip her over her shoulders and drop her onto Sam.

With both of her friends winded and herself barely breaking a sweat, Lara looked at her phone to see what kind of damage had been done.

There was a location. A time. And a rare emoji from Elsa. A heart.

Lara's heart thudded in her chest and she whispered, "I… I guess I have a date."

❄️

It wasn't the end of the world, or anything. It was just that Lara had never actually gone on a date. But before she'd known Sam and Anna, she'd never gone clubbing, she'd never had friends who hadn't been dead for a thousand years and she'd never been happier in her life.

So precisely at eight, she met Elsa at a small restaurant. Elsa was already there, fidgeting, wearing a gown that clung to her hips and left most of her back exposed. Her hair hung loosely down to the small of her back and Lara forgot how to breathe when she turned around.

Apparently, Elsa couldn't breathe either, which meant the black slacks and dress jacket Lara was wearing had worked their intended magic on Elsa. Slowly, Lara held her hand out to Elsa, "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," Elsa replied breathily.

For reasons she couldn't explain, the only thing Lara could think of just then was the old Welsh courtship tradition of loverspoons.

She walked Elsa inside, heart pounding in her chest like she was somehow about to leap over the edge of a cliff and into the sea. But Lara ignored that, pulling the chair out for Elsa and then seating herself.

"I can't say I've ever eaten here," Elsa said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Me neither, so let's make the best of it," Lara replied, promising herself that she wasn't going to look at the prices and she'd just have to take up an extra shift at the bar. It would, naturally, be easier to treat a date if she'd had access to her fortune, but like with her schooling it felt like cheating. Lara hated the idea of being one of those prissy rich brats even more than she dreaded being accused of not earning her own way. She was going to make her mark under her own name and not that of her father.

"Should we get some wine?" Elsa asked. She picked up the wine menu and looked over it. "I'd like a glass, at least."

Lara just nodded, not trusting her voice. She knew she could handle a glass and frankly she thought she could use one right now. Lara hadn't been this nervous since her last tests.

Elsa smiled and signaled the waiter to bring them both a glass of whatever wine he recommended while Lara kept herself busy choosing what to actually eat. Once all the necessities of the meal had been settled, though, that left her with a beautiful woman sitting across from her and then the question became what to talk about.

"...It's easier when we're just hanging out, isn't it?" Elsa asked, as if she could read the expression on Lara's face.

"And here I thought only Sam had a telepathic link into my brain." Never one to shy away from something, Lara reached over and put her hand over Elsa's. "So why don't we just talk about what we usually talk about?"

"That could be anything," Elsa laughed. "But I've been meaning to ask, when do you leave on your expedition?"

"Endurance sails in two weeks," Lara replied. She didn't consider contracting the man who'd helped raise her as cheating. Roth would be paid fair and square from the money she'd gotten from sponsors. "I probably won't be back for two months, all told."

"I figured." Elsa turned her hand over, squeezing Lara's hand. "I'm really going to miss you."

"You could come with," Lara suggested. She wondered why she brought that up, why she'd suggested that. Elsa had her own projects to pursue and it was way too short notice for her to be able to cancel her plans.

But she really liked the idea of having her there with her and Sam. Anna too. It might be a pipe dream, but it was a nice one.

"I really want to," Elsa looked down at their joined hands, "but I already made plans for this summer with Anna. I'm sorry."

"No, I knew, I shouldn't have asked."

"I'm glad you did," Elsa grinned at her. "It means a lot to me that you thought about me."

"Next time," Lara promised. "You can come on the next one. Both of you. I could use your expertise on building construction."

It wasn't even that big of a stretch and she could see the gears turning in Elsa's head at the idea.

Through the rest of the meal they chatted, as Elsa had suggested, about the things they usually talked about. Music, their work, the way Anna and Sam had somehow snuck up on the both of them as being a thing. They shared an interest in learning and math and the way Elsa's face brightened as she talked about something that interested her never ceased to amaze Lara. She learned more about fractals while she was eating than she thought possible.

After Lara had paid, she led Elsa to her car, going so far as to hold the door open for her. Elsa didn't seem to mind; if anything she seemed flustered. Trying not to think too much about it, Lara came around to the other side, but when she got into the car, Elsa was looking at her phone and frowning. "Uhm. So Anna just warned me that she has Sam over at our flat. For the night."

The implications were clear and Lara immediately came up with a plan, "We can go back to my flat then. I'm sure there's a movie we could put on. I didn't really want the night to end yet, anyway..."

Elsa slipped her phone back into her purse and smiled devilishly. "We could watch Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Lara recoiled in disgust. "Please tell me you're joking."

"What do you have against Indiana Jones?"

"That's not how archaeology fucking works!" Lara shook her head and smacked the wheel with her palm. "It's hard work with long hours in the dirt being very very careful with the things you find and doesn't actually involve explosions and being shot at! And that's not even getting into the traps and don't get me started on how the second movie depicted Hinduism. Kali is actually a goddess of change and empower-"

Lara cut herself off, noticing the way that Elsa was beaming at her. "...Sam told you I hate those movies, didn't she?"

"You're adorable. But I do really want to hear the rest of this rant." Elsa put her hand on Lara's arm and kept it there the rest of the drive and the rant.

She'd mostly finished by the time they'd made it into the flat. Elsa removed her heels and set them aside while Lara kicked her boots off somewhat less gracefully. They stood awkwardly in the hallway for several heartbeats before Lara threw caution to the wind and slid her arm around Elsa, pressing her hand into the small of her back as she brought her in closer.

"You know leaving us alone was their plan, right?" Elsa asked, mouth so close Lara could taste it. "They're probably speculating about what we're going to do."

"Probably…" Part of Lara was inclined to give them something to talk about.

Elsa kissed her, lightly at first, until Lara pulled her closer, returning the kiss with growing fervor. Lara's head spun, and she had to lean against the wall with Elsa still in her arms before she fell over.

"Can we skip the movie?" Elsa asked, staring at Lara with deep, dark eyes.

Lara answered by picking Elsa up and carrying her into her bedroom, like a proper princess. She gently laid her onto the bed, kneeling over her as she leaned down to kiss her again. Two whole months without her would feel like an eternity, even if Lara knew she'd be incredibly busy the whole time.

Was she really trying to rationalize making love to this woman? She wanted it, wanted her, and Elsa's fingers worked at the buttons of Lara's shirt as she groaned into her mouth.

"This is going to be a very good summer," Lara murmured.

"Your expedition?" Elsa asked, fingers stilling as she looked up at Lara in confusion.

"I meant you." Lara laughed, though she would be the first to admit the expedition would make the summer good too, "I want to make love to you."

"Oh good, I thought we were getting ready to play naked Jenga or something."

Elsa started giggling and Lara kissed her quiet.