Ryder had directed Elsa towards where he'd last seen his sister, and she was enjoying the walk through the woods. Sure, she could move faster with the Nokk or even sliding along an ice trail, but sometimes one needed to take things slowly. It was a pristine wilderness, the sounds of spring in the forest filling her ears as the scent of flowering plants left her feeling happily at ease.
The peace was broken by the sound of an axe on wood somewhere nearby and even that felt like it belonged. Elsa slowed her pace even further, hoping to surprise her friend.
She found her in a clearing, stripping down a felled tree. It was still too soon to tell what the actual plan was for the wood when Honeymaren was done, but Elsa remembered that her Goahti was in need of repairs, and that Honeymaren had also spoken of building a little boat. It likely wouldn't be anything as majestic as the ships in Arendelle's small navy, but anything made by Honeymaren would be beautiful regardless. She got closer, and stopped dead in her tracks.
The tree wasn't the only thing that Honeymaren had stripped. She'd removed both her vest and her under tunic, leaving her torso bare. Her back glowed from the exertion, muscles bulging as she swung the axe. Elsa stared at a bead of sweat that trailed down Maren's shoulder blade and she found herself suddenly craving the taste of salt.
Maren swung again, the thunk of axe on wood going through Elsa's stomach and radiating outward. And then the woman stretched, rolling her shoulders and neck, rippling muscles and brown skin glistening in the sun and Elsa gripped the tree she was leaning against tightly. Ice crusted the bark and a stiff breeze blew past. Honeymaren shivered, skin goose-pimpling. She turned around when Elsa made a sound deep in her throat that was either one of dismay or one of pleasure or possibly both.
"Elsa!" Maren's perky breasts said, and it took Elsa a full second to realize the sound had come from Maren's mouth and not the chest she was staring at. A chest and stomach that glowed with the same exertion as the rest of her. Elsa had never really had words for this kind of ache until she desired to run her hands and tongue down her friend's tummy.
"Honeymaren. I uhm." Elsa darted her eyes away, trying to find something safe to look at, "I was looking for you, but you seem to be busy. I'll come back later when you're..." Decent, "done."
"I'm never too busy for you," Maren said, setting the axe aside and kneeling to pick up her vest. She seemed, at least, to understand the need to cover herself, though when Elsa looked at her again it wasn't actually better.
No, somehow it was worse. This beautiful goddess, like a marble statue come to life, had not bothered to tie her vest up. The tree froze through entirely, and Maren approached her, gently taking her hand by the wrist and pulling it from the poor tree. "Are you okay?"
Elsa stared at Maren's mouth, and then her eyes dropped of their own free will to breasts barely hidden by an open vest and an expanse of toned stomach. She looked back into Maren's concerned, kind eyes, feeling like she was standing on the edge of a cliff and if she took the next step her life would never be the same.
But hadn't that been the story of her life?
The longer she stared into Honeymaren's eyes, the more she saw. There was a depth there, some kind of need that Elsa quickly realized was a mirror to her own. "So how long were you standing there showing off and knowing I was watching?"
A smile crossed Maren's face and she laughed. "I could hear you coming a mile away. It gave me time to get my vest off.":
"Just this would have been enough, I think." Elsa's breath hitched, and she reached out with her hand to trail her fingers down Maren's stomach. Maren's breath hitched in turn, and Elsa felt dizzy, "May I kiss you?"
She'd barely finished getting the words out before Honeymaren was kissing her, hands sliding up her back and bodily pressing her against the tree. The kiss sent jolts through her as she rubbed her hands up and down Maren's arms. Oh, she was going to need to get this vest off of Honeymaren as quickly as possible.
Well ... Elsa thought as she slid her hands into the vest, maybe not too quickly...