DA Snippets – The grass is greener
Sweat was trickling down her face and damping her short hair as she struggled to get back to her feet as fast as possible. The ease with which the Seeker had thrown her to the ground was astonishing, and humbling.
"That is a shield bash. You need to learn not only to withstand it, but also to counter it, Inquisitor. Let me show you how to do it properly."
Cassandra's voice was stern as usual, only lightly cracking under the physical stress of the sparring. She offered her hand to the Herald, who took it promptly and stood up with a grunt.
"They should have called you the Right Fist of the Divine, not the Right Hand. You certainly pack a punch." A small smile was playing on her lips as she got ready for the next assault.
"Ha. A joke, that I'm afraid I have already heard."
"Sorry to disappoint. But please do tell, again, why I'm being pounded like a slab of meat? I am a rogue, this is not nearly my fighting style… and judging by the smirk that is permanently stamped on your beautiful face, I'm beginning to suspect you're enjoying this more than you should, Lady Pentaghast…"
Cassandra's expression soured in the blink of an eye, a slight colour came to her cheeks and she suddenly felt like she was being called out. For a moment she was unsure how to reply, then her brain kicked in again and her voice dropped an octave. "You should try telling that you are a rogue to the next warrior enemy slamming their shield into you. Maybe they will apologise and leave you alone, Lady Trevelyan."
The Herald was not impressed by that retort and her voice turned to a mocking tone. "Oh I see. You're doing it for -me-. And here I thought you were just fond of the sight of me lying on my back and at your mercy. Silly me." She grinned as she noticed the definite blush on the Seeker's face and her eyes going wide.
Cassandra sprinted to attack again. This time the Inquisitor was ready. Instead of planting her feet on the ground and trying to survive the hit, she used her shield to deflect the incoming bash, she pivoted around the warrior, she jumped and wrapped her legs around the Seeker's waist and easily made her lose her balance, dragging her to the ground in an agile wrestling move before Cassandra even realised what was happening. In the space of a breath, Lady Trevelyan had rolled them around and was now on her back, her thighs were squeezing Cassandra and keeping her in place, on top of her. The rogue's hands were controlling her wrists, their shields had fallen a couple of feet from them.
Their chests were heaving, their breaths coming in harshly, their eyes locked.
"As you can see, I have my ways of dealing with warriors, Lady Pentaghast…"
The Seeker was stunned, part of her was angry at herself for falling for the oldest trick in the book, part of her was lost in admiration of the fighting prowess of the Inquisitor, and part of her was so incredibly tempted to just lower her face and capture the Herald's smiling lips with her own in a breathless kiss… No. No. Unacceptable. She had never been interested in women before, this was not happening. It was her imagination, the excitement of the moment, the hormones raging because of the fight… Yes, that was a perfectly logical explanation. She regained her composure and at least started considering the possibility of wriggling free of Lady Trevelyan's hold. She made one mistake, however. She did not, could not, and ultimately did not want to, avert her eyes.
The Herald wasn't faring much better. She had been caught in the same trap she had laid for Cassandra. She had thought she'd be able to keep control of the situation, or at the very least of her own self, but she had underestimated just how deeply she was attracted to Lady Pentaghast. As she fought to find some clever remark, she found she couldn't speak. All she wanted was to taste the Seeker's lips, to let out the passion that was consuming her, to drag her down and into her arms and never let her go.
Her last thought was still hanging stubbornly in the back of her head as her eyes saw Cassandra's face slowly getting closer. She stopped breathing altogether.
There was only one thought running wildly through the Seeker's mind. 'Just one kiss. Just one. One kiss.'
Their lips met. It was so soft, so perfect, the slight taste of salt from the sweat of the sparring somehow was sweeter than honey. Their mouths opened and their eyes closed. The Herald felt the weight of Cassandra settling on top of her, she wrapped her arms around the Seeker's shoulders, her fingers buried themselves naturally in her short, black hair. One kiss became two, then three, then it didn't matter anymore. Their hearts were racing. Lady Trevelyan applied some cunning leverage and rolled them over to be on top. Their tongues entwined and caressed each other hungrily, their hot breaths melting together, they couldn't, wouldn't get enough.
Out of the corner of their mind a sound made its way into their enraptured consciousness. They ignored it.
And there it was again.
Suddenly they both realised they were kissing and rolling in the grass in front of whomever happened to be passing by. Lady Trevelyan did not care in the least. Cassandra on the other hand immediately became self-conscious. She planted her hands on the Herald's shoulders and pushed her away, slowly but firmly.
As they came back to the here and now they recognised that the noise that interrupted them had been coming from Iron Bull. The huge warrior was standing a few feet from them, arms crossed, staring at them. He cleared his throat one more time, just to make sure he had their full attention, then he addressed them in his booming voice.
"I am truly, sincerely, I dare say inconsolably sorry to have to interrupt you two lovebirds, because to be honest I was -really- enjoying the show. But I just so happen to need the training space. In exchange, I can offer you accommodation in my personal room at the tavern, though…"
The Herald and the Seeker looked at each other for a long moment, a storm of thoughts and feelings rampaging through their mind. Cassandra's hands were still on the Inquisitor's shoulders, she pushed lightly to let her know she wanted to get up and out of the embrace. Respectfully, Lady Trevelyan obliged and rolled off her, thus ending up lying on the grass, on her back.
She watched as Lady Pentaghast stood and walked away briskly, entering the armory, certainly headed to the second floor, a small space that she had claimed as her own personal place.
The Herald brought her hands to her face and moaned in disbelief against them, the sound barely muffled. "Argh. Maker. What have I done. Idiot."
Iron Bull laughed out loud. "Aw come on. If I were you I wouldn't be so negative. After all, remember, it takes two to do this kind of thing." He winked, even though he knew she couldn't see him right now.
"Shut up, Bull. You're not making it any better." She lowered her hands, opened her eyes and stared at him. "Wait. What did you just say?"
The Qunari flashed her a knowing smile and repeated his wisdom, slowly and clearly. "I said: it takes two to do this kind of thing."
The Herald suddenly found the energy to jump up to her feet. "You know, you're not as stupid as you look."
Iron Bull feigned offense. "Hey!" He laughed as she made her way inside the armory.
She climbed the steps two by two, and only slowed down when she got to the second floor.
She saw that the Seeker was standing by the window, looking outside, with a pensive look on her stunning features. For a second the Herald considered that she had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. She was uncertain about how to start this conversation, that could potentially be terribly awkward for both of them. She clenched her jaw and spoke.
"Cassandra…?"
She didn't even turn around, her voice sounded low and tired. "What happened to addressing me as Lady Pentaghast, or Lady Seeker?"
The Inquisitor looked down and shook her head, both the figurative and literal spring in her step disappearing right away. "You are right. I apologise. I guess I got carried away…"
"No. I was the one who got carried away. I was the one that kissed you. I was the one that crossed the line. I should be the one apologising, instead of snapping a snarky comment on how you are suddenly using my first name. So please accept my apology, Inquisitor."
Lady Trevelyan walked up to where the Seeker was standing. She leaned against the wooden wall on the other side of the window. She raised her hand to catch Cassandra's chin, she gently made her turn her head and they looked at each other in silence for an infinite moment.
Reluctant as she was to break the spell, and not knowing what direction their exchange would take next, the Herald nevertheless replied.
"There is nothing you need to apologise for. I'm sure you have noticed that I returned your kiss, wholeheartedly. In fact, I believe a kiss has never felt so good to me, in my entire life."
Cassandra smiled a half bitter smile. "I don't know what you think you are doing, but that sounds suspiciously like flattery, Your Worship."
It was Lady Trevelyan's turn to smile. "Of the sincerest form, I can assure you. And what I am trying to do is to tell you that I…" She paused for a moment, uncertain whether it would be a good idea to open her heart so. But then again, what better time than now? And Lady Pentaghast definitely deserved her honesty. She leaped. "Cassandra… yes, Cassandra… I am in love with you. Deeply, passionately in love with you. I have been falling in love with you more with each passing day. Getting to know you, the warrior, the Seeker, the advisor, the woman. I have tried to keep it inside and to concentrate on our effort to bring a semblance of order back to our land instead, putting all of my energy into our battles, into our war against Corypheus. But I am exploding. It is too strong, it is too much. If not today it would have erupted out of me tomorrow, or the day after. I do not know. All I know is that I am in love with you, and I have been for what feels like forever."
A knot formed on the Seeker's brow and her smile faded.
The Inquisitor took it as a very bad sign. She added in a lower voice. "I can understand if you do not reciprocate my feelings. I am sorry if I have upset you. I will keep this for myself from now on, and I can assure you I will not bring it up again, and I will change my behaviour towards you accordingly…"
"Shut up."
"… What…?"
"Shut. Up. I want to say something, and I cannot find the right words if you just keep talking. I am not as good at expressing my feelings as you are."
The Herald nodded and waited.
Cassandra let out a long sigh. "Your flirting. I had taken notice of it for some time now. At first I dismissed it as a figment of my imagination. But it did not stop. Then it embarrassed me, I did not know what to do with it. So I tried to ignore it. But it did not stop. Then somehow, for some insane reason, I started liking it. It makes me feel special. All of my life I have been a fighter, I have trained hard and fought harder. I have never had time for romance, except for what I read in novels. But I have always longed for it. I want it all: the passion, being swept off my feet, being courted, feeling like, to someone, just one person, I am the whole world, I want my heart to beat fast and uncontrollably when I look at them, I want to feel butterflies in my stomach, as they say. Today I felt that. It caught me completely unprepared. I let go and followed my heart. When I realised what I had done, I nearly panicked and I ran away to this place, my safe haven. But running is useless, I cannot run from myself, and I cannot run from what I feel."
The Seeker took a breath before continuing, she closed the distance between them and took the Herald's hands in her own. Lady Trevelyan was slightly surprised at just how gentle the warrior's touch could be.
"The truth is, I am afraid. I have never felt this way. And I certainly did not expect to feel this way for a woman. I… I am not like you. I am not brash when it comes to interpersonal relationships. And I am not good at intimacy."
The Inquisitor couldn't help herself. She brought their entwined hands up, and that simple gesture underlined just how close they were standing to one another and how familiar it felt. "This. This is intimacy. And you are doing it wonderfully."
A shy smile returned to the Seeker's lips. "Flatterer."
"Always."
"Nevertheless. I have to ask you, please, to give me some time. I need to come to terms with how I feel before I can even consider… committing to it."
Lady Trevelyan planted a soft kiss on Cassandra's gloves, then gave her a warm smile. "Of course. Take all the time you need. I'm not going anywhere."
She started making her way towards the stairs when the Seeker called her back. "Wait."
"Yes, Lady Pentaghast?"
"The flirting… I would really like it to continue."
The Inquisitor grinned. "It will be my deepest pleasure."
"And you -may- call me Cassandra."
"Good, because I happen to really like the sound of it. Maybe you will grow fond of it too, once you hear me calling your name whilst in the throws of passion…"
Lady Pentaghast grabbed a book from the pile near her sleeping roll and threw it at the Herald, who dodged it easily and started running down the stairs like lightning. "Inquisitor! You are impossible!"