When her lover appeared in the window to her chambers, Herah was humming.

"What's that then?", Sera asked, tumbling to the floor and across the room to the desk where Herah was working her way through a stack of papers.

"It's your song," she chuckled. "Did you know you had a song?"

"Course I know. They sing it all the bloody time."

Herah couldn't stop herself from doing the same. "Sera was never quite the wealthiest girl. Some say she lives in a tavern…"

Sera interrupted her with a hard kiss before jumping into her lap. She landed on top of Herah's thigh, straddling the Inquisitor. "'S a silly song," she declared.

"About a silly girl." Herah ran her hands along Sera's slim frame, starting at her cute little ass and proceeding all the way up to her blonde hair. "My girl," she added after another kiss. "And speaking of that, I have a present for you."

"Aw, Buckles. Told you before, you don't have to give me stuff."

"I know, but I finally figured out what to get, no thanks to the rest of the Inquisition."

She hefted Sera up in the air, carrying her over to the bed and setting her down there before ducking into the other room. "Oh, is it a bed-type present?", Sera asked, an eager smile coming over her face.

"Sorry, not this time. But trust me, you're still going to like it." She walked back out carrying a long box covered in gold and green paper. "I know, the wrapping's a little much, but Josephine picked it out."

Sera rolled up into a sitting position and snatched the package out of her hands. "Ooh, lemme see."

She tore it open with gusto, ripping off the paper and then removing the lid of the box. Inside was a brand-new recurve bow, off-white and deep red, with a glowing orange stone set in the center of the riser. "New bow!" She took it out and turned it over appreciatively in her hands. "A really nice new bow."

"Not just any new bow." Herah traced a nail along the limb of the weapon. "I had Harritt and Dagna make it from the bones of the High Dragon we killed in the Western Approaches."

It wasn't easy to render Sera speechless, but that did the trick. For an entire minute, the rogue just ran her fingers over the bow, starring at it with a goofy grin on her face. And then, abruptly, she broke the silence by declaring, "Let's go shoot something. Bow this sweet, I've got to shoot something with it."

"We'll be off to the Arbor Wilds before you know it," she promised. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of Red Templars once we get there just begging for an arrow through the eye."

Sera's eyes lit up. "Yeah, bet there will be." A small, pink tongue darted out to moisten her lips. "Course," she pointed out, "I didn't get you anything this time. Can't have that."

She held up her hands. "You don't have to…"

"Nope," Sera insisted, "Wouldn't be fair."

Without waiting for further comment, she set down the bow and seized hold of Hera's belt, yanking it off before the Inquisitor even realized what she was doing. Nimble fingers un-tucked her shirt and when Sera's lips starting exploring the taut plane of her abdomen, she felt desire pooling between her legs. Sera's hunger was infectious and Herah pushed her hips forward, urging her to continue.

She hardly needed the encouragement, unfastening Herah's pants and tugging them and the underwear beneath down. Her tongue worked its way up a strong thigh while slim fingers caressed the swell of Herah's ass. In spite of the hurried pace, she felt herself responding to Sera's enthusiasm and by the time the elf reached her sex, her clit was already standing erect, waiting to be touched. Sera pulled the bud into her mouth and as the first of Herah's wetness coated her lover's lips, she let out a low groan. She wasn't sure if it was better to give than to receive, but right then, both of them seemed pretty damn good.

"Shit," Sera proclaimed from the sprawl of naked limbs they found themselves in some time later, "I think I owe you another present now."

"No, no," Herah laughed. "You're forgetting the thing you did with your knuckle."

Sera joined in on the giggling. "Heh, yeah, that was a good idea."

"Let's just call it even," Herah offered, untangling herself enough to wrap an arm around Sera and pull her up against her chest. Her lover settled into the embrace, nuzzling her face against Herah's breasts and letting her hand rest on her thigh. The last of the daylight was still visible through the doors that led to the balcony and a bit of cool air drifted in from an open window. Herah tried to freeze the memory in her mind, a moment of blissful calm that might give her strength in the battles she still had to fight.

Of course, peaceful silences seldom lasted long with Sera around. Nipping playfully at Herah's breast, she declared, "Okay, it's question time."

She raised an eyebrow. "Question time? Why now?"

"Cause now you're too relaxed to lie proper, of course."

"All right then," she agreed. "What do you want to know? Arcane secrets? Battle plans? The color of Cassandra's undergarments?"

Sera paused, seeming to consider the last possibility a little longer than the rest. "Maybe later. Now though, had a different question. At the Winter Palace, I said Celene was real pretty. You didn't seem so keen. So I want to know who you fancy. Who's the tastiest in the Inquisition?"

She kissed the top of Sera's head. "You, of course."

She shook her head. "No fair. You've got me already. Need to pick someone else."

"I'm not sure," she objected with a smirk. "This question sounds like it might be a set-up. I give you an answer and then you'll tease me about it or tell them, or something." She bit her lip, deciding to turn things around. "Who's yours."

Sera scrunched up her face as she considered. "'S bloody hard to pick. Plus, I already gave you Celene."

"Yeah, but she's not in the Inquisition so she doesn't count. You go first then I will, once I know I've got something on you just in case."

Sera shrugged. "Not sure. Lady Ruffles is real pretty. Could be too proper to do it right, though. And Viv's tall. I mean, not you tall, but not bad, and I fancy tall. Course, she'd probably be all, 'No, Sera, not like that. Move your stupid finger over here. Do it better. You're terrible.' Hardly any fun, that."

Herah burst out laughing at Sera's terrible imitation of Viviane's accent and her lover gave her shoulder a playful shove. "Stop that. Your turn now."

"All right, all right," she agreed, "Even if you didn't really give me a proper answer. There's a lot of choices, but with a dagger to my throat, I think I'd have to pick Leliana."

"You sound like Bull," Sera declared. "Always going on, 'Blah, blah, redheads, blah, blah, so hot.'"

"Maybe it's a qunari thing," she joked.

"Could be. Thought you weren't getting on with her though. Varric said there was some big fight about her cutting someone."

"Well, you just asked who was good-looking, not who I'd want to date. But you're right about the argument." The reminder was rapidly draining away Herah's pleasant mood, but it might do her good to share her concerns. "I'm worried about her. I don't want her to turn into a killer."

"That's silly. We're all killers, yeah? We killed a dragon, bandits, Templars, lots of stuff that needed killing."

"Yeah, but…" She stopped, sighing as she tried to sort out her thoughts. "This is different somehow. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's like there's this darkness in Leliana, and it's swallowing her up."

Sera rolled over on the bed, sticking her bare legs up so they could air out. "Not really good at the heavy stuff," she declared, "But I think I get you. She doesn't smile much, that's for definite. I mean, yeah, things are all grim and serious, with Corpse-a-puss and his bullshit, but there's good stuff too."

"Like horns," Herah reminded her.

""Yeah, horns." Sera rolled back on top of her, her hands running up and down the dark, pointed lengths. "Horns are great. 'Specially on you. But I think red might need more'n horns to make her smile."

Herah sighed, wrapping her arms around Sera once more. "Sadly, you may be right. But I don't know if I can give it to her." There might only be one person who could, and she had no idea where to find her.