Leliana stretched out on the sand next to Alexa, luxuriating in the feel of warm sand and the proximity to the other woman. She laid on her side, propping her head up on one elbow so that she could look down on the elf next to her. The brazen part of Leliana had been mostly subdued since her flight from Marjolaine and her long stay at Lothering's chantry. The terrible betrayal of her mentor, and sometimes lover, had inflicted a terrible shyness on Leliana around women who attracted her.
She hadn't really noticed the damage to her own psyche until she had met the Warden at the beginning of her quest. The instant she walked into the tavern in Lothering, Leliana felt a sweep of emotions she couldn't control and she couldn't summon the courage to articulate. There was more to the way she had been pulled to the elf and her companions than just her vision. The shining dream that had forced her destiny into a new path certainly made it easier to talk to the exquisite elf woman, but it had not made her lay awake at night preoccupied with the slightest glance the Warden had shot her way during the day.
The Leliana before Marjolaine would have seen a woman that she wanted and done something about it, bards were famous for being smooth talkers after all. Now, though, it had taken Leliana months of silent longing to make it this far, lying naked beside Alexa on a beach under the moon. Slow and steady wins the race.
Leliana enjoyed the view and mused to herself, lulled into relaxation by how natural and right everything felt. Without warning, Alexa's hand shot up, catching Leliana's shoulder and sending the bard sprawling across her. The electric contact, skin to skin, caused Leliana to gasp.
"I got cold," Alexa explained, a faint smile curving her lips, but she never opened her eyes.
"Clothing is for when you get cold." Leliana wriggled, ostensibly to position herself more comfortably but it was an excuse to feel the brush of smooth skin against as much of her as possible. The friction was tantalizing.
"Mmmm, but you're warmer then clothing."
And it was the truth, Leliana was on fire. A blush colored her cheeks and she ducked her head, but she didn't make any attempt to move away. They lay, stomach to stomach, breasts pressed to each other, breathing almost in sync for a long moment before Leliana could concentrate enough to reply. "I thought you were tired."
"I am tired. You should tell me a bedtime story." Alexa opened one eye and then closed it sleepily again.
"I know many stories."
"You're the bard. You pick one. Tell me a story about Orzammar. I'm not really looking forward to being trapped under a mountain." She wrapped her arms around Leliana's waist possessively and opened both her eyes. The strength in Alexa's embrace was nearly enough to make Leliana swoon.
"I don't have any stories about Orzammar. I have stories about Orlesians. But I think you've heard most of my stories," Leliana protested breathlessly.
"Tell me a story about you, then. How the hell did a woman like you end up with the Chantry?"
"That's not an interesting story." Leliana rested her head on Alexa's shoulder and turned her face into her warm neck.
"Then tell me the story of what happens now," Alexa's voice was suddenly very soft, the sarcasm had gone out of it. Her arms tightened around Leliana's waist as if to ensure that the other woman couldn't suddenly be pulled away from her.
"I thought it was obvious." The power dynamic between the two had shifted and it made Leliana feel very tenderly toward the woman that held her. "We're going to make love. Tomorrow, I'm going to follow you to Orzammar. Eventually, you'll become a celebrated hero and leave me behind to write epic love songs about the elf that got away."
Alexa shook her head and made a dismissive noise. "I'm no hero. Alistair will get all the glory, he's the handsome human man. I'm the lowly elf, history will probably remember me as the porter or something. The dog is going to be more famous than me."
"The dog is more friendly then you are, that's why," Leliana joked. She kissed Alexa's neck, shifting her weight a little to press closer. "But you don't seem to have an argument against the first part."
A shiver ran down Alexa's spine and she tipped her head back, offering more skin to Leliana's lips. "Well, you are going to follow me to Orzammar, its either that or find your way alone back to Lake Calenhad which is days away." She drew both her hands up from Leliana's waist, tracing patterns with the tips of her fingers along Leliana's back.
"You're being obtuse."
"You're only saying that because you know how irresistible you sound when you say 'obtuse' in that accent of yours," Alexa countered.
It wasn't the first time that Leliana's accent had been a point of conversation. When she had first come to Ferelden, fleeing her past desperately, she had suffered no small amount of contempt, especially in the more conservative, rural areas like Lothering. Try as hard as she could, Leliana couldn't soften the accent especially when she sang. Eventually, she had simply given up and learned to smile and finally after she had been in Lothering long enough, people had just stopped noticing. Something about Alexa's preference for it made her feel closer to the elf who had suffered as an outsider for her own otherness.
Leliana pushed herself up, holding herself over Alexa with her weight on her hands buried in the sand. Her face hovered above Alexa's, lips nearly touching. "I guess I can just forget the making love part then. You do look tired and we have a long way to go in the morning. I've already kept you up far too long," she teased, so close that her breath caressed Alexa's semi-parted lips. "Do all elves get so tired or is it just you?"
"Maybe you're putting me to sleep." Alexa closed her eyes and feigned sleep, but she couldn't contain the wicked smile that crept across her face.
Leliana leaned all her weight onto her left hand to free her right one. The movement prompted Alexa to open one eye just a little to keep track of what the bard was up to. She was still surprised, though, when Leliana's nimble fingers slid between their bodies and down Alexa's belly. The elf's eyes flew open at the feeling of her fingers.
"That woke you up."
And it kept both of them up as the moon wheeled across the sky. Neither noticed their own fatigue as their bodies moved together in unison. Leliana knew, as she drifted off to sleep snuggled to Alexa's side, that something between them had changed permanently -- how they would navigate it in the face of so much death and destruction in the future would be the real adventure.