She hesitated outside of the door to her fellow Inquisitor's chambers. Her friend had her own troubles, and she was deeply reluctant to involve her in her own. For someone who had been raised as Saarebas, as a 'dangerous thing', to show weakness of any sort was unthinkable. Even now, having spent more than a decade outside of the Qun, she found it difficult to rely on even those she was closest to.
There was also the small detail that she could hear their moans from the bottom of the staircase.
At last, she brought herself to knock heavily on the door. The cries stopped and were replaced by what sounded like low curses, thumps, and a call of "Just a minute!" Shokra groaned and covered her face with one hand, her fingers tracing along the curve of her horn in a small nervous tick. She was not embarrassed to be disturbing them, far from it, but she regretted the interruption. Bull had taught her the importance of having an escape from duty.
Presently, the door swung open to reveal a dishevelled Meraad. Her bleached hair was loose from its usual braids, hanging down her heavily flushed face. She wore a rough tunic and trousers fashioned from sackcloth; finding large enough clothing for the two Qunari had been difficult during their first few weeks with the Inquisition, but Meraad had decided that she rather liked what they had been able to throw together. Most revealing though was the much smaller, bright red tunic caught in one of her backwards sweeping horns.
"I, uh, sorry." she muttered, still looking a little out of breath, "We uhh, I mean, I wasn't expecting anyone."
"I know. I did not want to disturb you but there is something we must discuss."
The taller woman smirked and shook her head a little, apparently unaware of the cloth flapping behind her head as she did so. "Andraste's tits, boss. You walk in on me almost literally with my pants down and you still manage to sound serious." She chuckled at Shokra's weary look before nodding "Alright. But you can be the one to explain it to Sera." Finally seeming to notice the red scrap dangling beside her, she carefully separated it then balled it up, tossing it over her shoulder and calling back into the room "Sorry Cookie. Serious business apparently. Put your tits away." Shokra couldn't quite make out the high pitched words that drifted down, but it was a safe assumption that none of them were pleasant.
Meraad turned away to call back to the elf, and Shokra took the opportunity to properly look at her. Though she had found something stronger with the Iron bull, it still gave her comfort to be around the other woman. Time and circumstance had pushed them too far apart to repair, but they had still been lovers once and such a connection was not easily forgotten or ignored.
Her eyes drifted inevitable to Meraad's left arm. At first the glowing mark had been a novelty, another scar for the warrior to show off. When it hadn't begun to fade, she had started covering it, first with a glove and then with a bracer in an effort to hide the green murk creeping it's way along her wrist. Now her arm was wrapped in bandages up to just above her elbow, and Shokra could see a blackened vein peeking above the highest fold. Every time she closed a rift, it inched its way a little higher. She hid it well, but Shokra had seen the silent agony etched into her face whenever she used her power. She worried that if things continued as they were, Meraad would be dead long before they managed to stop Corypheus.
Presently, Meraad turned back to face her. She noticed the look and met her gaze, her sea green eyes that had been dancing cheerfully just moments before now reflecting the fear and worry in Shokra's own. She gave a subtle, but meaningful shake of her head. Not now.
"C'mon" she said as though nothing had happened. "Better get this over with while she's still decent."
"NO! Fuckin'…Shite! Just no!"
Meraad sighed heavily as she dragged her fingers through her hair. Shit, Astaala. I picked the one person who hates the Fade even more than you.
"Sera, this isn't exactly fucking tits and wine for me either, but-"
"But what? She's been havin' bad dreams so your bright shittin' idea is to go inside them?! Like into where they live? It's not…you're not…tits! Balls, shite!"
Rising from the small couch, Meraad walked to the bed and wrapped her arms around Sera protectively. She had known the elf long enough to know her aggression was a way of dealing with her fear. She could feel her small hands fisting in the material of her shirt, then clawing at her skin as though she could somehow pull her away from the lurking threat.
"Sera" she murmured, "I know. The unknown scares you, and what's more fucking unknown than a dream world. It scares the crap out of me too, but…you heard her. Solas is a bit of a prick but I trust him with magic shit. And…this is for Shokra. She_"
"Right. I forgot." Her voice was muffled as she had her face buried in Meraad's chest, but she could hear her familiar teasing tone. "It's for your horny wife, yeah? Can't piss her off. Heh, horny…" Meraad grinned and grabbed her under her arms, relief blooming in her chest at Sera's excitable yelp as she lifted her into her arms and held her at eye level.
"C'mon Cookie, you know you're the only girl for me."
They were silent for a moment, Meraad watching Sera's face as her eyes darted around, searching for the answer. Some of the others assumed Sera was slow or stupid, but she knew better; the elf just struggled to express herself sometimes, particularly when she had strong feelings. She needed time to find the right words. It was something Meraad loved about her, the way her nose scrunched up when she was thinking. At last, she met the Qunari's eyes.
"It's…it's for Scribbles, yeah? I like her. I do. She's not as serious as most Qunari and she's not as stuck up as most mages. An' I know you're close. But…you. I fuckin' love you! I'm not gonna lose you to some stinking bad dreams! So…yeah. Go. But I'm coming too. Even if I have to just sit in Eggy's office and listen to you snoring, I want to be there, yeah?"
"Of course." Meraad answered without a second thought, "If you'll feel more comfortable, I want you there." She felt the small woman relax noticeably in her arms and leaned in to kiss her softly, When she pulled away, she had a cheeky grin that rivalled one of Sera's own. "But what was that about Qunari all being too serious? That include me?"
"Well" she replied the smile mirroring on her lips, "You are always goin' on about the 'demands of the Qun', yeah?"
"Oh really? Come to think of it, weren't we in the middle of satisfying that demand?"
The hungry answering kiss was exactly what she needed.