__________

Sera takes her away from Skyhold. Outside the great walls, the sun seems less bruising, the breeze sweeter, and the air is thick with the scent of summer. It isn’t the first time they venture out—Sera knows the area well. Says she has to, for when she needs to get out, clear her head; the benefit of which being that she has a great deal of secret spots stored away in her memory, and an eagerness to share, with someone who matters, as she once put it.

She takes her to a lake. It’s small, and requires cutting through overgrown briars to reach it, but Sera tells her that it’s worth it. Even after her palm catches on a thorn, and she hisses and sucks at her skin to clear the blood, Sera’s still grinning. She pushes past the offending plant and into a clearing—the lake is undeniably clear and inviting and private, the shore dotted with patches of bright orange wildflowers.

“See? Worth it.”

But Leliana doesn’t have time to respond. Sera darts off, leaving behind a trail of clothing on the way, and splashes into the water with a raucous laugh. Leliana is not surprised—swimming is one of the best options, considering the heat, and swimming in one’s clothes is not practical—but the way her cheeks flush warm, not at all because of the weather, is what makes her hesitate.

She likes Sera. She’s not sure when it started, in particular. She has always liked Sera. Maybe it was like this from the start, just there, in the back of her mind, waiting for her to understand. It’s not a fervent thing. No, it’s like honey—a slow, warm feeling that crept into her daily thoughts, sweetened them just so.

Leliana doesn’t mind, though. Not really. It’s a pleasant feeling, one that she lets seep idly through her thoughts as she works to undress. Boots first, then chainmail, trousers, and then she pauses, sighs, rolls her shoulders to ease the tension in them. The act of removing her armor is always a bit cathartic, but it feels particularly unburdening here, away, with the breeze cooling against her bare thighs and the grass soft and damp underfoot. She works idly at the buckles of the armor at her arms, the leather of the straps worn and soft from use, and watches the lake, watches Sera bob up from beneath the surface of the water and look her way.

“Come on, you!” Sera calls over to her, laughter in her voice still. “Don’t tell me you’re shy now.” She treads to shore and steps out of the water, but it drips still from every possible inch of her, makes her seem brighter than ever when the sun catches and glints across the water on her skin. Sera gives a ragged shake of her head, slicks her hair back from her face when she gets closer, and Leliana swallows thickly, pushing back against the desire to let her eyes roam the extent of Sera’s nakedness. “Cause I don’t believe that. No reason to be, innit?”

“It’s not that.” She gives a shake of her head, allows a little half-smile at Sera’s reassurance. She lifts her left arm for good measure, where she’s only half completed unbuckling the armor at her elbow and forearm. “I have significantly more to take off than you do.”

“Shame, that. Want some help?” Sera’s hands are on the buckles nearest Leliana’s wrist before she even finishes asking, surprisingly gentle, cradling her arm against her palm to work at the remaining fastenings. She gives a glance up, makes sure the touch is welcome, even after she’s already assumed.

“Thank you.” Leliana’s voice is barely a murmur. The touch, the act itself, is strangely relaxing. She watches Sera, the way her eyes follow her fingers, the heavy wet of her eyelashes, delicate in their length, that shade the sharp attention of her gaze. The leather falls away, and Sera shifts to her right arm, trails her fingertips against Leliana’s bare wrist, starts at the clasp just above it. The graze of Sera’s skin against her own raises goosebumps all along her arm, and Leliana closes her eyes for a moment, draws in a slow, long breath. Only Josephine has removed her armor for her, on some few long nights after Justinia’s death—while it was done with great care, those memories still sting too much for her to care to revisit. Sera’s hands feel different, though, clever, perhaps more calloused, but just as careful. Just as caring.

“Oh—” Sera stops, shifts her weight. Leliana opens her eyes. Sera’s thumb rests motionless against the knife sheathed against her forearm.

Leliana chuckles under her breath. Her smile is reassuring. “One should always be prepared, no?” Sera’s eyes flick to hers curiously, study her for a moment. She doesn’t look surprised, not like Josephine did. Likely isn’t such a stranger to unexpected violence, either, and the thought weighs brief but heavy in Leliana’s chest.

“Yeah.” Barely a whisper, a huff of a laugh, and Sera’s attention moves back to her armor, frees the knife from its resting place. Her thumb traces the floral pattern etched into the leather of the sheath for a moment before she puts it away, careful to set it down, hidden within the rest of Leliana’s clothing. Only Josephine knows that knife is there; and now, Sera. It isn’t at all careless that she allows her this—closeness, trust, implicit in each brush of Sera’s hands against her.

Sera loosens the rest of straps, slips the armor from Leliana’s arm before she gives her a glance over—only her undershirt is left, the tails of which barely skim the tops of her thighs. Sera reaches for the first button as if by instinct, but stops, catches herself, draws her hand back. Clears her throat just as her cheeks flush. “Probably should let you do the rest.”

Leliana just smiles, moves to work at the buttons of her shirt so she can slip out of it. Sera watches her, doesn’t even pretend not to, and she finds herself warming beneath her gaze. Nudity isn’t necessarily anything special, she knows. It’s all circumstantial—but the way Sera’s eyes follow her with such open curiosity, the quiet energy that fizzes between them, is all so palpably intimate that it sets her heart thudding dizzyingly.

Sera’s eyes flit away, down to the pile of Leliana’s clothing. She nudges it with her foot, testing the weight of the armor, and wrinkles her nose. “No way to get naked quick with all that.”

“I haven’t had the need to.” There’s a chuckle in Leliana’s voice. It isn’t hard to catch the subtlety in what Sera says, the way she prods just a little, testing if Leliana has some sort of romantic preoccupation already. It’s hardly the first time it’s happened, either. “Besides, there’s a certain charm in anticipation, no?” Sera’s ears perk at that, just the slightest, and she glances up.

“Suppose…” She draws the word out slowly, as if considering it, considering Leliana, even. “If you like a bit of a tease, that is.”

Leliana turns her shoulder, purposefully hides her smirk as she shrugs her undershirt off her shoulders and drops it to the ground with the rest of her things. She can practically feel Sera’s eyes on her back—unbridled attention, and beneath that the clamor of nerves, anticipation. If only her own head wasn't swimming too. Sera’s flirtation is obvious, enticing, so much so that Leliana can’t help herself when she responds.

“Mm, and do you?" She tilts her head, thoughtful, watches the way Sera watches her when she turns around, the lingering flush in her cheeks—maybe from the heat, or, more realistically, the tension between them that feels heavy as the afternoon sun. Especially now, naked as ever. She clears her throat, can’t help a smile at the flustered look that darts across Sera’s features.

“That’s not—” Sera makes an indignant sound that verges on a giggle. “I mean, you’re...” Her train of thought seems to melt into the heat of the afternoon, leaving a charged quiet in its wake. Sera shakes her head, seemingly to herself, even as she starts to grin. “Swimming, yeah? We should swim.”

__________

Sunlight filters down through the leaves of the tree they’ve sought shade under, plays splotches of bright and shadow over Sera’s bare skin as she stretches out by the shore of the lake. Leliana watches, distracted; Sera is lanky, yet there’s an elegance to her and the way she moves, a contrast of lean muscle and angles cut against softness, against the curves of her silhouette. She stretches her arms out wide beside her, catches the grass between her fingers as she does.

She pulls at a few blades of it, tries to toss them into the breeze, but some of the pieces land back on her. She wrinkles her nose, swats a piece from her cheek and opens one eye to find Leliana watching her.

“You should be careful, you know.” There’s something more to what Sera says, betraying the faint quirk of a smile that tugs at the corner of her mouth.

“Hmm?” Leliana blinks. Her head feels hazy from the sun, lost in her own distractions.

“It's just people. But they talk, and... well, it's not like I've made a great impression so far, yeah? And if you’re hanging around me, then—“

“That’s not true.” Leliana shifts, propping herself up on her elbow. Sera’s eyes give away the vulnerability lurking behind her words, despite how unfazed she sounds. “Others may simply need more time.”

Sera doesn’t say anything, but the quizzical look she gives her is enough to make Leliana continue.

“Your methods are unconventional, yes, but far more clever than ordinary ones. There is a reason I seek your company, Sera. Well, there are many—” Leliana stops short of saying more than she intends to reveal. “What I mean is, your value to the Inquisition is greater than what some may yet understand. Perhaps some may never understand. Surely you know this.”

Sera’s quiet then, seems to study Leliana. Moments later, she leans up against her elbow too, smiles. “You’re sweet, you know.” Gives a brief shake of her head. “Don’t worry, I can keep a secret. Know you’ve got a reputation and all."

Leliana chuckles under her breath. Quiet passes between them, enough to allow the compliment to sour in her subconscious, despite herself. “Does that bother you?”

“No. You’re frigging good at your job, sure. Doesn’t mean that’s all you are. Far from it, innit?”

Leliana blinks against the unexpected emotion that wells behind her eyes. “It is easy to forget.”

Sera’s response is jarring in its intimacy, but a necessary shock of comfort that aches in a place Leliana had pushed aside, left untended. She feels so much more vulnerable in this moment than she did stripping herself of her clothing in front of Sera, an irony that is not lost on her. She shakes her head to herself. “I’m sorry.”

“No, ‘s alright.” Sera’s eyes are wide, soft in a way she hasn’t seen before. Their ever-shifting hazel is greener here, Leliana notices, away from Skyhold’s dismal grey. Perhaps taking cue from the foliage around them. The quiet of the moment is unassuming, on Sera’s part, a carefulness that’s palpable, warm. A bird flits past, into the tree above, and chirps cheerfully.

“That’s why I come out here. I mean, nature isn’t all that, but… to go and get out of it all for a minute. Look at things from here instead.” Sera twists a blade of grass idly between her fingers. “It helps.”

Leliana nods, and a warmth blooms within her chest. A fond, trickling feeling that reaches her stomach after a moment's time. Sera is brash, defiant, intelligent, so, so many things, and yet soft and reassuring is not something Leliana had expected.

“Clever, see?” She breathes out a chuckle, given such a perfect example of Sera’s wisdom.

Sera raises her eyebrows in response, looks a bit disbelieving. But she smiles anyway, and Leliana notices her dimples for maybe the hundredth time that day. “Suppose, yeah.”

__________

They are nearly back to Skyhold by now, given how the scent of it grows stronger with each step—that sort of smell that comes with people, baked goods and wood smoke, horses and lantern oil. The light has all but drained from the sky, left behind only the glow of the moon in a vast darkness to help guide them. Luckily, Sera has no trouble navigating, a benefit to her elfyness, as she had put it.

She stops short suddenly, and Leliana bumps into her, squeezes a hand against Sera’s shoulder to catch herself.

“Hold on.” Sera’s voice is hushed and she raises her hand, hesitates.

Leliana can’t help but notice the sweet smell that drifts from Sera’s hair so close, like warm honey, and a tinge of sweat that still clings to her skin. Her body reacts to the sudden intimacy, the press of Sera’s body against her own, with a flush of warmth. Her attraction to Sera had started almost as viscerally, a physical desire not at all unfamiliar, but surprising because she had not felt it for anyone in quite some time. Over the months it broadened, an attraction to her mind, the way she viewed things, the persistent way she had of flirting with her, of finding reasons to spend time with her. The reminder of the physicality of her feelings is a jolt to Leliana’s nervous system, one that tingles pleasantly under her skin.

She feels Sera sigh more than she hears it. “Just a raccoon.”

Leliana chuckles, eases back from being pressed so close to her. “Good thing you are here to protect me, no?”

Sera snorts, and her eyes reflect the moonlight when she shoots Leliana a look.

“I am only half joking.” Leliana’s boot catches on an exposed root and she shifts her balance, readjusts herself before she stumbles. She reaches for Sera’s arm again anyway, to keep the distance between them closer. “You are my eyes now, after all.”

“Come here, then.” Sera turns, takes Leliana’s hand in her own. Her fingers are warm against the back of Leliana’s own. She was not feeling particularly troubled about night falling on them, not so close to Skyhold, yet the gesture is a comfort she is happy to have. “And anyway, raccoons have dodgy little hands. I don’t trust them.”

“Oh, but don’t you think they are cute? Their little masks are so—”

“Cute and trustworthy are different.”

“Not always.” Leliana muses. Sera sounds so matter-of-fact that she can’t help but tease her about it.

Sera makes a disgruntled sound, something under her breath that Leliana wonders if she picked up from Cassandra.

“No?” Leliana can’t stop herself from smirking, and from the way Sera sighs, she is sure she sees it.

“Yeah, alright, I get it.” She can hear the smile in Sera’s voice, even underneath the veil of annoyance. “Great example you are.”

“Are you saying that I am cute?”

“Like you don’t know it already.”

“Oh you are stubborn.” Leliana nearly giggles with delight. She drops her voice, squeezes Sera’s hand briefly. “I find that very cute, you know.”

“You do?” Sera sounds surprised, and glances over at her.

“Mhmm.” Leliana smiles coyly, gives a nod of her head. She half expects a retort from Sera, but instead, she’s just quiet.

Their banter had passed the time left to reach the gates of Skyhold much quicker than Leliana expected, and now, back beneath the torchlight of the outer gates, she can make out the flush of a sunburn spread over the bridge of Sera’s nose.

“I was just teasing, you know. You’re proper cute.” Sera hesitates, and for a moment Leliana almost thinks she seems shy, though that’s so unlike her. “Just don’t go getting a big head about it or nothing.”

Sera grins devilishly, and Leliana can’t help but giggle in response.

“As long as the feeling is mutual, then.” A quiver of excitement prickles under Leliana’s skin. She feels bolder than usual today, maybe a bit sun-drunk, but flirting with Sera is admittedly the most self-satisfying thing she’s done in a long while now.

“Oh it is.” Sera is quick to confirm, her voice low and silky in a way that is entirely new and all too alluring to Leliana.

Leliana smirks with satisfaction, swallows thickly in an attempt to quell the not-so-small thrill that rushes through her. There’s an anticipation between them that lingers, heavy like an overly floral perfume, and in the low light Sera’s eyes are dark pools of unabashed desire.

It would be so easy to kiss her—the thought rushes over her like a wave, and she wonders how Sera’s mouth would feel, or the warmth of her skin, if she would be surprised or simply relieved.

A guard resumes her post at the gate, and the dull metallic sound of her armor in motion is enough to break the spell between them. Leliana only then realizes how fast her heart is beating.

“Well, I—“ She draws in a sharp breath, readjusting herself to the reality of the situation. “I think I’ll head to the baths.”

Sera’s eyes are wide, and she blinks at the sudden change of pace. “Yeah, ‘course.” She shifts, adjusts her sleeve unnecessarily. “Maybe we can do it again sometime? It’s nice having company. Your company.”

“I would like that very much.” Before she can think on it much, Leliana steps forward, dips her head to kiss Sera’s cheek. It’s brief, ordinary, something she does with many of her friends, and yet. Sera makes a soft sound of surprise, or maybe satisfaction, and Leliana’s body reacts in a decidedly non-platonic way. It’s all she can manage to step back, retreat from the haze of closeness that makes her feel nearly drunk, clumsy and wanting.

They share a look again, more knowing now than ever, before she turns to go, and Sera calls after her.