__________

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.

“You’re good, I know. Everybody knows. I’m good too, yeah? Fancy we see who would win between us?” She waggles the arrow again, nods over her shoulder toward the targets. “You—” Leliana blinks, recognition sweeping over her expression. “You want to challenge me?” “Is that a problem?” Sera nearly laughs, but she bites it back. Leliana’s surprise is genuine and a little amusing, if she’s honest, but, she’s seen how others act around her. She’s probably not used to getting invited for a bit of fun—the thought suddenly doesn’t seem so funny, and Sera’s mouth twitches with a frown. “No, no. Let’s see... three rounds on these?” Leliana points to the three targets in the middle of the yard. She pauses, considering them for a moment. When she turns back to Sera, she seems lighter than just moments before. Maybe it’s the way the sun catches her hair, bright and hot, the way it plays against the glint in her eyes when she speaks. “Winner names her prize. How is that?” “A prize?” Sera giggles, half because the way Leliana says it sounds suggestive, and half because the suggestion makes her stomach flutter with nerves. It seems unlikely, it’d be mad—but she presses it anyway, just a little, just to see what happens. “Like what?” Leliana shrugs nonchalantly, but Sera swears there’s mischief in her eyes. “Anything you like.” A cheeky little half-smile. Sera feels her cheeks prick with heat at the notion of it all, the way Leliana holds her gaze. “Although I will need my bow.” Leliana glances over her shoulder abruptly, up at the windows of the rookery and the angle of the sun overhead, as if nothing just happened. But Sera had felt that, she wasn’t just imagining what was right in front of her. Her mind drifts back to all the shared looks between them that she catalogued in her memory, the comments that seemed like innuendo but which Sera had convinced herself must be otherwise, the times when she had felt Leliana’s eyes on her and only her when she came to the tavern late at night, alone—the realization is as the final pin of a lock clicking into place, undone. Maybe Leliana hasn’t been keeping tabs on her at all, at least, not in the Lady Nightingale, Spymaster of the Inquisition way that she expected from her. Maybe it’s been something much more personal. The idea makes her feel suddenly warm. “Shall we meet here in two hours? You may need to practice beforehand.” Leliana deadpans with a precision that Sera finds terribly attractive. “Oh, you’re—” She almost chokes on a laugh. She’s not sure she’s ever seen Leliana like this, and there’s a strange delight at playing a part in it. “Yeah, alright, I’ll just be practicing.” She draws out the word, sarcasm more than obvious. “Don’t keep me waiting, you.” “I wouldn’t dare.”

______

Three arrows left, and they’re tied. Sera’s not surprised, but she’s not sure how to angle it to win, either. Maybe she actually should have practiced. She cracks her knuckles absently and narrows her eyes at the targets in front of her, as if they’re any different now than they were in the last round. “Would you like some?” Leliana’s voice cuts through her concentration. “What—” Sera blinks out of her own daze. Leliana holds a peach out toward her with a single, evenly shaped bite torn from the pretty ripe blush of the fruit. She raises an eyebrow in suspicion, but Leliana doesn’t falter. “Are you trying to distract me?” “Is it working?” Leliana smiles at her, coy as ever. The peach looks juicy, even from a distance, and Sera can almost taste it at the thought of taking a bite. “Pfft.” She shifts uneasily, focuses instead on setting all her arrows upright and trying to ignore the creeping heat in her cheeks. Maybe it is distracting, but she isn’t about to admit out loud that the way Leliana takes another bite out of that fruit is suggestive—not even accounting for what happened earlier, and especially not accounting for the satisfied little sound Leliana makes when she starts chewing. Or the way she brushes her thumb just below the pout of her lower lip to catch the errant juice that lingers there. Sera tries to shake it off, to not think long on the shape of Leliana’s mouth, the imagined softness of her lips—as if it were even the first time. She scuffs her boot against the dirt, picks up her bow again with a huff. “If you need to distract me to win, go ahead, I s’pose.” “Ah, well.” Leliana seems pleased, despite the accusation. “Perhaps you should be more careful about how loudly you share your trade secrets. Particularly this one. I knew I was not alone in the sentiment, but—” She chuckles under her breath, eyes lighting up when she looks at Sera again. “Well, it seems you were right.” Sera’s ears burn. Her cheeks too. She remembers a few nights ago, in the tavern over beer, when she was going on about peaches, ripe peaches—how eating them was a lot like something else that she rather enjoyed eating, before she and the Inquisitor were both snorting with laughter. That Leliana somehow overheard that is not all that surprising, but that she’s turning it back around on Sera is something else entirely. Something that makes her head feel fuzzy when she feels Leliana’s eyes on her. “Ruffles was right about you.” She doesn’t mean to say with such admiration, to reveal her hand so blatantly, but she lets it lay. Channels her energy into her bow instead, gives herself a second to be distracted by the bite of the draw against her fingers. The arrow lands just left of center. “Josie?” Leliana sounds surprised. “Yeah. Said you were a proper tease. She warned me, too—something about a measuring stick, or, was it... anyway, I don’t know what you did, but she was going on.” Sera draws again, finds an outlet for her nerves in that familiar motion. This time, the arrow strikes dead center. “I didn’t believe her then. Should have known you keep the fun bits hidden, too. Spymasters aren’t s’posed to be fun, right? Not supposed to be pretty, either? Only scary, I get it.” She feels a rush of warmth after she says it, a thrill that hums in her chest. As she draws her final arrow, she glances over at Leliana. Even cloaked in the shade of the armory, she can make out that her words land with effect. The anticipation hanging between them is certain now, heavy in a way that makes her stomach twist, makes her want to keep talking—her aim falters, and the last arrow strikes a good hands-breadth away from the bullseye. “What I mean is, it’s nice—all that. You. I mean, really you, not just some title, yeah? And—” Sera lets out a heavy breath that verges on a giggle, rife with nervous energy. She gestures to the target instead. “Anyway, you win, Peaches.” “I—“ Leliana looks a bit disarmed, but even that is not without grace. A flicker of something unmasked, but she doesn’t fumble long. “Well matched. Thank you.” “Fair’s fair, right?” Sera shakes her head, almost to herself—her heart still thuds loudly in her chest, a reminder of what faltered her aim. Odds are she was a better flirt before the realization that Leliana was flirting too, before her offhand crush became something suddenly so present and palpable and so devastatingly good-looking while aiming a bow. “So, do you know what you want?” That garners a smirk from Leliana. Winner names her prize, as she had put it. “I do.” Leliana holds Sera’s eyes for a moment, as if considering her answer, considering her, before she continues. “You know the parapets above the garden, yes? Meet me there this evening, just after dinner.”

______

“Ah, good, you’ve found me.” Leliana smiles, something radiant even in the dim light of the evening. She doesn’t wear a stitch of her usual armor—only a simple light top with buttons down the middle, and dark trousers tucked into her boots. It’s plain in a way that’s surprisingly flattering, lends a sort of ordinary vulnerability to her that Sera hadn’t ever noticed before. Leliana stands to greet her, to kiss her cheek, she thinks, yet nearly misses—her lips graze the corner of Sera’s mouth instead. It’s brief, soft, yet so palpably charged that Sera feels flushed when Leliana steps back to sit down. If Leliana notices, she doesn’t let on. “So, we’re…” Sera swallows against the feeling in her stomach—butterflies always sounded pish and frilly to her, but, it’s apt. There are a few lanterns, a quilted blanket laid on the stone where Leliana sits, and next to her a basket, too dark to see its contents other than the top of a bottle that protrudes from it. “We’re having a picnic? At night?” She can’t help but sound a bit incredulous, having regained some of her composure. “That’s your prize?” It’s not a bad idea, but it’s not exactly anything she would have expected, either. She moves to sit across from Leliana, and stretches her legs out over the blanket. “Of sorts.” Leliana laughs. “I wanted to do something we might both enjoy. And truthfully—” She reaches to pull the bottle from the basket—wine. “It’s been quite a while since I have been able to enjoy a proper date, if you don’t mind indulging me. I couldn’t ask for better company.” “Me?” Sera giggles. The mere idea makes her chest fill with warmth, something soft feeling. “You put together all these nice things, and you just want me to be here? That’s not—” She shakes her head, flashes a grin. “You’ve got a funny way about you.” “Is that a yes, then?” “Yeah it is.” Sera takes the wine bottle from her and pulls a knife from her boot, pushes it into the cork so she can twist it out. “Hard to imagine you not getting a date, innit?” “Hardly.” Leliana laughs, a sweet, girlish sound, but there’s a twinge of something darker there. “I suppose I have been busy.” She retrieves two empty jam jars from the basket—sturdy enough to travel, handy enough for drinking from, and sets them down. Sera follows with wine, filling the jars halfway. “What’s the point in staying so busy that you forget to enjoy yourself? Or… other women.” Her eyes flit up to meet Leliana’s, to gauge her response—her kittenish smirk is almost smug. "C’est la vie.” Leliana lifts her glass to meet Sera’s, and the jars make a satisfying clink when they touch. When she speaks again, her voice is like warm honey. “You are very good at reminding me of that, you know.” “Oh—” Sera’s eyes linger on the curve of Leliana’s throat, the line of her collarbone just there, exposed by the top few buttons of her shirt that lay open. Her armor reveals nothing in comparison, but this—Sera gulps her wine in an attempt to keep her eyes from roaming further. “What’s that?” “Josie is always pestering me to relax, to take time—when things are dark, that is easier said than done. But I’m sure you would agree, there’s nothing quite like a charming—“ Leliana shifts, and her fingers brush Sera’s where her hand rests on the blanket. She is acutely aware of the coolness of Leliana’s skin, the slender curve of her fingers against her own, the way her heart rate has jumped madly. “—beautiful woman to remind you of the light in the simplest things. A look, a touch.” “Forgive me if I’ve misunderstood.” Leliana leans forward, narrowing the space between them until Sera can feel her breath on her skin, can make out the faintest of freckles that spill over the bridge of her nose. When Leliana’s lips brush against her own, her eyes flutter shut. It’s slow and impossibly soft, overwhelming. Up close, she smells of incense—not the kind the Chantry uses, but the kind sold in the alleys of Orlais, familiar, smokey, and sweet. It mingles with something heady and floral on her skin, seeps into Sera’s senses in a warm, dizzying way. They kiss again before Leliana starts to pull away, hesitates, in case she misread, Sera thinks. But Sera catches her, threads her fingers into the softness of Leliana’s hair, draws her close again. “You haven’t.” She murmurs, and Leliana nearly moans in response, a faint sound that buzzes against Sera’s mouth. The sweet spice of wine lingers on her lips, and when their tongues meet it’s soft, shameless in a way that makes Sera sigh, sparks a familiar, persistent heat low in her belly. Leliana kisses with the same sort of poise that inhabits everything she does. The same that Sera always found so captivating—only here, up close, it sends a thrill up her spine. There’s a sort of brazen, unhurried thoroughness to the way Leliana explores her mouth, and Sera finds herself easily following her lead. Her own hands wander, slipping from Leliana’s hair to the warm curve of her neck instead, along the crest of her hip. She lets her fingertips map the shapes that make Leliana, the places that make her breath catch, or hum soft in her throat. She doesn’t know how long they spend like that—long enough that she feels almost lightheaded, that when they part, finally, the night air is cold against her skin. Sobering in comparison to the heat that remains between them, that simmers just under the surface of the look they share. Leliana smiles, something coy and strangely intimate that strikes Sera at her core, makes her downright blush. “Well… wow.” Sera lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, nearly giggles to match the feeling in her chest. “You know, you have the most charming dimples.” Leliana says it without pretense, a delighted observation, and Sera feels that in her chest too, warm and light. “You’re all honey and butter, aren’t you?” Sera leans closer, nearly grinning. “Soft underneath... think I like that.” “Oh?” Leliana’s eyes light up, the sort of reaction that can’t be tempered up close. “We should do this again sometime, yeah?” Sera’s voice comes out barely more than a whisper, huskier than intended, but she can’t help herself. All around them the air feels heady, alive, and the way Leliana’s still absently touching her knee makes her whole body tingle. “I would like that.” Leliana practically purrs, and Sera wonders if the tremble of excitement she feels ripple through her is palpable. “How about now, then?” Leliana moves her hand over the top of Sera’s and lifts it, reaching up to cup Sera’s palm against her breast. The shape of her beneath Sera’s fingertips fills her hand just so, with a weight that sets her mind swimming with imaginings of what’s underneath Leliana’s clothing. Even despite the fabric between their skin, her nipple stiffens against Sera’s palm, making it very clear how this—how she—effects Leliana. “Now’s good.” She breathes, and finds herself leaning closer still. To her surprise, Leliana turns her head, instead presses one kiss, then another, hot across Sera’s cheek. “Will you come to my room? Surely it’s more comfortable.“ Leliana shifts, murmurs sweetly against Sera’s ear. Her fingertips dip below the waistband of Sera’s clothing to caress her stomach, just beside the sharp line of her hipbone. “Shit—“ Sera nearly hisses at the sensation. Leliana’s hands are soft, calloused and steady, and she makes a satisfied sound when Sera reacts, almost a chuckle under her breath. “Just here.” Leliana sits back and nods to gesture at the door to their left, just behind Sera’s shoulder.

______

Canon: I’ve only ever gotten “hardened” Leliana, despite my best efforts, so that’s the only canon I know of, firsthand. You know the scene – you go with her to find something the divine left behind, she confronts a spy sister, slits her throat, finds out the Divine Justinia tried to “set her free”, and promptly dives of the deep end into icy murder town.

Headcanon: My inquisitor at least would’ve confronted her more strongly about it. I don’t think it would’ve necessarily changed the outcome, I admit that, but I always played the Inquisitor as not necessarily the most “just”, but very steady in her morals, such as they were. Leliana would’ve meant a lot to her, and she wouldn’t have let her friend go down such a dark path alone without doing what she could. Unfortunately, the only thing she knew how to do was confront her – not much tact for an elf, that one.

Heartcanon: WHERE ARE LELIANA’S FRIENDS, DAMNIT. She’s a sweet murderous flower and despite how aloof she tries to be I love that bard to pieces and I refuse to believe I’m the only one. SOMEONE GIVE THIS WOMAN A HUG STAT. Basically what I’m ranting about is I wish more NPCs had been more concerned about her :(

Soulcanon: In the moment, Leliana really believed that she didn’t need “freeing” or to feel guilty about what she did and what she does. But in her quietest moment, she can’t forget an old friend who always saw her as someone better than who she was, trusted her when she shouldn’t, and always looked sad – not even disappointed, just sad things were that way – when Leliana made use of more underhanded skillset. Part of her will never stop trying to be the person that damned Warden saw her as.

Crotchcanon: C’mooooooooon. You know where I’m going with this. You know :P :P :P . Okay, okay. Sera does what my Inquisitor tried & failed to do and calls out Leliana for being a brooding murderpants, but does so with ten times the wit because that’s how Sera rolls. I think she gets under Leliana’s skin… then under her blankets… then just, you know, under her. I’m not saying Sera fucks Leliana out of her despondent state… I’m just saying that it helps. As do the love letters with little doodles and the random mishaps that keep happening to all Leliana’s least favorite visitors & diplomats at Skyhold. Okay this went a little far away from “crotchcanon” but like I had to get to nightingbee SOMEWHERE in this post.

The second time, she’s too shy to really say anything, but feels too much to say nothing at all. She’s leaving, again, off to some other corner of Thedas, only this time she’s leaving her girl. This time Leliana says goodbye out in the courtyard, out in front of everybody, not behind closed doors. It’s not that she was ever shy about affection, either, but Sera was still wary, still unsure of what it might mean if they were seen together. But now, Sera feels proud, feels smitten, feels so much bundled all warm in her chest as she presses against her, brings her arms tight around her.

Leliana hugs like she means it, did even before they started all this, even before Sera ever thought about the possibility of it. Except now it’s almost too much, what it means to be in her arms like this, to feel the way she murmurs against Sera’s hair, for only her to hear: please be careful. Says it all simple, but Sera can hear everything in those few words, all the times she has whispered je t’adore like a hymn–it’s like I adore you, she says, only better, like translating makes it clumsy, makes it not the same–and underneath that, she hears all the worry that she keeps close, won’t let anyone else see.

She can only nod in response, press her face close against the leather of Leliana’s collar, feel the way the ends of her hair tickle against her skin. She bites her lip; the sting of it grounds her, and she sucks in a deep breath–all she can smell is her, and she wants to keep that, remember it for those long nights on the road. For a second she holds her breath, and when she lets go she whispers it against the leather, too quiet to be heard. “I love you.”

Later, after they part, she sees Cassandra talking to Leliana, sees the way she lays her hand against her shoulder all gentle. She doesn’t need someone watching her back, knows damn well how to take care of herself after this long. But Cassandra assures her that it is for Leliana’s sake that she says so, and for that, she is grateful.

By now, she’s restless, considering it as she doodles at camp, before she falls asleep each night, writing it into letters only to throw them into the fire later. Dorian teases her for being moody, prods at her like a little kid while they travel, asks if she’s jealous that the cute blonde in the last town flirted with him instead of her. She’s too distracted to think of a good comeback, but later, once they set up camp, she thinks, Cassandra’s the one who was making eyes at her, and laughs. 

She throws another balled up sheet of paper at the fire, takes a drink instead. The clear liquor is harsh, makes her cough, but it’s warm in her belly.

“You’re wasting a lot of paper, you know.” Dorian is the only one still up, and he moves closer once Sera stops writing, gets out of her own head for a minute.  

She just shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. Don’t know how to say it right anyway.”

“Say what?” He clears his throat, feigns a haughty tone. “Dearest Cassandra, I have long dreamed of your touch–”

She smacks his arm, interrupts him with a scoff. “Shut it, you tit.” She takes another drink, winces as it goes down, then leans back, stares across the fire. “It’s Leliana.”

“Yes, she’s quite the catch, but that’s hardly something to be in a mood about.”

She shakes her head, lets out a heavy sigh. “I love her.”

Dorian laughs, short and abrupt. “I know that. It’s rather obvious. Don’t you think you should be telling her–” Her glare finally catches him, and he stops, face lighting up with recognition. His eyes soften, and before she knows it he’s sat right next to her, arm around her shoulder like he understands.

He smells like booze and wood smoke and those weird oils he puts in his hair, but she doesn’t mind. He lifts his drink then, nodding to her and the bottle in her hand. “Cheers, then?”

Then, when she tells her, really tells her, it’s not how she imagined. And somehow, that’s just perfect.

The afternoon is warm, just right, so she steals Leliana away from the rookery, tells her she needs a break, brings lunch. They lounge in the sun afterwards while Leliana reads to her, something Orlesian, because Sera wants to learn. For her. She’s supposed to be watching the words, but she gets distracted, watches Leliana instead, the movement of her lips as she speaks, the way the sun catches her hair, bright and hot.

“Ma belle…” 

She knows she’s been caught, then, knows that’s not in the book, and looks up to find Leliana watching her. She smiles, a little sheepish, but Leliana isn’t upset.  

“Do you know ‘je t’aime’?” Leliana asks.

“Mm, no. What’s that?” 

“I love you.” Leliana says it like she means it, not like a definition. Looks at her like she means it too, and there’s a coyness to the little quirk of her smile, to the way she folds the book shut, leans closer. “My hearing is not so bad as you think, you know. I was waiting for you to tell me again, but you’ve been quiet, so…” 

Sera can barely think with the way her heart thuds in her ears–this whole time, Leliana knew–it makes her feel hot, flushed, happy. She flashes a grin, finally, when she manages a breath. “Yeah? I–I do. I love you.”

“Oh, Sera.” The way Leliana looked at her made the right gift feel even more important, added another reason for it to be the most important one on the list, because she looked like she didn’t even expect anything, like Sera was so good for even thinking of her. “Your visits alone are a gift. You needn’t get me anything.”

“Ha. I mean, you’re sweet and all, but, bullshit.” She eyed Leliana then, almost testing her, and yet she didn’t even blink, didn’t wince, didn’t do anything at all in protest. In fact, she smirked a little. Maybe she didn’t mind being called out like that, maybe even liked it, for all the times she got away with that kind of shit. Part of the job for her, wasn’t it? Sera couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

“I figure, you like my shitty jokes… I think. Makes you laugh, at least, and people keep saying that doesn’t happen much, yeah? But jokes aren’t a gift. Well, not really. And you like pranks, too, except--well, it’s supposed to be a nice thing, so, if someone else gets all grumpy because of it, that’s not fair. So… I don’t know. It’s not the same if I ask what you like. I just-” Sera let out a sigh, practically a huff, and gave a defeated shrug of her shoulders. “I wanted to do something nice. Cause… well, cause you’re nice.”

Leliana stood quiet, all thoughtful with that little quirked smile. Sera couldn’t tell what she was thinking, and it made her brow furrow, made her guts twist with regret for not having come up with something for her, anything at all.

“How about a kiss then?” She said it like it was nothing, as plain as could be in that sugary sweet voice of hers. Sera’s stomach twisted further, only this time into flutters that sprung up to her chest, tingly and warm, that made her cheeks feel hot despite the winter chill in the air.

“What?” Sera’s voice came out almost a squeak, betraying her attempt to remain collected. No frigging way was Sister Nightingale asking her for a kiss. She would say she considered her a friend, yeah, especially now, and sure, she had tried her hand at flirting too because she’s not blind–Leliana is pretty, and even prettier when she’s flushed and smiling at Sera like she’s the sweet one. But she never expected–

“Just a small one.“ Her smile reached her voice then, drew Sera’s attention back. She gave a glance at her mouth, lips quirked all coy and inviting like that. Yeah.

“Yeah, ‘course.” Sera barely nodded in acknowledgement and stepped forward cautiously, her eyes darting between Leliana’s lips and the ground in front of her. She couldn’t seem to bear to look her in the eye, half-convinced as she was that this was some sort of prank, but she scuffed her boots forward against the snow anyway, cause who was she to deny her a kiss? Maybe she was just lonely–after all, Sera had witnessed more than once how easily Leliana could drift into melancholy, some sort of quiet, angry hurt that shut down the little smile she harbored, the look in her eyes that sparked bright and warm when they talked. Sera lifted her head when she found her eyes level with Leliana’s cheek, close enough to catch the heavy leather smell from her armor, and the hint of something softer underneath, something like flowers, like incense, like Leliana. She sucked in a breath, the sudden intimacy of it all making her cheeks flush with heat, and tipped her chin up. 

Leliana’s lips were cold as the air outside, but sweet from the apple, and she made the faintest sound at the press of Sera’s mouth. She lingered only for a moment, just long enough to feel Leliana’s breath warm against her skin, to feel the way she caught her lips in response, and then she was wheeling back, head ducked, trying not to grin.

“Cheers, yeah?” Sera snuck a glance at Leliana, caught her eyes briefly and–she was chuckling? It was quiet, barely noticeable, but she sure looked damn pleased with herself while she did it. Sera’s brow furrowed, sure that her expression would give away the whole jumble of emotions that ran over her. But before she could settle on one like embarrassment or even confusion, Leliana was stilling her laughter, bowing her head with a soft look.

“Sera--” She half looked like she was going to say something, had Sera fooled at least. But then Leliana was next to her again, already so close, her fingers light against Sera’s jaw like she was something precious, her lips pressing soft against her cheek. “That’s all I meant. Although your interpretation was quite nice. Thank you.”

“What? Shit-” Sera took a step back, sucked in a breath of crisp, shitty Fereldan air that didn’t smell like Leliana, didn’t make her head all fuzzy like being that close to her did–and stumbled, her ankle rolling on a rock that jutted out from the dirt. “Piss!” She caught herself easily enough, but not before she looked a total fool. First she’s kissing the frigging spymaster of the Inquisition, and then she’s tripping over her own damn feet.

“On the contrary.” Leliana’s hand caught against Sera’s shoulder, offering to steady her, even as she steadied herself. Sera was cursing the way her cheeks burned over her clumsy assumption, and yet Leliana was looking at her as if she were charming, a perfect delight.

“You what?” Sera nearly scowled at the word; familiar, yeah, but it still came across as foreign.

“I simply mean you shouldn’t worry.” Leliana smoothed her hand against Sera’s shoulder before drawing back, allowing the space between them. “It was a very pleasant surprise, like one would hope for any good gift.”

“Right.” Sera let out a breath, trying to push out all the nerves and feelings that she hadn’t expected to spring up; but then, who was she not to get flustered by the likes of someone like Leliana? She wasn’t scary like all the talk she heard all hushed in the courtyard and back hallways, not that at all--she was sweet, quiet like she was all thoughtful about everything, and pretty as ever, especially with that wicked sense of humor she kept hidden like her daggers. So yeah, of course she had kissed her. And Leliana didn’t seem to mind.

Instead, Sera tried a grin. “You’re welcome?”

The more Sera got to see of the Leliana "beneath the hood" so to speak, the more infatuated she became. She'd start nagging Cassandra in particular for more stories as the Lady Ambassador certainly knew more, but withheld more. Cass would roll her eyes with a disgusted noise and tell many tales. The one Sera was most desperate for more details (that Cassandra blushed so much over and refused) was the time the Left Hand had had a few too many glasses of wine with Divine Justinia as they regaled one another with the most unholy stories from when they were just Leliana and Dorothea respectively. Cass had to leave the room when Leliana began telling a tale that involved caramel pudding as Cassandra just felt far too uncomfortable to hear it in the Divine's presence.

In my canon, Leliana is in a romance with a Warden Tabris. Sera knew Leli was with the great Hero of Ferelden and it's one of the main reasons she simply pins from afar. I mean, how could she compare to this famous tit who stopped a whole friggin' Blight? Probably a right proper Lady, capital "L". Then she meets the Warden Commander and is utterly shocked. She's an elf! Not an elfy-elf, mind you, but an elf! From DENERIM! THE DENERIM ALIENAGE! And she certainly ain't no Lady. Her speech isn't as gruff as Sera's, but it becomes more apparent when she gets angry or excited, butchering her pronunciation of things and her grammar sounding more like something that'd come out of Sera's mouth. More than that, she's a thief! And not just any thief, she's the Dark Wolf! She's responsible for the crime wave that royally pissed off a good bunch of noble pricks in Denerim years ago. And she loves jokes and pranks and stories and more than a few times a sly whisper in Leliana's ear as she passes her has the older woman snickering or snorting into her hand (sometimes she even blushes!).

And Sera's mind is blown. She runs to the Inquisitor with her face flush, rambling on in a rather confusing fashion. I was so close Quizzy! Have you met her?! She's- and Leliana's-! Whut! Ain't fair, that. I don't- Ugh. Makes my head hurt.

And Sera spends months trying to wrap her mind around it. Was her crush truly onesided? Was Sera Leliana's "type"? She had enough in common with the Hero of Ferelden that if Leliana was one for "types", she'd probably be. Maybe. Or was that why Leliana started being so nice to her and pulled some pranks with her? Did she just remind her of the Warden a bit and since Leliana missed her love, she entertained Sera who was kinda like her? It made her heart hurt on top of her head hurting. She always thought she'd have no chance in hell of someone like Leliana liking someone like her, but then she met Warden Commander Tabris and everything's a confusing mess and she can't stop wondering.

I also really love the idea that Tabris recognizes Sera. She can't place it at first, just noting that something about her looks familiar. It dawns on her after a bit and she exclaims "Sera! That Sera! Andraste's tits, look at you! You're all grown up!" She goes on to mention that she's glad Sera wasn't there when the orphanage was attacked, though she thought she was likely already dead seeing how the young elf just disappeared from the Alienage one day. Sera had already been taken in by then, learning the ways of the Friends of Red Jenny. Tabris mentions doing a job for them once, something about a painted box.

Once again, confusion, seeing things from a whole new perspective, and general conflicting feelings are brought up in Sera. She can't quite decide how she feels about Tabris and certainly not Leliana now that she knows the older woman’s love is quite similar to herself and also knows of Leliana's own involvement in acquiring something that meant so much to her as a child.