Entry tags:

!complete, gale hawthorne, leliana

Who: Leliana & Gale
What: A cute little reunion
When: After this murder
Where: Safehouse in Santa Ana, then Leli's
Rating/Warnings: High for things adults do when they've been separated for awhile
Status: Complete!

Bella Nutella’s behavior hadn’t been right since this all began. Time had passed for the nugs to eventually adjust (no offense to Gale, surely), but the chocolate lab had been a different matter, which is exactly why Leliana’s first stop (after murder in a former place of worship) was the Ranch. A brief interaction to the nugs to let them know she still loved them and would return to them soon, of course - wouldn’t want them to get jealous, no? - and then to grab the furry beauty for a little trip. All dogs loved car rides, she’d let Tella stick her head out and let that floppy tongue fly in the window. Slobber too.

Speeding and the breaking of a couple traffic laws had also happened, mind you. Not that she could really contain the eagerness to bring him back home. Weeks of preparation, sleep deprived nights, meticulous planning and calculation had ended. Natalie’s remains were now dissolved in a barrell somewhere, most agents in on the entire plot of usurping and vengeance had been eaten (maybe there were stragglers, but now she had a vampire on speed dial who had an appetite that needed satisfying), and the only loose ended that needed dealing was what she looked forward to the most: bringing Gale home.

And probably assaulting him in the most loving way, of course. They’d unveil their necessary lie, deal with whatever that brought - though she assumed his friends would be more than happy to know he was actually alive - and then hopefully settle. Normally. All this behind them as far as it could possibly be.

Oh, did I just pass-- It was entirely possible that in the dead of the night (the sun had set, the location was very remote and there wasn’t much street lighting) that there was a screech of brakes against the uneven cement road. Bella Nutella might have barked, Leliana might have knocked over the trash can, but nevermind that. They were here!

First thing she did was unleash the excitable drooly beast, and the dog bounded up the porch steps to paw at the front door. With whimpers and whines, happy whimpers and whines.

Gale’s hideaway, tucked away in a remote spot near the Santa Ana mountains, didn’t exactly come equipped with a thousand and one ways to entertain him. But he knew that, he signed up for it, was pretty aware of the shit he had to slog through in order to get to the greener pastures. Mostly, he just wished that he’d been able to be there for Leliana, in order to help with what he pictured as a giant fucking mess - and he had the time to contemplate each possible scenario and outcome. Some of them weren’t pretty, and why he was anxious and worried. Wash kept him updated about what was going on there in ‘the outside’ but Gale was still nervous - he had faith in Leliana’s abilities, it was just with little else to do but brood, well, that was what he did.

In addition to occasionally eating ravioli from a can. At least he had the hot plate now. And a deck of cards Wash brought by - when the ruckus outside started, the house Gale was building came crashing down onto the kitchen table, and fuck, he’d know those happy whines anywhere.

“Tella!” He was about as excited as she was, stooping to love all on the chocolate lab who had been there for him as he coped with PTSD, dutiful service dog - she licked his face, no shortage of smooches, tail twirling like a helicopter blade. “And then she takes an excited piss,” he laughed, well, at least it was on the front porch as opposed to in the house.

His timberwolf eyes were happy as he drank in the sight of his long-lost girlfriend. So really, it was done now? Everything? She was alright, and she’d come to get him and bring him home? Must be Christmas. “Hey...” Don’t blame him if he sounded a bit choked up, reaching for her with Tella still twirling around his legs. “I missed you.”

It’d be rude to interrupt their happy little reunion immediately, so Bella Nutella had her joyous minutes with her beloved owner to her lonesome. Happy urination included of course, who could blame her for that? And it was something Leliana had wanted to see as these days turned weeks tortuously crawled by - the two of them united and together, something she had missed.

Her turn came soon enough anyway, stepping closer in the very same boots and black ensemble she had worn for her ‘problem solving’ appointment several hours back with Cindy. No time to change or much else. And no time to waste when it came to curling her fingers into his shirt, yanking him against her - because Leliana couldn’t wait to crash their mouths together. Happy, desperate, full of all sorts of silent apologies. Noses pushed together, arms around his neck, pulling him down to humorously accommodate her height (not that she was insufferably short, but he was a giant to most). “I missed you too,” she whispered, and don’t blame her if she sounded a bit emotional too. “I promise we do not have to go through that again. Ever.”

No more, it wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth losing him. So she’d handle what she needed to, ease the circle to the next chain of command, but it was over.

The overgrown puppy was still poking in on the reunion action, but this soldier wanted to continue to kiss his lady hello without a wet snout worming its way between. So Gale shooed Tella back into the house - all of them could go inside, actually, and once she was actually in she settled a little. It took a few commands to get her to lie down, but she did, and he gave her a sock toy to chew on - one he put together in a few moments, off the cuff. That seemed to satisfy her.

Back to Leliana, whom he wrapped up in his arms again, to give her all the kisses he owed her - and it was a lot, he’d been keeping track. Keeping a tally. Counting down the days until he could see her again, even if he had no idea when that would be - but he’d mark the days off anyway. Told himself it was like being away in an undisclosed location, for a secret operative in Afghanistan. At least he had someone waiting for him, someone he loved.

“It’s gonna be weird,” he admitted, nudging his nose against hers in one of those patented Eskimo kisses. “But we’ll figure it out. I’ll find a new job.” And he’d still have his monthly training exercises via Army Reserves, but they’d be relatively close by and he he wouldn’t have to leave her for very long. “What did...what’s been happening?”

Such a long story. So many places to start.

Poor puppy, she just wanted love. It was entirely possible that once they got back and rounded up the nugs too Gale would be smothered by a pile of overly enthused four-legged creatures, dog breath and those little snuffsnuffs. Leliana would, of course, join the heap by being the cherry on top.

He was a soldier, he’d survive the onslaught of cuddles.

“Jobs are later discussions,” she assured after another kiss, and they could talk wrapped around each other like this - quite pleasant, actually! There was no where else she wanted to be. It had been so long, she’d happily take as much closeness as physically possible. “But you’ve...certainly missed plenty. Natalie’s dead.” Yes, let’s begin there. It was the main pressing issue, the reason why they were in this entire mess to begin with. “Apparently she and Marjolaine had some scandalous affair behind my back, didn’t take it too kindly when I did away with her, and bided her time. An eye for an eye situation, I suppose.”

A simple summation of events. There were other details but again, he had missed a lot. Perhaps this was a discussion best sorted out sitting down? Like the loveseat, for example. Leliana led him to that, but instead found his lap to be a much more comfortable spot for her bum. Made tangling herself up in him easier in her opinion. “I had her people disposed of,” she continued, followed by a kiss to his temple. “A vampire ate them.”

Good thing Gale actually was sitting down, because Leliana knew how to start that story off with a bang. “A vampire did what now?” He was kind of laughing, kind of gasping - he probably sounded like a fish out of water or something, but he wasn’t expecting info like that at all. “So you’re in good with the Dracula folks now,” he teased. Actually, Gale didn’t know who the vampires in good ol’ Orange County were - besides Damon. But he couldn’t really picture Leliana working with Damon, so it was probably a different situation.

“Well...I’m glad they’re gone. And that they got what they deserved.” He sounded resolute about that, as his hands splayed on her back, fingers twisting through red hair that tumbled down - just for a moment - before he navigated south to grab a handful. Of ass. Or, uh - leverage to shift her close to him, yes, that was it. “All that, because you killed Marjolaine - who also deserved it?”

He shook his head, a dry smirk gracing his features. “People do weird shit when they’re in love.” Case in point - fake their death and lie to their family and friends for about a month.

“Ate them,” she repeated, giggling at his reaction. Maker, she missed him. It was a bit cheesy to miss the sound of his laugh, wasn’t it? But death had been a close encounter that still shook her to her very bones, because five seconds could have made all the difference. Leliana had to take a minute to stroke his cheek, lose herself in another kiss. Softer, sweeter, she took her time with it - and yes, even giggled at the very obvious grab of ass.

Cementing her comfort further, she pried her boots off with the motions of her feet alone. Too lazy to use her hands otherwise. “That lifestyle is messy. Even more when you throw in love, as you’ve experienced first hand,” she guiltily pointed out. “Marjolaine had mastered the art of seduction in both worlds. And Natalie was infatuated as much as I was.”

There would have almost been pity if it weren’t for the fact she made an attempt on Gale’s life. Natalie sealed her fate that night.

“I guess it all worked out...in a weird way,” the soldier mused; his hands went to Leliana’s thighs, running up and back again, then further north because he’d missed even the smallest things - like how she felt under his hands, the shape of her, even though he could draw it in the air from memory, with his eyes closed. “Even if we’ve been through a lot. I guess we know that we can hack it. And that I would do...just about anything for you.”

The words were cautious, like he wasn’t sure if he was saying them right - but Gale didn’t really consider himself much of a romantic. It was one thing to tell Wash to bite the bullet and confess his love to his girlfriend, but another for Gale himself to spout poetry worthy of someone like Leliana. At first glance, they seemed to be really different - age, for one thing, she had about ten years on him. But beyond that? When you got down to who they really were? They were cut from the same cloth, and that was all that mattered to him.

“I know,” she whispered, brows knitted together, and she gently scraped those white-tipped nails against his scalp. “But I won’t put you in a position where you have to kill for me. Not again.” It was a slippery slope, the nature of their dreams having the potential of giving that final nudge off the edge. Gale had been so occupied in making sure she’d step away from it that he had almost fallen down the pit, and the way back up was near impossible. Neither of them had to become what they were there, in those other lives. Not in this one.

Leliana pressed her lips against forehead, sighing. “I love you. And if stepping out of this entire mess means that I get the honor make you birthday cake cinnamon rolls for the rest of our natural lives, then I will be more than happy to.” Assuming the nugs and Little Miss Sock Chewer over there didn’t sabotage her plans next year, but she supposed it could be tradition that they get their own too.

For distraction purposes, of course.

Another nose to nose rub - the gentlest of gestures that spoke volumes for them. “Are you prepared to return to the land of the living?”

“I love you,” Gale replied easily, and maybe he didn’t think he was some eloquent wordsmith when it came to the flowery language of amour, but he spoke the truth, and he was resolute about it - all honesty, no questioning, no wavering. It was obvious by now that he loved Leliana - he’d go to Hell and back for her, and did. “No more killing for either of us. Not becoming who I am in those dreams, that other me...well, it’s like I know what I need to do now.” And it didn’t involve lying, or going behind her back in an effort to protect her with his good intentions. The bomb went off and the dust settled, but with it came a certain amount of clarity too.

He bestowed another kiss on her, forehead falling forward to rest on her collarbone, pretty ivory white skin - for support and comfort, his favorite place. “Prepared? I think so,” he said, after some consideration. “I kind of worry they won’t really get it. I mean, why I did all this. How afraid I was, to be the Gale who ended up with nothing. Maybe they’ll be mad at me. I guess I couldn’t blame them.”

Favorite place, hm? Leliana had caught on. Interrupted the serious talk by squishing his face with her breasts while she adjusted on his lap - straddle time! It made it that much easier for her to keep his head by her bosom. Or in it. Preferably in it, but Gale had to breath sometime.

“I am sure they’d like the reason as to why we did what we did,” she cradled his face, thumb grazing his bottom lip. “But I’d like to think the focus is that you’re alive. That should overcome everything else, no?” While she didn’t mind explaining the details of what happened even to regular civilians, not a lot of people understood that kind of business. What it’s done to people, what it could still do to people. “If I have to step in and straighten some things out, you know I will. None of this is your fault, Gale.”

And, well, if they wanted someone to be mad at? Leliana would happily volunteer - seductive older woman (not that old mind you, in her very early thirties, but still older) dragging the younger man into a nefarious plot by association. It’d bother her very little. Johanna already didn’t like her, might as well seal the deal.

“It’s not your fault either,” he insisted, and he had a bit of frowny face there (when he actually did take a moment to breathe, look up, and not be smothered by comfortable chest pillows), because Gale didn’t like the idea of people going after Leliana like she was a bad influence or bad for him. If that was what they thought, they didn’t know shit. She was the best thing that could have ever happened to him, she loved him - like for real, a deep all-encompassing thing that didn’t mean she’d string him along and then cast him from her life to be with the baker’s son.

What had happened - well, he considered it a necessary evil. To finally break those iron-clad ties. Some people never did - like Natalie, for example. “I’ll give people the reasons. If they get it, fine. If they’d rather be pissed at me for keeping secrets rather than glad I’m alive, then fine too. I guess in a way I’m prepared for that too.”

He’d faced it enough in his dreams, all that scrutiny. In a place where he may as well have become the villain to some.

“Well, no matter the ramifications,” she sighed, palms traveling down his neck and over those broad shoulders of his to squeeze - he was all warmth and muscle under her grip, everything she had missed. “We will handle them together. I ran a great risk even telling a soul what had actually happened, and I don’t regret doing what I had to do.” There was guilt, yes, but if she had to continuously lie for months to ensure his safety, you’re damn well sure that in the name of Andraste’s Tits (oh Maker forgive, she didn’t mean to be that crude...) she would have kept up with it.

There was some gossip to tell, too. Peeta and Alyssa’s failed engagement, the volatile spirit that rained fire on her and a couple others. “Though, I for one personally cannot get enough of you,” Leliana purred, impishly smiling, and engaging in another set of kisses. “I could take you home now, if you’d like. Or stay shacked up here for the night and make it very, very difficult for you to get up in the morning.”

Location didn’t matter for her, but he’d been up here by his lonesome for weeks, she wouldn’t blame him if he was eager to go back to one of their places. His or hers, didn’t matter, they’d have a place to call their own once they could finally resume on the house hunting.

Gale had managed to be patient enough over the course of the painful weeks apart, he could manage a couple more hours. “Let’s go home?” he suggested, in a relieved murmur against Leliana’s cherubic, rosebud mouth. “Then we can shack up there. I’m sure I’ll be hard-pressed to go anywhere in the morning either way.”

He planned to make up for lost time - do some proper catching up, and naturally get all the juicy gossip. It had to be something. Wasn’t it always, around here?

“You can even catch me up on the ride back?”


“Oh, I will not let you go,” Leliana warned, a copper eyebrow arched as a challenge. Let him try to escape the entanglement of her limbs in the morning, see what happens. “But, hmmm, to start…” Well, she supposed it was time to actually get off him. Fine. Not without a provocative lap wiggle and grind, of course, and she helped him rise to his feet too.

She patted her knee and made a bit of a coo sound, summoning Tella over to round her up. “You missed your own funeral,” she began, smiling grimly. Keys retrieved and she was ready to head out of this little shack - may they never see any use for it again, Maker willing. “I had it closed casket. Spun a story about an explosive vehicular accident that left you unrecognizable. It was necessary to uphold the entire…facade, though I will never have to actually arrange something like that for you in truth.”

“Let’s hope not, anyway,” Gale sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Tella bounded over, a ball of brown fur, energy, gangly limbs and a tongue that always seemed to be adorably lolling from her mouth. Looked like she was ready to go also. “But sounds like a pretty solid story. Must not have been easy to play the role of grieving girlfriend, huh?”

The wiggle he’d gotten when Leli was in his lap meant that he was giving her ass a pat - more like another grab - on the way out, to the car. Bella went in the backseat, where she could stick her head out the window and slobber, and Gale was the lucky passenger. His giant self even folded into the cute bug that was his girlfriend’s mode of transportation - once he pushed the seat all the way back, that is.

“Hopefully it was a decent turnout, at least?” People didn’t actually hate him?

It was a cute car, wasn’t it? Vanilla-pumpkin air freshener, a fuzzy purple steering wheel cover that people laughed at but then shut up when they realized how soft and strokeable it was. One day she’d get headlight eyelashes for it. One day. “It wasn’t,” she answered honestly, revving up the engine to hit the road. “This career has taught me playing roles is a necessary skill, but...that one?”

It was personal. It was Gale. All she had to think about was what would have happened if she’d arrived minutes late and it all came, naturally. “Anyway,” Leliana continued, shaking her head - best not to think those thoughts. “Everyone came and became intoxicated in your honor, of course. Not long after that Peeta’s engagement ended. As to who ended what, I could not tell you.” Busy concocting murderous plans and all that, but she was sure he and Peeta would catch up soon enough. “Jack was shot by his girlfriend’s ex-fiance and lived. He brought that cinnamon whiskey to the funeral. I really don’t understand the appeal, by the way.”

Ahhh, what else..

“There’s also the vampire,” she hummed, fingers tapping the steering wheel. “Very polite, actually. Eats those of questionable repertoire, so I handed him a human menu and he took care of the traitors for me.” Freed up much of her time to handle other things, Andraste bless his adorable heart. There were plans on coming up with a ‘thank you’ gift, of course. Something useful for his current court case. “There is also the part where someone harbored a vengeful spirit in his body for months and refused to do anything, then attacked his girlfriend and killed one of my agents shadowing him.” Leliana was still very cross about that - Anders was on her ‘I want to kill you but I won’t’ list for now.

Okay, wow, that was a lot. Each new fact opened up a whole laundry list of questions, but he would attempt to keep it simple for now. Compartmentalize. Peeta’s broken heart, Jack took a bullet, a vigilante vampire, some crazy bastard was possessed - got it. Right.

“Jack was...fuck,” he shook his head, giving the outside environment a glare with those wintry eyes as he tried to picture it. “I knew I should have taken care of that dipshit ex-fiance of Rose’s.” But it was too late now, and turning over a new leaf (and not going back down the dangerous dream path) meant that murder wouldn’t be used to solve problems - no, ‘if I could hit a button and kill everyone questionable, I would’ runaway trains of thought. “But I’ll catch up with Peeta later. Hear the story straight from the horse’s mouth.”

And catch up with Katniss too. He wondered how she’d react to everything - probably not well, but he definitely owed her the truth. And the rest of his friends.

“I’m kind of confused about why one would harbor a vengeful spirit for months and not do anything though?” he scratched his cheek. “Which agent? Does the guy need to be chased out of shooting range so you won’t be tempted?” Because Gale was fine with that. They had enough crazy assholes in this clusterfuck of a county.

Leliana might have abducted one his arms, you see. Brought it to her side of the car, tangled their fingers and kept him close. Driving with one hand was doable. Non-existent traffic in the dead of the night, their destination wasn’t far off - her quaint two-bedroom house should be coming to view very shortly. “A sweet offer,” she giggled. “But he will keep his distance, I think. Especially after I had warned him and then all that happened.”

There were many shades of wrong when it came to that situation. It was over now, no need to dwell on it (otherwise she’d get grumpy), and she’d rather focus on the happier aftermath of things. “Nugs are at a friend’s ranch, so you know,” she quipped when the car stopped. In case he’d wonder why there weren’t hairless pig-bunnies trotting over him for much awaited love, but the ravens squawked from the backyard. It all very much looked the same, even the inside. Tidier maybe, with the lack of animals running around, but it was warm and carried the scent of lavender and jasmine.

Maybe it was weird, but Gale definitely missed the scent of Leli’s place. That comforting smell, it made him both sleepy and lulled by the overall homey sensation - not enough to knock him out, though. He was all set to devote attention to her of the adult variety, for the rest of the night - more like, he was just glad to be home.

“I was gonna say...” he grinned as they went inside, and he didn’t hear those telltale snuffsnuff noises, and the sounds of their weird hand-like paws hitting the hardwood floors as they stampeded into the room. “It’s quiet around here. That’s okay though.” Reaching for Leliana, he easily drew her into his arms again. “We’ll have reunion fun, just the two of us.”

Leliana had missed those snuffsnuffs. They were doing well in the ranch; she’d given them as much love as she could before she left, but she knew any place with an abundance of space and mud would do them well. Much better than anything she could give them if they had stayed here during all this - and it was hard being home anyway, when it felt empty. It’d all come together soon. The house would be filled, and it’d almost be as if nothing happened.

“My bed has missed you,” she mused, and wedged her hand between them to finagle with the belt of his trousers, the pesky button and zipper too. Not hurriedly, as she was more occupied with his mouth - kisses she’d never get tired of giving, deeper each time with every intention of making it a bit difficult for him to breathe - but she’d done this dance and was efficient in the art of undressing her muscular soldier. “Your clothes though, hm. A problem.”

“Yeah, it was pretty damn rough sleeping alone,” Gale rumbled, pretty much pouting over the thought - Leliana was a warm presence herself, she was soft and beautiful and very beguiling. If such romance novel-esque words could be used to describe her, and do her appearance justice. It all boiled down to the fact that he’d been doomed when he first saw her. They probably both were, even if they didn’t realize - funny how, when you were lonely, you tried to convince yourself you were better off that way but then when someone came along and turned your world upside down, everything improved times one-hundred.

He drowned in those kisses, returning them with a sense of urgency, spiraling deeper and deeper and that was perfectly okay with him. Hands were rough, and scarred, but they’d set traps and snares and yet still traveled all over her with a touch that was reverent, always meant to appreciate velveteen skin and elicit a reaction. Clothes had to come off of her also, and he was working on it - dutifully. “I think they can take a hike ‘til tomorrow,” he pointed out, with a wry grin, and easily shucked his shirt off about as quick as the pants would go. “You too. Picturing you naked for weeks isn’t the same as actually seeing the sight in the flesh.”

As calloused as they were, Leliana loved his hands - big, protective, and every line, every mark had a story (and we all know how the bard in her loved stories). “Naked, hm? Is that all you pictured?” My, my. Color her intrigued, mischief in her eyes. The layout of the house was imprinted in her memory and with ease, she backwardly navigated them towards the bedroom, a line of clothes left in their path until there was nothing left to remove.

“My fantasies involved you pulling my hair and thrusting into my mouth,” she shamelessly informed, whispered words sweetened by that ghost of an accent. And with a bit of a twirl she pushed him onto the bed and trapped him, both knees on each side while she passed him the look of a predator to prey, sizing him up like a meal to eat up in a figurative way, of course. There was a part of her that wanted to take this slowly to appreciate his presence, and the other part that wanted to ravage him senseless because she missed his touch and scent and everything he was, and what better way to express that than bouncing atop him? “You’ll have be more descriptive about yours.”

Okay, so there was a little more to his mental pictures than simply the sight of Leliana naked. He was a man, and a man with very little to do in a safehouse far away from the rest of the world. “From behind,” Gale said, like a moth to a flame, hands coveting skin - he slid them up her outer thighs, enjoying the road taken and the path to get to his destination; appreciating a woman’s most sensitive organ, skin, was important too - and that was why he didn’t just go for breasts right away. Oh, but he got there, hips lifting and twisting slightly to get more friction as well. Always more of that. “And if you want me to thrust in your mouth, you’ll have to sit on my face at the same time.”

Talking dirty was always nice. Especially from Leliana - her accent wasn’t quite full-on French, but it wasn’t Americanized either. It had hints of the former, and was as sweet as she looked - very ‘coffee and a croissant in a cafe in Paris’ types of associations. Plus, he liked making Nightingale sing - that was a bonus.

“I do want you to thrust in my mouth,” she insisted, breath caught in her throat and that friction was well-met with a rhythmic grind, so tempting to just stick his cock right in but let’s smell the roses first, hm? Gale’s filthy talk very much appreciated too - he started this tango in the bedroom so tightly wound and tense, maybe even bashful. His hand was snatched up, a finger of his brought into her mouth for nip and a suckle. “So that can very much be arranged.”

Leliana would shift into position, then. If he wanted her to sit on his face, so be it. Thighs spread, knees against the mattress, and her face between his legs and her hands gave him proper attention first. Stroking, up and down, only for a couple seconds before her mouth greedily overtook all of him in to get the show on the road. Messy swirl of tongue, halo of auburn hair bobbing. She wasn’t kidding when she said it was a fantasy; it brought her to the oh-so fond memory of her giving him the blowjob in the kitchen for the first time, and the memory was an additional spice to it.

No one had gotten Gale to unwind quite like Leliana did. Their arrangement started off just as that, something for fun and to mess around for the hell of it - but it snowballed from there, and he was grateful for every minute of it. Even if it did take them awhile to settle with each other, to fall into that commitment.

His own sense of nostalgia was washing over him in a tidal wave, because he remembered this too. Especially since she wasted no time in forming a vacuum with her roses-are-red lips and sucking him down toward her throat. He groaned, dropping a few dirty soldier words, but still, he would give back as good as he got - that was the point of this, and with a face full of what he wanted, there was really no way to not indulge.

Then he pulled her hips flush against his face, stroking, yet slowly - and with the barest tip of his index finger; he took his time, parting and pressing, just to be a tease and pull a shudder or a moan from her. But he was greedy so it wouldn't last - he gave in lapped at her quickly, tongue like a moist flickering flame on her, a glide of two fingers and stroking from within. An appreciative sound rumbled from him too, finding it difficult to keep from rocking his hips up - but remaining focused on the task at both his hands was good incentive.

Until he did give Leli what she wanted too - a jerk, a thrust up into her mouth, and it wasn’t entirely gentle either.

Now, Leliana didn’t want to outright suffocate him but with his tongue and fingers playing her like a pretty little violin - music included too, a moan into the erection her own tongue had been working against, swirling and licking - but it was merely instinct to grind against him, against everything giving her the feeling of warmth pooling to the core, a low simmer to eventually erupt.

And his thrust, well. No complaints there; she’d asked for it, expected it, and had been more than eager to suck him deeper into the depths of her mouth almost to where the tip had touched the back of her throat. Lips so tightly wound around him worked, additional friction for the marble-hardness. Salacious sounds, the pleasant messiness that came with burying one’s face between your partner’s legs and before things were taken too far (there was only so much she could take before she popped, and she didn’t want to, not yet), the redhead tossed her head back, mouth wiped by the back of her hand.

“You wanted to take me from behind, didn’t you?” she breathed, voice choked by desperation, because while every other part of him worked fine against her she wanted something thicker, longer. “Then take me.”

Being in Leliana would not be argued. Gale just had to get his wits about him first, sort of, on the verge of some atomic explosion. But no, there was still fun to be had. “Good idea, thanks for reminding me,” he smirked, shifting on the mattress, everything in his vision a wash of red - lust, passion, want, desperation. This is what happened to you when you were separated from the person you loved, it all just kept building and building until you finally got to go at each other.

And oh, he took her. It wasn't sweet tender lovemaking in the slightest - Leli had asked to be taken from behind, they both thought it sounded like a great idea and that's what she got, the animalistic lust that came along with it. His iron-hard cock drilling into her, the tip of him grazing his favorite, causing hopefully flickers of ecstasy for her each time.

Red face, gritted teeth - he wanted her to come before he did, but he wasn't sure if he could manage it. She was squeezing him so hard with flexes of innermost muscles that he felt any remaining blood from his head zoom toward a finish line, and he'd be a goner. At least he got to touch her thoroughly in this position too, cupping breasts and teasing nipples, fingers playing between her thighs as he sucked softly on the crook of her neck. "Come on, Leli," he encouraged her, encouragement punctuated by the way he pulled out and rubbed the tip of his cock against her - then he immediately thrust back in, hard.

Knees spread wide for exposure, pussy dripping wet, nails digging into the mattress and then twisting tightly into her bedsheets, the fabric crinkled in her grasp. He slammed in, she cried out - all good things, don’t worry, she’d sing well for him too, let him know that everything he was doing was right and to not stop, don’t stop. Not that she would either; this position was easy to buck right back into him, every thrust of her hips meeting his because Leliana would make sure he’d get in deep too, fill in every bit of her in more ways than one.

Hell, she didn’t even need to touch herself. He’d been relentless with his mouth before, relentless with his hands now, every inch of her overwhelmed by that ecstasy that had begun as a simmer and would soon end in a volcanic eruption. Gale would get what he wanted, there was no question there - birdlike vocals increased in volume, every utterance of his name echoed with a breathless gasps and her encouragements of harder, don’t stop and how she was about to come.

Which she did, because it always came with a quiver like a shock of electricity ripping through her spine, toes curling, and she had reached blindly for his hand - and managed to catch it - to squeeze and dig her nails into his skin as a reaction to a bone-rattling orgasm that left a hot fucking mess between her legs. Release from not being with him in what felt like too long, Maker.

It was just as intense for Gale, because when Leliana went, he had no choice but to topple over the edge with her since holding back was not a card he was willing to play - his own body was traitorous, it wouldn't let him. He wouldn't stop, oh no, couldn't stop - but throughout wave after wave of pleasure attempted to make it somewhat bearable so it didn't get to the point where it hurt for her. All that tightening, fluttering, it caused his eyes to squeeze shut with a groan - and then he was slowing his own thrusts to help with that whole bearable aspect, to help her weather that chaotic storm. When he was certain that he'd be able to move again without causing pain, he thrust once more, gasping, then his vision whited out but he was certain he'd shouted yet it sounded so hoarse and garbled - he couldn't breathe, couldn't think, he just swore his heart stopped.

"I missed you," he chuckled, and he slowly began to actually come back to Earth somehow. Somehow. With arms holding Leli to him, back against his chest, and he nuzzled into her throat, to place his lips there gently and taste salt, to taste the result of their exertions.

Leliana was all soft giggles right now - bones liquified under that ivory skin, cheeks colored pink from the body heat and all that went on, and her face affectionately scrunched at the nuzzle. “Tu me manques aussi,” she told him, turning her head to rub her nose him. Out of breath, sticky and hot, sex was oh so very attractive in the aftermath but she had no intentions of peeling away from him. - and soon they’d do this under a roof they’d call theirs. The simple pleasures of domesticity. “You know I will have a hard time of letting you go in the morning, yes?”

Oh, plans on seducing him to stay in bed with her would happen, absolutely. Eventually he’d message everyone, eventually they’d go get the nugs and pile them up in the back of her car, eventually they settle into a normal routine and put all this behind them, but for a couple hours she had plans to be selfish. To keep him ensnared against her flush body until it was an absolute necessity to release him.

Fuck, he loved when she spoke French. Gale didn’t know much of it, just things he’d picked up here and there from Leliana, but he could listen to that all day. He practically had stars in his eyes as he shifted to allow for optimum closeness - mostly he dragged her back with him, snickering breathlessly, and hit the mattress with an oomph. To then promptly sizzle and simmer as a pile of mush, that seemed sufficient.

“No need to let me go,” he promised, pushing some sex-rumpled hair from her face to press a kiss to her forehead. “I’m with you. Until you tell me to leave.”

Not the first time he’d said it to her, and he knew she wouldn’t ask him to go anyway - but the sentiment behind it still remained. Both of their worlds were filled with backstabbers and traitors - he could at least remind her that he’d keep steadfast to his word and he’d stick by her, always.

“You should know I will never say that to you,” she whispered, tracing his arm with her fingers, kissing his shoulder before moving to curve her mouth over his for a kiss to cement that sentiment. Because, yes, those words weren’t strangers to her - he’d said that when he accidentally unearthed her dirty little secret, the moment that had turned this something a bit more serious. Leliana had been in the game for years, she was a professional, but stupid mistakes were made, her guard was always down when it came to someone she could trust, and her intimacy with Gale had brought that without a warning.

A blessing in disguise, really. “I would rather leave all that...” she continued, a nose to nose rub. “Then have you ever leave because of it. It was an easy choice.”

“And it’s definitely over. I’m glad. I want us to...I don’t know, try normalcy for a little?” Gale smirked, tickling Leli’s nose with a bit of her hair - it was cute, unless she sneezed all over him. “Maybe we might like it.” They hadn’t had that before, ever, so it was about fucking time that they actually got a chance to try.

Of course, his life as a soldier meant that he still somewhat belonged to the military - but that was different, and he’d have Leliana to bring with him wherever he went if it was possible and if it wasn’t, he’d come back to her. Mostly they’d go together and besides, after all that wetworks stuff? Army life and the surprises that came with seemed damn near easy to handle.

Her nose did wiggle, by the way. A sneeze suppressed. Gale’s face was spared from dripping with snot by Andraste’s blessing, truly. “I think we might,” Leliana smiled drowsily, hugging him against her tight, every line of muscle felt. “We will get on each other’s nerves and argue about silly things, I think, but I look forward to it.”

And it was something neither of them had a chance for in these other words, where these other versions of themselves had become lost. It’d be an adjustment - Leliana had to wean herself off from that lifestyle she’d been involved in for over a decade - but it was one of the better things to adjust to, she thought. They survived their dreams, survived this...

They’d survive bouts of domesticity just fine.