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Rook hadn't seen much of Neve for the past couple of weeks.
Which was normal, to be fair.
They both had duties outside of attempting to keep the Fade and Veil safe from incursions and assisting in routing out the last of Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain's forces. Rook was still a Warden, and popping in and out of Eluvians all around Thedas to route out any lingering bits of blight was just a part of the job. And Neve was still a detective and an active member of the Shadow Dragons, even with Dorian as the Archon, she was nearly always drowning in cases and the tedious work to finally strangle out the Venatori's hold on Minrathous.
They were both, regrettably, too important to just traipse off and enjoy their victories in peace. Which meant, more times than not, the most they'd see of each other was a brief kiss in passing in the Lighthouse, or a hurried breakfast meal before scurrying away. If they were lucky, one might stumble into the other's quarters and be able to sleep beside them for a few hours before duty called. Most days they had to suffice on scribbled notes left by the Lighthouse Eluvian to keep in touch.
It wasn't the worst, Rook knew. She'd heard from Antoine about some couples in the Wardens who had gone months without seeing each other. Cheekily, he mentioned that there was a whole journal full of complaints from the Hero of Ferelden in the library at Weisshaupt for every time she had groused about missing her partner, Leliana. They'd been separated by years at a time, he'd said.
"What happened to the two of them? In the end?" Rook had asked, thumbing through the journal, amazed at the sheer number of entries of fellow wardens teasing the savior of the Fifth Blight for being lovesick.
"Ah, they say she left the Order. As well as anyone can, at least. She's by the Divine's side now, as her personal guard." Antoine smiled, a fond and tricky thing, "The First Warden can't quite tell the Divine to give her wife back, can he?"
Rook had laughed at that along with Antoine, and had daydreamed about being so heroic and being so beloved by someone that they could tell the First Warden to stuff it.
If only that trainee could see her now, after cold clocking the First Warden and then taking control of the Order for a battle.
Of course, that trainee might not be so thrilled about the level of responsibility that imparted on her. Evka had started cheekily calling Rook the Warden Commander of the Fade, but cheeky or not, that 'title' had come with actual responsibilities. It was still worth it to have knocked the First Warden out, but damn if it didn't mean she was always busy. And being that busy was getting in the way of enjoying her 'promise of tomorrows' with Neve.
Still. A hero’s work was never done. At least she had her other members of the Veilguard to keep her company as they plodded through the ass end of Thedas eradicating the last vestiges of the Blight. Even if they teased her mercilessly over her ‘pining sighs’ as Harding put it.
“You just need to fuck.” Taash had bluntly offered one night around a fire, shrugging. It was easy for them to say that. When Harding was right there to kiss and cuddle with all night. Rook had flipped them off, and they’d all had a laugh about it. But it wasn’t like they were wrong.
So Rook had pushed through the depressing and exhausting work and then pointedly did not report back to Evka that she was done. There were other Wardens, after all. And Rook was tired. And missed her girlfriend.
So she’d resolved to just send a message to Evka in a week or so, and not a moment sooner. Evka would understand, surely.
Which was how Rook had packed a small bag of clothing and essentials and had waltzed through the Eluvian in the Shadow Dragon’s hideout, her armor and weapons only a formality. She had zero intentions of doing any fighting this week. She’d sent word to Neve the day before, through Tarquin, that she’d be coming, so she hoped that Neve would be waiting for her.
And she’d stopped at Hal’s stall to get some food for them to share while they caught up. It was perfect. It was great. Rook would be showered in affection and attention and it would be like the last few weeks hadn’t happened.
At least, that had been the plan.
That plan quickly went sideways when she walked into Neve’s office and she saw the wall that Neve used to plot out leads and cases absolutely covered in notes and red string. And then there was Neve herself, hair a tad on the greasy side, muttering curses under her breath into a coffee mug. She looked like hell. Rook could see her note sitting unopened on the large desk, nearly buried under loose papers and open books.
She could feel that little slice of peace slipping from her fingers in an instant.
Still. She was here. She could at least make sure Neve was eating.
Rook cleared her throat, holding the skewered fish in her hands up as an offering, and waited for Neve to turn.
She waited a while, in fact. And Neve did not turn.
“Erm…” Rook called out, “Neve?”
It was only when she heard her name that Neve spun around, shock on her face. Maker, the circles under her eyes had circles. But Rook couldn’t help but thrill at the way the corners of her eyes crinkled and Neve’s lips turned up in that secret smile for her.
“Well, isn’t this a surprise?” Neve gingerly placed her mug, one of several littered around the office, on the only clear place on the desk, and sauntered over to Rook, “You know, bribery is usually frowned upon for folks in my line of work.”
Rook grinned, pulling the hand that Neve was reaching for back and above her head, wiggling the fish a little tauntingly, “Well, in that case, I’ll just have to eat these both. Can’t be caught trying to corrupt the Neve Gallus, after all.”
“Ha!” Neve barked out a laugh, but leaned in, arm reaching up to take Rook’s wrist in her hand. “Well, perhaps I could let it slide, just this once,” She murmured, lips so close to Rook’s she could taste the stale coffee on her breath, “When such a handsome stranger brings me food.”
“Heh, is that s-” Rook wanted to preen a bit but Neve cut her off with a kiss, stealing her words and thoughts away with a simple press of their lips together. Call Rook simple, but she was weak to Neve. And maybe Neve was still trickier than her, because as Rook lowered her arm to move to wrap around Neve’s waist, Neve snatched the fish out of her hand and stepped back from the kiss in one smooth motion.
“That’s better.” Neve leaned against the desk now, a smirk on her face as she took a bite from the fish with a sigh, “Thank you, Rook.”
“You’re welcome?” Rook was still standing there like an idiot with her own fish for a few moments before Neve tapped the space next to her against the desk and she stumbled over to lean next to her.
“So what brings you to Docktown? Darkspawn?” Neve asked, entwining their fingers together between them.
“You, actually,” Rook bumped Neve’s shoulder, “I had sent word yesterday but…” She flickered her eyes back to her note on the other side of the desk, “Looks like you hadn’t gotten to it?”
“Shit,” Neve wrinkled her nose, “Tarquin came with something. But I was in the middle of a breakthrough so I told him I’d read it later.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. “I suppose I lost track of time.”
“It looks like.” Rook looked out at the wall in front of her, unable to make heads or tails of it all, “Must be quite the case to have stumped you.”
“I am not stumped.” Neve huffed, “I just need to look at it from a different angle. That’s all.”
“Riiiight,” Rook nodded, pressing a kiss to Neve’s cheek, “Eat your lunch. Maybe that’ll help.”
“Rook,” Neve’s voice was already contrite, her eyes soft, “I can’t really take a break right now. I’m so close to a breakthrough.”
“It’s fine,” Rook soothed, even though she was fighting hard to stop her disappointment from showing on her face, “I showed up without warning.”
“Well, no warning I saw,” Neve amended, finishing off her fish with a small chuckle.
“No, but not enough to give you time to, y’know, make time for me.” Rook squeezed their joined hands, “It’s fine. I’m free for a while yet. I can just hang out and help.” She let her eyes roam the room, “Maybe clean up some of these mugs? And the clothes? How long has it been since you’ve had a chance to…?”
“Some questions are best left unanswered, Trouble,” Neve shook her head, “But I would appreciate that. Really.” The small smile on Neve’s face was making Rook’s stomach do funny flips, and the softness in those eyes was enough to do Rook in. She would do anything Neve asked, really, if she asked looking like this.
Which was how Rook spent most of the afternoon making use of the tiny washroom and kitchen to clean the piles of mugs and dishes and to wash the few sets of clothing that Neve brought to the office to work in.
“How long have you been wearing those clothes, love?” Rook asked, as she was gathering all the clothes draped over chairs and bookcases.
Neve sniffed at the collar of her shirt and winced, “Too long, probably. But it’s my last set and I don’t have anything else.”
“I’ve got some extra clothes, if you don’t mind them being a little big.” Rook gestured over to her pack, “Take your pick.”
“My my,” Neve walked over to the bag and crouched, rifling through it with a mild curiosity, “You came prepared. Planning to spend the night, Trouble?”
“Oh, you know,” Rook shrugged, ambling over to her girlfriend, “I had some hopes I could steal you away to the Lighthouse but I’m a practical gal. I know my lady pretty well.”
“So you do,” Neve whispered, as she pulled one of Rook’s training tunics out of her bag, “And I see you had no intentions of being seen in public if these are any indication.”
Rook gave her a sheepish grin, tilting her head a bit, “Can’t hide anything from you, can I?”
“No,” Neve agreed, slowly standing up to stand face to face with Rook, “So it’s good you don’t try.”
“Well, I can apparently surprise you without even meaning too, so I’ve still got something,” Rook teased, watching as Neve rolled her eyes. She didn’t get to enjoy the win for very long though, as Neve quickly undid the few remaining buttons on her top and shrugged out of it with a poise that made Rook’s mouth go dry. She knew she was staring, and she knew Neve was getting a thrill out of it by the way she was staring right back as she unbuttoned her pants and shimmied out of them much slower than was necessary.
“You say you’re too busy to take a break?” Rook groaned, as Neve plunked the clothing into the pile in Rook’s arms. She took in the swathes of beautiful skin, marred in a few places by the various scars that came with their line of work, and all she wanted to do was run her lips over it and kiss every inch. She wanted to rip off the breastband covering Neve’s glorious chest and take her right then -
But then Neve was slipping the simple blue tunic over her head, and letting it drape over her loosely. She didn’t even bother with any of Rook’s pants, letting the tunic hang low across her thighs, as she casually cuffed the sleeves up to her elbows. The wide path of her neck and collarbone were exposed, and Rook realized belatedly just how potent it was to see her partner in her clothing.
She’d made a horrible mistake. And she knew Neve knew, from the way her eyes were twinkling.
“Thanks, Trouble,” She pressed a quick kiss to Rook’s cheek, and turned, swaying her hips as she went, “It’s perfect.”
This was just unfair. Rook was being punished for being a good partner by being tempted by Neve in her clothing just…existing.
“I’m gonna-I’m gonna get these cleaned.” Rook finally managed to force out, turning mechanically to go back to the washroom to beat the stains and sweat out of the clothing. And not think about Neve in the other room wearing her tunic and basically nothing else.
It was a good thing that Neve had basically been living like a wild animal for at least a week, because it kept Rook busy enough to keep her from thinking too hard about Neve in the other room, or all the things she wanted to do to her.
After all the clothes were hung up and all the plates and mugs cleaned, Rook got to work with what little food was available in the kitchen to make them something to eat. She cringed at the lack of variety, even for Neve. An almost stale loaf of bread, a bit of magically chilled meat, and some cheese and jerky. She had to imagine that Tarquin must have brought the meat, since Neve didn’t seem to have left the office at all in a couple of days.
There wasn’t much. Not even enough to put together a stew of some kind, with the lack of liquid ingredients and meager amounts of spices. All she could manage was some halfway decent toasted sandwiches, and fresh (terrible) coffee. Still, it was more than just some jerky. And that was good enough, at this point.
“Neve?” Rook poked her head back into the office proper, where Neve was lighting the oil lamps in the room with a few flicks of her wrist, “Can you eat?”
“Anyone can eat, Rook,” Neve teased, but let her eyes flutter closed as she took in a deep inhale of the smell of the sandwich, “Oh, you melted the cheese onto the bread?”
“I did what I could,” Rook walked over to her girlfriend, depositing the plate and one of the mugs into her waiting hands, “Let’s take a small break, yeah? And you can tell me about the case.”
So they sat on the floor, leaning against the desk, Neve rattling off case details with lightning speed and clarity in between bites of food and sips of coffee. Rook was more than content to sit there and bask in Neve in her element. She loved watching Neve’s mind work.
Rook had always been pretty straightforward, even as a child. Do the right thing, help people who need it, and better to ask forgiveness than permission. But Neve saw all sorts of options and ideas every time they needed to make a choice or when something went wrong. She had such a broad perspective of the world, and sometimes Rook wished she could just get into Neve’s head to have a closer look at what it was like to see the world through her beautiful mind.
“Are you even listening, Rook?” Neve asked, waving a hand in front of Rook’s dopey face.
“Huh?” Rook blinked, ears feeling warm at being caught staring, “Sorry. Yeah. Something about…um…” She fumbled for a moment, and then winced, “Sorry. I got distracted by something.”
“Oh?” Neve placed her dish off to the side, “And what’s that?”
“Well…” Rook took that as a cue to drop her own dish to the side, “Just that I have the most brilliant and beautiful woman in Thedas trying to explain things to a knucklehead like me. I got a little lost taking her all in.” She whispered softly, reaching out with a few fingertips to brush against the exposed skin of Neve’s thigh.
“Is that right?” Neve murmured on a breathless sigh, “Well, I can’t say that it isn’t nice to have such a brave hero here doing housework for me. Makes a girl like me feel…well, pretty special.”
“You are, Neve.” Rook let her whole hand rest on Neve’s thigh now, pushing the edge of her tunic up bit by bit, “I’d do a whole heck of a lot more than washing dishes and clothing for you.”
“I know.” Neve leaned closer to Rook, her own hand reaching out now to cup Rook’s jaw gingerly. Her thumb swiped lazy stripes across Rook’s cheek, her eyes gazing at her with such affection that Rook felt breathless. “And I appreciate it.”
“Not that I do it for a reward, but…” Rook leaned into the touch on her cheek, nuzzling into the open hand as she pushed a little closer to Neve’s face, “I have been patient all day.”
“And what sort of payment does a hero like you ask for, anyways?” Neve played along, arching her eyebrow in mock seriousness, even as she leaned up and tilted her head in preparation for more.
“Oh…a kiss from Neve Gallus would be plenty, I think.”
“I see…” Neve’s eyes fluttered closed as she let the hand on Rook’s cheek card back into her hair and pulled her down further, “Well…just this once…is okay…”
Rook took her time. Savored the moment. It wasn’t every day you had Neve Gallus waiting on your next move with bated breath, after all. The first kiss was soft, gentle, not quite tentative, but probing. How much would be too much? Would Neve back off right away to get back to work, her resolve firm? Or would she give in and let Rook sweep her off her feet for an hour or so before getting back to it.
It was the second kiss, the one that Neve pulled her into, that was full of heat and want. As if finally the dams had broken and the two of them remembered it had been weeks since they’d been able to be together. It was hot, desperate. Neve’s teeth clicked with Rook’s, a whimper escaping her lips as she pressed forward for more.
More.
Rook was more than happy to oblige. Especially with the quickly blooming tension curling in her gut. It took barely any effort at all to pull Neve up into her lap, the mage going more than willingly. Once she was settled, it took Neve no time at all to take what she wanted, setting her hips against Rook as best she could, and pressing hard against her. Her other hand was quick to pull at Rook’s hair, drawing her up into deeper and deeper kisses.
Rook’s hands couldn’t stop roaming. They were up against Neve’s cheek, her back, gripped tightly against her ass, sneaking up under the borrowed tunic to sweep over the delicious sea of soft skin on Neve’s stomach and back. Everywhere she touched, she left trails of heat, and left Neve shivering as she went.
She broke away from the kiss to trail her lips down Neve’s neck, relishing in each sighed ‘yes, yes, yes!’ that Neve uttered, as she nipped her way across the skin on display. The stuttered groan as she latched onto the skin right above Neve’s collarbone and sucked hard shot directly down to Rook’s groin, only egging her on to go further.
“Fuck, Neve,” Rook moaned, as Neve tugged her hair again, forcing her head back so Neve could mirror her movements and leave a trail of lovebites down her neck. Rook’s hands dug into Neve’s hips, encouraging her to move against Rook with reckless abandon. And Neve did, meeting Rook with just as much enthusiasm in her movements.
It was as Rook was reaching up with her hands to push her tunic up and off of Neve’s shoulders that suddenly Neve stopped, her hands pushing Rook into the wood of the desk. Rook looked up at Neve’s face, and took in the suddenly focused expression with a growing sense of dread.
Oh no. Not now.
“Neve?”
Neve tapped Rook’s shoulder, and Rook let her grip on Neve loosen enough for her to stumble up and out of her grasp. She didn’t even seem to care that her hair was a mess and her neck was littered in bites and bruises.
“I think I’ve got it-” Neve was just as breathless as she’d been a minute ago when she was begging for more as she plucked some papers from the wall, a triumphant grin crossing her face, “I finally had a breakthrough.” She spun around on her heel, looking down to where Rook was still sitting, disheveled on the floor, “Thank you, Trouble.”
Rook managed a grin in return, running a hand through her hair, “Happy to help?” She gingerly made her way to her feet, trying her best to ignore the way her body was begging her to pin Neve to the wall to finish what they’d started.
“Mmmm,” Neve pressed a lingering kiss on Rook’s lips, patting her cheek, “A little distraction was just what I needed apparently.” She rounded around the desk, sitting with a clean sheet of paper, “I shouldn’t be up too much longer.” She cast Rook an apologetic look as she picked up her quill, “I’ll make it up to you soon?”
Rook couldn’t be mad at her, not when she made a face like that. Not when she was reaching out with a hand to take Rook’s fingers to brush a sweet kiss to her knuckles. Rook nodded, “Of course. I’ll be waiting with bated breath.”
“I’ll work all the faster knowing you’re waiting for me,” Neve breathed, pressing another kiss to Rook’s knuckles. “Now let me finish the job so I can get back to your reward soon, alright?”
How could Rook do anything but place a soft kiss on Neve’s head and shuffle over to the cot in the corner of the office to do exactly what her girlfriend asked? She could find some way to occupy herself for a little longer, surely. Then they’d have all the time in the world.