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“Do you ever feel like we should stop doing this?” The words seem to tumble out of her mouth of their own accord.
Isabela is getting dressed on the other side of the bed, her back turned. She seems to pause for a fraction of a second as she pulls on her tunic. Getting up from the bed, she crosses to where her boots lay discarded and begins pulling them on.
The more the answer delays, the more Serena regrets asking. She doesn’t know why she asked in the first place. Her ears feel stupidly hot, the flush spreading to her face and neck—she can only hope it isn’t noticeable in the firelight.
“Do you want to stop?” Isabela asks over her shoulder—it isn’t an answer, but it’s… something. Her hands stop at her thighs and Serena finds it difficult to forget how those thighs felt beneath her fingers mere moments ago. Maker, she feels like a fool.
Serena gets up from the bed, her robe almost unfastening, but she tugs it back into place. She walks to where Isabela is now tying her blue sash around her waist.
“I only ask because of what I said”. She does not elaborate; she doesn’t have to. Isabela’s eyes seem to lose some of their mirth, almost turn defensive. It was stupid of her to bring up feelings—love—their first time together. Serena regretted it because of how Isabela left that night and the nights after that, but Serena had learned to be nothing but honest.
“You say a lot of things, Hawke,” Isabela says and her lips curl into a smirk, the spark in her eyes returning. “I stop paying attention after a while”. She turns to the mirror to fix the bandana in her messy hair and Serena recalls how her fingers tangled in Isabela’s hair as they kissed.
Realising she got sufficiently distracted, Serena opens her mouth to speak, but Isabela beats her to it, speaking and moving swiftly.
“I should go. Varric’s waiting for me at the Hanged Man,” the pirate says and grabs her daggers. One last check in the mirror and she goes to head out but Serena stops her.
“Isabela—” she starts, but the woman in question crushes her lips to hers in a kiss that’s all tongue and teeth, as if she’s trying to shut her up—and she succeeds. Serena kisses her back after a second of surprise, but the kiss is hurried and never deepens. Isabela is eager to get away.
She pulls away with a smirk on her clever mouth and mischief in her eyes and leaves, not looking back even once.