Work Text:
Shadowheart groaned as she sat up, the throes of passion having melted away from her with her last orgasm. The fires of desire had burnt down to a comfortably smoldering warmth; satisfaction. Lae’zel was one of few people to ever properly satisfy her, though it involved quite a bit more exertion than she was used to. Biting, choking, nipping, wrestling; an hour with her was like a fight to the death, only with a much more pleasurable outcome.
The half-elf glanced over at her partner, who was leaning against a nearby tree, staring out over the lake. The campfire had waned to a dull glow, their companion’s peaceful slumber a mere whisper on the night breeze. Though it was humiliating at first, Shadowheart was ultimately glad that her and Lae’zel’s affair was out in the open. Perhaps there was some jealousy among their companions, but she wasn’t sure from whom or why.
She couldn’t imagine Gale or Wyll being in love with the Gith, and she had really hoped to come across as enough of a basket case to make them want to keep her at arm’s length. If any of the men at camp were going to go after someone it was Tav. She was pretty, likable, normal; everything Shadowheart and Lae’zel weren’t.
Except pretty, of course. Shadowheart thought errantly, studying her lover’s rather beautiful face and interesting physique. To say Githyanki had pleasing figures would’ve been an overstatement, but it wasn’t ugly by any means. Their muscles were just… different. Banded, corded, strong; alien, but in a way Shadowheart had gotten strangely comfortable with.
“Do you remember the promise you made me the other day?”
“Chk! What nonsense are you bringing up now?”
“So, that’s a no.” Shadowheart smiled, “I’m hurt.”
“If it were worthy of remembrance, I would have remembered it.” Lae’zel glared at her, “If I promised to protect you with my life in battle, I would have remembered. I do not remember swearing so momentous an oath, so-”
“Does it ever get tiring, being so…” Shadowheart thought for a moment, “Gith all the time?”
Lae’zel rolled her eyes, but seemed to get the point. She allowed her shoulders to go slack, her body growing just a touch… tired. Weary. Mortal. “What is this promise you speak of, Shadowheart?”
She trudged back towards the cleric, who reclined on the bedroll in as casually enticing a way as possible. Nothing major, nothing that could get her accused of trying; just a bit of eyelash-batting, a bit of finger dancing, a twist of the hips here and there. It was the kind of casual seduction one mastered in a Sharran temple.
“You promised to cuddle afterwards.” Shadowheart said, letting herself sound a bit sheepish.
“Chk!” Lae’zel rolled her eyes again, “A waste of time and energy! If we are to be effective in combat, we should go our separate ways and sleep! Now is the time to rest our bodies, Sharite, not beset each other like mad kruthiks!”
For a moment, Shadowheart was silent as she digested what the Gith said.
She pushed her tongue into her cheek, then ran it along her teeth.
“What in Shar’s name do you think cuddling is?” she asked, finally.
“Do not condescend to me, Shadowheart!” Lae’zel snapped, crossing her arms even tighter, “I know well what it is! I am surprised an istik like you has any knowledge of such an act, though. Of all Githyanki customs, to think that that is what has reached your realm and been absorbed into its culture is… baffling.”
“You’re trying to tell me cuddling is a Githyanki invention?” Shadowheart wielded the condescension like a greatsword now, letting her mouth hang open as the arrogant question dripped from her lips like black honey.
“It is a Githyanki word!” Lae’zel snapped, “Now, listen. I have no interest in ku’tling with you, Shadowheart. I must save my strength for the battles that lie ahead. If you need something to take your aggression out on, I suggest finding a-”
“You really are hopeless, aren’t you?” Shadowheart sighed, cavernously, “How about I ask a different way, hm? Would you mind coming over here and lying down next to me?”
“Are you truly not satiated?”
“Not in a certain way, no.” Shadowheart patted the bedroll, “Come, come.”
“Do not call me as if I am some loyal pet.”
“In that case, I would suggest you come and lie down immediately, before I give you a nickname and offer you belly rubs.” Shadowheart smiled at her, cutely, “Now are you coming or-”
“Tas’ki! Fine.” Lae’zel walked over and dropped to her hands and knees before crawling up to be level with Shadowheart. She rolled onto her back, staring up at the sky as if the stars themselves annoyed her, finally shooting the cleric a rigidly expectant look, “Well? If you try to ku’tl me, I will not hold back against you.”
“Oh? Is that a promise?” Shadowheart let herself drop onto her side, before scooching over and pressing herself to Lae’zel’s. Her arm went across the woman’s chest, the Gith’s eyes flaring wide as she was hugged.
“What is-?!”
“It’s called ‘cuddling’. C-u-d-d-l-i-n-g. It’s a bit like sex, sort of, but there’s no fingering or licking or… hair-pulling or name-calling or anything like that. Just lying here.”
“What is the point?”
“To feel good.”
“This is meant to feel good?” Lae’zel glanced down at her.
“Doesn’t it?”
The Gith bit her lip, causing Shadowheart to smile. She got the feeling the momentary lack of an answer was a pretty good answer, but she still wanted to make her lover say it.
“Am I allowed to fall asleep?” Lae’zel asked.
“If you want.” Shadowheart mumbled, “Lie on your side, please. Facing me.”
“Why?”
Shadowheart turned over to face away from the Gith, Lae’zel propping herself up on an elbow but not assuming proper ‘big spoon’ position. The cleric scooched backwards to press against her, hoping that would give her the idea, but of course it didn’t. Instead, the Gith just placed a hand on her hip, which was nice in its own way, but not nearly enough.
“Because I asked you nicely?”
“What is the point of this activity? There is no release to be had!” Lae’zel growled, “There is no heat to taste, no passion to savor, nothing! What is the purpose?”
“I already told you.” Shadowheart glared back at her, a bit too tired to be truly annoyed, “It feels nice! Now if you’ll just trust me, maybe you’ll see that.”
She bumped the Gith’s arm with hers, not hard enough to knock it out from under her, but enough for her to get the point. Lae’zel glared at her before finally lying on her side. Shadowheart didn’t waste a second, wriggling back into the warrior woman’s chest, grabbing one of her arms, and wrapping it around her.
“Just hold me like this for awhile.”
“Why?”
“So that nobody else can get me.”
“It is the middle of the night and we are in the middle of a forest. What rivals do you think I have to compete-”
“Do you have to take things so bloody literally all the time?” Shadowheart mumbled, sleepily.
“You have a habit of speaking in riddles.” Lae’zel countered, “If you would speak more directly for a change, perhaps I wouldn’t-”
“You’re holding me.” Shadowheart murmured, feeling the Gith’s arm hug her to her chest, “Why is that?”
“Because…” Lae’zel trailed off.
It was clear she drew a blank, because she was silent for a few seconds.
“Hm?” Shadowheart breathed, just managing to stave off sleep to torment the Gith a little bit more, “What was that? Because…? Why?”
“You truly wish to psychoanalyze me right now, istik?”
“Yes.”
“Chk! Fine. Because…” Lae’zel’s voice trailed off again. She bit her lip. Shadowheart smiled as she felt hot, short breaths play at her neck, and felt the Gith squirm a bit behind her. Lying there, held in her arms, she was strangely happy. Strangely satisfied. Strangely… safe.
“We can table it for now.” Shadowheart murmured, “You know you’re playing an important role, don’t you?” she turned a bit, though still couldn’t quite see Lae’zel, “It’s called the ‘big spoon’. And I’m the ‘little spoon’.”
“What istik nonsense is this?”
“Because we’re ‘spooning’.”
“I thought we were ‘cuddling’.”
“It’s both. Spooning is just a position. Cuddling is the action.” she thought for a moment, “It’s like how… ‘sitting on your face’ is the position, and ‘sex’ is the action.”
“Why is it called ‘spooning’?”
“Because we look like two spoons,” Shadowheart cupped her hands, “pressed together.”
“In that sense it could be called ‘forking’.” Lae’zel growled, as if offended by how spurned forks were, “If it comes down to mere shapes alone, many metaphors would be suitable. Scimitars. Sickles. Not to mention, there is a considerable amount of the spoon that is not curved. Why not call it ‘bowling’? Or ‘dishing’?” she hugged Shadowheart tighter, “Why are your metaphors so crude and simplistic?”
“Because we’re bad at them.” Shadowheart mumbled.
Lae’zel fell silent as she thought this over, though Shadowheart was too comfortable to really care about anything. Sleep swept into her mind again and again like a night breeze, the world fading to silent blackness over and over, until she was pulled awake by Lae’zel’s voice.
“Are you asleep?”
“No.” Shadowheart shifted a little, “If I were, would you leave?”
“Somehow I doubt I would be able to escape without waking you.” Lae’zel grumbled.
“‘Escape’?” Shadowheart took the woman’s hand and squeezed it, “I’m hurt. A lot of people would bend over backward for this kind of opportunity.”
“An unimpressive feat. Displaying a middling amount of agility and flexibility should earn you precisely nothing. If doing so was all it took to earn this-”
“‘Earn’?”
“-then your standards are woefully low.”
“How dare you.” Shadowheart murmured, inspecting her lover’s hand, “I’ll have you know my standards are unreasonably high and entirely arbitrary, as well they should be.”
“And I meet them all?”
“No. But you met other standards.”
“Oh? And which ones are those?” Lae’zel hissed, clearly feeling slighted. She propped herself up on an elbow to gaze down at Shadowheart, watching as the cleric’s soft lips twisted into a smile.
“The standards that let me lower my other standards,” Shadowheart turned to her, eyes crinkled with mischief, “and let me fuck a kainyank like you without feeling too bad about it.”
Lae’zel bent down and kissed her without warning, catching Shadowheart by deeply warm, soft, comfortable surprise. The cleric melted into the kiss and let it become her whole world, before it was slowly, decadently plucked away from her.
“You wish to know why I hold you so?” Lae’zel breathed, staring into her eyes, “I have my answer.”
“Do you, now?”
“I do.”
Shadowheart felt her heart skip a beat as she stared up into the woman’s eyes, suddenly feeling a strange gravity in her words. Lae’zel stared down at her with a look hardened by resolve, but softened by warmth. There was more to it than just putting on a tough face, being serious, being kind; it was genuine in a way Shadowheart had never seen before. And the way she spoke lent an import to her words that made her rabid to hear them.
“What…?” Shadowheart whispered, her heart pounding.
What was she going to say?!
Did Lae’zel actually love-
“You are warm.”
Shadowheart froze, her eyes wide.
“...What?”
“Your body is warm. It is a pleasant comfort on a cold night like-” the Gith trailed off, confused, “What is that look for?”
“What look?”
“You look as if you wish to rip my spine out through my mouth.” Lae’zel’s eyes narrowed, “I invite you to try it, istik.”
“Gods, you are impossible.” Shadowheart fell back onto her side, pressed herself to Lae’zel, screwed her eyes shut, and tried to push the funny thoughts from her head, “Just shut up and cuddle me, would you?”
“Fine.”