Rooftop Escapade

Another Dragon Age fan-fiction short story that was written as a reward for donations during the Dragon Age Day fundraising campaign event. This one is a fluffy one.

Isabela and Bethany express their feelings for each other,
and, after a little escapade, share their first kiss.

Isabela bent forward, squinting her eyes and craning her neck to see the broken jewel in the palm of Garrett’s hand.
        ‘That’s what you dragged us all the way out here for?’ she asked.
        ‘It’ll be worth something in Darktown,’ Garrett insisted.
        Isabela exchanged a look with Bethany, who appeared to be just as bemused by her brother’s findings.
        ‘Eee-no,’ said Isabela. ‘You have fun trying to sell that; we’ll go after more valuable loot.’
        Garrett chuckled. ‘Come on. This belonged to someone, and I bet they’re willing to pay just to have it back.’
        ‘You know, Garrett,’ said Bethany, ‘you’d do well not to take such advantage of people’s misery like that.’
        ‘I am not!’ Garrett protested. Bethany crossed her arms.
        Garrett grumbled and crouched down again, rummaging through more dirt.
        The sun was coming down over the horizon across the Wounded Coast. Isabela looked towards Bethany. The purple light hit her face on the side, giving her eyes an ethereal glow. She smiled.
        Bethany shifted uneasily. ‘What?’
        ‘Oh, nothing.’
        ‘No, not nothing. Why are you looking at me like that?’ asked Bethany.
        ‘Well, it’s just the light hitting your eyes,’ Isabela replied sheepishly.
        ‘It...it doesn’t make me look ghoulish, does it?’
        ‘Why would you think anything could make you look ghoulish!’ Isabela exclaimed, suppressing a laugh.
        ‘Anders and Varric were saying...when I cast spells, my eyes go all ghoulish.’
        ‘Oh, you sweet thing, they were just teasing you.’ Isabela playfully nudged Bethany. ‘You have lovely eyes.’
        ‘You...you really think so?’ Bethany blushed.
        ‘Of course!’
        ‘And what does the light do to them then?’
        ‘It makes your eyes glow and you look like a mage who’s come from the world of dreams,’ said Isabela, trying to sound poetic.
        ‘From the Fade!’ Bethany’s eyes widened in curiosity.
        Isabela hesitated. ‘I mean, from my dreams.’
        ‘You’ve dreamt of mages with glowing eyes?’ asked Bethany, sounding hesitant, and glancing away.
        Isabela smiled, feeling herself blush. ‘You’re going to make me express it clearly, aren’t you.’
        ‘I don’t know what you’re on about?’ Bethany’s eyes darted away before meeting Isabela’s again.
        ‘What I’m trying to say, is, I guess, you’re the mage--’
        ‘AHA!’ Garrett shouted. ‘Found it!’
        Isabela deflated. ‘Found what?’
        ‘The other half of the jewel.’ Garrett looked like a child in a candy shop.
        ‘Hurray,’ Isabela said, her voice full of sarcasm.
        ‘It’s still not impressive,’ said Bethany, ‘and I doubt you’ll be able to sell it.’
        Garrett waved a hand dismissively, taking several steps away from them to examine the two halves in the setting sunlight.
        ‘Bethany,’ said Isabela, ‘you have lovely eyes, and I find you very beautiful.’
        ‘Oh!’ Bethany’s cheeks darkened. She shifted shyly.
        ‘There, I said it.’ Isabela turned her boot in the sand, unable to meet Bethany’s eyes.
        ‘You find me pretty?’ asked Bethany.
        ‘Yes,’ Isabela replied. ‘I mean, I find a lot of people pretty, but none of them garner a feeling of...wanting to spend more time with them.’
        ‘But you’ve spent so much time with so many people,’ said Bethany.
        ‘Spending the night with a concubine you’ve been lusting over is not the same as spending time with someone you care about,’ Isabela admitted. She looked up and met Bethany’s gaze. The mage’s smile sent a warm sensation through Isabela’s body.
        ‘You care about me?’ asked Bethany. Her eyes seemed to sparkle.
        ‘Yes.’ Isabela kept her gaze.
        Bethany smiled even more widely. ‘I care about you too.’ She blushed. ‘And I find you very beautiful too.’
        ‘Oh good! I mean, about the caring.’ Isabela let out an embarrassed laugh. ‘What I mean to say is, I was worried you maybe didn’t feel the same way. Well, I suspected, but until I knew for sure... And gosh, I’m normally not this nervous.’ The two women let out a small giggle.
        Bethany glanced at the ground. ‘I was hoping you’d feel that way, but since I’ve never even talked about such feelings before, I didn’t know how I might tell you. Thank you for saying it first.’
        Bethany looked down again before reaching out with her hand. Isabela smiled, taking Bethany’s hand in hers. It was warm and smooth, and Isabela gently brushed her thumb over Bethany’s palm.
        ‘Ah, excellent!’ said Garrett, arriving with a pile of oddments. He took Isabela and Bethany’s hands, pulling them out, and placed a number of items in their open palms. ‘Both hands,’ he instructed, ‘so your four hands.’
        Isabela rolled her eyes, glaring at Garrett. He bent, turning around, grabbing more of what he’d brought from the beach.
        Bethany’s eyes wandered awkwardly.
        Isabela leaned in towards her conspiratorially and whispered. ‘You want to drop this hoard and run away? I bet he wouldn’t even notice we were gone.’
        Bethany gasped. ‘We couldn’t.’
        ‘We could!’
        Bethany reflexively bit her thumbnail; some of the items dropped to the ground. She gasped in surprise. Isabela giggled.
‘I’ve never done anything like that before,’ Bethany said, fidgeting. ‘It seems so…uncouth.’
        Isabela looked over at Garrett, who was humming to himself, digging about the area, exclaiming every now and then. She looked back at Bethany and cocked her head towards Garrett.
        ‘What do you say? Run away with me?’ She let out a small laugh.
        Bethany sucked in her lips, suppressing a smile. ‘Okay,’ she whispered.
        Isabela bit her lower lip, feeling a thrill. ‘Now.’
        They dropped the hoard, and still holding hands, began to run back towards the city. They were already too far when they heard Garrett calling out to them.