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At some point during their inhabitance of the house, either Cooper or Anders had elected to install a hammock.
It was a brightly woven tapestry made of a thin, light material--linen she thought--and big enough for the both of the men together. Not too close to the tiny house, just one bedroom and comfortable enough for two people, the hammock was strung up between two trees that boasted large, verdant leaves. Right on the private little beach as well, close enough that it was easy to hear the crash of waves from the Rialto Bay.
Bethany made a mental note to thank her brother when they returned to the Free Marches. Not only for the foresight to install the hammock, but also their insistence on keeping the little house when they’d moved back closer to home. A vacation property, Coop had suggested, and he’d laughed when he’d said it too because the thought of such a thing would have been absurd to them when they were still living on the farm in Lothering.
A lot of things would have seemed absurd to them all those years ago, that a family of farmers would return to their ancestral home and not only become nobility, but rich enough and esteemed enough to afford something as luxurious as a vacation home .
And yet here she was. Not only enjoying a vacation, and a hammock, but doing so with her wife.
Genesis was curled up in the hammock beside her, her dark skin cast in a golden glow from the mage lights that hovered and flickered above them, and back pressed against the curving edge of the fabric. Bethany couldn’t help but marvel at the woman, the way her rich black hair pooled and curled around her head, or the soft press of her lashes against her cheeks. In this moment, half asleep and utterly relaxed the woman looked so… soft and warm .
There was a languid, gentle peace to Gen, a much needed change of pace from the busy chaos of their lives in Kirkwall. There was always something to do for the First Enchanter, and it was especially exciting and vigorous given the new commands sent down from Divine Victoria. Things weren’t much better for her Guard-Corporal either; even as Varric and Hayden’s return to Kirkwall invigorated the repair efforts in the city there were still enough people displaced that the worst of society needed to prey on them.
It was nice to get away, even if only for a little while.
So Bethany let her wife relax, dozing lazily in the gentle sway as a stray breeze pushed some of her hair across her cheek. The mage instinctively reached over to tuck it back behind her ear, letting the pads of her fingertips trail featherlight across the sharp contour of Gen’s cheek bones. Unable to help herself, discontent with simply looking , her fingers followed the line of the strong, square jaw that she’d been immediately enamored with, tapering down to the point of her wife’s chin.
She could see the way Gen’s eyebrows pulled together at the sensation, confusion dragged across a weary sort of bliss, though she still refused to open her eyes. Not that Bethany was complaining, mind, because as much as she loved the woman’s dark brown eyes, the sight of her in such a state of contentment filled her chest with warmth.
So she continued her careful exploration, spending a dutiful amount of time tracing the outline of plush, wine stained, lips before letting her hands skate down the sun-warm skin of Gen’s muscled shoulder and arm, years of wielding a sword and shield doing wonders for an already strong figure. Eventually Bethany found her wife’s hand, fingers interlacing as she brought it up to press a kiss against the glittering pink of the dawnstone band that was normally kept on a chain around her neck.
Without the risk of damage her job typically afforded, Genesis had opted to slip the ring back onto the finger. Just so nobody has any doubts. And then she’d winked at Bethany, given her the cheeky smile with just a hint of tooth that had sent the mage into a flustered mess the first time she’d seen it over a decade ago.
“Hmm…” Gen moaned, eyes fluttering open with a curve of her lips. “Bethy.”
“Genesis.” She let it fall off her lips like a prayer, this name her wife had chosen, filled with as much love as she could possibly manage.
“You make it very hard to nap, my best beloved.” Gen scolded, though the start of her smile had grown into a teasing grin. “As though you haven’t had enough of dragging me through every Rivaini market stall today.”
They had been shopping , and Bethany had made it her mission to drape her wife in nothing but the finest--and most airy--fabrics they could find. Even now she was wearing one of the light seersucker dresses they’d picked out, patterned in bold florals against a white background. It was an opportunity to lavish her partner that Bethany couldn’t pass up on--Gen was usually relegated to her thick plate armor or practical clothing, it was nice to see her have the opportunity to dress up.
“Only the very finest things for you.” Bethany insisted with a slight shake of her head.
Genesis didn’t answer, though her smile widened even more. The rays of the setting sun washed over the pair of them bathing everything in a honeyed light that sent ripples of bronze swimming across her skin. It made the warrior glow, an ethereal figure in the summery air that stole the breath in Bethany’s lungs, gripping the heart in her chest, leaving her utterly in awe.
“What are you thinking about?” Genesis tilted her head ever so slightly, knees bumping lightly against her own.
Bethany paused a moment before letting their legs slot together. “I was just thinking about how beautiful you are. Moments like this, I’m struck by how the Maker must have felt when he first noticed Andraste.”
“ Bethany! ” Her name came out as a high pitched whine, Genesis stifling embarrassed giggles as she hid her face in her hands.
Brown eyes peered over her fingertips. “That’s so gay.”
Bethany couldn’t help her laughter, couldn’t help herself as she pulled her wife’s hands away and pressing kisses against each of the scarred knuckles. “Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but I am married to a woman.”
“Embarrassing!” She insisted.
“Maybe.” The mage acquiesced, straining forward to kiss her nose. “But I can’t help it. You’re beautiful.”
She punctuated the thought again with a kiss to Gen’s lips, light and fleeting lest she get distracted. And again, as her attention drifted down across that razor sharp cheekbone, and again as she followed down the line of her jaw to the column of her throat. She lingered there, feeling the warrior’s pulse jump and flutter as she trailed hot, open mouth kisses across the length, nipping and nibbling across her adam’s apple before working back up to nuzzle against the junction of her shoulder.
“Stoooop.” Her complaints were contradicted by the way Genesis pulled her closer, fingers tangling in her hair.
Bethany smiled against the sun-warmed skin, drinking in the tropical scent of her wife, the feeling of their skin sliding against one another. “Do you want to go swimming?”
“Hn? Really? Right now?” The other woman protested, pulling back slightly.
Bethany smirked, impish and playful as she rolled over onto her back. “Yes, right now. The sun is starting to set, and look, the water is starting to glow!”
They’d noticed it the first night they’d come to the cottage; when the waves would crash against the shore they’d light up with a bright blue spark almost like mage fire. It wasn’t magic, she knew that much, and the thought of such a phenomenon being caused by the natural world had amazed the both of them. Bethany suspected that her brother would have some explanation for it--there was no way he’d have lived with this for all that time without figuring it out, but she would ask him about that later.
At the moment, however, the effect of it was enough.
“I’ll even carry you.” The mage promised, and that was enough to have her wife perking.
“Just like a princess in one of those goofy books you like to read?” Gen teased, as though she wasn’t just as guilty of reading them.
“And none of them can ever compare to the real thing.” Bethany assured her, feet landing in the soft sand as she pushed herself up.
Genesis reached out for her without hesitation, no concern as Bethany fit one arm beneath her knees. The warrior would sometimes get self-conscious about her stature, her size, though it was less often than before. Not that it mattered; though Bethany lacked the same physical strength as her partner she still had her magic. And as long as she had her magic, Gen was weightless in her arms.
“I love you, First Enchanter Hawke.” She beamed, tucking her head under Bethany’s chin as her legs kicked ever so slightly in the air.
She pressed another kiss against the top of her wife’s head, glancing down at the way the water lit up around each step as they got deeper into the water. “And I love you, Guard-Corporal Hawke.”
It was like something out of a fairy-tale she thought, though not even Varric’s writing could ever come close to reality.