31 kiss prompt for a simple clown?? ;w;
31. kiss at dusk
“They’re going to wonder where we’ve gone,” Ellinor says—no louder than a murmur, the woods they’re traveling through silent as the dead as it is.
Cullen grunts behind her. “They know where we’ve gone. To gather wood.”
A master of nuance as always, she thinks, rolling her eyes, and she stops walking.
Cullen immediately walks into her, nearly knocking her over.
“Maker’s breath, Ellinor!” he sputters, grabbing hold of her though she’s caught her balance on her own, and perhaps it’s his stability that needs a little help, she thinks, bracing them both. “You can’t just—I nearly pushed you.”
She ignores him, smiling slyly. “I meant that given the time we’ve been gone and the time of night, they’ll probably think we’ve slipped off for more than firewood, Cullen.”
Indeed, the skies have darkened enough above them to hold only the last remaining dusty blues of daylight, and under the cover of trees where they walk, quite a ways away now from their camp, it’s become fairly dark. Pity. She’s sure she’s made him blush, and with the satisfaction of the very thought in her mind, she begins walking again.
Firewood. They’ve been strolling quietly for nearly a half-hour and she’s collected nothing. Even Cullen only holds a few measly sticks, clearly distracted by something. Perhaps her company, if she’s so willing to flatter herself.
“If they think,” he starts, and she can hear the leaves crunching with his every step behind her, “or rather—if you think—that I’d ever dare take you in cold damp leaves and underbrush in the Frostbacks, then I have to say I’m quite wounded, Lin.”
She snorts. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“I’m afraid I lost it somewhere in the thrilling bygone years of my youth.”
“Perhaps I can help you find it.”
“Perhaps you can help me find firewood,” he counters, “for us and our friends. So that we can head back to camp sooner than later where it’s safe.”
She rolls her eyes, picking up a couple twigs from the ground. “We’re not unsafe out here. You’ve got your sword and I have my knives.”
“Ellinor—” he warns, but she ignores him.
“There’s Inquisition presence in these woods already. What are we going to run into? A couple fennecs?”
She can’t see him, but oh, somehow she can still feel him rolling his eyes at her. “It’s the dark, Ellinor,” he clarifies. “I can barely see where I’m walking. We haven’t got a torch. If we stay out much longer, we’ll lose our way. Or trip on a branch and break our legs, or fall into some sort of—ravine, or something—or—”
She stops abruptly, another tease ready on the tip of her tongue when he slams into her again—this time knocking her well off her feet and sending her falling into the brush.
He lands on top of her.
“Ellinor!” he gasps, scrambling for purchase and touching her arms, her shoulders, searching for her face. “Oh, Maker, Ellinor, I—I’m so—are you all right? I—“
She bursts into laughter. “Cullen!” she giggles, covering her mouth first, she knows he feels awful and yet it’s so funny, and she slips one hand between them to clutch her stomach from the laughter pains.
“Ellinor,” he admonishes her, trying to get up but she yanks him down by the fur of his mantle. “It’s not—”
“It is funny!” she insists. It’s cold in the snowy mess of leaves and twigs, but she can’t stop laughing.
In the dim light, she can see his frown. “But you’ll get your clothes all wet.”
“Worth it, just to hear the utter horror in your voice when you realized what you did,” she tells him. “And anyway, now you make it up to me.”
“How—” he starts, stopping when he realizes. “Ellinor...”
“Kiss me in the bushes, coward,” she teases. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”
“Ellinor—”
“Cullen.”
Sighing, shaking his head the entire time, he leans down into her slowly, kissing her softly, but I’ll make it worth his while she thinks, cupping his cold cheeks and twisting her fingers into his hair. “See? This is nice.”
She kisses him deeper, nothing but the soft sound of the wind rustling the leaves filling the woods around them, and he sighs.
“Hm,” he hums appreciatively. “You may have a point.”
