Au where Elena is chopping firewood while Josie pelts her with a snowball (bonus points for innuendo)
So I went modern AU as well because why the hell not ;) Elena is a butt and Josie is cute and I want to cry. That’s all you need to know ;)
A Helping Hand
Pairing: Josephine Montilyet / Elena TrevelyanRating: SFW (General) Word Count: 1823 words
It was far too cold to be chopping wood and Elena knew it. She had never even chopped much wood before, but of course she had foolishly told the others that she had some experience and thus here she was, in the snow, freezing herself to death. When she had agreed to go to the Cousland log cabin with Elsa and the others, she hadn’t anticipated that this would be happening.
Stopping for a moment, Elena placed the axe down and shook her arms out. They were beginning to ache and she hadn’t been doing this for very long at all. God, Elsa better have a large bath in that oversized cabin of hers, or else Elena was going to be exceedingly grumpy for the rest of the trip.
“Are you alright? Why did you stop?”
Elena looked up, scoffing slightly as she saw Josephine sat on a nearby tree stump. She was bundled up in a great deal of layers, her hands rubbing together through exquisite fur trimmed mittens and still shivering slightly in the snow.
“You know, Josephine? When you said you would come and help me, I anticipated you actually doing something!” Elena chuckled, crossing her arms and arching an eyebrow at her friend. “Or did you simply come here to watch me chop wood? I can assure you, the view would be better if I were not covered in clothing.”
“I am helping!”
“Oh, really?”
“Someone has to supervise, to ensure that you do not hurt yourself,” Josephine replied, smiling slyly. “I am here for a good reason, I can assure you.”
“Hmm? And this has nothing to do with the way you’ve been watching me bend over to get more wood? I am not blind, Josie.”
“I was not!” Josephine exclaimed, her eyes widening as her cheeks flushed with warmth. “That is absolutely preposterous!”
“I’m not angry, Josie,” Elena chuckled, placing her hands on her hips and smirking down at her. “I always enjoy making you flustered. Tell me, is it the actual act of bending over, or have you been thinking of what my arms look like under this jacket? Perhaps it’s both?”
“Elena, stop it.”
“I will take that as it being both. You know, if you want to see, all you have to do is ask,” Elena purred, taking a few steps towards Josephine. “I think I’d quite enjoy showing you all the benefits of my arms.”
Josephine ducked her head slightly, looking down at the snow before smiling slyly and looking up at Elena. The blonde tilted her head curiously, stopping in her tracks at the sight of that smile. Josephine’s smiles were many, from diplomatic to genuine to this one that simply spelt some form of trouble was going to befall Elena.
Before she could act, Josephine quickly scooped up a clump of snow from behind her and launched it quickly at Elena’s head. The snowball hit her before she could react, smacking her in the forehead and spraying the cold substance all over her hair.
“Ugh! It’s freezing! Josephine!” Elena cried out, tousling her hair so try to get most of the snow out.
“I wanted to show you the benefits of my arms, Elena. Did you not enjoy it?” Josephine asked innocently, even with that smile still quirking at her lips.
Chuckling, Elena stooped down and picked up a handful of snow. She was about to fling it back when another snowball hit her on the shoulder, startling her.
“Oh, this means war now!” Elena said, scooping up more snow and throwing the snowball with as much force as she could muster.
Josephine shrieked as it hit her, sending clumps of snow beneath her coat and onto the skin below. The woman jumped up, her teeth gritted as she shook herself at the cold that seemed to be trickling down her body. Elena couldn’t help but laugh then, closing some of the distance between them.
“Do you yield?” Elena asked, laughing as she picked out the remnants of the snow in Josephine’s hair.
“It’s… so… cold!”
“I could always help you warm up?” Elena said, smirking as she tucked a strand of hair behind Josephine’s ear, allowing her fingertips to linger for a moment.
Josephine looked up at Elena then, her hazel eyes searching hers before dropping slowly to her lips. They had been doing this for some time, or at least, Elena had. There was something thrilling about seeing the way Josephine would blush at a single comment, or the way she would find her looking at her lips whenever they were close. Smiling, Elena reached out her other arm, wrapping it around Josephine’s waist and pulling her against her.
A small content sigh left Josephine’s lips, even as the woman looked up at her, trying to conceal the warm smile that seemed to be at the corners of her lips. Elena merely winked at her and smiled, enjoying the way the woman quickly adverted her eyes and bit her lip.
“Must you always try to bring a blush to my cheeks?”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“I… no. I mean… we should probably… I do not know if…”
“If you are so indecisive, then I will let go,” Elena said, moving to unwrap her arms from around Josephine.
“No!” the woman exclaimed, wrapping her arms rightly around her waist. “I mean… this is rather warm and I do not wish to move. Thank you, this was very kind of you.”
“Mhmm,” Elena chuckled, moving her other hand to cup Josephine’s cheek and encourage her to look at her. “There’s no need to thank me, Josephine. I would do it time and time again, such a gracious woman deserves nothing less.”
“There you go again… Elena, I…” Josephine sighed, her eyes flickering to her lips once more.
“Have I ever told you how completely beautiful and interesting I find you, Josephine?”
“Occasionally… but I never know what to make of it.”
“Then may I show you?” Elena purred, as she leant in closer to Josephine.
“Yes…” Josephine gasped, as Elena’s hand slipped behind her neck, her fingers stroking softly against her skin.
Smirking slightly, Elena moved forward, kissing Josephine softly. It was meant to be a tease, a bait that Josephine seemed to seize quickly as she pulled Elena closer, a small sigh passing between their lips as she seemed to relax in Elena’s hold. It had been months leading up to this and yet it was all happening so quickly. Elena’s heart skipped slightly in her chest as Josephine cupped her cheek, twisting her stomach until it felt as if it had erupted in butterflies. She had not anticipated this to feel so lovely, as nothing else had felt quite like this before.
The cold and the snow that had once been all Elena could think about seemed to melt away in her mind as she pulled Josephine closer, moaning softly at the softness of her lips and tongue against her. It was like heaven and the thought scared Elena a little. She had hoped that it would be the same as with the others, that she would feel that fire burning in the pit of her stomach, urging her to give into wild passion and caresses and touches that would send their minds spinning. Yet, the fire this time seemed to burn in her chest, her heart reaching out and trying to claim Josephine within a simple kiss.
Quickly, she broke away, gasping for breath as she still held Josephine close to her. She watched as the smaller woman opened her eyes slowly, a content smile spreading across her face as she looked up at her through her eyelashes. It was an expression that sent her heart into a frenzy again and she could not help but claim her lips again, this time more forcefully.
She had completely forgotten about the tree stump that Josephine had been sitting on until she felt them lose their balance and heard Josie shriek slightly. Without thinking, Elena rolled herself, clutching Josephine close as they toppled to the floor and Elena fell onto her back with a thump. She groaned as pain seared for a moment in her back before it died down, mostly thanks to the snow that had broken her fall.
“Elena! Are you alright?” Josephine asked, scrambling to her feet and offering a hand to Elena.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Elena replied, hissing slightly as she sat up and an ache pulsed through her shoulder. “Fuck, that was embarrassing.”
“I’m sorry, I tripped…” Josephine said, her face twisting in concern. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I’m positive, Josephine, stop fussing,” Elena chuckled, as she finally took Josephine’s hand and stood up. “I hope I actually managed to break your fall?”
“Yes… thank you.”
“Good, then that’s all that matters,” Elena said, trying to ignore how completely smitten she sounded in that moment.
Screwing her eyes shut, Elena took a deep breath in, trying to reign in all the emotions that had erupted in that one kiss.
“Perhaps we should return. We can say that you fell and ask Elsa or Leliana to come collect the wood?” Josephine asked, cupping Elena’s cheek gently and leaning up to place a chaste kiss upon her lips.
Elena nodded, wincing slightly as her hip protested slightly when she walked. It was a small pain, but an infuriating one and there was no way she could carry the wood back without making it worse. Josephine merely smiled at her, reaching down and taking her hand. She squeezed it gently and Elena could not help but smile at the contact. There were certainly worse ways to make a fool of herself, she was certain.
“Shall we? Before anyone comes to find us and we have to explain what actually happened,” Elena chuckled.
“Do you not want them to know? They are our friends…” Josephine said, her voice tinged with sadness.
Elena sighed, running her free hand through her hair.
“I don’t need to hide anything from them, but saying I kissed you so hard that we fell over might be a little embarrassing to tell them straight away?”
“Do you not want them knowing how clumsy you’ve gotten around me?” Josephine laughed, her eyes lighting up.
“Shush.”
“Very well, we can tell them you kissed me and then you fell. Is that better for you?”
“Much.”
“Good, now shall we hurry? It’s far too cold to stay out here for a second longer.”
Elena allowed herself to be tugged away as Josephine made her way back to the cabin. Her eyes drifted to where their hands were clasped together and she had to stop herself from smiling. Just then, Josephine looked over her shoulder, smiling at Elena sweetly before she blushed and faced forward again, making it even harder for Elena to keep a straight face. Oh she was screwed. She was most definitely screwed.
