Just a quick one-shot of Frea and (F) Dovahkiin, as requested by my lady.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: TES is not mine.

Elisa Donis, Archmage of the College in Winterhold, Dragonborn, the fearless fiery breton, Bane of Alduin, Slayer of Miraak, Hero of the Dawnguard was afraid to knock on the door. It was a plainly crafted door, stout and wooden, with broad carvings along the edges. There was nothing at all special about the door itself, though the person who owned it was another matter entirely. All day Elissa had been working up the courage to knock on this door, going over what she would say, how she would say it. To put herself at ease she had idly lit a den of Rieklings on fire - these days battles acted as an exercise in distraction.

"Are you going to knock sometime this year?" Serana drawled, arms crossed, a cloaked shadow hovering to Elissa's right, "I may have been trapped in a stone cage for centuries, but contrary to popular belief I don't have the patience of Sithis."

Casting a glare over her shoulder, Elissa growled, "I don't pay you to mock me, Serana."

"You don't pay me at all," Serana's lips quirked into an impish grin, "But mock you I shall."

Elissa grumbled, then shuffled her feet, toeing at the snow, which crackled with a thick top layer of ice.

"Relax," Serana said, voice gentler now, "Don't worry so much. It'll be fine. Just as we rehearsed."

"We didn't rehearse you being here watching," Elissa pointed out.

"Oh, no. You're not getting rid of me that easily. Romantic comedies require audiences. It is known." And in a swirling flurry of bat's wings, she reappeared atop Frea's roof, perched like a bird of prey, hands clutching the eaves, "Now knock, or I'll do it for you."

Taking a deep breath, Elissa steeled herself, then raised her hand and knocked.

A shuffling and the sound of boots, the click of metal, and the door opened, revealing Frea in her carved Nordic armor. She glanced at who was at her door, disturbing her peace, and her face softened imperceptibly, "Good evening, Skaal-Friend."

"Hi!" Elissa greeted, overly cheery, "Want to come with me to Skyrim?"

Frea just stared at her, "What?"

From the roof Serana hissed, "That's not what we rehearsed."

"Tell your vampire friend to get off my house," Frea added. It was said without any hint of venom or reproach, only an exasperated acceptance. Indeed that seemed to sum up Frea's and Serana's entire relationship. The Skaal woman in no way judged nor reviled Serana for what she was; she accepted the Dragonborn's companion as a vampire with barely a shrug. The first time Serana and Frea had interacted, the two had been following Elissa into the temple of Miraak. Frea had cocked her head and asked with a perfectly straight face, "You look worried. What's eating at you, vampire."

To which Serana had simply blinked, then turned to Elissa and said, "I like her. She's funny. Can we keep her?"

With a cat-like grace Serana leapt down from the rooftop, shrugging apologetically at Frea, who rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Elissa, "I can't go with you; my place is here with my people."

"You can trust me. I saved your life, remember?" Elissa pointed out.

To the side Serana brought her hand to her face, "Nothing says romance like reminding a woman she owes you her life. Smooth."

"Romance?" Frea looked taken aback at the thought.

"Uh...Well…" Elissa cast around for something to say, but all that came out of her mouth was soft-headed stuttering.

By Julianos, she was the Archmage of Winterhold! She had traversed Apocrypha, read the black books of knowledge and the Oghma Infinium, all the while managing to nimbly escape Hermaeus Mora's legendary voracity! If she could summon two simultaneous atronachs and a raging firestorm, she surely she could summon enough courage to speak.

Granted, this particular woman she had somehow managed to fall madly in love with during their travels across Solstheim together. Serana always teased her for wearing her heart on her sleeve, but this time felt distinctly different.

"What Serana meant to say was adventure," Elissa managed lamely, inwardly grimacing, "I mean, you always spoke about wanting to be a hunter of chieftan. Then why not come adventuring? You could do all those things and more to me. With. With me," she corrected herself with a nervous laugh, rubbing at the back of her neck and finding it clammy with a sheen of thin sweat. It was quite literally freezing outside - a fact Serana never failed to grumble about - and here Elissa was sweating away like a sow at a butcher's shop.

Yet adventure was a topic Frea actually might find herself enticed by. Elissa herself had always longed for adventure, even despite her small size, which both Frea and Serana mocked her for. Damn these Nords and their towering heights! Petite even for a Breton, Elissa had nevertheless always harbored quite the temper. As a child she had been prone to fits, in which her magical talent manifested itself to devastating effect, forcing her to seek training in the magical arts at an early age. Yet something within her had always yearned for the sword, the battle, the thrill of the hunt.

She must have appeared ridiculous to the likes of Frea, who had been raised in the harsh reaches of Solstheim by men such as Stor and Skaf the Giant. In comparison Elissa was positively wheedy, perennially leafing through tomes, etching runes in the earth with the tip of a finger that crackled with lightning, crowing with delight and child-like glee when discovering a new conjuration method, constanting trailing scrolls, robes clinking with glass vials, her hands tinged green and smelling of strange herbs. What was she thinking even propositioning someone like Frea? This was hopeless. This was preposterous. She should just cast an invisibility spell and Wuld her way right back to Skyrim. She should-

Before she could turn tail and run, Elissa found herself being grabbed by the front of her robes and jerked forward. Panic seared through her. Arkay have mercy, Frea was going to -

-kiss her?

Short, heavy and warm, the kiss lasted just a brief moment. Then Frea was smoothing out the rumpled folds of Elissa's robes, her gloved hands surprisingly gentle, "Sorry," she began, not looking sorry at all, "but I could see your mind churning away, doing funny things to yourself as usual, and that was only way I could think to stop you from doing something you'd regret."

Exhaling a breath she had not known she'd been holding in a frosty stream of air, Elissa gaped, "Th-Thank you."

On the sidelines Serana sighed heavily and shook her head, "The bards are going to have a field day writing songs about this romance. I can tell."

But Frea and Elissa ignored her.

"You said something about adventure?" Frea asked, leaving her hands resting comfortably on Elissa's shoulders as they stood close together, flurries of snow cascading around them.

"Yeah," Elissa grinned, "You want to join us? Just for a bit, I mean."

A warm smile graced the shaman's fair features, "I think i could take an extended vacation for a little adventure. But my people will be expecting me back at some point."

"I would hate disappoint them."