Telanadas

19

Author's Note: A NSFW chapter has been omitted here, so if you feel like reading that, you can find it on Archive of Our Own or tumblr. Otherwise, here is a perfectly T-rated chapter to finish the story :)

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Some immeasurable time afterward they lie in a tangle of arms and legs, a stray bit of blanket caught between and under them. The smell of sweat and sex permeates the room, but where it might have bothered him before, Sasuke is surprised to find he does not mind.

He surprises himself even more when he is the one to break the silence.

"That was...unexpected," he ventures.

Sakura giggles, pushing herself up onto her elbow. "Really? All the foreplay up on the mountain and you think it's unexpected?"

"Foreplay?" he repeats, the meaning of the word not connecting to anything they have done before this. He takes a moment to understand to what she is referring. The realisation that Sakura has been as affected by watching him in battle as he was by her makes him smirk. "If that is the case, I am surprised you did not have your way with me the night we met."

"I didn't think it would be well-received," she replies dryly, and they both know she's right. She sighs, and curls into him, legs twining around his own. "Mmmm, your fingers. I've been imagining what those could do when they're not stringing a bow..."

Sasuke makes a face at the lewd tone but experiences a distant curiosity as to what his fingers might accomplish in the future.

Supposing there is one.

He dislikes speaking about such matters, but there is a world of complication that might ensue if they do not. Still, he is not sure the best way to raise the matter. Sakura is usually the more direct about these things, and yet she seems more content right now to trace invisible patterns across his chest and arms with her index finger.

He is tempted to let her.

But the sooner he knows the particulars of this sudden change in status, the sooner he will know if that's a possibility.

"This is likely an unwise course of action," he points out after several minutes of reluctant attempts to speak. "You have a Blight to stop. Distraction is not helpful at the moment."

"Well, if I'm distracting you, you're not as focussed a man as you pretend to be," she teases. "For shame, oh great Dalish warrior."

He shoots her an annoyed look out of the corner of his eye, making her laugh and sigh.

"I want to be happy," she mumbles, "while we can. It won't be easy, ending the Blight, destroying the archdemon...not to mention whatever political shitfest we get caught up in while doing it. It's likely one or both of us could end up dead before it's all over."

"I thought you were an optimist."

"I am...but I also believe in having a backup plan. Any dwarf who grew up casteless would," she tells him. "I aim to enjoy myself however I can until the big dust-up." She trails her hand down his chest. "And enjoy you."

Sasuke frowns at this. "So, this is...enjoyment."

That implication bothers him more than it should.

"You sound unsure. But I'm confident there was some enjoyment on your end," she purrs.

"That is not in question," he dismisses. "I would, however, question what significance our joining has to you. What is this meant to be?"

She goes tense.

"This is...whatever you want it to be," she says, but he catches a cautious note in her voice. "I realise that you have...commitments that may be at odds with anything I might want."