A/N: Hi all, it’s been awhile since I wrote one of my fantasy mage elf Irene and human warrior Seulgi stories, but also why not. I enjoy writing them and if there are any others that enjoy reading them then that’s just an extra bonus :) If not then that’s also okay too. But please enjoy a cute and sweet oneshot, and of course there will be more of these because again why not, you can find more of these as they are also a part of another series I have most are not related, thanks so much!

Night would fall soon and Seulgi knew that Irene was tired. No matter how much her mage tried to protest that she wasn’t. The pair had only been on the road for hours now, and there didn’t seem to be any sign of a town in sight. The warrior stopped walking and turned around. 

“She’s exhausted…” Seulgi frowns in concern. Irene normally keeps up well with her, and this is the first time in a long time where the mage is a good distance away from her. Now, Seulgi wishes she would have stopped sooner instead of letting Irene convince her she was fine. Seulgi walked back toward her and placed a gloved hand onto a pale cheek. Almost immediately purple eyes focused onto the human before her.

“What’s wrong, why did you stop?” 

“You are exhausted.”

The elven mage huffed in annoyance. She wasn’t exhausted, and how dare her human suggest otherwise. “I am not, your legs are just longer than mine. You can cover more ground than I can.”

Seulgi smiled. Now there was the fiery spirit of the woman she loved so very much. Even as tired as Irene was she still could fight back. “I was taller than you yesterday and you were right by my side. It’s okay to admit you are tired, Irene.”

“I…” The mage stops. Alright, so she currently wasn’t at her best. They have been on the road for hours and unlike previous journeys there are no signs of a town. Unlike her warrior she doesn’t really have the same kind of stamina. “You’re right, I am tired.”

“I know. I'm sorry for not suggesting that we stop sooner.”

“That’s alright. I would have just told you that I wasn’t tired anyway.” Irene slipped her hand into the human’s larger one. Now that her warrior stood in front of her. There was no reason why she could not hold Seulgi’s hand. For a moment she ran her fingers over Seulgi’s gloved knuckles. Thinking about all the times they have held hands and still the mage feels those same warm feelings. Like it’s the very first time all over again.

“You are stubborn.” 

Seulgi’s voice is full of affection when she says this. The gaze in her monolid eyes is just as warm to the point that the elf knows she is probably blushing. It amazes the mage how easily the warrior can make her blush. Not that Irene would admit it. Not even to Seulgi.

“We should find somewhere to camp.” Seulgi says with a kiss to her cheek. “It’ll be night soon.”

They didn’t want to be walking around in the dark. They would need to find a suitable place to set camp. Good thing the two of them are used to sleeping outdoors. Though it would have been nice to find a town, because a nice inn or tavern with a room for rent would be more appealing than a camp ground now. However, adventurers such as themselves would make it work.

“Stay close.” The human smiles and squeezes her elf’s hand. Irene smiles back.

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

The mage didn’t need any excuse to stay close to the warrior. Sometimes for no reason at all she would find a reason to stick close to Seulgi. If they were walking in towns or like now in quiet forests. With their goal in mind to set up camp before nightfall. The pair walked faster, and even though Irene felt like she might collapse. She had Seulgi holding her hand the entire time or rather her human bent down and carried her upon her back.

“What are you doing?” Irene laughs as she is lifted up onto Seulgi’s back like it’s nothing. The mage supposes it is nothing for Seulgi. She has seen firsthand how physically strong the woman is. Sometimes sparring with men both taller and twice the size of her and often winning. 

“It will be faster now. Besides, you know you enjoy being carried this way.”

Irene could not deny this. There is something that does feel good about being carried in this way. Irene thinks it might have something to do with the fact she can wrap her arms around Seulgi’s broad shoulders. There’s also close proximity to her face where she could plant a kiss or two without any problems. Plus, it didn’t hurt having a free ride instead of walking. Seulgi wasn’t wrong in the sense that it was faster. They were able to make it to a suitable spot perfect to set up camp.

“The lake isn’t too far either.” Seulgi mentions when she carefully sets her mage down. The lake was a short walk’s distance from where they had chosen to set up camp, an ideal spot to camp. They didn’t have to go far for water and high enough ground to notice any danger that might come. Together they started setting up the tent and unpacking their supplies for the night.

“I’ll get a fire going.” The human mentions and is about to head off to collect firewood. Only before Seulgi can actually get anywhere, Irene gently taps her shoulder and with her left hand shows off tiny flames.

“You keep forgetting that I am a mage.”

Seulgi smiles and carefully pats the elf’s head before running her fingers through dark locks. 

“I didn’t forget. Maybe, I just wanted to impress you with my wood chopping skills.”

“You are very impressive with your wood chopping skills, sweetheart, most impressive.” Irene eyes her up and down in a way that has the warrior feeling like the elf is undressing her with her eyes. The look in her eyes is one of such intensity, a familiar intensity that the human has grown used to. Particularly, when they are alone in more intimate embraces.

“But it’s okay. I can handle the campfire tonight. The sooner we get one going the better for us.”
 

Irene had a point. They needed fire and the sooner they had it the better it would be. Seulgi set up a small patch of ground to safely contain Irene’s mage fire. Next, Irene sets a small fire into the ground. With fire being taken care of for the night they take to finish setting up. Which is distracting because someone decided they just had to have kisses now and couldn’t wait.

“Seulgi.” The elf laughs in between her human’s kisses. “I thought you were going to start on dinner, hm?”

“I couldn’t help myself. Your lips are so very…” Seulgi pauses and leans in for another kiss. “Addictive.” 

“Well, when you put it that way.” Irene smiles into her warrior’s soft lips and deepens their kiss. She couldn’t resist Seulgi’s lips anymore than the human could resist hers. Even to this day, Irene will never forget those feelings of how it felt to share a first kiss with Seulgi. Sure, the mage had wondered. Perhaps even fantasized about the warrior, and if her lips were as soft as they looked. She wondered about how they would feel against hers, and would she feel all those exciting sparks like she had read about in human novels from time to time. And in short, once they shared their first kiss after holding back feelings from one another for so long. There had been no going back for either woman. 

They could afford to take a brief moment to enjoy one another. Irene has half a mind to drag Seulgi into the tent now. But just as she’s going in for another kiss there’s a sudden growling sound.

“S-Sorry…” The mage looks embarrassed with pale cheeks turning a healthy shade of red. It has been awhile since the last time they ate. Seulgi smiles and affectionately pats her stomach.

“I’m sorry. I should be starting on dinner anyways. There will be time for kisses later.”

“I know, but I’m not sorry for getting your kisses ahead of time.”

“Neither am I.”

Seulgi would not turn down a moment of Irene’s kisses. Dinner could wait a little while longer. Luckily, the human planned ahead for such things and in a separate knapsack there was an assortment of different fruits. Pears, grapes, and apples. She reached into the knapsack and offered her mage one of the fresh red apples. Lately, Irene has been enjoying apples more than any other fruit followed by grapes. Seulgi makes sure to have a variety of fruits anyway to give Irene a choice.

“Here you go. Something to hold you over for now.”

“Oh thank you, my love.” Irene smiles and happily grabs the bright red apple from her human’s hand. Lately, Irene has been addicted to apples more than any other fruit. She does appreciate how thoughtful Seulgi is.

“You love apples more than me, I think.” 

“That’s….not true.” She denies with eyes focused on the apple before her. Not even looking at Seulgi while she says this. The warrior chuckles and gently runs her fingers through dark locks. Her mage can be the cutest thing to her, in moments like this, and in the next minute quite scary like whenever they are in battle. It’s a fascinating concept to Seulgi indeed.

“That’s alright. I know you love me.”

Seulgi leaves a kiss on her forehead and now Irene is happily munching on her preferred snack. It’s one less distraction for the warrior, because really she needs to start on dinner. Otherwise, they will have a nice warm tent to sleep in. But nothing warm and satisfying to eat.

“Okay…” Seulgi checks their supply bag. Filled with various vegetables, like potatoes, carrots, and a pouch of fresh herbs that the warrior purchased the last time they were in a market. There was a loaf of bread too, that had been freshly baked when first bought, and though not as warm it still was edible. And would no doubt go great with a stew. Seulgi wondered if there was time to run down to the lake and catch a few fresh fish to go with their meal. Well, they’d have nothing if she didn’t start now, and so she got to work slicing the vegetables, and transferring the contents to the cooking pot.

She couldn’t have been doing any of that very long, at least not in her opinion when she saw Irene coming back from the lake with four cod fish.

“How in the world?” Seulgi whispers and chuckles. 

“I wanted to be helpful, and I also might have been craving fish right now. Thankfully we are so close to a lake, no?” The woman smiles in such a way that lights up her entire face.

“Yes, thankfully. These look great, we can have them with the stew I’m making. You’re a lifesaver as always, Irene.”

“I am a bit of a lifesaver.” The elf might have said it in a confident manner. She even looked the part too with that dazzling smile of hers, but in truth it’s Irene who has always felt like the human has been the lifesaver of the two of them. Sure, she might have magic at her disposal and it had certainly gotten them out of plenty of situations. However, magic didn’t help with knowing how to hunt, set up a proper camp, or even cook to an extent. Though, Irene is sure she can use her magic to aid with certain aspects of cooking. She finds herself simply fascinated by Seulgi and those quote-on-quote mundane things the human says she’s capable of.

Those mundane things have saved their lives more times than Irene can count since they began their travels together. 

“Is there anything I can do?” Irene wonders. She didn’t like feeling so useless. She never really liked feeling like she couldn’t help. Even if it was in some small way. It felt better to be able to do something.

“You don’t have…” Seulgi pauses, as she notices the look in the dark-haired woman’s eyes. Irene wanted to help and she didn’t want Seulgi to feel as if she had to do everything. The last thing the warrior wanted was to make her mage feel bad, and so she told her exactly how she could help.

“How about you season our fish. I bought some fresh herbs from the last town we were in so they should make everything taste even better.”

“Alright, love. That I can do, you cook them though because I’ll just burn it. I’m afraid I’m not as good as you when it comes to cooking.”

“That’s not true. You just need more practice.”

Irene does appreciate how sweet Seulgi is about her cooking skills, or rather lack of cooking skills. In truth, Irene never really had to learn how to cook. There were village elders and grandmotherly like figures amongst her clan that always cooked, so she never did starve. Irene also supposed she never had much interest in domestic chores. Preferring to perfect her magic, and other useful skills such as herbology. In that sense, she could admit the two of them made a good team. Balancing one another out in ways that they knew they’d not find with any other people.

“Be that as it may.” Irene does agree that she certainly could use more practice with cooking. Now was not the time, unless they wished to go to bed hungry. “We don’t want to starve tonight, so let’s leave the cooking practice for another time. Alright, my love?” She affectionately caresses a tanned cheek, and Seulgi leans into the warm touch of the woman she loves.

“You’re right. I should finish up so we can eat before the sun rises.”

Seeing as how she could not help but so much with the actual cooking. Irene did as Seulgi suggested and used the fresh herbs to season the fish so all Seulgi had to do was grill them. From the smells of the stew in the pot, it would probably be done soon, and Irene looked forward to dinner looking up at the stars with the woman she loved.

“You know,” Irene begins as she hands over the now seasoned fish. “You never did tell me where we were heading.”

It dawned on the mage that she didn’t actually know what the current mission was. For the most part, she never interferes when Seulgi is talking to the other humans. Partly, because most humans still make her uncomfortable, and it’s easier to let her human do the talking for lack of better words. 

“Oh, didn’t I?” Seulgi’s smile gives off the aura of someone who knows something, and Irene is suddenly curious. More so than she ever was.

“We’re not going to fight in a secret mission, are we? Because you know I’m not wearing the right battle armor.”
 

Her comment makes Seulgi laugh. She always did find Irene to be the funniest person, though the other woman would disagree with that statement.

“No, you’d be fine. You’d destroy anyone in battle with your fancy magic.”

“True, but the right battle armor never hurt anyone. So, are we going on a secret mission or….”

“No, no…” Seulgi assures and leans over to kiss her forehead in an attempt to calm Irene down. There is a very good reason why Seulgi isn’t explaining where they’re headed. It’s not exactly a surprise if she goes on and ruins it beforehand. Besides that she knows it’s not easy to surprise Irene. She has tried on previous occasions to surprise her with small gifts of items she liked, such as her favorite purple lilies, or chocolates. All of which had been discovered by her mage before Seulgi could even blink. No, the best way to go about this was to simply keep quiet until they reached their destination.

“Then what’s the big secret, hm?” Irene wasn’t really all that concerned about getting Seulgi to tell her the truth. Her warrior was in truth not a good liar. That and Seulgi never really kept things from her in the first place.

“It’s meant to be a surprise.” The monolid woman smiles and takes a moment to prepare a bowl of the finished stew for Irene to eat first. The elf thanks her and gently takes the bowl. She is surely starving at this point, and the smell of this stew, along with the fish is almost enough to make her forget about questioning Seulgi.  

Almost….

“Oh, a surprise. You’re sure this isn’t some task for a minor lord, or collecting a rare artifact?”

Seulgi just shakes her head and hands over one of the perfectly grilled fish. “No, no random mission for a minor lord, or getting lost in a cave looking for a magical sword this time.” She mentions one of their most recent adventures. It brings a small smile to the mage’s face as she has quite fond memories of getting lost in that cave.

“That was the only time I didn’t mind being lost in a cave. You really do have the best body heat.”

“Ah…” now, the human appears slightly embarrassed with red cheeks. It doesn’t help that Irene is looking at her with that all too familiar intense look, as she speaks about that time they were lost in a cave. The way they preoccupied their time by staying huddled close in the particularly cold areas to keep warm. The warrior does remember a lot of kisses too. Now, it’s all she can think about and when she catches the way her mage is looking at her this time. Seulgi does snap out of it.

“Hey, if you think you’re going to distract me with fond memories so I can tell you what the surprise is, then you’re sadly mistaken.”

“Aww,” the purple-eyed woman pouts in an adorable way. But it doesn’t stop her from starting on her stew. Seulgi chuckles softly. Of course, it will be food first and questions later, as it should be. They had been on the road for a while without a real rest break. At least now they could enjoy dinner under the beautiful stars. That’s one of the things the human did like about sleeping outside. Sure, the inns and taverns were a lot more comfortable. Still, there was nothing like that beautiful night sky full of stars, sitting beside the one person who mattered most to her. Besides, they were strong adventurers too. They could certainly tough it out in any sort of condition, because they had. Whether it was stormy weather, snow, and heat to name a few not so pleasant conditions to camp in.

“Don’t worry, by tomorrow all will be answered. You just have to trust me, Irene.”

“You know I trust you, Seulgi.” It’s said in a soft, yet thoughtful manner. In truth, if someone had told Irene that it would be a human she’d feel so connected to, and build such an unshakeable bond with. The elf would have not found such a thing possible, because from what she’s always heard about humans. They were a cruel race, and her clan had only worked with a select few when absolutely necessary. However, Seulgi wasn’t like most humans, that much Irene knew. 

She had never met a more