"Good morning," Yelena said, awake first for once. The thin mattress dipped as she turned to leave, but a hand over her own paused the movement.
Kate rolled over sleepily, saying, "good morning, my princess. How did you sleep?"
"Well, thanks to you."
Kate smiled lightly, though it dropped as Yelena tried to stand. "Can't we stay like this forever? Just us?"
"I wish, my knight, it would be much easier." Yelena kissed the forehead of the other woman, then finally stood, stretching her arms high. "Rise and shine, Kate Bishop. Today we set out for Asgard."
"Are you ready?"
"I don't have a choice."
At that, Yelena made her way outside, where Bucky and Sam were already hard at work, packing food, tents, and various other supplies into sacks before loading them onto a few sturdy horses. Wanda sat on a hand carved stool outside the stable, perplexed as she studied a map.
"Wanda the navigator," Yelena greeted, "how far is Asgard from here, anyway?"
Wanda frowned. "Wish I knew. This map may as well be in another language."
"Ooh, are we planning our route?" Peter asked excitedly as he bounded over, several knapsacks hanging from his torso. "Lemme see."
Wanda obliged, amused at the enthusiasm from the boy. "What do you think?"
"I think... we should definitely go west!"
"I... thanks, Peter," Yelena chuckled, snatching the map back. Peter nodded sincerely, then made his way over to assist his mentors in loading the horses. "He reminds me of a young Kate."
"Yeah? That a good thing?" Wanda asked, once again puzzling over the parchment.
"Yes, I think it is. Naïve, but well intentioned. Charming."
"Hm. Last I knew, you and Kate weren't on great terms."
"Well, near death changes things. She's saved my life, more than once. She's really... grown up," Yelena said, eyes lighting up as Kate emerged from her cottage across the way, once again donning full armor and weapons.
Wanda looked up to follow Yelena's gaze. "Pick your jaw up off the floor, Lena. Seems to me Kate is still pretty naïve. You look at her like that and she thinks nothing of it."
"Look at her like what?"
"Nothing, nothing."
"Have any of you ever been to Asgard?" Peter asked loudly, and Bucky massaged his temples.
"No," the group responded, answering the question for a second time.
Bucky and Sam shared a look before Sam sighed, saying, "fine, the kid rides with me. Wanda, you good riding with Bucky?"
The woman nodded, and with Bucky's help mounted the sleek brown steed. Peter hopped up behind Sam on a slate gray horse, and Kate stepped up to the pair's trusty black horse, quirking an eyebrow at Yelena in challenge.
"You want to ride in front for a little?" The knight asked, and at Kate's smirk, the princess agreed. How could she resist having Kate behind her, guiding every pull of the reins, arms wrapped firmly around her waist. As the party set out, Bucky warned it would be a lengthy ride, maybe two full days, but with Kate so close, Yelena did not mind.
Riding like this, encapsulated in between Kate's arms, the princess felt oddly safe. The paths the group traversed were wild and often perilous, with steep foothills and dense forest, but Yelena felt shielded from the world in the fold of Kate's metallic armor. The knight sensed this as Yelena relaxed more and more over the first portions of the journey, eventually becoming so lax that the whole of her body weight leaned back against the brunette. Of course, Kate did not mind, happy to provide security and shelter from the elements.
Despite the danger, the journey to Asgard was captivatingly beautiful. Kate, living near the border for six years, heard many stories of the kingdom which seemed to flow with milk and honey. While Galon boasted gorgeous green spaces- meadows, forests, moss and grass near flowing rivers, Asgard was much more golden. Fields of shimmering wheat, trees seemingly paused in eternal autumn, soft yellows and orange hues in the leaves. This kingdom radiated warmth, and Kate hoped their ruler, King Thor, was similarly receptive.
"This place reminds me of you," Kate whispered to Yelena as the party traveled through a particularly stunning field of yellow and red wildflowers.
"How so?" Yelena wondered.
"Golden, warm, smooth as honey. Simply beautiful."
"Yeah? Well, Galon reminds me of you."
"Why, my princess?"
"It's home."
Finally, after nearly a full day of travel, Sam halted his horse, picking out a swath of grass with decent tree cover to set up camp for the evening. The group divvied up jobs, with Wanda and Peter constructing tents, Sam and Bucky tending to the horses, and the two younger women tasked with finding firewood. Kate pulled a small hand axe from her bag and set out, Yelena by her side.
"You gonna let me chop a tree?" The blonde asked, eyeing how Kate's hands wielded the tool skillfully, as she did with most weapons.
"I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Why not?" Yelena asked, feigning offense. She tugged up one loose still of her still too large button up, flexing. "I've got muscle!"
"Yep, you've got an arm, alright."
"Thank you for not taking off your chest plate just to flex right now. You're saving some of my pride."
"You've got pride to spare, Yelena. I think you'll be alright."
Kate stopped her stroll at a nearly dead tree, scoping it out. With a shrug, she chopped, swinging with swift precision. After a few goes, the wood finally cracked at the base and fell to the forest floor, and Kate hauled the skinny log under one arm, turning for camp.
"What if we didn't go back right away?" Yelena proposed, placing a hand on Kate's shoulder. "I don't know, let's explore? Just for a little?"
"You're just trying to get away from Peter for a bit, aren't you?"
"Maybe."
Kate agreed, and the pair decided to make a loop around camp, scoping the perimeter, rather than travel a straight path back. This turned out to not be the brightest idea from the two, as a steep incline crept up in the forest floor and Kate found herself huffing as she drug her log. As much as she enjoyed Yelena's company in the canopy of warm toned trees, the exertion was enough to urge her to turn back. She was about to voice this when she rounded a bend, and the incline dropped gently back down, leaving a plush, wheat hued hill.
"Yelena, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Kate said, eyeing the hill with a twinkle in her brown eyes.
"Don't think I am," she responded earnestly, scratching her head.
"I'm gonna roll the log down the hill. We'll be right next to camp, and I won't even have to carry this the whole way. I'm a genius."
Yelena stepped back as Kate giggled like a child, beaming as she rolled her log down the hill, watching it bounce as it struck a bump and eventually stop safely.
"I think that log had the right idea," Kate said seriously, giving Yelena a look.
"What, you want to roll down the hill? Kate Bishop, you are a kid."
"It'll be fun, though!" She said before promptly lying down, arms crossed across her chest, and letting inertia do its job. Yelena shook her head playfully at the other woman. Leave it to Kate Bishop to bring levity to an otherwise morose week. "You coming?" Kate asked from the bottom.
"I don't have armor!" Yelena said, though she held no reservations as she tucked and rolled after Kate, who stopped her momentum at the valley of the hill, turning over once more. Kate hovered overtop the blonde, hands on either side of her head, smiling broadly. Yelena could only chuckle, captivated by the way strands of Kate's hair hung down over her shoulders. She reached out to twirl a strand around her finger; it was so soft, so flowing compared to the hard edges of her face, the metallic contours of her armor.
"What is it?" Kate asked, almost nervous. From Kate's perspective, Yelena seemed like mother nature incarnate. Her golden hair blending in with the fallen leaves on the woodland floor, her hazel eyes speckled like drops of honey in the ocean, her lips as full and pink as a blooming flower.
Kate caught herself staring at these lips a little too long, leaning in a little too close, until Yelena locked eyes with her, intense and hooded, and said, boldly and lowly, "kiss me, Kate Bishop. I know you've wanted to."
"Yes, my princess." The command was all Kate needed to close the distance, finally meeting Yelena urgently, desperately. Calloused hands cupped the princess's cheeks, drawing her up off the ground and into her lap. Yelena kissed the knight back in fervor, hands tangled in black waves. After a moment, Yelena reluctantly came up for air, though Kate continually peppered smaller kisses along the woman's cheeks, her jaw, her neck...
"I've opened the floodgates," Yelena said, barely coherent, every sense consumed by the other woman. "You're not gonna be able to keep your hands off of me now, are you?"
"As if I had before," Kate said, hands roaming Yelena's body as if to ensure she was really there, really hers. "You're so beautiful."
"So are you, Kate," Yelena replied, relishing the attention. "So are you."
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Touchy Kate is the best Kate. How are we feeling about this chapter?
Okay, another random question. Favorite MCU film and favorite MCU show? Mine would be CATWS and WandaVision hands down.
