Chapter Text
Myna: Are you going to be by this afternoon?
Myth: Minfilia is inssiting upon it. Something about welcoming a student of Sharlayn to help with translating the language around noon.
Myna: Can you pop in?
Myth: I can try. Everything all right?
Myna: Yes. I just think there's some information about personal matters we need to talk about.
Myth: Ominous.
Myna: Not really. It's about my heat.
Myth: And you'll not be meeting this mysterious Sharlayn with us?
Myna: I've got a couple kids on bedrest. Also I think it’s inner circle only.
Myth: Ah. Fair enough. It's not that serious?
Myna: Promise it's not. Just information you'll want. So you're not caught off guard.
Myth: And no available closets to hide in? ^_~
Myna: You're incorrigible.
Myth: Quite.
Myth: I'll be there.
Myna: Thank you, love.
Myth: piusn
Myth: How do you do that even over text?
Myna: 83c
Myna: Wouldn't you like to know?~
“Moenbryda, welcome,” Thancred says as the statuesque roegadyn enters the solar. “You're to be our linguist then?”
“Aye, that I am,” and she grins bright and fierce. “I've more than a few ideas, based on what Minfilia sent to me, and it seemed easier on security to simply come here instead of mailing things back and forth.”
“Moen!” Yda cheers. “Moen, I found a new club again~ We should go!”
“Maybe once Moenbryada's had some time to look over the Ascian language,” Papalymo says sternly. “The sooner we can understand what's being discussed, the better we can be ready to stop it.”
“I've no objections to clubbing at all,” Moenbryda says cheerfully. “We could make a weekend out of it!”
Thancred shakes his head a little, knowing full well that Moenbryda is serious. He dreads, just a little, putting her, Yda, and Selyne in the same room together; their combined energy could probably immolate any club they walk into. Not counting the rest of them...
“Did anyone inform Urianger that his old flame would be coming?” he asks quietly, leaning slightly towards Y'shtola as Yda and Moenbryda start discussing local clubs and which ones might be best. “Or perhaps think to warn Didi?”
“Tisn't til now that we knew who might answer Minfilia's request,” she points out. “Moenbryda is a surprise to us all.”
Thancred slides his communicator out of his pocket; someone should warn the elezen, because he’s pretty sure that Urianger hasn't ever discussed his former girlfriend with his current one.
“...I see thou art as energetic as always,” Urianger says as he pushes open the door. “T'was thee who answered the call, then.”
“Urianger~”
Thancred winces a little, spotting Didi just behind; out of the room, for this isn't a meeting anyone but the inner circle is involved in, but Urianger hadn't closed the door in time to avoid her ‘seeing’ Moenbryda rush to Urianger and hug him tight, easily lifting him off the floor.
The sputtering is hilarious, he won't pretend it's not, but the cool look of appraisal Didi gives the sight, and the way she turns away... oh, Urianger is likely to be in trouble later.
“Unhand me!” Urianger complains. “I am no callow youth to be carried!”
“Still as much a stick in the mud as ever,” and Moenbryda sets him back on his feet with a laugh. “Gods but it's good to see all of you.”
Urianger glances over his shoulder, and Thancred does not miss the subtle wince. But that's not his problem.
“So. Let's get into the nitty gritty so that we can get on with things before the day is through,” he suggests. “Let's review what we know of the Ascians.”
Mi'una glances over briefly and offers Thancred a small smile, but doesn't stop what she's doing as he enters the ward, and settles himself quietly in one of the chairs meant for visitors. His return smile is warm and soft, full of understanding, and a little bit of relief that piques her interest, though she first has to finish writing down how many bottles she has of this particular painkiller. Her supply count has been off lately, and she is reluctantly considering the need to ask Cid, or one of his fellows to make her a new cabinet lock.
And maybe some door locks too.
She doesn't like locking up the medication, but she won't fuel an addiction. Wean someone off it, yes, but not fuel it.
She sighs a little as she sets the inventory pad down, and drops herself into her own chair, sifting through papers.
“...had it here somewhere, I know I did... ah.”
“All right there, Myna?”
She glances up and gives him a tired smile, admittedly pleased that he's keeping his voice on the softer side. Once Alisaie arrives for the evening, she can go, but until then, letting the two sleep, or at least rest privately, is a much better option.
“I've had worse days, but I've also had better,” she admits. “Sorry, I had a printout or two for you, but it looks like my desk ate it.”
“Printouts about what?”
Mi'una rubs the tip of her nose a bit anxiously; she's talked to past partners about heats before, and it's generally an awkward conversation. It's moreso with Thancred, because of how much she loves him, and how that will affect the course of the heat itself.
Sometimes she wishes she could have been more hyur in her biology... just a little bit more. She could maybe have put up with a monthly bleeding cycle...
“My heat is coming up soon,” she says finally with a resigned sigh. “Remember how I mentioned taking time off for that because of you?”
He huffs a little in amusem*nt and nods.
“Minfilia mentioned that I'd have time off with you during that,” he replies. “I've been meaning to ask about it...”
Ah, bless Minfilia's adorable presumption.
“Are you still... that is are you comfortable with that?” she asks. “Because you don't have to.... be there for it.”
Thancred's eyebrows raise a bit in surprise, and he leans back some in his chair. Mi'una groans and puts her face in her hands.
“Sorry, this is always awkward,” she mutters. “I never know... how to explain it to non-miqo'te.”
He's silent for a moment, then chuckles.
“You're adorable when you're flustered,” he teases gently.
She spares a moment to lift her face from her hands and glare at him. He's not being patronizing, and she's not actually angry, she's just embarrassed. Thancred's eyes glimmer with amusem*nt and fond affection, and he pats the chair next to him gently.
She considers, glances over at the two curtained off beds, then sighs and goes around her desk to sit next to him.
“Heat is... straightforward. Ish. Every five to six months for me, there's a week where my sex drive goes into... overload. Basically,” and she huffs a little at the interest in his face. “I say a week, but really, there's only three days when it's likely to be... difficult.”
“If there's only three difficult days, why will you be off for a week?”
“Because it's in that week, and I never know what three days it'll be. Most of the times it's been one after another, but when I was younger it would split occasionally. And control is... hard. On those days. Don't,” she warns, seeing the glitter of humor in his eyes. “I will make you sleep on the couch next time you come over.”
She can still see him calculating the worth of it, but he keeps whatever he was about to say between his teeth, at least.
“How hard?” he asks instead.
“....if you walked in on me here and I was dealing with that, we'd probably both end up very very fired,” she says honestly. “Or at least, I would.”
Thancred blinks, leaning back in his chair a little.
“This is why I want you to be sure,” she says softly. “If it wasn't such an awkward topic, I'd say you could probably discuss it with Urianger, since he's rather in the same boat.”
“....Urianger currently has multiple problems of his own, and it is... quite the awkward topic,” Thancred agrees after a moment. “You've been here quite a while, how did you handle the-”
“I took the week off and stayed home,” she interrupts. “You know what's in that side table. They at least take the edge off.”
Not as good as an actual partner does, but better than nothing at all.
Thancred still looks more intrigued than worried, which is probably a good thing? She's not sure.
“....I would rather take that edge off myself,” and his voice is unexpectedly soft for such an intimate statement. “Would you like me to stay the week?”
“...I wouldn't turn it down,” she murmurs, twisting her hands together a little bit. “But. You don't have to...”
“I want to. It's right to be here for you.”
He's learning. It makes her smile, and helps her relax.
“...I do have some other questions,” he says after a moment, “but those will keep until it's time to leave.”
“Oh, are you going to give me a ride home today?”
“I was hoping to, if there's no objections. Perhaps take you out to eat first? I can't stay tonight, I'm afraid, but I was hoping to spend a few hours at least...”
He is getting better at this.
“I have to wait for Alisaie, or someone else to relieve me,” she says after a moment, giving him a fond smile. “That or the two in the beds to be able to make it back to their rooms.”
“Just give me a call, darling star, and your chariot shall arrive~”
Urianger knows he's in trouble. Or at least, heading for trouble. He's honestly just grateful that Moenbryda had restrained herself to just that exceptionally enthusiastic hug. If he'd known she was going to be the one to answer Minfilia’s request, he would have absolutely sat down and discussed her with Dawn.
He honestly hadn't expected to ever see Moenbryda again. Not because they had fought and broken up, but because Louisoix had told her to stay in Sharlayan, and Urianger had chosen to leave. It had been a fairly amicable break up, all told, and for the first handful of months, they had written to one another, trying to keep feelings alive.
And then things had gotten complicated. And he had met Dawn.
Dawn who was now nowhere to be found.
He could curse himself for a fool, truly. He'd considered, more than once, bringing up Moenbryda. Not in comparison to her, but just... to allow Dawn the knowledge of the first woman he'd felt strongly for. Honestly, he thinks they may well get on, once they're done circling around him like the protective forces of nature he knows them to be.
But he has never gone through with it, and now Dawn has seen an interaction he'd never expected.
He's not really upset with Moenbryda either; it is wonderful to see her. Her and her enthusiasm for life, for knowledge, and for deciphering what they've collected will be... a welcome breath of fresh air at the very least.
But he really could have used a warning.
She can't have gone far; not because she's disabled, but because she has her own duties here at the Sands, and she was only walking him to the meeting. But he's rattled enough that he can't remember what those duties are, as they change daily. Usually they are in close proximity, but... was this one of the days where they were not?
He pulls out his communicator and flips it to their private thread. Explaining over text is far too impersonal, but if nothing else, perhaps he can find out where she's hidden herself.
Urianger: Where hast thou gone?
He waits. There's plenty for him to do, but surely Minfilia will understand if he delays but a moment more... Surely she will understand if he delays to explain himself to Dawn.
Dawn: To work.
Urianger: Dawn. Please.
Dawn: Busy now, talk later.
Not good.
Urianger leans against the wall briefly and sighs. Really, this is his own fault for not saying anything, but perhaps it will come out well if he simply doesn’t press? Claiming friendship may go a long way towards easing her mind, and it’s not as if he and Moenbryda hadn’t decided to remain friends. Explaining his childhood... that might get him a reprieve.
Might.
Dawn’s moods can be fickle. He admittedly knows more about her past than she does his, and the only reason they’d connected in the first place was because she’d stolen his lunch at their very first meeting, and then laughed when he’d threatened to sue her for it.
(He’d been stupid when he was younger. No point in pretending otherwise.)
He sighs after a long moment and turns towards his office. He can no more control her than he could the ocean, and she can be just as implacable when the mood takes her. Better to let her take the time, then, and come to her own conclusion.
He’s her ride home. Surely they’ll talk before then.
Surely they will...
“And this is the dance hall!” Yda says with a gleeful flourish, pushing open the doors. “Oh! Hi Didi! Didi’s the best dancer, Moen, we should bring her clubbing too!”
Dawn straightens slowly, turning to eye the two taller women. Yda and her excitable self are nothing new, and she can easily tune in and out of the prattle--clubs, clothes, alcohol, admittedly all quite palatable--which lets her study the woman who’d bodily lifted Urianger up off the ground.
She can’t pretend it wasn’t a little funny; not many people would dare to even try. But it makes her feel funny too. Like there’s something she’s missed that she really should know.
Moen is tall, as all Roeg are; Dawn’s pretty sure she’s never met one under six feet. Her outfit suggests a casual air, her eyes are fierce in their friendliness. In a way, she puts Dawn in mind of Selyne; the hrothgar woman also had that air of friendly ferocity...
“...I like you,” Moen declares after a full minute of staring. “Want to hear embarrassing childhood stories about Urianger?~”
Dawn blinks.
“You know embarrassing childhood stories?”
“I grew up with the bloody idiot, I have a ton of them! And they’re still organizing everything they want me to look at later, so I might as well have some fun before then. I’d go along with the clubbing suggestion, but those are better at the end of the week, not the middle, aye?”
“And we have to make it a thing for everyone, or it’s not going to be as fun!” Yda chimes in.
“I’m pretty sure Y’shtola and Selyne had something to do over the weekend with Merlwyb,” Dawn says reflexively. “And don’t you have things to do Yda?”
“Oh, it’s nothing too important, and Papalymo always handles them faster than I can anyways. Oh, but it is Lyse’s birthday on Sunday, so I probably shouldn’t stay out late on a Saturday or she’ll get mad at me, and the last time she got mad at me we had to spar until she was too tired to throw a punch.”
Moen just looks amused.
“Some things never changes,” she says with fond amusem*nt. “Anyways, I’m Moenbryda. You’re Didi?”
“....Dawn. Darkest Dawn.”
“I see where the nickname came from,” and Moenbryda grins. “What do you say, quiet corner, embarrassing stories?”
Dawn considers. She doesn’t have any solo lessons today, and the group class had ended before they’d shown up. And embarrassing childhood stories about Urianger?
“All right. Let’s make some popcorn.”
Moenbryda throws her head back and laughs, and Dawn thinks that maybe, just maybe, her uncertainty is unfounded.
Thancred loves the feeling of Mi’una tucked up against his back as they zip through the city towards her apartment. He’d put forth the idea of a restaurant, but she had declined, citing a preference for ordering in cheap takeout and maybe a terrible movie or three while they snuggle on the couch.
He hopes it’s more than just snuggles. It’s always so much fun to make her writhe in pleasure. But if not, that’s fine too; just being with her, given his recent f*ckup, is blessing enough.
He has no right to her forgiveness, but she has forgiven, and he loves her so much for it.
As they roll to a stop he feels her fingers tapping against his chest, and he tips his head back to let her know he’s able to hear again.
“I’ll need to walk to the shop before we go in,” she calls over the noise of the motorcycle motor and the cars around them. “I forgot I’m low on cat food.”
He nods and flashes her a thumbs up, more than willing to carry things for her. The three beasts she calls cats will really be little beasts if they don’t get fed, and as much as he likes them, he does prefer to spend time catering to his delightful girlfriend, not her pets.
From the visitor’s parking of her apartment complex, to the store, then back, takes them maybe half an hour (because his love decided no, not cheap takeout, she wants to make something. And he’s going to help because being domestic with her is damn near intoxicating), and they each have two bags. He’d offered to carry them all, but she had refused.
Up the familiar three flights of stairs--he should move in, he really should, and then he could make this trip more than a couple times per week--to her door... and Thancred pauses with Mi’una as he spots someone hovering just beyond it. Staring.
The au ra male isn’t one of her immediate neighbors; he’s met the hrothgar couple and their adopted kids across the hall, the hyur music student, and the elezen mechanic (He was reminded a little of Cid’s semi-terrifying girlfriend Elowny, though Mi’una assures him there’s far less explosions.) that all share this section of the floor.
“Oh. Hello, Yun.”
And Mi’una’s using that tone of voice that is polite but carries an undertone of ‘not wanting to deal with this’ that puts him on edge. Thancred pointedly crowds her, just a little.
“Mi’una,” Yun says. Polite. Narrow green eyes flick from her to him. “A guest?”
“My boyfriend. Thancred, this is Yun. The landlord’s nephew.”
There’s something more to it, but he’s not going to ask while they’re in the hall. Thancred just nods politely to the au ra.
“Nice to meet you.” It’s not, not with the way Mi’una’s tailtip is twitching against his calf, but polite veneers are something he excels at. “Please excuse us, we’ve got some things that really should get into the freezer before they’re ruined.”
Yun’s glare isn’t subtle, but he turns and walks off down the hall. Mi’una lets out a quiet breath of relief as he rounds the corner, and shifts to press her head back against Thancred’s chest briefly.
“Let’s get inside and feed the cats,” she suggests. “And then you can ask me those questions you were holding in earlier, hm? Also, why is Urianger in trouble?”
Thancred snorts a little, keeping watch down the hall as she unlocks her door. He makes sure she’s inside before following, and pauses in the doorway to stare as Yun reappears from around the corner. He might not be as tall as the au ra male, but he’s well aware of how to make a point, and is more than a little pleased when Yun steps back and looks frustrated.
He steps into the apartment and closes the door, locking every lock as well as throwing the chain.
“Urianger is in trouble because his old girlfriend is our translator,” he says finally, toeing off his boots as he brings his groceries to the kitchen. “And going by the look on his face when Moenbryda greeted him enthusiastically, that’s never come up between him and Didi.”
“Oooooo,” Mi’una grimaces a little. “That does explain why she came and hid in the waiting area for a few before her dance classes. I was wondering.”
Thancred nods.
“Personally, I think Moen and Didi are going to get along like a house on fire,” he says as he starts to put things away, deftly dodging hungry cats that Mi’una proceeds to feed. “But I do wish we could have warned him, because being blindsided like that...”
Mi’una hums a little in agreement as she pushes Nori away from Mochi’s food bowl.
“No you greedy little thief, your food is here,” she scolds, amusem*nt in her voice. “They’ve been together for a while, haven’t they?”
“Since a little after Carteneau,” he replies.
“And she’s never come up before?”
“Not if the look on Didi’s face was any indication.”
Mi’una shakes her head in gentle reproof.
“Hopefully it’s something they can work out,” she says with a small sigh. “They’ve always seemed so content...”
He hums in agreement, and leans down to kiss her cheek as she comes over. She smiles and snuggles into him briefly.
“I need to change. Coming?”
“I could stand to get out of this shirt,” he admits with a grin that makes her giggle. “This summer is not being terribly polite, is it?”
“I don’t know, you shirtless is a treat for me~”
He snorts a little and leans down to give her a proper kiss. Just enough heat to make her press up against him without crossing that line if she doesn’t want to. Going by the way she curls into him after he pulls back, she is in a more cuddly frame of mind right now...
She lifts up her arms to twine around his neck, and he readily obeys the silent command, lifting her up as though she’s a princess or a bride. Someday a bride. His bride? Maybe. before turning towards the hall and her room.
“You don’t like the landlord’s nephew, I take it?” he asks idly.
Mi’una shakes her head and he glances down to see her grimace. Combine that with the way she curls into him, and he feels a wash of protectiveness go through him.
“...remember when I was telling you about my past relationships? The au ra I dated after the miqo'te lout?”
“You're joking.”
“I wish,” and she sighs in aggravation and presses her forehead to his chin. “I didn't know he was Mr. Hachimaki's nephew when I saw him in the hall a couple weeks ago. Didn't even recognize him, honestly. He had to remind me. You'd think that might clue him in, but I guess not...”
He snuggles her without really thinking about it, nudging open the door to her room with his foot and letting them both in.
“...I gather this happened during the time I was being an utter ass?” he asks wryly, shifting subtly in offer to let her down.
Her grip doesn't change, so after a moment he just goes and sits on the bed. Easier to cuddle, and it's more than clear that cuddles are what she wants.
“Mm... A couple days after you went silent. I was mostly ignoring him, all he does is stare,” and she snuggles into him, then amends, “Well, all right, he did try to start a couple conversations, but I used the cats, or work, as an excuse and was able to get away.”
“Do you think he's going to be a problem?”
He can't cancel his work tonight; bloody Amalj'aa mob making his life difficult again. But he can get back to her in the early hours if she doesn't feel safe.
“I talked to Mr. Hachimaki, and he told me that Yun's going through a rough patch right now, and if he bothers me at all, I should let him know. I haven't needed to mention it yet...”
Thancred doesn't exactly like that response, and he brings his chin down to Mi'una's head gently.
“Perhaps we should revisit the idea of me moving in?” he suggests. “Or... or perhaps us finding a different place together, because you should be able to be comfortable and feel safe in your own home.”
Her tail thumps gently on the bed in surprise.
“....you'd really... do that?”
He leans back just enough to see her face, meet those beautiful purple eyes, and nods firmly. He's not been the most model boyfriend, and he's going to be the first to admit that he's done perhaps more damage than good. But he loves her, and he will be damned if he lets someone else make trouble for her. Lahabrea's bad enough.
“If you'd like it,” he adds hastily as she continues to stare at him. “I know I've hardly been-”
She presses a hand to his mouth, and he can't quite keep himself from kissing her fingers. If nothing else, it makes her smile at him with that soft, warm affection.
“Do you mind?” she asks, taking her hand back after a moment. “I don't want you to feel like you have to just because I'm a little bit uneasy. I handled Lahabrea, I can probably handle this.”
She'd handled Lahabrea effectively enough that no one's seen him in the past three weeks, which is a miracle and then some, he has to admit.
“I... think I'd like it,” he admits after a moment. “I... it's not that it isn't unnerving, but being near you more than we are... I'd truly love that.”
She nuzzles him, and he feels her melt gently against his chest. Thancred nuzzles back, cuddling her close and breathing in the scent of her conditioner.
“What say you, my desert flower?”
She laughs a little, and presses a chaste kiss to the side of his neck.
“If it means I can wake up with you more often? I would like that very much.”
Mi'una is happy to curl into Thancred's side as they watch the campy martial arts flick he'd picked out, enjoying the weight of his arm and the feel of his skin against her own.
The idea of having him move in has been palatable since he'd first brought it up, but she'd let that conversation lie simply because they were dealing with entirely too much at the time. Him ghosting her because of his inexperience with relationships, while she'd had to recover from being in a really quite brutal fight with his twin brother...
It's not perfect. But it's getting better now. He still doesn't use the spare keys nearly often enough for her liking, but he's telling her his reasons why, and keeping her a little more in the loop.
“...so, what were those work-inappropriate questions you were going to ask earlier?” she asks, humming softly as his hand travels slowly, soothingly, up her back.
“Ah. Yes. About your heat... I know that condoms will be a good thing, but will we be employing other methods of... preventing children?”
He sounds adorably awkward and she huffs a small, fond laugh. Given that neither of them are anywhere near ready for a child, no matter how cute she thinks his child might be, it's a fair question.
“Yahni’s told me of a couple of other things we could do, yes. Combine them with condoms and we should be fine.”
“Dare I ask?”
She huffs a small, fond laugh, and nuzzles him gently.
“There’s spell-scrolls, and things I can take once the heat has run its course,” she says. “Really Than, you’re not the first person I’ve been with while in heat, that part will be fine.”
“Yes well... you’re the first person I’ve been with who will be in heat. I just want to be sure.”
Mi’una softens, and smiles fondly up at him.
“All right, that’s a good point. It’s really not going to be all that fraught, I promise. The worst... Mn... I suppose most demanding would be more accurate... So the most demanding time will be those three days. I will.... I can get insistent. But I’ll try my best to-”
He tips her head up and leans down to bump his forehead gently against hers.
“If this is going to be... long-term. I need to see you being at your most demanding,” he says gently. Then grins a little. “Did I not make a good showing, that first night?”
She puts a hand on his face and gently pushes him back.
“Than, be serious a moment,” she says quietly. “I need you to know that it’s not going to be like other times we have sex, okay? It’s not going to be... playful, or sweet. I can do my best to be gentle, but I will be... demanding. I’m not at my best when in heat, and never am, no matter how much I might try to control myself. If you need to tap out, at any point, I am not going to be upset about it.”
It could be worse; some of her former schoolmates could get downright violent around their heats. Or she could have heats more often, have to deal with the problems it causes much more regularly.
His hand comes up and cups her face, thumb tracing softly over her cheek.
“I’ll remember that. But I should at least try to be here so I can make an informed decision, right?”
She sighs a little, and nuzzles into his touch.
“I just want you to be sure. I-”
He presses a gentle kiss to her mouth, and she kisses back, letting his sweetness soothe her.
“If it’s too much, I’ll figure it out,” he says firmly. “And then we’ll know for the future.”
For the future, huh?
She smiles and nuzzles against him. He really is very good at figuring out just what to say.
“All right. Love you.”
He huffs a little, and his arm squeezes gently.
“I love you too...”
“I like your girlfriend.”
Urianger jolts, and thanks all the gods they are stuck waiting for a train to pass. He can throw the car in park and stare at Dawn.
“She’s not-”
“Really? So you let any old person lift you off your feet with only a token protest?” Dawn scoffs a little. “Pull the other one, it has the bells on it.”
She’s chosen her place for a battle well, he realizes. They are stopped, and the train is long. If she wants to get out of the car and walk off, he can’t exactly stop her.
Well, he could, but that would probably just make the situation worse.
“At one time, yes,” he says, letting out a slow breath. “T’was some months before I met thee that we ceased such relations. And we were broken up in truth before then, t’was only letters in which we... attempted to continue the connection.”
Well, all right, Moenbryda had tried. He’d... always been abysmally bad at that sort of thing. It didn’t matter if it was verbal or written, emotional conversations are not his forte. (He envies Thancred his skill at smooth words and romantic gestures. Perhaps he can ask for some advice?)
“I hath not spoken to her in years, Dawn,” he says quietly. “Had I known-”
“You had years in which to tell me about her,” she says flatly. The fact that she’s still speaking with clear, sharp diction makes his heart hurt. She should be at her ease, but- “You should have said something a long time ago.”
She is right and he knows she is.
“Twas not my intent to-”
“I don’t care about your intent. What you did is keep me utterly in the dark.”
Urianger doesn’t know how to navigate this conversation, and it’s made all the worse by the fact that she is so damned calm. Three years ago she would have yelled, would have stalked off, would have probably spent time away from him until she could calm down, assuming she would have decided to return at all. She’s learned patience and restraint, and he’s proud of that, he really is.
But she has every right to be upset, and the fact that she’s not makes this all the more disconcerting.
The train has almost passed, and he puts the car in gear again as he ponders what to say.
“....I have hurt thee,” he says finally as the line of cars begins moving. “Is there... some way I can answer for that?”
She scoffs, but it’s not... angry. It’s unexpectedly gentle.
“Be glad Moenbryda’s smarter than you,” she says a little tartly. “Yda showed her around after your meeting, and I’m pretty sure it was specifically to find me.” He glances over and there’s a worrying smirk on her face. “She told me multiple embarrassing stories.”
Maybe he can hide under a rock for a month? That might be preferable to Dawn knowing his past. But... Moenbryda had spoken to Dawn in an attempt to... clarify things, mayhaps? Or was it just to sound her out, and see what there was to them.
The silence in the car is tense, and admittedly Urianger’s attention is only half on getting them home. The problem with Dawn being so calm is that he currently does not know where he might stand in their tenuous relationship. Neither one of them have ever... confessed to any deep emotions. He had thought they simply understood one another.
He pulls into the garage and turns the car off, then turns to Dawn.
“I had thought to treat the past as passed,” he says as she unbuckles her seatbelt. “T’was never my intent to cause thee harm, nor to allow thee to think that I care not. Might I be granted mine own chance to clarify?”
He only realizes he’s leaned in when her hand comes up to his face and pushes him firmly back.
“Let me be tonight. We can talk in the morning.”
The answer hurts. He would much rather she be angry with him, raise her voice and yell obscenities about what he hasn’t told her. Instead she is calm, and it is plain that he has hurt her deeply with his omission.
She couldn’t have chosen a better punishment than time.
“So how did you and Urianger meet anyways?”
Dawn shrugged a little.
“Stole his lunch. He threatened to sue me, and I told him he'd have to catch me first. Apparently the daft bastard took it as a challenge, because the next thing I know, there's this idiot elezen walking down dark alleys and nearly getting himself mugged. Over a sandwich, mind you.”
Moenbryda laughed, shaking her head.
“He can be bloody stubborn about the dumbest things,” she said. “Going by the fact that you're working here and close to him, I'm going to assume other things happened?”
Dawn hummed agreement, but didn't elaborate. Tragic backstories (tm) were conversations killers, not continuers.
“What do you think about him now?”
“He's still a daft bastard,” and Dawn sighed a little, glaring slightly down at her popcorn bowl, even as she keeps her carbuncle sight focused on the roegadyn woman. “He should have said something about you before now. Maybe not directly after Carteneau, but he's had years to bring it up.”
It's Moenbryda's turn to hum thoughtfully, before shrugging.
“Well, I can’t argue with the daft part. He's always been really bad about conversations about feelings,” she said frankly. “Are you really angry, or just hurt?”
“....hurt. Neither one of us brings up the past much, but I've told him... things. When I've had some issues. And I'm going to be frank, talking to you about it is just plain weird, okay?”
Moenbryda grinned.
“Yeah, I get that. But don't worry, I'm not here to steal him out from under you. Honestly, I just wanted to see an old friend. Embarrassing him is probably the pinnacle achievement I'm looking for not related to work!”
Dawn snorted a little; despite her initial reservations, she might just like this woman.
Dawn sighs a little and rolls onto her side. Sulking in the attic is hardly helpful to the current situation, but she's not someone who's good at pretending everything is fine when it isn't. And while talking to Moenbryda hadn't been all that bad, talking to Urianger still left her feeling more upset than settled.
Sure, maybe in their early months when he’d been an absolute idiot, she can understand him not saying anything. But they've been... roommates, housemates, lovers, for four years since her recovery and her dip into arcanism for her carbuncle sight.
He had time to tell her, and he just... hadn't.
She sighs and curls her hands in her hair. She knows she's being childish about this, and is it really fair to say they're anything more than close roommates? Him helping with her heats doesn't mean she has any sort of exclusivity to him... especially since that's the only time there's anything sexual between him.
She's not going to pretend it doesn't bother her, but at the same time, she's never asked for more herself, so really, there's no one to blame for things being the way they are.
There's not even really anything to forgive. She's just being petty at this point, making him sweat it out, and she knows he slept about as poorly as she did; he'd roamed the downstairs, from one library room to the next, to the kitchen and back. He’d stopped at the bottom of her stairs time and time again, before moving on. She’d heard him quietly talking at one point, but she hadn’t been able to tell if it was too himself or someone else.
She hadn’t slept either, but she’d been more sedentary, which was certainly different. Normally he’s the one who stays still and overthinks, while she roams and frets and fusses.
With a grumble and a swipe of aether, the carbuncle appears, folding itself neatly into a ‘loaf’ on top of her head and allowing her the sight of her surroundings. The attic is her undisputed domain, and has been ever since they moved in. It's her hiding place, her watching post, and shadowy corners and silently tearful nights. She’s set up nooks and crannies, filled them with pillows and rugs and books, even if reading is Urianger’s thing more than hers. (They’re his books, but his books more or less overflow the house, so really it’s no surprise they’re up here as well...)
She pads over to the door and listens as Urianger moves around in the kitchen, then sighs.
They've both always been bad at emotional discussions. But Urianger had remained patient with her through damn near everything (her frustrated tirades when learning how to summon carbuncle, made harder by the fact that she couldn't see what she was inscribing. The one major fight between them during their first heat after that mess, where she'd wanted to go and wreak havoc, where he'd worried that she'd hurt herself more than others. She's still not sure how she ended up in his bed, but the sex is certainly better than the violence ever had been), weathered all her storms and learning curves...
She moves quietly down the stairs, and sits on the bottom one, watching him fuss about with something on the stove. It smells good. He’s always been good at cooking...
“He's always been awkward about how he cares, but if he didn't care, he wouldn't have gone after you,” Moenbryda pointed out. Then grinned. “Can't fault him for taste either, you're definitely a stunner.”
Dawn had needed a moment to process that. A stunner? Her? A scruffy little miqo’te who’d had stunted growth from half-starving through most of her teen years, had scars on her face, and an attitude that would have better suited a hrothgar.
She’s sure Moenbryda means it though. How odd.
“You should see me in clubbing clothes,” she said finally.
Moenbryda's grin had only grown.
“Uri.”
He jumps about a foot, and it takes a good deal of self-control to not snicker about it. Normally she doesn't try to get the drop on him, but again, she is being petty.
Her turns quickly, and the naked anxiety on his face makes her sigh. He’s just a wreck, and it's not worth the effort when she's really not that upset with him.
“Dawn, I-”
“Stop.” For a wonder, he does. She appreciates it, because he doesn't need to be falling all over himself trying to explain. “I'm not mad at you. I'm hurt, but I'll get over it. Stop beating yourself up about it and go have a nap so you can be sensible this afternoon.”
She has to be brisk and practical. What they are has always been a nebulous, undefined thing, and in a way that will make this easier. She doesn't have much, doesn't need much, isn't needed much. It won't be hard to fade out if his life, and that of the Scions.
Urianger turns the stove off, and comes to kneel before her. He doesn't touch her, and she's admittedly a little glad of it; his touch is always unfairly warm and soft... It makes her want things she has no right to want.
“I hath been unkind,” he says quietly. “Rarely do I know what words to speak that might soothe thee. I had thought... we needed words not. Tis an undercurrent of understanding, in which thou didst choose to stay close with me, and I gave thee what thou couldst not gain alone.”
Well, he’s not wrong. She had decided to stay with him, though at the time it was another burst of pettiness. It was partially his fault, his and Louisoix’s, that she’d been at Carteneau in the first place. Making him take care of her had felt like fitting revenge.
She’s still not sure when it changed.
“I slept not last night, thou art quite correct. And in that lacking, I reached out with questions, seeking what I might have done different. I cannot take away the harm I have given, but I would like to... give thee a greater sense of stability.”
That just confuses her. He’s already given her stability, and she’s already made her decision. He doesn’t need to do anything else.
Well. Maybe go have himself a damn nap so she can leave his life much more quietly than she’d arrived.
“To say I care for thee... tis a grave understatement. Thou art not ‘just’ a housemate, Dawn,” and there's a subtle, pleading tone to his voice. “Thou art precious to me in a way that words cannot truly encapsulate. I request only thy belief in my affections, not the return of them, but if thou might...”
She flicks the carbuncle eyes down and up; his posture is tense, anxiety stinging the air. His hands are wrapped tight in the fabric of is pants, and those yellow eyes with their dark circles are full out miserable.
Letting him stew for one night had caused this?
Well now she feels guilty. She hadn't meant to prod a confession out of him, she had just been acting petty. She groans a little as she leans back on the stairs, tipping her head up, and closes her eyes. It won’t change what she sees, but the illusion of it helps a little. This daft idiot, she didn’t want this, she wanted...
“Please stop tha’,” she sighs, finally dropping the diction required for most people to understand her. “I dinnae want or need ye t'be penitent, an ye should save confessions like that for sommot as not me.”
“I would confess to no other but thee.”
“Not even to Moenbryda?”
It’s cruel, and she hates that it came out of her mouth. But he sur[rises her by not flinching. He lifts a hand, and moves as if to reach out to her, and then hesitates.
“I am... pleased to see her,” and she can tell he's choosing his words with care. She really does not deserve this idiot elezen... “I hath missed mine friend, but tis years since our parting. Were I not with thee, perhaps, but...”
And he falters. She folds her hands on her stomach and closes her eyes, letting the carbuncle to do all the work for her. It pads down over her face to her lap to stare at Urianger, and he stares back. There's too much in his face and his eyes, and she turns the carbuncle away, bringing her own hands up to cover her face.
“We are both... so bad a'this,” she says finally. “Aye, ye daft bastard, I know ye care, ye dinnae need t’ be down on yer knees ‘bout it. I'm sorry, a'right? I was bein a petty bitch ‘bout it, an I had no reason t'be.”
“The right was yours, for I did keep this from thee.” She can hear tremulous relief in his voice, and whether she wants to see or not, she turns the carbuncle back to look at him. He's relaxed some, and there's a cautious smile on his face. “Thou needst make no apologies to me.”
She sits up with a small grunt and a grimace; those stairs are not nice on her back.
“I dinna mind if yer friends. An ye need tae work with her tae figure out the Ascians,” she says waving a hand at him. There’s too many emotions in the air, she needs to get this to stop. “I know, I know, tis like tae be hours of late work. Needs must. Now, are ye goin tae bed or not?”
“....would thou...” he hesitates. Swallows. “That is... Could I but ask...”
She's irritable because she's tired, she knows she is. She makes herself bite her tongue instead of getting snippy.
“What?”
“....come to bed with me?”
Dawn blinks at him for several minutes. All right, that was unexpected.
“For...?”
Urianger opens his mouth several times, and she mentally compares him to a fish. More handsome, but still.
“Are we sleepin, or are we tae be doin something less than tha’?” she prompts. “More physical like.”
Okay, so maybe she's still being a little bit of a petty bitch. She wants to hear him say it, though.
Maybe if he says something, she’ll figure out what to say in return.
“I would... like... the latter?” he finally manages, and wow. She didn't know he could turn that red. “If... it be not too presumptuous.”
“Ye could stand tae presume a little more,” she says, finally climbing to her feet, and reaching down to grab his arm. “C'mon, up ye get. Yer legs are prob’ly numb, so go slow.”
“Ah... thy breakfast...”
“...what were ye makin?”
“One that... should be finished,” he admits after a moment, slowly shifting his weight from foot to foot. His legs probably did fall asleep, but he won;t complain about the discomfort.
Daft idiot.
Why does she have to care about him this much?
“A'right. We'll eat, an then go tae bed.” She gives him a sly smirk. “Better tae have energy for these presumptions f'yers.”
Okay, so making him blush is funny. Maybe Moenbryda can give her ideas on how to make him blush more?
“But do you like him too?”
Dawn grimaced a little, and looked away. Yda had wandered off a while ago (Rather, she'd been dragged off and scolded by Papalymo, which had been funnier), so there was no one else in the room to hear her say something sentimental.
It still felt awkward, discussing something like that with someone who was essentially an ex-girlfriend.
“I wouldn't be where I am without him. Some days, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, but at the same time, I wouldn't change them.”
Moenbryda snorted.
“You're two peas in a pod, you are. I bet I could get a similar answer out of him! You're so gone on him, that's so sweet.”
Dawn glared, but she knew it lacked any sort of heat. Thank all the gods her skin was too dark for anyone to tell when she blushed, because that would have been a dead giveaway for certain.
“We don't... talk about it,” she admitted begrudgingly. “Never have. It just... it just is. That's all.”
“Hm, yeah, it can be a bit hard. But trust me. I think he'd like it if you said something to him. And you'd like it if he said something back, huh?”
That would complicate things. But. Dawn can't pretend she wouldn't like to know how deep Urianger's feelings ran.
“Right! Just you leave it to me.”
“Why?” Dawn asked, tipping her head at Moenbryda.
“Because that daft old coot deserves to be happy, but he's never going to broach the topic himself without a swift kick in the arse. And I like you. I think you should be happy too.”
Thancred really loves waking up with Mi’una curled up against him. Her leg casually thrown over his as she presses against his side, the steady warmth of her breath on his skin, the weight of her arm across his chest, hand curled over his heart as if to reassure herself of his continued life...
He looks hazily up at the ceiling, letting his fingers rub soft little circles against her hip as he considers the events of the night before. It had been so late as to be early again by the time he’d been finished helping Y’shtola disrupt the alliance between Amalj’aa and Sahagin, and he’d taken a fair few hits. True, Y’shtola had healed up the worst of them, but he’d been heavily considering the merits of returning to Mi’una’s place even before that, just because he’d noticed Yun hovering again as he was leaving.
He’d hated waking Mi’una, but when she’d woken enough to realize it was him, she’d been waiting for him at the door, and oh, the softness of her magic wrapping around him...
He’d at least managed to not bleed all over the place, though he’d caught mutters of complaint about the state of his clothing before she’d hauled him into the shower, and his clothes had been dropped in a second hamper. (He has no idea when she got that second hamper, but given the state of his clothes, he’s grateful for it. Throwing his things on top of hers would have been just a ruin.) She’d been brisk and gentle, and he’d honestly had little to no energy to stop what was clearly Mi’una in full healer mode taking care of him.
Honestly, he’d liked it. It was easier to let her boss him around into getting clean, putting on a pair of boxers, and then having a small snack before being brought to bed and her cuddling into him for a few more hours of sleep. If this is what living with her will be like, he has no objections to it.
Thancred glances down at her and smiles softly; she really is just so beautiful...
Her fingers twitch and she murmurs a little, pressing her face a bit more against his side as her breathing changes. Her tail thumps slightly on the bed, and Thancred realizes after a moment that she’s not waking up. She’s dreaming. And it doesn’t seem to be a good one.
He shifts carefully; shaking her does no good, and it’s rude besides. Instead he runs his fingers gently along her spine; for whatever reason that seems to be the best, easiest way to wake her up. It takes only a few repetitions before she jerks a little, and her eyes pop open. With how she’s pressed against him, he can feel her heart beating rapidly, and Thancred gives her a small, careful squeeze.
“All right there, Myna?”
“...y... yeah...” she presses her face briefly against his side and breathes in, shivering a bit. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just a dream.”
With her awake, he feels no guilt at rolling onto his side to pull her close, and she tucks herself immediately up under his chin with a small purr.
“...how do you feel?” she asks after a moment, shifting her head a bit to bump at his chin. “Sore, achy?”
“A bit of both, but it’s to be expected after a hard fight,” and he presses a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m quite healed up, darling star, your spells were very thorough. Though,” and he grins a little, pulling back a bit so that he can shift down and press his forehead against hers with a cheeky grin, “if you wanted to perform a proper examination, I wouldn’t say no.”
She snorts at him, haze of sleep and clouds of bad dreams fading from purple eyes.
“I just bet,” and she pokes his cheek gently. “Aren’t you supposed to be reporting in soon, love?”
Thancred mock-pouts at her, and she giggles; there’s the light he was hoping to conjure, that’s much better.
“Soon doesn’t mean immediately,” he replies with mock-dignity, getting himself more giggles. “Noon or thereabouts is usually when I go in after one of these jaunts.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed,” and she nuzzles at him gently. “It’s always worried me.”
He presses a soft kiss to her mouth, and oh, the way she relaxes in his arms...
“Usually it’s me taking time to visit a healer,” he admits, happy to snuggle her close. He’s quite sure the cats will come for them soon, so he wants to take advantage of the cuddles as much as he can. “I’m not fond of making my friends worry.”
He can see her biting back a comment he probably deserves, and presses a kiss to her forehead instead.
“I do have to say, I much prefer to wake up like this,” he murmurs. “Have I mentioned that holding you is one of my favorite activities?”
“Flirt,” but he can feel her smile, and the kiss she presses to his neck is light and soft. “Truly though, you feel okay?”
“I do,” he takes a breath, “beloved.”
She jolts, and then her face is pressed up against his neck and he can feel the heat on her cheeks. He’s been waffling on it for two weeks now, it’s almost slipped out a time or three, but he’s been trying to pick just the right moment.
He’s quite pleased to have finally found the right word.
Mi’una hums as she finishes making them both breakfast, listening with half her attention to the running of the shower. While she had managed to get Thancred clean enough for bed that morning, he’d been all for a proper shower once she’d suggested it. True, she’s pretty sure he’d wanted her to join him, but unlike him, she actually has to go out in an hour for her fencing lesson. (She will get the hang of the red mage’s rapier, damnit. She will!)
Honestly, she could walk on air without the aid of Holy, or the stronger versions of the stone spell, just based on the pure delight she is feeling. Beloved. He’d called her beloved. She’d been more or less resigned to silly nicknames for the next few months at least, but no. No, he’d picked the thing she’d least expected, and sprung it on her just as she had when calling him ‘love’.
It’s almost too bad she does have classes and won’t see him until...
She pauses and hums a little.
She’ll have to ask if he’s going to come back tonight, or if he’s going to go back to his own place after work.
She’s been to his apartment, and given the options, she’d rather he move in here, or they find a different place to live entirely. Though finding one that will take three cats as well might require some hunting...
She tables the thought as he comes down the hall, and half-turns to smile at him softly. There’s still some bruises, but he’d insisted on keeping them, if only to remind himself to be more cautious, so she had obliged and not brushed another healing spell over his skin. She wants to, but... well, she’ll let Thancred have his choices.
He’s also wearing only his boxers still, like the cheeky brat he is. With him still being just a bit damp from the shower, that is absolutely unfair of him.
“Really, Than?”
He grins at her shamelessly, and she snorts a little, unable and unwilling to hide her fondness for him.
“Incorrigible,” she says, shaking her head a little. “Food’s almost ready. Just needs a few more minutes.”
“I’m guessing you’re the busy one today?” he teases gently as she turns back to eye their cooking breakfast.
“Mm. I have to go to fencing in an hour, and then I’m working with Raya-O, A-Ruhn, and Eschiva until early afternoon. After that, Yahni wanted me to swing by and hang out for a bit since Inle and Jacke are both away this week and she’s lonely, but I should be home by eight if you wanted to come by. Or.. wait for me.”
Thancred makes a small sound of acknowledgement, and she can hear him pouring liquid into a cup before he scoots a chair around. She tries to keep her few chairs evenly spaced, but he absolutely insists on sitting next to her and wrapping an arm around her.
She loves it, and she knows he’s well aware of this. Maybe she should just get a small bench for one side of the table?
“Than?”
“Hm?”
“....I really would like it if you moved in.”
He stops moving the chair and comes over to press gently up against her. He knows the rule of no shenanigans while the stove is on, so she’s not worried about that... and the weight of him is nice. His arms wrap loosely around her waist, and oh, she regrets having lessons...
“My place is a month to month lease, so it won’t be too hard for me to end it,” he says thoughtfully, resting his chin gently on her head. “If I get Urianger to help, I might be able to pack everything up in a few days...”
It does make her feel a little sad that he think it will only take a few days. That speaks of barely any personal possessions at all, and really, he deserves to have so much more.
“I can help too? And maybe Yahni?”
“I’m quite certain your sister still wants to maul me,” and he shudders a little, shifting with her as she moves breakfast to plates. “She still hasn’t been able to follow through on that threat of punching me for my stupidity.”
“She won’t,” Mi’una huffs in resigned amusem*nt. “I won’t pretend she doesn’t want to, but as long as I say we’re all right, then she won’t hit you. Or bite you. She’ll behave.”
He presses a kiss to the top of her head, then sweeps up the plates to carry over to the table, letting her turn off the stove and cover the pans that have extra--she eats a lot, she might want more--so that the sneaky thieves she calls her cats won’t get into them.
“I’ll consider it, but really, I shouldn’t need that much help. Maybe pester Urianger or Selyne into allowing me to pack their vehicle full of my things, and call that good.”
She sits down next to him and snuggles willingly under the arm that drapes over her shoulders. She has a feeling there’s some extra reason he doesn’t want her helping him pack, but she decides not to pry. That he’s willing to move in at all... it’s nice enough.
“Do you want to stay here?” he asks, and there’s a curious tone to his voice. “I remember you said your sister negotiated with the landlord so that you could take over this apartment...”
“Mm,” she nuzzles at him gently as she starts eating. “I like it here. But really, I think any place I can live with you will be a home.”
She’s even nice enough to time the comment for a moment when he’s not eating or drinking. True, he almost drops his fork as his face goes red, but he’s not choking and that’s the important part.
“Minx.”
She grins at him, pleased.
“You started it~ Eat your breakfast before it gets cold. Or stolen~”
Thancred snorts a little, but does start in on his meal.
“Are you worried about something?” she asks after a bit, once half her food is gone and most of her tea. “I thought you were okay with this place.”
“Well, I can say I’m not a fan of Yun hanging around, when he so plainly wants to try and start something with you,” Thancred huffs a little. “And I wouldn’t be surprised to know Lahabrea knows where this place is.”
“If Lahabrea tries something I will beat his ass again,” she says simply. “For Yun, I can talk to Mr. Hachimaki... and also light him on fire.”
Thancred’s snort of laughter is accompanied by a fond squeeze and she purrs a little. She really does love this domesticity with him...
“And admittedly Lahabrea will find us regardless,” and Thancred’s hold tightens just a bit more. “Bloody bastard.”
He’s not wrong. She doesn’t much like to think about that fight now that it’s done and over with, and she hasn’t seen Lahabrea in almost a month. True, that could plausibly be because Thancred has been more present in her life, more overtly so, but maybe he’s also keeping his distance because now he understands that she’s kind. Not stupid.
Thancred nuzzles her after a moment, and relaxes his grip some.
“When do you think would be best?” he asks.
“...well, I do think waiting until after my heat is probably the smarter option,” she says after a few moments of thought. “Not that I wouldn’t love to move you in now...”
But it would probably be safer to wait. Then he’ll understand what she means by her heat being some of her worst moments. If he can stand that...
“So, after next week, then?”
“Sure. I’ll have to talk to Mr. Hachimaki too, so I can get you added to my lease.” She pauses and glances up at him. “This isn’t too much?”
He’s been rather poor at handling changes, so checking in feels reasonable. Sensible, if nothing else.
Thancred leans down and presses a kiss to her forehead.
“How’s rent set up? If I’m living with you, I’ll need to account for my share of any increases in bills, and at least half the rent itself.”
She blinks at him for a moment, then sets her fork down and wraps her arms around his waist for a proper snuggle.
It’s a change certainly. But she’s fairly sure they’re going to be just fine.
Urianger wakes up to an empty bed, and the sound of a communicator buzzing in the rapid pattern of an alarm. For a few moments he stares up at the ceiling, trying to remember what day it is, let alone the hour. Going by the angle of the light, he’s slept most of the morning away, and that’s not-
He jerks, then shoots into a sitting position, looking around rapidly. Dawn, she had been there when he’d finally drifted off, purring like a small motor after he’d done his best to show her just how deeply his feelings for her ran. (It’s different, trying to make love when she’s not in heat. Heat demands a specific action. Properly making love had taken some trial and error, and she had been unexpectedly patient throughout his somewhat fumbling attempts.) But she is not here now, and the space where she had been is cold.
He grabs for the communicator and glances at his clock, grimacing a little at the time. While he’d had no morning appointments, he has several afternoon ones, and being late for those would be more trouble than it’s worth. But... where is his Dawn?
Turning the alarm off, he finally recognizes a steady rushing noise from the attached bathroom, and lets out the anxious breath he’d been holding. If there is one thing domestically that they have often disagreed about, it is her habit of long showers. It’s more of a ‘play’ disagreement at this point; showers were a luxury for her for most of her life, so he doesn’t really begrudge her the water that much.
Well, unless he needs it too. Which, he probably should shower before going anywhere...
He considers the merits of waiting, and tries not to contemplate too hard the idea of simply... joining her. That thought causes far too many other thoughts to crowd into his brain, and Urianger briefly presses his face in his hands, feeling the heat rising.
...well, he can ask, can’t he?
“The problem is that you're too quiet sometimes Urianger,” Moenbryda said plainly. “Maybe it doesn't need to be an earth shattering revelation, but even just telling her that she's important to you is going to leave an impression.”
“I dare not presume-”
“Oh what, like you didn't dare presume when you asked me out?” she scoffed at him. “I get it, you're worried about her reacting poorly, but I'm pretty sure if she's put up with you for this long, all you're going to do is give her a gift.”
She's not wrong. And it wasn't like he was any less uncertain when he'd spoken to Moenbryda. He'd just had a bit more...bravado to him.
“She's a girl that values honesty. So. Be honest.”
He sets the communicator down and gets to his feel, then moves to the bathroom door. Yes, his shower is running--she has her own, had she not wanted to use it?--and he takes a breath before rapping firmly on the door.
There’s a thump, a yelp, and a clatter, and he doesn’t care if it’s rude, he has to make sure she hasn’t hurt herself, so into the bathroom he goes.
“Dawn? Be thou well?”
“-other f’cki... I’m fine,” is the testy response as he looks towards the shower. “Ye s’prised me s’all. Gimme a minute, I’ll ge out th way...”
“Ah... I had thought...” After a moment he shakes his head. He has to ask, or he won’t know. “Pray, do not leave. T’would... be pleasing if we might... share. With time taken for... gratification.”
Her head pops out of the shower, aimed in his general direction. Her hair is plastered to her skin and even though she no longers sees--he misses when her eyes were that fierce sea blue--he knows she would be squinting at him suspiciously if she could.
“...didnae take ye fer someone as had such on th mind s’often,” she says finally.
“I am.... Oft tempted by thee,” he admits, discarding his pajamas in the hamper. “I wished not to make thee... discomforted. If thou wouldst rather not, I can but-”
“Ge in here b’fore all the warm goes ‘way.”
She pulls her head back, and he has to smile. Their hot water is not limitless, no, but that she would share even a mote of it is something he’s not going to turn down.
The nice thing about this bathroom is that the shower is big enough to fit at least two roegadyn; he is neither as tall or as broad, and Dawn is even less so. They fit easily enough with room to spare, and he spots a few knocked over bottles.
“Didst thou slip?”
She huffs a little in response and folds her arms over her chest in clear embarrassment. There’s no carbuncle here, so she can’t see his fond smile, nor really any gesture he might make.
“Might I touch thee?”
“Where?”
“Thy face.”
She tips her head a little, then nods, and he brings his hand up to her cheek, letting his thumb swipe carefully over warm, damp skin. He smoothes her hair away from her eyes and wishes, not for the first time, that there could be some way to allow her to see naturally again.
“Thou art truly unhurt?”
“Bruises,” she shrugs a little, and leans subtly into his touch. “I’ll live. Did yer ‘larm wake ye?”
“It did. Twas thee who did set it?”
She hums a little.
“Didnae want ye t’oversleep. Ye’d ne’er live it down, an I didnae want tae explain things.”
Urianger hums a little in amusem*nt. Dawn is very forthright about things, but he can imagine she wouldn’t want to explain their... fight? Disagreement? And then the actions that followed the resolution.
“May I hold thee?”
She looks only briefly uneasy, and he waits for the nod before he gently drapes his arms around her, drawing her close. The warmth and dampness of her skin tell him that she has likely been in here at least half an hour, and the way she slowly melts against him suggests that she slept much much less than he did.
He’s admittedly not fond of that thought, but short of casting repose on her--which would go poorly. Only Mi’una is lucky enough to cast such and escape unscathed--there’s not much he can do.
“....might I worship thee?” he murmurs.
“Mn? Ye were serious?”
“Only if t’would please thee. If the thought be discomforting-”
The last thing he wants is to push her into anything she doesn’t want. It typically ends poorly on the whole, and this... new way of being is yet fragile enough that he would not make her uncomfortable if it can be avoided. He’s curious, and he would very much like to see her creativity, but if she’d rather not, he will not insist.
“....tisn’t tha I’m uninterested,” her words are slow. Uncertain. “Tis just s’prising. Tha’s all.”
“I do... poorly. With words. But I would fain show thee all that I cannot say.”
“Ye said plenty,” and she presses her forehead gently against his chest. “An did plenty. Ye dinnae need tae make up fer anythin, y’know.”
Urianger is quiet as she leans against him, hot water pouring over them both. In the back of his mind he acknowledges that he has meetings, and that he will probably be a bit late, but forefront is the need to assure her of one current truth.
“If there is a thing I would make up for, tis lost time,” he says finally. “And things what should have been said long long ago. I speak but plain truth; thou givest meaning to mine life, and ease to mine heart. I would be all the more alone without thee, and I wish thy pleasure and ease.”
Her hands come up and he ducks his head so that she can press her fingers against his face. He’s fairly sure by the pressure of her hands that she’s embarrassed and feeling awkward, and this was more to make him hush than because she wants to read his face for his sincerity.
It makes Urianger smile a little, and he tips his head just slightly to press a small kiss to one of her palms.
“...wish I was better t’this,” she mutters, pulling her hands back and curling them against her chest. She doesn’t shift out of his hold, but he can feel tension in the curve of her, and cautiously he loosens his grip. “Ye’ve at least got pretty words ye’ve read...”
“...Dawn?”
He keeps his touch on the firm side as he brings his hand up her skin. This is more so that she knows where his touch is going than any attempt at being sensual. She doesn’t flinch when he cups her face, but she doesn’t lean into the touch either. She looks... conflicted.
Upset.
“Did I speak too much?” he asks quietly.
“No. Though ye do. A lot. I just... I ne’er know what t’say in reply. I...” She draws in on herself, arms wrapping tight around her waist. “I’ve ne’er d’served... this. S’why I didnae... Why I ne’er asked for more, n’just let it lie. Ye d’serve t’be happy, she’s right ‘bout tha much...”
“There's been a lot of trauma in her life,” Papalymo reminded him. “For all she hides it, the signs are there, Urianger, and sometimes you won't know what will trigger an issue until you already are in the middle of the mess. Be gentle with yourself and with her.”
“Dawn, my Dawn, my heart,” he goes down on one knee, and pulls her close, pressing his forehead gently to hers. “Think not that thou bringest me pain, for there is nothing farther from the truth. They presence in my life be a great boon, one that I would hold unto me until I could no longer.”
“See tha,” her voice is shaking, just a little. “How d’I r’spond t’sommat as that? I’m not... I dinna have any fancy words fer ye, Urianger!”
“Tell me but this, then,” and very delicately, he presses a kiss to the corner of her mouth. He needs to calm her, or he may well lose her. “Were I to simply cease to be... wouldst thou mourn?”
He feels her jolt, and her tail lashes wildly; her hands creep up his chest, until her arms are wrapped around his neck, and she is pressed tightly to him of her own accord. He can feel her shake, and softly he runs his fingers over wet skin, doing his best to soothe. He should have chosen another example, more the fool him.
They had come close to such an event in the restaurant of Carteneau, and she had been fierce and furious. He remembers her flying at the ones who’d harmed him with a shriek of rage and the flashes of silver that had been her daggers... (And then Y’shtola had been there with her healing spell, and he’d been able to get back up. He still has that scar...)
“D... dinnae leave,” she whispers, her face pressed against his neck. “Please.. I-I’ll-”
...he is going to have to reschedule his entire afternoon. And possibly the next couple days.
“I am here,” he says softly. “I am here, Dawn, for thee. I need no words from thee, I trust thy heart. If thou wouldst but trust mine...”
“I dinna... have fancy words. I just...” her breath shudders against his skin. “I dinnae want tae be w’thout ye. But I...”
He runs his hand gently along her back and waits quietly. Dawn hates emotional conversations, but the arrival of Moenbryda has very clearly twisted something in her into a sharp pain, sharper than she had alluded to. Something that all but compels her to speak.
“Ye should have... more’n... me.”
He’s not sure how to respond to that. More than her?
“Oh, there's a fierceness to her, you're right about that,” Moenbryda snorted a little. “But she's fragile under it, and you should know that better than anyone. Your support is the strongest pillar she has, Urianger. Even with everyone else here, take away you and she'll be gone faster than snow in water.”
“Tis not like that,” he protested. “She has the mettle and merit to stand on her own two feet.”
“That's not the same thing at all you daft old coot.”
“Thou art more than enough for me,” he says after a long moment of careful consideration. Moenbryda had told him to be honest. Papalymo had told him to be gentle. He's fairly sure neither one of them could have predicted this sort of reaction; he certainly hadn't! “Thou hast brought chaos to mine life, from the moment thou didst steal mine lunch. Thou shooketh me from mine complacency, and reminded me that those in the shadows be not all the world’s great evils; thy heart e’er held the greatest warmth for those as unfortunate as thee. Think not that I did not learn when I sought thee?”
Her grip grows tighter, and he brushes a kiss to her temple.
“Thou didst even save me, though there was no reason to, when I hunted thee for reprimanding. Watched over me to keep me from harm, though I sought to get thee caught. Dawn...” A breath. “I love thee.”
She breaks.
Dawn has really only cried a few times in her life. When she’d lost the family that raised her to a plague that she managed to avoid getting, the first time she’d accidentally killed someone (she had just wanted to scare them, but she’d done so in a way that they’d slipped and cracked their head open on the pavement), the first time she’d deliberately killed someone (She wanted to live and had managed it, but the cost...), and when someone had taken one of the street children that had been hers for their bloody games and that child had not survived.
Always after had come the anger, and the desire for retribution. She buried the fear, the inadequacy, the grief, the pain; all of it gets bundled into the anger, and the fools in her path when that anger rises either get out of her way, or they become a corpse.
How can someone like Urianger love someone like her? It... defies logic and reason, two of the things he is known best for. She’s not a good person like he seems to think, she’s not! She wasn't being altruistic, she was being... curious and harassing him, and okay, maybe she'd saved him a couple of times, but he made things briefly exciting, and-
The water shuts off, and Urianger's arm wraps securely back around her. She wishes he hadn't, she doesn't want him to feel the tears. Hiding in the hot water would have let her pretend just a little bit.
“...on,” she manages through sobs. f*ck, this should not be so damned dramatic. “Pl'se... hide...”
“Thou needest not hide from me,” he murmurs. “I hath weathered far worse storms of thine.”
Which. He has. She's shouted at him. Said cruel things that she had to later apologize for because he hadn't deserved them at all. Honestly, she's often amazed at how patient he is. How patient he's been with her. He's a good lawyer, but in a way, somewhat wasted as one, because he'd be a damned good therapist...
One hand presses gently on the back of her head sliding over soaked strands of hair, and gods, how is he so damn gentle with her? Why can't he just... get mad? Tell her she's being childish, that there's more important things to deal with than her inability to be a rational, if irritable, adult?
Why does he have to be so kind?
He shifts, and pulls her gently into his arms as he settles, back braced against... the shower wall, yes. She curls against him, and if she could just. Stop. Crying...
He hums softly, and it's not a purr, but it's oddly just as soothing. The hand not gently pressed against the back of her head strokes along her back, from the base of her neck to her tail, steady and firm.
It's stupid that three little words can undo her so completely. It's so stupid that she got so jealous, and then decided to be so damn petty because she was... afraid.
Afraid to lose him to someone who so very clearly has all her sh*t together and more besides. Someone who can meet him on an intellectual level, and also someone who's known him for far longer than she has.
His thighs brace gently against her back as he shifts a bit, and there is an unexpected sensation of being simply surrounded by him. Cradled, cared for, protected.
Loved.
The tears dry up slowly, and the harsh, broken sobbing eases. The water stops dripping from the shelves, and from their bodies. She holds onto consciousness by the skin of her teeth, because she can say it. She can!
“...t....too,” she manages.
He hums gently, inquisitive instead of the low music he's been producing for her peace of mind. (Urianger has a wonderful voice. She loves it when he sings. She wonders if he realizes he's given her so many gifts in less than a day...)
It's hard. Love has been a forbidden word since early teenagehood. Loving something made it dangerous because when it left, you were left with a hole where that loved thing, creature, or person used to be.
Love could be used as a constraint, as a weapon... but it was also a blanket, a protection. She had been careful in never saying it, but she wasn't stupid enough to say she hadn't ever let herself love while on the streets.
“L...Love... ye too.”
Urianger's arms are strong in their gentility, and he holds her briefly tight, pressing his face against her hair. She feels him let out a shaky breath of his own, and had she more energy, Dawn might had snarked at him a little about lying when he'd said she didn't have to say it back.
“....I think,” he says quietly, “that perhaps we need spend this day here. Home. Perhaps the next few as well? To speak, or not, as the mood finds us. Aye?”
“....ye got... work,” she mumbles. “N'more n'me t-”
“T'will keep. Thou art the important one as of now.”
She can hear the stubborn note under the gentleness, and can't help the weak, wobbly smile she presses against his skin. He's going to dig in his heels, and she doesn't really want to say no anyways.
“...aye...”
Now he moves, slow and easy. He keeps her tucked against him, even as she loosens her grip (Surely he'd like her to let go?), and simply grabs one of the large towels as he moves past the rack.
He doesn't try to wrap her in it, no. He manages to spread it over his bed one handed, and then sits on the damn thing. Only then does his grip ease in a manner that suggest she can move away if she wants.
She doesn't want. But it'll be easier on them both if she's not limpetted quite so tightly to him, and so she slips down until she's ablet to curl onto his lap, her head tucked against his chest. He strokes her hair, and goes back to soft humming, and slowly, slowly, she falls asleep.
Thancred hums a little as he heads up the stairs to Mi'una's apartment, bag in one hand, and keys in the other. While the debrief had gone well, it had been damned odd for Urianger to call out, and Dawn with him. He hopes they haven't had a spat after Moenbryda's arrival, but Moen herself seemed more resigned than concerned, and taking his cue from her seems like a good plan. Minfilia had seemed only a littler perturbed as well, so hopefully it's something that will work itself out, even if it does leave them a bit shorthanded.
“That's not your apartment.”
He glances over and rolls his eyes a little as he spots Yun glaring at him.
“It's the apartment of my girlfriend,” he retorts. “And she asked me to come over.”
All right, she'd implied that she'd like him to come back, and he's quite happy to oblige. He's going to feed her cats, and put a few more clothes in the drawers she's cleared out for him. And then seduce the hell out of her when she gets back, if she’ll let him.
“She's not even there yet,” and Yun eyes him suspiciously. “How do I even know she-”
“I'm not doing this,” Thancred rolls his eyes and goes to unlock the door. “Mi'una's a big girl, can take care of her own self, and has lit far more intimidating people than you on fire for being presumptive. I've no need to indulge a fight with you over her.”
For one thing, he's pretty sure she'd give him the Disappointed Stare. (It's distressingly effective.) For another, despite the nicknames of Myna and Myth, she's actually been pretty leery about anything that sounds possessive. He's fairly sure it's from not wanting to seem clingy (he needs to tell her that it's okay, he'd like a little bit of that), but it's not something he's tried to dig into.
“You're just some hyur bastard! What makes you think she's-”
“Again, not doing this. You had your chance, you threw her away,” Thancred unlocks two more, and hears the yowls of at least two cats ready to greet him. “I'm not perfect, but I'll stay with her as long as she'll have me.”
For the rest of her life and his, but that's too fast. He has a ring , but still. Too fast. He knows it. That doesn’t mean he wants it any less.
It is tempting to either bait, or let Yun think he's baiting, a fight. But he doesn't want Mi'una to have problems with her landlord, and he would also like to not have problems with her landlord. Thancred is fairly sure that ‘fighting the landlord’s nephew over whose girl Mi’una is’ would cause all the problems.
“If you're so worried, I would suggest asking your uncle to call Mi'una and verify that she's given me permission to be here,” he suggests, opening the door and quickly catching Nori before she can bolt down the hall. “But I would think that me having the keys to her apartment, and the cats being comfortable enough t-Ow, Nori, claws!”
Nori whines at him and wriggles in his grip, and Thancred decides that getting inside so that Nana doesn't try to follow her sibling out the door is better than chiding someone who probably won't listen anyways.
In he steps, and he closes the door firmly behind them, then lets Nori down, sticking his injured finger in his mouth with a slightly disgruntled noise. It's honestly not worth making a fuss over, but it was the perfect excuse to get away from a conversation he didn't want to have happen.
And actually...
He moves his bag next to the coffee table after kicking off his shoes, and raises a hand to his linkpearl even as he pulls the cat food container out of its cupboard.
“‘lo?”
“You may wish to talk to your landlord sooner rather than later about me, because that nephew of his is likely to spread some tales,” he says.
Mi'una sighs, and the exasperation is clear through the link.
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, I'm fine. He tried to bait me into a conversation where I'm sure he'd be happy to twist the words around and report them to you,” and he rolls his eyes a little as he carefully pushes Nana away from Mochi's food bowl. “Tempting as it is to punch him a few times, I don't need to deal with the Brass Blades. I'm quite sure I'd never live it down.”
It gets him an amused huff, and he puts the food away with three cats happily diving into their bowls.
“All right. I'll give him a call. He's usually out during the weekend, but maybe tomorrow morning, if you don't mind the early hour, I can introduce the two of you. Oh, and don't give Mochi any more treats, you soft touch,” and the tease in her voice makes him warm all over. “You're giving her bad habits.”
“Oh, all right,” and the theatrical sigh earns him a giggle. “Are you still looking to finish around eight?”
“There's been a bit of a snag, and Eschiva's gone off for the day. She doesn't really agree with how the Seedsers are handling something... the specifics went a little over my head. So I might be home early. Will you be waiting?”
“If you don't mind me staying.”
“I'd... really like that.” And the soft delight in her voice makes him smile as he grabs his bag and heads for the bedroom. “Are you going to eat soon? You probably shouldn't wait on me for that...”
“I’ll order something in, if you're worried about it,” he replies. “But it won't be the same without you.”
“...quite being cute, I can't leave yet,” and he chuckles a little at the pout in her voice. “Please do eat, either take out or something from the kitchen. I'll grab something for myself before I get on the bus.”
“I could come get you?”
There's a startled pause, like she hadn't considered that. Which, knowing her, she probably hadn't. But he'll certainly feel better if he can get her, and it'll be faster too.
“Are you sure?”
“I honestly don't have anything else to do except go over some files, and I was planning on saving all of that for tomorrow,” he admits, unpacking his admittedly limited wardrobe options into the dresser. “But getting to see you sooner rather than later would be quite nice.”
He can't necessarily kiss her the way he wants in public, but that doesn't mean he can't kiss her enough to tease and tempt her...
“All right. I'll send you a message when we're wrapping up, and the directions.”
“I look forward to it, beloved.”
Something cracks and he smirks.
“...you're a brat, love.”
Thancred laughs softly, and blows her a kiss.
Mi'una snuggles contently against Thancred's back, happy to watch the streets flash by. She can't help but be proud of him for this, as well as his handling of Yun; she’s known plenty of men who would have picked a fight with Yun at their earliest convenience. The fact that he’d simply shut it down and then decided to call her immediately after to prevent a misunderstanding...
“Yes, I did invite Thancred to come over to my apartment,” she explains patiently to Mr. Hachimaki. “We’re considering the merits of him moving in, so I was actually going to see if you’d like to meet him so that we can discuss adding him to the lease.”
“I see,” the older au ra male hums a little. “Yun seemed quite convinced that he was causing trouble for you.”
“He might’ve met Lahabrea. Thaancred’s twin brother likes to cause me problems on purpose. They are annoyingly identical, I’m afraid...”
She doubts it, because Lahabrea has been least in sight since she kicked his ass. But there’s an off-chance, especially if Yun goes out during the day.
“But Lahabrea doesn’t have keys,” she adds after a moment. “And Thancred has my permission to be there. It’s... nice. To have someone to come home too.”
Mr. Hachimaki chuckles a little.
“I would very much like to meet someone who will be moving in, yes,” he says. “I will be in the office around ten of the morning, and I shall bring your contract and a new one to be looked over.”
“Thanks, Mr. Hachimaki, I appreciate it.”
She still needs to deal with Yun somehow, to get him to stop being a creeper in her general direction, but that’s a problem for later her. Current her wants to enjoy time before her heat hits being cuddled and adored.
Thancred coasts them to a spot in the visitor’s parking and she hops off, removing the helmet with a relived sigh. It’s sensible, she knows it is, but her ears itch after wearing it. He makes an amused sound as he climbs off and puts the keys in his pocket, before reaching over to rub at the base of her ears. She sighs in relief and leans easily into his touch, whining a little when he pulls his hand back to pop off his own helmet.
“I thought you wanted to get inside,” he teases, hand sliding down her arm until he can wrap his fingers around hers. “Somethng something, cartoons and snacks?”
“I mean, yes, but also, pet me.”
He laughs, and pulls her close to kiss the top of her head, right between her itchy ears.
“I can certainly think of some things I’d enjoy petting...”
She hums aa little and gently bumps her head into his chin.
“We’ll see. It’s always a little... iffy. The closer I am to a heat,” she admits.
“Really?”
She nods as they walk hand in hand towards the stairs.
“I could go either way, really abruptly,” she says, unlocking the door so they can get in. “I hope that’s-”
“Myna, I came to spend time with you,” he interrupts, gently squeezing her hand. “Despite what certain other parties might think, that is not always on my mind.”
She just gives him an arch look. He blushes, and gods bless if he doesn’t have the grace to look sheepish.
“...okay, fine, so it’s on my mind more than little around you,” he murmurs. “You’re far too beautiful and enticing to be ignored, beloved.”
Aaaaannd now she’s the one blushing.
“You’re terrible, and I love you.”
Okay, so maybe making a game of who can fluster whom the most is a little bit much, but he splutters, and then he laughs and gods, his laugh just makes her melt.
Lightly teasing and blatantly flirting gets them up to the third floor and down to the door of her apartment. She hears the cats as she puts in her key and glances up at him.
“Poor starving babies?”
Thancred scoffs gently, glancing in a deceptively absent way down the hall. Watching for Yun?
“I fed them when I called you earlier, they aren’t starving any more than we are.”
She has to giggle as she pushes open the door; he’d insisted on taking her out to eat, since he’d picked her up, and she had quite enjoyed the impromptu dinner date. Sure she’d been sore and a little bit put out about what had happened between the Seedseers and Eschiva, but she’s sure it’ll get sorted out sooner rather than later.
Nori and Nana are both yelling very loudly, switching their tails in clear excitement, while Mochi is just a giant lump of fluff over on the couch, watching with wide blue eyes as she and Thancred shed their shoes and hang up coats. Thancred is nice enough to lock the door, including the chain, and only once he’s done that does he tug her to him and press a kiss on her that could melt someone far less willing that she is at the moment.
He pulls back just enough to press his forehead to hers and she’s already purring; this man and his wonderful touch, oh he makes her want.
“Perhaps we start in the bathroom and work to the bed?” he murmurs. “It’s been a messy day, hm?~”
“I like this plan~”
His mouth brushes over hers again, and then he scoops her up, making her squeal with laughter even as she throws her arms around him.
She loves him so very much.
Urianger glances down to Dawn and half-smiles to see she’s dozed off with her forehead firmly pressed against his thigh. Gently he smooths his fingers over her hair, then marks his place in the book he’d been reading before setting it aside. The fact that she doesn’t even twitch lets him know that she is properly, deeply asleep, and he is glad for it.
It hasn’t been an easy few days. He’d expected her withdrawal on the first day, her need for solitude and space once she’d woken, but letting her be alone had been hard for him. He wants to ease her mind and make her happy, but he also wants to be near her. The compromise they had finally agreed on was that he could sit at the bottom of the attic steps and read aloud to her, and she would come to him when she was ready.
And she had. It had taken most of the day, and maybe a little bit of bribing with food (he hates it when she skips meals from stress. She’s a healthy weight now, but she wasn’t always), but she had come to him, curled up in his lap, and apologized in quiet, anxious words for her outburst.
Urianger didn’t need her to apologize, but he’d let her, accepted it because of how tense and anxious she had been, and forgiven her so that she could relax. He had apologized himself, because her reactions had been because of his inaction, and she had accepted and forgiven him. They had rested in silence then, in that space between her domain and the rest of the small house, before she’d quietly asked if she could stay in his bed with him for a while.
“Aye, forever, if that would please thee,” he said, running his fingers carefully through snarled strands of hair. “Whether tis sleep or more that thou dost desire, I more than have the space.”
“...a simple ‘yes’ would’ve been fine, Uri.”
He glanced down to see the tired smile on her face, and he leans in to brush a kiss to her forehead.
“But I wouldst that thou know,” he countered gently. “I do desire thee, my heart, in all ways. I only wait for thy word.”
She sighed a little, and very very gently punched him.
“Dinnae put t’all on me,” she scolded. “I cannae read yer mind for if ye want. Ye have pretty words, use em.”
He considered her meaning conflated with what he’d said, and caught on after only a moment, blushing a little bit.
“I shall... do my best.”
The bed has been only for sleep at the moment, only for holding her close, protecting her and keeping her safe. While she’s like this, withdrawn and quiet, he feels only the burning desire to protect her until she has the strength to stand again.
Carefully he tucks the blanket around her shoulders, before pulling his communicator out of his pocket. It’s been buzzing furiously for at least five minutes, and he has multiple notifications of messages.
-
Minfilia: Are you well, Urianger?
-
Papalymo: Did your efforts at reconciliation go all right? Yda is working herself up into a fine fettle about the pair of you missing so many days. If you get the time, please let her know that her introduction of Moenbryda to Dawn did not actually cause this...
-
Mi’una: I’m out this week, but if you or Didi need anything, please let me know. Even if it’s just someone to talk with, I’m glad to listen.
-
Yda: miss u guyz. Plz comeback sun!
-
Moenbryda: I really didn’t mean to prompt this by sitting her down and telling her all those stories, Urianger, I am sorry.
Moenbryda: I’m proud of you, though.
Moenbryda: Tell her I’d like to go clubbing like we discussed once she’s feeling up to it!
Moenbryda: Remember, just be honest with her, and you’ll do fine.
-
Thancred: Relationships are difficult, and I’m not actually very good at them, but if you need to talk, I can at least be a sounding board.
-
Alphinaud: Is everything all right with you and Didi, Urianger?
-
Alisaie: Yda told me Moenbryda came by, and you mucked something up between you and Didi. First of all, don't do that. Secondly, are you two okay? If you need something let us know.
-
Tataru: I’ve got all your correspondence organized and waiting for when you come back! Tell Didi I hope she feels better soon!
-
His friends are all good people. He really should reassure all of them, but he's not sure yet when Dawn will be ready to return, and he will not leave her side until she is.
After a moment he flips back to Minfilia's message to respond.
-
Urianger: As well as can be expected, given the situation.
Minfilia: Did you work everything out?
Urianger: I believe so, but Dawn hath been... fair silent for these past few days. It may be that we are not able to return for a while more.
Minfilia: If there's any help I can offer, please let me know.
Urianger: I will keep that in mind, and pass it on to Dawn once she wakes. How fare the rest?
Minfilia: Everyone's worried about the two of you, Mi'una and Thancred are about to take their time off, and we've had three new children walk through our doors in the past two hours thanks to Yda and Papalymo's efforts.
Minfilia: It's chaotic, but it could be worse. Ryne's here today, and I've got her helping Tataru with paperwork. Alphinaud and Alisaie, despite protests that we are running just fine, have both been stepping in to help as well.
Minfilia: I also put out the word that we’re looking for another healer or two for a better rotational coverage. I know Didi prefers to handle exercising and dance classes, and I’ve already seen a couple of promising applications.
Urianger: You seem to have all well in hand.
Minfilia: We’re certainly trying! Just be sure you’re both ready to come back when you do, okay?
Urianger: I shall.
He responds to the rest slowly as time whispers past, reassuring without quite elaborating on what’s happening. Dawn, he knows, would not appreciate their business being aired. He’s more honestly with Moenbryda and Papalymo, thanking them both for their advice, and explaining just a bit about Dawn’s reactions. Moenbryda’s rueful tone comes across plain in her texts, as does Papalymo’s brisk empathy.
When Dawn wakes, it is slow, and unwilling. Her fingers curl in the fabric of his pajama pants, and she makes a single noise of complaint, tail twitching rapidly in clear agitation.
Uriagner sets the communicator down and brings his hand to her hair, gently rubbing along the base of her twitching ears. It gets him a growl that would sound a lot more threatening if it hadn’t been near-immediately followed by a squeaking yawn.
“Dreaming?” he asks as she slowly releases her grip on his pants.
“Mn...”
She sits up and crawls into his lap, tucking her head against his chest, and pulling his arm around her. It’s worrying behavior, but he doesn’t protest, only making sure she is comfortable before securing her gently against him.
“...Uri?”
“Aye?”
“...’fter Carteneau.... Why’d ye stay?”
He hums a little, thoughtfully, lightly running his fingers through her hair.
“T’was in part mine own words that convinced thee to help Louisoix. Without them, thou would not have taken so grave an injury. And I... cared about thee, even then. T’was a friendship born of thine chaotic bent, I will not lie, but thy light was bright and true. It remains such, even if thou dost not believe.”
“...do ye know... when it changed?”
He considers.
“...I do not,” Urianger admits after a moment. “T’was after thy heat, but I cannot say precisely.”
He remembers that first heat with a visceral clarity though. Before, when she’d had heats she would just.. Vanish on him for two days. Come back bruised and sometimes bleeding, but herself again. Let him fuss over her until she shoved him off in annoyance.
After... he’d been afraid for her. It had made sense at the time to offer himself to her just to keep her safe. And after it, something had been different between them, a feeling that had become both softer and stronger all at once. Friendship blossoming like a flower until he couldn’t really say where it shifted to a deeper, more romantic feeling.
“Do you?” he asks.
She shakes her head after a moment.
“S’lot f’lil things... n’changes ‘ver time. Bein t’stubborn t’quit,” he feels her smile. It’s small and tired, but it’s still a smile. “S’funny ye mention tha heat... T’was th first time I figured out ye weren’t angry cause ye were mad, ye were angry cause ye were scared. Fer me. Wantin... t’care ‘bout me.”
He leans down to press a kiss to the top of her head.
“Thou wert oft reckless,” and he nuzzles her briefly before straightening. “When thou couldst see thy dangers, t’was easier on me. I was in awe of thy skill, and remain in awe still, for thou art no less skilled in other things. I... was afraid that if you left, unable to see, unwilling to listen, thou would have... not returned.”
He remembers that desperate argument too well. Physically blocking her from going anywhere had been a risk, as feral as she had been, but it had been that or never seeing her again. He had decided then that taking any potential rage from her was a worthwhile trade for her safety.
“...I was safe,” she says softly.
“Mn?”
“Lotta times... on th street, t’wasn’t safe t’be in heat. Could temper it with other activ’ties, but... got pushed ‘side a lot. An then... here’s you. Safe. Stupid a’times, but... safe enough. Willin tae help. Dinna think tha heat would’ve happened f’ye weren’t there.”
He considers the revelation, and finds he’s not terribly surprised; he’s known his own kind to have late monthlies when it comes to stress. It makes sense that a miqo’te in a stressful situation would also have some manner of suppressing something that might leave her in a dangerous predicament.
“Glad am I, that I made you feel such,” Urianger says simply. “Gladder still that thou be still here for me to love.”
She presses her face against his chest, hiding in his shirt, and he snuggles her softly.
“...was goin... t'leave,” she whispers, so quiet he could have missed it despite how close they are. “Scared t'stay and... watch, but scared t'go too. Bein... th worst when t'comes t'words...”
He goes still, heart suddenly pounding loud in his ears. It's not that he wouldn't let her go if she wanted to; he knows better than anyone that Dawn will go where she wills, and as she pleases. He's counted himself blessed that she's chosen to stay.
But to hear her admit that she was going to leave, to think that he might have lost her had he delayed even a little-
He breathes; Dawn is here. On his lap, in his arms, her head pressed against his chest, tail flicking rapidly from side to side in anxiety. He wants to cling to her, to hold her so tight that such thoughts would never cross her mind again.
But that is not the way to keeping her near. She has grown and she has changed, but she is still fierce in her desires for doing all she can for herself. This meloncholic state will fade as her confidence returns, and she will not cling so hard to him.
“...Uri?”
“Please stay,” he says impulsively, curling both arms around her. Curling himself around her. No, this is not the way to handle it, but the idea that she might just be gone... “I will beg thee, if I must. Stay with me, Dawn. Please. Please stay.”
Her tension eases, which... surprises him. Her tail stops it's rapid lashing, and her body almost melts against him. A hand creeps up to his face and he closes his eyes as her fingers trace over his skin.
“All right. I'll stay.”
Dawn can tell when he falls asleep at night, by the way his breath evens and steadies, and the way his arms get subtly heavier. Like he's afraid to flatten her, and then he relaxes, and suddenly there's just a touch more weight to deal with.
It's not a bad feeling. She's just not used to it. Before now, the only time she's slept in his bed was during her heats, and now here she is, awake when he's asleep and not wanting to move from the warmth of him.
He wants her to stay.
She had been trying to figure out how to ask the question, and she hadn't actually meant to tell him that she'd intended to leave. She hadn't wanted him to react poorly...
But he'd done as she had. He'd clung to her, and asked her not to go. Said he would beg, had started to beg, and that had reached something broken inside her, and wrapped fragile threads around the pieces.
She wasn't fixed; she was pretty sure she'd never really be fixed.
But that had... that had helped.
He wants her to stay.
And she wants to stay.
Dawn knows she's taken up days of time that they really don't have to spare by being depressed. Knows that Urianger is neglecting work, putting off necessary meetings, and not seeing his friends and chosen family for her. A part of her enjoys it, enjoys knowing that he will set everything aside if she needs him to, but the rest of her just wants things to go back to something resembling normal.
The longer they stay away, the more Urianger will have to catch up, and they're still working hard on the Ascian problem. If the Ascians really are a problem.
Plus, she's depriving him of time with an old friend. Moenbryda will be there for a while, helping to translate, but not forever, and Urianger should have time with someone he cares about that's not her. It might make her anxious, but... she can trust Urianger. She can. She will.
She scoots herself up a little, carefully, until she can tuck her head under his chin. The way he curls himself around her without waking up.... she purrs, just a little.
Yes. She can trust Urianger.
She can love him.
It will be all right.
“You're sure you're feeling all right?” Thancred asks as he parks the bike before the Sands. “No inclinations to randomly jump me?”
A small fist hits his back; not enough to hurt or even to rock him, but enough to let him know she doesn't quite appreciate the joke.
“Today is fine, Myth,” Mi'una scolds. “If it was going to be that, we wouldn't even be out here.”
He knows that. Now. On the third day of their week off.
She hadn't been kidding when she'd said that gentle wouldn't be the first thing on her mind. Yesterday had been. Not necessarily harrowing, but definitely a sharp diversion from their normal sexual practices. He hadn't disliked it he is absolutely ready to continue that, actually but he understand now why she couldn't exactly describe it to him.
“And you're sure you don't want to go in.”
“Outside is better. The... scent is more ignorable. I'll still be here when you get back, I promise.”
Thancred sighs a little, and lets her take his helmet and keys.
“All right, all right. I'll go see what it is Moenbryda wanted to talk about and be back quickly.”
She blows him a kiss--godsdamnit, she is too cute for his heart--and he makes himself turn away and enter the Sands.
He hadn't wanted to admit to Mi'una that Moen wanted to talk about Lahabrea's involvement in the Ascians, though he's pretty sure she'll intuit that on her own. If not, he'll tell her after, once he knows specifically what Moenbryda is after. He's a little miffed that it couldn't have waited until after Mi'una's heat, but at the same time, he does understand. The sooner the information can be compiled, the better things will go.
Moenbryda has been taking notes while he attempts to explain his brother to her for a handful of minute when his linkpearl goes off. Given that most everyone who would want to contact him is in the building, it catches him off guard enough to jump half a foot, to the roegadyn woman’s clear amusem*nt. He huffs at her before lifting a hand to his ear to answer.
“Yes?”
“Someone named Emet Selch is out here and-”
Thancred hisses out a few choice words; of all the people to show up now, he’d rather it not be their biggest damned nuisance.
“I’m coming. Don’t tell him anything about anything.”
Moenbryda gives him a confused look as he cuts the connection, and he grimaces.
“Problem out front, I’ll be right back. Pack that up and tuck it away, because there’s a good chance this jackass will waltz right through the doors.”
She doesn’t hesitate, at least, and Thancred zips out of the room, heading for the main doors and his girlfriend. He shoves out into the mid-afternoon sunlight and spots Emet Selch standing near Mi’una, who’s holding both bike helmets like she’s trying to decide whether she ought to throw them or not.
“-and I really must compliment you on your spellwork, my dear, I’ve never seen Lahabrea come back from a fight looking quite so defeated before,” Emet Selch enthuses. “He has a tendency to brag, but even he couldn’t spin this one to look anything like what it was. Perhaps we could have a for fun magic duel-”
Thancred throws himself between Mi’una and the obnoxious bastard of a politician, glaring coldly.
“What the hells are you doing here, Selch?” he growls. “I thought we made it clear that you’re not welcome on this property.”
“Oh, I was in the area and had some time to kill,” and Emet Selch, the bastard, doesn’t even look remotely put out by Thancred’s appearance. “Your lady is as delightful as your brother said, and quite mannerly too. I really must compliment you on your choices, Waters.”
Thancred starts to take a step forward, and pauses when he feels Mi’una’s hand on his elbow, fingers curling in the leather of his jacket. Right, she doesn’t know who Emet Selch is...
“We don’t need your sh*t today Selch,” Thancred snaps, stepping back for Mi’una’s comfort. “So how about you take yourself and your boredom and go find someone else to harass.”
He makes it a flat statement, but he knows that expression. This asshole is going to waltz into the Sands, disrupt goddamn everyone, and then waltz back out before the Brass Blades, or any other sort of law enforcement, get there.
He would pick a day where Sylene and Y’shtola are out...
“Oh, but now where’s the fun in that?” Emet Selch smirks.
“Does ‘not being lit on fire’ count?” and Mi’una mild tone actually makes Thancred jump a little. “I’d really prefer to not have my workplace in disarray, thank you.”
“Hmm... I do have to say, being lit on fire rather would ruin the day,” and Emet Selch taps his chin with his finger. “But on the other hand, I know quite well that those spells take some time to cast, so if you’ll excuse me, I have some people to both-”
Thancred steps out of the way, and the fireball splashes to the pavement ahead of Emet Selch’s foot. The obnoxious politician actually stops, and turns to give Mi’una a more appraising look. Thancred hates that look, but he’s not dumb enough to get in the way of the fire still fluttering around Mi’una’s hand.
He can feel the heat and the power, and makes a mental note to never piss his beloved off.
“I see, I see. This is why Lahabrea retreated from you,” and the theatrical air is gone, which Thancred likes even less. “Well then... I suppose for today I can concede defeat! Really though, I would love to pick your brain about magic and spellcasting, it’s been so long since I’ve had anyone who can even give me a challenge!”
Thancred’s glare seems to slide off the other man like water; this feels far too easy, and he’s quite sure there’s a trick to this. Emet Selch never concedes defeat without at least getting into the building and upsetting at least three people.
“....we’ll see,” and he doesn’t like Mi’una’s answer, but Thancred’s not going to tell her why this will be a problem with said problem standing there expectantly. “Please do go away now. I’d like to go home soon, and the longer you stand there being a jerk, the longer I have to wait.”
“Well now, that is simply intolerable, You would make a lady wait, Waters?”
Thancred bites his tongue on several retorts, because pretty much all of them would lead to upsetting Mi’una, if indirectly.
“She wanted to enjoy the day more than be inside, and I don’t blame her,” he manages after a moment. “Do piss off so I can finish work and also enjoy the day.”
There’s a smirk on Emet Selch’s face that Thancred would dearly love to punch off, but he’s not dumb enough to attack a politician in broad daylight. Doesn’t stop him from glaring as Selch walks very casually down the sidewalk with a casual backwards wave.
“...I have many questions.”
“Emet Selch is a politician over in the Garlemald district,” Thancred replies, turning to Mi’una who looks adorably baffled. “The people there love the f*ck out of him, gods only know why. He thinks it’s great fun to waltz through our doors every now and again, rile up everyone in residence, and then leave before we can really gather to retaliate.”
“How does he know your evil twin?”
“f*ck if I know,” Thancred sighs a little. “He’s been harassing us for years, however. Usually when he’s absolutely done with politics and just wants to cause some hell. He’s less destructive than Lahabrea, but about three times more annoying because he is damned good at getting out of range before anyone can react.”
Mi’una hums a little, thoughtfully, and shakes her head.
“Well, you’d best get back to work. I don’t think he’ll be back...”
Thancred glances around, then leans in and presses a kiss to her mouth.
“I’ll try to be quick,” he murmurs. “Let me know if something changes, hm?”
She smiles a little, and bumps her forehead gently into his.
“Sure, love. Now shoo. Go finish up so we can go home.”
If nothing else, waiting had let her delve into the information network about Emet Selch. Vids of his speeches, his dramatics, his debates, transcripts and interviews of his stances and opinions, his popularity polls...
Mi’una doesn’t quite understand why he’d come to hassle the Scions though. The Scions are more of an underground organization, certainly not something a popular politician should be poking around in. They make most of their living off being able to go unheard and unseen, protect most of the people by offering them the same.
And how does Lahabrea know a prominent politician?
Something about Emet Selch’s one-sided conversation bothers her, some detail sticks out as strange, but she’s not quite sure what it is...
After a moment she sighs and shakes her head. She’ll either figure it out, or she won’t, but trying to pummel it out of herself isn’t going to work. It doesn’t help that she’s starting to get that under the skin restless itchy feeling again...
Myna: Please be done soon.
Myth: Everything all right?
Myna: Getting itchy.
Myth: !
Myth: Right, give me five minutes to wrap up.
If nothing else, it makes her smile; ruefully maybe, but still a smile. He’d weathered yesterday unexpectedly well, and even called her out on trying to restrain herself. (She hadn’t wanted to overwhelm him, he’d wanted all of it. He’d had to convince her, and she couldn’t pretend it hadn’t felt much better when she was letting hormones and instinct take over...) The break is unanticipated, but welcome; if not for Moenbryda needing some kind of information from him, she’s pretty sure they’d still be in the apartment, lazing about.
Which would be a bit of a waste, it is a nice day. From where she’s sitting and waiting, she can see the play area attached to the Sands with some older teens and younger children running around (Elonwy is watching them, which suggests she’s been banished from the shop again. Poor Cid.), and people walking down the sidewalks on their way to and from places. Some eye the playing children and the Waking Sands like the place will bite them, others ignore them entirely.
Her communicator buzzes, and she flips it back open after a moment. Oh that’s unusual, family chat hasn’t been active since the last time Aymeric was trying to find Estinien...
Family!
(Yes, Estinien, that means you too.)
Arby: We’re going to be in town in a few days. Up for a reunion?
Mimi: !!!
Mimi: Really?!
Arby: Really. Client moving to the Uldahn district, figured maybe we could kill a few hours between loads.
Yahni: I should be back at the start of the week.
Yahni: Almost done dealing with this stupid challenge for Jacke.
Mimi: The lala grumpo?
Yahni: That’s the one.
Yahni: I’m definitely in. It’s been months, and Inle won’t be back for another week as it is.
Arby: Yes, well, you know how the work goes. You’re still with the rabbit, huh?
Yahni: The rabbit and the rogue. Also, shut it Mr ‘I have four partners, you should try it.’
Mimi: Can I bring Than?
Arby: Did you finally find yourself a new partner?
Ayms: It is about time we dragged Estinien out of his revenge quest for a breather. I’ll get in contact with Jynx.
Sunshine: Oh, goodness, is it a gathering we’re doing? Exciting! I’ll tell Ysanna, she’s been dying to meet you all.
Arby: Everyone’s gotten new partners. Teach me to not send messages more often.
Yahni: X to doubt
Sunshine: So much doubt!
Arby: Wait, Aymeric, weren’t you with Lucia?
Aymes: I am still with Lucia. Jynx has not yet decided on whether she likes Estinien or myself more. We are... exploring things.
Aymes: I think she will be good for Estinien, but he is...
Mimi: Grumpy cat!
Yahni: He really is...
Arby: Well, someone will have to drag him along, because if we have to hunt him down
The sound of the door opening catches her attention immediately, and Mi'una sits up properly on the bench as Thancred steps out. He doesn't look nearly as concerned as he did earlier, when Emet Selch had come by, but he is walking rather quick.
The sight of him make the hormones surge, and she's on her feet before she can stop herself. She does, at least, manage to catch herself before throwing herself at him, curling the hand not holding her communicator tight enough to dig her nails into her palm as a reminder for control. They are in public, and no matter the direction her thoughts turn she wants him she needs him, needs the feel of him she will not. Do. Anything.
Thancred, at least, seems to know where her mind has gone because his movements turn slow and careful. There's heat in his eyes, but gods bless him, he doesn't move to give her a kiss, or anything that might push that thin line of control into something less restrained.
“Home?” he asks.
The hormones ease, and warmth of a different sort slides through her. He's calling her place home?
She loves him so damn much.
“Please.”
Thancred knows there's heat in his blood by the time they make it back to the apartment, and she's been tense and taut against his back the whole way. He doesn't exactly care about indecent exposure--do enough one night stands and sex anywhere becomes sort of the default--but he knows Mi'una will feel awful if they get a little carried away and end up somewhere a little more than exposed.
So he tries, he really does, to make quick work of getting them both into her apartment so he can just-
He spots Yun just retreating around a corner, and nearly steps on a bundle of flowers and a box laid before her door. Mi'una does step on them, and jumps nearly a foot. She looks down at them in bewilderment, then up at him.
“You unlock the door,” Thancred says. “I’ll handle this.”
Her ears twitch back and forth, as does her tail, but after a moment she nods and starts on the door locks, clicking them open one at a time as Thancred scoops up the ‘gifts’, and glances around. He doesn't want these in her apartment, their apartment, but he also doesn't want to leave them in the hall...
The flowers get pitched out the window at the end of the hall, near the stairwell door, and then Thancred opens the box more out of a sense of annoyed curiosity than anything else. It's a pretty necklace, but he can immediately tell how little it would suit Mi'una. It's garish costume jewelry, all about the sparkle and attracting attention more than anything else.
He considers it for a long moment, then drops it out the window to land with the flowers, before turning back towards his girlfriend's apartment. Just in time too, as Yun walks ‘casually’ back around the corner, anticipation in his face. Mi'una's hand is on the latch, and Thancred is quick to get to her side, even as she lets out a low hiss.
He will tell her later how cute that is. When she's more in a frame of mind to take it as the compliment he means it to be
“You... where's the-” Yun's eyes dart from Thancred to the open window and then back. His eyes narrow. “You-”
“Again, do not have any interest in doing this, but you are pushing it,” Thancred warns, carefully nudging against Mi'una. “Next time, they will be thrown in your face, and I will be talking with your uncle about your less than stellar behaviour.”
Mi'una's fingers are curled in his jacket, and he can tell she wants to bodily drag him into the apartment. He doesn't disagree with the idea, but first...
“And if that doesn't convince you to stop, we can find an empty lot, and I will give you five good reasons.” He holds up a hand and silently folds his fingers into a fist, then turns and sweeps Mi'una thought the door before Yun can reply.
He manages to get the door closed and locked, and the chain latched before she’s on him.
Mi'una's arms wrap around him and she drags him down into a kiss that is as sweet as it is demanding. His leather jacket and shoes are quickly abandoned as he returns the kiss with an equal amount of passion, curling his arms around her waist; the bike helmets are dropped and he absently thinks that it's probably not good for them to be treated so, but his brain is admittedly a lot more focused on the way Mi'una's hands are undoing his pants.
While he has absolutely no problems with having sex anywhere in this apartment, he definitely wants at least a condom before she forgets that they're not actually trying for children. Her children, their children, will be cute someday. Not now, but someday Catching her hands makes her growl and whine at him, but he keeps his grip firm.
“It’ll be... like trying to corral a toddler, I suppose,” she said with a small frown. “You have to be firm about it. In charge.”
“I mean, I have no objections to simply riding it out,” Thancred replied, half-smiling. “You said the spell will cover the whole apartment?”
“No, just one room. I got three at Yahni’s suggestion; they should cover the living room, my room, and the bathroom...”
Given that all three places were where they did, in fact, regularly have sex, it sounded like a plan.
“And you only say that because you don’t know yet,” she continued, giving him a resigned look. “Look, just.. The best ways are the simple ones. I will probably get pretty grabby, but your hands are bigger than mine. You could pin me easily, Than, and you might have to.”
He didn’t like the idea, and had a feeling it showed on his face, because she just sighed a little, and raked a hand through her hair.
“I don’t mean like.. Throw me down,” she said patiently. “Again, I don’t get violent, just demanding. Words aren’t going to work, so it’ll be down to body language and weight. You’ve seen how Mochi will sometimes lay on Nana or Nori when they’re bothering her, right? Basically that. Be Mochi.”
He’s not a fan of restraining her in any way, if he’s being honest. But he knows perfectly well that multiple ways of preventing children are better than just one way, so he keeps a firm grip on her wrists as he tugs her towards the couch. She’d recommended he drop condoms all over the apartment, just in case, and he’d done so, even if it had felt a bit silly at the time.
He manages to get her to sit on the couch, and if she’s not exactly docile, well, she’s not fighting him quite as hard either. Carefully he lets go of her wrists, and fortunately for his peace of mind--if not his lust, good gods, she is hot, and the haze of desire in her eyes is doing terrible things to his own self control--she doesn’t try to go after his pants again. Instead, she starts stripping out of her own clothes, which gives him the time to reach over to the small bowl and snag a condom from within.
Family!
(Yes, Estinien, that means you too)
Arby: So, looks like the middle of next week is about the best time for you lot?
Yahni: Should be. If nothing else, I ought to be done with that challenge, and Mimi’s heat will be at an end.
Sunshine: Ysanna hasa been after me to take a few days off, sso really, this is a perfect opportunity to do so.
Sunshine: I’ve been training Coral and Saving Grace for this too, but there’s never really been a decent reason for me to not be around.
Aymes: Jynx and Lucia have agreed that we’ll drag Estinien with us.
Est: I hve work to be doing, not frivolous sdaomniak
Est: Hi, this is Jynx, he’ll be there~
Sunshine: You’d think, for someone with typically good spatial awareness, he’d realize when she sneaks up on him.
Aymes: Perhaps you might.
Arby: I have to ask, did she just jump him and swipe his phone?
Est: I did! 8D
Est: He’s very grumpy about it~
Sunshine: You know, normally I would protest this, as the cafe is hardly a jungle gym, but...
Sunshine posted a video!
[Haurchefant winks at the camera, making an exaggerated shushing motion, before panning it around to take in Estinien standing on one of the cafe tables, clearly looking to jump up towards the rafters. The camera angles up to reveal a miqo’te in said rafters, a phone just visible in her hands and a bright grin on her face.]
“Are ye goin t’come ge’it, or do I get t’keep it?~”
[The camera pans back down in time to catch Estinien making a truly impressive leap, and there is a shriek of laughter before the recording stops.]
Aymes: Good thing the cafe is empty, some people would think he’s about to murder her for his phone.
Arby: Holy sh*t, is she making him play tag?
Sunshine: Pretty much!
Arby: For his phone?
Aymes: She is very good at convincing him to... relax in unconventional ways.
Est: Delete that.
Sunshine: No, I don’t think I will. Also, do get off her. You know she bites.
Yahni: I really need to stop by your cafe more often. A meal and a show!
Mimi: ....Oh this family reunion is going to be delightfully chaotic.
“Thou art certain of this?” Urianger asks sa he parks the car in its designated spot behind the Waking Sands. “We could but take more time. Minfilia is understanding of the situations complexities.”
“Mm. Need t’get back tae routine,” Dawn says, carbuncle looking out the window instead of at him. “M’a’redy ‘ttached Uri. Dinne need tae make it... bad-like.”
While he can’t exactly protest her desire to avoid codependency, he still does wish she’d take more time for herself, at least. But what would she do at home on her own?
He sighs a little, admitting defeat, and taps the wheel lightly; she and the carbuncle face him, nd he leans over to gently press his forehead to hers.
“But summon me and I shall be at thy side,” he murmurs.
“Sap.”
But it’s soft and fond, and her head tips just a little to give him a small kiss.
