OC Kiss: Almost (Tavi/Everin, Pillars of Eternity)
Tavi groaned and swore as the back of her hand met the table's weathered surface.
She shook it free of the warm grip around it and planted her elbow, forearm upright, in the table. "Again."
Everin laughed and drained the last of his beer. "Really, Tav? Most kith would cut their losses after three consecutive matches."
She waggled her fingers and stared into those warm, dancing brown eyes. "I thought one of the things you liked about me was my stubbornness."
He huffed a smaller laugh--"It's your dignity"--and slapped his palm to hers, elbow likewise braced on the table. The two glanced up at Fausta, who had been observing the whole exchange with a smirk.
"Oh, ac." She flipped her braid back over her shoulder and counted down in Vailian.
Tavi was raring to go, so it didn't catch her off-guard when Everin's hand wobbled down toward the tabletop under her initial pressure. It did surprise her that he seemed to have trouble rebounding. Maybe she was wearing him down with the persistent matches. She was vaguely aware of conversation from the rest of their group, of Fausta watching to call the winner. But her focus poured into the calloused warmth of Everin's hand against hers, the way pressure tapered off at his broken pinkie, not letting him and his damnable height advantage win again.
She put her whole arm and back into it, half-rising from her seat to get leverage. And Everin's hand started to waver, the match turning from his favor to hers.
He muttered an amused curse under his breath and the muscles in his arm tensed with strain. "Shit, Tavi..."
Tavi spared a brief glance to smirk at him before matching the increased vigor relentlessly until his knuckles met the table.
"Hah!" she crowed, then immediately narrowed her eyes. "You didn't let me fuckin' win, did you, Truscot?"
Everin laughed, making no effort to free himself from her victory. (it made something curl in her chest, that laugh. Pride? Heat?) "Now, why would I do that?"
"I dunno," Tavi retorted, already tempted to demand another rematch. "That face is just makin' me think you took fuckin pity-"
"You don't think you could win on your own merits, Illani?" he baited, eyes twinkling.
"Fuck you, I know I can." She yanked her hand free and leaned forward over the table. "You sayin' I wore you down, Ev?"
Everin leaned forward to match her, close enough she could smell the honeyed mead that had preceded his beer, close enough to get lost in the rich dark brown of his eyes. "It's been known to happen."
It sounded like a challenge.
Tavi swallowed hard. She didn't think he was talking about arm wrestling anymore.
She could kiss him from here. It would be easy, a wordless escalation of the dance he'd been letting her lead for years, despite making it perfectly clear where he wanted it to go. She darted a glance at his lips.
How long are you gonna leave him fucking hanging, Tavi?
Part of her wanted--ached--to close the gap, take that step, not caring if their friends were watching and would heckle until the Deadfire froze over, see if it was as amazing as it promised to be.
But too much of her was still seared by remembered flames, pain stinging her hands and heart. I can't.
I can't, I can't, I'm sorry.
I won't.
Shit. She needed out. Or...
Tavi pushed back, muttering something about keeping that in mind and quitting while she was ahead, pretending she didn't see the resigned hurt in his eyes.
Fucking coward, her thoughts mocked as she hastened from the room.
She couldn't deny it.
She left a week later.
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[ Image ID: a rectangular flag with 9 equally-sized horizontal stripes in this order: saturated orangish yellow, slightly pastel yellow, pastel yellow, pale yellow, off-white, pale yellow, pastel yellow, slightly pastel yellow, and saturated orangish yellow. in the middle is a dark gold symbol. the symbol is shaped similarly to a sunrise rising over a hill, partially outlined by a circle over the top. there are three curved stripes at the bottom of the symbol that make up a hill, and a sun made up of sharp triangular spikes in a circle that is half covered up by the hill. ]
EVERITHE!
—> everithe is a NON-XENIC neogender umbrella related to lightness , dawn , infinity , everlasting , gold , and existence . this can be metaphorical , literal , or something in-between .
—> pronounced ever-ee-th
—> useful terms : EVERIN - everithe in nature ; evern / everend - an everithe gender ; everithine / everine - everithe equivelant of masculine / feminine ; transever / transithe - everithe equivelant of transfem / transmasc
—> pronoun ideas : ever/evers , li/light , lux/luxes , gold/golden , infi/infinite , dawn/dawns , ever/everlast
Tagging for visibility : @kenochoric , @kenopunk , @mogayis-socool , @epikulupu
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Nimona OC - Charlotte Swiftheart/Corova
So, hi. Not sure how I'm feeling about today or this weekend. I'm supposed to go to a musical with my mom in the morning, but then she was throwing up earlier this evening, so not sure about that. Also I planned out my classes for next semester but it won't let me sign up for half of them because of various things, so I'm stressed about that. But anyway, I have a bit of time before I sleep, so I'm going to write this next bit.
First, Previous, Next
"Well, then would you like a tour?"
She does her best to hide it, but she feels a bit giddy. Over the past six years, she's built this place, this sanctuary, into what it is today. And now she gets to show the two people who, deep down, she always wanted to show it to. In a way, this place was made because of them. Seeing the emotions in Ballister's eyes as he looks around makes her heart swell with pride.
She pushes the fabric flap aside and gestures for them to step inside. Most of the place is open, but they do have areas where they've set up more warm, enclosed areas. This area, well.
"Those are babies," Ambrosius says, freezing once he's inside the cozy area. Charlotte follows them inside, letting the flap fall back into place as she moves to Ambrosius's side.
"This is our nursery," she says, crossing her arms. There aren't many infants or toddlers in their care, but there are enough. Six, to be exact. Well, seven, with the new addition they got a few days ago.
"You have babies here," Ballister says, sounding slightly horrified. She sighs, looking at the ground.
"Not by choice. Most of them were left here by mothers who couldn't take care of them, but still wanted their babies to be safe. Better with us here than on the street to die," she says. She shifts slightly when she feels a hand on her back.
"Hey, Chari," Delia says as Charlotte shifts to allow her past. Delia is one of the main caretakers for the infants in the nursery, though they all try to contribute around the place where they can. They stand there and watch as Delia walks over to check on the babies. Their newest baby, Everin, starts to cry, and Delia moves to take care of her.
"You said most," Ballister says, though his gaze is focused on Delia and the tiny Everin. Charlotte looks over at him for a moment, then toward a particular cradle. The most comfortable amenities always go to the children, and many are hand crafted by the members of the KB.
"When Neieve came to us, she was already pregnant. Her son Ali was born here," she says. As if on cue, Ali's head appears, peaking over the sides of the cradle. At nearly a year old, he sits up perfectly fine on his own. He coos, waving his chubby little hand at her, and she smiles a bit and walks over to him, bending down to offer her finger. "Hi, little one." He seems to consider her finger for a moment, then he looks up at her and smiles a toothless smile, reaching toward her head and making a babbling noise. She carefully lifts him into her arms, bouncing him slightly. She turns slightly when someone appears beside her, and Ambrosius is smiling down at Ali.
"Hey, little guy," he coos softly, offering the baby his finger. This time, Ali grasps onto it, and Ambrosius chuckles slightly. "He's strong!" She grins.
"That's our little Ali," she says. "Strong like his mama."
"This is incredible, Char." She and Ambrosius turn, looking over at Ballister. That emotional sparkle is in his eyes again, and he looks close to tears. "What you've done for these people, for these kids...You're doing so much good." She smiles softly.
"I'm just giving people what they deserve." She steps past Ambrosius, cradling Ali in one arm as she reaches out to rest her hand on Ballister's shoulder. "What we deserved." Ballister blinks back tears as he smiles softly at her.
"I would've loved a place like this. You've given these kids so much. You gave them a home," he says. She sighs, looking back down at Ali and shifting him in her arms.
"They deserve so much more than even what I can give them." Ali's face suddenly scunches, and he begins to whimper. She shushes him, then turns over her shoulder. "Del, I think he's hungry." Delia turns away from the other babies and walks over to her.
"I'll take care of it," she says, carefully taking Ali from Charlotte's arms. Before she turns away, she looks up at Charlotte again. "By the way, Norshe was looking for you." Charlotte nods, then watches her move away to take care of Ali.
"Who's Norshe?" Ambrosius asks. Charlotte looks over at him.
"Looks like you two are going to meet my girlfriend after all," she says. His eyes widen.
"You got a new girlfriend?" he asks. She raises an eyebrow.
"Couldn't exactly keep seeing Alieza. It would've ruined her," she says. "And, it's been six years. It's not like I was never going to date again."
"Well, I'd like to meet her," Ballister says. Charlotte gestures toward the tent flap.
"Shall we, then?" Ballister gestures toward the flap as well.
"After you."
Again, there will be more. I want to introduce you to Norshe
Lovely tagged people:
@ammonitetheseaserpent @perfectkittystranger @derellenbogen
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