#if tav told him the others weren’t doing so hot without the two of them around

[myrkulitescourge]

the way that one line from the new epilogue in an astarion romance is going to HAUNT me

just. what a profoundly intense thing to confess to someone.

like, just these six months of newfound happiness with you exerts a force on his heart equal and in direct opposition to two centuries of endless torment, the gnawing hunger and exploitation. this flashbulb-bright fraction of his long life holds the same gravity to him as years upon years of darkness and suffering.

in all likelihood, he hasn’t even known his lover for as long as his worst memory lasted, that year sealed away to go mad from starvation and sensory deprivation, yet he still tells them this brief time has been so fundamentally and powerfully important that the weight of even that unimaginable hell is vanishingly small compared to this present he has now and the future ahead of them both.

how am i supposed to act normal about this.

[queen-scribbles]

Catching Up

@pillarspromptsweekly​ fill #12: Modern AU. Tavi and Khel super ran away with this one on me, but what else is new? Blah title, but it’s the best I could do.

The shower felt good.

Tavi leaned her forehead against the tiled wall and let the hot water run over sore muscles, bruises, and a couple ribs that felt more tender than they probably should. Maneha had been a good match today. She worked her mouth and spat toward the drain. Almost no red. Good, her split lip had finally stepped bleeding.

With a sigh, Tavi pushed away from the wall and actually finished washing her hair. She’d been just standing here for fifteen minutes, and she needed to give the hot water time to recover before Aloth got home tonight. After two weeks away and fourteen hours on a plane, she figured the only thing he might want more than a shower would be sleep. She smirked to herself as the last of the shampoo ran off and circled the drain. Sleep would probably top the list; Aloth had never been comfortable so much as dozing on planes. In which case, she  could go a few more minutes, see if she could get the knot in her right shoulder to loosen just a little more...

Before she knew it, a few minutes had turned into eight, and the water was turning from hot to tepid. “Whoops,” she muttered out loud as she turned it off, adding a silent prayer it recovered quickly. The only thing worse than cranky Aloth was cranky jet-lagged Aloth, though both were rare, and he always apologized profusely soon as his mood improved. (and really, who the fuck wasn’t cranky when they were jet-lagged?) 

Hopefully he’d want to sleep first, shower later and Tavi’s entire inner monologue would be moot. For now, though, she was getting chilly as the steam from the shower dissipated, so she reached for her towel. She’d only made it halfway through drying off and getting dressed when she heard the apartment door open and close. Tavi was in the middle of a frowning glance at the clock--His flight doesn’t get in for at least two hours--when she heard a familiar voice.

“Tav? You home?”

She rolled her eyes. It would be Khellin. Her brother was one of two people besides her and Aloth with keys to both the apartment and the building. Keys that were supposed to be for emergencies, or if she needed him to feed Quaro, but Khellin routinely used them when he came over for visits.

“Out in a minute!” she hollered, quickly yanking on sweatpants and a tank top. “Khel, what have I told you about texting before you show up at my fuckin’ door?”

“I did!” he protested, voice getting louder as she exited the bedroom. “You didn’t answer.” Enlightenment flashed in his green eyes as she reached the living room. “Ah. And now I know why. Your post-gym showers always take at least fifteen minutes. Longer if Maneha was on her game. Which I’m guessing she was, from the look of that shiner.”

Tavi winced and gently felt around her left eyes. “Shit, does it look that bad?”

“Yep.” Khellin grinned as he flopped on the couch.

“Great.” It was her own fault for not dodging quickly enough, but she still felt momentarily grumpy toward Maneha for being such a damn good shot. “So what’re you doin’ here? Didn’t you just get back from.... was it Readceras this time?”

Khellin shook his head. “That was a couple months ago. This was Ixamitl.”

“Whatever. My point is, why’re you here instead of Maia’s?” Tavi practically demanded as she perched on the arm of the couch.

“She doesn’t own me,” he joked. “We’re dating, not married.”

“Khel.”

“You left me a voicemail.” Khellin slid his phone from his pocket and spun it absently on the coffee table. “Said to call you when I got back into town.”

“Yeah, call me, Khel,” Tavi emphasized, arms crossed for good measure. “Not show up at my place unannounced instead instead of seein’ your fuckin’ girlfriend first.”

Khellin stared at her. “You left a fucking voicemail, Tav.”

“And?” she shrugged, arms still crossed. 

“You never leave voicemails. Ever. If I don’t answer, you text me. I was worried somethin’ was wrong with you or Aloth...” His eyes narrowed and he glanced around the apartment. “Speaking of... Where’d he go this time?”

Tavi sighed. “Damn, you’re good. Aedyr. Someone bought what they claim is ‘the definitive Concelhaut manuscript’ at--get this--an estate sale.”

“And since he’s something of an expert on Concelhaut--and cheaper than these snotty academics with five degrees--he got begged to come authenticate it?” Khellin guessed, running his fingers through his hair. 

“More or less,” Tavi nodded. “Two degrees is much more affordable than five. He’s been there two weeks ‘cause they pulled the ‘Oh, while you’re here, can you look a these other books too...’ bullshit an’ he’s s’pposed to get home tonight...”

“Aw, does someone miss her boyfriend?” he said teasingly.

“Nope,” she deadpanned, biting back a smile.

“You’re full of shit, sis,” Khellin shot back, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. “Kana picked me up from the airport cuz Maia’s workin’ a double today--’nother reason I didn’t go see her first--an’ he said you were super mopey during your shift last night.”

“Please, he was in for one drink,” Tavi said, rolling her eyes. “Twenty minutes, tops. He just wanted to vent about the fuckin’ school plannin’ to cut the music and arts budget to practically nothin’, and I can’t blame him. He’s poured his heart and soul into that job and those kids for three years. I’d be pissed as hell. He just got a little melancholy an’ slightly more rambly than usual. I could barely get two words in edgewise, so how the fuck could he tell if I was mopey?”

Khellin shot her a ‘you’re kidding, right?’ look. “Tav. He’s your best friend. He can read you better than anyone other than me an’ Aloth. Bringing us back to my point that you miss your boyfriend.”

“No,” Tavi insisted, arms wrapping tighter in a self hug. “I don’t miss my boyfriend.” Gods, she hoped her eyes weren’t giving anything away.

If they were, Khellin missed it. “Tavi-”

“I miss my fiancé.” She held up her hand and wiggled her fingers, smirking triumphantly. Oh, was it ever worth how long she’d been sitting on that news to get to watch her brother’s jaw hit the floor.

“Holy shit...” Khellin blinked a few times and kept staring at her hand. “Holy fucking hell.” His gaze shifted to her face (which was plastered with the mother of all shit-eating grins) and he glowered half-heartedly. “You dick. You’ve been sitting on that for two weeks without telling me?!”

“Not my fault you were in the middle of nowhere for a month with shitty cell coverage. Also, I wanted to tell you in person so I could see your face, and Hylea’s tits was it worth it,” she said, all but gloating as she spun the ring around heer finger so he could see the scrollwork engraving. Between her job and her favorite hobbies, something with a stone would have been a bad idea, which Aloth had taken into account and compromised for accordingly.

“Dick,” Khellin repeated, tossing a throw pillow at her.

“Thanks, bro,” Tavi laughed, catching the pillow and hugging it to her stomach. 

“One thing I gotta know--and don’t let the fact I have money riding on this affect your answer--who asked who?”

Tavi winged the pillow back at him. “We’re gonna circle back around to the fact you all were bettin’ on me an’ Aloth’s love life, but, uh, he asked me.”

“Dammit!”

She grinned. “Sorry, Khel.”

“No you’re not,” he groused, slumping low enough to put his feet up on the coffee table.

“You’re right, I’m not, and get your damn feet off my coffee table. Gods, who raised you?”

“You did,” Khellin snarked, dropping his feet back to the floor.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” Tavi deadpanned. She slid from the arm of the couch down to sit next to him. “Seriously, though, Khellin, you’re okay with this?”

“Shit, yes,” he said emphatically. “I’m gonna tell you something I told Aloth, like, a year ago; your happiness is very important to me, Tavi. And even if I never in a million years woulda pegged a prissy academic as your type-”

“He’s not prissy!” Tavi protested, giggling but indignant as she whacked him with the throw pillow again.

“He’s a little prissy, Tav. But he’s also a cool guy, and he was smart enough to fall in love with you, and he makes you smile like the sun is bottled behind your eyes. So even if I’m now out a hundred bucks, I’m very, very happy for you.”

“Thanks.” Tavi grinned and pulled him into a hug. “Hundred bucks, huh?”

“Uh-huh. Fifty each to Maia and Sagani.”

“Ouch.” She chuckled as she sat back, propping her elbow against the back of the couch and resting her head against her hand. “Does it make things better or worse if I admit that if Aloth hadn’t proposed before he left on this trip, I was gonna ask him when he got back?”

“Worse,” Khellin groaned. “So, so much worse.”

“Then forget I said anything.” Tavi pushed to her feet. “You want a beer?”

“Galawain’s teeth, yes. And a real one, none of that lite crap you keep around for Kana.”

“Got it.” She started toward the kitchen. “And  then you can tell me about your trip.”

“Yeah, because tracking a lion pride’s dietary habits is any sort of match for you getting engaged after five years,” Khellin said wryly.

“Wild animals are always interesting,” Tavi retorted. She grabbed a beer and returned to the living room. “And I like hearing about how your internship’s going. Fills me with motherly pride.”

Khellin snorted as he took the beer. “Glad I made you proud, Mom. You’re not gonna have one?”

She shook her head. “Aloth’s flight gets in in a couple hours, and I have to drive to the airport to pick him up. No alcohol for me.”

“Oh, look who’s being a goody two-shoes for once,” Khellin teased.

“I work at a bar, Khel,” Tavi said dryly. “I’ve swiped the keys of way too many people who were drunker’n they thought they were. I’m not takin’ any chances myself. Now. Trip. Lions. Talk.”

“Alright, alright,” he laughed, and spent the next hour telling her all about it.

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Notes this time, first and foremost that I know we know next to nothing about Maia, but seriously, if she’s the least bit open to dating dudes, I’m going for it with Khellin. So that’s me crossing my fingers and hoping. Also, I was only planning to have Tavi and Aloth be in an established relationship. The ‘btdubs we’re engaged :D’ was all her. Khellin teased her about missing her boyfriend and she went “HEY MOM, KNOW WHAT WOULD BE GREAT?” and I loved it so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯