#kailoth

[haledamage]

"I think we're stuck." for Kai?

(trigger warning for claustrophobia, brief mentions of child abuse (no worse than the stuff mentioned in-game in Aloth’s backstory))

“Oh, lovely,” Aloth said drolly, staring into the room he’d just discovered. “A dark, ominous closet. My favorite.”

“Wonderful.” Kai managed to sound even less enthusiastic about the discovery than he did as she stepped up next to him. “You know, when I said I wished we could have some more time alone together, this isn’t quite what I had in mind.”

“I know.” He took her hand, gave it a quick squeeze, then let her go. “At least those journals look promising. Maybe we’ll actually find some clues in this one.”

“Or spiders.”

He chuckled. “I suspect we’ll find spiders either way. After you, my dear. “

Kai didn’t hide her reluctance to enter the tiny room, but she did it anyway. It was barely big enough for the two of them to have room to move about without having to climb over each other. She suspected she could lay on the floor and be able to touch all four walls, and the ceiling was low enough that the cobwebs hanging from it caught in Aloth’s dark hair, silver strands clinging to him and aging him before his time. The three walls that didn’t house the door were covered in shelves with stacks of old, crumbling books and intriguing esoteric trinkets.

Without a word, the two of them turned to opposite shelves and started sifting through their contents. She had to resist the historian part of her brain that told her to take everything so she could study it at her leisure. They were here for a purpose, and part of that purpose involved leaving as small of a trace as possible of their passing.

Still. It was very tempting.

“Oh!” Aloth exclaimed suddenly, drawing her attention away from the golden curio she’d been inspecting. “I think I found something. I can’t read the text, but it looks familiar.”

She peeked over his shoulder at the book he was holding, squinting to try and see it in the unlit room. “It’s Engwithan. It’s too dark in here to decipher, but I recognize the language.”

“That seems promising,” he muttered to himself, tapping his finger on the corner of the book as he thought. Kai knew what he was thinking; he was trying to decide if they should risk exploring more, or take their prize and get out. He nodded, coming to a decision. “We should go. We’ve already been here too long.”

“Agreed. We’ll take it back to our room and see what there is to see. Worst case scenario, we can come back.”

They tried to put everything else back where they’d found it, more or less, then picked their way back to the door. It had drifted closed while they were exploring, the old wood warped and uneven from age. Aloth reached it first and moved to open it, but it didn’t budge.

He tried again; the doorknob rattled as he tried to shake the latch free, but it remained unmoved. He threw his shoulder into it, trying to force it, but it still remained spitefully closed.

Kai wished she’d thought to bring her pistol. There was more than one way to open a door.

He turned to her, a frown set deep in his brow, and she knew what he was going to say before he said it. “I think we’re stuck.”

It was amazing how much dread could come from just four words. “Of course we are. Gods forbid anything go simply for a change. How long do you think before someone comes looking for us?”

“If we’re lucky? A few hours.” His eyes roamed the room as if trying to find a different way out, but there were no windows, no spaces there could possibly be any hidden doors or alcoves. “If we aren’t… Edér will probably notice we’re missing by morning.”

“Galawain’s flea-bitten arse!” Kai growled and kicked the door. It did not fly dramatically open like she’d hoped. She leaned back against the door and pressed her head against it.

“Feel better, my dear?” he asked dryly.

“I’m sorry, darling. I just…” She closed her eyes, trying to keep her composure, but she was breathing too fast. “I don’t like tight spaces.”

“I… had forgotten,” Aloth said softly. “Forgive me.”

“Not your fault. It’s been a while.”

“That it has.” He tried to hide it, but Kai could still hear the pain in his voice.

“Don’t you dare apologize, Aloth Corfiser. We’ve talked about this.” They had, in fact, talked about it exhaustively. He still felt guilty for leaving Caed Nua, even though they’d agreed he needed to, and she still felt guilty for not going with him, even though they’d agreed she needed to stay in Caed Nua. It was a circular argument, one with no clear answer and no winner and all it did was reopen wounds that would be better left alone so they could heal.

“I know,” he said, voice so low now it was almost a whisper. She hadn’t realized how much her hands were trembling until he laced his fingers with hers. “But I can still never get back those years we were apart.”

“We have plenty of years ahead of us that we’ll spend together.” Even on the edge of panic, that still drew a small smile to her face. “Though we’ll probably spend them locked in this gods damned closet.”

“Kai. Look at me.” Aloth’s voice was gentle but firm, and she found herself responding to the command almost unconsciously. He was standing very close, his face barely inches from hers, and instead of making the suffocating closeness of the room worse, his proximity actually made it a little easier for her to breathe. His pale eyes seemed to glow in the dim light. “You are safe. I won’t let anything happen to you. Just keep your eyes on me.”

He kept talking about nothing in particular, his voice calm and his gaze steady, his hand a lifeline in hers. Every breath came a little easier than the one before. She stopped shaking as the panic ebbed away, and the walls moved back to a reasonable distance once more. Finally, she sagged against him, pressing her face to his shoulder and just breathing him in for a moment. He smelled the same way he always did, the vanilla-and-dust scent of old books and the clean sharp ozone scent of his magic and a hint of woodsmoke that he picked up from her.

His arms went around her, holding her close, and the last of the tension drained from her and she could finally think again. Her thoughts raced like they were trying to make up for the time lost panicking. Maybe one of these shelves had a key. They couldn’t be the first kith to lock themselves in here. Or maybe… “I don’t suppose Iselmyr knows how to pick locks.”

“Fye, ainlie if ye've git an axe.”

“Figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.” Kai’s own Awakened memories weren’t any help either. Iorena had been a soldier through and through. She knew how to open a stuck door using a spear as a lever, but that didn’t exactly help right now. A memory from her own childhood surfaced, hazy but possibly useful. “Maybe I can. Do you have a letter opener? A… a hair pin? A quill you’re not especially attached to?”

“Perhaps.” Aloth raised a curious eyebrow, but started searching his pockets for anything that might fit the bill. “Why would you know how to pick locks?”

“When we were children, my younger sister Ariana taught me.” Her pockets were distressingly empty, so she scanned the shelves to see if they had anything promising. “It’s been about thirty years since I’ve done it, but it’s worth a try.”

Aloth beat her to the punch, plucking a single patinated copper hairstick that probably predated the gods themselves from the shelf above her head. He offered it to her and she turned to the door to try and coerce it open. “Why would you need to know how to pick locks as a child?”

“Our mother favored solitary confinement as punishment,” she told the lock so she wouldn’t have to look at Aloth while she spoke. She knew what she’d see there: pain, sympathy, and enough understanding to make her angry, both on his behalf and on her own. “While I turned to reading as a way to pass the time, Ari was more proactive. She would sneak out in the middle of the night and rearrange Mother’s furniture, or steal things from Father and hide them throughout the house, and lock herself back away before they awoke in the morning. They never did figure out who was doing it.”

“How terrible,” he said softly, and he clearly wasn’t referring to Ariana’s poltergeist impression.

“No worse than anything you endured as a child.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

“No. It doesn’t.” Kai really didn’t want to talk about this anymore. There wasn’t enough space in this room for the two of them and the looming specter of her mother. Lucky for her, she was offered a very easy change of subject as the lock made a loud clicking sound. “Aha!” She gave her makeshift pick a careful twist and the door swung open. She climbed to her feet and gestured to the now-empty doorway. “After you, my dear.”

Neither of them said a word as they crept through the empty building and back out onto the street, then through a nearby alley. They emerged into a lantern-lit courtyard, music and laughter pouring out from the open doors of a tavern, and slowed their pace. Just another normal couple enjoying the evening air. The inn they were staying at was only a few buildings down, and they went straight up to their room as soon as they got there.

As soon as they stepped inside, Aloth rounded on Kai, hands falling onto her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

“I’m… getting there.” No use lying to him; he’d see through it anyway. She brought a hand up to his face, tracing her fingers along his cheek. “Thank you for keeping a level head, darling. If I’d been there alone, I suspect I’d have never made it out.”

“You don’t have to thank me. You’ve done the same for me. We take care of each other.” He said it like it was a simple fact of life. Water is wet; grass is green; we take care of each other. It made Kai adore him even more, just like it always did. “I got you something.”

He pulled the Engwithan book from his bag, then reached into it again and pulled out a smaller book, barely the size of his palm, and a bronze statuette of what looked like a deity, though it didn’t look like any of the ones they knew. They were small enough items that probably wouldn’t be noticed as missing, unless the owners did a thorough inventory - in which case their visit would have been noticed anyway.

Kai took the palm-sized book from him and opened it, curiosity getting the better of her. In it was page after page of faded writing in what looked like a very old form of Eld Aedyran, and the pages were so old they threatened to crumble at her touch. “You stole ancient artifacts for me,” she whispered, awed.

Aloth smiled proudly at her clear approval of his thievery. “Of course I did. I know the woman I married.”

She carefully took the books and statue from his hands and set them on the table. Then she walked back to him, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him, pouring every ounce of gratitude she had into it - not just gratitude for the pilfered gifts, but for his support, and his love, and just for being there.

“You’re welcome,” he said breathlessly once they parted, already leaning in for another kiss.

“That’s just the start, darling,” Kai said when they next broke apart. She pulled away from him enough to undo the clasps on her armor, letting it and the shirt she wore underneath fall to the floor. “We’ve got all night. Allow me to thank you properly.”

[haledamage]

Kiss 11 for Kailoth?

11. ‘We’re actually being kind of silly for once’ kiss

“Aloth, darling, put the book down,” Kai said sweetly. “You’re supposed to be relaxing.”

“Kai, my dear,” he said in the exact same tone, “are you feeling unwell? I never thought I’d hear something like that from you, of all people.”

“I have no problem with you reading for leisure. That would be rather hypocritical of me.” She had, in fact, brought her own book, though it remained unopened and safely folded into her cloak on top of the stack of their clothes, in an alcove far enough away from the edge of the bath that it would stay dry. “But no one has ever read that book for fun. Where did you even find it? I doubt I’d have let it anywhere near my library.”

“Fassina loaned it to me.”

“Of course she did. I should have known.” The tome Aloth was paging through was a dry (in a verbal and a literal sense, in this case) treatise on magical theory, more full of very dull opinions than possessing any true insight. There was a good chance he was reading it only so he could point out to Fassina all the ways it was wrong, but she still couldn’t help but tease him about it. “I’m glad you’ve made some friends, darling, but I do wish they had better taste in literature.” 

He scoffed, but he somehow managed to make it sound affectionate.

Kai leaned her head back on the edge of the bath and simply watched Aloth for a while. They were here at the Luminous Bathhouse on his insistence that she needed to unwind, and here he was not taking his own advice, back still ramrod straight as he stood next to her. In a sudden burst of inspiration, she ducked down into the water enough to slip under his arm and stand in front of him in the space between the side of the bath and his bare chest.

“You are dripping on my book,” he said, still not looking up from his reading. He was tall enough that he could read over the top of her head.

She grinned playfully. “It seems that way. You had better close it to keep it safe.”

He sighed as if it was some great sacrifice, but his lips twitched with poorly-concealed amusement. He shut the book and finally met her eyes. “Is that better?”

“It’s a good place to start.” She kissed his forehead, then the tip of his nose, then his lips, lingering there as his arms wound around her. When they eventually separated, she asked, “When is the last time you actually relaxed, darling? When you’ve taken five minutes not to think about the Leaden Key or whatever disaster I’ve been dragged into this week?”

She watched him think about it, but she knew the answer already before he said, “I… don’t think I ever have.”

“You should. I have it on fairly good authority that the world won’t end in the next two hours.” She settled her water-warmed hands on his shoulders, kneading gently at the stubborn tension there. “I also happen to know a woman who is madly in love with you and doesn’t like seeing you run yourself ragged like this.”

“Well, if this woman were here, I’d tell her that I’ll relax when she does.” He kissed her again, and she could feel his smile against her lips. “And that I love her too. Despite her questionable taste in reading material.”

Kai gasped dramatically. “Aloth Corfiser, you take that back! How dare you!”

Aloth’s laughter was like music; it eased the knot of stress that had made its home in her chest, and finally she could breathe again.

[haledamage]

❤, 💘, and 💝 for your Kai ship of choice?

I’m gonna go with Kai/Aloth, it’s been a while since I’ve talked about them :)

❤:who is more affectionate in public? in private?

In public, neither is very physically affectionate, but Kai’s more likely to be verbally affectionate. And not just by always calling him “darling,” but she likes to tell him as often as possible how much he matters to her. She asks him his opinion on things a lot too, which from someone like Kiki it may as well be a declaration of love in and of itself.

In private, Kiki is still very verbally affectionate, but I think Aloth is the more likely to initiate anything physical. Hand-holding and hair-stroking are big favorites for both of them, simple and gentle gestures that just kind of let them let their guards down.

The exception to both of these rules is Iselmyr, who is 100% down to make out anywhere and anytime. Even if they’re in an important meeting. Maybe especially if they’re in an important meeting.

💘:who developed a crush on the other first?

Aloth developed a crush on Kai, first because she’s the first person in a long time (maybe ever :/) that was truly kind to him, but it developed beyond that pretty quickly. He started to realize it in the Sanitarium, when Kai helped him come to terms with Iselmyr, but I think after that night on the bridge outside Defiance Bay, when he confessed his former association with the Leaden Key, that’s when he knew.

💝:who spends more time (possibly overthinking) what presents to get the other?

Aloth. Kai and Aloth are both chronic over-thinkers, but Aloth has additional issues there due to the abuse he suffered as a kid. Fear of rejection would be a big thing for him, and fear of abandonment. Kai isn’t so much afraid of rejection, her childhood trauma manifests itself more in a need to be right, and getting the wrong gift means she failed.

[haledamage]

(okay, last one i SWEAR, these are all so good :P) “I like the way your hand fits in mine.” for Kailoth

Kai was staring at the roof of her tent. She had no idea how long she’d been staring at the roof of her tent, but her eyes were dry from not blinking enough. She didn’t remember how she ended up in her tent. Last thing she remembered was… a river? And then Thaos, speaking to her about… something. Her sister?

She shook that away before it could push its way to the fore again and looked around. Judging by the light filtering through the flap, it looked to be around mid-morning, though it had been late afternoon last she recalled. She was in her bedroll, tucked in snuggly in a way that told her she hadn’t put herself there and hadn’t moved in a long time.

And she wasn’t alone.

Aloth sat at her side, leaned against one of the tent’s support posts, absorbed in a book. One of his hands held tightly to hers, their fingers laced together, his thumb absent-mindedly tracing patterns in the freckles on the back of her hand. The weight of his hand in hers was comforting, familiar, and it helped anchor her a little more fully in the real world. She was starting to get used to waking up with him next to her, like he’d always been there. She tried not to think too much about the implications of that.

“I like the way your hand fits in mine.” The words slipped out unbidden, and she only realized she’d spoken them aloud by how gravelly her voice sounded.

“What?” Aloth jumped and only barely caught his book before it slid out of his lap. He looked like he’d forgotten she was there. “Kai. You’re awake.”

“You sound much more sure about that than I am, darling.” She tried to sit up, but her body didn’t want to listen. “Where are we?”

“Elmshore.” He let go of her hand and instead helped her struggle into an upright position. “You had another vision and wouldn’t respond to any of us. We set up camp to wait until you… came back.”

“How long was I gone?” He didn’t answer, so Kai reached out for him again, covering his hand with hers once more. “Aloth, how long?”

“Two days. Nearly three.”

“Two--gods above.” She scrubbed her free hand over her face and into her hair. She looked over Aloth, at the book still open in his lap, his disheveled hair, the dark circles under his eyes, and realization dawned on her. “Have you been here the whole time?”

“I…” his cheeks turned pink, and that was all the answer she needed, “it wasn’t just me. Edér’s been here too. He only just stepped out for a moment.”

“Well, when he comes back, I’ll thank him too,” she said dryly. “But until then, thank you.”

Aloth ducked his head, hair falling like a dark curtain to hide his face. “You’re quite welcome. It’s no trouble, really.”

Kai responded only by giving his hand a warm squeeze and after a moment of hesitation he responded in kind. Then, as if on some unspoken cue, they moved apart to disassemble the tent and get the group back on track.

[haledamage]

Rhicember 12/20

You’ve never been ice skating? - Kai/Aloth

Kai leaned against the trunk of a bare-limbed tree at the edge of the frozen pond, smiling wistfully as she watched Edér and Vela move slowly around the surface. Edér was doing almost all of the work, Vela was barely old enough to be walking, much less ice skating, and the thick layers of her coat limited her movement even more. Still, she was laughing as Edér spun her slowly around, her arms flung up in the air. Their black hound, Lady, slipped and jumped along with them, barking joyfully in answer to Vela’s shrieks of laughter.

Kana skated nearby them, doing a pretty bad job of staying on his feet but having a fun time at it. Maneha skated circles around him, laughing uproariously every time he fell, one hand wrapped around a steaming stein of something that smelled terrible but didn’t actually taste that bad. The Devil of Caroc stood on the opposite side of the pond from Kai, so still she may as well have been frozen solid, both part of and apart from the festivities like she always was. 

Aloth leaned next to Kai, and she could hear the smile in his voice, though she didn’t turn to look at him. “They look like they’re having fun.”

“They do. Do you want to join them?”

His fingers laced with hers. “I’m fine right here. Do you want to join them? You look like you do.”

“Maybe. I don’t know.” Kai finally looked away from her daughter and met Aloth’s eyes. “Just thinking about my own childhood. It was never cold enough for something like this, obviously, but I don’t think it would have made a difference.” She saw entirely too much understanding and sympathy in his eyes, and looked down to the snow-covered ground instead. “There was never this much joy in our estate. This much laughter.”

“Vela will have a better childhood than we did. We’ll make sure of it.” There was steel in his voice, a simple but unbreakable vow, but then he continued in a much softer voice, “Then I assume you’ve never been ice skating?”

She laughed, and it chased away a lot of the ghosts trying to drag her down. “Does Ionni Brathr count?”

“No,” he said dryly, “it does not.”

“Then no. Dyrwood’s the first time I’ve ever been somewhere cold enough, and the last couple of winters here have been…” she waved a hand vaguely “well, you know.”

“I know. I’ve never been either.”

For some reason, that made her angry. She’d thought that at least Aloth’s mother, absent and neglectful as she had been, would have tried to make some worthwhile winter memories with her son. Kai was used to her own family being awful, but she still got furious on his behalf whenever she learned a new way that his family had let him down.

She waited until she could trust that the rage wouldn’t be in her voice before turning to fully face Aloth and saying, “Well, then what are we waiting for?” She took his other hand and started leading him toward the frozen pond.

“What? No. No no no, that isn’t what I meant.” He turned bright red, and there was the tiniest bit of something like fear in his voice, but he kept following even after she dropped his hands.

“Don’t worry, darling. I won’t let you fall.” She stepped onto the ice and slid alarmingly quickly in a direction she hadn’t intended to go. It took longer than she would have liked to get back to Aloth and take his hand again.

“You don’t know that.” Her display clearly had not instilled much confidence in her ability to keep him upright. Even so, he stepped carefully onto the frozen pond. His balance was much better than hers. He glanced over her shoulder toward where their now suspiciously quiet friends were, and lowered his voice as his face turned even redder. “Everyone’s watching us.”

“Don’t look at them.” She touched a hand to his cheek, his skin cold under her fingers. “Look at me.”

He did, and some of the tension drained from his shoulders. One side of his mouth tilted up in a wry smirk. “You don’t know what you’re doing any more than I do.”

“I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m having fun.” Kai tried to take a step backwards and lost her balance, falling onto her rear with a yelp. Aloth almost tumbled after her as surprised laughter snuck its way past his defenses. She grinned up at him. All the indignity was suddenly completely worth it. “And so are you.”

“I guess I am.” He smiled sweetly at her and very slowly skated toward her. “Do you need a hand up?”

He offered her a hand to help her up, but she lost her balance again almost immediately and ended up dragging him down with her. Judging by the warm sound of his laughter, he didn’t seem to mind.

[haledamage]

OTP Meme

tagged by @rannadylin :D thank you, dear! I’m not tagging anyone this time, but if you want to do this please do and tag me back so I can see it!

—

Bold What Applies

Italicize What Somewhat/Sometimes Applies

Ves/Aric

height difference | mutual pining | first kiss | first love | wedding | in-jokes | lgbt+ | family disapproves | friend disapproves | would die for each other | fake relationship | arranged wedding | cuddlers | pda friendly | and they were room mates | holding hands | secret relationship | opposing worldviews | opposing personalities | opposing goals | getting a pet | have kids (eventually) | want kids | grow old together | relationship failures | rests head on shoulder | share a bed | token dummies | relationship doubts | they have a song | first date | share a jacket | sharing a blanket | mutual interests | study buddies | bathing together | crash into hello | accidental nudity | laundry | same hobbies | cooking for each other | big fancy gala | sibling rivalry | hair stroking | dancing | laying in the grass | watching stars together | watching the other sleep | shared values | friends to lovers | enemies to lovers | lovers to enemies | childhood friends | slow burn | love triangle | toxic relationship | sitting on each other’s laps | can’t be together | hugs | forehead touches | neck kisses | car/motorbike rides | compliments | nicknames | falling asleep together | late night talks | gifts

Kai/Aloth

height difference | mutual pining | first kiss | first love | wedding | in-jokes | lgbt+ (Kai and Aloth are both bi) | family disapproves | friend disapproves | would die for each other | fake relationship | arranged wedding | cuddlers | pda friendly | and they were room mates | holding hands | secret relationship | opposing worldviews | opposing personalities | opposing goals | getting a pet | have kids (Vela) | want kids | grow old together | relationship failures | rests head on shoulder | share a bed | token dummies | relationship doubts | they have a song | first date | share a jacket | sharing a blanket | mutual interests | study buddies | bathing together | crash into hello | accidental nudity | laundry | same hobbies | cooking for each other | big fancy gala | sibling rivalry | hair stroking | dancing | laying in the grass | watching stars together | watching the other sleep | shared values | friends to lovers | enemies to lovers | lovers to enemies | childhood friends | slow burn | love triangle (if you count Iselmyr) | toxic relationship | sitting on each other’s laps | can’t be together | hugs | forehead touches | neck kisses | car/motorbike rides | compliments | nicknames | falling asleep together | late night talks | gifts

[haledamage]

Rhicember 12/25

There’s a snow storm. I guess we’re stuck in here together till it passes. - Kai&Ensemble (Pillars of Eternity 1 - in this case, ‘Ensemble’ is Kana, Hiravias, Maneha, Aloth, and Edér)

“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” Hiravias asked, voice deep and gravelly in his autumn staelgar form. He shook the snow from his fur, covering everything near the door in cold water. “Bad news is, there’s a snowstorm and we’re stuck here until it passes. Good news is, we get our pick of the hot springs.”

“How bad of a snowstorm?” Kana threw a towel to Hiravias, who took it delicately between two claws to try and get the last of the melting snow off of him.

“Even the locals are batoning down the hatches.”

Kai sighed. “Lovely.”

Maneha clapped a hand on Kai’s shoulder, sending her staggering a step forward. “Well, at least we got back to town before it hit. Can’t imagine we’d be as comfortable at the Battery.”

“That’s true, I suppose.” At least Durgan’s Battery was warm, Kai thought, but she kept it to herself.

“And at least we aren’t already on the trails back to Caed Nua,” Edér piped up, pushing aside the curtains to look outside. It didn’t look too bad yet, no new snow except the stuff that always seemed to be on the ground, but the clouds looked very dark. “We’d be as good as dead.”

“That… is also true.” Kai sighed again. “Well, I guess there’s nothing to be done for it.” She set her rucksack on one of the beds to do a quick inventory of what supplies she had. “Any dire business you have in town, get it done quickly. I expect you all to be back here by the time the snow arrives. If I have to go out looking for you, I promise you will regret it.”

Edér chuckled, amused by the sharpness of her tone. “I thought you liked snow, Kiki.”

“I don’t like delays.”

“I’d call it an act of the gods, but we’ve already dealt with our share of those.” Maneha’s laughter is much warmer than it has any right to be on such a cold day. “I’m gonna go get a drink. Want anything?”

“No, thank you, dear.” Kai grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. “Do try and pace yourself, please.” Maneha scowled, but Kai continued before she could interrupt. “We don’t know how long we’ll be snowed in and you don’t want them to run out before we can leave.”

“Good lookin’ out, Kai.” Maneha winked and left the room.

The others filtered out, too, to go finish some last minute shopping run or to join Maneha at the bar. Hiravias was still in staelgar form, which was going to be problematic, but he disappeared before Kai could catch him and she had no idea where he went. She’d just have to deal with that problem when it surfaced.

It was only when she turned back to the room, intending to get some of her own work done, that she realized she wasn’t the only one in the room. Aloth stood staring at his open pack, a distant look on his face and a pensive set to his eyebrows. Kai walked over to him and gently touched his arm, bringing him back to reality.

“Are you okay, darling?”

He gave her a small, tight-lipped smile. “I’m fine.”

“I can see about getting you a separate room,” she said quietly, trying to guess what might be bothering him. “I know spending a lot of time in this close of quarters makes you uncomfortable.”

“You don’t need to make exceptions for me, Kai,” Aloth said, but his smile became a little more genuine.

“I know.” She looked around to make sure they were truly alone, then dropped her voice to a near-whisper just in case. “I may have, perhaps, been hoping you would say yes so that I could get away from them for a while, too.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, giving her a shrewd look. “Well, with a party this size it would make sense to split up. For safety’s sake, of course,” he said lightly. “You, me, and Edér in one room, the others in a different one?”

“Very clever, darling. What would I do without you?” Kai asked fondly.

The tips of Aloth’s ears turned pink and he looked down, staring at his hands. “I’m sure you’d be just fine.”

“Oh, I doubt it. I don’t think I’d have even made it out of Gilded Vale without you.” There was a loud whoop and then a crash, and they both cringed. “I should see to that.”

“Of course,” he said, all business once more, and the moment was gone like it had never been there. “I’m going to head into town and see if they have any supplies they can spare. We didn’t exactly pack for a prolonged stay.”

“Good idea. If they give you any trouble, don’t be afraid to throw my name around.” She fished around in her rucksack until she found the seal of Caed Nua that she carried around for just such a purpose and handed it to him. “After the shit I’ve been through on their behalf the last few days, they owe me some extra blankets at the very least.”

Aloth laughed quietly. “Indeed.”

There was some yelling in the main room, and something that sounded decidedly like a staelgar roar. “Right. Going. See you later.”

[haledamage]

Rhicember 12/18

Come on! Can I open just one? - Kai&Vela (with a bit of Kai&Edér and Kai/Aloth)

“Is all of this for me, Mama?” Vela stared at the tree with open awe, the mage lights reflected in her bright eyes. It was easily twice as tall as either of them, tastefully but cheerfully decorated in blue and gold and pink mage lights and shining glass baubles, and the space underneath it was filled with gifts wrapped in colored paper and tied with ribbons and string.

Even though Vela’s gaze was only on the tree, Kai knew it was the gifts that she was really asking about. She put a hand on her daughter’s head, brushing her unruly hair back from her face. “No, my darling. Some of them are for the rest of our family. But some are yours.”

Vela ducked out of her mother’s reach and dove into the stack of presents, searching for one with her name on it. She disappeared under the tree, leaving only a suspicious rustling noise to mark her location before surfacing suddenly, triumphantly, with a small, neatly wrapped gift in her hand. “This one has my name, Mama! Can I open it? Please please please?”

“Not until New Year.”

“Awwww, come on! Can’t I open just one?”

“Not until New Year,” Kai said again patiently.

Vela turned her best puppy eyes on Kai, wide-eyed and sweet and adoring, but unfortunately for her, her mother was immune. Mostly immune, at least. Definitely, at least partially immune.

“Hey!” Edér’s warm greeting rang through the hall, interrupting their staredown. It was followed by a gust of cold air as he closed the door, and Kai wasn’t fast enough to stop her daughter from bolting toward him excitedly.

“You’re here!” Vela squealed happily as she held up her arms in a gentle demand to be picked up. Edér obeyed without any hesitation, lifting her into a big bear hug.

He set her back down and knelt so he would be closer to her eye level. “Of course I’m here. Where else would I be? You been a good girl this year?”

Vela nodded enthusiastically. As if she’d have ever admitted otherwise.

“Good,” Edér said, nodding sagely in response as if she’d said something profound. He reached into a bag that rested on the floor behind him and pulled out a box. “‘Cause I got you somethin’.”

“Really?” Her wide eyes got even wider. “Can I open it now?”

“Ask your mother.”

Kai stared at the twin pleading faces of her daughter and best friend and sighed from the depths of her soul. “Fine. You win.”

Edér set the box down in front of Vela and took a couple steps back to get outside of shredding range as the child gleefully descended upon it. He took the opportunity to approach Kai and wrap her in a big bear hug of her own. “Heya, Kiki.”

“Hello, my dear. Or should I address you as ‘sir’ now, Mayor Teylecg?” she said with a teasing grin.

Edér flushed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “If you’re gonna be like that, I’ll start calling you ‘my lady.’”

Kai laughed, feeling more like herself again with her friend here. “Gods, no. I’ve been ‘my lady’d enough in the last year, I don’t need it from you too.”

“Yeah, I heard the new duc has been givin’ you a hard time.”

She glanced at her daughter, who was playing with what looked like a pair of hand-carved wooden dolls, one of which had a familiar-looking head full of red hair made of curled yarn. Vela wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to their conversation. Kai lowered her voice anyway before saying, “He wants me to join his council. I’m running out of polite ways to tell him no.”

Edér put a warm hand on her shoulder. “Maybe you should give him a show. Do the creepy Watcher thing, scare him into leaving you alone.”

She scoffed. “I’m pretty sure the ‘creepy Watcher thing’ is what he’s after. Wants to put me on display to keep his dissenters in line.”

They didn’t get the chance to speculate further, as Vela joined them, wrapping her arms around Edér’s leg in an attempt to hug him. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, kiddo.” He chuckled and picked her up so he could hug her again, and his expression went soft and sentimental as he looked at her. “You’ve gotten so big since the last time I saw ya. Pretty soon you’ll be carryin’ me around.”

“Mama says I’m growing like a weed!” Vela said proudly. She took the attention Edér gave her in stride for only a moment before she was squirming out of his grip to go play again.

“She’s a good kid,” Kai said fondly.

“She is. She’s got a good mom raisin’ her.” Edér nudged her in the side with his elbow and abruptly changed the subject. “I got you something too, Kiki. It’s waiting for you in Brighthollow.” There was an emphasis on ‘waiting’ that piqued her interest. “Why don’t you go check it out? I can stay here with Vela for a bit.”

She studied his face, but couldn’t read anything but smug joy from his grin. “How very suspicious of you, my dear.”

“Just trust me. Have I ever steered you wrong before?”

He hadn’t. They both knew he hadn’t. “Don’t let her open anything else while I’m gone, please,” she said, then to her daughter added, “Vela, darling, I have to go back to Brighthollow for a moment. Can you help your uncle put the rest of the presents under the tree?”

“Yes, Mama,” Vela said dutifully.

Kai didn’t bother to put her coat on, feeling strangely hurried. She wrapped a spell around herself to keep the worst of the cold out and walked as briskly as she could in the direction of her home. The hearth fire was warm and inviting when she stepped inside. It looked like Edér must have thrown a fresh log on before he came to meet them in the main hall, she mused as she stomped the snow off her boots.

Something moved upstairs, the sound distinctly kith rather than animal, and she froze. After a long, tense moment of silence, she heard it again. She jogged up the stairs, pulling a concealed dagger from her sleeve just in case.

Standing outside her bedroom door was a very familiar man with a very familiar nervous smile. “Hello, Kai,” Aloth said softly.

The blade slipped from her limp fingers, clattering to the floor. She stared at him slack-jawed, afraid that if she looked away he would disappear like a vision or waking dream. He didn’t look much different than when she’d last seen him, but his hair was a little longer and his armor was new, similar to what he wore before but in a much more flattering cut; he looked just different enough that he probably wasn’t a hallucination.

“Your letter said you were in Old Vailia,” Kai finally whispered, dumbstruck.

“Yes, well, I lied. I wanted to surprise you.” He chuckled quietly at the awed way she still stared at him. “It seems that I was successful.”

She approached him slowly, still not trusting her eyes, and when she was close enough, she reached out a tentative hand to touch his face. He leaned into it, eyes fluttering shut as her fingers traced over his cheek. He felt real, warm and alive, and the familiar scent of vanilla and the ozone-smell of arcane magic wrapped around her. “Aloth,” she breathed. “It’s really you.”

“Yes. It’s really me.” He smiled at her, gentle and fond. “I’m home.”

She pulled him into a tight hug, burying her face in his shoulder, and he held her close. Neither of them said anything. There was nothing they needed to say.

They stayed like that until Edér and Vela finally came to join them.

[haledamage]

Happy Watcher Wednesday, I wrote a thing!

this is the first fic I’ve managed to finish in over a year, but I’m hoping to get back in the flow of things again

tumblr won’t let me have enough space to add it all here so it’s only on ao3

enjoy, and thank you for reading!

[haledamage]

Fictober Day 3: “How can I trust you?”

Yesterday was A Day, so even though I had this written I didn’t get the chance to post it, so here it is a day late. Featuring Kai and Aloth, spoilers for Pillars of Eternity at the end of Act 2, this is a scene I have always wished was in the actual game:

"I know what you must be thinking," Aloth said quietly, eyes downcast. "'How can I trust you now? How do I know you won't betray me again?'" Kai cut off whatever he was going to say next - most likely either more apologies or more self-flagellation. "Let's get one thing straight," she said sharply. Aloth flinched at her tone and she moderated it, continuing more gently, "you did not 'betray' me." He finally looked up at her, shocked and… angry? Angry at whom? "How can you say that? I'm part of the Leaden Key. An organization that is actively hunting you. I've been lying to you for months." Kai sighed from the depths of her soul and moved closer to him, sitting back down on the ground directly in front of him. "I understand why you feel like that, but darling… if you betrayed anyone, it was them. Not me. You were mine--" she caught herself and quickly changed to "you were on my side from the moment we met." He didn't answer, looking at the dirt by her feet to avoid her eyes. She reached out and took his hand. "Thank you for telling me, darling. I know how hard it is for you to open up to people, and I'm glad you trust me. I will accept your apology and grant you forgiveness if that is what you feel you need, but I don't think you've done anything that you need forgiving for." She watched his face in silence as her words sank in, until he looked up at her with something like awe on his face. She smiled and squeezed his hand. "You're my best friend. I care about you. I trust you. And I hope you choose to keep traveling with me, if that's what you want." His smile was like the sun coming out, and it took her breath away. So did the sudden bone-breaking hug he pulled her into. They stayed that way for a long time, the silence warm and comfortable. Then they pulled away from each other simultaneously and walked back to camp side by side.

[haledamage]

Cafe Nua

(AO3)

for @pillarspromptsweekly 0007, a bit of modern au PoE

"Hey, Kana?" Aloth kept his voice down even though they were the only ones left in the library.

"Yes, my friend?" Kana made no attempt to be quiet. He didn't look up from his notes.

Aloth closed the book in front of him, not bothering to pretend he was still studying. "You're usually pretty good with people, right? With talking to them, I mean."

"I suppose. I enjoy being around people, at least. I find that helps." He closed his book, too, and finally looked up at Aloth. "Is something bothering you?"

Aloth tugged at his sleeve. "No, nothing. I… there's a new person at my support group, and she seems nice, but I have no idea how to start a conversation with a stranger."

"She seems nice, or nice?" Kana asked, grinning widely.

Aloth blushed and kept his eyes on his textbook, picking at a frayed corner of the binding. "A little of both, maybe."

Kana laughed. "You could start by saying 'hi' and see where that gets you. Or maybe Iselmyr has some advice?"

Aloth scowled. "I'd rather not repeat what Iselmyr suggested."

"Oh come now, she can't be wrong all the time!"

"You'd be surprised."

Whatever else Kana had intended to say was cut off as his phone beeped merrily. "Ah, that's my cue. I promised Maia I'd be home for dinner tonight. She's trying some new recipe and wants me to taste test. You're welcome to come too." Kana packed his things away haphazardly in his bag.

Aloth put his books away more slowly, stacking everything meticulously. "Tempting, but I'll pass. Your family can be… very intimidating."

"Yes, I suppose they can." Kana waited patiently for Aloth to finish packing up. "I told my boss I'd come in to the cafe early tomorrow to help with prep. Why don't you stop by after your classes? You can meet my boss, practice talking to a girl in a controlled environment." Aloth scowled more and Kana laughed again. "There's free coffee in it for you, too!"

"Maybe you should have led with that," Aloth muttered, then added "I'll try, if my schedule permits. What did you say the place is called?"

"Cafe Nua. It's on the east side of town, I'll text you the address." Kana picked up his bag and fell into step with Aloth as they left the building.

-------

The bell over the front door rang and Kai knew who it was without stepping into the front room to check. "Good morning, Kana!"

"Good morning!" His voice carried easily into the kitchen and its owner followed shortly after it. "What're you making? It smells delicious!"

"I thought it'd be fun to use some of that Rauatan dark chocolate to make brownies, since the cookies have been so popular. And this," she said as she leaned all her weight on the ball of dough in front of her on the table," is going to be cinnamon rolls whether it likes it or not."

"You need me to remind it who's boss?" He held his fists up in an attempt to threaten the poor dough ball. 'Threatening' was the last word Kai would use to describe Kana, even though he towered over her.

She laughed. "No need, my dear. If it keeps giving me trouble I'm sure Concelhaut's Crushing Doom will convince it to cooperate. Can you please bring in the flour and coffee beans that were delivered this morning? The bags are almost as big as I am."

Kana went out the back door and came back with two huge bags of coffee slung over one shoulder. "You don't know any spells that make you super strong? And you call yourself a wizard!"

"Not all of us can just sing a song and conjure an extra pair of hands out of thin air."

Kana ended up doing just that and summoning a drake. He loaded the delivered ingredients on its back and took them to the pantry in one quick trip. He thanked it for its help and it snorted and disappeared.

"So I finally went to that Awakening support group you suggested," Kai said after she finally got the cinnamon rolls in the oven.

"Good!" Kana looked up from slicing strawberries and grinned at her. "How was it?"

"Awkward. I never know what to say in a situation like that. Maybe I should have brought you or Edér with me." She considered briefly her roommate and his habit of diffusing awkward situations with bad humor and shook her head. "Hmm, maybe not Edér. Everyone was really nice, though."

"I'm glad! I know you haven't been in the Dyrwood long. I hope this'll help you meet more people." Kana picked up the strawberries and folded them into a nearby bowl of whipped cream.

A timer beeped and Kai turned it off, then pulled a shortcake out of one of the ovens. She turned it out onto a plate, set it in the freezer to cool, then returned to Kana and said "I have you and Edér. I don't have time for new friends."

"There's always time for new friends."

-------

After the breakfast rush, it got pretty quiet at Cafe Nua until what Kai called the post-lunch dessert rush. The quiet period was also when her regulars were most likely to come in.

On some days, Pallegina would come in for a latte with extra sugar and ask Kai to listen while she ranted angrily about her bosses or her clients or whatever other things bothered her that day. Other days, Grieving Mother would arrive right before the next rush to have a pot of tea and sit at a corner table to kith watch. Once a week, Hiravias came in with a vase of flowers to brighten the place up and a sample of whatever herb was thriving in his hot house that week. He'd sit around and chat while Kai tried new recipes with the herbs he brought and then take the leftovers home with him.

Sometimes, Sagani and Itumaak would claim a table and spread out the papers of whatever case she's working on, hoping a new location would give her new perspective. Occasionally, Kai would offer to help, but Sagani very rarely wanted a Watcher's assistance, not since Kai helped her find Persoc--"you keep butting your nose into police business, we'll have to start paying you," she would say, but never cruelly-- so Kai just made sure her coffee stayed full and snuck treats to Itumaak.

None of them came in today, though, and except for a couple students from the local college taking advantage of Cafe Nua's "Bring a Cup I'll Fill It Up" special, it was pretty empty. Kai told Kana to go on break so he could study for whatever assignment or project he was working on. She wasn't one hundred percent sure how homework worked in literature degrees, so she assumed he had to read something.

Then she turned the music up and got to work cleaning.

She was standing on a chair with a feather duster, attempting to clean off the top of the curtains, when she heard the door chime. "Be right with you, darling!" she called over her shoulder. Her new customer didn't answer, but after a moment she felt the presence of someone standing next to her. She kept talking, leaning up on tip-toes to reach the top sill of the window. "You'd think with all the years I spent in school, I'd have some practical knowledge to show for it. I don't suppose you know any spells that remove cobwebs, do you, dear?"

"I know a few spells to add webs," said the man next to Kai, and she startled and almost lost her balance with the realization that she knew his voice, "but none to remove them, I'm afraid."

Kai climbed down off her chair and turned to her guest. She'd met him a few nights prior at the Awakening support meeting; he had been very quiet, with occasional snide aside remarks that she's fairly certain she wasn't supposed to hear. He was very handsome and meticulously groomed and Kai was acutely aware of the dust in her hair and the flour on her apron.

Still, intimidated as she was it was no reason to be rude, so she smiled and said, "Hi! It's good to see you again. Aloth, right?" He nodded and she smiled wider. "I'm Kai. But you… already know that." She offered a hand to shake, then hesitated, realizing how dirty her hands must be; before she could pull away, he reached out and shook her hand firmly. She blushed and resisted the urge to fix her hair. "Welcome to Cafe Nua."

"Is this your bakery?" Aloth looked around at the mismatched wooden tables and the colorful lanterns and art on the walls. "It's charming." His eyes widened and he turned back to her. "I don't mean that in the Aedyran veiled-insult way. I mean it as a compliment. Truly."

Kai laughed. "Thank you. The previous owner left her a mess, I've spent a lot of time getting her up to 'charming.' Would you… would you like some coffee? Or tea?"

"I… yes. Coffee would be lovely."

Kai led the way back to the counter, but once she got there she stopped and studied Aloth for a moment. He really was a lovely specimen, long silky hair and pale eyes and high cheekbones and a rare but potent smile. Aedyre, which meant he probably liked sweets, and she remembered hearing he was a student, so he'd want something strong. Hmm…

He fidgeted under her stare, face reddening. "Is there something the matter?"

Kai shook herself. "No. No, I'm sorry. I like to study people and see if I can guess what they want. I always tell them it's a Watcher thing, but it's really just a Me thing."

He smirked, plucking at a button on the sleeve of his jacket, and said "And what do I want?"

Oh no. Kai bit back several things she could have said to that and instead turned to her beloved espresso machine. After thinking about it a moment longer, she decided on a latte with half the milk, an extra shot of espresso, and a dash of vanilla syrup. She then grabbed one of the darkest Rauatai brownies and presented it and the coffee to her new friend.

She tried not to fidget as she watched Aloth try the drink. He had a frustratingly good poker face, and the longer he was quiet the more obvious it was that he was toying with her. Kai wanted so badly to ask what he thought, but she bit her lip against the urge. She watched him and he watched her as he finished the brownie and half his coffee in silence before finally smiling and saying "You have a gift, Kai."

Kai grinned, ridiculously proud of herself. "Thank you. I… if anyone had told me when I was in university that I'd end up running a coffee shop, I'd have laughed them out of Aedyr, but now that I'm here…"

Aloth chuckled. "I know what you mean. Circumstances can find you in the strangest of places." He took another long drink of his latte. Kai could see on his face that he had a lot of questions, but the one he finally asked wasn't what she expected. "What did you study? You mentioned college."

Kai couldn't fully curb the excitement in her voice as she said "History and linguistics, with special interest in dead languages. Well, and the wizardry. I'd been planning to get a degree in anthropology as well, but I Awakened in my second year and things got… complicated." That felt like a gross understatement, but she knew he'd understand. "What about you?"

"What makes you think I went to college?" Aloth asked, but he was smiling.

"There's a peculiar kind of sleeplessness that can only be found in Watchers and postgraduate students, and I know you're not a Watcher."

He laughed aloud then, dropping his guard for a moment, and Kai found herself blushing again for some reason. His eyes were still lit with humor when he finally answered, "History as well, and I'm postgrad in literature. And 'the wizardry'."

"Literature? Do you know Kana Rua?" Kai had a feeling she already knew the answer.

Aloth nodded. "He's the one who told me about this place."

"He's the one who told me about the support group," Kai said. She pointed vaguely over her shoulder and added, "He's in the back right now studying. I actually need to pop back there for a moment, so I'll send him out."

Kai stepped into the back room and as soon as Aloth was out of sight she stomped to the office where Kana sat with his books and hissed, "Why didn't you tell me you had a friend coming to visit?"

"Oh, is Aloth here?" Kana said, in the smuggest voice possible.

"Yes, Aloth is here, and I didn't know he was here to see you, so I've been flirting with him like an idiot." She was horribly embarrassed. She should have been more suspicious. Handsome, charming, intelligent, and she wouldn't have to worry about her condition scaring him off? She should have figured he wasn't there to see her. Even if it did seem like he was flirting back.

Kai was so far into her pity spiral it took her a second to get back on subject when Kana said, "Good. I've been trying to get the two of you to meet for months now. You have a lot in common, Kai."

"I--what--" Kai took a deep breath and restarted. "I am not one of your sisters, Kana. I don't need you playing matchmaker."

"Clearly you do, or I wouldn't be."

She wagged an ineffectual finger at him and he laughed. "I ought to tell Maia. I ought to tell Lena."

"You wouldn't." He put his hand over his heart, feigning horror.

Kai couldn't stop from smiling. She shoved him toward the front room. "Go talk to your friend. I'm going to get the next tray of cream puffs out of the walk-in before the next rush."

-------

After taking a few minutes in the cold of the walk-in freezer to calm her nerves and another minute to shake the cobwebs from her hair, Kai stepped back out front with a tray of assorted snacks to restock. Kana and Aloth sat at one of the tables chatting, fresh cups of coffee in front of them.

"She makes almost everything herself," Kana was saying, "even the flavored syrups for the coffees! How is it you phrased it, Kai?"

Well, at least he was making her look good. Out loud, she said, "I do everything except the farming. Only the best for my girl." She pat the counter affectionately and started restocking the display case.

"Why is Cafe Nua a 'she'?" asked Aloth. He seemed to be relaxing a little now. His fine navy wool jacket was off, draped neatly across the back of his chair, and his crisp black button-up was well-tailored, sleeves rolled up his forearms and long-fingered hands wrapped around his coffee mug. It was a very good look.

Kai almost forgot to answer his question. "That would be because of Steward."

Kai touched the shoulder of a carved stone statue that stood next to the espresso machine. The statue was of a woman about Kai's height but of much fuller figure, draped in a flowing dress. Her head was adorned with an antlered circlet, and her hands were poised as if she were dancing. She had a crown of autumn flowers on her head, courtesy of Kai. "Steward is the soul of Cafe Nua. She built this place and had her consciousness transferred to the statue a long time ago. She keeps quiet mostly so she doesn't scare people away."

"Makes it easier to eavesdrop as well," Steward said slyly. Even with the warning, Aloth jumped a little when the statue started talking.

A group of orlans in business suits came through the door in a flurry of sound and motion and Kai put on her best smile. They talked over each other to place their orders and left with four mochas, the last of the brownies, and half of the cream puffs Kai had just put out.

As they left, Kana and Aloth approached the counter. Kana took Aloth's empty mug and went to the back room to clock back in before the crowds arrived. Aloth smiled at Kai and said, "I'll go and let you work. What do I owe you for the coffee?"

Kai waved a hand. "It's on the house, darling." She hadn't expected him to look so uncomfortable with that idea. Before she could think better of it, she added "Buy me a drink sometime and we'll call it even."

Aloth blushed all the way to the tips of his ears, pausing in the act of putting his jacket on to stare at Kai in… horror? Intrigue? She couldn't tell. He schooled his expression again to a sort of bland interest that she was starting to recognize as his preferred default expression, and he said "How about dinner instead? Folcsdag night?"

Of all the things Kai expected him to say, that wasn't one of them. She suddenly felt shy, a sensation she hadn't experienced much before today, but finally said, "Yes. That sounds lovely. We close at 18:00."

"Then I'll pick you up here, 18:30?"

Kai nodded, and they both fell quiet. Aloth tugged at a button on his sleeve again, Kai toyed with the cord of the necklace she wore, and they stared at each other. It was terribly awkward, but not in an altogether unpleasant way.

Aloth moved abruptly as if shaking himself from sleep and his face reddened again. "Yes. Right. I should get going then. I'll see you on Folcsdag. Have a good day. Bye, Kana."

"Bye!" Kana said from right behind Kai, who just barely managed to not jump. Aloth waved and left.

As soon as he was out of sight, Kai leaned over and pressed her face into the cool wood of the counter. "Usher take me, what was I thinking? If this goes poorly, it's your fault," she said and pointed in Kana's vague direction.

Kana laughed and pat her on the shoulder. "You're such a pessimist, my friend! What if it goes great?"

What if it goes great? First time for everything, Kai thought. Then the crowds showed up and she didn't have time to think for a while.

-------

"If this goes poorly, it's your fault," Aloth told Kana the next day before class.

Kana laughed, heedless of the other students who looked their way. "I think you'll be fine. Just be yourself."

Easy for Kana to say. Aloth had spent more than half his life trying to be someone other than himself.

She looks lik a lass that likes bonny hings, Iselmyr's voice slithered through his mind, mibbie git her some flowers.

Isn't that a little… cliche? Aloth replied, biting his lip to make sure he didn't voice it aloud.

It was a peculiar sensation to have the voice in his head roll her eyes, but one Aloth was all too familiar with. She's a nerd, ye'r a nerd, ye'll fin' a wey tae mak' it nerdy.

He thought about it all through class, barely even aware of the professor's lecture. When it was over Aloth decided that maybe, just this once, Iselmyr had a good idea, and he made his way to Autumn Druid Floral.

The interior reminded Aloth of the jungles of the Cythwood. Every manner and color of flower covered the walls and most of the floor. Some of it was cut in vases, but some grew in pots and others still seemed to be planted right in the floor, and flowering vines climbed up a central pillar.

Someone's peepin' us, Iselmyr warned, and once she pointed it out, he noticed the prickly feeling of eyes on the back of his head.

Or eye, it turned out, as Aloth turned around and came face to face with the shop's owner, a short orlan with a shock of orange hair who seemed to be missing most of the right side of his face. "Hello," he said, after it was obvious the orlan expected him to talk first, "I would like to buy some flowers."

The orlan barked a laugh. "I hope so. Otherwise you're in the wrong place." He scratched at the stump of his missing ear and studied Aloth the same way one might study an intriguing insect. "First date?"

"I beg your pardon?" Aloth wasn't sure why he was so intimidated by a man almost half his height, but there was an intensity to him that he hadn't expected from a florist.

"The reason you're buying flowers. First date?" He spoke slowly, as if he wasn't sure Aloth was fluent in Aedyran.

"Oh. Yes."

He walked off then, headed into the carefully cultivated wilderness. "I'm Hiravias, by the by."

"Aloth," said Aloth, following uncomfortably behind Hiravias.

Hiravias nodded as if Aloth had just told him the secrets of the universe. "Bookish girl, right? Red hair, freckles? Maybe owns a coffee shop?"

"Either you know her or you're in the wrong line of work," Aloth said drolly.

Hiravias laughed sharply. Aloth had never met anyone who could make a laugh sound both friendly and angry before. "Cafe Nua's one of my regular stops. Kiki's good people. And Kana Rua loves to gossip. I figured it was only a matter of time before you ended up in my neck of the woods. Here." He lifted a vase filled with a riot of colorful flowers.

"Why this one?" Aloth stared at the arrangement, but couldn't recognize any of the flowers involved.

Hiravias pointed at each flower in turn as he said, "Amethyst for admiration, coreopsis arkansa for love at first sight, pink rose for friendship, primrose for young love, jasmine just because she likes them."

"I wasn't aware flowers could be quite so… nuanced," Aloth said. It's not the word he was looking for, but it would serve well enough.

Hiravias's eye lit up. "Glanfathans have a whole language built around them. Used to use 'em to send coded messages, but now it's mostly just for fun. You got a minute? Bet I could teach you a thing or two."

The sun had set by the time Aloth left with a completely different bouquet in tow.

-------

Kai had run out of ways to keep busy and it was still only 18:20. The cafe was more spotless than it had ever been, the books were balanced, prep work for tomorrow was finished. She was wearing something weather appropriate that would fit in anywhere except black tie and her hair was… not neat, that would be too much to ask, but it was manageable and didn't have any flour or cobwebs in it.

She had chased Kana out ten minutes ago, making it very clear what she thought of his offer to chaperone. Now she was trying to ignore the buzzing of her phone as Edér sent her pictures of every animal currently living with them with captions like "Cosmo hopes you have fun <3" and "Lady says we won't wait up for you ;)". She'd go through them when she was less nervous and find it endearing, but at the moment it just made her more anxious.

When Aloth finally walked in at 18:30 on the dot, Kai hoped her relief didn't show on her face. She leaned against the counter, trying to look like she hadn't been counting the seconds until he arrived. She waved and said, "Hi. Um, good evening." Smooth, Kiki. Real smooth.

"Good evening. These are for you," he said and held a beautiful bouquet of flowers out to her. She recognized a couple, but the rest were unfamiliar breeds, purple and yellow and pink and white together in a cheerful mix.

She took it and turned to find a vase as an excuse to hide the reddening of her cheeks. "Thank you. They're lovely." She noticed the staelgar paw print on the ribbon binding the arrangement together. "Did Hiravias give you his 'language of flowers' lecture?"

Aloth chuckled and some of the tension drained from his shoulders. "Yes, he mentioned you were acquainted."

"That would explain the jasmine then," Kai said as she found a vase and filled it with water and a spoonful of sugar. "What do the rest of them mean?"

"You're a linguist, aren't you?" Aloth asked slyly. "You tell me."

Kai snapped her mouth shut audibly on whatever reply she had. What an intriguing man. Just when Kai thought she had him figured out, he threw her off-balance again. Two could play at that game. "Are you sending me secret messages, darling?" She said with a grin. "How forward of you."

"Too forward?"

"No," Kai said, then quickly changed the subject. "Shall we go then?"

They stopped to grab a bite to eat from a food truck that claimed to serve authentic Aedyran cuisine. It was good, but they agreed there was something distinctly Dyrwoodan in its seasoning. Aloth then took Kai on a walk through the park and along the canals of Copperlane. It was mid-autumn and pleasantly cool outside, warm enough still that Kai's sweater was enough to keep out the chill, but cold enough that if she walked a little closer to Aloth than necessary she could blame it on the weather.

They talked about nothing in particular, about his classes and job at the library, about the cafe and her roommate, about Kana and Iselmyr and being a Watcher. They had very different taste in music, but similar taste in books, and had both come to the Dyrwood in recent months through surprisingly parallel paths.

It was a new sensation for Kai to be on a date without feeling pressured or like she was being interrogated, and she felt acutely aware of herself and the space she filled in the world and how that space related to his. Every time they walked too close and their fingers or shoulders brushed it made her skin tingle.

It was late when they arrived at her townhouse on the east side of Heritage Hill, later than either of them should have stayed out. They stood at her doorstep a couple feet apart, charged silence stretching between them, until Kai blurted out "Would you like to come up for coffee?"

As soon as the words were out, Kai's brain caught up and reminded her all the implications behind such a simple phrase. She also realized she wasn't averse if Aloth chose to take it that way. That was new, too.

Aloth just smiled, though, and said, "Not tonight. I'm already likely to need a nap at work tomorrow, coffee certainly wouldn't help matters. Maybe next time." The emphasis on 'coffee' made her think maybe he wasn't averse either. Interesting.

"Hmm, you're probably right, I should be at the bakery in--" Kai checked her phone and cringed. Sixteen messages from Edér, two from Kana, and a clock cheerfully displaying a much smaller number than she had expected, "--four hours."

"I suppose we lost track of time a little," Aloth said, fidgeting with that button on his jacket again. Kai wondered briefly how often he had to reattach the poor thing before he added, "I'd like to see you again."

"We have open mic night on Godandag," she answered almost immediately. "It's mostly just an excuse for Kana to bring his guitar to work, but it's a lot of fun." Was two days too soon? Kai had never had a second date before.

"Then I'll see you then."

They exchanged phone numbers and, after another moment of hesitation, Kai pressed a quick peck to his cheek and went inside the house before he could see how red her face was.

In the living room, Kai found Kana and Edér asleep on the couch covered in an assortment of animals. Kai snapped a quick picture and texted it to Aloth with the caption "Eora's Okayest Chaperones" then headed to bed to get a couple hours sleep while she could.

-------

Kai had never considered her Watcher-induced sleeplessness a blessing before, but at least she already knew how to function on only two hours sleep. She was up, bathed, dressed, and out the door before the sun was fully in the sky.

Since she would be working alone that day, she set out the bed for her service dog, a big black hound named Lady, who laid down with a huff and dozed a little while Kai filled the ovens with today's pastries.

The first thing she noticed when she walked into the front room was the vase of flowers from the night before. She smiled, thinking back on last night. The giddy, fluttery feeling still hadn't faded; Kai wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad one.

After she finished stocking the display case, she took a few close-up shots of the different flowers and decided to see what she could find about them online. The search took most of the day, hunting in between customers, but she finally had a list she was fairly certain of scrawled messily on a spare piece of paper:

Jasmine - you are cheerful and graceful Lavender rose - enchantment Clematis - mental beauty Meadow lychnis - wit Mimosa – bashful

Kai wasn't completely sure on the last one, but couldn't find any others that matched. Before she could talk herself out of it, she snapped a picture of the list and sent it to Aloth, then followed with "this is the most complicated way i've had anyone compliment my wit and intelligence and tbh i've never been more flattered".

He replied back almost immediately with "Well, it's early yet. I'm sure I'll find other ways to flatter you in the future."

Kai couldn't keep the smile off her face the rest of the day.

-------

When the next evening rolled around, Aloth arrived with Kana right before the crowds, carrying one of Kana's guitars in one hand and a potted flower in the other. Kai grinned as he handed it to her and she said, "So is this a tradition now?"

"Probably not," he chuckled, "I feel that would give Hiravias entirely too much knowledge about our affairs."

Aloth helped Kana and Edér set up the little corner stage while Kai rapidly filled coffee and snack orders for the people that came to see Kana sing. The turnout was a little bigger every month; before long he'd be too popular for her little cafe. She encouraged him to record videos and put them online, but he was a purist. He said music was best when enjoyed live. Kai considered, not for the first time, recording it for him.

During a brief break in the crowd, Kai took a moment to study the new flower and was happy to see that she recognized it. She got as far as typing it into the search engine before getting busy again.

Once the music started, Kai put up her 'Back in a minute!' sign on the counter by the register and stepped away to watch her friend sing. She checked her phone first, curiosity still gnawing at her, and froze as the search results stared back at her: "purple pansy - you occupy my thoughts."

Oh, by Wael's hundred visions, but that made her heart do a funny flip in her chest. Maybe it was the way it was phrased, but the simple fact that Aloth had been thinking about her enough that he felt the need to buy her flowers declaring such made Kai feel like the room was too warm.

"Something on your mind?" said a voice far too close to her ear. Kai yelped and turned to see Aloth looming over her, barely contained laughter dancing in his eyes.

She met those mirthful eyes like a challenge and told him the truth. "You," she said. His face turned bright red, and she added, "You're setting a really high precedent for future dates, darling. No one can possibly be this charming all the time."

Aloth smiled in a way that made Kai feel warm all the way down to her toes and said, "I suppose you'll have to stay and find out."

"I suppose I will," Kai said, and then to stop herself from saying anything else, she grabbed Aloth's hand and pulled him toward the crowd.

[haledamage]

The Soul Remembers

(AO3)

For @pillarspromptsweekly prompt 0002

Iselmyr was ready for a brawl. Aloth was still stuttering his apologies, but she could smell the blood on the air. She could feel the fluid warmth of adrenaline loosening her limbs and she grinned with anticipation of a good fight, though scholar-lad pushed her far enough back that it never showed on his face. That's okay. She could wait. Tempers would flair and he'd need her and then it would be her turn to shine.

A small woman stepped in front of them in a swirl of curls and placation and her presence hit Iselmyr like a punch in the gut. She reeled, causing Aloth to take a step back, both mentally and physically, and she took advantage to worm her way to the fore. Iselmyr ignored the lass—she had to, or she risked getting them both killed—and instead threw insults at the drunken louts that stood against them. She needed that fight, now more than ever. Needed to get the blood pumping to get herself back on steady footing.

It was over disappointingly fast, but Iselmyr couldn't be mad about it. It had been centuries since they'd fought side by side, in different bodies, different skills, different lives, but the soul remembers. Like muscle memory, but deeper, immutable. Their enemies didn't even get close enough to throw a punch.

Iselmyr retreated to the back of Aloth's mind as he turned to speak to the lass. She kept her thoughts to herself for fear that her opinion would sour him against her.

She remembered a lass on the run, made of fire and ice, with black hair like silk fanned across their bed and porcelain skin marred with scars from lash and blade and brand. She remembered the taste of her skin, the feel of sword-calloused hands in her hair, the sound of her desperate, gasping cries.

Two thousand years later and she's still on the run, her fire tempered by layers of niceties and courtly manners. She's... smaller this time around, or maybe Iselmyr, or rather Aloth, was just taller. Her hair was a sunset-colored riot and her sun-kissed skin was covered in freckles as far as the eye could see. Iselmyr wanted to study the paths of them, to memorize every last one, to see how they tasted.

It's that last part she finally voiced to Aloth, and he stuttered mid-sentence, face flushing. He bit his lip hard until Iselmyr settled back and stopped pushing. That's okay. He'd remember it. Sometime, someday, in the wee hours of the night he'd find himself thinking of this lass and her freckles.

She said her name was Kai, but Iselmyr knew her once as Ren. The stutter, the hesitation over the family name, though—that was all too familiar.

Kai turned to leave and Iselmyr panicked. It was too soon to lose her again. She kin hulp ye fin' yer gods-damned Keys, it was the first excuse she could think of.

But Aloth was already asking her to stay, to travel together for a while. He didn't know the lass, couldn't see into Iselmyr's memories, but the soul remembers. They were meant to be side by side, Kai and Aloth, Ren and Iselmyr, and she could see in her eyes that the lass felt it to.

Someday she'd tell him, if he earned it. Tell him all the ways he already knew this lass, this Kai. Tell him that Gilded Vale was the first good idea he'd ever had.

-------

Kai was nothing like Ren, in the same way Aloth was nothing like Iselmyr. Soft where the other was hard, charming where the other was brash, brave where the other cowered.

They were both Watchers, the only common thread between the two. Maybe she always was, or at least had the potential to be, on every turn of the Wheel. Ren was never tormented by it like Kai was, though. It had taken years for Ren to even admit to her gift; Kai had told them about it on that very first night.

Their differences didn't stop Iselmyr from falling as hard and fast as she had the first time.

Aloth fell slower, fighting it tooth and nail. And all she could do was watch. He resented her enough as it was; if she pushed him too hard toward Kai he'd lock himself down and that tentatively kindled flame of want would gutter and starve. So she just watched as he spent restless nights trying desperately to talk himself out of going to Kai and laying all his secrets out at her feet to peruse at her leisure. He was a man made of secrets, twisted and twined together from years of suppression and fear, but the skein was unraveling faster than he could bind it back.

Better tae do it oan yer ain terms, said Iselmyr.

Not yet, said Aloth.

But Iselmyr had always lacked in patience or caution, in this life and the last, and patience and caution were Aloth's blood and bone.

-------

They were deep underground, a forgotten catacomb full of faceless acolytes. Aloth's fear filled their lungs, burning with every breath. Fear of being discovered and rejected, or worse, of being recognized.

Iselmyr's own fear fed from his until she was drowning in it. She'd watched Aloth suffer under the thumb of these Keys for decades now, his own will suppressed by them and their gods-damned scheming. He never listened to her, but maybe Kai would, maybe she could at least save one of them.

So Iselmyr fought and clawed and forced her way out. "These hooded fyndes are nye to be trusted!" she screamed before his iron will reasserted and she was pushed back, as far back as he could send her. That's okay. She'd said her piece.

They couldn't hide anymore, after that.

Words careful and cool to hide the storm of emotion beneath, Aloth told his oldest secret, told Kai about Iselmyr and how she Awoke. Iselmyr waited like a coiled snake, ready to strike. It didn't matter how fond she was of Kai. Aloth had suffered enough, and she was through sitting back and watching it happen. Beasts take anyone who wished him more harm.

There was no rejection though, no pity, just understanding and acceptance. It threw Aloth off balance for days after. In all the time she'd known him, been trapped at the back of his mind, Iselmyr had never seen anyone just accept him. Kai had taken their measure and found them adequate, sufficient, enough, and neither of them knew what to do with that.

-------

They sat in a madwoman's laboratory and for the first time since she Awoke someone met Iselmyr's eyes and called her by name. She and Aloth snapped and pushed at each other as they always did, but this time they had an audience.

The animancer woman cackled and danced in the background, useless except for the space she'd loaned them. For all that they disagreed on, they both knew that it was Kai and not Bellasege that directed the flow of their exchange.

Time rewound briefly and they were in Aloth's childhood home. The bruises on his ribs, the blood in his mouth, the satisfying crack of Father's bones when Iselmyr first emerged, were as real as they'd been fifty years ago.

It was a gentler touch that brought them back. The weight of Kai's hand in Aloth's was the first thing Iselmyr noticed, steady and reassuring. The second, Kai's fingers in his hair, brushing it back and away from his sweat-damp forehead. It was a comfort Aloth had never been afforded before and he was too busy fighting the memory of his father to fight the urge to lean into it.

She next noticed Kai was speaking to them, low enough that Bellasege couldn't hear, a constant litany of "you're okay, I'm here, you're safe." If he'd been safe, he'd have never needed Iselmyr, and she said as much, but Kai just smiled and said "you're safe now."

Finally, she noticed how much less contained she was. The walls he'd built to hold her back were still in place, but the foundation wasn't solid and cracks and holes were starting to form.

When it was over, they stood on new but strangely stable ground. They watched Kai flex her hand, saw the bruises already purple across her knuckles in the shape of his fingers. They watched her pull down her sleeves to cover it up and that careful, tiny flame Aloth carried grew and sparked.

Kai met their eyes as they reached for the animancer's notes, working together for the first time in their shared memory; she nodded and stepped in front of them, drawing eyes away so they could do what they needed to. She smiled at him as they left, and that spark flared, caught, ignited. Iselmyr laughed and thought I tellt ye so, and for the first time Aloth heard it.

-------

With every passing week Kai remembered a little more of her Awakened past. Iselmyr hoped, selfishly, that one day she'd wake up and remember her. That of all the lives she must have lived, it would be Ren that woke up.

After a while, though, she stopped hoping and just wanted it to stop. Kai was no longer sleeping for more than an hour or two at a time, would stare off into nothing for long periods, would sometimes not answer when spoken to. Iselmyr wasn't used to problems she couldn't fight, couldn't break, and sitting and watching was torture.

As the weeks passed Aloth started to open up as well. He spoke to her more, let her speak out more, even came to her for advice. It was a fragile thing, this truce, but more progress than they'd made in fifty years prior.

Every day the walls got a little thinner, the cracks a little wider. By the time he finally came to speak to her, the walls holding her back were almost gone entirely.

I feel I owe you an apology, said Aloth.

Nye ye dinnae, lad, said Iselmyr. Ye wyr protectin' yersel the only wey ye ken.

You are not my enemy. You have never been my enemy. It's time I stop treating you like one.

The walls came down all at once, and Iselmyr could feel again after half a century wrapped in gauze. His thoughts filled her mind and hers filled his until she could no longer fully tell where she ended and he began. For the first time, they were two minds as one, one body, one soul. It was invigorating.

Let's go, lad. I'm wit ye. She grinned, and felt it mirrored on his face too.

-------

In the end, after Thaos lay dead and broken and the cries of children rang through the Dyrwood again, Kai remembered. Remembered being Inquisitor Iorena ix Ensios, remembered running away and becoming Ren, remembered Iselmyr. Kai wasn't Ren, but that's okay. Iselmyr wasn't the same person either. She was Aloth.

He asked her, once, if that was why they were together, if Iselmyr had been trying to rekindle an old flame.

Nye, she said. If I'd ne'er Awoke 'n' she'd ne'er become Watcher 'n' ye met at some prissy court pairtie, ye'd aye hae ended up 'ere.

In a keep in the Dyrwood? he joked, but she knew his fear. He's a lad not used to being wanted, being allowed to want. He'd get used to it. They had time.

She loved ye lang afore she knew aboot me. Ye loved her afore ye knew aboot Ren. Ye wyr meant tae be, lad.

You're right. He'd never said it before. She liked the sound of it.

I'm always richt, lad.

They laid in bed dozing, head on Kai's chest, listening to her heartbeat and the rain on Brighthollow's roof. It's peaceful in a way they'd never known before, but they'd earned it. All of them had earned it.

[haledamage]

Reunion

(AO3)

Even after the sun had set, it was still sweltering hot in the northern islands of the Deadfire Archipelago. The air was thick enough to swim through, and night insects whined and buzzed in Aloth's ears as he picked his way though town. It made him oddly homesick for summer in the Cythwood; the climate was right here, but the smell of it was all wrong. Wrong flowers, wrong spices, wrong ocean.

Ye pure could fin' a way tae bitch aboot anythin'.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Iselmyr was right. He was frustrated, chasing dead ends and false leads for months now. The Deadfire wasn't so bad, he supposed. At least it wasn't the Dyrwood.

Fye, as if ye wouldn't drop e'erythin' tae be back there wit yer lass.

Our lass, he corrected, but it's petty. He knew Iselmyr missed Kai as fiercely as he did. He hadn't heard anything in weeks, not since receiving Edér's hastily written letter:

She's alive. We don't know what happened. Caed Nua is gone, but Kiki's okay. I'll tell you more when I have it. --ET

He hadn't heard so much as a rumor since, and with no luck finding the Leaden Key sect he knew was here, he had way too much time to spend worrying.

Aloth rounded a corner toward the inn and froze in his tracks; there was a crowd of kith outside the door, and he caught a flash of firelight on drawn steel. He'd walked right into the middle of a fight.

A huge folk man, skin red with too much sun and blond hair coarse and green from saltwater, loomed over a figure Aloth couldn't quite see from his vantage point. He drew his rapier, keeping it close to his thigh so it wouldn't catch the light, and side-stepped around the group to get a better visual angle.

The big man twitched an arm at his unseen adversary, clearly brandishing a knife. His voice was thick and slurred with anger and drink, "All I want, Aedyran, is an apology."

"All you want," said a familiar voice, Aedyre accent thick with rage, "is the loving embrace of your sister."

Aloth felt like the rug had been pulled out from under him, and was moving forward and into the gathered kith before he had a chance to think about it. That's mah line! Iselmyr's laugh rang through his head and he let her step to the fore, her speed and strength filling his limbs.

Iselmyr touched the point of her sword to the jugular of the blond pirate lad, her grin wild. "Ye harm sae much as a freckle 'n' I'll pull yer knob oot thro' yer eyes."

How uncouth, Aloth admonished, but she ignored him. Instead, her attention was on the big man as he took a step backward with hands up, and the tiny gasp she heard from the array of red curls she could now see over his shoulder. "Ye a'richt, Kiki?"

"Never better, darling," said Kai, and at the sound of her voice Aloth and Iselmyr shared a wave of intense relief that threatened to bring them to their knees. "You do have quite a sense for timing."

"You killed my cousin, Aedyran witch, and I'll see you paid in kind!" Even with Iselmyr's sharp blade and sharper, eager smile pointed at him, the blonde pirate still only had eyes for Kai.

"Perhaps if members of your family stopped attacking me, dear, they'd have a longer life expectancy," Kai said coldly, and she took a step back and finally came into full view.

Her hair whipped behind her like a banner on the ocean breeze, longer than they remembered it. Her bare right arm bore a web of scars, healed but still pink and new, that flowed from her wrist up, over her shoulder and up her neck, stopping just below her jaw. A souvenir fae Caed Nua, Iselmyr thought, and felt Aloth's agreement. He also agreed, as Kai finally looked their way and a smile lit her eyes, that she was still the most beautiful woman either of them had ever seen.

Iselmyr heard movement behind her, and turned just a touch too slowly to be able to avoid the axe swinging for her head. Kai shouted a quick word and the axe stopped little more than a finger's width away, its owner frozen in place as ice crystals crawled up the weapon's handle, crackling in the balmy night air.

Things went very quickly after that as the pirates screamed and rushed forward. Iselmyr dispatched the blonde with barely an effort, sword meeting no resistance from flesh or bone, and she lifted her other arm toward an aumaua woman who Aloth stopped cold with a barrage of conjured missiles.

Only in the aftermath did she realize that Kai wasn't the only friendly face here. Two others stood with them among nearly a dozen dead pirates. One of them was a tiny elven woman with an unkempt mop of black curls and a wicked, dark curved blade in each hand. Her green eyes were hostile, watching as Iselmyr picked her way across the bodies toward Kai, but the color was familiar, and that combined with the spray of freckles across her cheeks and shoulders left little doubt to who she must be. As for the other…

"Edér?" Aloth asked, shocked, as Iselmyr stepped back again and let him retake full control of his body.

The Mayor of Dyrford looked up from cleaning his sabre on the shirt of a dead pirate and barked a laugh. "Well, look who it is! Hope these weren't friends of yours."

Aloth flipped the big blonde pirate over so he could see his face. No one he recognized. He sneered, "Even if they had been, that would have changed the moment he threatened Kai."

She was at his side, then, and her smile was the best thing he'd seen in years. "Good to see you too, darling," she said softly, and then she was hugging him and he let himself relax his guard a moment and hold her.

"Okay," said the dark-haired girl loudly, "what the fuck is goin' on?"

"Ari, meet Aloth Corfiser," Kai said without lifting her head from his shoulder. "Aloth, this is Ariana Cirdani, my younger sister. Known around here as The Black Blade."

"Your sister is a pirate." He remembered her mentioning a sister in the Deadfire, but nothing beyond that.

"My sister is a successful pirate," Kai said proudly, "and one who does not believe in charter discounts even for immediate family, apparently."

"Oh please," Ari's accent was unique, a mix of Aedyr and Deadfire and a touch of Hylspeak, "tell me ye didn' make me sail ta the Dyrwood and back just so ye could find yer boyfriend."

"Ah, if only it were that simple." Kai pulled away enough to look up at Aloth. He reached out and smoothed away the worry in her brow. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch as she continued, "I should have known you'd be here. I ran into some old friends of ours the moment we stepped off the boat. This one's cousin, I imagine." She nudged the lead pirate with the toe of her boot.

Edér threw at small cloth bag toward him and Iselmyr caught it without so much as a glance. Aloth opened the bag and pulled out a necklace, one of several identical ones within the bag. It bore a black medallion, engraved in silver with a stylized key.

Iselmyr laughed in his head again. Three months we're 'ere huntin' 'n' she finds thaim soon as she lands. Gods' blood, bit ah dae love that lass.

All he said aloud, though, was "interesting" as he dropped the pendant back into its bag, but the coy smile on Kai's face said she knew exactly what he's thinking. Some things never change. He laced his fingers with hers and said, "I suspect we have a lot to talk about."

"Maybe in the mornin'," said Ari with an eyeroll, "if I hafty watch ye stare at each other all night I'll lose me dinner. C'mon, farmboy, buy a gal a drink." Edér clapped Aloth on the shoulder and followed without another word.

Once they were gone, Aloth pulled Kai to him again and they held each other for a while, quiet except for the night insects. He found himself idly tracing the new scars down the length of her arm. I should have been there, he wanted to say, but he bit his lip to stop it from escaping.

She heard it anyway, or at least still knew him well enough to know his thoughts. "If you'd been there, you'd be dead. No one made it out but me. And Steward, such as she is. Her head's in Edér pack."

He chuckled. "Of course it is. And… Arabella and Moire?" He knew Kai's older sister and her wife had been staying in the keep for a while.

"They left after Inestu. They were safely back in their own estate when the walls came down."

"Good," Aloth said, though it seemed insufficient. "We should probably head inside before someone else comes by and starts asking questions."

"One more thing first," Kai said, and then she was kissing him and it was then, finally, that he let himself believe this was real. That somehow after years and miles apart, she was here and it was as easy, as effortless as if no time had passed at all.

"I missed you," Kai, Aloth, and Iselmyr all said, as soon as they parted to breathe.

Kai laughed and kissed him again. "Let's go inside. You'll have to pay for drinks, though, I'm afraid. My sister seems to have stolen my coinpurse."

Aloth's laughter carried in the night air as they stepped into the inn together.

[haledamage]

I was tagged by @queen-scribbles to describe myself with pictures you already have saved :)

and I’m gonna tag... hmm @rannadylin @criticalrolo @nineprotons @phoenixsoul13 @risualto and anyone else who wants to do it!

[haledamage]

Sleepy hug for Kai/Aloth? :D

The air was thick with mist and smoke, obscuring everything more than an arm's length away, but the silence told Kai that the battle was (probably) over. She tried to reach out with her mind and find her friends, but she was too tired.

She was saved the trouble anyway when Edér’s voice rose over the smoke. “Everyone alright? Kiki? Aloth?”

“Present,” Aloth said, voice clipped with exhaustion. He sounded very nearby.

“I’m fine,” she called back. “Rekke?”

“Ta.” He sounded like he was somewhere to Kai’s left and she could hear the pain in his voice. “You always take me to the nicest places.”

“Tekēhu?”

“I could sleep for a week, I say.” He sounded like he was behind her, voice gravelly in that way that meant he was in his spiritform. Sure enough, the silhouette of a huge, bipedal hammerhead shark loomed in the smoke before he shrunk back down to the still-towering amaua. He stepped close enough that Kai could mostly see his face, lit by the gentle bioluminescence of his hair.

Tekehu offered her a hand up. Kai hadn’t even realized she’d sat down. Still, she waved him away. “I’m fine,” she said again. “Go help Rekke. He sounds hurt.”

He looked like he wanted to protest but didn’t have the energy for it. He disappeared back into the mist without another word.

Kai sat in the slowly dissipating smoke and tried to catch her breath. She could hear her companions’ voices, diffuse and directionless. She should really get up and go find them. Help them. She didn’t know why she wasn’t moving.

A hand fell onto her shoulder, and it took longer than it should have for her to react. She followed it up to find its owner smiling down at her, his already pale skin gone ashen. “Oan yer feet, Kiki. Cannae kip yit.” Iselmyr didn’t wait for an answer, just looped an arm around Kai’s waist and pulled her to her feet. Her smile was sly and playful. “Dae yi''ll need me tae carry ye?”

“Don’t you dare,” Kai warned, but the threat lost some of its strength as she leaned heavily against Iselmyr and wrapped her arms around her, barely able to stay standing under the weight of exhaustion. Iselmyr hugged her back just a touch too tightly, laughter warm and low in her ear. “You know what I’m thinking?”

“What’s that?” She couldn’t tell if it was Aloth or Iselmyr that answered.

“You and me in a room to ourselves,” Kai leaned up enough to press a light kiss to their jaw as she spoke. Iselmyr’s sly grin spread across their face, but the flush blooming on their cheeks was all from Aloth. “And twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep.”

Iselmyr laughed, high and a little manic. It was Aloth who replied, “I do love the way you think.”

[haledamage]

5, 26, 48, 75 for Kai?

5. What does your OC normally wear? What would your OC wear on a special night?

Kiki is by far my most fashionable OC. She likes high-quality clothes and spares no expense on them. Prefers silk, satin, rabbit or alpaca wool and soft leathers over sturdier fabrics. Flowy fabrics, dresses or poet/pirate shirts and scarves. Jewel tones, especially shades of blue and teal. She fits right in in the Deadfire Archipelago, is very very fond of Principi fashion. 

But also often sleeveless, because sleeves are bullshit.

She loves a full gown on a very special occasion, or a cocktail dress on a less fancy but still special occasion. Probably owns at least three variations on the Little Black Dress.

26. Why does your OC and his/her soulmate work so well together?

my first thought is to answer this about Aloth or Rekke (which I’m gonna do that too :3) but I think Kai’s soulmate would actually be Eder. They connected on a level that I don’t think either of them expected or have ever had before and are a wonderful example of what Platonic Soulmates can be.

Kai and Eder balance each other out. When they met, she was all drive and no purpose, and he had purpose but no drive. So he pointed her toward a destination and she kept them moving toward it. He helps her remember to be compassionate and to not assume the worst of people, she helps him remember to stand up for himself and not just go along with what he’s told. They’re my favorite variation on Love at First Sight, which is Siblings at First Sight.

I think the best way I’ve summed Kai/Aloth up is still “a man who has never known safety and a woman who has never known stability, finding both in each other”. They give each other a place to stop running, to rest. A soft place to land. They’re both used to hiding parts of themselves and they don’t have to do that with each other.

Kai/Rekke are harder to put into words - partially because I’m still figuring them out :P they challenge each other, and encourage each other, and keep each other on their toes. He tells her “I know you don’t need me to protect you, but I want to protect you anyway. I want to be strong for you.” and she tells him “I can take care of myself, but I will let you take care of me. I want to be soft for you.”

I could honestly write an entire essay about any of them. I have a lot of feelings about Kiki and how she’s developed and what these three mean to her.

48. What are some of your OC’s vices?

She has the biggest sweet tooth in Eora. Loves cakes and cookies and chocolate. Puts too much sugar in her tea and her coffee.

Also, she spends more than she should on clothing. She was raised as a noble, after all, and while most of her mother’s programming didn’t stick, Kai still loves nice things. She likes to feel pretty, even if she doesn’t want anyone to actually tell her she’s pretty :P my girl loves to be a contradiction

75. What is your OC’s favorite scent?

she loves forest scents. pine and ceder and sandalwood and petrichor. The ozone scent of thunderstorms.

if this means like perfumes, though, she wears floral perfumes. she’s especially fond of jasmine (no matter what, she always smells like woodsmoke, though. #just fire mage things)