#tav had to float to make this happen but we don't talk about that

[regwishesshehadmagic]

Pleased to inform you that Astarion has been hugged as well.

[horatiocomehome]

In Memoriam

There was a child with a gun, and he was a general, and he sat next to a fire with his army camped around him. Across from him sat another boy, just as young — his bodyguard. Just two boys, barely teenagers, and a fire.

"What if I die?" the general whispered into the flames. "What if you die, or another one of my friends, or—" his voice cracked. "People have died! Because of things I've done! And it'll happen again, I know it will! And this upcoming battle… I'm scared. What if it's us?" Between the two of them, the fire crackled. "What if it's us?"

"Oh, please." Across the fire, his bodyguard stood up. "There's no way we're going to die. The others, maybe, but us? I mean," —he flexed his muscles, impressive only among other teenagers his age— "Just look at me! No one's going to get through to you. And you're the best tactician I've ever met, not to mention an amazing shot."

"Yeah…." the general agreed, hand falling automatically to the gun at his side. "No one's escaping this thing."

"Exactly! Besides, we made a deal. I keep you safe, you win us the war." He picked up his warhammer and, with a flourish, pointed it at the general. "Would you really break that promise?"

The general laughed. It was genuine, though his position lent it a bitter edge. "Nope. You'd better bet this thing is going all the way. Anything to beat the emperor, am I right?"

~~~

Ten years and a few days later and far from the camps of war in more than just distance, two ghosts sat on top of a school building and watched the empty road. It was early morning, but no one had arrived yet.

"Man, what's keeping them all?" The ghost named Art asked. "Did we miss a late start announcement or something?"

The other ghost, named Octavius, though he usually went by Tav, shook his head. "Don't you remember what day it is?"

"Oh." Art's gaze grew distant. "Ten years, huh?"

Tav elbowed him with a mischievous grin. "Ten years since you fucked up your job, am I right?"

Art shoved him back. "Hey, we won the war, didn't we? That promise was null and void!"

"Oh, yeah, sure, technicalities."

The two laughed off the old exchange. Though they brought it up regularly when they felt like bickering, neither much liked talking about the times leading up to their deaths. They were past that now, and it wasn't like they could change anything anyways. Better to just hang around the school and make light of the afterlife. Or at least, that was how it usually went. Art, for whatever reason, was feeling restless.

"Hey… do you want to go out exploring? See what the kids are up to nowadays?"

Tav thought about that a moment. "You know what, why not?" He stretched, floating up from his perch. "It's been a while since we've left the school, after all."

~~~

The last time they'd left the school had been a happier time, though the two hadn't yet met each other. It had been a warm fall day, the emperor's tightening reign a distant worry.

"Hey Tav!" His friend Luc called out. "There you are!"

He waved back and ran to catch up. "Hey! You ready for this break?"

"You bet I am! This week won't know what hit it! Speaking of which, I've got something to show you." Tav arched an eyebrow. "Oh really? Is it just another drawing of your girlfriend?"

Luc sputtered. "What? No! This is something you'll actually like! It's an artefact."

"Oooh, I do like me a good artefact," Tav said. "Do you know what it is?"

"I'm not sure actually! I think it might be some kind of weapon?"

"Well, I guess we'll find out!"

And so they left the school, on the way to the weapon Tav would wield in the coming days. They didn't look back then. Later though, somehow elected most fit to lead their ragtag group of rebels, Tav would long for those days before the school was closed. For those days when all he had to care about was playing with his friends.

~~~

Now, as a ghost, Tav hadn't seen his friends in years, just Art. That was fine with him though. Better to have fun than be reminded of what he was missing, right?

Speaking of fun, he and Art were currently having the time of their lives thwarting the efforts of some jerk from the school and his father as they tried putting away groceries. He giggled as Art set out a bottle of milk in the exact spot it had just been put away from, then when the kid turned around and let out a cry of surprise, Tav scooped flour out of a jar and back into the bag the father had just poured it out of.

Finally, the father set down the groceries he was holding and went over to a stairway leading to the upper floor. "Honey, can you come down and help? These groceries are giving us more trouble than we thought."

A muffled voice replied, then a few seconds later a woman — presumably the mother — walked down the stairs. And Tav froze.

"Hang on a minute," Art said, "is that the figurehead of the rebellion, slayer of the emperor—"

"My best friend," Tav choked out. "Luc."

Art said something else, but Tav didn't hear. Luc had changed so much since he'd last seen her. She looked so old — easily late in her twenties now. It showed in her face, but mostly in the way she held herself. It was like there was some weight on her shoulders pushing her down. It wasn't right. They'd won, hadn't they? So why didn't his friend look happy?

Before he could think more on that, another thought pushed it out of his head. If that man was the kid's father, and he'd called Luc 'Honey' — she had a family? She'd grown up, gotten married — though not to her old girlfriend, apparently — and had a kid.

And he'd just been at the school the whole time. Completely unaware as time kept passing by.

"Tav. Tav!" Art poked him hard on the cheek. "I'm going to go on to the next house. I get it if you need a minute, but don't stay too long, okay?"

Tav nodded. As his friend flew off, he floated down a side hallway himself. It felt too strange seeing Luc older to stay in the room with her. The rest of the house, though, was that same off-putting mix of old and new. Luc's old sword, hung between pictures of a wedding and posing with an adoption certificate. An old stone tablet he and Luc had dug up together, displayed next to a plastic trophy.

And then, in the corner of a library-looking room, a table. On it was a picture of Tav and a picture of Art. The two almost looked like they could be the age of Luc's kid. Between them, two identical medals. A memorial.

~~~

A general and his bodyguard lay, hand in bloody hand, sunk down in the mud of the battlefield. The bodyguard pinned to the ground by a spear through his gut, and the general with no energy to go for help.

"Do you think I'll become a ghost? When I die?" The bodyguard rasped.

The general's chest tightened with the certainty of the words. When. Not if. "What do you mean?"

The bodyguard broke into a coughing fit, more blood wrenching itself free of his body. "I just… thought it might be nice. Maybe I could— I could hang out with you some more."

"Yeah. That would be nice." A tear rolled down the general's cheek. His breaths were slower now, as was the beating of his heart. "Maybe I can be a ghost too. And we can leave all of this behind."