[FIN] Homeward Bound

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah, true." Zevran grin-grimaced as he stood up with Abel's help. "Boyfriends are usually stronger than their female equivalents, who have their own advantages, but neither generic can hold a candle to you. On the subject of candles, do you wish to hear more poetry?" It was silly, and terrible, and probably not actually poetry at all because he only knew what had been repeated to him and what he had been told to repeat in turn. Still....  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Compliments from Zevran always filled him with a warm, bubbly feeling, and a pleased smile lit up his face as he slipped an arm around Zev's waist and pressed a kiss to his temple before slowly helping him towards the stairs. He'd come back down in a bit to grab some drinks.

Briefly he debated saying something sincere and fond, but instead opted for something more playful. "You're not so bad yourself," he replied blithely, though despite that his expression did soften. "You know I always want to hear anything you want to tell me, poetry or not." A pause. "Even if it's terrible poetry, like last time."  

[TawnyAngel]

...And now Abel had said yes, he lost his nerve. "Ah," Zevran laughed nervously and started to flush a little, which made an interesting contrast to his otherwise pallid countenance. "It's ah... It's very bad. Not terrible, just bad. In fact it's not really even finished so... Ahh... Perhaps another time? I don't know why I mentioned it. I blame the dizziness." That might just be the singularly most awkward thing he had ever done in his life. He ought to be glad that only Abel was here to witness it but he was embarrassed enough to have witnessed it himself!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

...aawwww. How in the world was he so adorable? Fondness flowed into his expression as he leaned in to kiss Zevran's temple again. "I'm sure it's not that bad, sweetheart. I'd still love to hear it, though if you really don't want to share it just yet, I won't make you." No, he'd never try to make Zev do anything he didn't want to.

Besides talk about things that one time, but that was kind of an unfortunate necessity.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh, it's bad," Zevran assured Abel fervently with another little laugh. "Still, if you promise not to laugh I will tell you when we get to your room." Did sincerity make up for a complete lack of quality? Perhaps it did! Or perhaps he would just feel like a complete fool afterwards, he was not accustomed to feeling like a fool and nor was he fond of it. But Abel might like it, even awful and not even finished as it was. "I am too quick to open my mouth... Or perhaps you like that about me too?" Zevran suggested with a sly smirk and a wink; the dirty joke definitely served to make him relax again and to stop blushing so much.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As they slowly ascended the stairs, Abel made sure to stay near his boyfriend in case he needed help. He almost definitely needed help. Still, he smiled brightly and readily agreed with his words. "Alright, I promise I won't laugh. And perhaps I do," he added, a smirk stealing over his smile.  

[TawnyAngel]

Eventually they made it into the privacy of the room; Zevran sank down onto the bed and allowed himself to reach a hand up to his chest again. "Mierda, that really smarts," he laughed. "That will teach me to move more quickly, or to leave more space behind people until I can again. I hope Aaron doesn't feel too bad about it." Humm, and when had he started to consider other people's feelings? He wasn't quite sure when wanting Abel to be happy because happy people were more fun had morphed into wanting him happy for his own sake, and nor was he quite sure when he had started to extend it to other people as well....

Ah, well in Abel's case at least perhaps it had been then.

"You know I am reminded of that day I asked you to pick me up from the mountain, after Estoque ruined my tattoos. You looked so concerned, I found it strange at the time." Then of course Alyssa had turned out to be in the apartment; it felt like a lifetime ago that she had met her end and Abel had been freed but it was not so very long really.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ah, poor guy... Abel sat down beside his boyfriend carefully to avoid jostling him before he wrapped an arm around his waist. "Well you didn't really have any way of knowing something like that'd happen," he pointed out, avoiding saying he'd just have to be more careful next time, because that wouldn't accomplish much. Aaron though... If he knew his brother - and he liked to think he did - he probably would feel pretty bad and awkward about it for a while, which was another thing he didn't exactly think would be too helpful to say at the moment.

Instead he turned a slightly puzzled smile down at his love and leaned in to kiss his head. "Are you? I looked concerned because I was concerned, I didn't know how badly she hurt you or how much blood you lost or anything, and it can't have felt nice either."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran chuckled and leaned his weight against Abel, grateful both for the support and for his body heat. "Well it wasn't exactly a delightful lovebite or even passion-strained muscles that ache deliciously the next day, but clean cuts are not so bad really. It was just... strange. We did not know one another well, I couldn't understand why you would care so much. I wondered how I was going to repay you, because I did not like being in your debt." Zevran sighed softly, a tired but contented sound, and raised Abel's hand to his lips to press a soft kiss to the palm of his hand. "It feels like a very long time ago."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Heh. No, I can't imagine it was anywhere close to any of those," he said wryly as he gave Zev's waist a gentle squeeze, "but yeah, clean cuts aren't that bad, all things considered. I remember though, you seemed a little... puzzled." The kiss to his palm made him smile though, despite the vaguely unpleasant memory they were talking about, and his fingers ghosted over his boyfriend's cheek. "It feels like ages ago, yeah. It wasn't even a year ago though." A year ago he barely knew Zevran at all, and now he couldn't imagine life without him. Sometimes how fast their relationship developed concerned him, but realistically... He wouldn't do anything different. No, they both knew how fleeting life was, how quickly and unexpectedly it could end, and he had no desire to act slowly and potentially regret it for the rest of his life. How things had turned out was much better than how they could've turned out... somehow. He still wasn't quite sure how, but he'd never change or regret a thing.  

[TawnyAngel]

"It has been a busy year, no?" Zevran said with a wry smile, tilting his cheek into Abel's hand as he spoke. "It has had a few things going for it though I suppose." He still didn't know how to deal with Taliesen's death - death by his hand - and thinking of the two young crows whose names he hadn't even found out made him feel cold inside but Abel warmed him again, and gave him hope that the future would be better. They would visit Antiva, they would visit here again, make cookies, find a home together and.... Well, who knew what else the future might hold?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"It has, and yeah, there's been some good things. One or two," he added, hints of amusement in his voice as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Zevran's forehead.


A while later, Joanna knocked at the door a moment or two before peeking in once assured she wasn't walking in on anything. "Abel, dear, would you mind helping your father out in the barn with something? It should only take a couple of minutes."

Abel opened his mouth to argue or contest the request but thought better of it, so he merely frowned a bit instead and kissed his boyfriend's fine blond hair. "I'll be back in a few minutes then, I guess."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran smiled and looked up from his phone when Joanna entered but when she spoke the expression became a little crooked and he arched one eyebrow with the precision of a sniper.

"Oh?" he lifted his chin so that he could kiss Abel on the cheek, "well you'd better go and see what it is then."

Perhaps Daniel had found a woman in the barn who Abel would absolutely prefer to him if he just got to know her, because breasts. Then again perhaps he was going to apologise, stranger things had happened.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Mmh, I guess I'd better," the taller blond replied as he gave his boyfriend's shoulder a fond squeeze, then stood up and headed out past his mother.

As his footsteps faded away down the stairs, Joanna stepped further into the room, a large book held in her arms and a smile on her face. "While he's gone, I thought I'd ask if you wanted to look at some old pictures!" As she spoke, she held the closed book up. Its surface was nondescript, but the edges of its pages that were visible were actually a clear plastic instead of paper. "I know we haven't really looked at any yet. If you're too tired though it can always wait, it is getting a little late now."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh?" Zevran sat up properly - slowly and carefully - and grinned a smirky grin. "Are there embarrassing or adorable pictures of Abel, or both? If so I'm game!" Seeing what Abel had looked like in the past would be quite strange, he was extremely curious! The oldest pictures he'd ever seen of himself had been taken on the first smartphone he'd bought for himself, about five years ago now. That phone was now at the bottom of the ocean somewhere just off the coast of Antiva of course. He wished he'd kept it, there were pictures of Taliesen and Rinna too. Oh well, hindsight was always keen! Thinking he would soon be dead why would he have kept it?

"Mmh?" Zevran blinked and focused on Joanna again, another smile replacing the distant expression he had worn for a moment. "Sorry did you say something? I was miles away."