[FIN] Homeward Bound

[TawnyAngel]

Kisses as well?

Zevran sat back with a smile which didn't betray his slight confusion about the whole situation; the main thing was that she liked- loved the present. He would probably get better at this sort of thing, he had time. He had time. He had a future.

"Yes, that's right," Zevran confirmed with a nod and a smile. "There are as many blank pages as there are filled, so we will not have time while I am here to complete them all I think. I will just have to come back another time to continue the work!" he winked.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

While her tears had stopped her bright grin remained as she finally came upon the aforementioned empty pages. "Ahh, we'll have to try and fill up some more while you're here, but yes, you'll have to come back soon too keep going!"

A soft creak of a door preceded an as yet unfamiliar voice to Zevran; soft, feminine, relaxed. "Hello," the voice called, followed by another creak as the door closed, "anyone home?"

"Alex!" Joanna scooped the book up into her arms reverently and hastened out into the hall to greet her. It wasn't difficult to pick out bits of their ensuing conversation though; Joanna was excitedly showing off her new gift.

Abel carefully slid his chair closer to Zevran's so he could wrap an arm around his shoulders and press a soft kiss to his temple. "I think she liked it," he noted, voice tinged with amusement. "That was an excellent idea, sweetheart."  

[TawnyAngel]

As soon as Joanna exited the room Zevran allowed his bemusement to drift onto his face alongside a wry smile. "I think she did," he murmured, leaning happily into the kiss and reaching for Abel's hand to give it a squeeze. "I wasn't expecting such ah... enthusiasm." He'd thought it was a good gift but not that good! "I confess I was not quite sure how to react to," he waved a hand towards the door, "all of that. I think it went well though?" Hopefully the imminent meeting with Alex would as well. Abel hadn't seemed to think there would be a problem with her so he wasn't worried, just slightly wary of the possibility of more things he didn't quite know how to approach; if he reacted strangely to anything they might have questions he didn't want to answer.

"Is Alex likely to hug me?" he asked Abel with another little quirk of a smile. "I don't really mind but I would sooner be prepared." If given a choice between hugging her and not he would rather not, not yet, but it wasn't strong enough to trouble about. The Grays seemed to be a very huggy family though so there was probably no avoiding hugs from her, and more from Joanna too. One day he might appreciate that though, when he knew them and felt able to relax and really be himself instead of pretending at being himself.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Upon feeling Zevran's hand grasp his, Abel wasted little time in lacing their fingers together. "Mmh, Mom always appreciates any gift you give her, but she adores handmade ones. If you couldn't tell," he added with a breathy 'heh' of a laugh. "But yes, that went wonderfully; she definitely loves it, and you probably shouldn't be surprised if she wants to talk about recipes over it for the whole rest of the trip."

Ah? "Oh, Alex? No, I doubt it," the taller blond said, shaking his head a bit for emphasis. "It's mostly Mom that's the hugger."

Their voices quickly grew louder along with their approaching footsteps, and a moment later Joanna returned with a slim young woman taller than she - as tall as Aaron - in tow, her blond hair pulled up into a bun to keep it off of her neck and her bright blue eyes curious and searching. When she spotted Abel though a smile lit up her face, similar to the one that brightened his as he stood up to greet her. Before either of them could speak, however, their mother spoke up first. "Zevran, this is Alexandra, our oldest daughter."

Once finished with their hug, the young woman turned to offer Zev a warm smile, curious and similar to her mother's but noticeably more subdued, with a soft voice to match. "Ah, so you're the infamous Zevran I've heard so much about," she said, her lips quirking up at the corners as she offered him her hand to shake, not waiting for either Abel or their mother to introduce Zevran to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, and you can just call me Alex. The book you made is gorgeous, by the way. Is it true you got him to quit smoking?" As she posed her question Alex looked between him and her brother but mostly at Zevran, her eyebrows raised partially in curiosity and partially in preemptive incredulity.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran glanced towards the door again, lips still curved in a crooked little smile. "I think I will like that. It's so very... normal. Not that I wish to have an entirely normal life," he chuckled and crinkled his nose at Abel, "that sounds unbearably dull, but things like spending hours talking about cooking with your mother... It sounds good, wholesome, which may go some way to make up for how terrible I am?" he winked. Without the pressure of Abel's father in the room and assured that he probably wasn't going to have to deal with anything too alien in the immediate future he was able to relax again, this was going a lot better than he had expected.

When Joanna re-entered alongside a tall woman who was confirmed to be Alex Zevran chuckled and nodded. "Yes, that's me!" He didn't get up but he did reach out to clasp her proffered hand in greeting. "Glad to meet you as well Alex. What terrible things has he been telling you about me then?"

That he had got him to stop smoking apparently.

"Ahh, I think that is an exaggeration," he replied with a shrug and a fondly amused glance at Abel. "I gave him one of those vapour things, true, but I hardly wrestled the cigarettes out of his hands! Much as I would like to steal all the credit I would say that Abel got himself to quit smoking; I merely," he waved a hand airily, "facilitated a little."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Something Zevran said clicked in his brain, but he didn't exactly have time to think about it now that his sister had entered the room and was talking.

"Oh, I've heard plenty of terrible things," Alex replied with an airy wave of one hand, as if what she'd heard wasn't terrible at all. "But I don't think you're giving yourself nearly enough credit. I didn't think he'd ever stop smoking!"

"Does that really surprise you more than the fact I'm dating a guy?" Abel asked, eyebrows raised a bit in mock incredulity that didn't match the amusement in his tones.

Alex shrugged a bit excessively as she moved to sit down at the table too. "You always were comfortable around anyone and everyone - guys included - so honestly yes. I thought you'd be smoking for the rest of your life! I'm glad you finally have someone that's such a good influence on you."

Joanna nodded her head firmly in agreement, beaming at the three of them.  

[TawnyAngel]

This time Zevran couldn't hide his complete confusion, tinged with disbelief. "A good influence?" he echoed with a brief laugh. "Me?" That was... well that was the last thing he was! A good influence? Who had he ever met who would say that of him? These people apparently, but then they did not know him well and did not know anything at all about him.

A good influence!

Zevran looked incredulously at Abel and shook his head. "I have been called many things in my life, but never a good influence!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Alex's eyebrows lifted a bit at Zevran's obvious confusion. "Is it really so strange?" She asked after a moment, and looked across the table at her brother. "Would you've bought one of those vapor things for yourself, or quit smoking on your own?"

"Probably not, no," Abel admitted with a bit of a shrug as he leaned back comfortably in his chair.

"What about if we'd gotten you one of those, would you have quit then?" Alex asked next, watching his face keenly.

The taller blond hummed thoughtfully as he dutifully considered the question. Would he have if anyone other than Zevran had given him such a gift? "I... don't know, honestly. I might have? But I might not have," he finished with a shrug. Probably not he wanted to say, but with his mother standing there Looking at him it didn't exactly seem like something she'd want to hear.

"There you go then," Alex finished with a gesture at her brother and looked to Zevran again, her smile warm and faintly amused. "And he looks much better than he did last time he was here - he looked terrible before, thin as a rail --" Abel protested with an amused "hey" but Alex continued undeterred, "-- and I've heard from Mom more than once that that's your handiwork too. If that's not being a good influence, then I don't know what is!"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Rather strange, yes," Zevran replied honestly, smiling bemusedly and rubbing the tattooed side of his face as he spoke. A good influence! "I am quite happy to take credit for him looking better though!" He grinned then and poked Abel lightly in the ribs. "I don't know about good influence, but he certainly needed somebody good at cooking in his life in Kodo." Nevermind the fact that Abel had been so thin because of circumstances outside his control, that was something that they would never discuss with his family.

A good influence. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about that, it seemed to go entirely against the identity he had built for himself but thinking that he had been a positive influence on Abel's life? He liked that, even if it was strange to hear it put in such terms.

"He has been a good influence on me too," Zevran continued, but now his grin was mischevious. "I hardly ever engage in jewellery heists these days."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel grinned and reached for the finger poking his ribs. "It's true, I'm only in better shape now because of you. And are you kidding? I've lost track of all the good things you've done for me over the past - what? - six or so months? You are a wonderful influence, whether you like it or not."

Mention of jewelry heists elicited an amused snort and a grin from him. "Oh yes, of course, I'm glad you've been doing those less lately," he said with a chuckle. From the way Alex crinkled her nose over a small grin and her mother smiled and shook her head fondly, it wasn't difficult to tell they realized it was a joke.

"Indeed, those don't sound particularly healthy," Alex noted with amusement in her voice and expression.

Joanna huffed a bit, a good-natured smile on her face just the same. "Certainly not!" But then she set her book down on the table - gently, lovingly - and bustled back into the interior of the kitchen to open up the fridge. "Does anyone want anything for dessert? There's plenty of fruit, and there's some leftover cheesecake. There's also some chocolate chip cookies too."  

[TawnyAngel]

A good influence. It was going to take him a while to get his head around that one, but probably not as long as it had taken him to get used to 'sweetheart'. He still wasn't quite used to sweetheart. Being valued so much by Abel alone was hard to believe sometimes, but his family too? It was surreal.

"Oh yes, you can really damage your ankles if you get the leap from the second story window wrong," Zevran replied breezily before moving on to the more important subject of; "Dessert! You spoil us Joanna. I would love some cheesecake; I haven't often had it before, and it seems to be my turn to need feeding up now. I hope this doesn't become a pattern." Had that been too flippant?... Eh, it was probably fine.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Alex snorted a bit while Joanna beamed happily. "I'm more than happy to spoil you as much as you'll let me! More, in fact," she added as she pulled out the leftover cheesecake to cut a slice for him along with fruit, and some for her other children if they'd like some.


Sometime after breakfast the next morning Joanna smiled brightly as she passed another wet dish to Zevran to dry for her. "I think I'd like to try and make churros while you're here, maybe for dessert or breakfast sometime! What do you think? I'd love your help, if you're up for it."

Abel smiled, standing ready to accept any dry dish Zev passed to him. Unlike his boyfriend he knew where all of the various dishes or utensils or pans went, so the task of putting them away had fallen to him. It was a slow process though, and he couldn't help but suspect his mother was washing dishes pointedly slowly to give Zevran enough time to lean against the counter and rest between dishes. Instead of voicing his suspicions, instead he added, "Churros are delicious, I'd definitely be up for those."  

[TawnyAngel]

He was tired today, and he hurt. It felt as though hot skewers had been driven through him, probably ones that had been studded with glass. He blamed the unfamiliar bed and niggling worries about Abel's father; along with the now fairly familiar invasive thoughts about exploding skulls they had not made for a fantastic night's sleep.

Abel would probably disapprove of him dealing with it by pretending to be normal, but here they were! At least he was amply distracted between Abel and Joanna, the easy conversation kept unpleasant thoughts at bay but didn't demand too much focus.

"Mmh?" Zevran smiled as he accepted the dish and started to dry it. "Oh yes, we must make churros for breakfast one day. Perhaps proper hot chocolate too, the stuff they have in Kodo is little more than brown water." He chuckled and crinkled his nose, hands still working slowly at their task. "Like the difference between proper brewed coffee and instant, you see? How anyone thought they could make hot chocolate without chocolate I have not the slightest idea."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Good!" She replied happily, busying herself with washing a frying pan next, though Zevran's words gave her pause. "Ah, I think hot chocolate here is similar to how it is in Kodo," she paused to chance a glance to her son who nodded, "but I can understand that, it does seem kind of silly now you mention it. How is it made where you're from?" As she posed the question her gaze turned keen, eager for his answer.

Then again she was eager for any answer that involved learning a new recipe, so perhaps the keenness was to be expected.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran passed the dish to Abel and accepted the pan in its place; naturally his own expression brightened in response of Joanna's enthusiasm, it was reflexive to mirror her mood. "Ahh, another secret to give away! You need whole fat milk, your favourite brand of chocolate, and just a little cornflour. Or cornstarch do you say? Heat the milk and whisk in the flour, stir in the chocolate, and then put back on a low heat and stir until it thickens up. I prefer to use a mixture of milk and dark chocolate myself... Though I have also found that your chocolate is not as good as ours. Do you have an import store anywhere near? European chocolate is quite like ours, a little sweeter but such a sweet woman deserves a sweet treat no?"

He really was feeling tired, and though he was loathe to admit it even to himself perhaps a little weak too. Once they had finished drying the dishes he should probably sit down for a while.