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blossom-hwa · 4 months ago

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miami nights | l.mh

pairing: Minho x gender neutral!reader genre: fluff, slice of life warnings: cursing, alcohol + underage drinking (be responsible kids) word count: 4.7k notes: — changes made to skz ages: 00 line + jeongin are all graduating high school, mc/changbin/minho/chan have all just graduated college — for the record I don't hate miami as much as this fic might suggest, I'm just really fucking bored here Miami is boring. Minho is less boring. Put two and two together and this city still sucks, but maybe having Minho is enough.

Stray Kids Masterlist

"I'm bored."

Minho doesn't even bother looking at his camera. "You've said that maybe ten thousand times in the past half hour."

"Yeah, because I meant it." You roll over your bed again. "I'm so fucking bored."

His sigh crackles through the FaceTime call. "Well, it's not like it's New York City, where we could do fucking everything."

"But it's Miami. Sunny Miami." Minho barks out a sharp laugh and you do an impeccable job of ignoring him. "Beach, sun, swamp. People come down here for vacation all the fucking time, there must be something to do."

He holds one hand up to the camera. "Everglades." One finger down. "Wynwood." Another finger. "Some nature estate." A third finger. "Beach." A fourth. And then, a long pause.

"Some other nature estate?" you offer.

Minho flaps his hand at the screen. It's his laptop screen, which you know because he's been glued to his phone for half of the FaceTime. "They're all the same and you know it."

Unfortunately, you do know it. There are only so many times you can walk Vizcaya or sit by the Deering Estate before they all end up coalescing into one big mush of ocean and grass in your brain. Beautiful the first few times. Pretty the next. Then just part of the landscape. Some might say you sound ungrateful, but you've lived here for eighteen damn years. You think you have a right to complain. Besides, how many times can you go to the beach before sand sticks itself so far up your ass that you decide you're never wandering into the ocean's depths again?

It's your turn to sigh this time. "So what are we doing tomorrow? Food? Boba?"

Minho's eating something now, so his voice comes out muffled. "What else is there to do?"

It takes too much effort to roll your eyes so you just stare at the ceiling. "Pick me up at twelve."

. . .

[12:36am] to: minnow just had the most terrifying moment of my life went to get water after everyone had gone to be didn't put on my house slippers bc it was supposed to be quick turned on lights ROACH NOT THREE FUCKING FEET AWAY FROM MY BARE FUCKING FOOT it's dead now but I have to throw it away 🤮 save me

[12:38am] to: minnow HOKY FUCKJNG SHIT IT WAS STILL ALIVEN I TRIEDT O SWEEP IT PU AND IT STARTEDD RUMNING AWAT NOW IT IS FUCKING DEAD oh god there is a separate leg that needs to be swept up I just lost ten years of my life

[12:40am] from: minnow cool

[12:40am] to: minnow I GO THROUGH A LIFE THREATENING EXPERIENCE AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS COOL

. . .

Seungmin is also there when you and Minho enter the Chipotle, so you end up sitting with him. He looks appropriately done with life, as befits a high school senior. "Oooo, skipping class," Minho singsongs before flicking him in the back of the head.

"Shut up," he mutters, slapping Minho's hand away. Or he would have if Minho wasn't so fast. "It's all useless now, I've already gotten into college."

You just laugh, dumping your Chipotle bowl in front of him. "Fail your AP exams and I disown you as my son," you warn cheerily. You nearly hit your head on one of the cheap fluorescent hanging lights as you sit down on the tall stool. There are fingerprints smeared all over the metal countertop and the cracked covering of the stool scratches your thighs. Maybe it was a mistake to wear shorts today. "What are you going to say if this goes on your permanent record?"

Seungmin gives you the stink eye. "Like they'll stop the valedictorian from graduating," he retorts. "And when the fuck did you two get back? I didn't realize you'd graduated already."

"Aww, missed us?" Minho beams, his eyes and mouth all turning into little slits that make him look far more threatening than he is. Actually, he looks like that meme of the cat staring straight at the camera that looks like it's smiling but its mouth is basically just a line with the slightest curvature at both ends. Felix would know what you're talking about. "We got back two weeks ago."

"And you didn't bother to tell us?" Seungmin sniffs.

"We did," Minho says. "You just don't check the group chat."

"You haven't even tried to congratulate us." You wipe away an imaginary tear.

He rolls his eyes, but you detect a little smile on his face that isn't just your own delusion. "Congrats, or whatever."

"I knew you cared!" you cheer, reaching over the table to give him a hug, despite half of the restaurant glaring at you while Seungmin attempts to fight you off. Minho just watches the whole scene unfold, his usual Cheshire Cat half smile stuck on his face.

Seungmin leaves soon after. You make a dramatic plea for him to stay, complete with a seated reenactment of Caesar's stabbing with Minho as Brutus and by proxy Seungmin, because Seungmin leaving is akin to Brutus stabbing Caesar who is you, or whatever. "No, my favorite child, don't go," you wail even as the workers start looking your way. "I'll buy you boba."

Minho snorts. "What are you, his parent?"

"What are you, a fucking loser?"

The offer of boba doesn't work because Seungmin has physics during his last period so he needs to be back in time to catch that class or his teacher will actually probably write him up (she's an evil old woman), and for all his skipping class Seungmin is still a mostly-goody-two-shoes who doesn't actually want anything horrific on his permanent record. So you and Minho finish your bowls alone with a side of healthy bickering, and then you walk back out into the disgusting heat to Minho's shitty little Toyota Corolla.

You almost don't catch the keys before they hit you in the face. "You drive," Minho says, opening the passenger side door.

"I'm not fucking driving." You drop the keys on his lap. "I only have a permit and I'm not on your stupid car's insurance."

"And I am an adult over twenty one with a license, and I trust that if you fuck up my car, I can throw you under the bus and say I was being kidnapped." He throws them back at your face and you screech. "You need to practice, so drive."

Minho wins because he's already in the passenger seat and the heat is sapping away your will to live, which includes your will to wrestle Minho out of that seat so you can take his place. So you end up in the driver's seat, sweating even more because the air conditioning in this car has been busted since last summer, and then you fudge your way out of the parking lot and down the road.

"If you say a word I will fucking kill you," you say.

Minho rolls his eyes and continues looking at his phone.

You manage to reach the boba shop in one piece. Minho orders his regular and you choose one of the new fruit teas on the menu. You find an empty round table with only minimal spillage in a corner of the shop and sit there in silence, sipping your drinks. You pull out your phone. Minho is still on his.

Ten minutes later, you crack. "This place fucking sucks."

"You just figured that out?" Minho mutters. He's chewing his straw as he obnoxiously slurps a boba pearl into his mouth. He's doing that on purpose just to annoy you but you rise to the bait anyway.

"Don't do that, it's disgusting." You put your phone down. "There's just nothing to fucking do. Almost makes me want to go back to college."

"You sure as hell weren't saying that right before graduation."

You debate the merits of slurping up a boba pearl just to take it out of your mouth and throw it at him. "Because I wasn't in buttfuck shit suburban Miami then."

Minho rolls his eyes. You do not throw the boba pearl, but only because you don't want sticky hands. Instead you lapse back into silence, the only sounds being Minho's occasional slurp and your ensuing complaint.

At two, your boba cup is empty and so is your will to live. You've seen the same Instagram reels at least twice, scrolled through Tumblr to oblivion, even poked at Sidechat before immediately closing the app after reading the first post you saw. You can't figure out the last three words on the New York Times Spelling Bee and you've already reached Genius status for the day so you have very little motivation to continue. "Let's go to Target," you say.

"Sure."

He makes you drive again and you yell at him the entire way because you're shit at directions so you have no idea how to get to Target despite having lived here for over a decade, and he won't stop looking at his phone the entire car ride there even while giving directions. You take a wrong left turn at some point and end up on the highway for five minutes. You blame him, obviously. Minho threatens to buy Starbucks just to pour on your head.

You don't buy Starbucks at Target because you just had boba. Minho picks up some vitamins, which he needs, and you find a weighted unicorn plushie, which you also need. He claims he doesn't need the matching dinosaur plushie but you dump it in his arms anyway and he carries it for an entire two hours until you get to checkout, which tells you everything you need to know. You snatch it out of his arms to pay for it and he threatens again to buy Starbucks to pour over your head. You tell him threats don't work the second time if he doesn't make good on them the first time. Unless you're Hyunjin, who's scared of everything.

You end up getting Starbucks anyway just before you leave because Chan and Changbin got back in town today and instead of being jet lagged like normal people they want to see everyone again, so you text the group chat and end up with nine orders including yours and Minho's. You refuse to drive this time. Minho mocks you the entire way to Changbin's house and you threaten to throw his plushie out the window.

Chan gives good hugs. So does Changbin. It doesn't stop you from making fun of them for being gym bros who don't miss a day to work out, not even during finals week. It also doesn't stop you from mocking Chan for his age.

"We graduated in the same year," he complains.

"But you got a Masters combined with your Bachelors," Minho says, grinning. "You're one degree ahead and you've been in school for five years instead of four so you're old."

Then Seungmin comes swinging through the door, four other gremlins following close behind, and you get to be called old by the five boys you practically raised ("You're not my dad!" "Vine's been dead for over ten years, shut the FUCK up.").

"What's with the plushies?" Felix eventually asks. He's already eyeing your unicorn. You hug it closer. Even though you love Felix, you will not cede that plushie to anyone.

"Went to Target," Minho says, carrying his dinosaur by the scruff of its neck. "Got plushies. And Starbucks." He leaves out the bit where you spent most of your two hours there snickering at the stupid holiday cards in the gift section and making fun of the Colleen Hoover books randomly displayed around the store, but it's implied.

You all traipse into Changbin's living room because he's the only one with Mario Kart and enough controllers for all of you. It devolves into a big screaming mess within fifteen minutes and someone spills Chan's coffee. No one notices at first but then Minho, mom friend supreme, yells for everyone to shut the fuck up and get towels to clean up the growing mess. Only Chan and Hyunjin respond, Chan because it's his coffee and Hyunjin because Minho is going to make good on his threat to air fry him someday, but Minho bars Chan from cleaning the mess because it's not his fault and it's his coffee so you end up going out to buy him a new one while Hyunjin sops up the spill. Mario Kart continues as usual.

After placing in the bottom half for almost every game in an hour, Jisung switches the game to Smash. After beating Changbin gets boring, you boot him the console and kick Jisung and Minho's collective ass instead. Then the sky is darkening, and you all remember that Changbin's rich kid community has a waterfront view, so Chan shuts off the TV mid-game and you all bicker your way out of the house and to the beach.

The sun is setting and for all that you dislike the beach, the view is nice. Pink and orange rays stream from the horizon and cast a soft glow on the scene that makes everyone look vaguely angelic, even though you all are the furthest from a group of angels you could ever be. You perch on a chunk of limestone and watch Seungmin shove Jisung into the water.

There is a very good reason why Changbin's neighbors hate you all.

The sky gets darker. Minho picks you up with much screaming and dumps you into the water, but on your feet so only your legs get wet. On principle you still have to get revenge so you dump a handful of water over his head and then narrowly escape getting dunked in the ocean by kicking him in the knee before he manages to grab you.

You end up on the rocks again, rough limestone pressing marks into your thighs as you watch the moon slowly pick its way into the sky. Chan and Felix are looking for shells even though this beach is more pebbles than sand, while Seungmin and Jeongin are egging on Hyunjin and Jisung splashing each other in the water. Changbin has spread himself out on the sand and almost looks asleep. Minho sits next to you on the rocks and puts his head on your shoulder. You complain for a bit about his sweaty hair but it's fine.

You're so focused on the sunset that you don't notice that Jisung and Hyunjin are no longer playing fuck-around-and-find-out in the water. You don't even notice that they've come around you from behind. All you do know is that you suddenly hear the click of an iPhone camera and then Jisung whooping behind you.

"The fuck—"

He's holding his phone and it's clear he took a photo of you and by proxy, a photo of Minho. You screech again, on principle, but it's too late. A ping from your phone tells you Jisung has sent the photo to the group chat.

"I'm going to kill you," you promise.

"It's a good photo!" Jisung insists, all the while backing away.

You look at Minho for backup. Instead, you watch him open the message and, after scrutinizing the photo with a nonplussed expression, save it. "What?" he says when he notices your scandalized glare. "It is a good photo."

You look at the picture. With the darkening sky, you and Minho look like shadows on the rock, haloed softly by the last rays of the sun sinking under the horizon. The ocean shimmers gently, waves lapping quietly against the shore. His head is on your shoulder and even though only your backs are in the shot, an air of contentment exudes from the scene. You don't even look sweaty.

Something unknown builds in your stomach, vaguely nostalgic, some kind of sad, but also soft and a little bit sweet. More good than bad but you feel a bit empty, for some reason. "I guess," is all you can answer, and Minho doesn't say anything more. But when you return to Changbin's house, still damp and noisy, you slip into the bathroom and save it to your phone, too.

It is a good photo, after all.

. . .

[12:50am] from: minnow why the fuck are you still online

[12:55am] to: minnow I could ask you the same dipshit

[12:57am] from: minnow I asked first dipshit

[1:01am] to: minnow can't sleep dipshit do something abt it

[1:02am] from: minnow what am I a genie?

[1:02am] to: minnow would it kill you to be nice once in your life

[1:03am] from: minnow yes

[1:05am] to: minnow touché asshole

[1:10am] to: minnow if you go to sleep now tomorrow will come faster

[1:11am] to: minnow you mean another whole day of nothing?

[1:12am] from: minnow see you get it

. . .

[2:15am] to: minnow do you ever wonder what it would be like if we never met (message unsent)

. . .

The kids graduate on a Wednesday morning, so Minho picks you up early. You're sitting at your old piano when he lets himself in, staring at some sheet music you used to be able to play five years ago. You can still play it, as you are currently finding out. Badly. With a lot of wrong notes.

You hit a wrong chord. Minho doesn't even flinch. "You're not dressed," he says.

You wave him off vaguely. "Later," you say, and play the right chord this time.

He doesn't say anything, just lies down on the couch and stares at the ceiling while you plink plunk your way through the rest of the piece. He claps. You get changed. He throws you the car keys. You wrestle him out the passenger seat as peacocks watch menacingly from the front lawn, then threaten to poke his eye out if he tries that again.

Chan and Changbin are already there, responsible adults that they are. You and Minho find them in the stands, the kids' parents sitting a couple of rows down. Chan warns you not to make a scene in front of the adults but he's the loudest when each of the boys walks across the stage, so you heckle him semi-quietly from all sides until the ceremony is over.

The four of you head to Minho's while the five new grads get lunch with their parents. Chan insists it isn't a good idea to day drink so you save the bottles of vodka for when the kids arrive, which they do towards the evening. You play Smash until they show up and you and Minho battle for first place fifteen times in a row.

Minho's parents are out of town but the cats are here, winding around all nine pairs of legs when the kids enter the house, newly graduated, caps and gowns abandoned. Food is ordered, shots are poured, and libations are made for each of the newly minted adults in the room with Chan overseeing everything because he doesn't drink. Half of you are underage but that half are all over eighteen, and you say if they're old enough to get drafted they're old enough to drink. Anyway, the youngest is Jeongin and he once sampled fifty different energy drinks in one sitting because Chan was in LA and he had no supervision. He's still alive. A shot or two won't kill him.

There's Smash. There's Mario Party. There's another round of shots and congratulations to the soon-to-be-college-freshmen, then Seungmin finds a bottle of wine and they pour it out for the college grads too. Your head starts feeling fuzzy halfway through the third round of Mario Kart so you lie down on the ground, and Soonie curls up on your chest so you are legally not allowed to move anymore.

The noise settles into a buzz in the back of your head. You yell when Jisung finally places third in Mario Kart and Minho drops a cat onto your head. Eventually, though, the yelling begins to peter out, and when Jeongin starts snoring around two in the morning, Chan calls it quits and begins arranging people around the couches to sleep.

You're not sleepy, though, so long after everyone else is passed out in various positions around the living room, you head into the kitchen for water. You're still at least tipsy so your reflexes don't do so well when footsteps sound behind you and you try to turn around to see who it is.

Minho, drunk as he is, catches you by the shoulder. "Just me," he mumbles. He only looks a little more alert than you.

You nod and finish your water but you don't feel like going back to the living room, where everyone is snoring and it smells like booze. Instead you go to the dining room and lie under the dining table. Minho joins you shortly after.

"What are we doing here?" he asks.

"Being drunk."

He seems to accept that as an answer. You stare at the bottom of his dining table. You've been to Minho's house so many times over the past few years, but somehow you've never seen the table from this angle. It captures your attention for a few minutes. Or maybe an hour. Time isn't real.

"I'm bored," Minho announces.

You look at him. "That's my line."

"And I stole it."

You huff. "Then what the fuck do you want to do?"

No Target. No boba. No beach, and none of that matters since there's no car because you're both shitfaced. It's some stupid hour of the morning, anyway.

Minho raises his hands. Splays out all his fingers against the underside of the table. "Never have I ever."

You stare. "That's so fucking stupid."

"You're so fucking stupid."

"Your mom's so fucking stupid."

"...You take that back."

"Fine." You relent only because Minho's mom is a lovely woman and even drunk, you already feel bad.

Minho grabs your arm and shoves your hand up next to his. "Never have I ever punched someone in the face."

It's not a hard game to play, even drunk. The rules aren't difficult and you and Minho know enough about each other that each time one of you says something, another finger goes down. Both of you have one finger left and your brains are starting to feel fuzzy not just with alcohol but with drowsiness too, so it takes a bit longer for Minho to think of something. Not that it stops you from being a little shit. "Hurry up."

"I can't fucking think," he complains.

"Then say something both of us have done," you snap, waving your last finger around. "Just hurry up."

"Fine." The air seems to change but you're too drunk to really pay attention to it. "Never have I ever been kissed." He folds his last finger.

You don't.

There's a beat of silence. Even without looking you can feel Minho's eyes roving from your still lifted finger down your arm and over to your face, where you are still resolutely staring at the dining table bottom and not back at him. "You've never been kissed," he says, almost incredulous.

You snort. You won the game, but the single finger you're still holding up looks really, really sad. "No need to rub it in."

He grabs your shoulder and that forces you to look at him. You blink. He doesn't say anything and for several seconds or seventy-two hours you don't either. "What the fuck do you want?" you eventually mumble.

"Just shut up," he says, and kisses you.

Minho seems cold but he's actually very warm, a fact that you are reminded of when he presses his lips to yours. Your hand falls limply, the lone finger forgotten as he pulls you to him. His eyes are closed and after a moment yours shut too. You don't know if you can look at him now. It's already too much just to feel.

You pull away for air. Minho holds up your hand and folds all fingers down. "Now you've been kissed," he says. You can't read his expression in the darkness.

"Why?"

Cat eyes seem to glow in the dark. "Because I've liked you since we met, and I think you like me too."

You like me too.

You roll the sentence around your mind, feeling the words bounce off your skull. Minho is mean. Kind. Annoying. Pretty. He knows your boba order and doesn't talk when you don't need to listen. His cats like you and you like them. He complains that you're boring but he hangs out with you all the time and he has never made you feel less than what you are, even when you play the piano shittily in front of him. You think of the photo Jisung took of you two last week and how you've made it your phone's home screen. You think of perfunctory complaints, a sunset, and his head on your shoulder with a weird feeling in your stomach.

You hold his hand. "I guess you're right."

He smiles. You can see it in the dark. And it's not the patented Cheshire Cat grin of evil and mischief; not really, at least. It's softer and sweeter and you recognize it as one of the sides of Minho that he rarely shares. Like when a cat allows you to rub its belly and purrs instead of scratching.

You end up in his room, still on the floor because the bed is too annoying to get to. He's lying on his back, dinosaur plushie under his head, and you're draped over his stomach. You can feel him breathing slowly, steadily, softly.

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we never met?"

"...Could you just let me fucking sleep?"

"Be so for fucking real."

You can hear him rolling his eyes, but you can also hear him collecting his thoughts. "Well," he says, and you think he might be smiling, "Miami would be a lot more boring without you."

. . .

[9:14am] from: minnow before you try to overthink things yes I meant what I said last night tell chan if he wakes me up again I'll egg his car when he least expects it

. . .

Miami is stupid. There are peacocks and alligators and iguanas that fall out of trees in the winter. It's sunny all the fucking time and if it isn't it's pouring rain and in both cases there are mosquitoes out for your blood. Every time you walk outside it feels like you're melting into soup and the invasive ducks will give chase the moment you show weakness or fear. Cockroaches roam your home. So do weird millipedes and tiny lizards and idiot moths. Everything is hot and humid and stupid, and it's boring.

"I'm bored."

Minho rolls his eyes. "You are incredibly fucking annoying."

You pinch him. "Yeah, because I'm fucking bored."

"We could kiss."

Contemplative silence on your end.

"...Solid plan."

You hate this fucking place. It's boring and there's nothing to do but go to the beach or become one with the pavement. But there's Minho, and you'll never admit it if anyone asks, but you think that might be enough.

. . .

[6:45pm] to: minnow open ur fucking door

[6:45pm] from: minnow what happened to please and thank you

[6:46pm] to: minnow I will throw your boba in the sewer so fucking fast

[6:46pm] from: minnow you wouldn't dare

[6:47pm] to: minnow [image attached] don't underestimate me

[6:47pm] from: minnow I'm opening the door I'm opening the fucking door don't fucking do it

[6:48pm] to: minnow I knew you loved me

[6:49pm] from: minnow god I fucking hate you

[6:50pm] to: minnow aw I love you too <3

[6:51pm] from: minnow jesus fucking christ

[6:41pm] to: minnow say it back babe ik you want to

[6:42pm] from: minnow for fuck's sake I love you too

Reblogs and comments are deeply appreciated! Hope you enjoyed this, and have a lovely day :)

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galebrainrot2024 · 8 months ago

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GalexTav Enemies to Lovers Pt. 28

Part 27 | Master List | Read on Ao3

Summary: Gale and Karlach talk to the tiefling children at Last Light, short Tav appearance - will she speak with him yet? Who can say! This chapter is angsty, be warned!

With each day that marched forward, Gale wound tighter and tighter as his task loomed over him - every day that passed was one day closer to the inevitable. Death and redemption. What more could a wizard want? A part of him wished Tav had never noticed the portal, had never stopped to pull him from his demise. At least if he erupted then it would save him the embarrassment of now. He shivered though as the thought occurred to him it would have meant never kissing her, holding her and feeling her heart beat against his chest. The weight of the thought made him ill and he stumbled, gripping his staff for purchase.

“You alright mate?” Karlach rose a brow and he shook his head.

“Never better.”

“If you insist,” she sighed, though her tone was disbelieving.

Tav had not spoken to him since he unloaded the ugly truth. He tried, once - the steeliness and loathing that seeped from her was enough to ensure he hadn’t done it again. Every time he thought about what he could possibly say the words stuck in his throat like gluey crackers. Gale wanted to tell her so much, to shower her with the love and affection that no longer had a place to go to, and he knew it was selfish to even want that. He had ruined her life. She hated him. Why wouldn’t she? The memories of their bodies entwined while they unfurled their souls grew cloudier in his minds eye, the finer details smoothing until the images and ideas faded into one another.

Touching her was just a concept now when it had once been a reality.

Some days, it felt as if their connection was a fever dream, their shared kiss a mutual hallucination. Others, the ache in his chest when he looked at her, studied her, waiting for her to look at him - to speak to him gutturally reminded him they happened. He thought the torment of secluding himself in his tower after Mystra stripped him of his title and ostracized him was as dark and painful as his emotions could burrow.

He was mistaken. The emotions that festered and raged within him now were unlike anything he’d experienced thus far. The love he felt for her was boundless and simply had no where to go, confused and possessed. It poisoned him. It made him want to shake the forgiveness from her, pull it from her skull by force if he needed to - yet he knew he deserved this fate. Worse, besides.

He dragged his feet behind Karlach, ruminating over his thoughts like a coin turned in hand, smoothed by incessant rubbing, and nearly collided with her when she stopped.

“Isn’t that Mattis, from the grove?” Gale asked, pointing to the tiefling child. They hadn’t been at Last Light before and his stomach lurched as he thought about the moment he had with Tav in the Weave. Gale knew he’d likely never experience her like that again.

“Welcome to our humble store,” Mattis began, alivened by the prospect of selling more ridiculous goods before his eyes widened with surprise. “Wait… are you Karlach? A lot of us were in Avernus! We saw you fighting - you were so good!” Mattis gushed, his voice escalating as he burst excited.

“Well!” Karlach laughed and rubbed the back of her neck, “I guess I was. I mean, you should avoid fighting for devils if you can and if you can’t,” she grinned and playfully swung her fist through the air in demonstration, “it helps to have a good right hook.”

“I saw you lay out a maw demon in two hits!” Mattis exclaimed, his body shaking with adrenaline. “Bam bam, we were like woah! How’d you learn to fight like that?”

“Had to.” Karlach shrugged, “Life didn’t pull any punches. It was up to me to learn to take a hit - and eat one back.”

Gale felt his face grow hot when Tav stepped beside them, watching. Listening. He felt the air shift and struggled to focus on Karlach’s voice to stay grounded. It was the closest she’d come to him since that night and the hairs on his arms stood, reaching for her. Please. He dared not look up from Mattis, dared not breathe or shift the foot he stood on lest he collapse.

“I’ve been tossed around a lot too.” Mattis said, looking at their feet. “I want to learn how to fight back.”

Gale heard Tav’s snort of approval and a profound yearning echoed through his veins. Every fiber of his being called out in protest as heat licked up his spine, begging for her. While his stomach churned, he balled his hands into tight fists, squeezing into his palms.

Breathe.

Karlach laid a hand on Mattis’s shoulder and kneeled down, a gentle smile on her lips. “From the look of things, you’ve got your wits about you. A clever mind and a bit of style will take you a long way. Fight with those and you may find you never need to use your fists.”

“In that case,” Mattis offered a cheeky grin and shifted his gaze between them all, “want to buy a lucky ring I found?”

“HA!” Karlach and Tav snorted in unison. Karlach ruffled his hair, “Nice try, shorty, keep it up thought and you’ll be scamming with the greats in no time.”

As they turned away, Tav - despite ignoring Gale - gave Karlach a teasing nudge. “Encouraging them to take up the trade, eh?”

If he just extended his arm slightly he would be touching her. Just. He felt his hand begin to move of its own accord and he shoved it to his side. Casually, he hoped.

Karlach nodded and her face contorted teasingly, as if to say ‘okay and’. “Every kid deserves to be properly set up. If I can offer them a little advice too, seems like a win-win.”

One foot in front of the other, Gale. Step. Step. Step. Stop.

“Mol, what were you doing talking to Raphael?” Karlach nudged the tiefling and Tav stopped, crossing her arms and rose a brow. Gale’s cheeks grew hot as he stared at her and then abruptly turned his gaze to the floor as her head began to turn towards him.

Coward, he hissed internally.

“If we put our heads together,” Mol leaned forward, smirking, “I bet you and me could make a tidy stack of coin in Baldur’s Gate. Raphael’s offered me a partnership already,” Karlach inhaled through gritted teeth, “it seems like a sweeter deal than throwing my lot in with you.”

“No kid, no…” Karlach bowed and shook her head, agitation radiating from her heat.

Gale felt his tongue begin to move before he was conciously aware of what he was saying, “You need to believe in yourself, Mol, not the empty promises of a fork-tongued monster.” Nausea rolled through him when he flicked his gaze to Tav who was looking at him with - was it marginally less disdain? Was that a glimmer of something else?

He ripped his gaze away.

“Zevlor had belief,” Mol scoffed, contempt thickly settling in, “didn’t get him anywhere good. Besides, Raphael wasn’t promising anything stupid. Protection from me and my kids that’s all.”

“Hm,” Gale felt himself say as he rubbed his chin, his arm held at the elbow by the other. “Mol - you may have be the picture of innocence at present, so my first assumption,” Gale leaned forward a bit to bend at the waist and tapped his skull, “Is that you’re not being entirely forthcoming.”

Mol shifted and Tav’s gaze burned him, although he didn’t dare look he could feel her watching him. His entire body had craved her attention for so long it recognized it instantly.

“I haven’t accepted nothing yet.” Mol crossed her arms, looking around the inn, “Sounds like you’re in deeper than I am.”

“He’s dangerous,” Tav said, her voice cracking when she spoke. Gale’s throat clenched. “What has he actually offered you?”

“Well… that we’d be safe.” Mol said again. So, not entirely a lie. “And that when we get there, I’d be head of the thieves guild.”

“No one ever wins when you make a deal with a devil,” Karlach huffed and Mol interrupted, waving her arms furiously.

“Easy for you to say. You can do what you want, go where you want. My kids need protecting and no one else is going to do it for them,” she took a deep breath and shut her eyes, the silence unsettling. Then: “Listen, you saved us, and after you left Zevlor lost his nerve. I won’t. There’s no grove, no coin, no one taking us to the city - I’m not letting my crew get eaten by shadows. It’s my choice, not yours.”

One of the kids came to pull Mol away about something and left them in silence.

“One of the worst parts about getting old?” Karlach began, her voice intense, “Watching kids make the exact same mistakes you made and knowing there’s nothing you can say to change their mind. Then again, Mol is a hell of a lot smarter than I was at that age. Maybe she’ll figure it all out.”

For the first time in what felt like a millennia, Tav and Gale met one another’s gaze in the way they used to. His heart soared, blood pulsing madly through his veins as crimson crept up his neck before her expression clouded and she turned away. The rush dissipated as quickly as it had come.

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