#cadllario

[murderspice]

Day I. Cousin's Keeper | Praise Kink

PHEW I MADE IT shout out to @captastra for putting this together (you can find the prompts here!) and to @highend-fade for enabling me and my fresh cadllario rot <3

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

"So."

"So?"

"You and my cousin."

That was the very start of the conversation, so blunt it nearly made Cadfael laugh aloud. Lucanis was precise with everything he did, exceedingly so. Even in a relaxed setting like this one, within the lighthouse library, he arrived armed with only his silver coffee cup and a schooled expression.

Rook didn't say anything in response, but he did turn from his sorting of the bookshelf to lean against it and prompt Lucanis to continue.

"You two seemed…very close, last night."

Ah, right. They did say their goodbyes right outside the Cantori Diamond, after Illario had given him a personal tour of Treviso. Goodbyes that were…charged.

(They hadn't kissed, but it was a very near thing. Cadfael still didn't know if the ache in his chest could be called mistrust or longing.)

Still, something about the way Lucanis said it made Cadfael want to bristle on instinct. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Alright, sure. Let's run with that. Am I about to get a shovel-talk? 'Break his heart and I'll kill you, Rook'?

"Rook." Pin-point precision, yet again, giving Cadfael pause. "You are my friend. And I have trusted my cousin with my life more times than I can count."

"…But?"

"And," the Crow corrected gently, eyes focused on a knot in the grain of the wooden table in front of him. "He is very good at what he does. And, I don't want to see you hurt."

That was the last thing Cadfael wanted to think about. He wasn't naive to it, not at all— from the very beginning, he knew that Illario was an assassin who used his charm to lure his marks. Illario wasn't shy about his work, and Cad was pragmatic enough to brace for the inevitable asking of a favor that may follow one day.

It didn't stop him from wishing, foolishly, that he could have something nice for himself, just this once.

The lighthouse continued its low humming symphony of magic in motion around them, even as the conversation went silent. Neither of them looked at each other for some time, Cadfael eyeing the bookshelves restlessly as Lucanis nursed his cooling coffee mug with a mirroring tension in his shoulders.

They had come a long way from that horrific extraction from the Ossuary. Had this conversation happened a month ago, they would've been throwing knives, literally and figuratively. Now…

"Alright." Cadfael started, forcing his hands to relax where they clung to his own arms. "I trust you, Lucanis." He cracked a grin for the other, even if it didn't completely reach his eyes. "Thanks. For the warning."

Lucanis quietly studied his face, before leaning forward in his seat with a sigh. "There could be a chance. I could be concerned for nothing, and you won't need that warning. A small chance, but…it is there. It's been…I don't know how long it's been, since he took a real interest in someone else. My memory's still…rusty. Muddy? Mierde."

Cadfael snorted, which earned him the assassin's rueful smile.

"If it does turn out that way, somehow, then…" He swirled the last dregs of his drink, putting on the gravest tone of voice he could muster. "Break his heart, and I'll kill you, Rook."

This time, Cadfael did laugh aloud.

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

[murderspice]

Day III. Night on the Town | Sweet Talker

mostly the first, but a liiiittle bit of the second prompt here, if you squint. hehe

much love again to @captastra for putting this together (you can find the prompts here!)

here was my plotting note from when I first read these prompts:

"date night but it's just illario's increasingly elaborate attempts to pickpocket cad, who catches him every single time"

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

The first attempt was intended to be a joke. Illario would slip Rook's purse from his belt, palm it, and then present it right back to him with a flourish. Like a party trick. Some marks loved a display of sleight of hand.

Not that this was—well. That remained to be seen.

He went for a simple distraction, painting the picture of what their night would entail with his words while his hands worked in tandem, starting with a light touch to his shoulder, then a teasing brush at the waist, going in for—

Nothing, as he was swiftly slapped away. Cadfael leveled him with a bemused look.

"Hands where I can see them, Dellamorte."

Illario blinked, momentarily startled, before easing a smirk onto his face. "Apologies. I was only going to demonstrate why you should keep close to me as we walk."

That earned him a snort. "You're not going to get anything from me without asking nicely." He gave the Crow a once-over, before motioning to the city below them. "Shall we?"

From then on out, Illario had a challenge to fulfill.

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

As it turned out, there were more merchant stands than just the ones that made it into the Grande Market Square. Illario happily led Cadfael through the streets to browse through each pocket of lesser known craftspeople, stopping at any that captured their attention.

A jeweler with delicate silver work caught Cad's eye immediately with the smallest pendant he had ever seen, in the form of a small bird. Its eyes were inlaid with purple gems.

"That one I'm offering on discount," the jeweler mentioned, their voice raspy but firm. "The amethyst inlays don't quite match each other."

"What a coincidence," Cad held the pendant level with his face, showing Illario how the bird's differently colored eyes resembled his own. "Neither do mine."

Despite the discount, he set the jewelry back on its display hook immediately after. Illario lingered for a moment, but he didn't let Cadfael out of his sight for long. When he caught up to him, the other was looking over an artist's stall in which nearly every surface was covered in artwork of varying mediums.

"Ah, look at these," Illario chimed, pointing to a spread of lithographs on a side table. "Works of art, are they not, Rook?"

Cadfael glanced down at the lithographs curiously. "They are beautifully done…"

"This one," The Crow lifted one of the sample pieces off of the merchant's table, simultaneously pulling Cadfael in closer. "I think is a depiction of Queen Madrigal's assassination, see the four steel swords-"

"Hands."

"Hm?" he tried feigning innocence.

"Off my belt."

Damn it. Illario set the artwork down at the same time as he removed his hand from Cad's waist.

"It was worth a shot."

Cadfael bumped him with his hip. "Better luck next time."

▪──── ⚔ ────▪ Their stroll out of the markets ended with a rather quaint looking restaurant, given what Cadfael had assumed of Illario's taste. It was a charming place with balcony seating on the second floor, and one conveniently reserved table right at the end, designated with a single white rose, trimmed to size in a small glass vase.

Even more convenient, that all the other guests tonight seemed to be seated more favorably on the opposite side to theirs. Cad would have to ask Illario about these coincidences, later...maybe after he ate his weight in the fresh bread set on the table for them.

"The Cacio e Pepe here is to die for, Rook. I daresay it's the best in all of Antiva."

Illario leaned back in his seat, taking in their surroundings like a flower took in sunlight. If Cadfael didn't know any better, he would think that Illario looked comfortable, even though he knew that Crows were almost always anything but in public spaces. If not comfortable, then…in his element, perhaps.

Either way, he was very striking.

"Did you know that there is a restaurant in Antiva City where they roll a hollowed-out wheel of cheese to your table to toss fresh pasta into before serving it to you? I was on a contract once that took me there. It's quite the spectacle, I'll give them that, but that's about all it is." He seemed to catch himself, then, taking his own piece of bread sheepishly. "I could go on, but I doubt you wanted to hear me go on a rant about Antivan cooking."

"Please, be my guest, songbird."

Illario's gaze flicked up and pinned him in place, eyes glittering. "I have a nickname, now?"

Cadfael tried to ignore the heat that rushed to his face as he held eye contact. "You're a Crow, crows are birds, and you like to talk. And, uh, you're fun to listen to. Ergo, songbird."

"Mmm." The assassin slowly broke into a breathtaking smile. "I like it."

Their orders were taken not long after that, Cadfael deferring to Illario's expertise on wine pairing. After they waited, talked, received their drinks, then their food, ate, drank, and talked even more throughout, Illario gently touched Cadfael's boot with his own.

"Allow me to pay for your meal. It's the least I can do."

"Fine," Cadfael chuckled, tapping his foot back. "But you better be using your own coin. I'd like my purse back, before we leave."

The Crow froze. "You knew it was gone."

"Illario." Cadfael stretched the name out playfully, just as the other often did to his. "I was a pickpocket before I was a Mercar. Of course I knew. You waited until you thought I'd feel safe again, walking over here, and then as we reached the table, you pulled me in and turned my attention to the view…"

"That isn't when I took it."

"No, it wasn't," Cadfael continued, tilting his head with a knowing grin. "You waited until you could pull my seat out for me, then lifted it right as I was sitting down, so I wouldn't notice the shift of weight. You've been sitting with it in your lap this whole time."

Illario gave him that beautiful smile again. "You...are very perceptive, Cadfael."

"Does that surprise you?" Cadfael laughed, raising a brow.

Illario rested his chin into his palm, elbow resting on the table between them. His eyes could barely contain the fondness when he answered softly, "It really shouldn't have."

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

While the sun had dropped past the horizon, the city remained as alive as ever on their stroll back to the Cantori Diamond. The market stalls still bustled below them as they took the rooftops, avoiding the crowds that had only grown in size as the night went on. Whenever they had to hop from one building to another, Illario went first just to hold his hand out for Cadfael to catch from the other side. They both knew it wasn't necessary, but they kept doing it anyway.

Even with a couple scenic detours, the journey back was far too short.

"I suppose this is where we part ways for the evening, my dear Rook."

They stood on the Diamond's balcony, partially obscured by one of the several trellises of climbing vines. Cadfael leaned against it, reluctant to leave just yet.

"Treviso is just as beautiful as you said." He took the rose from dinner—which Illario had tucked carefully behind his ear after paying the bill—and stepped in close to place it in the Crow's front shirt pocket, instead. Illario leaned into the touch, one hand landing on Cadfael's waist. "I had a nice time tonight."

"So did I." He reached up to fix the other's hair, where the rose's stem had gotten caught. "Seeing the beauty of it from your eyes made me remember why I love it myself."

Their faces were so close, Cadfael could feel the warmth of the other against his own face. It would take no time at all to close the distance. If Illario did, Cad wasn't all that sure that he would stop him.

He took a breath at the same time that Illario let out a lovely sigh, and let his eyes flutter closed. "Nice try," he murmured, catching Illario's wrist once more, where he had felt it inching ever closer to his belt.

And with that, the spell was broken. The sounds of bustling activity from within the Diamond gently returned to their ears as Illario backed away from Cadfael with a rueful grin, raising his hands in surrender.

"You really are an exceptional one, mia cara."

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

It wasn't until Cadfael was back in the lighthouse that he opened his purse to find a smaller velvet pouch sitting on top of all of his coin. When he opened it and tipped its contents into his hand, he was greeted with a delicate silver pendant, in the shape of a bird, with two mismatched violet eyes.

He couldn't wipe the smile off of his face for the rest of the night.

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

[murderspice]

Day V. Consequences of Actions | Skinny Dipping

oop *poors your little meow meow*

hugs to @captastra for putting this together (you can find the prompts here!)

my other entries: Day I | Day III | Day IV (nsfw)

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

"I take it they decided you would soften me up for questioning."

Illario was in just as sorry a state as he had been when he was first thrown into this room, ironically similar to the one he had held Caterina in only a week prior. He sat on the floor against the wall, blood long dried and bruises yellowing. His hair tie was missing, leaving his unwashed hair to hang despondently in his face, and his stubble had grown to an unkempt degree that made his face itch instinctively. He hadn't been given a change of clothes yet either, if he was to be given any at all.

He had been kind enough to leave Caterina unshackled in her captivity, at the very least. Perhaps a foolish decision, on his part, given how things turned out. That same courtesy was not extended to him now, his right ankle shackled to a very solid chain that had been bolted into the floor, destroying the intricate tile work in the very center of the room to ensure it was properly reinforced. It was better than the manacles he had started in, but it was all undoubtedly just another show.

Another way to demoralize him. As if he needed it. He had already been thoroughly humiliated in front of every single House of the Antivan Crows.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to look up at his guest, for fear of the expression he'd find on that face. Instead, he merely waited for a response, dark eyes stuck on a point out of focus.

"They did," Cadfael's voice smoothly relented, eventually. "I told them to fuck themselves."

Illario huffed, leaning his head back against the wall. "Here for your own interrogation, then?"

Cadfael ignored the question in favor of another. "The very first time we met, you were already working with the Venatori, right? It wasn't enough to strike that first deal and be done with it, that isn't how they work. They kept you close for some time, enough for you to still find them valuable even after it came out Zara lied to you. At least enough for you to have them at your heels in the opera house."

He was picking at wounds that still weren't healed over with clinical precision. Illario wanted to be angry. He wanted to fight again until they both bled, just to feel something other than this bone-deep sorrow.

"Astute as ever, Rook."

Calling him that again was meant to hurt him back, just a little. Cadfael had admitted to him once that the nickname was starting to mean less to him, the more it became synonymous with the hero everyone expected him to be. It became impersonal. Anyone could call him Rook. Everyone did.

Nothing in the sound of his breathing or his voice betrayed if the hit landed. He pressed on as if nothing had been said. He was always good at keeping himself on track, if he wanted the something badly enough.

"Then you had to have known how badly they wanted me dead. For my work in Tevinter. For my part in breaking Lucanis out. For everything else after that."

The assassin tilted his head curiously. "…I knew of this, yes."

"And yet somehow, they never ambushed me. Almost as if nobody ever tipped them off whenever I was here."

Illario lost his ability to breathe for a dreadful moment. It was true, he had kept his knowledge of Cadfael's whereabouts to himself just as closely as he kept his involvement with the Venatori from the rest of the Crows. But to admit to it was to admit to his own terrible weakness.

His whole life he had been told that to love was to expect tragedy. He used to think it was a terribly maudlin sentiment, but maybe there was truth to it after all. He loved his Grandmother so much that he grew to resent her for her cruelty. He loved his cousin so fiercely that he would rather seem him dead and at peace than caught in the crossfire of his ambitions and in turmoil. He didn't have the heart to kill either of them by his own hand, and they both returned with vengeance.

"I want to believe that it meant something to you." The familiar feeling of eyes boring into the side of his face still didn't make Illario turn. "But you're very convincing. Maybe Zara and I both fell for the same act."

He already knew that he had lost Cadfael when he chose his place at Lucanis' side over his. To fan at dead embers would waste both of their time. He forced his throat to work again.

"It was strictly business."

A beat of silence.

"I believe you."

It was the uncharacteristic absence of all emotion from his voice that finally made Illario look up in his direction.

Cadfael, in a halo of moonlight from the windowsill he leaned against with arms crossed, wasn't looking at him, but he could see his eyes all the same. Devoid of their fire, that beautiful, burning passion that had drawn him in the night they met.

Resignation did not suit him like the moonlight did.

"Lucanis will come to visit you again tomorrow." Cadfael pushed off the wall, never once glancing back. "Goodbye, Illario."

Before Illario's panic could catch up with him and make him say something, anything, the door was already closing behind Cadfael's retreating form. The shuffling footsteps from the other side of the wall were unsteady, at first, but they evened out as they grew more distant.

Illario was alone once more.

Truthfully, there was no greater torture that the Crows could subject him to than this: forcing him to sit alone with his heartbreak and acknowledge it for what it was.

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

[murderspice]

Day IV. Childhood Memories | Semi-Public Sex [NSFW]

just a shorty for this one, but it's spicy this time, yippeeee <3

I vaguely picture this being post-canon and at the Dellamorte Estates, and I say it counts as semi-public cause there are so many dang crows who could drop in without warning at any moment JKFDJKLF

hugs to @captastra for putting this together (you can find the prompts here!) my other entries: Day I | Day III

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

Illario heard the soft padding of feet behind him, then felt familiar arms wrap around his bare waist. The corner of his mouth ticked up, his focus still on the melting butter in the hot frying pan in front of him.

"Sleep well, amor?"

"For a time." Cadfael's voice, still rough with sleep, rumbled against Illario's back where he pressed his face. "Bed's cold without you."

It never ceased to amaze Illario how sweet Cadfael was in the mornings, before full wakefulness reached him. Even if he had grown bolder, seeking out Illario's touch on his own in the waking hours more often than when they had first met, he was always softest when nobody else was around. It was a clear show of trust from his fierce spellblade that he didn't take for granted.

He laced his fingers with the hand that crept up to his heart and brought it to his lips, before setting it back in place. "I was going to try and surprise you with breakfast. Thought that you'd be too exhausted to be up this early, after last night."

Memories of the night before warmed him all at once. Hands tangled in his hair, thighs crushing his head between them as he brought Cadfael over the edge again and again, Cadfael praising him, demanding, begging—

He could feel the grin against his skin, a graze of teeth following. The sweetness was waning.

"Such a gentleman."

And then the kisses began. Illario did his best to continue on with cooking, cracking the eggs he had set aside into the pan as Cad traveled down the Crow's flank with lips and teeth, around to his front, further down to the trail of dark hair at his belly. Deft fingers dipped underneath his waistband, a feather-light touch that disappeared quickly, only to be replaced with a ghost of warm breath.

Illario dared to glance down, only to find the other on his knees before him. The sight alone was a dangerous one, sending a jolt of arousal through him.

He knew he was doomed as soon as Cadfael leaned in to mouth at his crotch, finding the outline of his length through his pants with practiced ease.

"Cadfael…" His tone was one of warning, but the heat behind it was playful. Daring. The hum he got in response nearly made his knees buckle.

"I know you're capable of multitasking."

Swiftly and hungrily, Cadfael pulled Illario's trousers down his hips and bit down on the newly exposed skin at the junction of his hip. Hard. A low whine tore itself from his throat when Cadfael wrapped a hand around him, and Illario stared right through the sizzling eggs as he tried to even out his breathing. He narrowly avoided burning his hand on the edge of the pan as he was enveloped entirely, a warm tongue pressing insistently against his underside before pulling back up with delicious friction. The other merely chuckled at him for his struggle, planting a wet kiss to the head of his cock.

"Go on. Don't burn our breakfast, songbird."

▪──── ⚔ ────▪