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library-of-crow · 2 years ago

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The Hate in Your Heart

“First, I was like ‘wham bam,’ then, a little ‘whupssh,’ topped it off with a final ‘ding dong!’” Arly flailed her arms around in various eccentric movements, supposedly recreating her spellcasting from earlier that day. Ildan couldn’t help but chuckle and roll his eyes at his beloved’s behavior from his place on the bed. She wasn’t entirely wrong, Ildan could admit that, but there was something endearing about all the silly ways she recounted their battles with a flair for dramtics and clothed only in her small clothes. Whether it be in the privacy of a shared inn room, as it was now, or around the campfire with the others, Arly had no shame in putting on a show when she discussed their adventures.

“Yes, yes, you did well.” He pushed himself up and crossed the room to stand in front of her. “But what about me? Hm?” His hand found her chin, tilting it back to make her look up at him. There was a fraction of a moment, he was sure she’d kiss him then, but just before their lips met-

“Well you did fantastic! All like ‘shhhing shing!’” He fell forward slightly as she pulled from his grasp and returned to her flailing about. He shut his eyes for a moment, sighing tiredly, before straightening up and busying himself with pulling back his hair. Arly turned back to him, hands planted firmly on her sides and feet spread in an overconfident pose. “Especially when you said ‘go to hell, ugly bastard,’ and stabbed that one creature.” She put on a deeper voice, and mimed the motion of dramatically stabbing a sword before her firm posture fell apart as giggles wracked her body. Ildan couldn’t help but chuckle with her.

“I don’t think I said that. Are you embellishing these tales now?” He moved to sit on the trunk at the foot of the bed, face twisting for a moment as he irritated an old injury. Gods, was he getting old? Arly followed suit, standing in front of him with one of her hands finding his hair and the other finding his shoulder. “Perhaps you should be a bard. My sweet birdie sings such beautiful songs.” He joked, earning a singular ‘ha!’ from Arly, resting his hands gently on her waist.

“You know what, maybe I’ll become one. Maybe I missed my true calling as an entertainer!” Arly raised her hands up, one splayed dramatically across her chest and the other held high as if she was orating a scene. The moment they left his skin, Ildan longed for their return. “I’ll use my skills to spin spiteful words to my enemies and those I hate. I’ll use my power for evil and become the most dastardly-” She was sharply cut off as Ildan tugged her back into his space by the hem of her shirt. Only then did she realize she’d begun drifting away from him again. Arly couldn’t help but giggle, letting herself be pulled backwards into his lap where Ildan wasted no time trapping her in an embrace and peppering kisses to the side of her head.

“I forbid you from becoming a bard, it will take you too far from me.” Ildan proclaimed, burying his nose in the crook of her neck. With her back pressed flush to his bare chest, Arly could feel the beat of his heart. She chuckled at his dramatics. “Besides, you would be a terrible evil bard. You have no hate in your heart for anything.” He added, words slightly muffled by her skin. At this, she abruptly sat up, the sudden motion being enough to free her from his embrace, and looked back at him with narrowed eyes.

“What do you mean I have no hate in my heart?” She adjusted her place in his lap, hands settled on each of his shoulders while his arms held her around the waist. Ildan looked as though he was mulling over the words, trying to come up with a real reply.

“Well, I’ve only ever seen you get upset when someone is mean to you first or does something to one of us. Even so, just last week you said that the ogre we fought ‘might have just been having a bad day.’” He brought up one hand to air quote what he remembered her saying before quickly returning it to her waist. “You wouldn’t even say you hated that one guy that beat the everloving shit out of me. I think you said he ‘wasn’t a nice man’ or something of the sort.” Ildan couldn’t help but laugh as he told the stories. Arly let out a ‘hmph,’ pouting and scrunching her eyebrows. Gods, she hates it when he’s right about things.

“Oh yeah? Well, I hate plenty of things! I’m a total hater.”

“Oh?”

“Aye! I hate all kinds of things!” Arly declared proudly, thumping against her chest with a fist. By this point, she had again moved within his embrace, knees now straddling his lap to allow her to sit straight up and tower over him. Ildan’s hands ventured to rest against her hips, his thumb moving delicately over a small scar she had on her right one.

“Tell me then, sweet little birdie, what do you hate?” Ildan challenged, tilting his head back slightly to look up at her with a mischievous smirk spreading on his face. Arly looked back down at him, a smirk of her own mimicking his. Her hands moved to tangle in his hair, slowly moving her head down towards his forehead.

“I hate ignorant people that genuinely think they know better than me when they clearly do not.” She paused, her forehead resting against his. “I hate muddy puddles that you can’t see until you’re stepping through them.” Her hands tugged at the hairs on the base of his neck, tilting him backwards just enough to hover her own mouth over his.

“I hate the sunlight that pulls you out of our bed in the morning and takes you away from me.”

Ildan hummed a response, a smile resting on his face as he waited expectantly for her lips on his. As he waited, his eyes scanned her face, assessing every detail, connecting every freckle. Arly came exceptionally close but opted for a quick kiss to the side of his mouth instead before hurriedly trying to push out of his lap. Surprised, Ildan fruitlessly tried to catch her, hands desperately clawing to try and grab at her. His efforts were entirely in vain as she giggled and glided across the room. With a groan between light chuckles, Ildan pushed himself up and followed after her. Arly dodged a couple more attempts but her laughter doubled her over and made her easy prey for Ildan to sweep up from behind and drag her kicking, protesting figure over to the bed before easily tossing her into the sheets.

“Fine, then.” He relieved himself of his shirt, tossing it aside carelessly, and rested his knees against the side of the bed. Ildan crossed his arms across his chest, looking down at her with a wicked look. He was met with a cacophony of giggles and snorts. “Let’s change that. Let this be our last job.”

Instantly, Arly’s face began to fall. She let out a couple more chuckles, as if desperate for him to respond with his own but Ildan’s face was still. He was serious.

“Are you having a laugh now?” Her face twisted in confusion as she moved to prop herself up on her elbows. Ildan shook his head before stepping aside to drop down onto the bed next to her. Arly immediately clambered over, resting still on her elbow but leaning to look down at him.

“I’m not.”

“You’re serious?”

“Completely.” A satisfied smile remained on his face as he stared back up at her. Again, he visually traced those freckles that littered her cheeks, seeking to memorize their unique spots. He noted the way the confusion continued to twist at her face, eyes darting around looking for the slightest hint of joking.

“What does that mean, Ildan?” Arly’s voice was low now. There was fear in her tone. She was afraid this was an elaborate joke, and it wasn’t a joke she was going to enjoy the punchline of. Hearing this small crack, Ildan propped himself up and reached one hand out to hold her face.

“Birdie, we’ve been wanting to get married for years. Let’s do it. Get a little house out near your town, settle down, have some kids maybe.” Ildan ran his thumb over the curve of her cheek, watching the fear and confusion slip away with each word he spoke. “Would you like that?”

Arly’s mouth opened and closed, searching for the best way to respond. Her mind pulled at strings, trying to think of some grand profession of love or poetic acceptance of his proposition. None came to mind. A clumsy nod and an awkward hum was all she could find.

“I’m thinking three kids, two boys and a girl- wait, no-” He began pulling her into a closer embrace, placing her head against his chest to free up his arms for the purposes of waving them dramatically around above the two of them. “No, no, two girls, one boy. Feels right.”

Arly was entranced by the way he painted this picture, especially as he continued on explaining the life they could lead together after this job. She offered the occasional hum of approval or simple ‘aye, of course’ when he paused but otherwise didn’t do much but listen with the biggest grin. It wasn’t just that he had finally mentioned settling down, or that he wanted to have children or whatever else. It was the fact that he’d clearly been thinking about these things for a long time. He explained their finances, how he’d set some coin aside over the course of their last few jobs for this moment. He knew the logistics of getting the two of them back to Nenia Fai in the easiest way possible. He swore he’d write a letter to his family after the job was done, attaching enough coin to get them to the wedding.

Ildan rambled on, firing off plan after plan. Arly couldn’t take it anymore. In a flash, she flipped over and grabbed him by either side of his face before immediately crashing her lips onto his. Having been cut off from his long-winded speech, Ildan was surprised for a moment by the motion but quickly smiled against the kiss. They held there for a moment, Ildan’s hands finding her waist yet again and beginning to creep their way up before Arly once again suddenly interrupted him by quickly pulling away. Her hands continued to hold his face, slightly squishing his cheeks into his head.

“You’re one hundred percent serious about this, right? Last job then home?”

“Arly Umbar, how many times are you going to ask me?”

“Can you say it one more time?”

Ildan sighed, the fond smile never once faltering. In return, he grabbed her face and squished her cheeks in the same way she did his. As light caught them, he noticed tears pricking at her eyes. I’ll never make you cry, he once promised, only tears you’d be happy to spill.

“Arly Umbar, my sweet birdie, my most beautiful girl.” Between each name he placed a kiss on a different part of her face. “This will be our last job. Within the month, we’ll be married.” The final, punctuating kiss was pressed gently to her forehead, where he lingered an extra few seconds. His nose brushed her hairline, taking in the sweet smell of pine that always seemed to follow her. Her hands had fallen from his face by now, instead clasping together behind his neck.

As Arly’s eyes gently shut under his touch, a single tear fell down her cheek. For once, the future they’d only mused about in passing was about to come to light. A warmth spread through her chest and down to the tips of her fingers that she could only recognize as the utter bliss he provided her. The moment his lips left her forehead, she longed for the feeling of them against her skin again. His fingers found the bottom of her chin, tilting her head back as he kissed away the tear on her cheek and trailed the rest down her face and neck until he was buried in the crook of her neck yet again. Each kiss was a small fire that burned her skin, a burn she’d give anything to feel again and again.

“I hate that you stopped.” She finally said, her voice surprisingly cracking from how close she’d been to the brink of tears.

“Yes, yes, I’m told you hate a lot of things.”

#arly umbar #the grand ghost #dnd oc #i hurt my own feelings with this one

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