#rook: silas mercar

[watchers-oaths]

2 or 13 for the Rook story time asks!

This has been sitting in my inbox for over a week whlie I've been dealing with some real life stuff (first week of the semester has already been kicking my ass lmao), but I've been so so excited to write it now that I'm back on Tumblr! I've had the idea of Silas showing Emmrich his apartment for some time, and so I absolutely jumped on prompt 13! I've also really needed to practice writing setting, so this was IMMENSELY helpful– so much so that it absolutely ran away from me, and got wayyy too long lmao

For context, since I haven't directly posted about him before, the Rook in question here is Silas Mercar, a Shadow Dragon mage!

___

To call Silas's home in Minrathous an apartment is generous– It's one room, divided by nothing more than a small counter and the mental categories he's given his furniture. It's clear that Tarquin has been keeping it clean the few times he's borrowed it while he was gone; the general clutter of the place has been reduced to its usual, artful level of maximalist mess.

If anything, it's almost cozier than he remembers. His kitchen is barebones, nothing more than an oven, an icebox, and a small counter as soon as they step through the door. Rugs he'd... borrowed from the Shadow Dragons' outposts over the years soften the hardened edges of the room beyond it, cushioning the floor underneath a plush armchair and small coffee table that have both absolutely seen better days. Books (that he'd mentioned to Emmrich in passing a few times; his own smaller liberated collection) are crammed into a handmade shelf at the armchair's side that reaches up to the ceiling and overflows out onto the table and the floor.

A too-small staircase against the other wall leads up to the loft, big enough to hold only his mattress that's often piled high with most of the blankets and pillows that would usually go in his closet; Whether Tarquin left the bed that way or not is yet to be seen, but Silas secretly hopes he did. That bed is damn comfortable when it's cushioned well enough, and he'd like to curl up in there with Emmrich after the ordeal they've gone through.

Tapestries he'd put up over the windows filter the light to a softer purple hue over the room, coloring the various decorations and knick-knacks that line the walls. His own embroidered pieces are most present, hung around the room depicting the various stray cats and more eye-catching plants scattered around Minrathous.

The floorboards creak in the same way they always have as he tugs off his boots in favor of the now threadbare slippers kept by the door, resolutely refusing to look back to gauge any sort of reaction from the older necromancer behind him. Bringing Emmrich to his apartment had been something Silas swore he would never do; the man is so refined, so proper, that the image of him in the apartment that saw so much of the elf's formative years felt wrong– even if he knows, logically, that Emmrich had most likely lived in the same type of home as a boy. Still, he's held that deep seated fear that it would taint his view of Silas somehow, to see anything more than the man standing in front of him.

It's a part of him, though– Like the Shadows, like his scars, like the way he takes over the Lighthouse's kitchen at 3 in the morning when he's too restless to sleep, and he can't keep it locked away anymore.

"Well, this is it." For all that he's just done, for all the weight that the world has just laid on his shoulders, Silas feels... Seen, in this moment, and he can't exactly discern how it makes him feel. The comfort of being home seeps into his pores, attempting to relax him despite the nerves exacerbating the pounding of his heart. "It's not much, as long as you're not too claustrophobic, and it'll get the job done. Nothing compared to your apartments in the Necropolis, but–"

"Darling," Emmrich cuts him off, and Silas finally faces his fears as he turns around. The older man's hand comes up to stroke his cheek– his smile is soft, fond, and he seems about as relaxed as Silas has ever seen him. "This is wonderful."

[percythejedi]

Do you guys like my rook? His name is Silas Mercar ☺️