Nerissa Silversun wasn't really one to meddle in her siblings affairs. She didn't much mind what they got up to in their private lives. Mostly because she didn't want them putting their noses in her private life. The only time she'd gotten involved really was after Ari lost his arm. The man didn't talk about what happened much, but she saw what it did to her big brother. Her and Merrick had tried to be as understanding as they could. But there were just some things they couldn't understand because they weren't in his shoes, his mind. Had she been shocked when he turned to drugs to dull the pain? No, she'd seen many people do the same when it came to any sort of pain. So when it was clear she was unable to help him, and that there was no way of stopping him? Well the best she could do was at least make sure the drugs weren't laced with anything else.
She, unlike her brothers, went into the shadier business's, pulled in by a friend who needed the help. So she knew a great deal of the dealers in Silvermoon and threatened the ones that liked to lace their shit with more that if they so much as looked at him they'd find their throats slit. After that she'd left him to his own devices. The only person who could help Ari was Ari. At least that was what she had thought, as much as it pained her to watch him go down such a destructive path. But then she started getting reports about him being back in the city. She'd been off on a job, and even Merrick had sent her a letter telling her. She had finished her job in a rush, not her style but all the same it had gotten done. The Night Hag struck again.
When she first spotted her brother he had been in the exchange, he was far enough away that he'd not spotted her, and Nerissa was good at blending herself in anyway. His hair was red and there was the smallest woman known to man standing next to him. He looked happy, he looked almost like the brother she'd had before he lost his limb, before Theryn had left him, before all of the heartache. He looked down at the woman with a smile she'd only seen a handful of times when he'd been with Theryn. So she decided to ask around about the woman before she decided to approach her brothers. Which was why she was here right now, outside of the Spire flipping a coin in her hand.
From every report she'd gotten the girl, and yes that was exactly what she was to her because she'd barely frozen into her slowed aging process, was a walking tragedy. She'd barely gotten to know what their people had been like before the fall and her whole life after was full of conflict after conflict. She was nearly as war worn as any long standing veteran which was probably why most people didn't blink an eye at her. Nerissa would be shocked if anyone actually ever asked the girl her age. But it wasn't uncommon in their culture for there to be such large age differences. When you lived for hundreds of years age became a moot point. She wanted to meet the girl, make her own assumptions make sure that she was worthy of her brother. After all Theryn had turned out to not be. Taking in a deep breath she pushed from the wall and shoved her hands in her pockets.
She strolled into the Spire only a few people glanced her way, but mostly she was ignored. Not uncommon, she was sure people like her came and went from here often. Then she spotted her, the short redheaded woman that had captured her brother's attention. She sat at a desk head down reading over something as she tapped her fingers along the desk. She was pretty she had to hand it to her brother, he had good taste. She wondered what she was working on for her to be so intent on. She got her answer quickly when another woman came rushing over seeming nearly giddy.
"Esme! I found what we were looking for!" Her head popped up and Light the smile she graced the other woman with was pure fucking sunshine. She made grabby hands for the book the other woman had and they both looked over it head mashed together. Eyes scanning quickly and she nearly squealed with delight at whatever it was she saw. "Oh Alania! This is perfect! We can get him the divorce he wants now." Nerissa was shocked at what she heard. The girl was looking for ways to help her brother divorce his husband? She'd looked for him for a few years after he'd left her brother but she'd been unable to find him herself. "I told you that after so many years of not seeing a spouse it becomes abandonment. The magistery allows divorce without needing the other's signature. You don't even have to put it out in the papers or anything at this point. He's even two years past so he is for sure going to be able to get this divorce of his."
"It is still going to take awhile though, but its a start." Esme sighed but bookmarked the page and snapped the book shut. The woman named Alania shook her head with a shit eating grin on her face. "Nope! You're studying under a Magister you can get them to push it through a little faster." Nerissa grinned at the loop hole. She'd heard enough, the girl was willing to help her brother detach from his dead weight and in her book that meant she was good enough.
"A divorce, moving in together, and then I just need to tell him that I don't think the Light left him and I think… I think he will stop being so lost."
"And get him off of the thistle."
"I don't mind him using thistle, that isn't as important as this other stuff."
"I thought you were fixing him."
"I'm not fixing anything. He isn't broken, just… lost. We all get that way sometimes and we just have to find the light in the dark is all."
Nerissa didn't linger after that, she made her way out of the Spire. Her own heart felt light and she was nothing but smiles. Yeah, the girl was worthy of her big brother. She wasn't sure there was anyone more worthy of him than that woman in there. She looked up at the sun and smiled even wider. He'd found his light in the dark it seemed.
@daily-writing-challenge
(Mentions @silversunss because it always does lol)
For all intents and purposes, the bench that sat directly in front of the gates of Silvermoon belonged to Ari. It's where he smoked, where he held lighthearted and serious conversations alike. He laughed on that bench, cried on that bench — hell, kissed on that bench. It was seemingly a constant in his life that he wasn't privy to giving up easily. So, that's where the day found him unsurprisingly.
What was surprising was that he found himself waiting for the sun to go down. Most days, he found himself far too busy to sit around as he once had done. Whether it was practicing his routine for the upcoming Faire, or strength training his left hand, or wrangling two growing cubs that loved to wrestle, Ari found himself hard-pressed more often than not. Not that he was complaining. He loved his life as it was.
That day, though, Merrick was busy at the Hall of Blood, too involved with his own business to train. The Faire wouldn't be around for another few weeks, and the cubs were dropped off for a day of big-cat socialization, so that left quite little for Ari to do. Free time? Hell yeah. He found the bench early enough in the day so that it was already warmed through by the sunlight when he dropped down onto it and flipped open his copy of A Simpleton's Guide to Arcane.
Did the title still embarrass him? Yes. Yes it did.
Still, he pored over the pages and unfamiliar words as he waited for Esme to return from the Spire. It would be hours, he knew, but in the meantime, some light reading couldn't hurt, right? Soundlessly, his lips parted as his thumb traced each line, brows furrowed in concentration. It made such little sense to him that he expected to grow too frustrated to continue by page ten. Then came page twenty. Then, fifty. Then eighty-four. His mind wandered every few pages, sure, but strangely that's what kept him going — it wandered to her.
The way her face lit up when even a trace of magic was mentioned, how she could go on and on about the fundamentals and never tire, how topics of illicit magical practices and spell-hunting brought the prettiest spark to her eyes. He may have never hoped to grasp even a quarter of what that damn book had to offer, but if understanding even a bit meant understanding her? He'd read five 'simpleton' books if that's what it took.
By the time he managed to cross a hundred pages, the sun was beginning to dip behind the trees and bathed everything in gold. Evening meant that Esme would find him soon, and he imagined her laughing softly when she saw him waiting for her in his usual spot, giving him that soft smile of hers. He'd hide the book, of course, and he'd tug her into his lap like nothing else mattered.
Maybe one day, he'd tell her. Maybe once he finished, he'd ask her to read it to him from the start. And maybe that was foolish, but Ari'd never been the kind of man to care about looking foolish — especially not when it came to Esme.
She read the same line for what felt like the fourth time, giving a frustrated sigh she shut the book and flopped down on the couch. Why was her mind so pre-occupied? Well she knew, it was the damn kiss she had shared with Ari. It had been two days since that night on the beach and she had become a totally different woman there. The things she did, granted it was only kissing but seriously, making out with two people in front of each other was so not how she operated. EVER. While the kiss with the other man had been wonderful it was the kiss with Ari that lingered in her mind. She would be lying to herself if she said she hadn't always been a teeny bit curious about him.
Ever since that first day she met him, and then when he made her that friendship bracelet, which she never took off. Looking at it she smiled turning it around on her wrist a bit. He had been a force that came barreling into her life and just… lit it up. Once she met him it was like a world that had been gray suddenly came to life with color. Life had been crazy with him in it ever since but she wouldn't trade a moment of it ever. Because she loved every second of it, even the bad parts. Even when she nearly lost him that night in the Row. Shaking her head to banish that night from her mind she closed her eyes and for the thousandth time she replayed the kiss.
The way his lips felt against hers, the way he'd held her against him. Buried his hand in her hair and how he had kissed her breathless. Her stomach flipped at the memory of it, but she shook her head. They had said no weird shit. That the kiss wasn't going to change how their friendship was. So she couldn't let this kiss change anything, or the fact that she had felt what it had done to him. She had assumed that he was… well that didn't matter anymore because he had kissed her and she wondered if she could get him to kiss her again. Wait… friends didn't want to kiss their friends again did they? No, no they didn't No weird shit. That is very much in the territory of weird shit.
Rolling off the couch she moved to the small kitchenette and began to make herself some tea. Shaking her head she sighed. Why couldn't she get him off her mind? Well, if she were fully honest with herself she hadn't stopped thinking about him since the day she met him. Which made her frown more. Surly it was perfectly normal to think about someone constantly. She definitely did not have a crush on her possible best friend. Nope! Not at all!
Ari turned from the mirror suddenly to find his mother standing tall and graceful in the doorway. The warmth of her smile melted into her voice, a hint of fond amusement in her tone. Even just the mere sight of the woman was enough to somewhat calm his nerves. "Mhm. It's winning," he admitted with a sheepish huff of aggravation.
"Quit fooling with it. You'll have it unraveled to threads before you've even made it to the altar." With a quiet laugh, she stepped closer, her hands finding his shoulders as their gazes met in the mirror. "You look perfect."
In truth, Ari really couldn't remember the last time he'd looked so sharp. Cream and gold were their wedding colors of choice and that showed plainly in his attire. The cut of his embroidered coat was neat, tailored to fit him perfectly. Golden twine was threaded through his hair, woven into the braids that were dispersed through the blond tresses. Ari rarely sported a clean shave once he began training, but his wedding day was the exception it would seem. He felt… handsome. Nervous, yes, but handsome.
“Do you remember when I used to braid your hair before every festival? Ones just like these? You, Merrick and Nerissa,” his mother said softly, almost to herself. “You’d sit on the floor at my feet and pout, but you’d always ask me to do it again the very next year. You never did like change."
"Still don't."
Reaching up, his mother pursed her lips and raked her fingers through his hair, ensuring that each braid laid as it should. "Yet here you are." A thoughtful hum left her as she worked. "Marriage, giving your heart away so entirely… It's all quite the big change, Arileth."
His gaze found his own reflection, unable to reliably look upon the way his mother's eyes shone. "I suppose it's just that… change doesn't feel so terrifying when I know he'll be there waiting for me."
"That's how it should be," she supplied before long, sniffling quietly and ducking her head to swipe away any stray tears that happened to spill. "That's how you know you've found who you are meant to have." Again, her lips pursed as she circled her son and smoothed the lapels of his fine wool coat. It seemed to take everything in her to stop her face from crumpling with emotion. "Theryn's a lucky man."
"No." Suddenly, Ari was fighting tears — precisely the reason he'd wanted to avoid his mother entirely. He shook his head. "He makes me feel lucky. Almost like… every moment in my life has led me to this. To him. Is that foolish?"
This time, Ari's mother shook her head. She laughed softly as she reached up to brush a thumb beneath his eye, catching the tear he hadn’t realized had spilled over. "Of course it isn't foolish," she murmured in that soft, sweet voice of hers. "That's love, my son."
***
When Ari awoke, it was to thick rays of early morning sun that cut through the shears of the bedroom window like honey. Normally, he slept through the night and into the day, so that? That was out of the ordinary. Perhaps his body was growing too used to the pills, and perhaps he'd have to—
He was drawn from his thoughts by four big paws pouncing onto his chest. As Penguin tried to grow comfortable atop him, he groaned, half-burying his face into the pillow, but the weight of a leg slung over his own and the soft rhythm of breathing made him still. A glance to the side was all it took. His breath caught in his chest.
Esme.
It was the first time he'd ever caught her sleeping. A strange thought to have about ones best friend, maybe, but he couldn't help but to wonder if perhaps she spent an early morning or two like this — combing his hair lightly so as not to wake him, watching the rise and fall of his chest, studying his every feature.
That's precisely what he did as Penguin mashed herself into his chest. His touch was feather-light as his fingertips explored the line of her shoulder, as they danced along her clavicle and down her other arm. He traced the pattern of her focus until he was certain he could replicate it blind. Only when she shifted toward him did he pause. Her hair had fallen across her face, strands that glowed in the soft sunlight. He brushed them aside, the tresses catching lightly against his fingers. There were clusters of freckles he’d never noticed before as his finger lightly swept down the slope of her nose, and he found himself smiling without realizing it.
Briefly, he thought himself lucky, but the word somehow felt too small for what he meant. Lucky to wake here. Lucky to have her. Lucky to be able to feel this way at all anymore, yes, but… still, that somehow seemed too simple.
He leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to her shoulder, then another just beneath her ear. She stirred, her breath hitching before evening out again, her hand twitching unconsciously toward his. He let her find him, their fingers brushing then threading together beneath the sheets.
If she awoke and caught him staring, he'd give her that sheepish smile of his and distract her with a kiss or two. But as it stood, he simply remained quiet and relished in each soft breath, each twitch of her brows and each shift of her expression. Perhaps there really was some merit to his mother's words. Perhaps every moment in life really did lead him to where he needed to be, or perhaps it was fate, but one thing was for certain: lying in the most beautiful woman’s bed with a lynx on his chest, Ari damn near felt like the luckiest man on Azeroth.
"I just want you, Esme." The words are said in such a way that it makes her heart clench in a painful way. There they are on that cliff near the sea, in the early twilight of the evening. Her chin being held between his fingers and his lips are so close to hers she can feel his warm breath against them. But then everything changes, the sky turns black and he steps back from her. "Ari?" She asks in a soft voice. He turns without saying a word and walks away from her. She goes to follow but something keeps her rooted to the spot, she screams his name but he doesn't hear because nothing comes out. The world begins to darken and she tries to go after him but he fades away. She is finally released and she runs into the dark…
Green eyes pop open as she sucks in a breath. It takes her a few moments of blinking to realize where she is. Home in bed, and there is a heavy weight over her waist. She looks to see Ari sound asleep next to her, prosthetic slung over her. A soft sigh slips out of her as she realizes it was just a bad dream. He's still here with her. Slowly she shifts herself to her side facing him, careful to not wake him. He stirs slightly but only to pull her more into him it seems. She goes easily not yet ready to leave the warmth of the bed and him. Laying there she studies his face as he sleeps, it's probably weird watching someone sleep. But she loves him and maybe that's what people in love do. Reaching up she brushes some of his green hair from his face. It's about time for him to dye it again she thinks to herself.
Penguin shifts, a sleepy eye opening to peer at her. Putting her finger to her lips, as if the lynx cub can understand what it means. A little stretch and the cub settles again and she just smiles. How had her life gone from having no one in it, to being so damn full? To think just a few months ago she was utterly alone in the world. Now she has friends, a cat and a boyfriend. A soft little sigh comes out of her when she thinks of him like that. A boyfriend. Granted he is still married, details, it won't matter once she can help get the papers pushed through. Finding out that there were perks to her working in the Magistery was nice. Not to mention they would soon be moving out of her tiny apartment in The Row to a guest home. If Aeryndor could see her now she wondered if he would be happy for her.
Well, he may hate that his little sister had a naked man in her bed. But she thinks he would be happy for her because she was happy. How odd it felt to be happy, but at the same time there was an odd guilt threaded through it. As if she shouldn't be happy because Aeryn wasn't here and couldn't be. She knew this was silly of course, but often times feelings made no sense. Another soft sigh came from her as she very lightly traced the wings on his back. How she could love someone as much as she loved Ari was beyond her. It was crazy to think about how they met and that they were now here. How lucky was she to find this man? Even if it was him laying in the grass talking about it talking to him and her saying she didn't lay in the grass with strange men. A soft snort came out, she supposed she laid in bed with strange men.
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