I did not forget about doing my other Watchers in fangmich's template! Adi won the poll, so have my "what if Dagna Dragonage but orlan? :D " gal. (Actual playthrough version, not Stars Rewritten AU, where I wrangled Heodan back to life just for her)
For day 3 of @pillarspromptsweekly Pillars of Eternity Fic Appreciation Week, @queen-scribbles and I did an OC cousin swap with our orlan scholars! :-D She wrote a wonderful Lottie fic and I drew a curious Adi. What, pray tell, is prompting Adela’s look of surprise as she peeks into this darkened room?
Oh yeah, this is also the Illuminate prompt for day 19 of PoEtober, since I am still trying to catch up on our Inktober prompts. :-D
💌for Emiri (not necessarily a romantic love letter, but could be);🚩for Tavi, and 🗺 for whoever you want?
💌 if you could write a love letter to one person, what would you write and to who?
Emiri: "I, um.... I don't know if I could stay to one person. [sheepish laugh] I feel like I need to write down everything Aloth and Edér mean to me and how much I appreciate Sagani's advice and hope my mom was like her before I was... a-and all my friends have meant so much to me and helped make freedom so much sweeter and... [long pause, sigh] I suppose it has to be Kana, doesn't it? Maybe.... Maybe if I'm writing it down I can get the words out. What he means to me. How much I love his enthusiasm and his kind heart and curiosity and just... everything about him, really. How was I supposed to not fall in love with him?"
🚩 what's a red flag for you?
Tavi: "Someone being dismissive of other people's feelings or needs is a pretty fuckin' big one. [cracks knuckles] If you do somethin' you know will hurt kith who don't deserve it, or just don't care if it will, we're gonna have a problem."
🗺 what is your favorite place you've visited?
Kei: "There's this little town, right on the border of Ixamitl, where I stayed for about a week when I first... relocated. The kith were all really nice, the food was amazing, and the views were... well. It was a very healing place for me, and I still think of it fondly."
Adi: "Oh, the whole Deadfire was amazing, it's so hard to pick just one place that was the best; Bekarna's observatory, Neketaka, Kazuwari despite everything wanting to kill us, Poko Kahara... but I think I hafta go with Ukaizo, don't I? Just from everything to learn there, and it was a mystery for so long and everything. Whenever Rekke gets me to Yezuha maybe that'll changee, but yeah. Ukaizo."
*shows up four five years late with the follow up fic to Let It Snow* HOLY COW, it’s finally done! \o/ Cribbing another Christmas song for the title bc I think I’m funny(especially bc the way this plays out is... pretty much the opposite of the song xD)
----
The snow had reached Brighthollow’s first floor windows and was still coming.
“Okay, I like snow, but this is getting ridiculous,” Adela commented, staring out the window. “It’s not as fun once it passes knee-deep. Then it starts being annoying.”
Heodan looked up from his book and smiled, “For growing up somewhere you said doesn’t get a lot of snow, you certainly seem to have strong opinions on it.”
“We don’t get a lot,” she said with a confirming nod. “That’s different from not getting any.” She raised an eyebrow pointedly in his direction.
“Adi, I have no strong opinion on snow,” he pointed out. “Cold in general I’m not overly fond of, but snow I don’t really care one way or the other.”
Adela grinned and crossed to flop on the couch near the fire, noting his chair was even closer to the warmth. “This an Aedyran thing?” she teased, folding her legs under her. “Increased sensitivity to cold?”
It was Heodan’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “We don’t all have fur, Adi.”
Her ears twitched as she laughed. “Touché. And I do know what Aedyr’s like. Aloth’s probably thanking the gods for thick stone walls right about now.”
“And fireplaces,” Heodan added.
“I think we’re all grateful for those.” Adela shifted, pulling her knees into her chest and resting her chin atop them. “No matter how adjusted we might be to the cold.” She smirked at a memory. “Even when you’ve had bad experiences with them a couple times....”
Heodan closed his book and leaned forward. “Do I want to know the story prompting that smile?”
“Oh, it’s nothing bad, and only slightly embarrassing.” She picked at the engraving lines on her necklace. “Ben, my oldest brother, is a baker, and he experiments with other cooking stuff in his free time. He’s really, really good, too. But, y’know, with him liking to cook and spending so much time around fire--ovens and fireplaces both--stuff’s bound to happen.” She bit back a smile at the Uh-oh in Heodan’s eyes. “The week before he got married, he singed off his eyebrows and half the fur on one arm b’cause he dropped a pot and leaned to pick it up without checking how close to the fire it was. He wasn’t hurt, but the kitchen smelled like burned hair for three days and me an’ Sirra teased him about it for months.”
He chuckled. “Poor Ben. What did he do to deserve such a scamp of a sister?”
“Oh, he gets me back,” Adela assured him wryly. “He calls me Cricket when he’s annoyed at me, b’cause I’m always getting cricks in my neck from reading for too long in one position.” She hugged her knees closer and bit her lip. “How ‘bout you? Any mildly embarrassing stories about your brothers?”
Heodan smiled as he pondered, fingers drumming the cover of his book. “A few... Before the family business picked up and started making decent money, Gyran and Lyam had to share a bedroom. One time when they were teenagers, Lyam walked in without knocking and caught Gyran and Lydia in the middle of what turned out to be their first kiss.”
She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, no.”
He shook his head. “I’m not finished. Lyam made some smart comment--none of them ever shared what, exactly, he said--and Gyran spent the next ten minutes chasing him around the house with the express intention of tossing him out a window.”
Adela giggled, looking into the fire. “I think I’m with Gyran; first kisses are awkward enough without an accidental sibling interruption.”
He moved from his chair to the couch and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “That sounds like the voice of experience.”
“With first kiss awkwardness, yes,” she admitted, face hot from more than just the fire. “Thankfully not with sibling interruption making it worse. I would also have thrown them in a pond or out a window. Fortunately, it was under circumstances where interruption was unlikely.”
“Oh?” No sooner had the word left his mouth than Heodan blushed and shook his head. “Sorry, I’m not.... not trying to pry.”
“It’s alright,” Adela laughed. She tucked loose hair back behind her ear. “It was a typical teenager thing” --she waved a hand vaguely in his direction-- “like your brother. Only mine was just a boy from school I’d been sweet on. I found out he was sweet on me, too, when we were working together researching Old Vailia for a history assignment. We needed a lot of old books and such that were in the back part of the library, very musty, a little creepy, where most people didn’t go unless they had to. Toward the end of our research, Xen said he thought I was very smart--and very pretty, and asked if he could kiss me.” She smiled and bit her lip. “After giggling like an absolute idiot for several seconds, I said yes and he did. I was so happy and flustered, I almost forgot my books when I went home.” She sighed, rubbed her elephant pendent. “Unlike Gyran and Lydia, nothing ever came of it, though.”
“Why not?” Heodan sounded almost indignant on her behalf, which made her heart flutter.
“Oh, it wasn’t by his choice,” she said with a rueful smile. “There was a rash of illness that worked its way through our town, and since his father was a priest and his mother was an herbalist, and orlans are responsible for all wrongs that befall folk, clearly it was their fault. They got run out of town. Despite protests from many, orlan and folk, that they were helpers and healers and would never hurt anyone. Prejudice is a powerful influence, and it won out. The illness continued sweeping around for another month and then died out on its own.”
“Well, that’s terrible,” he said, brow furrowed. “Did anyone apologize for the incorrect assumption...?”
“No, they all found ways to justify being suspicious, or pointed out there was no one to apologize to since Xen’s family had left....” Adela chuckled a little at his affronted expression. “Heodan, that’s the way it works for orlans pretty much everywhere. In fact, Necazoa was one of the better places in Ixamitl. Which is better than a lot of other places, like the Dyrwood.” She reached over and squeezed his knee. “Not everyone is as nice and accepting as you.”
That’s part of why I like you, she added to herself.
He made a noise of reluctant concession and gave her a wry smile. “According to you, my being so nice is why I’m here, all the way across the ocean, rather than one of my brothers.”
“I’m still allowed to be glad you’re here, even being pretty sure you got the short straw because you wouldn’t tell your family no,” Adela said with a laugh.
Heodan studied her face for a moment, gleam of firelight dancing in his eyes. “Who says I see it as the short straw?” he asked. “I like it here, Adi. I’m glad I met- all of you, got to have a bit of adventure--”
“Even if more than originally planned?” she cut in wryly.
“Even so.” He flexed the hand of his injured arm and smiled. “My nephews think I’m just about the most interesting person in the world, according to Gyran’s last letter.”
“Oh?” Adela smiled, playing with the tail of her braid.
“You, of course, are the most interesting, since you’re the leader,” Heodan clarified with an answering smile, which made her laugh.
“Well, you can tell them I’m flattered,” she said. She let her legs relax down, feet dangling over the floor, and shivered a little even if the fire was plenty warm. “You write your family about me, huh?” she teased, even as the thought made her insides do a funny little flip.
Was it her imagination or did his face go slightly pink at the needling? The firelight made it hard to tell. “They like to hear what I’m doing. You’ve been there for... everything since Echo Bay,” Heodan teased back. “It would be difficult not to mention you.”
Adela giggled, then winced. “Did they worry about the, um, gap? After Cail?” After you almost died.
He shook his head. “I had written right before we went to Searing Falls. By the time I needed to write again, I’d recovered enough to do so.”
“Did you tell them about--”
“Fighting a drake? Yes. How badly that ended for me? No. I didn’t see a point making them worry from a thousand miles away. Especially since by that point I was on the mend, and-” he reached over to flick her bangs out of her eyes “-I’m fine now.”
She supposed she saw the sense of that. There were few better things than hearing (or reading) ‘by the way, I almost got killed fighting a drake, but I’m alright now’ to give parents an anxiety attack. And she was careful with phrasing in some of her letters home, even without any calls that close herself. “So if you ever go home to visit, or they come here, they get to just be surprised you have an arm that doesn’t fully work anymore and some dashing new scars?”
Heodan arched a brow at her for the last bit of the glib comment. “I’ll worry about that when I need to, Adi,” he said, glancing toward the window. “I think our current worry needs to be sleeping arrangements.”
She hadn’t even realized how dark it was getting. The overcast sky and still-falling snow had thrown her off. “Did you have any thoughts?” she asked, standing on the couch to peer out the window and try to gauge how how late it was.
“If you have a spare quilt or blanket--or both--” he gave a self-deprecating laugh-- “I can sleep right here--”
“No!” Adela cleared her throat. “I mean, yes, there’s plenty of blankets and quilts, in the others rooms if not here, but.” She turned and crossed her arms, eye level with him thanks to standing on the couch. “The bed is more than big enough for two kith, Heodan.” Especially when one’s my size. “We can each wrap in separate blankets if you’re worried about propriety” --Not that I think you’d do anything-- “and this is not a terribly comfortable couch for sleeping on. So unless you truly want to sleep this close to the fire...?” She arched a brow, waiting, and Heodan just shrugged. “We’re both sleeping on the bed.”
He chuckled. “Far be it from me to resist such a passionate argument. You win, Adela. Where are the blankets?”
“There’s some in the closet, but those are mostly the out-of-season ones; the lighter spring duvets or sheets. One of us might do better to raid one of the other bedrooms.”
Heodan pushed to his feet. “Let me go see...”
Adela hopped down from the couch as he walked from the room and banked the fire so it would burn down slowly and keep them warm as long as possible, while still being safe through the night. Then she went to the closet and dug out the satchel of preserved foodstuffs she’d kept for snacking purposes before they relocated to the warmer--sturdier--keep for the winter. When she left it here she figured it would be for days using the room for peace and quiet, not because she got snowed in. But it was still good and that was all that mattered.
Heodan returned with three blankets piled in his arms. “I figured it would be easier to partially remake beds than fold things right to go back in storage.”
“And I’d agree with you on that,” she said with a laugh. “Dinner is gonna be like camping, I’m afraid.” A gesture at the jerky, dried fruit, and nuts from her stash.
“Only much better protected from the elements.” He dropped the blankets on the bed and joined her to eat. “I guess we need to be careful, since we don’t know how long we’ll be in here?”
Adela wrinkled her nose and glanced out the window. “Probably. Though if it gets too dire we can try for the main keep...”
Heodan followed her gaze with a dubious look. “Adi, it’ll be drifted higher than your head by morning. I’d have to carry you.”
“That’s why I said if it gets too dire.” She chewed on a handful of nuts, her heart doing a little flip at the thought of him carrying her. “Long as we’re alright, better to stay put and hope it clears up.”
He nodded and they finished in silence.
Silence that gave Adela time to actually think about what she’d insisted on in a blaze of impassioned indignation. You are not sleeping on the couch. They would both be on the bed. She and Heodan would be sharing the bed. He’d be right there.
Oh, stop it, Adi, she scolded herself. It’s not the first time.
But Gilded Vale had been a lifetime ago; her crush a small and flickering thing rather than a blaze in her chest. Even with them bundled individually in blankets, she wasn’t sure how well she’d sleep with him so close.
She counted her bites, chewing slowly. Not delaying. Lost in thought. How to act normal.
Heodan picked up on something from her behavior. “Adi, if you’re not comfortable sharing, I really w-”
“No! No, it’s fine.” She was hot enough to wonder if her fur was singed. “Just lost in thought. It’s fine.”
“Are you sure?” He rested a hand on her shoulder. “Because you just said it’s fine twice in as many sentences.”
“B’cause it is, I promise.” She stood and brushed crumbs off her dress, giving him a teasing smile. “I’ll even let you have the side closer to the fire; I know how you Aedyrans are about cold. And I have fur.”
He sighed but looked convinced. “If you’re sure.”
They each selected blankets and bundled themselves up in addition to the warm green and white quilt on the bed.
“I apologize in advance if I steal the blankets,” Heodan said with a sheepish chuckle. “Just know it’s unintentional.”
“Noted,” Adela laughed. “And I forgive you in advance. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
They settled in, back to back with a small gap between them, and silence fell as they tried to get to sleep.
“Heodan?” Adela mumbled after a few minutes, only half-awake.
“Mm?” He sounded even more asleep than she was.
“If you finished that s’pply order you were workin’ on, I can just take it to Defiance Bay when I go for the hearings. Y’don’t need to bother a courier.”
There was a long pause, probably him wondering what made her think of--and bring up--the matter now. “We’ll see. It’s not bothering them if it’s their job.” The mattress creaked, as if he turned to look at her, but she was still facing the wall. “B’sides, I don’t think anyone’s going anywhere for a bit.”
“True.”
This time, the silence remained as it settled over them, and it wasn’t long before she heard his breathing deepen in sleep. It didn’t take long for her to follow suit.
---
It was warm when she woke. Warm and dark.
Adela blinked and rubbed her eyes and quickly figured out the dark part was thanks to burrowing almost completely under the blankets. Warm took a moment longer to register--she was curled in a ball against Heodan’s back.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise; she was inclined to seek out heat sources in her sleep. But under the circumstances, it had her bolting upright, blinking herself awake with heart pounding furiously.
“Morning,” Heodan said, voice rife with amusement.
Oh, wonderful, as if this wasn’t embarrassing enough, he was already awake. “Mornin’,” Adela mumbled around a yawn.
“Did you know you talk in your sleep?” he asked as he rolled on his back. He seemed perfectly happy to stay ensconced in the blankets and looking up at her.
“...I have been told that, yes.” She raked her hair out of her face. She’d forgotten to take out her braid last night and it was in shambles right now. “I don’t suppose I said anything useful, like unsnarling that spell composition that’s been giving me and Aloth fits for a week straight, did I?”
Heodan chuckled. “Not that I heard. Mostly gibberish, with what I think were your siblings’ names occasionally thrown in?” He gave her a searching look. “But it was normal gibberish, so... no Watcher dreams?”
It hit her like a thunderclap as soon as he asked. “No.” They’d been getting worse (Edér shaking her awake, joking about buckets of water worse) for a couple months, and they’d left her alone last night. “You must be magic,” she teased, which made him snort a laugh as he sat up.
“Hardly.” Heodan stretched, shaking free of the blankets. “Does that mean you got a good night’s sleep?”
She nodded, undoing her braid to replait. “For once. Sorry that I, uh, got in your space.”
“Oh, I don’t mind,” he said with a reassuring smile. “The extra warmth was nice, once the fire started dying.”
“Oh!” Adela tied off the half-done braid and scrambled over him, out of bed, to stoke the embers back to life.
Heodan had made it out of bed by the time she succeeded, his focus out the window. “Still snowing,” he commented, nodding that direction.
“Wael’s eyes, really?!” She followed his gaze to see yes, really. “We’ll be here a while, then, I suppose.”
“At least we have plenty to do,” he said with a smile. “And you’re good company.”
“See if you still think that when I go stir-crazy,” she deadpanned. Which might be by the end of the day, depending on if I find interesting enough books. “But you are, too. Good company, I mean.”
His smile widened as he retrieved food for breakfast and her heart skipped a beat in response. Good enough she had no idea how--or if--she was going to keep certain things from spilling into the open.
Her brother Ben’s muffins. There’s just something about the way he makes them that no one else in the whole of Eora can match, at least not that she’s found. Particular favorite is raspberry cinnamon.
🍰 CAKE SLICE - favourite cake flavour? are they specific about types of cakes?
Cake is cake and cake is delicious. She’s not picky, but if you made her pick a favorite, she’d probably say orange spice.
🌺 HIBISCUS - do they have any allergies?
Not that I recall! /cough I have so many OCs sometimes I forget though
☀️ SUN - are they a morning person? what is the first thing they do in the morning?
Oh, absolutely. Unless she was reading until the wee hours, then maybe she sleeps in. xD First thing she does in canon is brew tea and grab a book to read, first thing in Stars Rewritten AU is grab the cup of tea Heodan brewed for her(bc he was up first and it will be perfect) and drink it in bed, before she tracks him down for a thank you kiss and THEN comes the reading.
🌱 SEEDLING - what is their most vivid memory from childhood?
Probably when Tia was born, she was elated to get a younger sister and not be the baby of the family any more.
💡 LIGHTBULB - is your oc a planner? do they write down every small detail or just wing it?
She does like to make plans, yes. And for days off they usually are detailed and get followed pretty closely, unless she gets really lost in a book and runs out of time. Her adventuring plans are more broad strokes bc she knows the odds of a detailed plan surviving more than five seconds with a problem are LOW.
❇️ SPARKLE - what is their most prized possession? what do they value?
Either her elephant necklace, which her brother carved for her, or her grimoire, which was a gift from her parents when she left for the Dyrwood. She spent a very long time getting her spells all copied in there just right, it’s survived Eothas(thanks, Edér), a couple shipwrecks, and falling down a cliff into a river(thanks, Rekke) and has a lot of sentimental value aside from the coin-cost of all the spells in it.
💚 GREEN HEART - what things make your oc feel comforted? hugs, kisses, food?
Her favorite spiced/baked pear dessert, a good cup of tea(pref. her beloved apple spice), snuggling in a comfy chair with a good book--boyfriend welcome but not required. Her favorite pink and blue dress. A roaring fire after a long day. Her family, birth or found.
As it is okay to ask you about yourself and your stories, allow me to ask how you are feeling today, and your favourite trope? And also your characters' favourite treat or food!! 👀
Have a great day! 💙
Awwww, thanks! I'm doing pretty good. Both the kids I nanny have a teeny bit of a cold but so far I haven't caught it, despite being the two year old's favorite pillow. 😂
Favorite trope... I don't think I can narrow it down to one, so have three of my faves: Found Family, Friends to Lovers, and any kind of redemption/restoration arc for characters or relationships.
Let's see... some characters' favorite foods....
Jaaide's is gi dumplings
Vesper is plums
Tragen's is this dessert from his home planet that's most comparable to sopapillas
Keme's is anything spicy and the hotter the better
I see those hints you're dropping ;) if no one's beaten me to it already, how about 1 or 19 for Heodi?
I'm sure I don't know what you mean 😇 How 'bout both?
1. Tiny hands in big hands & 19. playing with each other's fingers
---
"So... is that one Tanat?"
Adela smiled and leaned forward, sliding her hand up Heodan's arm until her knuckles rested against his palm, using the contact to shift their hands so his extended finger pointed a couple inches farther west in the glimmering night sky. "That's the high star of Tanat." She'd grown up calling it the Lion; that star was the tip of its tail. "You found one of Tiadra's sisters."
"Ah." There was a smile in his voice as his hand closed around hers, big enough to completely surround it. "I suppose everything's... shifted from where we would remember it being, isn't it?" His chin pressed the top of her head as he brought their joined hands down to rest in her lap.
"Mm-hm." Adela snuggled further back against his chest. "Took me entirely too long to find Jazidha first night in the Dyrwood. The Hound," she added before Heodan could ask the question resting on the tip of his tongue. It'd be so much easier if everyone called them the same thing...
Heodan nodded "It's impressive that you not only know so many, but also what they're called in different places. I'm only... loosely familiar with the constellations," he admitted, curling his free arm around her waist. "And what I know is due to them being a special interest of Gyran's when he was a teenager and him needing someone who'd listen when he wanted to, ah--"
"Ramble?" Adela finished for him. She smiled when she felt him shrug. "You're very good at listening to people ramble about their passions." She'd benefited from that more times than she could count, and it was extremely endearing. She twisted her hand he was still holding and started playing with his fingers; slipping between them, tracing the base of his thumb. "It's very sweet."
His half-snorted chuckle ruffled her hair. "It's not as if I'm without ulterior motives in your case, Adi."
She bit her lip and kept her gaze on the night sky, idly connecting the lines of the Lovers rather than twist around to look at him. "Oh?"
Heodan chuckled, not fooled in the slightest. His fingers played along with hers, tracing soft lines across her knuckles and down her wrist. "I like listening to you talk." A beat. "Especially about the things you love."
Warmth bloomed in her chest and sent a ripple through her fur. "Well, then." Now she did slip her hand free and twist around, balancing carefully as she knelt on his lap. "Prepare to hear a lot about yourself." She ran her fingers through his hair and rested her forehead against his, finishing softly, "Because there are few things I love more."
"Adi..."Heodan breathed, sounding almost like a reproach.
"Heodan," she said playfully. "You can't say something that sweet and expect me to not return the favor, love."
"...Fair." He brushed his knuckles against her cheek. "But weren't we watching for a shooting star before we got distracted, twice over?"
"Oh, right." She'd very nearly forgotten, between constellations and him. Adela stole a quick kiss, just the lightest brush of her lips on his, and turned back to her original position. "We can resume this... distraction later," she said with a mischievous smile as she settled in against his chest once more.
"A good plan," Heodan said, and kissed the top of her head before the familiar weight of his chin came to rest in the same spot and they turned their attention back to the stars.
