(( Co-written with Vandrir’s player <3 Tagging @darkestfable and @brent-sunborn / @thefugitivemango for character mention.))
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Raetos stretched out once he set hoof down on the stone platform. The gryphon ride from Darkshire to Stormwind had gone smoothly and uneventfully, but these weeks of work had left him tired and sore; nothing a good bath and some time spent with his mate wouldn’t fix. That, and some much needed sleep as well. He hadn’t told Fable about the early leave he’d gotten. Things in Duskwood had settled down in the past week, enough so that he was able to take a bit of time off. Of course, the Lightforged had decided that the best way to announce the good news to his lover was by surprising him!
He wondered how Fable would react to the surprise. The Blood Hunter was probably hard at work, updating some old map at this time of the day. Surely, he wouldn’t mind being led away for an evening. Raetos tail swayed happily behind him as he made his way down the stone streets and into the forest, his heart pounding as he went up the trail and their nice little cabin came into view. Everything appeared how he’d left it, at least from the outside. It had only been a few weeks, but it felt like much much longer. Light, it felt so good to be home!
As he approached the door, he’d already started unstrapping his armor. It wouldn’t be staying on much longer, that much was for certain!
“Babe, I’m home!” he called as he walked in.
Vandrir’s ear perked up at the sudden voice, then eyes darting back down as the green feathered fluff darted out of his arms toward the sound of hooves. He pushed his hair back behind one relatively short ear as he got to his feet with a slight frown.
“I will venture a guess that you are Raetos then…” His voice was calm but not unfriendly. He stood in the doorway glancing down at the excited ground parrot as the little creature told his other daddy aaaalll about it while making circles around the Draenei.
“--Uhhh…. Yeah?”
Raetos’ head tilted to the side in confusion as a complete stranger greeted him… but not as enthusiastically as Obligation. The flightless bird looked well and happy, not at all frazzled by this new person, which brought the Draenei to conclude that this must be a friend of his partner’s.
He shook off the confusion and knelt down, allowing his small pal to climb up his arm and onto his shoulder as he looked around for any sign of his lover. Finding none, he eyed the other man. Reatos was terrible at telling the different elves apart, but he was guessing this one was a Night Elf from the size of him..
“Sorry uh… we haven’t met yet, right? Who are you?”
“Ah, no, we have not. I am Vandrir, and your um... companion asked me to look after the two little ones while he was away.” Concern flashed briefly across his face before he resumed his calm facade.
Reaching a hand down to touch the sleepy head of the tiny doe who had joined them at the sound of voices he continued, “He said that there was a small job, a dig, in Feralas and that he would be gone only a few days...three weeks ago.”
The Draenei visibly relaxed as the stranger finally identified himself. He didn’t want to assume, but finding another man in his house had been… more than a little alarming.
--but not as alarming as the news that came next.
“Wait what…? Three weeks?!”
It wasn’t unusual for Fable to go off on a dig, or to lose track of time. Raetos was actually happy that he’d found something to occupy his time with… but to be away for that long without a word to anyone. Raetos tried not to worry, but three weeks to complete a dig that should only take a few days was… rather extensive.
“Bah… I’m sure he’s fine,” he said, though it was hard to tell who he was trying to convince, Vendrir or himself. Worry was evident in his tone, “I mean… he’s always getting distracted by his work, so like… Maybe he found something else at the dig site that led him elsewhere?
He didn’t really wait for an answer, already making his way over to the Blood Hunter’s work area and looking over maps and journals he’d been studying before leaving.
“Still uh… probably best I go check up on him. Feralas, you said?”
Vandrir gave an unseen nod as he drifted after the other, the sound of tiny doe hooves and birdy feet the only steps that made a walking sound.
“Yes, Feralas. He did not mention exactly where or what sort of items he was searching for.” The night elf gave a heavy sigh, “I suppose you would like me to continue to watch the two little ones then?”
He gave the doe a little push to send her off to play as he hurried on, “Not that I mind of course. It is just that I hadn’t expected to be in someone’s home for this long. Maybe your boyfriend just got lost or something?”
“Fable doesn’t get lost,” Raetos mumbled as he continued to scan through the notes, his finger traced the area mentioned in the notes. Tearing a blank page out, he began to scribble down coordinates and markers to look out for.
He glanced up at the Kal’dorei, however, an apologetic look on his features.
“--Ah… yeah. I need someone to watch these two while I go find him. You have a place of your own you wanna take them, where you’d be more comfortable? Maybe your place? You have a place, right? I mean, you can stay here, it doesn’t bother me. Whatever’s easier for you, I mean…--Oh shit! What happened to you? Did Obligation set something on fire?!”
That last part was added as he finally took notice of the terrible burn scars on Vandrir. In his panic over Fable, he hadn’t noticed the wounds that took up at least half of the Night Elf’s face… and probably more.
Vandrir took several seconds to just blink slowly at Raetos as the draenei seemed to be getting his ramble into full gear. A frown twisted as the verbal brakes were slammed and he reached up to push his hair back again, the eye on the side with the burns clearly dimmer than the other. His voice was almost harsh as he blurted out his reply, the words somewhat clipped, “No, he...he’s been a pretty good bird, a little unhappy that I won’t let him jump off the roof. I’ll just stay here if you don’t mind, Responsibility and Obligation will do better in a familiar setting I think, not to mention I can keep an eye out for the two foxes.”
The frown didn’t leave his face but his tone did soften, although it was clearly with effort, “This happened when the tree burned. Some things just don’t heal well I suppose.”
“Oh shit, you’re -that- kind of elf!” Raetos winced as he realized his verbal misstep, “Man, I can never remember which elves live where. Sorry about your tree. It looked really nice… from far away, anyway. I never really got to visit and see it for myself before… you know… Whoosh!”
He used his hands to motion the ignition of a fire, as though the visual was needed. There was a rather awkward silence for a moment, before he cleared his throat.
“Yes...I’m that kind of elf. Uh glad you liked how it looked from afar?” He gave one sharp shake of his head, like an animal tossing off a fly buzzing near their face, even letting out a soft huff at the same time.
“Yeah… uh. You can totally stay here. Our home is your home… until we come back. But hey, if there’s anything you need after all this, you let us know, okay? We owe you for taking care of the animals.”
As he said that, Obligation attempted to fly off the desk, promptly falling to the ground.
“Especially him.”
“Do what you need to do. I only met Fable once briefly, but he...made an impression, a good one. I look forward to your return. We’ll laugh about how he got stuck in a cave or something.” He gave a ghost of a smile, “Don’t worry about paying me back or anything, I’m happy to help out people that I would like to think could be friends.”
“Dude, trust me, you’re already a good friend doing this for us,” the Draenei went about packing up a larger backpack. He hoped to be able to fly in close to the dig site with a gryphon, but he didn’t know for certain. He’d only been there once before, and Fable had been the one leading. Raetos had mostly just been admiring the scenery and taking in all the tidbits of information he was being fed. He made certain to bring enough for a good hike, if required. And of course, he couldn’t forget the first aid supplies, just in case.
“We’ll all have a good drink and laugh together soon enough. You’re right though… getting caught in a cave makes sense… I’m sure he’s fine… Yeah… he’s fine.”
Again, it was hard to tell who he was trying to convince. Worry was clear on his features as he kneeled down to welcome the feathery ball of energy into his arms, giving Obligation a final cuddle before handing him back to Vandrir.
“Thanks again. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
Vandrir got a gentle but firm grip on the feathery terror, knowing the parrot was likely going to try something any moment, “You are welcome. I’ll take care of things here, just stay safe yourself.”
His voice was calm again, confident and somehow soothing. The kind of tone that said everything would be fine. “I’ll keep the kids out of too much trouble.”
Raetos would have naturally gone in for a hug. Light knew he needed one… but his interactions with Brent had left him weary about embracing strangers. And while he trusted Vandrir, he didn’t know the man’s boundaries yet. He swallowed hard, and with a final nod, turned and left, closing the door behind him.
There, he paused, his tail flickering behind him, the backpack feeling horribly heavy. He wanted to get to Feralas fast, but at the same time, he was afraid. It had been a long time since Raetos had felt like this, and there was a sense of dread that he couldn’t quite shake off. He had no idea what he would find at that digsite. And while he hoped for the best, something told him to prepare for the worse…
With a heavy sigh, he set the first hoof forward on his venture towards finding his mate.
