Showing up fashionably late to the party 🎉 because it’s what Illario would do! 🕺
It’s a lil Bellario bit I wrote just for this! I literally wrote it on my lunch break 🍽️ . Am I going to use Illario Appreciation Week to further the Bellario agenda? Yes, yes I am.
The cool page break is by @mothergootz :)
Bellario: It’s Going Swimmingly
Illario had a plan.
Midsummer had just arrived, and the hot Antivan sun was baking the city of Treviso like the King himself was waiting on his favorite buns.
Illario had his own favorite buns on his mind. Because Bellara didn’t own a swimsuit, and he wanted that to change.
He had grand plans of an elaborate summer vacation in a small nearby beach town with his beloved elven genius. He had already secured the use of Teia’s personal private beach cottage and a private tour of a nearby island said to house an untouched elven ruin.
He wanted it to be a surprise, because of the way Bellara’s eyes lit up when something surprised her. He fondly remembered last week when a kitten had popped out of a lidded basket at the market and she squealed. He hoped for a similar reaction.
But the town was too small to purchase a suitable swimsuit (Illario had standards to uphold) and Rook had informed him that the Dalish had no need for swimsuits; they simply swam without them. An enticing image to be sure, but not one he wanted to share with the small-town Antivans of Puerto Maia, who probably did not have the good taste to appreciate it.
No, he wanted to put Bellara in something so expensive that any small town racist squinting at her ears would keep their idiotic mouth shut out of fear. Really, it was the least he could do. Would do. Because he certainly wasn’t going to let anyone live if they actually squinted at her beautiful ears.
So then, the plan: Illario was drinking buddies with the current boyfriend of a local clothing designer that was well-known throughout Antiva, and in certain Orlesian circles with adequate fashion sense. This designer, Miguel Ruiz, was hosting a fashion show on behalf of House del Couture, one of the preeminent Antivan Merchant Prince houses known for their cutting-edge designs.
Illario would be taking Bellara to the fashion show this afternoon, hopefully purchasing anything she liked in secret, and taking the carriage to Puerto Maia in the morning. He really hoped she liked something at the show. He might have encouraged Miguel over multiple sessions of brandy to take inspiration from the Veilguard, and the Veil Jumpers specifically. He knew she liked the triangles motif, and he agreed it suited her.
With the groundwork laid, all that was left was for him to flawlessly execute it.
Illario’s heart hammered nervously as he idly pointed out a fashionable swimsuit he saw on their way to the fashion show on the beach. “Do you typically wear a one-piece or a two-piece? Or perhaps you keep one of each, so you can change your mind as often as you please?” He knew she didn't have a swimsuit.
“Oh, I don’t really need one at all. We just swim naked in the forest. You know, no extra money for frivolous things. It’s fine. It’s simple. I don’t know where I would keep one anyway.” She shrugged and sipped the beverage Illario handed her as they moved from the bar near the show entrance, to the seating area along the runway.
Illario’s chest dropped. He should have known his colíbri would be the most unpredictable part of the plan. He should have had Rook plant the idea of a swimsuit in her mind ahead of time. But it was too late now, he’d have to improvise.
He had hoped she would be excited by the idea, but she was dismissing it as logistically difficult instead. Still, he had time. They hadn’t even gone to the show yet.
“Oh, this is really good! What’s in this? It tastes like juice, is it really alcoholic?” Bellara’s face lit up as she sucked the fruity pink beverage through a delicately swirling glass straw, the height of summer luxury in Antiva.
“It is quite alcoholic, be careful in the sun Cariño. I can get you a chilled water whenever you need.” He purred, hoping some alcohol would bring her around to the idea of some frivolity, but not wanting to give her heat stroke before their trip.
“I’m surprised there are some other elves here! I feel like I don’t see too many elves in the market.” Bellara noted, smiling and nodding at an elven woman who returned her smile on her way to meet friends by the bar.
“Ah, you noticed, did you? Of course you would, brilliant bella. Antivans who work in the finer arts, especially the performing arts like fashion, opera, and music, are rather more open-minded than the merchants’ guild, I think. Elves and foreigners are more common amongst the creative classes than in the marketplace. Ah, look here are our seats, the show will start soon.” Illario gestured to two front-row seats.
“But there were no elves at all at the art auction you took me to last month!” Bellara protested, immediately spotting a break in the pattern Illario mentioned.
He nodded at her, always appreciative of her quick mind, “It is unfortunate that the Antivan nobility—all human except for a single elven House—has taken over much of the market for paintings and sculptures in Antiva. The performing arts are viewed as unsuitable for the noble class, and thus are left to the real professionals, which I, for one, am thankful for.” He waved to an acquaintance across the venue and flashed a smile.
She hummed and nodded as she absorbed the new information.
He found himself hoping she liked Antiva. Badly. He wanted her to like it enough to stay.
The unbidden thought raised the hairs on his neck and he found himself taking a rather undignified gulp of his chilled rosé in an attempt to clear his head of the dangerous thoughts.
Luckily, the ushers for the event announced the show would start shortly and the guests still milling about rushed to take their seats. Bellara nodded politely to the woman sat next to her, and then broke into a grin when she removed her large sun hat revealing her delicately pointed ears.
Bellara ooh’d and ahhh’d at the designs, and Illario was surprised that she seemed most enchanted by the Tevinter-inspired swimsuit that was itself enchanted so the pattern twinkled like stars.
She was thrilled when the triangle-covered Veil Jumper designs came down the runway, worn by beautiful tall elves strutting their way through the seated crowd. She was hitting Illario’s arm and pointing at them in her childlike excitement. Illario swallowed a laugh and pulled her arm down from pointing (they were in the front row after all, he didn’t want to distract the models) and kissed her temple, keeping an arm around her shoulders for the rest of the show.
After the show, when he went to get them more drinks, he also discreetly ordered four different designs in her size, the ones he had judged to have the best reactions. He paid for them to be delivered to him at Villa Dellamorte before the end of the night as well, chuckling when they warned him about the extra costs of rushing the deliveries.
When he returned, Bellara and Miguel were having an animated conversation about clothing enchantments while Illario’s drinking buddy Alejandro grinned at them. “Ay! Illario! We found her without you, she’s much too lovely to leave alone!” He teased.
“Surely then you’ve noticed that she’s incredibly sharp and rarely requires any assistance?” Illario countered, causing Alejandro to roll his eyes.
Illario winked at Bellara, “I am more than up to any task she does want assistance with, I assure you, and here you are Cielo, another Antivan sunset.” He handed her another fruity drink.
“You simply must let me borrow her for an afternoon Illario, she has the most interesting ideas for new clothing enchantments!” Miguel cooed.
Illario laughed, and Bellara clapped her hands and grinned “Definitely! I would love to.” She tittered excitedly with Miguel over their ideas for a new collection focused on elven enchantments.
On their way back to the Villa, Bellara and Illario held hands as they walked down the beach. Bellara chattered happily about the new enchantments she wanted to try and the cosmetic enchantments of the ancient elves she studied. Illario readily agreed to try out her idea for enchanted camouflage fabric when it was ready. She really is incredible, he thought to himself, in awe of her ideas, as usual.
Illario’s own grand plan was almost ready. But he hoped to get her a bit more excited about the idea of a swimsuit before he revealed his purchases and the true nature of the trip they were taking in the morning.
“So, do you think you could make room for a swimsuit in your closet now?” He said teasingly.
She bit her lip and sighed. “It’s not that I’m uninterested—” Illario’s heart began constricting as if she was crushing it with her gauntlet, “—it’s just that I genuinely don’t have a closet. I’m working with the Veil Jumpers, and the Shadow Dragons, and occasionally the Mourn Watch, and it just leaves me a bit… between bases. I’m always living out of a backpack.” She heaved a heavy sigh.
Illario rubbed her hand with his thumb. “…and you dislike this? Living from your backpack?” He asked carefully. His heart was galloping like a racehorse now. His carefully laid future plans and elaborately workshopped timeline for their relationship racing through his mind.
“It makes it hard to have ongoing projects! A swimsuit would be fun but I really miss tinkering on the same project—”
Illario nodded, interrupting her in his own excitement, “You need a workshop.”
“Yes!” Bellara exclaimed. “Maybe I should start using my old room in the lighthouse.” She added thoughtfully.
Illario’s stomach flipped like a fish in a net. It was time to take a bold leap, he decided. He saw an opportunity here to move his true plans forward. He took a deep breath.
“What if it was here?”
Bellara stopped walking and looked at him curiously as the Antivan sun sunk into the waves beside them.
“Here?” She said quietly, her big brown eyes growing wide with surprise. “In Antiva?” She asked.
He turned to face her and held both of her hands.
“Here, with me.” He said just as quietly as her, his eyebrows knitting together in what he feared was a desperate expression, but he felt powerless to contain it despite all his training.
“You could have a closet. With anything you want. Enchanted, or otherwise. I would build you a workshop at the Villa. I would—” he swallowed. It was time to abandon the plan. It was time for honesty. “I would build you anything you wanted Bellara, if I could stay near you.”
He reached up to hold her face in one hand and she leaned into his touch and smiled. “I think I would like that.” She said, smiling against his hand.
He pulled her into a firm hug and sighed in relief.
“That nervous, huh?” She teased him immediately.
He didn’t respond, he just held her close.
“We just need to survive this mission first.” She spoke into his broad chest.
Illario smiled, “Yes, of course, we leave in the morning. I suppose we should rest tonight.”
Bellara nuzzled into his chest and inhaled his cologne deeply, “Could I stay near you tonight too?” She asked hopefully.
He laughed happily, “Please do.”
He had forgotten the swimsuits entirely by the time they arrived.
