In which Avid "shows" how to smoke from a pipe to Abolish (Hey, Pyro is also here, watching)
Inspired by this lovely, lovely work of Sabi (@thisiswasabis)
TW/ (just in case) Smoking
The cabin smelled like herbs, burnt sugar, and alcohol strong enough to strip paint from wood. Avid had been hunched over the workbench for hours. Glass tubes cluttered every surface, some bubbling softly over low flame, others filled with liquids in shades no normal drink should ever possess. Notes covered half the table in cramped handwriting, ratios, temperatures, ingredient substitutions scratched out so aggressively the paper had nearly torn through.
Renhardt wanted something new for the bar. Something refined. Something expensive enough that nobles would brag about drinking it. And Avid, stupidly, had agreed. Now the numbers refused to cooperate.
Too bitter.
Too weak.
Too much burn at the finish.
He rubbed both hands over his face with a groan, fingers dragging down slowly before tangling into his hair hard enough to pull at the roots.
“Fuck’s sake…”
The flask on the table hissed. Avid glared at it as it had personally insulted him. Maybe he needed more juniper. Less oak infusion. Or maybe the entire damned thing should be poured into the river.
His head pounded. The old tightness sat heavy behind his ribs again, that restless, crawling pressure that always came when he thought too much, remembered too much, felt too much.
Elle’s face flashed in his head before he could stop it. Blood on her mouth. Her hands around his wrists. The stake driving through her chest.
Avid inhaled sharply and stood so abruptly the stool screeched across the floor. “Nope,” he muttered to himself. “Not dealing with that tonight.”
He shoved away from the workbench and headed outside through the back door of the cabin. Cold night air hit his face immediately. The woods stretched dark and quiet behind the cabin, grass swaying softly under moonlight. Crickets chirped somewhere farther out, and the distant sounds from Renhardt’s bar drifted faintly through the trees.
Avid leaned against the railing with a long exhale. Then he reached into his coat. The pipe appeared in practiced movements.
Quick.
Easy.
Muscle memory.
He packed it carefully, lit it, and inhaled deeply enough for the ember to glow bright orange. The smoke filled his lungs, warm and familiar. Steadying.
Not an addiction. Not really. He could stop whenever he wanted.
Probably.
Avid tipped his head back slightly, eyes shut as the tension finally loosened from his shoulders inch by inch.
One hand held the pipe near his mouth while the other pressed against his forehead, thumb rubbing slowly like he could massage the calculations back into place.
“Twenty percent rye…” he muttered under his breath. “No, because then the sweetness dies…”
His shirt hung open far more than usual. Normally, Avid kept himself covered almost obsessively, buttoned to the throat, sleeves rolled properly, every inch neat and controlled.
Not tonight. Tonight, several buttons had been abandoned somewhere in the middle of his frustration. The bandages wrapped tightly around his neck were still visible, stark pale fabric against skin, but beneath them the exposed line of his collarbone disappeared into the shadow of his chest. Just enough visible to become distracting.
Very distracting.
His ponytail had half fallen apart from repeatedly dragging his hands through it. Loose strands framed his face messily, softening the sharpness he usually carried.
He looked tired. Warm. Undone. And neither of the men approaching him knew what to do with that.
Pyro slowed first. Abolish nearly walked into him. The two stood a few feet away unnoticed while Avid remained entirely consumed by muttering formulas to himself between slow drags from the pipe.
Pyro’s throat went dry. There was something unfair about this. Avid wasn’t trying to look attractive. That was the problem. He just… did.
The open shirt.
The low rasp in his voice.
The smoke curling around him in pale ribbons.
The way the moonlight caught against the scars on his hands.
Pyro adjusted his tie subtly, fingers slipping beneath the collar for air. Beside him, Abolish crossed his arms with forced indifference. Pyro glanced sideways immediately.
“Oh, you’re affected too,” he whispered smugly.
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“Abolish.”
“I’m observing.”
“You loosened your tie.”
“I am breathing.”
Pyro bit back a grin. Avid inhaled again, eyes narrowed in concentration. Then he muttered, frustrated, “Maybe if I distilled the second fermentation separately—”
“Avid.”
He startled violently. Smoke caught in his throat and sent him coughing as he spun toward them. “Jesus Christ— how long have you two been standing there?”
“Not long,” Pyro lied instantly.
Abolish remained silent, which was essentially confirmation. Avid narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“You’re both weird.”
“You look stressed,” Pyro said.
“I am stressed.”
“The drink?”
“The drink. The math. Ren wanting ‘something sophisticated.’” Avid made air quotes with visible irritation. “What does that even mean? Alcohol is alcohol.”
“That is deeply untrue,” Abolish replied.
Avid pointed the pipe at him. “You’re rich. Your opinion is invalid.”
Pyro laughed. Avid took another drag before realizing both of them were still staring. “…What?”
“Nothing,” Pyro answered much too quickly.
Abolish looked away first, adjusting his cuffs now with perfect composure despite the faint flush creeping up the back of his neck. Avid’s eyes narrowed harder.
Then slowly…
Very slowly…
He looked down at himself. The open shirt. The loose hair. The pipe. “…Oh my god.” Pyro finally cracked, laughing into his hand. Avid groaned and covered part of his face immediately. “Don’t make it weird.”
“You made it weird by accidentally looking like that,” Pyro said.
“I look homeless.”
“You look attractive,” Abolish corrected calmly.
The silence afterward was devastating. Avid stared at him. Pyro stared at him. Even Abolish looked mildly betrayed by his own honesty. Then Avid barked out a startled laugh, shaking his head as smoke curled past his mouth again.
“You two are unbelievable.”
Avid eyed them suspiciously for another second before sighing through his nose. Then, with complete casualness, he held the pipe out between them. “Want some?”
Pyro blinked. Abolish stared at the pipe like it had suddenly become a complicated weapon. Avid stared at the way Abolish held the pipe for a long moment. Then he slowly pinched the bridge of his nose. “Abolish.”
“What?”
“You’re tilting it.”
“I am holding it.”
“You’re dumping the tobacco out.”
Abolish immediately straightened the pipe upright. Too late. A small sprinkle of loose ash and half-burnt tobacco had already scattered onto the wooden railing.
Pyro made a strangled noise beside them before dissolving into laughter. “Oh, this is devastating for your image.”
Abolish looked deeply unimpressed. “I’ve never claimed expertise in peasant hobbies.”
“Peasant hobbies,” Avid repeated incredulously. “You sound like Scott.”
Despite himself, though, he was grinning. A real grin this time, wide enough to show teeth as he reached over and took the pipe back carefully from Abolish’s hands.
“Here,” he said, voice softer now. “Watch.” The two of them did. Very closely.
Avid tapped the pipe gently against the railing first, dumping the loose ash with practiced ease. The movement was absentmindedly elegant, the kind born from doing something hundreds of times. Then he checked the tobacco with his thumb. Still enough left.
He pulled a small lighter from his pocket, cupping the flame against the night breeze as he relit the bowl. Warm amber light flickered over his face briefly, catching against the loose strands of hair falling from his ponytail.
Pyro’s attention snagged helplessly on the sight. The open collar. The bandages around Avid’s throat. The concentration in his eyes.
God.
Avid inhaled slowly to get the tobacco burning evenly, the ember glowing rich orange beneath the dark. Smoke curled upward around his face in soft pale streams. Then he leaned back against the railing again, exhaling through his nose. “There,” he said.
Abolish watched the smoke leave his mouth with an intensity that was becoming increasingly difficult to disguise.
Avid noticed. His eyes flicked between them once before amusement curled slowly at the corner of his lips.
“Still want a taste?”
Pyro opened his mouth immediately. Avid ignored him completely. Instead, he stepped toward Abolish. Not rushed. Not teasing, this time.
Something quieter settled into his expression as he held the pipe between two fingers and inhaled deeply once more. Then he passed the pipe into Pyro’s startled hands without even looking away from Abolish.
“Hold this.” Pyro took it automatically.
Avid moved closer. Close enough that Abolish could feel the warmth coming off his skin despite the cold night air.
For once, Abolish looked uncertain. Not nervous exactly. Just caught off guard by the sudden intimacy of it.
Avid’s hand rose slowly, fingers brushing against the front of Abolish’s coat before lightly curling there. Grounding himself. Or grounding Abolish. Maybe both.
“Avid,” Abolish started quietly.
Avid kissed him before he could finish. Soft at first. The kind of kiss that barely existed for a second before becoming something deeper. Warm lips against his. Careful pressure. The faint taste of smoke and herbs lingering on Avid’s mouth.
Abolish inhaled sharply in surprise, and Avid used the moment to exhale the smoke between them directly into his mouth. It slipped warm across Abolish’s tongue as the kiss deepened.
Not rushed. Not messy. Just unbearably intimate.
Avid’s fingers tightened slightly in the fabric of Abolish’s coat while smoke curled around their faces in pale ribbons, disappearing into the night air around them.
Abolish made the quietest sound low in his throat. Completely involuntary. His hand came up instinctively to Avid’s waist, gripping there firmly like he needed something solid to hold onto.
The pipe in Pyro’s hand crackled softly. Neither of them noticed.
Avid pulled back barely an inch, enough for the last traces of smoke to leave his lips against Abolish’s mouth. Their foreheads almost touched.
Abolish looked genuinely stunned. Not dramatic. Not flustered beyond recognition. Just… undone for a brief, fragile second.
His usually composed expression had softened entirely. Eyes darker. Breathing uneven. Avid looked at him for half a heartbeat before breaking into a quiet laugh under his breath.
“There,” he murmured softly. “That’s how you do it.”
Pyro, still holding the pipe uselessly off to the side, stared at both of them in absolute disbelief. “…I think I just watched a murder.”
I blame @venusplantt for making me think about ragebait (abolish/pyro/avid).
Cause now I’m just imagining Abolish bringing home his two traumatised stray cat partners after oakhurst and Morcant being like ????? and Abolish is just like “I don’t want to talk about it”
