Private Tales The Obsoletes

[Carlyle Arevalo]

Alinar clutched tightly to the rapidly cooling body of his dragon as the last vestiges of life left the winged beast he'd spent the last thirty years serving alongside. Tears stung at his eyes as he felt the final breath of his longtime companion, a figure he'd worshipped for so long, who over countless battles and trials, had become a genuine friend. They'd had a good run together, hadn't they? They'd done Thanasis proud, he was certain...

So what had they done to deserve having it all ripped away by one of their own?

Through quiet sobs, Alinar attempted to catch his breath and hold it, springing to his feet and running as fast as his aging legs could take him as his hearing left him underneath the deafeningly massive roar of another dragon. Gods, for whatever time he had left, he would never forget that roar, the same one he'd heard seconds before he'd been struck down from the sky by a furious attack of black claws and violet fire. Zeodag, that traitorous monster... A disgrace to his kind.

But not so much a disgrace as that backstabber who rode him.

Alinar groaned out in agony, warmth pooling around the dagger that lodged itself in his back as he tried to flee. The older rider collapsed, meeting the ground in a heap as he felt his lungs fill with blood, choking the life from him bit by bit, a slow and unforgiving death. With what little strength he had left, he turned his head to look back at the figure who'd tossed the blade.

"Carlyle..."

He'd known that Arevalo was getting involved in things he shouldn't be, but Alinar had no idea how bad it had gotten, how deep the purple-haired man had sunk into depravity. When Carlyle had asked him out for a ride today, he'd been so sure that they'd be able to talk through things, that he could get through to that eager-eyed young man he'd known since he was only a boy.

Looking into those wild, violet eyes now as they stalked towards him like a lion to a fresh kill... He wasn't sure if that young man was alive anymore.

"I'm sorry Al. I didn't want it to come to this, but you're really far too nosy for your own good."

Behind Carlyle, the massive black figure of Zeodag landed atop Alinar's dragon, digging into it's kill for a taste, sickening sounds filling the air as Alinar's fingernails dug into the soil beneath him, a last attempt to crawl away from the horrid pair, to find some final chance of survival as he coughed out a plea. "That dragon's done something to you, Carl... This isn't you, this isn't who your mother raised."

Any last hope was dashed as he felt Carlyle's boot against the back of his head, pressing his skull against the dirt. "Don't you dare mention my mother!" Arevalo snapped down at him, "You've no idea what I've gone through! What it's like to have nobody left! Zeodag is there for me now, and as long as I have him, and as long as I have Faye, I know exactly who I am."

Alinar gritted his teeth, the pressure on his head almost too immense to bear. He was going to die here, that he'd accepted. The elder man only wished that perhaps he'd seen the change in the boy about to kill him sooner, that maybe he could have intervened, could have saved him from this corruption.

"I'm sorry, boy. We failed you."

Arevalo felt his lip twitch into a sneer, the slightest pang of guilt shooting through his body. Somewhere, deep within himself, he knew that Alinor was right: There was something deathly wrong with him. Something had gotten crossed, something in his mind had twisted to the point of no return. But he couldn't change it, and knowing it to be true didn't change what he had to do.

"Thank you, Al. For everything."

Carlyle's boot crushed the only thing between it and the ground.​

---

"Faye, I'm home!"

Carlyle grunted as he hoisted up the bags he carried onto the table. Through the window, the shadow of the departing Zeodag briefly darkened the kitchen of the quaint little living quarters that made up the back of the Valimir Glassblowing shop. It wasn't a particularly ritzy place to live, far below what the two of them were able to afford with the growing fortune they'd begun building, but it had everything Carlyle needed to be happy.

Namely, It had Faye.

Sliding into one of the chairs beside the table, Arevalo expels a long sigh, the stress and tension of the day having wound his body into a tightly knit bundle of anxiety. The shallow wounds on his side ached, and the gouges left in his clothing would be a dead giveaway that he'd been tagged. He hated for Faye to fret over him, but this had needed to be done. Alinar had been onto them for a while, and if he wasn't dealt with he'd place their life together in jeopardy.

Carlyle wouldn't allow anybody to stand between him and his love again. That pain was too fresh in his mind, the agony of losing his mother and his lover at the same time... he could never withstand such a thing a second time.

"Brought you some scales, jar of tears too."

Faye Valimir​

 

[Faye Valimir]

Working kept her mind off of many things.

A trade taught by her father, the Valimir name was synonymous with other mastered arts in Thanasis. It was no familial burden, nor was it the pressure to continue the work; Faye was merely human and wanted to achieve perfection. She was the first in all of Thanasis to work with dragon scales in her work, a technique not meant for the impatient. The all too familiar call from Carlyle had been heard, but not acknowledged as with long, metal tweezers, Faye had been slowly adding the scales to the areas of the maleable glass she had previously spun and blown. Yet her slow was everyone else's shaky hands and not precise placement. This was clockwork for her, a technique she had been using for the past decade.

This piece had been commissioned by a Great House, provided with the scales of a Moon Dragon. It was the oddest and yet most stunning thing to see the scales change to all sorts of colours, almost blending into the hot glass. She took the piece back to the marver, spinning it from her pipe before getting it into workable shape to return to the stand, where she blew levelled and long breaths. Before her dark green eyes, the glass bloomed and Faye began to work.

Glassblowing tended to need a second person to assist, but she had not the heart to teach anyone else. Not yet, at least. Her father had only passed a few months beforehand, and in the days and weeks after, Faye kept to herself. Carlyle, her dearest, was that breath of air that would find her and remind her to take a breath. He was patient with her, perhaps he remembered what it was like to lose the only parent you had in this world...

She had done this since she was a girl.

Valimir's skilled hands began to shape the glass, pulling and molding her masterpiece into something beginning to look like a dragon. She pulled at the sides with careful craft, fashioning the mighty wings of a dragon that was not her own. The Ascended spent the next few minutes putting in the last details, attaching more moon dragon scales to the piece before moving it with special gloves to the annealing oven to slowly cool and come out pristine.

Faye took off the layers of protective clothing and gear, choosing to clean up later.

A smile twitched on her face as soon as her emerald hues found her love, sitting at the table. She had taken her time, but it was worth the wait for her chest to feel aflutter. Without fail, Carlyle Arevalo always managed to make her fill with the love she saved for him. Despite his weary posture, she slinked her way onto his lap and leaned into him. "Did I hear you say you brought me some presents?" She murmured at his ear, keeping her voice low. Even though she had grown up in this house, and that it was the only home she had lived in, Faye felt only truly home when her partner was here.

---

Carlyle Arevalo ​

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

That he had to wait for Faye to finish her work before she paid him any mind wasn't new to Carlyle, and he thought nothing less of her for it-- Many of his favorite memories involved sitting in this very chair, lightly dozing to the sound of Faye crafting pure and raw beauty in the next room, the roar of the fire as it heated the glass, the sizzle of the metal tongs as she brandished them, the small clink when one of the scales clicked gently into place... It was music to his ears, the music she played only for his.

So when at last she was done and she emerged from her world and back into his, she was met with a relaxed and sultry smirk, Arevalo's hands coming up to rest upon her thighs as she slid so perfectly into his lap. It was where she truly belonged, where none could ever take her away. Faye's breath tickled at his ear, and Carlyle answered her in a playful hum as he brushed his lips against her neck. "Only the best for Miss Valimir, of course. I do so desperately seek your... favor." He chuckled, his palms running up the length of her back.

She was all that calmed the raging storm in his heart, the only thing he did not question in his life. To come home to her embrace, the warmth of her body as she lay against him, it rid him of that lingering guilt that today's events had left stubbornly clinging to his mind. Yes, this was the end that justified the means. This was why he did all that he did, no matter how dirty his hands had become. Without Valimir, he was alone.

"I've missed you, love. The day has been long, and I ache terribly. I do hope you have fared better." He spoke softly, his fingers now idly raking through her hair, breathing deep against her nape, inhaling that comforting presence she brought. "I know the House who's commissioned you can be... demanding. I only wish that I could do more to aid you."

Faye Valimir

 

[Faye Valimir]

"The House are a demanding lot, but the individual is one unlike the rest. I can see why  she is bonded to a dragon." Faye pressed her lips to his cheek, deciding once was not enough before decorating his face in small kisses. She could smell him, his scent, and it drove her to nestle her face at his neck.

"My day has been splendid. I missed you this morning, but I went to the market and bought us food to enjoy, and then I went to visit Pa's grave." Her hand came up to play with the hair at the back of his head, fingers brushing through his long hair gently. "Then I felt compelled to start the commission from Lady Malennis. Exquisite scales, a moon dragon." It was now that she drew her face out to look at her love, tenderly.

"Tell me, Carlyle. How was your day if you brought me scales and a jar of tears?"

Carlyle Arevalo

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

Carlyle basked in her affections, the rain of her lips upon his skin warming the coldness he felt after the ordeal this day had put him through. It served as a reminder of why such difficult steps needed to be taken, and why he need suffer the pain he did. It was all for her, for Faye.

The man hummed in contentment beneath his lover, allowing his hands to roam over the curves of her hips as she recounted her day to him as she did every time he returned from a trip. Usually, Faye didn't leave the shop incredibly often, but with the recent passing of her father, she'd taken to visiting his resting place nearly every day. It was a good way for her to cope with the loss, and it had improved her mood noticeably.

If only there were more that he could do for her.

"It figures that Malennis would want scales of such resplendence. Picky one, in everything she does, I'm told." Carlyle mutters into her chest, his lips resting just beneath her neck as he restrains himself from speaking too ill about a client. It mattered not his nor Faye's opinion-- to do so was simply considered disrespectful and bad business. "But if there's anybody in the city that can meet her standards, it's you, my darling."

It was when Faye pulled away to look down at him that his soft and content expression turned a bit colder. Yes, he did worry she may ask about that. "Unfortunately, somebody was on our trail. I had to tie a loose end." His eyes slid off to the side, obviously not pleased with the impromptu killing. The stress that Faye's lips had been melting away seemed to knot his muscles again all at once. "I took a claw to my side, but the wound isn't deep. It will be fine..."

Faye Valimir

 

[Faye Valimir]

Faye immediately got out from his lap, fussing with his clothing enough to pull it up and look for his wound. "Let me see it!" It was not deep, but the wounds were looking nasty enough that the woman disappeared to another room, only to reenter the dining area with a box of cloth and ointment. Lowering herself to her knees beside him, Faye gruffly gestured for him to remove his shirt so that she could properly tend to the scratches.

After a moment, she spoke. "I do not like how close in between these people are getting." How long ago did Carlyle take care of someone getting suspicious? And the one before that, the one that Faye slipped in poisons not native to this side of the continent.

Once done, she set the ointment back in the box and secured the cloth bandages around his middle. Her hand strayed to where his heart lay, and her nails raked his skin as her fist came to close. "Who was it this time, my love?" Faye asked in a soft voice, turning her dark green eyes upwards to peer up at him through thick lashes. "We sure they have no family that would look for answers?"

Carlyle Arevalo

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

Carlyle groaned internally as Faye departed his lap. He'd worried that telling her of his wound would concern her, and all that he really wished for tonight was a warm meal, a warm bath, and Faye waiting for him in his bed. It was more than enough to melt all of the woes the day had brought him away. Alas, he knew her better; she wouldn't have him hiding things from her, even if they were ugly.

She was with him, supported him in everything he did. For that, he loved her all the more.

"It's nothing I cannot manage, darling..." He attempted to reassure her as she stripped him of his shirt, lifting himself briefly from the chair to allow her to discard it and tend to his wound. Arevalo clenched his teeth as she ran her hands across the claw marks in his flesh, spreading a chilled ointment across the reddened flesh that would help in his healing. "I can't let any harm befall you, you know how strongly I feel about that..."

His violet eyes looked down at her as she dressed the wound, his face soft with adoration as her nails dragged along his skin. That love was mixed with pain, however, pain that would become more obvious as she looked up at him with doe-like eyes, asking who it was that had found his wrath this time.

For the first time, he averted his gaze.

"Alinar." The name left his lips quietly. "I didn't want to, but... I didn't have a choice. Zeodag insisted..."

Carlyle trailed off, a mist coming over his eyes as he held back the guilt of ending the live of a longtime friend to his Mother. Guilt over what the man had said to him before his death, and the biting truth behind it that he could not face.

"It was hard, Faye... I just... need you to be near me tonight. Please."

Faye Valimir

 

[Faye Valimir]

Her breath hitched in surprise when Carlyle revealed who he had to take care of. Faye's lips pursed, keeping quiet as she slowly rose from her knees and gently took her seat back upon his lap. Her hand snaked behind his head, gently pulling his head to rest at her shoulder. Fingers began to comb through those violet locks she had used to hate, missing the colour it was before. Now, Faye would not have him any other way.

"How cruel of him to put you in such a position. To tip your hand in making the decision of collecting the price for his disbelief." She turned her head to press her lips to the side of his head, resting there as she comforted him. "Alinar paid the price, my love. You shouldn't have to grieve over the mistake he had made. Zeodag was right in insisting this be done, my love..." Faye's whispers were soft, warming his ear.

"I would do anything for you, Carlyle Arevalo. I am your ever constant, you know that." Her arms wrapped around him, stuffing her face into the crook of his neck and exhaling softly. "Would you like to come to the workshop and see my new projects that cooled overnight?" Faye had taken several weeks to get her designs right, to get the colours perfect, and finally, figuring out how best to display it.

Carlyle Arevalo

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

His ever constant... of course, Faye would always remain by his side no matter the trial set before them. All it took was her breath against his nape and her body resting against his own to remind him of that. Whereas there'd been a time in which she would scold him for taking such drastic measures against a friend of his family, their love for one another had long since overridden any guilt or obligation felt towards the whole of Thanasis.

This city meant nothing to either of them without each other. As Valimir's lips pressed gently to his temple, Carlyle's hands slid once more up her back, reveling in her presence, in the comforting whispers that filled his mind and dispelled his worries and woes. From the moment he'd seen her, cleaning her father's shop as she sat on a stool and watched him from a corner of the room, he'd been enraptured by her presence.

"You are my strength, Faye Valimir. I do all that I do for you." He muttered in return, tucking his head forward to place soft kisses along her ear, his voice lowering to a whisper as he clutched her tightly against him. "I'm eager to see what new beauty you've created. It's my greatest honor to be the first to bear witness to it."

The works that Valimir created were often exorbitantly intricate and ridiculously expensive, and yet they were still rarely displayed publicly. That Carlyle was allowed to see them before they were sent out was a rare treat; Dragon scales were the most dazzling material in all of Malakath, able to reach inside and touch the deepest parts of your soul, should you allow it.

"Show me, my love." Arevalo pulled his head back slightly, to look up into her eyes with raw, frenzied adoration. "And then, I have a surprise for you beyond simple scales and tears..."

Faye Valimir

 

[Faye Valimir]

When Carlyle looked to her like so, it burned bright a passion that had never ceased. Closing the short distance, lips capturing his, Faye took him in for a gentle kiss. For the two, gentle was a rarity, softness for old times' sake. She had wanted her lips to linger at his, to taste his as he is, unaffected by the sin he had to commit this day.

"Now, now, Carlyle. No need to upstage my projects with your work of art." She teased him, slowly leaving his lap once more and pulling him upwards to stand taller beside her. "I made one for you, actually." Her smile turned wicked, leading him to the workshop she had just vacated.

There was a section to the space that acted as a small display room, shelves and cases filled with unique pieces dating back from the time her grandfather started the trade. In the newest case that Carlyle had constructed for her, Faye had displayed her latest work.

One set of wings were stained in a smoky black. She had tried her best to capture them in beat, they way she had seen Zeodag move countless times. She had even painted the edges and tips of the wings in a deeper black, to give the capture an added element. Beside it, a smaller set of wings in white. Scars and deformity were capture in fragile glass, but they were unmistakably Cathán's wings. "In the weeks before I did the project for Eira, I wanted to play around with our own bonded dragons. They are no Moon dragon, but... they are a beauty still." Each set of wings had a single dragon scale between the lub and shoulders. She had kept the scales from years prior, knowing they would not grow back. These scales she would not sell, preferring to keep them as a keep sake.

Carlyle Arevalo

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

Carlyle made no attempt to pull his hands away from her as she slid from his lap, letting his fingertips linger against her for every second possible as he grinned at her goading words. "Oh? But I thought you were quite the fan of my 'artistic vision', love... Usually, it does involve you." He took her hand and pushed himself to his feet, the wound on his side aching, though not nearly with the radiating pain it had held minutes prior. "But... one for me?"

Arevalo looked somewhat taken aback as she pulled him towards the workshop. Faye had given him many gifts in their time together, but never had she thought to go so far as to create one of her famous pieces in his name. Now that he considered it, she had been spending an awfully long time in the shop for just one piece...

The workshop was as cluttered and warm as always, the air still thick from the furnace that had just been roaring before his arrival. Carlyle rarely entered this room, as Faye didn't work nearly as well with distractions, and they had a rather nasty habit of distracting one-another... Nevertheless, he knew where the display section was. He'd moved a case of his own making there only several months ago, a gift for Valimir's birthday.

He saw it now, and his mouth hung agape.

"Faye, it's..." He breathed, taking a step closer to the incredible work, a fantastical and breathtaking representation of both Zeodag and Cathan, their bonded, in harmony that mirrored their own. The wings had been painstakingly crafted with the finest of detail, and a scale from both sat in the center, a permanent fixture that would never deteriorate. "It's beautiful, divine even..." Arevalo murmured, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close to his side, his head turning to look down at the Glassblowing Goddess.

"You never cease to amaze me, my love. The only thing that outshines it in all the city is you." Carlyle purrs through grinning lips, leaning in to steal hers once more. "My gift pales in comparison, I'm afraid..."

Faye Valimir

 

[Faye Valimir]

Faye relished in his lips, his kiss. A grin, one born of pride, stretched across her face as she pulled back to stare up at her love. "Do not be harsh on yourself, dear Carlyle. You know I will love you all the same." Her fingers brushed against his bared collarbone, letting them caress down his chiseled chest. "Now, tell me what this surprise is you have for me. You already got me tears and scales, what more does your glassblower need?"

The way her dark green eyes peered up at him was a perfected art. He always had been taller than her, even when they had been young and in the ending years of their youth. It was the way she peered at him now when she first asked him to kiss her. She had never been kissed and only trusted Carlyle with such a privilege.

"Before you tell me... won't you kiss me? Again?" Her voice lowered, almost hushed with little wanting. She never did quite outgrow the fluttering in her stomach, the need to always be near him to touch or watch. "Be sentimental with me for a moment longer, my love."

Carlyle Arevalo

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

Faye touched him, her hands drawing lines of raw desire down the bared contours of his chest and her words low and layered with unspoken desire. It made Carlyle's skin feel as though it were boiling, made that violet fire she'd lit within him long ago rage out of control. Oh, there was much that she needed, and much of it had nothing to do with his present.

"Those were for your work, my love. I can think of so many things I can offer that are just for you..." Carlyle purred, captivated by the deep forest hue of her eyes, glowing in the dim light of the workshop as she tilted her head with that tiniest facade of innocence. At one point, that innocence had been genuine; The girl who years ago had fallen into his arms with this same cant of her head and asked him to be the first to taste her kiss had been pure, and innocent. Now, Faye's best efforts could not conceal the hunger and desire behind her eyes, no matter how angelic she seemed.

"As though you ever have to ask for such a thing. There isn't a second that passes that my lips don't yearn to meet yours." He murmured, letting his face fall to hers at last. There was no restraint in this kiss, his lips lingered against her, his tongue so carefully tracing shapes along her lips. Carlyle's arms, broad and powerful, came around her and pulled her tightly into his hold as he pulled away but inches. "You are so much more than a glassblower. You are my reason for being, the only I'll ever need."

Again, a long and passionate meeting of their lips. Between whispered nothings and hushed promises, he spoke his gift.

"Next week we will be flying together, as a team. I'm dragging you out of this shop and high into the clouds with me."

Faye Valimir

 

[Faye Valimir]

A coy smile was all she gave in indication of what she wanted to say to those last words said by Carlyle.

Instead, she raised a dark brow at him. "Team...? What team would I be accompanying you with, my love?" Her arms circled around his neck, voice low as she began inquiring his surprise. "You need a tracker? A healer? Or a pretty face to see?" Humour certainly was her go to in his presence.

In the last few months she had been in a shell of emptiness, of restlessness. She tested him patience, and her own. Faye had no clue how to handle her grief, but Carlyle had always been there for her at the end of the day.

She knew deep down this was his way of keeping her busy, to have an eye on her and coaxing her gently to leave their home and the city like she used to.

"You know I will go where you want me to, Carlyle." She murmured, pressing her lips to his jaw. "I always have been a good listener, have I not?" Again, with the coy smile.

Carlyle Arevalo

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

Carlyle's lips parted in a silent sound of appreciation as her warm lips trailed along his jawline. It was a wonder he was ever able to accomplish anything with a creature so alluring and cunning as Faye Valimir. His open-mouthed expression shifted to that of a smirk, though, as she pressed him for details.

"I'm afraid it's hardly a romantic retreat, but it does serve your needs. We're to help take some new recruits to the Wall. Old man Vhagor is running a training mission of some sort, and he needs a few people who know what they're doing to make sure they don't all die on the way."

The Wall was the very edge of 'safe' territory when it came to Thanasis. Just beyond, all matter of untamed beasts, not the least of which were the Jarlax, lie in wait to prey upon any who venture beyond and out into the greater Malakath wilds. To most, it wasn't a place one would volunteer to travel to, but for one whose job required the use of Dragon remnants and other valuable materials, it was a veritable treasure trove.

The things his darling could create from that battlefield... it warmed his heart and sent his mind spinning to imagine them all. A good listener she was, and that's why he so rarely had to repeat himself. So he slid his hand down her back, gripping at the material of her clothing as he slyly added more. "The fresh air will do you wonders, and I do so love watching you ride..."

Faye Valimir

 

[Faye Valimir]

Mischief pulled her lips into another smile, "Oh, I remember you do love to watch me..." She trailed off, smile softening as she considered his words again.
"It has been a long while since Cathán had a long flight." Her dark green eyes flicked upwards, as if she could see her dragon, smaller than the average white dragons, nestled in the rooftop roost her late father had built some years ago for the blind beast. It kept him close and safe, and Faye knew he enjoyed seeing her world through her eyes. "I should go... not for me, but to get him out in the skies again." He refused to fly with Carlyle, or even tag along with Zeodag. Cathán had always been with her these past few months...

Faye brought her gaze back down to the amethyst hues that were once hazel. Either eye colour Carlyle possessed had always had Faye staring into them, picking out the different colours in them and being in awe of his natural beauty. "If you want me there with you, my love, then I will be there. Long time since I rode with cadets, but I am sure Zeodag and Nyx will be sure to keep the other dragons in check."

She liked feeling his hand at her back. The slightest touches from Carlyle were always welcome by Faye, and it was any wonder how they could keep their hands off each other for long periods of time. "How do you feel now, love? Did my surprise help?"

Carlyle Arevalo

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

"I must admit, I do find myself wondering if it is your beautiful surprise that's lifted my spirits." Carlyle purred forcing his eyes away from the perfect visage looking back at him to glance over at the incredible work she'd done out of sheer adoration. "Or if there is simply no darkness that your presence cannot overcome." What had begun as an innocent crush had turned quickly into a whirlwind romance. Now, after all of the trials and changes they'd gone through, they were two halves of a whole. One simply could not exist without the other.

"You spend so long in this shop, working yourself to the bone for your art." Arevalo reluctantly slips out of her embrace and moves further into her workshop, the stifling heat pressing snugly against his skin as he looks about the birthplace of so much beauty, once in her father's name and now in hers. "You deserve to be free of it, if only for a while. We are no longer in a life that requires us to toil so." If they stopped producing glass completely, they could make it off of the back of Carlyle's 'other' operations. This was a passion for Valimir, however, and one that he wouldn't take from her.

Turning back around and flashing her that brilliant grin that had wormed its way into her heart in the first place, he returned to her and cupped his hand underneath her chin, drawing her face up to meet his lips once more, each kiss as fresh and invigorating as the one before it.

"Selfishly, I wish for all who work upon the wall to know of the beauty that I and I alone am allowed to revel in and enjoy to my heart's content. I wish for them to see the woman whose soul I hold within mine own."

Faye Valimir

 

[Faye Valimir]

Faye's lips turned into a coy smile, embracing him as he returned to her. "Oh, love. Haven't those residing at the Wall seen me enough over the years? Must you be such a cruel, cruel man and dangle me before them?" But she liked the fact he did so. Although they were not wed, not yet at least, Faye was never shy in the way she spoke of Carlyle. How she only answered to his word truly before anyone else, and he would let her mind take point also.

Her pining for him had evolved into this love, the kind that never waned or settled, the kind that always made her stomach flutter, made her body wish to be close to him.

"I will be sure to wear my best leathers, give them a good show before you take me home after this flight mission." She stole a few kisses, not moving to part from him anytime soon. "Because no matter how long you keep me from this workshop, I will tear down any wall to return. This is also our home." And her fingers came to press at the corners of his eyes, tapping them lightly to force his eyes closed.

"Listen." And Faye took his lips to hers again in a soft kiss to stop him from disturbing the quiet.

Their home had a gentle hum, the fires burning lightly to set the final stage of her glassblown works. Somewhere, in the distance, and up the stairs leading to the rooftop where her dragon slept, the wind chimes made melodies of the gentle breeze that rocked them. And then there was her light, gasping breaths as she pulled her lips from his, looking up at him with such adoration and love. "To have this the past few months has been a gift. You have been a gift... I should be flying with you, meeting the people and... I should have been by your side today, my love. So you did not have to bear the responsibility alone."

Carlyle Arevalo

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

Faye knew him all too well, stealing his lips from him before he had a chance to speak again. He'd always had a tendency to talk too much, and Faye always knew just when to silence him. What could Carlyle have said that would have added a thing? She was correct in every facet, that those men upon the wall had gazed upon Valimir's grace many times before, that Arevalo was needlessly cruel to remind them that she was his and his alone.

And above all else, she was right in that this place, no matter how humble or cluttered, was their home. It was where they would always return to, where they would fall into one another's arms at the end of each and every long and arduous day, The fires that burned in this workshop were theirs. The stars above that lit their rooftop at night glowed down upon them like they for one another. The walls that surrounded them had been here for every heated word and every lover's gasp that they'd shared.

So Carlyle closed his eyes at her touch, and danced with her lips once more. Were life only so simple that he could remain here, bask in her presence for all of time and forget the troubles awaiting outside of it. When at last she pulled from his mouth once more, it was like waking from a dream. He could only smile, shaking his head slightly at her words.

"You have your part in this life, my darling. I have mine. My work today was difficult, but to return to your touch and your kiss make it all worthwhile." Arevalo's words were little more than a whisper, his hands gripping her tighter as he rests his brow against hers, violet gaze traveling every inch of her face. "To have you fly beside me for one day, to watch you work upon the wall with me... That is all the gift that I require."

A low, suggestive chuckle left him as the hand on her back traveled lower. "As for tonight, I think I wish to indulge in the show that those unlucky souls will never get to witness." His whispers had turned to a purr, and his lips traveled across her cheek to her ear, teeth grazing the soft flesh of her lobe. "Come, my love. I need more attention if I'm to feel whole again, and I think you know my remedy."

Faye Valimir

 

[Faye Valimir]

She adored this man for the sacrifices he made in order to keep her hands clean, but they were stained too when she reached for him and took in his pain, his guilt, and made him whole again. His grievances were hers to share too. From a young age, they had both been healers and lovers for each other. She never had to doubt him or his devotion, she never had to demand he ask her hand in marriage, like many had wondered about them these past years.
"Then I think it is lucky that I have a special piece of art to show you... it wouldn't travel well, after all." Her dark green eyes were heavy lidded, burning brightly and intensely for the man before her.
It was in the quiet and late hours of night that Faye became restless in her sleep. The sheets became too much of a burden against her, even the proximity of Carlyle slumbering beside her was too much to bear. She sat up in bed, hand going to her throat as it burned.

Cathán.

It was a warning, or was it the Kesh dragon she seemingly adopted come to disrupt his slumber?

Carlyle Arevalo

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

Any evils that he'd committed, any sins or regrets that weighed heavy on his shoulders, she absolved him of in the darkness of the night, in the privacy of their own home. Through touch, kiss and sigh she stripped away the worry and sorrow that he surrounded himself with each day for her sake, replacing it with the unbridled fervor of her love and adoration for him.

She was his canvas, upon which he painted his pain. She was his panacea, a medicine that cured any and all maladies that plagued him. She was his air, that he breathed to keep himself afloat above the torrid waters of insanity and darkness for one more day. Tonight, like he did so many nights, he indulged in her completely, until all of his darkness was dispelled, and only she remained.

Only then was his sleep restful, were his dreams calm and peaceful. Only with Faye, he could rest.

At least until a loud rapping on his door drew him from slumber, panicked and hurried knocks that spoke of worry and fear. Carlyle rolled onto his back and sat up, looking over at his lover, already awake and clutching at her neck. His eyes narrowed at the hand on her throat "Cathan?" He asked. If something had her dragon troubled, then this late-night interruption couldn't be ignored.

Rising from bed and collecting his haphazardly discarded clothing to at least don his trousers, Carlyle exited the bedroom and headed for the front of their home. Just in case, he carried the dagger he kept at his bedside behind his back. The knocking only grew louder and more frantic as he neared, and Arevalo wondered if maybe their visitor was so desperate as to knock the door down entirely.

Not giving them a chance, Carlyle swung the door open.

Behind it stood a tall, skinny man. He was dressed sloppily, but his skin was clean and he wore shining baubles around his neck that spoke of hidden wealth. Carlyle snarled at his pale, scuffy face, recognizing him immediately.

Vernon, one of his 'employees'. A man that had been given specific instructions never to come here.

"You'd better have a damn good reason for waking me up, Vernon."

Faye Valimir

 

[Faye Valimir]

Faye was quick to follow Carlyle from their bed, nightdress wrapped around her frame, a robe the next for warmth as she followed her love to the door that begged to be opened.

Where Carlyle reached for a dagger, Faye's hands took up her crossbow, loading the bolt readily as she stood behind Carlyle. She was not one to cower and hide, even if Carlyle had hoped to keep this business far from her as possible. Dark green eyes shaded black in the dimness of night that filtered in, and the man stood on the other side of the doorway glanced at her.

"Sorry, my Lady..."

Faye did not bite to correct him, that no title was afforded to her like some possession.

She simply raised the crossbow higher, perfectly in like with his chest.

"Do you have an answer for us or shall I allow my beast to eat you where you stand?" Her white dragon was lithe enough for a dragon to scale across the flat rooftop, unseeing eyes peering down to the front private courtyard where Vernon stood. He had a choice of dagger, crossbow bolt, or the gnashing teeth of a blind dragon that had been awakened.

Carlyle Arevalo

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

Vernon wasn't a smart man, and Carlyle certainly hadn't hired him for his brains. The sickeningly skinny little man was little more than a pickpocket when Arevalo had offered him employment, a chance to share in the riches that he and Faye's more lucrative practices offered so long as he did as Carlyle said. Usually, this merely involved stealing specific things from specific people or casing out places that Arevalo wanted details on for future work.

He wasn't a watchdog, and he wasn't supposed to be here, something that Vernon obviously knew as his eyes skittered nervously between the two of them. "I--I wouldn't ever normally...! I just didn't know what else, I--I hope I didn't interrupt...!"

Carlyle sneered with the wrath of both man and dragon in his breath. There was no time for this stammering fool's nonsense. Reaching out and grabbing Vernon by the collar of his jacket, he yanks the incompetent snake into the house and throws him up against the wall, taking his knife from the table beside the door and bringing it to his scrawny throat.

Vernon yelps, twisting his head to try and escape the bite of Carlyle's blade. Arevalo presses the edge lightly against the petty criminal's neck, but he does not cut Vernon's flesh. Instead, he leans in, increasing the pressure threateningly as he snarls into the whimpering fool's ear.

"If you enjoy having your head attached to the rest of your body, stop stuttering like a child and speak. You have ten seconds."
"Mr. Arevalo, please! I--"

"Nine. Eight."
"Alinar's brother! He's onto you! He's bringing together a group of guys to come over here at daybreak and interrogate you, or something! It's serious Carlyle, I swear it!"

There was a loud thump as Carlyle dropped Vernon to the floor and stepped back, sheathing his knife. Alinar's brother... Terrast. How could he have any idea...? Unless...

"I'm sorry, boy. We failed you."

Alinar's last words replay in Carlyle's head. We. He'd told Terrast where he was going that day, of course, he had. Arevalo's face twists into a frown, and he turns to Faye. "Get dressed, my love. We've a loose-end to tie up."

Faye Valimir

 

[Faye Valimir]

The woman set her gaze upon her love, brows furrowing with annoyance that was not on his part. She did not lower her weapon, or even correct herself when it followed the motion of this Vernon as Carlyle held him up against the wall. Faye knew that force, that strength he used. Knew it all to well for the times he had thrown her against a wall, sometimes punishment, sometimes pleasure.

But the woman now smiled, lowering the crossbow and shrugged. "Send the runt out to keep watch. I need a word with you."

And she did not wait to see if Carlyle sent the man on his way before following her back to their room, where Faye had delicately put down her crossbow and pulled at the ribbon around her waist to let her robe fall from her frame. Stepping out from it, she went through the chest of drawers and selected clothing that was tight, perfect for being on dragonback.

"What do you know about this brother? Does he hold much threat?" She asked, turning to let her nightdress fall off her lithe frame and began to dress herself slowly. It was not to let him marvel at her body, something he saw regularly as he liked, but it was to slow the conversation. Faye never went out without a plan, even when she was wounded and on the brink of death, she had planned her last moments before her dragon healed her.

"I want to hear the plan, Carlyle." The glassblower stared at her love, adjusting the fit of her shirt that hugged her.

Carlyle Arevalo

 

[Carlyle Arevalo]

Carlyle left the sniveling Vernon outside to alert them of any early guests just as his lover had suggested. There was no protest from the skinny man; he knew himself lucky to have escaped with his life on this night, and was content to not enrage Arevalo or Valimir further. Faye was a gentle, delicate creature when she wished to be. However, she also had a side capable of more ruthlessness than even Carlyle.

The smile that crept across Arevalo's lips when he heard the tone in his lover's voice was telling; Valimir was in a very dangerous mood, and he loved this hidden animal within her, whom lashed out at any who would dare jeopardize her way of life. Despite the direness of the situation, Carlyle followed her to their room with only eager thoughts bubbling up into his mind.

"Terrast is hotheaded and quick to act before thinking." He hummed through pursed lips as his eyes raked over her bare form, unashamed in his insatiable hunger for the ravishing Glassblower. Only hours earlier he'd watched her write under his touch, her muscles tightening as she'd called her name. How incredible that already he yearned for her again, if only they'd the time. "But he's cunning as well, not to be underestimated. If Vernon is to be believed, he will come to us with a plan."

Carlyle approached Faye as she fitted herself, bringing his hands up to rest upon her hips with a comforting smile.

"Knowing him, that plan is of an aggressive nature. We use that to our advantage, wait for his arrival and flay whoever attempts to put their hands on us. Then, we frame it as a matter of self defense; a grief-stricken brother unable to cope with the loss of his sibling, lashing out at innocent parties with a distorted mind."

He leans down, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips.

"A tragedy, to be sure..."

Faye Valimir