Private Tales Those Fallen

[Anastasia]

"Like snakes in the night-"

"-They won't know what hit them-"

"Sir, we've made a stew-"

Ana smiled encouragingly, silently departing from the group to push into his cabin and drop off the sacks herself. A hand full of others pushed past her, leaving their their loads on the table and stepping back out. It was only then that she let her expression crumble, a gleam of sweat on her forehead. She leaned palms-first against the solid wood, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

She wiped off her head and turned to rejoin the others.

 

[Saul Talith]

When she got to the doorway Ana would be greeted by Saul, her smallish forming bumping into his chest as he had made his way towards the Cabin.

The others were still celebrating behind him of course.

There was quite a bit of cheering, talk of a small feast, and Owainn was holding a retelling of just how they'd managed to pull off this brave stunt all on their own. Saul smiled as he half heard it, but looked down at Ana as she bumped into him. "Careful."

He told her quietly.

"Dont want to add a bunp on the head to your list of injuries." That would have been ironic, the only injury of the night coming from a bump to the head back on the boat.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana half startled, stepping out of the doorway to allow him through first. "I'm fine, Sir," she insisted, half flustered. "My head's too hard for anything like that."

What?

She blushed, shaking her head. "Your plan was brilliant," she offered, changing topics. "No one was hurt."

Well. On their side.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul slipped past her through the doorway and into the room. He smiled at her briefly, grabbing her hand and gently tugging her into the room.

The door fell shut behind them. "It went well."

He repeated with a nod, glancing over towards the bags. They had made off with most of everything inside the vault, given away a good sized fortune too. Arrawaith would find out come morning, and then their situation would change.

For the better he hoped.

"I'm glad you were there with me." He said quietly as he reached the small planning table in the center of the room.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana glanced at the door as it closed, then down to their conjoined hands as he led her away. There were many times they were alone and had held hands before, and it had been nothing to blink over. But for some reason, she paused over his for a moment before walking to the table with him.

"We'll always be with you Saul," she murmured, watching him. "Especially now that we've separated, I suspect there won't be much reason at all anymore to not have each other's back. They won't like that very much."

 

[Saul Talith]

He paused for just a brief second. "I meant..."

This sort of thing was never easy, especially for folk like him. Saul had a tendency to let most of his emotions out on his sleeve, but when it came to things he truly cared about things were...different. Harder to express and form words for.

"I meant you specifically Ana." His words were quiet, but true. "I know the others support what I'm doing. I know theyre there for me."

He looked at her. "But youre...you."

Saul was bad at this.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana blinked slowly at him, his attempt to express himself not going unnoticed to her. It was about as rare as a full moon and as cute as a overly fluffy puppy, but in this moment, under these circumstance, she froze.

"Saul..." Her voice had a cautious, warning edge to it. "Where is this coming from?"

 

[Saul Talith]

"I am staring into the face of an abyss." The words were once again quiet, but strong.

He'd been thinking about this, almost since they'd gotten out of that square days before. When they'd hadto run.

"One wrong move. One false decision." He took in a breath."I could lose everything."

Saul looked up at her, clear that he did not just mean their friends, but quite literally all of it. Everything he had achieved in life. Everything he hoped for. Everything. "So I refuse to balk at the Abyss."

He took in a breath.

"I wont back away from what i want...what I feel." Not now.

 

[Anastasia]

Her stomach flopped as she read between the lines. She pulled her hand back, abruptly finding herself to be a distraction, one that was a threat to not only him, but all the lives on this ship.

"What you want is to reunite the Templar," she reminded him, firm.

 

[Saul Talith]

He stared at her. She was right. He knew that she was right, knew exactly what she was getting at. Instantly his lips thinned and pressed together, though he forced himself not to frown.

"I do." Saul said quietly.

What was he trying to do? He had no idea, but he just kept talking.

"But i won't become a shell of myself to do it." His lips thinned. "I wont abandon who I am."

His fingers tightened against the table, wood creaking beneath the pressure of his grasp. "Or force myself not to feel."

 

[Anastasia]

Her chest ached at his words, ached and she couldn't even identify why. Which was a strange occurrence for her. Unlike the others, she had always been in touch with her feelings.

She looked away from him, a hand pressed to her aching gut. "...I nearly died a few days ago because I couldn't stop thinking about you. Your safety, your well being. I walked right into the knife." Her eyes watered, but she still didn't look up.

"You need to have your eyes on your enemies, Saul. Not me. We're all depending on you, I cannot do this to us," she breathed, her voice wavering.

 

[Saul Talith]

He stopped for a moment. "I cant forget."

The words slipped from his lips as simply as a breath. There was just no other way. He wouldn't allow it. Every fiber of his being would not allow it. Saul had always been a passionate person, whether it came to hate or love. His emotions were a part of him, he could not just push them away on any whim.

He simply couldn't.

"My head is clear." He told her sternly. "My vision isn't clouded."

Saul looked down at the table, it wa sbeginning to crack beneath his grip. "I know what I'm doing. I know what I'm asking."

"I can do this." His voice was steady. "But not without you."

 

[Anastasia]

She turned her back to him, quivering with emotion.

"So what are you saying? I have to... say yes or we fail? We all die? That's shit, Saul." She turned back to him, a slight fire in her eyes.

"What do you want from me that you don't already have? My support? It's undying. My sword, my oath? They're yours. I'm here, I'm always here. You're doing none of this alone," she responded with equal passion.

 

[Saul Talith]

"No thats not..." He frowned, lips thinning.

This was why he had not gone into politics. He had passion, but his way with words left much to be desired to say the least. Saul wasn't out to force her into anything. He didn't want to push her or take something from her.

Anything but that.

For a second he remained silent, his eyes closing as he tried to think of what he would say. The sound of his breathing seemed to echo in his ear, pushing him to speak. It became almost annoying after a moment.

"I just..." He breathed quietly. "Dont want us to miss an opportunity."

The words came as he slumped into a chair behind him. "You and I."

Not the Templar, the people. Him and her.

 

[Anastasia]

She slowly sat down on the other chair, unable to help the grunt as she did. She studied him, her hand gathering up her tunic and clutching at it.


"But the others..." She said weakly, her resistance repeated yet again.

 

[Saul Talith]

He stayed quiet for a few seconds, lips thinning. The situation, the words, they were all painful. His mind went at a thousand miles a minute, desperately grabbing and reaching for any argument.

The Commander had devoted his whole life to one thing.

Was it so bad to want another? "You cant..."

Saul broke off, taking a breath.

"You cant sacrifice everything." What would you be then? A pile of misery and accomplished goals. "Not everything."

 

[Anastasia]

She swallowed hard, looking down at her lap. "I never thought I'd see you like this," she admitted. "Of course I care for you back." The admittance came easier for her, Saul still skirting around words.

"Of course I've thought of this."

"But I'm still not convinced that I won't be the cause for Valerie getting killed. Or Owin, or-" her fist twisted inside the tunic.

"What do you want to change that you don't already have? Tell me."

 

[Saul Talith]

"I want to know...no I want to..." Did Templar date?

There had been men and women who married, had children, were even together for years and years. Saul had seen it with his own eyes, but he couldnt recall if they had ever dated before.

What even was dating?

They had no real idea, at least Saul didnt. Their childhood wasn't anywhere near normal, and their upbringing had been a far cry from anything that would help them along with this sort of issue. "Ana. I'm not...exactly versed in this...I just want to make sure we can..."

What the hell was he trying to say.

"You and me." He gestured between themselves. "I know you're with me. I know you support me. I know you're at my side but I want..."

Oh fuck it.

Instead of babbling on Saul stood and simply took two steps forward, leaning down, grasping Ana and simply kissing her.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana made a noise of shock. The only time they had ever kissed as adults was drunk and off duty. They were neither of those things, and so she genuinely didn't expect it.This was wrong. Every inch of her training yelled against this. Guilt boiled in her gut.

In every way that it was corny, the kiss shut up her mind. Her doubts quieted for a moment. Her buzzing panic flickered out. She hesitated, then threw hell to the wind. If Saul couldn't keep control of his emotions, whose to say she could.

She deepened the kiss, reaching up to grasp him back. Just a moment... Just a moment of this...

She had wanted him for years.

 

[Saul Talith]

He was bad at words.

Really bad.

Saul wrapped his arms around her, pulled her into him, practically squished her in his embrace. Pure passion went into his touch.

Not lust. Not desire.

Passion.

Her lips pressed against hers, his fingers laced through her hair. There was no time for thought or words anymore. Saul didn't want to fumble around. He didn't want to embarass himself. He just wanted to make his point.

He just wanted her.

 

[Anastasia]

His confidence answered things for her, coaxing out emotions that she had stomped away. It was easy not to get distracted if you denied there was anything to be distracted about. His statement made it impossible to deny anything anymore.

She hit at his chest, damn him!

But she also met that passion, fingers curling into his tunic as she refused to let him break the moment until she ready.

She pulled back, gasping, her tear-stained cheek resting against his. "This is madness," she breathed, eyes closed and unwilling to face the world around them.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul couldn't help but agree a little bit, but then so was everything else that they jad done that day.

Hell, had done over the last few months.

They'd gone against the wills of their betters, fought the established order and run straight into the unknown. What was one more thing? What was one more step into the abyss when he was already half way there.

"I know." Saul said quietly, though he hardly seemed to care.

Madness or not, he had made his choice.

His fingers tightened ever so slightly in her hair.

 

[Anastasia]

A knock came thumping at the door, Edwin blithly bursting through at the first sign of news of his captains return. "AHO-oooooy?" He gave them both a look. "...Came to see me bounty?" He offered, tugged a step back as Valerie's form came to stop him a moment too late.

Ana's breath caught in a laugh, her face turning to the side to be wiped off out of sight. She pulled from Saul.


"Take a gander, there's sure to be a sword fit for you."

 

[Saul Talith]

"Your bounty?" There was no hint of shame or embarrassment to Saul's tone, just a simple jest.

A smirk touched his lips.

"I'm the Captain of this ship as I recall." Someone had said it before they'd left, though in truth he couldnt recall who. "Means i get first pick"

Not that any of them would have doubts to what the money would be used for. Though in truth the only thing Saul truly cared about was those three items he had taken from the lockbox. They were old artifacts, remnants of before the Templar War and supposedly beyond.

A time when the Order had been strong and united.

 

[Anastasia]

Anastasia sat back, allowing Edwin access to survey their haul and let out a low whistle. As he rummaged Valerie looked over them both.

"...I suspect dinner will be ready in a moment. Edwin, why don't we let them change into something more fitting?"

"You mean kiss," he countered.

"Edwiiiin," she sighed, exasperated.