the bitter & the sweet

The first thing the morning gave him was sunlight spilling through the curtains.

The second was the smell of eggs and butter from downstairs.

For one disoriented heartbeat, Elenion nearly panicked over how late he must've slept. Then the morning settled around him properly. Waterdeep was quiet beyond the window, the Starlit Gallery was closed for the day, and Gale was making breakfast.

He stayed in bed a moment longer, warm beneath the sheets as he slowly woke.

Once, he would've braced himself for cold sheets and an empty bed. It had always hurt less when he left first, slipping away before dawn rather than staying long enough to reach for warmth that had already vanished.

Now, he smelled breakfast on the stove and heard Gale humming softly downstairs, and never wondered if he'd been left.

He only smiled into the pillow. Of course Gale was there.

When he finally wandered downstairs, he found Gale with his sleeves rolled up and his hair loose from sleep, frowning at the eggs as if they had just presented an argument he found academically unsound. A plate of fruit and pancakes was already keeping warm beside him.

Sunlight poured through the window beside him, catching the gray in his hair and making it shine like threads of gold.

For a moment, all Elenion could do was stand in the doorway.

"Good morning, husband," Gale said, with a fondness that made his heart give a ridiculous little stumble.

Terribly rude of his husband to do this to him first thing in the morning.

"Morning, babe," he said softly.

"You know," Gale said, still facing the stove, "I can feel you staring."

Insufferable, really.

"I'm just admiring the breakfast."

"You are admiring me in the general direction of the breakfast."

"Can a man not appreciate both?"

Gale looked back at him then, smiling in the morning light, and Elenion pictured himself doing something truly embarrassing. Like crossing the room just to kiss Gale on the cheek, or writing an unbearably sincere song about the sunlight in his hair before the eggs were even done.

Thankfully, before he could get farther than one hopeless step, Tara landed on the windowsill with a flick of her wings. "Mr. Dekarios, I do hope there is something suitable for civilized company."

"Silverdew-Dekarios now, Tara," Gale said, far too quickly.

Tara blinked at him. "Yes, quite right. Mr. Silverdew-Dekarios, then."

Gale's ears went pink.

"A fine name," she added, her yellow eyes softening in the sunlight. "Though you must forgive an old friend for taking time to adjust. I have called you Dekarios since you were a boy lecturing his porridge on consistency, after all."

"Tara!" Gale protested. "I am not certain that story needed preserving."

"All important history must be preserved, Mr. Silverdew-Dekarios." Tara glanced at Elenion. "Surely your husband, of all people, understands that."

Elenion broke into laughter before he could stop himself.

At nearly the same moment, their rabbit Moonbow burst into the kitchen and thumped one little white paw against the floor with all the urgency of a creature who had never been fed in her life.

Gale let out a weary sigh before surrendering to the inevitable. He presented a portion of fish to Tara as if it were a royal offering, then crouched to set Moonbow's greens on the floor. She sniffed the plate twice as if confirming the quality of his work, and only then did she accept them.

“Your household management has improved,” Tara said.

"My gratitude overwhelms me," Gale deadpanned.

"It should."

Elenion was still smiling when sunlight slipped over Gale's hand as he returned to the pan. The gold half of his wedding band gleamed bright against his skin, tiny moon engravings shining where his fingers curled around the edge of the counter. Elenion's matching ring, of gold moons and silver stars, suddenly felt warm on his own hand.

Once, Gale had nearly left the world behind for something higher, colder, lonelier. A place in the heavens, a name in prayers. A light too distant to touch. He'd offered to carry Elenion's name further than any mortal stage ever could, until the whole world sang his praise. The kind of glory that would drown out every doubt.

And yet this was everything Elenion wanted.

He loved Gale in the sunlight because it did not make him distant.

It found him here.

It gilded the gray in his hair, warmed the floor beneath his feet, and caught on the ring he wore because he'd chosen this mortal life beside Elenion.

And somehow, Elenion had chosen it too.

Later, when breakfast had been eaten and Tara and Moonbow had declared themselves satisfied in their own ways, Gale offered him his hand.

"Walk with me, my star?"

"Always, my moonlight," Elenion said.

His heeled boots clicked over sun-dappled cobblestones as they walked through busy market streets full of peddlers, performers, and yellow awnings. Not too long ago, he would've felt the press of so many eyes on him and reached for a mask. But being seen like this, walking in daylight with Gale’s hand warm in his own, felt nothing like performance.

It felt like home.

If anyone is curious, their wedding bands are basically combined versions of these rings I found online. The silver one was Elenion's originally and the gold one was Gale's, but they get cut in half and fused together to make half-and-half wedding rings as per a common Sword Coast tradition.

(I don't have any art of how the fused rings actually look. I should probably get some or draw an MS paint doodle lol)

BG3 Pride Month prompt calendar: