#draenei-harbinger

VISUAL ATTRACTIVENESS: 💗💗💗💗

Honestly, if Nath didn’t have tremendous trouble with a Man’ari eredar before meeting Ark, this would be five hearts. Even though he’s fully aware that Draenei are not their Man’ari brethren, trauma is trauma and it’d take quite a bit for him to get over it.

That said, Arkturas is definitely a very handsome, if not gigantic, spacegoat and the fact that Nath also has some silent paladin envy? That only helps things more.

FRIENDSHIP LEVEL: 💗💗💗

These two have come a long way, yet even back then Arkturas was always very cordial and polite. But yeah, the constant fear of being arrested kind of puts a hitch in the whole friendship thing. At least now he’s actually concerned enough and willing to help out in trying to locate the errant vindicator. He would have been “Well, that’s a shame. Now back to my books.” back in the Kamil days.

SEXUAL DESIRE: 💗💗

Again, the Man’ari eredar thing kinda puts a hitch in that. It’d be even lower were he a woman, but thankfully this is more of a hypothetical thing since Nath would never do anything with someone who is in a relationship already.

Still, he can silently appreciate him in all his shininess.

ROMANTIC INTENT: 💔 (💗💗 )

His issues aside, Ark is with Keia and like hell he’d ever pursue a relationship. But I guess if this was all on Alternate Azeroth, maybe something could happen. Maybe.

“I am not sure if he completely turned a blind eye to me and my, ah, previous involvement or not. But I am grateful for his tolerance on the matter as I probably would have had to leave everything I had worked for otherwise.”

“Though Light, he is a massive mountain of a draenei – even by his people’s standards. I am pretty sure he can crush me with only his little finger.”

If you need a hand running invasions, let me know! Got a couple hordies lying around

Aww, I appreciate it!

Answering this in chunks, because I’m wordy.   Part 1 - Keialaar singing headcanons!

[ Keialaar has a passable singing voice.  She will never pass for a professional, but she can carry a tune and does a decent job.    She hums to herself while she works, and likes singing to/with Cherynaa and Ark.   Out of the current timeline/plot, this scene fits sometime before the Tanaan expeditions.]

Hush-a-bye, don’t you cryGo to sleep little babyWhen you wake, you shall have All the pretty little horses

Cherynaa had resisted bedtime more than usual that evening, wheedling three extra stories out of her adoptive mother while Arkturas finished up some paperwork.   Over protests that she just wasn’t sleepy, Keialaar hefted the child into her arms and carried her upstairs, settling into a comfortable rocking chair they had retrieved from the homestead in Nagrand.

Keia wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, tucking it around Cherynaa’s legs, crossing her own beneath the little girl’s tail.  Gods, she’s growing so fast.  I won’t be able to fit her in my lap much longer.   Her hoof pushed at the floor, setting the rocking chair into motion, her voice lifted in a soft, sweet alto.

Blacks and bays, dapple and greysCoach and six little horses

Cherynaa cuddled against Keia’s shoulder, her nubby little horns tucked beneath her mother’s jaw.  As the song went on, the child relaxed, her body growing increasingly heavy in the paradoxical manner of children.   Keialaar rested her cheek against the little girl’s hair, stroking the bundled body in her arms from shoulder to hip.  The song was Gilnean, she thought; she couldn’t remember where she had learned it.  Thankfully ‘talbuk’ replaced ‘horses’ seamlessly.  One lullaby led into another, and eventually when the last note faded, the only sound in the room was the creak of her chair and Cherynaa’s deep, even breathing.

“Finally got her down?”   Arkturas was leaning against the doorjamb, fatigue in his eyes.

“Mmm. Fought me every step of the way.”  Kei straightened from the child-sized bed, smoothing a hand over Cherynaa’s hair before joining her intended in the hall, closing the door behind her.    

The big Vindicator took her hand, and in companionable silence they climbed through the keep.  The garrison was still awake; they could hear voices down in the barracks and the scrape of hooves and boots above on the watchtowers.  But they were reassuring; sounds of safety, of normalcy.  

Arkturas led her up onto the roof; one of the first things Keialaar had done upon the keep’s refinishing was to take advantage of a wide point in one of the allures.   She had an old wooden bench brought up and positioned just outside the arcading that led back into the keep; a nearby chest had blankets.  It was one of her favorite places for quiet. 

“Sing for me tonight?”   His voice was a quiet rumble, startling after several minutes of silence.

Keialaar wriggled into his lap, echoing the way she had held Cherynaa earlier that evening; a blanket wrapped ‘round his shoulders then folded around her, her head tucked beneath his chin.   The rest of Draenor seemed very far away and distant, leaving her safely cocooned in the arms of someone she loved.

Chi mi'n geamhradh anns a’ ghaoith  (I see the winter in the wind)Chaneil an sneachd’ fada bhuainn    (The snow is not far from us)Sgothan dorch’ ’s na craobhan ruisgt   (Dark clouds and the trees losing leaf)Tha an oidhche nochd fuar    (The night is cold)

Shaoilean fhein gur ann an de (So often it feels that it was only yesterday)Bha teas an t-samhraidh ‘gar leaghadh (The summer heat melted us)Fad an fheasgair air an Dun (All evening long out on the Dun)’S tu laighe leisg ri mo thaobh (And you lying lazy by my side)

This one was different; a song of a love lost- a song of longing and memory.  On the surface, the lyrics spoke of a lost lover, but popular opinion called it a lovesong to the loss of Argus.  Beneath her, Arkturas sighed and folded his arms more tightly around her. 

’S iomadh oidhch’ a rinn sinn suiridhe     (Many nights we loved)’S iomadh oidhch’ a rinn sinn gair  (Manynights we laughed)’S ionadh oidhch’ a bhithinn a'smuaintinn   (Many times I thought)Gum bitheadh tu comhla ruim gu brath   (Thatyou would have stayed forever)

Chan fhan a’ ghrian fad na bliadhna    (But the sun never shines all year)Cha sheas an uair mar a tha i    (Timewill not stay as it once was)Dh'fhalbh thusa gu'n a'cheo   (You leftfor the city)’S dh'fhag thu mi le mo geamhradh    (Leavingme to my winter)

As the last note faded, she fumbled for his hand,lacing her fingers tightly with his, needing the reassurance of his solidityand warmth. 

Arkturas didn’t speak; there was no need forwords.  He pressed his lips against hertemple.   They would never see Argusagain; their homeworld was long gone. But they both knew, sitting in the darkness, that whatever change thefuture brought, they would face it together.

[Songs are available for listening here andhere.  Cherynaa’s lullaby is “All thePretty Horses”; if you can find the Boiled in Lead version it’s my favorite  (although Calexico’s version is good!) and the second is “ChiMi'n Geamhradh” by Runrig.  Read thetranslated lyrics here!]

@draenei-harbinger