#kalszeth

hehehe angst it is!

Kaladin sat up, fully awake in the second his sleeping body realized he wasn't alone. He looked around in the darkness of his bedroom. "Who's there?" he demanded forcefully. A bald head reflected the light of the moon in a flash, then disappeared into the darkness again as someone moved towards him. "You do not know me," the voice lied. It was intimately familiar. With a swift movement, Kaladin swept the sheets off his bed and jumped to standing on the mattress with his back to the wall. Fists raised. Defensive. "Szeth?" The realization drained the blood from Kaladin's body, leaving him cold. "I thought you were dead." "I am not granted such mercies," the voice said from too close, and suddenly two small, pale hands wrapped around Kaladin's neck, squeezing with an inhuman strength. Kaladin twisted, trying to flip Szeth off him, trying to remember the grappling moves he'd been taught, trying anything to weaken that iron grip, but nothing worked. Panicking, he tried to run to the window. Maybe he could take both of them, at least... but he was tripped and fell to his knees only halfway across the room. A sparkling blackness eased into his vision, slowly, from the edges. Kaladin scratched at the hands, trying to pull them away, but they'd dug in. So... tight... His lungs burned badly, and he felt like he was going to explode. He thrashed, twisting and bucking, but the small man attacking him easily ducked and rolled along with him, avoiding Kaladin's attempts to throw him against the floor. He could feel himself losing consciousness. Kaladin lay on his back and admitted defeat. With a last attempt to focus his eyes, he mouthed, "Why?" Szeth leaned over him, two grey lights in the darkness. "I do not question my master," he said. Kaladin didn't have time to consider what that meant before he slipped away.

Have some 10 years post WaT Kalszeth angst!

A knock sounded at the house’s door. Szeth glanced to Masha, but she shook her head. She had not invited anyone over. He stood and crossed the room, then opened the door a crack, peering out. Perhaps this was someone who needed shelter for a time. In the years since Stormfall, that had become far more common than it had once been.

The person Szeth saw outside was a fragment of his past, one which had lingered with him over the past decade. He froze, staring as a flash of lightning illuminated a man with strong features, shoulder length curly hair, and a tattoo on is forehead where slave brands had once been. This was impossible. Szeth knew it. He himself had buried this man ten years before, with Masha’s help. Yet here he stood, too solid and real to be an imagining.

Kaladin Stormblessed smiled, and it reached all the way to his eyes. “Hello again, Szeth,” he said. Glories within, his voice was exactly as Szeth had remembered, untouched by the pains, the joys, and the hardships of the past years. “Can I come in? There’s something important you and your people need to know.”

“Impossible,” Szeth whispered, his hand tightening on the door’s latch. He felt Masha come to stand by his side and place a hand on his right shoulder, near the place where his sleeve was sewn closed. He did not take his eyes from Kaladin. “You died.”

Kaladin’s smile fell, and he ran a hand through his hair. “Not exactly. That’s part of what I need to explain. At the end of everything, I volunteered to be what Ishar needed.”

Szeth’s breath caught, and his eyes widened. “You filled the hole. You took the place that Ishu had intended to be mine.”

“I did,” Kaladin said, nodding. “I gave you the chance to heal.”

“You abandoned me,” Szeth corrected, surprised by the renewed pain that surged within him. The scar of Kaladin’s loss had been torn wide, and he again felt the grief, the betrayal, and the confusion that had burdened him for the first months and years after that day. Masha had been with him for much of that difficult time, and her gentle, solid compassion had been part of what had shown him light again. Now, Kaladin’s presence threatened to tear apart what he had found.

Kaladin grimaced. “I didn’t want to,” he said quietly. “But there wasn’t much time to find another way. We stopped something worse.”

“You expect gratitude?” Szeth demanded. “You spoke of change. Of choosing something better. But you died, and I was again left with nothing. I have found reasons to continue living. I have seen more than the guilt and shame that drowned me for so long.” He met Kaladin’s eyes. “And you had nothing to do with it.”

Kaladin rocked back on his heels as though he had been struck. “I’m sorry, Szeth. I didn’t think...”

“No,” he agreed. “You did not. You taught me that I can choose. I have made my choices. You are part of none of them.”

Kaladin lowered his head, his shoulders slumping. “I understand,” he said, voice pained. “Is...there somewhere else I can go to explain what you need to know?”

“Follow the road to the west,” Masha said, speaking for the first time. “You will find a sheltered town. Some of our leaders are there. They will listen, and they will pass the word along.”

“Thank you,” Kaladin said. He looked at Szeth again and swallowed visibly. “I’m glad you’ve found a life for yourself, Szeth. I hoped you would find something better.”

5. What's something you enjoy about fic with this ship/trope? Exploring the vast hurt/comfort potential. Especially the hurt can go both ways for them. Plus their different life experiences and worldviews are fun to play with

6. What's something you find surprising about fics with this ship/trope? That there isn't more of it after WaT

Share seven sentences from a wip. Tagged by @sailorspren !

This is part of a Kaladin/Szeth fic I’m working on. It’s T4T smut with both of them being trans men. This is before things get nsfw, and is also 8 sentences I think, but close enough

Kaladin smiled, carefully reaching to take Szeth’s hand. He knew it was the right move when short, strong fingers returned his grip. Szeth’s fingers and palm were still calloused, despite his decision to step back from the fight. Kaladin knew that would change with time. He gave Szeth’s hand a squeeze, and was met with a light press of his shoulder against his upper arm in answer. Kaladin found Szeth’s dark green eyes on him, and swallowed at the intent focus he saw. They hovered there for an indefinable time, teetering at the edge of something new. It was like the heady moment between when a Lashing’s momentum gave out, and when the ground below reasserted its hold.

Love your blog and have a great day!

STORMBLESSING 😂😂😂😂😂 "Bridge four's captain was good at playing straight man, when the mood struck him." I see what you did there 😂

Thank you so much for sending this to me, it made my day!! I laughed all the way through. And everyone go read this fic immediately, if you like something with some sexual innuendo and a lot of good-natured Bridge Four ribbing!