PHEW I MADE IT
shout out to @captastra for putting this together (you can find the prompts here!) and to @highend-fade for enabling me and my fresh cadllario rot <3
my other entries: Day III | Day IV (nsfw) | Day V | Day VI | Day VII
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"So."
"So?"
"You and my cousin."
That was the very start of the conversation, so blunt it nearly made Cadfael laugh aloud. Lucanis was precise with everything he did, exceedingly so. Even in a relaxed setting like this one, within the lighthouse library, he arrived armed with only his silver coffee cup and a schooled expression.
Rook didn't say anything in response, but he did turn from his sorting of the bookshelf to lean against it and prompt Lucanis to continue.
"You two seemed…very close, last night."
Ah, right. They did say their goodbyes right outside the Cantori Diamond, after Illario had given him a personal tour of Treviso. Goodbyes that were…charged.
(They hadn't kissed, but it was a very near thing. Cadfael still didn't know if the ache in his chest could be called mistrust or longing.)
Still, something about the way Lucanis said it made Cadfael want to bristle on instinct. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Alright, sure. Let's run with that. Am I about to get a shovel-talk? 'Break his heart and I'll kill you, Rook'?
"Rook." Pin-point precision, yet again, giving Cadfael pause. "You are my friend. And I have trusted my cousin with my life more times than I can count."
"…But?"
"And," the Crow corrected gently, eyes focused on a knot in the grain of the wooden table in front of him. "He is very good at what he does. And, I don't want to see you hurt."
That was the last thing Cadfael wanted to think about. He wasn't naive to it, not at all— from the very beginning, he knew that Illario was an assassin who used his charm to lure his marks. Illario wasn't shy about his work, and Cad was pragmatic enough to brace for the inevitable asking of a favor that may follow one day.
It didn't stop him from wishing, foolishly, that he could have something nice for himself, just this once.
The lighthouse continued its low humming symphony of magic in motion around them, even as the conversation went silent. Neither of them looked at each other for some time, Cadfael eyeing the bookshelves restlessly as Lucanis nursed his cooling coffee mug with a mirroring tension in his shoulders.
They had come a long way from that horrific extraction from the Ossuary. Had this conversation happened a month ago, they would've been throwing knives, literally and figuratively. Now…
"Alright." Cadfael started, forcing his hands to relax where they clung to his own arms. "I trust you, Lucanis." He cracked a grin for the other, even if it didn't completely reach his eyes. "Thanks. For the warning."
Lucanis quietly studied his face, before leaning forward in his seat with a sigh. "There could be a chance. I could be concerned for nothing, and you won't need that warning. A small chance, but…it is there. It's been…I don't know how long it's been, since he took a real interest in someone else. My memory's still…rusty. Muddy? Mierde."
Cadfael snorted, which earned him the assassin's rueful smile.
"If it does turn out that way, somehow, then…" He swirled the last dregs of his drink, putting on the gravest tone of voice he could muster. "Break his heart, and I'll kill you, Rook."
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hugs to @captastra for putting this together (you can find the prompts here!)
my other entries: Day I | Day III | Day IV (nsfw) | Day VI | Day VII
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"I take it they decided you would soften me up for questioning."
Illario was in just as sorry a state as he had been when he was first thrown into this room, ironically similar to the one he had held Caterina in only a week prior. He sat on the floor against the wall, blood long dried and bruises yellowing. His hair tie was missing, leaving his unwashed hair to hang despondently in his face, and his stubble had grown to an unkempt degree that made his face itch instinctively. He hadn't been given a change of clothes yet either, if he was to be given any at all.
He had been kind enough to leave Caterina unshackled in her captivity, at the very least. Perhaps a foolish decision, on his part, given how things turned out. That same courtesy was not extended to him now, his right ankle shackled to a very solid chain that had been bolted into the floor, destroying the intricate tile work in the very center of the room to ensure it was properly reinforced. It was better than the manacles he had started in, but it was all undoubtedly just another show.
Another way to demoralize him. As if he needed it. He had already been thoroughly humiliated in front of every single House of the Antivan Crows.
Still, he couldn't bring himself to look up at his guest, for fear of the expression he'd find on that face. Instead, he merely waited for a response, dark eyes stuck on a point out of focus.
"They did," Cadfael's voice smoothly relented, eventually. "I told them to fuck themselves."
Illario huffed, leaning his head back against the wall. "Here for your own interrogation, then?"
Cadfael ignored the question in favor of another. "The very first time we met, you were already working with the Venatori, right? It wasn't enough to strike that first deal and be done with it, that isn't how they work. They kept you close for some time, enough for you to still find them valuable even after it came out Zara lied to you. At least enough for you to have them at your heels in the opera house."
He was picking at wounds that still weren't healed over with clinical precision. Illario wanted to be angry. He wanted to fight again until they both bled, just to feel something other than this bone-deep sorrow.
"Astute as ever, Rook."
Calling him that again was meant to hurt him back, just a little. Cadfael had admitted to him once that the nickname was starting to mean less to him, the more it became synonymous with the hero everyone expected him to be. It became impersonal. Anyone could call him Rook. Everyone did.
Nothing in the sound of his breathing or his voice betrayed if the hit landed. He pressed on as if nothing had been said. He was always good at keeping himself on track, if he wanted something badly enough.
"Then you had to have known how badly they wanted me dead. For my work in Tevinter. For my part in breaking Lucanis out. For everything else after that."
The assassin tilted his head curiously. "…I knew of this, yes."
"And yet somehow, they never ambushed me. Almost as if nobody ever tipped them off whenever I was here."
Illario lost his ability to breathe for a dreadful moment. It was true, he had kept his knowledge of Cadfael's whereabouts to himself just as closely as he kept his involvement with the Venatori from the rest of the Crows. But to admit to it was to admit to his own terrible weakness.
His whole life he had been told that to love was to expect tragedy. He used to think it was a terribly maudlin sentiment, but maybe there was truth to it after all. He loved his Grandmother so much that he grew to resent her for her cruelty. He loved his cousin so fiercely that he would rather seem him dead and at peace than caught in the crossfire of his ambitions and in turmoil. He didn't have the heart to kill either of them by his own hand, and they both returned with vengeance.
"I want to believe that it meant something to you." The familiar feeling of eyes boring into the side of his face still didn't make Illario turn. "But you're very convincing. Maybe Zara and I both fell for the same act."
He already knew that he had lost Cadfael when he chose his place at Lucanis' side over his. To fan at dead embers would waste both of their time. He forced his throat to work again.
"It was strictly business."
A beat of silence.
"I believe you."
It was the uncharacteristic absence of all emotion from his voice that finally made Illario look up in his direction.
Cadfael, in a halo of moonlight from the windowsill he leaned against with arms crossed, wasn't looking at him, but he could see his eyes all the same. Devoid of their fire, that beautiful, burning passion that had drawn him in the night they met.
Resignation did not suit him like the moonlight did.
"Lucanis will come to visit you again tomorrow." Cadfael pushed off the wall, never once glancing back. "Goodbye, Illario."
Before Illario's panic could catch up with him and make him say something, anything, the door was already closing behind Cadfael's retreating form. The shuffling footsteps from the other side of the wall were unsteady, at first, but they evened out as they grew more distant.
Illario was alone once more.
Truthfully, there was no greater torture that the Crows could subject him to than this: forcing him to sit alone with his heartbreak and acknowledge it for what it was.
what a lovely week, I had so much fun throwing all these words together and seeing all the beautiful works from everyone else! <3 sincere thanks for the kind and encouraging words sent my way, i haven't written a fic in like, six whole years? i came into this super nervous!! but now i'm considering getting back into writing more when i have the time. maybe i'll start to write a proper fic for these two. heh
I gotta thank @highend-fade again for encouraging me to go crazy (go stupid) about illario dellamorte, and to @captastra for sharing in the rook/illario love and telling me about this event! Y'all are real ones!
much love to all of my fellow illario enjoyers <3
my other entries: Day I | Day III | Day IV (nsfw) | Day V | Day VI
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"We have yet to extract anything from the traitor. She has not said a word throughout our interrogation."
"Of course she hasn't. You haven't asked the right questions, yet."
"It is not that simple, Illario."
"Guildmaster Alvio," the familiar laugh could be heard from the doorway. "You seem to forget that she is one of us. Your hostility means nothing to her. What will matter is her incentive, and who gave it to her."
The scene before him in the First Talon's office was still new enough that the novelty of it hadn't worn off. A group of Crows of varying ranks perched around the large carved desk set at the center of the far wall, hanging on every word of the man standing behind it.
Illario, in all his newly appointed resplendence, looked every bit like the assassin prince that he was raised to be. His finely tailored coat was colored a rich indigo, accented in silver and gold, with meticulously arranged plumes of crow's feathers sewn onto each shoulder. The sash that peeked out from underneath his corset belt was a deep blood red that matched nicely with the ruby drops hanging from his ears, and his hands were covered by dark leather gloves that fastened at the wrist and clung like a second skin, accentuating his long fingers.
Everything about his look dared for someone to underestimate him. But if one was careful enough to notice, they would find that underneath the finer pieces there was pointed warning. Throwing knives strapped to both thighs, a row of vials on his hip, straps of leather that clipped to his belt and disappeared underneath his coat into scabbards for his favorite daggers.
The most powerful part of the ensemble of course, was the shift in his demeanor when he worked.
"Our agents here informed me that our traitor had two young wards in the Drowned District." He nodded to two Crows near the back of the room. "The children reportedly went missing less than a full day before she turned on the other two assassins." He shifted his weight decisively, tilting his head at the Guildmaster. "Ask her about them. Tell her we can help her if she cooperates. We have a better chance at ensuring their safety than whoever is holding them hostage, surely. She should be able to see the reason in that.
"As for the rest of you, continue following the threads we have, and notify me of any new information as it arises." His gaze swept over every member in the room, including his newest guest, for the briefest moment, before speaking again. "Dismissed."
Every other crow in the room swiftly left, save for one, who was held in place by Illario's stare and a point of his finger.
"I will want your report sooner, Guildmaster. How about tomorrow? By then, you'll have some answers for us, yes?"
"What do you suggest if this bargaining trick doesn't work?"
"If the task is too great for your house to handle, then I would ask that you send our silent traitor to House Cantori and let them extract the information, instead." Illario gave them a smile with a flash of teeth. "Thank you, Alvio. You are dismissed."
"…First Talon," Guildmaster Alvio tightly bowed and made their exit, even quicker than the rest.
Cadfael didn't let the snort out until after all of the footsteps faded.
"You've got a lively one, there."
The First Talon's cold stare thawed into something softer the longer it stayed on him. "Then it's good that someone has built up my tolerance to such a thing."
Illario stepped around the desk and leaned against the front of it, beckoning Cadfael over with a finger. The bastard. Cadfael would never admit to how much it affected him, but Illario knew him so well.
As soon as he was within reach, Illario was pulling Cadfael in for a kiss, slow and sensual, cradling his face like the most precious thing his hands would ever hold. Cadfael melted into it despite himself, nearly chasing after him when he pulled away to bury his face into his shoulder.
"You've no idea how much I needed that."
Cadfael regained control of his speeding heart. "I'm sure. All that undivided attention? You must be withering away."
"Truly," Illario bemoaned against his neck, hiding his smile there.
"I think I even see a silver hair in here…" Cadfael lightly trailed a finger over the pulled-back hair at the top of Illario's head, careful not to tousle it out of place.
"What?" Illario straightened immediately, face blanching. He lightly pushed Cadfael away to rush to his desk, producing a compact mirror from a side drawer. Cadfael burst into laughter as the mighty First Talon opened the mirror and checked his hairline with hawk-like scrutiny. When he found nothing out of place, he relaxed and snapped the mirror shut with a clack.
"Don't scare me like that."
"You're a ridiculous man, Illario Dellamorte."
Illario sniffed. "And you are so very cruel to me."
Cadfael smoothed his hands over broad shoulders. "You have nothing to worry about. You're going to look devastating as an old crow."
The First Talon let out a low, considering hum, then pulled him in by the waist, leaning in until their noses brushed. "…Are you saying I'm not already?"
Cad snickered and grabbed him by the cheeks in one hand, pulling him back with a playful squish before letting go. "I'll be sure to remind you just how beautiful I find you when you're less busy, Songbird."
"Cadfael," Illario drew his name out as he always did, like he was savoring the taste of it on his tongue. "For you, I am never too busy."
"Lovely." Cadfael took a seat on the desk, pulling Illario in by the lapels of his coat. "I have intel on Venatori hiding in the city. Might be connected to your traitor, might not. Either way, we get to kill tonight, if you'd like to join me."
mostly the first, but a liiiittle bit of the second prompt here, if you squint. hehe
much love again to @captastra for putting this together (you can find the prompts here!)
here was my plotting note for this day:
"date night but it's just illario's increasingly elaborate attempts to pickpocket cad, who catches him every single time"
enjoy!
my other entries: Day I | Day IV (nsfw) | Day V | Day VI | Day VII
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The first attempt was intended to be a joke. Illario would slip Rook's purse from his belt, palm it, and then present it right back to him with a flourish. Like a party trick. Some marks loved a display of sleight of hand.
Not that this was—well. That remained to be seen.
He went for a simple distraction, painting the picture of what their night would entail with his words while his hands worked in tandem, starting with a light touch to his shoulder, then a teasing brush at the waist, going in for—
Nothing, as he was swiftly slapped away. Cadfael leveled him with a bemused look.
"Hands where I can see them, Dellamorte."
Illario blinked, momentarily startled, before easing a smirk onto his face. "Apologies. I was only going to demonstrate why you should keep close to me as we walk."
That earned him a snort. "You're not going to get anything from me without asking nicely." He gave the Crow a once-over, before motioning to the city below them. "Shall we?"
From then on out, Illario had a challenge to fulfill.
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As it turned out, there were more merchant stands than just the ones that made it into the Grande Market Square. Illario happily led Cadfael through the streets to browse through each pocket of lesser known craftspeople, stopping at any that captured their attention.
A jeweler with delicate silver work caught Cad's eye immediately with the smallest pendant he had ever seen, in the form of a small bird. Its eyes were inlaid with purple gems.
"That one I'm offering on discount," the jeweler mentioned, their voice raspy but firm. "The amethyst inlays don't quite match each other."
"What a coincidence," Cad held the pendant level with his face, showing Illario how the bird's differently colored eyes resembled his own. "Neither do mine."
Despite the discount, he set the jewelry back on its display hook immediately after. Illario lingered for a moment, but he didn't let Cadfael out of his sight for long. When he caught up to him, the other was looking over an artist's stall in which nearly every surface was covered in artwork of varying mediums.
"Ah, look at these," Illario chimed, pointing to a spread of lithographs on a side table. "Works of art, are they not, Rook?"
Cadfael glanced down at the lithographs curiously. "They are beautifully done…"
"This one," The Crow lifted one of the sample pieces off of the merchant's table, simultaneously pulling Cadfael in closer. "I think is a depiction of Queen Madrigal's assassination, see the four steel swords-"
"Hands."
"Hm?" he tried feigning innocence.
"Off my belt."
Damn it. Illario set the artwork down at the same time as he removed his hand from Cad's waist.
"It was worth a shot."
Cadfael bumped him with his hip. "Better luck next time."
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Their stroll out of the markets ended with a rather quaint looking restaurant, given what Cadfael had assumed of Illario's taste. It was a charming place with balcony seating on the second floor, and one conveniently reserved table right at the end, designated with a single white rose, trimmed to size in a small glass vase.
Even more convenient, that all the other guests tonight seemed to be seated more favorably on the opposite side to theirs. Cad would have to ask Illario about these coincidences, later...maybe after he ate his weight in the fresh bread set on the table for them.
"The Cacio e Pepe here is to die for, Rook. I daresay it's the best in all of Antiva."
Illario leaned back in his seat, taking in their surroundings like a flower took in sunlight. If Cadfael didn't know any better, he would think that Illario looked comfortable, even though he knew that Crows were almost always anything but in public spaces. If not comfortable, then…in his element, perhaps.
Either way, he was very striking.
"Did you know that there is a restaurant in Antiva City where they roll a hollowed-out wheel of cheese to your table to toss fresh pasta into before serving it to you? I was on a contract once that took me there. It's quite the spectacle, I'll give them that, but that's about all it is." He seemed to catch himself, then, taking his own piece of bread sheepishly. "I could go on, but I doubt you wanted to hear me go on a rant about Antivan cooking."
"Please, be my guest, songbird."
Illario's gaze flicked up and pinned him in place, eyes glittering. "I have a nickname, now?"
Cadfael tried to ignore the heat that rushed to his face as he held eye contact. "You're a Crow, crows are birds, and you like to talk. And, uh, you're fun to listen to. Ergo, songbird."
"Mmm." The assassin slowly broke into a breathtaking smile. "I like it."
Their orders were taken not long after that, Cadfael deferring to Illario's expertise on wine pairing. After they waited, talked, received their drinks, then their food, ate, drank, and talked even more throughout, Illario gently touched Cadfael's boot with his own.
"Allow me to pay for your meal. It's the least I can do."
"Fine," Cadfael chuckled, tapping his foot back. "But you better be using your own coin. I'd like my purse back, before we leave."
The Crow froze. "You knew it was gone."
"Illario." Cadfael stretched the name out playfully, just as the other often did to his. "I was a pickpocket before I was a Mercar. Of course I knew. You waited until you thought I'd feel safe again, walking over here, and then as we reached the table, you pulled me in and turned my attention to the view…"
"That isn't when I took it."
"No, it wasn't," Cadfael continued, tilting his head with a knowing grin. "You waited until you could pull my seat out for me, then lifted it right as I was sitting down, so I wouldn't notice the shift of weight. You've been sitting with it in your lap this whole time."
Illario gave him that beautiful smile again. "You...are very perceptive, Cadfael."
"Does that surprise you?" Cadfael laughed, raising a brow.
Illario rested his chin into his palm, elbow resting on the table between them. His eyes could barely contain the fondness when he answered softly, "It really shouldn't have."
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While the sun had dropped past the horizon, the city remained as alive as ever on their stroll back to the Cantori Diamond. The market stalls still bustled below them as they took the rooftops, avoiding the crowds that had only grown in size as the night went on. Whenever they had to hop from one building to another, Illario went first just to hold his hand out for Cadfael to catch from the other side. They both knew it wasn't necessary, but they kept doing it anyway.
Even with a couple scenic detours, the journey back was far too short.
"I suppose this is where we part ways for the evening, my dear Rook."
They stood on the Diamond's balcony, partially obscured by one of the several trellises of climbing vines. Cadfael leaned against it, reluctant to leave just yet.
"Treviso is just as beautiful as you said." He took the rose from dinner—which Illario had tucked carefully behind his ear after paying the bill—and stepped in close to place it in the Crow's front shirt pocket, instead. Illario leaned into the touch, one hand landing on Cadfael's waist. "I had a nice time tonight."
"So did I." He reached up to fix the other's hair, where the rose's stem had gotten caught. "Seeing the beauty of it from your eyes made me remember why I love it myself."
Their faces were so close, Cadfael could feel the warmth of the other against his own face. It would take no time at all to close the distance. If Illario did, Cad wasn't all that sure that he would stop him.
He took a breath at the same time that Illario let out a lovely sigh, and let his eyes flutter closed.
"Nice try," he murmured, catching Illario's wrist once more, where he had felt it inching ever closer to his belt.
And with that, the spell was broken. The sounds of bustling activity from within the Diamond gently returned to their ears as Illario backed away from Cadfael with a rueful grin, raising his hands in surrender.
"You really are an exceptional one, mio caro."
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It wasn't until Cadfael was back in the lighthouse that he opened his purse to find a smaller velvet pouch sitting on top of all of his coin. When he opened it and tipped its contents into his hand, he was greeted with a delicate silver pendant, in the shape of a bird, with two mismatched violet eyes.
He couldn't wipe the smile off of his face for the rest of the night.
HAPPY KISS WEEK YEEHAW
Asher Gideon Trevelyan is mine
Jasper Cadell belongs to the bootiful @jewishzevran <3
—
“How about a kiss?”
Jasper snorted. “Absolutely not.”
Asher, grinning ear to ear, stretched his arms out wide. Arms coated in the detritus of the giant spider that they just encountered in the Emerald Graves, after an already eventful day of battling Freemen and Red Templars. As far as giant spiders went, though, this one had to have been the size of at least three of its kind. Being the one who delivered the killing blow, Asher’s entire front was covered in viscera. In fact, the mage was more filth than he was mage at the moment.
“Not even an embrace?”
“That’s even worse, actually.” Jasper genuinely laughed, a silly, syncopated rhythm that never failed to make Asher’s heart flip. The mage joined him for a moment before recovering to give the archer his best pout.
“But Jasper. You love me.”
This chapter of their relationship was still new, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. For one, the look Asher got in return from Jasper was one he was already familiar with. It was soft, reverential, but hesitant. Not out of uncertainty, but a fear once quietly confessed in the dark behind closed doors. Jasper’s eyes told him the words his lips couldn’t yet form.
I do. I love you more than words can say.
Suddenly and wordlessly, Jasper pulled a kerchief from his pocket and stepped up to Asher, deftly wiping the flecks of ichor from his face. Asher blinked up at him as the soft cloth touched his chin, tilting him up for a gentle kiss.
“There. All better?” When the archer pulled away, his signature smirk was in place. Asher forgot how to quip back, instead giving Jasper a small smile and blushing so brightly it made his freckles stand out across his cheeks.
Someone cleared their throat from the edge of the clearing. The two whipped their heads around in near-perfect unison toward Bull and Solas, the other two in their party, who pretended to be looking at anything other than them.
Asher straightened himself out. “Right. Well, with that thread tied, I believe now would be a good time for us to return to camp. Since we closed all the rifts in this area, we should have respite for the night.” Even in saying it, he glanced to Solas, who nodded his assent. Asher’s shoulders relaxed a little more at that. “Fairbanks will still be there in the morning. Let’s head back, then.”
As they walked away from Gracevine, Bull clapped Asher on the back with a knowing smirk and walked ahead, taking Solas with him to continue their mental chess game. After another moment, Asher tapped Jasper’s arm with the clean end of his staff.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Brother,
Sorry for the delay between letters. All I can say on that is, if you thought Ostwick was a chantry city, you haven’t been to Tantervale. I mean, I know you haven’t, but I envy you for it this time. I don’t think it’s for me. You would have hated it, too. It was a lot of Chantry for one sitting.
Anyway, we’re just off of Wycome, now. They call it the revelry capital of Thedas, but that’s yet to be seen. I’ll try and see if I can’t find a market for you, get you back some fabric to mess with. Did you finish that embroidery you were talking about last time? The one with the flowers? I still await illustration, when you’re up for it.
So far it’s just a rinse and repeat of our usual routine whenever we get into town. We had a lovely march, did a lovely speech, sparred with the young ones that have dreams of being knights. One of them was really funny— he brought two shields with him and insisted that was all he needed. Refused a wooden sword and everything. We humored him for a time, but it was like fighting a giant wooden turtle. The Knight Lieutenant (new one this time, she traded with Lancaster in Tantervale) told us she’d smack us so hard our helmets would be bells if we laughed, though. Ah well, the kid has time. He’ll figure out a strategy some day, surely.
Mother sent me a letter since last we spoke. I’m afraid I won’t be near home in time for the soiree next month, you’ll have to survive without me. While I won’t miss the baby talk from the nobles, I will miss your eye twitches. Save some of those great under-the-breath retorts of yours for me, if you would. I’ll laugh my whole cabin awake reading about them.
The next letter will be soon, hopefully. I’ll send it along to Dufour, this time. Be nice to him, I think he’s still a little sore about the rashvine thing you definitely didn’t tell me about.
Stay safe. Don’t do bad things.
Illario likes to wear nice shirts. Cadfael also likes wearing Illario's nice shirts. :3c
more hugs to @captastra for putting this together (you can find the prompts here!)
my other entries: Day I | Day III | Day IV (nsfw) | Day V | Day VI | Day VII
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It took a well trained eye to notice that the shirt Cadfael was wearing wasn't actually his own.
He knew how to wear it like it was meant for him, though. There were little adjustments that made the slightly-off fit of it on him less noticeable; tucking in the extra length at the waist into his trousers, rolling the sleeves to his elbows, leaving several buttons of the collar undone to expose just enough bare skin to draw they eye. The small silver pendant around his neck even matched the decorative stitching along the collar and buttonholes perfectly.
While Illario did have a knack for staring at Cadfael and noticing every little detail, he also knew his own wardrobe well enough to catch on quickly.
The next time they had a moment alone, Illario pulled Cadfael in close, one hand settling at the small of his back.
"This is one of mine again, isn't it?"
"Mhm." The corner of his mouth quirked up mischievously. "Very perceptive of you."
Illario smirked back, his other hand reaching up to straighten the collar in the same way he would on himself. "We could purchase you some of your own, if you like them so much. I can introduce you to my tailor."
Cadfael narrowed his eyes up at Illario, seeing right through his feigned innocence. "You're going to make me say it again, aren't you?"
("They smell of you, is all," he had mumbled into Illario's hair one night, the sharp edges of their usual banter softened in their respite. "...Makes me feel safe.")
"I'm not sure I know what you mean, mio caro."
"Liar."
Illario's dark eyes lit up, his hand sneaking underneath the open collar to tease at warm skin. "Only a little. For fun and profit. You understand."
Cadfael slipped one arm around Illario's shoulders, gently grazing the close-cropped hair at the nape of his Crow's neck with his fingernails. "You don't actually want me to get my own, either."
No, he really didn't.
The other must have seen it on his face, because he huffed a laugh. Illario took the opportunity to lean down and kiss him soundly.
"Allow me to steal you away tonight and show you just how little I want you to wear your own clothes?"
Cadfael's first attempt to respond was cut short by Illario taking his lower lip between his teeth. The breathless chuckle that followed carried the second attempt along with it.
"I'm all yours, songbird."
Illario stole another kiss, smiling into it. And I, yours.
Day IV. Childhood Memories | Semi-Public Sex [NSFW]
just a shorty for this one, but it's spicy this time, yippeeee <3
I vaguely picture this being post-canon and at the Dellamorte Estates, and I say it counts as semi-public cause there are so many dang crows who could drop in without warning at any moment JKFDJKLF
hugs to @captastra for putting this together (you can find the prompts here!)
my other entries: Day I | Day III | Day V | Day VI | Day VII
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Illario heard the soft padding of feet behind him, then felt familiar arms wrap around his bare waist. The corner of his mouth ticked up, his focus still on the melting butter in the hot frying pan in front of him.
"Sleep well, amore?"
"For a time." Cadfael's voice, still rough with sleep, rumbled against Illario's back where he pressed his face. "Bed's cold without you."
It never ceased to amaze Illario how sweet Cadfael was in the mornings, before full wakefulness reached him. Even if he had grown bolder, seeking out Illario's touch on his own in the waking hours more often than when they had first met, he was always softest when no one else was around. It was a clear show of trust from his fierce spellblade that he wouldn't take for granted.
He laced his fingers with the hand that crept up to his heart and brought it to his lips. "I was going to try and surprise you with breakfast. I thought that you might want to sleep in, after last night."
Hands tangled in his hair, thighs crushing his head between them as he brought Cadfael over the edge again and again, Cadfael praising him, demanding, begging—
He could feel the grin against his skin, a graze of teeth following. The sweetness was waning.
"Such a gentleman."
And then the kisses began. Illario did his best to continue on with cooking, cracking eggs into the pan as Cad traveled down the Crow's flank with lips and teeth, around to his front, further down to the trail of dark hair at his belly. Deft fingers dipped underneath his waistband, a feather-light touch that disappeared quickly, only to be replaced with a ghost of warm breath.
A swift glance down treated him to the sight of Cadfael kneeling at his feet. That view was a dangerous one all on its own, but Illario knew he was doomed as soon as Cadfael caught his eye and leaned forward, mouthing the outline of Illario's length through his pants as he undid their ties with practiced ease.
"Cadfael…" His tone was one of warning, but the heat behind it was playful. Daring. The hum he got in response nearly made his knees buckle.
"I know you're capable of multitasking."
Without any more warning, Cadfael tugged Illario's waistband down and bit at the newly exposed skin at the junction of his hip. Hard. A low whine tore itself from Illario's throat when Cadfael wrapped a hand around him, guiding him to his waiting mouth. Illario stared right through the sizzling eggs as he was enveloped entirely, a warm tongue pressing against his underside before pulling back up with delicious friction. He narrowly avoided the edge of the hot pan when he threw his hand out to the stove for balance. The other merely chuckled at him, planting a wet kiss to the head of his cock as he raised an eyebrow up at him.
