#matiu

Matiu: Oh no! I forgot I dont have a reflection!

More Matiu art because he's too pretty to forget about.

Kei growled softly as her shoulder pressed the baseboard and the small piece of steel remained just beyond her fingertips. Come on, Tangaloa damn you. She was so lost in her determination she didn't hear the approaching footsteps.

Toes nudged her side, and a highly amused voice asked, "Do I want to know?"

She looked up to see Matiu, arms crossed and eyes twinkling. "Dropped a rivet for the hilt I'm working on. It rolled... under... here..." she strained, biting her lip as if concentration could make her arm another inch or so longer.

"Don't you have a whole little bucket of those?" Matiu sat down next to her.

"These are custom," Kei groaned, arm still inside the wall. "Client paid extra to have their family heraldry etched on. It was a headache to do that much detail so small and I'd rather not need to do it again."

"Ah, so that's why I walked in to my wife sprawled full-length on the smithy floor and losing a battle with the wall," he teased. "You almost kicked over Gera's quenching bucket, you know."

Kei glanced back--sure enough, her left foot was centimeters from the large black bucket. "Well. Good thing it's almost." She freed her arm and sat back. "Could you try, Mati? Please? Seeing as I'm not having any luck, and you have longer reach than me?"

Matiu chuckled. "I'm also incredibly weak to you saying please."

"That too," she said with a laugh, leaning in to give him a quick kiss before shuffling out of the way.

Fortunately the hole was large enough to accommodate his arm, and after a few moments' grumbling strain he sat back with the small silvery rivet gleaming in his palm.

"My hero," she joked, straddling his lap as she took the rivet. She curled one hand tight around it, the other cupping his jaw. She leaned in for a kiss. "What would I do without you?"

Matiu was laughing as he kissed her back. "I'm sure you would manage, dearest," he murmured against her lips.

Kei/Matiu (Pillars of Eternity)

---

The sand was warm beneath her, the crashing waves a lulling rhythm in her ears, and the the shade just right to stave off the worst of the sun. In short, it was the most content she could remember being in a long time. 

“I’m glad you talked me into this,” Kei murmured.

“One of us has to remember how to relax,” Matiu chuckled.  “Otherwise we might get boring.”

She snorted drowsily, cracking one eye open to look up at him. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Mati.” Pretty much all her exciting memories involved him--frequently as the catalyst, otherwise a willing accomplice.

He shifted to gaze down at her, his knuckles skimming gently over her shoulder blade. “That’s a relief to hear. It’s important to still have fun, even though we’re all grown up.” He scooped a palmful of sand and trickled the grains along her spine.

DAY 1 (Pillars of Eternity; Kei/Matiu)

---

“...with this vow you are bound until Tangaloa parts you, through all of life’s triumphs and trials.” The village priest made a gesture of invitation, encouraging them to take the final step in the ceremony.

Kei smiled at Matiu as they simultaneously squeezed each other’s hands and leaned in for their first kiss as husband and wife. She raised one hand to cup his jaw, and he responded by running his fingers through her hair--loose for once, and very wavy from its typical braids. They didn’t hold the kiss for long--they had cheering friends and relatives waiting for them--but it was tender and sweet all the same.

“Ready for this, husband?” Kei whispered with a smile. Husband. It was still a little odd to think of Matiu that way, despite the months-long betrothal period she’d had to adjust, but as spouses went she could do far, far worse. And surely the oddness would fade in time. It had for her parents as well as his, after all.

“Mingling with our wedding crowd?” Matiu chuckled and kissed her forehead. “As I can be, wife.”