#mirthe

"So, wait, what were you going to say before we left?" Karthe asked.

"Remember those things you said, in the bar?"

"About Cam?"

Miriam crinkled her nose, brow knit in concern. "You said them about an Agent of the Crown. They were heard by Agents of the Crown. You could be perceived as.. maybe.. if they twist it the right way... which we both know the law -does- do, which I want to emphasize Cam is trying to get them -not- to do, if not for your sake, for mine-- that you threatened the life.. of an Agent of the Crown."

Karthe scoffed. "Petty little shits, aren't they? I fuckin' dare them to."

Miri tapped the tips of her index fingers together. "It's... it's just one of those, be cautious things. Please."

"Mm, will do. I can always hide out in Dalaran, outside of Stormwind jurisdiction."

"Mara certainly won't be upset about that, so long as you don't tell her why you're there." She smiled.

Karthe offered a small smile in return. "Well, hey, uh. This is going to be a hard topic to broach, but..."

Miri peered at him as he trailed off.

"With how things have been recently, I'm thinking maybe we should break it off. It doesn't feel like we've been getting along and talking feels like it's only getting harder, uh. That's not to say I hate you, I don't."

Miri blinked a few times, looking around before looking at Karthe. Her brows knit together again. "Is this... a joke..?" she asked slowly, peering around as if she expected a punchline to jump out.

Karthe shook his head. "Sorry."

Miriam shook her head slowly, looking to him with some disbelief, mingled with betrayal. "Talking is more difficult because you don't -want- to talk.. and.. and this is evidence of it. You never want to talk. It's just what you say. That's that. Just like right now.. this.. us. It's not a conversation. It's not a topic for you, is it? It's just you telling me how it is?" She blinked a few times, swallowing back her emotions.

"I mean is there a right way to approach this? I'm afraid we're only going to end up resenting each other. Things obviously have been on a decline." "You could start with not during our anniversary."

Karthe sighed. "Yeah, the, uh, timing wasn't great, but I figured it was better if it wasn't bottled up and prolonged."

Miriam rubbed a hand over her face, trying to look anywhere but at him. She didn't trust herself to look at him without the tears coming. "Is this because I asked you to tone down how caustic you've been? You told me yourself you could feel the arcane corruption getting worse, and I was trying to help by having you take notice of it seemingly happening again."

"No. This isn't from anything you did. You haven't done anything wrong."

Miriam looked to him finally, blinking back, and holding back the tears when she did so. "I'm not sure I believe you, and yet I know I haven't." She swallowed. "Am I going to have to be afraid of you now? Afraid you'll come for me, and my children?"

"Miriam, what the fuck? No, Light, -no-. I told you, I don't hate you and I still care about the kids. I want to keep helping Mara with her training if you'll allow me to."

"You also told me you loved me, that you wouldn't leave. That you wouldn't be like everyone else."

"I still care about you. I'd still want to be on good terms with you, help you if you need it."

Miriam shook her head, scrunching her eyes shut. "How, Karthe? How? If you claim we can't be on good terms now, how can we be on good terms if you do this?" she asked, voice cracking. "This isn't just some.. some fling, or short-served relationship. You're talking about -divorce.- About turning your back on -five years- together."

"I understand the gravity of this. I haven't taken it lightly."

Miriam looked to him once more. "We've had people screeching at us from one way or the other. You've.. I don't know what it is, and Light, I don't know if you still deny it, but there's been -something- making you more volatile lately. I know you've never been a poster child for the Church, but, surely you've got to notice that. I made a bad decision. Followed by whatever is going on with you. We've argued about both, yes, but.. that -happens- in relationships. What matters is getting through them. When left to our own devices? We get along. My point is.. you're going to throw away five years away for one month?"

"I mean you just thought I might actually come after you and the -kids-. Clearly there's more to it."

"You caring for me, and loving the kids and I... That's what's stopped you. I know your stance on chronomancy. If you don't hold those feelings for us, it's a question any mother -should- ask."

"Fuck no I'm not coming after you or them. I still care. I still want to see them succeed."

"You've said that, and I believe you, having heard it. Given that I did not expect to hear that you wanted to divorce me.. to leave us? You can't blame me for -needing- to hear that. Evidently... my children are all I have. Besides, you're deflecting the matter. One month. Five years. Are you -really- prepared to make that decision?"

"It's not just because of this month. Things have just felt so... different. You're still a wonderful person but it feels like it's been harder to talk to you nor do we feel as close. And that feeling has just been welling up for some time."

Miriam nodded her head, seeming to accept that, to a degree. "I'm sorry I went to war. I'm sorry it took time for me to get the help I needed to handle my PTSD." She paced back and forth a few steps, trying to calm herself. She knew he hated tears. She knew he'd resent them, and was doing her best to hold them in. "I'm not accepting this. Not until you've put divorce papers on my door-- our door."

"Miriam you going to war wasn't in your control, nor do I blame you for what you went through. That's understandable, there's nothing for you to be ashamed of with that. And... alright."

That made her crack. The briefest sound of a muffled sob that she swallowed back at the last moment made it past the dam she was building. "No. Instead I get to be ashamed that my husband has decided that who came back isn't who he loves." She sniffed. "Is there anything else? I don't want to argue... even if all I want to do is stop this."

"Miriam I don't hate you nor blame it on your struggles, please. There's.... nothing else. No."

"I don't believe you. Otherwise you wouldn't be so callous to do this without proper.. talk. Properly trying. During our anniversary." Turning away, she begun to channel her teleportation spell.

you don't choose honglin as your bias, honglin chooses you

finally finished! Mordrott with her boys.

[ Music ]

It was late in the evening, well past after the last of the transients within Tumbleweeds had taken to their rooms for the evening. Outside, Westfall was quiet, save for the odd scuffle of Defias, and the distant howling of a coyote. A typical Saturday night in Moonbrook.

Within, Karthe was leaning up against a railing strategically placed in such a fashion he could survey the common area of Tumbleweeds while still seeming casual as he flipped through the latest in news about the war.

Miriam stopped outside the door to Tumbleweeds, hesitating. She almost didn't believe she was home, and in a way, it didn't feel like she was. She wasn't the same as when she left. After a moment, she pushed the door open with a ‘creeaaaaak’.

"If you're Defias I'm gonna give you fair warning now, the moment you round the corner you're fuckin' dead," Karthe casually threatened without looking up from his papers.

"I'm not Defias," Miriam said, voice tired as she came around the corner, and looked towards her husband.

Karthe dropped the newspapers the moment Miriam stepped around the corner, fumbling over himself to hustle over to embrace her. "Miriam! Holy fuck." Miriam held on to him tightly, closing her eyes as she let out a shaky breath of relief. Home. She was home.

Karthe clung to her with a sense of desperation. "Gonna be honest with you. This separation thing is starting to wear a bit thin." Miriam hugged on to him tighter at his words. She laughed through the sudden welling of tears in her eyes, the sound choked in her throat. "Yeah. Yeah it is."

They separated enough for Karthe to gently grip her chin, gently turning her head this way and that as he carefully inspected her. "You alright? You haven't gotten hurt?" Miriam looked up to him, taking a moment to just take in the sight of her husband. Her memories never did any justice. At his question, she replied. "I'll survive." The right side of her jawline was bruised, her face having a mild case of road rash-- or in this case, coral rash. Her robes had splatters of blood, as well as blotted parts upon her robes with more blood. Not all of it hers.

Absently, Karthe glided his thumb over the bruise upon her chin before leaning in to kiss his wife. "Well, you made it back. All that matters." Miriam returned the kiss, before resting her head upon his shoulder. "I missed you so much," she murmured. He nodded his head, releasing a tense sigh. "Yeah, me too. It only gets harder. Everything reminds me of you." Miriam closed her eyes. "I just want this war to be over..."

Karthe & Miriam Surick

Drawn by @the-zornbie-cat

Colors slapped on by me