#rian;

“A guy tried to kill me. Had to show him my death ain’t his decision to make. He wouldn’t leave me alone. Ended up having to kill him myself, cos we got a-fightin’.”

“...isn’t it way too late for that?” At the end of the day, while Fiadh could keep a grumpy face for a long, long time, Rian couldn’t – or if he could, he got tired far more easily. When she threw herself headfirst into a mad adventure to find someone from another age, he would stay away, planted surely on his feet. Together, they were a big chaos with an unexpected ending.

“Wait, hold on.” There wasn’t really a need for Rian to be this cautious. He knew Fiadh was twice as careful, and she wouldn’t want to get in even more trouble than the two of them were already into. Still, it would never hurt to remind her of the year - and reality - they were in. What if they’d been tracked? Followed? There were probably bounties on their heads in at least half the timelines they’d visited. “Don’t say anything too fast.” We haven’t come here for trouble.

Fiadh turned around, exchanging a quick glance with him. In the roll of her eyes and the sigh that fell from her chest like a stone dropped, it was obvious she’d rather have spoken first. For a split second, everything in her face screamed, shut up and let me handle it. As much as she would have liked to get into a fight and fence with Rian until he was out of breath and out of words, she just cleared her throat, like she was impatient to speak. “I just had a weird question.

What... time do you come from?  If you don’t mind telling us, of course.“ And in case this man truly was like them. She wouldn’t call herself a time-traveller; not really. Those kind of people often had missions more important than making sure their grandparents weren’t lost out there.

“How did you know that...?” Rian looked between Fiadh and the other man, and fidgeted with the hilt of the sword strapped to his side. “Sorry if this is too sudden, we’re just... curious.”

“This might be a stupid question, but... what year is it?” Ah, the classic. Having to go through the process of explaining himself to others was Rian Loinsigh’s least favorite part of time-travelling. Most often, his compass – or at least that was what it looked like to everyone else – always showed a specific year, and always took him to it, regardless of how long that took to happen.

Sometimes. But not always. Sometimes, Rian was left clueless in the middle of a place he could not immediately recognize – pretty often, in fact. It was because he didn’t show his confusion that he did not seem too much out of place.

unprompted asks // always accepting.

“Is this an honest question? I’m afraid I’m a bad choice to ask about this.” Rian grinned. “I just talk a lot and show interest in the other person, like I did with you. Though I’m not much of a talker. I prefer actions to words, they feel easier for me to do. Then again, if you keep your mouth shut, they’ll never find out you like them. The body language is only one part of it.”

“Why you askin’?” He had to admit he had been caught by surprise with a question like that, even from Bernays.

from a meme i can't find.

“ i am. what, why? why would i not be happy? ”

rian, much like fiadh, has seen better days - both as a time-traveller, as a pirate, and as a guard - and as a man, too. fighting nearly constantly with fiadh didn't mean he didn't see her as someone worthy of respect. in the end, though, was he happy? he could say he had found peace and quiet. so, yes, he was. he was happy... if somewhat worried. who knew what the future could hold? he hadn't let that keep him feeling bad for long before, however. no, life was too short to spend so much of it thinking about what could and couldn't be.

especially when he had bernays to distract him from his worries.

from a meme i can't find.

Rian shook his head and sighed, rubbing his temples. “Yeah, yeah. That’s common sense, isn’t it? Things change, yer a part ’a ’em. You got no choice, no say.” He scowled at the ground, then looked in the woman’s eyes again. There was a crease of worry between his brows, a grimace on his face. “I should’ve let a lot ’a things go.”

“Still trying to learn, though, how to do that. ’S not as easy as I thought it was... But I’ll be fine.” He isn't entirely sure if he believes himself. “I’ll be fine...”

Send 💍 to propose to my muse!

“Yes. I love you. You’re my treasure. I would absolutely love to spend the rest of my life with you... my precious berry.”

Rian grins from ear to ear and leans in to kiss her on the face. His girlfriend - no, she’s his fiancee now! He can barely believe it. Not only have they grown so close together, but she cares about him and loves him and wants to be with him... something that Rian used to think would be impossible before, back when his inability to get on with people kept him from making new friends.

But things are different now. Now, he has Bernays. And she has him. Until death do them part.