#strata writes

He blinked a few times before slowly pulling the spoon from his mouth and swallowing the bite he’d already shoveled in. Setting the spoon down, he laced his fingers together on the table.

“Hypothetically,” he started, “if I said yes…would you be mad?”

Lucanis frowned. “Kai…”

“I said hypothetically!”

The older assassin looked even less amused.

“Rook.”

Oh, he was in deep shit.

Lucanis’ stare was unrelenting, and the younger man didn’t take long to break under it.

“Spite kept giving me puppy eyes!” Rook blurted out.

The rogue closed his eyes and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Those are my puppy eyes…”

“Yeah, I’m well aware…and they are still very effective,” Rook pointed out, “Actually, it’s a little scary how well he can use them…”

Lucanis sighed again and just gave him a look. “Kai…no more teaching Spite fire.”

“But…”

“Want. To do. Fire!”

“No,” came the firm response before Lucanis looked at Rook pointedly, “he does not need to know fire.”

Rook sighed, shoulders dropping in defeat. “Fine.”

“Want-”

“No,” Lucanis said again, rubbing his temple. He looked at Rook again. “Promise me that you won’t try to teach him fire anymore.”

Rook kept his face looking as miserable as possible.

“I promise, ma vhen’an, I won’t try to teach him fire anymore.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening, in Rook’s study.

The sky over Terviso slowly turned to a gorgeous hue of golds, reds, and pinks as the light from the sun disappeared behind the mountain range. Night would soon overtake the sky with the moon and stars. Even so, the city was still bustling with life, especially around the markets and cafes. Rook smiled softly as a pair of children ran past him, kicking a ball between them--probably heading home before their parents grew worried. 

He was glad to see the people of his city doing so well after the dragon attack.

That thought tugged his lips downward as he turned down a street that headed away from the main part of the city and into the residential district. A pang of guilt welled up inside him as he thought of the devastation wrought by the blighted dragon in Minrathous. He couldn’t forget the anger and look of betrayal in Neve’s eyes when he had arrived late…too late to do anything. It had been his decision to make regarding which city he would help. And they both knew he had chosen selfishly. 

Terviso was his home, his city. He couldn’t bear to see it fall. Neve knew that. It was the same for her and Minrathous. While she said she understood he had an impossible choice to make, Rook could see there was a part of her that blamed him for what happened to Dock Town…

“So where are we headed, exactly?”

The sound of Davrin’s voice jolted the mage out of his guilt ridden thoughts. Quickly, Rook put on a grin and turned on the heel of his foot, walking backwards as he talked with his companions--Davrin and Lucanis.

“I need to stop by home to check in before we head back,” Rook explained, stepping around a set of barrels without looking. “I made a promise that I would.”

“Worried spouse?” the Warden teased. Rook knew he was joking, but he wasn’t so sure the teasing was being directed towards himself. Especially when Lucanis gave Davrin a slow side eyed glare and Davrin just grinned wider. It was no secret to the rest of the team that Rook and Lucanis have been dancing around each other flirtatiously from the moment the Demon of Vyrantium set foot in the Lighthouse--all of them would subtly teased the two Crows about it. 

However, none besides the two of them--well, three, if you count Spite--knew just how close they had gotten to that first kiss before Lucanis had pulled away. Not that Rook blamed him for doing so. He could still clearly remember the sorrow and distress he saw in those dark eyes as Lucanis stepped back and mentioned needing to clear his head. It made the mage’s heart ache for the man just thinking about it. Rook knew Lucanis had inner demons--figuratively and literally--that he was fighting, and while it didn’t lessen the sting he had felt at the rejection, it made him far more determined to stay by the other man’s side and help him.  

“Worried mother actually,” the mage corrected with a soft chuckle, “She likes to make sure I’m alright after a contract…and I want to see that she is alright after the…” He trailed off as the guilt reared its ugly head again. Was he ever going to get used to that gnawing feeling in his gut? Shaking his head, he put the smile back on again for his companions. “This might take awhile, so if you both want to head off to the market or back to the Lighthouse, you’re more than welcome to.”

A concerned glance exchanged between the Warden and the Crow, but neither questioned Rook’s verbal pivot. They appeared to silently agree upon something as they both looked back at Rook.

“I think we’re both fine following you home,” his fellow assassin said, a crooked grin curling his lips, “Someone has to keep you out of trouble.”

“Please,” Rook laughed as he turned back around, “I don’t get in that much trouble, thank you very much.”

“Only every other day,” Davrin teased again, “Right, Lucanis?”

“More like every other hour, Davrin,” the Crow quipped, a chuckle in his reply.

“Har, har, you both are hilarious,” Rook said, rolling his eyes. While he was a little annoyed with their teasing, he couldn’t deny they had managed to get an actual smile out of him.

“Damn straight we are,” Davrin laughed.

“Yeah, a real couple of jesters,” Rook scoffed. He stopped in front of a small home and unlatched the wrought iron gate. “Here we are. Home sweet home.”

“This is on the de Riva estate,” Lucanis observed.

“It is,” the mage confirmed, looking back at them once he opened the gate, “Last chance to bail now. I warn you, you’re probably not going to leave this house without at least a pound of baked goods in your stomach if my mother has anything to say about it if you stick around.”

“That’s not a deterrent,” Davrin grinned as the rogue nodded in agreement.

“Alright, don’t say I didn’t warn you though,” Rook snickered, heading towards the front door. As he opened it and stepped inside, he called out, “Mamae, I’m home.”

A loud bang of a pan being dropped rang out from down the hall followed shortly by the running of bare feet on polished wood flooring. Just as the sound grew closer, a middle aged elven woman rounded the corner, wide green eyes growing wider as they landed on him. Instantly a brilliant smile crossed her face, wrinkling the dark blue vallaslin around her eyes and mouth.

“Oh my sweet da'gaa,” she said as she closed the distance and pulled him into a tight hug. Rook laughed lightly and hugged her back, face buried in her dark brown hair as he kissed the top of her head. “I’m so happy to see you safe and sound, I’ve been worried sick! Viago tells me you’re chasing two gods now…and you went up against that blighted dragon!”

“Of course he did,” Rook sighed, taking a step back from her. He smiled down at her reassuringly. “I’m perfectly fine, mamae, I promise.”

“I’d have a better time believing you, Kaidan, if you didn’t always get yourself into trouble right after saying that,” his mother sighed, holding her hand against her cheek.

There were two sets of snickers from behind him that followed her words. Rook turned and glared at his companions.