#topazel

Have these!!!

Valou blinked, looking up from his spot on the couch, a soft, fluffy blanket across his lap and a plush devilsaur in his arms. He stared silently at his sibling-in-law, all yellow scales, pink stripes and fluffy feathers, a small spray bottle in hand as they idly examined the leaves of one of their houseplants.

“I can smell him all over you and you know that perfectly well.” Topazel said, looking to meet Valou’s eyes, or lack thereof, with a soft smile, feathery mane all fluffed up before they moved to the next plant. A neat little pothos with a name tag reading ‘Dave’ who was lightly spritzed with the spray bottle, “Also, you've got that look on your face. You know the one”

Valou sighed in defeat, laying his head back against the arm of the couch, a hand over his face in embarrassment as that glowing blush returned, “He’s a warlock?”

“Other than that, Valou, you know what I mean. You're not getting out of this poking and prodding unless you get your tail up off the couch and skedaddle.”

An indignant snort, Valou squeezing his plush devilsaur tight to his chest as he took a slow breath, ears shyly stuck out to the sides as he finally spoke, “He's sweet. Smart as all hell, talks science to me and flirts at the same time, yet he's just as good at emotional talk…”

“And he's good-looking?” The dracthyr cooed teasingly, a pruned leaf twirled between their pink pads while they bat their eyes at Valou.

“Yes, Paz. He's very good-looking, now shush.” he replied, turning slightly to look away from Topazel, ears tilted back. But a weight on the far end of the couch told him that this was inescapable. Sure enough, looking at the end of the couch proved that thought. The short dracthyr sat there, legs pulled up onto the cushion and their oversized tail laid across their lap like a pillow.

Topazel was family, the one who woke Dejan and brought him safely to the Dragon Isles, helping him recover bits of himself, to recall draconic like it was the language he knew as a child, teaching him common and other languages like orcish. No matter how he might try to reason otherwise, Valou knew there was no reason not to trust them. He sighed, shaking his head and looking expectantly at them.

That stare seemed to be acceptance enough for the dracthyr, their head tilting to the side as they spoke, “I can tell he's already got a bit of a hold on you, but I'm curious as to why you look so grim when you're thinking about him sometimes.”

Elven ears stuck out to the sides again, breath caught in Valou's lungs briefly as he traced back in his thoughts, recalling those emotions, the reasoning.

“He… I actually feel something when he talks to me, when he looks at me and smiles.” He started, brows knitted together as he squeezed his plush a bit tighter, “Kenodir somehow managed to make me feel… Sad. He makes my heart ache in a way I've not felt since before…”

The Kaldorei trailed off, the history left unspoken, yet clear to Topazel.

“He makes you feel vulnerable.” The yellow dracthyr spoke up, head tilting slightly as they filled the quiet with their own suggestion, their own attempt at discerning what Valou was so caught up on, “You feel vulnerable and you've not felt like that in thousands of years.”

“And it's terrifying.” He barely spoke above a whisper, curling a bit more around his red devilsaur plushie, clinging to the beloved item as though it held his very life force.

“I feel vulnerable and real, like a man with thoughts and feelings rather than a slut of a demon hunter with no future.” Another pause as a trembling breath escaped him.

“When I'm with him, I'm suddenly more than the facade I've made, if I can hold onto it at all. I'm..”

“You feel seen.” Topazel interjected again, turning their head and notably looking away from Valou, letting the poor Illidari relax a little without any of their scrutiny directed towards him, “You feel like a person and you don't know how to act when you're not hiding behind your mask.”

Only a nod, the Illidari sitting silently for a moment as the felflame in his sockets wavered and flickered. His voice came out so very soft, like that of a young, nervous man, still just an aspiring mage from thousands of years ago, sheepish and shy, inexperienced in matters of the heart.

“I said ‘I love you’ already..”

Topazel cast a bright, curious glance over towards the Kaldorei, on to see Valou clinging so, so tight to Salsa, the poor devilsaur plushie nearly flattened against Valou's chest as he continued.

“I said ‘I love you’ without even thinking, a dumb slip-up in the heat of the moment.”

“What's wrong with that?” The yellow mender tilted their head, looking at Valou a moment longer before looking off at the various houseplants, easing any tension that being perceived might be causing.

“I'm terrified of that changing, what if I get worse..?

Emerald eyes turned and locked onto the Illidari, “What if you get better?” they countered, “What if you grow regardless of the outcome of being together?”

“You can't hide away and freeze up with something like love and potential. You'll never get better at cooking without burning a few meals. Stop letting that fear guide you, control you. You have your own life and you'll have to guide it yourself, but you have people to support you if you get a little lost.”

As Valou curled tighter in the discomfort of kindness, the felflame in his sockets sputtering and extinguishing, a ragged raw breath pulled in and let out as a sob... Especially as Topazel spoke again.

LIKE, OH MY GOD ALL THE WHIMSY AND NERDY CHATTING FELL OUT OF TOADLY AND DIRECTLY INTO TOPAZEL.

I KNOW ITS HARD TO ACTUALLY SEE BUT I PROMISE YOU THAT CHARACTER-WISE, TOADLY IS A SASSY LITTLE BRAT NOW AND TOPAZEL IS AN ABSOLUTE SWEETHEART DWEEB WHO LOVES THEIR KIDS.