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peopleofthedas2011-01-18 11:49 am
twist_shimmy) wrote in peopleofthedas2011-01-18 11:49 am
The VLS'v B-Sides: Track One
Hello, darlings! It's Tuesday, which means it's a Vir Lath Sa'vunin posting day! But what you get today is something special which we hope you will enjoy reading as much as we've done writing.
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What is a B-side?
Consider these standalone one-shots that complement the main story. We post them when they fit in with the main story's timeline, but you don't have to read them to know what's going on when normal VLS'v resumes. They're more character and scene snapshots than overarching plot events.
Also, they're sometimes smutty.
Why did you write them?
It's good to get practice with different character voices. Otherwise Tesni and Caerwyn would take our minds over completely and your mods would suddenly be staring into space and stabbing everything that moved. Plus, you can take the smut out of a fic, but you can't take the smut out of the author's mind.
Wait, you said smut?
Indeed I did. Sometimes. This way, Caer and Tesni don't have to be in each other's heads when sexings are happening.
Consider these standalone one-shots that complement the main story. We post them when they fit in with the main story's timeline, but you don't have to read them to know what's going on when normal VLS'v resumes. They're more character and scene snapshots than overarching plot events.
Also, they're sometimes smutty.
Why did you write them?
It's good to get practice with different character voices. Otherwise Tesni and Caerwyn would take our minds over completely and your mods would suddenly be staring into space and stabbing everything that moved. Plus, you can take the smut out of a fic, but you can't take the smut out of the author's mind.
Wait, you said smut?
Indeed I did. Sometimes. This way, Caer and Tesni don't have to be in each other's heads when sexings are happening.
Vir Lath Sa’vunin B-Side Track One
Occurs between Chapters 38 and 39
Title: Solitude Stands in the Doorway, and I'm Struck Once Again By Her Black Silhouette. (Suzanne Vega)
Rating: T
Word Count: 1530
ZEVRAN
My Warden was ruining me.
That is what they would say, at least, if they were here. And there were days that I didn't mind that I was writing instead of killing. It was nice to eat and laugh with this strange family of hers in their cold home.
But there were other days when the snow felt confining and I missed the sights and smells of Antiva. Everything was white, and the food was bland and never had enough salt. No water, no breeze, no sand, only mortar and stone and trees. I caught myself wondering more than once while she and I sparred if I would still have a home if I missed and plunged my dagger through her breast and between her ribs.
It was never a thought that I could entertain for long, no matter how Taliesin's voice mocked me in my head. (“How many times has your career been nearly ruined by a pretty face, Zev?”) Like her brother, her face normally was utterly impassive--that was likely where he learned the trait, after all--but I discovered how to read her eyes. Cold face, cold lips, killer's hands... but warm eyes. I was her family, they said, even if she never smiled with her mouth.
I had a family. And because she had given it to me, I never had a chance against her. I was tethered to the snow and to seeing out this insane quest that she made clear she would rather die than fail.
It was the ink that did it. My Warden was always so precise, so tidy. She calculated and aimed and killed with the fewest shots possible, and rarely left a battle specked in blood like the rest of us. Her tattoo was crisp and caged her impassive features and made her seem empty, in a way.
And then I had put a quill into her hands, and she had proceeded to coat herself in droplets of wayward ink. Something about the splotches on her cheeks undid me just as thoroughly as the blood on her face had in her tent after she killed her lover, but this time when the walls went down, she did not put them back up.
Granted, there were other walls behind them. But I called her my treasure anyway and wiped at her cheek like a fool.
When her brother asked me how to pursue his songbird, I realized that my normal approach would not work with Tesni. She had never taken my flirting seriously, or received it particularly positively, and I had never exactly given her reason to do so. And now, should I resume my shameless behavior, it would seem... low after Tamlen.
So I stayed close, and touched her at every chance. I laughed and teased her and watched with amusement as she learned how to lead our growing forces.
I did everything perfectly wrong, but it took most of the winter for me to realize it. The news was not broken to me gently the day I finally did.
Caerwyn interrupted our reading lesson, and Tesni eagerly snatched at the opportunity to be freed from her office. I silently lamented the loss of her hair, which smelled faintly of lavender. With nothing else to do, I followed them into the courtyard and sat on a half-wall while he forced his sister into the saddle of a mare so small she was practically a pony.
“I know how to ride,” she protested. “I’ve ridden with you!”
“Stealing a horse and sitting on its back’s not riding.” He laced his fingers to give her a boost. “Hop up.”
I listened to her laugh--something she only seemed to do around her little brother--and thought about how strongly her hair and tattoo made her stand out from the rest of the keep and the snow slowly consuming the mountainside. A drop of blood in the snow.
Literally so, when Caerwyn made her jump the horse and she lost her seat and tumbled to the ground. I smothered my laughter as her brother hauled her out of a snowdrift; she did not take failure well.
Once she was back on her feet, he looked at her and snorted. “Graceful.”
“I’ll bring up that time you fell in the brook while hunting. I will.”
“No!” He shoved at her, but she caught him in a hug and pressed her forehead to his.
“Silly brother.”
“You’re cold.”
They both were livelier than usual at dinner that night, which I used as an excuse to keep her dancing until she remembered that she needed to write another letter to the First Enchanter. She was the only woman I had ever known who could reject me and return to her work with such consistency.
“Do it tomorrow,” Alistair begged, but she left us all and locked herself in her study.
“Ah, well,” I said. “It is nearly time for watch, anyhow.” Less of a priority with the passes closed, but something that Tesni insisted upon, regardless. At least she and her brother had lined all of our boots with heavy fur, and with more people in the keep we found ourselves standing in the cold less often than we had been on the road.
I walked the walls until the moon told me I was freed of my duties, then roused Alistair for his turn. I was too cold to be sleepy, so I decided to check on my Warden’s progress on her letter. She was in the habit of leaving them out on her desk for me to peruse at my leisure because she “hated sitting there and watching me smirk at her handwriting.”
...She was still in the study, asleep face-down on the desk, hands covered in ink. I checked for weapons--none, excellent--before moving forward to wake her.
I spoke once I was standing beside the desk. “My Warden?”
“Nnnnph.” Her eyes remained closed.
“Tesora,” I said.
“Nnn.”
It always seemed cruel to rouse her when she had actually found restful sleep. I reached forward and placed a hand on her hair, and she stirred at last. “Wha--?”
“You will regret sleeping here when you attempt to use your neck tomorrow.”
“Mph.” She lifted her head and stared up at me. “Is first watch over?” When I nodded, she groaned. “Oh, excellent.” My Warden rose sleepily, and wrapped her arm around my waist. I silently cursed the armor I had put on for watch and smiled at her winningly.
“Get me to bed, please,” she said with a yawn.
Once we were in the hall it became clear that she had no intention of letting go of me. I put an arm around her shoulder to make walking so close easier and guided us down the hall toward her room. She leaned into my side and yawned again. “You’re cold.”
“Three hours outside, my Warden.”
Her free hand reached out and unlatched the door. “Come on.”
I stood rooted in the door for a moment, watching as she slipped free of my arm and moved into her room. Mierda. We should have brought the lamp along. Her room was darker than the hall.
The only furniture was her bed--which currently housed neither of her brothers, how unusual--a rug, and drapes Wynne had sewn for her to keep out the worst of the cold from the window. They seemed a safer choice to move toward than the bed, so I crossed the room and let in some light.
I had nearly forgotten how strange she looked by moonlight. Her hair nearly glowed, but her tattoo blended in with the surrounding shadows and obscured those pretty eyes of hers. I crossed my arms and leaned casually against the wall, waiting for a cue. Was I to leave?
Was I to undress?
She sat on the edge of the bed and removed her boots, then collapsed wearily onto the blankets. I was about to cross to the door and leave her be when she said my name.
“Zev.”
“Tesora?”
She held her arms open. “Come here.”
Words should not be able to do that to my pulse, but I walked forward like a nervous little boy. “Come here,” she said again, and made room beside her on the bed.
Accursed armor. As I took it off, the room grew progressively colder, but my shirt and smallclothes would be far more comfortable. Once I was free of my leathers, I sat on the bed beside her. She tangled her arms around one of mine and pulled until I fell over beside her.
“Well, here I am.” I could smell her hair again, and resisted the urge to close my eyes and inhale deeply. I was too close to risk making the wrong move now.
“Thank you for looking after me.” Her hand slid across my neck, into my hair, pulling me close with her strong and sure fingers, sending a thrill down my spine that left the muscles in my back as tense as one of her bowstrings--
--and then she pressed her forehead against mine and gave a relaxed sigh.
Brilliant, Zevran. You have made yourself into her brother.
She was the only woman I had ever known who could reject me and return to her work with such consistency.
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Is there anyone these bloody Dalish don't go all platonic with? At this rate, Tesni will die a virgin with a fucking army of brothers. >:
EDIT: PS. Can I put a request in for Alistair's PoV? I'd love to know how his weird snuggly family have settled in his head.
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It's okay. Tesni's not a virgin. She knows what she's missing, and eventually she will want it back. You have my word. :D
Also, excellent idea. I was considering writing an Alistair one, so this will boot the idea into high gear.
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Although, I really don't want Zev to die painfully, if quickly.
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That tattoo is a bitch to draw even in tiny form. XD
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:D
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That's what I'm here for. ^_^
Sorry you've felt crummy, but hey! ¡sorpresa del sexo a tope!
♪┏(・o･)┛♪┗ ( ･o･) ┓♪┏ (.o.) ┛♪┗ (･o･ ) ┓♪┏(･o･)┛♪
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Now I can finish the Nate/Zev scene without being over here and MOPING AT EVERYTHING.
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My brain is an awful, awful place full of such things.
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NO!
*headdesk*
>.>
he'll figure something out. i have faith.
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We shall see, no?