One shot centric to Valen and a female OC, nothing new there.
Setting: Hordes of the Underdark, Cania.
"My lady, might we speak?"
"Here?" Valen was clearly apprehensive and it was making her nervous. "Can we at least get by one of the fires?"
"Of course," he stumbled out.
"Now, what's wrong?"
"Wrong? My lady, nothing is wrong." His eyes darted away from hers. "To say—"
"Valen." Aniel says softly.
"Yes. We have known each other for quite sometime," He was having trouble with the words, making them actually come out of his mouth but when he looked at Aniel he thinks, 'how could she ever be cruel?'
Aniel, however, was dreading this, this confession. He spoke of their connection and the time they had spent together and her heart dropped.
"What are you trying to say Valen?"
"I—" He looks at her with renewed feeling pulling her hands closer to his body, "I love you, my lady. With all my heart." It felt like some sick joke the gods were playing on her, to leave two broken hearts, rather then just one.
There was nothing but the cold wind between them for a moment before Aniel spoke. "Valen—"
"I… understand, my—"
When he started to let go of her hands, she responds by grabbing one of his and keeping him there. "No, you don't. I met the love of my life a long time ago." He looks up startled. "And then I was sent to that pit of a land you call the Underdark. And I never got over him. I never will."
"I—"
She tugs at him arm again, bringing him back to attention. "You deserve someone who hasn't had their heart stolen away by another." She didn't look at him again, but turned away and began walking towards the gap between a pair of glaciers, where they heard the Scrivener should be.
Valen stands by the waning campfire for a time, ignoring the green sparks and watching after Aniel. Unsure of what to do.
Rejection stands at the forefront of his mind, the need to be alone for a time and to leave her be. Though there is an itch that wanted to follow her, make sure she was alright, protect her even if she never needed it.
Valen takes a step towards the gap but stops, his emotions conflicting again, and turns back towards the Hellfire Tavern.