A/N: I've noticed a few of these oneshot collections around so I thought I might as well do an Alvanus one. I got my prompts from http:/ community. livejournal. com /100 _prompts /692 .html (the last table on the list). I don't know if I'll do all hundred of them but, hey, it's a challenge.

Mellow

Alval's going to be back soon. Banus thought, as he scraped the last of the cat food into Little Val's bowl, And, I must remember to buy some more cat food tomorrow. Always forgetting. The kitchen was nice and calm. All quiet apart from the faint sounds of cooking from the pot. Banus thought cleaning was somewhat theraputic and didn't like to consider it a chore. Which was fortunate because his boyfriend wasn't the most tidy of people.

Checking the stew, he knew it was almost ready. Little Val was polishing off his meal and loving every minute, of course. He could almost whistle in the quiet of the kitchen because he felt so calm. He settled for humming instead, sitting in the living room and waiting for Alval to come home.

The usual slam of the door told Banus that Alval's day had not been of the pleasant variety. Again. However, he just closed his eyes and continued polishing his dagger, not even jumping when Alval went into full rant mode, "...wouldn't know a good plan to kill someone if it painted itself orange and did backflips naked down the corridor, singing at the top of their voice!"

"Don't I know it, Alval." He had to put down his dagger at that moment because Little Val came up to him at that moment, leaping his lap. The kitten had learned that anywhere near Banus was a safe place to be and so, he always leapt onto his lap whenever Alval was in a bad mood. Banus knew that it was best just to let Alval run out of steam rather than fuelling the fire,

"...Ungolim thinking he can tell me what to do all the time. Just because he's the Night Mother's favourite. I swear that money changed hands before he became Listener. That irritating little Bosmer couldn't fight sleep! His arrows couldn't hit the side of a barn and he still boasts about how he's such a master archer!"

Banus nodded, still idly stroking Little Val, who had curled up defensively. Noticing his distress, Banus scratched the roots of his ears which calmed the little orange cat at once, No need to make the cat stressed. It'll just be a little longer and Alval's rant will be over,

"I tell you, Banus, if the Tenets didn't forbid it, one of the Speakers could have easily killed him by now. It's just maddening how someone like him could be above all of us. No, it's scandalous!"

"Well, you can imagine the beef we're having tonight is bits of Ungolim if you like." Banus replied, with a calm smile that would scare lesser people. Alval looked around, blinking dumbly,

"What?"

"Yes, we're having beef stew tonight. Cooked nice and rare, just how you like it." Banus shoved Little Val off his lap and began to walk to the kitchen, serene as could be, leaving his boyfriend staring after him. As he ladled out the stew, Alval came in, staring at his humming lover in astonishment,

"Banus?" His voice was normal. Banus smiled even wider. His patience had been rewarded; Alval's voice sounded so much nicer when he was calmer,

"Yes, Alval?"

"Are you...feeling alright today?"

Banus' heart did a little backflip. It wasn't often that Alval asked him how he was feeling, "Yes. Never better."

"I can see that. But, ah...you used to hide in your room when I was in a bad mood."

"Well, I've decided to stop doing that." Banus shrugged, between mouthfuls, "It's childish, don't you think?"

"I never would have expected you to sit there and take it, though. Did you overdose on Calm spells or something?"

"No. I just decided that I've got too much on my mind and I'm making too much of my problems. So, I decided to mellow out a bit."

"Oh, right." Alval nodded. Then, he flushed, meaning that he was steeling himself to be gentle, "That's good. I did try to vent some of it out on the way here, actually. So you wouldn't get the worst of it. Seems like I shouldn't have bothered now."

"No, I appretiate it." Banus smiled, "It's good to mellow out before we come together. It makes our together time better."

"Yeah." Alval scratched the back of his neck and mumbled, "I was worrying you'd leave me if I kept trashing the place and scaring you."

As the evening went by harmoniously, Banus made a mental note to thank Lucien for directing him to those self-help books.

A/N: Short, I know. And, possibly not very good. Hey, let's call this a practise one. I'm not used to doing oneshots.