A/N: okay, that's enough wandering in the name of fluff and mini-lemons. Now we return to the plot.
Oh, um, Arquen stays in Ocheeva's room, and Aerius lives in Vicente's room.
...
I turned over in bed. Again.
I needed to sleep, and I knew it. Aerius had returned from Bravil this morning with enough contracts for us all, and he told us to set off first thing tomorrow morning. But something was bothering me too much.
So I got out of bed, pulled on a linen shirt, and silently made my way downstairs, barefoot. The door made an obnoxious creaking noise as I opened it, but he was awake anyway.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping about now?" he asked without looking up from his book.
"I need to ask you something."
He looked at me as I let the door fall closed behind me. "Alright, you have my ear."
So I sat in front of him at his table, took a deep breath, and asked, "Why do you hate Arquen so much?"
At first he looked shocked, but he changed his expression quickly. "I don't hate her..."
"You're the Listener. You can lie better than that," I interrupted.
He frowned at me and leaned back in his chair. "She killed the man I loved."
I just looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate.
And elaborate he did. At the look on my face he began a story about how he came to the Brotherhood, about his Speaker Lucien and what he had come to mean to him.
I didn't interrupt much, except for a question that made me feel like Emilia. "You laid him?"
He grinned. "He laid me."
"Was..." I swallowed, feeling the beginnings of an inferiority complex appear somewhere inside me. "Was it...?"
Understanding the question I really didn't want to ask, he grinned wider and answered, "It was amazing."
I didn't know what my facial expression was, exactly, but I suspected that it was somewhere between speechless and completely shocked. He got up and moved around me, draped his arms around my shoulders, and murmured into my ear, "Perhaps we should try it some time."
I could feel the heat rising in my face, and my pulse quickening, but thank Sithis I managed to speak. "You didn't tell me the rest."
He sighed. "The traitor began to switch Lucien's dead drops for his own. I didn't know it, but he had me killing off the Black Hand. I had just sent an arrow through the Listener's neck when Lucien approached me."
I cringed at the way he said the last sentence.
"We went to a friend's house to discuss what had happened. He asked me to find the traitor, to bring this ridiculous conspiracy to an end and meet him at Applewatch, the Draconis woman's farm. But by the time I made it back, he was already dead, killed by the Black Hand."
I felt for him, but I had to know, "If the whole Hand killed him, why are you so bent on Arquen?"
He looked at me as if it was common sense. "She's the only one left alive, and she did the worst."
Again, I just stared at him.
"She ate his entrails." he muttered, looking away. My stomach lurched and I took my leave.
Now I hated her almost as much as he did.
...
"What? You knew?"
Emilia shrugged. "Well, of course I knew, Arquen told me herself."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Again with the shrug. "I didn't know it was bothering you so much; you didn't ask."
I was so frustrated I wanted to hit something. My body ached to feel the give of flesh under my fist, to feel the skin break and blood spread across my knuckles...
But I settled for letting out an aggravated growl and stomping away. I had just left the living quarters just before I walked into a chest.
"Domitius, relax," Aerius murmured, taking me by the shoulders. "You need a clear head to carry out the Night Mother's wishes."
I sighed. "Emilia knew."
"What?"
"About Arquen." I huffed, feeling some odd sort of betrayal.
He sighed, letting me go. "It doesn't matter that she knows. What happened happened, it's in the past and we can't change it."
"But-"
"Domitius," he snarled, effectively silencing me and ending the conversation. I mumbled an apology before making my way out of the Sanctuary.
...
I returned to the Sanctuary after nine days.
There was no one here; it was empty, except for the Dark Guardian that prowled the halls in that stumbling gait of his. So I relaxed, pulling down my hood and sitting on a bench. It felt so good to be home.
It was so nice and peaceful, the only noise being the rhythmic creaking of Guardian's bones. I had the entire place to myself...
"Domitius," was spoken softly into my ear. A shiver went down my spine, but nothing more; I was used to Aerius sneaking up on me by now.
"Welcome home," he said. "I trust the mission went well?"
"Very," I smiled, loving the low growl of his voice. "Is the Sanctuary empty?"
He came around the bench and stood before me. "Besides you and I is the Guardian."
"Has it ever been empty like this?"
"After the Purification." He frowned, as if remembering. I instantly felt bad for even asking.
"Aerius..." I began, but forgot what I was going to say when I blinked and his face was inches from mine. I swallowed audibly.
"I told you, we can't change what happened. We can only let it go and hope that we don't forget it."
I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but I was cut off by Aerius' cool lips. He had a penchant for slow, deep kisses, and I liked it, but this one was anything but.
It was needy and rough, full of clashing teeth and fighting tongues. I'd like to think that he was careful with those fangs of his, but I couldn't exactly be sure. His hand closed around my horsetail and mine fisted in his robes, pulling him closer.
He let out a low growl and pressed even harder. It was my pulse that drove him so crazy; I loved how he got when my heart beat like that. So of course I grinned into the kiss when he moved forward to straddle my lap. But I was running out of air - breathing was hard when I was trying to taste as much of him as I could. So reluctantly I pulled away, staring up into his bright red eyes and panting hard.
He settled for pressing his face into my neck; a few times I felt his cool tongue there. "... Perhaps we should try it sometime?"
I remembered immediately. "Perhaps," I smiled, feeling his chuckle vibrate against my skin.
The Sanctuary should be empty more often.
...
I woke to, "Really, Aerius? I leave the Sanctuary for two days and this is what you decide to do?"
Arquen was arguing with Aerius, right in front of my bed. I tried to tell them to shut up, but it came out as a low groan that they didn't even hear.
So she went on, "How should I expect you to run the San-"
She was cut off as a livid Aerius grabbed the front of her robe and shoved her against the pillar, speaking to her in a dangerous low hiss, "I will run the Sanctuary as I see fit, Arquen. You seem to forget that I was appointed Listener by the Night Mother herself. As for what I decide to do in my free time, and who to do it with, you have no say. Is that understood?"
Her eyes darkened a shade. "Yes, Listener."
"Good. Now get out of my sight."
With that she stalked out of the room, her body language screaming resentment.
"I thought you didn't hate her?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.
He turned to me. "I lied."
"I see," I laughed, reaching over to pull on my discarded shirt. Then I realized something. "You stuck up for me."
He smiled, moving closer. "Of course. Arquen has no right to question me, or you for that matter."
"Indeed."
...
In a few days, we were being sent out for another round of missions. I'd had no idea that so many people wanted others dead.
Emilia was on her way to Anvil; there was something I needed her to take there for me. I had spent an entire day working on it, perfecting the language and handwriting solely for this purpose.
Right as she moved toward to secret entrance I slipped it into her bag.
My plan was in motion.
...
A/N: hm... Domitius is being a little inventive. What do you think?