From here on out it's going to be a lot of snippets of their lives together, and not all chapters will be disastrously short. The entire story has been about their relationship forming and them healing together, and well, they're pretty solid now. The main plot is over, but I'm not done writing them.

Now we'll get to see Zevla and Lelianders in relationship. We'll see things like a day at the beach, road trips, significant moments and tropes, tropes, tropes. I'm open to prompts, I love writing these two and if you want to see something in particular, or see them in a scenario, leave a comment and I'll write it.

"Hey," Nyla spoke softly with a hand on his arm, "stop painting and look at me."

Pausing mid stroke, Zevran looked at her hand, then at her concerned face, and asserted patiently, "I said I do not wish to talk about it."

"Put the brushes down, Zevran. Even the one in your teeth. Even though you are adorable when you do that." Ignoring his irritated sigh, she licked her thumb and scrubbed a streak of white across his cheek. "Sad, grumpy man. Tell me what's going on."

"Nyla, please. I invited you here because I just want you near."

"And you should know better than to believe I would sit here and do nothing when you're feeling like this." Smiling, she scrubbed at the splotch of blue on his forehead.

"Stop grooming me," he insisted backing away from her hand.

"How do you do this? Honey, you have paint in your hair." Nyla chuckled, leaving the blue alone. His body felt stiff when she wrapped her arms around his waist. Tilting her head at the painting she whispered, "Swans on the water. You miss your mother."

That he was so transparent to her didn't surprise him so much, and hearing it spoken aloud relaxed him more than he could have anticipated. He softened in her arms. "Today is mamá's birthday."

"Ohhh," Nyla crooned, running fingers through his hair. Chewing her lip thoughtfully, Nyla met his eyes and asked, "What were her birthdays like?"

His eyes sparkled with his smile. "She loved birthdays, being surrounded by family and friends. I remember her face, the way she enjoyed all the attention."

"What were her birthdays like for you?"

"So fun. When I was small, I would draw her a picture, make her a card with my colored pencils. I was very good back then, for a child. As I got older, the cards got more elaborate, colored pencil pictures became paintings. She displayed every one of them, and would tell everyone about them. She loved the chance to brag. Embarrassed me, sometimes."

"You? Embarrassed?" Nyla grinned, "Never."

"Well," he chuckled, "bashful, maybe."

"Aha... Yes, I have seen bashful Zevran several times." Treading lightly, she locked eyes with him and started slowly, "I want to get her a gift."

"Oh?" Zevran chuckled at his sweet girlfriend. "What gift would you bring her?"

"You. I bet hearing from you would make this her best birthday."

"Probably," he sighed with a nod. It took him a few moments to process her expectant stare. "Amor," his forehead wrinkled and lips pursed, "You did this on purpose. Making me miss her more, and then telling me how to make her happy. Unfair."

"Mm hm. You have her number?"

"It is in my memory, but she probably changed it."

"I bet not. No matter how many years have passed I would never change my phone number if my kid went missing. I bet she's praying for the day-"

"Fuck." Zevran stepped away from her. "Stop."

"You walked away eight years ago, yes, it makes sense that you walked away, but-"

"I want to stop talking about this."

"Just… listen. Please." She waited, he nodded. "I'm going to be square with you right now, Zevran. You should have called her years ago when things calmed down. You have neglected her, ignoring your heart, and hers." Watching him palm his face, she continued, "Kind of like the way I neglected Fergus. When I spoke with him, when I finally had you by my side as a buffer, nothing was as bad as my fears made it out to be. Look at me, Zevran." She waited a moment for his eyes to meet hers again and spoke firmly, "Call your fuckin' mom."

"I don't even know how to call out of the country with my phone."

Nyla walked over to his bedside table and picked up her phone. "The exit code is 011. Country code is 52."

"Why do you know this?" Zevran chuckled nervously, beginning to sweat.

"All part of my plan to get you to call home, darling. I even have my phone set up for international calls. Is it a cell phone or landline?"

"I cannot believe you," he grumbled as she stared at him expectantly. "Landline."

"And now, your mom's number," she held her phone out to him. "Go on."

"I did not force you to speak to Fergus," he continued his irritated grumbling, hands entering the phone number despite his reluctance.

"I'm not forcing you. Now hit the call button."

"Mierda," Shit, he whispered with shaky hands, tapping the call button. "So cruel, Nyla."

"Ohhh, come on," she crooned playfully, freezing when she heard a feminine voice chime in on the line. Zevran gasped, and simply stood there, the sounds of a repeated gentle 'hola?' on the line. "Honey…" Nyla whispered, resting a gentle hand on his arm. She took the phone from him and turned on the speakerphone. "Hi! Hola. Hey… me llamo Nyla… do you speak English?"

"Yes, Nyla, hi. I can help you with something?"

"Yes… Happy birthday." She looked up at Zevran, who stared at the phone with lower lip trembling, tears slipping down his cheeks. He walked to his bed and sat, cupping his mouth with his palm. Nyla followed, sat next to him and stroked his back, "Would you like to talk to Zevran? He is here on speaker phone, he is just feeling a lot right now."

"Si! Yes! Sweet girl, Nyla, yes of course I wish to speak with him! Zev?"

"He talks just like you," Nyla smiled.

"Ahh," she laughed, "Talking is what we do best, Zevran, no?

Zevran cleared his throat and leaned toward the phone, "Si, mamá. Hola. Feliz cumpleaños." Happy birthday.

"Hola! Thank you! Baby sounds so old now! Where are you? Is Nyla your girlfriend?"

"Yes!" Zevran sniffled, visibly relaxing, taking the phone from Nyla's hand. "Nyla is my girlfriend for almost a year now, we are moving together soon when we find a place here in San Francisco."

"Aha! Si! Yes! I knew you would end up in San Francisco!" Her voice jovial and sweet, she continued, "I knew you would call someday. After we heard on the news what happened to Rinna, we put the pieces together. Poor sweet Rinna. Hold on, baby. I will call your madre. Dolores!" With the phone away from her, they could hear her shouting in Spanish, the only words distinguishable to Nyla were their names, and a startled exclamation of 'San Francisco!'

"Zev, wait a fucking second." Nyla quirked an eyebrow at him, "Do you have two moms?"

"You did not know this?" He tilted his head at her. "I told you! And I refer to them as mamá and madre. Two separate people, amor."

"I misunderstood! You could have referred to them as Dolores and… shit..."

"Mamá is Rosa. For an entire year, amor? Seriously?"

"You were being vague on purpose!" Nyla insisted with a chuckle, "Because you were always like 'I don't wanna talk about it.' Two moms! So much stuff makes sense now!"

"Zevran!" A surprised and angry voice got on the phone, chattering in Spanish.

Zevran sighed, his forehead wrinkled, and he sat patiently through the onslaught he had anticipated from her. "Perdón, madre. After you are done, speak English so we may include Nyla."

"I cannot believe you!" Dolores laughed, "Eight years? You waited too long! Nyla! I'm Dolores, did you make him call?"

"Hi Dolores! I encouraged him a little, he made the call on his own," she smiled at him with a wink, mouthing the words I love you.

"She sounds very sweet. I cannot believe! Eight years, Zevran!"

"Nyla is sweet, when it works for her," Zevran smiled with a chuckle, Nyla laughed.

Dolores laughed hard, "So you married your mamá."

"Not married, but I take your meaning. Yes, I married mamá." His cheeks felt sore from incessant grinning.

"Come to see us!" Dolores spoke, "Mamá is tugging at my arm. Rosa, mi amor, give me a moment hm? Eight years, Zevran! What do you do for work? Are you still painting? What, Rosa? Oh yes! You have Skype? We talk to your uncles in the States with Skype. Zevran! Do you visit your uncles?"

"I have Skype on my phone," Zevran spoke, chuckling at his other mom's excited chatter. Nyla went for his phone. A few minutes later, the familiar, grinning faces of Zevran's moms displayed on his phone.

With a mutual gasp, their tearful eyes stared back at them. Dolores laughed, "Get a haircut, Arainai!"

"My baby!" Rosa waved, laughing happily, "There's Nyla! Hi, Nyla! She is so smiley!"

"She is!" Zevran kissed Nyla on the cheek when she draped herself over his back, her chin on his shoulder, wiggling her fingers at Zevran's moms. "Feliz cumpleaños, mamá. Are you having a party today?"

"I haven't had one in a long while, precious," Rosa spoke, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. "I miss your paintings. I feel sad I don't get one every birthday."

"I did not forget you, mamá. I have your birthday paintings." He pointed the camera at the canvas on his easel. "This is the eighth. This one would be finished if Nyla did not bug me so often."

"I wouldn't bug him so often if he didn't mope so loudly," Nyla chuckled, pressing her cheek to his.

After an hour of catching up, they made promises to call, text, visit; everything Zevran had wanted for the last eight years.

"You said there is roof access?" Nyla tilted her head at Barbara, their real estate agent.

Zevran hung back, his eyes wandering the beautiful space. Large, centrally located, far more than he could ever hope for and he was already fantasizing about how he would decorate. Nyla looked at him quizzically for his silence.

"That door at the top of the stairs. There is a storage shed, a hot tub, as well as a hammock," Barb spoke jovially. "The previous owners left it."

"Come on, Zev." Nyla reached for him and he took her hand. "We'll be back in a moment."

Climbing the short flight of stairs, they opened the door, and stepped out into the open air. "Yes," Nyla spoke softly. "I want this. I love hammocks. I love hot tubs. Storage is cool, I guess."

Looking around at the view, it was more than he could ever hope for; such a beautiful space, it felt too good, it ached. He could envision them living there, lying on the hammock in the cool evening breeze with his love lying on his chest and snoozing contentedly as he rocked them with one leg hanging.

"Speak to me, darling." She spoke gently, meeting his eyes, "You don't like it?"

"It is perfect, Nyla, but I cannot afford such a thing. My salary is generous, but not this generous."

"I'm…" biting her lip, she sighed deeply and spoke shyly, "I'm very wealthy, Zevran." Growing more nervous as he stared at her with wide, sad eyes she stammered, "My… my parents were…" looking at the ground, her cheeks turned pink.

"Hm." Zevran spoke, tilting his head at her, folding his arms across his chest. "I figured as much, leaving a trail of evidence throughout the months, amor. Big nice apartment, always replacing my broken or lost things. And of course we cannot forget the Russian caviar."

"No, listen." Nyla chuckled, trying to drive the point home. "I don't have to work for the rest of my life. I can do what I want, go where I want, anytime. I'm wealthy. So wealthy it's um… hard for me to realize the value of money, really."

"I know. That perfume you wear that I cannot afford to gift you. We did shots of some very nice brandy that I wished to replace. Upon googling to locate where to find it, I learned costs thousands of dollars." Zevran smirked, "Everything you own is Gucci, Louis Vuitton, or from Saks Fifth Avenue. Amor, you had a talk with your brother about managing your funds that I witnessed. The trail of evidence is so real."

"Okay, so you get it now," Nyla chuckled. "So, where is the confusion? You understand that I intend to pay for this."

"Just because you have something, it doesn't mean I'm entitled to it," Zevran spoke softly, his brow furrowed. "I cannot live off of you, it's not right."

"Oh?" Nyla's face fell, and she looked away from him for a few moments, growing frustrated. "Zevran, don't you think you've worked hard enough? Suffered enough? Can't you let yourself just have this? I want you to have this... us to have this."

"It doesn't feel right," he insisted. "How do I contribute? What is my role in this partnership? I cannot be that guy that simply lives off of his partner."

"Then feed me," Nyla shrugged with a smile. "Buy our food and keep cooking amazing tacos for me for every meal, and we'll call it even."

"That is hardly-"

"Food," Nyla insisted, gesturing around herself with a smile, "and all of this is yours."

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Amor… I…" he looked around, beholding a view worthy of canvas. Visions of himself standing at an easel on their roof made him smile and he ran a hand through his hair. "God dammit."

"Aha! You're starting to agree with me, alright, hold on…" she thought for a moment. "That storage shed. You could keep painting stuff in it, so you don't have to carry your supplies up and down the stairs. Then you can enjoy the outdoors when you go on one of your painting binges."

"If it's not too damp." He nodded, sighing with a roll of his eyes, "Okay, but just food?"

"Yes, I expect a full stock of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, and tacos. With lamb, not ground beef, and red peppers, not green. And fish tacos. With those spicy jalapeno flavored carrots. My food needs will be demanding." Her smile matched his and she took his hand. With playful flirty eyes, she pleaded, "Come on, mi amor. Hermoso, maravilloso, asombroso amigo permanente con beneficios." Beautiful, wonderful, amazing permanent friend with benefits.

"You are learning," he chuckled, beaming at her. "Permanent friend with benefits!" He laughed, looking once more at the view, his gaze landed on the hammock. It just felt like they should be on it together. Melting beneath her hopeful stare he nodded slowly, "Si." He grinned when she flung her arms around his neck with a joyful squeal.

"A gift. In celebration of you being a total dick, all the time," Nyla spoke with a smile, carefully pushing a box across the table. Anders moved to pick it up and she reached out, "Just… lift the lid."

"O...kay." He bit his lip, reaching for the lid, expecting a fucking pie to spring out and smash into his face or a hundred slinkies to fly in every direction. "But Zev, why are you filming this?"

"Open it!" Leliana spoke excitedly, pinching his ass. "The tension is killing me."

"Open." Zevran nodded, adding with a purr, "if you dare."

"Okay what the fuck," he chuckled, "What are you-"

"Oh, jesus christ." Nyla rolled her eyes and pulled the lid off the box.

Perfect. Two little paws grasped the edge of the box, a little, orange, furry head with enormous ears and big round eyes peered over the rim.

Anders' hand flew to his mouth and he screamed, "LOOK AT ITS EARS!" The kitten replied with a loud yowl. Anders and his new cat locked eyes, and he was done for. "Look at its blue eyes!"

"This," Nyla began, "is a hypoallergenic cat, a Devon rex-"

"I know what it is!" Anders yelled, still unable to come to terms with his kitten on the kitchen table.

"I spent some time with him at Nyla's place," Leliana spoke, standing up to kiss his cheek. "It went great. I'm not allergic to him."

"Look at his little fucking PAWS!" Anders pressed his palms to his cheeks, ready to cry.

"Yes dear." Leliana chuckled, "Would you like to hold him?"

"Nyla bought me a $600 kitten!" He pointed, looking at Leliana.

"I know," Leliana laughed,"Your screaming is scaring him." She picked up the kitten and held it close. "Poor little man," she cooed at the kitten, scratching beneath the kitten's chin with a gentle finger.

"Leliana is holding my kitty!" Anders gasped, "I love you."

"Here," she handed it to him with a chuckle. "Calm down and hold your baby."

Anders giggled and smooshed the kitten against his cheek, "Oh my god, why is he so soft? He's purring."

"He's going to leave me for this kitten, Nyla, you have ruined everything." Leliana grinned at Anders.

"Could you blame me? Look at him!" After several little kisses on the kitten's head, Anders set him down on the table and watched him closely. "He looks so healthy! And he's going to stay healthy and live forever because I'm minutes from graduating veterinary school. Which means I can make kitties live forever."

"Ohhh that's what you're in school for?" Nyla blinked in surprise.

"If you cared at all about me Sketchy, you would have already asked."

"Could you forgive me if I bought you a pedigree kitten your girlfriend could be around?" Nyla giggled, "Also I got you matching sweaters."

Anders sobered, realizing he hadn't even thanked her yet, "That's amazing. Hug me!" He ran around the table and squeezed Nyla, "Thank you so much."

"Zevran helped, he chose the boy for you," Nyla smiled happily, wrapping her arms around Anders' waist.

"He's perfect, bring it in, broseph." Anders invited Zevran into the hug with a wave of his arm.

"Awww," Lelina cooed, "Pouncing all over the table! Sir pounce-a-lot."

With a hearty laugh and gasp, Anders looked at Leliana and spoke, "It's perfect. You're perfect."