Finn handed in his final exam for the year, and exited the room quietly. He'd been the last of his fellow bards to finish transcribing their orated essay, and it left Finn with a heavy heart. He exited the cool halls and immediately was hit with a wall of heat from the evening sun. The stress that had built up over the year felt like a rubber band tightening until it snapped. Finn was drained, but relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with school for a while.

Harv was waiting for him by the entrance, physically beaten by the combat final. For all of Harv's brute strength, he was quite clumsy when it came to technique. There was only a few weeks of summer break they could enjoy together before Harv would have to go off to the front lines for his internship. Most of that time, they would be having to dance around the responsibility thrust upon them by their parents now that they had more freetime.

"That bad huh?" Harv asked when he saw the look on Finn's face.

"That ghoul was mumbling on purpose." Finn sighed. "I was only allowed to have him repeat the message once, and the second time was worse than the last. I had to guess the second half of it." They started to walk home when Finn grabbed Harv by the sleeve. "Could we stop for ice cream first?" He knew he'd get in trouble for coming home late, but he needed some kind of reward for making it through finals.

"Sure." Harv smiled.


They took the long way to Finn's house. One pair of hands were tightly linked at their side, the other covered in the sticky residue of their sweet treat. Finn sighed, leaning against Harv as they walked, going almost painfully slow.

"Is everything alright?" Harv asked.

"I won't be able to write to you when you're away." Finn sighed and swung their arms back and forth.

"You can still send letters." Harv tugged Finn close, but the bard continued to frown.

"Yes, but I won't be able to really tell you how I feel. My usual prose is too florid for you to read and you've made it very clear I'm not to wax poetic about your attributes in front of your army buddies."

"...hunh?"

"If I send you a letter saying I miss you and your sweet ass they might read it." Finn drawled. Harv choked on his ice cream. "See, you can't even handle it when I say it to your face in private. You expect me to believe I could send you salacious letters and something embarrassing won't come of it?"

"You could just send, you know, normal stuff." Harv said, his face nearly on fire with embarrassment.

"Pretty sure after the third 'come home soon', you'd get sick of it. Besides, I can barely read your handwriting." Finn pouted. One of the disadvantages of dating a peasant was all Harv's attempts at love notes looked like siphers to Finn. "I won't get any salacious letters back."

"Finn, even if I knew how to write it, I wouldn't send you something lewd." Harv sighed. Though he understood the appeal, he had similar concerns Finn's mother might go through their letters. As well as a smaller fear his writings would trigger more critique than warm feeling on Finn's part. "We'll just have to write as friends." The phrase felt sour in his mouth. After spending so many years filtering his feelings for Finn through friendship, the thought of having to revert to that was taxing.

"Four years is a long time." Finn said.

"I'll be able to come down for holidays, well, some of them." Harv said, trying his best to be optimistic. "And we each get a week off, so if I time it right, I can come down for your birthday." He squeezed his hand. "But, I'll miss you."

"Would you be able to stay the night?"

"I have church in the morning."

"Tomorrow night then." He knew he was being selfish, but he also knew he'd want to spend his last week here with his own family.

"Sure." When they got to Finn's house, Finn let Harv in so he could wash his hands.

"Ahbuh!" Piper squealed. Leenan was quick to pick her up before the baby rolled off the couch trying to greet them.

"Oh no you don't, not again." Leenan brought Piper to Finn, who took her as soon as his hands were dry. "You're late."

"I know, I'm sorry." Finn said. Piper tried to climb over Finn's shoulder to get a better look at Harv, her legs kicking as if she could swim through the air to get where she wanted to be.

"Hi Piper." Harv said with a laugh when he caught sight of the excited child.

"Harvey has to go bye bye." Finn said as he got a better hold of her. "He'll be here tomorrow." She didn't understand until Harv made his way back to the front door. Her babbling trickled into a whimper. "Bye Harv." Finn pecked Harv on the cheek, their close proximity enough for a tiny hand to latch onto one of Harv's dread. "Okay Piper, time to let go." They made her open her hand so Harv could break free.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." Harv said. Finn waved goodbye, but quickly had to close the door as Piper wailed.

"I know, I know." Finn sighed. "Me too sweetpea." He bounced her on his hip until she laid her head against his chest and sniffled. Her eye was healing, now a purplish green and less tender to the touch. "I see she's forgiven you." Finn said. He went to put her in her highchair, but was stopped by two little feet.

"Yes, but I wouldn't recommend walking away after setting her down unless you're in the living room." Leenan said. "I may have been forgiven, but the kitchen has not." Piper sniffled again, staring Finn down like he was plotting something. "I've been feeding her on my lap." Now that school was out, he'd be expected to look after her during the day as well. He saw the stains on Leenan's house dress and wrinkled his nose. Until they could get her somewhat comfortable with heights again, that was going to be his future.

"...why does she smell?" Finn asked.

"Oh, would you look at the time? I better get changed, I have a... thing." Leenan said, backing away to the nearest exit.

"Mother!"

"Yes, a very important thing. I would have been ready by now if you'd been on time." She dashed out the door leaving Finn alone with Piper. "Have fun!"

"...alright, let's get you cleaned up..." Finn sighed.


In the morning, Finn had more luck getting Piper to sit in her chair and play without needing someone within arm's reach for comfort. It had been a while since Finn had stayed home all day, and her list of activities had greatly expanded since the months prior. He spent most of breakfast being instructed on what to do to make sure she slept most of the night. Something that was made all the more important since Finn was having Harv come by in the evening.

"Ahbuh?" Piper stopped shaking her toy and looked at Finn.

"Yes, ahbuh." Finn agreed and returned his attention to his mother.

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that." Leenan sighed.

"Why not? She's just practicing-"

"Ahbuh?" Piper waited a few seconds. "Ahbuh!?" She swiveled around in her chair looking all over the place.

"It may just seem like practice to you." Leenan said. "But she certainly can't tell the difference."

"Ahbuh!" When nothing new happened, Piper threw her toy repeating herself over and over with more insistence. Both adults in the room were helpless. She realized they weren't going to help her get what she wanted and she started to cry.

"I've tried everything when she gets like this, but usually you just have to wait it out." Leenan rubbed her temples knowing the baby would be upset for at least a half hour. "Or distract her. Maybe you'll have more luck than I do."


After the rough morning, Piper settled down, thoroughly enchanted with the novelty of waking up to find Finn was still home. All was forgiven by the time Harv arrived with an overnight bag. The two were set to snuggle on the couch only to find a tiny person wanting a fair share of attention as well.

"We had an early nap today." Finn explained as Piper grabbed a toy from her spot on Finn's lap and handed it to Harv.

"Thank you." Harv told the baby. "An early nap might mean an early bedtime." He said to Finn. "Even if it's not, it's not like it's your fault." Piper took her toy back and handed it to him again.

"Bahbahbahbah." She said, slapping the couch.

"Harvey doesn't make music." Finn said, interrupting the loop to shake her rattle for her. To his surprise, Harv started singing a church hymn. Piper turned away with a smile and then tried to sing along to the unfamiliar song. "I didn't know you could sing." Finn said softly.

"I can't." Harv said. "But she's a baby, she doesn't care." While lacking the control of a professional trained singer, he had a nice voice. Now more than ever Finn was convinced Harv was just woefully uneducated about music. He continued to sing, occasionally getting handed another object in the hopes he magically could make it make noise.

Within a few verses, Finn could catch the pattern of the melody and harmonize with wordless vocals. Harv made eye contact with a small smile on his gracing his lips before looking away. They had never sung together before, Finn never thought to ask. They sounded good together in Finn's opinion. If Piper's smiles and claps were to be believed, then she thought so too.


They enjoyed a nice dinner and tucked Piper into bed. Finn knew at most they had four hours until a certain someone needed something again, but he held his breath and risked leaving the light on in the room once Harv came in. A nervous wreck, Finn wrung his hands, Harv kissed his cheek before passing him. The warrior crawled into bed as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"...I thought we were going to bed?" Harv said. "Was there something else you wanted to do?"

"It's not like-" Finn couldn't help but feel frustrated. Anytime he thought he understood Harv, the warrior would do something unexpected. "You're going to be gone for years, and the rare chance we get to be alone, you just want to go to bed?"

"You said you were tired." Harv tilted his head.

"Well, yes... but aren't you... just a little..." Finn struggled to find the right words. "I know I'm not wearing a bodice, but don't people usually rip those? And tongues battle and such?" Finn's face flushed as Harv just watched him flounder with a bemused expression.

"Not so easy to put into words, is it?" Harv chuckled.

"It's plenty easy, it's just finding ones that you won't find offensive." Finn shot back. "And you haven't... It's been a while since you tried anything. I just assumed you were too busy... but now..." Harv scooted in a little closer. He cupped Finn's cheek in his own hand and kissed him on the lips.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Harv could feel Finn's mind start to wander anytime the bard stopped talking. "I can't tell when you're complaining to get a rise out of me, or if you're trying to mask being nervous." He placed a gentle hand on Finn's to keep him from fidgeting too much. "I don't want to push it if it's going to make you anxious." Finn bit his lip.

"I'm always nervous, but it's not that..." Finn sighed. "I get..." He didn't want to accidentally offend. "It's just boring lying there. I like being close to you and making you feel special, but I can't focus the way you do and then I miss you when you're not here." Finn hid his face in his hands. "I want to be a good paramour. I was even looking forward to tonight, but..."

"Here." Harv laid back down, and motioned for Finn to follow. Finn crawled on hands and knees, so Harv's head was caged between his hands. "I won't get bored."

"...Harvey, are you sure you want to do this?"

"No." Harv laughed. "Especially when you have no idea what you're doing, but... it sounds like your thoughts get louder when you have nothing to do." He stroked Finn's wrist. "Mine usually catch up to me when I'm alone. Like, if I did something that crossed a line and you were too scared to tell me."

"I would have told you."

"I know." Harv said. "Doesn't keep me from thinking 'what if' though." He brushed a few stray hairs out of Finn's face. "I just thought maybe you'd be more comfortable if you called the shots this time. We don't have to..." He trailed off immediately, distracted by the way Finn was grabbing his chest.

"Did I do that wrong?" Finn said, immediately letting go.

"No, I just wasn't expecting it." Harv blushed. "Just show me what you're comfortable with, and I'll let you know if it's not for me." Finn hesitated, his hands flexing in the air. "You can touch my chest again if you want." Harv couldn't help but laugh at how eagerly Finn latched on again. "I would like to kiss you though." Harv said, threading his fingers through Finn's hair. The leaned forward with a hum, catching Harv's lips, but too distracted with his hands to fully participate. Maybe it was the impending date of Harv's internship, or the novelty of having a moment alone, but Finn found it much easier to feel present in the moment. Where before he was painfully aware that he was thinking when he should focus on some nebulous something, now he was less worried he'd initiate an awkward conversation. Like a dance, each touch was used to convey something he had thought he'd have enough words for.

I cherish you.

I feel safe with you.

I look forward to when I can see you.

All things Finn had said, in his own way, with the prettiest words he could think of. Or with harsh, blunt examples that sounded more like facts than sentiments. A few feather touches did what years of sonnets and lectures had failed to do, make Harv understand how Finn adored him. It drew a look of complete adoration out of him that Finn wanted to drown in.