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| Details |
| Author: | Alli |
| Summary: | Sil and Aze meet on the way to a peaceful day by the lake with Sil's nephew Nate. They catch up on how life is going (pretty good!) and their desire to prove themselves equal to the roles they have chosen. |
| Rating: | M for Mature 17+ |
It isn’t truly cold yet, but the morning air has a crispness to it that hints colorful leaves and the scent of woodsmoke will be arriving soon. Sil breathes in the fresh air with delight as he measures his quiet footfalls to match a much shorter stride. He smiles down at the tiny hand in his, and the soft, sandy-haired head that turns, as the child looks around the familiar city with wonder.
“River,” Nate says excitedly, as they pass over the canal on the way to the Dwarven district. “I see kraken?”
Sil laughs, reaching down to lift Nate to the railing, so he can see down into the water. “More likely carp than kraken, little buddy. I haven’t even seen a kraken, except for that stuffed one I made you.”
Nate leans over the water, with complete trust in Sil not to let him fall into the murky canal. That was one of the frightening things about taking care of his nephew, that level of trust. Sil wonders if he was like that, when he’d been a toddler. He can’t really remember.
“Not kraken, but I fought different things when I was with the fleet,” Sil says quietly. “Spirits called kvaldir. The Scarlet Crusade. And my allies were sometimes even scarier.”
Nate claps his hands and squeals as a fish surfaces, hoping to be fed. He does not seem to have noticed Sil’s words, or to feel any fear of the creatures mentioned. Sil smiles fondly – there’s time enough for ghost stories when he’s a little older.
“He’s right – I’m the scariest,” says a low voice from behind Sil’s shoulder, and he flinches back from the water, yanking the protesting toddler to the safety of the bridge before he even recognizes a friend.
Aszera Sunstrike laughs, dodging back like she expects Sil to take a swing at her, her cloak fluttering with the movement. He doesn’t punch her, of course, as his hands are occupied with the toddler. That, and he probably wouldn’t punch Aze. Probably. Anyway, he’s even more occupied now, as the little kid lunges over, reaching eagerly for the elvish woman.
“Azy, up!” Nate says, flailing with the pure faith that neither of these questionably-responsible people are going to let him fall to the cobblestones below. Sil’s stomach does a little nervous flutter, but he doesn’t let the child fall.
“Sure thing, kiddo,” Aze says with a light, easy smile, and she lifts Nate from Sil’s arms, swirling him around in the air with a quiet grunt and then securing him against her own hip. “Heavier than you used to be. Maybe I should do this more often, build up arm strength as you get bigger. There was a story like that once, with a farstrider and a sheep…”
“Maybe you ought to call yourself Silentstep,” Sil observes with a laugh, watching his nephew nestle comfortably against Aszera’s soft leather armor. “Didn’t hear you sneak up on us.”
“I wasn’t that quiet. You were just distracted,” Aze says, shaking her head. Nate grabs clumsily at her blindfold. She catches his hand in hers and lowers it firmly, ignoring his wordless protest. “And certain you were in a safe place. It’s not so safe, though, even without the Twilights. Someone could’ve pickpocketed you.”
“Yeah, well,” Sil shrugs. “Worse things have happened.”
Aze hums idly in assent, while Nate tries unsuccessfully to climb onto her shoulders. She casually maneuvers the kid to stay down. “Where are you two off to? I’ll join you.”
“Up to the lake, to look at the turtles,” Sil says, with a crooked grin. “And the pandaren and their balloon, but Nate’s mostly crazy about the turtles. Patty’s busy with the Sullivans, so… well…”
“Right, the monsters-in-law,” Aze says with a little flick of her eyebrows. She jerks her head towards the path and heads north. “You will tell me if you ever want something done about them.”
“I’m going to pretend I don’t understand what you mean by that,” Sil says, raising his own eyebrow as he follows her, smiling in faint amusement at the way she’s taken over the outing. “And anyway, Cressidha’s offered to look into it. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll ask her to.”
“She could do that by hiring Apex,” Aze says, swinging Nate over to her other hip to settle him. “Which is what I meant, mostly. I’m a detective now, you know, not just a hunter. Cleverness and guile and controlled violence. But anyway, speaking of Cressidha, are you and her–”
“Courting?” Sil interrupts, shooting a warning glance at the child that Aze doesn’t acknowledge. “Yeah, we are, since a while now. Sorry we couldn’t make it to your dance party, but we were in Uldum, and there was this war between the Ramkahen and the Neferset…”
“Oh, yeah, no, don’t worry about that,” Aze says carelessly, as they pass onto the footpath that leads down to the more pastoral northern part of the city. “War always comes before dancing, I get it, and you got to do the dancing later, at the gala. But that wasn’t exactly what I was going to ask.”
“Yeah?” Sil says, with another pointed look at the kid. “Well, that’s what I was going to answer. If you want sordid details, I’m not sharing any. I respect Cressidha’s privacy, and I’m gonna ask you to as well.”
“So there are sordid details,” Aze says with an innocent smile.
“No, that’s not what I…” Sil flushes, and then takes a steadying breath. “Don’t twist what I say, Aze. I’m not just trying to… charm Cressidha. I hope to marry her.”
“You do know those two things shouldn’t be exclusive, I hope,” Aze says, still grinning. “I’d try to help, but I don’t really know her all that well. Good dancer. Hell of a tailor.”
“Brilliant, too,” Sil says, his expression brightening as he thinks of her. “And beautiful, and her sense of humor – it’s almost stealthed. You have to pay attention, which makes her even funnier. I just… don’t know if she feels exactly the same? We definitely get on well, and she’s giving the whole romance idea a go, but I don’t know if I’ve… passed that threshold for her.”
“Mm, sure…” Aze says vaguely. The sunlight filters down on them through the trees as they draw closer to the lake and its floating red balloon. She bounces Nate on her hip to distract him from reaching for a tree branch. “Can’t imagine why you couldn’t, but this doesn’t really sound like my area of expertise.”
“Have you met anyone?” Sil asks, turning to her. “I mean, I know things were a bit tense there for a while, but…”
Aze shakes her head. “I kept to myself for a bit, yeah, but I’m mostly just… you know me. I’m trying out this new thing, it’s called discretion. Not sure if I like it yet. If you want more details you’ll have to hang out near the Apex office after hours. If there’s anyone really notable, you might hear it from there.”
“Aze,” Sil says sharply, but Nate is still happily reaching for passing tree branches, oblivious to scandalous implications. “That’s not exactly what I was asking.”
“Maybe not, but it’s what I’ll answer,” Aze says with a laugh. “You’ve got the scolding-uncle voice down pretty well. Do you use that tone with Nate when he tries to touch a stovetop?”
“Haven’t had to,” Sil says, as the lake comes into view. As promised, turtles graze peacefully on the far bank, tended by several pandaren. Nate squeals happily. “Maybe he’s better behaved than you are. Let him down here. He’ll run around, get some energy out. We can just have a seat somewhere, and keep an eye on him for the water.”
Aze obediently sets the little boy on his own feet, and he toddles a few steps before taking off in an unsteady jog towards the shore and the distant turtles. The two adults find a nearby tree to lean against, with a good view of the child, who is distracted on the way by a cricket. He falls on his butt trying to catch it, and then gets on his hands and knees to stalk the insect.
“It’s good you have some family left,” Aze says, and if she’s watching the child it isn’t obvious. “More, if things work out with Cressidha, but still… he’s a good little kid.”
“He is,” Sil says with a quiet sigh. “Wonder if I’ll have one of my own some day. Do you think you–”
“No,” Aze says, with no change in tone, and then she continues, “You can tell Patty I’ll babysit sometimes, if I’m free. If she’s not too freaked out by all the demon shit.”
“Yeah, uh… I’ll let you know,” Sil says with a brief laugh. “Have you had a chance to see your… family much, lately?”
“I mean, yeah… Roper and Ally,” Aze says, leaning her head back against the trunk. For once, Sil doesn’t tense at the mention of the death knight. Maybe it’s because he isn’t actually here. “As for blood relations… not so much. I wouldn’t ask Yara to come into the city right now. As much as I was afraid someone would fuck with me… it’d be worse, if they wanted to bait the death knight elf. Especially if she lost it. And me slipping out of the city to go meet another elf…”
Aze sighs, pulling her knees up to her chest. “Let’s just say I’m getting better at politics, or maybe at seeing how my actions affect other people. My existence is a risk, I get it, but I’m trying to figure out how to show… It can be a benefit, too. I can be… not really sure how to prove that yet, but I will. And in the meantime, I can at least not cause any extra problems that’ll drag down the people I care about. Especially given all the new continents popping up. Siamus probably has enough going on, for one, without me starting any new fires.”
Sil gazes over at the evidence of new continents popping up – the small pandaren embassy beneath the balloon. Idly, he gets out his notebook as she talks, sketching out a little turtle with big, happy eyes and a cheery smile. He pauses to check on Nate nearby, who is toddling along with his arms tucked up – Sil recognizes his nephew’s devilsaur pose.
“Have you been over there yet? Pandaria?” Sil asks. “They have a portal now, though I hear it’s pretty tightly controlled. I guess you’ve probably heard all the news about the statue falling and everything.”
“…the Serpent’s Heart?” Aze turns towards him. “Yeah, Roper mentioned, last time I saw him. Battle with the Horde, right? Ozzy used to read me the Cobalt newsletter too, but then she went off to the Blasted Lands for some druid thing.”
“It was a big deal, major cultural landmark destroyed,” Sil says. “Big sha creature came out of the ground and everything.”
“Wow,” Aze says, with a sigh that sounds strangely wistful. “Part of me feels like I should’ve pushed to be there.”
“I don’t think you could’ve helped?” Sil says, pausing in his drawing to glance at her in puzzlement. “As I understand it, the problem wasn’t winning or losing the battle with the Horde, it was having the battle at all. And do you really think you should be around sha?”
“I don’t see how it matters,” Aze says. “My inner demons are pretty literal anyway, so I bet I could handle sha, too. Besides, I’m steadier than I’ve ever been. I’m employed, have my own place, friends nearby, noble sponsors… sure, life isn’t perfect, but perfection is boring. Aside from the whole fel-damned thing, I don’t see what crack a sha could possibly find in me right now.”
Sil smiles. “Maybe you’re right. I haven’t been there either, so I wouldn’t know. I just hope we can go there without a war someday.”
“Speak for yourself,” Aze says with a quick flash of a smile, and then her expression freezes. “Wait, is he going to eat that? Sil, your nephew–”
“Shit, kids and their…” Sil scrambles to his feet. Conversation time over – it’s childcare time.
—
Some time later, a package arrives for Cressidha. Inside the package is a small selection of pandaren desserts, likely purchased at the Stormwind embassy. They are sweet balls of sesame and rice flour with different fillings – red bean, chocolate, and sweet cream cheese.
With the package is a little sketch of a friendly, smiling turtle, and a very neatly-written note in formal calligraphy:
I hope you like them, Sidha! –Silvestre