Closed Shall We Move In?

[Dev'Ania]

30th, Winter, 521 AV

The warmth of Syna’s afternoon rays bled through the sheer white curtains of the konti’s small apartment room and illuminated the tiny, floating specks that seemed to dance through the air. As quiet as the konti was, the room still seemed to be quite lively. The sounds of crackling wood in the hearth, soft purring of the grown feline, calm breaths of the konti and her lover, and the occasional rustling of bedsheets. Despite the chill of the outside weather, the hearth warmed the room enough to allow Dev’Ania to stay in just her undergarments.

Dev’Ania laid on her stomach, holding herself up with her elbows as she wrote in her journal. The end of her quill brushed against the parchment, effortlessly applying the black ink that marked each word from Dev’s wandering mind. Conjuring every one of her thoughts and memories into lines and lines of writing on a simple piece of parchment. Her journal was becoming a collective story of her life. From the simple to-do lists and random song lyrics that came to her, to the detailed recollection of nightmares and paragraphs from times of sadness. Almost every part of the konti’s life was recorded on these pages.

Now she wrote about a new aspect of her life - the man she was deeply in love with, Zach Grasswind. His name flowed onto the page with soft strokes of the quill’s tip. Dev wrote about her latest journeys with the Drykas and the plans of her future with him. “... I will never get enough of my love, Zach Grasswind…” she wrote. Finishing writing the sentence, she reached over and placed the quill on her nightstand, making sure to not get any blotches of the dark ink on her bed covers. The book lay open on the bed as she waved her webbed fingers over it to dry the ink onto the page, making her words as permanent on the parchment as they felt in her heart.

Once the ink was dried and protected from smearing, she would close it and place it beside the quill and ink vial on her bedside table, before returning to laying on her stomach. She’d look over in the direction of Zach, watching whatever he seemed to be doing. Whether he was still sleeping or awake and doing something, she would admire him, as she often did.

“My love?” she would say in Kontinese. In the time they had been together, it was what Dev often referred to him as, just as she remembered her mother calling her father.

[Zach Grasswind]

Zach had been dreaming, though of what he was not sure. All he knew was that it had been serene and quiet, with the backdrop of purring. He slowly blinked open his eyes, squinting up at the ceiling for a chime or so as they adjusted to the brightness of the room. The purring continued even in his waking state, and he stretched his arms above his head, fingers touching the soft fur of the cat curled above him on his pillow.

Next to him he could hear the scratching of a quill on parchment and he knew without looking that Dev’Ania was writing in her journal. Not a day went by without the Konti jotting something in the book. He often wondered how she always had so much to write about.

Zach yawned and scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. Usually he would never sleep in the afternoon, for there was hunting to be done and lunch to be eaten. Since returning to the city the season prior however, and since his life had become more and more intertwined with Dev’Ania’s, the long stretches of afternoon where the city grew quiet seemed perfect for nothing else.

He reached over to the small table near to him and picked up a stack of cards. He thumbed through them, idly examining the pictures. They were Dev’Ania’s tarot cards, and while he still didn’t really understand them after all this time, he liked them. Their pictures told stories, some obvious even to him.

Dev’Ania’s voice was soft as it floated over to him, the language of her people sounding almost musical to his ears. He didn’t understand much of it, but those words he did know. She had said them to him often enough now. Zach carefully placed the cards back and turned onto his side to face her.

She was watching him and he smiled at her before rolling a little further over, his arm resting on her back, fingers tracing the opalescent scales there. He pressed his face into her side and spoke against her skin.
“What is it?”

[Dev'Ania]

Dev’Ania grinned and placed her hand on the hunter’s head, running her webbed fingers through his dark blonde strands of hair as he rested on her. She loved how interested he was in her work. She cherished the mutual interest that they held for each other and forever would want to strengthen it. Dev’s voice flowed softly as she spoke, “I have been thinking. What if we moved in together?” Her eyes looked over her lover’s expression as she spoke. Her excitement about the topic began to grow in her. “We have been staying at each other’s apartments for a while now. No need to pay for two apartments, right?”

Just as she finished speaking, the black cat leaped onto the bed with a purr, stepping over both of the occupants before snuggling herself in between their bodies. “And maybe we should have more room for Emmy and Aki,” she said with a giggle.

Moving in with Zach was something that Dev had been pondering for a while. It was true what she said - the couple’s time was split between the hunter’s small apartment, and the konti’s. While they were in the process of combining their lives, they still had yet to officially move in together. There was no use in spending extra kina for two apartment rooms that could not give the couple and their two animals enough space. Aki was a dog that needed her own territory to run around. Ember needed her own space, as well. And what if they started a family - which Dev was hoping would be sooner than later. They needed the space.

As much as the fortune teller was excited to move in with Zach, Dev tried to contain her eagerness, just in case he did not agree. She assumed the points she made would be enough for Zach to agree without question, but there was always the chance he could disagree - which she was prepared for.

[Zach Grasswind]

Dev’Ania’s skin was warm against Zach’s own, and he smiled as he felt her touch on his hair. The Drykas had always used to assume that his future relationship would be one of necessity, a good match for the Pavilion and his Clan at large. But this, what he had with the beautiful, soft spoken Konti was beyond his wildest imaginings. When he had first arrived in Lhavit he had thought he would go back home one day, with or without a partner. But now, he found he didn’t want to. Drykas tradition told him that he should go back, take her with him and build his family, add more wives to it. But his heart rebelled against the notion. He wanted Dev’Ania, and only her. She was his home as much as Lhavit now was.

So when she voiced her thoughts, Zach’s smile grew wider. He lifted his head and met her gaze, listening to the barely hidden excitement underwriting her words. Near the fireplace, a bright cinnamon coloured dog turned its head at the sound of her name, a quiet ‘yip’ being offered to the conversation.

“You make good points.” A mischievous twinkle sparked in his starburst eyes as he pretended to consider the proposition. Of course, his immediate thought was one of absolute agreement. He absently scratched the cat behind her ears, blowing out a breath as if he were deep in thought. “It would be nice not to have to spend so much money… And I’m assuming you’re talking about the Estates for these two…” He waved a hand at Ember.

Zach let himself trail off for a tick before grinning at Dev’Ania. “Of course we should. I want nothing more than to share a proper home with you.” He chuckled and reached for her, causing Ember to jump off the bed with a chirp and join Aki by the fire. Zach pulled the Konti onto him and rolled her over, planting kisses along the scales trailing up her neck. He would do anything to make her happy, and an idea was already forming in his mind to do just that.

40th Winter, 521

Zach swung Dev’Ania’s hand in his own as they meandered along the pathways of the Okomo Estates. He’d woken her up much too early for a birthday, but had tried his best to coax a smile from her with the help of fresh pastries and the words “Let’s go and look at some houses.”.

A mixture of nerves and excitement fluttered under his ribcage. He had never taken a risk quite like this one before, but he knew the Konti well and was sure that she would be happy. The pair stopped to look at a few places all different in their own eccentric ways. When they reached one particular home, just on the edge of a small grouping of others, Zach pulled her just inside the gate.

“This one is nice right?” The cottage had a stepping stone path leading to the front door, it’s stone façade beautifully weathered. If she voiced her agreement, he would encourage her to head to the front door to have a look, hanging back a little until she spotted the small plaque he had nailed to the wooden door that read ‘Ember Cottage’.

If she turned to look at him, Zach would smile at her and hold out a key. “Happy birthday.”

[Dev'Ania]

Dev was overly happy to hear that Zach agreed. Getting a home together was the start of their future, and it was a future that the fortune teller had high hopes for. She loved him with everything in her, and she could tell that the feeling was reciprocated. The konti wanted to grow a family with the hunter and combine their two cultures. Now their family was them and their two pets, but she had hopes that the future involved children of their own. Daughters, no doubt, due to her konti blood.

A giggle escaped Dev’s lips as she was pulled on top of Zach. The warmness of his body combined with hers as she grinned down at him, her hair falling to the sides of her face. “I am so glad that you agree, my love.”

40th, Winter, 521AV

The early dew of the morning created a foggy air throughout the mountains of Lhavit, but it was a perfectly calm time to do anything within the city. Dev’s webbed fingers intertwined with Zach’s as they walked hand-in-hand through the Okomo Estates - ‘House Hunting’ as he had called it. Even though it was early for the konti, and she wanted to sleep in from long days of working, she agreed to go. The freshly-baked pastries given to her by Zach helped, but her tiredness was still seen through her sluggish movements, occasional yawns, and the narrowness of her partially closed eyes.

After looking at a few, the pair approached a cottage that piqued Dev’s interest. “Yes! This one is really nice, actually.” Her fingers untangled from Zach’s as she moved closer to the front door of the cottage and felt the simple, but beautiful, fencing around the cottage.

As she got closer to the door, she noticed a plaque reading Ember Cottage on the front. She smirked and giggled as she read it aloud, “Hey, look. It says it’s called Ember Cottage. Just like my little Ember - wait…” The konti paused abruptly and ran her fingers against the wooden plaque. With wide eyes and an expression of pure surprise, she slowly turned around to face the hunter.

Her hands cupped her face as she caught sight of the key being held out to her. “My gods, Zach… you didn’t!” Dev ran back over to Zach and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. Tears of joy ran down her face and she spoke between sniffles, “Thank you so much, my love. I can’t believe you did this for me. For us.” It was the most perfect birthday gift she could have asked for, and a gift she would never have expected. “I absolutely love you, Zach Grasswind. I hope this will serve as a place for us to grow a forever loving family together.”