Work Text:
Talent - ‘a special or natural ability or aptitude’
Past - ‘the history of a person’
Future - ‘something that will exist or happen in time to come’
<Heavensward MSQ Spoilers ahead>
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It was late into the night as Katsum dragged her brush across the canvas, the moonlight lighting her painting as the firelight had long since died out. She leaned over to look past her canvas at her subject, smiling at the sleeping form of her dear Lord Commander, his bare chest glistening in the light with his hips and legs wrapped in the silk of their bedsheets. When she had started, he had been awake, grinning, and posing for her to make her giggle and blush as she painted, yet she was also glad he had found peace enough to fall asleep. It warmed her heart as she pulled the strap of her nightgown back up onto her shoulder, moving back to continue shading the elegant shadows around Aymeric’s form.
When he had learned she had a talent for painting, he had nearly begged her to paint something for him, a portrait of the two of them together that they could hang in their home. After a while, she agreed on the condition that she could paint him one day in whatever way she chose, and he had agreed with a sweet smile. It had been a while since she had finished their portrait though, and she’d finally pried herself from the warmth of the covers and the loving grip of her husband to pull out the easel and paints and finally sit down to paint.
As she gently painted in the shadows around his chest, she suddenly heard him moan in his sleep. The sound made her stop and peer over at him. His face was twisted like he was in pain, her body tense as he shifted onto his back as if fighting off someone. Katsum dropped her paintbrush in her cup of brush cleaner and stepped around her easel, padding across the cold floor to reach out to him.
“No…don’t…don’t hurt her…” He heard him whisper, a drop of sweat rolling down his forehead, “Do what you will…but don’t…hurt her…”
She could only guess what he was dreaming about. She reached out and gently held his hand and shook him, “My love, wake up.”
He shuddered and his brow narrowed more in his terror, “Run…run please…no father, please…let her go…”
“Aymeric!” The Elezen jolted violently at the sound of her voice, his eyes flashing open as he grabbed the wrist of her hand that held his in panic. She stayed still as his eyes flitted around the room, sitting up and taking in his location before finally settling on her and his breathing slowed a bit.
“Kat…?” He sighed and loosened his grip on her wrist, running his hand over his face, “I’ve sorry, my love, I…what a horrible nightmare…”
Katsum sighed sadly and sat beside him on the bed, curling her tail around her legs and sweeping his bangs out of his eyes, “Are you alright?”
“I…I am not…sure…” He looked down at his still shaking hand before laying it on his abdomen where two scars crossed, one from the Heavensward torture and the other from the knife from his near assassination, “It felt so very real…and they…I couldn’t bear watching them hurt you…”
Katsum climbed into his lap, shifting her gown up her thighs to straddle his hips, standing on her knees to pull him into her embrace and letting him bury his face in her neck and shoulder. She ran her fingers through his hair as he wrapped his arms around her tightly, shaking softly as he stroked her back through her silky gown.
“I’m so relieved…that it was only a dream…Thank heaven you are safe.” He mumbled into her shoulder, and she could feel the tears drop on her arm, “By the Fury…I would be…so lost without you…”
“Oh, my sweet Aymeric…” Her ears fell back as she leaned her head against his as she hugged him tightly, “Shhh…you are safe now. they cannot harm you anymore.”
He sobbed into her shoulder and she held him together, running her fingers through his hair to calm him. It was often he who was comforting her after a nightmare, yet there were these rare times when his traumas of the past and the Dragonsong War surfaced and he would wake as he had tonight in a cold sweat and his dreams being far too real for their good. It was often the same dream, of his time down in the dungeons of the Vault where the Heavensward tortured him on the behalf of his own father. The thought always made her angry that his blessed father would treat him in such a horrible way…Katsum could not understand it, and she never would.
“Katsum?”
She blinked as his quiet voice broke her trance, “Yes?”
She felt him move to sit back against the headboard and sat her on his thighs, intertwining their fingers as he took a deep breath, “Talk about something. Anything. Just…something to get my mind off of things.”
Katsum thought for a moment, thinking of something that she could talk about that would help him clear his mind. Finally, she too sighed, smiling softly as she toyed with their fingers, “How many children do we want to have?” By the silence that followed, she knew she had thrown him off so she met his bewildered gaze sweetly, “We’ve spoken about it before I know, but I wanted to ask.”
Aymeric blinked as his eyebrows lifted, “Were you…do you wish to start trying for a child? I remember we decided to wait and use protective measures until after the war with Garlemald, but…”
“Don’t think too far, my love,” Katsum blushed and squeezed his hand, “Think only of what I asked you. How many children do we want?”
Aymeric looked at their hands in thought, “I have thought about it ever since we got married. I want a daughter, a girl who I hope looks like you that I may cherish as much as I do you. I want a son as well…a son to love more than my father ever did. A boy to teach to grow into a good brother to protect his sister and family when we are gone.”
Katsum nodded, “So two?”
Aymeric turned his head curiously, “Would you like more?”
“One more. I think I would like three children.”
“Three? Truly?”
She nodded, “Either two girls and a boy or two boys and a girl. What do you think?”
He smiled and lifted her hand to his lip to kiss her knuckles, “It sounds perfect.”
She smiled and leaned towards him to press a kiss to his lips, thinking he would pull away until she felt his arms wrap around her and pulled her body down to lay on his as he kissed her back. She hummed against his lips as she ran her fingers through his hair again, pulling away from his lips to nuzzle her nose against his, her tail waving happily in the air.
“How about you finish painting another night and come lay down with me again?” He whispered into the shell of her feline ear, his hand trailing down her back again, “I wish for the comfort of your warmth to sleep more soundly.”
Katsum kissed his cheek, “Of course, my lord. Let me go and close up my paint.” She pulled from his grasp and trotted over to her easel, let her tail lift the trim of her slip as she moved to tease Aymeric.
She saw him roll to lean over the edge of the bed towards her, “Hurry back.”
She giggled, “Patience, sweet Aymeric.~” She cleaned her few brushes and closed her paints and cleaner and then moved back to the bedside, letting Aymeric snatch her waist and roll them into the sheets, wrapping them both into the blankets as he snuggled under her chin and sighed.
Katsum placed a kiss on his forehead, “Goodnight, my sweet knight.”
He shifted and placed a kiss on her collarbone, “Goodnight, my beloved Kat.”