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Dark clouds filled the sky as roaring thunder echoed through the city; lightning danced throughout the clouds, causing her face to glimmer as she watched on. The winds were strong, whipping her hair enough to sting her face on occasion. The emotions she held felt heightened by the chaos of the weather. Shivering discomfort ran through her.
"Veth," Yeza said.
Even more uncomfortable; anxious. She'd been avoiding him, certain topics ever since she came home.
"Yes, baby?" she said.
Yeza walked over and sat beside her on the edge of the rooftop. He must've climbed up just to see her—it was sweet. She smiled a soft smile that wasn't quite real as he turned towards her with a worried expression.
He placed his hand on hers, "You haven't been yourself since… everything. Are you okay?"
A cold fear gripped her throat like a clawed hand. Her flask was so close. But it was inside. Too far away. She was trapped with her husband on the roof during a storm, and all she wanted to do was drink the fear and pain away. Veth thought she'd kicked the habit, just a bit.
Apparently not.
"Honey, everything's-"
Yeza cut her off, "It's not. You're drinking more, you don't talk to Luc as much and… You hardly look at me." He paused for a moment, eyes glistening from the lightning and what may or may not have been tears. "Please talk to me, tell me what's wrong."
Veth looked down, avoiding eye contact. The smile had long since melted. It would've been silent if the thunder hadn't continuously rumbled and rain hadn't been pouring down. Their own little bubble of silence, however, lasted one, two, even three minutes. Her husband held her hand throughout the bout of quiet, rubbing little circles against her palm.
She appreciated it as she mulled over what to say.
"Sweetie? Take your time. I just wanted to let you know that I brought a snack for us," Yeza said, pulling a covered basket onto his lap from his right side.
She looked up to him with big eyes and slipped her hand underneath the cloth that luckily wasn't soaked through. Inside was something squishy, smooth, and sticky all of the same time. Her hand covered it as she pulled the treat towards her so it wouldn't get wet. In her hand was a burnt marshmallow. She giggled a bit as she sunk her teeth into it, the taste of char and sugar filling her mouth.
"Baby, you always burn them," Veth giggled, taking another bite.
Yeza gasped a little, "They're better that way!"
"Sure, sure."
Veth grabbed another, even more charred than before. She stared as memories flooded into her consciousness. Bad memories. Something she'd tried to avoid thinking about since the day after it happened. The scent of burning flesh and the feel of overwhelming heat came back to her and she started shaking and she just couldn't stop.
Warm, wet arms wrapped around her into a tight hug. She leaned in, comforted. Rain continued to pour on them, soaking their hair and clothes.
"Is… is it about what happened with Luc?"
Tears trickled from the corner of her cheeks, washed away by the rain, and she sniffled. A pain began to grow in the back of her throat. "Sort of but… It's not just about that." Veth looked up to him the best she could/ "I died again," she whispered, just loud enough to be heard over the rain.
"Oh, oh sweety," he said, hugging her tighter.
"I messed up. I just… Luc died because I led the danger to you. I died because I ran into danger." She breathed in deeply, breathed out, in again. "I love adventuring, it's fun, I run into danger for fun. But the outcomes? They're not fun. I let our son die. I let myself die. I almost abandoned the both of you. I… I'm not a good person. All I do is hurt all of you," her voice was broken, cracking. Pain pulsed through her throat and stomach, and her eyes stung in pain from the tears.
Yeza was crying now, too. "I brought danger to our family long before you did. We talked about this, about Derogna. All you did was try to protect us, protect the world, even. You're amazing, Veth. None of what happened is your fault," he reassured.
"Yeza… I did a lot, and I mean a lot, of it for fun. I didn't even think about consequences most of the time. Even when talking with Jester outside the cave. I didn't think of the danger. Didn't think of what could've happened to you and Luc and Marion."
The rain was close to pelting their skin like little pieces of rock, yet they still sat, cuddled in a hug and stressful conversation.
"It can be hard to think in situations like that. Especially when we were in the Fire Plane; you'd already been through so much, and a lot of us thought we could have a moment to catch our breath. None of us expected that to happen." His words were slow, careful. A slight whine to his voice from the crying.
"Even with that, we should've expected something. We went such a long time without a break, who were we to think we could have one?" She gripped his hand tighter and twisted her free hand into his shirt, holding on.
He ran his fingers through her hair, occasionally twirling the wet strands between his fingers. "Anyone would've expected a break, been hopeful. I always expected them in the short lulls that popped up when working for Derogna."
Veth thought for a moment, calmed and almost drowsy from the way Yeza played with her hair. Being with him made the cold rain not matter, it was easy to ignore. Eiselcross helped, too.
"You… have a point," she said. "But that doesn't excuse everything I've done. All the mistakes I've made."
"Everyone makes mistakes. It's halfling."
"But-"
"No buts," he said, "I love you Veth. Trust me when I say you did nothing wrong, please."
The rain reduced to a drizzle and Veth sat up to hug him properly. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear. She laid back down on his lap, using it as a pillow. She felt a bit better. Felt this was a start to things being better again. Feeling normal again.
Yeza pulled a marshmallow from the basket, which somehow still wasn't soaked, and peeled off all the charred bits, leaving a sticky mess of marshmallow between his fingers for a second. He plopped it in his wife's mouth and she giggled.
They sat together and watched as the rain and thunder dulled, clouds parting, sun setting.
Veth wanted to grab her flask. Not to get drunk, but to celebrate.