Work Text:
Hello
“I’m Maev,” the hulking barbarian said, extending her hand.
“...Santiago,” the warlock replied.
The barbarian’s hand easily dwarfed his own, and he winced as she accidentally crushed his fingers.
Soak
Maev groaned, wringing water out of her long braids. She felt disgusting and waterlogged, and knew she would have to spend hours fixing her now tangled flail braids.
Santiago, similarly soaked through, laughed as he overturned his boot and a comical amount of water poured out.
Stare
Following her line of sight, Santiago found himself staring at Grieves’ ass. After a moment, he jerked his head away, face hot. Santiago looked up at Maev unsure if he should be amused at her directness and Grieves’ obliviousness, or embarrassed that he had joined in staring at his friend’s butt for a solid 10 seconds before realizing what was happening.
Laugh
Maev, like everything else she did, laughed loud . She was boisterous and made herself into a large, formidable presence for her loved ones to shelter behind. She laughed the most in battle, taunting their enemies and sinking deep into her blood-lust. It was a sight to be behold.
Santiago giggled more than anything, quiet in his happiness - as if he thought someone would scold him if he was too obvious. He did not talk one-on-one with Maev enough to know if he could be comfortable being loud with her, but found comfort in her direct and unapologetic approach to life.
Tenuous
In the weeks that followed Santiago’s disappearance, Maev came to the conclusion that she did not know her traveling companions as well as she thought she did. She had not thought about Santiago much in the few weeks they had traveled together - it wasn’t that she disliked the man, she just had assumed him harmless. There was much she would have to think about when it came to her remaining friends and what Santiago’s final moments in their group would mean for them all.
Earliest Memory
Santiago’s first day back on the Radiant Citadel was marked with confusion and pain. His vision swam, and he stumbled after the trio that had found him by the river, vertigo threatening to send him tumbling at every rise and dip in the ground. He didn’t recognize this place, or even know who he was.
He collapsed to the ground and vomited as they entered a residential area of the citadel, the smells and harsh colors of the urban environment overwhelming him. Hunched on the ground, he wrapped his arms around his legs and tried his best to shield himself from the unbearable amount of stimulus around him. In his weakness, he ached for the sea that he left behind. The soft currents had wrapped him in soothing silence - no loud sound, bright colors, screeching noise. He wanted to go back. He wanted his mother.
This Moment
He did not know the names of the three adventurers in front of him, or how he knew they were adventurers. Perhaps it was their wardrobe, or the confidence that came through in their stance despite their obvious anxiety.
They introduced themselves again, as his friends - Maev, Grieves, and Zul. Dip and Radah were downstairs. He was Santiago.
Up until this moment, his exhaustion had threatened to overwhelm him. Now, in the company of these strangers, he felt safe enough to let it.
Troubled
Some days, Maev and Santiago found themselves overwhelmed by the world around them. Responsibility, isolation, the threat of power, past mistakes known and unknown... It was a relief to sit quietly in each other’s presence and not feel judged.
Scorch
Maev’s magic was intoxicating. She knew how powerful it could make her, and most of the time, came through when she needed it most. Even so, there were many days where Maev could not control her magic and it threatened to consume her. The scorching pressure in her chest would feel like hot coals eating their way through her skin - threatening to immolate those closest to her for the smallest bit of power, control.
The writhing mass of energy she felt pooled inside her was intense and exhilarating to use, but terrifying at the same time. She dreaded the day when she would again hurt someone she loved.
Thoughtless
Maev roared and brought her ax down to kill the dancer, the blow effortless and the death swift. Santiago did not think to check on Maev’s well-being after the fight, and did not understand why she brooded so intensely on her actions in the days that followed.
Question
Santiago perked up. “There’s an ocean here? Can we go swimming?”
“ No.” Maev said.
Trust
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! ” Santiago screamed, sawing at the icy webbing tangling around his legs.
He could hear the others as they clashed with the other ice spiders farther up the trail, and the hiss of the spider that trapped him sounded uncomfortably close to his head. The ice spider lunged and Santiago curled underneath Snip, hoping the spider wouldn’t be smart enough to try and rip the shield crab away from him.
The spider thrashed above him, its sharp legs nearly slicing him a few times, and suddenly Santiago felt the webs give away around him. A few errant swipes of the spider’s sharp legs had helped to break the remaining bindings around his legs. Santiago fell flat on his face in his haste to get away from the monster. Not wanting to question his good fortune, Santiago scrambled out from under the creature and set off in a dead sprint down the hill and towards Maev.
Maev would keep him safe.
Lacking
Maev had never believed she could protect Santiago from the forces that followed him. It was easier to fall into the role of protector with Zul and Grieves - she knew that she could be the unbreakable wall between them and whatever monster threatened their safety. Santiago, on the other hand, was terrorized by entities beyond her scope of understanding. Now though, looking at his motionless, crumbling body in her arms… Maev knew that she could have done more.
Connection
Every time Maev brushed her hair, it was with the comb Santiago had gifted her. She knew that he never took the fish hook bracelet she had given him off his right wrist - the bracelet had even come back with him from the Astral Sea.
After she scooped the rubble that was once Santiago’s arm into the bag of holding, she carefully fished the bracelet out of the powdery snow. Maev braced Santiago against her chest and held the bracelet tight as she watched Zul check Kaz’s healing, her other friend’s face pinched with anxiety. She could feel Santiago shivering, and wondered if it was from the shock of his loss or if the cold was finally catching up with him. Probably both, she decided.
Pepper worried about making it the rest of the way through the pass before nightfall, and Maev made her decision then. Scooping Santiago up onto her back, she felt his remaining arm loop loosely around her shoulders. He pressed his forehead into the back of her neck, his feverishly hot skin like a brand in the freezing temperature. Maev pocketed the bracelet, and held her friend close.