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It has been six months since the cinder king was slain, and Allura has spent that time rebuilding everything but her own home. The city is coming together and getting back to a sense of normalcy, but she and Kima are still in a small apartment near the palace that they’d been given upon arrival. Cramped as it may be Allura is delighted to have more than a bedroll in her office. She and Kima both flopped on the bed that first night and fell asleep in each other’s arms.
Life has been busy and Kima hasn’t complained once as she’s thrown herself into the rebuilding effort. Which both makes Allura happy and makes her worry. Kima is a woman of action and, while the city is rebuilding, there’s plenty to do, but as things normalize the fear that Allura will find her packing once again builds. In a strange way the fact that her own home has yet to be rebuilt means the city is not fully recovered, and as long as that is yet to be done Kima will stay.
Allura’s life, contrary to the hectic nature that it’s had since meeting Vox Machina, is boring and fairly repetitive. Meetings, inspections, checking in on enchantments, and paperwork, so much paperwork. Being the liaison to Syngorn and now Whitestone (Cassandra specifically requested and Allura had not been able to refuse) also means she’s always busy. It’s not a life that Kima would enjoy and Allura can appreciate that now in a way her 20-year-old self could not. That only means Allura can see the moment Kima walks away on the horizon, rather than be blindsided by it, and in all honesty, she isn’t sure which is worse.
It’s now, six months after Allura lets herself get comfortable with the idea of Kima in her life again, that Kima brings up the fact that Allura hasn’t put any thought into rebuilding her tower.
Kima guides her to sit down and start working on a blueprint. Neither of them are very good artists, but Allura, with a pencil and a ruler, can just about manage.
“Think about it, you’ll want a library knowing you. How big a desk do you think you can get? The last one looked like it was overflowing.” She’s counting on her fingers a list of things Allura might like.
Allura smiles even as her heart races. “Well, for starters, given my newly revivified social life, I don’t think quite such an open floor plan is going to work.” She starts marking off rooms. “I don’t want to have company sitting 10ft from my bed again.”
“Why didn’t you do that the first time?”
‘I didn’t entertain very often; save for you once in a blue moon and then Drake every other.” Allura carefully sets about drawing a handful of circles to not have to look at Kima. “You don’t worry about friends seeing your unmade bed when you have no friends.”
“Come off it, Allura, you’re bound to have plenty of friends.”
Allura carefully shakes her head, “Plenty of coworkers and contacts and the like, but no one I could really call a friend. Not since we all—“ Allura cuts herself off.
“So, you what? Just threw yourself into your job? When is the last time you took a vacation or something?”
“More or less... I think the last time I took time off was when I met up with you in Westruun.”
“Allura, that was eight years ago!” Kima stares at her stunned. Allura is carefully measuring for scale along the paper.
“Allie, that’s not healthy. Even I’ve taken breaks from questing between then and now.”
“I know it’s not,” she sets the pencil down lightly before folding her hands neatly in her lap. It’s an old trick Allura uses to hide fidgeting fingers. “But it was so much easier than sitting alone at home, and thinking about what I might be doing if not for Thordak.”
“Gods woman,” Kima sighs, leaning into Allura, “I swear the fact that you haven’t worked yourself into the ground is a miracle.”
Allura chuckles and rests her head on Kima’s.
“Alright, come on let's keep going, you need a kitchen even if you’ll barely use it. And knowing you, miss silk robes, you’ll have an over-the-top closet. And bathroom.”
“At least I know how to relax properly.” Kima makes a sound that clearly means she doesn’t believe her.
In the end, the blueprint slowly comes into being mostly through Kima prompting her, but it does come together. It’s a very wizardy tower with space for books, potion making, and experimentation.
A place that has room for Allura and no one else.
Kima is all smiles as they look over the vague blueprint they’ve put together, but Allura’s chest is tight as her mind flashes to more days, endless days, alone. More days of wondering where Kima is and worrying about whether or not she’s ok once she inevitably leaves. More days of no one to talk to beyond as a colleague, and nights by herself because she can’t bear the idea of going out alone after having been part of their group. The last fifteen years of routine once again stretching before her into decades until she does in fact work herself into her grave.
She blinks away a sudden rush of tears and sorrow trying to hold composure in front of Kima, and a small, terrifying idea pops into her head. Give her a reason to stay. Kima said outright the reason she’d gone through with leaving before was because Allura had not asked her to stay. What if-
“What,” Allura coughs to clear the tightness from her throat, “what would you say to a shrine to Bahamut?”
“You want a shrine to Bahamut in your home?” Kima leans back and crosses her arms giving her a suspicious look.
Allura shrugs.
“Where would you put it?”
“Somewhere near the door perhaps? So anyone who comes in could see it, and it would be convenient to use.”
“Yeah, that would be a good place,” Kima says and she sounds uncertain, which does nothing for Allura’s failing courage.
“Why do you want it though? I haven’t finally converted you have I?”
“I’m not putting away my spellbook in favor of becoming part of the clergy, no.”
“Ok, so what gives?”
“I...I was wondering if. If you’d-“ Allura mentally berates herself. She traces the blueprint with her finger and says, “I was wondering if you would want to share a home with me? If maybe it might be our tower rather than just mine.” There, it’s said. One way or another they’re going to deal with this and there’s no turning back now.
Kima sits still looking at Allura. Her mouth opens and closes a few times. Finally, she smiles a little funnily, “Allura. Be serious, you don’t want a roommate in your new home.”
“No, I don’t want a roommate. But that is not what I’m asking.” She forces herself to breathe, “I’m asking if you’d like to make a home with me. Properly ours. Not mine. Ours.”
Kima sits back, “You want me to move in with you? You want us together and have people know about it?”
She’s taken aback and Allura shouldn’t be stung by her surprise, because that has been a hang-up for them. In Whitestone, everyone knew and no one said anything, but here they seem to have unanimously decided without any discussion of the topic that they’re going to not tell other people the extent of their relationship. When Brom mentioned the fact that Kima had her own bedroll in Allura’s office she’d brushed it off. When Tofor had offered space at the temple of Bahamut for Kima she’d given a half-hearted excuse. They had never talked about telling others, but Allura found herself hesitant to say Kima was her girlfriend or lover or anything at all really. Kima too seemed like she didn’t want to give it a label but was still happy to warm her bed. It was this same ambiguous nonsense that caused them to fracture before, Allura realizes. Both too afraid to say what they think or ask the other about it, and unless she wants to ensure that history repeats itself she needs to speak up.
“Yes,” Allura says emphatically and is still surprised with how much she means it. “I want you, Kima. I want you and I want everyone to know that we are together. I don’t know what sort of label to give this, but I want to be able to say that we’re in a relationship. I’ve been hiding and I don’t know why, but I’m tired of it and I just want you. The rest is simply a bonus.”
Kima continues to stare for a moment before a proper smile breaks across her face, “you are the only person I know who is more eloquent when you’re nervous. Allura Vysoren, I would love to make a home that’s ours. I want to be your girlfriend or, you know, whatever you feel like calling it.”
Allura feels she could melt, and leans forward to kiss Kima. It lasts for several glorious, long moments before Allura pulls away grinning at a shocked Kima with lipstick smeared on the lips. “Lady Kima of Vord I would marry you if you were willing.”
Kima grins funny, still kiss dazed, “Are you serious?”
“Completely,” Allura says, tilting Kima’s chin to kiss her again, slow and soft this time.
“I’m willing. I am definitely willing,” Kima says as she hikes up Allura’s skirt and runs her hands up the bare skin of Allura’s thighs.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Kima teases her later. “You know the platinum sanctuary is all about tradition.” Allura scoffs at her and presses closer to Kima’s side; as if she has ever been one for tradition regardless of her station in the faith, “but, I suppose that can work for a proposal.”
“Oh thank goodness,” Allura says, pressing a kiss to Kima’s shoulder.
“That blue print is going to need a much better kitchen.”
“You can have the best custom kitchen magic can create.” Allura curls around Kima and kisses her neck.
“I’m gonna cook for you every day. It’ll be amazing. Gods I want to marry you tomorrow.”
Allura giggles and lifts her head to kiss Kima on the lips