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I had four books open on the grass in front of me, leafing through one or the other before returning to scribbling in a well-used tome in my lap. Despite all that had happened so far, the routine was still comforting to me, and besides I had come up with some interesting ideas while traveling. With no way to check others' work on these ideas, except for the pretty basic collection of tomes I had managed to scrounge up from various dusty dungeons and dark crevices of the Underdark, I worked with what I could for now.
The pages of my notebook were filled with rough, but precisely written, technical formulae, as I calculated my way through theoretical acoustomancy, second-order transmutational modulation, Blackstaff's theorems of fundamental powers of the weave, and several other subjects I'd be hard pressed to explain to the layperson. Part of my mind cursed that I had had basically no time to brush up on my basics, as my pen flew over the page. Not that I knew if I'd be able to find time for that, but that subject pulled my thoughts toward the road ahead of us, which was exactly what I was trying to distract myself from.
We had passed through the Underdark to the surface of a land shrouded in magical darkness, and all the gloom had been pretty depressing. Now, however, the sky was clear, and it was a lovely, fresh early summer day in Faerun, and we had been able to travel unmolested thus far. I paused my scribbles for a moment, reading over my latest work looking for any flaws and drew in a deep breath of the fresh mountainous air.
Only a few days travel from Baldur's Gate, we had agreed to slow our travel pace slightly, so we didn't show up completely exhausted, since none of us had any travel animals. That was why I had this moment to myself to take my mind off of things I had no way of influencing right now. The psychic reverberations of the mindflayer brain had been scarce, but awful.
Oh and I was sitting in her lap.
Karlach was leaned against an old elm, dozing comfortably, both arms around me, her defined chin resting on the top of my head. Her body heat was like a comforting blanket to me, and she didn't seem bothered that I shifted on occasion to search through the pages of one of my arcane tomes. Her breathing was calm and steady, deep and slow, with a faint trace of a snore. Then she drew in a deeper breath, sighed, and yawned, stretching her arms up to the blue sky. I cocked back my head to look up at her with a smile.
"Good morning sleepyhead," I teased, "Getting bored now that we've been away from relentless horrors for a few days?" She rubbed her eyes and hmm'ed.
"Heh nah. Gods know I've had enough action to last a lifetime." She chuckled, her voice a little sleep drunk.
"Hey I know you enjoy the thrill of it. Not sure I'll even be able to understand that part of you." I said absently, correcting an error in one of my formulae with a few pen scratches. I dipped my pen in the inkwell next to us.
"I do. And I don't. I've spent most my life doing shit like that, yea? Hard to break old habits, and I am fucking good at it, but I didn't get to nap much in Avernus. No Raven, this peace is infinitely better. But rare." That surprised me less than it might have a few months ago. Her life story did not fit her sweet and gentle demeanor. Sure, she had one hell of a fiery temper, and sure, she was certainly the most capable and scary opponent I could picture having. But she didn't seem to take joy in having enemies in the first place.
"Maybe some day we'll be rid of all of them," I thought grimly, my pen pressing a little too hard into the page. She hmm'ed again. I could feel the gentle thump of her artificial heartbeat through my back, as she leaned into me.
"Anyways," She peered down at my notes, "What is all that?"
I paused my scribbling and put down the pen, having finished another calculation.
"Just a few ideas I've been tinkering with," I said, excited to be meddling with the nerdier aspects of magic again. She knew me well at this point. "Y'know, working on the stuff I used to, which seems to have been downgraded to hobby status these days."
"Sweet! But... what is it?" She said.
Instead of answering her, I skimmed over the last two pages of notes. It all seemed to add up. In theory. I held both hands out in front of me.
"IL, EZER, REVEZE, INFER, AUGU!" I intoned, drawing upon my power to shape the weave. I twitched a few of my fingers once, and a distinctly atonal horn sound blared into the mild air. I frowned while her startled laughter shook me in her lap.
"Ahh haha I see. Classic fart spell gag. Wizard pranks, highly sophisticated," She giggled. "Just need to add the smell.
"Well it certainly wasn't supposed to sound like that..." I mumbled with a chuckle, "But hey it made you laugh, that's good enough for me." I noted the unexpected effect with a few more spidery runes, and leafed back a few pages to a related idea I had ready test.
"Here, check this shit out," I said with more confidence, holding out my hands again. She ooh'ed expectantly.
"Exciting! But... Please don't blow us up!"
"AUGU, IRAE, YE, EP, MEH, MEH!" I intoned, twitching my fingers in a more complex pattern. This time the sound was of several instruments, a harp, a drum, a pipe, a lute, and a fiddle, playing seemingly unrelated notes in no noticeably rhythmic pattern. Karlach let out a joyous laugh and I shook again. The motion was very comforting.
"I-" She said, wheezing, "Sounded like a band of bards tumbling down the stairs." That mental image sent me over the edge in a laughing fit too, and we sat there chortling at each other. I wiped a tear out the corner of my eye.
"Ahhh. You're a fun audience to test out acoustomancy on... Ooh here's a weird one I wanna try. Shh, prepare yourself."
"Okay okay," She said, stifling a giggle. I thrust out my hands for a third time, this time twisting my fingers in a slow, gentle, pattern and intoning a third chant.
The sound begun subtly, like a smooth distant rumbling, before reaching a deep, bassy crescendo that I felt as much as heard. A few birds flapped out of the tree we were sitting under with startled chirps, and the sound faded slowly. This time Karlach didn't laugh. I looked up at her, her eyes were closed and she hummed thoughtfully.
"That was weird," She agreed, "But lovely! Don't think I've ever heard anything like that."
"Thanks, I got the idea from some of the odd sounds we've been encountering. I figure maybe someone more musically inclined than me could make some kind of use of it."
"Hey you're not bad with a lute." She said.
"Heh, thank you Kar."
She rested her handsome chin on my head again, and I felt my focus scattering, closing my notebook with a sigh. We sat there in silence for a while, enjoying the embrace. Then she shifted uncomfortably under me, and put her mouth close to my ear.
"Rae I love being close to you like this, but if I don't stand up soon, my legs are going to fall off," She murmured, her hot breath on my skin sent a shiver down my spine. I laughed.
"Maybe then we'd finally see eye to eye, you big beautiful bastard."
"Eheyy, nice one tiny. Now shoo. Mama needs circulation." She chuckled, as I got to my feet, collecting tomes into my bag in the process. I could all but feel her gaze linger lazily on my body as I did, like the heat radiating off of a torch. I looked back to meet her fiery eyes. Her pleased smile widened, and she kept gawking unabashedly.
"Don't mind me soldier. Just taking in the scenery," She purred, and I could feel my face heating up. I scrambled to finish stowing my tomes while she rose with a few audible cracking sounds from her joints. She stretched mightily with a loudly pleased groan, and this time I was the one enjoying the scenery. Her shifting muscles were pure art, as always, and I found myself suddenly standing a lot closer to her. She looked down at me with a smug smile.
"Darling?" She said in a low tone. I peered at her abs with a slight, thoughtful, frown.
"How do you even get to look like that," I muttered with awe, as I slid one of my hands over the tattoos on her ridged stomach, feeling hard muscles shudder below the surface. Her skin was hot, almost feverish. She shifted under me, flexing her abs and let out a little, pleased giggle.
"Pushups, situps, and plenty of juice," She replied reflexively, almost as if reciting an old joke. I never figured out if she was being serious. "And a decade on the frontline. But hey if we have the time I could show you a place in the city, if it's still around."
I shook my head, still greedily fondling her midriff.
"I was never all that good at that sorta stuff," I replied absently, then put my head back to look up at her. "But I do love seeing you work out." She grinned down at me, her pointy fangs gleaming in the soft sunlight.
"Love having my own personal cheerleader, hehe. Especially when they're that cute.But that aside, I really love your softness. You're like the second softest thing I've felt. Next to Clive, I mean." She said it lightheartedly, but a heat had entered her tone that hadn't been there a few moments ago. I raised an eyebrow, smiling up at her. I could feel my face heating up pleasantly.
"Tough competition I suppose..." I eyed her.
"Hey, do you think the others are going to come looking for us any time soon?" I asked, trying to sound casual, but with my hand still on her warm ruby skin.
"Who knows. Why?" She asked with a shrug, also trying to sound casual.
"I got a tall bastard tree to climb," I purred, putting my hands on her broad shoulders, and she lifted me up to meet my kisses with her wine-red lips. She leaned her upper back against the elm as we made out in the soft early evening light, my hands tangled in her long, wild hair.
My life this past year had been entirely dreamlike. Well, a nightmare, for a lot of it, but these days I was scared a lot less often. My fears of every immediate moment of violence had slowly been tempered into a cold, practical resolve to protect my friends and my dearest, but of course there was the looming dread of our current quest. My mind flashed briefly with an image of Gortash, the smug motherfucker that was the source of all my girlfriend's pains, and I took my anger out by redoubling the ferocity of our heated smooches. My mind swam with her taste lingering in my mouth as our kisses slowly tapered off.
We locked eyes for long heated moments. Hers ember, fading into sharp blue and pulsing with light. Mine dark and green. Her lips parted a little, and I could hear her breathing. A lock of my hair had fallen into my face, and she reached up to move it behind my ear, supporting the weight of me on her with just one of those steely, corded arms.
"Raven..." She said in a low husky tone.
"Yes Karlach?" I replied under my breath.
"Raven! Raven Raven Raven!" She giggled. "I love saying your name."
I felt a pleasant tumbling excitement in my stomach, and I made an indecipherable half-whimpering noise involuntarily.
"I love hearing you say it, Karlach. Karlach Cliffgate. My Karlach." I gasped, throwing my arms around her neck and drawing her head into a warm embrace. She turned her head to point the hornier side away from me on reflex, and I could hear her let out a little pleased hum. "Gods, how are you this cute. It has to break some kind of natural law." I said.
"Mmm. My Raven. Mine." She half growled, and I felt her grip tighten possessively on my thighs. I leaned back from the hug, and put my hands gently on the sides of her face. I planted soft kisses on her forehead, on the tip of her nose (she giggled), and on her soft lips.
"That's right. I am yours Karlach. And don't you forget it!" I felt my smile threaten to crack my head into two pieces. "Hey, let me down for a moment."
"Boo," She pouted, but let me drop to my feet carefully. She adjusted her ruffled leather top with a lazy smirk that sent a pleasant tingle through me.
Today really was like a dream. No doubt tomorrow would be too.
I took her large red hands in mine. Her palms were callused and firm, but the tips of her fingers were soft and tender, contrasted by her long, black nails. Our fingers mingled together, and I took a patient moment to just feel her skin in my hands. I caught her gaze.
"Kar... Despite all the other bullshit we've been through together, despite what we must do in the future, this life here with you has been like a dream." I begun with a serious face.
"Woah there Rae, what's with the dour tone? I'm here for you. You know that." Her own serious frown was smokily incredible, and I faltered briefly.
"I don't know... I've just been thinking how lucky I am to be here." I idly realized that hot tears were streaming over my cheeks, though I was anything but sad.
"Oi! What's wrong baby?" I released her hand to paw at my face, at once both frustrated at having my train of thought interrupted, and deliriously happy.
"Nothing, nothing," I croaked, incapable of stemming the flood of tears. I decided to try and power through it. "I'm just so... happy."
I was actually sobbing now, and I dissolved completely into her warm chest, trying to focus on her strong, reliable presence. It felt like the first time in a lifetime that I'd allowed myself to let my guard down so fully and just let my bottled up emotions flow freely out of me.
"Shh. It's okay my love. Just let it out. Mama K is here. Just let it go." She continued to croon to me soothingly, gentle fingers stroking the back of my head.
It was a true ugly cry, I wept loudly and openly. I don't know how long we stood there in the quiet mountainous forest, two formerly lost souls, now found. United.
My shuddering, hiccupping, breaths steadied slowly.
"That's it... Deep breaths... In and out." She said quietly. I tried to breathe normally but I still a wreck.
I turned blotchy eyes up to her and tried to apologize, but it came out as "I'b sowwy." I hiccupped softly and shook my head.
"Don't apologize Rae, If you're happy, then I'm happy." She frowned, concerned. "Are... You happy?" I laughed shakily, my breaths still a little shallow.
"Yes! Yes Karlach yes I'm happy. Deliriously so." I managed to get out between sobs. Her frown vanished, and I could all but feel her heart melting at that reply.
"That's all that matters to me, then," She breathed a quick sigh of relief. I hugged her tight, my head still turned up to meet her eyes. My chin dug into her glowing bosom. I sniffled.
"Gods," I said with a hoarse little giggle, as she bent down to kiss my hair, "I feel like I've gone insane for thinking this, but getting violently kidnapped and infected by mindflayers is the best thing to ever happen to me."
"Not insane. It's definitely the first good thing to happen to me since I woke up in the hells." Her strong arms held me tight. "The first of many."
With a startled noise, I noticed for the first time that Astarion had approached us from the direction of the main camp. He was intentionally looking away from us, but leaned lazily against an oak, apparently not ashamed to be snooping on us. Karlach looked at him over her shoulder with a challenging frown.
"What?" She rumbled with only mild irritation at the interruption.
"Oh I'm sorry, I wasn't sure if food is still something you two lovebirds need." He smirked smugly. "Gale has finished cooking." He cocked an eyebrow at my blotchy face.
"I'll... Let you get back to that now." He cringed and turned back to the campground. I could hear the mutter of voices from his direction.
Karlach let out an annoyed grunt, and stuck her long pointy tongue in Astarion's general direction. She looked back to me, putting a big warm hand on my shoulder.
"You going to be okay, Rae?" She smiled reassuringly. I nodded.
"Good, because fangs is right, you need some food so you can grow big and tall like number one here." I laughed, and wiped streaked makeup off my face with a kerchief.
"Does that mean I should starve you so you don't grow so tall you scrape against the tavern ceilings?" I said with a haughty smile, and handed her the cloth. My eyes felt puffy and my throat dry. My snot and tears had soaked into her sparse leather top, and my dark eyeshadow stained like a bastard. I doubted she cared. She let out a snort and wiped at the stains perfunctorily.
"Thanks, Rae. And you would never, you're hopelessly addicted to checking out my armory," She said, flexing her biceps masterfully. I giggled and slapped her stomach playfully with the back of my hand. "C'mon you big tomato, let's get back to the others. Weeping desperately really makes you hungry."
"Hey Karlach, hey Raven," Wyll said, waving at us as we approached. His smile fell slightly as he saw my face. "Gods, Raven, are you alright? What happened?"
"I flexed too hard, and it was like looking into the sun for them." Karlach said without dropping a beat. "What's for dinner?"
"Boar stew with potatoes," Gale supplied, shoveling an extra large portion into a bowl, he passed it to Karlach. She sent it on to me with a hungry groan.
"Gale, I could kiss you. Hand me another bowl."
I smiled and ate with vigor. The evening was unusually warm and comforting. I had grown to really enjoy my compatriots' presence, and between Shadowheart and Lae'zel's routine bickering, and Karlach and Wyll's tall tales and war stories, the dinner talk was lively and colorful. Laughing echoed between the trees.
Eventually the true darkness of midnight and our full bellies had slowed the enthusiastic banter to a few scattered drowsy words, and quiet bustling ensued as everyone prepared to sleep.
As usual we shared a large bedroll, and while the weather didn't strictly require a blanket, I preferred having a thin sheet over us anyway. Karlach didn't mind. I lay on her strong bare body, my naked chest on hers. She had her hands behind her head, elbows up and staring up at the summer sky with half-lidded eyes and a soft smile. My arms were wrapped around the small of her back, the weight of her pressing my hands gently into the bedroll below us.
"Kar?" I murmured. I only had eyes for her. The gentle glow of her bare chest pulsed slowly.
"Mmm?" She drawled sleepily.
"Karlach?" I murmured. Her smile widened slightly.
"Mm, Raven?"
I turned my head to squish one of my cheeks against her. She smelled of leather, wood smoke, and cherries.
"Karlach." I mumbled with determination, and wobbled as she chuckled softly.
"Ah. My Raven." She said, understanding. "My sweet, silly little Raven Haywood. Who blushes on their ears, and cries when they're happy." Her words were like honey.
"Hey!" I protested, "Leave my ears out of this, unicorn."
"Ooh, cheeky little bint," She giggled, tracing pointed nails down my spine in that way she knew drove me crazy. I pressed my face into her with a long happy sigh.
"Kar?" I asked again, as we lay there simply enjoying the feel of each other.
"Rae?" She muttered.
"Do you want to... Y'know. Do it?" She considered the question.
"Nah. Not tonight. Let's snooze just like this, yeah?"
I agreed. I felt exhausted, and this perfect moment was better than sex. I pulled myself up to kiss her deep red lips, then rolled off her so I could snuggle up to her side while she lay on her back, my head resting on her burly arm. I sighed contently, while she absently scritched my shoulder gently with the nails on one hand. We drifted off in each others' arms.