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I weaved the simple flowers together with practiced ease while humming a little bardsong, enjoying the pleasant warm sunshine on my face. Her head was leaned back in my lap.
Seated on a little bump in the landscape, I was high enough up that Karlach could relax back into me as if she wasn't two heads taller than me. I could see her chest heave slowly, dozing in peaceful slumber to the sound of my voice.
As much as I felt safe with her ferocious presence on a battlefield, I felt much more comfortable like this, enjoying a rare moment of total peace between complete panic and certain doom, and I had stubbornly decided I needed to gift my tall, buff tiefling girlfriend a flower crown.
In a way, it was the perfect symbol. Not only was it a concrete reminder that her skin no longer scorched anything that got near, it also underlined that beneath the scary exterior, she was a gentle soul. Also she liked flowers. That was good enough for me.
My sister Sparrow and I had made flower crowns a lot as kids, and the technique would probably stick in my brain forever. If only combat thaumaturgy stuck as easily.
The hardest part was connecting the two ends together, and I absently put my tongue between my teeth as I fiddled with the fragile weave.
"Hmm? Why'd the music stop?" Karlach said with a stifled yawn, stretching her arms up around me.
She settled back into me, and looked up at me from her position in my lap.
"I'm done!" I said with a huff of pride and presented the round crown of flowers, white petals with a sunny yellow center.
Her face shined up at me.
"Wow! It's so pretty!" She said, as I gingerly lowered the crown around her horns.
"I dub you, Karlach Cliffgate, queen of flowers," I said seriously.
"Hee hee I feel pwetty," She giggled, and her tone made me laugh heartily.
"You're silly, you know that?" I said, and kissed her forehead.
"I take silliness deadly seriously." She said with an exaggerated pout.
I leaned down to kiss her on the lips. Once. Twice. Several more times.
"My beautiful little flower princess," I murmured.
"Little?? Hells, I need to work out more if that's the case," She said, laughter in her voice.
"Pssh, if you get any bigger I couldn't take you anywhere," I teased.
I snuck one hand down to caress her chin, her ruby skin warm to the touch.
"Beautiful little devil," I whispered.
She shot straight up immediately, startling me. The flower crown dropped to the ground. It took me several awkward seconds to realize how I had fucked up.
"Rae," She begun, her tone heartrendingly serious.
"Fuck, I know you meant well," She said. I felt like a complete asshole.
"But please... Don't. Alright?" She hugged her shoulders with a little shiver. Her tail drooped, and for a brief moment she gave me the impression of a scared little city girl, rather than the mighty fury of Avernus.
"I'm... I'm sorry Kar. I didn't mean to hurt you." I said, feeling startled tears pushing at the corners of my eyes. The shock of what I had done was sobering, and my stomach clenched in a painful jerk.
"I know you didn't. But. Yeah." She said, not looking at me.
I sat on the grass, not knowing what else to say. The flower crown on the ground drooped sadly.
"I'm sorry, Karlach. I fucked up." I murmured limply, my voice thick.
She stomped around for a bit, restless.
"Argh, hells. Can we just go back to before you called me the d-word?" She grumbled.
"I don't know if we can... But besides, you're definitely not that. You're an angel. My saving guardian angel. Only without the wings." I said, trying for a bit of levity.
"So... A person then." She said with a smirk, sadness not entirely leaving her face.
She bent down to pick up the flower crown, and planted it back on her head with a satisfied grunt.
"The best person I ever did know," I agreed, happy to have resolved my fuckup in a halfway acceptable manner.
She smiled, standing over me for a few seconds. Then she sat back down, leaned into me, and guided my hands to rub at the sensitive spot at the base of her horns. I obliged with enthusiasm.
"Mmm. Your hands almost make up for that massive whiff just now," She said, purring at the scalp massage.
I let out a nervous huff that was almost a laugh, but she didn't press it any more than that.
"I'm truly sorry Karlach." I whispered for the third time, unable to come up with a more eloquent line than the pure truth.
"Eh. Fuck it. Your beautiful floral monarch forgives you. As long as you keep rubbing me like that." She said with a pleased smile, eyes closed, leaning back into me.
That was the first and only time I ever called her a devil.