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The window of his apartment in Cinfras seemed to be permanently covered with a sheer coat of dust.
Tasim sometimes wondered as he stared into the streets in search of a familiar face if the dust was some sort of divine punishment, for settling without a word so far from the province he was sworn to protect.
Cinfras wasn't a permanent arrangement, to be sure. One day Tasim would wander further, into the dangerous canyons to the East, even further from the Decay and corruption and the airbase and Aledar and Aledar and Aledar. But for now the promise of the Wynn province and Aledar just an airship ride away rung hollow but true, true enough for him to stay put for just another day.
Locked into place, he'd look through the haze of dust to the adventurers below him, hesitating when he saw what may have been you but never moving. He'd recall whispers of a Gavellian organization you sent into disarray, stories from Aldorei of a new realm you discovered with an elven partner that's long since disappeared. Even the tale of a human general, long stationed in the Dark Forest, leaving for Wynn to discover a frontier locked away with a powerful Fruman mage and you, their oldest comrade.
Rumor had it the mage never returned. Tasim knew Aledar's thirst for knowledge better than he knew himself, knew it'd take him to the deserts of Almuj and the towers of Lusuco and the jungles of Troms and the islands of magic hidden behind miles of ocean. But he'd never thought Aledar would find a place so rich he'd stay there, leaving the plains of Wynn and their stone cities behind. Leaving the promise of Tasim behind.
He supposed he didn't know Aledar at all, though.
Tasim remembered, in that tower outside of Elkurn, letting some shady scientist peel back the layers of his past, letting him bypass that powerful magic that kept him sane, kept him devoted. He remembered a chorus of Aledar ringing out in his head as you chased him down, one that never subsided even when he debriefed with you and found a villager that'd get him to Llevigar for cheap.
He remembered only days before that when, in between his assignments in the plains and Aledar's ventures for knowledge, he'd listened to Aledar tell him he was his best friend and, unable to help himself, pressed his lips to Aledar's for the first and last time.
That morning Aledar told him that they'd talk, that when he was done poking around the Portal and when Tasim was done in Elkurn they could figure something out. He'd told him that he loved him. Tasim just hugged him and sent him off.
Tasim left the province of Wynn quickly and without a word. He wished he could say he didn't look back.
Maybe he was cursed. Maybe this was his punishment.
Someday Tasim would leave Cinfras. Someday he'd return to the province of Wynn, find the expanse Aledar had resigned himself to, and beg for his forgiveness and for his love. Someday he and Aledar would uncover their Fruman memories and create real ones in Wynn. Someday he'd leave his spot at his windowsill and do something meaningful for the first time in years.
Today, Tasim only opened his dusty old window and whispered an "I love you too" to the wind, praying to whatever gods existed that it'd reach Aledar.