Work Text:
The dark forest is pleasantly serene tonight, a soft breeze that is carrying the stories and wishes of the forests inhabitants, rustles through the treetops.
Bryon, deep in meditation, focuses on every little whisper the wind carries towards him.
Everyone else in the camp was fast asleep and their snores occasionally broke through the tranquil atmosphere accompanied by crackles of the flickering campfire.
The windwhisperer had immediately volunteered to keep watch for the night since it gave him an opportunity to gather his thoughts in peace. Compared to the others he also had the mental strength to skip a night of sleep without any drawbacks.
The past few days had been quite the whirlwind, from traveling with a famous magister, fighting countless of corrupted foes to reuniting with Lorsan.
Especially one of these events had been plaguing his thoughts constantly, if he was honest with himself it had been running through his mind for about the past three years.
Even now when he was trying to meditate and focus on the voices of the forests his mind drifts to light gray locks and a pair of adorable twitchy bunny ears.
Back then when Lorsan had disappeared without a single notice he had been devastated, even if he was reluctant to admit it to the others at first. He preferred to keep to himself and the other wilders were already affected enough, especially Lyca.
He had tried to reach out to the rabbit on so many occasions, his trusted bird had scouted the forests multiple times without success and every message he entrusted to the winds seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Three whole years without a single sign of life from his old friend had him incredibly worried, the only thing he could do was pray to Misarte to keep the foolish man safe.
Eventually Bryon had realised that his care and concern for Lorsan ran deeper than what he assumed was a deep friendship, he had never considered himself the type to fall so helplessly in love with another so the realisation left him quite befuddled.
He was completely out of his element and the fact that Lorsans current whereabouts were so uncertain made him spend many nights lying awake, mulling over his thoughts.
You only realize how much something means to you when it's gone, even if he hoped to see Lorsan again there was no gurantee.
What if Lorsan never returned? What if he had realised his feelings sooner and confessed to him? Would Lorsan still have left without a word in that case? What if Lorsan never made it back alive, and if he did how would he even react when Bryon eventually flung a confession at him?
Their reunion had been awkward to say the least, Bryon had teased him about it and scolded him but he just couldn't bring himself to be genuinely upset with the rabbit.
While not hearing from him for so long had been undeniably disappointing, having Lorsan back at his side was an incredible relief.
They spent the next days dancing around each other, they mostly spoke with each other when their traveling party was around but whenever Bryon tried to catch Lorsan alone the half rabbit expertly dodged him.
They occasionally did slip into their old banter of times with Master Arden and Bryon felt almost at home again
Bryon was ripped out of his straying thoughts by the rustling sound of tent fabric and lithe foot steps approaching him, Lorsan was trying his best to walk quietly but even with the advantage of his soft rabbit paws Bryon's ears were simply too sharp.
He slowly turned around to face the sound and noticed how the steps halt for a second before continuing after a moment of hesitation.
He feels Lorsan settle carefully on the massive tree stump next to him, Bryon can sense the warmth radiating off of him as Lorsan scoots a bit closer.
He almost smells like he always does, of soft fur and fresh young leaves but now it's mingled with the smell of burning wood and something Bryon strangely cannot place.
He can only imagine how Lorsan looks right now, his hair even more tousled than normally from just having crawled out of bed and how his ears hanging down lopsidedly whenever he's tired.
He's tempted to pull his blindfold down to steal a quick blurry glance but resists, that's reserved for when Lorsan isn't looking at him.
They sit together in silence for a while and listen to the sound of the campfire and the woods surrounding them until Lorsan awkwardly clears his throat.
"I didn't really mean to interrupt your mediation but I just couldn't sleep, our adventure has been leaving me restless. ", Lorsan sheepishly scratches at the back of his ear and averts his eyes from Bryon.
Bryon finally turns to properly face him and lightly cocks his head, "You're hardly bothering me that much, I'm used to it after all. It would have preferred if you were your usual talkative self while you were away. We were worried about you, I was worried about you. I do have to confess that I missed our banter.", his voice his unusually gentle and he doesn't know what overcame him to speak his thoughts so freely.
He's gone soft over those three years, life is a fickle thing and who knows how long they still have, especially now with the corruption lurking everywhere.
There's never going to be a perfect moment to tell Lorsan about his feelings so he might as well get it out tonight.
Lorsan can feel a slight blush creep up onto his face out of embarrassment after hearing his friends words and his ears perk up a bit at the gentleness in Bryon's voice. Even if they spent a lot of time teasing each other Lorsan appreciated their softer and quiter moments, he missed this.
"Yeah I'm glad to be back too. I'm sorry, for you know, practically everything. I know that I should've responded to you, I just didn't know what to say when I met you again. I guess it is easier to just avoid you and pretend nothing happened until we eventually move on from it.", he's nervously fiddling with his fingers and his ears are twitching anxiously.
In retrospect he wishes he had talked to Bryon before leaving so abruptly, he risked their entire friendship due to his recklessness
All those messages of Bryon that the wind carried over are still stuck in his head. They first few had been delivered in everyone's name, especially Lyca expressed her concern and occasionally the village elders also chimed it.
All of those eventually gave up but Bryon stayed persistent, his first few messages had been filled with disbelief, frustration and frequent demands for Lorsan to return or at least provide a proper report on his state.
The frequency of those did recede after a while but something else was dragged in by the wind, something meant for him but not for him to hear. He barely picked up on it the first time since it was so subtle, so brief and fleeting but they were small prayers and wishes for his safety.
Lorsan may be a a fool but he wasn't stupid, he'd been running from talking to Bryon long enough now, he felt like he owed his friend some proper closure.
Bryon sighs and gives Lorsan a forgiving soft smile, "I suppose we are adressing it now, however there is nothing left for me to say. In all fairness I hardly knew what to respond either when you just barged in with an extremely powerful mage in tow.
At least your three years of searching about paid off for us, as displeased as I was with your disappearance I do have to admit that without yourdedicationwe would be off far worse."
Bryon sighs again and runs a hand through his hair, Lorsan is tempted to say something but is smart enough not to. Bryon inhales softly and continues where he left off, " If anything I'm glad you made it back at all, I wouldn not know what to do if you happened to die out there or were severely injured. " Bryon's usually so steady and determined voice wavers slightly at the mention of harm coming to Lorsan.
Lorsan scoots closer to him so their thighs are almost touching and places a hand on Bryon's shoulder to comfort him.
If the half rabbit was any less perceptive he would've missed how the blond wilder immediately tensed at the unexpected touch.
Lorsan quickly pulls his hand back assuming that it was unwelcome and mumbles a small apology under his breath.
He doesn't get to properly finish his mumbling because Bryon reaches out and gently grabs the hand he previously pulled away.
It feels nice, being this close to Bryon.
Lorsan's hand is much warmer compared to his own and his skin is far smoother, when he properly places his hand into Lorsan's he can hear how the rabbits heart beats louder and his breathing halts for a second.
Lorsan shakily inhales and let's go for just a single moment to adjust the angle of his hand so he can comfortably intertwine their fingers.
Bryon feels like he's lost in one of those fantasies he drifts off to whenever he mediates, except that this is very much real. He stays silent, too afraid of shattering this fragile moment if he makes just a single wrong move.
He opens his mouth to speak and immediately closes it when no words are able to form in his mind.
He just focuses on the feeling of a warm soft hand against his own and fully melts into it, he wishes he wasn't wearing his gloves at the moment to enjoy the sensation to it's fullest.
Lorsan manages to somehow inch impossibly closer, their thighs pressed together and the pair of tangled hands resting atop the junction.
Lorsan doesn't know what possessed him but lifts his free hand and slowly reaches for Bryon's face, he let's his fingers rest against the man's cheek and the stoic blonde practically nuzzles into his palm.
He lets his fingers wander further, trailing along the edges of the blindfold but does not let them linger there.
They're so close now, face to face and breaths intermingling.
Lorsan just can not bear the anticipation anymore and decides to finally lean in.
Lorsan's breath tickles against his lips before they connect at last. It's like a dam breaking between them and Bryon is swept away by the waves it causes, afraid he might even drown in them.
His training has heightened all his senses, even such a simple featherlite kiss feels so intense to him.
Lorsan's lips are incredibly soft just like everything else about him, his silver hair, those gorgeous ears and that adorable tempting tail.
It's just a quick press of lips on lips but to Bryon it feels like an eternity, they part and something so quiet that only he could possibly hear it is whispered against his lips.
"I missed you"