Work Text:
Esha stepped over the Dellamorte estate threshold, Davrin behind her carrying two of the presents destined for her lovely nephews and nieces.
For Leo, a small textile cube she'd bought from a Dwarven merchant who stopped by in Arlathan. It was designed to feel nice and ground the user, and it had grooves for mages to conduct their magic through.
For Ren, a plushie she'd spent months sewing, of Spite, since the poor girl was the only non-mage in the family, Esha wanted her to have something special.
For Fey, a brand new fashion catalogue she'd outright nicked from an Orlesian traveler who'd complained about wanting to see the Griffons. Not that Davrin would ever let them, but Esha decided that the catalogue would be in much better hands with her nephew.
And finally, for Antonella, an easel Davrin had carved, made of a fine, sturdy bough of Arlathan pine. It was truly a work of art, no pun intended.
Davrin was carrying the easel and the plushie, while Esha carried the cube and the fashion catalogue in her bag.
“Hello?” She called out. It was unexpectedly quiet at the manor, usually an alarming sign but in this case it was fine. Esha wasn't expected, and sometimes Kal and Lucanis were out.
Davrin glanced around. “Should we wait?”
Esha shook her head, and motioned for him to follow. She would just go to the room that he had set aside for her and Davrin's visits. Even though she rarely stayed there when she came to Treviso, she mostly stayed at Viago's house, in her old room.
They stepped through the empty halls, seeing a few staff here and there who barely reacted to Esha's presence, except Rosa, who exited a room as they passed and called out to them.
“Lady Esha! Lord Davrin!” She quickly came over, dusting off her uniform, and took the presents from them, setting them to the side before rushing to hug Esha.
Esha allowed Rosa to embrace her, and she sighed happily. “Hey, Rosa. You know I'm just Esha Suledin, right? You were at the wedding!”
“Yes, but you'll always be little Lady Esha who bit my arm, jumped from second story windows, and both wanted and did not want to wear dresses. You're just bigger now.” She cupped Esha's face and squished her cheeks slightly. “How have things been, my dear?”
Esha giggled airily and moved Rosa's hands. “A lot, and yet not much, feels like. This is just a routine visit.”
“Is anything ever Routine with Master Kal?”
She struggled to suppress another giggle. “No, I suppose it's not.” She looked around. “Why is it so quiet?”
Rosa's face suddenly got very serious. “Master Kal is at the de Riva Manor. He got an urgent Crow while he and Master Lucanis were…indisposed in the office. Master Lucanis is still in the office, working.”
Esha tried to ignore the implications of what Kal and Lucanis were doing in their office. “And the kids?”
“Sleepover at Lady Allona's. Miss Antonella was lonely.” Rosa explained. “Your room hasn't been cleaned since you usually stay at the de Riva manor! Please, why don't you wait in the parlor while I clear it out?”
Smiling, Esha looked at Davrin. Settling in would have to wait. “No problem, Rosa. We'll entertain ourselves while we wait. You can behave, right?”
Davrin smirked. “Oh I don't know…can I?”
She came over to him, pressing her hands into his chest. “You better, if you want to sleep in the same bed your wife is in tonight.”
“Mmm…well if my beloved wife, Esha Suledin asks, then I can do it. But she'll have to be the one to clean Assan's barn when we get home. You know, cuz he gets nervous when we aren't around.”
Overcome with mischief, she leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his earlobe, then tore out of his arm and sprinted down the hall, laughing. “Remember! You said you'd behave!” She paused at the end of the hall to see what he'd do.
“Not my usual hunting ground, but I'll take the challenge!” He rolled up his sleeves and turned to Rosa with a wolfish grin. “You should probably hurry.”
“Please be careful.” Rosa said simply, not surprised in the slightest as Davrin took off after Esha.
Esha yelped and continued her sprint, flying around the corner and up the stairs, cackling.
She managed to make it all the way to the third floor before she ducked into an alcove and he rushed past. Once he was far enough away, Esha slipped out and made her way back to the stairwell. This was exhilarating, it reminded her of her and Davrin's first ‘date’ in Arlathan.
Lucanis was standing at the bottom of the stairwell, looking mildly amused but mostly annoyed.
“Rosa?” Esha laughed, knowing her former maid had tattled.
“Rosa. Why are you playing prey in the halls? We have a garden for that.”
Davrin came up behind Esha, hauling her over his shoulder as she yelped, which dissolved into giggles. “Less fun, Lucanis. I have a natural advantage in vegetation over the pampered princess.”
Lucanis crossed his arms, chuckling, as he came the rest of the way up the stairs. “Ah yes, the joys of an empty house, hm?” Esha tensed, and his face fell as soon as he said it. “My apologies, Esha, I–”
Esha shook her head, tapping Davrin on the back to let him know to put her down. “Nah, it's fine, Lucanis. So Kal told you?”
“Not in many words.”
“Kal's not a man of many words. What exactly did he tell you?”
Lucanis suddenly looked nervous. “Well, I was aware of your file once I became First Talon, you know, physical reports, mission reports, etc. Your injury. I just asked him, and he–”
“Told his husband everything, got it. Well I'd prefer you purge that file, given that I am a liaison to the Crows now and no longer an active member.” She didn't mean to sound snappish, and when Davrin laid his hand on her shoulder, she attempted to release the tension.
They had talked, after their wedding almost three years ago, about kids. Of course Esha wanted them, but she had always assumed she would be like Viago, and adopt a gaggle of idiots to foster till one of them took over the Talon position from her. But she was not a Crow, and her life was full of quiet moments with her husband, so there was that want.
And Davrin was…well he was Davrin. Always not saying his preference until pushed. But she knew he'd love a little one to spoil.
But they were not destined for that. Despite Davrin's blight seemingly being inactive after the last stand in Minrathous, who knows what damage it had already done? And with Esha's injury, it wasn't impossible…
But there were very slim chances of a pregnancy happening there.
Of course, they had considered adoption. Kal had certainly had luck with it. But it never felt like the right time to pluck up a kid from the orphanage, and one never fell into their lap like they seemed to with Kal. So maybe it was a sign.
Lucanis rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, clearly not sure what to do. “Ah, yea, of course. I'll get that file destroyed as soon as possible. Would you like some lunch?”
“I think we'll just head to the room, Lucanis.” Davrin said carefully. “We should wait for Kal, right, Esha?”
Esha tried to reign herself in. Now was not the time, and Lucanis didn't mean to poke that bear. “Yea, yea. Lucanis, why did Kal go to see Viago? Are they training together again? Usually he comes here.”
Lucanis's nervousness seemed to spike, and he avoided Esha's eyes. Suspicious. “No. He and Viago are arranging a…project. That's why I was surprised to see you here. Don't you usually stay at the de Riva manor when you come to Treviso?”
Her head inclined, watching him in suspicion for a moment. “Yes…but Kal said I was always welcome, and this is closer to the Diamond than the de Riva Treviso Estate.”
“You are always welcome.” Lucanis agreed. “The timing is a little ironic, though.”
“Why's that?” Davrin asked, looking an arm around Esha's waist and squeezing. She glanced up at him and he glanced back, his eyes signaling the same feeling she was getting. Something was off.
“Don't tell Kal I said this.” Lucanis leaned in.
Startled, Esha nodded and leaned closer. Lucanis wasn't usually one to keep secrets from Kal, so his confidence would be interesting.
“Mi amor is getting a present of a rather large nature ready for you. It's been in progress for quite a while, and a breakthrough was just achieved this morning. That's why he's at the de Riva manor.”
Her mind raced. Kal was a great gift giver, and he would turn the world upside down to find the right gift sometimes. “What kind of gift?”
“Now that, I'm not telling you. Kal wouldn't kill me, Spite would. He's already mad I told you this.” He turned to look at the empty space next to him, where Spite was presumably standing. “We have to be good hosts, Spite. You don't want Kal's sister thinking she's unwelcome, do you?” he nodded and then turned to Esha. “Yea, so. I'll let Kal know you're here.”
“Okay…me and Davrin will go get set up once our room is ready.”
“Rosa's quick. By the time you get down there–”
“You don't need to tell me how fast she is, Lucanis.” Esha said teasingly. “The woman raised me as much if not more than Viago.” she motioned for Davrin to follow her, and they took off down the stairs.
Once they were out of earshot of Lucanis, Davrin got closer. “What was that about?”
“What do you mean?”
“What did he say that got you so riled up?”
“Oh, Davrin. Sometimes I forget that even though you're my husband, and an emotionally mature father figure, you're still a man.” She patted his cheek. “Don't worry about it, babe. Besides, I'm more interested in this gift Kal is whipping up. He's always been an excellent gift giver.”
Davrin looked surprised. “Really? He doesn't seem the gift giving type.”
“Ohhh yes.” Esha grinned wildly. “When I first graduated…I was feeling bummed out because the maids and Rosa were arguing about getting rid of anything childish from my room. The maids won, and I lost the doll that Kal had gotten me for a previous self-proclaimed name day. Most siblings would just go and get the doll out of the trash, right? No. Kal said it was ruined, chased down the maids, poisoned them, stole their money, and bought me a doll that looked like me. It was very sweet.” She saw the look on Davrin's face. “I know that sounds insane, but it meant a lot to a sixteen year old who was starting to get real jobs that were taking her further and further away from home. That doll is probably still in storage at the de Riva manor somewhere.”
It looked like Davrin was quietly ruminating on that revelation. He slipped his hand into hers a moment later and locked their fingers. “If the de Riva brand of crazy is in style…” he murmured invitingly. “Then when in Tevinter, do as the Tevene do.”
She leaned up and kissed him, slow, and then leaned her forehead against his. “It's stuff like that that makes me…” she trailed off, sighing. “Nevermind.”
“What's wrong?”
“It's nothing.” She insisted quietly. She had wanted to say ‘that makes me want to make you a dad’. She wouldn't have even thought about it had Lucanis not mentioned it.
Okay, that wasn't true. It had been prevalent since Kal had adopted his third child, and especially so since Antonella was born. That was three years ago. But she didn't want to burden Davrin. It wasn't his fault they couldn't have kids, and not for lack of trying, mind you. Their marital relations had always been healthy after things had calmed down with the Veilguard.
They stepped into the guest hallway as Rosa was guiding a few maids out of one of the bedrooms. She brightened again when she saw Esha. “There you are! I was just about to call for you, dear.” She looked her over carefully. “Well, you have remarkably less leaves in your hair and you don't smell of regret. A marked improvement upon your usual romps.”
Esha flashed bright red, a sound of indignation rising in her throat. “Rosa!” Her face turned to Davrin, who looked highly amused. “Rosa I am married now!”
“You're telling me that those chases never end like that?”
Davrin let out a bark of a laugh. “With leaves in her hair, yes. Smelling of regret? I hope not.” He winked and Esha smacked his arm, hard.
“Both of you, shut the hell up! Is the room ready, Rosa?”
Rosa hemmed and hawed for a moment, hiding her smile behind her hand. “Yes, it's ready. Please don't dirty the sheets until before you intend to leave, they're such a hassle to clean”
“The only reason you still breathe right now is because my mothers and fathers would be disappointed if I killed a helpless old lady.” Esha said, her cheeks alight. Rosa was not helpless. Sure, old, but not helpless. The woman was a retired Crow, after all.
“Lucas would be so disappointed if I didn't come home today.” Rosa drawled.
Esha pushed past her, dragging Davrin into the bedroom and slamming the door shut. She threw herself onto the silken sheets and groaned as loud as she could. “You are both infuriating!” She growled at Davrin.
Davrin sat next to her and rubbed her back. “Yes, but one of us you married, so it's your own fault.”
“Throwing my words back at me is playing with fire, Warden.” She warned, leaning away from him.
Davrin rolled over to lay next to her. “Yes, but I'm willing to get burned, if it takes your mind off whatever's got you in a funk as of late. I can't marry you twice, unfortunately. So I'm doing my best to keep you distracted.”
Oh, Davrin.
“I love you. So. So much.” She said softly, pulling him into a hug. “You lout. You're forgiven. Just stop talking about our sex life in front of other people?”
“What about alone?” He murmured silkily, rolling again so he loomed over her. “Can we talk about it now?”
Esha reached up, locking her arms around his neck lazily. “I dunno. Is Rosa still outside the door?”
“Nope. Heard her walk away.” He buried his face in her neck, pressing a kiss to her pulse point. “I know she said not to dirty the sheets…”
“Davrin, as much as I would love that. We are in a danger zone just by being here. Kal does not know what privacy is, you know this. He's interrupted us before. Three times at the lighthouse, and twice at the cottage. And both of those times we thought we were safe.”
“Yea?”
Esha sighed. “Think about it. We're in his house right now. He may not be home, but Kal is Kal. He could come in here right this second and interrupt us.”
A pause, then a deep groan right in her ear as he turned away and rolled off of her. “You're right. I got carried away, Esh, sorry.”
“Once again, forgiven. Just use your brain and not your downtown, okay? We've got time when we get back. This visit is for Kal and Allona's family. Though it looks like their gifts will have to be given after we leave, sadly.”
Davrin shrugged. “Yea, since we only have tonight and the morning. Maybe you'll get to see them before we go?”
“Mmm…maybe…” Esha leaned against him, resting her head on his chest lovingly. “Should we take a nap and wait for Kal to get back?”
“Are you actually going to sleep? Or am I going to sleep, and you're going to listen to my heartbeat and try not to be anxious?”
Caught red handed. Esha didn't reply for a moment, tracing idle patterns on his shirt. “I can not confirm nor deny the factuality of that statement.”
A strong hum esonated through his chest. “Babe. I need you to talk to me. I can't help with the metaphorical demons in your head if you just let them torment you.” He brushed an overly long piece of curled red hair out of her face. Her hair had gotten longer in the last three years, but it was still misshapen, and lopsided. She needed to even it out. “Did I do something wrong?”
She immediately sat straight up, twisting to look at him. “No! Davrin, no. You've been perfect, if not occasionally too perfect. This is just me coming to terms with disappointment. It's not something that needs to be labored over.” She flopped back down, curling next to him.
He wrapped a protective arm around her and pulled her close once more, his warmth pleasing to her anxious chills. “I must confess…” He began slowly, then stopped. “Nevermind.”
“No, hey!” Esha glared. “You can't start confessing and then back out!”
“I wasn't aware the confessional had rules? What chantry are you practicing?”
“The chantry of I am your wife, Davrin. And unless you wanna be out on your ass in that nice clean barn when we get back tomorrow, you'll tell me.”
Right as Davrin began to open his mouth, there was a scattering sound outside the door and down the hall, as if someone was moving very fast. Then their door flew open.
“Hey Esha!” Kal's disheveled appearance surprised no one, but he was carrying a bag. The supposed gift, she would imagine. What could be so small that would fit in there, and still be so monumental to need Viago's assistance? “Hey David. Why'd you bring your boyfriend?” His tone at Davrin was much more lukewarm.
“Husband.” Esha gently reminded Kal, and she and Davrin sat up. “And it's Dav-rin, not David.”
“He calls Illario Larry, babe, no stopping this. What's up Kyle?” He greeted his brother-in-law carefully.
Esha knew why. Davrin had said some things about Lucanis in the past that Kal had taken issue with, and the reason Davrin wasn't killed for those remarks was because of Esha's affections at the time, not that either of them knew that when it happened.
Kal thrust the bag into Esha's hands. “Open.” He commanded.
She blinked twice, then glanced at Davrin, why seemed uncharacteristically giddy. She raised an eyebrow and Davrin shrugged, motioning to the gift bag.
Oh, so literally everyone was in on this?
Esha untied the carefully wrapped de Riva color ribbon that was tied around the mouth of the bag, and reached inside. Her fingers met cold glass. “What's this?” She mumbled curiously, more to herself than the room, but Kal answered anyway.
“A gift.”
“I got that, doofus.” She pulled the article out. It was a potion bottle. Not a large one, but larger than a vial. It was filled with a shimmering but inert grey liquid. She gave it a swirl, but it changed nothing. “A potion?”
“Yes!” Kal grinned, clearly excited. “Dad and Em worked on it for months! Home Ingredients didn't work, so Em got some from the Necropolis!”
“Kal…”
“But it kept not working, so they had to get more ingredients. I had to use my lightning magic to superheat the bottles a lot.”
“Kal.”
“But then Dad sent a Crow, the actual bird kind, this morning, and he said there was a breakthrough! So it's great that–”
“KALIAS DE RIVA DELLAMORTE.” Esha growled. “Stop.” He frowned, clearly a bit annoyed at being sister-ed. “What. Is. The potion. For?”
Kal crossed his arms, sighing. “It's for you to have a baby.”
A baby.
Esha's heartbeat throbbed in her ears suddenly, as her brain rushed to accommodate the information she was being given as Kal went off in another spiel, most likely about how the potion worked. She looked at Davrin, who was watching the potion with interest, but mostly watching Esha.
“Viago and Em have been working on it for a while. Since the wedding, at least.” Kal said loudly. “I dunno why it took them so long. Seems simple.”
Esha's fingers were starting to go numb, so she quickly put the vial back in the bag, much to Kal and Davrin's surprise.
“Esh? You okay?” Davrin moved closer, resting his arm around her shoulders.
She glanced at him for only a moment, before looking up at Kal. “Why?”
“You've always been easy to figure out!” Kal said cheerfully. “Anyway, I gotta go. Date night with Luca in a few minutes. Whole reason the kids aren't here. Have fun, instructions are in the bag!” He started for the door.
Esha called out to him. “Kal, wait!” But that man was on a mission and just kept walking, either locked in or just completely ignoring his older sister. She stared at the door after he left, then the bag, then at Davrin, then back at the bag. Her heart was pounding, her brain was like a magic static ball, bouncing around with too much information.
“You knew.” She turned to Davrin. “You knew.”
Davrin smiled sheepishly. “Only partially. Illario slipped up during a carving lesson about a year ago, when they ran into a roadblock. Being a survivalist, I mentioned a few herbs that may help them get going, but they were Nevarran. I guess they got a hold of ol’ bone head to get them. And I didn't know they were gonna complete the potion today. That was a complete fluke.”
“But you knew. And didn't tell me.”
“And spoil the surprise?” He paused. “Sure, I considered telling you when your mood started turning. I knew it was about the kids thing. But you seemed to have it under control, and you weren't telling me about it, so I figured I could just keep you distracted till it was ready.”
“I didn't even…” Esha sighed, pensive. “I mean we talked…” she was struggling to get the words out. “... but I didn't know…”
“Esh, babe.” Davrin pulled her head to rest on his shoulder. “What did we talk about just being in the moment? Stop worrying about tomorrow for now, and let's be happy with the fact that this gift is going to change our lives.”
Esha nuzzled against him. “You don't seem surprised.”
“Honestly I'm not even sure how it works. But at this point, with this family, I don't think any manner of magic fuckery could surprise me. I'm pretty sure that if Monello and you worked with Bellara you could reverse engineer an Eluvian.”
“Now there's an idea…”
“No.”
Esha laughed, but didn't reply. She reached into the bag again and pulled out the beaker, handing it to him gently. Then she pulled out the instructions. It was a carefully penned letter from Viago.
Eshari de Riva
The instructions for this potion are very simple, but the creation was not. It takes around half a year to brew, and it is not shelf stable, so choose quickly.
Take a piece of yourself. Hair, spit, etc, and mix it into the potion, along with whoever you're intending to co-parent with. Allow the potion to sit until the color changes stop, then have the carrier drink. Results should occur within a week or two. Don't ask how it works, and don't ask who we tested it on. If I was in the business of asking questions, we wouldn't be here.
Regards,
Viago de Riva
She sighed, shaking her head. Curt as ever, and with no actual answers. That was Viago.
Davrin kissed her cheek, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “You don't look happy, babe.”
“No, I'm…I’m ecstatic. I think my brain’s just overloaded…” she mumbled, collapsing backwards into him. “A baby…a BABY, Davrin. Our baby. A baby that is ours.”
“Yep, your brain’s broken. Okay.” Davrin pulled her back, carefully taking the letter and the potion and setting them on the bedside table as he lowered him and Esha to a laying position. “We have time to work it out. Let your brain process first.”
“A baby!” She said, muffled against his chest. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes as reality finally hit her. Hiccups turned to full wails as she gripped Davrin's shirt and bawled into it, a mixture of relief and happiness overwhelming her.
Davrin rubbed her back soothingly and pressed kisses to the top of her head. “A baby!” He confirmed, sounding a bit choked up himself. “Son or daughter, you think?”
Her sniffles made it hard to talk, and when she did, it sounded watery. “You'd be such a girl dad, Dav.” She giggled. “But you'd love a son…”
“Either way, you'd give a baby everything you never had. And I'd make sure they never feel like an outcast.” Davrin said softly. “You'll be a great mom, Esh. I know it.”