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The dawn sun rose over Minrathous as Rook and her team had climbed their way down the petrified blight tendrils. Elgar’nan was dead, the Veil remained standing with a new protector, and the Inquisitor - at the insistence of Morrigan - had simply ‘disappeared.’ Those that needed to know the Inquisitor’s fate would know without having to be told. Or Dorian would inform them. Regardless, the Veilguard had succeeded and the process of adjusting to life after the Evanuris War and Sixth Blight - the FINAL Blight - could begin. The five of them stood together, triumphant and battered, but grateful.
Eventually, the five of them would find themselves back at the Lighthouse. And days after that, people would start returning to their lives and plans they had before this had all begun.
2 Months Later
“She here?” Lucanis greeted Neve with a wave and faint noise of exasperation as he walked into her office.
“Not at the moment,” was the amused reply. “Though, I will happily tell you where she’s at if you promise to drag her away and keep her away for longer than three days.” Neve sat back in her chair and sighed.
“I’m trying. I do not think any of us truly realized how slippery she is,” he remarked with his own sigh. “Or we just elected not to notice because, at the time, it was working for us - not against.”
“Obviously, I’m not suggesting this - but have you considered drugging her, tying her down, and going somewhere without easy access to an Eluvian?”
Lucanis’s eyebrows furrowed together as he seemed to consider it before shaking his head.
“I had not considered it,” he replied drily. “But, may need to.”
“On your head be it should you take my, less than serious, advice,” she replied with a chuckle.
“Mhm. You keep saying what you need to in order to have plausible deniability when I tell Rook it was your idea.”
“Ouch. She’s down near the docks helping rebuild.”
“Por el amor Hacedor,” he grumbled, running a hand down his face. “She can’t swim. What is she thinking?”
“I tried to dissuade her. But you know how she is.” Lucanis simply shook his head before turning towards the door.
“Thanks, Neve. I’ll see if I can keep her occupied for a little while,” loving exasperation tinging his voice. Neve grinned at his back as he walked away.
“Wedding planning might do it,” she replied nonchalantly, biting back a laugh (and settling on a smirk) as the man stopped; his hand frozen mid-reach for the door handle. A straightening of his shoulders and a shake of his head and he walked out, making his way for the docks - the sound of Neve's laughter chasing him.
Eventually he wound his way through the Minrathous streets and to the docks, his eyes scanning through hordes of workers, as he looked for Rook. After a few minutes he heard a laugh he knew, and loved, and made a beeline for it. What he found was Rook holding court with a gaggle of workers and regaling them with stories, the hammer in her hand forgotten.
Lucanis crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to notice him. When she did, her mouth dropped open just a hair and her eyes turned guilty.
“Well, friends, I’ve been caught,” she muttered with a grin; passing the hammer off to a man next to her. The crowd turned their eyes towards where she was looking and promptly went back to work. The members of the Veilguard were well-known and no one thought it particularly wise to potentially run afoul of a Crow. Rook’s grin simply widened as she moved towards him. “I think you scared them, Lucanis, with your face being all serious like that,” she greeted as she walked up, her hand reaching up to smooth the lines in his brow.
“Imagine my surprise this morning,” he started without preamble. “When I wake up and roll over to greet my love and she’s not there,” he chided. “Not only that, but no note saying where she had gone.” Rook glanced away and fidgeted under his stare.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “But, look at how well you know me! You found me and everything!”
“Part of being a mage killer is also hunting them down first,” he replied with a smirk.
“See you say things like that and I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.” Lucanis’s smile widened a bit as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
“Both things can be true.” Rook chuckled quietly as she shook her head. “That said, I have come to collect my wayward love. We are going on a trip.” She blinked and leaned her head back just a bit so that she could look fully at his features.
“A trip?”
“Mhm. In the two months we have had peace, you have not stopped moving. Everyone needs breaks.” Lucanis reached up and placed a finger against her lips as a protest started to form. “Trust me on this, mi amor.”
“But, there’s so much to do…” she replied quietly, trailing off as she looked around the dockside.
“And they have hundreds of hands. You are only one person. Losing you, in this, will not slow the workers.” Lucanis gently reached out and pulled her chin towards him and laid a chaste kiss on her lips. “Besides, you being gone may get work done faster as the workers won’t be distracted by the great Rook, leader of the Veilguard, and Defender of the Veil and her penchant for exaggerating stories.”
“I never exaggerate!” she responded with a grin.
“Mhm.”
“But you may be right,” she conceded, though she still sounded a bit anxious by the thought of leaving. “I…we’ve…earned a break, right?”
“Más que nadie,” he replied as he placed his forehead against hers. “I found a place with natural hot springs, and dedicated masseuses, no Eluvians, and delicious food. All of this, I think, would please you.”
“Sounds expensive.”
“And we can afford expensive.”
“How long?”
“Are you trying to negotiate relaxation, Zahdeya?”
“Why? Do you think you’ll need your contract negotiator?” she replied with a smirk.
“Mierda,” he huffed out before moving quickly and scooping her up, bridal style, and walking away from the docks amidst her protestations. “I already packed for you - though, I admit - I did not pack a lot of clothes. No las necesitarás.” The last growled out as he delighted in feeling Rook shiver in his arms.
“Scandalous,” was her controlled reply. “Alright, I’ll concede this one,” she added magnanimously; resting her head against his shoulder. “Portami via, amore mio.”