OC KISS WEEK IS HERE! I can finally share this lovely comm drawn by @artofmisi of my OC Eilan and @bluewren's Lex. Little Dalish elf babies in loooooove. 🥰 ---- 💖 Want to love Lex and Eilan? Here's a short story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52434187/chapters/132646609

OC Kiss Week: Rain

Lex is my OC, Eilan belongs to the lovely @delicatefade. We have each other's OCs living in our heads now.

Fandom: Dragon Age

Some context: This is in an AU where Lex is a member of the Chargers. Taking place sometime after they started dating and at Skyhold together.

wc: 612

~

The desert sun has been beaming down on Lex and Eilan for several hours. It feels like they passed the same dried up birch tree several times on their way back to Griffin’s Keep. They passed the same crumbled bridge that once supported the Imperial Highway. It could have cut their travel time by half if they had lived in an earlier age. This section of the massive land bridge has since dropped into the valley, and the couple has to walk around it. At least the rotting bronto husk doesn’t look familiar, the heat hasn’t taken all of Lex’s wits away from him. It feels like they’ve been walking all afternoon. He’s delighted that the map is telling him that Griffin’s Keep is along this path. They should be catching sight of shelter by the evening and be there to partake in the driest supper imaginable. Food variety is limited in the Western Approach.

"Hm, why is it that whenever you tell me about your adventures it's always slaying demons and dragons, and yet when I come along it's delivering parcels," Eilan asks. "Oh yea?” Lex chuckles. ”You want to fight a dragon?”  “Maybe.” She smiles with a playful list towards one side.  "You're not getting anywhere near a dragon, miss never-even-thrown-a-punch."  They continue walking, unfortunately their canteens are now completely emptied, with no spring in sight, and some distance to cover.  Eilan is the first to be fatigued. "Come on. Let me carry you." Lex holds his hand, palms up for her to rest on.  “I’ll be fine,” Eilan insists, splaying out her hand. “You’re not much trouble to carry.” “Lex, you can be stranded if you wear yourself out.” Eilan slows to a stop and gasps for breath, one hand on her hip to support herself. “I just need to rest for a moment.” “Alright." Lex looks around for shade but finds none. "We'll get cooked if we rest here. Let's find a better spot." Lex feels a droplet of rain hit his shoulder. The sky suddenly turns gray. It feels like one of the few times today that whatever god causes things to happen in this world is finally being merciful. Lex laughs. He opens his arms wide to catch as many droplets falling from the sky as possible. It undoes his hair, drenches his clothes, weighs on his legs, but now he feels giddy and rejuvenated from being caught in the rain. "No time to argue." Lex swoops Eilan off her feet.  Eilan yelps when her feet leave the ground. Lex carries her in his two arms and dashes. The world turns into a blur. The only thing that he can discern clearly is the sound of Eilan’s voice. Lex can feel Eilan’s arms tightly wrapped around his neck, feeling like she’s scared of falling if she lets go. Luckily the ground is mostly flat, there’s little worry of tripping. He holds on to her tight until they finally get under the bridge. He breathes a sigh of relief when they finally make it to shelter. His lungs feel like they’ve collapsed after that sprint, though somehow he’s still able to laugh. Adrenaline is still racing through his veins as he finally slumps himself over the stone wall. Eilan’s wringing water out of her clothes, drenched from head to toe. Still she manages to dry herself enough to sit down comfortably beside Lex. “We’ll probably be stuck here for a few hours but,” Lex cups Eilan’s chin in his hands. He brings Eilan close to press a kiss to her lips. He feels the water on her skin, and droplets falling from her hair onto his arms.

My witch oc eilan!

Hi Lucky!

From the love your fandom ask…

5, 9, 11 and 15 :3

5. something you see in fics a lot and love

In the fics I have been reading, I love the willingness to explore the setting deeply and on the terms of the setting (versus projecting this world)

9. a ship that isn't your OTP but that you enjoy

That would be @delicatefade and @bluewren's OC x OC "Lexlan" (Lex Lavellan x Eilan Lavellan). They are so adorable and real together and I loved them in their introductory story Heart of Glass.

11. if you're a writer or artist, what fic or piece of art are you proud of making?

Recently that would probably be my Cullen POV fic Thirst

Summary: Commander Cullen Rutherford has had a shit few weeks. Headaches, tremors and memories dog him. His romantic hopes have crumbled. His blood feels empty and thin. With so many cares weighing upon him he's been wondering if he's still fit to serve, if he ever was. He should resign, shouldn't he? But perhaps it's not that complicated. Perhaps he's just one bottle of blue away from feeling right after all.

15. the character that always makes you smile

In addition to my previous answer (Xenon the Antiquarian), I will add Alistair. I am a sucker for Alistair. He's just a doll.

Thank you for asking! 🥰

Which OC still has a flip phone?? ❤️ also which OC refuses to hurt insects? ty :)

Varliss definitely still has a flip phone and refuses to get anything else, but with aurick the only reason he doesn’t have a brick phone is because he loves memes too much!

Envin, eilan and varliss refuse to hurt insects meanwhile aemul wants to kill everything with fire

Transistor oc's

THAT FANART OF EILAN AND YOUR OC IS SO FREAKING ADORABLE

(( aw 😭 thanks sm, I kinda struggled with it quite a bit but it makes me happy knowing people like it ^^))

My Mahariel, Eilan, is a chronic flirt. He flirts with literally everyone and their parents, he would probably flirt with a chair if it had a pulse.

Omg! My Mahariel, Ari, only flirts with someone if she's comfortable with them, and then she'll play it off as a joke unless they're interested too. She's the most flirty of my ocs, which isn't saying too much now that I think about it haha! My Hawke and Cadash are terrible flirts to varying degrees, Ev Hawke is sometimes smoother than she thinks but Jezda Cadash is a flustered disaster when she likes someone a lot

Tell me a fact about your oc and I'll tell you a related fact about one of mine!

ooh happy birthday!! 🎉🎂 5, 12, and 19 for the oc asks?

OC Asks (AKA the best birthday present you can give me)

5. What scars and birthmarks do your OCs have?

Alice: She has a raised mole on her right cheek. Other than that, her skin is super clear and smooth.

Charlotte: She has a face full of freckles. Actually, they’re on her shoulders, arms and knees as well.

Clarity: Clarity’s an imaginary friend, so it doesn’t have a defined physical form. I used to draw it with one earring on its left ear but I’m pretty sure I scrapped that design. Maybe I’ll bring it back.

Connie: She’s got a dark mole on her right cheek and another, slightly smaller and lighter mole on the left side of her chin. She’s got a few more moles on her body and a scar on her chest from a curling iron burn.

Dan: He has deep laugh lines and crow’s feet.

Doom: Nothing. She can’t scar.

Eclipse: She has a scar on her hand from getting bitten by a dog. She needed stitches.

Eilan: He’s got a bunch of tattoos but no outstanding scars or birthmarks.

Emo: Tramp stamp.

Gothie: The poor girl’s got eczema. It’s mostly in places you can’t see though, like behind her ears.

Jackson: SCARS EVERYWHERE. He doesn’t even remember where most of them came from.

Juliet: Acne scars.

Lacey: She has the same facial markings as her daughter Connie, but flipped. She also has stretch marks on her belly.

Luci: Same as Doom—clear skin, can’t scar.

Mug: God only knows

Olive: Sparse freckles.

Pysh: FRECKLES ALL OVER THE GODDAMN PLACE and also a shit ton of tattoos.

Reneé: She has one ankle tattoo, which she describes as “tasteful” and “minimalist.” It’s of a butterfly. She’d like to get more, but she’s a businesswoman for Christ’s sake

Static: Lots of arm and boob stretch marks!

Xon: Xon has one tattoo and it’s a secret.

12. Which OC likes cold weather best?

Not counting those who are immune to it, that’s probably Emo. The dude is a human furnace.

19. Do your OCs have any physical ticks/tells?

Alice: ALWAYS fiddling with her jewelry. Usually it’s a necklace, but if she doesn’t have a necklace then she’ll mess with rings or bracelets.

Charlotte: Her biggest physical stim is rocking. She’s also one of those people who will roll up and/or shred any pieces of paper that are placed in front of her.

Clarity: Swishes its tail from side to side when its thinking.

Connie: Frequently examines her nails, but doesn’t mess with them.

Dan: This is a guy who CLAPS his hands together loudly whenever he has an idea. He does it out of nowhere and it startles people

Doom: Readjusts her clothing more often than necessary.

Eclipse: Chews on her lip. Sometimes it starts bleeding and her sisters have to point it out to her so that she’ll stop.

Eilan: Eilan just isn’t a fidgety person. Like at all. He does look at his watch a lot though.

Emo: Messes with his eyebrows and hair a lot.

Gothie: Wrings her hands.

Jackson: Idly plays with his gun and his knives like some sort of Bond villain. What a loser…

Juliet: Touches her own face a lot, especially when she’s in uncomfortable or boring situations.

Lacey: Blinks super fast when she’s stressed out (which is most of the time).

Luci: Licks his lips a lot. Yeah.

Mug: BOUNCY GUY. Vibrates with glee sometimes. ADHD Hyperactive Type. Flaps his hands.

Olive: Checks her hair for split ends a lot. If she finds one, she’ll pull it apart. Connie thinks it’s a horrible habit and is always yelling at Olive to stop.

Pysh: Pysh is one of those people who’s ALWAYS singing (or at least humming) under their breath. When she’s by herself she’ll straight-up belt while she’s concentrating on other stuff.

Reneé: Taps her fingers and feet when she’s sitting down.

Static: Static has gross nails and she always bites them. If she gets bored she’ll start playing with her hair. (She likes to braid and unbraid it.)

Xon: Their eyes are always darting around the room, even when they’re feeling relaxed. Also, they’re not a big fan of eye contact.

Dream a Little Dream

OC Kiss Week Day 2: reach

Fandom: Dragon Age, though it really doesn't matter for this snippet. Word Count: 601

Eilan is on a stage. A cast of actors stands behind her, applauding. The theater’s house lights are on. The audience is on their feet clapping and whooping. Lex, her love, is loudest. He stands in the front row, whistling, two fingers pressing down on his lip. Eilan waves at the packed theater, one hand clapped over her mouth as she is overcome. Oh, maybe she is holding flowers? Flowers appear nestled in the crook of her arm. From Lex or the cast? Roses or something else? She started over. Heavy red velvet curtains fall on the stage. The house lights come on. The gilding in the ornate walls shine. The patterned carpet muffles the celebratory stamping of feet. Eilan is in a theater fit for Val Royeaux. Oh! And this is the first play penned by an elf to be performed on a premiere Orlesian stage. Was that true? Had no elf ever written a play for an Orlesian stage? She would look it up later, much later. The clan had a hard time sourcing books. Imagine if the Dalish had a library? Any-who.

Eilan stands in the first row before the seat reserved for the writer. Lex is standing beside her. They both clap. The curtains draw open to reveal the full cast holding hands in a line. They bow and applaud each other and bow some more. The lead actor then gestures towards Eilan. The house lights come on. Eilan walks up the stage wing’s stairs to join the cast. The audience erupts into raucous applause. Lex presses his pinkies to his lips and whistles. She waves at the crowd, demurely overcome, so humble, so grateful. With a sweep of her hand she directs the audience’s applause towards the orchestra pit — wait, no. How will Lex give her flowers if the orchestra pit is in the way? She backtracked a little. Eilan is on the stage, waving, tears in her eyes. Lex walks up to the stage’s apron with bouquet in his hands — where had he hid it this whole time? Perhaps over the course of Eilan’s staging of the play Lex had gotten to know some of the theater’s staff? A small edit, then: before opening night Lex had colluded with the stage manager to hide flowers somewhere in the theater to be given to Lex when Eilan took her bow so that he could then present them to her. The honor fell to him, not the cast, because, well, perhaps by then she could be his wife? Eilan flushed at the thought. Dared she dream it? Oh, he won’t know. Alright, so. Eilan is on the stage, waving, crying, etc, etc. The stage manager discreetly hands Lex the bouquet. He walks up to the apron and reaches up to Eilan to present the bouquet of… white roses and gardenias? Yes. And Eilan is definitely his wife. (Eeee!) She kneels down on the stage and kisses her husband (Eeee!) before the eyes of the adoring public. Eilan’s heart fluttered. “Babe!” Lex burst into Eilan’s tent. She startled out of her daydream, sitting bolt upright in her cot. Her eyes went wide. A book slid off her chest onto the ground. She was back at Clan Lavellan’s camp, near Kirkwall, far from any Orlesian stages. He grinned at her jumpiness. “Napping?” “No no.” She stifled a yawn with her knuckles. “I was reading.” “Riiiight.” He planted a hand on either side of her on the cot. “I read with my eyes closed, too.” He kissed her hello. “You ready to go, miss sleepy babe? I got big plans for us today.”

----

Eilan is my OC and Lex belongs to @bluewren

Want to follow their story? Start here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52434187/chapters/132646609 DAFF tag list: @warpedlegacywrites | @rakshadow | @rosella-writes | @effelants | @bluewren | @breninarthur | @ar-lath-ma-cully | @dreadfutures | @ir0n-angel | @inquisimer | @crackinglamb | @theluckywizard | @nirikeehan | @oxygenforthewicked | @exalted-dawn-drabbles | @melisusthewee | @blarrghe | @agentkatie | @leggywillow | @about2dance

Reunited in a downpour

OC Kiss Week Day 2: rain 🌧

Fandom: Dragon Age Inquisition Context for readers outside fandom: The portal referenced in the snippet sent Lex straight to a nightmare realm! It's not good! Word Count: 732 Bonus Track:

To leave this place was to concede that he was lost to her forever. Six days ago Eilan’s lover fell into a rift in the sky and never came back. She was told it had happened fast. A battle at a fort. A dragon. A collapsed wall. He, along with five others, fell into a portal to the fade. And that was it. That was all they knew. At first his advisers had kept the faith with her. He lived, they told each other, he must live. His advisers, leaders of this upstart Andrastian army, believed the Inquisitor must live because of divine providence. He was the Herald of Andraste, an avatar of their prophet’s will incarnate, and thus he could not die. To Eilan, he was Lex, her fate. If he died, what did that mean for her? There was no life without him, and yet she lived and so must he. The advisers’ faith waned with each passing day. Eilan told herself that hers did not. Though it had become brittle, that much she could admit.

She sat at the edge of a wide, high-pitched tent. Her attention flitted between the portal that had taken Lex, still visible in the distance near the fort, and the soldiers who packed up the Inquisition’s military outpost. They had begun at dawn despite the deluge of rain. It had been raining for days, a portent the army’s mages misinterpreted as a sign of calamity. Eilan knew better. The rain was fat and heavy, like the rain of spring. To her it symbolized hope. The army’s mages had dismissed her interpretation as either the grief-desperate yearnings of a girl, or Dalish hogwash. The soldiers slipped in the mud. Crates slid out of reach. Horses were stubborn. The men and women of the Inquisition had won the battle that swallowed their Inquisitor — her Lex, gods, he was so beautiful, so bright. Is, she reminded herself, he still is. But yes, the army had won at a cost too high. One in three soldiers had died. Those who survived would live forever with haunting wounds. But two in three survived. The odds were good, perhaps even applicable to those who fell in portals. She stared at it, unblinking, willing Lex’s return. “Eilan.” Commander Cullen spoke her name with compassion as he stepped into her field of view. She looked past his shoulder. Yesterday he had told her to pack up the contents of the Inquisitor’s tent. She had not. “The Inquisition must move on. We are all heart-broken by the loss of the Inquisitor, though I do not pretend any of us can begin to understand your grief.” His eyes were red and inflamed, evidence that he spoke true about his feelings on the matter. He was also correct that none could understand hers. Something dark fell from the mouth of the portal. Then four more dark things. Eilan got up and pushed past Cullen, darting out into the cold rain. The mud was slick beneath her feet. She scrambled towards the fort. “Eilan!” Cullen called after her. “He’s here,” she cried back. Saying it aloud made her heart thump in her ears. She felt light-headed, reality slipped. Near the rift, lights flashed, a battle. Was it him and the others fighting through the demons that lurked near every rift? It had to be. As she reached the entrance to the fort, Lex. He stepped out into the muddy field, already soaked through. A flash of recognition, then blubbering, sobbing cries, his and hers. They ran to each other. Her cheek slid against his. His hand gripped her back, his fingers dug in. She trembled, so did he. He smelled of sulfur and something astringent. She whimpered as she touched his face, saw him in blurry glimpses. A smear of blood on his forehead. Patches of soot on his skin. His armor broken at the shoulder. One arm held against his ribs in pain. They kissed desperately between sobs, lips blue and teeth chattering. The water on her face was cold and hot in peels, a mix of rain and tears. She sobbed his name. Oh gods. He said he’s here, he’s here, it’s okay. His hand cradled her head against him. It shook and shook. They kissed again and again, could not stop crying, mewling and fumbling for each other, those poor and keening souls.

---- This is a moment I've not yet reached in my Lex/Eilan story. It was a treat to write it early! Eilan is my OC and Lex belongs to @bluewren Want to follow their story? Start here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52434187/chapters/132646609

Ropes of Fate

OC Kiss Week Day 7: dare

Fandom: Dragon Age, though it really doesn't matter for this snippet. Word Count: 2,299 😬 I got inspired. Main Tags: Childhood crush, kids being kids Summary: My name is Lex, I'm eleven, and in Clan Lavellan. So this one time Arris (who is dumb) wanted everyone to play ropes of fate cause Arris wanted to kiss girls. Pfft. I went anyway cause I was bored. This is what happened. It was pretty crazy.

I moved this one to AO3 -> https://archiveofourown.org/works/53891704 Excerpt

My heart was pounding in my ears. It’s not that I was afraid of girls or kissing girls. It’s just that Eilan had that power. Who knew what else she could do. I walked into the aravel and closed the door behind me. She looked me right in the eyes and fixed me again with that power. I couldn’t say or do anything. But then she did something I had never seen her do before. She looked down all bashful like, how some girls do, and she blushed and had a little smile. Did she like me? That’s what that meant when other girls did it, but Eilan never seemed to like anyone. I felt dumb again. Stick to the plan. Get it over with. I told my feet to move, but they would not listen. Eilan’s smile got bigger like she knew. Of course she did, she was super smart and could read anyone’s mind. But she was smiling a whole lot, at me, and I let myself smile back. I felt goofy, just looking at her, smiling like that. I still felt light headed, but now I could breathe again and my heart was calming down from a thump-thumping to a whisper-whoosh.  “LET’S GOOOO!” Arris shouted from outside the aravel. “We haven’t got all night!”

Story on AO3 -> https://archiveofourown.org/works/53891704

Eilan is my OC and Lex belongs to @bluewren

Want to follow their story? Start here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52434187/chapters/132646609 DAFF tag list: @warpedlegacywrites | @rakshadow | @rosella-writes | @effelants | @bluewren | @breninarthur | @ar-lath-ma-cully | @dreadfutures | @ir0n-angel | @inquisimer | @crackinglamb | @theluckywizard | @nirikeehan | @oxygenforthewicked | @exalted-dawn-drabbles | @melisusthewee | @blarrghe | @agentkatie | @leggywillow | @about2dance

(WIP Wed/Whenever) kissy kissy Dalish elves

What if I actually posted on tumblr instead of just reblogging art? I've been writing a Dragon Age fanfic with no canon characters because I am a clown. It's a love story told in three four stories between my OC Eilan Lavellan and @bluewren's OC Lex Lavellan. They are twenty years old. Here is a fluffy little love snippet. (for any familiar with my main Eilan/Solas story, this is an AU for Eilan.)

Context: Lex and Eilan have been dating in secret for 8 months. Eilan insisted on keeping it secret because she didn't want to be the center of gossip. Lex didn't care if everyone knew but went along with Eilan's secretive nature. Their cover was just blown and everyone at Clan Lavellan now knows. CW: sex implied, nudity word count: 653

Eilan was surprised by how much she enjoyed having her secret exposed. That everyone knew she and Lex belonged to each other made her feel proud, even smug. Surely she had the envy of every other young woman — who better a catch than Lex? And who would have expected him to fall for Eilan, who was pretty enough but a bit odd, a loner who lived too far in her own head and practiced strange hobbies like elven calligraphy and writing. Being recognized as a couple had its practical benefits as well. They no longer had to invent ruses to explain their absences. They could disappear together, hand in hand, in plain view of their clan. Though Lex and Eilan had never named what had grown between them, in the eyes of the others they were clearly now a committed couple. Eilan was inclined to adopt their view.

To disappear together was as far as she dared express herself in public. When they were at camp Eilan preferred not to kiss or touch unnecessarily. Lex, she suspected, would have preferred to flaunt their relationship. He had sat close to her by the fire and rested his hand on her knee. The following day he swam out to where she bathed in the shallow sea just to hold her, the two of them weightless in the water. She reciprocated with a quick kiss, a small touch or a shy embrace, enough to make sure he never felt rejected, but invariably she would cut short his sweet affections, whispering to him that someone could see. He did not seem to mind. Or if he did, he never said. It helped that they often found time to be alone together. They each had daily duties, everyone in the clan did, but Eilan had found a way to pawn off some her chores onto a much younger cousin by baiting the girl with unfair bets. “I bet that when I drop this quill it will fall upwind,” Eilan said, knowing full well she could tip the quill with a sleight of hand. “Bet you can’t blow out all these candles in a single breath,” she said after having coated two wicks in essence of wyvern’s breath so that they would burn more stubbornly. The girl was only twelve, an apprentice healer of an agreeable and shy nature. By the fourth bet Eilan suspected that the girl had caught on, but was so thoroughly enjoying Eilan’s attention that she was willing to spend the day de-stemming spindleweed in Eilan’s stead. On those days Eilan would meet Lex in the forest where it was his duty to tend to wild gardens, thought admittedly when Eilan was there he tended to little but her. “Hold on. One second. I should check on the peppers,” Lex said as he disentangled himself from Eilan and stood up from the ground. They had just made love on a patch of summer squash. Fat bright leaves clung to Eilan’s bare back as she sat up to watch Lex move, his nude body gorgeous in the dappled sunlight. He pulled free a pepper from a nearby plant and screwed up his nose at it. It was a runty thing, curled in on itself like an angry cashew, bright red and gnarled. Lex raised a bewildered brow. “…the fuck?” Eilan repressed a laugh, her whole body shaking, tears in her eyes, lips twitching as she covered her mouth. “Oh yea?” Lex grinned, trying not to laugh. “You think it’s funny?” He tossed the sad pepper behind him and dove towards her, nipping at her neck as he guided her back into the cushy leaves. She shrieked with delight. “It’s all your fault,” he teased. “You’re the… what’s that word again? The title of your play? The Saboteur.” Eilan gasped. “You remembered the title of my play!” Lex wagged his brows cockily as if to say ‘duh.’

Tagging: @monocytogenes, @crackinglamb, @about2dance, @nirikeehan, @theluckywizard, @oxygenforthewicked @melisusthewee @rosella-writes and anyone else who might want to share their WIPs!

/babbles incoherently Thank you, thank you, thank you to @seriousames for this GORGEOUS portrait of Eilan. Beside myself.

I had hoped to capture early Inquisitor Eilan before Crestwood and Trespasser in a rare moment with her guard down. She's normally secretive, isn't easy to befriend, and dismisses people with a smile. What does she look like when she's looking at someone she loves across a crowded room? Quick, private eye contact, a little flirty? Maybe this portrait is Solas POV. Ames captured that and I am thrilled. And peep that DRESS!! Stunning. Swooning. I am done.

New experiment. What if I actually started treating this like a writing blog?

No context tiny snippet from a scene I worked on in my WIP. Sharing because "weenie"

As tempted as Eilan was to suggest they forgo the festival, she could not bring herself to be a weenie. As a child she had been a weenie and ostracized for it — and rightly so, in retrospect. She liked being a loner just fine except in those moments when she did not. As an adolescent that solitary streak morphed into an appealing mystique, perhaps with some sex appeal, and she had an easier time finding her place among their peers and even attracting the secret affections of two of the shyer boys. Meanwhile, Lex went from an agreeable and well-liked child to a teenage hunk that was popular with the girls. Even now, over a year into their romance, Eilan felt lucky that he had chosen her, did not quite know why he had, and was reluctant to do anything that may break the spell.

A WEENIE

WIP Wednesday - Lex comes home

Excerpt from my kissy kissy elves draft. Dragon age setting, but it’s all OCs. My OC is Eilan Lavellan and @bluewren’s OC is Lex Lavellan.

Lex and Eilan are twenty years old. Lex has been off on a solo adventure for seven months. Eilan has received three letters from him in that time. (Forwarding letters to a nomadic clan is very hard.)

wc: 585

Five weeks after Lex’s third letter Clan Lavellan was camped outside Kirkwall. It was here one year ago in a clearing in the woods not a half mile out from camp that Lex had first learned of Eilan’s secret playwriting. Eilan had been so nervous to tell him, so scared he would find her strange. She still remembered the tender way he looked at her, and how touched he had been to be let him into her secret. Though they had kissed hundreds of times before and hundreds of times since, that kiss stuck out in her memory for it was the first time something like love had wormed its way into her reluctant heart. Remembering that moment made Eilan ache with longing. She could not focus on that day’s magic tutoring. Today’s lesson: augury. She knelt on a pillow in her grandmother’s, the Keeper’s, tent. Incense burned in a corner. It smelled of jasmine and rose. Eilan stared blankly at a silver plate filled with colorless oil. She recited an incantation as she poured a darker oil from a small vial, drop by drop, and watched the oils swirl. The patterns were supposed to mean something, but all Eilan could see was Lex.

Outside the tent a young man whooped jubilantly. A woman cried out as an excited murmur swept through the camp. Eilan cocked her ear towards the exultations. Her heart raced against hope. Finally she heard Evelyn cry out, “Lex!” Eilan gasped and looked towards the tent’s exit. Her grandmother smiled knowingly. “Go.” Eilan leapt her feet and sprinted out of the tent. She followed the stream of clanmates, her eyes peeled as she searched for him. There he was, in a bear hug with his sisters, one arm around Evelyn and the other around Tali. The siblings swayed from side to side as they embraced. When they parted Evelyn inspected her brother for any signs of ailments, malnourishment, injuries, and general neglect. Lex let himself be fussed over as he ruffled Tali’s hair and said something to make her laugh. Cylen called out “Letha!”, the hip abbreviation of ‘lethallin’, the elven honorific for a friend. The men embraced, patting each other on the back. Elves lined up to greet Lex one by one. Those who belonged to the generation of parents who saw all teens and 20-somethings as their communal brood made sure to impart little observations with their greetings — “You got a tan!” “Survived the wilds, eh? Good lad.” “Look at you! Feeling all grown up?” Lex spotted Eilan at the back of the line and looked arrested as if by a vision. He worked his way through the crowd of well-wishers and greeters with polite impatience, often stealing glances at her. She was overcome, hands clasped over her nose and mouth, eyes wet with happiness. At last he reached her, his hands sliding along her waist as he pulled her close. He buried his face in her hair. They held each other tightly. She smoothed a hand over his back. He cradled her head close. They kissed several times. “I missed you,” they both said at the same time, in the same way. They laughed at the synchronicism. He wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb. They kissed again. A sparse wisp of hair clung to his chin. “This is new,” she said as she rubbed it. “Yea,” he said. He couldn’t stop smiling. He cupped her face and looked at her like she hung the moon.

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