Doomed and Determined Snippets

Dead dragons and found family

 He's never died or been as close to it as he was now, and Zerxes was thankful for that. That didn't mean his heart didn't shutter or feel like it was going to give out as he watched the dragon's tail swing around to where he'd last seen his fellow party members standing. Where she'd last been standing. It was instinct when the dragon went to swing around, mouth opened to a gaping, bloody maw. Instinct, that had him throwing the radiant dagger at the dragon, that had been turning to snap at something.

There's a brief moment when the dragon lets out a roar, once that shakes him down to the very marrow of his bones. The dagger finding a resting point in its eyes. His hands clench around the handle of his remaining dagger, teeth gritted so tight he's sure he tastes blood. Many people had already fallen around him, many people that were lost, he didn't have the time to think, much less wonder where someone might be at the moment. But he knew that maw was heading towards someone he cared about.

He's sure he's about to feel just how burning a dragon's fire was, but then it went still. Wings beat once, twice, then it was falling. It was strange how unnatural still it went, after being so active and alive just a few seconds ago, but he found that was not something he wanted to focus on. He could hear Lark behind him, the bard hunched over from an earlier wound. But Lark was still moving, that's what didn't stop him from taking off a second later. He didn't leave any spot unseen as he rounded rumble, didn't care if the dragon came back to life.

There was something more important than that at the moment.

He could feel his chest tighten when he couldn't find her. He'd seen the rest of the party already, where was she? Something desperate was pulling at him, what if-

"Zerxes?" He almost stumbled over himself with how fast he was turning. He took in her form, the tightness in his chest lightening when he noticed the lack of wounds on her. A few burned bits of hair, but nothing a haircut couldn't fix. "Are you al-"

He hadn't even realized he was moving until his hands were cupping her cheeks, eyes still trailing up and down her form. If there was anything bleeding, he'd stab that giant lizard again. He blinked when one of her own hands came up to cup his cheek.

"Zerxes," He breathed, waiting. "I'm alright. Calm down, you're going to send yourself to an early grave. And that'd be almost insulting. Dying from panic over nothing after killing a dragon-" There's a startling noise, as he gives her a harsh, bruising kiss. A heartbeat. And it slowly lessens to a gentle, tender one, before he pulls away, forehead coming to rest on hers. He can hear the others behind him. The startled "What?" Coming from Beansprout, but can't find it in himself to care. He lets a relieved chuckle escape him, fingers tracing over her face gently. They might be both covered in blood and dirt, but they could wash that off later. Right now, only they mattered.

"If you ever leave my side again during a battle like this," His arms wrap around her waist, lifting into a bear hug, face nuzzling into her neck.

"You wouldn't kill me," Zephyr grins at him, a light in an otherwise dark world to him, "Who'd you kiss and proclaim your love to then?" He pulls back to stare at her unimpressed, tail flicking once.

"I'm sure I'd find someone who'd want to do the horizontal tango." There's a moment where an uncertainty flashes across her face, and then a grin lit up his face. "But who needs that when I could just hold the sun in my arms and be just fine without carnal needs?" She sputters at him, and he hears someone mutter about how he was being too cheesy behind him. But then her arms tighten around him, almost if not tighter than his own grasp.

He hadn't let her go when they finally felt the exhaustion, simply led her to the nearest spot clean enough to sit, before pulling her down into his lap. They stayed there, his arms around her waist, chin in the divet between neck and shoulder, tails tangled in a mess. Sleep called to him, watching others rushes around, even as the party came to settle down around them. Close enough to hear, but not to interrupt. He'd never thought he'd really have a family of his own, but fighting a dragon and no one leaving the others to die was as close to one as he'd ever had.

"Hey Zerxes," He hummed tiredly, face pressed into her neck. He needed a nap. "If I'm the sun, does that make you the Moon?" A moment of silence, and then

"Come on guys!" Dearon huffed at them, even as both Lark and Beansprout grinned. "Can't the lovey-dovey wait till we get back to town?" Zerxes couldn't stop the laugh that was pulled from him. Yes, he decided. He might not have had a family or anyone to call his own before, but here? Zephyr sprouting off the mushyish stuff she could think of just to poke at Dearon, the other two members of their little party laughing and attempt to console said drow - really Lark's light pats at his shoulders where more mocking- yes, this was his family now.