[FIN] Scars of the Past

[TawnyAngel]

Kisses? Lovely. Shower? Also lovely. Even standing at the sink beside Abel while they cleaned their teeth was lovely. This was ridiculous, and his face really hurt from smiling.

A little later Zevran hummed cheerfully to himself as he added two more pots to the stove and poured a rather large amount of oil into the larger of the pair. "Oh yes, very much fried," he grinned to Abel as he turned the heat onto low and then poured a small amount of oil into the second pan and turned the heat onto medium. "Here see?" he added a little sugar and salt and then a cup of water to the pan and started to whisk. "This we heat up a until it boils and then we will take it off the heat and mix in the flour, that is all the dough is! Really very simple. Ooh, I should send this recipe to Joanna? Has she ever made churros?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

With the burner set, he turned to pull the coffee press out from a cabinet before searching through another cabinet for coffee - some kind of biscotti-flavored coffee, to go with the churros because that would probably be good maybe? - and as he set both on the counter he leaned over a little to see what Zev wanted him to see. "Oh, huh.. Yeah that does sound simple, and..." His brows furrowed as he tried to recall if his mother had ever made something like this before. "No, I don't think Mom's ever made them before, but I'm sure she'd love the recipe. She'll probably be thrilled to try and make them sometime."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Excellent!" Zevran grinned broadly. "I am always glad when I can send her something new.... She always seems happy to receive my emails?" It was hard to tell through text, she could just be tolerating her son's odd friend, but their correspondence did seem genuinely warm to him. The question was whether or not she would still like him once she knew they were dating, there were plenty of seemingly nice people outside Thedas who had very odd ideas about non heterosexual relationships.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Oh she loves them," Abel replied readily since it sounded less like a statement and more like a question, or at least an uncertain statement-question, and he even nodded to affirm it. "When we were visiting she was always eager to email you about recipes, and was always really excited when you sent her something new."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ahh..." Zevran left the pan heating on the stove and turned towards Abel with his hands rubbing over one another. "Do you," he cleared his throat, his brow furrowing with a slightly anxious frown, "do you think she will still like to hear from me now? I have realised that maybe I did not think of what your family might think before I asked you- I do not wish to make things hard for you. Where I come from," he shrugged, biting his lip as his stomach sank lower in his gut, "it is never thought of but I know things aren't always like that in other places." And what if Abel's mother would mind? And other members of his family? Would he leave? He didn't want to leave. A moment ago everything had been perfect but now it suddenly felt as though it all balanced on a knife edge. He could not be the cause of friction between Abel and his family, he; "Family is a precious thing, I... do not wish to spoil anything." If he had a family he wouldn't let go of it for anything.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Everything had been fine, perfect, warm, comfortable, but suddenly Zevran looked and sounded worried and suddenly his heart hurt. Abel's breath caught in his throat for only a moment before warmth surged into his voice, his expression, his demeanor as he turned and lifted his hands to cup his boyfriend's cheeks again with as much gentleness as he could muster. "Of course she'll still want to hear from you," he reassured him, his tones as gentle as his touch as he stepped closer and lightly ran his thumbs over the other man's cheekbones again. "You didn't have to think of my family before asking me; my family is precious to me, but you are just as precious, don't ever doubt that."

How else could he...? Oh, duh; that was obvious. Abel pressed a soft kiss to his boyfriend's forehead before his hands moved; one slipped around to wrap his arm around Zev's shoulders to hold him close while the other hand dipped down to fetch his phone from his pocket. With a few quick swipes and taps he brought up a few short but excited texts he'd exchanged with his mother that very morning, starting with the news, continuing through her immensely, overwhelmingly positive response and ending with what was nothing short of an eager demand for them to come visit as soon as possible, and he held the phone out for Zevran to see. That would probably work better than anything he could try to say to reassure him.  

[TawnyAngel]

Just as precious?

But family was... family was... people loved their families. He had never had one to love but he knew others did, love of family was what so many stories were founded upon. He couldn't be that precious to Abel or to anyone.

Zevran remained quiet as Abel pulled him close and tried to think of something to say, but then thankfully he was saved by a viewing of the texts Abel had sent back and fore with Joanna.

"Oh!" Zevran brightened again and smiled up at Abel. "Well, that's alright then! I would like to meet her in person, and the rest of your family."

No harm was done and so no choice needed to be made, which was lucky because whatever kind words Abel spoke he knew he would not be on the winning end. This could all have been over almost as soon as it had begun.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Good, that was better. "See? Nothing for you to worry about," he said as he gave his boyfriend an affectionate squeeze and leaned in to press a gentle kiss to his temple. While his mother was incredibly happy about this, his father would be decidedly less so; he didn't have any intention of mentioning that just yet, if at all. His mother would handle his father one way or the other, so he didn't feel it needed worrying about anyway. Instead he went on, "I can't wait to take you for a visit."  

[TawnyAngel]

"I can't wait either," Zevran replied, now fully back in amused mode as he gave his mixture on the hob a stir. "It will be so nice to be in a house with another actual cook who knows one end of a mortar from the other!" he concluded with a smirk cheeky wink.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Wha-- I know at least that much, thank you," Abel retorted in what he intended to be injured tones, but his amused grin detracted from the effect just a bit. "Anyway," he went on as he slipped away from Zev to ready the coffee press before taking the now boiling pot of water off the stove and went on as he poured it into the glass container, "if you couldn't tell, Mom's super excited to meet you. I mean she was before, but now she's even more excited; she's gonna love you, especially since you guys can cook together and stuff while we're there."  

[TawnyAngel]

While Abel was busy with the business of coffee Zevran turned away over the cooker with a quiet little smile of his own. "I am very excited to meet her properly myself now. Ah...." Well Abel had said he could say anything and perhaps it was sappy and silly but he could still say it. "I really would like to visit your family home. A place like that is special." ...Well alright he hadn't exactly said what he had meant to, that he hadn't known anything like that and wanted to see what it was like, but what he had said was still true.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

After pouring the water into the press and placing the pot back on the stove, Abel took note of the time so he'd know how long to let the coffee steep. Zevran's words drew his attention though and left a warm fuzzy feeling in his heart, and he aimed a similarly warm smile at his boyfriend. "You want to see where I grew up?" Well of course he did if he wanted to come visit - visiting kind of meant also seeing the ranch - but it had sounded... a little different than just that.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah, yes." Zevran gave the heating liquid in the pan a slightly unnecessary stir. "And as well I want to meet the people you grew up with, who are special to you. Where you spend your first years gives the foundation of your character no? So I know that your family home must be a good place for you to be... well," he smiled softly over his shoulder, "for you to be you. I have no doubt that you would have been a good man no matter where you were raised but... well the way you speak of home tells me that your family is like you in character. It must be a good place."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

For some reason his heart fluttered at Zevran's words, though he wasn't quite sure why. Something to do with Zevran wanting to see the people and the things he held close to his heart probably. "Well it is a good place, and I can't wait for you to go visit." Since he had nothing else to occupy him while the coffee steeped, he stepped closer so he could wrap his arms around his boyfriend's waist and settle his chin on his shoulder, though he took care to keep his hold loose in case Zev needed to move to handle the pans. "I think we're all pretty similar, yeah, though definitely not identical. And despite where you were raised," and how, and around what, and other unpleasant things, "I think you turned out pretty good too."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran chuckled and leant back just a little against Abel, leaving the steaming liquid in his pan to itself for a few moments. "Do you think so?" he asked rhetorically, twisting his head to look up at Abel with a little smile. "Perhaps I am the exception that proves the rule? I am exceptional in many ways so it would follow the pattern no?" He didn't believe it was true, he had turned out to be many fun things but good? He didn't count that among his character traits - even excusing some of the things he had done with 'good people do bad things sometimes' as they had discussed earlier - and yet Abel had said it on many occasions. Perhaps Abel's belief was enough, just so long as he didn't end up disappointing him in the end.