[FIN] Precautions

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel's smile warmed, enjoying the squeeze Zevran gave his hands. Then again he liked any kind of attention his boyfriend paid him, especially if it was a reminder of his love for him; knowing his feelings were reciprocated still gave him a happy, giddy feeling deep inside, and he suspected that would be the case for quite a while. "I'll help you with it, if you want. And," he frowned thoughtfully a bit, "Dad's definitely trickier to get stuff for. We can figure something out though, possibly with some advice from Mom."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yes, I would like that," Zevran nodded, "and I am sure we- ah-ha!" Another little snick announced that the pick had found the final pin; Zevran gave Abe a smooch on the shoulder and squeezed his hands again. "Now I think you should be able to turn the lock, give it a try!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Perfect; he would help Zev make the gift for his mother and they'd figure something out for his father. Maybe sometime he'd talk to Zevran about how his father probably... wasn't exactly thrilled with their relationship - if his mother had even talked to him about it yet at all - but they'd cross that bridge when they came to it. It wasn't important at the moment.

A broad grin spread across his face at the satisfying click of the final pin, and as instructed he turned the lock and was reward for his - their - efforts with the heavy padlock opening. "Awesome! That was pretty fun, though definitely really difficult," he admitted with a soft chuckle as he withdrew the picks and passed them back to Zev, then shifted to sit on his knees so he could remove the padlock and open the box. "I'll have to see about getting some of those clear locks you mentioned to practice on, and probably a set of my own picks too."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran gave Abel's shoulder another kiss for good measure and sat back as he opened the box "Good, I can help you to choose decent ones when you do want your own! And it is difficult at first but it quite swiftly becomes less so, though it takes longer to become quick at the job. A skill worth developing though, remind me to tell you about the time I picked my way out of handcuffs with a hairslide held in my teeth, now that was an interesting evening!" Judging by the chuckle Zevran let out as he hinted at the event it had turned out to be a fun one too.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Mmmh, shoulder kisses, yes. "I'd appreciate it," he said earnestly, brightening at the thought of Zev helping him to pick out a good set of things to practice with. Hopefully he'd get better at it, but he suspected he would with his boyfriend's assistance and teaching. Though he shot an amused smirk over his shoulder. "Aw, you can't tell me about it now?" He asked as he locked the smaller box of handguns they'd cleaned earlier and moved it into the box, but he paused there before actually placing it down inside. The fingers of his other hand drummed lightly on the interior of the case as he hummed thoughtfully a bit, his colorful eyes resting on the smallest box inside the much larger box.

"Here," he said after a moment, setting the handgun box down and picking up the smallest box, then held it up for Zevran to see; it was rather heavy despite its smaller size and its contents shifting around with muted, metallic clinking, "there's ammunition in here if you ever need it."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Thanks," Zevran nodded, "good to know." A gun without ammo wasn't very much use, not at range at least. "As for the story," he smirked, "I suppose I could tell you. You have been very good to me this morning..." The smirk softened to a smile and Zevran added; "and last night too." Abel loved him. How had that come to be? He would probably never understand it but he was content with that; it was true, that was all that really mattered.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel half turned to give Zev what began as a smirk but promptly softened to a warm, loving smile, and the box of ammunition flopped down to hang down inside the box from his hand, forgotten for now. How did he get so lucky...? "I'd like to hear it; you know I love hearing anything you have or want to tell me."  

[TawnyAngel]

He was never going to get used to Abel looking at him like that either.

"Ah, well if you insist!" Perhaps a light hearted anecdote was just what they both needed right now, happily one that did not involve any of his close former associates.

"Now then let me see, this was around six years ago now. I was nineteen or twenty, cocky, foolish; so very unlike my current sober and responsible self!" Zevran grinned slyly at the complete and utter lie. "There was something of a power struggle in Antiva at the time, a popular b*****d daughter of the old king was seeking to overthrow her younger but legitimate sister, who by the by was a lot less fun but a good deal more suited to her role. My house was contracted by the Queen to protect one of her close advisors, who she feared was in danger from Orlesian bards- spies and assassins, though not so skilled as the Crows of course. But," he waved a hand dismissively, "boring details. To cut a complex political tangle short for once it was my job to stop somebody being killed, and I might have enjoyed the change of pace more had the work not been so very dull. Following the old man around had no lustre to begin with and after weeks of the same my mind was apt to wander. Often it wandered to the very fine a** and chest of his personal bodyguard who moved with him openly while I sulked behind..." Zevran let the sentence trail off and smirked at Abel. "Can you guess where this is going?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As Zev began telling his story, Abel settled his elbow on the edge of the box and rested his cheek against the back of his hand to watch him. Not that he expected Zevran to do anymore demonstrations of any kind, of course, but simply because he enjoyed watching him speak as much as he enjoyed listening to him. "Ahh, I think I can guess where it's going, yeah -- but I'd rather you tell me where it's going. You know I love listening to you talk."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Mmmh, it's because I have such a gorgeous voice isn't it?" Zevran purred and like Abel he lounged back comfortably, though in the opposite direction so they were still looking at one another.

"And yes, when she had an evening off we ended up in bed. I was supposed to be watching him still but," he shrugged, "I was young, bored, irresponsible, and she was very beautiful. Thighs that could crack coconuts, interesting scars, the light of long years lived in but a few in her eyes... We were alike in some ways. Anyway! She had handcuffed me to the bed, and that was where things got interesting. The door," he gestured dramatically, "came half off its hinges, and in charged a pocket monster. I'm not sure what it was other than big and horned with three tails but it was not pleased. Luckily the bodyguard had good reflexes, up she sprang and then of all things to have hidden in her belt pouch she had an apricorn-ball. Out pops a hound - she was a Ferelden - and it went to battle with the horned creature and my paramour too joined the fray, but she was kicked hard against a wall and passed out. The hound won the battle happily - it would not have ended well for me had the horned thing won - and I was able to grab one of the guard's hairslides from her nightstand with my toes, which I passed to my teeth in order to pick the lock on the handcuffs. I then grabbed her gun, climbed out of the window, up a story to the advisor's room, and was just in time to tackle the bard who had been sneaking in the same way while their horned thing caused a diversion! There was a brief scuffle, which to my chagrin the bard escaped from but I considered it a success anyway as the advisor lived to bore another day. So," Zevran grinned and gestured expansively, "that is the brief tale of one very exciting evening in my life. Of course because I was supposed to be watching him, not being handcuffed to a bed by a ravishing woman, I was then removed from the job. I counted that a win as well!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"The most gorgeous," Abel agreed with a smirk, "you know I could happily listen to it all day." And all night too, of course, in every sense of the word; it was Zevran's fond voice that had ushered him off to sleep on more than one occasion, even when they were miles and miles apart.

But his story was more important at the moment, and the taller blond couldn't help but laugh at the ending. "Sounds like a round of successes all around then! He didn't die, you didn't have to watch him anymore - which sounds boring as hell - and got to bed with a ravishing woman, as you said -- more than once!" How many times--? Why did it matter? That was not, he noticed, the first time he'd had thoughts like that. He wished they would stop.

"How difficult was it to pick a lock like that though, without using your hands?" He asked as he turned to set the box of ammunition back down into the larger box. "I'm not going to question how you managed to get the key to your mouth though, I'm already well aware of just how flexible you are," he added with a smirk audible in his voice just as much as it was visible on his face.  

[TawnyAngel]

"It was most satisfactory," Zevran agreed with a low, velvety smooth chuckle. "Alas I did not see her again after that but I suspect she is still out there, people like that are difficult to kill..." And so were people like him. How many times had the world tried? How many healed scars did he have, covered by tattoos or worn proudly? He had scraped by and survived against the odds ever since he could recall, why should that change now? He had been good, and that was why Taliesen had brought so many Crows with him. Taliesen had brought many, but not brought enough to take him away from Abel by death.

"Mmmh?" Zevran blinked and shook himself back to the conversation; his face had gone still but somehow intent as the slow, angry, determined thoughts trickled through his mind but his expression warmed again quickly as he focused on Abel once more. "Oh it was not so bad; they were not really proper handcuffs luckily, much too tough to break out of but still only toys so the mechanism was simple. I will happily take credit for a more amazing feat than I truly performed however... And if you like I could give you another demonstration of my flexibility?" Zevran smirked. "Or we can try the other lock, it is your choice!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The thoughts tried to push their way back but Abel mercilessly shoved them back down before they had a chance to get much of anywhere. Instead of think them or loose the chuckle that wanted to bubble up, he reached his free hand out to gently smooth itself over Zevran's jaw, a fond smile working its way onto his face. He'd looked so serious a moment ago but his usual cheeriness returned promptly, replacing the intent look, but that didn't mean the feelings behind it had also gone away. Quite unlike the tender, affectionate touch of his hand, his expression morphed to a smirk as he said, "I'm always up for more demonstrations of how flexible you are, but maybe later? For now we can try another lock before we get too distracted. Again," he added with a chuckle, his tone of voice hinting he didn't mind their distractions in the least.

Withdrawing his hand, he turned back to the box and hummed thoughtfully as he looked down into it. They'd done the padlock already and as difficult as it was, he didn't really fancy trying it again... Maybe that would do? "How about this one?" Asked the taller blond as he pulled out a lengthy box first with one hand before its twin joined it a moment later; indeed the box was nearly as long as the one it usually rested in, but rather flat at around a foot wide and less than half as tall. Keeping it shut tight was another lock, though this one much smaller to fit on the thinner box and not as heavy a lock - or as difficult - as the padlock.  

[TawnyAngel]

"I will hold you to that, or if you prefer you can hold me to it," Zevran said smoothly as he tilted his head into Abel's touch, smirked lazily, and ran his thumb over his lower lip.

"The lock first though, would you like to start this one together and then you can finish? I suspect it has only two or three pins given its size."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

No matter how flirtatious his words or expressions or anything, Zev always seemed to love the more innocent behaviors, always leaned into soft touches or responded in kind with his own tenderness -- sometimes all at once. It never failed to bring a smile to his face with how endearing he thought it.

Unfortunately anytime Zevran brought attention to his lips also never failed to elicit reactions from him, so with both at once in the end a pleased smirk won out. "Both sounds good. And," he went on as he sat back down, crossed his legs and set the box down in front of them, his expression and tone losing its flirtatious edge, "we can start it together, yeah. That sounds like a good idea."