(no subject)

[student_of_impossibility]

The door opens to the muffled sound of a woman’s voice and the sound of a fussing baby. “No, no, I’ll check—”

Tavi is standing in the doorway, beard neatly trimmed and the light from the Bar glittering off both the plain steel band on his head and his tunic—an article of clothing that is literally cloth-of-gold and covered in gemstones, mostly of the sapphire, ruby, and diamond varieties. He is also, in the arm not holding the door open, carrying the aforementioned fussing infant.

From somewhere behind him comes another muffled comment (’Aleran?’) as he stares at the Bar for a long, silent moment, and then looks down at himself. “. . . What? No, it’s nothing,” he calls over his shoulder absently, then looks back up for another thoughtful pause.

“No.”

The door slams shut again.

About thirty seconds later it opens. “… working for two, just go to sleep. I’ll get him settled,” Tavi is saying as he shoves the door open with his shoulder. Not in anything fancier than (admittedly high-quality) linen, today, and the steel circlet’s missing too. Baby is definitely with him, though, and basically still. He’s halfway in by the time he realizes this is the Bar, and after a visible moment of hesitation lets the door close.

He makes his way to the Bar. “You’d better not mess up his sleep schedule,” he tells the counter sternly. “If you do, I am not responsible for Kitai’s actions. And can you not make a habit of replacing the nursery, please?”

Napkin.

“… Yes.” He smiles softly. “He’ll be very happy one day to be meeting you, too.”

Milliways, meet Gaius Desiderius Tavarus.

Comments

[makesthings]

Sameth was working at a table when the door first opened and spots Tavi more dressed up than he's ever seen him.

When he returns again, Sameth smiles and gets up to greet him and his child, "Hello."

[student_of_impossibility]

Tavi has no idea it was less than a minute between the door opening, here in Milliways. As far as he's concerned, it's been a few days.

He smiles warmly at Sameth. "Hello, Sameth. How are things?"

If Tavi seems unusually content, well, he is. He's married and a father and things are... things are really quite good, actually.

[makesthings]

"Busy but mainly good. What were you all dressed up for and who's this?"

He loves children and its wonderful to see Tavi smiling so much.

[student_of_impossibility]

"Better the good kind of busy," Tavi opines, before blinking. Memory strikes, and he facepalms slightly with his free arm. "Oh crows, that. The wedding. I am never wearing that stupid thing again. I've put up with it twice, they can cope."

He'll probably have something just as bad eventually.

Then he smiles again. "Sameth, meet Desiderius," he says proudly. He has a son! It's really quite astonishing. Desiderius has very faintly visible wisps of fine white hair.

[makesthings]

"They can. He's beautiful," Sameth offers Desiderius his finger to investigate.

[student_of_impossibility]

Desiderius is mostly sleepy right now, much to his parents' relief. They have a lot going on.

"Yes, he is," Tavi agrees. His life is a good one. Somewhat stressful and overscheduled, it's true, but very good. "What's been keeping you busy?"

[makesthings]

"Helping the Southerlings settle into their new land and making Lirael's hand work better for her," Sleeping he's an adorable child.

[student_of_impossibility]

"I don't think you've told me about the Southerlings before," Tavi prompts for more as he settles at the Bar and a bowl of stew pops up. "Thank you."

Desiderius is adorable and surprisingly easy, which is frankly a blessing for his parents.

[makesthings]

"They originally from across the Wall and south of Ancelstierre. They're refugees and were abused by the necromancers trying to control Orannis. I offered them places to live in the Old Kingdom, our population's been smaller since the Interregnum and we have good land,"

He's been being a diplomat which he can do, but he likes getting to hide in his workshop after.

[a1enzo]

Enzo spots the pair of them from a table covered in peanut-butter-related snacks.

"Oh, whaaaaat."

[student_of_impossibility]

Ah, there's a voice Tavi hasn't heard in a while, but he certainly recognizes.

"Hello, Enzo." Tavi gives him a nod, as one hand is occupied and the other is busy pulling out his seat.

[a1enzo]

"Hi, Tavi. Introduce us, why don't you?"

Baaaaaaby.

[student_of_impossibility]

"As much as is possible," Tavi says half-apologetically, as Desiderius is actually pretty drowsy and he's loathe to wake him up. Sleeping Baby is a blessing, he's learned in the very short time since his son's birth. (Fact: surprisingly little of his staff knows what to do with a First Lord who clearly has every intention of being deeply involved in child-rearing alongside rebuilding the world.)

Still, he's not about to object to showing off the baby. "His name is Desiderius."

[a1enzo]

Enzo nods; as an experienced uncle, he understands completely. You do not wake the baby if it can possibly be helped.

"Hey, Desiderius," he says softly. "Big name. How old is he?"

[student_of_impossibility]

"Maybe--but we agreed it was better than Nonus," Tavi says wryly. "About a week and a half. I think Bar just wanted to say hello, and I walked away the last time there was a door."

[a1enzo]

"I never get over how small they are. I'd say I guess you've been busy lately, but when are you not?"

[student_of_impossibility]

"I have time to not be busy when I'm dead," Tavi says ruefully. "What about you?"

He's not kidding.

"He really is, isn't he?" There's something almost unusually awed in his voice--Tavi doesn't usually do awe, after all. "Last time I was around babies much I wasn't an adult yet. I hadn't quite realized." His growth spurt was fairly dramatic.

[electro_kinetic]

"Cute kid there, Rufus," Noriko says, having watched the door open, shut, and open again to admit Tavi and a small child.

She looks not much different than the last time he saw her, save for her hair now being short and sleek, partly braided back to imitate being shaved on one side; she still has her gauntlets, and still has a young face, in that it ever was after what she'd seen and been through. In her fluttery tank top and skinny jeans, it's apparent she hasn't lost the strength she had last they'd talked.

She mostly uses the name to tease him.

[student_of_impossibility]

Tavi looks up with a smile. He's actually put on some weight since the last time they talked--although it's more to a normal, healthy person weight, and not the whipcord and muscle of someone in constant combat. It's funny what a few months of not carrying armor around constantly has done for him, really. He doesn't even look completely sleep-deprived yet! Despite the baby in his arms.

"He is," Tavi agrees. "But then, he was just taken care of and was more or less ready to be quiet." There's a touch of wryness in his voice.

It had been a while since he was around babies. He'd forgotten what it was like.

[electro_kinetic]

"Babies are never ready to be quiet," she says, amused. "Least of all baby boys."

She remembers that much, even though she's probably not had direct experience with them in a long time. "You look remarkably healthy for someone in your line of work. Or is it your line of work anymore?" Noriko asks; her brows lift in question at him. "I see you finally got over your nervous fear of girls that I seem to remember you having."

All in all, she's...pretty much exactly as she was, but for one small difference. A small section of the gauntlet around the ring finger of her left hand is different. It's wrapped an intricately-woven band of rainbow anodized metal, showing off all the colors in an oil slick against the polished chrome of her gauntlets.

[student_of_impossibility]

The anodized metal is awesome and Tavi is making a mental note to ask about it, because he likes neat things--but that can wait. Catching up first.

"At least one of my cousins was definitely louder than I was, even my mother and step-father say so, and she was a girl." His voice is faintly wistful for a moment. Little Gerhild would have been almost twenty.

His expression is slightly wry, and maybe even a little wistful. "I'm mostly out of the field for good," he admits. "If I'm personally necessary, it'll be a special occasion." And a headache and a half. "And have been for most of the last three months of so. It's cut down on the number of days I've lost blood, that's for sure."

He gives a quiet huff. "I was never afraid of girls." Just somewhat inexperienced with them. Frankly he still is, but it's pretty immaterial now. He's married and a father and content.

[electro_kinetic]

"Being a caregiver, I imagine having all your blood is useful," Noriko agrees, but with a faintly amused expression.

"You were too. I thought you might pass out when you had to see my midriff, horror of horrors. But I'm thinking he's the evidence of having gotten over that. There being only one real way that happens, short of parthenogenesis." She smiles.

"Happily, though, I am not beholden to a teacup human yet."

[student_of_impossibility]

"I've been told it's generally considered a critical life skill." Usually by exasperated Healers frustrated that their Captain, Princeps, or First Lord is in their care yet again, when he really should have learned better by now.

Tavi raises an amused eyebrow at her. "Ah. I understand the confusion now. No, I was never afraid of girls. I had quite an adventure begun by trying to impress a girl once. And my wife and I have been together since I was seventeen." Wife. He has a wife now. For all that they're bound far more tightly than by signatures on a paper, and have been since Second Calderon, that's a new word for him. He's still getting his head around it. "What I was--and probably still am, to some degree--is a prude. It's a different thing entirely."

Yes, he really is going to nitpick the semantics of his faults.

[electro_kinetic]

"Pretty sure you can be both, if we're gonna get picky," she says, chuckling. "A prude and afraid of girls." She's glad for him about the wife and kid thing, though.

"So when did you actually tie the knot?" Noriko asks.

[student_of_impossibility]

"Quite easily," Tavi agrees. "But trust me, fear of them has never been an issue." There's that streak of amusement still in his voice. No, no one will ever let him forget that he got into all of this because he tried to do a girl a favor for attention.

Beritte is definitely regretting, these days, that she was a jerk to the First Lord when he was a boy.

"About four days ago," he says with a smile.