Chapter Text
She stood over the pot, the scent of intertwined mild and bold spices filling her small, comfortable home, and herself, with a sweet, comfortable haze. Everything needed to be perfect, as perfect as it could be for their first winter since retiring from adventuring life. Stepping down from her stool in front of the wood stove, she stepped on bare feet padding softly towards the stone fireplace, remembering vividly the sight of her wife helping to local aging mason methodically place and mortar the heavy stones less than a year ago. She had lit the fire first to make sure the house was warm and inviting against the cold wind and snow outside of the first winter storm of the season, and lighting the fire was always the easy for her regardless.
Staring into the red-hot glow as the embers licked and clawed their way along the logs, thinking back, they were so incredibly fortunate. Ten years traveling together, facing danger countless of times, seeing the best and worst that the world had to offer. It was nothing short of a miracle they lived, without even considering the commissions and rare artifacts they pulled from lost ruins throughout their travels leaving them with more than enough coin than they could ever imagine spending with their shared love of the small pleasures and a modest life. She concentrated for a moment, the thought pure instinct after so many times, reaching into the fire directly to turn the log with her bare hands, before standing up straight again as the glittering gold scales and claws faded away from her hand.
At first, Hilde was nervous that Eva would feel restless settling into warm countryside of Linead’s soft rolling hills. It shouldn’t have surprised her, she imagined starting a farm would be a slow and deliberate life, but everything Eva told her about her early years and on her family’s small farm should have prepared her for the daily routines of waking up before the sun had risen and nights stepping inside covered in the embrace of dust and soil. Eva had been so excited to return to that life, despite the hard work and long hours, happily spending hours out in their new bought fields working the earth to plant their first crop of autumn wheat, even taking the advice from Adolfo to plant a small grove of olive trees. And she was so strong, so energetic, so full of life…
Hilde’s thought drifted momentarily as she stared in the crackling waves of the fire, feeling the heat on her freckled cheeks. Everything was as ready as it could be. Sure, she could find something else to fuss over, but it would only inflame her already simmering nerves. Instead, she went to the window overlooking the fields, climbed up into the stool there, the one Eva had carved for her all on her own so it would be high enough for a halfling like her to comfortably look out.
Tonight she saw the whirling flurries of the first winter snow, dancing and rolling around each other in the moonlight; the scene oddly tranquil, calming despite the cold from the warmth of the–her house. They’d spent so many long nights on the road whether at an inn, in their threadbare tent, enjoying it’s own retirement under the floorboards, or together looking up at the stars, talking, planning, dreaming about the life they were building together. Hilde would have her cheek resting on the tanned flesh of her love, looking up at her as she smiled, rattling off all her ideas about what they would grow on their farm, the beautiful house they’d build together, the family they would…
Hilde unbuttoned the top couple buttons of her blouse, the room was getting warm.
They’d seen and done so much, experienced so much of what the world had to offer, forged bonds with their other companions none of them would ever forget, and all the while had saved what coin they could. What coin Hilde could, mostly. Eva lived too in the moment for the plans that would make her dreams a reality. That was what Hilde was for, she who never knew what she wanted or where her life would lead, until now.
Their savings was enough, more than enough, to “retire”. Whether it was luck, their “grit”, as Rafaella would put it, or some twist of fate they had adventured for far longer before retiring, and far far longer than most adventurers survived at all. Hilde knew a part of Eva still wished she was out there, they had seen and done so much, but they both knew they could only defy the odds for long and had already pushed their luck enough. And with all that risk came rewards, enough coin to not only afford the land, their seed, supplies, and tools for the farm, and pay for their new neighbors to help work the land and build their home; even Eva couldn’t do it all herself. Hilde’s wife wasn’t one to think about the details, and she herself had a little experience running a household from her time before her magic manifested, but was still shocked to realize everything had barely put a dent into their savings. Together they could have easily afforded to live a life of leisure in the city if they chose, but, and while they had never said it outright, they wanted to build a new life of their own.
Put down roots, finally.
Start a family.