The Drow Queen of Glaley [Very NSFW]

[Zevran]

"Me? I tried to--"

[Isabela]

"We were sparring, it's perfectly understandable. Take a deep breath for me?" she says, voice calm and collected. "I'm sorry I startled you."

[Zevran]

"I tried to rip your lip off with my teeth," Zevran protests, though he does take a slow breath afterwards. 

[Isabela]

"I kicked grit in your eyes and stabbed you in the back," she says, sounding nonchalant. "It's not like we established rules ahead of time. And I probably shouldn't have... you had every right to assume I was going in for a headbutt and defend yourself."

[Zevran]

Zevran licks his lips, grimacing at the taste of her blood. "I..." He swallows. "I would not... if I had-- if I'd realized what you were..." He slumps onto his back, peeking at her from mostly closed eyes. "We are not sparring anymore, if you wan-- Fuck, I'm sorry, that is--"

[Isabela]

"Hey," she says quietly. "After the things you've been through, I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to kiss someone again. I don't... I shouldn't have pushed. It's just... I've searched for you for so long. I've dreamed about you. I've..." She flushes a little, some part of her still ashamed to admit she's masturbated at the thought of his gentle touch, his kind eyes. Still, the meaning is written across her face. 

"I know we only met once, but I care for you more than any man or woman I've fucked. They gave me pleasure, but you gave me freedom. If you don't want my body, if you're not ready, that's fine with me."

[Zevran]

Zevran stares at her, his eyes fully open and filled with a stunned sort of awed disbelief. "I am nothing," he replies almost instinctively. "I do not deserve--" He shudders, eyes still locked on hers. Pale blue eyes, almost the shade of a robin's egg, but strange in a way that's just shy of otherworldly. "I-- Sorry," he mutters. "Sorry."

[Isabela]

"You are everything to me. I'll keep saying it as often as you need to hear it. You were sent to do a job, and you risked everything to do the right thing instead. There are very few men like you out there. Hells, I'm not even one of them -- I've turned my back on a number of things that got ugly later, and I know it. Never slaves; I don't truck with slaves, and the few times I've been hired to carry them I set them free instead, claiming to have been robbed. But other things. Nasty things. Can you forgive me for not living up to your example?"

[Zevran]

Zevran sobs a little, a hint of laughter keeping it from being entirely bad. "Isabela, I am a monster. I have killed hundreds, thousands of people. Most of them unarmed civilians. Many of them in their own beds and most of those after fucking them. Saving you was one of the best things I've ever done. Possibly even the best thing. But it was a rarity, not my habit. I am sorry, but I am not who you think I am."

[Isabela]

"You're not a monster. You were a slave," she says softly. "You wouldn't have chosen to do those things. I knew you were a killer. I saw how you handled that party that night. But when you have a chance, you do the right thing."

[Zevran]

"Not every time," Zevran whispers, finally blinking. With a noticeable lack of subtly, he tries to lighten things by adding, "or I would have kissed you back just now."

[Isabela]

"You made me get the girl -- Coquette, and her friend Shisou. I Would have taken just you if you'd let me." Isabela smiles, shaking her head a little. "I get it, though. It's going to take a lot to recover from what you've been through." She reaches out slowly, making sure he can see her motion, as she strokes his cheek. 

[Zevran]

Echoing her caution, he's slow to turn his head and kiss the palm of her hand. "Was it-- I often wondered... You were so innocent, despite the horrors done to you, so raw and lost. I know that I could not have gone with you, nor stayed any longer than I did. But I regretted abandoning you. For years, I would..."

[Isabela]

"I don't blame you," she says quietly. "You gave me everything. I had never been free to figure out who I was before. I think if I'd stayed with you, I would have become yours instead of becoming myself."

[Zevran]

Zevran studies her for a moment, face still pressed against her hand, before nodding slightly. "Would you mind if I still sometimes daydream of the life we could have had together, if we had both been free?" he whispers.