faderift | [Open] Time for some enjoyment

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[Open] Time for some enjoyment

WHO: Iskandar and OPEN
WHAT: Iskandar is here to have a good time. Join him?
WHEN: Throughout Drakonis
WHERE: Skyhold and other fun places
NOTES: Probably lots of cute times. Maybe some sad times depending on the threads. But mostly a lot of cute and loud affection. Because Iskandar.

A. It's a new dog!

He'd been wanting one since first seeing the mabari. Now he had one of his own. A fine pup who tended to spend much of his time tripping over his own feet but was ever eager to be with and please the large man. Really he'd been told that an older dog would be recommended but they'd laid eyes on each other and that had been that. After all, once that bond was formed there simply was no going back.

And so one could find him with a puppy in one of the more open areas. They were training and it seemed that the puppy was at least rather intelligent at picking up on things! So long as Iskandar used his native tongue for the commands, something he'd decided to do just to solidify their bond further.

"Heh. What a clever boy you are, my Achilles Alexander!" The pup gave a bark and then happily ate up the piece of meat that he was given. And yes, Iskandar sure had named this dog after himself.

B. Training is important

The best way to perfect how one used their adjusted powers was to, well, use them. So he was around the training grounds to work with the couple of them that he felt could safely be done here. Name the teleportation and invisibility ones. So it was easy enough to spot him standing in one location only to reappear in another. At times he frowned and rubbed his beard as he considered what he'd been doing before trying again.

One could feel free to interrupt him though. He wasn't needing the concentration to do this really.

C. Memories rise to the surface

There were times when even Iskandar needed a moment to reflect, to think on the sadder days. Though he never regretted any of them that hardly meant they didn't weight on his heart. Many had been lost under his command or had given up much to follow him. Then there were times when he remembered Hephaestion and how perhaps he would never see him again. Or that his son would be someone he'd never lay eyes on.

So he was in the gardens with a kitten and a mabari pup curled up together on his lap. Both were sound asleep as if they'd been playing hard until that moment. He smiled down at them fondly, stroked their soft ears as he admired their pure innocence.

"It has been long since I had your purity, little ones."

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Kirk could not say what drew him to the gardens that day. He enjoyed the space, found it peaceful, but his own nature was not one to naturally seek peace and quiet. Maybe some instinct was driving him to seek meditation. It had been awhile since he had, and falling out of the practice was bad for him, that much he knew. Running achieved that usually, but sometimes he did need to sit and center his body.

He had thought to come to this place for that, and instead found Iskandar. It took but an instant to realize that something was... well, not wrong, but that Iskandar was not quite himself. Or perhaps he was himself, but just a self KIrk was not used to seeing. He was not diminished so much as he felt still, a thing he had never thought Iskandar capable of with his seemingly boundless energy and bottomless joy.

"Fatherhood suits you," Kirk said softly, coming up behind Iskandar and leaning down to wrap his arms around his shoulders, gazing down at the sleeping babes .

He heard the footsteps before Jim got up to him so he just gave him a smile as he looked back at him then back down at the sleeping ones on his lap. A soft laugh escaped him then. Fatherhood suited him, hm? "I always wondered if it would. Perhaps I would have been able to hold my boy like this in the gardens of the palace had he been born while I lived."

Iskandar gave a stroke to their ears again. "Unfortunately he was not a boy to ever know the face of his father."

That... was unexpected, to say the least. The histories said Iskandar had fathered children, though they had all been young when he died. He didn't remember if it had been one or many now, but Iskandar was at least confirming he did, indeed, have one child. One child whom he had never gotten to raise.

For a moment Kirk fumbled, unsure of what to say. He could hardly understand the position Iskandar was in, though he could understand the position of the child. Gently he leaned down against the broad back, pressing his lips into the thick red mane.

"You would have been a great father, Alexander," he assured him. "You spend so much time taking care of other people, after all. And he will have known you. He'll know you through stories his mother tells and the people around him who tell him even more. He'll know how much you loved him."

"For his short life, I would hope he had that to combat the fear he must have had over being hunted."

Tilting his head back, he leaned it against Jim's shoulder and closed his eyes. These were the thoughts that pained him but he knew it was better to allow himself to feel this pain sometimes. Shutting the heart away from the painful memories, to reject them in favor of only the good, was an insult to those who had lived in the darker times.

"I am of a more somber mood presently it seems."

Seeing Iskandar like this was strange, to say the least. Normally so full of life and joy, this subdued man he held in his arms clashed with what he knew of him. But what did he really know? He knew from the history books, sure, but history was not a man. That Iskandar felt comfortable showing his side of himself spoke volumes, Kirk thought as he stroked his hair tenderly, and he promised himself not to waste it.

"It's okay," he murmured. "Do you want to tell me about him? Or talk about it?" he offered, all the while keeping up his gentle stroking.

"There is nothing I can tell you of him other than he lived. The histories of myself do not tell me more than that. So there are times I mourn the fact that I could not see his beautiful face. I decided that today was a time I could spend thinking of him and others I have lost in my campaigns."

So many lives lost because many had chosen to follow him. Truly he was honored by their desire to see that his dreams came true. They never had but the fact that they would continue on with him even after death touched him deeply.

Oh. He had thought he might be interrupting something, and it turns out he was right. But... he wasn't precisely sorry for it. Iskandar was always looking out for the others around him, overflowing with boisterous joy. Hell, he had even comforted Kirk in the middle of the night during one of his weakest moments, when everything he been collapsing inward.

He couldn't very well leave Iskandar to his thoughts, to mourn alone. He didn't know Iskandar's men or his son, but he didn't need to. They weren't the ones who needed seeing to now.

"I bet he had your hair," Kirk said quietly, brushing his fingers through the fiery mane. "Did you know his name?"

He laughed softly because he knew his name from histories. Though he often wondered if he'd been able to get his mother's looks. Roxana had been a breathtaking woman and to have a child look like her would have been one of the greatest achievements in his life as far as he was concerned.

"Alexander. He was given my name. He was born into a crumbling and chaotic time but he had my name to carry with him."

Kirk chuffed into Iskandar's hair, because of course his son would have his name. Not that that was uncommon within itself - Kirk was named for his grandparents after all. But given Iskandar's history of names, he could not help but find it amusing. He shifted his arms to loop around Iskandar's shoulders, allowing him to lean back if he wanted to.

"I bet it made him proud. Who wouldn't be proud to have you for a dad, right?"

"Hephaestion had said as much to me when I found out Roxana was with child. He would have been a fine addition in the boy's life."

Hephaestion never saw the birth of the child either though. He'd died even before he'd died himself. It was a moment that had shattered him and he felt certain it had made it difficult for him to live on when he'd fallen ill himself. That man had been such a valuable part of his life for so long that walking forward had not been easy for him after his passing.

"I had thought to take my child to the memorial I was building for him so that way he might see the child even in the afterlife."

Hephaestion, Iskandar's friend and lover. Even the histories mentioned him, though whether or not he had been a lover was little more than speculation with strong evidence. Iskandar had confirmed it, and Kirk was hardly surprised. From the sounds of it, he had meant quite a lot to the other man - his Spock or Bones, if he thought about it in terms of his own family.

Gently he shifted, turning so Iskandar could rest his head against his chest, his own fingers taking up a soothing rhythm through his hair and down his neck.

"Who are you kidding?" he asked him. "You know he was watching him from the moment he was born. Hephaestion doesn't sound like the sort of man that would miss such an important moment from what you've told me about him."

"He wouldn't have. You are right."

He had such a fond look on his face as he shifted so he could rest his head where Jim had put it. Breathing in his scent, he let out a sigh. Though he was not someone to ask for comfort, he always accepted it when it was given like this. After all, even he could use some now and then.

"He was a beautiful man, my Hephaestion. I feel you would have liked him."

His fingers curled through the red locks, playing with them idly as he stroked. He hoped the other was comfortable, their height differences making it difficult to cradle him they way he could Sam. Still, he tried, and he hoped it was bringing the other some comfort.

"I'm sure I would have," he agreed fondly. "I think we could have spent many nights around a fire bemoaning having to put up with your antics." He bent his head and pressed his face into his hair briefly, muffling a quiet laugh.

He laughed at that then actually went to shift so he could put his head on Jim's lap. It meant moving the puppy and kitten to his stomach but after a brief complaint both were snoozing away again. They're really played very hard with each other since they were now fast friends. And this would be easier for Jim to offer the comfort. It was nice.

"You two and the rest of the people who knew and know me. I'm well aware of how exasperating I can be."

Kirk's fingers found places at the corners of Iskandar's temples, slowly rolling in small, pressurized circles. He glanced to the two tiny things nestled against Iskandar's stomach and smiled at the contrast of small and fragile to large and hardy. He imagined it was comfortable for them too - Iskandar did give off quite a bit of heat in his experience.

"Is that just an acknowledgement or an apology for said exasperation?" Kirk leaned down and kissed Iskandar's forehead.

He groaned softly, enjoying that massage to his temples. It was a wonderful feeling, to have such tender attention there. He sighed a bit soon after, easily relaxing on this terribly comfortable lap. If Jim wanted to take care of him for awhile then he could hardly refuse him when it felt this good.

"Mmm. It seems wrong to apologize for those when I am not actually sorry. So I suppose I would call it more acknowledgement."

If there was a compliment he would have been particularly proud of, it would have been to know his lap was quite comfortable. It was about the only way he could comfortably hold Iskandar in his lap as it was, given their size differences.

"Well, I suppose I and probably Haphaestion will simply take what we can get," he shook his head, bemused with the large man. "Many prayers for Roxana if your son got half your penchant for said antics."

He chuckled softly, perhaps more so when the small cat finally lifted his head as if to figure out why his name kept being used over and over again. The little thing gave a big yawn and a little mewl before rearranging his puppy companion and curling around him for some more sleep.

"I think someone is trying to figure out why you keep speaking of him since he does not understand he is named after another."

"Can you just imagine what would happen if they had your name?" he inquired, looking down at the general with a quirk of his eyebrow. Not that expected Iskandar to actually come around to seeing why naming everything after himself was a confusing and somewhat terrible idea. That would be like asking the sun to start rising in the West instead of the East.

"Hopefully he understands how nice a name he has," he looked to the kitten, smiling quietly.

"Hm? They both have my name actually."

He lifted a brow back up at him. Though some (everyone) people couldn't understand why he named everything after himself, he still continued to do it. And so he'd named these two after himself as well. Certainly they had unique names too but they both held the name of Alexander as well.

"I meant in that you called them that exclusively," he clarified, remembering when they had first been introduced and hearing their, to what his mind sounded like, "last names".

"The poor things would get terribly confused," he shifted his fingers to comb them through Iskandar's hair rhythmically, humming just under his breath.

"Ah. Hermione named Hephaestion Alexander actually. Or rather she named him Hephaestion and I added my name to make the name grander. So I thought that Achilles Alexander should have a similar name."

That seemed a fair thing. Especially since they were siblings as far as he was concerned. Ah but then he heard the humming and he allowed himself to just listen in on that, smiling some. Not that it was a tune he recognized but he still liked the sound of it.

He rolled his eyes at that, not quite shaking his head. At least in this case he could find Alexander's ego charming, though his mind clicked away on a way to try and show Alexander naming everything for himself wasn't always smart. Well, plots for another day. Looking down, he was glad to see the man so relaxed compared to the more gloomy expression from earlier, relieved to be able to alleviate some of his aches.

"Feeling better?" he asked after switching songs a few times, brushing his fingers across Iskandar's brow.

"Ah I felt better the moment you arrived." Romantic as it likely sounded it was also true. That Jim would arrive and see his expression then simply come over to offer comfort meant a great deal to him. Iskandar had felt some measure of affection for the man for a good bit now but this had simply sealed that for him.

"I should sing for you sometime as well."

"My, you're a man of many talents, aren't you?" Kirk teased his lover, gently twisting a lock of red hair around one finger to curl it. "But I would like that."

He gazed down at him, his smile ever so slightly crooked, but warm and adoring at the same time. As much as Iskandar could rile him up with his strange habits, they also gave him a quirky charm, and his unwavering honesty was refreshing, and something Kirk very much needed in his life.

"Any requests for now, though? I only know songs from my world, but I can try and match a theme."

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conqueredhearts - 2017-04-18 07:11 (UTC) - Expand

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