Quiet. In the dark of the night, Charlie stares at his bedroom ceiling and longs for the feeling of Thandi curled up against him. Her leg hitched over his side, her head on his shoulder, her arm over his chest. He longs to feel her against him because without her it feels so fucking empty. Rev snoozes on his other side, yes, but it isn’t enough to sate his needs.

It’s been a week of nothing. They had slept together so reliably for years and he put his foot down. She doesn’t need him. So he needs to pull back and let her live her life.

And so he’s been nearly sleepless for nights on end because he feels the ghost of her snug against him and aches to really feel it.

So he stares at the ceiling and longs.

Thandi is stressed and a bit miffed. It’s been a week s8nce Charlie had his little revelation and she is being driven mad. He made such a decision on his own as if he knew what was best for them both!

She doesn’t want to sleep alone. 

She wants to sleep with her boy!

It isn’t fair that his ego is next to nothing and so he has to try to play a martyr for their relationship.

She has been so!  Tired!

That’s it.

She pulls out the key to his room and slips it into the lock. 

The door doesn’t open.

She tugs and the door tugs back. She removes her key and the door flies open, Charlie on the other side. He stares at her and then throws his arms around her.

“I can’t stay away. I miss you. I need you so that I can sleep.”

Thandi can feel her anger melting away as her noy buries his face into her neck as he always does. She feels his tears on her skin and she wraps her arms around him. “I didn’t want you to.”

“But I do nee—”

“I didn’t want you to leave.” 

He pulls back, looking ruddy and surprised. “But… you have your own life to live.”

“During the day. But… imagine! Never seeing your family! Does a husband and wife sleep apart?”

Goodness, she adores that blush that shows in force now. “Husband and wife…?”

Thandi reaches to grab his left hand, pressing it to hers. Their matching rings. His eyes flick over her hand with his.

“Ah… I. I suppose they don’t…”

“I do want to do things separately sometimes but I don’t want to sleep without you. Come to bed.”

He nods and follows after her,  slipping into bed beside her. She assumes her spot at his side, curled up and hitching her leg over him while using his shoulder as a pillow. His arm bolds her steady.

Finally. They’re both at peace.

Charlie watches Thandi, the pressure in his chest rising with every breath. Every movement of hers is lovely. Every expression. Every small detail. He feels her through the bracelet and it’s heaven. The beat of her pulse and the warmth of her body pressed to his, even degrees removed, is a comfort he never thought he would enjoy.

The bracelet squeezes gently as his heart rushes, wasting precious heartbeats on his adoration. Thandi looks up at Charlie and smiles. There’s some relief to the pain.

Thandi watches his face light up, inner coil moving against her wrist. It never lets her forget. A giggle bursts out of her as she smiles broader, seeing his goofy, crooked smile in return. What a gorgeous man he is.

It’s gotten to be a game. How quietly can they tease one another? Who can pull the most noise from the other? Moments alone are filled with butterfly kisses and fingers tracing forbidden places. 

Tonight, Charlie is winning. He’s behind her, holding her, trailing kisses down her neck before giving her a playful nip. The arch of her back is a subconscious response, and he takes advantage by trailing his fingers along her thighs.

She feels her sensitivity heighten. His tongue. Him sucking on her now. Fingers creeping closer. She feels herself getting wetter. She feels him pressed to her. He won’t let up until she signals her defeat.

The temptation is strong. Let them become one. Let him finally break down the barrier between them. Let them both cave into one another’s desire. 

Let him fuck her until words have no meaning and all she knows is begging for more.

Instead, she leans back and whispers, “That’s enough, darling.” He pulls back his touches and gives her a final kiss on the neck before simply holding her to him, eyes closed. Her head clears. 

Things are fine as they are.

So. He doesn’t know when Covenant Day truly is. But he tries to time it with the turn of the year. 

His last Covenant Day with Thandi… he didn’t even get to speak his vow to her. He didn’t even get to give her the token he had planned to. 

The paper that he wrote his first vow on now sits rolled up in a small keepsake box, his family ring slide onto the roll. I will never let you be lonely. I will be the home you can come back to. I love you and I always will. 

A vow unmade is still unbroken. And yet the guilt eats at him for it. Covenant Day is the anniversary of the event. The anniversary of Thandi’s disappearance. The anniversary of upheaval in Alleria, since Ascendance decided to pull their little stunt. 

But. Despite the despair. He tries to think positively. Thandi is alive. Cilantro, for all his faults, doesn’t lie about serious things. Rather, the creature relishes delivering news to Charlie when it suits him best.

Rev sleeps in his lap, fat on Covenant peanuts. Charlie’s hand rests on the bird and the box. He still ended up with things he wanted to give Thandi as tokens. And he still put his vows in this little wooden box.

Earrings, small gold studs enchanted with danger detection. She always wore those larger ones, but she isn’t so much a jewelry woman. Still, they look nice on her. 

I will protect you to the best of my abilities. I will find you and make up for a lost year. I will free you from your obligations.

A comb made with soft bristles, the body lacquered finally and painted with a gorgeous peony. Not enchanted, but useful. After all, his clothes had still not worn out, and his accessories were entirely tokens from her. Her ring on his left hand, her pins in his hair, and… the exception, the ring that still hangs round his neck that matches the one on his left hand.

I will find you no matter how long it takes. I will grow strong for you. I will hone my skills so that when we meet again, you can be proud of who I am.

His cravat pin, which she picked out all those years ago, snapped. It was well worn and well-loved, and though he hesitated at first to combine two tokens into one, he commissioned a skilled thaumaturgic jeweler into attaching the tiny emerald to the earrings from the first anniversary. It would dangle from one ear prettily, and he relished the idea of her pushing some loose hair back and revealing the beautiful work.

I love you, and I will continue to love you. Our love may grow and change like the gifts I have procured for you, but it won’t change the fact that I dedicate my entire being to you. I will cherish you, my dearest Thandi.

His silken handkerchief, long worn out by many nights of tears, becomes part of a silk scarf for her hair. The embroidered CV sits at one end, accompanied by a second embroidered TV above it. The latest in the collection.

Thandi, my greatest love, I will not die until long after we have achieved our goals. I will follow you wherever you dare to tread. I will always be by your side once we are reunited. I love you.

It goes into the box.

How many more tokens? How many more vows? How many more years? His patience has grown but it does not make him ache any less. All he’s done in Faerûn is study her world. Study bits of the life she mentioned. Study the pieces of the incomplete puzzle his dear wife is.