A (Proper) First Date

"A (Proper) First Date" is a BOTGD 2 Act 1 thread written on June 16, 2019.
==Summary==
Milae and Dario have an evening picnic on Haligan, and in their conversations, Dario realizes that Milae cannot age. He is overwhelmed with joy and relief at having someone to accompany him in his curse, and Milae gives Dario a booklet of embroidered art that he has kept through his travels.
==Full Text==
Dario Hjort: “…you gotta stop at some point, Milae. My head is going to explode.”
The deer blushed, trying to shrug off the endless stream of compliments he was being fed by his goat partner during their makeshift picnic on Haligan. Surrounded by nothing more than trees and floral patches, the duo were isolated in the greatest way Dario could ever hope for. He shifted his vision to the bouquet of freshly gathered wildflowers, primarily bluebells, that he scrounged up before their date.
“I really do hope you like those flowers.” He could feel the heat emanating off of his face from embarrassment. “I understand it’s probably not anything you would want, or necessarily use, but I wanted to say thank you… for keeping me safe over the last few days. I’d get you something less, uh, sappy…” He was practically sweating by this point; bearing his emotions for anyone other than Vox was never something he had to do in his lifetime, but for Milae, he wanted to show just how much he was smitten. “…but my resources were a bit limited.”
Yun Milae: Shaking his head with a grin, Milae rested his chin on Dario’s shoulder. “Dario, you could have given me a bundle of weeds and it would warm my heart. ” He didn’t have his staff, or even his cloak for once. It was freeing, and vulnerable, and though it made him slightly anxious, it also relaxed him. He closed his eyes, enjoying the late afternoon and the feel of the breeze hissing through the trees. “This is quite nice. You have a taste for ambiance.”
Dario: “I try my hardest.”
He was rubbing the goat’s back as he spoke, the heat of the sun warming their tiny piece of paradise they made for themselves. He could feel the tension of the last few weeks… years, realistically… in his muscles. Dario wanted to be able to at least alleviate some of that for him by any means necessary.
“Tell me something… anything. Something you like talking about. I like seeing you excited about things.”
Milae: “Hm.” Milae cocked his head, mulling it over. “I…must be honest, there is…not much.” He blinked, looking up at the sky. “My life seems ever so much more like work instead of excitement.” He tapped his hoof on the ground, thinking. “Ah!”
Reaching into his pack by his side, he fumbled through it, though there wasn’t much inside of it, by a long shot. He pulled out something that resembled a book, if a book could be made of sheets of linen and fabric sewn together at one side instead of paper. He opened the “cover” and the first scrap of fabric was covered in tiny, detailed embroidery stitches, in a rainbow of colors that painted a wide, grassy field with a billowing storm passing overhead, the top of it painted with the fading rays of a scarlet sunset.
Milae seemed a bit bashful. “Because of…well, a lot of things, I have…acquired a pasttime, recently.”
Dario: Dario was so flustered at the sudden display of talent from the goat; he wasn’t expecting Milae to entrust him with this information. The way that he was displaying it to the deer insinuated that he wasn’t exactly open about this hobby, and Dario was so honored that he was able to see this. He pulled the goat onto his lap and rested his head on Milae’s shoulder, so that they could look at the beautiful stitching together.
“These are so vivid, Milae… go figure you’d be smart and artistic. I hit the jackpot with you.”
He ran his hands along Milae’s arms, tenderly tracing each scar that adorned them. There were still so many questions the deer had, but he was too nervous to bring them up. He didn’t want to ruin their date.
“Did you do this during the Rebellion?… or did you pick this up after that?”
Milae: Milae hummed, his ears flicking back and forth as he once again considered Dario’s words. “The Rebellion has…always existed…for me, at least.” He chuckled slightly. “I am in a constant state of Rebellion, you could say.” He turned the pages, each piece of art depicting wildly different landscapes. A torn-up field with massive chunks of floating rocks in the sky. A frozen wasteland with a massive loop of ice in the distance. A river that looked as wide as a lake surging across the continent from what looked to be a bird’s-eye view. Because of the nature of his art, the pictures had an odd mosaic-like quality. “This…helps me remember some of the things I have seen. I do a lot of work, but part of that means I do a lot of waiting, as well.”
Dario: The deer was almost mesmerized by the goat’s words. His way of speaking almost lulled him into a fantasy, feeling himself drawn into the art being displayed before him while Milae narrated the scenes of his own life.
“Your work… if you don’t mind, I want to know more about it. I know the last time we talked about your… abilities… things weren’t so good, but I need to know.” He continued to trek his fingers across Milae’s forearms. “I wasn’t around for much of the Rebellion, and I know you were. I hear everybody talk about it, and it’s hard to keep up with it all.”
He thought back to the Lostpelt wedding. The stories shared of their adventures… love, loss, triumph, defeat… he couldn’t relate to any of it.
“I spent a lot of time after Ragnarok lost… I had the Arnason’s, and that was about it. My life didn’t consist of things I could look back on and relish… I’m sorry, Milae, I don’t mean to get like this. We should talk about your art.”
Milae: “I do not mind.” He rested his cheek against Dario’s neck. “Everything I do has been for the Rebellion. This…” He gestured back to Haligan, and to the many people that now occupied the village. “…is my work. This is what I hope to accomplish.”
His eyes grew a little darker. “Someone was…taken from me by High Central, a long time ago. My story is not unique, but the lengths I went to save her were.” He looked out through the forest. “I feel I owe it to her memory to…help remove what took us apart.” He shook himself slightly and took Dario’s hand, squeezing it gently. 
“Not everything is so bleak, though.” He stroked his hoof over the section of his little project which showed a thread rendition of Perch Hall shining in the sunlight. “I have been through this Rebellion for so many years. I know its members like the scars of my seal. Though there is loss in this timeline, there is hope.” He nuzzled Dario’s neck. “And there is you.”
Dario: …and there is you.
His breath halted at the last sounds leaving Milae’s mouth, almost in perfect synchronization with his heart. Dario pressed his head into the goat’s, allowing this perfect moment to remain suspended in time for as long as he could hold a breath.
“That was smooth, Milae. Got me on that one, you poet.” He paused to just feel the goat’s heartbeat against his hand for a moment before continuing. “I am so sorry to hear about your loss. It sounds like she meant the world to you. I wish I was able to take away that pain, however that could be possible.”
Milae: “My solace comes with the victory of the Rebellion.” He settled back into Dario’s chest, feeling the slight expanding and deflating of his breath. A gust of wind blew across their peaceful moment and fluttered the edges of his booklet. “I can speak with her in several timelines, more than I could hope for, but she does not survive any of them.” A slight bit of his sadness and frustration leaked through, and he hugged Dario’s arms tighter to himself, sighing a little. “It is a puzzle I am still solving.”
Dario: He could have pulled the goat entirely into himself to keep him safe if he could. Feeling Milae squeeze his arms caused his heart to flutter even more, and he returned the force with love.
“You know I will never truly understand this, nor can I go with you and try to help… but you have me, in this timeline. For anything.”
Dario kissed the top of Milae’s head, where he proceeded to rest his chin. Even the heaviness of the conversation couldn’t derail the calm atmosphere they had fostered together on Haligan.
“As for puzzles, if you can figure out a way to keep my antlers from shedding this winter, I would kiss you. I mean, more so than I already do.” He yawned, nearly startling himself. He didn’t realize that he was tired. “I’m not sure if I’m ready for you to see me like that. It isn’t a good look.”
Milae: “Dario.” Milae looked upwards at him by tilting his nose up and peering upwards as far as he could. “I’ve seen you without your antlers twenty-nine times.” He reached upwards and tapped one of the tines with a hoof and a small smile. “Trust me, you looked handsome every time.”
Dario: Shit, I’m going to cry.
He didn’t consider that; of course Milae had seen him without antlers dozens of times. Not only that… he probably saw Dario at his worst, in so many situations, so many times. The goat had seen all his flaws, his mistakes, and still managed to find the good in him. He couldn’t fathom being unconditionally cared for… and there were the tears.
Since when did I cry so damn much?
“I’ve never heard anything more sweet in my life.” He smiled along with his partner. “Thank you, Milae. I needed that. Though you may know better than I, I’m sure you looked equally as beautiful.”
Milae: Milae maneuvered himself so that he was facing Dario in his lap and bumped noses with him, gently wiping away his tears. He gave a self-deprecating grin, trying to ease Dario’s sudden intense emotions.
“I was easier on the eyes without these, once upon a time,” he said mildly, tapping the scars that marred his fur all the way from wrist to elbow. “I never appreciated how they looked, nor how conspicuous they tend to make me in company that would otherwise be passive to a half-breed. Every scar has a story, and every interest in a scar demands that you explain.” He shrugged with his hands, a little helplessly. He was a little surprised with his own veracity.  “Some of my excuses have been rather impressive,” he joked. “Usually something about cooking, and missing while trimming the steak…several times.”
Dario: Dario laughed, feeling the onset of tears begin to fade.
“Creative. I would expect nothing less from you.”
He reached behind him to feel the scar that stretched the length of his entire back; he was likely one of only a handful of people with a wound like that to be alive to talk about it. It was the one thing he felt most self-conscious about, and knowing that Milae had not only seen it back at the hatchery, but in many other timelines, he felt less insecure about it.
“I may not have your numbers, but I’ve had ‘em pretty deep myself. I think they truly distinguish you, Milae. They’re one of the many, many things I have grown to love about you, and it’s the perception that we exude that helps others realize our beauty. We just have to learn to take the best parts of ourselves and make them gold.”
Milae: Giving him a brief kiss, Milae said, “That’s a wonderful way of viewing it. Thank you.” He chuckled a bit. “All the same, it is still disheartening to be deprived of the comfort of them fading with age.”
Dario: His entire world stopped in that moment. He couldn’t have possibly heard the goat correctly.
“…Milae, what did you just say?”
Milae: He blinked bemusedly. “They won’t f…I…” He quickly processed what Dario was currently trying to understand. “D-Dario, did I not tell you I have been through thousands of timel…”
He dug a hoof into his fur, ruffling it as he slowly realized and felt the beginnings of deep embarrassment. “Gods, I…I apologize, I thought you would come to that conclusion yourself. I did not mean to leave you in the dark.” He looked up shamefully at his partner. “I have not aged in over a century, Dario,” he clarified, so that the deer could understand. “And so far, I have no reason to expect that to discontinue.”
Dario: If he had been anyone else on this planet, the news would have been a crushing blow. But for the deer… this was the best thing he could ever hope for.
“N-no, Milae, you never told me… you don’t age. To be fair, I-I never asked…”, he stuttered in amazement and excitement all the same, “…I should have seen it, it should have been so obvious, but I didn’t- I had no idea, Milae, this-”
He pulled him in for the tightest embrace they had yet, sobbing into the crook of his neck. For the first time since his reanimation, there was a silver lining to his eternal curse.
Milae: The air left Milae’s lungs with a huff, and his eyes were wide as he wrapped his arms around Dario in vague shock. He was happy, of course, but he was also…absolutely confused.
“You…I, uh…you don’t want to find a cure for this?” He rubbed Dario’s back to soothe him, trying to understand Dario’s broken sentences. “I was…in the process of trying to learn how to break your curse, but…” He blinked, still following Dario’s train of thought. He’d never come across a problem like this that ended up possibly not even needing a solution. “I mean, not that I want you to…uh…”
Dario: He couldn’t respond; the force of his crying kept him locked firmly in Milae’s neck. He understood what Milae meant, but regardless of if they solved this problem or not, he could spend his life with Milae. His entire life.
He tried several times to compose himself, but the scenarios kept playing out in his head – he saw them traveling the world together. Dario keeping him company while Milae worked on his stitching. Milae telling stories of the places he had been that the deer could only dream of. Each possibility filled with more wonder and more beauty than the last.
Once he had finally reached the apex of his realization, he pulled away, red-eyed and still crying to a point of almost incoherence.
“I don’t c-care, Milae. If we break it, I-I can live out my days with you. If we can’t, it’s… it’s all the same. Whatever happens, I have you.”
Milae: “Of…of course.” He was breathless with emotion now, and he clutched Dario tightly, stroking the side of his face and hushing him. But the realization was starting to sink in for him, too, and he teared up with a smile, thinking of how many days he wasted looking for a cure to his own curse, his massive bouts of depression following the fateful, once-hated day, his piles of notes on his self-experimental research. It could all be for naught. He could put it down at last. He knew this when meeting Dario, but now…it was out in the open, and it was real.
He wiped his eyes and quickly fumbled for his booklet, pressing it up against Dario’s chest. “Dario. I want…need…you to have this.”
Dario: He held the booklet in his hands, taking care not to allow any tears to fall onto it. He could not think of a more personal, intimate piece of Milae to be entrusted to him, and there were no words that could properly express his gratitude.
“I- Milae, I can’t take thi-”
The goat placed his hooves against Dario’s hands, continuing to look him in the eyes. His expression confirmed his intentions.
“T-thank you. You… you’re going to have to teach me how to do this, you know.” He flipped through the pages once again, admiring each stitch as if it had been crafted solely for him. “I won’t be as good as you, but I can sure give it a shot.”
Milae: He squeezed his hooves around Dario’s fingers. “I want you to understand,” he emphasized, looking Dario straight in the eyes. “When I travel, I can take things with me, in a way.” He pointed to the bindings of his project, hundreds of tightly-bound stitches running up its spine. “If I interact with an object across multiple timelines, looping over and over again, it becomes…bound to me. Connected.
“Remember the handcart, and how the broken wheel switched sides? There is a lot to it that I will explain to you eventually, but for now, know that, I bound that handcart to my travels by looping with it over two hundred times.” He tapped the cover of the book. “I have looped with this over ten times that amount. When I leave, it leaves with me…but it also stays here. It is…very difficult magic, I am still working with it. But what it means is…” His throat stuck. “Whatever I add to it, wherever I am…you can see it. But more than that…if…gods forbid…if I should lose access to this timeline…by being killed, or some other cruel fate…no matter where I travel afterwards…you will have this. You will always have this. And in the meantime, I will claw my way back to you no matter how many gods I may have to slaughter to do it.”
Dario: “Let’s hope the number of gods you have to slaughter stays as close to zero as possible.”
The gravity of the gift hit even harder; hearing what this booklet now meant to both him and his partner changed everything. Milae found a way to ensure that they would never truly be apart.
“…you are truly the most incredible, beautiful person I have ever met, Milae. I don’t know what to say.”
He stared down at the booklet, the warmth in his chest compounding with each turn of a page. He saw images of landscapes, skylines… and him. There was one piece that bore a striking resemblance to the deer, and he smiled.
“I love you, Milae. I love you so damn much.”
Milae: “I love you, too.” He curled back up into Dario’s arms, tucking his head beneath his chin, and enjoyed the quiet and peace around them, something he hadn’t had the blessing of experiencing until meeting his second half, his heart, his everything.
“May these threads keep us bound for as long as they can withstand.”
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Act I
Category:Events
Category:Yun Milae
Category:Dario Hjort