#it's a bit meh but i'll probably re-write it at some point when i actually get to this part of the book

[nobodieshero-main]

this was mostly written as a way for me to work through my writers block but here's a little keitlas scene

Atlas’s bed smelled like dry hay and rose petals, something spicy sunk deep into the fibres of his sheets. Keika was buried happily under several heavy blankets, the material soft against his skin but woven for practicality over decoration - though the embroidered imagery of bears and leaping fish begged to differ.  

He was on his front, arms tucked comfortably beneath a wheat-gold pillow, watching dappled patterns of birds and flowers move across his partner's face as the sun rose higher through the gauzy curtains.

They’d both been awake since it had first peeked over the horizon, a habit Keika was loath to be a victim of. 

“I’ve been meaning to ask…” Atlas started, his voice soft and rumbling in the space between them. He was lying on his side, fiddling with a strand of Keika’s hair, pillow creases stamped into the skin of his cheek. 

Keika hummed, encouraging but distracted by the way Atlas’s pecs had squished together. But, when his partner failed to continue, Keika arched an eyebrow and poked him in the shin with his toes. Immediately Atlas trapped his ankle beneath his leg, and Keika bit back a smile.

“Why do you carry around all of those keys?”

The keys in question were in a pile on the little side-table next to the bed, a tangled mess of sizes and shapes. Keika hummed, lifting his hips slightly to stretch out his back. He noticed that Atlas hadn’t commented (yet) about the blatant blanket thievery and could only assume it was because the other man was so deeply enamoured by the sight of him in his bed that it hadn’t occurred to him to complain. 

“I just do.” He answered simply, shrugging his shoulders. 

Atlas hummed, eyes all dark and thoughtful. “But what are they for?”

“All sorts of things, technically. But they’re mostly useless.”

“Then why do you keep them?”

Keika huffed through his nose, itchy about being interrogated so early. “For the memories, I guess?”

Atlas tugged gently on Keika’s hair, fingers gnarled with scar tissue that shimmered in the growing light. “Tell me about them?”

Keika snorted, shuffling onto his side so he could face Atlas properly. “Why?”

“Because I want to know more about you.” Atlas admitted, in that easy confidence of his, and Keika felt his heart stutter and stomach clench. Well, when he put it that way. He wiggled his toes in thought before rolling his eyes and sitting up. 

Atlas didn’t sit up, but he did shift around until he was propped up against his pillows, watching Keika with warm eyes and a warmer smile. 

Keika hooked his finger around the ring and fiddled with each of the keys, sliding them back and forth before grabbing a ridiculously flashy one and lifting it away from the others. “This is my council key. It’s meant to be able to unlock any lock in Arlet and they hand them out to everyone who joins the town council.”

It was roughly the length of his finger, silver with a bronze pin and inlaid with shards of river stone. He let it fall back down to join the others, listening to the ring of metal and moved on to the next. Small and dainty, with a heart shaped bow. It had been for a music box gifted to him by a Student heading out on their Search. 

Another key, made of steel and engraved with flowers, had been found in his garden the same day he’d been given Guppy. “I was 13, and Ahuru seemed convinced I needed a friend. Her solution had been a foal she’d found stuck in a mud bank.”

“Is that where you got the name?” Atlas asked, and Keika didn’t need to look at him to know what his face was doing. All bright eyed and grinning, making fun of him without making him into a fool. 

He sniffed, pointedly not answering, and sifted through the rest of the keys. Keys to his and Ahuru’s houses, both simple silver keys with square ends, keys for barns and garden sheds. Two keys for the library - one to unlock the front door, and one a complete mystery after it showed up on his key ring one day. A block of steel that unlocked the back door to Marlow’s bakery. 

“The bakery?” Atlas asked. Keika nodded, digging his thumbnail under his index.

“Yeah, I used to spend a lot of time there when I was younger. Marlow figured out that letting me punch dough was better than roaming the streets like a feral cat.”

Funnily enough, the next key was a thin line of brass with a jagged bit that he’d found stomped into the road in Bruasse when he was 15. It had been wonky and chipped and covered in moss. Keika snorted at the sight of it, telling Atlas about cutting open his hand when he forgot to drop it before breaking a kid's nose. 

Atlas brushed the back of his fingers against Keika’s knuckles, before lifting the hand to his mouth to kiss the tips of his fingers. Bastard. 

He kissed his hand again when the next few keys were all the ones given to him by Atlas from the various markets they’d travelled through. He did a terrible job at hiding his pleased smile behind said kisses, but Keika figured he’d let it slide.

The last was entirely unremarkable, short and tarnished with a chip taken out of the bow, the bit scuffed and worn down. Keika ran his thumb over it, feeling the grooves. “This used to unlock the room at Geodies inn, where Ahuru and I lived as kids.”

Quiet settled over them, like a heavy blanket, as Keika ran his thumb back and forth over the key. 

And then Atlas got up, the movement of the bed jostling Keika out of his head as he turned his head to watch Atlas start rooting through his drawers. 

“What the fuck are you doing?”

He didn’t respond, which was usually more Keika’s flavour than Atlas’s and his face crumpled in a mix of annoyed worry until Atlas apparently found what he had been looking for and bounced back to the bed. For such a large man, he made his movements look like a dance.

Upon returning to the bed, Atlas handed him a key. It was a rosy copper with delicate little stars carved into the collar, the bow wrapped around a glittering marble. “From my room at the Academy.” He explained.

Keika stared at him in wonder. “Why?”

“So you don’t forget me.”

Keika scoffed lightly, unclipping the metal ring to slide the newest key on and watching it settle next to Ahuru’s old house key with a gentle ache. He looked back to Atlas, reaching out to pinch his nose and gently shake his head side to side. “I could never forget this stupid face.” 

Atlas grinned and then kissed him. For a moment, tucked away in the childhood bedroom of the man he loved, heart full and warm beneath his ribs, Keika could pretend that they might just live forever.

#it's a bit meh but i'll probably re-write it at some point when i actually get to this part of the book #this is set like. idk a couple weeks before the volcano? #their first morning in morielle - they end up stuck there for a few days bc of atlas's parents #snippets #keitlas