𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘, tiana oneshots | 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲

in the lair

"sorry princess," tam sneered, silently wondering why gethen wanted him to do this. surely, he knew how tam felt about biana - the effect she had on him. "i've got direct orders from gethen."

"oh," biana shot back, "so that's who calls all the shots now? the slimy weasel?!" she scoffed, casting a wide glance to her retreating elder brother. "better than the traitorous git."

tam felt sick on the inside. "shut your mouth before i have to force you to."

"what," biana sneered. "you can't tolerate a little joke? keefe was right, you guys really need to lighten up." her voice was joking, but tam could hear the slight tremor in her voice. 

either very stupidly or very bravely, tam sent an apology to her with his shadows. then, he conjured some shadowflux and let it slither towards biana. as he suspected, her eyes widened and she shrank back against the dirty wall of her cell.

"tam," she said softly, and he hated that he loved the way she said his name. "you don't have to do this. come back home, please."

he gritted his teeth after hearing the plea in biana's voice. she knew. she knew he would do anything for her. nevertheless, tam grimaced and replied softly, "you know i can't." he unlocked the door of biana's cell and went inside, closing the barred door swiftly.

"you can," she whispered, "please. linh is safe with wylie, she doesn't ever stop crying. she's closed herself off. keefe keeps muttering about how you weren't supposed to make the same mistake as him. dex is besides himself, making gadget after gadget, hoping it'll help us bring you back. fitz is angry. he's so angry and sophie blames herself."

the words slipped out of tam's mouth before he could stop them. "and you?"

"me?" biana looked genuinely confused. then, she realized and shook her head. "that's a whole other story."

tam sat down on the floor, ignoring the dirt and grime. "tell me," he said, momentarily forgetting himself.  

biana shook her head once more and tam growled, frustrated. "please, just... i can't..." he broke off, not wishing to show weakness. 

"i don't sleep," biana started, tears pooling in her eyes. "i don't really eat too much either. i wear my make up mask day after day, pretending like everything's okay when i know it's not. i train by myself, in silence. four hours, five hours, seven hours, it doesn't matter. i sneak away from home just to go down to the lake and watch the silver moon, both hating and loving how it reminds me of you. but no one knows.

they all see me as unaffected because that's how i come off to them. i stand by and hold them as they hurt, wipe away their tears, listen to their rants, take care of their bruised fists and offer my comfort. i ignore my own pain to be there for them," at this point, tam was pretty sure biana had forgotten where she was and that he was here.

"i'm sorry," tam said and biana scoffed, rolling her glassy teal eyes.