#also i am a HUGE FAN of paladin!aelwyn but i started writing this with literally no plan and this happened

[creacherkeeper]

tunnel vision

fantasy high sophomore year spoilers

fabian and aelwyn brotp. light angst & h/c. barbarian!aelwyn. 3k

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The ferocity in Aelwyn’s attack came as more of a surprise than it should’ve. Things got heated sometimes. ‘Friendly dueling’ turned into something closer to ‘competitive distractions via inappropriate comments while trying way too hard to get a leg up’. This was, of course, milder when Cathilda or Hallariel was training them. But Fabian and Aelwyn were nothing if not prideful (were nothing if not trying to hide the fact that something much softer and more fragile had taken root where their pride used to be) so a slash that was a little too quick or a jab that was a little too fierce shouldn’t have been anything of a surprise.

This, however, was different.

Afterwards, Fabian would think on how Aelwyn’s face went cold. How her expression hardened, eyes glazed in overwhelming focus. The playful comments were lost in favor of sharp, too-quick breathing.

His senses—his fighter senses, which he had almost lost only months ago—told him that something was wrong. Unfortunately for the both of them, that tended to happen a lot. When Jawbone would talk to him, sitting in the overstuffed thrifted chairs in the counselor’s office at school, he’d say words like hypervigilance, trigger, PTSD, and Fabian would nod along until the sweet ring of the bell would pull him away, back to the noise and the chaos of the rest of his life like a great ship in the choppy sea. He felt, in many ways, calmer in the storm. When someone would pull him onto the steady land, he could feel the tilt and roil of his senses.

It was a delicate balance, picking when to listen. Sometimes his fighter senses would say danger right now danger danger and it was merely because someone at the table behind him had brought sushi for lunch. Sometimes, like right then, with the sharp blades singing between them, it was because his brain recognized someone on a rampage and knew that it was no longer just a playful duel between friends (exes? his brain asked. friends, he said back).

“Aelwyn.”

read on ao3

#fantasy high #fabian seacaster #aelwyn abernant #i dont even know a lot of the tags people use for this fandom lol #anyway #HEY GUYS I WROTE A FANTASY HIGH FIC #i was NOT EXPECTING it to be fabian and aelwyn until it was on the page but here we are #your honor they are simply rich messy mean friends and i will not hear another word about it #also they both have ptsd and are gay and fabian is adhd. thank u. #also i am a HUGE FAN of paladin!aelwyn but i started writing this with literally no plan and this happened #so #let aelwyn go a little apeshit. she deserves it #i am new to fantasy high fandom so any feedback much appreciated okay goodbye