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balancemelting · 3 years

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Candlenights Exchange

Happy Candlenights to @alf-art and @thecandlenightszone

Davenport/Lucretia was requested so I did some light fluff. I hope you like it!

This cycle was peaceful, they managed to find the Light within days of it falling. With the survival of this world secure, they were able to freely explore and enjoy this world to its full extent. Lucretia had just ended a day in the city nearest to where the Starblaster was posted, she entered the ship and pulled out her journal. Not even at a table yet and already excited to write all that she experienced. Everyone else had gone out to explore the city and she was usually the first to head in so she was fully expecting to be alone on the ship. Since it was such a beautiful night, she decided it would be nice to do her writing on the deck. As she approached, she was shocked to find that someone else had gotten to the ship before her. Davenport was standing at the helm, holding the wheel in his hand. Lucretia could tell right away that something was wrong. Over seventy years with someone makes you intimately familiar with all of their subtle cues and little quirks. Davenport was their captain, their pilot, and he looked at home holding the wheel of the Starblaster. Even when making evasive maneuvers during dangerous situations, there was still that spark of excitement. The only time she saw that comfort gone was when they were all running from the Hunger, wondering if this would be the last cycle. Here he was standing with his back too straight and his knuckles white with how tightly he was gripping the wheel. He didn’t seem to notice Lucretia’s arrival, he was focused on muttering something under his breath. She approached him cautiously, glancing around to see any sign of a threat. As she got closer, she was able to make out some of his words. Lucretia had read every book on the Starblaster and had even memorized some of the ones that had been here for long enough, so she recognized that Davenport was repeating the steps listed in the instruction booklet on how to fly the Starblsater. He had been insisting that the rest of the IPRE should learn how to fly the ship, ever since the first time he died. Lucretia wasn’t sure what to do, she had seen Barry do something similar before, but he usually needed someone to work through his thoughts with. Something told her that helping Davenport go over the flight instructions wouldn’t help whatever this was. Then he shifted, his shoulders slumped and gave one gentle shake and she realized that he was trying not to cry. After they had first realized that their short mission was going to be extended into the unforeseeable future, certain formalities were dropped. One of the first ones being that they started taking their meetings in the kitchen while the twins danced around each other to cook. Other formalities remained, such as they all still looked to Davenport as their captain, still followed his orders to a degree. She had seen each member of the crew cry at one point, with all that they have gone through it was understandable. She had even cried, messily in front of the entire crew after a particularly stressful cycle. She realized that she had never seen Davenport cry, she had never even heard the other members mention seeing him cry, or yell, or anything. He was always their strong and calm captain. Lucretia felt as if she were intruding on an intimate moment and it was rude to not let her presence be known so she cleared her throat gently. As expected, he had clearly not known she was there and jumped before wiping his eyes quickly and spinning on his heel to face her, “Lucretia, you’re back early.” His voice was clear and strong and she would have thought that everything was fine if she had not seen him just moments before. “Yes, I wanted to write down some of the things I saw today. I was actually going to go to the kitchen and make some hot chocolate while I worked. Would you like some?” They both knew that she had seen him earlier, it was clear that she was willing to not bring it up. She was also offering him comfort if he would like it. Davenport’s shoulders relaxed and he even let out a little sigh as if he was releasing the stress from before, “You know, I think I would love that.” He released the wheel and moved to Lucretia’s side to head back towards the kitchen, “Do we even have the ingredients for hot chocolate?” She turned to smile at him, “Taako found some in the city yesterday. He got enough to get us through the next three cycles.” Her captain laughed, “Well then he won’t notice if two servings are missing.” The kitchen was dark and Lucretia cast a quick spell to light the place before searching for the special hot chocolate. Taako tended to stash supplies when he thought they were good enough, but Lucretia had learned long ago where he hid them. She pulled out the powder and began prepping. Davenport sat in his usual spot at the table and watched her silently work. “Do you remember Cycle 27?” The question was sudden and Lucretia jumped a little at her captain’s voice. “The one with the feral grass?” She remembered that one, Magnus took it as a challenge and rushed into the tall grass every morning while Merle begged him to go easy on them. Davenport laughed, “Alright, it wasn’t the nicest cycle, but do you remember the meteor showers?” How could she forget? She had watched her fair share of meteor showers in the past, watched the white lights streak across the sky and sparkle in a way that was always breathtaking. In Cycle 27, there were lights of every color and instead of just shooting a straight line through the sky, they twisted and twirled around each other like they were dancing. It had been so beautiful she found tears rising to her eyes the first time she saw it. Her sketches never did it justice. “Yes, I remember them.” She practically whispered and moved to sit next to him while the hot chocolate heated. He leaned in with a conspiratorial smile on his face, “Did you know they actually fell?” He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a deep blue gem the size of his fist. It practically sparkled even in the dim light in the kitchen, almost as if it was giving off a little light of its own. “They aren’t rare or worth anything, just colored glass, but I loved how they looked and what it reminded me of so I collected as many as I could find. I’ve got every color you could imagine, but this is my favorite.” His voice softened, “Deep blue, reminds me of calmness, coolness, comfort.” Davenport moved to meet Lucretia’s eyes, “Reminds me of you.” She felt her face heat up and couldn’t bring herself to look away from the intensity in his eyes. It only lasted a moment before he broke into a playful smile and bumped his shoulder with hers. “Don’t tell the others, they would probably get sour. You all are my family, I would lie down my life any day to protect you all. It’s just nice to not be the captain sometimes and there’s something soothing about being in your presence.” Her face didn’t cool, but she smiled back at him and stood to tend to the hot chocolate. “Well, feel free to come to me at any time. I would be honored to bring you comfort, whether that means giving you a hug, a cup of hot chocolate, or just to lend an ear.” She poured two cups and made up his just how he liked it, two marshmallows exactly. He took a long sip and hummed in contentment, “You know, I think I might take you up on that.” Placing the cup down, he turned in his seat to face her, “Could I cash in on that hug right now?” It seemed Lucretia’s face was going to be warm for the rest of the cycle. “Of course, yes, anytime.” She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged back and she could feel the strength in his arms as he clung to her. She buried her face in his shoulder and whispered, “We will all get through this. I can feel it, we are almost there.” She had a plan she had been working on for a few cycles now, something that could get them out of this rut once and for all. She wasn’t going to give up on stopping the Hunger, wasn’t going to give up on a life with her family. His grip tightened just a hair, “Y’know? I think I believe you.”

#taz #taz balance #balance #candlenights #candlenights exchange #alf-art #candlenightszone #Davenport #Lucretia #davcretia #my writing #I really tried my best here #this was fun

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