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fuzzydreamin · 8 months

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Fuzzy's Fallout 4 Mod List

Finally decided to put together a list of the mods I use. (I even made a quick and crappy banner!)

I use Vortex to manage my mods, it's super easy and basically holds your hand through installing and setting up mods. You're also going to need F4SE no matter what.

I mostly find my mods on Nexus, so just search the names listed here on there. Anything not found on Nexus will have a link to it (tumblr only allows 100 links, so I couldn't just link everything).

I would also recommend keeping all of your original file downloads in a seperate folder in your games drive or wherever, organised however is easiest for you. That way you can check what you have outside of the manager, and don't have to re-download everything if you decide you need to nuke vortex and start fresh - just look for updated files only. You also won't completely lose access to the mods you really enjoy if the author decides to hide or get rid of them, since you'll always keep a version on your computer.

I also play with a lot of Creation Club content.

Woe be upon those who enter beyond here, the list is long.

Misc

These are either scripts, fixes, little changes to random things, or just didn't fit in any other category for whatever reason.

Achievements (Enables achievement gain while using mods.)

Better Notes

Publick Occurrences Expanded (Requires 'Better Notes'. Makes the newspaper look better, and also adds new articles for quests and events worth writing news about. Piper's actually got a job now.)

Carry Weight on Level Up (I do more things, I get more shit. I level up and I can carry said shit. Solves my problems without feeling like a total cheat since I still have to level up to earn it.)

Classic Radiation Poisoning

Crafting Highlight Fix

Durable Vertibirds (They'll actually be able to put up a real fight with some super mutants before they still end up falling out of the sky on my head.)

Equipment and Crafting Overhaul (ECO)

Extended Dialogue Interface

HUDFramework (You need this to make the above mod work.)

Loot Logic and Reduction (No more post-war items in pre-war safes.)

Immersive Generic Dialogues (Settler reputation. They talk differently to you based on how happy they are.)

Militarized Minutemen

Militirized Minutemen - Uniforms Patches and Insignia Addon

Militarized Minutemen-We Are The Minutemen Compatability Patch

We Are The Minutemen

We Are The Minutemen - Militarized Minutemen - Uniform Patches and Insignia Addon - Compatibility Patch

Mod Configuration Menu

Multiple Floors Sandboxing

Nuka World - Skip Raiding Your Own Settlements (Lets you go through Nuka World without making Preston mad, but you won't be able to establish any raider camps in the Commonwealth, thus blocking the 'Hostile Takeover' achievement.)

Nuka World Plus (Choose another faction to take over Nuka World after getting rid of the raider bosses. Run businesses and defend against raider's attempts to retake the park.)

Power Armor Fast Exit and Enter

Pride Mod 2023 (Workshop items, clothing, pip-boy and PA skins, and more.)

Rename Anything

Scrap that Misc

Start Me Up Redux

Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch - UFO4P

Wastelander's Cookbook

Weightless Junk and Other Items

Character Creation

Bodyslide and Outfit Studio

Bodytalk V3

Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer

Commonwealth Cuts - KS Hairdos - ApachiiSkyHair

EoW - Makeup Colors

LooksMenu

Lots More Facial Hair

Lots More Female Hairstyles

Lots More Male Hairstyles

Ponytail Hairstyles by Azar

Super Natural Eyes Pack ( Standalone )

The Eyes Of Beauty Fallout Edition

Zella's Hair Dye Collection

Clothing, Armour, and Weapons

1950's Feminine Outfits

Absolutely Head Wear

Animated and Glowing Jewelry

Army Officers Outfit - REDUX

Backpacks of the Commonwealth

Big Dumb Flower Crown

Black Pip-Boy

Bunnygirl Outfit

Casual Survivalist

Classic Holstered Weapons

Collars for Humans

Colonial Attire

Colorful Commonwealth - Sunglasses and Wigs

Combat Armor Headlamp

Commonwealth Shorts

Commonwealth Shorts for Men

CROSS_BrotherhoodRecon

CROSS_Courser Strigidae

CROSS Uni BoS Uniform

CROSS Jetpack

Eli's Armour Compendium

Engraved Silver Shroud Submachinegun

Eyewear and Mask Retexture

Fishing Hat

Functional Wedding Rings

Furby Crab Glasses

Furby's Brotherhood Uniform Retexture

Furby's Custom Brotherhood Uniform

Furby's Spiked Leather Collar

Furby76Imports

FurbyGymShorts

Grease Rat Garbs

Hidden Armors

Holstered Weapons by Azar

HorribleBowlingShirt

SIRIUS Assault Suit

K-Girl outfits

K-Girl Outfits for Vanilla-EVB (Let's male bodies wear the outfits from the above mod.)

Magnolia's Burlesque Outfit

More Clothes and Textures

Nurse's Cap

Obi's Choker Collection

Pride Bandanas

Private Military Company

Private Military Company Extended

Proper Party Gear

Retro Fashion Overhaul

Requested Clothing

S.R.O. - Syringer Overhaul

Shino Sailor Moon -Cbbe- Body Slider

Shino Sailor Moon - Extended Sailors

Shaggy Wigs

Short Skirts

Simple Clothing

Simple Clothing - CBBE Bodyslide Conversion

STRAC Hats

Tactical Combat Swimwear

TheKite's Handmaiden

TheKite's MilitiaWoman Outfit

Unique Uniques - Unique Weapons Redone (Makes named legendary weapons have their own appearance. Also changes their legendary effects though.)

More Uniques - Unique Weapons Expansion (Not a replacer like the above mod, just adds even more weapons with their own looks and effects.)

Vault-Tec Outfits

Wasteland Aviator

Companions

AmazingFollowerTweaks

Alternate Hancock Outfit Standalone (Colonial Duster Retexture) (Not a replacer - you find it in his office to do with as you like. I like to think it's a winter coat - using with AFT means he will switch between given outfits.)

Codsworth Out of Time Fix (The creator has hidden this mod but it's a real lifesaver if you use a lot of Creation Club content, as the influx of data at the start of the game can bug the start of the main quest, and thus him and Preston. This mod lets you immersively skip the post-war Sanctuary tour and bug exterminating by telling him you already did it, which is where Codsworth would glitch out - not following along and not progressing the quest stage. LMK if you want the file and I'll find a way to share it.)

Combat Zone Restored

Combat Zone Restored Restored (patch that cleans up the above mod.)

Curie's Molerat Disease Cure

Danse GTFO Power Armor

Danse No X-01

Fallout Shelter Online-Inspired Curie Outfit

Fashionable Valentine

Immersive Dogmeat

Nick Valentine Romance

Use Repair Kits On Nick Valentine

Creatures

Cat Apparel

Cat Inventory

Classic Dogmeat A.K.A. Pirate

Courser Crusher

Crows and Creatures

D.E.C.A.Y - Better Ghouls

Less Loot D.E.C.A.Y.

Deadlier Deathclaws (Makes that starter encounter real tough. Tip: shelter inside the store near the museum and keep luring it out to the windows - let Preston work for his rescue.)

Diverse Cats

Dogmeat Helmets and Hats

Dogmeat's Backpack

Dogmeat's Backpacks of the Commonwealth (Requires the mod above it - Improves the other mod and very importantly lets bags be used with dog armour!)

Glowing Animals Emit Light

Immortal Cats (I also add the additional file to turn cat meat into tins of cat food.)

K-9 Harness -- Tactical Body Armor and Backpack for Dogmeat

k9 harness bandana fix dogmeat (Lifts the bandana a little so it doesn't clip.)

No Legendary Items from Creatures (Bloatfly's don't carry guns.)

NPC Loot Drop Rebalance

Pet Any Dog

Protected Unique Brahmin

Real Dogmeat Armor (Adds protection to the dog armour -works for enemy attack dogs.)

Shadow the Dark Husky Companion

True Legendary Enemies (Fight Todd Howard in his own game.)

Textures and Environment

Burnt Magazines and Comics Retexture

CROSS Crit Gore-verhaul

Darker Nights

Delightful Dead Fish

Enhanced Blood Textures

Enhanced Lights and FX

Furby's Brotherhood of Steel Flag Retexture

Immersive Drumlin Diner

Immersive Drumlin Diner eXoPatch (Fixes stuff for the one above, otherwise you might get the old drumlin and the new one pasted on top of each other, and poor Patrick will be T-posing.)

Improved Map with Visible Roads

Magazine Mesh Cleanup

Nuka Recipe Book 2k Retextures

True Grass

True Storms - Wasteland Edition (Thunder-Rain-Weather Redone)

Vivid Fallout - All in One

Settlements and Building

All Settlements Extended

Art Connoisseur System ... A "Frame" Work (Lets you use mods to add more paintings. Or add your own images.)

Atom Bomb Pinups Paintings (Requires 'Art Connoisseur System'.)

Better Settlers

Better Vendor Stalls

Brighter Settlement Lights

Build Your Own Pool

Business Settlements

Busy Settlers

Campsite

Capital Wasteland Workshop

Colored Workshop Lights

Colorful Bottle Lanterns

Craft All The Drugs (Lets you plant hubflowers and the like in settlements - they work like crops and can be harvested regularly.)

Craftable Hats (Automatron) (Lets you put 3 kinds of hats on robots.)

Craftable Pride Flags

Crafting Fury 9000 GTX

Crimsonrider's Unique Furniture

cVc Dead Wasteland

CWSS Redux (Build a nicer bathroom.)

Dino's Decorations

Farming Resources

Femshepping's Minimalist Homewares

Fiddler's Green Settlement

Filled Brahmin and Water Troughs

Fizztop Grille Workshop (Changes the exterior.)

Fizztop Grille Enhancements (Changes the interior.)

Free Cage and Trap Repairs

Functional Displays

G2M - Workshop

Generator Fusebox

Graffiti 2 Electric Boogaloo

Hangman's Alley Interior Apartments

Holotape Display Shelves

Homeplate - Mechanist Lair - Full Workbenches

Homemaker

Housekeeping

Invisible Furniture

Just Some Curtains and Rods

Lightbulb Wire

Longer Power Lines

Lore Friendly Posters

Minutemen Morale Pack

More Colorful Potted Plants

More Fortifications

Northland Diggers

Nuka World - Bot Mods Extravaganza (Lets you build some nuka world bots.)

OCDecorator - Static Loot

Old World Plaids

Orphans of the Commonwealth

Place Everywhere

Quieter Settlements

Rebuild - AIO (Rebuild the structures in many of the settlements across the Commonwealth -not all of them yet. Keeps that wasteland weathered look without everything staying broken and unusable.)

Rebuild - Shared Resources (Required for the above mod.)

Rebuild - Workshop Standalone (Not required, but adds matching snappable doors and such.)

Rebuild - Modular Sanctuary Pre-War and Post-War Build Set (Unrelated to the other 'rebuild' mods. Just adds House of Tomorrow themed build items.)

Recruit Isabel Cruz as Settler

Recruit Scribe Haylen as Settler

Red Rocket Fresh Paint (Works with Rebuild mod - just changes the floor and walls colour/texture.)

Renovated Furniture

Reversed Workshop Highlight

Scrap Everything

Settlement Keywords Expanded

Settlement Menu Manager

Settlement Objects Expansion Pack

Settlement Supplies Expanded

Settlements Expanded (Let's you unlock a higher settlement building budget, among other things. Larger builds will cause issues -fast travel into your more worked on settlements to help clean the load.)

Shaikujin's Better warning for settlements being attacked

Signs of the Times - Posters

Simply Modular Housing

Singing Settler

Snap'n Build

SnapBeds - Usable Bunk Beds - Mix and Match Beds

Snappable Clutter and Display

Stained Glass Workshop Mod - Unicorn Farts and Godrays

Static Object Decorator

The Cozy Scavver - A Settlement Workshop Kit

The Kuro Tab

The Sanctuary Bridge

Thematic and Practical - Workshop Settlements - Structures and Furnitures

Transfer Settlements - Shareable Settlement Blueprints

Videos of the Wasteland

Vault 76 Educational Films Holotapes (Goes with above mod.)

Vault Posters

Wall Mounted Magazine Shelf

Wall Pass-Through Power Conduits

Woody's Wasteland Stuff

Working Food Planters

Working Table Lamps

Workshop Framework

Xnjguy Filled Mods All-In-One

Radios

Boston Pirate Radio - Anarchist Raider Punk

Elvani's Track Pack for Diamond City Radio

Jetfuel Radio Standalone

More Where That Came From - Diamond City Radio Edition

Survival and Immersion

These are mods I don't play with all the time, just when I'm looking for a more hardcore run around the Commonwealth and want to spend the extra time taking care of my character in the wild.

Agony (Rebalances damage, wounds, and healing - really lives up to it's name.)

Animated Chems Redone (Adds more animations similar to Agony, covering what they missed.)

APC Transport (Useful if you don't want to 'cheat' by using regular fast travel but don't want to hoof it from one side of the map to the other. I'd always recommend having FT enabled in survival through mods though, as the reload can help smooth issues out.)

Create Your Own Difficulty Rebalance

DEF_SSW Survival Stats widget redone

Give Me That Bottle

Smokeable Cigars - Cigarettes - Joints - With HardCore Auto Save (More animations, plus a save.)

Survival Mode Console Enabler

Survival Mode Transition Save (Ensures you get a quicksave when entering buildings and the like.)

SURVIVAL QUICK SAVE - No Sleep Till Bedtime (Gives you an aid item you can save to a hotkey if you need a fast save.)

Bethesda Mods

Get these by loading up the game and selecting 'MODS' on the main menu.

CREAtive Clutter - All DLC

CREAtive Teddy Bears

Do It Yourshelf Updated

Easy Homebuilder and Working Double Beds

Home Plate Interior Revamped

Immersive Decor

Makeshift Furniture Pack

More Bang For Your Bark (This mod is specifically for use with the Transdogrifier Creation Club mods - it lets the new dog shapes use clothing.)

MsRae's 76 Style Outfits

MsRae's All The Overalls

MsRae's Horticulture DLC

Railroad Death Bunnies Clothes

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(Now, y'all might say that's a lot of mods. And it is. But the only significant issues I have is that when I die my game crashes to desktop, and the excess of Creation Club content loading at the start of the game sometimes bugs out the first stage of the main quest, and thus poor Codsy and Preston. I just have to skip Codsy's search bit and rush to meet and save Preston to see if he will talk to me or not. Otherwise things run as normal -for a Bethesda game.)

#fallout #fallout 4 #fuzzy.post #masterpost #mods

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thiefbird · 1 year

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Happy Friday! For DADWC, how about ❛ i told you not to fall in love with me. ❜? For any pairing you'd like. Thank you!

Have some angsty Loghain Mac Tir and Killian Amell! For @dadrunkwriting

The door to Loghain's modest quarters in the Wardens' barracks flew open, slamming into the wall with a loud bang. Loghain slowly turned, not quite facing the door, or the rampaging mage that rushed into his room.

He'd been expecting this, since the moment two identical letters came from Weisshaupt, one for him and one for Killi- for the commander. Letters ordering him to Orlais, to Montsimmard, on the other side of Val Royeaux.

That had been two days ago, but the commander had been leading an excursion to Kal'Hirol, and due to arrive today. Which was why he was packing, folding the last of his tunics and storing them in a small chest.

"I won't let them!" Killian said passionately, shoving the door closed behind him nearly as aggressively as he'd opened it. "They can't, they have no right! You're a Fereldan Warden. You're my Warden. The First Warden-"

"Has made a decision, the one I would make in his place," Loghain interrupted in a low tone. Decades of delivering bad news were the only thing keeping his voice firm and steady; he knew what he had to do, knew what he had to say to end this the way he must. He'd rather the boy hate him than waste his youth pining.

He knew exactly what that did to a man.

Killian was pacing the length of the small room, one hand tangled in his hair and pulling it loose from the practical braid he kept it in for battle, the other tightly clutching a crumpled scrap of parchment bearing Weisshaupt's insignia. He looked anguished, nearly panicked. He looked the way Loghain had felt when Maric disappeared, when Celia died.

He'd let this go too far, already.

"It's the wrong fucking decision!" Amell's voice cracked into a desperate shout as he quit pacing and positioned himself fully in front of Loghain. He was still wearing his Mage-Warden armor, smudged with dirt and Tainted rock; he must have read the letter the moment he returned. There were Maker-forsaken tears in his eyes, making the mana-touched green sparkle and blur. "'Wardens don't get involved in politics' my arse! I put the king of Fereldan on the throne! I united the bannorn! How's that for politics?!"

Fighting the urge to go to him, to soothe his anger, was physically painful, but Loghain stayed where he was, fingers twisted hard enough in the fabric of a tunic to cut off blood flow in order to stop from reaching out. "It is what it is. Montsimmard is at least better than Val Royeaux."

"No its not, it's even farther! How is that better?" Frustration finally getting the best of him, Killian approached Loghain, his emotions burning off him in random, involuntary bursts of magic: heavy static shocks; waves of alternating heat and cold; flashes of light in every color imaginable, and some not. He pushed relentlessly into Loghain's space the way he always had, not quite touching, but too close to write off as accidental.

"Less of a temptation to return, to interfere. The First Warden may well be right; I have my daughter's ear." And Fereldan's Chancellor's heart, he did not need to add. Killian may not yet have spoken as much, but it was evident in all he did. "The distance will keep me honest."

"... And what of us?"

Loghain had tried his utmost, in the two days he had, to prepare for Killian's touch, to steel himself to what he must say. Even so, he felt the tension drain from his muscles at the first brush of Killian's hand on his chest, held back a shudder of longing when the touch became an embrace he longed to return.

"And what of it? You do not mean me to deny my orders based on a few short months?" he asked, forcing a note of cruelty into his voice. "A pleasurable pass-time, no more than that. You will forget an old man easily, once I am gone."

Killian froze for no more than a heartbeat before pulling back, stiff and inscrutable. Loghain was forcibly reminded of the Landsmeet, then; Killian had worn that same, emotionless expression as he listed Loghain's numerous crimes to the bannorn.

But unlike the Landsmeet, it quickly crumpled like wet linens into an effigy of misery. "You aren't going to fight it."

"I cannot. I would not, even if I could." You deserve better.

Finally, he made himself turn away, laying the wrinkled tunic flat on the bed. "I no longer have a place in Fereldan. You ensured that, near a year ago, when you defeated me in single-handed combat. The traditional outcome is death or banishment, and having been denied the first, I must accept the second."

The added cruelty had the opposite of te intended effect; Loghain wanted Amell angry. But instead, the tears staining his green eyes overflowed. "I love you!" he shouted, flinging an arm out in a wide, wild gesture and sending Loghain's desk onto its side with a wave of force magic.

"I told you not to." Loghain once again turned his back on his soon-to-be former commander.

They stood, frozen like an illumination of the weird Heartbreak, for moments or minutes, until the Warden-Commander of Fereldan admitted defeat for the first time and left the room, and Loghain could safely fall to his knees on the threadbare rug.

#loghain mac tir #warden loghain #killian amell x loghain mac tir #killian amell #dadwc #dragon age drunk writing Circle #thiefbird writes #this will eventually be part of Would That I probably but i had Inspiration

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mxanigel · 1 year

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For Raven & Lynn: Glance, Cut, Armor, Formal

Bonus for Lynn: DA:O Alternate universe!

Thank you for the ask! <3

glance: At first glance, what stands out most about your OC’s appearance? What’s their distinguishing feature?

Raven: The black tattoo covering much of her face and the two large daggers strapped to her back. People who don't piss her off will eventually be treated to a mischievous grin.

Lynn: Before her reconstruction, the scar under her right eye. Afterward, her frequent frown and the Black Widow sniper rifle she carries just about everywhere. Since that weapon has a lot of mass, her posture is permanently affected as she subconsciously adjusts for its weight, so she looks like she should be carrying it even when she isn't, lol.

armor: What kind of armor does your OC wear? Is it well kept? Bonus: where does it come from? Is there a story behind it?

Raven: It varies depending on location, but she prefers leather armor to metal since the former allows a more full range of movement. She does add a chestplate for additional protection from stabbing attacks after a bad experience against demons. She does her best to keep it in shape while in the field and then hands it off to Dagna or Harritt for proper maintenance at Skyhold.

Lynn: Flat-chested N7 armor is her go-to while hunting Saren. She makes do with what Cerberus offers, trying to personalize it as much as possible while removing obvious Cerberus colors and insignia. Once the Reapers invade, she returns to her roots with N7 armor. It tends to be black with red accents, and the amount of red depends on her mood, heh. She absolutely takes good care of it... when she's in maintenance mode. Out in the field, she demands everything the armor can provide.

formal: What’s your OC’s formal look? Do they like dressing up? Do they have different looks for different occasions?

Neither Raven nor Lynn enjoy dressing up (something they get from me, haha). Raven very reluctantly dons a formal outfit for Halamshiral, the exact nature of which will depend on whether I can find a mod I like to replace the in-game default. The only time Lynn has enjoyed dressing up is when she got to wear the suit that Garrus bought for her. Dress blues are another story, though.

Bonus for Lynn: DA:O Alternate universe!

Ohhh, this is a fun concept! I think she'd take one look at Neri in Grey Warden warrior armor and say "I want that." Not being able to use a firearm would be a struggle, though, and she wouldn't touch DAO dresses with a 10-foot pole.

#thank you for the ask!#Raven Cadash #Lynn Shepard #character design OC asks

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vashstash · 3 years

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What kind of clothing do you think Wash would wear? I'm thinking of cosplaying him but I don't want to make a full set of armor for my third cosplay lol

Oh wow that's a really interesting question! I'm a bit surprised, because I wouldn't say I'm specialized in this kind of stuff, but I hope I can give you some ideas! Not going for a full armor without tons of experience is understandable, but it doesn't mean you need to compromise on the aesthetic. Yellow decals are pretty telling when it comes to his armor, so slapping them in seems like a good option in general! As for the clothing, that depends what are you going for. My general HC choices of characters' outfits are a simple variation of pretty standard tactical gear like cargo pants , combat boots and different kinds of Under Armour-ish tops. If I were going for something really simple I'd just choose the colors of the base and paint/print the decal on top of it. Maybe add a little tag with a name. To answer more in detail when it comes to my thoughts of what he'd wear on daily: I think hoodies are a safe choice for Wash. It's a flexible clothing and fits him as he's active and training-focused . It's also very simple to customize. If you're making a PFL era Wash you could slap yellow logo of PFL on with huge WASHINGTON on the back and make some parts of it yellow (maybe add stripes?). Keeping a color scheme while adding some kind of working gloves could be nice too. Either training/frequent gun usage is involved, so I think it makes sense for him to have those!

I think actual Halo concept art for standard troops could be a pretty good reference too. It's a base that you could modify and it's less complex than the full armor. Clothes that York and North are wearing in the Carolina's training spree flashback might help with casual angle- just tees with sweatpants and some logos (Mother of Invention was one of them I think, Blue Team insignia could work too- I think there's a lot of stuff to choose from!).

If you're looking for a sophisticated angle though. He was a sk8r boi- do what you will with this information.

#vashplies #sorry for a long-ass reply!#i know it's more of a headcanon question but since it's a cosplay i went a bit overboard with brainstorming #Of what could be indicative of the cosplay actually being Wash #I hope it's helpful though! Good luck with your cosplay I'm sure it'll be great!#It was a very fun question to answer btw!#i should change vashplies to vash can't shut up haha holy shit this is a big boy #i forgot to say but literally any kind of combat clothing with slight modification could work #there #now i'm shutting up for real

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shreddedparchment · 4 years

Text

Pseudo Princess Pt.35

Sacrifices to Save the World

Pairing: King!Steve x Reader Word Count: 9,582

Warnings: smut, LOTS of fluff, angst

A/N: (THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! One more to go!) Here it is everyone! The moment I have been waiting for. I can’t really say much and I don’t want to give anything away so, I’ll just let the chapter speak for itself. I also want to say that I’m sorry that I haven’t been as diligent about responding to comments. Trust me when I say that I read and reread them often! I appreciate your thoughts and reactions so much. As always, if you happen to reblog, thank you so much for helping me spread my work!

Tags are closed!

Please DO NOT repost my stories. Reblogs are MOST welcome!

You bustle around the cottage sweeping cat hair and dust, mixing the white of the chalk dust with the crimson blood of Grandmother’s sacrificial cat.

Your attempts to tidy the space is wasted as you’re only making it worse, but rather than focus on her words you prefer to clean.

She watches you from the seat at her table where you placed her. A cup of water gripped in her withered hand, still trembling slightly.

“Stop cleaning, girl!” Grandmother chides, watching you with annoyance as you stop amongst the mess on her floor and throw your hands out to your sides in a clear indication of not understanding.

“What would you have me do?” You ask her, voice tight with distress. “You tell me that my husband will fight to his death and I am supposed to what? Dance?”

“Just sit down.” She points at the seat across from her, her finger crooked and weak.

You drop the broom where you stand and plop yourself down on the indicated seat while ignoring the creak of the weathered wood. The old woman would resist new furnishings though you’d managed to sneak in a new bed and kitchenware.

“You killed your cat.” You tell her, as if she doesn’t know.

“Yes.” She agrees and lifts the small cup to her lips to take a drink.

“Why?”

“I had to see.” She explains. “Something was…was there.”

“When I found you outside Steve’s office?” You check, though you know her answer.

“Yes.” With a sigh she captures your gaze and does not release it. “I have sensed a darkness growing in the world. Something elusive. Hidden. It has kept its face secret, behind that of puppets. It uses others to do its bidding and until today I had no idea what that bidding was.

“He is gathering six relics. Stones. Rich in magic properties. Richer than any other relics I have ever come across. Each of them with powers more terrifying than the last.”

“What kind of powers?” You ask her, voice feeble and wispy.

“Powers to control time. Power to manipulate the mind and the very fabric of space and reality.” She warns. “Powers to rule the world…or wipe it from existence.”

Your heart grows cold, slipping into the pit of your stomach as you picture Steve in his armor standing before such massive power. What could your warrior husband do in the face of such might?

“Who is he?” You ask her, eager to put a face to the threat.

“I don’t know.” She says, looking down at the necklace that always rests around your neck. The locket that is Steve’s insignia, with his picture along with your parents. “I cannot see his face. I can only feel him. He is stronger than the king. Stronger than many of those who fight here. Together they may defeat him, but I did not see them together. I saw only your husband, the bodies of those you love surrounded him, and he fell too.”

You get up, unwilling to let her convince you despite you having already accepted her words. “I cannot listen to this.”

“You must, girl. You must take heed of what I tell you and prepare yourself for what is to come. Take your daughter and go as far away from here as possible but even that may not save you.” She adds as an afterthought. “I feel this evil plans for more than death. He has such a will.”

Turning to her you consider her thoughtful expression and the way she seems lost to her vision. She believes it with every fiber of her being and your own heart is swayed into panic as you throw yourself onto your knees at her feet.

Gripping the hand she has resting on her lap, you raise it to your breast and hold it there to where your heart is pounding.

“There must be something you can do. Something that will save him.” You reason, pleading for her to see reason as if she held the very fate of Steve within her old hands. “Won’t you try?”

“I cannot.” She shakes her head. “Such magics are forbidden. I am no dark witch.”

Her insistence is fractured, her own eyes betray her as she eyes you up and then turns away.

Her fondness is clear. You know that she loves you despite the way she speaks to you at times. She has fought hard for your happiness. If you would beg for her life, you think she might give it up.

“Is there no way? Nothing? Surely there is a chance to change things without resorting to dark magics? Please, Grandmother…” Before you know what’s happening, you’re crying.

Tears flow freely across your cheeks but your voice is strong in the only way that it can be when you’re pleading for your husband’s life.

“I cannot live in a world where my husband is not alive. Please…help me. Help me save him. There must be a way. There must be…please. We just had our daughter…” You lay your head in her lap, overcome with fear at this future she’s seen. “Please.”

Her silence is heavy. You can feel her thinking, can feel her mind searching for a way to give you what you want.

You have always loved this old woman but until today, you had not considered how much she might truly love you as one would a true granddaughter.

“Give me time.” She sighs.

“You’ll try?!” You gasp, your heart soaring.

With an elated sob you drop your head onto her lap and with gentle, feeble hands, she strokes the back of your head.

“I will think on it. I will try. I cannot make any promises.” She warns you, reaching under your chin to draw your gaze up. “What you ask for will not be easy. Is he worth it?”

You blink, confused by her question because in your mind there is absolutely no doubt.

“He’s worth more. He’s worth everything.” You nod. “I love him.”

Grandmother’s gaze withers and she releases you, nudging you away.

“Go. Be with your husband and child. Let me ponder.” She orders and slowly you rise.

You’re so stunned you have to keep a hand on the table as you rise to keep your knees buckling.

“When will you know?” You ask her, sniffling from the tears you shed.

“Go.” She orders again, staring at the hem of your dress. “And change your dress. You’re covered in blood.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Standing still, you hold tight to the lower left post of your bed as your corset is laced again.

The copper tub by the roaring fire in your bedroom sits lukewarm, full pink and wine-colored peony blooms floating within its oiled surface.

“Why was there blood on your dress?” Natasha wonders, tugging tight on your laces making you gasp.

“It’s not important.” You tell her, then think better of keeping her completely in the dark. “There was a dead cat on the way to Grandmother’s and I didn’t realize it until I came upon it.”

Fuck, was that believable? Does she trust you enough to accept your words without doubt?

“You’re keeping something from me.” She counters, frowning as she ties the corset closed.

Apparently not.

“I’m not.” You argue, but after her silence pierces your soul, you sigh. “I’m worried.”

“About Hydra?” She asks, supplying you with an appropriate alternative to the truth.

“Of course.” You grasp onto this straw and lean your stress onto this very real threat. “The last time I was within their vicinity someone tried to kill me and Maggie.”

“That won’t happen again.” Natasha assures you, moving towards you with a long ivory gown. The slightly yellowish tinge to the flowing fabric is pretty, though you note this in the back of your head. You’re too preoccupied with the threats looming overhead to notice how pretty the dress is. “I should have stayed with you.”

“It wasn’t your fault Nat. Pierce knew what he was doing. He’d been to father’s many times and he knew that I’d be in that part of the castle. He knew that you’d all be focused elsewhere. He was going to find a way to me one way or another.” You reason, but you know that if Peter or Nat had been there with you, there would have been a better chance of getting away with greater speed.

“I will never leave your side again.” Nat declares passionately but you huff a laugh and turn to look at her as she gathers up the skirt of your dress, hooking her arms through it to make ready for you to wear.

“Nat,” You smile. “I love you, and maybe you’re right and things would have been better if you or someone else had been by my side that night. But you cannot be beside me always. You’re a wife now. And even if you cannot be a mother naturally, there are many other ways to have children.”

Nat drops her arms, watching you with a concerned and furrowed brow. She’s clearly focused on you and not herself. You want to remedy that quickly. You love her, how can you allow her to only ever let you be her concern?

“You two must have discussed it?” You prompt, knowing that Bucky would not give up on giving Nat what she most desperately desires. “I know you want to be a mother. You love children.”

She seems to realize that you are not about to let this drop, so she sighs, relaxing a bit.

“I have thought about it.” She nods. “And yes, I do love children but I’m not sure if it’s right for me with the life that Bucky and I lead.”

Your heart aches suddenly, a renewal of Grandmother’s words reminding you that your daughter could lose her father. She so damn right about that.

“I don’t blame you.” You nod, sitting yourself on the end of the bed. “This life that all of you have chosen is one most unwelcome to the traditional family. But it is possible. Father and Mother have Morgana, Lord and Lady Lang have their daughter. Steve and I now have Margaret.

“It may not be ideal, certainly. But possible.” You offer in encouragement.

You don’t want her to give up. You want her to be happy.

Nat looks down at your stocking covered feet and nods.

“You don’t have to. Of course, it is entirely your choice and Bucky’s. I’m not trying to say that you should have children. But if you should you choose to have them, it is possible to live both lives.” You really hope that you’re not putting any pressure on her to raise a child when she might not want to.

Natasha’s inability to have children naturally should not be a hindrance on her desire to be a mother if she should decide to try. There are thousands of children in orphanages across the Kingdoms that would benefit greatly from a loving home that you know Bucky and Nat would provide effortlessly.

At the end of the day however, you know it is their choice.

“I appreciate your support.” Nat admits, gathering your skirts again and then holding them open for you to put your head through. “Truly. It means so much to me that you think I could do a good job. As a mother.”

You stand and stick your head through the dress and begin to pull your arms through the large puffed sleeves as Natasha straightens your skirt.

The neckline is ruffled, heart shaped, and low. The sleeves are also ruffled, small cinches that wrap around your arm mid-bicep leaving your shoulders and neckline exposed. Nat turns you and quickly laces up the back of the dress. She pulls it tight so that there is no chance of it slipping down.

“Isn’t this a little-?”

“You look beautiful.” Natasha smiles, fixing a long pink sash around your waist that she ties into a long loose bow above the curve of your bum. “Shall I braid your hair again?”

Natasha’s hands work fast, her fingers nimble and familiar with your hair’s texture and flow. The skirt is so long and flowing that you wonder if something special has been planned for you to attend as you feel that despite the somewhat casual look of the dress, it also doubles as pretty in that formal sense.

Your fingers find the embroidered pink and white peonies on the bodice that decorate your breast.

“Am I seeing someone special today?” You ask.

“No.” Natasha smiles. “Just us. Lunch is being served in the garden for you, Margaret, and Steve. Bucky and I shall be nearby. Peter will be close too. No one special.”

You huff a laugh as she lists all of the most precious people in your life. “So, only those special to me then?”

Nat chuckles and finishing tying off your hair.

“Lunch is for you, Steve, and Maggie. Steve expressed a wish to spend some quiet time alone with the two of you. He knows he’s been busy the past few weeks racing about chasing leads on this new Hydra weapon. He wants to make it up to you and I know he’d appreciate you in this dress.”

Her explanation makes sense but you’re successfully distracted from the dress by the mention of Hydra.

“How was the search?” You suddenly wonder, remembering Steve’s orders for her and Bucky.

“We’ve spread the word and will go out again tonight to search. I’ll tell you if anyone is found.”

“I’d like to know what’s happening with this.” You turn to her, adjusting within her grip as she reaches down to fuss with your dress. “I need to know, Nat. I can’t be kept in the dark again.”

Natasha drops her hands, placing them on her hips as she considers the look in your eyes.

“You’re not saying something.” She realizes. “What’s troubling you?”

“Nothing.” You say quickly, a shrug thrown her way just to brush off the concern. “I just don’t want any surprises. Not like before. This threat seems insignificant but what if there’s more to this mysterious weapon? I want to know what you’re all walking into.”

“Steve has promised to keep you appraised.” Nat promises you. “I will hold him to his word.”

Slowly, as the truth of her words shines through her eyes, a small smile stretches your lips.

“Thanks, Nat.”

~~~~~~~~~~

As you approach your renovated pavilion, peony blossoms blooming all around in varying shades of pink, you adjust Maggie in your arms.

You’re careful with your own dress. Double-checking the top of your bodice to make sure for the tenth time that you are covered after feeding your daughter. Nat made sure it was tight again but you’re fretting is ceaseless as a mother now.

The corset you’re wearing made especially for you since you are nursing, makes it easy for you to feed her without much fuss. Steve seems to favor it too though you’ve told him to be gentle and he’s avoided enjoying your breasts while you’re focused on raising your little one.

Aside from a loving caress and gentle butterfly kisses when the two of you make love, he’s avoided touching them.

Reaching the stairs, you fix your daughter’s dress—changed to match yours with endless ruffles but the same peony embroidery pattern on her little chest and pink sash around her little waist.

Steve rises quickly, rushing towards you with his arms extended.

Maggie coos excitedly, her little high-pitched squeaks and goos nearly make you swoon as she kicks her little legs excitedly. She’s not exactly screaming yet, but her noises are long and eager.

“There’s my princess.” Steve says proudly, his eyes flooding with love as he takes her into his large arms and kisses her chubby cheek.

He turns her to sit with her little back pressed against his chest and smiles at you while your own eyes are glued to your daughter.

“And my beautiful Queen.” He gushes, pulling your attention away from Maggie as he leans down slowly until he meets your lips with a long slow peck. “How are you?”

His voice is soft and deep. “I’m very well.”

It’s almost a lie.

In this moment, here with Steve and Maggie, you are most definitely well. You’re happy and you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Your heart still weighs a ton with Grandmother’s news.

For a terrible moment as Steve walks away from you to sit down with Maggie on his lap, you remember her words and your knees almost buckle.

With him focused on the little one, you manage to sit yourself down before he can notice.

Rapid footsteps climb the stairs behind you. You turn to find Peter moving in to stand beside you both. He smiles excitedly as he watches Maggie. He, like everyone else in the castle, is head over heels for her.

No one draws a smile quicker than Maggie, even from the gentry that had so readily spread rumors about you.

This makes you happy. Your daughter accepted.

“Cook will be out with your meals shortly, your Majesties.” He informs you both.

“Won’t you join us?” You ask him, but Peter meets Steve’s eyes for a moment then reaches up to scratch behind his head, his cheeks flushing pink.

Clearly Steve had made it clear that he wanted to spend time with you and Maggie alone to more than just Nat. However, there’s something else in that rosy tint in Peter’s cheeks.

“I…I’m actually meeting Morgana in the libraries to help her with her studies. I will cancel with her if you wish me to stay?” He offers, though you see the disappointment in his eyes.

“No.” You hurry to assure him. “No, we’re fine. I just wanted to be sure you ate.”

“Thank you, your Majesty. I believe Cook is sending sandwiches to the library for us.” Peter bows and with an excitement in his step you watch him until he’s out of sight.

“They make a good match.” You smile, turning to take a sip of water from the silver goblet before you.

“Who?” Steve asks, confused. He bounces his leg to keep Maggie occupied while allowing her to hold his finger in her tight tiny fist. She drags it to her mouth and bites it with her gums, yet Steve doesn’t seem to notice.

“Peter and Morgana.”

“Peter and your sister?” Steve asks in shock. “But…she’s so young.”

“She’s fifteen, going on sixteen.” You remind him. “If they are engaged this year that will still leave them with two years of courtship before they’re married. That is the custom in Malibia.

She’ll be eighteen by then and Peter will be twenty-four. Some people would say those are two ages perfect for marrying.”

Despite the pleasant picture you paint, Steve’s frown only grows.

“What?” You chuckle, reaching into your skirts to find the pocket where you’d placed a few small towels for Maggie’s constant drooling.

You offer Steve the towel but he’s still frowning? No…he’s pouting! You get up and move around to wipe her chin before placing the towel in Steve’s hand.

“Why are you pouting?”

“I’m not pouting.” Steve grumbles.

It makes you laugh again. “Steve…”

“Maggie will not be getting engaged until she’s at least twenty.” He suddenly declares. “I’ll lock her up in the West tower until she’s that age and only then will I allow her to entertain the idea of a suitor.”

“Are you worried that you’ll only have her for sixteen years?” You chuckle, watching the worry in his eyes as he cradles Maggie closer, stroking her rounded cheeks with gentle thumbs.

“She’s mine right now.” Steve laments, looking down at her as she continues to chew on his finger. “I don’t want to part with her. I’ve waited so long for her for some boy to come take her from me.”

“Oh, my darling.” You chuckle but this time with full sympathy for his heartbreak. “We will have lots of time with her. And even after she marries, she will always be our daughter.”

Steve’s eyes are glued to her little face and he completely doesn’t notice Cook come up to serve your meal. A few roast chickens with potatoes and carrots.

You eat in silence but quickly. Enjoying the sight of him growing more and more enamored with your daughter. Steve doesn’t seem to notice the time slip by as he distracts her with the towel you’d handed him.

She chatters about nothing in her baby speak, drawing smiles and chuckles from your husband.

Finally, you eat your last carrot and slide your chair back.

“I’m sorry.” You tell him, rising to your feet knowing you have no reason to be sorry. He’s so in love with her. Luckily, you’ve still managed to eat fast enough that the food is still warm for him. “I should hire a maid to watch her when we eat.”

It’s true that you’ll eventually need to hire someone to take care of her when you must deal with kingdom affairs too. You’re so reluctant to let someone else care for her. Just as Steve claims her passionately, you feel just as he does. She’s yours.

“Not yet.” Steve counters, letting you take her from him. He adjusts in his chair, wipes his hand then proceeds to eat, stealing glances at both of you as you move towards the benches that line the inner edge of the pavilion.

Everything is so perfect. So lovely.

You’re almost content in this moment, with your little girl in your arms and Steve sharing a meal with you. You’re very nearly happy until you look at him and like a raging storm Grandmother’s words destroy your fragile peace once more.

Steve is going to die.

He turns to you and smiles. He smiles at Maggie. He confesses his love for you both with it pouring from his eyes and while your heart aches, you vow to do anything to stop this new threat from taking him away.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Come to bed.” Steve pleads.

You glance at him through your looking glass, a hazy image because of the distance from your small table to the bed. The silver is in need of polishing or perhaps replacing. You don’t dare speak this thought aloud though.

Knowing Steve, he’d simply buy you a wall full of mirrors and you can’t have that.

Even blurry he’s a vision, an absolute fucking sight to behold with your daughter at the center of your bed his fingers tickling her tummy as she kicks her little legs excitedly. Her little hands absentmindedly stroking his arm.

He’s on his side, shirtless. His lower body hidden beneath the sheets of your bed as he lays naked underneath.

Despite that delectable fact, your eyes are glued to his gentle smile as he takes his hand and gently strokes the length of Maggie’s little nose. He’s noticed how that lulls her to sleep and does it to her every night to send her off when he’s not busy in meetings.

You finish tending to your hair, braiding it back once again to keep out of the way for your little one. When you turn in your seat to look at them, you find Maggie’s movements slowed. Her eyes are closing, little rosebud lips left open slightly.

She’s already fed and content. Your happy baby, so protected and cherished.

Despite his attentions to your daughter that you’ve spent the last ten minutes watching, when you look at him you find Steve’s eyes on you.

“Come to bed.” He urges you, a small twinkle of desire hidden in the tranquility of these moments he spends with Maggie but stares at you.

“Are you trying for a second?” You ask him, teasing as you rise and move to the bed. You know that look well by now.

Steve’s expression suddenly shift, concern etched across his face.

“Am I rushing you?” He asks, reaching for you as you kneel on the bed and gather your nightdress up so as not to trip on it. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

He’s thinking of this morning, already having had you in his den.

Since you’d given birth, he’s been so careful with you. Even when you’d assured him you were ready to be intimate with him again, he’d hesitated. Worried about hurting you or rushing your body into doing things you should not be doing.

Your smile only grows, a small chuckle escaping your lips as you settle in on Maggie’s right. She doesn’t even stir. Steve’s hand remains around your forearm, fingers gently caressing your skin.

“Why do you laugh?” He asks, his mouth perking at the corners despite his worry.

“You are not like any man I’ve ever met or heard of.” You confess. “Some of the women in Bright Rise, when they still spoke with me, would tell me about their husbands. They were like you were at the beginning of our marriage. Worse, as they took without care for their wives’ wishes. Some of them were always pregnant now that I think about it. Always trailed by a line of toddlers and children.

“The men didn’t care about their wives’ bodies or how their need to satiate their hungers affected the other.” You shake your head. “Some of the women even confessed to me that they took on lovers to find the enjoyment in fucking again.”

“Something you would have been forced to do had I continued in my foolish ways.” Steve suggests, unphased by your still somewhat rural tongue.

“Maybe…in the future. It would have taken me years of neglect to get to that point.” You nod, “Even with Thor, his touch was…unwelcome. He didn’t force me, but I did not feel right accepting his affections. I’m married. Even unhappy that wasn’t something I took lightly.”

Steve’s hand moves up to the top of your arm then slowly he drags it down to your wrist.

“Were you always this considerate? I mean, before me?” You wonder, looking deep into his storm blue eyes. “Say with Margaret? Or, perhaps the other women you were with before we married?”

Steve turns, laying himself on his back.

He releases your arm and gently strokes the length of his chest, fingers dancing across the tuft of blonde hair that rails all the way down below where the blanket ends at his waist. His other hand he shoves underneath his head as he thinks.

You wait patiently for him to be ready to speak. You’ve never asked him about his habits with other women in bed.

He steals several quick looks your way which tells you he’s nervous about answering you. Wary, in case it should prompt a fight. You can see the moment he decides to give in. His lips part a little, they stutter, then he speaks.

“Margaret was strong.” He states plainly, as if that explains it all.

You wait.

“Not that you aren’t!” He rushes to say, sitting up as gently as he can to keep from waking your daughter.

Maggie still stirs and whimpers. You place your hand on her chest and soothe her until she stills again.

“Can you put her in her bed?” You begin to sit up too, ready to do it yourself but Steve is faster, rushing so that you won’t have to.

“Of course! I’ll get her.” He gently scoops her up into his arms then quickly moves around to your side of the bed as you follow them with your eyes, turning your body as they go.

Gently he places her in her crib and tucks her in, shushing and soothing her as she complains then goes silent once more.

She isn’t too close, but you can still see her from your spot on the bed. Steve double checks by looking at you to see if you can still see her.

When he’s satisfied that you can, he moves back to you, crawling over you and stopping to give the tip of your nose a kiss as he goes before plopping himself down on his side once again. This time he reaches for you, grabby hands tracing the shape of your curves as he pulls you a little closer.

“What I meant, is that Margaret was willful. She knew what she wanted, and she made certain that everyone else knew so too.” He clears his throat, suddenly nervous again. “In bed, she was just as certain of herself.

“Even though I made the first move, she was the one who took charge in our physical relationship. I knew that if something were to go wrong or if she was tired or too ill to be with me intimately, she would tell me.”

You listen without judgement and try to keep your face clear of all emotions other than the love you have for him. Even through this conversation, your heart pounds with dread as it repeats Grandmother’s words over and over, reminding you that every moment with Steve is precious.

“I never had to worry about Margaret’s body because she never had to compromise it for me. I did worry for her, but not in the same way.” Steve says, probably thinking about the risks that Margaret would have taken as part of the Avengers.

“And the other women?” You wonder.

“There weren’t many.” Steve assures you, looking down at your chest in embarrassment. “Only two.”

“You were grieving Margaret.” You nod, understanding. “That doesn’t mean you aren’t a man.”

Steve is silent for a moment, resting his head in his hand as he uses his elbow to prop himself up. With his other hand he traces nervous circles in the blanket between you.

“They were visiting ladies. Ladies who, like Margaret, knew what they wanted.” Steve sighs the lunges softly towards you, pushing you onto your back so suddenly it makes you gasp and then laugh.

As he settles his body halfway over yours, he smiles down at you.

His hands caress the sides of your face before he trails one hand along your sides, grabbing you with intent. You can feel the desire in his touch.

“Court ladies are all playing a game. It’s a language they speak that you don’t know.” Steve sighs heavily. “A set of rules that I’m glad you do not understand. You are nothing like them and I love you for it.”

“They had husbands?” You realize.

“Yes.” Steve nods. “Men who are too distracted by their own infidelities or too busy grasping at power to pay their wives any mind. With both of them it was only one night. It came and went so quickly I can barely remember them. I don’t even think I could tell you their names.”

His face grows solemn, sad as if remembering a painful memory that has since lost its sting but not the emotion of sorrow. “I didn’t enjoy myself. I was driven by lust, but I didn’t even…I made sure they were satisfied and left it at that.”

“Mm. You felt guilty.” You nod, understanding as you watch his full lips. The lower is so much bigger than the upper. You reach up and trace it, loving the soft plumpness of it.

“Does it not make you jealous?” He wonders, relaxing more of his weight onto you. “Does it not upset you?”

You meet his eyes again, a smile stretched across your face. You can see that he wants to know you’re jealous. He wants to know that you want him as much as he wants you.

So much progress…is this truly the man you married?

“Only as much as it would upset any wife to hear her beloved husband talk about his past adventures in fucking other women.”

Steve groans and buries his face into the side of your neck, wrapping his arms around you as you also wrap yours around his shoulders. You chuckle, caressing the back of his head.

“So, the concern is not normal?” You realize, feeling better but also worried that you’re not seeing the real Steve. That maybe he’s acting this way with you while acting a completely different way with everyone else.

Is this not who he is?

“No, the concern is normal.” Steve says, muffled against your skin, making you feel almost instantly better.

He pulls back to look down at you again.

“What I’m saying is that every woman that I have been with until you has never given me cause to be concerned. I didn’t hurt them the way I hurt you.” He frowns. “I didn’t take what they weren’t willing to give.”

You look away this time, the solemnity coming from you now. The shift of conversation making your heart ache. When you speak, your voice is quiet, subdued with the reminder of your wedding night.

“I wasn’t unwilling.” You correct him because you hadn’t been. Not that first night or any night after.

Your line was not one clearly drawn, certainly. You’d slept with him out of duty but that hadn’t meant you didn’t want to. He’s the most beautiful man you’d ever seen in your life. Of course, you’d wanted him.

You hadn’t told him no. You’d only told him to slow down. You know that for him, for Nat, for everyone who found out—that slow down had been enough. It should have been enough to stop him.

“You know what I mean.” Steve says, placing both his hands on the sides of your face to tilt your head back until you look at him. “I wounded you. I took something that was not mine to take.”

“But it was yours to take.” You correct him again, and he growls in his throat at you before shaking his head, the pain leaving his eyes to be replaced by admiration.

“I can still feel you, trembling and sobbing in my arms. I was disgusted with myself. I couldn’t believe that I could do that to anyone. And you were so…so kind and gentle. So eager to please and I took advantage of that.” Steve confesses. All of his thoughts spilling out of him like water. “I had turned this beautiful, sweet princess into a sobbing, fearful, and wounded creature. I was so consumed by my grief over Margaret and my anger at having to marry again when I wasn’t ready to do so that I wanted it over. In that moment, I didn’t care about the sweet woman beneath me.

“And even after I hurt you, when I came to see you, despite your fear your only concern was for the tears I shed.”

It takes a moment to find your voice, but you do. You swallow hard.

“I’d never seen a man cry.” You confess. “Much less a king.”

“I meant every tear.” Steve insists. “If I could take that night back, I would. If I could redo every night since, I would. I am concerned for you above anyone else, because in you I saw my darkest self and I never want to be that man for you again. I never want to hurt you.”

The two of you lapse into emotional but pleasant silence. Both hearts beating strongly against each other as his chest is pressed firmly against your own.

At last, you smile, a chuckle spilling from your lips as you reach up and tuck his hair behind his ear. It’s getting long again.

“Have you always made these long speeches? Or is that reserved for me as well?” You check, mostly just teasing.

Steve’s lips curl up, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “I make sure to give every pretty woman I see a lengthy speech. Whether they’re enjoyable is a different matter.”

You bite your lip, glaring at him but only in jest. Quickly he dips down to kiss your lips, letting it linger for a moment before he pulls back only a bit so that when he speaks, his lips are fluttering against your own.

“My declarations of love, however, are entirely yours alone.” He whispers. “Tell me to stop and I will obey, my Queen.”

His right hand moves down, searching until it finds the hem of your nightdress which he begins to tug up until he finds the top of your leg. He traces the dip of flesh there, tickling your skin in search of your already yearning core.

As his fingers make contact, you gasp into his slightly open mouth and it draws his attention back up to your face. He licks your lips, just a gentle flick of the tip of his tongue before he kisses you, sinking it into your depths where you meet his eager kiss with your own.

You moan quietly, a whimper of yearning as his fingers spread your folds and begin to explore you. The noises his hand makes absolutely sinful.

Eager for his touch, you bring your knees up. You spread your legs for him, and he pulls out of the kiss to slide down along your body. He does down, down, down until he’s settled between your legs.

He grabs one and throws it over his left shoulder, then the other over his right. He kisses your thighs, trailing his tongue in small circles before every gentle pucker. The anticipation curls your toes as he moves closer and closer to your cunt.

“Steve…” You whisper, aware of the baby asleep in her crib and your need to keep quiet so that she can sleep.

He dives in, his tongue making one long swipe of your dripping core.

You gasp, curling up towards him as your body is sent into shivers.

He grabs hold of your thighs roughly, pulling you hard against his face. Opening his mouth, he suckles on your clit, the gentle sound of his sucking filling your limbs with fire.

As much as you enjoy his mouth where it is, there’s an impatience that wages war within you.

After months of waiting to enjoy sleeping with him, now that you do, it makes you eager to have him within you.

“Steve, please…” You beg, reaching down and tugging on his hair.

He likes that, growling a little at the lusty whisper that is your plea.

Pressing kisses along the length of your body while he shoves your nightdress up higher and higher, he finally helps you pull it off before taking your breasts within his mouth.

His lips are soft against them, gentle in their suckling as he knows how painful you can find it now.

When you whimper from the soreness, he steals a quick look at you to make sure you aren’t in too much pain before he simply kisses them around the nipple.

You run your hand over his hair, a promise that someday he’ll be able to enjoy your breasts again. He reads your reassurance but dismisses it as he rushes to meet your lips in a demanding kiss.

Without warning he pushes into you. He stretches you, filling you up so pleasantly that you throw your head back but swallow the moan you’d normally release.

Fuck…Your mind supplies, nails raking along the scarred flesh of his shoulders.

“Fuck…” Steve groans into your ear, stopping once he’s buried within you. Great minds think alike, you guess.

“Don’t stop.” You beg and wrap your left arm around his shoulders while the other reaches down as far as it can to grab as much of his bum as possible and pull him close.

He starts slowly, letting you both relish in the silky way his cock slides out of you then back in.

“Kiss me.” You tell him, needing his mouth to silence the moans you feel bound to make.

He obliges, roughly meeting your lips with a frenzied and lustful kiss as he loses himself within you.

He doesn’t pound into you the way he did at the cottage. He knows he shouldn’t, so he doesn’t. Even though you want it, you’re grateful for his forethought and instead focus on the way he seems to know which angles to adjust so that his cock not only pierces you but presses against the most sensitive spots inside of you.

He moves faster, reaching down to massage your clit as he kisses his way down your neck.

The moment is sudden, and it surprises you when your body goes tense for a moment as your climax washes over you.

You pull Steve down against you, gripping him hard as you hold him tight while your body is overcome.

Steve continues to push into you. Faster as he realizes that you’ve reached your limit. He grunts as he picks up speed, tracing the shape of your back down to your ass where he takes hold of it, fingers digging into the muscle.

He pulls up a little, searching for your lips with his own, tongue delving into your mouth as you give him what he wants. Both of you moan into each other, muffled and needy until Steve’s body stutters and his heat spills into you over and over.

He thrusts with each burst of ecstasy that overtakes him. His groans grow lazy. His body loose. Your own is already numb and you go still beneath him as he trails lazy kisses along the misty skin of your neck and shoulders.

He sighs, laying his head against your clavicle where he relaxes on top of you, your hands gently stroking his back.

You steal a glance at Maggie in her crib, but she’s sound asleep. It relaxes you to know she’s unbothered and without meaning to, you and Steve both fall asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

A loud thumping makes you twitch. It sounds distant but it startles you anyway.

In your arms, something large moves.

Your sleepy mind reminds you that it’s Steve and you sigh in your semi-sleep as your hands enjoy the feel of his hot body still resting on top of your own.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The thumping returns, this time louder and clearer.

A quiet whine to your right wakes you more quickly than the thumping and like you’ve been stunned with Thor’s lightning, you spring up from the bed, quickly sliding out from beneath Steve who also whines at your moving but peeks up at you as you rise.

“Whereyewgoin?” He asks, still mostly asleep.

“Go back to sleep.” You whisper to him from beside Maggie’s crib.

BOOM! BOOM-BOOM!

The thumping, which is actually a knocking on your door you realize, repeats.

Maggie whines again and you frown.

“Who’s there?” Steve asks towards the door, his voice more annoyed then upset.

“It’s Agatha, your Majesty.” One of the guards outside speaks.

“Don’t speak for me.” Grandmother’s voice grumbles.

“I’m sorry, your Majesty.” The guard says nervously, probably worried about the knocking, which means that was Grandmother and not the guard.

You look at Steve as Maggie begins to wake, her cries soft but rising as you continue to try and soothe her but now only halfheartedly.

Fear grips you, stealing you of your voice as you stare at your husband. Your little girl’s cries grow louder as she wakes but you’re frozen in place, terrified of what Grandmother could not wait until the morning to tell you.

“What, my flower?” Steve suddenly asks, sliding to the edge of the bed towards you.

“I…I should see what she wants.” You whisper, afraid to speak any louder despite your daughter already being awake.

“Go.” Steve urges you, grabbing your nightdress and moving towards you. He offers it to you as he reaches you. “I’ll put Maggie back to sleep.”

You take the nightdress with trembling hands. If Steve notices he doesn’t say so, but you don’t think he does as he’s already lifting Maggie from the crib, moving back towards the bed.

You dress in a hurry, then move to grab Steve’s robe as it’s closer and pull it over your body.

You’re tying it closed as the door opens upon your approach and find Grandmother pacing the hallway behind the two guards assigned to keep you and Maggie safe.

After what happened with Pierce, Steve is taking no chances.

“Grandmother?” You check, voice stronger but still just as terrified.

“We must speak.” She tells you, her voice strong and her eyes full of severity.

With a tentative nod you have her follow you into Steve’s den next door, shutting the door securely before you move into the room and offer her a seat in front of Steve’s desk.

“No.” She waves your offer off, pacing as you take a seat because your legs are weak again. “I have found a solution.”

“So quickly?” You gasp, hands balled into tight fists on your lap as you watch her pace.

“The sooner the better I would think in this situation. This is nothing like I have ever done before.” She admits. “It will take all of my power to do it.”

“It…will it hurt you?” You wonder, worried for her withered body.

“Probably not.” She shakes her head. “No way to know for sure. But it’s something I’m willing to die for.”

“What?” You gasp, suddenly terrified of losing her.

Finally, Grandmother stops her pacing and moves to stand before you.

“This threat is greater than I first thought.” She admits, slowly sitting herself down in the seat beside yours, turning it so that she can face you. “We cannot allow this power to grow. We can either stop it here, right now. Or we can let your husband stop it later. If we allow him to do it, it will take his life. There is no doubt in my mind of that. There will be others. He will not be the only to perish.

“Stopping this threat now is for everyone’s benefit and if I must pay with my life to save many others, I will do so willingly.” She declares.

“I can’t ask you to do that.” You shake your head, your emotions already raw.

“You’re not asking me, girl. I’m telling you that I must do it. I have already made my choice, now the only choice left to make is your own.” She fixes her gaze on you and you find you cannot look away.

“My own choice?”

“You asked me to save him. To ensure that he will live, a great sacrifice must be made. Separate from my own. I will provide the power, the strength for the incantation. Something else must be given for it to succeed.” Grandmother explains.

Your mind springs into action, thinking of the one thing you have of worth to give. Your life.

“So, I’ll…I’ll die?” You whisper, already in sorrow for leaving your husband and child.

“No.” Grandmother says. “No, I’m certain you will live.”

“Then what?”

“The price is impossible to know. It could be anything.” Grandmother gestures at you, looking you over from head to toe. “It could be your sight. Your ability to hear. Your voice. Your ability to walk. Whatever it is, it will be a great price to pay. Only you can choose to pay it but unless you do, I cannot go forward with the spell.”

“C-can I choose? Can I decide what it is that I sacrifice?” You hope, but what would you choose? What do you possibly have that could be worth your husband’s life?

“No. The magics will choose what to take. It will be equal to what it is you ask for, but only the magics can choose what that value is.” Grandmother explains.

This is impossible. This is unbelievable. This is torture.

You have to pay a price without knowing what it will be?

You know that your answer is yes. You’ll pay it. Whatever the price, you will give it willingly if it will save Steve’s life.

“I will pay it.” You nod. “Of course, I will. Yes.”

Grandmother takes your hand and squeezes it, a knowing look in her eyes. “I knew you would.”

She rises and you follow. Your hands feel weak but with the decision now made, you now it’s right and feel settled that you know this will soon be resolved.

Before the old woman can make it to the door, you reach out and grab her wrist, stopping her before she can leave.

“Grandmother…” You begin, waiting for her to turn.

She doesn’t. “Don’t get sentimental.” She says, voice strong though you’re sure that you can hear a small sadness in her tone.

“I want to thank you…for taking care of me. For loving me. I know that you could not always be there when I was young but you’re here now. Thank you.” You whisper, scared to speak louder in case you begin to cry. “I-I just wanted you to know. In case I cannot say it later or if you-”

You can’t even speak the words. She won’t die. She can’t.

With one withered hand, she reaches down and places it over your own. She gives you a squeeze, her hands trembling but reassuring.

“I don’t know when the spell will take effect. Go. Sleep soundly. Hold them close.” Grandmother advises then pushes your hand off her arm and disappears into the sleeping castle.

The very short walk back to your bedroom feels as if it takes forever. The guard make no comment as they open your door for you and you wander in, eyes searching for the loves of your life.

You find Steve snuggled up close to Maggie, his head pressed against the side of her own, his hand on her tummy and his eyes closed.

Maggie is not sleeping. She’s staring up at the ceiling with her little legs kicking gently as she coos and babbles her baby speak. One of her little hands is closed tightly around Steve’s finger, holding tight. As you move towards them, you notice how her hand doesn’t even close around his finger completely. She’s so small still. So fragile.

What if you can’t hold her after paying the price? What if you can’t hear her babble? What if you can’t see her little face or the way her eyes light up and her toothless smile spreads across her face as she spots you?

Just as she does now, she lets out a louder “Goo…” as she spots you and her legs go into a frenzy as she flails her limbs frantically.

You don’t want to cry but you feel the rush of sorrow overwhelm you. Quickly, before Steve can see, you drop onto the bed still wearing his robe and pull Maggie towards you. You hug her and turn her towards you, burying your face against her tiny chest.

Her little hands grab at you, whatever part of your head they can, and she pulls your ears, tugs your hair, scratches against your cheek but you don’t care. You inhale her scent, memorizing it just in case you lose the ability to smell.

After you’re sure you could never forget it, you tickle her sides until she’s giggling lightly, small bubbles and whines of amusement. It’s not a full laugh. She hasn’t done that for you yet. What if you never get to hear it?

You memorize this one anyway, put it away and lock it up within your heart where you know you will always be able to recall the pure sound of her innocence.

It takes every ounce of will power within you to stifle your desire to sob. Still, you manage it and when you’re certain you can face him, you pull back a bit to look at your daughter’s beautiful face.

She’s all Steve. You hardly recognize anything in her looks of you. She’s gorgeous. Pretty blonde hair, just like Steve’s only slightly darker in shade.

Her eyes are a piercing blue. Lighter than Steve’s but just as observant. She watches you, reaches out for your face where she places a small hand on your nose then slides it down to your lips which she casually grabs and releases before her eyes find her hand and she brings it to her mouth to taste.

You watch her for so long, you’re sure that it must nearly be morning, but the sky continues to be dark outside the windows of your room.

You sing to your little one. A quit lullaby that you hope she’ll remember if you can never speak to her again. You tell her you love her and sing some more.

She drifts off eventually, her little mouth open as she sleeps.

Finally, you turn your eyes on Steve, yearning to see him almost to an unnatural amount. You have never doubted it but in this moment as your eyes find him staring right back at you, you realize how much you truly love him. How much he’s changed your life.

Your world has grown since you met him. He’s changed you forever.

Will the sacrifice be your life? Will you be leaving them behind? Will you be wounding him again, just as Margaret had?

Even though Grandmother said it wouldn’t be, you can’t help but wonder and worry that you might very well be spending the last moments you’ll ever have with him and Maggie now.

What if you close your eyes and they should never open again?

At least she would have him. Maggie wouldn’t be alone. She would have her father. And he would have her.

If by some chance her father should also leave her behind, she’d have Nat and Bucky. She’d have Sam and Peter. She’d have the entire team to care for her. Father and Mother would probably try and take her to Malibia.

She would never need to worry about her meals or whether she could survive frigid winter temperatures. She would be protected and loved even if you aren’t around to make sure she is.

Steve blinks slowly. He’s sleepy but he’s trying to stay awake because you’re awake.

You’re not sure if he can tell that something is wrong, but you push yourself up towards him. You’re careful as you hover over Maggie, reaching to hook your hand behind his neck as he also pushes himself up and towards you.

You kiss him, slow and smooth until your heart begins to ache and your hand squeezes around his neck.

You kiss him with a bit more fervor and though he returns it, when you pull away, his brow is narrowed in confusion. Subtle concern.

“I love you.” You whisper to him, reaching down to trace the shape of his bottom lip with your thumb. You kiss him again. “I love you, forever.”

It’s a promise you have every intention of honoring. Will he love you even if you can’t talk? Will he love you if you can’t hear? Will he still love you if you are not the woman you are now?

You know that you can overcome anything. You can embrace a new way of living so long as it means that Steve and Maggie are safe. But will he see it that way? Will he love you for the woman you will become?

“You’re my entire world, Y/N.” He whispers back almost as if he can hear your thoughts and he wants to put you at ease.

His lips curl up at the corns softly as he blinks even slower than before as sleep begins to pull him under. “You and Maggie are my life.”

Your lip trembles as his eyes shut and do not open again, his head falling to his pillow.

“I love you…so…” He trails off, his words lost to dreams.

You stare at him and then Maggie. All night you stare at them, memorizing the way they breathe and smell. If you’re going to be changed forever, you’re going to remember this moment and cherish it until the day you die.

You will never forget it.

~~~~~~~~~~

1 Year & 3 Months Later

The sun is beaming. It’s strong. July is hot, even more so than normal. You groan as you look up to the sky and shield your eyes from the blinding light.

For a moment your mind goes hazy, full of fog. Something changes as it always does. Something shifts.

Something tugs at the corners of your mind. Something blurry and demanding. You get this way every single time you come here.

Every time you fill the wooden bucket, there’s a flash of something familiar.

You focus on the tug, allowing it to unearth the secret that eludes you.

There’s a quick flash that you don’t quite see. A golden hue. A storm blue circle.

Then your bucket overflows and the water splashes your feet, drenching your newly mended shoes.

They’re too small for your feet but it’s all you have.

“Damn.” You sigh, grunting as you lift the bucket and place it on the damp bank of the river.

Across the barren field, your little hut just at the opposite edge nestled into a grove of forest trees, Bright Rise begins to wake.

Another day, another scramble to find a way to keep your belly full.

“Time to check the traps.” You sigh, groaning as you lift the bucket and begin the trek back to your little hovel in the only village you’ve ever known.

The place you were born, but most definitely not home.

Your heart tells you that somewhere out there…somewhere else, your true home waits.

(THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! One more to go!)

#steve x reader #king!steve x reader #captain america x reader #medieval au #royalty au #medieval fantasy au #marvel fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #king!steve rogers x reader #avengers x reader #pseudo princess #king!steve x you #steve rogers x you #steve x you #captain america x you #pseudo princess pt35

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kollapsar · 4 years

Photo

Pricing:

Base, colored bust: $60 Add waist-up: $20 / $80 Add full: $20 / $100 Add scenery and object detail (bags, plants, couches, beds): $15 base, depends on detail Add detail (armor, elaborate horns, insignias, tattoos, etc.): $15 Add character: $45 base, then $15 more for waist and $15 for full

Basic info:

I’ll work in slots of three and regularly update with whether we’re open or closed for the week. You should also be able to check at a live document here.

If current slots get filled, I’ll extend to a waitlist with time estimates of opening.

A further detailed price sheet is available here.

Examples always available at my art tag as well! From there you can get a general idea of my work and abililties. I’m happy to do character portraits, some DnD design work, illustrations, even Tarot cards.

I give a quote after going over the details and take payment after showing you a sketch of your commission. My turnaround’s usually within the week, but I can give estimates if anything varies or it’s a particularly large commission.

Contact me by DM/ask or at my email [email protected] with your idea or any questions to get started! Super excited to get this going :D

#my art stuff #commissions open #feel free to reblog to plug even if you're not commissioning! i really appreciate the exposure

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psychosistr · 5 years

Note

quite wondering, what are the regenerations looks of the fearsome four during the events of the rp? [or uhm the crystal duck's regenerations?]just wondering

Well, I’ll leave Megavolt and Bushroot’s designs to you since you have them in the RP, but here’s what I came up with for the others below the cut.

I’ll start with the Crystal Ducks since they have the fewest changes-

Darkwing Duck: Drake starts off looking and sounding like his original Darkwing cartoon-self with the Jim Cummings voice and everything, with the only variations to his outfits being that his super-hero outfit has a pinkish-purple colored star on the back of his cape (the color for the star looks like the color on the under-side of his cape) and he tends to wear baseball caps and other hats with his regular clothes to hide his gemstone.

He’s a pretty durable amethyst, so it takes a lot for him to get poofed- like, he’d need to get hit head-on with a destabilization blast from Yellow Diamond or something. When he does finally get poofed, when he comes back he looks and sounds like his DT17 version, making him seem much younger than before and symbolizing the new start he has now after the truth about the war comes to light. The main changes to his super hero outfit would be that instead of having the star on his back like before, he’d have an outline of the Earth in a very dark purple that would only be noticeable in the right lighting to represent how his loyalty and purpose shifted from his previous allegiance to Rose and her army to the Earth- his new home that he protected from the shadows. He does still care about the Crystal Ducks, though, a fact that is shown by how the underside of his cape would now have a pattern of many small stars outlined all over the inside and would be visible whenever his cape was open.

Launchpad: Similar to Drake, Launchpad’s initial look would be like his original Ducktales/Darkwing Duck cartoon appearance and voice. The only real difference in this would be that his scarf has a golden star on each end and they’ll often overlap or fold over to form a single large star shape when the ends are close together. He had a few forms beforehand, but they were pretty similar since for the longest time he didn’t understand what was happening every time he got poofed and mostly just came back the exact same way he looked before. He got his current form after the first major plane crash he was in after joining the Crystal Ducks and, when he came back, he still didn’t have a full understanding of how changing his form worked, but he was able to figure it out just enough to add the stars to his scarf so he could show that he was on the same team as Darkwing and Gizmoduck.

His klutziness and tendency for crashing result in a few minor reformations throughout the series, but he’s usually pretty quick to come back since he doesn’t put much thought into changing his form. The first time he really decides to change his form, though, is after he comes to fully accept what happened on the Earth and learns to stop blaming himself for the war and how he was created. Wanting a fresh start and to show he now accepted and understood his past, the first major reformation he does in his life results in him looking and sounding like his DT17 version. The major differences this time are that he now shows off the star in a much grander way by having a big golden one on the back of his coat and, as a much smaller nod to how meeting Darkwing changed his life and opened his eyes to the truth about who and what he was, on the inner-brim of his brown chauffeur's hat (I like the way that looks over his baseball cap) there’s an outline of a small purple star that looks like the one Darkwing had on his previous cape- visible only to him most of the time.

Gizmoduck/Gyro & Fenton: Gyro and Fenton remain largely unchanged throughout the series, looking and sounding like their DT17 versions. Their main differences would be that, in the past before they joined the rebellion, their outfits were a lot more formal and neat- looking like black and white suits (Gyro got to have a lab coat with his) with white diamonds on the front to represent their diamond and her court. When they joined the rebellion, though, they got the much more casual and colorful outfits they wear now, with Gyro sporting a black star on the top of his hat and Fenton having a matching one on the middle of his shirt that would be divided if he ever unbuttoned it.

Gizmoduck’s changes in appearance are harder to see because he’s usually wearing his Gizmoduck armor to be ready for battle at any moment. His first appearance is like his original Ducktales/Darkwing Duck version, with the suit receiving a few upgrades over the course of the series and having a star beneath the red symbol on his chest. Without the suit, he looks very different with his head and torso sporting white feathers while his arms have brown ones and he wears Gyro’s glasses when he doesn’t have the suit’s helmet and visor accessible. He doesn’t put much thought into his outfits since he’s rarely without his suit, so most of the time he just walks around in a shirt like Fenton’s that’s only half-buttoned and a pair of pants that look like Gyro’s.

After being poofed and separated by Negaduck, Gizmoduck has his more modern DT17 style suit ready when he reforms- this time with a large golden metallic star on each shoulder in addition to the star beneath the red symbol on his chest. His body this time has Fenton’s brown feathers for the head and torso and Gyro’s white ones for the arms. He still wears Gyro’s glasses when he doesn’t have the visor on, but now he also has Fenton’s hair with a few streaks of white mixed in and the part on the front is like a smaller version of the distinctive swoop that Gyro’s hair has. This time around, he puts a little more thought into how he looks without the armor and has a more solid mix of Gyro and Fenton’s outfits- he wears Gyro’s shirt, vest, and pants, but the shirt is the same color as Fenton’s shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, the vest has one or two of the middle buttons done to keep it partially closed, and he wears Fenton’s purple tie.

Gosalyn: Not much to say about Gosalyn’s initial appearance as she mostly looks like her original cartoon version but with the addition of a star on her jersey instead of a number (the star is the same color as the one Darkwing originally has on his cape).

She does, however, go through a change after getting her gem ripped out by White Diamond. When she reconnects with her other half, it’s the closest thing she ever got to poofing, and, feeling for the first time in her life that she had control over her powers and who she was as a person, decided that she wanted to make a change and differentiate herself from her mother. She changed her appearance and now resembles her DT17 version, just with a small star-shaped hole torn over the stomach to expose her gem (which she shifts to stand up straight and have its true shape visible), and her jacket has a mutli-colored star on the back that resembles a color wheel but with fewer gradients and a white outline, symbolizing how she’s grown thanks to all of the gems in her life from her dad to Launchpad and Gizmoduck and even the Fearsome Four.

Okay, now for the Fearsome’s:

Liquidator: Initially, Liquidator is the very image of a perfect homeworld elite. His clothes (which are really just darker or lighter water that move and flow with his body) are a simple but elegant dark blue robe-like uniform with darker trim and a blue diamond insignia on the front to show his allegiance and loyalty to his diamond. His body is originally a lot tougher-looking with broader shoulders and a more stern face (think like the intimidating first look he had when he revealed himself to Darkwing in his debut episode). Similar to Darkwing, Liquidator is very hard to poof due to the nature of his body. To date, he’s only been poofed twice in the RP, with the first time not changing anything.

The second time he gets poofed, however, results in a drastic change to Liquidator’s appearance. Taking place after making the decision to stay on Earth with Bushroot and the rest of his friends, he feels like he’s finally free to relax and be himself rather than the rigid elite homeworld expected him to be. His physical appearance changes to the more relaxed and silly style we’re used to from the cartoons, with the exception of his ears being slightly scruffier and his right eye having two overlapping pupils with one being lighter blue and the other being darker blue (this happened after an exposure to corruption and is a permanent scar on his gem, but he honestly got off easy). His previous uniform look changes to a high-collared blue sleeveless shirt with an ice-blue star on the front (showing his tentative alignment with the Crystal Ducks, but more so the freedom he’s come to enjoy from this planet and his desire to protect that freedom) and darker blue pants with a belt that looks like braided strands of ice with a solid ice-rose for a buckle (symbolizing his love for Bushroot and how their relationship is free to grow on this planet).

Quackerjack: Quackerjack, by far, gets the most wardrobe/form changes to-date for this AU, so I’ll just run down the line.

When he first appears in the story, his outfit most closely resembles his original one from the TV show but with a pink diamond on the front around the gemstone on his chest. However, his gemstone was cracked when he first appeared, so his colors were duller and his eyes had a glassier look to them with a pink tint to match his cracked gemstone. His colors and eyes returned to normal after receiving healing treatments back on homeworld, but that form didn’t last for long.

After being poofed as Goldy on homeworld (he accidentally fused with Megavolt after falling into the peridot’s arms and Liquidator had to act quick and poof them so they wouldn’t be spotted by anyone else), Quackerjack was really depressed when he reformed due to losing his diamond, realizing how long he was trapped in the mirror, and seeing what happened to Paddywhack while he was gone. His colorscheme was a lot heavier on the blue tones with the red and orange colors only popping up occasionally as accents or trim. He also lost the diamond insignia on his chest, as his diamond was presumed dead and her court was disbanded.

His next reformation took place after he was poofed by Gizmoduck while protecting Megavolt. By this point, he had started to move on from his past thanks to his friends and regained the colors in his outfit. However, he did start to make subtle changes such as adding stars along his cowl to hint at a possible change in alignment and the orange in his color scheme was changed to yellow (symbolizing the bond he’s formed with Megavolt).

His most recent form is drastically different from his previous ones, showing how he’s finally let go of his past. The colors on his outfit are still as bright and colorful as ever, but it’s a bit less poofy, marking his shift away from just being seen as Pink Diamond’s jester. He still has a frilled white collar, but it’s much shorter than before, and his cowl no longer has stars in the fabric but the bells each have a small star pattern on them and the cowl’s colors are lighter than that of his shirt. His top now has short flutter sleeves instead of the long ones he wore before and he proudly shows off the star in the middle of his shirt, the star being bright yellow to match the palazzo-style pants that he wears (the bottoms are super long and billowy with glittery pink trim, usually hiding his pink shoes with purple flowers on the toes).

If he goes through another major poofing after some more information is revealed about pink diamond, his appearance will likely change again and have the reds in his color scheme be replaced with pinks to show his past and his eternal loyalty and love for his diamond without the blind devotion he had before, but still staying with the colors of those he cares about like Megavolt’s yellow, Liquidator’s blue, and some purple or green accents to represent Bushroot.

@abbythegamergirl you can do your descriptions for Bushroot and Megavolt if you want, or people can just check out the pictures you’ve drawn of them to get a basic idea.

#Drake Mallard #darkwing duck #launchpad mcquack #gizmoduck #gyro gearloose #fenton crackshell cabrera #Gosalyn Mallard #liquidator #quackerjack #some of these ships mentioned:#drakepad #fenro #liquiroot #quackervolt #steven universe!au

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blacknight1230 · 5 years

Text

Rooftop Chase

Ezio Auditore Imagine

*Takes place during Assassin’s Creed 2*

Ezio’s POV:

High above the celebrations, I sat on the tiled roof of a house in Firenze (Florence). It was nostalgic to be in my birth place again after my father’s and brothers’ wrongful deaths. But I had to be here, as I was tasked with killing a Templar official, one who was part of my family’s murder. My target was currently throwing a lavish part in the streets. The crowd allowed me easy coverage to sneak up to him and be able to get away without being detected after the deed is done.

I watched on as a couple of courtesans fluttered around the man. The guards were able to be lured away while one courtesan stayed with the Templar. She led him into the crowd to dance as I quietly made my way to the streets. I effortlessly moved through the crowd and was just about to reach where the dancing couples were, when a woman screamed. I saw my target fall to the floor, blood pooling around him. In the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow moving towards the rooftops.

I quickly climbed onto the rooftops and sprinted after the shadowed figure. The person lept from roof to roof, gracefully landing on their feet and never stumbling or stopping. “Signor, wait!” I called out. The figure showed no notification that they heard me and continued to run away. Tired of this useless chasing, I took a shortcut. I turned and jumped towards a flower pot, using it to swing onto another rooftop. From there I followed alongside the hooded figure. They eventually stopped when we were both on the rooftop of the Basilica di San Lorenzo. I stopped a few feet short behind the figure, who stood near the edge. There wasn’t a close enough roof to jump to and the height was too big for you to jump to the street below, so the figure was trapped. “There is nowhere to go, amico,” I said.

The figure finally turned around, showing me the person’s identity. It was the courtesan that danced with the Templar! Her (e/c) eyes were rimmed with eyeshadow, her lips a bright red, and her (h/c) locks piled into an updo hairstyle. She was wearing a (f/c) dress that hung on her shoulders and therefore showed a bit of cleavage. The corset pushing her breasts up and showed the curves of her waist and hips. The full skirt was cut off at her ankles, it having no slits in it but was composed of two layers, the under laying being a light (f/c) color. Bands around her arms had flowing white fabric drape over her arms, the slit through the middle making it easier for her use her hands. All in all, she dressed a little more modest than the other courtesans, who practically showed you their underwear with their short slitted skirts.

The woman looked at me with cold eyes and pulled out a dagger that was strapped to her thigh. “Get any closer, bastardo, and you’ll lose an eye!” she threatened. I raised my hands up in defense, trying to get through to the donna that I mean no harm. “Easy, signora,” I said. “I won’t hurt you. Lo prometto.” “How do I know you won’t just had me over to the guardie del cazzo?” the courtesan said, pointing her danger at me. “Because I wanted that man dead too. You just beat me to it,” I said, smirking at the signora. She didn’t lower her dagger until she saw the insignia of the Assassin’s Brotherhood on my belt.

“Assassino,” she said breathlessly. “Sí, how do you know of the Order?” I asked. “My father was an assassino when he was young. Once he met my mother, he left that life. But that didn’t matter to the bastardo that murdered him,” the signora explained. “The Templar,” I said, realizing the reason for her killing my intended target. “The cozzo make up a false crime that my father ‘commited’ and hung his mutilated body in front of the Piazza della Signoria as punishment,” she explained, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. “Mio padre e fratelli were hanged there, too. I joined the Assassin’s Brotherhood to avenge them,” I told the courtesan. Said woman, lowered her guard and sheathed her dagger. “Mia scuse, signor. My name is (y/n) (l/n),” she introduced herself. “Ezio Auditore,” I replied, bowing to her.

“I say, mia belleza, I’m quite impressed by your skills. It’s as if you were one of my fellow assassini fratelli e sorelli,” I complimented the young woman. “Grazie, Signore Auditore. Mio padre taught me how to everything he knew. He had his suspicions that his life as an assassin would catch up to him, despite no longer being part of that life,” (y/n) said, a faint blush on her cheeks. I felt my heart flutter at the sight, which shocked me. The last time I felt something like this was with Cristina, and when pulling the heartstrings of countless other women in my lifetime, I had never taken my flirting with them seriously. I am a womanizer; I planned on staying that way without my amore Cristina at my side.

“Say, bella, how would you like it if I were to make a deal with you?” I said, an idea popping into my head. “A deal? What do you have in mind, Signore Auditore.” “I was thinking that maybe you can join the Brotherhood. Your skills can help the Assassins and their fight against the Templar Order,” I told the young woman, hoping she would agree to the terms. “Become an assassina? Oh, why the hell not. Thank you, Signore Auditore, for this opportunity. Now I can do some good with the skills I have,” (y/n) said cheerfully. “Per favore, call me Ezio, bella,” I flirted.

The two of us were unnoticeably close to each other, to the point that if we moved any closer, we would be chest to chest. I couldn’t help but want to kiss her cherry stained lips and have her in my arms. It might have been her revealing outfit or that the fact that I found her very attractive visually, but I could tell it was something more. I knew she was like no other woman, her skills as an assassin only piece of the puzzle. “Ezio,” (y/n) said softly, gently laying her delicate hands on my armored chest. “Shh, bella, you’ll ruin the moment,” I whispered huskily. I leaned in, (y/n) meeting me halfway, our lips meeting in a gentle and soft kiss.

I could feel a spark from the kiss, seeming to give me the momentum to add more passion into it. One of my hands came to cup (y/n)’s face, my other one gripping onto her hip. The (h/c) haired girl wrapped her arms my neck, fingers running through my dark locks and causing my white hood to fall back. Our were so close to each other, with my armor clad one practically enveloped the young beautiful woman. I was pretty sure we would have gone even further, if it weren’t for a guard noticing us.

“What are you doing? Imbecille!” a rooftop guard shouted from several feet away on the Basilica. “Get down, or I'll throw you down!” (y/n) and I quickly broke away, hurryingly climbing down the building before the guard could shoot at us or reach us. Despite the dress, I saw (y/n) effortlessly climb down several stories of the Bascilica, before leaping to the ground and rolling onto her feet, running into an alley way out of the sight of any guards. I followed her, just a step behind her, hearing several guards gather to look for me and the signora.

As I rounded the corner into the alley way, I was grabbed by the front of my robes and was pulled towards the disguised girl, her lips hastily meeting mine. I wrapped my arms around her waist, deepening the kiss, just as a pack of guards ran past us, giving no mind to another couple showing affection away from prying eyes. Once the coast was clear, we separated, sucking in a much needed breath, our eyes locked on each other. (Y/n) was the first to break out into giggles, which I soon broke into, too, because of its contagiousness.

“Leave it to the guards to ruin the moment,” I chuckled, hands trailing along the bottom of (y/n)’s spine. (y/n) giggled and pecked me on my lips. “Come on, Ezio, I think it’s time to go anyways. Care to show me where you and the other assassinos do their dirty work?” “If you mean the Brotherhood’s headquarters, then yes, I would love to show you, mio amore,” I said, taking her hand in mine, leading us out of the alley way. “You’ll love Monteriggioni and the Villa Auditore. Not only is it the Assassin’s place of operations, but it is the Auditore’s ancestral home,” I told the female assassin. “I look forward to it then, Ezio. Let’s go before the damn guards catch onto us,” (y/n) replied, as we walked arm in arm through the crowd of celebrating citizens.

I couldn’t help but smirk as she confidently strolled with me towards the city gates, looking so regal and majestic. After Cristin’s death, something withered in me. But this woman has reignited the snuffed out flame that once lit up my heart, I thought to myself as I watched (y/n), in all her natural beauty and glory. Though she will never replace my previous love, I know with her I can move on. And so we went on our merry way, as two assassins towards much brighter future.

THE END

#assasins creed #assassin's creed #assassin's creed imagine #assassin's creed x reader #assassins creed imagine #assassins creed x reader #assassin's creed ii #assassin's creed brotherhood #assassins creed ii #assassins creed brotherhood #ezio auditore #ezio assassins creed #ezio auditore da firenze #ezio auditore x reader #ezio auditore imagine #ezio auditore da firenze x reader #ezio auditore da firenze imagine

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recherche-raptor · 5 years

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One day back in the middle of January I wondered how I’d draw Meta Knight as a human, since so many gijinka versions (to me) seem excessively bishonen. So I doodled him in the margins of my Sedimentology notes, liked it more than I thought I would, and decided that I had to draw every Dream Friend and then some as gijinkas. So here’s the first three! I’ve got all of the lineart done, now it’s just a matter of getting the right color palettes and the time to color in all of the others. I’ll add links to the other sets as they get finished.

Base Dream Friends- King Dedede, Meta Knight, Bandana Dee Wave 1 Dream Friends- Dreamland 2 Animal Friends, Gooey, Marx Wave 2 Dream Friends- Adeleine & Ribbon, Dark Meta Knight, Daroach Wave 3 Dream Friends- Magolor, Taranza, Susie Three Mage Sisters- Francisca, Flamberge, Zan Partizanne Other Pals- Prince Fluff, Elline, Dyna Blade Groups of Pals- Dreamland 3 Animal Friends, Squeak Squad, The Meta-Knights Star Warriors- Kirby, Shadow Kirby, Galacta Knight Misc Antagonists- Dark Matter Swordsman, Queen Sectonia, Morpho Knight, Void Termina

Some design choice discussion under the cut:

Everyone in these gijinkas more or less has the same eyes as their game counterparts; at first this was because in my doodle I didn’t want to bother with figuring out what eye shape would work for Meta Knight, but I decided that the simpler game eyes fit him pretty well, and in general helped the original designs’ personalities show through in the gijinkas.

King Dedede- For Dedede’s pose I knew I had to go with him flashing a V for victory sign. It’s his insignia, he had to do it. His outfit was pretty simple to figure out, since even as a penguin it’s pretty much complete aside from the pants and sandals. Not too much to say here, except to fume at my phone camera for messing up the hue of his gloves. I strayed away from his in-game eye type since it just didn’t work as well in his case, and I wanted gijinka!Dedede’s eyes to be blue.

Meta Knight- I based Meta Knight’s outfit on 19th century military uniforms. I didn’t give him too much armor since a.) those uniforms didn’t have much, and b.) I figured he’s pretty speedy so he wouldn’t want too much plate armor weighing him down. I also decided that for the gijinka versions of the knight characters, they have their wings at all times, so his are just folded up under his cape. And since Galaxia’s so spiky, I figured it couldn’t fit into a regular sheath, so instead I put a strap hanging from his belt that can be clipped around Galaxia’s blade right before the crossguard to keep it in place. On another note, in keeping with him looking basically like blue Kirby in the games, gijinka Meta Knight is a lot shorter than he’d like (5′6′’ or 5′7′’ I think) and has a serious case of babyface.

Bandana Dee- I put yellow and orange triangles around the hems of his shirt to evoke the larger triangles on Dedede’s obi, and put Dedede’s insignia on the front for good measure. He has knee pads since he’s more martial than the other Waddle Dees, even the others with spears, and the colors of his shorts and boots are the colors of Waddle Dees’ feet in various games (beige in older sprites, yellow in the modern model).

#Kirby #King Dedede #Meta Knight #Bandana Waddle Dee #Kirby gijinka

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ionchef · 6 years

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King of Anything - An Escaflowne Fanfiction

A/N: Because I can never stop when I’m having fun, I decided to continue this fic. Right now, I’ve about 13 Chapters outlined but who knows what all I still come up with. If you prefer to read on FFN, you probably know how to find it there.

A huge 'Thank you' goes out to Meghanna Starsong, my sharpest and friendliest critic, who has once again been instrumental in assisting me with this outline (which is still under construction).

King of Anything

Act 1, Chapter 2

In which Van finally gets his coffee but Escaflowne disapproves.

Fanelia's raven-haired king took similar, if not more, care whilst slipping out of the palace this time. His disguise was, once again, pivotal to the success of this little excursion. Granted, it was only the second time he was perusing it but it seemed as though the scheme could be a way of offering him a much-needed breather from now on when necessary.

Someone cleared their throat and it sounded as if amplified through a can due to the nature of the source, then hollered against the marble floor and walls. The sound demanded immediate attention and emanated clear disapproval. Van froze in mid-step down the deserted hallway just outside the royal apartments. Ah but of course. He had nearly forgotten the grouchy sentry who now never was too far away.

Almost like a puppy, he usually followed Van around unless otherwise instructed. Turning, the king peered at the robot who had stepped away from his guard post. Van was already mildly annoyed because for the better part of the day he had been trailed by hordes of foreign and Fanelian members of the royal council. Sure, he usually had a daily agenda anyway but this week was especially busy for various reasons.

The sentry in question, Escaflowne, had been in every ruling king's possession since the early days of Fanelian history. Purchased from the mysterious and elusive Ispano folk, the machine was a masterfully crafted protector and weapon. Considered a patron deity way back when, now more like a champion of Fanelia, Escaflowne had been rebooted again. Much unlike other melefs here, Asturia, Freid, Zaibach, or other countries south of the Big Seas, Escaflowne was unique.

The machine was tied to the king of Fanelia through a blood pact. To operate, it required the heart of a dragon. A drag energist had to be obtained by the worthy heir and that meant hunting and slaying one of the beasts. Escaflowne could only be activated this way and his service always ended, well, when the king ended. While other melefs were nothing more than drones, programmed to defend or perform manual labor, Escaflowne had a life and intelligence of his own.

"Going somewhere?"

Much to the occasional dismay of his master.

Escaflowne's eyes glowed in what seemed like amusement through the slit of the robot's helmet. While he had resembled a knight in traditional Fanelian samurai armor in some shape or form for generations before, his appearance had been thoroughly updated by the Ispano prior to this activation.

It was part of the service agreement to keep him under a lifetime warranty and up to the newest standards of Ispano technology. Improvements had been made which increased Escaflowne's degrees of freedom, allowed for more variety in his end effectors, as well as extended reach, payload, and repeatability.

"In a poor disguise unlikely to fool anyone, no less."

Together with an update of his behavioral characteristics befitting a more modern Gaea.

"Your father would highly disapprove."

And his internal memory storage, which had been expanded through another chip to add on to the centuries of knowledge stored away inside of him.

The machine towered over any human by a good three feet. His chassis was covered entirely by Ispano white, metal armor in mostly rectangular panels. The updated look still incorporated two diamond-shaped receptacles for green energists on each shoulder and one octagonal receptacle for the main energist on the left side of his breastplate, where a human's heart would be. This energist was the special one, the one Van had collected from the corpse of the dragon.

Escaflowne stood a few feet away from him, scowling as Van resumed on his way. Despite the king's current mood, it was good to have Escaflowne back. The last time the sentry had been in operation was during his father's reign over the country but it felt different now with him being the one to command it.

He still wasn't completely used to this monarch gig, burdened with decisions which affected not just him but everybody else in the kingdom. Although there were enough resources for advice in the form of an eager council -too many resources at times, really- he always put a great deal of thought into the consequences for each decision. Sure, he had been educated and prepared well for years but now it was real. It had felt different when Balgus was the steward of Fanelia, bound to rule within the tight guidelines set by ancient laws until the rightful heir finally claimed his throne.

"No need to follow," Van answered courtly and as an afterthought he added "don't wait up," while tossing his suit jacket with the Fanelian crest on the breast pocket towards the robot. Escaflowne's arm moved in a circular motion type to reflexively catch the garment. While it wasn't uncommon for patriotic people to sport the diamond-shaped insignia with the dragon wings on clothing items, it would probably be better to not wear it right now.

The king's daily attire had finally been given a major overhaul. Pomp and gaudiness had been toned down which allowed for more relaxed-fitting suits. Especially when it came to the damn tight collars and the amount of embroidery, as well as more dark colors instead of screaming, royal red. While Van casually made his way further down the hallway, Escaflowne's steps and robotic voice echoed behind him. "I'm compelled to inform you how absolutely terrible of an idea…"

Closing the heavy fire door to the emergency exit behind himself, the machine's last few words were muffled considerably. While Escaflowne's primary objective was to protect the royal family and Fanelian citizens from harm, the robot's programming was still slaved to Van's commands. He sighed in relief and descended the old, slightly uneven stone steps of the narrow staircase. The main structure of the palace was still original but plenty of renovations over the last decades had altered the overall appearance just like the rest of the city.

Old-town Fanelia close by the palace and the palace itself were reminiscent of the ancient, historical architecture the most. The core structures of most buildings were made from solid stone cut from massive boulders by stonemasons in centuries long past. In centuries long past when men rode into battle on the backs of Yerkle and no walls protected the citizens from the fury of dragons native to this part of Gaea.

Now, many, many lifetimes later, the original houses and storefronts had been modernized with materials such as glass and steel whenever alterations or renovations were performed. As the largest structure, the royal palace still remained the focal point. Built atop of a high plateau, the natural terrain of the mountain slopes it sat on was enforced with another protective, metal layer which doubled as the last line of defense for those inhabiting the palace. Luckily, the armament hiding inside the casing had never seen the light of day since it had been installed by Van's great-grandfather.

A bit further outward from old-town, the foundations of the first wall were still visible in some places as a concentric circle closer to the palace. The wall had been torn down several times to make room for a prosperous, growing city to provide more space. Each time it had been relocated, it had been rebuilt with upgraded materials or updated as time passed and more modern ways for defense emerged. Further north-east, a tall mountain range with sharp peaks enclosed the city from the back like a natural barrier.

It took a while for Van to make his way out of the palace although avoiding people who were more accustomed to seeing him in a less formal state proved to be suspiciously easy. Nobody seemed to even pay attention to him. Turns out, Escaflowne's worries were very unfounded. His disguise was downright impeccable! As he strode across the courtyard, a radio blared pop music from the guard post not far off.

Royal security guards were hardly alert, talking to each other about upcoming plans for days off and some such stuff. One of the larger men in royal crimson enthusiastically tapped his booted foot to the beat of the music and mimicked the female singer's voice with his own high-pitched falsetto. It made Van cringe a bit.

The courtyard was fairly wide, originally intended for military formations back in the day or ceremonies such as coronations, parades, weddings, and whatnot. He was passing the round, blue and white flower mosaic in the center of it shortly after. The one he'd kneeled on while being crowned king not long ago. That ceremony had also been annoyingly stiff and followed a bunch of ancient rituals. Really though. Were other kingdoms still so backward too when it came to all this?

It'd been a while since he and Merle had last gone on any diplomatic trips but he was pretty sure the heir of, say, Egzardia wasn't required to wear a full-on armor complete with helmet and cape at their coronation. On the other hand, there was also a good chance they didn't consider a razor-sharp samurai sword to be the ruling symbol of their monarch. The sword itself and the art of wielding it in training, Van had always appreciated but actually using it in combat, to kill something, was so very different than anything could have prepared him for.

The royal sword was an heirloom passed down through generations and the thought of holding something which tied him to the long line of kings before him filled Van with pride. The sword was, without a doubt, his most valuable possession.

Thing is, it should have been Folken's. His brother, who had for some reason failed at passing the rite of dragon slaying. Even after tossing the issue around in his head for years, Van couldn't figure out what had happened. There'd never been any rescue missions or search parties either. On this quest, the heir to the throne was on his own. If he died, he died. Not the best odds considering what they were up against but customs wouldn't allow someone to rule if they weren't worthy.

One would think this whole ordeal with Escaflowne, slaying a dragon by hand, and the energist made zero sense. Why would a king well-versed in mortal sword combat need a machine such as Escaflowne? Kind of pointless, right?

Wrong.

Apparently, the Ispano had been instrumental in ensuring that Fanelia was well guarded before a wall had first been constructed. A king responsible for protecting his citizens needed a badass sidekick after all. Before him, Escaflowne had been under his father's command. The robot remembered Van from the time he'd been active then but after Goau Fanel was taken by a deadly disease, Escaflowne went into a temporary idle state until Van awakened it with the new energist.

The sentry had recognized him immediately after activation, had memory storage devoted to Van and all their interactions but now, due to the upgrades and change in ownership, the mood between them was something else. Maybe it was also due to the altered settings in Escaflowne's software or whatever it was the machine operated on now. Obviously, Ispano technology had made progress in the last years again but what the robot's inner workings looked like, only they knew.

For the most part, Van supposed Escaflowne's endoskeleton was made similarly to the melef drones which guarded armored mining convoys traveling beyond the wall each day. So yes, people did go outside daily but it was only specially trained workers who stayed on established and guarded routes. Nobody in their right mind would deviate from that.

Thankfully, it had been weeks since the last dragon incident outside. Even then, those drones programmed to protect the armored vehicle convoys had been able to take care of it. Dragons were fierce but not immortal. They favored the climate in this part of Gaea and only very few strayed into other regions.

For this reason, Fanelia was home to the only dragon graveyards on the charted globe which made it the prime exporter for drag energists. Since a good part of Gaean technology operated on this power source, the small country of Fanelia was a critically important member of international trade proceedings.

That's also why so many countries had diplomatic reps residing in Fanelia. Good relations with the only source for drag energist power was essential.

Van never understood why his ancestors had chosen to set up camp here so long ago before modern technology was even a thing. Who builds a city in the most dragon-infested piece of this continent? His people, apparently. Sure, history books had been shoved under his nose just as soon as he'd been able to read. Not that they weren't interesting but a bit more freedom to choose other material would have been nice every now and again.

But there was no use in griping about it now. His heritage, the throne, while the general public and the paparazzi made it seem all kinds of extravagant, required a great deal of self-sacrifice. The only reason Van really never griped about it too much was that he truly cared for his people. His pride of country, even though dragon-infested, prevailed above all. And, of course, the love for his adopted sister.

Merle had joined the family when Van was so small he couldn't recall a time without her around. Not that he wanted to. Sassy and opinionated as she was, his sister was an anchor to normal life in the palace. A palace so big it sometimes felt like he'd get metaphorically and literally lost. He even still felt this way now as a man in his early twenties.

Actually, he felt like that especially while passing through the massive wrought iron gate, the entrance and exit which lead to a wide staircase flanked by two sets of elevators on either side. It was the main and only convenient way to get on and off the palace plateau. People were already lined up to leave after a day of diplomatic games at court. Men in suits carrying briefcases and women in modest dresses and heels with large purses.

Some looked tired but happy to leave, waiting to get to their homes down in the city, the royal court only a place of business, unlike for Van. After all, the king worked and lived here. That's why he needed a bit of a break. Some time to himself. Right now!

Nobody ever took the stairs, especially not up. Except before there were elevators, of course. It took about five minutes of walking to get all the way down and climbing the stairs was an entirely different workout altogether. Van didn't mind, especially not because it meant his chances for being recognized by an observant council member were pretty much slim to none. Again, not that anybody was even looking. They probably all thought he either worked here too or was the stuck-up son of a diplomat. All the better for him.

The only area where he encountered a few people again was towards the bottom where pedestrians sometimes liked to hang out. The narrow cobblestone streets of old town around the palace were popular with hip, young people for taking pictures, sometimes with the palace way up as a backdrop. Some of them liked to sit on the stairs to eat ice cream or drink a cup of coffee from one of the chains along the small square. A cup of coffee like the young man he was passing. A sub-par coffee served in a disposable to-go cup.

Van wrinkled his nose. Nope, he needed the real thing. A coffee brewed from freshly roasted beans that didn't come from an industrial-sized machine made to satisfy the craving of hordes of people every day. Good coffee required love and care in preparation and was served in a ceramic mug. A rather large one, if at all possible. Could he have gotten a stellar cup of coffee in the kitchens at the palace? Yeah, sure but it defied the purpose. He just wanted to feel carefree for a bit and that wasn't going to happen up there.

In that quaint shop not too long ago, he had gotten a very homey vibe and that wasn't just because the young woman behind the counter had basically halfway undressed him as if it was their shared home they'd been in. Van's steps slowed a bit at the thought and he paused at the mouth of the familiar, narrow alley. So full of drive to get there and redeem the promise of a cup of that steaming hot nectar of life had he been that he had forgotten all about the rather…scandalous incident weeks ago.

Some mad luck it was that nobody but him, her, and Balgus seemed to know about it. It would have been the headline of the month and he hated being on the cover of those paparazzi magazines.

Too late for second thoughts. The air was already redolent with the rich aroma of dark roast, the scent stealing out through the cracked door of the little, old coffee shop only a short distance away. It was enveloping Van, beckoning him closer to the source. The dark magic spell was just too strong. He wasted no time in making his way there albeit still wary of what would happen if she was really there again.

The little bell Balgus had abused so violently gave a bit of a muted ding when he entered. There was a small crowd of other customers this time but sure enough, a mop of short honey-colored hair was visible behind the heads in front of him. Not a long line but a few people, just like him, obviously still appreciated the slow pace of a little mom and pop coffee shop like this. These people didn't rush through life but instead took the time to sit down and enjoy the simple pleasure of savoring a cup of fresh brew.

The line moved only slowly but it didn't bother anyone as everyone patiently awaited the careful attention given by…what was her name again?

"Hitomi!"

Right.

"Hey, Yukari," Hitomi cheerfully greeted a redheaded woman in green scrubs in front of Van. "Nice of you to stop by. Do you just want the usual?"

"Yes but make it a triple shot of espresso, pretty please. I need it badly," the woman named Yukari responded while stifling a yawn with the back of her hand.

"You got it," Hitomi promised and got to work.

Van could see a bit better now. She looked just the same but was in a pair of jeans and a white shirt under the green apron. His palms became a bit sweaty and the cheek she had administered the impressive slap to tingled all of the sudden. Damn. Maybe he should leave.

Of course, right at that moment she turned around and placed the large cup and saucer in front of the redhead on the counter and saw him. Her eyes flickered to the side briefly, then widened in recognition.

Yukari liked to stop by the little coffee shop Hitomi worked at on the way home whenever she could. They didn't always have the same shifts at the teaching hospital. Of course, having a hookup for the best coffee money could buy was an incentive to come here above all.

Hitomi turned away from the back counter and served her friend but then almost dropped the cup when she saw who was standing behind her. What in the seven hells…

Her eyes widened and her brows shot up. Was this really?

Yep, it definitely was. No other than the king of Fanelia, incognito again and looking like a young business professional in dark navy slacks and a white button-down shirt with sleeves rolled up to just under his elbows. He was next in line after her best friend and roommate. With his raven hair disheveled and wearing the same mirrored shades again, he looked too effortlessly handsome to be completely inconspicuous. Hitomi's heart skipped a beat when he raised a finger and placed it on his lips, motioning for her to keep his presence a secret.

His lips. The sight made her heart skip another beat and her hands went cold. All of this happened in a matter of seconds so Yukari seamlessly accepted the cup from Hitomi before she squealed so suddenly it forced Hitomi to direct her undivided attention back to her.

"I almost forgot!" Yukari trilled full of excitement. "Amano's brother will be in Fanelia later this week and you won't believe it but he said he could get us into the Mystic Moon!"

The Mystic Moon was Fanelia's hippest and most extravagant nightclub. It was named after the phantom moon visible in Gaea's sky behind its smaller twin. Neither of them had ever been there because it was nearly impossible for normal folks to get in. It was a ritzy place for rich people and kids of diplomats to party the night away.

No wonder Yukari was excited. It wasn't that Hitomi didn't like to dance or go out to party. She did. But the thought of spending a well-deserved evening trying to unwind and have a good time in the company of people she wouldn't normally have anything to do with made her feel a bit weird. Not like they were likely to schmooze with Fanelia's high-society. These people could probably tell from a mile away that their clothing wasn't name brand and that this definitely wasn't their normal stomping ground.

Well, at least she'd have Yukari and Amano. After the day she had walked in on them making out, they had finally declared their relationship status as official. The fact that they were all roommates luckily didn't have to change even after that. They had known each other long enough but walking in on them practically piled on top of each other had been an unexpected shocker.

Yukari's now-boyfriend, Amano, who was one year their senior, had been in Fanelia already a few months before they came and started college. He had been an accomplished athlete in Asturia and gotten multiple offers for sports scholarships from colleges around Gaea, then ultimately chosen to move to Fanelia and pursue an education in engineering and whatever else that entailed.

Although Amano and Allen were twin brothers, they had always had different styles and interests so Hitomi and Yukari never got to know him well. Especially not after moving halfway across the continent. Allen had opted for a completely different line of work and was now the head of security to Asturia's princess, Millerna Aston. If Allen was going to be here, that meant princess Millerna was likely the reason for his upcoming presence.

"We need to talk outfits later tonight!" Yukari was already beginning to scheme.

"Sounds like fun," Hitomi lied successfully and watched Yukari nod and motion to a table in the corner.

"Don't want to hold up your line. I'll be right here, reviewing a few pages in our beloved tome of anatomy while you work." Yukari said while already moving towards it.

Hitomi held her breath when her friend turned and nearly bumped into the tall man behind her. She briefly looked at him and smiled while shuffling past him. "S'cuse me."

"Ok great," Hitomi acknowledged her friend while already face to face with the dark-haired man who had been patiently looming behind her best friend until now.

That. Smug. Look on his face. Okay, maybe it wasn't intentional but he clearly came off smug. It was actually, probably just the sunglasses. Hitomi couldn't tell what he was really looking at and that bothered her. He did, of course, have a good reason for hiding though. So what. The reigning monarch wanted some coffee. No big dealio.

Dragonshit.

Of course, it was a big deal. Why was he here again of all places?

Oh drat, that's right, Hitomi remembered. Again, all this took place in a fraction of a second. Before he could even speak, she turned towards the back counter and filled one of the large mugs to the brim with piping hot coffee.

"Black, right?" Hitomi said while sliding it across the counter towards him with as much of a neutral expression as she could muster. "On the house," she said and it unintentionally may have come out a bit rude. Good thing nobody was paying attention because she clearly wasn't good at pretending like this was an absolutely normal transaction.

"Thank you," the disguised king said with the hint of a warm smile. Fine, maybe he really hadn't intended to come off smug but seeing him again right here made her remember the incident in such clarity as though it had only just happened yesterday.

The way she had shamelessly unbuttoned his shirt as if he was just a regular guy off the street. His warm hand on top of hers while stopping the bleeding on his wounded, upper arm. And then, of course, sitting on his lap, and….and…

Their encounter, although brief, was something she'd probably never forget.

It was so crazy she'd never even told anybody about it. Yukari was her best friend but even she would have laughed. Yeah, right. The king himself, waltzing into the shop disguised as a commoner. Recounting Hitomi's own clumsiness would have definitely checked out but then, the picture-book accident, like a scene from a silly rom-com. She probably wouldn't have believed it either.

For a while, she'd even convinced herself that it hadn't really happened. Not until she had found one of the paparazzi magazines Yukari loved so much open on the coffee table a few days later. It was turned to a page that had several pictures of 'The Most Eligible Bachelors on Gaea' on a double-page spread.

Undeniably, it had been him. His stature, the hair, the dark skin, and of course the garnet red eyes. Unique, garnet red eyes that were at this moment hidden to the world by only a pair of sunglasses. A pair of sunglasses attached to the very man standing right on the other side of the counter, still offering her a gentle half-smile.

Hitomi took a calm breath. He actually hadn't been completely insufferable even after she had, very deservedly, defended herself by slapping him so hard it'd immediately left a searing, red mark. Not a permanent one, as far as she could tell, thankfully. Come to think, did they still execute people here?

Now that she thought of it, the way to dispose of severe offenders in Fanelia was to ban them beyond the wall. But really, that hadn't happened in decades. It was a severely antiquated form of punishment. Eaten alive by a dragon? Probably not the law of the land anymore. Although…

"You're welcome," Hitomi finally forced herself to say as casually as possible. A side glance at Yukari confirmed that her friend was anything but attentive anymore after a, no doubt, hectic day at the hospital. Some days, patients demanded a whole lot of energy besides the free care they provided.

The tall, dark, and handsome man in front of her finally accepted the mug and was about to walk away but then reached into his trouser pocket. With a smooth movement, he dropped a crisp, folded bill into the tip jar full of coins and then found a seat at a tiny table on the far side. He sat sideways in the chair, leaning his back against the wall and propped one arm up on the table to hold the mug possessively even while he wasn't drinking.

Hitomi decided she'd try not to care that king Van Fanel was casually sitting on the other side of the room although this course of action was, naturally, sure to compel her to care even more.

Leaning against the wall behind him, he looked like his eyes could be closed but Hitomi thought she saw him tilt his head her way every now and again while she served a few more customers and then busied herself with some cleanup. Admittedly, she caught herself sneaking some glances here and there too. Okay, maybe more than just here and there.

Hey, nobody in their right mind would blame her if they knew what was up. It wasn't even just because he was the king of all Fanelia that she caught herself looking. He was, as previously mentioned, also very easy on the eyes. Especially with his shirt off.

No! Not that! Any thought but that!

Hitomi quickly ducked behind the counter and cupped her flaming cheeks in cool palms. She almost fell over backward when Yukari's head appeared from above.

"What are you doing down there?" Her friend asked.

Hitomi quickly snatched a clean rag from the pile on the little shelf next to her. "Just looking for this," she said weakly while it dangled in her grasp.

"Ah. Well, I'm gonna go now. Amano and I will get dinner started. Should be ready by the time you get home," Yukari waved briefly while Hitomi straightened back up.

The redness on her face was still present but what was there to do about it?

"Cool. I'm going to close at six," Hitomi said despite the nervousness.

"Say, " Yukari finally asked. "Are you okay?"

Her façade had obviously been not as convincing after all. Was she okay? Hells no, the king of Fanelia was sitting mere feet away. Was Yukari really not seeing that?

"Yes! Of course," Hitomi answered almost a bit too fast while her disobedient eyes stole a glance at the raven-haired man not far away.

Yukari briefly narrowed her eyes but then turned and walked towards the door. "You're such a weirdo sometimes. Later!"

Hitomi breathed a sigh of relief when her friend left. There was no telling what would have happened if Yukari had found out just who was sitting by the wall, now idly playing with the handle of the mug. It was astonishing that she hadn't recognized him right off the bat.

Yukari was one of those people who loved gossip about high society and read magazines published by the paparazzi during lunch breaks. Was the king's disguise really this good? No. No, it absolutely wasn't! Now that she looked at him again, it was totally obvious. Anybody should be able to tell. Who was dense enough to not recognize somebody just because they decided to sport a pair of glasses and mess up their hair?

Turns out everybody, including her, actually. She hadn't recognized him the first time either but attributed it to the fact that she didn't follow the high society news and never made it a point to sift through papers or magazines looking at pictures of 'The Most Eligible Bachelors on Gaea'. And if, then most certainly not the royal-blooded kind. The kind like the man gaping in her direction now.

Big yikes. She had been caught looking directly at him. A gigantic sweatdrop formed on the backside of her head when she noticed that Van was staring right back at her. How long had she been gawking? Seconds? Minutes? This was mortifying. She began to panic a bit when he rose from the old, worn chair and sauntered right up to the counter.

Without much ado at all, he placed the empty mug before her and said "thank you for the coffee," then pushed it a bit further her way before adding quietly, so that none of the last few people in the small room could hear, "I apologize for bothering you."

Great, now she felt bad. Hitomi reached out instinctively and groped for the empty coffee mug, staring at her own reflection in his shades while distinctly remembering what his eyes had looked like up close. Her fingers brushed his warm hand but he didn't hurry to retract it.

At least he had good manners and was nice enough to bring his dishes back. Further confirmation that he maybe wasn't such a bad guy after all? Less of an enigmatic, royal pain than Yukari's magazines depicted him to be. In the pictures she did see every now and again, king Van Fanel looked untouchable, serious, and rarely smiled. He was always wrapped in an invisible cloak of admiration, adulation, and respect and that showed in his demeanor. The demeanor of a royal who never let his guard down.

So much unlike now. Right now, in this cozy, friendly place he looked like he felt…comfortable. Like he was able to let his guard down for at least a short while. Maybe that's why he was here. He had said something along those lines after the…incident. Gods be damned she really needed to stop calling it that. It had been a kiss. His lips had been on hers, full on.

Then, after she'd delivered her retribution, he'd apologized and it seemed to have been sincere. After that, he had justified his desperate course of action. Hiding from his guards and wanting to be alone for a minute had been the very simple reason for that shorted circuit in his brain. Something about wanting to feel normal and not like the fate of all Fanelia was going to be resting on his shoulders soon.

Well, now it was. The weight. Resting on his shoulders. But he was carrying it well enough so far she was aware. Even she had read the announcements and news articles about his coronation not long ago and seen him in the ceremonial armor. A bit olden-timey but a guy like him, emanating that kind of swag, could probably look good in anything.

There they were again. Uncalled-for thoughts that would lead nowhere although he wasn't making any haste in retrieving his hand from under hers, or was he? She chanced a glance there.

The woman's eyes flickered to their barely touching hands and it made Van snap out of this frozen moment in time. Although the effect of the delicious coffee had him on high alert, the spellbinding power of the honey blonde's green eyes was stronger.

This situation was quite unusual. He felt so at home in the little coffee shop, had enjoyed sitting there by himself, sipping some hot brew out of an old, overused mug scratched inside and out from stirring spoons and endless use.

It was exactly what he'd needed but he hadn't bargained with being quite so captivated by seeing her again. It was really him who was to blame for all the awkwardness. If he hadn't used her so shamelessly, stolen a kiss just to hide his ass, they wouldn't be in this situation now. Maybe sneaking out of the palace wasn't such a good idea after all. It only caused trouble.

Maybe Escaflowne had been right. Not that he'd ever admit that of course. Not out loud, at least. Van finally and carefully retrieved his hand and offered the woman another hint of a smile. He hoped it looked genuine enough to convey everything he had just thought about because there wasn't really ever going to be a chance to talk about it again.

Van forced himself to leave but he could still feel the ghost of her touch on the back of his hand when he began to climb the palace steps. Rubbing the tingling spot across his trousers, he shook his head. Why was this bothering him so much though? What exactly was his problem?

Tbc…

A/N: Since this is an AU, I had to establish a lot and I hope it's not confusing so far. I'm pumped for modern high-society Gaea with olden timey influences and hope you are too.

#KOAescaFF #escaflownefanfic #the vision of escaflowne #adultlifeislamerthanadvertised #escaflowne #fanfiction

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coldace24 · 6 years

Text

Twice Arcanum: Prologue

"Another dull night..." She frowned at the thought.

Beneath the sea of stars sprawled across the vast night sky, just by the edge of town, she sat on top of the outer walls, isolated from the presence of townsfolk. Under her wide-brimmed hat, strands of purple hair brushed against her face, and her amethyst eyes reflected the gentle moonlight.

With nothing to rid of her boredom, she closed her eyes and began to listen to the wind. The gentle breeze whispered in her ear, humming a melody of its own. She found herself almost falling into a trance, but was abruptly awoken by the sudden noise of steel clashing against each other. Her gaze turned towards the forest, a few hundred meters away from where she was.

"Hmm, let's see..."

The tattoo under her right eye began to glow, and streaks of purple light appeared, circling around her iris as it enhanced her view range like a telescope. Near the edge of the forest, she could make out three figures locked in combat with each other; one, who was of rather small stature, was holding its own against the other two. She focused her eye, letting it adjust to the darkness, and as it cleared, she realized that what she was looking at was, in fact, a man fighting against two brawny, armored trolls.

A feeling of excitement had filled her, finally managing to find some amusement. She stood up and grabbed her spear, pointing it towards the direction of the ongoing battle. With the help of her right eye, she adjusted her grip and aimed at the trolls. Then, the air around her started to hiss; arcs of purple electricity formed, creating sparks that lashed out everywhere like violent whips. She began accumulating them at the tip of the blade, molding it into pure destructive energy. With a loud crackle, a bolt of lightning shot out, trailing towards the woods. From inside the forest came bellows of pain, after which, there was dead silence.

The streaks of purple light faded, and the arcs of electricity dispersed, leaving bits of static discharges here and there. She gave a quick scan of her surroundings, just to be on the safe side, and with no abnormalities whatsoever, she tidied up her clothes, adjusted her hat, gave her spear a quick twirl, then jumped down the wall.

"Guess this wasn't going to be a dull night after all." She grinned at the thought as she started running towards the forest.

° ° °

He knew it was a bad idea, but he didn't realize it was THIS BAD of an idea. Leaving the town at night was his only choice, he couldn't tell his little sister he was taking on such a dangerous job; she'd definitely get mad at him, and he'd never hear the end of it.

So then there he was, in the middle of the night, running away from two trolls who seemed like they had won the title of "World Muscle Contender" in whatever troll muscle building competition they had. Plus, they had chunks of metal strapped around their chests, not very fashionable, but hey, it did a pretty good job of making them harder to kill. So he decided: the quest was done for, no way was he risking his life to go against such unfair monsters. Definitely a good time to run.

With his well-thought-out escape plan he'd only formed minutes ago, he thought for sure he'd lose them after scurrying around all over the place, but somehow, at every twist and turn he had made, the two consistently followed, as if they had a leash on him.

It was only a matter of time before he ran out of energy; luckily, he had reached the edge of the forest. If he could just make it out past the trees, surely the trolls would stop following him; they never really did like leaving their forest, and for whatever reason that was, it wasn't really any of his concern. With all the energy he had left, he dashed towards the clearing. Unfortunately for him, one of the trolls jumped out from behind a tree and blocked his way, making him skid to a stop.

"This...was truly a bad idea." He grumbled as he gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist. He didn't want to fight; firstly, because he wasn't as good with the sword as he'd like to think; and secondly, there were two huge enemies, and fighting them with a puny metal stick when they have rows of abs and steel platings was just plain unfair. As he was trying to determine his next move, the second of the two trolls jumped out behind him. Surprised as he was, he pulled out the sword and swung to the back. The steel blade grazed across the metal plate's surface, unleashing a loud, screeching noise, but leaving little to no visible scratches.

There was an unusual pause, then came a grunt. Or was it a laugh? Whatever it was, one thing stayed true; the troll had ridiculed his sorry excuse for a strike. A sweatdrop fell from his forehead down to his cheek, and again, he thought of just how truly a bad idea this all was.

Slowly, the troll raised its oversized club, and in the next moments, it was swinging down towards him. The club hit the ground hard, and dirt flew everywhere. Good thing he was able to roll aside fast enough, otherwise, it would have been his guts flying everywhere instead of dirt. But he didn't have time to be thankful, as the other troll, the one who had blocked his path, began swinging around its club too.

The only thing he could do was dodge the incoming flurry of swings; sometimes hiding behind a tree, other times sliding between the two and getting them to hit each other, but it wasn't working. They were just too hard, even their own attacks bounced off at the combination of metal and muscle.

Things seemed pretty bad; he was out of breath, and his body ached; the trolls didn't give him any chance to rest either. Fortunately, not all hope was lost; he had saved his trump card for last, and he knew it was time to use it. Sheathing back his sword, he put a bit of distance between himself and the two trolls, and out from the small pouch on his side, he pulled out a crystal; a roughly cut ruby about the size of a coin, and held it firmly on his hand.

The two trolls walked slowly towards him, both raising their clubs and looking rather annoyed. Just as they were a few meters away, he held the crystal towards them, but before he could do anything, a flash of purple light appeared and his vision turned white. He covered his eyes with his arm, not knowing what had happened; all he could hear was a high-pitched hissing, drowning out the unrecognizable screams. Soon, the discordant noise stopped, and the light faded; what followed after were two hard thumps to the ground.

".....Am I...dead?" He reluctantly asked as he peeked under his arm.

° ° °

".....Hello...? Are you still alive...?"

The trolls had turned into two crisp-burnt corpses laying motionless on the ground, but just to be on the safe side, he started poking at them with his sword; thankfully, there was no response. Somewhere along the blackened mass in front of him, something had glinted, and digging through, he managed to find a golden locket; one that was fancy-looking enough for a noble to wear, though now it was covered in soot. He held it up against the moonlight, its surface revealing an intricate design somehow resembling a familiar insignia.

"That looks like it'd sell for a lot." Someone suddenly called out from behind him; the energetic voice of a female.

As he turned to look, he found himself face-to-face with a girl; her round, amethyst eyes staring straight at him. She was close to his face, perhaps too close, and that made him unconsciously take a step back.

"It would definitely sell for a lot, but I need it for something else." His gaze turned towards the corpses.

"Were you the one who did that?" He asked as he pointed.

"Mhmm." Her eyes scanned him from top to bottom as she slowly walked backwards.

"You...look like a noble." She said, sounding somewhat displeased; perhaps she wasn't fond of nobles.

As much as denying it would probably have been better, with the way he was dressed: a dark emerald vest over his white dress shirt, dark slacks, boots, and leather gloves; it was fairly hard to.

"Well...yeah, I am...kind of."

He placed the locket inside his pouch while giving the girl a quick, inspecting glance. There was one way to describe the girl, he figured, and it was very much associated to the color purple; her hair was purple, her clothes were purple, heck even her eyes were purple. Well, at least her hat's beige...although it does have a purple accent.

"So tell me, why is a noble like you dancing around with these two muscle-heads?" She started poking the corpses with her spear. "Not to mention in their forest. Oh, and in the middle of the night too, might I add."

"...A quest." He replied as he started to fix his soot-covered, brown hair.

"Quest?" She sounded surprised. "Why would a noble be on a quest?"

"I need money."

"A noble...looking for money..?" She laughed, as if that was the funniest thing she'd heard the whole day. As much as he hated it, he expected at least that much of a reaction; a noble trying to earn money through quests was practically unheard of after all.

"Look, I'm going back to the guild to get my reward. If you don't need anything else, I'll be on my way now." He started to walk towards town, feeling a bit irritated.

"Hey, can I at least expect some form of thanks?" She asked, sounding a bit playful. He stopped in his tracks, letting out a sigh as he turned around.

"...What do you want?" His tone sounded monotonous as he asked. She pranced towards him, humming an unfamiliar tune with a mischievous grin on her face.

"A couple of drinks over at the tavern will do." She said with a wide smile and a pat to his back.

° ° °

"I'm Kaleina, by the way. Nice to meet you uh..." She introduced herself, hand extended, as they sat at the local tavern. It was only under the lamp's light that he had noticed her long, pointed ears.

"Cleras. A pleasure." He replied, reaching for a handshake. "Are you an elf?"

Her eyebrows furrowed at the question. "Isn't that kind of obvious? I mean, you know, the ears and all."

"Yeah...well you know, just to make sure." He shrugged. "It's not everyday I get to see an elf. Much less talk to one."

"You make it sound like I'm some sort of exotic animal." She grumbled. Even though she meant it as a joke, he knew it was somehow true; elves were quite rare in human settlements, so being one was definitely attracting attention.

"Anyway, I give you my thanks for actually agreeing." She motioned to the drinks on the table. He sighed, raising his hands up, as if surrendering to her demand.

"Well, you did help me with the quest. Although I'm pretty sure I could have handled it fine by myself."

"Hah! If I wasn't there, you would've been crushed to a pulp." She grinned as she downed a glass of ale. "Speaking of which, how much did you get?"

"What do you mean?"

"Money! I'm talking about money, Cleras! How much did you get?"

"Oh. Just a little bit, I guess." His gaze shifted to the side.

"...How much, exactly?"

"Uhh....three thousand pliones...?"

She stood up and slammed the table, moving towards his face as close as possible then grabbing him by the collar.

"Three thousand?! For those two knuckleheads?!" Her eyes widened. "I could spend the whole week stuffing myself with that much! Unbelievable!"

"H-hey, I had a hard time dealing with them, so they should be worth at least that much." He pulled his face away, just to get a little more distance between their noses. "But I guess it is kind of odd. I mean, the quest details said I'd get a thousand."

"Tripled?! Why?!" Her eye started to unconsciously twitch.

"S-Some girl was at the guild. They said she was the client, so I gave her the locket. Turns out she was the daughter of a noble."

"And?"

"When I gave it to her, she asked the guild to put in a little extra for my reward, and gave me two grand."

"So the extra was from her?"

"Y-yeah."

"Tsk, figures." She remarked as she let go of him and went back to her seat, looking a bit irritated. "You sure are lucky, getting saved by me and getting extra on your pay."

"W-Well, yeah, I'm grateful for that."

"Guess that means I can order a few extra glasses, eh?" She had a mischievous smile on her face.

"Actually, no. I need the extra. I'm trying to save up for something."

"Meh, cheapskate." She pouted. "For a noble, you sure care a lot about money."

"I have my own problems, you know. Problems that require money to be solved." His expression turned serious for a moment, then returned to normal as he watched a bored-looking Kaleina trying to muse herself with ale. "But well, I guess it can't hurt to spend a little more than usual. Don't order what you can't finish, alright?"

"Yes!" She smiled then turned towards the counter. "Hey! Bring us your best batch of ale over here!"

° ° °

"You're not going home?" She asked, a bit surprised. They were done drinking for the night, and as dawn was to come in a few hours, they decided it was time to hit the hay.

"I snuck out to do the quest, and right now I'm too tired to even walk back home, much less sneak back in."

"So what's your plan?"

"I think I'll spend the night here at the tavern. You?"

"Same." She burped as she replied. "Ugh, I think I drank too much."

° ° °

"Are you sure you didn't plan this?" Kaleina asked with a look of doubt on her flushed face. They were inside one of the rooms at the tavern; cozy enough for a single night's rest, but what caught their attention was the room's single, large bed.

"I swear, I didn't!" Cleras held his hands up in surrender. "They said they were fully booked tonight, and this was the only room available."

She stared at him for quite a while, then decided it was pointless to argue. Upon reaching the bedside, she started to take off her clothes, leaving only her strapless bralette and her miniscule skirt on.

"HEY HEY HEY, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Cleras shouted at her irresponsible action.

"What? You can't expect me to sleep with all my clothes on." She argued as she climbed onto the bed.

"But I'll be sleeping beside you!"

"I don't care."

He bit back his lip. Surely this girl was not serious, he thought. He stood there for a few moments, unable to decide whether or not to go along with her idea.

"Oho. Don't tell me...are you inexperienced with these kinds of things?" She asked with a wide, mischievous smile on her face. He could do nothing but swallow, unable to give out any form of response.

Kaleina stood up, pulling the blanket along as she slowly walked towards him. Now only inches apart, her hand reached out to his face, gently resting her palm against his cheek. Their eyes locked, and with a warm smile, she gave him the most seductive gaze.

"Am I not good enough...?" She asked him with a sweet, tender voice. Her lips seemed so lush, like plump peaches ripe for the taking; it took everything he had just to stop himself from taking them for his own. The young man forcefully closed his eyes, trembling with nervousness at the possibility of where it all might lead to. Then, from Kaleina suddenly came a laugh. He opened his eyes only to find her wiping away tears from her eyes as she tried to contain her laughter.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't think you'd be that nervous." She apologized, finally managing to catch her breath after laughing so much. The distraught noble glared at her, clearly irritated at her display.

"Look, Cleras. I don't really mind if we sleep together in a single bed." She said as she let out a sigh. "We're just gonna sleep, you'll be fine."

She walked back and climbed up the bed, and in response to her companion's concerns, she wrapped herself with the blanket and rolled over to one side, giving Cleras enough space to lie down. He could only sigh as he walked towards the bed, taking off his vest and boots, and settling down beside the elf. Although his thoughts were still cluttered from all that has happened, his body was undeniably exhausted, and in a matter of minutes, his eyes fell shut, and his vision darkened.

° ° °

Pain shot up from his abdomen, instantly waking him from his sleep. He panicked for a second, thinking he was being attacked, until he saw a pale-skinned leg resting across his stomach. He turned to the elf beside him only to find her out of the blankets, now lying down horizontally across the bed, and still asleep.

He pushed Kaleina's leg away as he tried to get out of the bed, somehow managing to wriggle out from under her limbs. As quietly as he could, he put on his vest and boots and slowly walked towards the door. A few feet away and a sudden thud stopped him in his tracks.

"I-I'M AWAKE!!!" Kaleina shouted, her eyes only half open. She had fallen off the bed, and was now staring into space, looking a bit dazed. He tried to keep on walking, hoping she had not noticed him yet.

"Oh, Cleras...it's you. Where are you off to so early in the morning?" She asked as she rubbed the sleepiness off her eyes.

"Um...home...?"

"Oh riiiight." She stood up and yawned, stretching out to get rid of the numbness in her body. He smiled at her, then turned towards the door, finally managing to reach and open it.

"Wait!" Kaleina demanded as she hurriedly put her clothes on. "I'm coming with you!"

His eyes widened at her statement; his face full of discontent and disbelief. She locked her arms around his, and smiled at him, enjoying the thought of tagging along. Cleras sighed, once again unable to escape from Kaleina's crazy whims.

° ° °

"Tell me, why are you coming along again?" Cleras asked as he and Kaleina walked through the streets of Bowfort City, following the road towards his house.

"Cause I'm bored." She said proudly with a smile. "Besides, I get free breakfast if I go there, right?"

"Look, my place isn't some sort of charity where you get free food, okay?"

"Oh come on, I'm a guest. There should at least be food for the guest, right?"

"Don't you find it weird? Look, we only met yesterday, so I don't think we're well acquainted enough to be house visiting."

"Oh, but we ARE aquainted enough. I mean, we did sleep together last night." She said as she gave Cleras a wink.

"And sleep was ALL we did! Nothing else!" His voice raised a bit.

Kaleina smiled as she ignored his statement, finding amusement in playing with her spear instead. The poor noble could only press his palm against his face in discontent.

The previous mention of the word "sleep" caught his attention, only realizing something was off after the brief silence where he had time to think.

"Say, Kaleina..." He started to ask her. "you went to sleep last night, right...?"

"Yeah...?" She answered, sounding a bit suspicious. "....Did you do something to me?"

"No, of course not." He refuted. "Look, I was just wondering... I thought elves didn't sleep. Don't you, like, meditate or something?"

"...Oh." Her eyebrows furrowed a bit, then after an unusual pause, she continued. "Well, the right term for that is trance, actually. And yeah, they do that instead of sleep."

"They..? You don't...?"

"Nope." She moved her hands behind her back. "I like sleeping better than trance."

"Why?"

"Cause I get to dream when I'm sleeping, and that has to be the best part about it." She smiled as she talked. For a moment, her expression seemed full of sentiment, as if reminiscing something from the past.

"Why do you ask?" She followed up.

"Well, I've read some things about elves before, and well, you know, things just didn't add up and I started wondering."

"...Hmm. You're surprisingly knowledgable, huh, Cleras."

"...You make it sound like I was dimwitted before I asked." He turned to her only to find her sneaking a chuckle.

° ° °

"Okay, so here's how I'll explain things." Said Cleras as he stopped in front of the gates to the manor and turned around to face her. "I woke up early to walk around town, only to bump into you, an old aquaintance of mine, and being the good man that I am, I asked you to join me for breakfast, alright?"

"Mhmm."

"Okay, good." He turned back and gave the gates a push. The black, iron bars swung open, and the two followed a path of grove that lead them to a mansion; one not as big as what Kaleina had in mind, but big enough to be called a manor.

Cleras knocked on the large, oakwood double-doors; the echoes resounding within their vicinity. From inside, Kaleina could hear faint footsteps approaching, though Cleras didn't seem to notice; apparently, elven ears were more sensitive.

"Who is it?" A feminine voice asked from the other side of the door.

"It's me, Cleras."

The doors slowly opened, swinging inside with a mild creak. As the manor's interior came into view, in front of them stood a young woman, most likely a maid as suggested by the clothes she wore, with brownish hair and hazel-colored eyes. She curtseyed and smiled as she gave them her greetings.

"Welcome back, young master." She said, sounding formal yet also relaxed.

"Thanks, Amilya." Cleras replied. The maid's eyes turned towards the purple-haired elf, then back to him.

"She's Kaleina, an old friend I ran into on my morning stroll." He quickly stated as he getured towards Kaleina. "I invited her over for breakfast."

"Hi." Kaleina waved at the maid in response to Cleras's introduction.

"Welcome, Miss Kaleina." Amilya smiled at her, then gestured for the two to enter. She led the way with Cleras and Kaleina following behind her as they made their way towards the dining room. It was among the many doors found at the hallway; a wide room with a long table in the middle, able to cater at least twenty people. Amilya opened the door and ushered the two to their seats, with Cleras sitting at the head of the table, and Kaleina sitting just beside him.

"You've become quite the man, spending the night with such a pretty girl." The maid stopped to lean beside Cleras, whispering in his ear as she served his tea. "Not to mention, she's an elf too."

"W-what? No!" He stuttered. "I told you, we just happened to run into each other during my morning stroll."

"Oh, please. I know you snuck out last night." She said with a smug look on her face. "And I can only infer that you spent the night together with Miss Kaleina, whom you came back with this morning. Isn't that right, Master Cleras?"

From beside Cleras came a laugh; Kaleina had been quietly listening to their conversation and couldn't resist laughing as she heard Amilya's statement. The two stared at the elf as she sipped her cup of tea, unbeknownst to them that elven ears could hear their whispers.

"Look, Amilya. Nothing happened between her and me, okay?" Cleras turned back to Amilya and continued to whisper; his eyebrows furrowed as he spoke. "I snuck out to do a quest, and I just happened to bump into her. I have no idea why she's following me around either."

"I think I know why." She grinned. "But well, I'll just leave it at that. Prying too much would be rude after all."

A sigh of relief came from Cleras, having much appreciated Amilya's decision to stop prying, although leaving her to her own imagination might not be so good either. In the next few minutes, Amilya along with other maids had served them breakfast; creamy stew coupled with loaves of bread, some cooked eggs and slices of meat, and a new batch of warm tea; upon finishing their duties, they left the room, with Amilya giving Cleras a mischievous wink as she closed the door. Kaleina's eyes shone as the appetizing food sat in front of her; the enticing scent giving her nose a tickle. Though she had expected nobles to eat in luxury, being able to experience it herself was something new. She turned to Cleras, as if asking for confirmation if she could start eating, which in turn made Cleras laugh. He nodded, gesturing for her to take the food, and without hesitation, she grabbed her utensils and started digging in.

"Do you always eat this much for breakfast?" Kaleina asked.

"No, actually. I think most of these were prepared for you. I mean, technically, you are a guest."

"Well if that's the case, then I'm not holding back." She grinned as she started stuffing herself with every food on the table. Cleras calmly sipped his tea, observing the elf quietly, when she stopped and turned towards him again.

"I've been wondering...what's this bitter stuff?" She asked as she pointed to the cup of tea beside her.

"It's tea." Cleras replied.

"Tea...? Sure tastes weird." She took another sip at it, her lips curving into a small smile as she set the cup down. "But well, I guess it is pretty nice too."

The young noble couldn't help but smile. As much as he found this elf to be quite vexing, he's also been intrigued by her, wondering how she was so different from what he's read about elves. She was far from graceful, and neither was she calm and collected. The more he thought about it, the more confused he got, coming to notice that this elf beside him seemed more like one of the rowdy humans rather than the said dignified elves. Suddenly, the doors to the room opened, and Amilya entered, somehow walking a bit faster than usual, then stopping to lean towards Cleras's ear.

"Miss Emeraude is awake." She whispered. "I've told her you are having breakfast with a guest, but she wishes to talk to you."

Kaleina's ear twitched as she listened in on their conversation once again. The name Amilya had mentioned intrigued her, but she proceeded to eat quietly, as if not aware of what they were talking about.

"I see." Cleras replied. "Have you prepared her breakfast?"

"Of course."

"That's good." The young noble finished his food and stood up. "I'll bring it to her then."

"As you wish."

He nodded to the elf, excusing himself from the table as he walked away and left the room, leaving Amilya and Kaleina with each other in awkward silence. The maid stood at the side of the room, her gaze upon the elven girl enjoying her meal.

"Who's Miss Emeraude?" Kaleina suddenly asked, her purple eyes now staring at the young maid. Amilya was surprised, unsure of how the elf had learned the name. Perhaps she overheard their conversation, she thought, but surely she whispered as quietly as she could. She was silent for a bit, still in wonder as Kaleina waited for her answer.

"...She's...the master's younger sister." She finally replied.

"Sister, huh?" Kaleina took a bite off a slice of bread. "Does she not want to eat with me?"

"Oh no, it's not like that." She shook her head. "Miss Emeraude is...her health isn't very good, so she stays in her bed most of the time."

"Well that's good. Wait, no, I mean...not that kind of good, but...uhhh, you know what I mean."

The maid chuckled at the elf's awkwardness, to whom in turn she started off a casual conversation with. As their talk went on, there came loud knocks on the front door. The two women stopped mid-conversation and stared at each other, then, Amilya curtseyed and headed off to check.

° ° °

Cleras stopped in front of the door, his hands holding the sides of the silver tray with breakfast for his sister. He took a deep breath, then balanced the tray on one hand and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A frail voice asked from the other side.

"It's Cleras. I brought you breakfast."

"Brother!" She exclaimed. "Of course, do come in."

He opened the door with his free hand, swinging it inside to reveal a bright, sunlit room; the windows were fully opened, and a gentle breeze swept in. On one side was Emeraude, slowly sitting up on her bed with a smile on her face; her silver hair was combed neatly, and her blue eyes greeted him with frail cheerfulness. She wore her favorite pink pajamas, ones riddled with designs of flowers that Cleras had given to her as a gift for her birthday.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as he sat beside Emeraude, gently setting the tray down on her lap.

"Quite well, dear brother." She gave a bright smile. "Forgive me for selfishly asking you to see me when you have a guest."

"It's alright." He gave her head a soft pat. "I wanted to see my lovely, little sister as soon as possible anyway."

She smiled at her doting brother's words, feeling assured as she started to eat her breakfast. He loved his little sister, and he didn't want her to worry, for it was that sweet, innocent smile that Cleras wanted to protect, and that was why it was necessary to keep his side-job a secret.

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Amilya entered the room with a brief greeting, then ushered in an old woman in white robes and spectacles.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." The old lady said with a humble smile.

"No, of course not. It's good to see you, Doctor." Cleras replied. "You're here for my sister's check-up?"

"Yes, I am." She placed her suitcase on a nearby table and opened it, taking out her tools before getting to work. "I believe I might have figured things out, but I need to be sure."

"I see."

"Um, I hope you don't mind, young lad but could you..." The doctor started to say.

"Ah, yes, of course." Cleras replied as he stood up and headed for the door together with Amilya, slowly closing it behind them.

° ° °

"Worried?" Asked the maid as she and Cleras patiently waited outside the room.

"Honestly? Yes." His eyebrows furrowed upon replying.

"It's going to be fine, Cleras." She placed her hand over his shoulder. "You've done so much to help. Even going as far as taking on dangerous quests to pay for her recovery."

"I just hope it wasn't all for nothing." Anxiety showed on his face, fearing what might become of his treasured sibling.

Moments later, the creaking sound of the door as it slowly opened made their heads turn. The doctor poked half her body out and gestured for them to enter. Cleras turned a quick glance at Amilya, to which she returned with a smile then proceeded inside.

"How is she, Doctor?" Cleras asked as he entered the room and sat beside Emeraude, giving her a soft pat on the head.

"I'm afraid my intuition was right." The doctor said with a sigh as she sat down on the foot of the bed.

There was a brief silence, followed by uneasy glances between Cleras and Amilya. The old lady held out her hand, sitting on top of it was a Stethosphere, a chunk of clear crystal, smooth and round in shape, that helps doctors in detecting and diagnosing illnesses. She handed it over to Emeraude, gently nodding as the little girl held it between her hands.

"Now dear, if you don't mind..." She raised her hand towards the orb, and soon after, it started to glow a gentle azure, the color of her mana. "Your turn, dear."

The azure was joined by a fickle streak of silver, and soon they were intertwined, swirling together, but never really mixing. For a while there was harmony between the colors, then the silver light started increasing in volume, flowing out erratically and unpredictably.

Crack!

The doctor quickly pulled the orb out of her hands, shutting off the lights that illuminated the room a little while ago. Emeraude was breathing heavily, much to her brother's dismay, who seemed nervous and panicked as he wiped the sweat across her face.

"Doc, what the heck was that!?" His voiced raised quite a bit, as the worry destroyed his usual calm demeanor.

"That, young man, was an overflow of mana." The old lady replied with a grim expression. "A common symptom, but on a grander scale. So far greater than I've ever seen."

She held up the Stethosphere, on its surface was a large crack, spanning across half its side. Cleras's eyes widened, shocked because of the outcome, and because he realized he had to pay for the now broken tool.

"I've never come across something so bizarre. The flow of mana from her is unnatural, like it's leaking out of her body in different places. Then, when it finds a stable outlet, it blasts full on like a water out of a hose." She stood and walked towards her bag, taking out a weathered book amongst its many pockets then returned to her seat.

"Fortunately, this book holds records of it." She turns it by a few pages, then hands it over to Cleras.

".....Ephysma...?" He read aloud the word in bold letters. "...a rare illness akin to a curse that disrupts the flow of mana inside a living being, causing it to leak in great amounts..."

A curse? His eyes darted towards Emeraude, then back to the book, sweat dropping across his face.

"...symptoms include leaking of mana, lack of stamina, and disheveled breathing." The lump forming in his throat made it harder to speak, but he continued on reading.

"Only three cases have been encountered so far, the initial two concluding with complete depletion of mana, thus leading to...death..." The words rung in his head, air almost leaving the entirety of his lungs. His excessive sweating and pale face caught the attention of his sister, who, even as she heard of her condition, was more worried of her brother.

"Big brother...are you alright?" She asked as she held his arm.

"I-I'm....fine..." He spoke in-between gasps of air. After regaining his normal breathing pattern, he continued.

"...fortunately, the third case concluded with successful recovery." His eyes lit up as he subsequently read, a small glint of hope adding color to his expression.

"The treatment was successfully carried out through regaining lost mana via potions, and with the consumption of a brewed concoction..." A huge sigh escaped his lips, thankful that there was at least a known solution.

"Don't stop yet, young man." The old lady had her eyebrows furrowed as she urged him to continue.

"... a brewed concoction, made by... brewing Alcea Rosa in tonic. The only difficulty in procurement of said cure was that Alcea Rosa is an extremely rare herb, known to grow wild in the plains of Lithania..." His voice trailed off at the mention of the word. The Kingdom of Lithania, kingdom of the elves, far off to the west across the land, far from the borders of their own kingdom. Needless to say, no human was allowed entry lest they be emissaries of the throne. What's more, they barely had enough money to send someone on such a long way. The journey itself would take a few weeks at least, and there was no guarantee they'd be able to reason their way inside the gates, much less get access to an extremely rare herb.

There was silence in the room, the unease settling slowly with each quiet breath. No one wanted to say anything, no one wanted to break the ice, or at least no one in the room, that is.

"I could help you get it." A familiar voice came from behind the door. For a good while, they all glanced at each other, before Cleras finally approached and swung it open, staring face-to-face with the purple-haired elf and her mischievous grin.

"Kaleina...why are you here?" His eyebrows furrowed at the sight of the elf, positively bothered by her action. Ignoring his inquiry, she walked past him, heading straight into the room where everyone was, struting playfully with a smile on her face.

° ° °

"Emeraude, Doc, this is Kaleina. She's... an aquaintance of mine." Cleras introduced the young elf to his sister and the old doctor.

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Kaleina." The awe in the little girl's tone was evident. "It's my first time meeting an elf. You look very pretty."

"Thank you." She smiled. "It's nice to meet you too. Oh, and of course you too, Doc."

"How long were you out there?" Cleras had a dubious look on his face.

"Oh, quite a while actually. I kind of heard everything."

"It's rude to eavesdrop, you know." The irritation in his tone was prominent.

"It's also rude to leave your guest all alone." She retorted with a smug look on her face, much to the noble's dismay.

"I'd like to offer you my services." She turned towards Emeraude, performing a little curtsey with her skirt tails.

"What do you mean, Miss Kaleina?" Emeraude's eyes were glued to Kaleina's ears, perhaps still amazed at the sight of an elf's long and pointy instruments of hearing.

"Seeing as the place you wish to go is located in elven territory, I'm sure I could be of help in securing a way inside the kingdom...I think." She gives Cleras a pat on the back. "Me and Cleras could go to Lithania and get that whatcha-call-it for you."

"Wait, I thought you were offering YOUR services? Why am I coming too?" He exclaimed, surprised yet again by Kaleina's remarks.

"Come on, Cleras...would you really just leave this to me, on my own?" Her brow was cocked as she asked, daring him to say yes. "...especially when it's so important?"

Her eyes darted towards the young lady, flashing a smile as their gazes met.

"Well, no...but I can't just leave my sister." He was anxious, even more so now that he understood the depths of his sister's illness.

"I'm gonna need your help if you want this to work. Traveling solo is never a good thing, not with these kinds of situations." She shook her head, her eyes locked onto his.

Cleras couldn't answer; there was too much at stake, and too little reassurance. How can she expect him to completely trust her just like that? They've only known each other for a day, literally.

In the midst of the brief silence, Emeraude breathed out a heavy sigh. She turned towards her brother, eyes filled with worry, but steeled with courage.

"She's right, Brother. You can't just let a lady go to such dangerous places alone." She crossed her arms, trying to appear angry, but her expression betrayed her. "And don't worry...I'll be fine. Amilya is still here with me. And doc will be visiting me from time to time, right?"

The old lady nodded, her wrinkled face showing a vibrant smile. "I'll be here to check up on her and make sure she has enough supply of mana."

"...But I-"

"Come now, brother. I've grown up enough to be fine if you're away." She placed her hands on her hips. "I trust you...so come back home safe and sound with that herb. Then, once I'm healed, we can finally travel around together, okay?"

He could only nod at her, unable to look her in the eyes. The shackles that held him back were removed, replaced by the weight of responsibilty and success.

"And Miss Kaleina..." The young girl turned towards the elf, looking straight into her amethyst eyes. "...thank you for lending us your help. My brother...he's a handful and gets into a lot of trouble, but please... take care of him."

"Of course." She smiled.

° ° °

Phwip!

He'd finished packing the things he'd need for the journey; food, a change of clothes, crystals, and a few hundred pliones. Of course, he'd left most of money to make sure the people in the manor would have enough to get by during his absence. He could simply earn some on their way, doing quests at the guilds in passing villages. As he slung the pack behind his back, Kaleina entered the room, waving two of her fingers in the air in greeting.

"Hey." She greeted nonchalantly.

He could only nod, still unsure whether doing this was the right decision. Maybe it would have been best to just hire someone else. Someone more capable. He shook the thought away. Emeraude had trusted him with this, he had to. No way would he leave Emeraude's fate in someone else's hands. But are my hands good enough?

Suddenly, there was a loud snap and pain shot up on his back, the sensation of a hard slap. He turned to the elf beside him, irritation clearly planted on his face.

"There, that's better." She gave him a smile. "No need to sweat over things, we'll be fine."

"...I hope so." A heavy sigh escaped his mouth.

"You know, me and your sister were talking a little while ago, just before I came here. She seems to trust you a lot."

"Yeah...well, we're the only family we have left. Of course we trust each other."

She shook her head, disagreeing to his statement. "I don't think it's simply because of that."

"What do you mean?"

"Hm...well, for one, she knew about you sneaking out at night to do quests." She gave out a hearty chuckle as she spoiled the secret.

"What!? She knew?" His surprise came out louder than expected.

"Mhm. But she never told you or reprimanded you for it, because she knew you were doing it for her."

"..."

"When she knew...she was afraid. She thought 'What if he never comes back?' ....but then you always did." She snapped her fingers as she pointed to him. "Maybe that's why she trusts you so much...because she knows you'll always come back to her."

"..."

"Cleras, are you crying?"

"I'm not. Shut up."

She could only laugh at his cute display of emotion, getting more and more intrigued by this so called "noble". A noble that was stingy, who let a stranger join him for breakfast, a noble...who'd go to great lengths to save his sister. She was perplexed...perhaps her notions of nobles were wrong...perhaps...there was more to it than what she previously thought. She swatted the thought away, just before the dreaded flashes of the past could surface again.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Cleras picking up a bottle filled with sparkling blue liquid, a sweet scent coming off from the small hole on its cap. Perfume? Is he insane???

She grabbed the bottle before he could spray, slamming it down on the table as she glared at the visibly surprised noble.

"Are you insane!?" Her words were coated with disbelief at Cleras's irresponsible action.

"W-what?"

"This is exactly why you were chased around by those trolls!" She pointed to the perfume. "What, you think monsters can't smell you? They'd get a whiff of your scent from a mile away with this!"

"...oh." It finally dawned on him. "So that's why..."

"...now I'm the one having doubts..." Kaleina planted her palm on her face in dismay.

° ° °

"Miss Kaleina." Emeraude had called the elf girl's attention. They stood just outside the mansion doors, with everyone wishing the two good luck on their journey. "Are you sure you need no payment?"

"Nope." She smiled at the young lady. "Let's just say it's a thank you for that delicious breakfast."

"I see. But perhaps you'd like to take something? Perhaps just a little compensation of sorts?" The young lady seemed to insist. Kaleina couldn't help but laugh, realizing how the awkwardness of these siblings are so much alike.

"Well, if we're talking about compensation..." Emeraude's eyes seemed to light up from Kaleina's words. "I already have one. After all...I'll be taking your brother with me."

Kaleina gave her a little wink as she grabbed Cleras by the arm, resting her head on his shoulder. Emeraude froze, her expression still the same, but the light in her eyes had gone dull, the geniune smile now looking forced, plastered on her pale face.

"Th-that's...!!!" she finally managed to speak, although unable to finish her sentence. With a pout, she turned to her brother, her eyes squinting at their display of familiarity.

"Brother, you better keep your hands to yourself!!!" She had her hands on her hips. "If I ever hear about you laying a hand on Miss Kaleina, you'll be very sorry, GOT IT!?"

Cleras was surprised, unsure of what was going on as his attention returned from deep thought. Without hesitation, he nodded vigorously, taking notice of Emeraude's fuming expression. "Y-yes, of course!"

A chorus of laughs came from everyone else, much to the young noble's surprise. As everyone settled down, Amilya approached to whisper in Emeraude's ear, handing her a box around the size of her hand. The young lady smiled, a mix of pride and sadness in her eyes as she took it.

"Brother..." Emeraude approached him, her hands extended with the box on top. "Please, take this along with you."

She opened it, revealing a silver necklace with a cross pendant, on its center was a beautifully cut emerald, resting perfectly between the grooves. His eyes widened at the sight of the jewel.

"It was father's gift to me before he disappeared." The young lady picked it up and placed it on her brother's hand. "I want you to take it."

"Emeraude, I can't."

"Yes, you can." She smiled. "Keep it safe for me...and make sure you come home to bring it back, okay? Safe and sound."

"...alright. I promise." The necklace sat on his chest, tucked inside his shirt where it was perfectly safe. His eyes seemed more determined now, more than ever.

"Take care, you two." Emeraude held back her tears as she waved. "I'll be waiting..."

Waving goodbye, the two finally set off on their journey. The young lady stood there, her silver hair flowing with the soft breeze as she watched their backs grow smaller and smaller, until they were no longer in sight. With hope in her heart, she prayed for their safe journey and sound return.

"Goodbye..."

[Prologue End]

CREDITS:

Kaleina is owned by RiceGnat

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lilyharvord · 6 years

Note

Marecal smut 😈😈

ask and Ye Shall Receive.(; also I’m on a binge listen to that Zack Efron and Zendeya song, so I wrotethe beginning with that in mind. Also this is a continuation of the SweaterWeather ask cause I like the world I built with them there. (: Smut is under the keep reading. I decided to go all in cause why not.

Rewrite the Stars

“You lookbeautiful.”

I glance over my shoulderin surprise. It was a gorgeous spring night in Montfort and I was standing onthe balcony of the government building that was housing the celebratory party.We had made one last ditch attempt to take Archeon a few weeks ago, and we hadsucceeded, but only because of the sacrifices that everyone had made. So now wewere celebrating all the dead men, and women. I wasn’t sure if they would wantus drinking and cheering when they were cold in a watery or dirt grave.

I shift my flute ofchampagne to my other hand as I take him in. He looks thinner, and a littlemore haggard than I remember. I haven’t seen him since that long agowinter day when he had told me he was leaving for the front. He looks the same,only not. He has a thick scar that runs from the top of his brow down thoughhis eye and come to a sharp point halfway down his cheek. It cuts through hiseye, and I can see a splash of silver in that eye, a line that divides thatbeautiful iris of melting ore in half.

I swallow as I take it in,and then biting my lower lip I whisper, “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

He glances down at thedress uniform he wears tonight, and for the first time I look at it as well. Itis strangely barren. No medals, no insignia. He could just be another soldierthat has been invited to the party. No crown either, interesting.

He shrugs at my assessmentand then slowly approaches me like a frightened animal, only to veer to theright slightly and set his own flute of champagne down and lean over to resthis forearms on the balcony railing. I turn with him and look out over thestreets that are lit like a festival. There is cheering and music and every sooften there is a whistle and then a loud explosion as a burst of color paintsthe night sky blue, red, or gold.

“How is Evangeline?” I askinto the silence, and he sighs at my question. Taking the flute he tips it overand lets the honey gold liquid pour out. I watch his expression for an answerthen, but I can’t read him anymore. The scar keeps catching my eye. He sets theflute down on the railing again and replies softly, “She’ll be better withtime. Ptolemus was her brother, regardless of what he has done in thepast.”

I know what he isreferring to, and my lips draw into a tight line at his insinuation. A brotherfor a brother, interesting, she hasn’t spoken to me though. Ptolemus had beenin the same group as me, and I had been the one to see him fall. For a splitsecond in that hallway, I had wished to be the one to take his life, to end theone that ended my brother. “My condolences to her then.” I reply softly,the bitterness in my voice doesn’t come, and for a moment I genuinely feel likeI understand the lone heir of the Samos family. I don’t want to have that feelingever again.

“I’ll relay them to her.”He whispers, and slowly turns his flute over in his hand. It catches the lightof another exploding light show, and I glance up at the sky to watch the showerof gold rain down. “When is the wedding-”

“There won’t be one.” Hereplies before I can add anything else. My brow raises and a chilly breezeblows along the balcony and cuts through the gossamer sleeves of my eveninggown. I shiver, and without a word he slides closer and presses to my side. Thewarmth from him is welcome for the first time in months it seems and withoutthinking I lean into his touch.

We sit in the silence andthen slowly I turn to face him and with a hesitant hand, I reach out and tracemy nail down the scar. He closes his eyes and I hear his breath hitch as mynail catches on a particular spot right above his brow. I trace it though andthen whisper, “No healer?”

He catches my wrist and Itense for a moment before relaxing as he softly strokes the inside of my wristwhere my pulse pounds. He feels that, and glances up at me before rising to hisfull height above me. I inhale as he steps into my defenses andwhispers, “There are some scars that I like to keep. This one,” I guidesmy hand up to it and lets me touch it softly, “is to remind me that I’mnothing on my own.”

“How did you get it?” Iexhale as I run my fingers down his temple to his cheek. He has another scar onhis jaw, and I trace that delicately as well. He closes his eyes at my touchand leans into it. “I went out one morning on my own, took two scouts andleft them behind to go the rest of the way on my own. I ran into a small groupof soldiers pushing the front line. I was stupid, per usual, and instead ofturning around to alert my other scouts, I decided to engage the group.”

“There were more of themthan you thought though.” I finished for him, remembering the report beingmentioned. There had been no casualties, and no reported injuries. Apparentlyhe wanted it to be a secret.

“The healer tried todemand to fix it, I told her that I wanted a reminder of the lesson I’dlearned. My grandmother practically had a hernia when she saw it.” He snortshide his laugh, and shaking his head, pulls away from me. I watch his profilefor a moment, before slowly sliding closer to him again. I lay my cheek on hisshoulder and whisper, “Is that what all the scars on your back are from?”

I feel him shift inconfusion and I whisper, “I saw them, that day that Maven brought me toyour rooms. You were taking off your armor.”

When I glance up at him,he’s looking out over the city, blinking as if trying to remember. His lipscurl up in a small smile as he does and softly he replies, “Yes, Iremember,” his eye drop back down to me and he replies, “yes, I kept thosescars for the same reason.”

Going against all thesense in my mind, I reach up and gently brush his hair away from his foreheadand whisper, “I think this one makes you look mysterious. It adds anotherlayer.”

He snorts to hide hislaugh again, and then presses his forehead to my temple as he whispers, “Comedance with me.”

“I’m horrible at dancingstill, and I haven’t practiced in years.” I reply, prepared to fend him off,but instead, he surprises me for the first time in a long time andwhispers, “No, alone.”

His room is warm, eventhough all the doors and windows are thrown open. I make quick work of hisjacket, undoing the buttons and sliding it off his shoulders before tossing itto the side. His lips are on mine the whole time, hot, demanding. I feed everyone of those emotions, giving him what he wants. His hands slide to the back ofmy dress and find the zipper there. He slides it down, his knuckles trailingalong the track of my spine as he goes. I shiver and arch my body against hisin response to the touch. He groans softly into my mouth and I pant in reply asI begin on the buttons of his undershirt. It ends up on his desk, hangingfrom the lamp there. His belt is next, and he pulls me close as I let it slideout of my hand and onto the floor like a snake slithering down. He slips mydress of my shoulders and I help him slide it down my body as I shimmy out ofit.

He presses burning kisseson my skin as he slowly drops to his knees before me. My dress falls in a poolaround my feet, and I throw my head back and exhale as he traces his lips upthe inside of my thigh. He had gotten good at this, way too good.

He fingers the little goldbuckles on my shoes and undoes them as if they are nothing. Slowly, he lifts myfoot off the floor and removes the shoe before setting it aside delicately likeit’s made of glass. He runs his hands up and down my calves and then does theexact same thing to my other foot.

This is impossiblydifferent from the past. A few months ago, we would have been in a frenzy, twoanimals desperate to feel the brushing of skin against skin as we did a danceas old as time itself. This is softer, this is like silk brushing againstburning skin. His touch is like the kiss of a flame as I run my hand throughthat glowing fire quickly. I want to burn, I think, and I rememberanother day when a storm made me want to burn as well.

He comes back up, pullingmy body closer to his so I can feel his desire in every inch of his body. I runmy hands over burning skin, feeling the scars and muscle and the pound of hisheart. Its been so long since I felt it.

He lifts me off my feet,and I smile as he carries me toward the bed. Now this I remember. How manytimes had he carried me across a small room in Peidmont to lay me down on roughsheets that scraped against my bare skin. No such thing happens as he sets medown on his bed now though. The sheets brush my skin like water and theywhisper as he slides over top of me. I wrap my arms around his neck and pullhim down to my lips. He kisses me for a few heartbeats, before tracing a pathdown to my chest. I grab a fist full of his hair as he brushes his lips downthe dip between my breasts. I arch my back for him in response and he slideshis hands underneath me to undo my underclothes. One arm then the other, hisfingers dance along my skin as he slides it off as well and tosses it somewherein his room.

Cupping my breast softly,he lowers his head to the opposite one and I let out a soft moan as he runs histeeth along sensitive skin, and follows that path with his tongue. My hips buckagainst his, and he growls, the sound reverberating through my chest as well ashe sucks on my nipple. I gasp at the sensation, a dazed smile pulling at mylips as he pulls away and switches sides. I whisper his name breathlessly as hepulls away from my chest and drops kisses down my stomach. His fingers hook thelace of my underwear as he slides it down my legs, his teeth nipping at thesensitive skin of my inner thigh as he goes.

So gentle, I think, sovery gentle. I wonder if he is doing it on purpose, if each touch is supposedto be a signal, a sign of his intentions for whatever the future holds. As I’mdrowning in my own thoughts, he slowly traces his hands up to the back of mythighs and ever so softly lifts me up so that my legs are resting on hisshoulders. I arch my body against the bed as he begins his journey down theinside of my thigh with his lips again before they find a much more sensitivearea.

I groan at the feeling,the sound probably traveling out the open windows and into the garden below us.At least there was no one else in this section of the apartments at this timeof night. Everyone else was still celebrating, the faraway sound of the lightshows is an echo of the beat of my heart in my chest. His breath is hot on mycore, and I inhale sharply through my nose as returns to his ministrationsafter pausing for a breath.

Eventually he lowers meback to the sheets. I grab at his pants and pull him close, and heaving forbreath, whisper, “These, I want these gone.”

His lips curl up in asmile as he whispers, “Are you sure?”

My eyes narrow and toemphasize my point, I tug him a little closer and begin to undo them. Hechuckles breathlessly at my rush and then pulls away to do it himself. I watchas he strips in the moonlight, his pale skin seeming to glow like marble. Itrace my fingers down his chest, like shadows reaching across snow. I drop myhand between us, and he hisses at the feeling, before burying his face in myneck and murmuring my name as he pressing nipping kisses below my jaw. I tiltmy head back to give him more access and smirk as he continues to whisper tome, urging me on.

His voice is hoarse nearmy ear as he grabs my earlobe with his teeth and tugs softly. I groan at thesensation, at the thing that he knows undoes me within seconds. I crane myneck, pulling my ear away from him, and slowly nudge him over. He rolls withease, normally he puts up a fight about it, but this time, he lets me slide ontop without a word. I straddle him, and heaving for breath, I bend down togather his face and kiss him. I slide down softly, and he brushes against mycore, drawing a long moan out of me. When I try to inch down, to find what mybody craves desperately in that moment, but he grabs my hips and keeps me rightwhere I am. His teeth catch my lip and he murmurs, “Not yet, not yet, I want todo this a little longer.”

“I need this though,” Ireply breathlessly, “I need this now.”

He holds me in placethough, and slows the kiss, lowers the temperature of his body, and in responseto that, I shift my body to brush against him again. He hisses at the feelingand his hands let go of my hips. I trail kisses down his chest as I slowly letmy hips slide down. He grabs my hips again, but instead of stopping me again,he helps guide me.

I groan the moment hefills me, and my lips curl up in a pleased grin as I close my eyes and brace myhands on his chest. He traces the outsides of my legs, his fingers like littleembers as he goes. I spurns me on, and I roll my hips against his, and he giveshis reply in the form of a groan with my name mixed in. The knot in my stomachtightens and I dig my nails into his chest as he slowly begins to set a pacewith me.

We click faster thanusual. Normally it takes us a few minutes to get a pace that we both agreewith, this time though, there is no fight. It is a slow, gentle, rocking thatmatches the hesitancy we both feel.

Without warning, he propshimself up so that he’s sitting, and pulling me against him he presses kissesagainst my jaw again and whispers, “I never stopped-I never stopped loving you,ever.”

I’m not sure what to sayto that, and my head for a moment rebels, warns me about the last time he toldme something like that, what happened afterward. This time is different, I wantto urge, he’s back, he’s not marrying Evangeline, he’s not wearing a crown. Infact, that damn thing is nowhere to be seen. Ask, ask and know the truth beforeyou reply, my mind hisses in protest and I can’t help but listen to it.

I pause for a moment in mymovement and he freezes, the heat of his body dropping drastically as worrycreeps in, that he’s said the wrong thing and I’ll leave now. He hasn’t saidthe wrong thing yet though, but his answer to my question could make me leave, ormake me stay. I swallow as I cup his face and ask in a whisper so soft I canhear the curtains shift across the marble of the room as I speak, “But thereisn’t enough room in your heart for me and the crown. I let myself believe thatonce before, and you burned me with it. How is now any different?”

He tenses and doesn’tspeak. After a few heaving breaths, he lays his forehead on my shoulder, and Iturn my head away from him to look out the window. Another burn, another burn,my mind hisses, and I close my eyes to keep the tears from coming, they burnbehind my eyelids though.

“There’s no crownanymore.” Cal whispers then, his voice soft and hesitant. I grab his face andforce him to look at me again as I slowly disentangle myself from him. He looksso tired in this light, and that scar is like a bolt of lightning across hisface. I shift my hands to cup his face and demand, “What do you mean.”

He doesn’t reply at first,simply pulls his face from my hands and rises from the bed. The only sound Ican hear is our breathing, and the sound of the blankets whispering again as hesifts through them for his pants. He finds them and slowly slips them on beforegoing for his shirt. I watch him with narrowed eyes and then repeat, “What didyou mean, Cal?”

He barely glances at meover his shoulder, but turns back to the desk and grabs his shirt. “The crowngone. This celebration isn’t because the Silvers won the war. Norta is beingabsorbed along with the Lakelands and Peidmont into a new government, theUnited Alliance of Nations. Davidson is working on the name still, it’s aworking title. They’re holding an election next week for an intermittent parliamentof sorts.”

My heart beats faster inmy chest at his confession and I rise from the bed as well. I feel like a ghostas I edge toward him and slowly wrap my arms around him from behind. I reachfor the buttons he’s begun to do again and slowly unbutton them. He tenses butrelaxes as I whisper, “That’s why you were all in that impossibly long meetingtoday.”

“Today was to finalizeeverything. We had already had this planned for a while.” He says as he takesmy hand and plays with my fingers. I slide my hand out of his though and slowlyreach up to remove his shirt again. I draw it off his shoulders and let it fallto the floor again. My lips trace the scars between his shoulders blades and Iwhisper, “You handed over the crown?”

I feel his neck musclestense and relax as he nods. It’s all the encouragement I need to shut my mindup and let my heart take over again. It almost giddily steps back in charge. Ihad forgotten how good it feels to just let logic go, to let my heart rule mydecisions. It feels like I’ve just been locked up for years, and haven’t seenthe light of day in that whole time.

I slide in front of himand push him back toward the bed immediately. His brow raises and I slowly runmy hands up his chest to his shoulders as I purr, “I never liked that crown onyou anyway. It made your head look small.”

He laughs as he slowlysinks back onto the bed and pulls me with him. I straddle him again, and tracethe lines on his chest as I lean forward and trace the scar cutting through hisface with my lips. He exhales softly, and I murmur gentle sweet nothings to himas he slowly lowers us back onto the bed. We curl up under the blanketstogether and I close my eyes and burrow deeper into his warmth, suddenlyneeding it more than anything.

#(*ask lily*)#(*shut up lily*)#red queen #glass sword #kings cage #war storm #marecal #aka when I try to make my ship sail by putting duct tape over a gaping hole #my fanfics

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majornelson · 5 years

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Bigger Than Ever: Gears 5 Limited Edition Xbox One X Console & Accessories Available For Preorder Today

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With Early Access beginning a month from today you don’t have long to wait to get your hands on the biggest Gears ever. To celebrate, we’re excited to announce a suite of custom Gears 5 hardware, including a stunning Limited Edition Xbox One X console and controller; a headset, wireless keyboard and mouse from Razer (for console and PC); and external hard drives from Seagate.

Featuring the Omen submerged in ice and snow, the Xbox One X Gears 5 Limited Edition Bundle ($499) – the first Limited Edition Xbox One X since the Project Scorpio Edition – is designed by The Coalition and the Xbox Industrial Design Team. Available for preorder today at participating retailers worldwide, including Microsoft Store, the Xbox One X Gears 5 Limited Edition console features a never-before-seen dark translucent casing and laser-etched cracks across the console’s icy top surface, with snow drifting across a golden Locust symbol on the back.

This bundle features the limited edition Xbox One X, the Xbox Wireless Controller – Kait Diaz Limited Edition, a full-game download of Gears 5 Ultimate Edition, a full-game download of Gears of War Ultimate Edition, full-game downloads of Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3, and Gears of War 4 (note that Gears 5 and Gears of War 4 are both Xbox Play Anywhere titles, meaning they are yours to play on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PC), and 1-month memberships to Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold along with in-game Ice Kait and the Ice Jack Character Skins. With 40 percent more power than any other console, a library of thousands of games and true 4K gaming, games play better and are more immersive on Xbox One X.

Beyond the ominous Omen insignia of the Xbox One X Gears 5 Limited Edition, the standard edition Xbox One X Gears 5 Bundle ($499) and the Xbox One S Gears 5 Bundle ($299) are also now available for preorder.

For fans looking to add another Limited Edition Xbox Wireless controller to their collection, search no further. Available to be purchased separately is the Xbox Wireless Controller – Kait Diaz Limited Edition ($74.99), featuring a snow-weathered design inspired by Kait’s armor, a textured trigger grip, and rubberized diamond grip. This Xbox Wireless Controller authentically captures the look and feel of classic COG gear. The new controller is compatible with the Xbox One family of devices and includes a 3.5mm stereo headset jack and Bluetooth technology for playing on Windows 10 PCs and tablets. This controller will be available on August 20 and can be pre-ordered today at Microsoft Store and select retailers. It also comes with a bonus in-game Ice Kait Character Skin which will be available for use when the title launches on September 10.

If you want to show off your brand-new Xbox Wireless Controller – Kait Diaz Limited Edition in style, also available is the officially licensed Limited Edition Gears 5 Kait Diaz Xbox Pro Charging Stand ($49.99) from Controller Gear, manufactured with the same high quality and color material as your Xbox Wireless Controller. The stand includes a magnetic contact system to ensure a perfect and secure charge every time, so fans can display and charge their Xbox Wireless Controllers with ease beginning August 27 and available for preorder starting today at GameStop.

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The Gears franchise is famous for its competitive and versatile multiplayer experience, and Gears 5 continues that tradition by offering five thrilling modes. The best multiplayer sessions across these modes call for the best immersive audio experience like the Razer Thresher for Xbox One – Gears 5 Edition wireless headset. With Windows Sonic for virtual surround sound for superior positional audio along with a lag-free wireless connection and digital microphone for crystal clear communication, the Razer Thresher for Xbox One – Gears 5 Edition headset provides a high-quality audio experience, so your game-winning callout to clinch the match with a Gnasher elimination doesn’t go unheard. A bonus in-game item and Lancer weapon skin will also be included within the Gears 5 Edition headset. The Razer Thresher for Xbox One will be available in September, more details come.

PC gamers know that a mouse and keyboard can be the difference between life and death out there on the ravaged landscapes of Sera, and our friends at Razer are here to help with a new Gears 5 inspired keyboard and mouse. That’s where the world’s first wireless keyboard and mouse designed for Xbox One comes in with the Razer Turret for Xbox One – Gears 5 Edition and Razer Thresher for Xbox One – Gears 5 Edition. Get incredible precision on a ten keyless keyboard with an inbuilt mouse mat, paired with a mouse featuring the acclaimed Razer 5G Advanced Optical Sensor. It’s the one-device solution for advanced gaming — on the couch. With a 2.4 GHz Wireless Connection with Adaptive Frequency Technology and a single unified dongle for stable wireless transmission and performance and featuring an Xbox Dynamic Lighting and Razer Chroma

to light up your living space, this keyboard and mouse will ensure you’re well equipped to survive on Sera. A bonus in-game item and Lancer weapon skin will also be included within the Gears 5 Edition headset. The keyboard and mouse will be available in September for $299.99, more details to come.

Last but certainly not least is the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox Gears 5 Special Edition, the perfect collector’s item for the true Gears of War fan. With a 2TB hard drive and USB 3.0 Plug & Play functionality, the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox Gears 5 Special Edition also includes a Lancer weapon skin, Supply Drops for use in Gears 5, and a 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership to play Gears 5 in early access four days early before its September 10 launch. If you need even more space, our friends at GameStop will have a 5TB version of the hard drive as well. With Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (your existing Gold/Game Pass memberships will upgrade to Ultimate at a conversion ratio; see xbox.com/gamepass for more details), get all the benefits you know and love of both Xbox Game Pass (at select retailers) for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC and Xbox Live Gold, including access to over 100 great games for console and PC and the most advanced multiplayer network for $14.99 per month.

Next month, Gears fans will descend upon Sera to help Kait uncover her connection to the enemy and discovers the true danger to Sera – herself, but that doesn’t mean they have to go in alone. With Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, players can squad up four days early (September 6) and play through five thrilling modes and the deepest campaign yet. Preorders begin today at select retailers worldwide, including a Microsoft Store near you and online. For more information on Gears 5, stay tuned to Xbox Wire.

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via Xbox Live's Major Nelson https://ift.tt/2TknmSt

#Xbox Live's Major Nelson

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dreamworksworddump · 7 years

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Altean Lance Pt.2

(Back by popular demand, more cheese.)

https://voltronworddump.tumblr.com/post/159307572544/alteanlance-pt1

Lance was aware of how barbaric the Heir ascension was for the Galra. Only the offspring most worthy (and most favored by the high court) would survive. There were rumors, sure, that some of Zarkon’s kin had escaped before their ascension, but Lance didn’t believe it. This was a tradition too ingrained in Galra culture for something such as that to be believable. There were safeguards and processes, made just to prevent something like that from happening.

That’s why he didn’t even bother telling Lotor to run.

To attempt to leave was to forfeit not just your life, but your existence. Once you lost, you were dead, but people could still say your name in polite company. If you attempted to run, you were never again acknowledged. It was as if you had never existed in the first place. He had no choice but to fight.

Lance didn't care much for the Gladiator fights, even when Lotor wasn’t the one down there. They were bloody and violent and often to the death. Allura hated them. She often felt sick when she watched them, (or at least feigned illness), and their father always indulged in her, and let her stay in the castle. The appearance of at least the King and one of his heirs was required by tradition, and that meant that Lance had no choice but to watch, and even this one, he wasn’t allowed to skip.

Lotor was his friend, one of his closest. They had spent their childhoods sneaking out of diplomatic meetings and stealing cookies from the castle kitchen. He knew about all of the happenings of the high court ( the important stuff, like which Baroness added another to her hareem, or who had kissed who behind the castle's thrusters.) from Lotor, and had grown to depend on his company. Now he had to watch him die by his father’s hand.

OoOoOoO

Lance doesn't like the new red paladin. Keith. Even his name is annoying. It's a harsh word and it doesn't flow on the tongue like a name should. Even the other Paladins have nicer sounding names.

There's something about him that grates on his nerves. Maybe it's how impulsive he is. Just the other day he left Lance and Hunk and Pidge behind to chase after a druid and to try to find what the cargo was. It was a relatively useless venture that didn't yield any useful information, but let the Galra know of their position. Their leader, Shiro, seems very biased to believe that Keith can do no wrong, and he didn’t even recieve a verbal thrashing from Allura (curse her little crush).

Maybe it’s because he’s adjusting so well. The others still feel homesickness, still dream of this ‘Earth', and of the day when this will all be over (he and Allura haven't got the heart to tell them that they will likely not see the end of this war, nor will their children), but not Keith. He seems just fine fighting the Galra, and putting his life on the line for a war that he didn't even know existed until a few months ago. It seems unfair that he’s coping better than Lance is, because this is his war.

Maybe it's because Lance is starting to like him, no matter how hard he’s trying not to.

It's impossible to deny that he’s cute. Keith is slim, but has definition in his muscles; it's a gentler kind of strength than Shiro has (but Allura has always liked the beefy ones), but it's there nonetheless. And his hair, however horribly styled, looks so soft, just like a snofflegroff. While his sister finds the human’s ears to be mildly repulsing, Lance doesn't mind so much. You don’t have to focus on those when you’re getting lost in his eyes instead.

And Lance hates that he keeps getting distracted by him when he found out not even a year prior that his betrothed is dead, that he has been dead for the past ten thousand years, while Lance was sleeping, and unable to do a thing about it.

OoOoOoOoO

Lance keeps dreaming of Lotor, of that day when he fought his own father for the right to live.

King Zarkon was a beast of a man, tall even for Galran standards. He had never been injured in an Ascension ceremony, and over the years had grown cocky for it. He wore no armor, nothing but the simple garments worn underneath so that the metal did not abrade the skin. His only weapon was his strength, and a small dagger, resting unsheathed on his hip. If one hadn’t been there for the past three Ascensions, one might think that Lotor had a chance.

Lance hoped anyways.

Prince Lotor walked into the arena, a blade strapped to his back. His armor shimmered purple, insignias of both Altean and Galran design decorating his chest and shoulders. Warrior. It said in Galran, the lettering harsh and sharp. Prince. It said in Altean, a forbidden title for one not yet ascended. More words, unreadable shimmered between them.

From a shelf below them, Lance can hear two soldiers talking.

“He’s quite tiny, ain’t he?”

“What makes him so different?” He cackles. “Pretty cocky for a spawn who ain’t even led an army yet.”

Lance’s hands clenched, and he opened his mouth, ready to curse them for the drivel that they spew. His father placed his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Watch.”

His father felt calm, not at all anxious like Lance was feeling. The brief contact calmed his heart, and he settled back into his seat. “Father, I don’t want him to die.”

“He won’t.” King Alfor promised, and the fight began.

OoOoOoOoO

“Lance, you and Keith will take on this sector. Try and reconnect with their royal families; if we’re lucky, we might be able to add them to our alliance.” Allura continues scrolling through the starmap to find the next location, as if she didn’t just knowingly send off her little brother with his crush/greatest rival.

“But, Allura-” Lance begins, a whine slowly creeping into his tone.

She offers him a sly half-smile. “I think you and the Red paladin could use some extra bonding time anyways.”

Curse the mice, he thinks as he trudges off to his room. They keep snooping around the castle, digging around to find gossip, now that Allura’s old supplier is gone. Lance doesn’t really mind, no, not unless it’s him who’s being spied on. Lance bets that she wouldn’t have sent him on this stupid mission with Keith if the mice hadn’t told her of his crush. His passing crush. There was no way that he was gonna let this go anywhere. Allura and her matchmaking games be damned.

“You got a problem with me?” Keith says, jogging to cross the distance between them. Lance keeps walking. He's almost to his room. If he can just- “Lance,” Keith grabs Lance’s wrist, as if to pull him into a dance. Lance freezes. “Is something wrong? Did-did I insult you or something?”

Lance yanks his hand away. “Nothing's wrong. I just-” Lance breaks off, unsure if he should just tell him the truth. He decides on a half truth. “I had a bad dream last night. I didn't get all of my required beauty sleep.” He offers Keith an apologetic grin. “Sorry if I took it out on you.”

Keith seems surprised at his response, enough so that he doesn't question Lance any further as he heads to his room to pack.

OoOoOoO

Lance had heard the rumors. Everyone had. Prince Lotor was a half-breed, and of two royal families no less. It was undeniable in the color of his hair, pale white, like moonlight, and the markings under his eyes. No one really knew who his mother was, not for sure, but they had a guess.

She was unmarried, as true to Altean tradition when one is blessed with magic. Her position allowed her to travel with the royal family, or as to other royals as she pleased. It wasn't unknown that she favored King Zarkon’s castle as her favorite homestead.

As Lotor’s blade cut through his father’s arm, it all connected. The unreadable sigils on his armor, the quickness of his blade. His mother ensured that he would win by way of magic. He bets that if he were close enough, Lance would be able to smell it on him.

The crowd went silent.

No one has ever won against King Zarkon. No one knows what to expect.

Zarkon straightened up, a proud smile displaying his sharpened fangs. He grabbed Lotor’s wrist, and held it up for all to see. “Prince Lotor has ascended!” He roared, and the crowd screamed back.

Prince Lotor was now first in line to the throne.

Lance pretended not to care that Allura will ascend and that he will likely never be more than a Prince.

OoOoOoO

The meeting is still several hours away, and Lance is bored beyond all belief. Keith wants to leave their quarters to explore (he probably wants to find the training room. He practically lives there on their ship.), but it's incredibly rude to the Parvati culture to ignore such a simple request. There's almost nothing in the room besides them, a bed, and a mirror, and even Lance can only look at his reflection for so long. That leaves only Keith to distract him.

“Can you tell me about Earth?” Lance says as Keith paces around the room again. He swears that he can see the path he’s made imprinted into the carpet.

Keith looks up, and meets Lance’s gaze. For a moment, it's unclear if he was even heard, and then the tenseness leaves his body, and he crosses the room to join Lance on the overly plush bed. “What do you want to know? I can't tell you much. I-I’m not that good at describing stuff.”

Lance is sure that he can describe adequately; it's likely that the prospect of choosing a single thing to describe is too daunting. While Lance is curious about his family, it is a touchy subject and one that be wouldn't feel comfortable talking about. He settles on something more general. “Tell me about your home.”

Keith’s mouth upturns in a quiet smile. “I lived in the desert. Orange sand and cactuses everywhere.” He glances up at Lance. He supposes that his face reveals his confusion at what ‘cactuses' are. “They’re these spiny plants that hoard water in their husks, normally green in color. I lived with my dad in this little wooden house, more like a shack really. It wasn't much. Maybe half the size of the training deck, but it was home.”

His tone is wistful, and Lance realizes that this is the first time that he's sounded homesick. Keith looks up and Lance realizes that he's been staring. “What about you?”

Lance knows that the answer to this question should be simple, but it's not. The Castle of lions is where he spent his time between diplomatic meetings and Galas and various other events. It's where his family lived. But it's not his home. “The city of Trisecta. It was this neutral city where we often met with other royal families. Our castle was right next to-” Lance cuts himself off. The Paladins know little to nothing about what the universe was like before Zarkon. Allura says that allowing them to know of their relations with the Galra could cause them to not be trusted; fraternizing with the enemy is bad for morale, even if it occurred thousands of years ago. “This other royal family and I spent most of my vacation time there, with their son, Lotor.” Lance hopes that his small lie doesn’t disrupt his description too much, and if it does, Keith doesn’t let on. “If it’s still around, maybe we could visit.”

“It’s probably been taken over by the Galra already.”

“Then we can free it.” Lance says stubbornly.

The moment has passed, and they go back to silence.

A few moments later, a lock clicks (Lance hadn’t even realized that they'd been locked inside), and they both stand. Lance stands because it is respectful; Keith stands because it’s better to start a fight standing up. A solitary figure steps inside, his two guards stopping outside the door. The door locks again, and they are left alone. Lance can’t seem to open his mouth, and everything that he wants to say is stuck in his throat, choking him. Beside him, Keith has his hand on his bayard, ready to deploy it at a moment’s notice. He glances over at Lance, eyes silently asking for direction.

Prince Lotor grins and offers a mocking bow. “What a surprise that we cross paths again, Prince Lance.”

#voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender #lance voltron #lance #altean lance #altean au

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