☆ even the gods bleed [ pt 3 ]
{☆} characters neuvillette, wriothesley, furina
{☆} notes cult au, imposter au, multi-chapter, gender neutral reader
{☆} warnings none
{☆} word count 1.9k
{☆} previous [ 1 ] [ 2 ]
Wriothesley was not a man of superstition. He did not kneel at the altars until his knees bled, he did not pray until his voice gave out– he did not, contrary to popular belief, suffer divine punishment for his apparent lack of respect.
After all, what Divine would look so deep beneath the waves just for a glimpse of the sinners that inhabit it?
Not them, evidently.
He hadn't slept in the past four days, though. There was a heavy air of something where ever he walked– it followed him like a thick fog, lingering and choking him until it dragged him to his knees like a chain. His thoughts inevitably linger on the striking, extravagant letter so conveniently adorning his desk at the fortress– the broken wax seal, the letter tucked into his pocket.
He'd recognize the seal of the Iudex any day. Wasn't often he spoke to him– but the shaky, distorted words hastily etched into the paper made him pause. Neuvillette always had a steady hand– elegant, flowing script that him of flowing water.
It had kept him up for days.
The implications were..haunting. He'd poured over the letter for hours, illuminated only by faint light of his desk lamp. Yet no matter how many times he tries to see what must be hidden beneath the ink, the paper itself even, he finds nothing but the shaky script of a request that sends a bolt of pure frost through his veins.
He noticed, of course, the odd goings on of Fontaine. He'd heard vague whispers of the Divine's hunt for the imposter– he'd heard, too, of the ceaseless rain pelting Fontaine until even he wondered if the nation would finally sink beneath the waves.
It didn't, though. And that only made it all the more odd. Days of constant rain, just for it to stop suddenly..he tugged his coat tighter around him, throwing up the hood of the cloak clasped even tighter over it with a grunt as he leaned around the corner of the alleyway.
He didn't believe in superstition, but this was too hard to ignore as a simple weather anomaly.
Maybe that was why he ignored his gut– he knew that this was probably a trap, at the very least it was suspicious. But damn it, he couldn't ignore the instinct to follow the only lead he had.
His boots clicked against the rain stricken streets as he stalked through the shadows, mindful of the clinking of machine patrols just a few streets away. Yet every step felt heavier then the last as he took a long, good look at the Palais Mermonia. He almost considered bringing out his gauntlets, but he thought better of it– if it came down to it, he needed information. And he would need whoever was waiting for him alive for that– the dead don't speak and all that.
The letter's directions led him in a..rather roundabout entrance to a secluded room, evidently, as he lifted his hand and quietly knocked against the door. Two rapid knocks, pause, another knock, pause, four knocks. It doesn't take long until he hears the latch of the door unlock.
The leather of his gloves creaks as he clenches his fists, adjusting his stance. He's ready for a fight, if he must, but as the door quietly slides open he feel the weight on his shoulders relax slightly– the familiar, sharp features of Neuvillette meets him. He almost reflexively smiles at the way his pupils turn into thin slits, a momentary surprise that he quickly hides well behind a cough and the creak of the door as he pulls it open fully.
"Wriothesley. I see my letter has found you well. Please, come in." Polite as ever, Neuvillette steps aside to let him in, but he can see the exhaustion lining his features– the bags under his eyes aren't as well hidden as he thinks, at least to him. "Bit odd to be inviting me all the way out here in the middle of the night, don't you think?"
His tone is smooth as he steps into the room, brushing down his hood and glancing at Neuvillette over his shoulder, watching as he shuts and locks the door behind him.
"I apologize for the..less then ideal circumstances, but I'm certain you will understand when you see for yourself." He wants to retort, but the Iudex beats him to it, vaguely motioning to the room behind him. An invitation– but he wonders if it's worth taking.
His gut says no, but he's feeling a little risky today, he supposes.
He turns back slowly, barely able to make out the two figures he'd missed on the first glance on the other side of the room– though it's hard to mistake the flourish of the Hydro Archon, even in the dark. It's the other figure that makes the breath hitch in his throat, though.
Or maybe, more accurately, it freezes. So does his blood, his whole body even, locked in stasis for a long, tense moment– he can't see them clearly, but his instincts are going haywire. He can feel his vision almost rattle where it rests against his left shoulder, cold leaking through the layers of clothes and into his skin until he has to fight to suppress a shiver.
He'd always fancied himself the hunter– he was the one who dealt with unsavory folks, in the end. But he felt like a rabbit pinned beneath the crosshairs of a gun this time. He could almost feel the teeth of the bear trap snapping shut around him, crushing bone and flesh beneath cold metal.
For a long moment he thinks he feels fear.
And with a sharp click and a burst of light, it's gone and he takes a raspy, choked breath as he blinks away the blurriness in his vision, taking in the room illuminated by the lamp.
He's not sure what he sees is better, though.
Because his body knows that their Divinity is as real as the blood running through his veins.
So why do they remind him so much of himself? Why does he see the look of the boy who died in a pool of blood not his own in them?
It is a sick, cruel kind of familiar.
Wriothesley didn't believe in superstition– but that was born of the unknown. He knew, now. He could reach out and touch the truth with his own two hands.
The throne of the world was a lie.
The thing sitting on it bled red. And if it bled, it could die.
He clenched his fists tighter– and released, letting his shoulders slump with a huff and a half hearted chuckle. "I wasn't expecting you to be in possession of a wanted criminal when you sent me that letter." He could see the gears whirring in their heads, the subtle dampness in the air reminding him just how delicate a situation it truly was.
He wasn't particularly inclined to getting blasted by a jet of water today.
"Relax, I'm not going to spill to anyone else. Seriously– don't get my jacket wet. It's expensive and a nightmare to dry." His lips quirk into a half smile, but it twists into something almost genuine at the laugh covered up by a cough he hears from the Divine. Bingo.
"It's fine, Neuvillette. Let him go." Their voice is like honey dripping from their lips, and he has to close his jaw with his hand before they can see the way it dropped in his surprise. "Of course, most Divine. My apologies." He relaxes at the sharp click of his heels as he joins them on the bed, his posture far more relaxed then he's ever seen. The Hydro Archon, much to his confusion and amusement, is far too invested in playing with their hair to pay much attention to him now that things have calmed, evidently.
Huh.
They seemed pretty cozy about it, he noted. He guesses they three of them had some time to get acquainted.
"So..who's going to explain what the hell is going on?" He probed, crossing his arms over his chest and watching the three carefully– they all looked tired, but even through the exhaustion neither seemed inclined to stray too far from the Divine. "And what exactly your plan is? You can't keep hiding them here forever. Someone will sniff them out sooner or later."
"We are aware," Neuvillette interjects, lips pursed into a thin line and his thin brows furrowed. "But as I'm sure you've noticed, the hunt for the..forgive me, most Divine, but the hunt for the alleged imposter is still at it's peak."
He grumbles in acknowledgment, hanging up his cloak by the door and sliding out of his heavy coat, resting it over the back of a nearby chair. "Hm. Suppose that's why the patrols are so common now a days."
"I'm afraid so. As you can imagine, we cannot simply ask them to..stop the search. It would draw unwanted attention and suspicion. The Divine would be found immediately if we tried to bring them out of the city at the moment." Neuvillette added, looking proper and elegant, despite the circumstances– even in the face of the Divine and the Archon turning on him and tugging his hair into intricate braids. "So I hope you understand that it was a great risk to send you that letter."
He rubs his chin, huffing in amusement– a solid plan, maybe, but his power didn't extend too far out of the Fortress. He had his connections, sure, but what use were they when he had to get the, uh, "imposter" out of Fontaine? Smuggling them out wouldn't be easy, and then there's the point of where to take them they'd have to contend with.
"Yeah, yeah– I get it. But it's not like I can just smuggle them out or keep them in the fortress. Even if we got them out of the city, we'd have to find somewhere to bunker down, and if someone spots any of us lingering there.." Archons, what a mess he'd gotten himself into. He was really looking forward to the next time he could kick his feet up with a cup of tea.
"I understand. I have already made plans, in fact." Neuvillette hesitates, and he can feel the temperature drops a few degrees. "I..cannot share them in full at the moment, but it is not for a lack of trust." Neuvillette reasoned, hands folded neatly in his lap– not that it hid the way they shook slightly. He wanted to ask, but he thought better of it.
"Eh, I don't hold it against you. The walls have ears, even up here." He deflected, running a hand through his hair. He really hoped Sigewinne wouldn't ask too much when he gets back. "I trust your judgment." He hesitates for a long moment, pulling out a simple, neatly folded letter of his own.
"Memorize the code words, then burn it. I'll be waiting for your next letter." He murmurs, plucking his coat and cloak and tugging them back on one after another, shuffling back over to the latched door. He hesitates again, his hand lingering on the door.
"I just hope your plan is worth the risk, Neuvillette."
He leaves before he can respond, the harsh click of the door ringing in his ears even as he steps back into the shadows of the night.
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wip wednesday 🫧
i'm slowly making progress on this fic, sigh, so have a little bit of eddie taking care of buck
“Hey, Buck.”
Buck opens his eyes, lolls his head to the side, and smiles. “Hi,” he says, soft and easy. He wiggles around, brings the arm not secured to his chest out from beneath the blankets, and makes grabby fingers at Eddie. “C’mere.”
Eddie goes. It’s Buck—Eddie always goes.
He moves forward till he’s beside the bed, right up in Buck’s space. He’s dirty, bruised and a little bloody where the nurses and doctors hadn’t wiped him clean; his left arm rests high on his chest, stabilized by several layers of gauze wrappings and a fitted sling. He’ll be in the sling for two weeks until he comes back for another assessment, but he won’t be cleared for light duty for at least a month and a half.
“Glad to see you’re awake,” he says, lacing his fingers around Buck’s wrist. Buck’s fingers are swollen and bruised and cut up, as if he tried to catch his fall. “You look like shit.”
Buck’s smile is loose and dangerously drowsy. “Feel it.” He twists his hand around so he can tangle his fingers with Eddie’s. “Broken collarbone, cracked ribs, and a badass case of whiplash will do that to you.”
“Could’ve been worse.”
Should’ve been worse, honestly. If Buck hadn’t turned and Eddie hadn’t caught the line quick enough to slow his descent, Buck probably would have had it a lot worse than he does now. Eddie’s grateful—he’ll take a tweaked shoulder over Buck’s battered, broken body any day of the fucking week.
“Yeah.” Buck blinks. His eyes are tired, dark blue and dull, but he’s still smiling. “Had a hell of a time in the ‘copter with Lucy. Miss working with her.”
“I bet you do.” Eddie reaches for the towel on the bedside table, dips it in the canteen of lukewarm water, and wrings the excess out. “Stay still so I can clean your face.”
tagged by @disasterbuckdiaz, @thewolvesof1998, @wikiangela, @daffi-990, and @theotherbuckley, mwah
tagging @devirnis, @jeeyuns, @eddiebabygirldiaz, @eddiediaztho, @callmenewbie, @watchyourbuck, @exhuastedpigeon, @try-set-me-on-fire, @evanbegins, @fortheloveofbuddie, and @shitouttabuck if any of you are interested in sharing something <3
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thinking about whether or not FL sheds his fluff
imagine its summer and after a long day of dealing with whatever crap goes down in their workplace while having to deal with the ridiculously high temperatures, reader just wants to cuddle with their beastly lover (who just so happens to be covered in 90% metal and would definitely feel cool to the touch) but as soon as they step into their house, they realise something. There is purple fluff on almost every surface of the house and not a few seconds later did the culprit come sprinting towards the reader, bringing them into a hug, delighted to see them after a long day. Reader reaches to pet FL’s fluff only to watch it fall out with the single light touch. At first they immediately retract their hand afraid that FL has contracted some sort of illness that causes hair (fluff?) loss. FL looks at reader questioningly, wondering why they aren’t giving him his usual pets. Reader tells FL to put them down and as soon as their feet touch the ground, they are booking it out of the house and back into the city to look for Zhongli. After finding the man, they explain the situation and Zhongli laughs, telling them that FL is simply shedding his fur to cope with the hotter weather recently. With this the reader lets out as sigh of relief and heads back hime just to find FL pouting, thinking that reader had abandoned him. Reader then apologises to him and exxplains what happened and the situation is then cleared up.
(Imagine reader collecting the fur and using it for some art project)
-Sleepy anon
sleepy anon, i LOVE the way your mind works
Foul Legacy immediately starts purring and nudging himself against you, getting soft purple fuzz all over your clothes- can you scritch him, please? it's scratchy! he shakes his head slightly and even more tufts of it fall out and drift onto the floor, and you just let out a single long sigh, opening the closet to fetch your broom. the next one to two hours are spent gathering every single bit of fluff that you can find, sweeping it off the floor and tables and random corners of your house- how it got on top of the bookcase of all things, you'll never know- and finally sitting Legacy down and giving his fur and hair a thorough brushing for good measure, clouds of lilac fur clinging to the comb and a very happy purring Abyss creature tilting his head this way and that so you get all the right areas. it takes until nightfall, and you're exhausted afterwards, but finally your house is clean and Legacy has shed all that excess fur, the ruff around his shoulders looking smaller but more manageable and Legacy looking very comfy and pleased with himself
so now you're left with a large bag of shed Abyss monster fur- what do you do with it?
well, the obvious answer is to make it into yarn and knit. not that you really need anything knitted right now, given the temperature and all, but it'll be nice once winter comes around again. you have enough Foul Legacy fluff to knit a few scarves, so the first one you make goes to none other than Legacy himself, who quickly wraps it around his neck with a delighted trill, cooing at the familiar texture and scent. he insists that you make a matching one for yourself- that way everyone knows that you're his and he's yours! the last one goes to Zhongli, who smiles warmly as he picks it up and asks what the material is. without missing a beat you just point at Legacy's fur, and have to bite your tongue to keep from wheezing when Zhongli snorts a laugh into his teacup
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