#look at that erebus smiled at his reflection!!! everything in it is fake <3

[brutal-nemesis]

E&T: A Night We Won’t Forget (Part 2)

I am a cat and your emotions are a ball of yarn (●'◡'●)💕 

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Ingredients: a little possessive/noncon touching (unsexy)

After that song ended, Erebus shooed Neteri off to go talk to Alina, and it was only until he found himself entirely alone that he realized that might not have been the best idea. Normally at parties, people were walking up to talk to him all the time, but here...no one even spared him a second glance. Well, he was rather hungry, and he should probably give those flatbreads Neteri suggested a try, since it’s not like they could taste bad. He wandered over to one of the food tables, scanning it for-there, that had to be them. He reached for one-

“Don’t eat that.”

“What?” Erebus looked up to see a girl about his age standing next to him, arms crossed as her green eyes bored into his.

“They’re terrible.” 

“But...I was told to eat them by my-my-uh...my sister. She said I had to eat at least five of them or I can’t say I had a good time.” He didn’t really know why sister was the first thing that came to mind, but he supposed the way Neteri doted on him was sort of sisterly, at least as far as he could guess as an only child. 

The girl raised an eyebrow. “Well she’s playing a mean trick on you, then.”

“I guess she would-well...” he could see Neteri doing that to mess with him, but they were both well aware that his tongue made anything taste good, so there wasn’t much point in trying to play a prank like that on him. He reached out and grabbed one. “I’ll take my chances. I trust her.”

“Your funeral,” she huffed, twirling a lock of her long, black hair around her finger as he took a bite. 

Despite her warning, he found it delicious, the perfect balance of spicy and sweet, and he could tell that wasn’t just because of his tongue. “This is fantastic,” he proclaimed after he swallowed. “You really don’t like it?” 

She glanced around furtively before leaning in slightly, her voice dropping in volume. “I don’t like them; I love them. Enough that I wanted all of them to myself. But you had to go and ruin that, mister…” she waved a hand expectantly.

“Uh...Erebus.”

“Mister Erebus. So now you’re in on this with me whether you like it or not. Do not tell anyone how good these are or they might end up all getting eaten and then we will both be sad all night. You feel me?”

“I get it, I get it, I wasn’t planning on telling anyone about them, anyway, since I don’t really...know anyone.”

“Of course you don’t.” He felt a bolt of fear shoot through him, did she know he was- “Nobody does at these sorts of things.” She fell silent for a moment as his anxiety subsided. “Shiori.”

“Huh?”

She sighed. “I’m Shiori. There, you know someone else now.”

“Oh. Um, it’s nice to meet you, Shiori.”

Just then, the music changed, the beat sounding a little faster. Shiori’s face broke out into a smile. “Oh yes, this is a fun song.”  Before Erebus knew what was happening, she’d grabbed his hand, pulling him slightly. “Come on, dance with me for this one.”

“Uh-alright.” He followed her to the dance floor, face flushing. Why was he even getting all nervous, he’d danced with plenty of girls in his time, and honestly there was less pressure this time since not as many people were paying attention to him, but something about her asking him to dance made his heart beat faster than it had any right to. He was able to calm himself once they started dancing, concentrating on the motions as much as he could. Shiori was quite a good dancer, a better match for him than Neteri since she wasn’t so ridiculously short. 

“So where are you from, Erebus?” Shiori asked after the song changed to a slower one.

He hesitated a second, but he decided to just tell the truth, though not all of it, in favor of getting caught in a lie. “I-I’m from Nathar. In Berké.”

“Oh, weren’t you recently conquered by Xerna? Is that why you’re here now?”

“Yes.” He fought to keep his voice calm, his expression neutral. “What about you?”

“Urtam! My fathers are merchants, though, so I’ve been all over.” Erebus nodded; they’d done trade with that small, coastal kingdom to the south.

“How cold does it get down there? Have you ever, uh, seen snow?” Part of him wanted to steer the conversation away from his life, and part of him really was curious. 

“Of course I have! It gets cold enough to snow most winters, but nothing you can’t handle, you know? Why, does it not snow in Berké?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I’ve never seen it before. I’ve always wanted to, though.”

“Huh. I usually find it annoying, myself, but I guess it is really pretty. Even once you get tired of it, you can’t help but love the sight of it blanketing everything in white.” She fell silent for a moment. “I don’t think I dislike it as much as I thought I did.”

Erebus laughed a bit. “Worth seeing, then?”

“For sure! I’ll make sure to throw some in your face if I’m with you so you can have the full experience.” She laughed at his confused face. “What, can’t handle a snowball fight?”

“Snowball fight?”

“Wow, you really are clueless. Okay, you pick up snow, make it into a ball, and then you just throw it at each other. It’s the great test of champions.” She smiled proudly. “I’ve got an impeccable record myself; I bet I’d make short work of a newbie like you.”

“I, uh, bet you could.” Oddly, he wasn’t too put-off by the possibility...At that, the song ended, and it was just then that Erebus realized how close they were standing. He felt himself turning red again-or maybe he’d been red the whole time and he was just getting redder-but soon enough she stepped back, though she didn’t let go of his hand.

“Come on, let’s get some more to eat. I didn’t get enough earlier.” After filling plates with a variety of food, including at least four of the little flatbreads each, they made their way out onto the patio. The sun had already set behind the wall of the cliff at the back of the palace, but the area was still bright, glowing lightstones set with smaller air minerals floating around up above. People milled about, but it was certainly less crowded here than it was inside. They managed to find a small, empty table and sat down to eat. Erebus tried to focus on his food, but he got caught up wondering what was prettier, the pink and gold streaks of clouds above them, or the girl sitting across from him. He...he could say that, but he didn’t know how to put it, or if it would come out right, he’d probably just embarrass himself. He’d never really tried to hit on a girl before, especially not one he didn’t know well-

“The Midnight Sun always looks so odd during twilight,” Shiori said, looking up at the cliff towering over them.

“Odd how?” Erebus had only seen it during the daytime before, when it was just some crystals set in a rock face, but now that it was starting to get dark out, it was beginning to glow, a sight he found quite captivating.

“Well, during the day, it’s a bunch of dark rocks in a wavy cliff, and at night, it’s a big shining...sun thing. But during twilight and dawn, it just looks...wrong? I don’t know...the fact that it’s glowing so faintly just seems off for some reason. Be bright or be nothing.”

“I guess that makes sense...I’ve never seen it at night, though, so I don’t know if I can judge.”

“You’ve never seen it at night?!” Shiori nearly jumped out of her seat. “So you’ve never even been here before tonight, huh?”

“Well, I...I’ve been to the city once before, but only during the day. So I’ve actually really been looking forward to being out here at night.”

“Well, in that case, let’s stay out here until it gets dark! I mean you can see it through the glass ceiling inside, but I feel like you need to be out here for the full effect.”

“Are you sure you’re alright with that? I-I don’t want to take you away from the party or the people you came here with or anything-”

She waved a hand. “Nah, I just came with my parents, and they’re off doing their own thing. Besides, I’m having fun with you!” She smiled warmly at him before glancing at the party inside. “I love just getting to know random people at these things, even if I end up never seeing them again. Because even if we’ll both forget tonight someday, it’s still fun right now, you know?”

“Yeah. I’m having a good time with you, too. So much that I...I don’t think I’ll ever forget tonight.” Erebus laughed a little as he smiled back at her, though inside he was grappling with the fact that he really would never see her again, that she would forget this night someday, that she would forget him. But it made sense, he thought, that she wouldn’t remember him over anyone else. There wasn’t really anything that made him special to her, he was just the guy she met because he ate the food she was trying to keep to herself, but part of him wanted so badly for someone to remember him like this, someone whose memory wasn’t tainted with the image of him chained to a post and screaming.

“You’re sweet.” She took one last bite of her food and stood, holding out her hand. “Come on, let’s go for a walk or something! I’ve heard this place has some cool gardens.”

“It does!” She raised an eyebrow as he took her hand and stood. “I-I saw when I visited here before. During the day.”

“Why were you in the palace?” 

“I...it’s a long story.” Thankfully, Shiori didn’t push it. They followed a path marked by the floating lightstones to one of the gardens, which ended up being the one with a large fountain (a word Erebus had learned since his trip into the city) that was full of Mydnar’s tears, brilliant blue flowers that floated on the water’s surface. Ordinarily, the fountain sprayed water straight up, but tonight, the stream split into eight and arced through the air, bouncing off of lightstones floating above the pool before raining down. Despite how beautiful it was, there weren’t too many other people here.

“Wow,” Shiori breathed, wonder glittering in her eyes. 

“Yeah.” Erebus found himself nearly speechless at the sight, and right then he was so incredibly grateful to be here, in this moment, with Shiori. He did his best to burn every detail of it into his mind, the way the water sparkled as it splashed, each delicate flower petal, the brilliance of the fading colors of sunset, Shiori’s beautiful smile, the shine of her long, dark hair, the feeling of her fingers against the back of his hand. He had to remember this, hold every little detail in his heart for forever, because the rest of forever was going to cold and empty and lonely and painful and this was maybe the last time that he’d-

“Are you alright, Erebus? You seem...sad.” Shiori looked up at him with concern as she gave his hand a squeeze.

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m alright I was just thinking about...It doesn’t matter, I-” he shook his head, stepping in front of her and holding out his other hand. “Will you dance with me?”

“Of course!” She placed his hand on her hip before laying hers on his shoulder. “Although...it’s kind of hard to hear the music from here, so I’m not exactly sure what dance we should do.”

“We could just sort of...dance slow?” Erebus offered, not really wanting to go back to the party quite yet. He knew they’d have to eventually, that he’d have to return to Neteri and his cell and the table, but for now he just wanted to pretend that they’d stay here forever, that there was nothing outside of this moment. That sentiment only strengthened as Shiori nodded and held him close as they started to sway gently.

He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, and part of him didn’t care. The only time he looked away from her for more than a moment was when the sun finally set, causing the Midnight Sun set in the cliff to flash brilliantly, showering them in bright crystalline light for a second before it settled to a warm, steady glow. It really was gorgeous, but the sight of that symbol alight...his chest throbbed slightly, and he turned away, doing his best to ignore it, focusing on Shiori’s warm hand in his, not cold cuffs encircling his wrists, on the sound of splashing water and quiet music, not the murmurings of a crowd, on her eyes looking at him with kindness, not with pity, of Xerna’s sun made of crystal, not metal.

They danced and laughed and walked around the garden and talked about little nothings, and he was able to forget everything but the present for once, holding onto every moment so tightly that his memories and anxieties for the future melted away, letting himself believe he was really just a regular person having a nice night, undeniably human without a care in the world. He’d go back to his home, sleep in a real bed, and when he woke up he could do as he pleased, he could see Shiori again tomorrow, and the day after, and-

“It’s getting kind of late, so we should probably head back, shouldn’t we?” Shiori’s question snapped him back to reality, and all the circumstances surrounding it. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been having a good time, but I don’t want my dads to think I went missing or something.”

“No, that makes sense; I should probably see what’s up with-with my sister, anyway. I don’t think she wanted to stay super long.” He’d known they were going to have to leave eventually, but it still killed him inside that this was over now, that he really couldn’t stay here forever. He tried to savor the last few moments of holding her hand as they walked back, hoping she didn’t feel him shaking slightly.

Once they were back inside, Erebus scanned the crowd for Neteri, which was a little difficult given how small she was, but at least he was relatively tall compared to most of the people here, so it evened out. Eventually, he spotted her just as she was saying goodbye to Alina. Once the other woman left, he waved to Neteri as her eyes wandered in his direction. Once she saw him, she smiled broadly and beckoned him over. He held up a finger and turned back to Shiori. “I see my sister so I’m going to go check in with her really quickly. I’ll be right back, just-”

“Aw, is that her? She’s so cute and tiny!” She looked back and forth between them. “You guys don’t look too much alike, huh?”

“We’re, uh, we get that a lot.”

“Well, regardless, I’d love to meet her! So let’s both-”

“N-no, that’s, um, she’s...she’s really awkward. Like really awkward and I don’t want her to say anything weird or try to embarrass me because she likes doing that so I’m just going to go talk to her really quickly and I’ll meet you right back here okay bye.” Erebus slipped away as soon as he was done talking, hoping Shiori wouldn’t follow. He knew Neteri would ruin things somehow if she talked to her, either by getting mad at her for touching her...her property without permission or unknowingly saying something that contradicted the story about himself that he’d told Shiori.

“There you are, Erebus! I was starting to get worried.” Neteri rubbed his arm, and he could somehow tell she wanted to touch him more possessively, but was restraining herself. “Why didn’t you bring your little girlfriend?” She smiled deviously, cocking her head.

“She’s not my-I didn’t want her to-”

“Aww, afraid I might steal her away?” She laughed at Erebus’s bewildered expression. “I’m just teasing, I get why you wouldn’t want her to meet me. Don’t go getting any ideas, though.” She reached up and cupped his cheek, stroking it with her thumb, and in that moment Erebus was very glad he’d said she was his sister. A gesture like that between anything but family or...or lovers...it would be weird. Still, he gently swatted her away after a moment, and she didn’t persist like usual. “Have you been having a good night?”

He smiled and nodded firmly. “I have, and not just because of those flatbreads, it’s been really…” His face fell. “It’s time to go, though, isn’t it?”

She smiled sadly. “Yeah, it is. But you can go say goodbye to her first. I’m not in a huge rush.”

“Thanks.” Erebus started to walk away, but he stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. “Did you have a good night, Neteri?”

“I did!” She blushed fiercely. “Alina and I, uh…” She clasped her hands in front of her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, I’ll tell you later.” Erebus smiled and shook his head before returning to Shiori, who had busied herself with a small plate of cream puffs. He took a deep breath as he got close, trying not to think about what saying goodbye to her meant. 

“What’s up, Erebus?” Shiori innocently looked up at him, holding out her plate. “Do you want one?”

“I-uh, sure, thanks.” It was so light and delicious and sweet, and he probably wouldn’t have something like this for a while-no, no, don’t think about it, don’t cry-

Shiori giggled. “You got cream on your nose, here.” She gently wiped it off with a handkerchief, and Erebus’s face burned red once again.

“Thanks. But, Shiori, I…” he cleared his throat, “I have to go now. Thank you for making this such an amazing night I had a lot of fun with you and I think you’re really pretty and I’m really glad I got to meet you.” He blurted it out with an embarrassing lack of eloquence, but he was too nervous and sad to do any better. Shiori didn’t seem to mind, looking up at him with a warm smile.

“I’m glad we met too, Erebus! You made this a night to remember; I had such a good time! In fact, I...” She set the plate down, turning back to him with a hopeful smile. “When can I see you again?”

Erebus froze, panic starting to worm its way into his mind. W-what was he supposed to say he wanted nothing more than to see her again but he-he-he was- “I-I would really love to meet up with you again, Shiori, I really would, but I...I can’t and I can’t explain why-it’s complicated and there’s nothing I can do.” He blinked away the tears that were rapidly forming in his eyes, fists clenching. 

Her face fell into a look of dejected confusion. “O-oh. Well, if you, uh, change your mind or whatever...how about you meet me by the fountain in the central square in three days’ time?” 

“I-okay.” His heart broke as he said it, at the thought of her waiting for him, her wanting to wait for him, scanning the crowd, her hopefulness dwindling away with the hours, but what was he supposed to say, that he didn’t want to see her again, that he didn’t like being with her, that she hadn’t made him feel normal and shamelessly happy for the first time in months, that he really wouldn’t mind just- “I won’t forget you, Shiori.” He stuck out his hand, trying to keep it steady. “And thank you again for a wonderful night.”

She took it tenderly, far more tenderly than she had any right to, and brought it up slightly. “And I won’t forget you, Erebus.” And then she leaned down, and for the briefest moment her lips were against his knuckle, and then she was gone, just like that, vanished, and he knew he would never see her again, that every fantasy he’d dreamt up over the past few hours would never come true, and maybe some part of him vanished with her, and there was another hand in his now, one that stroked him lovingly only a little more often than it held the blade that sliced his skin.

“Are you ready to go now, Erebus?”

“Y-yeah.” No no I’m not wait just another second-He curled his fingers around hers-please I don’t want this part of my life to be over I don’t want to say goodbye not yet not yet-and took one last look at the quieting party-please just one more moment I promise I’ll savor it just let me stay for a little longer-at all the smiling faces and glittering gold-I don’t want to let go I can’t I can’t why do I have to go please please let me stay here forever-the last few people on the dance floor wrapped in each other’s arms-why can’t I stay-as the rest trickled out-why does it have to end-

And then he turned around and followed Neteri, leaving the party behind. Leaving Shiori behind. Leaving his old life behind. Leaving Prince Erebus Arctas Fradier behind.

Now he was just Erebus, and he was just Neteri’s, and he’d never be anything more.

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#i wrote something #erebus & terror #erebus #neteri #noncon touching #honestly at this point idk if its more like dubcon touching since erebus is starting to really like it when neteri touches him #its like his guilty pleasure. esp when she pets his head #yes i wrote this with the full intention of fucking destroying you. did it work #look at that erebus smiled at his reflection!!! everything in it is fake <3 #this entire thing was inspired by some picrew livi rbed where you could make two people dancing #so ofc i made erebus and neteri dancing and i was like 👁 o shit #and then it devolved into this long giant mess of bittersweetness #we get the rare holofoil neteri without her lab coat 😳 #now that she knows the eye color illusion spell she might use it on herself for fun #and FUCK we finally got to him asking her if they'd be friends if things were different (┬┬﹏┬┬) #and hey erebus gets to actually say goodbye to his old life cuz he never really had the chance to before #meet cute: she tries to trick you into not eating the good food so she can have more for herself #sorry if any of the romance stuff is weird i dont know what the fuck im doing!!! aromantic bitch hours #i simply stole all the vibes of aoi shiori and nirvana. mostly nirvana. thank you tia #but yes shiori is named that because i already associated the song with this whole thing and so when i named her it was the obvious choice #also i say that like i didnt write this while basically only listening to soundtracks produced by monaca #if you have seen me listening to banquet of death by crushing and confronting god in the forest on repeat: no you didn't <3