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milas-imaginarium · 4 years

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Before you fall asleep II

Language: English

Rate: M (NSFW)

Pairing: Charles-Henri Sanson x MC

Note: FOR @humi-and-co CHARLES’S APPRECIATION WEEK. This vampire deserves more attention.

I did proofread this but...Still may contain mistakes, sorry in advance!

Part I

"Still she has nothing to do with this plan, it can succeed without involving her."

"Are you listening to me? Charles, you are acting strange" Vlad looked at the young vampire in disbelief, after all, Charles was always loyal to his plans, what was wrong with him lately? "This is the easiest way to have them all in one place and proceed."

Charles remained quiet as his gaze met the window, then he sighed knowing he couldn't do anything against Vlad, at least if he wanted to keep his immortal life, even sacrificing himself nothing would change. Faust was suspicious, that person in front of him was not the vampire he met long ago.

After a while Charles excused himself, he needed to feed the human, Vlad and Faust exchanged glances "He's a doctor, it's natural for him to take care of humans." Faust spoke to soothe Vlad, however, the priest knew something was going on between those two.

°°°

"What to do?" she said sadly looking at herself in the mirror. One or two weeks, she ignored how much time she had been in that castle and the real problem was not to be there but not to have the right to choose.

"I know you don't want anything to do with me but" immediately the young woman's gaze left the mirror to focus Charles who was carrying a silver tray with human food, she felt embarrassed instantly "I can't walk away and let you starve to death" she nodded moving her shirt collar to cover the hickeys that the hot kissing session they had two days ago left, nevertheless, Charles noticed flushing.

She started to eat in silence while Charles accompanied her "Charles" she called his name softly, like a whisper "What do you feel for me?" the question came slow, shy, afraid of the answer but for a reason beyond her understanding, she knew...He loved her. The vampire was shocked, he knew why she was feeling that way, and that question represented a second chance for him, for them.

"I'm sure you already know the answer but I'll say it as much as you need to listen. Long time ago I thought I didn't deserve love, it seemed like a star far away from me but one day you came to my life like a gust of wind, and I found my self on my knees feeling what I thought I couldn't" He smiled delicately approaching a hand to touch her cheek, surprisingly she closed her eyes as she used to do "What I feel, you ask? I love you more than anything, and I know I'm right for you."

"You're Charles." she replied, heart almost breaking her ribcage "And I love you too" the external circumstances that surrounded their relationship were complicated, but not a reason to throw everything to the side. Faust who was listening outside the door covered his eyes with his right hand moving aside his glasses. His intuition never failed, now...Should he tell Vlad?

The night went by peacefully, for the first time Charles and his beloved human slept together cuddling on a needy embrace. Both as happy as they could be in the current situation.

°°°

Back in Comte's mansion all of the residents were trying to find a solution, the difference was they concluded the person who had their girl falling head over heels was the city doctor, Charles. They didn't trust him but for a fact, they knew he would protect her as much as he could, secretly they were grateful.

°°°

The next day Charles went to Paris to arrange some unfinished things that took more than he expected, he hurried to the castle before sunset and there she was, waiting for him with a smile... Though he felt his heart drop, she didn't deserve what was happening, she was innocent in the middle of a war.

"Bonsoir, mon petit chouchou. Comment ça va?" He asked on an extremely sweet tone that made her glow "Be prepared, we're leaving this place tonight" she didn't understand but as he guided her out of the room...She got it.

Both went through the roses garden taking a carriage Charles had prepared with Comte's help, nor Vlad or Faust noticed. The plan was to keep her far away from any danger taking her to Órleans where the great vampire had a beautiful house they could use to hide.

"Are they going to be okay, Charles? Are you going to be okay?" She said shaking with fear, not even for her own life but for the ones she loved "Shhh, we are strong enough. We must protect you, my lady" He kissed her hand keeping her body close to his chest. His heart was racing the same as hers but if they were together everything would be alright.

°°°

After two hours they arrived at Órleans. The darkness of the night hid them until they got into the house that was more like a mansion, in the main room the young woman approached the big window just to take a look to the city and garden, Charles stared at her silently.

Moonlight illuminated her body perfectly, her hair flowing like silk and her chest moving with every breath she took. He moved without thinking and hugged her from the back pressing his body tenderly. She sighed and closed her eyes as the vampire's lips trace a long path in her neck "I'm not strong enough to resist you. You're like fire, burn me, chérie"

She felt desire grown inside her and just abandoned herself to the moment. Charles sat her into the window's frame, opened her legs, moved her skirt and knelt kissing her milky skin finally reaching her core and licking it after removing her underwear "You taste as sweet as you moan. So delicious...I'm going to eat you up."

"Yes, ahg, yes...Please" Her feminine voice echoed into the room as her right hand immersed into Charles's hair. His lips felt soft as his tongue played with her clit driving her to ecstasy "So warm...And sweet" his voice rough and lower than usual, he moved down to let his tongue slide inside her, at the same time he took one of her legs to put it on his shoulder. Her body had little contractions and her hips moved with the cadence Charles guided.

"I'm so...Close, Charles" two of his long digits went inside her rubbing his walls deliciously and didn't stop "Cum...Cum for me, my love" and as she was getting close to her orgasm Charles moved his glossy lips from her core to kiss her leg, fangs already showing "You're making this hard for me..." he tried to control himself, he would never do something without consent but then she spoke on that erotic voice "Do it, oh Charles...Do it, do it" he did so, no hesitate due to how hot he was feeling. He bit her inner thigh sending waves of pleasure through her body, her blood was a drug, she was the Nirvana. She screamed in pleasure but that was not enough, the lovers were on a passionate frenzy.

She stood up with trembling legs, the vampire looked at her thirsty but never expected to be pushed into the bed "I want you, I need you..." she climbed over his body taking off his clothes and kissing every space of pale skin, he did the same with his senses completely overwhelmed "Are you going to ride me? What a pleasure to have a goddess all for me" his voice animalistic. It didn't take to much before she guided his cock inside her moaning at the feeling to be complete.

Her nails scratched his pecs as her hips bounced sensually creating an irresistible peace, wet sound, moans, and groans disrupting the silence of the night. Charles's right hand grabbed her hips roughly as his left caressed and pressed her breasts, pinching her tiny nipples, they kissed playing with their tounges, her taste still in Charles's mouth. "Ah, just like that..." the feeling of him twitching inside her was mind-blowing. Both were getting close to finish so Charles increased the peace, harder, deeper, faster and cursed in french as the walls of his lover clenched around his cock.

Both came hard and long, luckily they were the only inhabitants of the mansion. He freed himself inside her and seconds after she collapsed onto him, Charles hugged her as she was the most precious thing in the world "You're my knight in shining armor. I love you" the vampire kissed her cheek and lips, she was his everything "Je t'aime beaucoup, mon amour."

°°°

"Well, it seems Charlot...fell in love," Faust said walking towards Vlad who was making miracles to contain his rage. "And you kidnapped his lover, Vlad."

"Is that so?" Vlad paused for a moment looking at the bright moon "What to do with such a rebel kid?"

"Don't even ask me" Faust replied exasperated.

"Well, you were their benefactor, Faust." Vlad said sharply "I supposed he found what he was looking for...I wonder how this story will end."

The point was that even Vlad knew there was nothing stronger than love, no matter what he may think, no matter what people say.

#ikevamp charles #ikemen vampire #ikevamp #charles henri sanson #charles appreciation week

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broken-clover · 5 years

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Day 7- Hanahaki

Ho-ly shit I am so so late on this. Then again, does anyone even read these things. So despite the initial setback, I have finished! And in hindsight, jesus christ no wonder this took me so long, it’s 3500+ words and I redid it three times. Just something about this prompt, I guess, I dunno. I think for now I’m just gonna work a day behind schedule and try to just double up on an easier day because atm I do not have the energy to do today’s as well. I appreciate your understanding.

Well, onto the fun stuff, today I’m using Axl Low, featuring Sol and Ky as well! Axl is usually a lot of fun since he has a lot of opportunities for angsty stuff but I will admit that writing this actually made me cry a little, so make of that what you will. Oh yeah, and this is X-era/pre-Xrd because cop Ky.

Bonus content warning for vomiting, and I think that should be it but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong

“Watch your head!”

Sol immediately ducked, hearing something whizz past overhead. He wasn’t especially surprised to see a sickle-blade embedded in the tree in front of him. Not that it made him any less annoyed by the sight on it.

“For fuck’s sake, are you trying to kill me?” He stood back up and turned around to give the Brit a good, hard glare. “What the hell are you even doing here?”

“Heh heh...hey, chief.” Axl looked suitably sheepish, still clinging onto the other half of his kusarigama. “Uh, your reflexes are still good?”

The Gear stormed over, clutching the Junkyard Dog with an iron grip. He wasn’t especially happy with the though of being interrupted, especially now when he almost had his head chopped off in the process.

“L-listen, I can explain- !”

Maybe there was a reason, and maybe there wasn’t. In the moment, Sol hadn’t cared. He hadn’t been thinking much at all, really. He simply drew back his hand and punched Axl square in the chest, sending him flying off of his feet and crashing in a tangle of limbs a few feet away.

“Ow…”

“Shit, I-” Whether or not he felt all that bad about it didn’t really matter, he realized that punching someone with the same strength he used to rip open Gears and punch through walls was probably overkill on a regular human. He didn’t need a murder charge, especially on one of the few humans that he found tolerable to be around. “You okay?”

Axl didn’t offer him a reply, though he did slowly untangle himself and sit up, so at least he was definitely alive. He had an odd look on his face, though, and before Sol could ask, he was dry-heaving and scrabbling off towards the nearest bush.

“Dammit.” Sol followed behind at a distance. “I didn’t break anything, did I?”

The only response he got was a wet gag. It was enough of a reply for the time being, and he certainly didn’t want to bother Axl in the middle of that. When the retching finally quieted down, he let himself approach and offer a small pat in the back. “You okay?”

“Nggh- ow, ow-” Axl flopped back on the grass, rubbing the sore spot on his chest. “Jeez, I just know that’s gonna look ugly in the morning.”

“What made you think it was a good idea to sneak up on me?” Sol noticed something peculiar. “And what’s with the flowers?”

Along with the slime that still ran down the corner of his mouth, several little blue blossoms dotted his clothing. It hadn’t been a flowering bush, and he was pretty sure Axl hadn’t had them when he’d first shown up.

The man in question looked no less confused. “That’s what I was trying to find ya for, actually. I-” He paused to cough, and to Sol’s surprise, another small handful of the same blue flowers scattered out onto the dirt, soaked in spit. “I’ve been coughing up these damn things for two days now, and I can’t get them to stop.”

“Why ask me?”

“You’re a smart guy, you know a lot of stuff.” Axl gave him a shaky smile. “Besides, if it’s some weird Gear disease, I wanna know ahead of time before my eyes go red and I start shooting lasers.”

Sol rolled his eyes, hauling the man up to his feet. “Well, you can still crack a joke, so you can’t be that injured.”

“Stop right there!”

Axl stiffened in shock, while the Gear simply groaned at the familiar tone. “Should have known you’d show up at some point, pretty-boy.”

Ky already had a tight grip on the Thunderseal by the time he was visible. Thankfully, he kept it sheathed for the time being, but Axl could see faint blue sparks twinkling on the man’s gloved hand.

“What are you doing here?” The officer asked. “Why are you both here?”

“Tch. Well, I was trying to get the hell out of here.” Sol jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “But this idiot showed up and got in my way.”

At that, Ky leveled an icy glare at Axl. “So, care to explain why you’re here, then?”

“Needed help.” He’d hoped that the fewer words would make it easier to avoid another incident, but he felt something itching in the back of his throat. Before he knew it, he was shaking from another coughing fit, with more wet, slimy flowers coming up with it.

“What on earth…?” Ky’s stern expression faded. “Sol, what is the meaning of this?”

“You’re asking me.” He replied, giving Axl a thump on the back to help clear out some of the flowers. “He won’t stop puking them up.”

“WHAT?!” The officer dropped his hold on his sword to try and pull Axl to his feet. “What are you just standing around, Sol?! Did it never occur to you to find some sort of medical professional?”

“The fuck?” So scowled. “You know some back-alley witch doing dark magic?”

Ky flashed an impish smile. “No, but I know Dr. Faust has been spotted downtown today, and he seems to be the go-to for this kind of problem. Come along now, sir…”

“We’re going to him?” The feeling of the world spinning as he stood up made Axl gag again. “Don’t suppose I could get a second opinion?”

++++++

“Hmm. Well, there’s no other way to say this. There’s a plant in your lungs.”

“Revelation of the century.” Sol tried to pull out a cigarette and light it, only for Faust to immediately pluck it out of his fingers. “Hey!”

“No smoking in my office.” It was really more of a dilapidated warehouse, but Faust had still set up a nice little arrangement in it. “Based on the scan I took, it appears that the roots have settled into the pleura and have branched out into your lungs. Based on the symptoms I’ve seen, it appears that you’ve contracted Hanahaki Disease, Mr. Low.”

“Hanahaki Disease?” Ky asked, the confusion thick in his voice. “I’ve never heard of that.”

“It’s a magic-based disease, as far as I know. Though it’s not well researched.” Faust sat down in his chair, tapping his fingers. “It’s theorized that the source is some kind of desire that can’t be fulfilled. It’s most commonly interpreted as one-sided love, though some say it can also apply places that you can’t go back to, or things that no longer exist. I suppose it makes sense, given the flowers you keep coughing up.” He held up one of them. “Forget-me-nots.”

“Well, that’s not hard to guess.” Sol’s expression didn’t change. “You want to go home, don’t you?”

“Of- of course I do!” Axl had to pause to spit up a few more small blossoms. “Wait a minute, ‘unrequited?’”

“That’s most common, yes.”

His face fell. “B-but- but Megumi, she-” with a strangled noise, he buried his head in his hands. “S-she can’t have forgotten about me…”

“It’s possible that with so much time spent away from your era, her feelings have waned.”

“So what sort of treatment is available for a condition like this?” Ky inquired. “How can the plant be removed?”

“That’s not something I’m sure of right now.” The doctor said. “I’m afraid since information is so scarce, I’d need to draft a plan by myself. You don’t need to stay here, I should be able to work with just the scan.”

Axl still looked downtrodden. “But if it’s tied to my memories of home, won’t it just grow back if you take it out?”

Faust sighed. “I’ll admit, I’m not sure. But it can’t stay where it is. You could choke on those flowers. And I fear the sort of damage all that coughing could do to your throat. I’ll try and figure out a way to remove it from you, surgically or not, but for now, there’s not much I can offer in terms of help.”

They were barely able to step out of the building before Axl pitched over again to vomit up more bloodstained flowers. Sol merely gave him a pat on the back with a warm hand, while Ky stood behind awkwardly. When it finally subsided, Axl didn’t get up.

“What am I gonna do…?” He was always the optimist, or at least tried to be. But what was there to be optimistic about here? The concept of going home in the first place was nigh-impossible, Megumi had probably moved on without him, and even Faust had no idea how to get rid of the plant.

“I’m sure there’s something.” Of the three of them, Ky seemed to be the only one that had any energy to him. “There’s a solution, we just need to find it!”

“What can I do? I can’t go home, I don’t know if Faust can take this thing out, and for all I know, Megumi doesn’t care about me anymore!”

The other man faltered slightly. “I-I’m sure Faust will be able to fix it. Getting worked up is just going to tire you out. Maybe you should go home and rest? Where are you staying?”

“Nowhere.” Sol dragged Axl to his feet, though neither of them looked especially happy about it. “Wherever I can afford.”

Got a small place over on Brooke.” The Gear shrugged. “Y’can crash there, I guess. Not like I’m using it much.”

For a moment, Axl actually perked up. “Really? Thanks, chief, that...that actually means a lot.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, let’s just get you home before people start staring.”

++++++

A gloved hand reached up to deliver a hard knock on the door. “Sol? Are you home?”

“Yeah, come in.”

“My hands are full, can you open it for me?”

He tried not to roll his eyes as the irritated grumbles that the barrier muffled. The door swung open, revealing a less-than-pleased Sol. “Hope you were planning on sharing that.”

“Well, I can’t exactly eat a whole gratin myself, can I? I brought it to share.” Spotting a small, rickety table in the corner, Ky stepped inside and deposited the dish onto it, along with the heavy satchel he’d been carrying. “Has he been eating?”

“Barely leaves his room. Haven’t seen him eat anything today, at least.”

“I told him to stop doing that.” He shook his head in dismay. There were two doors on the opposite end of the small living space. Ky approached the closed one and knocked on it. “Are you awake?”

“Mphh.” The noise was unintelligible even before being muffled by blankets and the door.

“I’ve brought some things for you. Would you like to come out and eat something?”

“...okay.”

When the door opened, Ky had to force himself to not immediately look concerned. Axl was haggard and bedraggled, looking like he’d just peeled himself out of bed, but the dark circles around his eyes said he hadn’t been getting any real rest out of it. A few blue petals still clung to the front of him, which he brushed off.

“G’morning, sleeping beauty.” Sol half-nodded, not getting up from his spot on the couch. “Get any sleep last night?”

“What do you think?” Ky winced at how hoarse the response was. “Up all night trying not to choke.”

The officer started spooning out some food for everyone. “So, not feeling any better?”

“Take a wild guess.” Replied Axl, picking off the last of the flowers. “Can barely get any sleep, can barely keep anything down.”

“Well, might as well try to eat something, anyway.” Ky offered him a plate. “At the least, it might help distract you for a bit.”

He looked unconvinced, but Axl still took what the food. As soon as he took the first tentative taste of it, he began wolfing it down like a starving animal. Ky smiled. “I guess it’s good then, huh?”

“F-fuck, can’t remember the last time I’ve had something like that.” It took him a significant amount of effort just to pull himself away from it to speak, and Axl immediately went back to gorging himself on the food. “You made this yourself?”

“That’s right.” The officer looked pleased with himself. “One of my mother’s old recipes. Macaroni gratin makes for an excellent comfort food.”

“Shit, you’re telling me! Nice to eat something warm, too. I dunno what it is, I just feel cold all the time, no matter what I do.”

Sol quirked an eyebrow. “Y’know you could have just asked me, right?” He placed a hand on the other’s back, leaving small trails of heat as he dragged his fingers across trembling shoulders.

Though Axl leaned into his touch, he still looked perturbed. “You don’t usually act like this, chief…” He smiled anxiously. “What, am I finally gonna die?”

Ky glanced off uncomfortably. “Well, not that. But I do also have an update from Faust.”

“What? So what’s Dr. Baldy got to say?”

“It’s safe to do the surgery, he said, and it shouldn’t grow back again.”

Just like that, Axl was out of his chair, looking more energetic than he had in days. “Well, then what’re we waiting for? L-let’s go-!”

Sol pulled a bucket out from underneath the coffee table, shoving it in place before the ensuing wave of flowers and half-digested macaroni could make a mess on the floor. He pulled Axl back onto the couch, kneading more warmth into his back.

“That’s not all there is to it, though.” Ky’s expression went grim. “According to historical accounts of the disease, if the plant is removed forcefully, it will also remove all emotional connections to the source of it, as well as the memories regarding it. Faust himself said that he couldn’t guarantee the results, but there’s a chance that-”

“-I could forget everything about home?” And just like that, all the hope and light in his eyes vanished. His shoulders sagged, dirty blonde hair drooping down to his lap. “No. No, I can’t do that.”

“Axl, please, I beg you to consider it.” Ky pleaded. “I know the circumstances are unfavorable, but it’s the only possibility you have to recover from this.”

The room went quiet once more. It hit a point where Ky wasn’t sure if he’d even been heard in the first place, and he wondered if he needed to say it again.

“...Then I won’t.”

“You’re being an idiot.” Surprisingly, Sol managed to beat Ky to the punch. “Why would you choose to do this?”

Axl reared up to glare at him. “If I left everything I had of home behind, what would I even be left with? I’m broke and homeless half the time, hoping to go home was all I had left!”

Ky sprang out of his chair, not caring about the mess being made as his plate hit the floor. “That doesn’t mean you should throw away any hope for the future! We could help you find someplace to be in this world, give you a new life to live! I’m sure there’s a place you can belong.”

“You don’t get it!” The man snapped. “I wouldn’t just be losing parts of me, I’d be losing almost everything! Would I remember how to function? Would I remember anything important?? I-” Axl sighed, making a few quiet coughs. “You two are the only ones that care about me in this stupid fucking world. ‘n even then, I can’t say that for sure. Maybe you’re just being nice to me because you know I’m fucked. It’s better than nothing.”

The officer reached out to him. “Please, you don’t have to-”

“LEAVE ME ALONE!”

With how quickly and suddenly he stood up, neither Sol nor Ky could stop Axl before he ran off to the bathroom, dry heaving all the way. By the time they were capable of running after him, the door slammed shut, with the lock clicking immediately after.

“Dammit, open the door!” Sol banged a fist against it, making the wood creak.

Ky reached for the knob, only to flinch back with a cry as the metal turned hot and began to shift. “Is he melting the handle?!”

“Axl, stop acting like a stupid kid!”

No reply. All they could make out was the sound of vomiting, soon accompanied by weak sobs. Ky let his hand rest on the door, though he didn’t try to open it again.

“Why would he be so insistent? Why would someone choose to die if they had another choice?”

Sol’s expression was hard to read. “Just not something you can understand, kid. The crusades might have been hell, but at least there was something to go back to in the end. Some people value memories more than others. If that’s all he’s got, why would he want to give it up?”

It was an unusually poetic sentiment, especially from someone like Sol. Ultimately, all Ky could do was shake his head. “This isn’t a decision I can make for him. I don’t have to like it, but I suppose I can’t force him to reconsider.”

“Never thought I’d hear that from you of all people, boy-scout.”

He wanted to be mad, but that required an energy that he no longer had. The muffled gagging started again in the sealed room.

“Still, I don’t feel like I can just give up. How can I walk away from this?”

After a moment of thought, an idea came to him. Ky stepped off, back towards the table with the rest of the food and the heavy bag. Grabbing the latter, he brought it back with him.

He gave the door another soft knock. “Axl? Can you hear me alright?”

The retching had gone quiet. “Don’t you have somewhere better to be? Why are you still here?”

Ky settled back down next to the door. “Because nobody deserves to suffer alone.”

He pulled out a book from his satchel, thumbing through until he found something. “Have you ever read Chaucer?”

“No.”

“Is it alright if I read a poem? I know some people find his work a bit dry, but I feel like being stuck in that bathroom will get very boring.”

“Y-you…” Something shuffled behind the door. “You’re just trying to get me to come out, aren’t you?”

“Not at all.” Replied Ky. “I just want to give you a bit of company.”

“...Is chief still there, too?”

“Yeah, blondie, I’m here.” Sol let himself sit down as well, rapping his knuckles against the wall. “Need some kinda proof?”

“Ok. Ok, fine. Read your poetry, or whatever. I can’t stop you.”

Ky smiled. “Your two great eyes will slay me suddenly…”

His tone was clear and strong as he read from the book, gesturing with his free hand at certain words. The apartment was quiet, aside from Ky’s poetry and the occasional round of coughing. Those were the only times when his voice faltered, sometimes going quiet until the noise eased up before starting where he had left off.

At some point, Sol had rolled his eyes and made enough quips about the flowery language that Ky had threatened to throw the book at his head. Sol had simply offered better stories, and barely waited for a reply before launching into his own tales, involving bounty hunts and incidents that had resulted in him getting chased out of towns by angry mobs. At one point, they could hear faint laughter from the other end, the first time Axl had done so in a long time, and the only noise he’d made aside from coughing.

The fits of noise grew more frequent, until it interrupted each story several times. There was a point where neither man paused speaking when they heard it. They simply kept going, passing songs and poems and anecdotes underneath the door for hours upon hours.

Eventually, the sun was far beyond the horizon, and the noise had faded. They’d continued to talk, until Ky trailed off halfway through an elegy.

“Axl?”

When no sound came, the man’s expression slipped into something solemn. He stood back up, joints cracking from the lack of movement. A hand rested on what had once been the doorknob.

He sent a look to his companion. “Can you help me with this, please?”

Sol ripped off the malformed hunk of metal, and the door swung open easily after that. Axl was sprawled out motionless on the floor, surrounded by bloody flower petals. Ky bit back a noise, instead merely kneeling down and feeling the man’s neck.

“Dead. But still warm. If it’s a rare disease, I wonder if Faust…”

In a way, Sol didn’t even look shaken. But his expression was strained, in a way that only Ky knew how to recognize from knowing him so long.

“...No.” Ky shook his head. “The government offers funeral services for those who can’t afford it. I’m sure something nice can be provided for him.”

“Kid.” Sol’s tone was a low, dangerous rumble. “Shut up.”

“I’m sorry, Sol. You knew him better than I did, I can’t imagine how you feel.”

“I said shut up.” He nudged a handful of petals with the toe of his boot. “Why are these ones different?”

“What?”

The flowers were scattered all over the floor, in piles and in heaps. But closer to the center of the room, near where Axl had been, the flowers began to change. Rather than the small, blue flowers, they had become larger, alternating in colors of red-orange and off-white with violet streaks.

“Huh? Hold on a moment, I know these.” Ky reached across the floor, picking up one of the mangled white flowers. “My mother used to grow these. The white ones are gladiolus. ‘Sword lilies.’ And the red ones, I think she used to call them fire...lilies…”

A dawning realization glimmered in his eyes. “Are these….because of us?”

“So it wasn’t all that useless, then.”

Ky couldn’t bring himself to chastise him. “Yeah, I- I guess it wasn’t, was it?”

And yet, it didn't make either of them feel any better.

#blood tw #vomiting #hanahaki #writing #goretober #goretober 2019 #guilty gear #Axl Low #sol badguy #Ky Kiske #also #I never want to write the word flowers again

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aria-i-adagio · 5 years

Text

Hear the Birds on the Summer Breeze

Masterpost. Chapter 1. Chapter 2.

Fandom: The Arcana

Chapter Rating: T

Eight years ago.

“Where are we going?” I scrambled over a fallen log. My foot feel through a rotten portion, and I cursed as the rough bark of nearby muscadine vine scraped my hands when I grabbed it in another failed attempt to steady myself. I tried my best to follow Asra’s meandering path through the forest, his body lithe over the unruly ground - a sprite or a fae - his unruly white hair glowing in the dappled light. “At this point we’ll never make it back into town before dark.”

Asra paused and turned back to me, that easy, enigmatic smile on his lips. “Were you planning on sleeping tonight?”

“Well, I mean, maybe.” I would love to sleep tonight, but it was only midway through the afternoon, and I could already tell that the gods of sleep would once again fail to cooperate with me. Or maybe I was the one would fail - yet again - to cooperate with them. My mind whirled and flew along a new tangent each moment. I should keep my eye out for some of shade loving herbs while we were out here. The supplies of skullcap and betony were running low. My fault. I had drunk through most of those stocks trying to calm myself. But the herbs hadn't helped. Even if they should have.

Last night had been whittled away in a bar, and then, when they finally showed me the door to close up, reorganizing the herb stores in my aunt’s shop. Anna, my aunt, wasn’t very happy with my reorganizing, but she had acknowledged that I had gotten a couple years worth of dust cleaned off the upper shelves. So that was something, at least. The wakefulness hadn’t been entirely wasted. Versus, say, the prior night - day - that I had spent passed out after being awake for three days in a row.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, falling around us, and falling to rest on the ground. And maybe, maybe I could become the rays of light, to drown in them. If I was good enough, meek enough, they'd console me, consume me. Or maybe I didn't want to be the light dappling the ground folding in on itself, soft and cool and warm and all the same time. Folds, depressions in the ground. Fold in on myself until I can rest falling warm in the sunlight -

“Dema.” Asra folded his hands around mine, and Faust stretched herself toward me, tonguing at my cheek. “Come back to me.”

I took a deep breath, trying - and mostly failing - to pay attention to the sensation of the air passing through my mouth and sinuses, then shook my head and rock back and forth on my feet. “Sorry. I got lost."

“It’s okay.” He let go of one hand and touched my jaw, my face, one thumb brushing along my cheekbone. "Where did you go this time?"

"The sunlight, then the ground. No, not the ground. The places where it ripples like waves breaking against the light."

His eyes were solemn, but there was no judgment, no discomfort in them. I heard the words in my head, leaving my mouth, so uncomfortably pausing on my tongue. I don't blame people who take a step back, not when I start making so precious little sense. But Asra doesn't draw back from the thoughts, from the words, from me. He doesn't abandon me to the swirl of odd, inconsistent thoughts that have bedeviled me for days. He turned my hand so that our palms were touching and wove his fingers through mine.

He was going to teach me to read palms at some point, he promised, but somehow we had always been too busy. If anyone would teach me, it had to be him. Anna didn’t dabble in fortunes; said she had no knack for it. He tugged me forward; his fingers around mine were comforting, grounding. “Come on. You’ll like where we're going. I promise.”

I would have asked him how he knew, but then, Asra has a knack for fortunes.

Asra followed the path of small stream back to its source in a hollow between two steeply sloping wall of limestone, jagged from where the water had been nibbling away at them for years, creating stone formations that cut into the air. Asra extends his arm, allowing Faust to wind herself around a low hanging branch and pushed aside some overhanging vines, revealing a cave opening out from the side of hill. I smiled. I do like caves. The air is always perfectly cool inside. I don’t even have to duck down to enter; Asra, does - at least a bit.

Inside the air was cool and moist. The quartz rich granite walls glimmered in the limited sunlight. I tapped my fingertips together and took my time to weave my will into an orb of iridescent light - the dazzling reflections of sparks on the tiny crystals were delightful to watch as they danced in the air like fairies carrying fragments of memories. Beyond the humidity, I felt a sort of thrumming in the cave itself, one that complemented - canceled - the buzzing of my own mind. For a moment I felt like the cave was waiting for me - somehow meant for me.

“I do like this, Asra.”

He laughed and summoned his own ball of light. “We haven’t even gotten to the best part. Take my hand again. I don’t want to lose you in here.”

I didn’t think I’d mind losing myself in here, or rather, getting lost among the flecks of light and cool, still, so very, very still air. But I also didn’t mind curling my fingers into his warm hand.

The chambers he led me through twist and turn, high ceilings and low. As we get deeper into the cave, patterns are marked on the walls. Some scar the stone in smooth, deliberate grooves, others are nothing more than a faint trace of magic. In some of the taller chambers, faint rays of light cut through the darkness, falling down from vents into the cave system. The thrumming, humming, not quite singing, of the magic that I felt grew stronger as we proceed, but it soothed instead of overwhelming me. If I could have sunk myself entirely into stone, into the humid air itself, I would have happily done so.

Eventually, the cave opened up into a massive chamber lit from overhead by a shaft of sunlight. Enough that plants grew in and around the pool of water at the middle. Ferns and mosses crept up the rocky walls softening their jagged edges. The water pulsed along with the vibrations of the magic - a rapid and steady heartbeat for the cave itself.

“Oh!” I dropped Asra’s hand and knelt beside the pool, fingertips hovering over the surface. “Can I touch it?”

“You can. You can swim in it if you like. Sometimes the water does strange things, but it’s safe enough as long as you don’t panic.”

I dipped my hand in. The water was surprisingly warm around my fingers. And soothing. I laughed, dragging my fingers along the bottom. The sand spiraled around my fingertips and drifted softly back down, golden in the light. Then, I stripped out of my shirt and trousers, tossing them aside before wading into the pool. Within three steps, the water is past my waist.

“Careful - it gets deep quickly.”

“I see that.” I dug my toes into the sandy bottom. The gritty texture felt absolutely divine against the bottom of my feet. Turning back, I waved to Asra. He seemed further away than I would have expected, but my sense of time and space had been getting a bit confused over the past few days. Asra’s grinning and had already pulled off his shoes. “Come with me.” Asra shrugged off his shirt and the complicatedly pleated skirt he was wearing today, while I sank into the water, letting it take most of weight and watching the sunlight filter down. Silent in the water, he managed to sneak beside me and surprise me with a splash. When I turn to retaliate, he’s out of range, swimming toward the middle of the pool and then disappearing below the surface with a kick of feet.

The bottom of the pond fell away almost immediately. I ducked my head below the water. The sand sparkled in the dappled sunlight, and tiny plants competed for control of the patches of light left by the giant lily pads overhead. In the shaded spots, something else grew - pale, glowing, and lavender. I dove beneath the surface, kicking down toward the strange plant. Reaching it took longer than I expected; depth was hard to gauge in the clear water. But, as I got closer to the plant - its leaves are plump and curved like a succulent - I didn’t feel pressure building in my ears or the burning feeling of lungs demanding a fresh breath of air. I spun and caught sight of Asra, hovering nearby. He gestured to his chest and mouth, and I remembered what he said about the water doing strange things. Apparently negating the need to breath was one of those things.

If one or the other of us moved, I didn’t notice it, but Asra was close enough to take my hand. I wrapped my fingers around his and let him pull me deeper into this curious, weightless place. The sunlight wavers, competing with glowing patterns from the rock formations in the water; it was unclear whether they are drawn by a hand or part of the natural magic of the place. Whichever, both, or something else entirely, it’s gorgeous.

The thrum of the cave’s magic remained constant, fading from the top of my awareness into a steady hum. As I spun and tumbled in the water, savoring the sensation of neutral buoyancy, another pitch takes over, lower, stuttering and uneven. I twisted around, trying to find the source of the drone. A crevice opened in the side of the stone walls. Unlike the rest of the pool, which was caught in an interplay of filtered sunlight and the glow of magic, the absence of light defined this crevice. I spin toward slow in the water. The drone from it was a dissonant, but familiar, polyphony, drawing me - dragging me - toward it. I pulled away from Asra’s hand and kicked toward the crevice eager to know what created such an immersive, secondary sensation. Something that I could maybe, just maybe I could lose myself in.

Something wrapped tightly around my waist, and I struggled for a moment before realizing that Asra had thrown his arms around me. He pulled me back, and we’re suddenly back in the shallows, standing in water that barely reaches my waist and breathing the cool cave air.

“Are you okay?”

“What? Yes. I was only curious.”

Asra shook his head. “I’ve never seen that crevice before. It’s dangerous. Or at least, could be dangerous. I don’t think you would drown, but there are a lot of convoluted passages. You could get lost.”

“Yeah, okay.” I thought about the ominous drone and wonder just how deep my curiosity would have pulled me. It was gone now. All I could hear is the cave humming that same comfortable pitch as before. “Thanks.”

He pulls me tight against him, cheek pressed to mine. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Well above us, the light had darkened leaving the cavern lit by the soft glow of the luminescent plants and the ensorcelled marks on the wall. Asra stood, dripping wet, and offers me a hand up. I took it. When he pulled me up, I overbalanced and fell forward, catching myself against his shoulders. He laughed as I straighten up.

“I know a good trick.” I gestured between us with my hands and a wave of warmth passed over us, pulling the water from our hair and turning what little clothing we had left on - skin tight and translucent with water a moment before - opaque and dry again.

Asra turned and picked his skirt up from the pile of clothes we had left on the bank and wrapped it back around his waist. “You’ll have to teach me that one. Where’d you learn it?” “Figured it myself after a few too many times walking home drenched and cold in the dark post skinny dipping.” I pulled my trousers back on and shrug into my shirt, wrapping my arms around my chest. The cave air seemed chillier than before, even it I knew that the temperature should remain constant.

“Cold?”

“A bit.”

Asra dug in his bag and retrieved a blanket that he had somehow managed to pack in a bag half its size. He shook it out and wrapped it around my shoulders, bending down to kiss my nose playfully. We were both still for a moment, foreheads pressed together. I could feel his breath, inhale and exhale, passing across my face.

“Aren’t you chilly too?”

“Maybe a little.”

I sat down on the sandy bank and stretched one arm out. Asra settled down next to me and smiled when I tuck half of the blanket around his shoulders. He waited for a minute, arms folded across his knees, then he looked at me and slid one arm around my waist.

“Is this okay?”

“Very much so.”

He pulled me closer to him and ran his fingers through my hair. “I’ve wanted to bring you here for awhile. The magic here is mostly benevolent. And peaceful.”

“I like it.” I curled into his embrace, leaning my head against his shoulder. “This is the quietest I’ve felt in . . .” My voice trailed off as I can’t narrow down a timeframe.

“I’m glad.” Pulling me with him, he laid back on the sand. He tucked one arm behind his head, leaving the other one tight around my shoulders. I rested my head on his chest and pulled the blanket as far around us as I can manage. Closing my eyes, I listen to his heart beat beneath my ear. His hand slid into my hair, twirling the locks around his fingers. “I don’t want to lose you too.”

I shifted, lifting my head enough to see his face. There’s just enough light left to make out his eyes, soft and violet. “Lose me?”

“Sometimes I worry that you won’t actually come back. That you’ll get lost in the tangle of your own thoughts, chasing some alluring apparition.” His hand trailed down my back to my waist. “I don’t like that there’s nothing much I can do.”

“You don’t run away from me. That’s what matters.”

He head turned slightly to the side, looking away from me. “Is that enough?”

I pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. “It’s enough.”

He was silent for a moment, then turned his face back to me, returning my kiss slowly, lips over mine, other arm unfolding from behind his head and wrapping around me. It’s sweet and slow kiss, sufficient in itself, heading nowhere in particular. I tucked my head back under his chin, warm and quiet and content to be pressed against him, and closed my eyes

When I opened my eyes again, the full moon had risen in the sky, casting its cool light down to the pool. Asra’s breathing was deep and steady. One hand is gripping my arm, the other is tangled in my hair. I touched my fingers to his lips, and he smiles without waking. He can somehow sleep anywhere. I envy him that. Settling back against him, I closed my eyes, falling asleep without a battle against myself for the first time in weeks.

Chapter Four

AN: Chapter title from Lana Del Rey, “Ride”

#the arcana #the arcana fanfiction #lime #asra #asra alnazar #asra x apprentice #asra x mc #fan apprentice #whatever i've done #my writing #dema #hypomania #insomnia

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i-am-arcana-trash · 5 years

Text

At the end of it all.

*Julien and MC leave the Hanged Raven, to find their family*

Angsty: because that reversed ending fucked me up.

Content warning: Mentions of death, cursing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scout scampers through the swamp of mangrove trees, stopping every once and a while to make sure her two lost souls were still following her route.

Behind her, you and Julien carefully manuvered through the swamp, avoiding the bubbling weak spots in the ground.

As you made your way to the edge of the swamp, you stumbled over a tree root and fell against Julien. You felt the very familiar sensation of him steading you, and oh so carefully he ran his knuckles over your forehead and down your temple, careful to avoid his claws.

"Darling are you okay?" He murmurs, grey eyes still searching for any sign of hesitation or disgust from you. You gently kiss his palm and smile up into his eyes. "I couldn't be better" you smile back.

Sure the world had gone to hell in a hand basket, but Julien was here with you. Nothing could bring you down and nothing was going to keep you from your family.

Lacing your fingers between his, feeling his sharp nails delicately rest on the back of your hand you pull him along.

Of course you have no sense of time here, you aren't sure how long you've been looking but one day you feel it. A familiar purple aura, and the familiar pink shores of the Magician's realm.

Making your way to the shore, Julien freezes, panic in his eyes as he looks down at his changed body. And you feel the doubt and insecurity in your heart right along with him before settling him on the shore with Scout. You'll find Asra alone.

Planting a gentle kiss on his forehead, you stroke his feathered cheeks, 'Ill be back soon...I love you'

Following the pull of Asra's aura, you find him sitting in an oasis. It's beautiful and full of color.

Before you can get down to him however he spins around, the ends of his jacket slide across the sand, hands up in a defensive stance and you watch his face crumple when he realizes who he is looking at.

'Enough!' his voice is harsh to your ears....has the Devil been sending him visions too....?

Slowly you reach out to Asra letting your aura drift to him and you hold your breath...he closes his eyes for a moment as your aura covers him before it clears and he looks at you, tears threatening to fall before you rush for each other.

When you wrap your arms around him, you both begin weeping. You hadn't realized how much you missed your closest friend. You feel something press to your nose, Faust peeks out from Asra's collar and you stroke under her chin.

Asra pulls away to look you in the eye, his hands shaking as he holds your shoulders. 'I couldn't find you, I couldn't find anyone..' he chokes out. 'I spent gods know how long searching for a sign for anyone...and I would get glimpses of everyone; you, Portia, Ilya but every time I tried to reach you, you would turn to dust.....'

You know exactly what he's feeling, you and Scout had had many similar experiences while searching for Julien, shadows in the corners of your eyes, whispers on breezes....the fact you didn't completely lose your mind was a miracle.

You smile at him before speaking....'I found him....I found Julien ...we want to find the others, but we need help....' Asra smiles picking up his bag and hat. 'Then let's go...'

He notices your smile falters for a moment and he holds one of your hands in both of his. 'Whats wrong MC....? Is...is Ilya alright...?"

You nod but you want to tell him, 'He's different Asra....he's still there but he has changed...and he was so scared to leave, the Devil took so much from him ...just....try not to act too surprised when you see him...'

Asra nods and you grab his hand, walking back to the beach.

As you come over the last hill, Asra spots Julien before you do. He's standing at the waters edge, rubbing water in his face, ruffling out the feathers on his head and back and you feel Asra pause '.....Ilya....?'

Suddenly Julien whips around making eye contact with you and then with Asra. He cowers into himself, stuck frozen, the fear and panic clear on his face. You both rush to him and you fall to your knees in front of him cradling his face in your hands forcing him to meet your gaze. Asra kneels as well and takes one of Julien's claws in his hand, 'Oh Ilya....what happened...'

Julien sighs and meets Asra's gaze, his cheeks pink. 'I gave up.....and I was rewarded for my failures...' He motions to his altered form. Asra's eyes are gentle before he leans in, one arm around your shoulder, one around Julien's and holds you close.

'Im just glad your safe....still here....we can find the others'

Faust pokes her head out of Asra's shirt again and looks at Julien, she wraps her tail around his hand giving it a firm squeeze.

Asra laughs, a unique sound in the wasteland of realms. 'She still loves to squeeze you' Julien blushes pinker and looks away from the snake.

'ARRRUFFFF' Scout comes bounding back through the surf suddenly, ready to once again aid our search.

*undetermined amount of time later*

Sands continue to shift. As we traveled we found Nazali. They told us Nadia had been missing, no trace of her, not even a glimpse of her from the corner of their eye. When asked if they wanted to join us to search for Mazelinka and Portia, they shook their head. Solitude had turned into their only source of comfort. Solitude meant no one could hurt them and it meant if something happened to them...no one would hurt because of them.

Julien couldn't help the tears that fell as Nazali looked at them, their thumb strokes the downey feathers on his cheeks. 'You are an absolute moron.....but I'm glad you're safe...and I'm glad you have MC and Asra with you...'

You part ways with Nazali.

You never seen them again.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One day Scout disappears. You called and called but her presence was lost in the sand. For a while she had been leading you into the Star's realm, towards what you hoped would be Portia and Mazelinka.

In the distance you see a lighthouse, you feel a pull of your magic towards it and follow your intuition.

After what felt like days of trekking, you are standing in front of the lighthouse door. As you reach for it, you hear a thunderous rumble from inside the light house and the door swings open.

Portia stands in the door frame, chest heaving, Mazelinka's shawl is wrapped around her and you feel your stomach drop.....where is Mazelinka?

Portia doesn't register you, her gaze fixed firmly on Julien's face before she sobs out 'OH ILYA YOU FUCKING STUPID BASTARD, KSOCBAKALIDJEND....BIRD BRAINED GANGLY SJFJDNDJF'

Her voice speaks unintelligible words and reaches a fever pitch. Julien shirks back from the noise covering where his ears used to be, sobs wracking his body.

'Pasha I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry....I just thought I could do something...anything to protect MC and you and.....' he approaches her, dropping to his knees and he holds her hands in his. His feathers convey how much he's shaking as he waits for a response.

There is a deafening smack and Portia smacks Julien on the cheek with a wooden spoon. He cups his cheek in shock before Portia's strength fades and she wraps her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him in a vice like hug, some of his feathers dropping to the ground after breaking off during the hug.

When they part she rushes up to Asra and I, giving us hugs before ushering us into the lighthouse.

Inside it's warm, you dare say, peaceful. Or at least as peaceful as things get in the world now.

Your stomach drops when you realize Mazelinka isn't there and you look at Portia. She's tending to a small fire in the center of the floor and and speaks softly 'I found Mazelinka shortly after everything happened....she wasn't herself...and then she died, from the change or from her bloody feet and the compulsion I'm not sure'

Julien leans against a wall, shoulders shaking and you feel the anguish in his chest. Grief and guilt hit you like a ton of bricks, eminating from the man you love so dearly. You warm up your fingertips, like that time you teased him in the Towers realm when you had lost your body during that fateful masquerade.

You stroke the back of his head, burrowing your fingers to nape of his neck, moving feathers out of the way and you feel his sobs lessen. Guilt drove him to do so many terrible things. You can't bear for him to take that invisible load again, not without your help.

That night you don't talk, you all sleep together, using each other for warmth, security, or perhaps just so the crippling loneliness you all experienced could be shared.

The next morning, you feel the slightest bit lighter.

You all agree to stay together. It wasn't the reunion you all wanted.

But at the very least.....you no longer had to do it alone.

#the arcana #the arcana julian #julien route #julien x apprentice #asra x apprentice #portia x apprentice #the arcana fanfiction #the arcana fanfic #julien reversed ending #angst #i hurt my own feelings writing this

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eurydice-khthonios · 5 years

Text

Wilderness

It is the month before he leaves for the first time, and he has taken them into the forest to gather herbs. The sunlight filters in through the gaps between trees and makes patterns on the foliage beneath their feet. The day is as warm as his chest feels, filled with an endearment for the human being before him. Carefully trying to cut bunches of wolfsbane with the knife he’d supplied them for the day’s outing. They would hang them up later, and let them dry before storing them or they would distill them to sprinkle around the shop to deter vermin.

He sits against the trunk of a tree with his eyes closed, or mostly closed. They’ve asked to take the lead. To have a go at doing everything themselves rather than have him hovering over them. He obliged. They were no longer the shaking fawn they had once seemed to be. Now instead they had an inner light, the fire for independence mixed with memories that were more smoke than tangible things to recall. He could only give them what had already been theirs.

He pretends he isn’t watching as they scamper back towards him. The same skip in their step that they’d had when the two had met all those years ago. He opens one eye the slightest bit as they hit the ground on their knees next to him. Crashing against his shoulder and holding their fists stuffed with herbs and wolfsbane in front of his face.

“Asra! Did you bring enough jars for us to put these in?” They’re beaming and it’s contagious. He can see their pride radiating out of them. They were proud to have done something without his supervision, proud to not have to be watched like a child. For him, it was restorative. Not restoring himself, but healing them. For them to regain parts of themselves, whether they knew it or not, made his heart swell in his chest.

“Hm? Well, let’s see shall we?” He digs into the pack at his side. Pulling out a jar for each of the herbs and flowers they’ve cut for them to take back home. He sits up properly, laying the jars out, open, on the ground in front of them. Together they begin to sort out the thick bouquet of various plant life they’d gathered and put them into the jars.

Two jars of sage and rosemary, a half jar of saffron, thyme and parsley. One full jar of basil and sumac each. One and a half for the wolfsbane. There is wild onions and various berries thrown into other jars to be sorted out later.

He reaches for the next flower they’ve gathered, bringing the next jar closer to him to put it in before he pauses. Looking closer at it. It’s pretty, that’s for sure. But certainly not on their list or with any real value for alchemy or medicine.

“Ah, did you forget what--”

“No!” They interrupt quickly, for a moment looking embarrassed then regaining their composure just as quick. His concern, along with his curiousity, is piqued. “I, well, those are for you. Since you’ve done so much for me.” They scratch at the side of their face, dirt smearing on their cheek from their fingertips. He laughs, and tucks the flower behind their ear. Their grin returning when his joviality returns.

He would do anything to protect that grin. He would ask the world itself, nature in all it’s glory, to be merciful. To not do as it must and be gentle around them, for them. If he could rearrange the world, it would be that much softer for them so that their happiness could never come into jeopardy.

“That’s very sweet of you.” He hums, turning his head to allow them to thread a few flowers into his hair. It is a warm moment, a fond one.

It is three weeks until he leaves for the first time and he has taken them to a field to practice their magic, to use it.

But first, he watches them from atop of a hill as they run through the long grass. Outside of the city’s walls and noise. The world is lit up with gold. He turns his face up towards the sky, closes his eyes, and smiles at the sun. Feeling the light warm his skin.

He hears their footsteps come towards him at the same fast pace they’d run from him at. He opens his eyes and looks down just in time to see their face, full of joy and reckless abandon, before they tackle him to the ground with their arms around his waist.

They are laughing, he is laughing. His own arms coming around to hug them as they lay on the ground. He loved them, and once they loved him. But he has always been their friend first and foremost, and he is more than glad to sink into these moments with them. They are wearing a tunic they’d gotten from a client as repayment for a particularly expensive salve. It is soft, silky. He squeezes them before he lets them go. Standing up once they have run out of the energy to laugh and helps them up.

That day they light up the sky with a second sun made of various spells and magic. They make the wind and set fire to the air. Their control impeccable for one who remembers so little. He tells them he is proud, that they are so strong and so talented. That their hard work is paying off. He tells them this and does not mention the slight red in the whites of their eyes. Though his heart lurches every time for many different reasons. The plague is gone, he reminds himself, so why have they been crying then?

It is a week before he leaves, and it is raining. They are sitting near the window, having of helped him push the bed towards it, with a hot cup of tea in their hands. Though by now they have seen the rain so many times, they never fail to be amazed or captivated by it.

“It’s like,” They would always start when he asks, “I know I must have been someone, before I lost everything and all that, so I just want to appreciate these little things, y’know? Just in case I didn’t before.”

You did, he wants to tell them as he sits next to them on the bed. Faust unravelling from him and wrapping around their shoulders. You loved the rain and the sun, you danced in both and it loved you as much as you loved it. He wants to say it. So instead he bumps their shoulder with his own and asks them if they’d been practicing their magical theory. They stick their tongue out at him and they fall into a comfortable silence. Watching the rain as it goes from a drizzle to something far heavier with harsh hale crashing against the glass pane. Lightning strikes the world around them.

He knew that if they wanted to, they would walk out into the storm and trust it to never hurt them. He knows this, because he knows them better than they know themselves.

“Wet!” Says Faust, tightening that little bit around them. Tongue flicking out to ghost over their cheek. They grin, looking to him.

“I’m going to catch a storm one of these days, just you wait. I’ll put it in a jar, just for you.”

It is the night after he left the first time and he is lonely.

He is not lonely in the sense that he enjoys it. Being able to enjoy his own company, the ability to be okay without others around, has always been innate. But after so long with someone by his side, before the plague and after, when someone relied on him, it feels unusual. Right now, he cannot enjoy his own company as it is.

He lies down at his camp. The beast asleep, and Faust hunting down mice and small rats to eat. He closes his eyes, and he dreams.

When he dreams, he thinks of sunlight and flowers. Of magical lights and lightning trapped in jars. He thinks of soft clothes and softer hair, of warm skin and the simple joy of laughter shared with another person.

When he dreams he smiles. And in a city a few hundred miles away from where he is, the subject of his dreams sits on their shared bed and looks out the window with a jar in their hands. Waiting for the biggest storm to trap in a tiny jar so he would have reason to not leave again.

It does not storm while he is away, and the second time he leaves, they wait for the storm. The third time, the fourth, the tenth and the thirtieth. The storm is never where they need it to be.

#asra the magician #the arcana #the arcana game #asra #this was going ot be eos but like #just project ur apprentice in here idc

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immortalcoelacanth · 6 years

Text

A Hat in Time Oneshot: Bedtime Stories

Inspired by an awesome Borrower AU created by @monster-monsoon (seriously go check out their stories and art, it’s all amazing!)

Essentially Borrower Hat Kid starts getting homesick and it’s up to Human Bean Snatcher to help make her feel better by telling her a bedtime story. This, naturally, results in some fluff and feels moments from both characters.

Also this will be the first of my many Tumblr exclusive oneshots! So just check under the read more thingy to check out this story. (Also it’s more than 4 thousand words so enjoy that too!

“Hey Snatcher, can you tell me a bedtime story?” Hat Kid asked, looking up at the massive Bean with her signature puppy dog eyes.

While the past several days had progressed rather smoothly in the Bean filled apartment, despite the arguments that still went on between Conductor and DJ Grooves, and Snatcher’s random pranks, a sudden bout of feeling homesick had taken over her, making it difficult to focus on anything other than her lost and worried family.

Cooking with Cookie left her feeling hollow, watching Conductor and DJ Grooves argue just made her feel sad, remembering how Bow and Timmy would bicker with each other, and even pulling pranks with Snatcher did nothing to lighten her mood.

Naturally this had also made it rather difficult to fall asleep that, which lead to her previous question towards one of the humans she had grown closest to.

Snatcher sighed, reaching up to scratch as the fluffy mess of black hair that sat atop his head as he stared at the child standing on the floor before him. He was worried, having noticed the Borrower’s strange behaviour earlier in the day, and wondered if her sudden question had something to do with how she was currently feeling.

But he was not so heartless as to deny her something that would, hopefully, make her feel better.

“Sure thing kiddo, just let me find one of my old books.” Snatcher said, turning around to dig through one of the several dusty boxes. “Go wait in your bed, I’ll be over soon.”

The child frowned. She was definitely glad he was willing to tell her a bedtime story, and yet she felt... odd sleeping in that tiny room while the Bean read to her. So instead of walking over to the dollhouse that she usually slept in, she remained on the floor, watching Snatcher dig through the pile of boxes. Finally after several minutes he turned around, large book held in his hands, and caught sight of her still standing on the floor.

A faint frown appeared on his own face and he bent his knees, lowering himself so he could get a better look at the Borrower while he placed the book off to the side. “You okay kid?”

“Yeah, I just...” She trailed off, nervously looking to the floor while she played with the bottom of her shirt.

Luckily enough the human had understood her unspoken question, immediately realizing why she looked so nervous.

Snatcher smiled softly, lowering a hand to the floor. “Get over here, kiddo.”

Hat Kid smiled and scampered forwards, jumping up into the offered hand. In moments she was lifted up and up, carefully held close to Snatcher’s chest. From there he slowly walked forward, not wanting to make the child in his grasp fall, until he reached his bed.

He then lowered his hand, allowing the child to jump off, and watched with a smile as she immediately made her way to the pillow at the top of his bed. When she was settled he sat down, causing the child to laugh as the springy mattress bounced her up and down.

“Alright,” He began, grabbing the heavy book off of the floor. “So I’ve got several law book, but since you’re a kid I figured I’d start with something basic.”

Law books? Just what kind of Bean stories had Snatcher found for her?!

He cleared his throat and read out the title of the book he held. The name completely escaped the Borrower, but from what she could tell it was long and sounded like it would only put her to sleep, not entertain her or make her feel better.

“Your books are boring.” Hat Kid muttered, crossing her arms and leaning back on the strangely soft pillow. “Don’t you have anything fun to read?”

“Kid, law books are a great read, you just haven’t got the knack for it!” Snatcher eagerly flipped through the pages, recalling some of his favourite chapters from when he was still in law school. “We can go through the basics of the legal system-”

“Booooooooooooring!” She whined. “It sounds so boring!”

He huffed and set the book aside, just a bit offended at her response towards one of his favourite textbooks. Perhaps he could try pulling out his copy of Faust, another excellent academic read, but he had a feeling her response would be the same.

“Don’t you know any stories kid?”

The Borrower frowned. Sure, there were plenty of tales she had been told while she was growing up, but most of them were just lessons about how dangerous the world they lived in was, and the risks about getting too close to Beans.

In other words, they were not proper bedtime stories.

She shook her head, making the human sigh. He flopped backwards, making Hat Kid bounce up and down again. He looked up at the dusty ceiling as he thought about what to do next.

Meanwhile off to the side, the Borrower watched as Snatcher tried to figure out what to do next. After a couple minutes of waiting an idea formed in her mind. She walked over to the human and poked the side of his face, smiling when he turned to look at her.

“Why don’t you make up a story?” The child suggested.

Make up his own story? But he had no idea what kind of story would interest her, or any kid for that matter! Uh, kids liked Disney movies, and cartoons, and uh...

Hm...

Fairy tales?

Fairy tales has princes and princesses in them, right? Perhaps that would be a good place to start, and then he could change his story depending on how the child reacted to it.

“Once upon a time there was a magical kingdom, and in this kingdom lived a Prince and a Princess.” Snatcher began, looking down at the single person who made up his audience.

Hat Kid, now happy to see that the Bean had taken her suggestion to heart, eagerly sat up with her hands resting on her knees.

“The Prince and Princess were madly in love. They spent practically every hour of every day together. The Prince was a bit of a goofball but loved learning, and the Princess...”

He swallowed, mind only conjuring a familiar face framed by blonde hair.

“She was something.”

He continued his tale, spinning stories about the Prince and Princess spending their days together, the Prince protecting his Princess, and how deeply in love the duo were. Occasionally he would pause, recalling certain memories of his past that made his heart ache, but he continued to speak, hoping the Borrower child would feel better.

Luckily enough it seemed as though his story was having its desired effect on the kiddo. She was no longer sitting upright and had actually moved herself so she was lying down on the pillow. Her hands were resting under her head and her eyes were closed.

She had fallen asleep.

“And the Prince and Princess lived happily ever after, the end.” He whispered, finishing his tale with a smile.

Unconsciously he found himself removing the Borrower’s signature hat and started gently brushing her hair, smile growing larger as she mumbled something under her breath and snuggled the pillow a bit more.

“She’s too cute.” He whispered, that massive smile still stretched across his face.

Snatcher then set her hat off to the side, certain she would be upset if she woke up to find it wrinkled or crumpled up, and decided it would be best to also get some sleep so he was not exhausted the next day.

Now if only his crappy mattress agreed with his decision.

He cringed as the mattress underneath him groaned and squeaked. No matter how quietly he tried to move the old piece of furniture seemed determined to make as much noise as possible. He was, eventually, able to get himself lying down, looking over at the sleeping child one more time.

“Night kiddo.” Snatcher muttered, rolling over onto his side and joining her in slumber.

Several hours later the young Borrower stirred, having been woke up by horrible nightmare where both her family and the Human Beans she had gotten close to suddenly disappeared, leaving her alone in the darkness.

She sat up, wiping at her watery eyes, and looked around the barely lit attic. The full moon shone through the nearby window, faintly lighting up the bed she and Snatcher were on, but it left everything else in the shadows.

Hat Kid looked over at the human she had grown closest to during her stay. He was facing away from her, fluffy black hair sprawled across the pillows as he snored, oblivious to her distraught state.

Not that she would blame him. It was unfair she had forced herself upon the Humans Beans that lived here, made them help take care of her while her family searched desperately for her in the big, scary world…

The Borrower child sniffled, wiping away the tears that were now falling down her cheeks. She was crushed by her homesickness, loneliness making her feel more and more isolated and scared!

But Snatcher was here…

A sudden snort escaped said human, and he rolled over a bit, face now looking towards her. He was lying on his back, one arm thrown over his stomach while the other rested at his side. He was still deeply asleep, his snores and closed eyes giving that away, so she took the time to look him over, inspecting the Bean that had tried to help her feel better.

Human Beans were so weird, with how tall they were and their strange ways of living. They were terrifying from a distance, and yet once she had gotten to know them they were so nice.

Even if the Conductor had been a bit scary at first.

Hat Kid’s eyes landed on the pocket of his fancy, dark purple top that he had not bothered to change before going to bed. Several times she had sat atop Snatcher’s shoulder, and even the Conductor’s when he was not arguing with the DJ or drinking, but she had never been in any of their pockets.

It made sense since she would not be able to see anything considering how short she was, and the Human Beans always found it weird when she sat on their shoulders, scared they might accidentally hurt her, so it would probably be even weirder if she suggested sitting in their pockets.

But now a plan had formed in her mind, a plan that involved that pocket.

She was scared, worried she might make Snatcher mad by waking him up, and yet as time went on and she continued to feel worse, even more tears falling down her face, she knew there was only one choice she could make.

Cautiously, the nervous Borrower used the human’s arm to boost herself up to his chest, doing her best to not accidentally wake him up in the process.

She could feel his chest rising and falling beneath her, making it a bit hard to walk towards her goal, but eventually she did it. Once she reached the pocket she crouched down, crawled into it, and was immediately engulfed by the darkness.

A faint giggle escaped her. Somehow the sounds of his heartbeat and breathing were amplified here. She lay down and rested her head against his chest, smile growing as the warmth from his body slowly sank into hers, making her drowsy.

Hat Kid sighed softly and curled up against Snatcher, his heartbeat acting as a lullaby that slowly began to make her fall asleep.

But just as she was about to drift off those images flashed before her eyes once again. Timmy and Bow reaching out for her, Thor and Tim shouting as they desperately tried to find out where she was, all the Human Beans she had gotten close to during her stay here vanishing into the darkness, leaving her all alone.

It was too much for the distraught Borrower.

A sharp sob broke free as tears began to fall out of her eyes once again. She desperately pressed a hand against her mouth trying to muffle the sounds that she kept making so she did not wake Snatcher up, but this proved to be a futile attempt as she soon felt the human begin to stir.

“Kiddo?” The Bean muttered, sitting up slightly as the sound of someone sobbing reached his ears. He reached a hand up to wipe at his blurry eyes. “What’s going on?”

He looked over to his left and felt his heart drop when he realized that the Borrower child was no longer there. Panic filled him in an instant. “Kid?!”

Hat Kid let out a soft squeak as he suddenly sat up, clinging to his shirt so she did not fall down to the bottom of the pocket. Snatcher easily heard the faint noise and curiously peered down at his suit pocket.

She looked up as his massive golden eyes looked down at her, filled with concern. She sniffled once again and wiped at her eyes, hoping to get rid of her tears before he noticed them.

“There you are.” He breathed, and she could feel his heartbeat slow as he calmed down. “You scared the life out of me kid!”

“Sorry,” She mumbled, voice so soft he could barely hear her. “I didn’t mean to wake you up, I just-”

Snatcher shook his head, interrupting the guilty child. “You don’t need to apologize kid, it’s okay.”

Now certain of Hat Kid’s location, he slowly laid back down on the bed. He was still concerned over how she was feeling, especially since she had actually moved to be closer to him even though the risk of him hurting her was significantly higher, and wondered what he could do to help.

Clearly the story had not worked, but perhaps there was something else he could think of...

“Snatcher, did the Princess and Prince actually live happily ever after?” Hat Kid asked in the silence of the attic.

The question surprised him, not only because of how out of the blue it was, but also because he had thought she had been asleep during the ending of his story. He looked down at her and winced when he caught sight of the knowing look in her blue eyes.

Just how could a child be so innocent and so mature at the same time? Was it Burrower nature, or something else?

“No kid,” He sighed, letting his hand rest over the child that was curled up on his chest. “They didn’t.”

“What happened?”

A rueful smile appeared on his face as he considered the question. There was a part of him that wanted to change the subject, not wanting to relive that part of his life, but the rest of him argued that perhaps this was the story the child had been looking for.

A tale about being lost and finding a home, finding a family that cared about you no matter how different you were.

“As time went on the Prince began to notice something strange going on with his Princess. She started making changes to his life that he never asked for, and freaked out over the tiniest of mistakes he made.”

Snatcher winced at the memories, recalling the furious, reddish brown eyes that would constantly glare at him. He remembered the shouting, the fighting.

Going to his parents for help but hearing how dare you upset her she’s so good to you you have to be better for her instead. Hearing them blatantly say that clearly he could not be in an abusive relationship unless he had been hitting her-

He exhaled sharply, shaking the memories off as he tried to return his focus to telling the story, his story. “Eventually one day he had enough and decided to leave.”

He then chuckled, remembering the next part of his tale in vivid detail. “The Prince knew it would be too dangerous to leave out the main gate, so he climb down from his window and fell into a bunch of bushes.”

He had actually fallen into a dumpster when fleeing his crazy ex and garbage family, but he was not about to tell the child that embarrassing detail.

“And then he ran as far as he could, escaping from the miserable life that had been forced upon him. The Prince was now free to choose what he wanted to do, and no longer had to listen to anyone but himself.”

Yes he was free, but at what price? He could no longer stay in contact with his parents, not after their remarks towards his situation with Vanessa, and whenever he went outside he risked having his crazy ex find out where he lived.

It was the main reason why he rarely left the dusty attic or the apartment, even to deal with his clients. The risks were just far too great.

He was lucky his uncle had been so understanding of his situation and offered him a place to stay...

“So what happened after?” The Borrower child suddenly asked, breaking him out of the memory filled trance he had fallen into.

“Huh?”

“The Prince, what happened to him after he left?” She repeated, curiosity demanding an answer.

She already knew that Snatcher was basing the story off of himself based on how he had reacted before she had fallen asleep, but she wanted to know what else he had gone through after escaping his “Princess”.

How he had gotten here.

“Geeze kiddo, you sure seem worried about the Prince.” Snatcher commented.

“Well the Princess has a bunch of people to look after her, and she’s a jerk anyways.” Hat Kid huffed, making the human chuckle warmly.

“Yeah, I guess she is.” He wheezed.

After his laughing fit had faded he cleared his throat and continued talking, though this time he actually sounded happy after telling his tale.

“Eventually the Prince managed to run into his uncle who told him about a cottage he had set up in a nearby forest. No one wanted to live there because strange, magical creatures inhabited that forest, but the Prince was desperate and needed a safe place to stay.”

His uncle, he should call him again at some point. Check up on how he was doing and maybe invite him over for a coffee or something.

Definitely when no one else was around, of course.

“And in the magical forest that was now his home, the Prince moved in to his uncle’s cottage. His new home was very small and dirty, and even though the Prince did little to clean it up it felt far more like home than his castle.”

His parent’s luxurious home, their several cars. The swimming pool and even the maids that would drop by to clean up before his parent’s parties. None of it ever felt warm or comfortable to him, it had always been so cold and unfeeling there.

“Of course he had neighbors.” Snatcher continued, a smirk appearing on his face as he figured out how to continue the next part of his tale. “A witch who crafted potions to heal the sick, two muses, artistic spirits who constantly argued over whose latest creation was the best.”

Cookie, DJ Grooves, the Conductor, all interesting characters who had somehow become the center of his world. It would be hard to imagine what the apartments would be like if any of them left.

Including the Borrower who had wormed her way into his life.

“But the strangest creature he had encountered was a thief who broke into his home and stole whatever sweets he had in the cupboards.” A laugh escaped the Borrower child, easily realizing who this character was supposed to represent in the story.

“He was more curious than mad, wondering just who was sneaking in when he back was turned, so one day he came up with a plan to discover the identity of his thief. The next day the Prince found his thief, having gotten stuck in the honey he had laid out the night before, and found that she was not at all what his was expecting.”

Snatcher paused, taking a moment to enjoy the intense look on his listener’s face. Man, she was really into this story!

“His thief was an adorable, tiny fairy.”

“A fairy?” Hat Kid gasped, crawling out of his pocket so she could look up at him with those big eyes. “Really?”

“Yup!” Snatcher chuckled, carefully lowering one of his fingers so he could playfully mess up the child’s hair. “Apparently the fairy had one heck of a sweet tooth, so she had been breaking in and stealing some of his sugar when he wasn’t looking. Apparently when he put the honey out she couldn’t help herself and tried to get some, which is how she got caught.”

“What did he do with the fairy?”

The Bean smiled and continued to ruffle the child’s hair. “Well, he set her free and told her if she ever needed any sugar she could always come back and get some more, like a certain Borrower I happen to know.”

Hat Kid giggled and tried to push his finger away. “Snatcher, you’re messing up my hair!”

He relented, laughing when she tried to fix her tousled locks. “You’ve got some bedhead there, kiddo!”

She huffed. “No thanks to you, and what happened after he let the fairy go?!”

The human’s smile grew warm as he continued his story. “Well, she kept visiting him and they became friends, and a spectacular pranking team.”

“And then did they live happily ever after?” The Borrower asked, looking up at him with a hopeful smile on her face.

“Yeah kid,” Snatcher replied. “They did.”

That smile remained on the child’s face, even as her eyes began to drop thanks to her exhaustion catching up to her. “That was a great story, thanks Snatcher.”

“You’re welcome kiddo.” He whispered, nudging her back into his pocket. “Sweet dreams.”

Hat Kid sighed and curled up against her guardian, nuzzling her face into his shirt as she listened to his calming heartbeat once again. In seconds she was asleep, completely relaxed and no longer bothered by the worries and fears that had tormented her earlier.

Snatcher smiled down at the sleeping Borrower curled up in his pocket. His hand was still resting over her, providing even more warmth to help sooth her. He felt totally relaxed but did not intend to fall asleep, worried he might accidentally turn over and squash the child.

Eh, oh well, he had pulled many sleepless nights while he was still in school.

So the duo remained like this until dawn broke over the world, Snatcher keeping all of the child’s nightmares at bay with his presence while Hat Kid slumbered on, dreaming of the moment when her two families would finally get the chance to meet one another.

Omake:

Snatcher groaned as the light from the windows shined on his face, making him wince and lift a hand up to try and block the annoying rays. He yawned, sat up, and stretched, sighing as his spine popped pleasantly. A couple more stretches had the human feeling much more awake, but he felt as though there was something he was forgetting about.

Had he left his phone somewhere? He patted his pockets, finding all of them to be empty.

His pocket...

The kid!

“Hat Kid?” He uttered, looking left and right as he tried to find out where the Borrower had gone to. “Where are you, kiddo?”

A quick glance to his right had him noticing a sheet of paper that had been left on his desk. He picked it up and held it before his eyes, frowning when he noticed how sloppy the handwriting was. It was as if whoever had written it had some struggle in holding the pencil since some of the letters were crooked and a bit squiggly.

In fact the writing itself was very small...

He squinted and did his best to read the note, a faint smile appearing on his face as he deciphered the words.

Hey Snatcher, you looked so comfy I didn’t want to wake you up! I’m downstairs eating breakfast so don’t worry about me :3

PS I hope you like your new hairdo :D

“New hair? What’s she-” Snatcher froze and quickly lifted a hand up to run it through his hair. He immediately encountered what felt like knots or some sort of tangles, but he had a feeling Hat Kid was not malicious enough to do something like that.

So what had she done to him?

He dug through some boxes and pulled out a dusty mirror. A quick wipe with his sleeve left the reflective surface as clean as he could get it and he held it up to his face, immediately catching sight of the Borrower’s handiwork.

She had braided his hair while he had been sleeping.

The peaceful breakfast downstairs was disturbed when loud, hearty laughter erupted from the attic. The Conductor nearly dropped his mug of coffee, and almost immediately started cursing, while Grooves just looked up to the ceiling in amusement.

Cookie glanced down at the Borrower by her side on the counter, easily noticing the mischievous smile on her face.

“What did you do to Snatcher?”

Hat Kid grinned. “Oh, I just gave him a little makeover, that’s all.”

#my story #inspired by an au created by MonsterMonsoon #fanfiction #a hat in time #ahit #borrower au #hat kid #snatcher #fluff and feels #hat kid gets homesick and snatcher tells her a bedtime story #oneshot #tumblr exclusive oneshot

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askingexorcists · 7 years

Note

Can you do something about Amaimon trying to flirt with Rin's daughter?😹😹It'll be really fun nd weard. Love u!!💚

Okay, wow, I’m so sorry, this was at the very bottom of my ask box and must of been in here for months…you’ve probably unfollowed me or whatever since then, I don’t know if you’ll even see this now because it’s been so long…I’m sorry it’s took so long, I tend to tackle requests from the top more. Anyways, this is probably really bad because I just sat and wrote this now instead of taking my time on it like I should of done. Anyways, enjoy my random oneshot! Love you too, ah thank you so much!💚

Oneshot

Paring: Amaimon x Rin’s daughterWord count: 1,206

It had been twenty years since the showdown in Assiah and Rin saved the world. Since then he became paladin, became a husband, and a father. Seventeen years ago Shiemi finally felt ready for love, so her and Rin began their relationship. Not long later they were married and had a baby. She was born half human, half demon, just like her father, and to honour Rin’s late father, they named her Shiro. She did not inherit the blue flames, but instead green flames, which were third in Gehenna, only black and then blue surpassing them. The green flames also tied in with her special ability to summon a vast range of plant demons from a young age. Now fifteen years later she’s a first year in True Cross academy and an exorcist in training, with a tamer as her meister.

It was Monday, and school had just finished, most students would be heading back to their dorms or attending an after school club or actual cram school. Shiro Okumura was supposed to be going to ‘cram school’, but right now she really couldn’t be bothered to sit through her Uncle Yukio’s class on demon pharmaceuticals. So instead she did what she normally did, and sat on top of the True Cross tower that was a good distance away from the school. This is where she usually came when she wasn’t feeling up to class, or she was sick of arguing with Ikuyo Suguro over her slight laziness and tendency not to take things seriously.

It was then she sensed someone was there, the presence felt strong, not like her fathers or like Sir Faust’s, but similar at least. Suddenly, she turned her head and there was a green haired boy crouching in front of her.

“Hi.” He said, his cheeks full of…Takoyaki?

“Um..”

“Your cute.” He muttered with his mouth still full, this time poking her cheek as well.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Amaimon, a demon King, who are you?”

A demon king? She learnt about them in cram school, and she heard the stories of her fathers encounters with them, although he himself never talked about it to her.

“My names Okumura Shiro.”

“Okumura…” He paused his finger but didn’t remove it from her face, “Are you Okumura Rin’s little sister?”

“No, I’m his daughter.”

“Oh.” His voice showed little emotion, he seemed curious but bored at the same time. “You don’t look like your father that much.”

“People say I look like my mother a lot, her name is Shiemi.”

“Moriyama Shiemi?” Shiro was surprised he knew her mother also, but didn’t ask him about it. “So Rin stole my bride, huh? Oh well…maybe I can have his daughter instead.”

“What do you mean you can have me? Are you like…okay?”

“Yes, I am very good.” He snuck his hand into his pocket for a second “Do you want a lollipop?” He pealed of the wrapper with one claw and shoved it into her mouth.

“Um, thanks I guess?”

“Your welcome.” He sat up straight for a moment deep in thought, he looked as if he was trying to remember something. Amaimon moved his hand, and tucked a stray piece of hair behind your pointed ear, scratching up your forehead in the process with his long, sharp claws.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m flirting with you. Is that not obvious?”

“Flirting? What?” Wow, this guy is so straight forward, it’s weird She thought.

“Yes, I saw it in one of Aunie’s manga books.”

“Oh…” Does he not know how to flirt? I guess he really doesn’t know how? He’s so dumb…

“You posses the green flame, I can sense it, I’d love to fight you right now but according to Aunie’s manga your not supposed to fight the girls you flirt with.”

“Then what are you supposed to do with them?” She asked curiously, wondering what this strange demon thought was the norm for beginning a relationship.

“Your supposed to tell them their pretty, and give them flowers. Oh I forgot that part.” The Earth king then held his hand up and to her surprise she watched as a single rose shot through his skin and twirled to his will, before blooming right in front of her eyes. He snapped it off and handed it to her. Shiro really loved plants, most likely a trait she’d picked up from her mother, so she snatched the flower from his hand in astonishment. This guy is able to grow flowers from his body? That’s so cool!

“I’ll take you as my bride now.” He seemed so clueless but so serious, which kind of scared Shiro, or made her nervous, but she found it quite funny at how to the point he was being, but she saw it as a good feeling.

“AMAIKON!” Spat a very, very pissed sounding voice, it sounded…like her father? Shiro never heard her father yell very often, or her mother either. Rin only ever shouted when he was arguing with her Uncle Yukio or his friend Suguro Ryuji.

“MY NAME IS AMAIMON.” The green haired demon in front of her yelled back, clearly frustrated.

“Get away from my daughter, you bastard!”

“No, I’ve decided I’m going to make her my bride, since you stole my last one.”

“BRIDE? Like hell she is.” Rin grabbed his daughter’s arm and threw her behind him, and away from the demon king. “Why are you back here?”

“I came to see Aunie, and I missed the awesome food here.”

Shiro watched as her father unsheathed his sword and blue flames erupted around him. He yelled out various curse words and launched himself at Amaimon, who’d since stood and braced himself. Shiro was shocked to witness the first facial expression he’d summoned all day, he seemed to to grin excitedly at the prospect of fighting. She had to admit to herself, she thought Amaimon’s smile was adorable!

She decided she wasn’t going to stick around and watch, she decided to head back home and help her mom with the garden, and visit her familiars which reside there. Not long later, her father returned home.

“Shiro, listen, NEVER speak to that bastard again! Okay?” Although she knew her father wasn’t mad at her, she was still taken back for him to take that tone with her.

“Okay, but who was he”

“Nobody, just some stupid ass little hamster I used to know.” Rin seemed to calm down a little after that. She watched as her mother and father walked off, Rin informing Shiemi of what occurred when he went to look for their daughter who failed to turn up to class.

“Wait…Hamster?” She whispered to herself, confused by her father’s choice of words.

You wanted to speak to Amaimon again though, despite her father’s protests you thought he was quite funny about how clueless he was, and you found his abilities really amazing. Later on that night, when your parents were fast asleep, you heard a faint knock on your window. You pulled open your curtains to find Amaimon hanging upside down and defying gravity by eating a bag of crisps.

“Hi, can I come in?” He asked, mouth full once again.

#amaimon #amaimon king of earth #amaimon blue exorcist #oneshot #one shot #ane #aoex #aonoex #ao-ex #ao-no-ex #aonoexorcist #ao no ekusoshisuto #Ao no Exorcist #BlueExorcist #blue exorcist #mephisto pheles #rin okumura

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kristie-rp · 5 years

Text

hold your breath

P R E V I O U S - | - N E X T

“Caramel,” Faust greets her with the stage name she hated; that she still hates. His voice is tinny on the line. She keeps this flip phone because he’s the only one with the number, and the terrible quality of it amuses her, in a petty way he need never know about. “You’ll want to come to the hospital.”

“Coincidentally,” she snipes back, “I’ve just decided I’m not going anywhere near the hospital. Fancy that.”

“Darcy was in a car crash.” He doesn’t beat around the bush, likely because he knows carelessness is going to annoy her more than deliberating.

Kara’s heart lunges into her throat, and she drops the case of ammunition she’d been placing on the shelf. Raspberry, checking out the new line of ladies weapons – pistols for the tiniest of purses! Only $375 – looks up in surprise. Kara’s dad had haemophilia, and she has it to a lesser degree, and she took Darcy for testing when she was born, and of course Darcy has it worse than her – all of this runs through Kara’s mind as she reaches to clutch the phone, instead of sandwiching it between her shoulder and ear. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything,” he says drily, “but you managed to have a daughter with the rarest blood type in Blacklight. They’re out of anything for transfusion. Of course, if your hatred for me is strong enough, you might just let her die...”

Fuck you, Kara thinks acidly, but refuses to say it aloud. “What room?”

She gets the distinct impression that Faust is smirking as he answers. It’s about the least surprising thing possible, and she hangs up.

If he doesn’t have any guards with him, I’m going to punch him in the face, she decides. “You okay, Kar?” Raspberry asks. Kara looks up at her, staring for a long moment.

“I don’t have time, I need to go to the hospital. Something – something’s come up,” she explains, darting into the back room for her threadbare coat and purse. “Can you close up?”

“Uh, sure.” The criminal blinks at Kara, because she doesn’t ask for help, not for her own sake. This – this is unusual.

Kara doesn’t bother explaining, shouting a thanks as she bolts out the side door.

Kara’s knuckles are split and aching, broken against Faust’s face when she met him alone in a hallway. A passing nurse paused in alarm, and a hulking shadow seeps amusement as he stops the woman from interfering. The shadow says something – trust me, he deserves this and worse – and Kara spits in his face before grabbing the nurses arm. “Darcy St – Egrid. Darcy Egrid. I’m Kara St Claire; I have the same blood type, I’m compatible. I was told it’s an emergency.”

The nurse blinked at her, but led her into the correct room, and Kara’s hand goes to her mouth. She hasn’t seen her daughter in years, not in person, and it’s not a pretty picture. They’ve removed whatever has caused the injury to her, but she’s pale and lifeless on the bed. If Kara was the sort to leak tears, she’d be doing so right now, startled into them.

It’s hours later now, and Kara is still connected to Darcy. The doctor had decided on a direct person-to-person transfer, and it takes her a long minute to figure out why. Doctor Zavala is the same woman she came to eighteen, nineteen years ago now, for all the tests and the start of vaccinations for her newborn daughter. Kara doesn’t know if it’s coincidence or by design, and if so, then whose design – Faust, to mess with her, or Faust, to have a doctor who he doesn’t have to give extensive personal records to. Either way, Zavala offers her a sad smile, pats her arm after she sets the transfusion, and leaves her to it.

The thoughts are chasing each other around her head, and she knows she looks like a pretty picture right now. There’s a man she could charitably describe as a vampire lurking on the edge of the room, and she keeps almost asking him to sit before deciding not to. He obviously has some weapon on him, and his hands are still bloody. She thinks he’s nothing more than another one of Faust’s goons, except he watches her, when she looks up, with curiosity and suspicion in his gaze. Other than that, his face is impassive, and he never attempts to speak to her. It’s creepy.

Zavala and the nurse from before have come back, and they’re changing the bandage around the stitches they’ve worked into Darcy’s stomach. “The anaesthesia is wearing off,” Zavala murmurs, nodding to a nurse, who shakes her head. Apparently, they’ve already exceeded the maximum dosage for the day.

“S-stop,” a voice gasps, and Kara’s eyes widen as Darcy starts to move. She’s swatting at the doctors, trying to push them off. The shadow in the corner moves as if to come closer, but Kara moves first, taking Darcy’s hand with gentle fingers. It jostles the transfusion equipment, and the nurse tuts, but it serves the purpose, and the girl stills. “Wh – who are you?”

Kara is not a happy seeming woman at the best of times. More often than not, she comes across as angry or stand offish. Today, she looks sad more than anything else, a weight on her shoulders driving her to hunch over. She’s watching Darcy carefully, waiting for some sign of – anything. What Darcy wants, she expects. “Kara,” she breathes quietly. “Kara St Claire. You were hurt, you – needed blood. I’m a match.”

Something passes over Darcy’s face, and settles into frustration. “Is dad paying you to do this?”

The bitterness, that makes sense to Kara. Her expression twists into a sympathetic sneer. “I’d sooner swap places with you than accept money from that jackass again,” she snaps, terse. Darcy flnches, probably from the harsh tone, and Kara immediately hunches in on herself. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I don’t work for Faust. I got out.”

Scepticism. “He owns the city,” Darcy says. The fineprint is clear: no one gets out.

“He didn’t have anything to use to scare me into following anymore,” Kara explains. Darcy frowns. It’s clearly an invitation to elaborate. Kara, though – she hesitates. She knows Darcy has never been told that Candy isn’t her mother, that Faust started taking her as his kept woman around the same time.

The shadow breaks the silence. “You know how Candy isn’t your mother?”

Darcy’s gaze flickers from Kara to the corner, past the doctor quietly finishing up rebandaging. “Liez?”

“Only one person in Blacklight with compatible blood,” says the man. “And it’s her.” Kara has no idea what his accent is, something European, and she really, really isn’t inclined to trust him. But Darcy’s face shifts, and she frowns at Kara. Who squeezes her hand gently.

“My name is Kara St Claire,” she says, quietly. Zavala finishes whatever she’s doing and pats the nurse, coaxing her from the room to grant them some privacy. “Nineteen years ago, I was a whore working for Faust. I found out I was pregnant, and I decided I was going to keep the baby. I was alone before that, but this – this little girl? She felt like a fresh start. I doubt you can imagine it, you’ve never – or maybe you can, which might be worse, having been through what you have. Working the way I was, I didn’t think I could raise her the way I wanted, so I’d started this course on business management. Classes fit around work and the whole pregnancy experience, and then around raising her, with my neighbour helping out...

“Faust found out about the course, and he was annoyed more than mad. How dare I want to do something other than have sex in exchange for money? After all, I was just a stupid little whore. He broke into the apartment one night, him and some lackeys. It was my fault – I gave him the idea; I made the stupid mistake of telling him he was the father. Even if I hadn’t, obviously I cared for her, enough to want to be above him, and that was enough to keep me from breaking the way most of them do. So he decided he was going to do the last thing he could think of to hurt me. But – but he stole my daughter. He’s held it over my head ever since, sends me little updates but doesn’t let me anywhere near her. Gives himself credit for every accomplishment, usually months later at best.” Her laugh is hollow, she looks down to where she is still holding Darcy’s hand, running her thumb over the knuckles. “He’s a terrible man, and I’d bet he’s a worse father.”

Darcy stares at her for a long moment before she looks away, over to the shadow – the man called Liez. He shifts in the corner of Kara’s vision, but she doesn’t look up; let’s them have their moment, figure out whatever needs to be figured out.

“You’re my real mom,” she says at last, after a long silence. Kara swallows, looks up at her. Nods.

“I’ve missed you so much, Darcy.”

#kristie's writing #kwriting #kristie writes #kwrites #ft. kara #ft. faust #ft. raspberry #ft. darcy #ft. liez

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