k but what would your characters do if Commander gave them a box to look after but they were told whatever they do, do NOT look inside?
hmmm now I'm curious what MC is putting in there
Vethna: I think this depends on MC's personality. If MC is genuine, they'd really want to look, and they'd probably just pout a lot, but they wouldn't. If MC was stoic or aggressive, Vethna would take it a lot more seriously and just not look at all-- they'd probably assume it's something bad or dangerous. And if MC is sarcastic, they'll immediately open it the second MC even kinda turns away, fully expecting it to just be empty or something stupid.
Nikke: Would depend on MC's body language! If MC read as being super serious, he probably wouldn't open it and would smack other people's hands away who try to. Definitely spends the entire time wondering what the actual fuck is inside the box. If MC is just screwing with him, and he'll know if they are (trust me), then he'll be like "Oh, yeah for sure, mhm, whatever you say Captain," super sarcastically and then just immediately rip the top off.
Jost: "Okay." (Proceeds to do exactly as asked and hold it until MC comes back for it. If MC never does... oh well.)
Amilia: Asks a billion questions as to why she cannot open the box. Is there something hidden in there? Is it dangerous? Is it a gift? For her or someone else? Is it something embarrassing? Does peeking through a gap in the lid but otherwise keeping the lid on count as opening...?If she's super close with MC, she won't open it, but she'll be oh, so very restless about it. Otherwise... yeah, she's peeking. Sorry. Choose someone more responsible!
Sabir: "Okay... why...?" Would not look in it, even if he thinks it's a prank. Would be very suspicious about the box regardless. Proceeds to try and subtly ask MC in a million different ways what is in the box and will not stop prodding until MC tells him. I mean this could literally last for years. MC forgets about it and then they'll be hanging out years later, MC confiding in him, and Sabir will just... "you know what ELSE was a secretive, sensitive topic...?"
Syfyn: Raises a brow, stares at the box, then takes it and does as asked. I don't think she'd care what's in the box, or if there even is anything in the box. Like even if MC was just pranking her and it was empty, she'd still carry it around. She'd probably know it was empty too and just be like "man I wonder why this empty box is so important to MC. I better keep it safe for them."
Freedom: Why would you even do that. Why. You could literally hand them Pandora's box, make it clear it's Pandora's box, and Freedom would be like "oh that's sick" and then pop the top right off.
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Light of a Guiding Star
fandom: the exile (@exilethegame)
pairing: syfyn javall x f!commander
words: 1,495
rating: teen
read it on ao3
Some nights were worse than others. That was something Syfyn had come to realize about Corvinnia as weeks on the road turned into months. She could always tell by how restless Corvinnia was. Whether it was staying up for yet another shift on watch or pacing around their small camp to find any relief, Syfyn knew the tell-tale signs by now.
She had known they had taken her wings. They had mutilated her in ways she couldn’t imagine—that she tried not to imagine. The very thought of having something that was a part of her very being made Syfyn sick and reach back to brush over the soft feathers of the wings tucked against her back.
Corvinnia no longer slept on her back. That was what she noticed when they spent that first night on the road all those weeks ago. She knew from experience the ex-Commander slept like the dead on her back, sometimes with arms tucked against her sides. It was always something Syfyn found amusing when waking up beside her with her head resting on her breast.
Seeing her curl up on her side on the sleeping mat had been jarring from the memories that came flooding back. They were not the same as they had been three years ago, and not just in terms of sleeping positions.
There were a few times when she did roll onto her back. Most of the time, it would wake her up with a hiss of pain until she turned back over and settled again. But on nights like these, when the aching was already near unbearable, Corvinnia would muffle a yelp in pain and sit up with a wince.
Tonight, she pushed herself to her feet with a choked grunt, her posture adjusting in an attempt to find some way to lessen the pain. Even in the low light of the remaining embers, Syfyn could see how pale Corvinnia’s face was—and that was saying something for her already ghostly complexion.
Corvinnia didn’t look in her direction as she slinked off in the direction of the thick vegetation and trees that would provide a screen from the camp. Syfyn didn’t know why, but she got up from her seat by the dwindling fire and followed her.
Twigs snapped and leaves crinkled as she walked. Corvinnia reached out and grasped at trees to support her weight as she limped through the brush. She hadn’t even stopped to put her boots back on.
When they were a decent ways away, Corvinnia finally stopped and promptly fell to her knees. Hands buried into the forest floor as she began to retch.
Syfyn didn’t know if she knew she had followed, but her mind was made up.
She crouched beside Corvinnia, gathering the black hair falling around her face and holding it back. Her entire body was trembling and her skin was clammy as claws dug into the earth beneath them.
Corvinnia spit once when she was confident no more bile would rise and shuddered when Syfyn’s hand came to rest on her forehead.
“Is it like this often?”
Blood red eyes peered over her shoulder, as if only just realizing her presence. “More than I care to admit, but less than when it first happened,” she sighed, slowly sitting back on her heels and wiping her dirt-stained hands on her pants.
Syfyn glanced at the back of her tunic. It was glued to her skin from sweat. She had never seen what the wounds had looked like. Even with the lack of privacy from travel, Corvinnia had always been careful not to expose those scars. She was littered with others she had been proud of, like the claws that had raked over her cheek. But her back was a different story.
Corvinnia noticed where her eyes had gone, though she said nothing for a long while. She clenched her jaw as if she were mulling something over in her mind. Finally, she looked away, turning her face to the ground in shame. “You might as well see them,” she said lowly.
“I…” Syfyn trailed off, unsure of how to respond.
“You of all people have the right to see them,” Corvinnia murmured, her head dropped lower. Syfyn swore she saw a tear slip over her cheek in the filtered moonlight shining through the treetops.
She still didn’t move. Was this something she really wanted? Of course, she had wondered, but it would become reality.
Tired of her stalling, Corvinnia reached over her shoulders and tugged the back of her shirt up, swallowing back a hiss of pain as the sweat-soaked fabric peeled away from the skin.
Where her wings once were laid two horrendous scars that traveled down her back. Skin had grown over top of them, but they were still red and angry in the silver light. The flesh around them had been mauled with scar tissue disfiguring her muscular back.
Against her better judgment, Syfyn reached out and ran a delicate finger between them making Corvinnia flinch.
She pulled her hand away quickly.
“You didn’t hurt me,” she assured, though it was unconvincing from her labored breaths. “I just don’t like being touched there anymore.”
Anymore.
More memories of Corvinnia laying in her lap as Syfyn ran her hand between her wings of black feathers. If she were a cat, Corvinnia would have been purring in delight. Now, she was flinching away from that same touch as if she’d just been burned.
Syfyn couldn’t help the pressure building behind her eyes nor the way her body dipped forward, her forehead pressing against the nape of Corvinnia’s neck. The once Commander stilled and Syfyn was afraid she had overstepped until a hand released her shirt and reached back to run her fingers through Syfyn’s hair.
“Syf,” she murmured so low it was barely audible.
Syfyn said nothing. She didn’t know what to say. For so long she had done everything in her power to try and forget these feelings. She had told herself she didn’t love Corvinnia anymore, not after what she had done. But a part of her always knew that it was a lie.
She loved her so much that sometimes it was hard to breathe.
Corvinnia was her moon where she was her sun. She was her guiding star amongst the midnight sky. And without her, the nights had been so long and so very dark. Syfyn had been nothing but a hopeless traveler walking blindly these last few years.
“Syf?” Corvinnia said again.
Syfyn realized she was crying. Her sunburnt cheeks were wet and so was the back of Corvinnia’s shirt. The latter didn’t seem to care as she turned around to finally face her.
“I left you.”
Her eyes widened a fraction. “You cannot blame yourself. I hurt you in ways that I will never forgive myself for.”
They both remembered. The blood, the screaming.
“You have every right to hate me, as much as it hurts me, I know it’s what I deserve. I will spend the rest of my days atoning for what I did to you because I am still so hopelessly in love with you. I would give my last breath if it meant saving yours. I’m not doing this,” Corvinnia waved her hand around, “out of duty. I do this in hopes that one day, I will be once again worthy of you.” She was crying too now as her words were thick. Some color had returned to her cheeks and her skin wasn’t as sweat-soaked in the coolness of the night air.
Syfyn swallowed hard, her hands coming to rest on her shoulders. She never had been good at affection, especially not initiating it and not after all this time and heartache. But she needed to feel the solidness of Corvinnia’s body underneath her palms.
“We will do this,” she said definitively, grey eyes meeting crimson. “We will finish this and you will come home.”
Corvinnia smiled sadly at that last part. “Home.” She looked up at the pines blocking the night sky. “I don’t even know where that is anymore.” A humorless laugh escaped her dry, cracked lips, fangs exposed to the night.
Syfyn looked away, her shoulders slumping. There had been one point in their lives that it would be safe to say they were each other’s homes. Neither of them quite fit in the life of the palace, but they had each other.
Glancing over, Corvinnia touched the back of Syfyn’s hand. “We have a long road ahead of us before we must worry about such things. For now, I am just happy to have you with me again.”
Her hand turned over, catching Corvinnia’s, their fingers lacing together.
For good this time , Syfyn wanted to say. The words swelled in her throat but her tongue refused to curl around the words.
It was a promise she could not keep.
And looking at Corvinnia, it was clear she knew as well.
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