#asbel/lambda

[kohakhearts]

Moving here so I don’t spam poor Dolphin’s reply notifications but aldhskdhdk could you imagine Malik/Asbel + Lambda like. The dom/sub dynamics could be great 👀 (I’m especially fond of Asbel being too embarrassed to admit what he wants so Lambda just conveys it for him 😂 sorry Asbel you’re kind of adorable when you’re helpless)

yeah that’s probably for the best xD

also for the sake of my followers who aren’t here for all my d/s thoughts i’ll stick it under a read more hahahaha

oh my god i hadn’t even considered this. but i’m considering it now and…i think i need to write it one of these days LOL. flustered asbel is everything to me, and i just KNOW with all those daddy issues he’s got some crazy kinky fantasies in that brain of his (probably hidden very deep down…i almost feel like lambda would realize they’re even there before asbel would lmao).

i’m a really big fan of psychosexual, kink-to-cope kind of stuff, so i feel like in a way this would almost be lambda trying to help asbel in return for asbel helping him 🥺 asbel is very out of touch with his own thoughts and feelings, especially when it comes to anything that puts him in a position of physical vulnerability - so the idea of being sexually submissive i think would be kind of off-putting for him

(as an aside, i think in general he’s got a strong idea of what he’s “supposed to do.” in the f arc i really felt like his sudden attraction to cheria, especially given the fact that…he only seems to like her when she’s NOT there, is very compulsory. he’s supposed to like and marry a woman, so it makes sense that he would come to like and marry the woman who he knows best and who is…conveniently far away from him lol. and also takes on a caretaking role for his daughter. i think pascal’s whole “mom and dad” thing with them probably was like a- oh, okay, right, this is what i’m supposed to want, these are the roles we’re supposed to play. but i think cheria’s very similar, though for different reasons…so i think their marriage would only survive if they were each having sex with other people LOL)

BUT, enter lambda, who…just wants to help (and maybe also kind of likes making asbel flustered?! i mean, he seems so unflappable normally - he’s saying all these cringe one-liners about the power of friendship and not even blushing about it, what the hell is his problem?? but then you suggest he might like being taken over the captain’s knee and…welp, he’s a puddle of humiliated mush suddenly. that would be very satisfying for lambda i think :p). on one end, he probably wants asbel to himself a bit - but he can take on a dominating position by directing malik in what to do, for both his own and asbel’s (but lets be real…lambda’s pretty smitten, so mostly for asbel’s xD) satisfaction.

malik doesn’t mind being told what to do in this case either. i think most other characters would be pretty perturbed by lambda telling them how to pleasure asbel in the middle of an intimate moment, but i think malik would appreciate having a literal inner monologue, especially in a d/s setting where he might worry asbel would do things he doesn’t feel comfortable with just because he wants to please malik. because at the end of the day…asbel IS a people pleaser, especially for the guy who’s basically his stand-in father figure.

anyway i’ll keep my more specific and lewd thoughts about this scenario in my head (happy to share if anyone wants me to though LOL), but thank you for putting this seed in my mind. here’s hoping between all my irl stuff i have some time over spring break to write all the longer fic ideas i have for this game xD

[bladealvis]

[kresnikcest]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH 😭

Commissioned u66gy again for Asbel and smol!Lambda and 🥺 them…

[artyartpile]

Blossomgale

[artrantia]

There were a couple of delays, but these Graces charms are finally available!

Link to Etsy

[windor-truffle]

and it works every time

[gailardiagalan]

back on my bs heres graces

[artpharos]

How about 5 and Lambda and Sophie? For the good angsts :3

5. “There’s blood on my/your hands.” So uh it got to about 4.6k words and I haven't posted fanfics on tumblr in a reallyy long time so I hope nothing screwed up!! But also I've uploaded it to ao3 here as well so that hopefully only my italics are screwed up--

By all accounts, there was no reason for Lambda to refuse. 

“No.” 

Sophie paused in surprise, glancing over to her side.  

The refusal was clipped, weighty with a gravitas that was out of place on Asbel’s face. It was spoken with tightly restrained vehemence, in a voice that was far sharper than Asbel’s own. But more than that, what caught Sophie’s attention was the bright flare in her father’s left eye. In the darkened lab, Asbel’s lavender eye glowed with a rage and pain that she hadn’t seen in years; had almost forgotten.

Her grip tightened on the table. Around her, the bracing warmth in the eleth that she’d only more recently started to associate with Lambda fluttered with agitation. The tense undercurrent was more familiar to her than she wanted to admit, tying a knot in her chest.

“Wh-whyever not?” Across the lab table, Pascal exchanged a confused look with her. Spread out between them, the humanoid hull the researcher had been showing off lay still and silent, empty without a conscience or a soul. Asleep, waiting for a spark of life to coax it into action. 

“I will not.”

“Lambda, give it some thought–” This time, Asbel spoke with his own mouth, before wincing. He pressed a palm against his left temple as his lips moved again, another voice echoing sharply through his words.  

“I said no. I will not enter that lifeless husk. Have we not agreed that we would share this body?” 

“Yes, but–”

“No.”

Sophie felt Lambda’s departure rather than heard it. The eleth, which had swirling in the air in tandem with Lambda’s words, stilled. His presence evaporated; fell dull and silent to her senses like a winter chill. Sophie exhaled softly– Lambda was always stubborn and dramatic, but it had been a while since he’d reacted this vehemently to anything. 

With Lambda gone, Asbel slumped forward, bracing himself against the table. He uttered a soft curse under his breath. 

“Asbel?” She walked around to her father’s side, pressed a hand against his temple. The soft glow of a healing arte lit up the dim room, and soft, mismatched eyes glanced at her in gratitude. The purple in his left eye remained muted; quiet.  

“I’m fine,” Asbel reassured her, flinching as he straightened up. “He’s… just upset.”

Across the table, Pascal snorted. “I’ll say.” 

Sophie winced. That was an understatement. Lambda rarely spoke through Asbel like this– had always been more content to whisper quiet, sometimes-snide comments to anyone whenever they glanced against Asbel with a touch– but clearly, in this instance, he wanted his feelings loudly heard and known. 

“I don’t get it.” Asbel sighed wearily, his gaze lingering on the humanoid hull in front of them. “It’s been years. After all this time, I thought he’d jump at the opportunity to finally have his own body.”

“I know, right?” Pascal huffed. “I made sure to follow the tech specs we found on Fodra, too– just the way he'd like it. None of my additional adjustments, even! Although I’m sure if Lambda really wanted, I could fit in a rocket launcher somewhere–”

Sophie shook her head. “I don’t think that’s the point, Pascal.”

“You think?” Pascal scratched her chin as she swayed in thought. “But come on, like– I get that freeloading off Asbel’s a pretty nifty deal– no offense– but wouldn’t you want to do your own thing eventually?”

“None taken,” Asbel quipped back sardonically. Her father shook his head. “Maybe Lambda’s happy as things are.” 

Sophie frowned. She glanced at the empty body in front of her, at a figure built of soft skin and steel, with a face that was similar to the one she’d glimpsed from the recordings in the Humanoid Research Laboratory. It was why they had come all this way to the Amarcian Enclave, after all. On a whim, a hope, a promise– 

“I think– maybe he’s… scared.”

Both pairs of eyes darted to her, and Sophie froze. The words had slipped from her mouth before her thoughts had caught up, but now that she'd said that out loud… She bit her lip. 

Scared and Lambda weren't words that were ever used in the same sentence, weren’t they? 

Asbel grimaced. “He has a few choice words about that comment,” her father relayed. He paused, before letting out a resigned sigh. “Along with a demand to ‘begone from this infernal place’ as soon as we can. His words,” Asbel interjected before Pascal could protest, “not mine.”

Pascal slouched. “Aww. You guys came all this way and you’re leaving already?”

Her father hesitated. Catching his gaze, Sophie offered a small smile. “It would be rude,” she pointed out.

Asbel chuckled. “It would, wouldn’t it?”

“Totally rude.” Pascal grinned. The researcher finally stowed her toolkit as she walked over. “So yeah, maybe Project Mecha Lambda didn’t turn out all that great, but it is getting pretty late. Why don’t you stay the night? The inn’s got a really tootin’ hot chocolate this time of year. Amarcian Enclave speciality!”

“Don’t they always have hot chocolate, Pascal?” Asbel muttered.

“All the more reason to have a taste, yeah?” Pascal grinned. “Who knows, maybe it'll be so good in your own body that Lambda will change his mind.”

Asbel winced, nodding as he listened to Lambda’s unheard voice. “That’s… doubtful.”

Pascal laughed, swinging the door to her lab open. The cool air from the Enclave brushed through the muggy lab, and Asbel (perhaps for more than one reason) eagerly stepped out from the dim light of the lab. 

Sophie moved to follow, but a thought halted her steps. Glancing over her shoulder, the empty hull lay unmoving back on the lab table, that unfamiliar-yet-not face looking almost peacefully asleep in the dark. 

She swallowed. It didn’t dislodge the weight pressed against her throat. 

“Sophie, you coming? I can’t keep holding the door all day, y’know!”

“Coming,” she answered, shaking free of her inertia. She flashed Pascal a grateful smile as she slipped back into the evening light. “I hope the chocolate’s good.”

“The best!” Pascal laughed, slinging an arm around her shoulders in easy affection as they followed Asbel down the cobbled streets.

It was reassuringly warm. Normal. An actual life that Sophie had slowly grown used to, over the years. But even as she walked alongside her friends, her mind lingered back to that quiet face in the lab. And her gaze remained fixed onto Asbel's back. ------

“Can I talk to Lambda?”

Asbel glanced up at her in surprise. It had been a good two hours after dinner, and her father had been working at the little desk in their inn room, the pile of never-ending paperwork that he’d brought with him haphazardly stacked in front of him. Illuminated by the eleth torch beside the inkwell, there wasn’t a hint of sharpness or anger on Asbel’s gentle features; just the man she’d always known, reassuring as always. 

“What’s this about, Sophie?” Asbel asked, putting down his quill. 

Sophie shrugged. It was an odd request, to be sure. Ever since their return from Fodra’s core years ago, the conversations she’d had with Lambda had been infrequent, little things. Still, slowly, quietly– their earlier antagonism and ambivalence had faded into something… different. It wasn’t usually enough for Sophie to ask to speak to the creature, but his outburst at the lab remained in the back of her mind. The sight of his distress continued to flash behind her eyes. 

Her father sat back in his chair with a sigh. “Lambda’s said nothing since we left Pascal’s lab, and I’ve tried.” Ruefully, Asbel flashed her a smile. “I’m not even sure he wants to talk.”

“Aren’t you curious?” Sophie frowned. If nothing else, Asbel was always the first to fret over the creature who shared his body; the one who usually understood how Lambda’s mind worked. He’d been the person who had been most eager about their whole trip– about the chance for Lambda to get his own body, his own life. 

“Of course.” Asbel sighed. “But he’s been awfully silent. He’s fine, but I can’t pick up anything else from him at all.”

“Is he pouting?”

Her father laughed, scratching his chin. “I wouldn’t say that to his face but– oh, hold on.”

Sophie waited patiently as Asbel frowned, dipping his chin into his hand as he listened to unspoken words. Then, the eleth around them shifted with Lambda’s presence– a slight warmth that breathed of wind-swept plains, no longer leadened with dread and pain; a sigh that reminded Sophie of a sunset over the flower fields back in Lhant.

“I do not pout, Protos Heis.”

Unbidden, she smiled as Lambda turned to face her. Even though it was Asbel’s face, Asbel’s body… Lambda always comported himself differently to her father– his chin lifted slightly more imperiously, limbs held a bit more tight. His expression was calm, distant– a far cry from the anger she had glimpsed earlier in the day. And though Sophie could count the times she’d seen him in control of Asbel’s body on one hand, meeting Lambda through her father’s eyes was like catching sight of an old friend. 

“Good,” she admitted. “I was worried.”

Dual lavender eyes softened. “Your concern is unwarranted. I am fine.” Lambda exhaled, his posture relaxing as he slackened against the chair. “Though I do not appreciate eating curry for five days in this week alone. Asbel’s lack of adventure when it comes to food has been… exasperating.” 

“I know.” Sophie sighed wistfully. “We haven’t had crablettes in a while.”

He shot her a look. “That is scarcely an improvement.” 

“Crablettes are always an improvement.”

Lambda snorted and glanced to the side, something slight tugging at his lips. Sophie couldn't help but giggle. Here, like this, with Lambda relaxed in front of her, talking with her… it eased the tension in her chest. They’d talked sporadically, but being like this felt natural, like after everything they had been through, this was how they were always meant to be. Who they could be. A wish, a dream that hadn’t yet taken form. 

But that was neither here nor there. 

“But that was not what you wished to discuss.”

Sophie shook her head. Sitting on the corner of the nearby bed, she folded her hands in her lap. “About earlier…” She frowned. “Lambda, are you sure you don't want a new body?”

“I have already made my refusal clear.” Lambda rested Asbel’s chin on his hand, lips thinning into a line. “I thought you, of all people, would understand.”

“Understand?” 

“There’s blood on my hands, Protos Heis,” Lambda said softly. “You know that.”

Sophie froze. Of course she knew. Despite everything, the scars that Lambda had torn into both Fodra and Ephinea were still evident in her daily life– and the grief and rage from the people hurt by his actions had yet to completely subside. She could still see the him she knew from her deepest nightmares– a creature of spindly, monstrous limbs and a faceless mask. She would always remember her fear and horror when she had watched him hurt her friends; the family she now loved. 

At her silence, Lambda deflated, shoulders sagging. The eleth around him flickered with a muted sadness; a soft regret that was as stiflingly heavy as a blanket of freshly fallen snow.  

And despite what Sophie knew, the lump in her throat felt more suffocating than ever. 

“Why does that matter now?” 

Her words fell quietly into the empty space between them. Outside, the stillness of the Amarcian Enclave did little to break the morose solitude that cloaked Lambda’s shoulders. In the night, her companion looked so much colder, the illumination from the eleth lamps doing little to warm the pallor of his face as he leaned away from the light. 

Lambda kept his attention focused out the window next to him. “Surely, you would not endorse my release back into the world,” he said tersely. “Surely, you would not accept my separation from Asbel Lhant.”

His words sank like a stone. In the silence, Lambda looked sharp and cold, even while wearing Asbel’s face. To anyone else, he would have seemed foreboding and menacing. And yet, that stony visage was betrayed by the despair in the eleth that swirled around them, evident only to her, glancing against her skin.

Sophie couldn’t bear it. 

Wordlessly, she stood up and walked over. Resting one hand on Asbel’s clenched fist, Sophie waited until lavender eyes reluctantly turned back on her. 

“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked gently.

Lambda huffed. “Perhaps everyone else has forgotten what I am capable of, but you would not underestimate how Asbel keeps me in check.”

“Is that what this is about?” Sophie breathed. 

The eleth flared around them. Lambda’s lips pressed thin.

Sophie’s eyes narrowed. “You are scared.”

A dismissive snort. “Take care, Protos Heis. You may find yourself a jester yet.”

“I'm serious,” she said, grasping his hand tightly. “Lambda, you're afraid of leaving Asbel, aren't you?”

“I… have reservations about what I might do.”

Lambda’s words were soft, barely audible to her ears as they faded off in the quiet night. His gaze was distant, turned to stare out into the inky dark. And where their hands were joined… there was no longer that sharp, stinging pain of rejection. Of hate. 

Just a sorrowful warmth that Sophie had only started to recognize. 

Her companion sighed as he spoke again. 

“It was not so long ago that all I ever knew, all I ever felt, was rage and hate. And all I wanted was not to. That path led me down a road of destruction; of myself, and of everyone around me.”

Sophie’s throat tightened. She had felt Lambda’s pain, back in Ephinea’s core. But now, the clear despondency in his eyes stilled her words, and the guilt in his voice ate at her heart. 

“Asbel changed all that. While I am with him, I feel peace; joy. I finally feel… whole.” Lambda closed his eyes. “If I leave him, if I have all that freedom on my hands… Who's to say I wouldn't fall prey to my baser instincts once more?”

When Lambda looked at her again, a vulnerable softness rounded out lavender eyes. Though he had lived longer than she had, Sophie was reminded all the more how young he actually was, too.  

“I do not wish to cross blades with you again, Protos Heis.”

His voice was a whisper, a shudder through the eleth. Filled with a plea that squeezed at her heart. 

And when she looked at Lambda now– 

Sophie shook her head. Crouching down, she grasped Asbel’s still hand with both of hers. “You won’t.”

“You cannot guarantee that with any certainty.”

She frowned. “I can.”

“Of me?” Disbelief coloured Lambda’s voice as he studied her. His gaze narrowed. “Truly, your father’s foolishness must have rubbed off on you. More than his own, even, considering you must have forgotten everything I’ve done to you.”

Sophie held his stare. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she whispered gently, “I haven’t forgotten. And you haven’t, either.”

His eyes dipped. Soft regret crossed his face. A welling of sympathy, of longing, pulsed through her, and more than anything, Sophie wanted to wipe that sadness away from Lambda’s eyes, away from Lambda’s heart.

“You’re not a bad person, Lambda.” She leaned forward, wrapped her arms around Asbel’s broad shoulders. “You saved everyone, back on Fodra. You’ve looked after Asbel for all these years. And you’re… you’re my friend, even now.”

The body under her arms stiffened– but when she didn’t pull away, slowly, Lambda began to relax. A deep sigh fluttered by her ear. In her embrace, the creature of her nightmares leaned against her, suddenly more fragile than she could ever imagine. “Sophie…”

The sound of her name warmed her heart. Sophie smiled, pulling away slightly to brush the bangs out of lavender eyes. 

“Yes, you did bad things. But you feel sorry for them, and you’ve worked hard to make up for them.” She reached out and picked up one of Asbel’s hands, pressed cold fingers over her heart. Her smile widened in the face of Lambda’s wide-eyed stare. “You’ve been kind to me; to the sopherias. You’ve been trying to help everyone else– with Asbel, and with Lhant. You’ve changed, and grown, and you’ve already done so much for our world. Imagine how much more you could do with your own body, your own life. You can be free to be who you want to be.”

Lambda hesitated. “Can I truly?”

“Look at me,” Sophie whispered. “Look at us. Look at how far we’ve come.”

Lambda’s gaze dipped to his hand over her heart, before resting on her face once more. He frowned. “I do not deserve all the credit.”

“No, but it takes two hands to clap.” Sophie pushed on. “That’s what the Captain says.”

Lambda paused. “‘It doesn’t matter who reaches out first, as long as the other accepts.’”

Familiar words. But this time… this time, it was Lambda who said them hesitantly, trustingly. To her. 

“Exactly!” Sophie nodded, giving his hand a squeeze. “I’ll always be your friend, Lambda. You don’t have to be scared. I’ll always be here, to remind you of who you really are.”

Incredulity melted into something soft in Lambda’s lavender gaze. 

“You truly are… remarkable, Protos Heis.”

Maybe it was the way Lambda was watching her– soft and proud. Maybe it was the gentle eleth that floated around them, filling the room with a comforting kindness. But Sophie’s cheeks warmed as she ducked her head. “You’re remarkable too, Lambda. That's why I… I want you to live, too.” 

Lambda huffed, finally tugging his hand away. The eleth around them ebbed gently in the cryas’ light, content and at peace. His features were as tight and imperious as always, but he didn’t seem as uncomfortable as before, as shaken and unnerved. 

“I will accept the Amarcian’s proposal.” 

Sophie couldn’t quite believe her ears. In front of her, Lambda played with Asbel’s quill. 

“You will?”

“Your reasoning is sound.” Lambda arched an eyebrow. “Besides, you have already taken up the responsibility to watch over my actions, have you not?”

Those words echoed with a promise; one that had given her strength when she struggled with her place in the world, a lifetime ago. The warmth in his eyes swirled in the eleth around them, wrapping comfortably around her heart. Lambda’s expression was as still as ever, but in his presence, Sophie only found that calm understanding that had always encouraged her; that friendship which had prompted her to reach out to him now.

Sophie laughed. “Yes!”

“Then it is settled.” 

Lambda smiled. A soft, precious thing. It lit his lavender eyes with a soothing light, a secret entrusted to her in the quiet of the night.

With a final nod, he pulled away and closed his eyes. His presence faded, the eleth around her falling quiet once more. And when he blinked, mismatched blue and purple met her gaze instead of Lambda through her father’s eyes. 

“Wow.” Asbel breathed. “You got through to him.”

Sophie shrugged with a small smile. “He was scared,” she explained. “I’m sure he would have talked to you, eventually.”

“Maybe.” Asbel sighed, leaning back against the chair. He grimaced. “He’s saying he would have only talked to you, though, because at least you don’t force him to eat curry all day.”

“Well,” Sophie said, clasping her hands together, “he won’t need to eat curry every day any longer if he doesn’t want to. He’ll get to make his own choices. Live his own life. Find out his own favorite things, and protect them with everything he has.”

Asbel watched her. A gentle smile slowly crept its way onto his face. “Yeah. He will.” Her father reached over, ruffling her hair. “You’re incredible, Sophie. Thank you. From me and Lambda, both.”

Sophie beamed. Around her, the eleth swirled faintly with Lambda’s joy.  ------

They reconvened the next day in Pascal’s lab. More accurately, rather– they reconvened when Pascal finally woke up– which meant it was half-past noon, and Asbel and Sophie had to carry Pascal out of her bed while the researcher begged for ‘five more minutes’. 

Luckily, the whole procedure was rather simple. 

“All Lambda has to do is to just zippy zap into the frame!” Pascal gave them a thumb’s up as she cabled the last few wires on the console. “Everything else should be easy-peasy. A little bit of juice, maybe a zap or two or a whammo, and he’ll be good to go!”

“I’m starting to feel uneasy about all this,” Asbel muttered, scratching his cheek.

Sophie smiled at him. Sure, there were a few more big machines than she’d expected connected to the humanoid body, but it was normal for Pascal. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she said, resting a hand on her father’s shoulder.

The gentlest tickle of eleth glanced against her fingers, and Asbel caught her gaze, no doubt listening to Lambda’s words. “He says he has faith in Pascal,” he relayed to her with a rueful smile. “I’d never imagined I’d live to hear him say that word.”

Sophie giggled. “Lambda has a lot of faith in every one of us.”

Asbel’s worried frown softened into a soft smile. “That’s true enough.” He nodded to Lambda’s unsaid words, before finally turning to Pascal. “Well,” he said, “Lambda’s ready, so I guess we should get started.”

Sophie nodded, and Pascal grinned. 

With a deep exhale, Asbel closed his eyes. The eleth around them thrummed in the air, rousing to Lambda’s waking presence. The lights around them flickered– once, twice– then, with a pulse through the eleth, a bloom of light converged in front of Asbel, swirling hues of gold and purple lighting the dim lab.

This close, this pure, Lambda felt so much more intense, so much more warm and bright, a star given form. Sophie had to grip onto the table to stay upright, to withstand the eleth winds buffeting her. But through the turbulence, there was a supportive weight around her shoulder, a bracing breath of air in her lungs. It was Lambda; a far cry from who he had once been.

Sophie gasped. A gentle touch warmed against her cheek, and she had the fleeting impression of Lambda’s quiet smile. 

The bloom of light hovered in the air, in the eleth, lingering at the foot of the table, studying the hull before him. There was a moment of hesitation– until Sophie felt Lambda’s attention on her, and the gentlest squeeze on her shoulder. Then, he dove straight into the humanoid body, and the lab was bathed in a bright, blinding light.

When it faded, the sudden darkness was disconcerting. The machines in the lab, which had been humming and thrumming in the background, sputtered and fell silent. It took a while for Sophie’s eyes to adjust to the lack of light. But she heard Pascal's coughing end in a whoop of joy, followed by Asbel's sigh of relief.

She blinked, searching– and then her attention caught on the table. Dimly lit by faint light, a boy was seated on its surface. Instead of a sleeping humanoid, he looked different from the empty body before– slightly taller than she had thought, more flesh covering his arms than steel. He slowly scanned the room, before meeting her gaze with calm, red eyes, watching her under teal bangs.

Lambda lifted his chin, spoke in a soft, but clear voice. “Hello.”

Sophie gasped. A million things ran through her mind– a million things she had practiced to say– but then her body moved, and before she could even think, she’d flung her arms around the friend she’d thought she’d never be able to touch. 

Lambda froze stiff under her touch. But the longer she held him… the more his body relaxed; the more natural he felt, easing into her arms. 

“Protos Heis–” He sighed in her ear. “You’re– this is– This is… unnecessary.”

Asbel chuckled from somewhere behind her. “What have we said about manners, Sophie?”

“Right, of course.” Sophie couldn’t help but laugh, pulling away to wipe a stray tear from her eye. Pascal was grinning at them from behind the console as the lab flickered back to life, and Asbel’s warm hand clapped her back as he came to stand by her side. 

Lambda’s face was as expressionless as ever, but in his own body, there was a slight flush on his cheeks, the slightest duck of his head. Yet, he didn’t move away. 

Sophie drew in a deep, calming breath, before holding a hand out towards her once-enemy, now-friend. “It's so good to finally meet you, Lambda,” she said with a smile.

“Foolish,” Lambda muttered. But he lifted his hand slowly and placed it in hers, fragile fingers threading through her own as she clasped him tight.

Sophie grinned as she helped him off the table. The boy in her arms trembled as he stood on his own feet, leaning his weight against her as he got his bearings. He was lighter than she imagined, taller than she had initially thought. And so much more frail and vulnerable than she’d ever attributed to him before. 

Lambda stayed quiet as Pascal ran a few checks with a machine scanning over his body, but his fingers remained latched on her hand, and the eleth around them swirled soothingly as Sophie gently rubbed his back.

“Aaaand we're all done!” Pascal said at last, closing her scanner with a grin. “Welcome to freedom, Lambda! If anything feels wonky, just hit me up and we'll get it fixed in a jiffy! For everything else– world's your oyster! Just… try not to destroy it again.”

“Pascal.” Asbel shot her a warning look, but Lambda merely snorted.

“I appreciate the sentiment.” Lambda spoke in that same distant, imperious tone that Sophie knew all too well. But now, it no longer hid the soft warmth in his eyes. He gave Pascal a short nod before he glanced over to Asbel. “However, I would prefer more time to get my bearings in this world before I seek out the rest of it. At least, for the present.”

Asbel’s eyes softened. “You'll always have a home in Lhant. Sophie and I will make sure of that.”

Lambda nodded. “I will hold you to your word, Asbel Lhant. You as well, Protos Heis.” Despite his words, his voice was softer, quieter, a faint pink coloring his now-physical cheeks. 

Sophie’s heart swelled. Unbidden, the images of Lambda in her life fluttered through her mind’s eye– in Lhant, in the flower fields. Out travelling to Strahta and Fendel, and maybe all the way to distant Fodra. And he’d be by her side. However long their lives would span, however long they’d be friends. 

As if sensing her thoughts, Lambda glanced over to her. And on his face, there was the gentlest, tiniest smile.  

“So what do you wanna do, Lambda? Since you’ve gotten a new body and all.” Pascal was bouncing on the soles of her feet with a familiar eagerness that Sophie understood when Lambda cringed in her arms. “Wanna go for a test drive? Run down the mountain, play a bit of shot cube-”

“It’s already lunch time,” Asbel interrupted. “We could go for curry.”

“And crablettes,” Sophie added. 

“And banana pie!” 

Lambda said nothing, but this close, Sophie could see the faintest smirk pulling at his lips. His gaze was colored with fondness, with understanding– everything he finally could be. She gave his hand a squeeze, smiling when he turned to look at her.

“Maybe we should ask Lambda what he would like to eat,” she spoke up.

His eyes widened, before he let out a little, exasperated huff, squeezing Sophie’s hand in return. 

“I would like to try the hot chocolate,” he stated, clear and concise.

And Sophie laughed as Lambda looked at her, alive. 

[pyromancerofaronons]

You know I couldn't remember which floor of the Zhonecage I used to hit level 200 back in the day but I finally decided to head into floor 10 and after the immediate first enemy encounter gave me 400,000 exp I remembered. I jumped like 10 levels just from the first run through to find Solomus. Shouldn't take me too long to grind to 200 and FINALLY have the Expunging Sword upgrade. Then the real fun begins

[mephilver]

need ps3 badly

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

realized why all this time i've been so vividly disturbed by rufus' relationship with dimitri and why i've spent four years wondering why i can't place what the reason is

only for hopes to make that vividness reach maximum capacity like no i definitely expected everything they're saying rufus did to dimitri but why did i see all of it coming like why is this literally everything i feel like i already knew

only to realize today that it's bc this whole time i associated rufus to cedric

evil blond uncle tries to murder soft hearted and kind blond prince

i realize this whole time my mind was just looking at rufus and cedric interchangeably like -points- it's the same person

but i also realize even in my mind it's just bc i never let richard tales of graces i love you go and so rufus was on my red alert list from the moment dimitri declared he didn't get along with him

unfortunately for cedric he passed the threshold of a quick death bc dimitri was still sane when he killed rufus in hopes and wasn't the one who did in houses

sucks for him i guess (it's not that i don't have sympathy, it's that i blatantly appreciated and enjoyed it and that's what u get for attempted murder on richard, i mean.)

[kohakhearts]

As be 1 26 21 !

(all good, i figured you meant asbel!!) thank you nel!!!!<3

1: why do you like or dislike this character?

surface level answer? he's just cute. good design, a healthy dose of stupid idiot, sunshiney optimist with a side of wet kitten behaviour once in a while. what's NOT to like tbh. but honestly i didn't expect to come out of the game with him as my fave at all so i've had to seriously interrogate why this happened and i guess it comes down to his whole "i need to protect everyone" thing, and tangentially something i really enjoy about his dynamic with sophie is how she constantly (unintentionally tbf!) pokes at his insecurity by saying she's going to protect him (and then of course actually doing that). i enjoy a repressive, arguably self-destructive trait wrapped up in the illusion of being healthy and admirable, and even more so when the reason he's so fixated on it the first place is TraumaTM :p

21: if you’re a fic writer and have written for this character, what’s your favorite thing to do when you’re writing for this character? what’s something you don’t like?

fundamentally my niche as a fic writer is like...taking scraps of angst and turning them up to 100, lmao. i am very interested in poking and prodding at his insecurities until even his oblivious ass realizes they're a) there to begin with and b) problematic for him. something i don't like...idk! is there anything about him to dislike?? he's perfect as he is (whether my characterization is or not is a different story LOL but still)

26: what’s something the character has done you can’t get over? be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever?

tbh everything about the end of the main arc is so good to me. asbel yoloing and absorbing lambda was easily his best scene. actually everything about his relationship with lambda tbh. i kind of love how in the f arc the rest of the party is waffling about trusting lambda for obvious reasons but for asbel he never even like...had to forgive lambda for all the things he did because at a certain point he just. didn't even blame him for it lmao. he literally said lambda has never done anything wrong in his life and this was somehow an effective therapy technique for lambda. they just don't do power of friendship like that anymore tbh

character ask game!

[sora-has-a-sideblog]

Tales of Graces f: The Locked Tomb Edition

okay is there anyone out there who knows both of these canons because for some reason I have this AU that is still not entirely coherent (or arguably coherent at all) but I have enough to babble about

bullet points below because we all love pew pew bullet points + MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR BOTH CANONS

Asbel as the cavalier to necromancer Richard. /MIC DROP

OKAY no I have more but if you know Graces and you know TLT. you know how this could end (this may or may not be a pun)

but if we're bringing in some of Graces' lighter/more optimistic vibes then surely Asbel manages to Third Option something re: traditional Lyctorhood and probably doesn't die. at least not for long

all the same I do like the image of Richard coming back bloodied and traumatized from the final battle at Canaan House with Asbel's blue eyes

also if Richard is Third House (beautiful + associated with politics, this seems obvious) we can make a leap to assume he may have Ianthe's facility with flesh magic and thus unlike Harrow can self-perform his lobotomy and doesn't need to ask for help

(although whether he would even think to self-lobotomize for this purpose is a different story. I haven't decided)

Fodra Queen as the Resurrection Beast of Fodra and the Little Queens as her Heralds

I bring up the Fodra/Little Queens to talk about Sophie; I feel like Sophie starts as Third House (because friendship trio) but if we keep Sophie's canonical connection to LQ then she's kind of the Nona of this AU (the angry zombified soul of a dead planet stuffed in a meat puppet but she forgot about all that jazz)

(I don't know yet how that would affect this AU's version of Canaan House events though)

(also it's possible Sophie could be either Second or Fourth given her combat-focused background; possibly the cavalier to Emeraude as necromancer?)

Canaan House clearly has to be on Fodra, but I don't know if we're assuming that all the Nine Houses would just be split among the three nations of Ephinea or if we're pretending there are other planets/satellites in this AU

Malik and Kurt are Ninth House because Drearburh is just the Fendel of the Nine Houses, right

I don't know which one of them is the necro though. if we wanted to switch around the vibes from TLT canon then I'd slot Malik in as necromancer (and he would happily make all the bone jokes about Ninth House, with Kurt facepalming in the background), but necromancer Kurt would also work given that he's the smarty-pants of the two

chronically ill Cheria obviously belongs in Seventh House, POOR THING. (we're not going to kill her off if I have anything to say about it, SHE DESERVES BETTER.............although she also deserves better than to suffer in unspeakable agony from hereditary blood cancer)

I also don't know how childhood arc events would work in this AU. some folks from the different Houses in TLT proper have had some contact prior to Canaan House but it's unclear to me how deep/frequent this goes?

like, I'm slotting Hubert (cavalier) and Pascal (necromancer) into Sixth House, but is Hubert natively Sixth or did he used to be Third with Asbel and then there were adoption shenanigans like in canon

fortunately he escapes being adopted by Eighth House Garrett, who's perfectly okay with using Raymond as his living battery. not that I think Garrett fits with Eighth House ideals but the canonical Eighth House pair is uncle and nephew so /SHRUG, ROLLS WITH IT

(RIP to Raymond getting demon-possessed. not RIP to Garrett who probably fucked them both over for no good reason)

I guess Hubert could technically be Fifth House too..........

Cornell as God? (...."Cod"?)

okay I suggested Emeraude as Second House with Sophie as her cav and you could still potentially do a thing where she wants to become a Lyctor in order to kill God and take his place but also. Emeraude as Cornell's Mercymorn

(I guess she could be the Cytherea equivalent?)

I DON'T KNOW WHERE LAMBDA FITS IN. is he another Resurrection Beast. is he a different Herald for the Fodra Queen.

do we keep the canonical arithmonyms or do we make up new ones. "Richard Tridentarius" has a ring to it, "Asbel Tern" maybe less so. ("Hubert Hect" gets points for alliteration)

[kresnikcest]

Artwork by Mutsumi Inomata from the special novel included with the Tales of Graces Anniversary Party Blu-Ray set

[artyartpile]

Bathed in light

[windor-truffle]

λ.

for whatever reason my first thought when i saw this ask was "would it be possible to make that shape with your body?" before realizing no, it's probably not humanly possible...