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secretsandsin · 6 years ago

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Based on this prompt from the kinkmeme here. Wrote this ages ago but then forgot about it, so super late fill, sorry. OTL

The hunt wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Rogue behemoth blah blah terrorizing travelers blah blah blah. They’ve heard this all before.

The only thing that really stood out about this request was the astronomical reward attached. Apparently, this behemoth was particularly vicious and prone to attacking anything moving into its territory.

But by this point, they’ve been eating nothing but toast and cup noodles for days and even Gladio was starting to get sick of them.

Nobody protested when Noctis accepted the hunt.

Predictably, it wasn’t an easy hunt. Like, top five worst-hunts-ever material, right up there with the extra friendly marlboro and the flan that smelled like week old gym sock left to marinate in pit sweat.

Sure, they knew behemoths were generally violent and aggressive. This one just seemed extra violent, and also really really angry. Ignis theorized that perhaps it was near mating season. To which Gladio countered with, “I really don’t want to think about these things fucking.”

Which. Point taken.

No one really had time for idle conversation after that. One distraction could cost them, and as their supply of curatives was as desperately low as their food supply, it just wasn’t worth risking. Even Prompto (carefully) put his camera away, though he did pout about missing awesome shots of ‘a behemoth large enough to rival Gladio’ beforehand.

(Gladio threatened, “I’ll show you large!” to which Prompto squeaked, “Sexual harassment! I need to find an adult I can trust!” and Ignis gave them both a smack and an exasperated glare.)

It’s a good three or four hours later before they can sense the end of the fight, the great behemoth’s strength finally dwindling down before it collapses with a roar. Despite the blood pooling beneath it and the deep gashes on its body, it still struggled to get up and move, seemingly in a random direction since none of its attackers were there.

(“Maybe we blinded it,” Prompto suggests. “Maybe it’s just dumb,” Gladio snorts.)

Noctis was the one who dealt the finishing blow, a clean slice to the underbelly, sliding through the blood with a grimace of disgust on his face the entire time. The behemoth’s dying bellow sounded almost sad and until the life left its eyes, it continued trying to get up, its muscles twitching even after death.

“I need a bath,” Noctis proclaims, trying to find something to wipe his bloodstained hands on. Unfortunately, every inch of him was just as bloodstained, so he walked up to Prompto and casually grabbed his shirt.

“Dude! Gross!” Prompto swats at him half-heartedly, too tired to really put up much of a protest. “Gah, you really do need a bath. You reek.”

“Yeah, well. Maybe we can switch roles and you can be up close and personal with the giant, bleeding monster and I can shoot at it from a distance.”

Prompto pretends to consider this. “Nah, I think I’m good. You can’t be a knight in shining armor without your trusty sword!”

Noctis snorts, slumping down against his best friend’s shoulder, ignoring his indignant squawking. “If anyone’s a knight, it’s Gladio.”

“He needs a shirt to be a knight.”

“What? Since when?”

“Since always, duh. It’s in the handbook.”

Completely ignoring the younger two’s antics, Ignis approached the behemoth corpse, already analyzing which parts they could make use of.

“Hm...it is a cut to the digestive system but, thankfully, a clean one. The bacteria shouldn’t have spread much.” He straightens from his inspection. “Gladio, a hand, if you please?”

“Guess I’m on butchering duty again?” He hefts his greatsword onto his shoulder with a sigh. “Maybe I should just wield a giant butcher knife from now on.”

“Nonsense. That would just look silly.”

They stayed for the additional thirty minutes it took for Ignis to be satisfied that he had stripped all useful parts off the carcass. By then, the sun was just starting to dip below the horizon and Gladio suggested they camp instead of driving all the way back to town, despite numerous protests.

(“Gladio. Did you miss the part where I am literally covered in blood? And so are you!” “Creek’s up that way. I’ll even let you go first, princess.” “Uck! What if there are leeches like last time?” “Then maybe they’ll clean off all that blood faster.”)

Ignis pacifies them with the promise of behemoth steak on rice for dinner and the four stomp onwards in search of a suitable camping location.

The good thing was, the rampaging behemoth scared most other things off its territory. The bad thing though, was that all the surrounding vegetation was decisively squashed looking and therefore, not all that great for hiding a campsite from magitek troopers flying overhead. And of course, there wasn’t a camp ground to be seen.

(”Man, someone needs to reroll their luck stat.” “Can you stop being a nerd for like two seconds?”)

Instead, they stumble upon a cave, disguised by low hanging tree branches and almost invisible but for the well-worn path leading up to its entrance.

Ignis reasonably points out that now was perhaps not the time to take on any potentially dangerous things living in that cave. Prompto chimes in that “dude, everyone knows hidden caves are where all the best items in RPGs are!” Noctis just wanted to find a place to pass out for the day.

And so Gladio ended up with little more than a flashlight and a ‘good luck’ as he went into unknown and potentially dangerous territory. So, business as usual.

Fortunately, the cave didn’t extend that far back, although it was a fair bit larger than it looked from the outside, with soaring ceilings that could house a building. He spent too much time looking at the ceiling, he didn’t realize there was something on the ground until he almost stepped on it.

Good thing that ‘something’ squeaked at him before he could crush it.

Looking down, he spots some sort of nest, a bunch of leaves and grass bunched up to make the stone floor a little softer. Looking closer, he sees three wriggling little bodies in that nest, one of which he’d almost stepped on.

He squats down to take a closer look, shining the light down to chase away the shadows. The three whatever-they-are’s are a weird purplish color that triggers a faint sort of recognition in the back of Gladio’s memory. They resemble newborn puppies mostly, their eyes barely open and squinting at the light in his hand. The squeaking is coming from them, high pitched sounds that he refuses to find cute until he’s 100% sure these things weren’t dangerous.

(Watching them attempt to reach his shoe in clumsy, wobbly movements lowers their odds of being dangerous to maybe 1%. Could still be poisonous.)

“Gladio? Did you find anything?”

He stares at the furry, squirming beans trying to climb his boot.

“...sort of?”

It is Ignis who identifies them as behemoth cubs, probably not even two weeks old. Not much is known about behemoth young, he says, because their mothers are often much more territorial until the cubs have opened their eyes and can start feeding on solid food.

It is Prompto that makes the connection, freezing in his quest to coax over a cub with his finger.

“So that behemoth we just killed…”

There is a short silence. Noctis suddenly becomes much more aware of how covered in blood he is.

“Oh, Gods.”

They stare down at the newly orphaned cubs crowding around Gladio’s foot. They look so tiny and helpless, it was hard to make the connection between them and the vicious monster they just hunted down.

One of them lets out a big yawn and is so shocked by this, it overbalanced, squeaking as it waves little paws in the air.

They could practically hear Prompto’s heart breaking.

“We...we have to do something, right? Since we...you know…” the blonde trails off awkwardly and waves his hands in a manner that probably is supposed to suggest the brutal murder of the cubs’ mother. “We can’t just leave them!” He turns pleading blue eyes at the others.

Ignis shifts on his feet and adjusts his glasses. “Prompto,” he begins, voice softer than normal, “I know it’s hard to envision right now, but these cubs will one day grow into monsters like their mother and then other people will have to hunt them down.”

‘So we should just kill them now’ goes unsaid.

Prompto’s lip trembles but he nods anyways. “I-I know, but…” He looks down again, where the cubs are clumsily pawing at each other in order to win the spot on top of Gladio’s boot.

“We don’t have to, um, kill them, right?” Noctis speaks up, “We can just leave them here and maybe they’ll wander off and not bother people anymore.”

Prompto nods with downcast eyes. “Y-Yeah. Maybe they’ll be hermit behemoths when they grow up!”

No one points out that leaving them at this age would effectively be killing them.

Satisfied that there was nothing else in the cave, they get ready to move on. Gladio gingerly moves the cubs aside before backing out of the cave, apologizing in his mind. Killing them now would’ve been a quicker, kinder death, he thinks.

It’s not until they’re a few feet away from the cave entrance when they realize that the squeaking isn’t getting any further away. Turning, they see all three cubs tumbling over each other and tripping over their own oversized paws to chase after them.

“Uh, Specs? Why are they following us?”

If Ignis is annoyed at suddenly being the designated behemoth expert, he doesn’t show it. “Perhaps they’re hungry?”

Gladio glares as the cubs run straight up to him. “Oi. We’re not food.” But they didn’t seem to be attempting to eat him, they just sat and cuddled with his boot some more.

What the hell.

“Oh, wait!” Prompto snaps his fingers. “Maybe it’s like that thing baby ducklings do! The, um…”

“Imprinting?”

“Yeah! Maybe they imprinted on Gladio because he looks like a behemoth!”

“Okay Blondie, come here and - “ As soon as he moved his feet, the squeaking came back, the cubs scrambling around until they found their anchor again.

It was cute in a I-need-to-punch-something-to-feel-manly-again kind of way.

“Hm. Perhaps the imprinting theory isn’t too far off the mark.”

“Oh, c’mon Iggy, not you too - “

“Gladdy’s a daddy!”

“Alright, you know what, you little punks - “

Maybe it was all the shouting or the anger in Gladio’s voice, but something set the cubs into a panic, alarmed squeals filling the air as they huddled behind Gladio’s leg until all that could be seen were tiny masses of shivering fur.

He takes a deep breath. “Look. We already said we can’t help them. And it’s not like they can follow us either.”

They stare each other down, nobody wanting to voice it out loud.

Ignis coughs delicately. “I have heard behemoth veal is especially tender.”

“Iggy!”

“Well, we were planning to eat their mother,” he says, pragmatically, “That’s hardly any worse.”

Noctis looks a little green in the face. “Ugh. Not sure I want to eat behemoth any time soon. Or ever.” Prompto nods his agreement.

“So who’s going to...you know…” Prompto makes another vague gesture at the cubs.

They all glanced at each other.

“Nose goes!”

And of course Gladio gets the short end of the stick (the nose? Whatever).

“Fine!” he growls. “My steak had better be the biggest piece out there, you get me?”

Prompto looks a little nauseous. “No arguments here, buddy.”

He summons his greatsword and looks down at the shivering mass at his feet. One of them lifts its head, staring at him with wide, yellow eyes. It opens its tiny mouth to give a happy chirp, its stumpy tail attempting to wag. It wiggles its way out of the cuddle pile to place two small paws on his boot.

His sword comes down.

The thud as it hit the dirt made three little bodies jump, but any fright they might have felt was quickly forgotten in favor of chewing at the hem of Gladio’s pants.

“I can’t do it.” Why did they have to be so darn cute?

Ignis gives a long-suffering sigh that still somehow managed to sound relieved. “Well. I’d imagine we’ll come across a wildlife center sooner or later.”

Prompto and Noctis high five.

With little choice, they turn back for the Regalia, conspicuously avoiding the area where they took down the earlier behemoth. Waiting for the cubs to scramble their way on their own is cute, but time-consuming, and with night fast approaching, Gladio is forced to pick them up and carry them in his jacket-turned-crib. Luckily, they are perfectly happy to be carried and Prompto expresses, once again, his urgent need for his camera.

Behemoth cubs are very snuggily, Gladio discovers.

They make Ignis throw out all the behemoth meat, much to his disappointment.

They learn many things in the first week they become unexpected parents/monster tamers.

Prompto learns that he can bribe the cubs away from Gladio with bacon. Their bacon budget rises considerably until Ignis puts his foot down. Prompto still manages to get some fantastically cute shots that he swears he’ll sell for a fortune one of these days.

Ignis learns that baby formula is horribly overpriced. But plain milk didn’t seem nutritious enough for infants, so he reluctantly set aside gil in their meager budget to accommodate that. If they had to have more days of toast and cup noodles, well. Perhaps they shouldn’t have made him throw out all that hard won meat.

Noctis learns that baby formula tastes disgusting. In his defense, it was early (“Dude. It was like 2 pm.” “And?”) and he was half-asleep. Worst way to wake up ever, and that wasn’t even counting Ignis’ exasperated sighs afterwards and the cubs’ big, wibbling eyes of betrayal.

Gladio learns to put a shirt on anytime the cubs get anywhere near his chest unless he wants them trying to suckle from him. Yeah sure, laugh it up, Blondie and Princess, but those teeth were sharp. He had to get medical treatment and even Ignis couldn’t keep a straight face.

And they all collectively learn that there really weren’t that many wildlife centers out there. Even less that wanted to try raising baby behemoths. And by ‘less’, they mean, exactly none.

“Well,” Ignis says, after the third wildlife center employee took one look at the cubs in Gladio’s arms and nearly fainted, “perhaps we should start looking into other alternatives.”

But he knew a losing battle when he saw one and between Prompto naming them (Meatloaf, Sirloin, and Brisket, which was more than a bit morbid), Noctis trying to teach them tricks (“No, he totally rolled over that time, didn’t you, Meatloaf?” “Noct. He just got pushed over.”), and Gladio turning into ‘Dadio’, complete with baby talk and bedtime stories, he figured it wasn’t worth the effort.

Besides. The little buggers were kind of cute.

It took three months before the cubs were too big to comfortably ride in the car with them. Instead, they found out that behemoths can go up to speeds of nearly 60 mph. They probably alarmed many drivers who had to follow behind the Regalia while it was being chased by three mid-sized dog creatures on the highway.

Noctis is the one who decides the cubs (probably too big to be cubs now, really) needed collars. Or some sign that they weren’t wild beasts.

All the screaming people did every time they come to town might have something to do with that decision.

They commission some from Dino, figuring regular dog collars would be outgrown in a few months. The result was three rambunctious behemoths the size of small horses with hoola hoop-like collars flopping about their necks. Not only did they then have to spend a not insignificant chunk of time making sure the collars stayed where they were supposed to, no one even came close enough to the collars to recognize the royal crest engraved on the tag next to the name.

So the screaming continued.

Around five months, they start getting more monstrous looking, much to the Chocobros’ alarm. Black, wicked looking horns start to curve from their foreheads and their previously adorable habit of headbutting their humans when hungry was suddenly a lot less adorable and more hazardous to their health. Two of them grew a ruffle of orange fur around their necks, something Ignis guessed meant they were male. Sirloin and Brisket grew a lustrous mane of orange fur while Meatloaf got something that looked like tusks coming from the bottom of her mouth.

(The Chocobros had a surprisingly intense conversation about whether the cubs had gender appropriate names. In the end, it was decided that Brisket was indeed a manly enough name but Sirloin would have to be abbreviated to ‘Sir’. Meatloaf, it was unanimously decided, was a unisex name.)

It was Gladio, naturally, that taught them to hunt on their own and to attack when directed. Hunts became that much easier now that they essentially had three hunting dogs (but five times more deadly) at their command.

In the end, despite the truly massive food budget, their ban from entering certain towns, and the near misses involving trampling and being gored, it could’ve turned out worse.

(“Yeah. We could’ve tried to turn them into veal, right Iggy?” “Mmmrph?” “Shh, shh, it’s okay, Meatloaf. We won’t let mean, ol’ Specs turn you into dinner.” “Oh, please. You seemed perfectly happy to eat their mother not too long ago.” “Okay, but in my defense, even Prompto was looking kind of tasty at that point, and he’s all skin and bone.” “HEY!”)

Ten years and a lifetime later, three hulking behemoths preceded the funeral procession of King Noctis Lucis Caelum, the Hero of Light and last of his line. They wear faded leather collars with a dull, metal tag, words long since faded away.

They are followed by three somber men carrying a simple wooden casket, looking like the weight of the world is on their shoulders.

In time, they know, they will become legend. The last king of Lucis bringing back the light with his three loyal companions and noble steeds.

But right now, in this moment, they are simply human and beast, mourning the loss of one of their own.

#kiv writes stuff #final fantasy xv #ffxv #think I missed a few of the prompts but I did try

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braincoins · 6 years ago

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yslanam replied to your post: what was the hardest scene to write for Welcome...

I feel the same way about sex scenes, tbh. If it’s not revealing stuff about the characters, I tend to skim or skip. But gosh, now I’m all emotional about the Warden and Alistair creating a home together.

And the other Grey Wardens! The Warden’s Home for Wayward Children.

Sorry; I’ve read the Miss Peregrine books and I just started Every Heart a Doorway in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, soooo...

But home as a place is a very important - and new - concept for both the Warden (Kivral in this case, a Dalish elf) and Alistair. Neither of them have really had much of one in their lives. Kiv’s used to traveling around. Home was a people to her, not a place. Ditto Alistair, for whom places are generally inhospitable but for whom a group of people - the Wardens - became his place to belong.

And the point Kiv makes at the end of Welcome Home to Velanna is just that: we’re not Dalish or Human or Dwarven or any of that other stuff anymore. We’re Wardens. WE’RE the only home any of us have.

A lot of the Wardens that Kiv recruits are in the same boat: Velanna’s not only Dalish but exiled from her clan; Sigrun was one of the Legion and thus “already dead” in a sense, and has no home; Anders has been told that the only home he’s allowed is the Circle, and he actively flees from it and its restrictions; Nathaniel’s physical home now belongs to the Warden, and he was sent away from it despite wanting to stay (though not wanting to be Arl).

So... yeah. Now here’s Kivral and Alistair trying to make this place a home for these people who don’t have great track records with the concept.

#yslanam #Dragon Age

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secretsandsin · 9 years ago

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Here There Be Demons 1/?

A/N: DID SOMEONE SAY RYOUMARX DEMON SUMMONING AU?? NO??? Oh. Awkward.

Link to AO3

“Leo.”

“Ah...yes, brother?”

“What did you just do?!”

Fifteen minutes ago, Xander had returned home after a 12 hour work shift. Ten minutes ago, he had changed out of his work uniform (amazing, how sick one could get of the smell of coffee when you worked with it near endlessly). Five minutes ago, he accidentally nicked himself cutting an apple to share with Elise. One minute ago, he was absently sifting through his and Leo’s shared desk in search of his textbook.

Up until this point, everything was normal.

Present time: there was a very large, very red, and very spiky man (?) in the middle of their living room floor, standing in a glowing pentacle. Why did Xander know it was glowing? Because all their light bulbs had just exploded.

“...I would like to point out that, very technically, it was as much your doing as mine.”

“Leo.”

“Right. Well. The library recently got some new books on, ah...demon summoning.”

“Demon - ?!”

“Well I didn’t think they would actually work!” his little brother said defensively. “I mean, I drew the summoning circles just to see if I could, but even if they weren’t complete hogwash, you need other things for the ritual anyways.”

“You didn’t think for one second that drawing demon circles would be a bad idea?!”

“It’s not just the circle! I mean, according to the book, we would have needed nectar of the gods, virgin blood, and seven candles lit by lightning! I thought we were reasonably safe!”

“Then please explain to me why it worked.”

“Xander, please. Stop yelling at the poor boy,” Camilla interrupted, hiding a yawn behind one deceptively delicate-looking hand. “From what I understand, it was partially your fault too.”

“And just how - “

“Nectar of the gods.” She gestured to the half of an apple he was still holding. “Virgin blood.” The cut on his finger (and he was never going to hear the end of this one, he can just tell). “And I’m going to guess that we had seven light bulbs. There, you see?”

Oh.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Leo shifted awkwardly and didn’t meet his eyes. “‘Virgin blood’ doesn’t actually mean - “

“Can we just...figure out how to get the...the demon out of here?”

Camilla hummed thoughtfully. “Well, traditionally, one would make a wish and the demon would fulfill it for you. In exchange for your soul.” She smiled serenely. “Leo? Does that book of yours say anything?”

“I’d have to look into which demon we actually summoned.” He looked mournfully at the mountains of paper on their desk.

“Right. Well. Perhaps we can just...ask?” Xander turned to face the demon for the first time since this whole fiasco started.

Weirdly enough, aside from the strange outfit, he looked...normal. Brown eyes, black hair (which, okay, spiked pretty oddly, but Xander had seen worse from high school boys), thin lips, and cheeks that still retained some baby fat. He didn’t look too much older than Xander, to be sure, and wouldn’t have garnered a second glance if they had just passed each other on the street.

The outfit, however… It looked like armor? Perhaps. Red and spiky had been his first impression, but there was also a white coat (?) and pants that went with it. The demon was also, Xander noted with some alarm, carrying a sword.

He made sure he and his siblings were well out of reach before addressing him.

“Excuse me.”

The demon looked at him now, the same calm expression on his face. It was rather unnerving, if Xander were to be honest.

“Right, well, as you can see, summoning you was an accident. Is there any way to send you back? Preferably with, er, all souls intact.”

The expression on his face didn’t change, but he did blink at him.

He also didn’t answer.

“Excuse me? Can you hear me?”

They weren’t that far away.

“Odd,” he heard Leo murmur somewhere to his left, “the circle shouldn’t stop sound or anything…”

The demon shifted slightly and Xander immediately felt himself tense, ready to...well, probably get smited or something. He had the feeling he wouldn’t be much of a match for a demon.

Luckily for him, the demon wasn’t in a smiting mood, it seemed. He just raised a hand to rub at his face and finally opened his mouth to respond.

...in gibberish.

What.

“Oh,” Leo said meekly, “The circle must have come from one of the foreign books.”

Right. Of course.

Just. Perfect.

Link to next part

#FE:Fates #kiv writes stuff #RyouMarx #eventually I guess #where am I going with this #brain what have you done #on a side note #I think I read somewhere that 'virgin blood' isn't actually the blood of virgins #just blood that hasn't been used for a ritual yet #so yeah that's where that came from #got a title!

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secretsandsin · 9 years ago

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Here There Be Demons 5/?

A/N: Ahaha...ha...ha... OTL Procrastination strikes again, it seems.

Link to AO3 when I get around to posting it

Link to first part

Link to previous part

Ideally after such life-changing information, one should be able to address the problem right away.

Those people, however, didn’t decide to seek out said information right before 8 hour work shifts. At least he had a lot of time to contemplate the situation in between coffee orders and directing people to bookshelves.

(Although all his ‘contemplating’ resulted in was a worried-through, bleeding lip and no answers or bright ideas, so he supposed that wasn’t particularly helpful.)

When he finally arrived home, it was dark out, the city quieter with the sun down. Xander was exhausted but apprehensive as he stood in front of his apartment door. Despite all the time devoted to thinking on this topic, he hadn’t figured out any foolproof way to convince the demon to leave peacefully.

Well. As Elise puts it, he’ll just have to ‘wing it’.

Pushing open the door, he is immediately faced with the demon staring at him gravely from his sitting position in his pentacle. The scene reminded him of nothing so much as a particularly large guard dog waiting at the front door and the irony almost made him laugh. Still, he nodded his greeting to Edw - Ryoma, which was promptly returned, and Xander edged around the circle as always, discarding coats and other belongings.

He knew his siblings would not be home yet, busy with extracurriculars, classes, or jobs, and he debated the wisdom of taking on the demon without any sort of backup or failsafe. But he was tired and had been mulling over this for hours now, so really, he just wanted this whole mess to be over.

A note should suffice. Just in case the demon decided to leave Xander soulless, at least his siblings will know what happened.

(What did a soulless person look like anyways? Would he just be a dead body then? He hoped not. That would probably traumatize Elise…)

Xander shook his head to clear his mind. He must really be tired if he was losing himself in his thoughts like that. He hastily finished penning the note, placing his signature at the bottom so they would know that it was his.

(He thought about putting in Orochi’s warning to Leo, but...well, it wasn’t like she advised him to do anything in particular. It wouldn’t do anything but worry him unnecessarily.)

Task finished, he set the note on the counter in plain sight and considered his next move.

No matter how much he had thought about it, there was just no dignified way to give his blood to the demon.

He had no wish to go anywhere near the demon with anything remotely resembling a weapon. Which would make bloodletting quite a bit harder. He supposed he could simply give himself another paper cut, but the thought of doing so deliberately was...distinctly off-putting.

(That he considered stabbing himself with a kitchen knife more of a viable option was probably not all that healthy.)

In the end, he went with one of Camilla’s embroidery needles. He just hoped that this ‘taste’ thing didn’t require too much blood.

He walked toward the demon slowly, making sure to keep the needle in plain view and to seem as nonthreatening as possible. There really was no way to communicate what he was trying to do through gestures, so he could only hope the demon was more knowledgeable about summonings than he was.

(And that he didn’t think Xander was stupid enough to take on a sword-wielding demon with an embroidery needle.)

The demon glanced down at his clothes for a moment, confused, but seemed to get it when Xander mimed sticking the needle into his finger. He stood up and, while he wasn’t quite as tall as Xander, he certainly cut a much more imposing figure at his full height.

Despite all the times he watched his siblings step into the pentacle without fear, Xander still found himself hesitating just outside the glowing lines. Deliberately putting himself at someone else’s mercy seemed like a bad idea at the best of times; putting himself at the mercy of a demon king was just…

Well. Not particularly smart.

He took a deep, fortifying breath. Put one foot into the pentacle and it sort of...tingled a bit. Was that normal? Stepping fully into the circle made him feel like lightning was crawling across his skin, making his breath catch at just how much power was being exuded.

But a second later, it was gone. If he didn’t feel like all his hair was still on-end, Xander would have thought he had imagined the whole thing. It didn’t help that the demon didn’t act as if anything was out of the norm.

(But looking to a demon to define ‘the norm’ was probably not a good idea in the first place.)

Looking up from his, er, impromptu perusal of his appearance (one must always appear their best whenever possible, was his philosophy), Xander was struck by how close the other was. Where he is now, he could see the gold flecks in brown eyes, the barely-there freckles across the bridge of his nose, the small laugh lines around his mouth…

It occurred to Xander that he should have asked what kind of demon he was currently housing. He didn’t make it a habit to wax poetic about, well, much of anything really.

Obviously, the demon had addled his wits.

He glared at the demon, making sure to remember exactly what he was looking at. This is the prince of Hell; not just some poor schmuck that’s been camping in his living room for the past few weeks. It’d take more than some voodoo magic to win him over!

The demon had the nerve to look confused about the animosity.

Xander gave him one last glare, just for good measure, then turned back to the task at hand. Camilla always kept her needles sharp, polished, and ready for use, which he had always thought was an odd habit, considering she rarely had time to embroider anymore. In this case though, it came in handy.

Considering his options only briefly, he decided upon his left index finger. The wound shouldn’t be too noticeable even if he messed up badly. He supposed the demon would just have to...lick his finger or something.

He frowned. Would the demon be willing to do that? He is royalty, after all. Maybe he didn’t think this through enough. Should he get a cup or…?

Glancing up, he saw that the demon was now fixated on his finger, eyeing it with thinly veiled hunger. Guess he didn’t need a cup after all.

(Although that option might be safer for the wellbeing of his finger. Hopefully, he wasn’t in a flesh eating mood today.)

Without further ado, he jammed the needle into his finger. It wouldn’t do to keep on this track and delay the inevitable. The pain helped to pull him out of his head, although it thankfully didn’t hurt quite as much as he had expected.

It also didn’t bleed as much as expected.

Xander stared perplexed at his finger, which definitely showed a puncture mark, but was refusing to bleed. He squeezed the digit, hoping to promote blood flow, but it remained stubbornly blood-free.

He pricked his finger again (which hurt a lot more this time, gods take it), but the outcome didn’t change. Perhaps the needle was too dull to pierce all the skin? He really was hoping to avoid having to cut himself with a knife. Not only was it unsanitary, his workplace was just about to switch to their summer uniforms and a knife wound would be hard to explain…

On habit, he bit his lip. And then immediately winced as he reopened the cut from earlier, flooding his mouth with the taste of copper. Gods, he really needed to find a way to stop. Such habits were hardly befitting of a man his age -

“Itadakimasu.”

All of a sudden, he was falling forward. There was something cold and unyielding yanking him down by the back of the neck, forcing him to lean down -

There was the briefest sensation of soft and warm against his lips before everything exploded.

Xander, five years old again, tried not to cry as he dug a small grave for his pet bird.

He was running through the hallways, following the scent of his favorite blueberry pie.

Honey and lavender, his mother’s perfume at all his piano recitals.

It was humid and raining and fear was choking him so much he couldn’t breathe -

Day-old coffee and a bookshelf full of -

Camilla was waving a note at him -

Another pentacle, but it reeked of -

Red. There was so much red everywhere and it made him feel -

Xander stumbled back, gasping for air. He half expected all those...those visions to manifest out of nowhere again, but all he saw was the demon, lazily licking a smear of red off his lips.

Wait. Was that - ?

“I apologize for the late introduction. I am Ryoma of Hoshido. Thank you for inviting me into your lovely home.” His voice was smooth, deep, and powerful, like lightning kept on a leash. He also had no discernible accent, despite ‘learning’ the language not even a minute ago.

…

He had so many questions, starting from the weird visions and going right down to that anticlimactic introduction.

“Did you just kiss me?”

That...was not the question he meant to ask.

The demon’s brow scrunched. “‘Kiss’?”

“I - that is...n-never mind.” This wasn’t worth the headache he could feel brewing. “I am Xander of, er, this apartment. While you are not any less welcome - “ lies “ - your presence here was certainly unintended. I was informed that you had chosen to answer my summoning…?”

“Yes,” he said simply.

They stared at each other for a few moments.

Right. So this was something the demon didn’t want to discuss.

He cleared his throat. “I see. Well, er, if you could just let me know what it is you wanted, we can go about getting you home.” Please don’t say your soul, please don’t say your soul…

Ryoma quirked an eyebrow. “I was under the impression that these interactions usually went the other way around.”

Great. Now the demon was sassing him. “As I’ve already established, I have no pressing need for anything at the moment.” Except to get this whole mess sorted and out of his living room as soon as possible. “Am I right to assume you stayed here for some sort of reason?”

“You...would not be entirely incorrect,” he answered slowly. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

He waited a bit, but nothing else seemed to be following that statement. Fantastic. This demon certainly kept his cards close to his chest.

“So there is nothing I could do to convince you to lea - to return home?” He couldn’t quite hide the frustration in his voice. It wasn’t like he expected this to be easy, per say, but did this demon have to make this so damn difficult?

Oh, right. This is what demons do. Supposedly. He’d have to ask Orochi or Odin to be sure, now that demons were no longer just mythical beings that only crazy people believed existed, but he didn’t think that they could be all that different from the pop culture image and -

He was rambling. He really needed sleep.

The demon seemed to be considering. “I am willing to depart,” he said slowly, “if you are willing to give your word that this will not be the last time we meet.”

“...pardon?”

He struggled carelessly under Xander’s incredulous stare. “I like it here. I would like to come back again.”

He had no idea his living room was so interesting.

“Ah, I meant this world in general,” the demon clarified, “Although I am sure your home is lovely, by human standards.” He added a polite nod.

Oh, yes. He could see how mysterious stains and squeaky floorboards would appeal to people. Demons. Whatever.

Sarcasm aside, this offer seemed highly suspicious. After all the trouble the demon caused (both unintentionally and deliberately), this request seemed a little too...convenient. He could be aiding and abetting a dangerous individual in...in world domination or some other suitably evil and dangerous activity!

But on the other hand, the demon would be out of his living room. Who cared what he would get up to later?

“Done.”

And that was how Xander made a deal with a demon.

#kiv writes stuff #FE:Fates #Ryoumarx #no real excuses I was just lazy #if anyone's still reading this thanks for sticking around!

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secretsandsin · 9 years ago

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Here There Be Demons 4/?

A/N: Finals suck. That is all.

Link to AO3

Link to first part

Link to previous part

The smile that spread on Orochi’s face was slow and approving. “Now we’re talking.” She turned around with a dramatic sweep of robes and hair. “Come,” she beckoned, “we’ll speak more comfortably upstairs.”

‘Upstairs’ turned out to be...fairly normal, actually. (Surprisingly.) Comfortable, black couches lined the small room around a coffee table that held a scattering of newspapers and used mugs. An open archway lead to a tiny kitchen directly across from the expansive windows, bathing the space in sunlight.

It was surreal to watch people dressed like priestesses and magicians move about this perfectly normal space, tidying up and making tea.

(But he supposed that a man - er, a man-shaped demon in full armor playing house was also pretty surreal.)

Thus situated with tea and some kind of oddly-shaped biscuits, Xander faced the two occult specialists sitting opposite him and felt a little like a child about to be reprimanded by his parents. Which was ridiculous, because he was fairly certain he was older than both of them.

“So,” Orochi began, “what exactly do you know about demon summoning?”

A lot more than he wished to. “Not much. This summoning was...mostly accidental, and we were unable to find the original text which held the details.”

“No, no, no,” she waved her hand impatiently, “I’m not asking about the specifics. I’m asking what do you know about demon summoning in general?”

“...they’re bad?” He wasn’t sure he understood the question. “You trade your soul in exchange for a wish?”

“Well. You’re not that far off. Technically, they can ask for anything in return, just like you can wish for anything from the demon. It just so happens that they prefer their payment in souls.”

“Wily creatures, these demons be! Ask for a nickel and they ransom it for a king’s fortune!”

“You haven’t made a deal yet with Prince Ryoma, have you?” Her gaze went from relaxed to piercing in the span of seconds and Xander felt like he was getting whiplash.

“Of course not.”

She leaned forward. “Are you certain? No strong desires on your mind? No throwaway comments in the demon’s vicinity?”

He tried not to snort. “I doubt it would make a difference even if I had voiced something. We cannot understand each other.”

She blinked and the tension in the room snapped. “You...what?”

“As of now, we are unable to determine what language Edw - the demon speaks. It would seem he cannot understand us either, so any wishes made would be pointless.”

Odin scratched his head. “You have no lines of communication with this dastardly demon?”

“We...try. With, er, pictures and gestures and such.” He coughed slightly and put the memories of his more ridiculous pantomimes out of mind. Who knew ‘shower’ would be so hard to act out?

“Well, this could be a problem. There isn’t really a way to - Oh!” Orochi snapped her fingers. “I get it now. You never finished the summoning!”

Considering the demon was very much present in his living room, Xander would say the summoning was pretty complete.

“Did you perform the Taste of Understanding?”

The what? “No? The demon wouldn’t eat anything.”

They both stared at him for a moment and Xander got the feeling he said something dumb.

“The sacred Taste of Understanding is not a mere foodstuff! Er, unless you happen to be a devilish, Lord of the Night - “

“You used blood to summon the demon, right?” Orochi interrupted impatiently. “But you didn’t feed him any of that blood afterwards?”

“What? Of course not! Why would I do that?”

She snapped her fingers. “Well, there’s your problem!”

Xander stared at her blankly, not really understanding...well, much of anything at this point. “So what you’re telling me is, the first thing I should have done after summoning a demon is feed it blood?”

Odin nodded encouragingly. “‘Tis the natural progress of such things.”

He felt a little like Alice at the Mad Hatter’s table. Were these people all crazy? Did he step into an alternate universe where the laws of physics and common sense didn’t apply?

“Well...think of blood as a carrier of the soul. The blood given allows the demon an insight into the components that make you, you.” She smirked. “As well as giving them a taste of the reward they can look forward to.”

“...aren’t I here because I don’t want to forfeit my soul? This all seems rather counterproductive.” What does this ‘taste’ have to do with language barriers anyways?

“Hm...it’s a bit hard to explain, but blood doesn’t contain any of the actual soul. Just the taste. Kind of like the aroma of food, you could say. You can get a ‘taste’ of the food from the smell, but you don’t actually take away any of it.”

“I see.” A lie, but a mostly unimportant one in the long run. “So this will accomplish...what, exactly?”

“The soul, that which is the very essence of your being, nay, the cumulation of your experiences and the script of your destiny, holds many secrets of the self! One of which must pertain to the usage and understanding of the spoken word!”

Xander could just feel the headache building. “So if I give him blood, he can understand me?”

“Er...essentially, yes.”

Okay then. “So once he can understand me, I can just ask him to leave?”

“Well, he did come all the way from Hell to answer your summons. And it sounds like you kept him waiting around for 2 weeks. I would wager a guess that he wants something from you for all his trouble.”

“Contrary to the presumed knowledge of the darkness-naive masses, demons need not answer to every call that comes their way! He must want something from you in particular if you have indeed successfully summoned him.”

Fantastic. “So there’s no way I am escaping this with my soul intact?”

“I didn’t say that. Terms are never absolute if you know your way around a contract. Just bargain with him.”

Bargaining with a demon. Don’t most people warn against doing that?

“But one thing to keep in mind.” She fixed him with a grave look. “Whatever you have to offer this demon, whatever it is you have to do, you must keep your soul your own. Your destiny depends on it.”

He had to say he never really believed in the existence of souls before today (and was still doubtful). But he still wasn’t going to offer it to a demon, destiny or not.

“I will keep your advice under consideration. Thank you for all the information.” Provided it wasn’t just a bunch of horse dung. “Now, what do I owe you…?”

She waved him off. “Just make sure to drop by again. Your fate looks interesting and I would love to see it unfolding with my own eyes.”

“Correct! No need to be strangers when our fates are intertwined!”

He smiled weakly at them as he got up to leave. Honestly, he would rather have just paid them.

“Oh! And tell your brother, the one who endowed the circle with magic? Someone is very unhappy with him.” And the door was slammed in his face.

Link to next part

#kiv writes stuff #FE:Fates #RyouMarx #how did this part end up so long

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secretsandsin · 9 years ago

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Here There Be Demons 2/?

A/N: Ahahaha, I really should be studying.

Link to first part

Link to AO3

Elise has taken to calling him Edward. Xander is not sure why (personally, he strikes Xander as more of a ‘Spike’), but it certainly made it easier to discuss their ‘little problem’ in public places without fear of being institutionalized.

Not that there was a whole lot to discuss. There wasn’t anything to be done until Leo managed to unearth the book that caused this whole mess, and between his little brother’s part time job and his heavy course load from uni, it would be a wonder if they were free of their problem by next year. Xander just made sure all his siblings knew to stay clear of the circle, just in case ‘Edward’ decided to get violent.

That rule lasted all of five seconds before they all collectively realized that the front door was on the other side of the pentacle and their living room really wasn’t that big.

It was lucky (and rather suspicious) that this demon didn’t seem particularly prone to violence. Watching Leo almost stumble into ‘Edward’ early one morning and Elise trip practically head first into one of those spikes, Xander just thanked his lucky stars this demon seemed rather patient.

(And was good at dodging.)

It was Camilla that brought up the issue of food. Did ‘Edward’ need to eat? Trying to pantomime eating at the demon just made Xander feel like a fool, so Elise left a plate of spaghetti for him while everyone else watched avidly (Leo even had a notebook and pen on hand).

As it turned out, demons either didn’t feast on anything but human souls and suffering, or this particular demon just didn’t like spaghetti. ‘Edward’ sniffed the plate, pulled a face (the most expression Xander had ever seen on the demon), and politely pushed the plate away.

(Xander maintained that that was certainly not any indication of his cooking ability. Who even knows what a demon would consider good eating? No, he is not offended, Camilla, stop smirking.)

While he told his siblings that, as ‘Edward’ didn’t seem to be wasting away (and obviously didn’t have good taste in food), they should stop feeding him, Elise and Leo seemed to like handing him bits and pieces off their plates. Leo, for experimental purposes, and Elise, because she most likely thought of ‘Edward’ as an unorthodox pet.

They did find out that he wouldn’t touch any food, but was partial to tea.

(Elise was delighted. She had a literally captive participant for her tea parties. There was nothing more strange than seeing ‘Edward’ nod with his usual gravity while listening to his little sister describe Mr. and Mrs. Piggy’s marital problems.)

Leo had taken it upon himself to try to communicate with ‘Edward’. None of the common languages seemed to gather much of a response, and the written words failed as well, but he remained determined. The only way to communicate with the demon remained some convoluted form of charades. And even that wasn’t 100% effective.

(Unless ‘Edward’ just pretended to be obtuse. Xander wouldn’t put it past him.)

Xander didn’t expect Leo to give up easily (stubborn to a fault for sure), but finding his little brother using ‘Edward’ as a sound boarding for not only languages, but his course work as well was a bit...startling, to say the least.

The very last straw was coming home to find Camilla using the demon’s hair to teach Elise how to tie a French braid properly.

It was not normal how quickly having a captive demon in their living room stopped being a novelty and started being an everyday fixture. They should be trying to get rid of him, not have him over for tea parties. If he didn’t know his siblings better, Xander would think ‘Edward’ had cast some sort of spell on them (but they were an...eccentric bunch, to be sure).The fact that he wasn’t actively trying to kill them despite being trapped here could only be viewed as highly suspicious. Trying to tame a demon would only lead to disaster.

That was that. ‘Edward’ has got to go.

Link to next part

#kiv writes stuff #FE:Fates #RyouMarx #this is me procrastinating #and generally making bad life decisions

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secretsandsin · 9 years ago

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Here There Be Demons 3/?

A/N: Wow, this turned out a lot longer than I thought it would. Had to break it into two parts.

Link to AO3

Link to first part

Link to previous part

On Xander’s way to work, there is an...establishment of the highly unsavory sort. Under normal circumstances, he would never think to step foot in the place, but…

Well. These were not normal circumstances.

And thus, Xander found himself in front of ‘The Darkest Oblivion of the Fated Ones’ Compendium! (Spiritual and occult services here.)’ He was proud to say, he only hesitated for a split second before heading inside.

(The pedestrians staring at him like he was a lunatic had nothing to do with his haste, of course.)

It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting inside. It seemed to be a simple enough room, although with the dark curtains covering all the walls, it was hard for him to grasp exactly how large it was. There was a spiraling staircase near the back, but aside from that, the only other features in the room were a single table covered in blue cloth right in the center and the four tall candle stands surrounding it, providing the only light.

(He really hoped those weren’t actual candles. Walking into such an establishment was one thing, but voluntarily stepping into a big fire hazard was just too much.)

“Welcome to my FELL storefront!”

Xander leapt halfway across the room and almost knocked over a candle. (Which was ironic in hindsight but simply terrifying in the moment.)

The man in the extremely flamboyant...robe...leotard...thing, didn’t seem particularly concerned about just how close he had been to burning himself to the ground and proceeded to prance around the table to face Xander with a rather terrifyingly bright smile on his face.

“Come, my fine youthful friend, tell the mighty ODIN DARK what service he may provide for you today!”

Xander almost walked back out the door.

Eying the man warily, he tried to decide if this ‘Odin Dark’ could really fix their demon problem. He certainly didn’t seem too trustworthy, but...perhaps looks could be deceiving? Honestly, Xander wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting before he walked in here, but he had a feeling not too many people could expect anyone like Odin Dark.

The man then struck a pose and started speaking very fast about...something (he caught the words ‘fate’ and ‘thunder’, but honestly, he could have been talking about the stock market for all Xander could understand), and well. Perhaps this was not such a good idea...

“Hold your horses, Mr. Fancy Pants,” a new voice came from the staircase as a woman in white robes (definitely robes this time) descended. “I have foreseen your future and you will regret leaving here without our advice.”

…

Clearly, this has been a mistake.

Resolutely, he turned around and reached for the door. Perhaps he should have just taken Camilla’s advice and googled their little problem first.

“Xander Leopold Anastos.” He stopped short. “You would do well to listen to what we have to say.”

But how did she - ?!

“I do applaud your bombastic and suitably mystic entrance, Orochi! But, er, perhaps you could tone down the mystic-ness? We don’t want to frighten off another honorable customer!”

“Oh, please. Like your ‘fell’ entrances are any better. Pretty sure you gave half our customers heart attacks. And the other half hearing problems.”

“Wha - ?! Cease your wild and wholly untrue accusations! The Great ODIN DARK does not - !”

“Ugh, how many times can you refer to yourself in third person?! I am 100% positive that both you and I, and possibly even Mr. Fancy Pants over there, know your name by heart now, so if you would just stop shouting - “

“I must convey my passionate - “

“ENOUGH!”

Everything stopped. The two craz - ahem, occult specialists stared at him with words half-formed on their lips, startled by the loud outburst.

(He was also rather startled by the loud outburst, but while he had their attention…)

“Why do you know me?”

The woman (Orochi was it?) recovered her wits quickly. Her smile was as confident and slightly malicious as before. “I told you. I foresaw your coming here.” She looked him dead in the eyes and said very seriously, “You play a very important role in shaping the fates of not one, but three realms.”

...Right.

“And how exactly would I go about doing that, pray tell?” The woman was obviously off her rocker.

She hummed thoughtfully. “Well. I’m guessing that demon you summoned would have something to do with it.”

...Off her rocker but apparently clairvoyant.

“Did you ‘foresee’ this too?”

She rolled her eyes. “No need to when such a strong spiritual energy suddenly pops up out of nowhere. Figures you just had to summon the most powerful demon in Hell right now.”

What.

“You mean Edward?” The same demon that drank tea as daintily as a Victorian lady? The one Camilla bullied into wearing a flower crown to amuse Elise?

The one who had been residing in their living room for the past two weeks?!

The magic duo were staring at him oddly and it belatedly occurred to him that the most powerful demon in hell was not actually named ‘Edward’. Probably.

(To be honest, Xander would not even be surprised right now if his actual name was Fluffy. This entire situation could not get any stranger.)

“Y-You named him after a sparkly, glorified bloodsucker?!”

“Wha - no! My little sister named him,” he said defensively. “And she never read - “

Oh wait. She did.

“...well, ‘Edward’ is a perfectly acceptable name.”

“Right,” Orochi said skeptically, “Well, you didn’t summon the demon ‘Edward’. You summoned the demon Ryoma, crown prince of the province Hoshido and currently the most powerful, and most dangerous, being of both our realms.”

Great.

He felt like his head was bursting with all the new, impossible information he was trying to take in. ‘Edward’ was a prince? Hell had provinces?

Hell was an actual place that existed?

Xander wasn’t sure if he was equipped to handle all of this. But he had always prided himself on being a practical man, so he asked the practical question.

“Then how do I send him back?”

Link to next part

#kiv writes stuff #FE:Fates #RyouMarx #I have no idea how to write Odin #I love him but why must he speak like that

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secretsandsin · 9 years ago

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Cinderella’s Shoes

A/N: So I don’t really have an excuse for this; I just wanted to write YOI. Meant to be short drabbles as a way to improve my writing. But I just love fairy tale retellings so maybe I’ll continue this one (who am I kidding, I have a five page outline and soundtrack already).

Prompts from here

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, the king of the land held a ball in order to find his son a bride.

Blah blah blah pure hearted maiden blah blah fairy godmother blah blah blah midnight curfew. You already know this story, right?

Yeah, so really, it was, once upon a time, there was this shoe. A transparent shoe. Sitting on the palace steps. In the dark.

Yuuri would argue that anyone could have tripped over it. Who just leaves their shoe lying around anyways?! Think of the poor, unsuspecting servants that could stumble on the thing!

But no matter where the fault lay, it didn’t change that fact that the shoe was now shattered into a million pieces. Yuuri had what remained of his lucky stars to thank for avoiding falling into the whole mess and cutting himself up.

Too bad those stars didn’t keep him from tripping on the thing in the first place.

It just wasn’t fair. This was supposed to be his big break after aimlessly wandering the big city like the country bumpkin he was. He hasn’t even had this job a full week yet and he’s already going to be fired.

He stared down morosely at the pieces of glass that will most likely end his career. Maybe he should ask someone where the dustpans were. He could at least save someone from an injured foot or something.

Just as he was motivating himself to move (come on Yuuri, this isn’t the end of the world, you can bounce back from this, it was just working for the palace), he heard loud footsteps and a call from the top of the stairs.

“You there! Boy! Did you see a woman running past?”

He glanced up to see a man barely older than himself in a very...interesting purple and black outfit. (Was this ball a masquerade?)

“Out with it!”

“Eep! I mean, no! No woman. Um, sir.”

The man made an annoyed sound. “What about a shoe? Did you see a shoe laying around?”

“A - A shoe?” Oh no.

He strode closer, the annoyed look fixed on his face. “Yes, a shoe. A woman’s slipper, made of glass.”

No no no no no no no nonono

“Um,” he said and it came out as a squeak.

“Did you find the shoe, Georgi?” boomed a deep, grouchy voice. Someone else had emerged through the regal double doors. A very familiar someone. Where had Yuuri - ?

Oh, sweet merciful Mother. That’s the king. King Yakov, 56th ruler of the kingdom; the man who quelled the Northern rebellion, who was once called The Bear for his fighting skills, who reworked the corrupt justice system he inherited, the one on all the money.

And Yuuri just broke the shoe he was looking for. Oh, god. He would be lucky if he was just fired.

“Your Majesty!” Georgi snapped a sharp salute. “I was just in the process of finding it.” As one, they both turned to look at Yuuri, who stood frozen next to the glass shards like a particularly guilty-looking statue.

“I, um. I-It was dark and I - “ He tried to swallow down the rising fear and panic in his throat but it choked him, making it harder and harder for him to speak.

“You...you broke the shoe?!” Georgi looked incredulous, furious, and horrified all at once, and wow, it went great with his outfit, Yuuri thought hysterically in between the ongoing chant of I’m going to die I’m going to die.

“I-I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t know it was so important - “

“YOU BROKE THE SHOE?!”

“I’m sorry!” Oh, god, he was going to die, this purple man was going to kill him right in front of his king, the king he just let down -

A heavy arm fell across his shoulders and Yuuri started violently. There was a long line of warmth pressed against his left side and wrapped around his upper arms, pulling him into a solid body.

“Georgi! Papa! Calm yourselves and stop terrorizing the staff. It was a perfectly honest mistake to make. I mean, who decides on glass footwear anyways?”

The king snorted in a very unkingly manner. “Bah! Stop pretending to be the knight in shining armor, Vitya. We both know why you’re not particularly upset with this turn of events.”

Regaining the ability to breath whited out the rest of the conversation from Yuuri’s mind. As long as they weren’t discussing ways to punish well-intentioned-but-clumsy servants, he found he didn’t much care what they might be talking about.

It was not quite so easy to ignore the arm still slung over his shoulders. Or the body that went with it, the way it was still pressed against him. He snuck a glance at his savior and lost the breath he had fought so hard to regain.

The person standing next to him was quite possibly the most beautiful man Yuuri had ever laid eyes on, with soft silver hair, glowing blue eyes, and a quick, easy smile that lit up his whole face.

He was also, undoubtedly, Prince Victor, sole heir to the throne and star of tonight’s ball.

Breath, Yuuri, he thought desperately. In and out, in and out. Don’t panic, you can’t panic here, don’t you dare panic.

He panicked.

#yuri on ice #victuri #kiv writes stuff #30 day creative writing challenge #day one

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