#and i actually accidentally fell asleep again (so my usual oops is in order)

[silhouettecrow]

365 Days of Writing Prompts: Day 344

Adjective: Grim

Noun: Lullaby

Definitions for those who need/want them:

Grim: forbidding or uninviting; (of humor) lacking genuine levity, or mirthless, or black; depressing or worrying to consider; unrelentingly harsh, or merciless or severe

Lullaby: a quiet, gentle song sung to send a child to sleep

[lunarreaper12]

First in regards to my last ask: what lil things does killer to make nightys day better? I'm very curious~ Also is nightmare not able to use glitter? (Was it called glitter? I think so...)

Second: soo i wonder... Is killers room close to nightys? (Would probably make sense but who knows the palace is surely big...) And did killer ever fell -accidentely(?)- fell asleep in nightys room? How did they both handled the Situation and reacted to it? Any soft moments at all? 6w6

Also will killer watch nighty at night sometimes too (not the creepy way)? I mean is he sometimes worried about nighty and his safety when killer himself is not exactly on duty (i sure am) ? I would assume there are guards or Barrieres maybe to protect the Kings at sleeping times (i hope at least, tho other guards could also pose a threat ...?), as that wouldn't pose a Problem to dream much i think as he is much loved, it could be rather a dangerous time for nighty... ? Cuz he isn't treated or respected as a king as preciously as dream ... Rather they want him gone.

Which brings me to my next question... Are the other guards and Palace stuff taking their job seriously when serving or protecting nightmare cuz he is not really being fancied by others? (My theory on why the tea and coffee tasted Bad to nm could be maybe cuz they were kinda doing it on purpose or just not caring if it would be to his liking at all... U know, to spite him. But who know..not me.)

Also was nightmare ever attempted to be assasinated at all since the kinda truce with his brother? Probably but idk. If yes.. How did killer prevented it and/or dealt with them? Or how was it handled at all to make sure nighty is safe?

Is not me or do the asks get longer? XD oops.

Oh you have stumbled upon some of my favorite bits of Lore~!

*Rubs hands together* Let’s get this started!

What little thing does Killer do to make Nightmare’s day better? 

Killer des various things depending on what Nightmare is doing at the time! Like what was written in “Take a break”, Killer may bring Nightmare treats and tea throughout the day if he’s working primarily in his office. Nightmare likes the quiet while he’s working, so Killer is actually much less talkative when he thinks Nightmare needs the silence.

If Killer sees that Nightmare is having a bad day, he’ll scatter some of Nightmare’s favorite things around where Nightmare will find them. Favorite flowers, little puzzles, (Nightmare likes playing with puzzles when he’s bored), at one point Killer left a plush toy in Nightmares office. The toy disappeared, and last Killer saw it, it was tucked under Nightmare’s arm when he accidentally walked in on the King sleeping. Killer isn’t certain where the toy goes to during the day, and he hasn’t caught Nightmare asleep since then.

Killer also has left notes around. Little encouragements, jokes, or even poems he thought Nightmare would like. Nightmare hides these where no one will find them, just like the plushy.

After Killer was allowed to spend time in Nightmare’s room, he started checking what books Nightmare seemed to like, and would go out to find new books he thinks Nightmare hasn’t read when he was able to! (He usually just puts them where Nightmare will find them, rather than just giving them to him).

Can Nightmare use glamours?

Yes! Nightmare and Dream actually have much of the same abilities, and using glamours is one of the ones they share! Using a glamour is just not something Nightmare prefers to do unless it’s necessary. He could of course use this if he wanted to walk around without people staring, but he hates the idea that he needs to hide himself to have a normal walk around his kingdom.

He’d rather deal with people staring at him than hide from his own subjects.

Is Killer’s room close to Nightmare’s, and has he ever fallen asleep in Nightmare’s room?

Killer’s room is close to Nightmare’s in case of emergencies! The same goes for Cross and Dream. As for whether Killer has fallen asleep in his room? Well, sometimes the Guard works a bit too hard and accidents happen... Plus, when you have the Moon King reading to you in that low voice of his... Well, anyone’s bound to fall asleep to that!

Nightmare didn’t notice Killer had fallen asleep right away, and when he did? Well... Looks like I have another writing prompt don’t I? (I’m such a meanie >w< I can definitely write this one out real soon though! I know exactly what would happen >w<)

Does Killer get worried about Nightmare at night while they’re sleeping?

Oh boy, absolutely. At first he wasn’t super concerned about it, but... well... Something may have happened one night and Killer nearly never slept afterwards, for fear of something similar happening again. I’m trying to be a bit vague because this is actually a big spoiler, specifically relating to Killer’s actual design. When I finish Killer’s design, I’ll write about it in the same post! I’m being very vague on these answers this time around, aren’t I? XD Sorry!

Moving on though~

Do the other guards of the castle take their jobs seriously when it comes to Nightmare?

Hm... well, yes and no? You see, the Captain of the Guardsmen is actually rather familiar with both of the Kings! As such, he does take care to assign the best guards to the castle. There’s always outliers though, and while yes the Guardsmen would prioritize Dream over Nightmare in an emergency, I wouldn’t say they’re the worst guards in the world. 

That being said, You’d be right in assuming their security is a bit lax when it comes to Nightmare’s safety. This also ties in to the previous answer in regards to something having happened one night... and well, the Captain wasn’t happy to hear about the Guardsmen he’d assigned’s poor performance.

The guards may not like Nightmare, and may even want him gone, but the vast majority of them would never disobey the Captain or the Kings, regardless of their personal beliefs. The Captain has a high standard for his men, and wouldn’t trust just anyone to guard the Kings. I would say something really messed up would have to happen for the guards to actively turn on Nightmare against Dream and the Captain’s wishes.

I do like your theory by the way! And I would say it’s partially correct! The servants definitely don’t take as much care in preparing things for him as they do for Dream. There was probably the rare scattered events where the servant’s actively made something taste bad when preparing it for Nightmare, but most of the time it’s simply a lack of care. 

Has Nightmare ever had an assassination attempt on him since the truce?

Unfortunately, Yes. Several. These assassination attempts were mostly made before Killer was assigned as Nightmare’s Guard actually. Nightmare is still powerful and skilled in his own right, and with the assistance of a few castle guards the attempts were cut short. Nightmare never let Dream know of these incidents though, as he didn’t want his brother to try and get involved. Nightmare was mostly concerned about Dream ordering an entire group of guards to follow him around. Dream had already been insisting on a Royal Guard just to improve his image, imagine how much of an overreaction he would have to knowing his younger brother was actively being targeted by assassins!

After Killer was assigned to Nightmare, the assassination attempts died down for a short time. At least, so Nightmare had thought. The reality is, is that Killer is far better at his job than Nightmare thought he would be... And even if Killer didn’t much care for the job in the beginning, he wasn’t going to waste an opportunity to have a bit of “fun”. It’s not like Nightmare needed to know.

And that’s all I’ll say on that before I end up spoiling something >w<

[alovesongshewrote]

Douxtober Day 6:  A Lot Happens in a Short Amount of Time | Hisirdoux Casperan

Plot:  You remember the child surprise from the Witcher?  yeah, this was it’s distant cousin, the surprise child.  (No one is pregnant, I promise)

Word Count:  2,442

Warnings:  Children (and i ignore how both kids and adoption work)

A/N:  Oh look, a Douxtober fic!  no whump here!  And it’s technically a part of aaty (if you want it to be)

Tag List:  @furblrwurblr​ @einahpetsyarcip​ @sorrels-scribbling​ @anxious-stitcher​ @alive-and-afraid​ @animedweeb333​ @douxiesdamsel​ @saroski05

Life was a funny thing.  Sometimes you got tortured, sometimes you moved in with your boyfriend, his familiar, sometimes your boyfriend died and came back to life trying to save the world, and sometimes, you accidentally adopted a child.

It just be like that occasionally.

And you could explain this!  You totally could, 100%.  This wasn’t just the two of you plus Archie and technically Zoe shoplifting a kid, there was a lot more to it than that.  

It was about a month after all of the Arcane Order nonsense.  You and Douxie, your aforementioned boyfriend, had returned to Arcadia.  Everything was calm and chill, which was a really nice change from the usual world-ending chaos.  However, Arcadia was still Arcadia, and that meant monsters.

You were decent in a fight, Archie could turn into a goddamn dragon, and Douxie had saved the world multiple times, so you took it upon yourselves to defend the town from the things that went bump in the night.  Besides, you wanted to give the rest of your troll-hunting friends a break.

This turned out to be a pretty good plan.  It kept the town safe, let Archie get some fresh air, and gave you and Douxie time alone.  (Remember kids, monster-fighting is a great activity for date night.)  Sometimes you dragged Zoe out with you, which she enjoyed more than she let on.

All was well, and then suddenly, kid.  

As has been stated, it be like that sometimes.  You know the child surprise from the Witcher?  Yeah, this was its distant cousin, the surprise child.  

You’d been caught in a battle with another friggin shadow mephit or ten, and it wasn’t going super well if you were completely honest.  Zoe was fighting on a roof, Douxie was stuck in a tree, Archie was trying to free Douxie from that tree, and you had given up on your usual weapon for a folding chair.  It was mildly effective, but not enough to save you.  One of the mephits knocked you to the ground, preparing to take a sizable bite of your arm before a blast of purple slapped the bitch away.  You got to your knees, looking out into the night to see a frickin eight-year-old, arms outstretched, purple light surrounding their fists.

“Uh, are you guys seeing this?”  

Zoe gracefully leapt from the roof while Douxie fell out of the tree he was in.

“The child?  Yep.”

“Ow.”

You winced, walking over to help your boyfriend to his feet, “Ah, you okay, babe?”

He nodded, although his focus was on the kid, who was taking out shadow mephits like a bawse.  You would have been confused, but hey, you could fight like that when you were that age.  Though that had come from years on the streets fighting for your life, so there was a place for concern.

“Hey, should we be helping them?”

“Yeah, probably,” you said, picking up your folding chair and yeeting yourself into the fray.

With the extra assistance, the mephits went down a little easier.  You and your gang made sure to watch out for the sudden child, but they were pretty damn capable.  It only took ten minutes for the tide to turn.  Douxie opened the portal to limbo, banishing the mephits from the material plane.

You took half a second to be excited before turning to the random frickin kid who just kicked all the ass.  Their expression was grim, with no trace of pride.  It was kind of a mood, actually.

“Hey, kid!  You ok?”

Their attention was yoinked from the pavement to your face, “I’m fine.”

You nodded, cautiously approaching them, “You fought really well.  Where’d you learn to do that?”

“Why does it matter?” their tone was biting and angry.  Or as biting and angry as a child’s tone could be.

“It doesn’t, I was just curious.”

“Don’t be.  It’s fine.”  Man, did this kid sound like a younger version of you? or what?  It was kind of scary actually.

“Alright, I won’t be,” you raised your hands in surrender, taking a step back.

This ‘fun’ conversation had caught everyone else’s attention.  Archie flew around the kid before landing on your shoulder, “They won’t, but I will be.  Where are your parents?”

“Don’t have any.”

Oh, mood.  For all of you, actually.  

“Do you have another guardian?”

“No.”

“Why are you fighting monsters at this hour?”

“Because I feel like it, ok!?”

Archie pulled back a bit, “It’s a school night…”

You gave the familiar a pat on the head while Zoe made her approach, “No, the cat is right, it is a school night.”

“Cat?  That’s a dragon!” you smiled a little as the kid finally acted like a kid.

“He’s a shapeshifter, actually,” Douxie said, almost making you jump.  You hadn’t realized that he was behind you.  Arch made his way off of your shoulders and onto your boyfriend’s.

“A sHAPESHIFTER!?” the kid cried, magic again at the ready.

“No, no, no!” you exclaimed, putting yourself between the kid and the cat, “He’s a friend. I promise.”

“Your words mean nothing to me!  I don’t know you!  Any of you!”

Ok, that was fair.  You sighed and got down to the kid's level, “Ok.  My name’s (Y/N).  The shapeshifter is called Archie, but that’s not his full name.”

The kid blinked a bit, lowering their hands, “Wh-what’s his full name?”

Archie flew down to the ground beside you, continuing towards the child, “Archibald.  Pleased to meet you.”

“It’s… nice to meet you too-?”  the kid sounded confused, and they were reminding you of yourself more and more with every second.  On the bright side, they dropped their hands completely, magic fading into the night.

“Right, well,” Douxie got on your level, kneeling beside you to meet the kid’s eyes, “I’m Douxie and this is Zoe-”

“‘Sup.”

“What’s your name?”

They hesitated, looking between you and Archie, who was currently sniffing the child.

“My name is Robin.”

You smiled, the ice officially broken, “It’s nice to meet you, Robin.”

You let the kid follow you home.  Through a bit of careful chatting, you learned that Robin was about eight, and their parents were wizards when they were alive.  After their parents passed, Robin was on their own, running around the country and fending for themself.  They reminded you so much of yourself that it hurt.  Now there was a child sleeping on your couch, arms thrown around Archie which the familiar didn’t really mind, and you had no idea what to do next.

You were sitting on your counter, a cup of coffee in one hand while the other messed with Douxie’s hair.  Zoe was at the kitchen table, lying limply across two chairs while her tea cooled in its mug.  Your lovely, lovely wizard boyf was leaning on the counter next to you, pretty relaxed considering the day's events.

“So, what do we do with this child?”

“They might have to stay with us for a while.  It doesn’t sound like they have anywhere else to go.”

Zoe laughed a little, trying to keep quiet for Robin’s sake, “You two just straight up adopted a kid.  Good luck with that one.”

“Thanks, Zo,” your tone was flat, but you too saw the amusement in this situation, “Thank god I studied medicine, honestly.  If I hadn’t we’d be sooo screwed.”

“Well, you know the people in this town,” Douxie moved closer to you, “Nobody tips.”

You nodded your agreement, kissing the top of Douxie’s head.

“We should be careful though.  These days, you never know where the next ‘end of the world’ will come from.”

“Eh,” you said, looking at Robin asleep on your couch.  They looked so peaceful, and you wondered if you ever looked like that at Robin’s age.  They reminded you so much of yourself, so much of what you had once been, “I think it’ll be okay.”

There was a moment of silence as you all lost yourselves in thought.

“Well, I’d love to stay and watch you guys sign the adoption papers, but I have a shift tomorrow, so,” the pink-haired witch jumped up from her chairs and wandered past you guys, “Later nerds.”

“Bye Zo.”

“See you tomorrow.”

You lept off the counter, picking up your mug and Zoe’s and putting them in the sink.  Douxie watched you, still leaning on the counter.  You moved past him again, and he wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you to his chest.

“You’re sure we can watch this kid?”

You bit your lip, looking back at the couch before turning back to Douxie, “When I was that age, all I wanted was a home.  Somewhere safe where I didn’t have to worry about tomorrow.  If we can give that to this kid then-” you cut yourself off and shrugged.

Douxie smiled, placing a hand on your cheek, “I love you so much.”

You leaned into his touch, “Besides, we have Archie, and he took care of you, so…”

You both laughed a little at that, pulling each other closer.  His lips met yours in a soft kiss.  You pulled apart from the kiss grinning, but something in Douxie’s eyes confused you.

“Babe?  You good?”

“I’m better than good, darling.  In fact, I-” he cut himself off, looking behind him and around the room before patting himself down, “Oh, fuzzbuckets.”

“Babe?  What’s up?  What are you-?”

“I’ll be right back!”  he said, giving you a quick kiss before running out the door.

“Uh… ok.”

You ran a hand through your hair before walking through your apartment, making sure everything was locked and warded.

“Why are you helping me?”

You spun around to see Robin, clutching Archie in one hand and keeping the other levelled at you.  Purple magic surrounded both hands.

“Well, good morning to you too.”

Archie seemed displeased with your little joke, but he stayed silent for now.

“No jokes!”  were they- were they crying?  “Just tell me why!”

“Robin, I-”

“I was supposed to kill you!  I was supposed to find you and kill you but-” their voice broke, “But you aren’t-” oop, crying child!  Crying child in your living room!

“Woah, hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong kiddo?” you approached Robin slowly.

“Why-” sob “Why are you like this?”

“I ask myself that question every day,” you knelt down to their level once again, “You don’t have to do this.”

“I do!  I have to, or they’ll-”

“They?”

“They… the titans.  If I don’t kill Merlin’s successor then they’ll… they’ll kill me.”

A little smile crossed your face as you took Archie from Robin’s grasp.  The kid was so worked up they didn’t even notice.

“I was in the same place once, almost a thousand years ago.”

“No.  You aren’t old enough!”

You giggled a little at that, “Looks can be deceiving.  Back in the day, I was a spy.  I worked for some very bad guys.  They sent me to get information from Merlin himself.”

“Wh-what did you do?”

“I did what they asked.  I was scared and alone.  But do you wanna know what Douxie did?”

“Douxie’s old too!?”

“Yes, Douxie’s old too.”

“What did he do?”

“Well, he fought with me at first, but in the long run, he saved my life.  He wouldn’t let the bad guys hurt me, and now, we won’t let them hurt you.”

With a sob, Robin jumped at you, not with an attack but with a hug.  You were a little surprised, but you rolled with it.

“Please don’t let them hurt me.”

“We won’t.  I promise.”  you let Robin hug you for as long as they needed, making frantic ‘be quiet’ signs at Douxie when he came through the door.  He looked confused, but stayed quiet and snuck into the kitchen, waiting for you.

“Thank you.”  the kid said, looking a little embarrassed as they pulled away.

“It’s no problem kiddo.  Now, to bed with you.  It’s late and you are a child.”

“And the floor is made of floor.  Goodnight, (Y/N).”  

“Goodnight little bird.”

You made sure they were safely tucked in before motioning for Archie to follow you as you grabbed Douxie from the kitchen and silently dragged him into your bedroom.

“Ok, we’re adopting the kid.”

“I thought we agreed upon that already?”

“Yeah, well, I’m confirming it now.  That’s our kid.”

“And you’re not going to tell him about-”

“Time and place, Arch, time and place.”

Douxie looked between you and his familiar, trying to figure out what he’d missed.  You sighed, knowing that this wouldn’t be something you could keep from him.

“It isn’t my story to tell but the kid was sent here to kill us, but they couldn’t.  Doux, I know that sounds bad, but Robin is eight.  I was nineteen when I was sent to spy on you and Merlin, and you know that messed me up.  We can’t let this kid-”

“I know,” he put his hands on your arms, trying to calm you, “(Y/N), I know.  We won’t let this kid get hurt the way you were, I promise.”

You said nothing, but you hugged Douxie hard enough to make him stumble back a little.  Archie shook his little cat head, but joined in on the hug, “We’ll keep them safe, (Y/N), that’s a promise.”

“Thanks, guys,” you pulled back, absolutely beaming, “I love you both, just a fun fact.” Archie gave your face a lil’ headbutt as cats are prone to do, but Douxie got that look again.  You were about to say his name when he pulled you close to him, his lips grazing your ear as he slipped something into your hand.

“I love you, too.  Marry me.”

There was a ring in the palm of your hand.  Douxie left a kiss on your neck before pulling away to look at you.

“I-”

“Yes.”

“Wait, I had a speech prepared-”

“No speech needed, just,” you kissed him for a second before pulling back, “Marry me.”

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second,” with that out of the way, you got back to kissing.

Archie realized what had taken place before him and did the cat/dragon equivalent to a face-palm, “Really, Douxie?  The bathroom?”

I mean, fair point, the bathroom wasn't a traditionally romantic space, but love followed you and Douxie around wherever you went, so it didn’t really matter.  You laughed anyway.

“Thanks, Arch.”

The familiar grinned as much as a cat could, “No problem.  Congratulations, though.  I mean that sincerely.”

“Thank you, Archie,” you gave the familiar’s head a lil’ scratch before kissing Douxie, your fiancé, again (and again, and again.)

[pikemoreno]

if you ever wanna be in love

Chapter V: Lightning Strikes

a/n: it’s startingggg. it might be good to read up on the events of the mentalist... to avoid any confusion for the next few chapters... i’ll just say that. also the lightning metaphor is a callback to chapter 1. it’s been a while so i wouldn’t blame you for not recalling

pairing: marcus pike x f!reader

word count: 4k 

warnings: none, and i don’t expect there to really be any serious ones in upcoming chapters either... well actually, there’s a wee bit of angst here...

wanna join a taglist? | masterlist | series masterlist

The sun was hardly over the tree-lined horizon when you pulled up to the Elizabet Ney Museum. It was a consequence of your team being requested to come before the museum opened, allowing business hours to go on as usual during the investigation. That was making you wonder exactly how busy they thought this place was going to get on a Monday morning during the school year-- and how they expected the investigation to be successful when they had guests tramping all over the scene-- but you didn't question it. 

Being a few minutes early, you took some time to traipse around the property to see if anything looked note-worthy. The sand-colored castle-like complex was bathed in soft early morning light and a haunting fog; the grass was dewy and squeaked against your shoes as you circled the grand building. The most likely entry and exit points-- the door and windows on the far side-- yielded nothing. Nothing on the wooden door nor the brassy knob was broken, and there was no sign of trampled dirt around it, nor was there anything amiss with the paned windows. However, the security camera just above the back-door threshold made you raise an eyebrow. They had full security cam coverage and couldn't determine how their stuff had been stolen? Odd. 

You were far too distracted with your thoughts as you walked that you didn't hear the car pull in out front or the person getting out of it or the footsteps coming around the side of the building. So when Marcus appeared right in front of you as he rounded the corner, he had to grab your arm to steady you as you almost fell on your ass in surprise. You almost ripped your arm out of his grasp as the electricity of the touch shot through your arm, surprising you far more than his sudden appearance. 

You almost did. But you didn't. It felt too nice in the end.

"Sorry," he laughed, "Didn't mean to scare you. Coffee?" He held out a drink carrier containing two travel cups. "Should be the one on the right." You took it. 

"Does it have--" you took a sip before you finished your question. 

It was exactly the way you liked it. You regarded Marcus with wide eyes. 

"You know my coffee order?" you gaped. He shrugged nonchalantly. You followed him as he made his way back to the front of the museum.

"Yeah. What about it?" he laughed, sipping from his drink.

"How do you know it?" 

"From when we were at Copper Coin last week." He looked genuinely confused as to why this was a shocking discovery. 

"And you remember what I ordered?"

"Of course." His eyes shone with sincerity and just a hint of something that said, "duh."

You wanted to ask if he knew all of his co-workers' coffee orders by heart, but you were interrupted by the arrival of Adrian, followed closely by Wendy. You blinked a little. 

Did they come here together? 

You'd heard nothing from her since they had "gotten together" a few days ago. Now, this little scene had you wondering exactly how "together" they had gotten. You shot Wendy a questioning look around Adrian's shoulder, and she mouthed "later" with what was quite possibly the biggest grin you'd ever seen from her. Her whole demeanor had changed in the days since you'd seen her. Even if your plans for getting them together didn't work out as planned, the result was the same. Standing in front of you were two people finding at least the tiniest bit of healing in companionship. And that is all the set-up was about in the end. 

Mission: success.

"Hey guys," Marcus greeted them, reaching a hand out to shake Wendy's, "You must be Wendy?"

"That's me," she shook his hand, smiling, "And you're Marcus." He nodded. "Hang on. How do you two know each other?" She studied the two of you carefully. 

Oops.

"Oh well, a couple of weeks ago, we were out of coffee, so I snuck over to their break room to get some. We talked for a minute. And now I just see him everywhere, I guess," you laid out as casually as possible. 

"I see." You couldn't tell if she actually sounded unconvinced or if your incredible paranoia just made her sound that way. "Well, this is Adrian, who I told you about already," she beamed, you shook his hand.

Be cool, be cool. I definitely haven't been interfering in your love life for the past two weeks.

"Nice to meet you, Adrian. You're on the Art Squad?"

Good playing dumb, me.

"I am."

"Great. Pleased to work with you."

The museum owner arriving saved you from further pleasantries. Adrian, being the one who had talked to her the most, ran ahead to greet her while the rest of you hung back. Wendy looped her arm through yours and started her quiet detailing of her night.

"So last night I went over to Adrian's place just for a little home-cooked meal and a movie," you nodded along, smiling at her excitement, "It was so great, you know? My perfect relaxed evening. Of course, then I accidentally fell asleep there-- thank God I keep an extra set of work clothes in my car. But what do I wake up to? Breakfast from Rick's!" 

"Very impressive!"

"Right?" she sighed, "He made sure he was up before me and snuck out for breakfast. Ugh, what a keeper! How did he know?" You shot a quick look over to Marcus but gave a nonchalant shrug to Wendy.

"Everyone likes Rick's, I guess."

"Either way. It was very sexy of him. Find yourself someone like that." With that, she patted your shoulder and stepped over to join Adrian and the museum owner.

Marcus laughed a little as he fell into step with you. You cocked your head as you watched him

"What?"

"I'm the one that told him to do that."

"Really? Been giving him pointers, oh great love master?" He put a hand to his chest, feigning offense.

"Ouch. Of course, I have. He was with his ex for so long he doesn't remember how to date anymore. I had to tell him all of my tricks."

"Oh, is that how you charm all the women? Surprise breakfast?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes other meals. But always breakfast food." You laughed. "Seriously. It's unassuming, comforting. Anyone can go out to dinner and a movie, right? Breakfast food is both more relaxed and more intimate. No one is putting on airs or trying to impress with diner breakfast food. No one is ordering healthy to look good. No one is on their best manners. They're getting their chocolate chip waffles, and they're piling the syrup on it no matter what you say about it, and that tells you way more about someone than how they act at a fancy restaurant."

"That's… Actually, really profound." 

There was an indiscernible look in his eye as you gazed at him and him back at you. Like he knew something you didn't, and he was just waiting for you to figure it out.

Remember when I took you to Rick's?

***

The case was a pretty difficult one. 

The robbery occurred on one of the busiest days they'd had all year. Guests had been pouring in for one last little family day before school started back, enjoying an educational experience and the beautiful weather the day brought as they walked the grounds. The security cameras were down for the entire business day. The only lead was that the Ney family members-- a distant cousin and niece who had donated the heirloom and the bust-- had come right before closing. They would've undoubtedly noticed that their precious items were missing. Therefore, the items must've been stolen after they left, after the museum had closed. 

But that's where things got tricky. The doors to the museum were locked, as were the windows, and there were, as you'd seen this morning, no signs of forced entry. The only suspects, then, were employees and volunteers who could've gotten access to the keys. That left the owner, a bunch of high school and college students keeping a summer job, and a couple of elderly art lover volunteers. Logically, you could pretty much eliminate the students immediately, though everyone would be brought in for questioning for the sake of process anyway. There was little reason for a student to steal those items. This wasn't a Monet and the Hope Diamond. They wouldn't have sold for much, certainly not enough to make it worth the risk of robbing their own workplace. Frankly, the motive was unclear all-around. The family was ready to sue the museum for their negligence, and the museum wouldn't last very long if it came down to a money battle. The owner probably wouldn't have sabotaged themselves like that, unless there was some sort of a deeper issue. And the elderly volunteers… You guessed could've done it if they were art fanatics, but, really: why? It didn't add up. 

The owner told you as much as she could as she led you through the property-- she wasn't sure either. You were able to eliminate her as a suspect as she spoke. She was outright begging you to find the thief, nearly in hysterics over the prospect of losing the beloved museum and her livelihood.

"We'll do our best, Mrs. Moa," Marcus calmed her, "Do you know anyone who would want to sabotage you or the museum or the family?" She shook her head weakly.

"Not offhand. You'd have to ask them as well, though."

"We will. Don't worry, Mrs. Moa. You have four of the FBI's best here, we're gonna figure this out," Adrian beamed.

It was a blatant over-promise and gross exaggeration, but as you looked around at your new-found little crew, you almost believed him too. 

You all shook Mrs. Moa's hand as you departed, telling her that forensics would be along shortly to do their thing, and you would start questioning suspects the next day. She once again gave her most gracious thanks and went back to anxiously prepping for the museum opening. The news of the theft and the subsequent lawsuit was spreading, and she was going to be getting a lot of hard questions thrown at her today.  Poor thing.

"Would you all like to come over to my place later?" Adrian started as you all made your way back to your cars, "I'll order pizza, grab some drinks, and we can maybe talk about this case?" His "maybe" was not particularly convincing. This was strictly going to be a social event, and you all knew it.

You all gave your confirmation that you would be there and headed back to the office to finish out the workday.

***

Despite the in-office workday being a mere half-day by the time you made it back, it felt like it was dragging on forever. You had plenty of other files to work through and close, but you couldn't get your mind off the Ney case. There was a missing piece, and you had to get your mind off of that sinking feeling before you could do anything else. Wendy had been on the phone since she stepped foot in her office, and you frankly didn't know Adrian well enough to be comfortable going to him. So that just left Marcus to go to.

You'd been thinking about him all day. Now that Adrian and Wendy were together, was that going to change your relationship too? Would you still talk like you do now? You certainly hoped so. You'd bared your soul too much at the coffee shop for him to turn into a casual acquaintance now. And honestly? You'd gotten sort of attached to him. He really did make you feel important and wanted and cared about, just as you'd craved back at the beginning of all of this. Some sort of feeling had sprung up. Not necessarily, feeling feelings. You don't fall that fast. But there was something. Enough that you didn't want him gone. You wanted to learn more about him, experience more with him beyond just being a co-worker... Whatever that meant.

You hopped up from your desk and got into the elevator before anyone noticed you'd left, finding him where you now knew his desk to be. You leaned a hand against the front of the mahogany, and he looked up curiously, waiting for your explanation he could see forming in your brain. 

"Do you feel like there's something missing in the Ney case?" You asked finally.

"Sure, a perpetrator," he responded in a deadpan. 

"Alright, then. Good talk, smartass." You took two steps away from his desk before he grabbed you lightly by the forearm to bring you back. 

"No, no. Come back. I'll be serious now, I promise. What are you thinking?"

"Doesn't it just seem like something's missing? I feel like there's no motive in any of the suspects we have."

"Well, that's what the interrogations are for, right?"

"Yeah, but--" you bit your lip for a moment, considering, "Do you think that the family would have anything to do with it?"

"How do you mean?" he folded his arms now. You didn't realize his hand was still on your forearm until he removed it. You felt the warmth leave as the overdone air-conditioning immediately chased the feeling away.

He did, of course. He knew his hand was still on your skin. And for every moment his hand remained there, it grew a little more difficult to not slide it down to where his fingers could fully intertwine with yours. But that would have been too much. His ex-wife-- and admittedly, multiple others-- had chided how he was too overbearing. He had been feeling that something as well, terrifying as it was. And it was taking everything in him to not fall into his usual, "overbearing" ways. Your mind towards him was completely indiscernible so far. Sure, there had been moments that it seemed that you'd be more than happy to have your hand held by him, but, more often than not, the friendly, playful banter you shared moments later completed nixed out those moments to him. He had no idea what you were thinking and was maybe a little hesitant to find out at this point. Right now, he needed to test the waters, play it cool, and maybe one day he'd feel he could do that without scaring you off. 

"Well," you started, "I guess I'll have to question the family too to confirm this, but wouldn't they maybe have something to gain from the lawsuit? Money? Power over the museum?" you tapped your fingers lightly on the desk, then your eyes widened with your 'aha' moment, "Maybe I'll research if they've had any past disputes with Mrs. Moa. Thanks, Marcus, you've been a big help." 

"I didn't--" you'd already run away, booking it back to your floor, "do anything." 

He shook his head fondly.

You weren't at your desk trying to dig into the museum history for very long before Wendy walked up and sat across from you. She did so incredibly coolly, taking a moment to look around the office and give the chair little half-spins before she finally spoke. 

"So, how do you actually know Marcus?"

You almost choked as you sucked in a too-quick breath. 

"I'm sorry?"

"How do you actually know Marcus?" 

"Exactly what we said earlier," you shook your head, "We met by chance in the breakroom a couple of weeks ago, I've seen him around, chatted occasionally, and now we're on this case together." 

"Sure."

"You think I'm lying?" 

How could she have possibly known about the set up?

"I do. But I don't know if you know you're lying." You gave her a questioning look, inviting her to continue. "I've never actually seen you truly smitten with someone. But I would imagine it'd look something like this."

"Oh come on, you've seen me with him one time." She laughed. Loudly.

"What? Do you think I don't have eyes? I've seen you two talking around the office. I've seen you laughing and looking nothing short of flustered. I've seen your phone go off with a text message when you leave it on your desk. It's from a 'Marcus' pretty damn often. Am I right in assuming you don't know two Marcuses?" It was rhetorical, but you shook your head anyway. "I saw that you were together when I came into Copper Coin the other day. I saw you both with the very same Copper Coin travel cups this morning. And I know for a fact that when you were gone from your desk right now, you were with Marcus."

"I mean, that's all true. But so what? It's not what you're probably thinking it is." She hummed, thinking for a moment.

"Do you want it to be?" That stopped you in your tracks.

What did you want from this?

"I--" you sighed, throwing your head back against the back of your chair, "Undecided."

"That's ok. Hey, it's only been two weeks. I just... I really have never seen you act like that with someone before. I had to ask." You nodded along. You had a strange feeling all of that actually meant: "You've been so ridiculously obvious that I had to make sure you knew how obvious you were being."

"It's not out of the question. I just don't know yet. It takes time. Do you think he… Feels that way about me?"

She sighed. "I can't say for sure. I'll have to keep an eye out tonight."

***

It was by total accident that you arrived to Adrian's at the same time as Marcus, but it happened nonetheless. The autumn air around you was finally cooling down. Marcus had his hands in his pockets, and you were kicking pebbles up the sidewalk as you walked down the parked-up street and up to the little yellow house. Its golden porch lights beamed brightly as the sun was falling behind the horizon so much quicker lately. 

"Kind of a funny turn of events," Marcus mused. "We've been casually interfering in their lives, trying to bring them together, making sure they don't know that we know each other. And now they're together in spite of us, and we're walking into Adrian's house together."

"Yeah… Wendy kinda already knew that we knew each other."

"She did?"

"She did. She saw us together too much, I guess. But  I don't think she suspects that we were up to anything."

"Oh good… So what did she say?"

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, she obviously brought something up to you. So what was it?"

"Uh, I-- I guess she thinks there's more to it. I don't know." He laughed.

It was a nervous laugh, but you didn't hear it as such. You moved on before any of the rest of that conversation could be discussed. 

"So has Adrian said anything to you about this little relationship of theirs?" 

"Just that he has no idea what he's doing and needs help." You laughed. "So, I've been helping him out a bit."

"So… The pancakes are a part of that. What else have you been telling him?"

"You know, some date ideas. I remember you saying that a walk around a museum would be more her speed? I told him to do that. He knows all about the art in any art museum and could talk her ear off about any of it. Do you think she'd like that? Him telling her about the art?"

"She would love that, I think. That's very romantic." 

"You think?"

"I do."

Is it something you'd love too?

There was no chance for him to ask. Wendy greeted you at the door with a raised brow. You didn't intend to arrive together, but that wouldn't convince her for a second. 

***

The evening went by without a hitch. Adrian and Wendy's budding relationship was genuinely adorable. Watching them dance around the kitchen as they warmed up slices from the already-cold pizza, they looked like they'd already been doing it for months. The conversation shared was breezy and comfortable.

Until.

"Oh, Adrian, don't forget. Floor renovation starts tomorrow. We're on the 5th floor with Special Crimes for a bit," Marcus reminded as you all sat around Adrian's kitchen table-- pizza long gone, finishing the last sips of your drinks.

"Good to know," you interjected. He looked at you quizzically.

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, what if I wanted to come bother you after finishing the interrogations? I would've gone to the 6th floor and would've never found you. Now I know." You grinned, taking a smug sip of your drink. 

"What a tragedy that would've been." His smile was fond. When you looked over to Wendy, she had a peculiar expression-- her "thinking face"-- as she looked between you and Marcus. Her expression shifted to express exasperation.

"What?" You shifted uncomfortably in your seat. 

Of course, you knew what it was. Once Wendy took off your blinders, you saw everything: the way Marcus interacted with you, the way you interacted with him. Every action tonight was tinged with nervous, flirtatious energy: from the way you laughed at every terrible joke of his to the way his arm was seemingly permanently fixated to the back of your chair.

You understood now what Wendy meant earlier, but you still didn't yet understand how you felt about it. 

"Will you come with me for a second?" she asked you. You got up with her, moving to the foyer, leaving Marcus and Adrian mumbling amongst themselves to figure out what the hell was happening. She didn't waste time in confronting you.

"I've been watching you two all night, and that does not look like nothing. It's clear that he is very into you. I know you said you need time on it, but if you don't feel the same way about him, you need to stop leading him on."

"I'm not leading him on."

"You are. You may not realize it, but you are. The joking and laughing, the gazing, everything."

You opened your mouth to speak, but closed it, crossing your arms. 

"You can't be wishy-washy on this. I'm not letting you run from this this time. So, once and for all: what's going on in your head, and what are you going to do about it?" 

"You know what? Nothing. And nothing." The words came out a little sharper than you intended, tired of this conversation and…

Scared. You were scared. You felt the distinct static tingle of lightning about to strike, and you were running from its impact once again.

"Nothing?"

"No. I know what I said earlier about needing time, but I don't. I've made up my mind. Nothing is going on here; there never will be anything going on here, alright?" You turned around to stomp back to the kitchen, but someone was standing there.

Marcus.

He heard you; there was no denying it.

His face was unmistakably downcast. You looked to the floor to avoid those ever emotion-betraying eyes of his.

He was sure the whole neighborhood could hear him swallow his hurt.

"Excuse me. I was just heading out. Have a good night." He brushed past you both coolly and stepped out through the front door behind you. You think Wendy said goodnight in return, but you couldn't hear through the fog. You said nothing. 

Lightning struck. 

But you ran indoors, and he was a lightning rod. 

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[madmeridian]

hm, idk if this is exactly wild, but maybe an atla au?? for meronia??

ahahahahaha okay i was so fucking excited about this i accidentally wrote a 1,900ish word fic... oops. i hope you like it! i kinda just made it in the atla universe and not like a direct fusion bc i got this idea for it. also italics are flashbacks and non italics are present day! okay pls enjoy 

“Near? I’m heading out for work.” 

There was no response for a second and Mello nearly thought that Near wasn’t going to respond, but he rounded the corner just as Mello took a half-step out the door. The restless night had left Near exhausted and Mello hoped he’d at least go back to sleep after. 

“I’ll see you when you get home,” Near murmured, not quite looking at him. 

“Take it easy today.” Mello held his arms out, inviting, and Near stepped into them without hesitation. 

“I can’t,” Near said. Mello could practically hear the grimace in his voice. “I have orders to fill.” 

Near hadn’t been particularly interested in any of the work Ba Sing Se had to offer, considering most of it was either customer service or construction work. But people in the Middle Ring, as well as a few from the Upper Ring, had taken a liking to his craftwork, so he’d started his own little business. 

“At least get a nap in.” Mello kissed Near’s forehead. “Promise me.” 

“I’ll try,” was all Near offered before he walked away, leaving Mello in the doorway alone. 

The streets of the city were busy, as they usually were in the mornings, especially where they lived. Mello walked through them silently. The people who had come to know him greeted him cheerfully and asked after Near. 

When they’d first met him, Mello had been cold to them, suspicious. After all, he didn’t want them to know that there were two fugitives in their midst and he couldn’t give anything away. If they were found, they were dead. 

Though they were still on edge, Mello and Near had warmed up to the people, mainly after discovering they were mostly harmless. Not to mention, they hadn’t seen their own pictures in any of the wanted signs around Ba Sing Se. 

“Get some more sleep, you looked exhausted,” one of their neighbors called to him jokingly. Mello feigned a smile and nodded. Near had been struggling with nightmares since they’d arrived at Ba Sing Se and as long as he wasn’t sleeping, Mello wasn’t either. He couldn’t let him suffer alone, not when it was partially his fault. 

-----

Mello was certainly not a fan of the freezing temperatures, cold wind whipping against his face. Similarly, his fellow Fire Nation soldiers shivered and groaned, though all of them fell silent when their commander walked past. 

The Southern Water Tribe, diminished as it was, still had capable waterbenders, and it was their mission to capture or kill them. Mello had been on plenty of raids before, but never to either of the water tribes. He was interested to see how well they would fare against the Fire Nation. 

Judging by the mass scrambling that was going on when the ship came close enough to the Tribe, it didn’t seem like things were going to go all that well for them. 

Mello ignored the feeling of guilt that was creating a pit in his stomach. Part of him had always abhorred the raids, the pain they brought on others, but he was a soldier and pity had no place in him.

Screams began to rise up when the ship finally docked and a flood of soldiers descended on the Tribe. 

-----

Mello shook the memory away and focused on what he was doing. None of the retail jobs would hire him, apparently because he was too intimidating to work with anyone, so he’d settled for construction. Though, he would have to admit, there was something therapeutic about hammering a nail into place. 

“Hey, come eat lunch with us,” one of the other workers called to him. “It’s break time, man.” 

 Part of him wanted to tell them to fuck off and leave him alone. But, that wouldn’t bode well for his job, nor for blending in. Things weren’t the same in Ba Sing Se as he was used to. Adapting had taken some getting used to, but he’d gotten good at being less rude. 

“Sure thing,” Mello said, plastering on a fake, polite face. “Just give me a few minutes to finish this up.” 

The others nodded, smiling at him with approval. Whether or not they liked him wasn’t really a concern of his, but it was smart to stay on their good side. Blend in. 

The last thing he needed was to get on someone’s bad side and get ratted out because of it. 

-----

“Please,” the white-haired man had said, holding out his hands. “I’ll tell you where the waterbenders are if you let them go.” The children in the corner cowered away from Mello, from his flaming hand, and the other that held a sword. 

“If you’re lying, I’ll kill you,” Mello sneered. Still, he waved the kids out. They ran, crying and yelling. The pit in his stomach made itself known again. “So, where are they?” 

“I don’t know where the others are,” the man began, “but I’m one. I only didn’t tell you because I’d thought you’d kill them.” To prove his point, he directed an arc of water in the air. Mello grabbed his arm and dragged him out. 

“That’s all I need to know,” he said through gritted teeth, wishing that the man hadn’t just given himself up like that. He’d seen the prisons and knew what happened to waterbenders. The guy would be executed or kept in a cage. 

Either way, his end would be miserable. 

-----

“You’re home late,” Near noted. Mello grunted and flopped down in a kitchen chair. 

“I got kept up by my coworkers,” he said, watching as Near poured him a cup of tea. “They’re a talkative bunch and I’m trying not to be rude to them.” 

“You, trying not to be rude?” Near asked, raising an eyebrow. “Who are you and what have you done to my Mello?”

“Oh shut up,” Mello huffed. “I’d imagine if they liked me, they wouldn’t report me if they saw my face on a wanted poster.”

“That’s smart.” Near gave him the tiniest bit of a smirk. “And maybe if you’re less mean you’ll actually be able to get a job at a shop instead.”

“Please, as if you’d be able to. You’re just as bad as I am.” 

“Hardly. Now come on, you promised me a game of Pai Sho.” 

-----

“You’re telling me, out of all of you, only one waterbender was captured,” the commander shouted. “One! It’s pathetic. It’s a fucking disgrace. Keehl, you’re excused for now. Go guard your prisoner. The rest of you will stay here.” 

Mello was more than happy to escape the scene, the commander’s anger boiling in the air. It was all luck that he was the only one to have caught a waterbender. 

Said waterbender watched him with wide gray eyes as he approached the cell. He didn’t seem at all fazed by his capture, nor his captor standing in front of him. 

Mello turned his back once he got to the cell, standing there as he’d been taught, straight back and searching eyes. 

“My name is Near,” the prisoner spoke up. Some were more talkative and some didn’t try. Mello hated the talkative ones. He was always sad to see them go. “I think you should at least tell me yours.” 

“And why’s that?” Mello asked quietly. 

“So when I go to prison, I can tell everyone about the man who caught me, in case one of them escapes and finds you one day. So they can get revenge for me,” Near said dryly. 

“Very convincing.” Mello paused, before looking down at the man for a brief second. “It’s Mello.”

“Did you do that to yourself or was that someone else?” Near pointed to Mello’s scar. “It looks like it hurt a lot when it happened.”

“Someone else,” Mello said gruffly. “And yeah, it hurt.” 

“I appreciate you not doing it to me.” Near offered quietly, “you don’t seem very evil. I thought you’d be much harder to talk to.”

“Don’t get too comfortable.” 

-----

“I win, again,” Near said smugly. Mello crossed his arms, glowering. 

“I’m almost certain that the only reason you ask to play this is solely to piss me off.” 

“Then you’re wrong. I play with you because you’re the only one who gets close enough to beat me. Mind you, you have won a few times.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I know that. I fucking hate losing though and you know that,” Mello grumbled. Then he yawned, stretching. “I’m exhausted.” 

Near was quiet for a moment, looking at Mello blankly, then frowning. 

“You shouldn’t have stayed up with me last night. You need sleep.” 

“You need sleep too and you fall back asleep better when I’m up too,” Mello argued. “Not to mention, it’s my fault. I’m gonna keep staying up with you.” 

“You shouldn’t blame yourself,” Near shot back, crossing his arms. 

“Come on, let’s just get some sleep,” Mello said, getting up and heading to the bedroom.

-----

The commander had made a huge mistake. He’d constantly put Mello on guard duty for Near, since the rest of the soldiers were doing grunt work they normally wouldn’t as punishment. 

And Mello had gotten… attached. More so than he usually did with prisoners. 

So, on his next shift, he’d carefully snuck the keys to the cell away. When he got to the cell, he crouched down low. Near tipped his head in curiosity. He’d smiled a bit, but his face was much more thin and gaunt than it had been. 

It made Mello’s heart ache in a way he didn’t quite understand. 

“You don’t have family in your tribe, right?” Mello already knew the answer, from their talks, but had to make sure.

“I told you I was an orphan,” Near said, a little crease forming between his brows. “Why?” 

“How do you feel about Ba Sing Se?” Mello whispered, holding out the keys. Near leaned forwards, grabbing the bars. A twist of disbelief and relief made his eyes widen. 

“Can we get off safely?” Near asked, one hand trembling, reaching out. 

“We dock in an hour and I know every inch of this ship. They won’t know we’re gone until my shift is over. Three hours after we’ll leave here.” 

Four hours later, the alarm bells sounded on the ship for their escaped prisoner. Neither Mello or Near were there to hear it. They were on their way to Ba Sing Se.

To freedom. 

-----

Mello had never been Near’s night guard, but he’d never heard anything about him having nightmares from the man who was. He’s not sure the man would’ve been able to tell. Mello is a light sleeper, luckily, so when Near starts to gasp and whimper, he wakes immediately. 

It happens like clockwork. Near has a nightmare, Mello wakes up, then Near does too, and then they sit there. Mello just waits for Near to calm and talk to him. Near’s told him several times that’s all he needs to do, is just give him a minute, and Mello is glad to. 

Near’s nightmares vary. Sometimes it’s the raid, playing over again in his head, his people’s blood staining the snow of his home. Other times, it’s on the ship, and Mello dies. They aren’t free and Near is sent to his grave too. And sometimes it’s incomprehensible, just horrors over and over.

Mello waits for Near to talk, smoothing his unruly hair back and holding him close. 

“I’m sorry,” Near whispers. He always says that, and Mello always says the same thing back. 

“Nothing to be sorry about, Near.” 

Near is quiet for another moment, leaning against Mello’s side and blinking slowly in the moonlight. His eyes almost look silver and Mello has to sort of bite his tongue to compliment them because he’s not sure it’s the best time to flirt. 

“Thank you for staying up with me,” Near says slowly. “I know I said you shouldn’t but… it helps.” 

“It’s what I’m here for. We’re in this together, Near.” Mello kisses Near’s forehead and hugs him tight. 

Mello sees the tiny smile Near tries to hide and smiles too, genuine for what felt like the first time that day.

[chocobostrinket]

Distorted Reflections

Or, Cor accidentally adopted a Nif general oops. 

1705 Words ~ General

Note: Had a 3am thought and ended up thinking about it too hard. Basically a what if scenario of Cor and Loqi meeting during the world of ruin in it’s early years, with Cor reflecting on just why he never actually finished off Loqi. I think on some level Cor became fond of him, and then my brain came up with reasons why. The main one being that Cor saw himself in Loqi. And of course I started thinking about Loqi having been a youngster when he joined the army, because he’s in his early 20′s canonically, and being discovered as a sword prodigy as well. Difference between them being Cor outgrew his hotheadedness. Loqi didn’t. 

Honestly, this was completely self indulgent. (I’m actually a little pleased that this week has been oddly productive for me.) 

Enjoy.

Cor looked down at the sleeping man. He was slumped against the wall of the diner, hidden behind the far end of the counter. His knees were curled up to his chest with one arm wrapped around them. Likely, he’d wake with a crick in his neck from his position. His other hand was wrapped around the hilt of his katana loosely, the grip slackened with sleep. The armor that the brigadier normally wouldn’t be caught dead without was nowhere in sight. Abandoned for more practical clothes now that the endless night called for stealth. Especially for people like him who refused to flee to safety.

He’d changed since the last time he’d seen him. Gone was the patronizing hostility that was usually so present on his face, and instead there was a weariness that even sleep wouldn’t erase. Dirt was smudged on his cheeks from the time he’d been on the road, and he looked like he’d lost weight. A sigh left him when the thought of Loqi being just a kid crossed his mind again.

A kid that had tried to kill him multiple times, but still.

The first time he’d tried it, he remembered the bravado that Loqi had when he’d leapt into the fight. A tiny teenager shouting about ending the ‘great immortal’ for the empire. While someone, likely his handler, was trying to shush him and talk him out of what was a bad idea. It had made for a surreal experience. But then Loqi had actually attacked. And to his surprise, he’d been good with the blade. More so than Cor might have been at that age.

…That didn’t mean that Cor didn’t flatten him though.

When the kid had been beaten down to the point of collapse, he had clearly expected Cor to end him. With how he was curled up against the wall right now reminded him of then. He’d been on his knees, his hand holding the hilt of his sword tightly. He was slightly slumped forward, but that didn’t stop him from trying to glare a hole through the Marshal’s head. The sword had probably been the only thing holding him up.

Rather than kill him, as Cor should have considering he was a Tummelt, he sheathed his sword.

“You shouldn’t charge in so recklessly. That’s the quickest way to be killed.” He said. He’d left then, ignoring the profanities directed at his back.

He later found out that Loqi had only been 15 in that first encounter. The knowledge had made Cor reflect on his own life at that age. 

Honestly, the handler had reminded him of Regis and Clarus, always trying to talk Cor out of picking a fight. Headstrong. Too headstrong. The only reason he wasn’t now was because being that headstrong had caused him to charge into a fight with Gilgamesh. And that hadn’t ended well for him at all.

At the time, he’d hoped to be the kid’s wake up call. Like the blademaster had been for him. But no. Over the course of years, they’d clashed time and time again. Each time Cor left him with a bit more advice than the last. To his surprise, the kid did seem to take the advice to heart, but that arrogance was a hindrance. His undoing with every fight.

Why did he give him advice at the end of their battles? Truthfully, Cor wanted to see him reach his potential. Curiosity killed the cat and all. But then he’d switched to those mechs, and it became rare for them to cross blades. Cor didn’t want to admit it, but he’d wished that he’d been born in Insomnia. Such talent was wasted in those mechs.

A small snore startled him out of his thoughts.

Loqi had slightly shifted in his sleep and his face was now completely pressed against the wall. Cor sighed and then crouched down to his level. He observed him, trying to guess how he’d react to being woken, and decided to take the chance. His hand came to a rest on Loqi’s shoulder and lightly shook him until he stirred.

His eyes opened in a daze and it took him a moment or two to fully wake up. And once he did his hand tightened around his sword. Before he could draw it out of its sheath, Cor halted its progress by laying his hand on the base. The glare he shot at the Marshal would have sent lesser men running, but Cor only returned the stare with a flat look. He half expected Loqi to start another long-winded speech about killing him.

However, after a moment of staring each other down, the fight suddenly went out of Loqi and he settled with a huff of annoyance. It was strange to see someone who had once been so lively in such a muted state. Though he did shoot him another surly look, as if offended Cor was breathing the same air as him.

“…If I was a demon you’d be dead.” Cor said quietly, breaking the silence.

Loqi grunted and closed his eyes, attempting to get comfortable again. “Good thing you’re not then. If you’re going to kill me, wait till I’m back asleep. If not, then leave.”

“Not doing either of those.”

One eye peeked back open, “Oh? Why’s that.”

“I’m currently on a hunt for a young kid with sandy brown hair who some people have seen around here. Runs around with a blade. People are worried he’s on his own out here.” Cor said, keeping a straight face.

“You can’t be serious.” Loqi hissed as he sat up with a jerk. Hit a nerve there Cor guessed. The look in his eyes spelled death for anyone within reach. That only served to amuse Cor slightly. They both knew that he wasn’t a kid, despite what Cor thought of him.

Cor simply raised an eye brow at him in response. Loqi then huffed and dropped his head against the wall with a thud. “Well, now you know it’s just me, so you can go report back to whoever sent you and tell them to stuff it.”

“Not likely. You’d have to tell them yourself for them to believe that.” Cor stood back up and offered a hand to him.

Loqi frowned and remained where he was. “Right. Because a Nif walking into the only city left in the world is going to go over so well. You’re the immortal, I’m sure that title still has some pull. Leave me be.”

Cor had the sudden urge to roll his eyes. Of course he wasn’t going to make this easy. “Tummelt, you’ve spent enough time out here trying to atone.”

“Atone for what I believed was right? I’m not out here to atone, Marshal. I’m here because my chances of survival are higher with the demons than in Lestallum.” His voice was filled with disbelief at the thought of atoning for his action with the empire. But a moment of being surprised allowed his face to shift into an uncertain expression. Had he been so transparent to Cor? 

Then it was gone again, hidden behind a screen of confidence in his words.

It was almost believable. After all, ever since night had fallen the empire’s generals had scattered to the wind. Occasionally, people would catch glimpses of them in the dark. Moving from place to place. Not daring to risk the Havens in case one of the hunters got it in their head to seek revenge on them. And some people did blame them for the world ending.

Due to that, over the past two years the people were seeing less and less of the Nifs. Demons picking them off over time. Some believed it was only right they’d fall to the aftermath of their actions. Others sympathized and wished for them to join them, to lend their skills to the survival effort. Loqi was one such general, people recalling he hadn’t really hurt anyone outside his orders. Caligo had been the one to fear, among others, and he was long gone.

Another sigh left Cor and he reached down, seizing the back of Loqi’s jacket collar and lifting him to his feet. A string of curses fell from Loqi’s lips as he knocked Cor’s hand away, and stumbling as soon as he put weight on his legs. With a raised eyebrow, Cor simply stared at Loqi, who refused to meet his eye.

He kept staring until Loqi answered his silent question.

“…Sprained it running from an Iron Giant.” He muttered it quietly to the floor, but Cor still caught it.

He shook his head. “You’re dead out here if you try and wait for that to heal.”

As someone who’s speed was his greatest asset, Loqi surely knew that the moment his ankle had been hurt it meant death.

“And why do you care, Marshal?” Loqi asked with a sigh of his own, the exhaustion catching up to him once more.

“You’ve grown on me.” Cor said honestly, offering an arm. “Now come on. You can lean on me until we get to the others.”

“Wonderful.” The amount of sarcasm he forced into the one word dripped like venom into a beating heart. But he didn’t refuse the help. Rather, he allowed himself to lean heavily on Cor as they made their way outside.

It was a long walk, one they made in silence and one sided rude looks, but they eventually came to the small group that Cor had come along with. Loqi was forced to explain that, no he wasn’t a kid, he was 25 thank you very much, and yes it was him running around alone. Surprisingly, no one was openly hostile with him. Rather, when he wasn’t looking, they’d shoot him pitying looks. He’d been a child when he’d rose through the ranks after all. Who could blame him for following what he had believed was right?

As soon as they’d secured the truck they’d traveled in and got on the road, he’d fallen back asleep. Cor on the other hand, stayed awake and watched the passing landscape, trying to think of a way to explain bringing an old enemy back with him to Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus.

He already had a headache.