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motthe · 7 months ago

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I’ve been going through your fics and absolutely fell in love with your Lumen AU! It suck a sweet take on the whole soulmate concept.

It got me thinking about Vander tho especially with season 2 now out and everything going on (I am mourning). So I was wondering if I could request any thing fem!reader and Vander related in your Lumen Au. First meeting, the before and aftermath of his encounter with Silco, season 2 revelations, literally anything you could think of writing!

Vander has grown on me just like Silco. God, i love that man!!! also sorry if the lumens kinda fade into the background in this!!! hope you enjoy it!!!

warnings: war, death, loss

Vander stumbled across you after the Last Drop was established. You both were young, determined souls—you looking for another job after taking another a shiner at the local strip joint, him becoming the Hound of the Underground.

When your lumens danced around one another, he wasn’t sure how much happier a man could get. That warm auburn against steel blue was everything he’d dreamed of.

Felicia adored you. Silco thought you too soft for the cause but never doubted you were the right fit for Vander. Soft was one word for you, but you sure as hell weren’t weak. You knew how to toss a rowdy customer out on their ass if Vander was preoccupied.

He may have been the Hound, but you were a fox in your own right, holding your strength for the right time and outsmarting the rest.

“I suppose that’s as good an image as any,” you chuckled, lying on his chest one night and picking at his stubble. “I don’t see you as a hound, though.”

“No?” he hummed as you shook your head, pecking his lips.

“You’re a big bear of a man,” you teased, lumens bouncing off the bottoms of your feet as you kicked them behind you at a lazy pace. “My grizzly.”

He chuckled, large hands smoothing up your waist until they’re cupping your face. You looked pleased, content. He wished the moment would stay.

“Don’t,” you murmured, leaning deeper into his touch. “You’re going too far ahead. Stay here.”

“I’m here,” he promised, chest aching as your eyes gleamed. You hid away in his chest as he held you.

That day came no matter how in the moment you tried to stay. You remained at the Last Drop with some others, a safe haven for the kids of those who were going to fight.

“Come back to me,” you told him in the doorway, hand on his shirt collar. The words slipped through gritted teeth as you held back tears and anger. You understood the cause, but you’d never risk anything if it meant losing him. It’s the one thing you disagreed on. “You fucking come back or I’ll redecorate every crevice of this place into something you’ll hate.”

“I’d let you anyway,” he murmured, pecking your cheek. The stone mask you were wearing cracked as you shoved him away.

“Screw you,” you whispered. “Dying doesn’t make you a hero, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” he said, nudging your chin up. “Be safe. Love ya.”

Your nose flared as you crossed your arms, eyes watering. His lumen ruffled your hair as he forced a smile and turned to follow the rest heading to the front. Lumens floated above heads and clung to shoulders. Yours was no different, perched on his left.

He wasn’t a block away when he heard those quick feet behind him and swiveled just in time to catch you in his arms. He felt the tears against his neck as you hugged the breath out of him, body trembling.

“I love you,” you sobbed. “You show those topsiders what’s for.”

He held you so tight your feet no longer touched the ground. There would never be another man alive that could hold you like that and there never would be anyone else you’d want to.

The return was torture. You had injured drifting outside the bar, those that had stayed behind doing their damndest to keep them alive. You’d already seen too many lumen crumble to dust tonight, too many cries echo throughout the night.

You held Vander’s against your heart, praying. Begging.

When you’d gone to help, Powder and Violet had slipped out of your periphery. No one could point you in their direction and you were blubbering mess until a familiar frame emerged from the outskirts.

Vander was worse for wear, but his strength remained as he carried the girls all the way back to the Last Drop.

All it had taken was one look from him to know the conclusion.

“They’re just babies,” you whispered, teary-eyed as your fingers drifted through Powder’s hair. She was conked out on your chest, wrapped up in a blanket like her sister next to you. Their hair was still damp from the bath. Neither had said a word but the crying came and went. “She should’ve stayed with me. I told her to stay.”

You’d fought with Felicia almost as much as Vander. Vander and Silco had begun the cause with her help, but she wasn’t needed on the front like they were. She didn’t have to be there, but she chose to be.

“She wanted to fight for their future,” Vander murmured, sitting across from you on the table. His legs were on either side of yours, eyes soft as he looked between the girls.

“Children need their mothers.” You closed your eyes, refusing to shed any more tears. “We lost too many people to this, Vander.”

“I know.”

“What if they come to finish the job?”

Those mits for hands landed on your knees, expression stern when you looked at him. “I won’t let that happen.”

Powder shifted in your hold, burying her face into your neck. Violet sensed the change and hugged your side tighter. You weren’t sure if your heart could break any further.

“We’ll raise ‘em,” he continued, rubbing your legs as he leaned forward. “We’ll protect ‘em and I’ll get the Lanes back up and running.”

“What about Silco?” you sniffed. “He hasn’t even…”

“I’ll find him,” he promised, a faraway look in his eyes. “We’ll figure it out.”

Your eyes closed as he stood, leaning down to kiss your forehead. Your lumens flashed overhead, grazing.

“You watch ‘em. I need to check on the rest upstairs,” he said, running a hand over each of the girls’ heads. “Love you.”

“Love you, too, Grizzly,” you murmured and he managed a smile for the first time after the war.

It was going to be a long time before the weight left it.

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r0tting-rat · 9 months ago

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DCA PROMPTOBER 2024

Can I please talk about my God AU? Please please please the worldbuilding is simply delicious please

Day 13 - Night

Pairing: God!Moon x GN reader Warning: None Words: 2400+ Summary: You're a thief and Moon is the God protector of thieves and liars. You strike a deal.

On Ouroboros, a world of wolves, lions, sheep and bunnies, you were a fox. Sly, cunning, evasive and stealthy, a jack of all trades but master of none, doing everything it took to survive no matter the cost. You stole, mostly, and did odd jobs, but for a reason or another everyone in the region knew your name. Or, to be fair, one of your many names. You had made up many aliases during the years—many of which were still spoken like a curse, along with insults and blasphemies—and you would continue to create new ones for each name that would get reported to the guards.

You were wanted in many cities, looked down upon in multiple villages and beloved by… none, actually. The authorities of each place you had visited in the past had been given orders to arrest you on sight—dead or alive, no one really cared—and for that reason you feared you would need to flee the region of Lumen soon. A pity, honestly, because you were beginning to grow fond of the infinite plains of green grass, immense forests and prosperous cities, but you had to leave them behind and all because of a misunderstanding. You hadn’t stolen the King’s ring, not at all! He had actually hired you to retrieve it after it had been taken by a group of bandits. The king promised you a fortune were you to succeed, but something went wrong while you were rummaging through the criminals’ bags and most recent loot. The ring wasn’t there, but you found many other jewels in the mix which you knew had been stolen along with the ring. You guessed it could have been lost, or maybe they had already sold it, but you thought the king wouldn’t complain too much about it, so you brought back the whole bag. Inside were tiaras, necklaces and golden coins, all belonging to the king and queen of Lumen, but between them there was no ring.

The old man sitting on the throne had stared at you, eyes filled with venom, as you told him everything.

-It just wasn’t there, believe me, they must have sold it already,- you shrugged, pretending not to see the animosity of the guards surrounding you and pointing their polearms at your throat.

-Do you even know the importance of that ring, thief?- spat the king, but you shrugged once more.

-Not really,- you replied, -Was it a gift from your wife or something?-

-That ring,- hissed the monarch, -Has the seal of Lumen on it! It has been passed from generation to generation of kings and queens, it has been used to sign laws and documents ever since this city was built, that ring alone is older than history!-

Despite his age, the man stood from his throne to tower over you, imposing in all of his regal glory, and looked at you like you were a mere cockroach which had learned the human language.

-That ring was a gift from the Sun God to my ancestor, it is proof of the divinity of my role, and I don’t believe you.- The king’s words were spoken in a hateful hiss.

-What?- you asked, taken aback, -What do you mean?-

-I said that I don’t believe you. What I think is that not only you knew about all of this already, but you have also decided to steal it from me and lie so blatantly about it being “sold” away.- Your eyes darted to the doors of the large atrium, trying to remember if they had been closed behind you after you entered, but the more you thought about it the more you began to panic. -Guards, arrest this thief!-

Before the king could finish barking orders you turned around and ran as fast as you could towards the only exit, slamming your shoulder against the wooden doors decorated with golden flowers and praying they would open. The Luck Goddess was once again on your side and you managed to slip out before any of the guards could lay their hands on you, and before anyone knew it you stole the first horse you found—a beautiful white mare belong to the queen, who had just returned from a stroll—and you left the golden castle behind you.

Just hours later, at the border between Lumen and Umbra, the neighboring region, you jumped off the horse and took a break from riding. There was no time to waste, you knew it well, the king would have your severed head severed on a plate if you didn’t leave immediately, but you needed some time to catch your breath, and you also had a plan to escape. If you managed to leave Lumen you could restart from scratch in the region of Umbra, under a new name, maybe you could even find a dignified job and put an end to your life as an outlaw! The king’s guards couldn’t follow you in the other region, if you crossed the border you would have been safe from them.

Unfortunately, humans couldn’t cross the wild borders between the two regions due to a magical wall that separated the land in two perfectly identical portions, and the only way to cross said barrier was through official roads. Those roads however were guarded on both sides by armed guards, who checked every carriage and requested a permit for each person and animal being transported. Why animals as well? Because of shapeshifters, of course.

That option was completely out of the picture, many people before you had already tried and failed to cross the border via road. Invisibility, faking a permit, corrupting the guards; nothing worked, and you didn’t want to risk being taken back to the king were you discovered. During your many hours of riding however you had remembered about some legends you had heard in the city slums. People spoke of a man, many years before, who had managed to cross the wild border unscathed, after making a deal with the Sun God. Said man was a musician who had been accused of casting a spell on the queen and making her fall in love with him, so he had fled the capital city of Umbra looking for an escape route. At dawn he stopped running and sat on a rock, admiring the sky, and he began to play his lyre, certain that his time was coming to an end.

The legend said that, right as the first rays of the beloved Sun began to peek through, a man clad in a white hood stood in front of him, attracted by the beautiful music. The musician didn’t stop playing despite being terrified of the figure, which towered over him with its inhuman height, but suddenly the hooded stranger spoke to him in a gentle voice.

-You are talented, human,- the voice rumbled in the air, coming from everywhere around him, -You wish to cross my border, don’t you?-

The musician found the strength to answer soon after, bowing his head as he recognized the God standing before him.

-Yes, my Lord,- he spoke, trembling like a leaf, -I have been accused of a crime I didn’t commit by the tyrant of Umbra, there is no place for me here anymore.-

-A crime? Which crime have you allegedly committed, my humble servant?-

-Adultery!- replied the man, -They claim I have used sorcery on the queen, making her fall for me with my music, but I have done no such thing!-

The God hummed, and from under His hood a gentle smile blessed the eyes of the musician.

-I am the Sun. Love, music and passion are all part of my domain, so I understand your troubles well. Play a game with me, human, if you win I’ll allow you to cross my border.-

The legend didn’t say which game the two played. It could have been chess, a game of cards, no one knew, the only thing the legend tells is that the musician won, and the Sun God allowed him to leave Umbra and his crime behind. People began to speculate that the Sun God and the Moon God walked the mortal realm during the dawn and dusk, but those that tried to search for Them were rewarded with nothing whatsoever.

As you sat under a tree, looking at the iridescent hues of the magical threshold in front of you, you wondered if it had anything to do with being “worthy” of seeing the Gods. Night was beginning to fall, the Sun was setting in the horizon and from your spot in the soft grass you could see a myriad of stars illuminating the darkening sky.

☆

You weren’t sure of when it happened, but you fell asleep. You dreamed of nothing, waking up less than 10 minutes later to a full night sky and a cloaked figure standing before you. You screamed, startled, and immediately your hand flew to your belt, closing around the handle of your dagger. Your wide eyes couldn’t understand what you were seeing, it felt similar to reading in a language you didn’t speak, but your brain was trying to make sense of what was before you nonetheless.

The stranger had a dark hood littered by silver and golden dots, like a piece of the sky had been taken and sewn into the fabric, but the rim of the cloak turned into something akin to vapor when it reached the ground. The fabric which at first reminded you of satin looked almost alive, moving like black sand in the desert during a storm, and just looking at it for too long made you feel dizzy. The figure was way taller than you, forcing you to crane your neck to look at it, but under the hood you saw no face. Still, you felt watched.

The stranger didn’t say a word, you simply stayed there and stared at each other, so you understood that he was waiting for you to speak.

-Am I in the presence of the Moon God?- you asked in a feeble voice, -I… I wish to cross Your border and enter Umbra.-

-What do you think you can give me in return?- asked the hooded being, and his voice was so profound it seemed like it came from the ground under you. You stayed there, puzzled for a moment, before realizing that there wasn’t going to be any game. You weren’t in the presence of the Sun, after all—you were standing before the everlasting Moon.

-I don’t have much,- you said, -But I promise to do what it takes to pay You back, if You let me escape, my Lord.-

-So you’re asking me a favor based on… a promise?- He laughed, -Don’t you know that promises made by a thief and a liar are less worthy than a handful of dirt?-

-My Lord, are You not the patron God of thieves, liars and wanderers?- you asked, showing far more bravery than you actually had. In reality, you were shaking in your boots just by standing in front of a creature like Him. -Don’t you protect those who walk under your night sky?-

-I’m the God of many things, mortal,- He replied, and you could feel the irritation in the Moon God’s voice beginning to rise, -What you mentioned is just part of my domain. I am the patron God of liars, but I’m also the Law and Justice, or do you not remember?-

You took a step back, ready to flee in case the situation turned sour, but the mist falling from the God’s hood began to envelop you, pulling you closer and making you shiver.

-I protect those who act hidden by the shadows of the Night I bring, that which you call “Luck” and “Fortune” has been me all along. I have protected you from the harm others may have caused you but I will not stand in the way of justice, for that will be simply the consequences of your own actions.- The God looked down upon you, and your hands lost their grip on the dagger you were holding. You had never felt so afraid in your life, and soon found yourself on your knees in the wet grass.

-Please,- you begged, -I’ll pray, I’ll make sacrifices in your name and forever be devoted if You let me cross, my Lord! I’ll lead a honest life!-

For the first time in your life, ever since you were small, you weren’t lying, and considering the domain of the God you were speaking to you were sure that He was also aware of that. Still, the idea of it seemed to amuse Him greatly, for He began to laugh loudly. Shocked, you stayed still, on your knees, and waited for the divine being to stop taunting your desperation. You uttered a last, choked “please”, which went unheard in the chaos around you.

-Foolish, oh, so foolish of you!- the Moon God barked, -If you so desperately want safety, then so be it! I’ll save you from an imprisoned future, but I demand a payment.-

The God pulled the hood of his cloak back, revealing His form to you and blinding you with the ethereal beauty of immortality. His dark blue skin gleamed, iridescent like the most precious pearl, and His hair—straight and white—were so long they must have reached His waist. The eyes were red, beautiful and haunting, but the face was a half-blue and half-white mask. He spoke, words came out in His deep voice, but His lips didn’t move, not a muscle did. His expression remained unchanged, stern and serious as it had been ever since the Beginning, just His eyes betrayed His real emotions, and what He was feeling in that moment was amusement.

-You will come with me, human,- he ordered, -You will work as a servant for me and my brother, that is the payment I request in exchange for the safety I will give you.-

Large, beautiful hands covered by silver chains came to grab your chin, tilting your head up and stopping your lips from quivering. His touch was cold, so cold, but at the same time it filled you with joy, elating like a drug.

-Do we have a deal, my pet?- said the Moon God, -What place is more safe than the side of a God?-

The Moon was offering you more than anyone in the world would have asked for, He was giving you on a silver platter things any other humans would have killed to have, and you…

You looked in his eyes, of the same color of blood, and swallowed. You agreed.

-Okay,- you croaked, -Deal.-

-Good,- purred the God, -Very good.-

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