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sirenedusud · 3 years ago

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don't let the vampire in (lestat x fem!oc)

@writing.prompt.s on IG

RIP Anne Rice, you would've gotten this taken down.

AN: I edited this like three times so if someone whose read it before reads it again: plot twist henny I'm feeling 3rd person POV now.

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The cold evening air was unforgiving as Lena trudged to her apartment. New Orleans was at its lowest temperatures for the first time in a while, which sucked for her who dressed light out of habit. She doubted the weather would reach this point earlier that day, and now muttered curses to herself while shivering down the sidewalk. The only person who seemed very pleased with the forecast was her neighbor, Lestat.

She already decided he was a strange man from the moment he moved in next door. His fashion was outdated to say the least, and he did not speak colloquially. She assumed he was a theater actor, always in practice, or he was in a Victorian LARPing group. Although most of his attributes seemed out of place, he was surprisingly into the metal scene. She knew this because she was the one suffering from sleeplessness as he blasted loud music next door, but none of this really bothered her due to one reason. He was gorgeous. Sounds shallow, but it was true.

She finally made it to her door, rubbing her shoes onto the cheap Welcome mat as she fiddled with her keys. Just as she unlocked the door, a voice spoke behind her causing her to stiffen. She peered behind her shoulder and relaxed at the sight of her blond neighbor.

"I said good evening, Lena. Did I startle you?" Lestat asked slyly. He took a small step closer to her yet seemed to tower over her.

Christ he's perfect.

"Yes, you did actually. Were you waiting out here for me?" she replied. Frankly, she couldn't flirt. During most of her interactions with men she'd treat them like a brick wall or speak in a sardonic tone, but whatever power Lestat had over her it made her want to try.

Lestat's eyes squinted as he grinned at her.

"Yes actually, I left something of mine in your kitchen. I anticipated getting here the same time as you so that I may retrieve it without bothering you too much." He explained.

"Oh...okay come on in then," she said as she turned back to the door. He had been inside her apartment several times in the past, but the thought of it made her giggle like a schoolgirl every time. She pushed the door open and entered, her neighbor following behind her.

"Sorry it's a bit of a mess, I've been taking longer shifts so I don't have any time in here. Do you want something to eat? Are you thirsty? Wait what did you even leave in here? Is it this cord?" She rambles more to herself than to Lestat, but he didn't seem to mind and took the cord from her hand. Their hands brush momentarily. Her body shivered, face flushing with the hope he didn't notice.

Why is he so cold? Probably from standing outside all day and enjoying the shitty weather...

"So.." she begins. She pondered between spilling her heart's deepest desires or offering him hot tea. Either way, she didn't have a chance because Lestat was already stalking out the door.

"Thank you Lena I am so pleased to have a neighbor like you," he replied rather plainly. He turned to look at her once more, cracking an even wider smile this time. Before she could answer back, he shuts the door.

***

The next day rolled by, which was Lena's only off day for the entire week. She cleaned, cooked, washed, ironed, decluttered, and dusted the day into night. As the sun disappeared over the horizon, she tossed over the final trash bag into the communal dumpster.

She dusted off her hands satisfactorily and headed back upstairs. Before entering her apartment, she looked down at the Welcome mat. It was ugly, lime green, and shriveled at the edges. With a grimace, she picks it up by the corner and goes inside. She opens the living room window and aims at the bin below. She was only three stories high; she couldn't possibly miss a drop straight down. She tosses the mat out and watches it glide down. It landed beside the dumpster.

"Man." she said defeatedly. While locking the window back shut, a knock came from the door. She checked the time, it was 9pm. Slightly suspicious hour.

She makes it over to the door and cracks it open a tad bit, using one eye to peek out only to swing it wide open at the sight of Lestat. He lifted his head to reveal his (naturally) smirking face.

"Heyy Lestat!" she greeted him sing-songishly while mentally face palming. She stepped to the side to let him in, but he stood there quietly and looked at the floor before him.

"Good evening Lena, may I come in?" he asked without taking a step forward. She blinked at him, confused, but remembered his Victorian thing.

"Why yes of course, please do come in," she said with a small bow to the head. She thought he was being playful, but Lestat seemed to relax back into himself and enter with confident strides. He had his back to her as she shut the door, she could tell he was measuring up her now clean apartment. She pitifully hoped he wasn't thinking she cleaned because of the mess he had seen yesterday.

"So, what's going o-"

"I'm going out of town for a few months, a sort of.... tour with the band, for the new album, you understand?" he interrupts her with the news. Her eyebrows raised slightly. He never left the city for that long; he would usually return in a couple weeks at most because he hated driving long distances.

"That sounds exciting!" she replied, trying not to seem crestfallen. He looked at her, looked into her, for longer than usual. Her face began to heat up.

I cannot have possibly said something wrong. Is there something on my face? What-?

"Sure," he finally said with a shrug, "I wanted to let you know now since I am leaving early in the morning. I did not want you to misunderstand my abrupt departure."

Her cheeks burned for the millionth time at this, creeping down to her neck. He cared about what she thought. Maybe he cared about her.

"Oh no don't worry I wouldn't think anything negative of you..." she began, trailing off as Lestat took a step towards her. Here he was again, towering over her. His golden locks hung low near the edges of her face. She looked up and looked away from him, swallowing thickly as he used a finger to prop her chin up to him. His orange eyes burned into hers. She felt her limbs liquefy, heartbeat roaring in her ears. His eyes swept over her face to her neck, landing on her pulse point. It was as if he could hear the blood pumping through her veins. He brought his face closer, his wavy hair tickling her cheeks as he inhaled deeply, but she didn't pay attention to any of it. All she could focus on were his blown out pupils, his pink lips, which parted to say something. She thought she'd seen drool forming on his tongue before he snapped his head back and pulled his hand away from her.

"I was also hoping if I may ask a small favor from you. Just to keep my mail with you until I return. Here, this is the key to my box," he places a key in her palm, the small engraving of his room number facing up. She stares at the key in her hand, her mind still buzzing with adrenaline from what she thought was the most tension she'd felt in ages. Lestat brushed his hand over her hair, making her return her attention to him.

"You'll be good while I am gone, won't you darling?" he was close to her again, half whispering. You could feel his hot breath on your skin.

Please just rip my clothes off please I have loved you since I have known you, I beg of you Lesta-

"Yes..." is all she can muster as a reply. Weak. He's flirting right? That's beyond her now since she can't function anymore. She thought he'd leave, but he stared at every inch of her face. His eyes landed on her mouth. God, her lips were chapped, weren't they? He looks back up at her with a smile, a perfect smile.

"I must go." His hand slid down to her shoulder before he completely pulled away and left the apartment.

She felt cold. Lestat was not exactly a warm hearth, but the intimacy they shared a moment ago lit something ablaze in her soul.

***

Weeks went by and Lena kept her promise to Lestat. She'd pick up both their mails and leave his in a basket in her kitchen. If Lestat was to be gone for a few months, then he should be returning soon. She smiled at the memory of the last interaction with him as she returned from the postal box. Maybe he felt the same towards her.

She was on a shorter schedule at work and enjoyed the time off. The weather was finally beginning to be agreeable, so she spent most of her time going out with a friend or two. Today her friend Anya was over. She knew everything about Lena's insane crush on her neighbor and relished in her glee as much as she did.

"You HAVE to ask him out when he comes back! You know he doesn't seem the type to ask a girl out... he's a bit cocky. Personally, I wouldn't be into him, but you clearly are!" Anya said as Lena joined her on the couch. Lena gave her an unamused look and shrugged.

"But if he isn't into me then I would just ruin the relationship we already have," Lena said with a pout. Anya rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as a loud thudding interrupted her. It was coming from the other next-door neighbor. The two girls looked at the wall and back at each other as the thudding continued.

"That's weird, that neighbor is always quiet." Lena said. The thudding suddenly reached an alarming volume and pace.

"Maybe they're fucking." Anya states matter-of-factly. Lena's head whipped to look at her friend and she bursted into laughter.

"Hell no, she's an old ass lady living alone!"

"Oh, then maybe we should go see what's up. It would be the good neighborly thing to do."

"I mean, I guess." They both remain seated after this decision, but jump right up as the thudding gets louder. Lena and Anya rush out the door and knock the neighbor's door quickly.

"Hello? Ms. Hill? It's me Lena, from next door!" she yelled into the door. The thudding stops immediately, and the two girls press their ears against the door. A quiet sob could be heard on the other side. Her eyes widen and she pulls at the doorknob. No use, it was locked. The thuds grow weaker.

"I'm gonna kick it down." Anya decides. Lena pushes her friend away from the door and shakes her head.

"Don't be stupid, we can just get someone to help, and if that's not enough then we'll call 911," Lena said. She rushes to the door across the hall and knocks.

"Hello? It's your neighbor, someone's in trouble!" She twists at the doorknob without thinking and the door clicks open. She freezes for a second but pushes it open to reveal the dark apartment. Anya peeks from behind her.

"Anyone home...?" she said. Lena shrugs and reaches around to turn on a light. She muffles a shriek with her hand as the light reveals a dried up corpse in the middle of the room. Turning away from the body, Lena watches Anya who was already down by the next door, her phone pressed onto her ear. Anya slams her free hand against the door.

"Why the fuck is my call not going through? Lena you know you have really shitty service in this building? Oh, fuck this, come on" she paces around the hallway, her phone flat against her face. Lena walks slowly to the door Anya was just at. Lena breaks out in cold sweat, her hands shivering as she twisted the doorknob. Rotting stench of flesh filled her nose this time.

She panicked. Two dead neighbors on her floor? How long have they been dead? Who killed them? Questions whizz through her mind as she goes down the hall, one hand on the wall to keep her from collapsing. She turned the corner to find Anya still cussing out the slow service.

"Lena this entire fucking floor is full of dead people! Fuck this, I'm gonna go outside where there's better cell service," she grabs Lena's hand to leave, but Lena pulls back.

"What if the killer is in the old lady’s room right now? We can't leave her...we have to try something," Lena whispered urgently. If she were sane, she'd have run away the moment she opened that old lady's door, but a dreadful idea crept into her mind, and she had to know if it was true. Anya looks at her with worry, but sighed and agreed, saying she wouldn't want to leave Lena alone in this fucked up building.

The two return to Hill’s door. Quiet sobs could still be heard from the other side, slowly ebbing into silent, ragged breaths. Lena's hand reaches for the doorknob, she began to feel dizzy as the door unlocked this time. She opens it slowly, both her and Anya leaning as far back as possible.

Ms. Hill’s was strewn across a couch, coughing up blood and muttering to herself. Lena and Anya approached her once they saw it was clear. Lena tried sitting Hill up to get her out, but the old woman pushed Lena away in defeat. She whispered something hoarsely.

"What did you say?" Lena said leaning in.

"That man’s face...Lena did you see that man...his eyes were glowing and orang..." Hill coughs, tears slipping down her wrinkled face.

"What face Ms. Hill? Please we need to know who did this to you! Miss?" Lena never got her answer and the elderly woman slumps over.

"She's dead." Anya says blankly.

"I know that."

"Look at her neck. The hell is that?"

Lena cranes her neck to view what Anya was pointing at on the old woman's nape of her neck. A snake bite, but these were much bigger. They had human teeth marks around them too.

Lena stilled.

"Anya you should go home." Lena said quietly. Anya whips her head around, a bewildered look on her face.

"Hell no! Do you not see what's happened? All these people have the same marks on them. I swear if this is some sci-fi nerd's idea of a prank. A vampire stunt or some shit? You can wake up grandma!" She shakes the dead woman and looks at Lena, but Lena gives her a stern look and tells Anya to leave again. She looks at Lena incredulously.

"Fine, I'll go! Since I know this is some bullshit joke your lovely neighbors pulled on us! Vampires for Christ’s sake!" Lena follows Anya back to Lena's apartment, averting her gaze from the open doors of the dead neighbors. Lena stands inside her doorway as Anya grabs her bag. Anya gives Lena a hug before heading towards the elevator with quick steps.

Lena began to shut her door but stop as her eyes land down in front of her. It was the ugly trashed Welcome mat. She grabs it frantically, shut the door, and sticks the mat in a closet. She felt sick, dirty. She decides to shower, but hot water couldn't burn the gross feeling that crawled all over her. The cold body that she once yearned to feel around her now filled her with fear. After washing away the impressions death left on her, she wrapped herself in a bathrobe and sat on the edge of her bed. She shivers for a while, eyes heavy with fatigue, not realizing when she eventually went to sleep.

***

Lena snapped awake at the sound of a knock. Was it the next day? She jumps up and change into day clothes. The knock repeated, she felt a hammering at her skull, she knew that knock. She stares into her vanity, practicing a very normal smile, before slowly walking into the main room. Her hands begin to shake. She didn't have to open it, but she had to know. She stands in front of the door for several seconds. A third, loud knock. She musters that smile and opens the door.

The room from across her apartment was closed shut, but that did not distract Lena for long. Lestat stood in front of her. His eyes glinting something she couldn't make out. She was beginning to drown in fear. She didn't have to know.

"Hello Lena, it's good to see you're well. May I come in?" Lestat said smoothly, almost as if he was forcing it. She doesn't speak and steps aside, but Lestat remains standing outside of her door. He holds back a huff.

"You're not upset with me for being gone so long are you, darling? I'm back now so let me make it up to you, alright?" He leans on her door frame yet avoids crossing the threshold. She simply smiles and steps back. She look at him innocently as his gaze begins to darken.

"Lena. Let me in." He commanded. Why doesn't he just say it? Why is he still trying to act like everything is normal?

"No." she said faintly. His face twists into an annoyed grimace at this. He sighs as he places his hands on his hips, shaking his head.

"You're being ridiculous, darling," he spits out the last word, "I'm not going to hurt you, never you, alright? Just let me in now so I can get my mail."

She stares at him, her mouth slightly agape. He admitted it so casually. Should she call the police? Shut the door? Throw garlic at the handsome bastard? Her mind was spinning. She felt that obsession she spring back to life. Here he was, the object of her desire, promising he wouldn't hurt her. She closes her mouth and begins to tremble, opening her mouth once more to answer:

"Come in."

#writing prompt #lestat de lioncourt #fanfic #drabble #writing #vampire blurb #lestat x reader #queen of the damned

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goldemas1244 · 3 years ago

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Happy Birthday

- A MLBB fanfic (Ship: Zhask X Yve) -

Based on (but not entirely accurately) a prompt posted on Instagram by writing.prompt.s:

Sidenote: @sentinelpri you are my favourite fic writer (despite my inactivity with your works for a while now) and I respect you. You have become the basis of one part of my writing style. So here, if I may, I'd like to request that you read and review this fic. I know you don't know who these guys are but I hope the writing's good enough that it covers that aspect even minutely. Thank you!

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Her lithe fingers grazed the edge of the forlorn portal as she gazed out into outer space. It didn't belong to her, yet she recognised its signature, begging her to pass through. But for whatever reason, she could only guess.

Perhaps Zhask had decided to finally give up the chase and end it all. That would be morally convenient for her. One small step for peace, one giant leap for the reparation of the equilibrium.

Still, she couldn't help but feel a melancholic undertone stifling itself through the vacuum of space and time. Unlike the smooth and polished portals her archnemesis frequently built, this one had a sort of rag to it. Perhaps it wasn't his? Oh no, it definitely was his, there was no denying the signature circadian hum-buzz.

Her gut twinged with all the experience of a hunter, telling her that she should come prepared. Prepared for what, she couldn't say, so she went with an ambush. After all, Zhask was as well-maintained in his conquests as he was in his retreats, was he not?

Checking herself to make sure she was at least presentable enough for the capture of the King of the Swarm, Yve stepped through the portal as it closed behind her.

The empty void of space was cold, colder than the freezing tundra she came from. Yet it was a familiar cold, a cold she embraced with pleasure, for it was her one true home aside from Mithlora.

Attentively, she studied her surroundings. She was in quite a faraway galaxy from Bima Sakti, with floating geological masses of history astray all around her. As the faraway stars littered her vision with light, she noticed familiar inscriptions in the masses, and recognised that these were the ruins of Kastiya.

Kastiya. She remembered how and why that planet was destroyed. Zhask had been a large-scale criminal then, but the explosion of his planet's core had brought him to an all-time dead-or-alive status. Sometimes she regretted coming up with the idea.

One other thing she took note of was that, to her surprise, she was alone. No stray nightmaric spawn come to devour her, no Kastiyan King to give her cranial damage via Domorey, no colour, no life. Everything was a drab, burnt out sight save for the starry skyline.

Attuning her other senses, she studied the pitiless wrecks until at last she sensed a vibration in the space-time continuum. Melancholic in tone, it had a desperation to it. Quite unlike Zhask but still....

Ever alert, the Astrowarden inched closer to the source of the vibration. It wasn't long before she came upon a sight most... intimate?

There was Zhask, sans staff and consecutively Domorey, sitting on a chunk of space rock, stroking one of his little swarm-children lovingly. His eyes seemed glazed in thought. His voice could be heard, albeit in the faintest of tones, softly whispering out what she could only assume to be a Kastiyan folk song of some sort. It rhymed and it had a melody to it, which, much to her chagrin, she fell in love with.

The King of the Swarm. The Planes Dominator. The Ruthless Invader. Alone.

Yve knew it wasn't a smart decision but she drew closer towards the hulking mass of blue and red as if magnetised by a seventh sense. Now out in the very open, she was vulnerable, but aside from what she had heard and seen prior, Zhask didn't even acknowledge her. Her shoulders relaxed. If this was a trigger for a space-beartrap, it was at least a beginner's machination.

She was only but a few feet away from her archenemy when he ended his reverie, tilting his head upwards to look at her. Unwavering in his eye contact, he patted a soft patch of dried grassland beside him, a sort of motioning for Yve to come and sit. Unfamiliar with this custom of friendship, she hesitated, but penultimately cast her resistance aside and sat next to him.

His breathing was shallowed and, as Yve, ever perceiving, took a closer look at him, she could tell that he'd been here a while. At this point, his affection towards his little spawn had ceased, leaving it bewildered and looking back up at its master in expectation of more. In exchange, he cupped the little thing in his hands and brought it closer to his thorax in an embrace.

"So, Yve?" he began, tilting his head to the side as if to warrant curiosity. "What brings a Mithlorian like you here to Kastiya? Or, well, what remains of it."

Yve was taken aback by the question. Small talk? This was very unlike the enemy she had grown to hate with all her heart. Still, she wasn't in want of generous courtesy and replied in a monotonous tone, "I saw your unclosed portal."

Zhask chuckled, a slight baritone fondness in its echolocation. "Correction: 'your' unclosed portal." Then, after a moment's silence, "It was meant for you, Yve."

"But why exactly did you waste your 'precious' energy on such an unnecessary thing?" Yve questioned, unwavering. "You know you could've just told me to meet you up here and I would fly off to catch you and turn you in. How did you even create a portal under our ever watchful gaze?"

"Well for starters," Zhask began, raising up a finger, "I didn't want to burden you with using up yours. And second of all, every portal a Kastiyan has ever made contains a riskier sub-portal space they can use instead. This one is untraceable, even by the most skilful of hunters. It's how I managed to escape you on Utapau that time."

Yve gently smiled under her mask, remembering how she had absolutely demolished that bastard that time. And she would've killed him too had it not been for a random laser bolt distracting her. Damned battle droids. He'd escaped without the slightest effort, and she had sulked through three galaxies because of it.

Silence passed between the two and for a moment it seemed as if the equilibrium of the universe was in peace.

Eventually, Zhask broke the silence.

"It's my birthday today."

Yve's eyes widened underneath her mask. Zhask's birthday was something she had never considered in all their years of chasing and escaping.

"I'd invited all my friends and family," he continued, hand outstretched as he gestured towards the rubble that lay before them. "But they... haven't arrived as of yet." His head lowered as if in a sort of defeat. "I'll still be waiting though. Sure, they haven't shown up in years now but I'll wait."

The little spawn he was holding began to chirrup as if it could sense the pain in its master's heart. Yve could too; it tremored like an earthquake in her ears. For once in her life she felt sorry for Zhask.

She looked towards the unsightly masses of matter and rock attempting to picture how Kastiya once looked, how things were before it all. She understood once that Zhask was a criminal to be destroyed for the sake of the equilibrium, but now, ever so suddenly, she had a sense that perhaps it didn't have to be that way. An equilibrium could be fixed, she logically reckoned, and with the power of such a being as Zhask on its reparation it would make things much smoother.

But his aura was unfavourable for such commentary so she turned to ask him how things were before the conquests, in hopes that he could spill a thing or two to satiate her innate curiosity and, perhaps also, to cheer himself up.

"Before?" Zhask perked up a little at the mere mention of the word. "Well, before, we were prosperous. We had technology unmatched by any being, power unimaginable by mere mortals, intellect and strength that would put a god to shame."

Yve took note of how his eyes lit up.

"But we were animals as well. Of course, we ARE insects, and you've seen how their natural world is. Indeed, some of our tribes were peaceful and lived with kindred spirits. But mine own was a dominator's kind, with souls as hardened as rocks. It was the natural order. Especially during the mating season."

Zhask let loose a chuckle, and for a moment Yve felt butterflies fluttering in her cheeks.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't as hard as the rest of my kind." Zhask's eyes dropped to his spawn, beginning to stroke it again as if it was an idle animation of his. "I was softer, much more... caring, dependant even, towards my environment. I never much fit in. I could only count one or two friends I'd ever had. Nobody really wanted anything to do with a soft Beetle."

Yve shifted her focus some; this was getting into personal territory.

"I had different hobbies and interests compared to the other members of my tribe. This ensured that I had a bit more of a strict upbringing compared to the others. In a while, all I was was gone, and the monster you see before you now was born."

Yve remained silent, listening to this recollection with the utmost patience. Nevermore had she been as patient as this. It was almost cathartic.

"I... never really wanted to hurt anybody. But I had to maintain an image somehow. Kindness was never our forte. But strength was and so I did what my parents before me, and so theirs before, did."

"You conquered planets," Yve piped in at last. Her inquiry sparked a withered sigh from her companion and a pang of guilt surged through her veins.

"Yes, I did. As the Earth's practice of hunting for sport 'til extinction, so did we with planets. We took on their survivors as slaves. My upbringing ensured I was a selfish, cruel, and uncaring sadist.... If younger me had seen it with my own two eyes, he would've shuddered in fear and disgust at what he'd become."

He stared at the chittering spawn in his hands and brought it up to his face, nuzzling it with affection. Yve didn't want to believe it, but perhaps it was true that this insect could tear up. Moreso proven as he hitched.

She didn't know what else to do. Her mind had gone blank and all thoughts of violence had faded as the dying of a star. What was she to say? To do?

"And now I have to do it," Zhask stammered, tightening his grip on the now silent chitterer. "I have to do it. What's been done to the others has now been done to mine. I have to ensure...." He dared not finish his sentence.

He feared he'd say the wrong things and get himself offed.

Luckily, Yve had begun to understand. "You have to ensure your people survive," she continued. "You're the king, and per your growth, it was the only proper way you knew how. And you can't think of any other way."

She inched closer to him. Her ears were bursting with the rapid rhythms of his heartbeat, her senses filled with an equilibrium she herself had never even experienced prior. Then she took the little spawn in her hands and softly stroked it as Zhask did.

To feel the coldness of his little pet pulled from him yet the warmth emanating from his adversary pulling him in was familiar. But not this way. It made him feel colder than he already was and he shifted in his seat.

But the little thing chirruped with a new kind of fondness Zhask hadn't heard from any one of them in a long while. Turning his head to look at it, his eyes met with those of Yve.

And for the first time in a long, long time, he began to cry.

Yve shook to her very core. She'd never had to comfort someone, especially since part of their grief was her own causing. But she had to do something, so she did what anybody did best.

She held him the best she could. One arm slung over his shoulder, the other still holding the spawn close between them. It was an awkward hug, but it was one of her very few and she knew Zhask shared that sentiment as well.

Upheavals of inexistent air escaped his lungs with every whimpering breath he took. His head lowered to rest on one of Yve's shoulders. His hands gripped her arms tightly, begging her never to let go of him, never to leave.

Yve felt his claws dig into her flesh but she didn't mind. For a moment they shared their pain, even if she'd never told him any of hers. But she knew he felt it too, and he did.

It wasn't after a long while that they released their hold on each other. Zhask pulled his knees up to his thorax whilst Yve knelt on hers. She put a hand on his shoulder, still cradling the little chitterer.

"Zhask," she began, eyes steady on him, voice as crystal as ever. "I'm sorry for what's happened to you. But that doesn't mean you're entirely forgiven for what you've done. You understand that don't you?"

Zhask lowered his head.

"But that doesn't mean you're broken forever, for I'll fix a deal with you." Yve took her hand off his shoulder and reached into one of her pockets, a resolve quickly forming in her mind. "You'll still have to fix the equilibrium you've damaged... and if you do then I promise, in the name of the Mithlorians, we'll help you in turn."

Zhask couldn't believe his ears. Was he... pardoned? In a sense it seemed he was.

He lifted his head in disbelief. Just what Yve wanted.

As such, she pulled out a small purple crystal from her pocket. "This is a Mithlorian heirloom," she stated. "A gift one should forever cherish. It is made of one of the innermost crystals of our realm. It is a sign of an unbreakable alliance, loyalty to the furthest extent. To receive it, is to receive our protection, in return of yourself."

She motioned for Zhask to hold out his hand, which he shakily did. "Today, on the day of your birth, you are reborn. Forevermore, you are now no longer the King of the Swarm, nor will you be the Planes Dominator."

And she placed the precious gemstone in his hand. "From now on, if you accept," she continued shakily, "you shall be Zhask, the embodiment of endurance, Herald of Redemption. You shall bring balance to the equilibrium once more and prevent it from ever falling to the wrong hands."

Yve began to stand and Zhask himself to kneel.

"If you would accept, Zhask."

The critter in her arm now jumped down onto the rock, an excited glimmer in its optic as Yve placed both her hands on his.

"To be... a Mithlorian."

Zhask could only choke out a strangled mewl. To receive such an honour, such a fresh start, it seemed all too good to be true.

And yet, a realisation popped into his head.

"Are you... proposing to me?"

"It is an uncommon Mithlorian tradition to betroth ourselves to our foes worthy of change, but a tradition nonetheless," Yve explained. "Two generations back, and many more farther, I have seen examples and they're still with us, guardians of the cosmos. Never have they brought upon failure, and always they have brought balance. Thus I may ask you, Zhask, on this well-fated day, to be one with me. To be one with us."

Zhask's eyes lit up unlike ever before. "Yve," he started, "ever since you first determined to hunt me down, ever since you first dared to attack me, I knew that one day I'd be caught. And on that day I swore that when such a day happened, I should confess no matter the peril."

He gripped Yve's hands tighter as he continued, slowly coming to his feet. "And today you have ensnared me. Thus, as Zhask, King of the Kastiyans, or what's left of them, I accept your proposal, and I hope that this pact we seal transcends farther than the reaches of the universe."

"Then arise, my champion, my honour, my king, for we both, in essence, were of the same wish at one point. Arise, and be one with mine, and with the equilibrium, in permanance."

And he arose to his full height. His chest puffed out with pride, he was a figurehead of confidence. His eyes once soaked with tears now beamed with love and adoration.

Repositioning his hands so their fingers were now interlocked, he began to pull his bride-to-be closer into an embrace.

And the crystal she had given him began to emanate a shimmer of light.

They both took notice of this and watched as it gleamed a bright and serene blue, seeping into both their very veins, straight to their hearts. And all at once, they both had been altered.

Where once was a mask now revealed a beauteous face, bright twilight eyes accentuated by violet lips. And where once was a beast of blue and red now stood a figura of blue and white, formed of the constellation of Cancer. In shock and awe, they both pulled apart from each other, eyes transfixed on what changes, mostly on Zhask, were produced.

And they both fell deeper in love with one another, as if their rivalry had never existed.

"Yve..."

"Zhask..."

Lest we forget about the little bug on the ground, indeed I do have to mention that it had stayed silent the entire time, its one optic too excited to process what had occured. Too in awe, it just sat there, watching the scene unfold as you and I.

Zhask held out his hand to Yve. As she held it, he knelt and kissed it with a tenderness he had never exhibited before. It was a fresh start, a new life, a partner for the first time in his life.

"This was the best birthday I'd ever had," he quipped, amused. "The best gift as well." He stood and held her in his arms; she chuckled and rested her head on his thorax.

All of a sudden, the little spawn chirped out a rhythmic beat and they pulled their eyes away from each other.

Before them came a rift in space-time. And from this rift, came a blinding flash of bright white light.

"Zhask," said Yve with a large smile on her face, "I think it's time we meet your in-laws."

And as the portal beckoned, so too did they follow, with the little spawn trailing behind.

-FIN-

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