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stormgardenscurse · 2 years

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Finding Warmth In Odd Places

A section of a commission I wrote for the wonderfully big brained @aulilyu!

CW: Ace and Deuce are vampires, so blood drinking and other similar things are mentioned.

DO NOT REPOST OR USE CONTENTS OF THE FIC WITHOUT PERMISSION

To most outsiders, the village of Alba was nothing more than an isolated corner of the Rose Kingdom. If the capital and flourishing cities were its petals, then Yuulis supposed that Alba would be better compared to a thorn - and a rather insignificant one at that.

Though no matter how small the community was, there was always the presence of vampires. In large cities, these creatures lived amongst humans with relatively normal lives. In other places they held positions of nobility and power in exchange for protection against monsters, which was the case for Alba.

The village was surrounded by forests which lurked with predators, ones of which would disrupt hunting, farming or trading practices. As payment for their services, the villagers would offer up a tribute who would provide blood for the vampires. Generally speaking, this meant that a tribute could last between a few months to years, depending on their constitution.

Stories circulated about the pair of vampires that lived nearby the village. Their home was a mansion with floors as cold as a prison’s, and certain tributes that went ‘missing’ were not escapees, but instead hunted down for sport once the vampires grew bored of them. Others died from bleeding out or infection.

With these in mind, it was understandable that Yuulis held little enthusiasm for becoming selected as the next sacrifice. A letter had come to the village head asking for a new tribute, and with the deadline coming close, the villagers decided to send Yuulis off with nothing more than a bag of belongings and a compensatory pouch of coins.

Even to the bitter end, they’d still treat a maid like dirt.

Yuulis discarded their charity money by tipping it all to the coach driver that brought them to the mansion. The man offered them a nervous smile before tipping his head and leaving, eager to get away from the vampires’ base as quickly as possible.

Yuulis thought the driver was being overdramatic, though. Compared to the cramped quarters and thankless work they had to do for their previous boss, they believed that their low standards would prove that somehow, living here under the reign of inhuman creatures wouldn’t be that much more of a nightmare.

…And with a mansion like this, their own room should at least be bigger, right?

“Deuce.”

“Yes?”

“You’re crying.”

“...Yes.”

“You should stop eating that.” Ace sighed. Though instead of taking the hazardous food away from his partner, Ace cut himself a bite of pancake lathered in blood-red cherry compote - though of course, it was tart and sweet and not actually Yuulis’ blood. They’d know that much, seeing as it was them that had to prepare this spread of dishes for the spoiled couple.

For a pair of nobles engaging in typically pretentious behavior (a proper brunch, despite how human food didn’t sustain their bodies properly), Yuulis found that Ace and Deuce were quite casual in the ways they lived. They’d spend time together, go out to patrol the borders, and check in with the farmers that lived close to where predators lurked.

Judging by Ace’s half-hearted reproach, this wasn’t the first time Deuce consumed garlic bread despite how it burned his insides. Yuulis supposed it was like an allergic reaction or eating something spicy.

“Is My Lord alright…?” Yuulis glanced at Deuce, who had shut his eyes to hold back his tears. They shifted their feet from where they stood near the dining table, unsure if they should stay or go.

Ace’s brow furrowed in concern. “Get him some blood. He’ll need it to wash down the garlic.”

Nodding, Yuulis made their way to the kitchens; contrary to rumors, the way Ace and Deuce consumed blood was actually quite methodical and civilized. Every two months or so they’d insert a needle into Yuulis’ arm to extract their blood, which was then sorted into packets to be consumed weekly.

Ace was quite haughty when explaining that as long as they didn’t exert too much energy, experienced vampires didn’t have the need to drink more than three times a week. It was clear from the beginning that Deuce was the kinder master between the two - he’d given Yuulis medicinal herbs that they could boil and drink to recover from the blood loss. In a sense, they supposed this was why they felt more inclined to be quick as they poured a glass of blood to bring to Deuce, who emptied it with a sigh of relief.

"You're an idiot." Ace voiced what Yuulis had also been thinking. "We're banning garlic bread for at least two weeks."

"What?! That's way too long!"

"...With all due respect, My Lord. I have to agree." Yuulis interjected. "I can always make you french toast instead."

Ace crossed his arms with a triumphant grin, ignoring the pout that reached his partner's lips. "That's settled then. Sorry Deucey~"

As the two dissolved into light bickering, Yuulis busied themself by collecting the emptied plates to wash. Once their steps led them into the kitchen, they shook their head in disbelief.

For a couple that's feared and gossiped about in the village, these two were oddly underwhelming. Even if they tried to intimidate Yuulis at first, the vampires dropped their facade by the end of their second week together.

(In that sense, they were more genuine and honest than most humans they've met.)

The glass windows placed along the mansion’s halls were coated with frost in the early morning. Call it habit or discipline, but Yuulis often found themself doing chores hours before the sunlight began to shine a proper yellow.

It was their own way of starting the day, they supposed. Yuulis peered out of the window in front of them, placing their palm against its surface.

Birds were beginning to preen outside. As they tilted their head upwards, they noticed a wispy tangle of cobwebs tucked into the corner of the curtain rods. It was probably left untouched because the curtains would normally cover it, which meant that it was going to take a while for them to properly clean it all.

They retrieved a feather duster, stepladder, and started to work on securing the curtain holdbacks so that they could reach the top without getting a faceful of fabric. As Yuulis settled into a familiar pace of work, they heard footsteps emerging from down the corridor.

“Good morning, My Lord.” They greeted Deuce from up above, before turning back their attention to the cobwebs. “The spiders have been busy around here.”

Deuce approached the ladder to hold down its legs. “You don’t have to worry about those, you know. No one’s going to see them normally.”

“It’s fine - I don’t have much else to do anyways.” Yuulis glanced back down for a moment to flash Deuce a smile, waving their feather duster. “If I don’t keep busy, my poor human limbs are going to get rusty.”

Deuce grew quiet as Yuulis resumed their meticulous cleaning; lost in thought as he wondered why he felt a sense of familiarity from the situation. His gaze settled on his hands, stabilizing the ladder, and then drew upwards to Yuulis, who was relaxed despite how high up they stood.

Ah… That’s right.

It reminded him of his mother, back when his life was that of a mortal’s; when they'd lived in their warm home with even warmer laughter.

When Deuce went on grocery runs for her, he’d often return to his mother cleaning up the house in his absence. The most memorable of which was when he found her trying to reach the ceiling’s cobwebs with a chair, and rushed over to help her down so he could do it himself.

…She’d said the same thing too, about keeping busy. She was always hardworking, and dedicated to their little family despite the trouble he’d get into.

A small smile reached the vampire’s lips. Seeing this familiar sight soothed him a bit, and as he looked outside, he noticed that it’d started to snow.

“Yuulis,” Deuce muttered as if in a trance. They’d made their way down the ladder, shoes landing on the floor with a tap. “Do you want to come outside?”

“Huh? What for?”

“It’s snowing.” There was a hint of excitement in his voice that felt new to the air. “We should check it out since it isn’t too heavy yet.”

The wind was calm, too. Pushing open the front door, Deuce was greeted by a pleasant coolness and the sight of snow drifting through the air. The Sun was up, but certainly not bright enough to make him feel an adverse effect.

Maybe it'd be nice to indulge in the little things his past self would do - to be excited to see the start of another season, back when it felt refreshing and magical.

"Should we go make some hot chocolate? Ace will probably want some too when he wakes up."

The 'we' caught Yuulis off-guard, but they settled into a smile tipped with curiosity. "As you wish, My Lord."

Since then, the snow has settled quite heavily in Alba. While this was of no surprise for a village placed towards the north, Yuulis had gotten used to being inside the mansion in this past month.

A draft of freezing air swept into the foyer as the door was pushed open, causing a chill to run down their body. A passive-aggressive remark was on the tip of their tongue to tell Ace to shut the door, when they noticed that he was walking oddly.

Was he hiding a limp? “You’re getting the snow inside.”

Ace didn’t bother to glance at the floor. “And?”

“I just mopped it earlier…” Yuulis sighed, knowing that the polished marble was now dirtied again. Pushing their grievances aside, they trailed behind as Ace made his way into the living room and settled onto the sofa. Upon closer inspection Yuulis could tell that his clothes were torn, and from the looks of it, Ace was probably wounded on his back and arms too.

He raised a brow at Yuulis, giving them a wary look. “If you’re just going to stare at me like a cat, you can leave now.”

“I’ll get the medicine kit.” They’ve been around long enough to know when to ignore Ace’s comments. Thankfully, they had a pretty good idea of how to treat injuries like these (working as a servant would sometimes result in accidentally burning or cutting themself). “Can you take off your shirt? I need to clean the wounds, My Lord.” Yuulis added.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Ace complied anyway, watching as Yuulis retrieved the kit and sifted through its contents. Their actions were seasoned, which was enough to answer his question. For the rest of the time Yuulis applied the disinfectant and bandaged his injuries, Ace settled into silence so that they could focus.

At the back of his mind, Ace realized that it’s been a while since anyone other than Deuce patched him up like this. Not that he got injured often enough for it to mean anything, but the feeling of letting someone take care of him was kind of nostalgic.

He shut his eyes, letting himself listen to the crackle of the fireplace. Above that, Ace could hear the rustle of Yuulis at work as they tore and attached paper tape to his back to hold the gauze in place. He wondered how the cuts would look in the mirror tomorrow morning, and let the tension seep out of his shoulders.

The post-adrenaline fatigue from earlier was starting to settle in now. Ace had been on patrol and tracked down a pack of wolves at the village borders. He wasn’t planning to fight them off at first, but ended up doing so when he noticed them nearing the farmland closest to the estate.

Alba always had an issue with wolves in the winter; the kind around here were large and strong enough to be an annual headache for him and Deuce. Most game would be hunted early in the season by the humans, thus the next source of meat other than that would be the animals raised in the farms.

Great Seven, he was getting drowsy. His mouth was starting to feel a little dry too. It was probably a consequence of exerting himself too much as he fought the wolves away. Normally, he and Deuce only slept to conserve energy, so sleeping wasn't always necessary for them.

Yuulis seemed to have picked up on this, asking Ace if he needed blood as they packed the medicine kit away. For a moment in his exhausted mind, Ace thought that they were offering their neck to him on the spot.

Well, that'd certainly be nice. Just a little, and I'd be feeling good as new.

Realizing what he just thought, Ace shifted himself away from Yuulis. He held himself in silence for a moment before huffing in faux irritation, waving Yuulis away as he flopped himself to lie down on the couch, facing its backrest so that he could speak without needing to school his expression. His could've sworn his heart was thumping.

"What do you take me for? I'm not so weak that I have to drink for every little thing." His shoulders were tense again. "Just leave me alone so I can rest."

Talk about ungrateful? Yuulis huffed to themself, getting up from the couch to put away the kit. "Alright, alright - have a good night, Master."

Ace held his breath until he heard their footsteps die away, exhaling in relief.

That was close. If he'd actually fed while in this state, there was no telling if he'd be able to control himself from draining Yuulis dry.

Resting the back of his hand against his forehead, Ace let his eyelids fall shut. By tomorrow, he'll probably be fine. And if not - he'd just have to rest more.

The next morning, Ace would be lying if he said his body wasn't aching. Though as he blinked himself awake, he noticed a glass of red liquid on the coffee table.

He forced himself to sit up, taking the note next to the drink in his hands. Deuce's familiar scrawl greeted him:

'Went out with Yuulis in case the wolves come nearby again. Drink this.'

We really are spending a lot of time around them, aren't we? Ace mused as he nursed the glass of blood. He recalled the events of last night.

It felt a bit like a fever dream, but he had to admit - it was nice to have another person around that knew how to wrap up their wounds.

#yuulis crowley #twst oc writing #twst commissions

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stormgardenscurse · 2 years

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A Treasure Found

About: A oneshot with Kalim and Yuulis for the wonderful @aulilyu!! 🦦 💌

Link to their comic here! 😳

The breeze in Scarabia was pleasantly cool at night, and the view from the lounge’s balcony proved serene enough to calm even the most troubled of souls.

The desert could make one feel smaller than they were from its vastness, compared to the warm community that otherwise lived within these walls; that was where having a friend came in handy, they supposed.

Yuulis rested their elbows on the railing of the balcony that opened up to the sky. Despite the earlier task of searching through the treasure room, they did enjoy how quiet it was here - it was the most serene moment they’ve enjoyed for a while.

“Thanks for the help, Yuulis.” Kalim smiled from beside them. “I didn’t expect you to be so good at finding things! If it was just me alone, I think I would’ve been there for days.”

"Well, I'm part of the NRC staff after all. Though why does that feel like I'm being associated with some type of thief?"

“Mmm, even if you were one, you'd be the nicest thief I've met."

...He's met thieves?

“I felt more like a hired bandit, maybe.”

Kalim laughed, a refreshing sound that Yuulis couldn’t fully trust. “Well, it’s not like I’ve had that much of an experience with either. I could tell you had a good eye though.”

Yuulis looked thoughtfully at the pair of clips in Kalim’s hand, shaped like triangles with soft curves and a delicate surface of diamonds. “I might, but I still can’t tell what those are supposed to be.”

Seeing as they were able to help find the hair clips, Kalim assumed they meant that in a decorative sense. “They’re cat ears! See?”

Kalim holds up the clips to his own head to demonstrate, earning an unconvinced look from Yuulis. “Um… Not really.”

He huffed lightly, gesturing for them to get closer. Kalim reached towards Yuulis to nimbly clip the accessories onto their head, adopting a self-satisfied grin. “There! That’s how it’s supposed to look.”

“...Kalim. If they’re on my head, I still can’t see them.”

“Oh. Right.” His smile barely wavers before he thinks of a new idea. “I’ll just take a picture then!”

…Well, if it was only just the two of them here, Yuulis supposed that’d be fine. If need be, they could simply delete it from his gallery later on.

The moment quieted as Kalim found his phone, trying to get a good angle as he walked around Yuulis. They considered for a moment that aside from his otter-like demeanor, Kalim was quick on his feet. They were sure that if he wanted, he could mask the sound of his footsteps to sneak about.

Perhaps in another life, he would’ve made a good thief. Not that Yuulis minded the current Kalim that much.

“There, see? It looks cute on you!”

A little smile made its way onto their lips. The sight of cat ears was… “I guess it does. But aren’t you worried I’ll just walk off with these without returning them?”

“Nope, these are for you, after all.” There was the brilliant smile he has when hosting guests.

For a split second, Yuulis found themself at a loss for words - he’s kidding, right? There were at least four dozen diamonds on these things!

“I… Are you sure?”

“Of course! I’ve always intended to give you something. When I saw them the other day I got reminded of you… so here we are! Sorry for needing your help searching for them though, I didn’t expect someone to move things around!”

“It’s no problem…” Yuulis touched the clips on his hair, looking at Kalim curiously. “These are definitely expensive though, even for a special gift. Just what kind of life do you have back home?”

It wasn’t confrontational - Yuulis knew to phrase their words in a softer way these days, especially with students. The staff members were still fair game though.

“Mmm, we have quite the lively household. I have a big family, after all. But because I’m supposed to inherit everything, I guess I was raised to be hospitable?” Kalim smiled, though the energy in the air had quieted to a more serious tone.

“Did you like it, growing up?”

It suddenly felt as if Yuulis could see through him - oddly enough, Kalim wasn’t too offset by that. He chuckled, more hollow than usual. Like he was remembering something. “Everyone treated me well, it was only sometimes during parties when this group of adults… I guess they were just interested in me.” He shrugged. “In the business sense. Whispering wasn’t unusual, but the way they glance at you - it can be kind of unsettling. Though I’m sure they don’t mean any harm.”

They waited for him to continue, glancing at the faraway look in his eyes.

“...Once, they offered me a new servant. One to replace Jamil.” Kalim’s gaze darkened. “They said this one would be ‘better trained’ and ‘more fitting’. I said no, of course. How could I ever think of replacing him?

“I never told Jamil though. I thought I was protecting his feelings, I guess." He laughed, though it felt empty. "But looking at things now, I should've done more."

"Why tell me something you never told your best friend?" Yuulis couldn’t help but ask.

Kalim smiled, looking up towards the sky, the stars winking like diamonds.

For a moment, it felt safe to say it.

“I guess you feel like a person I can confide in?” The air grew lighthearted again. Kalim looked down at his hands on the railing. “You don’t feel related to the picture back home. Maybe that’s why I ended up telling you.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Kalim spotted a familiar sight under the balcony. Its golden tassel peeked out from the darkness, making him shift his arms to rest differently on the handrails. He was suddenly reminded of the sky above them, even more vast than the desert they were looking over.

“Hey Yuulis, have you ever tried chasing the stars?”

Before they could offer him a response, Kalim raised himself to peer over the balcony, teetered, and leapt. Not a moment later while Yuulis almost had a heart attack and rushed forwards, Kalim’s figure floated up, cross-legged and sitting on the magic carpet they recognised from the treasure room.

I swear to–

Kalim burst into laughter at the offended look on their face. “Pfft– Wait, I’m sorry! Yuulis,” The carpet flew around to interrupt them from leaving. “Yuulis, I’m sorry.” When they crossed their arms to stare at him expectantly, he offered them his hand, outstretched.

“I know I'm not the most responsible person, but do you trust me to bring us back in one piece?"

Yuulis regarded him for a moment, before sighing and accepting his hand to pull themself up. "You better not kill us both, Kalim."

"Haha, that's the spirit!" Despite their reluctance from earlier, Yuulis had to admit that feeling the wind on their face was addicting. “When it’s dark out, we can go as fast as we want without the Sun stopping us!”

“I didn’t think the sunlight would stop you,” they commented.

“Well, if you want to do this again in the day, I wouldn’t mind.” Kalim guided the carpet higher. “I wasn’t that great of a host today with entertaining my friend, so you can come back anytime for a re-do!”

His eyes brightened as they reached an altitude just right for gliding through the sky. “It’s just that at night, I guess I like how I can see everything at my own pace? There’s no glare to mar my sight.”

Hmm… “In that case, you’d probably hate having my bangs.”

Kalim blinked, raising a hand to brush the strands near his forehead. A hearty chuckle escaped him. “I guess so! Though you seem to see things quite clearly regardless.”

Yuulis supposed they did. Though it wasn’t always to their own credit; some stories had to be heard from a person, not read from a book. Like one of a boy with garnet eyes, and the blessings of an oasis in his smile.

#TYSM FOR COMMING ME INA!!#they're so cute 😭😭#twst oc #yuulis crowley #kalim al asim #twst fic #twst commissions #commissioned work

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