#Max Trevelyan

[shadovvheart]

I think I've finally decided whom to romance with my rooks. neve and lucanis are so my type it'd be a crime not to kiss them. and I won't forgive myself if I don't romance harding after ten years of asking for her to be romanceable

[spy-battle]

Spy Losers: Round Two A

[miraakulous-cloud-district]

Ocs as song lyrics

Thank you so much for the tag @dirty-bosmer and @mareenavee 💖💖 I love this idea so much!

Rambles will be under the cut! Also, I am tagging @thelavenderelf @kiir-do-faal-rahhe @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @shitty-drawer and anyone else who wants to join in!

For Ravonna, I chose something more angsty and serious, as I'm currently writing the chapters where she will eventually be forced to come face to face with her grief. The song I chose is "The drug in me is you" by Falling in Reverse. This is like her angsty anthem in WYGTYA! The lyrics really represent how she refuses to deal with unpleasant emotions and to always hide behind the "cheery, fun bard" mask. Also, the last line could be an exploration of her feelings towards being the last dragonborn.

I felt the darkness as it tried to pull me down The kind of dark that haunts a hundred year old house I wrestle with my thoughts I shook the hand of doubt Running from my past I'm praying feet don't fail me now!

I've lost my god damn mind It happens all the time I can't believe I'm actually Meant to be here

I've said it once and I'll say it again, "Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls is Miraak's song! The pining!! The softness!! The suffering!! And these lyrics really fit into his arc of how he wants to get rid of the 'Miraak' persona once and for all because that's not who he is. He doesn't want the world to see him as 'Miraak' because they wouldn’t understand. They don't know what he's been through and how he was forced to join the Dragon Cult and become their leader. He wants people to know who he really is. And he is Fenrik, the healer from Atmora with a heart that is too soft.

And I don't want the world to see me 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand When everything's made to be broken I just want you to know who I am

For my beloved Hjaldir (who *will* be in my fic at some point, I promise), I think that the perfect song is "Slipping through my fingers" by ABBA. As of where the story is now, we don't really know what happened to him. One day he was living at the Emerald Bar Tavern as the bard, laughing and having a great time and going on several trips to High Rock to resupply the Tavern, and the next day, Ravonna’s adoptive father was assassinated, and both her and Teldryn were gone. So they all slipped through his fingers :( But Ravvy's absence hurts the most. He knew her from when she was a little kid. He watched her grow, he's been there for her in all the stages of life.

The feeling that I'm losing her forever And without really entering her world I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time I try to capture every minute The feeling in it Slipping through my fingers all the time Do I really see what's in her mind? Each time I think I'm close to knowing She keeps on growing Slipping through my fingers all the time

And now for my beloved Dragon Age ocs, because I cannot do this without including them!

For Max Trevelyan, I chose "The little things give you away" by Linkin Park. Wow, I really woke up today and chose angst, but these lyrics really fit with his family and how disapproving they are of him even just for the fact that he exists. And how becoming the Inquisitor and the one with the ability to close the rifts was the best think that happened to him, because he finally cut ties with his family. Really ironic, considering that The Anchor was slowly killing him. BUT HE IS FINE NOW, LIVING HIS BEST LIFE WITH HIS HUSBAND AND HIS ORANGE KITTY.

Don't want to reach for me, do you?

I mean nothing to you

The little things give you away

And now there will be no mistaking

The levees are breaking

And for Aedan Cousland, I went with the angsty option again. I chose this wonderful song called "Burning Daylight" by Dion Cooper and Mia Nicolai. This song could fit with several ocs of mine, but it encapsulates Aedan's feelings towards his dangerous quest and being a grey warden. It perfectly encapsulates the pressure of wanting to be a grey warden to honour his father's deathbed wish, but hating every part of being a grey warden, especially how everyone in the order hid the gory details from him before he joined. He feels like he is running out of time, but he wants to burn daylight, he wants to slow down and just live, while he still can.

From all to zero Where did I go?

Between falling and running I've been trying to get on my feet in time I've never been good at crying Always wanted to be the tough type

I'm sorry, I'm just human I'm losing myself while chasing highs I'm losing myself while chasing highs And burning daylight

[potatoesandsunshine]

like if you had a big problem (the veil between the waking and dreaming world is tearing and demons are pouring through), and you had one person in the entire world with the tool to fixing that problem (glowing hand)... you would not be cool with that person throwing himself into completely unnecessary danger for the thrill and glory of it (fighting dragons)

[theluckywizard]

Inquisitor Maxe Trevelyan

OC of @skyeventide drawn in Procreate this morning! A little detail about him from Sky: "The Inquisition is that it finally represents something that is HIS, as though Andraste finally led him to his calling. Long story short, it goes a bit to his head, and not only does he support it, he is also a little prone to turning a blind eye to its obvious overstepping national boundaries and working as a superstructural "independent" power. He embodies it at a level that slights against it are slights against him. The true dangers of its overreaching don't quite hit him in the face until Trespasser." Fics forthcoming!

[vonuberwald]

Max and Mahanon each at the end of JoH, quite pleased with themselves for wrapping it up (mostly) but very ready to rest

[spacefantasyrogue]

Maxwell Trevelyan 

Age: 22 Race: Human Height: 6'0 Gender: Male Sexuality: Bisexual Homeland: Ostwick, Free Marches

Max Trevelyan the youngest of his family and the man set to take over his father’s holdings. Max however had hoped for a different life. From a young age he had wanted to join the Templars and follow in the footsteps of others in his lineage to serve The Maker. His parents had humoured his hopes by hiring tutors to teach him swordsmanship, but ultimately they held him back for fear of losing all of their children. In 9:40 Dragon, the Trevelyans learned of the fall of the Ostwick Circle and that Russell Trevelyan had disappeared. The following year Max was sent to The Conclave at The Temple of Sacred Ashes with the intent of representing their family, but also with the task of finding his brother. Max meanwhile had hoped to use the opportunity to present himself to the templar order. Max would indeed find his brother but his path would be radically changed. 

Russell Trevelyan

Age: 27 Height: 5'10 Gender: Male Sexuality: Heterosexual Homeland: Ostwick, Free Marches

The older brother of Max Trevelyan and the shamed Mage son of the Trevelyan family. Russell was given to the Circle of Ostwick at the age of ten. He found life in the Circle horrible but recognized the privileges he was afforded thanks to his background. His mother was allowed to frequently visit him, though his father would not and eventually his brother stopped coming with their mother. When the Mages of Thedas began rebelling, the Ostwick circle was not immediately spurred to action, however rumblings began around 9:39 Dragon and eventually a number of disgruntled Mages managed to escape, aided by Russ. The group journeyed to Andorral’s Reach and on to Redcliffe by 9:41. When Divine Justinia V called The Conclave, Russ was a part of the congregation that traveled to The Temple of Sacred Ashes. There in an odd twist of fate, he was reunited with his estranged brother Max and became caught up in a whirlwind of chaos.

[sexilydrawn]

dun dun du dun Max Trevelyan

It's nice to have time with Dorian where he can be goofy he can be a little unsure, little insecure openly.

[hpowellsmith]

How would each of the ROs across all three games deal with the discovery that their partner is, in fact, a bit of a little murder-gremlin willing to manipulate, cheat, lie and do just about anything to ensure the RO's happiness? (Only slightly inspired by my beloved little schemer Aurora Duval)

Oooh interesting!

Creme de la Creme:

Hartmann: alarmed, would likely try and distance themself

Max: intrigued but has a limit on just how much badness they'd be happy with

Freddie: would really not like it

Delacroix: intrigued, would enjoy it quite a bit, has less of a limit on just how much badness they'd be happy with

Karson: compelled. Repulsed. Compelled again

Blaise: would swoon but also be mad if the MC were high-handed about it

Auguste: admiring, might start doing the same right back; along with Delacroix or Blaise, they could end up a horrible gremlin couple

Rosario: alarmed but careful about it, recognising that the MC's dangerous in a way they didn't realise or ask for

Florin: shocked, like: "why are you doing all that for me?" Not necessarily cross at the scheming but like it's A Lot

Noblesse Oblige:

Danelak: flattered and a bit confused? Maybe a bit alarmed but in an exciting way - that the MC cares enough to do it

Pascha: adores it, just absolutely melts about the situation

Rys: cautiously intrigued before falling entirely despite themself and wanting to be an incredible team about it

Royal Affairs:

Asher: bashful, flattered, shocked but on board

Beaumont: angry, unimpressed but a small part of them is pleased...? (but not enough to make them want to stick with the situation)

Dominique: shocked but also pretty impressed and a bit excited

Hyacinthe: worried for the MC and for the people they're hurting, and for themself being tangled up in it

Javi: it could go in a variety of directions but I think they'd be irritated at it being behind their back first and foremost, and maybe argue that they can handle themself

Trevelyan: would admire an MC who was willing to do what needed to be done based on their shared values (but would have some evilness caveats; the ends don't always justify the means, etc)

Thank you for the ask!

[gyrovagi]

hello and welcome to my gamer's den. here's a quick and dirty guide to the ocs i talk about constantly

CANON PROTAGS/NORMAL MEN. INNOCENT MEN:

eloy "el" surana (blood mage/arcane warrior) - i'm like if a control freak could control things ❤️ with blood magic ❤️. generally well-intentioned but hypervigilant, always playing 5d chess about the worst scenario. world's first moral (not necessarily ethical) male bigender manipulator. wields a wholly inappropriate degree of political influence in denerim

seongmin hawke (primarily diplomatic, sword + shield berserker) - afraid that his abandonment issues will leave him. pathologically conflict avoidant, fawn response to the max - up until someone he loves gets threatened, at which point good luck leaving alive lol. 'i don't think i need to talk about my feelings,' says man who just broke the arm of a templar asking around too much about the darktown clinic and then continued making casual conversation with varric as if nothing happened

ciuying "arav'assan" lavellan (archer, assassin) - king of compartmentalization. would really prefer to be one guy helping people on the ground rather than the unwilling inquisitor chained by power he never wanted, fighting for his life to be as politically uninvolved as possible. guy who is duty-bound never to return home

dak-wai (wi)thorne(s) (spellblade) - prospective rook, direct port of my bg3 durge. tal-vashoth grey warden mage seeking a righteous purpose after a complicated and bloody past, but who has yet to find a better general approach to problems than killing things with hammers.

TGIRLS SAVE THE WORLD(STATE):

sang tabris (champion) - next shem bastard who pisses me off i'm just going to fucking kill you. alistair did you eat yet ^_^. struggling to reconcile an irrepressible hope for a better world with the abject horrors he's been subjected to by the world he lives in at present. morrigan's lesbian husband.

so-min hawke (blood mage) - girl could you at least pretend not to be a chantry-hating apostate in the middle of the gallows. carver just got suddenly pissed off in a darkspawn tunnel and he knows it's not because of the genlocks

r trevelyan (rift mage) - tranquil since 18, and at age 33, honestly dealing pretty well with accidentally getting a magical lobotomy reversed. yeah ok so maybe the random prolonged neutral-expression weeping is a little off-putting. it's hard when you're the white girl who needs to save yourself

yazmin de riva (duelist) - embittered bastard child of the young lord owain trevelyan. frighteningly competent and driven, but has difficulty taking orders and working with others due to the huge chip on her shoulder. thinks lucanis dellamorte is a nepo baby

INSANE WOMEN AND MALE MANIPULATORS:

ngayu brosca (reaver) - what do you MEAN the fate of the country is dependent on two twenty-year-olds one of whom gets scared looking at the sun. has never once in her life believed she would live past twenty and that's looking increasingly likely as a prediction

rina hawke (assassin) - when you are endlessly bitter and refuse to deal with it in any healthy way because that would require you to acknowledge your resentment towards the family members you perceive as a burden. chronically insincere, subservient but seething the whole time, wouldn't be able to name a solid belief if you asked her, incapable of self-reflection. crack baby you don't know what you want...

caden trevelyan (templar) - gay transgender homophobic misogynist. has weird ideas about being a man. constantly develops obsessive fixations on authoritative older men. believes he has the divine right to mete out violence. white boy who sucks 🔥

ha-neul aldwir (slayer) - prospective rook, veil jumper. fascinated by magic and magical artifacts. something of an oddity by both dwarven and non-dwarven standards, a guy with an endless thirst for life and little interest in denying himself pleasure or dwelling in guilt, for better or worse. can be surprisingly cynical and self-interested, despite his generally upbeat, affable vibe.

PRONOUNS USERS GOING THROUGH IT/TRAGEDY WORLDSTATE;

enasa mahariel (ranger) - deadalive nothing girl who isn't. didn't anticipate that taking the vallaslin of dirthamen, twin brother to death, would be quite so prophetic. very clearly crumbling under mounting pressure while refusing to stop dragging the rotting corpse

bryn hawke (force mage) - half-avvar on malcolm's side, raised with what avvar beliefs and practices their father could half-remember from childhood. never quite at home in ferelden and struggling to come to terms with the idea they'll never be quite at home in their mother's city either. quietly shouldering other's burdens until it chokes them.

meiying lavellan (knight-enchanter) - turns out when you take an anxiety-ridden elf burdened with excess responsibility since youth out of their familiar environment and support system she'll have a bad time. solas' ex-spouse still misses him… but their aim's getting better!

orpheus ingellvar (death caller) - < he doesn't know (that he's the child of the last theirin king and the missing presumed dead hero of ferelden). surprisingly cheerful for a guy collectively raised by a bunch of necromancers, seems like a polite young man, but then he says something weird and offputting that makes you realize he's spent a lot of his life interacting with skeletons

ASSORTED GUYS:

dea surana - reserved but observant, knows it's best not to attract attention, tries to look after herself and her own in the ways she can. surprisingly worldly/cynical after her brother was taken by the templars at a young age and her life afterwards was spent largely on the road. then her situationship was like 'you know the hero of ferelden is named surana? circle mage, relative of yours?' and now she regularly talks to the king of ferelden

owain trevelyan - never really stopped hoping his older brother would come back from the circle and everything would be fine again. he's socially well-connected and charismatic, and could make for an influential heir to the house with motivation and an advantageous marriage - but he's a lot more interested in dragon hunting and boy bestiesisms with the prince of starkhaven.

valerie trevelyan - black sheep of the family, annoyed that this is more about lesbianism than being a fantasy communist. managed to pull off a 'buy my silence - for $8000 a month i will stop' ploy on her parents at 20, before she knew that this would end with her as the warden-commander's sister-in-law

ga-ying lavellan - middle sibling b/w meiying and ciuying, closer to both of them than they are with each other. tends to take things a little too lightly, an optimist unconcerned with anything outside of the clan and the present. the siblings' dads (and meiying, and his wife) are hoping the birth of his daughter will make him more serious. ciuying likes him as he is.

everybody's parents tend to be less developed than their kids are but they exist. In my mind . there's also a couple other extremely incidental fellas but they'll come up when they come up. i might also ramble about my non-da guys here but (closes my eyes and passes away silently)

[faith-less-one]

Fic: So It's You (1 / 14)

First chapter of my new AU Brennan/Cass fic! Original series here.

Brennan

Great-Aunt Lucille’s balls had been the talk of the Ostwick social season for as long as he could remember (and for quite a while before that, of course).

He used to love spying on the dancing from the gallery above, until the nanny came looking for him and his siblings and cousins, and chased them all back to bed. For years, he’d been waiting for his mother to tell him that he was finally old enough to go downstairs.

Max – the eldest of the Trevelyan siblings, five years older than him – had first attended barely a week after he turned sixteen. The heir of the family, the future Bann Trevelyan. Preparing him for his future role and showing him off to all the other noble families. Showing everyone what a good job Father had done at raising him.

Evie – his one and only sister, three years older than him – had also been allowed to attend after she turned sixteen. Showing everyone what a good job Mother had done at raising her. To start getting those marriage proposals in. More engagements are offered at one of Great-Aunt Lucille’s parties than any other date on the calendar, perhaps excepting the Grand Tourney, as Evie had once told him. He can certainly see why.

So, when he turned sixteen at the beginning of the spring, he’d been terribly excited. Finally, this year, he would be able to stand in the ballroom instead of lying on the gallery floor above. Sample the tiny nibbly bits that Great-Aunt Lucille’s eccentric Orlesian chef created especially for the occasion. Drink some of the sparkly wine that she had specially imported. Even dance! He’d made a study the previous year of which ladies rarely – if ever – got asked, and he was determined to make sure that he danced with everyone who was sat in the corners of the room pretending that all they wanted to do was eat tiny nibbly bits and sip sparkly wine while actually desperately watching the dancing. Because he knew how that felt, being left out.

And then, before he knew it, it was the evening of the ball, and he’d learned all the fashionable dances, and studied up on current events so he might have interesting things to say to people, and he’d been given a new tunic to wear, and he…

…was terrified.

Read the rest on my AO3!

[miraakulous-cloud-district]

Found the cutest template for ocs, so I have to do this! I'm turning it into a tag game because I think it would be fun to see others' ocs!

I made it for my ldb, Ravonna and of course I couldn't resist and I made Miraak as well. Of course, this is just the version of Miraak from my fic AND MY OC, HJALDIR, MY BELOVED PIRATE-BARD WHO LIVES RENT FREE IN MY MIND🥺 and also my DA:I oc, Max!

Tagging @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @kiir-do-faal-rahhe @ghostfacedbat @thelavenderelf @the-troll-of-the-bridge @shitty-drawer @nerevar-quote-and-star if you want to do it, of course! No pressure. If anyone else wants to get tagged in my silly little tag games, please let me know! 💖

They're not my ocs, but I wanted to do this with the whole fellowship from my fic, so here it is, under the cut as well as the blank format!

[potatoesandsunshine]

does the harrowing actually work or is it more of a "mages believe it works so it works" thing. like are you actually less likely to get possessed after being harrowed. it's a test you spend your whole apprenticeship being afraid of but even if you pass it i don't know if it has a 'reward'

[etdraconis]

Sometimes I wish DAO and DAI had just let us romance everyone regardless of gender. I know that's not realistic, or whatever reasoning they give for it. But damn it I want Max Trevelyan to be able to romance Solas because I just know my boy would be so giggly around the elf from the moment he met him!

[thiefbird]

for the WIP game, maybe that justsolanders and the mass effect aubreyad au?

alright! <3

So my JustSolAnders fic is also, of course, my Inky!Anders AU - I have a whole lot of bullet points!

Backstory-wise, Hawke romanced Sebastian, and she sided with the Templars. Merrill and Isabela managed to sneak Anders out of Kirkwall and onto Bela's ship, with Fenris's help(he told Hawke he wanted to do it himself, she believed him and left him to it. He told Anders something along the lines of "You don't get to not live with this. That's a worse punishment than making you a martyr: do what you can to make this right." [I don't think Anders needs to be punished for exploding the Chantry, but Fenris does.]); they also got Bethany out then, too, and some of the youngest apprentices.

Anders then eventually made his way to Ostwick's Circle, where he befriended a Mage-Templar sibling duo, Evelyn and Maxwell Trevelyan, and helped them stage the strange Ostwick exodus; unfortunately Maxwell was one of the few killed when Ostwick's Circle dissolved. Evelyn urged Anders to adopt her brother's identity, for Anders' safety, and because Maxwell would have wanted that (Anders and Max may or may not have had a romantic relationship, I haven't decided if I want to give Anders another dead lover).

As Maxwell Trevelyan, Anders became relatively well known as a voice for mage integration as opposed for isolationism, which is why he was invited to the Conclave

Leliana recognises him from Vigil's Keep (Leliana-romanced Warden, they may or may not have had a threesome with Anders. Probably did but it's never confirmed in fic), but is content to see what happens, because she can't resist a little chaos. He manages to avoid Varric until after the explosion; Varric is immediately convinced Anders is at fault (obviously Anders is the lead suspect in a Chantry-related explosion <3 ) but importantly does NOT tell Cassandra who he is at first, because Varric also knows the all-important rule Don't Talk To The Cops, and Anders' disguise is decent enough (short-cropped hair dyed black, beard also dyed black) to give him plausible deniability towards not immediately recognising him.

Solas immediately recognises Justice in Anders, but does not say anything because it's Solas. Also, he's intrigued by this guy with a spirit in him because of course he is.

In terms of general info, Bethany takes the role of Hawke, because even Varric can agree that Hawke has gone off the deep end. The only thing that could make Varric dislike Hawke is promising to lead an Exalted March on Kirkwall. Which she has done. Loghain is the Warden Contact; I am hand-waving how Bethany knows Loghain because I am do what I want. Merrill is the eluvian expert, not Morrigan, though she is also there, with a Loghain-sired Kieran; she and Merrill have a very intense and possibly leaning towards sapphic rivalry about the eluvians.

The Mass Effect Aubreyad AU WIP is a bunch of disorganised notes that I toss in there when I think of them (and mostly a list of who is what kind of Alien), but here you go!

Maybe Andromeda? Stephen would like that, EVERYTHING is a nondescript. He can name so many things after Jack if he wants to

Jack is a human. He is the most Human Guy I can think of. Platonic Ideal of Human Man

Stephen is either a drell(assassin/spy) or a quarian. I cannot make up my mind but it's definitely one of these.

I cannot decide if Diana and Sophie are humans, or asari, or if Sophie is a human and Diana is asari - they could still be cousins even if Diana is asari, and then it can be extra tragic when she dies. Bc she should have outlived Stephen by hundreds of years.

James Dillon is a turian. He is SUCH a turian. Platonic Ideal of a Turian. Probably still had A Thing with Stephen.

If not set in Andromeda, is Jack Shepard? Maybe? That would be very stressful for him. That would be very stressful for everyone. I do not think Stephen would cope well with Jack being Lazarus'd. It would be funny tho

[chasindtrevelyan]

Max is thirteen when news of a Blight spreading across Fereldan reaches Ostwick…along with a number of refugees who’d fled for their lives. While rumor had it that Kirkwall was the harbor for most refugees, it didn’t mean the other city states didn’t see their own stragglers. For the most part, the people of Ostwick were tolerant of the newcomers, so long as they were willing to work and whether it be on the farms or as servants at the noble houses, or wherever they could apply their skills. Not all of them were agreeable, some turned to banditry, others turned to living on the outskirts of society and begging for scraps.

Max himself knew little of them, only that they were strangers to their lands, and that he should treat them with kindness, but also with caution. He thought little of it, going about his days the same as he ever had.

However, there came a day when the whispers in the halls turned into a panicked meeting. Pockets of blight had been discovered and ghouls spotted roaming about the woods nearby. A search party was formed, and though he was young, Max was allowed to join on the promise that he remained with his brother. Aden was only two years older, but he was bigger and stronger and had more formal training and so it was deemed that Max would be safe enough in his company. The brothers were not about to complain, and off they went to search in the direction they were ordered.

For hours they combed the woods, but as time passed they began to suspect that they’d been sent in the least dangerous direction. Still, they kept looking…even as they began goofing around and acting the way young boys tend to when not being monitored. Their fun was interrupted when Max slipped and went tumbling down a hole, Aden jumping down after him to check that he was alright. Beyond some dirty scratches, all was well, and they turned their attention to getting back out. The lip of the hole was just beyond reach, and what roots stuck out from the ground proved too weak to be used as a means to pull themselves up.

There was a cave several meters further in, which they considered as another possible exit, but with no clear idea where it might lead other options had to be considered first. They were discussing the possibility of Aden boosting Max out of the hole and going for help when they heard it. A shuffling noise, followed by a low groan. Turning, they both froze.

A ghoul.

It appeared to be a woman in a dirty, tattered dress, but her face was clearly disfigured by blight, her eyes milky and dead looking. They’d been told what to look for, and she certainly fit the bill. More shuffling from deeper into the gloom of the cave told them that she was not alone. They couldn’t stay here. They had to get out.

Aden crouched, hands cupped in front of him.

“Get over here!”

Max didn’t try to argue, he went, bracing a foot in his brothers hands and reaching for the lip of the hole as he was hefted upwards. He dug his fingers into the dirt and stone and clawed his way forward until he could stumble to his feet. He twisted back around, reaching down, but Aden shook his head.

“I’m too heavy, you’ll just be pulled back in. Go find father and the others!”

He wanted to argue, to beg, but he knew better. Aden was right, and the only way to save him was to find more people. He scrambled to his feet, and took off in the direction he knew the others had gone, yelling for help as he went. Adrenaline and fear replaced fatigue, and he ran even as his legs began to ache and his lungs began to burn. He didn’t know how far he went before he found the others, but he all but knocked his father over as he stumbled into him. His concern was plain, but Max had no air to explain, so he simply yanked on his fathers arm and pulled him back the way he’d come, gasping Aden’s name only once.

It was enough, his father remounted his horse, hauling Max up behind him and he and the others set off in the direction the youngest Trevelyan indicated. He was not allowed near the hole once they reached it, held in place by one of the soldiers as a precaution while his father and another soldier reached the lip and reached down, hauling Aden up only moments later. He was alive, if a bit bloody, and though it clearly pained his father to do it, he ordered everyone to keep a distance as they escorted the boys back home. Another contingent would be sent out to deal with the remaining ghouls.

Once they arrived, Aden was whisked away out of sight and Max was led to a separate room to be checked over. When it was clear he was unhurt, he was sent to his room with strict instructions to eat something and get some sleep. Wearily, he agreed, though his sleep was fitful and broken up by nightmares. When morning came and Aden was still nowhere to be seen, he went looking for his father and was told that Aden had been quarantined in the infirmary until further notice. Until they could be certain he had not been infected with the Blight, they could risk no others going near him.

Max’s protests fell on deaf ears, and when he refused to relent, he was ordered back to his room. He opened his mouth to argue further, but a sharp smack had him closing it and spinning on his heal to leave the room. Message received.

Unfortunately for his father, he seemed to have forgotten that Max was not one to listen to rules when it came to his closest sibling. Once out of sight, he made his way to the halls used primarily by the servants, one of which contained a back door to the infirmary. To their credit, the door was locked, but Max knew how to get into places he shouldn’t and he had the lock undone in a matter of minutes and he slipped inside the room after making sure it really was deserted. He could see Aden sitting next to the window and he darted in his direction without a moment’s hesitation.

It was foolish and reckless. Aden could be tainted, and by exposing himself, he very well could become so too if that were the case. But he didn’t care. If Aden was tainted, they would leave him hear until he died, and then deal with his body afterwards and Max refused to let that happen. If Aden was tainted, he would not let his brother die alone.

Aden was, understandably, furious with him. Yelling all manner of things about how much of an idiot he was being, things he knew their father was likely to parrot later should they both survive this ordeal. But eventually he ran out of steam, and though clearly still angry, he did not turn Max away when he tucked himself against his side.

He would stay, for better or worse, he would stay.