#Zari is bad at this | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

beloveddawn-blog · 10 months ago

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Our Doubts Are Traitors (Sequel to The Course of True Love)

Zari/Lucius

After the stunning beginning of Zari breaking Lucius's nose, things are finally getting back on track. Well, for a given value of 'on track' at least...

Zari put her hands on her hips and nodded sharply in satisfaction. All the greenhouses were now set up, with seedmakers and chests and all. She’d have to remember to put in an extra seed maker later (they took forever to make the seeds) but overall she was pleased with the new technology. Pocket dimensions fascinated her, and she was glad to see them becoming more available for practical uses.

She turned and gave a little shriek as she realized Sass was right behind her, silently watching. The demon blinked once, slowly, then held out a penguin. “Helios said we were only allowed to spend fifty thousand at the pet store today. I got you Octavius.”

Zari smiled at her friend, glad to know what the creepy lurking was about. “Thanks. I’m still keeping S.1.F.E.R. though. I don’t care that you think it ‘moves like a spider and is therefore creepy by default’, I think it’s cute.”

Sass turned her nose up as if to imply the thought had never crossed her mind, then started towards the entrance. Zari brushed her skirt off and followed. “If you want to be followed around by the literal spy bot, far be it from me to stop you. Maybe when you and your bashful beau finally make some progress you’ll have a thought towards privacy…”

Zari stumbled just as she stepped through the portal, but her friend caught her on the other side before she could faceplant. “SASS!” She shrieked, indignant. She then immediately regretted her outburst when it seemed to summon the other two out of thin air. Now that both of them were happily married (Char had finally locked it down with the Doctor, and Helios and Lynn were just as sappy and sentimental as ever) they were always on the lookout for other relationship drama.

“Ooh, for you to be that easy for Sass to needle this must be good!” Char exclaimed, rubbing her hands together excitedly. The action caused small sparks to fly off, which Helios expertly deflected from his somehow-still-white hoodie. He often put down his skill at defending himself to a byproduct of living with Char. Zari privately agreed, but had wisely chosen to sidestep that entire prank war.

“Yeah, Zari, tell us how your conquest is going!” Helios enthused, tilting down his sunglasses to shoot her a sly look. “You’ll disappear to Nel’Vari for days sometimes, only to return with more fire crystals for me and an absolute tonne of fish.”

“You make it sound like you don’t like the aquarium.” Zari replied, breezing past them towards the house. It was already dark out. Maybe if she just went to bed they’d all get distracted in the morning and leave her alone.

“The aquarium is fine.” Helios replied, his caffeine buzz making it easy for him to keep up even as the other two girls fell behind. “Those aren’t the fish I’m talking about and you know it.”

Her plan to go to bed and completely ignore them was foiled when Helios followed her right into her room and settled on the throne next to the wardrobe. She glared at him and he smiled sunnily back at her. The other two finally arrived, and they pulled the giant pink teddy bear across the floor to where they could use it as a seat. Zari softened as she gazed at her friends all clustered around, like they used to do back when farming was new to them all and there was only one bed in a tiny, one room cabin. It had been a long time since they had been together and cozy like this, and she had missed it. Not Sass’s cold feet or Helios’s snoring, but the knowledge that it wasn’t just her against this colossal task with the fate of everyone she cared for in the balance. That she was part of a group, a team, a little family that would support and aid her however she needed.

Char stroked down Chipper’s back while Sass clutched the Ghost Snaccoon plush to her in her eagerness. Helios, however, was still, content to just stare her down from his cozy curl on the throne.

She sighed and gave up pretending she was going to go to sleep. “Alright, fine. What do you want to know?”

Sass and Char gave little whoops of excitement while Helios just grinned smugly once again. It was, to no one’s surprise, Char who spoke up first. “Have you kissed yet?”

Zari flushed, and was glad that her skin tone made it harder to tell. “Ummm… No.” All three of them gasped in surprise and leaned forward. “Not… well, after… After that incident…” Sass and Helios couldn’t contain their laughter any more and started giggling, but Char leaned so far forward in excitement she fell off the pink bear and onto the floor. Chipper squeaked and escaped, choosing instead to watch from beneath the throne. Zari couldn’t help but feel that even the squirrelbear was laughing at her.

“He took a big step back after I accidentally punched him in the face and is now super concerned with overstepping and making assumptions, okay? He’s always had a tendency to overthink and this has made it worse. Is that what you wanted to hear?” She bit out, suddenly so angry. It was mostly at herself for making someone she cared so deeply for so hesitant around her, but in this moment it bubbled over right at her friends.

Her friends, who knew her better than she knew herself sometimes. Helios shifted to the bed to wrap an arm and a wing around her in comfort while Sass threw her plush at her. Zari smiled as she caught the snaccoon and gave it a big squeeze. She buried her face in it, took a deep breath, and let her anger go. She mumbled out the next bit, her face still hidden in the soft fur. “He told me he didn’t want to rush into anything too intense, like a casual friendship. He’s more friendly and outgoing than I think even he knows. It’s just… it’s hard to see how little he thinks he’s worth in others’ eyes. Like, he knows his job is super important and that he’s good at it, and he knows that he was chosen by the moon specifically for this sacred duty… But he truly believes that he could be replaced with someone else capable of doing the work and no one would even notice, let alone wonder about him. When I got up the nerve to ask him to go out with me he honestly thought Vaan put me up to it as a joke. I mean… I guess it’s nice he knows Vaan notices him? But also that’s a really low bar to meet. And I… apparently haven’t been exactly subtle in my admiration. But he still didn’t expect it, and that… it makes me sad.”

“Of course it does.” Sass replied, giving her friend a soft smile she didn’t usually pull out. “You care, so it hurts you that no one else seems to. You always want the best for those around you. That’s what makes you such a good friend and such a good Champion.”

“It makes me more comfortable when I feel like I can’t get anything right.” Char agreed, nodding seriously. “It’s a big part of why I had the courage to make a move on my honeybun, you know? You make it easy to believe in myself because your belief in me is so strong and so clear. Lucius might not know what to make of it now, if it is as new to him as you say it is, but I’m sure he’ll come around to rely on it the way we do. He’d be a fool not to.”

Zari blushed brighter and squeezed the snaccoon so hard she could hear the seams strain. “Thanks guys, it means a lot to hear that. Especially when things get a little… disheartening.”

“Disheartening how?” Helios asked, voice suddenly flinty. For a moment Zari could imagine him marching into Nel’Vari in full battle gear and demanding at swordpoint why Lucius was being difficult. Oh, he wouldn’t actually do it, but for a just a moment it was easy to imagine he would.

“It’s nothing big.” She reassured him, laying a soft hand on his arm. “It’s just… I went to see him the other night and some of the other moon attendants were giving him grief for being distracted lately. They then made a comment that implied that the marks on his arm are divine punishment, not a lovely birthmark or tattoo like I had assumed. When I went to comfort him about it he panicked and jumped in the pond. I… ah… had to leave before he could finish drowning himself, he was that desperate to avoid me. And I… well… I came back here? Because he obviously wanted space? He told me the next day he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet and I don’t want to pressure him but he seems to think me just being there is pressure.”

The other three all blinked at her, oddly in unison. Sass finally broke the silence. “You know, after you punched him in the nose I honestly thought he was going to have to be the competent one in this relationship. I really wasn’t expecting a race to the bottom.”

Zari tilted her head to the side, considering. “I don’t actually think the punch to the face was the big problem there. His favourite animals are the raccoons despite the fact that they still hiss and scratch at him. He calls them ‘noble creatures’ and ‘delightful’. I think it was more me telling him he was standing too close that caused all this trouble.”

There was another moment of contemplative silence before Helios turned to Sass. “I’m not surprised in the least that Lucius is a sub but I’ll see your race to the bottom and raise you Zari as a dom!”

The Course of True Love

Dedicated to @minnieposting who I was discussing this idea with.

This is based on the fact that when Lucius became a romanceable character, Teleri went from like seven hearts with him to two. I didn't even do anything! But Teleri isn't the farmer romancing this elf, Zari is.

Zari/Lucius

2200 words

Rated T for some language and implications.

Zari grinned as Lucius laughed, pleased to be making her new friend happy. He had been the first person she’d met when she was new in Nel’Vari and what a welcome he had been! Her favourite part of him at first had been his clear dislike of shirts, though it had quickly been overshadowed by his dry sense of humour and easy-going demeanour. He was reserved, for sure, and obviously had gotten so used to being ‘the strange one’ that he didn’t even try to make real friends anymore, but Zari had persisted. He hung out most often on the bank of one of her favourite fishing spots in Nel’Vari, so it hadn’t actually been that hard to strike up conversation with him.

It had not escaped her notice that he hid from the citizens at the very edge of the city, any more than it had escaped her notice that they had managed to stick her even further out.

Their casual camaraderie had slid quite easily and unstoppably into a crush that Zari could no more halt than she could halt breathing, making her heart race and her palms sweat every time he was near. She always scanned for his name on the notice board, searched for his striking hair wherever she went in town, and swooned the days she was lucky enough to see him. She kept her wild heart a secret, however, and never spoke of it. He had made it clear, in a thousand little ways and a hundred bigger ones, that his attention, devotion, and zeal was reserved for the Moon and only the Moon. As he adored the moon, so too did Zari adore him: near (but not near enough), true (yet unwantedly different), and steadfast.

Then, one day, something changed.

Lucius was not at the riverbank as expected.

Lucius was not anywhere he could normally be found.

Zari had fretted herself into a total state before finally working up the nerve to question Opal about it. She was the only other person Lucius really interacted with… which made her the only person who ever could spill her secret to the man in question. It was enough to make Zari unreasonably wary of the other woman, despite the fact that Opal… actually didn’t seem to care too much about what was going on around her.

As evidence, her complete disinterest in the strange behaviour of her coworker.

“He’s apparently ‘working through some things’.” She replied, doing full air quotes and rolling her eyes. “Which is fine, but do it on your own time. Nel’Vari doesn’t run itself, you know. The moon attendants are vital to the health of the city and all who live in it. It is not a duty that can be shirked.”

“Is he alright, though?” Zari asked, even more worried than she had been before she got her question answered. Opal sighed longsufferingly.

“Ask him yourself tomorrow when I drag him out of the Temple by his ear and make him work.” She replied, glowering in a way that made it clear to Zari the conversation was over.

Only… It turned out she didn’t have to go looking for him. There, standing next to the path to her farm, was the exact person she was looking for.

He had come looking for her.

The usual butterflies that took root in her stomach when she saw him went on a rampage, with all of her worry and love coiling together like a nest of snakes in the very core of her. All of this together put her on the very edge of her last nerve, and she couldn’t help the grating giggle or high-pitched squeak she made as she called out to him.

“Lucius! Hi! I haven’t seen you around lately!”

He broke into a heart stoppingly sweet smile when he noticed her, though one ivory brow winged curiously upwards.

Even that made her swoon.

“Zari!” He replied, stepping forward and gathering one of her hands in his. She flinched, entirely startled and too on-edge to hide it.

They had never touched before.

His face pinched in with concern at her unusual reactions. He’d seen her arm in arm with Sass or Helios plenty of times, and even all over Char as the two giggled and raced through the woods together. He knew Zari wasn’t leery of contact. She smiled reassuringly at him, though from the way his lips turned down she assumed it must have come out rather sickly.

Those beautiful lips…

Zari gave herself a full body shake and focussed her attention back on Lucius, who was now looking rather concerned. “I haven’t seen you in days! I was worried something might have happened to you.” She confessed, noting how that simple admission caused him to relax so swiftly.

“I have been… preoccupied.” He admitted, glancing down momentarily and rubbing a thumb contemplatively over her knuckles. “I needed time with just the Moon and myself to understand exactly why.”

Time without you. Zari heard, clear as day. There was no one else to avoid. There was no one else who sought him out the way she did. No one else that cared like she did.

“Oh.” She replied softly, pain lancing through every nerve as her heart broke. She offered him whatever pitiful remains of a smile she could muster up, and charged right through this conversation without pausing to note the way concern laced his face as he seemed to recognize the agony in her. “Oh, I see. It’s… It’s fine, I get it. I’m glad you enjoyed your little sabbatical, because let me tell you, Opal is pissed that she’s had to do all your work for the last week.”

“Zari…”

“And I wouldn’t want to piss her off, she seems like the sort to take it personally, you know? So I’m sure you’re going to be really busy this week as well…”

“Zari…”

“And I’ll miss my favourite view coming into town, of course, but you do what’s best for you…”

“Starlight…”

“And I know the whole chest thing isn’t about me! I promise I know that…”

“Favourite… View…”

“It’s just most people who hang around the edges of town dressed in as little as you dress in are looking for company rather than avoiding it, and sometimes a girl thinks a few things before knowing better, you know?”

“Company.” He repeated with distaste, obviously getting the reference, before leaning in closer to take a better look at Zari, who was full on panicking now.

“It’s just that you have such nice shoulders and such a striking colour and it hits like a punch to the face…”

CRACK!!!

Both of them stilled, the sound of bone splintering echoing through the trees around them. Lucius let go of her to raise his own hand to his face, carefully catching the first drops of too-bright red to mar his cool colour palette as they ran down his face, the contrast emphasizing just how out of place they were.

Zari laughed, high and hysterical. “That was meant to be a mime.” She blubbered through her maniacal giggles. “It was supposed to be a mime of a hit, you weren’t actually supposed to be that close to me.”

Lucius’s eyes shuttered as he took a step back, still cradling his face. “I see. I’ll make sure I do not encroach again.”

Zari’s wings flared with power. She couldn’t stop her hysterics, she’d been wound too tight for too long, but that didn’t stop her from healing what she’d done.

Well, healing the physical, at least. She watched in despair, still cackling, as Lucius turned on his heel and disappeared into the forest.

Her laugher turned to tears, and eventually to quiet as she lay there, no one else coming by to check on her. No one ever came this far out except Lucius, and now even he wouldn’t.

And it was all her own fault.

It was Helios that had grabbed her off the forest floor, of course it had been. He’d come thundering through the woods like he was perusing the hounds of hell, mounted of his own hellhound, and scooped her right up to ride with him. He scolded her all the way back to the Nel’Vari house about losing contact and staying out past bedtime, but subsided when she burst into a fresh set of tears when he mentioned inconveniencing the elves.

He just sighed, promised her they would talk the next day, and yanked her at full sprint through the house. They collapsed on the single bed (so reminiscent of the first season her friends all came to visit her, back when all four of them would squish into one tiny bed) and he almost immediately passed out. Zari had just a moment to appreciate just how good her friends were to her before she followed him into oblivion.

The next day Helios was off like a shot, apparently having forgotten he’d promised to talk to her. She smiled into her pillow, charmed by how adorably eager he was to go see his wife, then her mood fell as her own abysmal failure to communicate with a person she liked struck her again. She melted back into her bed, suddenly feeling like even moving was going to be too much for today. It was unusual, she was always so energetic, but today she just… couldn’t.

Char came to find her around noon, apparently having been tipped off by Helios that she wasn’t feeling well. Zari hadn’t moved.

The fire elemental curled up next to her, using her whole body like a heating pad, and ran her fingers softly through her short black hair. They stayed like that, lost in the act of giving and receiving comfort. Finally, Zari felt strong enough to speak. “I messed up.”

Char hummed thoughtfully. “I’m sure we can fix it. You fixed it when I fireballed the fence, and I fixed it when Sass accidentally took out the daisies at the end of Hive Row. And Helios didn’t even actually ban you from Sustainable Forestry when you messed up planting trees in rows. We can help. Fixing things is what we do. Except Sass, who I’m pretty sure is actually trying to start her own Zoo.”

Zari snorted. “This isn’t just about us, though. I… may have been mean to Lucius?”

She could just feel Char narrowing her eyes, even though she couldn’t see it. “... I doubt that. You’re head-over-heels for him. I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

That got Zari’s attention. “How did you know???” She hissed, shooting up to sitting and accidentally knocking Char onto the floor. The other girl glared at her from her new prone position.

“It’s not like it’s a secret.” She replied, obviously peeved. Her expression softened into shock at the panicked look on Zari’s face. “By the Flame, did you seriously think it was? Everyone knows, Zari! Please, please tell me you didn’t actually think that was a secret?”

Zari buried her face in her hands as her wings snapped out and vibrated in distress.

“Oh, Flame.” Char cursed. She ran her hands down her own face with an exasperated groan. “Okay. Okay. This is still manageable. What did you say to him?”

“... I… said it was fine he never wants to talk to me anymore..”

“See? That’s manageable.”

“... Then I implied he dresses like a whore.”

“... Not ideal, but still manageable.”

“Then I punched him in the face and broke his nose.”

“Zari!”

“It was an accident! He was holding my hand and I panicked!”

“And you broke his nose? He’s going to think you don’t want him to touch you!”

“...”

“What did you do?”

“I, ah, I flinched? When he grabbed my hand? I wasn’t expecting the motion!”

“Why are you like this?”

“I don’t knowwwwww!” She wailed, throwing her hands in the air.

Char sighed expressively, but before she could say anything the door was flung open, echoing through the house.

“THAT DOES IT!” Sass’s voice rung from the stairs. “NONE OF YOU ARE ALLOWED TO TALK TO ANYONE YOU LIKE WITHOUT A SIGNED PERMISSION FORM AND AN APPROVED SCRIPT.”

Char pouted. “That’s really unfair. Zari is the one that messed up!”

“YOU MISSED YOUR FIRST DATE WITH DOCTOR WORNDHART BECAUSE YOU WERE BUSY FIGHTING OUR OWN SCARECROW.” The indignant voice was getting closer, and both other girls sulked back from it. “THEN YOU WANTED TO SHOW UP AT HIS HOUSE AT 6 AM IN A WEDDING DRESS AND HOLDING A DIAMOND AS AN APOLOGY! HELIOS HAD TO SIT ON YOU IN THE BOUTIQUE!” The demon stormed into the room as she continued to shriek at them, pointing an accusing finger before her. “THIS APPLIES TO YOU TOO.”

“I, on the other hand, am married, so I actually am exempt.” Helios commented, strolling in behind her with a shit eating grin on his face. “Suck it.”

Sass turned her accusing finger on him then. “Not. Helping.”

“Of course I’m not. Char has somehow wooed her paramour through repeated hospital visits and blue roses, and Zari has charmed Lucius enough for him to initiate physical contact. They don’t actually need help, so instead I’m going to laugh at them.” He grinned, sharp and sharklike, “Serves them right for making fun of me first!”

#sun haven #my writing #Zari #Lucius #not edited as I was feeling impatient #Zari is bad at this #Lucius is somehow even worse #it... works for them. Somehow.

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