#also be nice to auguste i see yall talking shit in the tags of the last part :')

[nikanndros]

The Post-Canon Time Travel AU

[Prologue] [Act I: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5] [Act II: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5] [Act III: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4]

Act III, Part 5.

Laurent storms out of his rooms, leaving Damen alone, and towards the practice courts. He needs to calm down - and he’d love to knock someone around to do it. When Laurent gets there, he looks up and sees Nikandros, and thinks, Perfect, someone else I have hurt.

Nikandros looks over at his entrance, and does not look pleased. “Your highness,” he says, dipping his head but not too much. Some things really don’t change.

“Nikandros,” Laurent says. “Would you like to hit me?”

Confusion clouds his face. “Excuse me?”

Laurent gestures to the courts. He’d been planning on getting a sword, but sometimes being up close and physical with violence is better. “Wrestle with me.” He starts unlacing his undershirt. He’d forgotten to put his jacket back on.

Nikandros is still hesitating. This is their first proper interaction in this world, it’s no wonder he’s confused.

“Come on,” Laurent says. “Don’t pretend you haven’t thought of fighting me.”

“Keep your pants on,” Nikandros replies, bending down to take off his sandals.

-

Nik rolls off of Laurent and they both lie there, in the dirt, breathing heavily.

“You’re not awful,” Nikandros says, finally. Which is actually kind of gracious of him, considering he has just beat Laurent three times straight.

“You were the one teaching me,” Laurent replies.

“Ah,” Nikandros says. He turns his head to look at Laurent. “It truly is you then? From the other world.”

“Yes.”

Nikandros laughs. “Look at you,” he says. “You’re not even threatened by me. Damen tends to rose tint his relationships, so I had had some hope that you weren’t as wonderful and in love as he said.”

Laurent sighs. He supposes they should have had this conversation a lot earlier. In his old life, Laurent had been something like friends with Nikandros, and he finds that he does not want to ruin that potential in this life. “I’m not sorry,” he says. “But I do regret that you’ve been hurt, in this world.”

“Well,” Nikandros says, sitting up. “It helps to know that I’m much better at wrestling than you.”

Laurent shakes his head. “You taught me,” he tells him again. “My lack of prowess is only a comment on your teaching skills.”

“If that helps you sleep at night.”

Laurent sits up too, so that they are side by side, and it feels almost like comradery. “I do feel threatened by you, for what it’s worth,” Laurent admits. “I know Damen loves me, I have faith in that never changing. But you’re a good person. There are things that I’ve done that I don’t think you would ever do.”

“Like murder his brother?” Nik asks, with a raised eyebrow.

“Ah,” Laurent says. “No. We have that one in common, actually.”

“Really?”

“Damen didn’t tell you.”

Nikandros shrugs and looks away. “He hasn’t told me much about your old world. Except that you were both kings and your brother died at Marlas.”

“Yes,” Laurent agrees. He frowns at the reminder of Auguste. “And now it turns out I’m not a very good brother.” He doesn’t know why he admits this to Nik, except that he’s always been a trustworthy person, and also Laurent doesn’t really have anyone else to talk to right now. Damen is the only other person who knows everything, and sibling talk has long been an uncomfortable subject between them.

Nikandros gives Laurent an appraising look. “Asking me to fight you earlier was because you fought with your brother then?”

Laurent shrugs. “I don’t remember us ever fighting before Marlas.”

Nik scoffs. “I can guarantee that you fought.”

“No,” Laurent says.

“Siblings fight,” Nikandros insists. “I have a younger sister, who I love dearly, but when we were six I tried to give her away to the town witch.”

“Why?”

“She was high-pitched and bossy and she used to pull my hair.”

Laurent laughs. He can’t imagine it, because it’s impossible to imagine Nikandros as anything but a stoic adult. “I think our disagreement is worse than that.”

“Go talk to him, now that you’re calm,” Nikandros says.

Laurent nods, and stands up, collecting his undershirt. “Nikandros,” Laurent says, pulling his shirt on.

“Yes?”

“You’re not awful, either.”

-

Laurent walks to Auguste’s rooms without going back for his jacket. He thinks if he makes a detour he’s going to get caught up in overplanning or he’ll run into Damen and it’s best if he just gets this out of the way.

Jord is guarding the door, and he looks about as happy to see Laurent as usual, so not at all happy.

“Let me in,” Laurent says.

Jord frowns, and gives Laurent a suspicious once over. “Why?” he says.

“Really?” Laurent replies. “Look at me: it’s not like I have any weapons on me. The worst I can do at this point is yell.”

Jord knocks on the door and announces Laurent’s request to enter. There is a very long pause in which Laurent is concerned that he’s about to be sent away, and then Auguste calls for him to enter.

Auguste looks… well, he looks like he’s recently had a devastating fight with his only living relative. He’s sitting on his lounge, with a goblet of wine, and he looks at Laurent for only a moment before he’s clenching his jaw and looking away.

“Brother,” Laurent says, stepping into the room.

Auguste says, “I have to admit, I was really starting to believe you this time. You must be so proud.”

“Stop,” Laurent says. “Let’s talk about this. Calmly. Please.”

Auguste waves a hand, a sign for Laurent to go ahead.

“Firstly,” Laurent says. “I wanted to apologise for what I said to you. I know I tend to lash out verbally, when I’m upset and I’m trying to work on that, but it’s no excuse for… I shouldn’t have said that you were like uncle. You’re nothing like him. I know that, and I only said it because I knew it was what would hurt you the most.”

“On the contrary, what hurt me the most was finding out you blame me for everything after all.”

“I don’t,” Laurent says. He takes another step forward and then takes a seat next to Auguste. “I shouldn’t have said that either. What happened after Marlas was neither of our faults.”

“Fine,” Auguste says. He still won’t look at Laurent and so Laurent reaches out and takes his brother’s hand.

“Please look at me,” Laurent says. “I know that it must have been unsettling to walk in on me and Damianos, and I obviously know how it can be to get irrationally upset-”

Auguste pulls his hand away. “I’m not being irrational.”

“Auguste,” Laurent says. “We were just kissing. Consensually. And you tried to murder him.”

“No,” Auguste replies. “You were being intimate with our enemy, with the full knowledge that I did not approve.”

“I love you,” Laurent says. “And I respect you as my king. But I am an adult and it’s not entirely your choice who I want to let into my bed.”

“You’ve never shown an interest in anyone else before,” Auguste says.

“Damianos is not quite like anyone else.”

“That’s true. Damianos’s lover murdered his brother,” Auguste says. “I’m sure the idea appeals to you: finding your own lover to do your dirty work.”

“That,” Laurent begins, and then he closes his mouth. “You think I am seducing him so he’ll kill you for me.”

“You didn’t think of that? I’m not an idiot, I know you allying yourself with an enemy king is not a good sign.”

“No, I thought of it,” Laurent says. “I just didn’t think you would.” And it hurts to know that Auguste, who was always good-hearted and blind to the worst things in life, has had to adapt to be wary of betrayal. Laurent did this - he has hurt his brother so much that he now looks for hidden motives in things. He thinks Laurent is capable of murdering him.

“Prove me wrong,” Auguste replies. “End your dalliance with him.”

“I love him,” Laurent says.

“You barely know him,” Auguste says. “You’re truly going to put a few days of sneaking around with a foreigner, ahead of a lifetime as my brother?”

“No!” Laurent says. “It’s not like that.”  Except that it is. Laurent has gone about this entire situation wrong, in his eagerness to see Damen and fix everything as fast as possible. They shouldn’t have been romantically involved at all for this trip. Laurent should have suggested going back to Ios with the Akielons to fine-tune the alliance, or get a better understanding of the country, and then they could have had a long, drawn out courtship over there. Laurent succumbing to months of positive attention and affection is more believable than a fortnight of making love.

He wants to tell Auguste the truth, but he can’t. Vere doesn’t believe in magic and myths about caves. And Auguste already doesn’t trust Laurent - he has no reason to believe that Laurent was telling the truth and not just enacting another elaborate ploy. And he has no proof to make Auguste believe him, just a series of memories in his head that never happened here.

“I’m going to talk to Damianos,” Laurent says, slowly. “And then I’ll come back and we can talk this through properly.” He has to figure something out. He has to think. 

“Wonderful,” Auguste says, taking a long sip of wine. “Tell him to bring his sword this time.”

-

“I have a plan,” Laurent says, walking into Damen’s rooms.

“Hello lover,” Damen replies, stepping in from the balcony. “It’s nice to see you again too.”

Laurent sighs and moves into Damen’s space so that he can kiss him hello. “I’m sorry,” Laurent says, quietly against his mouth. “I know I was awful earlier.”

“You were emotional,” Damen says. “It’s okay.”

“You’re not going to like the plan.”

Damen takes a step back. He looks wary. He generally looks wary whenever Laurent announces a new plan. “Alright,” Damen says.

“We need to end our relationship,” Laurent says. “Temporarily. And I’m going to work on Auguste. It will take a while, you should probably go back to Ios for some time, but all I really need to do is convince him that I have no interest in betraying him.” He’ll give away his lands and work more on making sure that the people love their King more than they love their wayward Prince. He can figure that out. And then once Auguste understands that Laurent has changed, he will slowly reintroduce the idea of Laurent wanting a lover.

“How long will it take?” Damen asks.

“I don’t know. Maybe a couple of years. I know it’s not ideal, and it’s a risk, but it’s the easiest way to resolve this without my brother declaring war on you.”

“I don’t like this.”

“I know,” Laurent says. “And I know it’s selfish of me to ask you to wait for me. And if you want to take a lover while I’m away, I won’t stop you-”

“Will you stop trying to convince me to take a lover?” Damen says, frustrated.

He doesn’t want Damen to be with anyone else. He loves him like nothing else. Damen is the other half of Laurent’s soul and Laurent knows that he wouldn’t survive without Damen - not anymore, not with how connected they are. But he also knows that Damen is strong, and wonderful and brave - and that Damen does have his flaws, but he also has an inherent capacity for good that Laurent doesn’t.

Or maybe, all of this, the magic cave and the new world they’ve been thrust into, has just been here to teach Laurent a lesson. He is young and he is selfish and he is clinging desperately to his brother and Damen so tightly that he will drown them in the end. Perhaps the whole point of this is to show Laurent that he-

“I don’t deserve you,” Laurent says, realises, admits. “And you have done nothing bad enough to deserve someone like me.”

“Laurent,” Damen says, frowning, “where is this coming from?”

“In every life I am duplicitous,” Laurent says.“I have been plotting to kill my own brother for years.” And it is like every insecurity that Laurent has ever felt is suddenly in the forefront of his mind, and he can’t stop them from spilling out. Damen is a good person. Auguste is a good person. Laurent is just the common factor between them - he is not good, he tries to be, but sometimes he thinks he never had that capacity.

“That’s not you.” Damen looks thrown and concerned and hurt, because of course he does - Laurent is hurting him once again.

“It is!” Laurent says. “It is a version of me. And I am no better in the life you knew me. I had you lashed to the brink of death. I had you drugged and tried to have you raped-”

“That is in the past,” Damen cuts in, quickly, because he does not like thinking about these things. “And it was an attempt, it didn’t happen-”

“That doesn’t mean the intention wasn’t there!” Laurent replies. “And then Ancel actually did-”

“Why are we speaking of this?!”

“Because I’m trying to make you see sense! I am not worthy of you. I have done unforgivable things in this life and in the one before.”

“Stop,” Damen orders, but Laurent is past the point of listening.

“You could go and be with Nikandros, and learn to love him back. You will be happy like the other version of you was. And he will support you and kill for you and he won’t make you wait around for him.”

“Stop this!” Damen says. “I don’t care if you think you aren’t worthy of me. I don’t even care if it’s true - which it’s not. I want you. I love you. And you don’t get to presume to tell me where my line is. I have forgiven you. I have survived the worst parts of you and I have learnt to love you. It is my choice, not yours.”

“It’s the wrong choice!”

“Not to me.”

Laurent breathes out, he feels his shoulders slump in defeat. “I don’t have a plan,” he admits, quietly. “I don’t know if it’s possible for us to -- to overcome this. I cannot choose between you, I cannot force Auguste to trust us. I am stuck. Perhaps I am meant to give up you both.”

Damen shakes his head. “That’s it,” he says. “We’re doing this my way.”

“What?” Laurent says.

“Follow me,” Damen says, and then he’s pushing his way out of the door.

[drawgreenday]

YAAALLL (detective work + lil contest)

So i managed to reach over 250 of yall that follow me!! .......why though quq

Anyways, to celebrate this occasion (and the fact that I still don’t understand why any of yall actually like my stupid doodles) I’m gonna do a little something to get you guys more involved than just submitting things to me and waiting like 3 days for me to get to it (my ask box is a war zone im drowning in suggestions yall). 

Basically what I’m doing is holding a little doodle contest and a small detective work thing! But I’m not just gonna have yall do this without a lil something in return, yknow?

!!!!!!THERE WILL BE ART REWARDS!!!!!!

and I don’t mean like my regular doodles, I mean as if I was gonna do a commission or a request, like so:

So how do you get art rewards??? Well...

Firstly! I’m usually the one making up doodles to your suggestions yknow? But I’m gonna turn the tables on YALL for a hot second. “But what if I can’t draw?” some may ask, and I don’t care if the best you can do is stick figures, i wanna see how creative yall are!!!! “uummm didnt you make this to draw our suggestions?” ...yes good point but I wanna see what yall can do, yknow!!!

For this one, I’m having three prompts for yall to draw (or write if you wanna!) out! I’ll pick two people from this! The first winner will be based on creativity and how well they responded to the prompt!!! Second one will be based on artistic ability/if when i see their style i scream that I want them to murder me with their glorious godly pencil/tablet pen!!! “just give us the prompts already damn” ok fine u killjoy

✩ First prompt! Super sugoi desu kawaii school girl Green Day

✩ Second Prompt! Tré being... well... Tré

✩ Third Prompt! Green Day vs Muse/My Chemical Romance/ or [insert band of your choosing] ((this can be rly funny or rly violent whatever floats ur boat))

✩ to show me ur art, you can either submit it here, or post it and tag it with #drawgreenday250, whatever floats your boat!

Secondly! “Detective work” you may ask? “What the fuck kinda sherlock holmes lookin ass scavenger hunt does this raccoon want us to go on??” you may wonder? WELL, this raccoon wants to see how good yall are at picking up context clues and finding out my “””secret identity”””.... I am an enigma wrapped in another enigma shrouded in 3 sideblogs and trash merch.... (also this second one seems like a Bad Idea but at the same time I’ve been watching Internet Historian a lot lately and I’m in a ‘sleuthing mood’ yknow???)

“this doesn’t sound fun”/”is this a shitty self promo thing”/”oh shit you watch internet historian too!!!” then don’t do it/no i’m just like legit in the mood for some sherlock type shit i mean have you watched internet historian and how those dudes he talks about took down Shia like so fast??? that is a mood i wanna achieve/HELL YEAH

What do yall do for this?

✩ just find my main blog that’s it it shouldn’t be that hard to find and this should be an easy win if you don’t wanna draw because I understand that motivation and art block are real things even when given prompts/ideas to do but you can’t force yourself to draw because when you do it turns out Not Good and it discourages you from drawing for a while. wait no that’s just me? damn.

✩ but yeah first person to send me an ask on here (not on anon) with my url OR messages me via my main blog gets a drawing and a personalized “u tried star” with benadryl cumbersnatch’s face on it!!!

Those are the two options!! Shitty but this is my first time doing something like this!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaa!!! I keep screaming!!!!!!!!!

Anyways... I keep saying art rewards but what exactly is it again?

Well, the three chosen ones will receive:

✩ actually nice drawings (like the ones pictured above) of any person/character they want! (with a nice simple background). ((If you win srry m8 but no heavy nsfw stuff, i can’t draw furries, and limited to one person in the drawing so I can give u ur art on time))

✩ personalized u tried stars based on the category! (but nice u tried stars. FancyTM ones.)

!!!prompt submissions are due august 5th!!! anything after that won’t be counted!!

but yeah.

that’s it

...I don’t know how to do this properly sorry once more but let me just finish this off by saying that I just really love yall and I wouldn’t’ve gotten to this point without yall and your support of my shitty doodles. Doing these doodles has also really helped me to do more with my art and improve and feel better and it’s really nice to know that there are people that actually like my art and terrible doodles and are just so kind and welcoming and amazing to me. I’ve been on this hellsite for so long but I’ve always felt like an outsider of every single community/fandom I’ve been a part of. I’ve been a fan of green day since I came fresh outta the womb (kidding actually since I was 4) and it just makes me so happy to know that there’s such a kind community for the band that’s helped shape me into who I am today and who I aspire to be in the future. This community feels so inviting and warm and all the people I’ve met, although not many, have just been so sweet and wonderful. sure there will be ups and downs, as it happens in every community, but throughout all the time i’ve been on the internet, the green day community has always remained relatively sweet and kind and I feel like yall are a family to me at this point... I don’t know many of yall or talk to yall but I just want yall to know that I’m proud to be part of this with each and every single one of you. and I’m forever grateful for all that kindness that yall have shown me in the past 3-4 years since I started to get involved in the online community. Thank You all, and i’m gonna cry in my cubicle now quq;;