#and poor cassius is forever brozoned

[vesperpharsalius]

i got your reference! that’s why i said in gs cassius taking back the ring was just the engagement. i love that two lines because when i read the ending of gs i was traumatized by all that was happening, like darrow was there, stuck paralyzed on the ground by the venom, fitchner’s head on one side, nero and lorn killed by the jackal that has just shown his true face on the other, victra dying and roque having his judas moment. he did not know what had happened to sevro and mustang. peak dramatic moment. then cassius touched his hand and he was like “oh is he holding my hand??? <3” like BITCH BE SO FOR REAL this is not the moment to be gay (wrong it’s always the moment to be gay).

but also omg you saying that was cassius’s ring in Ig please like what if the rings were slightly different because maybe at the institute one was slightly scratched and so darrow realised that and virginia knew that too because she is observant. they looked at each other and the pin of remaining internalised homophobia in darrow made him say “maybe he lost the other one…” they both know it’s not true.

please you’re feeding my delusions too much I need chapter 9 of your fanfic 😭

Lol, that scene cracks me up, too. It’s such an unbelievably tense moment and I remember the first time I read it, I had to do a double–take, because—honestly, Darrow, these are your thoughts? Maybe apologize for destroying his entire House before you try for first–base.

(I am aware that Darrow thought Cassius was going to shake his hand, rather than hold it, but I think it says something spicy about Darrow that not only is he unfailingly tender where Cassius is concerned, he also invariably expects Cassius to return his affection—even after he admitted to killing Julian and did not apologize for it, he honestly believed that Cassius might forgive him. Like, dude, even Cassius isn’t that gay.)

But you’ve got me thinking of the end of MS now, when Darrow had just assassinated Octavia, overpowered the Jackal, and saved Cassius from the Joy Knight—y’know, he’s on the verge of either resounding success or crushing failure, trapped in the Dragonmaw, about to face Aja, the most terrifying razormaster in the system, with no armor and one hand. Despite all this, what is his stream of consciousness?

He grins, more alive in battle than anywhere else. I feel a pang, knowing this is always how it should have been. Missing the days where we rode together in the highlands pretending we were lords of the earth. I grin back at him, wounded, bleeding, but almost whole for the first time I can remember.

And Mustang has to literally tell them to focus and stop being gay. And you know what? They don’t. Good for them.

IIRC, they received new rings after they graduated from the Institute, ones that are iron rather than gold, but it’s possible that Darrow’s and Cassius’ could be perceptibly different.

I like to think Darrow and Mustang would both, independently, realize the ring was actually Cassius’, but never say anything. Darrow, because he’s a goddamn fool, wouldn’t understand the significance of it.

(Maybe Cassius was just confused? Sent the wrong one accidentally? Lost mine? I mean, what reason could he possibly have to send me his? 🤔)

But Mustang would, because she knows that Cassius is in love with Darrow (because it’s painfully obvious and, honestly, he probably confessed, while they were psuedo–dating) and it would make her smile.

And she would tell Victra, too, in confidence, who would find the entire thing hilarious.

I see the vision!

Ch. 9 is coming soon! Stay tuned. Tysm for reading.

Bonus points for the fact that, after the Iron Rain in GS, when Mustang is telling him everything that happened while he was unconscious, who is Darrow worried about? Guess.

“Oh, goryhell, you’re so tender sometimes. Do you regret cutting off his arm, too?”