#blood red song | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

pulchrasilva · 2 years ago

Text

the sun will never go down

Fandom: Roleslaying With Roman

Relationships: Blood Red Song/royono

Characters: Noise, Roman, Youngblood

Summary: After everything, Noise has joined Roman and Youngblood in their travels. It’s not easy being on the run, but the three of them have found paradise together.

Word Count: 2077

Warnings: brief mentions of Youngblood burning Noise, the abuse Noise experienced in the bard college, some jealousy about being outshined and guilt about that jealousy, cursing, minor injury

Notes: written for @polyshipweek for the prompt 'dancing', inspired by this post, title from Stay Awake by Ellie Goulding

AO3 // Masterpost

It had been quite a day. Not an eventful one, but a long one. They'd set out from Elidore early in the morning and it had been a lot of walking since then. Other than a brief, much needed pause to eat around midday, they’d pressed on for most of the day.

The forest floor was uneven, enough that Noise had trouble in their boots.

He groaned as he tripped over yet another tree root, ankle twinging. At the sound, the others stopped just ahead of him.

"We should have gotten you better shoes at Frogtown," Youngblood said when they straightened up.

"I like my boots! I just... like the twisted ankle less."

"I could carry you!" Roman offered.

Noise seriously considered it. Their feet were so sore and there was nothing better than being cradled in Roman's arms. But...

"No, you're already carrying most of our stuff. I'll be fine."

"That's probably for the best," Roman agreed, although that didn't stop him looking disappointed about it.

"It's getting towards evening so we don't need to go much further today," said Youngblood. "Can you make it to the next clearing?"

Noise sighed, relieved. "I can manage that."

When they finally reached a clearing suitable to set up camp in, they were all sweaty and covered in dust from the road.

"Ugh," Noise said as they dropped their bags in an undignified heap. "Finally."

He only hesitated a moment before shrugging off his cape and rolling up his sleeves to expose clammy skin to the cool evening air. Youngblood's eyes snagged on their scar but she didn't say anything.

"That's a great idea," said Roman, already unlacing the top of his jerkin and undoing the first few buttons to expose a sliver of chest that Noise certainly didn't mind having on show.

Youngblood pulled down her hood.

Then they all got to work.

By now, Noise was getting the hang of setting up camp with these two.

It was a far cry from the way it worked on bard expeditions, where Noise had either been made to do the worst of the physical labour or, more recently, been the one dumping tasks on some poor cadet.

Now, setting up camp was a communal effort. The tasks had already been distributed when Noise joined the group, typically Youngblood in charge of building the fire and Roman on dinner duty. Eventually Noise had found himself a place in the established routine, fetching water from the nearest river and choosing the best place to sleep.

By the time the sun was setting and the first stars peeping out behind the diminishing red of the sky, they were done.

It wasn't exactly cosy - Noise was used to far better accommodation than a bed of blankets and a roof made from tree branches and stars. But he could appreciate the simplicity of it, the freedom of sleeping under the open sky. It was nice.

Noise moved towards Youngblood, collecting a couple rations from Roman on his way, and settled down on the log next to her. She glanced at them as they offered her a ration, smiled, and turned her attention back to the fire.

With a quiet hum, a spark caught the little stack of wood she'd gathered, setting it ablaze with blue and purple flame.

Roman gasped in delight as always, the combination of magic, music and pretty colours still novel to him.

However unlike usual, once the task was done and she was seated next to the fire, Youngblood didn't stop singing. The melody continued, light on the breeze and just the right side of eerie.

When Noise glanced up at Roman, he was already grinning at Youngblood, besotted.

And… yeah. That was exactly how Noise felt.

Youngblood rarely used her song anymore – whether to be inconspicuous, or out of guilt for everything that happened between them, or some other complicated mix, they didn't know. But it wasn't healthy for her to keep it inside. Youngblood was born to sing, just as a fish is born to swim and a bird to fly.

It was nice to see her let go for once, using magic as something other than a tool. Magic for its own sake.

She wasn't paying attention to what she was doing, just letting it come to her as it pleased, letting the notes flow into a melody like streams joining to form a river.

Sure, Noise had some difficult feelings about that song, those flames. On bad days, when his head throbbed where his eye should be and the Bard King’s cruel laughter echoed inside their own head, Noise's arm hurt along with their eye. Sometimes it would itch unbearably, like a burn only half healed, and they had to resist the urge to scratch and scratch until the scar came away with his skin.

On those days, just looking at any kind of fire was enough to make them cry.

And even now, when they'd long since abandoned the Bard College, Noise could still find a lingering resentment for Youngblood’s natural born ability which had always outshone whatever hard work Noise put in. And next to it curled a sickening guilt for ever thinking such things about Bloody.

But that was only some days. Noise was a tiefling, fire generally posed little danger to them – Youngblood’s especially. For most of Noise's life, Youngblood's flames had been a source of wonder to them, magical in a way that ordinary bard spells never were. They were a comfort to Noise, a warmth that was so uniquely Youngblood that it never failed to make him feel safe.

And despite everything, that association was more permanent than the fear.

Embers swirled through the still air, as if riding an imaginary breeze. As they passed, the forest transformed. The dull browns and greys of fallen leaves burst into a cascade of orange and brilliant scarlet. The entire clearing glowed, awash in silver light despite the moon being nowhere in sight.

And yet, just beyond the clearing there was no change. The magical light cast no shadows past the ring of trees, no sign of their presence given away.

Everything contained within a little musical bubble, just for them.

Noise found himself shivering as the magic passed over him. It felt something like falling into the curio cart, but not unpleasantly so.

The curio cart had been like being swallowed by a creature ancient as the earth itself, chilling to the bone. This, however, was diving into a cool lake on a hot day, surrounding yourself with perfectly clear water.

There wasn’t exactly a change to his outfit, but a shift in quality. It was suddenly brighter, bolder, the fabric softer and rippling in a breeze that wasn't there, the jewels glittering even when there was no light to catch.

The sparks of magic brushed over Noise's cheek, warm like a kiss, as they passed him.

They fluttered over to Roman, whose outfit shimmered and changed too. The leather of his jerkin shone bright, the dust and dirt it had collected over these months vanishing like it had been given a much needed polish.

Roman gasped in delight.

The sound made Youngblood look up, and the illusion faltered with her song. "Sorry, I didn't realise I was-"

"Sorry?" Roman laughed, turning on the spot. "This is incredible! Is all magic like this?"

"No," Noise replied before Youngblood could, "Just Youngblood's."

They gave Youngblood a crooked smile with enough affection that she had to duck her head away from the sight.

She's so easily flustered. It was one of Noise's favourite past times.

"Wow..." Roman breathed. "That was beautiful!"

"You hear that, Bloody? You're beautiful,” Noise cooed, nudging her. “You're not gonna stop singing now, are you?"

"Bitch, don't even," Youngblood grumbled.

But she was smiling.

It was more self-conscious now, but the melody soon started up again and the illusion was restored.

The song grew in confidence with each note sung, a crescendo of sound and magic. It made Noise's heart glow with his joy, his admiration, his love.

"Oh, I love music so much, this is so cool!" Overcome by it all, Roman began to bounce forward on his toes.

He stopped in front of Noise and offered them a hand, eyes warm and deep. "C'mon, Noise! Dance with me."

And what could Noise do, when Roman was looking at them like that and Youngblood's music filled their ears, other than take his hand?

Roman still wasn't used to dancing, his movements awkward and clunky, but he more than made up for it in enthusiasm. Noise always enjoyed dancing, but dancing with Roman was different, bright and imperfect and fun.

As they swept across the clearing, spinning, one of them (Noise couldn’t tell who) barked out a laugh of delight. Then they were both grinning and laughing and laughing, adding their own music to Youngblood's.

Exhilarated, Noise looked over to where Youngblood was sitting and-

She was watching them, her eyes shining as they followed them around the clearing, pouring her heart out into this song for them and for herself. When she caught Noise staring, Youngblood smiled a little wider, sang a little louder.

When Noise looked back to Roman, heart in their throat and giddy with it all, they were speaking before they even realised what they wanted.

"You should dip me again," he said, breathless.

"I... don't think I can," Roman replied sheepishly.

"What do you mean?"

"It was an accident last time! I tripped and it just kinda... happened."

That just about broke Noise's brain. "You- what."

He's so fucking stupid.

Roman laughed sheepishly. "Sorry to disappoint."

"Come here, farm boy," Noise grabbed him by the waist, pulled him closer so they were pressed up against each other, and tipped him backwards.

Youngblood whistled. For about two seconds they held the position, Roman looking up at them wide-eyed as he relaxed into their arms.

Then Noise remembered that Roman was nearly six feet of pure muscle while they were basically a twig, and gravity returned.

Roman began to slip from their arms and Noise held him tighter, desperate not to drop him. He flailed and smacked them in the face as he felt himself falling.

"Ah, shit! Fuck-"

Then they were on the floor.

"Oof," Roman groaned as Noise landed on top of him. "That's gonna bruise."

"That was so not my fault," Noise said immediately. "You're so heavy! Why are you so heavy?"

"You two just-" Youngblood cackled. "Your tail stuck up like a scared cat!"

Noise rolled off of Roman so they could direct the full force of their pout at her.

Youngblood only laughed harder.

"You have to admit that was quite funny." Roman nudged him. "Besides, you had a nice pillow to fall on. I'm the one who took all the force."

Noise rolled back around to lay their head on his shoulder. "It's true, you do make a very nice pillow."

Roman grinned, his face so close to theirs, and what could they do but lean up to kiss him?

Noise sighed, content, as they settled across his chest.

"Hey, Youngblood," Roman said above their head. "You gonna stay over there or are you gonna join the cuddle pile?"

"I'm not lying on the floor."

"You don't have to, Bloody," Noise called back, "Roman makes a great pillow."

"I'm happy to be your pillow!"

There was a brief pause, then an unusually soppy expression crossed Youngblood's face. "Well, how could I deny him that?"

So she stood up, the light in the clearing dimming to something intimate as she joined them on Roman's other side. He slipped his arm around her and pulled her closer.

"Hey, moonlight," he whispered.

"Hey sunshine."

Noise could spend their entire life here in this clearing, with them, and never get tired of it. And what a realisation to have.

He could have stayed at the Bard College and been successful. As the First Chair, Noise would have had everything he ever needed, even if not everything he wanted. But by abandoning everything they'd ever known, Noise ended up here. That leap of faith, that incredible impulsive decision, had brought them companionship, safety, warmth.

Noise wrapped their tail around Youngblood's leg. At the touch, she turned that soft look towards him. They blew her a kiss across Roman's chest.

Yeah, Noise thought sleepily as his eyes began to close. We're all gonna have back problems tomorrow.

#polyshipweek23 #roleslaying with roman #blood red song #rswr roman #rswr youngblood #rswr noise #royono #roleslaying with roman fanfiction

23 notes · View notes

fangirlwriting-stories · 2 years ago

Text

Not Quite Nightmares

Summary: Since Youngblood’s sleep situation is a little weird, it makes sense that his dream situation would be too. Noise just wants him to explain it in a way that makes sense, and he doesn't understand why Youngblood doesn't want to.

Or, Youngblood and Noise are a little incompatible right now. It's okay, they're working on it.

...

Youngblood jerks out of his trance to someone shaking his shoulder, and instantly reaches for the knife he keeps next to him. He hears a yelp before he realizes exactly what’s happened, and opens his eyes to find Noise holding back Youngblood’s knife with the tipped end of their tail.

Youngblood blinks a couple times, and Noise blinks back at him. The next second, Noise starts scowling.

“Wow, thanks for the warm welcome, Bloody,” they say.

“What— you can’t just— Noise, I’ve been staying in clearings in the forest until recently,” Youngblood says, stuffing the knife back under his pillow and rubbing at his eyes. “You can’t just do that with no warning.”

“Roman does it all the time,” Noise says, crossing his arms.

“Roman’s gotten nearly stabbed in the face plenty of times too,” Youngblood says, because it’s true and because he knows what Noise is thinking. He’s about to turn irritably back to Noise to ask what they want so they can both get some rest when Noise speaks again.

“You were calling my name.”

Youngblood stills.

“I didn’t think you had dreams when you did your trance shit.”

“You don’t have to call it that,” Youngblood snaps instead of acknowledging Noise’s other statement. “You’ve known me long enough to know how it works.”

“Well, apparently not, if you get dreams now.”

“They’re not dreams,” Youngblood groans, collapsing back on the bed and closing his eyes. “It’s not— it’s not that simple.”

Noise is quiet for a minute, meaning the only sound comes from Roman, sleeping far too deeply to be woken up by their conversation, mumbling something about wanting bread and crickets for dinner.

“You could just tell me how it works, then,” Noise says eventually. Youngblood doesn’t open his eyes, but he feels it when Noise sits down on the bed next to him.

The problem is, Youngblood doesn’t want to do that. Because explaining how it works would mean explaining to Noise what he’s been thinking about, why he hasn’t been well rested, why he doesn’t want to talk about it. It would mean telling Noise about why he’d been calling their name, what he’d been thinking about.

Noise either picks up on all of this in his face, or they just take his silence as a refusal, because they sigh.

“When did you stop trusting me?” he asks quietly, less to Youngblood than to the empty stretch of distance between them.

Youngblood opens his eyes now. “I didn’t,” he says.

“You don’t tell me things anymore.”

“It’s not exactly easy anymore,” Youngblood murmurs, which Noise apparently takes as a confirmation, because they throw their hands into the air.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” he says. “Apparently I’ve forgotten what the word trust means!”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with you,” Youngblood says, pushing himself up on his elbows. “It’s— it doesn’t matter.”

“Why not?” Noise says, looking down at him with a stubborn glare on their face. “Explain to me why it doesn’t matter, Youngblood. Does it not matter because I’m not supposed to be upset that you’re hurting? Does it not matter because I’m not supposed to care that you left and nearly irreparably damaged our relationship, and it feels like we can’t trust each other now? Or am I supposed to accept that things are bad between us and not try to change it? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I’m saying it doesn’t have anything to do with you,” Youngblood snaps, tightening his hands into fists. “I— you’re not—”

“You calling out my name in a trance and sounding scared while you do it doesn’t have anything to do with me?”

“No,” Youngblood lies firmly, and probably not very convincingly, glaring down at his clenched hands. “It doesn’t.”

Noise, predictably, doesn’t move. Unfortunately Youngblood is just as stubborn as he is, and he’s had ages to adapt to the endless silence that comes with being alone. It doesn’t make a difference now that he’s alone with other people. He’s just as capable of enjoying long stretches of silence. Hell, he likes them.

…Noise’s eye on him, however, is another thing.

Eventually, Noise leans forward and gently lifts Youngblood’s chin with their fingertips. Youngblood doesn’t bother looking away.

“If it’s not a dream, then what is it?” Noise asks softly.

Youngblood looks down again but doesn’t move his head.

“Is it a nightmare?” Noise asks.

Youngblood swallows. “In a sense.”

“Meaning?”

“A memory.”

“Of me?” Noise asks.

Youngblood shakes his head, dislodging Noise’s hand. Noise moves forward, so he can sit fully on the bed now, across from Youngblood. He reaches out and takes Youngblood’s hand, using his burned one, because he’s an idiot who never learns.

“You can tell me,” Noise says.

Youngblood shakes his head, because he can’t, he can’t even begin to count the number of times that was drilled into his head. That’s the rule, and the consequences of breaking it are covering the space where Noise’s right eye used to be. No matter what, he doesn’t tell Noise. That’s the deal.

“You can,” Noise says.

Youngblood shakes his head again.

Noise is quiet for another moment. “Okay,” they say finally. “Then… can you tell me why you can’t tell me?”

Youngblood still doesn’t know if he can. Caring about people gets you killed. It’s already stupid that he’s traveling like this with Roman and Noise. Noise, who wasn’t supposed to be hurt by him anymore. Roman, who Youngblood still feels like he’s dragged into his problems, despite how many times Roman’s told him he’s thrilled to be here.

Noise cuts his thoughts off by gently squeezing Youngblood’s hand. Youngblood’s gaze zeroes in on Noise’s arm, and he reaches forward and pulls their sleeve up. He lays his hand on the burn scarring on their arm, the closest he can get to saying an actual answer.

Noise brings his free hand over and covers Youngblood’s. “I’m okay, stupid,” he says gently.

Youngblood shakes his head.

“Yeah, well, who’s fault is that?”

Youngblood looks up at them.

“Oh, stop it. You know that’s not what I meant. Or I mean, I guess it is what I meant, but it doesn’t mean what you’re thinking. So tell that stupid brain of yours to shut up.”

“I don’t think I can,” Youngblood whispers. “I’m not— I’m not supposed to tell you.”

Noise doesn’t say anything, but Youngblood is pretty sure they get it. Because no matter how little he wanted this for Noise, they have both been through a lot of the same things.

“If you had told me,” Noise murmurs, running his thumb across Youngblood’s knuckles. “I probably wouldn’t have gone to ask him to stop, Youngblood.”

Youngblood just closes his eyes and doesn’t say anything. He hones in on the feeling of Noise’s thumb running across his knuckles, tries to think about that instead of everything.

Eventually, though, Noise stops, and Youngblood looks up at them again. They’re still staring down at Youngblood’s hand, but now they’ve got a far away look in their eyes, and Youngblood might have said they were in a trance if they did that kind of thing.

“Noise,” Youngblood says, shifting his grip so he can draw circles on the inside of Noise’s palm. “Hey, look at me.”

Noise does, and he doesn’t look quite as far away as Youngblood was fearing, but he does look like he’s reevaluating choices.

“I probably wouldn’t have,” Noise whispers. “I probably wouldn’t have gone to ask him to stop if I’d known why you were hurting, Youngblood.”

“Yeah, well,” Youngblood says hesitantly. “Then we might still be there.” He realizes the implications of that a second later and reaches up to cup the side of Noise’s face. “But that doesn’t mean—”

“I know it doesn’t,” Noise murmurs, leaning their eyepatch into Youngblood’s hand and closing their good eye. “Don’t think you can convince me you’re the type to think everything happens for a reason, Youngblood. You can’t have changed that much.”

Youngblood leans forward and presses his nose against Noise’s, which they’d both learned a long time ago was more comfortable than trying to navigate around Noise’s horns.

“Youngblood,” Noise says weakly. “What did I do wrong?”

“Nothing,” Youngblood says.

“No, just— just tell me.”

“Nothing,” Youngblood repeats. “Unless you want to drag all the battle of bard stuff out again.”

Noise laughs a little, but it doesn’t sound genuine. He opens his eye and meets Youngblood’s gaze, and there’s almost more in his eye than Youngblood can read. “When did you stop trusting me?” he asks again.

Youngblood pulls his hand back, but doesn’t move from the way their faces are pressed together. “I… don’t know,” he admits, looking down. He tries, for a moment, to think back on every instance that comes to mind that makes him feel like he can’t tell Noise anything. But there’s too many to count, and it’s late and Youngblood doesn’t want to disappear into his head until Noise has to pull him back out.

“I don’t think it was a conscious choice,” he says eventually. “And it’s not… because you’re untrustworthy.”

Noise looks at him. “That makes zero sense, you know that?”

“I know,” Youngblood murmurs.

“I’m gonna tell you something,” Noise says.

“You don’t have to do that,” Youngblood says. “We don’t… you can wait until this thing can be equal again.”

“Well I kind of care about this thing,” Noise says. “So I’m gonna tell you something.”

Youngblood closes his eyes. “Okay.”

Noise leans forward and brushes their lips against Youngblood’s, and Youngblood opens his eyes again in surprise, but leans into the kiss after a second.

It’s not nearly long enough, however, before Noise pulls away. “I love you,” he says.

Youngblood takes a breath, and leans back into Noise without kissing them again. “…Mm-hmm,” he says, which is the best he can manage.

Noise laughs a little, and this time it sounds genuine. “Come here,” he says, and he pulls Youngblood down onto the bed next to him, then wraps his tail around their intertwined hands.

And Youngblood doesn’t tend to do trances lying down. Far easier to get ambushed that way. But Noise is here, and Noise feels safe. So he closes his eyes, and is close to drifting again when Roman mumbles from the other bed something about too many crickets, and they’re all coming for the bread.

Noise laughs, and looks over at Roman over Youngblood’s head. “He’s such an idiot,” they say fondly. “I love him so much.”

Youngblood squeezes Noise’s hand as hard as he can to try and get the rest of his message across when he says, “Me too.”

Noise looks back over at him with a smile, and Youngblood knows he got it.

#roleslaying with roman #rswr youngblood #rswr noise #rswr roman #blood red song #galaxy polycule #fiery melody #youngblood x noise #my fic

15 notes · View notes