#corvins too!!

[grumpy-nyks]

Since Fernweh Saga [by @lacunafiction 💖] lives rent free in my head, I’ve made some doodles 🙈 it was supposed to be a simple exercise, starting and ending with James, but ofc I couldn’t stop there...

Below you can see every single one of them in separate pics.

[agentark]

whatever you do, don't imagine a young J Corvin waiting every day at the end of their drive, hoping today is the day the mail carrier finally brings a letter from their very best friend

[lacunafiction]

Hey, dear! I was just wondering: the chemistry between J and R is very obvious and heart-warming in the JR, but on their individual routes the spark seems to be...missing? Is the attraction latent or is it 2 different world states, one being where the two are in love and the other where they're not? Thanks!

Hi Anon!

Hmm, I've seen a few different opinions on J and R's chemistry. :D

'World states' reminded me of DA, which made me happy, but I digress. The JR poly route features the MC's return as a sort of catalyst that helps to shake things up and allows J and R to realize there's something there concerning the three of you. No, the MC isn't the 'magical glue' ✨ for the trio; I don't support that take on things.

This is about a mutual relationship, not a strict binding agent.

It's a matter of J and R needing an outside force (whom they happen to both care about) to help challenge some of their preconceptions about each other. You make them take that deeper look. I could write an essay on the JR dynamic; I technically did on Patreon when getting into why the ribbon around the forget-me-nots and striped carnations symbolizes the MC's link, etc. I have many thoughts. :D

To strictly answer your question: There's a lot of learning on this route, so it is likely a matter of world state more so than latent love. I mean, R is blunt enough to say everyone's attractive in the Fernweh Gang along with water being wet and the sky being blue, lol. 😂 They do think J is beautiful regardless of your romance route. It's the same with S, because they view it as a fact, not anything deeper than that.

It's the feelings aspect that the MC helps to put into motion. For this to occur, you'll need to be on the JR route to begin that realization.

(The J and R routes are for MC/J or MC/R final pairings, so the banter can be there, but the chemistry between J and R doesn't fit.)

Best wishes! 💚

[anomalyaly]

Hello,

I might be mistaken, but I heard there was a little issue with your Secret Santa. So, I wanted to give you and Elsie a little belated gift, just from Evelyne and me.

(I’m not much of an artist, but I can draw a few flowers. 😅 You mentioned that Elsie loves yellow because the first flowers to bloom are often yellow, so I thought a daffodil might make you smile.🎄)

Merry Christmas !🎅

OMG THANK YOUUUUU!!! This is so lovely!! Her favorite flowers are daffodils too so this is soooooo perfect 😭💖

Thank you so much for drawing this!!! That was so sweet of you!! 💖🥰

[parallaxabomination]

ye old 2019 concepts of them...i nvr posted these bc i still have not felt done w their designs. enjoy!

KO-FI CARRD

[vagonca-rigo]

welp. what else to do about regret and anxiety other than sleep on it and hope itll be gone

[westywrites]

A Valentine's Day excerpt

In honour of a day about love, I'd like to share a little excerpt in which the kids realize Lennox is aromantic. From The Corvine book one - Essence of Stars

Cambridge lingered in Helio’s room, holding the box. 

“It’s kind of like a fairy tale, don’t you think?” she said softly. “A magic box to remind someone of their love.”

“It’s romantic,” Lennox agreed.

“However, one might question why a faithful lover would need such a reminder.” Helio made a good point.

“Yeah, isn’t true love supposed to be ever-lasting?” 

“You know nothing about love outside of your stories, Lennox.” Cambridge’s words had an edge of bitterness to them. 

“Woah, okay,” he said, holding out his hands. “No need for that.” Whatever that was.  

She crossed her arms. “Name one person you’ve ever loved.”

“I love all of you.” He shrugged. “And Mevrou Geheim.”

“Not like that.”

“Then like what?”

“Like the kind of love that makes your heart fly up into your throat when they look at you,” she said, quiet but passionate. “The kind of love that makes you want to kiss them, to hold them close. The kind of love that makes that person the most special one in the whole universe.”

He couldn’t answer. He knew it had been too long when Cambridge sighed. 

“We’re only fifteen,” he argued, ��are we supposed to have felt love like that? I kind of thought that was just a thing in stories.”

“Lennox, you idiot,” she said. “I was in love with you for years. Real, romantic love.”

“Oh.”

“You never once saw it. It feels like you’ve never really seen me.”

Helio cleared their throat. Both of them looked over, and Helio smiled awkwardly. Their face was flushed red. “Apologies for interrupting, but I would like to offer some information you might be lacking.”

Cambridge hesitated. “Alright.” 

“There are people who do not ever feel that type of love,” they said. “There are those who are attracted to women or to men or to both, and there are those who are not attracted to anyone.”

“Like how you’re not a boy or a girl.” Cambridge said it more directly than Lennox had ever dared. He’d worried it would be a sensitive subject.

“Gender and love are complicated things.” Helio turned to him. “It is up to you to decide how you feel.”

Lennox shook his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t even really realize there was something that I wasn’t feeling. I’m sorry, Cam.”

“No, I should be the one to say sorry.” She let her arms drop to her sides. “I always thought you didn’t respond to my feelings because you were being dumb, or because of something about me. It never occurred to me that you might not feel that way about anyone.”

He laughed softly. “To tell you the truth, I can’t even imagine feeling the way I describe love while telling stories.”

“I guess I made things awkward, didn’t I?” She pulled at her dress sleeve. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, hoping she could tell he was genuine. “Goodnight, Cam, Helio.”

“Sleep well,” Helio replied as Lennox shut the door.

---

Check out The Corvine masterpost here

Taglist: @undrthesummerstars @ratracechronicler @leonajasmin-writeblr @frenchy-and-the-sea @rho-nin @starlitesymphony @written-by-yours-truly @ambiguouspuzuma

If you’d like to be tagged in (admittedly infrequent) updates about this WIP - including mood boards, excerpts, and worldbuilding - please let me know, and I’ll add you to the list!

[adokle]

When a journalist tracks Gadget down as part of a story looking back on the past fight against Infinite and Eggman.

Corvin won't give his buddy a chance to undersell just how pivotal the "Rookie of the Millenium" was to the resistance.

He might be bigging Gadge up a bit too much, though.

[aimless-aimz]

live sir corvin reaction

really fucking proud of this

[tamrudraws]

btw i make animations too ✨

silly little gifs i made at Corvin art school / Corvin animation

✴ instagram ✴ tattoo insta ✴ xwitter ✴ youtube ✴ ko-fi ✴

[agentark]

j corvin save me,,,

[lacunafiction]

hey hey, I hope you're doing well, i just have a little question here

so our ROs offer a name for the dog and you get a cute little interaction if you choose it, but will it be mentioned in the future as again? or are we safe choosing something different without missing any other cute moments?

Hi Anon,

Thank you for your well wishes, and I hope you're doing well too. 💚

Oh, the dog naming scenes are rather cute. You'll get another tailored interaction at the end of TFS: Book One (e.g. where R makes a fairy tale reference to Beauty and the Beast for Aurora or where S gives Marigold some treats they've been keeping in their pocket) if you used the RO suggested names. 🐕 As for TFS: Book Two so far, there is a somewhat hard to get scene where Mal makes a remark on the the dog's name if your RO(s) had a say in it. (I can feel some of you being like 👀 after I mention this upcoming scene. It's an interesting meeting, but an even more intriguing exchange where Mal offers insight/an opinion on your RO(s).) There's something with the Corvin family for JR-mancers who named the pup Aurum.

That being said, the TFS dog is ultimately yours and your Returning Visitor's, so feel free to name her as you like. 🥰

Thank you for your ask!

[aimless-aimz]

!!!!! I kinda like how this turned out, especially turvia’s copy!!

…if Kirby COULD copy turvia. Light and dark matter don’t mix well.

all contestants reblog this and say what ability/abilities kirby would get if they inhaled you!!

starting with aife :]c

Mmm, Beam or Spear, I think!

[anomalyaly]

Character sheet by @kiwiplaetzchen

Detailed character sheet: Here

OTP template with Sebastian: Here

Elsie Corvin

Asks:

OTP: SebElsie (1), SebElsie (2)

Elsie (1), Elsie (2), Elsie (3), Elsie (4), Elsie (5), Elsie (6)

Elsie headcanons: sad/appearance; cooking/hobbies; romantic/happy/quirks; friendship/likes/dislikes/random; old/aging

Event Masterlists:

HL MCOctober2024

Hogtober 2024

HL MCDecember2024 (coming soon)

Yule Ball 2024 Headcanons

In-game photos (ps4) Masterlist

Moodboard (1) and Moodboard (2)

Dark Moodboard

Elsie's bag moodboard

Commissions and Art:

Art masterlist: HERE

Commissioned Screenshots: HERE

Background below

Family Life

Elsie Genevieve Corvin was born to two muggles, Arthur and Maria Corvin in London, England on March 14, 1874.

She is the oldest of three siblings - her brother Benjamin is a year younger, and her sister Lydia is 6 years younger.

Her grandmother (mother's side) had moved to America where she had Elsie's mother. Her mother met her father when he traveled overseas for business, and they returned to England where they married. Her grandmother went with them.

Elsie and her brother were close growing up. She would follow him and his friends around and listen in on their conversations to learn what she wasn't being taught, and he would help her.

Elsie was very close with her grandmother before she passed when Elsie was 10.

Her father is very demanding and calculated. They argue a lot when Elsie is home because of his expectations for her.

Her parents have two homes - her father's townhome in the city for business, and a countryside home outside of London for pleasure (a gift to her mother when they were married).

Before

Her mother had 2 miscarriages in between her brother and her sister. Elsie was parentified by her family while her mother grieved.

Her father's father was high up in a finance company and passed on his wealth and job title to Elsie's father.

Elsie and her brother were given the highest expectations of the family - her brother to continue the family name and work at the finance company, and Elsie to help grow their wealth by marrying into another wealthy family.

Elsie met her suitor when she was 13.

She was taught by a governess when she was little and went to a finishing school when she was old enough. Elsie struggled to fit in and accept how things were taught, as her grandmother had raised her mother more progressively.

Her mother taught her to read. They have a strained relationship, but she is closer with her because of this.

She would sneak books into her room, either from buying them during her family's shopping trips, sneak them from her father's library, or her brother would bring her stories from his travels.

She was always naturally curious and would often get in trouble by her father or her governess/teachers for asking too many questions.

She was not very social and was considered an odd child. She made one or two friends growing up but generally was very sheltered.

Her emotional repression is ultimately what triggered her magic manifesting.

Elsie and her brother drifted apart when her magic manifested.

Elsie makes it her responsibility to take care of her sister, and she feels immensely guilty when she leaves for Hogwarts.

Physical appearance

Elsie has black hair and dark brown eyes that look almost golden in the sun.

She has freckles along her nose and cheeks.

She's not high-maintenance when she styles herself once she attends Hogwarts, but she likes to give herself a little bit of makeup and dress cleanly.

She wears her hair back in a braid to keep it out of her face when she styles it herself.

Random facts!

Her wand is made of Cherry wood and has a Phoenix core.

She loves daffodils.

Her grandmother taught her about the stars. She doesn't care for all of the facts about stars as much as she does about the constellations and what they remind her of.

She has a temper but she rarely lets it show unless thoroughly provoked. If she lashes out with big feelings, it usually means it's been repressed for a long time.

Her patronus is an Osprey.

[eepyuii]

frostbite — pt. 9

pairing ; childe x gender neutral!reader

content ; childhood friends to “rivals” to lovers, slowburn-ish

cw ; direct mentions of cuts, injuries, blood and torture (dottore is mentioned so of course this comes with him), panic attacks

notes ; ANOTHA ONE‼️ yes that’s right bitches, i wrote up another fweaking chapter in between the time of the last one i published, HA

also, i’m really sorry for the sudden content warnings after the last few chapters having nothing LOL, i wanted to give a bit of backstory on how the reader feels towards dottore and what they’ve been thru with him and it’s,, a little messed up

finally, i know i was bragging about writing a chapter so fast but it’s partially because im going on a 3 day field trip this week and i didn’t want the days i don’t write to snowball like they did b4, and i also really liked writing this one!

previous | next | masterlist

“from this day forward, you will honor the oaths you have made to her majesty the tsaritsa and you will stop at nothing to bring snezhnaya victory.”

zapolyarny palace always seemed to have a periwinkle glow to it. no matter how early or late in the day it was, the light from outside always shined the same shade, as if the entire atmosphere of the palace was in a different plane. but it wasn’t only the lighting- it was also the air, the chillingly still air, and the way any and every sound made inside the ceremonial chapel seemed to bounce and echo eternally, as if the structure of the building extended endlessly unto the ends of the reality.

being here made you feel choked.

lines upon lines of nervous recruits, stood still as perfectly as ice sculptures, as the harbinger on the pedestal spoke the words of the fatui initiation. the doctor, under his corvine mask, seemed entirely uninterested in his own speech, like it was only an unnecessary formality- which, in his defense, was exactly that. in fact, nobody in this room seemed like they wanted to be there, creating the most uncomfortable stillness possible. your right arm was also starting to ache from being held up across your chest for so long, fist tight over your heart.

thankfully, it was over before you could even realize. your fellow recruits scattered to leave the chapel, whispering to each other about how excited they were to finally be officiated officers. you don’t understand how they could ever be excited about this. eventually, you were the only remaining recruit in the chapel, staring into the ground as you were lost in your thoughts. so much so that you didn’t notice the doctor was still there too.

“you.”

the deep, emotionless voice you’d been already hearing speak for over half an hour now rang out in the empty chapel. instantaneously, your head jumped upwards to face the harbinger with a fearful gaze.

“you were the top student of the medical field, were you not?”

you nodded shakily.

“come. you’ll show me why you deserve to be here.”

you follow the doctor’s imposing statute around aimlessly as he leads you through dizzying hallways, until you reach a wide, dark room. light in the room is minimal and you could tell there’s several other people inside, even if you can’t decipher their features. the doctor shuts the door behind you and you hear a lever being pulled, the lights turn on soon after with an electrical hum. your skin chills as you’re finally able to see the other people- they’re all dottore. in all sorts of ages and likenesses, all of the presences in the room look exactly like dottore.

all the same light blue hair and uncaring scarlet eyes.

“omega. you’re back. is this the subject of the next operation?” one of them utters out into the empty room and you feel the weight of several gazes on you.

operation? you brush aside your bewilderment at the multiple dottores to truly take in your surroundings. the large room seems to be made of entirely different materials from the rest of the palace, like it was added to the building at a later date- it’s covered in metal plates bolted onto each other full of buttons and levers, the lackluster furniture is to match. in between the metal plates that consist the every surface of the room, there are thin, grated tubes with some sort of yellow, glowing energy flowing to and fro, it seems to be what powers the technology of the room. there’s several different cork boards practically drowning in scribbled papers and blueprints, bookshelves upon bookshelves full of thick dusty books and glass jars with either dubious substances or varied organisms floating in a transparent concoction. finally, at the very center of the room is a metal surgical table, attached to the tabletop are leather straps, as well as a small cart with seemingly medical tools on it. it’s truly undeniable where you are.

dottore’s laboratory.

and worse of all, it seems like a surgery was at hand. the doctor who escorted you here, apparently omega, orders one of his… clones to ‘fetch the subject’. one of them follows suit and clicks one of the buttons, soon after the surgical table starts to lower into the ground, like it’s on a lift. some minutes pass in total silence as the table remains disappeared and it’s in that time that you notice how violently your heart is beating, you’re not sure if you’ll die in the next proceedings but it certainly feels like it. finally the mechanical whirr of the lift returns to your earshot, it seems like the table is back.

unfortunately, along with the whirr, you hear terrified sobs.

your heart practically drops to your feet when the surgical table is within view again with a man on it. his chest heaves up and down rapidly with his cries and whimpers, his clothes torn and bloodstained. there’s a shove at your back and you stumble into the center, where the man is. another mechanical sound behind you and you turn to see all the dottores gathered to watch you, only they’re separated from you by metal railings that weren’t there when you walked in. within all of the stabbing gazes of the dottore adjacents, you catch omega’s eyes, who seem the most unfeeling and calculating of them all. every single one of them watch you like predators.

“you wanted to be a medic, didn’t you? well, heal.”

this has to be a nightmare, but why aren’t you waking up? the man’s sobs are incessant, like he physically can’t stop. gathering the smallest sliver of bravery, you turn back to the table and examine his situation. his outfit is practically ragged beyond recognition, but within what you can still see of it, you spot the fatui logo on his sleeve- this was a fatui officer. though more glaringly than that, are the cuts, bruises and pricks that seem to litter every inch of his body, all clearly intentional and strategized and oozing a scarlet shade that burned into your eyes. he was experimented on.

your hands shake almost beyond motor control, but you still get to work.

—

scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing.

the crimson specks gradually start fading from your hands, turning the sink water a translucent pink. you scrub and scrub and scrub, every surface and every crevice of your skin and it doesn’t seem to be enough. you scrub away the sounds of the man’s screams, his visceral reactions, but it’s not enough. you scrub away the image of the impossibly precise cuts on his skin, the ones you were supposed to treat, but it’s not enough. you try to scrub the doctor’s answer when you asked him ‘who was that man?’, but it’s not enough.

‘my last assistant’ he said.

your hands sting and you flinch, snapping from your brief spiral. there’s no sign of the blood anymore, the water is clear again. you know it’s completely clear because when the tears fall from your eyes and down into the sink, they join the water below seamlessly. you hear footsteps approaching you from the hall, somebody’s coming to the bathroom. you scurry to leave the bathroom, aggressively wiping your eyes to rid your skin of any wetness that might show you to be weak.

your wishes to escape this wretched day are unheard, as instead of leaving the bathroom done and dusted- you bump into the very person you heard approaching, because why wouldn’t that happen now. and why wouldn’t said person be none other than the eleventh harbinger himself.

“hey, be more careful wh- wait…” childe starts off his sentence with a warning, stoic demeanor, though it melts away quickly once he gets another glance at you. he seems to entirely pause to take in every little detail of your appearance before him, while you do your best to look off to the side and possibly hide the newly incoming tears in your eyes.

“y-y/n..? is that you?”

that’s it. you can’t take anything anymore today, it’s been too much. with that said, you simply turn on your heel and start walking away, not a word or look given to childe.

“y/n, wait!”

“y/n!”

“y/n? are you okay?”

you blink and you’re back at lingju pass, facing the entrance of the ruin guard research lab. this time, it’s paimon who checks on you, her small hand set on your shoulder and a mildly worried look on her face. you nod and give her a tight lipped smile, which she buys and turns to childe.

“here we are- welcome to liyue’s institute of toy research!” he gestures.

“yeah, we’re here! i can already hear the sounds of machinery inside, awesome!” teucer exclaims, nearly buzzing with excitement.

what he says is no lie either, from where you stand in the entrance of the- err… institute, you can already hear muffled hums and whirrs of the machines. they’re sounds all too familiar to you, but ones you don’t miss.

“what is this place? and how do you know about it?” paimon turns to childe.

“according to y/n, this is one of dottore’s research facilities.” childe looks over to you, letting you take the stage to answer in depth. you nod curtly.

“dottore is another one of the fatui harbingers and.. my direct superior, i’m technically his assistant. since before i ever even came close to meeting the doctor, he’s always had a passion for old technology and tinkering with it and so he converted these old ruins into a research lab dedicated to this.”

“huh? so the ruin guards are built by the fatui?!” asks paimon.

“well, no. they’re supposedly more related to the abyss- in fact, perhaps if it weren’t for the doctor’s particular interest in them, we’d likely be more opposed to them. so instead, we simply research them.”

your gaze is diverted towards another part of the distance in the ruins of lingju pass, where a ruin guard you’d previously spotted still sits inactive.

“..as to why these ruin guards have decided to up and roam about here, i received a letter earlier this morning from the doctor himself asking me to come by this facility to check in on it, as he decided to merely abandon it without shutting it down after he became uninterested in it- that’s why i ran into you guys here. and to add, this isn’t his only lab either, he has other minor facilities in other regions.”

“wow, yet another harbinger with a bad attitude!” paimon shakes her head disapprovingly and you can’t help but snort at her comment.

“but at least that explains why you were totally okay with bringing teucer here. we’ve got someone who’s qualified and knowledgeable on these things.”

childe nods wholeheartedly, with a grin that only exudes… pride? like he’s proud of the way paimon describes you, or at least proud of your trustworthiness in this situation- like he fully trusts that things will go swimmingly with you there. it’s something like that, but you can’t decipher what seems to be more probable. it’s not fully factual either and you scoff.

“i-i can hardly be called qualified or knowledgeable, i only know enough to navigate around them from my experiences with dottore. i don’t even know what this place looks like on the inside.”

“yeah, me neither.” childe adds.

paimon’s eyes widen. “w-wait, so… are you or are you not worried about your brother’s safety?!”

“of course i am.. but no matter what the danger is, i will parry it. isn’t that what any older brother would do?”

tiny footsteps are heard near you.

“what’re you guys chatting about? come on, let’s go inside!”

“ahah.. alright alright.”

you all finally head inside- the moment you fully walk in, it’s like a pang of the most bone-chilling familiarity hits you. the facility is built the same way as dottore’s lab in zapolyarny palace, which in itself is unsurprising, but it still manages to make you freeze in your steps. you can’t move. your vision clouds and you’re back in front of the operation table, tons of eyes scrutinizing your every move, blood on your hands, screams in your ears, you can’t breathe-

there’s a hand on your shoulder.

in your haze, you’re half expecting the hand to be omega dottore’s, as he’s readying to reprimand you for whatever mistake you might’ve committed and to make sure you’re never seen again. but instead, it’s childe there and his expression is nowhere near what dottore seems to bear on his own face every day, disapproving and diminishing- no, childe looks worried for you. not just worried but also… like he means to assure you that it’s okay, that he knows how you must be feeling and that it’ll all be okay now. you choose to believe him.

unfortunately, while the two of you were distracted back at the entrance, teucer decided to run up ahead into a room full of ruin graders with a door that shut behind him. the remaining four of you scurry to find another way inside and after figuring out some puzzles and intricacies, you manage to open the door for teucer. you’re still forced to go through more puzzles and inconvenient paths, even through lasers, before you’re able to meet with teucer again, who’s immediately interested in the next room over full of ruin guards.

“now, how about a little game of hide-and-seek?” proposes childe.

“uh.. now? but…”

“heh, i have a surprise for you, y’know.”

teucer’s interested is immediately piqued. “a surprise! what sort of surprise?”

“don’t worry, you’ll have the chance to look for it later. but before that, you just have to close your eyes, turn around and count down from sixty.”

“okay… sixty is a really long time, though.” the boy follows suit, albeit begrudgingly.

childe calls the rest of you to clear the ruin guards that are just waiting to activate and pummel you inside the room, while teucer still yells the numbers obliviously. however, these particular ruin guards prove to be unexpectedly tougher than the others and childe manages to take down the last one with little time on teucer’s countdown. as if to make his life harder, the conveyor belts in the room roll in a new group of the damned machines to attack. you and the traveler are already backing into defensive stances in front of teucer.

“three… two… one… okay, you ready?”

“give me another ten seconds, teucer. still hiding…” childe drawls to his unsuspecting brother while his dual blades charge up with more hydro energy and the ruin guards stomp ever closer.

you’re on the verge of a heart attack, throwing childe a panicked look as you pull out your own polearm, though still focusing on shielding teucer. the cheeky bastard only chuckles sheepishly while a mechanical fist is about to slam on him- the next second is blinded by a purple flash and you spot the monstrous stature of foul legacy in between the robots. if you weren’t so distressed, focused on protecting the kid in the room and in the amidst of a ruin guard attack, you’d be reprimanding him for resorting to the transformation after he explicitly said how much it strains him. he valiantly takes down all of the machines on his own and they fall defeatedly with dust settling in between them, while teucer is on the verge of finishing the extra ten seconds.

“..one… coming, ready or not!” teucer uncovers his eyes and turns around. for a moment, you’re afraid of him seeing foul legacy, but instead you watch his eyes brighten like never before and he runs up to the arrangement of full-scale mr. cyclopses on display for him- childe nowhere to be found.

you watch over him as he plays around and looks for his brother, fond grin overtaking your expression..

“this.. this is everything i’ve ever dreamed of! it’s mr. cyclops world!”

“isn’t it amazing, teuce’?!” you happily exclaim back.

“mhm… boy if these mr. cyclopses weren’t so big, i’d sure love to take one home.”

the traveler and paimon encourage teucer to actually go look for his brother, something he’d entirely forgotten about in his sheer joy and he scoots off elsewhere. purely by accident, you spot parts of a slumped figure from your peripheral vision and run over before you can even think to do so, the two travelers following suit. childe looks the weakest you’ve ever seen him- chest heaving, eyes unfocused, limbs loose. he looks up at you with all the strength he can muster to move his head up to do so and sighs in relief.

“it’s a good thing you three found me first… looks like using the foul legacy transformation while i was still somewhat injured took more out of me than i’d thought…”

you have half the mind to nag at him about it, but you remain silent.

“i’ve no idea what i’d do if teucer saw me like this. look at me, deflated as a burst balloon..” he mutters out shamefully.

“i hope this was worth undoing all my work.” you quip with playful seriousness.

“like i said, i can never pass up on an opportunity to test my limits… and that’s why i, tartaglia, am always getting stronger, heh. anyway, childhood dreams are all too easily shattered. even if you just leave them be, they will fall to pieces all by themselves. so someone has to protect them, right?”

the weight of his words settles into your chest and weighs it down along with it. you know now that both of you were direct victims of this- both at the same time but from different perspectives. your childhood innocence died when ajax disappeared, your dreams shattered when he came back ignoring you. ajax’s entire old self was killed by his new one in the abyss, when he had to learn to be a killer to survive. it doesn’t take two seconds to realize that the last thing he’d ever what was for his little brother to go what he went through. so maybe tearing the stitches you made on him was for a better cause after all.

“if you make a promise, you keep it. if you make a mistake, you apologize.. and if you give someone a dream, you defend it to the end. that is what family is all about, isn’t it?”

“quit the tough guy act already! you need to get treated right away, mister!” paimon reprimands childe, you think that if he wasn’t already too injured she’d add a flick to his forehead as well.

“don’t have to tell me twice.” you add.

“a fine suggestion, but first.. i have a little something for teucer. please give it to him on my behalf.”

childe fabricates a small mr. cyclops action figure from his pocket, explaining that he had it smithed some time ago, intending to give it to teucer whenever he returned to snezhnaya next. he asks the traveler and paimon to explain his absence to his brother, to which the traveler humorously responds with the classic pinky promise rhyme of your childhood, very clearly learned from teucer. they soon leave you and childe alone.

you sigh, rubbing your hands preparedly. “alright, pretty boy, let’s sit you back down before you pass out standing and make this harder for the both of us.”

childe, in the midst of complying with you, chokes on

his breath and halts his movements at the nickname.

“p-pretty boy?”

“that’s what the treasure hoarders called you, right?”

“ahahah… i guess so..”

once you crouch to his level, you spot a flush on his cheeks- seems like he might run a fever soon as well, better act fast. a light blue glow emanates from your hands as you conjure your cryo abilities, only this time with the intent to heal instead of attack. you hover your energy-filled hands all over childe’s body, though never touching him. after some cycling, he visibly untenses and regulates his breathing, a subconscious sigh of relaxation escaping his lips.

you wipe your hands and plop down next to him on the ground, turning to face his weak, shut-eye self.

“alright, i’ll stop being bitchy, you did incredibly well today. you’re a good brother and… and i-i’m proud of you for it, teucer’s a lucky kid.”

childe snickers weakly and mumbles the quietest ‘thank.. you..’. analyzing his demeanor, you can tell he’ll fall asleep any second- so better to admit vulnerabilities now than any other time, right?

“a-and, um… thank you also for, i don’t know, keeping me grounded back there? it’s probably very obvious that the doctor and i aren’t exactly the best of friends and this entire place just… reeked of him. but you noticed that and you helped me, so thank you.” you’re fidgeting to keep your head from dwelling on the matter.

there’s a sudden weight on your shoulder, though not like a reassuring hand. instead when you turn to see what it is, you’re met with the top of a head of ginger hair. you don’t know how to feel about it for a few seconds, but then you remember childe must be exhausted from everything today- so you do nothing about it. with slow, careful movements, you lean your own head down to rest on the top of his and the two of you remain in that position in silence.

“…come back with me…” whispers a rough voice.

“what?”

“when i go back to snezhnaya… come back with me. please..”

“…okay.”

you shut your eyes too.

taglist ; @kentply @osaemu @rain-and-a-nice-nap @koichirana

[vagonca-rigo]

cant wait for another 3 lousy years where i stagnate as a person going into something i have never once wanted or thought about. at least i have my cat. i guess