#daemon really love the ending of this uncle-nephew drama

[ariesdiary]

remember that fight scene from the “happy family reunion”? what if…

aemond pushes jacaerys to the ground. aegon sees luke trying to help jace and rises from the chair to stop him. he almost puts a hand on nephew’s shoulder to slam his head to the table, as his brother’s cold voice comes from behind.

“don’t you dare. touch him, and i will break your fucking arm.”

silence is very loud. lucerys sights, irritated, and rolls his eyes.

“i can protect myself, my love. no need to throw insults at your brother.”

[secret-engima]

So in Nox AU how does Regis try to bond with Ardyn after it becomes clear that they're 'half-brothers', cause I think that'd be sweet to talk about.

Hmmm good question! Buckle up Imma ramble and I’m sure angst will show up somewhere in here but hey.

-After the shock factor wears off, he probably tries the direct route of talking about their Brother status.

-This, for reasons Very Obvious to say, Nox and the audience, does not go over well.

-Ardyn continues to insist they are NOT brothers, that their blood connection means nothing, and grows prickly when Regis pushes. So Regis stops pushing for fear of making things worse. But … that doesn’t mean he is giving up on getting to know his half-brother. Ohhh no. He just … has to figure out a sneakier way.

-I feel like he ends up spending even more time with Nox, because Nox is a sure gateway to Ardyn, with the bonus of Nox being his son and he always loves hanging out with his son. Ardyn, who adores his nephew, has no issues with including Regis in bonding activities because Regis is Nox’s dad.

-Nox knows exactly what Regis is trying to do and what Ardyn is pointedly ignoring and just- sighs. His life. Why is his life so weird.

-I feel like Regis also ends up accidentally bonding with Ardyn over history, because Regis adores history and loves to nerd about it and Ardyn has lived THROUGH a decent chunk of history and doesn’t mind either talking about bits of it (as long as you don’t bring up the royal family of the era) or sitting back and laughing at the idiot theories poor modern historians have come up with (or utterly confounding Regis with his ability to fluently SPEAK in old languages, Regis is so jealous TEACH HIM PLS).

-Regis introduces Ardyn to fishing. Ardyn finally understands where Nox’s obsession with fishing comes from. It comes from THIS guy. Ardyn doesn’t … really get the appeal until he figures out that for Regis it’s not about the FISH, it’s about getting to spend a few serene hours outside in the sunshine, enjoying the fresh air and light and quiet. No politics, no drama, no hard hikes that will hurt his knee (save maybe to get to the fishing spot). Just … calm. Sunshine. Relaxation. Pretty water. And if he lands a fish or three for supper, that’s great! If not, oh well.

-When he looks at it like that Ardyn … still doesn’t REALLY enjoy fishing, but he can see the appeal now. Regis and Nox team up to invite Ardyn on their fishing trips and so while the fishing nerds do their thing, Ardyn can usually be found stretched out under a tree either napping or reading a book.

-Somehow (Nox’s careful manipulation on behalf of his dad and uncle because he wants his family to get along kthanks) this evolves into just Regis and Ardyn going on fishing trips that they then spend lazily watching the water or with Regis listening to Ardyn read aloud from whatever novel he’s chosen at random this time (he does not have any clue on modern literature, he literally wanders through the library and picks something that looks unknown and interesting) or arguing over historical factoids that Regis thinks are true because Research and Ardyn knows are false because He’s Been There (but can’t say that). If Ardyn’s book of choice is poetry, they might discuss that (Regis discovers that Ardyn is very perceptive with words, very good at putting them together for twisty rhymes and meanings, but his on the spot poetry tends to be either dark or have gallows humor).

-If his book is fiction, it usually ends up being either shamelessly racy, a tooth-rotting romance, a horror, or a cop drama because Ardyn never reads the back, just picks based on how many question marks the book cover sparks in his head. This leads to more than a few afternoons spent with Ardyn reading the book aloud to Regis and both groaning at the stupidity of the author, or Ardyn laughing at Regis when Regis’s inner romantic rears its head (or his inner wuss. For a man who braved daemon-filled dungeons and war, this man CANNOT handle the suspense of a murder mystery or a slow burn horror novel, Ardyn, with the patience of a 2k former eldritch abomination himself, just gets GLEEFUL the more the suspense rises).

-Somehow, Ardyn is STILL utterly flabbergasted when next Christmas, Regis gives him presents. One, because presents??? Him??? Why??? Two, because they are all … things he likes??? They’re books with strange covers and even a few movies because Regis has discovered (to his horror and guilt and anger toward Mors) that Ardyn knows exactly 0 pop culture references beyond ones he’s absorbed from Nox (so … mostly King’s Knight or chocobo ones) and has seen 0 famous movies of the decades. Regis makes him a collection of famous hits according to era, they end up watching them together because if Ardyn is going to watch these strange things, Regis is going to suffer through his peanut gallery commentary.

-Someday Ardyn is going to look up in the middle of snarking with Regis over a movie and just- freeze. Because he knows this feeling. This warm, more-fond-than-annoyed feeling. This is what he felt teasing and being teased by Somnus. This is … this is brotherly affection. For REGIS.

-Ardyn abruptly leaves, runs away from his feelings and Regis because Of Course He Does. Surprisingly, it is not Nox that tracks him down and smacks sense into him, it’s Titus. Titus who has watched this odd brotherly relationship form where Ardyn and Regis take turns being the little brother without noticing, Titus who has seen how HAPPY it makes Ardyn.

-Titus who is not going to let his idiot Izunia Caelum ruin everything for himself just because of past traumas and guilt complexes.

-No one but the two knows what Titus told him that day, but hours after Regis has well and truly panicked and started guilt tripping himself, Ardyn creeps back into the room and shakily sits down, quietly asks if the movie is over or if it was paused.

-Regis, wary but grateful, says he paused it. Ardyn nods and they resume watching in a more subdued, skittish manner. But … but Ardyn is still here, and after thirty minutes of unnerving silence Ardyn begins to peanut gallery again and Regis feels something unwind in his chest. Nothing is ruined. Ardyn is here. Ardyn is … okay with this.

-Nox slinks away in the shadows, for once unnoticed by both Regis AND Ardyn. The part of his head that is occupied by memories of a certain little brother 2k years ago (not a kinslayer king, but a little brother, who once loved and then hated and then regretted all the way to his deathbed) murmurs softly in regret for wounds unhealed and relief for brotherhood once again found.