#otp: may i?

[queen-scribbles]

OC Kiss ∙ Caught [Etain/Vikkari; WotR, @haledamage/mine]

(different than my other pieces with the two of them; this time Vikkari's the Commander. Bc Aivu. And butterflies 🦋)

Sunset from the cliffs behind Drezen was always a sight to behold, though truthfully Etain was never sure if she appreciated the view or the solitude more. Just her and Pippin, away from the clamor of the city. Safe enough from demons with her grizzly at her side, finally able to think.

And yet, today, her thoughts were all butterflies.

She watched a white one flit a final loop between flowers. The sunset backdrop was tinged red from the Worldwound's influence, a stark contrast to the purity of the small creature.

Etain huffed a sigh--of what emotion, she wasn't entirely sure--and tugged her mask down. No need for it out here, she mused, one hand idly scratching Pippin's scruff as she watched the white butterfly make its loop.

An ethereal blue one joined it, her first warning she was about to have company. Etain smiled as two teal butterflies joined it and a purple one settled on her knee. She should have known if anyone could find her (would care enough to) it would be him. She held out her hand to the purple butterfly. It shifted over with a flap of its wings, weightless, sensationless, then brushed against her cheek as it fluttered off.

"I suppose it's a good thing they like you," Vikkari said, pausing as he reached her. He gestured to the space at her side. "May I?"

"Always." Etain scooted over til her hip pressed against Pippin's flank. The cloud of Elysian butterflies following him enveloped her as well when he sat. "While it is nice, I think I'm more relieved Aivu likes me." She craned her neck. "Where is your shadow, anyway?"

Vikkari laughed, his hand sliding along her wrist in unspoken request. "The bakers' kids were discussing cake, so she decided she doesn't need to follow me everywhere all the time."

She couldn't bite back a giggle, letting him interlace their fingers when his hand reached hers. "You've been supplanted by cake?"

His golden eyes glowed with mirth. "Only temporarily. She promises." He squeezed her hand. "So, what are you doing out here, Etain?"

The white butterfly was gone, flown off somewhere to rest for the night, she supposed. "You know me and cities, Vikkari," she said softly. "I needed a break." Her grip on his hand preemptively tightened. "Your company is fine."

There was a moment of silence, his gaze on their joined hands when she looked at him. "You're sure?"

She rubbed her thumb over the heel of his hand. "If I wanted to be alone alone, I would have said. Or hidden better, so no one could find me in the first place."

"Good." Vikkari lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of hers. "I enjoy quiet moments with you, but don't wish to intrude."

Etain's whole face was hot, and she strongly considered pulling up her mask to hide at least some of it. "I-I enjoy them with you, as well," she mumbled, making eye contact instead of hiding, "I just still have trouble believing..." the words trailed off, her gaze drifting to the half-sunk sun.

"Believing what?" The ethereal butterflies fluttered lazily, one landing on his ear, another on her shoulder, as he waited.

"That you.... like me." She'd always tried to avoid people, go unnoticed, and the fact a damn near avatar of beauty had not only seen her but liked what he saw.... Still a struggle, no matter how many times he reiterated it.

"What's not to like?" Vikkari asked with a gentle smile, free hand lightly cupping her cheek. "You're kind, compassionate, determined, loyal, extremely skilled with a bow--which is attractive in its own right." His thumb, softly rubbing her cheek the whole time he spoke, stilled on the divot of her scar, his next words just above a whisper. "And I find you quite lovely--"

She kissed him. It wasn't like there were words for what his sentiments meant to her, the way they coiled gentle, overwhelming warmth in her chest. She freed her hand from his so she could dig both into his hair, soft purple twining round her fingers.

Vikkari hummed, or maybe it was a chuckle, and wrapped his now empty hand around her waist, nudging her closer, still cradling her cheek.

Etain was all too happy to lean into it, kissing him more deeply, twisting up on her knees to take advantage of her height.

This time he definitely laughed. But he didn't stop,

There was a rush of sweet-smelling wind, swirling the Elysian butterflies into a frenzied kaleidoscope. "If you want some of Natalya's ca- Oh!"

They broke the kiss at the delighted squeal, turning in unison to be met by a toothy havoc dragon grin.

"Were you kissing?" Aivu demanded, grin not dropping one iota. "I knew you liked each other! Is that why you come out here? To be alone? Or mostly alone--"

Pippin raised his head and wuffed at her, as if scolding for the enthusiastic interruption.

Aivu, twice the size of the bear and then some, was undeterred. "It's so cute! I can go have more cake if you don't want me watching- Oh!" She started to turn away, swung back, Etain and Vikkari ducking as her tail skimmed over their heads. "That's what I came to say: Natalya's cake is really good, so if you want some you should hurry. But I guess you don't care about cake right now!" With one last grin and bounce from foot to foot, she launched herself into a gleeful corkscrew flight back toward Drezen. "More for meee!"

"Not to say the moment's broken," Vikkari sighed (still with a fond smile), "but we should probably head back as well." He tipped his head toward the horizon and barely-visible sliver of sun. "Before we lose all our light."

"Pippin and I will protect you," Etain teased. Emboldened and breathless, she stole another kiss. She didn't really want to stop, she wanted to sit and kiss him under the stars no matter who might catch them or miss them, but he was the Commander. He was probably needed. So she pushed to her feet, offered him a hand as Pippin lumbered up as well.

"Thank you," Vikkari smiled as he took it.

Etain nodded, puling her mask up now that they were heading back. "Thank you," she said, curling the end of her braid around her thumb. "For... for saying it."

He pushed on his toes to kiss her temple. "Of course. It's a list I can recite by heart any time you need to hear it."

And he slipped his hand into hers again for the walk back to Drezen as the sun sank behind them.

[haledamage]

Dancing Lights

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAIT @queen-scribbles 💖💖💖💖💖!!!! Hope you're having a great day!

I bring you a gift of Etain/Vikkari, with him as Commander and her as the companion for a change 😉 she wanted to help him with what must be Azata path's biggest issue in the early days. fairly early in the game, I think, and definitely pre-relationship, but Etain definitely has a crush :3

---

Etain was staring.

She knew she was, and that she shouldn’t be, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop.

She just hadn’t expected the Commander to be so… adorable. Not that he wasn’t also powerful, and strong, and courageous, and charismatic, and all the things the leader of a crusade should be, but… Well, she’d assumed that the mysterious power that inspired the Fifth Crusade would have less… butterflies.

There were just so many of them. They’re like little dancing lights of blue and green and pink, catching Etain’s attention anytime she lowered her guard--which was more often than it should be, lately, but something about Vikkari put her at ease.

Like now. They’d set up camp on the edge of a thick copse of trees that seemed as safe as anywhere could be in the Wounded Lands. Dinner had already been eaten, and their group had split off to take care of their own business before sleep and watch rotations started.

Etain was supposed to be cleaning and restringing her bow, but got distracted halfway through the task, and now she was staring. At Vikkari. 

Again.

If he noticed, he didn’t seem bothered by it. His focus was on the small block of wood that he was carefully carving into, strong hands gently and meticulously coaxing it into shape. Butterflies flitted around his head, glowing softly in the falling daylight.

One of them landed on his nose, flexing its tiny teal wings. Vikkari shook his head to shoo it away, but it held fast. He lowered his whittling with a dramatic sigh, which fluttered the butterfly but didn’t dislodge it.

Etain couldn’t help it. She giggled.

She covered her mouth almost immediately after the sound escaped, but it was too late. Color bloomed over her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears, but she managed--barely--not to pull up her mask to hide her face when Vikkari’s attention fell on her. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to--I, um--” she took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and tried again. “I think you’ve got somethin’ on your face.”

His laugh finally dislodged his butterfly mustache, which flew away in a decidedly irritated way.

The laughter faded, but lingered in his eyes and the warmth of his smile. “Did you need something?”

“Oh!” She shook her head a little too quickly, dropping her gaze to her hands for a second before it was pulled back to the commander. “No. I was just curious about your… your butterflies.”

Vikkari finally (reluctantly? Or was that just wishful thinking on her part?) looked away from her to the jovial swarm fluttering around him. “There do seem to be an awful lot of them.” He sounded more amused than bothered by them.

Etain hummed in agreement, watching the glowing insects in consideration. She could feel the moment Vikkari’s attention returned to her, but she resolutely didn’t look back, in case doing so would make her forget what they were talking about. “Are they illusions? A manifestation of the magic of Elysium?”

He nodded slowly, getting lost in thought for a moment, before he finally said, “Maybe they’re like Aivu. Real butterflies, drawn here by…” he paused, smile faltering, “whatever this power comes from.”

The urge to comfort him was almost overwhelming; Etain would say almost anything to bring that smile back. “Or they could be local. Maybe they just think you’re a very interesting flower.”

Half of his smile came back, a crooked smirk that would look cocky on someone less charming. “Because I’m so pretty?”

“Because you’re sweet.”

A dazzling smile lit Vikkari’s face as an equally radiant blush spread across his cheeks. Her own cheeks flushed in response, and she ducked her head to hide it behind her half-unraveled braid.

Her eyes fell on her knapsack, and a sudden thought struck her. “Sweet,” she murmured to herself, an idea forming.

“What was that?” Despite his obvious curiosity, Etain knew he wouldn’t push if she didn’t want to share.

“May I try something?” She waited for him to nod before reaching for her bag, and dug around until she found a small bottle of amber liquid. The gentle pop of the stopper drew Pippin’s attention from dozing by the fire, but she ignored him and let a couple of drops from the bottle fall onto the back of her hand.

As soon as she held it out toward Vikkari, two butterflies changed trajectory to inspect, landing on her knuckles and flexing their wings with what could only be excitement.

Vikkari leaned closer, golden eyes glowing brighter in echo of the insects’ reaction. “What is that?”

Etain shrugged one shoulder, careful to keep her hand still. “It’s just honey.”

Eventually, the butterflies ate their fill and flew off to join the rest again--though they gave a little more respectful distance this time, she noticed.

Vikkari watched them in something like awe. Etain watched him in much the same way.

“So they are real.”

“I guess so.” She held her hand out to her side where Pippin waited patiently to clean the rest of the honey off of her hand.

The conversation ended there, meandering to other subjects--the Crusade, Vikkari’s whittling--before Seelah, Lann, and Aivu came over to join them. But Etain thought about it the next day while they traveled, and the one after.

Inspiration finally struck two days later, while the group traveled a road that cut through the middle of heavy forest. Etain walked parallel to the group, mask up and bow drawn, scouting the woods for ambushes; Lann took the other side, doing the same, with the rest of their collection of melee fighters and magic users on the road.

She didn’t find any ambushes (it had been waiting a mile up, in the middle of the road in plain sight), but she did find something else.

She brought it to Vikkari after dinner that night, relishing his surprised look when she held out the bundle of flowers in her hands. “May I?”

It took him a few seconds to reply, which made something warm settle in her chest. She didn’t know the Commander could be lost for words.

Eventually, he nodded. “Of course.”

Etain carefully unfolded the flower crown and placed it on his head, arranging it carefully against his (soft, how is his hair so soft this far from civilization?) hair.

As she’d hoped, the butterflies immediately took interest, coming in to land on the flowers instead of swarming around his head. Within moments, he had a halo of glowing wings, green and blue lights among the orange, pink, and purple flowers.

“Aster, phlox, lavender, and butterfly weed,” she said in answer to the question he didn’t ask. “Hopefully that will keep them out of your eyes, at least.”

He grinned at her, brighter than the fluttering crown he wore. “How do I look?”

“You look…” she blushed and looked away, unable to answer honestly and unwilling to lie. “I’d offer to show you, but I don’t own a mirror.”

“Thank you.” His voice was too soft, too warm, and it just made her blush darker. As always, he was kind enough to give her an escape route from her own embarrassment, and changed the subject. “What are the rest of them for?”

“Oh.” Etain had almost forgotten that she still held an armful of flowers. “They’re for Aivu. May I?”

The question was directed at the havoc dragon, who lounged nearby. Aivu nodded eagerly before the question was even finished, and Etain smiled as she settled the larger flower crown on her head. “There. I thought you might like one too. So you can match.”

“Where’s yours?” Both the dragon and the cleric asked at the same time before exchanging a grin, a silent conversation flowing between them that she couldn’t even begin to understand.

“I don’t need one,” she said quickly. It’s not like she had a swarm of fae butterflies to deal with, and even so she wasn’t one to indulge in pretty things. (Except the Commander, a knowing voice whispered in the back of her head.) “And I didn’t want to pick too many anyway.”

Vikkari nodded, seemingly in agreement, but she could see the gears whirring behind his eyes. Etain knew she hadn’t heard the last of this.

Strangely, she found herself looking forward to finding out what happened next.

[mendokayalways]

robbie celebrating after romancing two liam characters back to back

[almightyshadowchan]

More sketchies!

(It’s been HOW MANY MONTHS since i last drew them?!?)

[nonbinarypirat]

I’m getting into manga coloring and I had to color my favorite art of my lovelies 🩷💚💙

[tamelee]

One practice for my project, I'll be releasing a few of them (suggestions about these or help is always welcome ^^) I'm in the final stages of the script *-*~

[vantablackdraws]

Delicious Things

[crumbsforbrains]

6 arms to hold his pretty bird

[cautiously0ptimistic]

Try to hide it more than I do, but you feel it, too.

[elephantlovemedleys]

listen to my heart can't you hear it sings telling me to give you everything

MOULIN ROUGE! (2001) dir. Baz Luhrmann

[queen-scribbles]

My home, my heart, thank God you are Someone who loves me

For my beloved @haledamage! 💕💕 I give you a soft Etain/Vikkari moment thanks to @sunshinemage bc I saw the one YCH pose and my brain immediately went to our babies.

[skullinacowboyhat]

i don’t wanna talk about anything / i wanna kiss, kiss your eyes again

[curapicas]

I'm positive that Kabru, besides his self-appointed quest, felt personally interested because "he's weird" is the kind of comment he'd feel a certain kinship with

[frankensteinposm0]

“And I don’t want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand” ♡

17yo Style in my AU will always be something very important to me.

[dayas]

4 + klonnie, esp if in a TO rewrite! 💞

4 ⧽. kissing in the middle of an argument.

THIS IS SOOOO GAGGY EXACTLLYYY OMG

It’s been awhile since I’ve watched TO so bare with me 🙏🏽

—

New Orleans had become Bonnie Bennett’s home. The last time she’d considered a place home, her grandmother had been alive. It was a long time since then, but she finally felt like she found a place she truly belonged. Naturally, she was absolutely livid about being asked to leave.

“No! Klaus, I am not going anywhere.”

It was pure misfortune that Klaus Mikaelson remained unearthly beautiful even in the fits of rage he currently displayed.

“It’s not up for discussion, little witch.”

He hadn’t lost it, not yet, but she could see the anger burning brightly behind his dark blue eyes.

“The hell it isn’t! You know how important it is for me to be here. The witches, the coven, all of it. I can handle anything that comes my way.”

His laugh was harsh, sardonic.

“Really? Anything? Tell me, darling, can you handle armies of witches, vampires, and werewolves, all coming, ready to tear you limb from limb? Can you handle a relentless onslaught from them at all hours of the day and night, the manifestations of their hatred and hunger for power? Can you handle your so-called old friends returning and joining them, facing off against you because of where you align yourself now? Tell me, my dearest Bonnie, truly, can you handle it?”

“Yes I can!”

She didn’t care that she was shouting now. It felt good to shout, to scream out her emotions. Mystic Falls never gave her enough space to breathe. In New Orleans, she could scream her lungs out and keep coming up for air after if she wished to.

“Just because you don’t care for your own life does not mean others share the sentiment!”

He was shouting too now, and some sick, twisted part of her enjoyed it. She enjoyed the fact that she could anger the Hybrid King, that she alone could produce such heightened emotions from him. Maybe that’s why she’d come closer with every word, and why she held herself so straight as she neared him, yelling out, “Enlighten me, then! What exactly do you care for?”

Klaus’s gaze lit itself on fire. Bonnie’s eyes widened. His hands came up to her face, he pulled her in, and kissed her. She was frozen in shock for a single second. Then, she kissed him back with everything she had in her, clutching him as close as she could to her. They broke apart but he kept her flush against him, his forehead touching hers lightly.

“I’m staying,” Bonnie whispered, “I’m not going anywhere. Not without you.”

“Bonnie — ” Klaus murmured, strained.

“No. We rule here. They will not chase us out.” She took his hand carefully, placing it between them to rest on her stomach. His fingers caressed the fabric, brushing back and forth over it.

“If they come for one of us, they are coming for all of us now.” She felt his sigh stir her hair, his palm flattening out against her belly.

“Then we will raze them all to the ground.”

That smile she loved, maniacal and bloodthirsty, rose into his lips.

Her own followed with it.

[grandfangarbagechan]