#warriors fought me a bit but Wind was so easy and fun to draw

[maesonc-artistic-adventures]

Downtime.

Mask is still getting used to having to share his big brother with someone else.

[sunshinedotexe]

Matters of Circumstance

     The party is in full force by the time Gat and Blake arrive. The sounds and sights of the others having fun are a welcome break to the horrors they’ve seen, that they’ve all experienced together. 

     “Gatlen! Blake!” Ry calls fro across the room. They left the apartment a while ago, giving Gat and Blake plenty of time to get ready. They hug, like old friends do, the way they have for years. 

     Gat pulls his coat off and hands it to Blake, smiling at his boyfriend as he takes it away. “Sorry we’re late. It looks like you invited everyone!” 

     “Of course!” Ry smiles, nodding a bit. “What kind of party would it be if everyone weren’t here? Well, everyone but Rham, actually. He didn’t respond to any of my texts. Grand and Graves are out looking for him now. 

     Gat chuckles, “is that the excuse they gave? You know Graves would give anything to avoid spending more than twenty minutes with us.” They both laugh, the way old friends do. They way they have for years. Another person calls from across the room for Ry, and Gatlen can barely make out the top of Ivy’s hair. He smiles at her, and they shake hands like colleagues or people who have never met. The two rush away into the crowed, leaving Gatlen to find his way to the kitchen. 

     It’s not hard to find by any means, but being stopped every five seconds by people sure makes the trip longer. He passes Ingrid drinking three or four of the new kids under the table. Walks passed Isabella and Hayes silently arguing in the corner over who has had more to drink already. They’re both high level witches, it still makes him laugh to think they fight over something so small and insignificant. “Ah, Master Youth.” He’s stopped by Valkyrie, who offers him a drink. He doesn’t know if she’s summoned it or if she’d already made it by the time he walked in, but he doesn’t really care. 

     “Master Valkyrie,” he nods, “always a pleasure.

     “So,” she begins. “If I start to call you Gatlen again, will you start calling my Val?”

     Gatlen purses his lips, shaking his head just a bit to facilitate his answer. “You knew me before I became a master. I didn’t have the good fortune of knowing you before.” They both laugh at his bad joke, an even worse attempt at Val’s expense to try and get Gat to lighten up a bit. “Where is Ry?” he asks. 

     Through another drink, she tips her head further down the corridor. “In the kitchen. I think she and Ivy are getting more of the food out.” Gatlen nods, thanking her before departing again. It’s another long trek, face after face of people coming up and thanking him, expressing their thoughts, or happily acknowledging his mess ups through his younger years. He receives them all, happy and healthy and immeasurably happy to be around the people who have helped him grow so much over the past five years. 

     In the kitchen, he finally spots Blake and Ivy having it out over the state of their drink supply. He offers to go get more, but because of the person he is, Ivy takes it as a challenge. “Are you saying I didn’t prepare enough, Blake? Are you saying I am unprepared for a party in which I planned and helped execute?”

     “No, I’m just saying that maybe there were a few overlooked details, that’s all.” Blake shoots back, the two of them about ready to melt the metal fixtures. Ry smiles when Gat walks in, happy to see him again and for another witness to the madness. They don’t say anything at first, opting to see how it plays out. Like old friends. Like they’ve done for years. 

     After a few short minutes, Gat steps in to take control of the situation. “Now, babe, I think that’s enough. Don’t you agree, Ry?” 

     “I do,” they reply. They grab Ivy by the hand and lead them away from the island, whispering something under their breath, something that earns a kiss from Ivy. Gat can feel Blake come closer to him, expecting something similar. “Hey,” he whispers, nuzzling his nose into Gat’s neck as he wraps his hands around the master. 

     “Not here,” Gat shakes his head, turning so that, even though Blake still has his arms around him,they no longer face each other. The night progresses, and the four of them go their separate ways, only for Ry and Gat to end up in the kitchen a while later. 

     Ry mixes herself and Ivy and Val another drink, shaking the tin container as soft music plays in the background. “So, what do you think?”

     “What do I think about what?” He responds, taking a cherry from her pile of garnishes. 

     “About all of this,” they respond, “all of these people. The people we’ve helped, the people who will help us, probably, someday.” 

     Gat nods, thinking about all the people he’s met tonight. “The Phantom Corps is looking strong. Topher and Sem look like they’re going to put a lot of competition toward each other for leader, but the smart money is on Brooks to take control.” He laughs. “You and the others are looking cozy. Ivy and Blake haven’t fought for a while and I am almost buzzed enough to stop saying Master as a title before Valkyrie’s name.” They both laugh, together, like old friends do. Like they always have. “We’ve come a long way, y’know?”

     Ry nods, taking a sip of her newly mixed concoction before dipping their finger into the mix, turning it a completely different color. “Seen a bunch, too. Hayes and Isabella breaking up, Graves and Grand becoming council members, literally saving the world.”

     “Hayes and Isabella broke up?”

     “Yeah. Saw Hayes and Marcelo making googly eyes at each other. I doubt they’ll be leaving each other alone for a while.”

     Ingrid bursts in to the room, a little more drunk than even she’ll admit in the morning. “Riley! Gatlen! My favorite compatriots!” She laughs, her thunderous uproar shaking a few of the pans hanging from the center fixture. “Oh, sorry, Master Youth, Master.... What was it again?” Ry opens their mouth to say something, but are cut off by Sem and Topher walking in behind Ingrid, both of them stumbling over each other. 

     “Master Strong!” Topher laughs, reaching out for Ingrid and catching air. He falls to the ground, laughing harder than before. Sem falls after him, the two of them harping over each other in a fit of the giggles. Ingrid picks them both up and throws them over her shoulders, enormous muscles rippling under her shirt. 

     She gives a wave before disappearing again, the part now winding down. Ry pours them both a glass, offering their’s up in the air for Gat to toast. “To friendship.” They smile, clinking their glass with their friend’s. “Think we’d still be here if it weren't’ for Lochpine?” they ask. 

     The question, in and of itself, is easy to answer. There is, however, a large barrier of alcohol and misunderstanding keeping Gat from speaking his mind. was all of this a coincidence, or a twist of fate that brought them where they are. the other masters talk about how there is no real coincidence, only the illusion of such. Valkyrie herself says that meeting and becoming the people they are today is no accident. Gat breathes in to speak, but nothing comes out. He takes a sip of the drink in his hand, unable to continue with the conversation. “All I know,” he finally speaks up, “is that, even if we weren’t here, you and I would be together. We would have our own place just like we do now. We would still be friends.” Deep down, Ry knows it’s true.

     They hug for a while. The people and events passing them by until they're good and ready. A knock on the kitchen door frame draws their attention, however. “Masters,” the voice is quiet, soft. 

     They look over at the same time, catching their glimpses of Brooks immediately. He look as though he may be uncomfortable in most social settings. Oversized sweater, tight jeans, beanie covering most of his hair. A bit how Gat thought Ry might look had he not known them. “Something we can help you with?” Gat responds, taking his title and position as seriously as possible. Even just after meeting them, Gat had already thought about possible ways the new kids could be hurt. The Phantom Corps. A group of randoms Phantom through together to protect the world in their absence. Even so, these kids have a connection to the Power of the World. They’re heroes, just like they had been. Just like they are. 

     “The others are looking for you.”

     Returning to the living room, the duo find that everyone has gathered. Hero, civilian. Witch, hunter, werewolf, mermaid. Everyone that stands in the room is someone who’s life has been touched by Grand’s students and their allies. Gatlen looks around the room and sees face after face of people who have sacrificed, loved and lost. Gone but never forgotten to them. “A toast,” Valkyrie says from the middle of the mass of people. Phantom, Ivy, and now Riley stand next to her, lifting their glasses high into the air. Gat feels Blake grab his hand as their glasses go up next, followed by the others. “To allies. To friends.”

     In a flash, Gat sees the world laid out in front of him. He sees the people he’s helped, the people he’s helped kill. The people who would and would not allow him to do his job. Thousands upon thousands gone but living, or hurt but ever thankful. He sees Ivy and Ry and Val and Phantom growing old together, surrounded by plants and old warrior cats. He sees Ingrid taking care of her village, watching over it’s people. He sees Marcelo and Hayes together with a house and a kid. He sees Isabella with a human husband and their kids, looking out over the land they bought to give a place for people who need shelter to stay. 

    He looks out into the crowed and sees the Phantom Corps. They kids who were just trying to stay out of harms way. He feels a pang of guilt as his eyes come to their shining and excited faces, all of them happy to fight for what’s right. A mutant. An alien. A soldier. A witch. A werewolf. A knight. A hacker. A mermaid princess. A ranger. All of them kids of Phantom’s choosing. All of them capable. 

     “Finally, a toast to the friend’s we’ve lost along the way. The one’s who could never come back. The one’s who gave everything they had, fighting for what they believe in.” She lifts her glass high into the air. “Here, here!” 

     “Here, here!” Gat’s voice echoes in the sea of people saying the same thing. The drinks are downed and the party continues, but for a moment, everything is still. Gat kisses Blake in front of the others because in this moment, they are in love. He smiles at Ry who is surrounded by people they love and who love them. He smiles at the new kids, some of them drunk, some of them uneasy, because he knows that someday, they’ll look at the next generation the same way. 

He smiles because, while the night lasts, they are free.