#xornoth is a good brother

[ep2nd]

There comes a time for every mcyt Tumblr person to make an AU.

That time is today.

And this AU will be from Empires smp season 1 and I guess HBG(just the characters).

Flower and Sea Family Mafia AU

Yes, it is a Mafia au, I have no regrets.

Basis:

Human AU

Modern AU

Mafia AU

Flower Husbands

Seablings

Rivendell Elf brothers

Scott and Xornoth's parents

Lizzie and Joel on the side

Some other Esmp characters on the side

NO JORNOTH

Good brothers Scott and Xornoth

Follows my family headcanon with Jimmy and Scott adopting Illumina

It's set with Jimmy, who is poor and needs money for his sister's medical bills, who finds a job as a hit man for a really big, fancy company. Reluctantly, he takes it.

He ends up having to work with Scott Major, unknown to Jimmy that he is the youngest son of the lead Man who owns the whole operation.

Scott doesn't like how his father is basically putting a bodyguard on him, and Jimmy doesn't like Scott.

Eventually, they realize they have things in common and Jimmy helps Scott through his daddy issues, kind of.

Scott's father thinks he's useless and weak and Scott just wants to impress his father, willing to do anything to get his attention.

Xornoth is their father's favorite but working in a different city. They really love their younger brother and visit him to give him the familiar love that their father would never give Scott.

Now how does Illumina play into this?

Well, if this post gets at least 10 notes I'll continue this AU.

If you have any questions, just go to my ask box.

[drunkwithoutalchohol]

*scott is having a panic attack*

Jimmy: Breathe, just breathe.

Scott: I’ve done nothing with my life! I’m a failure!

Xornoth: Awww, that never bothered you before.

[thetomorrowshow]

just when i was getting to know you

TRUST AU

yeah yeah i'm posting a lot of trust au. i have a backlog ok

~

Joel wouldn’t say he was the closest person to Scott. Sure, they know each other. They’re friends. They've been in House Blossom councils together for the past ten years, and Scott's been joining in on family night, and the elf's engaged to his brother-in-law and best friend, so they have to at least be acquaintances. They happen to be friends.

Friends or no, they certainly aren’t best pals.

To suddenly be possibly the closest person to Scott at the time of his death is more than a little pressure.

Well, Katherine's there, too, but she seems even more shellshocked than Joel.

It's—well, the whole thing is . . . incredibly violent. Xornoth throws Scott around with tentacles, kicks him into the ground, breaks his wing. . . .

Katherine covers her eyes. Joel watches, flinching at every knock of Scott's head against the stony ground.

When Xornoth drags Scott up for the final time, Joel gets one last look at him—dusty, hair tangled, scraped and bleeding and eyes barely open, limbs dangling helplessly—and then he's thrown off the edge of the cliff.

Joel doesn't run with everyone else to peer over the side.

Joel flicks open his elytra and takes off into the sky, heading the opposite direction.

Xornoth watches him.

Joel doesn't know why, but Xornoth lets him go.

And that's terrifying, just a little bit.

Xornoth doesn't think the massive armies of Mezelea are enough of a threat to kill him here and now, like he did Scott.

Scott's dead.

Goodness, Scott's dead.

Rivendell has always been a force to be reckoned with. Ancient and up in those frozen mountains, Joel hadn't even considered that such a country could fall so early in a war that hadn't yet reached its borders.

The Codlands had fallen in one bloody day.

Now, in a reflection of its deceased lover, Rivendell has too.

Joel soars across the ocean, wondering just how long it will be until Rivendell is forced into servitude. Mere days, like the Codlands? Or maybe more gradually, a months-long process designed to make the elves feel in-control of their descent.

How many are left to fight the evil? Him, Lizzie. Shubble's certainly been conquered as well, seeing as Grimlands army would have marched through the Undergrowth to reach Rivendell. Katherine has thus far declared neutrality, as has Pearl. Pix hasn't been heard from since the war began. And Gem—

Gem's down, too. Possibly dead. And her students aren't really built for war, try as they might.

So it's just him and Lizzie.

Goodness. And they're supposed to win this fight, let alone survive?

It isn't exactly black and white, of course. There are likely fugitives leaving Rivendell and the Overgrown as he flies, and he has a small army of Rivendell soldiers in his forces that Scott sent over several weeks ago, and he and Lizzie have already been strengthened the slightest bit by dissenters from the enemy armies. They aren't as alone in this as he feels.

Still. The loss of Rivendell is a terrifying, war-changing blow. Rivendell gone, Scott dead—

Joel feels like nobody ought to be able to blame him for feeling a bit hopeless.

He needs to get back to Mezelea, reorganize his armies, inform his support from Rivendell that they cannot return home, contact Shubble and see what they can do to help. He needs to do all sorts of kingly matters that really shouldn’t wait.

But he stops at the palace rising out of the depths of the ocean, landing on one of the towers and hitting the ground running, elytra flapping in the wind behind him.

He sprints through the doors, down the hall, takes a left, Lizzie's probably in some sort of important meeting so he takes another left toward her war room—

There's a soldier standing guard outside of the room, and when Joel approaches, he shuffles to block his entrance.

"Her majesty is not to be disturbed," the guard says, blocking Joel from entering. "She is in a meeting with—"

"I'm her husband and I do what I want," Joel tells him, before shoving him aside and going in.

Lizzie is standing at the opposite end of a somewhat large, square table, pointing at a map, a gnome amongst three other advisors (one the Rivendell ambassador, another clearly fae) gathered with her. When Joel enters, they all look up.

Lizzie isn't wearing grey.

Her dress is purple, the sleeves billowy and light. Her hair is down, neatly brushed and falling into her face, her crown set upon it.

Her mourning period has ended.

"Joel?" she says, brow furrowed. "I asked to not be interrupted."

Joel strides across the room, stopping at the other end of the table. "Right, right, but—"

"These plans are only to be known between those of us present, it's frankly a war crime for you—"

"Scott is dead," he says loudly, and Lizzie freezes.

"I—what?"

"Scott is dead, and Rivendell surrendered," he says, and the elf in the room (Elif, if he remembers correctly) actually staggers back.

"The king?" Elif demands, his hands shaking. "King Scott? You—you jest!"

Joel shakes his head. "I saw it," he manages, the shock of it all really hitting him. "He's dead."

"What happened?" Lizzie asks, rushing around the table.

Joel shrugs helplessly. "He just—the demon killed him. Scott—he tried to do something, something with magic or whatever, but it didn't work, and the demon just. . . ."

He doesn't want to tell them everything he saw. He doesn't want to tell them of how Scott's body lay crumpled on the ground, his mourning clothes torn and bloody, while Xornoth towered over him, declaring victory.

He doesn't want to tell them that at no point in the battle did Scott have the upper hand.

That it was hopeless from the start.

That he didn't even try to help.

"He's dead," he whispers.

Lizzie's eyes are wide, horrified. She almost seems to search his face for any sign of a lie.

"No," she breathes.

Joel only nods once.

Tonight, he'll tell her what happened.

Tonight, as they get ready for bed, he'll recount in a whisper the demon appearing, the way ice had seemed to burst out of Scott in jerky and uncontrollable ways, the way Xornoth had broken free nonetheless and beaten Scott to the ground and cast him to his death.

He'll hold Lizzie close to his chest as she cries, and a year ago she wouldn't have cared if Scott lived or died but now it's almost like he was the last living piece of Jimmy other than Lizzie herself and with him gone, everything is lost.

He'll lay awake in bed, wondering what on earth will happen now that Rivendell has fallen—will the elves be hounded out of their lands, forced to find homes elsewhere? Will they be forced into servitude? Will Katherine declare loyalty to a side?

Will there be a funeral for Scott?

But right now, as Lizzie turns away, as Elif collapses into a chair, as the gnome mournfully asks Joel what has become of the Overgrown, Joel can't say anything.

He can only stare at the table (with maps and figurines and inkpots) and think of all he must do.

-

"I'm going to mourn," Joel tells Lizzie the next morning.

It's a senseless decision. He should be in gazillions of meetings, preparing his country for refugees and attacks, deciding how to divide his forces, proportioning what to give to those in need. He doesn't have time, in the wake of everything, to spend three days secluded in his quarters.

"You shouldn't do that," Lizzie advises, pinning her hair behind her ear. "You have too much to do."

Joel shrugs. "I'm gonna do it anyway."

"Why?"

"Just feel like I should."

Lizzie sighs. "Joel, you really can't. I need your help with this, your country needs you, you can't just—"

"It's only—"

"—other mourning periods, it would be fine, but Mezelean—"

"—without me for three days—"

"—total isolation, you have—"

"Who else is gonna do it, huh?"

Lizzie falls silent, arms folded. She raises an eyebrow, and Joel struggles to come up with the words.

"Who else is gonna mourn him?"

"His people," Lizzie is quick to answer.

Joel scoffs. "They've just been conquered by the archenemy of their dead ruler—you think the demon will let them?"

"Katherine."

"Katherine doesn't mourn, it isn't a part of her culture."

"Gem."

Joel remembers Gem, lying on the ground, hair entirely white, and shudders. "I don't think she can. She was . . . injured, yesterday."

"We're all mourning him," Lizzie waves him off. "We may not be wearing black, but we all miss him. We're all thinking about him. It's basically the same thing, just without any outward sign."

Yes, but that's part of mourning, isn't it? Scott, at some point last week (it's just like Jimmy, Scott was fine last week and now he's gone forever), had mentioned that his clothing is designed to be as similar as possible to his betrothal clothing, to remind him at every moment of his loss.

The outward signs aren't for others, aren't proof of how sad you are. They're a tool in grieving, in memory.

"You weren't even that close," adds Lizzie. "Would it even be proper to take the mourning period?"

Propriety doesn't matter. Not anymore.

"I know that we've got different beliefs on what happens with death and all that," Joel says awkwardly, trying to figure out how to word this. "But for us, we believe that . . . that there's this, like, waiting period to get into the afterlife. So the three days—it’s like you're waiting with them."

Lizzie nods. They've talked about this before.

Joel looks down at his boots, suddenly unwilling to meet his wife's eyes. "Nobody else will be mourning," he says quietly. "I don't want him to wait alone."

He and Scott weren't that close, it's true. But Scott had intended to marry Joel's best friend and brother-in-law, and that basically makes him family.

Lizzie doesn't argue any more. She only nods, then takes the pin out of her hair and ties it up into a tight bun.

And Joel goes back to Mezelea, and shuts himself in his quarters for three days, despite the contrary advice from his chamberlain.

When he comes out of the mourning period, he's resolved to save everyone he can.

-

And then Scott isn't even dead so it doesn't matter anyway.

But when Joel sees him—because the demon had blasted him to the side, and he'd heard a lot of shouting and chaos while blacked out and trying to regain his bearings on the floor, so it isn't until he stumbles out of the building that he sees him—, his heart actually leaps with joy.

He's alive.

Scott is alive, and he's right there, his back turned away and Joel has never seen him in homespun, brown peasant-like clothes before but it's definitely him, from the shock of blue hair on his head to the familiar satchel hanging from his shoulder.

When Scott turns around, Joel can't help the smile that breaks across his face.

He rallies the troops, claps Scott on the back (he wants to hug him, he wants to pull him in tight and never let go which is weird but whatever), and does his best to act normal.

"I don't know how you're alive," he says, breathless with—with wonder, or something. And maybe Scott isn't really alive, maybe this is some ghost version of him sent back to help them win this (but he feels awfully solid beneath Joel's hand). "But it's good to have you, for however long it'll be."

Scott only stares at him for a moment before asking (that's definitely his voice, his thick elvish accent, his funny-sounding Es and As, so inimitably Scott), "Why does everyone have weapons?"

And Joel just wants to laugh and laugh.

And later, when Scott's asleep in Rivendell's infirmary and Lizzie's some giant axolotl monster thing and Jimmy's also, somehow, alive (Jimmy’s alive Jimmy’s alive Jimmy’s alive), Joel laughs.

He sits on the front steps of the palace, exhausted and bloodstained and with aching arms from carrying bodies, and he laughs.

As his laughter dwindles into chuckles, he looks around at the reclaimed capital of Rivendell, the moon and stars illuminating torn palace grounds and those collecting the dead, and he sighs.

"I'm gonna claim this as my own country," he jokes to himself. "Who's gonna stop me? Rivendell's mine now."

"Good lord, your majesty, please do not," comes a tired voice behind him. Joel glances back to see Ilphas stepping out of the palace, easing the door shut behind themself. "I don't believe I would be able to restrain myself from attempting regicide a second time."

Joel snorts. "Right, wouldn't want to inconvenience you. A different day, maybe." Then, after Ilphas doesn't respond, he adds, "How is he?"

Ilphas offers a small, strained smile. "The king has not yet woken," they say, "though his majesty Pix believes it will not be much longer."

Joel had carried Scott to the infirmary after he had collapsed, the no-longer glowing sword under him. He'd hurried forward, while armies on both sides had remained frozen, and he'd dragged Scott out of the center of everything, laying him beside Jimmy's (Jimmy?) body, because Joel hadn't even known Jimmy was also here and now he was dead again?

None of it made any sort of sense, but as the soldiers of various armies tried to sort out whether or not they should continue fighting, Pix had pushed through the crowd and hefted Jimmy's limp body over his shoulder, before leaving without explanation.

Joel had stared after him for a long moment, wondering if maybe he had hallucinated the whole thing.

Then, gathering strength beyond his normal, he had heaved Scott up and carried him to the palace, where he had been met by several elves who quickly took over.

He'd really just hoped that Scott wasn't dead. Then he'd pushed it out of his mind and set to resolving this war.

Now, here he is. Jimmy is, somehow, alive, sleeping off a life-ending wound.

And Scott is also alive, asleep in the Rivendell infirmary.

Joel kind of feels like he missed a chapter somewhere, because nobody has explained to him how they're both here in the first place (and some part of him still believes that they are spirits, brought back by some ritual to help them defeat the demon), but they're here and they're alive and that's what matters.

And Ilphas, judging by the way they finally seem to be relaxed enough to let their shoulders drop, feels the same.

"It's good to have him back," Joel comments idly, and after a moment, Ilphas nods their agreement.

"It is," they say softly.

Joel's still exhausted. He's still confused. He's got no idea what's going to happen next.

But Scott is back, and Jimmy is back, and the war is over.

So he gets up, and claps Ilphas on the shoulder (the elf starts in surprise), then returns to the fields.

He has to help Rivendell rebuild if he's going to conquer it, after all.

[hmshermitcraft]

Xornoth and EvilXisuma get along well.

A little too well.

Scott and Xisuma had been trying their best to find the two, only to receive a message from Impulse that he'd found them, alongside a picture of the two tangled together inside of a tiny house, trying to keep warm amidst a snow storm.

They still deny it happen, but everyone knows the two evil-siblings-turned-good are definitely crushing on each other bad.

They have so much in common, after all. And Scott and X would be lying if they said they weren't rooting for them. They deserve some happiness that isn't rooted in destroying their brothers' lives. Preferably.

[minecraftbookshelf]

Shovel Talk

Xornoth: "You are going to marry my brother."

Jimmy: "Yes?"

Xornoth: *sits down next to him*

Xornoth: "I have a demon in my head, did you know that?"

Jimmy: ...

Jimmy, very high-pitched: "What"

Xornoth, casually: "Yeah, I was supposed to be the champion of an evil stag god and bring about the end of the world. I decided that I would not do that and protect my baby brother instead."

Jimmy: "Oh thats-thats good."

Xornoth: "I would burn the world to protect him."

Xornoth: :)

[hermitcrossovers]

HC8 and ESMP1 are connected by a portal that only Gem and Pearl know the location of. They keep the two words seperate for the most part.

Then one day Pearl runs in, beaten up and panicked.

They can’t let Gem in, she says. Something… something had gone wrong. She’d thought Gem was stronger than any of them.

Before the hermits can ask any questions the air heats and grows musky. Gem steps through the portal.

Her eyes are a bright red.

“Aww, Pearly. You spoiled the surprise. At least you didn’t tell them about my… special guest.”

And a demon steps out after her.

The truth of the matter is, Xornoth is a powerful guy, a champion of the gods, and they intend to put their power to good use, taking over the empires server was step one, and now that they had access to Hermitcraft? Well, no one ever said elves aren't ambitious. The portal is near the core of the server, where magic is strongest, a defence of sorts, but nothing the demon couldn't withstand. It did, however, catch them a bit off guard, they hadn't expected to find any resistance like that, and that was enough for the Hermits' attack to at least somewhat succeed, the few that were near were able to hold him off and lock him up in a temporary cell. Soon enough, the news spread across the server. And so did the corruption. It pooled around the big eyes' crew first, pushing them further south, Boatem, despite their rivalries, took them in. They fought off the vines and the darkness, but they were picked off one by one, each falling under Xornoth's control. Ren and Doc were taken first, both caught off guard as they worked on a machine that would help contain the demon. Pearl, False and Grian were the last few remaining, their wings allowing them to avoid the corruption more effectively, but just the three of them weren't strong enough to fight off the rest of the hermits. But when all seemed lost, someone emerged, someone who they all assumed had already been taken. TFC climbed out of his mine, after a successful mining session, surprised to find the server in shambles. He tracked the mess down to the cell where Xornoth was, completely avoiding any effects of the corruption on his way. No one quite knows what he did, but when he was done all that was left behind was a young, lost elf. He took them in, teaching them the way of the mines, maybe one day the elf would meet his brother again, but for now, he quite liked the change of pace. -Mod Jer

[featheredenby]

The Empire Archives: Statement of Raven Arsinoe

Written by: Featheredenby

Word Count: 1,293

Part One of The Empire Archives

Featuring a cameo for @queenarsinoethepoisoner

Tape recorder clicks on.

[Gem] 

Well this sure is an interesting situation, and boy is this room messy. Back to the start though, my name is Gem Tay, I’m the new head archivist at the Empire Institute, London. I’ve worked here for about a year or so now but I was recently promoted after my predecessor *snickers* Gandalf. Who names their kid that… after he disappeared. A few of the others have worked here longer than me but Xornoth, he runs the institute, appointed me as head archivist. Sadly my predecessor was not particularly organized, so I’m currently sitting in here with piles of manila files with case labels. 

Upon the realization about how many cases that I would have to go through, a few others who work here were moved to help. It helps that I know them already as they’re two of my friends who I made through working here and my brother Fwip. My friends being Pearl and Sausage, although really Sausage is just here for some sort of moral support. But uhm, I should start looking through them…

*Throat clearing* Case number: 0200206. Statement of Raven Arsinoe, regarding an incident in which after visiting a tattoo parlor they started growing feathers? Sorry, sorry, original statement given June 2, 2020. Audio recording by Gem Tay, head archivist of The Empire Institute, London.

[Gem : Statement]

You know I’ve always been kind of scared of death, I suppose it’s just startling. The idea that one day you’ll just be gone and you won't even know it. I’m getting off topic though, for awhile I had wanted a tattoo but I wanted one with meaning. And well I’m named after a bird so I did some research about birds that represent life. After a while I chose to get a crane on my right forearm as they represent  longevity and wisdom and as a plus that’s a part of the name of a band that I like. I researched different places where I could get the design done, it took a little while but eventually I found a place called Ink & Feathers. I looked at their website and found that they had good reviews so I booked an appointment.

About a week later I left the house to go to the appointment and nothing felt off at all. Eventually I got to the tattoo parlor and saw that it was a small building, painted dark green with two big windows on each side of a glass door. On the left window they had the business name you know, standard stuff. I walked inside and sat on a bench while waiting for my turn. I sat there for a while and was eventually greeted by a person who said that their name was Jade. They led me to a chair and I showed them the reference of what I wanted. We got through the details and eventually they started on the stencil for the tattoo, once they finished it they left the main room for a minute. I was alone in the room and finally had time to take in the details of the room. 

It was an average size room for a place like that, the counter in the front was simplistic and there were two chairs for people to get their tattoos against each wall. They had plants all around the room and some magazines sitting on shelves, like I said before it was all pretty standard stuff. Jade came back into the room and started working on the tattoo. It was fine, I didn’t really feel anything, I’ve always had a high pain tolerance. I know that this doesn’t seem to be important but trust me it is. Well I finished with the tattoo and was given instructions on how to take care of it while it healed. 

Nothing else really happened until the next day, my night was completely normal. I went home, had dinner, and went to sleep. When I woke up the next morning my skin felt a bit itchy so I went to the bathroom to grab some lotion. However when I got there and looked in the mirror I saw that there were red spots all over my skin. I figured that I had just had an allergic reaction to something from the day before and just went on with my day.

And all things considered it was a pretty normal day. I just went about my life, I went to work and even hung out with some friends afterwards. When I got home I looked in the mirror again and well there they were. Tiny, little feathers growing out of my skin where the red spots were. So I logically panicked.

I rushed into my room and threw on a raincoat. I ran outside of my house and jumped into my car and drove over to the place that did my tattoo the day before. I’m not sure what was going through my head at that moment but I panicked and was just looking for a solution. I parked on the street outside and pushed open the door while walking inside. There was another person in there with Jade who was getting a tattoo of a bird on their leg. I think it was a bluejay but that doesn’t really matter. Jade walked over to the counter and greeted me, asking if I was there to get another tattoo. 

I pulled off my raincoat and showed them the feathers but they didn’t really seem surprised. In fact I think I heard the other person in the room laugh. They just told me it was fine and escorted me out of the building.

I’m not sure what to do. My skin won’t stop hurting and I find more feathers on my skin everyday. They won’t stop appearing. I tried to pluck them out at one point but the only thing that happened was me bleeding a lot. I just need some help with it. Nothing I do works… Please, I just want to get rid of them. They hurt so much.

Statement ends.

[Gem]

Along with this statement there was a bag of slightly bloody black feathers and a photo of some feathers growing off someone’s skin. I had Pearl look into the tattoo place but she couldn’t find the address. Fwip attempted to do some digging as well to find it but in the place where it should have been there was nothing but an old warehouse. Sausage called the phone number that they had left on the statement to look into doing a follow up but Raven declined.

Fwip also did some online snooping and found some scattered reviews for the place but none of them mentioned similar events. They did however mention another person working there named Feather who apparently had very realistic bluejay wings sitting on their back. Along with that, later reviews mention that Jade had gem-like eyes. However I am not inclined to believe that either of those mean anything.

I’m putting this case into the category of “to be determined” as we do not currently know whether it’s real or not. I think that’s it for now though-

[Someone knocks on the door.]

[Gem]

Yeah? You can come in.

[Pearl]

Hello Gem! I found another piece of information on that case.

[Gem]

Thanks, I’ll take a look at it.

[Pearl]

No problem.

[A door closes and some papers are shuffled around.]

[Gem]

It looks like the tattoo parlor has been seen in five locations since the incident that was described in the statement. I would send someone to check it out but it appears to currently be in Japan. Odd. That’s it for now though.

Tape recorder clicks off.

[siriannatan]

Wings

All the games I play keep updating, and I have had a bit less free time recently so my writing has slowed down a bit :{

And I might have some more ZZZ brain rot I need to let out...

Scott was refusing to look up. Why? He didn't need to see fWhip's stupid triumphant smirks. Didn't need to see the bastard sitting on his brother's throne in the Rivendell palace. Scott was fully aware he'd lost the war. But he had no clue where Xornoth might be. Did he manage to escape? But why? He said he would never run away. Did he really leave Scott alone with their old allies? Allies they betrayed. Well, Scott didn't participate in any discussions or planning. He just followed his brother's orders like a good general should. They didn't seem to harm Rivendell.

"So, your brother ran away," fWhip hummed after a long silence of Scott refusing to look at him. All leaders of Wither Rose Alliance were sat in the room but others were so far mostly silent. Scott could hear others shift and huff occasionally even as he stared at the ground.

His knees were starting to hurt from kneeling on the hard stone tiles. Wounds itching from lack of attention. His wings were long stiff in their bindings. Not like it was needed. He couldn't fly away if he wanted to. His true self forced out.

"According to what I know about elven law," Gem, fWhip's twin sister, Headmistress of Crystal Cliffs Academy, spoke up. A shiver of dread ran down Scott's spine. Did she know… "Xornoth can be considered an exile, meaning Scott is now the king," she did know. Of course, she knew. She figured out Scott was a half-dragon even with all the magic he used to hide it.

fWhip hummed. "Is that so," he chuckled and Scott heard him stand up. Followed by his boots on the tile. Then he could see fWhip's damned combat boots. "Then I might have an idea what we can do with Scott," suddenly a warm even through thick gloves hand grabbed one of Scott's horns and made him look at fWhip. "And maybe even annoy the cod lovers in the process," fWhip's grin was far too wide. He was enjoying his plan far too much for Scott. "You were supposed to marry Jimmy for the sake of alliance with Lizzie, no?" he smirked and suddenly seats were scraping against the floor.

"fWhip you better not say what I think you're about to say," Gem suddenly protested. Likely guessing the same thing Scott was guessing fWhip was about to say.

"Why? Isn't it about time I get married? Might as well use it to piss some people off," fWhip laughed, barely glancing at his sister. Scott glanced in her direction as well. She looked pissed. Fists clenched. Pearl hovering nearby. Sausage was just sitting causally. Likely didn't really care who fWhip married as long as their leader didn't turn on the rest of them. fWhip held the most military power in the whole alliance after all. "Come on Gem, it'll be just for politics. Right, fWhip?" Pearl tried her best to stop the siblings from fighting. "Right?"

fWhip stared at Scott in complete silence for a while. "Yeeah, sure, just politics," he hummed but Scott wasn't convinced the other dragon-hybrid was honest. He definitely had other things on his mind. Very physical things. "Make Rivendell a sovereign state to Grimlands, seal it with a nice little wedding so no one can challenge my claim," he added with a nod and a toothy grin.

He was absolutely planning to consummate the marriage. Would likely have some tradition or law ready as an excuse. To justify it to his sister.

Somehow Gem accepted the excuse and a couple of guards soon dragged Scott away. To a room where he was locked after being told fWhip will come and collect him later. Of course, he wouldn't be left alone in Rivendell. Of course, fWhip would be dragging him along to Grimlands. 

At least he wasn't chained anymore. Even if there was no window. Somehow fWhip found one room with none in the whole castle. Sadly it had to be a certain specific room.

Being half dragon Scott was seen as unstable and dangerous when young. He did have an explosive temper back then, yes. But was it the dragon part or the part told off for any, even the smallest, deviation from what was expected of him? The part who got locked in a room with no windows whenever he wasn't hiding his draconic traits. Whenever he tried flying. 

With a deep, shaking breath Scott curled up on the cot. Hiding in his wings like he did as a child when he failed his lessons on hiding what he was. He could not hate Xornoth for escaping. He didn't hate Scott for what he was. Even if did still had to hide it from the public. Even if he was in fWhip's claws. 

So he sat there, curled up. He wasn't crying. Just fighting the urge to hide his wings and horns and tail and scales. To hide it and pretend it wasn't what he was. To push away any memories of being jealous of fWhip and his freedom to be himself. To not hide anything. And he did feel it many times when younger. When his parents brought him to ruler's parties instead of leaving him at home.

He would see fWhip and Gem being normal siblings allowed to walk around together, without their parents constantly around them. He would see fWhip's horns wings tail and scales out in public. And back at home would ask why fWhip could just walk around like that. His parents would just say it was because he behaved well. So Scott tried his best to behave.

But he never behaved well enough. fWhip became this beacon of what he wanted to be. Or at least who he thought fWhip was.

And then he met fWhip. When Xornoth was discussing alliance matters with him. And the reality was different. Real fWhip was a menace and explosion gremlin far too eager to help blast tunnels through the mountains. Looking down at anyone and everyone but his sister. Speaking casually and dismissively even when he wasn't the one sitting on a throne.

Real fWhip was the exact opposite of what Scott thought he was.

Hearing the door open Scott curled up tighter. He did not want to see fWhip. He knew he had no choice. But he could try to delay it.

"Scott? You having a nap?" fWhip asked, painfully gently petting Scott's wing. His hands were bare. Rough from tinkering. "Come on, I didn't have a good chance to really look at you like this. I was honestly quite shocked Gem was right about you. I never saw someone like me before."

Shaking slightly, just the room and memories of it, nothing to do with fWhip he told himself. And glared at the other half-dragon. That had fWhip grinning widely hands instantly on Scott's face. Petting stray, stress-induced scales. Gently petting the base of his horns.

Scott stayed silent. Biting his lips, clenching his fists to not push fWhip away. He didn't need to provoke him. Or to respond in any way. Maybe once his curiosity was satisfied fWhip would leave. He just had to sit and bear with it. No reacting, no pushing away. No snide remarks. 

"What was this room even for?" fWhip hummed as he inspected Scott's left wing.

"Me," Scott said shortly. No annoying fWhip, he told himself.

"Why?" fWhip's hands froze as his attention focused on Scott's face.

"I was put here if I misbehaved," Scott said plainly, wishing fWhip would just drop it. "Wasn't here in a long while," he shrugged, not really caring anymore. 

"Misbehave how?" fWhip continued asking, annoying Scott further. 

He wants to know. Fine. Scott will tell him. "Talking back. Talking when not asked to. Leaving my room with any dragon parts visible," Scott listed off, keeping his voice as steady and monotone as he possibly could. He was quite proud of how calm he managed to sound. And of the expression on fWhip's face

fWhip looked angry as he suddenly stood up. When did he even get into Scott's lap? Suddenly Scott was being pulled up to his feet and out of the room. fWhip growled out orders in Grimlands language and then pulled away. To a carriage. fWhip was muttering to himself all the way. "In, I can't stand this place, I was planning to stay the night but no more," fWhip rambled as his allies ran out to see what was going on. "I'm leaving, it's damn cold here," he told them as he pushed Scott into the carriage. Slamming the door as soon as he had him in.

Scott sat down. Still shocked by fWhip's reaction. Was he angry for Scott's sake or about the situation in general? Not that Scott cared in particular. With a sigh, he glanced out. It looked like fWhip was arguing with Gem. Pearl was likely trying to calm them down. Sausage was just standing next to his sister, looking tired of it all. With a huff Scott sat back and closed his eyes. Maybe he could try to sleep.

The carriage started moving as soon as fWhip got in. Scott didn't open his eyes. Pretending to sleep sounded like a good way to avoid any more questions. fWhip didn't say anything but Scott felt that he sat next to him. Mostly by his warmth. fWhip was half-fire dragon after all. And Scott always had an affinity for ice.   He almost broke the act when suddenly one of fWhip's hand rested on his. It was really warm. But not unpleasantly. And still bare of gloves. Scott did manage to keep pretending to sleep even when fWhip gently tangled their fingers. It almost felt like a loving gesture. Not that Scott knew much about those. Having spent his whole life closely monitored and controlled.

Just sitting in silence with fWhip holding his hand quickly became too awkward for Scott so he pretended to wake up the moment the carriage shook a bit more.

"*yawn* wha..." Scott mumbled blinking and yawning. fWhip quickly retreated his hand. Interesting. Scott thought. 

"Your damn castle's too cold, we're going home," fWhip announced as if they didn't have that conversation. Quickly wrapping himself in his coat and wings. Scott nodded and yawned again, stretching a bit for good measure. "No hiding them," he warned and Scott nodded.

"Does it bother you that much? What I said in that room?" Scott asked, leaning more into the corner.

fWhip was silently staring ahead for a moment. "I don't like not understanding things, and I don't get how can anyone lock a member of their family in a room like that," he huffed, slumping slightly and looked at Scott. Eyebrows drawn together. Face twisted in something Scott couldn't name. "It just makes no sense to me. Why? Why make you hide and lock you in a room?"

Scott shrugged. He was shocked fWhip was so shocked about his childhood. "No idea, I was just put there after being told I misbehaved, and that I should be more like f...." Scott sighed, to him the whole conversation should have been done when he said exactly what the room was for. And barely caught himself before admitting who he was supposed to be more like. Hoping fWhip missed it in his bewilderment.

He did not. "More like who?" fWhip asked, leaning forward a bit.

"Whoever fit them at the moment," Scott dodged the actual answer. That it was fWhip he had to be more like. That would fry his brain with the contradiction.

fWhip hummed, eyes narrowing. "Weren't you about to say a name?" he poked.

"No," Scott shook his head. "My parents just didn't like that I'm a half-dragon so they did whatever they could to squash that," he sighed. He was really tired of fWhip's obsession with the topic. 

fWhip sighed and sat back. "I can see you don't want to talk about this now, I apologize for pushing that hard," Scott was a bit shocked by the apology. Who what this guy? Where was real fWhip? "I... When my traits manifested my parents got people researching it to make me as comfortable with it as possible. Gem's still constantly looking through Cliff's libraries for more info," he carried on. "What I mean is... I know a lot about who we are and if you want to know anything just ask..."

Scott nodded. Of course, fWhip would be shocked if that's how his family reacted. "What do you think I should know the most?" Scott asked, just to satisfy whatever urged fWhip to offer answers.

"We technically have two genders," fWhip said after a short while, cheeks dusted with pink. Scott blinked. Two? "I'm guessing you have no clue what yours is or had first cycle. With how much they repressed that side of yours," fWhip sighed and slumped against his seat. 

"What cycle?" Scott asked, a bit scared of what he might hear.

"Heat in my case since... since I'm an omega," fWhip said the last part pretty fast and quiet. Scott barely caught it. "If you turn out to be an alpha you'll go into rut."

"And the difference is?" Scott could feel his face heating up. He vaguely understood what that would entail. Being incredibly horny. 

fWhip's face was practically matching his hair as he spoke. "I want to be pushed down and taken and stuff. I suppose alpha would be the opposite... And I think you might be one... Dragon side of my brain likes your scent," he rambled pretty quickly.

"Oh..." Scott managed. His own senses felt so dull at the moment. Was it due to constantly hiding? Possibly. "If my senses are supposed to be sharper than a normal person's then I think concealing messed them up," he said, just to swap the topic. Would fWhip, or some part of him, expect his assistance during his heat? More than likely.

fWhip hummed. "That really sucks," he sighed and... sneezed. "Why is it so cold here," he huffed.

"Might be me, I always ran a bit cold. It got even worse with the whole dragon thing," Scott theorised. But as he looked at fWhip, his brain oh so helpfully supplied the thought that fWhip looked quite cute all bundled up. He did try to make some more distance, pushing himself against the wall of the carriage.

fWhip had none of it and cuddled up to Scott. "Take some damn responsibility then," he huffed before closing his eyes. Scott blinked. Was this guy for real?

With a sigh, he relaxed and soon, with the help of fWhip's soft snoring and warmth, also fell asleep.

When he woke up the carriage was not moving. Did they take a break? Nice, his bones felt stiff. And there was no fWhip inside. So he slowly stepped out.

They have stopped in a small space by the mountain roads. He easily spotted fWhip. Bundled in yet another coat. Chastising some of his staff. Yawning, Scott stretched. His wings were rather awkward after this long without hiding. fWhip quickly was done with his chastising and turned. Quickly approaching Scott. He looked angry. 

"You should have waited inside," he huffed out with a puff of smoke. 

"Don't worry, I can't fly," Scott chuckled, stretching again. For some reason, he still felt damn stiff. 

fWhip sighed. "Stretch your wings too," he said, stretching his own. Scott sighed, if only fWhip let him use his concealment he'd be all fine. But mimicked fWhip's movements. And annoyingly it did feel better.

"Is it really that cold?" Scott asked. He himself was fine with just one coat and his uniform. And just then he remembered he was still in his military uniform and with his wounds not checked. "I think we should check my wounds," he said, a bit awkwardly."

fWhip's eyes went wide and he instantly jumped into getting a healer that accompanied them to look at Scott.

With his wounds fixed, and a bit comfier sitting position the rest of the journey was a bit more bearable. fWhip stayed mostly quiet, either sleeping or looking over papers crows delivered to him. Scott asked a few small questions here and there. Like if scales bothered fWhip. They didn't even if Scott was immensely bothered by his.

Once they crossed the border fWhip slept less, bundled up less, and grew touchy. And Scott grew indifferent to fWhip's bare hands on his arms, caressing random scales. And on what fWhip said was the last full day on the road the topic of their cycles came up again. 

"I've been thinking about something," fWhip hummed. Scott learned that the scary fWhip was a mask he put on to be a more respectable ruler. 'being an omega comes with some insecurities' fWhip said when Scott pointed out how much softer he was when they were alone. "About our cycles..."

Scott stiffened slightly. He didn't expect they'd be talking about this ever again. "What about our cycles?" he asked glancing at fWhip. Despite a slowly blossoming blush, he seemed serious.

"Well, I won't force you or anything like that but I think it would be best if we spend it together... Especially you first. I spent mine alone and it was terrible," fWhip said quickly, snappy, to the point.

"Together as in... like have sex?" Scott asked, part of him was freaking excited.

"Yes," fWhip practically squeaked out. His face was redder than his hair. Scott once more thought it was cute. Wasn't he technically a prisoner? Shouldn't he hate fWhip? But how can he with how cute fWhip was? Especially when rambling about something that interested him. Like when he explained his time-telling device. How it told time went totally above Scott's head but fWhip's face as he explained it was adorable.

Finding fWhip cute was one thing. But sleeping with him? Having sex with him? That was another thing. "I'll think about it?" was the best he could offer.

fWhip nodded. "That's fine, I can have a potion that mellows out the effects of it ready but I'm not sure it's a good idea for a first rut... especially considering your unique circumstances," he said, a bit less stiffly. 

Scott hummed and yawned. It was evening, sometime next morning they'd be arriving at fWhip's manor. So he leaned into his corner, relaxed and decided to try and sleep through as much of the rest of the ride as possible. Something seemed to push fWhip to do something he hadn't done before. The terrifying, explosion-loving, half-dragon Count of Grimlands curled up on the carriage bench and lay his head in Scott's lap. At first, Scott was shocked, but then he relaxed again and even started absently petting fWhip's hair. He was mindful of his horns. Based on his own limited experience the base of horns was a rather sensitive area.

The next morning Scott woke up to fWhip gently shaking him. "We there?" Scott asked, yawning, tempted to hug fWhip.

"Almost, just a couple more hours," fWhip hummed, sitting back. He had his usual heavy coat on. He did look really good in it, Scott thought as he yawned and blinked the last of his sleep away. Breakfast not on the road sounded really nice.

"Breakfast at home?" he asked, rolling his shoulders. Hopefully, Grimlands liked sweet things. 

"Sure," fWhip chuckled. "Anything specific? I'll be sending a message for everything to be readied," he asked with an amused smirk.

"Something sweet," Scott sighed. Might as well say it, he really wanted something sweet after rather bland on-the-road food.

fWhip laughed. Confusing Scott. What was so funny about him wanting sweets? "The scary General Scott of Rivendell wants sweets?" fWhip chuckled as Scott glared. 

"All elves like sweets," Scott huffed out in a poor attempt to defend himself. fWhip didn't comment more, instead turning Scott's attention to the views outside.

They were approaching a settlement. Rolling hills were slowly being replaced by fields and small villages and hamlets. It was all pretty nice and expected. Out of the Wither Rose Alliance, fWhip and Pearl's empires were known for farming. But Grimlands was also known for technology, explosives and mining. He could see something that looked like smoke in the distance as well. Could it be Grimlands capital, Eastvale? Possibly, they were going in vaguely that direction.

Another nice thing about Grimlands was... roads. The ride down the mountain peaks on which Scott's people lived was a shaky and relatively dangerous experience. fWhip was already planning on how to improve it. Pretty impressive actually. In Grimlands the ride was smooth over a paved main road through the whole empire. Yes, whole. Now that was really impressive. It had to take so many resources, manpower and gold to achieve. And yet fWhip was casually planning to make something like that up a mountain.

"It's quite picturesque, isn't it? Not what most people imagine an empire ran by me would look like," fWhip chuckled as Scott looked out wide-eyed. And he was right. Scott expected more mines and explosions and less... potato fields? "Grimlands isn't really known for our potatoes anymore. Just wait until you see the train. Sadly Gem and Pearl are a bit apprehensive about me connecting train tracks to them, they say it's a disaster waiting to happen and..."

Scott half listened to fWhip ramble about the absolute safety of his trains. Should he really be enjoying fWhip's voice and rambling this much? Should it bother him that he does? fWhip seemed to really care about his well-being. Not just his strategies, and skill with a sword. That was a nice change from his life so far. So with the slightest smile he kept looking at the rolling fields and listening to fWhip ramble about trains.

Scott listened to fWhip talk about Grimlands and all that changed since he became the Count. It all made little sense to Scott. All he knew about was warfare after all. Their arrival in Eastvale was also something new for Scott. In Rivendell, no one ever greeted him when he returned from campaigns. Victorious or not. Well, he was in a carriage with fWhip so it was him the citizens were greeting. But it still felt nice to see children run out of the nice houses lining the street. Dressed cleanly, some with messy hair. Followed by their mothers. Waving at the carriage. Throwing flowers.

"I wish they'd just ignore my carriage when I pass through," fWhip sighed, pushing as far back into his seat as he could. Scott chuckled. He could at least to himself admit he found fWhip cute. Saying it out loud was different. 

"Become elven Chief General then," Scott joked, still glancing out the window. Some children caught sight of him and stared with wide eyes.

"Scott... Really? You won their wars and no one even thanked you?" fWhip whined, clearly annoyed.

"I was told I did good, just wasn't greeted by crowds as soon as I returned. There were feasts to celebrate too," Scott shrugged and fell silent. He saw the biggest house in town. He knew fWhip didn't live or even have a castle. But his house was still pretty big. And pretty. Dark roof, light walls with dark shutters on the windows. Surrounded by a wall and flowers. And beyond the gate flowering hedges of black and red roses.

"Home sweet home," fWhip sighed as the gate closed behind them.

He wasted no time leaving the carriage as soon as it stopped. Scott following closely. He could fully understand fWhip's excitement to be done travelling for the time being. The staff were outside ready to greet their Count. His council as well. fWhip quickly jumped into being a responsible ruler and started catching up.

"Marriage? With..." one advisor gasped and Scott gave him a toothy grin. Everyone seemed a bit stiff at his presence. So fWhip didn't send a warning that he'd be bringing a future political husband along.

Scott looked about as fWhip argued with the advisors, clearly threatening them. Adorable. When something that could not be a usual occurrence caught his attention in the corner of his eye. He moved before he even fully processed what it was. Blocking a blade aimed at fWhip's throat with a summoned rune blade. The sound of steel clashing with magical ice had fWhip turn around. Eyes wide. 

"Scott!!!" fWhip's shout grounded Scott's brain. He just casually stopped an assassination attempt. And the only thing stopping him from killing the restrained by the guards would-be assassin was fWhip's arms wrapped around him. With a slow breath, Scott lowered his blade. His eyes remained on the assassin as they were being dragged away. fWhip's fast and snappy orders helped him calm down further. Just what has possessed him? "Where did you even get a sword from?"

"Rune knights can summon their blades at will," Scott shrugged, his heart was still beating so fast. To prove it he dismissed his blade and to gently, without really realising it check fWhip for any wounds.

"Stop it, I'm fine," fWhip huffed slapping Scott's hands away. "How can you just... Magic," fWhip grumbled. "Let's have breakfast, I'm hungry," he decided dragging Scott along.

Scott gladly let himself be dragged. Looking smugly at the advisors. Why? He had no clue, just felt like it. The bigger question was... Was his tail really wagging? He'd think about it later. When he wasn't busy staring at fWhip's hand, sadly back in his gloves, holding his wrist.

So busy he barely registered the interior of the mansion until he was pushed into a comfy chair upholstered with red and gold brocade. NIce contrast to dark woods and deep forest greens of the floors and wallpapers. A golden chandelier hung low over a table set with food. The last few maids set tea on it before retreating and leaving them alone. Scott was more than a bit miffed fWhip sat on the other side of the table. And tempted to move closer.

"What was that out in the courtyard?" fWhip asked with a heavy glare.

"No clue. One moment I was just standing there and the next blocking a blade, aimed at you mind you," Scott hummed looking over the food. It was quite a selection. Pastries, breads, cheeses, fruits, meats. And pancakes. And fruit. "As a rune knight I can't really be separated from my weapons," he added as fWhip continued glaring.

"Grand. Anything else I should know?" he asked, angrily buttering up a slice of bread.

Scott hummed. "I can use ice magic, all elves have some magic though," Scott hummed going instantly for the pancakes, whipped cream and berries. "And we all like sweets, Xor's the weirdo who's different," he added at the amused smirk fWhip's frown turned to.

"If you say so," he mused slowly peeling an egg. "Try the powdered sugar," he pointed to a container with a dainty sieve on top.

fWhip was right. He should have tried powdered sugar ages ago. It was amazing on his pancakes. The rest of the food was good as well. Especially everything sweet. Scott didn't expect Grimlands to have good desserts but fWhip's staff shocked him. Well, he didn't expect farmland as well.

"Is us just sharing a room too..." fWhip hummed and stopped, not sure what to name it.

"It's fine by me," Scott shrugged. He really didn't mind fWhip's company anymore. What wonders being locked in a carriage together for a few days can do? "We're getting married anyway," he half-joked. 

"Fine then, I have some stuff to do but I'll take you there, just rest for now," fWhip hummed, stretching as maids cleaned up the table.

"A bath maybe... Though I don't really have anything, you did decide to leave rather suddenly," Scott hummed. Nap in a proper bed sounded really nice.

"Just borrow my stuff for now," fWhip sighed as he stood up. Would it even fit? Scott wondered but didn't mention how different their statures were. "I'll take you to my tailor once I'm caught up on politics," he added leading Scott out the breakfast room - fWhip himself called it that.

fWhip's room was all nice and comfy, a bath as well. But after three days of not leaving it much Scott was beginning to feel a bit antsy. He was allowed to roam around the manor but not to leave it. And to not go to the basement workshop. Just to be safe and calm the council, fWhip said. Scott really didn't feel like a prisoner. Maids and kitchen staff were more than happy to provide him with cookies and drinks whenever he asked. He read a lot in fWhip's library. 

On the seventh day, Scott woke up feeling a weird warmth in the pit of his stomach. He instantly sat up to look for fWhip. Just to ask if it might be a dragon thing... like his rut.

fWhip was already up, struggling with a robe. Smelling really nice, his brain supplied. "fWhip... come back to the bed," Scott asked, instantly forgetting any and all questions he had. He had the biggest urge to just stay in bed with fWhip. Cuddling.

"Are you sure? I think my heat started, I don't want to force you if you..." fWhip mumbled, he sounded like he was in pain.

"Just come here... I think my rut's started too, I feel weirdly warm and want to cuddle you specifically," Scott confessed. Anything to get fWhip back in the bed. "Like really warm," Scott added, removing his sleep shirt. He was warm and it felt uncomfortable on his damned scales. And there were more of those than normal.

He missed fWhip giving up on the rope and just getting back into the bed. He didn't miss fWhip' hands on him. Gingerly tracing scales as he slowly cradled Scott's face. "Is it okay if I want you to kiss me?" the count asked but was already guiding Scott closer to his face. 

Scott was not in the right place to overthink so he just kissed fWhip. It was messy, rushed and inexperienced. And maybe Scott's first kiss ever. But it was the best first kiss he could ask for. Especially with fWhip instantly clinging to him, hands in his hair. Scott's hands around fWhip's waist.

Their kissing was interrupted by a knock on the door. fWhip whined hearing it, Scott growled. "One moment," fWhip grumbled, giving Scott a small kiss on the cheek and after wrapping himself in a blanket went to request their food is brought to them and that they be otherwise undisturbed for a few days.

 Scott could not tear his eyes off of fWhip. Growing strangely irritated with every second there was no distance between them. With whoever fWhip was talking to taking a whole lot of time to leave Scott left the bed, wrapped himself in a blanket and sneaked up on fWhip. "fWhip..." he whined just slightly as he wrapped himself around the count as well as he could. Glaring at the guard and advisor who dared take up fWhip's time.

His glare was enough to have them apologising and bowing and leaving while assuring everything would be handled while fWhip was indisposed. And Scott finally had fWhip all to himself and a good excuse to touch him a whole lot.

[time-rogue]

step right up to hear the little mermaid flower husbands au

i watched the live action today. i loved it and it reminded me of them. big shout out to @catboy-scott-agenda and @omvimo for helping me figure this bad boy out <3

so first: jimmy is the mermaid, but instead of being beautiful, he’s a bit of a weird looking creature

pretty after you get a good look, but fundamentally weird looking nonetheless

lizzie and jimmy are seablings still; their parents were killed by people on the surface and as his older sibling she tells him to be wary of humans and stay away from the surface if he can help it.

nature wives is canon in this au because of course they are!! they are the role of sebastian and flounder but not sebastian and flounder yaknow. like somewhat of an equivalent

xornoth is the equivalent of ursula, however instead of him being related to the other mermaids, he was cursed to become one. he was not born as a mermaid; scott is still his brother

PRINCE SCOTT!!!

he comes off as normal but he’s also just a freak

he meets jimmy when he’s still a mermaid and instead of being put off by the scales and the slimey exterior, he’s like “yeah this is exactly what i want in a man”

they have a bit of a thing even before jimmy gets transformed

scott leaves poppies by the ocean for jimmy <3

(jimmy eats them) (scott is hiding behind a rock. while watching jimmy eat the flower he decide he will marry this man)

jimmy becomes human and his cursed to lose his voice, which is a big issue because jimmy is a little chatterbox

he becomes human and woah this is scott’s first time seeing his full height and wow was he this tall the whole time and scott just didn’t know????

after the conflict resolves, lizzie has more issues with them being together, but not for any actual reason! it’s more like

lizzie: ‘you’re jimmy’s boy toy right’ scott: ‘yeah’ lizzie: ‘why. he’s pathetic’

[pixlostinatos]

imagine staring into the face of your best friend (your best man, your brother-in-law) and seeing a stranger.

he says, "you're back!" but its more an exclamation of confusion, rather than happiness or relief. and hes missing his aquatic features, his codboy hat, any of the things that denoted him as the codfather. but then, lizzie was human once, too, wasn't she? what could have made that true of her brother?

and then, despite his knowledge of you-- and your hatred of the mystical force that calls itself Lore-- he denies any such knowledge of the "cod king" without even trying to correct you on his title. you feel like you're going to be sick.

"im just a sheriff. let's leave it at that," he insists.

but you deal with your problems in one way, and one way only. if it worked with xornoth, it will work for this. simply decide the problem doesnt exist, and it cannot harm you.

and besides, it's always a good time to torment jimmy, even if its this strange funhouse-mirror version of him.

(you still take the first chance you can to go home, and thank whatever gods may be listening that it works. maybe that god joel that jimmy mentioned. he seems trustworthy.)

[ep2nd]

I've been looking at Flower and Sea Family AU and decided, here, crumbs:

Xornoth and Illumina are AroAce

Illumina had no clue that the LGBTQ excited until he met Scott, and Scott may have stolen him and talked about it for the next 5 hours

Jimmy likes soccor

Lizzy, Xornoth, Scott dye their hair, sorry Jimmy, lots of colors

Fwhip, Sausage, and Gem all went to the same hifhschool, duh, and met a trash kid named Oli, who Fwhip may or may not have locked in a room for a week while abusing student council privileges

Lauren's here, somewhere, kinda just Scott's best friend turned chosen sister after leaving his Father

Sparklez exists, and exists to be the tired dad that adopts Lauren, Xornoth, Oli, and Scott as his younger siblings, against his choice

Give him a cup of coffee, he'll be fiiiineeeee

Been so long from last posting about this AU may have forgotten some things, OH WELL

Send me headcannons :3

[therealcodfather]

Three hours ago y made a post about Xornoth,

Can you tell me about it, plz. (Like any aus, how you see them) literally anything. Any ships? Go for it, I want to hear about it. :3

YESYESYES OKAY OKAY FOR ME XORNOTH GETS UNCORRUPTED AND THEN HE'S BASICALLY AN EDGY TEEN!!!! He's mentally 21 even though he's bodily 28 so Scott becomes the older brother. Scott changes Xornoth's age legally so now he IS 21 And Xornoth has really bad ptsd and like has to go to therapy bro is NOT doing good!! I ship him with Jimmy and Joey :]

[pacificwaternymph]

Just had a really painful thought.

Superhero AU, but Scott never broke away from Xornoth.

Scott, who has been worn down for so long by his older brother's schemes. Who doesn't agree with them, hasn't wanted this for such a long time, but can't escape. Because when he looks at Xornoth, some part of his brain still sees the older sibling who read him bedtime stories and cleaned his cuts and bruises and comforted him after the death of his parents.

And Xornoth is good at monopolizing on that. Giving Scott just the slightest moments of affection to keep him dependent. A gentle touch here, a praising word there. Offering to patch his wounds if he did particularly well during a battle.

In public he puts up the same front he does in the main timeline. He flirts, he taunts, he quips. The heroes see an unwaveringly loyal minion to Xornoth and a frustrating opponent on the battlefield.

No one sees the scared child, desperately reaching out to his older sibling, always searching for something that is no longer there.

And then there's Jimmy.

Jimmy, who understands what it's like to grow up with no parents, no one but their sibling to care for them. Jimmy, who flusters easily, who's terrible at banter, who smiles like the sun and laughs like the stars.

Jimmy, who talks to him like he's a real person.

Jimmy finds Smajor on a rooftop the night after one of their battles, stalling, trying to find any reason not to return home and terrified of what Xornoth will do when they learn of his failure. He's prepared to apprehend him, but the supervillain is already injured, and he snarls when he sees Solidarity but it's feral and desperate and scared. And Jimmy has always been a bleeding heart.

They don't mean to fall in love. They don't plan to keep meeting on that same rooftop. Both feel like they're betraying their families even by just being there. Scott is afraid of what would happen to him if their rendezvous were ever discovered. But they keep coming back. And they keep finding an understanding in each other that they've never had with anyone else.

After the first time they kiss, Scott knows that he can never return to his life before. Jimmy promises him that the Alliance can take him into their custody, that he can vouch for Scott, that they'll keep him safe. Scott is ready to leave his home forever.

And then... Xornoth finds out.

The next time Jimmy arrives on the rooftop, ready to meet Scott and take him back to the Alliance headquarters, all he finds is a single charred feather.

[hmshermitcraft]

Despite popular belief, the Emperors did not die when the rapture came, not when a good majority of them were gods or supernatural hybrids or had relations to gods.

One of the emperors who survived happened to be Scott, who gravely brought up at a meeting of the remaining emperors (Joey had decided after being found and healed by Gem that he wanted nothing to do with the emperor life anymore and disappeared, Pixlriffs had disappeared to fulfill his role as the keeper of the dead, Katherine had returned to the Fae realm, and Shrub was out doing Wolf Spirit things) that if he were alive, then Xornoth likely was as well.

And thus began their search for both Jimmy (Who had gone missing and was not as easy to find as Lizzie was) and Xornoth.

It took months before they finally got the slightest lead on Xornoth, a blind man who only saw via his sensing of magic described Xornoth’s magic in perfect detail and gave them the direction they were headed in.

Perhaps if they stayed long enough for the old man to finish telling them about Xornoth’s stay in his village they would have been less rattled by the sight they came across.

They had found Xornoth, but they had, changed. The dark charcoal skin they were used to the demon having were reduced to simple patches that marred their skin, a head of hair growing in magenta rather than white, and eyes that looked just like they did when the demon was still elf. But that wasn’t the only shock, in fact the second sight rattled them either further.

Traveling with him was none other than Jimmy, a very very human Jimmy but Jimmy nonetheless.

(They supposed that Jimmy’s situation must have been like Lizzie’s, their powers and therefore memories drained along with their domain, Gem found herself worrying that they wouldn’t be able to fix Jimmy like they managed to with Lizzie)

Meanwhile Jimmy is incredibly confused on who these strange people are and would really just like them to leave him and his fiancé alone, he is already preoccupied enough with trying to find a way to cure Xornoth of the dark magic infecting their soul (Exor’s remaining magic) the odd feeling of familiarity when he looked at the cyan haired elf with a face like his fiancé didn’t matter.

- 🍪 anon

Scott doesn't know if it's worse that Xornoth themself doesn't remember. Would it be easier if he could pretend they'd done this out of spite? A target for his grief, turning it into anger.

But Xornoth is changed in more than just his appearance. Maybe it's poetic, for Scott's own lost memories to come full circle like this. (Though, he thinks he suffered enough forgetting his own brother.)

Jimmy is happy. Scott watches them interact like any almost ordinary couple would and feels as if he's looking in a mirror. Lizzie tells Jimmy they're siblings - though she leaves out the whole god thing. Scott can't blame her, considering he introduces himself to Jimmy like he's a stranger.

Gem catches Scott's arm as they walk to the tavern, led by Jimmy and Xornoth. She whispers that Scott doesn't need to help here. He can go back and continuing assisting with the rebuilding efforts - providing a haven for the many refugees. It's not the empires of old, but something new. Something unified emerging from the ruins of the past.

Scott knows he needs to see this through. He has the most knowledge of Exor and Aeor of all of them. He'll find a way to expunge the remaining magic from his brother and let them finally live the life they've always deserved.

The life Scott might have deserved, once upon a time.

[minecraftbookshelf]

And What Becomes of Them

A part two to THIS snippet. This one takes place after the meeting with the Seablings in which the betrothal is made official and the Seablings being Seablings is revealed.

Ft. Xornoth and Scott

-

The front door closes behind them and Scott doesn't stop walking, making straight for the kitchen where he begins pulling out bread and mutton. Xornoth hovers, unable to find the words to say what they want to, rendered mute in the face of their brother's stone-faced calm. (And they would believe it too, were in not for the minute trembles in his ears, the way the jeweled golden chains suspended from his antlers shake as they sway with his movements, the way his wings are tucked in close to his back.) They finally find their voice while he is looking for the cheese. "Scott-"

"You'll need to actually choose an heir," Scott says briskly, not meeting their eyes as he gives up on his cheese search and makes for the wine instead, forgoing one of the fancy glasses he loves so much to fill a mug to the brim. "Aimsey is still probably the best choice, you'll need to speak with his parents of course. Star can have the downstairs room, unless she would rather have star own house." His hands are shaking and some of the wine spills over the edge of the mug. Scott curses under his breath and the wine freezes in the mug. He curses again. "Scott," Xornoth tries again. Scott looks away from the mug in his hands and keeps going. "It might be a good idea to-" "Scott," Xornoth shoves themself off the wall and takes the mug from his hands. He freezes, still not meeting Xornoth's eyes. "We don't need to do tha-" "I'm not coming back, brother." Scott says, completely toneless and calm. "He's not-He's functionally immortal. I won't be the widow in this marriage." There is a waver in his voice over the last word. "We don't know that." Xornoth says. That gets Scott to look up at them, an almost-glare in his eyes. "The Ocean Queen is at least fifty years older than the eldest elf recorded has ever lived to and shows no signs of age at all. We don't know how much younger than her The Codfather is, but what difference does it make." He pulls back from Xornoth, frost creeping in swirling patterns over his hands as he steps out of the influence of Xornoth's aura of heat. It's like the retreat of a mountain breeze, leaving only the suffocating heat of a Pixandrian noon-time. Scott leaves his plate on the table and disappears out the back door to the garden, and Xornoth is left with still, hot air, and a mug of wine-ice rapidly turning to slush.

-

AU Masterpost

[captain-writes]

Choosing a Fake Fiance

A Candidates and Kings snippet from the WIP document. Maybe someday I’ll post actual chapters of this, but I have been struggling with writing further into the plot. Thank you for @bumblebeesbah for commenting on another one of the snippets and inspiring me to post this.

“So if we find a man who fits these requirements and you like him, can he compete against these ladies to prove himself capable of being your future husband?”

“He could. Oh thank Aeor,” Scott began to laugh out of sheer relief, nearly sobbing with how hard his chest was heaving.

Jimmy frowned at how much stress and fear Scott must have been under to have such a reaction. He turned back to the list of requirements, “Where are we going to find a guy that fits all of this though? Especially in such a short period of time?”

“What about having it be one of the other rulers? You know, one of us?” Lizzie suggested, her sharp teeth on display in her grin.

“One of us? Oh, that’s perfect! All of us are noble, for starters. We can also help the candidate get through proving the other requirements,” Gem eagerly agreed, her eyes glittering with excited magic behind them.

“So obviously it can’t be any of the ladies, Joel, Xornoth, or Joey. That leaves Sausage, Fwhip, and Pix, right?”

“And you, Jimmy,” Lizzie reminded, causing her brother to grow visibly flustered.

“Right! Right, sorry. I didn’t think of that.”

“You didn’t think of yourself?”

Jimmy let out a small depreciating laugh, “I mean, why would Scott actually want me to be a candidate? Sausage, Fwhip, and Pix are much more impressive. I guess I just didn’t even consider myself an option.” Near the end, he seemed to pitch his voice up, as though expecting others to laugh along, even though no one did. If anything, he seemed surprised by the lack of ready agreement as to his unworthiness to be considered as a candidate.

“My embassy still hasn’t been repaired in Rivendell yet,” Fwhip noted. “If there had been more time and things like that had been fixed, maybe I would work as a candidate? But in the meantime, I don’t see it working.”

“I was such an evil guy literally just a few years ago. Honestly, I don’t think it would earn me any points with the citizens of Rivendell, since this is looking like it’s going to be a competition,” Sausage admitted.

Pix nodded, “I don’t really think I’d be a good candidate either. I have a lot of time obligations at the Vigil and even then, I just don’t think I’d be a good partner for you, Scott.”

Jimmy blinked, turning to look at Scott with wide eyes. With the three other eligible men effectively disqualifying themselves from the running, that left just the cod hybrid as an option for Scott’s betrothal candidate.