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waveridden · 6 years ago

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FIC: i’ll be there next time

Leenik smiles. “You wanna do resolutions?” (A story about New Years, surprises, and the importance of being with the right people. Tryst/Leenik and Zero/Blue, 1.7k)

AUcember || read on ao3

“Nobody cleans up after their damn selves,” Aava mutters. She already has a towering stack of dishes in her hands, mostly paper plates and plastic cups.

“You could do this somewhere else,” Tryst says. Leenik’s not sure if he’s offering or just being a dick, but he seems pretty sincere as he looks at her. “My place is-”

“Your place is tiny, Trystan.”

“Hey,” Leenik says mildly, not because he cares but because he feels honor-bound to defend his apartment with Tryst. It’s a horrible place, sure, but it’s their horrible place.

“Your place is tiny, Tryst and Leenik,” Aava says, because she’s fair and magnanimous like that, and she wants to give Leenik credit, or something. She’s a real friend.

She’s not wrong, though. Their apartment barely fits the both of them, and that was even after they decided to bite the bullet and go for a one-bedroom. It’s a comfy arrangement, but it’s nothing compared to Aava’s penthouse. It’s huge, from some corporate job that she never shares the specifics of, and she always throws this New Year’s party, every year.

Tryst and Leenik are pretty much the only ones who stay to help her clean up, every year. It’s one of Leenik’s favorite things.

Leenik holds out the garbage bag in his hands for Aava to dump things into. “Are people still coming over for post-party wine?”

“They should be. I thought Zero and Blue were here, but I haven’t seen them in a while.”

“Maybe they left,” Tryst says, absurdly cheerful. Tryst doesn’t like Zero and Blue, because of that thing that happened that time that ended with Zero smashing Leenik’s prosthetic. Which, okay, Leenik had been upset at the time too, but he mostly just wants to get along with Aava’s friends, so he let it go. The past is the past, or whatever.

Aava frowns, the corners of her lipstick-red mouth cutting sharply downwards. “They’d better not have left.”

“Bacta texted me earlier that he and Lyn will be here soon,” Leenik offers, and Tryst brightens. Aava doesn’t, which, fair. Bacta and Lyn don’t get invited to the party itself, but Leenik always invites them for post-party wine and resolution talk. It’s one of the only times he can get Bacta and Aava in a room together, and maybe they don’t like it, but Leenik does and that counts for a lot.

“Synox left early,” Aava mutters. Tryst breathes an audible sigh of relief, and she rolls her eyes. “Just because Synox and Bacta-”

“Bacta has good reason-”

“I hope Synox has a good New Years very far away from us,” Leenik says. He thinks it’s very diplomatic, but judging by the way Aava’s eyes cut over to him, she doesn’t agree. “But what about Zero and Blue?”

She sighs. “They’ve been acting weird lately.”

“Weird how?”

“It’s getting harder to go out with both of them at once.”

Leenik blinks. “Aren’t they inseparable?”

“Not anymore!” Aava throws a fork into the trash bag as spitefully as possible. “Something happened, and now it’s possible to get them into a room together.”

“Maybe they hate each other now,” Tryst says, disturbingly cheerful about the idea. “That’d be fun.”

Leenik glares at him. “You don’t wish that on other people, it’s bad karma.”

“Bad karma for what?”

“For us!”

“Karma’s not real,” Tryst says, but he looks a little worried at the thought. “Nothing bad’s gonna happen to us, Nik.”

“You can’t wish ill on other people’s relationships,” Leenik insists. “You gotta wish for them to get hit by a bus or something, that’s totally acceptable.”

Aava kicks him, lightly, which doesn’t really matter because her boots have studs on the toes and it hurts either way. “It’s not acceptable.”

“It’s totally acceptable.” Leenik looks away. “What do you think happened?”

“What do I think?”

“Yeah, you know them, you have to have a theory or something. Why do you think they’re acting weird.”

Aava bites her lip, and then leans in closer to Leenik. “Can you keep a secret?”

“No,” Leenik says, because he has to be truthful.

“He can’t. Tryst Valentine, on the other hand-” Tryst steps in until he’s close behind Leenik, breath warm on Leenik’s face. “I mean, I also can’t, but I want to know.”

“Good,” Aava says. “I think they’re pining.”

Leenik makes a face. “Pining is a gross word, call it unrequited love.”

“Those two have been in love as long as I’ve known them,” Tryst says. Which is true, because Zero and Blue are disgusting and obvious and transparent, and Leenik hates them both. “Why does it matter now?”

Aava shrugs. “I think they finally figured it out.”

“Figured it out?” Tryst repeats. “You think they didn’t know before?”

“Have you met them?” She snorts. “They couldn’t figure out a damn thing if it didn’t hit them in the face. They definitely didn’t know, and I’m pretty sure they do now.”

“What do you think is going to happen?” Leenik asks, fascinated despite himself. He doesn’t care if Zero and Blue date, but he wants to know every part of this story. He’s lucky that Tryst was sort of romantic, and paid a little bit more attention than Leenik did, because he figured out not long after they moved in that they were in love and being a little stupid about it. But Zero and Blue don’t seem like either of them would ever notice without someone to rub their noses in it.

“I don’t know.” Aava steps back, looking distinctly unhappy. “But I think it’s going to be a problem.”

“Hey, look on the bright side,” Tryst says.

Leenik steps on his foot, because he loves Tryst, but Tryst’s bright side is definitely not going to be Aava’s bright side.

“Nik,” Tryst whines. “I was just going to-”

“No, I’m on Leenik’s side,” Aava says. “He’s trying to make sure your foot stays out of your mouth, Trystan.”

Tryst opens his mouth, but Leenik steps on his foot again and looks at Aava. “We can’t say that around him, remember? He makes bad jokes.”

“Right.”

“Good jokes,” Tryst says indignantly. He kisses Leenik’s temple before he moves away to help gather trash, and Leenik smiles to himself. “My jokes are great, you’re just the wrong audience.”

“The right audience doesn’t want you either,” Aava says flatly, and Tryst laughs, and they keep going.

Aava ends up pouring the wine when Bacta and Lyn get there, because there’s still no sign of Zero or Blue. She doesn’t look happy about it, so by collective silent agreement Leenik sits next to her where she’s curled up on the couch. She doesn’t say anything, but she adjusts herself so her feet are tucked in Leenik’s lap. Tryst settles on the couch next to him and puts an arm around his shoulders.

Leenik smiles. “You wanna do resolutions?”

“Sure,” Aava sighs. “I resolve to kick Zero and Blue’s ass next time I see them.”

“That’s fair,” Leenik says, and he means it. Aava throws the party, but he knows this is the part that matters to her. It sucks that they’re missing it because of their… whatever. “Anything long-term?”

“I’m going to learn to scrapbook.”

“Scrapbooks are nice.”

“The first thing in it can be you kicking their asses,” Tryst suggests. Bacta and Lyn mutter their agreement, because they’re also still not over the thing with the prosthetic.

“The perfect scrapbook entry,” Aava murmurs. She scans the group before her eyes settle on Lyn. “Luroon?”

“Read over a hundred books,” Lyn says promptly. “Not audiobooks, not graphic novels, but print-on-paper books. Tryst?”

“Mine’s a secret,” Tryst says.

Leenik turns to look at him. “Do I get to hear?”

“Nope.”

“I know it,” Lyn says, which makes Leenik frown. Lyn is the person Tryst tells when he has things he doesn’t want to tell Leenik. Like the fact that he’s in love with Leenik, or his anniversary present for Leenik. And judging by the way Lyn smiles at Leenik for a second, this one has to do with him too. “It’s good. Do you have a public one, Trystan?”

Tryst shrugs. “I’m going to try and enjoy the simple pleasures in life more often. Nik, what’s yours?”

“I want to learn to cook well enough that I don’t always need recipes.”

“Big goal,” Bacta mutters. But Bacta can’t cook, so he can shut up, as far as Leenik’s concerned.

Leenik just shrugs. “Bacta?”

Bacta opens his mouth to answer, but then he frowns. “Did you hear that?”

Everyone goes quiet. Lyn swirls the wine in her glass, narrowing her eyes. And after a few seconds, there’s a thumping sound, coming from further in the apartment.

“I thought you said everyone left,” Tryst says suspiciously.

“Everyone did.” Aava shifts her feet out of Leenik’s lap and stands up slowly. “Unless I didn’t-”

The door to the guest bedroom, the one that doesn’t have a bed but does have blankets and most of Aava’s shoes, bursts open. And Zero and Blue - there’s no other word for it, really - tumble out, looking disheveled.

Aava’s jaw drops. Tryst looks gleeful. Blue has three hickeys on his neck that Leenik can see, and he’s really trying not to look.

“Why,” Aava says, after a deafening silence.

Zero coughs. “We, uh- we were-”

“We’ve been dating for a month,” Blue says, voice higher than normal. “And we lost track of time.”

“In my guest room?” Aava’s jaw works for a second. “Without telling me?”

Zero winces. “We wanted to, but-”

“But what?”

“Looks like Aava gets her resolution early,” Tryst murmurs, underneath the rising voices behind them. Bacta snickers, and Lyn takes a long, smug drink of her wine.

Leenik smiles and moves his face so it’s closer to Tryst. “You’re keeping secrets?”

“Only good ones, I promise.” Tryst leans forward and presses his mouth to Leenik’s, a slow, chaste kiss. “Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year,” Leenik echoes. “What are you gonna do now?”

“I said I’m going to appreciate the simple pleasures.” Tryst turns around to watch Aava, who is now standing directly in front of Zero and Blue. “And this seems like a good place to start.”

Leenik turns around, letting Tryst put his other arm around his waist. “You know what?”

“What?”

“I think you’re right.”

“I always am,” Tryst says, and Leenik lets himself lean into Tryst’s arms.

#campaign #zeblue #geelentine #campaign podcast #campaign star wars #campaign fic #leenik x tryst #blue x zero #waveridden.fic #aucember18 #YEAR TWO COMPLETE MY DUDES!!!!!!!!!!

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waveridden · 6 years ago

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FIC: dream me, o dreamer

The werewolf transformations… are not easy. This is the kind of thing that goes without saying. (An Evil Campaign monster AU, implied Blue/Zero, 1.4k)

AUcember || title lyric || read on ao3

Aava stops by the morning of the full moon with a black lace parasol, which is the most laughably ineffective sunshade that Zero has ever seen in his life. The shadows on the front step are weird, lacy shapes. If he looks close enough it looks like they’re moving, which might be a trick of the mind. It also might be Aava’s magic.

“This should be enough to get you through tonight.” She holds out a thermos. “And I left out the garlic this time.”

“Blue will appreciate that,” Zero mutters. The last time Aava put garlic in his full moon draught, Blue hadn’t been in a room with him for about three days, and he’d been pissed for a week afterwards. He takes the thermos - the glittery neon pink thermos. “Branching out in home decor?”

“It’s a long story,” Aava says. This could mean about half a dozen things, but Zero is distracted from all of them by the fact that the lace shadows on her face are definitely changing. It’s like the lace is… writhing. It’s very unsettling. “Let me know how this batch works, I tried something different.”

Zero pops the lid of the thermos open and sniffs it. It doesn’t smell like garlic, which is promising, but the garlic batch hadn’t smelled like garlic either. “Different how?”

“There are a couple ingredients that are supposed to heighten mental abilities.”

“So I might not just be a wolf?” He tilts the thermos from side to side, watching the sludge roll around inside of it. It’s fucking gross to look at, but he’s going to drink it. He always does. “You’d better not be messing with me.”

“It might not work.” Aava looks uncharacteristically serious. “I need you to understand, this is something new. If there are side effects, I need you to tell me right away.”

“How soon is right away?”

“Depends on how bad the side effects are.”

Zero looks back into the thermos. The sludge is definitely a little browner than normal. “Should I warn Blue?”

“I already did,” Aava says, which is surprising. Even without the garlic incident, Aava and Blue have never got along. Zero didn’t realize they had each other’s phone numbers. Or were capable of talking to each other without him there to intervene.

He sniffs the sludge again. “Is it going to be that bad?”

“Hopefully not.” Aava offers him the sliver of a smile, but he can see something grim in her eyes. “And it’s not too late to get a normal batch, if you’d rather not risk it.”

“Nah, what’s life without a little bit of experimentation?” Zero takes a tentative sip, ignoring the noise of protest Aava makes. The sludge is still earthy, but this time it’s also a little… perfumey. “Are there flowers in this?”

“There are flowers in all of them.”

“It tastes like flowers.”

“All of them taste like flowers,” Aava sighs. The lace has shifted so that the top half of her face is almost completely in shadow, with only the thinnest lines spider-webbing down her cheeks. “I have to go, I have other errands to run. Give Blue my worst.”

“I will when he wakes up.”

Aava grins slyly. “Late night?”

“I took away his caffeine and made him sleep, because full moons are worse when I have to deal with that.”

She laughs out loud. “Can you tell the difference?”

“I can when I’m cognizant.” And it’s true: when he’s not in full-on animal mode, Blue tends to be twitchier when he’s fully caffeinated. Zero can’t detox him, obviously - the only thing other than blood that Blue drinks these days tends to be espresso - but he can at least delay the inevitable caffeine high. It makes a difference, maybe not in Blue’s actual behavior but in how willing Zero is to deal with him.

“Good luck,” Aava says sincerely. And he knows she means it. That’s why she makes him the draught so the transformations don’t hurt so much, so he’s a little less wild, so he feels like he has some control over the whole thing.

“Thank you,” Zero says quietly. It’s not something he says enough, but Aava smiles at him like she understands everything he has to thank her for. She probably does. “Hopefully I won’t see you tonight.”

“Hopefully not,” she agrees, and leaves. The shadows from the parasol remain on the doorstep, wriggling indeterminately before fading away. Zero closes the door. He doesn’t know what the lace thing is all about, but he doesn’t want anything Aava left behind to wriggle into his home.

The werewolf transformations… are not easy.

This is the kind of thing that goes without saying. There is a certain type of monsterhood that is inherently difficult. Zero has to keep careful track of the moon, and what that does to him. Blue can’t go outside most hours of the day, and he has all but banned garlic from the house. Aava has all sorts of blood pacts and secret commitments that Zero is, frankly, afraid to ask about in detail. With great power comes great responsibility, sure, and that responsibility comes at the price of power.

And Zero is powerful. Oh, is he ever powerful.

The transformations, though, those have always been hard. They hurt. They hurt more before Aava, who has ways of making them easier. They hurt more before Blue, who waited months and years until Zero’s wolf form recognized him and trusted him. Zero’s pretty sure that he tried to maul Blue more than once, but just because the guy is skinny doesn’t mean he’s not tough. The wolf fought Blue, Blue fought right back, and now Blue and the wolf have an understanding.

Zero doesn’t remember what the wolf does, not really. He knows the wolf remembers things and recognizes people - recognizes Blue, mostly - but he only remembers things in flashes. Images, not thoughts. And the wolf doesn’t know what Zero knows. He has learned this the hard way, not just through mauling Blue but through things like knocking furniture over and chewing up shoes. And killing people, which might or might not be the wolf’s idea of giving Blue a gift. He’s not sure on that.

So he’s not sure what to expect when the transformation starts tonight. The sun is already down when the moon starts coming up, so Blue is outside with him in the forest. He brought a book, because of course he did. Fucking typical, Zero thinks as the hair starts growing. He’ll be there for Zero, sure, but he’ll have something to keep him busy while he does it.

But Blue stops reading as soon as the bones start cracking. He’s watching Zero. He always watches. He’s always there. It’s all Zero can think about, as the strange non-scent of vampire floods his senses. It takes a minute to realize when he has transformed fully, because he’s so busy breathing in the scent of… of Blue.

Holy shit. He can still sort of think clearly.

Zero barks. Blue sighs and snaps his book shut. “What is it, boy? Is Timmy stuck in a well?”

Fuck you, Zero would really like to say. He’s stuck growling at Blue, who seems completely unfazed by it. He drops his book into a coat pocket and wanders over to Zero, looking completely unconcerned about the fact that Zero is a giant wolf. Instead, Zero is stuck standing as Blue gets closer, and his whole world becomes his scent and his presence and his footsteps and-

Jesus. Is this what it’s like having a dog brain?

“Bark once if you understand me,” Blue says, and Zero means to bark. He really does. But something stops him. This is maybe going to be his only chance to know what it’s like being a wolf around Blue, how Blue interacts with this other part of him. He can tell Aava that the draught worked without telling Blue that it did.

Blue sighs, not looking particularly disappointed. “Oh well,” he says, and- and raises a hand to scratch Zero’s ear. Zero would protest, but he kind of ends up whining anyways, because what the fuck, it turns out that actually feels really, really good. “Maybe next time. Well, let’s go kill a guy, I’m starving.”

Zero howls, just for the fuck of it. Blue gives him a fanged smile, and not a particularly kind one. “That’s the spirit.”

#campaign podcast #campaign #campaign star wars #evil campaign #zeblue #blue x zero #one of these days i will write the epic phenomenal zeblue love story i want to write but today i am EXHAUSTED #it is a MIRACLE i wrote this much and i am not even reading it over before posting it so we're just gonna... live with that together #waveridden.fic #aucember18 #ALSO!!! big thanks to tam for helping me like... think in a straight line and establish this concept and figure out. literally anything #the brain fog is bad tonight but i am so so lucky to have them to help me out #campaign fic

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