tbh it's no wonder ryland grace chose to stay on erid. i mean, he got a free house. on the beach! with today's real estate prices, what millenial wouldn't take that deal?
i really really really love the idea of eridians hearing absolutely everything in a human body and being able to predict an episode of something, similarly to how medical alert service dogs can
A/N: Meeting another new character!! And some interesting revelations here...
Warnings: Implied/referenced smut.
--
“I can see why Jacks chose you,” Marvin began when the silence got too long.
“Yeah?” Phantom asked, hands in his pockets as he looked at his… brother-in-law? “Why?”
“Apart from the whole twin thing,” Marvin started, gesturing vaguely at Phantom. “You’re confident and easy on the eyes. From what I’ve heard, you also know a thing or two about combat and weapons. Jackie wants someone like that.”
“He’s strong,” Phantom stated, wanting to fill the space somehow. “And he’s cute. He listens and remembers the things that’ll make me happy, but he also barely knows anything.”
“So, he doesn’t know about your metallic eyes?” Marvin’s question made Phantom stop, turning to look at the demon with a frown. “When you were feeling strong pleasure with Jacks, your eyes flashed a shining red. Didn’t you know that?”
“Wait, hold on,” Phantom scoffed, holding a hand up to stop Marvin. “First, no, I didn’t know my eyes did that. Second, were you watching your brother fuck me?”
“That’s disgusting,” Marvin’s nose scrunched at the suggestion, shaking his head before schooling his expression. “I saw it when I came to find Jacks. Before I could say anything, your eyes changed back. I took a lap in the shadows and came back after you’d finished.”
“But the eyes—” Â
“Is this the Bond?” A new voice called from the shadows, making Phantom jump. Stepping out of the darkness, a demon came to stand beside Marvin, flipping his cap off his head to place on Marvin’s in a natural movement. “Name’s Chase. I’m Mav’s Bond.”
“P-Phantom. Phan.” Blinking, he took a moment to look at Chase. The demon was slightly taller than Marvin, dark blond hair trimmed into a crew cut with darker patches leading into the five o-clock shadow covering his jaw and chin. There was a small scar on his jaw cutting through the stubble, and just beneath his ear sat a tattoo of a skull.
“Chase is going to be a Knight,” Marvin cooed, looking at Chase like he was the universe. “He’s training with Host, but he always comes home to me. He’s been wanting to meet Jackie’s Bond since they met.”
“I wanted to check on the kind of guy Jacks would take home,” Chase chuckled, sizing up Phantom with a single glance. “I approve. You’re just like Mav: good looking, smart, fit. He chose well.”
“You really care about who Jackie Bonds with?” Phantom asked, pulling his jacket tighter around himself as Chase wrapped an arm around Marvin’s shoulders. “Y-You’re a brother-in-law, why do you care? Not to sound mean or anything, I’m just… confused.”
“Brother-in-law?” Chase stage whispered to Marvin, then waited as his Bond whispered back before nodding in understanding. “Ah. Mainly it’s just curiosity. But Jacks and Mav are different to you and Marion. If I want to protect Marvin, I need to make sure Jackie chooses a Bond who will respect him and treat him well. Anything harmful done to Jacks gets transferred in some way to Mavs, and I don’t like seeing him hurt.”
“I understand,” Phantom began, eyes darting to glance at the moon through the trees outside. “I would never hurt Jackie in any way he didn’t explicitly ask me to, or in any way that would cause irreparable damage. I trust he’d be the same for me,” he added quietly, cheeks warming as he remembered the way Jackie had sounded so afraid to hurt him after Mare and Mad had completed the Bonding.
“That’s all I really needed to hear,” Marvin stated, bringing Phantom’s attention back. “I don’t want Jackie getting hurt, not just because it would hurt me, but because he could be damaging to those around him if he was deeply hurt. It’s a safety thing,” he finished, forcing a smile as his wavering voice attempted to sound casual.
“Let’s head back to Jackie,” Chase suggested, gesturing for Phantom to lead the way. “I’d love to meet your twin, Phan. You know, compare how you two differ from the twins I already know. And could you teach me some fighting styles when you have the time? Mav says you know a lot about combat.”
----
“You have plans to keep the twins under confinement,” Host stated, stepping out of the shadows behind Night’s desk to regard the human. “That would be a mistake.”
“I only want to keep them safe,” Night began, relaxing as he felt Host’s presence behind him. “How do you know it’d be a mistake, anyway? How did you even find out I was going to confine them here?”
“I listen,” Host answered, moving to stand in front of Night, hands behind his back. “I listen and I talk. Your cousin told me you were going to keep Marion and Phantom away from the demons to test their tolerance. I am telling you that it’s a bad idea.”
“It isn’t so much a test as it is a hypothesis,” Night groaned, head dropping into his hands. “They’re discovering things that are leading to questions I honestly don’t want them asking their partners. I’d rather be the one to answer, so I need them separate from Jackie and Madrick for a while.”
“What do you hope to accomplish? You won’t build trust with them. At most, it could destroy them.”
“I don’t know, I just know the stories of their being here are not to be told by demons. Can you understand that? I don’t want Madrick or Jackie to know about their origins before they do.” He looked pleadingly at Host, fingers pressing into the desk as he waited for the demon to respond.
“Madrick is dealing with his own research,” Host sighed, turning away from Night. “I can only advise him against sharing anything related to Marion. I cannot do much for Jackie, but I will try.”
“Why are you willing to help me?”
“You seem to genuinely have the twins’ best interests in mind,” the demon started, speaking slowly. “If you believe that finding out their background from Madrick or Jackie could harm them, it is in my best interest to assist you.” With a curt nod, he started walking back toward the shadows, pausing when he heard Night’s voice whisper behind him.
“Thank you, Host.” Ignoring the way his chest ached to hear Night thank him, he entered the shadows in search of Mad.
----
“Youse look like you need help,” Yancy hummed, standing behind Mad to peer over his shoulder at the tomes in his hands. “Are those records the humans have on demons?”
“I would have thought you’d be staying near Murdock while Night’s on the warpath,” Mad commented, leafing through yellowed pages while his eyes grew a dark purple. “These records aren’t useful for me. I don’t need your help, Yancy.”
“Murdock’s resting,” Yancy replied, moving around the table to look at another book. “I’ll go to him later. If youse can tell me what you’re looking for, I know where Murdock keeps the other records.”
Mad’s head snapped up, closing his book with a thud. “Other records?”
“He’s got a spot in the basement with an ancient book about these… other demons,” Yancy explained, rolling his eyes before following Mad through shadow into the basement. “As I was saying, the book talks about other demons who are kinda like youse. Reflection demons.”
“Show me the book.” Mad’s eyes hadn’t shifted from their dark purple hue, flipping through the book once Yancy handed it to him. “I know these names. How do I know these names?”
“All demons know Noir,” Yancy stated, reading over Mad’s shoulder. “He created us all. Some mishap with experiments or investigations and he never stopped until he disappeared a few centuries ago.”
“Noir’s my father,” Mad murmured, looking up from the book with light purple eyes. “Actually, my grandfather. You are descended from demons created by Noir, but I am blood of his blood.”
“That’s why they call youse a prince,” Yancy retorted, pausing as something caught his eye. “That’s a family tree.”
“Dark’s tree,” Mad clarified, peering closer at the diagram. “I know that name; he’s been talking to me. He’s trapped in the realm between because someone smashed his mirror. He’s related by blood to Noir’s Bond, but there’s some problem between him and Noir.”
“There’s a note,” Yancy pointed out, jabbing his finger at the feathering writing at the bottom of the tree. “Something about a lost descendant and trouble if Noir and Dark met again…”
Before Mad could speak, the book was pulled out of his hands by an invisible force, smacking into the wall before falling to the ground. “Madrick,” Dark’s voice boomed, making Yancy shudder, “You are treading into dangerous territory. There is no coming back if you pursue this. You must protect the human twins at all costs.”
“Why?” Mad asked, eyes flicking between dark blue and grey as he realised Dark’s presence was gone.
Yknow the lil fanfic trope where a character, usually non-human, purrs like a cat. In this case it would obviously be Rocky but what if it was Grace instead hear me out-
Couldn't get Simon all self debasing and disparaged out of my head after reading Olive Branches by @bakdooraccess on AO3. I'm addicted to this fic I could devour the suffering for every meal.
I don't support Eva bashing that's emotional support environmental terrorist right there. What I'm interested in is the bad pr she is giving earth because the eridian ambassador is too invested in his flesh teddy bears life
A/N: I had this idea for a Project Hail Mary fic last night and it took me almost 24 hours to sit and write it. And then, because I am not feeling the greatest and am losing blood in the usual monthly manner, I wrote this in a shortish span of time and didn't edit it.
--
“Do you think your scientists could replicate salt air?”
Rocky paused his tinkering, turning his xenonite ball to “face” Grace. Salt in air, question?
“Back on Earth,” Grace began, shifting so he could face Rocky as he sat on an outcropping of rock in his biodome, “We had beaches that were full of salt water. Sodium chloride, remember?” He waited for Rocky’s shaky thumbs up before continuing.
“The sea spray and breeze would mix the scent of the salt into the air, which was a truly wonderful experience. You have oceans,” he stated suddenly, watching Rocky perk up as his voice rose. “They’ve got to have some kind of smell or sound that you enjoy.”
Ocean breeds Astrophage. Sounds like water on ground.
“Right.” Grace turned back to stare at his knees, propped on the outcrop as he felt mountain air on his face. “How did your scientists replicate this breeze?”
Scientists shift atmospheric pressure above your head. The breeze is just shifting air.
“Rocky, I miss my beaches,” Grace sighed, extending his arm to vaguely motion at his view: rolling hills of synthesised grass and barren plains with his cottage somewhere at the edge of the dome. “I just want to feel sand beneath my feet again, ocean air in my face, the smell of salt in the air.”
I’ll see what the science team can do. Rocky pressed his clawed fist against the surface of his ball, waiting for Grace to return the fist bump before he stood up. You should sleep, Grace.
Grace sighed as he watched Rocky leave, then stood and walked the path down from his mountain to go back to his cabin. There was a half-eaten meburger on the table, and he wrapped it before dropping it into the trash on his way to bed.
--
Tap-tap-tap.
The tapping was something he hadn’t heard since Rocky woke him to show him the mountain. Scrubbing at his eyes, Grace rolled over in his bed and tried to go back to sleep.
Grace, wake up.
Groaning, Grace slid out of his bed and headed for the door of the cabin, shrugging a threadbare cardigan over his frame before opening the door to see Rocky practically bouncing in his ball. “What?”
Before Rocky could speak, the smell hit him, making him brush past the Eridian to see half of the plains had been modified into a crude recreation of the beaches he was sure were on that computer he’d given Rocky.
Crashing against the shore, blue waves foamed as they hit sand, spraying a fine mist into the air before receding back to the main body. The imitated sun shone off the sand, abnormally glimmering as if the grains were made of glitter instead of the tiny minerals and shells on Earth.
Science team worked while you slept, Rocky explained, shuffling in his ball nervously. Robots had trouble digging channel for the ocean. Ocean is partially replicated from Eridian ocean, and sand made from Erid dirt.
“You got them to make a beach,” Grace breathed, eyes watering as he knelt to feel the sand. Instead of individual grains of rock and shell, the grains were tiny hexagons made from Erid’s rocks, refined until they were barely recognisable. “They gave me salt air, right outside my door.”
Homesickness leads to depression, which could lead to detriments to your health, Rocky stated, ending the sentence at a lower octave than he’d started it. Council didn’t want to lose our only guest because you got too sad.
“Thank you, Rocky,” Grace smiled, moving to wrap the ball in his arms in their imitation of a hug. “Now, how tight is the seal on this ball?”
bloodymary mutuals who wants to be my guy and listen to me scream abt this cyberpunk bodyguard Simon and traumatized and “staggering waste of carbon with a side of bitter” Grace
A/N: Secrets are coming out and lore is being established!!
----
“I don’t usually see you drinking during the day,” Murdock commented as he strolled into the parlour, sitting in the armchair beside his cousin and crossing his ankle over his knee. “Is something troubling you?”
“I lied to the twins,” Night replied, taking another sip of his wine with a sigh. “I swore I would never lie to them, that I’d tell the truth about who they were when they grew old enough to ask and understand.”
“Did they ask?”
“Marion had been doing some experiments,” Night answered, swirling the rest of his wine in the glass. “He found differences between their blood and the typical human’s. They confronted me about it, and…”
“And?” Murdock prompted when Night stopped, leaning forward in his seat as he waited for his cousin.
“I told them it must be from their proximity to Madrick,” Night sighed, downing the remaining wine and pouring another glass from the bottle beside him. “Especially for Marion, because they Bonded, he must have some of Madrick’s blood in him.”
“That’s bull,” Murdock scoffed.
“I know!” Night groaned, closing his eyes and tilting his head back to face the ceiling. “It just wasn’t the way I’d wanted to tell them. I didn’t think they’d examine their blood, Murdock! I thought they’d find out from their partners discovering it or ask about the weird copper ornament I found them with!”
“You still have their blood test results from the day you found them, right?” Murdock asked, leaning back to give Night space. “You could always compare those to the ones Marion brought you, see if they’re the same. If they are, then it’s perfectly reasonable for you to not know why.”
“Sometimes, Murdock,” Night began slowly, opening his eyes to look into his glass, “I wish I’d had contact with their mother to ask questions. Sometimes I wonder what could have happened if I hadn’t taken them into my care.”
----
“Host.” Mad straightened his back as he stepped out of the wall mirror into the library, standing before Host with a grace most rarely see. “Marvin said you wanted to speak to me.”
“You were in the realm between,” Host stated, folding his hands behind his back as he turned toward Mad. “I heard about what happened in the basement. I can sense your concern, Madrick. Is there anything I can offer in support?”
“There is… more to my being than even I understand, Host,” Mad began with a sigh, leaning against a shelf with his arms crossed. “I… hear things, sometimes. Voices—no, just the one voice. And I recognise the voice, but I can’t place its owner. I wonder if I am losing my mind.”
Before Host could answer, he paused, inhaling sharply as he tensed, causing Mad to freeze and look around in fear.
“You aren’t losing your mind, Madrick.” Both demons turned at the sound of the voice, but neither could see its owner. “It is also possible that you only know of me from legend, and though I wish I could, I cannot reveal myself.”
“Why?” Mad asked, eyes flashing grey before deepening to purple.
“In simple terms, I am dead,” the voice answered with a hint of amusement. “They destroyed my mirror, killing my physical form in the human understanding of the term, but my father ensured I was never truly destroyed.”
“Your father?” Host asked, jolting Mad for a moment as he’d gotten wrapped in the voice’s words.
“He is every demon’s father,” the voice continued, steeped in reverence. “He crawled out of hell and experimented until he could make demons. He is the only one responsible for your heritage, Madrick, and by proxy, the existence of those twins you are so close to.”
“Wait,” Mad spluttered, eyes flickering from purple to blue to dark red before returning to neutral amber once more. “Who are you?”
“I have been here too long,” the voice suddenly stated, sounding fearful. “I must return to my charges. If, however, you have need of me again, you can call for Dark, and I will be there.”
“Dark?” Host asked, turning to face Mad with a frown. “I’ve heard that name before… sometime before I lost my sigil.”
“He’s gone again,” Mad murmured, eyes shifting to dark blue as he hugged himself. “I don’t understand anything anymore.”
----
Stepping out of the bathroom as he wrapped a towel around his waist, Phantom froze at the sight of Mare sitting on his bed, staring blankly at the floor in the same way Phantom knew meant his mind was miles away. “Mare?”
“Phan,” Mare sighed, visibly relaxing when he recognised his twin. “Mad’s gone to look for Host, I think.”
“Are you alright?” Ducking into the walk-in closet to put on boxers and a sweater, Phantom returned to Mare’s side and brushed hair out of his eyes. “What were you thinking about before I got out?”
“Mad took me into the copper ornament, I think,” Mare answered, lips pulled down in a frown. “The realm of reflections, like when he took me into the shadows before. It wasn’t… cold, like the shadows were. It was warm, and some part of me felt like…”
“Like?” Phantom prompted patiently, glaring at Jackie as the demon poked his head out of the bathroom with wide eyes.
“Like coming home? Y-You know how we’ve never felt truly like we belonged anywhere? Being in the copper felt like belonging.” Mare groaned and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “It doesn’t make any sense! Just like our blood, our past, nothing makes sense about us, Phan.”
“I can agree with that.” The twins turned to look at Marvin as he climbed out of the shadows of the closet, flipping his hair over his shoulder with a grin. “Jacks told me I could talk to you, Phantom Sharp. Is now a good time?”
“Marvin.” Jackie stepped out of Phantom’s shadow to look pointedly at his own twin, hands in his pockets. “Not the best—”
“No, no,” Mare interrupted, waving his hands to get the demons’ attention. “Phan, go meet your brother-in-law. I want to talk to Jackie about some things anyway. Go, shoo!” Sending Phantom a reassuring yet watery smile, he waved his twin off before focusing on Jackie.
“Is something the matter?” Jackie asked once Phantom and Marvin had left the room. “Are you hurt anywhere? Maddy left me a message to take care of you until he came back from talking to Host—”
“I actually wanted to ask about Host,” Mare interjected, fidgeting with the blanket. “I know you’ve told us about his sigil forming between his eyes, and that his partner used that to blind him, but I wanted to know more. How are Knights made? What’s his status compared to Mad or to you?”
“That’s really more something you should be asking Maddy, Mare,” Jackie sighed, averting his gaze before meeting his eye again. “Status is based on skill, I guess. I’m only so respected because I’m Maddy’s friend. We don’t have the same hierarchy as you would understand. Maddy’s a prince because his heritage and age prove he’s got a direct connection to the Father of Demons.”
“And how are Knights made?”
“They’re not “made”, per se,” Jackie laughed, schooling his expression when Mare simply stared at him. “If a demon has the strength and skill, they can go into training to be a Knight. Marv’s Bond is in training with Host.”
“And Host has the skill? The strength?”
“Hosty’s always had this ability to move faster than any demon and deliver attacks that could make even the strongest human fall,” Jackie answered, swinging his legs over the end of the bed. “He’d never really needed his sight to be great. But what his partner did to him… he barely trusts anyone anymore. He chose to stay with Maddy because it reduced the interactions he’d have with others.” Shrugging, Jackie dropped his gaze to stare awkwardly at the pattern on the quilt.
“Do you think he’d trust anyone again?” Mare asked finally, picking at the hem of his shirt. “Knights can have relationships, right?”
“Oh, yeah, they surely can!” Jackie replied, eyes lighting up. “Like I said, Marv’s Bond is training to be a Knight. Hosty can have a relationship again if he finds the right person—” he cut himself off as his eyes widened, the words dying in his throat.
“There’s a “but” coming,” Mare prompted, reaching out to set his hand on Jackie’s knee.
“Without his sigil, he can’t have a complete Bond ever again,” Jackie whispered, face white as a sheet. “I don’t know of anyone who’d be alright with that.”
