Thank you so much @asphodelis for this amazing picture of Alain and Travis based on their paired ending in Unicorn Overlord. This year has been a hard one but I genuinely can't stop smiling whenever I look at them 🥰
(my one request was "more books please" and you certainly delivered. XD thats their emotional support stack of reading!)
Gift exchange for the sweetest @tarasmom on Villa Dellamorte server :3 It was a pleasure to work on this, I love this ship so much and it was a pleasure to draw them for you >w<
I love them so much. I am kicking my feet and giggling
The love bruises onboth of them, her in his shirt, the way she holds him as they read together - they're just so soft and domestic and bring me so much joy ;-;
"Rook... You know that Elgar'nan was in my head. Right? So were you. And so was Cyrian. And you know what you said? What the two people I care about more than anyone else told me? "Hold on." So I did. Because you were there. And now you're here. Thank you. For always being there."
leave quietly before anyone try to kill her
IT'S AN AU GUYS! I SWEAR IN AMBROISE WORLD STATE SHE IS FINE
I need to catch up on tags and find a thing to post for messy middles some day maybe? I'm also kind of casually popping in some things for Bellara Week. And working on finishing my Dorian and Theon piece. And like dabbling in my snowed in fic. I HAVE AT LEAST 6 DIFFERENT THINGS I'M JUMPING AROUND WITH HERE BECAUSE I HAVE LOST CONTROL OF MY LIFE.
Anyway, I was writing Silvia today. This piece is tentatively called In the Light of Day
Silvia's hands are shaking. She can't even make out out the more prominent scar beside her right thumb. That long gone blade had come at her too quickly to simply dodge. She caught it with her gloved hand without thinking. The cut was deep. Deep enough to cause permanent damage if it wasn't treated quickly enough, and it wasn't. How deep were the wounds Ghilan'nain caused Lace? Would they have been able to mend them quickly enough if she hadn't been swallowed by that pit of blight? Surely, if Emmrich and Bellara both put their magic together, something could have been done. Between herself, Davrin, and Lucanis, there was enough quick medical treatment to tide her over. Taash would have had more trouble carrying a pin to safety. Something, something. They could have done something.
They should have tried to save her.
Sooner than any attempt to pull Silvia from the Fade, they should have looked for Harding. Something. A whisper. A scream. It's been nearly three years and Silvia still has no idea what went on while she was gone. Did they even try to find her? Just a singular effort or did they just assume? Did Harding's fate fall to the wayside to save the infamous Rook from a prison within whose confines she rightfully belonged? Why is she standing here when the person who actually did whatever it took to succeed lays in some bastardized purgatory, riddled with holes and blight?
Her vision goes fuzzy.
Anyway, I love to suffer bye.
Have some tags friends @juniper-and-dragonthorn @mythals-whore @serensama @thatgaymerguyb @cute-ellyna @feelslikepants (u cooking for bellara week? 👀) @sorrygoldfish
I probably started and stopped something for this like seven times. But I was inspired by @tarasmom and her entry about Bellara building a laser, which is amazing and accurate. I totally think she uses artifacts and her research based on artifacts to protect her friends and family wherever she is, so this is based off of that. Somehow it did come out ultimately from Lucanis's POV so he can experience the surprise of her trapping their room. :) Bellara leaving tea drinks everywhere is also directly inspired by tarasmom haha. <3
Pairing: Lucanis/Bellara
Word count: 1350
I believe I have addressed all your questions, but if you have additional concerns, we can arrange a meeting ahead of the party and you will allow me to convince you of this course of action —-
a sharp knife
red inside
spilled outside
the body is still
Lucanis blinks down at the paper until the fog clears from his head, then he drops his quill and rubs his hands down his face.
"Spite," he groans. He almost scolds that they've talked about him interrupting Lucanis's work before, but he's too exhausted for an argument. There's a sharp ache in his jaw setting his teeth on edge, eyes dry and gritty, and now he has to summon the energy to rewrite the letter that he had almost finished.
Always writing, always talking, Spite complains. No time for fun. For Bellara. Make them do. What you want.
Each day, he gets closer to agreeing, but Caterina does not and he has no idea how to avoid being collateral damage in that clash. Instead, he abandons his desk for the moment and heads over to the sideboard in his office. "That reminds me, she could probably use a new cup of tea about now."
He sets about heating up water using the stone and crystal container contraption that she made for him. Even though he had argued that the proper place to make brew drinks was the kitchen, he can't deny how useful her creation has been, especially with the number of caffeinated beverages that he goes through and that she manages to forget and leave strewn about the house.
It sits warm in his chest, one of the more thoughtful presents he's ever been given, and he decides to surprise her with a blend from her family that he'd asked them to send. The flavor might shock her enough to distract her from whatever she's working on, he thinks, and perhaps he can work on his letter in their room while coaxing her into a few hours of rest.
He knows what's been keeping him awake, unable to close his eyes for more than an hour at a time for weeks, but she had been sleeping regularly (or at least what passed for regular) until two days ago when she took a brief trip to Arlathan Forest.
The song is. Loud, Spite comments approvingly.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lucanis says and stacks a tray with tea along with the rest of his coffee and work.
He's not sure how to interpret Spite's answering hum, although he doesn't have much time to contemplate it before he's pulled up short, stopping in front of their bedroom door.
"What… is this?" Lucanis questions out loud.
He doesn't sense any danger and Spite is a mild presence in him, so he reaches forward curiously to press a hand against the transparent barrier glimmering across the doorway. Coldness vibrates against the tips of his fingers and it's a bit like pressing through some kind of jelly, slowing his progress but not actually stopping him from passing through.
Ah, he thinks as high-pitched tones buzz in his ears. He can still hear the squeaking of the wooden joists under his feet as he crosses the floor, a noise that he's checked and rechecked obsessively, but it's quiet under mechanical song that echoes through the room for another minute before quieting.
"Hey!" Bellara pulls herself up from where she's hanging out the open window. "I was going to come get you after I finished, but it looks like you got through okay - you did get through okay, right? Nothing hurts, right? No headaches or anything - oh wait, is that tea? Thanks!"
He does her the courtesy of checking himself over once quickly, while his gaze wanders across the room. There's bits of metal and something powdered broken across her desk with cut pieces of wire and glass shards. He clocks a cup of tea under her workbench, another just peeking out from the top of an armoire that is at least half her height taller than her, and a third in the corner of the floor with what looks like a chipped crystal in it.
"I feel fine, but… what are you doing in here exactly?" Lucanis stacks the three books on the nightstand, making room to set his tray down.
"I finally figured out how to adjust the barrier so it didn't totally block the door - I mean, I guess it would be okay if it did block the door, but I thought it'd be better if we could get in and out easily so something loud to wake us up instead would work better -"
He takes the still full mug out of her hand while she's gesturing with a restless, manic energy despite the dark smudges under her eyes. Maybe she didn't need the caffeine after all.
"Why does this - this thing need to wake us up?" he interrupts.
"Oh, well, I was thinking about what you said about not sleeping because it's dangerous in Treviso -"
Lucanis winces despite himself; it was as difficult to be vulnerable as romances depicted, much to his chagrin.
"-which confused me at first because you grew up here. Then Spite said it's because you were worried about me -"
Traitor, he thinks very intensely. He spent hours scrubbing ink off his fingers after he let Spite write to Rook and Manfred in Nevarra specifically so he would let Lucanis open up on his own instead of immediately tattling to Bellara.
"- and that's pretty sweet, you know, but if you don't get more sleep you might actually die. Then I started thinking about my clan -"
Spite is unrepentant, shrugging from where he's examining the barrier. You did not tell her. Everything. Sharp, stinking fears. That was. The agreement.
"Mierda," Lucanis mutters while Bellara continues, hands fluttering around.
"-because it's pretty dangerous in the forest which is why we set traps, kind of like you guys do. So I thought if I could make something that would wake me up too, you would get more sleep - Hey, Spite."
The demon moves to be in line with her beaming smile and wiggles their fingers together; she's learned enough to sense his presence, even if she can't communicate with him in the same way that Emmrich can.
"So you were making - this is a trap?"
"Well, that and some other alarms for outside the window too. It's pretty good right?"
"It's amazing," he says honestly and thinks that this - this is actually the best thing anyone's ever given him, the most thoughtful anyone has ever been for him.
"Great," she says, then jitters back before he can press their mouths together. "Oh, I almost forgot. I talked to Illario too."
"By yourself?" he worries, unable to stop himself. But of course she did, because apparently Spite made productive use of each hour he did manage to sleep. He has a clear image in his mind of them bundled up under the blankets, whispering, and Spite's feelings are warm and smug in his chest.
"Mmhmm," she nods and wrinkles her nose. "I told him that if anything happened to you, even if it wasn't his fault, that I fixed an artifact that can turn people inside out."
He's not going to ask. He's absolutely not going to ask, because he doesn't really want to know.
"Did you?" slips out curiously anyway.
"Yup," she says cheerfully, and Lucanis doesn't have any response except to kiss her until she can hardly breathe.
When they surface, she looks up at him hopefully, eyes bright. "So maybe you can sleep with all this?"
He lets himself yawn, lets himself to acknowledge to her how tired he is, and he thinks he can write that letter over again later. Or maybe send it anyway with Spite's amendments - that would hardly be the worst idea he's ever indulged in.
"Perhaps," he says. "If everything is set up, you can stay with me in bed, and we can find out. You look like you could use a nap as well."
So like the Archon's Palace in Tevinter and the Citadelle du Corbeau in Orlais both have giant powerful lasers to protect and attack. Both are likely Elven technology and I think Bellara would 1) Want to know how they work 2) Want to reclaim it for the elves and 3) Deserves her own
a gift to @feelslikepants who inspired this and @zennihilation who planted the idea
"My little brother. He thought he needed to take care of me. He called me Vora’shivan. “Hummingbird” in elven. Said it was because I could never sit still. But he loved me for it. Said it kept him thinking. Trying to keep up. And he helped me, too. He kept me focused. Anchored. And now he’s gone. Because I wasn’t good enough."
It's been forever since I last posted on here. I created this back in July.
I absolutely love the character designs in Veilguard and all the different outfits & armour the companions can wear. I've always enjoyed tiny little details in gam3s. Bellara's outfits are fun & pretty, but as soon as I saw her Hero of the Veilguard/Reborn Leathers outfit (when I played the game for the 1st time), I knew I had to draw it. I also like how the Veil Jumpers have a triangle theme throughout their attire and decor.
It was a challenge to draw due to all the details but I am happy with how this artwork came out. I drew this with sepia Sakura Pigma Micron pens, and then coloured it in with a blend of Ohuhu Markers & Zena coloured pencils. White accents were done with a gel pen & the metallic gold is acrylics (which is shiny in real life, but scanners kill colours). I had a hard time trying to draw her forehead tattoo so I gave up and cheated by using Photoshop to create it. 😅 The background is inspired by the wonderful artwork by Matt Rhodes & Ramil Sunga (who also did the artwork in Inquisition).
Also, if you haven't seen it yet, I also did artwork of Solas & Mythal last year, too.
I was tagged by @tarasmom for this and in the spirit of actually having something I'm working on, I figured I'd share. Feel free to be tagged if you want to play.
Let's make this a tag challenge. I dare you to show me the "messy middle" of something of yours. It doesn't have to be art. Show me a shot of your fiction rough draft. Show me your cake batter before it's mixed. Show me the pieces of that sewing project before it's fully assembled (or show me your raw seams on the inside). Show me the tangled threads on the back of your latest cross-stitch project. Show me all the clips dumped into the media pool of your video edit.
I tend to write straight through and when I don't like how something is going but I'm not sure how I want to rephrase it or if I want to move it somewhere else, I dump it at the bottom of my document so it's more of a "messy end" than middle. I had a Lucanis / Bellara scene I posted previously where he was waking up from sleeping walking with Spite hanging out with her and this is... somewhere in that?
His body still wants to curve around the shape of her, still echoes with the hazy sticky-warm memory of waking up pressed against her side
-
The demon is an eager presence by his side while he reads, and he grabs at the pages more than once. This! This is my favorite. When Miri finds the knife. She -
"Spite, Spite," Lucanis talks over him, more amused than irritated. "I'm almost there. Let me enjoy it for myself."
He makes a noise of contrite acquiescence, but that doesn't last long, impatience shivering across his form like ripples on a lake. She makes. Her enemies bleed. Does not give in.
"That's generally a good quality in a protagonist, yes."
Like Rook, Spite says approvingly.
The resemblance between the person and character is faint, but Lucanis supposes that Spite doesn't have a large pool of experiences to draw from. He says instead, "Perhaps.
-
"Would it be easier if you just, you know, started out sleeping in here?" she offers. "Maybe you'd be less surprised when you wake up?"
He stares up at the unchanging Fade through the slats in her ceiling and wonders what it would be like if he said yes. It's not like he's been successful at corralling Spite, and even though the idea of falling asleep in front of someone else sounds almost insurmountably difficult, maybe if he is going to end up in there anyway -
Then again, he can feel the demon vibrating with anticipatory excitement, so he says, "Perhaps Emmrich will have another idea to ward my room. Or Neve."
-
whenever his eyes start to drift close, awakened by a spike of adrenaline at the thought of waking up in her room again.
Butterflies in our stomach, Spite says. Falling but no wings.
"What are you talking about?" he snaps, patience worn thin with exhaustion.
I want to read. The next chapter, the demon demands.
Lucanis doesn't acknowledge the non-sequitur, instead replying, "There's no more chapters. You're done for now."
Editing my post for reblog as I did put this up on ao3 and edited it slightly.
Can now also be found here on ao3!
love is a place
Rating: PGish - mentions of violence and dead Crows but they're really all background
Pairing: Lucanis / Bellara
Word count: 2,138
Set post-game. Another Crow house thinks they can kidnap Bellara for leverage on Lucanis. It doesn't work out for them. Bellara doesn't need rescuing, but she thinks it's nice everyone showed up! Somewhere in between all that she ends up engaged and adopting orphaned Crow apprentice children for them.
"What?"
Bellara feels her voice strain and squeak, but she has no room in her to feel embarrassed while she's staring at Lucanis, who looks as bizarrely surprised as she feels considering they were his own words.
"Marry me," he repeats, accent lilting up uncertainly.
Her thoughts stop and start, skipping and colliding, and her mouth is entirely disconnected from her brain. "Huh. I guess I heard you right the first time then?"
"Really? Now's the time you decide to do that?"
"I was not speaking to you."
He breaks their gaze, turning to engage with Illario instead, and she notices abruptly that they're not alone, that more than Lucanis and Spite are there to - to rescue her probably. That's right, she was in Arlathan because a group of Veil Jumpers had disappeared. Fewer artifacts have been causing problems but they have not been entirely dormant, and the forest still holds many dangers. So Bellara went to investigate and stumbled across someone she thought was an unfortunate traveler, helping to heal his leg and accepting his offer to share food and water in thanks.
She needs to remember to write to her dad and thank him again for teaching her how to recognize poisons.
On the plus side, she's pretty sure that the pendant that she's been trying to figure out for weeks has some kind of antidote or healing properties. She did swallow the charcoal she had on hand for cleaning water if she needed it, but she doesn't think it was enough to account for how fast what she was given worked through her system. Judging by how shocked the Crows were to see her awake, she figures that they estimated she would be out for a while longer as well.
Or maybe it was the fact that they didn't know the bead bracelet they left on her was actually made of small bombs.
She's a little disappointed she didn't get to show them off to Spite before she had to use them all - the explosions were impressive. Bellara can feel the demon's presence buzzing along her nerve endings as he checks her over, even if she can't entirely understand his speech yet the way Emmrich can.
"Hey Spite," she greets and holds out a hand towards him.
"You hardly needed us here," Viago says and approaches her.
"As expected of you," Teia adds. She wipes her short blade clean before sheathing it. "Although I would have enjoyed it if you left some more to us. I could have used a few extra fools to stab."
"So many people came," Bellara says as she enjoys the feeling of curling her fingers through Spite's. She counts Jacobus and another older Crow - is that Chance? - working with a group of four younger Crows to make sure all the rooms are cleared out. "That's so nice."
"Of course! We were all worried when that message came to Lucanis."
"Message?" She had been wondering why everyone showed up; it's not unusual for her to return back to Treviso a day or two after she anticipates, although she's been trying to be better about that.
"Yes," the answer comes from Illario, despite being busy trying to put Lucanis in a headlock. "It was supposed to be a negotiation for your life, I suppose, but this idiota ran off before he even knew where to go. It's lucky we caught up to him."
Lucanis shoves Illario hard, sending his cousin stumbling to the side to end their scuffle. "It didn't matter where they wanted us to meet. I know every Crow hiding place from every house in the area and exactly how far they would be able to go in the time they had."
"Every house?" Teia responds archly.
"Of course. So we came directly to you." Lucanis approaches Bellara and looks her over, asking, "You're certain you're well? Maybe we should see a healer anyway."
"I'm okay, really," she reassures him. She does feel fine, so she decides not to mention the poison until he looks less on edge, and she reaches out to hold Lucanis's hand while her other is still linked with Spite's.
"Is nobody going to mention that she still hasn't answered his question?"
"Illario!" Teia scolds.
"What? It's not my fault that my cousin decided to propose while surrounded by dead Crows. Twice."
"I - that's - shut up," Lucanis hisses, cheeks ruddy. "Ignore him. You don't have to - you don't have to say anything."
He's normally so smooth that it's difficult for Bellara to read his emotions a lot of the time. It's fascinating to watch him stumble over his words, face colored and openly embarrassed, self-conscious because he -
"Oh shit," Bellara blurts out, and it feels like a fog clearing from her mind, her thoughts all reconnecting to her mouth at once. "You really did - I didn't imagine that? I didn't think - you want to - what?"
"I didn't mean to," he mumbles. "Not like this. I planned to - never mind. You can forget I said anything if you'd like."
"No, no! I don't want to forget it. I mean, unless you want to forget it?"
Without realizing, she's pulled away from Lucanis and Spite to gesture, and he captures her fluttering hands between his own again. He's warm; the feeling of his skin on her own slows the racing of her heart and calms the agitation of her mind.
"No, but my timing is terrible."
Bellara ignores Illario's muttered "I'll say" in favor of focusing on Lucanis. "Ask me again," she says with growing confidence.
"It's dangerous being in Treviso, being associated with the First Talon," he starts.
His words seems inadequate to encompass the conversations they've had, the worry Lucanis has shared about the dangers of the Crows and what happened to his family. She pictures with a jolt how afraid he must have been hearing she'd been kidnapped, and she throws her arms around him in a hug.
"I'm fine. I'm here," she tries, because she's not sure what else to say. She hopes Spite knows she's talking to him as well. "Thank you both for coming for me."
"We will always come for you," he says, and the fierceness she can hear from both of them sits snug behind her breastbone. "Although after all this? I imagine they will think better of it before trying to use you to get to me again. What I'm trying to say is perhaps it is selfish, but despite the danger, I want you by my side always."
He pauses, then adds, "Spite… says that he knew this already, and I am the last to know."
Bellara can feel her lips pull into a smile that she can't hold in anymore, and she leans back to stare into his eyes again. "That's what he said, huh?"
"More or less. In more colorful language," he allows. "So, then. Will you do us the honor of being our wife?"
She barely gets out her excited "yes!" before she kisses him, and the static warmth of Spite's wings engulf them while she presses their mouths firmly together.
"How wonderful love is! The heart truly stops for nothing," Chance (Bellara is at least seventy percent sure that's his name) interrupts, reminding her once morethat they have company. "And it pains me to intrude upon your reunion but there appears to be some young Crows still alive behind you."
Bellara turns to see three heads peeking into the foyer from further into the house where she had told them to wait. "Oh hey! Did you guys find my gauntlet?"
Pietro - the oldest at twelve even though she was sure he couldn't be more than eight or nine - nods and slinks into the room slowly, holding the artifact out to her.
"Great thanks!"
Even if it was less focused without her gear, she did still have her magic, but she feels more secure once she has it on her arm. She's pleased to see it's still intact and functional, and while she's testing calling her bow, Lucanis clears his throat. Everyone is staring at her expectantly, weapons half drawn - right, in all the excitement, she forgot to explain what happened when she woke up. She points at each child in turn.
"Oh, this is Pietro, Eliana, and Marco. I told them they could join your house instead."
The silence that follows her announcement is deafening and confusing. Lucanis had told her once that not all Crow houses were related and that sometimes they poached members from each other, members crossing into other houses. It reminded her a bit of Dalish clans at the time; she hadn't given it any further thought until she woke up and realized that her kidnappers had left actual children to watch over her while she was supposed to be asleep and drugged.
Their stupidity was her gain, although she was at a loss for what to do with the kids. She wasn't going to kill them obviously, but it seemed wrong to leave them there while she was planning to make a loud and dramatic exit. She had no idea how to talk to them though, even if she liked them mostly, and somehow between asking about her gauntlet and finding out they were adopted by the Crow house as orphans with nowhere else to go, she ended up rambling about her work with the Veil Jumpers and traps in elven ruins. Then the door swung up open as an older Crow showed up to check on her at the same time she remembered that House Dellamorte didn't have any apprentices, and everything turned a little too chaotic to keep track of at that point.
The children had been suitably awed by the explosions and lightning, and when they expressed interest in learning how to make their own, it seemed reasonable to offer to take them in at the time, although Bellara is wondering if she missed something.
Finally Illario's groan echoes out in the hall. "You're actually going to do this because your girlfriend said to, aren't you?"
"Fiancee," Lucanis snaps, and Bellara wiggles a little in happiness. Fiancee - she likes the way that sounds. And then he can call her wife and she'll be able to call him husband -
"You're just going to adopt stray apprentices you find on jobs into your house now?" Viago's comment cuts through Bellara's wandering thoughts.
"Like you've never done that before," Teia says amusedly.
Viago throws his arms up, cursing, and turns abruptly on his heel to leave instead of responding. Teia follows him at a more sedate pace, and the rest of the Crows start filtering out of the building now that the action is decidedly over.
"Hey, where's Rook anyway?" Bellara asks.
"In Minrathous, of course," Lucanis answers and runs a hand over his face. "I am not sure if I should be more afraid of him or Neve when they find out what happened. I didn't have time to send anyone to tell them."
"Definitely Neve."
"You're probably right." He motions to the kids. "Well? You won't have a house anymore when I'm through with the rest of them, so you can leave the Crows now or come with us."
Even though Lucanis is the First Talon, the children are staring intently at Bellara. Eliana's voice is soft and clear as she pipes up, "You'll be there too right?"
"I told you it's Lucanis's and Illario's house. You can do… Crow things, I guess? They can teach you Crow stuff? I don't know what you learn as apprentices, sorry."
"But you'll be there and teach us too, right?" she presses.
"I can definitely do that."
The three look at each other and then up at Lucanis, shifting their attention to him. They greet him with a disorganized "Master Dellamorte," and he sighs heavily.
"We'll have to work on that before you meet Caterina."
"Wonderful," Illario cuts in. "Come on, brats. Follow me, while my cousin catches his fiancee up. This is a one time deal though. Don't expect me to be the one to watch your kids when you need a break."
Bellara nods encouragingly before the kids go running after Illario. The two cousins' relationship is so much different than hers and Cyrian's was that she worried they would never begin to mend things between them. She spent so many hours trying to smooth over what she mistook for arguments before she recognized their bickering as the camaraderie that it seems to be. So she feels happy that despite Illario's protests, he is immediately helping with their -
"Wait, what do you mean your kids? Our kids?"
Lucanis loops his arm through hers and tugs Bellara forward with him. "I'm going to let you be the one to explain this to Neve."
"What do you mean? Lucanis!"
The first lesson these children learn as members of House Dellamorte is that this isn't the first Crow house that Lucanis hunts down the remnants of and wipes out. Still, they're way more impressed with Bellara and follow her around like ducklings.
Editing my post for reblog as I did put this up on ao3 and edited it slightly.
Can now also be found here on ao3!
love is a place
Rating: PGish - mentions of violence and dead Crows but they're really all background
Pairing: Lucanis / Bellara
Word count: 2,138
Set post-game. Another Crow house thinks they can kidnap Bellara for leverage on Lucanis. It doesn't work out for them. Bellara doesn't need rescuing, but she thinks it's nice everyone showed up! Somewhere in between all that she ends up engaged and adopting orphaned Crow apprentice children for them.
"What?"
Bellara feels her voice strain and squeak, but she has no room in her to feel embarrassed while she's staring at Lucanis, who looks as bizarrely surprised as she feels considering they were his own words.
"Marry me," he repeats, accent lilting up uncertainly.
Her thoughts stop and start, skipping and colliding, and her mouth is entirely disconnected from her brain. "Huh. I guess I heard you right the first time then?"
"Really? Now's the time you decide to do that?"
"I was not speaking to you."
He breaks their gaze, turning to engage with Illario instead, and she notices abruptly that they're not alone, that more than Lucanis and Spite are there to - to rescue her probably. That's right, she was in Arlathan because a group of Veil Jumpers had disappeared. Fewer artifacts have been causing problems but they have not been entirely dormant, and the forest still holds many dangers. So Bellara went to investigate and stumbled across someone she thought was an unfortunate traveler, helping to heal his leg and accepting his offer to share food and water in thanks.
She needs to remember to write to her dad and thank him again for teaching her how to recognize poisons.
On the plus side, she's pretty sure that the pendant that she's been trying to figure out for weeks has some kind of antidote or healing properties. She did swallow the charcoal she had on hand for cleaning water if she needed it, but she doesn't think it was enough to account for how fast what she was given worked through her system. Judging by how shocked the Crows were to see her awake, she figures that they estimated she would be out for a while longer as well.
Or maybe it was the fact that they didn't know the bead bracelet they left on her was actually made of small bombs.
She's a little disappointed she didn't get to show them off to Spite before she had to use them all - the explosions were impressive. Bellara can feel the demon's presence buzzing along her nerve endings as he checks her over, even if she can't entirely understand his speech yet the way Emmrich can.
"Hey Spite," she greets and holds out a hand towards him.
"You hardly needed us here," Viago says and approaches her.
"As expected of you," Teia adds. She wipes her short blade clean before sheathing it. "Although I would have enjoyed it if you left some more to us. I could have used a few extra fools to stab."
"So many people came," Bellara says as she enjoys the feeling of curling her fingers through Spite's. She counts Jacobus and another older Crow - is that Chance? - working with a group of four younger Crows to make sure all the rooms are cleared out. "That's so nice."
"Of course! We were all worried when that message came to Lucanis."
"Message?" She had been wondering why everyone showed up; it's not unusual for her to return back to Treviso a day or two after she anticipates, although she's been trying to be better about that.
"Yes," the answer comes from Illario, despite being busy trying to put Lucanis in a headlock. "It was supposed to be a negotiation for your life, I suppose, but this idiota ran off before he even knew where to go. It's lucky we caught up to him."
Lucanis shoves Illario hard, sending his cousin stumbling to the side to end their scuffle. "It didn't matter where they wanted us to meet. I know every Crow hiding place from every house in the area and exactly how far they would be able to go in the time they had."
"Every house?" Teia responds archly.
"Of course. So we came directly to you." Lucanis approaches Bellara and looks her over, asking, "You're certain you're well? Maybe we should see a healer anyway."
"I'm okay, really," she reassures him. She does feel fine, so she decides not to mention the poison until he looks less on edge, and she reaches out to hold Lucanis's hand while her other is still linked with Spite's.
"Is nobody going to mention that she still hasn't answered his question?"
"Illario!" Teia scolds.
"What? It's not my fault that my cousin decided to propose while surrounded by dead Crows. Twice."
"I - that's - shut up," Lucanis hisses, cheeks ruddy. "Ignore him. You don't have to - you don't have to say anything."
He's normally so smooth that it's difficult for Bellara to read his emotions a lot of the time. It's fascinating to watch him stumble over his words, face colored and openly embarrassed, self-conscious because he -
"Oh shit," Bellara blurts out, and it feels like a fog clearing from her mind, her thoughts all reconnecting to her mouth at once. "You really did - I didn't imagine that? I didn't think - you want to - what?"
"I didn't mean to," he mumbles. "Not like this. I planned to - never mind. You can forget I said anything if you'd like."
"No, no! I don't want to forget it. I mean, unless you want to forget it?"
Without realizing, she's pulled away from Lucanis and Spite to gesture, and he captures her fluttering hands between his own again. He's warm; the feeling of his skin on her own slows the racing of her heart and calms the agitation of her mind.
"No, but my timing is terrible."
Bellara ignores Illario's muttered "I'll say" in favor of focusing on Lucanis. "Ask me again," she says with growing confidence.
"It's dangerous being in Treviso, being associated with the First Talon," he starts.
His words seems inadequate to encompass the conversations they've had, the worry Lucanis has shared about the dangers of the Crows and what happened to his family. She pictures with a jolt how afraid he must have been hearing she'd been kidnapped, and she throws her arms around him in a hug.
"I'm fine. I'm here," she tries, because she's not sure what else to say. She hopes Spite knows she's talking to him as well. "Thank you both for coming for me."
"We will always come for you," he says, and the fierceness she can hear from both of them sits snug behind her breastbone. "Although after all this? I imagine they will think better of it before trying to use you to get to me again. What I'm trying to say is perhaps it is selfish, but despite the danger, I want you by my side always."
He pauses, then adds, "Spite… says that he knew this already, and I am the last to know."
Bellara can feel her lips pull into a smile that she can't hold in anymore, and she leans back to stare into his eyes again. "That's what he said, huh?"
"More or less. In more colorful language," he allows. "So, then. Will you do us the honor of being our wife?"
She barely gets out her excited "yes!" before she kisses him, and the static warmth of Spite's wings engulf them while she presses their mouths firmly together.
"How wonderful love is! The heart truly stops for nothing," Chance (Bellara is at least seventy percent sure that's his name) interrupts, reminding her once morethat they have company. "And it pains me to intrude upon your reunion but there appears to be some young Crows still alive behind you."
Bellara turns to see three heads peeking into the foyer from further into the house where she had told them to wait. "Oh hey! Did you guys find my gauntlet?"
Pietro - the oldest at twelve even though she was sure he couldn't be more than eight or nine - nods and slinks into the room slowly, holding the artifact out to her.
"Great thanks!"
Even if it was less focused without her gear, she did still have her magic, but she feels more secure once she has it on her arm. She's pleased to see it's still intact and functional, and while she's testing calling her bow, Lucanis clears his throat. Everyone is staring at her expectantly, weapons half drawn - right, in all the excitement, she forgot to explain what happened when she woke up. She points at each child in turn.
"Oh, this is Pietro, Eliana, and Marco. I told them they could join your house instead."
The silence that follows her announcement is deafening and confusing. Lucanis had told her once that not all Crow houses were related and that sometimes they poached members from each other, members crossing into other houses. It reminded her a bit of Dalish clans at the time; she hadn't given it any further thought until she woke up and realized that her kidnappers had left actual children to watch over her while she was supposed to be asleep and drugged.
Their stupidity was her gain, although she was at a loss for what to do with the kids. She wasn't going to kill them obviously, but it seemed wrong to leave them there while she was planning to make a loud and dramatic exit. She had no idea how to talk to them though, even if she liked them mostly, and somehow between asking about her gauntlet and finding out they were adopted by the Crow house as orphans with nowhere else to go, she ended up rambling about her work with the Veil Jumpers and traps in elven ruins. Then the door swung up open as an older Crow showed up to check on her at the same time she remembered that House Dellamorte didn't have any apprentices, and everything turned a little too chaotic to keep track of at that point.
The children had been suitably awed by the explosions and lightning, and when they expressed interest in learning how to make their own, it seemed reasonable to offer to take them in at the time, although Bellara is wondering if she missed something.
Finally Illario's groan echoes out in the hall. "You're actually going to do this because your girlfriend said to, aren't you?"
"Fiancee," Lucanis snaps, and Bellara wiggles a little in happiness. Fiancee - she likes the way that sounds. And then he can call her wife and she'll be able to call him husband -
"You're just going to adopt stray apprentices you find on jobs into your house now?" Viago's comment cuts through Bellara's wandering thoughts.
"Like you've never done that before," Teia says amusedly.
Viago throws his arms up, cursing, and turns abruptly on his heel to leave instead of responding. Teia follows him at a more sedate pace, and the rest of the Crows start filtering out of the building now that the action is decidedly over.
"Hey, where's Rook anyway?" Bellara asks.
"In Minrathous, of course," Lucanis answers and runs a hand over his face. "I am not sure if I should be more afraid of him or Neve when they find out what happened. I didn't have time to send anyone to tell them."
"Definitely Neve."
"You're probably right." He motions to the kids. "Well? You won't have a house anymore when I'm through with the rest of them, so you can leave the Crows now or come with us."
Even though Lucanis is the First Talon, the children are staring intently at Bellara. Eliana's voice is soft and clear as she pipes up, "You'll be there too right?"
"I told you it's Lucanis's and Illario's house. You can do… Crow things, I guess? They can teach you Crow stuff? I don't know what you learn as apprentices, sorry."
"But you'll be there and teach us too, right?" she presses.
"I can definitely do that."
The three look at each other and then up at Lucanis, shifting their attention to him. They greet him with a disorganized "Master Dellamorte," and he sighs heavily.
"We'll have to work on that before you meet Caterina."
"Wonderful," Illario cuts in. "Come on, brats. Follow me, while my cousin catches his fiancee up. This is a one time deal though. Don't expect me to be the one to watch your kids when you need a break."
Bellara nods encouragingly before the kids go running after Illario. The two cousins' relationship is so much different than hers and Cyrian's was that she worried they would never begin to mend things between them. She spent so many hours trying to smooth over what she mistook for arguments before she recognized their bickering as the camaraderie that it seems to be. So she feels happy that despite Illario's protests, he is immediately helping with their -
"Wait, what do you mean your kids? Our kids?"
Lucanis loops his arm through hers and tugs Bellara forward with him. "I'm going to let you be the one to explain this to Neve."
"What do you mean? Lucanis!"
The first lesson these children learn as members of House Dellamorte is that this isn't the first Crow house that Lucanis hunts down the remnants of and wipes out. Still, they're way more impressed with Bellara and follow her around like ducklings.
dust and sunlight
light animation under the cut | more bellara x lucanis
Look at the light through the windowpane. That means it’s noon, that means
we’re inconsolable.
Tell me how all this, and love too, will ruin us.
These, our bodies, possessed by light.
Tell me we’ll never get used to it.
Reblogging because I'm looking at your art again for inspiration and this is so lovely and soft. His expression is peak 'what someone in love should look at you like.'
So in conjunction with something I discussed with @thedissonantverses this week I am going to tell you a micro story. Typically micro stories are under 300 words (sometimes 100 like this one).
Many of you are great at being incredibly verbose and descriptive and that's wonderful. But you often lose a lot of emotion like that. So I'm going to play the gut punch game 😅
Micro stories are great writing practice by the way. Help you not get bogged down
Neve approached this problem the same way she did all obstacles. She investigated, she researched, she dissected with questions until the root was laid bare.
And yet, it got her no closer to the answer she sought.
Rook told her it was alright. All Wardens had shelf lives, even ones who saved the world. He knew what awaited him in the end, the Blight that would soon call him home.
She just wished they could have more time, always craving more with him. But she had learned life wasn't fair, especially when it came to her luck in love.
I still feel like I'm kind of in a writing rut, but writing a piece of dinner and coffee from Lucanis's POV was inspiring. This wasn't a direct flip of one of the scenes in but more in the same kind of universe and inspired by talking to @tarasmom about Bellara and Lucanis hanging out so Lucanis gets to sleep.
Sleep has always been a difficult subject for Lucanis.
Villa Dellamorte was filled with wealth and luxury in every corner and his childhood bedroom was no exception - from the quality of the dark, rich wooden furniture to the softest sheets he had ever experienced, somehow cool in summer and capturing warmth in winter. All the comforts his family could buy were nothing more than a hindrance though when Caterina was teaching him and Illario to be alert even in rest, that deep sleep was no longer something he could afford.
There was another room, stripped bare of any amenity, that taught him to drowse in even the harshest of conditions. It was more helpful in the past year than his new companions would probably be comfortable knowing and made the kitchen pantry not quite as terrible of a choice as they suggested. The Lighthouse seems to understand somehow, at least; it has never offered him another space he would have to refuse.
Still, the hard platform of his bed and caffeine can only do so much, and Lucanis does know that he has to sleep sometimes.
He can push past exhaustion once, twice, and a third time, can find another pocket of energy even when his eyes burn and his head feels like it's throbbing, thoughts unspooling like yarn. He knows that eventually it will make his body too sluggish even in reaction for him to be useful, though, so he does his best to carve out a few hours when the others are occupied and limit what trouble Spite can cause in his body.
Despite all his preparation, he still finds himself occasionally jolted awake, disoriented by finding his body upright and mid-movement when he last recalls laying down.
His fingers tighten around the metal as it starts to slip out of his grip, he stops the - hammer, he realizes, he's holding. Why is he holding a hammer? His mind still feels fuzzy and disconnected, and his senses catalogue the golden light reflected in mirrors, the white stone face with the placid, transparent elven spirit. Bellara's room, he realizes with a slow blink then frowns. Why is in he in Bellara's room?
"Yeah, that's right! Tell him again Spite!"
"Uh."
"You can take your stupid answers and shove them- oh!" Bellara turns to him when he calls her name tentatively, and he watches her enthusiasm melt into confusion then realization. "Lucanis? Is that you now?"
"What's… going on?" Lucanis glances down at the hammer then offers it up to Bellara.
"I found Spite wandering around outside," she replies. Her tone is casual like it's not a big deal, like that isn't what he goes to great pains to prevent. "I didn't want him to try to go through eluvian again and Taash and Rook aren't around, so I got him to come in here to break stuff and yell at the Nadas Dirthalen."
"My apologies. Thank you for taking the time to watch over him and keep him out of trouble." There are springs and screws, bits of metal, things that he's not sure what they do strewn about the room. Even so, he says, "I can help you clean up."
"No, that's okay." Bellara shakes her head rapidly and her hands flit around her. "Actually, I was getting pretty frustrated, so the breaking and the yelling helped. Spite knows a lot of really creative insults! He was teaching me."
"Wonderful," he bites out flatly. She smiles brightly at him anyway while Spite radiates a surprising amount of satisfaction, so he does his best to swallow his further irritation in front of her. He tries again, "I appreciate your assistance."
"Sure! I can help any time!"
Lucanis takes out his frustration with Spite by drinking three more cups of coffee in quick succession, and he doesn't sleep for another two days, not even the half-dozing he does sometimes when he can't quite stay entirely awake. When he finally can't take more, he barely makes it to what passes as his bed before he passes out, his neck like jelly and his head too heavy to keep up.
He wakes up in Bellara's room again.
She is apparently genuine in her desire to help him with Spite, as he comes to his senses sitting next to her, pair of pliers in hand gripping a shard of glass.
"-all the pieces of the lens," Bellara is explaining, heedless to the shift from Spite to him, "we can replace it with this one over here. Then once we find the pattern it's resonating at, we can - oh hey, do you think you can even do that with Lucanis's body? He doesn't have any magic powers, he said, but you -"
Mine! Spite growls while Lucanis puts the pliers down. I was. Breaking tiny splinters.
"Too bad. You're done now," he answers aloud before realizing he should have announced his presence to Bellara first, judging by the way she jumps.
"Lucanis! You're awake?"
"I am," he says and does his best to ignore Spite grumbling. "How long was I here for?"
"Mm, I'm not really sure. Spite seemed interested in the artifacts again, so I was trying to explain to him what I was doing. I guess I got distracted. I'm kind of a rambler, if you haven't noticed. Sorry."
He rolls his shoulders while he takes stock of his body. None of his muscles are more sore than before, and the throbbing in his head is dull enough that it's almost a relief compared to the usual pain, something he can easily ignore. Surprisingly, Spite seems to have taken reasonable care of his body while in Bellara's presence, and he is more rested than he's been in months.
"I don't mind," he answers truthfully.
Spite is peering into shell of whatever they were working on and says, Smashing. Pulling. Crushing. Fun. She smells like the Fade. When she talks.
"Spite doesn't either," he adds. "He enjoyed what you were doing at least."
Her smile is small but pleased, and she takes the pliers he's still holding onto. "We can do this again sometime then? Maybe, you know, you can think about going to sleep a little sooner if he promises to come hang out with me?"
"I think even if Spite agrees to that, he won't just to - well, you know," he says. She starts to look disappointed though, which feels surprisingly uncomfortable in his chest, so he temporizes instead, "I'll think about it."
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