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A real short leash (NSFW) - Loewe/Agate

Fandom: Trails in the Sky / Sora no Kiseki Relationships: Loewe/Agate Crosner Rating: M Tags: Canon Compliant, Interrogation, NSFW tags on AO3 Words: 2,444 Summary:

Agate doesn't mind that he doesn't dream all that much. His waking hours are exhausting enough, and he doesn't need anything but the sweet, dark embrace of sleep to feel rested. But the one time he does, does it really have to be about some bullshit like this?

Note: no explicit game spoilers but would recommend reading after completing Sky FC / 1st Chapter

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"You can start with who you are, and what you're after."

Agate circles around the room, where the masked men's commander is tied up in a chair, arms secured behind his back. Yet he is relaxed, perfectly poised, cocky. His gaze follows Agate behind that strange, red mask of his. "You are going to have to do a lot more than that to make me talk," he says with that low, velvet-like voice. "If you can even manage it."

Oh, the bastard doesn't know what he's in for.

Read the rest on AO3

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nanocrymo25 day 29 (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

31,065 / 50,000 (62%)

EXCERPT:

He looks back to Agate, sitting right by his side, and at his easy smile beneath the warm light of the bar. At his hand that holds his glass, large and calloused where it's wrapped under new green gloves. And Loewe feels…comfortable. Safe. Being with him, even as his breath catches a little in his throat as he looks at him. It's more than the understanding, and the grief, and even the friendly competition.

It's…

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nanocrymo25 day 28

29,499 / 50,000 (59%)

EXCERPT:

Carna suddenly shoves a pint of beer into Loewe's hands. "You, my friend, are in serious need of a drink."

Agate suddenly turns to her. "Oh. Uh, Loewe doesn't—"

But Loewe only looks down at his drink for a second, curious, before he holds his breath and tilts his head back for a whole swig. He doesn't choke or spit it out, but he does pull a face when he swallows. "This is disgusting."

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nanocrymo25 day 27

28,280 / 50,000 (57%)

EXCERPT:

The two of them circle around to the back of the house, where Dan opens the junction box and makes a show of snooping around it. "Hmm, nothing seems to be wrong here. How strange. Could a monster have chewed on one of the wires?"

Agate looks around. The sun has only just set, so it isn't quite late enough for the nocturnal monsters to become active. And he doesn't hear any scurrying or buzzing. Not to mention Dan and Tita are both terrible actors. "What's going on?" he asks.

"Oh well," says Dan, acting as if Agate hadn't said anything at all. "Maybe it's something inside the house. Why don't we head back?"

They return to the house, and Agate notices along the way that the lights are still off, but someone must have found a lantern or something. Agate opens the door first, stepping inside and—

To his horror, Tita begins to sing. "Haaappy biiiirthdaaay toooo—"

Oh, Goddess, no.

The rest of the family joins in the song. Dan singing behind him, Albert in the kitchen, and Erika mumbling next to him.

Dan pushes Agate inside as the lights turn on again. Tita walks up to him with a small cake, covered in cream and decorated with strawberries that, he realises, are arranged to resemble the shape of his hair, while a face that he assumes is his is drawn with a thin line of chocolate.

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nanocrymo25 day 26

27,052 / 50,000 (54%)

EXCERPT:

"Your payment will be ready upon your return to Ruan," Loewe tells Agate later that day. "Oh, and Richard gives his thanks."

Agate huffs a laugh. "Don't mention it. He should really be thanking his secretary and Zin. I barely did shit for him."

The corner of Loewe's mouth lifts into a half smile. "If that is truly the case, then I'd be happy to adjust the payment according to the proportion of contribution—"

"Hey, hey, let's not get too crazy here."

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nanocrymo25 day 25

25,790 / 50,000 (51% BABEEEEYYYY)

EXCERPT:

With all the civilians out of danger, Loewe and Agate linger by the block between Station Street and the Eastern Quarter. The battle between the Red Constellation and Heiyue continue there, and Loewe supposes he can only be glad that The Scarlet Ogre had little intention of dragging out their encounter.

He watches, somberly, at the dissipating smoke, smelling the ashes and charred wood and stone. A feeling sinks in his chest, with Agate's presence next to him an anchor.

"We are lucky," says Loewe, "that we didn't lose a single life today."

"Yeah," Agate's tone mirrors his. A shadow is drawn across his face, and Loewe recognises the familiar grief there. "We really are."

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nanocrymo25 day 23-24

24,703 / 50,000 (49%)

EXCERPT:

"Sir!" Amalthea screams, immediately barreling past Zin to run across the prison. From this distance she can already see that he's slumped against the wall, holding onto his arm. The rage is already boiling inside her when Richard suddenly jerks his head up and gasps.

"Amalthea, stop!"

There's a click of a rifle and the bang of a bullet. It shoots right past her ear just as Zin suddenly tackles her to the ground.

Then, a cackle of laughter.

"Ooh, so close!" shouts a high-pitched voice. Amalthea looks up, but there is only shadow above the bars of the cell - no - on the roof of a cage. "If that big guy hadn't saved you just now, I woulda splattered yer brains all over!"

That voice is eerily delighted. Gritting her teeth, Amalthea swings her gun arm out and takes a shot towards that voice, that shadow. But it leaps from the bars like a panther, the sound of a revving engine erupting in the air as it arcs down, and she and Zin barely dodge opposite ways before the blade of a chainsaw can cut them in half.

In the light, the shadow has revealed itself to be a…a girl. Ragged red hair that only reaches the back of her neck, shoulders and arms all bone and lean muscle where she's bent over carrying the weight of her bizzare weapon. She straightens, then, unfurling to her full height like a cat stretching out its spine. And when she looks at Amalthea dead in the face, sick smile stretching across her lips, she can tell this cat has got a scratch.

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nanocrymo25 day 22

23,184 / 50,000 (46%)

EXCERPT 1:

When he arrives at the guild branch in Calvard, the first thing he's greeted with is a bone-crushing hug.

"Zin," Agate grits, punching weakly at the impossibly rock-hard bicep by his ear. "I can't breathe."

Zin lets go of him with a hearty laugh, and the wind whooshes right out of Agate's chest as his feet drop to the floor. "It's just been so long! I've missed you, my friend."

"Hah," Agate huffs, cracking a smile. "Missed you too, man."

"And I see you've brought some companions along." Zin steps to the side, though he hardly needs to. He can already see them right over the top of his head - the damn giant. "I never thought that I might see the two of you again, especially not here."

Loewe steps forward, hands clasped cordially behind his back. "Zin the Immovable, pleased to make your official acquaintance."

EXCERPT 2 (Sky FC / 1st Chapter + minor Sky 3rd spoilers):

"Richard has done some shit, but he would never willingly bring danger to Liberl. The only reason he did it last time was because he intended to control the nation himself."

"Exactly. Or, it's the opposite. They're here to investigate them. If timing is a factor, then it would probably be the Red Constellation specifically. Richard and whoever hired him want to know if they're going to be a threat to, perhaps, Liberlian security."

It's as if a lightbulb switches on in Agate's head. "Then he would have to come here himself. And as for who hired him…"

Zin smiles wryly. "I think we both know who that would be."

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nanocrymo25 day 21

20,093 / 50,000 (40%)

EXCERPT (minor Sky 3rd spoilers for Richard & Amalthea. sorta):

It's the worst case scenario, but not an impossible one - that Richard has been kidnapped. The Red Constellation and Heiyue are both likely suspects, or even the Calvardian government. After all, an ex-Liberlian spy on the queen's parole sneaking around their territory is a cause of concern.

This could very easily become a diplomatic nightmare.

"We don't have anymore time to waste," Amalthea says quickly. "I must leave for Calvard. Immediately."

"With no information on his whereabouts?" Loewe asks, frowning. "He could be anywhere, for all we know. We don't even know when exactly he could have gone missing."

"Then we need to deploy all our resources to pin down his last known locations, obviously," she adds. "But we must start from the capital."

"While I agree with your strategy as a whole, there is a crucial miscalculation."

"And what exactly would that be?" she scowls.

"You cannot go alone," says Loewe. "You are no longer a soldier. Neither of you are. Should something happen, you no longer have the entire royal army at your disposal, and the time it would take to dispatch our connections is far too long."

"Then what would you suggest?"

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nanocrymo25 day 20

i've written (redrafted) 1,727 words and still counting.

on the WRONG FIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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made it to 1,839.

EXCERPT, LOL:

The answers come to his mind too easily otherwise. The first was ten years ago, during the war. The second was in Ruan, during one of the Ravens' many brawls with the other gangs, and some jackoff shattered a glass bottle against Agate's head. He doesn't even want to know what the scars up there look like.

"I see. You've been fighting for years now," Lorence hums, even though Agate is pretty damn sure he didn't just say any of that out loud. "But to what end, exactly? What drove you to that life of petty crime, only to end up as another one of the Guild's dogs? Ah, or perhaps it's the other way around?"

It's none of your fucking business, is what he means to say. But then Lorence moves his hand further back, to stretch his fingers out and touch the shell of his ear, and the words die on his tongue like the sea foam on Ruan's beaches. All that leaves him with, then, is the strange heat burning up inside him - the clenching of his hands around the rope, the chill on the back of his neck, and his breath coming short. It's weird. It's terrifying. It's enraging.

He can't make himself move away from it.

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nanocrymo25 day 20

i've written (redrafted) 1,727 words and still counting.

on the WRONG FIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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nanocrymo25 day 19 (!?!?!?)

19,034 / 50,000 (38%)

EXCERPT (minor Sky 3rd spoilers for Amalthea / Richard kinda):

"Don't get ahead of yourself. For all we know, the sales could crash and burn in Celdic itself. There wouldn't be any point in opening anywhere else, then."

"Celdic it is."

He turns around to shelve one of the books in his arms. When he does, Amalthea hisses under her breath. "I don't know why he insisted on hiring you."

Loewe resists the urge to sigh. "Forgive me, I may not have the same amount of experience doing business as you."

Amalthea scoffs. "What would a snake like you know?"

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nanocrymo25 day 18

18,739 / 50,000 (37%)

EXCERPT:

Loewe has burst into laughter now. He's stopped walking just to laugh, holding his stomach as he doubles over. And the sound punches Agate in the chest so hard that his mind goes completely blank. He doesn't remember the rest of what he was going to say. It's weird - so, so weird - to see him laugh like this. He doesn't even feel embarrassed about the story anymore.

A wave of emotion crashes into him now. He doesn't know what it is, and it's too much. There's grief in it, but also relief and gratitude all at once. And something else that he can't quite place.

Dan's voice rings in his head now. You're angry because you care about him.

Agate can't even find it in himself to laugh or shout about it. 'Cause, shit, maybe he was right after all.

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nanocrymo25 day 17

16,560 / 50,000 (33%)

EXCERPT (minor Sky SC / 3rd spoilers for the 3 Ravens):

"Would you mind doing me a favour?" Jean asks on the other side, in that distinct way where Agate knows there is actually no room in his request to say no. "We've had some new recruits sign up for junior bracer training, and I think they would love your help."

Agate narrows his eyes. Something's fishy. "Not that I'm saying no, but is Carna not around?"

"She is, but trust me," he says, and he can hear his smile through the phone. "You'll want to be the one to do it."

And that is how, by the afternoon of the very same day, he gets to watch Deen, Rais and Rocco's faces shift from bright-eyed hopefulness to sheer dread just by walking into a room.

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nanocrymo25 day 12-16

14,821 / 50,000 (29.6%)

EXCERPT:

Realisation casts over Dan's expression, and Agate doesn't like it one bit. "I see," he says. "So you're angry because you care about him, but he doesn't care about himself."

"What?!" He shouts, probably loud enough to wake the whole city. "I don't care about him. I care about the fact he's a hypocrite. I can't stand him. I never could."

"Then why did it bother you so much that you could've hurt him?"

Agate's mouth shuts with a click. Then he clenches his teeth, because no matter what anyone says, he does not care about Loewe. "I don't care about him. But I know people who do, and I care about them. They don't need to be coming all the way back to Liberl for this bullshit."

"Okay," says Dan. He then pauses, and Agate hopes the conversation is over until he suddenly asks, "So how did you even start sparring in the first place? Did he ask you?"

Agate's throat goes tight. "No, I did. I've…been telling him for a while we should."

"And why's that?"

"So I can finally kick his ass, obviously."

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nanocrymo25 day 11

13,264 / 50,000 (27%)

EXCERPT (Trails in the Sky FC / 1st Chapter spoilers kinda):

Clear irritation flickers across Agate's already sour expression, but he says nothing about that particular question. "You were way stronger and faster than this the last time we fought. It's been a while since the Liber Ark, and I heard you were doing fine with all the relief efforts and figured that you were, but I guess not. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I am fine. And I was fine fighting off beasts and aiding the military and the people for weeks. It's none of your concern."

"That is way different from sparring," Agate says, slightly horrified. "I was coming at you with everything."

"As you should have."

"I could've hurt you!"

"What does it matter?"

"What does it—?" Agate's mouth shuts with a click. "I don't know what kind of sparring you were doing with the Society, but I guess they're all a bunch of nutjobs so I shouldn't be surprised. But you know what, I wasn't gonna say anything because again, you seemed fine - but for someone who keeps rattling on to me about finding a purpose and living, you sure are ready to give up on your life every damn second!"

"I told you, didn't I? The first time we met," says Loewe bitterly. "A swordsman must enter every fight prepared to lose everything, or they will gain nothing."

Something sad strikes Agate's expression, right before it twists back to fury. "Is that what you think this is? You think I'm trying to kill you?"