i refuse to believe there's a mom friend among the ascendance series kids. mott WISHES there were a mom friend so he could deputize them but every time he thinks he's identified the Responsible One he can enlist to keep the rest of them safe and out of trouble, that person joins the pirates or starts a three day hike through enemy territory. the kids might take turns telling jaron "don't do that, it's a ridiculous plan and someone's going to get hurt" but that's not mom friend behavior that's a survival instinct
save me loyal to the death second in command characters. save me. love you loyal second in command characters that are forced to turn against their leader. save me. loyalty
Pairing: Jaron/Tobias, Amarinda of Bultain/Imogen
Words: 1045
Chapter: 1/?
Summary: A modern college au set in a coffee shop between two rival universities. While the Carthyan Patriots and the Avenian Dragons clash, a quiet courtship begins between Tobias, an overworked med student, and Jaron, a young entrepreneur with a penchant for trouble.
Baggy eyes and a hunched back marked the man who came in every morning like clockwork, stealing a table hidden away in the recesses of the cafe–barely lit by the only window that wasn’t taking it upon itself to blind the patrons at this hour. His order was always the same: a coffee with way too many shots of espresso, a cream cheese bagel, and, if he was feeling daring, an eclair that they had to assume he took with him to whatever classes were breaking his back because he definitely didn’t touch it when he was here.
The red eye staff had their bets placed on if he actually ate it after it had, inevitably, been squished in his bag or if he only ordered it to prove to himself that he could order something else. Most of them were leaning towards the latter, of course, with the way he stumbled through his words whenever he did decide to vary it.
But Jaron had thrown his hat in the ring on another, more far-fetched idea–one Imogen and Roden hadn’t cared for much at all. He was of the notion that since he had happened to be the only one to convince him to try something different then it was only logical to assume that he liked him.
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Right. That’s what this was. Imogen couldn’t let this fantasy go on any longer as she rolled her eyes. “Or you make him nervous.”
“Because he likes me,” Jaron insisted as he emphasized his teasing with a smolder.
”Or, get this,” she said, smiling as she shook her hands in front of herself, her grin immediately falling, “he may not like being put on the spot.”
Jaron laughed, stacking the cups off to the side. “I dunno, I think you’re just jealous that–”
Imogen cocked her hip, putting her hand on her side, snorting herself. “Sure. If that’s the rabbit you want to chase today, just make sure it doesn’t get in the way of your job. Why don’t you help organize the back once you’re done there?”
“You don’t want my pretty face up front today?”
Imogen tilted her head at him, fluttering her eyelashes innocently. “Are you asking me if I want customers today?” She paused, putting a finger on her lip. “Hm.” She let a moment pass as if her question held any of the significance that warranted such a lengthy pause. “You know, Jaron,” she said, nodding slowly, “you should be up front. Give the door your best smile.”
He snorted, waving her off. “It’s like you have no faith in me.”
“Is it that obvious?” Imogen asked with a grin. She nudged him as she passed. “Just make sure you’re ready to go. We open in five.”
Jaron rolled his eyes. “I know, I know. It can’t be any worse than yesterday, can it?”
Imogen stopped abruptly. Her eyes flicked back to him with faux seriousness. “Do you like testing god?”
“When it suits me,” he said with a wink. Imogen took in a breath, shaking her head as she finished cleaning off one of the machines on the back wall. Jaron leaned down on the counter, crossing his legs behind him as he watched the streets slowly come to life, cars lazily drifting by as the street lights went off one by one, each one taking a bow as the morning sun took its rightful place on stage.
“Do you think he’ll be here today?” he asked barely above a whisper.
Imogen looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes. “I’m beginning to think you’re the one that likes him. Careful, wouldn’t want people thinking you can catch feelings.” She held her nose as if the concept itself stunk before snickering to herself.
Jaron snorted, looking back out towards the door, a slight tinge of red on his face. Sure, maybe he wanted to get to know the guy, but that was all it was. He let out a sigh, pushing himself up off the counter to flip the sign to Open. He wasn’t one to pine over someone, he thought to himself as he peeked his head out to look down the sidewalk. No sign of him–oh, no, he meant anyone yet, yeah.
He closed the door again, brushing off his hands before he cracked them in front of himself. “Time to get down to business,” Jaron said to no one in particular as he hopped the counter.
Just because he had noticed that Tobias had come in almost every day for the past two weeks since he started working these early shifts meant nothing. He had a unique look to him! Wiry and tall, with perceptively kind eyes, as if he could read someone like a book but without even a crease or dog-ear on the pages as he went through their life story. It seemed silly now, Jaron realized, comparing him to an old librarian type when Jaron was the one attempting to judge a book by a cover himself.
But he just couldn’t help it! Tobias carried himself like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders–like if he stopped for one minute, it would all collapse in a messy heap at his feet. Jaron sighed, furrowing his brows as he leaned against the counter again. It wasn’t fair for a man to carry the world alone–what a lonely thing that was, the heaviness of a responsibility only one man knows. If only he could do something to help–then maybe Tobias’ face might not wrinkle up as much as it did in the few moments Jaron saw of him a day. Jaron stood back, looking up at the ceiling with a sigh–maybe he’d get him that eclair for free today. Sure, it wasn’t much, but sometimes even little things could make a big deal, even if they seemed insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
A nervous energy ate at him as he rocked back and forth on his heels. God, he hoped he came in today–maybe they could say more than just the usual pleasantries, maybe he could even get a how’s the weather out there started.
okay obv my view of the characters is subjective blah blah blah but i truly think it would be most interesting & fulfilling for jaron to relinquish the crown at the end of the series. he’s had a very complicated relationship with kinghood– wasn’t raised to rule, was sent away bc he was embarrassing the royal family, only returned to drylliad as part of a con. he takes the throne in the memory of his family and for the sake of carthya; one of the most interesting lines to me in tck was someone saying jaron had scars “no king should have.” throughout the series his leadership is consistently portrayed as sacrificial. what’s he getting from being king, except maybe some pride? he doesn’t need riches, luxury, leisure or political power to be happy. if carthya was reasonably safe, his loved ones were happy, and he was with imogen, he would be satisfied– and none of those require him being king
even more, i think being king actively makes him unhappy! all of his conflicts with roden and tobias result from aspects of his position. he’s a fighter, but not a politician– the opposite of king eckbert. his father would do anything to avoid war but jaron wouldn’t know what to do in times of peace. he duels diplomats and insults the castle cook. it’s obvious that he only took the (figurative) pirate crown as a tool to help carthya + his loved ones but i think it’s the same with the carthyan crown. once his country is safe, his happiest ending would be actually enjoying the peace and freedom he’s earned
also he would LOVE the mystery of disappearing from the public view!!! if he were to abdicate i think either harlowe or tobias + amarinda should lead carthya, and OBVIOUSLY he would come visit sometimes, but mostly he and imogen are traveling the countryside in the guise of a serving maid and a pickpocket. and virtually no one knows what happened to him! imagine: you’re a random carthyan. the king’s second son is killed by pirates. a few years later, the whole royal family is poisoned. then the second son REAPPEARS, identifies his family’s murderer, becomes pirate king (?!?), saves the country from from military obliteration through a series of absolutely insane schemes, and then straight up disappears. was he a saint? a devil? a ghost??? and meanwhile jaron, sitting at the next table over and listening to this discussion, could not be more pleased. maybe next he’ll start a rumor that jaron actually had nine lives, like a cat
-healers!!!
-imogen knows a lot of folk remedies and old folk tales and tobias loves picking her brain and testing new treatments together
-when they’re hanging out in the greenhouse or picking herbs in the garden tobias does the vast majority of the talking. it’s soothing for both of them; he likes rambling, and she doesn’t feel any pressure to fill the silence
-that being said, they’re both the BIGGEST gossips and love sharing juicy news they heard around the castle
-imogen argues with tobias less than anyone else, mostly because they rarely have conflicting interests
-cheek kisses :)
-tobias goes to imogen for relationship advice because she’s his token female friend, but she gives really bad advice. yes she’s dating the king of carthya but she doesn’t know how she did it
-they are not very good at horseriding. the squad will go out for a ride and the king, the captain, and the ambassador are all on this fine stallions that could probably kick through a wall and then tobias and imogen are trailing behind on these old ponies that stop every few minutes to graze
-they talk about farthenwood sometimes. by the time they left, they were both focused only on surviving connor’s scheme, and sometimes they have to just shake their heads and appreciate that things turned out so well
-they definitely got to an awkward start, mainly because they were in an arranged marriage but both fell in love with someone else
-jaron worried that he couldn’t measure up to darius and didn’t like amarinda’s ease with the courtiers that he didn’t trust, and amarinda was put off by jaron’s stiffness and unwillingness to be diplomatic
-jaron is very comfortable pretending to be someone he isn’t, but he’s bad at hiding his emotions; meanwhile, amarinda couldn’t imagine impersonating an avenian pirate but is very good at maintaining an attitude of pleasantness and calmness
-amarinda is better at reading jaron than he realized at first; she was the first to guess that he would go to the pirates
-jaron and amarinda are the two big-picture thinkers of the group. maybe it comes from both of them being raised as royalty, but even roden, a talented military planner, doesn’t have the same grasp of the delicacies of international strategies
-once they break off their engagement and stop trying to push a romantic element to their relationship they get along MUCH better
-amarinda really helps ease jaron back into court life
-a gentle brother-sister relationship
-amarinda is slow to condemn, so if she criticizes something jaron says or does, he takes it very seriously. on the other side, she values his input a lot and will always take into account his gut feelings or concerns
-they bond over memories of growing up in court. jaron tells amarinda stories of his youth, and she tells him what life was like at the castle after he disappeared. they both miss darius
-on the anniversary of his family’s death, jaron and amarinda take flowers to their graves in silence
-with her permission, jaron starts calling amarinda his sister-in-law, saying that between her betrothal to his brother by blood and her marriage to tobias, who he considers a brother, surely she’s part of his family
-jaron goes to amarinda for relationship advice. amarinda does not ask jaron for relationship advice.
-they’re both REALLY bad at cooking– amarinda because she grew up as a princess and a constant guest, jaron because he grew up as a prince and then a peasant with no fancy ingredients. imogen tries to teach them but spends most of the time laughing at them and cleaning up spills
-out of the squad, these two are the quickest to start a physical fight
-these two have SUCH a fascinating relationship in canon. they do not always get along, but they understand each other instinctively. in peace they may get along or drift apart but if the world were burning down they would be fighting side by side and breathe their last together. just big dramatic brother-at-arms, aragorn-boromir energy.
-on a lighter note, they team up to tease tobias a lot
-although imogen also went to tarblade bay and worked for the pirates, only jaron and roden have the pirate brand.
-they’ve both been pirate king, and it’s no secret that roden desperately wanted the crown of carthya. in order to become allies, roden had to give up a vengeful sense of ambition and his shot at becoming either kind of king
-not that it was a one-sided sacrifice to get along; jaron put his physical safety on the line to turn roden from the pirates and very nearly died
-the two military strategists of the group
-roden is very verbally blunt, whereas jaron is quick-tongued and jokes around a lot, which is sometimes a source of irritation
-actually, they get irritated with each other a lot, but it just… doesn’t really matter. they start a fight in the morning, go to a war council together and support each other unreservedly, and continue arguing in the evening.
-trust each other unconditionally to do what’s best for carthya
-unlike imogen, amarinda or even tobias, roden doesn’t really mind not knowing jaron’s plans. once he decided to trust jaron, that was that– as long as the plan works he doesn’t care what it is.
-consider themselves the protectors of the group. roden is the only one that jaron is willing to ask to endure physical danger or harm.
-big on physical touch! this occasionally manifests as making out in public but is more often a LOT of hand-holding and hair-combing
-the whole time they were courting the regents were terrified they were going to elope
-neither of them expected to take the throne so they have to work through bouts of self-doubt
-their mutual capture by avenians seriously shook them, and they both still have nightmares about the treatment they had when they were prisoners
-because of this, they’re intensely suspicious of attempts to turn them against each other. they’re still working on trust issues but are mutually determined not to let their hot tempers be used to the other’s harm.
-imogen spent a good part of their relationship sternly telling herself that she was a servant and he was a king and there was no way they would end up together, which made jaron’s dismissal of her in the runaway king especially hurtful
-both are physically reckless and would canonically die for the other
-they’re used to pretending to be what they aren’t. imogen grew up pretending to be mute, then trying to fit in as a noble in drylliad, then sneaking into the pirate camp as a serving girl. jaron’s situation is even more intense, with the pretending to be an orphan, pretending to be avenian, and his extensive history of lies and half-truths. once they get married and rule carthya, they often rely on this to pretend they know what the heck is happening, but they get very good at noticing when the other is pretending or putting up a facade and checking in.
-imogen tends to go nonverbal when she feels unsafe or overwhelmed, which is always a signal for jaron to shoo people away or switch tracks
-in general imogen doesn’t talk much but jaron loves the sound of her voice and will occasionally just start saying the stupidest stuff until she laughs and begs him to stop
-jaron grows his hair out long literally just so that imogen will run her fingers through it
-neither are big fans of the council of regents and often have to be pushed to be diplomatic by amarinda
-speaking of which, they both go to amarinda for relationship advice
-in reference to imogen’s flowers at tarblade, they leave flowers for each other as a quiet way of saying ‘i’ve got your back, i’m here for you’
-even after tobias becomes the court physician, imogen insists on caring for jaron when he’s unwell
imogen, king of tarblade bay @piratekingimogen - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
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