#aestasetbruma

[llionheartcd]

@aestasetbruma liked

     “That doesn’t seem very wise. That’s all I can say. Whether you do it or not is up to you.”

[inadeepanddarkdecember]

Huddled for warmth in icy caverns glimmering with the collective light of young ianthina, Cyrus had once listened quietly to stories of sea dwellers like himself that had settled in the south. He was told some had traded their amphibious nature for a tail and far more powerful flashing fins; that others longed for a life nearer to the surface and lost their glow to the sunlight; and still others discarded their warmth and learned to sing so well they could singlehandedly fell a landdweller’s ship with nothing but song alone. Always, these stories were framed as depraved acts, the pursuit of individual desire at the price of anywhere these outcasts might belong. When he was young, Cyrus had wanted to meet them.

Now, he had become one of them. Floating upon a piece of driftwood in southern waters, he had defied the ianthina’s cardinal rule: do not travel alone. Sometimes, he wondered if he would one day wake up changed, but nothing of the sort had happened yet. He was still stuck in the same old broken body.

Tonight, what woke him was the sound of song, more beautiful than any he had heard before. He remembered the stories, hazy in memory. Perhaps, the fanciful childhood dream he had was going to come true. In a soft pulse, the bulbs on his antennae and white spots on his skin glowed blue for a moment as he brought himself more fully to awakeness, then slowly but surely, he paddled nearer to the source of the sound.

@aestasetbruma

[abditoryx-archive-blog]

@aestasetbruma​ | starter call

what started as a light humming to match the soft piano from somewhere below him began to turn into words, slowly making lyrics going along with the melody while being out on the balcony.

he might've gotten ahead of himself though, as his voice began rising to the point where you could hear it quite well but he was lost in thoughts and didn't think about how loud he was being.

[merrickals]

starter for @aestasetbruma​~

Plfffff - pop!  pop! ...BOOM!!!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooohhhhhhhhh! weeeeeeeeeooooooohhhhhh!

“...Oops.”

Merrick hadn’t meant to cause another explosion.  He really hadn’t.  But he must’ve miscalculated the pressure in the beaker, for there he was, knocked back to the floor by the blast and slowly being drenched by the sprinklers set off by the resulting smoke.  Hoooooo, boy.  I've REALLY done it this time, he thought, his sheepish smile slowly fading as he met the professor’s baleful gaze.  She glared at him for a moment, but must have decided that there were more pressing matters than scolding the symphoric student;  the professor merely gave a long-suffering sigh and picked up the phone to speak over the building’s loudspeaker.

“Attention students and staff.  There has been a chemical complication in Chemistry Lab 203b.  Please evacuate the building in a calm and orderly fashion while we wait for the situation to be settled.”

As they quickly filed out of the room, down the stairs, and out through the doors, students snickered, scowled, or exasperatedly rolled their eyes.  This was not the first time they’d had to evacuate that semester, nor did they expect it to be the last with Merrick “borderline (albeit accidentally so) arsonist” Reever in their class.  Merrick, for his part, was a little embarrassed, though not entirely remorseful for his actions.

“Hey, at least the explosion was pretty cool!  Did you hear that ‘BOOM’?!  Really exciting!  I bet all the people stuck in lectures appreciated it~” he jabbered to his lab partner, who had her head in his hands and was wishing she’d been stuck with literally anyone else.

“...From now on, you aren’t allowed to handle anything remotely unstable,” she growled, and stalked off to rant to a friend.

“Hey, wait!  What about volatile stuff?  If it’s just going to evaporate, I shouldn’t be able to blow that – oof!” In his distraction, Merrick hadn’t noticed the petite girl before him, and collided with her shoulder, sending both sprawling.  “Awww yikes... um, are you alright?  I’m really sorry, I didn’t see you there!” He sprang up, offering a hand to the victim of his clumsiness.

[frailborn]

「  ❛  ☆  ⊱  ﹠﹠ ˢᵗᵃʳᵈᵘˢᵗ⋅  ━  」

         ❛  ━━  lark??  ❜     came  tentative  whisper.  words that  escaped  cerise tiers were  hushed,  stemming from the  silence  that hung in the cafe   (  devoid of  people,  of life  ).  her arms,  where  paperwork  rests upon  snugly,  tightened   (  threatening to  CRUMPLE  the sheets  )   in  growing  fear  ━━   a  paranoid  one she was!!  afraid of the  dark  &  unknown.

@aestasetbruma​   ♡’d

[vulpeculiar]

@aestasetbruma ♥’d !!

          It wasn’t as though Fey was hungry, he just really liked eating. Food wasn’t exactly a common necessity among the stars, this having been made clear when the snake monster refused to eat the goose, so down on earth Fey saw it was a luxury. Without money or any of the sort however, he obtained his food through. . . unsanitary means.

          Fey was playing in the trash. Long past his search for scraps, the boy with fox-like tendencies was simply digging through garbage to find as much as he could. It wasn’t pretty, and the same could be said for the backdoor of the cafe as leftovers and various other bits and pieces flung through the air onto the building. He had just finished rummaging through the bin when he heard the door creak open and someone peek out at the mess he had just made.

          Somewhat aware of his misdeeds, Fey stayed silent, softly slinking back into the bin.

[llionheartcd]

Send 🎲 for a random drabble

@aestasetbruma asked:  HAPPY AND SAD FOR BO 🎲 🎲

    “What did you say?”

    Bo dropped every toy in his hands, each one clattering and rolling across his bedroom floor. Kyle froze right in the middle of making up his bed, fear suddenly filling his grey eyes. He knew he had to reassure him that he was alright. That he wasn’t in trouble, that he wasn’t angry with him, that he wasn't punishing him. One had to be patient with the servant, the prince had learned that rather quickly. He would calm him down eventually, seeing him nervous and scared pained him, but first, he had to process his words. His two words. He called him two words he had never heard before. What did they mean?

    The sheets slipped from Kyle’s dead fingers. “I-I apologize. I apologize, sire. I didn’t mean to say it. I don’t know what came over me. I-I’m such a fool. If you must punish me, then I will be still and quiet for your convenience.” He dropped down to one knee and lowered his head. Submissive, quiet, still. Everything he promised he would be if the prince were to punish him for his ignorance. Not that Bo would. He was honestly too young to even know how to truly hurt someone else.

    Bo stood up from the floor and made his way over to Kyle. He carefully touched a strand of his blond hair before moving his hand away. “What did that mean?”

    “I-It was simply a higher term of respect, sire. I understand that it wasn’t my place to change how I address you without asking first-”

    “What did that mean?” He asked again, innocently. “Because I wasn’t mad. I liked it.”

    “Y-You did, sire?”

    “Yes!” Bo smiled. “Say it again!”

    “Yes,” He glanced up, hesitant when he saw how large the prince’s grin was. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen him so happy. “my lord….”

    Bo’s smile got bigger, wider. He couldn’t understand Kyle’s explanation, he was still a bit too young to pick up every single word, but being called ‘my lord’ made him happy. It made him happy in a way his toys couldn’t. He wanted to run around the room and jump and scream and act like the little kid he was. He liked when he called him that, he decided that almost immediately. He wanted him to call him that forever. To show just how happy he was over something as simple as his title being changed, Bo threw his arms around his servant’s neck. He felt him tense but didn’t think anything of it. He moved away and jumped on the bed, giggling as he messed up the sheets and blankets. Not that the child cared in the slightest. He wasn’t the one who cleaned up his room.

    “My lord, the bed….” Kyle sighed over the child’s laughter.

    “I’m not a prince anymore. I’m a lord.” He wrapped himself up in the messy blankets, becoming a tiny, comfortable burrito. He snuggled in its safety, its comfort. Almost as if he knew that the moment would be one of the last times he would ever be so lively, be so free and joyful. “I’m glad I’m your lord, Kyle.”

    The servant stood up slowly, almost as if he was waiting to be sent back down again. Relieved when he wasn’t, he decided to watch his prince roll around on the bed, occasionally using his magic to drag him away from the edges before he fell. “I’m glad that you’re glad, my lord.”

    “Go away.”

    Bo didn’t care who was at the door, he wasn’t answering it for anybody. He was smart enough to know he couldn’t stay in his bedroom forever. He couldn’t hide away from the world forever, all the shades drawn and all of his mirrors broken. Pillows, alarm clocks, his own fists; he threw everything he could at anything that reflected his image. He didn’t want to look at himself, not now or ever again. He wanted to sit in the dark until he got himself together, until he found the strength to spit out words that could never properly explain his agony. Why couldn’t his staff understand that? Hourly someone was knocking on his door and hourly he snapped at them to leave. Why couldn’t they just understand that he wanted to be alone?!

    “It’s me, my lord.”

    Kyle. Bo knew he’d knock eventually. He was there. He was right there. When Bo’s mind was fuzzy with hunger and anger, and blood dripped from his claws and teeth, Kyle was right there. When the sound of screams quieted into chokes, when involuntary spasms tingled his insides and made him excited, Kyle was right there. When Bo realized that years and years of eating substitutes was nothing like the delicious, real thing, Kyle was right there. He was there when the cameras started flashing, when his sense came back to him, when his animalistic high faded and he became king again. He was there the whole time, by his side from beginning to end, just like he always was. Of course Kyle would knock eventually.

    There were three more knocks on his bedroom door. “If you would like me to go, then simply order me to and I will.”

    “Kyle, I’m ordering you to….” Bo huffed. He brought his knees to his chest as he curled up in the corner of his room. His servant knew him better than anyone. He knew how much he hated ordering him around. He’d rather let him hover around his door than treat him like a mindless robot. “I’m a monster, Kyle.”

    “You’re not a monster, my lord.” Three more knocks. “May I enter?”

    “No.”

    A quiet sigh. Bo could hear him shuffling around outside the door. Pacing? No, no, there was a thump on the ground. He was sitting. Kyle wasn’t planning on going anywhere.

    “I-I will curse my mother and father for the rest of my life.” His hands trembled in the dark. “I hate them for bringing me into this world. How could they do this to me? W-Why couldn’t I just be human? I’m already so close, so why?”

    “My lord, you shouldn’t blame them for this..” Three knocks. “May I enter?”

    “No, please.” Why did he keep asking? He knew he was going to keep saying no so why did he keep asking? Why was he so stubborn? Why was he so stubborn over a monster like him? The young king swore he had drained himself of everything but shame and anger and regret, but a sob that rocked his body proved that he wasn’t that detached yet. He wrapped his arms around himself, touching his skin with hands once coated in a human’s blood.

    “He was questioning your authority, you hadn’t slept or eaten in days, and you were frustrated from being treated like a child. You lashed out-”

    “So that justifies me killing him? That justifies me eating him? With people around? With cameras around? With his fucking family around?” Bo screamed. He tugged at his horns, well aware that they wouldn’t just magically come off. They were stuck there, attached to his skull thanks to his wonderful mother. He wished he could meet her just once. He had some terrible but deserved words for her. “He had a family and I took him away from them. There were kids there. A-And I… I growled at you, didn’t I?”

    The silence that followed confirmed what he hoped was a false memory.

    “I’m sorry, Kyle.” There was a lump in his throat that he wanted to claw at until his neck bled and ran down his chest. Another loud, stuffed up sob dislodged the lump before he could do anything idiotic. “I don’t want my horns, Kyle. I don’t want my claws or my teeth. I don’t want any of this. I want a whole new existence.”

    “My lord, I’m begging you not to say that….” Kyle’s voice was soft, cautious. Bo knew he had no idea what to say and do in this situation, and because of that, he felt a little bad for throwing him into all of this.

    “What if this happens again? I’ve never tasted anything so-” Delicious, flavorful, succulent, “wrong before. What if I want more of it? What am I going to do?” He had no choice but to go back to his now dry and tasteless meats, none that could ever compare to the taste of a human. God, was he even listening to himself? It was almost like he had forgotten that he took a person’s life, ripped him apart with his teeth like some kind of animal.

    There were three more knocks on the door. “May I enter, my lord?”

    “Kyle, I’m ordering you to leave me alone!” Bo couldn’t take it anymore. If he heard that knocking again, if he heard Kyle’s voice again, if he heard the care and concern in his voice again, he’d go insane. He’d get a headache that would hammer on his skull until it cracked through the bone and smashed his mind into fragments. Just in case his servant was still hovering around, Bo did what he had to do. He growled. A low, raw rumble from his throat that should’ve warned others of his danger and primal anger. He hated how it sounded, hated how animalistic it was, but that’s all that he would ever be now. An animal, a mistake from God, a monster.

    There was more shuffling behind the door. Another defeated sigh before Kyle stood up. Once the sound of his shoes clacking across the hallway floor faded, Bo buried his face in his knees and cried until he was absolutely certain that he couldn’t anymore.

[llionheartcd]

HAPPY AND SAD FOR BO 🎲 🎲 HAPPY AND SAD FOR KYLE 🎲 🎲 AND ONE MORE FOR NICK 🎲 DR O W N (u don't gotta do em all in one post fjjfdklfh)

Send 🎲 for a random drabble

    “Curiosity killed the cat. Have you ever heard that phrase, Nickolas?”

    Was that why the king wanted to see him? To ask him that? That couldn’t be right. The tired smile Ralph wore, a crack in his stone statue of a face that didn’t fit well with his dead brown eyes. Nick had never seen them so cold, but he decided to dismiss it. Maybe the low lighting was causing him to see things. His offputting eyes aside, there was still much more on the king’s mind, which was great because there was a lot on Nick’s too. Mostly questions about Kyle, questions about Stonewall. The same things that he had been thinking about for weeks now. Even while he was cleaning, he found himself wondering if the rumors about that place were true. Even at night, when his blankets were pulled up to his chin, he felt a shiver at the thought of that poor boy enduring hardships that he could only hope were fake. Nick was actually glad that he got the opportunity to talk to Ralph. He had been meaning to ask him a few things.

    “I have, your highness.” He offered a small smile. “But the rest of the phrase is that satisfaction brought the dead cat back to life.”

    “That is the rest of it, isn’t it?” A short chuckle, a long sigh. “It’s a shame that life doesn’t actually work that way. If something happened to someone simply because they were curious, I’m certain satisfaction wouldn’t save them or bring them back to life.”

    The king sure was putting a lot of thought into a phrase. “Curiosity’s not a bad thing. I’ve never heard of it getting someone killed.”

     Another crack, his left eyebrow raising. “You haven’t?” Ralph stood from his desk, stretched his arms, legs, and back. How long had he just been sitting there like that? Nick knew he wouldn’t like the answer so he didn’t ask. “You seem to be very interested in Kyle, Nickolas.”

    “I’m worried about him. I just want to make sure he’s safe.” Confident, bold, even when face to face with a king. Nick felt an out of place memory creep into his head. A smile on his mother’s face, her soft hands pushing back a few locks of his brown hair. Her words were muffled, drowned. She said something about him always being worried about others. What did she say after that? Why was she coming to mind at a time like this? He should give her a call soon.

     “I’m aware of your concern over him, and I admire it quite a bit. However, I’m getting annoyed with your actions as of late. I heard you’ve been questioning people about things they’ve never even heard of. Your prying is disturbing your fellow servants, and now it’s disturbing me.”

    Ah, so he was in trouble for asking people if they’ve ever heard of Stonewall. Nick didn’t want to disturb anyone, but if he had to make a fuss to protect another person, he’d do it. A question came to mind. “Your royal highness, your majesty. What am I doing wrong exactly?”

    Ralph moved from behind his desk. Big, slow steps. Nick wasn’t drawn to his feet, his arms, his face. Only his eyes. His mother taught him that if he demanded an answer, the eyes were the best place to look. They were the window to the soul. They showed things the mind was unable to hide. Nick didn’t see any humanity in his brown pupils though. He wondered if he should be worried.

    Just as he thought that, an arm wrapped around his shoulder. It suddenly pulled him close until he was pressed up against his king’s side. He enjoyed physical contact as much as the next guy, if not a little bit more (he was a touchy-feely guy, sue him), but this didn’t feel right. Ralph’s icy touch froze his shoulder blade.

    The king chuckled again, and Nick felt something uncomfortable in his stomach. “What did we just discuss, Nickolas? Curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction can’t bring it back. Satisfaction can’t bring back the cat’s new friend either. Satisfaction can’t bring back anyone. So if I were you, I’d choose what I’m curious about wisely.”

    Nick noticed them walking towards the doors. Was the king kicking him out? No, no, that wasn’t what he should be focusing on. What actually bothered him was the cat and who it was meant to represent. What terrified him was the mention of the cat’s new friend.

    “I-Is that a threat?”

    “Of course not!” A jagged smile, emotionless and dead. Just a crack in a statue. “We’re talking about cats, remember? It’s a phrase. You’ve heard it before. You said so yourself.”

    Ralph would never threaten him. He’d never threaten anybody. He was the king! He’d never do that, right? A light shove pushed him from his side and into the doors. That felt like an accident, but he never apologized. “Y-Your highness?”

    “Yes, Nickolas?”

    There was a bit of hesitation. He mulled over his words, thought about his eyes. If the threat was just on him, Nick wouldn’t have cared. Why would he care about something happening to him? Other people were the important ones. They were the ones he wanted to see happy, wanted to see smiling and safe. But the ‘cat’s new friend’ forced him to care. If his curiosity would endanger Kyle in any way, then it was best for him to keep it to himself. It was best that he keep everything about this to himself. Nick stared at his king in the dim lighting. There was a bad taste on his tongue. “I apologize for disturbing you and my fellow servants. I won’t ask again.”

    “It’s alright, Nickolas. We should get back to work, you and I. I have a lot to do, so you should as well.”

    “Yes, your highness.” He didn’t bother masking the disappointment, the fear, the confusion in his voice. He was never good at doing things like that. He’d have to learn. Nick put a hand on the door, tried to push it open, but a few words from Ralph stopped him for a moment.

    “Don’t do anything foolish, Nickolas.”

    Those words echoed in his head, even after he left the king’s workroom. Don’t do anything foolish. The king told him not to do anything stupid, he warned him not to fuck up. For his sake, for Kyle’s sake. What would he do? That was a question he asked himself as he stood dumbstruck in the hallway. What would he do to them? Ralph spoke of curiosity killing them, but he wouldn’t do that to them. He would never. He had always seemed so kind and trustworthy. How long had that malice been inside of those brown eyes of his?

    “Mr. Nickolas!”

    Nick nearly screamed. He couldn’t handle existing right now. He needed a few moments to process that meeting, process the person his king truly was. He was going to dismiss whoever called his name until he saw damaged grey eyes and blonde hair. All of his worries and fears took a backseat to Kyle.

    “I-I told you, man, just Nick is fine.” He thought about placing a hand on Kyle’s shoulder but decided against it. Last time he did that, he frightened him. He’d wait until he was ready.

    “I-I apologize. I-I had to find you. I appreciate all you’ve done to help me understand things that I should know, and I hate to burden you by asking you something else-”

    “No, no, go ahead. Ask away, man. I already told you, you can ask me anything whenever. You’ll never burden me.”

    “A-Alright. I don’t deserve your kindness, Mr. Nickolas.” Kyle spoke faster than Nick could correct him. “Someone approached me and asked me what was up. When I answered the next floor, they laughed at me. Did I say something amusing? I-I don’t understand.”

    Oh wow. Oh wow, it was decided. It had been decided a long time ago, but now it was official. Hearing that from the short, nervous, robotic, buttoned-up boy in front of him made it official. Nick had to protect him. Nick had to protect Kyle. He was so pure and innocent. He didn’t deserve to be threatened by people like the king. He didn’t deserve whatever bad things that happened to him in the past. As long as Nick was around, he wouldn’t be hurt again. He silently swore it to himself.

    “Don’t worry, Kyle.” Nick thought of the king’s threat, of his mother’s face, of Kyle’s past. How he managed to smile with all of that on his mind was beyond him. “I’ll explain it to you.”