#aetherloved

[misericordiis]

Happy Birthday, Ai-li ! - @aetherloved

Lunchtime couldn’t have been a less romantic time to decide to meet, but Ai-li’s working schedule had been a little too inconsistent to guarantee a birthday dinner and maybe a post-celebratory drink. Gideon was sure she’d already made plans with Caleb for that anyways, so fitting himself in her schedule felt appropriate, if a little disappointingly shitty. But it hardly mattered. 

He was sat outside her building with a little bento cake he’d frosted himself, decorated with two fat dollops of lime green frosting to make those cute little frogs all the girls went crazy for. One had coral pink hair that looked like an unfortunate Fraggle Rock mullet, while the other had unconscionable huge Popeye arms that were almost as voluminous as his adorably corpulent form. Just the two of them as demented-looking frogs, overlooking a little blue pond with blobby little lilypads floating in it. Three huge sparklers were jammed in it like an austere Buddhist offering of incense, but the decoration had no time to be regretted now that he saw Ai-li’s bright hair in the depths of the vestibule, approaching the door.

It was a practiced swiftness with which he managed to light the sparklers, jumping up to his feet as he hollered a “Happy birthday, to the prettiest girl in the world!” and shoved the cake in her hands. Pulling two of the sparklers out, he hooted and hollered as he ran around her in circles, waving the sparklers in the air like a madman.

[empyreau]

@aetherloved | Eyes Turned Skyward (happy birthday)

It had taken all night, a night of perfectionism and the finest of fine-toothed combing, but the task was finally completed and as Caleb sat with his back against the wheels of the front landing gear he exhaled slowly, deeply. It wasn't that his plane was in dire need of maintenance, far from it. But every nut and bolt, every button, every display, every inch of metal had to be as if they were fresh from assembly. Not even the smallest smudge could sneak past his discerning eye. For her birthday, everything had to be perfect.

After tugging his grease-stained work gloves off he pulled out his phone to check the time. Two in the morning, right on time. He'd resisted the urge to text her with any hints up to this point, biting at the inside of his lip every time his fingers got the urge to tap on her name. The plan wasn't complicated and the less complicated the better was the motto when it came to convincing Elli to go anywhere as a surprise. Sunrise would come whether they were both ready or not and he'd sling her over his shoulder to bring her back to the hangar if he had to. Not that he thought it'd be necessary (he'd do it anyway just because), but nothing would be getting in their way that morning. He'd make sure of that.

Only a little more than three hours and he'd be bringing her up into the blue expanse, one more of his windows open to her. If all went well.

First things first, however, and he stood up to make his way home.

[misericordiis]

Happy Birthday, Ai-li ! — @aetherloved

There wasn’t a doubt that she looked lovely in the candle’s light. Of course she would. More than lovely. Stunning, really, in the slinky navy silk dress he’d bought for her, adorned with crystals to look like the night sky. The dress was of course to his taste, tailored to the measurements he lovingly remembered of her. But he hadn’t quite expected how the imperial blue contrasted her fair skin, or complemented her aureate eyes and her roseate hair. Or how the candlelight would illuminate her features, shine crystalline upon her glossed lips, augment the splendor of the curl of her pretty mouth when she'd catch his gaze across the table. 

Caleb wondered why he’d brought her here. Now that he’d returned, it felt like something new. Something mature for them to do: go to a fancy dinner like adults, have an excuse to dress up and make memories she’d be able to brag about to her friends. Something enviable, something new. Halfway through their aperitifs and he’d already regretted the distracting distance of Ai-li across the table, the ambient conversation of the neighboring tables that made it nearly impossible to talk without raising their voices a little, or the way they’d just pull awkward smiles across the way like they suddenly didn’t know how to act when they had to act like adults. So he does what he does best when it comes to her. He manages.

“Hope it isn’t too early,” he says, catching her attention and reaching into his breast pocket to pull out a thin velvet box. Rising from his seat, he walks over to Ai-li’s side, opening it to reveal a thin gold chain with a pale pink jade lotus flower pendant, and the characters “夏以昼 ♡ 月艾莉 " engraved in gold on the back. Like a promise she can wear upon her skin.

Caleb lets her get a good look before he takes the initiative to retrieve it from the box and adorn her throat with it. Leaning in to clasp it properly, he murmurs softly against the shell of her ear, voice velutinous with invitation, “I already can’t wait to get out of here and take you home. Is that selfish?”

[empyreau]

"It's been raining for so long… starting to wonder if the sun even exists anymore." - for Caleb

It felt unending, how the rain continued to fall in unobstructed sheets. It was like they were on a movie soundstage and the rain machine had been kept on for days on end. That's how it pelted the expanse of windows, too uniform, too synchronized. But Skyhaven had been in the red since the beginning of the week and the current radar showed it'd continue to be in it at least through the weekend. Smack-dab right in the middle of the deluge.

Yet for all its intensity there was no lightning or thunder and so the window shades stayed fully up, giving them a front-row seat to the torrential downpour. "Wherever it is, seems like it's being kept hostage there now," he said and tapped his knuckles once against the cool glass. He could barely make out his own reflection, the rain making it look like chopped-up static.

"What could you even offer up in exchange to get it back." A crooked smile in the glass shifted to a rightly settled one in that quick instant as Caleb turned to look at her. Even she couldn't call the sun back with her presence, though it only started raining after she arrived. "How about it, pipsqueak?" he asked, giving her a nudge in the arm with his elbow. "Think we'd be able to negotiate its safe return?"

@aetherloved

[misericordiis]

“What is more cruel, destiny… or desire?” - for Caleb

His eyes remain downcast, focused on the vitreous lotus cradled in the the creche of his hand, and the luminous 孟婆汤 within. The question registers belatedly to his ears, his focus upon the fate within that lotus cup precluding all other thoughts. And when he understands what she's asking, his eyes flicker before they rise to meet her earnest gaze, the violet of his eyes gloomed with mourning.

He looks at her and sees half his soul, where he knows that in a blink of an eye her form must become a stranger to him. Caleb does his best to disguise his grief, but gives up quickly when he realizes that there would be no use for it. She was going to forget him again. And this time, he'd never have another chance to hear her call his name again.

"It's a moot point," he answers her at last, smiling ruefully at his own realization as the words form upon his lips. "A pointless rhetorical when we're already standing at the apex of the Naihe Qiao with only oblivion to return to."

it's a preternatural despondency that gives courage to his words, a devastation of inevitability that pricks his tongue into boldness he'd never dare otherwise. "Is it destiny that I should desire you? You, who shares my fate, my heart, and inspires my soul's purpose? How could I not desire you as if were not destiny itself that I should?"

He lets his blade fall away with a loud clatter, freeing him to reach for her one last time and pull her into his embrace. Her breath is warm upon his chest, and he wonders if he'll ever feel a warmth of such succor again. His lips press to the crown of her head. Breathes in her scent as if he could capture her essence in his lungs forever. "Our destiny and desire are as inalienable to one another as you are to me, and I to you," he murmurs, words half muffled against her hair. "Both are equally cruel, heartless in tandem. And if the only way to free you from their cruelty is to drink—"

He grasps her hand and raises it, hooks his arm within hers as his tear-filled eyes entreat her: "I beg you, let me see you be eased from that pain."

[misericordiis]

Kaus Australis — Sender rests their hand on Receiver’s shoulder. // for Gideon ^^

✧       ›       𝐫𝐩  𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬  .   .   .   (   a  study  of  stars   ) 

@aetherloved !

It's only been ten minutes since Elizabeth had pantomimed her intent to go outside to call Caleb—a combinations of frenetic gesturing and screaming that looked like mouthing when her explanations were drowned out by the band on stage. Gideon had nodded, showing his understanding with a thumbs up and a cheery grin, but almost from the moment he'd left, his anxiousness had grown with every minute she was gone.

And he's right to be nervous, he reasons. Sure, he's tall enough to be found with some ease, but Elizabeth's what Caleb affectionately refers to as "pocket-sized." But the venue's at capacity, and it might take a bit to find him again. He wonders if he should move towards the wall, so she could find him better than in a random sea of people packed like sardines, then decides it's a bad idea due to the likelihood of increased confusion. It's a boring yet arresting strain of thought that leaves him feeling a little helpless in the end, only because he realizes that he's really only worried that she might not come back at all.

Caleb's the one she came here for. He just tagged along, like he always does. An extra ticket for the extra friend. Caleb's stand-in whenever he can't make it. It's become an unspoken rule that Caleb just buys a third ticket for him, so Gideon can existentially reason that he was always meant to tag along, but it's convenience in the end.

He's convenient.

It's a self-serving defense mechanism of intricate reasonings and bracing proportions, designed to prevent the most catastrophic of ineviable disappointments when Elizabeth and Caleb finally decide to make whatever they have going on official and third wheel him outright. Or leave him in the dust. Whichever's worse. He can't decide. Sometimes it's worse being left behind. Sometimes it's worse having to witness your two favorite people from behind an invisible, impenetrable glass, right in front of your face.

He can't decide which is worse right now, and really, it doesn't matter. Not when he feels a hand on his shoulder, a gentle weight that somehow feels more intimate than a hug. Elizabeth's beside him, grinning up at him with eyes glittering from the strobing lights. Alone.

'Caleb?' Gideon asks, enunciating so she can see what he means to say, even if she can't hear him.

She shakes her head and offers no explanation. And he doesn't need one. Not when the smile she offers up to him is brighter than the sun that Caleb feels like. Except that smile's just for him in that moment. Not an offhanded smile, not some discarded formality, but the relief and the resolution of finding Gideon in that moment. Gideon, out of everyone in the crowd.

It leaves him giddy enough that he feels embarrased, and he's glad that the colored lights and the obscuring darkness can disguise the blush that runs across his cheeks to the tips of his ears. Elizabeth wraps her arms around his waist in that way she does because she knows she can, leaning into him, head resting on his chest. There's a pinprick of clarity that suddenly floods his mind with understanding: in little moments like these, they're exactly where they want to be, with exactly who they want by their side. Even if he's not her first choice, he's still the best choice in that moment. And if it's all he can hope for, then everything he's hoped for has come true. So he throws a heavy arm around her shoulders and holds her as tight as he dares, content with all that he could hope for.

[mcwscollective]

🩸 for Xavier

@aetherloved

At first, he could feel a bit of panic washing over him. Covered in blood could have only meant that (at least some of it) was hers.

He was on his feet in an instant, crossing the floor to reach for her hand to begin examining her for anything that looked like a wound. His brows scrunched together in his search for injuries, but ultimately didn't trust what he was seeing. Something had to be wrong for her to be splattered with that much of the stuff.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, voice still its usual softness despite how urgent the situation felt. Perhaps a bit more stern, but no more harsh than it normally was. Part of him wanted to wait until he heard her answer before getting more upset (if she was hurt, that is.) Although, the other was already halfway to losing his shit from the sight of her alone.

"Where did all of this blood come from?" He left her side long enough to wet a towel, then began wiping the blood from her face. "I don't know if I could forgive myself if I let you get hurt when I wasn't with you. This is why we should always be together. That way I'll know if you're in trouble when it's happening, and not after you come back to me covered in blood."

[misericordiis]

🫂 For whichever of your muses we discussed plots for. Gimme~

Send 🫂 for three useless headcanons I have about our muses @aetherloved

When he was a kid, saying sorry wasn't so easy for him, so Ai-li got a lot of apology ice creams. Now that he's older, he sometimes finds himself unable to say sorry as honestly, so she still gets ice cream apologies. But he also doesn't mind if she gets mad at him for anything, if it gives him a reason to show up at her door with ice cream.

He sometimes calls her 'presa,' which means 'strawberry' in his language. Definitely a cute nickname from when they were younger. It also means 'captive,' so it has a bit of a different meaning when he's whispering it in her ear as he pulls her into an embrace she can't escape.

Preferred method of transportation? Piggyback ride. He likes feeling her heartbeat on his back.

The first time Elizabeth hooked her arm in his when he walked her home, he had a coughing fit so bad they had to stop at a convenience store for a drink and sit on the curb for a bit. He was so embarrassed, but the extra time he got to spend with her was kinda worth it.

Gideon's family lives outside of Linkon City, so whenever he takes her home, it takes him over an hour to get to his house. He always promises Ai-li to text when he's home safe, but he hates thinking about bothering her when she's probably asleep by then, so he doesn't. She probably chastises him for it the next day, but he likes that she cares enough to nag at him.

Sometimes, they'll stop to eat at a pojangmacha or a stall after a night out, before he takes her home. They always plan on sharing a few dishes just to save on money, but he doesn't always like what she picks to eat. But he'll eat it anyways, because he just likes sharing anything with her!