[ID: A digital drawing of Sasha and Azu from RQG both shown from the chest up. The drawing is done in pink-tinted monochrome. Sasha is a white human woman with short dark hair and a burn scar on the side of her face. She is wearing a dark leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders. Azu is a black orc woman with close-shaved hair wearing a light undershirt and a seashell necklace. Sasha has her eyes closed and is leaned over, giving Azu a kiss on the cheek. Azu is smiling with her eyes closed. There is a small heart above them. End ID]
[ID: A digital illustration of Azu and Sasha Rackett from Rusty Quill Gaming. Azu is a black orc, with a shaved head, and a scar over her eyebrow. One of her tusks is broken. She is wearing pink-orange robes under pink armor. She has a necklace, with a pendant of an oyster, with a pearl inside. Sasha is a white human, with short black hair, and piercings. She is wearing a white toga, and is translucent, akin to a ghost. Azu’s hands clasped loosely together. The pendant is floating in front of her, the pearl emitting white light. Sasha is leaning close to Azu from behind, a hand over Azu’s shoulder, as if to hold the pendant in her hand. Her lower half is unseen. They are closing their eyes, smiling softly. They are in a field of roses, with space as a backdrop. Wisterias hang by each side. End ID.]
[id: azu, a black orc woman with close-cropped natural hair, and sasha, a white woman with dark, choppy hair, dance together in a garden. azu wears a long pink dress covered in tulle flowers and lace detailing, while sasha wears a dark suit with see-through lace panels cut out of it. azu is pressing a kiss to sasha’s forehead; roses bloom around them and soft lights dance around the couple. end id]
Sasha and Grizzop are rescued from Ancient Rome, and find themselves in quarantine in Japan with Azu and Hamid. While there, Sasha realizes some things about her feelings for Azu.
The solid bars and cold stone almost reminded Sasha of Other London. Even if she was locked up in some strange quarantine, at least the company was better, with Hamid sleeping soundly on a cot, Grizzop dozing off in a corner, and Azu sitting across from her.
Azu…
It would be easy to say nothing. Sasha was good at keeping her mouth shut. She pulled her knees up to her chest and closed her eyes tight, trying not to think on any of the feelings that rampaged around her chest.
“Sasha? Are you alright?”
“Yeah, fine. You?”
Azu cocked her head to the side and smiled ever so slightly at Sasha’s feigned apathy. “You’ve been through a lot. I want to make sure you’re okay.”
Sasha squeezed her knees tighter. “I’m just glad that you and Hamid and Einstein found a way to get me and Grizzop back to the present before we spent too long in the past. Rome wasn’t a good place, in any time.”
“Me too.”
When Azu smiled and beamed, overjoyed that they’d managed to rescue their friends, Sasha’s heart began to race again.
She was good at keeping her mouth shut. But maybe… maybe Azu deserved the truth.
Azu waited when Sasha opened her mouth to speak several times, even though no words came out right away. Eventually, Sasha said, “There’s more than the whole time-travel thing.”
“Oh?”
“I was scared.”
“I can’t blame you for that. You were nearly trapped in a strange place in a strange time.”
“It’s not just that,” Sasha snapped, more angrily than intended. She offered an apologetic look to Azu, then stared at her knees again as she continued. “I was most afraid that I’d never see you lot again. You, Hamid, Einstein, Zolf, Wilde… At least I would’ve had Grizzop, but it’s not the same.”
Azu nodded. “I understand. I can’t imagine losing everyone I know like that.” She shuddered at the thought.
“But, um… when it came to you… I missed you in a different way. Like, yeah, we were only gone for a bit, but I still missed all of you, because I thought we were gone for good. And when I missed you, it was different than how I missed Hamid.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know, that’s why it’s so confusing!” Sasha exclaimed. Grizzop stirred at the sound, but then his head lolled forward again. The symbol of Artemis was still held tightly in his hands.
Azu started to reach out her hand, to provide Sasha some comfort, then hesitated for fear of touching Sasha when she didn’t want to be touched.
“It’s like… when I’m with you, my stomach gets all twisted up in knots, but I want to be with you, I want the weird feeling,” Sasha pondered aloud, before lifting her head and speaking at Azu directly for the first time in the whole conversation. “I really like you, Azu. And not just as contractually obligated companions, or quest buddies, or…”
“Oh…”
“Yeah, I’m sorry.” Sasha looked away again. She should’ve just kept her mouth shut.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sasha watched Azu scooch a little bit closer to her in the cell.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m flattered. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have feelings for you as well.”
Sasha paused. “Wait, really?”
Azu chuckled, and Sasha couldn’t help but smile. “Is it that hard to believe? You’re incredible in so many ways, and I’ve been fortunate to get to know you at all.”
“Hmm… I know you like hugs and stuff. Do you think we could do a hug?”
“Of course.”
Sasha released the grip on her knees and slowly allowed herself to be embraced by Azu. She was warm and safe, and, after a moment of hesitation, Sasha buried her face in Azu’s shoulder and held her tight.
“I don’t know how to do this,” Sasha admitted when she finally extracted herself from the hug. “This whole ‘feelings’ thing.”
“We can figure it out,” Azu said with a smile. “We’ll take it day by day. What matters is that we have the chance to try now.”
Sasha smiled, then slowly and methodically reached out her hand so that she could hold onto Azu’s.
“I haven’t looked forward to much for a long time. I always expect it to go wrong. But this?” Sasha gestured between the two of them with her free hand. “I’m really looking forward to this. To you and me.”
The final day of @sashaweek! Today’s prompt was Scars.
I couldn’t do a Sasha themed event and not throw some Aphroguedite in there, so have some soft girlfriends.
Thank you to everyone who ran and participated this week! It was so fun and amazing to see what everyone came up with for our favorite stabby rogue <3
Sasha glowered at her reflection. No matter which way she rearranged her hair, that bright white spot was particularly evident, and she hated it. Not that she cared much for her other scars, particularly the one on her back from Bertie, but this one annoyed her the most.
Sure, she could grow her hair out and hope to hide that one patch, but long hair was impractical, and the bleached area would probably grow longer and more unsightly too.
“Knock knock,” Azu called as she gently rapped her knuckles against the door. “Everything alright? You’ve been in here a while.”
Sasha tried once more to cover the white hair with her dark locks, to no avail.
“I hate this hair,” she groaned. “This white spot, it just…”
“Why don’t you like it?”
“Look at it! It looks so wrong. Like, I know that the thing that gave it to me was wrong too, but I wish I didn’t have a reminder of it every time I see my reflection.”
“May I?” Azu asked, holding open her arms. She respected Sasha’s boundaries, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t always ready to offer a hug, particularly when her beloved was having a hard time.
Sasha leaned sideways into the embrace. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It can’t be easy to remember what happened. But, for what it’s worth, and it is in no way meant to say your feelings aren’t legitimate: I really like it.”
“You do?”
Azu giggled. “I do. I think it’s cute.”
With a mock scowl, Sasha looked up at Azu from where she still rested in her arms. “I’m not cute.”
Azu laughed, and Sasha smiled at the sound. She wasn’t thrilled about being considered cute, but for Azu, she didn’t mind so much.
“We can always try dying it again, if you’d like,” Azu suggested.
“Nah, it didn’t work last time. I’ll just have to get used to it. Which I think will be easier since I know you like it.”
“I don’t want you to try and accept it for my sake. I… Sasha, I love all of your scars, because they mean that you’re here. You have survived so many unthinkable things, and yet you are here, alive, in my arms. Scars or no scars, I love you the same, and I am grateful that none of those injuries took you away.”
Sasha looked away from where Azu still held her and scanned her appearance in the mirror. The white hair, the burns on her neck, and the blue scars on her hand were bright and vibrant reminders of the things she’d been through. It was easier to avoid examining the autopsy scars or the imprint of Bertie’s falcon armor; she just wore clothes that kept them hidden at all times.
But she also remembered how Azu delicately traced the lines of each scar with her fingertips and kissed them. How, when Sasha’s hand burned cold with the memory of the ice dagger exploding, Azu held it tight until it warmed up. How Azu never shied away from the marred parts of Sasha, and loved her all the same.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be totally okay with them,” Sasha admitted. “But if you don’t think they’re ugly or gross or bad, then, maybe it’ll be easier for me to try and get used to them.”
“If you want me to or need me to, I will remind you every day that your scars do not define you. None of them do. Not the ones on the outside or on the inside.” Azu pressed a slow kiss to Sasha’s temple, right on top of the white patch of hair. “And I will be there to help comfort them when they start to ache.”
“I know you will.” Sasha turned toward Azu now and hugged her back. “I think that with you here and with things finally quieting down a bit, I can finally start to heal.”
Use the tag #RQGFemslash21 and/or tag us in the content that you make so that we can find all of your contributions and reblog them! We also have a Twitter page, if you prefer to use that platform (and feel free to crosspost as well, using the same hashtag).
Here’s a reminder of the prompts as well:
Day 1 (March 21): Firsts
Day 2 (March 22): Fears
Day 3 (March 23): AU/Canon Divergent
Day 4 (March 24): Hurt/comfort
Day 5 (March 25): Rare ship
Day 6 (March 26): RQG Specials
Day 7 (March 27): Goodbyes
[id: a digital drawing of Azu and Sasha from Rusty Quill Gaming. Sasha is a pale human woman with short dark hair and a burn scar up the side of her face, and she is wearing a leather jacket over a buttoned white shirt. Azu is a black orc woman with a close-shaved head and a gold hoop earring, and she is wearing pink armor over flowing yellow clothes. Azu is pressing a kiss to Sasha’s cheek, who is blushing profusely. /end id]
