“ what do you mean , last chance ? ” the fire roared quietly between them . tired stars resting above their head in the blankets of the night sky . the earth was wet , fresh from the rains . all around them smelled like nature - that muddy scent. the refreshing hint of soaked grass . each inhale reminded annika of home.
but she would not go back there. not now. she kept her gaze to the fire - and more importantly , to the man before her looking more desolate than fertile in the forest they called home for the night.
haunch and hollow. now , that she was getting a better look at him, he looked so ragged. as if someone took a dagger and carved out his chest. picked apart his bone. punctured his lungs to swallow up any air he could even think of taking for himself.
the price of magic.
“ oh, you know. ” darius replied wryly. he absently poked at the fire. “ i’m getting old now. we’ve been traveling for years. retirement is around the corner…”
“ darius- ”
“ i’m out of time, ” this time, he looked at her. annika froze on the spot. his eyes bore into her, in the way only darius could manage to do. look at you in such a fierce, attentive manner-go from quick wits to solemn tones in a blink-that rattled you silent. his lips quirked, pulled low in a depreciating smile. “ ironic, considering the magic i have given home to is nothing if not the very being of time. ”
annika worked her jaw. the fire crackled and the earth, the earth smelled so raw and new and alive and pulsing and green. and yet here she was, sitting across a man who was withering and decaying and dissolving apart at the seams right before her eyes.
you’re dying, wants to come out of her mouth. but she swallows them down and ignores the burn as they disappear into ashes. into the graveyard of words she never had the courage to say aloud.
as if knowing her thoughts, darius chuckled and pulled out his hair from its bun. “ you should see your face right now , nika. ” he started to braid his hair, “ truly worthy of being the new fire mantle painting of the month. ”
despite herself, she choked out a laugh. “ as much as i enjoy humor in the face of despair, i … darius. darius, james will be back any moment with the book. you know him, you know him. he never fails a mission. he never turns up empty handed. he’ll-”
she stopped, because the look on darius’s face knocked the words out of her mouth. his lips were pulled in forlorn, resigned submission to his fate. to the magic ripping apart his soul. to the time he no longer had the privilege to call his own.
the earth kept coming. kept reminding her of home. of newness. of lush green grass. of blooming flower fields. of crackling fires. of roots upon roots. and darius was decaying. his bones would take home to the earth. covered in soil. and the earth would keep living while he-
she moved. crossing the distance until she was right in front of him. her eyes burned, tears in her eyes and when she spoke, she did not waver. “ what are we, darius ?”
“ … an- ”
“ what are we? ” firmer, louder - a crack appearing.
darius looked and looked, and annika was breathing so hard. her nails dug into the palms of her hands. her cheeks flushed. finally, darius whispered.
“stormchasers.”
“and why are we called that? why is our namesake we who chase the storms?”
hot tears were running down her face, but she did not care. not when she saw the light that was hidden from her all this time glow dimly in his eyes. a faint return. renewed strength. darius swallowed, thickly.
“because we do not run away from the storm…only towards it.”
“good,” she uttered fiercely, and then dropped to her knees to consume darius in her arms. and to lose herself in her sobbing.
Aries took the lead, and slammed her hands down onto the rock table in front of the earth mage. He glared at her, unimpressed, and the two of them had a stare down for a few moments.
“The fuck are you?”
“Aries,” she replied, and June smiled sheepishly from behind as the mage dragged his gaze away to check the group she was traveling with.
“Zero fucks given. Next, please.”
June winced. Why were the Benetsi so foulmouthed? Aries didn’t move a muscle, only leaned closer to the mage, her eyes now glowing red hot and her hands covered in unrelenting flame.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Pisces whispered from behind. This can’t end well.
Aury, my dear, you asked and now you shall receive! I’ve also posted the fic to AO3: Upside Down
Upside Down
Frankly, Kaminari wasn’t sure how the hell this all happened. He’d had the perfect plan to get Jirou to kiss him. Totally perfect – fool proof, if you will – but it clearly was not and now he was hanging upside down by his own stupid wire contraptions (actually they were made from Sero’s tape, just thinly sliced, like spider web), tangled up in the web like he was dessert for a spider rather than being the spider itself. It was a damn good thing no one was here to see him as he flailed about in the web, trying to wriggle himself free but only tangling himself up more as a result.
He sighed under his Spider-Man mask. Tonight was supposed to have been a fun night filled with too much sugar, lots of laughs, and one kiss. Potentially. If Jirou didn’t kill him first.
Maybe I should just call for help, he thought as he looked around the room. He was in his own room, for crying out loud. He’d hoped he would have gotten Jirou to follow him upstairs to impress her with the web he made himself with Sero’s tape, but that was a big negative now.
“Ugh, stupid,” he chastised himself, grumbling under his breath.
Maybe I could shock my way out? He looked down – up? – at his hands and legs twisted in the web then thought better of it. If anything, he’d just end up frying his brain and then really be in a pickle. That wouldn’t impress her at all, though it would probably make her laugh, which was still just as nice to hear. He loved making her laugh and seeing the joy on her face since she was either usually pretty stoic or very sarcastic when she smiled unless she was around her close girlfriends.
He wanted to be close with her like that, too.
Kaminari sighed again. Maybe he should just call out for help and deal with being made fun of now to get it over with. He opened his mouth, about to call out, when he heard voices outside the door. One sounded like Sero, the other sounded like Jirou.
Shit.
He froze in place on the web, not that there was much maneuvering happening anyway, and waited for their voices to dissipate, but they only sounded closer and closer.
Oh no.
A knock sounded at his door. “Hey Kaminari,” Sero called from the other side, the door handle jiggling slightly. “Where’d you go, bro?”
“Wait—” he started to call out but Sero already pushed the door open and both he and Jirou froze as they saw the sight before them. Luckily, he was still wearing his mask because his face was pretty hot right now. He wiggled his fingers where they were tangled up. “Hey, guys.”
And, to be expected, the two burst out laughing. Unadulterated, huge guffaws that had them doubling over and holding their stomachs at the sight before them. Kaminari flailed slightly in the web, not that that did much.
“It’s not that funny,” he grumbled, huffing.
Sero, who was dressed like a vampire, wiped his eyes free of tears. “Oh man, I should have predicted this was going to happen when you asked to borrow some of my tape.” He laughed again.
Jirou, who was dressed like a gothic punk rock princess, held a hand over her mouth, the other still curled over her stomach. “Great job, Bolt.” She tried very hard not to laugh and failed.
Kaminari sighed. This wasn’t going to way he’d planned at all, and now they were making fun of him, and Jirou was there looking cute as hell and he was here being a dumb Spider-Man and it just… was not cool. At all.
“Can you get me down from here?” He stared at them, not that they could see him looking past the mask, a bit of pleading in his voice.
Sero laughed, shaking his head. “Oh no, dude. I gotta get the others to come up and see this.” And before Kaminari could even begin to protest Sero was out the door and heading downstairs.
That left him alone with Jirou, who was still giggling as she entered his room. His heart began to pick up the pace because, even upside down, she still looked like a goddess. Well, a princess. A gothic punk rock princess. Her dress was a deep purple, cut just above the knee with black frill poking out from the bottom and black lace lining the bottom of the dress, and even the bodice where it buttoned up the center. She had on her black combo boots, a black tiara, and her rocker jacket. It actually could have been just a normal, everyday dress for her when she wasn’t in uniform, if he was being honest, but the tiara kind of pulled it all together.
She let out another laugh as she stepped closer to him, stopping just a few feet short of where he was stuck hanging upside down. “You never cease to amuse, Kaminari.” She grinned and his heart damn near nearly gave out.
She reached out to poke the tape but Kaminari said, “Don’t touch it!” She stopped a few inches from it. “It’s super sticky, if you didn’t notice.”
Jirou laughed, crossing her arms, an eyebrow lifting. “I know that, dummy, I was going to look to see if I could pry you off of it.”
“Oh,” he said quietly. Yup, this definitely wasn’t going like how he’d planned.
Jirou reached out again, trying to tug on his exposed hands to see if she could pull him that way, but all it did was bring him closer to her – which he didn’t mind – before she became aware of it and then released him, causing him to ricochet back in forth on the tape enough that caused him to feel dizzy.
“Ugh, my head,” he groaned, shutting his eyes tight.
“Sorry,” Jirou mumbled, leaning down to lean against her knees. She grinned at him. “So why, exactly, are you in this predicament, huh?”
Kaminari could lie to her, say he was doing it to practice being a Spider-Man stunt double or something like that, but he knew she would never fall for that. She was way smarter than that. But he also didn’t want to tell her the truth and just feel super embarrassed when she’d probably make fun of him for that, too.
So, like usual, he panicked. “Oh, you know, just wanted to try seeing what it was like to be a spider, is all.” Wow, that sounded even lamer than the other two excuses.
She lifted an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Yeah, uh-huh.” She shook her head, clearly not buying it.
There was a moment of silence between them, and Kaminari could feel his nerve starting to leave him the longer he looked at Jirou. He really liked her. He really did. But how could he just flat out tell her that?
She started to get up from her squatting position in front of him when he did the unthinkable, “I was trying to impress you, Jirou-san.” She stopped herself, staying in the squatting position as she looked at him, her eyes deciphering him as he spoke. He swallowed, which felt weird upside down, but he just kept pushing through. “I thought that if I made something cool like this on my own and showed you how it worked and stuff that you’d be impressed and maybe…” His voice grew quiet, his face entirely too hot.
“Maybe what?” She was looking at him dead square in the eyes, waiting for his answer even though she probably already knew it already.
Swallowing every bit of nerve he had he said, “Maybe I could tell you I like you and maybe we could kiss?”
Her face turned red. It was almost instantaneous with his words and he knew he hadn’t been expecting that. She only ever really blushed when she was embarrassed whenever he complimented her on things, like her music playing or one of her hobbies, but now? Was she embarrassed that he’d said what he said?
He tried to backpedal. “I-I mean, you’re a great person and you’re fun to talk to and hang out with and I just really like being around you and—” This was not how he wanted to backpedal.
She put a hand to his mouth against the mask to shut him up then, her face beet red as she looked away from him. “Listen, Kaminari,” she said softly, almost shyly. “I think you’re a great guy and all, but—”
“No, it’s okay,” he said against her fingers. What he wouldn’t give to feel those fingers against his skin. He blushed at the thought. “You don’t have to say anything. I know I’m not exactly the ideal guy or anything, so j-just forget I said anything.” He wished his could turn or run away or something, but no, he was stuck – literally.
She rolled her eyes at him. “If you actually listened to me, dummy, then maybe you’d actually get somewhere here.” He stared at her wide eyed. She was looking at him again, this time leaning forward slightly on her heels, her arms against her thighs. “I think you’re a great guy and everything, but,” she gave a little extra oomph to the word, “if you really want to impress me, you don’t have to do stupid things like this.”
Kaminari thinks his heart stops. “W-what?”
She groans, though there’s nothing behind it, and leans forward a little more. Her face is still completely red. “I’m saying you don’t have to try to be Spider-Man to impress me, that’s all.” She kind of grumbled the words at the end, the embarrassment growing in her as she looked away.
But Kaminari? Kaminari was beaming inside of his mask. “So, what will it take to impress you?”
There’s a few moments of silence, the only sounds in the room the clock on Kaminari’s wall and their breathing. He’s also pretty sure they can both hear his heart beating loud in his chest to the point it was becoming deafening.
Then, after a few more moments of hesitation while Jirou’s eyes roam from Kaminari’s face to his body stuck in the web, back to his face, she slowly reaches up to his mask, pulling it down just enough that his mouth and nose are uncovered. His eyes widen as she leans forward, plucking a small, soft kiss onto his lips, before moving backward.
His neck is red now. He’s pretty sure all of him is red now. Small sparks ignite at his fingertips for just a moment before disappearing.
Jirou looks at him, the mask still halfway down his face, and smirks. “I think you’ve already done it, dummy.”
“H-how,” he whispers.
She rolls her eyes, shaking her head, and says, “You were honest with me. That goes a pretty long way in my book.”
He grins at her upside down and she laughs lightheartedly, much softer and much more her than how she’d laughed earlier. It was music to his ears, to say the least.
Okay, maybe this whole thing hadn’t been such a terrible idea after all.
“I don’t care!” he interrupted. “You left us, you-”
“Theo, listen, I didn’t want it to-”
“No, you listen! You don’t know what you mean to us! You don’t understand, it’s not the same with anyone else!”
He was crying. June’s heart knotted and her chest swelled with grief in seeing him the way he was, with tears streaming down his red-stained cheeks. He struggled to catch his breath as Sagittarius took a hesitant step backwards. June caught his eyes, and he looked completely lost. She was angry too, but she couldn’t find it in herself to take it out on him. He didn’t seem to understand why they were so hurt.
“Theo-”
“Forget it,” Theo interrupted him coldly, steeling himself against the tears, “you fucking suck. No, I’m done. Do what you want.”
4. Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?
He absolutely has, but remembers none of it. As designed.
28. How quick or slow is your character to resort to physical violence in a confrontation?
Nox hates resorting to violence of any kind, but if, after quick and unbiased assessment, it is revealed to be prudent that he engage in physical violence, he will do so with brutal efficiency.
41. Does your character feel that they deserve to have what they want, whether it be material or abstract, or do they feel they must earn it first?
Nox is a devout believer in Akche and her weavings; if it is in her design that you acquire your wishes, it will be done. There is no use in feeling as if it is deserved or not.
Though sometimes it is in her design that you...help move things along. Her weaving is very complex and covers many things. You are not expected to understand.
