Honestly, Zavala. Because you're commited, caring, serious when you need to be. And frankly inspiring. And just as cool bc lets be honest he's hella cool. :)
I am your best friend and i gave you coffee money do i still get a drabble
yes. suffer.
basically the twins Edix and Eli are now Zavala’s biological kids because I fuckin said so
Zavala's head was spinning as he woke up that morning, smelling burning wood amidst the brisk morning air. It bit at his skin under the thin nightshirt he was wearing, forcing a shiver from the Awoken. As he pushed himself into sitting up, bile rose in his throat and he moved to the small bucket he and his partner had managed to get hold of for such sickness.
“Again, Zavala?” Came the sleepy mumble of his partner, the other Awoken moving and propping himself onto an elbow as he watched his lover vomit.
“I wouldn't be in this state if you had just used the protection Saladin suggested all those months ago.” He hadn't been carrying for very long, only about three or four months, but it was wreaking havoc on his body. Awoken were different from humans; for one thing, both sexes could bear children. They were equipped to do so, both men and women having what humans deemed “the other’s equipment”. So for male Awoken to wind up carrying ('pregnant’ felt too odd to use) wasn't an odd occurrence.
“Hey, you were the one who insisted we fu-”
“Shut up.” Zavala grunted, grip on the bucket's rim denting it. A chuckle left his partner.
“You're so cute when you're grumpy.” He said, getting up from beneath the furs with a yawn. “Alright, I'm goin’ and getting breakfast. I'll tell Saladin you said hi in Vomitese.”
“I'll Vomitese all over you if you don't shut up.” Zavala growled, slowly moving away from the bucket. Arc crackled up the Titan's arms, the Hunter dancing away from it with a cackle of amusement.
“Ya love me really, Blue.”
“How many times have I got to tell you not to call me that?”
Zavala was exhausted. He was tired and it was set deep in his bones. He didn't even have the strength to hold the two little baby boys he'd just delivered not two hours ago. But oh, how they wailed for their father from Saladin’s arms.
Saladin stood by, watching the twins carefully as Zavala rested. He'd been there when the Titan had gone into labour and had been there for the hours afterwards while Zavala’s partner rested himself, having been up all night worrying about the Titan and the little twin boys. Shaxx was asleep somewhere on guard, so to speak, to make sure no one disturbed Zavala unnecessarily. The Hunter was also asleep on the floor next to Zavala’s bed, on arm up and holding his hand as the Titan slept.
The two little boys just squirmed and complained with mewls and whines in Saladin’s arms, both of them too tiny to contain the Light that radiated beneath their pale blue skin. Their Awoken marks almost looked too big for their little faces; upside-down chevrons a stark white against blue and sitting just under their scrunched-up eyes that refused to look at the world they’d been born into. They were precious and Saladin was proud to hold them as Zavala slept.
Everything was burning. The whole settlement was on fire, the glow lighting up the sky and even touching the underside of the Traveler itself. Fallen were screeching from all over the place, attacking innocents where they stood and desecrating what they dared when they fell. People, mortal people, were running and screaming and it was all Zavala could do not to abandon his fellow Risen and be with his two sons and his partner. He struggled not to drop everything and run to protect only them, but he knew that stopping the Fallen here meant keeping them safe where they hid further into the settlement. So he stayed put, using his Light to destroy any four-armed insect that got in his path.
Saladin and Shaxx fought beside him, living and dying and living again in rapid succession as they dealt with the onslaught of Fallen arc fire. The telltale shiver of Arc Light shot up Zavala’s spine and he knew his Fists of Havoc, as they had all taken to calling it, was ready. He charged forwards, body surging with electricity in a brilliant blue, and leapt into the air. He called forth the storm and the thunder as he jumped, coming crashing down and bringing the lightning with his fists as they met the solid earth beneath him. Fallen were sent crashing backwards with an array of chittering screams that were cut short by their bodies just disintegrating before Zavala.
As he was almost distracted by his work, the line the few Risen in the encampment had been holding gave way to a horde of Fallen. They broke through the measly defences they had scrambled to put up in time and began to wreak havoc throughout the huts and tents. They slaughtered villagers where they stood or knelt, cradling their children or their loved ones. Zavala stared, almost helpless for a moment until he was run through.
When Zavala came to, his chest was burning with pain and he rushed to his feet. The Titan looked around and saw he was alone in the burning street, Saladin nor Shaxx in sight as he grabbed a discarded auto rifle from the ground. It still had a full clip as he took off in search of his mentor and friend. Soon, however, that search was abandoned as he heard the bloodcurdling screams coming from the food stores where most people had been hiding. Where his partner and children had been hiding.
The Fallen had found them.
By the time Zavala had fought his way there, the screaming had dissipated into silence. Not a sound was made in the area as he ran to the storehouse. The door was broken in and from where he was stood he could see the limp and bloodied arm of a body. Fear gripped his heart and pulled at his ribs, making his chest hurt more and his heart work faster as he broke into a sprint. He grabbed the splintered doorframe as he reached the storehouse, chest heaving with heavy breaths as he looked inside.
There was blood everywhere, contaminating all their food but worst of all forming pools on the ground. All of the people that had been hiding here, nearly thirty of them, were dead, and among them at the far end of the stores were Zavala’s family. His partner was slumped against the back wall, his Ghost a crushed mess of panels and glass in front of him. He wasn’t coming back, but worst of all were their children. The twin boys, Edix and Elijah, laid slain in his partner’s arms. Their faces pale and their eyes closed, no glow to their skin anymore as blood soaked their clothes and hair.
Numbness overtook the Titan as he fell to his knees, chest growing tight and eyes stinging with tears as his face prickled with warmth. It was a foreign feeling, but there wasn’t anything else he could feel. It was grief and rage and sadness and hatred and despair all mashed into one dangerous mix. His Light tried to reach for his partner’s, finding nothing but the Void there in its place. Behind him, Zavala was dimly aware of heavy footfalls and he didn’t care if it was a Captain coming to finish him off - he would kill every last stinking Fallen with his bare hands if he had to!
A hand found its way to his shoulder and Zavala didn’t look up; he knew it was Shaxx who had found him, not some Captain. The Solar rolling off the other Titan was immense and it almost burned Zavala but he didn’t care. Shaxx was talking, but Zavala didn’t care to listen. His children, his partner, his entire world was just gone.
Zavala stood by the three graves in silence, the rain soaking his clothes and armour and rolling down his face. There were no tears there for the drops to mingle with, not anymore. He stared at the fresh earth that had just been placed over the bodies, stared at the water soaking into it gradually. Thunder boomed above his head and lightning crashed in forks and sheets every so often, and Zavala felt nothing but the Void. It was cold and numbing, almost soothing in his grief. He almost wished he could make little sparks of Arc dance across his hands (his partner had loved watching him do that), he wished he could make children’s hair stand on end and watch them shriek with laughter. But there was only Void now.
