what's this? a cotv-inspired fic from an au of the same name by @writingdevil in this day and age? preposterous! /silly
anyways, this had been sitting in my drafts for quite a while now and i guess it's time to release it out in the wild XD i wrote this sometime before the final arc of the burned bridges part so if u see some inconsistencies, it's because i wrote this before devil did those parts LMAO i was very normal about this AU and still am :3c
some cw for this umm medical inaccuracies, unsafe medical procedures, self-mutilation, and some body horror. lemme know if i need to add more! without further ado, i hope u enjoy this little fic <3
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Routine had never been Calder's specialty.
Days used to pass him by without a second glance, morning and night blended into a cacophony of blues to purples to oranges to yellows, blurs of noises and sounds rising and falling in unequal intervals. The only thing worth mentioning are the rare instances where something new and interesting happen, where everything slows down for him to take notice and experience in its entirety.
Needless to say, there's not much to say about his life, as even the most novel thing he knows eventually fades into the ether.
Not with him though. Not with Sebastian.
Routine. It's what makes a person function, to prepare them for the upcoming day or ease them into rest for the evening. The sun would peek into the window at early dawn, its warm rays caressing one to wakefulness. The twinkle of stars would bid someone to sleep, following them through the realm of dreams.
Sebastian likes routine. A creature of habit and follower of norms, a being of conformity to its finest. He thrives in its rules and his role, his image of perfection highlighted by his adherence to the principle. In that way, he is disciplined like his brother and therefore beloved for his obedience to his place.
Of course, only Calder knows what's beyond Sebastian's caricature of a smile, beyond the veneer of someone who aims to please and appease, until he sees the core of what makes Sebastian… him.
Falling in love with him after barely registers as fact. Calder would not deny it felt almost like an inevitability, for those who would gaze beyond the abyss would find the abyss staring back. But Sebastian isn't like the abyss, he is the endless sky fulls of stars and the encroaching dawn.
He wouldn't admit it was fate. He's not that sappy.
But with Sebastian, he wouldn't mind a life of routine and habit. Because with him, everyday is something to look forward to. And for someone like Calder, that fact alone is enough.
Waking up to Sebastian's groans of pain every morning makes the silent realization Calder had bittersweet.
"Shh." His fingers card through Sebastian's sticky curls, its golden sheen dull from dirt and grime and sweat from previous days as he rotted in his room. He is careful as he does so, his nails sharpened to kill and to hurt but loved anyways by Sebastian as he gave each one of his new claws a tender kiss once they started growing in and replaced his old, broken nails. "I'm here."
"Calder…?" was Sebastian's airy response, his name as sweet as the kisses they shared, dulcet and soft. "It hurts."
"Of course it does." Calder replies, careful and attentive as he watches Sebastian's glassy gaze at nothing in particular, "Your wings are growing in after all."
Wings. Peculiar things to have on a human body. But there's not quite human anymore, are they? Not after meeting Quiet, not after knowing and experiencing the revelation of a bond mutually returned. Calder himself is experiencing these strange changes in his body, a writhing and coiling growth encompassing his entire being, wrapping around his very soul in a cocoon, ready to burst forth something not quite a butterfly either.
Calder himself feels exhausted and reinvigorated, feathers and plumes sprouting intermittently in his body in sporadic places. Its disorganized, unexpected, new, and ultimately something left to be rationalized by someone like Shéamus. He's not quite certain if he himself would sprout wings, but his bones break and reshape itself regardless if he does.
Hektor already has his newly acquired wings growing feathers. Shéamus' back was sore but even he had surpassed the ordeal of gaining his own set of wings. Bee and Saber tethers on the edge of this messy transformation and Calder hasn't seen enough of them to determine their current state. Well, he's sure Saber wouldn't even notice he's in pain anyways, not with how easily he disregards his own limits and forces the change to happen quickly himself. He could almost call it noble but even his endless violence is becoming stale in his eyes.
An idea forms in his mind as he watches the laborious breaths Sebastian takes, his eyes sliding towards the rather large lump on his back, from which something grows and twists whilst stabbing through what remains of Sebastian's humanity.
He slowly extracts himself out of Sebastian's grasp, his own claws digging holes through Calder's clothes, ignorant of his own strength while in the throes of his delirium but even if he accidentally hurt him, Calder would never fault him for it. He welcomes all that Sebastian can offer and more, similar to how the sun gives warmth and life to all it touches but also burns and scorches those that find themselves flying too close to this perpetual ball of fire.
Calder makes haste, not willing to be apart from the other for any longer than necessary, the chill residing in his core slowly but surely spreading its frost once more all over him, making the yawning abyss within him more prominent. He doesn't mind it usually but even the numbness can become boring. It's hard to come back to something dull when his life is chocked full of colors and sounds now.
He comes back to Sebastian, a medical kit in hand, a familiar sight greeting him again. Routine, he found out, is rather anticlimactic. Borderline exhausting because as it is now, no matter how much Shéamus says to just to wait and let it happen, something needs to be done to ease the pain Sebastian is experiencing.
Calder would like to go back to the simpler times where he wakes up to Sebastian blinding him with the morning light, beaming him a smile that lights the fire in his gut as he gives him breakfast in bed. He'd like a routine like that, with the occasional spice of him possibly serving Sebastian the same treatment or rarer still, them cuddling longer in bed, content to laze around and share more whispers and fervent kisses in the safety of each other's arms.
He's getting rather tired of waking up to Sebastian's grunts and whimpers as the lump in his back grows bigger, threatening to burst open but never breaking out.
He settles at the edge of the bed, placing the kit beside him as he retrieves a sharp scalpel from it.
Calder briefly entertains the thought of the other flock members finding out what he's about to do.
Shéamus probably would be more than aghast if he sees him like this. But Calder is sick of waiting for something to happen.
If anyone is up to this task, then Calder is the perfect choice for this.
"Calder, what…" Sebastian groans, some clarity in his tired eyes as he caught a glimpse of the tool in Calder's hand.
"Sebastian," he scoots closer to him, nudging the other to lay on his stomach. Sebastian doesn't disappoint and didn't question him any further. Or perhaps, he's beyond exhausted to voice his complaints. "Do you trust me?"
Another pained grunt escaped the other, the lump on his back rippling with something beneath, struggling to break free from its prison. Calder let his claws press into the flesh, chasing the wriggling movement with a careful massage, feeling for the new bones and muscle beneath.
"Let me help you." He whispers, watching as Sebastian struggles to focus on him. "You've been in too much pain the past few days. Let me handle it for you."
"Love," a wheeze, like breathing right now hurts more than usual. Sebastian squeezes his eyes close, burying his face on the pillow. "Please."
Blind trust to its finest. Calder supposes he must treat that with the utmost care he could give.
He lines the scalpel down the shoulder blades, lightly tracing its blade on Sebastian's clammy skin, red dots spreads along the expanse of the lumps, weird bruises appearing in spots that weren't there the last time he checked. Stray feathers are disturbed as Calder straddles Sebastian, pressing down the curve of his back, rubbing soothing circles as he finally makes the first slice.
Sebastian arches his back almost immediately, and Calder sits on him to keep him in place, gritting his teeth as he watches the other choke down a scream, whining and crying silently.
Contrary to what he expected, the flesh itself resisted the cut, something beneath not allowing Calder to proceed further. And despite himself, Calder feels himself hesitating.
Blood pools in the pristine sheets, dripping down in steady streams as Calder tries to open a way for Sebastian's wings to exit and free the other from his suffering at last.
He could see the viscera when the scalpel gets inevitably stuck and Calder has to sigh, ignoring the tremors wracking his hand.
"Dear," he calls and through Sebastian's hazy eyes, recognition filters in. Calder scratches his cheek, trying to keep the other cognizant. "You never told me what it was like when you first met Quiet."
Sebastian took some time to process his question, offering him a shaky smile. "It felt magical. Freeing. Love of insurmountable odds filled the ache that persisted in my heart."
"And yet, you lingered in town despite finding this great love."
Sebastian frowns, hand weakly grabbing his. "That's because I was looking for you."
Calder's heart tightened, that rotten part of him that stubbornly persists to beat. "And you found me. So what holds you back from embracing this new life we have now?"
Sebastian falls silent at that.
Routine, Calder realizes, traps people.
He grips the scalpel again, feeling the ease it gives him as he cuts through withered flesh.
This time, Sebastian moves, pushing Calder off as he falls off the bed, writhing on the floor. Another choked scream as he scratches at the wounds he carved open, gouging new paths and tearing open the husk of a man that was discarded for being selfish.
Calder watched, mesmerized, as majestic wings burst forth from the gore and sinew of muscles, blood splattering in a fountain of splendor, remnants of bone shards dropping like shards of glass on wood, and it reminded him of when Quiet had wrapped Calder with his own wings, accepting him as one of his own.
Sebastian stares at him from where he lays, wide eyes regarding Calder with relief and affection.
Okok so the idea was more so like. A cotv reality more centered on the horror of the situation from an outside perspective? I'm sure the proper story will divulge in it but I've been thinking about a different way the townsfolk could've taken it. An urban legend about a giant monster in the woods that's not been much of a bother outside of its presence suddenly gaining traction? It'd be fun if instead of fear-fueled disgust the town would be in shambles in this reality
During the beginning of the disappearances/claims the hysteria leads people to believe those who are "claimed" by the monster disappear into the woods and are then replaced by doppelgangers of them until the host body is ready to "become one" with it. Maybe they go crazy with the rise in different wards used to try to combat getting claimed. People are discouraged from leaving alone without warning, especially at night. When someone new is marked as claimed it's less contempt at the individual but rather unsettling dread when around them. It still keeps the stigma on those who traveled to town after meeting Quiet but recontextualized.
As for the flock themselves there's not much to change. Visually after getting claimed alongside the cool earring their eyes shift from whatever it once was to pure black (to further sell the doppelganger conspiracy). The order remains the same too- the first three voices claimed are genuinely a trifecta for plot
Hektor goes missing without ever coming back, Sheamus goes crazy behind closed doors trying to find him before getting claimed then coming back to town (kickstarting the conspiracy/hysteria), Sebastian sticks around his brother despite getting pitied looks and mournful remarks and then gets claimed himself, so on so forth.
Idk just thought it'd be neat!! Especially given there's more chance for angst... Skeptunist breakup still happens but rather it's caused by the belief that Sheamus has been replaced purely to spite Oppy (I forgot his assigned name I'm so sorry). Burned Bridges moment where Calder's last memory of Sebastian's beautiful eyes are seared into his mind because now they're gone and He's gone and all good in the world coincidentally is too, that one moment where Saber disregards the group of townsfolk to fight Quiet–in a blink of the eye his eyes become swallowed by that void black but nobody lives to tell the tale, Percy having every ward under the sun surrounding his home and still one day somebody has to mark his door with that feather causing the town to go into even more panic
HOLY YAP CITY SORRY I just think this au is gold!!!
THIS IS SO GOOD!!!
I love the idea of people thinking that the claimed people are doppelgangers, a twisted copy of their actual neighbours, not seeing them for who they truly are, instead believing that the people they got to know are just gone.
There is also a little background info of people coming up with ways to ward off getting claimed in the au, but it's not brought up a lot. But I do like the idea of the town slowly being corrupted by this terror over their heads and doing all sorts of things to prevent it, but to no avail.
I really love the shifting to black eyes for the flock!! I think that's so cool!!! My boys do undergo a transformation themselves but they're still in the early stages.
It really does snowball after Hektor and the grey brothers get claimed, you've got the loyalty, the brains, and the heart of the town, all being claimed one after another, choosing this creature over the town.
The angst scenarios are so good and so sad!! It'd be so painful and terrifying to just one day wake up and find out that your brother, your partner, your neighbour, just smiling as if nothing's wrong, but you know that their heart has been claimed by something not of this world.
THANK YOU FOR THE YAP!! I love seeing the different ways people take the au and I love hearing about it!! This is a really cool angle, hope to hear more about it if you have more!! I'm really happy that you like cotv so much and I hope you have a great day!!
