#ephemerxplayer

[tokachithewarrior2]

I little Ephelayer (ephemer x player)

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"mh! Mh I.. can't hold much.."

"Am! Player"

"E- ephemer"

"y-yes?"

"When will be off at here?"

Skuld: "Not until one of you fall and lose balances"

Player: Jeje I think this is like Connected by dreams~~ *looks at ephemer very blushy and sassy*

Ephemer: [player] Why the smile? *Very nervous*

[kessielrg]

[DA+KH] I Never Would Have Shared (Assuming I Ever Let You Go)

Summary: Based on @chibi-mushroom‘s Dragon Age AU for the Kingdom Hearts series, set during Inquisition and after Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts. In which Ephemer and Anora meet up in an abandoned part of Skyhold to share a slow dance without the prying eyes of court... and the Inner Circle.

Rating: K+

Word Count: 1,576 words

If you like this story, please reblog!

---

She felt ridiculous holding the neatly folded fabric in her arms. A part of her just hoped that no one was noticing that she was almost rushing to one of the empty spires Skyhold had. If anyone had noticed her, they certainly did not try to stop her. A sigh of relief escaped her when she reached the room and closed the heavy door behind her. Anora subconsciously held the fabric tighter, as if they were sheets of gold instead, and she was the thief that stole them.

“We've met up in darker closets before, haven't we?”

Anora nearly jumped out of her skin as she spun around. She visibly relaxed again when she noticed that it was just Ephemer. A faint smile crossed her lips as he moved closer to her.

“I missed you at the Winter Palace.” he then softly told her, brushing his hand against the side of her face. “Dozens of women asked me to dance at every opportunity, but all I could think about was you.”

Anora let out a soft hum as she leaned into his hand. She wished she could say the same- Skyhold was always much quieter when the Inquisitor and his Inner Circle were elsewhere. It meant Anora had more time to focus on her alchemy studies. The quiet was where Anora found peace, admittedly, but the silence without Ephemer almost felt empty if she thought on it too long. She still had other people to eat meals with and relax along to after a long day when Ephemer was gone, it was just his presence that seemed to make things a bit more calmer.

But then Anora remembered why they agreed to meet at this abandoned part of Skyhold. She stepped a little ways from him to look him in the eye.

“Before you went to the Winter Palace,” she carefully explained, her voice soft, “Namine assumed I would be going with the rest of you...”

“But she accidentally forgot about your fear of crowds.” Ephemer finished for her. “So you remained at Skyhold.”

Anora nodded her head- her hair bobbing along with her for a moment.

“It's really pretty, and she went through all that effort to get it. It would be rude not to wear it at least once. But I can't… I didn't want to...”

“Wait,” Ephemer realized, “What's pretty? What did Namine get for you?”

Anora's face almost went scarlet before stepping back a bit. It was then that Ephemer realized she was holding that bundle of fabric- he felt rather dumb for not noticing it before. Carefully, Anora started to unfold the fabric in her arms, revealing a long, light blue ball gown with a straight neckline and sheer sleeves. Ephemer moved forward just to feel the elaborate stitching along the bodice in admiration.

“Why didn't you put it on beforehand?” he then asked, looking up at her with a teasing grin.

“And walk around Skyhold in a fancy dress? I hope you're joking.”

“I would like that.”

Anora looked away for a moment as her face lit up in a light pink. “Yeah… well...” she bashfully stammered, “You know I don't like any more attention than I need.”

Ephemer gave a soft chuckle before placing a finger under her chin. He carefully made her look him in the eye as he mused, “Really? I never would have guessed. You seem to be the most distracting person in this fortress.”

The bashful young woman almost buried her face in the dress to hide how bright red her face had gotten. She tried to shake some of it off, but found it rather hard to look Ephemer in the eye after a comment like that.

“I want...” she started to, but it came out in a squeak instead. She quickly shook her head (Ephemer quietly chuckling at her) before trying her sentence again. “I want to… I want to wear this dress for you, just right here and right now, and maybe… maybe we could… pretend we were at the Winter Palace? Just us? It… it sounds really dumb saying it out loud, but...”

Ephemer quietly silenced her by gently placing his hands on her shoulders. “I love it.” he said to her with a kind smile.

Anora's eyes widened, and her heart started to accelerate, as she let out a sharp gasp of surprise. With one hand, she then quickly spun Ephemer around so he was facing the door.

“Watch the door.” she told him, almost a bit to quickly. “I'm going to change in the corner.”

“Right.” Ephemer agreed with a nod. He could hear her scuttle over to the corner and gently place the dress down in a spot that wasn't as dirty.

“Don't look!” she nervously squeaked out as it sounded like she was taking off her coat now.

“I won't, I won't.” Ephemer promised. A small smile crossed his face before he had the nerve to say, “It's not like I haven't seen you undressed before.”

Not even a second later, a small stone hit Ephemer against the head.

“Ow!” the commander immediately reacted, turning slightly to Anora. “What was that-”

“I said no looking!”

“I wasn't! You threw a rock at me.”

“I did not throw a rock at you.”

It took Ephemer a moment, but when he realized what she was saying, he let out a light chuckle.

“Touche.” he bemused.

As the room was filled with the sounds of Anora wiggling out of her usual clothes and into the dress, Ephemer's mind filled in what he couldn't see with his eyes. He shook his head to get them out before he made it obvious he was thinking that way. He didn't have to fantasize about her anymore- she was right there. Any dreams he could have had could also be fulfilled that very night if they so chose. There was no rush, even if there was some deranged magister running around threatening the fabric of reality as they knew it...

“Okay, you can look now.”

The commander did not need to be told twice at the simple instruction. What he saw nearly made his heart leap into his throat. At that exact moment, he knew that it didn't matter how beautiful a dress looked, Anora would make it even more gorgeous just by wearing it. She didn't have to be so shy, though- or maybe she was just dusting off some of the dirt that got on it while she was changing. Either way, he wished she would stop messing with the skirt and just look up at him.

“Maker's breath.” Ephemer marveled, regardless. Anora froze. She looked up at him with wide, almost terrified eyes.

“It's… not that bad… Is it?”

“Not at all.” he disagreed. He moved a bit closer to place his hands on her hips. Anora gave a small squeak at the touch, but certainly didn't stop him. “Just remind me to thank Namine later. You think she'd like flowers? A kiss would be too embarrassing, wouldn't it?”

Anora looked at him with her eyes wide. Her breathing hitched slightly when she took a step closer to him. How could she had forgotten every time they've done this? Off in some forgotten room somewhere, so close they could hear the other breathe, the tension rising between them when they found they couldn't stop staring into each other's eyes.

“You know, I'd actually like to help you take it off.” he admitted. His hand ran down to the small of her back, assuring that the dress suited her well. “But first, there is something else we must do.”

At Anora's small noise of question, Ephemer took a few steps back to humbly bow to her.

“Lady Anora of the Ferelden Circle, apothecary to the Inquisition, would you honor me with a light dance this evening?”

For a moment, Anora just stood there in frozen surprise. Ephemer started to stand straight again, offering his hand out to her as if nothing were amiss. He waited, patiently, for her response. Anora's eyes carefully looked from him, to his hand, then back up again. Even knowing that Ephemer would be gentle with her, Anora's hand slightly shook as she placed it into his. It was involuntary that Ephemer's hand tightly wrapped around hers, but it was a purposeful motion when he drew her a bit closer. A nervous laughter bubbled from the both of them before Ephemer gently started to lead them into a small waltz.

They danced in time to their own music. They waltzed to steps that only seemed to come closer and closer until they were only simply stepping from side to side. Anora's head rested against Ephemer's shoulder, and she took a deep breath in before letting out a long, relaxed exhale. It was enough to allow Ephemer to completely relax as well- his fingers intertwining with Anora's, and his other hand holding her closer.

“You know,” he mused with his voice no louder than a whisper, “I'm almost glad that you didn't come along with us. I would have had to share; assuming I ever let you go, of course.”

Anora's only response was to further bury her face into Ephemer's shoulder. He gave a soft laughter before continuing on with their silent dance. Even when the world could be perpetually ending, there was always time for a slow dance or two with the one that kept you sane.

[kessielrg]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

All the Kisstober drabbles are up on Archive Of Our Own! It’s the first time I’m posting there since 2013, so I hope everything shows up fine. Thank you for reading!

[kessielrg]

Kisstober: Week 4: Ephemora

Fact: Ephemer will start to unconsciously kiss Anora when they are out in public, especially if he has to leave before her. He won’t realize he did it for a good 10 minutes after, and then he’s immediately like ‘oh my gosh, I kissed Anora in front of other people, she’s probably dying of embarrassment right now!’ Why, you may ask? Well, because it’s funny of course!

Ephemora (EphemerxOC or EphemerxF!Player) meant to be canon with @daybreak-academy-fanfic, but does not contain spoilers for such.

Word Count: 437

---

Anora was certain that Pyra was a blessed saint in disguise. For the past two hours, Pyra had taken time out of her day to help Ephemer and Anora with some quiz work due on Friday. The couple sat next to each other, while Pyra sat across from them. Ephemer was the most grateful out of them, mostly because he had accidentally gotten behind on… pretty much everything, really.

“Whatever shall we do when you graduate, our dear Pyra?” he teased after Pyra had shown him a better way to memorize a particular lesson.

“I'm only a year above you guys.” she replied with a confused raise of her eyebrow. She went back to her schoolbooks before carefully adding, “But I have been thinking about doing something in education. Then maybe further down the line, I could work here.”

“And if I'm one of the headmasters, I'll hire you on the spot!” Ephemer told her with a smile so wide that it was nearly infectious. Pyra gave him a humble blush in response, trying to get back to her work.

“Shoot,” Ephemer then cursed when he realized something, “I promised Ira I'd meet him to talk about Dandelion stuff.”

Pyra looked up at him before asking, “When?”

“What time is it?”

“2:02.”

“Now!” came the now slightly panicked answer. Moving quickly, Ephemer got out of his seat and started to hastily jam his books back into his backpack. Once Ephemer had collected his books, he slung his backpack around his shoulders, then swung his whole body toward Anora to kiss her. Anora, who had not been expecting the good bye kiss, let out a small 'hmmph!' in surprise. At least twice, Ephemer tried to break the kiss so he could leave, but just when he barely lifted his lips off of hers, he'd go back in to deepen it. When he did finally pull away, Anora unconsciously continued to follow his lips in a conditioned expectation. He didn't so much look at her as he left- acting as if he hadn't kissed her at all. If Pyra hadn't seen it for herself, she would have assumed Anora was just blushing from something she was reading.

“You guys make me jealous.” she teased, reaching over to give Anora a little push. “Do you think he even realized what he did?”

A soft grin formed on the corners of Anora's lips. He did kiss her rather automatically, didn't he?

“If he didn't,” Anora chose to muse, “He will soon.”

Anora and Pyra looked at each other, then went into a flurry of giggles before returning to their study work.

[kessielrg]

Just share a paopu fruit already, you morons.

[kessielrg]

[KHUX] Once Upon a Dream

Summary: In which Ephemer and Anora (Player/OC) share the same dream. (Or, in which I enter Kingdom Hearts hell for a week to finish a story idea I’ve had since December.)[heavily implied EphemerxPlayer]

Rating: K+

Word Count: 2,046 words

If you enjoy the story, please buy me a coffee!

. . .

“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

Ephemer unintentionally flinched; had he been staring at her for too long? He hadn't meant to. To hide it, the boy put on a wide smile and asked, “Like what?”

His friend, the soft-spoken and generally reserved Anora scrunched her face into a look of confusion.

“I don't know.” she admitted. “But it's starting to worry me.”

“Sorry,” came the sincerely apologetic answer as Ephemer sheepishly scratched the back of his head. Anora did not seem as convinced- she arched an eyebrow at him but didn't say much else about it. When she looked away again, Ephemer continued to stare at her.

He wasn't going to tell her about it anytime soon, but he did have a reason on why he couldn't look away. In what seemed like such a long time ago, Ephemer had made Anora a promise. It had became a promise he didn't keep, and it lay way to having to watch Anora die. To say he felt guilty the entire time would have been a stretch, but he was definitely trying to make up for lost time now.

If only he wasn't a Union leader and she didn't have to partake in daily missions.

“I need to get going.” Anora decided as she started to get up. “My party is going to notice that I haven't collected any lux today.”

“Don't go, not yet!” Ephemer told her, getting up with her and almost blocking her from leaving. “How about we get some ice cream?”

Anora recoiled at him. “I have to go.” she asserted before gently pushing past him. But Ephemer couldn't let it end there; biting his lip, he quickly tried to think of something to get her to stay. Or, maybe, arrange a future meet up.

“Let's meet up again later!” he quickly tried to tell her. Anora did not stop walking away- instead, she turned around and started to carefully walk backwards. Ephemer couldn't hold back his laughter; always a surprise, that Anora.

“When?” she mused.

“Tonight, in our dreams!”

Anora smirked. “Right, and then we'll steal pixie dust and fly to the Never Never Land.”

“It's a date!” Ephemer agreed with a wide grin.

Anora rolled her eyes as she let out a laugh of her own, turning around to walk properly before going into a light sprint. Ephemer only smiled as he watched his friend leave. If only his Chirithy was as amused.

“Why would you tell her that?!” it asked him as he was getting ready for bed.

“Dunno.” he admitted. “But it can happen, right?”

“Rarely!” Chirithy pointed out. “The only time you meet someone in a dream is if you're destined to be with them- like a princess dreaming of her prince charming.”

“Prince charming, huh?” Ephemer mused to himself as he got more comfortable. “Does being a Union leader technically make you royalty in some way? You definitely have that level of responsibility, huh?”

“Ephemer!” his Chirithy cried in astonishment. But the headstrong boy didn't reply, instead he laid his head down on his pillow and instantly fell asleep.

. . .

He knew he was dreaming because he never would have worn such a ridiculous suit in public. Also, no one had a face. His rational mind figured it was because this was all a dream anyway, or perhaps he was only seeing their hearts. His dreaming mind didn't even notice, it was hazily trying to remember why he was wearing a dress suit in the very crowded Fountain Square.

Slowly, Ephemer started to understand what was going on. This was a celebration for the Dandelions- a special group of Keyblade Wielders that have proven themselves the only light in pitch black darkness. It was all one big culmination to the real event; the change of Union leaders. Ephemer was going to be one of the new Union leaders. As he moved through the crowd, several Dandelions greeted him and shook hands. But none of them had faces. None of them really mattered.

Where was she?

Unknown to him, two people were sitting on top of one of Fountain Square's nearby buildings. They were both dressed for the occasion, but neither felt inclined to join the others. On the left was a girl with long carrot-red hair, but her face was missing like the others. On the right was another girl, this one with short strawberry-pink hair. Her emerald green eyes looked down at the crowd in worry.

“This is a nightmare...” she mumbled to her friend.

The carrot-red haired girl tilted her head. “I thought you didn't mind crowds?”

But her friend only nervously shook her head, a brief flash of the crowd changing to a different scene; there was still a crowd, but they were surrounding what looked to be Master Aced and the strawberry-pink haired girl. As soon as the vision came, it ended just as quickly.

“I want to forget that day, Zia,” she admitted as she looked away from the crowd, “But I can't.”

“Maybe it won't be so bad once you're down there?” Zia suggested, moving closer to her friend. If she had a face, it would have looked rather concerned. “You're the bravest person I know, Anora! You shouldn't be stuck up here with me because of something that happened in the past. Go down and have some fun. I think someone might be waiting for you...”

Anora turned to Zia as she carefully arched an eyebrow. As far as Anora knew, she had never met Zia in the waking world- assuming Zia was even real to begin with. There was an inherent kindness in Zia - and worry - that led Anora to believe that her friend was real, or had been at some point. It still felt like something important was missing though. What was it?

“I can't leave you alone here.” Anora argued.

Zia gave a small sound that indicated a bittersweet chuckle. “I'm not afraid of being alone.” she informed her friend. “You'll come back eventually, and then you can tell me how it went!”

But for a long time, Anora only continued to stare at her friend. She gave in after a few moments of thought and carefully started to get down from the building.

Anora was able to sneak into the crowd through a back alley. No one had particularly noticed as she made her way through them- not sure of where she was going, but knowing anything would have been better than just standing around. As Anora was able to reach the fountain, she accidentally bumped into someone.

“Sorry.” she apologized almost immediately before looking to see who she had bumped into. When she did recognize them, Anora almost couldn't hold back the surprise when she said, “Ephemer?”

The boy seemed to take a moment to recognize her as well, and when he did, his smile was bright and happy.

“There you are!” he joyfully exclaimed in seeing her. “I've been looking all over for you!”

Anora raised a skeptic eyebrow. “You were?”

“Of course I was!” he agreed as he took her hand. “Come on, we can go somewhere a lot less busy.”

“You can't leave.” Anora immediately tried to argue. “You need to be here for… for...” Her voice trailed off as she came to realize she didn't know why anyone would have needed Ephemer so badly. Even more, she was beginning to realize that she didn't know why there was such a huge crowd in Fountain Square to begin with.

All the while, Ephemer only seemed to smile a bit wider. He held Anora's hand tighter as he told her, “I promised we'd meet again in our dreams.”

That was when something in Anora jolted in realization. She looked up at Ephemer in confusion (and perhaps a slight annoyance) before trying to say something, but her friend pulled her away from the crowd. She didn't have much choice as Ephemer pulled her away from the crowd and into Waterfront Park. No one was there- so much more quiet than Fountain Square that it almost seemed eerie.

“This is much better.” Ephemer decided, letting go of Anora's and gesturing to the empty park around them. “We can do whatever we want now with no one to stop us!”

But Anora was silent. It took Ephemer a good moment to realize how perplexed she looked. His smile started to fade a little.

“What's the matter?” he asked.

Anora looked up at him with a confused glimmer in her eyes. “How are you able to do this?” she finally questioned. “Is it something you learn when you're a Union leader?”

“Nope.” Ephemer beamed. “I don't know why this is happening. Chirithy even said that we might not have been able to meet like this.”

His friend still continued to give him a suspicious side glance.

“You've changed since you became a Union leader.” she then informed him. “Don't think I haven't noticed that you're in charge of my Union now.”

Ephemer gave a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his head. “We're a bit more coalition than the previous leaders...” he carefully admitted. “But, yeah, I do try to keep track of the members in your Union.”

“Like me.”

Ephemer took a step back in shock, despite a part of him being impressed. Anora was still one of the most observant people he knew- even while dreaming. And so, with that observation out of the way, Ephemer extended his hand to her.

“May I have this dance?”

Anora blinked. “You're changing the subject.” she noted in a toneless voice.

“Maybe I am.” he casually admitted. “But we're dreaming, so we might as well argue somewhere else. Right?”

The response he got was another blink. Anora looked at him, to his hand, and then back at him again. She ended up giving in, and took his hand.

Unfortunately, it took a lot of trial and error before they stopped stepping on each other's toes. Once they found their sense of rhythm (and a mutual agreement on who was leading), the two started to take turns moving closer to each other. Ephemer's heart stopped for a moment in glee when Anora decided to rest her head against his shoulder. At that position, however, they were unable to do the 'pretty' things one would do when ballroom dancing, and instead they opted for smaller movements.

“Hey Ephemer,” Anora eventually spoke, her voice quiet and content, “This is the nicest dream I've had in a long time. Thank you.”

Ephemer didn't say anything, but the smile on his face said it all. He leaned his head against Anora's as the two continued to dance in place. This was a pretty good dream, wasn't it? It was a shame that, like all good dreams, it would have to end eventually.

“Hey Anora,” Ephemer found himself saying, picking his head back up.

“Hmm…?” came the small answer as Anora looked up at him. For awhile, Ephemer did say anything- instead he smiled at her with a certain fondness in his eyes. He would absolutely deny doing it later, but he moved his head closer to hers and brought the two in for a kiss.

This was an absolute mistake because it was the very thing that woke them up.

Ephemer immediately shot up in his bed. It took him a good minute to collect his bearings on where he was, and when he did, he absently pressed his fingers against his lips. Did he really just do that? Did he really just kiss his friend in their dream?

“You looked like you were having such a nice dream.” Chirithy's voice spoke up, snapping Ephemer out of his thoughts. “What happened?”

Ephemer looked at Chirithy for a moment of bewilderment before putting on a smile.

“Oh, nothing.” he claimed. “It's still late, isn't it? I should just go back to bed.”

Chirithy seemed to be taken aback by this, but didn't argue against it. “Of course.” it agreed. “You have a busy day tomorrow.”

Ephemer smiled at Chirithy before resting his head back down on his pillow. Maybe, just maybe, if he was lucky enough, he and Anora would share the same dream again.

[kessielrg]

Okay, so, imagine this with me:

Fox and the Hound is Ephemer’s favorite Disney movie. One day, he convinces the Player to watch it with him. And right at the part where it goes ‘We’ll be friends forever and ever,’ Ephemer gets all teary eyed, right? So the Player notices and comforts him (however you imagine your Player empathizes, like laying their head on his shoulder, giving him a light hug around the middle, etc.). AND THAT’S WHEN EPHEMER STARTS UGLY CRYING BECAUSE HE REALIZES THAT THE PLAYER IS THE TOD TO HIS COPPER AND HOW DO THEY NOT SEE IT HE NEEDS TO STOP THIS UGLY CRYING BEFORE THEY START ASKING QUESTIONS HES NOT READY TO ANSWER

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[kessielrg]

I went around to find a good Kingstagram maker, and...

my fingers slipped.

(the maker i used is here: x)