As an N lover....omfg. The softness. The tenderness. The vulnerability. Genuinely the way you write them is so....warm. They were already my favorite RO and this chapter just solidifies it.
That’s one of the loveliest compliments I’ve gotten about N. Thank you!! They’re such a sweetheart which is why writing their route was so hard for me. A tragic childhood for a gentle soul.
As an eldest daughter, I wrote a lot of that scene based on some of my interpretations and lived experiences. Not that my childhood was like that, but I’m sure older siblings can all relate to some degree about needing to grow up a little faster.
So thank you for reading and loving N. It means a lot :)
MY LOVE N <3 A few days late but as #1 N lover i don't think I can NOT draw something for the 5th anniversary even if it's just a quick doodle thing
Genuinely I think about this game so much in my life even if I don't post about it or make art of it regularly, I absolutely adore this story so everyone who likes interactive fictions check out @evertidings and their absolutely wonderful story<3
OMG finally finished this. I was actually drawing this just for funsies but then the event came up so why not?
Happy 4th Anniversary with the game that pulled me into interactive fiction, made me brainrot so hard and froth at the mouth for such a well written and thought out story, @evertidings
wrote a lil somethin' for When Twilight Strikes fourth anniversary, think I managed to hit all the prompts except freeform (tbf, they were good prompts for merging. Congrats on 4 years!)
---
They've only been gone two minutes and already Arion's knee is bouncing.
He tries to stop, if half-heartedly, knowing it's a lost cause. Diana can handle herself. She can, he knows. He assumes Nikolas can, as well, or he and Rekner wouldn't be so high in the Rankings. Surely the two of them can handle just talking, even if it is to someone like Mirai.
His knee starts bouncing again.
Rekner glares across the table at him. "Trying to start an earthquake, Devereux?"
Arion scoffs and rolls his eyes. "What, you don't think a deconstructed look would improve the aesthetic?" he shoots back.
"It thinks it's ridiculous for you to worry this much. No faith in Merritt's ability to charm a vampire clan leader?" she says, sarcastic venom dripping off the words.
"What, and you aren't worried about Alves? It's not doubting either of their abilities to know Mirai's reputation. Including her opinion of Hunters."
His knee is still bouncing, but less now. Arguing with Rekner takes too much focus.
She doesn't seem to have the same problem. Her eyes are almost bored as she scans the club. Looking for Rylan and Kaia? Her posture is far more relaxed and graceful than Arion's own, even with the cramped space under the table.
"Taking in the scenery?" he snipes, and this time Rekner rolls her eyes.
"Being aware of the surroundings," she corrects as if he's green or stupid or both. "Just because I'm confident in Nikolas doesn't mean problems can't arise from elsewhere, or did you sleep through that training session?"
Arion bristles and seriously considers stalking off after Rylan--he needs to move, and shouldn't someone have eyes on the bounty?--but leaving would mean she wins. He sits straighter, his knee picking up speed with his agitation. "I have every confidence in Diana, and if Nikolas can put up with you long term, I'm sure he can handle a few minutes with Mirai while you watch the surroundings."
Rekner grins sharply. "Jealous Merritt took him, instead of you?"
"Hey, someone has to keep an eye on you, you're the one who wasn't thrilled with this plan," he retorts sarcastically. "Wouldn't want you tryin' to poach our bounty."
Her eyes flash with something before her grin turns into a smirk. "It would be no less than you deserve; letting a bounty traipse all over borderline home territory unsupervised."
"You-"
"We may want to find a more... mobile situation," Rylan interrupts, materializing out of the crowd to drape against one end of the booth. There's a tension behind the half-vampire's smile that has Arion forgetting his squabble with Rekner.
His leg has gone still, his focus zeroed in on Rylan. "Why?"
"Slow down there," Rylan says, hands rising in a placating gesture. "Nothing's wrong. Kaia's heard there are some parties in the VIP room who might... be trouble. They aren't a fun mix, in other words. We should be able to make a hasty exit if things go pear-shaped is what I'm saying."
"I'm not leaving without Diana," Arion says flatly. I knew this was a bad idea.
"Oh, perish the thought." Rylan waves a hand dismissively. "But if something happens, do you want to be stuck here, at a table, because the vultures started circling before you could get up?"
It was a fair point. And apparently Rekner agreed; she pushed to her feet and crossed her arms. "Where do you suggest we go, then?"
Rylan shrugged and gestured broadly at the club. "Anywhere that's not sitting. And maybe close-ish to a door." Another wink and the half-vampire has melted back into the crowd to do God-only-knew-what.
"I'm not leaving without Diana," Arion mutters emphatically as he scoots out of the booth and leans against the side of it to survey the room. Much as he can, at least. The lights are giving him a headache and there's so many people.
"We heard you the first time." Rekner is staring toward a side room, her jaw set. "My partner is in there, too, don't forget."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Arion retorts sarcastically, eyes darting to look for trouble, "but didn't you just finish talking about how confident you are in him?"
"Shut up, Devereux."
Normally the last thing he'd do is let Rekner order him around. But he's worried and Di, and the lights hurt his head, and he needs to look out for trouble, and--
A knot tightens in Arion's gut and he wishes Diana and Nikolas would get back so they could be done.
---
Apparently he should have been more specific in his wish, then he would have gotten his partner back without her being fucking stabbed.
Arion only managed to restrain himself from interrogating Alves for what fucking happened through a combo of panic over Diana being... well, she was bleeding in the backseat of the car, and Nikolas looking wrecked by whatever the hell happened.
So they head for Nikolas' apartment(it's the closest) and Arion focuses on Diana 'til they get there. He pieces together from snippets that she got stabbed by a knife meant for Nikolas. She shielded him, took the blow instead.
Of course you did, Arion thinks, looking at his unconscious partner on Nikolas' couch. Vintage Diana Merritt. No wonder Alves looks ready to throw up.
"Hey." He snags Nikolas by the arm. "Don't let it eat you up."
Nikolas cocks his head, trying to parse the comment.
Right. Helluva start, Devereux. "It's not your fault she got hurt," he clarifies. While there are times he wishes he could read Diana's mind to figure out her logic, in this case he feels pretty confident.
"Sure looked like it from where I was standing," Nikolas mumbles.
Arion shakes his head, runs his fingers through his hair. "She would have done it for anyone, I mean. You. Me. Rekner, Rylan. Hell, a random person on the street. That's who she is. It didn't only happen because you were with her."
Alves gives a mirthless smile. "I'm not special, in other words."
Arion hesitates at his phrasing. He's seen the way Di smiles when she looks at Rekner's partner. Caught how her eyes light up at working together. But this isn't the place to be blabbing her secrets if she hasn't told the man herself yet. Pretty sure to her you are, but... "In the sense of if it had been anyone else, she'd've let them get stabbed to save herself, no, you're not. She'd do it for literally anyone. It's the terrifying thing about being her partner," he jokes. "Can't speak to how worried or motivated she was with it being you, but she has a protective streak wider than the Hudson.
Nikolas glances toward Diana, unconscious but no longer bleeding on his couch. His hands tangle together helplessly and Arion sympathizes. "I just wish she'd let it happen."
"D'you know how insufferable she'd be?" Arion asks. He asks. He would laugh, if his partner and best friend hadn't just been stabbed. "If you got hurt helping us with a problem and she didn't react in time to prevent it? She'd beat herself up for weeks, Alves, trust me."
"I-"
Normally they don't speak for each other, but, again, Arion feels he knows what she would say. "Cross my heart and ask her yourself when she wakes up. She absolutely will be alright with this and won't blame you at all."
Nikolas snorts a humorless laugh. "Won't stop me from blaming myself. I just--"
Raised voices from the kitchen interrupt their little heart to heart. Rekner and Rylan, the latter baiting the former.
Nikolas sighs and rubs his temples. "--should go stop that," he amends.
Arion glances at Diana one more time before following. They should talk about what to do, anyway.
And to concludes all the ROs of the IF When Twilight Strikes, the last but not least of @evertidings amazing characters is Nikolas Alves!
Here's the redraw of N;
—and on that note I would like to apologize if my previous drawing of N offended anyone, I have absolutely no intentions to spark discomfort or make people uncomfortable with my drawing. I would never want that. And I wanted to say thank you to the ones who have pointed out my mistakes, I am learning because of it, and I hope this redraw of N —it's not perfect— but I hope it's better:)
He acknowledges everyone with what seems like a genuine greeting, naming each person personally as if he knows them—and he very well might. It doesn’t matter what they’re doing, when Nikolas says hello, people always say it back. ( cit. @evertidings )
It doesn't seem real that I managed to finish in time ( or almost, for me it is already past midnight ). Well, happy birthday N!
