Day 5: V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, with art by David Lloyd. What can I say, it's November 5th. A work with political commentary that has unfortunately aged like fine wine.
(...so. So far my attempts to get in a good headspace to finish this book's second draft have not gone well, which means it's time to take drastic action. Hence, sharing the first handful of chapters here, and seeing if my friends having someplace to screech and ask what's next will help)
Dawn bloomed.
In the southern plains, sitting near the very top of a cottonwood tree, a girl admired how light spread across the land, transforming everything by simple use of illumination. When enough time had passed that she could see her surroundings clearly, the fourteen year old turned and looked down.
“Fren! Time to get up, lazy-bones!” A muffled grunt was the only response. Rolling her eyes, the girl started to climb downward, swiftly passing her own hammock to crouch beside the one below. With a teasing grin, she started to push at it, swinging the cloth and its inhabitant from side to side. “Frennnn.”
“Mm’up.” A hand and arm were stretched up out of the mess of blankets, before flopping back over.
“Freniden Brusan, if you don’t wake up in the next thirty seconds, I’m tipping this thing over and dumping you out of it.”
Bunched-up cloth and curly black hair were pushed aside so that her friend could direct his glare towards the girl. “You wouldn’t.”
“I most certainly would.”
“We’re twenty feet in the air, Tali!”
“Then you’ll just have to use your all-powerful wizardly talents to keep from getting injured.” She released her hold on the hammock and stood. “Now come on!”
“Alright, alright, I’m getting up,” the younger boy grumbled, kicking his blankets off and reaching for his bag, hanging from a nearby branch. “I swear, everyone in your family is a lunatic, rising at dawn and ordering other people to do the same...”
“I’m sorry, does this come as a surprise to you?” Laughing, Tali climbed back up to avoid the smelly sock Fren threw in her direction. Within a few minutes, both children had donned their outer traveling clothes and rolled up their hammocks, stuffing the bulky bundles into Fren’s enchanted satchel. Once they’d clambered back down to the ground, the wizardling pulled out some hard biscuits and dried meat for their breakfast.
“So,” he asked around a mouthful of food. “Now that we’ve successfully gotten too far from the city for your father’s search parties to find, do we have a destination in mind to start looking for this missing sister of yours?”
Tali frowned thoughtfully. “Well, much as I want to find Lillia, we could stop by your old home first, visit your family-” She stopped when Fren snorted.
“Bad idea. My relatives wouldn’t let us leave for at least the better part of a month, which I know would drive you insane.”
“It would?”
“Oh, yes. Nothing interesting ever happens in Fammon.”
“Well, fine then, if you don’t want to see your uncle and aunt and cousins, we’ll just go straight north.”
Fren raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? That’s all the great Petalia Crant can come up with?”
“That’s all we need,” Tali argued, looking ahead with a fierce expression. “We go north.”
“I’m starting to have second thoughts about running off with you...”
“Too late to change your mind now!” Tali playfully punched her friend’s shoulder, and giggled when the chubby boy pretended to stagger.
“Hey! Easy with those muscles of yours! I may have extra padding, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get bruised!”
“Oh, quit being such a whiner.”
“Bully.”
“Wimp!”
“Aquimbe!” Before Tali could blink, a spray of water caught her in the face. She spluttered, ducking away as Fren cackled. The spell ended after a moment, water spout fading back into nothing, though the girl remained very much wet.
“That,” she declared, wiping at her face with the edge of her cape, “Was so not fair.”
“Forgive me for wanting to get the upper hand just once,” Fren grinned.
The pair continued to banter as they walked on, eventually finding a road heading in the right direction. Tali checked it over for recent tracks while Fren whispered a quick scanning spell for nearby people. Neither of them found any signs of fellow travelers.
“Should we risk it?” The wizardling asked. His friend shrugged.
“May as well.”
Winding as it may have been, the road nonetheless took them north, and the pair made good time. By mid-morning, they’d covered several miles, and stopped for a water break on top of a shallow hill. When she handed back the water skin, Tali decided to climb another tree, to get a look at their new surroundings.
The girl had only gotten part way up the trunk, though, when something not too far away caught her eye.
Fren flinched as she suddenly landed beside him, fumbling the water skin and nearly dropping it. He didn’t have any time to ask what she’d seen before Tali was dashing off down the hill. Scrambling, Fren hurried after. A few minutes later, they rounded a bend in the road, and he too saw what had grabbed his friend’s attention.
A small, weather-beaten wagon was stuck, one of its front wheels trapped by a deep crack in the earth. The driver, a wrinkled old goblin, strained as she tried to pull it free without much success. Harnessed to the front of the wagon, her horse saw the two human youths first, and whinnied.
“Hello there!” Tali called, slowing her steps as she approached. “Could we offer you a hand?”
The goblin, who’d paused at her horse’s sudden warning, looked over in surprise. “I wouldn’t mind a bit if you did! I just need a tad more oomph to lift it free, I think.”
Tali immediately stepped to her side, crouching in order to get a good grip on the frame of the wagon before glancing over her shoulder. “C’mon, Fren, hurry up.”
He rolled his eyes. “Wizard student, remember? Elvitaere.” A soft yellow light sprang from the pendant tied around his left wrist, enveloping the wagon and causing it to slowly float into the air.
“Oh my,” the goblin gaped.
Huffing at her friend’s dramatics, Tali nonetheless pushed the wagon’s side, nudging it away from the hole. As soon as all four wheels were over even ground again, Fren ended the spell, letting the wagon gently set back down. The old goblin clapped her hands in delight.
“That was wonderful!” She gushed. “Saved my poor back and everything! Thank you so much, dearies.”
“You’re very welcome,” Tali said. “Is there anything else we could help you with?”
“Well, now I feel silly, but I’d emptied out everything I could to make this old hunk lighter - I don’t suppose the two of you would mind giving me a hand putting it all back, would you?”
Blinking, Fren leaned over to look at the other side of the road. Sure enough, several blankets were spread across the ground, dozens upon dozens of books and knick-knacks and other peddler’s goods piled atop them. He gave Tali a side-eyed glance, and sighed when she glared back.
prompt: yet another incorrect quote, which is at the end of the fic :3
duo or ship: tango/grian with plenty of impulse & grian interaction!
A certain pesky bird goes poking through the local dungeon master's storage unit. After getting caught red handed, he flees to tell a fellow hermit, seeking advice for his rising feelings.
OR
Grian has a gay panic over Tango making out with him and tells Impulse all about it before promptly deciding physical touch is not currently Fun.
ao3 link | week one | week two
pssst... wanna see the full drawing? click here! <3
breif warning for a sort of anxiety attack at the very end. its not described in much detail, mostly just discomfort with physical touch.
Pacing the length of the entry room in Impulse's base, Grian grumbles a bit and checks his communicator again. The device was silent, cold metal pressing into his palms as he gripped it. Where is he? It's already been ten minutes, and the avian had thought Impulse was nearby.
As he starts typing out another DM, the sound of rockets got close. Grian perks, wings raising as he looks for the source. There, incoming fast on glossy metal dragonfly wings, was the man of the hour.
“Hey! Sorry for taking a while, you know how Zed gets after cuddling,” The daemon calls with a chuckle when he's close enough. Through Impulse's many mentions of it, yes, he did know. There had been a few times he'd seen it himself, too.
Distantly, he recalls years long past where Tango had teased both Zedaph and Impulse for it. An uncomfortable jealousy rises, despite not having any reason to be. Not only was Tango very much not dating the two anymore, but Grian didn't have a connection like that to any of them. So it didn't make much sense to feel this way.
Impulse lands with an oomph next to Grian, furry whip-thin tail stretching out in an instinctive balancing act. It brings the avian back to the now relatively quickly. “How are you?”
Frowning, he stays quiet for a second as the taller man closes his elytra and pushes his flight goggles up. “I think you know that,” Grian replies finally, a whine in his voice.
“Is it that bad?” Impulse asks, furrowing his brows while trying not to look too amused. When the avian just groans and turns away to keep pacing, he rolls his eyes fondly. “Come in, come in. Do you want a drink or something to eat, maybe?”
They go inside, and Grian hops up onto the island counter in the kitchen while the taller man gets out two glasses. Swinging his feet lightly, he sighs again. Heavily.
“Grian… buddy, I can't help you if you don't talk to me. I may give decent advice, but only when I know the situation.” Pouring water for them, the daemon walks over and holds one glass out. “Come on, what'd Tango do?”
The amused look on Impulse’s face only serves to make him more pouty. But after taking a long sip of water, Grian indignantly flaps his ear wings and looks away. “Well, it's confusing! He's confusing! He kissed me!”
Raising a brow, his friend sat in one of the bar stools. “Doesn't he, uh, always do that?” Pointing a finger limply at Grian, he adds, “I thought you two were in a loose QPR or something?”
“Yeah-!” Exasperation laces his exclamation, and his wings poof up. “But this was different!” His cheeks got warm, and he quickly took another gulp of water.
“How so?” Impulse tilted his head, elbow leaned on the counter as he looked up at him.
Flustered, the avian set his glass down and waved his arms about. “Usually it's an agreed on moment! He just went for it!”
This seemed to surprise Impulse, as he sat up straighter. His expression got a bit dark, voice serious. “Wait, went for it? He didn't disrespect your consent, did he?”
Face blanking briefly, he quickly shook his head. “Coders, no! That was- I didn't word it right. I promise it's not like that.” As the daemon relaxed- glad his pseudo brother wasn't causing actual problems- Grian looked away and traced the lip of his cup. “I mean that usually I'm like… Usually I'm there with intentions of garnering affection. But I was just, uh, sort of there this time.”
“Sort of there?” The taller hermit tilts his head. “Oh,” he smiles, “you were stealing from his storage again, weren't you?”
“Borrowing,” Grian sniffs, wings relaxing behind himself. “Those eggs weren't going to-” he realizes he's mumbling and stops, indignantly chirping.
“Eggs?” Impulse grins, all teasing words and smile-narrowed golden eyes.
Swatting at his arm, the avian groans. “Shut- forget I said anything!” He hops down from the counter, frowning deeply, only to be caught around the middle by a laughing man. A little gasp escapes him, but then he turns to glare heatlessly.
“No, I'm sorry,” He pulls him over to his side, words warm, “Tell me what happened. I'll try not to tease more.” Impulse carefully tucks a bit of fluffy hair behind his friend's ear, admittedly making the avian feel much more at ease. It was easier to talk when he wasn't in ‘playful older brother’ mode.
He supposed the habit must be pretty strong, seeing as Impulse had both a little sister- Gem- and a little brother. Albeit, Tango wasn't actually related to him- that'd be really weird considering their past- and was only a month younger, but the point stood.
“I doubt that,” Grian mumbles in response, getting onto the stool next to him anyways. “But fine. Since I'm already here.” That, and they both knew even Zedaph didn't know the two's ex well enough to tell what he was up to. If Grian wanted in-depth advice regarding Tango, Impulse was the only one to ask.
“Sure,” the daemon hummed, arm falling to the side as Grian sat. His smile softens, and he urges him to go on with a brief hand motion.
Thinking about where to start, he stares down at his nearly empty glass. “Well, I just needed a few more bits and bobs for a build. And obviously, Tango has a lot of those.” As he speaks, he moves his hands about animatedly. “So, I figured, ‘ why not skim off the top? ’” His voice is hesitant, and he shrugs casually. Yes, this will do, easing into just what happened.
Impulse offers no response outside a little nod, allowing Grian the space to speak. So naturally, he does. “I've done it plenty, and he doesn't ever care because, you know, it's just little things.” Pausing, he hums and adds nonchalantly, “Even then, he never seems to mind when I take anything.”
It was probably a bigger deal than he'd assumed, as Impulse gave a big grin. Still, he says nothing, so with a nervous little chirp, Grian continues. “Anyways, he's been busy, so I let myself in and went downstairs…”
✮✮✮
Grian had hummed a soft, happy tune as he'd gracefully glided down into the belly of Tango's base. It had been a little hard to navigate with all the redstone, but he'd been down there enough times to narrowly avoid imminent death. At least for today.
The avian landed in the large doorway, and shook out his wings before folding them. He looked around, thinking over what he'd come for. It took a minute, dark brown eyes scanning the signs. Having recalled it, he set out for the chests he'd been sure had the right little things.
Something thudded a few minutes later, the distant sound of metal whistling through the air following it. The avian had frozen up, mid looting of some less than useful chests. As far as his build went, Grian had no use for the things he'd been grabbing.
He'd glanced between the room's entrance and the armful of eggs he'd currently held. Amongst them a few bits of gold shone, and a decently sized chunk of lapis had been tucked against his side. Conflicted between knowing he should get the hell out and his own instinct to take the precious items, he remained kneeled in front of the chest.
As the metallic elytra clinks a few times and makes a soft scratching as it shuts, Grian frowns and slowly scoots towards the bag he'd dropped on the floor for whatever he ‘borrowed’. It was his own bag, at least, empty outside of a few little miscellaneous items. That and the copper he originally came here for.
Carefully unloading his last haul of mostly eggs and shiny bits with a pleased chirp, he wonders why the other man hasn't walked in yet. He had heard him land, right? That wasn't his imagination? Admittedly, it should figure that he'd make it up.
So after another pause to listen, he shrugs and continues, poking into a few other chests. A soft trill leaves him as he finds some red wool, and he gently tucks it around the eggs. Can't possibly blame him for obeying his bird brain.
He does some more back and forths between tucking a myriad of items around the eggs and snagging half slabs of copper. At some point he'd resumed his delightful tune. Then, someone clears their throat. Grian freezes, wings poofing up. As he hears a familiar snort, he scrambles up onto his feet and turns around.
Tango is leaning on the door frame, arms crossed. His metal elytra is folded behind himself, golden yellow magma-filled sections glowing in a way that imitates the man's own fire. “Whatcha up to, G?” The blaze watches him, raising a brow. There was a faint amusement to his tone, but he seemed a bit too tired for this.
“Uh,” looking down at the near full bag, he smiles, “Just helping you clean your storage, of course!” Over his shock and now in his usual mind of mischief, Grian puts his hands on his hips, inclining his head playfully. “There were some weird things in weird places, Tango.”
Seemingly giving him a moment to process what he's said, Tango offers a sharp grin. “Oh really?” He inquires in an unamused tone that says; ‘I don't believe you for a minute’. “The automated storage unit that I built myself is broken?”
The avian falters, glancing around at the room. It didn't feel like banter suddenly. “Y-Yes.” Confirming his shoddy alibi, and therefore sealing in another task for the other, he nods. One of his ear wings moves to cover part of his face, feeling shameful.
“Hm,” Tango hums, pushing off the wall and slowly walking over. He glances down at his bag and snorts again before turning to the open chests. “And which parts would you say are broken? I'm awfully tired, but if you say it's acting up…” The blaze spoke in a quiet sneer, knowing very well that his friend was full of it. But he didn't seem angry per se.
Hesitating, he slowly turned around to look at the chests he'd raided. “Uhm, you see,” Grian trailed off, nibbling at his lower lip. He could feel the taller man stare down at him, and slumps a bit. Stealing ultimately unimportant items was one thing, they all did that regularly. Giving another hermit more work to cover up a lie though, that made his stomach twist. It just wasn't right.
Tango didn't say anything as the avian processed, tail idly flicking back and forth. He didn't speak up when said man leaned down and started to close the chests either. “Nothing is broken,” Grian quietly says, guilty. Hearing Tango cross his arms more than he really saw it in his peripherals, he cringed. “Sorry. If you'd like I can put everything back, I know you've been busy.”
And yet he still swung by. He wasn't at all surprised to have been caught either. Rather, he'd been surprised by the sour turn of events. Tango seemed much more exhausted than one would imagine. Then again, he did build an entire game so… maybe it hadn't been a good idea to come pester him.
“I don't care about the items,” the blaze says after a moment. He grabs the back of Grian's sweater and pulls him back into a stand, making him look up at him. Behind Tango's irritated expression, he could see fatigue in his icy blue eyes. “What I care about is that you lied about it.”
Feeling rather small under his gaze, Grian looks away again. “I was only joking,” he weakly defended. It had in fact been another tease, one he knew he'd see through. Although–
“That doesn't change the fact that you lied after, when I asked about it.” Tango’s voice lilts up towards frustration, arms crossed again. He'd practically spoken the shorter man's thoughts aloud. “Obviously I knew it was a joke, Grian.”
“Then-!” The avian tosses his hands up, cutting off his own shout to groan. “Why are you scolding me, then?”
Furrowing his brows at the weak glare, Tango's soul flame tail swishes in annoyance. “I just told you,” he says firmly, clearly attempting to remain calm. “Can we not do this right now? I have things to do.”
Now agitated as well- despite not having the right to be- Grian rolls his eyes and puffs his wings up to seem bigger. “You started it! Come on, shout back! You're clearly upset!”
The blaze stares, clearly riled if the crackling flame on his tail tip was anything to go by. After processing, he stepped closer, purposely looming over Grian now. “You should stop while you're ahead, birdie.” The nickname was startlingly out of place in the moment, said with such strained warning.
“And why is that,” he prods, feeling a bit childish for how he essentially was throwing a fit. It wasn't clear even to himself what was going on at this point.
“You're in my base,” Tango reminds him, grabbing his chin, “and you've stolen my items. I couldn't think of a better reason.”
This had all turned weirdly intimate, their faces inches apart as they seethed at each other. Deep down he sort of knew it was going to be fine, somehow finding warmth hidden in the other's gaze. Tango's voice had lowered, but not in the dark and angry way. It was almost sultry.
Flustering, the avian taunts, “Oooh, you wanna kiss me so bad!” It's entirely immature. And very out of line, had either been angry enough. But he desperately wanted to soothe the tension, chest tight from even the vague argument. So he did what he did best, make stupid, borderline flirtatious, jokes.
And for a second, Tango stares at him as if he was a fool. Which, he really was, so it fit. But then the blaze's cheeks warm and he seems to have an internal conflict of sorts. “What?” He finally mutters, brows furrowing again.
Grian stares right back at him the whole time, utterly embarrassed but sticking by his own idiocy. “I said, ‘Oooh,’” he speaks slower, and a bit low, “‘you wanna kiss me-’”
He doesn't finish his echoed sentence, being grabbed by the arms and pulled close as Tango all but smashes their lips together. The taller hermit makes a noise akin to a growl, tail lashing. At first he's frozen, bewildered. It wasn't exactly the expected response.
It seems like Tango is about to pull away, seeing as the avian had yet to do more than stare. But then Grian shuts his eyes and tosses his arms around his neck, kissing back. The blaze makes a quiet purring in response, tail moving to wrap around Grian's ankle instead of aggressively thrashing.
The kiss brimmed with burning passion, a shocking thing to occur between the two. This was so unlike their usual soft and gentle affections that Grian could feel his skin buzzing. His wings were spread out behind himself, twitching a bit as Tango nipped at his lower lip. Even his significantly smaller ear wings were raised, doing small flaps now and then. He tilted his head a bit, both to pursue a deeper kiss and to wordlessly try and figure out what the blaze wanted.
Another nip, then a hand grabbing the sides of his jaw and lightly pressing in a silent answer. Tango licks the avian's lips this time, making it even clearer. So with a muffled chirp, he parted his lips, letting him explore his mouth.
Simply holding his arm apparently was not enough. The blaze wrapped one of his own around Grian's waist, pulling him flush against his chest. He moved the other to rather gently pet the spot between his wings. It was a melting bliss. He made a mix of a groan and a trill, hearing a responding pleased grumble.
His own hands moved to grasp at Tango's hair, gentle but firmly there. Thankfully he isn't on his tiptoes, since the taller had been the one to initiate the kiss and had leaned down for it. Otherwise he may have accidentally tugged, what with how his legs felt wobbly. Though with how heated this all was, it may not have been an unwelcome action.
Tango occasionally catches Grian's lip between his teeth, rather pointy canines digging in before he'd let go and pass his tongue over the offended spot. Each and every time he earned a whine, and could hear the shorter hermit’s wings flap.
Then finally they break apart, lung capacity spent. They only leave inches between their faces, panting breaths mixing in a humid puff. Grian's eyes are lidded, staring up at the blaze with a befuddled mix of wonder and confusion. All that he gets in return is a huff and the electric look in Tango's gaze.
Flustered and red in the face, the avian sputters out a few breathless syllables. He wants answers to the many questions in his head, unsure when their energy went from purely frustrated to almost charged. It's a bit hopeless as his mind is reeling, and most of his noises are little trills. The blaze grins at that, like it was a victory on his part.
And then, Tango much more calmly leans down further to kiss his jaw softly. Grian gasps, fingers flexing in the other's hair, then tilts his head to the side as a go ahead. Safe to say this was all unexpected. It wasn't even that they'd never done any of this before. Just that the energy was so different, so much more intense.
Feather light kisses are peppered down his neck until Tango can't pull his turtleneck away any further. So he trails back up, pressing just a little more. Grian's hands are gripping tightly to his cape covered shoulders, thick fabric bunched between his fingers. He gasps as the blaze nips at his jaw, then lightly whacks him in the face with one of his ear wings. Mostly by accident.
“Hey-” Tango grunts, frowning a little as he pulls away enough to meet his gaze.
Taking a moment to regain coherent speech, Grian looks to the side. “Hey yourself,” he mumbles, a complaint in his voice.
“Too far?” The blaze asks, softening. He glances between Grian's blown pupils, smile a bit too smug.
He slowly nods, cheeks still hot. Then he looks at Tango again, taking in his red lips and heavy stare. “A bit. I'm not even sure where that came from.”
“Oh,” Blinking, he seems to think back, then snorts. “Probably from you saying I wanted to kiss you. Because I did.”
Wings puffing up in embarrassment, Grian makes a shrill noise, glaring heatlessly. “It wasn't an invitation.”
“You sure don't seem to regret it though. Can't say I do either, you look pretty all red lipped.” The blaze easily replies, smirking and leaning a bit closer.
Grian surges forward to hide his face against the taller man’s shoulder, grumbling as his face flushes all over again. He doesn't reply, hiding away as he ignores the festering pool of emotions in his chest. And the other doesn't seem to mind, rubbing his shoulder idly.
The moment is disturbed by Tango's communicator pinging, making the blaze pull it out from his robes. Grian pulls back slightly, then folds his wings carefully so he can turn in the man's arms and look at the device with him. He'll happily latch to a distraction.
It's a message from Zedaph, having another trophy challenge for him to participate in. Grumbling a bit, Tango starts to type a decline, but the small avian catches his wrist.
“Go, I have things to do too.” He leans his head on his friend's arm, looking up at him with a small smile. “And I know you want to, underneath your foggy instincts.”
The funny thing is, Grian was easier to fluster and get entranced, but also returned to normal faster. This wasn't the case for Tango, who lingered in his emotions longer. Admittedly, this was mostly because the avian tended to ignore said emotions, but still.
Frowning, he stares at him before realizing he's right. So he deletes the draft and instead confirms he'll come. “Only because you're busy.”
“Liar,” The avian teases, narrowing his eyes. But then as Tango blushes, he looks away and sighs. He may want to ignore how he feels about a lot of this, but the guilt was returning. And that he didn't want to leave untended. “Hey uh, I'm sorry for lying. And generally for getting annoying about it after.”
Tango doesn't reply at first, putting his communicator back into some hidden pocket. But then he gently pulls Grian off of himself, turning him around to look at him properly. He's got two fingers under his chin, tilting his head up to meet his smiling face.
“It's fine, I already forgave you. I know you didn't mean anything by it.” Then, the blaze leans down and presses a chaste kiss to his lips. This is what their intimate interactions were usually like, soft and comforting. And yet this simple kiss serves to fluster Grian beyond belief.
“O-Oh!” He had chirped when his friend pulled away. “Great! Then, uh, have fun! Bye!” The avain promptly fled, just barely remembering to grab his bag on the way out.
✮✮✮
“And then I messaged you,” Grian finished, hands falling into his lap. He had tried to explain in as little detail as possible while still properly retelling the event, yet still felt a bit winded.
Taking a second to really soak in just what he's been told, the daemon takes in a breath. He smiles, sounding a bit surprised, “That's a lot to unpack, isn't it?”
“Yeah! It is! If you somehow missed that part, we all but made out!” He had left out the intimate details, of course. But it was hard to not mention how Tango had certainly wanted to continue. Grian's cheeks got warm just thinking back on it.
Now seeing just what was going on in the avian's brain, Impulse grins widely. “We? So you kissed back?” Grian flushes, silent aside from a nod. “Did you enjoy it?”
“What kind of question-?!” He squawks, eyes widening as he whips his head to the side. Getting only a smug look, he wrings his hands. “I mean, yeah? I wouldn't kiss him near regularly if he wasn't good at it.”
The daemon snickers, shaking his head. “That's not entirely what I meant.” Seeing as Grian still didn't get it, he sighs and takes a small sip of his water, finishing it off. “G, when you two usually kiss, does it feel the same as today?”
He thinks about it, brows furrowed in confusion. “Um, I mean, no. But we haven't ever made out. Not fully, anyways. Our relationship is…” Grian trails off, waving a hand idly as if beckoning his thoughts forth. “I don't know, softer? This was more aggressive.”
“Well you did bicker seconds before,” Impulse points out, leaning on the island counter. “So then, was it a good different?”
“Um,” The avian squints at him, as if expecting the taller man to have an ulterior motive. That one he had to properly consider. He'd been so caught up in the why that he hadn't even considered how he felt about it.
Tango had held him so close, grip firm yet somehow still gentle. And there had been a fierce passion that sparked between them for the first time. Sure, there was always affection and genuine love in their usual exchanges, but… that was always platonic.
It hit him at about the same time Impulse waved a hand in front of his face. Blinking rapidly, he looks up at his grin and flushes a bright red. “I suppose it was,” he finally answers.
“Looks like you have it figured out now,” Impulse murmurs, a spark of pride in his eyes. “Knew you'd get there eventually!”
“Yeah,” the avian breathes. It's been a very long time since he's fallen for someone. It all feels so bizarrely foreign, complicated and messy. It's a bitHe doesn't have the time to fully let it sink in, wings puffed up in embarrassment. “Thanks, Impulse.”
“Anytime, bud,” he easily replies, patting his shoulder. “I'm more than happy to help out, you know that.”
They have tea, easing into unrelated topics. Grian keeps zoning out as his friend rattles off The Soup Groups latest goof. He doesn't mean to, genuinely interested in what Impulse has to say, but he's a bit weary after all the emotional processing he's done today.
There's a lot of questions in his head. Namely, does he feel the same? A dreadful sort of itching crawls up his spine at the idea of it. It takes hold just under his wings, making him drag his clawed fingers over the spot over and over.
When he'd confessed to Doc a while back it wasn't anything like this. The creeper hybrid had gently turned him down, and that was that. They just returned to being purely platonic friends. And they still are. So why was Tango so different? Was he really so attached to the blaze already?
“G?” The daemon taps his arm gently, thin tail folded over on his lap. He's smiling softly, a concerned twist in the corners. His brows furrow as Grian jolts, warm hand remaining on his arm. It feels like it's burning.
Taking a breath, Grian looks up from his empty tea cup, meeting the other's gaze. “I'm okay, don't worry.” Then the combination of burning and itching is too much and he pulls his arm away.
The avian looks out the window behind Impulse. “Sorry. I should get going,” he shakes out his wings a little, then hops down from the stool, out of the other's reach.
“Oh, well alright.” Standing as well, Impulse refrains from stepping back into his space. He's not totally sure what's wrong, but it isn't the first time Grian's gotten like this. He trusts him to self regulate, and he doesn't seem to be doing horribly.
“Thanks again for the advice,” He smiles, tone warm and genuine despite the unsteady shake in it. “See you.”
“No problem,” The daemon replies, idly itching at the base of one of his short horns. He frowns slightly as it makes Grian shiver. But before he can say anything else the shorter hermit is leaving the room, footsteps gaining speed as they become fainter.
Maybe he should have Mumbo check in with the avian. Scar would be too quick to try to hug him, and Tango is… well he's out of the question for now.
Nodding slightly to himself as he distantly hears Grian take off, he picks up his communicator and sends a quick message to the lanky redstoner. Then he gets to cleaning up the kitchen, brows pinched.
-
heres the quote of the week! I laughed so hard when i found it, I couldn't just not use it
a few things as well, incase i didnt make it obvious in the fic! tango used to be in a triad with impulse and zedaph a while back... things happened and now hes purely just friends with them! impulse became like an older brother to him, and zedaph got back with impulse ^^
and this is (clearly) set before scar, tango, and grian got together LOLL
more is to come on all of this, im very normal about it! (lies) and i have a lot of ideas for their relationships and everything :D
anygay, thanks for reading!! have a great week!! I'll be back on Sunday!! <3
Well. I wanted to do Novelvember / Writevember but neither of the story ideas I have are sparking me. I’m not sure what kinds of story I need to read right now. That’s the story I want to write.
I need a story where everything is nice and peaceful. I think I need a story where good wins.
I’m so tired. And scared. And I don’t know if I have strength like Tolkien or Collins to write about a conflict that changes you, leaves you permanently broken in ways that can’t heal. Collins has a bit more of a hopeful ending in Hunger Games, but there’s still that forever damage.
And it’s not like I have a Shire to start in. My world has been fucked the whole time. Things are getting darker and darker.
How do you turn a cyberpunk dystopia into a solarpunk utopia without an apocalypse in between? How do you turn the horror genre into slice of life?
I don’t know. I don’t know how to go from point A to point B.
Technically I still want to make some picrews to show off more of the characters, but the actual important stuff is finished. I can enjoy the 30th and 31st entirely.
But speaking of characters picrews...
Say hello to our main character, August Tabler. He's got... a lot coming.
Proudly continuing the tradition of giving the main (asexual) character some swashbuckling space adventures while the side characters get to have the queer romance.
The mechanic just met the cyborg, and she is very impressed.
