Hi! I would like the hear about the worst Rook au! Also I'd like to say that I really like feverish Rook!
Aww, thank you!! He was having a Bad Time in that snippet, but it was very cute. (Affection-starved 17-year old Rook is so special to me.) As for the Worst AU, it’s essentially a “Van lives, Zara dies” AU. The setup is the same for how Van died in canon (Azere’s son coming for revenge against Zara), but in this one Zara is killed.
tw for suicidal behavior and (essentially) self-harm in the rest of this post!!
Obviously Rook doesn’t handle that well. He’s already more or less passively suicidal in canon, but this would definitely make that much, MUCH worse.
The chances of him surviving are very slim, tbh. Especially since the ship has no full-time cleric or anyone capable of revival.
I’m just gonna drop some rambling under the cut that outline the general idea of a scene from this AU.
TL;DR is Rook takes horrible care of himself and manages to hide it from everyone until it’s almost too late.
So a couple days ago I made this post on another blog of mine:
Well, based on the "extra cruel edition" I was thinking that that would imply a world where Zara is dead (and presumably Van lived and is now captain), and then I was thinking that if that were the case, Rook would be acting even more suicidal than he already does. And I'm imagining him knocking on Van's door, but he's trying to warn Zara, and it turns out he's been BADLY hurt sometime recently (probably in a fight where he single-handedly took down like half of the enemies and walked away claiming all the blood was theirs) and didn't tell anyone or tend to the wounds at all and now they're infected, bordering on septic.
I genuinely don't think he could survive in a world where Zara died before Rook met the party. At least with the party he would have SOME reason to keep going.
Of course, there is the option that if Wolf was the one who killed Zara, Rook stays alive ONLY with the goal of killing Wolf, in an extremely unhealthy one-track-mind kind of way. Wolf probably kills him easily. :'(
Either that or he kills Wolf but only narrowly survives / is mortally wounded in the process, and Jay has to scramble to try and bring him back, but he doesn't really WANT to come back.
Then at work yesterday I was distracted and daydreaming and this scene started outlining itself in my head, adding worse details.
Which turned into this:
- Van is the captain now (because obviously. He was the first mate and Zara died, and also the crew likes/trusts him.) That means he's inherited Zara's cabin.
- One night a few months after her death he's woken by knocking on his door and someone calling for the captain.
- Getting closer to the door, he recognized Rook's voice.
- Initially he wonders if Rook is drunk, and thinks that it wouldn't be the first time since Zara's death.
- He's considering letting Rook sleep it off on the window seat because 1) that is a comforting spot for him / something he associates with Zara, and 2) that way the rest of the crew won't be pissed at him.
- He opens the door and Rook sees him and asks where the captain is, saying that he needs to warn *her*.
- Van is confused, but doesn't get a chance to ask before Rook crumples, trailing off mid-sentence.
- Van catches him and is shocked to find Rook's skin is practically burning. He realizes Rook isn't drunk, he's out of his mind delirious.
- He picks Rook up and takes him to see Jay in the infirmary.
- Rook is lighter than he should be.
- Jay is concerned and upset but gets to work gathering supplies and tells Van to get Rook's shirt off and start trying to cool him down with cool water.
- Van does so and sees a fucking MESS of angry red wounds. A couple have been shoddily stitched or bandage. (This makes Van nauseous. He's kinda squeamish.)
- In super-speed a series of observations run through Van's head:
1) they had a fight several days ago. Rook single-handedly took out most of the enemies and walked away covered in blood he claimed was not his.
2) Later that day Van came across Rook in the hold, polishing his rapier. (He takes much better care of it than he does himself. It's Zara's, after all.)
2.1) There was a bloody cloth next to him.
2.2) Van assumed it was from cleaning the rapier. Clearly he was mistaken.
3) Rook looks skinnier now (at 23) that when he joined the crew at 17
- Jay comes over and sees the state Rook is in. There's tears welling up in her eyes, but she calls Rook an idiot and says that she's going to kill him when he wakes up.
That's as far as my daydreaming got, though.
As you can see, my boy’s not very good at taking care of himself even at the best of times, let alone after losing the most important person in his life under traumatic circumstances that are lowkey his fault.
oh. yeah. That’s the other part of this.
Since this is a "zara dies, van lives" au, that means that Zara was killed by Azere's son, and she only killed Azere because Rook fucked up his lie and got himself shot. So yay!!! Guilt!!!
@akindofmagictoo pointed out that I’m apparently determined to give Rook sepsis in every universe, and I really can’t argue with that statement.
And to make matters worse, this time there’s no cleric. Just Jay trying to drag her stubborn, idiotic, more-than-a-little-bit-suicidal best friend back from the edge of the grave.
Many thanks to @xandezsims for letting me get my hands on this a bit early. It's absolutely stunning, and perfect for Van!! He may not be the captain, but he still needs a good coat!
A direct continuation of this snippet, and a precursor to this snippet. Van attempts to wake Rook, but instead finds him dangerously ill.
Van knelt by Rook’s side, and rolled him gently onto his back, taking care to avoid the half-dried vomit on the floor beside him. As his hand touched Rook’s shirt, it came away damp with sweat.
“Rook?” Van asked softly.
Rook did not answer.
Carefully, Van reached out and touched the boy’s cheek. He quickly pulled his hand back in surprise. Rook's skin was hot, as if he had been baking in the sun all afternoon. his head turned slightly towards where Van's hand had been, as if seeking out a cool surface. His lips moved as he murmured something inaudible.
“Shit,” Van muttered.
He gently gathered Rook’s limp body in his arms and set off towards the infirmary, walking as quickly as he could without plowing into anything. As he walked, Rook began to shiver in his arms, curling in on himself. Van quickened his pace.
Arriving at his destination, he kicked the door repeatedly. "Kholl, open up!" he called. The door swung open, revealing the surgeon.
“Van, what’s going on?” he asked. His brow furrowed as he took in the limp figure in Van’s arms.
Van pushed past him into the room. “I don’t know. He didn’t show up for his shift, so I went down to wake him. Found him like this. He’s burning up, and he wouldn’t respond to anything I did or said.”
“Lay him on the bed there,” Kholl instructed.
He set Rook on the bed then stepped back, resisting the urge to scratch at his own skin as he became increasingly aware of his own presence in the infirmary. As Kholl moved to Rook’s side, Van edged towards the door. “I… I’ll go tell the captain what’s going on. See if you can figure out what’s wrong with him.” He didn’t wait for a reply before he turned and hurried out of the room.
it's a bit early for miserable man monday, so let's consider this like, a teaser trailer. Maybe I'll call it something's wrong sunday, idk.
[Van] threaded his way through the rows of hammocks until he came to the corner where Rook slept. The young man was sprawled in his hammock, face down, with one leg and one arm hanging awkwardly over the edge. The pungent smell of vomit was strong enough to make Van’s nose wrinkle in disgust.
He sighed. Rook had been enthusiastic so far, but a few drinks too many could turn even the most dedicated sailor into a layabout. He cleared his throat loudly. Rook didn’t move. Stepping closer he said loudly, “Rook.” Still the boy didn’t stir. Taking a deep breath, Van yelled “WAKE UP. YOUR SHIFT STARTED AN HOUR AGO.”
Instead of bolting awake with a yelp (the reaction Van was most accustomed to getting when he used this method of waking sailors), there was only a small movement as Rook shifted in the hammock. Van thought he heard him mutter something under his breath.
He crossed his arms. If Rook thought he could get out of a day’s work, he was sorely mistaken. In one swift motion, Van turned the hammock upside down, unceremoniously dumping Rook onto the floor. Much to his surprise, he made no effort to catch himself, face-planting directly onto the rough wood.
This was definitely not normal.
