#rabespricht

[hellesfeuer-a]

      *      RABESPRICHT      /      ft.   eadwulf      —      “      that   wasn’t   so   bad,   was   it?      ”

bren   spits   out   blood   onto   the   stones.         he   pushes   himself   up   on   shaky   hands   and   knees.      he   can   bear   this;      he   can   bear   three   times   this.      he   must.

eadwulf   is   a   difficult   opponent.      @rabespricht​   and   astrid   are   his   only   equals,   as   they   have   always   been      —      but   wulf   is   different   because   wulf   is   brutal   in   ways   bren   and   astrid   cannot   manage.      for   he   is   strong      —      tall,   sturdy,   and   muscular.      his   edges   that   are   comfortably   soft   and   warm   sharpen   in   rexxentrum      —      as   they   should.      he   will   serve   the   empire   better   this   way.

and   bren   will   serve   the   empire   better   by   learning   this   lesson,   too.      he   accepts   eadwulf’s   hand   up,   once   he   pushes   himself   to   his   knees.      his   ribs   ache,   but   he   stands   without   swaying.      he   gives   wulf   a   short   nod.      their   stomachs   are   empty,   and   they’ll   remain   so   until   master   ikithon   is   satisfied   with   their   performances      —      both   of   their   performances.            “      again.      ”

[arc-erzmagier]

it was the quick work of a teleport spell to bring them home ,  wulf’s arms tight around astrid as he takes them away  --  she doesn’t have the strength to cast it herself .  a burst of the matron’s cold healing later ,  astrid can at least stand on her own  --  though she doesn’t stand for long .  she sits up on the kitchen counter so she’s easier to reach ,  chin held high even as silence reigns between them .  she doesn’t stop him from starting

to clean blood off of her  --  after she protected him .

for once ,  she doesn’t hiss at the alcohol against her wounds as she normally might ,  the tense silence clinging to them both .  scheiße ,  @rabespricht​ is probably pissed at her ,  isn’t he .  she allows it to hang over both of them like a stormcloud for barely a second longer before she speaks ,  quiet zemnian on her tongue .  “ i’m not going to apologize . ”

[arc-erzmagier]

EADWULF SENDS  :  MEDIC :  for one muse to show up at the other’s doorstep injured.

she’d known that punishment was coming .  of course it was  --  it’s better to expect punishment and occasionally be pleasantly surprised .  this particular punishment ,  however ,  is new ,  and has knocked astrid off of her standard acceptance of such an attack .  slow ,  pained steps bring her closer to eadwulf’s door ,  every breath an anguish ,  every jostle an agony .  her knuckles rapping against it is another type of hell ,  but she needs him to let her in ,  needs him ,  and she’s all out of spells  --  and the second that it opens ,  the second that she sees wulf’s face ,  she takes a few steps past him into the home ,  into privacy ,  before trembling legs give out and she collapses onto his entryway floor ,  safe with @rabespricht​ at last .

[arc-erzmagier]

EADWULF SENDS  :  [ SAFE ]:     in an effort to prove to the receiver that they’re safe after a particularly traumatic incident, the sender gently rests their foreheads together in a gesture designed to be soothing and reassuring.

it had taken astrid a long time to slow down ,  nearly racing through the savalirwood .  her anger and her pain drives her on ,  further and further forward ,  and further and further away from fucking caleb and his fucking friends and their living prisoner .  but as her anguish cools ,  mellows ,  she remembers how hurt her @rabespricht​ is ,  and she makes herself stop ,  shaking in place .  makes herself use leftover spells to help set up a camp for them to spend the night ,  makes herself breathe and exist and inhabit her body as much as she can .

wulf heals his wounds ,  and astrid binds what’s left of them with trembling hands ,  and she sits across from him furious and shaking ,  barely even noting his increased proximity before his forehead leans against hers .  at this ,  it startles a sound out of her ,  though she leans into the touch ,  leans into his steadiness ,  desperate for it .

she is safe .  eadwulf is safe .  trent ikithon is alive .  before astrid is even fully aware of it ,  she begins to cry ,  hot ,  angry tears spilling down her cheeks with abandon ,  even as she’s ashamed of them  --  she raises her hands as if to strike against his chest ,  but before impact she grabs onto his shirt ,  latches onto him ,  keeping him close and real and hers .  her bren would have let her kill ikithon  --  would have done it himself ,  if not .  this . . . this caleb is someone different ,  and ikithon will kill them all for the insult of his capture .  her shoulders shake ,  her body trembles ,  but eadwulf is solid and connected and real ,  and that may be the only good that she is given today .  “ das ist nicht fair , ”  she hisses ,  this isn’t fair ,  and she hates how petulant the words feel in her mouth ,  but they’re all she can think ,  all she can feel .  everything has been for nothing ,  but they’re still here .

[arc-erzmagier]

EADWULF SENDS  :  RELAX :  for both muses to share a hot tub or hot spring.

it’s with an audible sound of relief that astrid sinks into the water with him​ ,  tense muscles beginning to relax as the warmth starts to sink in .  it is ,  perhaps ,  more common for them to have time to relax now than they did before ,  but it’s still rare for them to take a moment like this ,  to go to a bath house and to pay for a private room to share ,  with a few more silvers thrown in to keep the attendant quiet about it .

she dips herself beneath the water to dampen her hair ,  coming back up with her hair slicked away from her face ,  closer to @rabespricht​ than anticipated ,  but it’s certainly not unwelcome .  she gives him a half - devious smile ,  leaning over to him for a brief kiss before settling beside him in the hot water .  “ remind me why we haven’t done this more often ,  wulf , ”  she says ,  leaning against the wall of the tub and closing her eyes in contentment .

[arc-erzmagier]

EADWULF ASKS  :  lay back down, you need to rest.

the look that astrid gives him is venomous ,  or as much as it can be with a flushed face and shaking limbs .  “ i have things to do , ”  she snaps back ,  though her voice is rough and her vision is swimming ,  making it difficult to see the face of her partner .  the best thing about being archmage now is the control over her own schedule ,  but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she wants to ruin her own schedule because her stupid body is betraying her .  part of her wants to tell @rabespricht​ that she’ll only lay down if he makes her  --  but they both know that he certainly can move her if he so chose to .

[arc-erzmagier]

EADWULF SENDS : i don’t wanna have to do that ever again. 

astrid laughs lightly , bare feet padding across the floor to be able to stand by him . “ unfortunately , events like those are fairly common , ” she can’t help but to tease , even as she tucks her face between his shoulderblades — even as she is just as worn . “ and unfortunately , ‘ my bodyguard has sworn off formal functions ’ is not an acceptable excuse not to attend . ”

it had been a long and trying evening , she won’t argue against that — the type of high society event that she can remember idolizing and dreaming after as a student . she and wulf and bren had attended a few smaller than tonight’s when they were trent’s , showing off the poise that only he could have taught them . but astrid is in trent’s place now , and she has no broken children to display . of course , that puts more focus on her — the youngest , the newest , the first — even if others may attempt to talk around her .

her hands press gently against the muscles of wulf’s back , rooting herself to him . without shoes on any longer , her dress drags on the floor , but she can’t find it in herself to do anything about it . they’re home , they’ve succeeded , and she has @rabespricht as ever to rely on . “ no more for tonight , at least . i can protect you from that . ”

[arc-erzmagier]

EADWULF SENDS : we’re okay— everything is gonna be okay.

it’s a lie , or at least it feels like a lie . but she knows that wulf is hurting just as much as she is , both outside and in — that they’ve kept ( or been made to keep ) their distance from one another thus far for a reason , whatever that reason may be . but to go from three to two to only one in the wake of such world - shattering other changes . . . it’d been an unexpected blow , after years of half - expected strikes . the three of them had done this together , would always do it together . . . but it had gone down in flames .

so maybe it’s a lie , but it’s a lie that astrid is desperate to hear . she tucks her head against wulf’s chest , for comfort and to hide the sting of tears . she should be stronger than this — stronger than the pull towards sentiment , than being pulled into the dark hole left behind by bren’s absence . @rabespricht is her only anchor — but she is also his .

her fingers curl tightly onto the back of his shirt , holding him against her ( and her against him ) . it’s a comfort above all others she’s allowed to know to be in his arms again . she won’t let him out of them until she must . “ we’ll be okay , ” she echoes , as if convincing herself . they have to be okay — for the empire .