Gardenia: Are your apprentice and their LI married? If not, are there plans to be married in the future?
Cassius and Julian get married around three years after the events of The Arcana’s plot! So there are absolutely plans to get married in the future.
Water Lily: Does your apprentice or their LI cry at their wedding?
Both of them cry, they’re too soft not to. Neither of them expected this moment to actually happen, to be real, so they’re both so, so happy and a little overwhelmed :’>
Orchid: Where do your apprentice and their LI plan to go for their honeymoon?
Honestly? Probably nowhere. They want to spend it with family, and family is in Vesuvia.
(Though there is a trip to Prakra planned in the near future since they’ve never been)
Modern AU Hector Vasallis x Julian (featuring Azalea and Imalia! OMG I was so happy...)
Hector’s band is performing at the Rowdy Raven. Julian is not prepared for the performance.
Ko-Fi ☕
Julian sat in the parking lot of the Rowdy Raven for a moment, checking his hair in the rear-view mirror. His phone lit up. He picked it up and saw the photo of Azalea giving the raspberry, signalling her text. He opened up his messages and saw the words "Are you here yet?" followed by "they're doing sound checks, the band is gonna start soon!!!"
She had been really insistent that he be here tonight. One of her favorite cover bands was playing live, and she had invited her friends to come and enjoy the show with her. Another text, this one a photo. In it, he saw four faces. Azalea, her aqua-coral ombré hair up in pigtails, making a pained face. Next to her was Imalia, glaring. In the background, Asra could be seen taking a swig of beer from a bottle, and just beyond him was Lucio making a lewd gesture with his golden fore and middle fingers. Julian snorted and replied with "On my way in, hold your horses. Geez."
He climbed out of his car, locked the door, and closed it. From outside, he could hear random chords on a guitar as it was being tuned and checked. His boots clicked on the steps as he reached for the door and opened it. Inside was the sound of many patrons talking and laughing. He walked inside, and shut the door. Immediately he was greeted with a loud "JULIAN!!!!" He barely had time to react before Azalea hurled herself at him, jumping up and landing on him like a koala on a tree.
He hugged her strongly. "Sorry I'm late," he said, "traffic was a bitch."
"It's okay, at least you made it before the first set," she said, climbing off of him. Her blue and gold eyes flashed. "You can't miss Sonata of Whoa. You CAN'T!"
Julian chuckled to himself. That was a clever band name.
"Nice duds!" Azalea said. "Very hawt."
Julian looked down at himself. He'd decided on a black button up shirt (with the buttons only halfway closed) and a pair of fitted grey slacks. He wore his usual thigh-high boots.
"Thanks," he said. "Looks like you went with Anime Raver Chick?"
She looked cute in a powder blue Sailor Moon babydoll t-shirt and high-riding pink Daisy Duke shorts. She sported rainbow leg warmers and purple Chuck Taylor shoes.
"No other way to do it!" Azalea said. "C'mon, we've got good seats, and the Bitters are free flowing tonight." She leaned in close. "Lucio's paying."
Azalea grabbed his hand and pulled him through the crowd. At the table, he saw four chairs. Imalia and Asra took up two of them, and Lucio sat in the third. Asra waved them over.
"Ilya! Sit down, we just got a new pitcher." Julian did as he was told, and a frosty glass of Salty Bitters was slid to him. He couldn't help but blush slightly at Asra's outfit. He was wearing rainbow tye-dyed leggings and a neon pink fishnet shirt that Julian distinctly remembered stripping off of him when they had dated several years ago. He had on neon blacklight reactive eyeshadow and numerous glow necklaces and bracelets. He noted that Asra was also wearing a new choker. Black leather with a ruby-encrusted "I" charm. A glance to Imalia gave an explanation, since she was wearing an identical choker with an opal "A". She was sporting a red and black leather corset with tight black pants and leather knee-high boots. Her brown and burgundy hair was in its typical ponytail. She fist-bumped Julian as he sat.
Julian noticed that there wasn't enough chairs for everyone. He was about to offer to swipe another, when Azalea simply sat down in Lucio's lap. Lucio looked like a mafioso, with an open silk shirt in crimson red and white pants. And way. Too. Many. Gold. Chains.
Julian took a swig of his drink. "Lots of people here to see a cover band," he remarked.
Azalea gave him a petulant look. "Hey, don't knock it," she said. "Cover bands have some of the absolute best talent that just gets overlooked. The lead singer tonight...man, he's amazing. Kicks Mick Jagger's ass, seriously."
"Hey, don't disrespect Mick Jagger," Lucio said.
Azalea smiled mischievously at him. "Mick Jagger doesn't have a magical voice, if ya get my meaning, babe."
"So...this guy sings with magic?" Julian asked
.
"Yes and no," Asra said. "He's genuinely talented, but he does seem to use a bit of song magic in his shows."
"Voice layering without all the clunky machines, you know," Imalia said. "Plus, if you can do it, why not?"
The hype man appeared on stage and the crowd erupted with applause.
"I hope you all brought towels," he said enthusiastically, "because you're all gonna be jizzing your pants! I give you the first secret wonder of the music world...SONATA! OF!! WHOA!!!"
Azalea leapt out of Lucio's lap and screamed at the top of her lungs along with everyone else in the bar. The sounds of synth in a catchy beat seemed to start out of nowhere. No one was on stage. Then suddenly there was a blast of smoke as several fog machines spilled their contents at the same time, absolutely covering the stage. The stage lights came on, covering the mist in several different colors and then with a blast of magical flame, the mist was totally gone and the band were on stage, instruments in hand. And front and center was the lead singer. He was around 5'4", clad in a denim hooded vest and leather pants. His very muscular arms and chest gleamed in the stage light. Atop his head was a crown of brown curls that fell around his golden eyes in a way that made Julian completely stop mid-sip.
"So hot
Out the box
Can we pick up the pace?
Turn it up,
Heat it up
I need to be entertained
Push the limit
Are you with it?
Baby, don't be afraid
I'm a hurt 'ya real good, baby"
Julian's eyes were glued. As the singer danced and gyrated on stage, Julian took in everything. Every movement, every sound. This guy was entrancing and the song had just started.
"Um...hey, Julian?" Imalia said.
"Let's go
It's my show
Baby, do what I say
Don't trip off the glitz
That I'm gonna display
I told ya
I'm a hold ya down until you're amazed
Give it to ya 'til your screaming my name!"
"Julian?"
He didn't respond. It was like he had frozen in place.
"Dude, you're spilling your drink!!"
Julian blinked and realized that while he had forgotten to drink his Bitters, he apparently hadn't forgotten to tilt the glass. Now the front of his shirt was completely soaked. Lucio cackled, holding up his phone. He'd been recording.
Imalia laughed. "Now you're back with us. Here." She waved her hand, and the beer on his shirt lifted away and flitted through the crowd into a garbage can. Imalia then took the glass from Julian and set it down on the table.
"Take time to ogle and THEN take a sip," she said, refilling the drink.
Asra had gotten up and danced along with Azalea, the two of them appearing to freeze in time each time the strobe lights in the rafters blinked. Julian's eyes went back up to the singer and he felt his entire body explode in heat. The singer was looking dead at him. Those eyes, like golden coins from a treasure long hidden, pierced Julian straight to the core. It was like the song had changed at was directed only to him.
"Oh! Don't you know what you got into?
Can you handle what I'm 'bout to do?
'Cause it's about to get rough for you
I'm here for your entertainment!"
The singer winked and continued the song, every so often looking at Julian. Julian felt like he needed air...but to leave while that specimen performed would be a travesty.
Each song afterwards took on a whole new meaning to Julian. "Story Ain't Over" by Avanstasia. "Runnin'" by Adam Lambert. And then, the cherry..."Angel" by Aerosmith. Everyone in the bar swayed to the music; Imalia and Asra and Azalea and Lucio all danced together in time to the beat, both couples gazing into each others' eyes. Julian desperately wished that beautiful creature on stage were doing the same with him. But his eyes never left Julian's. It were almost as if he were dancing with him, dedicating each note and word to him.
The spell was broken when the lights came up.
"Thanks for coming everyone, we will be in the back selling our album! Stop by the table and visit us!"
Oh. My. God. He has an accent. Slightly hard to place, but it had a Cajun lilt to it that made Julian want to seep through the floor in bliss. He stood up as the band all filed offstage and settled in the large booth in the back, the table littered with albums and merch. He felt a pang of jealousy as Azalea shot over to the table as soon as the singer was seated. Julian's face turned red as she spoke to him with animated gestures and he jumped up and gave her a huge hug.
"Don't even think about it, Curly," Julian heard next to him. He glanced over to see Lucio with his arms folded, a scowl on his face.
"C'mon, she's just talking to the guy," Julian grumbled. "This whole thing was her idea."
Julian felt a lump form in his chest when he saw the singer lean forward and say something conspiritory to Azalea. She glanced back at Julian and got a devilish smile. What was she doing?? She said something else, gesturing to their table, and the singer stood up and followed her. Julian felt himself panicking.
"Hey, guys, this is Hector!" Azalea proclaimed. "Thank him for his show, it was bomb!"
"Hell yes, you guys rock!" Imalia said. "Damn fine!"
"Yes, thank you so much, it was amazing," Asra chimed in.
Lucio didn't speak. He just puffed up his chest and pulled Azalea against him.
Those eyes fell on Julian and he felt his legs go weak. Hector leaned forward and reached for Julian's hand.
"Hector Vasallis," he said. "And you are, cher?"
Julian's mouth suddenly went bone dry. He opened his mouth to speak, but words completely failed him.
Imalia rolled her eyes. "That's Julian," she said. "Sorry, your performance has struck him dumb."
"That's sad, cher," Hector said. "I really like it when fans shout."
Julian felt heat from his chest to his ears. Holy shit, this man was fine. And his hands, strong and calloused, felt warm and gentle wrapped around his own.
"It...it was an amazing show," Julian somehow managed. Hector smiled.
"Why don't I buy you a drink? I'd love to get to know you better."
Julian evaporated into a cloud of steam before coming back to his senses.
"I'd, uh, really love that."
I am an Eldritch horror from another dimension who intends to devour you and claim your power for myself. I am amorphous, covered in eyes and tentacles and my touch can kill even a mazoku. How will you battle me?
“Why, by researching your kind and erecting barriers that kept you out in the first place. Preemptive measures deter OH-so-many headaches! As is, welcome to Ruby, I’m going to create an elaborate conspiracy theory that motivates Ceiphied’s forces to deal with you exclusively~! ”
Magician, what is something Asra has done in your realm that annoyed ypu?
Nothing! My realm exists for magical experimentation and discovery. The important thing is Asra learned something from all of his visits. Better he summon a lightning storm or cave in the sky where I can put things right again, instead of ruining his own gateway - or your realm. ~ 🦊💜
XDDDDD Yeah, I did a random search on YouTube for my username, and I found two videos with stories I posted to Reddit. OMG, I laughed my ass off! Give these guys some likes, they made my year!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kbGR2I7MTI
by Storytime (Mine is “Why Do All Jobs Require Polos?”)
For what it's worth, I loved reading what you wrote every single time you posted. Xelloss is my favorite character in my favorite anime, and I loved how you brought him to life. I know Slayers is a dwindling fandom, but we are still out there. You've got at least one fan cheering you on from the stands. 💖💖💖
AW! thank you! i really needed this boost of self-assurance, and i appreciate your kind words! i’ll keep with it!
