you've gone ass up

NIKI

There's something to be said for being humbled by the world. Not that Niki's ego is particularly out of control on a good day - not when it comes to physical ability, at least - but it's always nice to get a reminder to stay grounded. In this case, the reminder is rather literal.

Having been on his way to the Sidhe Village with the intention of selling some of the wares he's made (there had been a backlog thanks to his impromptu, two-season sabbatical to Torchline), the rain came on hard and fast, not exactly unexpected, but nevertheless worse than anticipated.

Niki's intention had been to take cover under a large, leafy oak until the worst of the downpour had passed, but as ever, it only takes one misstep to send anyone ass over tits, and he's got the disadvantage of being an anyone with a bum leg and the constitution of a paper bag.

He thinks he tripped over a root somewhere en route beneath the leafy oaken canopy, but the next thing he's aware of is the sprawling forest overhead, having tumbled through undergrowth and down into a ditch somewhere. The rain is a steady drum on his face, the boy squinting and raising a hand to swipe it away, wincing at what will end up being quite a nice bruise along his cheekbone when it starts to heal.

stay your pretty eyes on course
keep the memories of who i was before

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

VESPER

The Wildwood presses in around him with its usual sly intent, pathways bending and unbending in ways that feel almost familiar now that he’s taken up temporary residence beneath its watchful canopy. Vesper moves with unhurried grace beneath the broad sweep of ancient boughs, letting the rain break harmlessly overhead while the roots and wandering paths shift beneath his boots. He is not wet, nor lost, nor particularly inconvenienced; he has learned how to walk where the forest wants him, and where the forest would prefer he not tread, he drifts in a ripple of shadow that keeps the worst of the weather from touching him.

He is thinking of Sidhe Village and the quiet stretch of hours ahead when the sound reaches him; a sharp tumble, a startled breath, the unmistakable skid of someone meeting the forest floor with more enthusiasm than intent. The Wildwood likes its jokes, and this is one the demigod can also appreciate. A few lazy steps forward, a brief misty-step that blurs the space between two moss-dark trunks, and he emerges near enough to see the necromancer sprawled in a ditch, rain tracing unkind lines down his cheek.

A slow smile curves across Vesper’s mouth, sly and merciless and far too entertained for the current weather. One brow arches as he regards the scene with theatrical consideration. "Well," he drawls, voice warm with amusement as he leans a shoulder against the nearest tree, "I was wondering when I'd run into you again." The faint shimmer of his constellation freckles catches in a break of silvered light as his gaze drifts pointedly to the mud streaking Niki’s coat, then back to the necromancer’s face with a soft, scandalised hum. "Didn't think I'd see you on your back quite so quickly, though."

the stars are pulling at my hair, and every part of me
and you don't understand how I bleed

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

NIKI

The ringing in his ears has more or less stopped by the time Niki receives some very unwelcome companionship, though he'd really rather like it if the forest turned itself the right way up again soon. Inhaling a few shallow, painful breaths as his diaphragm protests the hard landing, there's no hiding the discomfort in the grimace he shoots in Vesper's general direction. "I see time has not improved your wit," he grunts, elbows propped in the dirt so he might start to lever himself into a sitting position.

He doesn't meet the demigod's eye, his thoughts flaring immediately with shame and embarrassment, though it's lucky in some ways that the pain of his landing somewhat overshadows all else. Nothing is broken, he doesn't think, but while having the air knocked out of one's lungs is unpleasant for anyone, for Niki it takes a bit longer to come around and recover. And that's before he even considers finding his cane and getting his feet back beneath him.

And all the while, who else to have as a smug audience than the man who somehow always manages to get under his skin?

"What pleasure does the Greatwood owe you this time around?"

stay your pretty eyes on course
keep the memories of who i was before

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

VESPER

Vesper’s chuckle is low and warm, the sort of sound that suggests he’s genuinely entertained. "No improvement is better than backsliding," he murmurs, offering a lazy shrug as if the matter has been thoroughly settled. His eyes sweep over Niki with languid assessment, constellation freckles catching the shifting glow of the Will-o-Wisps. "Which is more than I can say for your walking." 

The embarrassment simmering beneath Niki’s composure brushes the edges of his awareness, bright as a struck match, but Vesper lets it pass by without even the courtesy of acknowledgement. He has no interest in wounded pride. The mind beneath it—sharp, bristling, and delightfully reactive—is the part that holds his attention. He pushes away from the tree with unhurried grace, shadow slipping along his boots like an obedient tide. "Oh, you haven’t heard?" he asks, tone turning airy, almost conversational. "I’m staying here. For the foreseeable future, actually."

The smile he gives Niki is bright enough to be cruel. There’s genuine delight in it, the kind that comes from discovering a favourite toy hasn’t been lost after all. "I can’t wait to bump into you more." His gaze drifts downward, to the mud-slick posture Niki is still struggling out of, and the smile curves just a little sharper at the edges. "Or step over you," he amends lightly, "as the situation requires."

the stars are pulling at my hair, and every part of me
and you don't understand how I bleed

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

NIKI

"And your charm is as acerbic as ever," Niki adds, though it's mostly to himself by now as he gets himself more or less into a sitting position. Wiping his now muddy hands clean on his coat, he uses his sleeve to push his wet hair out of his face, his breath still shallow and his thoughts seizing with pain. To hear that Vesper is apparently here for the foreseeable future is just the cherry on the top, Niki humming an acknowledgement that's barely there despite the way his mind bristles at the news.

"Alas, the village forgot to invite me to your welcome parade," he mutters. "I cannot wait to find somewhere else to vacation until you tire of the woods." Glancing around now instead of at Vesper, he finally spots his cane a few feet away. With a flex of his fingers, it promptly disappears from the undergrowth and, in its place, a ring glimmers on Niki's hand.

"Well? I shall not stop you from stepping over me, but if you could make it quick, I would appreciate it."

stay your pretty eyes on course
keep the memories of who i was before

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

VESPER

Vesper hums as if he’s received a sincere compliment, the sound warm and indulgent, and for a moment he looks almost pleased enough to thank him. The ripple of pain that flares through Niki’s thoughts a heartbeat later, sharp and constricting, draws an immediate, displeased reaction instead; his fingers lift to rake once through his hair, an unconscious gesture that betrays how little he enjoys the sensation, even when it belongs to someone who irritates him as thoroughly as Niki does.

"Oh, did they?" he says lightly, lips pursing into something theatrically sympathetic. "I’m sure that sort of oversight never happens to you."

His gaze flicks to the sudden gleam of the ring where the cane had been, brows lifting with quiet interest before he straightens. Folding his hands loosely at his sides, his shadows curl lazily around his boots, the demigod looks down at Niki with open amusement. "If stopping me is actually in the cards," he says pleasantly, the smile that follows is all invitation and provocation, sharp-edged and deliberate. "I’d quite like to see you go ahead and do it."

the stars are pulling at my hair, and every part of me
and you don't understand how I bleed

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

NIKI

Arching an eyebrow at the way Vesper's expression flinches between smug enjoyment and sudden displeasure, Niki nevertheless doesn't comment on it. It's none of his business what Safrin's son finds so disagreeable - though he can hazard a guess that it's something to do with him - and so the necromancer lets his gaze fall away again to focus on the slick, muddy ground beneath him. "However frequent the oversight, I would not have come even if I had been invited," he assures Vesper.

About to summon his cane again and begin the embarrassing and painstaking ascent to his own two feet, Vesper's sudden provocation is unexpected to the point where Niki finds a laugh spilling from his lips very much without his permission. "And risk angering the goddess of the stars? Perish the thought," he mutters, turning his face up towards the other man once again.

"Besides," he says, "we both know I cannot do anything to you. If that is what you wanted to hear me say, there you have it."

stay your pretty eyes on course
keep the memories of who i was before

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

VESPER

Vesper shrugs with exaggerated magnanimity, the movement smooth and careless as rain whispers through the leaves overhead. "Ah, but isn’t it always so nice to be invited?" he asks, offering a smile that is almost saccharine in its sweetness, all charm on the surface and nothing at all reaching his eyes.

That laugh—brief, involuntary—is a delight in its own right, and Vesper savours the texture of it as it ripples through Niki’s thoughts, bright and sharp and gone too quickly. A soft click of his tongue follows, not cruel so much as faintly disappointed. "Pity," he muses, tone thoughtful. "You did say you wouldn’t stop me. I’d hoped that meant you could, not that you were merely narrating the obvious." His sigh is theatrical, long-suffering in the way of someone indulging a familiar irritation. "For all the things you aren’t, I never took you for someone fond of empty words," he adds mildly, as though this is a genuine lapse rather than a calculated prod.

With a grin that flashes bright and knowing, he lifts one long leg as if to step neatly over where Niki still occupies the forest floor, pausing just long enough for the implication of how easy it would be to wack Vesper between the legs with his cane to hang there between them. His gaze flicks down, smirk sharpening with the unspoken awareness of exactly how foolish that would be. A low chuckle slips free, and the world ripples, shadow folding in on itself as Vesper misty-steps a few paces away, rain still failing to touch him. He turns as he goes, lifting a hand in a casual wave over his shoulder.

"I’ll be seeing you," he calls back merrily, already melting into the trees as the Wildwood quietly rearranges itself around him.

~FIN

the stars are pulling at my hair, and every part of me
and you don't understand how I bleed

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!