[SE] pieces of the wild, burning sky

tell the wolves I'm home

Unwinding, relaxing, and repose were difficult concepts for the Sword on his best days; but far easier within the sanctity of those he loved. Simplistic, perhaps, but within the thickets and doldrums and cauldrons of brewing maelstroms, the ease and comfort of his world was minimal and tight-knit. Closed off, reserved, and sanctioned for the few; where the walls weren’t so high, or they’d learned how to climb past the contorted barricades. And for a few moments they’d be able to pretend the realm outside wasn’t brutal and he wouldn’t be amidst those fighting onslaughts upon Starfall – that maybe they’d be searching for flowers and recalling nostalgic whims from years before. Rare indulgences and necessary inclinations; commanded by hearts and lungs, rather than anything else lingering and devising.

Leaving Erebos with a trusted babysitter had probably been the largest lurch in his heart; but it’d only be for a few hours, and both his companions would continue to serve as staunch bodyguards. He relegated the circumstances with packed snacks along the rocks, though he ignored them for now with the promise of the springs – already half-way enshrouded by mist and plumes and depths in one of the shallower sections. Leaning against a large boulder, his fingers toyed with the water, not yet unwinding into the diabolical and mischievous, but the grin and his tilted head towards the Evergreen might have hinted at ongoing, fiendish notions. A flicker of his gaze settled upon her, a joke mustered somewhere behind his teeth and a bramble alongside. “Come help me make a decision?” Whether a taunt, a promise, or something else altogether, he didn’t say; merely a hand extended from his sovereign state.

the ressurected sword

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Evie

And it's peaceful in the deep -
cause either way you cannot breathe

Being apart from Erebos - and Micah, always willing to stay behind and join the ranks as a guardian alongside Zuriel and Belial - is never easy, but it certainly frees up her mind for other things. Normally things like fretting given the current state of the world, but today’s plan dissuades that as well. Rather adrift (though not unpleasantly so just yet) Evie follows her husband into the steamy depths of Frey’s Breath and staunchly ignores the what-ifs that normally plague her. 

It’s easier to forget them when Deimos turns that smile her way; a slant of a thing that hints at mischief, but isn’t yet ready to give up the game. Evie’s hand reaches back for his without thinking, physically incapable of denying any request to be nearer to him. Their palms have not yet gone wrinkled and pruny, but Evie knows they’ll linger here more than long enough to achieve it in time. 

“My counsel is yours,” she delivers with an elegant air that is firmly at odds with her own twitching, anticipatory smile.

no need to pray, no need to speak

tell the wolves I'm home

Juvenility was amongst some of his favored dispositions – when one could look past the stoicism, reticent, distant, aloof, and reserved portions of his nature. But Evie always opened up portions of mischief in him, and as she took his hand, he easily guided her towards his frame, there to linger as she cast her own judicious airs. His head tilted to study her, jaw angled in amusement, but eyes narrowing as he contemplated a lifetime of doubts, suspicions, and spite into the fold. “And it is always appreciated,” he murmured, fingers already intertwining with hers as he contorted the water into a lulling wave.

Lowering his voice to a whisper, as if they were involved in a great conspiracy, the pretenses flared to boyish pretenses. “I have been invited by Sunjata to Ru’s birthday party.” Which would probably send a shockwave all on its own – and though he didn’t lose his grin, the Evergreen would be able to note the changes in it; the ability to simply sink and simmer and wallow in those arcane abilities of malice and rancor. “He plans to propose to her.” His nose wrinkled on impulse and inclinations, before truly getting to the heart of the matter. “Should I go?”

the ressurected sword

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Evie

And it's peaceful in the deep -
cause either way you cannot breathe

His sincerity is a warm ribbon that ties through her vertebrae, keeping her standing tall against all odds and opponents. Even here amidst steam and the faint scent of salt, with what is surely mischief and nonsense on the horizon, it's worthy of a brief moment of appreciation before he bends toward her to impart the true meaning behind his request.

A sharp inhale denotes her surprise - at Sunjata's boldness perhaps, or the slow mending(?) of the two's relationship(?), but also at Deimos' unwavering smile. It's the type of news she'd expect to be delivered with a furrowed brow and a scowl that has a touch too full of a bottom lip to it to protect Deimos from Evie calling it a pout. Which means something really good. But her kind of good, or his?

Her strangled noise of excitement covers up the long-suffering tone from Deimos. "Wow! How - well, I thought they already had, really!" Evie isn't privy to the details per se, but Deimos had shared enough of the series of events to have a general idea of the relationship between Flood and Valkyrie. Hotaru leaving Halo had simply seemed, well...notable. Evie had assumed it was either pregnancy or proposal. So perhaps she's still right, if a bit delayed? The natural excitement of another engagement announcement is hard to stop the momentum of, but her husbands moue is a rather convincing reason.

Squeezing his hand, Evie softens her grin into an understanding smile. "She would want you there even if there wasn't going to be a proposal. You two burying at least part of the hatchet will be the best gift you can give her I'm sure," she teases, grin returning like a flash of lightning before continuing. "But only if it's a level of discomfort you can handle. She wouldn't want your suffering either." Which puts it back on Deimos. Oops. "If you want my personal opinion, I say go. Every person I could count on to be at our wedding meant the world to me; having you in the crowd will only make the moment sweeter for her."

no need to pray, no need to speak

tell the wolves I'm home

Oh, Deimos had certainly pouted upon hearing the initial news – he’d had enough time to recover to relay the rest of the announcement, and subsequent decision, to the Evergreen. The entire way home had been one unrelenting stormcloud of petulance, irritation, and scowling – now it was simply analytical wandering and meandering through the muck and mire of his emotions. So he snorted at Evie’s initial reaction, because there’d been some portions of that mixed within previous years and relationships that he didn’t understand, nor quite frankly, wanted to know about.

Intertwining their fingers, and pretending to casually inspect hers as a way to listen and maul through the bridges, gaps, and vexations, he sighed. Maybe it was his discomfort playing through everything else – the likely probability of him being the outsider, lurking on the periphery, the harsh outline and juxtaposition of being shoved to the side, and the never-ending, seething hatred of the Flood. “I am certain she will expect something else,” he said with a light grin, thinking of the Valkyrie and her avarice, but with an air of fondness hidden behind another long and weary breath.

Perhaps he’d been hoping Evie would simply say no, and he could’ve been done with the whole thing. “My suffering would likely amuse her.” Which, in other circumstances, would probably be a mutual thing. But he also hadn’t ever given her a reason to feel unwanted or useless in situations. “I think I fear we have lost connections…or something,” he couldn’t quite articulate the meaning, and he huffed. “I know that is probably not true, but…,” it sat in his chest regardless. So his grin became half-tucked in the corner of his mouth, waiting to hear any other revelations before making a decision.

the ressurected sword

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Evie

And it's peaceful in the deep -
cause either way you cannot breathe

Evie's fingers are his to distract himself with as he pleases (as is any part of her) but it feels all the sweeter to know he needs it in some small way as something more than idle configurations. Though his smile is a fleeting thing, she revels in it for the moment it's allowed, glad to pull the strands of sunlight through the fog of uncertainty and reluctance.

Folding her open hand around his where it tangles with her knuckles, Evie steps closer to better look up into his eyes where he ducks his head. "She moved away from one of her longest homes. We got married - then pregnant - then became new parents. She became a demigod. We grew a demigod." Her laugh is still partially incredulous over that one honestly. Evie wouldn't change that for the world, but it's another piece to a puzzle of insanity that she can't believe has come together in such a short amount of time.

Squeezing her fingers around his, Evie lifts his hand to press a kiss to his knuckles, blue eyes shining over their tangled hands. "What you feel is true to you, no matter explanations or context." And she will never tell him what he's feeling is wrong. "But so much has happened lately that it's understandable that you've drifted. She may feel disconnected too. But the only way to fix that is to see her." Even if the form that takes is as a begrudging birthday party attendee.

no need to pray, no need to speak

tell the wolves I'm home

Comforting touches and moments not so fleeting brushed against him as reminders of living – not in the past, where things bombarded, collided, and configured in rushes of irritation and contempt – fingers folding over and hands intertwined. So he basked in that; tangible threads of the Evergreen, of instances where they could simply converse and decide on little things such as birthday parties, rather than other artifices of their region or the next damning, impending blow. Sinking back against the rock, he sighed, listening as she snagged at his hand, and brought it to her lips; his actions became a mirror, lips softly placed against ridges and curves across her skin.

Then his gaze was pinpointed on hers, a long breath flickering through all the embers of his ire and snorting at the amount of life-altering events they’d encountered in a short span of time. What once might’ve seemed unreasonable and ridiculous had become another part of normalcy – and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Save for perhaps a little more planning on the latter; but they hadn’t been given a say in those regards. “Sounds as though we have been busy,” he added with the boyish and juvenile wrinkle to his nose.

But where he’d been looking for an excuse to quietly skulk and slink away from anything resembling discomfort, she gave forth other designations, and now he had to wonder if it was his fault in the detachment. His last invitation had been in the prior season, amidst hunting. But things could be a two-way street as well, and she knew he was frequently occupied. Not wanting to take the full brunt of the blame, he simply furrowed his brows, pondering over it further and striving to think of a noteworthy excuse in exchange. “How dare you be reasonable. But thank you,” came on a deep, grumbling appreciation, despite everything – though it would require further mulling on his part to decide where or not to join the masses.

Instead, he lifted his gaze back to her, hand tugging her purposefully closer. “How did your talk with Hadama go?”

the ressurected sword

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Evie

And it's peaceful in the deep -
cause either way you cannot breathe

She is certainly not placing the blame on his shoulders - on anyone's, really - when there has simply been so much since the impact. Evie can scarcely recall whether Hotaru had departed before or after the event, which merely reinforces how hectic the past seasons have been.

Humming pleasantly past the twist of her smile, Evie's humid-dark lashes are auburn around the silent I told you so angle of her eyes. Though what she actually says is, "I'm always reasonable, that's part of why you love me so much." Many wouldn't consider Deimos to be unreasonable, but the cruel voices and uncertainties in his head are a private thing, and deeply illogical to boot. Evie prides herself on cleaning them out like toxic dustbunnies.

Moving closer without struggle, Evie's face takes a somber downturn this time around. "As good as I could have hoped. It's...we aren't going to go back to what we were, at least not anytime soon." Gods, but Evie has survived on hope and nothing more for half her life, and she doesn't know how to stop now. "I think he has more feelings for Maea than he lets on - or knows about himself. And I know love can blind, but..." Evie bites her lip, expression torn as her eyes go somewhere past Deimos' shoulder to a place only she can see. "I guess it's the gods evening the scales, making me come second to Maea for once and realizing how awful it feels." She had thought she'd served her penance, but it stings too deep to be anything else.

no need to pray, no need to speak

tell the wolves I'm home

He could detect the telltale look with an arch of his brow, but snorted when she didn’t relent the foregone phrase and conclusion. Instead of forming some other primordial rebuttal, he simply leaned forward, brushing his mouth upon hers, head tilting as he studied her beneath his own long lashes. “True, amongst a myriad of other reasons.” The ghost of his juvenile grin remained, pondering if she’d prefer he’d wax poetical on the litany of rationales and expressions of his love; or to dangle it like a tease, a taunt, an enticement.

He probably would’ve gone further into lures, his hands slinking down her sides and potentially tugging at swimsuit strings, but as the subject matter changed, so did his motivations. Support layered amidst his mind and eyes rather than a hooded, alluring glance, watching as somber intonations flickered over her firebrand features, wondering if he should’ve known better. Were it up to the Sword, he wouldn’t have bothered with Hadama at all. The demigod had made his points and ventures quite clear in that meeting, and despite the apologies, Deimos held no trust for the stoic imbecile. Aligning himself with Maea had been one more chink in the armor, given her foolish, stupid, selfish, and bewildering nature.

At the semblance of feelings for the Ancient, Deimos couldn’t help his expression turning into one of brief disgust. Hands resting on her hips, he leaned further into the rock, trying to summon something beyond revulsion. “You have far more patience and understanding than he deserves.” Especially after putting their son, and a whole host of others, including his own co-leader, in danger. “The fact that he placed Maea above everyone in that room was difficult to watch or comprehend. Did he give an explanation?” Or was it simply that – love beyond cognizance?

the ressurected sword

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Evie

And it's peaceful in the deep -
cause either way you cannot breathe

Evie falls for it gleefully, waggling her brows at him in silent encouragement to expound that she doesn’t truly need. “Any new ones recently?” Her levity is distinctly playful, though it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility; Evie finds new reasons to fall in love with Deimos all the time. 

Alterations of mood may suspend wandering hands for now, but given how infrequently they take these indulgent respites - and therefore the hours ahead of them that they’ve preemptively secured - the opportunity will surely come again. For now, she shares openly with him, though her lips twitch against her will at his disdain. It’s somehow nice that he focuses on that instead of the shadow of her fear of penance, starving the illogical fear of any attention or encouragement. Exactly as it deserves - or so she hopes. 

Leaning forward against him as he leans back against the rock behind him, Evie takes the compliment with a wan smile. The explanation however is not quite so simple. “Hindsight makes explanations hard on both sides. He thought she wouldn’t be willing to wipe us all out in that moment, so taking Maea away wasn’t a priority.” But she can’t defend it entirely, and the imprint of her teeth in her bottom lip makes her hesitance clear about admitting it. “But he also compared her to a shark - one you don’t look away from or turn your back to. But he did. Even if it was later.” Not much later - though Evie had felt like time was crawling that night, so maybe it was faster than she remembers? “I told him my trust in him is badly damaged, ‘cause it is. But I want us to work on that - together. He’s one of the few friends I have, and yeah he messed up but…” Evie shrugs, eyes finally regaining their clarity as they focus back on Deimos. “Maybe it’ll be a mistake, but I want to have faith in him.” In people at large, and their ability to change. She had changed so much, and maybe her belief that everyone else can follow in her footsteps will burn her, but she believes this is her true atonement; to extend the second chance to others that she’d had to find on her own.

no need to pray, no need to speak

tell the wolves I'm home

The open encouragement made him laugh, in spite of all the other circumstances surrounding and pervading, twisting and turning. They could only pierce so far here, in the corners and shelters of their own making, and he followed the persistent lines with a whisper to her ear, lips brushing over the outer shell. “Your generosity, I think.” And perhaps not to permit her evasion so easily, he lifted his gaze back to hers, studying her with every air of mischief. “Any new ones for me?” Because sometimes those affirmations alone carried him through on darker days, with more potentially building on the horizon.

He'd rather trade the reasons for their devotion and love than delve further into Hadama and Maea’s plights, but there were distinctions likely both of them needed to understand. “So he painted himself into a contradiction.” Deimos had firm suspicions that the merman turned demigod was merely backtracking on an illogical choice, burned by the regrets, consequences, and the sum of all the ridiculous parts. It had taken some time for him to even send apologies, and by then, it had been far too late in the Sword’s estimation. His solution to it all would be to find Evie some better friends, but he allowed a long sigh to billow through.

The temptation to sink beneath the water and forget all of it didn’t escape his mind, but he tended to the schematics and nature of everything still. “I commend you on your efforts. I will place no trust in him at all,” he warned, a note of caution in the rumble of his tone, in the designation of matters at hand. “His actions were enough.” Bewildering, stupefying, cowardly, selfish, and wholly asinine – and maybe this made Evie far better than him, because he didn’t forgive and forget things that endangered his own. “I hope, for your sake, and many others, that he has learned from his errors.”

the ressurected sword

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Evie

And it's peaceful in the deep -
cause either way you cannot breathe

It’s something she has no need to blame on environmental factors, but the flush of pleasure and fluster is so similar in shade and placement to the color already brought to her face by the steaming baths that it would be the easiest thing in the world to claim correlation. Yet despite the heat she shivers as his lips brush the delicate edge of her ear, imparting compliments and praise from the heart of the only person she seeks to impress. “Your faith,” she murmurs, a touch breathless but leaning on the certainty of her answer. “Not in the gods, but in your family, and the future. Not quite optimism yet - but something similar.” Her eyes crinkle at the corners with playful ribbing there. Optimistic is not an attribute she’d assign to her husband, but the change in him is evident all the same. Certainty, bedrock, the building of habits and the benefits of reinforced positive behavior - call it what you will, but it’s something she loves to see growing in him. 

So as the topic shifts and changes, sour notes and disappointment still on their tongues even if not toward each other, Evie banishes them by wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing their chests together until she can feel the faint beat of his heart through his sternum. “We can’t control the actions of others, hope or second chances or not. And I don’t see any fins in this water, so let’s enjoy that hm?” Briefly she wonders if Mer can even withstand the temperatures in the springs, but she banishes that too. Kissing Deimos soundly, her fingers play gently at his nape, thumb following the trail of damp hair that clings like a damp shadow to his skin. Evie doesn’t want to talk or even think about other men right now. The one she has in her arms is all she needs. This is supposed to be a vacation after all.

no need to pray, no need to speak

tell the wolves I'm home

Her response gave him pause, tilting his head initially in brief glimpses of confusion, before the entirety of her answer pushed past the bewilderment. He did unfurl another laugh at the result; for no, he’d never be called optimistic, but it’d been the combined forces of striving, with great difficulty on some days, to not slide back into melancholy and trepidation, and to linger on the present, on things he already had and held and cherished.

Like this one – with Evie in his grasp and a gratified, content rumble pushing through his chest as their lips met. Then there was nothing else in his mind – not Hadama, not false friends, not void configurations knocking at walls, just her. “I think I can do that,” he murmured against her mouth, billowing configurations of air over her flushed skin, before opting to show her just exactly how much his appreciation and faith proffered.

[FIN]

the ressurected sword

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd