ᴮʟ̲ɪ̲ɢ̲ʜ̲ᴛ̲ ᴏ̲ꜰ ᴀ̲ᴘ̲ᴏ̲ʟ̲ʟ̲ᴏ̲

suddenly, he wanted to know more, found himself turning to it instead of away. ❛ generally, yes, but sometimes it— lightens beneath the sun. ❜ and wasn't his friend just that? glory personified, temper vibrant, quick and strong, a statue-esq centurion that turned heads. flattery found the sparrow at last. he had no complaints, preening thunderously inside; who wouldn't want to be in kenneth's dreams at least once?

❛ i see that you are now. ❜  which was to say, it was an effect of his words, or perhaps the simplicity of understanding james better than james understood himself. ❛ burning, that is. ❜

what a thing to hear. had anyone else spoken those words, james might have been flattered. instead, he felt a swift sinking in his gut and a tingling sensation crawling at the base of his spine. he looked up from where he sat at the wooden table and frowned. it was dark out, the sky pitch black, the stars winking tiredly. at his elbow, a candle burned, the warm, flickering light illuminating his supplies. his hands. his throat. he'd been trying for over an hour to pen a letter to oliver, but no words had come; nothing seemed adequate.

PROMPTS FOR ORDINARY THINGS THAT FEEL INTIMATE / Accepting

HE CAN'T HELP THE SHORT LAUGH THAT ESCAPES HIS LIPS WHEN THE HORSE PLAYFULLY NUDGES HIS CHEST WITH HER VELVETY NOSE. Epona had been by his side since she was just a filly, and that had created a connection that makes them more than just rider and mount. THEY ARE COMPANIONS. Ones who know each other perfectly and help the other when needed ❝ See? They have their own language, just like us ❞ he begins with a smile, glancing at Kenneth while he pats her forehead.

❝ They pin their ears back when they are angry, they whinny when they are happy, they drop their heads when they are tired... ❞ he explains. They were simple signs that spoke volumes if you were willing to pay attention to them and that now are telling Link that, despite the joy of seeing him, what Epona is really interested in is the smell of carrots coming from him. So he takes one from his pocket and gives it to her, stepping back once she takes it so that the horse can enjoy it in peace.

his hostility holds no bite, like a crackle of electricity without the sting against her fingers. he knocks on his helmet, and ahsoka almost wants to copy the gesture, reach across the gaping space between them and rap on his armor. younger ahsoka would have done that. youthful clone wars ahsoka would have found amusement in doing so. she would have brandished a mischievous smile and used the playful knock as a transition into more conversation... but she is no longer the teenager at the center of the war, and @daylighter is not the lost jedi she so desperately yearned to find. he's been found. he's there. after you, he says, and the togruta nods respectfully.

it's a fight like they're used to, like they've done so many times before both together and galaxies apart. ken is incredible in the gunner's seat — ahsoka watches with great interest and finds herself thieving his techniques for her own attacks as they battle. the viewports gift them a view to the theatre of warfare (explosions and gunfire, the crashing of ships, the violence of silence), but it doesn't take long before kenneth insists they go out there and deal with it first hand. get your suit. he sounds like anakin. it makes the sting all the more difficult to bear.

when the ship takes the hit, the staggering reality sits in, that the rebels were behind in the quality of craft against an ever growing empire. ❛ i do. often. it's much quieter that way. ❜  he says this as he makes his way to the exit after her, stopping short of when she hands out the suits, which he turns his eyes too and then back at her again with mild amusement. he knew exactly what she was trying to angle at, but the urge to deny it had softened. instead, he shrugged his shoulders. ❛ well, someone's got to make sure you don't screw it up. not that you're opposed. ❜  a baseless taunt, and his voice didn't do much to sell it either.

be my friend,    and they will be yours in kind.    but there are unspoken words lingering in the air,    opening a wound in alucard's mind that fills with all sorts of deprecating thoughts.    and if you are not,    they will be your enemy.    if you are not,    there will be no friends who walk with you amongst both your father's and mother's kind.    nor hell's kind.    he is barely intimidated by a threat his own mind makes up,    YET THE UNEASE LINGERS LIKE STILL WATER AT THE SURFACE OF HIS FOREARMS.    it ripples almost painfully.    the dhampir lifts his arm,    runs his fingers along his sleeve,    as though the still will disappear with one firm touch.    there is no reason for restlessness when he is in his own domain.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤthis is no military commander.    alucard often forgets the distinctions between that and anyone else who commands their people : his father had been no military commander either,    until he had amassed his army of night creatures and sent them all to do his bidding.

❝    you're very stubborn.    ❞        an observation that dhampir does not make out of anything impolite,    but rather out of candidness.    he would rather this connection be as open as possible between the two of them,    and he has no reason to believe kenneth has lied to him.    not out of anything but omission,    anyway,    but he does not worry past it.        ❝    you would visit my humble abode again,    just to convince me to visit ?    you might give up on me before a year is through.    or,    perhaps,    you might forget.    ❞        then he would no longer have safe passage amongst the undead of rome.    something he must consider,    and consider heavily.

the question is rhetorical of course, the son of dracula seemed to know it too. their eyes met over the still, dead air that hung between them coldly, enough that the breaths he feigned misted at his lips, a habit now from years amongst the ordinary folk of rome's outskirts. following the other's gaze, he looks up too, stained glass windows a familiar sight, but that which was the most so was the statuesque like being administering his patience to this request — and there, at last, he nods his head and sways his eyes to the side.

❛ very well, i can always follow the sun. ❜  the corner of his soft mouth twitches, but he knows when to take his leave for good and quietly makes to do so as an exit is permitted, and a time is given to reconvene at the prince's choosing the next morning. ❛ perhaps, in the end, we learn from eachother. ❜

when the sun arcs across the sky at last in the coming day, the roman priest hangs in the shade by the towering, loveless home that belonged to one too many phantoms. his mismatched eyes follow the tracery of damage that suggest a long lost fight. it is only when the gate stirs, a beastly and lethargic yawn, that his head turns to the encroach of a familiar set of boots. for a moment they meet stares and say nothing, as if the time between then and now has coalesced in — well, certainly something. a new understanding perhaps. the lack of surprise on his own face might suggest, this had gone exactly as he wanted.

⟢ verse : patron saint of rome, castlevania.

⁽ * ⁾ in summary this verse is set during the first castlevania series but takes inspo / lore drops from nocturne too. kenneth is a demigod turned vampire who is immune to light, called a daylighter back in the day — this is set around the context of the roman papacy in the 1400s, an institution that represented what had ruined his life back in 313 ad, when rome was christianised. after rapid persecution of pagans, kenneth fell into the deathless lupercal by accident to escape. there he discovered the artefact that the papacy was after in order to immortalise their creed, though unbeknownst to them it was not a christian artefact but a crown of apollo.

this starts off during the christianisation of ancient rome when the edict of milan was signed in 313 ad. kenneth was a known soldier for rome and was suspected of being a divinely gifted boy. to avoid the encroach of soldiers arresting and pillaging pagans in rome, he into the lupercal by accident during the fighting. while it saved his life, there was no way out, and he was destined to die. deliriously this is where he encounters the three fates of his old religion, who challenge him to prove he can evade death : accepting the bargain, he becomes fateless and, venturing into the cave, encounters the vampire remains of remus. losing the battle, he is turned into a vampire and eradicates remus in the aftermath, and discovers the crown of apollo, an old relic lost to time and emperorrs.

because there was no point to returning to the world above that had fallen, he went dormant to bide his time, and through the crown gained knowledge. his only companions were the growing number of sluggish undead ( mortals and thieves attempting to steal treasure over the years ... ) who, from a lack of food and layers of overgrown fungi, could hardly ever hurt him. through the crown's third eye, he could see the way rome was changing against its old customs under the papacy.

⁽ * ⁾ castlevania timeline :

       *      in the 1400s, he is awakened when the papacy attempts to excavate the palatine hill, in search of the very relic he's found, thinking it is a christian artefact that can immortalise the papacy's creed and keep them the power house in rome when challenging sects were rising up. slipping away, he watches the lupercal get destroyed. with these new powers and reality acquired, he begins a long-standing vendetta against the papacy.

⟢ verse : patron saint of rome, castlevania.

⁽ * ⁾ in summary this verse is set during the first castlevania series but takes inspo / lore drops from nocturne too. kenneth is a demigod turned vampire who is immune to light, called a daylighter back in the day — this is set around the context of the roman papacy in the 1400s, an institution that represented what had ruined his life back in 313 ad, when rome was christianised. after rapid persecution of pagans, kenneth fell into the deathless lupercal by accident to escape. there he discovered the artefact that the papacy was after in order to immortalise their creed, though unbeknownst to them it was not a christian artefact but a crown of apollo.

this starts off during the christianisation of ancient rome when the edict of milan was signed in 313 ad. kenneth was a known soldier for rome and was suspected of being a divinely gifted boy. to avoid the encroach of soldiers arresting and pillaging pagans in rome, he into the lupercal by accident during the fighting. while it saved his life, there was no way out, and he was destined to die. deliriously this is where he encounters the three fates of his old religion, who challenge him to prove he can evade death : accepting the bargain, he becomes fateless and, venturing into the cave, encounters the vampire remains of remus. losing the battle, he is turned into a vampire and eradicates remus in the aftermath, and discovers the crown of apollo, an old relic lost to time and emperorrs.

because there was no point to returning to the world above that had fallen, he went dormant to bide his time, and through the crown gained knowledge. his only companions were the growing number of sluggish undead ( mortals and thieves attempting to steal treasure over the years ... ) who, from a lack of food and layers of overgrown fungi, could hardly ever hurt him. through the crown's third eye, he could see the way rome was changing against its old customs under the papacy.

⁽ * ⁾ castlevania timeline :

       *      in the 1400s, he is awakened when the papacy attempts to excavate the palatine hill, in search of the very relic he's found, thinking it is a christian artefact that can immortalise the papacy's creed and keep them the power house in rome when challenging sects were rising up. slipping away, he watches the lupercal get destroyed. with these new powers and reality acquired, he begins a long-standing vendetta against the papacy.