ɓ u ı p u ɐ ɹ ʇ s

—҉

Wren was quick to catch Kite’s gaze pulling away and took this moment to sweetly give the man a peck against his cheek. “Faith and wisdom have always been something I think more people need…” he continued the conversation, letting moments rise and fall quietly while he followed Kite’s lead. 

“So another spot for us to conjure here at camp?” he gladly took the seeds, turning to talk in a slow stride through the meadow together. “So we have our high picnic sanctuary above the lake now a flowering meadow…what next is on our agenda?” Wren quickly savoured Kite’s sweetness, knowing it was abundant yet sparse in it’s delivery that when it came you took every ounce you could. 

Seeds began being tossed left and right, showering the tilled earth spread around them while Wren broke slightly from his lover’s side.

"𝐈 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐋𝐘," kite answers, surprisingly thoughtful considering the fantasy at hand, “i’ve no idea what’s on your agenda. however... what i can tell you is that once we are done here, it is my sworn duty to worship you like the corpse of a god - death by 1,000 kisses, as it were.”

his snickering is cut short by the kisses he peppers against wren as the son of asteria pulls away — an action kite takes for sheer hard-working ethic.

“the more important question, then, is how you are doing,” kite pivots on both a heel and the conversation, spreading seeds lazily, “a simple chat with beauregard belrose has revealed that he, too, is working on a cure... i only hope you have found some sort of answer.” 

The air remains silent for a moment as Kite raises the weapon to meet Blake and there is a moment to pause, a moment of thought. He could move out of the way quick enough, hopefully, but for now he wanted to see how far Kite would actually go. The two seemingly here to test each other.

“Something happened yesterday,” Blake began, “emotions got the better of me and I’ve been made a fool of,” he was careful as ever to choose his words around the son of Hephaestus, knowing full well that the other rarely cared for explanation, “I can’t let that happen again.”

A fair enough question. Was he ready for the price? “Tell me the price and I’ll pay it,” he said with an air of confidence, knowing Kite would accept nothing but 100% certainty in his answer. He took a step back, lucky coin rolled across his knuckles a few more times before he flipped it in Kite’s direction. “Consider that -” the only thing he had left of Mike, the one physical thing reminding him of his old life, “- a small deposit.”

𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐈𝐍, kite raises a closed fist that it orbits around: one of the many perks of magnetism. “to give up a piece of your humanity so willingly... surprising as it is, this is a step in the right direction.” 

the coin ends its orbit within his fist - and in a flurry of sparks, he’s changed the composition to that of sand on the wind.

“like a priest, you must fully rebuke your emotions as if they were sin: nobody can hold against you what you make a point of hiding.” 

poetic as ever, it is missing the trademark kite eklund fantastical embellishment — for once, they talk plainly. 

The child had padded along the forge’s kilns to find his friend.

His friend, hiding in the corner the way wounded animals did, clutching the mechanical arm where his real one once laid, here because of another nightmare. 

The acolytes would be looking them already. It was hours past their bedtime, and some of the acolytes were sticklers for the rules, but instead of abandoning his friend there, the child sat down in the empty space beside him. The child held his friend’s hand that was flesh and blood.

And quietly yet fiercely, the child vowed, “I will never let any monster steal something of yours again.”

(…)

He raps on the Aspida door rather awkwardly with one hand because of what he is holding in his arms: a broken arcade machine. It was found on one of his recent journeys to antique shops, and it had reminded him of Kite the moment he saw it. “Open up, Eklund!” Malachi calls out, knocking again but the tip of his boot this time. “I come bearing gifts, including but not limited to my damnably good locks and wonderful company.”

@kiteshields​

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑳𝑬𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑶𝑭 𝑮𝑶𝑨𝑻𝑺 𝑰𝑺 𝑫𝑹𝑶𝑾𝑵𝑬𝑫 𝑶𝑼𝑻 only by the snarls of wolves.

phantom pain: a surprisingly misguiding name for the pins-and-needles that plagued his amputated arm almost nightly. fleshy fingers trace the metallic details of the interim prosthetic where it joins at his elbow, wet face illuminated only by the flickered flames of nearby kilns.

“i don’t need your help.” the child’s friend sniffles, and it shows his bluff. 

“...but, thanks, chichi. ...really. 

i am scared.”

--

the son of hephaestus answers the door with a comically old musket, staring down the barrel at a ‘TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT’ machine. 

he shoots off the text with caps lock engaged, naturally, and when loki finally does come outside, kite throws the man a retractable sword. “it is up to us to inspire morale amongst the younger generation... as you well know, this locus amoenus is not so anymore.”

oblivious to the coven’s infighting and intending to show the witch the trick of the sword, kite steps forward, quite literally magnetizing loki’s sword into stabbing his chest — unsurprisingly, a mechanism in the hilt pulls the blade back.

Blake stood, view of the lake in full view, coin being tossed idly by his side when the bolt of the crossbow zipped worryingly close to him. Should he have been surprised? No, this was Kite after all, and he had all but made his intentions clear through their messages.

As the other got closer, Blake approached himself, closing the space between them. “If you’re really going to kill me, just do it,” he taunted, wicked grin stretching across his face, as he came close enough he bent forwards so the tip of the bolt that had just reloaded touched the skin between his eyes. “You don’t see him yet but you will. You are going to help tear me down, and build him up from scratch.”

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐒, 𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐘 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘. the armored figure tips his head curiously, still staring blake down from behind his visor. “fascinating, fascinating, you bastard... so you’ve finally come to the realization that humanity will do nothing but hold you back.” 

he huffs a humorless laugh, for effect more than anything, before waving a hand in seeming dismissal.

“a contract of this kind is fully within my power, blake holoman. i only wonder: 

—҉

It was difficult not to think of Kite as machiavellian as he was awake when the sun practically rose. What fresh hell did people do at this hour?

Although with some sleep having readied him and a macchiato in his hand, Wren kept his pace behind his lover like a kitten’s first time outside; slightly waddling behind while getting distracted by the littlest of things. 

“Asters?” he ponders briefly, it sounds familiar but the word flies over Wren’s head “I don’t but oh!” his voice perks up with a smile, “I know they are pretty and I have a feeling you are going to enlighten me?” Knowing his boyfriend the possibilities were endless, as was that vault of a mind that few have gotten to crack. 

Catching up beside Kite he tenderly turns to watch him, “What reasons might that be?”

𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐒𝐍𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄, very clearly a tick rather than allergies. “wisdom, faith, and...” he turns to look at wren and immediately averts his gaze forward once more, “...color. not only that, they are said to look like burgeoning stars when they bloom.”

𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐃𝐎𝐌? that is a way to ensure survival. “i will never breathe a word of that to dear old malachi, don’t worry.” amadeo considers himself good with secrets because he’s spoken in half truths his whole life. his shoulders even relax around kite and there are no nervous ticks present across his body. “free will is also good for them, but i’m like they are nearby. zoe and rosalind, who would have thought we are even more similar than before.” 

the man’s answers don’t even seem to phase amadeo. he simply nods. “depending on the order, archduke, you know that i’ll be here for all of those steps.” absolute is a final step, but both genocide and oppression can be flexible. 

just like the dark smirk on his face.

"𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐎𝐃𝐃, 𝐈𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐈𝐓?" kite remarks, peering over at amadeo without a care, “though our lives could not have been more different from each other... both our goals and our motivations couldn’t be closer.” 

it only made kite more glad that he’d let amadeo in and vice-versa, all that time ago. back when hunting wolves was the hardest thing they’d done. 

now, however...

the son of hephaestus continues his lazy saunter towards the lake, reloading without a care in the world. “are you prepared to die, blake holoman?” he asks, less a threat and more a goad, “your e-mails may have told quite the tale... however, i see no neo-hermes in front of me.”

kite fidgets with handfuls of seed packets far too early in the morning one day, dragging wren along with (naturally). if there was anyone to plant unnatural flowers with, his lover with cognitive foresight was the natural answer.

“i should admit... there are two reasons i asked you to come along with me today: please, do not mistake me for machiavellian.”

@kiteshields​

Hair disarray, bags under his eyes, and wrapped in his favorite lilac robe, Rev shuffles out of the Great Hall to greet the setting sun with glare. “Mornin’” he drawls out to the male passing by him. “Does it do that everyday round these parts?” He gestures towards the sunset. “Is it normal?”

𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐄'𝐒 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐅𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃 his visor, crossing arms against his chest in about as statuesque a performance as he could possibly muster. “you cannot possibly be asking me if the passage of time is normal... if you are trying to make me out to be a fool, i’m afraid you’ve approached the wrong bastard.” and with that, kite would unsheath his longsword - purely as a scare tactic.

@kiteshields​

it was just another day passing by - marcos was itching to go back out there and get his hands dirty. there was a fire inside him that wasn’t there before, a taste for action, fun and madness was coursing through him and building up. yet he wasn’t able to do anything as of right now - he thought to himself a few times if he should just go and find his own way of letting these urges go, but he wondered if he might get in trouble.  walking back towards house pali, he just then spotted kite and from their last quest together marcos couldn’t help but be curious to get to know him. wren and marcos were close and yet, he doesn’t really have much of a connection with kite other than their first interaction. 

“ayo kite! wait up!” raising a hand up as he began to make a steady jog over to the demigod. a smirk tugged on their lips as he reached him. “hey, i wanted to like tell you from before and whatever - you kicked ass last time we worked together. sucks that i fucking missed everything, but hey - she was a slippery one.” marcos laughed just then taking in a deep breath as he thought to himself on what actually drove kite - his true motives. 

“you busy? i don’t think you and i have done much of anything and — i guess you can say i’m curious to get to know the kite that wren talks so highly of.” 

𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑳 𝑵𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝑲𝑵𝑶𝑾 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑲𝑰𝑻𝑬 that wren talks highly of, the son of hephaestus thinks as he turns on a heel: quite literally armored to the teeth. 

either way, his helmet disengages as a sign of good faith. either way, he does in fact wait up as another sign.

“the hero’s journey — or, in my case, the villain’s journey — is both long and arduous, neo-dionysus,” kite replies, “you make a fine warrior already, with a laser focus. it’s only a matter of time before your blades dance as gracefully as you wish for them to...

...however, do not chase it, marcos giménez. this fruitless act will only serve to frustrate you.” 

[ BEAU: ] SCREENSHOT TAKEN AT 1:17 AM.

[ BEAU: ] saving this just so i have it in writing

[ BEAU: ] so when i do kill you, there’s no hard feelings toward me

[ BEAU: ] but i’m going to help wren find a way to break it, if there is one. i’ll kill you both as a last resort

[ kite: ] DO WITH THAT WHAT YOU LIKE, SUCCUBUS. EITHER WAY, YOU WOULD DO WELL TO KEEP THIS BETWEEN US UNTIL AFTER THE FACT. [ kite: ] I’VE ALREADY GRANTED THE STARCALLER MY SUPPORT ON THE MATTER. THIS EXTENDS TO WHATEVER RITUALS YOU THINK WILL WORK.

As familiar as he was with Kite Eklund and his antics, one could never really know what was going on in that head. Even when he was speaking directly to you. He took the candle confused before he moved to stand in the way of his pacing. Putting the bottom tip to Kite’s forehead to stop him. “Stop. Take a breath. And explain that again.”

"𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐌𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍... 𝐓𝐂𝐇." kite slaps loki’s (candle) butt out of his face and shifts his weight, crossing arms against his frame. “the last time we spoke, you told me there would be no extracurricular missions... in light of our recent wins, however, i implore you to change this coven law.

[ Blake: ] kite. i know you’re not one for texts but this is important

[ Blake: ] cancel your plans and meet me by the lake tonight

[ Blake: ] you’re going to help me with something

@kiteshields