#aithilin

It was a rare day when Noct was the one waking up first.  If someone were to gamble on the days when he was up versus Nyx being up before him, it wouldn't be good odds for him.  But that didn't mean it never happened.

Only on rare days when Prompto and him wanted to go to an event starting early that morning downtown.

Noct's alarm went off first, the chirping of an annoying melody perfect to stir him awake.  He opened his eyes and reached for his phone on the nightstand to turn off the alarm.  Once the music ended, Noct knew he had only a short amount of time to pull his body away from the warmth pressed against his back or else he wouldn't get up.

Both of them were on their sides, spooning, with Nyx behind him and keeping an arm draped over Noct's waist.  It had been higher before they had fallen asleep.  The other liked to feel the prince's heartbeat as they came down from their intimate time together and just before passing out.  The warm breath of his lover caressed Noct's ear and teased him.  Nyx wasn't fully asleep; Noct could tell.  However, that didn't mean they both couldn't go back to sleep.  With some persuasion.

"Are you going to leave me all alone this morning, night star?"

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Sooooo... I've been absolutely enamored by @aithilin 's beautiful fic Salt and Stone for ages, and her rewrite got me all inspired to participate in Mer-May myself! I just had to draw the Mer from her fic!

9. Scarves15. Fog20. Apple picking

It’s early in the morning. So early that the sky has barely any color, tinged pink from the coming sunrise. Kurogane doesn’t mind; he wakes up almost this early on a daily basis. Fai, however, is yawning behind the large scarf he has wrapped around his neck, a deep burgundy color that contrasts against his pale skin. It’s his favorite fall scarf and he wears it almost everyday when the season changes. Kurogane thinks it is ridiculous, so big that it covers almost half of Fai’s face, and settles for a more practical black scarf.

Kurogane is holding a weaved basket in his gloved hands, and Fai is slowly filling it up with the apples he picks. Fai had told Kurogane about how he and Yuui used to pick apples every autumn, and how he had stopped once Yuui left to work abroad. Then he had asked Kurogane to go with him in Yuui’s place, and he had looked so excited that Kurogane didn’t have it in his heart to refuse.

“Why did we come so early?” Kurogane asks, sniffing. 

“It gets too crowded this time of year,” Fai explains as he examines apples. “This is the only time to come unless you want to be surrounded by other families. I thought Kuro-sama might enjoy the peace and quiet.”

Fai smiles and plucks an apple from its stem, dropping it into Kurogane’s basket. He tugs his scarf down a bit, revealing his smile and his pink nose.

“Besides, isn’t it romantic?” Fai asks, looking around. “Just the two of us in the middle of nature, watching the sunrise?”

Kurogane looks around. It is rather beautiful here. Fog is hovering lightly around their feet and rolling off of nearby hills. Birds are just beginning to sing. And for as much as Kurogane secretly enjoys Fai’s skimpier outfits in the heat of summer, Kurogane thinks that he likes the sight of Fai bundled up to combat the cold more. There’s something endearing about it. Domestic and cozy.

Fai smiles at Kurogane knowingly and lifts his scarf back to cover his nose. He goes back to picking, and Kurogane goes back to following. There is comfortable silence between them until Fai begins humming softly behind his scarf. Kurogane thinks briefly that in the stillness of the chilled morning air, it almost feels like it is just the two of them in the world.

During this week, our little raft came together to bring all of us angst and fluff, sweetness and sadness, lovely art and awesome playlists. Now, here is the Horsemen’s contribution to end the nyxnoctocalypse : the 3rd chapter of Myshka, the work that started it all.

Enjoy~

Here you go~ Used the opportunity to play around with an AU of the Oracle!AU, with the Lucis Caelum as supernatural hunters x)

Frankincense and myrrh. A phoenix’s flight feather. His own blood drawn with a silver knife.

This would be an expensive hunt indeed. Still, he wouldn’t take any chances, not against a necromancer of this caliber. Ardyn Lucis Caelum would pay for attempting to destroy his family from the inside-out; Noctis would make sure of it.

But the thought was a small thing, easily blown away in the trance spell-crafting usually put him into. As always, Luna’s words echoed in the depths of his mind, guiding his hands : listen carefully, and they will teach you how to use them.

Umbra and Pryna were faint distortions in his shadow, the Wild Hunt’s hounds ever watchful, ever vigilant. Like this, he was at his most vulnerable, and they knew it. It was only made worse by the very real threat that sat just in front of him, avidly watching his precise movements as he weaved his protection spell. 

Noctis’ shadow rippled at his faithful guardians’ agitated growls, which seemed to delight his watcher even more.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than stare at me?” He finally ground out, annoyed by the insistent stare.

He didn’t bother opening his eyes to gauge his self-assigned minder’s reaction, his infuriating quicksilver smirk already burned in his mind from the many times he had seen it in their brief acquaintance.

“And miss seeing your pretty face without that constant frown? Don’t think so.”

Echoing his hounds, Noctis efficiently tied off the loose ends of his working and threw his eyes open, glaring into amused pale blue.

Tattooed arm on the table and propping up his chin, Nyx seemed as relaxed as one could be in the presence of who was seen as the bane of everything supernatural by the rest of the community. It infuriated Noctis to no end. In answer to his growing anger, white-gold particles appeared around his body, circling his clenched hands.

The sight of them made Nyx tense for a second, pupils elongating, before he deliberately leaned closer, smirk widening into a feral grin.

“I wonder, is that little display how you caught the Nox Fleuret’s attention?”

The casual use of Winter’s most powerful family brutally reminded him of his precarious situation, and forced him to reign his powers in. As tempting as it would be to let loose and destroy anything remotely supernatural in their hotel room at this very moment, he refused to give any ammunition to the Council’s spy.

Breathing in slowly, he stood up and called Umbra to him, staring challengingly into Nyx’s eyes all the while. The hunter caught a brief flash of appreciation, from my defiance? he wondered, before an hulking shape materialized next to him. To the tattooed man’s surprise, darkness writhed and shrank around it, until only a small dog sat at Noct’s feet.

The guardian’s hackles were raised and his teeth bared as he looked at Nyx, and it was only his master’s gentle scratch that made him settle down. With another barrier between them, Noctis felt more comfortable leaving the protection his work with such purifying items had afforded him. With a last pat on Umbra’s head, he gathered his raw materials and carefully stowed them in his satchel. The completed spell sphere was added to his necklace, next to the charms given to him by his parents and closest friends, their blessed material humming against his throat.

Noctis’ face softened when he brushed a finger against them and faint sparks bloomed in recognition.

When he looked back up, Nyx was leaning back against his chair, arm hanging from the back of it as he eyed Noct contemplatively.

“Now I understand why your coming of age caused such an uproar.” Nyx said as he looked him up and down, eyes lingering on his mouth before flicking back up to meet softer blue, “You do have a face that just screams 'marry me off', don’t you?”

Noctis’ mask slammed back into place when he heard this. His parents had had to fight tooth and nails to stop their son from being turned into a plaything, or a weapon at the hands of their enemies. This party, where his position would force him to suffer from at least the beginning of a courtship in a show of goodwill, had been a shadow looming over him for years. To have it brought up so callously made his blood boil, until -

“Pryna.”

The shadows under Nyx’s chair erupted.

A vindictive smile crossed Noctis’ face at his minder’s look of surprise when his body refused to answer him as quickly as he was used to. A human wouldn’t have been able to evade this, and now, neither could he.

Finally, he could get a glimpse of what had been hidden under Nyx’s composure. The snarls, the slit eyes, the powerful body struggling against intangible bonds; all of it made adrenaline surge through his veins. For a moment, he longed to feel the grips of his favourite daggers against his palms, the thrill of the hunt singing through him before he pushed it back down.

Still, he couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. No one knew what the Ulric Clan was made up of, and he had hoped to find a little more about them from his little test. Hopefully Nyx wouldn’t recognize it for what it was until much, much later.

“For such a professional, you didn’t even notice when I cut down your reaction time.” Noctis said as he walked up to Nyx’s bound body and kneeled beside him, the force of the attack having thrown the spy to the ground.

In spite of his ambiguous feelings, he had to admit that Nyx did cut a striking figure when he unveiled himself. He allowed himself a moment to consider his prone form, admiring the play of muscles visible through his tight shirt and the thunderous blue-grey eyes. Curiosity satisfied, he followed the line of his tensed jaw and continued down his neck until he could rest a nail on his jugular, a threat and a promise rolled up in one gesture.

“Now, I hope you will learn to play nice, Sir Ulric.” Noctis echoed, mimicking the man’s mocking tone, “It would be such a shame to lose your pretty face after all.”

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