#mialba

Just remember one thing: YOU ASKED FOR THIS.

29. one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart

“They’re coming,” he said, and he said it quietly, said it like he knew the world was listening, because it was. Minos knelt beside him, hair pulled into a tight almost-braid with rose-stems he conjured up for him, dirt smudged against his nose and fear in his eyes. Albafica reached forward, wiping the dirt off with his thumb. Minos shifted forward, leaning into his touch, closing his eyes for the slightest bit of comfort at the contact.

Hells, he had never once thought that it might end like this, but now that he actually thought about how it could have ended, it was obvious, and he felt so stupid. What kind of Saint even did this? What kind would willingly walk into the arms of a black angel, whose only aspiration in the story was to tempt him away from his path?

Why the hell did he allow it to work? And so well? 

“We can still get out,” Minos said, quietly, timidly, like he was sure Albafica would shoot down the thought. “We can still get away. Up into the clouds and disappear to my father’s kingdom.”

“I can’t fly.”

“I can. I know I can fly faster than he can, and yes, even carrying you I know I can.” Minos looked up at him, hesitant, pale violet eyes brimming with terror and a thin ribbon of defiance. This was his Minos, of course, and he knew better: when would he ever want to go down any way but swinging? Minos was brave, braver than he was, and he hated himself a little for being the weaker one, the more reserved of the two.

He did the only thing he could think to do, to keep himself together, to keep himself from falling apart at the seams. He leaned forward, and pressed his lips to Minos’, open and wet and needing the contact. Minos leaned right back into him, tilting his head, his own lips parted but never pushing too far. It was Albafica who pulled him close, fingertips tracing his spine, feeling Minos’ skin set itself aflame at the contact. The slight gasp when Albafica’s tongue slipped into his mouth, when Minos’ answered him.

They clung to each other, just for the moment, a moment they both knew might be their last. Albafica kissed him like he was drowning, and he was; Minos kissed him back like he knew he had already drowned them both. He was too absorbed in the kiss, his hands finding the nape of Albafica’s neck and clinging to it, almost suckling on his tongue, and he would’ve disliked it if it weren’t right now. 

He felt the slight tremble of the ground before he could hear them, but it was enough to break the illusion. Enough to know their time was ending. Albafica broke the kiss, opening his eyes to see Minos’ wide, a thin trail of saliva still connecting them, Minos’ cheeks red and warm and still, somehow, handsome. 

He didn’t think he’d ever be able to forgive himself, but he didn’t have to. His hand drifted from the base of his spine to the ground, reaching for one last piece of broken stained glass, ignoring the way it sliced through the softer parts of his hand. He slipped his free hand around Minos’ neck, as if to kiss him again. Minos leaned forward, his wings still resting on the ground like he had not a thought of flight.

Albafica grabbed the braid, tangled with roses, tilted him slightly back, and sliced his hair short, two feet of silver locks released from him. Minos turned to stare at his hands, eyes somehow wider, horror drawing over him like dawn over an unending night.

“Go,” Albafica murmured, dropping the glass shard, pushing him away. “You can fly. I’ll buy you time.” 

He turned, rising from his knees as he did, staining his cape with blood as he drew it around him like a shroud. It was going to be, in just a moment. He kept his back to his lover as he heard him stifle a sniffle and take off into the night. It could always have been worse. It was only hair, only Minos’ silver locks that he’d always taken such pride in. It wasn’t his throat, like he’d been instructed.

He stepped out from the shadows, clearing his throat, just loud enough only he could hear. “These secrets die with me,” he called, unsurprised to find his voice steady. Dignity would always be the last thing to go, and he would cling to it even facing mortality. “He’s gone. You can do as you will… but I warn you, it is as much as loss for you as it is for me.”

You fool. My power only grows with the Attention and Validation. :p

4. Favorite non-sexual activity?

[Aiacos/Shion]: Smithing! Set them loose in literally any forge and either some metal or some armours and watch them gooooo. They’ll toss each other tools from one side of the forge to another, twirl each other around as they pass, squeeze each other’s ass cheeks just on the way by, chat for hours and debate philosophy and law over the sound of hammers, and generally just make the forge their own. And then, of course, hit the showers together afterward. :p

[Minos/Albafica]: They love travelling together more than either of them will admit, and going to see plays and festivals and occasionally huge parties. Minos preens and Albafica enjoys the anonymity, and they get to share books and experiences and all the dirty jokes of Shakespeare. It’s just being together without duty getting in the way, and they always stumble across things they enjoy together. Albafica loves the way Minos memorizes entire plays by ear, and Minos thinks Albafica’s face when he first saw the Sistine Chapel ceiling is downright striking.

6. What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?

Shion: Physically, he likes Aiacos’ hair and jawline, because they’re both perfect. Aiacos has never had a bad hair day in his life, because he is always having a bad hair day and you just kind of get used to it, and Shion thinks his jaw is very nicely built and good for kissing. Personality-wise, he loves Aiacos’ secret laughter best: not the laugh of him holding the world at arm’s length, but the laugh only he really gets to hear, the true laughter of catching him unawares with a bad pun when he’s upset. Shion convinced him that he didn’t have to act around him and can be as sad as he likes, so Aiacos dropped the act entirely around him and rarely, if ever, actually laughs. When he does laugh and it’s a true one, Shion feels like the most brilliant guy in the world, and it’s that laughter that he wants to be greeted with when he moves into Elysium.

Aiacos: Shion’s Lemurian, which is apparently an entirely different species that can crossbreed with humans, and I personally think that this means that he doesn’t move quite like a human does. He moves different, too graceful and also too gawky at the same time, like this isn’t his normal ‘form’ of shapeshifting and yet is just close enough to throw him off. He finds it fascinating to watch. Personality-wise, Shion’s predictable, but just when he thinks he knows how he’ll react, throws a curveball at him. He’s never quiiiite sure how it’s going to go, and it keeps him on the balls of his feet without demanding more energy than he has to give. He’s more in love than he wants to admit at how well matched they are.

Minos: Again, grace. Albafica moves in the world in the same way a hurricane does: beautiful, graceful, terrifying, and dangerous. Sure, he’s got a face that moves angels to murder, but that’s not where the slaughter begins: it’s the way he moves like he’s slicing through the world and it parts for him, because it knows it isn’t good enough, and he is a natural disaster that’s coming for them whether they like it or not. It’s one thing in battle. It’s absolutely perfect when he’s wearing only a stolen pair of Minos’ pajama pants and haunting their kitchen for food. In personality, he likes best how gentle he is to those he deems deserve his kindness: he talks to the plants and soothes the insects in his garden, and turns around and has no issues slaughtering soldiers without batting an eye. Albafica has high standards, Minos reads it as contrariness, and thinks it perfect, and knows full well that he is never, ever going to be good enough for him, and is always in awe that Albafica seems to think he is anyway. He never expected Albafica to be gentle with him, and gets it anyway, and considers himself the least worthy, but luckiest man in the world. 

Albafica: He likes Minos’ eyes best, mostly because for all his silent judgement and arrogant talk, his eyes betray his every emotion, and because of that, are so often hidden behind his hair. They’re a very nice shade of blackberry-flower violet, and tell the world everything. All he needs to do to know how Minos is feeling at any given time is glance up at his face, and the answer is literally always right there. In his personality, he likes him best when he’s acting like an imperious, arrogant jerk whose only motivation is glaringly obviously protecting his stuff. Being all broody in the mother-griffon style. Minos considers this a really bad habit of his, and Albafica thinks it’s infuriatingly adorable when he puffs out his chest and acts all high-and-mighty because he’s a griffon who preens over the treasure he guards. You can’t really defend yourself against people who judge at first sight and have less than pure intentions if your only moves are super super lethal, but Minos can remove someone’s spine without ever touching their nervous system and he’s very vocal about Albafica being out of everyone’s league when asked. Sure, he’s an arrogant jerk, but he’s an arrogant jerk who is loyal to and belongs exclusively to Albafica, so he ends up enthralled and infuriated at how enthralled he is, and he’s complaining but also does not want it to ever change, thank you.

22. Who cooks more/who is better at cooking?

This is where Aiacos and Minos both shine: they’re better at cooking than Shion and Alba are by a long shot, because Spectres are largely used to scavenging on the road. Saints tend to be more sophisticated, but Spectres just kind of throw things together until it tastes good.

Alba is theoretically capable of cooking, but also just eats raw fish when left to his own devices so Minos was understandably horrified by Albafica’s lack of ability and decided to roll up his sleeves and cook for about a week straight. Albafica considers this week the best he’s eaten since his dad died, which is kinda sad but also Minos is damn good at cooking.

Shion mostly cooks on his own but that did change after Aiacos started courting him properly: Spectre tradition decrees that when courting a non-Spectre, you’re supposed to prove that you can provide for them, which includes making sure they can eat. Aiacos is very determined to Do It Right, because he feels Shion deserves better than him but is also a little terrified of losing him. He overcompensates and cooks always until Shion figures out what he’s doing (he mentioned it offhand to Alba, who could translate it into normal human speak) and then after that they cook together. Aiacos is still the one who gets groceries, though. He’s trying.

"Please, persuade him to come meet me.”

Manigoldo looked at Minos. Minos looked back at Manigoldo, eyes wide and pleading, filled with all the desperation of a life spent entirely underground and a single memory of the sun. 

“He’s not the sort of person who enjoys people,” he answers, slowly, unsure how to say it properly. “But I’m sure I can set something up that piques his curiousity enough that he’ll entertain the idea of not immediately getting the shovel.”

Minos’ smile was brighter than a solar eclipse, and equally insufferable.