#protegays

Protégay WIP

It is So so important to me that Olethra continues to be so sky-eyed and so enamoured with the idea of fate and destiny and Adventure with the title all sparkly and everything. and as such: she thinks Ludmila, whose entire life has just been straight up story, is the coolest and most important person in the world.

This is a girl who has gone on about feeling a kinship with a dead girl she'd never met before who she'd only heard about secondhand from Marya's all-encompassing grief. Olethra already thought about Ludmila like, all the time, even BEFORE knowing she was the Queen, and then on realizing Ludmila was alive and could be saved she immediately was on board. Olethra was dragging her to save Marya like, instantaneously. Not only that, but Ludmila has lived the life Olethra has always dreamed of- yes, her first voyage as captain was a disaster, but hell, she was Marya's protege, she's totally been on adventures as a junior pilot.

Olethra is like, writing down every one-liner Ludmila says and mailing them to Monty every week like "MONTY THIS SHOULD GO IN YOUR BOOK." Olethra sees Ludmila and her eyes fill with stars.

And then conversely, on Ludmila's side: She has this embarrassingly large schoolgirl crush. Olethra fails to be cool at literally every possible opportunity and Ludmila is a blushing mess.

Like yes, Ludmila admires her conviction and drive and her sort-of-fearlessness, where even when terrified and near-tears Olethra doesn't hesitate to throw herself into ANY adventure, and any moral dilemma that people would balk at she just barrels straight through, and fully believes that Olethra truly embodies the spirit of wind riding, which to a girl whose whole life is wind riding is everything, but much more importantly Ludmila thinks she's extremely pretty, which isn't really helping the whole "blushing mess" thing.

Olethra is out here all dramatic like "this girl is destiny herself, she's everything a wind rider should be, I could never be cool enough for her she's so far out of my league it's like, crazy," and meanwhile Ludmila is twirling her hair and sighing dreamily like "no matter what I do she's just unfazed, how can I get Olethra to notice meeeeee."

maxwell has always matched his energy, but olethra embraced the changes that come with his iron heart with ease. she never questioned, never judged him for the emotions that leave him irrational and unmoored at times. she encourages them even. and she, apparently, understands wanting to make your body more yours, needing to take actions to lay your own claim over the form you were given.

so he goes to her and asks for her help and she smiles and agrees like its easy as breathing and not a massive project to undertake, and when he comes to her for the first session of work, she slots herself into his lap and gets to work. for nothing else to do with his hands he sets them at her waist and she just smiles and continues working and he feels gears grind within him the same way that he feels when he and maxwell spar with each other, or fight together.

and afterwards when he runs into maxwell, with careful designs olethra’s lovingly etched into his body on display, and maxwell stops and flushes a shade of pink that makes torse’s gears grind again, he has the realization that maybe the emotion he felt with olethra close in his lap was more than just an appreciation for her help and care, and he has to grapple with not just feelings for the first time but feelings for someone who confuses him so much in everything she does and still manages to charm him.

I want Brennan’s lore doc cause I just know he has names for the winter holidays in every location we visit.