* wisdom / war

Padme had entered tentatively into the club, her hands balled at her sides, ready to turn into flames–or icicles, whatever might protect her if the NPC’s decided to turn on them. Or if someone got a little too handsy on the dance floor. She wandered around for a bit, greeting those she knew, taking the drinks bought for her, dancing with a few friends, then she wandered off the floor, downing the shot in her left hand while waving to another friend with her right. Minerva. “No wine tonight?” she teased, sliding into the booth beside the girl and kissing her cheek in greeting. “Hi, Pretty Thing.” 

god, he hated seeing her like this. why did horrible things happen to good people? he never understood that it was unfair. this game was unfair. taking a deep breath he kept himself calm. there was no use if the healer was also panicking as well then nothing would ever get done. with his swollen eye causing him to only be able to see out of his right eye he moved to behind her and slowly lifted up her shirt quickly grabbing some rags and getting to work. though he knew that she wasn’t going to just sit still for him he needed to talk to her as he focused in on her back and tended to her wounds. 

“minerva, i love you, okay? i know it hurts, but you have to trust me.” he said taking a deep breath as he used the once white rags that were now stained with blood to clean off the area of the wounds and putting pressure on them. he wasn’t going to let her die. no not on his hands. he was determined to keep her alive even if he felt like he didn’t know what he was doing. “this is going to hurt, but i’m going to heal you. i’m not going to let you die.“ he breathed out nervously realizing how much weight was in his hands now. if she did die right now, he would never forgive himself.

the panic had made passed a chill over her extremities. her fingers and toes felt as cold as ice. frozen digits grab desperately at helios as he moves himself behind her, desperate for the familiarity in the wild confusion that she had descended into. for so long, she had built walls around herself-- a composed facade to hide behind, and it was all crumbling around her and she couldn’t help but wonder if her husband had felt this frightened in the moments leading up to his death. it made her cry harder, as infuriating as that was to her.

“Heroism is almost always synonymous to decision making that leads to terrible conseqeuences.” Really. He would know. 

Hades was quiet for a while before nodding his head and gently grasping her elbow so she might lean on him a bit for support. He led her out of her room slowly, walking with her at an easy pace. 

“How are you holding up?” 

He couldn’t help but frown at the question. “Truthfully… you may not be the only one with terrible decision making skills.” Hades finally said after a while. “Lately, I feel I haven’t been able to get anything right. I’m surprised you aren’t angry with me right now.” He said with a small shrug. 

her eyes lift to him as they walk, an eyebrow arching in minor amusement. “yeah, i’m learning t that the hard way,” one arm looped through his, the other lightly pats the wound on her stomach, and briefly wonders if they can get scars in-game. “but you’re speaking from experience, hm?” 

hades wasn’t one to mince words, but this silence was a bit unnerving. she had been prepared to push and prod for him to open up, but his silence felt more like resignation than silent calculation. she doesn’t even make a face when he teases her, though she does attempt to laugh in hopes of lightening his mood. “well, all you’ve done since we met is save me, so i’m inclined to be forgiving,” her other hand pats his arm lightly as she chuckles. “no matter how irritating you can be.”

When he had heard about Minerva being confined in the hospital as well, he took it upon himself to pay her a visit. They hadn’t known each other for very long, but she had always been nice to him and Hades wanted to make sure she was okay. And on a very selfish note, he needed to talk to someone that didn’t absolutely hate him right now. 

“Hey, yourself.” He couldn’t help but grin as he leaned froward from his place beside her bed. Minerva was one of the players that had gotten badly hurt and though he was grateful she escaped with her life, it still made him wince just how hurt she had gotten. 

“…you look like shit.” 

Hades didn’t disagree. Always nice to hear someone else say it though. “Yeah, you’re really not in the best place to say so.” He said with a shake of his head. He cleared his throat before shaking his head. “I’ve had enough rest. I just wanted to check on you. Maybe rub in the fact that I was right about your bad decision making.” He said in light jest. 

“i’m--” she’s a little taken aback by his even bothering to check on her. though, quickly, her appreciation is cut off by his teasing. the past few hours had been rough, the mere thought of the battle had her grimacing, but she wrinkled her nose at him in an expression of mock disapproval. “i prefer to call it heroic,” she chuckles a little. “still a bad decision, obviously. but heroic, nonetheless.”

he looked exhausted, and she would much rather focus on him than on the events of the past few hours, so she patted his shoulder, still leaning heavily on her iv and nodded towards the door. “want to walk with me? if i’m cooped up in here for another second i might actually go crazy.” no one had good memories of hospitals, she was sure. save for childbirth, most people didn’t come to the hospital for happy reasons, and minerva had been no different. and the alienating, sterile environment only proved to make her even more anxious.

the battle was a bit, uh. rough. lily had spent most of it performing ranged attacks and healing spells, occasionally darting into the battle itself to drop a health orb. one of the fucker’s nail attacks had hit her, but she only had a minor gash in her side that wasn’t gonna kill her anytime soon. her focus was on those who were actually dying. for example, the woman who had just collapsed in front of her on the brand-new city streets. she ran over to help.

“hey!” she snapped, well aware that the other had reacted that way out of pain, and probably fear, “you need help. your hp is definitely going down, and if you’re trying to stay here, let’s not yell at a girl who can frickin’ stabilize you, okay?” she pulled a vial of water from her pocket, raising her eyebrows as a means of asking permission before trying to help the woman. 

breaths shudder out of her in frightened panting. eyes searching her face wildly in feverish suspicion. she’s a healer, logic whispered to her, she’s trying to help, but fear screamed wildly in her other ear. telling her that she was going to kill her. that because she was vulnerable and broken that she was going to use this opportunity to finish the job. fearful, ugly, wracking sobs heaving out of her. this newfound will to live rested heavily on her mind, and only frightened her more at the thought of death.

it was an odd thought. that she was more comfortable in the fantasy levels than she was in the modern hospital. the clinical, sterile environment of the hospital was foreign to her, now. now that she was so used to her little clinic in her little cabin on floor 51. though, she always hated hospitals and the memories they drudged up. she definitely shouldn’t be walking, she could barely feel her legs beneath her as she walked, her trembling knees threatening to give way. her iv made a good crutch as she walked about. she was doing the rounds, she told herself, she was checking to see if other unity guild members were checked in, but the truth was, she couldn’t stay idle any longer. even as the gashes across her stomach and back screamed in sore pain, she just couldn’t. the lingering fear from her brush with death had her uneasy.

what happened was brutal for everyone involved. he even got injured himself with his eye being completely swollen after being shoved to the ground in all the chaos and now it was an ugly brownish blue color with dried blood most of which belonged to other players after he has been tending to them ever since they entered the new level. he wasn’t worried about it as much as he was worried about the other members and especially minerva. he was told to tend to the wounds on her back but she was panicking and he knew that feeling too well. “minerva– minerva listen to my voice.” he said softly crouching in front of her so that his gaze met hers. 

direct eye contact was good for things like these, right? at least that was what he always thought. “you’re going to be okay. i’m going to help you. okay? i can’t help you though if you won’t let me touch you.” thank god that he still had all of his inventory that he has been collecting over time to make potions on the spot if he ever needed to for events like these. “i’m not going to let anything else hurt you. okay? you’re okay. you’re safe now, just let me take care of you.” 

trembling hands were brought up to cover her face. even she wasn’t sure what she was afraid of, it wasn’t as if any players had been attacking her, but her survival instincts were screaming to flee-- telling her that anyone who came near her wanted to finish the job of the boss that they had just defeated. helios’ voice barely cuts through the sound of her heart pounding in her ears, shock and adrenaline blurring everything around her.

random kiss meme

20. a kiss of your choosing! ( requested by the sender! )

she’s still uneasy on her feet, the blood less sending her into spells of dizziness and causing her to rely heavily on helios to keep her standing upright. the past two years have made her familiar with the nuances of his face--- he was good at keeping a poker face, but the concern was there in the frequent glances, in the creases of his face, and it made her heart warm a little. “come here.” she murmurs, reaching and pressing a quick kiss to his temple in unspoken gratitude. 

nonsexual acts of intimacy ask meme

♥: Your muse crying about something

“Æ, dúllan mín,” warm arms are wrapped tight around vanessa before anything else can be said. long fingers combing through her hair gently as she whispers comforting words in icelandic before realizing her slip. tears of her own starting to stream. “it’s okay, we’re alright. go on and cry, elskan mín.”

ask meme

“i’m not going to hold you to any debt if that’s what you’re worried about,” her tone irritated. “you don’t die,” a flat look is raised to noir’s face. the situation is too urgent to try and dissuade her suspicions, handing her the final health potion in her possession. “that’s what’s in it for me.”

honesty hours