#and sumia!severa is just a RIOT to be honest it's very funny conceptually

[felikatze]

got tagged by @fayesdiary for WIP wednesday and since i WAS writing today... I shall oblige. even if it's already thursday in my time. it's still wednesday somewhere in the world!

So, you get a snippet from chapter 7 of plusquam, which I worked on today. all of infinitiv proudly bears the draft name of "ACT 2 BABEY"

in exchange for me not injuring them this chapter morgan gets blackmailed instead cuz i will never let them rest <3

i respectfully tag @thanatophagency in case he wants an opportunity to show off but my usual "only do it if you wanna" applies

"Hah. And you know me so well?" As though Gerome had ever acted out of more than common courtesy - out of respect for his father's duty to the Exalt. "Morgan is dead."

"And Morgan will stay dead."

What? Lucina truly could not know of this. Of whatever game Gerome played now. He walked away from Minerva with his hands up and palms facing forward. Did he clean your blood off his axe?

"I have a preposition."

Your hand clenched around your knife. You could kill him. He's wide open. Instead, you said, "I'm listening."

"We are in the distant past, years before our time. Changing fate is what all of them want. But... it would not do to change too much."

You damn well knew that already, and it agonized you. How do you prune the bad and keep the good? How do you guarantee any of you will ever be born?

"Marth, Caeda, Michalis. All of these names, childish they may be, serve a purpose."

"What, making Owain happy?"

Gerome frowned. "Kris had a hand in this, I admit."

"Kris isn't a real hero."

"According to Kris, Kris is a 'heavily debated historical subject.'" You could hear the air-quotes on that one. Despite his nonsensical tales, both Owain and Lucina held deep passion for the past. Many an argument you snuck past in summer evenings, and you recalled, ever so distant, Gerome skulking around some of them.

"I'm not suprised," a smile crept into your voice, and you grimaced to push it back down.

"We must distance ourselves from the people of the past. We do not belong here."

"You just don't want me blabbing to your mother."

Gerome moved his hand, and you prepared to strike, but he merely massaged his temple. Much good it did him behind the mask. It's the gesture that counted. "The Cherche of this world is not my mother, and she never will be. But yes."

The Robin of this world was not your father, and never would be. Papa was long gone and Dad was buried under a mountain of flowers.

You blinked.

"And what do I gain in return? For not proclaiming your huge forehead to the high heavens?"

Where Gerome was a stick in the mud before, he truly has become even stiffer since you spoke last. And riling him up remained just as fun. You could never resist.

He scoffed. "I won't tell Marth of you."

Now it was your turn to scoff. "What should I care if she finds out?" Distant wingbeats, ever closer, beating over your heart. A grin split your face. "And what should I care if I dispose of you right here and now?"

The undead wyvern crashed into the clearing, snapping branches and bushes along the way. Its head lolled further than before, taking a loop around its neck before settling in your direction.

Gerome dodged back to evade the spray of plant matter and dirt. As you jumped atop the wyvern and readied your magic, so did he climb Minerva and take out his hand axe.

"Indeed. Perhaps I should be off to tell him now, that his dear sibling faked their death and joined the one who killed his parents."

"Indeed. Perhaps I should be off to tell him now, that his dear sibling faked their death and joined the one who killed his parents."

He would not dare. "You insignificant wretched worm. You lot play at being heroes of justice, and yet you stoop to blackmailing me. Aren't you supposed to die for me?"

As a mage, you held the advantage in the air, especially since a wyvern's resistance was much meeker than a pegasus's. The two-faced wretch could count himself lucky you did not have a wind tome on hand, but thunder would fry him well enough.

"I never participated in your play acting. Marth became my only liege once you betrayed your kin." His voice rose to carry over Minerva's liftoff, not a step behind you.

Your kin. What a riot. And yet, it told you something very important - the fools had no clue of Master Grima's face, as he had ensured.

The two of you circled over the treetops, neither attacking, neither retreating.

Gerome continued, "I am no hero and I do not pretend to be, as you pretend to be the villain. If... if saving this fleeting dream is what brings him happiness, then it is my duty as his knight to keep dreaming."

#feli gets tagged #feli speaks #plusquam #pq time. eheheh. INCREDIBLY appropiately timed tag cuz i FINALLY got those two morons to duke it out #gerome why are you like this. #also finally settled on frederick!gerome cuz it fits best with the plot tbh #i forgot who brought up the idea. my apologies. my brain is soup <3 #frederick!gerome also means cordelia!cynthia so. that'll be VERY fun to play with later #and sumia!severa is just a RIOT to be honest it's very funny conceptually