Patience attempts to reason with a guy who really doesn't want to be reasoned with, featuring Crimson: A Writing Exercise
Words: 1321
Warnings: None, though Beepo divorce is very obvious
Note: Yes despite the title this is a genuine writing exercise shgKJHG. It's been a while since I've written anything and I'm rusty,,, I really, really wanted to write again, even if I have 1 million other things to be doing. So I've spat out something short n quick that I haven't looked back over at all.
Please mind if this is clunky or if there are any errors!!
“Hong! Hong! Please, wait!"
A distressed voice rang out through the lair, startling awake many who had yet to face the early morning sun. A series of grumbles, snorts, and yawns drawled out from countless tired dragons, echoing through the caverns as many merely flopped into a new position to resume their slumber. It was far too early for the usual Incompetence shenanigans, as far as they were concerned.
Some curious few, however, would rise from their nests and ever-so-subtly peak out into the clearing, squinting in the harsh sunlight to glimpse the newest drama.
The source of the calls revealed itself soon enough. Standing out strikingly against the sands of the Wastelands’ shore was a bright purple fae, feather- and spiral-like patterns covering his scales in graceful swirls. His blue wings glimmered in the sun’s rays, their captured starlight twinkling like the dancing shimmers on the ocean’s waves. He wore a fluffy, dirty ruff around his neck and was covered in shiny, very-stolen jewelry.
It was Patience, the clan's founder.
...So it was nothing actually important.
Disappointed, a few onlookers gave an annoyed huff as they returned to their dens, disinterested by whatever nonsense their leader was up to this time. Knowing him, it would end with the usual spiel on Fate having “great plans for them,” which was hardly all that entertaining.
Whoever was left to watch the spectacle, however, would watch as Patience skid to a very clumsy stop before a grey fae in the midst of takeoff preparation. Said grey fae, who most certainly must be Hong, wore a very determined yet decidedly cross expression as he turned to face his leader.
"If you're not going to go after her, then I will," Hong snapped, frills flared up tall as though attempting to scare the other dragons off. "I won't let her suffer at the hands of those monsters. I would never live with myself."
"But she's—" Patience wheezed, out of breath, before quickly shaking sand out of his scales and righting himself again. "Please, Hong, the Loyalty is a treacherous bunch! Merciless killers! There's no possible way she's even still—"
"What about your children?" A third voice harshly cut Patience's sentence off, causing the clan's leader to whip his head back to see who had interrupted him. A mirror stood stiffly between him and the gorge, her coral scales nearly blending into the color of the sand, the feathered bird skulls that decorated her body gently rustling in the coast breeze. Her gaze was pointedly not towards Patience, instead narrowed in the direction of Hong.
Even if that glare wasn’t meant for him, Patience noticeably faltered, shrinking in on himself as though her sharpness would slice through his flesh. He went uncharacteristically silent.
Hong, meanwhile, stood his ground. “I’m leaving them to you,” He nodded to Crimson. “I trust your clan can watch after them. Should I not return, I expect they will be safe here. Safer than they ever were before, at least.”
“That’s—”
“I do not think abandoning your hatchlings is the noble sacrifice you think it is,” Crimson curtly retorted, again refusing to let Patience finish his thought. It was in this moment that any spectators could possibly gather Crimson’s words were not solely meant for Hong in this discussion, especially seeing as Patience only further recoiled onto himself. “Should you die out there, they will be left without their mother and their father. We will look over them, of course, but you have something to lose. Perhaps you should weigh your options further.”
There was a moment of tense silence as Hong hesitated, Crimson’s words successfully managing to prod at his mind, forcing him to reconsider. Patience said nothing, instead curling his tail around himself and staring down at the ground, as though he’d be defeated regardless of the decision made.
But Hong’s resolve was stronger. His brows furrowed and he raised his wings in a show of boldness, returning Crimson’s glare with one of his own.
“It wouldn’t come to this decision were you willing to help me. Were your dragons not cowards.” He spat the last sentiment towards Patience, gaining an offended flinch for his vitriol, before turning his back to them both. “If I don’t return, consider it on your claws.”
Hong then launched himself up into the air, powering himself with a few effortful wingbeats as he took off over the horizon, ignoring the shouts of the fae beneath him as he left.
Patience and Crimson then stood alone.
“She’s dead,” Patience finally, and rather bluntly, let out. He lifted his eyes to hopefully catch Crimson’s gaze. “She must be. Would it not have done him better to accept that now, rather than risk himself?”
For a moment, Crimson did not respond. She only watched the sky where Hong disappeared, before she let out a hefty sigh and a string of irritated grumbles. Then, with a wrinkled snout that expressed nothing but scorn, she let her gaze fall on Patience.
“For someone who speaks so highly and respectfully of Fate being ‘on our side’, you sure lack faith in anyone but yourself.”
Patience, incredulous, was left to sputter uselessly to himself as Crimson turned away, stalking off back towards her den as a means to conclude this discussion.
The fae, however, seemed to have other plans as he quickly made to trail after her.
“It’s not that I haven’t faith,” He protested. “I’m just being reasonable. The Wastelands are dire, Crimson, and you know that. Let alone the—"
“This isn’t a conversation I wish to have with you for a third time,” Crimson snarled, disappearing into the darkness of her cave as Patience sat himself just outside of it. “If you’ve any sense left in you, use it and leave me alone.”
Were the spectators from before feeling unbelievably nosy, they could grow closer, peering into the shadowed cave to spot three other, much smaller dragons huddled in the back of the nest. They were siblings; three, very young fae with bright, round red eyes contrasting their dull blue scales. They bore unquestionable resemblance to Hong, erasing any doubts about who’s hatchlings these were.
Crimson hummed softly to the young ones, gently stepping around them so she could settle comfortably in her nest while keeping them safe beside her. She opened her mouth to say something, perhaps to quell the anxieties of the confused children she now had temporary custody of, before it was apparently her turn to be interrupted.
“Are you okay with this?” Patience murmured. “I mean, taking care of hatchlings again, after…”
“Patience,” She quietly hissed, just barely concealing the full extent of her frustration. “This is not the time to show me you suddenly care. If you were ever concerned for my wellbeing regarding hatchlings, you should have expressed that a long time ago. Not now. Not here.”
“I—"
“Go. Now.”
Crushed by the rejection but unwilling to argue while the scared gazes of three children stared back at him, Patience only bowed his head in shameful acceptance. He didn’t say another word as he dejectedly walked off from the den, tail dragging in the sand behind him as he made his way to the decaying tree at the gorge’s center.
There wouldn’t be much to see if you, a theoretical eavesdropper, followed him. It’s simply his wallowing time. And that’s if Vision isn’t taking up half the tree.
And it’s possibly rather rude for you, a theoretical eavesdropper, to stare ominously into the den of a grieving mother as she works to soothe three scared children and convince them that their mother and father will return safely, when this is something she herself does not believe.
Perhaps it’s best if we leave this one be, considers any possible onlookers, who turn away themselves to allow the leaders their peace.
And perhaps we can only hope for the best.
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phillip graves fic concept... NOW HEAR ME OUT OKAY, YOU HAVE TO BECAUSE IT’S ALREADY IN MY DRAFTS:
reader is the daughter of a powerful general. as the only daughter of his, you’re sheltered, treated like a princess locked up in a tower. never really had a good relationship with your father since he spends most of his time at work + he’s always so controlling of your life, always keeping you under a watchful eye that you feel more like a prisoner than the pampered princess his soldiers consider you as. enter in a young phillip graves, 25 years old and making a name for himself that will only grow to strike fear in his enemies. phillip is close with another general who wants to take your father down & of course, wanting to prove himself and climb the ranks, phillip will do anything he can to see his own favored general succeed, collateral damage be damned.
unfortunately, you happen to be said collateral damage.
SO I’M THINKING!!!!! that phillip basically starts getting close enough with you to the point where you trust him with your whole heart; even worse, you love him. and once he’s gotten you to the point of no return, the moment he realizes he’s got you hook, line, and fucking sinker, he gets you to betray your own father and expose his own transgressions that will make it impossible for him to come back from. after exposing your father, you expect phillip to at least take care of you in the aftermath; after all, your family’s name and reputation have been tarnished, you have no real world experience to fall back on, and he’s the love of your life. of course he would take care of you. he promised he would. but they call it whispering sweet nothings for a reason. everything he said was a lie; you didn’t mean as much to him as he swore you did. he used you. he betrayed you. and now he’s abandoning you.
some tags + inspo: slight age gap (reader is 19, graves is 25), manipulation, loss of virginity (oh girlie, you gave him everything :(, didn’t u), jealous sex (for someone who supposedly only wants to use you for the mission, he sure is possessive 🤨), literally inspired by miss taylor swift’s “all too well (10 min version)” + her “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” so you know this fic is gonna be a BITCH
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