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where-the-wind-is · 4 years

Text

A Little Birdy Told Me

The Arcana

Masterlist

Chapter 8

AN: These next few chapters get kinda gross, gore and whatnot. I'll try to mark where it is. Also more bullying yay.

Turns out there's a lot more hours in the day when you're not allowed to sleep. It's not as if the Quaestor allowed breaks either, twice as much awake time also meant twice as much work time. It was a nightmare at first, but eventually you became grateful for the busywork. It helped keep you conscious. You had to be given a spare key to the lift so Valdemar didn't have to open it for you every time.

You never drank coffee before because it gave you the jitters. Now you were going to have the jitters anyway so you may as well reap the rewards. You were on your 6th cup of the day when a familiar doctor approached your workstation.

"So you were sleeping in his room huh?" You felt your stomach turn at the obnoxious voice, or maybe it was the coffee and lack of sleep. How many hours were you on now? Fifty?

"It's a bit more complicated than that–"

"Oh so you were more than sleeping" it was another voice this time. You spin around to face the strangers, nearly spilling your coffee.

## gore ##

The first one wasn't alone this time, the friends that were watching before now stand next to them. Leaning on your table and trying to hide their snickers. You cast your gaze downward to where your hands are planted firmly on the tabletop. Blood covered your gloves all the way to the forearm and you weren't even half-way through documenting which skin sample came from which patient. Samples littered the station's surface, checked for color, elasticity, and freshness.

"What do you gain from this?" You ask quietly. More laughter ripples through the unwanted gatherers at your question.

"What, we can't just jab a little? You need to learn to take a joke" the original doctor speaks again, masked face turning slightly to their friends for approval. They didn't answer your question.

"Why are you here?" You try again. You get an exaggerated groan in response.

"We're here because we work here sweetheart. I know you'd rather be upstairs...how do you say? Digging around for some gold?"

"Oh oh Lucio!" Someone else starts making exaggeratedly lewd calls. "Oh don't stop! You can pretend I'm Valerius if you want" they hardly get through the sentence with all their snickering. The others break down in laughter soon after.

You want to throw something at them. You realize you're holding a bucket of random skin samples. Gooey, bloody, vengeful skin samples. Their words bounce around in your head making your lungs freeze and your eyes prick with embarrassment. All it would take is a flick of the wrist.

But you stay your hand.

You're already being punished, and covering co-workers in severed skin not only compromises the samples but is also a horrifying health-safety hazard. You don't want to risk giving these people the plague, even if they're begging for it. You must stay silent for too long because their laughter dies down and they're trying to get your attention again.

"Hey hey! Stop zoning out while you're working. You can get away with that upstairs but down here you actually have to do your job."

"I wasn't zoning out, I was trying not to throw something."

"Oh yeah that's what you were doing? You've got a lot of nerve you know"

"What?"

"We're down here every day working our asses off to stop this plague and you're off eating caviar and taking naps with the Count. I'm honestly surprised no ones thrown anything at you."

"They have–"

"Well good cause you should be ashamed"

You have nothing to say, even if you argue they won't believe you. You watch them meander away and continue staring at the skin in the bucket. You have a feeling you need to be more careful for a while. Buckets of organs might be thrown at you in the future.

## end ##

0The Count seemed to completely forget about the fainting incident, it had only been 78 hours but you suppose your health shouldn't be on his radar.

That was until you started...seeing things wrong.

It started mild, you thought you saw blood on your gloves even though you were certain you'd washed them. Then you started hearing people speaking in the scratch of your quill on your notebook. The world seemed farther away and it was harder to notice things.

Wait did he say something?

You'd been staring at your notebook for several minutes before you realized he'd asked a question.

"Could you repeat that?"

"I said 'what am I boring you?'" he repeated bitterly. You suppose he had a right to be upset, to him it must look like you're ignoring him. You set your notebook on his nightstand to address him, you notice the candle too late.

It seems to fall in slow motion off the nightstand and on to the Counts decadent bedspread. It lights far too quickly.

"Oh oh oH NO OK!" You frantically scan the room for something to put it out and come up empty, even the lilies have no water in their vase. The fire spreads and the whole bed is alight. Frantically you realize you're out of options and begin trying to suffocate the flames with your gloved hands. The flames are too quick and you can't hear anything over the fires roaring. You panic desperately for several minutes before you notice something. The fire doesn't feel hot...and there are hands on yours. You look up and find Lucio’s face, he's saying something but you can't hear it over the fire.

It's not real. You squeeze your eyes shut and open them, Lucio still seems to be calmly speaking while he's on fire.

You close your eyes again and try to breathe. When you open them the fire is gone but you still can't hear the count over the roaring sound the fire made. You focus on his lips trying to make out what he's saying.

You seem to try for hours before the sound slowly quiets enough to hear his voice.

"It's not real Birdy just look at me, look at me" his voice is far from calm, but it's quiet. You feel embarrassment flush your cheeks as you think of how this must've looked to him.

"I'm sorry" is all you can say.

"Yeah I bet, what's your problem?" His concern melts into his signature indignation. You suppose there's no point in hiding it.

"I thought you...were on fire…" you admit lamely, he raised his eyebrows as you continue. "Hallucinations...because of the incident a few days ago I've lost sleep privileges." You say quietly, voice a croak from your panicked screaming a few minutes ago.

"Oh...so you're just tired?" He scowls in disbelief. You nod once at the simplified version. He seems to think for a moment. "For how long?"

"I think I'm on day three right now, but I still have two to go." You shake your head. "Over the hill" you add weakly. Lucio narrows his eyes at the ground, thinking more apparently, before he speaks.

"That's rough, I guess it's good you're getting punished." He shrugs, you smile a little but your mask hides it.

"Rough indeed"

#The Arcana #The Arcana Fanfic #ALBTM

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messymagician · 4 years

Text

The Devil’s due

Sarah (Arcana OC) X Julian (Arcana) Follows the main plot story, with changes. 4.3k words. ________________________________________________________________

Chapter 6 : Infiltration

The walk to the palace was… ho boy.

The entire way Julian's dramatic nature was put to work as he effortlessly slipped into the 'role' of Asra. Though the way he kept glancing over at Sarah for approval made her little brain click it's gears.

First dropping her off at Asra's shop… now trying to confirm his acting behaviour with her, as if she'd know Asra's mannerisms. He clearly expected them to have a history. Was it because they were both magicians? Or did he know something she didn't. It was impossible to tell without asking. But with the palace gates looming overhead already she hadn't the time for this ongoing mystery.

Suddenly realising that Asra, the real Asra, could possibly already be in castle grounds made the fine hairs along the back of her neck stand on end. That would be quite the disastrous occurrence. But it's too late to be turning back now. His pace is far quicker than both ladies little legs. Leaving them panting and sweaty by the time the trio reaches the bridge. "How do you suppose he'd be feeling in this moment? Like a Lamb, entering the den of wolves… or maybe, a wolf. Entering the den of…. Vipers. Hmm. Vipers he wouldn't mind, he and Faust would fit right in."

"I don't-" Her words are ended by the sharp screech of marble on heels as Julian, as Asra, halts himself. Looking suddenly sceptical and nervous.

"Faust….. that's the snake's name isn't it?" His expression twists and turns as she nods slowly. Not entirely certain on the answer but the name certainly rang the right bells. He grumbles, rubbing at his temples in irritation as his browline pinches together. "I...I remember that shake, she nearly... squeezed the life out of me once." Who, Faust? But she looked so sweet from what Sarah could remember.

He's very clearly stalling. Keeping a slight distance from her with constant searching glances her way. Like he was looking for something under her thinly veiled exterior motives. Like she was the hard one to understand, not himself. She already knows this spell isn't one of her best and, as much as she wanted to reassure him, they really needed to do this as fast and clean as they could. At least by now he seems remarkably sober compared to before.

“So it’s safe to say he would be surprised. When he’s surprised, is he more of a…” His gaze narrows and mouth hangs open, staring off at nothing. “This? Or more like this?” Sarah struggles to keep a straight face. Watching his wide eyes swing to her, looking very shaken. It’s impressively done, but knowing he’s trying so hard was making her giggle quietly into her palm. “More like that- ” she snickers, having to turn away and rub at her freckled cheeks to get them to relax again. If she blew his cover she’d feel awful, it’s time to get serious… but not too serious. Just slightly serious. Like... casual business. Yes, this is exactly what today is, casual business.

Noticing their struggling charade, Portia takes a step or two ahead, walking backwards in front of them. “Hey Ilya, I know this is gonna be a challenge but… try not to talk too much, okay?” It was a suggestion but it certainly sounded more like a very gentle threat coming from Portia. Sarah always had the feeling this quaint sweet servant act of hers was hiding a lot of sneaky but lovable gremlin behaviour.

“Oh, no naturally, Asra doesn’t talk much.” Julian coughed, trying to hide his face by turning away, “believe me, it’s hard to maintain such an aura of mystery once you open your mouth.”

Portia’s hands poised themselves in front of herself again, looking him directly in the face with just the faintest of a smile. “Hmm. Maybe he was just quiet around you? You’ve got a real bad habit of doing the talking for everyone, Ilyushka.”

The awkwardness in the air had been broken and already Sarah could feel her spirits rising back up with confidence. Things were going to be okay. They could recover from a slip-up even if it did happen. Which with any luck it won’t. The ever-growing silhouette of the palace grounds had reached their peak. Portia takes in a long inhale and holds it, squaring herself out… only releasing as she roughly pushes forward against the gigantic main doors. There's a grinding churning sound as they open, like stone against stone, as everyone piles in before they close once more. Settling with a heavy ‘shhhunk’. Her figure goes loose for a minute, looking around in short searching head movements. “That’s weird… where is everybody?” It looks pretty deserted. Not even a guard behind the main doors? A relief for Portia maybe but seemingly not Sarah or Julian who look around sceptically. “So, uh, where can I take you first, oh great magicians?” she chirps sweetly, slipping straight back into her role as Nadia’s trusted servant. Speaking loud and clear as she would any other day.

Julian's eyes immediately narrows. A teasingly sly twinkle in them. "The bedroom, of course." Pausing a sufficient amount of time for Sarah's entire face to redden before continuing the point of his request. Seemingly happy with himself for garnering such a reaction. "Bring us to the room where the dark deed was done." His dramatic flare made Portia momentarily scowl while Sarah tried to forcefully wipe the darkened colour from her cheeks. Lucio's bedroom, he was talking about Lucio's bedroom, you stupid dipshit. The scene of the crime, obviously.

The halls are uncomfortably empty. While Portia and Sarah's cute little shoes were both quiet on the cold floor Julian's boots clattered with each step. Rather unfitting of his Asra illusion. The sound echoing endlessly through the halls. To Sarah's growing nerves each step sounded louder than the last and her mouth ran agonisingly dry.

Approaching the stairs it seemed something important was missing. It wasn't until the trio reached the top that Sarah remembered the usually so vigilant figures that guarded the wing. Lucio's hounds… neither of them were there, only adding to the uneasy emptiness of the palace. Her sudden curious searches had obviously attracted Julian's attention, as he too now seemed to have lost some nerve. "Looking for something?"

His words were carried so eagerly by the still air, forcing Sarah to take an unknowingly held breath and frown. Squaring her shoulders and pushing the anxiousness aside. "No. We're ok." They couldn't go getting worked up over nothing now, not after it all working to their favour. She should be relieved, not nervous.

On breaching the hallway of Lucio's wing Julian seems to shiver, brushing his shoulder off while glaring at the almost ashen coloured walls in vague unease. "Did you say that no one ever comes to these rooms anymore?"

Portia's tightly tied hair flopped from side to side messing as she shook her head. Eyeing the walls with the same expression of turmoil as her brother. "Nope. Never, in the years I've been here… nobody, if they don't have to. And when they do… Lets just say there are a lot of stories floating around downstairs. People have heard things. Seen things."

Yes… now that she was no stranger to. The ghostly visage of something white and needlessly angry plagued the back of Sarah's mind. She had seen it once or twice, both times having been lured to the malevolent apparition by the same dogs she knew regularly guarded the stairway. A wispy almost drowned moan ripples it's way over the rafters as they reach the bedroom door. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Julian bristle from head to toe at the sound.

The door is… already unlocked. Portia leaning onto it with utmost caution. A heavy scent of dust and ageless preservation filling the air. The door, already ajar, is suddenly flung open. Accompanied by a sharp, floor shaking, crash.

The room is buzzing with activity! Positively alive with motion as servants scramble left and right to clean every surface in sight. The many years of layered dust, ash, and grime being scrubbed at and scraped away. Long curled smoke stains twirled up the back wall where the bed is. And standing beside the bed, with wide eyes and a commanding presence, is Countess Satrinava.

Her richly coloured pink-purple hair seems to bounce the light of the room away from her. Her finely defined jaw sets slightly as she glances from Portia up to Sarah and Julian with a flash of recognition. At once her surprise, which had been well hidden, was completely swept away. Replacing it was a calm and dignified half-lidded gaze. Enough to make Julian swallow as she spoke. "Portia, there you are. Hello, Sarah, Asra" she nodded just ever so slightly. The still-shocked trio nodding back in kind. "At last, we are tending to the ruin of this room. There have been a number of curious accidents."

Her eyes settle on Julian, still under disguise, and seem to deepen immeasurably. Though she cannot look to check, Sarah can feel Julian clam up and already knows he's choking on the sudden pressure. "I see you are back already. How went the search? I have trust in your reputable skills as a magician that it went smoothly?" Nadia asks who she thinks is Asra.

"Right, I am the majulian- magician here to… I ran into my apprentice, here, on the way out and she requested my help. To help you." He stammered, his entire face turning tense and caught off-guard. Nadia takes a calculated step in their direction.

Having recovered from not only the renovation shock but Julian's awful fibbing Sarah quickly jumps in with a smile. "I do apologise about not telling you sooner, Countess. Asra and I have been working together for a while." She smiles a sickly sweet smile, taking Julian's trembling hand in her own to hide his shiver.

Of course! Miss Nadia had already met Asra this morning! Else Portia would have had no way of finding her at the shop. His hand squeezed hers tightly, to the point of almost suffocating it, but she simply smiled as he opened his mouth again. "Yes, I, we, paired up while I was on a, uh, quest tooooo open my third ear. So I can better hear the spirits. Important for this investigation." Currently, the only thoughts going through either of their minds, looked a little something like-

'Oh my god, please stop talking, you're making it so much worse.'

But, to everyone's luck, it seemed the Countesses mind was preoccupied with other things. Gazing longingly over at a far wall. "I do wish we would have had more time this morning to talk, you look so different now, but you are indeed a stranger to me. Or do my eyes deceive me… it is terribly dim. Perhaps if that lamp was lit?"

Sarah's tongue felt like it caught in a vice as she bit down on it nervously. Was… was her disguise spell leaking? Or was she remembering Asra's appearance wrong? The questions made her nauseous as she followed the Countesses slender delicate finger. Up the wall to an old not yet cleaned sconce dripping with cobwebs. Hung high up, far out of reach, at least out of reach to light by hand.

She can hear Julian's throat Bob as he swallows hard once again. Her fingers tingling as she slyly puts her free hand behind her back. "Uh, lamp, what lamp?" He blurts hurriedly, pretending not to see it, only to receive a gentle tug at the hand.

Sarah looks to him with confidence swimming in her visible eye, the other hidden under long curls of hair. "That lamp." She gestures, squeezing his hand just enough to see the lightbulb in his head light up. As if rehearsed Julian's free hand flourishes in a quick nonsense gesture, a good visual distraction to Sarah's actual act of magic, as she tries to stare down the lamp.

A coil builds between herself and the target before it snaps. The sconce roaring to life but not before showering the Count's portrait below with lively sparks. A surprised "Oh my" escapes Nadia as Portia scurries for a nearby ladder.

"It's fine milady I got it!" Springing over to the portrait to deal with the smouldering sparks while they threaten to set the portrait alight. Julian allowing himself an expressive wince as all eyes are on the portrait as if awaiting the reveal of the damage. The loyal servant padding the portrait's face down with a heavy rag.

The slight chaos keeps everyone's attention. Everyone except Sarah. Something figuratively grips at the base of her neck and forces her eyes to wander from the scene. A shape, giving off malicious intent, is forming slowly out of drifting white smoke. Far off in the most decrepit, darkest, corner of the room. She feels herself stiffen; the grip she had on Julian's hand tightening very suddenly along with her chest. Though he doesn't turn in time to see what she sees, the vaguely shaped white trail suddenly rushing forward at great speed. Ramming into Portia's ladder

"My goodness, Portia!" Yelps the Countess as the ladder is wrenched out from beneath the redheads feet. Falling very abruptly down into Nadia's awaiting arms.

Julian stares for a moment, bewildered, before clearing his throat. "Ahem, so quick! That was a feat of amazing foresight, Countess. Almost as if you saw the future. You may have... abilities. In uh, in magic." Nadia's expression wavers from concern for Portia to curiosity about the disguised doctor. Gently lowering her most trusted companion safely to the floor before giving him a look Sarah did not much care for.

"I wonder. Perhaps when I am through here, I shall join you both in investigating." She hummed, eyeing them both as Portia jumped back into the fray.

"In the library! Investigating the library!" She looked as though she was more concerned about the conversation than what had just transpired only a moment ago. Bringing Nadia's cherry-red eyes back to her in turn.

"Ah yes, a perfect place to start. I believe you keep the keys." Her tone, unlike with almost everyone else, was always much softer when addressing Portia. There was no denying the two had a very cute chemistry between them. Viewing Portia through rose tinted glasses, not seeing her behaviour as suspicious as the 'two' magicians.

Portia's cheeks seem to glitter and spark as she recognises her own genius. An opportunity to keep the Countess busy while Julian and Sarah do their research with minimal interruptions. It would take a little bit of work, but nothing she couldn't handle. "I uh, yes, I… ahem. Follow me." As she motions to the hall door and pushes it heartily open all three followers trail through. Now slightly behind the Countess the Asra facade is dropped if only for a very brief moment. His face cracking into a wide stupid grin. Half-lidded confident eyes and bared teeth that nobody could replicate if they tried for a million years…

____________________________________

The journey is short but it quickly feels like an eternity. The slightly strained look to Sarah's squinted eye giving Julian an uncomfortable feeling. She was starting to slip. The facade, the disguise, let loose a long curl of Julian's natural hair colour before she sucked roughly in through her teeth and returned it to white. Swallowing on occasion, trying not to bring attention to herself, she waited until the library doors were ahead of them to allow herself a quick flexing of her fingers. Quietly gripping onto the air and letting it go over and over to keep her magic in line.

The loud 'ka-klunk' of the library doors is quickly followed by a relieved exhale as the glamour vanishes. Returning Julian to his rightful appearance as himself in a dazzling warping of reality. Much like a stone being thrown Into a pond, his Asra disguise rippling in the air before dissipating. Leaving only the doctor's surprised expression. " Well, that could have gone worse. I may not know magic, but there's definitely something going on here. Something beyond my knowledge." He admits quietly, pacing back and forth before striking a confident air. Straight back to being himself. "Luckily for us, we're at the library. Let's see what we can learn."

As he immediately strides into action, bee-lining for the shelves, Sarah takes a moment to steady herself. A spell as simple as a disguise glamour shouldn't be so taxing, yet for the short period it was on him she feels utterly drained. Trying not to let it show as she heads for an opposing bookcase and begins to lead over the titles. Despite it being a place she would assume the Countess to frequent often the library feels almost… forgotten. A lot of the shelves are coated in a thin dusty veil that makes her nose tickle. One or two even carrying the faint scent of dampness.

Ah the library. She had been here before. Not long into staying at the palace, Portia had introduced her to the wonders of the library and it's many many books. There were many shelves and countless topics, from horse care to mythological theories, though very few had been touched in years. The rare couple she had interacted with stuck out like sore thumbs as each one lacked it's dusty coating and looked well maintained.

Taking a second to glance away from the shelves Sarah found herself just standing there. Watching Julian's fingers flutter over the books spines. Unwittingly she takes a step away from her own search to follow his, just a few paces behind. His creased brow and confident walk. There was something leading him through the shelves; an air of repetition as if it had happened a dozen times before. Picking up a few books without needing to read the entire way through their titles and slinging them into a cradled arm.

"All these books, and I kept going back to the same old… Just around that corner. I had a desk." He grumbles, seeming to follow an already established path. "It's coming back to me… it's close, at the back of my mind. I can just taste it." So thoroughly focused on where he was headed he hasn't yet noticed how curious his smaller companion must be. Turning a hard crimson once spotting her trailing behind him with a bright sparkle in her eye; like a lost dog trailing a stranger with a basket of bread. "You're… mad at me?" He asks curiously, much to her surprise.

"N-no! No of course not." She assures with a winded breath, still recovering from such a long usage of her magic.

But it doesn't seem to help much, a heavy sigh shaking up his broad chest. Staring past her. "You're not, huh?" He mumbles, seeming to already be beating something up in his frantic brain. "You know, Sarah, they do say there's such a thing as being too forgiving."

Her eyebrows fly up, not expecting the sudden almost disappointment in his statement before huffing childishly and crossing her arms. "I know you'd rather I punish you, but I don't want to. You've been doing that to yourself enough, I'll have no part in it."

Obviously also not expecting such a reply the red colour to Julian's face stays persistent as he stares at her with a slightly open mouth. Though it's quickly eclipsed by his single showing eye going wide. A sharp inhale cutting the conversation as he briskly shuffles, books in hand, past her to a large desk.

Ah… she knew that desk. After all spending time in the library means getting to snoop around undisturbed. That and she was originally hired to catch Dr.Devorak, not help him. The desk was cluttered and had a special almost unnoticeable 'normal' look to it. Unassuming would be the right word. It sat patiently and politely waiting for it's master to return with a dried up ink and quill on the side. Several notes scrapped to one side. "There it is, that's my desk." Everything must have fallen away for him as he leafs over the documents and pillages the drawers. Very clearly looking for something in particular.

Sarah manages to catch a few scraps as they fall off the desktop, placing them back on while giving each one a quick look-over with a fond smile. She had struggled to read these before, and still does now. The handwriting managed to shift from calm and cursive to loud incomprehensible scribbles. His wordless muttering is almost hard to hear over the rustling of old paper.

Though… she finds herself managing to deafen both intrusive noises. A note in her hand completely enveloping her attention. It wouldn't have stood out if it wasn't for the large drawing slapped onto the middle of the page. An ominously shaped beetle. There was no colour and yet an overwhelming sense of 'red' came to mind, enough so that she hadn't noticed Julian stiffen and still as he plucked something from an underside drawer.

His hand shakes, holding it tightly. A dark metal key with an almost slick texture. Like it was oily all over save for a large red stone in the eye. "Ah ha!" His abrupt and sharp bark jolts Sarah's shoulders. Bringing her hastily back to reality as the taste of foreboding remained in her mouth. "This is it. This is what was calling to me." He shook his head, long untamed locks of hair feathering out from the movement. "Don't ask me how I know, but I know. It's not any of these old scrawlings. It's this!"

He throws the key up in the air, snatching it back on the way down and shoving it into his coat pocket with a scheming glint to his silver eye. Catching Sarah off guard as he grabs her by the shoulders and swiftly pubs her with an adoring grin. "I'm one step closer. If it wasn't for you, dear Sarah, I'd still be two behind." He growls, sweeping her from the spot victoriously into his arms, only stopping when his nose is only an inch from hers…

An ear splitting cacophonous screech from the large stained glass window causing every bone in their bodies to buzz. Immediately springing to move, Julian pushes Sarah hastily into the nearest dark corner. His arms lightly quivering; she can see his throat bob uncomfortably as he stares at the window. Taking a slow and steadying breath, both of their faces flush as his chest presses up against her own. He looks… pretty embarrassed. Still a little jumpy.

"Just a bird. Sorry…" Sarah can feel herself shudder as his eyes travel down to meet every place they'd sandwiched together. Biting his lip with a grumble. "About everything. I'm sorry." His head drops with a look of askance. Closing his eyes as if looking at her would be too much to bear. "I don't know what I was thinking, rejecting you like I did. Temporary madness. It perhaps goes without saying that I find you… very, very attractive." The words make her mouth run dry. Trying discreetly to swallow. "Whether I'm destined to hang or not. And by some miracle, you see something attractive in me, too." He pauses only for a moment to bite at his lip before sneering. "But to what end? I pace, I drink, I tear my hair out. And still I don't know what to do. Sarah. What do you want me to do?"

He whines unhappily. The tired dark-circled eye alight and aflame with a passion she'd not seen in anyone before. The question, the whole speech, was overwhelming her in ways she didn't want to admit. Was it… fear? It couldn't be. She DID find him attractive and she DID want him to be proven innocent… the shaking of her arms and stiff dryness of her throat finally started to dissipate as she managed to breathe after what felt like an eternity.

She reaches up gingerly, placing one hand on either side of his pale face, entangling his hair in her fingers. Bringing his head down far enough to press her forehead up against his. The gesture easing Julian down from whatever coiled up state he'd gotten himself into. The library disappeared, giving way to a looming sense of calm. She could feel his grip on her shoulders slowly melt as he moved to wrap his arms around her head, tightening a softened hug as she swayed with him for a few moments. Sarah hummed quietly, finally breaking the illusion of comfort by pushing him back enough to stare up at his face with a ballsy smirk. "...Try to be quiet. We're in a library."

It worked, Julian looking abashed and finally loosening from his jumbled up position.

"So it is." He clears his throat, detangling his lanky arms and legs from the mad scramble he's forced them into. Patting the pocket with the key as if to check it was still there. "This key is coming with me. The key to everything, maybe. Now all I have to do is find whatever it opens..." He huffed, seemingly having moved on from their little 'moment.'

Sarah, too, was quickly forced out of her smug aura once distant sound broke the tension. Coming from behind the library doors. The two of them giving it a wary glare as general sound refined into what was clearly a set of voices. "AH! Milady! Finished up so soon?! That's a surprise!" Came Portia's comically loud and exaggerated shouts from behind the barrier. Nadia's composed and melodious tones waver through the library, but exactly what she says is too quiet to decipher.

In a sudden jump Julian tensed and responded like he had done the bird. Only now with a more serious intensity. Snatching Sarah's already held out hand on the way past as they scrambled to stash away amongst the awaiting arms of the library's shadows.

#Arcana #Arcana oc #Arcana Portia #Arcana Nadia #Arcana Julian #The Devil's due #arcana fanfic

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poisonousfey · 7 years

Note

D. VA, Roadhog, Lucio and Junkrat have a very wild night on the town.

Ok but I’m adding Symmetra too because reasons

---

The funny thing is, they’re not even intending it to be a “wild night out,” it just sort of happens.

Roadie had honestly just wanted to go have a quiet dinner without worrying about cooking, and though it hadn’t been his turn to cook anyway (It was Jack’s), he didn’t really want to deal with the Jack-and-Gabe Super Shitshow that happened in the kitchen every time it was either of their turns to cook. Apparently, whenever one of them has to be in one room for an extended period of time, the other has to come and heckle them the entire time. He gets it, they have a lot of shit to work through, but the mutual pining and violent sexual tension gets real old real quick, as does their combined fussing over the whole team.

So, amidst Team Grimdads’ dinner preparations- yelling across the base to ask people what they want, getting in each other’s face, arguing about what ingredients to use, and in general making a mess- Roadie volunteered to get groceries, after he grabbed dinner with Jamie. The dads give an approximation of a yes- both waving at him without looking away from each other or their argument- and so off they go.

Long story short, they end up running from the cops in a fucking soccer mom minivan.

See normally they’d just take Mercy’s car and be done with it. They couldn’t exactly take Roadie’s bike if they were buying groceries for just shy of two dozen people, and her SUV had more than enough room for just two people and their groceries, typically. However, things get a little complicated when it goes from two people to five people- namely, he, Jamie, Lucio, Hana, and Symmetra.

Lucio and Hana aren’t really a surprise; they’d bonded with Jamie remarkably well over their individual tech. Symmetra was, however. She hadn’t particularly bonded with anybody thus far, at least to his knowledge. There’s been some reaching out to her, sure, but it never really stuck, Symmetra about as standoffish as a cat, and just as skittish. It was hard to really tell what she was thinking a lot of the time, and she never really left the base unless it was for a mission.

But for some reason, when they were packing up to go, she’d just about marched right up to them, in her full mission regalia no less, and said:

“I will be joining you,” very determined. She won’t break eye contact with Lucio, seeming to have something to prove. No one replies immediately, and her confidence wavers. “I would- I would like to join you,” she amends, deflating a little.

“Alright,” Roadie allows. She looks relieved.

“You miiight want to switch to something more casual, though,” Jamie points out from his wheelchair, prosthetics set aside for the time being. “Tryin’ to stay under the radar here.” He’s actually somewhat calm with how he says it, at least as far as shades of Jamie go, especially given that he absolutely hates having to use the wheelchair. Being stuck in one place never sits well with him; even now he’s bouncing his remaining leg rapid-fire. Symmetra nods.

“I will go get changed, then,” she says, determination returning and setting off at a brisk pace.

She changes remarkably fast, like she’s convinced they’re going to ditch her- they haven’t even finished loading Jamie into the van when she returns- and they set off.

Dinner goes relatively alright, given the situation.

Lucio and Hana luckily aren’t recognized in their civilian clothes (Hana forgoes her cute pink battle stripes and puts her hair up in a bun, and Lucio takes out the decorative pieces he usually has at the end of his hair), and the junkers obviously have experience with keeping a low profile long enough to get by without being noticed. Symmetra stands out a little but it’s less that she’s recognized and more that she went above and beyond. She’s a little overdressed for this place, honestly; it’s just a little mom-and-pop operation. She’s dressed like she’s going to work at an accounting office.

They have a little trouble finding some vegetarian options for her- mom and pop place, again, so it’s a bit limited- but the staff doesn’t seem to mind her asking for a couple substitutions. Particularly when she leaves the biggest tip out of all of them.

She doesn’t talk much during, still a bit shy but not letting that stop her from being here in the first place. The only thing she asks during dinner is to call her “Satya.” That’s it. She listens in, sure, and seems to be content just to be included, but again, she doesn’t really talk much.

No, she doesn’t do much talking until they get to the grocery store, and they’re in line at the register. To be specific, she doesn’t start talking until she’s picking a fight with the person in the next aisle over for giving the cashier a hard time.

The thing is, this is a brandname store, big enough to be part of a chain, and Satya is yelling louder than anyone else there. This is possibly because watching her get angry is like watching a hurricane form; slow and breathtaking but ultimately terrifying, and stupefies everyone into a stunned silence.

She had started off slow, staring holes into the back of head of the man in question, partly disbelief and partly disgust, as he continues to rail into the cashier, who mostly just takes it, wordlessly ringing up his items, the “in-training” badge gleaming cheerily under the bright lights overhead. The longer it goes on, the more Satya looks like she’s about to start vibrating out of her own body out of sheer rage. Roadie is kind of glad that Jamie isn’t here at this point- waiting in line is the absolute worst for him, so Lucio and Hana volunteered to keep him company in the car instead. If Jamie were here, the impulsive, angry little fucker he is, things would have gotten a lot worse, a lot quicker.

The man is blaming the cashier for things that aren’t in any way their fault- why is this so expensive, this isn’t what it used to be, he should receive a discount, etc.- and apparently, Satya got to a point where she could not stand by and watch this happen anymore.

“Excuse me,” she starts, not quite loud enough to be heard by the chucklefuck in question. “Sir,” she continues, somewhat louder. Their own cashier, who had been resentfully but dutifully ignoring the man as they rang up their items, chances a peek at Satya, wary concern starting to bleed through the carefully sculpted indifference- the kind of concern that read “do I need to call security.”

“Excuse me,” she says again, garnering he attention of not only the people behind them, but also the people behind the man in question and the people in the next aisle down, but bafflingly, not the stubborn jackass she’s been trying to shame into stopping.

Their cashier is just about done ringing up their things when Satya stops bagging, walks over to him, her heels clacking sharply against the linoleum, and actually, physically puts herself directly in front of him.

“Sir. Excuse me,” she begins, using the same sort of eerie, transient calmness that belies clouds that have gone the off-color green that signal the coming of tornadoes.

Finally, to the despair and panic of the cashier, he turns his head, but before he can really say anything, Satya says, not yelling but her voice somehow carrying throughout the entire store anyway, “If you do not approve of the way that the cashier is taking care of your purchase, then alert their manager or the front desk. Do not presume that you have the authority to dole out punishment wherever you see fit simply because they cannot do anything to stop you.”

Thankfully, Roadie has already paid their cashier and loaded up their cart, because this is about the time that she realizes that everyone is staring at her, and the manager on shift has long since recognized Symmetra for who she is, and as such, has called security, who presumably have already contacted the police.

Leaving Vishkar had been pretty rocky for Satya, particularly because they didn’t actually allow her to leave, and have reported her as a rogue agent and criminal.

So, by the time Satya has stopped fixating her vindication on the chucklefuck in the next aisle over and realized they were about to be in some deep shit, Roadie has already tossed all their food in the cart. He proceeds to grab her and fucking book it to the front doors. The cart plus his considerable weight behind it makes an excellent battering ram, and they manage to bowl through the crowd pf people coming through the front door. Security, of course, attempts to stop them, but see the keyword here is “attempts” because Satya, from her spot hanging over Roadie’s shoulder, fabricates a moving barrier and sends it flying toward them. Said shield knocks them down relatively harmlessly, but definitely gives them enough time to ride the screeching cart across the parking lot to the van.

Lucio, sitting in the driver’s sit, looks a little surprised to see them recklessly careening towards them on the back of a rickety shopping cart.

“Everything go okay?” he asks knowing fully well what the answer is.

“Start the car,” Roadie says as he pulls the cart to a screeching halt once they’ve swerved to the back of the van. Satya hops down, finally free from his grasp, and darts into the van, slamming the door shut. Lucio does so.

Roadie doesn’t bother unloading the cart; just tosses the whole thing, bags and all, into the back.

“Um,” Lucio says, and Jamie grins crookedly at them. Hana’s eyes flick between Satya and Roadie disbelievingly.

“What happened?” she demands as Roadie climbs into the passenger seat.

“Drive,” he orders, and Lucio, taking note of the police cruisers beginning to pull up, does so, blasting out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.

“What did you do?!” Hana shrieks as the van roars down the highway. Satya’s a little too shaken and speechless to answer her, so Roadie does it for her.

“Picked a fight with some asshole an aisle over,” he explains over the engine and the sirens and the rattling cart barely held still by Satya and Hana. “They figured out who we were and called the cops.” Hana fixes her with an incredulous stare.

“Why?” she asks, eyes bugging out of her head.

“Was giving the cashier a hard time,” he continues. Jamie bursts out laughing.

“Oh my god,” Hana yells. “Oh my god, why!!”

“No, you don’t understand,” Satya says, finally finding her voice. “He would not leave them be, and no one was coming to their defense. If I hadn’t, no one would have.”

“Satya, I love you, and I’m proud of you for sticking to your principles, but please please please pick your battles better,” Lucio manages to grit out in a rush as he weaves in and out of traffic. Jamie is crying now, actually literally crying, from laughter.

“Really?” Satya asks, almost too quiet to be heard. They probably wouldn’t have if not for the sirens finally fading as Lucio widens the distance between them.

“Yeah!” Jamie manages to get out between giggles. “We should take you out with us more often!”

#overwatch #roadhog. symmetra #readasaur

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