Summersiofra​:

"I am sure Dareth has done a wonderful job," Robin confirms, quietly sidestepping the affirmation that it would be the bsxt thing that did happen to the court. With the Laurelin above and underneath them, she cannot fully agree with his comment. Still, she can very well see why he would think so, after the long struggle he had to gain his man, as it where. "And I will ensure that I call him by his correct title, do not worry," she agrees easily, a hint of mischief on her eyes as she considers how to address the future King Consort. As much as she admired the fey'ri, as much as she loved him as King, he had burned his crown, and that meant that no longer would she consider him one of her betters, out of respect for his sacrifice. "Are you feeling nervous? It's only twenty-four hours until the wedding, after all."

“Winter Solstice. It will be the greatest thing to happen in all of the courts.” Dareth would make sure of it. And if he didn’t, well, then Meryasek would have to throw a fit of epic daemonic proportions, and no one wanted that. “Everyone will bow to the new Chancellor, the new King of Daemons. Make sure you call him that, I think he'll pass out if he doesn't hear it. This day is his big moment.” He grinned now, especially because he knew Dareth had always wanted a title. Despite the crown being burned, Meryasek still knew of himself as better – he just didn’t show it as much as his lover did, perhaps.

lainxsolus​:

“I’ll be good I promise,” Lain responded obediently, cock practically throbbing at even the tiniest praise sung in her velvety smooth voice. It felt like his brain was short-circuiting when her fingers wrapped around his neck, breath stilling in his lungs as he anticipated Robin’s grip to tighten.  But her touch remains consistent, leaving him wanting much more. “Who says the forest needs to be deserted? I don’t give a fuck who watches,” He boasted, although he would probably change his mind if he knew any members of the pack were observing the act. Who he decided to sleep with was never any of their business. He fully pressed his body up against her’s, giving her hip a squeeze as he hooked her leg around his waist so she could really feel the effect she was having on him.  Lain grinded up against her, pants clinging to his hardness, he let out a shaky breath as his gaze met her’s.  Oh, the things he planned to do to her once they got out of here. 

...

“That is what I like to hear, good boy,” Robin says, a bright grin on her lips as a sense of thrill fills her at the easy response. She wants to push and see how much he is affected by praise, wants to see what he will do if she squeezes down on his throat like he seems to want. She is delighted by the prospect of learning how to pull all sort of noises from this puppy of hers. “Oh, but I am selfish, sweetheart. I want to be the only one to see your face as you come undone,” she coos playfully as she puts just the slightest amount of pressure against his throat as she speaks to prove a point. Her grin widens at the bulge on his pants and she rolls her hips up on unison to his grinding. Eyes meeting Lain, she leans forward to pull him into a quick passionate kiss, before she pulls back and pushes him away enough to step away from the tree. Fingers intertwining with his, she pulls at his arm and drags him out of the park and towards the forest, a soft hum leaving her lips as she hides them from the world and any interruptions. The next few minutes pass away in a flash and she soon finds herself pushing Lain against a tree in a small clearing within New Rome’s boundaries and grabs his shirt, pulling him down into a searing kiss.

floratitus​:

The security that surrounded Mercuralia was only the beginning of the police state they were about to become submerged in, Flora desired public safety for those innocents to not fear that they would be plucked off the streets and hauled away into a van. She remembered her time serving as a Marshal on the Senate and somewhere along the lines, it had been determined that it was the Eye who had been kidnapping supernaturals only to have it brushed underneath the rug again. She wouldn’t forget the body that she found floating down the Tiber river with bites from its own vampiric kind littering its body, it had been killed by the Leech but the Leech had been under the control of the Eye at the time. “I will do what I can to help you, he’s chosen his side and I won’t allow any more Lycans to suffer at the hands of the Eye.”

...

“Splendid. I will work on this misdirection on my part too, but please do be subtle. Wade might not be the sharpest tool in the box but he is not an idiot either.” At least not most of the time, and she cannot risk such a fruitful connection into the Eye to be alerted that he is being used. The hunter had made his bed and then believed a mere apology would be enough to brush it all aside when he would never forgive the creature that had destroyed his family. “He has to believe that he has been forgiven, so that he doesn’t suspect anything we do. For that, if you currently have a good relationship with him, you might need to maintain it. Can you do that? Can you lie to him?”

TATI GABRIELLE ph. Tatijana Shoan for AS IF Digital Cover (April 2023)

wadecalhoun​:

          A low whistle leaves Wade, drumming his hands on the table as if it would aid him in formulating any response or retort of comfort. He’s at a loss, he’s not entirely familiar with fey business, never really had to concern himself with them before. Robin had dished out all he needed to know, how they were capricious but relatively harmless at the end of the day and merely, much like everyone, solely out for their own kinds survival. From what Wade had gathered, it seemed the fey simply wanted to be left to their own devices, but he knew such sentiment could not encompass the entirety of the species and that was where betrayal and shit became a dark and slippery slope. “Robin, you ain’t gonna have some target on your back for bein’ forced to take some chick’s job, are you?” Well, a larger target then the one she inherently created considering her own age and ability to meddle. “And how come you didn’t come to me about all that?” Being hunted, it allows him to recall the moment they first met when he’d almost jabbed her with his fucking iron switchblade under the false pretense that she was a demon. How far they’d come since then and though this was no time to condemn her when she appeared so emotionally wounded and fragile, Wade had felt almost offended at the idea that she would have rather faced such problem by herself. He can be a bit thick headed and even through his concern for Robin and his mild offense he still can’t rouse the obvious fact that she was trying to poke at the elephant in the room, his affiliations with a certain group that hunted all supernaturals.

...

“Wade, dearest, I have had a target on my back for years, my new role has merely increased other parties’ interest,” she begins, voice slow and deliberate as she reaches for the warmth of her drink and raises it to her lips to take a long and silent sip. There is an eternity of legends and stories behind her worries, the fear of the dark that her kind carries woven into her very essence with the knowledge of the drows that will never stop hunting them. Worry circles her chest, weights her tongue as she speaks, even as fondness shines through. Even as she wants to reach and bring him closer, even as she wants to reach out and hope. He is worried, before all, he is concerned. And yet,  Robin knows Wade. Has known him since he attempted to kill her, believing her a demon and nothing else. Dearest as he is to her, she knows him enough of his faults to know that he had not caught her indirect. The desire to reach out, the hope, does not fade, but her loyalty to her people prevails and tentative thoughts turn into tentative words. It’s like walking up to the precipice, the knowledge that if she pushes she might not get an answer that she wants. Robin doesn’t know if she can handle the truth for herself, doesn’t know if she can handle another betrayal. If it were for her and her alone, she would not continue. But the truth is not for her satisfaction, not for her peace of mind: the truth is to protect those she has sworn to defend. “If it’s not the Eye, it’s the drows, shadow creatures wearing the faces of those we once loved. My kind’s very existence is in danger, and I do not know who to trust. I cannot bring anyone I care for into this, I cannot bring you into this Wade, not when my kinds protection is not your cross to bear.”

i’m a simple bisexual. i see a pretty person, i [aggrieved noise]

Winter arrived with it's full splendor, it's icy touch spreading through the Lunar Court and beyond Gate. Frost had reached the boards of the Dusk Court that it shared with Aurora's court, the last days of Autumn smattering with coldness. It's a rather beautiful sigh, the slow combination between Dusk and Lunar, and she quite enjoys walking near the borders, the chill settling on her bones as she observes the results of entropy on action. Alas, duty calls, even as the Solstice Festival it's at it's apex. Robin had turned in early, as soon as Aurora had been called away for a manner relating her denizens, and had made it to the boarder between the courts with a languid step, only to be called away by one of the fluttering pixies regarding an audience with a Dusk elf whose name she does not recognize.

How curious.

Part of her training before her sacrifice to the Holt, had been to memorize the name of the survivors that had followed them to the Fey's Forest after the court fell. Hesperia is not a name she recognizes from amidst the survivors, and she wonders if she has found herself a pilgrim for her court. Perhaps Laer has finally met his match.

Snickering to herself at the thought, she makes it towards her office where the stranger awaits and opens the door to a strangely familiar presence. How curious. She had not known her by her name, but she did know the stranger before her. Robin needed a glimpse of her face to be sure, but if she is right, her Court owes the stranger for Robin's life, and she is very determined to fulfill her debts.

"Far from it, that you asked for an audience despite the festivities is telling," she comments as she moves to sit on her desk chair and gestures at the other to stop bowing. She understands the decorum, but she has never been one for it outside from formal situations. "If the matter is important, I am thankful you want to bring it to my attention sooner than later."

Date: December 17-23rd, one of the nights after the festival Location: Audele, Dusk Fields Characters: @thegoodfellow & @hidinghesperia Notes: future pumpkin wives

The first brush of winter had come to the world and yet nothing gave her sibling joy, not even the gently drifting snowflakes. Hesperia went to the Lunar Court first, if only because she had been terrified that the Lunar Chancellor would deny her 'useless' sibling any welcome. That paranoid fear had been for nothing but The Tranquil was Hesperia's priority so, with the assurance that her sibling was welcomed and being looked after, Hesperia finally headed to the Dusk Fields and to who she knew to be her new Chancellor. She remained quiet, out of the way, soft-spoken and stubbornly mysterious despite the curiousity that she could feel emanating from the other Dusk elves that, most of them, had likely never seen the common elf before. Hesperia only spoke to ask where she could to find the Chancellor and was led to wait for an audience with her. Robin, they said was her name. Young but tenacious. The other common elf had gossiped how their Chancellor had succeeded a traitor in the midst of brewing war despite never having prepared for the role. That sort of challenge would make anyone crass and so Hesperia only hoped for her and her sibling's sake that that wasn't the case. She was terrified for them. For their sake she needed to make a good impression - she needed to grovel on her knees if that's what it took.

"Chancellor," Hesperia greeted, immediately standing up as the door suddenly opened. She didn't even give herself enough time to properly look at who Robin was before the common elf inclined her head respectfully and turned her gaze downward. Hesperia was lithe and clad in dark, simple elven clothing, the sort of clothes made for lots of free movement. She had covered her hair and her ears with a equally dark scarf, if only because it had made it easier for her to sneak around that way while in the Otherworld and now it served to hide her ears from mortals. "I apologize for asking for an audience so late and during city festivities."

Tati Gabrielle as Jo Braddock in Uncharted (2022)

who? @farenduil​

where? autumn’s fields

“The Autumn Equinox is approaching and with it your birthday,” Robin comments as she approaches Farenduil with light steps. Slowly, she is becoming more and more accustomed to her duties, and she knows that their people need joy now more than ever. What better way to help the morale than to celebrate the Prince’s birthday and the Equinox at once? “The usual festivities will apply, but I was wondering if you would mind if we prepared a small festival for our court to celebrate both occasions?”

chancellorxlaer​:

-

The fey were clairvoyant, knowing who to trust and how was all but woven into their nature, still, it was not impossible for them to be deceived. Deception, however, was typically their game. Laer knew, he’d employed it countless times before. Robin looked like a frail and broken thing, hollowed eyes and worry laced her words, it was… Uncomfortable. She was a chancellor now, strength was what her people needed more than anything - what all the fey needed. One weak link reflected poorly on all of them, if there was something he could do to dispel this worry then he would do it. 

“Our judgement isn’t infallible.” Laer offered, “What did this betrayal really cost you?” The chancellor asked in an attempt to ascertain the depth and breadth of her relationship with the individual who betrayed them. Fey, as it happened, were especially skilled when it came to vengeance. The magic that bloomed within them was enough to blanket this city, this forest was a focal point and anyone with intuition could feel how Zahrya had embedded it with the very nature of their being. Blood magic that Laer had affectionately steered him towards, after all, it wasn’t without its uses. 

...

“A gut wound, an iron-made scar and a great deal of the empathy I set aside for humanity,” Robin admits, a near sardonic smile on her lips as she speaks. She is more than aware of her own predilection for humans, knows that her young age had given her a kinder perspective of them as she had not experience the same violence towards their kind that the older generations had. She knows that all things considered, she had been more understanding of humanity than many other eladrin, knows despite the new jaded certainty sitting on her chest, she is likely to remind kinder still. It’s her better nature, but as any eladrin that is not the only thing that she is. “I had a project of sorts, a human that hunted demons for revenge for what they did to his family, and I saw myself on him in a way. That blinded me to his cowardice and lack of principles.”

The truth is simple, at the end of the day. Robin had seen herself on Wade, desperate to avenge the lost of a loved one, and because of that, had been willing to help him. Willing to love him as a friend, because she had trusted him as one trusts those they believe they understand, those they believe to be alike them. What Robin had failed to see was that Wade lacked the strength of character to be anything but a lamb. Well, if that if he was so very willing to betray her for puny convictions, she would need not hesitate any longer. He is a lamb, and one she would gladly lead to a slaughter

“The good news is that now I have a stronger link leading back to the Eye, and little compunctions on exploiting it,” she offers, slowly. It still weights on her, the care she held for Wade, but her people always came first, and now that the little archer is a threat, she will spare him from her anger no longer.