Some meme threads

[chaos_born]

Sentinel au is always a fav. i love building a story for settings like this! and definitely can be played gen instead of shipping whatever seems to work for our characters.
Snowed in meme. Marco is a world hopper in his original canon so he could be anywhere.... or i can au him into your canon, i just don't know anything about it!
Cyberpunk au! always in for some CP
Random rp scene meme

Comments

[halfbloodhatchling]

The request at the Post had seemed pretty straightforward, some easy money. That was probably Kai's first mistake, but babysitting a few diplomats through a Pendle run to see the eagles wasn't without its hazards, which meant he planned to earn the price he was being paid.

Kai maintains that blissful ignorance right until he sees the cat bastard walking over to them. "Oh hell no." They're still out of range of even elf hearing range but not for long. "I'm not working with one of them." He's managed to avoid the elves for a while now, but it hasn't been nearly long enough, not for Kai's liking.

"You didn't tell me there would be one of them here."

The diplomat laughs. "One of- I hired you because I figured you wouldn't care."

At least if the unsidhe tries to attack him it would provoke an international incident. Kai finds that cold comfort at the moment. The pistol he's allowed to carry does a little more, and Kai's hand brushes it to aid in that reassurance as their guest draws closer. Maybe if he doesn't make eye contact the damn elf won't notice he's here.

[chaos_born]

Merlin hasn't been the king of the Dusk Court for a long while but Marco has has been busy taking his new position to the kingdoms wide and far, acting as his long arm in both the Dawn court and now with humans. He could have been exploring the world still, continuing with his own studies or doing pretty much anything more interesting than this, participating in endless dinner parties and negotiations. Family first, said his father, only if you can spare the time, said his cousin and of course, he yielded in the end. Who else would make sure that Merlin's influence was spread exactly like his cousin wanted? Very few would.

He's quick to agree to whatever excursion the diplomat suggests, anything but yet another boring meeting in a stuffy room with a million bureaucrats. It took some serious investigation to know how to dress for this little adventure, however. But he hasn't been trained by the iron fist of his father for nothing. He and his trusted man - a childhood friend really, but no one needs to know that, Orion is both his bodyguard and someone who will keep Marco in line - are dressed in something that could be of this world but appeases the sensibilities of the Dusk court, fitting for an outside excursion and sturdy enough that if something happens, they'll be adequately protected. Marco wears a long-ish coat in light grey, the hood is wide enough to cover his shoulders and the sleeves drape over his fingertips. His pants are tight but covered to mid tight with the hem of his grey sweater and almost up to his knee with soft boots. He looks small and slender beside Orion who towers over him with a head and then some, dressed in dark colours to contrast him. He's made sure to hung some spells before heading out but other than that, he wears no other protection, just the spiraling circle of his family crest on his sleeve and a few pearls woven into his pale hair.

They come to a halt by the diplomat and Marco inclines his head respectfully, even as his eyes keep shifting to the side to the man standing near the diplomat. There's recognition and yet, nothing definite that he can pin down. How is there another elf in the human courts that he doesn't know about? Obviously something has failed about his investigation...

He muddles his way through the proper greetings, through all the right words and signs of respect that he's been taught but Orion has to nudge him a few times to the back because he has paused just to stare at the other elf, whiffs of something spicy and sweet in the air. It feels like... resisting an addiction, that tight knot at the bottom of your stomach, spreading like hunger from his gut.

Finally they're through the pleasantries. It could have been a year except they only stood there for a couple of minutes as Marco rattled through his piece and the diplomat his own.

"Shall we then?" he asks automatically shifts a little closer to that scent as they start to move... orange is it?

[halfbloodhatchling]

Kai shifts automatically away from the strangers. He doesn't like that attention from anyone, and he tells himself that his skin is crawling as he catches the scent of something his body tries to insist he needs.

The diplomats all seem to be planning on standing around, useless, Kai thinks, and only to be expected, until the elfin one asks about it and tries to move closer to Kai. Kai takes the excuse and steps quickly forward, to try to put some distance between them as he starts to lead.

"Only danger in the first part of this is the possibility of a bird crapping on you." Kai's Singlish is unaccented, without the usual smoothness of the elfin.

The human diplomat's mouth opens and he looks askance as his visitors, mortified at the possibility of offending them. That makes Kai relax a little - at least this is incompetence rather than him being set up.

[chaos_born]

Marco lets out a surprised laughter at the crudeness of the comment coming from their ... guide? He's going to think this person is their guide.

"Seems unfortunately uneventful," he says with a small smile directed at the diplomat. Thank anything holy for small mercies, perhaps this day isn't going to be as boring as he thought.

"I don't think I caught your name," he says next, falling in step behind their guide, pausing only for a moment as his eyes squeeze shut tightly and his whole body tenses up as that damn scent pretty much invades every sense he has. (How is that possible, you probably shouldn't ask him.) He's never been prone to addiction and a simple scent shouldn't give him this strong a reaction to it. But now he's very certain of its source, and it gives his gut another knot to worry over. He's not dull enough to ignore the significance of it.

By the time the human diplomat catches him on the trail, he is already moving, smoothly padding along in that trail of the scent leaves behind. Oranges, spice, something warm and lovely, makes him think of tea and cozy night with a book by the fire. A bead of sweat appears on his brow and he absentmindedly wipes it away, noting that his gaze has been measuring the back of the man walking in front of him. What is he? A bird or a fish? Usually it should be easy to tell, Sidhe or unSidhe? But there is no distinct hint one way or another. Marco is tempted to say the latter because something that this man reminds him of... But his hair is very dark, isn't it? Is it dyed perhaps?

[halfbloodhatchling]

"Don't worry, the running in terror from a fire-breathing dragon is scheduled after the warm-up walk." Kai feels clear-headed in an unfamiliar sort of way, and it's enough to encounter the rising sense of dread coming from close contact with the unsidhe.

And that damn smell, like mountaintops covered in fresh snow. Kai figures that if he's close enough to smell that they're definitely too close, and he fixes the man with a firm frown.

"Kai Gracen." It's a human sort of name, first and last, no mention of clan, or court. Kai doesn't ask Marco's back in return, tells himself he doesn't care. He needs to avoid all the elfin after all, not just this one.

[chaos_born]

He's a mystery, isn't he? Marco has forgotten the diplomat who is struggling to keep up with the brisk pace they're keeping. Orion keeps the man company though, bless him. Marco will thank him later when he's not feeling quite as dizzy and spellbound as he is right now.

"I see, and you are responsible for these... high points of entertainment, Kai?" he asks, voice quiet enough that it doesn't carry back to the diplomat. If he weren't feeling like a wild thing right now, he wouldn't have called the other man simply by his first name either. It's far too familiar, and yet... There it is.

"I'm Marco," he continues, not offering his clan name, not his court, not anything else. It's not an insult, but a genuine, unthinking offering of intimacy. A warm smile given to a frown.

"You seem like a curious bird in an unusual habitat," he ventures on, something trembling in his words, a preconceived notion of something exciting. A relief that's yawning before him, a whole lifetime of surrender to something that was meant to be, in a single action that seems to glimmer just out of his reach.

[halfbloodhatchling]

In some ways, Kai feels like he knows the elfin pretty damn well. In other ways his understanding is about as well-developed as a humans. He has the general impression that they're stuck up, creatures of ritual and formality.

But Marco isn't reacting the way he'd expect. Not that Kai really likes this better, or at least he tells himself that.

"A..." Kai makes a show of raising his eyebrows, and he does slow a little before this gets absurd, or it seems like he's running. No need to trigger predator instincts, he thinks with a snort. "I suppose the same could currently be said of you, your lordship." His voice is tight, the title mocking rather than respectful.

[chaos_born]

Marco manages to catch up with him as he slows his progress. A thing he doesn't seem to mind at all. Instead his smile is a bright thing, warm and sunny, completely rehearsed and yet, this time genuine.

"Marco is just fine," he says quietly. He doesn't like being called lord or being bowed down to if he can help it. Here, there's no option like that. He has a function and a duty to perform. But he doubts Kai has very little to do with that duty outside of this little leg trip to see the eagles.

"And yes, you could and you may," he continues with a shake of his head. "More so than you probably realise. You've been away for a while, haven't you?"

He ignores those mocking tones, for now. Even if it hits him a lot deeper than it should.

[halfbloodhatchling]

"No," Kai says. He scans the horizon so he doesn't have to look at Marco, doesn't have to see that bright smile or come up with a response to it. It's complicated, but he's sure the elf is only being polite, pushing for a political advantage wherever he can see one.

"There is no away." Because going away implies that there could be a return, and Kai's feelings on that are a resounding hell no.

He looks at the sky for some sort of salvation, and spots an eagle flying high, too far away to be easily visible but at least it exists. "There," he says, "That's what you're here to see."

[chaos_born]

It's been roughly a week since their Eagle viewing trip. Marco has been thinking about Kai a lot, finally he figured out why the man seems so familiar and he's come to understand a little better why he's feeling the way he is about him. It took a magical call to his cousin to really hammer that point home and Merlin, always batting from Marco's corner, told him to make room for figuring the situation out.

Orion has been helpful as well, keeping an eye on Kai from afar. Marco has a somewhat up to date idea of what the other elfin is up to at any given time. Orion gave him a hard time about it and they had a small row about it a few nights ago. But they've gotten over it by now and when there are news about a group of orphaned brownies that have made their way into the city they both know it's probably a job that Kai ends up saddled with. Those buggers can be a trouble and then some, they love any kind of ale and have no concept of property. Orion informs him at dinner that a certain grumpy elfin has been signed on the task of getting rid of them and when they're later dealing with a little shopping in the downtown - a coincidence, really, he just needed to replace his watercolours just today - they are told that Kai has been "dealing" with the matter for a while in a pub along one of the side roads that cross with their path quite accidentally. Oops. Orion snorts as he hands Marco his bags and lets him into the pub while gesturing towards a bookstore at the other side of the street. He's going to be spending some time there, you know where to find him...

This leaves Marco entering the pub on his own, carrying several paper bags as he steps in carefully. "Hello," he calls out. There are several brownies already sleeping on the empty tables, snoring faintly. It's a good tactic to just wait them out, Marco notes. Otherwise they'll just hide away and you'll never catch all of them.

[halfbloodhatchling]

The burst of relief that hits Kai when the door opens is absurd, and he knows it. There's no reason any elfin presence should make him feel the slightest bit better. But his mind feels clearer, like his vision works a little better. It's like having a hangover wear off, except there's no way Kai drank near enough to be hungover.

It's enough to keep the usual fight or flight instincts from kicking in, along with a knowledge deeper than anything Kai's been told, that he shouldn't be surprised to see Marco now.

"You here to negotiate a surrender?" He's heard some of the mutterings of people convinced he's wasting their time and the stock to handle the situation like this.

[chaos_born]

Marco closes the door behind himself and gives a soft laughter. "For you or the brownies?" he asks mildly as he walks to Kai, lowering his shopping bags to the ground. He doesn't take a seat, yet, though, just breathes through the relief that he can feel as well building between the two of them. If that isn't enough to tell him exactly what he needs to know about this situation, what would amount to that, honestly?

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asks as he crosses the floor to the bar and helps himself behind it. He selects a few bills from his wallet and leaves them onto the counter before picking up a glass and starts to look at the whiskey cabinet. "People will talk because they don't understand why you're doing this the way you are. I find the progress very prudent, to be honest." Practical.

[halfbloodhatchling]

Kai frowns at the first part, purple eyes looking away from Marco in favor of studying one of the brownies that's currently enjoying a very generous glass of...something. He has no desire to surrender to this man, to let him have any part of Kai.

He's still surprised when Marco leaves money for the drink. Surprised because he figures most elfin would just take it. Heck, most humans would be tempted enough. It's enough to let him take Marco up on the offer. "As long as it's at least 80 proof." He ignores the complement, because it makes him feel a certain way, and he doesn't want to think about that, doesn't want to indulge the warmth of it.

"It'll get the job done, but it gets boring."

[chaos_born]

It's not so much being lawful for Marco, just understanding that people need money to get by. And there isn't a whole lot of riches and finery in this pub, he certainly can pay for his drink. He selects a potent whiskey from the cabinet, one that isn't dreadfully old but boasts an oak barrel finish, which he's come to enjoy quite a bit. Humans definitely know something about brewing fine liquors. A sizable rock goes into both glasses before a few fingers of the amber intoxication. Marco closes the bottle and returns it to the cabinet.

"Well, lucky you, I'm here to keep you company," he says mildly as he carries the glasses to the table and sets one of them in front of Kai before taking a seat at the other side of the table.

Actually, he feels intoxicated. It's been a week of living on a bed of thorns that just gets worse and worse. Pulsating headaches that aren't his own, tension, irritation, a dull ache that he knows resonates from Kai. Now it's gone and he leans back in his chair, relaxing as he lifts his glass to take a sip of it. Enjoying the relief that makes him feel lightheaded. He can only imagine how it feels to Kai himself.

"What is your story?" he asks after a moment as he nurses the whiskey against his chest. "Why are you here and not with your family? I finally figured out why you look so familiar. You and your brother look quite similar."

[halfbloodhatchling]

Kai's glass of whiskey is brushing his lips when Marco finishes talking, and Kai sets it back on the table with a force that rattles the glass and table both. The spike of fear that fills him would drive him to his feet if he didn't feel frozen in his chair with it. He wants to run, he wants to draw his gun and be ready for whatever's going to walk through the door now.

But he feels at ease for the first time in weeks , body relaxing from a tension that Kai knows damn well he's been carrying but can't quite drive back into his bones, even at Marco's words. It's like Kai's body won't accept what his mind knows, that getting close to any unsidhe will just lead to pain.

"I don't have family," he says, eyes darting between Marco and the door, expecting Valin to walk through at any moment. Kai fights the very strong temptation to dive under the table to hide. "Did you tell him I'm here?" There's an urgency in Kai's voice, and his whole body language would be radiating fear even if Marco couldn't read it from him.

[chaos_born]

"Oh, hey..." Marco is half on his feet when Kai slams the glass down and he can feel the fear rising. "Listen, I have no intentions of reporting back to your family or anyone else for that matter. I did talk with Merlin, but I didn't mention your name even to him. Or any description of you, or your family."

He's talking in a low, soothing voice, slowly lowering himself back onto his seat and leans forward a little, over his glass to try and catch those dark eyes with his own.

"I know you have no reason to trust me, but whatever reason you have to shun those folks, I'm not going to tell you to do otherwise or advocate for any approach you should take. I'm merely curiously about you simply for personal reasons."

[halfbloodhatchling]

"Personal reasons," Kai says, and he keeps his hand in his lap until he can still the risk that it might start to tremble. When he has, he picks up the glass again and drains it in a series of quick gulps. Maybe not how Kai should treat this sort of drink, but it does spread a warmth and numbness both through him.

"You already know I have no family." Kai's told him that, and it's true whether or not Marco believes him. Valin cuid Anbhás might call Kai brother - might be his brother by all rules of biology - but he's also always thought of Kai as more of a toy. Family is status with the elfin, it's place and power. Without either, Kai is likely of little interest to Marco.

He hates the part of him that feels disappointed about that.

His heart is still beating out a rapid rhythm, even with the effect of the whiskey and Marco's reassurances. "I'm an open book, what else do you want to know?" He's far from an open book, that much has been made obvious already, but it's only half a joke.

[halfbloodhatchling]

There comes a point when even Kai can admit he's being an idiot. He still doesn't know exactly what's going on, but he knows that he hasn't felt the same, like himself, since Marco left. That far from the absence of the other letting him clear his head he feels like shit.

He feels like shit when he's drunk and he feels like shit when he's out working but he's not about to not.

Except that it's generally not a good idea to go after dangerous monsters while feeling like shit. This is worse than a hangover by orders of magnitude. In retrospect, it's not a surprise that the monster has managed to get a good swipe in that Kai can feel the pain screaming through from the wound, or that it's halfway to cornering him.

So fine, yes, Kai can admit he's an idiot. Not that that does him much good now.

[chaos_born]

It's definitely been a little hard to focus lately. Marco feels that hangover just as acutely as Kai. He can only imagine what it must feel like to the other elf given that he only gets the resonance through Kai, not the pressure that's been put on him. He can sense the thin veil that everyone the elf comes to contact with is piercing but it's not present him. He feels Kai himself coming through his own receptors with his irritation and his turmoil, his exhaustion. And it affects Marco's work, more than it definitely should. He finds himself distracted, constantly tuned in to somewhere else and by the time Kai heads out to monster hunting, Marco is already seeking any kind of measure to keep that bounding out of his head.

They're in a meeting when he feels the connection stretching, becoming even more of an aching wound when distance between them grows. Finally Orion excuses them from the meeting when Marco is doubled over in his chair, breathing shallow and harsh, not paying any mind to what's going on around them.

When they get out, Marco insists that they pack up and follow Kai, wherever he's going. Orion gets him into a taxi and they head of the city in less than half an hour, Marco's whole focus concentrated inwards, giving barely there instructions to the driver as they speed out on their way to hunt the hunter.

They're in the suburbs, street lights leaning heavily onto narrow streets between brick buildings when the pain comes, Marco gasping and crying out, clutching himself where Kai had been wounded. From there it's a blur, urgent pleas given to both the driver and his friend to go faster, at some point getting out of the car and stumbling through streets that smell like rain and filth, Marco leading Orion through a spiderweb of streets and corners and crossroads until they come to a particularly narrow and dark back alley. There's a growl that comes out of there, a hollow rumble that moves in the shadows, suggesting a wide chest cavity to make such a noise.

Marco reaches up, breathing heavily as he pulls down one of the pearls in his curly hair and throws it up into the air, his lips moving but no sound coming out. A light sprinkles down on them then, Orion steps forward, dashing past Marco towards the beast. Another pair pearls on Marco's palm speed after him, making a wide circle around him in countering rotations, creating a protective shield around him as Marco seeks the darkened alley with his eyes.

"Kai?" he calls out urgently.

[halfbloodhatchling]

Kai doesn't like playing the part of the damsel in distress, partly because he's way happier counting on himself, and partly because relying on someone else's rescue has a high risk of leaving him disappointed and still in danger. So despite the fact that Kai should really keep pressure on that wound on his side and maybe just sit and recover a moment, he's staggering to his feet, leaning against the building.

He is grateful for the burst of clarity, not sure what's caused it at first, as Marco comes in range. It's not enough to do anything about the wound and there's still a monster out there, but Kai feels a sudden sense he'll make it through this. He just needs to get off a few good shots.

Even that doesn't quite explain the burst of relief that crashes through him or the way he answers quickly. "Over here." He tells himself that it's because he wants Marco near him, so Kai doesn't have to worry about accidentally shooting him.

[chaos_born]

Marco follows his voice with a sense of relief and moves to Kai, rushing to be at his side when he clampers up. He can smell the blood on him, mixed with that same spice and oranges that usually lingers around him.

"You're hurt," he says first of all, reaching over to steady the man with a hand on his arm. "Let me look at it. Orion will take care of the thing." Whatever it may be. Marco has faith in his ability to keep the beast occupied.

[halfbloodhatchling]

"It'll be fine," he says, and there's something about the way that Marco says Orion will take care of it that threatens Kai's pride, makes him want to get up and deal with the problem himself. Marco's hand on him brings a cool wash of relief that gets rid of those thoughts and lets him focus enough to hear the creature, Orion's careful stalking of it.

"Shouldn't let ourselves stay cornered." That's just thinking strategically, right?

[chaos_born]

There's a frown on the blonde's brows and he slides that hand down to Kai's side, looking for the injury. That relief washes over Marco as well, his head clearing, the dizziness and ache becoming something closer and easier to handle, pain and a sense of weakness, blood loss.

"It will be fine," he agrees. "And sure, we'll move out of the way but then you need to let me patch you up before you keel over."

He tucks himself close to Kai's side, reaching over to wrap one of his arms around his shoulders and takes a gentle hold of his waist to haul him back towards the mouth of the alley. "If you won't think of yourself, think of me," he says with a strained voice. "I feel everything you do."

[halfbloodhatchling]

Kai has hopes that his wound'll start clotting soon. But the fact that Marco agrees they can move does something, puts some points in his favor. It's just a pity that there are so many against him to start with, most of which have little enough to do with Marco at all.

"You can patch me up," he says, though his fingers curl at his side, at the idea of letting anyone touch him when he's already injured.

"But feeling what I do is a poor idea." He assumes it's some kind of magic, something Marco is choosing to do. At least now he'll see the folly of his choices.

[chaos_born]

"Not something I can exactly change," Marco says quietly, without heat. He simply focuses on getting them out of the dark alley and into the light. Behind them a bang as something big slams against a trash pin, a growl and a shout. Then quiet. Another burst of action, and gunfire, the darkness flashing with it, illuminated in bursts.

Marco helps Kai to rest against a rusty hanging of fire escape. He gives a muttered curse as he starts pulling up the man's shirt, scent of blood flooding his senses. Serpent, this is not just a flesh wound.

"Why would you--" he says before his teeth clip tight shut and he glovers at Kai before reaching in with both hands, his left one sliding around Kai's waist, holding him tight as he fishes out two pearls from his hair and slips them between his fingers, this hand presses against the wound directly.

"Shush now," he says tightly, and starts reversing energy right from himself, pouring it in with liberal hand.