Solace

"Solace" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread started on [IRL DATE] and finished on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
It was rare that Yun had genuine, continued exhaustion follow him into his dreams, but it was little wonder after his ordeal, training with as much pressure as he'd just experienced. Instead of a clear, curious awareness, he felt a hazy fog, and had only a bleary view of the golden sun streaming through the cracks of a gently waving tapestry that acted as a curtain. He was surrounded by pure warmth, the sounds of shifting fabric and a soft vibration underneath his cheek as a female hum touched his ears. The air smelled like wood smoke and weathered wool.
Yun's brow slightly knitted in concern and he made an uncertain noise in his throat as he shifted in place, and he felt the warmth gather further around him in the form of heavily-sleeved arms. A hand caressed his battle-tousled hair, oddly-shaped fingers slowly stroking over his head, and he came to recognize them as sections of a hoof. The gesture was soothing enough to still him, eyelids drooping again as he curled his knees in further. He heard the voice once more, barely more than a hushed whisper. "Shhh, I've got you."
"Urdr...?"
"No, my little one." The velvet lips of a muzzle brushed his forehead, achingly familiar. "The Ladies of Fate have pushed you far enough for one day. Now is the time to rest."
He wanted to protest, he wanted to panic, he knew he had to survive, but the half-breed held him close, gently scruffing his hair, and her chest hummed in another song, a lullaby this time, in a language he could've swore he'd never heard, but understood perfectly. It brought tears to his eyes, which slowly closed as he drifted back into slumber, breathing one last word through tired lips.
"Mom..."
A seemingly infinite amount of time passed, made to seem longer with the exclusion of any more visions, which was incredibly unusual. The faint sounds of the cove started to reach him once more, and he twitched and huddled further into himself as he grew more awake and aware, feeling both more tired and more rested than he had been in a long time.
akkeyagentofhelheim
It was the sound of silverware hitting porcelain from somewhere beyond the door that stirred him further from his nest. An eye cracked open to reveal him in a borrowed bedroom, laying in a wide bed piled high with blankets and comforters to keep him warm, cozy and safe in his bundle, the fabric soft to his skin and smelling like fresh laundry. Most of his clothes were hung up to dry, kimono and hakama stretched out on rods on one side of the room. Moonlight streamed in from the windows.
Noise clattered again from an unseen kitchen, and a soft 'hup' sounded out.
foresight-botgd
Carefully sitting upright, Yun untangled one of the thinner blankets and hugged it around his shoulders like a shawl, glancing over his arms as he did so. He saw no trace of injury anywhere on his skin, and as he flexed his fingers, they lit up just fine, though even just resonating gave him a slightly worn-out feeling, like stretching his legs after running a mile. The light dimmed away and he carefully got to his feet, padding towards the door, pushing it open and heading for the kitchen, a little worried at having not seen any of the true aftermath of the fight.
akkeyagentofhelheim
He found the young brunette rabbit breed leaning on her knees in her chair, one hand against the table to support herself as she reached for a plate in the far end. She turned her head upon his entrance, and her face, now full of life and energy compared to before, lit up in a bright grin, "Goat Dude! You're awake!"
She lifted the dish and offered it to him with an outstretched arm, "Want some cake?"
foresight-botgd
Yun couldn't help but offer a similar grin at her mannerisms. He wondered if what he had seen of Aria earlier had been a seidr-induced hallucination. "Yeah, that sounds great." He took it with a hand while looking back towards the window, seeing more clearly that night had fallen across the cove. "How long was I out? Where's Akkey?"
akkeyagentofhelheim
"A long while. It's well into the night now," she replied while offering him clean cutlery, then a seat across from her. She dug into her own serving, and Yun noticed that there were a healthy amount of plates stacked beside her--way too many for a single kid to possibly consume. There were more meals set on the table.
"Auntie's at the beach. She woke up several hours ago. Said she was gonna keep lookout while you rested." Aria indicated towards a mess of blankets on a couch on the far side of the cottage, one cheek stuffed full like a chipmunk, large eyed as she looked at him, "How are you feeling?"
foresight-botgd
"Better than I thought I would..." Yun slowly sat at the table, pulling the corners of the blanket up over his knees. "I...wasn't planning on going that hard. I don't know how you did all that healing--" He hesitated, and stopped himself with some cake. He thought he knew, but it made his head spin to consider. "Thank you," he said simply, after his first few bites.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“No problem!” Her tone was bright as she held out her fork upright in response, like she was showing him the pastry she was about to eat, before sobering slightly and lowering her arm with a shake of her head, “We were expecting you to.”
She trained her eyes at him and held it steady, “Auntie goes too far sometimes, but she was particularly prepared to push you that far today. 'It’s Frigga we’re talking about. He needs to go all the way. Truly all the way.’, or something like that. That’s why she asked me to be her healer today. She knew things were going to get ugly with what she was planning, and I’m the only one who can fix that amount of damage.”
foresight-botgd
Yun lowered his head into his hand, slowly pushing back his hair in a ruffle from front to back. "I didn't want to," he said softly. "But I get it." Something did feel distinctly different--whether he liked it or not, he couldn't tell, but the shadowy silhouette of Frigga in the back of his mind seemed a little smaller than before. That meant something to him.
He eyed the plates across the table. "Are you...expecting more people?"
akkeyagentofhelheim
She was nodding as he spoke but not really paying attention, eyeing the fish that was by his hand. “Hm? Oh, no! These are all mine! You can have some though!” She grinned, shoveling two more spoonfuls of whatever she was already eating in her mouth. The way she ate was mysteriously familiar of a breakfast in a tavern,  “I get really, really, really, really, really hungry after I use that spell.” She leaned into the last ‘really’ for emphasis, her nose wrinkling for effect.
“Super cool healing, but I’m always starving after,” Her hands momentarily came together in the exact position as before, and they glowed and swirled briefly in the same way only Yun could see, then simmered out of sight almost immediately. Her smirk turned chaotically cheeky.
“Right… I’ve heard that can be a pretty dangerous spell. But you don’t have a problem with it.” Yun also gestured along a thin bundle of supernaturally visible threads, his dark finger stretching them gently, and in a blink, the plate that Aria had been considering was suddenly beside her, plate wobbling like a coin settling after spinning. “Where did you learn it?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Whoa!” Aria leapt out of her chair, eyes wide with excitement at the display of magic, “That’s so cool! How’d you do that?”
She leaned forward to study the dish like it would give her answers, “I uh… kinda just knew it? One day when I was with the Dark Stryx–they’re a really cool group of grownups–and I was helping heal one of the uncles and I blacked out a little, then when I woke up I could do…this.” She waved her hands in position again, “I couldn’t figure it out at first, everyone said I was being really creepy, like a doll, but I got the hang of it after a bit. It’s like it appeared in my brain when I woke up.”
She looked up at him worriedly, “Wait, it’s dangerous?” She bounced in place for a bit, “I haven’t told anyone about the incantation part, cus I can do it in my head if I have to, my family just thinks I can heal injuries really well. Do you think I’ll get in trouble? You won’t tell them will you?”
foresight-botgd
“Party trick.” Oh my god, she doesn’t know, she has no idea– He inhaled and put both hands to his mouth, trying to relax.
“It’s okay. You’re using it to do good things. I’m not gonna tell yet.” Yun swung his legs around the chair so that he was sitting sideways on it, gesturing for Aria to come around the table, giving her an encouraging smile even though his heart was running a bit fast. “Here, you show me your stuff, I show you mine?” he asked.
akkeyagentofhelheim
Her face brightened at the promise, and she hopped around the perimeter of the table to stand before him, slightly taller. Her hands were ready to display her magic when she stopped in realization, “Wait. I don’t know what I’m supposed to heal.”
foresight-botgd
“Uhhh…hm. Here.” Yun lifted his index finger to the corner of his mouth and used a canine to bite at the tip of a hangnail, doing nothing more drastic than causing it to bleed slightly. He held it out for Aria to inspect. “Does that work?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Oh, yeah!” she gathered her hands again and they glowed a third time that day, her lips still, but Yun could hear the incantation spoken with the same echoing voices, one that was obviously Aria’s, and another in a different yet recognizable accent. The glowing threads appeared once more, twirling around her fingers to his, shifting through the same green and yellow and gold, then once in that bright blue, like it was a single strand twisted accidentally within the deepest part of those tendrils. They returned and stitched the torn skin back together, phasing first through split flesh, then dry skin, and finally into healthy cuticle that was no longer cracked by the cold winds of Aidorinian winter, in that same manipulation of time that was only specifically possible in that manner.
The light faded out and the magic disappeared, leaving a grinning Aria staring at him, clasping her hands behind her as she swayed where she stood, “There you go!”
foresight-botgd
She was too infectious. Yun couldn’t do anything about the small smile stuck to his face. “Hey, yeah, that’s pretty cool. I don’t think you can normally see what I can see, but I can sort of show you.” His tongue stuck out between his lips as he lifted his own hands, like someone showing off a yarn trick would do. The runes across his knuckles glowed, and as they did, the light glimmered across a tangled web of strings stretching from finger to finger, like a cat’s cradle. He held it out for her to see up close. “Uh…so this is all string stuff. It’s the same kind of magic that I can see when you heal, so that’s…” He wasn’t sure what it meant, and he filled the pause with another crooked grin. “I think it’s really neat.” He curled his fingers in a new form, and the pattern of the webbed strings flexed and changed in a mesmerizing ripple. “So tell me…you know I’m Goat Dude. Uh, do you know the other guy? Milae?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Whaaaaaat–” her voice was dripping with awe and wonder at the display before her, the teal reflecting off her eyes as she leaned in closer to have a better look, “That’s what happens with mine? You can see it? And you can do that all the time? That’s so cool!” 
She grabbed another chair to scoot in to have a better view, bouncing her legs in her seat while gripping the edge underneath, nodding her response to his question, “Mhm! Me and my sister were the ones who told him about the whole Frigga and Eir stuff. And he visited a couple times too. I kinda wish it was more. I like him. He talked to daddy and auntie a bunch when he came over, but the house gets sad whenever he comes up now. I think it’s cus of Frigga.”
There was a melancholy pause that was atypical of her, then she glanced up towards him. She laughed lightly, “You smile like Mr. Bookkeeper.”
foresight-botgd
The luminescent threads between his hands sputtered and died, and he stilled as he looked her in the eyes, quiet for several seconds. The corner of his mouth twisted and tried to turn up again, but it trembled too much, and he ended up dipping his chin instead, resting his elbows on his knees with the blanket hanging around him. His fingers drifted together in a painful tangle, reminiscent of the knots that he trapped Akkey in during the last moments of their fight. He cleared his throat and inhaled through his nose, the sound muffled and wet.
“That’s…that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” he managed to whisper. “Thanks, Aria.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
She blinked and straightened, confusion mixing with upset as her hands flapped around and hovered over his shoulders then above dishes and in empty air, unsure of what to grab or do or say exactly. “U-uhm!” she shook them once before settling to softly curl her fingers over his, hands pale and small against his dark tattoos, feeling bad although she didn’t know why, “Uh… no… no problem…” she replied uncertainly, before venturing again, “D-d’you want some pecan pie? Daddy makes really good ones…”
foresight-botgd
Yun squeezed her hands in return and looked up, eyes still watery, but managing to hold it together for the time being. “Mhm. I’d like that.” He got to his feet and pulled the blanket closer around him. “I think I’m gonna go find Akkey first, though. Will you save me a piece?”
Aria watched him as he stood, nodding slowly with a doubtful smile, “Uh, okay! I will…”
foresight-botgd
He gave her a quick hug before going to track down his shoes, which were still a little damp from their trip under the lake, and he pried them on without socks, all the while still keeping the blanket snug around him. He creaked open the cabin door and stepped out into the moonlight, hair caught in a small breeze, and tried to see if Akkey was visible from the front porch. Now that everything was dark, the scene didn’t haunt him quite as much as he expected it to.
akkeyagentofhelheim
It took some squinting, but he finally spotted a small figure standing by the shore, not completely hidden in shadow as the moon reflected off her white shirt and long hair that billowed in the wind. Akkey remained on dry land, just out of reach of the now calm waves, her gaze kept towards the waters that were no longer held still.
foresight-botgd
Taking a breath, Yun stepped forward, and the slight sound of stressed string echoed out as he slipped between threads and crossed part of the beach to be within earshot, started walking the rest of the way, and quickly realizing the blanket hadn’t come with him. He turned on a heel, gravel spraying, as he saw it being tossed down the shore by the wind. “Aw, hver fjandinn…”
akkeyagentofhelheim
Silver streaked across the air above as a tendril made to grab it, twisting and turning around the fabric to fold it in a semi-decent bundle, as the momentum brought it to where he was and let it unfold and be blown lazily right into his hands. It rushed back and rejoined its source on the ground behind where Akkey stood. She had turned at his sound, and watched him approach quietly.
She gave what he was wearing a once over and sighed, her hand flicking up in temperature regulation, “You Milaes just don’t want to keep warm properly, do you…” The corners of her lips turned up in a slight smile.
foresight-botgd
“If that’s how you see it,” he replied, puzzled by what else she meant in referring to his mentor, but trying to match her humor. Yun bundled back up, using part of the blanket as a hood, and apprehensively watched the lake break over the beach in small waves. Between his simple underclothes, his makeshift coat and the way the moonlight played softly over his profile, he looked so young. But when he met Akkey’s eyes again, she saw a glimpse of something she’d only seen in two others–an indescribable antiquity despite a lack of any outward signs of aging, and a guarded sense of wariness born of living a dangerous and long life. Seidkonur, Bookkeeper–two sides of the same coin, two different struggles with seemingly very similar results.
“Um…” Yun broke the spell of silence. “I was planning on coming out here and…apologizing. But…” He tilted his head back to the cabin. “…I heard that what happened was…on purpose.” There was a pause, as he waited for her to react.
akkeyagentofhelheim
Her lips pressed into a thin line, the furrow in her brow deepening further as she slid her gaze to the side, watching lake water play around her bare feet without actually ever reaching.
“It was…” Her voice was soft. Pensive. Defeated. She lifted her eyes again, "I understand if you’re angry…”
foresight-botgd
“Not angry.” He fiddled with a frayed fabric edge. It was his turn to look away. “I just…” 
Yun took a very long minute to compose his thoughts. He felt his mind running in the same frustrated, vague circles that he had with Juro, the night after Sylar’s attack, and he tried to be aware of it. “I don’t know,” he started again, “what could’ve happened if it got…worse than that.” 
He finally snagged on the right sentiment, and shifted in place, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. 
“I think you showed me that I was strong enough to do it. I’m just worried that…maybe I wouldn’t have been strong enough to deal with what would’ve come after.” The toes of his boots rubbed against each other awkwardly; it was the only thing he could keep his eyes on. “Not that that’s your fault…” he backtracked. 
akkeyagentofhelheim
Her mouth opened in automatic response, but quickly shut it after. She would have been lying if she didn’t say she felt relief rolling off her shoulders.
Her hand came up to subconsciously grip the arm that was broken and healed that day, and wrinkled a nose in habit and thought, “I… don’t know a lot of things. I can’t be well spoken like Milae, or charismatic like Juro, or compassionate like Dario. I’m just a soldier who’s fought her whole life to keep herself and the people closest to her safe.”
“That’s all I can do. I have so much blood on my hands, but no matter how many times I do it… it never gets easier. I still get nightmares about what I’ve done. All the lives I’ve ended, all the souls I’ve snuffed out,” she narrowed her eyes as she stared at the ground, “But even through all of that, what will always scare me most, without fail, is knowing that if I didn’t do that, the people I care about will suffer in their place instead.”
She looked up to meet his eyes again, a hard light appearing in hers. It was angry. And filled with regret, “You’re not supposed to be here. This isn’t your fight. You’re supposed to be back home, with your family, your Bookkeeper, without having to fear for your life. This was our job, Frigga came after my family and Milae… but you got saddled with our burdens instead, and there’s little we can do about it.”
“That’s why…” her voice shook with uncertainty, but she persevered, “That’s why I went that far. You can kill for the sake of protecting others and yourself, so that you can survive and live to see another day. That day might get difficult, there will be plenty of days where it can haunt you and tear you down, and it may be your moment of weakness, but… the people who are waiting for you, your loved ones who have been right behind you all this time… can also live and be your strength when you need them.”
foresight-botgd
Yun’s heart was swollen to the point of being overwhelming by the time she was done, and he hugged the blanket close, shivering even with the help of Akkey’s magic. He didn’t kid himself; he was still a bit afraid of her and her intensity, and his experience with Akira didn’t help. But something about her attitude and the fact that it was familiar touched him right at the core, and after a moment’s hesitation, he padded a few steps closer, paused in front of her, and then rested his forehead on her shoulder, keeping his arms huddled close to his chest. It was a feeble attempt at hiding the wet trails that had started to course down his cheeks.
akkeyagentofhelheim
Akkey sucked in a shallow breath when he leaned against her, and for a moment her hands hovered in the air, unsure of how to respond, but as he wept they came down to slowly wrap around him, one hand laying to rest at the back of his head, her thin arms tightening in an attempt to warm and make him feel safe as she could. Her face nuzzled slightly into his thick mop of hair, brows creased as she also felt the pinprick of tears behind her eyes, feeling the turbulent emotions warring within, anger, pain, fear, guilt, all for Yun, wanting to take it away but knowing they had no other choice.
She exhaled shakily, her voice thick, “You’ll be alright, you can do this. You worked so hard. I have faith…”
Yun shifted inside of her hug, head nodding up and down against her shirt. “U-uhuh.” He gave a big sniff and leaned back, wiping the blanket across his face. “I’m gonna try. I d–I don’t want to let you down.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
She replied with a short, humourless laugh, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes creasing further when she did, betraying age that her human side gave in her features. A hand came to rest against his cheek and wiped his tears away as she peered at him with bright eyes of her own, “Thank you. I truly appreciate the sentiment, but with how it’s panned out, this has grown in levels way beyond mine or Milae’s or anyone else’s wishes at this point.” She quirked her mouth into a grim smile, “Fight for yourself, for the people you want to keep safe, and come out of all of this in one piece.”
foresight-botgd
“Okay. Okay, yeah.” He glanced back out at the lake, something he hadn’t done the whole time they were speaking. His brow furrowed a little. “I just hope I can keep her from turning me off somehow.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“That’s it, isn’t it,” she ran a hand through her before tilting her head in thought, “I don’t know how, but she’s definitely going to fight dirtier than I did…” An apologetic smile passed her face for a moment before turning serious again, “You’ll just have to eliminate her before she has the chance to do that to you. Can you elevate faster now?”
foresight-botgd
Yun frowned, and then shrugged his blanket more comfortably around himself and took a step back. “Um…throw a punch?” he suggested, in the most mild, non-confrontational manner possible.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Sure.”
Her gaze was careful, but she didn’t hesitate as she took her own step back and wound up for a second with a rise from her off leg, then twisted and threw her weight forward to immediately bring a fist right up at his face.
foresight-botgd
As she did so, Yun pulled the slightest of triggers to mind–the battered form of a lanky Helheim agent handcuffed to a rusting pole, hunched over and semiconscious, seconds before Yun would try to save him. Both Akkey and Yun were almost immediately blinded by searing teal light, and his hand shot up, but didn’t make contact. Instead, her knuckles jerked to a halt as they were suspended in a web of rippling energy, a strong force with a low frequency that stopped her from moving any further. Yun’s palm was raised and facing her, fingers splayed, and every one of his markings were lit up except for a few centimeters below his elbows, and with only an undershirt on, the intricate circle on his chest could also be clearly seen. His breath was deep and shaky as his eyes flickered wildly. On pure instinct alone, he was already scraping the ceiling of full power.
Gritting his teeth, he slowly pulled himself back from the edge, lowering his hand, and with it, Akkey’s hand as well. His magic released and he stumbled forward slightly, like someone had stepped away from holding him back. “Oof. Uh…” He shook his head to clear it, hair brushing over his eyes. “Yeah. I think so. If I hadn’t stopped on purpose there…”
akkeyagentofhelheim
She had put her other hand out, ready to catch him when he staggered, while she shook the odd feeling of his energy away from the other. Her face was split in an undeniably bigger grin, “Oh Hel yeah.”
“I mean, yeah. This is good. This is… much better,” Akkey pressed her lips together in attempt to mute her excitement and be more serious, but the satisfaction and relief was evident, “Whatever activated that, if you can hold onto it… you might be okay.”
foresight-botgd
When he straightened, he felt his chest puff out a little. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I got it.” Then his shoulders very quickly deflated. “Oh, don’t tell Milae how we got me to here. Please,” he implored. “He’ll kill me.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“He’ll kill you?” Akkey laughed, staring at the water with lightless eyes, tone dead and flat, “Not if he decimates me first… I didn’t run this by him at all.”
“We’ll keep it between us… and Aria. I’ll have to bribe her,” she grinned wryly, holding out a fist to bump with his in promise.
foresight-botgd
Yun reciprocated with a lopsided smile, a small residual flash like static electricity jumping between their fingers when they did. “Deal. I’ll help with her if you need it. I…” He thought over his words, trying to stifle a yawn behind his blanket. “I think we get along pretty well. I wouldn’t mind hanging out with her when this is done.” 
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Why am I not surprised to hear that…” she replied, “You can start now. Stay the night, I’ll tell Milae you need to rest more. You can take my room if you don’t mind sharing the bed with Aria.”
She paused, seeing the very familiar Bookkeeper grin, then said quietly, “Yun, I uh… I’m sorry about Juro. I went too far, I promise I won’t meddle anymore.”
foresight-botgd
“No, no, it’s not…” Yun paused and took a breath, killing the hum that instinctively built up inside him. Being on seidr tenterhooks was probably now going to be both a blessing and a curse. “I know what it looks like from your end,” he said. “It’s confusing. All I can say is that…I’m letting him figure it out, without me interfering. And in the meantime…” The curve of his wry smile returned. “Unfortunately, I need the threat to elevate. So I can’t accept any apologies. Don’t know what that would do for me.” He tapped his temple. “Whatever ‘me’ that acts out in that state, at least. So…it’s fine.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Very much so… I’ve never seen him like this…” Hers and Milae’s haphazard conclusions from yesterday ran through her mind for a moment. Akkey watched him carefully, her mouth twisted to one side, before sighing, “But okay. If you say so,” A worried smile remained, but it accepted his decision. She turned a heel to activate the hum of portal by their feet, “You can go ahead. I’m just gonna clean up–” she motioned towards tips of leftover spikes that barely made it over the surface of the water from that day, “–then I’ll be in.”
foresight-botgd
“Okay.” Yun gave her one last hug, burying his face right into the nook of her shoulder, and stepped to the side. “Goodn–aah!!”
His boot slipped on the gravel at the edge of the portal and he slipped through a little faster than he was intending, leaving Akkey alone on the beach again.
Akkey let the silence hang for a second, before laughing to herself, slightly in disbelief at the duality of his personalities. He’s one Hel of a kid… she shook her head, then proceeded to skate towards the middle of the lake to finish off for the night.
–
It was the first time Yun experienced truly falling upwards, and his stomach did small somersaults as he was thrown out from the ground and landed roughly on the floorboards of the open living space. The dinner table was neatly piled high with dirty dishes, save for one plate that held a slice of pecan pie, kept warm under a cozy, as promised.
The sounds of water from a faucet came from the other end of the cottage, and Aria poked her head out of the door, already in her nightgown, suds on her cheek. Her face lit up when she saw him, “You’re back!” she muffled through the toothbrush.
foresight-botgd
“I am,” he laughed, sitting upright and dusting himself off. He worked his shoes off one at a time and left them by the door. “Bedtime for me. Did you finish everything off already?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Mhm!” The scraping of bristles against tooth began again, then water as she washed up and patted herself dry, skipping out of the bathroom to join him, “Well, no. There’s a buncha bread and fruits and snacks left over! And chicken!”
She gripped her nightgown by her thighs in hesitation, “And I left you some pie, too.” Her large eyes flicked up towards him worriedly. 
foresight-botgd
He grinned widely, heart melting at the sight, and then put a hand to his chest, suddenly full of fake concern. “For me!? Oh, geez, she’s being way too nice to me,” he lamented in good humor. Yun scooped up Aria’s hand and squeezed it in both of his own. “How can I ever repay her for this kindness?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
She remained the same for another moment before breaking out of her dejection, face splitting into a grin and giggling, “I promised!” Her bare feet danced as she pulled him towards the table so he could eat, before asking shyly, “…but…can I see those shiny threads again?”
foresight-botgd
“Of course.” He kept a hold of her hands and pulled out one of the chairs with his foot and sat in it, and his knee bounced a little as he thought. “Here. Keep holding onto me.”
The seidkonur dipped his head and closed his eyes, and he lined up his hands under Aria’s forearms, letting her hands rest on his inner arms. Then he focused. Between the two of them, the soft teal light filtered across the floor, and as it did so, a few straight glimmers came into view. The small flickers of light began to multiply, and they surrounded the pair of them in shining threads, casting up to the ceiling, down across the floor around their toes, drifting over the table and through doors and windows. The entire cabin was engulfed in an otherworldly, peaceful light show. There were threads as simple as the two of them connected to the piece of pie, and then there were convoluted, massive webs that tied between themselves, glowing tendrils the color of the sea and the sun, dictating their destinies intertwining. There were also firm links leading out of the cabin dyed in lavenders and greens. A single, familiar gold-and-blue thread stretched towards the heavens when Yun blinked open his eyes, and he smiled sadly at it before shifting his attention to Aria.
“How’s that?” he said softly.
akkeyagentofhelheim
She had her head tilted up the entire time, mouth slightly ajar, colours reflecting against her hazel eyes as she took the sights in, following lines and threads around them in curiously quiet wonder. She looked down to meet his gaze. The smile on her face was small, and while she was genuinely filled with awe and amazement, there was a muted unease behind her eyes.
“It’s so pretty,” she returned the hushed tone, “Does it always look like that for you?”
foresight-botgd
“Nah, only if I want it to.” He scooped up a bundle of fine threads and held them out to her, showing her that there was little danger to them. “These are…how I use my magic, kinda. If I use a lot of power, I can mess with them a little. But no, I’m not always tripping over them,” he finished with a grin.
akkeyagentofhelheim
Her hands, small for her age just like the rest of her body and how she acted, took them gingerly, carefully, like she was holding a baby chick in her palms, the light glowing softly off the freckles of her cheeks as she studied them. The way she stared at them was so observant, curious. Her lips moved slightly with her incantation, directed towards nothing but an experiment, and the threads that were hers shone a smidge brighter in response before returning back to how they were originally. 
Aria smiled happily, like she was glad that was how hers acted. She could recall a certain memory, she wasn’t sure if it was hers, or if it was even real, but it was reminiscent of these knots and tangles, but dipped in darkness instead, muddy and rotting in colour. She looked up at him, relief and a sense of security on her face, returning the grin, “I kinda saw some of your big cool explosions when I was flying on Haru, even though I was far away. I like your threads a lot better. Even if you sometimes trip over them!” She laughed.
foresight-botgd
“Nawww.” He laughed and shook his head firmly, in absolute conviction. “Yours are way better than mine.” He pinched the tip of her nose teasingly and stood, letting the magic dissipate. “Let’s go to bed before your aunt gets back.” He took the plate and a fork with him, uncovering it and letting the smell puff upwards through the air. Normal food probably would’ve turned his stomach, so he was glad for something sweeter.
akkeyagentofhelheim
The realization of a sleepover fully hit her in that moment and she jumped, giving a short soft yell of excitement then proceeding to make mini hopes towards the bedroom while still holding him by the hand, “I forgot! We can share the bed,” she said, fluffing up the previously slept in blankets from when Yun was resting, “I promise I won’t move… much.”
“That’s okay.” He sat on his edge of the bed and worked on the pie, watching her mess with the covers. “Sometimes I make funny noises in my sleep. Don’t worry about it.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Oh, okay!” she said, jumping into her side and burying herself under the pile up to her nose, dwarfed by the sheer amount of comforters to keep warm as she watched him eat and waited for him to finish, “It’s good right?”
foresight-botgd
He balanced the remaining crust on his fork and finished it off, nodding while he put the plate to the side. “Mhmm. You said Hunter made it?” He tucked both legs into bed, trying not to laugh at the sight of her eyes peeking over the blankets. “Is he doing alright?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Yeah!” Aria beamed at the approval like she was the one who made it. “He’s okay. Him and mommy are back at the village. He’s worried about you and Milae, but he said he can’t help much so he’s letting auntie handle it.” She scooted in closer, letting the warmth settle.
foresight-botgd
“Okay. I worry about you guys sometimes.” Yun laid back and tucked himself in, ready to move an arm and let Aria get comfortable wherever she wanted. “Will you tell them I said hi, when you go back?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
She nodded, curling up to him immediately, “I will! And maybe you can visit one day too. They wanna meet you too.” Her lashes fluttered as the comfort of the bed pulled her closer to sleep, “They’ll like you a lot. Cus I like you a lot…” 
foresight-botgd
“Yeah,” he said softly, “I will. Thanks, Aria.” Yun squeezed an arm around her and rested a cheek on the top of her head, sighing through his nose. The list of what he both wanted and needed to do after he could leave was growing, but he didn’t mind. It meant that he was about to have the time of his life as soon as this was over. It was all hinging on one thing. No pressure…