middaeg | A meeting [Closed]

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A meeting [Closed]

Who: Edelgard, Hubert, and Corrin
When: Early November, Nighttime
Where: Edelgard & Hubert's residence
What: Edelgard's bondmates meet
Warnings: Night Terrors, potentially discussions of death, torture, violence, and human experimentation.

Nights were sometimes easier for Edelgard than her days, and sometimes...sometimes they were much, much worse. She had been blessedly free of the night terrors that had plagued her sleep at times for the last few weeks, a fact she chalked up to her newfound Bonds, and the bundles of sensation that were Corrin and Hubert. They were pleasant, and she had moments where she reached her mind out to brush at them, taking strength and comfort from the connection.

However, she was to be proven quite wrong in her belief. Sleep took her as it always did, nestled deep in her blankets, snoozing lightly, but it did not take long for the nightmares to find her. Terrible dreams, sensations that left her numb, reminders of her past and the horrors that she faced in her childhood. She lay frozen in terror, body shaking, mind absolutely petrified, broadcasting through the bond a subconscious scream for help. She had no idea she was even doing it, as she could barely process anything through her panic. Needles, knives, and other implements of torment came for her, but she was so frozen with fear she couldn't even wake and cry out...

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One could ask princesses to do an awful lot if they were involved in their care from a young age.

"It's a mistake that can be rectified." Hubert isn't gracious enough with essential strangers to dismiss it entire. It's too inconsequential to be angry, from a practical standpoint, but he did consider it a mistake.

The cobra's hood folds back in as it lowers itself back to its coil, basking in the stoked fire. The familiar's master observes Corrin for a moment longer before trudging back along to the kitchen. Fatigue sat leaden in his chest, noticeably heavier than it had been prior to the earlier scare.

He returns a few moments later, tea pot in one hand, two cups floating above the other, settling them on a table.

And it's just then that Edelgard arrives, moving down the stairs without an attempt to hide her presence. Even if the bond wasn't going to betray it, she wanted to make it known.

Clad in a sturdy woolen shirt and leggings, she takes in the scene, smiling genially to Hubert and Corrin both.

"Forgive me for rousing the both of you and worrying you both. I...truly should have prepared you better for this eventuality."

Walking right over to the table, she takes up a tea-cup.

"And thank you, Hubert. You know me too well."

Corrin had just about finished cleaning her feet off by the time she felt Edelgard approaching, and she hurried to dry them off before she stood up and turned towards the stairs. Part of her wanted to run over and hug the older girl, it had certainly felt like she needed it, but she managed to resist. If only barely. Fingers twitching faintly at her sides.

"It's okay," was all she said as Edelgard moved over towards them and the table.

"I'm just glad you're alright."

Hubert's mouth crooks up at the corner at her apology—as if he would've been asleep. The mage casually glances over as Corrin rises, but otherwise returns his focus to Edelgard.

"Nothing to forgive, Your Majesty. As I've said, it's no fault of your own; it's merely an aspect of the Bond."

He'd argue that as many times as he'd need to, that her tormented sleep and any adjacent consequences were the result of their lurking enemies. Hubert hasn't forgotten his burns for a moment, and while incredibly minor, there were increasingly difficult to ignore.

"If there is nothing else...?"

Edelgard's attention flitted from Corrin to Hubert, then back. Taking in the scene at a glance, mulling over the vaguely sheepish feelings she'd gotten from Corrin and the slightly irritated ones she'd gotten from Hubert...tells her a couple of things. The first is that this is a terrible first impression.

The second is that there's likely nothing for it, just yet. She'll need to talk to Hubert about Corrin and vice versa later, though. She's sure of that. For now, an explanation is owed.

"Not at the moment. Again, thank you for coming so quickly, and for the tea."

Stepping further into the room, she reaches up and pats his shoulder with real affection.

"Please, see to your burns. And...in future, perhaps see to those before making tea for me."

As she watched Edelgard and Hubert speaking, Corrin had an immediate sense that she was intruding somehow. She was pretty sure she wasn't, but there was something very private about their exchange that made her feel like she shouldn't have been watching it. Hm.

She turned to the table where Hubert had set down the tea cups and tea and instead busied herself with pouring it, because she had to do something and the energy from running here definitely hadn't eased off yet. Plus now her feet felt cold from being washed, so moving around a bit had to help.

Occasionally she glanced at the snake seemingly dozing under the chair, or back over at Hubert and Edelgard, but mostly she just tried to be unobtrusive. And failed.

"Perhaps," he agrees a little cheekily. "I'll take your advice under serious consideration."

Sure he would.

Even two weeks after their Bonding, feeling Edelgard's gratitude and affection as she felt it was no less strange. It still seemed... invasive. Rather than dwelling on it, Hubert focused on the instant; after her pat, he steps back just enough to offer Edelgard a prim bow. Then with a murmured word and a gesture, he was gone in a blink.

He was only showing off, just a little—he did nothing without practical benefit. He'd keep teleporting from room to room (his concentration ~~check~~ permitting) until the spell was as second nature as breathing.

"Please do consider it."

Once Hubert was safely away and bandaging his wound, Edelgard took a seat at the table and reached without hesitation for the cup that Corrin had poured. Her attention, intense as ever, hovered entirely on Corrin's eyes.

"You...deserve an explanation for that. I had hoped it would not be necessary, but I see that it is."

Reaching gingerly across the table, she goes directly for Corrin's hand.

"And I am eternally grateful that you came as swiftly as you did. That means...that means more to me than I can say with mere words. It tells me that I was right, that bonding with you was as wise as I had hoped."

Corrin had seen teleportation magic before, but she wasn't actually looking at them, so from her perspective Hubert just vanished from the corner of her eye like an afterimage. Which was...honestly pretty impressive. She really needed to pay more attention to her magic training.

She looked up when Edelgard sat down, offering her a tentative smile as she moved to pouring her own tea as well. "You don't have to-"

She started to shake her head but was cut off when Edelgard grabbed her hand, glancing at it for a long moment before looking up at her, only half-hearing that compliment. After another second she laughed, a soft, embarrassed, sheepish laugh and shook her head.

"What else could I do, not come? That was..." She trailed off as the laugh faded. The fear and the panic and the terror she had felt? Anyone would have come running, right?

Desperate to lighten the mood, or for something to say, she wasn't sure which, her lips shifted into a more self-depreciating smile.

"I think Hubert would have preferred I hadn't come, though. I got mud everywhere."

"It's only mud."

Edelgard says flatly, somewhat amused, somewhat annoyed with Hubert for that. But at the same time, it's good to know. They can prepare for that, next time. Either with shoes. Or with a mat.

"And he's glad you came. I assure you of that. He...is very protective of me. That's been his duty since we were very small. He is just fussy."

And wrapped up in being who he was. Which she wouldn't change for the world.

"As for the matter at hand...yes. Yes it was probably quite a shock."

Slowly, she retracts her hand and peels her glove off. All the way off, exposing a hand with dozens of small, white scars. All at precise angles, set just so.

"As...this must be."

Part of Corrin wanted to comment on his protectiveness if only because he had a snake but she let it pass. Something to joke about later, maybe.

"It was...certainly one of the more unexpected ways I've woken up, at least." She agreed with a small smile. She drew her hand back as Edelgard removed her glove, her expression narrowing as she saw the scars that littered her skin.

"I...knew," she said softly. "I felt them when we bonded." But feeling them wasn't the same as seeing them, was it. After a handful of breaths she reached out to trace a finger softly across one of them as her red eyes flicked up to meet Edelgard's.

"I'm sorry."

The touch makes her shiver, but not pull away.

"I...said I would explain."

She slowly peels back her sleeve further, revealing more scars, some longer, just as patterned. Her eyes never waver, not from Corrin, but a sense of dread and long, long held back fears fill the bond.

"I told you before that I have a Crest, something important in Fodlan. What I did not say is that I have two...and that the second was not one I was born with."

She allows herself a brief, sad smile.

"The second was implanted in me after...I was..." her voice finally catches, "...I was taken as a child, and...scientists...they did things to me."

Corrin listened to Edelgard in silence, her lips narrowed into a line, her eyes uncertain. She knew whatever had happened was terrible, but it was all a bit beyond her ability to really understand it. Implanting crests? Scientists...basically torturing a child?

Her fingers twitched before moving to trace up along one of edelgard's scars, only a few inches before she drew her hand back with a frown. Her eyes were glassy, on the edge of tears.

"...Why would anyone do that?" She finally asked, even as she moved to sit down right where she was standing, winding up sitting on the edge of the table, facing Edelgard.

"They...I...do not know why they wanted to do it."

She has no clue, she never did. Was it some sort of power play? Or was it an attempt to turn her into a more powerful weapon? Or simply punishment?

"What I do know...is that it worked. It just...I have a second Crest. I was the only one of my siblings to survive the process. The other ten are dead. I was left scarred, physically and emotionally."

She presses her lips into a thin line.

"I sometimes have nightmares. Remembrances of my time in the dark."

Corrin wanted to say she couldn't imagine why someone would do that, but she could remember what Garon had been willing to do for power. But how did making Edelgard stronger benefit people who she would hate? It...made no sense.

And killed all her siblings too.

There were a lot of things she wanted to say, or to ask. How could they get away with murdering so many members of royalty? What did they think would happen afterwards? But none of it felt important right then. It was what Edelgard had nightmares about, but it wasn't what they were talking about.

"I can't imagine you wouldn't after that," she finally said, her finger tracing down Edelgard's arm again, but this time gently taking her hand, squeezing it gently.

"I have never really had a lot of nightmares, so I can't say I really understand, but...whenever you need to talk about them, or not talk about them, I'll be here, okay?"

"I know."

That...actually...she did understand. And accepted. The bond made that much, much simpler than it otherwise would have. She knew how shocking what she was saying could be. But Corrin was handling it better than she'd expected. The brush of fingers against her scars was pleasant in a way, and it helped. She relaxed at the acceptance, and curled her fingers inside the other's grip.

"I know you'll be here...and know that I treasure that knowledge. I understand how distressing my nightmare must have been, but rest assured I trust you to care for me. Generally, there is not much to say. Memories of...pain...but also rats. I think those are the worst ones."

From across the room, a loud thump heralds the arrival of an orange ball of fluff. A tabby, too old to be a kitten, but young enough to be not yet full grown. It patters over to the kitchen and a small bowl, mostly ignoring them. As cats do.

"I hate rats. Because of that. And being alone in the dark. So, I keep cats, and a low burning fire. Tonight was...unusual. I suppose it was overdue. And I apologize again for the worry."

She pauses, a little unsure...and then continues.

"You have no idea how glad I am you came, though."

"Rats," Corrin echoed that, her nose wrinkling, and couldn't quite bring herself to ask anything more specific because how could rats ever be a good thing in a regular dream, let alone a nightmare? She didn't think anyone liked rats.

Then again, she hadn't thought anyone liked snakes, so...who knew?

"Of course I came. And I didn't..." She hesitated. "I didn't see your dream or anything. I just felt what you were feeling. I think." She laughed softly. "Honestly I think I was dreaming and your emotions kind of overwrote everything else in there so it's all very bizarre blur."

Dreaming about other people's emotions was definitely not something she wanted to do a lot, she thought. But she would put up with it for Edelgard. "And I'm glad...you're glad...?" Okay that felt really lame somehow. An embarrassed laugh before she tried to latch onto something else. Okay, okay...cats!

"Cats are probably a good idea," she agreed. "I mean, I assume. I never had pets. I didn't even have my own horse, really." Things like that, she hadn't thought about until she'd been free of Garon's fortress and actually looked at her bizarre childhood with hindsight. "But people I've met with them seem to like them." She added with a little smile.

"Do you have one here?"

"I do."

Edelgard looks across the room at the cat that had just entered, but it's a cat, so it keeps doing it's own thing. She doesn't have a magical link with it or anything, as much as she'd like to. It's comforting to know it's here though.

"I...as much as I hate to pivot back to something heavy, also feel like it's time that I came clean with you about...things you've probably questioned since we started this talk, and things I've alluded to."

She knew that she'd told Corrin that the war had been something she had started. And that it had been to undo the hold the church had on the continent, but...

"The people who...experimented on me...were working with the nobles. A kind of shadow power that lurks in the shadows. Hubert's called them Those Who Slither in the Dark, and it's an apt name. You should understand that in case one of their agents arrives here...that they're very dangerous. If someone that you don't know starts asking questions about Hubert and myself, I am counting on you to say nothing. And to tell me...so that he and I can deal with it."

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A meeting [Closed]

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