middaeg | glass half empty, glass half full

Entry tags:

glass half empty, glass half full

Who: Zelda and Scathach
When: Early December
Where: The Coven
What: Capital-B Bonding
Warnings: None

[A month has passed since Samuin, and... nothing's happened. No crisis, no great tragedy, no grand political upheaval; the simmering pot that is Aefenglom has simply continued to do just that: simmer.

And yet, here they are, sitting in the antechamber to the Coven's Bonding ceremony room, waiting for the native witch to finish their preparations. She had given Scathach the time that she had asked for to consider her flustered offer, and in the absence of any other disasters and despite the presence of a myriad of other options, she still... chose her. It's odd, sitting with that feeling; she didn't truly have the luxury of contemplation when she came here with Giorno, bursting at the seams with magic as she was. It's odd, but not bad. Just... different. New. A little confusing, running somewhat counter to her own assessment of herself, but she supposes she doesn't much have the right to argue against it, given that she was the one who brought it up in the first place.

So she sits, idly doodling various runes and sigils in the air (this one means fire, this one invokes ice...) to keep her mind occupied. To stop her lightly buzzing nerves from getting the better of her. When the door finally opens and the officiant gestures them into the next room, she takes a deep, steeling breath, remembers be at ease, my lady, and tries to keep the waver out of her voice as she asks:]

... Are you ready? There is no rush, if not.

[Never mind that she's probably asked "are you sure?" at least three different times in the process of getting this all set up. She just doesn't want anyone to feel pressured here...!

Well. Pressured by things outside of the very laws of nature of this world. She unfortunately can't do very much about that.]

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[ She'd been just about to ask about the ice rune when they were interrupted by the officiant, drawing her full attention.

Zelda had definitely pestered with that question quite a bit, though Scathach hadn't particularly minded. After all, this was going to be a great leap for both of them, and Scathach had plenty of mind paid to it in the time since it had been proposed. In that time she hadn't really... spoken with anyone else about it, but instead just kept it present in her mind in her usual interactions. With the bonnie ladies she flirted with, the handsome young warriors she tested, her disciples both, the fae queen both she and Zelda lived with, the gamut of those who kept her life full of flavor and interest.

And the question had been... did it have to be Zelda?

Did she have it in her to swear these oaths to the princess, despite holding her so dearly at this point? And it seemed no matter how she approached the idea... as a shared burden or a united boon, her thoughts continued to go to those nights during Samhain, when they had been at their most raw...

Scathach reached for Zelda's hand, giving it a light squeeze. ]

I've made up my mind. And I fear I'm the stubborn sort...

[ It didn't have to be Zelda. But she wanted it to be. Perhaps that, more than anything, was what lead her to accept the proposal after that month to think on it. ]

[Well, that rather handily settles it, huh?]

I never would have guessed.

[She offers in jest with a smile that's a little weak on one side, an attempt to lighten the mood and make this whole thing seem a little smaller than it feels like it is. Even if Scathach hadn't waited until nearly the last possible moment to go through with Bonding, the fact that she apparently mentored Caster speaks volumes about her patience and tenacity. Zelda still can't quite envision how that all happened.

But in the present moment, she laces their fingers together in Scathach's hold and returning the squeeze. The contact is... oddly reassuring, even now, without any magic running through it, and she finds those steeling breaths to calm her nerves to be less necessary. She supposes she got used to it somewhere along the way when she wasn't looking, between Giorno and Scathach and all the other more affectionate sorts that have fallen into her life in the past six months. It's not the worst effect for this city to have on her in the end, she imagines.]

All right, then... [She fills the air as she stands, leading Scathach by the hand to the next chamber - a darkened room lit by soft candlelight rather than the bolder glow of magitech lamps. The scent of incense wafts through the air as the intricate circle drawn upon the ground pulses faintly with magical energy and the officiant takes their spot.] My last question is, when we are prompted to speak, would you prefer to go first or shall I?

I fear if you delay your own words any further you'll burst. [ A small chuckle, no malice in her words despite how it might have seemed like an admonishing observation. She gave another squeeze of Zelda's hand as punctuation, assuring her that she was just as ready to receive those words as Zelda might be to give them. This had been a relatively long time coming, after all... and she had to admit, she was eager to hear for herself just how dedicated Zelda was to this idea, not that she doubted her convictions...

This was such new territory for them both, but it wasn't... quite as new for Scathach. After all, she'd sworn herself as a Servant to Ritsuka. But it was just unique enough of a situation that it stood out even in her vast experience. But she knew it was perhaps that much more keenly so for Zelda, despite her having an existing bond. The circumstances were quite different, after all... ]

Go ahead... I'm ready to hear them.

[There's no real cruelty in her words, but Zelda finds herself bowing her head bashfully regardless, ever embarrassed that she can be read so easily. The process of waiting, both for Scathach to give her an answer in the first place and more acutely for the ceremony to begin, has been more than a little nerve wracking at times, but the prospect of going first... is a bit intimidating in its own way. Which is silly, because she's done this before. The energy snaking up through the soles of her feet as she steps into the circle is unsurprising; the gentle chanting of the officiant as the spell begins is familiar. But there had been this sense of defeat with Giorno, even if she has come to value him greatly as a bonded partner since. That night... she had felt as though she had nothing left to lose.

Now... she feels as though she's carrying something fragile and precious (and... undefined, ambiguous, something she dares not examine too closely), and one wrong step will have it shattering to pieces on the floor.

Follow your intuition, she had said.

Yeah, okay. Sure. Zelda takes Scathach's other hand as she pulls herself up straight, swallowing her courage while the spell builds and swirls around them--]

As you know, I have not led a life charmed by a multitude of friends. For so long, isolation, secrecy, and distrust have been my shields against an unkind world, armaments that have been... difficult, to put down, even as they no longer serve me as well in this realm so far removed from my own.

The roles we have filled in our lives before this place may mean little here, but we are still statues carved out by the chisels of our pasts, in the end.

[Her fingers twitch as she pauses there, the pulse of the spell starting to resonate with that of her heart, before she pulls her eyes up from their joined hands to meet Scathach's own. She is slightly flushed in the dim candlelight, apprehension flickering around the edges of her almost overly-earnest expression, but she can't very well keep her head down through this whole thing, now, can she. This is too important for that.]

But that is why I now vow, upon the crown of Hyrule and before the eyes of its goddesses if they might be watching this distant world, that I will not take for granted the trust you have placed in me to be this thing for you, nor will I take advantage of it. You are a warrior, and thus I know you require no physical protector. But I swear to be a bulwark for your mind, and-- a refuge for your heart, if you should allow it. Should you ever feel as though you are losing yourself, I will guide you back, for as along as either of us remain here.

These are the oaths I vow, to forge this Bond.

[With that all said, a sigh does escape her about three seconds after she's finished; you know, maybe she really might've burst if she had waited much longer...]

[ Pride swelled in Scathach's heart, though she wondered if she had any true right to it. But seeing that courage within Zelda, the thing she spotted within her the very first day they met, had seen fit to foster underneath an initially distant care. Seen it truly bloom within that dark city, but confronted it directly the moment when she, herself, was the greatest threat to Zelda... but she was no teacher any longer. She had no right to that pride. But she couldn't help that little swell, none the less.

Moreover, to hear Zelda's feelings expressed so clearly, something she'd had certain troubles with before, lifted her heart higher than any amount of pride could. And she found herself surprised by it, how much just that had meant.

A refuge for her heart... She hadn't had that in a great long while, had she? Not even with Rituska. Maybe knowing that, in her own way, without putting it to so simple words, was why she'd agreed. This was something she needed for practical reasons but... it was also was different. Different from her servitude of Ritsuka, different from the marks of slavery in that dark city, different and... so much more precious, wasn't it?

Her grip on Zelda's hands tightened, and after a long moment, she spoke... ]

I am born within darkness, given its name. From the very beginning, I was... different. The Wisdom of the Abyss reveals much of me... but it is a difficult puzzle for anyone to truly work their way through. You had an unenviable task, to solve the rhyme that is me.

And one could say you still have not... but it is a journey you've taken, and for as much my gratitude cannot be expressed enough.

So I'll use the words of my homeland, of my people... [ A deep breath ]

Ye are Blood of my Blood, and Bone of my Bone.
I give ye my Body, that we Two might be One.
I give ye my Spirit, 'til our Life shall be Done.

[ Scathach couldn't help a small, mirthless chuckle. ] At least if not our lives, then our time here... [ They both knew Scathach couldn't actually die, by now. ]

I shall guide you to the Land of Shadows myself, should the time ever come, hand in hand with you, my oath to you, my vow. In the darkness I am, find shelter and comfort, find peace and... love.

[Funny, for all that she had mentally prepared herself for this to go wrong, for something to break or for someone to run, she'd hardly given herself time to consider what it going right would be like. She's spent all this time thinking that she would need to argue her case up until the last possible moment, that the idea that Scathach might actually want this for reasons beyond the practical is one that she's mostly overlooked in her anxiety.

So, she's more than a little stunned when Scathach's vow turns out to be... that. Particularly that last word. That-- that one is going to keep her up at night, she can already tell.]

I...

[But there wouldn't be time for her to form a coherent response in the moment, even if she wasn't rendered mostly speechless. The spell reaches its crescendo with those oaths spoken, surging through the pair as it makes their vows manifest, binding their souls together in a swell of light and magical energy.

And there, when the dust settles, she can feel it. A dark but warm presence nestled within her heart, neither overpowering nor overshadowed (hah) by that of the brighter boy that's already taken up residence there, and the thread that connects her to its source. Thin, tenuous in its novelty, but growing in strength with every passing second. Magic begins flowing from her through the link a moment later, and she sways just slightly as that extra bit of pressure is relieved.]

Ah, I thought it would be a little less dizzying the second time... [Okay, this isn't half as bad as it was the first time around, but it's still odd to feel that well of energy within her adjust to flowing in two directions at once. ] How... do you feel?

[She is not literally crossing her fingers because she's still kinda holding Scathach's hands, but she is spiritually crossing her fingers. Please don't confirm all her worst fears about this process--]

[ For Zelda, it was only a slight sway.

For Scathahc, she felt as id she had been thrashed about by the shift, cast into a rolling river and taken with its current, with no agency to decide what shore she'd eventually wind up at. She pinched her eyes, the hands that held Zelda's hands leaving them to clench at the girl's shoulders, her full weight leaning against her as she collapsed against Zelda's chest.

And then she felt it. She felt all of it, the magnificent warmth. Her hands moved to Zelda's face, cradling it, pressing her forehead to hers, drinking in the mana as if she were starved, unable to explain in that moment at all just the relief she felt in finally having that connection.

Even with Rituska, it hadn't been like this. The connection was not so immediate and impactful. This was so much more different, and she had to struggle to catch her breath. ]

[Immediately, there is a spike of concern - the first emotion Scathach will feel that is not her own - as Zelda quickly wraps her arms around the other woman's torso to help support her when she collapses. Her slight frame isn't built for doing that kind of thing for long, but she fortunately manages to keep herself from buckling in the moments between Scathach gripping her shoulders and cupping her face.]

Hey, hey. It is going to be all right-- just breathe...

[Her fearfulness slowly abates as she's held there, morphing into a quieter background buzzing as she gently lowers both herself and Scathach into a kneel in the middle of the runic circle. Because as she starts making sense of all the things she's suddenly feeling that she wasn't a moment ago, she can tell it's not overwhelming confusion or sickness that's rushing through, but relief.

The officiant, to their credit, does not seem terribly surprised by the reaction, and politely mutters something about giving them a moment to collect themselves before slipping out the door.

Zelda doesn't pull away from the closeness - she has no reason to, this gesture has become so familiar - but she does reach up and lightly brush a bit of dark hair out of Scathach's face. Her voice is quiet, soft.]

You are going to be all right...

It's... so strange... [ Scathach murmured, leaning into Zelda, against her hand, calming herself with deep breaths. ]

I never realized how starved I was for this until it was finally free for me to envelop myself in...

[ The mana, rich and warm, flowed so bountifully between them. It soothed aching bones, tired muscles, and surrounded her heart, pulsing with it. ]

Zelda...

[Cute, she thinks as she watches Scathach lean into her touch, the warmth and fondness that follows that thought flowing traitorously into the well of the Bond alongside her magic. There's another impulse that flutters through her mind after the almost reverent whisper of her name - not 'my lady' or 'princess' but Zelda - one that is betrayed by the slight tension of her neck, the darting of her eyes, the biting of her bottom lip.

It would be very easy to close that last breath of space between them, if she were someone else. It doesn't even seem that frightening, here and now, soaking in Scathach's relief and contentment as she is. Maybe she wouldn't even mind it, if she were someone else.

If she were someone else.

But she's not, and that new, flighty impulse is easily overwhelmed by the far more ingrained senses of duty and destiny dwelling within her. Still, she smiles, a rare, genuine smile untouched by the sadness that so often follows her like a cloud, her happiness in this moment strong enough to hold her back from dwelling upon her anxieties, even if she is made to acknowledge them. She cradles the other woman, in no great rush to get back up again, and gently rubs soothing circles against her back.]

I take it you are not feeling any regret yet, then? It... will not be going anywhere, as long as that remains true.

[ Scathach was drunk enough on the fresh exchange of magical energy between them that, for once, she missed the subtle tells of Zelda's face, expression and positioning, and the desire upon her lips that was left unspoken and unsatisfied... well. Almost missed. Easily dismissed as a throbbing in her eyes, a projection of something else inside of them both that could, for the moment, be set aside and ignored.

Her breath calmed, her eyes shuttered closed, and her postured slacked. She felt like she could use a nap. Or three. ]

I don't hold to regrets, to be sure... But this will not be one, regardless. I'll be yours for as long as you'll have me, my lady...

But, for the moment... I could use some rest.

Ah, yes, of course.

[A chipper sort of resolve takes the place of the fuzzier feelings she'd held a moment prior, the task before her simple and something she feels is well within her means of completing. She adjusts Scathach's hold on her, pulling one arm over her shoulders as she pushes them both back to their feet, holding her securely at her side to keep her from sagging too much.

She tips her chin up and over her shoulder, towards the direction of the door as she calls out:] We shall be taking our leave now. Thank you for your assistance!

[The officiant, apparently entirely too used to this, simply gives a thumbs up before returning to the book they've fished out in the meantime. With that done, Zelda hums a short, quiet melody, after which there is a brief feeling of weightlessness before the pair finds themselves in the living room of their overly large house within the Haven. Zelda doesn't generally like teleporting magically unless it's an emergency, given the side effects it can have on one's focus if overused, but, well. This seems like a worthy enough exception to the rule. She glances towards the kitchen before taking any steps towards Scathach's room, however.]

Oh, would you want anything to eat, or drink first? I could make-- well, I could warm something up, if you like.

[One of these days she will learn something more complex in the kitchen than boiling water or grilling meat, but it is not this day.]

Edited (fuck me html) 2020-01-12 19:33 (UTC)

A bit of scotch and a candle to warm it by will do well enough. [ Scathach hummed, her gratitude for Zelda's literal support not going unseen in how she softens her tone, letting herself use the support the ever-surprisingly strong princess was providing. She wasn't about to ask Zelda to put out any more than she had been, either, though. She knew she'd be right as rain again after a spot of the ole malt. ]

You could make a person think that stuff is water, sometimes.

[Zelda quips, but obliges, changing course from the kitchen to the living room couch. This is where she settles Scathach down before moving to the eternally well-stocked liquor cabinet, where she fetches the requested drink, glass, and candle. She sets all three on the end table nearest her new Bonded, and lights the candle with the same rune she was busying herself with practicing before.]

I, ah... will not presume to know how to serve it correctly. [Scathach takes her alcohol very seriously. This is known. And Zelda doesn't want to risk messing something up now that everything feels like it might actually be okay.]

And yet... here I sit, curious as to where your intuition would guide you on such a thing.

[ Scathach knew this was probably hardly the time to be challenging Zelda, but as she settled into the cushions, letting her still hammering heart rest, she couldn't help but be intrigued by the idea. Plus... she didn't want to give Zelda any excuse to excuse herself. She wanted to keep her nearby... to keep that warmth between them. Just for a few moments more... ]

Goodness, you really must be lightheaded to risk something like that.

[But she does reach again for the bottle and glass, even as uncertainty still flickers around the edges of her expression. Well, if she's being dared--]

... I shall trust that you will not hold it against me should I make a mistake, then.

[--responsibility is off of her shoulders, huzzah. Scathach didn't mention anything about ice or the like, so... she pours from the bottle straight into the tumbler. Once it's filled halfway (she's fairly certain she's never seen Scathach just chug a full glass of this stuff??), she moves the glass over the candle, swirling it slowly as she finally chances a glance back up to the other woman.]

Ah... how warm would you want this to be?

[Everything seems a little warmer than usual right now, so. This is the one question she's allowing herself.]

You can dip your finger within... that should tell you when it's warm enough.

[ It was technically an answer, but one that still left all of the agency in Zelda, as well as the decision making. She was pretty certain she'd be fine with whatever result she came up with, but she still wanted to see the result, none the less. ]

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