"I Have Heard Of You," Robin Offers Kindly, Head Tilting On The Direction Of The Newcomer And Away From

zahryaofspring​:

✿*ﾟ ‘ﾟ･

Serenity. Relaxation. Oddly enough, these concepts have been reinvigorated in Zahrya’s mind, though entirely removed from his physical body. Ironically in the last weeks, he’s felt most at peace when he wasn’t attached to his body. Letting his spirit roam and merge with changelings as he currently is has been quite liberating for the Chancellor. Though the nature of Robin’s insistence triggers another train of thought. 

“Do I seem nervous or stressed? Impossible! Look, I am here at the party.” He’s reminded of Yavie earlier that evening, how ready the younger fey was to lend him power. Were the seedlings beginning to doubt him? Sure, he was beginning to struggle to maintain some sense of time and got confused on occasion, but that didn’t mean he was failing at his duties. “New is good, but some things are futile. Our bodies are … transcendent. We are not bound by base desire like the children.” 

Perhaps his views were old, maybe even too old to be considered relevant, but the old ways brought the fey this far so why abandon them for conventions that’ll surely pass in a millennium or two? Zahrya held a deep love for all eladrin, but power begets power and that’s what was needed now. “My parents were born of magic older than Her Majesty, power undiluted by this realm. It runs through my veins, the omega of two ancient noble lines. Is it so wrong to want to honor that?”

...

“Zahrya, dearest, you are within a Changeling and intimidating the other party goers,” Robin reminds him softly, eyes flickering around the room in a pointed manner before they settle back upon the Spriggan before her. It is concerning, to say the least, the way the Chancellor is acting. It is not entirely out of character, no, but there is a hint of something else, and undertone that she can glimpse within his actions. Despite knowing that it is not quite her place, despite knowing that he will likely not listen as she is merely a noble from Autumn and not his equal, not quite, she has to point out the truth. “Your dislike for mortals is well known, but I do not believe you would have gone as far as bring your Changelings to a Senate sponsored party if you weren’t nervous or stressed. It is not quite your usual style.”

“A common reaction, of course,” she rushes to reassure him, not wanting to make him think she is judging him for his stress or nerves. “The situation is rather worrying, and I know you are excelling at your duties, but you are more than your duties, Chancellor. I know you will fulfill them, but aside your duties we also need you.”

She shrugs.

“Perhaps we are not bound to base desires, but they are nice, every once in a while.”

“It is not wrong to want to honor your parents, no,” she finally settles in her response, not believing she should push on that topic as it would likely be both an uphill battle and a losing one, and she would rather focus on the battle for the Spring Chancellor’s mental health.

alekgray​:

-

Fey and their fucking tricks. Bound through deals and contracts, that just sounded great. Useful, maybe, but that didn’t mean Alek had to like it. “I wouldn’t be surprised, they’re all over, aren’t they?” The lycan stated simplistically, considering their tech and their guns and their equipment it stood to reason that they had to be getting their materials from elsewhere. Manufacturing probably happened elsewhere too, for all their flexing of power Alek had to wonder how much of their development was being poured into it. “I’ve smelled them in there, in the Otherworld. It’s faint, but they’re there enough.” Alek had to wonder how they were getting there, but that might as well have been another fire entirely. “What are you thinking?”

...

“Like cockroaches,” she echoes the sentiment with a scowl. Too many laboratories, too few of her spies to count them all. The entire ordeal is beyond frustrating, but she realizes she has time. Something the lycan before her is sorely lacking, or would have been were he not rumored to be a volatile. A ruthless choice, but one well suited for a man meaning to go to war with an organization almost as old as humanity. “You have?” She had been concerned, but the confirmation of it all is even worse when it comes from someone as well acquainted with the Eye as the former experiment. “I am thinking that the best case scenario is that they have found a door into the Otherworld. The worst case? They made one. It would imply that they do not only rely on technology, but that they also have an in-depth understanding of magic beyond that which they got from stealing from Theneras.”

vincenzodives​:

It was good to have someone to lean on when things weren’t going well. Vincenzo was lucky enough to say that he had a few. He knew his mother would always be there for him no matter what. There was also August and Emory. Even though August was…well, August. He had never judged the witch before and he was sure to never do it for the rest of the time he was around. However long that would be. They would have to speak again at some point, but he wasn’t sure he was ready for that yet. Not right now. The witch was one of his dearest friends though. There was only so much time left both of them had. And they were tethered to each other now, bonded in something Vinny hadn’t even grown to fully understand yet. That was only one facet of the things he wouldn’t understand. Another was how someone like Robin was even giving him the time of day. Or even had in the past.

“That’s good to hear.” Maybe it would be good to have her around. Better than being stuck in this fucking hell he had gotten roped into. No, he would stop thinking that. Vincenzo hadn’t wanted mortality, but it had been thrust open him too many times to count. Whether he wanted it to be replaced by death or immortality, well, he was more uncertain about that than anything else. “Right.” That was all he said for a moment as she spoke. “Kind of. Not really. I had roommates. Haven’t really bothered to see them in a while though. Probably ‘cause of the whole, ya know, death.”

...

“Yeah, that ought to complicate things,” she agrees with a grimace as she glances down at the table and up again to face Vinny. A million thoughts slot themselves into place as she tilts her head in consideration. There is little she can do for him in the courts and the Otherworld, for even now it would be a rather terrible idea to invite him to step beyond the mortal realm, but that does not mean she doesn’t have options. With everything going on the Eye, she has a considerable number of safehouses hidden for her fellow fey, but even that seems lacking when it comes as an offer for Vinny. Instead, she does have — .

Well.

“If you would like, I happen to own an apartment in Rome. Most of the time, I do not reside there and thus it sits empty. All I ask is that the mess is kept to a minimum,” she comments gently, expression calm and fond even as her lips twitch as his continual referral to her undead status. Perhaps one day the reference will be amusing, but she is not quiet sure. “And of course, you will have to be alright with me dropping by more often than not, as it’s where I spend my free time more often than not.”

who? @yaviefey where? the last bean notes: they are getting some pumpkin spice lattes <3

"I must thank you for your presence at the festivities," Robin nods at the former Autumn Fey as she approaches the table he has taken for himself. She had heard of the change, the Council of Elders whispering legends of Astral elf and what it meant for Yavie the change, but she had not believed them until her eyes had fallen upon him on the festivities and she had not found the call of Autumn on him. It is a loss keenly felt, but not as much as that of Farenduil, for Yavie remains untouched by mortality in the same Farenduil has been infected. "I had assumed that you would take the opportunity that make a proper clean break, and truly, I would not have blamed you for it."

Unlike so many, Robin had been lucky. Fen'harel had never attempted to sink their claws on her, her apparent foolishness and lack of presence within the Autumn Court as she traveled through the Otherworld keeping her out of the realm of influence of the Dread Wolf. Many of the others had not the luck, and she did not blame the resentment that had festered on them, seeded by the traitors hand.

"Do tell, was it to your liking?"

TATI GABRIELLE as Nadine Ross Braddock in Uncharted (2022)

"Let's merely agree that we could both learn from the other," Robin ends the matter with a huff of amusement at his denial. That the maker of humanity didn't believe himself to have something worth teaching speaks either of a great deal of humility or a shattered ego. Neither of the options were particularly pleasing, but she would rather it be the first. After all, she had decided to welcome all those demigods that descended from a member of her court upon their forests and treat them as her citizens. And yet, too much humility could be a rather dangerous thing for Prometheus if he is to remain in the courts. "Do feel free to stay for as long as you want, all descendants of the Dusk Court are welcome to live in my court. Be warned, however, only those with clairvoyance should feel welcome to venture off the marked path. Without it, you might anger the forest."

wintersaurora​:

❅

“Sound argument,” she concedes with boredom, only because it was still oddly strange to ever think to start demanding things of Robin like her superior. Not only because she had no current jurisdiction to do so, Winter to Autumn, but Aurora had slept with a sprinkling of fey throughout her lifetime and the autumn noble had been the only one who knew her prior to Chancellorship. They matured together in a sense, the same generation with the same beliefs. It kept an unspoken understanding in their odd, aloof friendship. No matter the distance and time, things always seemed to eventually circle back into two teenagers of equal standing and nobility. “If I was ever unsteady with my power and influence, perhaps, but you’re too far from my Court to understand. There’s no need for apologies,” she meant, since Robin hadn’t actually done anything to harm. Though Aurora always appreciated any gesture of goodwill. “I simply regret the misunderstanding. You were aggressively caring.” It was well-intentioned teasing spoken with borderline seriousness, but Robin would understand the delivery of the Winter fey’s very often cold humour. A strange bond they’d had. The younger fey shaped and created from birth for leadership, matured too quick, and the slightly older but free-spirited fey. It was Robin’s determined sense of order and justice from the very beginning that allowed them to relate despite differences.

At the consideration of overstepping, Aurora simply nodded appreciatively to the apology - if only because it was for Raja. “You’re telling me,” she replied with a sigh as the conversation led to Fen’harel. But perhaps Aurora did not want to get into the topic of the one she felt had betrayed her trust. Not right now. The Winter Chancellor still had some ways to go before she found the kindness to forgive the part of it that she could forgive. “On the other hand, I did want to congratulate you on your family’s recent ascent to power in the Senate.” There was the ghost of a smile on her face now. “I suppose whatever your relation is to Senator Leal Acosta, niece might be the easiest to name it. Did you know?”

...

“I do suppose there are quite the number of differences between Autumn and Fall, despite the closeness of our seasons,” she ends up agreeing, not desiring to drag the fight further than she had already done. It is rather useless to argue about something they both agree upon, after all, useless and a waste of time brought forth by the slightest of miscommunications. Their friendship, odd as it has been due to Robin’s exploration of the Otherworld and her tendency to wander around in between schemes, was an old one, a strong one. It had survived many thing, even before Aurora had been granted Chancellorship, and thus she did understood the Winter eladrin, even if sometimes she forgot to use that understanding in the middle of a conversation. She blames the six years she had spent majorly in the mortal realm, focused on her thesis and not much else. “As always, you mean. I do have to admit that my tendency for confrontation tends to be rather at odds with my usual personality, does it not?”

The comment about Fen’harel makes her curious, as she is well aware of the two Chancellor’s friendship, but Robin is aware she has pried too much for one evening, and lets the topic pass her by rather than grabbing and examining it as she wants.

“Oh? The new senator is of noble decent? Now that is interesting,” there is a smile dancing on her face as she leans closer to Aurora to emphasize her curiosity. Distant as the bond is, family is family, and after Lauma, she will cherish them all. “Now, now. Which of my cousins went and fell in love with a human this time?”

wadecalhoun​:

          “They’re not my damned friends,” the clarification hardly matters but Wade has always garnered this petulant ire that is so easily provoked, nostrils flaring as though Robin had publicly humiliated in someway. She hadn’t, of course, and Wade is trying to swallow down this ire that is clashing with his worry; Robin is so clearly alive but their friendship had been forever marred by what transpired, a pivotal point that he was uncertain they could mend. “You’ve not a clue what you’re talking about,” his voice is struck with this wretched timbre, almost miserable as to relive the betrayal once more. Wade would give anything to take it back, but now they had to simply overcome it; if at all possible. “You can go off into different worlds and realms, I do somethin’ they don’t like, it’s clipped for me.” There’s this pleading tone that interjects the pitiful ire that once rang forth, he’s yearning for understanding that he doesn’t deserve, a silent plea. He swallows this male bravado, goes through each horrific spasm and stage of grief as he tries to submit to this apology that Robin knowingly deserves; his pride is almost insurmountable. “Robin, I’m afraid. I ain’t ever been able to admit that, not even to myself. That what you wanna hear? I’m in over my head?” it falls forth, tumbles from his mouth in a whirlwind and he attempts to level the tremors in his voice that spiral between anger and pure fear, “I made the wrong choice and I’ll be sorry all my poor mortal years.”

...

“Then why did you tell them about your invitation into my home,” Robin hisses, stepping closer to her former friend, hands reaching up to grasp his shirt to pull him closer on her rage. Is the nearest to an act of violence she had offered Wade in a long time, the nearest thing to a threat since their first meeting. “No clue? The Eye killed my brother, his children and his lover, Wade. They just freed countless people they have been experimenting on. I know what they are capable off and I would have helped you if you asked you, I would have helped you like I have always done,” she confesses, voice raw at the truth spilling from her lips, at the reminder of what she had lost at the hands of the Eye. She almost confesses more, almost talks about the time she had spent trying to destroy it from the inside, but she cannot trust the coward before her. And yet —. She cannot help but understand. Who doesn’t fear the Eye? Who doesn’t fear the Leviathan that they cannot understand? “It’s a start,” she admits reluctantly. “It’s a start, but it cannot mean everything. Not when your choice could have killed the people I have sworn to protect. Not when it could have killed the children, Wade.”

She is about to say more, about to surge again in anger, when a pressure unlike any other strikes and brings them both to their knees. Nothing she does stops it, not the shields she throws above them both, nor the magic she calls with her song. It’s instinct that drives her to shield Wade, the love she holds for him even now pushing her to protect him for he is more vulnerable than she has ever been. Her friend, her betrayer. Wade is the last thing she sees before she loses consciousness.

zahryaofspring​:

✿*° ‘° ･

“That’s your problem Robin. You draw lines and make distinctions that don’t matter. Humans, drow, the Eye, the Senate, it’s all a waste. They envy us all the same, they bleed all the same. When pounded beneath the heavy fists of a changeling, all those who would do us harm are nothing but runny puddles of mess. The war we fight is on our very divinity. Anyone who would have us live less than our truths or gifts is our enemy. The notion that we must play by rules created by inferiors is an affront to what we are. Spring wasn’t my only teacher, I had innumerable vile mortals seek me out as an innocent child just to do me harm. And though he never spoke Asterion taught me more about who I am than anyone else. Apparently, you still fail to grasp who you are.” How any eladrin could learn who they were without a changeling to guide them was beyond Zahrya, but that’s where he stood completely apart from his people. They didn’t know so they didn’t understand. The younger generation confused him as much as they saddened him. None had the vast fields and endless skies of the Labyrinth to express themselves freely. They were repressed and lost, so much so that when given a directive from Titania herself they dared to question the faith she placed in him. Absolutely pathetic. “My domain is whatever my sovereign demands. Her Majesty said we were to have no mercy for this realm. If that is something you’re too weak to bring to fruition, then that is your deficiency. I served the Queen for longer than you’ve drawn breath. I know who I am. Whether or not someone is prepared for the storm doesn’t matter, because a storm rips apart weak strongholds as easily as it decimates fortified structures. At least mine do, because I was born to be powerful. I’ll weep for the future of your court if inaction is all you have to offer them.” 

...

“Because life has meaning Zahrya!” Robin finally snaps, the hum of magic turning the air sweltering around them as she raises her chin to glare at the Spring Chancellor from where she sits on the ground. “Life has meaning, and so does it’s ending and ignoring this because you were isolated of the world it’s not the solution. Your lack of empathy and worthless sense of superiority is going to get us all killed if you keep underestimating those who act against us, and you can’t see it. It only takes one mistake for a fey to die, and many of our enemies known how to do just that. Your reckless ignorance of how the world works outside of your Court is shameful, ignorant and will bite you in the fucking ass if you keep going this way. “ There is a noise of frustration as she raises from her sitting position, flames flickering on her fingertips before she clenches her first and takes a deep breath. “I am well aware that I am young and I have not been train in my position, but I know who am I. I know that the whole cannot be judged by the actions of the few, because if they were we would be just like the exile that has joined hands with Asphodel. We would be just like Fen’harel, traitorous and willing to overthrow our rules for power. But we are not, and that alone shows me that you know nothing of people, that the only reason you received your role is because you are powerful but witless. The storm might destroy the fortress and it’s inhabitants, but by numbers alone there will always be more to replace them, more waiting on the shadows to strike when we grow tired. For fucks’ sake, think things strategically for once in your life,“ She hisses out, a ran running over her face as she speaks. She is committing a mistake, she is aware, but she has grown tired of being condescended merely for having a different set of ideals than Zahrya. There is no denying that eladrins are inherently superiors, no denying that they have every advantage. And yet, countless have fallen at the hands of the Eye, countless have been hunted by vampires, witches and humans alike. “If it were power alone that granted us safety, we would not have lost the Otherworld, and my Court would be without dangers because despite what your ignorance has led you to believe, old witless fool, I am powerful and I am acting. I am just not stupid enough to put a target in my back.”

lainxsolus​:

He could not help but feel a bit of frustration well up inside of him when Robin mentioned that she and Regina had spoken previously.  Frustration quickly transformed into that strange, disconnected feeling he got when people knew of him.  He hated being perceived.  He was just anonymous, a nobody, a silent program running in the background.  “I don’t think the Eye is willing to trust the dumb fuck rednecks they hire as hunters with any crucial information.  But if I can gain access to their network through him, it might lead to something big,” The lycan mused.  It seemed that Robin was holding back as well, refusing to give up any details about her network of spies at the time.  But any information about the elusive organization was powerful, and could spell disaster for their cause if it fell into the wrong hands, so he understood her reluctance to let him in on anything more than what he needed to know. “I’m going to need this hunter’s name.  And yours as well. I’d like to know who I’m working with.” 

....

“Perhaps not, but his affiliation to the Eye does give him access to their buildings and technology, does it not? As you said, he serves as the perfect Trojan horse. Blindly loyal as he is, no one would suspect him to being a breach until we frame him for it.” Information and revenge, delivered in one fell swoop once they no longer need Wade to enter the Eye’s servers. He had chosen his side, so she would choose hers and ensure there is nothing familiar he can rely on when she is done with him. That her plan allows her to do so is a benefit, but a secondary one when faced with the true prize she has in mind. In-depth information on the Eye is difficult to attain, even with her own spies, so getting a source which will allow her to get as much information as she needs without worrying about the consequences if Wade is caught is going to be beyond helpful. “The hunter’s name is Wade Calhoun,” Robin says, before placing a hand to her chest and offering the lycan a half bow in greeting. “I am Robin Goodfellow, the Fall Chancellor.”