Wynsm - Tumblr Posts
@rathfel asked: “ i can't stop. it's what i am. “ / for merlin!
► ❪ VILLAIN / HERO // accepting ❫
Chin resting upon slender digits, a gaze turned upon the other with near unreadable intent. Unmoving in stature, one could swear her figure carved of stone.
Suffice to say, when presented with a succinct summary of self, brimming with steadfast belief, there’s no initial inclination to offer a response. It's a truth the mage was well aware of, probably more so than anyone else. Time and time Merlin bore witness. Every crack widening in the chipped outer shell, emotions ( wrath ) spilling forth. Every attempt to bandage old, nursed wounds, a stitched patchwork to stem the stained tide. He felt too much / too hard / it could barely be contained. She wouldn’t deny him his path. Not when part of it may have bloomed from inherent nature, not when she herself bore the same brand of guilty offense.
And yet she recalled more.
Every unrestrained act of kindness. His capacity for mercy upon those who've wronged him. The powerful devotion stored for his friends. The affection bestowed upon every iteration of the goddess to cross his wayward path. Saving a young, resentful runaway, fleeing her shackled life.
❝ I believe everything is a matter of... perspective, captain. ❞ Such a careful, fine line to balance, the need to point out yet not entirely contradict. ❝ Perhaps things aren’t as set as we think they are. ❞
@rathfel asked: “ i had forgotten how charmingly ethereal you can be ” / @merlin!
► ❪ THREE HOUSES // accepting ❫
A passing remark, one deserving of an bemused exhale. The puff of air danced on the smudged rim before the stained wine glass withdrew from quirked lips and set down with a delicate clink. Could he feel it, the weight of her gaze assessing, prying, judging ?
Flattery; far from a new phenomenon, hardly receiving more than a bat of the eyes and demure thanks, but it's not every day Meliodas himself bothers to comment on anything separate from her questionable nature and the studies carried out. ❝ ...I suppose it's only natural you would. We've not seen each other in many years. ❞
Alas, what meaning could be held in such acclaims ? When inflections often don't necessarily reflect the intent of the beholder at hand, were the words themselves as empty as the hollow shell that breathed them to life ?
Greedy as Merlin was, ever craving for more knowledge, she's not keen on picking his thoughts on this regard, learning of what thought sparked it, and thus there's no reason to derive the joy / satisfaction expected of them. For once she's at ease to not know. Echoes of a want from a bygone era tempt the mage not as gold eyes stared back from the still crimson, providing all the clarity she needs. She's content.
It’s bothersome. This sentiment reverberating in her chest alongside the chiseled heart of stone nestled safely inside, a hand reaching into unwanted depths, to squeeze forth blood. Could it be the sour tang of acrimony, reduced to a muted sting ? Perhaps. An entrenched bitterness waned over the years, steadfast rock long since eroded from the persistent crashing of dismal waves over it. All too easily were any inklings of the instinctive desire to search for underlying truths sanded down in the face of it. There's no point to seek / hope for something that simply didn't exist.
Only here she's allowed her mind to accept it as is, to let it go astray, to not grant it a lingering thought of her own. Let the acknowledgement wither and decay, pass into dust carried away on a distant wind.
Fingers grasped the glass handle, the remaining wine consumed a few stilted heartbeats later. The rich flavor no longer carried it's sweet aftertaste.
She's content.
@suhndrie asked; “ i can’t feel my legs. ” / Arthur @ merlin :)
► ❪ INJURY / HURT PROMPTS // accepting ❫
Healing magic was a rather curious thing, mending the wounds inflicted upon the body and mind regarded as a sacred art. The Goddesses, some Fairies, and even a sect of Humans ( the Druids ) wielded this rare power. There's a nuance to using spells of this category. Certain aspects could be supplemented to achieve the desired effect on a level similar to true healing, but alas, there was still a wall she hadn’t managed to overcome in all her years and so that branch of magic lay locked beyond her grasp. Healers drew on, what she's thus far theorized, to be a deep, profound connection to both nature and the spirit. The druids she's spoken to had also cited caring and compassion for the well being of others as the basis for performing their spells. Compassion, something she no longer held any room in her heart for. What a pity.
Imagine the possibilities that restricted magic would open up to her ! The untold amount of experiments she could carry out. Keeping test subjects alive to last far past their expiration. Creating infinite regeneration spells and the like.
Healing her wounded charge's legs.
Unable to wave a hand and relieve ailments, it's time's like these Merlin lamented her pronounced lack of healing magic.
There's no magical item on hand to wash away his newest sustained grievance. A lack of foresight on her end she would admit to. She’d been a breath too slow in preventing it, but the secondary intense blast of magic was sufficient to incinerate the remainder of the monsters, cutting through the swathe of them seeking to seize the advantage and close in on Arthur, including the one with enough cunning to land a lucky strike through his guard, a sight that had herself grimacing as sharpened claws tore through skin and muscle like paper.
❝ Right now, it's better than the alternative. ❞ Gloved hands withdrew from tattered clothes, blood soaked fingertips ignored as the light dancing around them died down. ❝ I'm sorry. This is the best I can do for you for now. ❞ Magic crafted to temporarily sever the sensation of nerves shrieking their dissatisfaction with their current state, disconnecting them altogether from his brain. A stop gap, not the most elegant and was paired with the unfortunate side effect of losing all feeling below his waist, but it's one that would have to hold.
The people may appreciate a dedicated king willing to defend them, to eliminate dangers that threaten the peace of the lives behind those towering walls, but such assurances often come at a cost, mostly falling on the shoulders of the one putting his own precious life on the line.
While Arthur may sit on the throne of Camelot, he's still but a boy teetering on the verge of adulthood, and with that youth carried a risk of recklessness and a tendency to overestimate one's abilities. He's come a long way since their first meeting, since he pulled forth Excalibur from it's stone sheath, but there's always room for improvement as this both proved and will likely teach him for future reference.
Hands traced a brief sigil in the air, a flick of two fingers towards the earth punctuating the end of the motion. An aura of translucent magic carefully wrapped around the young king, his damaged form kept suspended well above the ground, freed from gravity's shackles and spared of the need to walk. Their job complete, all that remained was to teleport back to the castle. A moment hung in the air, the breadth of a still heartbeat, an instance of hesitance curling around her, before she reached out once more, gently carding a hand through unruly orange locks. ❝ Try not to think on it too much. I'll have you to the kingdom's healer in short order. ❞
Compassion may be a foreign art, one she only caught glimpses of understanding as of late, but for Arthur, momentary comfort was not so difficult to offer.
@wynsm asked; “ it doesn’t matter who’s the leader. we’re all in this together, right? “ / meliodas @ merlin!
► ❪ AGE OF CALAMITY // not accepting ❫
Two svelte digits pressed against her temple. It drew an unamused smile upon her features — the theatrics of this man as the nebulous case was pled. Her stance, her tone, a blunt indication that he likely would not get his way on this matter, a battle he lost more and more ground on with each second that ticked away.
❝ Says the leader, ❞ a retort, a reflection her patience dripping to lower and lower levels the longer the conversation carried on. ❝ Expectations like these rest on you now, after all. You should get yourself reacquainted with them. ❞
This was the brand of ridiculousness Merlin should've prepped for when she agreed to sign up to this, the chaos being sequestered onto a team would invite. Barely two weeks in to the gathering of all seven Sins, new dynamics clicking into place / needing time to settle, and hurdles like these presented themselves. In any case, this wasn't her problem. It solely rested on his shoulders as the head of their little approved ragtag group.
“ it doesn’t matter who’s the leader. we’re all in this together, right? “
A delicate brow arched at the remark and it prompted pursed lips to curl. Trying to invoke a sense of camaraderie ? How utterly subtle, the thought dripped with naught but sarcasm. ❝ Naturally, as a team we'll bear each other's burdens. That was never in doubt. Doesn't mean I'll allow this to slide. ❞
Tricks and ploys may deceptively tug at the bleeding heartstrings of others, wither down their staunch stance until tatters remained, the target unknowingly caving to his wishes, but they were both shameless in the art of foisting work on others, and she's wise to many of his schemes.
Bartra had kept the Captain busy all morning doing paperwork for levied complaints and accumulated damages done in line of duty ( and definitely not from engaging in yet another contest of strength with Ban yesterday or the explosion that occurred within the magic institute a day prior to that ) Meliodas' newfound office finding itself a cozy home to the stacks of white sheets, all demanding to be read thoroughly and signed. It looked to be shaping up into a task that may extend well into the night.
Unfortunately for Meliodas, outside of the realm of her work and incurred favors, motivation to offer assistance plummeted as her interest declined. A modicum of pity might've been shed for the knight, if he hadn't attempted to pawn off the staggering workload to her.
Besides, he already proved unwilling to her proposed suggestion to the issue: trying a recent craft of hers ( a new potion to attempt to accelerate thought processing, years in the making, he’d surely finish in record setting times ), declining it outright after the lengthy theorized side effects of humanoid bodies were listed. Why then did more time have to be wasted on a lost cause when she could get back to her experiments and hopefully make progress there ?
❝ It's your duty as the leader of the Sins to accept responsibility, isn't that right, Captain ? Think of the example you need to set for your new team. ❞
@wynsm asked; 👤 + arthur / for merlin uwu
► ❪ CHARACTER MUSINGS // accepting ❫
❝ He is a curious but very kind young boy, you know. A unique individual, like you. However, it would do him well to focus less about what others think of him. ❞
Exhaustion, ever present, tugging at her bones with a sickening weight, taut as it catching on lungs, but this much... this much she can allow herself say, within the confines of this quiet interlude alone. The beat of silence jumped into the air, hovering longer than initially intended, before eyes settled on the sky beyond the window pane.
❝ I could tell from the moment I met him, he would have an incredible destiny. ❞ Hearing that, one could say ( that level of foresight / premonition / attained knowledge ) Merlin was using him. A valid assessment, as it was true. Plans set in motion all those years ago would be seen carried out to complete regardless of new bonds forged in the interim, though somewhere along the way...
❝ Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon, Camelot's king before him, but he was adopted into another family instead. However, you know that nothing lasts. When he was left destitute, I took him in as my student. I deigned to teach him how to read, and then to write. I even brushed up on my old sword skills to try and help him learn a thing or two in that field, although it's not my expertise. And from there I supported him as a mage. For years, I have watched over him and was... happy to see him grow and flourish, becoming a wonderful king in his own right despite only recently taking the throne. ❞
( as his new teacher, it's best to dismiss these encroaching doubts here and now. amber locks onto purple, confidence palpable as a pledge is heard, hand squeezing his shoulder, her presence in his life now as real and as cemented as that touch. ❝ i don't care if people think you're a disappointment. i swear i will always help you out. if there’s one thing you should take away from this, it’s that no matter the situation, you won’t ever be forsaken by me. ❞ )
She'd never be a mother — too riddled with cracks and holes to properly care for a child as her own, heart set on the chaos looming beyond. But... Merlin supposed Arthur was what she imagined having a son could've been like.
❝ He’s something that I’ve been lacking for a very long time. He is my hope. ❞