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[myriadeclipse]

Hugo Inbox

Home of Mockingbird and the voice in his head

Mockingbird

Please forgive me for missing your message. I'll be right with you.

The Other Me

He isn't that sorry.

Mockingbird

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[paraselenic]

[Lycaon immediately warms to Irene's behavior, smiling and reaching a hand out to rub the side of her ear. She was a very diligent girl, that's for sure.

Littermate...that must be Lia. She'd told him she was going to check on him after she got back from Hyrule with her boyfriend.]

Thank you for looking after him in my absence.

[Robin steps forward, and Lycaon's ears swivel in that direction. Butler's just as surprised at the notice as Lycaon is, leaning forward to inspect it curiously. As Lycaon takes it to inspect the envelope, the Bangboo can't help but agree.]

En-Nah En-Na-Nnah (Quite depressed and messy! I only was just able to clean up the delivery orders and the pile of blankets before you came back, sir!)

[Lycaon pauses as his nails slice open the envelope. Hugo was..depressed? Ordering takeout and setting up a homebase on his couch, from the sound of it. Why didn't he call him? Why...did he put himself through all of that? His brow furrows, heaving a sigh as the questions he had for the man mounted. He had half a mind to throw the man in a lake for tricking him like this, but he'd get answers first.

The scent was immediately recognized. It was Hugo's scent, and its placement on this card was intentional. The word 'Hyrule' written across it only cemented it. Hugo was calling him somewhere.

It's amazing. Lycaon had done such a similar tactic for Hugo's birthday, but seeing this now just shows the difference in their attention to detail.

Wait. He'll praise that asshole later.]

Message received, Robin. Thank you for delivering it.

[He turns to Irene.] I know we have just met, but might I ask you to look after my own Pokemon? [With a snap of his fingers, his spatial closet opens up. He'd put Veronika's box relatively close to the entrance, so he hardly even needs to reach in to get her, picking her up out of the box as she snoozes in his shirt to set her on the couch next to Irene.] She will likely sleep until I am back.

[Without even waiting for an answer, he makes his way to the door, nodding to the Bangboo before opening. Hugo's scent filled Lycaon's nostrils as he closed his eyes to find the path it took. Sure enough, it went in the direction of Hyrule's spirit gate.

His legs hum to life as he sprints off, leaving the door open for Butler to catch on rebound.

The moon shone above as he ran through the city. It would only take him minutes to get to that gate, and to find out just what Hugo led him on this chase for. Sure enough, the gate lay ahead, and he entered it without even a blink of hesitation.]

[myriadeclipse]

[ Irene sniffed the box, curling down next to it. She was given a task and would see to it. Robin watched Lycaon, tilting into the doorway when he took off. Hugo and Lycaon both had such a habit of coming and going with such speed.

Once through the hyrule gate, the scent of Lavender continues to be the guide. Hugo hadn't been through that long before Lycaon, so his obvious scent lingered. It also wouldn't be long before the reason for the scent of roses would become obvious.

There on the ground was a black rose with a blinking light at it's center.

That rose was a bomb.

Should Lycaon look around, he'll spot another blinking light in the center of an orange rose, and the trail of beautiful explosives will set an obvious path through the grass and off on a winding journey leading to what seemed like an incline. Hugo had given him flowers all bursting with as much excitement to see him as Hugo was going to be. As long as he didn't trip one. ]

[paraselenic]

[The scent of roses had piqued his interest from the moment he picked it up on the card. Perhaps to throw him off? To make it harder to track his scent? It was an odd choice, and one he didn't understand until he passed through that gate.

Hyrule's crisp, fresh air takes over the staticy, city scent he'd become so accustomed to, and the last of any interference made the scent all the stronger. He slows down, following it to...

A fallen rose? If Hugo dropped that, it certainly explained the sc-

It's blinking. The rose is a bomb.

His eye widens as he leaps out of the way before the explosion goes off, getting distance only to see an orange one just in front of him. This one was also blinking.]

Damn it...! [He jumps out of the way of that rose, tumbling as its explosion lights up the surrounding area. There's a piece of his hair singed at the tip (6), but he'll just remember to keep Hugo's head under that lake water for a few extra seconds. It'd be fine.

The explosions continue in a path, and Lycaon suddenly realizes these bombs are breadcrumbs. Leading him. His eye keeps fixed on the series of explosions in front of him, following them with sheer amazement.

Did Hugo lose his MIND? What was all this for?]

[myriadeclipse]

[ But wait! There's more!

As the trail leads Lycaon up the incline and the picturesque scenery, he can see smatterings of trees off to the side. The wind rustles across the grass and up through the leaves on this clear, starry night in Hyrule. And up ahead is something that looks like a large, standing heart.

Coming up to it, It was indeed a large heart made out of blue and purple roses. The frame they were entwined on was large, like one would see in engagement photos or romantic getaways. This one, however, was also blinking. In any other situation, minus the explosives, this might have been exceedingly romantic.

However, it was a Very. Large. Firework.

It was easy enough to avoid setting off, but if one did somehow set off the many explosives, they would find this one did not blow up quite the way the others did. Lycaon was smarter than that, though. He wouldn't accidentally find out this one was more akin to harmless sparklers instead of the forest fire threat waiting to happen that it looks like.

... and further up the incline, the scent of lavender was strongest. Lycaon might even make out the figure standing at the cliff with his back to he path if he squinted. ]

[paraselenic]

[THERE'S MORE?

Lycaon's heart was racing at this point, following those roses up that incline, his gaze only diverted just long enough to take in the view. He'd been here once with Lia, but it didn't compare to how it looked at night, with stars dotting the sky and the moon shining its gentle light above. Were he not following a chain reaction of detonations, he'd stay and savour the site a moment.

Alas, the surprise must go on, and he finds his way up to the giant heart of roses. Words leave him as he stares at it, seeing something only like this in said engagement photo books or pamplets.

The ones in the books didn't have the blinking light of explosives, though. Lycaon takes a step back, knowing full well not to set THIS one off as he side steps around it. His own heart feels like its ready to burst in a strange mixture of fear and excitement as he circles its perimeter. A heart...

The scent of lavender catches him again, and he can smell the source of it just ahead. Hugo was close.

Leaving the explosive floral arrangement, his legs kick off again onto the path, looking behind him just once to make sure that part of the mountain didn't become Hyrule's newest forest fire. He can see the man in the distance, standing there as if expecting him. The feeling of his heart trying to escape his chest he'd felt weeks ago was coming to the forefront again.

His footwork slows as he reaches the destination, his eye settling on Hugo's back as its turned to him.]

You never fail to make things as flashy as possible.

[It's half in awe, half in bewilderment. All of it a mixture of bizarre fondness. He pulls out that calling card, holding it to his chest as he waits for Hugo to acknowledge his presence.]

[myriadeclipse]

I thought about it.

[ He started out, turning enough that he could turn his head and look at Lycaon. His blond hair glittered in the moonlight like spun gold, pale skin only looking paler against the backdrop of the sky and the horizon. ]

I was going to wallow at your house, or maybe go with Lia and go on a merry chase around the city to avoid you... but all of that would be pointless.

[ His head tilted back, dropping his crossed arms and motioning one out to the side in a flourish. His little spectacle was over, and the main actor and stage director should take a bow. He would not, though. He'd rather take in the look on Lycaon's face after going through that little walk. ]

I'll hear what you have to say. Out here. Where no one else is going to hear or interfere.

[ And if anyone did try to sneak up on them, they were in for a rosy surprise. ]

[paraselenic]

[Lycaon's heart stops seeing Hugo's face reflected off the moonlight. The sun himself, the one he let slip through his fingers only to chase the shadows it left for years. Such a gentle glow from the moon...really suited him.

He lets out the breath he was holding, soaking in the scenery around them. Hugo had truly played him like a fiddle, and every action he took was perfectly calculated. Every action led to this moment.]

You're a real bastard, you know that?

[It's said so affectionately, with his voice practically purring it out as he walks closer, entering that moonlight with him as it reflects off his white fur. With them both illuminated by it, they were almost glowing.]

I could've ignored your message, or waited until the morning. I could've misunderstood your card, or I could've been blown up by your little fireworks show-- [He can't chastise Hugo any longer than that, his nagging sounding more ridiculous by the second. Of course he would've done all those things. That's how it happened. That's how it would always happen. He chuckles as the argument leaves him, unable to hold back his smile.]

Very well. I do have a lot to say to you. I can't promise it'll be eloquent, but it'll be from me.

[All those months of words failing him before they could leave his lips, all the ways he wrote it on those notepads. It's a bit sad that none of them would be used here. But maybe that was for the better. Speaking from the heart gives him a lot more confidence than rehearsing the perfect script. It always has.]

[myriadeclipse]

Oh? You're calling me a bastard already? I must have truly gotten under your skin.

[ The vampire smiles, watching Lycaon come closer. It hadn't been that long since he saw him. He could still remember the feeling of Lycaon's arms around him, head dipped into his shoulder, before succumbing to that infernal plant. Now he got to see the wolfman bathed in the moon's glow that he loved so much. There was nothing else he would rather see.

It was only by chance that it came together like this ]

I would have waited.

[ He could say that there was no chance Lycaon would have deviated because Hugo knows his partner so well. Or he could glaze himself about how his plans were always more meticulous than that and that he deserved Lycaon's praise instead of admonishment. None of it came up. Lycaon seemed nervous enough without his further commentary.

So Hugo nodded, keeping quiet. If Lycaon had a lot to say, Hugo would let him do so. He wouldn't interrupt while the man was trying to figure out how to say it. It would give him time to contemplate if ther was anything he had to say in return.]

1/2

[paraselenic]

[Lycaon nods, giving himself just a moment to collect his thoughts. He doesn't give himself any longer than that, or he knows he'll hesitate and start the cycle anew.]

I've made quite a few mistakes in my life, loathe as I am to admit it. Failed jobs from Mockingbird, getting myself into trouble. But none of them have been as devastating as the day I almost lost you. It took me years to realize just what I let slip through my fingers.

[He holds his hand up, the back of it facing upward as if to inspect it. It turns over to reveal his palm, fingers opening and then clenching shut.]

I used to think a lot about that lost time. If I'd just had a modicum of understanding, or trusted you enough to throw away Jack's words... You wouldn't have had to be on the run through Europe alone. [Ignoring Sampo as is his rightful duty.]

I just wanted to let you know I'm sorry. I failed you as your partner that day.

[He wasn't saying this to ruin the mood. In fact, quite the opposite. If he really wants to say what he wrote on that notepad, he can't move forward unless he cleans the last of the wounds. Hugo had never gotten a proper apology for what happened, be it his wolf pride, stubbornness, or his own rationalizations. It'd been lingering on his chest for months now, and his hand instinctively moves towards that chest as if some weight was lifted.]

You gave me another chance that day, when you made your presence known on the network and agreed to meet me. The details are...quite embarrassing to remember, and we were quite a mess with our emotions, but it granted us a new foundation.

[A pause, as he looks back at the vampire with a soft smile.]

I've been so happy since then. I found myself finding any excuse to talk to you. Remembering your health needs and bickering with you like that decade apart didn't exist. I wanted your attention more than anything. Deep down...I think I knew that the feelings I realized during our time apart were not fleeting. They've been there, waiting for you to return.

[It didn't go unnoticed by him that the original suggestion of keeping their status a secret from their companions was from him, and yet he had a harder time keeping to it.]

We learned to trust each other again and rebuild what we lost. You allowed me to return to Mockingbird after my desertion, and in this lifetime, that is where I belong.

Jack's words no longer have any power over me. I cannot say that if we went back in time I wouldn't make the same choice again. But I will always, always learn from it.

[His hand reaches down to take one of Hugo's, brushing his large, clawed thumb against the delicate, pale fingers of the vampire affectionately.]

I won't make that mistake again. In the end I'll always choose you, no matter what form that takes.

[He'd put his very life on that one.

Lycaon exhales, feeling he'd at least gotten his ducks in a row regarding their past and present. Maybe he was saying it to clear the air, or to finally let the dust settle after their run in with Jack. While both weren't necessarily incorrect, it was more to set up what came next.]

2/2

[paraselenic]

[Lycaon leans forward, pressing his snout right where Hugo's hairline was. The scent of lavender, the one that was so quintessentially Hugo flooded his nostrils and making his heart feel so light. It gave him the strength to go on with this. To really get to the meat of what he wanted to say.

He doesn't pull away, but he does reach up to unclasp his muzzle and remove that eyepatch. It felt right to remove his 'shackles' for this moment. With a shake of his head, he lets his hair fall naturally, that grey, scarred eye along with his red one. A perfect, opposite match for Hugo's own heterochromia.]

I've often referred to us as the sun and moon. An apt metaphor--you shine so brightly, and I reflect that light you cast. Destined to always follow each other across the sky until the ends of time. Made for each other. I still think that now.

[He smiles, both eyes squinting at Hugo as he holds his hand a little tighter. Talking was getting a lot easier the longer he went on. What started as pushing the words through his lips were now flowing so naturally.]

I'm not content with chasing the sun anymore. It implies I'll never have it. That's not something I, Lycaon of Mockingbird can accept. So...I want it for myself. The moon can eclipse the sun, after all, keeping its light all to itself.

[It sounds so dramatic like that, but he'd agreed to himself to speak first and overthink later.]

If I'm being quite honest...I'm the best person for you. I'm your perfect partner in every way. I'm a perfectionist and I clean everything aggressively. I have 121 spices in my spice rack and I've measured the parameters of floor rugs for optimal interior design. But most of all, I'm the one that knows you best.

So for my first heist on my return to Mockingbird, I want the sun. I want you. I love you.



Forever.


[His ears fold down a bit, trying to hide his happiness that he was able to get it out. He doesn't even realize how his tail has pretty much curled around Hugo's legs until he needed use for it.]

You caught me at quite a bad time, moving from Meropide back home, so I don't have anything to put on your finger. [But he won't stand for leaving Hugo empty-handed, so he takes his tail and pulls a little tuft of fur out from it, offering it out to him. Hugo will know the significance of it coming from the tail. At least...now he will. Placing it in Hugo's hand, he takes the man's slender fingers and curls it over that tuft, enclosing it in his palm.]

Would you join me in that eclipse, Hugo? Would you... [He hesitates. Saying the actual words are the hardest part.]

Eventually.


Marry me.

[He exhales, the last of everything that had built up over months finally put into the air between them.]

1/11??? I don't know. Let's find out.

[myriadeclipse]

[ Hugo could, and normally would nitpick everything that happened that night. They've had their petty squabbles over what happened. It would be the quintessential villain origin story. Torn down and rejected by his family, he falls into the arms of a found family that also betrays him, showing him that the world would never be kind to him. There was only one part of that night that stayed at the forefront of his memory.

'You would turn your back on mockingbird!? ...turn your back on me?'

It was a situation that played out between them the same way every lifetime. They died and reincarnated every time, just to meet and part on bad terms. This time, it almost failed to happen. If it wasn't for Thanatos interfering, he would have joined his siblings on the warm-colored floorboards soaked with blood and unfulfilled potential. There were times he let himself wonder what would have happened if that deal had never been struck. What would Lycaon have done if he was the one to view Hugo's father in that paranoid breakdown. Would he have been able to forgive Ravenlock, step over Hugo's body, and simply subdue and jail him?

Now he was certain Lycaon wouldn't have been so calm and just.

At the same time, Hugo still wasn't in a position to say Jack was wrong about him. Hugo wanted to purge the world of the evil's he's experienced. He was a seed born and cultivated in the blood that was spilled to bring him to this moment. It took active thought and intention to resist what normal people wouldn't even think twice on. If it had not been for those strong convictions of Lycaons' Hugo would have become his father's mirror; committing atrocities and claiming it was for the good of everyone while ignoring the ones that get hurt in the process.

For so many years, he did agree that Lycaon failed him that day. The one he calls the worst day of his life. Having this apology laid in front of him should make him happy, or at least vindicated for all the pain and strife it brought him.

There was nothing. Somewhere along the way, he forgave him and just didn't notice. It came and went without fanfare or even a swell of emotion. He'll still nitpick him until the end of their days, but it didn't hold malice or pain. ]

2/??

[myriadeclipse]

[ Making his presence known on the network was an accident he thought about all the time. Since that time, he's thought of dozens of more elegant ways he could have done that. Getting tripped up by Shakespeare was a terrible introduction to make of himself on the network. It didn't matter anymore, he still thought about it and everything that followed that.

Lycaon remembering his needs was a surprise to him that he never expressed. Hugo never said anything about it upon their reuniting, yet Lycaon had been diligent with his knowledge and care all the same. When they were kids, Lycaon was rougher, more competitive, and violent. They both had matured since then, and with it the notice that Lycaon had so easily made room for him in his life, like he was supposed to be there the whole time.

Hugo's attention turns to their hands when his was taken, looking at the ridiculous size difference of their hands. Instinctively, his fingers curl against the snow-white paw. It should look this way. ]

3/??

[myriadeclipse]

[ Hugo was standing with the press of the snout against his hairline, waiting to hear the rest of what Lycaon had to say, expectantly. His head tipped up against when he heard the unclasping, looking into the wolves' unobstructed face. It had been since they made up that he looked at it in this way. He's seen it plenty in the times between then and now, but not with that twinkle of intention sparking in it like it was now.

The sun and moon metaphor was apt, he agreed. It may have been something Lycaon had started and believed deeply in, but Hugo had been the one to make it so deeply a part of himself that it would be impossible to part himself from this part of Lycaon. ]

4/??

[myriadeclipse]

[ 'Made for each other' was getting serious. He doesn't think even he's used words like that for them. Lycaon was building to something...

Not being content chasing the sun could go either way. The poetic descriptions of intention got the vampire smiling. For once, the one being 'too much' wasn't him. Hugo merely paved the way for Lycaon to get there.

Hugo raises one brow, listening to Lycaon's ....resume? Was he being giving a resume for .... What WAS this resume of skills for?--

Oh, it was a heist. What could possibly call for all of this?? ]

5/??

[myriadeclipse]

[ Well, no one can accuse Lycaon of not aiming high. When you list your first heist as 'stealing the sun', That's-- ]

6/?? I am starting to understand why I said 11

[myriadeclipse]

[ Hearing the words for the first time from Lycaon himself caught in this throat, mismatched eyes on the man before him. It wasn't enough to tell him that he loved him. He wanted him? Forever? He expected the declaration of love. That was what he thought all of this was going to be for, but the addition of 'forever' gave Hugo pause.

Wait. What do you mean forever??? ]

7/??

[myriadeclipse]

[ HE caught Lycaon at a bad time?! Why was it a bad time to-- ]

8/??

[myriadeclipse]

[ Hugo's mind was trying to catch up with everything suddenly happening. His attention turned to the tail that he had acknowledged had been clinging to him throughout the declaration.

For from his tail. Okay... He knows Lycaon is very protective of his tail and the fur from it because it was important to him but.. ]

9/11... the plane of realization has hit!!

[myriadeclipse]

[ Looking at the ring of fur on his finger, Hugo could only blink, a few times rapidly and then a few times slowly.

Wait. Wait, this wasn't the order-- ]

10/11

[myriadeclipse]

[ When Hugo was young, he can remember listening to the elder vampires talking about the way things 'used to be'. When it came to vampires, it always meant times long forgotten by humans and their perception of time. He heard once or twice about when 'dating' didn't happen. The reminiscing of when you could buy a wife and the love would come later. It was always the Made's that loved to talk about it. The Born were less likely to care about such sentimentality. They had always existed in the elven way of life.

Rich humans loved to treat times as if those things had never passed. He could also recall times when he accompanied his father while he negotiated ties between families and the fate of his other siblings.

That is to say, he was very very aware, even for a vampire, that Lycaon skipped a ton of steps in a relationship here.

Hugo's widened eyes lift, brows knitted down as he tried to make sense of what was happening before him. He was being proposed to with a tuft of wolf fur? In Hyrule?? Surrounded by exploding roses??? ]

the end

[myriadeclipse]

What do you mean eventually?

[ And yet, despite all the other thoughts circulated around in his head, this was really the only question he could manage to vocalize. ]

[paraselenic]

[Lycaon's breath catches as he watches Hugo react to everything he says. The facial expressions say it all. The sad recollections of their past to the way he smiled at all the theatrics. To the slowly mounting confusion and self-sabotaging curiosity, like a cat who paws at a hole only for it to get snatched in the end.

The curiosity gives way to growing bewilderment until full shock takes over his face.

He liked that expression. He doesn't think he'll ever get to see something like that again, so he'll memorize it as it is right now.

Truth be told...he was going to wait until a holiday. That was the standard for situations like this. Christmas or New Years are standard holidays to wait for dropping this. And from what he told Zulius...he was going to do it. That much was an inevitability.

But for two monsters like them. A wolf and a vampire...Samhain seemed like a much better day for that.

When Hugo finally speaks, his tail starts wagging in such a way you'd think Lycaon would take off into the sky. The smile that takes over his face was so uncharacteristic to him as he presses their foreheads together.]

Eventually. [He repeats, this time with an explanation.] In case you want time for all the other steps we'd take. Courting and the like. We have all the time in the world for that.

Just know that I will eventually marry you.

[myriadeclipse]

I don't want to wait until once of us is dying again. Time has not been kind to either of us when there was something on the line.

[ Would he have to die again for something else to happen? His first death broke them a part and their fake death brought them here. What if there wasn't a 'save' the next time? What if the abyss came for them and this became nothing but another regret?

Hugo would not go backwards. ]

I'm rejecting your sudden need for propriety. Should you want time to make proper preparations for the sake of your perfection, you may have that in order to produce a ring and whatever else you're thinking about.

I am not one for tradition or tuning my fate to the way of others. We do not need dating or an 'eventually'. The only wait I will accept is the years it's going to take you to perfect the ceremony you desire.

[paraselenic]

[Words catch in his throat again listening to Hugo. He was right. Fate wasn't kind when it came to their desires. They'd already lost a decade because of one of them, and he had no intention of letting it take this from him.]

I won't make you wait that long. I can accomplish everything I want for you within the parameters of whatever date we set. [They'd just have to choose it.]

[His hands reach up to brush Hugo's shoulders, taking them with a gentle strength as he pulls him closer. His head dips down to push his lips against the vampire's, feeling those fangs underneath. It was soft, just lingering enough as he pulls away, leaving them inches apart. Their eyes locking as the red meets grey, and grey meets red, both glistening in the Hyrulean moonlight.]

Now, are you going to keep nitpicking my proposal, or are you going to give me an official answer?

[It wasn't needed. He knew the answer. He still wants to hear it.]

[myriadeclipse]

[ Hugo tips himself up, effortlessly meeting Lycaon in that kiss. One of his hands rests on the wolf's chest, keeping himself in close even when the kiss fades. He wished he could say that how beautifully this turned out was all as he intended for it to be. That he thought about them reflecting each other so nicely against the night sky as the perfect spot for this.

In the end, it was a perfect string of coincidences that ended up working out far better than he intended. ]

I could nitpick you for hours. We could stand here for days talking about things that don't matter.

But I will not make you wait.

[ It wasn't needed, but this conversation was built up on things that they needed to say. The whole function was to let the other know the feelings they were carrying. With that in mind, Hugo shouldn't hesitate to also tell Lycaon what he wants to hear. ]

I have already been forced to try and live a life without you and, frankly, I hated it. I met a lot of people I still hold dear, but you are the one that I thought of every day. If I managed to mold myself into someone you could acknowledge and be proud of, I'm not sure. It doesn't matter anymore. You chose where you wanted to be, and it turned out to be the place I thought you would never return to. That was enough, but you kept going.

I love you, and see no reason why I should say no when it's so important to you that you would even proceed when all you have is fur and intent.

Yes, I accept your proposal.