Actually, fluff? 🙀 A bit of mischief, love, Sylus and my MC, Valerie. 🐅

The One-Shot story is 1211 words long I just downloaded my brain over four hours into the Ghostwriter app.

I saw the adorable video of the sassy crow asking to be brushed, stumbled across Lindsey Stirling's amazing 🎻 melody "Surrender" from her album "Duality" and took loose inspiration from Sir Terry Pratchett's signature snappy discworld style. I just had to try.

^(I will never do the grandmaster of absurdity justice. 🙇‍♀️)

English is not my native language, and I really did not want to overengineer it this time, just go with the flow of the melody of the violin!

But, I do hope you enjoy the read as much as I had fun writing! *^_^*

Stay a while, and listen! (Thanks, Deckard Cain, you can leave now)

***🌧️***

Magpie

***🌧️***

The N109 Zone, again, has one of its days that reminds him of a Film Noir. The eternal night pierced by bright neon lights. Rain drumming against the windows of Sylus's private quarters.

The Leader of Onychinus is at ease, relaxing in a luxurious, black armchair. His company consists of a straight bourbon - and Mephie, perching on the armrest, displaying the latest recon data of syndicate territory.

Brow furrowed, his thoughts are elsewhere. His beloved, away for business, has left them separated for what feels like an eternity. Calls have been sporadic - Sylus knows how she loves to stay focused on her work.

He loves her for her dedication. But the separation feels like a dragon claw gripping his heart taut.

Lost in thought, his elegant hand pets Mephisto's head.

*Caw... caw... caw...*the mechanical corvid cooes in delight, enjoying the undivided attention from his master. The corner of Sylus's mouth curves, musing how far he has come. All because of...

Clack. Clackclackclack. Flap!

A metallic clattering noise by the window catches Sylus's attention, his hand freezing for a beat. Mephie protests instantly, pinching Sylus's finger, who promptly closes the sassy mecha bird's beak with a gentle, but commanding touch.

Click.

Whirrrr.....

The noise of a decloaking stealth module interrupts the quiet evening.

Sylus's crimson eyes light up with delight. His lips curve into a deliberate smile.

Mephie wriggles himself free, facing the intruder with a distrustful glare.

A drenched, slightly irritated mechanical magpie with iridescent stealth modules for pinions squeezes herself through the inward tilting hopper pane of the tall window. Once the small parcel she is carrying makes it through, she hesitates not, diving fearlessly into Sylus's private quarters.

Caw! Caw! Caw! Mephie protests, realizing that the scritches Sylus was just dispensing have been jeopardized by the unexpected visitor.

Sylus sets down the glass of bourbon, offering the avian messenger a perch on his outstretched hand. The magpie pays Mephisto no heed, focusing entirely on Sylus, tilting her head as if expecting a reward for her bravery.

Plop!

A near miss with Mephisto's head later, Sylus intercepts the small parcel, regarding it with fond reverence. His pulse starts to race.

CAAAAW!

KEKEKEKE!

The magpie cackles excitedly, wings flapping, sprinkling both Sylus and Mephisto with rainwater from her pinions.

Sylus chuckles, the expression on his face softening visibly. "Lilith. Of course your mistress would send you all the way here instead of using an ordinary burner phone."

The visibly delighted Sylus produces a shiny green emerald with his evol, handing it to Lilith as a reward.

Snick.

Lilith snatches the gemstone, cackling proudly, leaping off her fiendish perch to the vintage desk nearby.

The jealous pinch from Mephie's beak is immediately shut down with gentle, commanding hands from his master, who promptly continues to lavish the mechanical crow with affectionate pets.

Clack. Whirrr... Click Clack.

Lilith repeatedly tosses the emerald as if to verify its authenticity, looking smug when she finds out that the reward is, indeed, a real, really expensive emerald.

Clatter, clatter.

She struts across the desk with the shiny emerald in her metal beak, to taunt Mephisto.

KEKEKEKEKEKE!

CAAAAW!

Mephisto has had enough, pushing Sylus's hand aside to deal with the smug interloper.

The rumbling laughter of Sylus echoes through the room. He had built Lilith for his beloved according to her specifications.... with unexpected results.

"You... are just like her, Lily," Sylus shakes his head in disbelief upon witnessing Lilith's antics. Leaving both mechanical spies to duke out their rivalry, Sylus's thumb grazes the seal of the unexpected delivery.

The emblem of a silver tiger.

Valerie.

Sylus's pulse races even faster.

The quiet break of the seal draws Sylus into their shared resonance, away from the playful rivalry the two mechanical birds refuse to put aside.

The ruler of the N109 Zone caresses the expensive, ornate paper of the letter, scented with her signature perfume.

Closing his eyes, Sylus takes a deep breath. Memories flood his inner eye: intense nights shared, impossible battles won, fate challenged on their reckless motorcycle joyrides... her irreverent antics, insolent laughter, and the impossible tenacity that he cherishes so.

A dim, red glow reflects off the exquisite paper as Sylus's eyes open to inspect the letter further.

A familiar growl echoes inside his own mind. Desire. His Aether Core is beginning to starve, and it likes the offering presented.

Sylus straightens the paper, posture tense in anticipation. Why hasn't she contacted him sooner? Secrecy is not his favorite game.

He is not prepared for this.

The letters are penned with a quill, in gilded ink. Hand-drawn trimmings frame the words in beauty before he has even begun to read the first word, speaking of a radiant devotion that he could already feel before he ever broke that seal.

Sylus's lips part in awe. He had expected a practical telegram, or a small gift.

The letter is penned in an unusually flourished hand. Sylus knows her love for practicality; she would have never chosen this...

The crimson glow focuses on the first words, which, under his gaze, seem to come alive.

My beloved Sylus,

We have only been a few weeks apart and my soul already aches. The faint memory of your touch still lingers on my skin, I am counting the days until we can be reunited again. The air in this accursed city is cold, and the nights are an endless, agonizing reminder of the intense warmth of your skin, the weight of your gaze, and the absolute sanctuary I find only in your arms. I miss the steady rhythm of your heartbeat beneath my cheek. I miss the low rumble of your voice pulling me out of my own head.

I close my eyes and I can almost feel your hands on me. Grounding me, claiming me...but when I open them, I am alone.

I do not care about the mission tonight. I will succeed, for our sake, because all I care about after I am finished here is you.

I've got Onychinus's choice weaponry with me, they won't know what hit them if they try anything funny.

See you at dawn, my heart.

Your Beloved,

Valerie.

Sylus's lips have already parted in surprise while reading her own words speaking of yearning and lethal elegance in the same love letter.

A small keychain drops from the parcel as he is about to rise and leave. His deft hand catches it before it can clatter to the floor, revealing, upon closer inspection, a small dog tag that has their most beautiful couple photo engraved into it.

Flick. Hiss...

Without paying further attention to the now puzzled Mephie and Lilith, taking swift strides towards the tall, rain-beaten window, his evol securely stores the keychain in a dimensional pocket.

Only a heartbeat later, Sylus dissolves into a cloud of red mist, relocating himself through the window above the yawning abyss of the skyscraper's skyline.

There is no fear. Only a determined glow in his right eye, and a joyous smile.

Thwumph.

Vines of red evol form majestic dark wings on his back, blocking out the rain-clouded moonlight from above.

He is not going to wait until dawn.

And he is not going to let her have all the fun to herself.

🐦‍⬛⚜️

... particularily those of the CRPG kind.

You play a CRPG or, *gasp* otome game, to experience feelings in an orderly, fictional, space. You join a fan forum and have deep thoughts about the character you like.

Cue the rest going crazy over looks, projecting on the character, and not getting your deep character analysis because it is 'too deep'. Or too close to the unvarnished truth.

Anyone else with the same experience? AKA you bring the shakespearean book club the the femme gooner party because that is how you're wired?

This is a tongue-in-cheek post. I would enjoy equally humorous replies, but it is not mandatory.

Cheers

Edit: Your downvotes amuse me, keep going.