az-tanaka:

会話の途中でも隙あらば寝る

Day 17: Field Care 101

Summary:Eleven revisits an old memory as he starts a new adventure alone.

Word count: 354

“Hey now, don’t need to be so worried. It’s just a little scrape.”

Eleven’s hand glided over pale skin. They both flinched when the fingers stilled over the wound — Erik because it hurt, Eleven because he hadn’t expected it to be so large.

One long, red line, from the outside of his elbow and curving up to his wrist. It wasn’t deep enough to reveal bone, but it was the first time Eleven had seen so much exposed muscle.

Rivulets of green slid from Eleven’s fingertips and faded when making contact with Erik’s skin. Eleven stared as the flesh began to close up, and Erik sighed, shifting his arm away. He lifted it above his head, and Eleven stared at the way his arm twisted and brushed against his blue hair.

“See? Good as new,” Erik said, flexing his fingers.

He grinned, and butterflies scattered in Eleven’s stomach. Eleven smiled nodded.

Erik laughed and reached out, ruffling his hair, and Eleven pushed against him, inciting a small back and forth.

Maybe Eleven was getting all worked up over this Luminary business for nothing. So long as he had healing magic, and so long as Erik stuck by his side, he’d be fine.

Eleven couldn’t heal himself.

He either didn’t have the magical power for it or he’d lost the ability to altogether.

Considering his recent bout of exhaustion, he was betting on the former.

Well, that was just great. He had a huge gash on one side of his face, his hand was bleeding, he was starving, and he had no magic. He rifled through his belongings, which took two seconds, and only came up with a medicinal herb, which he chewed on without hesitation.

Dread settled over him. In the past, he’d depended on his healing too often. He should have learned more practical ways to heal. If he encountered even one monster like this, he was going to be dead meat.

What would the others say? Veronica, at least, would say, “Then don’t die, simple as that.”

He sighed. He didn’t have any better advice, so that would have to suffice for now.

Day 16: Scars

Summary:Eleven’s face has accrued a new scar since Erik’s last seen him.

Word count: 229

“What happened to you?”

Eleven heard a twinge of horror in Erik’s voice as his eyes grazed over Eleven’s face. Eleven reached up and slid his finger down the light ridge of a scar running down the right side of his face, just barely missing his eye.

He knew immediately that Erik was referring to it by the way Erik stared. How could Erik not? Even Eleven struggled to tear his eyes away from himself when he looked in the mirror each morning.

Eleven frowned.

“It was a scarewolf. There had been a raid on the campsite overnight and I’d tried to escape, but my hands were chained up and I needed the chains broken first. It was going for my eyes. I did it without thinking.”

Erik reached for El’s hand and gently ran his fingers over his palm.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Still… I just…” Erik shook his head.

He turned to Eleven and opened his arms, gesturing for him to come closer. Eleven shook his head, leaning away from his touch, and Erik frowned, dropping his arms again.

“Is something wrong?” Erik asked.

“I don’t want to be touched,” Eleven said. “I’m sorry. It’s just… whenever I see your face, I…” he sniffed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Erik sighed. “I’msorry. None of this should have happened.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Day 14 & 26: Under Pressure, Fallen

Summary: Erik takes a tumble after Eleven shatters the Sphere of Time.

Word count:468

The second Eleven’s blade met the Sphere of Time, the world exploded.

Erik was expecting something akin to healing magic and its gentle, mystical properties.

Instead, thunder crackled and roared at him like a punch to the gut. A bright light swallowed El, spreading until it reached the others.

The force was so loud and strong, it forced Erik off his feet. He felt like he was falling into lava. His skin burned where the light touched him, consuming him, making him scream.

The first chance Erik got, he scrambled away.

He saw the others doing the same in his peripheral vision. He made for one of the floating disks, but it was gone.

Erik whipped his head behind to glimpse the Sphere. It was raging like a golden fire, light energy licking from its glass cage like an enraged dragon.

The floor shook, then something hit Erik’s toe. He looked down. It was a pebble. Wait, not a pebble — a part of the ceiling.

“The ceiling’s collapsing!” Erik shouted.

He couldn’t hear his own voice, ears still ringing.

He stared at everyone’s lips as they spoke. Jade waved her hands. Sylv pointed. Hendrik stepped forward.

Erik’s heart raced in his chest. I’m going to die, he thought. Our world is ending.

He felt something — someone — push him over the edge, and his heart was a few feet behind him, surging into his throat. He shut his eyes, wincing when his limbs knocked into stone on the way down.

I have to roll, he kept thinking. If I tuck my head and roll into the ground, then—

But then he hit the ground.

At first, Erik was sure that he was going to be paralyzed forever. His hands and knees hit the ground first, then his head teetered forward and he collapsed, his bones burning and his ears ringing louder than before. He forced his head up, staring at the collapsing path before him when a hand reached for his elbow.

He looked up, and Hendrik stood there, his lips moving. The floor vibrated. Erik tried to stand and began to fall again, tears pricking the corners of his eyes when his knees refused to straighten.

“I can’t walk!” Erik shouted. “I can’t—”

But Hendrik heaved him to his feet anyway, despite protests from his spine. Hendrik nudged Erik forward, and he stumbled ahead, squeezing his eyes shut in pain.

They barely reached grass as Erik felt a rock hit his skull. It stung, and he hobbled faster, spots of black dancing in his vision. He finally collapsed into an exhausted heap outside when they hastened to the edge of the treeline, Erik trying and failing to register if everyone else had made it out by the time he fainted.

Day 9: Rumors of my Death have been Greatly Exaggerated

Summary: Erik searches for something at the World Tree. And for once, he finds what he’s looking for.

Word count: 892

Erik didn’t know why he felt so nervous. There wasn’t going to be anything in the tree anyway. There was just going to be the heart and a bunch of vines and some leaves. No big deal. Certainly no explosions or cataclysmic events, which, given that they no longer had a Luminary to protect them, would usuallyspell out some real danger and concern for them if Moedegon hadn’t already been defeated.

Erik did the whole trek in silence, Björn hanging at his hip as a sort of silent comfort.

When Erik finally made it up to the tree and began to walk its branches, he was more careful than usual, angling himself on the large, wide branches as his heart thudded in his chest and threatened to make his foot slip, to miss his mark once and spiral into the ground below him.

He never used to be afraid of heights, but here, all alone…

Fears have a way of amplifying themselves when you’re alone. Of consuming you and making something that was once so small feel like the largest thing in the universe.

Erik pretended his fear was the ball of nerves in his throat and he swallowed, willing it to melt in his stomach.

The tree started to brighten the closer he approached the heart. He could see it — about the size of a small shed. Wrapped in vines, with light glistening through.

He sucked in his breath and stepped forward.

There was something in the heart, and it wasn’t a sword. The shadow shifted and Erik flinched violently, almost dropping the knife he held onto it so tightly.

The heart pulsed and the thing inside moved, like an embryo.

It was oval-shaped, like a lotus flower, maybe?

“Yggdrasil?” Erik asked.

A breeze wafted though, cold, making goosebumps rise on his skin.

He approached the heart and pressed his hand on it. He felt it thrum beneath him, shifting underneath his fingers. He leaned in closer, but the film was too thick to see details— just a silhouette. A silhouette of a human.

Erik briefly closed his eyes then pulled out his knife and slid it across the surface of the heart. The vines and leaves parted instantly and the person who was inside fell to the floor with a soft thump.

He was laying in a bath of greenery when Erik knelt in front of him and brushed his brown hair away from his face.

It was El, sleeping with hands tucked under his chin and a soft look on his face that remained even when Erik reached out and gently shook his shoulder.

El shifted away, breathed in deeply, and opened his bright blue eyes. He registered Erik staring at him and smiled.

“El! El,” Erik gasped.

He scooped El up in his arms, and El laughed, returning the hug quickly. He squeezed Erik, and Erik laughed so hard he cried. His nose bent uncomfortably against El’s shoulder as El pulled him close, and Erik smelled him. Love, warmth, life.

I knew he wasn’t dead. I knewit!

Erik missed him. He missed him so much, but he was here. He was back.

Erik and El fell into the earth together, hugging tightly.

When Erik parted, he looked at El beneath him and grinned. “Where'y’ve been? I’ve been looking all over for you!”

El leaned forward, sitting up. He shrugged. “I don’t know. I last remember shattering the Sphere of Time but now I’m here! I guess the travel back didn’t work.”

The way he had such a large smile on his lips, like it was fine that he was here and not back in time like he wanted…

Erik sighed, dropping his shoulders, and reached for El’s hand, squeezing it in his. “Good. I knew it! The whole time, I knew it. I knew you were still here, somewhere, in Erdrea.” With me.

“It would seem so!” El said. “I hope my absence didn’t worry you or the others too much,” he said. He looked around, registering where he was seemingly for the first time. “I’m a little drowsy. How long was I out?”

Erik shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is you’re here now.”

Erik rose to his feet and lowered his hand to El, offering up a gentle smile.

El’s hand hesitated. Erik tilted his head and El gestured down to his body, which Erik registered for the first time as being naked. El’s other hand was placed conveniently so, with his knees bent and his cheeks a gentle pink.

“Oh, let me help you,” Erik said.

He untied the sash around his waist and pulled off his green tunic. He extended it to El, who took it quickly, smiling.

“Thanks,” El whispered, securing the tunic around his body. Erik turned around as El stood, then he returned again to staring and smiling at El’s body.

El cleared his throat. “Where to?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

Erik hummed. “Good question. Well, the others will want to know you’re back, of course. Let’s go back to Cobblestone, then. They’ll be waiting for you there,” he said, extending his hand to El.

El glanced down at it for only a brief second then grinned and grabbed it, smiling the widest smile Erik had seen since they first met.

Day 8: Coughing up a Lung

Summary: Erik’s not feeling too well, but it takes some worrying from Mia (of all people) for him to seek help.

Word count: 870

Erik clears his throat and strikes his hand against his chest twice.

Mia glares at him as he coughs and rolls her eyes dramatically. “Really?”

“What?” Erik snaps.

“You’ve been coughing nonstop for, like, days.”

"It’s not been days,” Erik snaps back.

“Uh-huh.” The hum of an indignant sister.

They have a glaring fight, one Erik choses to interpret as himself winning, then he pushes past her and farther on the trail.

“Seriously! I don’t know why you don’t just, like, ask someone for help! You know, like a healer!” Mia grouches behind his left shoulder.

Erik shakes his head. "I know Serena, and I’m not gonna bother her.”

"Why not? Is there something wrong with her?” Mia asks. She runs up to his side. A grin splinters across Mia’s lips. “Ooh, or do you maybe have a thing for her?”

Erik dry heaves. “No.”

“Ew. Okay…”

“Not that she isn’t a nice person or anything,” Erik says. “She definitely is! She just…”

Reminded him of Eleven, the last thing he wanted to be thinking about now.

“Goddess, you have so many weird problems,” Mia sneers. “I’m happy I don’t have problems like you!”

“Whatever,” Erik says somewhat emphatically.

…

Erik is sleeping in the middle of the night, swaddled in the comfort of darkness, when he feels a tightening in his chest and blearily opens his eyes. He jolts up in bed and heaves for breath, and it comes, albeit raggedly.

He starts to cough, and he hears Mia shuffling in the blankets next to him, darting to a sitting position.

“Is everything okay?” Mia asks over his coughing.

His eyes adjust to the dark and he sees her silhouette. Worse than that, he hears the worry lacing her words.

Erik’s able to rein himself in after what feels like too long, and even once the coughs have subsided he’s still short of breath, hunched over slightly and clutching at himself to sate it.

“Yeah, I'm— fine,” Erik assures through a slight cough.

“Stop lying!” Mia’s shout is loud, jarring.

Erik briefly freezes, his heart panicking. He collects his hands in his lap, worrying his lower lip.

He knows what he should do. Ask for help. Visit Serena, or Rab, or even Hendrik. Take his pick. This isn’t what Eleven would have wanted of him, and it certainly isn’t worth putting his sister through extra worry.

“Stop lying,” Mia repeats. “I know you’re struggling, so why are you hiding it? I’m tired of worrying about you!”

Erik ought to be worried for his life now, if Mia’ssaying that.

“First thing tomorrow morning, we’ll go to Heliodor. Visit Serena.”

“Promise?” Mia whispers.

“Promise.”

Mia sighs. “Alright. You better stay alive till then.”

“Of course I will,” Erik reassures. “You can’t get rid of me that easy.”

…

“…And how long have you had the pain?”

Erik’s sitting on the edge of a bed. He rests one shoe on top of the other, swiping the sole across his big toe, the material of his shoe thin enough for him to feel it. Sunlight filters into the small room, casting the wooden floor in a gentle orange. It smells of lavender. Serena’s leaning close to him, listening to his heartbeat.

“Since… since that,” Erik says.

"Sorry?” Serena asks. She straightens up, tilting her head.

Erik clears his throat. “At the Tower of Lost Time…”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“You should have come to us sooner!” Serena exclaims. “And healing spells haven’t been helping it?”

“I haven’t tried any healing spells. I’ve been eating medicinal herbs, though.”

“Well… hm. And you said it was trouble breathing?”

Erik nods.

“It might be a collapsed lung.”

“Really?” Erik’s eyes almost pop out of his head. How does she know that? And why didn’t a healing spell help it?

“Healing spells are good at regeneration, it’s true, but it’s not going to re-inflate a lung,” Serena explains.

The words make Erik shutter. He grimaces. "How do we fix it?”

“Bed rest,” Serena says. “I feel that perhaps you should be resting anyway. I do think some sleep would be good for you, after all that has happened lately. I know it has been good for me, at least.”

“You’re right,” Erik says. “I just don’t feel like staying in one place much, you know?”

“Why?”

Serena looks genuinely curious and Erik doesn’t want to have to explain it, but knowing Serena and how slow she is, she probably doesn’t understand.

“I’m… trying to escape something, but I can’t… physically run from it.”

“Ohhhh… I’m sorry, about Eleven leaving,” Serena says.

She reaches out for his hand and he lets her touch his. She frowns and Erik sighs, shaking his head.

“Yeah, no, thanks. It’s… it’ll get better. I’m sure you’re going through it too. Everyone probably is.”

“Yes, but that’s why we have each other,” Serena says. “We should talk to Jade about you staying here a little longer. Then we can pull up a room for you and you can stay with us for a little while! Doesn’t that just sound splendid?”

Erik nods as he massages his chest again, his breaths growing tight. “Yeah! Thanks, Serena. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Anything for a friend,” Serena says, smiling.

Day 7: My Spidey-Sense is Tingling

CW: suicidal thoughts, self-harm, blood, mention of death

Summary: Erik struggles coming to terms with Eleven no longer being here.

Word count: 1180

Each day melts into the next. Erik loses track of whether he’s coming or going. Sometimes, he goes outside and just sits under trees, listening to birds twitter.

He tries to remind himself that this, too, will pass. But El was — is — a part of his heart and soul. They had gone through the destruction of the world and had come out together on the other end.

…Until they didn’t.

Until Eleven decided to leave in favor of saving everybody. In favor of Veronica, and countless thousands they didn’t know.

Erik knows he wasn’t more important than all of that, but it stings sometimes, knowing he is the second option.

The option El didn’t choose.

Erik starts doing little things just to prove he can still feel something. He pinches himself, he chews his nails down to the quick, and scratches his scalp until it starts to scab.

He’s been attacked by monsters before. He knows the pain of a gash in his arm or the burn of fire. So, a little cut isn’t much, right? Just one nick, down the center of his arm.

He blames it on a knife: “Yeah, I was cutting some potatoes and my hand slipped.”

But Erik knows. He knows that cut was intentional. Just to make extra sure he can still feel something.

There is an odd rush to it too, you know. Of sitting in front of a tapering fire in the middle of the night, watchful eye on Mia as he sits across from her and draws a thin line of red down his arm and winces, but the sting feels good.

It is catharsis.

It is him, alive and breathing.

Erik stops paying attention to conversations as he and Mia travel through Erdrea. Erik knows he ought to be more charismatic, but he doesn’t see much point in it. He’s drawing into himself, he knows, but he isn’t sure what else to do. Of the two of them, El had always been the more outgoing one, even if he was still shy around strangers. El warmed up quicker to them. He learned how to trust people while Erik never found it in himself to quite feel the same way.

They are up north when Erik remembers something.

Erik remembers the Tower of Lost Time and his gut twists achingly. He considers it. How bad would one little detour be? Maybe it’s perverse of him to revisit the place, especially before he’s ready, but something tells him he should go. A sixth sense, maybe.

…

Mia kicks over a chunk of rock. It rolls across the dirt and into some shrubs.

It is just as Erik remembered — a complete and utter fucking mess. The destruction in front of them is so expansive it would probably take days to clear it all, stone stacked on top of each other high above Erik’s head. He sighs, rubbing the back of his head, as Mia climbs through the rubble.

“Let’s see if we can’t find anything of use in here, shall we?” she asks.

“Whatever,” Erik says.

Mia sends Erik a stinkeye but he ignores her, crouching next to her to dig into the detritus himself.

There’s marks here that Erik assumes used to be bloodstains, but so much time has passed that they are now just dark gray splotches on stone. Erik’s still staring at them, thinking of how they got there in the first place, when Mia shouts, making him flinch.

“Hey, look! I think I found something!”

Erik rolls his eyes and looks over at her, very much expecting her to pick up a dead bird or something similarly useless. He isn’t expecting Mia to show him El’s old traveling bag. It’s rectangular and green. Worn, with flaking leather.

Erik scrambles to his feet and rushes over, yanking it out of her hands.

“Hey!” Mia shouts. “Don’t need to get so rough with me!”

“This is El’s,” Erik says. “Quick— did you see anything else?”

How had his nose for treasure not picked that up? Erik lifts his head and turns to examine the rest of the space, searching for a feeling that there’s anything else buried there that might be useful.

Erik catches on a feeling and moves toward it, finding a large boulder in his way.

Erik tucks El’s bag under his arm and gestures Mia over.

“Hey, help me with this over here,“ he says.

"Alright, I’m coming, I’m coming!” Mia says, jumping down to join his side.

With Mia’s help, Erik pushes the rock over and stares with wide eyes at what is in front of them.

One of the large capsules the Time Keeper had told him about. Completely intact, too, its glass surface glimmering in the midday sun. Erik wipes his hand across its surface and leans closer, trying to examine the inside. It looks empty.

"Man! Look at that! I bet we could— hey!” Mia shouts when Erik pulls the knife from his hip and jabs the butt into the glass, shattering it. It lay empty, nothing inside.

“Why’d you do that?” Mia asks.

“Had to make sure it was empty,” Erik says.

Erik clears away the shards of glass, using his knife to tap the glass out. If but for a second, his mind returns to cutting himself and he pulls his shaking arms away before he does something he’d regret.

“Does the bag have anything good in it?” Mia asks.

She reaches out and Erik leans away.

“Curious, are we?” Erik sneers. “It’s none of your business.”

“Uh-huh,” Mia hums, sarcasm heavy in her voice. “Why do you get to keep all the goodies?”

“Like you’d be all that interested in any of El’s belongings anyway,” Erik snaps. He was mypartner, after all.

“Whatever. Keep all your secrets to yourself then,” Mia grumbles.

…

They search around a little more after that, but there’s nothing else to find except rubble. El’s bag is the only thing left of him.

Although Erik hadn’t wanted to find it, a twisted part of him had been hoping to find a corpse. Any kind of reassurance that El hadn’t really left. That he’d been with them, in their timeline, till the bitter end.

But all they had found was a bunch of dust mites and this bag.

To be fair, however, it was chock-full of things El used to keep in his possession, including his old journal. An old journal that occupied a little corner of Erik’s mind constantly. He couldn’t notthink about it. The words within it might have a hint of what happened to him. Maybe.

It was a long shot.

Erik doesn’t touch the journal for a while, but he considers it constantly. Can you blame him? He’s scared. It’s a breach of privacy he’s not yet prepared to confront. But one day soon, Erik knows he will. The El he knows is no more. That El can’t possibly be offended if Erik decides to search around and see what he can learn about his old partner.

Day 4: Trust Fall

Summary: Eleven wakes up from a bad dream and finds someone sitting at his side.

Word count:952

Eleven is falling.

He’s falling freely through space, cutting through the darkness blanketing him from every side, every angle, as he stretches his arms and breathes.

When will he hit the ground? He doesn’t know. He sinks deeper into the jaws of sticky, clammy black, dissolving into it, closing his eyes, his skin tingling…

Like the snap of a finger, Eleven jolts up in bed and clutches his pulsing head. His fingers slip into his short hair and he sighs.

“Hey,” Erik’s voice mutters.

Eleven turns and there is Erik, sitting with his fingers folded in his lap, smiling slightly. Sadly.

“Hi,” Eleven says.

“Having trouble sleeping?” Erik asks.

“Mmhmm,” Eleven hums as his fingers dig into his eye sockets and rub the sleep from his closed eyes.

Erik doesn’t say anything. Eleven keeps his eyes shut, even after he’s finished rubbing them, shifting to a sitting position. His fingers flatten against his temple and he stares into his lap.

He can’t remember the last time he’s had a solid night’s rest. Maybe there was a night or two in the Last Bastion, in a place that no longer exists. But he can’t count even one night since then.

Realizing that Erik is watching him sleep comforts Eleven. Like he should have kept sleeping knowing there was someone else there to protect him, someone Eleven can trust.Someone who can lift the profuse weight off his shoulders.

This weight… Eleven sniffs. It’s unreal how unexpectedly relieving it is to not be carrying it alone anymore.

Before, when they’d been traveling, they’d take shifts staying awake throughout the night. Two people were always up, sitting by the fire. Eleven had spent a lot of time with Erik that way — with Erik having his back, the duo facing off against the night together.

Just like then, Erik leans forward and taps El on the forearm.

“You feeling alright?” Erik asks.

“No.”

Eleven feels the sting of his nose and clears his throat. Still not used to this whole “feeling emotions” thing, Eleven finds it embarrassing when he starts to cry. Hot, wet tears roll down his cheeks and he covers his face, curling into himself.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Erik’s voice breaks through Eleven’s thornbush of emotions, and Eleven turns to him, dropping his head into Erik’s lap.

Erik touches the top of Eleven’s head, pushing him deeper into his panicked cries, which shake his body.

It’s Eleven’s nature to be quiet, but that’s not so easy when he’s pouring his soul out, which stains the front of Erik’s tunic. By the time Eleven pulls away, he’s collected himself a little more, nudging Erik’s hands away.

“El, is everything okay?” Erik whispers.

Erik places a hand on Eleven’s knee and Eleven jerks away. Don’t call me that. Don’t touch me like that.

“Could you please not touch me? I just… I-I don’t feel very well.”

“Alright.”

Eleven slowly breathes in and out, dropping his shoulders and closing his eyes as Erik retracts his hands. Eleven’s heart races, everything on high alert as if expecting an ambush despite it being the middle of a peaceful night.

“You okay? You need anything?” Erik asks. He’s so close, yet so far away, with a rift of experiences between them.

El shakes his head. “No, I’ll be alright. I just… it’s been really difficult adjusting to not being in almost literal hell.”

“Mmhm.”

“The only time anyone ever touched me was to hurt me. Even you, when you saw me, drew your knife.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Eleven says. “It’s just… how can I ever reasonably expect to be treated with kindness again? I can’t. Kindness is much more fleeting than the scars on my body. I can’t forgetwhere those came from when…”

A tear slides down Eleven’s cheek and he clears his throat, but it feels like he’s choking, choking on the noxious thoughts that had settled over him ever since that first day back in time. It feels like a part of him had been broken, a part he is incapable of repairing because that would mean taking the whole person apart and starting over again.

“No one’s expecting you to forget, but I hope you can forgive us. Or at least me,” Erik says, the hint of a smirk returning.

Eleven lightly snorts. “Yeah, I’m— I’ll try.”

“You’re not there yet, huh?” Erik asks.

“It’s not for want of trying.”

“I’m sure you’ll get there.”

“Mm.”

“Well,” Erik starts, heaving a sigh, as he stands from his char. “I didn’t mean to creep on you while you slept. I’ll get out of your hair now.”

“Please stay,” Eleven says. He presses his hand behind his own neck, calming his nerves. “I can’t sleep otherwise.”

“You trust me that much?” Erik asks.

Eleven nods.

“Wow, uh…” Erik rubs the back of his head. “I guess I’m just a little surprised. After everything you’ve gone through, I assumed you wouldn’t.”

Eleven didn’t trust the other Erik at all. But this one? This was the one Eleven had gone back in time a second time for, possibly subjecting himself to once again being torn apart atom by atom. This was the Erik whom Eleven had been waiting to hug as soon as they’d reunited again.

“I trust you more than anything,” Eleven says. “So please.”

He leans over and pats the recently vacated seat for emphasis. Erik smiles and drops into it again.

“Alright, pal. I’ll be right here, so you go on and rest,” Erik says.

Eleven slides down into bed, resting his head on his pillow. He curls a hand under his cheek and smiles.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Erik responds.

Day 2: Talking is Overrated

CW: choking, threats, self-deprecation

Summary: Erik and Mia have returned to Sniflheim. There they encounter an unwanted old acquaintance.

Word count: 715

Being back in Sniflheim set Erik on edge. His skin prickled as though he’d been shocked with a weak zap spell and he kept checking behind himself as if expecting someone to be following him.

“Why are you acting like a ghost is following you?” Mia asked. She shoved his side. “Cut it out.”

“I’m not,” Erik snapped back, attempting to dispel his nerves with the usual light banter.

“Hey, I know! Why don’t we visit the bar?” Mia asked.

She danced on ahead and Erik strutted behind her, grabbing her by the wrist just as she was about to step through the bar’s doors.

“You’renotgoing in there,” he snapped.

“Why not? Who’s gonna stop me?” she asked.

“If it ain’t Mia, the little blighter!”

Mia’s face fell the instant the voice cut into their conversation. Erik froze in place, dropping Mia’s wrist.

“Hey, yer old boss is talking to you! Pay attention to me!”

No, it wasn’t Chief. Just one of the lackeys, though his voice still made Erik’s blood run cold. The man’s hand landed on Erik’s shoulder and Erik whipped around, yanking his arm off.

“Don’t touch me,” Erik snapped.

“Erik—” Mia started, but the Viking cut her off immediately.

“Not now, you squirrely brat!”

He had deep set, dark seeds for eyes and coarse gray hair all over his face except the top of his skull, the one place hair shouldbe. He was as wide as he was tall, an impenetrable brick wall.

"I haven’t seen you in years! What have you been up to lately, eh?” the Viking — Gorm, Erik remembered — asked.

“Staying away from you bastards,” Erik growled.

“When can we expect ta see you come back again? We missed yer cute liddle face around the harbor—”

Gorm reached for Erik’s chin and Erik smacked his hand away.

Erik backed away, but Gorm grabbed his wrist tightly in his large hand and squeezed. Erik felt the muscle tighten, and the bone became sore underneath his bruising grip.

Erik was supposed to be stronger now. He’d defeated Mordegon. The world had been saved. So why did he still feel like he was little more than a twig in the presence of this man?

Gorm rammed Erik into a nearby brick wall, making Erik gasp. Gorm shoved a hand against Erik’s throat and hot tears pricked at the edge of his eyes. He felt like he had seawater up his nose and he coughed, but that just made it sting more.

Erik’s eyes focused on Mia and her shouting as his breath tapered out.

She threw her fists at Gorm, but he ignored her, glaring into Erik’s face instead. Erik tried to unlatch the hands from his neck, but they wouldn’t budge, so he tried to strike out with a kick instead, missing the first time but landing a solid stomp into Gorm’s toes on the second.

“You think yer doin’ somethin’?” Gorm asked. He sneered. “Good luck wiv that!”

“Get outta my way!”

A new voice entered the fray as someone shoved the Gorm of the way to get into the bar. Gorm dropped Erik and Erik fell onto his knees, gasping for air. It felt like his neck had been singed when he breathed in, and his cheeks splotched with heat of dual embarrassment and shame.

How could he let the man get the upper hand on him like that? Erik thought he was better than that. He thought he could deal with such threats now. But apparently, he hadn’t learned his lesson yet. He was still nothing but a little weakling, someone who needed to be put in his place.

He wished El were here. El would know what to do or say to get the bastards off his case. Maybe if Erik had brought a larger sword with him or if he had a larger build. If there were anything that could have showed physically how he had grown outside rather than making him feel like he was still a useless sack of shit on the inside.

“Erik! Are you alright?” Mia asked.

She approached, and he turned slightly away from her, grimacing when she tilted her head to examine him.

“Yeah, just dandy,” Erik said. He rose on shaky legs. “Thanks.”

Day 13: Regret [Alt Prompt]

Summary: Eleven has regrets.

Word count: 100

“I wish I had never left. I shouldn’t have gone back,“ Eleven said.

Erik sighed, slipping his hand from Eleven’s shoulder up to his cheek, Eleven flinching as he did it.

"You didn’t know what was gonna happen,” Erik said. “No one can blame you for that.”

“Still, it’s going to be the biggest regret of my life.”

“I guess it’s true that you can’t do much worse than near-destruction of the universe… twice,” Erik said.

Eleven scoffed. He was glad he could still see the humor in Erik’s words even if they cut pretty deep.

“You’re right about that.”

Day 21: Threats [Alt Prompt]

Summary: Eleven speaks to Erik before leaving for the World Tree.

Word count: 787

Eleven had only been back in Cobblestone for a few days and he already hated it here. He hated how people stared at him. He hated how much his mum had cried when they’d told her the news that the other him was dead. He hated having to exist anywhere but with the people who had gone through Hell and back with him.

It was a mistake to have come here. A mistake that he wanted more than anything to fix, but that would require him to go back to the World Tree.

And the problem with that plan was that the others didn’t want him to go.

Eleven believed it was because a part of them deep down still thought he was the Darkspawn and was set on destroying everything. In truth, Eleven just wanted to go home. He wanted answers. He wanted to see his Erik again and Serena and everyone else who had helped him defeat Mordegon the first time.

The ones who had seen the apocalypse with him.

The others in this timeline were keeping tabs on him, he knew it. They probably even had someone scouting his bedroom at night to make sure he was asleep.

If it were the otherRab and Jade, El might have been flattered they were that worried. But with them, it just felt like an annoyance. An extra slap to the face after they had left him to rot away in a prison cell when it was their own El they should have been worrying about.

A bunch of stupid hypocrites, that’s what they were.

Eleven had snuck out one night and visited the tree root in the center of Cobblestone. Gemma had been there. She had made things feel okay— at least for a little while.

And then Eleven had tried it a second night and ran into Erik on the way out the door.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Erik asked.

Eleven had been fully dressed. He’d had all his provisions strapped to his back, including extra magic water and special medicines. He should have known it would be Erik he’d run into on his way out.

“The World Tree,” Eleven said.

He stood in the center of the living room. Erik leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed.

“Oh no you aren’t,” Erik said.

What did it have to do with him? Eleven narrowed his eyes.

“I’m going.”

He strutted toward the exit and tried to push past Erik. Erik held up his arms and pushed back.

Eleven had grown substantially weaker than he’d been once and was silently surprised at how much force Erik had shoved him with. That, and there was still a part of Eleven that could not, in good conscience, hurt his partner.

He remained inside the cottage and tightened his grip on the bag slung around his shoulder.

“I want to leave, Erik. Please let me go.”

“Why should I?” Erik asked. He dropped his arms. “Honestly man, aren’t you tired? Don’t you want to take a break for a little while?”

“No.”

Erik stared at him. Eleven wanted to look away instead of staring back into those shocking blue eyes.

“You’re making a mistake,” Erik said.

“I’ve already made plenty. What’s one more?”

Eleven stepped forward and tried to push past him again. Erik shook his head and grabbed him by the shoulder.

The touch terrified him. Eleven jerked away.

“Erik, it’s not fucking funny anymore. I’m goingto the World Tree.”

“Why? Because you think dredging up recent trauma is a good idea?”

“Donotjoke about that with me.”

“I’m just saying, I think you’d feel a lot better if you actually tried to talk to us instead of bottling all your feelings up and thinking the World Tree’s gonna solve all your problems.”

“You think I haven’t tried?” Eleven retorted. “I’m trying my hardest, and I’ve gotten guff for it. It’s not like you guys care about me anyway.”

“We do.”

“No you don’t.”

“We do, El. Promise,” Erik said.

“I’m going to the World Tree,” Eleven stated one last time. He reached for the sword at his side. “If you get in my way again, I willfight you.”

This time, Erik stepped aside, although he frowned and turned to stare at El’s back as he strutted onto the clearing in front of his house.

“What do you plan on finding there, anyway?” Erik asked. “You’re only gonna make things worse by leaving.”

“Then so be it,” Eleven said. “Better than seeing the end of the world here.”

He raised his hand to the sky and, latching eyes with Erik as he cast the spell, disappeared to a far-off place.

Day 23: Screaming [Alt Prompt]

CW:death mention

Summary: Erik and Jade have a fight over an Eleven who’s traveled back in time.

Word count: 309

It was a sunny afternoon when Erik approached Jade with a winning smirk on his lips.

“Hey Jade, you’ll never believe what I found,” he said.

Jade’s face already fell into a frown when he sidled up to her with his hands behind his back.

“Let me guess, other damming evidence that El is still here,” she said.

“Yep!”

Erik pulled the bag from behind his back and dangled it in front of her.

“This is ridiculous,” Jade groaned. She turned on Erik and narrowed her eyes. “He’s not coming back. You need to stop living in a fantasy.”

“I’m not living in a fantasy,” Erik snapped back. “I found his bag! Which means the rest of him could still be out there somewhere!”

Jade closed some of the space between them and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Erik. You need to let go. This obsession is killing you.”

Obsession? This? Erik scoffed. He pushed her hand off his shoulder and scowled. “I will find him, whether you help me or not.”

“You’re not going to find anything!” Jade shouted. “Don’t you know he’s dead?”

“Why are you so insistent about this?” Erik yelled back. “It’s almost like you want that to be true!”

“It’s not—” Jade groaned, pinching the space between her brows. “It’s not that I wanthim to be dead. You know that. But I hate seeing you like this. It’s tearing you apart.”

“It’s giving me hope,Jade,” Erik sneered, “something you wouldn’t know anything about.”

Then he strutted away, his knuckles turning white as they curled around El’s leather bag.

hello??

(dragon quest xi spoilers)

I made a short luminerik plushie video!!! I hope this gives an even better idea of how they might look in ur hands!! ☺️

Pre-order link, and more info is the pinned post on my blog!! Stock is limited to the remainder of the pre-order, so don’t miss out!!

Happy Halloween!! I tried to dress up El and Erik for the spooky occasion hehe ✨ The pre-order link is in the pinned post on my blog!!

Plushies are past fully funded, and are now in production!!! Pre-orders are open until Nov. 30th 2020 at 11:59 EST, and supplies are limited to the remaining pre-order plushies, and there aren’t many left!!I won’t be restocking them, so don’t miss out!! please check my pinned post for the pre-order shop link, and more info!!