![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
(Team Fantasy) [Cafe] The Devil's Brew
Title: The Devil's Brew
Prompt: Cafe (Understudy filling in!)
Rating: T
Warnings: Some violence, swearing, discussion of religious themes and death.
Notes: So apparently, there was a period of time in which coffee was outlawed in England (and a number of other European cities) due to its association with liberal and revolutionary sentiment. Sort of like hippies in coffee shops today, but with more guillotining.
In the dark - and it was always dark - the lights of Edonis picked out the city's bones and sinews in a flickering, guttering network of streets and canals. From the many lighthouses perched precariously on the rocks to guide trade ships safely to dock, to the stark chemical lights blazing over the never-sleeping docks and warehouse district, to the bobbing gas-lamps that lit the roads leading back into the city proper, the lights of Edonis never went out.
And it was a city that needed those lights, because it was far enough north that half the year was spent cloaked in darkness. Their proximity to the sea and the river-mouth kept the worst of the north's wintry fury at bay, but in exchange for a neverending damp chill that swept upwards from the harbor to cloak the city's lights. Edonis was rich - the constant flow of trade from the docks up away the river made it so - but it was dark, soaking damp, and fucking cold.
All of which, Kurogane thought, made the Hierophant's decision to outlaw the sale or purchase of coffee within city limits a fucking crime against humanity as far as he was concerned. You might as well try to outlaw fire.
Not that he wouldn't try, Kurogane thought, in the private safety of his own mind. That pompous windbag thinks the sun shines out of his ass already.
Kurogane clenched his fingers in the leather straps of his satchel, staring morosely at the fronstpiece of the Fiddler's Green Coffee-House. The windows were dark and empty, the once warm and bustling dance-floor now cold and silent, and a shining square of parchment nailed to the front door proclaimed the cause.
BY ORDER OF
THE HIEROPHANT
GATEKEEPER TO THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM
this establishment is hereby CONDEMNED
on the suspicion of BLASPHEMY, SEDITION,
and CONSORTION WITH WITCHES
Nor was it the only one. Those horrid, hateful proclamations had been springing up all over the city like mushrooms in a warm spell, choking off one after another of the city's coffee houses.
It had been no surprise that the Moon Rabbit café had been shut down first of all; its proprietors Yukito and Touya, well-to-do bachelors with an unhealthy disdain for tradition, had served up a rousing menu of coffee, pancakes and abolitionist demagoguery. But that had been only the first. The Green Apothecary went under next, the public-house-and-chemist that sold a wide variety of 'remedies,' including coffee, in an attempt to find a legal loophole in the ban. After that had been the Four Clovers, the late-night coffee shop that Oruha had run in close tandem with the brothel next door.
The whorehouse, incredibly enough, had stayed open. Kurogane wondered bitterly why, if the Hierophant wasn't so concerned about blasphemy and sin, he hadn't bothered to shut down any of the pub-houses or brothels that dotted the canal-ways.
No, it was only the coffee-houses that had earned the Gatekeeper of Heaven's ire, and Kurogane was pretty sure he could guess why; alcohol might be the devil's piss but it left people slurring and staggering, more likely to pass out cold in the gutter and be frozen by morning than to plot revolution. It was only in the coffee-houses, kept hot with braziers and steaming mugs of brew, that the students and scholars stayed awake long into the dark hours to talk of politics and reform.
"Hellfire." Kurogane turned away, still muttering bitten-off profanities under his breath. Consortion with witches indeed. As if any idealistic university student needed to be a witch, or a witch-lover to declaim about witch rights. It was the hot topic among the city's libertines, always had been, but that didn't mean that any of them were going to do anything about it. After all, none of them ever had yet.
Personally Kurogane had nothing against witches, so long as they stayed in their covens where they belonged - the gated-off, briar-choked enclaves on the borderland between city and wilderness which was the only place the witchblooded were (barely) tolerated. They weren't doing anyone any harm there, after all, aside from the affront they presented to Heaven simply by existing (and Kurogane thought that if God had a problem with their existence, then He could take care of that himself.)
No, the witchblood were fine so long as they kept to themselves. It was only when they tried to mix and mingle with normal folk that people got... hurt.
Kurogane pushed the thought resolutely away, hiding from it like the dimmed moon slid behind a veil of clouds. It was too early in the morning to entertain such thoughts. It was too early in the morning to be anything more than late at night. God, I need some coffee, Kurogane prayed fervently, and let his steps turn away from the Fiddler's Green to carry him off down the streets.
He was nearly run down by a squadron of paladins going the other way, up towards the Hierophant's Keep atop the cliff, and Kurogane stepped to the side of the road to let them pass. He inclined his head slightly to the gleaming square cross on their armor, but kept one wary hand on his sword, just in case. While paladins weren't supposed to turn their righteous wrath on anyone except criminals (or witches, same difference) the Church's military enforcers tended to be rather... loose in their idea of what constituted a crime.
As a common worldly sell-sword, a veteran of many scrapes and battles not at all fought in the name of the Lord, Kurogane was something of a natural enemy (or at least competitor) to the paladine order. Kurogane had no desire to take a penance to the face this early in the morning; the paladins claimed that the holy fire only burned in the presence of sin, and therefore anyone struck by it must be by definition a sinner, but since Kurogane had yet to see anyone the penance didn't work on, he was inclined to take that argument with a grain of salt.
He waited until the last of the paladins had gone by, then turned down a narrow alley to take him to a different part of the city. This one was higher, dryer (relatively speaking; nothing in Edonis was really dry) and further away from the lifeline of commerce that ran from the city's docks to the highway north, so it was a shabby and cheap area despite the relative lack of noise and smell. Here, at least, there were still some windows still shining with bright and cheery warmth.
Kurogane stopped beneath a hanging wooden board, the picture of a black cat drawn on it to announce the name to the illiterate. He pushed open the door, to be greeted by a blast of heat and human noise.
The Cat's Eye Cafe was packed tonight, far more so than was normal for a venue so small and so off the beaten path. The coffee itself was good - mostly lacking the floating chunks of char or sand that often characterized the drink - but the lack of other spectacle had, up until now, kept their patronage fairly low. Now, the combined heat of lanterns, boiling pots, and packed bodies nearly blasted Kurogane off his feet as he entered - but at least it was a change from the cold.
Out of habit Kurogane scanned the crowd, one hand resting near the hilt of his sword as he kept his eye out for threats. He caught a few familiar faces, men known to him in a professional capacity - fellow sell-swords, security hires or bouncers; Kazuhiko, Gingetsu, and Bols - and exchanged reserved nods of respect for them before moving on. A flash of gold caught his eye, instantly drawing his attention; after a moment he recognized Noriko, one of the young scions of nobility, taking up a table with two of his friends from university lost deep in earnest discussion. But for the most part, the crowd of patrons wore the coats and boots, the hoods and scarves of dockworkers, porters and other laborers who kept the city's lifeblood flowing. Here, they gathered in hopes of the city returning the favor.
A young woman with ginger hair tied in a kerchief wriggled expertly through the crowd, smiling as she caught Kurogane's eye. "Welcome to the Cat's Eye... Tavern!" the waitress said, her voice catching only slightly on the last-minute substitution. "What'll be your pleasure, sir?"
"What's all this 'tavern' bullshit?" Kurogane said dryly, stepping inside and pulling off the bulky canvas overcoat that everyone in Edonis wore to keep off the clinging fog. "I came to see my friend Sakura, who works at the Cat's Eye Cafe."
Sakura grinned at him, her smile bright and innocent in a fresh, young face. "I don't know what you're talking about, sir," she chirped brightly. "We are a reputable bed and breakfast establishment, which serves a variety of entirely legal beverages to our patrons."
Kurogane snorted, letting the moment of levity fade. "Like that's going to make a difference when the paladins come pounding down your front door," he said.
Despite his proclamations of doom and gloom, Sakura's cheer was as unblemished as ever. "Oh, I'm sure everything will be all right," she said breezily. "You want your usual, Sir Kurogane?"
"Yeah, yeah," Kurogane waved her off with a mutter, and Sakura smiled again and bounced back towards the kitchen. She was back within a minute with a heavy, steaming mug of dark liquid - a variety of reputable beverages, my ass, people only come in here for one thing and it's all you've got on the pot anyway - which she set in front of him.
Kurogane inhaled deeply, letting the steam wash over his face and into his lungs, and nearly moaned aloud with relief. Coffee, thank fuck, he could still get a mug of coffee in this wretched city. The Hierophant could fuck off, the witchbloods could fuck off, and the stupid idealistic university kids who wanted to turn this heavenly gift into a point of political contention could fuck the fuck right off.
He downed half the mug in the first long swallow, feeling the thick bitterness burn in his mouth and throat all the way down, feeling the rush of heat sweep over him from his head to his feet. He had just set the mug down for a moment, clearing his throat, when the sound of a sudden rush of rippling music came from the corner behind him. His back stiffened as though the notes had been a hail of arrows, mouthed a profanity he didn't quite voice, and turned to crack an eye over his shoulder. Just his fucking luck - the fucking bard was here tonight.
Kurogane couldn't fail to recognize the man; tall and willowy, dressed in garish red and orange silks, with a crimson hat topping ridiculous pale blond curls. He dressed to stand out, to entertain, to draw the eye of every man in the house to fixate on his performances, and it wouldn't have been half so irritating if he didn't look so damn good while doing it.
"Why, hello there, Kuro-brute," the bard said, his bright blue eyes twinkling with a mocking laughter barely concealed. "Fancy meeting you here! What brings you to the Cat's Eye today? Looking for a merry tune, perhaps, courtesy of Fai Flowright?"
Well, it made sense. Just as the coffee-houses closing down had forced Kurogane into an increasingly narrow range of selection to find his daily fix, so the bard who depended on public audiences for his daily bread was also forced into the same company. Kurogane growled and turned his back on the man, gripping his mug in both hands with a disgruntled huff. Please, God, don't let him sing, he prayed fervently upwards. Please just let me get through one mug without any singing -
Apparently, he'd used up his daily quota of miracles in getting the coffee he'd prayed for earlier, because Fai laughed out loud behind him, and struck up a new song on his lute.
Fai sang, "There is a lady from the south,
Who makes her living with her mouth,
She's the town crier, she's the town crier!"
Kurogane nearly choked on his coffee. He shot the bard a nasty glare, but Fai ignored him and went on gleefully to the second verse.
"There is a girl from Somerset,
Who makes her living getting wet,
She's a fisherwoman, she's a fisherwoman!
"There is a woman down the block,
Who -"
Kurogane slammed his pewter mug onto the table and cut him off before they could learn about the woman who raised chickens. "You've got a lot of nerve, singing that song in the company of a young lady!"
"Who, Sakura?" Fai laughed, the repetitive chords of the bawdy song dissolving into a long descending scale. "She works in a public house, she's heard worse than that."
Kurogane snorted. "Yeah, probably from you," he accused.
"Probably!" Fai grinned, as immune as ever to any kind of criticism or insult.
He let out a sigh. It was too much to hope for any kind of public decency from the blond minstrel. After all, he made his living from public performances, hardly any more respectable than the poor women in his song. He visited taverns and tap-houses, sang in public squares, but Kurogane had mostly seen him around on the coffee-house circuit - well, before the paladins had closed them all down, anyway. It was just the insult ground into the injury, that the increasing pressure on the city's cafes would also force him into closer proximity with Fai Flowright.
The hell of it was, Fai actually had a pretty decent voice - and he was witty and eloquent (two qualities a bard could hardly do without, Kurogane supposed.) He could talk like a Chapel minister when he was moved to do so, his blue eyes glowing with inspiration and every movement of his hands and body like a dance. Like any good performer Fai knew how to appeal to the emotion in people, how to stir them and inspire them.
If only he hadn't decided that those talents were best used by annoying the piss out of everyone.
Or, well, maybe not everyone.
Just Kurogane.
And he couldn't play that lute for shit, either, Kurogane thought spitefully. How was it that nobody ever seemed to notice that he only actually ever played two or three notes, with his singing voice taking up the rest of the melody?
He was messing around with the awful lute again now, strumming it in mindless chords while he fiddled with the tuning (to no improvement, to Kurogane's ear.) "So, Kuro-pon," he said lightly, "What brings you to the Cat's Eye today?"
"Fiddler's Green was closed down by the paladins." Kurogane frowned down into his mug. God, he didn't want to think of what would become of this city when the last of the coffee-houses were shut down.
"Mm, so I heard." Fai's attention all seemed to be on his lute, eyes and hands glued to the tuning pegs, only his voice any indication that he was paying any attention to the conversation. "It's almost suspicious, you know, the way the Hierophant wields rumors of witchbloods to shut down dissidents. It's almost like he doesn't care about witches at all, and only uses their threat as a whip to keep the rest of the populace from resisting his yoke."
Kurogane grunted noncommittally. Fai glanced at him from underneath his eyelashes. "There are some people who think that the Hierophant's greed and tyranny are a stain on the reputation of the Chapel," he murmured. "There are some people who think that if Fei Wong Reed went back to concerning himself with holy concerns of the Heavenly Kingdom, and left the city's earthly concerns to be tended by earthly men, then it would do both earth and heaven a world of good."
Kurogane choked on his drink. "Oh god, you're a Separatist," he groaned. It was probably inevitable, spending all his working hours among the students and the Reformationists, that he would have picked up some of their politics. A fate that up until now, Kurogane himself had been able to avoid. "There are some people who say the world would be better if it rained beer instead of water, but that doesn't make it so. Me, I'll stick to my coffee, thanks. In peace and quiet."
Fai made a disapproving tsk noise in his throat. "You've got quite an addiction there, my friend," he said, his voice mock-chiding. "You know, they say that coffee is the Devil's brew, and that it only grows in fairy rings where witches have danced."
"Well." Kurogane contemplated the last of his coffee at the bottom of the mug, the way the liquid reflections played off the slick black surface. "Is it?"
"No, no. It grows quite naturally on the savage shores of Barbaria," Fai assured him earnestly. "Still, Sakura does wonders with the drink, doesn't she? It must be magic!"
Kurogane stiffened, and glanced around without turning his head; thankfully, nobody else seemed to be paying attention to their conversation. "Don't even joke about that. Sakura's not a witch," he warned.
"Of course she's not," Fai scoffed. "She doesn't have horns."
"Don't be dumb." Kurogane snorted. "Witches don't have horns."
"Oh?" Fai said airily. "You're an expert on what witches look like, are you?"
"They look like normal people," Kurogane said sharply. And he would know. "They couldn't exactly hide among the general populace if they looked weird, now could they?"
"Well, they could if the differences were all hidden under clothes." Fai fluttered his eyelashes at Kurogane, the firelight reflecting off fine gold strands as he wriggled around in his seat, apparently trying to replicate some kind of sexy shimmy. His grin widened, turned sly. "They say that witch women have sideways vaginas, you know."
Kurogane froze with his mug halfway to his lips, once again left contemplating the sinful mysteries in its black depths. "...How would that even work?" he said after a long minute.
"Well, they must be different from us somehow, mustn't they?" Fai shrugged. "Otherwise, why would the Hierophant have to spend so much coin and blood protecting the world from them?"
The words were caustic, bitter, but no hint of it leaked into his light and breathy tone. Which was the performance, Kurogane wondered? Was he pretending an interest in politics in order to appeal to the sympathies of his clientele, or pretending a clinical detachment from passions too close to his own heart?
"Maybe he's protecting them from the world," Kurogane said at last, coming out of visions of a gnarled tree at sunset, of long swaying shadows cast by the blood-red sun.
Fai snorted. "Or maybe he's protecting his own coffers. The Hierophant sells permits to practice white magic, but for an ungodly sum. He makes a fortune off of noblemen who want to protect their witchblood children, while the poor or dissidents are herded into pens like animals."
Kurogane let out a sigh. "The world is what it is," he said. "Complaining about it won't change it."
"No," Fai agreed, a peculiar lack of emphasis on his words. "Complaining won't."
A weighted silence fell between them then, surrounded on all sides by the laughter and conversation of the other patrons, the atmosphere picking up as more men came in from the rain and warmed up. Someone shouted for a song, and Fai waved in response, to the cheers and clapping of all.
He pushed himself out of the chair and then paused, giving Kurogane a sideways glance. "You know, Kuro-sama, you're not so bad for a sellsword," he said, one side of his lips curling up as he delivered the backhand compliment. "Perhaps you and I ought to form a partnership. You could come with me on my tavern circuit and protect me from bandits!"
"There aren't any bandits in the city," Kurogane felt obliged to point out. "Just paladins."
"And that's not just as bad?" Fai said with a snort. "Think about it, anyhow."
Kurogane did think about it, even as Fai clambered back up on the wooden stage and took a seat. As he adjusted his garish clothes, fiddling with his cuffs and cravat and fluffing his sunshine hair. It wouldn't be so bad, he thought, spending more time with Fai. Regular work was not to be scoffed at, and the thought of seeing Fai more than just in passing in social circles…
But then he remembered that Fai was a bard, an actor and performer. He made his living by making people like Kurogane feel special and wanted. It was never safe to assume that anything he said was anything he really thought, or felt. Kurogane shook his head. "I don't think so," he said, not raising his voice above the crowd.
Fai was watching him for a response, though, and his face fell a little as the words reached him. He shook it off quickly, though, tossing back his hair and raising his lute into his lap. "Oh, Kuro-woof, you're so cruel," he said, now projecting his voice to be heard all across the tavern. "All I want is a guard-puppy of my very own, and you won't let me have it. That reminds me of a song..."
Oh God, Kurogane thought in a moment of horrified clarity, not this song.
"I love my Little Kitty," (Fai sang, pushing his voice up into a ridiculous falsetto to imitate a young girl singing. He cast a bright smile across the room to Sakura, who flushed and giggled and smiled back.)
"Her heart so clear and true,
She comes with me to chapel,
And sits upon the pew,
The Father says, "Why go about
With that girl of yours?"
I tell him that I go about
With Sakura because
"Daddy wouldn't give me a bow-wow! bow wow!" (Fai threw all his impressive range into howling the chorus.)
"Daddy wouldn't give me a bow-wow! bow wow!
I've got a little cat
And I'm very fond of that
But I'd rather have a bow-wow
Wow, wow, wow, wow!"
By the time Fai got to the second chorus, the entire coffee-house was joining in, bawling along to the hellishly catchy dog sound effects. It sounded like an entire cityfull of hounds had suddenly decided to break out in song, except for Kurogane, who gritted his teeth and dug his nails into the pewter mug and congratulated himself on not having murdered everyone in the entire café.
The noise level was so atrocious, in fact, that even Kurogane's sharp ears didn't hear the crash of the front door being kicked in; his first clue was the sudden draft of cold, wet air piercing through the coffee-house's warmth. Others noticed it a second later, and the song and cacophony died away as heads turned in a rippling wave to face the door.
A tall, imposing figure in bulky chain-mail stood in the door, half a dozen other silhouettes crowded behind. They wore helmets that obscured their faces and eyes, but no one needed to know faces or names to recognize the blazing red emblem on each of their surcoats: the square Solomon's Cross of the paladine order.
"Well." The lead figure reached up and took off his helmet, releasing a smooth rippling fall of dark hair, bound by a golden tassel, over his shoulder. He looked around the coffee-house, and his elegant features curled into a sneer of disgust. "What a wretched lot of reprobates we have here tonight, don't we?"
Rondart. Kurogane recognized the voice and face together, and a spike of anger shot through him. The Revered Sergeant Kyle Rondart; barred by his low birth from true knighthood and festering in constant resentment for it, he took out his frustrations on the common folk whose authority he could lord it over. A thug and a bully, he represented in Kurogane's view the worst of the paladine order - it might contain good and holy men seeking only to do God's work, but Rondart wasn't one of them.
By the dark mutters going around the coffee-house, Kurogane wasn't the only one to share this opinion; but as Rondart stepped forward, six more paladins in full armor filled in behind him, spreading out in a steel-edged phalanx. Rondart looked around, that same cruel smile tugging at his lips, and raised his voice. "By the authority of the Hierophant," he shouted. "I declare this building condemned!"
God's blood, not this place too! The very last of the coffee-houses in the city, snuffed out by one bully's whim. "What for?" someone yelled out from the back of the crowd.
Rondart turned towards the voice, smirking; it was clear he'd been hoping for some defiance to quash. "Defying the mandates of the Gatekeeper of Heaven," he intoned piously. "Providing aid and succor to dangerous revolutionaries, and fomenting rebellion against the right and holy order of the world. Every man here is in defiance of the Hierophant's edicts, and Judgment is upon you."
"You can't do that," Fai said from his place on the stage, his voice tense and devoid of any of its usual humor. It made sense, Kurogane supposed; this was the last of his income, after all. "You have no evidence!"
"Perhaps you're unclear on how this works, minstrel," Rondart turned his patronizing sneer on Fai. "The Paladine Order does not require evidence. If you wish to contest these charges in court, you can produce your own evidence. Until then, it's to the Tower with the lot of you!"
Hellfire. He couldn't just sit back and let this happen. Kurogane stood up slowly, pushing back from his table and standing above the rest of the crowd. He threw back his cloak to expose his sword-hilt, but took care to keep his hands away from it. "Look, nobody here was fomenting anything," he said, trying for diplomacy. "Except maybe beer. They were just singing a stupid song about little doggies, for God's sake."
Rondart scowled. "Who the devil are you?" he demanded. Light winked and sparkled from the thin wires around his eyes, spectacle-frames without fragile or dull occluded glass to weigh it down. Kurogane recognized it as an enchantment, one of the rare few left in the city made by the witches who held permits from the Chapel to practice their art. Far, far too expensive for someone on a paladin-sergeant's pay, and Kurogane couldn't help but wonder where he'd gotten his hands on it.
"Kurogane," he said, and then added reluctantly; "…of Suwa."
"Of Suwa, eh?" Several of the other paladins stirred and murmured recognition at the name, and Rondart's sneer actually faded several degrees as the name sank in. Kurogane almost wished that it hadn't. "...I've heard that name."
I thought you might, Kurogane thought, dull hatred coursing through him. The question was, which part of the story had he heard?
The right part, apparently, because Rondart frowned thoughtfully in Kurogane's direction. "Your father was a good paladin, strong and well-respected in our order," he said. "By his name, you can go free, master Suwa."
With his eyes trained carefully on Rondart, Kurogane almost missed Fai's reaction to the news about Kurogane's parentage, the look of shock and betrayed hurt that crossed his face. He caught just a flicker of it, out of the corner of his eye, but he had no time to spare to wonder what it could mean.
Rondart glanced around at the crowd, which was already mysteriously thinner than it had been upon his entrance. Kurogane didn't know what windows or back doors they were escaping out of, but he silently urged the rest of the patrons to follow suit while he still held the paladin's attention. Rondart's face curled back into its usual haughty sneer. "But this den of iniquity must still be shut down!"
Sakura came forward with a gasp. "Please, sir, this is my home," she said, wringing her hands in her apron. "I'll have nowhere to go -"
Faster than a striking snake, Rondart's gauntleted hand shot out and grabbed Sakura's upper arm. The little waitress squeaked dismay and tried to pull away, but to no avail. Rondart's cruel smile was back, twisting and coiling in his dark eyes.
"Don't worry about that, little miss witch, there's plenty of lodging for you at the Tower," Rondart purred, and pulled Sakura closer to him. "You'll even get room service."
Fai leapt to his feet, face darkening with fury as he shouted. "Get your hands off her -"
He was late. Kurogane didn't even bother with words.
He hooked his foot under the leg of the table behind him and kicked it forward. The heavy wood screeched over the rush-covered floor, as scalding liquid spattered in a wide arc; men leapt backwards, shouting in alarm, as Kurogane leapt forward. He led with his fist, his substantial bodyweight lending his swing powerful momentum as he cannoned directly into Rondart's astonished face. The wire-frame spectacles folded under the blow with a sound like cracking ice as the enchantment broke; and so, much to Kurogane's satisfaction, did Rondart's teeth.
The Sergeant stumbled backwards, spitting blood and enamel; he clapped one hand over the bleeding wreck of his face and whirled towards his men. "Kill them!" he shouted, voice garbled but unfortunately not enough.
Paladins surged forward, several of them circling around to try to get a better vantage behind him. He couldn't face them in all directions at once, unfortunately. Kurogane did his damndest not to let that happen, moving back and forth over the dirty coffee-house floor in a deadly dance. He was a big man, a heavy man in heavy armor and he used that to his advantage, throwing all his weight behind a punch or a kick that knocked his opponents back or sent them stumbling, lest they lose their footing and go down entirely. Tables, chairs, trays, and pewter mugs also became weapons; instruments of blunt force or missiles. Chivalry and honor in battle were all well and good, but dirty fighting got things done.
Kurogane sensed a movement behind him a moment too late to counter it, and flinched forward in an attempt to roll with the blow - but none came. He glanced over his shoulder in time to see the paladin slump bonelessly to the floor, a glinting metal dart sticking out of the neck joint of his armor. Another whirl of motion went flitting by his vision, and he followed the path back to see Fai, standing up on the stage and with a hand that glinted with wicked metal points. What's that idiot doing, getting himself into a fight between warriors? Kurogane growled to himself; out loud, he shouted "Take Sakura! Get to safety!"
"No!" Rondart shouted, staggering back into the fray. He was armed for battle, finally, shield unmoored from his back and across his chest, short-sword at the ready. "I'll burn their corpses if I must, in payment for this heresy! Let none escape alive!"
Well, shit, was as far as Kurogane got even in his head before Rondart was on him. The other man was swinging blindly - blood streamed down his face from his ruined spectacles - but he was still a threat, the kite-shaped shield covering most of his chest as he hacked forward with the silver-edged sword.
Kurogane blocked it with his own sword, and metal clashed and jangled as the blades slid against each other and locked at the quillions. For a moment, the two men strove against each other, not a challenge of finesse or righteousness but sheer, bloody strength of muscle.
Kurogane won, of course.
A savage twist of his arms wrenched the sergeant's sword free of his hands. He shouted in outrage, and his empty hand clenched into a first that began to glow with white-edged red light. Kurogane recognized the blood-tinged glow of a penance just seconds before it was launched towards him, and barely managed to interpose his arm in front of his face in time.
The holy fire struck him with a shock worse than burning, worse than ice, and his arm went numb from the elbow down. Kurogane fell back and Rondart pressed his advantage, an unhinged laughter bubbling up from his throat and falling, along with drops of blood, from his shattered lips.
Rondart's empty hand darted behind his shield, and came up with a glittering poniard. He brought it down towards Kurogane's face - overhand - and Kurogane's one remaining good arm snapped up to squeeze him by the wrist.
Rondart shouted in outrage as his swing was blocked, then screamed as Kurogane's grip crushed his wrist. He battered at Kurogane with his shield - blows Kurogane barely felt against his numbed, useless arm - but to no avail; Kurogane twisted his grip around, and drove the dagger down with a sickening crunch into Rondart's throat.
He leapt back as the sergeant fell to his knees, blood fountaining from his neck and mouth. For a moment, as sometimes happened in these brawls, all was suddenly still, as though friend and foe alike were shocked by the grim reality of bloody death. Kurogane took advantage of the moment, switching his sword from his useless right hand to his left and starting towards the open door.
And then stopped, when another band of paladins came crowding in through the door. Behind him, those foes he had knocked down yet not finished had regained their footing and their wits. An ugly, savage mutter went through the paladins as Rondart's body collapsed to the floor, blood seeping into an ugly mud on the floor.
Against some opponents, Kurogane knew quite well, having the numbers on their side could actually be an advantage to the swordsman. Inexperienced foes would get in each other's way, crowd each other, or hang back while their fellows rushed forward one or two at a time to be handily dispatched.
Unfortunately, the paladins weren't that type of opponent. They were trained and disciplined to fight as a unit, to lead with their holy fire in order to stun and sear their enemies into helplessness before they closed in. They surrounded him on all sides now, shields up, helms down and swords glittering at the ready, and Kurogane's right arm was still useless.
He'd faced worse odds. But not recently, and not having already taken such an injury. Hellfire, this was going to be difficult.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a pale shadow of movement. Up on the stage, silhouetted by the fire behind him, Fai straightened up from his crouch and spread his arms, hands now empty. Kurogane wanted to swear at him to grab Sakura and get out while he could, but he didn't want to draw the paladins' attention to him. Would the bloody bard have sense enough for once in his life to do it himself?
Apparently not; because instead of turning to flee, Fai drew himself up with a blaze of furious determination in his face. One hand moved apart from the other, drawing out a glint of silver light, and for a moment Kurogane thought he had one last knife. Then he thought Fai was, for some ludicrous reason, pulling a long silver wire from his lute. Then, as the shimmering ribbon grew and grew and grew, he no longer knew what to think.
Time hung suspended in a moment, and Kurogane watched with an almost lazy, detached curiosity as the silver ribbon wreathed through the air as lightly as smoke. It thickened as it grew, becoming solid and round, and the end of it seemed to take on a shape of its own - almost an animal's head, a white-fire snake with long trailing fins streaming from its eyes.
The fiery snake wended its way around the room, still in that slow, drawn-out moment; it crept around the outside of the circle of paladins surrounding Kurogane, questing its way gradually inwards. At the endpoint of its circle it stopped and turned inwards, regarding Kurogane with an almost innocent curiosity; the head had grown larger, and more distinct, since it had emerged from Fai's palm, and the jaws and snout and streaming tendrils now made up the glittering face of a dragon.
Time sped up again. One of the paladins shouted a warning, another turned towards Fai, sword raised and hands glowing bloody-red. Fai clenched his hands together, and the silver ribbon snapped.
The ring of light collapsed inwards, and in an instant the gentle fire changed to lightning. It surrounded the paladins and burrowed inwards, crackling along the steel rings of the chainmail and grounding itself in the breastplates in sheets of blinding flame. The paladins screamed as they were roasted alive inside their armor, Fai's wrath knowing no mercy.
It seemed to go on forever, but in reality it was probably only a few seconds before the bodies finished seizing and dropped, the last few sparks crackling over half-melted links. The stench of charred meat filled the room, mixing nauseatingly with the deep brown scent of burnt coffee.
"Hellfire," Kurogane breathed, and this time it was not so much a profanity as a description.
The rest of the patrons had gone, somewhere, aside from a few whose bodies littered the floor with wounds inflicted by paladin swords. The only ones left were Fai, Sakura, Kurogane and the corpses; Fai ignored both of the latter as he turned instead to the white-faced girl hovering near the wall. "It's all up now, Little Kitty," he told her. "We've been smoked. Quickly, get your bag and your kit - if we can get out in less than a quarter bell, we should be safe from pursuit. We'll have to go underground, meet up with Kamui and Subaru under the government building."
Kurogane started as he recognized the place Fai had so casually namedropped. The old government building, a grand edifice of stone with two towers flanking a hall, had been abandoned and derelict ever since the Hierophant had seized power. Although the windows and doors were nailed and boarded up, rumor had it that it was still used as the stalking-ground for the elusive Dragons of Earth, the most persistent cell of revolutionaries still left in the city.
What in hell had he stumbled into?
Sakura nodded quickly, her cinnamon hair bouncing around her face, and dashed off towards the stairs. Young and innocent as she was, she clearly was much less surprised by what Fai had just done than Kurogane was.
That left Fai and Kurogane alone in the café, standing amidst the blood and char and smoking bodies. Kurogane gripped his sword, lifted it automatically, then lowered it again. Fai glanced over at him - the look in his blue eyes a searing appraisal, judgment and dismissal in one - and turned away, striding over towards the back wall of the café where it backed against the hillside. He raised a hand, which flared silver-blue, and in one swift blow punched through the brick wall to reveal a patch of darkness behind.
"You... you're a witch!" Kurogane didn't normally like to repeat the bloody obvious, but he was still stupefied by the night's revelations. "And - a revolutionary?"
"So observant of you, Kurogane," Fai said crisply, yanking his hand downwards and tearing a path of darkness through the rapidly-crumbling wall. All joking and teasing was gone from his manner, as were the despised nicknames, and Kurogane hadn't realized how much he'd want them back until they were gone. "You'd be right at home in the chapel with the rest of the paladins."
"But -" Kurogane gestured helplessly with his sword towards Fai's attire, then gave up and sheathed it. It was awkward, doing it left-handed on the opposite side, but he wouldn't be able to do anything else while he was swinging it around. "Then why this whole gobshit 'bard' routine?"
"What better way to hide in plain sight?" Fai asked with a shrug. The hole in the back wall open enough to his satisfaction, he stepped away and began quickly shimmying out of his bright red and orange clothes. Underneath the fluffy frills was a bodysuit of dark-stained leather, grey so dark it was almost black, and boots.
"Nobody questions why a bard would spend all his time in taverns and coffee-houses, moving around constantly and taking messages from one waypoint to the next. These glad rags -" he pulled one up between his hands, and a wistful expression flashed briefly over his face before he let it fall - "make me more invisible than magic ever could." He reached down to the fireplace, apparently oblivious to the heat of the glowing coals, and scooped up two handfuls of sooty ash, rubbing them through his hair to turn the bright blond a dull grayish brown.
A clattering noise on the stairs heralded Sakura's return. Her apron had been replaced by a dark woolen cloak and heavy boots, a sturdy backpack slung over her shoulders. This was no panicked flight, Kurogane realized; this was a planned evacuation.
"Is Sakura...?" Kurogane hesitated over the word, still guarding his tongue by habit. It was no small thing, in Edonis, to accuse another person of witchblood; even if the person you were accusing them to was blatantly open in use of witchcraft themselves.
"One of us? Yes." Fai's eyes flashed at him again, then the blond man turned away. He was striding about the room, collecting lanterns, opening their bowls and splashing the oil out on the wooden beams. "A witch? No." He glanced down at the lantern in his hand, and a flash of blue-white jumped from his fingers to the bowl, which suddenly overflowed with more oil than it could possibly have held even without burning for hours first. Handy trick, Kurogane thought bemusedly.
"Witches aren't the only ones who want to see the Hierophant toppled from his golden throne, and the wrongs he's done righted," Sakura cut in, her voice firm and hard despite its youth. She hurried towards the trashed remains of the kitchen, opening a cupboard and sweeping its contents into her open pack. "I made a promise years ago that I'd help the witches, and I mean to see it through."
She fastened down the pack and added it to her burden, then turned and came over to Kurogane. "The Cat's Eye Cafe was a good haven for witchbloods while it lasted, but it's over now," she said quietly. "Thank you for protecting me tonight, Kurogane. Thanks for - for everything, everything you've always done for me."
"You shouldn't linger," Fai said, as he pulled two of the packs off of Sakura's shoulders and slung them over his own. "This place has five minutes before it goes up in flames. If you get out on the street now and run, you should be able to disappear in the docks before the paladin reinforcements arrive."
He turned towards the dark hole in the wall, and Sakura pattered after him. "Goodbye," Sakura called out to Kurogane, giving him a nervous smile and a small wave. "God bless and keep you, if we never meet again."
Kurogane stared after them for a moment, as the tall figure and the short one disappeared into the shadows behind the wall. Tunnels, he realized; they must hook up with the understreets from here. Edonis was built on a delta, not on solid rock, and over time the entire city gradually was sinking into the mud flat. The only solution the city planners had found was simply to build on top of it, adding more stories to buildings and roofing over streets, turning roads to sewers and rooftops to roads. It was a system used by thieves and beggars, the poor, the desperate - and the daring. The underground, in every sense of the word.
And he was just standing there, staring while the two most fascinating, affectionate and infuriating people he knew in this city vanished into it.
"Wait!" Kurogane called out, running after them. He stepped beyond the verge of shattered brick and stumbled, caught by a sudden drop in the ground beyond. "Hold up!"
Thankfully his eyes adjusted quickly, even to the half-twilight of the tunnels beyond. The two fugitives stopped and turned towards him, and he knew it wasn't just his imagination that Fai's eyes glowed blue in the dark. Glowed blue with angry suspicion, right at this moment. "What for?" Fai demanded. "So you can turn us in and get back in the good graces with the Gatekeeper of Heaven?"
Sakura tugged at his arm and said something to him softly; Fai looked away, chastened but still wary. Kurogane moved towards them, picking his step carefully. "I want to go with you," he said.
"You?" Fai demanded incredulously. "I thought you said you didn't want to get involved. And that was before I even knew you were one of them. Your father was a great and noble paladin, they said. Slayer of many a monstrosity, I'm sure." He sneered, but his blue-glowing eyes were full of betrayed hurt and question. "Why would the son of a man like that want to associate with us dirty witchblood revolutionaries?"
"... My mother was a witch."
The words were out before he could stop them, before he had time to rethink this plan, before he could stop himself from uttering the secret he'd carried in silence all his life.
He'd managed to catch Fai unawares, at least; turnabout for the bombshell Fai had dropped on him up in the café, he selfishly thought. "Wha -?" Fai gasped. "Your father…How?"
Kurogane shrugged, a restless motion that accomplished nothing, and looked at the muddy ground. He still hadn't regained any feeling in his right arm; would he ever? He couldn't think about that now. "They fell in love," he admitted quietly. "They kept it a secret all my life. My father protected her from the rest of the paladins, right up until he died." He took a deep breath. "Two months later my mother was arrested, and hanged in the shadow of Tower Hill."
"...I'm sorry." The spite was gone from Fai's voice, now, his expressive blue eyes showing only sadness and uncertainty. He took a step towards Kurogane, one hand wavering in the air between them.
"My father fell in love with a witch, and got only blood and tears in return," he said. "I didn't want there to be any more tragic loves between witchbloods and humans. But what does it matter what I want? Tragedies are going to go on happening anyway, whatever I do. Unless the world changes."
He looked up, met Fai's luminous eyes head-on. "If you think you can make a go at that," he said, "then I'm with you."
Fai took one more step and reached out, hesitantly closing the distance between them. He touched Kurogane's right arm, and the faintest tingle signaled life returning to the limb; Kurogane flexed his hand, and managed to wrap his fingers around Fai's.
"Are you sure?" Fai whispered, his eyes searching Kurogane's face. It was like seeing a new man in his old friend's place, all pretence and show stripped away. "You'll be a fugitive, an apostate. All the armies of the Chapel will be stacked against you, and the Gatekeeper himself will lay a curse on your name. Are you really sure this is worth that?"
"No," Kurogane answered, "But on the other hand, the Hierophant outlawed coffee. So fuck that guy."
Fai let out a breathless burst of laughter, and Kurogane smirked at the success. In one swift motion, he clasped Fai's forearm, then pulled the smaller man flush against him. Fai stiffened, grabbing at Kurogane's shoulders for balance, and Kurogane dove right in and kissed him.
Above them, some unknown mechanism ground to a halt, spat sparks, and the room behind them suddenly roared into flames. Fire jumped eagerly into the spilled pools of lamp-oil, licked up into the oil-soaked wooden beams, and within seconds the café was an inferno. Kurogane and Fai ignored it, Fai's arms sliding around Kurogane's neck as they deepened the kiss.
At last the heat from the burning room became too much to ignore and they broke apart, firelight dancing along Fai's flushed and breathless form as he stared deeply into Kurogane's eyes. Kurogane stared back. "I'm beginning to think that I'm my father's son," he admitted. At least when it comes to beautiful witches.
Fai laughed, dispelling the tension. From further down the tunnel, Sakura called out to them. "Come on, hurry!" her voice came faintly back to them. "Before the tunnel fills up with smoke!"
With another glance backwards at the burning remains of his old life, Fai followed her down the abandoned passageway. Kurogane went in step with him, their hands still joined together in the dark, prepared to follow him all the way into Hell.
~end.
Thank you for reading! How did I do?
Please score my fic according to these guidelines:
1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? (1-10)
2. How well written was the fic? (1-10)
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? (1-10)
Please remember that you must provide some form of identification, either by logging into dreamwidth, or by providing a link to a blog or profile on another site, for your vote to be counted!
no subject
And I'm very fond of that
But I'd rather have a bow-wow
Wow, wow, wow, wow!
OH MY GOD, MIKKE. OH MY GOD.
1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? 10/10
I did not, in fact, know that interesting tid-bit about coffee being banned because of its revolutionary leanings, but I can see it making sense; coffee-houses were hotbeds of trade and bargaining, and it would not surprise me at all that in a world where the Church is stamping down on witches and sedition, the coffee parlours, with their mingling crowds and noisy-by-nature gossiping would be the first to go. I really loved the Cat's Eye... Tavern and the chatty, lively atmosphere you poured into it. I read a very good book recently, featuring steampunk coffeeshops and rebellions against the state control of a psuedo-Victorian-era government in them, and this really put me in mind of it in many ways. And I love the title- "the devil's brew" indeed XD
2. How well written was the fic? 10/10
YOU WROTE SEVERAL BAWDY LIMERICKS, OH MY GOD. THAT POOR WOMAN RAISING CHICKENS. Kurogane's face flaming because he knows, he knows that dog song is about him just killed me. Good lord. And I love the build-up to the fight, and how once the tension breaks the fight flows so smoothly and satisfyingly (Yesssss, die Rondart, die) and how the action just pops off the page. It's brilliant. I really love your descriptions too, as always; you've such a way with imagery that it just spools across the brain and paints a vision before your eyes. The spell Fai uses was amazing and beautiful and the execution of the concept for this story was just as brilliant. The only thing I could have wanted more of was more of it in general!
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? 10/10
So, so much. I want this to be a whole sprawling universe, and it may very well continue to be so in my head, but I will savour what I have and quite happily. Thank you so much for stepping in as a pinch-hitter and coming up with something so fantastic. I enjoyed every minute of this, and despite the fact that I don't drink coffee at all, now I want some!
no subject
God this fits the prompt sooo good! I really like the historical note transferred into this fantasy world dominate by a religious-political force, where the coffee-houses are more than they seems to be. It's an original way to use a prompt like this, for me maybe the best way to do it! Your imagination is perfect.
2. How well written was the fic? 10/10
No mistakes, no missing letters, amazing style. Why I must say something about it? You're wonderful. I liked the songs and how you described the battle, the atmosphere you described with few but well placed touches and words, it was an unique portrait.
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? 9.5/10
That 0.5 point is missing only because I need a whole series of fics about this world. Seriously, I liked this too much for my poor brain ( maybe because I'm a coffee-addicted too, Kurogane I understand you so well... -sips a cup- ), maybe I can think about a some sort of Van Helsing kind of world? It's just an opinion. But above all this fic is WONDERFUL. I like every single word and the kissing scene, Kurogane's past... aw, I'm fangirling again. It's all your fault.
no subject
Loved this! The fic fit the prompt and managed to work it into the story line.
2) 10/10
No mistakes, and amazing writing! I love this. I love everything about this the characterization, the imagery, Fai's badass-ery, all of it.
3) 10/10
I need more of this world! This has entirely captured me and I am dying to know what happens next! This is a beautiful fic!
no subject
It sure as hell fit perfectly, rom the cafe theme to the classical fantasy setting, also I really loved that it was based on some history facts? Niiiiice.
Also I love coffee.
2. How well written was the fic? - 10
I am envious and very smitten by your way with words, hhhhhh.
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? - 10
It was so short but so good. Goddamn.
I WAS SCANDALIZED WHEN THE RAUNCHY SINGING BEGAN, I LET OUT AN AUDIBLE GASP AND HAD TO STAND UP AND WALK A LITTLE, LAUGHING TO MYSELF, THIS IS TRHE GREATEST THING OF ALL TIMES.
Ahem.
Yes to all of this.
no subject
This was perfect. You really handled the prompt well and you managed to add a bit of history and lots of fantasy to it.
2. How well written was the fic? 9.5
This was so good. I could feel Kurogane's annoyance throughout the whole first part. Just how pissed off and bitter he was over his precious coffee. Every sentence had a little bit of annoyance and I couldn't stop snickering because I enjoy annoyed Kurogane way too much. And then Fai started singing and I lost it. You really created a nice atmosphere, I was picturing the whole thing inside my head. I just took 0.5 points because I felt the end was a tiny bit rushed.
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? 10
I COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING! THOSE SONGS WHAT WERE THEY EVEN?? *BOW WOW WOW's away* I want more of this. Like, a whole revolution happening, or maybe just more dirty singing at cafés, I don't mind, I just really loved the concept you created. I think the characters were really well written and I loved the little mentions to other characters and their café's names, it made the whole world feel much more real. I really enjoyed this!
no subject
10/10
Uh, amazingly, for both being an amazing fantasy story and being set in a cafe.
2. How well written was the fic?
10/10
Super well written! All those little songs and so much detail throughout.
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall?
9/10
A lot of back story in the beginning seemed heavy at first but turned out so great for developing the story.
Heavily worded in the best ways for details. You're always so good at that :)
I loved the ending. Such sweetness
no subject
This was a really fun read! I think it's cute that Kurogane is his father's son through and through and fell in love with a beautiful witch, ehehe.
I get a sense that this story could keep on going, but since you were the understudy, naturally you had to stop at some point. Plus it's not a total cliffhanger to end here.
Also I got scared when I saw witchcraft was integral to the story. Fai is not hurt by fire, good job, Mikke.no subject
no subject
1. 10
You integrated fantasy to coffee shops way too well. This universe is amazing. Fingers crossed for more! Also, you learn something new everyday.
2. 10
THE SONGS OHMYGOD. The fight scenes were so well written, it was easy to imagine it folding out. So much happened in so few words. Fai and Kurogane got together pretty quick, but the exposition made it so the timing was okay. It didn't feel fast at all.
3. 10
So in love with the universe. I'm already interested where the other characters fall into here, and how that larger plot being hinted at plays out.
no subject
I was a bit confused about how you were going to tie in the fantasy aspect at the beginning and was surprised by how brilliantly you managed it. I absolutely love how you chose to fill the prompt. More than anything, I loved how Kurogane was constantly grumbling about a lack of coffee. He even used it as an excuse as to why he doesn't care about being in trouble with the Hierophant at the end. I don't think you could be more successful at fitting the prompt if you tried.
How well written was the fic? 9.8
You did a magnificent job creating your world and making the reader feel as if they are immersed in it. Your writing is descriptive and paints a beautiful picture. I could positively feel Kurogane's annoyance (both towards the Hierophant and Fai’s limericks) radiating from my computer. I loved it all, from Kurogane's mental griping to the battle in the Cat's Eye. Everything was smooth and flowed together magnificently. However, I could not help but take off .2 because I felt the ending was just a little bit rushed. Granted, I have no idea how it could be improved.
How much did I enjoy this fic overall? 10
I love this story. You created a wonderful universe that I truly hope you will expand on one day. Will Kurogane ever get his glorious coffee…legally? How will the Dragons of Earth proceed with their rebellion? What gaudy limericks will Fai come up with next? These questions need answers! Well, even if you never expand on the story it is glorious enough that anyone who reads it can come up with their own ideas on how the story will continue to unfold…though they may be hard pressed to come up with songs for Fai as epic as yours.
On another note, you have my personal thanks for supplying me with a glorious mental image of a grumpy coffee addicted Kurogane.
no subject
2. How well written was the fic? (10/10)
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? (9.5/10)
Half a point deducted because WHY DID IT END???? I would absolutely love to read more of this. Your writing was delightful and engaging as always, and the world you built was definitely one I'd like to spend more time in. Really great fic :D
scores
(Anonymous) 2015-06-26 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)I feel that this fic fit the prompt very well, very imaginative and original. I am glad it wasn't the run of the mill coffee house AU which I felt would have been terribly easy to fall into given what the prompt was.
10
2. How well written was the fic? (1-10)
I believed it was well written, it flowed perfectly and your limerick skills what a blessed bonus! Great Humor, great fun. But I did feel the ending was a bit rushed- it would be great if you ever wanted to expand upon this world that you built up so splendidly already.
8
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? (1-10)
The kiss was great but I fee like it needed more build up throughout the fic. I know you hinted at it with Kuro considering teaming up with Fai or him just appreciating his aesthetics but I felt like the relationship/kiss was just rushed at the end. But other than that your world building was great- would love to read more!
9
Here is a link to prove I am real: http://winblossomwin.tumblr.com/
no subject
This fit the prompt of Cafe marvellously and had the right blend of magic and coffee to fit the brief.
2. How well written was the fic? 9/10
Very well written especially in the short amount of time you had to put this together.
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? 10/10
Love this fic. 10/10 would recommend.
no subject
1. 10/10
2. 10/10
3. 10/10
You're a really rotten person for starting up a universe like this and leaving it to wither by the wayside. May you be blessed with many nights of cat puke in your socks.
(jk ILU)
no subject
no subject
1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? 7/10
tbh all coffee shops should be renamed ~dens of iniquity~. I loved the fantasy pastiche take on a tavern selling illegal brews, and you exploited it super well for humour! You also managed to squeeze an amazing amount of worldbuilding into a relatively small space - the setting felt very authentic and somehow instantly recognisable.
2. How well written was the fic? 8/10
I was very impressed by Fai's folksongs! The image of Fai as a bard is literally never going to leave me. I also ADORED the sudden change of tone and the description of his magic? Those were some really beautiful paragraphs - "Kurogane watched with an almost lazy, detached curiosity as the silver ribbon wreathed through the air as lightly as smoke" is a very striking and excellently constructed line.
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? 9/10
I laughed SO HARD at Fai's folksongs and I loved Sakura's determination.
no subject
You did an awesome work! It makes sense that they forbid coffee, because cafeterias are the nª1 place of reunion of university students and revolutionaries. Man i love what you did with the prompt.
2. How well written was the fic? 9/10
I absolutely enjoyed it. You got the characters right, the story was very well narrated. You created a world where you easily tucked inside and your descriptions created very clear images in my head. Oh, and you put badass!fai in the mix and i always appreciate that. And one of my favorite things about this is you gave the characters some actions and one-liners where i just need to stop reading to go "Ohhhhhh"
"No," Kurogane answered, "But on the other hand, the Hierophant outlawed coffee. So fuck that guy." For an example.
And omg THE BAWDY SONGS i was laughing my ass off during those songs!
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? 10/10
If is not clear for my happy rant in the previous points, i really really enjoyed this fic. I really like how you put all this together.
no subject
2. How well written was the fic? 9
3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? 9
I knew as soon as I read the evocative title that I was in for a good read, but I was still surprised. This is one of those fics where the prompt and genre come together in the hands of a talented writer and something delightful is created. I was already smushing my hands into my cheeks with joy as I read the opening paragraphs, which were immersive, in-character, and just amusing. The little nods to other CLAMP characters at the beginning fleshed out the world (and made me smile; Touya and Yukito are bachelors, eh?) and set the groundwork for the main theme of seditious coffee houses. Kurogane's tangible irritation was the perfect framing as the story unfolded.
I wasn't really expecting the sharp turn into ~revolution, but it was such fun to see Fai and Kurogane being so badass (and honestly, Kyle's death was satisfying). Towards the end it felt a little rushed, though. Kurogane's backstory was fascinating, but almost splurged out; the kiss with Fai also felt a bit like it was shoved in to have a happy conclusion. I mean, I'm glad Kurogane went with Sakura and Fai, but where's he going to get his coffee now? I doubt that the underground revolutionaries will have much of a supply. The scope of this fic was limited to the Cat's Eye 'Tavern' (which is great for prompt-fulfillment, obvs) until right at the end, where it widened a little, but this world you've created feels unexplored. By which I mean if you ever expand on this fic, I'd love to read whatever else you write.
Thank you for writing, and viva la revolution!
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject