Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Scorpion smiled, her eyes forming two small moon-ish crescents. It annoyed him.

“Shut up.”

“You’re so in love with him. It’s... cute.”

“...Shut up.”

Many mistakes were made, Lilac blabbered his emotions and every single secret he kept away from his heart, and like an animated origami, it all unfolded and fled to yogurt cream’s patient ears. Lilac didn’t even wait for a reaction, fleeing the scene with a quick jump from the balcony to the streets, his cloak tightly clutched in his arms and his heart crumbling apart.

 He hated himself. It didn’t matter if yogurt forgave him, he could never forgive himself. He had one job, to assasinate him and there he was fawning over how yogurt cream tucked the strands of his pale purple hair. He had to leave before anything worse had happened. 

So now here he was. On the steps of a caravanserai besides Scorpion at sunrise. 

“You should go back.. He seems like he’s in love with you too.” Scorpion laughed, at his demise. “When I visited.. He seemed to be very enthusiastic about you.. ‘Lilac my bodyguard!’ ‘My prince! I trust him with my life!’” She mocked.

 It wasn’t a very accurate impersonation. 

“He doesn’t sound like that at all.” Lilac said, his lips pursed into a straight line, tracing the stitch of his cloak. Yogurt cream never liked it, said it hid everything everyone wanted to see. 

Scorpion thought for a bit, then leaned down on the cool sandy pavement. “He doesn’t.. But you don’t ever fly from a scene before you get the job done.. Guess we both have our flaws…” 

Touche.

Scorpion cookie was right and he knew it, She was never one for comfort, anyways. Like her poison, she delivers it just as it is, never one for sugar coating. But now the sun was up and he had to make a decision. Go back, or never meet the love of his life ever again. 

God, did he just say the love of his life? It was like acid bubbled in his throat as punishment for the sheer infatuation he had for the man.

“Listen.. If you don’t want to go back.. It’s fine. But, He’s going to send out knights to find you.. And I don’t wanna be imprisoned.” 

“...”

“I can imagine him right now, sobbing into his silk sheets already! Lilac.. Cmon.. be a good boyfriend- Oops!” She snickered, standing up and putting her sleeves up to her mouth as she always does. He hated her. “Bodyguard.. Slip of the tongue! You’d understand.”

“Why are you acting like this?” Lilac stood up, chakrams in hand. He knew he was overreacting, that this was the norm of scorpion, but it didn’t stop the rage bubbling in his chest. 

“Because you’re not like this either, Lilac.. You’re supposed to be brave. Me and you… we killed over.. What? A hundered people? And you’re paling at the sight of a maybe unrequited love? It’s pathetic.” Scorpion looked down at his chakrams and gave a thin smile. “I looked up to you, Lilac. Don’t shatter my image over a random victim.”

“What do you.. Even want me to do? Go back? If I go back I’ll get executed rightfully , if I don’t, I’ll probably get killed by his fathers knights. I have no choice but to live in hiding again.” 

“You’re being a coward, Lilac..!” She sang, reaching out her hand and looking at her claws as they shone at the new sun peaking from the clouds. “You wouldn’t get executed you’ve infiltrated numerous kingdoms with me, His puny knights are absolutely no chance to you, nevertheless to me either. You have a very apparent choice.” 

Scorpion reached out to grab his cloak in a flash. She’s gotten quicker since they’ve parted. Lilac clutched his chakrams in hand uselessly, stuck frozen into the floor. “Go and kill him. Or..” Lilac stood there in horror, for the first time in a long time he felt weak, but he also felt proud of his acquintance for finally being able to have some sort of leverage over him. Scorpion cookie flashed a smile, an espescially mocking one.  “Let him love you.”

For some reason, at that moment, Lilac didn’t know which choice was worse. 

“I’ll go back. Give me my cloak.” 

Scorpion raised an eyebrow then threw it back to him. “There he is..!” She laughed off, going back inside the caravanserai. 

Lilac didn’t like people. It would be obvious from the first time you meet him, he loathes social interaction. It all felt unnessecary to him. Why was he talking with someone he had never met for anything other than personal gain. It was stupid. Yet here he he was, sitting to give some sort of.. He looked at the poster. Dance audition . 

He liked dancing, he really did. Lilac’s been doing bharatanayam ever since he was a child, but this wasn’t telling a story...

‘No.. This was seducing Yogurt cream’s family’ . He involuntarily flushed at the thought. Before he could even think about the implications he heard hurried footsteps, immediately clutching his chakrams in case of action.

“Ma’am! Ma’am!” Someone called out to him, He stood up, cocking his head to the side.

“Have you seen this man? He used to be the bodyguard..” 

Oh no. 

“Of Yogurt Cream, the wealthiest merchant, and heir to all his father’s riches in our kingdom! He’s sent out a search party, the reward is 700,000 rupees!” 

He knew it. Of course yogurt cream wouldn’t want him back, he’d want him dead. He knew this information already, so why was his heart falling into an endless pit? 

Chapter Text

Lilac didn’t like people. It would be obvious from the first time you meet him, he loathes social interaction. It all felt unnessecary to him. Why was he talking with someone he had never met for anything other than personal gain. It was stupid. Yet here he was, sitting to give some sort of.. He looked at the poster and squinted, Dance audition . 

He liked dancing, he really did. Lilac’s been doing Bharatanatyam ever since he was a child, but this wasn’t telling a story...

‘No.. This was seducing Yogurt cream’s family’ . He involuntarily flushed at the thought. Before he could even think about the implications he heard hurried footsteps, immediately clutching his chakrams in case of action.

“Ma’am! Ma’am!” Someone called out to him, He stood up, cocking his head to the side.

“Have you seen this man? He used to be the bodyguard..” 

Oh no. 

“Of Yogurt Cream, the wealthiest merchant, and heir to all his father’s riches in our kingdom! He’s sent out a search party, the reward is 700,000 rupees!” 

He knew it. Of course yogurt cream wouldn’t want him back, he’d want him dead. He knew this information already, so why was his heart falling into an endless pit?

He shook his head No, watching as the man sighed dejectedly, Then quickly his mood was uplifted as fast as it fell. “Are you going to audition? The stakes are high, Plain Yogurt cookie doesn’t take anything unlike perfection!” Ah, so it was the menace himself who had brought this poster up. It made sense, seeing as how the man would go out into the night and come back drunk and more than seething at the mere sight of his brother breathing. He remembered when he haphazardly punched Lilac, and how quickly his beauty came to his rescue, For the first time had he seen such fury in Yogurt Cream’s pale eyes. Then he realized that he had to respond when a cookie was speaking to him. 

He nodded, watching as the man whistled “You certainly look the part!” Then ran off, searching for another witness to his being. If he had been one for humor, he would have laughed at how quickly the man lost his financial opportunity when it had been standing in front of him. 

Lilac squinted once again at the poster, “Exotic dancer needed for annual harvest party, Must undergo the audition process and sign the contract. No exceptions allowed.” There was an annual harvest party every month, it was supposed to celebrate the working class in Yogurca. It had morphed into some charity ball where charity was to the organizer of said party. Maybe someday in the past, Yogurca was the haven of little political corruption when the King wasn’t aging and much too depressed to chastise the rule his eldest son had set for him, but all he knew was that he had assasinated more political leaders in the island than fingers on his hands. 

What scared him more was yet another contract. God, he couldn’t abide by one there was absolutely no way he could get another. Yet, did a contract really matter when the end goal was the person dead? No, Lilac didn’t think so. 

He grabbed the paper and went to the written address, abiding one too many stares and growing suspicion.