The Awakened Salad

Each word was a blow, more devastating than the last. The silence stretched thick between them as Xeus waited for an answer, but Avren couldn't give him one. The weight of the moment settled around his neck, trapping his words inside.

@Tesh

No... No. How had he let this happen? This wouldn't be like with Ren. He almost found it funny, how he'd worried about the wrong person all this time. Xeus was saying something, and Avren had to push through the fog to reach the words. ...teach him? To what end? He would not use his powers for someone else. Never again. His hands were clenched into fists, nails digging into skin. Distantly, he knew that he was frozen in place, but he was too far away to care.

A single sentence. Five words to make the world come crashing down. Avren took a step back involuntarily, staring in horror at Xeus. How could he know how could he know how could he know?

You've only known me since we came to the tower. Why do you think I can help you? Avren said nothing.

"But... why? What are you planning on doing?"

"Why do you want me to go with you?" Avren asked after a moment. "What do you hope to gain?"

"I don't need purpose."

Ara and Minuet? Why? "Then what do I gain by going with you?"

"No, thank you." Anyone who took an interest in him like this wasn't to be trusted.

Hurt and Heal - 10 Rate the ____ Above You - 5 Guess That Cosmere Character - 9 Synonym Game - 7 Tournament: Roast Battles - 10 The Person Below Me... - 9 Guess That Cosmere Place - 10 Memes of Any Kind - 8 Heal TPBM, hurt Rate

Avren looked up sharply. "Oh, Xeus," he said, narrowing his eyes. I doubt that's all you came here to do. Trying to get me to come with you again?

Not a bad person... Avren walked back to the tower, his thoughts spinning. Was it possible? The fact that Ren had even spoken to him in the first place... No, these thoughts were dangerous. Ren had still been wary, and with good reason. He couldn't let himself hope for anything more than what he already had. Prove me wrong. Those words echoed in his mind, challenging him, mocking him. How could Avren be proven right? What he could do wasn't natural. But maybe... maybe that wasn't what Ren meant. Then what did he mean? Though he didn't know how to process anything that had just happened, he was sure of one thing. His secret was safe, for now at least.

Salsa shrugged. “I could ask the same of you.”

I originally shipped this as a joke and then it turned into shipping them for real. Now here I am, having written one too many fics about them and reading Secret History over and over again...

Hurt and Heal - 7 Rate the ____ Above You - 7 Guess That Cosmere Character - 9 Synonym Game - 7 Tournament: Roast Battles - 7 The Person Below Me... - 10 Guess That Cosmere Place - 9 Nomic - 6 Memes of Any Kind - 8 Hurt Nomic, heal TPBM

Hurt and Heal - 8 Rate the ____ Above You - 7 Guess That Cosmere Character - 8 Synonym Game - 7 Tournament: Roast Battles - 9 The Person Below Me... - 10 Guess That Cosmere Place - 10 Nomic - 7 Memes of Any Kind - 8 Hurt Nomic, heal Roast Battles

“I need more feral children” - me filling out this chart I’m not happy with the positions of some people but I’ve tried at least four seperate times to finish this and I’m done with it now (Hoid is more “big therapist energy” but I decided it was close enough. I was also debating on whether to swap Spook and Nightblood but Nightblood is more childish)

Playing Nier Automata right now and woah... just woah.

Courage? Well, maybe he did have a little... Still, why was Xeus forming a new group? Why not just tell the Shadow? And he had avoided Avren's question about the realms, too. Unsure of what to say, he looked to the side. Sunlight streamed through one of the library windows, and for a moment, it seemed like something was glinting in the sky far away.

So he was recruiting. But why would Xeus choose him? “The realms?” Avren frowned. “Though you’re talking to the wrong person, if you want heroism.”

“What do you mean?” He took a moment to consider Xeus’ words. “What are we getting into?” His voice sounds familiar...

“Well, because I wanted to, I guess,” Avren said. Why am I even here?

“Er, it’s about plant care.” His fingers rapped along the spine.