Sentry's Painting - High Rollers (Aerois) fanfiction
Title: Sentry's Painting
Fandom: High Rollers (Aerois)
Rating: G
Length: 1735 words
Content notes: Quill & Sentry, implied Quill/Lucius.
Author notes: For the "paint" challenge at
fan_flashworks . I may have taken some minor liberties with the use and appearance of the "mending" cantrip!
Summary: Back on the airship, Quill returns the Solwynn painting to Sentry.
With everything that happened in Volcanos, it’s not until he reaches his room and starts taking off his things so he can collapse into bed that Quill remembers he still has Sentry’s painting in his scroll case. And Nova still has his old note in hers… Well, he can’t get that back just now; even if Nova were well enough to give it to him, Greylano would probably kill him if he tried to see her today! It’s not like there’s any rush to get it back, either. Sentry’s painting, on the other hand… For a split second, he considers waiting until the next day. His bed looks so soft and inviting, and he’s so very tired… And Sentry seemed exhausted too… But no, exhausted or not, Sentry will want her painting back. Sentry will need her painting back, to remind her of the real Queen Astoria, not the one that cursed her in the trial. With a groan, Quill picks up his scroll case again, and heads across the corridor to Sentry’s room.
“What is it, Quill? Is something wrong?” Sentry asks, opening the door and ducking to see through it.
Quill tilts his head a little further back - with Sentry’s new height, he’s looking at her chin where he’s used to meeting her eyes. “No, nothing’s wrong, I just remembered I have your painting.”
“My painting! Oh, thank you, Quill! I can’t believe it, but with everything that happened, I’d actually forgotten it. Thank you for remembering!”
“I can’t think why you’d forget, it’s not like you went through anything,” Quill teases her fondly. “Can I come in? It’s still in the scroll case, I didn’t want to take it out before.”
“Of course!” she says, stepping aside and letting him in.
Placing his scroll case on Sentry’s table, Quill opens it and carefully reaches in. He knows the magic of the case will have kept the painting protected while they ran from the lava and were rushed through the water, but it’s still old and fragile, and he doesn’t want to risk any damage to it. Gently, taking hold of it as delicately as possible, he eases it out, then unrolls it onto the table. It still lies fairly flat, not having been in the case for all that long.
“You have the frame for it, right?” he asks.
“Yes, it’s in my bag… Oh no!”
With that cry of distress, Sentry holds out the frame so he can see it. It’s still damp, like practically everything else they own, but that’s not what’s upset her. The wood has snapped in one corner, the glass next to it is cracked, and parts of the back look warped - whether due to the water, or the heat, or everything together, Quill isn’t sure.
“Maybe - maybe we can fix it?” Quill says dubiously. “Or make another frame? Nova might be able to, once she’s better…”
“I bet Lucius could fix it with magic, he’s fixed me before!” Sentry exclaims.
She rushes out, not waiting for Quill’s reply, so he has to hurry after her. The need to get her frame repaired seems to have restored her strength despite their exhaustion; even half-running he can’t quite keep up, only catching up to her a few seconds after she knocks on Lucius’s door.
“Yes? Who is it?” Lucius is calling through the door as he arrives.
“It’s Sentry, I need your help!”
Lucius throws his door open at once. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you!” Sentry apologises at once, voice contrite. “It’s just that my painting’s frame got damaged, and I thought you could fix it… Oh, were you sleeping already? I’m so sorry!”
“No, no, I was just changing after bathing,” Lucius says. “I apologise for my state of undress,” he adds, gesturing to his pyjama trousers - all he’s wearing - and blushing faintly as he meets Quill’s eyes.
“It - it’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Quill says.
He can feel his feathers fluffing out with embarrassment as he speaks. It’s ridiculous - they’ve just spent hours together with Lucius wearing even less than this! And that didn't fluster you at all? his brain jeers, unanswerable - it did, he knows it did, but somehow this is flustering him even more! He doesn't know why, maybe it's because Lucius seems more embarrassed now?
"Well, come in, let me see what I can do," Lucius says, looking back at Sentry with a smile.
They step inside, and Sentry hands Lucius the damaged frame. He inspects it, brow furrowing as he takes in the damage.
"I don't know how much I can do, but I'll try," he says. "This may take a bit, though."
Spreading his long fingers, Lucius runs them across the snapped corner, murmuring an incantation, and smiles as the wood glows faintly and knits back together. He repeats the spell several times on different parts of the frame, gradually restoring it to pristine condition. The other two watch quietly, not wanting to distract him. And Quill, at least, finds himself half-mesmerized by the repetition, by the gentle care with which Lucius touches the frame, by the subtle play of the spell’s gleam on his features…
“Here you go,” Lucius interrupts his reverie, holding the frame out to Sentry again. “It should be fine now.”
“Thank you so much!” Sentry exclaims, eyes glowing bright. “I’m sorry I’ve kept you up - both of you, I know you’re tired.”
“It’s fine, I was happy to help,” Lucius replies, smiling. “Do you have the painting here?”
“No, we left it in my room, I’ll go and put it in the frame now before anything can happen to it! Do you want to come and see it put together?”
“I’m not really dressed for wandering around the ship,” Lucius says, blushing again. “I’ll see it tomorrow, if that’s okay?”
“Of course, you should rest! And you too, Quill…”
Quill shakes his head; he knows Sentry well enough to know she’d like him to be there. “I’m going that way anyway to get to my room, I’ll give you a hand with the painting. Good - good night, Lucius.”
Lucius sees them out, and they return to Sentry’s room. Working together, they carefully open the frame and dry it thoroughly, making sure no dampness is left. Only then do they place the painting back in it, so it’s safe from harm once more. Once they’ve closed the frame again, Sentry picks it up and hugs it, as she had when they first gave it to her.
“I’m so glad we got it back to the ship safely! Now, where shall I put it?”
Quill glances around the room, but can’t see anywhere to hang it. “You might have to leave it on the table for now, and hang it up tomorrow? We’ll need a hammer and nail, and you’ll have to think where you want it to be.”
Sentry nods and sets it down, then stands and stares at it for a moment. “I can’t believe we found this… It means so much, and it’s so beautiful.”
Quill looks at it more closely than he had before. It really is a beautiful painting, and the queen and princess look very much like they did in Sentry’s trial, and in his vision from the Eye, so he supposes it’s a good likeness. The queen’s expression is so much kinder than it was in the simulation, though, especially at the end… He wonders if Sentry is thinking about that too. If that curse is still ringing in her ears…
“Is it a good likeness?” he asks, trying to ease his way to the question.
“Very good! Petal was never still really, the painter must have had a time with her,” Sentry says, voice fond as she talks of her princess. “But it looks just like her, and like Queen Astoria.”
“I thought it must be, it’s so similar to how they looked in your trial,” Quill says, pushing a little more.
Sentry shivers. “That… that wasn’t them, Quill. That wasn’t the Queen. She fought so hard to save Solwynn! She didn’t leave until the last second, until there was no hope and no other way to survive. She would never have done any of what she did in the trial.”
“I know,” Quill replies. He reaches out to hug her shoulders as he’s often done before, then frowns. “You’re so tall now!” he says, resting his hand on her elbow instead.
Sentry laughs unsteadily and sits down. “I’m still getting used to it. Is this better?”
“Much,” Quill says, wrapping his wing around her. “That wasn’t the Queen, it was just a… spell, I suppose. A test for you… It wasn’t real. I saw that last minute in Solwynn when I used the Eye, that was real. And I’ll look again if you want me to, if you have more questions!”
“Thank you, Quill. I don’t think I have any questions I want you to ask now, but I’m glad you saw that, saw the real Queen Astoria. The test… I know it wasn’t real, but it felt so real, even though it was all wrong. I kept doubting if I was making the right choices… I sent you to die, Quill. I sent all of you to die!”
“You did what you had to, and we - we did what we had to, too. We’re all here, we’re fine. I’d - I’d do it all over again for you, and I’m sure the others would too.” He hugs her more tightly. “And you did make the right choices, you’re Sentinel Prime now!”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Sentry says, and hugs him back - a little too hard, making Quill squawk. “Sorry! This body is still so new!” she apologises, loosening her hold.
Quill laughs and squeezes her shoulders again, then steps back. “We’d better get some rest, or Greylano will put all of us in sickbay!”
Sentry nods. “Sleep well, Quill. And thank you again, for my painting, and for everything.”
“Sleep well, Sentry.”
The last thing Quill sees as he leaves, closing the door behind him, is Sentry adjusting the painting’s placement on her table, so she can see it from anywhere in her room. He smothers a yawn and smiles to himself; it made Sentry so happy, it’s more than worth having stayed up a little longer.
Fandom: High Rollers (Aerois)
Rating: G
Length: 1735 words
Content notes: Quill & Sentry, implied Quill/Lucius.
Author notes: For the "paint" challenge at
fan_flashworks . I may have taken some minor liberties with the use and appearance of the "mending" cantrip!
Summary: Back on the airship, Quill returns the Solwynn painting to Sentry.
With everything that happened in Volcanos, it’s not until he reaches his room and starts taking off his things so he can collapse into bed that Quill remembers he still has Sentry’s painting in his scroll case. And Nova still has his old note in hers… Well, he can’t get that back just now; even if Nova were well enough to give it to him, Greylano would probably kill him if he tried to see her today! It’s not like there’s any rush to get it back, either. Sentry’s painting, on the other hand… For a split second, he considers waiting until the next day. His bed looks so soft and inviting, and he’s so very tired… And Sentry seemed exhausted too… But no, exhausted or not, Sentry will want her painting back. Sentry will need her painting back, to remind her of the real Queen Astoria, not the one that cursed her in the trial. With a groan, Quill picks up his scroll case again, and heads across the corridor to Sentry’s room.
“What is it, Quill? Is something wrong?” Sentry asks, opening the door and ducking to see through it.
Quill tilts his head a little further back - with Sentry’s new height, he’s looking at her chin where he’s used to meeting her eyes. “No, nothing’s wrong, I just remembered I have your painting.”
“My painting! Oh, thank you, Quill! I can’t believe it, but with everything that happened, I’d actually forgotten it. Thank you for remembering!”
“I can’t think why you’d forget, it’s not like you went through anything,” Quill teases her fondly. “Can I come in? It’s still in the scroll case, I didn’t want to take it out before.”
“Of course!” she says, stepping aside and letting him in.
Placing his scroll case on Sentry’s table, Quill opens it and carefully reaches in. He knows the magic of the case will have kept the painting protected while they ran from the lava and were rushed through the water, but it’s still old and fragile, and he doesn’t want to risk any damage to it. Gently, taking hold of it as delicately as possible, he eases it out, then unrolls it onto the table. It still lies fairly flat, not having been in the case for all that long.
“You have the frame for it, right?” he asks.
“Yes, it’s in my bag… Oh no!”
With that cry of distress, Sentry holds out the frame so he can see it. It’s still damp, like practically everything else they own, but that’s not what’s upset her. The wood has snapped in one corner, the glass next to it is cracked, and parts of the back look warped - whether due to the water, or the heat, or everything together, Quill isn’t sure.
“Maybe - maybe we can fix it?” Quill says dubiously. “Or make another frame? Nova might be able to, once she’s better…”
“I bet Lucius could fix it with magic, he’s fixed me before!” Sentry exclaims.
She rushes out, not waiting for Quill’s reply, so he has to hurry after her. The need to get her frame repaired seems to have restored her strength despite their exhaustion; even half-running he can’t quite keep up, only catching up to her a few seconds after she knocks on Lucius’s door.
“Yes? Who is it?” Lucius is calling through the door as he arrives.
“It’s Sentry, I need your help!”
Lucius throws his door open at once. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you!” Sentry apologises at once, voice contrite. “It’s just that my painting’s frame got damaged, and I thought you could fix it… Oh, were you sleeping already? I’m so sorry!”
“No, no, I was just changing after bathing,” Lucius says. “I apologise for my state of undress,” he adds, gesturing to his pyjama trousers - all he’s wearing - and blushing faintly as he meets Quill’s eyes.
“It - it’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Quill says.
He can feel his feathers fluffing out with embarrassment as he speaks. It’s ridiculous - they’ve just spent hours together with Lucius wearing even less than this! And that didn't fluster you at all? his brain jeers, unanswerable - it did, he knows it did, but somehow this is flustering him even more! He doesn't know why, maybe it's because Lucius seems more embarrassed now?
"Well, come in, let me see what I can do," Lucius says, looking back at Sentry with a smile.
They step inside, and Sentry hands Lucius the damaged frame. He inspects it, brow furrowing as he takes in the damage.
"I don't know how much I can do, but I'll try," he says. "This may take a bit, though."
Spreading his long fingers, Lucius runs them across the snapped corner, murmuring an incantation, and smiles as the wood glows faintly and knits back together. He repeats the spell several times on different parts of the frame, gradually restoring it to pristine condition. The other two watch quietly, not wanting to distract him. And Quill, at least, finds himself half-mesmerized by the repetition, by the gentle care with which Lucius touches the frame, by the subtle play of the spell’s gleam on his features…
“Here you go,” Lucius interrupts his reverie, holding the frame out to Sentry again. “It should be fine now.”
“Thank you so much!” Sentry exclaims, eyes glowing bright. “I’m sorry I’ve kept you up - both of you, I know you’re tired.”
“It’s fine, I was happy to help,” Lucius replies, smiling. “Do you have the painting here?”
“No, we left it in my room, I’ll go and put it in the frame now before anything can happen to it! Do you want to come and see it put together?”
“I’m not really dressed for wandering around the ship,” Lucius says, blushing again. “I’ll see it tomorrow, if that’s okay?”
“Of course, you should rest! And you too, Quill…”
Quill shakes his head; he knows Sentry well enough to know she’d like him to be there. “I’m going that way anyway to get to my room, I’ll give you a hand with the painting. Good - good night, Lucius.”
Lucius sees them out, and they return to Sentry’s room. Working together, they carefully open the frame and dry it thoroughly, making sure no dampness is left. Only then do they place the painting back in it, so it’s safe from harm once more. Once they’ve closed the frame again, Sentry picks it up and hugs it, as she had when they first gave it to her.
“I’m so glad we got it back to the ship safely! Now, where shall I put it?”
Quill glances around the room, but can’t see anywhere to hang it. “You might have to leave it on the table for now, and hang it up tomorrow? We’ll need a hammer and nail, and you’ll have to think where you want it to be.”
Sentry nods and sets it down, then stands and stares at it for a moment. “I can’t believe we found this… It means so much, and it’s so beautiful.”
Quill looks at it more closely than he had before. It really is a beautiful painting, and the queen and princess look very much like they did in Sentry’s trial, and in his vision from the Eye, so he supposes it’s a good likeness. The queen’s expression is so much kinder than it was in the simulation, though, especially at the end… He wonders if Sentry is thinking about that too. If that curse is still ringing in her ears…
“Is it a good likeness?” he asks, trying to ease his way to the question.
“Very good! Petal was never still really, the painter must have had a time with her,” Sentry says, voice fond as she talks of her princess. “But it looks just like her, and like Queen Astoria.”
“I thought it must be, it’s so similar to how they looked in your trial,” Quill says, pushing a little more.
Sentry shivers. “That… that wasn’t them, Quill. That wasn’t the Queen. She fought so hard to save Solwynn! She didn’t leave until the last second, until there was no hope and no other way to survive. She would never have done any of what she did in the trial.”
“I know,” Quill replies. He reaches out to hug her shoulders as he’s often done before, then frowns. “You’re so tall now!” he says, resting his hand on her elbow instead.
Sentry laughs unsteadily and sits down. “I’m still getting used to it. Is this better?”
“Much,” Quill says, wrapping his wing around her. “That wasn’t the Queen, it was just a… spell, I suppose. A test for you… It wasn’t real. I saw that last minute in Solwynn when I used the Eye, that was real. And I’ll look again if you want me to, if you have more questions!”
“Thank you, Quill. I don’t think I have any questions I want you to ask now, but I’m glad you saw that, saw the real Queen Astoria. The test… I know it wasn’t real, but it felt so real, even though it was all wrong. I kept doubting if I was making the right choices… I sent you to die, Quill. I sent all of you to die!”
“You did what you had to, and we - we did what we had to, too. We’re all here, we’re fine. I’d - I’d do it all over again for you, and I’m sure the others would too.” He hugs her more tightly. “And you did make the right choices, you’re Sentinel Prime now!”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Sentry says, and hugs him back - a little too hard, making Quill squawk. “Sorry! This body is still so new!” she apologises, loosening her hold.
Quill laughs and squeezes her shoulders again, then steps back. “We’d better get some rest, or Greylano will put all of us in sickbay!”
Sentry nods. “Sleep well, Quill. And thank you again, for my painting, and for everything.”
“Sleep well, Sentry.”
The last thing Quill sees as he leaves, closing the door behind him, is Sentry adjusting the painting’s placement on her table, so she can see it from anywhere in her room. He smothers a yawn and smiles to himself; it made Sentry so happy, it’s more than worth having stayed up a little longer.