“Ruinthem, is what I really mean, naturally. Their careers and their reputations. I could ruin you all, with just a well-placed phone call or two.”
“Your bark has always been worse than your bite, Whitaker, enough of this,” Ashton fires back with zero hesitation. “Your threats don’t hold weight anymore. Not with me, and not with the loyal clientele Sam and Link have worked hard to recruit and retain over the years.” He folds his arms across his chest and lifts an eyebrow, looking challengingly down his nose in Whitaker’s direction.
While the smoldering expression isn’t directed his way, a shiver runs down Link's spine all the same, seeing Ash so dominant and brave andawesome. It’s fuckin’ hot, is what it is. He privately decides that Ashton should be an asshole more often.
To his credit, Whitaker barely reacts. His face pinches slightly at the edges, but his voice is even when he throws out his next round of insults. Despite that, the edge of fury and disdain infused into his words is impossible to miss.
“You would choose this...this slobbering mutt over me? Are you even aware of who he used to pal around with? He’s adog,Ashton, nothing more.”
“Whoa,” Link says, spreading his arms. “Too far. Who pissed in your Weetabix?”
Whitaker ignores him completely. “I gave you everything, Ashton.”
Ashton’s eyes narrow and his head tilts to the side. Instead of answering right away, he glances at Link and nods—go time. All too happy to get this show on the road, Link flips the entire sequence of switches, plunging the Soul-arium into relative darkness.
As the lights flicker off one by one, Ashton speaks. “You took…somuch more than you gave, Whitaker,” he growls. “That ‘dog’ gave me my life back, the one you stole. He is three times the man you believe yourself to be, ineveryway possible. This conversation is over, you have no business here. You’re going to turn around and exit with your tail between your legs. You’re going to leave Soul Survivor alone, period. You will notevercontact any of us again, or Iwillgo public.”
If Link didn’t know any better, he’d say that Whitaker actually looks nervous, for once, but Ashton isn’t finished.
He takes a step forward. “I will tell the entire world what kind of man you really are. I’ll tell them what youdidto me, and how low you tried to make me feel.”
As the lights disappear completely, Link feels a crackle of electricity skitter across his skin. He might think it imagined—maybe from the sheer volume of adrenaline and tension permeating the air—but the hair on his arms stands on end and remains that way, so he wonders. Across the room, he sees the dark silhouette of Ashton’s shoulders rising and falling as he takes a deep, stabilizing breath.
You got this, Ash,he thinks.
“I’m not loworbroken,” Ashton growls, and there it is again—static.Some kind of powerful, thick charge rippling through the air. It’s definitely real,but how?
“I never was.”
Before Link can say anything or react, a blast of light has him lifting a hand to shield his eyes, quickly lowering it again just as soon as he realizes what’s happening.
“Ash,” he murmurs softly, a proud smile spreading across his face.
Beneath the arch of the entrance to the library, Ashtonglows.His already-dazzling eyes light up an entrancing neon blue, the same charmed effects as the power source tattoo on his neckandthe new display lighting up the stonework on either side of him.
Wings.They’re out but tucked close to Ashton’s back—the originals, rather than the end result, which Link was expecting.
They’re still incredible. Ashton would disagree, of course, but Link thinks he looks seriously badass rocking the ruined ones. They hover in the air and cast magnificent shadows against the walls, just like a real pair would. Suddenly, Link understands exactly why Ashton wanted the lights off, though he’s lowkey impressed by the dramatic flair.
What follows is a hell of a show, so entrancing it takes a minute for Link's brain to catch up and for him to realize—hedidn’t include that blue lighting effect in his work. It’s not even a charm he knows how to ink.
What?
Ashton catches his eye and winks.
As Sam watches from the stairs, Link and Whitaker from the atrium floor, Ashton spreads his busted and broken wings wide. This time, he doesn’t shrink, doesn’t squeeze his eyes shut, doesn’t make any attempt to hide. Ashton stands tall and confident, owning every inch of the damaged skin and feathers, anddamn,does he looksickas hell when he does it.
Thanks to some touch-ups by Link, the wings are even more elaborate and incredible than the first time he saw them, sequestered in the sanctuary of his room. Unable to help it, Link holds his breath as the illusion morphs, desperately hoping that the enchantment will execute the way he intended, the way he meticulously inked it to do.
Slowly and smoothly, Ashton’s wings begin to change. The broken parts, like both alulas, straighten and stand tall, flexing with newly-restored strength. The burns and injuries fade and disappear while fluffy feathers regrow from the roots, right before their eyes. Each one comes in just as a bird’s flight feathers would—a tubular shape that unfurls from the tip down to the root.
The whole thing is beyond spectacular to witness, some of the most complex charming he’s ever seen in his life. Link can practically feel Whitaker radiating fury, and that gives him such a deep sense of joy and satisfaction. Pride, too, thathisresearch and talents produced such an impressive sight, that his work managed to make such a shitty person so very mad.
It only gets better—the fuller and healthier the wings grow, the further they extend to both sides, and the more breathtaking they become.
By the end of the transformation, a brightly-glowing Ashton is brandishing two perfectly flawless wings. Every feather is intact, lovely, and shining with a multifaceted, blue-black ombré that flashes a prismatic rainbow spectrum in the light. Link finds it personally reminiscent of the way an oil slick might appear under the same conditions. It—he, Ashton—is truly a magnificent sight.
So much so, that even Whitaker is struck speechless.
