Moon and Sky: Playlist for Blue and Alaster

Moon and Sky: A Playlist for Blue and Alaster

Moon and Sky - Playlist

So this playlist is a pairing playlist, the songs will all be about the relationship between Blue and Al, because I'm a giant nerd. For fun, I'm adding quotes from different TROUF stories that I feel are relevant to each of the songs in the playlist. Enjoy!

1: Birds of a Feather – The Civil Wars

(Alaster & Blue)

“Where she walks, no flowers bloom.

He's the one I see right through.

She's the absinthe on my lips.

The splinter in my fingertips.”

The kiss was brief but it caught Alaster off guard. He didn’t have a chance to respond before she pulled back to gauge his reaction.

He stared at her for a long moment.

Then he said, “Damn it, you’re not supposed to kiss me first. That’s not how this works. If anyone asks, I kissed you first, d’you hear me?”

“Why would anyone ask anything about it?” Blue asked, amused.

“Well… I might want to do that again. They might see.”

2: Scarlet Town – Gillian Welch

(Blue)

“Buddy, I went down to Scarlet Town,

Ain't never been there before.

Well, you slept on a feather bed,

I slept on the floor.

Now, I don't mind a lean old time

or drinking my coffee cold.

But the things I saw in Scarlet Town

did mortify my soul.”

She looked to the source of the noise and her eyes focused on a book just to her right. The runes embossed on the spine, she realized, were the same as the runes Zi had shown to her. It was the book she'd been sent after, sitting right in front of her as though it had merely been waiting for her, and she reached out and pulled it free without thinking.

Through the empty space in the shelf, she caught sight of another person, peering at her from the other side.

At first, she nearly laughed with relief, thinking the person looking back at her was Fae. But a second look revealed the truth. The other person's features were decidedly more masculine than Fae's, though still refined and possessed of an almost ethereal beauty. Their eyes were shockingly blue instead of black and the person's hair was cut short.

“Oh shit,” she breathed when she realized she was looking into the face of a fairy man.

The fairy looked back at her with bewilderment. Apparently, he hadn't been expecting to find someone in the bookshelves, though from the way she'd heard him going on, he had seemed to be looking for another person.

“Who the bloody hell are you?” he demanded, his voice loud now and filling up the room. Blue cringed back from the sound, clinging to the spellbook. She'd done it now. She'd located Zi's damned book, only to be caught by a fairy of Vana Vale.

3: Save Me – Jem

(Alaster)

“None of these thoughts are real,

so why is it that I feel

so cut up and so bad?

I need to take control

cause my mind is on a roll

and it isn't listening to me.”

“Ana,” he breathed, finally tearing his gaze away from the child – woman? - on other side of the shelf. His sister looked back at him with unwavering determination. “You're not supposed to be here.”

“Don't worry, we are leaving, as soon as you give me that crystal.” She kept her sword at his neck. “I am truly sorry about this, Alaster, but I'm afraid I can't leave without it.”

Alaster's gaze flitted back to the other woman, and the necklace that hung around her throat. The blue crystal there was glowing, like the one that he held, and something told him that the two items were related.

The woman drew down her hood, and Alaster grimaced when he realized that she was a nelfkin. A nelf in the library of Vana Vale was an abomination. Her grubby little hands were holding fast to a book, he realized. He narrowed his eyes at her.

“I see you've taken up with a thief, sister,” he said with a sneer. “I suppose our father was right about you after all.”

“Your father,” said his sister. “He's not my father anymore.”

The nelfkin spoke up, a look of disbelief on her face. “This guy's your brother, Fae?”

4: Come Here Boy – Imogen Heap

(Blue)

“I know that my face

is only too familiar to your sleep.

I can see it in your eyes

and I can tell by your body heat.

Why are you taking so long?

You need to come and find me.

To set your mind at rest

and let your dreams run free.”

“I'm yours?” Alaster echoed with a smirk. He seemed to come back to himself, casting off the shadow that so often settled on him when they discussed their mutual enemy. “You sure you actually want that?”

Blue hummed, pretending to mull the matter over. “You are quite obnoxious, now that I think about it. And you can't fight, or heal, or even cook, so you're really pretty useless. Worse than that, I'm all the time having to save you from something. You're a liability even. In fact, it seems I've planned this poorly. Would you consider giving my heart back to me, by any chance?”

The blush that traveled to the tips of his ears always thrilled her. What she'd just said was tantamount to saying she was in love with him, which neither of them had confirmed out loud just yet. She figured it would take Alaster a while to be able to make those words pass his lips. That was alright. She was patient and she could wait.“As I suspected,” she murmured. “No refunds.”“Sorry,” he breathed, and he'd said that word an awful lot lately. She wanted to tell him not to, that he had nothing to be sorry for, but it wasn't her place to make that decision for him. She could tell him not to be sorry until the cows came home, but he had to come to the understanding himself that he was not at fault for anything.

Instead, she pressed her mouth against his shoulder, kissing the soft flesh there.

5: Wonderwall – Ryan Adams

(Alaster)

“And all the roads we have to walk are winding.

And all the lights that lead the way are blinding.

There are many things that I would like

to say to you, but I don't know how.

I said, maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me.

And after all, you're my wonderwall.”

“It's alright,” Fae assured her brother, walking beside them, one hand on Clarabelle's flank. “Blue said we were less than a day out from a village, and they will surely have someone there who can help. I know you're worried but we're not going to let her die.”

It wasn't that Alaster doubted her sincerity, it was just that the nature of the wound troubled him. What if an ordinary healer couldn't treat it? He tightened his grip on the nelfkin, feeling more helpless than usual. Why couldn't one of these magic crystals just heal Blue's injuries? Better yet, why had they never bothered to recruit a healer to travel with them?

“Why the hell did she throw herself in front of that thing?” he complained, though he knew she'd done it to save him. “If one of us had to be mortally wounded, it should have been me.”

“We can't afford for either of you to die,” Fae reminded him. “We all have to be alive in order to seal away the dark force. There's no point in thinking it would be better if you were in her place. Chances are you'd be dead already, anyway. I saw her push you out of the way, that beast would have torn your throat out.”

Alaster grimaced and had to admit that it wasn't exactly the way that he wanted to die. Preferably, he'd like to live a long, comfortable life and die peacefully in his sleep as an old man. But he wasn't sure that life would still be worth living without the nelfkin around.

“I know how much you care for her,” his sister murmured. “I will not let her die, Alaster, I promise.”

“Don't talk about such things,” Alaster snapped, because like hell was he okay with his sister getting so sappy about this, like he was in love with the nelfkin or something. He wasn't in love with Blue, he just liked having her around, though he wasn't going to admit even that much.

6: My Moon – Mary Lambert

(Blue)

“They don't know why I love you like I do.

And gravity don't have a thing to do with you or me.

My moon, you're my moon, you're my moon.”

Awareness came back to Blue slowly, brought on by the pale light of early morning filtering in through a curtained window. As her vision cleared, Blue stared up at the window, her fuzzy brain trying to comprehend where she might be.

She felt sluggish and sore, but she forced her body to move, pushing herself upright with her left arm and marveling at her inability to feel her right arm at all. She looked down to make sure the arm was still there and noted the bandages secured around it. The memory of the wound she’d sustained came back to her and she realized that someone must have healed her.

Glancing around, she took stock of the small cabin she appeared to be in. Her companions were spread out across its floor, curled in sleeping bags or propped up against the wall, all sound asleep.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the body next to her begin to stir. It was Alaster, of course, and she smiled to herself, wondering if he’d stayed by her side the whole time. She reached out with her good arm and stroked the fairy’s unruly hair, relishing the feel of it beneath her fingers.

Alaster grumbled and batted her hand away, his eyes snapping open. He froze when he saw her looking down at him, his mouth falling open in surprise.

“You’re awake,” he muttered, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, as though to make certain he wasn’t dreaming. “Fuck, nelfkin, do you have any idea how close you came to dying?”

“I told you I wouldn’t die,” she reminded him with a soft chuckle.

7: Horse to Water – Tall Heights

(Alaster)

“Before I knew you,

I lived in the rear view.

To wish back an image of myself

I thought was true.

So now when colors fade

on that day of days

I needed you to say it

wasn't one to rue.

Oh, and lead me back

from the darkness

like you do.”

“Shut up and sleep, woman. If you pass out tomorrow, I'm sure as hell not carrying you.”

Blue burst out laughing at the thought of Alaster carrying her. Alaster gave her a dirty look and it only made her laugh harder. She reached out and patted his knee comfortingly.

“Sorry, Al, it's just, well, you're not the strongest fella here, are you?” she said as her laughter faded to chuckles. “Okay, I'll sleep so you don't have to carry me.”

“I said I wasn't going to carry you,” Alaster grumbled.

“Yeah, you always say one thing when you mean the exact opposite. I've got you figured out now.” Blue grinned at the fairy, then settled down on the ground to use her pack as a headrest. “You get some sleep too, Al. If anything's going to happen, you might as well face it. Don't let the fucker have the satisfaction of making you afraid.”

Her eyelids were already drooping. She was so tired. Maybe she'd wake up on the morrow refreshed, and able to actually use the Codex Crystal for a change.

“Sure, nelfkin,” Alaster replied. He reclined against a tree, looking like he had no intention of closing his eyes unless he absolutely had to. “Shut up and go to sleep already.”

8: Especially Me – Low

(Blue)

“Cause if we knew where we belong

There'd be no doubt where we're from.

But as it stands, we don't have a clue.

Especially me, and probably you.”

“I'm a coward,” he said through gritted teeth. “And don't say I'm not, I know what I am. I'm fucking terrified. I'm afraid to go to sleep because he might be there again. I'm weak.”

She wanted to tell him that it was okay to be weak, to be soft, but she wasn't sure if she had any business making that decision for him either.“What if he comes back?” Alaster's voice cracked, just a little. “You fight,” Blue replied.

They both knew he wasn't a fighter. And they both knew that he was the only one who could fight Detraf like this. Sooner or later, Alaster would have to learn to master his gift, as would all of them who carried the crystals. It was inevitable, but Alaster was putting it off, still not ready to cope with it.“What if I can't fight him?” the fairy asked, staring up at the dingy ceiling of the room. “He's stronger than me. If he manages to, I don't know, to brainwash me or something, I... Nelfkin, if it comes to that, you've got to kill me. I can't be his pawn. I'd rather die, I swear to you.”

Her gut twisted at the thought of harming him. It would be impossible for her to ever honor that request, supposing Detraf really did manage to somehow take control of Alaster's mind. He had to know that by now.

9: House of Mercy – Sarah Jarosz

(Alaster)

“In the middle of the night again,

still water and the birds won't sing.

Cold gin in the backroom humming,

medicating for the trouble that's coming.

Walls rattle like a diesel freighter.

Blood races like a wave.

This house wasn't meant for strangers.

You come knocking anyway.”

Just as suddenly, the dream changed and the woman was gone. Alaster was plunged into a suffocating darkness and he found himself struggling to breathe. The darkness had an oppressive weight to it and he fought it, trying to move but finding his limbs too heavy to move. His heart pounded in his chest as though it wanted to burst free and flee on its own. He tried, but mostly failed, to calm himself down.

There was another voice now, one that Alaster knew too well. He shrank away from the sound of it as best he could but it echoed all around him.

“The little psychic,” murmured Detraf in his oily tone, and his image appeared in front of Alaster, observing him with an amused expression. “In my own city, no less. No, don't bother to deny it, you could not be anywhere else or I would not have found your sleeping mind with such ease. You are like a beacon, Mr. Gwillemin, calling me to your location. Did you want me to find you, pet?”

“Like hell!” Alaster snarled in return. Fear, though he hated to admit it, had become a normal feeling to him since his sister and the nelf kidnapped him from Vana Vale. However, there was nothing else he feared like he feared this man. Detraf was too powerful and Alaster had always known instinctively that he was no match for the man. That they seemed to share the same ability only made this worse.

The image of Detraf circled around him. Alaster tried not to panic and kept himself still, knowing that he couldn't fight the darkness that had left him immobile.

10: Your Water – Parker Milsap & Sarah Jarosz

(Alaster & Blue)

“I was fumbling and frustrated.

I was sluggish and sedated.

I was worthless, I was wasted.

I was blind up until I tasted

your water.

It floods my memory

and it quenches my soul.”

“My people have the right of it,” Alaster sneered. “Love is a fantasy. All that matters is position. My fiance, for instance, is from an influential family and our marriage would have been advantageous for both of us.”

“Rather dull way to look at it,” said Blue with a frown. “Anyway, the two of them would be a lot happier if they'd sort this out.”

“The two of who?” Alaster asked as he took a drink from the whiskey flask. He handed it back to the nelfkin.

“Kniles and Zi,” said Blue, yanking the flask from his hand. “Ain't you been listening?”

“Not really,” the fairy replied with very little shame. “Are we still on the Kniles and Zi thing? It's a bit creepy, isn't it? She's, like, twelve years old and he's a grown man.”

“She's seventeen and he's three years older than her,” Blue corrected him.

“Dear gods,” said Alaster. “They're hardly more than babies. Give me the whiskey back.”

“You're an asshole,” said Blue but she handed it back to him anyway.

11: I Belong to You – Brandi Carlile

(Blue)

“Last night I had the exact same dream as you.

I killed a bird to save your life

and you gave me your shoes.

You said clip my wings and walk my miles

and I said I would too.

And I woke up but I wasn't gonna tell you.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Blue scolded, rolling her eyes.

“A man has needs, you know,” said Alaster, earning himself an exasperated look from Blue. “Well, he has!”

“I think you'll be alright. It's more important to learn what we can from this place.” Blue reached out and took a book from the shelf, cracking it open. She grinned when she saw that it behaved like a real book. It was a volume on early Elf music. “She must have read a lot of books.”

“Surely not all of them,” Alaster remarked.

“Of course not, this is just what she remembers the library looking like,” Blue replied. She replaced the book on the shelf and pulled down another. A smile tugged at her mouth as she remembered the last time she'd been in a library like this. She stole a glance over her shoulder at Alaster's blue eyes. There was no denying that he was a very pretty man, and those eyes had captivated her from the moment she first saw them.

It was peaceful here in the library. Lately, her conscious moments had been full of turmoil. It made her feel worse for Alaster, knowing he'd lived with it longer than she had. The crystals took a toll, but they could be mastered. She would master Codex soon. Leffi's memories told her that it was only a matter of practice, but Leffi had never known exactly how Cerebrum worked, as Trynace had never explained it to her in detail.

Alaster seemed at ease here, however. His posture was relaxed for a change. It seemed like he was always uptight and anxious, but here he held himself with an easy grace, as though he was completely at home. It kind of made her happy that he felt at home in her mind.

12: Yours To Bear – honeyhoney

(Alaster)

“I don't wanna fight with you, baby,

but it's just that you've been in my way lately.

And I'm feeling bad about feeling crazy.

Oh, I don't wanna fight with you now.

No, I don't wanna let you down,

drop your body to the ground,

leave you off at the lost and found.

Watch another love come around.

I don't wanna let you down.”

“Blue is going to be okay,” Fae said. “She's tough. Have some faith in her.”

Alaster nodded absently, though he was far from reassured. The nelfkin looked even more like a child than usual when she was unconscious, but at least she didn't look like she was in pain, despite how pale she was. She wouldn't like knowing that, he thought. She so proud, even more than he was in many ways. Well, if he was being honest, she had more right to be proud than he did.

Over the course of this quest, Alaster had grudgingly made friends with all of his companions, with the possible exception of Gwuryn. Then again, Gwuryn had brought him the water to wash his hands. The knight was at least an ally.

But Blue was different. She had been from the start.

At first, he'd hated her so much for kidnapping him and forcing him to leave his home. And yet, she had been kind to him. Even when she lost her temper with him, she still went out of her way to make sure he was alright. She'd probably pitied him at first, or maybe she still did, Alaster wasn't sure. Whatever the reason, she'd become his confidant, and a source for good advice, and she always had a bottle of liquor on hand when Alaster's flask ran dry. It hadn't occurred to him before how much he'd come to rely on her presence.

13: You Can Close Your Eyes – Curtis Kamiya

(Blue)

“So close your eyes, you can close your eyes,

it's alright.

I don't know no love songs, and I can't sing

the blues anymore.

But I can sing this song and you can sing this song

when I'm gone.”

“Oh.” Alaster picked at an invisible thread on the sleeve of his tunic. Looking at him a little closer, Blue noticed the dark circles beneath his eyes that were even more prominent than usual. He looked as tired as she felt.

“You idiot, you're not sleeping, are you?”

He blinked at her in surprise. “What? Of course I'm sleeping. ...Sometimes.”

“Sometimes? Like when? Like when you pass out from sheer exhaustion because a mortal body can only go without sleep for so long?” Blue jabbed him in the shoulder disapprovingly, and then drank the last of the water in the canteen before handing it back to him. “Cain't say I blame you. Who knows if that bastard could catch you like that again? If it was me, I doubt I'd be able to sleep at all.”

Her companion's complexion was quite pale now, more so than usual. Alaster swallowed and looked away from her.

“Then you understand,” he said.

“Understanding it don't mean I approve.” Blue jabbed his shoulder again. “You have to sleep. Don't be stupid.”

14: When The Stars Go Blue – Ryan Adams

(Alaster)

“Where do you go when you're lonely?

Where do you go when you're blue?

Where do you go when you're lonely?

I'll follow you

when the stars go blue.”

She leaned over and closed the distance between them with a kiss. Alaster returned it with fervor, his free hand reaching up to cup Blue’s cheek. She could feel how tense he was. Poor thing, she thought, imagining how stressed he must have been.

Breaking the kiss and pressing their foreheads together, Alaster muttered, “You have no idea.”

“I’m proud of you for being so brave,” she told him with a grin. She squeezed his hand to reassure him. “I said I wasn’t gonna leave you, Al. Not yesterday, not today and not tomorrow. I promise you that we’re gonna survive this quest.”

Alaster’s gaze fell to their joined hands. “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, nelfkin.”

“When I make a promise, I always keep it,” she replied stubbornly. “Face it, buddy, you’re never getting rid of me.”

He sighed shifted closer to her. Blue rested her head on his shoulder, and Alaster let his cheek fall against the top of her head. This moment of peace wouldn’t last long, she knew. When their friends started to wake, Alaster would put distance between them again. She understood this. It was hard for him to be open about how he felt.

“Hey Al,” she murmured. She felt like testing something. “Love ya.”

Alaster tensed for just a moment before relaxing against her. He let his thumb stroke Blue’s hand in an unusually affectionate gesture. “... Yeah. Me too.”