#first drabble of 2025 and its persep :(

[sasster]

Renovations

Hey guys! Hi! [doc]

—

Were he a notch higher on the go big or go home scale, and if the universe would have allowed for it, Persep might have blown his dreadful apartment building and all of the poor bastards it housed off of the face of Alternia.

They’d probably have thanked him for that too, but something about the smothering desperation that the place was steeped in made it difficult to actually want to do away with. It would have been enjoyable, even, if he weren’t just as miserable as the rest of them.

Instead of putting them all out of their misery once he’d had enough of the place, he instead decided to go out and set some much neglected plans in motion.

Finding a hive in his preferred setting, a heavily forested area as far away from civilization as to not be an inconvenient trek back as he could get, was the easy part. Apart from city-dwellers, trolls tended to want their territories a decent distance  from other trolls. As far they could get them, really. And after a handful of perigees as a city-dweller himself, he would have found a way to put his new hive on the green moon if it meant never seeing another unwanted soul in his space again.

That would have made the next phase of his plan way too difficult though and he always prided himself on his ability to remain practical.

Persep had hoped that the hive he found would be an abandoned one, considering that his change in status from ghost to reaper meant that killing anyone was a new and frustrating impossibility, but scaring the former owner away was easy enough. He was young and, by his own admission once Persep’d bared his fangs, didn’t want any problems.

The hardest part was getting the structure up to the standards of his old hive, the beautiful and towering omen that it was before that party of ingrates reduced it to ash. It was a marvelous place of stone and nightmares. Edgy by anyone else's standards. This new one was much smaller by comparison, hidden amongst the cover of the treeline instead of standing dauntingly above it. The mid-blood he menaced out of it had neither the funds nor ambition that he’d had when it was time to construct.

There’d be no room for a gruesome collection of lifesized 1:1 ration puppets or a maze of halls within to stalk and disorient his guests. Not even any space for a vivisection table without disrupting the delicate balance of the hive's two bedrooms and living room.

Much of the hive was decorated to his tastes, at least. His collections of old artifacts weren’t what they used to be, but he made do, and of course the look wouldn’t be complete without the porcelain dolls he loved so much that made direct eye contact with the observer from whatever angle they approached from. Those soulless glass eyes painted the rooms and halls a shade of dread that cured his heart of the homesickness plaguing it since his return.

The renovations were not fully complete until he finished the second bedroom, though: soft pastel walls peppered with floating shelves full of books that staggered along a wall to a window he’d made certain to force and break the lock on. His plan required that his guest be comfortable after all, but in no position to make daring escapes.

Persep admired the circular bed and its canopy that rested near the window, delighted with the fruits of his labor. A bedroom that came to him in a dream, now complete and waiting for its occupant to come and make use of the vanity, dresser, and table he’d painstakingly arranged from memory.

A thank you would be appreciated, he thought, once his guest arrived.

Thumbing the glassy rock in his pocket, he smiled to himself, satisfied that he’d taken all of the necessary steps to see a deal fulfilled at long last.

And so he left his new home, stopping once he was outside to take in the exterior of all his hard work, then headed off toward the House of Restoration with an uncharacteristic pep in his step.

—

One of the better results of having a vagabond soul meant that traveling by the cover of Alternia’s blistering sun was of little consequence to him. As much as he enjoyed creeping in the shadows and flirting around the fringes of the consciousness of the layman, he didn’t fancy the idea of moving about in conditions that provided for that irritating Roatus kid to be up and about, making things much more difficult than they had to be. He liked the idea of Arkiro being fast asleep or otherwise occupied with whatever the daylife had to offer him.

Persep arrived at the church steps as the sun was approaching its apex, painting the landscape in its eye-searing rays. Just as he was going to learn how good the building’s sun-proofing systems were, the ornate handle on the front door turned and it was pushed slightly ajar from the inside. Someone carefully stepped out into the light, making certain not to open the door too wide as to let in too much sun, then closed it gently behind herself to mitigate any slam.

Persep felt himself grin at the familiar sight of her tail, fanned out as she closed her eyes and soaked in the warmth that the sun bathed the world in.

What luck.

He bounded forward eagerly, grin only widening in his fervor, to stand directly between Nymira and her sunbath. 

She furrowed her brows first at the sudden shade, then frowned. When she opened her eyes again horror joined the symphony of emotions clouding her features. If he had to guess, he would think she’d wandered out here in some sort of daze.

The corners of her mouth twitched, and she had enough sense to focus her gaze beyond his face despite the obvious discomfort stirring within her.

He said nothing for a moment, basking in the situation for just a short while.

Nymira took the time to try and get her way back into the church, only partially getting the door open before Persep made quick work of leaning forward with a hand pressed firmly against it, letting his own weight force it shut.

“Why the rush, Dreamer? No time for an old friend?” As soon as he broke the silence, her attention snapped back to him, still focused on anything but his eyes.

Smart girl.

“Why are you here?” She questioned, no doubt fighting to keep the fear out of her voice.

“We’ve much to discuss. Business matters to attend.” 

Nymira sniffed, a small indignant sound, and crossed her arms over her chest. “I am not looking to bargain with you again.”

“No?” He practically laughed, his mirth only barely held back. “Good thing you’ve yet to fulfill your end of the last one.”

He watched her resolve waver, his statement lingering in the air between them. She furrowed her brows again, horror quickly replaced by bewilderment, and dropped her hands to silently count her fingers by tapping them against her thighs.

“I went home,” she finally said, “Our dealings are finished.”

“‘Whatever you want,’” he echoed her promise. “I have yet to receive what I want, Godling.”

She hesitated, then made to take a step back, only managing to press herself against the door. “That is not what I meant… You know that wasn’t what I meant..”

“I’ll be collecting now.”

She made herself small against the door, voice ever smaller. “No…”

“That really isn’t how this works.” He warned, leaning in to further loom in the space she left behind.

Like a wild animal, her eyes darted around from his face to the space behind him either searching for an exit or someone to call out to. Then, with no warning at all, she reared back and drove her foot directly into his shin.

The smug look left his face in that instant, he hissed some expletives under his breath without letting up from the door, so she took her chances darting down the church steps, away from him.

Persep recovered faster than she expected, letting out another string of curses before giving chase, and tangling a hand in her hair to pull her back just as she cleared the bottom step. “I see you weren’t raised to play nice.” He gritted, fighting to get the fidgety goddess under control. “Will we be doing this the easy way?”

Nymira, stubborn as she can be, kicked back as hard as she could, striking him in the same leg as her first assault. When his grip loosened up, she made another run for it.

 “Shame on me for being polite.” He bemoaned, making quick work of running after her as she put distance between them and her only solace. Disoriented by fear though, she did not get very far before he was able to get his nails into her shoulder and turn her back to face him with such force she had no choice but to stop. 

The purple light emanating from his eyes spilled a ross her face and poisoned her features as they finally made eye contact. “The hard way it is.”