#aphmau became a furry

[schyrosoreffs]

i needed an excuse to draw pdh garrancemau *shrugs*

[solardistress]

my old sketchbooks are just FILLED with furries and angeldevils like . hello . what influenced this

[stellisketches]

MCD: Holiday Special!

Enjoy this pure shameless fluff for the holidays. It’s also on my AO3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27531154/chapters/110204355

“Garroth! Help! Something’s wrong!” 

Garroth’s feet were already on the ground before he had even opened his eyes after being awoken by Aphmau’s cries. He had only spent the previous night at her house at the request of Zoey, who needed to take some time off from looking after Levin and did not want to burden Aphmau as she had spent the entire previous day performing a variety of hard, laborious tasks in and around the village. He had agreed, after getting Aphmau’s blessing approximately twelve seconds before she collapsed into her bed in exhaustion. 

He had been sure to give her a blanket due to the growing cold. Her house’s “open” layout, while almost completely non bothersome to Aphmau, had been something of concern for him since its reconstruction. While Phoenix Drop close proximity to the bay meant that they were guaranteed mostly pleasant temperatures during spring, summer, and autumn— the threat of storms and fronts during winter time made having a roof a reasonable necessity.

Garroth rushed up the stairs from the cellar, panic overtaking the smack of cold air against his skin. His eyes having barely adjusted to the light, he called out to her: 

“My Lord, what’s wrong?”

“There’s stuff,” Aphmau, who was bundled in at least three blankets, pointed to the corner. “It’s covering the whole town.”

Garroth furiously rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the white blob on the wooden floor. Stuff? What could she mean? For a horrifying moment he believed it to be asbestos— some alchemist’s experiment gone terribly wrong— before his eyes finally settled. 

He stopped, brows knit in confusion. Surely she wouldn’t be panicking over what he thought it was. He took a step closer, grasping it in his hand as confirmation.

“My Lord, it’s just snow.”

Aphmau still looked shaken and confused. “Snow?” She asked.

“Have you not seen snow before?”

Aphmau’s already frost-kissed face became even redder, shaking her head. Looking back at the pile of frost. “So that’s…normal?”

Garroth gave a sigh of relief. “Yes, My Lord. It’s normal.”

Aphmau brought the blankets tighter around her face. “Oh.” She mumbled. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Garroth breathed. “I’m just glad you're safe. Although I must insist that you find some warmer attire. By the divine, I can’t believe you were able to sleep through the night without freezing half to death.” 

Aphmau gave a sheepish smile. “I’ll, uh, go change.”

Garroth nodded. “I’ll give you your pri-”

He just remembered his own attire: A simple cotton shirt and thin woolen pants. 

Also, his armor and helmet was back in the cellar. 

Shit. 

Aphmau came to this realization as well. “You can go first,” She offered.

“That is quite alright, You can go.”

“Well, thing is,” Aphmau shifted in her mass of blankets. “I don’t actually have anything warm.”

In her defense, Aphmau had only been conscious for a little over four and half months. No one had thought to explain to her something so instinctually known as changing seasons, so she had not thought to prepare for the incoming winter. 

Garroth mentally scolded himself for not realizing this himself. He thought for several moments, trying to think of how the situation should be mended. 

“I see. I’ll go to Logan and purchase some warm clothing for you.” 

Lightning fast, Garroth changed into his armor and secured his helmet. 

Opening the door must have been equivalent to sounding an alarm bell to Aphmau’s dogs, as he had barely opened it halfway when five furry blurs charged up the stairs and bolted out.

The hill on which Aphmau’s house sat provided a picturesque view of the village blanketed in white. A good six inches had fallen over Phoenix Drop. He could see several smoking chimneys in the distance. Several bundled figures walked up and down the pathways. The dogs were ecstatically rolling in the powdery ice, yapping and burying their snouts to fling snow off the ground. 

With Garroth gone, Aphmau was unsure of what to do. The warmest clothes she had were some mid-calf shorts and a white frock top. Plus a pair of wool socks Donna had given her after she kept getting blisters from her old boots. Still wrapped in her blankets, she traveled into the cellar and changed. Levin was twice wrapped in fleece and wool, swaddled so thoroughly only his eyes and cherry-colored nose peeked out. 

Carefully, She put him in her sling that pressed him firmly against her back, providing another cherished bit of warmth for her. 

Hardly a moment after she finished settling him, a knock rang from upstairs. 

“Coming!”

Brendan and Kiki’s warm, grinning faces waited outside. Kiki immediately presented her with a steaming, cloudy drink, to which she heartily accepted. The drink was thick and sweet, with a charming peppermint aftertaste. Brendan held a strange contraption: curved wood with metal lining two parallel edges, and a rope wrapping around the curve and connecting into a reign.

“Hey Lord Aph, ever gone tobogganing?” Brendan patted the contraption. 

She shook her head. 

His grin only got wider. “Wanna try?”

☬

Garroth sighed as he looked at Logan’s stall. A large wooden sign hung between each of the market posts. “CLOSED” was carved in thick, poignant letters. 

‘Six hells,’ Garroth thought. He should have known no shops would be open in this weather. He had already passed Logan’s house on the way over. He saw steam rising from it, a sign that some sort of life was occupying it. He knew it was unlikely for him to be received well, but it wasn’t like he had many other options. 

It’s not like he could just stand around and let his Lord freeze. As head guard, it was his duty to provide his Lord with whatever she should require. 

He sighed once more, gazing at the distant rising smoke. 

☬

“Feelin’ comfy, Lord Aph?” Brendan turned his rosy face back towards her and his sister. 

Aphmau stood last in line on the wooden ‘toboggan’— well, technically next to last, as Levin still gurgled happily on her back. 

They were positioned at the top of a hill parallel to Aphmau’s own. Only slightly smaller in height and nearly as steep. 

Aphmau hugged Kiki close, pushing through her nervousness.

 “Yep,”

“Y’all ready?” Brendan tested the reins. 

“Ready steady,” Kiki chirped. 

“Ready, I think…” 

“Here we go!”

Brendan pushed forward, and all in a flurry they were descending down the hill. The wind slapped her face and Levin let out a loud, ecstatic squeal. Faster, faster, the adrenaline bloomed in her chest like the fire of a hearth and warmth spread throughout her entire body.

“Turn, dammit! Turn!” Kiki yelled. Something beneath them shifted and Aphmau realized the toboggan had gone airborne.

For all of five wondrous seconds, she felt true bliss, laughing and flying over her village. 

Then all three (and a half) of their bodies lifted off of the sled and torpedoed into the banks of snow.

“Brendan!” Kiki dug herself out of the mound. “I told you to turn!”

“I was trying to!” Brendan pouted, brushing off his jacket.

Aphmau popped out of the ice like a sprouted daisy, laughing wildly. Levin joined her with delighted hiccupping giggles. 

She shuffled over to Brendan, snow stuck in her hair and grinning like a child.

“Can we go again?”

☬

Donna handed Garroth the warm clothes. 

“That should take care of her.”

“Thank you, Donna, I owe you.”

Logan had all but slammed the door in his face when he came knocking. Donna had been his last resort, seeing as she looked over a house that held a multitude of women. It was the only other place he could think of that could possess the necessities he required. 

“No sir, this is the least I could do. Poor girl must be freezing her toes off without any fleece or nothin’. You make sure she stays warm, now, y’hear?”

“I will, I promise.” 

“Take care now. And tell her she can come over for a cup o’ stew if she feels like it.”

Garroth smiled underneath his helm and nodded. 

Donna had given him a bountiful hand. Two wool pants, two sweaters, three long tunics, an embroidered vest, a fleece cloak the color of wine, a scarf, a pair of gloves, and a small pair of coal-colored leather boots. 

Garroth felt proud of himself. He had exceeded his duties in retrieving proper attire, and it pleased him to know that Aph- His Lord would suffer through the chill no longer, and would soon be bundled and cozy. Perhaps he should gather some wood for a fire after he delivers the clothes. Surely that would make her most comf-

A shadow eclipsed the sun above him. The silhouettes and sounds of a crashing toboggan and three screaming persons drew louder, and before he could fully process what was happening he received a Lord and infant to the head. 

Together they crashed into a snowy bush, collecting a fine dusting of white to their attire. 

“Lord Aphmau?”

Aphmau giggled out an apology. “Whoops, Sorry Garroth. Brendan tried to turn.”

“I told you, it’s those stupid reigns!”

“How many times do I have to tell you to learn how to turn, goddamnit?” Kiki shouted from a different bush.

“Why don’t you try it next time?” Brendan shot back.

Garroth hoisted both himself and his Lord up, swearing underneath his breath. “Divine be good. Brendan! How could you let her go outside in these conditions? She has no cloak, no sweater, she’s freezing half to death! The last thing she needs is to catch a chill.”

As he was lecturing Brendan, Garroth had absentmindedly begun to dress Aphmau in the clothes he had brought her, with Aphmau being strangely compliant throughout the whole ordeal. It wasn’t until he had wrapped the scarf around her head atop her cloak and two sweaters that she finally spoke up. 

“Garroth, it’s alright. I wanted to go out.” 

Garroth finally paused, and gave a deep sigh. 

“I understand, My Lady, but it’s important for you to stay warm. The last thing we need is for you to catch a chill and become sick.”

“I know,” she whined. “But still, I’m fine. We’re just having fun. You wanna join us?”

Another long sigh. Garroth slowly turned around to face Brendan, and began walking at a slow, steady pace.

Brendan held the toboggan out in front of him as a shield. 

“Pleasedon’thurtmeIpromiseIwasn’ttryingtodoanything-”

Garroth plucked the sled out of his hands and tucked underneath his arms. 

“I’ll steer.”