#birds are sooooo hard for me to draw but I’m working on it

[nyaagolor]

More Gyaku Shaun sai hanri AU stuff!! Canary in a courtroom and uh…. I can’t think of a Badger pun

[lollytea]

Girl Talk

(ngl I hate this sm. I wrote this fic yesterday, the file corrupted and i lost everything, had a breakdown, rewrote everything the next day because I am obnoxiously stubborn. Anyways Hunter and Luz content. Bon Appetit?)

(READ ON AO3)

“Okay, but what am I even supposed to say to her? Oh! Maybe I could write down some jokes on the back of my glyph slips in case things get awkward. Wait, no, I don't want her to think I'm not taking this seriously. I don't need to be goofy all the time just to hang out with her. I need her to know that I'm serious about her and this whole...romantic thing. And I know she gets upset when she thinks I'm making fun of her so...”

“Alright, so, get this. It says here that there was once this old witch who lived on the outskirts of Latissa and his whole thing was experimenting by mixing paints and magic together. Apparently the stuff he created was like....super powerful.”

“I mean, she said she likes me 'cause I'm goofy and funny and lovable and...and...and I'm sure there's other adjectives I could use but I'm drawing a blank here. So, who am I to deprive her of what she signed up for? But I can't just....ugh, I can't even think right!”

“It doesn't have a lot of info on his specific technique but I'm sure if we did some more research, we could successfully replicate his experiments. We're pretty good at figuring stuff out. Woah, wait. I wonder what would happen if we created glyphs with this paint....maybe it would enhance the spell's level of power. Oh, that would be so cool!”

Luz stopped pacing, the floorboards practically burning after she thoroughly wore down the surface with her frantic footsteps. She set a hand on her hip and turned a withering look on her guest.

“Call me coocoo but I don't think you're listening to a word I say.”

Hunter lifted his head to blink up at her, chewing on the end of a pen. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, boxed in by towers of Eda's Wild Magic books.

There was a glassy look in his eye, as if he was trying to get his bearings after being abruptly yanked out of an alternate dimension.

He had been, in a way. Luz was inclined to call it “Booksville.”

When Luz first met Hunter, this sort of stuff was a big, huge No-No for him. She could've invited him to take a look at any one of those books, packed with information on that obsession of his and of course, he'd be crazy with intrigue but he would hesitate. If he even opened the book at all, he'd card through the pages with an almost jumpy sense of caution, as if the paper itself would sting his fingers.

Well, that ship had certainly sailed. It had taken him a while to get fully comfortable but nowadays, Hunter didn't ask twice before digging into the contents of Eda's books, soaking up every tidbit of every sentence until he had exhausted every page.

He had even brought his own index flags to mark his favorite passages. He had gone on a little rant earlier about how Eda was an outright maniac for dog-earring the page corners.

Luz made a mental note to never show him the state of her Azura books. He would probably cry.

Hunter had become so lost in the Wild Magic sauce, he didn't even seem to care about the fact that he was not supposed to be here.

Of course, Eda didn't mind that he was here. That is to say, Luz didn't technically tell her he was here. She and King were currently out, being menaces to society and all that fun stuff, as they usually were before Luz would sneak Hunter in.

So, to be fair, Eda had never specifically said that Luz was not allowed to let The Golden Guard of the Emperor's coven into their home.

It was probably fine, right?

Yeah, it was probably fine that Luz had been hiding The Golden Guard of the Emperor's coven in her bedroom like some kind of forbidden pet.

Speaking of forbidden pets, that precious red cardinal of his was perched like a Christmas decoration atop his shoulder. That little rascal did wonders for Hunter. He seemed so much cuter than he was when there was an adorable little palisman snuggling up to him.

Once Hunter had processed what Luz said to him, his features screwed up tight. He was offended.

“Whadd'ya mean I'm not listening? I bet you can't repeat anything I was just talking about.”

“Ugh! Yeah, Hunter, I heard you. Paints! You wanna start painting as a hobby and let me just tell you, I fully support your budding creativety and will hype up your work with my entire heart but please. Right now I am having a full blown Amity Calamity!”

“Yeah, okay, that is not what I was talking about. Also, I get that you're freaking out n' all but....what do you expect me to do about it?” He threw his hands about wildly, at a complete loss. “Man, I don't know anything about that stuff,”

“I don't knowww....” Luz groaned. “I just....ugggghhh.” She buried her head in her hands, ruffling her hair into oblivion, like it would miraculously stimulate her brain cells into action. It released some pent up frustration, at least. “I wish it was easier for us to just talk about girls together.”

Hunter perked up. “Talk about girls? Are you kidding? Of course we can talk about girls, dummy!”

“Wait, really?” Luz asked, taken aback by this apparent development.

“Yeah, for sure. One sec,” Buzzing with eagerness, Hunter dove into his stacks of books, emerging seconds later with a worn, dust encrusted volume. It was so ancient, the title had faded away but Hunter still put his finger to where the big letters should be.

“Notable Female Witches of The Savage Ages,” He rattled off delightedly. “They were considered the mothers of Wild Magic. Their style of spell was really quite advanced, see they--”

Despite her frayed nerves, Luz sill managed a weak laugh.

As insufferable as he could be sometimes, she really did like this nerd a lot.

“Okay, Hunter. Buddy,” She said gently. “This stuff sounds really cool and I wanna hear all about it at some point buuuut....when I say girls, I mean...y'know. Amity specifically.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah.”

Hunter's face fell with disappointment but he was quick to snap back into a look of cool indifference. He shut the book in his lap with a soft thump, set it aside and turned his full attention to Luz.

“Sooooo...” he began awkwardly, scratching at his ear. It could not be more obvious that Hunter wanted nothing to do with this discussion. But Luz appreciated that he was trying. “Girlfriend problems, huh? Shoot.”

Luz's cheeks darkened. “Heh. 'Girlfriend'. Yeah, that's...uh...” She was suddenly very inconvenienced by the existence of her own hands so she clasped them together tight to keep herself from fidgeting. “That is.....a word for Amity.”

Hunter frowned, puzzled. “Okaaaay? So, what's the issue?”

“Ohhhhhh, boy.” An ironic, long suffering smile stretched across her face. “Let me just tell you that there is a lot goin' on up here, pal.” Luz tapped her finger against her temple. “So if I'm gonna give you the full unabridged version--”

“You could summarize it.”

“You know I don't know how to do that.”

“Yeah, I know.” Hunter sighed. “Figured it was worth a shot. Okay, let's hear it.”

“Alright but this is gonna be a lot so I suggest you strap yourself in,”

Luz sucked in a deep inhale, with full intent to let the entire flood of thoughts cascade out her mouth.

Hunter's eyes snapped to the floor, like he was actually looking for a safety harness to attach himself to. Then he seemed to realize that was ridiculous, as he scowled to himself. Little Rascal chirped and he irritably mumbled something under his breath in response.

And then Luz took off.

“Alright, so!” She announced, clapping her hands together. “So me and Amity have known each other fooooor...a while now? Yeah, it's been a while. And we've been pretty good friends ever since and then one day, she rescued me from her scary mom and she had this black flowing cape and her voice went all low and then suddenly, huh. Doki doki, y'know?” She thumped a fist against her chest. “I was gettin' all feelings-y up in here,”.

“And then a little later I figured out that we were both feeling kinda feelings-y and I was all like,” She mimed a brain explosion. “Pshww....”

“Pshww....” Hunter repeated quietly, testing out the little sound effect on his tongue. “Doki...doki....?”

“Yeah. Exactly. Doki doki. Pshww.” Luz nodded, as if he had made a valuable contribution. “So, now we're both here in the same boat, fully shish kebab-ed by Cupid's arrow.”

“Hold up. What language are you speaking?”

“And things are....great? Nice? Sorta hard to believe but stuff actually happens. We hold hands a few times, we...” The volume of her voice dropped to a bashful murmur. “we kiss a few times. There was so many beautiful, amazing romance-y moments that happened, just like in movies, y'know?”

“Movies....?” Hunter's bewildered stare turned from Luz to the bird on his shoulder, as if he was going to get any further clarification from either of them.

“Right! But here's the thing. It sorta feels like all that stuff just went by in a blur. I don't even know how I did any of that. The hand holding, the smooches the....ugh! It was like I was on autopilot or something and now I have no idea how to operate. Now, no matter how hard I try to get the vibe right, I can recreate those moments. So now it's starting to feel like...I don't know how to do anything!”

Luz's arms were whizzing around like an out of control windmill.

“I mean, Sure, Amity takes the lead sometimes but I can't make her carry this entire....relationship? Flirtationship? Whatever it is that's happening here! I gotta act or something! But I've been thinking about it waaaay too much. I never know the right time to hold her hand, I never know if she wants me to tell her she looks cute or if now maybe isn't the right time or...it's awkward, okay?! I've been making it awkward 'cause I don't know what to do! I-I don't even know for sure if we're dating! We've never talked about it!”

The last sentence came out as a squeak and Luz realized she had used up all her oxygen and needed to take a breather.

Hunter had not said a word but Luz did not know what to make of that dissecting stare of his, that studied her with a mixture of confusion and fascination. Like she was some kind of peculiar animal. A flushed, panting, peculiar animal.

“So.” He said finally, holding his palm out for Little Rascal to migrate from his shoulder to his hands. “Why don't you talk about it?”

He asked like it was the obvious solution. Luz was a little irked by it, but she kept her patience.

“Oh, Hunter. Sweet Hunter.” She heaved an exhausted sigh. “It is not that simple.”

He still didn't seem to understand. “Well, why not?”

“'Cause it's--.....Uh.” Luz trailed off, twirling her wrist around as if expecting to snatch an eloquent articulation out of thin air.

“Okay. Lemme put it like this. Amity is....really special. To me. Sometimes I still can't believe that she's real and she's friends with me and she likes me and....whew.” She pressed her fingertips to her cheek, surprised by the warmth. Even thinking that sort of stuff prompted a blush or two but it seemed saying it out loud made her face scalding.

“Anyway, now that we're going through....this, everything feels so much more....fragile?” Her voice rose in pitch, uncertain if 'Fragile' was even a suitable word to describe her feelings. It was just a vague, wishy-washy concept to describe.

“Like I feel like I could break it all so easy, just by....” Wait, she knew. She had figured out her handle on this.

“Just by being me.” She felt an ache just by admitting it, but it was the truth. Luz exhaled unsteadily to compose herself, clasping her fists tight into the fabric of her shorts and she continued...calmly.

“I can't risk doing anything that's gonna push her or make her uncomfortable or scare her away or...y'know, ruin this.” She held up her palms with a heavy shrug. “I-I don't have a plan and it would be way too reckless to wing it. Who knows what would come out of my mouth? She tells me a billion times that my weirdness is what she likes about me but...it can just as easily be the thing she hates if I overdo. I can't overdo it.

Luz was expecting Hunter to look at her like she was dumb again, but surprisingly, he nodded. A slow, thoughtful nod, as he absentmindedly scratched Little Rascal under the chin.

As the silence filled a little longer, she was starting to believe he had nothing else to add, which was fine. She had wanted to rant her heart out but realistically, she couldn't imagine Hunter having any advice for her. This wasn't exactly his area of expertise.

“Hey, Luz.” He said at last, voice surprisingly breezy. “You know those books that you really like? Uhh, with the nice witch Azuzu or whatever,”

“It's the Good Witch Azura!” Luz snapped, hands flying to her hips. “And I know you just pretended to not know her name. You're just trying to be cool.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The corner of Hunter's lip tweaked upwards. “And wasn't there that other witch that you liked to pretend was Azura's girlfriend?

Luz scoffed, finding it utterly unbelievable that this obnoxious little man had the audacity to be so dismissive towards her favorite book series, when she had been sweet enough to smuggle him in here.

“She was not her 'Girlfriend', she was her 'Soulmate' and if you even listened to me talk about it, you would know that. For your information, her name was Hecate and she began as Azura's rival but over the course of the series, they developed a beautiful, unbreakable bond that was jam packed with heavy romantic subtext. I mean, even their declaration of their eternal friendship in Book Five, which was really emotionally poignant by the way, reads so much like a love confession, it's a crime. And it's like...Ladies! Just kiss already!”

“Okay. Right. Sure. I understood some of that.”

“I mean, I guess I've read a ton of Heczura fanfics to tide me over. It's hard to find a fic where they don't kiss. Hold on, you know what fanfiction is, right?”

“Yeah.” The light in Hunter's eyes dimmed. “You made me sit through that three hour long slideshow presentation, remember?”

“Oh, right,” Luz popped a finger gun. “That was fun,”

It was fun, but a lot of work. Hunter was pouting over losing a measly three hours of his time. Well, newsflash, nerd, Luz spent two weeks working on that. Nobody is getting their hours back.

“And what usually happens in those fanfictions?” Asked Hunter, propping his chin up with his hand, as Little Rascal hopped over to a pile of books. “How do they end?”

“I told you, they kiss. A lot of the time they look deeply into each others eye and talk about how they complete each other like two halves of one heart. And y'know, moments of miscellaneous fluff.”

“Uh huh. Interesting,” He mused, tapping his pen against his bottom lip.

Luz knew Hunter could be a little...eccentric but was he really analyzing fanfiction right now? Where did the sudden interest come from?”

“So, uh, besides Azura and Hecate, are there any other...boats(?) that you--”

“Ships.” Luz corrected him.

Hunter snapped his fingers. “Right. Ships. Basically love stories that you really like.”

“We talkin' canon or non canon?”

Hunter squinted at her, lost. Seems somebody was not taking enough notes during the slideshow presentation. “Both? A-all...?”

“Oh, well, there's a bunch.”

Luz had no intention of listing every single ship that had captured her heart. They would be here all week.

“I've spent my whole life reading books, watching movies and anime and--”

“Anime...?”

“Hunter, please!” Luz squeaked as calmly as she possibly could, but she could not deny that she had started to vibrate. “You have no idea how excited you just made me at the thought of teaching you about anime but I'd need to dedicate a whole day to that 'cause I need to meet Amity soon and I'm still sorta in crisis mode. So, let's stay on topic.”

Her brow furrowed. “Whatever the heck the topic is! Why are we talking about ships, Huntifer?”

He waved off her question. “Okay but how does the story usually end for all your ships? The book ones, the anime ones, all of them,”

“We've been over this with the fanfiction discussion. They kiss, Hunter. Geez, you want a diagram or something?”

“But what else?” He prompted.

“What do you mean 'What else?'”

Now this was just getting ridiculous.

“They kiss!” Luz said with a huge amount of emphasis. “And again, miscellaneous fluff. They'll do stuff like pick each other up and swing around, hold hands and....walk off into the sunset, y'know?” She waved off all that extra padding as unimportant to the conversation. (Though Luz did really enjoy miscellaneous fluff.)

“Well yeaaaah,” Hunter was giving off vibes of a grade school teacher who gave her little nudges in the correct direction but ultimately wanted her to figure out the right answer herself. She wished he could just give it to her because honestly, she didn't know where this any of this was going.

“But when exactly do they ask each other if they're dating?”

“Whaa?” Well, that settled it. He had paid no attention to the slideshow whatsoever. “Nah, nah, they don't do stuff like that. They don't have to 'cause they're already perfect for each other. All they gotta do is look into each others' eyes and they just...” Luz shrugged, feeling lightness bubble in her chest at the very thought. She had a feeling her smile looked pretty dopey. “They just know.”

“Right. And why don't you and Amity just know?”

The bubbles burst and the lightness turned to dead weight.

The question speared through Luz's gut. Her entire body went rigid.

She had known but...

She had been trying not to...

Not to think about it.

Because if she thought about it, she knew she'd cry.

But there is was. A culmination of every coil of underlying dread that had been gradually writhing in her stomach in a monster of anxiety, summarized in a short and sweet collection of simplistic little words.

Luz did not just know when it came to Amity. She was constantly taking shots in the dark. That is, if she was even brave enough to take a shot at all.

The two of them together were not as seamlessly synchronized as couples in love were supposed to be.

Her throat stung.

Her vision went cloudy with blotted tears but she managed to catch Hunter's stony expression break into one of sheer panic.

“Wh-- Luz! Hey!” He yelped, scrambling to pick himself up from the floor. He nearly tripped over his books as he stood and hurried over to close the distance between them. He made to reach out to her but his hand stopped, just as it was about to brush against her shoulder. It hovered there for a moment, fingers curling and uncurling with uncertainty.

“Luz, listen, I wasn't....I-I mean, what I meant was...uhh. C-c'mon, cut it out!” Hunter's voice crackled with desperation and despite crying her eyes out, Luz felt the watery chuckle at the back of her throat.

“Aww, does crying make the Golden Guard uncomfy?” She tried to tease but her words came out all wobbly.

In fairness to the poor guy, it probably did. Luz couldn't imagine that dealing with tears in a delicate matter, was ever something he would need to handle in his line of work.

For all she knew, this was his first time having to comfort someone like this.

“You don't get to make jokes and cry at the same time. You gotta pick one.” Hunter snipped, but his tone was not nearly as cutting as usual. Luz was almost tempted to call it soft.

Clearing her eyes with the heel of her hands, she finally felt that warm touch on her shoulder, and then another rest against her upper arm.

Somehow the gentleness cracked all her remaining composure and she dissolved into ragged sobs.

Hunter did not speak nor did he let go out her until she got every tear out of her system. He waited patiently, tracing circles with his thumb into her skin.

Eventually, her sniffles fell silent and her eyes no longer blurred. She took a deep breath and the following exhale was shaky but manageable.

“Are you....good?” He asked cautiously.

Luz nodded.

Hunter removed his hands so carefully, you'd think doing so would cause her physical pain. He must have heard once that people were more prone to being hurt when they were already upset and assumed it was literal.

“Do you really think that...Amity and I....” Luz's voice was low and quiet but her jaw was set tight. She refused to let her words be whimpered. She looked up, meeting Hunter's eyes. “Aren't right for each other?”

“What? No! No, no, no,” Hunter looked positively alarmed at the accusation. “Luz th-that's not even remotely what I meant by that.”

“Well, then I guess you accidentally hit the nail on the head.” Luz managed a strained, bitter little smile. “'Cause it's true.”

“Luz, c'mon,” Hunter groaned, exasperated. “Don't talk like that, you've got it mixed up.”

“No.” Said Luz, tone quiet, polite yet strikingly obstinate. “You were right, Hunter.”

For someone who loved being right, he didn't seem thrilled at all.

“When it comes to Amity, I don't just know. I don't always know what she's thinking or what she wants from me. After all this time, I-I shouldn't still be trying to figure her out,”

Luz wanted to figure her out. Every time she was in her orbit, she wanted nothing more to turn over every last piece of that girl and find every hidden gem.

But now, it like she was barricaded. Something was keeping her from moving forward, from discovering Amity.

“I mean, we've kissed.” The memories of Amity were turning more and more bittersweet by the second “I told her I loved her! We had our happy ending already! A-at least I thought it was a happy ending. But we're not acting like people who are made for each other are meant to act!”

“How do you even know how people who are meant for each other are meant to act?!” Hunter demanded, as though it wouldn't reach Luz's skull unless he raised his voice. “In all the love stories you've read, it always ends with a kiss, doesn't it?”

“And--”

“And miscellaneous fluff. Yeah, I get it.” Hunter shooed the detail away before clearing his throat.

“Point is, they never talk about what comes after. You don't read about all those awkward talks where they decide if they're dating or not and talks about what they're okay with and what they're not. It always just cuts to the perfect, shiny romantic stuff, all tied up with a bow and because of that,” He clutched Luz by the shoulders.”You don't know how to move forward in a relationship 'cause you've never had a frame of reference to help you along.”

“Hey, that's not true!” She tore away from Hunter's grip. “I'll have you know that I imagine my favorite ships as couples all the time,”

“Yeah and lemme guess,” He droned, setting a hand on his hip and launching into a mockingly saccharine tone of voice. “They understand each other soooo well all the time, they can practically read each others' mind and everything is smooth sailing and peachy all the time.”

“Yeah, duh.” Luz didn't quite what he was making fun of. “That's what being a ship is all about.”

“Okay, fine, maybe, but I cannot stress this enough,” He ran his fingers through his hair before making a cutting gesture with the side of his hand, directed at Luz. “You are not a ship.”

“Well, yeah, obviously. I'm only one--”

“I mean that the two of you aren't a ship! Listen to me, you're not Azura and Hecate. You're Luz and Amity. You're real people. You've got like a million different emotions and they're messy and crazy and you don't understand most of them.”

“Okay, Hunter, I get it, I'm a hot mess. You don't have to rub it in.”

“We're all hot messes, Luz!” He exploded. “Every single one of us. 'Cause we're real and not book characters.” He was pacing back and forth now as he ranted and raved, gesticulating like a madman.

“We gotta handle all the awkward conversations that don't fit into books. You gotta talk to real people to get them and you can talk to them for years and years but you're never gonna entirely understand them. In your love stories, it's all kisses and happy endings and it's shiny and sparkly and perfect and nerds like you Eat. It.Up!”

Hunter emphasized his point by poking Luz's forehead, shocking a startled laugh out of her. As wound up as he was, the noise surprised him too.

Her laugh was contagious and soon the room was silent, expect for the sound of quiet, breathy giggles.

One of the knots in Luz's stomach had untangled itself. Hunter did make a point that she could understand. Yeah, okay, maybe she had been a little too wrapped up in fiction to successfully navigate through her own life. Luz had never been the most logical person so it was comforting for a levelheaded counter-argument to whatever was currently inflaming her anxiety.

Obviously, this didn't fix everything. Now, she understood why this wasn't easy but that didn't mean she magically knew where to go from here.

Once the shadow of Luz's smile had finally faded away, she looked up and studied Hunter for a long while. Her gaze may have been a bit intense as nervousness began to creep into his features.

“H-hey. Uh. Sorry if I was a little too--”

“Huntifer, I think you might be on to something with this one,”

He blinked at her before brightening with relief, shrugging it off. “Oh. Yeah, maybe. I dunno, I guess it's worth some thought.

Astonishing how Hunter could switch from the cockiest, most obnoxious kid in the Boiling Isles to a remarkably humble guy. Maybe it depended on context. Or he was just embarrassed that he sorta lost control of himself in his impatience.

Luz nodded. “I'd say a lot of thought. But..I think things are still gonna be awkward. With Amity. I still don't know how I'm supposed to talk this stuff through with her.”

Hunter snorted, loosely folding his arms over chest and resting his weight on one hip. And just like that, with that simple change of posture, he looked full of himself again “You wanna know a secret that's probably not much of a secret?”

He beckoned Luz to lean in closer and said in a stage whisper. “Amity probably doesn't know either.”

Huh. Yeah, Luz knew that. She knew that at the back of her mind but...she hadn't really thought about it much. She was a little too preoccupied with her own inexperience.

Hunter's lofty grin softened. “So, it's a good thing neither of you are doing it alone, right? Don't you think you could figure out how together?”

Figure out how together....

The realization sank from the surface of her mind, and everything was processing very fast then suddenly, everything clicked.

Amity.

Luz knew Amity. Luz trusted Amity. Luz loved Amity. If there was any person Luz believed would stumble alongside her through things they didn't quite understand yet, it was Amity. And it occurred to her that Luz would help Amity in return without hesitation.

With enough notches and trimming and smoothing edges, if they worked through this together, Luz and Amity could click too. Maybe not perfectly, not for a while just yet.

But enough that they could make each other happy.

A swing of confidence so strong flooded Luz's system, she swore she nearly collapsed. She felt the grin tugging at her mouth.

She could try. She could absolutely try. They could both try.

“Is...that a yes?” Hunter asked, gauging her expression.

Luz nodded so speedily, it made her head hurt. But then she realized something else and she turned a very specific look on Hunter.

But before he could ask if she was about to attack him, she held up two fingers on each hand and then placed them on either side of her head so they jutted out just behind her ears.

“Man, I don't know anything about that stuff,” Said Luz, in what she believed to be an uncanny imitation of Hunter's voice.

He frowned. “What are the theatrics for?”

“You lied to me!” Luz was delighted.

“I-I didn't lie!” He loudly objected, pointed ears scorching bright pink. “That was just common sense, you doofus. You know, that thing you lack.”

“You know, that thing you lack.” Luz parroted, swinging her hips from side to side. Once again, her impression remained flawless.

“Don't do that!”

“Don't do that!

“Stop, you weirdo!”

“Stop, you weirdo!”

At the peak of riled up, Hunter floundered for a retort that Luz wouldn't shoot back at him with childish mimicking. But then he cracked and wound up sticking his tongue out at her.

Luz simply mirrored him and Hunter huffed indignantly, turning on his heel and stomping back towards his books.

He had barely made a few steps when Luz lunged at him from behind, draping her long, lanky arms around his shoulders.

“Wha—Hey! Get off!” He squawked, struggling to pry her off him as Luz squished her cheek against his.

“Huntifer~” She singsonged. “Can you please calm down for two seconds and let me say thanks already?”

Hunter knotted his arms and his scowl didn't soften but Luz didn't miss how he stopped trying to squirm out of her grip.

“Even though you were kinda rambly and all over the place, what you said helped. It helped a lot. I know this is something I can handle and I know that 'cause of you. Thanks, nerd.”

She waited patiently until she felt his shoulders loosen. And then he glanced back at her and there was a smile. A small, tight, subtle smile but it was good enough for Luz.

And then with a burst of adrenaline, she gripped him tighter and planted a big, wet raspberry on his cheek.

Predictably, Hunter blew his top. He screeched furiously and his hands went wild to push her off but Luz was stronger than she looked. And so help her, she would give Hunter this affection or die trying.

Dying trying did not seem unlikely, actually. Hunter had told her once before that if he ever murdered her, it would probably be her own fault. Luz could not argue with that.

“That is so gross!” He griped, once Luz had finally released him.

“You're gross~” She chirped, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Hunter wiped the spit off his cheek with his palm before looking up at Luz with narrowed eyes

Luz did not have time to brace herself and suddenly she was tackled to the ground. She kicked and she screamed as Hunter dragged his disgusting wet hand across her face.

“GrossGrossGrossGrossGrossGrossGroooooss!”

Hunter cackled maniacally the whole time.

They carried on like rowdy toddlers for a while until Luz had to go meet Amity, leaving Hunter and his palisman to themselves.

It was too weird to admit out loud but he was disappointed that she was gone. Hanging out with her like this wasn't that bad. Talking with her, arguing with her, wrestling with her. It all made Hunter feel....so much like a kid.

Something that he had realized recently was that he still liked being a kid.

In spite of the doom and gloom of white of gold, of the clawed scars in his shoulder, of the spear that grazed his hair, a spark of childishness remained in Hunter that had never been entirely snuffed out.

It wasn't until he met Luz that he began actively trying to keep that spark alive.

The sun had long since fallen asleep by the time Luz returned and the moon was pooling in the sky. A little after sun down, he heard the downstairs door slam shut and the loud exuberant voice of The Owl Lady boomed from the floorboards beneath him. By the sound of it, she was celebrating a successful day's work. Hunter wondered what she and the cute little demon had managed to steal today.

His snoozing palisman was tucked snug in the crook of his neck, a pleasant warmth against his skin. It was a good idea to keep the bird close. If someone other than Luz came barreling into the room, he'd better have his staff on hand to magically conceal himself.

But once an hour passed and the chatter of the witch and the demon below gradually faded into loud snoring, Hunter presumed they had passed out on the couch. For the time being, he should be fine.

Hunter hoped that creepy owl tube thing wouldn't rat them out. Fortunately, Luz had promised that Hooty was willing to take a bribe but unfortunately, gossip spread fast in the Boiling Isles. Now The Golden Guard had a reputation for being a lunatic who visited the night market several times, buying dead mice in bulk.

He snorted to himself, combing through 'From Bones to Fire: A Study of Wild Magic Volume 2'. Everything he went through just to get his hands on knowledge.

Well, also to be young with Luz.

Yet another hour passed and somehow, being surrounded by his own obsession, Hunter got a little overstimulated. To give his brain a rest, he was now flipping through some tattered old magazine that Luz brought with her from the human realm. Some of the articles were practically gibberish to him but overall, it was okay. He learned he was a Scorpio. He didn't know what that entailed but it sounded cool.

He nearly jumped out of his skin as Luz burst into the room, announcing her return.

Startled, his palisman flew into a fluster, cheeping like crazy before it settled down atop his head. Hunter, meanwhile, had flung the magazine away so fast, it was like it had contaminated him, and snatched up the closest book to pretend he was reading it the whole time.

Thankfully, Luz didn't notice.

“Hey there, Little Rascal,” She cooed, prancing across the room and plopping down next to Hunter. “And hey, you little bookworm, you.”

“Bookworm?” Hunter knocked his shoulder against hers. “You looking for a fight, kid?”

“Whaaaat? Hunter, you wound me, I was just....Ohhh, my bad. I always forget that our bookworms and your bookworms are two waaaay different things.” She paused thoughtfully before shaking her head. “Actually, I don't retract anything. You look like a bookworm.”

“Yeah, well, you smell like a selkidomus.” Hunter smirked.

“Hey!” Luz bumped their shoulders. “Can you blame me? I've had one heck of a day with lots of nervous sweating!”

He was surprised that got him laughing but that tended to happen around her.

“So, how'd it go?” Hunter asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Luz's beam was as bright as a dozen of her light spells. The corner of her lip was twitching, as if she wanted to smile wider but it was physically impossible.

“We're dating.” She stated, no more than a whisper.

It obvious since the moment she entered the room, far bouncier and bubblier than usual but Hunter still grinned.

He had expected her to scream it from the rooftops, to grind his ribcage into powder with the force of her hug, to set off a riot of firework glyphs, spelling it out in lights.

No matter how she could have chosen to tell him, he would have been just as giddy as she was.

And yet, despite the lack of fanfare, somehow, it still felt so much like Luz. Though he knew that in the morning, she would tell the entire Boiling Isles, right here, right now, only Hunter knew. Something about that felt nice.

But the quiet serene scene was momentarily ruptured when Hunter spotted Luz re-adjusting herself out of the corner of his eye and he was immediately on high alert. Another raspberry, he could sense it.

“Luz, don't you d--”

It wasn't a raspberry.

The feather-light peck against his cheek was gone before he fully processed it, as Luz drew away with that big stupid smile still plastered on her face.

Hunter blinked away the surprise, looking to her with a raised eyebrow.

“What's that look for? In this family, we give each other hugs and kisses~”

He felt his lip quirk upwards as he scoffed, turning away with a shake of his head.

“That was so gross.”

“You're gross.”

“For real, it was even more gross than the raspberry.”

Luz burst into giggles and Hunter could understand why everything was suddenly a million times funnier to her. She will still fizzling with that giddiness that Amity had kissed into her and now it was all spilling out.

To be honest, listening to a teenage girl gush and squeal about her girlfriend did not seem like something Hunter would ever willingly subject himself to.

But this was Luz. His friend, Luz.

He lightly pinched the pudge of her cheek. “Heeeey. You wanna tell me all about it, don't you?”

Luz snapped her head over to gawk at him, astonished. And then the excitement took hold and her hands started flapping and she looked about ready to explode with delight. Her mouth was already flying open to give every solitary detail of her evening with Amity Blight.

But then she stopped, a crease forming on her brow. He caught that unreadable look she gave him and the way her eyes skimmed over the books that scattered the floor around them.

“Hmmm.” She stroked her chin with an over dramatic 'thinking' face. “Y'know what? I'll think I'll keep it all to myself.”

“Oh, really~?” Grinned Hunter. “I can only imagine all the romantic schmaltzy sickening stuff that occurred tonight. Miscellaneous fluff, right?”

Judging by the blood that stained her cheekbones, he must have been correct.

“Hey, Hunter.” She said quietly, resting her weight against his side. “You've been lost in your books for hours now. Would you mind telling me all about the most interesting you read about today? Reading myself is fine but it's way better to hear all about it from a bona fide nerd.”

Frankly, it was embarrassing how fast the giddiness practically electrocuted him and suddenly he found himself rambling. He rambled until his voice gave up but it didn't bother him at all because it was just Luz.

Luz hung on every word he said.

[grapenamjams]

French Knot

Genre: Fluff 

Character: Muriel from The Arcana 

A/N: I just need to tell you all that I am in love with this mountain man he has my whole heart!  

I also wanted to tell you a little bit of my apprentice MC who will be in this story. 

Her name is Eliza (she/her). She is 5′2 has brown wavy hair, brown eyes (with specks of green) she also has adorable freckles across her nose, lastly she has a artic fox, named Nell as a familiar who is enchanted to keep cold during the summer and whenever Nell walks she leaves behind snow prints on the ground (think of what Olaf from frozen has lol) 

oh! she is good at embroidery hence this stories premise, where she is teaching this big boy how to embroider. sooooo  yeah that is my apprentice I hope you like her!  

It was another calming day in the forest, the sound of birds filled the air and a rustle or two amongst the brush could be heard. The warm sun combined with a gentle breeze made it the perfect atmosphere for being outside.

Underneath the shade of the trees lay Inanna with her head resting on her large wolf paws as she tried to ignore the white arctic fox that was running around her wanting a chance to play, leaving white paw prints in the green grass. A few feet away from the canine familiars a little ways from the front of the hut, sat Muriel and Eliza both holding their own embroidery hoops. Ever since Eliza told Muriel that she loved to do embroidery when he was teaching her how to carve small animal figurines from wood he wanted to learn.

 “I want to learn to do something....you like too.” He said as he picked up his animal figuring suddenly finding something to fix when indeed there was nothing else he could do to it. Eliza spotted the red on the tips of his ears and and happily agreed that she would teach him. Muriel loved arts and crafts, if it was carving into wood, creating protective charms, Ever since he was little, when Asra and him would make masks to sell for the masquerade He liked the feeling of knowing that he could create things with his own hands and that they were not only used to destroy. and so, if he could create something of his own in a craft that Eliza enjoyed and made her happy he would do it, no matter how many pricks to the finger he would get by moving the needle through the Cotton fabric. 

 Eliza had showed him the basics. how to create a design, how to outline and how to fill in spaces using satin stitch, with that knowledge he could complete any design he wanted. He had been practicing for days now, if these were the basics then why were they so hard? He grunted when he poked his finger again, a tiny pinch not enough to draw blood. Muriel glanced at Eliza sitting next to him, her face had a peaceful look on it with a small smile pulling on her lips as her hands wove the needle and thread effortlessly, leaving in its wake a Beautiful forest design with different shades of greens and browns. Muriel looks back at his design and huffs in disappointment. His outline was a bit messy the stitches different sizes, but he was determined to finish it so he continued his work in filling the yellow petals.

 Eliza was lost in concentration, her hands moving on their own. repeating the same movements over and over calmed her usually racing mind down. She loved the sound of the needle piercing the fabric and the soft hum of the thread making its way through when she pulled. As she finished her thread and tied it she heard Muriel grunt in annoyance. She couldn’t help but smile, looking over at him she saw his eyebrows furrowed and lips pressed together. It made her heart swell to see him so determined at doing something that she found enjoyable. Eliza loved seeing him thread, his large calloused hands gently pushing and pulling the small needle through at his own pace. although in the beginning he would pull to hard and snap the thread or create a hole in the fabric and he would turn red and apologize for doing so but Eliza laughed softly and reassured him it was okay.

 Peeking over his arm she could see why he was annoyed, he had managed to create a tangle while filling a petal. he was trying his best to undo it but was Causing it to be tangled further. She didn’t want him ruin his work that he had done already.

“How’s It going?” She asks

 “Not.good.” He mumbles back

 She chuckles “I see, you want help?” Muriel nodes shyly and gives her the hoop, she takes it and examines his work. “Muriel you did sunflowers! They look great!” She beams at him, he averts his eyes “I know you like them.” Her heart swells again at the thought of him doing her favorite flowers for her.

 She looks at his piece again and can see that he got better at outlining his filling is a bit loose in some areas causing the tangle. “Looks like you got a tangle, these are common in filling” she picks at the tangle “remember to try to keep your thread a bit tight when filling or else your threads get intertwined when you push the needle back up again.” Muriel hums in understanding beside her, peering over her to see what she was doing. After a few moments she was able to salvage his work and undo the tangle.

 Eliza smiles, happy that she managed to save his carful handiwork. “There you go! You were lucky, some tangles can’t be saved and you would have to start again” she hands him back the hoop, which Muriel takes from her. She pulls her knees up to her chest wrapping her arms around her legs as she looks at Muriel finish up the petal on his last flower and tie it off. He gets the brown thread from the box which holds all of Eliza’s embroidery supplies. He separates the thread causing him to move his arms making the muscles there move and Eliza feels her face get slightly warm from watching. He is good at putting the thread through the needle first try once done he goes to start on the center of the flower but Eliza speaks up.

 “There’s a stitch that is mainly done for sunflowers to make it seem a bit more realistic, I can teach it to you?” She looks up at Muriel and automatically smiles at him. he looks at her, notices her smile and his face has the smallest tint of red on his cheeks, he nodes “okay.” Enjoying the feeling of how teaching him something new makes her happy. Eliza scoots closer to him to see his hands. “Alright! So this is called a French knot.” “What’s French?” He asks curiously from above her. Eliza pauses she never really had given thought to the name before. “Um, I’m not sure? Maybe it’s from the place it was created? Or maybe... it sorta sounds like a bread” She thinks, Muriel gives a chuckle “you always think about bread.” She hums at the idea of getting some warm bread from the bakery, “because bread is good! I can’t help myself, it’s soft goodness is a blessing I say” Muriel shakes his head and chuckles at her, ‘so Appreciative of the small things.’

Eliza Focus her attention away from the idea of fresh bread and starts to explain. “So the knot is pretty simple but might take a few tries so don’t worry. First, start your stitch” Muriel pulls the thread through at the center. “Then you wrap some of the thread around the needle twice” the big man follows as instructed “good, now pierce through near the same point you came through, and make sure to keep holding the rest of the thread in your left so it can make the knot tight...aaaaand go through” Muriel moves the needle through but dosnt manage to create the knot instead the thread disappears all the way through. She sees him pout “I didn’t do it.” He says, she pats his shoulder “it’s okay, it took me a bit to get them too but you have the movements down, it’s all about this left hand here that’s holding the rest of the thread, depending how tight you pull determines the firmness of the knot”

“Hmm I wasn’t pulling that hard...that’s why it disappeared” Eliza nodes “right!”

“How...tight does it have to be?”

“Hmm it’s best if I show you, so you can feel it” Eliza leans over him placing her hands on his, she could feel Muriel suck in a breath at her closeness  and it makes her blush. This was an awkward angle she was leaning sideways and couldn’t really help him thread. “hold on I can show you better like this” Eliza Scoots towards Muriel and gently moves his arms away so they are opened as if for a hug, she then sits down in front of him her back resting lightly against his broad chest. She places her small hands on his large gentle ones and begins to do the same motions she taught him guiding his hands.

 Once she was seated in front of him Muriel’s head stopped working. all he could focus on was her body pressing against his large one, he covered her with his body protecting her from all sides. They had sat like this many times in front of the fire at night but it never fails to make him flustered, he doesn't know if he will ever get truly used to touch from all of the years he was starved from it. But despite that He finds himself leaning forward seeking out her comfort, he can feel his heart beating hard against his chest as Eliza moves his hands while explaining to him the technique, but his concentration was elsewhere.

He looked at her pink lips as they moved, he tried to count the small freckles that laid across the bridge of her nose and looked at the way her eyes turned a honey brown with hints of green hidden inside them underneath the sun. The light from the ever descending sun touched her face making her seem to glow. Or maybe that was just the way he always looks at her, a glowing light in his dark world.

He loved her. In all his life he didn’t think he would fall in love with Someone the way he had with her. In moments like these is where he thanked every being that was in charge of fate and chance for bringing her into is life and was especially thankful to her for not giving up on him, for understanding him and staying by his side even when he pushed her away. of course thoughts of her forgetting him and leaving still haunted the back of his mind. They brought a great pain to his heart at the thought of Eliza forgetting about him and all they had shared together. For so long he wanted to be forgotten by the world, saw it as a gift come true, when it was made possible. but with her, he never wants to be erased from her memory, her remembering him is enough even if they do part ways he wants to live in her memories. her being with him right now is more than he could ever ask for and he would hold on to her for as long as he could.

 Muriel realizes that he had rested his chin on her shoulder when Eliza gives a tug on his left hand finishing off the center of the flower with the knots she taught him. She ends the thread and holds up the hoop for both of them to look at as she fully leans back into him. Muriel raises his head to look and feels a bit guilty that he hadn’t been listening to her.

 “And there you go, it looks so nice Muriel! You did good” Eliza exclaims, she turns her head to look at his face and finds that he is looking down at her with a soft smile on his lips. Her eyes widen a bit as she realizes how close they are to each other. Muriel must have realized too because his face goes red. his eyes flicker to her lips and back up to her eyes quickly then back to her lips “you...um...are a good teacher...I guess”

 recovering Eliza smiles as his flustered state “Oh am I?” she says.  He nodes. “Well...I think it’s because you are a good learner” her hand reaches out to cup his cheek and with that she gives him a kiss, she pulls back slowly wanting to see what Muriel would do with the action. To her satisfaction, Muriel leans forward capturing her lips again with his. He drops the hoop and wraps his arms around her small waist pulling her into his large frame. He lets out a small hum against her as he kisses her again.

 Eliza pulls back with a smile on her lips to catch her breath and let her heart calm down, making the mountain man let out a grunt of disappointment, but just as quickly as he did  a blush forms on his cheeks, Muriel hides his face on the crook of her neck in embarrassment.

 “You must like these lessons, huh?” Eliza teases him.

 “I think I might need more of them....if you want that is” Muriel mumbles against her shoulder. Eliza laughs “of course” she reaches her hand to his head and brushes her fingers through his dark hair “we can have all the lessons you want” Muriel tightens his hold on her from the feeling of her hand in his hair. He gives a small peck to her neck “good.”

 For a few moments they stayed like this hearing the sounds of the forest as the animals within were getting ready to say goodbye to the day. each other’s presences was so soothing that Eliza was tempted to fall asleep. But a loud grumble Broke through the serene atmosphere. Eliza’s face turns bright red as she jolts up and clutches her stomach who was the one to blame for the grumbling. “S-sorry!” She squeaks, Muriel laughs at the noise coming from such a small figure and how its now her whose hiding her face against his chest. “I guess that means it’s time for dinner?” He says with a smile and he rubs her stomach, Eliza giggles at the sensation. There was a small pause until Muriel speaks up again “how about we go to that bakery you like?”

 Eliza sits up surprise on her face. “Really? Are you okay with going? We don’t have too, there’s food inside. I’m good with eating the food that’s here” Muriel smiles at her rambling, knowing that she would settle for eating here so he wouldn’t have to go out makes his heart flutter. she always wants to make him comfortable as can be, always looking out for him he’s so appreciative of it that’s why he wants her to be always happy and content. and so if that means going out to the city to go to her favorite bakery then he will do it. for her.

 He shakes his head “if you want. We can go. There’s maybe not a lot of people out” he looks at the evening sky, the wind changing into a chillier breeze. He looks back down when he feels cold paws on his thigh, he reaches and pets the Arctic fox who closes its eyes at the affection. He turns back to Eliza “I think Nell wants to go too.” He says, earning a laugh from her which catches her familiars attention and goes to her sitting on her lap. Eliza scratches Nell’s head, making small snowflakes fall onto her skirt. “Well I think that settles dinner then?” Eliza talks to her fox and looks up at Muriel “I would love to go with you” he feels the all to well known warmth on his face and dares himself to lean over to her and kiss Eliza on the forehead “then let’s get going.”

[rainywritingsx]

Request: Can I get a bnha matchup please? ;u; I'm a transman, 165 cm, 20 and bi/pan with no gender preference. I'm usually quiet/reserved, monotone/boring when spoken to, but once a subject of interest is brought up, or when im with someone I'm comfy with, my personality does a 180 - I'm loud, sarcastic, and annoying. My sense of humor is all over the place lol Ive been told that I'm "old in spirit" bc I'm really mature when I need to be, even if most of the time I act like I'm 5 lmaoo

I'm pretty chill for the most part, idc what u do as long as it's not hurting anybodyhdjdh im also rlly stubborn but a huge pushover, dunno how that works. I'm both carefree and a worrywart (to both others and myself) and I typically hold my emotions in cause I don't wanna bother others. I try to help others 24/7, even if it affects me negatively. Uhh physically speaking im a lot stronger then look, and I own literally no nice clothes lol its all graphic Ts, cargo pants and hoodies for me

I'm a huge ass nerd when it comes to anything science related, especially paleontology + herpetology. I love all animals (no phobias) and I have 3 snakes whom I adore. I also like to draw and write occasionally. I have severe MDD and SAD, so even with meds I can have really bad depressive episodes and/or panic attacks. This is getting super long so I'll stop now fjfkh thank you !! Sorry if I repeated info I got a shit memory

Before I start, I personally have no experience with MDD or SAD, but I did look up both disorders and I hope that what I wrote about them is okay. If you’d like to correct me, please feel free to do so ^^ 

I’m sorry that this is so long lol, but I wanted to discuss as many things you noted as possible ^^ Hope you enjoy it!! ^^

Reminder that as of right now, requests are closed!

I ship you wiiiith

Hawks!

Your personality reminds me of a rainbow in a way? So, I feel like Hawks would never ever find a day boring with you! Since he has this whole thing of people calling him fast etc, I lowkey get the idea that that also applies to his personal relationships, so having someone with so many fun personality traits is perfect for him.

I think Hawks is mature in a way, just like you are. I mean, he started his own agency at 18 and a few years later he is the number 3 Hero, that definitely does something to you. So I think it’s nice to him that you are the same, while also remaining carefree most of the time. It makes his busy and serious life a bit more fun.

Your chill attitude is yet another thing Hawks loves, since he wants to be that way as well. Also, with his job, he most likely can’t always tell you everything about it for safety reasons. As for whether it’s hurting people… He can’t always promise you he won’t do that, but he will let you know it’s always with good intentions. Villains can’t always be defeated with just talking to them.

It kind of warms his heart when you are worried about him. I don’t think Hawks is really the type to fall in love easily, so if he had any relationships before meeting you they may not always have been genuine. While part of him likes it, he also doesn’t want you to worry. He always promises to come back, and it does make him a bit more careful when patrolling, because the last thing he wants to do is upset his wonderful boyfriend.

Now, when it comes to you keeping in your emotions, this is where it gets a bit difficult. I don’t know exactly how much time you two will be able to spend together, so he may not always be able to be there for you when you’re having a hard time. However, while Hawks appears to be chill, he’s also smart and analytic and notices when you are feeling down. He won’t force you to tell him what is wrong as he knows it’s hard for you, but he does reassure you that you’d never ever bother him and he will always listen to whatever you have to say. However, if it seems to go on for a long time, he might push you a bit more, simply because he knows keeping it in won’t do any good. But also here he can tell when it really gets too much, so if you still won’t tell him, he will be a little hurt, but definitely stop.

He thinks you’re the sweetest person ever, but he also worries about your well-being at times. If he sees you absolutely exhausted but still telling him everything is fine, he will just scoop you up and go somewhere so you can relax for a bit. Sorry not sorry :p

He thinks it’s kinda hot that you’re stronger than you may seem heh, like if you work out or just do something that requires strength and he sees it, he might make a flirty remark about it and appear chill but on the inside he lowkey panics because uhm what how is his boyfriend so attractive???? explain?

I don’t think Hawks cares that much about what you wear really, if you feel comfortable in it that’s all that matters. You could literally wear a potato sack and he will think you’re the most attractive person on the planet. He might even spoil you a little by buying you hoodies and other clothing which he knows you would love. And no, he won’t let you give it back, it’s yours.

I can’t really see Hawks being super interested in paleontology or herpetology, but he won’t mind you rambling about those things to him! While he might not always focus 100% on what you’re actually saying, he will study your face, smiling at how your eyes are lighting up and your lips are curled in a happy smile as you go on and on about it. If you catch him not listening to you, he will just make a remark related to your beauty, partly to see how you react and partly because he genuinely means it.

So you love animals? Bird boi is perfect for you, now he sees why you fell for him ;). He definitely likes birds, i don’t think he particularly adores any animals but I can see him strongly disliking some mammals like cats and dogs (I think these sometimes eat birds sooooo yeah..) He definitely thinks your snakes are pretty cool.

Hawks doesn’t seem like much of a reader, but he would definitely love to see your drawings! He thinks every single one of them is super awesome, and if you ever give one to him, he will definitely make sure it gets a special place in his house, a place where he can look at it easily whenever he misses you or just feels like it.

As for your MDD and SAD, at first Hawks will be clueless on how he can help you out. If you have a depressive episode that causes you to isolate yourself, he will definitely force you to go outside. It could be just walking to his place, or taking you on a nice flight at night over the city. Afterwards, he will bring you to your favourite restaurant or buy you food that he knows you love. You will also definitely be showered in lots of love and affection. If you’re uncomfortable with PDA however, he will only do it when you two are alone. He will also joke around and flirt with you just to see you smile, but if he sees it doesn’t help he will stop.

Same goes with your anxiety attacks, at first he’s completely lost on what to do. Hawks isn’t stupid of course, but he’s aware that every person is different. If he finds out about this before you have an attack, he will ask you what would help you in situations like that. However, if this happens without him knowing about it at all, he can recognise what’s happening and will do his best to get you to calm down first before talking about it with you. Hawks may not always seem like the most serious guy, but when it comes to you he’s dead serious and always careful. 

So, you’d be very lucky to have someone like him by your side :) Once Hawks is in a relationship, he will give his all. And any moment with him is definitely far from boring

[dreamingsushi]

Eternal Love of Dream - Episode 51

Fengjiu returns to Taichen palace where Bai Zhen has been waiting for her. It’s about time she goes back to Qingqiu as in fifteen days will be a very important day for Fengjiu: the hidden weapon ceremony. Bai Zhen says that if she didn’t come back in time, he thought he could transform himself to look like her and take her place, but since she came back on time, everything is good. She’s not ready at all, before being trapped in the Fanyin valley she didn’t start to prepare as there was no hurry, but then now... it’s a little time to get ready and she tries to convince Bai Zhen to go in her stead. He tells her that she’s still young, she can cut on her sleeping and prepare accordingly. This ceremony is very important.

Chengyu is finally relieved now that Fengjiu came back. And she even thanks Lian Song for that.Those two came a long way, he’s so sincere about courting her, even though she brushes him away all the time, it’s cute. Lian Song wonders how comme Cheng Yu hasn’t gone to see Fengjiu yet and it seems that’s partly because Donghua is a very possessive lover who doesn’t like being apart from Fengjiu and doesn’t like to share Fengjiu with others haha. No kidding. Pretty sure Fengjiu wants to be next to Donghua all the time anyways. But that’s just Lian Song’s guess. Actually it’s mostly because she’s working really hard to prepare for the ceremony.  She needs to make a box for it and it’s taking time. Lian Song says that won’t be a problem, since for sure Donghua is going to help her and he’s a pro at that kind of stuff (is there even something that Donghua can’t do properly in the first place? Except cooking). However Chengyu tells Lian Song that Fengjiu told her she doesn’t want to be all dependant of Donghua, she doesn’t want to be a useless thing by his side.  That’s very noble. Anyways, so basically, she won’t really ask for Donghua’s help and do most of the job by herself. They have a bet on it and Changyu says that if he wins, she’ll treat him to eat Fengjiu’s cooking and Lian Song is like... that’s not really a prize because if I dare to eat her cooking, Donghua is probably going to get jelly again and skin me alive. Donghua still helps Fengjiu, but more by giving her advice in the beginning and then she goes on her work by herself.

Miao defeats the Biyi bird clan tribe? Not too sure of what happened there, but they all vanish somehow. Well even trapped in, she’s a real bad ass powerful woman. Then she orders Nie Chuyin to get that rest of her energy sealed by Xu Yang faster than that. I don’t really get anything about how and why, since we always jump back and forth and everything. Perhaps I should have watched this with subtitles haha. Anyways, now Chuyin has to get her a hundred mo people per day, to feed her. He doesn’t really like that. Well, that’s what happens when you go against your on clan, it backlashes.

So, we have to add another hobby for Donghua on top of playing go and fishing and that would be to look at Fengjiu. I still can’t get used to that Donghua actually haha! But it’s kind of cute that he wants to protect her so much and takes such good care of her. He asks her when will she bring him to Qingqiu and she says when she convinced her grandmom and dad. Which she didn’t want to tell him, but ends up doing so unconsciously. I love how Fengjiu is so innocent in some ways. It’s sometimes, often, annoying, but it makes her super honest at some point. Except from when she pretends to hate Donghua. That wasn’t very honest. However, it worked in getting him to be interested in her.

Finally, Fengjiu finished her sword case and while Donghua is sleeping, she starts drawing a house which would basically be her dream residence. At first, I thought she was going to draw his portrait haha! That was so cliché though, I am glad that she actually drew something else. So when Donghua wakes up he has a look at the plan and isn’t happy about the fact that she gave him his own room instead of making one for the two of them. Then they talk about how many kids they want. Wow hahaha! They are not wasting any time with this relationship. They started dating, decided on marriage and they are already onto the kids. I think Fengjiu is still too young for kids. She’s still a kid herself. And Donghua is like... too old. He’s like... the granddad of all immortals xD I’m sorry, when I think of their age gap I just cringe a little. Usually, I try not to think about it. It’s weird though, because the age gap didn’t bother me at all between Bai Qian and Ye Hua. Anyways, then he takes her to sleep, but I guess they don’t just sleep. I’m pretty sure they are up to some night fun together haha. Donghua is sooooo a totally different person when it comes to Fengjiu.

Bai Yi is really surprised that Donghua himself would come to assist to Fengjiu’s ceremony: he’s not the type to come for that kind of thing. Zhe Yan is like, oh you will probably understand soon enough. Well, definitely. Say hi to your future son in law. Fengjiu asks Bai Zhen to come with her later when she introduces someone to the family, for moral support. I love how Bai Zhen is just both the best big brother and the best uncle. Wether it is Bai Qian or Fengjiu, they always come to him when they face trouble. Bai Qian was probably just a tad more independent though. Anyways, so it starts and at first, Fengjiu struggles at it. However, looking at Donghua, she remembers of what he thought her. She summons a piece of clothe to blindfold her eyes and she manages to win. Yay! But then, Nie Chuyin comes out of nowhere, hiiiiii is it me you’re looking foooor? Well basically, usually there should be a swording contest with a person from the same generation, but when Bai Qian got through that ceremony, they skipped that part because she was a girl and they thought it was unfair (so sexist, now Bai Qian could probably kick all of those people asses hahaha) and they weren’t planning on having anyone challenge Fengjiu. However, since it’s not an official rule, she can’t really refuse the challenge. Bai Yi tries to stop it, saying that Nie Chuyin of course isn’t a match for his precious daughter, but he argues that he meets the criteria. And Qingqiu really hates to lose face, so they can’t really say no, I guess they will have to oblige... yikes.

[seenashwrite]

I am considering getting an anti-possession tattoo, but I am afraid of needles. Do you have any advice?

Do I?!

I won’t ask what it is, exactly, that is trying to possess you. This is a personal matter, and I’ll assume you’ve chosen the correct design for your needs.

I shall also assume you’ll take in as finely-rendered design as possible, in black-and-white, no shading or such (unless another copy, just for their reference) so that they may clearly see what you want and make any transfers to a guide easier. I’ll ALSO-also assume you’ve vetted the shop appropriately via word of mouth and health department rating.

Having said that, what’s below is actually legit advice coming out of NashHole, Inc. for once, and I’ll shoot you straight, a bit from personal experience but mostly factoids body/anatomy-wise. Let us begin.

Sounds like this is your first one, yeah? Going off of that…

Keep it small. I don’t mean size-of-a-pencil-eraser small, I mean more in the range of fits-into-the-palm-of-your-hand dimensions at a maximum, in that ballpark.

Since you’ve got a needle worry, advise don’t go fancy - tons of colors (just one, maybe two) and shading and twisty-curlies and stuff that would make Escher tingly. Basic, basic, basic. Make this an in-and-out to the degree it’s possible.

No aspirin or ibuprofen ahead of time - the former thins blood, the latter can potentiate bleeding in some folks. Tattoos bleed, but shouldn’t go on and on and on, y’know? Think more like a moderately skinned knee - that kind’ve scattered action - no gushing or anything. Many tattoo parlors - the good ones - will refuse service if you come in and are clearly under the influence of something, be it painkiller pills or Xanax or alcohol or weed. You need to be able to give informed consent. Plus, does nobody any good if you’re puking or rambling or can’t focus on staying still. They’ll also stop cold (or should be) if you pass out.

On the subject of pre-medicating, don’t do any topical creams for numbing, if you know someone who’d write a prescription. They’re not meant for stuff like this, EMLA and others in that vein don’t penetrate to the layer where tattoos go, and are meant for one-stick jams (epidurals, port access, lumbar punctures, gums pre-Novocaine injection, quick piercings, etc.). Could it get you over the initial hump? Maybe. I’ve heard tale of it being helpful in things like the start of electrolysis in sensitive (read: genital) areas, and the quick boop! boop! boop!-s for radiation tattooing, and the start of more advanced things like wound debridement, but as for the latter, there’s very likely more pain stuff on board, as can be quite painful. I legit think it’s a waste of time and money, and that’s primarily because…

…about a third or so of the way through, you’ll notice that your body will stop going WHAT THE HELL, and it’s not that you won’t still feel it happening, but the pain receptors have gotten a handle on the sensation. The sharpness of it, for lack of better word, isn’t as striking to your brain anymore. And, of course, you’ve entered the situation by choice, vs. a situation that’s a surprise and starts setting off the whole flight-fight-freeze cascade. 

Having said that? The part about your body getting used to it? Location, location, location. Choose a place that’s between bony and smushy. Those areas are gonna hurt more. You want dense, firm. Places where it has some “give” when you push in. Like, feel around your neck. Notice how in front, you can press in a lot, then as you go behind, it gets firmer. Also notice the skin - more delicate, right? Steer away from delicate. So - top of feet, top of hands, inner arms, inner thighs. And for heaven’s sake, don’t go genitalia ballpark or ass or boobs/nips for your first time.

Some will say inner wrist or inner arm is ideal, but I’m telling you: with your needle thing, it’s gonna hurt like crazy. Other areas that will hurt like crazy are the bony parts - the ones you can’t mash very far in with your fingertips. So - ankle area, to be sure (unless you’re pitching it a decent distance above, more on your lower leg, inner or outer), clavicle area (collarbone), and - again - top of hands/top of feet/fingers/toes. I cannot emphasize how vascular the inner wrist and tops of hands/feet are; there will be more blood, there just will be, and methinks that’ll ramp your anxiety unnecessarily, just choose somewhere else. “But Nash, I’m not some skinny bird bones person!”  ::sighs:: This is punching deeper than you may realize, it has to in order for it to be “permanent” (they fade, as you know), so it’s gotta be a decent amount below the epidermis or else tattoos would slough away in a heartbeat. It ain’t gonna hit bone, but it sure as shit could seem like it to you, so just dodge that bullet for now, huh? Til you know how your body reacts to tattooing, pain-and-anxiety wise. You can always add to or get more.

In terms of location as related to time, and regardless of your personal body type/weight, go for as flat a surface as possible. That’s easier on the tattoo artist as well. And will help you stay still. So what are some good places that are firm but not bony or smushy?Biceps/shoulder, top of arms, top of thighs, calves, high pectoral (boobs), sternum (smack in middle of chest), possibly belly depending on your body/your weight, back of neck, and honestly, essentially the entirety of your back. Mine’s in the center of a scapula (shoulder blade), he just leaned me over a chair I sat in backwards, and my upper body was against the tilted headrest, folded my right onto a padded table he pulled over, rested my head on it, dropped the left (it’s on L scapula) to make it even surface. Piece of cake. Flat areas are also easier even if you’ve got pudge on a given place, because it’ll flatten in kind, whereas pudgy ass and big boobage just, like, spreads everywhere, it’s hard to keep it stable, so it’s gonna - naturally - take more time. Talking about your back, though, remember: if mid-back, the more it creeps around the sides, you’re getting into rib town, which - weight/amount of pudge aside - is a curved surface.

RE: the position I was in? Here’s my last tip in terms of location in the context of the needle anxiety: consider places where you won’t be able to see them doing it. This kinda goes with my “keep it small and simple” stance, you’re not gonna feel the need to watch them like a hawk to make sure they aren’t screwing up (plus, you should’ve already perused their portfolio of work to gauge their talent/style) and can concentrate on relaxing. Don’t bring a friend or family member who is giddy or hyper or chatty. Mellow. Mellllllllow.

Needle-wise, this is not like a vaccine or an IV or a blood draw, because we’re talking tiiiiiiiiny diameter and it’s sooooo fast. I mean, a stick’s a stick - it’s sharp. Different broad sensation, though, because of the rapid-fire and it’s a spread vs. concentrated in a single spot, and it’s not like a vaccine (deep into muscle) or Novocaine/Lidocaine for root canal/suturing (moderately deep/not into muscle) or an IV/blood draw (miiiildly deep, into vein) because those leave a bruise or lasting ache once all’s said and done. This’ll be sore and have some puffy inflammation when it’s over but more in the dermatology sense. You don’t feel like there’s this hole bored into you that’s trying to heal up, in other words. May get itchy later, too. (don’t scratch!)

Last, wear clothes that can slip off the area, or just one part can be taken off. RE: mine on the scapula - I wore a tank top and just took off my outer button-down, then slipped the strap and my bra strap off my arm. So think ahead depending on location - for instance, loose athletic pants with drawstring (scoots easy for lower back, rolls up easy for lower leg).

And remember: you can always stop. I know, I know, it might mean you’ve got, like, a line in bright purple on your lower back, but like I said, you can always add to it once you re-group, try again later.

[themisfitthrone]

i was tagged in 3 tag games in the last day or so and instead of making 3 separate posts in which i tag much of the same people, i decided to consolidate. i love you all who tagged me.

uh....idk if i have anyone to tag? you guys kind of covered everyone i WOULD tag. i guess @flowerparrish, @colormekorrasami, @jordanetalaredead, @megayest, @twin-ace, @lakesandquarries, @peachy-shrimp, and @hotdamnlookatthispan.... if any of these look interesting, you should totally do them!

okay everything under the cuuuuut

tag game number one: tagged by the sweetest human, @carrie-frances

what’s your favourite song(s) to sing/hum? this is a tough one? currently i’ve been singing You by Keaton Henson a lot and also Ophelia by The Lumineers. Let Her Go by Passenger is another goodie for singing lately. Oh and Lost Boy!!!! by Ruth B.

what’s your favourite flower/tree/plant? I love nature wow. My favorite tree is definitely a Weeping Cherry Tree or Willow. My favorite flowers are sunflowers and roses! Plants in general, I just really love cacti? It’s a product of having family I adore in Arizona haha

what do you always doodle? hm... cats, mostly

how do you take your tea/coffee? With plenty of splenda and some milk

favourite candle scent? Vanilla, mostly. just sweet things

what perfume do you wear? body sprays from bath and bodyworks, usually vanilla or peach

what’s your go-to dance move when you’re alone? i have zero clue haha

favourite quote? i don’t know off of the top of my head! perhaps the one i have tattooed, from star wars. “luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.”

favourite self care routine? putting on good smelling lotions. reading a book. snuggling oliver. calling someone i love.

fuzzy socks or house slippers? both! but mostly fuzzy socks

what colour are your eyes? just plain ole brown

what’s your favourite eye colour on others? idk? i think blue or green but i adore brown eyes on everyone

favourite season? why? autumn, i like the colors and the clothes and the smells

cheek, neck or nose kisses? cheek! but the real MVP are forehead ones

what does your happy place look like? the beach but without all the people. or a quiet forest with light filtering in

favourite breed of dog? i’ve always loved boxers the most, and cavaliers

do you ever want to be married? if so, what colours would you pick for your wedding theme? yes, i think i do? i don’t know what colors, it’s always changing. i think it depends on the person i’m with because their input would matter. i’d want the colors to be whatever colors they think of when they see me and vice versa

cursive or print? it’s a solid mix but mostly print

favourite weather? raining and warm, but not thundering

tag game number two: tagged by the amazing @dancyon

— What was your last…

1. Drink: iced tea

2. Phone call: my aunt calling with some hard news

3. Text message: my aunt with an update

4. Song you listened to: love me by the 1975

5. Time you cried: yesterday and i’m gonna cry later today @ love, simon

6. Dated someone twice: yeah

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: for sure

8. Been cheated on: by two different people, apparently im easy to cheat on

9. Lost someone special: sadly, i’ve lost a few

10. Been depressed: lmao got that good good depression goblin

11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: god yeah whoops sorry friends

— Fave colours

12. purple (any shade really)

13. blue (any shade really)

14. soft yellow

— in the last year have you…

15. Made new friends: ahhhh!!!! yes i have ♥

16. Fallen out of love: hhhhhhhhhh

17. Laughed until you cried: probably

18. Found out someone was talking about you: oh yeah

19. Met someone who changed you: yeah, in more ways than one

20. Found out who your friends are: idk???? kinda yeah

21. Kissed someone on your facebook friends list: uh i think i have my ex still

— General

22. How many of your facebook friends do you know irl: majority

23. Do you have any pets: my boy @ollycat and then my dogs and cats @ my parents house

24. Do you want to change your name: i actually did but now i’m back to my birthname bc being NB is one big ???? of what do i want 

25. What did you do for your last birthday: oh shit well w my friends i got drunk on rum, dressed up like a pirate, and played d&d. and then fam was the usual cheesecake factory adventure

26. What time did you wake up today: uh around 8 something officially?

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: i think i fell asleep before midnight? if not i was watching Critical Role

28. What is something you can’t wait for: my next tattoo!!

30. What are you listening to right now: just the sounds of my grandparents house

31. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: I have an ex named Tom and a Grandpa named Tom

32. Something that’s getting on your nerves: just like....everything about this breakup and stuff i guess

33. Most visited website: god uh...tumblr and twitter????

34. Hair colour: naturally a dark brown with some reddish in it. it’s currently died as close as possible to that

35. Long or short hair: medium?

36. Do you have a crush on someone: no currently i’m avoiding all romance like the fucking PLAGUE

37. What do you like about yourself: i’m pretty tenacious

38. Want any piercings: nah, i’m more the tattoo type

39. Blood type: ..............why

40. Nicknames: bird, birb, kbird, kbirb, broseidon

41. Relationship status: single

42. Sign: aries

43. Pronouns: they/them

44. Fave tv show: on air right now it’s b99 and the good place. in general, buffy and gilmore girls

45. Tattoos: i currently have 6 and i want sooooo many more

46. Right or left handed: left!!!!

47: Ever had surgery: tonsils and stomach yeah

48. Piercings: none

49. Sport: none currently but football (soccer) will always have my heart

50. Vacation: currently in arizona!! i’ve been all over though, i miss mexico a lot

51. Trainers:  what does this....mean....like.....shoes???????

— More general

52. Eating: currently nothing? 

53. Drinking: iced tea currently

54. I’m about to watch: LOVE, SIMON AGAIN BITCH!!!!!!!

55. Waiting for: life to feel right

56. Want: a nap, like always

57. Get married: okay your answer of “if i get past my commitment issues and find someone that loves me, sure” was fucking perfect

58. Career: teacher!

— Which is better

59. Hugs or kisses: hugs

60. Lips or eyes: eyes

61. Shorter or taller: taller

62. Older or younger: older

63. Nice arms or stomach: arms

64. Hookup or relationships: relationship

65. Troublemaker or hesitant: hesitant

— Have you ever

66. Kissed a stranger: nope

67. Drank hard liquor: hell yeah

68.Turned someone down: in high school yeah. and like once in college

69. Sex on first date: ........im an ace baby

70: Broken someone’s heart: supposedly

71. Had your heart broken: mhmmmm

72. Been arrested: nah, just brought home by cops

73. Cried when someone died: yeah, i cry at everything but especially death

74. Fallen for a friend: ..........only friends tbh

— Do you believe in

75. Yourself: trying to? cullen says my heart’s vibranium

76. Miracles: some days i do

77. Love at first sight: probably not, i used to though

78. Santa Claus: not anymore

79. Angels: i’d like to

— Misc

80. Eye colour: brown!

81. Best friends name: i mean..... jenny, ellie, michelle, and cullen? plus like max and jor, of course

82. Favourite movie: i guess the princess bride is the Most Favorite of All

83. Favourite actor: my MAIN MAN, hugh jackman

84. Favourite cartoon: danny phantom right now

85. Favourite teacher’s name: in HS it was mrs haley and in college it was dr trainor....grad school so far it’s been jen lynady

final tag game: tagged by the cutest, @blurredmxnds

bold the statements that are true

APPEARANCE:

I am 5'7" or taller

I wear glasses

I have at least one tattoo

I have at least one piercing

I have blonde hair

I have brown eyes

I have short hair

My abs are at least somewhat defined

I have or have had braces

PERSONALITY:

I love meeting new people

People tell me that I’m funny

Helping others with their problems is a big priority for me

I enjoy physical challenges

I enjoy mental challenges

I’m playfully rude with people I know well

I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it

There is something I would change about my personality

ABILITY:

I can sing well

I can play an instrument

I can do over 30 pushups without stopping

I’m a fast runner

I can draw well

I have a good memory (lmao about some things???)

I’m good at doing math in my head

I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute

I have beaten at least 2 people in arm wrestling

I know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch

I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES:

I enjoy playing sports

I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else

I’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else 

I have learned a new song in the past week

I work out at least once a week

I’ve gone for runs at least once a week in the warmer months

I have drawn something in the past month

I enjoy writing

I do or have done martial arts

EXPERIENCES:

I have had my first kiss

I have had alcohol

I have scored the winning goal in a sports game

I have watched an entire season of a TV show in one sitting

I have been at an overnight event

I have been in a taxi

I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year

I have beaten a video game in one day

I have visited another country

I have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts

RELATIONSHIPS:

I have a crush on a celebrity

I have a crush on someone I know

I have been in at least 3 relationships

I have never been in a relationship

I have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them

I get crushes easily

I have had a crush on someone for over a year

I have been in a relationship for at least a year (on and off)

I have had feelings for a friend

MY LIFE:

I have at least one person I consider a “best friend”

I live close to my school

My parents are still together

I have at least one sibling

I live in the United States

There is snow right now where I live

I have hung out with a friend in the past month

I have at least 15 CDs (somewhere in my things)

I share my room with someone

RANDOM SHIT:

I have breakdanced

I know a person named Jamie

I have had a teacher with a last name that’s hard to pronounce

I have dyed my hair

I’m listening to one song on repeat right now (i JUST ended my thing w this)

I have punched someone in the past week

I know someone who has gone to jail

I have broken a bone (just a toe)

I have eaten a waffle today

I know what I want to do with my life

I speak at least 2 languages

I have made a new friend in the past year

[simplyscarlet]

One Piece 860 - Thoughts...

Sooooo….these guys. 

The Underworld clearly has many, many faces, and I am dying to know what these guys’ relation to Doffy and the Family was. 

Doffy was a big fish, but Doffy was no Yonkou. So here are these so-called Underworld Emperors who are rubbing elbows with a Yonkou lots like Big Mom? Was Doffy not on their level? (Come on…) Would he have been invited amongst them if he wasn’t in prison right now?

Surely Doffy would have had to have played ball with some of these guys - all of whom are clearly close enough to Big Mom to be invited to the tea party. But Doffy was allied with Kaidou. Do other brokers hold alliances to Kaidou? What makes these guys so special? Surely for Doffy to have held so much power in the Underworld he had to have been playing nice with these guys or had reasonable alliances and/or agreements with some of them. I want to know.

Also…of all of them….who give me the creeps? This lady. 

Prostitution has never been outright mentioned in One Piece. It’s been hinted at once or twice and we certainly have enough insight to know what World Nobles do with their female slaves, but Oda keeps everything snugly in “shonen manga” territory. But having the “pleasure quarter” straight up spelled out like that just suddenly brings those occasional hints into something really glaringly real and uncomfortable.

This is the Underworld. These are likely not consenting sex workers. I am known to gobble up historic books about madams and brothel owners (seriously half of the U.S. would not have gotten settled if it wasn’t for madams and brothels building the economy). But what is hinted at here is clearly not consensual sex work - its sex trafficking. Oda doesn’t need to say anything outright, and that’s what makes him so masterful. We have the Underworld/Black Market, and then we have the “Pleasure Quarter” mentioned. It’s not hard to draw assumptions, and Stussy definitely makes my skin crawl.

Here’s an unpleasant thought to just make this all the worse. Again, I’m dying to know what Doffy’s relationship to any of these brokers was. He had to have had connections or agreements with some of them.

What if Monet and Sugar came from Stussy?  

(Also I like the bird. He clearly runs the News Coo or something.) 

[cranberrybogmummy]

Sorceress of the dusk.

It was almost dawn in the sun-baked city of Leban, jewel of the Aurel sea, child of the rivers Persis and Apor, a city that sat at confluence of three continents.  Birds were singing and few residents stirred. Jaiella ran her bare feet tapped on the cobblestones, she didn’t like the cold feel of them, and the sun had not risen to warm them yet.  She was a brown girl of twelve summers, with  wild brown hair hidden by  a faded blue cowl. Her favorite, and most comforting garment she compulsively chewed the collar.  The streets of Leban winding, twisty and narrow were all know by her by heart.  So she never really looked as she ran, just flew down the streets.  Some watchmen on their beat hailed her and she waved back, no time to talk to her father’s colleagues, that was part of her old life, before she was apprentice to the great Atrina Sorceress of the Dusk. On a narrow street no wider than an alleyway night soil their cart filled with their smelly cargo, blocked her way. She huffed, stamped her right foot and made a detour right, it would take longer but if she hurried, she would get there.  Down an alleyway, across a courtyard with a communal fountain, she made it!

An orange light slipped from the windows of PERKISS bakery. A large sign swung out with a loaf of bread on it to advertise its wares to the illiterate. They had been baking for two hours before this. Inside sleepy servants and tired watchmen waited at a long counter for their orders, it smelled of sweets and baking bread.  Jaiella looked at the faces of the exhausted men and women, sipping their cups of tea. She felt relief and triumph mix in her stomach when she noticed that Alvan, the apprentice to Wyanna sorceress of the dawn was not among them. This was the first time she had beat the smug, skinny, snot here.  In a few moments none other than Mrs. Perkiss herself appeared through the bakery door. She was a stout woman with a fair complexion that was tinted red, her apron and arms coated with flour.

“Jaiellla!” She shouted happily.

Jaiella smiled, accepting a floury one-armed hug from over the counter. “Hello! Do you have them?”

“Yes, yes, I always make sure the Sorceress’s order is done when you arrive,” She said. “After the help you two provided it’s the least I could do.” With her other hand she gave Jaiella a paper wrapped bundle, spots of grease already appearing on it

“A dozen fresh honey cakes and half a dozen saffron cream donuts.”

“Oooh my favorite!” Jaiella squealed.

“I know,” Mrs. Perkiss said with a wink and a chuckle. “My hand may have slipped and might have added more than half a dozen…”

“Thanks!” Jaiella said and she was already skipping out the door.

The honey cakes were round flat moist disks,  made with flour and olive oil. Each one was soaked in a syrup of honey and orange  flower water essence. A half dozen dyed pink one where rose water, a half dozen yellow ones where orange flower water.  They were for the breakfast she’d share with Atrina, later. However the saffron creams with their crispy exterior and sweet rich orange cream interior that had a hint of bitterness, were just for her.  She had opened the bundle not three steps from leaving the bakery. She was already munching on a saffron cream as she made her way home, her lips coated with crumbs. She enjoyed each mouthful. Saffron creams were a treat that could only be found in Leban and Perkiss made the best saffron creams.  Halfway home just the sky began to be tinged with a dull grey light, she saw Alvan running down the streets to the bakery. Jaiella laughed and stuck out her tongue at him.

Between the snacking and the heavy bundle her way home was more leisurely than her going had been. She reached the back entrance to Atrina’s manse just as the rosy fingers of dawn began to penetrate the horizon.

~~~~ 2~~~~~

Atrina sorceress of the dusk, slept uneasy in her darkened bedchamber. Her dreams were filled with blood, madness and strange symbol, a drawing of a eye with a three pronged iris. She tossed and turned on her huge bed, dislodging several irritated cats.  She woke up with her heart pounding like a caged bird inside beating it’s bars, in her chest. As she looked at the familiar walls, with their tapestries and the gap of light between the curtains the window curtains she took three deep breaths, she steadied herself.  Jaiella would be coming up soon with breakfast, and Atrina couldn’t let the girl know that insubstantial things as dreams had unnerved her. She composed herself, flattened her long black hair, and went to the window drawing back the heavy swag of curtain that covered it, letting in the bright morning light. As she looked over the flat yellow brick roofs of Leban, out to the glimmering water of the bay she couldn’t shake a sense of foreboding deep in her chest.  The morning noises had already started, the singers and bells in the temple calling the faithful to worship. And of course Wyanna was out with her apprentices do the dawn ritual.

Atrina smirked thinking of her rival, it funny that Wyanna had become Sorceress of The Dawn, during their joint apprenticeship Wyanna had always hated rising early.

Down in the kitchen Jaiella was arranging a tray for Atrina and herself. The cook Zumina, a dark skinned woman, in the traditional cook’s pants and smock, sighed.

“You know girl we have a kitchen boy to do that,” she said with a click of her tongue. “There is no need to get up so early and run down to that bakery, girl.”

“I’m her apprentice, I get her breakfast,” Jaiella insisted.

Taking some oranges she had picked from the orchard in the back, and putting them on a smaller plate on the tray, with a small paring knife.

Zumina rolled her eyes. ”Oh yes?” She questioned. “And I suppose gorging on saffron creams is part of that?” When Jaiella gave her look of feigned confusion. “I saw the crumbs girl! Eating those things will only make you fatter.”

“I’m not fat!” Jaiella said.

It was true, Jaiella was a  bit chubby, and the puppy fat of childhood clung to developing body.   She moodily filled the terra cotta teapot with hot water and put in a metal tea ball filled with a mixture of mint and black tea. She waited a few moments before added two small glasses chased with silver rims.

Atrina was dressed and had her long black hair brushed out and she heard Jaiella pounding up the stairs with  the breakfast tray. She smiled to herself.

“Good morning,” Atrina said with a smile as Jaiella appeared in doorway

Holding the tray. “I think today we should take breakfast on the terrace.“

The terrace had two doorways, one lead directly from Atrina’s chamber, the other a more general entrance from the second story corridor. It was wide and broad of yellow mud brick one half was dirt and devoted to a garden of magical herbs. When Jaiella was first taken as an apprentice at nine she wondered why so many ordinary herbs were considered so special. Now she knew, it wasn’t just the herbs themselves; it was how they were tended when they were picked and how they were used in the rituals and spells.  And she was learning more and more,  all the time  her apprenticeship would be over in   eight years she would be sorceress, like her mistress.  

Now they sat on a fine rug, watching the dawn, eating oranges and sweet cakes.

“What shall you teach me today, Mistress?” asked Jaiella, as she always did, it was one of the rote things said between all apprentices and their Sorcerer Masters. It was being said perhaps by a few hundred young mouths all over the city from young mouths, to Master Sorcerers and Sorceress of varying grades of skill.

Atrina held the tea pot high over the chased silver glass and in a dramatic gesture poured it, perfectly in a high fragrant arch. She handed the cup to Jaiella.

Jaiella took a sip she stroked a nearby cat.

“Today we will continue the incantation to raise a small flame.”  She said patiently.

Jaiella’s brow wrinkled and mouth twisted into a frown. “Awww, but Mistress we’ve been working on that for a week.”

There were some that would have taken a switch to a apprentice for a remark like that. Atrina didn’t consider it disrespectful and also thought of herself as fairly lenient Mistress.

She ate a slice of orange, and said: “ You are clever and talented, you just lack the discipline. I will be instructing you and watching. So you don’t burn down the house.”

Jaiella sulkily petted the beige cat, near her feet. “I won’t! I just want to learn something else… water spells or some rituals of protection.”

Atrina clicked her tongue. “You know those already.”

“Not all of them!” Jaiella protested.

“You know all the ones that are suitable for your level.” Atrina said. “If you attempt anything harder, you could drain your energy, your Qyi, or even destroy the balance in the world.”

Jaiella stuck her lower lip out in a pout, her round face and fat cheeks made her look so much a still a child.

“Stop it,” Atrina barked. “I will not spend the rest of this meal sitting in the shadow of your sulk.”

“But it’s sooooo hard,” Jaiella stretched out the word her voice rising to a whine.

“I’ll tell you what my first Mistress told me,” Atrina sighed. “Any task can be fun, if you look at it the right way.”

There was a pause as Jaiella considered, the words, her expression didn’t seem to change much. “How?”

Atrina’s thin lips curled up into a smile. “Find how.”

The sun had risen now the sky was a bright-unclouded blue. Almost perfect except for nagging feeling that twisted Atrina’s guts, make the typical breakfast inside of her curdle. Jaiella watched her Mistress there was a hard preciseness of her words and actions that only came when Atrina was unhappy. They went over the words and gestures of the flame incantation.

        How to make it fun? Jaiella wondered.

She tried to relax, to imagine the flame blooming from her palms; she could feel her Qyi stirring inside, like the wings of a captive butterfly.  She took a breath to steady herself, said the words in the magic tongue that only sorcerers are taught. Took another breath held it and when she exhaled she imagined the flame flowing out with her breath.

There would be nothing, just disappointment as always, but a small feeble spark. How can it be fun? She thought. I will make it a game, against myself.

When a shower of orange sparks erupted from her palms, she giggled.

Atrina looked at her, and smiled knowingly. “Again, my dear.”

Jaiella squared her shoulders, grinning, breathed in, spewed out the words and with her exhale a small flame appeared.

“YES!” She cried.

“Good effort, now I know you can do a little better.” Atrina commented.

Jaiella wiggled like an excited kitten. “Alright!”

This time there was a whoomph of a sizable fire ball, it dispersed as quickly as it  show up.

“Great,” Atrina nodded. “Now try for a smaller tighter flame.”

There was still that same tightness, that distracted look in her dark eyes, Atrina’s mind was not on the lesson. But at this point Jaiella didn’t care. She wanted to make the smaller tighter flame because; she knew she could, because she would win this game.

Jaiella took a breath, wiggled from her fingertips to her shoulders, she spoke the words not in garbled rush but giving the full weight of each. Controlled her Qyi, not letting it control her. Then it happened the perfect fist sized ball of flame.

But her Mistress wasn’t looking at her, but at the doorway. There was a maid standing there and behind her…. Jaiella’s father.  He wore the brown leather armor of the city watch, and under it a beige tunic. He held his cap in his hands twisting the band. Jaiella leapt to her feet, a smile on her lips but in mid step she stopped.

She knew her Papa wasn’t here to visit her, not in his uniform, not during his work hours.  Not with that worried, scared look in his eyes.

“Papa?” She asked.

“Jaiella, I’m here to see your Mistress,” He said quietly.

“Watchman San, what brings you here? If it’s not to visit your daughter?” Asked Atrina.

Atrina mused how he didn’t look like his child, Watchman San was a brown, rawboned, unshaven hard looking man with a  long face. The green eyes were the only thing they had in common looks wise.

“We found a body,” He said. “It’s in a strange place.”

“Ah,” Atrina said. “You suspect magic?”

“Yes,” He replied.

“Well then, show me.” Atrina said.

Jaiella lingered for a moment. “Mistress?”

“Come with me, you have help me prepare my kit.” Atrina said with nod.

One the duties of the Sorceresses of the Dusk were to aid the people and the watch. Actually it was the duty of all four of the Leban’s most powerful Sorcerers but Atrina was one the two the actually did that, as her domain included spirits and the dead.  The other was Verther Shrik, Sorcerer of the Night but he slept too late to be of any use.

As Jaiella went off to prepare Atrina’s investigation kit, San glared at Atrina.

“You’re  bringing my daughter?” He asked.

“She is my apprentice, this may be one of her duties if she ascends this far.” Atrina replied coldly.

~~~~~~3~~~~~

As they made their way down the crowded streets of Leban, Jaiella wished that she would have rather they taken the litter, to spare her feet the journey. But her Mistress insisted that walking to duties like this. So the servants and the litter were left at home.  There were a myriad of sights sounds and smells of the yellow brick city.  They passed the spice market with it’s multi-colored and intense smelling powders and seeds, the merchants haggling with their customers. Further along there was a group of urchins watching a puppet show, or rather mocking the show. There were priests of some god, leading a stubborn white goat to the temple, The smells of incense, the chanting intermingling with the braying of goat.  Also a sausage seller was grilling his wares on a small brazier, the sound of the sizzle and the spicy, meaty, smell a paean to something older and more primal than any god.  There were ladies of a certain occupation in brightly colored gowns and diaphanous veils of contrasting color, they smelled of  flowery perfume and shouted false promises.

They went a down a winding alley way, and  emerged at the dockside.  There was a  salty, briny, smell of the sea, the songs of the sailors as they worked, the creak of the ships. The buildings here were squat, wooden and ramshackle, very few of the Leban’s normal yellow mud brick structures on the dock.  There were warehouses of all sizes, inns and lodgings and homes for the sailors.  Here lived the Gibiz  a strange, old race that had lived here before the city was built and also inhabited the salt marshes at the mouth of the rivers. They were odd and secretive, their skin was tinged with green, they had unblinking eyes that bulged slightly, thick lips, slight webbing between fingers and toes, thick dark hair and spoke in an odd croaking pidgin dialect. In their youth the Gibiz women could be very beautiful, but it quickly faded. They mostly worked as sailors, fishermen or stevedores.  Despite being the oldest of the peoples in Leban they had no seat among the councilors, were ill regarded.

As her Father, talked to a Gibiz watchman at a dockside warehouse, Jaiella stared in ill-disguised curiosity. She had never met one before.

Atrina spoke quickly to the man, using the croaks and grunts of the Gibiz pidgin, his already wide eyes went wider. San and Jaiella also goggled.

“How do know that?” Asked Jaiella.

“In order to protect and help Leban, I must know Leban and all her people.” Atrina said.

They were lead to ancient five-story tower of grey stone that overlooked the sea. In times passed Leban had been invaded by sea, and monsters had risen from the blue-green depths to ravage the city. There were old crumbling watchtowers along the bay to attest to those by-gone days, when the city was neither as powerful or as well guarded. The base of the tower was marred with graffiti; some of it was quite funny.  There was no door, it long ago decayed. It was ringed with watchmen guarding it.

San spoke: “Children playing in the tower found the body.”

“Has it been disturbed in any other way?” Atrina asked.

“No,” San replied.

“Good,” Atrina nodded.

They entered the watchtower and made their way up a winding spiral staircase, as they drew closer to the body a foul stench of decay assaulted them. Atrina  inspected the walls.

The corpse was that of a dark haired man, dressed richly in a blood stained peacock blue and emerald colored silk tunic with matching leggings.  He was lying on his left side his knees hunched to his chest, fingers clutching at the knees.  His skin was a putrid green, and rotting black. Above his body was a large, crude drawing in blood of an eye with a three-pronged iris.  The same as in Atrina’s nightmares, she kept calm. Her face didn’t betray the panic she felt racing through her.

“Jaiella, come here,” She ordered. “Give me my kit.”

Jaiella gave Atrina the kit, a cloth roll of various odds and ends, one of them a lens on a metal handle from the Kingdom of Ukyan in the Southern lands. It had been specially ground to magnify things. Afterwards Jaiella stepped back and covered her mouth and nose with her hand.

Atrina took out her lens and went over to the corpse.  She clicked her tongue. “It has been here for about three days. But because of the heat, it has bloated, the face is distorted and I can’t identify it by that.  But let’s see what else we can find.”

She looked at Jaiella. “Come here, you need to learn this.”

The girl came closer still covering her face with her hand.

“He’s been strangled, you can see the indent of the whatever they wrapped around his neck.” Atrina commented as she examined the body. “A chord of some kind.”

Jaiella looked down the twisted and rotting flesh, it was slightly darker and depressed in the area he had been strangled. Also there was dark blood caked around the nostrils She backed away as Atrina examined the it with the magnifying glass.

“What do you see?” San asked

“Nothing,” Responded Atrina. “No fibers or threads.  They must have worked some kind of spell on him. There is a spell where the energy is concentrated into a band that bends and twists like this.”

She looked at the man’s arms, rolled back the sleeve there was a deep gash on  the left wrist.  “He cut himself. Opened his veins, in the wrong direction for suicide. “

“If he was killing himself, even in this confused manner, why would he be strangled by magic? Did the killer do the spell remotely and not know?”  Asked San.

Atrina looked from the bloody symbol on the wall to the dead man.

“No, they wanted him to do this, but they had to make sure he was dead. After he  painted that on the wall.”  Atrina said. “That is important, that is why he was made to come here in the first place.”

Jaiella watched as Atrina  as she kneeled by the corpse’s hands. She exclaimed. “I think I know who this is.”

She stood up holding a ring.

He had worn it on his right hand. The band was gold and it was set with a jasper stone engraved with a leaping dolphin. “The sigil of the Gil family, this is Ferdith Gil eldest son of the merchant Marath  Gil.”

“What?” San looked stunned.

“Hasn’t he been gone these three days?” asked Atrina.

“Yes,” San admitted. “His concubine and his father came to us when he failed to return from drinking with some people he was doing business with yesterday, it was unusual for him.   They also went to you didn’t they?”

“Yes,” Atrina said.  She gave the corpse a nudge with her foot and  found a dagger in a pool of of congealed blood, the hilt of gold and a jasper set at the top  of the pommel was uncovered.

Atrina resumed kneeling. “We know that he wasn’t robbed. He still has his purse filled with gold. “ She inspected his fingers with the magnifying glass. “There is blood and stone dust under his fingernails. He fought this; he didn’t want to come here. But he did. He dragged his hands against the tower walls. He was forced to come here by something stronger than him.”

“What about the symbol?” Jaiella asked.

“I’ve never seen it before.” Atrina said.

“I have,” San said. “We found a beggar girl killed and it was drawn on the wall over her corpse.”

“Why wasn’t I told?” Atrina said quirking her eyebrow.

“It was the night watch who found it,” San said. “They got Verther Shrik. He is sorcerer of the Night after all.”

Atrina sighed.

“Go inform Marath Gil his eldest son is dead, I will talk to Verther Shrik.” Atrina said.

~~~~4~~~~~

Jaiella didn’t like the palace of darkness, where the sorcerer of the night lived.  It was five blocks from there own manse but she avoided it. It was strange building; made of grey rock, black granite with white marble towers that rose three stories above the city.  A reminder that though Atrina was one the four great sorcerers of Leban she was the least of them. The front door of the palace darkness, was made of a dark wood, there was a heavy grey metal knocker in the center in that looked like a grinning skull.  Atrina rapped three times with the knocker. They waited.  After a long time, an old Sand-walker serving woman opened the door.  The sand-walkers were a nomadic people, like the Gibiz they weren’t considered human. The sand-walkers were small with tawny, slightly furry skin, dusty brown hair, large ears like a desert fox, they had large all black eyes like an animals’, upturned noses and lips that constantly looked pursed.   In Leban you couldn’t own another human being and unlike the Gibiz who had centuries of intermarriage with their human neighbors, the Sand-walkers because of their nomadic lifestyle and inability to breed with humans, they had no such safety. They could be captured, bought and sold as slaves.

Jaiella wondered if the old wrinkled serving woman was a slave.

She looked at them with bright shining black eyes in a wrinkled face, her small puckered lips made clicking noise, she wore a headscarf, a plain orange dress and her old ears poked out.

“Huda,” Atrina addressed the serving woman. “Is your Master able to see us?”

Huda nodded.

“Yes,” She said in an oddly high whining voice. “He has been waiting for you.”

Huda took a step back.

Jaiella suppressed a shiver as they entered, it was colder here and the light was dim. Heavy curtains were drawn over the windows. There was scamperings and scuttlings of things---aye-ayes and small monkeys that served as Verther Shrik’s pets and familiars.  Jaiella caught a glimpse of shining orange eyes from the top of a cabinet  Verther Shirk also had a large, cunning bird with pure black plumage, from the forests of the cold north, it was called a raven.

The Shriks were descended from the barbaric, pale, northern hordes that had come marauding 150 years ago.  They had burned and pillaged other cities along the coast.  Olar, Tibhur and Koth had all fallen to their rage. These hairy men with skin the color of milk, who wore furs and came down from the lands of forest and steppe.  The siege of Leban had lasted a season, when Benartha maiden queen of Leban had offered herself in marriage to Cutlar Vylik the leader of the horde, he accepted. So the siege ended bloodlessly, the members of the pale horde settled in the city.  Jaiella had learned this in her schoolroom. She had also learned the dynasty was last and the kings of Leban died at the knife of one Ander Staide. Since then five families: Staide, Shrik, Greon, Bloth, and Gul, had ruled Leban, they sat on the elected council,  they were the Patriarch or Matriarch of the city,   or became one the sorcerers of the hours (indeed the other three were  Verther Shrik, Azur Gul an Wyanna who’d been born a  Bloth before becoming independent)  Jaiella noticed  all five families were descended from the barbarian horde, all worshipped their gods.  She mused on this as they travelled through the dark house. It wasn’t that all pale-skinned people were rich or powerful, or that someone whose family had been in Leban before the invaders couldn’t gain wealth or power.  It was just as if fate had weighed the dice for them.  Jaiella thought of the Gibiz, who as history told it, once had built a city of blocky gray stones and ugly ziggurats in the salt marshes, long ago, only to see humans tear it down.  Jaiella thought of the sand-walkers, timid and small, how she saw them in the marketplace stripped to loin clothes, shackled and caged like animals or eyes downcast, wearing clothes and collar scurrying about on errands for their Masters.

Jaiella scowled and blurted out: “Are you a slave?”

Atrina glared at her and made motion for her be quiet.

Huda didn’t meet her eyes but said defiantly: “No. Master Verther’s father freed me when he died. I am free. I  earn my keep here.”

“Then why don’t you go back to the desert?” Jaeilla asked.

“I have lived here since I was very little. I’ve been in the service of the Shriks’ just as long.” She said proudly. “I raised Master Verther and his Brother Cantus.  They take care of me, otherwise I’d starve in the streets.”

“Oh,” Jaiella said, chastened.

“You shouldn’t have asked.” Atrina hissed.

Shame and guilt made a pit inside Jaiella’s chest, she didn’t want to annoy Atrina, she lowered her head and no one spoke for the rest of the sort journey.

The palace of darkness was large, it was meant to house many apprentices, servants, guests and perhaps concubines or catamite.  Verther Shrik took no apprentices, had three servants, invited no guests and had no concubines or catamites.  So the palace of darkness was silent, dusty and gloomy.  They walked in silence behind Huda, up a flight of stairs and down a hallway lined with the silent portraits of Verther’s predecessors going back 100 years. Jaiella noticed most were men with imposing beards and scowling expressions.  Expect for the last, the face had been scoured away with some kind of acid, leaving yellowed stained canvas, a small plaque underneath still read: ‘Betlan Bloth.’  Jaiella’s curiosity bubbled up inside of her, but given the foul mood Atrina was now in she decided to keep her question for later.

As they approached a door at the end of the passage, one with light spilling out from it’s opening, Jaiella glanced up at Atrina and found her mistress expression was as frozen as a statue’s and her eyes just as hard. There was no anger on it, just a resolute and cold mask.

“I’ll tell him you’re here,” Huda said in her odd whiny voice.

Atrina nodded and as soon the servant woman went into the doorway, she brushed hair from her face, bit her lower lip and took a deep breath.  Jaiella blinked and furrowed her brow.  Atrina and Verther had been apprentices together; they’d known each for over twenty years.  Why was Atrina doing these odd nervous gestures?

Atrina and Jaiella entered the room, unlike the rest of the house the window was uncovered and sunlight streamed in. A small bug-eyed monkey chittered from on top of a bookcase, the raven croaked, fluttering its wings from a perch in the far right corner. The room was cluttered mess of food-spattered dishes, papers and magical equipment strewn about in promiscuous confusion. In the beam of sun, Verther Shrik sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. He was dressed simply in a rough brown tunic of un-dyed fabric, with loose trousers of the same. His black wavy hair was tousled, he was unshaven, and his pale skin almost seemed to shine. Jaiella didn’t consider him handsome, true he had a good long narrow chin and high cheekbones but his nose was too long, eyebrows to bushy and she didn’t like his small oval shaped eyes.

Atrina took a step forward Jaiella noticed the amused quirk of her Mistresss’s right eyebrow a slight smirk on her Mistress’s lips.

Verther Shirk’s eyes opened at once, they were a queer shade of gray that seemed to change color in different light. Now they looked almost blue. Jaiella gasped as he instantly jumped to his feet and charged at them, he stopped a few inches from Atrina.

Jaiella had never seen him act like this; usually he showed as much emotion as a stone.

“You found another body?!” He demanded of Atrina.

Atrina’s odd smile widened further. “Yes, we did.  Let’s compare information.”

“Right.” He sighed and he took a step backwards, he was smiling too.

“I heard your victim was a beggar girl,” Atrina said.

“Yes, yes was supposed to be under the protection of Ozulur,  He was very distraught.” He breathlessly spat out. “She had just arrived in the city a few days before.”

“Mine was Ferdith Gil.”

“Really, him? That’s…. interesting.”

“Was she strangled by magic too?”

“Yes.”

“Wrist cut and that eye drawn over the body in her own blood?”

“No? No marks on her wrist all. The symbol was drawn in animal blood, I think.”

Atrina’s smile faded and so did Verther’s, both paced around the room in circles of opposite direction.  He stroked his chin and she chewed a knuckle, both had seemingly forgotten Jaiella was there.

“Mistress?” Jaiella asked.

“What?!” Atrina shouted, stopping in mid-pace.  Verther stopped too and stared at her as if he had just noticed her.

“You said Ferdith came there against his will struggling the whole time? How, if you don’t want to go someplace…”

“There are spells and potions that make a body move without the consent of the mind.” Atrina said. “It’s an illegal type of magic.”

“...There was no evidence of that with the beggar girl,” Verther mused. “No struggle of any kind. She’d been lured there and eaten a drugged sweet cake, it was still her stomach.”

“—They both were drugged,” Atrina said. “Ferdith was too canny to take food from a stranger but… someone must have slipped a potion of body control in his meal.”

“Good theory,” Verther said calmly. “Now what about that symbol? The eye with a three pronged iris.”

“I don’t know, I never encountered anywhere but in my nightmares.” Atrina admitted.

“I have,” Verther said. “One of the old books in Azur Gul’s library.”

“The Sorcerer of the Day?” Jaiella asked. “But he wouldn’t…”

“No, of course not, girl!” Verther dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “But his library of history and magic is unparalleled in the city.”

He strode towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Atrina called.

“Remember, country girl,” He said using the old nickname from their apprentice days. “It’s time for us to go to court.”

Atrina blinked and followed him. “Right, thank you.”

Jaiella stood in the room, looking around confused for moment and then hurried after them.

The sorcerers’ of the hours: Day, Night, Dusk and Dawn were the four most powerful and knowledgeable in Leban.  They cast the rituals to protect the city at their appointed times, they aided the citizens, the nobility, the law and they judged all magical crimes. There were five illegal types of magic:  Killing with magic, using magic to defraud someone, using magic to steal, taking bodily or mind control of another human, and the summoning of gods and monsters.  

~~~~~~~5~~~~~~

Jaiella had trouble keeping up with the two sorcerers, they walked at a rapid pace through the city, keeping up a constant stream of conversation between the two of them, which she couldn’t wedge her own voice into. They could have travelled in a litter or wheeled cart. Imperial Square was streets and streets away. Jaiella was constantly catching her breath and though they would wait for her to catch up, it was apparent doing so annoyed them.  Atrina in her hooded red cloak, black hair spilling out and Verther in his simple homespun made quite a pair, they’d look at each other then back to her.  

Jaiella wondered if they were such good, old, friends why did Atrina never mention Verther that often? Why did she avoid him unless they had to be together? Also why did Verther give Atrina such longing looks when her thought no one else saw him?  There was something that had been there, Jaiella knew it, but they were old and whatever it had been had died between them, so Jaiella decided she wouldn’t care.  As they approached the square proper a harsh voice called out:

“ALL THE WICKED SHALL BE CLEANSED FROM THIS EVIL LAND WITH BLOOD AND MADNESS! THE USURPERS, THE UNCLEAN, THE UNBELIEVERS AND THE TRAITORS ALL SHALL PERISH!”

This fiery speech came from a figure cloaked entirely in grey robes, his face covered; he stood on a wooden  crate.

“BLOOD AND MADNESS IS YOUR DUE! IT JUST THE BEGINNING OF YOUR SUFFERING, O WICKED ONES! AND THAT IS ALL YOU SHALL HAVE UNLESS YOU REPENT AND BELIEVE WITH ME! THIS WORLD SHALL BE SCOURED CLEAN BY OUR GOD, DARGOTH!”

Atrina squinted at the man, but Verther laughed

“Don’t mind him, he’s a street preacher for some new cult. They don’t even have a proper temple. You know how these people pop up and disappear.”

“Something about this is familiar…” Atrina mused.

“Yes, like every other cracked zealot we’ve heard ranting here,” Verther sighed. “We have to get to the court.”

The courthouse resembled a temple with its columns of carved god of justice and domed roof.  There were three sorts of crimes in Leban: serious, petty and magical. And while there were three courtrooms for serious crimes, six for petty, there was only one court room to judge all magical crimes.  The most serious of crimes had to be tried in from of Cantus Shrik, the Patriarch others could be tried by one the half dozen members of the consul.The courtroom for magical crimes was a cool, plain room in the back right hand side of the building.  In the back of the room was a raised Dais with four chairs for each of the sorcerers’ of the hours. Carved on the wall behind the chairs were a rising sun, a risen sun, a moon and a setting sun.  Already sitting as Azur Gul with his long white beard, hair and in his robes of dark blue and there was Wyanna with her soft smile, tumbling blonde hair and dress of yellow and blue diaphanous silks.  She smirked at Atrina as they entered.  Azur Gul looked at them briefly, not giving much attention. Jaiella leant the right side of the wall with Azur Gul and Wyanna’s apprentices, and servants.  

“Now that we are here,” wheezed Azur Gul “We can begin hearing cases.”

The cases were the usual mix of attempted love charms and petty theft by magic.

Jaiella yawned and looked at other apprentices. Wyanna’s were all standing at attention, mostly boys and all dressed in the same uniform. They were Jaiella’s age or younger. Azur Gul’s apprentices were of course older, sixteen and seventeen. They were joking with each other in hushed tones.  Alvan, caught her eye and made a rude gesture, she gave him a shoulder shove, knocking him into Wyanna’s other apprentices, who stumbled and tumbled around, earning them a glare from their mistress;  Jaiella smiled to herself.

Though her favorite part of the long, hot, boring court session had to be the break for lunch.  Atrina gave her some coins and she got  a bowl of spiced mutton and pomegranate stew with flat bread, she ate it greedily scooping up the lamb stew with the flat bread.  After they had lunch, there was commotion in the court. As a crowd of swathed and cloaked sand-walkers swept into the courtroom. Their foxy ears adorned pierced with golden and silver rings, their black eyes inscrutable and alien in their slightly furry faces.  After them came a small, thin man with lank brown greasy hair, he was flanked by two large watchmen along with  a man and a woman in the navy blue of legal advocates.

Azur Gul gave a long drawn out sigh. “This again?”

“It is an important matter sir,” said Atrina

“I don’t see what the big bother is about, all this fighting is about, it really is a small matter,” Wyanna said with a titter. “I don’t like fighting, it sends out bad energy.”

Verther gave a shake of his black hair and rolled his eyes. “If my esteemed colleagues will remember, This man Ygon Wattman,” He pointed one long thin  finger at the small man flanked by the watchman. “Is accused of giving Sand-walker children from the Durka Merchant caravan enchanted sweets, at the Esoteric market, these sweets, take away free will and make them  so he could take them into slavery. Taking control of someone’s mind through magic is illegal.”

“Yes,” said the male legal advocate. “If the that someone is a person, under our laws.  Sand-walkers are not people, therefore it’s not a crime.”

The female legal advocate countered: “The Durka merchant caravan would like to point out that, children are property of their parents.”

Wyanna looked bored and said: “But is taking a lamb or calf away from it’s mother illegal?”

“Not if you own the mother and child. Wattman doesn’t own the Durka caravan.” Atrina growled.

“What about a taking a kitten or a puppy from a stray?”  Azur Gul asked.

“Gul, are you comparing the adults of the Durka caravan to stay beasts?” Verther said.

“Well, not but they aren’t people, so I don’t see how this matter concerns us. They are non-citizens they wander where they will, they come into our city and sell their wares, maybe they should defend their children better.” Said Azur Gul.

“My clients are not wild animals,” said the female lawyer.

“But they aren’t people either,” said the male lawyer.

The eyes of the Sand-Walkers glimmered angrily in the darkened court room. They had a strange dusty smell, Jaiella mused, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

She listened to adults argue whether the Sand-walkers had any rights to their own children… it was odd.

“---Look, I don’t see any fault here,” Wyanna said in her soft and high voice. “They aren’t people, they have no rights, they shouldn’t bring their children into the city walls.”

“The Durka caravan, have no where else to put their children,” said the female lawyer.

“That’s not our problem,” said Wyanna.

“So they can’t bring their children in the city, or defend them because if they did it would be murder! This yet more pointlessness arguing! I’m getting sick and tired of my two colleagues refusal to see the illogic of their arguments.” Verther Shrik grumbled.

Jaiella saw an odd tall, Sand-walker among the faces. She looked again, no it was man, a tall dark-skinned man.

Atrina seemed to see him too. “Excuse me,  sir? The man standing with the Sand-walkers who are you?”

The man took a step forward. “I am Gallard Nwer, and I’m here with the Durka caravan.”

“What is you’re position in the caravan?” Atrina asked.

“I used to be caravan guard, but recently I married one the merchants’ daughter, Bulda.” He said

“One of the Sand-walkers?” Atrina said.

“Yes,” said Gallard

“Would you say you are part of the caravan then?” said Atrina.

“Yes.”

“So the sand-walker children are like your children?” Atrina asked.

“I suppose,” Gallard said scratching his chin.

“You don’t want men giving them enchanted sweets to lure them away right?” Atrina said.

“No!” Gallard said.

“Fine then,” Atrina said. “I say that the sand-walker children are the property of Gallard Nwer and any attempt to lure them away with enchanted sweets is theft of his property.”

Azur Gul nodded and so did Verther Shrik, Wyanna scowled.

“Excuse me,” Wyanna said in her syrupy voice. “But  this man is only loosely associated with the caravan I don’t see…”

“No you don’t,” said Verther dismissing her

“It makes sense to me,” said Azur Gul. “”I conclude that the majority of us agree that the sand-walker children of his caravan are property of Gallard Nwer and there for any attempt to lure them away, is theft.”

The decision was handed down in the end. The man Ygon Wattman was sentenced to have his ring fingers cut off, the sign of a magical theft.

~~~6~~~~~~

The court was dismissed after that case. Wyanna hissed at her apprentices, who stood at attention and followed the sweep of her skirts at a march.  Azur Gul was given a cane by his apprentices and shakily made his way down to his litter where his lover Nuran, a man as old as old and bearded as he, was waiting for him. Verther Shrik had seemingly disappeared into the crowd, milling outside the courtroom. Atrina and Jaiella were about to walk out of the square when the Durka caravan came and encircled them.  All those dark eyes and inscrutable faces, the dusty smell of the sand walkers.

An elderly Sand-walker man in rich multi-colored robes came up to them.

“My name is Surrit Grith,” He said in a high halting strangely accented voice. “I am the chief of the Durka caravan, you have done us a great service. We would like to thank you.”

“There is no need,” Atrina said. “I was just doing what was just.”

“Many do not see us worthy of justice,” Said Surrit. “But you did, if there is anything we do or get for you. It will be done. We may not look like much, but we are nimble and resourceful.”

“I thank you,” Atrina said with a small smile and bow. “But there is no need.”

“We will repay this debt,” Said Surrit. “It is a matter of honor for us.”

“Thank you again,” Atrina said then added something in the clicking whistling tongue of the Sand walkers.

Surrit smiled revealing a few pointed and gold teeth.  “Very well. Until we meet again.”

The Durka caravan dispersed.

Atrina and Jaiella took a cheap for hire palanquin; the cushions were worn and upholstered in some cheap, rough fabric.  They bumped and jostled down the streets, as the bearers carried with no real care, until of course they got to the manse of the merchant Marath Gil.  High walls of yellow brick surrounded his house, they were now draped with swags of intertwining black and white fabric to show the household was in mourning in Leban, white for the ephemeral nature of the departed soul, black for the sadness of those left behind.

they  were shown in through a humble wooden door, by a bald serving man, in white robes another sign of mourning.  The manse was built in the new style: a walled compound surrounding a series of unconnected buildings. Separate kitchens, and outbuilding, separate luxurious quarters for Marath Gil and his grown children.  In the middle of the compound was the main building, the hub of the household.  It was a distinct intricate murals on the outer walls of leaping dolphins,  and sea creatures in water. They were high walls topped by multiple domes, of blue, white and gold tiles. It was meant to impress, and it did. The doors however were draped in the black and white banners of mourning. The serving man, quiet and thoughtful opened the main door with his keys and lead them to brown ante chamber that overlooked the gardens. Atrina and Jaiella sat down on low cushioned bench, it was plain but clearly well made.  On a table in front of the of the bench, a dark haired serving girl in black robes, brought out a laden tray with tea, two cups, dates,  green olives, and fresh figs all in separate silver bowls. The girl’s face was red, puffy she’d been crying. When the serving girl left Jaiella reached out her hand to grab some figs. Only to have it slapped back by Atrina.

“In place like this, never take the food or drink,” Atrina hissed sharply.

“Why? They brought it out for us?” Jaiella said.

“Because it’s not good manners, you only take the food when Marath Gil himself comes out and offers it, and then nibble at it. This food is just a display of wealth, shoving down your throat with out being offered is very bad manners. Also is eating to much.” Atrina said slowly.

“I didn’t know that,” Jaiella mumbled.

“Well I expect you be able to mix with all levels of society, you have to know these things.” Atrina said. “Also it’s very disrespectful to shove food in your face when the household is in mourning, it shows you have no compassion.”

“Oh yeah,” Jaiella sighed.

They waited, Jaiella itched but she dared not scratch it. Not now, not in this place. The house was so silent and Atrina was saying nothing more simply looking out at the garden outside the window.

Marath Gil entered, he was a large, portly dark skinned man with a bald head and a neat greying beard. He was known through out city for his philanthropy and good spirits.  He had once served on the consul. Usually he stood tall and proud.  However today, in his white robes of mourning he seemed to have shrunk and sagged.  His eyes had a hollow look and there were the tracks of tears still glimmering on his cheeks.  

He sat down slowly and looked at them with empty sad eyes.

Atrina bowed her head: “It is terrible thing to lose child, in such a manner. We are sorry to intrude on your grief but their things we must know to discover who murdered him.”

Marath Gil took a breath and sighed. “My son was a good man, he was a good man, but he was far to trusting. That’s my fault, I tried not show him the worst parts of life.”

“Did he have any enemies? Or business rivals, that would profit from his death?” asked Atrina coolly.

“No. We maintained good relationships with our competitors, and no one could hate Ferdith, he always was honest, and always tried to see the good in people and was often rewarded. Even with business dealings.., he was spoken well of. “ Marath said. “As for rivals… well…”

He trailed off looking at the out the window.

“Yes?” Atrina’s eyes shimmered with alertness.

“…he had some romantic rivals, but that was over. He wooed the lady and was keeping her in far more comfort then they could. Maybe there was so jealousy.” Marath shook his head.

“Lady?” Atrina raised one eyebrow.

Marath met her gaze. “You know I was married to my Janna from our youth until the day the gods took her from me. My son, as always the case with those brought up rich, tired of his wife and sent her away. He had a mistress, but tired of her and took a concubine.”

“Why did he send her away?” asked Atrina. “The wife I mean, also who was this Mistress?”

“He claimed neither were happy with the marriage anymore. But I mean, this woman was the mother of his children, bonded to him in front of the Gods. And he said she left for the country estate of her own free will,” Marath sighed. “As if a woman ever does the leaving. And recently to appease his newest lover, that concubine, he sent the children to stay with her.  Awful, to think the last memory they will have of their father is him bidding them good bye. For all his faults as a husband my son loved his children. He wept to see them go.”

“And you think the concubine was responsible for this?”

“Who else could make a man send his beloved children away?”

“Ah,” sighed Atrina. “What is the name of this concubine who wielded such power over your late son’s heart?”

“Coquella, she used to be a an actress.” Said Marath Gil. “No doubt she’ll prosper from his death… do you think... she might have murdered him?”

Jaiella gasped at the name, Coquella with her beautiful placid face, swan like neck and long golden curls was famous. Jaiella had seen wood-cuts of her, even seen Coquella perform at a festival. She was known up and down the cities on this coast of the Aurel sea. But then she had stopped acting altogether last year, to much speculation.

“Yes, but Marath Gil, she will not gain much for it, and might even suffer from it, if you aren’t the only one who thinks this.” Atrina said.

Marath nodded. “Yes, but  people like her never think that far ahead. My poor son, it seems like only yesterday he was a babe cradled in my arms and now…”

He looked away, trying not to cry. There was a long pause

“Do you want us to leave and come back some other time?” Atrina asked softly after a while.

“No, no,” Marath said with a sniff. “He needs justice, you need to find his killer.  Anyone and everyone in my household can talk to you, if helps you find you did this terrible act.”

He got up and left moving stiffly, after he had departed a servant approached.

“I have been instructed to bring all members of the household for questioning my lady. Who would you like to see next?”

Atrina said looking straight ahead: “Coquella.”

Jaiella expected more from the famous Coquella. The woman who hesitantly stepped into the room, wasn’t like Jaiella remembered at all.

Coquella wore a matte black headscarf, over a black dress of the same, her face was tired, lined and her pale skin seemed dull almost grayish. She looked wearily at them and said in a listless voice: “You wish to speak to me about my Ferdith?”

“Yes.”

“What do you want to know?” She said in the same voice.

“Why did you become his concubine?”

“I loved him.”  She smiled faintly. “There were others willing to pay more for my love, my companionship, keep me more comfort but I loved Ferdith the most. “

“Is why you quit acting?”

“No, but I am getting to old for it, and I don’t want to be a bitter, unhappy relic of a bygone time. Ferdith and I were lovers for years, despite what his father told you.”

“And his wife?”

“She knew and did not care, they were more friends for most of their marriage. She had her own affairs.”