#blix and indy

[indy-et-al]

Title: Heart don't fail me now. You're all I've got left. (Indy) Word Count: 3000 Summary: Indy says another goodbye in her typical fashion. Warnings: alcohol, angst, death (of a family member), violence Song Link

Indy had been a functional alcoholic for decades. Cheerfully so, even, at least on the surface. Was it a good example to set as a healer? Absolutely not. Was it good for her, personally? No, but when she could just wipe out the excess in her system to prevent long-term organ damage, as well as stay coherent enough to work and be social, what did it matter? A solid buzz made her less nervous in social situations. It made her less likely to have nervous breakdowns in tense situations, and sometimes it was even kind enough to keep nightmares away. It made it possible to not have to deal with the far-reaching effects that the trauma of healing friends, family, and comerades over the decades had carved into her. And sometimes, it even made it possible to forget how guilty she was that despite being a genuinely gifted healer, she'd still lost friend after friend—as well as her entire family—over the past several decades.

But it wasn't doing a fucking thing to help her cope with the fact that her wife was dead.

They'd known it was coming, at least. That had made their few remaining days incredibly painful, but also savorable. Blix had asked her to enchant something that would let Indy know if her heart stopped, in case they weren't together when she was killed. A small enchant like that had been simple enough to add to her wedding ring; adding the same tracker to Blix's had probably been unnecessary, but the rings were a matched set. Close together, they glowed. And far apart, they gave a slow, constant pulse at the same rate of a heart at rest. Indy wished she'd thought of it sooner, because it was a surprisingly soothing feeling.

She didn't tell her wife that her ring beat to Indy's resting heart rate, and hers beat to Blix's. It was painfully, stupidly sentimental, but after so many years holding her wife close and listening to her live and breathe in the dark while trying to stay awake to avoid the ghosts in her head, well…. She wanted a few more hours, a few more days, of its rhythm.

The pause between every single pulse of the ring's band cut deep, but even that was tolerable compared to the thought of waiting and not knowing. Her entire family had been in the limbo of the missing for years, and Indy didn't want to have to go through that ever again.

At least Blix had been given the chance to offer her some certainty that there was no longer a need to either wait or look for her. It was sad to call that an improvement over her norm, but Indy was too grateful to be bitter that certainty was so unusual.

SILVERLOCH

Indy knew, when Blix left on the latest hunt, that she wasn't coming back from it. Maybe that was fatalism, but when the gentle beat that tracked Blix's heart stopped coming from her wedding ring, Indy just stared down at the ruby that her wife had picked to complement her tattoos and let her jaw clench until her teeth hurt. Feeling a sense of surprise would have been a kindness, honestly; it was rarely a good thing when the predictions the healer part of her made turned out to be right.

"You fucking idiot," she whispered.

She wasn't sure which of them she was talking to, but it also no longer mattered.

Indy reached for her flask, took a solid drink, and then quietly picked up the bag she'd packed that morning. After that, all she needed to do was call for their Darters and lock up the house. Asha and Tilly both immediately knew that something was wrong, and flew to each of their preferred shoulders without protest. Asha had been with Indy the second time she'd run away to mourn someone, and she seemed to know what was coming, based on the fact that she began to hum—her version of purring—against Indy's neck the moment they turned from the house.

"It'll be okay, baby girl," she reassured Asha, though the way her voice cracked didn't sell the words to any of them.

But it would be okay—or at least different from the last time—because she wasn't going to let it be anything else. Indy still had connections to the world, and she had fought hard to both make and keep them over the years since her return from Nagrand. No matter how strong the urge was, she wasn't going to fuck off into the wilderness without giving the people in her life some sort of indication where to find her. Running away had kept her from being there for the death of her brother and her parents both, and she wasn't going to make that mistake a third time.

So she dropped letters in the mailbox as she passed it: one to Andennaris, one to Ranek (and through Ranek, one announcing a hiatus from work. It was poor form to leave him to tell their coworkers since they'd been working with Blix for years, but she didn't have it in her to do it herself). The two of them had been warned in advance that this would be happening, so the content of their letters wouldn't be blindsiding, at least.

There was also one addressed to Rethea tucked into the envelope with Andy's; he was letting her stay with him since her home had been turned to dust, so he was her most reliable address at present. (And inside Reth's letter, a request to tell Grenfield what had happened; they mostly fished and drank too much to work on projects they'd gotten together to tailor, but if he was warned in advance, she wouldn't feel the urge to explain anything when they saw each other next. That would be ideal for both of them.)

The two addressed to Xarian and Andrastyn had been more difficult to send, but… if they reached out in response, she knew that they would understand why she was planning to handle her grief in the way she was. (That was precisely why they had been harder to notify, in fact.) Ranek and her brother might, too, but something in her hadn't been able to admit just how self-destructive she was planning to be to either of them.

Not long-term self destruction; she reminded herself frequently that she wasn't going to give up on everyone she'd found, met, and become close to over one new grief, no matter how much she wanted to hide like an injured animal. But at the same time, funerals weren't Indy's thing. Public grief among friends and family was more than she could handle—especially since definitely be expected to speak. As sad as it was, Blix would understand Indy mourning her by falling right back into the state she'd been when the two of them had met.

The day Blix had found out and told Indy what was about to happen, Blix had asked her to make sure she was remembered in a way that would be memorable, and lively, and as free of pain as possible. Indy had agreed, of course, but they had both known from the seconds the words left her mouth that Indy wouldn't be able to honor that promise. (At least Indy hoped Blix had known.)

Maybe if Blix had been blessed enough to live to old age, like Indy had so desperately wanted. Maybe if Indy still had a goddess she felt she could turn to for comfort, and ask to look after her wife, since she was an honorary druid (the tree hand made the rules, in that case).

But there were no victories here, and nothing to celebrate: misery, squandered chances, and a lack of time were everywhere in Azeroth, at any given point in time. If every one were memorialized, nobody would ever get anything done. In her mind, any formal memorial would have been nothing more than a waste, and Indy didn't want Blix's fellow hunters to have to deal with her working through that belief in a ceremony meant to honor a fallen friend and beloved wife.

Indy made a point to check her mail every few days, though nobody would have a way to know that. The message from Blix's fellow hunters, asking for her input, assistance, and participation in a memorial in her wife's name, was a mixed blessing. She was able to pass on what Blix had wanted for a funeral. Something positive, and a little strange—something meant to help heal the cut a little—and then she left to go very intentionally hurt herself for a while instead of sticking around to attend the service herself.

Guilt was a fel of an emotion.

BORALUS

Physical pain was supposed to help. The kind that came from missing a dodge or failing to block properly, the kind that signaled a direct hit with her bare knuckles. The dull throb of her back after being slammed too hard into a wall, post, or unprepared piece of furniture. The cheers and jeers of the crowd were supposed to be loud enough to drown out the disaster in her mind, too—whatever hadn't already been drowned in the booze, at least.

But this was her fourth—fifth?—underground brawling ring tournament in Boralus, and nothing was as numb as it should be. She'd blown through all the illegal boxing and brawling in Stormwind and Dalaran (and suddenly "blown through" didn't feel like a good word choice, but at least she hadn't said it aloud) in the six months Blix and her brother had been missing at the same time. Every establishment there had remembered her, unfortunately, so she'd caught a portal and moved on to a city whose bars didn't yet consider her notorious.

Indy had been to the city a few times when her brother still called it home, and had been drinking buddies a few of the fighters. But the people running the fights hadn't known the look in her eyes well enough to turn her away. It hadn't been a bad time when she'd last been through, so how would they even know?

But the drink hadn't been enough. Splitting her knuckles against opponents, then refusing to heal between fights hadn't, either. Darktalon rage was bad enough without giving it a self-destructive bent, and nobody was enjoying the results. Well. The people placing bets were, because she was far too volatile to be reliable. And that added chance into the game.

Each night ended the same, though: exhausted, a bloody, taloned hand clutching a drink glass, and her forehead planted against the tabletop as she debated cleansing enough booze out of her to keep her going, or to finish the drink and go get something she could pretend was sleep.

Indy was having a particulary difficult time with that decision the night a chair scraped loudly on the floor beside her, and she realized someone had joined her at the table she'd been using as a pillow.

"The table and I are taken," Indy muttered to the wood grain. "Well. It's taken with me."

A hand rested on her shoulder, and she was halfway through sending her elbow directly into whatever asshole had just grabbed her before she registered that the voice of the man seated beside her was familiar.

"Ind."

Her ears shot up to alertness, and she raised her head to stare blankly at the face of her older brother. "And? …Did you track me down." She huffed indignantly at him. "I said I'd be in Nagrand." "Yes, you did. But when I didn't find you there, I knew Stormwind was out. So that saved time." His lips pressed into a thin line (oh no, disapproval) before he added, "I lived here for years, and I remember where you like to fight. It wasn't that difficult to find you. Follow the feathers and find the upset tenders."

She shrugged. "I'm working through my feelings." "You've worked through them. You've tenderized them." There might have been a hint of a smile at that, but it wasn't reaching his voice. His tone was soft, but firm. "It's time to come back."

"I can't—" her voice cracked, but because it was Andy, she didn't care. "I can't go home."

Andennaris offered out an arm, and she slumped against his side like she had been doing since she was little.

"I meant Nagrand," he explained, and squeezed her against him slightly.

He was a little colder to lean against, these days. But the voice she'd known for centuries was still there, underneath the echo, though the comfort would have been welcome even if it wasn't. Still, she hadn't been the little sister since they'd been reunited. It felt weak. They'd been working together on restoring his memories for years, and she had always tried to be the support when the hard moments came. And now here he was, returning the favor—

No, not returning the favor. Being family. Neither of them were keeping a tally.

"You shouldn't go with me. You've got Reth staying wi—"

"Ind. She can stay alone for a while. You know she'd prefer that. She just needs a roof, and she has a key." He squeezed her again. "You need a brother. And I am here."

I am here, and the unspoken and I know I haven't always been. For a moment she felt like she might break down completely, right there in the middle of the tavern. But instead, she took a deep breath, and relaxed enough to be able to mentally let him take the older sibling role back from her.

(It was the oddest combination of new and normal.)

She sniffled and blinked away the moisture trying to overtake her eyes. "You really want to come with me?" "Of course. I'm packed for it already. Once you get your things together, we can go."

It had been hard, letting Blix in enough for her to be able to help Indy in an emotional capacity. There was a time when she'd cried with her older brother without feeling shamed, or pathetic, but healers couldn't be weak. They—

Indy finally turned her head enough to look at her brother. She'd fought so hard to find her family again, and actual friends, so that she could be more than an awkward emotional rock that healed people before drinking all the liquor and roosting in a tree.

But what was the point of the hurt, and the fear, and the effort, if she didn't let herself benefit from having people in her life again?

"Okay," Indy said through a heavy sigh. "Let me get my things. And then, I guess, you get to spend however long you can stand with the saddest camping partner available." She said it with a grin, and oddly enough, it was a genuine one.

He gave her a small smile. "Your company, and free energy for me? We'll both be feeling great, then."

She laughed and started to rise, pushing her braid over her shoulder. "Rude. And fine, you win."

Her brother caught her lightly by the wrist before she was fully out of reach. When he replied, his voice was serious again. "I'm with you for as long as you need. Rethea has been told I'm not available for work, and she's more worried about you as a friend than she is about me being free for contracts."

Indy sank her fangs into her lower lip and sighed. Dealing with the consequences of having people in her life who cared was hurting her pride a little. And that was fucking stupid. She took a deep, tired breath, and then finished standing with a very genuine groan as bruises, pulled muscles, and joints protested.

She spun her wedding ring around its finger, and tried not to focus on how still and dull it was. Part of her had wanted to take it off, but that was the same part of her that wanted to run and hide. Apparently, it was going to be just as hard to remain with her loved ones as it had been to find them. Every feather on her body was singing for her to shapeshift and sneak off when she went to her room to get her things.

But Indy had already learned, for worse rather than better, that running away was easy. And sadly, easy was never better.

Blix was a hole through her core that might never close properly, but that didn't mean that she needed to turn her back on everyone she'd met and everything else she'd built since coming back from her first self-imposed exile.

""Let's get my things and head out, then," she said, finally meeting her brother's flickering, empty eyes. "Asha will be happy to see you."

"…You left her alone in your room?"

"Of course not! Tilly is in there, too, so it's even worse than you're imagining."

He started laughing, and the sound caught in Indy's ribs, forcing her to replicate it. It had been days since she'd last laughed, and it the fact that it already felt a little foreign seemed sad.

But her big brother had found her. It might take a long time for Indy to feel anything remotely close to normal again, but thanks to Andennaris, she also wouldn't feel alone.

[venusvity]

.ﾟ۪ ♡ ۫     SWEET LIKE CANDY ... SENA'S DEBUT MINI ALBUM !

Sweet Like Candy is Sena's debut mini-album, making her the fourth and final member of VENUS to debut solo. With a track list of eight songs, Sena performed the title tracks "Exes" and "Get Him Back" for a total of six weeks across various music shows and concert appearances. Exes would go on to win three music show awards, and Get Him Back would earn two.

With a star-studded all-female producing team, Sena's debut mini album will feature tracks produced by the acclaimed producing duo SODA, one of Japan's most popular idols, Kaori, Evangeline's leader Namra AKA angeleyes, the producing trio of Venus' sister group SNS Mika AKA M.ka, Yuki, and Piper, MORNINGSTAR member Eris, Kaleina from KRUSH, Hiro from LUCKY, Love AKA lovelies from REJECTS, and her always supportive groupmates Chloee Lee, Baebi, and Klara Blix.

TITLE TRACK ... TRACK OO1. EXES

TRACK OO2. TASTE IT

TITLE TRACK ... TRACK OO3. GET HIM BACK

TRACK OO4. HIGH VALUE WOMAN

TRACK OO5. MY KINK IS KARMA

TRACK OO6. WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS

TRACK OO7. WAITING ROOM

TRACK OO8. CASUAL

Despite its divisive reception, Sweet Like Candy made a notable splash in the music scene. On its first release day, It sold over 1.8 million copies, showcasing Sena's shockingly strong fan base and the anticipation surrounding her solo debut. The album continued to perform well, reaching a total of 4 million copies sold.

The album's title tracks, "EXES" and "Get Him Back," quickly became fan favorites. "EXES" shot to the top of the Gaon chart, holding the number one spot for an impressive 20 days before "Get Him Back" entered the top ten and subsequently took over the number one position for 25 days. However, the album's overall chart performance was fleeting, with its presence dwindling from the charts after only a few weeks.

Sweet Like Candy sparked debate among fans and critics. Fans loved the album's personal, raw nature, speculating that several songs were about her past relationships, including rumored ties to a member of ArmCandy and Yeojun of Pushing Daisies. However, critics were less enthusiastic about the album's overall composition and thematic cohesion, saying she fell flat compared to her members' solo debuts.

Sena's vocal performance throughout the album was a standout. Her expressive delivery amplified the emotional depth of the songs. Her ability to seamlessly transition between high-energy pop anthems and introspective indie ballads underscored her versatility as an artist.

Critics had mixed opinions about the album's overall coherence and some of its production choices, but they all agreed on Sena's potential and the strong foundation she has laid for her solo career. Her debut album, "Sweet Like Candy," proved that she is more than just a member of Venus; it showcased her as a unique and talented artist in her own right.

YOU CAN GET YOUR SWEET LIKE CANDY PHOTOCARDS HERE!

OO1. Let's start off with the fact Sena's debut showcase SOLD OUT! All 15,000 seats were filled with constellations, her closest friends, and some other idols. You already know all of Venus was there cheering her on. They all made little signs to show their support. Klara wore a cute little headband with Sena's face on it that she and Elliot of Pushing Daisies; it was all very cute and a much-needed moment for Constellations.

Shockingly, Bliss was there to show her support alongside HautePink members Misun and Fame, which caused a lot of heated debate on constellation Twitter and some fan wars between them and Coutures, but what's new there? Not only were the Venus girls there but a whole bunch of idols came to support their favorite fake maknae! SEE WHO WAS AT SENA'S SHOWCASE IN HER INSTA DUMP!

OO2. Sena did a lot of interviews for her debut! She was on PSICK SHOW, The Kstar Next Door, Buzzfeed UK, and Hong Seokcheon's Jewel Box! This girl was everywhere and capturing the hearts of literally everyone she interacted with. She also got her own variety show, "Sweet Like Sena," where she'd basically try to make candy from scratch every episode and fail miserably. She'd have some guests on the show, which caused some really fun and iconic moments, like when Klara joined her to make rock candy. They literally made the candy so hard it was like a rock, resulting in the girls losing their minds as they tried to see who could break the candy first. This was the first time Sena really got to show her variety skills and she did not disappoint!

OO3. While on PSICK SHOW, they repeatedly tried to get her to spill who the album was about, and she would not give it up! Either she'd laugh it off or answer with, "I think it's obvious. Listen to the songs." with a smirk on her face. There were a lot of speculations from fans, but most concluded that the album is either about Yeojun of Pushing Daisies; they did major detective work to come to this conclusion, like, building timelines based on posts, deleted posts, and when Sena and Yeojun were seen together or a member of Arm Candy due to the on the nose title of the album.

"I don't think it matters who it's about. It just matters that it's good," Sena would say during her PSICK interview as she played with the ends of her hair and puckered her lips at the camera, "but some of you guys are riiight!" She'd teased, laughing at herself and covering her mouth.

OO4. Every encore stage, she did something special like pulling her Venus members on stage with her, a tradition for Venus solos at this point, inhaling helium from some balloons to pitch her voice during a stage, dressing like a cat for one of them, and most famously letting her backup dancers sing while she danced which was a hit with fans. Her live vocals were praised for her stability, though she was trashed for an encore performance of "Get Him Back" where she was a bit pitchy and out of breath, but in her defense she was tired so!

OO5. Not many scandals! The only real notable ones were her outfits being "too revealing" or "try hard" which...wasn't a big deal. It stayed in the stan twitter bubble relatively so Sena never saw any of it despite being very active on social media.

"They're getting you on Twitter...Okay, but are they streaming?" - Sena via Instagram Live, 2024.

The other scandal involved none other than our favorite DeepDive boy, Finn Lee! The pair were spotted out and about together A LOT, like if Sena was spotted by fans, Finn was right there behind her. Though they would consistently say they were just friends, they were also seen hugging and hanging onto each other outside of a club, which caused a bit of a stir. Still, they never cleared it up with fans, and Mydol never released a statement. This just wasn't at the top of the priorities list lol!

OO5. OVERALL! SENA HAS A GREAT TIME! She was always glowing when she was on stage or at fansigns and giving it her all every performance. It was a breath of fresh air for constellations fighting for their lives just a few months ago. It was really a good time, genuinely. Everyone was pretty happy and supportive of their girl, and she was so happy with how everything turned out! Despite not having much creative control over her music videos and outfits, she was super proud of how the songs turned out and how it all went about. Pretty smooth and overall happy era!

EXES PROMOTIONAL OUTFITS !

GET HIM BACK PROMOTIONAL OUTFITS !

OCS MENTIONED : @d3caynluv + @pinkscaped + @bluwavez + @hearthr0b + @alwaysvivid + @snspice + @lvcky0ne + @mcurningstar + @sug4rsweet

[blixvoronin]

DWC Day 5: Flame

read more about the daily writing challenge for this week here @daily-writing-challenge

word count: 1270 content warning: none summary: Blix and Indraste strike out against the assault in the Emerald Dream. They have some unpacking to do. mentions: @indraste-darktalon

Blix’s mismatched eyed roamed over the landscape before her, and her breath hitched in her throat as she squeezed Indraste’s hand a little tighter.

When she’d explained what was happening in the Dream – Fyrakk’s assault, the horrors unleashed, the threat it bore to Amirdrassil – Blix had said “say no more,” and immediately packed to go.

Now, standing in what should have been vast stretches of verdant greens and endless life, she was surrounded instead by embers and death – and the look on Indraste’s face broke her in a way she never knew possible.

“Wildflower,” she whispered. “Wildflower, we need to focus. We have to get the survivors out of here. We can repair the damage, soon, but right now, I need you here.”

She moved to pull Indraste along, but the druid was locked in place, stock-still, by memories of the past and the sight of the present all at once. Tears rolled silently down her face, and before Blix could speak again, the elf’s mouth opened in a soundless, mournful scream. Indraste collapsed to her knees, and dug her fingers into the Dream’s soil beneath her feet, as if clawing her way through the layers of soot and ash to something deeper inside. Blix was with her in a heartbeat, wrapping her arms around the druid and burying her face into Indy’s back.

“Wildflower, baby, shh. Shh, shh, I know. I know. We can fix this, but we need to move, I know it hurts, baby. Come on. Be angry. Be angry, let it out, let’s tear these bastards to shreds. Show them your rage. Come on. Up, up. I need you, Indy.”

She pulled Indraste to her feet as the grief washed through the kaldorei in waves, and Blix’s jaw set. She’d make the Druids of the Flame pay for this. This was personal, on so many levels it was insane, and it made Blix inconceivably angry.

What followed was a display of brutality – Blix and Indraste carved their way through the battlefield, Indy howling her rage and her grief as she clawed and bit and tore and blasted apart Primalist after Primalist, flame druid after flame druid, and Blix a ghost on her trail swiping daggers to any target that threatened her. Between the pair, the Primalist encampment hadn’t stood a chance, and before they knew it, Indraste was on the work of rescuing those who had survived.

When she did, her face was covered in soot, blood and sweat – Blix tried not to focus on the smell of burnt flesh, of blood and piss and shit and ash. It reminded her too much of Kingsland, when she couldn’t do enough to help. Where hundreds of innocents had died.

That was then. This was now, and right now? Indy needed her.

She helped Indraste carry survivors off the field, handing them off to druids and Priestesses of the Moon. The pair remained like that for hours, making trips to and from, her doing any work Indraste asked of her and making sure all threats stayed off their tail or died to the effort.

When they eventually returned to the central encampment, Indraste had promptly shifted to her bird form and roosted in a high branch. Blix would have a hard time getting there, and she took it as a silent sign to give her some space to process what had just happened.

The Emerald Dream was beautiful – everything Indy had promised and more. But, with the carnage that Fyrakk had wrought, Blix could also see it may as well have been as painful as Indraste witnessing the aftermath of Teldrassil a second time. So, after a long time, Blix made her way slowly to Indy’s location and settled herself wordlessly on the branch next to her wife, who didn’t spare so much as a glance in her direction.

Blix didn’t speak. She didn’t need to – right now, Indy needed to process, and if she truly didn’t want Blix there, she could just… leave. Blix’s ability to walk the Dream was nonexistent; Indraste had endless plains and valleys she could escape to within the limitless swathes. But, she didn’t. If anything, after an agonizing time, Indraste slowly shifted back into her elven form. She still balanced on the branch, dull-eyed and with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. The kaldorei looked small, which was saying quite a bit considering her frame; it communicated to Blix just how poorly-off she was feeling in that moment.

Blix did the only thing she knew how. She pulled her hip flask from its place, offering it to her wife, and watched as Indy took it and proceeded to indulge herself in a few large gulps before handing it back.

“What are we supposed to do?” Indy whispered, her voice hoarse. “How are we supposed to counter this? This… was never supposed to happen.” The pain in her tone was unbearable, and it broke Blix’s heart. “The Emerald Dream was supposed to be impenetrable – to be safe.”

“We press on,” Blix answered simply. “We’re already on the verge of turning the tide; I have no doubt that with enough effort, we can end Fyrakk here, before he can do more damage. Merithra and Ysera – they have a plan. They have to, right? This is their realm. They know it better than anyone else.”

“Shadowflame,” Indraste spat, “will bring an irreversible scar to these lands – something never meant to be unleashed here, like a virus. It’s foreign. It’s wrong, and now, that and these flame druids walk the Dream as if it’s nothing.” The elf’s lower lip quivered, and Blix’s head tilted.

“There has to be a way to heal it,” Blix whispered. “It can’t just linger forever, right? Not here.”

“That question should never have needed to be answered. This – all of this – it’s all wrong. This was the one place I felt truly safe, Blix, and now it’s ruined. It’s taken from me, just like everything else. Just like everyone else that made me feel safe. That’s the way it goes, isn’t it?! Take everything from me? See how far I can push before I break?” Indy’s tone had raised as she spoke until she was yelling, feathers sprouting from her braid. “I can’t fucking take anymore! I thought – I thought I’d finally hit a point where I was done losing what I care about, but instead, this happens! Of all things – the Dream. The Dream. Can you even imagine what this feels like, Blix?”

Blix’s brows drew together, and she looked away. “No,” she answered softly. “I can’t. But… I do know I’ll be there for you, the entire time. You aren’t losing me. Not now, not ever, okay?” She looked back to Indy, her gaze pleading. “Please, see that. I’m not going anywhere. Never, ever. You’re my wife, and I love you, and I’ll go to the ends of the earth to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Indraste sniffed, her eyes welling up, and she sighed as she leaned against Blix weakly. “I know, moonfire,” she said quietly. “I’m just so scared. I haven’t been this scared in years – and it’s bad enough, knowing you’ll live so much shorter of a life than I will. I always lose what I care about. I wasn’t ready for this.” Her voice broke halfway through the statement, and Blix responded by wrapping an arm around her wife and slowly running a hand up and down her side.

“I know, love,” Blix whispered. “I know.”

They sat like that, for a time – Indraste, mourning, and Blix, cursing the flame that had caused it.

[weaversweek]

"Reach" and "Over the rainbow"

Unlike last year's effort, Fear of Music is not presented chronologically. Unlike many other lists of 50, this one is not ordered from great to even better.

However. It makes sense to start in the year 2000, and it makes sense to start with one of the songs just scraping into the top 50. Two of the Uncool50 have been replaced, this is the only one where I had serious doubts about whether it still merited a place. (Does this suggest I skimped on research last year? Probably.)

"Reach" - written by Cathy Dennis and Ronnie Hazelhurst, performed by S Club 7 - a European hit single in summer 2000. It's the era of manufactured pop, bursting through like sunshine through the clouds. Those harmonies! The uplifting melody line!

The whole century's going to be as fun and positive as this, right?

S Club 7 split less than two years later. Cathy Dennis wrote other big hits - I considered "Toxic" and "Can't get you out of my head", but neither survived into the top 100.

Eva Cassidy died in 1996. She was a natural musician - came up with three-part harmonies from nowhere, improvised with skill and precision - but never hit the record company leagues.

Indie label Blix Street had rights to Eva's live performances and studio records, and hawked them to tastemakers. One was Paul Walters, the producer of Terry Wogan's breakfast show on Radio 2.

From nowhere, Eva Cassiday was everywhere. Blix Street have eked out Eva's tiny back catalogue to a remarkable degree; I just hope they'll never try to use an autocomplete bot to "re-create" her.

"Over the rainbow" was written in the 1930s by Harold Arlen and Yip Harberg in 1938; I'd name Eva's as the definitive recording.

[indy-et-al]

Just gonna say that @zephyrwise has signed up to do charity art for ToA, and everyone should get on that and get some art from them.

Special thanks for also designing Indy's hip panels! I've said everything I love about this via Discord, and now everyone else gets to enjoy it, too.

GOD I LOVE THESE TWO

indy belongs to @indraste-darktalon / @glitterdustedwren <3

[celesterunewhisper]

You received a gift from Celeste!

I N D Y

Tea: Mitigating Motmot Melon Ingredients: -dried melon & pear pieces + dried melon blossom & marigold petals + white tea leaves. Flavour: white tea (lightly caffeinated); strong melon flavour with a touch of a honey-like sweetness to compliment the mildly bitter marigold. Other Gifts: a porcelain frog tea pot and two tadpole mugs.

My dear friend, Indy, When I was thinking of your gift, I wanted to craft a tea that captured something special about you or a feeling you are familiar with and enjoy! So, I started thinking about birds, flight, and the feeling you speak about when soaring through the open air. My mind immediately turned to the terms 'refreshing' and 'relieving'. I began from there. Most tea-makers would go down a familiar avenue and suggest replicating this feeling through some sort of mint based method, but for someone as dear to me as you, I wanted to try something different. You deserve more than the average approach! So, instead, I thought to myself 'When would the wind feel best to fly?'. And, since most birds that I'm familiar with migrate to stay with those warmer climates, the season that came to my mind was a gentle summer. And, what better way to express refreshing summer than melons? Thus, we come full circle to my thought process that brought me to the conclusion of my 'Mitigating Motmot Melon' tea. The best part about this blend is it can be brewed hot or made iced! Perfect for any season. I hope you enjoy it. The frog tea pot was just too cute not to scoop up for you. Plus, with the extra tadpole mug, you and Blix can share tea so sweetly together. Happy Winter's Veil! -Celeste Runewhisper

(( @indraste-darktalon​ ))

[thetechmedia1]

Some developers, including Epic Games, Spotify form a nonprofit coalition to battle Apple’s App Store Policies

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A large portion of the previous year has seen a significant uproar from both indie and major league app developers against a number of Apple’s policies and its growing monopoly within the tech sphere.

What however further added flame to the uproar, was the recent controversy surrounding the tech giant’s removing of Epic Game’s wildly popular Battle Royale Fortnite from its app store. The same happened after Epic Games offered a discount on its virtual currency, Vbucks, for purchases made outside of Apple’s domain.

This particular event has since sparked a long drawn out fight between the two corporations, which is yet to be settled completely. The two companies are set to meet in a virtual courtroom in California on Monday to present their cases regarding the Fortnite debacle.

Epic Games’ fight outside the court room has now started to gather support, in the form of a non profit organisation. Music streaming giants Spotify too has come out and criticized the rules Apple has imposed on its app store in recent times. Other companies including Match Group Inc, and Basecamp, have also voiced their opinions against Apple’s significantly high commission rate on apps made available on its store.

Spotify, Epic Games, Match Group, and Basecamp have all come together to join a non profit organization that plans to advocate for regulatory and legal actions against the tech giant’s app store policies.

Apple’s policies surrounding in-app transactions and its commanding of a 15% to 30% commission on app purchases from its store have been the focal point of criticism in recent times. However, Apple argues that this revenue is the only way that allows the organization to create resources for developers, that include over 160,000 technical documents as well as sample code assisting in the building of apps and the imposition of strict anti-piracy law upon apps published on its store.

Based out of Washington D.C and Brussels, the nonprofit coalition, named ‘The Coalition for App Fairness’, aims to implement legal changes in order to put a stop to Apple’s alleged unfair policies, allowing both small and large app developers to publish and flourish freely on a regulated platform.

Recent developments have seen Epic initiating an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in a California-based U.S federal court and Spotify filing an antitrust complaint against the tech giant in the European Union.

Apart from the big names the coalition also includes smaller firms such as Blix, Tile, Blockchain.com, Deezer, Basecamp, along with European delegations including European Publishers Council, Protonmail, and News Media Europe.

Even though the Cupertino-based tech giant has refused to comment on the recent proceedings, individuals aligned with Apple have reinstated their faith with the corporation and stated how the companies making up the coalition don’t speak for the thousands of small app developers empowered by Apple, that form the foundation of the tech sphere.

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[indy-et-al]

Indy stood in her bathroom, one arm crossed across her front as she read the note. Twist had let himself in while she and Blix were out, apparently. At least he'd stopped climbing in through the windows; he was far too worried about catching her and Blix together. Thank the Night for disgust accidentally leading to privacy.

She picked up a bath bomb and sniffed it, made an approving noise, and then looked at the temari ornament. It was a nice thought. She moved it to a higher shelf to keep it safe, and padded out to the workroom to grab paper and pen. She settled into a chair, pushed her braid over her shoulder, and after a moment's thought, began to write.

Thank you for the bath bombs. I know we both find soaking relaxing, or at least centering. And thank you for the well wishes for my mental health, but I have high hopes for the coming year. (It also helps that Blix doesn't let me pull pans out of the oven with my bare hands, either.)

Even still-- Please tell me you at least used the door when you broke in? Why do I know more than one person that does this?

See you soon. I'm keeping this short so I can go try the bath bomb. Peppermint oil makes water tingly.

-I

At some point during Winter’s Veil, Indy might find a few items in her bathroom that weren’t there before. A temari ornament rests beside a pack of glittery silver snowflake bathbombs that smell of peppermint and a note.

The lady selling these said this one contains a wish for mindfulness. I asked and she confirmed that means mental health, so hopefully things aren’t so unbearable in the next year. - Twist

@indraste-darktalon​

[indy-et-al]

The Mediator (Indy)

Word Count: 600 Summary: Indy might need to work on her penmanship after this little debacle. (Based on a fun AH mistake that happened yesterday.)

featuring @blixvoronin!

Indy stood in the doorway to her home, taking deep breaths and pausing a conversation that had been going on for over half an hour in order to get her rising temper under control. She could feel feathers spreading up her forearms from her wrists and at the base of her skull, but she had her hands clasped together behind her back in an attempt to hide that fact. 

Another deep breath, in and out through her nose. She smiled, but she could feel that it was too wide, too toothy. She spoke anyway. “I will repeat, again, that I asked for 16 to 18 runed writhebark, not one thousand, six hundred and eighteen.”

The courier looked at the stack of crates on his wagon and then rubbed at his temples. “Look, my job isn’t processing orders. It’s delivering them. I was told to deliver these crates to this address, and to collect payment and transport fees.”

Indy stared at him for a moment. “...What do you possibly think I’m going to do with one thousand, six hundred and eighteen pieces of this shit?”

“Have a fel of a time hauling it all into the house?” The courier shrugged.

Indy growled and stood up straighter, and was about to take a step forward when she heard Blix walking up behind her. 

“Wildflower?” Blix asked, popping her head around Indy’s mid-back and eyeing the courier. “What’s taking so long out here?” 

Indy felt her hand pet up her back in subtle encouragement to keep her cool. So instead of giving in to her temper, she took another deep breath.

“Your friend here won’t accept her order,” the courier said.

Indy growled again, and Blix's face briefly went sour at the courier’s word choice. She moved fully next to Indy and put a hand around her waist, resting her head on Indy's side. A flicker of amusement cut the growl short, then encouraged Indy to turn her attention away from her current least favorite person in the world to focus on her most favorite person in the world. Breathe. Then, she explained the situation while Blix looked up at her and pet gently at her hip.

Blix’s eyes got progressively wider as Indy spoke, and by the end she was glancing between Indy, the courier, and the cart with an expression that looked increasingly like glee.

“...You think this is funny, don’t you,” Indy said through a sigh.

Her wife started laughing. The sound made all the anger she’d been holding back drain out of her, and Indy leaned hard against Blix in silent protest as she reached for her flask and had a sip.

“...Okay, you’re right. It’s kind of funny,” she admitted, laughing softly and capping her flask.

“It’s fucking hysterical,” Blix said, face deadpan. “But be nice. This poor guy’s just as stuck as you are.” 

“Yeah! You do realize that this is completely ruining my schedule, right? And probably pissing off other clients and my boss.”

Indy pushed her braid over her shoulder and studied the courier and the cart for almost a full minute, running through possible solutions in silence. 

“...Okay, I have an idea. I’ll take three crates myself to resell, and if you give me five minutes to contact a friend of mine, I think she would take the rest off both our hands.”

She felt Blix’s hand run up her back again, this time indicating silent approval.

“If my boss gets the money and I can get out of here soon, I’ll take it,” the courier relented.

“Give me one moment,” Indy replied, turning into the house and heading down the hall to their workroom so she could speak to Rethea in private. 

As she crossed through the door, she faintly heard Blix ask, “...Hey man, can I get you a drink?”

“Please,” the courier replied.

[indy-et-al]

First Dates (Indy)

Word Count: 1000 Summary: Indy thinks back to meeting @blixvoronin. (A spiritual companion to this.)

It was the middle of the night, and Indy was in bed thinking about Blix, and also holding her. This was a common pastime when she woke to escape the old ghosts in her nightmares, because memories of her wife were, with few exceptions, soothing to go back over. The six months Indy spent blackout drunk and getting kicked out of every bar in Stormwind (except the warlock haunt; they loved her) were a truly dark spot to return to, but the worst most of the other memories involving Blix could offer was a lingering sense of embarrassment.

At how drunk she’d gotten Blix the night they met, and then leaving her to her own devices..

At how thoroughly she’d gotten her ass kicked by Blix the first time they brawled.

At how long it took her to realize she liked Blix as more than a friend. 

Indy remembered the night they met far better than Blix did. Some of that was the stress, and some of that was Indy’s well-practiced ability to be just drunk enough to function at all times. But the fact that the day up until her arrival at the party had been absolutely terrible was the main factor: the cafe she’d been working for had just closed, which meant that Indy was losing her apartment and the one link she had to normal life since coming back from Outland. A large part of her had been tempted to pack Asha up and head back to Nagrand, but she decided that instead of giving in to the impulse to hide, she would try to be social. 

An attempt to remember the good parts of being a whole person instead of some sad, feral thing in the savannah.

It had been hard to walk through the doors; loud music was something she was still getting used to (though these days it didn’t even make her flick an ear), and crowds were suffocating. She’d put on a dress for the occasion, and felt naked out of her leathers. But the promise of free booze had won out, so she’d taken a deep breath, marched right for the bar, and grabbed one shotglass in each hand without even looking at who else was there.

She hadn’t checked what they were serving. She didn’t care. She tossed the one in her left hand back, followed by the one in her right as a chaser, and then set the empty glasses down on the bartop.

Then, a voice from her left: “Well, I already know I like you.”

Indy looked left, then left and down, and got her first glimpse of Blix. She was a healer to her bones, and so the first thing she had noticed was the prematurely-silver hair and her scarred eye, but then the person in her had kicked in and shown her the full picture. 

Blix had the sort of smile that made Indy want to be the cause of, right from the first. So she’d ignored the spike of nervousness at seeing a new person, picked up two more shots, and offered one to her. “Here. I’m Indraste. Call me Indy.”

“Blix–” a pause as she stumbled on her last name. “Blix Voronin,” she replied, then took the shot.

At the time, Indy had been surprised by how well Blix held her liquor, though she’d known what was going to happen when Blix suggested a drinking contest– even if Indy didn’t have the alcohol tolerance of an ogre, there was no way somebody half her size was going to win. 

She’d been right about that. She’d been very, very wrong in her assumption that the sparring match they’d both agreed was an excellent idea would go the same way.

Honestly, that had been what caught Indy’s initial interest. Blix was attractive, yes, and funny, yes, and oddly good at making Indy feel comfortable. But she was also competent, and could hold her own in a fight. That earned Indy’s respect in addition to everything else she was already feeling.

It was all over for Indy the first time Blix knocked her on her ass. It had just taken her a couple of months to realize it. 

To this day, Indy wasn’t sure which of their early meetups counted as a first date. Was it that first night at the bar? The sparring match? Getting drinks after the sparring match? The picnic in Nagrand? The picnic at Nordrassil? The night that fucking bear had broken Blix’s arm, right after Indy had healed the wound Blix had gotten in an earlier sparring match?

She felt her pulse increase, and forced herself to take a deep breath.

(“You seem quite smitten with the young lady,” the bear had teased before the drinking turned into the ill-fated arm wrestling match. “Are you two a couple?” “I’m her healer,” Indy had replied immediately, hoping that Blix would understand what she was actually trying to convey: I care about your wellbeing. I want to be by your side for the bad things in life. I want to help you when you need it.) 

Indy was self-aware enough to realize that she showed her love, platonic or otherwise, through healing. So when she noticed that her instinct was to drop everything and run to her when Blix got injured, she started to realize how she felt. And in the end, it honestly didn’t matter when their meetups became dates, did it? Indy had figured her feelings out… eventually. 

It said something that they started officially dating the night Blix’s arm was broken, and got engaged the night Indy planted Blix a new hand. Not auspicious starts, but things had worked out well all the same. They’d been hale and whole for the wedding, at least!

There were bad days for the both of them, of course. But that was just life.

Indy took a deep breath against Blix’s hair and closed her eyes. Here they were a few years later, better for knowing one another, helping each other overcome their more destructive coping mechanisms, making each other laugh, and having each other’s backs.

Also caring for two very chaotic dragonkin.

When she’d come back from Outland, she’d been adrift, with no real purpose. But now? Indy’s goal was to be as good for Blix as Blix was for her.

[indy-et-al]

Title: Get Off My Lawn !!! (Indy)

Word Count: 700 Summary: Indy doesn’t like sharing airspace. (guest starring @blixvoronin)

Indy looked up from her book, glowering at the roof as a loud thud and the roar of a drake interrupted her calm afternoon for what felt like the thousandth time. Her grumpy growl was muffled by the sound of the cottage door slamming open.

Blix burst in, face alight with excitement. Indy felt the too-common mix of adoration and worry that bloomed through her middle every time she saw that expression, which firmly settled on the latter when she registered what Blix was yelling.

“Wildflower! They’re doing the drake races here!” She gave Indy a quick squeeze around the waist and then darted for the bedroom, probably to change. “Where the fuck– is Mr. Scrungle in the stable?”

Indy scowled and rubbed at her temples. “I think he and Asraku went for a hunt. On an unrelated note, we might owe the neighbors a few sheep.”

Blix wilted, and then wandered back over to Indy, slow leaning into her front. “I want to go race.”

“You can when they get back. Somebody should enjoy this ruckus.”

Blix looked up at her. “Indy, you love flying. You and Asraku have been using forests as obstacle courses for months now. And if you’re not on her, you’re–” she gestured at all of Indy–”you.”

A few feathers fell from Indy’s braid as she frowned down at her wife. “It’s different here. I don’t like strangers on our private property.”

“They’re not on our property, though. Not unless they crash-land.”

“The air counts,” she retorted, well aware of how sullen she sounded.

Blix pulled back, laughing a little, and pulled a feather from her braid. “You’re defending our territory like a corvid. Are you going to fly out there and swoop at anybody who gets too close to our roof?”

“...I might,” she admitted, wrapping her arms around Blix and squeezing a little to soothe herself.

Her wife looked up at her, beaming. “Just don’t hate me when I go out there and break the sound barrier, okay?”

She made an offended noise. “It’s fine if you do it. You belong.”

Blix started to pull back, grin not getting any smaller. “O-kay. You’re grumpy, shedding, and being overly territorial. You’re hangry. Let me go make us something before you start swooping strangers.”

“I’m n–” Indy let go of her, going quiet, because she was. She was very hungry, but had been too distracted to notice. She silently planted a kiss on Blix’s hair, then went to sit back down in her chair before she incriminated herself further. “I can cook for us, you know,” she said in one faint, final protest.

“Celebratory barbecue. At the end of the tournament. I’ll need it after introducing the competition to the speed of Mach Fuck.” Blix pointed at her, then sauntered into the kitchen.

Another thump, another roar. Indy winced and rubbed at her ears. The cottage was supposed to be their quiet space. This? This was a nightmare.

Still, while Blix fixed them dinner, a plan started to form. Give in to the territoriality and help her wife? There were no downsides. 

****

In the days following the Voronin Darktalons’ race conversation, there started to be complaints at the courses in the Elwynn and Redridge areas. Many riders commented that there seemed to be a very angry, very pecky crow that kept swooping the people attempting the races. Delays, crashes, and forfeits were reported in much higher numbers at those races. 

Blix looked up from the news-sheet a few days later, eyeing Indy levelly over their coffees. “...What did you do while I was racing, love?”

Indy took a sip of her coffee and made a content sound. “I caused problems on purpose.”

“Did you sabotage the track?”

“You ran it fine, didn’t you?” Indy gave a content smile and settled back into her chair.

The air over the cottage was blissfully, blissfully silent.

[blixvoronin]

discovery

Summary: Blix finds a new case. Word Count: 875 Warnings: none Mentions: @indraste-darktalon​

Blix strolled into the craft room in the home that she and Indraste shared, her brow knit tightly together as she approached the table where Indy was leaned over an assortment of scrolls waiting to be enchanted. She held a map in her hands, along with a series of hastily-taken notes and a flyer torn from a notice board.

“Check this out,” she said, looking up to Indy as she tossed the flyer down. It was an advertisement – not just any, but one dually printed in Common and Darnassian, requesting a hunter for a string of deaths reported in Ashenvale.

Indy turned her head, picking up the flyer and reading it quickly with a frown. “You think this is a case, moonfire?”

“Yeah. See – I found this flyer in Duskwood,” Blix said. “Not common to see something like this that far out, so I did some digging. It looks like there are at least three victims reported in Ashenvale from the last two months – uh, Sentinel, Sentinel, and… a druid.” She pulled up a chair, laying out the notes she’d taken on the deceased and tapping them with a finger. “What do these guys have in common?”

“… They’re on their home front,” Indy said thoughtfully. “I could navigate Ashenvale with my eyes closed. Orcs have been there for so long that we don’t need help to take them out.”

“Mm,” Blix hummed. “Exactly. Three people, all who know the lay of the land like the back of their hand, and suddenly there’s a search for someone else who can hunt this thing down? Math ain’t mathin’.”

“So, what are you thinking?” Indy asked. “An angry spirit? Something the priestesses couldn’t handle?”

“I don’t know,” Blix admitted. “There’s no detail I can find anywhere on the bodies or how these folks died. That’s why I gotta go out there, figure out what’s going on. If it is something up my alley, y’know, chances are I’m about to see it as somethin’ straight out of my normal wheelhouse. Kalimdor has…” The human drew in a tense breath, frowning. “… a lot of tricks up its sleeve,” she mumbled.

“Just be careful, moonfire,” Indy said quietly. “I know I’ve been busy with preparing for the Tournament and Bertram.”

Bertram. The raven lord they’d recovered in Nagrand some weeks prior. Bertram thoroughly hated Blix after she’d attempted to throw down like a Westfall rodeo to subdue him, and she returned the sentiment after he’d thrown her off his back into a pile of clefthoof bones. The animosity had cooled, some, with Blix bringing a wealth of fish to the creature in an attempt to win his favor and remaining a very respectful distance back as she held conversation with the feathered beast, but he was still acclimating. Hell, he’d almost bitten off one of her flesh fingers two days prior.

Damn bird.

“No, no – wildflower, you’re fine. Don’t worry about that. I’m not worried about it. I want you to come with me.” She raised her brows, reaching out to take Indy’s hand. “You said it yourself – you know Ashenvale by heart. I want you with me. It’s not familiar ground for me, and whatever this is, I want to be able to have you there in case shit hits the fan. You’re fast, but not ‘get from Duskwood to Ashenvale in ten flat’ fast.”

Indy blinked, her brows lofting as she regarded Blix for a long moment. “You know – that makes a lot more sense. I wasn’t keen on letting you go by yourself, to begin with –“

“It’s a no-brainer, wildflower. Anywhere I go, you come with me. We’re a team.” Blix shot her wife an affectionate smile, standing to press a kiss to her cheek. “We’ll leave to handle this as soon as the Tournament’s over. When was the last time you slept longer than five hours in a single stretch?”

Indy’s ears pinned back as she thought over the question for a moment, and Blix plucked a feather that had sprouted out of her braid. “… I’m not sure,” she admitted.

“Mm. Come on. I’m brushing your hair out and you’re going to bed,” Blix ordered quietly. “You can’t work while you’re this exhausted – trust me, the enchantments will be fine until tomorrow. Do you want dinner?”

“Yes,” Indy sighed, her shoulders sagging as she relaxed. “Most definitely. I know I ate breakfast this morning…”

“And worked straight through lunch,” Blix concluded, her head tilting. “Mm. Okay. Food, first. What do you feel like? I’ve got some leftover pork – I can make you some bandil anato-bashore.” The suggestion drew a wide smile from Indy, who rose and wrapped Blix in a hug before pressing a kiss to the crown of her hair.

“Making me Darnassian food?” Indy said softly. “You’re a woman after my own heart.”

“It’s what I do best, wildflower. Go sit – I’ll be with you shortly.” Blix winked, and departed to prepare Indy’s meal. She adored her wife, but she’d be damned if she didn’t see the resemblance to the almost fugue state both of them were susceptible to working themselves into.

Maybe a trip to Ashenvale would be a good refresher for them both, once the case had been addressed.

[blixvoronin]

19 and 44 for the ask meme

the aforementioned ask meme - send something in!

19 - What would they do if stuck in a room with the person they’ve been avoiding?

Blix actually just went through this, recently. She had to reunite with her first love, a woman by the name of Katrina Lamb, in order to recruit her help in training her heir Vesper in spook-hunting. It... did not go well. Blix is notoriously awkward around Kat, these days, and tries to avoid her as best as possible, but Kat ended up ripping Blix a well-deserved new one for Blix being more than a little boneheaded in the past.

She would rather just leave Kat alone, if at all possible.

44 - What language would be easiest for them to learn? Why?

Darnassian! Blix has a fairly fluent proficiency in the language after years of study and practice with Indy's help. Also, by speaking to her parents-in-law in the same tongue. (She likes to think it helps put her in Andira's good graces. It really doesn't, but she tries.) She's also fluent in Azerothian Sign Language, but aside from these languages, most likely would easily pick up on Thalassian or Shalassian due to their similarities to Darnassian overall.

[indy-et-al]

Day 3: Forest/Mortality (Indraste)

Word Count: 950 Summary: Indy loves Blix so, so much. Warnings: Angst Continued from @blixvoronin here

@daily-writing-challenge

Indy had been out in the woods around the little cottage she shared with Blix. They’d been living together before they got married, but now that they’d officially tied the knot, she could feel herself settling down, settling in, and really getting to know the area around their house. It was a gorgeous forest, and after the first time seeing the leaves fall here, she’d realized just how much she enjoyed proper seasons.

She was perched high in a tree, letting the wind ruffle the feathers covering her crow’s body, as she studied the scenery, listening to the call of the birds, the squirrels, and other animals that called the forest home. She was so dialed-in on listening for the faint sounds of life around her that when the screaming started, she nearly fell off her branch.

Her body recognized the voice before her brain did, because by the time she realized it was her wife screaming out in the woods, she had already launched into the air, sending feathers flying as her wings flexed to give her lift. Even if the sound hadn’t been carrying through the air, she’d know where to go, because Blix had been spending a lot of time on a specific overlook as of late.

When Indy found her, Blix was curled in on herself, sobbing uncontrollably. She did the only thing she could and shifted back into an elf, scattering more feathers through the air and onto the dirt as she reacted to the stress her lover was feeling. Her arms wrapped around Blix, pulling her close to Indy’s chest, making her flash back to every nightmare, every bad night her partner had had since they met. She sank to her knees, slowly pulling Blix into her lap, guiding her into place to be held. Surrounded. Kept safe.

She used to hate how tall she was, centuries ago when she overshot her older brother in height. These days, she’d learned to use it as a way to comfort. And so, once Blix was curled in her lap, crying against her chest as she wrapped her in her arms and planted kisses on the top of her head, she silently thanked whoever had decided to make her as tall as some Tauren, and used all her bulk to add to the hug.

Indy’s mother and father used to tell her that she had the frame of a feral druid, if not the skill. She’d hated it then. But now that she had somebody to protect? She’d take it.

Blix’s sobs ran long. Indy kept still, holding her, petting her, in no hurry to move either of them. She recognized the pain her wife was feeling, because she knew Blix had been off since coming back from that wedding, and so was able to do some basic math. Back in Outland, when Indy’s military order had fallen apart (due to most of them dying against the Legion), her own response had been similar. Indy had taken the loss, and the pain, and the missing camaraderie and had decided to handle it all by fucking off into the wilderness to be alone for over a decade.

At the time, it had felt safe. At the time, it had felt right. But coming back, and meeting Blix and all Indy’s other friends had taught Indy that the response to feeling alone wasn’t to self-isolate. Many people had come and gone throughout her long life, and the one thing she knew from all the pain was that it was important to keep going.

There were always new people to meet. There were always new connections to make.

If I hadn’t kept going, I never would have met you, Indy thought, squeezing Blix in close as her sobs began to peter out. Knowing you has made all the pain I went through beforehand worthwhile, and I’m going to do my best to make the same true for you, she thought as she planted another kiss on her wife’s pale, fine hair. Someday she’d say it aloud, but for now, she realized that the best thing she could do was to hold Blix as she grieved change.

Eventually, Blix exhausted herself, sobs ceasing completely. Indy pet along her hair, down her back, but mostly kept her close, willing herself to be a source of calm. Blix must have been exhausted, because she started to drift off. Indy kept still for this, as well.

Once she was sure that Blix was asleep, or as close to it as she could get, Indy pulled her against her chest and rose with a grunt. It was a bit of a trek back to their cottage, but she knew that she could get them both home. What was all the time she spent picking fights in bars for if her arms weren’t strong enough to carry the most important woman in her life when she needed it?

As they went, Indy kept up a low, one-sided conversation in Darnassian: I love you. We’ll make this okay, moonfire. Sometimes circles crumble, and the time in between finding a new one can be terrifying. But I’m here. I’ll always be here, because I love you.

One of Indy’s hands was on Blix’s ass, holding her up, keeping her against her chest as they walked. The other just kept petting her hair, doing its best to keep her under until they got back to their house and could climb into bed and just be for a while.

They’d been talking about going on a hunt for one of Blix’s contracts, but Indy was going to put her foot down. Tonight was for feeling. Tomorrow, they could think about working.

[indy-et-al]

DWC Day 3: Sentimental (Indraste)

Word Count: 983 Summary: Indy gets some enchanting done, manages not to depress herself. Warnings: none

@blixvoronin gets another! @daily-writing-challenge

Indraste was cleaning up after breakfast, keeping one ear tuned in to the rest of the house as Blix rummaged around, packing everything she’d need for her latest trip to Silverloch. Her fiancee was making one last pass through the house, making sure she had everything. Indy knew by now that it was best to keep out of the way until this process was complete.

Blix eventually strode into the kitchen, coming to her side and pulling her down for a kiss. Indy wrapped her in a hug, being careful to keep her damp hands out of the picture. 

“I’m off, wildflower,” she said, before planting another kiss on her lips. “You and the kids be good.”

Indy chuckled and looked over Blix’s head to where the Darters were lurking on top of a cabinet. “We’ll try. Good luck, and travel safe.”

Blix paused, eyeing her curiously. “...You usually try to keep me longer.”

She blinked down at Blix, keeping her face impassive. “I’ve learned that the faster you leave, the faster you get back.”

“Uh-huh.” Blix studied her for a moment longer, and then said, “Your eyebrows stop moving when you’re being sneaky. Just so you know.”

“They do not,” Indy said mildly, cocking one at her for effect. “And you’ll see what I’m getting up to when you get back.”

“But consider: you could just show me now!” Blix gave her a winning smile.

“No, I can’t. It’s not done. Now shoo.” She swatted Blix lightly on the ass. 

Blix did not shoo. Indy ended up having to walk her to the door, but she did eventually get on the road despite her curiosity. Indy waited for a full hour to make sure it was safe before making her way to their workroom. As always, the clutter in here was soothing; she loved seeing their projects-in-progress, and how comfortable the chaotic split of equipment on the table was. She liked being in here, tailoring bags while Blix worked at the other end of the table. It was a space made for focus and progress, and she was in a spot in her life where she liked both of those things very much.

Indy set a few half-finished bag orders aside, and then hauled her chest of enchanting materials up into the space left behind. It was time to tweak an enchant that she very commonly put on people’s equipment, especially those who liked to be a little theatrical. 

When she opened the chest, all her materials came into view, and she took a moment to enjoy how pretty they were. She had them organized by type (dust, shard, etc) and then color, which meant that someone just wandering in and looking would have no way of telling what did what. For her, though, she’d been using them for so long that she didn’t need to have them sorted by name, use, or value. 

She started portioning out the various materials she’d need for the enchant she had in mind, stacking them into neat little piles on a blank sheet of parchment. That done, she took another piece and tore it in half, setting the two pieces side-by-side. 

“Okay,” she muttered to herself, setting her enchanting rod down beside her on the table. “What are we doing, Indy?”

It took a couple of hours of experimentation to answer that question, but overall she went through fewer reagents than she was expecting. It was, at a high level, a simple enchant, after all. Soon, she was staring down at two pieces of paper that gave off a noticeable white glow when close together. She picked up one of the pieces and began to walk, watching it get incrementally fainter as the distance between it and its partner increased. The paper in her hand kept glowing until she was a decent ways outside, and then began to glow brighter as she returned to the house.

Indy took a deep breath, looking down at the ring on her left hand. For the first time since it had been slipped onto her finger, she took it off, setting it down on the worktable. Then, she knelt in front of the crate she used at markets, rummaging in the back of the drawer she kept all of her cloth scraps in before pulling out a second ring. She set the platinum-banded moonstone next to the gold-banded rose quartz before settling back into her seat.

Another deep breath, and a moment to stretch her fingers, and then she began to replicate the enchant onto the rings.

*****

Blix’s ring was much harder to hide now that it glowed when Indy’s was near, which was something she hadn’t taken into account when she’d made this plan. It was a good thing Indy had every intention of giving Blix the ring when she got home from her trip, because if she didn’t find it, Asha or Tilly would.

Indy sat in the darkening workroom, holding both rings in the palm of her hand, smiling faintly. She had wanted a way to show the world how it felt when Blix was close, and considering how nicely the rings were gleaming, she felt that she’d done a decent job of it. There was a practical aspect to it, as well– over a short distance, they’d be able to find one another if they needed to.

Of course, the hope was never to need to, but… 

Indy took a deep breath and shook her head. She wasn’t going to get melancholy. Not about this. This was a promise, not a precaution, and she couldn’t wait to see what Blix thought when she saw her ring. 

She knew she should get up and start dinner, put her reagents away before the Darters got into them (again). But instead, she took a moment to just breathe, looking down at the shining rings in her hand and smiling, completely unconsciously.   

[indy-et-al]

DWC Day 2: Forever (Indraste)

Word Count: 300 Summary: Indy rehearses her vows, has some thoughts about time. Warnings: none

@daily-writing-challenge @blixvoronin

Indraste lay on her back, with Blix pulled across her chest and stomach, idly running her hand through the other woman’s hair. Blix was asleep, and Indy had been halfway there as well until she’d decided to do another mental pass on her wedding vows. The day was coming up, after all. The hand not in Blix’s hair was resting at her lower back, and Indy was having a hard time keeping from petting there, as well.

Blix needed sleep. She needed sleep. But before, just… just one more run, to make sure she had it memorized.

Indy mouthed what she planned to say in the dark, being careful not to even breathe the words, just in case Blix stirred and heard her whispering them. She was trying to nail the ending, to decide if saying she’d always “cherish our bond” was depressing. On some level, it hinted at the fact that their lifespans were so vastly different, and she wasn't sure if she should avoid that or not.

But, someday I will be here, and you will not was just the state of Indy’s family, on a high level. Indy might outlive Blix, sure, but Indy’s brother and parents were certainly going to outlast them both, considering they were already dead. And maybe it was a very kaldorei way to look at it, considering their lifespans, but there was always a little pain with any sort of love. 

That pain didn’t make the feeling any less true, or less lasting. Indy was always going to love Blix. And Indy’s brother and parents were always going to love Indy. That was just fact. 

Their wedding day would be a happy one. Nobody would have their thoughts turned to death during the ceremony. And if that were the case, then the phrasing should be fine. 

I love you, moonfire. And today, I’m standing here to link myself to you, and tell everyone present that I will always cherish our bond.

She might tweak the wording, just a little. But the sentiment was right.

Indy kissed Blix’s temple and closed her eyes, willing her muscles to relax and sleep to finally take her.