#bonus points if he always has That Scar along his ribs

[zu-is-here]

before you forget

[border-spam]

Leech Lord - UwU

"Then perish."

Troy

Slaps to the back, hands resting on top of the bracer, jabs to the ribs under its edge, that kind of intimate playfulness from people he trusts initiates immediate heart-boner mode.

If someone he wasn't close to did that shit he'd twist em in half. He’d 180 their torso before they realised what had just happened, and maybe that's why friends doing it wrecks him so hard. They normalise it. They normalise the rig and the spines and the hollow shell of iron, like it's not terrifying ( when he knows it should be ), and it's not disgusting ( when he knows what's under it ), and it's not sacrosanct to touch ( when he knows it absolutely fucking is ).

Ven playfully punching the blunt front of the bracer, a heavy paw from JK on the top of his empty shoulder, Eli asking how his back is and gently pressing fingers into the edge of his spine? Dude gets shivers. 😔

People offering him help is another "If you were anyone else I'd kill you but I actually really love this thank you" contradiction for him, but it has very specific rules.

Troy is shockingly independent, there were no accessibility tools on Nekro and no prosthetics, he's learned how to do almost everything without assistance and uses his mouth, hip bone, thighs, etc to manipulate things in place of his missing arm. He generally doesn't need help, and that's probably why friends offering it is.. nice.

No one ever offered. No one ever offered, his whole life. If someone close to him asks if they can help as he's opening something or pulling on a glove with his teeth? Yeh 😏. Yeh they can, sure. The little touches they might give him as they do are just a bonus.

Don't offer him help if he's struggling. Don't make it clear you've noticed he can't do something. He'll already be on razor edge and ready to tear himself apart over it, so drawing attention to his shame is a recipe for disaster. He'll ask if he needs help. He'll... he'll ask if he needs it.

Seifa

Someone preparing something for her to eat without asking absolutely generates an internal sob. It's the idea that she occupied a part of their brain that made them think of her when grabbing food or a drink, that her comfort actually mattered enough to someone to consider her despite there not being any gain.

Sei remembers every time this happens and has an internal little checklist for making sure she returns the gesture of care, from Eli handing her some fresh bread that he picked up from the kitchens at lunch, to JK insisting she try the concerning coloured fruit juice they had remembered mentioning before and wanted her to taste. She tries to pay em all back, one way or another.

An arm around her shoulders decimates her. She goes full jelly mode, all stupid grin and slight blush, if she's being pressed against a solid side then even better. Couldn't really explain why if she was asked, probably some underhanded combo of feeling protected and like she mattered enough to want to hold close that way. Gets an emotional chub of intense girth.

Hand touches. It's just so.. out of the norm. It's not something that ever happens in her day to day life, you don't make that connection with other people in her position and role. Friend reaching over to turn her wrist and ask if the tremor they spotted is a problem? Oh no. Partner in crime Ven holding it as he leads her through a crowd so they don't get separated? OH NO. Troy's unmistakable change in behavior when she eventually returns to Pandora, glancing touches against the back of her hand when he's always been so weird about that in general. Slowly lacing heavy fingers between hers as she starts to doze off next to him against the couch pillows, like if he's careful enough she won't notice? OH NO.

Tyreen

Troy sometimes shows Ty security recordings, it's a little known fact that the entire Cathedral and most of the Holy City is under surveillance, though maybe it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.. the Father is all seeing, after-all. There's a specific thing he'll clip from edits and show her because he understands how it makes her feel, and it's people praising Tyreen when she's not there to force it.

Not worshiping, praising. Comments on her great performance last week in a conversation between some dust runners guarding their cabal's alley in the Slums. Some kids playing God Queen, one gap toothed little girl with a coat wrapped around her shoulders shouting about how strong and powerful Tyreen is, how SHE'S Tyreen this round! Start running. Little things, real things that show an affection and care towards her from people who aren't being forced. It hits her. It really hits her, and the smile she beams at him in response is real.

Having her hair being pampered absolutely throbs her ickle heart. There isn't really any of Ty that can be touched, but her hair is pretty safe, long as the stylist is wearing gloves. Those little fluttering tickles and glances of human contact near her scalp leave her hot in the cheeks and smirking to herself as she rests back in the padded char of the Makeup team's portable boutique. She can close her eyes and really focus on how that feels, the little connection to someone else.

She remembers how years ago, she'd sit with Troy in their shared cloister between their ship docks and just do fucking nothing most nights - when Sei wasn't around that is. She'd splay back on the sofa and he'd sit on the floor between her legs, snarking bullshit comments about how cringe what she was watching was as he carefully painted her toenails while her feet rested in his lap.

She'd slap his back and tell him to shut the fuck up, that he just had no taste and couldn't tell a good romance if it punched him in the dick. Ty would wait for him to stop laughing before she returned to pressing experienced fingers into the pain points along the ridge of his scarred shoulder, kneading out twinges like she'd done for as long as she can remember.

They don't do that now though... not anymore.

Asks are open!

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 2 for the first time. Random thoughts.

Huh. Only 7 episodes. Not complaining necessarily. For series with an ongoing plot I've definitely become more in favor with their seasons only having as many episodes as they need rather than them having to stretch themselves out to full up a certain number of episodes, which can lead to padding and just bad character moments.

Episode 1: Jeez. Catra visiting Shadow Weaver's cell just to rub her success in her face and verbally abuse her back for once. It's like a twisted version of Zuko and Ozai from ATLA. Catra's upbringing under her was abusive but this is far from a healthy way for her to deal with it. She's basically deliberately swimming in her resentment.

Episode 2: It's not that I'm rooting for her but by-golly was it fun to watch Catra act like just the absolute worst she could while she was Glimmer and Bow's captive.

I touched on this in season 1 but part of the drama of the heroes feeling guilt over leaving Entrapta behind is kind of lost on me a bit simply because it was her own fault it happened. She deliberately went back into the purge room because of her machine obsession, which then closed on her and erupted in flames. It was more than reasonable to assume she was dead and no one but her was to blame, so I'm not really able to be invested in their guilt over it.

That said, weirdly enough I do like that her "abandonment" doesn't seem to be even a blip on the radar for Entrapta herself. She hasn't joined the horde because she resents the heroes or felt left behind, she simply is so obsessed with machines and experimentation that she'll be on the side of whoever lets her do the most of that. Like, it's selfish and irresponsible but it's very in-character and I'd far rather have a traitor motivation be based in that over something stupid like a misunderstanding.

Episode 3: I love the mental image of Shadow Weaver thinking up princess-themed ghost stories to tell Adora as a child.

So, if the previous She-Ra Mara separated Eternia from the other realms/planets/whatever she did and that's what cut off the She-Ra line for 1000 years, I'm guessing Hordak may be from the time before that happened, thus his drive to create portals and calling Eternia a backwards world. Either he's naturally long-lived or his technology is extending his life.

Episode 4: You know, you could maybe argue it was vague enough that it could be taken other ways but I'm definitely getting some vibes here that Scorpia is crushing on Catra. She literally refers to the two of them as soulmates at one point. I know she says she's trying to be friends but this feels a level beyond that.

Fun little reference to the original She-Ra cartoon thrown in there (and maybe Cowboy Bebop...? James Bond...? What was Glimmer's art style supposed to be?). I like how it is more like just playful ribbing than anything outright dumping on the original. Again, I've never seen original She-Ra but whenever remakes/adaptations go out of their way to trash to the original I always kind of wonder why they bothered doing an adaptation if the original is just that bad? Also, I was having trouble sleeping so it was about 2am when I watched this episode and the very Eartha Kitt Catwoman Catra made it very difficult for me not to lose my **** and stay quiet. With how much of a contrast that version is from the one in this series, that was hilarious. Bonus note, it's a nice touch that Frosta's version of Catra is a pretty crasher in that sweet suit, since that's the only impression of Catra she's ever had.

Adora being a chosen one is definitely elevated up simply by how much the pressure of what she's supposed to be is getting to her. I'm likely going to keep making Avatar The Last Airbender comparisons throughout the series but that's partly because I went into this series figuring it'd be at least structured similar to ATLA (season 1 being more episodic and a little more kid-friendly as it builds up the world before getting more serious later). Adora and Aang are interesting to compare here. Aang's worries early on were less apparent because he was more in-denial/choosing not to think about his problems that much, which fit with his character as a free-spirited Air Nomad. While Adora is much more military-minded. She can't keep herself from thinking about her problems and trying to prepare for the worst-case scenario. And jeez, that idea of who/how Catra is in her mind. Not only beating her but making her watch as she takes everything she cares about away. Not Shadow Weaver, not Lord Hordak, but Catra. That whole Lion King Mufasa/Scar moment between them in episode 11 and their fight in the S1 finale really did a number on her mental image of her old friend. Not reasonably so.

Minor note: I'm sure I'm the only one who got this impression but by the look of it, the way the robot's eye moved, and the music, after getting the soda spilled on it that little spybot gained sentience for half a second and then immediately died. It was so darkly comedic I had to laugh.

Episode 5: So that red disc is basically She-Ra's Red Kryptonite, having an effect on the mind rather than the body. The drunk Adora joke doesn't really do it for me but it did get some nice interactions going between Scorpia and Sea Hawk, two characters I certainly wasn't expecting to bond. I did really like Catra's panic when berserker She-Ra nearly beheads her. The implication is that is Adora really wanted to kill her Catra would already probably be dead. It's a thing I like about powerhouse characters like Superman or Aang, who could just demolish everything around them and don't simply because they're a good person...which in turn makes them the scariest person on the planet when they're well and truly ticked off. I'm not going to lie, I do kind of want to see a She-Ra version of Aang when Appa was stolen or when Superman fought The Elite.

Also, Catra's line of "I have control over Adora. I'm not giving that up for anything.". There's a lot to read into there.

Episode 6: I guess my prediction was sort of right. Shadow Weaver became basically a magic parasite and while it did increase the power she's capable of the implication seems to be that she needs a constant fix of magic to keep herself going, thus her attachment to the Black Garnet.

Have we seen Micah before? Given how long ago the flashback seems set, the fact that Shadow Weaver didn't kill him and thus he probably becomes someone important later in life, I'm guessing he's Glimmer's dad and the queen's late husband, since I think he's the only important male character whose face we haven't seen yet. Also, he's voice by Ezra from Star Wars Rebels and that cracks me up for some reason. It's the exact same voice and a relatively similar character.

I compared Catra and Shadow Weaver with a kind of twisted version of Zuko and Ozai and that definitely still fits here. Both Catra and Zuko confront their parent and call them out for the inexcusable abuse they put them through but while that moment was the start of Zuko's upwards journey this and SW's betrayal seems like it's going to cause Catra to spiral even further. Makes sense why Adora leaving affected her so much. She's probably the only one Catra's ever had that she could consistently trust and rely on, even if she did somewhat resent her.

Not surprised Hordak is getting along with Entrapta. She's not socially aware enough to be scared or intimidated by him, so she'll speak frankly, and since all she wants to talk about is the machines, experiments, and how they could get them to work Hordak probably doesn't take much issue with that. She's producing results, which is what he cares about, thus also why Shadow Weaver and Catra started losing favor with him. I wonder if Catra is going through imposter syndrome? Shadow Weaver had that line that Entrapta earned her place next to Hordak and, if you think about it, Catra hasn't really "earned" anything. We saw that she didn't really take her training or studies that seriously, showing up late to combat practice and even getting partial credit for what Adora beat. She wasn't promoted to Force Captain because of her own abilities but because Adora had defected when she was supposed to get that title. She's come close to a few victories but never really had any except for Glimmer and Bow's kidnapping...whom she then basically let escape when she returned Adora's sword to her. She doesn't have the slightest clue how the horde's bureaucracy works when trying to get things done, like simply getting troops armor. Given how much better than her Adora always was and how little she herself has to her name, I wonder is subconsciously Catra believes she doesn't deserve her current position and thus why she's fretting so much over trying to prove herself.

Episode 7: Am I mistaken or did Bow's parents say that he's the youngest of TWELVE siblings? I was going to ask whether Bow was adopted or if his dad's used a surrogate or if maybe there's even just simply magic in She-Ra's world that allows two people of the same sex to have a child together but now I'm just focused on the 12 kids thing. I get nervous just imagining myself having more than one. You should see me when I'm with two cats. I have to pet both of them because I'd feel like I'd be making one feel left out and like the other is the favorite. I'm a mess with kids.

The dad with dreadlocks (Lance?), his design looked familiar to me and I finally realized it reminded me a of a fanart design for a human Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Very different voices between those two characters though.

I wonder if there's any significance to the robot protecting the crystal having the same design as those in the artic in episode 5? Obviously both have the connection to the First Ones but the robot in the forest who was also protecting First Ones' tech had a more insect-like design over these more worm/Graboid ones.

I'm kind of curious what Hordak would have done if Catra had told the truth. Given his interactions with her and Shadow Weaver he doesn't seem like the time to tolerate failure but I suppose the implication here is that he at least would respect those who own up to their failures. Or I suppose more simply he was just testing to see if she would lie to him and since she did there's little merit in keeping her in a position of authority anymore where she could lie about important things again.

Season 2 verdict: Still enjoying it. Another person on this reddit recommended I view seasons 2 and 3 as one since they are basically just one season split in two. I was going to do that but this ended up longer than I thought I would, so I'll just do 2 and 3 separate to keep them semi-organized and easier to read.

I think overall Catra is my favorite character since she has the most interesting backstory, interactions, and just general path through the story out of everyone. She's like Pearl from Steven Universe or, well, Zuko. There's just so much baggage there that she's trying and kind of failing to deal with. I'm always invested in whatever's happening when she's onscreen. Hordak so far is a good big boss villain for Adora to face but Catra is a good archenemy for her.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o027y3/going_in_blind_watching_season_2_for_the_first/

[loreparable-writes]

The Thieves’ Aerie

How were you supposed to know that by helping this poor fool who got himself cut up in a bar fight was going to open the door to the city's underbelly? You are only trying to survive in this rat hole but somehow you have managed to become a nurse for worst the city has to offer. Hopefully the two men who have inserted themselves into your life can keep you from getting killed or worse... A Reader/Hawks, Reader/ Thief Takami What if? fic.

---   

Chapter 1 

One Good Deed 

It’s two in the morning and life finds you nursing a lukewarm coffee while sitting at your desk in the clinic. When you started school to become a nurse, sitting alone in a twenty four hour medical center was not what you pictured your life to be.  Go get a medical degree y/n, you’ll be able to work with heroes she said. Maybe find a nice doctor to settle down with she said, hate to break it to you Mom but you are full of shit.

Though in hindsight, the only reason you are currently here is because you picked up the on call shift from a coworker with a sick kid.  Let’s see I can’t just sit here and stare into the abyss until seven am so what can I do instead?… records have been organized and patient charts for tomorrow have been pulled, exam rooms have been cleaned, has anyone gone over inventory recently? You pause for a moment trying to go through dates in your head before ultimately deciding that's what you are going to do to pass the time.

The room where the medical supplies are kept sits towards the back of the clinic and out of sight from the main desk. Just to be on the safe side you bring the clinic phone along so that you don’t miss anyone in need of help.  The next half hour is spent hauling supplies from the back room into the exam rooms. You are forced to stop for a bit when a concerned man calls in with questions about their nephew possibly manifesting his quirk but you were able to provide him with the correct phone number for quirk services. There are enough cotton squares and bandages to get us through the week but I should have it added to the order… we also need more- The subtle click of a door opening sounded so loud in the empty quiet of the clinic and the pained groan that followed instantly had you on alert. Peeking around the edge of the door frame reveals nothing in the hallway for now. You nearly jump out of your skin when a crash shatters the quiet again.

“Where the fuck do they keep it? I don't need much…” From what little information you have gleaned from the current situation, someone in pain has snuck into a twenty four hour clinic… which probably means they are either a druggie looking for a fix or someone from underground.

“Oh I am soo going to regret doing this…” you whispered into the empty air but you are hoping that because there is none of the noise that is usually associated with addicts attempting to rob the place, the person currently in the exam room is someone who can be reasoned with.  As you make your way out of the supply room and into the hall, making sure that your steps are loud, you can hear more of the pained noises.

“Hello? My name is Keele, I’m a nurse for this clinic. Do you need help?”  Everything went dead quiet the moment you called out. Ok this is no different than dealing with a difficult patient, just be prepared to dodge if needed… The door to exam room two sat half closed and with a deep breath to steady your nerves, you knocked twice on the doorframe before pushing the door open.  You are immediately greeted with several crimson knives floating a half inch over all of your vital areas. Though by looking a little more closely at the one pointed towards your face, you realize the knives are actually feathers. Slowly raising your hands up in a show of surrender you tried to explain yourself once more.

“My name is Keele and I am a licensed nurse for this clinic. We are open for service twenty four hours a day which is why I’m here at this time.” You could hear the person behind you snort in disbelief.

“Are you the only one here right now?” he growled

“Yes, Doc is on call during the night shifts.” you allowed your eyes to roam what little you could see of the room taking note of the splatters of blood along the floor and cabinet. “We don't need to call him in depending on what you have going on over there…” Your attempt at turning your head to look at him is met with the feathers pressing closer to you, the sharp edges barely a breath away from your skin.

“Ok! Ok! I’ll stop trying to move. Tell me what you need and I’ll help you find it... unless its the hard stuff… I don't have access to the safe.”

“I need supplies for stitches and bandages…” His breathing is growing more ragged and you can now see even the feathers are starting to tremble with the strain of him trying to play tough. Whoever this is can barely hold it together, he isn't going to be able to take care of himself properly once I give him those items. Time to be the no nonsense nurse and hope it doesn't get me killed.

“Suture kit is in the second drawer and bandaging materials are in the cabinet above. Though frankly I don’t think it's going to be much help to you. Judging from the blood splashed around my exam room and your heavy breathing, you are about to collapse aren't you?” The snarl behind you is borderline animalistic.

“Are you brave or just stupid? Either way it's not going to stop me from killing you once I have what I need.”

“You won’t kill me” despite the situation, your voice is calm and firm. “Killing me serves no purpose other than satisfying whatever primal urge you are feeling right now. Here’s my offer, let me patch you up and get you on your way with antibiotics and pain relievers. In return I don't tell my boss that you attempted to rob us, threatened my life, and made a mess of the clinic. Then as a bonus for your wonderful personality, you may call on me anytime to patch you up when you find yourself on the wrong end of a smashed bottle again.” Mystery man snorts once, twice, before dissolving into full on laughter that ends abruptly with a rather pained ow .

“You know what Kid? I like you~ It’s a deal, just don’t try to fuck me over, it won’t end well for either of us.” When the feathers threatening your life flick away you heave a huge sigh of relief.

“How bad is the wound and where is it located?” Despite the stressful introduction you are all business at this point. Expertly pulling the needed supplies from their resting places and setting them up on the nearby rolling tray for use. You are pulling lidocaine into a separate syringe for use as you turn around from the counter to get a look at him. Oh Shit! Well thank god for learning how to control your facial responses. Nursing school was good for that at least.

Hawks Takami is bleeding in your exam room, sure the news has been on and on about the father-son pair hitting homes and businesses and robbing them blind. But you never expected to see the son in this dirty forgotten corner of the city. Though this close you can see how he gained the moniker of “Hawks”. Besides the bright gold of his eyes and the unique black markings surrounding them, there are hints of blonde feather down framing his face along the hairline and temples. His hair is short in length but despite the fact that it is clear this man has not had a shower recently has a distinct “fluffy” appearance. Pair that with the full crimson wing plumage, thick black talons, and scars across the bridge of his nose and along his cheekbone, he looks like something out of a nature documentary.

“You’re staring”

“I’m trying to figure out where you are bleeding from since you haven't been so kind as to show me. Despite me putting on my best nurse persona for you.” It's a half truth, but he doesn't need to know that.  Groaning in pain he manages to maneuver the edge of the bloody, worn Endeavour hoodie up towards his chin to expose the wound that has been slashed across the edge of his stomach and up his ribs.

“How the fuck are you still standing?! Get that thing off now!” As he fights with the piece of clothing you are adjusting the exam table into a position where he can lie down completely in order to give you full access to the wound. Despite stiffening at your touch, he allows you to support him as he lays down on his uninjured side and adjusts his wings to drape behind him. As you roll the latex gloves over your freshly washed hands, you kick a rolling stool in the general direction of the table and drag your tray along to follow.  

“You are extremely lucky, this could be so much worse than it is.” The wound itself doesn't go too deep, the part that clipped the edge of his abdomen did not break through into the body cavity. Nor did it make it down to the bone where it trails over his ribs.  

“What can I say? I’ve always.. gnk.. been a fortunate bastard. Shit! What the hell are .. gah.. you doing?!”

“Cleaning off all the grime. Give me a minute I’ll numb you with the lidocaine before I start stabbing you.”

“Ha what ever happened to your gentle hands nurse? I thought you were supposed to take my pain away.”

“Gentle went out the window the moment you threatened me and when I recognized who exactly is now laying on my exam table. Now I’m just a little irritated that it's going to take me forever to nail all my belongings down to the floorboards in my apartment because I invited a known thief to bother me whenever he pleases.” He stays mostly silent throughout the procedure aside from a couple of hisses as you inject the numbing agent. You have already placed a handful of stitches into his skin before the silence becomes too oppressive.

“Mind telling me how this happened?”

“How were you able to tell I was slashed by a broken bottle?” You level him with a flat look that has him shifting on the table in discomfort.

“When you have worked in this area for as long as I have you pick up on patterns. Try not to move too much, you’ll tear the stitches before I’m done.” You place a steadying hand across the curve of his hip to get him to settle before continuing to sew the wound up. “I can tell who has been in a bar fight, warning shots, and stupid quirk rivalry battles. Then there are those who I refer to as being Underground. You're not the first to cross my table with those connections but I do need to warn you there are undercover heroes and vigilantes that come here often. They have helped the clinic in the past so we look the other way. That offer is being extended to you as well so long as you keep your troubles far away from the clinic while you are in it, that is the only rule.”   You are finishing up the last few stitches when he speaks up again.

“Some guy at the bar I was relaxing at didn't like the fact I was talking to his woman and that she was enjoying it. Came charging over mad as hell, I was willing to take the blame for it and enjoy a bit of a fist fight, but instead he started hitting her right in front of me. I just reacted, threw the guy halfway across the bar, it was his friend that came in from the side and cut me up like this. The bouncer got involved at that point and kicked everyone out, pointed me towards this place to get help.” You’ve finished stitching him up and have already taped the bandages over the sutures to protect them.

“The bouncer who helped you was probably Hiro, he is a good guy. Try to keep your head down for a little bit or at least until the stitches can come out. Those drunks tend to keep grudges and will not hesitate to take you out for good.” Hawks gingerly maneuvers himself up into a sitting position as you take one final look at your work. Eyeing the dirty hoodie thrown onto the floor with contempt, that is not going anywhere near my sutures.

“Follow me, I need to get you some antibiotics and a clean shirt.”

“What's wrong with my hoodie?” he whines

“It's filthy and those sutures need to stay clean and dry. We keep spare clothes on hand so we should have something I can modify for you.” He follows you carefully back into the supply room completely soundless despite the massive wings on display.

“What is your shirt size usually?” you ask as you rummage through the selection of grey cotton shirts the clinic keeps on hand for these situations.

“Whatever I find that fits honestly.” He shrugs as you regard him in disbelief, taking a critical review of his body type and shape you pull out the size you think will work best.

“Give me a moment to find some scissors and I can cu-” RIP      

“No need~” he chirps as one of his feathers makes two neat cuts in the back of the shirt with practiced ease.

“The bandages need to stay on for at least two days, you can wash around the wound with mild soap and CLEAN water but do not get the sutures wet.” You pause to hand him the medications and a wound care pamphlet “as for the antibiotics, take two tablets tonight and then one once a day until gone. The stitches can be removed after ten days.” As he pulls on the new shirt you quickly step back into the exam room to pick up the sad hoodie from the floor and offer it back to Hawks in the hallway.  

“I hear cold water and hydrogen peroxide are helpful in getting bloodstains out of fabric.”

“It's not the first time this old thing has been soaked in it, I’ll figure something out.” The two of you pause by the back door, you are waiting to see if there is anything else he needs before diving back into the wilds of the city, he on the other hand seems reluctant to leave.

“I did say you could come bother me whenever you needed help…” He turns to you with an odd look in his eyes before seemingly coming to a decision on something. You watch as the hardened persona he projects slides back into place, he gives you a curt nod as thanks before disappearing into the night once more. You think you hear the rustle of wings but turn back into the heart of the clinic and lock the door behind you.

Seven am and Kanna finds you at the front desk getting things set up for the day. The scent of fresh brewed coffee floats from the break room but it fails to hide the scent of the heavy duty cleaner that they use to clean up body fluids.

“Have an interesting shift last night?” she asked as she placed the small paper bag with your favorite muffin inside next to you.

“Hiro sent over another victim of the bar scene, they needed stitches but nothing too crazy. Oh my god this is still warm~”

“Go enjoy your breakfast in the break room. I can get things started up here on my own. I’m pretty sure Dr. Maeda will send you home once they get here in the next fifteen minutes or so. Get a cat nap in so you can make it home safely.” With a mock salute in her direction you scurry off to enjoy the morning peace with a warm breakfast and fresh coffee.

Eight thirty am has you walking up the street to your apartment saying hello to the neighbors who are heading off to work as you are coming home. The hush that falls after the morning commuters have gone is a unique one that often has you standing just outside your door to enjoy it for a moment. You close your eyes to enjoy the warmth of the sun and violently startle when you are shoved into your front door and a loud bang resonates from beside your head. As your eyes snap open you all you can see is a wide, fanged grin and brilliant gold eyes.

“Hey Kid, we forgot to exchange our phone numbers…”

[royalrastafariannaynays]

88 or 85 please bonus points for a happy ending

“You’ve never been loved, I can tell.”

The voice seeps into your mind like so much cloying cheery-sweet poison. It’s hot around your neck, branding into your skin with every move and scorching your tongue as you gasp for breath.

“That’s not true–” you start, eyes squeezing open for a bitter and blinding second before a boot catches you in the gut, and you curl back in on yourself, coughing out against the toxic gas in the room. It’s just enough to cause you pain, but not enough to knock you out or kill you. Its ‘Condy’s Special Blend, baby boy,’ she’d said. 'Perfect for humans, ineffective on trolls, cooked it up myself.’

“What? You think he would come?” She cackles. “For you??”

You try to stop coughing, turn over into a pocket of slightly cleaner air and hold your face to the cold, cold concrete floor. Closer to the floor, less gas. It’s a kinda warm gas, so you think that’s probably true, anyway. John… John said he’d come for you. He always would come for you, no matter what stood in his way. He would understand, he would see your truth, he would hold your face and smile into it and kiss your forehead in the stupidest approximation of intimacy you’d ever seen, and he–

Another kick, and you’re coughing again.

“Dirk,” she murmurs, coming around to your front again. Her heels click and clack on the floor, her hair grazes your face and you muster up the strength to flinch away from it. “Dirk, Dirk, Dirk.”

The gas not only makes breathing hurt, and your head feel woozy, but it’s like something is sucking the life out of you bit by bit. Somewhere in your brain you’re supplied the term 'tranquilizer’ and you sigh as much as you can between rasps of breath. It couldn’t be taking your literal life force away. And why would she do that? You wouldn’t be able to give her information anymore if you died.

“You gave away the location of your base, Dirk. Sure it was the smaller one you’d just vacated, but you left yourself there alone to be pulled out as a sacrifice,” she simmers, claws digging into your chin and cheeks as she turns your head. Your eyes squeeze open, to find hers inches away. “You knew you had so much information to give me, and you still gave yourself up. For what?”

You know the answer to this one, and you just barely resist spitting right on her overblown and tacky glasses.

She smiles wickedly at your weak approximation of a scowl, and draws a line down below your eye.

“You think he ever loved you, knowing that you would sacrifice his precious little resistance, just for your little brother and sister?”

With that line, your will crumbles. That one line from the one who would eradicate your species if given a chance. You’re prone here in her personal gas chamber, about to be siphoned for secrets and codes and tortured with hallucinogens until you don’t even remember your own name. You’ve seen video of it being done. One of the prisoners chewed off their own hand while alone and bled out on the floor.

Every time you blink, John is there, gazing at you across an empty research hall, confused at what you’re doing. Why you would want to stay behind when you knew that everything was already gone from the premises. Two operatives captured meant that the facility was to be moved, and everything was to start over. And there in your lab coat, when you kissed him goodbye, you couldn’t look at him.

John was your perfect balance. He was there to tear you away from your work even if it was important, because you were more important. Kicking and screaming, you would be grabbed around the middle and dragged into the kitchen, where he would feed you some kind of awful recipe he had thought up. Itd be served on the plate Dave accidentally dropped and broke when he found out you were casually seeing each other. And there would be hot tea (decaf, because you consume entirely too much stale coffee) in the mug Dave bought for you when he found out you were 'going steady’.

You would eat the food. With the silverware John had scavenged from the burning husk of his late father’s house, and with one of his hands on the small of your back. In that warm spot that was just nice enough to be both distracting and comforting. If John was lucky, you hadn’t slept for a few days, and he’d be able to pull you into your military-grade cot in your quarters.

The gas you’re inhaling is nothing like that.

Grief hits you like a freight train, solid and impossibly painful right in the middle of your sternum.

“You know it’s the truth,” The condesce purrs, letting your face go. Your cheekbone hits the floor with a hollow sound, bound to bruise some very ugly colors. Your eyes slip down to half-mast, and you listen to her footfalls as she walks around to the gas extruder in the corner. A button clicks and a valve hisses, and soon, you can breathe again.

And she’s right.

There’s no way he could have loved you. No way he actually looked at you over poker that night in the canteen, when you were both failing miserably, and thought you were…

'Something else,’ was the term he used. You were never sure exactly what that meant. Countless times he had waxed poetic about your skin or hair or freckles or the depth behind your eyes and your determination to succeed. And a bunch of other things, of course. But there’s no way that he looked at you and saw anything but bags under your eyes, gangly limbs, OCD, stress, tension, bad dietary habits, scars from drug addiction, anything. There is no way.

It’s been twelve days and eleven nights total here in this gas chamber. Maybe more? You’ve only counted what you were awake for. So however long you’ve been here, he would have come for you already. Or you would have heard something, or–

There’s the sound of a scuffle outside the glass. You would turn and look, but you’re too weak. Too bleeding and battered and broken. And it would be pointless, anyway.

There’s another hiss from the gas machine in the corner. Something sweet goes back into your lungs, and your whole body feels light. Everything is woozy and the world is spinning so hard. When you close your eyes, it only gets worse. Your stomach heaves but nothing comes up, only the bitter taste of acid on the back of your tongue.

“Dirk!” You hear, as if through a fog. You close your eyes, and John is there. He’s wearing his combat fatigues in the research hall, sprinting toward you with an arm outstretched. He looks angry, so angry. Black ooze spills from his mouth, and pus from the corners of his eyes. He says your name again, and a low moan seeps from your throat. A gentle 'no,’ an admission of failure, a desperate cry for help.

You’re flipped onto your back, and you can only tell from the fact that your eyelids turn red on the inside. The red turns to blood and lava. You hear a gunshot, and a thud, and a ripping noise, and magenta pours into your range of vision with no preamble. A blade clatters to the ground. You’re still facing up. Why?

The magenta begins to smile, touches your face in a way that you know means beatings. Another low moan.

Muffled voices are shouting and you can barely move your arms up to swipe at the pink that runs in rivulets down the domed ceiling, making hands and smiles and teeth and John looking so, so, so, so confused.

After that, everything goes to black.

……….

When you wake up, it’s to the aroma of fresh vanilla. Some noises you can’t identify yet flit along the edges of your senses. The blurry sensations of the sheets under your fingers, and the tubes wrapped around your arms, accompany the faint beeping of a heart monitor. Coming to awareness is always strange for you. It’s part of why you don’t really like sleeping a lot.

Fabric rustles, you can tell what that is now, and you lift your eyelids with no small effort. The smell of vanilla is also a little sugary, and almost like heat. There’s something around your chest that’s tight and making breathing annoying. Did you… ah. Right. Broken ribs.

A glance to the right yields you someone you’d never expected to see again, shoving a cookie into his mouth and trying very hard to not seem as upset as he is. It’s fair to assume he’s keeping a straight face for the sake of the rest of the resistance.

A cool hand touches your forehead, and your inspection of John is interrupted as someone softly gasps, bringing attention to you. It’s a troll with something like greenish-gray skin and black painted over her well-manicured claws. She’s wearing a smock that has a couple smears of blood on it, and she looks very tired. Must be the end of her shift?

“You’re awake!” She exclaims gently, and very quickly she’s taking all possible vital signs and a sample of blood from your vein catheter. She hurries off before anything else can be said to her, and you frown and sigh. You made it back.

Don’t you feel fucking stupid, huh.

“Hey,” John’s voice murmurs from beside you. Now that you’re more alert, you see the lines on his face, and the flour stains on his clothes, and you know he’s been stress-baking.

It hurts, but you try to tilt your body to him to make the pain of your neck a little less. It has the opposite effect, and spikes of white-hot shoot through your body like you’ve been electrocuted and then stabbed all over. Curses pour from your tongue and his through your teeth, and you figure out that the binding around your chest is definitely for broken ribs when you hear snickering coming from your right.

“What?!” You snap, trying to lie still and sink back into the high amount of pain meds they would have had to put you on before you woke up.

Oh fuck.

You forgot that he probably hates you now. Shit.

John is starting to frown when you look away from him in shame.

“You know I dont blame you, right?” He asks.

You weren’t expecting that, so you stay silent and try to comprehend what he could be saying.

You feel a touch at your right hand, and look over to see his calloused fingers touching yours. It’s incomprehensible. Everything you’ve been telling yourself the last two weeks, hell, two months since Dave and Rose were captured, has been a process of slowly breaking down your attachment to him in your mind. It didn’t work, of course, but you knew you would have to leave him, for good. Leave the fucking light in your life.

“Don’t be stupid,” you say, and try to pull your fingers away. Unfortunately he’s not having it.

“I’m not being stupid,” he says, unfathomably. And then continues with reiteration of what had to be fake news. “I understand why you left, even if it was idiotic.”

And… wait.

“I love you,” John says, then, and your mind is still reeling even as your chest bursts with joy.

“Did you kill the fuckin condesce???” You nearly shout, and break down into bouts of coughing and wheezing, prompting Kanaya to wander by with an oxygen tank and some cannula.

John looks sheepish.

Sheepish.

Crying will be for later. Right now, you’re too shocked to even remember what happened in the last five minutes.

----------

thank you to sam for the request, and i love you all and hope you have a good week :)

[themockingcrows]

Actuality Flux- Ch. 4: Visiting Vanishment

From the Mixed Blessings Universe.

With Rose still deeply rattled from her horrifying visions, Maryam spends some time talking her down, and holding tight to the safety that love brought along with it. There's investigating to be done, people to check on and clues to find, but that needs to wait until the holder of her heart is satisfied and calm once more, safe to be on her own again. When the goddess checks in with Leijon, ominous warning and a vague vision of the future in hand, what Could go wrong may need to take a step back in the face of what new troubles present themselves.

This chapter is SFW

AO3 Mirror [X]

    Rose sighed and finally felt calm. True calm. Maryam's room always offered her respite, and in her lover's arms, it was an extra level of comfort as well. Rather than stay in her room once the boys left and be stuck looking at the table, feeling the vibrations of what she had seen in the air or in the back of her mind, Maryam had decided to take her away entirely to a space untouched by her viewings. While her own room was living bookshelves and growing plants, soft shadows and swaying light, this one was the smell of soft, green, new things and the subtle warmth that not even the sun could offer.

    Maryam's room was bright and comforting as a spring day, but the spaces were more separate than other rooms Rose had been in, or even her own gradiently organized habitat. One space was a lively garden, flowers in bright colors and climbing trails of baby's breath and aromatic herbs tucked away from the forever blooming perfume from the lilac bushes. The other, closed and comfortable and slightly dimmer, was a cocoon of solitude. Blankets abounded, books were piled in different neatly stacked shelves, cloth and fabrics were settled here and there, and so too was a constant sense of safety.

    No lingering darkness could trespass in such a clean, bright place. The only inch of darkness welcome was Rose herself, a fond joke considering she no longer leaked the dark oil that she had while at the end of her human life. Figurative habits took the place of the literal now.

    Though she had been set on her feet upon entering the grassy space, Rose took a moment or two to begin walking towards the bed, distracted by her surroundings as ever, so much to see and enjoy. Upon arrival she promptly dropped her arms to her sides and threw herself face first onto the welcoming blankets and the layers of soft bedding piled beneath them, heaving out a heavy sigh as the weight of the world fell from her shoulders. True, it would return soon enough.. but for now, there was safety and respite.

    Time to breathe.

    “Do you want anything to drink?” Maryam asked. When Rose grimaced at the idea, she grinned. “No, I meant a drink-drink. No more purposeful visions for you today, something to relax with.”

    “Are you offering something soothing, or something to knock me for several loops? Because the background noise visions I can ignore pretty well already, and I can have my hands slapped if I try to scry.”

    “Whichever would be most helpful for you right now,” Maryam said, coming to sit by Rose's side while she thought. When she took too long to make a decision as they sat in silence, the elder goddess tipped herself to lay across Rose's upper back, hugging her tight. “Or would I be the most helpful?”

    “You're already always the most helpful, you know that..”

    Maryam grinned and shifted her weight again to slip off Rose's back, tangling her up in her arms so Rose's side was pressed against her chest and slinging a leg over her thighs to fully cocoon her lover best she could without disrupting the blankets they lay atop. More freedom to pet at her and cuddle her neck and face at the same time this way, which was always a bonus.

    “You flatter me. But, really, now would probably be a good time to enjoy something soothing to take the edge off, and to help fill any gaps of worry. I can hold and comfort you, but I'm fairly sure we both know I need to go and see what's happening. I was in your visions, and the path I took makes sense.. I need to speak with Leijon about this. Jake as well. I don't want to leave you alone and upset in the interim of that however. I'd rather go and travel once you're happy as I can get you, so when I come back safely I'll be seeing the same smiling face that I always keep close in my heart.”

    “You're sappy,” Rose said with a grin. “You're also babying me, it feels like.”

    “It comes with the territory, Rose, I baby everyone to a degree. But it's not my intention right now, telling you all this,” Kanaya promised, squeezing her tight and kissing at the crook of her neck with soft, warm lips. “I want to leave and come back without causing you worry, or making you want to use your abilities to find me. No scrying for the day. Rest is what you need. No more anxious happenings.”

    “If something goes wrong, I'd rather know!” Rose started, only to be shooshed gently by cool fingertips pressing to her lips.

    “Rose, even if something were to 'go wrong', I would be able to handle it. Nothing in this world or whatever lies beyond it could keep me from coming back to you. I don't want you working yourself into tangles trying to poke and prod at a potential future trying to find where something would go wrong. I'm a goddess of beginnings, of birth, even if an end approached me, there would -always- be a new beginning following after. You've seen how many times John has died, right?” Maryam pointed out, moving her long fingers in a petting motion along to edges of Rose's face and cheeks, then down towards her collarbone. “If I die, I would simply come back. I'm not entirely certain WHERE I would come back as opposed to the precise spot my death occurred, but I'm capable of it as any other god or goddess and would come back to you soon as I was able. I've just got much less experience with my own rebirth than with all the others I guide.”

    “.. Right. Right, I keep forgetting that,” Rose murmured. “I still cling to a lot of values and beliefs from humanity, and death for us was extremely final. We had more hope for the life beyond this than what was here.”

    Maryam continued to move her hand down Rose's throat and along the front of her ribs, pausing to gently press against a breast as if appraising and appreciating the weight it held before continuing down along her stomach to gently rub in circles near her navel. Familiar, sweet touches that never failed to bring warmth to Rose's very core.

    “What sorts of beliefs were they? The hopes for this other world? I don't think I've ever actually asked.”

    “Well,” Rose said as she cuddled down and relaxed under the familiar hand, reaching down to lace their fingers and squeeze a bit. “It was meant to be better than our life, if we were good. We would reap the benefits of a virtuous life. For some it meant coming back to the world someday as a new baby for a new life, for others it meant staying forever in this perfect paradise, getting to meet and wander with all our gods and goddesses in our midst like mindful, wonderful parents. Others I think believed it would be more of a period of paradise and learning then moving on to nothingness or the rebirth again.”

    “Well, that sounds lovely, but I feel a bit bad for leading others on. None of us traipse about with the dead except Makara,” Maryam said, clasping at one of Rose's hands before moving their joined hands in a gently patterned jiggle, glad to feel Rose's muscles finally start to relax. “There's a sense of happiness when there's new life born, though. At least for me. You've felt the same brief sensation when someone worships you, right?”

    “The tingle? I like the tingle,” Rose said with a grin. “But it is very different than I thought it would be. All of it is. ..Maryam does it hurt to die like this?”

    “I'm not going to die,” she said firmly again, “but even if I did the pain is brief. I'd more be curious as to how I'd be reformed, sometimes we come out a bit different than we began, and I've not passed in quite some time.”

    “Different? How so?”

    “Well. Dirk died once and came back with long hair. He kept it tied back for ages before cutting it, it looked quite nice on him. He doesn't change much physically, but I know once in a while he'd leave certain battle scars and let others fade away, or fix his crooked nose till it was broken again,” she said. “Pyrope used to be much curvier in form, much shorter of limb as well for many cycles, but she said she was tired of being short and enjoyed being taller now. I've no doubt she'll go back to how she used to be, with how fickle she is. John tends to keep a similar appearance since he's so vain, but he changes his clothing any time he revives, calls it a fresh start. I'm fairly sure there's new piercings half the time too. I expect him to return with tattoos any time.”

    “Did you look different in the past, then? During different times alive?”

Maryam grinned at her.

    “I looked different as well, yes. I had the same symbols of my shrine marked upon my flesh, unwoven spirals and loops like fresh spring seedlings unfurling. I kept my hair long, as well. It was a time of beauty and freedom, that youth.. I changed to looking a bit older and less intense to blend in easier. I realized that while the new life enjoyed my bright appearances, sometimes those being blessed by the gift were a bit confused by me and didn't focus as much on the life as who had given it to them. A soft glow now and then and looking this way was easier to sooth with than when paired with busy lines back then I think. More.. maternal? Matronly. I don't know how best to describe it.”

    “Youth? It was that long ago?” Rose asked, surprised. Wow. John died as many times as he had clothes in his wardrobe, it sounded like, and here Maryam was going on about changing her appearance to be less striking because humans were more focused on her than the blessing they'd received. It made sense, but still didn't sit quite right with her for some reason. “If you ever reform, even without death, I'd love to see you wearing your lines. Humans can deal with you as you are, and if they're too foolish to focus.. well. That's their fault. Look how you want for yourself now. They're not huddled in the dark with sticks fighting shadows alone any longer, they'd love you however you appeared. We were taught to respect the changes of gods and goddesses, and welcome them. We'd know them by their feeling, not always their appearance. Gods in disguise and all that.”

    Maryam kicked up her usual steady glow even brighter, twinkling stars instead of soft moonbeams, and chuckled in amusement.

    “I'll be sure to show you them someday, pick out something I'd like and that I'm fairly sure you'd enjoy as well. I've got a feeling you're calmer now, yes?” Maryam asked, kissing the side of Rose's head when she sighed.

    “Yes, a good deal. I know if I dwell on the thought too long, if I let my mind weave back, it'll be just as bad as before. But for now, it's not as urgent feeling any longer.”

    “Will you be alright with me going to check in with Leijon now, then? Or should I remain till you fall asleep instead?” Maryam spoke softer now, not wanting to pull away just yet no matter the answer. Things had been so busy lately, just getting to hold Rose close like this was something precious to not be squandered away or taken for granted. The reason for the cuddle might have been something sad originally, but now it was a gift.

    “I'd prefer you to stay, but I already know you'll go eventually. ..Maybe since you saw as well, you'll be able to change the fate I saw. Perhaps what I saw was even incorrect, or could be avoided entirely if you leave at an earlier time.” Rose worried her lip for a moment before continuing. “Perhaps you'll see Megido, catch her in a good mood, get some information out of her about what she's been up to for so long.”

    “Ah yes, for I am the Megido whisperer.”

    Rose pinched Maryam's side till she laughed and slapped at her hand to make her stop.

    “I'm being serious you know. You have a way with people.”

    “Perhaps that is why I'm the one to go see Leijon then, instead of the others,” Maryam said, slowly beginning to get up from the tangle so she could rise to her feet and straighten her clothing out.          “Jake could likely speak to her about it, but without knowing these particular ins and outs, I don't think much success would be had as someone with my specialty. I do hope the beasts are not dead though, it would absolutely destroy her, they're like her children.”

    Rose remained on the bedding and shifted, rolling to her stomach and rising to her elbows, not feeling like getting out of bed yet. Perhaps she'd do her best to nap once Maryam went traveling.

    “If they are, I assume more can be born. They wouldn't all drop dead at once, right? You'd be able to help more safely arrive?”

    A look of worry crossed Maryam's features and she tightened her hands into fists for a flex before letting them hang loose at her sides again.

    “If they are to be born, I can help them arrive. But if there is nothing to birth more great beasts, there is nothing for me to help be born. They are not spawned out of thin air, Rose, they are created the same as any other creature that is born. I can urge some miracles occasionally, gift a birth that would not have happened.. but without something to give that birth, no beasts would arise in the forest again.”

    “No great beasts.. what a thought.”

    “A grim one that I hope is a true flaw to your vision. May some of the infants survive whatever future you held in your grasp, let their hope be strong enough to let them thrive.”

    Turning and bending, Maryam took a moment to take a proper kiss from Rose's lips, fitting herself into place and stroking the side of her uplifted jawline with the pads of her fingers before letting her bright glow fade down again. “Try to rest while I'm gone. If you wind up leaving, I'll try to catch up when I return. Perhaps we can go somewhere else, make a day of it, take in a nice view? There were some places you wanted to go with me eventually that you caught glimpses of, right? Like the grove on the mountain?”

    “The one with the ivy and the flowers that smell like plums, that's the one,” Rose said without missing a beat, lowering her upper body so she was resting her cheek against her folded forearms, wondering if she could lure in a nap by getting into a more prepared position. Troubled mind or not, the callback to her origins was hard to ignore.

    “You can tell me about it again when I get back, and if nothing else is prepared to set itself ablaze, we should be able to slip out and have a good evening together,” Maryam promised.

    “Shouldn't be any trouble with sudden fires, Dave is with John and Dirk, he should be plenty entertained enough to keep from being a destructive little gremlin.”

    “Some things never change,” Maryam sighed as she headed for the doorway, popping it open with a steady arm and turning for a final farewell before exiting to the darkness.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    “How long did she know,” Leijon asked, voice angry, tense.

    “Not long,” Maryam promised.

    “How. Long. Did. She. Know,” the goddess demanded, growing louder. “How long did she know this was happening, or going to happen? How long could I have had to prevent this from potentially happening?”

    “Leijon, she only saw this earlier this very day. Rose had no reason to look towards anything like this before now, or you'd have been told,” Maryam promised, frown touching her lips.

    “So what am I to believe? That she's seen so many things and never once spotted whatever tragedy is supposed to befall MY creatures, or that this is all supposed to start happening en mass soon?”

    Leijon had already been on edge when Maryam turned up, not enjoying sudden visitors at the temple aside from those devoted enough to her ways to come seeking the spaces out to give offerings, but allowances had been made. Maryam was one of the goddesses her own world was intrinsically in balance with, forever dancing in a circle of birth, life, and death.

    “Please. Really, there was no way to know this before now. Something may have changed to cause this to be a potential future, you need to remember that's how the sight works. Nothing is truly set in stone, what will be will be, but only if you take all the steps needed to get precisely to that point. We found out, and now you're being told. There were a great many troubling things she saw, not just things to do with you, if you recall.”

    “When will it happen, and how do I fix it. Were they just... dead? Laying there? Were they sick? Slain?” she asked, words becoming even more intense at the idea of someone purposefully taking down all of her beasts by the herd. “Will it spread to the human's beasts?”

    “It wasn't that clear or detailed, I'm sorry. Just that they were laying dead,” Maryam said softly. “All I know is what I saw, which may change at any time. We are just as confused as you are, but you already know if something was to be said about this to you, I'd say it. I dislike playing the same games we play with humans when it comes to working with each other,” Maryam promised.

    The view from the temple had changed over the years, improved in some ways and fallen further apart in others. As humans grew denser in population in the cities, the urge to return to their roots gave way to those who made pilgrimages to put in effort at beautifying Leijon's temple. There were usually some form of offerings around for her, new polished offering bowls and trays and platters, incense and cleaned down places to put smoked meats and dried vegetables and grains above repaired floors.

    Sometimes they left money, which was essentially worthless to her, but which Jake took with him back to the cities whenever he went around. Supposedly, he and John would find those who were down on their luck, hoping and praying for change, and give them a small windfall or arrange for them to locate the coins and strange looking bills on their own. He promised her that he tended to aim towards people who didn't feel destructive, or who tended properly to the animals in their care, and made sure there were leads back to her as a source to gain more followers or at least more direction in which to lead their second chance on life. Jake's judgment in these matters seemed more hit than miss, so Leijon was content.

    Rarely, humans would camp out in the temple and near its grounds for the evening, leaving with no complaints from the goddess nor her protege so long as they tended their circles of fire properly and took whatever rubbish they brought into her woods away with them when they finally left.

    It was soothing actually, that scent of old moss and fresh water and smoke this far in the quiet coolness of the woods. It spoke of age and time unchanging, memories of when she'd visit humans clustered around their fires, ready to fight the moon itself if it disappeared from the sky for too long. She wanted to sit down and relax, savor it, maybe even have a drink if she could get Leijon to lower her guard and relax again. Never took forever, if memory served Maryam right. Just needed patience.

    “Then I'm going to stay still and fend off whatever I can if it approaches, and try to fix what I can. I refuse to let these animals die. They're too precious to me, they're the guardians just as much as I am, and I am sick to the teeth of outside forces forcing change on me and mine,” Leijon said, stance taking on a more fluid saunter as she stalked the front of the temple, unable to just stand still any longer.

    Part of what was upsetting her so much right now was simple that until Maryam had appeared, nothing felt amiss. Nothing for now, at least. But when would it happen? Would it even happen at all? Was there still something that could be done..? Future sight was bullshit, and if she could blind the seer, Leijon was sure she would in a heartbeat. Not seeing something coming was normal, tragedy was tragedy yes, but normal. Seeing something coming swathed in Maybe and Perhaps and Nearly with little way to know for certain if it's a Definitely till the moment happens? Maddening.

    “If the giant beasts are well, are the animals the humans rely on for food well?”

    “Far as I know, yes. There's been no outcry to me, and nothing being put on offer to ward off signs of illness that I have heard. The same animals being fed and tended in larger numbers for a larger cluster of humans, nothing to report there.”

    “..Is there anything you want to do just in ca-”

    “Maryam, you're fussing. I need you to stop fussing, and let me do my job. You do yours, I do mine, we overlap and clasp hands as needed, but please. If there were sudden mass death of animals, or the forests were going vacant, I would feel it sure as I felt the ache of the encroaching civilization before they turned their sights elsewhere than the deep sanctuaries.”

    The tall goddess sighed, shaking her head slowly. She could feel a headache coming on.

    “I know I'm fussing, but I'm worried. You're so connected to your creatures, the fact that there was such an ominous thing that Rose saw.. I needed to come check in.”

    “It's not the old days, Maryam, save your sweet words for your little light. ..But thank you,” Leijon said. “I'll stick to myself here, and check in if needs be. Jake can handle the cities, there's no need for me to go anywhere right now. If there's a threat, the beasts need me more than any human could. They can take care of themselves in the beds they've made.”

    “..Well. I mean. It would be a little bit of an issue if their animals all died as well. It could potentially mean a lot of deaths, huge spreading disasters.”

    Leijon shrugged and gave Maryam a hard look.

    “More work for you and Jane, then, and a much better set of decades for me in exchange,” she said cooly, satisfied to see the slight bristle in Maryam's body language. They may get along well, they may work together, but it was always fun to just as easily turn that around and get under her skin. Keep her on her toes.

    Good. She was prettier when she was a little annoyed and that jade color in her eyes stood out even more against the growing intensity of her glow.

    They didn't get to edge further towards argument nor peace after that. A flurry of activity, darting ever closer, caught Leijon's attention and made her focus solely to the side. Who..? Oh. Jake. She'd know that jumpy teleportation style travel anywhere, but the accompanying feeling was one of alarm. Before she could call out to him to see what felt off, she was jumping and hissing at a sudden hand on her shoulder. Roxy jumping out of one of her dark voids without a whisper of sound in front of the temple, grip tight on the goddess's shoulder, expression grim, was not a sight Maryam had expected to see today during this visit.

    “You're still here, good! Good. We need you to be not-here,” she said hurriedly. “Well. I mean, not-here like not in this particular spot, not gone entirely. We don't need more of that.”

    “What are you going on about? I'm not going anywhere, I'm needed here,” Leijon insisted, swatting at Roxy's hand to make her step off. “Jake's coming this way, have him go wherever it is you're talking about, he can handle it I'm sure.”

    “I couldn't get him to stop rushin' but we're here for the same reason, he's going to want you to go as well.”

    “Where? I already said I'm not going anywhere.”

    Jake finally came close enough to switch to normal running, shouting as he came.

    “LEIJON! Leijon, come quick, please! Please, something's wrong! I need help!” he all but bellowed, slowing as he drew nearer, realizing Roxy was already there beside the goddess, and focusing on Maryam himself now. “Maryam you too, -please-, something terrible has happened,” he begged, leaning over his own knees to take in heavy gulps of air.

    “Shhh, shh, take a breath. Please, either of you can you be clear? What's happened?” Maryam asked, worried eyes looking around in hopes of getting a better sense of the situation from body language as much as words. Well. Rose hadn't spotted -this- happening... had something else changed? Maybe that had been a Maybe. Or perhaps out of order.. Sight was confusing when it was as aimless as a Seer's visions.

    “It's Janey,” Roxy said, finally releasing her grip on Leijon's shoulder, tugging her hand back when Leijon caught her with a sharp nail hard enough to sting the skin. “She's gone.” The words had a flat, upset stomach tone to them, and the usual dark lipped smile was twisted downward into a disconcerting grimace instead.

    “Got herself killed again? Been a while for her. She'll be back, just need to hunt her down. ..Odd, I didn't feel anything change,” the wild goddess said, stepping back a pace or two and warily eyeing Roxy. Too close for comfort, too much grabbing, not welcome, not wanted after the upsetting conversation with Maryam earlier and the apparent risk to her beasts. Jane hadn't been involved in their fate, at least according to what she'd been told to expect. Perhaps things were changing for the better now that things were changing, and they'd leave and she could remain to fight whatever threat was coming, if the vision was still to be believed. An immortal being misplaced was strange but surely not that horrendous, and almost certainly not a Her problem.

    “No, she ain't been killed she's.. she's gone,” Roxy said again.

    “Where's she gone?” Maryam asked, confused. “Was she meant to be doing something specific and you need her back, or..?”

    “Gone,” Jake said as he straightened back up, still breathing heavily. “Just.. She just up and vanished! We were talking, and she just froze for a moment and went wide eyed, opened her mouth and she.. she disappeared. Everything went silent and then there was this flash of light, I've never seen anything like it. It's like she was trying to talk but noise stopped working, or my ears broke, then it was like going blind for a second.”

    “Any idea what she was saying?” Maryam asked, going closer to Roxy herself now that a trail had potentially opened up. An unexpected trail, but hints and opportunity nonetheless, and the void would be much more accurate to go where they needed to in a rush.

    “No,” Jake said, shaken, worried. “No she just.. We were talking about food and the fact that it was almost time for children to go to the temples, and she was telling me about what the locals in that city do for the festival that goes with it now compared to the old ways, and new trends. The cakes and candies.” He was quiet for a moment, then seemed to remember something else. “She asked if I heard something, but I hadn't aside from her voice. Then the quiet and the light and Jane was gone. I need your help, I need to find her, something's wrong, something -feels- wrong,” he said worriedly.

    “I wasn't right by them when it happened, but I was pretty close nearby and saw the flash. It was huge! Like it came outta the sky, but then like it was comin' outta the ground. When I went to check it out, Jake was already frantic and sayin' he was gonna come get Leijon for help. So I guess you'd have an idea what to do or how to help? Maybe how to track her,” Roxy said, shifting her weight and glancing to her portal, making sure it stayed solid as a blank space in the air, all light disappearing into its matte surface. “There were scorch marks on the ground, though. Like lightnin' strike, but no fire damage. I'm pretty sure that was where she was standin', but Jake can show you the exact spot in case I'm wrong.”

    Leijon looked a bit alarmed as well now, but just as hesitant to let Roxy guide her to the void where despite it being a shorter journey, her senses would be all but useless till she came out the other side. A goddess disappearing was one thing, a goddess being.. struck down and disappearing into unknown light without a trace was more in line with Rose's visions of disappearance and blocked sight. Instead of choosing immediately, she shot a look to Maryam who nodded.

    “Let's go. Jake, show us where you two were when this happened, will you? Close as you can get. If we hurry, maybe we can find clues and figure out where she may have gone. Rose saw flashes of light, but not what happened after the dark spots appeared, and this wasn't foreseen at all from the peeks I could do in the bowl! We might be able to stop the others from happening.”

    It was a lie. Maryam knew deep in her gut that it had to be a lie, or at least a heavily weighted truth. From the look on Jake's face as he glanced her way, he knew the same thing from instinct alone, but it was he who grabbed Leijon by the shoulders and steered her towards Roxy's void portal.

    “Please, Leijon, I'll make it up to you later. I'll do whatever you need me to. But I need your help right now, Jane needs your help right now. The temple will be fine without you here for a little while, and I'll give it a thorough wash later if you want or bring you your favorite smoked fish offerings. Forgive me this one favor.”

    “You'll have your work cut out for ya,” Roxy warned. “I couldn't see anything, I tried lookin' once Jake took off this way, but there's not much left behind but the marks. Humans all cleared out shoutin' about gods being angry and storms in broad daylight. It's a mess.”

    Though still agitated, Leijon looked a little more placated. It was a tall order.. but she was fond of Jake, having spent so long with him, and if anyone was to hunt someone down, who better than a huntress? With Maryam flanking, Roxy widened the portal and stepped inside, closing the gap when the space behind them disappeared and the new location in the heart of the city opened in yawning greeting to the unknown several feet ahead.

    Hopefully, Maryam thought, it would open to more answers.