#if you saw me accidentally post this w/o the fic a few minutes ago no u didn't (i held the wrong button down & hit enter)

[fistsoflightning]

stardew fantasy

ffxivwrite2022 02: bolt v. to dart off or away.

tehra’ir & valdis. post-6.2, blink & you’ll miss it no-real-spoilers MSQ mention. 719 wc.

All things considered, this section of the Cieldalaes was having a pleasant afternoon, even if Tehra’ir would much rather sleep until sunset and enjoy the night air instead. Refreshing sea breeze, warm sunlight, surprisingly temperate with decent humidity—good enough conditions that he’d sat down on the beach to work on the nets and soporifics needed to catch some of the island fauna. A very peaceful follow-up to dipping in and out of the void the Thirteenth had become.

Well. Mostly peaceful, if you could ignore the flock of apkallu eagerly cawing at a line of fish dancing through the air. 

"You said you wanted to catch the red apkallu that Zaya was having trouble with," Valdis said from beside him, picking a rolanberry out of the basket and tossing it into her mouth, "so I lured out a few apkallu."

Tehra'ir had… so many questions.

Best to start small, he supposed. "Jus' 'ow many do ye figure is a few, again?"

Valdis blinked owlishly, her ears still dripping seawater. She’d put her baskets of jellyfish and milk fish up on the rocks with him, but she was still standing in the shoal with her fishing gig in hand, which apparently doubled as a replacement for her usual staff. He didn’t want to know when she had the time to learn magic from the Nu Mou, or what terrors she had to commit, because usually Valdis learned new spells by absorbing her target’s aether after death.

“Three or more,” she said, after a moment’s consideration.

“Right,” he said, watching as two of the apkallu started fighting over a fish that had lowered enough for them to bite and pull it down. They could not keep all these apkallu. The mammets were already baffled enough by Zaya’s herd of sheep. “An’ what do ye call that?”

Valdis grabbed another rolanberry before she turned to look at the havoc she’d created, tipping her head in confusion. “A few. Oh look, there’s the red one.”

Sure enough, the apkallu of paradise had waddled into the still-growing crowd of hungry apkallu, maybe half a head above its peers as it shoved its way to the middle. Around its neck was two thin loops of leather, connected by manasilver clasps and a small lazurite pendant in the middle.

“That’s th’ same one that hopped th’ twig when Zaya was ‘ere,” he noted grimly, reaching down for the nets he’d finished just as Valdis returned from spearfishing. He was sort of regretting not stopping by Naldiq & Vymelli’s for his daggers now, but Tehra’ir also wasn’t in the mood to kill a poor (if sticky-beaked) apkallu, even if it mean looking like a fool. Hopefully he wouldn’t need the modified soporifics. “Val, take one.”

The Viera stuck her fishing gig into the sand and obligingly picked up the larger of the two nets, squinting closer at their target. “Is that Ryne and Thancred’s nameday gift to Zaya?”

Tehra’ir shucked off his sandals before he hopped down into the shoal with Valdis, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Th’ bastard rooked it off Zaya last time they came down ‘ere searchin’ for salt,” he said, remembering Zaya’s stormy expression when they’d returned to the hideaway early that morning with a bag of rock salt and yet another sheep. It was a small miracle Thancred hadn’t noticed yet.

Valdis gave a small hmm in response. “I wanted to take a nap,” she lamented, looking mournfully at the dry clothes Tehra’ir had been keeping safe for her and her big sunhat, “but this is pretty important, huh?”

It was, unfortunately, but that didn’t mean it had to be all business. “First one t’ catch ‘im names th’ bastard,” Tehra’ir offered, retying his bandana tight around his wrist. No point in getting the necklace back if it meant losing something else.

“Sure,” Valdis said. When Tehra’ir looked back up, he caught a few sparks dancing around her head. Maybe it was a trick of the light… or he was about to learn that Valdis could, in fact, use anything as a casting focus.

So long as it got them the damn apkallu. “Ye benar not rook yer way t’ victory.”

“Won’t have to,” she declared, gripping the net tight in her hands with a bright grin. “I’m gonna call him Rolanberry.”

[ask-idv-baker]

Smile

So, I'm finally posting one of the fics I wrote. This is a fairly new one that I wrote a couple days ago based on, once again, @idv-artists-trio 's minecraft essence. Enjoy

Characters: Beth, Vervain! Aesop Carl

Words: 728

Beth was in the kitchen of Vervain’s cabin getting dinner ready for when he eventually returned from guarding the ruins. It was quiet in the cabin, which made Beth start to think about random things. But there was one thought that popped into her head that really did make her curious, why does Vervain hardly ever smile? That question kept running around inside her head until the sound of the front door opening snapped her out of it.

“Beth? Are you there?”

Vervain’s quiet voice easily spread throughout the cabin, and then he happened to notice the smell of food and walked towards the kitchen.

“Mmm, what are you cooking? It smells wonderful, dear..”

Beth smiled softly at him before saying,

“A-Ah, I’m making stew, it’ll be ready in a little while. I don’t want it to be too hot that it accidentally makes you melt…”

“I appreciate your concern Beth, but it’s not that easy to make me melt…”

While he may not say it much, the fact that she takes so much care of him warms his frozen heart. Although he was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he heard her soft voice say,

“I-I know.. But you’re the only person who’s ever wanted me to stay around… I’d be crushed if something were to happen to you because of me..”

“Beth…”

Vervain then gently pulled her into a hug before she said,

“S-Sorry… I.. ruined the mood, d-didn’t I…”

“No you didn’t… Come with me, the stew will be fine without us for a few minutes..”

And so he gently ushered her into the living room to sit down with him on the couch before pulling her in for a cuddle. They sat together quietly for a little bit before Beth got the courage to ask,

“Hey Vervain… W-Why don’t I ever see you smile..?”

This caught him off guard for a moment, before he quickly regained his composure and said,

“Well… There isn’t really much to smile about out here. This is a land of just snow and ice.. Not much can thrive out here..”

Beth looked a little sad at this answer.

“Not much to smile about… So I don’t make you smile then..?”

Vervain started to look panicked, but then Beth continued to speak,

“..I guess I need to try a bit harder, then~”

She then grabbed at Vervain’s sides, causing him to clasp his hand over his mouth as he tried to hold back the giggles threatening to escape because of her tickle attack.

“Does this make you smile, Vervain?”

Her question sounded genuine, and yet he still found himself blushing slightly from it.

“I’m- g-ghehe-!”

He immediately broke down into a fit of giggles once he felt her hands move closer to his stomach.

“A-Ahahaha! O-Okahahay yes I-I’m smiling I’m s-smilihihing!”

This seemed to be the answer Beth was looking for, as she stopped as soon as he said that. But what she wasn’t expecting was the confused look on Vervain’s face once she stopped.

“E-Eh..? Y-You… W-Why did you stop..?”

And now it was Beth’s turn to be confused.

“Y-You didn’t want me to..?”

This caused him to get very flustered and look away from her

“Err.. I-I.. !!!”

But the next thing he knew, he was pushed down onto the couch and wasn’t able to hold in his laugh at all. They were playing for a few minutes until Beth suddenly remembered about the food.

“A-Ah, the stew..!”

This caused them both to jump off the couch and rush into the kitchen. When they got there, they both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the stove was off. But when Beth went over to check on the stew, it was ice cold.

“A-Ah… It.. Should be safe enough for you to eat at this temperature.. E-Eh..?”

But as soon as she pulled the pot off the stove, Vervain took it out of her hands and put it back on before turning the stove back on.

“I told you that I’ll be fine, Beth.. You deserve a warm meal for once…”

Although before Beth could say anything back, he pulled down his mask and the look on his face melted her heart on the spot. He was smiling. It was a warm, soft smile, and it will be treasured by her until she is no more.

[marinette-lives-here]

First fic for this blog lol. This is really old. So it started as a little back and forth between me and an ex friend of mine discussing like. Virgil used to be a dark side right? So who says a dark side couldn't have been a light side? And yeah. It kinda turned into lots of moceit too lol. I have more of this kind of stuff too if anyone actually likes this. I'm talking a lot now though so just. Yeah here

(THIS ALSO REQUIRES MULTIPLE POSTS SO THIS IS PART ONE)

What if whenever Patton hugged someone they immediately got super happy no matter what?

Sometimes to the point of, say, forgetting what they were doing before the hug?

Patton wants people to be happy no matter what, so whenever one of the others is crying and his words couldn't comfort them, he'd give them a hug, thinking that he solved the issue, and he did to some extent, but when he's doing so he's actually giving out his own happiness, which eventually leads to why Patton would more often than not fake his happiness on numerous occasions, because he had given too much of his own happiness away.

What if Virgil did something similar?

Anytime he hugged anyone they'd immediately get so anxious no matter what that it'd have the same effect.

The others would know about it to some extent of course; "Okay so Virge hugs me I'm anxious, Patt hugs me and I'm happy. Got it."

But neither of them would explain further because if the others knew it somewhat fixed Virgil's anxiety they'd want him to do it more often and he couldn't do that to them.

And if the others knew it somewhat made Patton more upset then they wouldn't let him do it anymore, and Patton needed to be able to.

Virgil and Patton's s/os would unknowingly do this to people.

Like during arguments they'd have Patt or Virge hug the person their s/o was arguing with so that they'd forget that they were arguing, and when asked what they were doing previously they'd most likely get a response like, for example, "Agreeing with Janus."

And this would just hurt Patton or the other person in the argument without the s/o's knowledge.

And along with how Logan noticed everyone's traits on their cuddling tricks, he'd at least know that Virgil's hugging made him a bit less anxious, and Patton's just made him tired, yet Logan didn't think the actual emotion was sadness.

He would confront them about it one day.

"Virgil you've been less anxious after hugs. Are you passing off your anxiety?"

And-

"Patton why do you look so tired after hugging others? I understand you're making them happy but why does it tire you out so much?"

Both of them would lie about it happening and say that it's not so that they'd continue being treated normally and have free range of when they hugged the others.

Virgil would make some bullshit excuse.

"No, stupid, I'm just distracted by the fact of how funny it is that I've made others feel like that" because that sounds reasonable, considering it's Virgil.

But Patton is Patton and hates lying with every fiber of his being (Patton hates lying because it's what caused Janus to turn to a dark side and leave him-), so it's harder for him to lie to Logan.

"Uh, well, I don't really get 'tired,' it's just probably you overthinking. You do tend to do that sometimes Logie."

Virgil would try to help him out and nod his head though, of course.

Now, Janus has always been able to sense what's true and what's not, since he was honesty and is now deceit.

Now that he's deceit though, he can sense whenever anyone tells a lie.

So only a couple seconds after Logan begrudgingly agrees with Virgil and Patton, Janus shows up.

"Alright, which one of you was lying?" he would say, looking between all three of the others.

Logan freezes and stares at the other two as Patton looks down upset at being caught lying about this.

Logan is feeling upset because he had a trusted friend just try to deceive him, Patton is just about on the verge of crying, and Virgil is now just vibing with takis in a corner while watching.

Logan stares for a few more minutes before going, "So then you did, Patton?"

And Janus glances around the room feeling all the tension before going, "What was the conversation about, exactly?"

Virgil just casually answers with, "Hugs."

So Janus says, "Ohh, you mean how Patton gives people 'his happy'!" and suddenly everyone in the room is frozen, because not even Virgil was told by Patton the details, and Patton is even more upset that Janus just exposed him like that.

Patton and Janus immediately get into an argument over it and Patton accidentally slips up and instinctively calls Janus "Honesty."

Janus goes quiet and looks down.

Patton is confused at first before he realized what he'd done and starts apologizing over and over again.

Janus said it was fine, he knew Patton didn't mean to, but it still hurt a bit.

Janus started to walk to his room but before he did he calmly said, "I'm not feeling to well..... See you, Mora," and proceeded to sink into his room.

Patton started crying and sank into his room as well.

Logan is beyond confused because he was under the impression that Honesty disappeared ages ago, considering no one had bothered to tell him about Janus, after all.

Logan was in shock over the whole situation. He stood there frozen like a Microsoft error as Virgil whispered, "Oh shit.." under his breath before shoving another Taki into his mouth.

Roman walked in, noticing the expression on both Logan and Virgil's faces and said, "Y'all act like you've seen a ghost-" and proceeded to take a Taki from Virgil.

Virgil is pissed beyond belief, having spent so long trying to help Janus forget all about everything that happened when he was still Honesty.

Virgil would shove Roman away before sinking away to find Janus.

Roman was beyond confused. "Care to explain, nerd?"

It would take a minute before the realization hit Logan.

"Oh," he would just mumble, "Janus is Honesty....." and Roman would be even more confused by that and say, "No.....? Janus is Deceit?"

And Logan would forcibly bring Remus in and say, "You need to check on Patton. Him and Janus had a small argument. I need to talk to Roman."

So Remus would go to Patton's room.

Logan would explain to Roman about the entire situation that had just went down in the living room to Roman.

"So, I'm assuming you don't remember but there once was a side for honesty. Before the feud broke out between you and Remus, you were both one, correct? You remember that."

Roman nodded his head in agreement and pure confusion.

"Well, you were dating honesty. Kind of. It wasn't truly you, it was Remus. But, since you two shared a conscience, you were as well. Then you made the decision that you liked me, and Honesty saw us kissing. And they had run away. Nobody knew where they'd went, but now, from what I can assume, Honesty became a dark side, becoming the opposite of what he was previously; Deceit."

Roman stood there in shock. He had once dated the slimey snake that was Janus? And cheated on him?

Well, he supposed it wasn't really him, but he'd made his brother lose his boyfriend.

Roman felt awful and soon realized something was on his face. A tear streamed down from Roman's right eye, making his vision blurry. He ran off.

Logan tried to say something, but before he could, Roman was gone.

"Hm," Logan mumbled as he sank back down into his own room. He'd comfort Roman when Roman was able to talk to people. For now he obviously needed time to himself.

Meanwhile Remus sunk into Patton's room, seeing the other curled up in his bed crying.

Remus wasn't quite entirely up for the idea of comforting Morality (he's still a l i t t l e bit bitter of the way his ex always did and still watches the other longingly), but he was still his friend, so he'd do so anyway.

Remus would walk over and sit next to him.

"Uh.. The nerd said something happened between you and Janus. I'm not entirely sure what exactly happened, but uhm, wanna talk about it-?"

Remus sunk into Patton's room, seeing the other curled up in his bed crying. Remus wasn't quite entirely up for the idea of comforting Morality (he's still a l i t t l e bit bitter of the way his ex always did and still watches the other longingly) but he was still his friend so he'd do so anyway. Remus would walk over and sit next to him. "Uh.. The nerd said something happened between you and Janus. I'm not entirely sure what exactly happened, but uhm, wanna talk about it-?"

"..... Not really," Patton would mumble, scooting a bit away from Remus.

Remus would just sigh and say, "It might help a bit d- Patt." (I̶ l̶i̶k̶e̶ t̶h̶e̶ t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶t̶ t̶h̶a̶t̶ C̶r̶e̶a̶t̶i̶v̶i̶t̶y̶ a̶n̶d̶ L̶o̶g̶i̶c̶ u̶s̶e̶d̶ t̶o̶ c̶a̶l̶l̶ P̶a̶t̶t̶o̶n̶ a̶n̶d̶ J̶a̶n̶u̶s̶ d̶a̶d̶ a̶n̶d̶ m̶̶o̶̶m̶̶)

"I don't care," Patton would mumble.

"C'mon dad-"

"Shut the hell up Creativity! Go bother Honesty or something!" Patton would suddenly yell before quickly covering his mouth as his eyes widened at the realization of what just came out of his mouth.

It's what he normally said when the other two used to pester him like that! It was instinct! He didn't mean to!

Remus would just immediately snap at him-

"I don't plan on going to try to talk to my boyfriend that you fucking stole, asshole!"

Remus would proceed to sink to his own room as Patton sat there so shocked at the other's words that his tears had stopped flowing.

M e a n w h i l e, Virgil arrived in Janus' room to see Janus, his knees to his chest and his arms wrapped around himself.

It sounded like he was mumbling something..... And then Janus suddenly started to cry.

He buried his head in between his knees as he sobbed.

Virgil stared at him with concern written across his face.

He walked over to Janus and sat next to him on his bed.

"Janus..... I-" Virgil wasn't the best at comforting people, so he didn't truly know what to say.

He wanted to hug him instead, but couldn't hug him. It'd just give Janus more anxiety.

"Just to let you know..... I would hug you right now if I could....."

Janus froze up a little and pulled his head out of his knees. His eyes looked almost bloodshot from all the tears and his cheeks and nose were a strong shade of pink from his nose running.

He tilted his head and looked at Virgil in confusion, causing Virgil to realize that he'd said a bit too much.

"Oh, uh- I- Just-" Virgil went silent for a moment. "..... I'll tell you later."

"Tell me now....." Janus mumbled. "It might help distract me a bit from..... You know..... What just happened....." He tightened his grip around himself. "Is it- Is it like, uhm, his thing?"

"Tell me now.." Janus mumbled. "It might help distract me a bit from.. You know.. What just happened.." He tightened his grip around himself. "Is it- Is it like, uhm, his thing?"

"Yeah..... Essentially, I guess."

Virgil crossed his legs and looked down to mess with his chipped nails.

"It's like his, but for my benefit insteas of other's. It rubs my anxiety off on the person(s) I hug..... And I don't want to give you more stress than you're already dealing with- So-"

Virgil felt embarrassed. He didn't know why, but he did. He continued to pick at the chipped black nail polish that was on his nails. He had lost a bet to Roman and that was the punishment.

"So..... Anything I can do for ya.....?" Virgil quietly asked Janus as he looked up at him.

"I'd just..... Like a distraction....." Janus mumbled. "Let's just talk about some random stuff please.....? Uh..... I- I have a similar thing too. Makes people more inclined to uh- To tell the truth. Ah, of course, it doesn't make them tell the truth, they just feel like doing so for a while after, I guess..... That's how it normally goes at least....." Janus had started to unconsciously scratch at his arm.

"Oh.....! That's cool..... Uhm- I have a pet piranha now-" Virgil said nervously. "I don't remember when or how I got them though- They were just kinda there-" he explained to Janus who now looked overly confused and concerned, wide eyed as he looked at Virgil.

"W- What.....? Did I do something-?" he asked. "Ah, actually, I think Remus put it in my room as a prank but now their name is Aléjandro and they're non-bianary-" Virgil explained.

"You- You kept a piranha that Remus made in your room- And named it-" Janus sputtered out. "I- Virgil why-"

"Don't judge me- And the name was the third choice. It was Payton, Char, or Aléjandro, and I chose the best one-" Virgil said. "Don't come at me- Wanna meet them-?" Virgil asked a bit too calmly.

"If I end up smelling even slightly like your piranha, Mora would find it and kill it and you know that-" Janus said, shaking his head, yet smiling.

It was just so Virgil, for him to keep a piranha that Remus made-

(Janus had named his snake that we all know he has Mora. For obvious reasons-)

"But it's a piranha, how would we know that they wouldn't beat Mora?" Virgil questioned, semi seriously, but now actually wanting to know who'd win.

"Because Mora is the best, and would freaking eat your Aléjandro the piranha-" Janus stated simply as Mora appeared from seemingly nowhere since she'd kept hearing her name and sat across Virgil's shoulders.

It'd been a while since she saw Virgil since it'd been a while since he'd been in the room.

"I- I would say bet, but Mora is too cute to be put in a fight-" Virgil said as he pet the snake around his shoulders.

"Yes. She's my babyyyyy-" Janus said happily, smiling at her.

Mora hissed appreciatively before moving so she was laid across both boys, glancing at both of them.

"Damn- Literally any time I come in this room you make me want a snake-" Virgil said, looking at Mora and stroking her head.

Virgil was seemingly lost in thought and then suddenly said, "How pissed off would you be if I named every pet I ever got Aléjandro?"

"Oh my gods, please do that-"  Janus laughed. "That would be beyond entertaining."

Mora looked up at Virgil before quietly hissing and moving and leaving the room. "Well fuck-"

Janus and Virgil left the room soon after, looking for her.

"Mora? Mora?" Virgil called before finding Patton laughing with Mora around his shoulders.

"Ah! Janus, she's in here!" he called and Janus ran in.

"You found Mor-?" Janus cut himself off as he saw Patton sitting there with the snake.

Patton looked up. "You finally name her? Mora, huh?" he asked, grinning.

"Shuttup....." Janus mumbled, the human half of his face lit up a deep red.

Patton just giggled slightly and grabbed onto Janus' hand, tugging him down next to him and leaning against him.

Janus hesitantly intertwined their fingers as Mora stretched across both of their shoulders now rather than just Patton's.

Patton sighed contentedly as he snuggled up closer. "I missed this," he mumbled.

Neither of them noticed as Virgil sunk down to Roman's room while Janus responded.

"Me too....."

"So, Virgil went to comfort you then, I'm guessing?" Patton asked softly, rubbing his thumb back and forth across the back of Janus' hand, something he used to do to calm the other.

Janus hummed in agreement to the question. "Who went to talk to you?" he mumbled.

"Ah..... Remus," Patton answered quietly.