#interactions; felix and astra and nova 001

[manybcdthings]

flaming art tattoo studio

felix ranstrom and astra edwards, and nova @ofwrxth

Felix never thought of himself as someone who took things for granted. His brain wasn't built for that. He noticed things. All the time. The scrape of old ink beneath his nails. The way silence sounded different in the shop at night. How fast people talked when they were lying. That kind of thing. Still, every now and then, something hit him sideways. A moment he'd lived before, but that suddenly felt new. A few hours earlier, he was grumbling about a no show client. Then Astra walked in with their daughter on her hip, and the static in his head went quiet in an instant. Just gone.

Now, Nova was sat in the tattoo chair, looking absurdly small, like someone had shrunk her down and placed her there as a joke. Her legs didn't even reach the edge of the seat, just hovered there in the air like punctuation marks. It was ridiculous. And it made him grin every time he looked. What really got him, though, was the stencil. He'd drawn the fairy in five minutes, nothing elaborate, just soft wings and a little trail of stars. But he had to make it laughably tiny to fit her arm. Shrink it again. No, smaller. Still smaller. Until it barely felt like a design at all, almost a dot with wings.

"Okay, so first we have to put this on." he said, voice low, careful. He always spoke differently with her. Gentler, more patient than he ever was with anyone else. He pressed the stencil gently against her upper arm, smoothing it over with two fingers while watching her expression. "And if you like it, then we get to tattoo it for real." Obviously not. It would be done with sharpie. Felix felt sick even calling it a real tattoo, actually. But, he peeled the paper back slow, revealing the faint ink left behind.

Then he scooped her up effortless, and instinctive to carry her toward the mirror. He held out her arm so she could see the little fairy dancing there in purple stencil lines. "Still want this one, baby?" he asked, even though he didn't really need her to answer. His eyes flicked to the reflection, just in time to meet Nova's and see another head of curls behind them. That trademark Astra shuffle that was already making Felix fight back another laugh.

[manybcdthings]

Felix's instincts were already heightened. He could hear everything, even a faint rustle of leaves. The strange hum from the lake. It all registered at once, each detail slipping under his skin. Then Nova was handed to him. His arms closed around her without thought, wrapping her to his chest as if he had done so a thousand times before. She was so small and he adjusted his hold slightly, more carefully than he meant to. Afraid of squeezing too hard or not enough. Nova didn't lean away, nor did she lean into him. She just blinked up at him with those huge, watchful eyes, her head tipping back like she was trying to see straight through him.

Felix stared at her, the way it felt like she was waiting for something from him, some signal. And then his lips twitched into a small, uneven smile. Something to reassure her. In that moment, they were both as curious about the other while Astra's fingers brushed over the bracelet around the girl's wrist. He didn't know what Nova was thinking, but he felt it. The question behind her thoughtful gaze. Who are you? What do you mean to me? And all Felix could think was how badly he wanted her to understand that she already meant everything to him.

Then the bracelet hummed with a faint, irregular pulse of energy. Felix's eyes flicked to his daughter's wrist and when Astra spoke, her voice was quick, worried. "It's the lake." he said, nodding to the shimmer still dancing and flickering above the water. "There's nothing else it could be." he added as Nova shifted slightly in his arms, her tiny hand brushing against his chest and grounding him in an instant. But, it also reminded him what was at stake.

"Here." he said quietly, his voice soft as he handed her back to Astra. His hands lingered, not quite ready to let go. He wanted to hold onto her as if they had all the time in the world but, evidently, the only time they had was fragmented. Looping around itself over and over. "Stay with Nova, I'll see if I can get closer."

Astra feels it all, just as much as she sees it. The light above the park seems fractured, too bright in places, dim in others...like the day can't decide what hour it's supposed to be. Shadows and the warm light seem to coincide, blending together in a way that's impossible. Beautiful but wrong. That's all Astra can think of. She adjusts Nova in her arms, the little girl leaning with curiosity for the lake. There's the brush of Felix's hand at Astra's back. It's steady. Real. Yet, she also feels his hand rooting through her satchel. Both things at once, impossible but happening.

She blinks, gripping Nova a little tighter as Felix speaks. His voice feels strange, like it's folding. Words tripping, slipping and bending over one another. As if his voice is caught by time itself. "Felix..." Astra breathes, the sound cautious like she's warning him but of what, she's unsure. Her gaze shifts, catching the bench they had just left. It's beside them again, exactly as it was.

The talisman. The mention of it pulls Astra's focus with a quick nod over her head. Without another word, she gently passes Nova to Felix. It's as if the two of them only care about the same thing now. Making sure she's safe. "Yes, she..." Astra's voice is soft as she brushes a curl back from her daughter's temple. "She's wearing one." with her hands now free, she lifts Nova's sleeve, revealing the slim silver bracelet at her wrist. The ward hums faintly beneath her touch, a muttered phrase spilling from her lips as she activates its ward. It steadies her, though only for a moment.

There's a faint frown over Astra's lips, her magic feeling as wrong as everything else does. Weaker. The bracelet flickers with energy, like a spark struggling to light. "I..." Astra's eyes snap to the shimmer hanging over the lake, its light blinking along the surface of the water. "How are we going to leave, Felix?" her gaze sweeps back to him, flicking between his eyes as if he might have the answers she can't find. "I've never seen anything like this." she says, her voice quieter now.