#yes i will be drawing him with a scorpion tail always and forever from now on

[shootingstarrfish]

hello please accept my very canon compliant asmos wow i love asmos canon design!!!!

[justlurkingintheshadows]

@nutsandvoltsweek Since I can write better than I can draw I thought I'd do another fanfic for day 3, first date themed. And yeah I did it late again but oh well. I don't hate this one as much 😅

Imperfect perfect

Word count : 1,996

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Nerves felt out of place, they knew each other well enough, had done for a while, they'd worked together for some time now, it was common for them to be around each other on a regular basis, this was just another moment like that, so nerves should have felt out of place. This time was different though, this time the good doctor had invited Tyrian out on a formal occasion; Arthur had asked him out on a date, and somehow that had thrown the poor Scorpion so much that for the first time in forever he spent hours picking out what to wear, he'd bought about 5 new outfits that he thought was smart but not too formal, still his style but not too shabby, a smart casual he had thought would look nice, he hoped at least that Arthur appreciated the effort.

Watts had picked him up at the exact time he'd said he would, barely even a second late but of course that was to be expected from a man so well groomed and organised, he kept to the plan and Tyrian wondered if he'd planned this entire night in every detail, he didn't doubt it, he didn't consider that Watts might have been nervous too because of course there was no place for nerves. He'd been a gentleman and opened the door for Tyrian when he arrived, he seemed happy, there was a glimmer in his eye that Tyrian often saw as he often looked at those green eyes, it usually showed up when they looked back - something Tyrian never thought too much into, but recent developments made him wonder if there was more to it.

As expected they arrived at the restaurant exactly when they were meant to, Tyrian joked that Watts had hacked the world to only let time pass as he wanted it to, Watts chuckled but said nothing as he got out to open the door for his date again and offer his hand, Tyrian mumbled to himself that he was probably right about what he said and Watts couldn't help but roll his eyes despite knowing that if he could he certainly would do such a thing but currently he simply wanted this night to go perfectly. Despite the light joking Tyrian was hiding some fear, not because of the situation or anything but because going out in public could be something that might go wrong at any moment, his tail tightened around his waist with apprehension. Watts noticed. A gentle hand on his shoulder made him snap out of his anxiety,

"It's okay. You don't have to feel so tense, I took great care in picking out a place for us to go, you know I would" Smiled the man, Tyrian relaxed knowing he needn't worry and walked into the restaurant following Arthur, almost tempted to hold his hand with the excuse of "moral support" but decided against it.

Once seated and after having looked at the menu had a little discussion and ordered - both choosing the same thing - they sat across from each other waiting for their food to arrive, it wasn't quite an awkward silence, Tyrian was enjoying the view really though trying not to be obvious about it, Watts looked smart, when didn't he, but Tyrian noticed his jacket was done up more than usual yet he hadn't thought it was quite that cold and he was the kind who always felt cold, he didn't question it though since there was probably a reason or some unknown prophecy that required his jacket fully closed, something Wattsy. There were so many things he wanted to say though, and he expected it might be mutual but it seemed they were both content with the quiet for now.

Really it didn't take long for the food to come, something Watts seemed surprised yet pleased about, his delight was short lived though and he soon grimaced at his food,

"Is something wrong?" Asked Tyrian,

"It might as well still be moving" he poked at the meat on his plate, a rare steak still bleeding as if it had barely touched heat, Tyrian couldn't help but laugh picking up the plate and swapping it with his own,

"They just gave us the wrong plates Arthur, don't worry your perfect date is still going to plan" came a cheeky tease, which earned an unimpressed pout which just made Tyrian giggle and in return earned a smile, "Just eat before it gets cold and you complain more"

"Alright, no need to get cheeky Callows" remarked Watts, Tyrian responded by playfully sticking his tongue out,

"You like it when I get cheeky though, isn't that why you asked me out?" He grinned, Watts looked at him softly

"There are plenty other reasons, now how about you eat before it gets cold" 

"You don't deny it though" the grin was still there, Watts sighed lightly as he began to cut into his food and eat, Tyrian following suit, they enjoyed their food apart from one point where the waiter came to refill their glasses and was knocked by someone passing and spilt it almost all over the table forcing the two men to jump up to avoid getting too wet, Tyrian worried he'd ruin his clothes that he'd spent so long picking out, Watts worried that things were going wrong and had a quiet but stern word with the poor employee who apologised profusely and the manager came out as Tyrian stayed hush and awkwardly ate but they got a discount at least and Watts finally seemed satisfied before sitting back down and apologising to Tyrian for the interruption, Tyrian couldn't help but make a remark,

"Was this part of your plan?" He asked, Watts looked at him slightly apologetic,

"I guess not but we got something out of it so I can't make too much of a fuss" he shrugged,

"I'm surprised… you're quite a formidable man sometimes, the ability to have things go your way is terrifying, I swear you have more influence than you let on" it made Watts smirk and that caused Tyrian to make himself shudder, not in fear though.

After the meal was finished Tyrian suggested dessert, Watts made a face because dessert meant something sweet and sugar wasn't quite his thing, Tyrian made a tease about how he needed to sweeten up and Watts combat it by saying he didn't need to be sweet, he already had Tyrian, this made Tyrian blush a little, it wasn't often that Watts paid him a compliment so when he did it usually seemed to catch his target off guard, eventhough it had become more common in recent times. Suddenly raised voices made them jump, in the corner of the restaurant a woman was screeching at her partner, Watts sighed with increasing frustration, Tyrian looked at him noting how he seemed to be getting more fed up of this social situation than himself, which wasn't all unusual but the good doctor was generally much better at hiding his distain for others so for him to start crumbling now seemed like he required an escape and Tyrian sought to provide it,

"Do… do you want to leave? Go somewhere else?" He could see Watts was about to ask where because he hadn't planned for anything else but Tyrian had the answer for him "We could go to yours? If you want" his own place wasn't a mess per se, or usually it wasn't anyway, his morning of fashion decisions had left his room a mess with strewn clothes and he'd panicked too much to tidy up properly. Watts seemed happy with the suggestion,

"Yes, let's."

They paid the bill and went to the car, Watts shooed a crow off the top and opened the door like the gentleman he was, and they drove to Watts' house, Tyrian smiled watching the driver.

Watts opened the door to his house and closed it behind them, Tyrian made an impressed noise, the inside of the house reflected the man who lived there, orderly and clean, it was warm and cosy thought Tyrian, he wanted to take any opportunity to get some closeness. He followed Watts into the kitchen to get a drink (Watts was dying for something proper), Tyrian rested against the wall and watched. Watts paused. He turned towards Tyrian and started to spout apologies for the bad dinner experience but was cut short as he slipped and fell into Tyrian who made a startled sound and asked if he was alright.

Watts pushed himself up, his hands on the wall trapping Tyrian. Tyrian was worried that Watts didn't reply and made a concerned whine upon seeing that Watts was… shaking… and then the ragged man started to laugh, properly and heartily, Tyrian was most confused,

"A-arthur… are you… ok?" His voice was full of mild distress, but the laughing only got harder before a minor attempt to reign himself in allowed him the ability to speak,

"I'm sorry Tyrian, this evening has been such a disaster, the steak, the spill, the argument, and now this, I'm hopeless really, I spilled my coffee before I came out but was worried about being late so I didn't have the chance to clear it up, look where that got me" he was still laughing somewhat, Tyrian tilted his head listening as it wasn't every day the good doctor laughed like this, "I was so nervous beforehand I didn't even dress myself right" he stood up and undid his jacket throwing it on a nearby dining chair then undoing his waistcoat and untuckng his shirt to reveal that it was in fact buttoned up incorrectly, there was a spare button hanging out which had been hidden by being tucked in, and a spare buttonhole bunched up in the middle hidden by the waistcoat. Tyrian let out a laugh, it made sense why the jacket was done up as it was, to hide his mistake had the other defences somehow failed, but he was confused,

"Wait… you were nervous?" He puzzled, Watts snickered,

"I'm only human Tyrian, and I wanted to make sure you had a good time, I wanted you to see how much I cared… even if in the end it ended up being ruined"

Tyrian put his hand loosely on the useless doctors shoulder.

"I don't think it was ruined" he said, "in fact I think that despite your best efforts this is the best date I've ever been on, and not just because it was with you" he smiled shyly, thinking of how long he'd pined for attention from this particular fellow and how he felt like he could implode when he was actually asked out on a date, the memory made him blush, Watts found that cute. "I enjoyed this, and there's… only one way I could think of it getting better…" he seemed to shy away a bit but Arthur was a sly man and could understand what the vague mess meant.

He pushed into Tyrian trapping him against the wall with his body, bringing out a redder tone on the startled face which spurred him on.

"Could it perhaps have something to do with… this?" Teased someone who doesn't usually tease at all, Tyrian didn't know where to look as his face felt hotter, Watts made a soft chuckle, this boy really was cute.

He gently guided the face to look at him with a careful hand, their eyes meeting, his glinting again the way they always did whenever he saw Tyrian. He leaned close. The distance between them was soon nothing as lips brushed against each other.

If the idea of sparks flying was ever literal then that would describe the moment they touched, the warmness grew, it felt fuzzy. The scorpion melted, he couldn't help it. He was in love. And, he thought, if this was what an imperfect date was like, then perfection doesn't need to exist.

[cloudbattrolls]

Once It Is Spoken, I Ask Her No More

Ancient Alternia, One Millennium into Her Imperious Condescension’s Reign

Miruka picked up the troll child and held it, examining it from each angle squinting as much as a creature whose eyes were decorative emeralds could squint.

Nearby, Chimera tossed hers into the air with her tail, and grabbed it again with both hands as it whooped and hollered.

The wyvern gave her an irritated look as her own squirmed and struggled to be put down. It tried to bite her, but only found tough green scales its small fangs had no hope of piercing. It hissed.

“Have it your way, then.” She grumbled, and put the small creature back down in its cocoon full of green slime, where it settled it and closed its eyes.

“Chimera!” She called sharply, looking across to her irritating companion, now on the crest of another sand dune. There was a perfectly good city nearby, too, but they were out in this featureless wasteland. It was just like her.

“Hmm?” said the furred creature absentmindedly, now balancing her child on one foot as she floated upside down, wings beating occasionally, not that they strictly needed to.

“Stop playing with that; do you really want to go find a new one?”

“The blue ones are tough.” She replied, still sounding like her mind was half in a different galaxy. Knowing her irresponsible tendency of splitting herself, it very well could be. “Besides, it likes it! Don’t you, little buddy?”

The child was clutching the webbed foot with wide eyes, its curly hair bouncing as it shook.

Miruka counted to ten, and then exhaled as a gesture of impatience. 

“Chimera.”

“Mm?”

“How long has it been since you’ve dealt with mortal children?”

“I want to say it was that empire of multiple eared people? Taor?”

“It was the Sylvites. That was only eight hundred and - “

“You do know that if I damage it I can fix it. Put it right back in its egg! Then speed it through developing.”

“A waste of power.”

Miruka still wasn’t used to the two different colors of moonlight shining on her idiot companion’s golden fur and her own green scales. It was ridiculous, but then, this whole universe was patently absurd. Even if the creatures lurking at its edges were anything but.

Chimera put the child down gently in its own cocoon before spreading her wings wide and leaping over, sitting down on the cool sands. A scorpion scuttled past them, and she scooped it up, admiring the creature whose tail her own resembled. Miruka humored her for a few breaths, and then teleported it out of her palm, somewhere out of sight. 

“Do you really think we’re going to die soon?” she said, looking up at the stars as a breeze ruffled her fur and the feathers in her ears.

“Even we cannot cheat death forever. We were both mortal once, and we have debts to pay. Perhaps a thousand years, likely less.”

“That used to seem like so long. Now it’s hardly enough time to watch a civilization grow.”

“Is that why you’re even more irritating about using our power? Because, if so, you just - “

“I am trying to get you to focus.” She spoke over the protest. “I am better at conserving my energy regardless.”

Chimera rolled her eyes. 

“Sure, Jan. Anyway...I’ve been calculating, if I age them about three more years they should start developing their powers. They won’t miss it, we can just give them implanted memories to make the transition easier on everybody.”

Miruka missed the expressive luxuries of ears and eyebrows at times like these. She settled for pulling her clay mouth back in disapproval.

“Oh, don’t give the ‘that’s immoral’ look, you’ve killed thousands of people for less. I remember the puddle incident, don’t test me.”

“Don’t dodge the subject. If they turn out psychologically unstable, they will be hunted down by others of their kind, and they will be no use to us. We’ll have to reset the timeline, again. I remember the ‘Chimera let the blue one get eaten’ incident.”

“Every single time! That was not my fault, that...whatever it was...popped out of a hole in the ground and before I knew it, bam!”

“Very convincing. No, we let them grow up naturally. It was prudent to age them past pupation, but I spent far too long ensuring the stable mix of genetics in the green one for it to wind up with issues before it’s even an adolescent.”

Miruka’s tail coiled and uncoiled, the arrowhead drawing lines in the sand as Chimera grimaced but nodded.

“We must also avoid attracting too much attention from our...neighbors.”

“We’re nowhere near the ocean, what do we have to worry about?”

“You know as well as I that the Rift’s Carbuncle is far from the only threat on this planet.”

“She keeps the rest of them in line, as long as we don’t piss her off we’re golden.”

“Mm. Do you regret coming here?”

Chimera looked down at the endless shifting grains, toying with a strand of fur.

“Kind of. It’s definitely not ideal. I can’t help but think that was sort of the point, though.”

“It likely was.”

The universe worked in stranger ways than even they could imagine, despite having been to so many worlds across so many times and dimensions. Alternia was one of the most hostile they had ever been to, and had been chosen primarily because it was already claimed by an entity far greater than either of the pair, forcing them to cooperate.

Forcing them to work with what they had, or die with no hope of return from the grave.

Perhaps it was a judgment on both of their meddling in countless lives and planets, of reshaping solar systems at their wills. They could command time and space, but they answered to the cosmic forces of judgment no matter where or when they were.

“Who do you think judges us? We never found out, and I know you investigated for ages.”

Miruka ground her emerald teeth. It had always been a source of ire that by gaining her powers, she had also become subject to whatever strange force put limits on Chimera’s actions as well.

“All I ever found were scraps and half-truths, some of them contradictory. Whatever manner of being they are, they have no desire to be known. Some kind of star creature, perhaps. There were a dozen other potential leads.”

“Why didn’t you chase them?”

“I had to keep an eye on you. I had already been gone too long.”

“How sweet. My people were doing just ducky until you turned up out of the blue.”

“That’s irrelevant now.”

“Easy for you to say. I buried all of them myself.”

“Including the ones already suffering from your plague?”

“It was nonlethal until you decided oh, hey, let’s poison the water! That’ll REALLY help the situation of trying to keep them from starting a war peacefully!”

“Regardless of the war, they were fundamentally corrupt, as their treatment of the other species showed. There was nothing left to salvage.”

Chimera was now growling in her face, having edged closer after every word.

“That wasn’t your choice to make.” She said, voice dangerously low, devoid of humor.

Miruka stared her down with gemstone eyes.

“You’d choose to abbreviate the lives of two children for your own convenience.”

The furred creature hissed, threw up her hands, and moved back, getting up and pacing as her stinger tail lashed back and forth.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Is that somehow a bigger crime than modifying them for our own needs? I didn’t realize we were debating chickens and sheep now!”

“You’re overreacting.” said the wyvern flatly, her wings shifting slightly. “This isn’t a disagreement, Chimera, it’s a comparison of motives.”

“I disagree with your bloody comparison. I’m trying to get this over with, and to do it as painlessly as possible for them. Are you any good at raising children, Miruka? I had a son once. I had to leave him. Even his mother didn’t want me to stay, and she was right. We are not meant to be parents. So yes, I’m choosing for them because they are literal infants and this is for their own good.”

Her hand lit up with a pulsing ball of green energy.

“So you’d have them believe we were?” Miruka replied softly. “I remember when you told me that your entire purpose was to undo the lies I let my people live.”

The energy was extinguished with a whoosh of air as Chimera’s green eyes welled up with a haunted sort of hatred.

“I don’t want to die.” she said softly.

“We will not.” Miruka said firmly. “Now pull yourself together and stop acting ridiculous.”

Chimera turned her back on her old enemy, picking up the cocoon her child slept in, shielded from the planet’s psychic tide of troubled dreams.

“I’m going somewhere else. Don’t follow me.”

Miruka watched as she vanished, and stayed unmoving until the red sun began to peek over the horizon.

She picked up her child, extended her batlike wings, and flew away into the shimmering heat of day.

[lvsifer]

SasoDei Ff

Sasori and Deidara as they cross the desert. Cross-posted on AO3.

preview:

Look, Sasori, my man, Deidara murmurs and points to the west where a light licks over the firmament before it extinguishes. A shooting star.     

That’s art, Deidara says, blazing for one moment only.     

No, Sasori says. No, and he does not look at Deidara, but at the eternal empyrean. A breeze picks up, swiping sand over their feet. Deidara kneels and lets himself fall back onto his elbows. His hair is bereft of colour in the night, thick fall of pale grey. He turns towards him, bending over Hiruko’s shell. His gaze is hooded, quieter than before.     

Do you, Deidara murmurs and grazes his fingers against Sasori’s cheek, feel anything at all? 

i.

The desert is vast, moonlit in shades of blue and silvers. The whispers of the sands, coarse and soft. The skittering of scorpions, the sliding of snakes, and insects just beneath the surface. It’s alive and it’s not, always on the verge of death.

They walk faster during nights, rest, if they must, during day. And even in the shell of Hiruko, Deidara’s prattle is inescapable. It’s only before dawn that he falls silent, as Sasori shifts aside Hiruko’s shield and stares up at the desert sky and its stars.

But not this night.

Look, Sasori, my man, Deidara murmurs and points to the west where a light licks over the firmament before it extinguishes. A shooting star.

That’s art, Deidara says, blazing for one moment only.

No, Sasori says. No, and he does not look at Deidara, but at the eternal empyrean. A breeze picks up, swiping sand over their feet. Deidara kneels and lets himself fall back onto his elbows. His hair is bereft of colour in the night, thick fall of pale grey. He turns towards him, bending over Hiruko’s shell. His gaze is hooded, quieter than before.

Do you, Deidara murmurs and grazes his fingers against Sasori’s cheek, feel anything at all?

Sasori offers nothing. Deidara’s fingertips are but a whisper against his shell, then they are gone. Silence lingers between them. The east illumens. Sasori shuts Hiruko’s shield above himself once more. Darkness. Within it, he is almost boundless.

He awakes at nightfall. His left hand twitches, his chakra strings tingle and Hiruko jitters to life. Outside, Deidara shifts too.

The sand is still warm, Deidara says.

Hiss of it, crumbs of it against Hiruko’s side. The sand slides underneath the puppet’s feet as Sasori moves it. He watches Deidara with Hiruko’s eyes. The boy grins, runs his hands through the sand. Dusk dresses Deidara in hues of red.

Lets get moving, Sasori says. I hate to—

Yes, yes I know, Deidara says. Last light catches in his eyes, then night collides with the earth. It’s always quick in the desert.

They are close to Sunagakure now, they will arrive by morning. It’s been over twenty years since Sasori last saw it. Time passes him by without meaning. He does not think of the village, he thinks only of what they must do. Shadows blur all shapes, but Deidara is there beside him.

It’ll be beautiful, Deidara says, elated, worthy of me.

What are you blabbering?

Deidara turns towards him, The fire. And death. He opens his palm, revealing one of his mouths, chewing away. Trust me, my man. He bends low, palm against Hiruko’s cheek, tongue of it flickering against the cloth covering Hiruko’s jaw.

You’ll feel so alive.

They walk quickly. There’s a jump to Deidara’s step and a hum under his breath, loud enough for Sasori to hear. Deidara catches him staring, and laughs. He turns away.

The night fades. They rest once more, an hour before dawn. The captain of the guard should be on his way by now, ensnared in Sasori’s jutsu.

On the horizon, the rock-hewn walls of Sunagakure. The sun rises, a wavering orb blazing in the east. Red light bleeds into the clouds. Their shadows lengthen behind them.

They move.

ii.

He feels nothing but the twitching coils of impatience. He watches Deidara fight after he has dealt with the guards at the gate. Explosion after explosion ruptures the sky. The jinchūriki proves stronger than expected. But Deidara succeeds, in the end.

Once more, they are on their way, leaving chaos in their wake, and enough traps to delay anyone foolish enough to follow them. This time, they do not rest for the first two days. Deidara climbs onto his bird to sleep when the sun rises, sheltered by clay feathers. His empty sleeve flutters in the wind, blood caked on the frayed ends. Sasori uses a jutsu to create other trails to hide their tracks. All the while, the jinchūriki lies coiled within the tail feathers of Deidara’s bird, unconscious. And soon to die.

Deidara wakes with a groan and a cough, reaching for his waterskin.

If you covered your mouth, you’d lose less moisture, Sasori hisses.

Oh shut up, Deidara croaks. When was the last time you were thirsty?

He snaps Hiruko’s head upwards—and strikes with his scorpion tail. Deidara dodges in the last moment. The boy lands on his feet, sand whisking left and right.

My, my, look who’s in a bad mood today.

Keep moving.

Deidara pops a food pill into his mouth while walking. His steps are certain and he seems unfazed by his injury.

Soon the One Tail will be ours, Deidara says. Now cheer up, my man, hm?

He replies nothing. For him, there is only necessity, only tools, and no toys. Power yields him no pleasure, it is but to make, and make for eternity. For is he not eternal?

iii.

The jinchūriki is dead and the Shukaku is theirs.

Deidara sits on the corpse, tapping his foot, eyes wide and grin stretching his lips. Outside the gate, their enemies. And she. Granny Chiyo. Sasori does not move. Just waits. It’s inevitable now. She must die at his hand.

Tremors crack the stone and the gate shatters open in an explosion of rock.

Deidara blathers on about art. Then he takes off with the corpse, luring the other jinchūriki along. It leaves the girl and Chiyo to him. They wait, he sees them whispering, discussing him. No emotion stirs. He’s hollow from his toes to his head.

Then they fight.

He doesn’t hold back. He says, My own grandmother, I wouldn’t feel anything if I killed her, and he knows it to be true. Chiyo speaks of his father, of his mother, the puppets he first made of them now at her command, he remembers how he drew them around himself, remembers the moment he realised they would not come back, remembers it all. He stares at her and attacks again. Her eyes have dimmed, but the love in them has not. And perhaps that, is the worst of it.  

He is not as they are, he’s but an echo of what he was and wished. The desert has never left him, or maybe he has never left the desert. Ever on the verge of death while the years stretch on behind him.

They ask him what he is, and he reveals his body to them. He stands bare before them, bereft of miracle or mystery. Not quite a puppet. Never to be finished for he needs this last clump of human flesh. He’s made himself—and he sees the dread in their eyes—the only thing he could be.

They continue to fight. It is time to end this.

When he lies dying between the puppets of his father and mother, consciousness bleeding out of him, he thinks, Deidara might’ve been right after all.

vi.

It’s the first night on their way to Sunagakure. The last of dusk has faded and the first stars have risen, piercing the dark blue, rivaling the crescent moon. The air is clear, temperatures dropping rapidly. Coarse hiss of sand all around them, dust of it on their clothes.

One day, even the skies will be empty of stars, Deidara says as they walk. He grins at Hiruko’s open back, right at Sasori, teeth gleaming pearly in the moonlight. My man, imagine you could watch that last moment of light!

Nonsense, Sasori says.

Deidara laughs, sound lavish in the near-silence. One day, I will go out like that. With a big, big—he spreads his arms, hands describing a smooth curve—bang! He says it joyously, with anticipation.

For once, Sasori doesn’t doubt him.

You’ll miss me when I’m gone, Deidara adds, crossing his arms behind his head as he walks.

No, Sasori says.

Deidara glances at him and stops.

Impatience flares up in Sasori. They don’t have forever.

Deidara narrows his eyes.

I’m not waiting up on you, Sasori says, spurring Hiruko forward.

After a moment, Deidara follows and continues to prattle. The boy is inexhaustible. It’s only at dawn that he quiets.

They lay themselves to sleep, sheltered behind a dune and the wings of a clay bird. The ends of its feathers seem to graze the night.

He can hear Deidara breathe, quiet but not asleep. Sand swishes as he moves. He peeks over Hiruko’s shell, hair falling softly. His brows are pinched, lips tight.

Sasori wants to ask what this is about. Deidara’s  face blocks out the moonlight. He kisses him. Sasori doesn’t react, waits until the boy draws back.

Why would you give it up, Deidara asks. Your flesh.

Sasori doesn’t look at him. He thinks, I am become art.

Why wouldn’t I? He asks instead.

Deidara looks at him a long while. Then he says, quietly,

To feel alive.