dilutedaspirations

[dilutedaspirations]

He'd probably notice in the corner three bottles, one labeled Shampoo, another Conditioner, and then Body Wash.

The first two were scented of honey and almonds, kind of sweet. The other was much more floral. Lavender? Hard to tell. But it seemed to be set up far away from the other products that were held in a little basket with all sorts of confusing names and colors. Some weren't even labeled!

She did mention something about these bottles.... Maybe there were directions? Maybe the wash cloth hanging over the faucet could be helpful for the scales rinsing off?

Regardless. The worry waxed and waned until it stayed relatively far away. He was peacefully left alone for now.

"I know how a shower works!" he yelled back in aggravation before turning back to the faucet and tub. He could feel Opal's worry wane and increase on and off. She wasn't slick and probably forgot that he could sense emotion.

He turned on the shower head and slipped in. Despite knowing from Ventus (or Sora's?) memories on how to operate the technology, he had no clue on what to actually do while inside.

So, he sat on the floor and watched the swirling water below him. Eventually his hair got so soaked it started to drip down in front of his eyes. He didn't really care after a while.

But as he peered over at his arm, he noticed some unusually pale spots form and peel off. Oh great. He was shedding.

[dilutedaspirations]

If your muses had a boss theme, what would it be?

Hmm....

So Opal I've been pretty set on Toriel's Theme from Undertale.

Star took a lot longer to figure out (most of my work day). But I've settled on either variation of The Mantis Lords from Hollow Knight or the Sisters of Battle potentially.

As far as them both fighting together? Hard to say. Both have really different fighting styles so the only thing I could imagine being close as far as mechanics is the fight working like Orenstien and Smough from Dark Souls. Haven't fought them myself yet.

[dilutedaspirations]

A Little Comfort

"Come sit with me?"

"Take a breath."

"You need to relax."

"You will feel better."

"It's going to be okay, y'know?"

"It all comes to rest eventually."

"You have to let it out. Or it'll destroy you."

"Just - hold my hand."

"I'm going to sit right here."

"You don't have to talk. But if you want to - I'm listening."

"You're going to survive this."

"You've gotten through it all before. You'll do it again."

"Every bad day you've had, you lived through."

"You will smile again."

"The work is hard. But it has to be done."

"I'll be there. When you're bad. When you're better."

"Don't pretend it's okay."

"None of this is okay. But it will be."

"It's okay to cry."

"Don't feel bad about this."

"At the end of the day, you're just - a person. That's okay."

"You're allowed to feel these things."

"I made you a hot drink?"

"Here. I saved you a cookie."

"Listen, I made - I made you this."

"It's okay to stop and breathe sometimes."

"Here, wear my jacket."

"There's a blanket."

"Lay down. Relax."

"Get some rest."

[dilutedaspirations]

It was a few moments before someone knocked on the door, and a voice could be heard.

"Just be sure to turn the water on. Adjust it by changing the knob to hot or cold as needed. If you need any help, just call out. Just be mindful if you let it run hot too long, the water will run cold eventually."

Oh Star. Always attentive. Making sure he was cared for.

On the other side of things, Opal was working up a storm in his room. The entire pile of plushies? Immediately they were in the washer. Any clothes he had worn were getting washed too. Though that would take hours. Bedding was also changed, though he didn't sleep much in it. Thankfully she had spares.

The sounds of cleaning. Laundry machines tumbling away as they worked on it all.

But every so often. As she walked the halls to and from his room. There would be a pause in those big plodding foot steps as she listened. Mostly out of worry. But never did she bother him or knock in a way to intrude the process. It was usually not much more than a few seconds at a time. Maybe a minute.

Cw: Body image issues and non-descript nudity. Nothing is described apart from the abnormal features of having a body made of darkness, but it's below the cut just in case.

He moved ever so slowly into the bathroom, holding the towels in his arms. Closing the door behind him, he set them off on the counter. Vanitas ran a hand over his chest, moving it up to his throat and hooking his fingers under the neckband.

His dark suit was made of a weird material he rarely ever took off, giving it that signature death smell. Probably because he died in it a few times. Three to be precise. Once when removed from Ventus's heart, once by Ventus, and lastly in the Keyblade Graveyard.

He took a good look at himself in the mirror. His body was just a cheap mimicry of a human's. In shape and outline, a perfect copy, except it was missing all the fun stuff like fingernails, a belly button, and internal organs among other things. If he had any organs, they were all located in his face.

Or, Sora's face really.

Sunset eyes traced over the crack down the middle of his chest, leaving a little opening to see how his shard of heart moved sporadically within his chest cavity. Sometimes it'd break off a bit, then piece itself back together.

Red lines traveled from the open cavity (thankfully covered by a veil of see through darkness) and up his neck, down to his stomach, and down his arms to his fingers. He had a similar situation on his back as well.

It all made his skin crawl to see such imperfections. His heart jittered a bit more at the agitation, bringing him the illusion of a shaking room only he could feel and see. Subconsciously, Vanitas reached for the switch and turned off the lights.

All that illuminated the room with the glowing red cracks on his body. But even then, it was pretty hard to see what was going on around him. It was perfect for what he needed to do right now. Something about sitting in a chamber of water to de-stink or whatever.

[dilutedaspirations]

Opal bemoaned her lot. But after a moment she knelt down on all fours to shake off the worst of the snow in a corner. After that, all she could do was look around for these so called "blankets".

"I will try to start a fire with what we have. It shouldn't take long." The companion looked around for something to burn before settling on some old paper and grabbing a metal bucket that likely was used for janitorial work.

They worked carefully, starting with layering any bit of woody thicker material before going for the paper kindling and using a touch of magic to light a fire at the tip of their finger. In just moments, the fire burned nicely, bringing some light back into the darkness.

"Warmth! And I have blankets!" Opal returned from her scrounging around with some thin large cloths that seemed to be touristy memorabilia. The store seemed to provide for the local mountain tourists though none were here thankfully.

"I can go outside to fetch proper firewood. This will not last for more than a half hour."

Taloura's wolf-like lips pursed in thought as she calculated the options for a moment. Being in unfamiliar territory, she couldn't really offer a place to shelter from the weather until her portal device recharged. She also couldn't provide warmth by cuddling even if the other was fine with that option. The lack of snow on Star was noted but not a priority to question.

At least they were inside a general goods store. But with the overhead lights flickering, it seemed wise to assume this place was running on a generator or about to be. Armored tail flicking, Taloura remarked "Hm. There should theoretically be blankets or something around here, worst-" As she said that, the power completely shut off in the building. "-case." Her purple eyes glowed dimly in the darkness.

[dilutedaspirations]

(Taloura) You look like you just got out of a blizzard.

Opal sneezes, her fur covered in powder as she shivers. Star looks on with worry but seems to be suspiciously clean herself...

[dilutedaspirations]

Send "You look like you...", complete the sentence, and see how my muse reacts to being told that!

( Ex: "You look like you bite people." or "You look like you get mad when someone doesn't say "bless you" when you sneeze." )

[dilutedaspirations]

Home-cooked meals made with love. Little birds in the snow. The first green buds of spring and the fruits of the harvest. Bears, teeth and claws, fierce and protective, fluffy and warm, sleeping through the winter.

Stars, sometimes cold, distant, but constant and guiding. Fine blades, noble, elegant, polished silver. Chains.

Heheh... I'm kind of blushing! I suppose I am a bit of a mama bear sometimes. And boy do I sleep! Though thankfully I've been getting a few little bumps of energy to keep me upright.

I did not realize... Mm. I suppose I am a bit cold at times. But I feel that I have to close Opal's open arms sometimes. She is perhaps too willing to let others in. I on the other hand am too quick to push others away.

... I suppose that needs to change. A little.

[dilutedaspirations]

I associate you with gryphons. Specifically, I keep imagining Opal's beast form to be like a gryphon with a lynx face and white tiger build.

That's not super far off! I've been mostly imagining her with more lioness influences as of late.

Though her horns are something I have trouble with, especially when drawn from the sides.

[dilutedaspirations]

TELL ME WHAT YOU ASSOCIATE WITH ME

COLORS, SONGS, AESTHETICS, PEOPLE, ANYTHTING

[dilutedaspirations]

One day I will be your bestie mwehehe

[dilutedaspirations]

real

[dilutedaspirations]

fucked up hurt/comfort. the person who stabbed you tends to your wound. the person who killed your loved one helps you grieve.

[dilutedaspirations]

I really hate to ask as I’ve been very much absent recently as I figure out Nightshade and Glaze and dealt with personal life, but this year has completely drained me, so I’m starting up emergency sketch commissions again.

Couple rules and things I forgot to mention above:

Will not draw sexual NSFW

Please do not hassle me about prices

Additional character will add + 5$ to the total

Edit: You can also support me via Ko-Fi -> [[ link ]]

[dilutedaspirations]

"Um. Yes? I mean. If you need help you can always call me but-- Void Below you're not a dog! And he shouldn't treat you like one! You're a thinking feeling person and I'm not going to treat you like some kind of animal!"

Opal huffed before realizing that it had been a few months now that he had started living with her..... Ew. He was probably getting gross.

"Please, go into the bathroom. Towels are in the closet and I'll have fresh clothes for you to wear."

After collecting all of her tools she got up to blink and think of something else before shuddering.

"I'm going to also go into your room and take any blankets and things that are fabric and wash them as well. And this showering thing is going to happen fairly regularly, because otherwise buildup of dirt will get on everything and that's not safe."

With a pap, she moves off to go clean up Vanitas' room and start laundry. Thankfully Star was already setting up the machines to run for dirty loads.

Because he is a garbage lizard after all.

As she combed through his hair, Vanitas stared at his reflection on the phone screen. He didn't have any apps to entertain himself, nor did he like anyone in his contacts enough to text or call them. Also didn't care enough to "Moogle" anything that interested him.

When she stopped and began to talk to him again, he blinked, barely listening to a word she was saying.

"Uh, wait what? Shower?! You trust me in there? Xehanort usually just hosed me down with a water spell and gave me a towel to dry off. You mean you're giving me free reign of your bathroom with no supervision? How do you know I won't make poisons with your shampoo?"

[dilutedaspirations]

"You... Thank you for coming in. You didn't intrude. I... Goodbye Leo."

Opal waves awkwardly as he just steps out of her life in the same way he came in. She looks down at her pot of tea, the dishes she's made serving a guest, and all she can do is let her shoulders fall.

Eventually, she just opts to go mope in her nest, curling up to leave it until morning.

"A-Ah!"

That seemed to startle her, to hear him so blatantly say to stop wasn't something she was used to.

"I'm. I'm sorry." A hand reached for her hair, compulsively pulling her fingers through it.

"You're right. We're just strangers. That was rude and presumptuous of me. You... You should probably go home."

[dilutedaspirations]

"A-Ah!"

That seemed to startle her, to hear him so blatantly say to stop wasn't something she was used to.

"I'm. I'm sorry." A hand reached for her hair, compulsively pulling her fingers through it.

"You're right. We're just strangers. That was rude and presumptuous of me. You... You should probably go home."

Something about the way he froze.... Hm. All too familiar.

"... It is best to practice then. Small, of course. But I imagine in your situation you do not get to have a good place to practice." Another bout of silence. Contemplation.

"... Forgive me for stepping too far. But... Remember to rely on your friends. I am all too familiar with wanting to hold back in ways that you think might be protecting those around you but..." Another thought. Her eyes couldn't look at him. " Just... Be open. Talk to people. If you don't, they can't help you correctly."