dvarapala

[dvarapala]

“Ud! I need you to remind me of any dietary restrictions you have.” It’s been a minute, between the magical heroics and the doors and whatnot. “I got a soup blender and I’m going to make it everyone’s problem.”

askbox fun / @starfoam

"...a soup blender?"

sure, why not? slender shoulders rise and fall as the younger of the two quips: "not many, if any. i don't eat beef. that's about it. that's my hard no. anything else? fair game."

[dvarapala]

♡ MAITREYI RAMAKRISHNAN via tiktok ( maitreyiramakrishnan )

[dvarapala]

She's one of the few people who should have definitely already been there, but wasn't, by the time she slips inside. She's hoping for a place at the back. Or maybe a seat in the corner.

But all of that goes out the window the minute Ravi spots her. It's just as well. Maybe if she asks really nicely, he'll tell the teachers that she'd been here all along (when she clearly wasn't).

(It's not that she skips classes often - or at all - it's just that she's had to deal with a... well, personal emergency. Of sorts.)

"Bhaiya!" she beams, waving back. "Fancy meeting you here! How's Career Day treating you so far? Do you want to go home yet? I know I do."

@dvarapala liked for a Ravi starter

The gym is bustling with activity, and honestly, Ravi is trying his level best not to get trampled by a dozen, half-feral high schoolers. Whatever possessed him to volunteer his very limited free time to Career Day? And can it really be called volunteering if he gets paid for it?

He doesn't make the rules; he just works here. Well, not here-here--San Fernando only has one fire station, and it's not the 118.

He strips out of his flak jacket within the first hour of being in the overcrowded, overheated gym. He doesn't see the point in dressing up in full turnout gear, but apparently, it brings in the kiddos, so feeling much like a show pony, Ravi does his level best to smile and charm groups of apathetic teens to try on some gear, take some flyers, and redirect them to the truck outside. He spots a familiar face in the crowd. No way! ❛ Ud! ❜ He lifts his hand to wave.

[dvarapala]

"Gods, you're such a goofball. But I appreciate it. Thank you. Look, even if you pet a cat or a dog out there or something---hellish or otherwise, just wash your hands afterwards. Soap, disinfectant. You don't want to know what happened the last time Amma got an allergy flare up. It was a lot."

"... Yes, ma'am." Immediately serious. "I won't even glance at a hellhound. You have my word."

[dvarapala]

Z bringing back some illustrations they had made of different places that they had been. "Been too long. Are you busy by any chance? I'd love to just.. chill for a bit, if that's alright?"

hanging out with @escapedartgeek

"never too busy for you, z! c'mere, sit down! i just made some chai that we can share."

"oh, wow," she breathes as she thumbs through several illustrations. "that---all of that looks amazing!"

z is so talented! it always makes her smile. not for the first time, udyati takes a moment to make a secret little wish because she wants z to get all of their heart's desires, and then some.

"wait, wait," she says, then, "where's this one from?" she points to an illustration that looks much more cosmic than the others. "can i go there too? it looks so... sparkly!"

[dvarapala]

Haiku

by Karen Yuan

Have we met? The way we navigate this far, tired planet is the same

[dvarapala]

the same goes for @starfoam too. lo deserves everything in life and udyati vc: the fact that lo is not, in fact, getting everything she deserves in life makes me want to throw baby knives.

[dvarapala]

every single time ud comes to the realization that no one has wined and dined @moonsromance yet, she gets angry all over again to the point of (internally) stomping her feet on the ground like a little kid, because vi deserves all the romance; he deserves a good man who loves him for all he is and can be. he deserves to have good times. he deserves to be the one pursued instead of doing the pursuing.

[dvarapala]

"No, you can't. My mom is allergic. To hounds, hellish or otherwise; to all animals with hair, really. Sucks, yeah, but that's how the cookie has crumbled."

"Wait----- you can train a hellhound like a dog?!?!"

[dvarapala]

Udyati scrunches up her nose. "You're a goober but I love you too." She lightly touches Em's nose, almost like a boop but not quite. "This is probably why you are the prank master out of the two of us."

Well, that, and Udyati never quite has the energy to come up with all of those shenanigans herself the way Em seems to.

Xe has a gift.

"Do we have anything else on the docket today or can we just chill?"

@dvarapala cont. from x

"i love you too." the look on her face can only be described as impossibly fond, yet udyati's eyes narrow anyway. "now, what did you do?" she asks, and when em doesn't respond - she sees the twinkle in xer eye and the grin that's threatening to break free any minute now - udyati repeats her question: "em? what did you do?"

"Reminded you that you're the best and I love you!"

Em explodes into a fit of giggles. After getting xer breath back, xe reiterates, hands raised in the air,

"Really, that's all I did. I just wanted to see how you'd react if I took that approach. I promise."

And Em doesn't make promises lightly.

[dvarapala]

his praise coaxed forth a smile rarely seen, bright and radiant like the sun, blooming on her lips like the neela kurinji - a purplish blue flower that bloomed only every twelve years or so; a shrub that took it's time, adapting to any and all environments.

so, too, would she.

if she knew anything with utmost certainty, it was this: harry hook would not steer her wrong. not now, not ever.

❝ yes, ❞ udyati murmured, almost immediately, like it was a no-brainer. like she didn't even really need to think about it. like there was only one place for her - by his side. (his and uma's and gil's and the other pirates, certainly, but by his side, most of all, was where she belonged.) ❝ like i said, ❞ her smile was still present as she held up a pinky finger, half jokingly, half serious; she'd swear, if he wanted her to, ❝ i will be here, right by your side, for as long as you'll have me. ❞

we'll be fine. we can adapt to a hostile environment.

❝ you and me, ❞ she mused, then. ❝ that sounds nice. i like the sound of that. ❞

for a moment, udyati didn't say anything. then she made a face as a thought came to her, unbidden. ❝ you know what the weirdest thing is about all of this? the people here think that we don't know. that we can't see what they're doing. it's like hiding behind the curtains except your feet are sticking out from underneath. ❞ perhaps not the most graceful of analogies but it got her point across. ❝ they're all like: 'oh, we want to help the isle!' but then they never actually follow up with concrete plans and actions to take. they want the pat on the back without doing the things to earn it. they want---hm, how do i say this properly? ❞ sometimes words were hard. especially if a tongue mastered more than one language. ❝ they want change, they say, but not at the expense of their comfort. ❞

this was quite the roundabout way of getting back to his question, but she got there in the end. wanna shake things up with me?

❝ quick question--- ❞ there's nothing but warmth and boundless affection in her voice. ❝ ---how exactly does one go about shaking things up in a place like this? ❞

his upper lip curled back in a soundless snarl, teeth bared with a mixture of disgust and anger. the isle might have been a cesspit but at least he could see the shit for what it was. auradon dressed their streets, buildings, and people in gold and sunlight to distract, but beneath the shine and the pearly white smiles, auradon was rotten and the people in it had traded their freedoms and their values for false security. a gilded cage was still a cage.

harry met udyati's warm gaze as she spoke. to conform to auradon's idea of personhood felt like it would be a betrayal, not only to the isle or to uma, but to himself. how could anyone bend themselves into a shape for others just to be digestable? he could already see the way that the others were changing, how easily they slipped into the new world, shedding their skins to become something unrecognisable. he was pleased that udyati had no intention of following their lead.

❝ that's what i like to hear. ❞ harry praised, his expression shifting into one of pride and satisfaction. ❝ it's me and you against the world now, ud. you wanna shake things up with me? ❞ // @dvarapala , continued from here .

[dvarapala]

❝Good! I'm more of a tea person. Well, a tea and hot cocoa person. And a bubble tea person.❞

But if there is anything she knows, it's how to be a shadow. She's interned for many a place before - always just shy of being allowed, and able, to stick around for real. It's quite sad, really, but that is also the environment in which she lives. (In which all of them lived, she's sure.)

❝So, now that I'm done with phase one... dare I ask what phase two is all about?❞

a sense of purpose and a sense of skill...

There was never a shortage of fresh faces at the Preternatural Syndicate, there was always a wave of newcomers chomping at the bit to work amongst those who call themselves stewards and guardians over an unseen world. Such a noble pursuit made the initiated feel as though they have been transformed from sparrows to eagles ⏤ something grand, something more. Although, this level of quiet fanaticism ends up being broken by the reality that presented itself through the work alone.

But this chipper intern in the form of Udyati Rao is a rare breed of the bunch, unusually unfazed by anything. Then again, someone who regularly opens doors into different planes of existence probably has seen much more than the veterans of the organization. An intriguing and curious little thing that fell on their doorstep, indeed.

❝So, newbie, I see you're still here! Congrats on making it past the first phase, and don't worry, you're not expected to fulfill coffee orders!❞

... a sense of function but a disregard, we will not be the first...

@dvarapala

[dvarapala]

"Hey Ud, you know how you're the best and I love you?" Em asks as xe flops onto the bed beside Ud. Xe's doing a terrible job at hiding the twinkle in xer eye or the grin that's threatening to break free any time now.

-thxemazingem bc I miss them <3 (Ud's canon universe or that 911 verse we were discussing, whichever you've got inspo for)

askbox fun / @thxemazingem

"i love you too." the look on her face can only be described as impossibly fond, yet udyati's eyes narrow anyway. "now, what did you do?" she asks, and when em doesn't respond - she sees the twinkle in xer eye and the grin that's threatening to break free any minute now - udyati repeats her question: "em? what did you do?"

[dvarapala]

MAITREYI RAMAKRISHNAN on INSTAGRAM

[dvarapala]

MAITREYI RAMAKRISHNAN on INSTAGRAM

[dvarapala]

MAITREYI RAMAKRISHNAN on INSTAGRAM

[dvarapala]

random hc questions for you if you don't mind! we know ud loves summer, but what's her favorite summer activity? who's the one person she would put before everyone else? what's the biggest lie she's ever told? if she could make up a new holiday, what would she call it and what traditions would she make up for it? if she didn't have all the responsibilities she does, what would she want to do with her life? you can answer all of these, none of these, or pick & choose! 💙

headcanon questions / @tempportal

ud's favorite summer activity is the summer carnival down town. it's an annual thing. she tries to go whenever she can.

she doesn't know if she could put any one person before everyone else. what she does know, though, is that she could never put herself before everyone else.

the biggest lie she's ever told was to her friends (and mom) pretending she's just a normal girl without powers and without the responsibilities. that lie didn't last very long.

technically, she's lying to everyone else who isn't in the know about the preternatural et al so maybe that is the biggest lie she's ever told.

if she could make up a new holiday, she'd probably call it "the vacay-holiday" and the traditions would be that people in power - be they at school or at work - would have to give their students or employees paid time off.

her second new holiday would be geared more towards hunters; something about reparations for the countless of lives they destroyed but she'd have to think about that some more.

if ud didn't have all these responsibilities, and if she had time, she'd probably focus about writing stories about the very things she's going through right now. as it stands, she thinks she'll stick with contemporary books, thanks. her life is sci-fi enough.