#✦ ic.

[iustitians]

A Father's Day Off

By now, he can be safely certain that he has lost all the eyes that were attempting to follow him. This one tabloid writer was particularly pesky today, but the Iudex has centuries of practice in the art of vanishing into thin air without letting his “opponent”, for lack of a better term, realize that he was aware of their presence. Between curious onlookers, stubborn journalists and the Fatui, it works like a charm, every time without fail, much to their frustrations. He, for his part, takes no satisfaction in doing this. Yes, he dislikes attention, and does not appreciate being followed, either. But above all else, he must ensure the safety of those he watches over.

By the time he could be spotted again, it is already near the Statue of the Seven in Elynas, a place few visit and fewer still attempt to make their home, due to the terrain – eroded remains of a monster, or an alleged one, anyway – being unstable to this day, so much so that an old aquabus project for this area ended in failure, and any other hopes of establishing human settlements in the area were also dashed. But, perhaps, that is for the best. It means his wards can live in peace.

Neuvillette offers Focalors a nod in greeting as he passes by her likeness. Though he and the Archons are destined to end up on opposing sides regardless of his personal feelings, and his opinion on her is not crystal clear either, he does hold respect for the work they have done and still do, and does not mind showing it.

Unhurried steps take him to the small, inconspicuous pond nearby. He walks forward silently until his feet touch the water, until it is up to his knees, his waist – and then he vanishes beneath the surface, leaving behind no trace, not even the slightest wave. His disappearance successful, he quietly dives into the depths, accompanied by nothing but a few fish and the sound of rushing water in his ears. Before long, he reaches the bottom – and then shoots upwards with one fluid motion; leaping out of the pond’s other end, one shrouded in darkness, and plummeting into the hidden world below.

(He does, sometimes, wonder how someone like Mr. Freminet has not found this place. Could it be because he prefers to dive in the wide open sea, which holds an exit, but allows no entry? Or is it possible that he simply has not looked, preferring to keep the hidden village in his heart as a dream?)

(Neuvillette knows that dreams and fantasies are important to humans, even if he doubts he could ever understand the reasoning behind this. Why do they put so much hope in what they don’t know or don’t believe is real?)

(He will not ask or pry, so perhaps he shall never know. And that is fine.)

The whispers of the gentle breeze that ruffled his hair on the surface is replaced by the humming of calm, little creeks that flow through the remains of what once was a living, breathing organism. One that simply wished to love and be loved in return, but for some beings in this world, even that is too high a luxury to ask.

He huffs at the thought. Some Fontainians would consider such a statement to be heresy, but when one thinks about it, Elynas and Egeria had more in common than one would expect.

He lands safely on the crystallized remains of what used to be a blood vessel, and from there, another jump takes him safely to the ground. Once he has arrived, he spends a moment to greet Elynas, silently paying respects to his heart. Though he has never heard his voice the way the Melusines used to do, that is no reason to be disrespectful towards their parent and his host. A Hydro Crystalfly comes to him, landing on his outstretched fingers, as though to give him a greeting of his own. He watches it for a moment, motionless, unwilling to chase it away – until it eventually flies off on its own, heading to wherever its fleeting life may lead.

Water splashes under his feet as he continues on his way, heading into the small, easy to miss tunnel, concealed behind greenery. He still remembers when he stumbled upon this place the very first time, when he surveyed the aftermath of the fateful battle between the Marechaussee Phantom and the Narzissenkreuz Ordo. Who would have thought that from such a tragedy could emerge something as precious as what he found that day. He reminisces about it wordlessly, smiling faintly to himself as he does, his fond expression concealed by the darkness around him.

That is, until the glowing plants reveal a familiar face ahead of him, causing his smile to widen, just as she notices him and waves cheerfully to him as she runs towards him.

“Monsieur Neuvillette! Hello there! Have you come to visit?”

“Of course. How have you been, Cosanzeana?”

“I’m good, and my garden is doing great, too! Come on – let’s go to the village together!”

Her hand slides into his, and they walk side by side the rest of the way, which is not long at all. Within minutes, the murky greens surrounding them give way to the familiar blue and purple light, and soon they emerge out of the tunnel and into the greatest opening within Elynas:

Merusea Village, the place often found in human fairytales, and yet no less real than any other.

Cosanzeana runs ahead, joyfully announcing his arrival to everyone, and within moments, Neuvillette finds himself being greeted by all residents of the upper floor. Serene, the eldest sister, greets him first before running off to the waterway, heading to the lower level to let the others know about his visit. Laughter and cheer follow as he takes his time to say hello to each and every one of them. 

“Monsieur Neuvillette! It’s been a while! Have you been well?”

“Thank you, I’m good. I hope everyone here has also been well.”

“Monsieur Neuvillette! Did you bring us more tokens like you promised?”

“Of course, here they are.”

“Monsieur Neuvillette! I’ve completed my practice for the Marechaussee Phantom exam, could you check it for me?”

“Naturally. Show me what you’ve done and we’ll go through everything.”

“Monsieur Neuvillette! We found this new book, could you tell us what it’s about?”

“Another book in the wreckage, you mean? Let me take a look.”

Lively chatter erupts all around him, matters big and small that piled up in his absence are brought to his attention, all while he gives out hugs and pats heads, smiling all the while. Minutes quickly turn into hours, but he pays time little heed, as do Melusines themselves. The celebration and the joy of his visit lasts well into the night. It will not be until dawn breaks on the surface that he will once more bid them farewell, already with the promise of their next meeting.

There is much that he can say humans taught him, and more still that he gives credit for to the Melusines. Among those important truths of life is one that has, for centuries now, shone brighter than any other for him:

However busy one is, it is important to take time to visit with family.

[mauvehound]

"MAUVIER!"

Marni's demanding voice pierces through the ballroom and she stops in front of the poor man with her hands on her hips. A dangerous smile is on her lips; a sure sign of disaster on the horizon coming from a chronic troublemaker.

"I need you to lift me up. You see the big guy over there, Mauvier?" She points extremely openly to a rather tall mustachioed man. "I need to write something on his head in exchange for tricking Griss into eating a sweet bun."

Augh, but this is Mauvier they're talking about, famous stick in the mud! He hardly ever does what she wants! What to do, what to do...

She does have one thing at her disposal, however.

"If you do, I'll give you AND Lady Veyle my brooch or whatever!"

(no pressure to reply if you're too busy for the ball, just wanted this sent for posterity haha)

"..."

Originally, Mauvier had no intention of participating in the ball in any formal capacity. These types of occasions are simply not for him - he is not one for balls and celebrations, he does not feel comfortable in a large group, and others are likely to not feel great near him either, causing him to simply kill the mood. For those reasons and more, he keeps to himself and lets others have their fun.

But, having finished all of his duties, he found himself with nothing else to do, and so he thought to simply... peek in and see how everything is going, see if anyone needs help, make sure Lady Veyle, Divine One and others are well. Get in, get out and move on, right?

And yet, mere minutes after he found a corner to stand and observe the fun, he is being dragged into a Situation by none other than Marni.

"You need to do what now?..."

Normally, Mauvier would excuse himself from these sorts of shenanigans, and he can see that Marni expects him to try. The promise of a brooch for himself means little to him, though for Lady Veyle... he could do a favor.

But above all else, after the everything that they had gone through, he finds himself struggling to say no to her, even for something like this.

And so, he merely sighs. The tall man she had pointed to happens to be alone and unoccupied for the moment, so Mauvier approaches him and clears his throat.

"Okay, well..."

"Hold still for a moment..."

[skipppppy]

I think she’d respect his methodology

[solidwater05]

Pros of hyperfixiation:

Happy!

Art ideas

Life is good

Cons of hyperfixiation:

I am going to blow up

All my art is of the same guy

If I don't think about this 24/7 I get violent

[wizardpotions]

Christmas as a cultural icon is starting to get really dystopian in a climate sense, december has historically been a time of year in which there would be snow in a significant portion of europe and north america, and the fact that its not even icy this time of year and all the christmas songs and decorations reference a time of year that will likely never exist in the same way again in my life time is so strange.

[chic-beyond-the-wall]

More medieval dyes for y'all!

[triski73]

Kiddos hear EVERYTHING

[mousemilf]

its actually very silly that if ur any type of art kid as a teenager everyone is like oh have u thought abt graphic design or advertising. yeah the little emo dude who fills sketchbooks with anime gore all day would be great at making customers buy product.

[kingdeath000]

TRANS WOMEN ARE REAL WOMEN AND DESERVE REPRESENTATION IN MEDIA JUST AS MUCH AS ANY OTHER WOMAN

This post is cancelled. Look at quakke instead ⤵️

[iustitians]

ー You have received a gift from Santa Lumine.

"I hope you enjoy this small, but delicious gift. Paimon and I worked very hard to make them!" - The word 'Paimon and' were clearly added by the pixie in question herself in pink marker, when in reality, it was the Traveler herself who did most of the work.

Inside the small box were a handful of homemade sugar cookies - with a hint of cinnamon added for extra holiday flavor. The cookies are shaped like little otters since the Iudex seems to have taken a special liking to those cute critters.

Note: This is UNRELATED to the Secret Santa event, I simply want to spread the holiday love. <3

"Monsieur Neuvillette, a private delivery has just arrived for you. I'll leave it over here..."

The Iudex merely nods in agreement as a way of response, his face betraying none of the confusion awoken by the announcement. He had not been anticipating any packages coming to him, so what could this be?

Once the report he had been working on is dealt with, his hand next reaches for the newly arrived small box to resolve the mystery; and indeed it does not take very long. As soon as his eyes land on the message written in colorful letters, the corners of his lips curl upwards into a light smile.

Maybe he does need to look out the window more often. Knowing the current date only from official documents has evidently resulted in him remembering the day, but not the time of year. He has usually paid no attention to human holidays, his involvement beginning and ending on approving and knowing when the Palais staff has days off - for his part, he often still works through that period, seeing as it means little to him. He has never sent any gifts, nor received them; he would exchange small trinkets with the Melusines, but this is a regular occurrence not bound to any special occasion, so he does not associate it with the festivities.

And yet this time... perhaps it was the recent events, or maybe the nice feeling of being remembered, that awoke within him a small, faint sensation of connection to the world around him.

The content of the package prompts a soft, quiet chuckle from Neuvillette as he sees it. He should share those with Sedene when she has a break... and think about a way to convey his thanks to the Traveler.

[agentmilayawithshield]

Sunfyre learning Common Tongue because Aegon never learned how to speak in Valyrian

[sabertoothwalrus]

wait a second wait a second wait a second wait a second wait a s

[stars-and-branches]

He's using the batarang as a spoon to eat ice cream

[words-from-a-magpie]