#adopted goddaughter Nessa

[kilerya]

Prompt: the goddesses pretend to be each other for a day, complete with possibly bad costumes.

happy birthday in advance but also kind of a year late !

that’s actually something i thought about before, with more tooth rotting fluff not quite pretending to be each other completely but dressing up as each other after hearing about the human concept of ‘walking a mile in someone else’s shoes to know what they’re going through’ and getting distracted so have some divine dorks playing dress up :

It started, like most interesting things, on a lazy evening spent drinking Ona’s latest wine while they talked about strange interesting things humans did.

“But it would be very uncomfortable in someone else’s shoes” Ona said, confused “What if they don’t fit? then they can’t wear them at all”

“No no no, see it’s one of them meta… thingies the ones that don’t mean what they say” Should I be losing words already? Magryn wondered, she was only on her second cup of the sweet wine -or was it third?- she reached for the pitcher, I’ll find them again later, it was really good wine.

‘”Fours?” Ona guessed after a minute of silence.

“Them things ! Yes! See, they don’t really wear some other human’s shoes, well they do sometimes but it’s a sharing thing not a knowing thing you know?” Ona nodded, sure that it would make sense when Magryn got to the point and she’d get there, eventually. “Right so what it means is if you do something like someone does it then you know what it feels like for them and you can be nicer, like…like if someone has really bad shoes it’s a pain to walk a mile in them, yes? but the guy with really good shoes he doesn’t know that until he tries the other shoes”

“I see, it makes sense for them I suppose, but I don’t really like this whole shoe business, maybe we could try with something else?” The alcohol was starting to get to her too, but not nearly as badly as it did Magryn who was staring off into space after her explanation and blinked at her question.

“Try what”

“Walk a mile in each other’s I don’t know, powers? Oh no that wouldn’t work” Definitely getting tipsy, Ona thought, that made no sense at all.

“Heh we can’t play the part but we can look it, gimme flowers” Ona complied and watched, amused, as Magryn turned the small bouquet into a crooked crown and placed it on her head with a playful smile “I am nature!” She proclaimed before dissolving into infectious giggles.

“You’re quite pretty in a crown” Ona said once they calmed down. It was a terrible crown she thought as she reached over to fix a flower that was about to fall off, but it was still pretty.

“Psh you’re quite pretty, an I bet you’d be reaaally pretty in something that goes woosh”

“Woosh?” Plenty of things went woosh that didn’t really narrow it down.

“You know” Magryn stood up, swaying and started to twirl as an explanation, her dress fluttering behind her “Woosh, oops” Inevitably, she lost her footing and fell face first in the grass. Ona couldn’t have stopped her laughter if she’d tried. “ ‘M okay !”

“Enough wine I think Lady lightweight” It was an old joke but one that never failed to make Magryn pout.

“It’s not me it’s m’bones” Was the grumbled reply from the ground “But I’m right, very very pretty in a wooshy thing, and shiny things, so pretty”

“So I’ll be you and you’ll be me and we see who does it better?” It could be fun, Ona thought, and it had been so long since she saw her lovely bird in green.

“You bet, but tomorrow, I need to be not drunk” Giving up on getting upright again, Magryn curled up on the soft grass and promptly went to sleep.

Morning came and brought Ona out of her meditative sleep. She opened her eyes to see a grinning young woman sitting crosslegged in front of her.

“Good morning Nessa, little early for a visit isn’t it?” Noticing the large bag behind the girl she added “Even with presents.”

“Morning! I’m here to help of course, boss mentioned your little contest when she got home, she left you a note by the way.” Nessa pointed to a piece of paper pinned to a tree by a long white feather and waited until Ona finished reading it before continuing. “Figured I’d bring you some supplies and save you some time, don’t think she really has much of a headstart though she was still arguing with plants when I left…”

Ona carefully tucked the feather behind her ear and walked back to where Nessa was excitedly unpacking her bag pulling out fabrics, thread and needles, and an impressive amount of shiny trinkets she must have nicked from Magryn’s stash on her way out. They hadn’t set any rules to their little ‘contest’, no rewards either.The note Magryn had left only said she’d be back at sun down and Ona had every intentions to be ready by then. A little help won’t hurt, Ona thought, and it’ll be nice to spend the day with Nessa.

They spent the morning working on the dress on a wooden mannequin Ona had grown. Nessa, bless her heart, got distracted very easily but when she wasn’t trying to braid ribbons into the fur of whatever animal wandered too close, she proved herself very helpful in handling the different fabrics.

It took them a few tries to get it right, the soft silky cloth tickled Ona’s skin too much to be comfortable at first. In the end she grew a thin layer of bark to put under it, needle thin thorns curling out to secure the fabric across it. The makeshift bark corset moved with her as she breathed, solid and alive against her skin. Ona did an experimental spin, Magryn had a point, the little woosh was very satisfying. And yet…

“This doesn’t feel quite right” Ona said. Nessa looked up from her work sewing a tiny jacket for a squirrel to watch her spin once more. “It should be more… you know”

“If you mean more like lady Magryn does it I think the word you’re looking for is “dramatic”, supposed to twirl like you mean it and have fun, bit of practice and it’ll be perfect I bet. But first,” She held up a ball of silvery thread “think those thorns can get tiny enough for embroidery?”

“I’m sure we can figure something out” The dress went back on the mannequin and they went back to work, beautiful patterns quickly coming together under their combined efforts.

“This is the coolest thing ever” Nessa said as they put the finishing touches in place “I want to learn ! Can I learn?” Her excitement made Ona smile.

“I’ll help you practice when we’re done here, I still need you a little longer if you don’t mind” She said, gesturing at her hair “I’ve never been much good at taming my own I’m afraid.”

“Deal!”

Magryn stared at her reflection critically, something wasn’t right. Changes had to be made, of course, she couldn’t stand to have the vines and leaves making up the top of her dress at her back for a start, not even with a protective layer of fabric between her skin and the slightly scratchy plants. It had taken hours to convince the stupid things to let themselves be stitched in place on the halter top she settled on, they had more freedom where they cascaded down the skirt, only getting caught on the fabric when they wanted to but that didn’t seem to appease them much. Plants were temperamental, who would have thought.

The ivy, that was the trouble. It looked unnatural, wrapped as it was around her arms and legs rather than gracefully clinging to her skin as it would have done for Ona. Out of all the plants Magryn had to sweet talk into sitting pretty and lush, the ivy was the only one too stubborn to cooperate and it threw off the whole outfit.

“I think it looks fine” Thomas’ voice brought Magryn out of her thoughts, he stood behind her in front of the mirror, close enough to touch but knowing better than to do so before being allowed. She stared at him through the mirror. He gave her a sheepish smile, she raised an eyebrow and stared some more. “Ah…maybe the ivy isn’t working out?”

“That” She sighed, leaning back to rest against Thomas “is an understatement.” Taking the implicit permission, he curled up against her back to drop his head on her shoulder and started poking at the misbehaving plant on her arm.

“Everything else is perfect,it’s just this damn- ow” The affronted look on his face as he stared as his now bleeding finger sent Magryn into a fit of giggles.

“Well there’s your lesson for the day, if you’re going to poke a sentient plant better not insult it too” Stepping away from the mirror, she perched on her desk and started unwinding the ivy on her arm. That thing was just too rude to be worn. Thomas dutifully followed her and knelt beside her, reaching for the ivy around her legs. “Not afraid to get viciously attacked again?” She teased.

“I can take a few paper cuts, would it be leaf cuts? plants attacks” Despite his words he took his time carefully loosening the ivy and setting it aside. “I bet a distraction would help” Thomas added once the offending plant had been discarded. He’d barely moved from his spot on the floor, only shifting closer to rest his head against her knee, his hand tracing random patterns on her skin.

“Is that so?” Magryn asked, amused.

“Yeah take a little break, look at the problem with fresh eyes…’”Subtle as a brick,she thought as she reached down to pet his hair, but a few minutes won’t hurt. He leaned into her hand with an impish grin. Magryn grinned back but kept her touch soft, slowly going down his neck until she had both hands on his shoulders. She leaned forwards, stopping only a few inches away from his face before she spoke again.

“Such a shame there’s still so much work to be done.” Thomas’ eyes widened in realisation just as Magryn gave him a firm push. He didn’t resist, falling backward on the carpeted floor. Magryn stepped over him to get back to the mirror and the flowers waiting to be braided into her hair. She worked in silence for a few minutes, only glancing at Thomas once to see him still on the floor, pouting or deep in thoughts. It was hard to tell from that angle. Eventually, he spoke up.

“What about silver instead? That always works for you.” Magryn considered it, silver would be easier to handle than grumpy vines and she always had a weakness for shiny things…

“Not a bad idea, go see if Nessa left us anything to work with…oh and bring back some bronze while you’re at it!” She called after him as he ran off to fulfill her request. He came back a few minutes later with an armful of precious metals he put down next to her “Better haul than I expected” She praised, not missing the pleased little smile her words caused as she eagerly reached for the silver. So much to play with and shape into something beautiful… Magryn felt one of her unfinished braids come loose. Right, hair, that needs to be dealt with. She glanced up at Thomas again and waved at her hair “Need your hands for a bit longer” Thomas obliged,stepping behind her and making short work of the braid. Before he could start working on another one, Magryn turned to face him “You did good today.” and she leaned in to reward him with a kiss, soft and sweet, before handing him the leftovers flowers for her hair. “And now back to it.” Thomas  took the flowers with a smile.

“As my Lady wishes.”

Ona watched proudly as Nessa grew another flower on the bracelet she was making. She’d come a long way in the past few hours, from small blades of grass to colorful little flowers. Watching her work was a welcome distraction for Ona as she waited for Magryn’s arrival, she’d started to weave her own bracelets to stop herself from picking at her new clothes. The pile of interwoven flowers next to her was big enough for Nessa’s new squirrel friend to nap in.

“And done! This one doesn’t look too bad don’t you think?” Nessa asked, putting her latest attempt on the table between them. Before Ona had time to answer, the little squirrel they both thought asleep darted from his flower nest to snatch the bracelet. “What the…That’s not for you you nut monster give it back!” He didn’t. The ensuing chase had Nessa spouting expletives all over the clearing. In that chaos, no one noticed Magryn come through the door to her domain followed closely by Thomas. She studied the scene for a minute with a fond smile before making herself known.

“My, my, someone’s energetic today.What did that squirrel do to you?” Magryn smirked as Nessa flailed and squeaked out another swear.A chuckle brought Magryn’s attention away from the the girl and all words left her mind as she got her first good look at Ona. It was the silver that drew her gaze first. The dress in itself was simple enough with a simple layer of iridescent black silk stretched over a corset and falling into a skirt, but the embroidery was a work of art. Silvery wings spread along the top of the corset extended beyond the cloth to contrast beautifully with Ona’s dark skin as they stretched up to her neck, feathers framing the amber pendant resting there. A pattern of similar feathers ran along the skirt and could also be found in Ona’s flower crown, now composed of small black and white hellebore blossoms to match the rest of her outfit. Her fiery red hair was pulled back in a bun held together by more black flowers and behind her ear, Magryn noticed with the beginning of a blush, was the long white feather that had been left behind earlier. And this is when I compliment her, any time now… Magryn blinked taking it all in once again, the silver, the flowers and the skirt that she knew would flare prettily if Ona were to spin just so. And her words fled the coop again.

Speechless wonderment, Ona thought, was a good look on Magryn and it was very flattering to be the cause of it. More flattering even was seeing color bleed back into Magryn’s eyes, from silver to brown, as she cut her sight away from everywhere but this place and this moment. In the silence stretching between them, Ona took in what her lovely bird was wearing and smiled. Every flower on Magryn, from the ones braided into her hair to the ones artfully stitched into her dress, grew a little brighter and fuller at the approval. It must have tickled because Magryn squirmed. A badly concealed chuckle brought Ona’s attention on Thomas, standing a few feet behind Magryn, amusement slowly overtaking the reverent look he always had for his mistress. There was a hint of mischief in his grin as he stepped up next to her and bowed with a flourish.

“Lady Ona you look stunning” He said, startling Magryn out of her daze.

“That’s my line” Magryn hissed, weakly elbowing him in the side, finding her words again now that the silence had been broken. “You do, look stunning, I… yes, beautiful” Skies above how long was I staring for.

“Thank you both” Ona said warmly before turning her attention behind them “Nessa was quite helpful” Magryn followed her gaze to a bush at the border of the clearing and huffed a laugh. It could have been a decent hiding place had Nessa bothered to cover her bright colorful hair.

“Well come here then” Magryn called out, “no reason to hide.” An unmistakable squeak came from the bush before Nessa shuffled towards them, looking at the ground until she stopped a few feet away.

“Um, hi boss, the hair looks great?” The sheepish tone and big puppy eyes could have melted a heart of stone and saved Nessa a lot of trouble for her harmless act of thievery. As there was no hearts of stone present at the time, it only served to make Magryn work hard to resist the urge to ruffle her hair and praise her for managing to sneak out with so many things.

“Thanks, I had some help as well” Was what she said instead with a nod and smile towards Thomas. A chirping noise brought her attention back towards Nessa and the very fancy squirrel now sitting on her shoulder. “you never did answer me, what did the squirrel do?”

“He-stole-my-bracelet” On cue the little beast held up a small flower bracelet with a proud chirp.

“I see, you have much in common” Nessa stared at the ground again, still expecting trouble. Magryn stepped up to her and gently lifted the girl’s chin to look her in the eyes “Oh don’t make that face little thief you’re not in trouble” Nessa perked up before Magryn pointed to the mess of leftover fabric and silver and added “If all of this is back in it’s rightful place when I look”

“I’m sure you’ll have time for a snack before you go” Ona said, stepping up next to Magryn and wrapping an arm around her back. Magryn simply hummed in agreement so Ona turned to Thomas and added “There’s some of that cider you like too, if you want any.”

“My Lady is too kind” He bowed again and sauntered away only to stop a little ways away when he noticed Nessa wasn’t following. “Coming kid?” She didn’t answer him directly, squaring her shoulders and deflating almost as quickly while she talked to Magryn instead.

“Could I… bring my new friend home with me?” Said new friend chirped emphatically to indicate that, no matter what the answer was, he’d probably sneakily tag along anyway. What a pair they would make.

“Plan on keeping him out of trouble?” Magryn chuckled at how quickly Nessa agreed and waved her off before she could launch into an heartfelt spiel on the subject ‘Alright, alright, off you go then, those apples won’t eat themselves.’

Nessa happily skipped away with her new friend, talking up a storm as soon as she caught up with Thomas. Magryn watched them go with a fond smile and relaxed into Ona’s embrace, head on her shoulder. She made such a pretty picture like this… Thieving magpies and stolen hearts, Ona thought, how does that rhyme goes again? She leaned down to kiss the top of Magryn’s head, stolen heart humming happily, or perhaps that had been her, it would certainly explain why Magryn was now looking at her with an amused smile that may very well have been a smirk.

“Hello” Ona mumbled for something to say. Magryn turned to face her and, putting both hands on her Ona’s shoulders for support, pounced. Instinctively, Ona moved to grip Magryn’s hips to lift her properly and was rewarded by a luscious kiss.

“Hi” Magryn purred against her lips before withdrawing. She was definitely smirking as she was put down, running her hands along the silvery patterns she’d been dying to touch earlier? “This is pretty” She commented idly. Ona shivered at the soft touch of those wandering hands that found as much skin as silver to trace. A glint brought her attention to Magryn’s wrist and the metal vines wrapped around her forearm. Curiosity made Ona take Magryn’s hand in hers and raise it to get a better look, if Magryn minded being interrupted in her exploration she didn’t say. Ona kissed her palm, just because she could, and examined the swirling silver vines and bronze leaves of the armband.

“This is pretty nice too, is it new? I don’t remember seeing it before” It had to be, Magryn was always so prompt to show off any nature themes jewelry she found, such an intricate piece would have had her bursting with pride the moment she found it. Unless of course, she made it specifically for today, Ona thought.

“Ah yes, it was supposed to be ivy but…well let’s just say I might need you to have a talk with it to smooth things out” Magryn wasn’t blushing, the slight flush on her cheeks was surely a trick of the sunset and not any proof of embarrassment, that was her story and she was sticking to it. Still, it made Ona giggle and hug her closer so Magryn wasn’t going to bring up said story.

“Don’t worry I’ll save you from the mean old ivy” Ona teased, laughing again at Magryn’s little huff, she wasn’t quite sure if it was indignation or laughter but it was adorable. Reluctantly, Ona stepped back and resisted the urge to kiss away the pout on Magryn’s face “But first I believe you said something last night about pretty things that go woosh, so watch this” Another huff, this time definitely amused, followed Ona as she stepped a little further away and spun.

“Oh Magryn found herself speechless again, something she really didn’t want to see becoming a habit. It was good spin, there was flourish and fluttering fabric, there was a satisfying woosh sound… which came not so much from the spin itself than from the wings now sprouting from Ona’s back. Vines grew and intertwined to form an anatomically correct pair of wings with palm leaves acting as feathers. They were perhaps a little stiff but looked as if they could be functional. Magryn felt a grin spread across her face, Ona had helped her groom her own often enough that she wouldn’t be surprised if those wings really could take flight. She floated closer excitedly, taking in all the little flowers that had grown over Ona’s dress at the surge of power that made the wings. Flowers as always had a mind of their own and, rather than sticking to the dark color scheme, they’d come in bursts of bright reds, pinks and purples nestled in the silver embroidery. Such a stunning picture she made… The wings twitched, bringing Magryn’s attention back to them. “Can I touch them?”

“Sure” Ona replied, earning herself the quickest of kisses as Magryn moved behind her. She was still floating Ona noticed, silly bird. Ona half listened as Magryn chattered away about air flow and flapping mechanisms, preferring to focus her senses through the vines to feel the soft, almost reverent touches on her newly made wings. It wasn’t for lack of interest, Ona could listen to Magryn’s excited ramblings about anything for hours but talk of aerodynamics flew right over her head. So she relaxed under Magryn’s hands, letting them coax the wings to lift, lower, fold, extend. All familiar yet new sensations, like stretching muscles she never knew she had and the feel of fingers slowly carding through her ‘feathers’ well… She could see why Magryn enjoyed it so much. It was so distracting she didn’t notice Magryn asked her a question until the touches stopped. “Hm? Sorry what ?”

“Someone’s been enjoying herself” Magryn teased, pointing to the circle of flowers they were now sitting in.

“Oh” Wait sitting? when did I…. Ona thought, blushing “It ah felt very nice” Thankfully, she was saved from having to elaborate as Magryn started to stroke the wings again, laughing softly.

“I said these should be good for gliding, if you’re up for it” She paused to make sure Ona was listening “I’ll still need to get us up there of course but… you can carry us both through the sky tonight, lovely bird”

“Oh” Apparently speechlessness was catching.

“Or we can stay down here doing this if you’d like.” Magryn continued after a minute of silence.

“No!” It came so quickly Ona almost startled herself. There was very little ,she knew, that Magryn liked more than flying. It wasn’t unusual for her to fly them both up to some mountain cave, over a pretty piece of scenery or even just for fun, spinning and dancing through the air wherever they were at the time. “It would be nice flying, I mean but I don’t know… are you sure I should? I don’t know if I can…” The words trailed off into a sigh.

“It’s a lot easier than you think, and I’ll be there to guide you.” Magryn said, she hugged Ona from behind and kissed her cheek. “The only question is: do you want to?”

“Yes”

“Ok then” There was a smile in her voice as she tightened her grip around Ona and, letting out her own wings, lifted them both to their feet with a loud woosh and a snicker at Ona’s surprised squeak. Magryn stepped around Ona to face her and hugged her close once more “Ready?” She could see Ona start to doubt again, not unlike the first time Magryn took her up in the air hundreds of years ago but before she could comment Ona took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eye.

“Ready” She said and with a mighty beat of Magryn’s wings, up they went higher and higher into the bright sunset sky.

-End

The rhyme Ona was referring to:

‘you stole my heart thieving magpie’“how could i not it shines so brightbut please take my heart in returnsee how for you its passions burn”

It’s an exert from a (very inaccurate) myth about how their relationship started