#and your natural smell of course 🤲

[meownotgood]

do you think aki prefers certain scents? i think he really likes vanilla n stuff :3 - 🐈‍⬛

hmmmm... if he liked vanilla, I think that would be cute... I always imagined aki to be very peculiar about how he does his laundry, so like he never washes the whites with the darks, and he uses a very nice smelling fancy brand of laundry detergent.

I think he'd also like natural smells, like a pine tree type of smell....

[klausinamarink]

KLAUS ok can I request a steddie human/monster prompt for your birthday special??? 👀🤲

(the way I agonized over this choice 💗)

LEIGH i hope you were alright with the wait! got pretty busy with visiting family abroad and had brain fog these past weeks but I am finally posting the rest of these ficlets! ENJOY

There was a hole in the woods and it had a monster at the bottom.

It wasn’t a mystery or a new natural occurrence or the beginnings of the madness plague. It was rather a fact that everyone knew about the hole and the monster. It was a fantastic stirring for the children’s imaginations and nightmares. It was a warning to the wandering strangers who wish to explore the dark wood.

Most importantly, it was the perfect punishment.

Regardless, Eddie sat down next to the hole as if he were settling a picnic at a seaside spot.  

“Hello, my beloved!” He called down into the darkness. It responded with another waff of decaying lavender. Eddie inhaled it deeply and gratefully with closed eyes. Everyone said the smell was horrible and moreso during the executions, but it never bothered Eddie once even since his first visit.

”Ahh, such a pleasant afternoon. The sun is out, the harvest was a success, and Uncle Wayne sold an extra wood carving!” Eddie chirped as he tuned the strings of his lute. “I wouldn’t guarantee we would be rich overnight, but it was definitely a blessing! I wish you were there to see it.”

The hole was silent.

Eddie laughed, “My beloved, please don’t tell me you’re still upset at me. I’m sorry for missing last week, but I warned you that I would be incredibly busy!”

He tilted his head, waiting for an answer. None came, but Eddie nodded anyway. “Well, I am here now! Perhaps some melodies can put you back into a good mood.” 

Eddie plucked a few strings experimentally before he started to play. The familiar notes filled the silence, for no bird or insect dared to sing trill around the hole. Then Eddie cleared his throat and began humming his beloved’s favorite.

By the time dusk inevitably came, Eddie finished the last song with a heavy sigh and stood up to his feet. “The night separates us again, my beloved. I will see you again shortly.” 

He blew a kiss, prayed that it reached the bottom of the hole, and went away.  

His shrouded beloved wailed softly as if they were already mourning Eddie’s demise. 

-

Perhaps the mourning call was a warning. A plea for Eddie to be careful and come back safe next time. Because the next time Eddie visited the hole in the woods, he was being dragged with a rope that scraped his wrists raw. 

He was blindfolded - better to be blinded by a wrap of cloth than by hot-iron pokers - and stumbled along the path he knew by heart. Quiet murmurs and jeers followed him like a procession. Every so often, the sharp tip of a spear jabbed at Eddie’s back just to quicken his pace. 

In the past few weeks, there had been a senseless slaughtering of several livestock. At first, the farmers grumbled about the direwolves and other beasts in the woods. Then people went missing. Their bodies were found behind their homes with broken limbs and missing eyes, all disfigured beyond repair. When a young maiden named Christine fell victim, her betrothed Jason Carver had made the first accusation at Eddie. 

Eddie had swiftly denied ever laying a hand on Christine or the other victims. But then few people had spoken about seeing him frequently wander into the woods and returning late at night. 

Within minutes, the town’s opinion of Eddie had greatly soured. Except for his uncle Wayne, of course. He’d tried for Eddie’s innocence but what could a poor woodcarver do against a court?

A gust of wind blew on Eddie’s face and he caught the first scents of decaying lavender. Eddie perked up instinctively. Beloved! 

But the spear jabbed at him again, this time breaking through skin and muscle right beside Eddie’s right shoulder blade. He cried out in pain and stumbled over. The ground scraped his palms and knees unkindly. 

Even with the thick blindfold, Eddie could tell that the edge of the hole was right before his fingertips.

Something small and metal was shoved into his hands. Eddie barely had time to recognize the shape of a lantern before rough hands pushed at his back.

And then Eddie fell into the deep hole. 

-

It was said that anyone who fell in the hole would break their neck. Dead bodies was a monster’s favourite meal.

Eddie did not break his neck during his fall. The bottom of the hole was very soft and muddy but he felt his arm popped out of the socket. 

With a painful whimper, Eddie scrambled to remove the blindfold. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness even with the faint help of the lantern, which had somehow barely cracked.

It took another moment before Eddie saw he was not alone.

There was only one story about the monster in the hole: it was a terrifying sight that even the sunlight was afraid of it.

It was why everyone who faced this perfect punishment was given a lantern. Should anyone survive the fall, they would see the monster and die of fright.

So when Eddie laid his gaze on the monster for the first time, he did not die of fright. In fact, his fear died midway through his throat.

It had a wolf’s skull for a face and shadows for a body. Long claws flickered where it grappled on the moist walls. Instead of fiery red coals or sickly green smoke, its eyes were a humanly hazel. Occasionally marks of bright red rippled blindly across its body as if it had been injured.  

Newly unafraid, Eddie called to it. A question rather than a command or plea. 

“Beloved?”

It rumbled somewhere in its throat. The decaying lavender stench grew from suffocating to gentle. Then it brushed its face against Eddie’s and opened its jaws wide enough to almost swallow him whole.

Eddie tilted his head back, feeling the pants of heat from its mouth. Instead of screaming or begging for mercy, Eddie began humming. 

He had no lute or instrument with him. But Eddie knew his beloved’s song by heart.

Even as he felt the mouth close and the sharp tips of teeth poking through the skin of his exposed throat, Eddie still sang. 

After he was done, his beloved released its jaws with a teary whine. A few hot drops fell on Eddie’s face before it was followed by a sudden vomit of warm blood. 

Eddie spluttered and nearly fell backwards, saved by a massive hand caught him by the back. Then it pressed him against his beloved’s chest. To his surprise and delight, the shadowy skin felt soft and feathery. 

Eddie bubbled out a laugh, “I knew you would never hurt me.”

His beloved dropped its head on top of Eddie’s and started humming their song.