#blithes ocs: ara

[winterweary]

If your OC was a Pokemon gym leader what type would they be???

INCREDIBLY RELEVANT TO MY INTERESTS PLEASE TELL ME

My girls:

Ara (twst): Poison/Dark Type with her main partner being a Crobat

Yuuri (twst): Normal/Flying with her main partner being a Pidgeot

Bly (om): Psychic/Ghost with her main partner being a Misdreavus

Blue (om): Dark with her main partner being an Umbreon

[blithesrps]

LeonaxAraxRuggie fucking dynamic is basically Leona watches while Ara and Ruggie fuck a couple times, he gets in there and blows both their backs out, then he flops back down and watches some more while Ruggie goes until he’s spent.

[blithesrps]

Ara: Leave when she was asked to stay

Rat: Keep the biggest of secrets

what's the worst thing your oc's ever done to someone they care about?

[winterweary]

Muts what does your OC smell like?

For my girls:

Ara (twst): cut grass, soil and blood (strength varies depending on…circumstances)

Yuuki (twst): fresh linen and sautéing onions

Bly (om): incense, old books and ink

Blue (om): gardenia, coffee, gamer stink (courtesy of Levi)

[blithesrps]

Act II Scene I

“God, this is miserable. Wake me up when it’s over.”

Leona slumped in his chair, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the ornately papered wall, only to jerk upright with a grunt as Ruggie shoved his elbow into his side.

“Oh, no you don’t. This is your shindig, ain’t it?” he hissed, ignoring Leona’s scowl, “Jeez, all you gotta do is smile and dance a little and you’re set for life, and you can’t even manage…”

“I don’t see you rushing onto the dance floor,” Leona snorted, grudgingly sitting upright and gazing out over the room.

To be fair, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It was kind of interesting having classmates from NRC at his home in the Sunset Savanna. It was under the guise of some sort of cultural exchange summer program, visiting the homelands of every housewarden to gain exposure or build character or some bullshit. Leona hadn’t minded showing some of his less-irritating classmates around. It was almost pleasant, when Falena wasn’t butting his nose where it didn’t belong.

He glanced at Ruggie, who hadn’t answered his last verbal barb, but the boy’s gaze had found Ara again in the crowd. Leona rolled his eyes, trying to hide a smirk. It was a bit amusing seeing Ruggie so smitten and unsure what to do about it. Leona had to admit, it had been nice having Ara around more often. Of the three of them, she was the only one who kept to the dance floor that evening, swapping partners as they requested and adapting easily to the different steps.

“What was the point of this dance anyway?” Ruggie mumbled under his breath, finally tearing his eyes away from Ara and turning them to the nearby buffet table. He’d gone through twice already but he planned on at least a third before he swapped to filling his pockets.

“Who knows. Some diplomatic bullshit, I’m sure.” Leona waved over a servant working at the edges of the crowd and stole one of the glasses from his tray, “Falena said something about visitors from across the sea.”

“Very specific.”

“What? You think I actually listen when Falena opens his big mouth?”

Ruggie snickered, before seeing an approaching figure and making his escape for the buffet table. Leona watched him shove off with mild amusement, ignorant to the danger approaching.

“There you are. Are you truly satisfied putting on this pathetic of a show this evening?”

“Hey, you,” Leona called to the retreating servant again, “Find me something sharp. Maybe if it drive it into my ears I can drown out his voice.”

“Very charming,” Vil replied dryly, hands on hips elegantly draped in an evening gown, “You have a duty you know. It wouldn’t kill you to rub elbows. Who knows, you may even find you enjoy it.”

“I’ll tell you what I’d enjoy: a lobotomy.”

Vil reached out and pinched the fat of Leona’s arm. He yelped and moved to swat him but Vil had already daintily stepped out of range.

“Very well, sit here and look miserable, see if I care,” he said loftily, “It’s just a shame when Ara is meeting so many new and interesting people…”

“The hell do I care what sort of people she meets?” Leona growled, but Vil didn’t answer, giving Ruggie a nod as the other boy returned with a full plate and a roll in his mouth and Vil floated back onto the dancefloor. Bastard.

“What was that about?” Ruggie asked, grinning at the look on Leona’s face. He laughed again, “You look like you swallowed a grub.”

Leona opened his mouth to snarl back, but stopped suddenly. The hair on the back of his neck prickled, and his ears gave a flick, pressing back against his skull.

“Somethings wrong,” he hissed, eyes narrowing. Ruggie froze mid-bite, eyes shifting from face to face in the crowd as he tried to seek out what had Leona’s pelt ruffled. Something was happening at the front of the room, but they were too far away to hear. There was a sudden burst of applause that made him start, nearly jolting his plate from his lap.

Leona stood, lifting his chin to see over the shorter members of the crowd. He could just make out some sort of tall gentleman, with a trim grey beard and shaved head. At his side, a smaller figure, with long blond hair that hung straight over their shoulders.

Turning to try and skirt his way around the edges of the crowd, Leona nearly knocked into a new figure that had slipped silently to his side.

“Damn the gods, Rat!” he hissed to the younger boy, “I swear if Ara doesn’t put a bell around your neck…” He trailed off, sensing a change in the quiet boy that Ara had brought back from the Hive. Normally Rat would have shrunken under Leona’s irritation, muttering apologizes and wilting into the background as quickly as he could. Now though he was silent, amber eyes piercing as he took Leona’s scolding. He looked almost formidable, were it not for his pale pallor and the shaking of his fingers by his side.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Leona demanded, pulling the boy closer by the arm. Ruggie pressed in by his shoulder, listening even while he kept an eye out.

“Thorn,” Rat whispered.

“A thorn? What, you got pricked in the garden?” Leona said with growing frustration, giving the boy a shake. Rat didn’t react: his duty was to protect Ara’s pack and that was what he was doing.

Leona became aware that the music had started again, and for some reason that bothered him. Could no one else feeling the sense of wrongness? Did no one else sense some sort of danger in the wings? He swore again under his breath and returned to his mission of shoving his way to the front of the room.

“Go find Jack and bring him to me,” he ordered Ruggie.

“No, stay here,” Rat interjected, words firm enough to master his stutter. Leona and Ruggie stopped and stared at him. Rat’s face turned red but he did not retract his order.

“…are you drunk?” Leona asked, bewildered that the boy who had the piss scared out of him by his own shadow had dared to not only give an order, but one that directly refuted his own.

Rat opened his mouth to respond, but something distracted him and he snapped his jaw shut, eyes dilating with fear. Leona could smell it coming off him in waves, and he whipped his head around ready to face the terror.

Instead he saw only Ara. Ara and a stranger. The Queen was dancing with the diplomat, a few other somebodies following their lead. But Leona was sure that what had scared Rat was right in front of him, and somehow…

He understood.

The man looked like he wanted to eat her, with eyes that reminded Leona of a leopard who knew it had encroached on a pride’s territory. The two didn’t seem to be speaking, their dance measured and slow. Leona could see the muscles in Ara’s back flex each time the stranger drew her close. She was no longer smiling, her grey eyes locked on the stranger’s green as they slowly circled one another in accordance with the dance. It was as though neither dared look away and give the other a chance to strike.

“Who is that?” Ruggie asked, his own hackles rising, even if he didn’t understand fully why. Sure he wanted to be the one dancing with Ara (not a chance, he had no clue what these damn fancy steps were), but none of the other guys had bothered him like this.

“Thorn,” Rat murmured again. He watched as Thorn dipped Ara, the girl letting her head fall back, exposing her neck. Rat saw it was a Hivechild insult, a ‘you couldn’t slit my throat if you wanted to’, and Thorn knew it to, his grin widening even as his jaw clenched. His hands grew more demanding, moving her more quickly and squeezing her flesh meanly, pushing the edge of what was socially acceptable. He spun her, and leaned to murmur something in her ear, and this time Leona could see her face.

He did not like what he saw.

He was on the dance floor in four strides, breaking the hypnotic connection Ara and this Thorn had fallen into.

“Nice moves. It’d be a shame to keep them all to one girl, yeah?” he said, forcing a sharp grin on his face. He slid a hand down Ara’s arm, smoothly freeing it from Thorn’s grasp and pulling her from his hold. Leona got only a glimpse of a look of disgust on the man’s face, like Leona was nothing but a worm begging a hawk for the time, but it was quickly covered up by a mask of deference.

“Of course, your Highness,” he murmured, voice lower than Leona would have expected, “It is an honor to concede my dance to the prince. Or, no, forgive. A prince.” He straightened again smiling, giving Ara one last unreadable glance before turning to melt back into the crowd.

“Leona…my hand…”

Leona barely heard Ara’s whisper, immediately relaxing the crushing grip he had unknowingly inflicted on her hand. He pulled her to him, cupping her waist and glancing to find what step of the dance they were on before guiding her into movement. For a long moment neither spoke.

“Rat?” she finally asked softly.

“With Ruggie,” he responded in the same tone. He felt her relax slightly, though every muscle in her body still seemed ready to be attacked at any moment. Leona spun her, feeling a brief moment of regret that this was the circumstances under which they were dancing. It wasn’t half bad, to be honest.

“What’s his problem?” he mumbled into Ara’s ear.

“…long story,” she replied.

Somehow, Leona felt that might have been an understatement.

[blithesrps]

Assimilation

Hivechildren are raised to remain stoic even in the face of the most harrowing situations.

As children, they are made to play games that teach resistance to fear, pain, and base instinct. Once they’re older, they begin to face more instances of real torture, pushing their bodies and minds to the limits again and again, carefully wearing away at their humanity like a stone slowly shaped by never-ending waves. And Ara was one of the best in her batch, an early leader who found it almost too easy to shut down the parts of her that were afraid or overwhelmed or hurting. She severed her humanity like snipping a thread dangling from her sleeve, holding it safe in her palm until it would be time to weave it back in again.

She had never anticipated freedom would challenge her, not to the extent that the hives had. Nothing should have felt as hard as the hives, in this new open world to her. How could it, when no one was trying to kill or crush her? But lately, weeks into her sudden enrollment at Night Raven College, Ara was beginning to experience something that she had never before: doubt.

Every day was a never ending assault of noise and sensation. Crowds of students pressing in on each other, laughing and shouting and chittering from the moment she left Ramshackle’s door. Classes were a stream of new information that she struggled to commit to memory, much of it based on years of learning that were a blank in her own upbringing. Her reading skill was leaps and bounds behind her peers, and though Ara hid it as best as she could behind an always composed face, her slowness only dragged her further behind. The food was rich and strange and often made her sick to her stomach. People touched and talked to her, looked her in the eye and expected her to know how to reply as an equal, not as a slave that was meant to be seen and not heard.

At first she had never even considered that this new world might be too much for her. It was a challenge, but Ara could do challenges. She had escaped the hive: she could manage school. Yet after fifty or so days of constant tension, Ara was beginning to feel herself falter. She knew that she had already failed to assimilate properly, that her classmates found her manner odd and off-putting. Ara was grateful for Yuuri, and the friends that she brought along with her, but Ara also knew that she could not rely on the girl forever. Somehow she needed to understand how this new world worked, and find her place in it.

But not today. Today, Ara needed her place to be somewhere quiet and dark and solitary.

She had been sitting in the cafeteria with Yuuri and her friends. They were all talking over one another when the food had suddenly felt wrong in her mouth and Ara had felt the desire to vomit. She’d excused herself and left. She was retreating, she knew, and it shamed her, even as she tried to frame it as a tactical choice instead of a weakness. Her intention had been to return to Ramshackle, when suddenly and quite inexplicably, Ara realized she was lost.

Ara had never been lost before in her life. She had known the tunnels like she’d known tohe veins in her own arm, every turn and twist completely innate. Not only that, but they’d been taught to memorize maps and pathways, quickly familiarizing themselves with an area so that they could identify escape and entry points at a glance. And Ara had done that here, she had! She’d made careful maps and traced them before burning them in the fire, walked to and from locations and explored nooks and crannies until she’d memorized the layout of Night Ravens College as closely as she had the hive. At least…she thought she had…but this…nothing here was familiar. Another wave of nausea rose in Ara’s stomach, and she realized she couldn’t seem to get enough air. Had she been poisoned…?

“Hello? Can you move please?”

“Taking up the whole sidewalk…”

Somebody nudged Ara’s shoulder and she flinched, hurriedly moving to the side. The sun caught the reflection of a building and flashed at her, and she careened toward it, blanking her mind out and focusing only on the door and her breath.

She rattled the handle of the building and shoved inside, inhaling in surprise the sudden thickness of the air. It was hot, and humid, and everywhere she looked was green.

‘Oh,’ she thought dizzily, ‘The greenhouse.’ She’d heard other students talking about it, though she’d never been herself yet. More importantly, Ara knew where it was. And more importantly than even that…it was quiet.

The world seemed muffled by the carefully insulated glass walls, and Ara could have wept in relief, if she’d been capable of weeping. But she was still too exposed for her liking, walking past the open tables and mounds of fresh soil with a short clipped gate.

Finally she found a spot that satisfied her, shoved against some low bushes and under the shade of carefully maintained fruit trees. She dropped into a crawl, pushing until her back was flush against the cold metal of the far wall and she could draw her knees tightly to her chest. Pressing her eyes into her arms she focused again on steadying her breathing. The thick air made it difficult, but soon Ara felt her lightheadedness start to abate, and she felt she could breathe again.

‘Awful,’ she thought to herself, though she was unsure if it was a condemnation of her behavior or her circumstances.

“Hey.”

An irritated voice spoke and Ara jumped, banging her elbow against the metal wall with a clatter and jerking her head up. A man stood there, starting himself at her extreme reaction and looking at her with bewilderment. They stared at each other, Ara scrambling to try and remember a single word in the common language at that moment.

“You’re in my spot,” the man finally grumbled, though truth be told he was already having second thoughts on how badly he felt like marking his territory. This chick looked like shit.

“I apologize,” Ara whispered automatically, but she didn’t move. She wasn’t sure she could have even if she wanted to. The man stared for a moment longer, then flicked a tail Ara hadn’t realized he’d had until just then.

“Tch…whatever. Ruggie would probably have found me here anyway,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. He turned and left her, off to find his own piece of solace somewhere else.

Ara watched him go, drawing her legs back to her chest and returning to her breathing. This time though, she kept her eyes open.

She didn’t want any more surprises.

[winterweary]

OKAY UPON REFLECTING

Ara Opening: "I'll do what I must."

Ara Victory: "Ah - forgive me."

Ara Loss: "I'm not finished yet..."

Yuuri Opening: "Don't underestimate me!"

Yuuri Victory: "And that's how it's done!"

Yuuri Loss: "Did I slow you down...?"

So I didn't see this as a prompt in the TWST OC questionnaire but if your OC had opening and victory battle taunts, what would they be?

Tagging @ramshacklerumble @tixdixl @inmateofthemind @blithesharem @theleechyskrunkly @koukoii @thehollowwriter

No pressure to do this if you don't want to btw, just thought it might be a fun prompt!

As for my three main boys, theirs are below the cut if anyone is curious.

Copper Benoit: "Dyin' is the day worth livin' for!"/"What'd I tell ya, lads? Take a walk."

Wei Renqiao: "I'll see you kneel in pieces."/"This is the end of your arrogance. Bow to me."

Chrysanthos Shroud: "Keep moving, junior."/"I told you, and I handled it. Have a nice day~."

[blithesrps]

Hihi! Ara with ⚔️ and 👑 if thats ok? Thank you!

THANK YOU ;v; These are great ones

Ara and Sebek:

Well. Funnily enough. :T Sebek is the one member of the cast Ara has real beef with.

It all began when Ara tried to join the Equestrian Club. She was like "Mounted combat would be a useful skill to know..." Rat of course tagged along as well. The thing is...horses do NOT like Hivechildren. They're somewhere alien between a beastman and a human and it weirds horses out. So after an afternoon of getting bucked onto her ass, Riddle finally talked her into giving up ("investing her skills elsewhere" as he put it). Sebek was PRETTY UNHELPFUL through that process and FAIRLY SMUG that she was sent packing. Rat meanwhile found the horses didn't mind him so much, so he started helping out quietly when he could. Mucking the stalls, helping feed the horses or brushing them down after practice. He was pretty enamored with watching the three club members practice, especially Riddle. It blew his mind seeing someone as small as he was be able to command such a large powerful beast so effortlessly. After many weeks of working up his courage he finally asked if he could properly join the club. It turns out that he had a bit of a talent for it, but he also REALLY irked Sebek, who started to ride his ass pretty hard. Something about his timidness and lack of self confidence just bothers Sebek, so he goes after him often. Things like "WHY WON'T YOU SPEAK UP!" or "STAND UP STRAIGHTER WHEN YOU SPEAK, CREATURE!" and "HOW DARE A HUMAN AS LOWLY AS YOU BUMP INTO MY LORD MALLEUS". Rat already rides a fine line between 'functional' and 'terrified' on a good day, so he was ready to quit when he finally told Ara what was going on. Guard Dog Ara immediately went to have a candid conversation with Sebek, thinking they could sort it all out no problem but well...he's Sebek...so things did NOT in fact de-escalate and it ended with Ara popping him in the jaw. Of course Sebek was HIGHLY AFFRONTED AT THAT and they got into a little bit of a brawl... A couple bloody noses and a few 'Off WIth Your Head's later and things were settled, though Sebek still gives Ara a wide berth and she still scowls when he passes by. For the record, Yuuri thinks this was very good for Ara! uvu Look at her, forming her own opinions and letting herself dislike someone for the first time! Malleus and Lilia also find it terribly amusing (Silver not so much).

Ara and Vil:

Ara did not have much interaction with Vil until after book 6, when they ended up at STYX at the same time. She mainly knew Vil as Leona's ex and sort of friend, and because of Rook who had taken to chasing Rat around campus in his free time (a guy has to have hobbies). Through the events at STYX Ara became a little enamored with Vil. He's always so cool and confident and put together u_u. And beautiful of course. Ara grew up in a literal cave and feels VERY SHY and unconfident when it comes to testing out how she wants to express her femininity. After she worked up the courage she asked Vil if he might consider teaching her a bit about make up and Vil was like A NEW PROJECT YOU SAY? Vil discovers Ara occasionally sings at the Mostro Longue and starts hounding her to put on a bit more of a show, which Ara finds she really enjoys. In the end, Ara ends up looking up to him as an older sister figure. Leona wishes he'd stop trying to convince Ara to dump him though B(

[blithesrps]

Thank you for playing! ;v;

15. How do they comfort one another when the other is upset?

Ara x Ruggie + Leona: CUDDLE PILE. Long afternoon naps. They all draw comfort from touch more than words or gifts. Whoever is the one upset gets to be in the center with the other two draped and tangled over them. Lots of pets and dozing and sleepy reassurances. Leona and Ara are very solution oriented as well, and will often go off on their own to try and eliminate the stressor at their first opportunity. Ruggie is more of the mindset that it is what it is, and so will instead look for ways to make the process more enjoyable or comfortable for his partners.

Rat + Rook: Rat and Rook are a bit complicated in that they aren't TOGETHER per se...but they're together-ish. If Rook sees Rat is upset, he will try to goad him into releasing some of that tension, whether through anger, sex or weeping. He knows Rat is too suppressed to get there on his own and he doesn't mind being the one to give the push (who are we kidding - he loves it). Sometime's he'll just chase Rat around campus until the boy is exhausted and then force him to lay in Rook's lap for a little bit until he calms down. :) Rat is...well, he's Rat. Being raised in the Hive he only really knows how to comfort based on how Ara or Dust used to comfort him, and even then, he has a hard time doing it in the open. He may leave a pretty ribbon he found on Rook's desk, or oil his bowstrings for him without being caught. Trying to ease whatever his burdening him through little favors and gifts. Rat also has a little crush on Silver so he'll often do these things for him as well, but unlike Rook, Silver has no idea who it is doing them slkdfk. Unrelated but 'oil his bowstrings' sounds naughty...

Ask Game

@tixdixl

[winterweary]

Blithes OC's Ref

I wanted to do more Piccrews to finish off my girls so here we are!

Bly (Obey Me):

And of course this beautiful piece by starry-miki

PW: Solomon

Birthday: October 9th, Libra

Ara (TWST):

PW: Leona+Ruggie, Jamil

Birthday: November 1st, Scorpio

Backstory

Yuuri (TWST):

PW: Duece+Ace, Floyd/Octrio

Birthday: June 28th, Cancer

Rat (TWST):

PW: TBD

Birthday: March 14th, Pisces

Reference Links:

Nicknames (TWST)

Outfits (All)

Picrew Link

[blithesrps]

Of Ara and Rat

Before Rat knew the sun, Rat knew Ara.

When he recalls his first memory it is of her pudgy, childish hands carefully wrapping his knee with bandages.

When he was small and starving, unable to protect his food from the bigger Hivechildren, Ara was there to feed him.

When he quivered through the first weeks out of the nursery, wracked with nightmares and terrors, her voice was the one that murmured soft comfort into his cell.

When the first person tried to kill Rat, beating him to the earth and squeezing his throat with white knuckles and hissing teeth.

When Rat closed his hand around the rock and smashed in the other child’s skull, flooding the soil at their knees with blood.

When he curled up there shaking and weeping, brain matter splattered over his cheeks.

Ara was there.

Ara brought the sheet and wrapped the body in it. Ara bore the weight as they carried their bundle to The Pit. Ara spoke to the guards while Rat silently wept behind her. When Rat’s strength failed him, it was Ara who slid his sin into the waiting darkness.

She kept him alive in more ways than one. There were days when hers was the only good that touched him. When he huddled under his covers pressing a shard of slate against his jugular and desperately trying to work up the courage to plunge it in. Days when he compromised with himself, and said that he would wait until she no longer had need of him, and then he would do it.

Because Ara needed him too, though Rat never understood why. He couldn’t see that his need gave her purpose, someone to be good for. A reason to resist the temptation to despair, or worse, give in to the violent voices inside of her. A reason to believe there could be better out there, for her and for Rat and perhaps for all the Hivechildren. A reason to believe Dust when he said he could get them out. And, more than anything, a reason to keep fighting when it would have been easier to fall into a new life at Night Raven College, devoid of her past.

But Ara would never abandon Rat, and he will never abandon her.

-

@ramshacklerumble asked me a question last night about Ara and Rat’s relationship that really sparked some good introspection, and inspired me to write this.

Ara is the closest thing Rat has to a god. Hivechildren have no religion and are taught that they have no souls. When they die they simply snuff out like a candle flame. Rat never viewed his life as his to command or control. He serves Ara with the single minded dedication Hivechildren are trained to bestow upon their masters. He would follow any command she issued even at loss of his life. He believes with all his heart that she will bring absolution to the Hivechildren.

Ara has complicated feelings about this. She wishes for Rat that he might find his own drive and dreams to chase, but she also just…wants him to have peace. If she needs to play his god for him to feel safe and at peace she’s willing to do that.

Later, after some plot activities when they are much older, Rat does release some of his deification of Ara. He never stops believing in her however. She will always be his first hero.

[blithesrps]

Most recent ask game, 4 and 6 for your TWST babies? Thank you!!

Thank you!! 🥰

4 answered on the last post! Now to do some research for 6…

Any flowers you associate with your OC?

Ara: Lily of the Valley, Marigolds and Nasturtium

Rat: Apple blossoms, sweet pea blossoms, violets.

Yuuri: Lilacs, Black Eyed Susans

Thorn: Foxglove, Narcissus (daffodils)

[blithesrps]

Rat's Prologue

Thank you to @cyanide-latte for the prompt on this one <3

“Are you alright?”

Rat lifted his cheek from the dirt, spit out a mouthful of blood, and nodded. He glanced quickly up, anxious to read Ara’s expression through his lashes. But she didn’t seem disappointed, only concerned.

“Y-y-yes,” he stammered to alleviate her worries, moving to stand on shaky legs. She reached out to steady him, watching with a frown as he rooted a finger in his mouth to tug out a loose tooth. The Upkeep Team were going to punish him for that. It was the third tooth he’d lost this year.

Not that he was doing it on purpose. It wasn’t like he went looking to get his teeth punched out. If his brothers and sisters were so tough, he wondered, why did they always feel the need to trouble him in packs.

“What was it this time?” Ara frowned more deeply, crossing her arms over her chest. Of course, she’d had no trouble taking care of the three Hivechildren who had appeared from a side tunnel on his way to the canteen, stopping the assault decidedly before it had gotten more dangerous.

“They wanted-d-d my Leisure T-t-token,” he murmured to her shoes, noting the drops of blood that marked them now. Ara didn’t react, but he could feel the anger radiating from her.

“I’m s-sorry,” he said quickly, like the instinctive reflex it was.

“Do not apologize to me,” she ordered him, dropping her arms from her chest and giving a soft sigh. She rooted in her pocket and drew out a small wooden disk, taking his wrist and forcing him to take it.

“Take mine. I do not need it this week,” she told him firmly. Rat swallowed another mouthful of blood, blinking back the hot pricks at the edges of his vision.

“You don’t-t have t-t-to,” he tried to argue, “I lost-t-t mine fair and square.”

That was how it worked in the Hive, how it had always worked. If you wanted to eat, or enjoy a luxury like a warm bath or free time in the yard, you had to protect your assets from those who wanted to take them. The strong got what they wanted and the weak got stronger if they knew would was good for them. If they didn’t, they sometimes paid for it with more than just their tokens.

“I can’t use it anyway,” Ara told him with a shrug, “Father wants me for a special run tonight.” Rat knew she was lying. Even if she couldn’t have used the Leisure Token this week, she could have saved it for another. All the same, he took it, the wood warm in the palm of his fist.

“You wanted to use it for piano time, right?” she asked him, pulling her sleeve down her wrist and stepping forward to scrub blood from his jaw. He nodded, trying not to wince. He could feel the tenderness that told him his face would be swelling - he’d have to make himself scarce or the bruises would be a clear beacon that he was easy pickings.

“Good,” Ara said firmly, “You do well with music. You’ll make a good performer or pet one day.” Rat swallowed again, this time working the knot in his throat. He wondered if Ara really believed he’d ever make it to sale, or if she was lying again.

“Rat, stay near Dust when I’m gone this week. Or Beetle.” Rat nodded miserably and he felt Ara’s hand pause where it was still tidying him up. Gently she lifted his jaw to look her in the eyes, and to his surprise he found she had a soft smile on her face.

“Hey. Don’t despair,” she whispered, “Things will not be like this forever. I have a plan.”

“A p-p-p-plan?” he asked, the word alone making his heart seize with fear. Plans were not good. Hivechildren got punished for plans. They got killed for plans.

“A plan,” Ara repeated all the same.

“A plan that will change everything.”

[blithesrps]

Ara, Rat and Thorn all don’t know when their birthdays are.

Ara and Rat never celebrated until after two years at NRC when Cater suddenly realized it (he keeps track of everyone’s birthdays for social media posts ofc).

They were like “oh yeah we don’t have one of those” and everyone yelled at them :T

After that they started celebrating Rat’s birthday on the 1st of May and Ara’s in early November (the day she arrived on campus through the mirrors).

which oc doesn't celebrate their birthday?

[blithesrps]

Ara's Arrival

Ara understood that she was dying, and she only wished it would go a little faster.

For a countless time, her head broke the surface of the raging water, a desperate gasp filling her lungs with a tease of salvation before she was dragged back under again. Time was meaningless. She had been trapped in this hell for centuries and for seconds, her world a freezing rush of noise and pain and the understanding that she would die with lungs full of water. Her mind could only form one word, clutching to it with her last shreds of consciousness: how? How, how, how?

How had it all gone so wrong?

Black began to tinge her vision. The roar of the river was suddenly muted out by the pulse of blood in her ears. She waited for the breach that would drag her back from the edge of drowning, but this time it did not come. Her body convulsed, water shoved past her lips, and for the first time in her life she surrendered wholeheartedly.

Then a slam against a hard surface sent that water bursting back out, splashing onto grey stone as Ara hit solid ground. She gagged wretchedly, spewing water out of her lungs and stomach with a series of violent coughs. Finally, just as she thought she was going to pass out again, her body let her take a gasping breath.

How? How? How? How was she alive?

Everything ached, battered from the fight that had led her to her doom as well as the river that had slammed her unthinkingly into the walls of its path. For a moment, Ara let herself ache, let the pain soak into her bones and took it as reassurance she was indeed alive.

Then she registered voices.

“What the fuck?”

“Oh dear, oh dear, not again…”

“Azul, is this one of yours? Clearly they’re from the Coral Sea.”

“Do you think I have a list of every soul in the Coral Sea? I think not.”

“I wouldn’t put it past you…”

Ara flinched as footsteps approached, rolling quickly onto her back and scrambling away from the movement. Her eyes flicked around the room, taking a quick stock of who surrounded her. It appeared to be a young group, near to her own age she guessed, though there was one adult in a mask presiding over them. They all wore similar expressions of bewilderment, keeping their distance now that she had moved, and holding aloft a stick of some sort.

‘Mages?’ she wondered, a lip curling as she tried to produce a snarl, pressing against the wall her back had found. Another quick flash of a glance around the room told her that the only exist was a door behind the wall of bodies. She was well trapped.

“The Magic Mirror is truly mysterious in its ways,” the masked adult mused, his voice rather cheery considering the situation. Ara turned her glare to him, the imposing effect greatly diminished by the shivers wracking her soaked body.

“Like a drowned kitten,” a beastman snorted under his breath to his beautiful companion, who clicked their tongue in annoyed response.

“There, there, no need to be frightened!” the man said, approaching despite her attempts at intimidation, “You are among friends!”

“Welcome to Night Raven College.”

[winterweary]

Oooh, 7, 8, and 13 for your TWST ladies~?

Thank you! These were good ones...

7. What would you (mun) yell in the middle of a crowd to find them? What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell?

Ara: Literally any variation of 'Help!' or 'Stop Him!' or anything that flicks the guard dog switch in her brain. She's incredibly German Shepherd coded. If it were Ruggie he'd probably just yell her name because he knows how on edge she'd get if she heard him or Leona cry out for help. Leona does not yell lmao he'd just find a shady place to sprawl out and wait for her to find him ("She's a big girl, she can handle herself. What am I yellin' for?").

Yuuri: "GRIM what are you DOING?" or "GRIM STOP THAT". Her neck would crack with the speed she'd snap her head around. Grim is resentful of the degree to which Deuce and Ace utilize this trick.

8. How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Ara: Very restricted. In The Hive where she was raised, 'love' was by no means a part of their vocabulary. Even once she's at NRC and finding her identity as an individual, she's more likely to say something like "Please count on me to protect you" or "I will always be here for you to depend on" rather than what she means which is "I love you". The first time she said it for herself it was when she was sick and feverish and half asleep. It's not until someone starts saying it to her that she begins to grow comfortable with the phrase.

Yuuri: ON THE OTHER HAND Yuuri is very effusive with her affections. She doesn't see the sense in holding back her feelings and she tells her friends she loves them on the regular. This was a little frustrating for the boys once they really wanted her to actually say it properly but she figured out what they were getting at eventually.

13. When do they fake a smile? How often?

Ara: Less in later years, almost exclusively in the beginning. Her smile started out very cool, restrained and controlled even when it was genuine. She had a habit of hiding her mouth with her hand when someone got her to properly grin.

Yuuri: Rarely, but when she does, she's very good at it. Usually only if its needed to boost morale for everyone, or if she wants to hide that something hurt or upset her. She doesn't like to rock the boat or cause trouble so she's more likely to cover up her unease than to be honest about it.