#blithes ocs: rat

[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.

[cyanide-latte]

@blithesharem since Rat was assigned Baby™ by picrew, I ran with it. I am so sorry his hair turned out a mess, but at least he's got Ara to protect him

[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]

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?

[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

[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]

Hihi!!! Your TWST OCs (any of them you want) with Future?? Thank you!!

future: What's the worst possible future for your OC? Are they taking steps to avoid that outcome? Are they even aware it's a possibility?

EXCELLENT choice I was thinking I wanted to answer this one.

Ara:

So Ara has a worse possible future she fears, and then one she’s moving closer to without even realizing it.

The future she fears is she’ll be returned to her home nation, back to life as a Hivechild and slave. Technically she is still under the ownership of her old master, and its many years before she stops fearing he’ll show up at NRC and stake his claim.

The second worst future is one she doesn’t see herself striding toward. Eventually Ara becomes the leader of a small special ops team operating under Styx. Their main purpose is protecting the nations of Twisted Wonderland from external magical threats, but that’s a vague creed that can get twisted to a variety of purposes.

In this end, Ara goes from being the weapon of one man to the weapon of another. She doesn’t see the similarities because now she feels she’s fighting to protect the people she loves, but under whose command? She finds herself circling a destiny as nothing more than a tool to be wielded, accepting commands she does not feel she can reject. How far will she go? Will she risk having the people she loves in her life if it means that she can keep them safe? And if not, who is Ara without the ability to protect?

Rat:

Rat’s greatest fear for his future, like Ara’s, is that he will have to return to the Hives. He honestly doesn’t see himself willingly surviving a return trip.

If they stay, his darkest future is one where he ends up useless and alone. Rat has few of the skills that Ara has and there’s a limit to how much he feels he can be useful. He fears one day he will no longer be able to “earn his keep” and will be abandoned to loneliness once more.

[blithesrps]

From the TWST OCs questions, for any of yours of your choosing!

Is there anyone your OC sees as family?

What are some mannerisms your OC has picked up from the people around them? (be it other (people's) OCs or Canon Characters)

Can they be trusted in the kitchen? What's their favourite food?

Ohhh thank you these are great choices!

Is there anyone your OC sees as family?

It's a little funny, because early on I don't know that Ara had much of an idea of 'family'. It was more her sorting people into those who were hers to protect and those who weren't. It's not until later that some of those bonds deepened to what she'd consider her family.

Topping that list is Copper, Kalim and Jamil. She and Jamil connected early due to their similar circumstances, and Kalim was so welcoming and accepting it would have been hard for her not to grow attached quickly. She and Copper are similar in their reservedness and I think they sort of recognized that aspect in one another quickly. Scarabia is definitely the dorm that Ara feels she can let down her guard the most at.

And of course, her Nyx team, who haven't appeared a lot on my blog proper, but who are deeply important to her.

What are some mannerisms your OC has picked up from the people around them? (be it other (people's) OCs or Canon Characters)

Man this is SUCH a good question. I love noticing when people pick up phrases or habits from the people they love around them. It's hard to

I think Ara definitely starts to toss her head in the same way Leona does when he scoffs at something. That little jaw lift, leaning back. She does it as if to say 'yeah right', totally unconsciously.

Rat starts to cover his smile when he grins the way Vil does, a hand delicately hovering over his lips.

I'm sure there's more but I'll have to muse further...

Can they be trusted in the kitchen? What's their favourite food?

Ara can cook a meal that won't poison anyone. That's basically the limit of her abilities. She's not BAD per se, she just doesn't understand seasoning or flavor profiles, or the idea that food should be pleasurable and not just utility. So her stuff tends to be well prepared but a bit bland or boring.

She really likes peanut butter...her favorite food is probably some sort of peanut noodle dish, similar to pad thai.

Rat actually finds he really enjoys cooking! Going from having to fight for every scrap to being allowed the run of ingredients whenever he wants...it's like he suddenly has access to a whole new world!

Unfortunately, he'll also eat ANYTHING, so some of his experiments are...less palatable to others than they are to him. But as he gets older he starts to work things out.

He loves all food, but favors wild game, like venison or hare. Rook teaches him to make Lapin a La Cocotte and that becomes one of his specialties.

[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?

[winterweary]

"wound" and "skin" for your TWST babies for the ask prompts?

THANK YOU BBY!!! Angst...I so love angst...

wound: How does your OC handle being wounded? Are their wounds mostly physical? Mental? Emotional? What's the worst wound your OC has ever experienced?

Ara: LIke a damn champ. Queen of dissociation here folks. She can take almost any hit and turn around and smack you back. It was literally beaten into her. Emotional wounds on the other hand are incredibly new to her and she is almost paralyzed by them. Longing? Desire? Jealousy???? Who's that?? Why can't she breathe around you? Is she having a reaction to something??? Did someone poison her? Oh you mean it's just because she saw someone linger their touch on you for a little too long? Well that's incredibly troublesome. She doesn't really keep track of 'worst' wounds but she most dislikes being stabbed in the thigh because healing takes so long and her movement is so affected. Luckily it doesn't happen very often. :)

Yuuri: She's in the middle average as far as pain tolerance goes. She'd say she has a high pain tolerance if you're not a FREAK like most of the people she goes to school with (affectionate). With how often she's ended up in the middle of overblot situations, she's toughened up quite a bit as far as garden variety cuts and bruises go. As far as worst injury it was probably getting fucking beaned in the head by the spelldrive disk LOL She's grateful the nurses know magical healing.

Rat: Decently. Like Ara, he was trained to dissociate and ignore pain. Unlike Ara, he doesn't have as steadfast of a constitution, so there's definitely a point that he breaks. He also can get a little lightheaded when in the face of too much gore. A little blood is no problem but full on gushing makes him woozy. He is also incredibly new to the 'allowed to have emotions' thing but he has a tendency to turn any emotion into Anxiety so it's not too different from his usual state of existence. His worst injury was having six of his fingers broken.

skin: How comfortable is your OC in their skin? Do they grapple with anything that lives inside them—a beast, a curse, a failure, a monster? How do they face the smallest, weakest, most horrible version of themself? Are they able to acknowledge it at all?

Ara: Man this is such a great question and but I really struggled with it. None of the kiddos are quite sure. In some ways, Ara is very comfortable in her skin. She knows her physical limits and her capabilities. For a long time, she had no real opinion of what lived inside of her because she truly thought that the answer was 'nothing'. She was taught to have no opinions or wants, so there was nothing for her to consider. Later, once she starts making friends and building a life for herself, the fears do grow. She fears she is too far gone to stand beside the people she loves as equals. She wonders if they knew what she is capable of and what she has done if they would be disgusted with her. She wonders if they would hate her for the lengths she would go to protect them. On a more surface level degree, she has just begun having feelings of wanting to be...prettier. Or just 'pretty'. She depends on Yuuri, Ortho and Vil a lot to help her because she has really no idea what she's doing.

As with most things, she faces these insecurities and fears with a very pragmatic outlook. Even when she indulges in more human emotions, she also knows that she would lock it all back away if she needed to.

Yuuri: Yuuri's greatest struggle is with her fear of uselessness. She doesn't want to be nothing but a burden to her friends, and not having magic concerns her more than she tries to let on. She would absolutely find herself withdrawing out of fear of burdening her friends if she didn't have Grim, Ace and Deuce there to knock some sense into her.

Rat: Rat knows he's a weakling. He was bottom of the heap in the Hive and he's not much better at NRC. In his opinion, the smallest weakest version of him is just...the usual version. This does cause him a lot of angst, but like Ara he was raised in a culture of action. Since leaving the Hive he only hopes to be of some use to her, even if he can't be as strong or powerful as others. He ends up discovering he has an eye for tech, which starts to make him feel like he might have something to offer.

[blithesrps]

Rat I

It was too quiet.

The silence seemed heavy, like a pillow pressed over Rat’s face that left him just enough air to panic. There were no whispers echoing over curved stone walls, no soft rustles of rodents seeking scraps at the corner of every cell, and no booming cracks that announced someone had gotten the whip again.

There was just the quiet.

Rat rolled over in the bed he had been told was his, placed in one of the many vacant rooms in the Ramshackle dorm. The bed itself was part of the problem. Too soft, like it was trying to swallow him. He’d never laid on anything so fine before, complete with a thick comforter that had been kicked to the bottom of the mattress. He’d never even seen a bed like this one before. It was wrong. Rat wasn’t supposed to have nice things. Hivechildren did not have nice things.

Yet here he was. Ara had come for him like she’d promised, pulled him from the den of snakes like a god plucking life from a seething ocean. He knew he would be safe here if she said he would, but he couldn’t kill the part of him that expected to see an Enforcer bursting through the door at any moment. That would be the end of everything, when they came. No way they’d let Ara and him live after such a malfunction.

So…where did that leave him?

Already dead, he supposed. If they caught him, he’d be killed quickly. Which might not be so terribly bad. No more punishments, or fights, or fear of getting sold to a master who would want to take him apart piece by piece. Hivechildren weren’t allowed into the afterlife, so he guessed he’d just be…gone.

Suddenly, the silence seemed more threatening than before.

Taking a shuddering breath, Rat slipped from the bed, walking on the balls of his feet across the cool wood to his door. Opening it with a muted groan of old hinges, he poked his head into the hall. One of the rooms there belonged to Yuuri, the kind girl who had shown him around when he’d arrived that morning. The strange beast named Grim slept with her, which meant Rat didn’t have to be afraid of running into him alone in the dark. The ghosts though…

For a long time, Rat stood there frozen still, eyes locked onto the hallway looking for any movement or sign of …well, not life. Undead? Any sign of ghosts. Only when he was satisfied did he move out the door, and even then, it was with the caution of a hare who knew the fox was near.

Eleven steps and he arrived at another door, turning the handle slowly and slipping in with just a hush of movement. Moving quickly now, heart hammering in his chest, he hurried to the bed lit up by the glow of the moonlight, clambering onto it with a sudden vision of Thorn grabbing his ankle in the dark.

With force enough to make him choke, a hand slammed into his throat, forcing Rat down against the sheets. He squeaked in terror, catching the gleam of a silver knife in a hand before gasping out, “Ara!”

“Rat,” Ara replied in almost the same moment, lowering the steak knife she’d stolen from the kitchens on her own first night at Ramshackle, “Rat…I could have hurt you.” She released his throat, sitting back and looking at him reproachfully. Rat flushed red, embarrassed at his obvious mistake. He should have announced himself, not dove into her bed like a frightened child.

“S-s-s-sorry…” he said, swallowing as Ara slid the knife back under her pillow. She studied his expression for a moment, before glancing out the window to gauge the hour. Though she’d been sleeping just a moment before, her eyes were alert now.

“What’s wrong?” she asked him finally, turning back to face him. Rat dropped his gaze.

“I c-couldn’t sleep. It’s too…” he trailed off.

“…I know. It was for me too,” Ara admitted, softening as her heart rate slowed again, “But I think…we’re okay here. I think it’s going to be different. I think we can be different.” Rat didn’t reply, frightened and thrilled by the prospect.

“How do you know?” he asked.

“I don’t,” she answered honestly, “But I believe. And as long as I am here, you do not have to be afraid. I will look after you.” Now Ara spoke with conviction. She knew that though they were certainly safer here than they had been in the Hive, it was still frightening, trying to step into a world full of people who may as well have been from a different planet. She didn’t know if it was possible for the two of them to fit among them, but she was willing to try. She would give anything she had to be able to try.

“Lay down,” she ordered softly, laying back down in bed herself and lifting the blanket with her arm. Rat shyly slid down under the covers, pushing close enough to Ara’s side that he could find comfort in her familiar scent.

“Go to sleep,” Ara went on, watching until Rat closed his eyes and let out an exhale of relief, “Tomorrow I’ll introduce you to my friend.”

Rat’s eyes opened in again in surprise, “Your…friend?” Ara smiled, trying to restrain from grinning.

“Yes. You’ll like them. They’re like us, a bit,” she told him, reaching to rest a hand on his head, the most affection she’d ever felt allowed to show the younger boy, “Go to sleep, Rat.”  

He did. And for the first night in his entire life, Rat slept without dreaming.

[blithesrps]

Rat's Prologue II

“She’s dead, Rat. I killed her.”

“You’re lying,” Rat rasped, his stutter gone for the brief words as if it too had been frightened still. He watched Thorn’s lip curl, the larger boy squeezing his fingers more tightly around Rat’s throat.

“Dust is dead too, you know,” Thorn went on, shoving his knuckles up under Rat’s jaw until he gagged painfully for breath. Thorn snickered and shoved him to the ground, shaking his head with amusement.

“What are you going to do without your little guard dog, hm?” he asked, watching drool drip down Rat’s chin as the boy coughed painfully. God it was pathetic. He’d never understood why Ara had paid so much attention to him. Rat should have died when they were still in the nursery as far as he was concerned.

“She looked so scared when I shoved her off the ledge. It was hilarious,” Thorn laughed and pulled a face like Ara had when he’d ripped her wrists from the stone crag, eyes wide and teeth clenched. The fight she’d given had made his victory all the more fun, the betrayal in her eyes, the way she’d begged him to remember they were friends. What a joke.

“But hey, don’t worry, alright? Your big brother Thorn is here to protect you now,” he cooed, enjoying watching Rat's body tense at the sudden switch of tone. The boy flinched when Thorn struck, but not quickly enough, Rat’s fingers crunching under the heel of his boot. The boy squealed, and Thorn was tickled to find the sound comparable to the sound the actual rats he had crushed beneath his feet had made.

“God, you’re too pathetic,” Thorn snorted, Rat’s nails clawing uselessly at his leg. He let his weight linger, savoring the popping feeling as individual bones failed. Rat said something in reply, something Thorn couldn’t make out through the snot and tears.

“What was that, Ratty boy?” he hummed, crouching down, “I couldn’t hear you, kiddo.”

“I s-s-said, she’s n-n-n-not d-d-dead,” Rat choked out, “She’s s-stronger than you and-d when she c-c-comes back she’ll k-k-kill you.”

Thorn was silent, then stood, kicking Rat’s uninjured hand off his ankle and stomping his boot down on it. Rat cried out, and Thorn resisted the urge to kick him in his pathetic face. But he didn’t want to kill Ara’s little pet so quickly. Where would be the fun in that?

“You keep on dreaming, Ratty boy,” he hissed, lifting his boot at last and allowing Rat to clutch his hands against his stomach. “Let her come back. I’ll just kill her all over again.”

He turned and stalked off down the tunnels, leaving Rat to weep in the dirt and wonder which of them would prove right in the end.

[blithesrps]

Early Morning Meeting

Some fluff, per the poll and @ramshacklerumble 's specific request <3

‘Ignore it. Just…ignore it.’

Yuuri rolled in her bed, pulling the pillow over her head and pressing it around her ears. The soft blue light that still filled her and Grim’s bedroom told her it was early – way too early to be awoken by the sound of something thudding down the stairs. Whatever it was, Yuuri didn’t care to be dealing with it until after 7am at least.

Across the room, she could hear Grim’s peaceful snoring, the little gremlin blissfully sleeping through the noise. Yuuri huffed to herself, feeling sleep slink away from the edges of her consciousness. Just once she’d like to go through a day with Grim’s ability to sleep anywhere…and his appetite for that matter…

Another sound, this time something like the tinkling of coins on wood.

With a fresh sigh, Yuuri sat up and reached for her phone, wincing as the screen blazed on: 5:32 am. She wasn’t sure who was up at this hour, but she supposed as Housewarden of Ramshackle it was her duty to find out.

It wasn’t likely to be Ara, she mused as she reached for her hoodie to pull over her head. The girl seemed to be awake at all hours, but she was quiet as a mouse and would have been scandalized to be caught making such noise. The others she’d never seen up so early, which meant…

“Rat?” Yuuri called softly down the stairs. Silence was all that answered her, so she crept the rest of the way down and poked her head into the kitchen. There stood the boy in question, eyes wide and body tense where he crouched on the floor, looking all the world like a hare caught in a snare.

“I’m s-s-sorry! I t-tried to be quiet-t,” he whispered hurriedly as Yuuri gave a wide yawn.

“What are you doing?” she asked him, squinting down at the boy. He seemed to be picking up coins from the kitchen floor, on his knees next to a pile of clothing.

“Are you doing…laundry?” she asked in confusion.

“W-Well, yes,” he admitted breathlessly, still frozen in the position she’d found him. He flinched as Yuuri stepped closer, leaning to pick something out of the pile.

“This is Ace’s,” she frowned, looking at the basketball jersey in her hands, “Rat…”

“I d-d-didn’t take it!” Rat squeaked, doing his best to put the coins back into his pockets with trembling fingers, “It-t-t was just, I was alread-d-dy d-doing Ara’s and m-mine and he said-d-d-“

“I didn’t think you’d taken it,” Yuuri assured him, speaking more gently this time, “Don’t let Ace bully you into doing his chores though.” She shook her head, making a note to give her friend a good talking to later. Taking another look at the pile, she went to search under the kitchen sink for a fresh garbage back, returning to start shoving the clothing into it. It did look to be a mix of several different student’s, which shouldn’t have surprised her. Ramshackle had a habit of becoming the catch all for its many visitors and the detritus they left behind.

“I’m sorry,” Rat whispered miserably as he watched her gather the clothes, “I d-d-didn’t mean t-to-“

The side door of the kitchen swept open then, making both jump in surprise. Ara blinked at them from the opening, lips twitching at their mutual expressions.

“Good morning,” she said, a bit breathless from the run that had taken her out so early.

“Good morning, Ara,” Rat replied immediately.

“Morning. We’re doing laundry,” Yuuri said as well, gesturing to the bag. Rat gave her a quick glance, red tinging his cheek. He was embarrassed that she would give him cover like that…but grateful too.

“Mmm,” Ara hummed, glancing from Yuuri’s sleepy eyes to Rat still kneeling on the ground. She was smiling properly now, as much as Ara ever smiled. She moved over to the fridge, opening it to take out a carton of eggs and a bottle of water.

“Rat,” she said after taking a sip, “Thank you for taking care of the laundry. I’m sure it could wait until the sun is up, however. Rest is important.”

“Yes, Ara,” Rat said regretfully.

‘A bit hypocritical for someone up all night running…’ Yuuri thought to herself. Ara met her eyes and Yuuri started, caught with the creepy feeling the girl had heard her thought.

“Since we’re all up,” Ara continued, “Why don’t we make breakfast?”

“Oh! Oh! I’m game!” came a shout from the stairs, Grim grinning as he bounded down them to join their pack.

“Shhh, people are still sleeping,” Yuuri scolded him, trying to hide her smile, “How long were you spying on us for?”

“Dunno what you’re talkin’ about!” Grim huffed, clambering up onto a chair and smacking his paws eagerly onto the table top. Ara brought him a bowl and the eggs, and set him to work cracking them, Rat quickly leaping to busy himself making coffee. Soon the kitchen was full of activity, sizzling of batter and bacon filling the room. Yuuri imagined it wouldn’t long until the other members of the household were roused by the smell and came to join them. It was…cozy. It felt like…

‘Home,’ Yuuri decided.

It felt like home.

[winterweary]

My TWST OC nicknames, inspired by @cyanide-latte ‘s post here !

Ara:

Floyd calls her Leopard Seal/Hydrurga-chan. He clocked her ability to enact pretty ruthless violence from a mile away. Her singing led him to double down on the nickname, as Leopard Seals are known to sing underwater during their mating season. Rook during their school years calls her Princesse de l’huître, or Princess of the Oyster. She didn’t really understand his poetics when she asked him to explain, but it was something about a hard cold exterior something something pearl something something beautiful guts… As they meet in adulthood, he switches to calling her Reine des Chien Courants, or Queen of Hounds, alluding to her dogged dedication to her missions and her tendency to not let go once she’s sunk her teeth into something (also she never really broke her habit of obeying a command barked at her).

Yuuri

Floyd of course calls her Shrimpy/Shrimp-Chan. As he gets to know her better occasionally he'll go further and call her Tadpole or Tadpole Shrimpy, because she always seems to be fluttering around and busy. Rook calls her Princesse de la Cathédrale or Princess of the Cathedral. She thinks its a bit grand for her, but Rook sees how Yuu has the ability to draw people together and build bridges where there previously were none. He sees her as a sort of haven that many of the students at NRC have found themselves drawn to.

And introducing

Rat, a younger 'brother' from Ara's hive who she frees and convinces to attend NRC in hopes that he will be able to shed their indoctrination like she is in the process of doing.

Floyd calls Rat Lamprey, due mainly to the way he clings to Ara. He seems to sense there is a little bite to Rat somewhere deep (deep deep) down, and he enjoys messing with him because Rat has such extreme reactions/is a scaredy cat. Rook calls Rat Prince des Lapins, or Prince of Rabbits. Rat does his best to avoid Rook because the poor guy completely triggers Rook's hunting instincts. Rat's trembling, stuttering manner makes Rook think of a hare who has scented a predator but doesn't know where it is yet, and it makes Rook want to hunt him down. He's made a bit of a game out of it (Rat does not enjoy this game).