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blackcherryvelvet0909 · 4 months ago

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Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy! (Lilia/Persayis & Stitch)

Not a word about the title Content Warning: Spoilers for the Lost in a Book With Stitch event

“That’s quite the colorful fruit salad you’re making, my dear.” Persayis glimpsed her loving companion approach from the corner of her eye. His straw, florally decorated sun hat protected his vision from the bright rays of light cascading down on them from above, further aided by his red rimmed sunglasses. Persayis donned a similar one of her own, the brim of the hat somewhat larger than her beloved’s; her sunglasses, too, were the opposite of his, shades round, the lenses a light pink color that shifted into a pale yellow ombre on the lower half. According to the man, they looked positively adorable - the cutest couple on the island! “Mangos, bananas, melons, strawberries…” He glanced down at the unchopped bushel of mountain apples and pointed at them. “Allow me to help you prep the rest, hm?”

Persayis truly had come a long way since her enrollment at Night Raven College. She smiled and nodded, gracefully taking the fae’s help without a fuss. “That would be very helpful, thank you.”

Lilia grabbed the little knife Stitch, their newest friend and island companion, had crafted for them earlier that morning. He then placed one of the apples on the cutting board on the counter and began chopping. Lilia sniffed the air and hummed in delight. “Such a sweet scent!” He popped a freshly cut piece into his mouth, mumbling in between chews. “They taste like flowers. How delightful!

The pleasant scent wafted into Persayis’s nostrils, pairing quite well with the lovely smell of the other fruits and the faint smell of the ocean. She eyed the juicy apple curiously; Lilia cut another small piece and offered it to her. Wordlessly, she allowed Lilia to place the slice on her tongue, closing her mouth and beginning to chew. He was right! Persayis refrained from speaking until she swallowed the tasty morsel. “They do! It’ll meld well with the other flavors, I think.”

“Perhaps we can procure some edible flowers to mix in with it,” Lilia suggested. “I believe I spotted a few while we were out and about yesterday.”

That was an idea. She knew the pickier eaters among them might snub their noses at the inclusion, but maybe she could convince them to give the fruity and floral combination a try. Persayis turned her head to look out the open back doorway, currently doorless thanks to Floyd. Graciously, Stitch had woven a pretty long cloth to hang there for the time being. Speaking of the creature, “Where’s Stitch? Perhaps you two can go collect some together.”

“If I can even keep up with the little rascal!” Lilia laughed before he continued to chop up the apples. “I look away for a moment and he’s gone! He’s much like Floyd - a rambunctious child, if you will.”

Persayis smirked. “Don’t make the comparison too loudly, my love. You wouldn’t want her merman friend to hear you say that and think you were saying he was the child.”

Lilia nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. “If one cannot accept the truth, that is their own fault.” It was his turn to smirk as he glanced her way. “Should he become confrontive, I wouldn’t mind a small tussle.”

Persayis chuckled as she shook her head and tossed the big bowl of fruit with a wooden spoon. “What am I going to do with you all?”

“You may handle the youngsters as you like.” Lilia leaned closer, stalling his chopping a second time. “As for me, well, I’d hope you will continue to shower me with affection~”

“If you behave,” Persayis retorted, a teasing lilt to her tone.”

“Darling,” Lilia drawled, his hand not holding the knife coming down to hold her waist and pull Persayis closer. “Do I ever?”

“Yes, when it suits you.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Such a bad influence~”

“Would you have me any other way?~” Lilia delivered a kiss to her lips in return. It only lasted seconds, but the depth and passion simmering underneath its surface nearly made her drop the wooden spoon. When Lilia broke the brief liplock, he simply stared at her, patiently waiting for a reply. He was content to watch the little pink blush form on her cheeks in the meantime.

“Hm…” Persayis contemplated his question for a moment. Her fingers came up to dust a bit of sand off his tropically patterned shirt. “No,” she met his gaze directly, “I suppose I wouldn’t.”

After another exchange of smiles, the two went back to their tasks. Lilia was very quick on completing his; those skilled, deftly trained hands wielded the blade expertly. As he began to chop the last of the aromatic fruit, he noticed something resting on a small plate on the counter: a honeycomb. Quite a large one at that. There was a medium sized honey dipper resting beside it, expertly crafted from the same wood as the cutting board, plate, bowls - literally just about every utensil and dish available in the kitchen. Lilia knew he must ask Stitch to reveal his secrets on how to become so good at the craft later.

“Where did you get that?” Lilia asked, gesturing to the honeycomb.

“Ace came upon it a little while after your group finished gathering the fruit,” Persayis explained. She sighed and shook her head. “Should I be surprised that he tried to obtain it without any sort of precaution?”

“Oh dear, I suppose not, khee hee hee.” Lilia placed the knife on the upper edge of the cutting board. He then moved over to the sink and began to wash his hands. “Don’t tell me that’s why I saw him soaking in the ocean before I came in here.”

“You would be right.” Persayis picked up the cutting board piled high with neat chunks of mountain apples and carefully poured them into the bowl of fruit salad. “Thankfully, it isn’t because he was assaulted by bees. Riddle and Jack stopped him before he could get himself hurt.” Persy’s smile returned as she took the dipper and soaked its top in the sweet golden liquid. “Three guesses as to who constructed a fogger to calm the bees enough to retrieve this comb.”

“Stitch!” Lilia stated matter-of-factly as he turned off the faucet and dried his hands with his shirt.

“How’d you guess?” The sarcasm was evident. “Unfortunately for Ace, Stitch thought it would be funny to toss the boy the honeycomb after he retrieved it. He was covered in honey when he came in!” Persayis began to drizzle the fruit salad with the spoils of the boys’ labor. “I sent him right back out to wash off. Let’s hope it isn’t too troublesome to get it out of his hair.”

Lilia stepped over to the open doorway and looked out towards the ocean. He spotted Ace immediately, Jack and Riddle now accompanying him. Ace sat in the shallows close to shore, arms crossed and clearly pouting as Riddle helped rinse his hair. The housewarden was lecturing him on his brashness, no doubt. Jack was crouched next to them, appearing to be scrubbing away at Ace’s shirt. Ah, it was good to see ones so young participating in some good old-fashioned teamwork! Comradery like that would surely help them succeed in their survival on the island.

It brought back a few old memories of his, back when he was a strapping lad in the military, he and his comrades-in-arms bathing in one of Briar Valley’s many creeks after they made the foolhardy blunder of trying to trek through a swamp - one they did not realize was so deep until they were up to their chins in muck. Lilia giggled to himself at the humorous recollection. It’d given him much grief and frustration in his youth. He would have to regale the story to his boys and lady love sometime.

“That about does it!” Lilia turned back to see Persayis tuck the ladle of the large spoon deep into the bowl before clapping her hands together. “Now to just keep it cool until it’s time to eat.”

“Does your helper get a sampling before then?” Lilia put on his biggest, most adorable puppy eyes, complete with a small protrusion of his lower lip. “I worked so hard chopping those apples.” He rubbed his wrist, feigning discomfort. “I can feel the ache of arthritis already.”

Persayis scoffed and rolled her eyes, yet she relented. She fished out a small fork - metal, not wooden - from a drawer and stabbed a few pieces of fruit onto its prongs before offering it to Lilia. “Yes, yes, you do. No need to be so dramatic.” Just as Lilia took the bite in his mouth, Persy added, “But this is all you get until dinner!”

Lilia made a small ‘mmm’ as he savored the flavor. He took his time enjoying the sweetness before swallowing. Lilia grinned from ear to ear as he gently applauded. “Yummy! Another culinary masterpiece!” He then swooped over and pulled Persayis into an embrace, nuzzling his cheek against hers. “What did I do to deserve the love of such a genius chef, hm?~”

Persayis tittered, the gentle laughter akin to birdsong. As Lilia pulled away just enough to look her in the eye, Persayis removed his sunglasses and placed them on the counter, then wrapped her arms around his neck. “It’s as you say, darling.” Persayis leaned in close, their noses brushing, little fangs peeking through her smile. “You’re just too cute to resist~” Lilia couldn’t imagine there being a kiss more spellbinding than her own.

Half a minute into the kiss that was thoroughly sweeping Lilia off his feet, there came a skittering from behind. Simultaneously, the two released each others’ lips, mild disappointment settling in their guts. Persayis glimpsed over Lilia’s shoulder as glanced behind him. Standing a few feet away was Stitch, holding a pineapple in his small clawed hands, big black eyes staring up at them. This particular pineapple was quite big, too. “Well now,” Lilia bent down to get a better look at the creature’s prize, “where did you find such a handsome fruit?”

Stitch offered up the pineapple - Persayis carefully took it, one hand on its bottom while the other wrapped around its stiff green leaves. The blue animal(?) then jumped onto the counter, opposite the space where Persayis and Lilia had prepared the fruit salad. He pointed a stubby finger out the square window above the sink and stated simply, “Waterfall.”

“Around the waterfall, huh?” Lilia tapped his chin as he peered out towards that direction. “Were there others?”

“Ee,” Stitch confirmed with a singular nod of his big head.

“Hmm.” Lilia placed his hands on his hips. “I’d say we could use a few more of them. We’ve got a lot of mouths to feed.” The fae plucked his sunglasses off the counter and placed them back on his face. “I’m going to go out and get some more.” He glanced down at Stitch, “Come with?”

Stitch’s answer was him climbing onto Lilia’s shoulder. “Well, we’re off again,” Lilia announced. He looked to Persayis, who just chopped off the head of the pineapple and started to slice off its spiked coating. “Anything else you can think of for us to bring you, sugarbat?”

Persayis nodded. “If you could fetch some of those flowers you mentioned before, I’d like to take a look at them.” She gestured to the pineapple with a slight nod. “Apparently my fruit salad mixing isn’t finished just yet.”

Stitch eyed the fruity mix hungrily, making a hushed ‘ooo-oo’ sound. Lilia quickly stepped back from the counter before he could swipe a handful. “Ah ah ah!” he tutted. “That’s for dinner. You keep those hands to yourself, young man!” He rolled his eyes as he pretended to think. “Who knows, maybe if you help me find a lot of flowers to bring back, Persy might let you have a taste.” Lilia glanced in her direction, “Do you think that’s fair, honey munchkin?”

“I don’t see why not,” she shot Lilia a playful glare, “since someone already had a sampling earlier.”

Lilia briefly returned the gesture before smiling from ear to ear, eyes briefly shut in delight. “We’ll bring back a whole bouquet before you, then!” Lilia peeked over at Stitch. “Right?” The creature nodded eagerly. With that, Lilia spun on his heel and began to walk out of the bungalow.

Right before he exited with Stitch, Lilia looked over his shoulder and blew Persayis a kiss. “Be back soon, goo-goo bear. I love you~”

That pet name could make someone gag. For Persayis, however, she melted on the spot. “I love you, too~” She blew Lilia a kiss in return. Lilia pretended to catch it with his hand and placed it over his heart, making a show of stumbling backwards out the door before righting himself and disappearing from sight, little blue buddy in tow.

If they weren’t careful, he just might become their new baby.

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spocks-kaathyra · 1 year ago

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Cardassian hairstyles, Nal and Eyal's mommy issues, and Pythas is here too

In my mind, Cardassians don't have the same "long hair = feminine, short hair = masculine" convention as we do. Because that would be lame. I think the distinction for them is that women wear their hair up, and men wear their hair down. Of course, this means that women have to have hair long enough to put up, but I think in general it's unusual for any Cardassian to have hair shorter than, like, chin-length. It's considered improper for a woman to be seen in public with loose hair, as if it's a state of undress. This, of course, also leads to a woman's loose hair being seen as sensual, since it's only seen in intimate settings. With the popularity of the gelled-back military hairstyle, it's somewhat uncommon to see men with loose, unstyled hair either. Anyway, with this established, the fun part is the Implications for my characters.

Nal never got to be a little girl. She'd watch from the doorway as her mother carefully braided her baby sister Eyal's hair, wishing it were her instead. In a way, the desire to be loved and the desire to be feminine are inextricably linked for Nal. The love that their mother gives to Eyal is something Nal will never get to experience, precisely because Eyal is a daughter and Nal is a son.

Decades later, her husband Pythas gets into the habit of doing her hair for her, initially with the excuse of using it as practice to regain dexterity and sensation in his hands after his burn injury. But it becomes a routine for them, a quiet ritual that makes Nal feel so, so loved. His first attempts are clumsy, but Nal wears them with pride anyway. He gets good at it eventually, braiding her hair into elaborate styles every morning and gently brushing it out every night before putting it in a simple braid so it won't tangle while she sleeps.

Meanwhile, Eyal, lightyears away, has long since buzzed her hair short. What Nal saw as love and care felt like suffocation to little Eyal. She'd squirm in her seat as her mother tugged her hair into styles she had no choice in, waiting for it to be over. Her mother had had 20 years to hope for a daughter, 20 years to form a fantasy of who her perfect little girl would be. And Eyal was broken and bent into the shape of that fantasy, with no regard for who she was. An adult now, on a different planet orbiting a different sun, she chooses to shear off her hair, destroying the means of her mother's control.

Pythas grew up a little girl, but his mother never braided his hair for him. In this, as in so many other things, he was on his own. The summer before he's sent to Bamarren, he hacks at his hair with a pair of dull scissors until it resembles the typical military hairstyle. He wants to blend in as much as possible. When he becomes an agent of the Order, though, he's given a specific role to play---he's always been a particularly pretty young man, and a good spy will use that to his advantage. He grows out his hair to look the part, lets it flow loose past his shoulders, looking youthful and charming and irresistible. When he becomes head of the Order, he chops it off again. Now that he has the power to say no, he won't let anyone jerk him around by his hair anymore. Over the years, he gets into the habit of gelling it back like a good Cardassian soldier, paralleling how he becomes deeper and deeper entrenched in the ideology of the Order. He loses most of his hair in the Fire, and half of it won't grow back. As he heals, he chooses to keep it in a buzz cut. He's not a soldier dutifully playing his part in the machine, he's not a pretty boy obeying orders to let himself be used, he's a person with autonomy.

#ppl who liked my intro to nal's family. pspsps here's more of them #parmak is not particularly a blorbo of mine but this tracks with ppl hcing them as nonbinary and drawing them w a braid I think #and my oc eyon with the half-up half-down hair. looks kinda like the military hairstyle from the front but it's actually tied up. tboy swag #and selah (pythas and nal's kid) keeping one little piece of their hair in a braid. like a long-haired human w a hidden undercut #narcissus's echoes #pythasposting #cardassians #cardassian meta #nal dejar #pythas lok #asit #a stitch in time

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