#cannot remember where Tobin was from to save my life

[teddybasmanov]

What's up with Nomad and all the assholes living in Boston?

[gamergirl929]

You Want To Know How I Got These Scars? (Kelley O’Hara x Reader)

The scar across your eyebrow is a constant talking point for the USWNT, the only members knowing how you got it being your girlfriend, Kelley O’Hara, and Christen Press your fellow Stanford Alumni.  

“Wait, you both know how she got it??” Sonnett asks, brows furrowed.  

Kelley and Christen share a glance, the two smiling.  

“Ehhh.” Christen shrugs and Alex scoffs.  

“Come on, you went to Stanford with her, lived with her. and hell, she’s dating Kelley!” She motions to her best friend and Kelley shrugs.  

“Ehhh.” She mimics Christen and Emily rolls her eyes.  

“Hey! Y/N!” Sonnett yells and you turn to her, brow furrowed as you rush over. You come up behind Kelley and wrap your arms around her the woman leaning back against your chest with a smile.  

“What’s up?” You ask and the blonde’s eyes narrow.  

“How did you get the scar on your face?” She asks and you hum, shrugging.  

“Ehhh.”  

The women surrounding you all groan, all except for, you, Kelley and Christen the three of you snickering.   

                                                            ***

“Okay, you were secretly in the CIA and you went to take on a Russian Sleeper Agent, but got hurt when you were trying to escape?” Sonnett asks, face impassive.  

You snort, loudly, and Kelley cackles, doubling over.

“Not a chance. Y/N? A member of the CIA? She can’t shoot to save her life!” Kelley howls and you scowl.  

“I can too.”  

Kelley scoffs.  

“You cannot we went to Laser Tag and you kept MISSING. How do you miss at Laser Tag!?” Kelley hacks and coughs loudly from laughing so hard.  

“Oh look, now you’re dying and I’m not going to save you.” You shrug and Kelley pouts.  

You roll your eyes and pat her on the back as she coughs, the woman’s hacking eventually ceasing before she leans her head on your shoulder.  

“Thanks darling.” She winks, leaning up to kiss your cheek and you roll your eyes, blushing.  

“Wait, wait.” Alex flaps her arms around and your brows furrow.  

“Back to Y/N’s scar.” Alex motions to your eyebrow and you grin, shaking your head.  

“You guys are never going to stop, are you?”  

“You were attacked by a shark, and you had your head in its mouth, but the only thing that it nicked was your eyebrow?” Sonnett asks, seriously.  

“I worry about you.” Lindsey whispers, shaking her head and Sonnett scoffs.  

“No, that’s not it.” Megan scoffs from where she’s sitting.  

“You went camping and were attacked by a raccoon?”  

Kelley boos loudly, and almost immediately is hit with something Megan throws across the bus.

“Children, please.” Ashlyn holds a hand up before turning towards you.  

“But seriously, was it a shark?”  

You shake your head, covering your face with your hands.  

“Fell of a horse?” Carli adds with a shrug and Sonnett leans towards Lindsey.  

“I hope it wasn’t a baby horse.”  

Alex’s eyes widen, as do Kelley’s where as you are having trouble staying in your seat from laughing so hard, the same as the rest of your teammates.  

“I am married!” Alex exclaims, aghast, though she shrugs. “But I guess sometimes that doesn’t matter.” She sends you a wink.

Kelley’s eyes widen so much that they nearly take up half on her face, meanwhile everyone else on the bus is rolling with laughter, your face red as you grab your chest.  

“I can’t take anymore. I’m dying.” You wheeze.  

Sonnett is in the same state as you, Lindsey having to wrap her arms around her so when the bus’s driver hits the brake she doesn’t fall out of her seat.  

Vlatko turns around, smiling, and it’s then you realize that he has been laughing too.  

“Alright girl’s, we’re here.”  

The group of giggling women all slip off the bus, camera’s flashing as they head into the stadium, fans holding their hands out so you can slap their palms.  

You hold your hands out as you walk, hitting the fan’s palms, most of them excitedly squealing.  

“It totally was the CIA one wasn’t it?” You hear Sonnett whisper behind you and you shake your head, chuckling.  

“No.”  

                                                            ***

Later that night half the team, at least those who decided to remain at the hotel, are three sheets to the wind, lounging in Lindsey and Sonnett’s hotel room for some team bonding.  

“Hey, hey, hey.” Sonnett waves her hand at you and you snort, eye brow arched. 

“What, what, what?” You mimic her and the woman snorts.  

“Why did you say it three times?” She slurs and you laugh, pulling Kelley back against your chest.  

“Reasons.” You shrug.  

Sonnett shakes her head.  

“Well, whatever do a shot with me.” She points to a nearby bottle of tequila and you grin.  

“You’re on.”  

Sonnett stumbles towards the hotel’s kitchenette and Kelley turns towards you.  

“I’m cutting you off after this.” She whispers and you pout.  

“That won’t work.” She sends you a playful glare and you huff.  

“Fine. Fine.” You grumble and Kelley grins, leaning up to press a kiss to your lips, causing your pout to turn into a full blown grin.

You playfully brush your nose back and forth against hers grinning wider at the blush that dusts her cheeks.  

“I love you.” You whisper and Kelley grins.  

“I love you too.”  

“NEVER FEAR! I HAVE RETURNED!” Sonnett shouts as she stumbles towards you, bottle and shot glasses in hand.

“Sit down before you hurt yourself.” Tobin shakes her head as Sonnett flops onto the bed beside her, Christen, Lindsey, Rose, Sam and Mal.  

“I’m fine Tobito...” Sonnett stops with a snort and you chuckle.  

“Toblerone.” You bark out a laugh, one that Lindsey is quick to mimic.  

“Tobocop?”  

Everyone busts out laughing, except Tobin who’s pouting, cheeks dusted pink.  

“Awwwwww... Toby.” Lindsey slurs as she ruffles the woman’s hair.  

“Shut up.” She grumbles.  

“I’ll be right back.” Mallory mumbles before slowly moving to her feet and stumbling into the kitchen.  

“Why did we let the kids have alcohol again?” Alex asks and you shake your head.  

“Because you’re all irresponsible parents.”  

Kelley swats at you blindly, hitting your arm.  

“Hey at least we didn’t get drunk with the kids.” She chides and you roll your eyes.  

“Plebs.”  

“Y/N!” Sonnett exclaims and you jump, reaching for the shot she’s holding out to you.  

You hold it up before throwing it back without a wince, slamming it down onto the bedside table.  

Sonnett isn’t fast enough, her glass hitting the table after yours.  

“Sucks to suck.” You snicker, and Sonnett leans towards you in an attempt to slap your arm, but she instead falls off the bed.  

You throw your head back with a cackle, burying your face in Kelley’s hair as you laugh.  

“Oh my god.” Ashlyn and Ali shakes their heads from their place at the end of the bed that they’re sharing with you, Kelley, and Alex.  

“Why did we come tonight?” Ali whispers and Ashlyn grins.  

“To see if anyone hurts themselves.”  

Ali smacks her wife who only grins in return.  

Mallory skips back into the room moments later with a grin, a grin that only widens when she sees Sonnett on the floor.  

“Bitch, how’d you get down there?” She asks, head cocked to the side and chuckle.  

Christen pinches the bridge of her nose.  

“Language.”  

A sudden beeping causes you to stiffen, your eyes going as wide as saucers.  

Kelley and Christen share a glance.  

“Uh-oh.” They both say at the same time.  

“What’s wro-

Ali is cut off when you let out a screech before attempting to move to your feet.  

“FIRE!” You yell as you try to wiggle out of Kelley’s hold, the woman holding you at tight as she can.  

“No! It’s the microwave Y/N!” She exclaims, causing you to cease your wiggling. 

“Please don’t jump out the window again.” She sighs. “We remember what happened last time.” She leans down, kissing the scar that runs across your eyebrow.  

“OH MY GOD!” Sonnett screeches as she jumps to her feet, meanwhile, everyone else in the room is cackling, holding their middles as tears stream down their cheeks.  

“YOU JUMPED OUT A WINDOW!?” Tobin laughs and you huff, cheeks red.  

“There was a fire.” You mumble and Christen rolls her eyes.  

“There was not, she was drunk and she thought the microwave was the fire alarm.” She says and everyone busts out laughing.  

“So, you jumped out the window?” Alex asks, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

You throw your head back with a groan.  

“Yes, she did.” Kelley giggles as she puts her hand on the back of your head and pushes you until you bury your face in her chest.  

“At least it was one story.” Christen laughs.  

The laughter in the room eventually dies down, though everyone continues to shake Kelley and Christen down for more information.  

“How bad was she hurt?” Tobin asks and Christen points to your scar.  

“There’s a lot more than just that, but I’m not sure if Kelley would like If Y/N took her clothes off.”  

Kelley shakes her head, eyes narrowed.  

“Not a chance.”  

Everyone eventually goes silent, that is until Sonnett lets out an incredibly loud snort.  

“You jumped out a window because of the microwave.”  

You grumble, growling against Kelley’s chest.  

“Shut up.”  

[jasperlion]

[ some waffling and putting thoughts to paper on the campaign. Wasn’t going to actually post it, but I want my drafts clear u_u so here I go

Not relevant to any blog existing au ]

You’re a boy in a town that tries to look good to survive. You don’t know where you came from or who left you, but you know who saved you and fed you when you needed it most. Under his roof, you think you’ve thrived, and that’s enough. Some favors here and there, keeping his business clean, ending to clients and working to earn your keep. Life’s alright, you have friends (even if some have left, and you don’t know why), and even if they’re a little dumb about their feelings for each other, you love them very much. Your parental figures care for you, all of them, and you care for them in turn — this is all you’ve known, and you think it’s all you’ll need. Asking for more feels selfish, wondering why some things just don’t feel right feels fruitless, so you smile and you support those who have stayed around you and their effort to quietly, thanklessly, keep the Fort safe. Life is good.

------

You’ll become your own man soon, a grown up in the eyes of the law, and so Clive trusts you to keep the Shack safe while everyone else has gone. A werewolf breaks in, and suddenly your life has changed. Your friends still love you, they go with you to what could be dangerous regardless, but you let them down in trying to protect them when forces that cannot harm you harm them instead, yet somehow the pain takes you under to the land of dreams. You have a vision of pain and a light, of old faces impassive at your hurt. You awaken and find the monsters you’ve been told are dangerous by your makeshift family not only hurt your friends, but heal them too. They’re sorry about it, they’re kind about it. It doesn’t take long to connect the dots — the mounted werewolves in the shack, the stuffed corpse that was stolen, were the living one’s family, yet he doesn’t hate you for a crime you never committed. The light that harms from your dreams appears in the distance, it leads you to an old friend, to new ones, and your world is upside down. There’s good monsters, there’s bad monsters. One of them just proposed to another, who proclaimed the world was ending (what was that about?). You band with the good monsters to stop another’s rampage, and you tell your old friend’s dad of your vision. His cryptic response makes you think. Yet upon your return home, Lukas says they’re all dangerous people, bad people. He reminds you of the plague in the monsters, that Saber and Clive do not get along, and that you should never see them again. You never tell him you promised to.  For the first time, you feel you can’t tell him everything. You begin to understand why Celica and Conrad had to leave. Maybe it’s why Faye and Kliff had to leave, too. At the very least, Lukas says he’ll deal with Clive about the stolen stuffed werewolf for you.

-

Gray and Tobin don’t remember what happened the night before. They tell you of a story that never happened yesterday, and Gray describes having seen some of the people you met yesterday perfectly. He describes Celica. You wonder if it means you’ll see her again, and you wonder if she’s the one who messed with their memory. You decide not to tell them about last night. For the nth time, you feel you can’t tell them everything. Gray is still being stupid about how he feels about Tobin. Tobin is probably being stupid about how he feels about Gray. It’s stressful, but the usual. Somehow, it stresses you out more than it usually does that they’re this dense, but maybe you’ve talked some sense into Gray.  Sudden pains like an inner burning fire send you to the land of dreams. You see Clive. He tries to kill you as the people in a town you’ve never been ignore your plight. You hope this dream does not become real, like the light did. You awaken in your own room, your very first room. Python and Forsyth married, you remember, and Lukas told you they got a house. Lukas told you they wanted you to live with them. You thank them, you tell them not to worry— you feel better, the scare at Gray’s is gone now. It’s not the truth, and you wonder when you became such a liar.

-

You’re late to the meeting with Saber and the others, the dream and sickness made it so. The man who shot Gray the day before is still angry— Saber told you his name was Leon. The werewolf still looks pretty sad, he doesn’t talk very much. Celica’s not here, but it sounds like they know her. Like they work for her. You worry for her, it sounds like whatever she’s up to is very important... very much not something someone your age should be involved in. You’re told the monster you defeated is still out there, it could hurt people. You need to lure it, capture it, maybe save it. The plague can be cured. Suddenly, what your family does feels unnecessary. Cruel, almost. One of your friends there is like you, she lives with Monster Hunters, but unlike you, she is one too. The other says she’s God and you have no way to refute her. You wonder if it’s true. Maybe it is, God doesn’t know what straight is. The two men who proposed to each other the day before aren’t there, and you wonder if they’re alright. You tell Saber of your dream again, and he tells you it won’t happen. From the glint in his eye, you hope it won’t spark a fight that will end in tragedy.

For levity, you suggest a place that you think is funny to lure the monster to. Surprisingly, everyone agrees. You meet there in the dead of night, and maybe have a little laugh at Catria because she brought her horse. You see Conrad again, but you can’t even reunite properly, because he can’t save the monster and it makes him upset. God tries to do it. She kills the monster. Before you can process what it means, God’s brother appears, and they bring it back. You wonder if God and her brother could bring back the werewolf’s family. The monster man is healed from the plague, but he doesn’t have clothes. It’s a little embarrassing. You treat him to dinner. God finally knows what straight is, and everything that isn’t (she says she’s pan). The waters feel more muddled now. A part of you wonders if you’re not what you thought you were.

------

You know Berkut is throwing the biggest Halloween party this year in town. That means you’re not invited, he’s still mad about chess. You don’t mind, really, but your plans to just stay with Gray and Tobin for the night are turned upside down when they both get sick. You decide not to meddle in that mess. Unexpectedly, you’ve been invited to the werewolf’s house. Saber lets you know, on one of your morning walks in the woods. You think Valbar is nice to invite you, and accept, even if you don’t know how to get there. Saber tells you he’ll pick you up. When the day arrives, you dress like the men in black after some consideration, thinking it’ll be a funny joke. When Saber picks you up, you realized he lied about not knowing where Faye and Kliff went. Kliff is there, in the car. He’s dressed up just like you, and you catch up on your way there. He’s been traveling, he says, and he wants to travel more. You realize there’s more to this world than you’ve ever known, you realize there’s places just for people like him and Celica.  You wonder why they’re letting you in, when your family hunts people like them. A part of you wonders if you’re also one of them. You dismiss it because of what it could mean.

-

You say hello to everyone you see at the party. There’s new people there, but there’s people you know, too. The men who proposed don’t come, but Catria brought friends, and the man who had the plague has company now (maybe he remembered who he was?). Celica isn’t here, but her brother is, and Saber left after he dropped you and Kliff off. You say a brief hello to those present, then instead focus on the host (Leon still looks like he hates you, though). You hug Valbar. He lost his family to yours. You tell him you wish his wife still wasn’t on display in the Shack. You don’t ask what he did with the body he stole of his child, it’s not your business anymore. Instead you talk with him a little more. He tells you that you’re getting into the spirit of things by dressing as a person. You decide not to understand what it implies, and instead tell him he looks good in his costume of Billy Ray. He insists the men in black aren’t real, you think it’s funny.

Catria collapses suddenly while you’re saying hello to the man who no longer has the plague (his name is Ezekiel?), and you hurry over. Corrin saved her, says something about a demon, and you wonder what it means.

A little girl bursts in, followed by her brother. She says her name’s Delthea, and she’s friends with Valbar. She’s here for candy and wanted to read fortunes to ‘practice’. She claims she’s God, and that Celica is too, along with the lady who was holding hands with Catria earlier (Sonya?). You wonder if it means Corrin and her know each other. They don’t.  You’re not sure what any of this means. Delthea likes you because you’re friends with Celica. She reads your cards, and you wonder what some of them mean, while others make sense. ... Your dread returns.  She reads the cards of other people present. They seem unnerved by the result. Delthea leaves after you remind her there’s more trick or treating to do. She leaves with her brother. He doesn’t seem to like Leon much in particular, and is very mean. Leon leaves the house. Catria, her sister and the red-haired lady leave afterwards. You’re worried about Leon, he looked upset, and Conrad says he’s scared to follow and doesn’t know what to do. He tells you what you know (Leon hates you), you promise to try to fix it. Conrad is a dear friend to you, Leon is his friend. You’d rather be on good terms than bad. You decide to follow Leon.

-

You see things you wish you hadn’t. You learn a truth that hurts to the core. The people you looked up to are murderers. Killers. That boy was innocent. He just wanted to show the boy he loved something beautiful. You feel Leon is right to hate you. Those people feed you, they clothed you, they raised you. And they hurt others for a price tag— Clive hurts others for a price tag. Forsyth pulled that trigger. Lukas looked for the item that kept him looking human and revealed him. Python let Leon go. Leon showed you his past and thought you were in it. You tell him your truth and listen to his. Together, you watch the horizon and the town beneath the mountain, the town where you live. You both cry. When Leon feels better, he walks away. A shadow near him disappears. You hope it means something good.

You return to Valbar’s house. You’re not sure how long you cry. At least Kliff is there.

But then you feel like you don’t fit inside the house. Like something is burning inside. Your arms hurt again, your head hurts again, and you politely detach from Kliff to go outside. Something’s wrong.

Valbar comes to see you. He somehow makes it better. Maybe he knows what’s wrong with you.  You’re too scared to ask. Instead you focus on the news he brings to you:

Celica’s going to the dance. She’s invited you to go with her. You accept.

------

You’re told about what happened while you were with Leon (and crying). It sounds like something out of a scary B movie. Corrin invites you to the house of the guy she’s living with (Subaki was his name, right?). They have 14 children now. You’re not sure what to make of it. The one named Owain is kind of funny. It sounded unbelievable, but seeing them in person really does bring it home that they lived in a mineshaft for so long. All their life, maybe?

Corrin says she has something to talk to us about. It’s just Catria, Conrad, Saber, Leon and yourself. Owain is here, too.

She tells you of her Father, of creation and what she knows and remembers. You’re not sure how to feel about the fact that you are apparently within the dream of a God that’s been sealed within it. You’re not even sure how it works. He sounds bad. Corrin loves him very much. Suddenly, you’re reminded of how you feel about Clive. You’re reminded of what you’ve been thinking about since last night. Crying about since last night.

Catria talks to herself. She tells everyone of a lizard that whispers mean things to her. You tell her to tell it that it’s stinky, and it suddenly shows itself. You feel like it’s your fault. You realize the demon is the lizard.

It taunts everyone. It tells Corrin her father is angry. Leon hits the lizard when he’s mean to you with a book. Corrin stabs it, and it screams and screams. There’s blood on Corrin. Conrad’s freaking out. Catria’s trying to keep Corrin standing — she’s been hurt. You react without thinking. You want it to stop. So you slice it’s head off.

Corrin collapses. The Lizard’s head rolls away. You almost killed Corrin. The thought mortifies you. All you can do is comfort Conrad so he can save what you broke. Owain is crying. Catria takes the speaking head outside.

Corrin is better. Catria says she has to hurry home.

All this time, it asked things. Who it is. Where people are. If anyone know them. Something tells you not to answer it. You wonder if it’s any use.

At least, before Catria leaves, it disappears.

Conrad still looks pale. Corrin looks like death, but she’s okay now. You leave with Leon. Saber takes Conrad home.

Suddenly, Leon turns the car around.

He takes a girl from Subaki’s barn. One of the 14 children. Her name is Nah. You ask why, and he asks you why you only ask him and not Saber. You wonder if Saber takes children regularly. He tells you he took her because she’s ‘like us’.

Leon has confirmed your fears. You don’t know how to feel. He says there’s one more detour to go before he takes you home.

-

Leon brings the girl to Valbar’s. They tell her she’ll be incredible, that she will become something great. You decide to follow just to say hello. You still feel bad about Valbar’s family.

The girl follows you when you head back to the car. 

She says you’re like her. She says she has a lot of time to find out if she likes waterfalls. You don’t like what this means. You smile for her anyway. She won’t tell you what you are.

Nah tells you that you will know.

You spend the night looking through the books in the Shack about encountered monsters.

------

You spend the rest of the week looking through those books when no one’s around. You find no answers that feel right.

There’s no one you feel you can talk to. Not without any worry. You never know when you’ll see Saber next. Leon rightfully hates your family, speaking to him about your fears would only upset him. The same goes for Valbar. Conrad is emotional, you don’t want to burden him. Gray and Tobin don’t even know people like you exist. You don’t know where Celica, Kliff and Faye are. Catria’s family hunts monsters, and Catria has an evil lizard following her. Corrin has enough on her plate. Your family... You don’t trust them anymore.

The Shack disgusts you now. It has been disgusting you for a while. You have laid flowers at the feet of Valbar’s wife when no one else is around ever since you learned who she was, but now it’s hard to even go to do it.

It’s hard to look at your family. You wonder if they know something is wrong. You wonder if they know you’re a not like them.

You wonder if you were taken from your real family. Raised like a crocodile for leather. You wonder if Lukas thinks the same of you as he thinks of others like you. You think he’s right. You almost killed Corrin. It haunts you even now.

You wonder if Python would save you, if you were in Leon’s shoes. You wonder if Forsyth would shoot you if Clive told him to. You wonder if you’re in Clive’s ledger, if there’s money under your name.

These thoughts and more plague you all week.

The day of the dance arrives. It’s the only thing that’s kept you getting up in the mornings.

------

You wear your best tie, shirt and pants — good enough to dance in, and good enough that you won’t look like a fool. You don’t want to let Celica down, you’re her plus one. Clive lends you his boots. Something about them, aside from the fact that they’re a size too big, makes you feel discomfort.

You don’t mind that she’s not here yet. Saber, Leon and Conrad are. They let you know she’s getting ready with some friends.

Around you, you can see a lot of tables. Corrin brought some kids, and you wonder if you’ll get to say hello to Nah. Palla and Catria are there too, but not the redhead that you were so sure was Palla’s girlfriend. Maybe she’s sick today. Corrin’s brother isn’t here again. Neither is her boyfriend.

Conrad looks a little silly, you think, in that hoodie. Gray passes by you with a wink, and you watch in horror as he spikes the punch with tequila. Before you can stand to admonish him, though, Tobin approaches and asks you to come with.

You tell your friends at the table to avoid the punch. You’re sure Saber won’t listen.

-

Tobin tells you he thinks he’s married. He explains what he means after your outburst. You guide Tobin through his thoughts. You make him promise to talk about his feelings with Gray, all you have to do in return is talk about yours with Celica— maybe hold her hand. It’s easy to agree to those terms. You see him off, then head back to the table.

You catch Delthea as she leaves the table in a hug. You tell her to take care and watch in horror as she heads to the punch table. Your calls for her to not do that are ignored, and you decide it’s for the best if you don’t meddle. (You’ll regret that)

Leon seems bothered. He leaves after a short chat. You consider following him, you’re worried about him. You don’t want to make Celica wait for you. When you ask Conrad, he says he won’t follow. You decide to leave things alone. (You’ll regret that)

-

She arrives with two of her friends. You’ve seen them before, they had been in Saber’s car, when you saw the light and met Ezekiel as a blob monster. She says they’re Mae and Boey, and they argue a lot. She thinks it’s funny, and  you think it’s funny, too. She says it’s been a while, you give her a hug. When she hugs you back, it feels like things will be alright. 

She gives you a corsage to pin to your clothes. You think it’s the cutest thing. It makes your colors match with hers. You thank her and tell her you like it. She holds your hand, you hold it in turn.

Mae and Boey continue to argue. Celica teases Conrad about his hoodie, and you laugh with her over it. Everything would be alright, the world feels perfect. You want to dance with her.

Berkut arrives, and not even he can bring down your good mood. He tries to jeer, but it feels like this time his words hold no weight. You and Celica laugh him out, he leaves with Rinea in his arm. You feel a little bad for her, she looked like she didn’t want to be there, so you give her a friendly wave when she looks back.

Python comes by. He warns you of who you’re with. That Clive will be angry if he sees. You decide you can’t abide by the warning, and would prefer to stay. He gives you a backpack. It has his clothes in it.

You wonder why he gave it to you, but you thank him anyway. There’s a Diviners jacket in there. You remember it’s Subaki’s group, and you wonder if he’s joined it.

Python gives Saber a big, thick book. Your stomach drops at the sight, more so when Saber pages through it. You ask to see it anyway. You recognize it right away. Unable to bear the thought of what you may find within his ledger of death, you close it and slide it back. Names, locations, prices... it’s all there. You hate the thought of its existence. But it can help. It can save others. It’s better left in Saber’s hands.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Conrad’s been under the table, he slid down there while Python was still around. He scrambles back out, and shadows follow him. Ghosts. You feel you should probably be scared, but you feel more sorry than anything. One of them is the boy you saw Forsyth shoot in Leon’s memory, you know because you recognize his voice.

He says Leon was looking for a chance. He’s found one now. Your stomach drops.

Clive’s hand grasps your shoulder, clamps down, hard.

Things aren’t okay anymore.

Even if you look up to him and nerves jump out your throat, you refuse to leave the table. You refuse to let go of Celica’s hands, and you desperately try to find how to salvage the situation. 

When you try to tell him they’re good people, and things are okay, Corrin suddenly hits Clive over the head. She tries to overpower him. You stand to try and stop this from getting worse.

A shot rings out.

Lukas has a gun on his hands. Leon is on the ground. You can’t think anymore. You scream in anger and rage and sorrow. You want Lukas to stay away from Leon, you don’t want Lukas to hurt Leon anymore. You want to push him away. It’s that thought that drives you forward, and everything is a blurr.

Lukas is against a broken wall. He says he’s sorry, and passes out. Conrad shambles forward. Leon is on the floor. You don’t know what to do, you don’t know how to react, you can’t think.

Conrad is on Lukas. You can’t think.

Lukas is dead.

You toss Conrad away from him. Python is there. You have to take Lukas to Corrin. You have to take Leon to Corrin. You remember Ezekiel. You believe it can happen again.

You take them to Corrin. It doesn’t occur to you that people should not fit in your hands. Corrin is distracted with Clive, so you make sure Clive can’t leave.

You wait to see Lukas come back.

...

Lukas isn’t coming back.

Tears won’t stop. He’s not coming back. He’s gone. You never said sorry. You hurt him. He was right about you. You’re a monster. Saber leaves. He must think  you’re evil. Celica disappears with her friends. She thinks it’s her fault. You’re sure she hates you. You’re bad. You did this. You hurt your family. You scared your friends away.

Leon is still hurt. He asks for Conrad. You don’t really care right now, but you look for him anyway. It’s scarily easy to lift him, dangle him over Leon. Conrad stops moving, you set him down beside Leon.

You nudge Lukas. You cry over him. Python’s here.

He tells you not to cry. You cry harder. He cries with you.

He doesn’t hate you.

You’re now aware of how much your body hurts. You are aware now of how big you are. Your body feels foreign. Your body feels right. Your nose nudges Python. He tells you he’s sorry.

You don’t know if you can talk. You cry instead.

Clive claims Corrin killed Lukas. You killed Lukas, you set off the events that lead to his death. It makes you cry harder. Python quits. He leaves after telling you he loves you. It feels hollow against your crime. You believe him anyway. Even now, you trust Python. He takes Forsyth. He was passed out and you did not notice.

You don’t like that Corrin and Clive are fighting. You don’t like that Catria is pointing a gun, but you think if she shot you, you deserved it. You don’t know how to explain what she’s asking. You cry. Corrin does for you. What she says isn’t making sense. You wish you could explain.

Clive says he loves you. You want to believe it. Clive tells Corrin she should not kill a father in front of his child. Hope blooms in your chest that he still sees you as family. You release him under his promise, and he disappears. 

You wonder if he’s lied about the rest.

All that remains is a handful of friends you hope don’t hate you and a corpse. You wish you could disappear. Suddenly, you’re as small as you feel.

-

Catria lifts you on her shoulder. You hope it means she and her sister don’t hate you, you like them a lot. They carry the bag with the clothes, Conrad lifts Lukas. You want to cry again. You do. 

You need to go to the station. You need to meet with Saber. He didn’t leave you behind. You have to leave Lukas somewhere.

With immense guilt, his body is taken to Python’s house. With Conrad’s guidance, you regain your human form. For a moment, there’s darkness. You see a train that goes faster and faster until it crashes into a town. You snap awake. You let them know. They don’t believe you. You’ve never told them of your dreams before, have you?

Your human form is not so human anymore. Your body hurts so much. All of your new scales feel like pinpricks. It’s painful to walk. You do it anyway. You do anything anyway. You deserve to feel pain after the pain you inflicted.

Socks and shoes don’t fit. You have to be careful not to claw the pants, shirt and jacket. The floor is cold. You deserve to walk on it like that. You dimly realize you probably lost the present Celica got for you. It makes you feel a little worse.

You think Python should hate you when he opens the door to see the body again. You should have left it where he had died. Now you have made Python and Forsyth accomplices. The guilt gets worse. At least he lets you have a belt. You know they can’t stay here long. You fear what will become of them.

But you have to go. Corrin said Saber was at the station.

You bid Python farewell and hope it’s not the last time you see them. You wonder if he gave you clothes because he knew what you were. You wonder if everyone knew except for you.

You’re not sure what you are. Some sort of big dinosaur monster that can become very small. It’s hard to adjust to the tail. It feels wrong to walk as you do.

Questions that can wait. You can’t stay. You’re a monster.

You meet Saber. You board the train. For a moment, you want to be alone. Conrad feels awful. You feel even worse. You started it, and you say it so. You don’t think he heard you. Maybe no one heard you. That’s okay.

But it bothers you. You need to walk. You need to tell Saber of your dream. You need to make sure it doesn’t happen. You’re in pain, you’ve done wrong, maybe this time you can make things right for everyone. You tell Saber. He tells you not to worry. You take a walk anyway.

You find a body on the next cart.

He’s dead. He’s a target. He’s a stranger. You call for help, but no one comes. You call again. Saber arrives. The train’s speed up, you both run to the conductor’s cabin.

It’s locked. Saber can’t lockpick it. You burst in. The town’s in sight, the controls are busted, no one is in there.

It’s the end. All you can do is cover Saber with your body.

-

A lady in white stands before you in a void.

She tells you to try again.

-

You find yourself in the train station.

You’re a monster cast out of your hometown. An evil. You’ve brought harm.

But you can at least try to save everyone. 

[rainbowrites]

Deep Space Mutant

hi @ihamtmus!!

OKAY, I'm super late but let's do this thing!! Thanks to @wellntruly, who is a GEM and helped come up with a ton of these and was just super fun to scream about this with

little background: most everyone has powers, it's very House of M although since this is a Star Trek universe they make a BIG DEAL out of ~equality~ between powered and non-powered people. Still, life is harder for you if you're non-powered or have weak powers, especially in terms of employment. Would you hire a non-powered bodyguard if you could get one that could shoot fire? I didn’t think so. It’s one of those undercurrents of society that DS9 addresses, and everyone else pretends doesn’t exist. Unsurprisingly, most colonists (and Maquis) are non-powered or have weak/not ‘useful’ powers as they willingly risk that danger to create a world for themselves where they’re not the ‘lesser’. 

And not every planet/species has the same style of powers that we're used to in our mutant comics, where everyone has different powers. Some are like Changelings, where everyone has the same powers. Some have symbiotic powers, like the Trill who have individual powers and then the symbiont all have the same power - which is the ability to retain and pass on memories and powers from previous hosts.

ANYONE ON TO THE GOOD STUFF (readmore below!)

Sisko has The Voice. When he speaks, everyone listens. It's more of a telepathic power, that compels everyone within hearing distance to listen to him. It doesn't force them to actually do what he says, but they have to at least listen to what he says. It's near impossible to interrupt him, and even a whisper is enough to get everyone around him craning to listen. He mostly finds this embarrassing or annoying at first, since it means no muttering under his breath and his superiors are always a little pissed since whenever he says anything everyone stops listening to them and tunes in exclusively to channel Sisko. The Bajorans are ALL OVER IT though. For so long, they were kept oppressed and silent by the Cardassians. Now the Prophets have sent them an Emissary that CANNOT be ignored - the Bajorans will be listened to at last! This power is definitely not inspired by the beautiful chocolate velvet that is Avery Brook's voice, what voice fetish, I don't have a voice fetish, YOU HAVE A THING FOR HIS VOICE DON'T LIE WE ALL DO.

Kira has flame powers, connected to her body. She literally has sparks flying from her eyes when she's enraged, and can punch a flaming fist into your stomach. She can't really spread the fire outside of her body, but that's what a blaster is for. She doesn't need to use her powers to kick your ass. When she was young, she thought that if she got fatally shot she would use the last of her strength to self-immolate in the hopes of burning some Cardassians to death. She has some control issues, but over the course of the series learns to be gentle with herself and her powers - lighting candles with the tips of her fingers and turning herself into a glowing pillar of warmth.

Miles tells everyone that he can talk to machines, but it's no big deal. He doesn't do anything that any good engineer couldn't do. In reality, he connects with systems like no one else can dream of. It's more than just communication, the machines themselves fall in love with him and jump to his every word to try to make him happy. It gets very boring though, every problem bending over backwards to fix themselves. It's why DS9 is so interesting, it's the first time that machines have fought back against him, argued and dragged their feet rather than eagerly work with him. Of course he doesn't realize that this is because Cardassian computer systems are justlike Cardassians themselves, and show their love via intense argument. He doesn't realize for a LONG time that all that petulant breaking and constant backtalk is really just Cardassian for TAKE ME NOW YOU HOT PIECE OF ENGINEER.

Here is a story about Julian: when he was 6 years old, he still wasn't showing any sign of powers. He couldn't read, he could barely write his name, but his parents clung to the idea that his powers would elevate him beyond needing those things. They worried constantly that their own weak powers (she glows very slightly in the dark, he has enough heat powers to fry an egg on his chest if he concentrates) might have doomed their son to mediocrity. Then the doctors tell them, very gently, that their son was among the tiny percentage born without an x-gene. The next day, they start looking into augmentation. If genetics couldn't make their son great as their dreams, then they would use science to do the job instead.

So Julian has super-smarts, and incredibly reflexes to go along with them. But somehow they are always...incomplete, in some weird way. Because they are artificial. He doesn't understand them innately, like a native speaker. He's FLUENT, because he's STUDIED, but there's always something just a little off. However he's CONSTANTLY talking up his smarts and Miles wants to fucking kill him at first because 'yeah okay GOD super smarts are a good power to have, shut UP about them you fucking show off I'm not constantly talking to your tricorder am I?'not realizing that Julian is hella over compensating and also would LOVE Miles to talk to his tricorder all the time. His brain is so weird, sliced and diced and reconnected until the wave length it sends out gives every telepath a headache which Miles thinks is HILARIOUS. 'your real mutant power is ANNOYING EVERYONE.'

It is not lost on Julian that he immediately attaches to Miles, rather than any other officer on the station. Keiko jokes that all machines fall in love with him, and Julian just gives her a very strained smile and agrees softly. When he tells Miles what he is, that he's unnatural, he says that of course Miles is his best friend - Miles has plenty of practice speaking to machines. And Miles is just like 'listen buddy even the cardassian machines aren't as annoying as you are, only a REAL PERSON could be as much a pain in my ass as you are. and that's from the HEART'

Garak keeps his powers a secret. Also a secret? Whether or not he even HAS them. Julian is absolutely FASCINATED, and adores hearing all the stories Garak spins about them using his, quote. 'rare gift for obfuscation':

my powers stimulate nerve endings. I could make Bajorans scream with pain without ever touching them

when I was young I discovered I could disappear into the shadows. Elim had the same type of power, which is why we were known as the sons of Tain, who could disappear in plain sight

haven't you noticed my clothes are exceptional? cloth listens to me as raptly as you do

oh my dear Doctor, my power? I told you everything. It was all true. especially the lies.

It;'s a different power every time and we never ever find out what his real powers are, or if he even HAS ANY. He might be baseline, for all anyone of them know

Jadzia is, to quote Tarra, "the actual cool version of Apocalypse". As I said earlier, Trills are born with a vast array of potential powers (plus a small percentage with none just like on Earth) and the symbionts are much the same as they are in the show, except they don't just pass down memories/personality but also the powers of their previous hosts - though the powers are weakened in transition. The Trills chosen for joining though are only chosen by those with really strong powers and incredible control though, since if those powers are gonna be saved forever through the symbiont you want them to be GOOD ones and if they're gonna be weakened you want them to be as strong as possible to start out with. For example, Curzon had super strength that he used to impress the Klingons and gain their respect; it's something Jadzia uses frequently to help her withstand some incredibly violent Klingon sex. Emony controlled water with incredible precision, able to control each drop just as she controlled her gymnast muscles, and used them often in her routines as water whips in rhythmic gymnastic style; Jadzia mostly uses it to flick water in people's faces when she's feeling mischievous, which is most of the time. Audrid was famous for her amazing flying powers, able to zoom around like a rocket, which is actually why Tobin, adrenaline junkie and first Trill to join Starfleet, joined the program: to get those flight powers and zoom around without a shuttle. He ends up disappointed at their weakness, though he still loves flying without a shuttle, and it's what pushes him to test drive new experimental engines - he will fly like he an remember!! - and what eventually kills him. CAN YOU TELL I'VE THOUGHT WAY TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS???

Jadzia herself had touch telepathy, able to know everyone with a hug. She has a ton of control though, and usually just skims the surface of people's thoughts. It's one reason she's super good at flirting - she knows IMMEDIATELY if someone's attracted to her. It's a rough power on DS9 though; that station saw a lot of misery and pain, and it shares that pain with her every chance it gets.

Ezri had very very weak powers, which is one reason she never even considered trying to get joined. She can technically smell emotions, but she has a really bad sense of smell. She would have to get REALLY close to smell something, and she's not alway gauranteed to recognize it. Like, do you realize how many emotions people generally feel?? It makes for a very weird, confusing blend! Fear is of course, the easiest to smell. She can smell fear!! Kinda. If she's close to you. And you're not wearing perfume. It's a pretty terrible power, and one that she really doesn't use very often. Fun fact: Garak liberally douses himself in cologne every time he might run into her. Un-fun fact: when she's trying to treat him he calls her  'a poor imitation of a betazoid, trying to be a poor imitation of Jadzia'

The Dax powers are technically weakened, but since she had such shit powers in the first place it's yet another thing to get totally overwhelmed by. like oH MAN NOW I SUDDENLY KNOW JUST HOW MUCH THAT THE GUY I BRUSHED IN THE HALLWAY NEEDS TO POOP, THANKS JADZIA'S TOUCH TELEPATHY. OH SHIT THERE GOES THE TABLE EDGE DAMMIT IT CURZON'S SUPER STRENGTH. WELP NOW I'M FLOATING HOW DO I TURN OFF AUDRID'S FLIGHT POWERS

Worf is basically the living embodiment of no. Non-physical powers don't work on him, he can't be affected by telepathy or illusions or anything like that. If someone has super-strength or stretchy powers they can use them against him, but whenever anyone tries to trick him he can just be like 'I see you giggling and waving your fingers. You look ridiculous and are doing nothing.' He's too straight forward to be tricked! It's the first thing that really intrigues Jadzia, he's the first person she can't just know with a touch. She has to work hard to get to know him, work doubly hard because his personality can be just as closed off as his powers, and eventually that desire to know him develops into love. He's the one person who could keep a secret from her if she wanted to know it, but he never would. THEY'RE REALLY CUTE.

Rom has magnetic powers, but really really shitty ones. He mostly just accidentally gets cutlery stuck to him. He does use his powers sometime to turn little bits of machinery that can't normally be reached - something he thinks of as pretty whatever but is actually SUPER USEFUL. Miles gives him a big clap on the shoulder and is super proud of him when he finds out, and Rom nearly dies of joy right then and there.

Quark IS Drinks Space Nine. He can look at you and tell exactly what your blood alcohol content is and how alcohol would affect you. It means that he can keep his patrons at a pleasant buzz all night, or can tip someone into sloppy drunk if they're winning too much at tongo. Despite how much shit the bar goes through, it almost never has to deal with rowdy drunks, and that's because of Quark's ability to keep everyone at that pleasantly tipsy state all night.

Nog is an awkward tree fog, with literal sticky fingers. It's very useful for stealing little things when he's young, but becomes HORRIFICALLY EMBARRASSING when he grows up and joins Starfleet, especially at first. Some people get sweaty hands when they get nervous but he just gets EXTRA STICKY HANDS. Like, picture him frantically trying to shake off the PADD he was just handed with his first assignment while Sisko's back is turned and then being like EVERYTHING IS FINE SIR AHAHAHA I JUST.... REALLY LIKE THIS PADD when he turns back

Jake has stretchy powers because come on have you SEEN Cirroc Lofton??? I almost can't believe that guy DIDN'T have stretchy powers. He's no Mr. Fantastic, but he can drape himself across all the furniture in the room in Peak Teen fashion. It also makes for some baseball shenanigans. He uses it a lot to tease his dad by being taller than him, at least until he ACTUALLY GETS THERE. It's a bit tiring for him to hold a stretch though, which is why when he first hits his growth spurt his dad is like 'hey watch out son, you'll strain something keeping yourself so tall for so long.' Jake tries to tell him that no, he's just naturally growing, and Ben is just like 'LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU, I KNOW YOU'RE JUST USING YOUR POWERS, YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY TALLER THAN ME, YOU'RE STILL MY BABY'

Keiko has growing powers. She's heard all the jokes, a botanist with growing powers? How obvious. It's mostly really annoying though, since when she discovers something new and gets excited she can accidentally spark some intense growth spurts and totally mess up her data. She loves making flowers bloom for Molly and Kirayoshi.

[stelliscripture]

so familiar a gleam

so this is..........a thing. it started out as a benign gag on twitter abt how neat a faye/silque sleeping beauty au would be as a ~metaphor~ for how faye is so hung up on the past and turned into this, which is making a strong case for itself as the most pretentious fic i've ever written. the title even came from the '50s disney movie lmao

mostly i just wanted to play around w/inserting fairytale elements into the canon and also mila's turnwheel shenanigans? expect more faye/silque from me in the future re: reading faye as caught in the throes of compulsory heterosexuality + silque's postgame quandaries of faith/mila's turnwheel-induced timeloops.

also on ao3!

---

act i

Faye begins to disappear on occasion. Sometimes only for a few hours, and once--only once--for days at a time. The woods around Ram Village are empty and quiescent once more, after so much turmoil came crashing through them. Things are (almost) as they should be. There are only subtle reminders that Faye cannot quite ignore, things missing or things now present, that tell her time has indeed passed on without her.

It's this notion that gives her the idea, wild and uninformed. She'd told herself she'd eschew all the magic she'd learned, only for it to build up and fill her like water threatening to burst from a dam. So she puts it to use, making excuses to visit Kliff with his ever-growing library of tomes and treatises that she struggles to even read. Deep in the woods, she picks out the threads of knowledge hastily gleaned from those books and tries, with unsteady hands, to weave a shroud of sorts.

No, she rescinds, a shroud sounds so morbid. A shroud is for the dead, and her intention is not to die--that is too much stagnation, even for her. She only wants to sleep, for a time.

-

Kliff leaves one day, without any real warning or goodbye. His parents fret over the succinct letter he left upon their table, showing it to Faye in their distress. She can't help but find it funny that Kliff can still be so grandiloquent in so few words. His absence is another gaping hole in the patchwork image of Ram Village that Faye clings to, but a part of her is almost glad that he's set off for parts unknown. He most likely knew what she was up to--at the very least, he could have made an educated guess.

Though she hates to stray much further from the village than the shrine where she weaves her magic, Faye does start spending more time with Gray and Tobin in the wake of Kliff's departure. She feels the ravine of years between herself and them, and wonders how she never noticed it growing. There is a twinge of guilt, whenever she forgets herself enough to be happy with them for just a moment. If she pushes forward for once in her life, there will soon be a distance too far to jump, a river too vast to ford.

The spell requires memories, frozen like the molasses she and the boys used to throw out into the snow and eat as candy. So she weaves them into the shroud: Kliff's intent, unwavering gaze, Gray's bombastic witticisms and his quiet empathy, Tobin's earnest, brotherly warmth. Gray stops her at the village gates one time, out of Tobin's earshot, and asks her in that easy way of his if she has a mind to pay Alm a visit anytime soon. She hears herself telling him, no. He believes her no more than she believes herself, but Gray is a good friend when it comes to knowing when to push and when to leave things be. Has he always been so good about that? Faye can't seem to remember, though Gray has been as constant in the white noise of her life as all her other friends. He tells her, I'll let Alm know you say hello, and ruffles her hair.

(Months later, near the end, Faye realizes that both Gray and Tobin think she wants to avoid Celica, when in fact, she finds herself missing that quiet girl with the yellow ribbon who taught her to weave crowns from flowers.)

-

Alm is the centerpiece of it all, the focal point of the magic she only half-understands. Though she still thinks of him as her prince, Faye cannot picture him as a king. To do so would be to throw herself forward into an uncertain future, when she must root herself to the past to make this spell work. She weaves her shroud like a tapestry, a still scene in a village that will never change. Here, ripe oranges that will never fall. There, her parents and her grandmother, who will never teeter over the edge of her old age. At the forefront, Gray, Tobin, Kliff, and Alm, all before the village gates without ever passing through them.

The magic is exhausting, unfamiliar words blistering her lips and tearing through the cool moss and stone of the shrine where she works with heat that edges on unbearable. At one point, she has to stop entirely, the shape of the magic completely lost to her as the ground itself seems to buck and seize before throwing her with a harsh crack into total darkness. When she awakens, Faye feels dried blood at her temple, and forces herself, trembling, not to think about how close she's come to death. Faye notices with a twinge of guilt the way her parents seem to collectively hold their breath whenever she returns, gaunt and drained, only to finally exhale once a healthy flush has returned to her cheeks.

Her parents trot men before her with an increasing lack of subtlety. Faye smiles weakly before each of them, dropping hints about a certain someone who still has her heart, if only to stop the roiling twist in her gut she feels every time a suitor gets too close. She tells herself she only feels such revulsion with a force that takes her by surprise because she can't help but compare them to Alm, always perfect in that he will always be unattainable.

-

When she leaves, she does nothing special. Doing so would be acknowledging that anything in her life is really changing, moving forward--with or without her.

"I'm off," she tells her mother, one morning in spring. The words scratch the insides of her throat and clatter against the backs of her teeth when they leave her mouth, like falling rocks. Her mother blinks in surprise, and it's only then that Faye begins to wonder how long it's been since she last spoke aloud, with all of her friends long since gone from the village.

"Safe journey, dearest," her mother says. Does she know, like Kliff might have? Faye quashes the doubt neatly, folds with perfect creases in a practiced fashion engendered by a lifetime of self-denial. She'll lose what time she's saved, if she starts to explore any of the things she's begun to realize about the people around her, the people she spent so long relegating to the periphery of her awareness.

-

The shrine is quiet as always, and with the thieves long since gone, Faye isn't entirely sure what it ought to be named now. Even the mold has given way to some flowers, especially closest to Mila's old idol. This is where Faye has woven her shroud, at the idol's foot where sunlight dapples the ground. How long had it taken? She struggles to recall months, weeks, days, anything more concrete than a jumble of half-formed memories that don't even feel like they belong to her. It occurs to Faye only briefly that she might die, if she's woven the spell wrong. If nothing else, she has always been a good seamstress.

Faye lies down on the ground, sits back up to adjust her skirt, then stirs yet again to rearrange her hair over her shoulders. Funny, she thinks, how she can't bring herself to do something as easy as sleeping, when she's been so tired. That thought, of straining for something for so long, only to feel nothing upon reaching it, seizes Faye with a thrumming edge of discomfort. Once more (for the last time? she can only hope) Faye tamps it down.

Squinting against the faint sunlight streaming into her eyes, Faye begins casting the spell to draw the shroud over herself.

intermission

Restless, her mother would have called her. A pilgrimage requires a purpose--otherwise, you are simply taking a jaunt. Not for the first time, Silque wonders what her mother would have made of this world without gods. Her mother, who fled first Duma, then the man who sired her child, to end up in Mila's embrace--could she move on a third time? Silque struggles to do so just this once, catching herself still referencing Mila's teachings as if talking about an old lover. The inaction eats at her, when she had wanted so desperately to feel relieved, now returned to the fold at Novis.

"I must go," she tells Nomah before one of the priory's many altars. It looks so empty and alien without Mila's visage. When she speaks her intent aloud, at least it sounds better, more justifiable. "While I doubt the people need me in particular, they do need someone, so by your leave, I mean to go forth and be that someone."

Nomah runs a hand over the ruff of his beard, as he often does in an attempt to look properly sagely and unreadable.

"Far be it from me to stop you," he muses, as if he is asking her a question: does she want to be stopped?

Silque folds her hands over each other and gives a shallow bow. The act is part obeisance, part simple gratitude.

"You have my thanks for your...understanding," Silque says, for lack of a better word. This elicits a chortle from Nomah that he attempts to muffle, though the merry gleam of humor in his eyes always gives him away.

"And you have my blessings--as well as my turnwheel, I presume?"

The device rests in a pack against Silque's hip, the soft thrum both like and utterly unlike the constancy of clockwork. She marvels that the turnwheel has found its way back to her again, when far greater hands have spun it before hers. In the absence of Mila's will, is it, like her, now mere flotsam in the current of time?

"I shall keep it safe," Silque assures him.

"You'd do better to keep yourself safe," Nomah returns, clapping her on the shoulder in a way she supposes is meant to be fatherly. She is always uncertain when it comes to men, though at least Nomah's fondness is something she knows she can trust. "Always the ascetic, eh?" he adds, though not unkindly.

A smile tugs at the corner of Silque's lips.

"Rest assured, this truly is what brings me fulfillment." Fulfillment, yes, but happiness--she is never quite sure.

-

Travel is less hazardous than it has been in the past, a happy set of circumstances that Silque never thinks to attribute to the way her saint's robes make those around her think twice about how to treat her. Fewer hazards do not make for more ease, though, so Silque busies herself at every turn with any manner of healing she can offer. She tells herself the ultimate destination of her pilgrimage is the north, a land of sorrow and mistrust in equal measure. If nothing else, she can scratch the itch that's been tickling her conscience, that she has only embarked on this travel out of selfish wanderlust. To see in peacetime the place her mother once called home--surely that must be her true motive.

And yet, she veers south, bypassing the capitol entirely for thick woodlands where she can go days without seeing another person. What does she even hope to find, she chides herself, when there is nothing, no one left waiting here? At Silque's hip, Mila's Turnwheel ticks on.

act ii

She still visits shrines when she can find them, though this one is so given over to nature that she nearly passes it by. Brambles hug the cave's entrance, their roses just slightly past peak bloom. Inside, there is only the slow drip of water and lush growths of fragrant moss. When she emerges into the shrine's inner chamber, dappled sunlight filling her eyes in a soft welcome, she almost doesn't notice. Silque moves to kneel at the foot of Mila's long-empty idol, only to stop short with the realization that her place is already taken.

A young woman lies on the ground, eyes closed, hands folded over her chest. Edging closer, Silque smells only the flowers and the earth, no sweeter, sicklier odor of decay. Indeed, the young woman appears for all intents and purposes to simply be napping in a particularly odd place. The thrumming sheen of magic over her body, made ever so slightly visible by the rippling sunlight, is the only sign of anything unnatural. Then again, it is also a reasonable guarantee that the woman is indeed alive.

She's lovely in her repose, tawny, flyaway hair tucked into twin braids whose lengths are just slightly uneven. The lightest freckles dust her rosy cheeks, and the curve of her mouth is soft, even if its set, in conjunction with her slightly-furrowed brow, suggests an edge of frustration. Embarrassed by the immediacy of her attraction, Silque diverts her scrutiny from the swell of the woman's chest beneath those dainty, interlaced fingers and examines the spell instead.

It is a magic unlike anything she's ever seen before, though it carries with it the faintest hint of nostalgia that she cannot place. Almost like a blanket or a shroud, it hangs over the sleeping woman. There is even a perceptible perimeter to it, where the grass and flowers abruptly cease to grow around the outline of the woman's body. Almost unconsciously, Silque kneels to examine the scene closer, as Mila's empty idol looms over them both, unseeing. She cannot put a purpose to such a spell, or a reason to why anyone would do such a thing to someone else. It is neither cruel nor kind--the woman is simply there, asleep and untouched.

Silque hesitates, catching herself considering ways to undo what's been done here. She remembers her mother's tales, which she knows to be more than fantasies concocted to keep women in line: witches in the hinterlands, masked women with all the blood drained from their still-moving bodies, vestals who commit themselves to the flames in search of power denied to them by all other means. Could this magic belong to some witch, thought? She searches the woman's face again for some blemish, some hint of the unnatural. Again, she finds nothing but a twinge of fond sadness whose source in her memories she cannot locate. Beseechingly, she turns her gaze to the idol for guidance she does not truly expect to find.

At her hip, Mila's Turnwheel begins to tick more audibly, its tempo accelerating with insistence. Startled by the reentry of sound into the silent chamber, Silque fumbles with the worn leather straps of the turnwheel's pack. Retrieved, it glows gently, but no vision springs forth at her touch. She frowns. She'd hoped against hope for some sign from a goddess long since gone, which makes it all the more foolish of her to feel let down. Still, the next step seems self-evident. Silque gives the wheel a turn, then another, then another, letting it guide her fingers until it is satisfied.

Mila's Turnwheel offers only glimpses of the time being unwound. So much of it is nothing more than the slow growing and dying of plants in reverse. How much time has it been, as the world changes around this unchanging woman? The retrospective is intercut with the faintest impressions of other memories: a man's back, clad in dark blue-green armor. A village square where all the people stand still. Two women's voices, one of which Silque could swear is her own.

The turnwheel locks, unable to go back any further.

Unaware that she has been holding her breath, Silque lets it go in a rush, releasing the turnwheel to strip back the veneer of time. She hopes, plaintively, that she is not making a mistake.

The sleeping woman stirs. Her eyes open with a start, only to flutter closed, before settling into a bleary, half-awake state. She tries to speak, but the words seem to stick to her lips.

"Take your time," Silque says softly, aware of how silly that sounds, given the circumstances.

"Alm," the woman croaks at last. Confused, Silque glances over her packs, then back at the woman.

"I...do indeed have some food and coin to share," she ventures.

"No, not alms, Alm. He's a person."

"Not a person I'm acquainted with, I'm afraid."

Oddly, the woman's sigh sounds relieved. When she struggles to sit up, Silque aids her, awkwardly mindful of where she places her hands. Awake and animated, the woman has a sort of doelike quality to her, looking around with soft brown eyes that carry in them a questioning edge.

"You've been asleep," Silque tells her. She speaks slowly, so as not to shock. The woman nods absently, still searching for something Silque cannot see. At last, she says,

"Funny that you of all people should find me." There is a tentative fondness in her voice.

"Beg pardon? I don't believe we've ever met." And yet, there is a familiarity Silque cannot quite shake. For the first time, the woman seems to have all her wits about her, frowning with confusion.

"No? But, you're--what's your name?"

"I am Silque," she says.

"I'm Faye," the woman replies, her inflection suggesting that this is information Silque should already know.

act iii

Again, the silence yawns between them. Faye struggles to think of something to say, wits addled by magic and sleep. Anything to bridge this one gap, to prove to herself that she can do it right this time. Silque's gaze is patient as ever, with that slight hint of concern that she'll never voice. Faye wonders if she's gone and done all this for naught, and wouldn't that be embarrassing, to explain why she's been here for perhaps a few months at best?

"Who reigns?" Faye asks suddenly, recalling now the first thing she'd said upon awakening.

Silque tells her.

The name means nothing to Faye--this is what you wanted, she tells herself. Fear and triumph wage war in her chest, so riotously that she swears she can feel her ribcage rattle.

"And...this may seem even odder, but what year is it?"

Silque tells her.

Is it more than she'd expected, or less? She wonders what became of the villages, woven into the vestiges of her shroud, along with every person who no longer lives there. It makes Silque's presence all the more a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. Faye's never believed all too ardently in Mila, but perhaps she ought to give thanks now to that long-gone goddess.

"I've been asleep for a long time," she admits.

"Evidently," is Silque's even response.

Faye leans forward, her limbs slowly remembering the fundamental feeling of motion. For the first time, she notices the way Silque's cheeks flush at her proximity. She's noticing all manner of new things, now.

"Would you mind if we went outside?" Faye asks. "There's so much I want to see."