#hes got like...a feather he keeps of hermes he touches too often

[jacqcrisis]

Charmes idea that for centuries, Charon and Hermes had a casual sort of deal going on that Hermes first proposed since they're both busy so why not be professional associates with benefits? Mutually beneficial and all, just a way to let off steam. Doesn't have to mean anything and it didn't as he's visit, drop off souls and contraband, chat Charon's ear off, hopefully get taken to pound town if the boatman was in the mood, and theyd part the same as they came together. Except as time goes on, it absolutely does start to mean more to Hermes but he holds it back and ignores it because why would he ruin this thing they've got going on with a big ole crush that Charon probably doesn't reciprocate?

And maybe he does pretend a little bit that it means something more in the moment. In those rare occasions when his stalwart ferryman does not immediately stiffen in the afterglow and send him off as there is work to be done. When Charon holds him for a time, ringed fingers gentle in his hair and his feathers as they rest and Hermes can pretend it has meaning beyond a brash agreement.

Then all the stuff with Chronos happens and they dont get see each other anymore for anything, not the friendship or business or pleasure and the distance and the time apart has made him realize how deep that little crush has truly turned. And by god, is it hurting him; Hermes' thoughts drifting often to Charon, about the time they spent together, hoping he isn't lonely, that he's doing okay, thinking all the things he would say that he wasn't brave enough to before, and why oh why didn't he when he had the chance...

But there's always doubt. Always a chance Charon wouldn't see him the same, yet the thought of just returning to how they were fills him with the same kind of dread as Charon rejecting him if things return to normal. So inbetween zipping around being a sneaky little shit, he's wallowing in his feelings like a lovesick puppy missing his not-so professional associate and dreaming of returning to Charon's embrace with love on his lips and the sentiment returned in kind.

[chrysanthemumgames]

Hey sorry if this has been already asked but do you have a general description of what all of the RO's look like? Love the demo BTW! 🙂

I actually do not have this written out anywhere except in my story notes, so here those are for frighteningly-public consumption! (And thank you!)

Hades is the aforementiond 6'9", muscularly-built, with sharply-hewn features. His skin is a deep slate-grey color, and he wears his hair long, roughly to just below his shoulderblades. It's bone-white, pin-straight, and thick. His eyes are ruby-red, not in the kind of way that gets mistaken for another color. In keeping with the whole ‘lord of the dead’ thing he has going on, he dresses mostly in black. His ears are slightly tapered, and though he doesn't often smile enough to make this obvious, his eyeteeth are a touch longer than usual and pointed (well, pointier, since most people’s are somewhat pointed). Also he bleeds black. Not obvious just from looking at him, but a bit of trivia if you're interested.

Hermes is 5'8", with a lean runner's build and deep brown skin. He has black, coiled hair (4A, if you're familiar with curl types), that he wears about six inches long. It tends to look windswept due to all the flying. His facial features are broad, soft, and youthful. He has a falconine wing structure, the very end feathers likely to trail the ground just a bit when they're tucked. The feathers are an almost-metallic silver, as are his eyes.

Charon is about 5'10", and carries himself with a sort of grace that can make him seem taller. He has a fair, almost sickly pallor with slightly greyish undertones. He wears his very pale platinum-blonde hair to about his shoulders; it's got a bit of wave to it but nothing drastic. His eyes are a light blue, and his features as a rule fairly delicate-looking. His build is not as overtly athletic as Hades's by any means, but there is still an obvious strength to him, one a little leaner and more svelte.

Pyri's the short one, at five-foot-nothin'. It's not too hard to guess that they're the one in charge of the river of fire, because they really look like it. Their complexion is a tawny bronze, and their hair bright ginger-red, curly (3B) and chopped right at their chin. They've got a snub nose and big golden eyes; their entire face and much of the rest of them is smattered in dense freckles. They favor loose clothes when not in armor, and when they don't have a sensible chestplate to do it for them, they bind. Their figure is very much on the wiry, spare side; if anyone's familiar with Ellie's character design from LoU2 it's not far off! They have three scars on the left side of their face, like something three pronged and sharp was dragged from their jawline towards their forehead, just barely skipping over the eye. The scars are paler and pink/white.

Alekto is a statuesque 6'2" and amazonian in her build, on the husky side. She has a deep-tan 'Mediterranean' complexion, and chestnut-brown hair, which she wears long and usually in a high ponytail, which reaches the small of her back or thereabouts. Her features are strong, blunt, and there's a small mole under her mouth on the left side. Her eyes are a dark brown, with just a hint of green. She's almost always in armor, but actually likes really fancy and colorful garments when not.

Hekate is 5'2", with a thicker/curvy/soft build. Her skin is a medium brown, though there are depigmented patches here and there on the right (as she has segmental vitiligo). She wears her (3A) hair in braids, usually all over the left shoulder, as the hair is undercut on the right side. The color tends to change from day to day with her mood, as she is quite adept at magic and sees no reason not to put this to use. A lot of times, it's a soft, rosy pink. Her features are very feminine, almost doll-like in some ways: large eyes, a button nose, all of that. She is almost never wearing shoes, and her wardrobe is a panoply of color, most of it flowy and/or breezy in fit.

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 6

Yes, you read right. Chapter 6. In that this is the 6th part of this story. In that there are 5 chapters before this one. If this is the first you’ve seen of my “Humans are weird/space orcs” story, click below and read the previous chapters. It’ll make more sense that way, I promise!

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“I swear, I was just popping my knuckles. I’m fine. Can you stop touching me?”

Mike almost laughed, but he caught himself and hid his smile. It was funny, but not funny enough to risk Wenona getting mad at him. Gerben had nearly lost it after he heard the series of popping noises coming from her when she got up after a routine health check.

“Are you certain nothing’s broken?” Gerben still had Wenona’s hands in his long fingers, inspecting them for signs of injury. “Perhaps the pain hasn’t registered with you yet?”

“I’m fine. I am, I swear, just give me back my hand.” Gerben gave the hands one last look over before releasing them enough for Wenona to yank them back.

“Don’t worry, Gerben, it happens all the time, totally harmless,” Mike jumped in before either Wenona or the medic could say anything else. “People do it all the time. Well, uh, human people do it all the time, see?” He popped his knuckles as a demonstration. “It’s just tiny pockets of gas escaping the joints and stuff. It’s healthy.”

The look on Gerben’s feathered face looked less than convinced.

“I can pop my back too if you want to see.” “Please. Don’t.”

Of the two medics, Mike had quickly decided that he prefered Demfar. That guy was one inquisitive and easy-to-impress space-squid. Though he did like Gerben too. It was a different kind of like. Gerben was fun to get a rise or reaction out of every time some new “human thing” was discovered. Popping joints was just the latest on a long, long list that made Gerben’s face scrunch up in funny shapes.

“A-herm.”

All eyes turned toward the sound.

“Jebannuck! You’re early.” Mike thought he heard the slightest hint of relief in Gerben’s voice.

“Jeb! What is up my dude!”

“Are the humans ready?” He ignored Mike’s greeting while he stepped into the room and folded his arms across his chest. Mike hadn’t known him long, a few days, maybe a week. Had it been a week? It’s hard to keep track of time with everything that had been going on. Go figure. But in the time he’d known Jebannuck - however long it’d been -  he could tell he was a bit of a stickler for proper procedures.

“We’re going to be getting something to eat first, right? Before we meet with Salora?” Wenona chimed in.

“That’s Captain Salora. And yes. We’ll be stopping in the cafeteria  before I escort you to the bridge.”

“Sweet. What are we waiting for, let’s go!” Mike stretched his arms over his head. A few pops from his shoulders made Gerben wince. “Oops! Sorry bud, see ya later!”

They’d been to the cafeteria a few times now. Twice a “day” cycle, or whatever. It was always fun. Not the first time, though. It was a little freaky, actually. Their escort, who was usually Jebannuck, tried to time visits when it wasn’t very busy. There was always someone though.

He felt a lot more convinced that no one here meant any harm as soon as he found out that none of the aliens on the ship even slightly resembled a Montauk. With that established, it became something of an adventure to meet as many members of the crew as he could.

Pretty much everyone acted SUPER nice and curious about their new human passengers, and, well, they acted the same way most humans would if the roles were reversed. Mike, thoroughly enjoying himself, tried to meet and remember as many new (sometimes strange-sounding) named aliens as he could get within earshot of. Wenona, on the other hand, had been less excited by the attention. Jebannuck, and sometimes Ghem-et if he was there, did his best to divert crewmates from crowding the humans. Mike noticed that Wenona usually stayed pretty close to Jebannuck’s side whenever there were too many aliens around.

It wasn’t often though. Captain Salora, the medics, and their escorts had all proved very adept at making sure the humans were given plenty of space. But Mike could tell there were a few on the crew that were chomping at the bit to get in a little closer with their new passengers.

In fact, here came that orange furball now.

“Greetings Human Wenona, Human Michael! How fortunate that our paths cross!”

Jebannuck raised his brows. “I thought you were in the hospital wing, Thurrin. Feeling much better already, are we?”

“What? Oh. Yeah, I am, actually. Must have just been in need of a good stroll. Cleared my head right up!”

“Is that why we always saw you sneaking around outside the medic bay? It’s great to finally officially meet you, I’m Mike.” He held out his hand.

Thurrin tilted her head at the human’s gesture, before reaching out and patting Mike’s fingers a few times. “Good to meet you Mike, I’m Thurrin from the planet Bernor.”

“Thurrin, I thought I’d made myself clear that you, and the rest of the crew, were to not crowd the humans.”

“Aww, come on man,” Mike interjected, “We’re on a ship full of creatures from other planets and yet we’re lonely,” Mike bent backwards as they walked to add drama, earning a surprised and somewhat worried look from Jebannuck’s, and a giggle from Thurrin. “Or at least I am. We never really get to meet or interact, ya know? I don’t mean that you’re not great to hang out with, Jeb, but I’d really like to get to know more, uh, people”

“My name is Jebannuck, not Jeb.”

Thurrin led them to a nearby bench and table and quickly laid claim to her favorite cushion, “Humans are social creatures, they need to pack bond. Eepereep told me so.”

“And what about you, since when were booka so social?” “We can be social when we want to. And on top of that, we’re inherently curious by nature.” “Curious? Or just nosy?”

Thurrin gave a pouting look at Jebannuck, the fur on the back of her neck flickered a dark shade of red.

Wenona gave a small chuckle, “What a grumpy kitty,” and reached out to scratch Thurrin’s ears. Everyone froze. Wenona pulled her hand back. “Oh, I… I’m sorry. Oh my gosh, I wasn’t thinking. I, I grew up with a cat and… I’m sorry, okay? Can everyone stop freakin’ looking at me? Are we going to eat, or what?”

“Um, yeah. What’s for lunch this time, Jeb?”

“Human Michael, my name is Jebannuck, not Jeb.”

“No promises, Jeb...annuck. But I you’ll have to call me Mike, not Michael.”

Jebannuck sighed, “Very well, Human Mike. Your meal will be a banchip mash and a side of raw ruproot.”

“Again? That’s all we’ve had since we’ve been aboard.”

“Improvement from the last ship we were on,” muttered Wenona.

“Our information on humans is still quite limited. Once we dock at the outpost, we can upload the entirety of the Confederation’s data files on your race. That will include a list of foods we have available that are compatible with your digestive system. Until then, we’ll just have to stick with what we know won’t make you sick, or worse.”

“Aw, I knew you cared about us, Jeb.”

Jebannuck closed his eyes and sighed before he got up to walk to the food dispenser window. “You can do this, Jebannuck. Quick meal, visit with the captain, and then back to the medical bay. You can do this.”