#housetummelt

[madeofthreads]

@housetummelt | x

Ji-eun exhaled a slow breath. The tension was still there, but it wasn't quite as explosive as it had been before... she didn't want to shout, and she didn't want to assault him with questions after all. She simply needed a moment to gather herself back together.

Following his guidance, she pulled back from the hug, and it was then that she realised his was the first familiar face that she had seen in the aftermath. Of all the people she had ever known, Baldur Tummelt was the first she could confidently say 'he survived'.

"It is good to see you Mr. Tummelt." Ji-eun meant to apologise to him. To dismiss her reaction in some way, but really, she wasn't sorry about it at all.

"I... am alive." It almost sounded like she questioned that, whether she truly was alive, whether this could truly be called living. It felt more like surviving. Her parents had both been listed as dead, according to a security database they were both swiped into their non-military work, and both placed at the epicenter of disaster. Even if it were a lie, even if they somehow survived the initial assault from within Gralea, they would not survive the cold and the dark that was to come.

When asked whether she needed anything, she gave a small pause. Yes. Yes, but a secret need. "Perhaps..." she couldn't get out the words. "That is, I do have a favour to seek, but I wouldn't ask for it until I see for myself the state of this Nifen base. There has been so much that has gone wrong. So many people in greater need. I can wait."

Then she managed a very weak smile. Barely a tug of her lips, and it was gone just as quick. "Mrs. Tummelt. I would very much like to see her as well. People have been slowly arriving, and I haven't seen any faces that I recognised until now. I'm... I think I'm in need of familiar company. The Lord Hi- former- Ravus." It felt strange to use his name in a setting that wasn't private. "We arrived together, but we were made aware of intel concerning a Tenebraean escort that needed assistance. He left to receive them but I... well, I'm here, unfit to deploy." That was her favour, but Baldur was a smart enough man to put two and two together.

Ji-eun maneuvered to stand at his side. She followed his lead, hoped quietly that the lower decks weren't as depressing as the image that came to mind. Not a sad and decrepit slum where the Nifen had been dumped. "... and how are you?" she dared to ask after she herself had spilled her troubles upon him. "Are you well?" Or was he also surviving.

[proxnotxaxfool]

he could have done this earlier, but he’d made the excuse that his mama had been working in the store then, and that place probably wasn’t the best place to have a private conversation - anyone could have walked in or walked by the door and overheard what he was saying.

and maybe a part of him had been trying to put this off too? 

either way, he couldn’t avoid it forever, and there were no more excuses to fall back onto; the store was closed. loqi and kim were in bed. dave was still busy doing final preparations for a hunt that would take place the next day.

sucking in a breath as he entered the kitchen, reno braced his hands on the back of one of the wooden chairs at the table, watching his mother busy herself washing dishes before he dipped his head and bit the proverbial bullet.

‘ selena’s not speaking to me, i’m not sure whether she ever will again. i told her the truth - where we are from and why we came here. ’

@housetummelt​

[exiled-turk]

continued from (x)

their working relationship went back a long time - back to the days when they had both been stupid kids, joining the military, but then the turks had been formed and veld had donned a different uniform, his old friend climbing the ranks of the nifen military. but they had never truly left each others lives.

veld had been present when baldur had married ida. likewise, baldur had been present for veld's wedding too, and one of the first to know about the turk's impending fatherhood.

reno was a turk now. and earmarked to be a good one. tseng had joined when he had been fifteen, and now reno too - it was a good job. a tough one, but one that came with as many benefits as it did risks; he wasn't going to become canon fodder to be dropped on lucian soil to meet the kingsglaive head-on.

loqi was earmarked for the mech program. veld might not agree with a boy so young entering military service, but it wasn't a decision for him to make.

he made no attempt to pull back from baldur's grasp, nor to remain out in the open for all to see - this was enough of a shit situation without making it worse. did he understand what baldur and ida were doing?

yes.

did he agree with it?

that was irrelevant.

' you're out of your depth, baldur. i know well what you are capable of, but you are a single man, who has now betrayed his home - you have marked yourself an enemy. they will come for the boys. '

closing a hand around baldur's wrist, veld tightened his grip and held the other man's glare with one of his own - lips pressing into a tight line at the mention of felicia. that was a low blow, a personal one, but it showed the desperation his friend was feeling. he was lashing out and trying to dig his way out of a hole.

' what i would have done doesn't matter. you know well that i can't make this disappear — i am not the only person with eyes on this dock right now. ' lifting his gaze as a foghorn blared in the darkness, warning all on the dock that the ship was about to shuck its moorings, veld tightened his grasp on baldur's wrist, shoulders tensing in anticipation of what might happen next.

' the boys are aboard ... my timing was off to retrieve them. but i won't return empty handed baldur - you're a general, you know you can't do this. '

@housetummelt

[holyguardian]

“Take Aerith somewhere safe.”

Those words had barely left the woman’s lips, when her hand fell down to the ground again. Limp and weak. She was dying… it was evident from how she looked. She had that hollow gaunt expression. There was nothing that could safe her yet. But the little girl beside her… her green eyes were full of resilient bright green.

The woman her mother had grabbed by the wrist looked at the child for a brief moment, before she knelt down and quickly searched for the healing potion in her bag… but as soon as she blinked again, she knew that the mother of the child was gone.

It was one of these very rare moments in her life, where Ida felt completely helpless. She had no control over any of this… and this child?

Little mite was still so young, right between her two son's ages, if she had to guess – and her sobs broke Ida’s heart. Carefully placing her hands on the girl’s arm and back, Ida tried to give her a little comfort, while still not tearing her away from her mother. She looked around… but there was no one close by. No father. No other family. No friends. No one cared for this little girl’s fate.

No one but Ida.

Glancing down at her – Aerith – again, Ida noticed the II on her arm. A tattoo. And in that moment her worry turned into dread. She had seen that before. That and another symbol… the child’s name, too. Aerith…

Quickly Ida undid the buttons of her coat, draping it around the girl. She could only allow her one more moment of grief for her mother, before he scooped her up. As cruel as it was, they had to hurry.

“My darling, we have to go.” @housetummelt - Ida

@housetummelt

Aerith had tried to find a doctor to make her mother all better again, which was how she had grabbed the sleeve of this woman in her white coat and tugged for her to follow, begging for help. "Please, please help my mummy, she's sick!"

Ifalna knew this was her only chance to make things right for her daughter. Aerith, stubborn as a cat, thought all she needed to do was to find someone in a white coat to help. It was a horrible feeling, to fully realise that the only world her baby knew was one where adults wore white coats.

She reached for the woman, to hold onto the same wrist that Aerith had guided closer. She could see it in her eyes, that she wanted to help in some way. "Take Aerith somewhere safe." There was so much to explain. So much left unsaid. But it was all she had left to give. It was like in knowing that her daughter wasn't going to be alone, her body finally dared to relax...

Aerith was beside herself. Bawling and clinging to her mother, she knew that her soul was slipping away. That her mother was returning to the Planet and there was nothing to hold her back — try as she might, little hands clinging as though she could hold her mother there and make her stay. They were free now! They could live in a house together! They could grow gardens and never have to see a wheelchair again!

She cried in loud, wracking sobs. Especially when the kind woman scooped her up, her hands losing grip of her mother. Her arms remained outstretched, grasping for where her mother lifelessly laid, and there was little chance of a silent getaway with how she cried her heart out. Eventually her arms slackened, and eventually her sobs calmed to sniffles, even if the tears never did seem to fully stop. They were far from the train station now. Far from the bad men. All she could do was watch over the woman's shoulder. Take in the new sights, of streets that looked... neat. Tidy. Where they had funny pretend trees and lights that lit up all of the pathway.

[meldaciomartyr]

"I appreciate your coming back for us. That was really brave." - Ida

Percy Jackson sentence starters:

It'd been a shaky month rollin' into a second one since those boys had turned up at his door, an' their mama was found a week or so later. Nearly two moths an' the Empire wasn't givin' up their search for the family.

He could remember meetin' Baldur Tummult, through awful circumstances down by the slough. He'd struck him as an important man; but caught 'tween a rock and a hard place with his little son bein' a soldier too. But Dave was startin' to realise that the family were higher-up in the Empire than what he'd thought.

Wiz had heard it from travellers that the Empire were lookin' for a Nifen woman an' her two sons, an' that they intended to travel to all outposts. Meldacio was to the north-west, but it was still on a main road. A word with Ezma an' her blessin' had them here; an old abandoned lighthouse in Caem with a hidden dock. Down in the cavern that hid the dock would be safer, but Dave was mindful of the water down there an' how Ida an' her family had escaped the empire an' lost Baldur. So the old house would do for now; it was hidden from the roadside by trees, set well back an' gave them enough time t'get to the lighthouse an' the hidden dock to hide if needed.

'I appreciate your coming back for us. That was really brave.' Sittin' on the worn couch, Dave blinked when Ida spoke and placed a mug of coffee on the table in front of him. He'd been out on a hunt when Wiz called t'warn him, so he'd returned to Meldacio an' spirited Ida and her boys away.

"Ain't nothin' brave about it. I gave my word to Reno I'd protect 'em, and I promised you too. Not a feller who goes back on his word." If he was bein' rational, then hidin' the Tummelts protected Meldacio as a whole, but his bleedin' heart didn't wanna see a family split up again. Wringin' his hands together and eyin' the radio left standing on the coffee table, Dave leveled Ida with a look.

"But this has t'work both ways. The Empire's looking for y'all for a reason, not jus' cause yer husband was a general or Loqi a soldier." At that his voice dropped to a whisper and Dave glanced at the closed door upstairs, where the boys were sleepin'. "Yer gonna have t'level with me here Ida, I need the full picture to ensure yer safety an' the safety o' the hunters."

"So you talk an' I'll listen."

[meldacioxhq]

How did young Kim react to not only her mom not being around, but then a new woman living in the house and having two pretend brothers?

that was a questions she hadn't spent any time dwellin' on - it had a nasty undertone o' blame about it that had no place in their lives. she had only been a little ankle-biter when her mama had gone on a hunt and hadn't come home again.

it wasn't as if ida had just swooped in and assumed her mama's role - hell no. they'd stumbled on blindly, her grams and other hunters tryin' their best to field the little girl's repeated questioning of where her mama was or how long more her mama would be on that hunt, her miniscule view of the world not letting her wholly understand the concept of death.

ida had come way later - later than reno and loqi. and she had been hesitant in everything she'd done for that little girl, acutely aware that she didn't want to tread on another woman's memory ... the same careful steps her own pops had taken with the two boys.

' there ain't nothin' pretend 'bout loqi and reno being my brothers ... family is who you choose, not just blood. and the same goes for ida - she's been my mom for as long as i can remember, that don't mean replacing my mama, i just got lucky and got two now. '

@housetummelt

[meldaciomartyr]

@housetummelt

You shouldn’t have to do this on your own.

[kunselxsoldier]

sit .   gesture  for  my  muse  to  sit  down . - Ida Tummelt

Loud & Deafening (non verbal) Starters:

She was a lady he had seen only a handful of times; a researcher if the rumours he'd heard were true. But she rarely ever appeared on the Soldier floor, let alone in the office that had been Director Lazard's.

She was from one of the Plate's most lauded families, the Tummelts. He knew that much, and offered a small nod as she pointed to the empty chair he guessed was for him.

"Good afternoon ma'am." Sitting on the edge of the chair, Kunsel tried to wrangle his thoughts into one line of questioning; what the hell did she want with him?

"How can I be of assistance?"

[galahdanblade]

“Those things are bad news.” - Ida

it was one those new things they'd seen erected on the outskirts of formouth - some sort of machine that gave off a constant low hum and seemed to fleck the air with a red haze, almost like a refracted laser.

he was fucked if he knew what it was. all kaleb knew was these things were popping up all over lucis, near strongholds and forts and that wherever they were, that are tended to see an increase in the amount of magitek troopers being dropped in to the locale.

this one was long busted up though - complements of an anak. turning the dented and battered metal component over on the desk, kaleb arched a brow at ida's comment.

' what are they? this thing drove a herd of anaks berserk until they managed to trample it. '

@housetummelt

[madeofthreads]

@housetummelt | x

Serah stretched and exaggerated a sigh, expectantly watching. Then her hands clapped down on her knees, her little legs kicking in the air, the chair still too tall for her feet to reach the floor when she sat down. "So!" she piped up, practically grinning from ear to ear.

Then she stopped and had to really listen. Her grandfather didn't make the copy game easy with that one, which was no problem, because she gasped excited and leapt up with a little thump where she landed, her arms triumphant in the air.

"OPA'S HELPING MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" And she was off. Her statement trailed elsewhere into one of the other rooms, haphazardly picking up toys ready to dump them in a storage bin that hopefully her poor old grandfather would follow around with.

[meldaciomartyr]

@housetummelt

[proxnotxaxfool]

@housetummelt continued from (x)

slowing his pace as he stepped into the kitchen, he took his time to let his mother know that he was there. he did the same in ezma's house. it wasn't his house - home, yes, but not his house and as such he respected the privacy of those who lived under its roof.

he'd still ask his mother and dave before taking something, be it something from the fridge or something from the hoard of supplies in the spare room, all in spite of dave telling him there was no need to ask.

it was about respect ... probably more so to do with the lack thereof that he'd had when he'd been a teenager. but that was long gone now.

canting his head to try and peer around his mother, reno's curiosity was met with a dish cloth, and the assumption she'd either been preparing something for dinner or she didn't want him to see what she'd been doing, he settled for leaning back against the edge of the kitchen table.

he'd dragged it out at a bit with dave, but he was under a time constraint now - selena would have told her folks by now he reckoned. and he couldn't play a joke on his mother as easily as he could with dave, she'd see right through him.

' du bliver bedstemor, mor. '

[holyguardian]

Ida did not know what had happened to this girl. Not fully, yet. But from her own research into scientific documents, it had been a hell few could imagine. Most of these documents were classified, though. Or outright didn't... exist.

It had awoken a cold wrath within Ida - though she would not let Aerith know. To have found this little mite at the train station in time was all that mattered. And giving her a better life now. When Aerith was ready to talk, she would listen. And do all it needed.

Combing gently through the long brunette curls, Ida braided Aerith's hair with the hum of a child's song on her lips.

"What pin do you want me to put into your hair, elskede?", she asked with smile, looking over the girl's shoulder into the mirror, "A butterfly? A star? A heart? A flower? Or a bow?"

- @housetummelt Ida

@housetummelt

It had been a week of new-normal. That was what Ida had called it, and Aerith had for the most part hit the ground running. She had a dozen questions to fire off at any given moment, almost overstimulated by how different this world was.

Her lips had been sealed shut about her memories of the lab. Those were her mother's wishes... to not speak about Shinra, or Professor Hojo. They had to keep their heads down. Her first day in the Tummelt household had been a little awkward, where she took her mother's instructions too literally and had stared at her feet the entire morning.

"Uhhhhh." Aerith indecisively swayed her head this way then that, no doubt making the task of brushing out her curls all the more active. Her eyes met with Ida's in the mirror and a smile blossomed on her lips. She could see what adorned her blonde hair. "A bow." Then they could match.

"Why do the parks have pretend trees?" her first question of the morning. "Do I have to 'home school' again today?" The concept was still a foreign one, and she didn't like how stupid it made her feel. It wasn't like she had ever been taught properly. "Why can't I follow Reno to his school school?" Perhaps the question could be dodged artfully, given how quickly she chased it up with another. "What about Loqi? He doesn't school, he becomes a dinosaur."

[meldaciomartyr]

❝ i never wanted any of this to happen. ❞   - Ida

Horizon: Forbidden West

The bags were packed an' Dave couldn't blame Ida. He really couldn't. This was his home an' he would wager his life on it that Meldacio was safe even with Selena knowin' of their true origins.

But jus' cause he'd wager his life on it, wasn't fair to expect Ida t'do the same or that of her boys.

She hadn't wanted him t'tell Kaleb, but he had. That's been a hell of an argument, an' the head hunter was still convinced that he'd made the right call. Because Kaleb was tryin' to damage-control with Selena right now ... woulda been nothin' short o' nuclear if he hadn't known the truth in advance. He loved the man like a brother, but he also knew how Kaleb's first instinct was anger an' fight. At least now he'd had time t'mellow an' understand the different perspectives.

But that same understandin' stretched to Ida right now an' Dave nodded slowly when she padded up the hallway with a sad expression on her face. 'I never wanted any of this to happen'.

The fleein' the Empire, losin' her husband, searchin' for her boys, settlin' here, tellin' other folks the truth, the fallin' for each other ... he didn't know if she was referrin' to some o' those things or 'em all. Didn't matter; his actions had a part t'play in puttin' her in this situation an' causin' the fear she was feeling now. "I know, an' m'sorry for that Ida."

Dave didn't close the door behind him; she was free t'go if she wanted. If anythin' he'd help her if she wanted. "I don't want ya t'leave darlin', but I ain't gonna stop y'all neither. I'm t'blame for he way yer feelin'."

"I don't know where's the best for y'all to lay low if y'wanna leave, but if ya tell me I can sort out accommodation an' transport." He stopped then, comin' up to a silence he didn't know how to broach, because this was a reality Dave hadn't considered. He'd never given a second thought t'havin' a partner after losin' his wife ... an' along had come this extraordinary lady with a fire, fight an' intellect that humbled him each day, along with her wit an' humour. And now he could lose her again, and an out of character selfish whisper escaped him.

"I don't want you t'leave Ida."

@housetummelt

[meldaciomartyr]

"Which is why we gotta look out for each other, we're one people when everythin' else is stripped away." Neither the King or the Empire gave a crap, so that meant folks had t'care about each other instead. He meant that; it was a belief he would hold regardless of politics or war.

The icy coldness of Ida's words made Dave bow his head a little more; he felt guilty for givin' life to the thoughts he'd had swirlin' for a while now. The nightmare that came back again an' again that the Crown City was gearin' itself up t'be a massive target. He was a simple hunter, at the opposite side o' the continent to Insomnia ... he hunted daemons and varmints, not guessed at military moves.

"I didn't mean t'talk outta turn." It was an honest admission; somehow he'd made this conversation worse. As if it wasn't bad enough hidin' out here in Caem, tryin' to hide an imperial lady an' her two renegade sons. But he bit his lip as Ida continued her speech, an' for the first time he realised that maybe she didn't truly understand Lucis.

There wasn't enough folks across the mainland for the Empire to use like she said; they were livin' in small outposts dotted around miles an' miles of hostile lands inhabited by beasts an' daemons. But it was the threat o' usin' folks against each other. He guessed she had seen that happen in the Empire time an' time again ... and maybe he was naive, but Dave doubted the people around him would cede to that. The hunters had spent nearly a hundred years workin' on this network of hunters, tipsters an' contacts connectin' every outpost. The empire was the threat that drove them to look out for one another.

Y'gotta an outlook I'll never have, an' I'm sorry yer life's led to that." That she's been put through such a wringer to have that cold and clinical view. She was entitled to have it; it was a defense mechanism. "There ain't no right answer, no better option for you or yer boys ... an' I'm not gonna sit here an' patronise ya by tryin' to tell you what to choose, Ida."

He turned the mug in his hands again, eyes finding hers. "- if ya wanna go t'the city, I can get y'all inside the wall but it'll take a couple of weeks t'get my contact t'create paperwork that'll pass the city guards. There's other options too; Lestallum is a medium-sized city with a power-plant an' Altissia too. I got folks in every outpost; whatever you feel is best for yer boys, I'll help."

What the head hunter feared was a reasonable worry. But Ida did not understand why he thought it was better to stay outside the Crowncity over this all.

Leaning back, she creased her brows a little.

"So you think it would be better to stay in the territories the king can potentially hand over to the Empire? If that happens, we will be found within days. They will take Reno and Loqi away from me. And probably tell me to stand in front of a wall and remain still before they shoot me."

Her words were non-chalant. Cold. But she felt like Dave did not understand. The crowncity probably was their only reasonable chance, where else did they have to go to?

"Dave, if the Empire gets all the lands outside of Insomnia handed over... I fear you don't understand. If that happens, they will comb the lands. Nothing will be like you know it. They will make you work for them. You will be stripped of all your life. They will look through your people and decide who will fit which work. Most will go into industries that fuel the war or companies loyal to the Emperor. Those who can fight will be turned to the military. The young ones especially, your daughter's generation. Deserters like me will be killed. Reno... maybe, too. Maybe they pressure him with Loqi. Loqi goes back to the military to be brainwashed. You? They will use all your knowledge to weaken Lucis further. If you deny them, they take your daughter."

"I have no illusions about king Regis handing me and my boys back over... but you shouldn't have any illusions about the Empire either. Neither the emperor, nor the king would pay a second thought to any of us."

[soldier-lodbrok]

𝘒𝘕𝘖𝘞𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘗𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘕𝘌𝘙 𝘞𝘌𝘓𝘓 𝘊𝘈𝘕 𝘗𝘖𝘛𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘐𝘈𝘓𝘓𝘠 𝘔𝘈𝘒𝘌 𝘞𝘙𝘐𝘛𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘛𝘖𝘎𝘌𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙 𝘈 𝘓𝘖𝘛 𝘌𝘈𝘚𝘐𝘌𝘙. REPOST DO NOT REBLOG !!

NAME: Vers

PRONOUNS : She/her

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION : Discord! IMs somehow often get lost.

NAME OF MUSE(s) : oh fuck...

Final Fantasy: Glenn Lodbrok @soldier-lodbrok Rufus Shinra @rufusofshinraKihel @kihel-sorcas Somnus Lucis Caelum @somnus-lucis-caelum Loqi Tummelt @loqis // his parents: @housetummelt Bahamut @deusdraconis

Far Cry 5: Jacob Seed @only-we Wheaty @whitetail-wheaty Thomas Rush @in-rush-we-trust

OC: Enok Virkow @enokvirkow my baby

and a few others...

BEST EXPERIENCE : Finding friends through this with whom I have talked almost every day for years now! @holyguardian ; @kunselxsoldier ; @proxnotxaxfool ! <3

RP PET PEEVES / DEALBREAKERS : Forcing my muses in roles/actions that don't fit their character at all.

MUSE PREFERENCES: The NPC that shows up for a whole screentime of like 2mins throughout the entire game obviously.

PLOTS OR MEMES : Both - Memes start short interactions. Plots for the threads that develop. Vice versa when chatting beforehand.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES : Both, though I try to find a middle ground currently.

BEST TIME TO WRITE : Whenever muse strikes, though I mostly write in the evening when I have time.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S) : Nah. Some characteristics maybe a lil in some acros steh board. I tried writing a character with a very similar occupation to mine once. Didn't like it.

Tagged by: @roleplay-abiogenesis2

Tagging: @holyguardian @kunselxsoldier @proxnotxaxfool @vctlan @midgarwhispers

@cybrvce @hiislegacy @annjiru @snowbanshee @phantasiiae

@sephaeroth @gcldfanged @ofgeneticperfection @evcryopeneye and whomever feels like it!