#it also reminds me that [idk there could be a lot of Layers of larger/smaller worlds within worlds again]

[unproduciblesmackdown]

reading the end of hiagb made me realize that when following along live i'd read a lot more of it than i thought and it's fun that it's overarchingly how a nut and a bug launched into space b/c of being sick of the world & into a temple at the edge of time & not-actually-infinite versions of themselves re: every [alternate timeline based on different choices/possibilities] can coexist in the same world with every bug tasked w/launching every nut back to the temple for reasons re: maintaining things and all the looping is disrupted by one bug who dated their nut and another bug whose quantum leap error was rectified by being teleported into another nut. the One System Error in an iterative process, one organic Idk Things Just Went Differently This Time As They Always Could've But Maybe Otherwise Virtually Never Did And That's Enough "that's / [one is] all it takes" vs "it's all the same / what's the diff" loops. no rules

[xaz-fr]

The Story So Far

@griminal-rising @deadpool-scar-bro @hikayelastoria @cornsnoot-fr @redlion-fr @mushroomdraggo @tales-around-sornieth (let me know if you’d like to be added to the lore pinglist)

dragons are humanoid unless said otherwise

like my writing? Consider buying me a coffee

Idk. I didn’t really have a point with this. I just wanted some dragon interactions, especially with some of my new dragons. And also that like... going back and forth between forms isn’t something done quickly but Amun’s just a stubborn idiot who refuses to make his life easy by staying humi.

A Dull Ache

Jessabelle liked having an employee. It meant she could do other things instead of constantly have to watch the front of the shop. Like do inventory and put in orders with traveling traders or, her favorite, make bargains with said traders. Most of the regulars knew of her and any new traders were aware of the wiley swamp-bound skydancer. She was just glad they had things other clans thought were valuable. Since the Hall had expanded there was now actual products to sell on a fairly regular basis. Dodge was also a model employee. Was respectful, quiet, and knew how to talk the trader talk. That and he wasn’t intimidated by anyone. Not even Shi and Jessabelle didn’t like to admit even she was a bit intimidated by Shi. She left him in charge of the front of the shop while she was going over her ledger.

“Jessa!” she looked up when Dodge called her name.

“What?” she called back, not ready to get up from her desk quite yet.

“There’s a scavenger here looking for you-

Jessabelle jumped out of her chair and was through the curtain that separated her home from the shop before Dodge had even finished speaking. “Amun!” she sort of hated herself for being happy to see the Wildclaw. He was covered in dirt, his hide and feathers more than a bit smeared with dried mud and his normally shimmering wings were dull from a fine layer of dust over them.

“Jessabelle,” he said in short greeting and eyed Dodge as she came around the counter. “Who’s that?” His crest was a bit pulled back.

She stepped on one of his slowly extending big claws and gave him a look. “That’s my new employee, Dodge,” she said.

“Employee?” he gave her a confused look.

“It’s getting busier around here. The Hall’s getting bigger,” she said.

“Ma’am, who is this?” Dodge asked, eyeing Amun with equal distrust as Amun was him.

“This is Amun, he’s an associate of mine. He goes out and raids Second Age ruins and brings back interesting things… or garbage,” she gave Amun a look. He just shrugged non commitedly.

“Ah,” Dodge wasn’t so suspicious now.

“Where were you?” she asked Amun.

“Wastes, came north through Expanse coast. New volcano off the coast of the Wastes,” and he started unloading his bags and satchels and containers onto the counter.

“Hey, watch the dirt. You’re making a mess,” Dodge said. Amun ignored him.

“A new volcano?” Jessabelle asked him. Amun nodded. “You look into it?” He shook his head as he pulled a large, metal, ring out from a bag much too small to contain it and set it on the counter. “Why not?”

“Looked bad. Lots of fighting. Too much Fire,” he upended the rest of the bag and several large, uncut, pieces of gemstone fell out. “Great Furnace slow working,” he took another bag and started taking iron rods out of it. “Iron supply low, Lightning clans are buying whatever they can. Could only get this much.”

“How much is it?” Jessabelle asked.

“Fifty pounds?” Amun wasn’t sure himself.

“You put fifty pounds of iron in that bag? How?” Dodge demanded.

Amun looked at Dodge and then turned away from him. Dodge’s wings fanned out angrily but Amun was ignoring him. “Couldn’t get any copper. Lightning clans buy too much.”

“Silver? Gold?” she asked.

“Hmmm,” he took another bag and dumped it onto the counter. “Ore,” he said as dark rocks rolled out onto the wooden counter.

“Amun, we live in a swamp. What are we going to do with ore?” she demanded. Amun just shrugged. “You didn’t bring me something stupid like gravel again did you?”

“It had diamonds in it,” was his only reply.

“Yeah, and I had to pick them out by hand!”

“This,” he didn’t respond to her annoyance and reached into a pocket on his vest. “Found in ruins between Wastes and Expanse.”

“Oh,” she took the pretty thing. It was a ruby carved into the shape of a rose. Then she narrowed her eyes a little, “Did you bring it for me?”

“Two,” he took out another one. This one was bigger and she felt a bit slighted. She didn’t know why. She knew she just did this to herself.

“Oh, well that’s something,” he put the rose back into the pocket. “That it?” she asked.

“Mmmm,” he patted down his bags and pouches while Dodge looked at all the stuff he’d dumped onto the counter miserably. “Hmm,” he found a bag that wasn’t empty and carefully took the items out. It was a bunch of raw crystal of various colors.

“What are these?” Dodge asked.

“Fire crystal,” Amun said. “Er- made from fire, crystals. Not Fire crystals,” he elaborated and Jessabelle had never heard him elaborate on anything. He looked back at Jessabelle, “That’s it,” he said.

“Well, alright,” she looked at what Amun had brought. It wasn’t an insignificant amount of stuff. A bunch of trash like usual: Rocks, twigs, branches, scraps of fabric, cracked or broken pottery and glassware. But there was some good stuff too at least. “Dodge, I want you to catalog everything, sort it, and put it away,” she said.

“All this crap?” Dodge groaned.

“Yes. That’s why I pay you,” she said nicely but not too nicely.

Dodge sighed, “Yes ma’am.”

“When you’re done you can close up the shop and go.”

“Really?” he perked up at that.

“Yes,” she said.

“Okay,” he seemed more cheerful about that.

“As for you,” she rounded on Amun who was scratching some dried mud off his haunch, realized Jessabelle was looking at him and looked more than a little sheepish about being caught. “You’re filthy, come with me,” and she grabbed his claw and led him into the back house. Dodge watched them out of the corner of his eye but otherwise didn’t comment.

“Jessabelle-

“You can stand to spend some time here first,” she scolded him gently when Amun tried to weasel his way out of it.

Amun sighed a little. “Fine.”

“It wouldn’t kill you to take somewhat good care of yourself. Look at you, you’re filthy.”

“I was outside,” he huffed.

“So?”

“In the mud and stuff.”

Jessabelle stopped, “Amun,” she said slowly. “We live. In a swamp,” she reminded him. He just sighed but didn’t argue with her. “Go put your things down, I’ll start a bath,” she said and shooed him off to the other room. His wings slumped a little but he went. She heard him starting to take all his crap off in a clatter of metal, stone, and bags. She went to another room where there was a tub. She filled it and filled a smaller basin as well with a faucet connected to a water purifier. It was newish. She was glad that the Hall was getting larger, wealthier. They could afford things like this now.

She looked over her shoulder when he stepped into the room. He was still covered in mud and dirt but was without his effects. “Come here,” she beckoned to him. He did as he was told and she turned off the faucet so it didn’t overflow and grabbed a rather large rag, dunked it in the basin water and went about taking off the worst of the dirt and dried mud he’d accumulated. She knew it was a bit more difficult for him to get his back haunches and his back, Wildclaws weren’t flexible like Skydancers were, say nothing to the fact that their front claws were shorter. Not that you should ever mention the fact that a Wildclaw’s front limbs were too short. That was a good way to get maimed. He started making that content noise in his throat as she cleaned got all the gross dirt off him. “Okay, I think you can get in without making the water filthy immediately,” she said, standing back to admire both her handiwork and how good Amun looked.

A Wildclaw clambering into a tub of water was about as graceful as it sounded but Jessabelle didn’t let that ruin her enjoyment of it. Amun flopped down so just the top of his head and wings were above water, just enough to keep barely his nostrils in the open air. “You look silly,” she told him. His crest just flapped as if to so, ‘no I don’t’. “Like one of our hatchlings when I make them take a bath,” she said. Amun looked away from her. What? Did she not like reminding him? Well too bad. He had to live with his choices

“But you aren’t so I assume you don’t need my help to get clean, hmm?” she asked him. She handed him a different rag and a large bar of soap.

“You were doing a good job earlier,” he lifted his head out of the water just enough to talk.

“Yeah, but would you appreciate it?” she asked. Again he looked away. “That’s what I thought,” she tried not to be suddenly hateful. Why was he like this? She left the soap and rag on the side of the tub and left him in the bath. She went and checked on Dodge and found him finishing up. She left him there and went back to her ledger book.

She looked up when Amun came out of the bathroom, not quite dripping but his velvet and feathers were glistening. He scratched at his crest and went into the bedroom where he’d left his things. She was a fool but followed after him. “You’re all wet,” she huffed as she was in time to see him flop down in her bed.

“Stop complaining,” he said and yawned.

“It’s my bed, I will if I want.”

“Funny, I seem to be the only one in it,” he said.

Jessabelle didn’t take the bait. She went over and took his head in both her hands. “This is my house,” she said in a soft voice, “and you’re getting my bed damp.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he said with such casualness Jessabelle felt her face heat up a little. He butted his snout against her chin cutely.

“No,” she shoved his fat head away. “Last time you did that I was sore for a week,” she folded her arms.

“Yeah but it was fun,” his lips parted in a Wildclaw smile.

“For you.”

“Nah, you had fun too,” Amun said. She wasn’t about to deny it twice. She just kept her arms folded moodily. He butted his nose against her chin again.

She put her hand on the top of his head and pushed it down. “If you want to have fun change forms,” she said.

He sighed dramatically and slouched across the bed. “But that takes so long,” he complained.

“Well it wouldn’t if you just stuck to one that works,” she said.

“I can carry more in my birth form,” he complained.

“What are you? My son? I don’t care,” she put her hands on her hips. “Dry off before you start so you don’t keep my bed all damp,” she added and gave his wings a bit of a push.

Grumbling Amun did get up and used a dry towel to dry himself off. Jessabelle helped and he kept trying to be cute and bump her chin or shoulder but she wasn’t falling for it. She already fell for him plenty but this she was putting her foot down about. Once he was dry he flopped back down on the bed and laid out on it with a sigh. She knew it had started when his leg jerked and he winced. She sat on the bed next to him and put her hand on his neck. He sighed again and closed his eyes. “I’ll be right here,” she said. Wincing he shifted a bit to put his head on her lap and she gently cradled his head and rubbed the top of his head and eye ridges comfortingly. “You just to this to yourself, always insisting on changing back,” she said, not quite scolding.

“Not helping, Jessabelle,” he grunted as his wings shuttered and she heard his jaw click as he ground his teeth. She looked at him sympathetically, knowing it was pain but she wasn’t wrong either. If he just stayed humi he wouldn’t have to do this all the time.

She called a box over from her nightstand with magic and opened it when it came into her hand. Inside were gears and a cylinder with bumps on it that would tink against a series of thin, tuned, pieces of metal when wound. She turned the knob, winding it up. It started spinning and playing a little melody. She set the box gently down on the floor. Amun shuttered again and she ran her fingers through his crest as the music box played which was enough the drown out his whimpering.