#m!lk spoo

[avellanas-nutty-empire]

Different kinds of strength Pt1

Similar to For The Sake Of A Smile by @snippychicke, Iruma has an adoptive human Aunt that followed him into the netherworld. Shes the librarian at Babyls and Jazz goes to her of all people for help addressing his familiar Spoo

Iruma is a kind hearted individual. One bad thing about this however, is his lack of associating weakness with softness. Not to say that Iruma - being a softie - is weak, but rather he would be openly vocal about others' softness (and thus weakness) than demons would normally be comfortable with.

It's like he knows a secret, but doesn’t understand why it's important to be discretionary about it. He could easily spill the secret accidentally, without intending to cause the harm that would inevitably follow...

This is what caused Jazz to further communicate with Iruma about the instance in which he found out about his familiar: Spoo.

Iruma was hiding in the room Jazz and Spoo were practicing in, so he could easily eat where the ‘Snack Police’ could not find and apprehend him. Iruma was kind; and Jazz doubted he would intentionally hurt another in such a way, but he had to be sure that his loose lips would always remember that Jazz knew his snacking secret whenever he thought of Spoo. Just to be sure.

"If you're really still worried about his appearance, Jazz, you might wanna talk with my Aunt, Flora."

This was not at all the reaction Jazz expected. Which - Iruma did cower in fear at first, when the mention of keeping Spoo’s appearance discretionary immediately changed Jazz’s demeanor - but now he had realized the purpose, and was unfazed by Jazz's threats.

"Seriously," He continued as Jazz went blank-faced. "She has a lot of experience with personal appearance struggles. I think it might help."

Despite his bafflement at the suggestion, this bit of information must not dissuade Jazz from his original mission.... ensuring Iruma’s ultimate silence about Spoo.

"I'll still tell Clara and the whole Snack Police if you tell." He said firmly, at which Iruma stiffened again - for Clara and Azz had just appeared behind Jazz. The two students met eyes once more.

"My lips are sealed!" Iruma said before scampering off towards his main 2 friends. Thank Devi he didn't have any snacks to hide at that moment, or he would've been a goner.

---

Flora had taken over Babyls’ Library not long after most of the misfit class had gone to Walter Park together in the summer. She was supposedly as secluded as Iruma had been from the rest of the Netherworld before entering Babyls (though how Sullivan managed to keep his mouth shut about his precious daughter and grandson for such a time, Jazz would never be certain enough to bet on). She was unranked, and seemed to have a wide array of general knowledge rather than one particular specialty.

She was physically and magically weak like Spoo, but there wasn't much else Jazz could see in comparison. The bit Iruma said about personal appearance experience got Jazz quite more curious about her, however. Was she insecure about her rankless status, was there some sort of trauma she suffered that affected her sense of self? It was too perplexing a concept for him to ignore.

He had to know what the fuck Iruma was talking about. Was he calling him insecure?

Flora definitely seemed to be as shy as Iruma was kind - on top of being equally as kind - but the more Jazz tried to think about it, the more his brain tried to shut the thoughts down; such levels of kindness were unnatural in the netherworld. Better to just straight up confront her.

But how?

---

Flora was known through out Babyls  for not only being the Librarian, but also being rankless, kind, shy… and also riding astride a fucking nightmare’s back to and fro various long distances.

Right on top of their wing base.

The subject in question then became how the fuck Flora had managed to have such steep control over a netherworld creature that it would allow her to sit there as it moved, while still being as weak as she was.

Everyone saw the way she treated the nightmares though, and the sight was less than steeped in control; which is what was even more perplexing.

"What does your familiar look like?" Jazz blurted, suddenly popping up from her desk one day. Startled, Flora dropped her book down and braced one hand on her chest and another against the desk for support as she tried to calm herself down from the fright. "You have one, right? One of the nightmares?" Jazz continued, unbothered.

Flora took another moment to steady herself, which was considered normal for her. She needed a moment longer to tell her mind and body that it was not, in fact, in danger. Probably something picked up from her theoretically traumatic past, everyone figured. She was weak and rankless, and thus used much more adrenaline running through her to survive whatever danger she encountered.

"Well," Flora started, settling into a normal more relaxed position to converse with the student. "Chestnut is my familiar, but why do you ask?" Discussing and showing off her familiar’s appearance - while self-satisfying - would draw too much attention to her. She was a human, after all; just like Iruma. Although the act of obtaining her own familiar had been precise and intentional, now that more knowledge was known about humans having familiars after Iruma undoubtedly re-summoned Kalego after supposedly forever breaking their familiar contract bond.

"....just curious." Jazz says, intending to be careful. Flora took more care in sealing her lips on sensitive topics that she didn’t understand the sensitivity about, but she still let a few things slip willy-nilly once and a while. The lack of context gave Flora a pause in her response.

"....are you doing some sort of research?" She finally asked.

Research? Plenty of students came into the library for their scholarly and personal research purposes. Yes, that is what this would be classified as for Jazz. Personal research.

"Yes. I'm curious about familiars' varying appearances, their functions and perceptions based on them. And how often familiars appearances change."

"Oh, my. Let's see..." This was quite a specific inquiry, one more suited for a teacher who knew more about familiars; like Robin, seeing as he was the instruction for familiar classes - even Kalego would be a better choice, as he oversaw each students familiar summoning every year. "Honestly, you might be better off asking Robin or Kalego. They have more experience with various familiars than I do."

Jazz grimaced at the suggestion. Robin was too..... all over the place. And he would gain hardly anything more than he was already getting from regular familiar lectures (although lecture is not the word one would use to describe Robin’s lessons). Kalego would certainly know about various familiar forms, but... the demon was too brash and strict a teacher as it was for Jazz. That one bonus lesson in Walter park had been hell enough - he wanted to avoid more if he could.

“I've heard enough about their private lessons from Iruma, Soi, and Lied for my own taste. Surely you know something about peculiar cases yourself?” Jazz pressed. He wanted Flora of all demons to be the one to open up about this. Not because of anything Iruma has implied or said, but because she was kind and patient and quiet - not noisy and boisterous like the rest of the staff he would otherwise have to turn to.

“Hmmm....” This was clearly a sensitive matter to Jazz, from what Flora could tell. He was unwilling to offer much information or seek a more reliable and trustworthy source. And while demons did act differently from humans, Flora was at least certain about this. “Come inside my office for a minute”

---

‘Office’ is the word Flora used. ���Prep room’ is the word anyone else in the Netherworld would’ve used. Nevertheless, Flora had made it into quite the little personal reading nook. A spot for snuggled reading, a spot for note taking, and a spot for organization and planning.... Its personal touch was a bit odd compared to the other teachers' prep rooms - though Flora is a rather odd demon, Jazz supposed. 

Jazz took a seat on a couch before a smallish coffee table, while Flora took to a small single chair. As she settled in, she pulled her feet and legs up into the seat with her, curling her arms and body around to keep them in place as she sat.

“So what's this specifically you're looking for?” Flora started. Jazz was still a bit hesitant to be so outright with the information at hand, but he figured that alone in the prep room no one would overhear or see about his little Spoo’s condition. He let out an aggravated sigh.

“My familiar’s appearance.” He began. The crux of the issue was that despite Spoo's growing skills, uses, and talents, his appearance was still cause for concern in the young demon. Spoo had some scales at the base of his tail, and he managed to steal Irumas secret snacks that one time they were discovered, but Jazz had still ultimately decided to use the face mask thing that was intended for Soi during the music festival for the heartbreaker exam. Jazz loved Spoo, and accepted him. But it felt like with this insecurity, he hadn't truly accepted Spoo for everything that he is. And that did not sit well with him.

“... you want to change it's appearance?” Flora questioned after allowing Jazz a paused moment to think.

“Yes.” Surely that was safe enough to admit.

“Well,” She started. “From what I understand, a familiars appearance is based on the summoners personality. It's a reflection of who they are on the inside.”

“Yes” Jazz confirmed.

“So are you afraid or upset by what your familiar’s appearance has to say about your personality?” Flora asked.

“Well...” Jazz paused again. How could he say this correctly? “It's not that I don't care for my familiar; I've accepted him, and his appearance is not his own fault in the slightest. But what his appearance says about my personality doesn't match up with...” He drifted off, rotating his hands in a circle to try and grasp the end to his sentence. 

Flora almost felt as though she were a therapist of sorts at this moment. Jazz was clearly having trouble voicing the crux of the issue - something she could relate to - so she did her best to ease it out of him in a way he wouldn't freeze up or pause much over.

“What do you think about your own personality? Who do you think you are as a demon?” She prompted. Jazz had to think long and hard about that.

“Who am I....” He mumbled, looking at the floor as he thought. “My brother is just about the worst. And I'm convinced if I were in his shoes as an older brother I would be much better behaved.” Flora nodded at this, indicating she was listening and had heard the meaning behind his words. “But my family bloodline ability contradicts that idea. A thief can't be soft. Snakes have scales, not fur.”

“Are you a snake?” Flora - as a human - was quite partial to metaphors and similes, but she knew such things could be harder to grasp for demons - and hell, even some humans had a particularly hard time with the constant way she formed and wove them into her life.

“My fingers are snake-like when I steal, and my familiar's original appearance has two snake tails.” Jazz supplied, thinking he knew where she was going.

“Hmmm.... so you are expected to be tough like a snake... but deep inside you feel soft?” Jazz grimaced at the word. Soft often equated to weak in the Netherworld, and to be perceived as such made a dangerous target of demons. Jazz thought it was a miracle already that Flora had survived this long in the Netherworld - much less taken care of Iruma in it. “Why is it a bad thing?” She asked in response to Jazz’s own response to the word soft.

“Soft means weak,” He stated more firmly as he sat, hunched over with hands balled on top of his legs, pink tipped ears of embarrassment. He opened his mouth to speak again - something similar along the lines of what he had just said - but Flora interrupted him. 

“I hate that notion.” Voice and posture stern, her legs were now curled flat against the chair she sat upon instead of hugged around her arms. Jazz looked up at her in surprise, forgetting his own embarrassment. “It speaks nothing to the power softness holds.” He sat there with his mouth open for a hot second before Flora finally decided what to do next.

“Come see my Familiar,” She said.

---

Sullivan had a stable area made at Babyls ever since he first got the nightmares and carriage for Iruma; but the area has since been turned over to Flora as she tamed the horse-like creatures. 

“I assume you've got a familiar summoning seal on you?” Flora had asked on their walk over, prompting Jazz to quickly steal one off of a nearby demon they passed.

When they arrived, Jazz had never seen anything like it. The carriage itself was stored off to the side and well out of the way - or at least it would have been, had it been rode to school that day. The rest of the place was strewn with straw and hay, and built mostly out of wood. There was a small section for the saddles, bridles, blankets, grooming tools, etcetera that Flora had called ‘tack’ and then there were the stable sections for the individual nightmares.

“Let's see that seal now,” Flora said, holding out her hand for the sticker. Jazz gave it to her while looking around some more, still quite unused to the stables. Quickly putting the sticker on and raising her hand, Flora summoned her familiar. With a small flash, a white nightmare appeared beside the librarian. 

Jazz was startled by the scene, causing the creatures to flatten their ears back and snort in agitation before Flora calmed them down.

“Do your best to keep your emotions minimal and under control, they might get startled.” Flora stated, running her hands through the white nightmares mane of hair - silver sparkling hair, that was originally plain white like a cloud. The creature's coat was glossy white as it shimmered, and its horn seemed to glow with magic... Jazz had never seen anything like it.

“Whoah...” Was all he managed to get out while Flora continued to soothe the nightmare at her fingers.

“What do you notice?” Flora asked, prompting for an answer.

“Uh... The horn looks like it's brimming with magic and the hooves look like they could kill with one kick - but at a distance, this thing looks more like some sort of fluffy decoration?” Jazz frowned at the realization once the words came to him. How could something be so soft and so deadly? 

“That's right. Chestnut here is a very pretty nightmare who could kill you in one fell swoop - she is soft AND strong. At the same time, and neither takes away from the other.” Flora paused for a moment to allow Jazz to soak all the information up. “Now, let's see yours”

Jazz was startled just enough to manage to summon Spoo before he thought too clearly on the subject. With a poof, the fluffy little doggo was before their feet and the white nightmare was snuffing for context on what was happening. Flora sat on the ground and crossed her legs, opening up to the new creature with a smile.

“Well hi there little fella, what's your name?” As Spoo determined the librarian was not a threat, he pawed his way over a little to greet her. Flora offered her hand for sniffing and some head scratches. Jazz sank to the floor from his own embarrassment. After a while of getting acquainted with the new familiar, Flora finally spoke again. “So what's wrong with him?” She asked.

Probably the wrong wording, given Jazz’s response.

“That's the thing, nothing’s wrong with him!” He burst out, causing the nightmares in the stable to stir a little. Flora hushed them and got Chestnut to plop down on the floor with them, then waited for Jazz to elaborate. “He’s....He’s very loyal and hard working and we have a good bond, and he’s been becoming more physically useful with his physical form - he could hardly do anything at first - but his appearance is still..... Just some soft little guy.” Jazz paused to scritch Spoo himself, nearing the end of his explanation. “He’s a symbol of my soft weak spot”

“He’s a symbol of your love and your heart” Flora corrected softly. She was going to have NONE of that soft equaled weak/bad ideology. Jazz looked up at Flora, confused and awaiting an explanation of what she meant. “Do any of your fellow students feel like younger siblings to you?” Flora asked, remembering what he said earlier about his own older brother.

“Well..... at Walter Park, my group of guys asked me to lead and help them with such pleading little faces... it filled me with a sense of pride in my strength that they would come and look up to me like that - even though I was panicking - and during the heartbreaker exam when I first saw my kohai, I just felt... this deep sudden urge to prove that strength and pride all over again...”

“Hmmm,” Flora hummed in understanding. “That's a beautiful thing to see reflected in your familiar.”

“Yeah, but it also shows a weak spot. It shows that if people attack those I care about then they can get to me,” Jazz countered.

“It could also show how fiercely you’d protect them, if you wanted.” Flora said, making Jazz pause to think for a second. He looked back over at the white nightmare, laying belly flat on the stable floor with legs tucked in, all pure beauty and killing power rolled into one - and it dawned on him.

“Your familiar.... The beauty hides its strength, like a fly trap lures in prey only to chomp down on them when they get too close.” There were several such similar plants in the harvest festival that lured in prey with such deceiving tactics. “But, what are you trying to lure?” 

“Nothing, really. I’m just a big old softie willing to kill for those I care about. Not my fault if someone tries to take a bite out of something I'm protecting. The softness is for the ones I care about - and also for me, because it feels really nice - but I also have measures in place to protect what I find soft and beautiful, so that I can continue enjoying it.” Flora leaned back while clutching her toes, admiring the stable around them. Jazz looked too, trying to see it - and her - through new eyes.

Flora was rankless, kind, and shy - but she also had stomped around for days when Soi went missing after dropping out of school during the music festival. She defended her library with great strength, not afraid to kick anybody out who mistreated the space or materials. She defended everything she loved with great fierceness - including her differences. She loved deeply and strongly, and was a force to be reckoned with on the rare occasions she ever got mad.

“...why don't you have a rank?” Jazz asked upon reflection, thinking of everything Flora accumulated to. Soft, yes - but also fierce and strong. Why was she rankless?

“Well, that's because my forms of strength aren't measured by the ranking system, is all. My strength comes from love, and from the power of my mind - not my magic or my muscles. The ranking system doesn't really account for that, so it wouldn't reflect upon me properly.”

Stay tuned for part 2 in which Flora chases Jazz and Spoo around with a fucking bat like a madman!

[avellanas-nutty-empire]

I hope yall are prepared. for i have completed the writing of part 1 of a fic that was not supposed to have multiple parts and it will be posted hopefully in less than 2 days time

its jazz getting help with his familiar from my OC who is the librarian, similar to @snippychicke 's fic for the sake of a smile, but its me instead and if i throw in a love interest for her its gonna be kalego!

you might notice a lot of similarities - this is bc eliza and i are best best friends and she knows ALL ABOUT my unwritten fics that i swear one day ill write and we help edit some of eachothers writings so i prommy im not stealing or plagiarizing! we just besties like that :>