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eliaskahtri · 1 year ago

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Clap Your Hands if You Believe (Reprise) || Parker & Elias

Location: Wicked's Rest Public Library

Timing: Current

Parties: Parker (@wonder-in-wings) & Elias (@eliaskahtri)

Summary: Fae are real, and Elias runs into the guy with answers.

Content Warning: None

This was a bad idea. Elias knew that it was. He found himself in the archaic Wicked’s Rest library looking into dusty old books on fae. A few folk tales were spread out in front of him at the table, and he had a notebook off to the side as he jotted down key phrases that seemed to appear throughout the text. He knew they weren’t real, but he couldn’t deny that it had happened to him. The fact that there were people in his life who were reiterating these key phrases that he found in these books was enough to put him on edge. He knew he was flying too close to the sun on this, but he couldn’t put away the nagging feeling that he wasn’t crazy, that there was something more at play here. Knowing she knew he couldn't handle it, he didn’t want to bother Regan with the information.

“Fae promises,” he grumbled as he began copying down the information. It was an old book on Irish folk tales about faeries, nothing reputable. Then again, what the hell would be reputable about faeries? But what he had seen couldn’t be ignored. He needed to know more. If there was any chance that his medication was wrong, that he wasn’t crazy, he needed to know. This was just the first step. Elias couldn’t deny that the whole thing felt crazy and filled him with such a sense of dread that he almost couldn’t handle it. No, he had to be strong. He couldn’t let his fear of the unknown keep him from knowing the truth. He turned the page of the dusty book.

He looked up from his book, and the library had a few old people scattered about, some children in the corner for storytime. Elias felt silly. If anyone had come up to him and saw what he was doing, how would he explain it? He didn’t know if he could. He stared down at the text on the page; they were describing pixies now—Nothing about the animal-legged woman that had been killed. There's nothing about the aquatic fish-looking person. He racked his brain for a long moment, wondering where else he could find information. Greek mythology, of course! Elias shot up from his seat and went to the mythology section, searching for books on nymphs and satyrs, anything that would give him a lead.

Every once in a while, Parker frequented the library, which sounded strange once one was describing it as such. He remembered stealing away when he was a child to read fairy tales, making sure that after the lesson of ‘don’t let father catch you reading that’ was learned, he was well alone and aware of his surroundings when he did so. Otherwise, books on entomology, the occasional text on natural sciences, and anatomy and physiology were in his repertoire. Despite his father’s insistence on not letting his head get filled with inaccurate nonsense, Parker always felt it a little important to understand the general, naive populace’s perspective on fae, their culture, lifestyles, any penchants for mischief and the humanity they were capable of putting on to earn favor with nonfae. The books, the fairy tales, the mythos that surrounded the creatures was what most of the population had exposure and reference to; ergo, the Warden felt as though that knowledge was good to have, so he could know which parts were more reliable than others. It’d been many years since he had read fiction, which was what he was doing at the library that day. After scouring his usual genres in vain attempts to learn anything new about insects, survival practices and how to make and maintain friends, Parker was now in the bulky mythology section but, strangely, he wasn’t reading about fae. Indeed, he was standing near one of the high-reaching, dilapidated shelves reading about werewolves of all things. He still disliked werewolves, but since there were apparently more of those in town than he originally wanted or surmised (‘Oh so like the one that you know of, possibly two including the one that attacked Rhett?’ Walker asked dryly) but he was nothing if not a learning creature. He wasn’t sure what he was learning or how accurate it was, but he was so involved in the meaty mythology book that he didn’t realize that he was obstructing an entire shelf.

—

Upon reaching the mythology section, Elias noticed a figure blocking the spot he wanted to search. “Excuse me,” he spoke softly, trying to get the individual’s attention. “I’m looking for a book on Greek mythology, specifically nymphs.” He explained, hoping he was standing in the exact spot he needed to reach. He felt silly, admitting his research aloud to a complete stranger. For a moment, he flashed back to his experience with the man who declared fae were real, who had almost killed his coworkers. The very reason he no longer had a job there. He blinked, forcing himself to will the thoughts out of his head.

Waiting for the person to move, Elias looked at the books in the other mythologies, finding a book on Celtic folklore, knowing there had to be something in there, remembering his research when he had first had his experience. Aos Sí, Banshees, there was much to unpack in Irish folklore. He clutched the book in his arms, noticing that the man had finally looked up from the book he was looking at.

Sneaking a peak on the cover of his thick tome, he grinned. “Anything good in there?” Elias asked, raising a brow in Parker’s direction. He patted the book he grabbed, trying to think of why he would be looking up faeries. “I’m looking into different legends of fae from different cultures.” He admitted, plucking a book called Nymphs Naiads and Satyrs off the shelf. With two books now in his grasp, he nodded his thanks and turned around to start reading.

The first set of syllables hit the wrong side of Parker’s head and he didn’t actually start attempting to listen to the man that approached the area he was standing until the latter mentioned a word that the Warden was specially trained to hear in any context, from any reasonable distance. It was fortunate that the stranger had said the word, otherwise the older man probably would’ve been “content” (i.e. apathetic enough not to actually care if he was in the way) to remain where he was. It served as a magic word of sorts and though he didn’t look up from his book at first, needing to memorize the page and sentence he was on, he did take a large, rather graceful step off to the side to allow the man entry to that particular section. Because of course the stranger needed to access the one section Parker was standing in front of in an otherwise-dead library. “I’m not sure.” Parker replied with a small furrow of his brow, his head instinctively turning to better hear whatever small talk the stranger wanted to engage in, though once he memorized his spot he himself cast sharp blue eyes to the book the stranger collected. “I don’t know which facets of werewolves are true and which ones are myths.” He himself admitted, perhaps in an attempt to… relate to the stranger. “They aren’t my area of expertise.” He paused, that same gaze traveling up until it was staring at the other man’s bearded face. “Why are you learning more about fae?” The Warden found himself asking, opting to use that as a jumping-off point for conversation rather than show all of his cards too soon, something he felt aware of over the past few months. He’d gotten complacent, sloppy. He was missing a finger now because of his lack of observation and situational awareness; Parker could still feel his father’s eyes boring into his back because of the deals and promises he’d made with Cass and Burrow.

—

Elias smiled brightly at the mention of werewolves. As an outdoorsman himself, his childhood had been filled with the fantasy of lycanthropy and werewolves that could possibly skulk about on the night of a full moon. “Lycanthropy? Interesting topic. But then again, I don’t have much room to talk.” He looked under the Greek mythology section and pulled out an encyclopedia of Greek heroes. “Lycaon is the origin of lycanthropy.” He spoke with a nod of his head. “Start there.” He recommended, holding the tome out for the other. “Good to know the origins to understand it better, right?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Twelve-year-old me was fascinated in werewolves and vampires.” He further explained.

Then, he was asked that question he had hoped the man wouldn’t ask him. Did he tell the truth? Maybe he did. Maybe, just maybe— “There was a long-haired, bearded man that came at me one night that held me at knifepoint.” Elias began to explain, clutching the books he had picked out tighter. “He told me that fae was real. And then a few weeks later, I… think I came across the body of one.” His voice was meek, as was his expression. “I need to know if I’m crazy.” He spoke, staring down at his shoes.

The medication he was prescribed, the chance that all of it could be made up in his head. The reason Elias ran away, the real fear he felt, could it all be for nothing? Could he truly be going crazy? He wanted to believe that he was because it made the knowledge of the supposed “truth” all the harder. He remembered what Marcus had said to him. That he needed to believe what he was seeing. Did Marcus know something? His mind was reeling at the realization that the man he had been stuck in a car with may hold answers. He blinked, letting his revelations go to the back burner as he looked back up at the man he finally realized he had told the truth to.

‘Interesting’ wouldn’t have been the word Parker would’ve used to describe giant, hairy, drooling beasts with their enzymes and noise and tongues and– ‘Hey wait you’re just describing dogs.’ Was that not what werewolves were, just… bigger, meaner, deadlier dogs? All of them were covered in fur, all of them were loud and destructive and– ‘Focus, Perky.’ The Warden’s face remained exactly as it was as these thoughts simmered just under the surface, but the stranger seemed enthusiastic enough to offer him a book on potential origins. Even if he wasn’t going to glean any insight from it, Parker realized that it would’ve been in bad form to reject taking the book so he did so with a four-fingered hand, but not before closing the one he had been reading from and setting it on an empty spot of the shelf. The book hadn’t been in his hands for a minute, however when the stranger, after a briefer pause than maybe it should’ve been considering what came after, promptly opened up to the Warden. The silent apology he considered verbalizing to the stranger regarding who was almost certainly described to be Rhett aside, Parker could feel his innate desire to share his information with the stranger starting to brush gently against his mind. The stranger wanted to know if he was crazy. He obviously got into an altercation with Rhett, the latter of which seemed to be just as… typical as he usually was to strangers and acquaintances alike. What was worse, he didn’t just share this information; few things, in Parker’s experience, seemed to dissuade someone from having a legitimate, insightful conversation than threats of violence. He wanted to ask what the context was for Rhett holding him at knifepoint; Rhett was… ambitious but he wasn’t stupid. Then came the part where he thought he saw a body. Unglamored, obviously. ‘...Answering your question, yeah, it’s bad that your first thought was wondering if it had anything worth harvesting.’ “You could be.” Parker replied bluntly. “But fae could also be real. Those two concepts are not mutually exclusive.” For all he knew, which wasn’t at all, the stranger could very well have been of unsound mind. That wasn’t Parker’s concern, however. He craned his neck and glanced at the book labeled “Nymphs, Naiads and Satyrs”, the furrow in his brow increasing for a moment. “Naiads are nymphs.” He said. “They’re nereids and nixies; one for saltwater, one for freshwater, respectively.” The Warden’s sharp eyes darted back up to the other man’s face once more. “Which type of nymph do you think might make you seem less crazy?” He opted to ask.

—

“Not mutually exclusive,” Elias echoed with a nonplussed expression written across his face. This man wasn’t the first person to not deny the existence of something bigger and more powerful out there. The fact that this man was even entertaining his wild statements was enough to cause him to pause. “So you know a lot about the topic.” He noted with his interest piqued. After being told that nymphs were naiads, he slowly put the book back. It's probably unreliable if the author was already getting information wrong, right?

If fae were real, that opened a door Elias wasn’t all that sure he was ready to open fully. The locks were removed right now, but it was still shut tight. He swallowed thickly, unsure how to answer Parker’s question. “I worked at a bar,” he began to say as he began to look anywhere but directly at the man. This guy knew something, and he needed to know what it was. “And they all had these very real costumes.” He said, finally looking over to Parker with an intensity in his eyes. “After the encounter with that one guy, they fired me. Saying it wasn’t safe.” He pointed a finger out at the man, desperate to know more. “How would it be dangerous if it were just costumes? How would it be dangerous?” He demanded, voice raising enough for the librarian to walk past the pair and shush them loudly.

Elias’s shoulders slumped as he was reprimanded, turning to the old woman and putting a hand up toward her. “Sorry!” He whispered, giving an apologetic smile. He turned his attention back to Parker. “I can tell you what I know about werewolves if you tell me what you know about fae.” He offered with that same intensity in his eyes. He needed to know more. And if this guy held clues to him learning what was going on? Then so be it.

“...I do, yes.” Parker replied with his same even, quiet delivery as the other man placed the book back onto the shelf. It worked in his favor, really, that the book was there and happened to have had something for him to use as something of a gateway that separated the stranger from the knowledge that was carefully cataloged in the Warden’s head. The man further explained the scenario, his gaze avoiding Parker’s keen stare as he did so until he mentioned costumes, in which dark brown met icy blue, yet somehow the look in the stranger’s own eyes was full of… something. Something Parker couldn’t instantly recognize. He remained quiet though, shifting his weight from one foot onto the other as he kept listening to the other man, who was not remaining quiet and in his enthusiasm, something Parker did recognize, his voice rose enough to have the librarian come by. From this limited interaction, Parker could gather a few things: the first of which was that this man, regardless of whether or not he was a human, clearly didn’t know about the supernatural, even as he made his deal to exchange knowledge on werewolves for knowledge of fae. That seemed like a highly inequivalent exchange, but it was also something for the Warden to address in due time as he continued with his assessment. It also didn’t seem to take a lot for this man to open up and share what was on his mind with strangers. Then again, Parker had often wondered if, for some strange reason, he just had one of those types of faces. The type that says ‘tell me about your problems.’ ‘I dunno, you look a lot less approachable now that you have a gnarly face scar and you’re, I dunno, missing a finger.’ “I can tell you what I know about fae without needing something in return.” His gaze managed to soften, though he still hadn’t blinked more than twice since staring at the man. “Sharing what I know is part of my job.” The Warden inhaled through his arrow-straight nose. “What are you–” A grunt this time as he tore his gaze from the stranger, not managing to cut off the question before realizing what he was asking and clearing his throat. “What’s… your name?”

—

Elias knew that he was acting rashly. That seemed to be ingrained into his personality, acting rashly. But he needed this information, and this guy was a strong lead. Hell, he was the only lead. He’d be stupid to let this slip through his fingers. The possibilities of what this man knew were endless. If fae were real, then… then…

Elias had to stop thinking “if” when it came to fae. They were real. He had a long time to accept that. It still drove him into fits of hysteria when he thought about it for too long, but he had accepted it all the same. The problem was, what did he do with this information? Would he go to Regan about it? No. No, he couldn’t. How could he? How does one have that conversation with someone after running off because he went crazy?

Still, that statement from Marcus rang through his head again. “I believe that there’s a lot of the world that hasn’t been studied or understood, but that doesn’t mean those things aren’t real or unexplainable.”

He swallowed thickly, then let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding in. “I’m Elias.” He answered, staring at the man with a look of pure and utter determination. “Tell me what you know.”

#Clap Your Hands if You Believe (Reprise)#threads #t;wonder in wings #part 1 :eyes emoji:#wonder in wings

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rhythmicmeow · 1 year ago

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TIMING: Current LOCATION: The Magmacave PARTIES: Cass @magmahearts and Leticia @rhythmicmeow SUMMARY: Leticia follows her nose into Cass's cave. CONTENT WARNINGS: None!

It was one of those days. Energy thrumming under her skin, chaotic and wild, had her scampering through the Magmacave in a way that was a little more nymph than what she usually strove for. There was an anxiousness about her, an unease that clung to her. It was the kind of thing that was only ever made worse by the presence of nonfae, and she hated it. She hated the parts of herself that she shared with the people who’d cast her out and the way they went against the parts of herself she shared with the people whose approval she so desperately craved.

But she couldn’t get rid of it, either. And she couldn’t always fight it. Not when there was someone in her cave without her knowing it, without her inviting them inside.

It felt like an itch running down her spine, like bugs crawling under her skin. Cass didn’t mean to do it; she rarely ever did. It just… happened. The rocks falling from the ceiling, closing off the passage and sealing off the entrance. But once those rocks all fell into place and the itch was scratched, all there was left to feel was…

Embarrassed.

Cass looked out into the entry to the passageway, to the stranger she’d trapped there staring at the rocks in horror. Bad. Bad, bad, bad. This was bad.

But she could fix it, right? She had to.

A little sheepishly, she stepped out of her place in the shadows and observed the rocks as if she hadn’t been the one to put them there. “Whoa,” she breathed. “That’s crazy. Are you, um, are you okay?”

—

Truely, she should have known better. Leticia had been out, forcing herself to get closer to those strange crabs and telling herself that it was so she could spend time with Elias more easily on their future explorations. The closer she got to the crabs, the more she watched them, the more uncomfortable she was. But as she edged away from them on the rocks, she smelled something familiar. And she knew better.

She didn’t bother to resist the temptation. It would help, Leticia told herself. There was a hint of catnip on the wind. A reward, she told herself. Something to take the edge off the fear and bring the balam back to temper. There were a thousand prewritten reasons she had to justify the want. Her mother had always scolded her for the impulse, but Leticia could never find a reason that was worth stopping for. It was relaxing and she was less likely to shift despite unstable emotions. There was no downside.

But there was a rockslide.

Leticia had followed the scent towards warmth. It would have been a perfect pairing if the mouth of the cave didn’t start rumbling as soon as she stepped inside. Stumbling forward into the cave, she braced herself against the rocks and looked at the opening that was decidedly gone. “Oh, fuck me.” She took a step towards the displaced rocks and had been about to touch them before she heard someone shifting behind her.

Jumping, she spun around to see a young woman standing nearby. “Oh.” Leticia cleared her throat and then looked at the rocks again, nodding. “Could have been worse, could have been a cold cave.” A joke that walked around the question. “Uh… do you have service out here?” Even if she could let the balam out here, she couldn’t be sure the spirit would have the strength to free them. And with someone else in here? Off the table entirely.

—

She didn’t seem like a threat. Cass could tell that now, just looking at her. She hadn’t come in here to hurt anything, wasn’t looking to cause problems. She’d just… wandered in. And that made the rockslide all the more embarrassing. Would another nymph have acted so rashly here? Would someone else have let their subtle fear get the best of them so entirely? This woman looked cool and nice and fun and Cass had trapped her in a cave just because she was there. Stupid, stupid oread.

Letting out a little, mostly forced laugh at the statement, she nodded. “Yeah. It’s nice and warm in here.” Cass, of course, ran hot thanks to the magma bubbling under her skin, so she was rarely cold. And the Magmacave followed suit. There was no actual magma within it, but heat rose up from the crevices, came in through the cracks. Cass had never learned enough about what she was to know if she was the cause of that or if she’d unconsciously chosen this cave because it was already like that. She didn’t suppose it mattered much.

“There’s never any service in this part,” she replied, realizing belatedly that the words betrayed the fact that she spent an awful lot of time in this particular cave. Backtracking a little, she added, “But I had some a little ways back. Um, and I came in through a different entrance, so. I know another way out.” None of it was a lie; she had had cell service further back in the cave, both earlier today and throughout her tenure as the cave’s keeper. And she had come in through a different entrance when she’d come home last night. Twisting the truth as a fae was all about the vague details.

—

The scent was still there. No matter how Leticia shifted her posture or where she turned her head, she could still smell a hit of catnip and it was driving her crazy. A different, funnier thought occurred to her: even if she had let the spirit out to attempt to dislodge the fallen rocks, the balam would have likely followed the smell long before she focused on the matter at hand. She wiped at her nose, sniffling as she tried to dispel the scent. But nothing helped. And the warm floor was inviting too, it would have been a perfect place to relax and let the balam stretch.

Her shoulders dipped slightly before her attention returned to the other, the concern about the cave in quickly replaced with a warm smile. Even if Leticia was worried, there was no reason to drag that across to the other. “Never?” She repeated, arching a brow before softening her expression as the other walked it back. Having never been more grateful to not have been a mother in this moment, Leticia barely contained a laugh. “So, you know of another way out?” She allowed the conversation to continue, not bothering to try and poke holes in the previous statement. “Is it… big enough for me, too?”

If there was another way out, there was no reason to be worried, right? Another sniff and she wrinkled her nose. “Is it safe to assume you’ve been down here before?” Or for some time? Leticia almost provided the simple out. But the smell in the air was driving her nuts. “Have you seen any strange plants down here? It’d be like a… mint plant. But not mint. Completely different smell.”

—

The whole town smelled pretty bad right now, but Cass didn’t think the Magmacave smelled worse than the rest of it. So why was this woman wiping at her nose and sniffing like this was her biggest problem? Shouldn’t she be more worried about being trapped in the cave, anyway? Cass found that she was a little offended at the reaction, though she knew it made little sense. It wasn’t really fair to trap someone in a cave and then be upset that their biggest concern seemed to be the smell.

At least she seemed friendly enough. “Since I’ve been here,” she amended, which was still true. It was just that ‘since she’d been here’ was a little longer than the woman might assume. You learned quick, as a fae, to use the assumptions that people made to your advantage. Let them think what they think. You never had to confirm or deny it directly; you just had to say whatever truth would fit their existing vision. “Yeah, I know another way out.” She inspected the woman carefully at the second question, shrugging. “Should be, I think. You’re not very big.” Only a little bigger than Cass, really.

Another sniff. Was she serious? The cave smelled fine! Better than other caves, even, on account of Cass’s scented candles! The oread was about to say something, because it was, like, super rude to go around literally turning your nose up at someone’s home, but the woman spoke before she could. Something about… plants? “I’ve been down here before,” she confirmed, another careful truth. “But, um… Plants? What kind of plant are you looking for? There are a lot down here.”

—

Every reply came off more vague than the last, and Leticia was trying not to crack a smile. It felt familiar, like how she spoke to her parents when she was running around with her friends after school and not wanting to give up all the details. She could only imagine the gray hairs this young woman had given her parents. But whatever the truth was, it was clear she was more versed in this cave formation than Leticia was. One thin sliver lining that she wasn’t blindly trapped.

Looking toward the cave in once more, she frowned again. Had there been any warning? Would the other person know? How many questions could she ask before the girl locked down completely and refused to speak? That’s what kids did, right? Worrying at her lip, she figured she might as well ask. “Did you hear anything before the cave in? Any warning at all?” Had Leticia missed something while following her nose? As distracted as she had been lately, it wouldn’t be surprising if there had been blaring sirens that were warning her about it and she had simply run past them in her search of relief.

Pulling out her phone, she looked through her photos and pulled up one that she had of the plant. It was a cave, so it should be in its natural form. “It looks like this,” Leticia said, showing the other her phone. Pretending the SOS signal in the top right corner didn’t bother her as much as it did. “It’s kind of stinky… but tasty!” Maybe not for the other here, but she didn’t want them thinking she was an absolute nut. “You really don’t smell that?”

—

She was asking about warning signs, and Cass shifted where she stood. How could she play this without admitting that she was the only warning sign in sight? She didn’t want to tell the woman that the cave-in was her doing. It wasn’t fear preventing the confession, though perhaps it should have been. She’d been told that anyone who wasn’t fae must mean her wrong in one way or another, even if she’d never quite believed it. Cass wasn’t afraid of the woman, just as she wasn’t afraid of anyone she met out in the world.

But she was a little embarrassed.

After all, it was becoming clearer and clearer that the woman meant neither her nor the cave any kind of harm, so collapsing the entryway and blocking them off inside had been a bit of an overreaction. “I didn’t hear anything,” she replied, and it was technically true. She hadn’t heard anything because there was nothing to hear. She knew exactly what had caused the cave-in, but that wasn’t what the woman had asked. Answer only the questions placed in front of you. That was how you skirted around the truth when you couldn’t lie.

Leaning forward a little, she looked at the woman’s phone. She was glad for a change in subject, at least. “Oh!” She recognized the plant. “Yeah, I know where that grows. You eat it?” She wrinkled her nose a little bit, amused but a little grossed out. Who ate catnip other than, like, cats? That was totally weird. “No, I don’t smell it. Am I supposed to? I don’t think it smells that strong.”

—

“Well,” Leticia shrugged half-heartedly. “Shit happens, I guess.” There was no reason to think about it further, at least not to Leticia. She had been worried that it had been loose rocks outside that she had disturbed on the way inside, or that there had been some other kind of sign that she could have heard or seen before it all came down.

There was a moment of horror that Leticia hoped that the other didn’t notice when they looked disgusted at the plant. She had hoped by showing what it looked like when it was growing that they wouldn't know that it was catnip. But luck was once again against her. First the cave-in, and now some teenager(?) looking at her like she was out of her mind.

Pulling her phone back, Leticia pressed the screen to her shoulder and pulled a face. “Hey. I don’t need your judgment. We’re both hanging out in a cave, I don’t think you have a lot of room to talk here either.” It was more hostile than Letiica intended, but she was feeling a lot of unwarranted judgment. “I’ve always smelled it.” Which was the truth, but she had no idea if human noses worked the same way as hers. Most of them stumbled around in the dark and they rarely picked up the scents she did, but catnip smelt so distinct and good — how could she not smell it too? “And it’s better fresh… does it grow in here?”

—

The woman didn’t seem too concerned about her current situation, and Cass felt a profound relief at that. If she wasn’t asking questions, it meant Cass wouldn’t have to keep finding ways to dance around the truth. It always made her feel a little guilty doing that, especially when someone was nice. And this woman did seem nice.

“Oh, no, I wasn’t —- I didn’t mean to judge you.” It was stupid, the way panic clawed at her throat at that. She didn’t even know this woman, and she still needed, desperately, for her to like her. How pathetic was she that she couldn’t stand the thought of a complete stranger thinking she was rude or strange or otherwise undesirable? “I’m sorry. I don’t think it’s weird or anything.” The lie tasted like acid in her throat, but she still liked it better than the taste of rejection that it was replacing.

It was also strange that this woman could smell the catnip, because no one had ever mentioned it before. But maybe it was one of those silly things that humans didn’t often talk about; maybe they all went around smelling plants and just didn’t say anything because they thought it was obvious. Cass carefully filed this thought away into her ‘potential human facts’ database. “It grows here,” she confirmed with a nod. “Do you, um… Do you want me to show you?” Maybe that would undo the bad first impression she’d given the woman by commenting on the ‘eating catnip’ thing, or make up for the cave-in that the stranger had no idea was her fault. “You could take it with you, if you want.” Even if the thought of letting someone take something from her cave made her feel nauseous.

—

She was being polite, wasn’t she? It wasn’t the same manner as what people did back when she was in New York, trying to manipulate her into working with them — this was a different kind of polite. And Leticia wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it. Calling it out felt wrong considering how young the other looked, but there was no part of her that believed that she hadn’t been judged. But part of that was her own fault. She should have just said she needed it for the cats she didn’t have, or use the same lame excuse about making tea to sleep.

“It’s okay,” Leticia said with a shrug. “It’s a weird thing to eat.” For humans, at least. “But it does have some benefits — don’t knock it until you try it.” A poor cover, but there were some benefits. According to doctor Google at least. And thankfully there was hardly any internet in the cave so there was no way for her to Google it and find out how far she had to scroll to dig up that one fact. It had been a few pages deep, the guy who had asked her last time didn’t question it. So, with any luck, this would just be a random fact no one would care about later.

“You seem to know a lot about these caves,” Leticia finally voiced her suspicions. Not directly enough to demand an answer. “Well, if you’re going to show me around, we should probably exchange names. I’m Leticia. More into music than cave diving but…” She shrugged. She had talked about doing that very thing with one of her friends, but true cave diving took a lot of resources. And effort. And closing your eyes and pretending there was no real danger.

—

“I’ll try it,” Cass said, maybe a little too quickly. She’d eat stupid catnip if it meant this woman might like her. It wasn’t as if it would hurt her; at least, she didn’t think it would. Catnip clearly didn’t hurt humans, if this woman ate it, and she couldn’t think of any reason why it might hurt oreads. Her weaknesses were all tied to things that could hurt stone. Catnip didn’t make the list, as far as she was aware.

She shifted a little at the suspicious tone the woman’s voice seemed to take. Was she upset enough about the catnip to dig into the reasons behind Cass’s presence in the cave? Or was she willing to let it go? Desperately, Cass hoped for the latter. “I hang out here sometimes.” Again, not technically a lie. She was good at that, at saying things that weren’t lies but weren’t the whole truth, either. And that was a good thing. Cass wasn’t good at hiding the adverse effects that came with lying.

Exchange names. That was a dangerous phrasing, wasn’t it? Leticia was a pretty name, but Cass liked hers too much to ‘exchange’ it. “No,” she said quickly, “we should not exchange names. You keep yours and I’ll keep mine. But I can tell you what mine is. It’s Cass.” A little clunky, maybe, but better than having to figure out how to reverse an exchange of names. That would definitely out her; the response to the offer of an exchange didn’t necessarily. Deciding a quick pivot in subject matter was necessary, she jumped on to the next thing Leticia had said. “What kind of music are you into?”

—

There was a moment of pause where Leticia was scrambling for a reason that she shouldn’t eat the catnip along with her, but any reason she had would have negated everything she had said up until this point. They weren’t lies, Leticia reminded herself, but there was still some strain on the idea that she might reveal herself to be a bigger freak than she was if this got out. “I’ll make you some tea, if you’d like!” Shit.

“There was a place like this back home, it got closed off though. Too many people were getting… well,” Leticia waved to the walls around them that had just come down. “Someone got trapped and it was flagged as too dangerous. But it was so pretty. Dinosaur caves, they called it. Carved out by the waves of the ocean.” Thinking of home came with a hint of sadness. Places that she’d never see again. This cave was nice, but it wasn’t the same. “This happen before?” Dangerously close to telling the other that maybe this might not be the best hang out spot if she could get hurt. Especially if the wall came down without warning.

The phrasing was suspicious, Leticia couldn’t pretend that it didn’t pull away the innocent child image that she had in her mind. Then again, it could just be a kid who had dealt with the fae before. She chose to ignore it. It was for the best. Probably. Cass jumped on the music subject and Letiica was all too happy to talk about it. “Rock, mostly. Though lately it’s been ABBA. Think the entire town is on a kick actually,” she said, thinking about the upwards of fifty requests she had for Dancing Queen. “And Taylor Swift, guilty pleasure that I get a lot of shit for but eh.” She shrugged, following Cass through the cave, feeling strange as they moved. This wasn’t her element. (Maybe cave diving wasn’t for her at all.)

—

Cass was, frankly, so excited about the prospect of someone making tea for her that she didn’t even care that it was going to be catnip tea. She didn’t even particularly like tea, but the idea of someone else going through the trouble to prepare it for her was so intoxicating that she’d drink as much of it as she was allowed anyway. “Really? You’ll make me tea? You promise?” It was a silly thing to bind someone over. Cass had never wanted to bind anyone more.

“Really?” The interest was clear in her tone, fascination. It was unsurprising that the cave Leticia was referring to had been deemed ‘too dangerous’ for the general public. Most humans, Cass had found, had a tendency to overestimate their abilities when it came to spelunking. It was why there were a few scattered piles of bones in the Magmacave, why Cass sometimes had to forcibly turn people around to keep from adding to the piles. Humans were silly sometimes; they saw things out in nature, and they assumed that those things were there for them. It was never true. Nature existed only for itself. Caves weren’t for exploring. “A cave in?” She thought of the day with Leila and the others, the creature that had clawed its way through the cracks. “I’ve seen it before, yes.”

There was something kind of funny about a fan of rock music stumbling upon an oread’s cave. Part of Cass wanted desperately to make a pun of some kind or another, but she didn’t want to out herself. Leticia seemed nice, and sometimes nice people were wary of fae. If she knew Cass was one, she might take back her offer to make tea, or realize that the cave in hadn’t just been nature doing what nature did. Cass didn’t want that. “I don’t think you should feel guilty for liking things,” she replied with a shrug. “Like what you like. Forget what other people say. Right?” It was something one of the many people she’d tried clinging to throughout her years of travel had said once, and it had stuck with her far longer than the person who’d said it had. “Do you just listen to music? Or do you ever play it? I always wanted to learn an instrument.”

—

It was a strange thing to ask for a promise over, so, Leticia figured it had to be harmless. As skittish as she had thought Cass had been in the moments earlier, this proved to her she was just some kid that happened to have a knack for getting into trouble. Nothing dangerous. “Sure, I promise. I’ll make you some tea.” Though she hoped at as soon as they parted ways, Cass forgot all about everything catnip related. (She had no idea if catnip tea was actually any good, too. Which would be an unfortunate surprise for later.)

Leticia nodded her head. “Yeah, didn’t stop people from trying, of course.” Nothing stopped kids from doing anything. Leticia had been one of those very kids herself when she was younger. Funny how age had made her more cautious. “They have a staircase that is built on the side of a bluff to the beach below so you can get a better view of it. One of the most beautiful spots in California.” Her head tipped to the side at Cass’s comment. “Are they frequent here?” Maybe getting out should be the first priority.

Cass was had a point, one that she had shared with others before but like most things, didn’t apply to herself. “Yeah.” But she didn’t look at Cass when she spoke this time. Not wanting to know if the other could see right through her quiet agreement and see someone who was constantly ready to support others, but refused it for herself. Leticia, this time, was happy for the change in subject. “I play - well, I played. Started with guitar but made the shift to vocals.” And then made the shift to nothing. “What stopped you from trying it out?”

—

Pleased with herself, Cass bound Leticia to the promise in spite of the fact that it was largely simple and the fact that she wasn’t sure she even wanted catnip tea. There was something deeper to it, after all; in order to make her tea, Leticia would have to see her again. She might not be able to bind Leticia into a promise as bold as friendship right off the bat, but they could get there one bind at a time. Start with tea, go from there. Friendship was supposed to be a whole process, anyway.

“People are kind of dumb,” Cass replied with a shrug. She knew that, even if she liked people. At the mention of a staircase built into the side of a bluff, she bristled a little. The idea of someone damaging a rock structure in order to make it easier for humans to take in the view made her feel wrong, like something was crawling on her skin. Maybe it came with knowing that, if someone did something like that to her cave, it would hurt her. Had someone like her been hurt — or worse — by the decision to put those stairs in? The thought made her feel a little nauseous. “They should have just let people risk the climb the way it was. Putting in stairs was stupid.” No matter how pretty the view was. “They only happen sometimes.” Cass had never seen a cave-in here that she hadn’t been the unintentional cause of, and she wasn’t looking to cause another now that she’d decided Leticia was more friend than foe, but she wasn’t ready to say that just yet.

Guitar? She thought of the instrument she’d seen in Van’s house, of the music they’d listened to when they’d played cards. “I like the guitar. It sounds pretty, you know? And it fits into a lot of different songs. Not every instrument can do that. I bet you’re a good singer, though.” She seemed like she would be, based on nothing but Cass’s personal vibes. Shrugging, she looked down at her feet as she walked, leading Leticia through the cave. “I moved around a lot. It was hard to carry a lot of stuff with me, so I couldn’t carry an instrument.” And when you were living on the streets, there were other things to worry about. “I always thought maybe I’d learn the ukelele one day. But I don’t know. I probably wouldn’t be very good at it.”

—

There was something strange about the way that Cass spoke about the stairs in the cliff that reminded her of Teagan and the protectiveness she had for the lake. There was something nice about that trait being in a human too. Maybe if more of the kids were like her, there could be some friendships across the lines. She didn’t know how to tell her that there was beach access about a mile away, people just put in the stairs to avoid the long walk. Leticia put her hands in her pockets, and decided not to tell her. It was easier to stomach the destruction of mankind, not the laziness of it.

“Stable then, usually? Even with all the weird shit with the mines?” She was surprised. And considerably unlucky considering one of the few cave-ins had happened around her. There was a black cat joke in there somewhere. And considering her most recent luck, she wasn’t about to look directly at what might be the common denominator here.

“Guitar and piano are the best if you’re going to use just one instrument to create a full song.” Most everything could be played on either, but as much love as Leticia had for the craft, it would take a lot of convincing for her to take the drums and bass out of her music. Part of her was ready to talk Cass’s ear off about music and share everything she knew with her just for the one compliment, but she had already promised her tea. And maybe simple compliments that weren’t based on anything the other actually knew about her shouldn’t pull her in that direction. “Oh.” The single word slipped out and immediately, Leticia was looking at the ground too, ashamed that that was how she responded. “Do you still want to learn? I don’t have a ukulele at the shop, but I’ve got some used guitars.” Shrugging, Leticia continued to follow Cass, occasionally bracing herself against the cave wall. “There’s a say about that, actually. Sucking at something is the first step at being kinda good at something.” Her father had always been good at this, inspiring others to pick up an instrument or pull them out of their shells. Leticia had been good at listening. Not so much at pushing.

—

“Probably not as stable as it was before the mining accident,” Cass replied, “but I wasn’t here as much then.” She could feel the scars from it, though, could feel them in the ground of her cave as intimately as she would have felt them in her own skin. And that made her angry, too, in that familiar ‘nymph’ kind of way that she hated to feel. What right did people have to dig around under the ground for pieces of the Earth that they had decided were valuable? What made them think they were allowed? Part of her wanted to stop it, somehow, but she knew it wasn’t really in the cards. She was one nymph, small and lonely and a little afraid, and she didn’t want to hurt anyone. She never really had.

It was easier said than done, some days. She still had those instincts, the ones that came with the magma glowing under her skin or the rocks that rested on top of it. Cass might not have been a particularly good nymph, but she was still a nymph. She did still harbor those age old instincts that told her to do anything she had to do to protect her domain. They were hard to quell, sometimes.

But she tried anyway. She led Leticia through the cave, she pretended she wasn’t the reason the opening the other woman had come through was gone now. “Have you ever written a song? You sound like you know what you’re talking about.” It wasn’t the words, really; it was the tone. The confidence, the way she said it without a hint of doubt. Turning around, she blinked. It sounded like an offer. “Do you think you could teach me?” If she learned the guitar, maybe it would give her one more thing to talk to Van about. They could play music together, and Cass would be harder to forget. Maybe other people would be interested in hearing her play it, too; Nora might like it. Or Metzli, or Thea, or even Ren. “Did you ever suck?”

—

“Makes sense, yeah.” Leticia didn’t know much about caves or the systems or much of anything when it came to the landscape. This had never been her domain. The balam didn’t care much for the underground, preferring the shade and brush that came with the forests. It felt more natural to run through that then through a dark system below the surface. This, of course, wasn’t as deep as most systems would go, but this was deep enough that it wasn’t natural for her. “What drew you here of all the places in town? It’s not exactly… central.”

The further they went in, the less Leticia felt like they were finding an exit. She doubted that Cass was misleading her, but the balam was starting to stir. And how far would they have to go before the light started to bleed through the cracks? She inhaled deeply, deciding not to say anything, not wanting to put any more pressure on Cass than there already was. (She was just a kid but she moved with such confidence in the dark confines of the cave, there was no reason to worry, was there?)

“Huh?” It was a natural question when it came to discussing music, but Leticia always tripped over it in this town. “I, uh…” She scratched the back of her head, not wanting to lie to Cass but also not quite ready to show all of her cards. Mateo had told her she didn’t have to go back on stage to still be the person she was before, but she still felt strange claiming that fame when she was here now. It felt like a distant life. “Wrote a few, yeah,” she decided to admit. “I spent about 12 years in the music industry. So, yeah, I know a few things.” Stopping in her tracks when Cass turned towards her, Leticia offered a warm smile. “Only if you’re willing to work through the sort of sucking first part.” Bobbing her head to the side, Leticia eventually nodded. “Yeah. Music. I was all thumbs when I started. I could figure out how to match a note but carry a tune continuously? Nah, that came with practice. Lots of it.”

—

Cass hummed at the question. Even for a fae, honesty was never the only option. You could mislead, you could withhold. Cass had gotten pretty good at it, over the years, knew how to say things that were true without answering the questions asked of her. But she didn’t see a reason to twist the truth here, so she only shrugged. “It’s near the mineral abnormality,” she replied. “I think it’s really cool.”

She continued leading Leticia through the cave, kicking her feet as she walked like a kid going on some great imaginary adventure on a playground. The exit wasn’t far, though getting to it did require them to venture further underground. But, at the moment, the exit wasn’t what Cass was leading Leti to; she’d said she wanted catnip. Cass knew where the catnip was. She didn’t communicate this. To her, it was obvious. It slipped her mind that, to Leticia, it probably wasn’t.

“Really? Anything I would know? That’s so cool.” Though she was more interested in visual media than she was in music, Cass was pretty familiar with the latter. There was music in shows, after all, soundtracks in movies. She wondered if any of the songs Leticia spoke had ever featured in either. The idea of it felt incredibly exciting. “I can work through that,” she said eagerly. “I can definitely work through that. Are thumbs a bad thing to have?” It was a little comforting, knowing that Leticia had sucked once, too. Cass hadn’t heard her play to know that she was better now, of course, but if she’d spent fifteen years in the industry, odds were she knew what she was doing. Slowing to a stop, Cass pointed to the ground. “Tada!” She announced, kneeling down to the catnip growing on the floor of the cave beneath a patch of sunlight streaming in through a crack far above. “See?”

—

That was fair, considering that Leticia’s first instinct was to want to explore the mines the second she was settled into town. It wasn’t strange to her in the slightest that other people might want to do the same. She wondered, absently, if Cass went to the local college or not—how passionate was she about these things? But she didn’t ask. Feeling as though she was already intruding enough on the young woman’s life, she didn’t need an adult needlessly prying further.

Part of her wanted to say it outright, that yes she would have heard her music if she ever listened to the radio or if she had ever heard the Avengers soundtrack from the original movie—but part of her didn’t want to tell this kid anything. This time, not for the sake of keeping her identity secret, but because she knew that kids had a lot of opinions on music. And Cass seemed… nice. What if Cass’s opinion of her changed once she realized who she was? What if she hated her music?

“Maybe,” Leticia decided on a middle ground. “Depends on what genre you listen to a lot. I was mostly in rock circles.” And now she was surrounded by rocks. Another thing that Leticia tried not to laugh about. “Thumbs aren’t a bad thing to have, as long as you have the usual amount. But like… say you want to do something delicate? You wouldn’t want to use your thumb, you’d likely pick a different finger for delicate work because you have more control over it,” she tried to explain. The smell got stronger before the single stream of light appeared in the otherwise dark cave, it was landing on a single crack in the cave, just enough to disturb the otherwise hard ground to reveal a patch of dirt. Leticia knelt down and touched the leaves, but didn’t pull any. “I feel kinda… bad,” she admitted, looking up at the light. How hard did the plant have to fight to grow here of all places?

—

When Cass had first started venturing into the world of humans and heard that there was something called rock music, she’d been understandably excited. She’d wanted so badly to learn about the world, to fit into it, and the idea that there was an entire genre of music based around a subject that she arguably knew more about than most people could ever hope to achieve had felt like a sign that she could belong. Of course, the music wasn’t quite what she’d been expecting. There was little to do with actual rocks in the sound of it, and she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t been a little disappointed as a result. But… it was still nice.

“I like rock music,” she said, glancing back to Leticia. “You should sing one, so I can tell if I know it. It’ll sound good in here. My friend says caves have good acoustics.” She liked the way the words didn’t come with the usual nausea that accompanied a lie, the way the lack of it meant that friend was the right word to use to refer to Van, at least to her. Believing something hard enough could often allow you to get away with saying it consequence-free even if it was a lie, but even just genuinely believing that she and Van were friends felt good.

Looking down at her thumbs, Cass bent them thoughtfully. “I guess that makes sense,” she agreed, putting them back to her side and hooking them through her belt loops as they stopped in front of the small beam of light. She leaned forward as Leticia admitted that she’d feel bad uprooting the plant, a feeling of respect flooding through her. “There’s more at the entrance,” she offered. “We could go there instead, and you could get some of that.” She seemed to really want the catnip, but Cass would prefer if it wasn’t taken from the cave, too.

—

“You know, I never have sung in a cave before.” Most of the places she sang when she was under contract had been larger—not that this didn’t have some beauty to it, but it wouldn’t hold as many attendees. It hadn’t mattered how pretty a location was or how badly Leticia wanted to visit, if the location didn’t have a number that was just as pretty to her manager, it was simply a no. “Maybe next time,” she offered. “Not sure how well I’d do acapella. It’s been a minute.” Though her heart was begging her to. “Besides, what if the cave disagrees and we encounter more falling rocks?”

The friend playing music inside the cave though… There was a worry that was building that Leticia hid under her smile now. It had started out small, a vague picture of Cass in a cave and just happening to be here and exploring it sometimes. To another person added into the picture, coupled with her knowledge of the cave systems with dexterity that she would have expected from someone who studied this place more than just briefly.

“It’ll make more sense once you start playing.” She stood up from her crouched position and leaned against the wall of the cave for a moment, looking up at the small gap that had allowed the light in. There was something poetic about it, something beautiful fighting for a chance of survival inside a place it was not meant to exist. Though, beauty might have been debated, it was beautiful to her. Disappointed, but satisfied in her own answer, Leticia nodded her head before looking at Cass again, with a new spark in her eyes. “There’s more?” Too excited, Leticia cleared her throat and then straightened up. “I mean, it’d just be a real shame, you know? It’s in very pretty lighting here.”

—

“Really? They have venues, you know, in caves. Down south in some places, I think. But… I bet it’d be more fun like this. Somewhere where you don’t have to do it for anyone but you, right?” That was when most things felt the best, though Cass rarely let herself have such experiences. So much of her life had seen her existing for other people. Cutting herself into pieces so she could fit into whatever box might see her loved. But she was learning that there was some beauty in being you, too. She thought of Nora, who was always so unapologetically herself, who saw Cass as she was and liked her anyway. That felt better than being loved for being someone else. Maybe Leticia thought so, too. “I think the cave will love you if you’re kind to it.” Caves usually did. Before coming to Wicked’s Rest, they’d been the only ones who’d ever liked Cass for Cass.

And the cave would like Leticia, she decided, because Cass liked Leticia. The way she looked at the plant with such excitement and wonder, but refused to disturb it, the way she wanted to sing, the way she said she could help Cass learn the guitar. Leticia was kind, and kind people deserved to be rewarded for that kindness.

“Yeah,” she agreed, “it’d be a shame. The stuff at the entrance is probably better for tea, anyway. Come on. I’ll show you.”

#wickedswriting #char: cass #cass: catnip and cave-ins

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buzzingartist · 1 year ago

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meet the fae twins, eris and enzo forst (both use they/them pronouns)! the two of them their home in the forest to live with their uncle river in the city. eris was super excited to meet nonfae and was able to adapt pretty well, but enzo struggled with it all due to their aversion to pretty much anyone but their family. while eris is extremely social, they can also tend to be mischievous and even a little mean; they don't do it on purpose, they just end up taking jokes a bit too far. enzo, on the other hand, isn't too concerned about coming off as rude or unapproachable because that's exactly what they are. it takes a long time for enzo to feel comfortable with people ESPECIALLY after the move, but at least they have their twin and favorite uncle.

#artists on tumblr #ocs #original character #monsturrs #fae oc #twin ocs #art

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ultralouisauniverse · 5 years ago

Conversation

Nonfa

Phyllis: Jane! Jane! Jane!

Jane: Yes, what is it

Phyllis: Jane, I feel like someone wants to hurt me.

Jane: And who would that be....Is it Doris, or Louisa, or Belvin, eh....

Belvin: Ei Jane, even me, I do not know how to fly.

Doris: hm...

Louisa: (laughs loud)

Jane: Belvin, you are very funny... haha

#nonfa

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loveariddle · 11 months ago

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usual every-few-months art dump :']

#a #nonfa

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tingtinghux · 3 years ago

Photo

( 2022 - 114th day ) Il feed perfetto su Instagram non esiste più, e alcune foto ad alto contenuto di ciccionosità dovrebbero essere vietate. Scusate se posto foto così. Ma è stato più forte di me 😅 #nonFa #vsco #vscocam #vscogrid #meetCamilla #babyCamilla #newborn #babygirl #newmommy #newmommylife #babyswim #babyswimmers #nursery #babiesofinstagram #newbornphotography #lovelittlethings #newbabiesaccessories #breastfeed #allattamento #allattamentoalseno #mammaefiglia#14monthsOld #family #fathersday #petiteCrownBrandRep #clothdiaperfamily (presso Cagliari, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CcuborXsYsq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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strawberrybaat · 2 years ago

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From magic to baby Silver

Literally just some twst headcanons that was started for fae magic and then turned into how Lilia and Malleus probably took care of a baby Silver.

@rose-lord-of-simps helped with some of them, and was the one who swerved it to baby Silver, lol

Shit's probably ooc, but idc, half my shit was thought of cause it was FUNNY!

The shit like this is gonna be by rose, I got permission by him to have his interjects. It makes more sense with them stuck in, lol, flows nicer.

I like to think that Malleus and Lilia probably don't need magestones

Malleus has that the Valley of Thorns basically uses magic on the daily, if I remember right? So fae could have evolved to either completely not need the tiny rock, or just barely need them.

Sebek, since he's a half fae, would only need them for stuff like his unique magic(if he has one), or bigger spells like it. Basic, every day magic he could get by without the magestone and accumulate less blot

Here's where we started derailing, lol

Silver! The only full human in the diasomnia crew!

Man needs the magestone.

For basic, small spells, he's like Sebek. Can totally get by without the stone. He can't do some of the same basic spells Sebek could, but Silver can get by.

Do you think Lilia found the best stone for Silver?

Yes he fuckin did!

Lilia got the best looking, and reasonably biggest, magestone for Silver.

Since I don't think they have/got their magestones as pens til they enrolled at NRC, I see Silver wearing his as like a pin or broach(Lilia definitely made it)

Other fae probably would've tried to steal it, cause pretty rock.

But then they saw the most intimidating, tall ass mother fucker you'll ever see, and the fuckin war general pipsqueak(I love Lilia, I promise)

Yeah, they said fuck that.

Since Silver most definitely learned most, if not all, of his spells by his father, he'd have the endurance to accumulate less blot than normal humans/beastmen/merpeople.

Still accumulates more/faster than Sebek and full fae, but less/slower than the nonfae

do you think Silver grew up with malleus as like, the cool uncle?

Originally I thought Silver would see Malleus like an older brother.

Then changed my mind and said he'd see malleus as like a mix between another father and a brother.

Like a cool older cousin?

Nvm, now it's cool older cousin.

I'm with damn near everyone else, Lilia sees the other three as his children.

He most certainly took care of them.

Not so much Sebek, cause Sebek had his parents(apparently grandfather too, I'm just figuring this out while rewriting, lol) take care of him.

HE HAD LOVING PARENTS, AND THEY DID THEIR BEST!

Lilia just appointed himself as Sebeks godfather.

Lilia raising Malleus and Silver together. Malleus being a grown ass adult acting like a child, cause whatever human world toy Silver got, he did as well

I love this, cause it scream only child.

Which, assumedly, is what Malleus is. An only child, slightly spoiled rotten by Lilia, that just recently got a sibling.

Not at all part of the original blurbs, but now I'm thinking of grown ass Malleus, messing around with a two year olds play toy.

Omfg, him with a cat piano. 👀👀 Someone with better skill than me, draw this, please. I'll fuckin pay.

ANYWAY!

Silver and Sebek seem to canonically fight like brothers, imo

Silver sees him like that, while the same could barely be said for Sebek

Imagine Silver not fully understanding how important Malleus is, and climbing him like a playground.

Swings on his horns as a child.

Gets embarrassed about it now that he's older.

Malleus thinks it's funny.

Silver definitely did that shit when he was like three

Lilia has the proof, has like a million pictures(idc if Thorn Valley doesn't have any tech, Lilia definitely has a camera by the time he adopted Silver)

Silver tried to burn them all

Unlike Azul with his childhood, Silver was Hella unsuccessful.

If Malleus has a dragon form, Silver has definitely played around with him in that form.

Would beg for Malleus to "Be the dragon!"

Lilia thought that shit was cute as fuck.

Baby Silver with hands so small

Malleus is scared to hurt him

By the time Lilia has Silver, Malleus has most definitely interacted with babies in his lifetime

But fuck that, imagine Silver being the first time Malleus has interacted with a baby. Ever.

Malleus totally has the same worries/intrusive thoughts my dad did.

"what if I drop him?"

"....would he bounce?"

Fucker has a certain look in his eyes when he has these thoughts, and if/when Lilia sees it he just shwoops little silver up. Just "ooookay! No more holding the baby for you!"

Pinches his chubby cheeks

Malleus pokes baby Silver's cheek, just one, and his reaction is just: 🥺🥺🥺

That's Malleus right after

Boops his nose and squeals

Silver is typically a quiet baby, but one time, when Malleus was holding him, he just started balling

The only thing that ran through Malleus's head was- "shitshitshitshit! I broke him! What did I do?!"

Was about to cry too

Especially when Lilia came over and asked what happened

"what happened here? Why is silver crying?"

"🥺🥺🥺🥺 I DONT KNOOOWWW"

"okay, well don't cry! He's probably just hungry! Sevens know the last time he ate"(spoiler alert, Malleus fed him like two hours ago, cause he wanted to feed the baby. Old man just forgot)

Alternatively

"LILIAAA!!! I BROKE IIIIT!! WHAT DID I DOOOO!!!??? WHAT DO I DOOOOO???!!!"

Before Silver learned to crawl or walk, Lilia would just set him up in a basket with a bunch of blankets to keep him warm.

Malleus watching over him while Lilia does his own shit.

Just thinking "I will not let a single thing happen to this tiny human"

Continues to squish his cheeks while Silver is in his little basket.

Lilia teaches Malleus how to hold baby Silver properly.

When he does learn how to properly hold him, Malleus just never lets silver go.

Silver fell asleep on Malleus.

Malleus's dragon hoarding thoughts take over. Just "this is mine now, you're never getting him back"

Real shit tho, Malleus follows the cat/dog law with Silver

"Malleus, what are you doing?"

"...I can't move"

"what?"

"Lilia, I can't move. He fell asleep. ...I'm stuck."

Obsessed with the idea of everyone using it/it's when referring to Silver, until he's just "I wan dis!"/"dat one!" With he/him pronouns.

Around 4/6, Silver asks Lilia about it, and their interaction is just:

"Why don't you say 'he' when talking about me like Malleus?"

"Would you like it if I did?"

"uh-huh"

"Okay, little one, I'll start refering to like that."

Running off this idea, and projecting my mom's habit onto lilia-

Lilia uses both "it" and "he" when referring to Silver.

"See! Look at it! It's evil!!"

"Look at how adorable he is!! My baby boy!"

When Lilia's teasing Silver, he'll use it/it's.

But when he's serious, or gushing about his son he'll use he/him.

Projecting on Silver a bit now, but he just grows up not caring about his pronouns.

Imagine just:

"hey Silver! What pronouns do you use?"

"...what?"

"...what pronouns do you go by? Like he/him? She/her? They/them?"

"...oh! Yeah, no, I don't really care about that. Just use whatever."

Back to baby!

Malleus grabbing baby/toddler Silver by the door and treating him like a sack of potatoes.

Chris Hemsworth style.

That meme.

Fuckin swings him sometimes.

Silver thinks its the fuckin funnest thing ever, and will ask for it so often

"again! Again!"

"no, that's enough for now. People will start thinking I'm abusing you."

Silver kinda gets sad after that, until Malleus just puts him on his shoulders.

Lilia will do the same fuckin thing to him, but he floats while doing it.

So he only really does it in the mansion/palace.

Lilia mostly holds him by the hands when he does it tho.

Silver would cling to one of their legs and get a leg ride.

It's completely normal for them, and barely trips Malleus up.

For Lilia, he'll just float whenever silver does it and it's his favourite thing.

Do you think they celebrate birthdays?

Lilia and Malleus don't really celebrate their own birthdays, at least not until they enroll in NRC.

Definitely did when they were like, under 40 years old, lol.

They most definitely celebrate all of Silver's birthdays, at least until he's sick of celebrating them.

Even when he doesn't want to anymore, Malleus and Silver still buy him a couple gifts. Even if Silver doesn't want them.(he does, he cherishes everything they get/make him)

Lilia's favorite picture of them is during Silver's first birthday

It's a picture of Silver sitting in Malleus's lap, staring at whatever shiny thing they got him.

All starry-eyed, reaching for the shiny in Malleus's hand

Malleus is just staring fondly at Silver, the only thing going through his head is:

"I will forever protect this small child"

Lilia's screaming in at how cute the scene is

Took a picture, and has so many copies of it

Has one in his messy ass wardrobe at NRC

Lilia is one of those dads that has a fuck ton of photos in his wallet.

Will always embarrass his kids with it, no matter how old they are.

Does this with Sebek too

Basically appointed himself as Sebek's godfather

Romantic interest?!

Someone takes a romantic interest in Silver, and Lilia has SO MANY embarrassing baby stories to share

Has embarrassed both Malleus and Silver in some of stories

This whole last part is just Rose, cause it was fuckin cute as shit, lol

When Malleus makes a friend, Lilia brings out the baby pictures

Person interested in Silver?

They set up a study session to try and get to know Silver better.

Lilia comes in to bother Silver.

Sees them cuddling, with the interest asleep on him.

"what do I doooooo!?"

Lilia's taking a million pictures(silvers just mildly panicking, completely clueless)

S/o likes to braid Silvers hair. Does it gently whenever he'll let them.

Malleus sees it once, and the "he can have it, so I can have it too" growing up semi-spoiled instinct pops up.

"Lilia? Can you do my hair like Silver's?"

"Father didn't didn't do my hair, s/o did."

"S/o, can you-"

"no"

Malleus pouts cause Silver doesn't want s/o to do his hair.

Silver wants one thing to himself, and that's s/o and s/o messing with his hair, lol.

Another reason, is that when s/o is messing with Silver's hair, they let him open up. Bonding with heart to heart communication.

He thinks if they did Malleus's hair, they'd bond like that too, and he's slightly jealous/annoyed at the thought.

S/o ends up doing Malleus's hair really quickly, in a different style than Silver. And Silver gets extra cuddles afterwards.

#twst #twisted wonderland #im back from the fuckin dead #light twst x reader?#twst headcanons #baat writes

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deejkg1 · 5 years ago

Photo

Fameye – Nonfa Rappers (P3 Kakra Cover) Fameye – Nonfa Rappers (P3 kakra Cover)

#Fameye – Nonfa Rappers (P3 kakra Cover)

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creativia10 · 3 years ago

Text

Janus in Wickhills Part 4

Notes: (Continuation of recursive fic of @/tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors 's Love and Other Fairytales series

Previous parts Janus in Wickhills Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

This is an au of Laoft where Remus came back several years earlier, and Linda isn’t in the picture yet. Also takes place some time after Logan has become the Seelie court rep.

Ch 4

They went back to the house the normal way.

Roman and Mamaw already appeared to be looking through some books on witch magic. They both looked up as the three came back into the house.

“Did you find anything out?” Ro asked.

L and V looked at each other. Then V sort of shrugged.

“Possibly? We found some significant information-“

“But it doesn’t necessarily bring us more insight into this” L said gesturing at Janus.

Janus pursed his lips.

“We’re going to try some other things out to see if we can gather anything else.”

Ro started to get up, “Do you need-“

“No, dear.” L stepped forward and held Ro’s hands.

Just then, a cat hopped up onto the table Ro had been reading at, and gave a loud miffed meow towards Ro. Ro gave the cat a look, but then turned back as L continued.

“You are fine as you are. You are the most qualified here to help us search through magic books. You are being very helpful.”

Ro blushed at that and looked away. He then mumbled, “It’s not like we’re the only witches around here or anything.”

L simply smiled, leaned in and pecked Ro’s cheek. V smiled softly at them.

“Oh, go on like I am not contributing just as much if not more,” Mamaw called out.

L huffed, “I thought the plural ‘you’ was implied!”

Ro snickered. Mamaw was clearly fighting a smile, so L let it go. He squeezed Ro’s hands one more time before turning back to V and Janus.

“Should we wait for our songbird for this?” He asked. “We certainly can’t do everything, as we are fae ourselves.”

V tilted his head, then shook it.

“Not for all of it. He loves working at the bakery, I don’t want to pull him away from it.”

L nodded with a soft smile.

“Very well. Perhaps I should get some of my family members to help then?”

V hmmed.

“If they’re comfortable with it.”

They turned to Janus.

“Is that alright?”

Janus hesitated.

“I guess.”

L stepped towards him.

“Don’t worry, my family members are good people. I don’t think they would do anything unprovoked.”

Janus nodded hesitantly. It’s not like he had a lot of options then anyways. L got his phone out to see if his brother was home. When he got an affirmative, the three of them walked through the woods and into town.

Apparently they did not have a ready car, as they lived in the woods, so they were walking for now. L turned to Janus but paused before speaking. Janus was about to ask him what was up, when V quickly hopped into a shadow thing and came back, holding out Janus’ hat.

“Apparently we forgot your hat by the hammock.”

Janus mouth formed an O, and he sheepishly put his hat back on, trying to angle it like he had the other night at the revel despite knowing that would not be enough. Janus looked around as they walked, trying to see if he would get something from this. He wasn’t sure how to describe what he was seeing. It felt familiar but not. And there was definitely a twinge of magic feeling in the air, as to be expected from a town like Wickhills. Although he wasn’t sure how he knew that.

When they got to L’s family’s house, they waited outside for his brother to come out to greet them.

When Janus saw L’s brother come outside, he was immediately struck with the similar appearances the two had. Yet, there was a lack of the faery features that were prominent on L.

Changeling, his mind supplied, although he wasn’t sure how he knew that.

The brother stood on the steps for a moment staring at Janus. Janus shifted in discomfort.

“Bug. I would like your assistance, as we are met with a situation we are unsure what to do with.”

‘Bug’ looked at Janus then to L.

“Yeah, I am getting that feeling.” He walked over to L.

“He has told us we may call him Jay. He woke up on the forest floor with amnesia.”

“We were hoping you could help us to test if he is fae considering,” L said.

Bug looked confused.

“O…k. Why not have your nonfae husbands help?”

“Roman is looking through witch books with nana to see if they can find more info on what may have happened to Jay, and Patton is at the bakery.”

“We, uh, didn’t want to interrupt him,” V said.

Bug smiled a little and nodded.

“Alright. I’ll get some stuff from inside and I’ll meet you in the back yard.”

He took a step back to the house and then turned to L again.

“Am I hiding that you’re here from mom and dad?” Bug asked a little quieter.

L sighed. “I just did not want to worry them.”

Bug nodded. “Alright.” Then he went back into the house. Janus followed the two fae around the house to the back.

Janus wanted to ask about L and his brother’s relation, but he wasn’t sure if he should.

Then again, he wanted to understand what this test would pertain.

“So…your family is human?” Janus asked.

L gave Janus an unreadable look.

“…yes. I am a changeling. My parents were able to get my brother back from the faery who left me with them, but they refused to give me back.”

Janus tilted his head, having never heard of such a thing.

“How did they manage that?”

“I believe there was a variety of factors. For one, they had armed the house up with faery charms, so she was unable to go inside or really outright do anything to them despite their refusal.”

“Oh wow.”

Janus couldn’t help but wonder what kind of people his parents were to be willing to keep a changeling child like that. He was almost afraid to ask why they chose to, out of fear that would offend him.

“and yet…you represent the seelie court now,” Jay said instead.

After a moment L nodded. Before he could ask more careful questions about that, L’s brother came back out holding some different things.

“Ok, hopefully these will do it. Although this could be difficult, as I am assuming we do not want to cause harm, and most ways to tell if someone is a faery when you’re not fae or a witch, is by wards.”

“Actually, that reminds me. Do you think it would be helpful to have your boyfriend come over? Since you’re trying to figure out what’s going on, and his double sight could be helpful,” L said.

Bug seemed unsure.

V seemed hesitant. “Only if he’s comfortable with it.”

“I get the sense he is still freaked out by this Wickhills magical stuff,” Bug said.

L pondered.

“V, do you know if anyone ever looked at your brother through a hag stone?”

V tilted his head then shook it.

“As far as I know, no. I didn’t let Grettie or her family get anywhere near him.”

“So we don’t know if his appearance from double sight would have a similar affect to seeing V,” L mumbled.

“Um, excuse me-“ Janus waved a hand to get their attention. “I’m confused. What are you talking about here?”

Bug seemed confused, but L adjusted his tie and turned to Janus.

“We discovered that my brother’s boyfriend has something called double sight. Basically, when he wears an iron ring that he has, on a specific hand, he is able to see past magical glamor, and can essentially see the magical auras of fae, witches, and those who were blessed by a fae gift. A hagstone is a special type of rock with a hole in it that has a similar affect if one were to look through it.”

“…okay. And why are you concerned about me being seen through it?”

L sighed.

“Because, my brother’s boyfriend freaked out upon seeing V’s true form with his double sight, and as we don’t know your origin, we do not know what he may see and if it would freak him out similarly.”

Bug then said, “I can at least ask him, and we’ll just have to try and be careful. Maybe it’ll be helpful if we’re aware to help him out the moment anything seems off. He’s trying to get more used to these things, since yall are part of my family. In fact, he might even be glad to feel helpful, as he probably still feels somewhat awkward around you guys.”

V nodded and L shrugged. Bug smiled. “Cool, I’ll ask him, and we can start while we wait.”

“Why do you call him bug anyways?”

They jumped a little at the question and looked at him. Janus immediately felt sheepish. That seemed kind of random given their previous topic of conversation. It’s not like that was something he needed to know. Bug rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s just kind of a nickname from when I was kid. Like how I call him Berry.”

Janus snorted a little, then composed himself.

“Alright, that’s cute.”

L blushed a little at that. V smiled with some mirth.

“I do believe you may be distracting us though.” L said then. Janus gaped. He wasn’t really doing it on purpose. V narrowed his eyes some, before L patted his hand.

“I am suggesting it’s a nervous thing dear, nothing else.”

V relaxed a little at that. Bug looked between the three of them, seeming unsure.

“How about we go over this first?”

They nodded.

“Jay, do you know anything about fae wards?” Bug asked him. Jay’s eyes widened, having not expected the brother to ask him something directly.

“Um, I am not sure actually. I mean, I must know some things, as I could tell L was a changeling when I saw your similar appearances.”

“Hm.” Bug grabbed one of the things he brought out.

“Uh,” he looked at the other two fae there, “Did you two want to like back up or something?”

Okay, that was a nerve-racking statement.

V scoffed. “I am the lord of the forest. I can likely handle human versions of faery wards.”

L nodded a little, “I will probably be ok. I would not put myself in harm.”

Bug still seemed unsure, but he nodded. He held out a daisy. Janus looked at the daisy, then looked back up at Bug with a raised eyebrow.

“What-“

“Just, come a little closer.”

Janus sighed and rolled his eyes and he walked up to the daisy held out. He squinted and bent towards it. Almost immediately he wrinkled his nose as a sudden itchiness hit him. Bug stepped back just in time to avoid getting sneezed on.

“Okay, so that’s one.” Bug said, throwing the daisy back away from him.

Janus sighed.

“Oh? and that’s a sign of allergies as well, I would think.”

Bug shrugged. “Yeah, that’s why it’s one of the less harmful deterrents. Ah, here’s one that can’t be put off as an allergy.”

He held out a jar of honey.

“Honey is known to cause good neighbors to get drunk.”

“I’m sorry what?” Janus asked in bewilderment. He looked around at the others who nodded.

“I am not sure how you would feel about that, though,” Bug continued.

“Perhaps we should go with a different one?” L asked. Bug nodded.

“Here’s another one that can’t be explained any other way, seeing as I am not a witch. Kids used to torment us with this one,” Bug said and then he proceeded to take his shoes and socks off. Janus looked on with furrowed brows. Bug then turned his socks inside out and started to put them back on. Janus was about to ask what the brother was doing, when in a blink, suddenly the brother was gone. Janus jolted and looked around.

“What…the hell”

L and V shared a knowing look.

“Did-did you see where he went? Wha-how”

Suddenly the brother reappeared, startling Janus again.

“Well, that answers that.”

“…what?”

Bug finished putting his footwear back on.

“Humans turn their clothes inside out to hide from the view of fae.”

“…what?”

“In other words,” L stepped forward, “If he disappeared for you when he turned his socks inside out, that’s a sign that you are, after all, a fae.”

“…why would that even work anyways?”

V half-smiled at that. “Do you really expect us to be able to explain why every magical happenstance with faeries happens?”

Janus paused then shrugged. He…wasn’t sure what to make of this. It made sense, sort of , given what they had already said, with observation. Somehow, it didn’t sound right though. How would he not feel like he was? Maybe he should ask L more about his changeling situation, that was the closest thing he could think of.

“Jay?” L asked.

“Hmm?” Janus looked up. L looked at him with concern.

“Are you alright?”

Janus frowned. He didn’t know how to answer that.

“Hey,”

They looked over to V, who was looking up from a silvery rectangular device he had been leaning over and fluttering his fingers across for some reason.

“I was letting them know what we found. Wren just got off work, so Ro suggested we all meet up at a picnic, by twin cliff falls, like we used to. How would you feel about that?” V asked.

Janus narrowed his eyes. “…a picnic?”

“Yeah. Ro likes to throw together picnics for us, although he doesn’t do that as much since we moved into our house in the woods together. He has also invited Remus. Cricket, would you care to come as well? Your boyfriend can meet with us there.”

Bug smiled at that.

“Sure, that sounds fun. I kind of thought that spot was a place just the four of you liked to go to.”

V shrugged.

“It was, but it’s still a nice spot. I don’t really mind.”

Bug nodded. “Alright, I’ll send him the invite. Do we need to bring anything?”

“I don’t think so, but I can ask. You know, you are in that group chat too.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Janus asked. They looked at him.

“How did he communicate the picnic thing to you?”

V frowned. “Ah, he texted us.” V said, and wiggled the device he was holding. “On the phone.”

“…text? and that does not look like a phone to me.”

They all shared looks.

“Ah, it’s a newer type of phone. And texting is like sending a typed message through it. Here, I’ll show you,” V carefully showed him the flat part of his device, that had blinking words on it. Janus’ face pinched, as he had trouble wrapping his head around this device.

“W-“

“How about we talk more about this when we get there, yeah?” Bug cut in. Janus shrugged. He was just confused though.

“Ok, cool. I’ll go tell mom and dad what we’re doing.”

“And yes, Bug, it’s fine to let them know we’re going there for a picnic.”

Bug nodded before he headed back into the house.

#laoft fic #ts janus #ts logan #ts virgil #ts thomas #sanders side fic

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