#orpheus turned around because he loved her believers (me) when the ocs they created to be horrible people would turn back cause they suck:😨

[tragedy-tramp]

they are so orpheus and eurydice coded🥰 except only in the feminist version where orpheus turns around to be an asshole or whatever😐

[mer-birdman]

@quilleth asked: For the ways to say I love you prompts, for your 7kpp angst child ;) 22 (I'm evil, I know). or 29. For the signs of affection prompts: 1, 15 or 23

This is part 2, with the OCs! :) I know they may not have been what you intended, but don’t worry. There’s still plenty of angst to go around ^^ just OC angst instead of 7K angst, lol.

1 - A Touch (Filled with Kiki & Leo — QP? — from Natural 20)

He's hearing them again.

The voices.

I can tell better and better now, even though we're back in our world and he's staying on a spare futon in mine and Terra's room. We went to bed early tonight, because everything's been a mess since we found him and school just isn't helping. Neither Leo nor I have gone to class, but Indu's been sending all of our coursework home with Alice and Terra, so I've been trying to help him keep up. Even so, it's— it's not been easy.

I'm in my bed, trying to order a proper binder from one of the companies Arden's oldest brother suggested, and I know Leo's hearing the voices again because he's got his hands clasped over his ears and there's a sort of whimpering coming from his general location. Of course, there's also the part about things in his vicinity starting to shake and float.

From what we can tell, some things... carried over, from the other world. For all of us, not just Leo — sometimes, I feel energy pulsing at my fingertips, as though it wants me to use it but I don't know how. Sophie's noticed that she never gets bruises and scratches and headaches anymore, and the other day Terra picked up the couch Alice and I were sitting on while cleaning. With one hand, while vacuuming, and didn't even break a sweat. Xander doesn't make any noise when he walks, and whenever Arden sings any light source glows brighter. Indu and Alice haven't said anything, but I bet they're feeling something too — I just hope Alice doesn't start literally breathing fire at us. Or whatever her dragon heritage was in the game — I still don't know.

The glass of water on my desk starts to shake, and I close my laptop with a sigh. This is starting to become a new tradition, it seems, or at least until he recovers from— from whatever in the world this is. Because we don't know much about the voices, and Leo can't stand talking about them when he's coherent (and that itself has been pretty rare since we got back), but we do know how to fight them off.

Touch.

"Shh." I climb off of my bed and onto his futon, pushing my feet under his crumpled blanket and pulling it up over us both. The first time I did this, it was awkward, but since it helped him fall asleep for the first time since our return... well, I've gotten used to the proximity that comes when I wrap my arms around him and tuck his head against the side of my neck. He's crying, I can tell from the dampness on my skin, but that's okay. "It's okay, Leo. They can't get to you." His hands grab onto fistfuls of my shirt, legs that are longer than mine again (it's so strange, being back in this differently-shaped body after the time spent as Orpheus) knocking against my ankles and linking with my knees.

He's skinnier than he was before, and even though it's partially from his time spent there, I know he also hasn't been eating since we got back. He usually just isn't coherent enough to get much down, and sometimes on the worst days he can't even keep it there. I can feel his ribs against my arm, and while usually it would just remind me of my own dysphoria and body image issues (and oh, they're just worse now that I know what it's like to feel like my skin fits), now just isn't the time.

Leo sobs, quiet and barely more than a shaky breath, and I run one hand through his hair. The fuchsia dye is long gone, leaving just light brown the color of dust. I want nothing more than to destroy the person who did this to him, nothing more than to punish the one who hurt my best friend like this.

"They can't hurt you here."

15 - A Goodnight Kiss (Filled with Alexa & Corellon — Familial — from CotW)

"Cor?"

The form of her brother, curled on the bed with the blanket pulled up to cover everything but his empty eyes, hadn't changed since she last visited that morning, and Alexa repressed the urge to cry in anger. She knew, knew that his recovery would take time, that he had been trapped with that woman — with her mother, and she was definitely not going to think about that now — for almost nine years. She'd only been there for a couple months, and she still couldn't set foot above ground without freezing in fear.

But her brother had been trapped in this catatonic state since they rescued him, and that had been two weeks ago.

Alexa would never admit it, but she was disappointed. Scared, too, but more disappointed than anything. After so many years, she'd finally found her brother again — the boy who'd found her, raised her, taught her that no matter what the others in her village said, she was still precious and valuable — and he couldn't even hear her voice when she spoke to him. Didn't react when she held his hand and told him about what he'd missed in the years he was gone, didn't focus on her face when she knelt down to meet his eyes. Alexa knew she could more than take care of herself, but every time she came to this room, it felt like she was once again the little girl who'd lost the last part of her family, the little girl who didn't belong anymore.

The chair by his bedside was empty, and she settled herself into it again, reaching out to clasp his hand in hers like she did every night. "Dinner's over. Miri and Bal cooked tonight — they used Hallea's sauce recipe, and I swear Taliesin was salivating before it even hit the table." She laughed, scars tugging and eyebrows quirking up at the memory. "Zan almost smacked him, I think, and Cyriss couldn't stop laughing."

Silence filled the room.

"Tomorrow, we're going back to hand-to-hand training. The rest of the initiates and I are working with Savella on endurance and accuracy, and Cyriss is going to work with Taliesin on fighting with one hand. He's, um..." Pausing to clear her throat, she sighed and made a face. "His arm is healing well — Miss Lilia and Danaë are doing a fantastic job. But just... he hasn't smiled, even once, since we brought you back. I think he feels guilty, since you were his partner. He's been really upset about it."

Corellon didn't respond, blank gaze slowly closing as he slipped into sleep. Letting herself exhale softly, Alexa stood and released his hand, bending over to press a gentle kiss to his forehead the way he would to her when she was very little and still had nightmares about lightning and large birds. The stones laid in the ceiling dimmed as she crossed the room to the door, casting only the barest sort of moonlight glow when she paused and turned to look back at the still figure under the covers.

"Goodnight, Cor. Sleep well."

23 — Any of the Above (aka Author’s Choice) — 22. A Promise (Filled with Raven & Asia & Revel — Romantic — from Wild World)

She couldn't keep promises.

Violet — no, Raven, her name was Raven, she knew that — couldn't keep promises. Promises were dangerous, they were connections that would just tie her down. They would lock her in and take away her freedom, create risks and liabilities she couldn't afford to take with what was left of her life. She knew this, and yet— and yet—

"Don't worry, Asia." He was feverish, head pillowed on her thigh (he shouldn't have felt that safe with her, she was nothing but a weapon) and shivering even though it was warm in Nowex. The spider infestation was getting worse and worse, and he was starting to become incoherent with pain on the worst days. One eye was already lost, and one lung was almost gone — she knew that, she could see the signs. There was no reason to believe he would survive. "Don't worry, I promise we'll fix you."

Next to her, Revel was mixing up more medicine while everyone else slept (they shouldn't have felt that safe around her, to sleep while she was awake), and he paused to drape a damp cloth across Asia's too-warm brow. "Listen to her, Asia. You're going to be fine."

"Y-you sure about that?"

Thick, blood-tinted tears rolled down their friend's cheeks, and Violet— Raven, Raven, she knew this— wiped them away with one thumb (a thumb that could have killed a hundred men without a care, how was she able to use it for such a small kindness, it seemed impossible). They trusted her, but she's never been anything but a killer and a liar.

"Yeah. I promise."

Thanks for asking! Sorry if this isn’t quite what you intended >_<

Signs of Affection meme