Lights Part 2

Lights Part 2

It’s been a few months since your encounter with Boldir, you won’t say ‘chance’ because it had been arranged, and you’ve been simply continuing with your life. As it turns out Boldir lives in a little apartment downtown not too far from the bakery you frequent. She’d seen you going there and recognized you, apparently it was Mallek and Dirk’s cyberstalking that led her to seek you out officially. You aren’t sure if you should feel grateful for their paranoia and less than morally applaudable methods bringing Boldir back into your life. It’s not as if you’re happy those two are stalking you but you are happy to have a friend back. It sits on the back burner of things you worry about- not so much a pressing thought as a pop up. 

The two of you have slowly been getting to know each other again. Outside of his control you aren’t the same person that Boldir was familiar with, and even she has changed outside of Alternia’s influence. Some things remain unchanging, such as her fashion sense and love of conspiracies but its noticeably not driven by a need to survive. She’s more relaxed. Though there will always be that part of both of you that is still on guard against threats. That’s willing to do the morally dubious to survive. It’s an unspoken acknowledgement between the two of you. There’s blood strewn between you from what you’ve both done in Alternia’s harsh nights to sleep through another harsher day. You don’t think any one of your neighbors or any manner of people you’ve interacted with understand it the same way Boldir does. Or any of your old friends do. You know that no one would suspect you capable of half the things you did. Some nights you still wake up with horror numbing your body and terror screaming at you to move. Those are the nights you make yourself something strong to wake up to and settle in for feeling like shit through the entirety of the day. To say you’re working through it is a hopeful mantra. You hope that there will be a day these feelings will be but a distant memory. As it is you’re wide awake and nursing a coffee like it’ll burn your unsavory memories away with enough exposure. You’d decided to go to the mall today since you hadn’t been in some time. Mostly you were just looking for a way to kill time. Sitting on a bench watching the other mall goers flit about you were starting to regret your decision. Everything here was just making you feel worse and even more exposed. What you wanted to do was crawl your way under your blankets and stay there. Getting up you tossed your drink into the nearest trashcan and went looking for the right exit. You had to pass one of the little mall theatres and suddenly stopped. Now wasn’t the time to miss her. And yet you were frozen remembering the taste of popcorn and the comforting darkness as the credits rolled. Of her hand in yours. It had been a while since you had an episode so bad you missed Polypa like one might miss a limb. The breath you took rattled through you thinly and you knew you had to get out of there before you got any worse. It took a conscious effort not to break out into a dead run. Instead you were walking briskly, eyes glued to your own feet, as you rushed towards the exit. You tried hard not to bump into anyone but even so you still managed to do it. Just a clipping of shoulders and elbows. Head shooting up you went to apologize only for the air to leave your lungs entirely. 

She looked wonderful, black cargo shorts and her signature tank top. The chip in her horn was still there but it wasn’t the jagged wound of your memories- instead it looked tended to. The edges softened to keep it from being so glaringly obvious. Her hair was still the messy black you came to appreciate but this time it had a sort of neatness to it. Polypa looked right at home. Tongue tied you could only stare with wide and disbelieving eyes. There was movement out of the corner of your eye- slow and deliberate- but you only had eyes for your moirail. Or rather, former moirail. A hand carefully hovered near your cheek and you could feel the tears stinging against the corners of your eyes. Her lips pulled taut into a thin line and her hand pressed firmly against your jaw. Then her other hand came up to do the same. There was the rustle of plastic and you were vaguely aware of the bag dangling from her arm as her hands cupped your face. As she took a small step closer. 

“Polypa?” Your voice cracked and you shut your mouth with a click of teeth. She wasn’t your moirail anymore. She wasn’t. It didn’t make you want to collapse against her any less. The harsh lines of her brows seemed to soften at that as she carefully guided you closer and you had to wonder exactly how pitiful you must have looked. 

“Where’s your scuttlebuggy?” She asked quietly. Your shoulders trembled. 

“I walked.” The walk had seemed like a good idea at the time. A way to clear your head. Now it seemed like the worst decision you ever made. 

“Okay.” She was wrapping an arm around you so tightly you were forced to walk pressed flush against her side. A protest bubbled up your throat and promptly died on your tongue when you saw the few trolls scattered about blatantly staring. Against you Polypa’s chest rumbled with the hint of a warning growl. You were reminded of all the times you’d been in a similar situation back on Alternia, though those times you’d been the one doing the comforting. Had Polypa ever been given the chance to return the favor? There was that first time but you’d been so out of it he’d stolen your words and warped them to fit the narrative. The realization helped sober you just a bit. This was the first time she was seeing you break. The real you. Your entire body shuddered as the realization settled into your mind. This was it. If Polypa didn’t like what she saw it was over. The comforting memories of the two of you together would be overshadowed by this. This simple but momentous moment. Your tears were finally getting to the point of blurring your vision as the two of you exited the mall. She was warm, you thought to yourself, not the same warmth a human would give off but warmer than you remembered. And she was still tugging you along pressed tight and held firmly in her grip. How the two of you managed to walk all the way back to your house you weren’t sure. It seemed as if one minute you were walking away from the mall and the next minute Polypa was taking your house key out of your fumbling fingers to open the door herself. Again you could feel a protest bubbling up. A warning that she had to leave now because you couldn’t handle it if all this amounted to was you getting your hopes up. As she shut and locked your door behind you both the words stilled in waiting on your lips. 

Why had she locked your door?

“Force of habit, come here.” She replied forcefully, you hadn’t even realized you’d asked her that out loud. As Polypa gathered you back up close again she took in your little home. It wasn’t much of course. Just what you’d managed to scrape up and get when you started out here, but it was nothing to be ashamed of. With a careful precision she walked you through the house and straight into your room. In moments you were being sat on your bed as Polypa knelt down to unlace your shoes for you. The action had you feeling rubbed raw. Fresh tears spilled down your cheeks as she carefully pulled off your shoes and set them aside. Her face was impossibly soft as she looked up at you. 

“Is this okay?” There was something raw in the way her voice just barely trembled. As if this was just as meaningful to her as it was to you. With a choked sob all you could do was nod. She was careful as she crawled onto your bed with you- kicking off her own shoes as she went. There were the beginnings of translucent olive colored tears in her eyes. A desperation you felt just as keenly mirrored in her actions. 

It broke what little restrain you had as the agony of it all overwhelmed you. 

“I missed you.” She whispered as you laid barely awake and hollowed out curled up close and warm against each other. You squeezed her with what little strength you could muster, voice long gone from your feelings jam. Me too, you wanted to say. A few more tears tracked down your face as Polypa settled in closer. You two still had so much more to talk about. To discuss. To figure out. But it could wait. As you finally drifted off into a well deserved sleep you knew she’d be there when you woke up. It was the first time you slept like the dead since coming here. 

Lights Part 3

There’s a pleasant warmth curled around you and the heaviness of the comforter that’s got you feeling like a very loved burrito makes it hard to open your eyes. You’re struggling to not keep blinking continuously but its a difficult task, you’re warm, you’re comfortable, and you’ve got no where to be. The arm wrapped around your stomach drags you closer as your eyes sag closed-

You’re wide awake in an instant. Heart hammering and lungs seizing as you go absolutely rigid. You don’t invite people into your house anymore, especially not into your bed, those are your sacred little spaces that you crawl into to feel secure. But you can feel the person- sleep heavy- curled along your back in an awkward spooning position with an arm and leg thrown over you. Warm breath tickling the back of your neck that suddenly feels too exposed. You’re too exposed and there is someone in your bed and you can’t breathe and-

The leg that was thrown over you is removed and there are hands dragging you upright and a vaguely familiar voice murmuring something close enough to your face you can feel the puffs of air each word makes. It’s not until hands are cupping your jaw and the words level out into a constant soothing hush of consolation that you finally realize who’s kneeling over your lap and looking lost and upset. Polypa’s eyes are wide with worry as her voice seizes up and relaxes against the chattering cicada noise that wants to come out. She settles for a stream of constant shushing noises that buzz just a bit the closer to panic she comes. She’s never seen you like this. Never seen or realized exactly how messed up Alternia had left you. It claws at her mind and whispers the horrible thought of failing as a moirail that she never noticed. That she never pried even when you seemed just fine. She should have. She should know exactly what’s keeping you up at night and what sends you into a blind panic. Polypa should have known where you lived too. As a moirail these were basic things that helped build the foundation of a stable diamond. The fact she didn’t have the faintest clue about any of it was enough for olive tinted tears to well up in the corners of her eyes. After everything you had simply fallen off the map, complete radio silence, Polypa had looked everywhere for you. The mall was the last place she ever thought to bump into you and the elation she had felt had been short lived at the absolutely shattered look in your eyes. The way you had simply crumbled at the slightest gentle touch had felt like a sucker punch to the gut. 

“It’s alright, it’s going to be alright, just breathe for me.” You took in a stuttering breath following along to the gentle breathing that Polypa was trying to coach you into. You were safe, you were home, you were in bed, and Polypa had spent the night after the most intense and dissociative feelings jam of your life. It was fine. Slowly you began to calm down. The two of you would need to have that talk you’d been dreading. The one where you had to tell her everything and wait for her to decide whether she was going to sign up for dealing with your bullshit or throw herself out the window to get as far away from your flaming dumpster fire as she could. For a moment you debated lying out your ass and saying you’ve just been having a horrible week and leaving it at that. The thought was abandoned as quickly as it formed. Polypa’s eyes were earnest and bordering desperate. She wanted- and by extension needed- to hear the truth. No matter how much it’d feel like pulling teeth. 

“We need to talk.” You finally sighed out, shoulders slumping as the fight left you. She tensed and you realized how bad that probably sounded. “It- Its- Hey, Polypa, its not... Well okay its bad but- just let me explain?” Preferably in the kitchen where you could sit at the table and talk this out like rational adults. Even if you felt like a frightened preteen about to spill their guts for the first time. It took a few more reassurances that you were more or less okay and that you weren’t about to kick her out to get her to let you up. From there you grabbed some drinks from your fridge and took a seat at the little kitchen table you had set up. Polypa drummed her claws along the can of soda you’d handed her- a nervous tick you’d adopted from her long ago. You weren’t sure where to even start with this. A confession of how pale you still were for her? Word vomit about the time just before landing on Alternia? Or straight to the chase? Running a hand through your hair as your foot bounced nervously you took a deep breath. 

“When...” You had to clear your throat past the lump in it, “When I first landed on Alternia... I-,” A shuddering breath left you and you had to close your eyes for a moment to keep from bursting into tears. To keep from becoming an incoherent babbling mess. It took Polypa’s hand covering one of your own to get back what little composure you had. 

“You don’t have to tell me everything now.” She offered in the silence as you tried to collect your words again. Tempted as you were to take her up on that you knew she deserved to know. 

“When I first landed on Alternia there was something wrong with me. I knew something was wrong but for the life of me couldn’t figure out what it might be. So I pushed it aside for the thrill of making friends. Of meeting new people. It wasn’t until I left that I finally realized what happened. What was wrong...” She was staring at you with such rapt attention you felt like a bug pinned to a cork board. “I was... It- I- shit... Everything that happened on Alternia felt fake, like I was some chess piece on a board waiting for someone to make a move. A pawn. And I... I was. I was a pawn. The man... The-,” Your fists clenched at the memory, “Doc fucking Scratch.” You barked out venomously teeth grinding with the force of it. It was the first time you’d allowed yourself to say his name. To speak it into existence. For once you weren’t afraid it’d bring him down upon you like a swarm of locusts. No, for once you wanted to wrap your hands around that puppet’s felt fucking neck and squeeze. Sucking in a deep breath you continued on. “He fucked with my mind Polypa. I was a backseat passenger to a shit show I had no control over. Everything I ever did was mapped out and if I made a wrong choice? I wound up in a groundhog style remake of that moment until I made the correct decision. I died Polypa, I remember every death- every bad ending- every time I had to stare down at one of my friends and know that I killed them! And then I’d blink and I’d be back where I started staring down at the choices I was allowed to make and praying I’d get it right this time. He took all my words and twisted them to fit his narrative. I was there to make the right friends and then be tossed aside when there was no use for me. And when he plucked me out of the narrative again and gave me back my at least some of my mind I fucking spiraled. I went about making more friends because I couldn’t do anything else. Because that fucker took my memories from me so that I would continue in a loop until it killed me. And when I finally snapped out of it I tore everything to shreds to get to him. I destroyed entire timelines just so I could burn everything that pompous bastard held dear to the ground. And I succeeded. At least partially... The next time I woke up I was sleeping in a motel room in some place I’d never even heard of. I found a job and I scraped up enough to get a decent place, I knew that everyone was still out there. I did. I just couldn’t bring myself to play the game again. Even if it was all in my head.” Tears were dripping off the tip of your nose as you stared down at your fist and Polypa’s hand still placed over yours. It took her choking out your name for you to finally look her in the face. Olive tears were streaming down her cheeks and she looked miserable. Like you had ripped the heart from her chest and stomped it into the dirt. 

“Everything you did was against your will?” Her voice was so small and for a moment you almost agreed. But that wasn’t what she was really asking. Reaching out you took her hands in yours and squeezed as tightly as you could. 

“The time we spent together was the closest I ever got to being myself. If it’s one thing I’d do over and over and over again it would be becoming your moirail. Never doubt that Polypa. Never.” A small keen left her lips and then you suddenly found yourself with a lap full of blubbering troll. Her claws were digging through the shirt you wore as her arms squeezed you like a vice. Words practically unintelligible and at least mostly in Alternian bubbled out of her in a tormented jumble. More tears gathered in your eyes as you cradled her close and started crying in earnest. You had your moirail back, of her own choice, and the dam you’d kept everything behind finally burst. 

Modern Fantasy Dwarf Headcanons #1

Dwarves flock to mountain ranges and usually build their capitol in the largest mountain of that range. Though they prefer the company of other dwarves it is not uncommon to find dwarves in mining towns/former mining towns. There is no safer mine than a dwarven mine as they follow regulations strictly and efficiently, unwilling to risk the life of a single worker lest production go down. 

Be warned though! If a human works alongside dwarves for any extended amount of time the dwarves closest to them tend to adopt the human families into their own whether the humans in question likes it or not. This caused quite a bit of trouble in the past though not as much as it does in the present. 

Dwarves who adopt human families into their own have a tendency to simply take the children of the family (especially those of the human extended family) that aren’t being treated right. This has caused some strain between the communities as this is protected under dwarven law but illegal under human law. Most disputes end up in a mixed race court. Only one dispute has ended up going all the way to the High Council, The Copperbeard Clan vs The Herring Family. (The main reasoning being that the claiming dwarf was still rather young herself). The case is the most recent and set up a wobbly law stating that one member of the human family must contend that the minor would be safest with the claiming dwarf. Despite its more volatile nature as a law it has held strong since its establishment in 1982. 

The Tweet Part 2

You’d been scrambling to work with Tagora and the others to come up with a way to cover Marvus’ blunder. It wasn’t like you could sweep it underneath the metaphorical rug or anything, it’d have to be addressed at some point, and soon if you wanted to avoid a good deal of the drama. As it stood, you’d both have to do an interview. A strictly regulated interview, of course, but an interview nonetheless. Something about salvaging your images. Not like you had an image to salvage. Marvus was the star here and you were just the friendly human. Never before had you been so happy for having only the most dumbass shit on your accounts paired with enough vague nonsense no one would look deeper than ‘bumbling newbie to concert got lucky and swept into a whirlwind romance’. The type of shit every fan wished would happen to them. 

A perfect cover.

You might even be able to save your privacy if you played up the newbie act. It wouldn’t exactly be hard. In all honesty you didn’t pay much attention to Marvus’ work other than that first concert and whatever he deigned important enough to share with you. Mostly your thoughts on cover art for albums. You were his human sounding board when it came to those things. Other than the odd question you were just along for the ride. The two of you had built your relationship outside of the limelight which is another reason it had lasted longer than his other relationships. You were his break from stardom and as far as you were concerned Marvus was just another troll. One with plenty of perks but still just an ordinary person. So, it wouldn’t be hard to play the idiot in this. Even if you knew exactly what you were stepping into at the start of this relationship.

Absorbed in your own share of work going through the preplanned script for a, now inevitable, interview you didn’t hear the lock on your door click or the muffled squeak of the front door’s rusting hinges. No, as you grumbled and griped to no one in particular about idiot juggalos and how you were going to beat them with their own clown shoes- Marvus was free to slip in quietly and stand in the doorway of the living room where you were typing away. If you had seen him and the smug little smile on his face you would have launched a pillow at his face no mercy. But he had every right to be smug. He’d been debating dropping hints about your relationship for some time now. The only reason he’d held back for so long was because it meant throwing you into the middle of the lion’s den. He simply couldn’t bring himself to do that to you. It was why he’d caved so quickly to his PR team’s demands. If they wanted to keep the relationship private then he had no qualms with it. Having you all to himself was a welcomed distraction from everything he put out in the open to please his fans. You weren’t one of the screaming masses, not some simple fan who wanted to claw their way into his life, you were simply his. You never saw him as Marvus The Performer, you saw him as Marvus The Person. Marvus your matesprit. Though, he wasn’t going to waste this opportunity now that it was out in the open. He wouldn’t ever have to pretend to be a concerned friend when people blatantly flirted with you. Wouldn’t have to play off his jealousy as simple attention seeking. You were his matesprit and those fuckers were lucky he didn’t straight out attack them. He would have been well within his rights to do it. Messiah’s knew he’d come close to throwing caution to the wind when it came to you. Only an idiot would try for a red quad with you now that Marvus was in the picture. It made him smile. 

“You gonna stand there like the cat who ate the canary or are you gonna help me fix this?” You huffed when you finally noticed him. He had the decency to look a little sheepish as he plopped down on the couch to read over the shit show his team was trying to wrangle into submission. 

“You know I wasn’t doin’ that shit on purpose right?” He asked after a moment of nothing but the cold shoulder. Usually you were happy to greet him with a smile and a kiss when he stopped by. Something he looked forward to every time he got to see you. Now you were too absorbed in work to offer him more than a glance. Your fingers slowed and the rapid tapping dwindled to nothing as you sighed. 

“I know, honestly I’m impressed we kept it under wraps this long.” You gave a small chuckle and shook your head. There was a hint of a smile playing on your lips and it made Marvus relax. As long as you weren’t truly angry with him he’d be fine. And you weren’t- not really- a little miffed but nothing serious. Seeing him relax and start grinning in that smug way again reminded you of your earlier promise though. With no warning you smacked him once- as hard as you could- in the arm. It’d do little more than shock him- the bastard. As predicted he jumped and swiveled his head to look at you in surprise. 

“Wh-,”

You didn’t give him the moment to speak as you glanced away long enough from your work to give him a kiss. He blinked at you silently until it caught up to him and a lazy grin spread across his face. Turning back to the laptop you felt his arms snake around you and ever so carefully drag you closer to him. You had a feeling you weren’t going to be getting much done now as he pressed a kiss just behind your ear. 

Tagora Gorjek x Reader

He ran at a temperature best described as lukewarm, it was always the first thing you were reminded of when you spent time with him. He wasn’t the coldest of the trolls you knew of course. Granted, neither of you got to do so as much as you’d have liked. He was a busy troll and you had your own things to stress over. Your chats and gossip were usually reserved for facetime on whatever app or device happened to be handy. Tagora had a strict schedule and while yours was more hectic due to family matters he always made time to talk. But luckily for you both of you had found the time to hang out in person again. It was a breath of fresh air- even if the pampering made you squirm. You knew that Tagora liked having a ‘spa buddy’ but that didn’t mean you didn’t feel bad for him spending all that money on you. As much as he made up a big deal about your debt to him you also knew him well enough now to know he was full of shit. He was throwing prices out there and not keeping track of what you owed at all. That and he wouldn’t let you pay him back even when you did have the money. He liked spoiling you for some asinine reason though you were getting better at returning the favor. 

Like now. A bottle of iridescent teal tail polish and that Starbucks he liked so much sitting on the little bedside table and a couple of ridiculously fluffy bathrobes- it’d been a dent to your wallet but that was fine really- you were finally going to hang out together. You’d both planned this day weeks in advance and Tagora hadn’t shut up about all the new products he wanted to try with you. Some of it you’d looked up and nearly had a heart attack at the prices. You knew you shouldn’t have checked the prices on the products because it always led to you being anxious about using them but there were a few troll products humans couldn’t use without consequences and you liked to be careful. Luckily Tagora was almost as vigilant as you when it came to products. Which was why you were both reclined on the human bed he’d gotten just for the two of you, your skin was so silky smooth now it felt like you’d gotten rid of a years worth of grime. It also smelled nice- certainly not as strong as most human products were. Just a faint scent that you wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for the sheer amount of it you’d both used. Somewhere in Tagora’s hive you could hear Ferret dad scuttling around and the soft sound of Tagora breathing. The bed shifted and you opened an eye to watch him grab his Starbucks from the table and sit up slightly. He looked peaceful laying back with you and drinking that sugary monstrosity. The rigid way he usually help himself had melted away to loose shoulders and half lidded eyes. They were filling out more with teal lately- an indicator of an adult molt coming up. He’d mentioned it a couple of times asking you to check in on his lusus when the molt hit and make sure nothing in his fridge rotted. That bit of biology lesson had been enlightening as well as deeply disturbing. It also saddened you to think Ferret dad would be leaving to find a new charge soon. Reaching over you grabbed Tagora’s free hand and gave it a squeeze. His lips twitched around his straw as he squeezed back. This was your favorite part of your spa days, just relaxing together. Being able to reach out and hold hands when you wanted to. He gave you a gentle tug as he leaned back over to set his drink on the table. When he settled again there was that familiar sly grin- sharp teeth poking out from behind black lips- that told you he had some sort of juicy gossip to share with you. 

“You won’t believe what I overheard the other day.” He started, voice hushed with glee. Oh, you thought with your own smile, this was going to be good. 

Please for the love of god. I have so many fics to finish and update.

Reblog the writers’ fortune cookie for luck!