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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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Send me questions you want to see me answer for an oc's backstory/ deep dive

( feel free to reblog this so we can all send each other stuff)

#writeblr reblogs #👀

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 29: Sereia, Kallan, and Nerissa

“Stormchaser!”

Both Kallan and Sereia looked up at the sound of somebody calling for him. Kallan swung down from the rigging. “Yes?” he called back.

Sereia left the flag they’d been painting to join their husband at the railing of the ship.

“Sails spotted to the west,” the pirate yelled up to them. “Flying Stormborn’s flag. Looks like she’ll be making harbor in about an hour or so.”

Kallan gave a salute of acknowledgement before turning away to face Sereia. Though he outwardly kept his composure, Sereia could easily recognize the ashen tint to his face.

They took his hand and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Not all unexpected visits are bad,” they reminded him.

“Except we were going to see her in just a few weeks at the Trials,” Kallan said in an undertone. “If she’s visiting now…”

“Perhaps it’s good news,” Sereia said.

Kallan sighed and kissed Sereia softly. “We can hope,” he murmured.

~

By the time the ship made it to the harbor, the news had spread across the island and a decent crowd had gathered, hungry for news and gossip the ship’s crew would inevitably bring. Kallan stood back as the ship drew close and ropes flew from her deck to pull her in and anchor her to the dock, but Sereia could practically feel the tension coiling in him, just waiting for the moment the gangplank lowered so he could see their daughter.

It turned out that Nerissa didn’t even have that much patience, as when the ship was still a few feet from the dock she came flying over the side to land easily on the dock.

Kallan immediately moved, and Nerissa squeaked as he pulled her into a bear hug. “Hi Papa,” she said breathlessly.

Sereia waited for Kallan to let go before they offered their arms to Nerissa. She went willingly, and Sereia silently mourned the fact that even she was now taller than them.

“Hi Renna,” Nerissa whispered.

“Welcome back,” Sereia replied. “It’s good to see you again. Even if you did give your father a few grey hairs by showing up now.”

Nerissa laughed as she let go, but it was easy to tell that there was something bothering her. “Well,” she said, “I have good news and bad news.”

“Bad news first,” Kallan immediately said.

Nerissa shook her head. “Good news first. I, uh… I found Nymar.”

A shocked murmur spread throughout the waiting crowd.

“What?” Kallan yelped. “Where? How? Where is he now?” He looked up at Nerissa’s ship, as if Nymar would appear at the railing at any moment and jump to the dock just like his sister.

“That’s the bad news,” Nerissa said with a wince. “He… We lost him. In the Sea of Storms.”

Another murmur rippled through the crowd. Kallan went silent and still.

Sereia put a hand on his arm and spoke softly to Nerissa. “Let’s take a walk, shall we? It sounds like you have quite the story to tell us.”

Nerissa nodded in agreement. Kallan turned to Feran, who was still on the deck of Kallan’s ship. “Get the ship ready,” he ordered. “We’ll leave as soon as she’s stocked.”

“Got it Cap’n,” Feran said, then turned to shout the orders to those gathered on deck.

“Come on,” Kallan said, making his way to the shore. The crowd parted before him like waves splitting apart at the bow of a ship. Sereia offered their arm to Nerissa, and she took it and nestled close as they followed him.

They quickly left the crowd behind as they made their way through the village and onto one of the paths that wound their way across the island.

Sereia broke the silence first. “Let’s start with how you found Nymar,” they said.

Nerissa nodded. “He sent me a message, asking me to meet him on one of the islands near the Aslerean coast. And he asked me to keep it a secret,” she added, seeing the way Kallan had taken a breath to ask a question.

“But why?” Kallan asked instead.

“He didn’t want to return just yet,” Nerissa said. “But there was some… quest he was on, and he required a boat and a captain willing to take his directions.”

“What sort of quest?” Kallan asked.

“I don’t know,” Nerissa admitted. “He didn’t tell me many details, and I didn’t ask. We ended up in the Sea of Storms, and when the storm hit…” She hesitated. “He was right beside me, but I looked away for just a second and he vanished. One of my crew saw him, said he moved at the wrong time and got hit by a wave the wrong way, and when the water cleared he was gone.”

Kallan gritted his teeth. “That fool,” he muttered.

Nerissa glared at her father’s back, and Sereia squeezed her arm in silent reproach.

Kallan set his shoulders and turned to face them. “I’m going after him,” he said. “I don’t care if I have to search every inch of the ocean down to the bottom, I will find him.”

“But Papa, the Trials—”

“If I miss them, then so be it,” Kallan snapped. “No title is worth more than my son.”

Nerissa gritted her teeth as she watched Kallan stride down the path, heading back towards the harbor and his ship. Sereia brushed aside a stray lock of hair. “Did he tell you why he left?” they asked softly.

Nerissa hesitated, but then Kallan rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. “Yes,” she said.

“And was it the reason we suspected?”

“Yes.”

Sereia sighed. “Then I’ll have to try and make your father see reason.”

Nerissa turned to face them. “Renna, I swear I didn’t mean—”

“I know Issa,” Sereia interrupted her. “You just wanted to help him, but fate works in mysterious ways.”

“Do you think Papa will find anything?” Nerissa asked softly. “We looked, but the storm—it was just too rough.”

“I think,” Sereia said, “that he’ll only stop when he’s found your brother, or the sea herself finally announces her claim on him.”

~

Several hours later, Kallan’s ship was ready to sail, and the tide was going out. Kallan stood at the helm, impatiently waiting for his crew to finish untying the ship so they could sail, when Sereia stepped up to his shoulder.

Kallan startled a little, turning to face them. “What are you doing here?” he asked lowly. “I thought you would stay and represent me at the Trials if I don’t make it.”

“My place is by your side, Stormchaser,” Sereia said, their dark eyes solemn. “And Nerissa is more than capable of standing in your place should we miss the Trials.”

Kallan gritted his teeth and set his gaze to the horizon. “I’m not willing to give up on him that easily,” he muttered. “I swore I was going to do whatever it took to stop the sea from claiming them and I stand by that.”

“Just don’t fight fate too hard, my love,” Sereia said quietly. “After all, there are some storms that cannot be tamed.”

#writing #in which i write #snippets #tnf #februaroc #februaroc 2024

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 28: Birds of Prey

Owl looked up from his cards at the sound of the door, but he relaxed when he saw it was just Kestrel and the newest Nova, Vulture.

“And this,” Kestrel said with a grand sweep of their arm, “is the unofficial clubhouse for our little group of hunting birds.”

Vulture hesitantly waved.

“Come on.” Kestrel wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards the table. “They don’t bite.”

“Too hard,” Heron said, splitting one of his piles of chips to push into the center of the table.

“Unless we’re asked to.” Seriemas glanced between her cards and the chips in the center, then she folded with a scowl.

Owl could see the moment Vulture’s hesitance turned to interest. “You playing poker?”

“Yup,” Owl said as Firehawk folded and Falcon matched Heron’s bet. “Wanna join next round?”

“Who’s dealing?” Kestrel asked before Vulture could answer, leaning against the back of Falcon’s chair.

Owl tossed his chips into the pot before dealing the last cards without breaking eye contact with Kestrel.

“Good,” Kestrel said. “Everybody else tends to rig the deck,” they added for Vulture’s benefit.

Heron scoffed. “You wound my honor Kess.”

“Good.” Kestrel bared their teeth in a grin before looking at Falcon’s cards over his shoulder. They grimaced for a second then quickly composed themself, but the damage was already done.

Heron smirked and pushed three of his chip piles in. “Gotta work on your poker face there,” he said with a wink.

Kestrel rolled their eyes and pulled up two chairs next to Falcon. “Sit,” they told Vulture. “We’ll do introductions and then you can decide if you want to lose any money today.”

As Vulture sat, Kestrel went around the table for introductions. “Falcon, our sniper. Firehawk, explosions expert. Seriemas, master of stealth. Heron, honorary member because he knows Owl and also likes causing chaos, and our unofficial leader Owl, because he’s the best at keeping Heron and the rest of us in line.”

“Also cause I have the most seniority here, other than Heron,” Owl added. Vulture nodded, her eyes darting around the circle like she was trying to memorize everything Kestrel had just told her.

Falcon matched Heron’s bet again, his face giving nothing away. Owl knew Heron tended to be overly cocky when it came to bluffing, but he had the feeling he would be losing this hand no matter what, so he shrugged and folded. “Whatcha guys got?”

“Three of a kind,” Heron announced, revealing his hand and rearranging his cards to bring the three Jacks together.

Falcon smirked as he laid down his cards. “Full house.”

“What was that about my poker face?” Kestrel asked.

“Fucker.” Heron sat back and flipped them off as Falcon collected the chips from the center. He split off about a third and slid them over to Kestrel.

Kestrel accepted them with a nod and quickly rearranged them on the table. “Deal me in next hand?”

“Got it.” Owl finished collecting the cards and set to work shuffling. He glanced at Vulture and raised an eyebrow, but she shook her head.

“I’ll watch a few rounds, if that’s okay.”

“Fine by me.” Owl set the deck in front of her. “Cut for me?”

Vulture split the deck in half and moved the bottom half to the top, then Owl took the deck back and quickly dealt out the next round.

Falcon took one look at his cards, then stood up. “And now is when I cut my losses and fold,” he said. “I’m gonna grab a drink, you want anything Kess, Vulture?”

“Yes please,” Kestrel said.

“Yes please,” Heron echoed.

“Offer only open for newbies and people who help me win at poker,” Falcon said, flicking his faceup card at Heron.

“Or people you’re sleeping with?” Firehawk said in a not-quite-undertone.

Falcon gave them a deadpan stare. “Kess, clean ‘em out for me this round, will you?”

“Already the plan dear Falcon,” Kestrel replied, giving Firehawk and Heron a predatory grin as they played with their chips.

#writing #in which i write #snippets #nova #februaroc #februaroc 2024

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 27: Gerald, Jade, and Melissa

(Hello and welcome back to the Puppeteers being way too into body horror shit for being Doofenschmirtz-level villains. Here there be meat puppets. Have fun.)

The bell above the door rung as the door opened, but before Gerald could straighten up and put his customer service face back on, he heard Jade call out. “Hey Gerry, look who I ran into on my way back!” A moment later, Jade rounded the shelves, towing Melissa behind her. “Also, the café was out of almond croissants,” she added.

“God dammit,” Gerald sighed. “It’s about damn time you got here,” he said to Melissa.

Melissa scowled at him. “Not my fault somebody decided to turn half the streets into jello.”

“Huh, weird, I heard it was acid,” Jade commented, setting down one of the cups she carried to slide it over to Gerald.

“Could have been both, considering how fucked up this city gets sometimes,” Melissa grumbled. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Gerald looked over at Jade and raised an eyebrow. She responded by hip checking him out from behind the counter to take his spot at the register. “Have fun,” she sang, taking a sip of whatever coffee-adjacent monstrosity she was drinking today. “We’re closing in fifteen, so please hurry your asses up so we can get the closing shit done fast.”

“Hey, don’t put this on me.” Gerald paused to take a swig of his coffee while it was still hot, then he headed for the back room of the shop, Melissa close on his heels.

The back room was full of shelves packed with boxes and various pet toys, but Gerald easily wove through the narrow aisles to the far end of the room. The shelves didn’t reach all the way, leaving enough space for a steel worktable, a couple of lockers, a fridge, and a few chairs next to the door that led to the back alley.

“Here,” Gerald said, making his way to the cooler currently tucked underneath the table. He pulled it out and opened the lid for Melissa to inspect.

Melissa made a face. “Is there anything we can do about the smell?”

“Only if you keep it frozen,” Gerald replied. Personally, he didn’t see what the big deal was, but then again Jade delighted in telling him that his sense of smell was fucked after so many years of dealing with raw and rotting meat.

Melissa hesitated, her hand hovering like she was debating reaching into the cooler. “Does it work?” she asked instead.

“Fuck if I know,” Gerald snorted. “But I’ve spent too many hours staring at those damn anatomy books, so if it doesn’t then this whole project is probably a dud.”

“And what a shame that would be,” Melissa said dryly. She took a step back and took a deep breath, winced in regret, then held out her hand.

A second later, there was a wet thwack as something in the cooler moved. Gerald leaned over, curious if it actually worked or not.

At first glance, the thing in the cooler could easily be mistaken for human, a tangle of limbs covering up the rest of its body. But then one of the arms jerked again, and Gerald clearly saw no neck rising from its shoulders.

“Feels a little odd,” Melissa said, frowning in concentration. “But it works.” She sounded surprised, but Gerald honestly couldn’t blame her. After all, this was the third full scale attempt at creating a meat puppet for Melissa and her buddies.

“Cool.” Gerald nudged the puppet’s arm back into the cooler and closed the lid. “Let’s get it loaded up then? Where are you parked?”

“I pulled into the alley behind the shop,” Melissa answered, looking noticeably relieved now that the cooler was closed again.

Gerald nodded and opened the door, propping it open with one of the chairs. “You take one end,” he ordered. “It’s heavy.”

“Fuck’s sake,” Melissa sighed, but she complied and grabbed one of the cooler’s handles.

Together, they maneuvered the cooler out into the alley and into the trunk of Melissa’s car. Once they were back inside, Gerald kicked the chair aside so the door could swing shut. “Go talk to Jade,” he said. “I’m gonna start closing shit up back here.”

Melissa nodded and made her way out of the back room.

Gerald made sure the table was clean and spent some time neatening up the shelves before he headed back to the front of the shop. He found Jade sitting on the counter, her drink already near empty, thumbing through a stack of cash.

“I see it finally worked then,” she said when she noticed Gerald.

“Yeah.” Gerald grabbed his coffee and downed half of it in one go. “She didn’t seem too happy with it though, for some reason.”

“Honestly, why they even want a meat puppet in the first place is beyond me,” Jade shrugged. “Sure, it’s not a real person, but that just means it’s gonna get real messy real fast.”

“Fuck if I know,” Gerald sighed. “But not my problem so long as they’re willing to pay for it.”

“And what a good payday that was.” Jade tapped Gerald on the nose with the cash, then set it on the counter next to her and hopped down. “Alright, let’s get this place cleaned up so we can go home.”

#writing #in which i write #snippets #superhero wip #februaroc #februaroc 2024

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 26: Zinnia

(Bear the human and Bear the bear have finally gotten named! Fuck yeah!)

Zinnia ran as fast as her feet could carry her, darting through the now-familiar hallways towards the door to the outside. She didn’t know what she was going to do, once she reached it. She didn’t know what she should do. All she knew was that she had to get out of here as quick as possible, with Amaranth, and without getting caught.

She skidded around a corner and found herself in the lobby facing the door. Fear shot through her, bringing with it another rush of adrenaline, but Zinnia forced herself to swallow it down as she ran for the door, darting around the unsuspecting adults.

“Zinnia!”

Zinnia didn’t recognize the voice, and the additional spike of panic spurred her to go even faster as she crashed into the door. Amaranth chittered on her shoulder, her claws digging into Zinnia’s skin, but then the door gave way and they both tumbled outside for the first time.

Zinnia took a few stumbling steps, but not even the fear was enough to keep her going now. Not when everything was too bright and too unfamiliar and too loud and—

“Zinnia!”

Zinnia shrieked as somebody grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around. Almost immediately, Pyxis let go of her and raised his hands.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to scare you, it just seemed like you couldn’t hear me.”

Zinnia panted, staring at him with wide eyes. He seemed… normal. Almost too normal, considering the morning she’d had.

“Are you okay?” Pyxis asked. “What’s wrong?”

Zinnia shook her head, her panting turning to unsteady gasps.

“Can I touch you?” Pyxis asked softly.

Zinnia immediately darted for him and flung her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. Pyxis wrapped his arms around her, and Zinnia finally felt safe, like nobody could find her hidden here.

“I know,” Pyxis murmured, keeping his mouth close to her ear so she could hear him over all the other noises around. “It’s really different out here, huh. If you told me you wanted to explore out here I woulda come with you, so it’s a bit less overwhelming.”

Zinnia shook her head again, still gasping for air.

“Do you want to go inside for a bit and sit? Then we can come back out when you’ve calmed down a bit.”

Zinnia shook her head even more emphatically, pushing herself away from Pyxis. He looked confused and a bit hurt at the action, but Zinnia didn’t give him a chance to speak. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Everything was confusing and terrifying, but Zinnia wanted to trust Pyxis so bad it hurt.

“Something—something bad happened this morning,” she admitted. “And—and somebody talked to me beforehand, warned me that—that—he told me I should get out of the building and run and I don’t understand—”

Her voice broke on a sob. Pyxis stepped forward to pull Zinnia into another hug, and she didn’t resist.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I don’t—I don’t understand,” Zinnia gasped. “It happened and then it didn’t and I went through the vents before it could happen again.”

“Your powers again?”

“M—Maybe.”

Pyxis hummed, his entire chest vibrating with the noise. “If somebody’s trying to hurt you, then we gotta let somebody know,” he said. “I can tell my handler, if you want. I gotta go talk to her anyways, she got my hibernation schedule messed up and my door was locked this morning.”

Zinnia felt a cold flash of fear at his words. “Pyxis, what if she’s in on it too?” she asked. “They—they looked a lot of the other adults I saw yesterday, when I was getting tested, what if—”

“Hey.” Pyxis put a hand on her cheek and held her gaze, honey eyes warm and gentle. “I promise things are going to be okay. Will you let me help you?”

Zinnia was tired and scared, her chest hurt from too much running and crying, and Amaranth was abnormally silent on her shoulder, only the occasional twitch of her tail indicating she was still listening. But where she was small, scared, and helpless, Pyxis was tall and strong and brave, warm and gentle and sweet.

Zinnia sniffed and rubbed her eyes. “Okay,” she whispered.

Pyxis nuzzled the side of her head. “I’ll take care of you,” he murmured, and despite her worries, Zinnia knew he meant it. “Come on,” he said, pulling away and taking her hand. “Let’s go inside, okay?”

“But…” Zinnia hesitated.

“You don’t have to go back to your room,” Pyxis said. “In fact, you probably shouldn’t for a while. But there’s places for you to hide inside, where it’s familiar and not quite so scary and overwhelming. And I’ll come find you as soon as I’ve talked to my handler.”

“Okay,” Zinnia agreed, and she let Pyxis pull her back towards the door she’d burst out of.

#writing #in which i write #snippets #apocalypse survival: 6 days #februaroc #februaroc 2024 #and then i promptly don't actually use bear the bear's name in this lol #it's alioth. the brightest star of ursa major :D

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 25: Yavin

The sun painted the leaves in gold as Yavin and Europa walked along the path. Yavin glanced over his shoulder to make sure they hadn’t been followed, then spoke.

“Yuri, can I trust you with a secret?”

“Of course,” Europa said, though he could see the clear confusion in her eyes.

“Good.” Yavin nodded. “I believe I need your help. Mother still refuses to see reason, no matter how I try and argue with her. And I’m afraid even if something were to happen to Eric, she would just replace him with another unworthy heir rather than return the title to me.”

Europa frowned. “What are you saying Yav?”

Yavin stopped walking and turned to face Europa directly. “If Mother will no longer listen to logic or reason,” he said, lowering his voice despite being sure that they were alone, “then she should step down as queen of Astral.”

“But she won’t,” Europa said.

“I know that,” Yavin replied patiently. “Not unless somebody forces her.”

Europa pulled away from Yavin. “Yav, she’s our mother,” she said.

“Blood isn’t everything Yuri,” Yavin reminded her. “Don’t pretend you believe otherwise. I’ve seen the way you treat Io.”

Europa’s face twisted. “But that’s—”

“Different?” Yavin cut her off. “Justified? Deserved?”

Europa scowled and looked away, her hands gripping her skirt so tight her fingers looked bloodless.

“Look, Yuri,” Yavin said, softening his voice again. “I know it’s not a pleasant thought. But if we don’t want Astral’s throne to fall into unworthy hands, we’ll need to move quickly, before Mother officially announces Eric as her heir instead of me. Will you help me?”

Europa hesitated, watching the leaves rustle with eyes as gold as the sun.

The sunlight vanished, slipping beneath the horizon. Europa’s eyes blazed brighter in its absence as she looked at Yavin. “What’s your plan?”

#writing #in which i write #snippets #the astral chronicles #februaroc #februaroc 2024

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 24: Xiasis

(This is the first snippet I've actually written for MSS, so just ignore the worldbuilding holes that still exist lol)

Xiasis rapped three times on the door, then stood back to wait.

A few moments later, Kageki opened the door. To anybody else, he probably looked ridiculously put together for how early it was, but Xiasis could see tangles in his dark hair and the sparkle of what was probably some illusion magic fading from his fingertips.

Kageki blinked a few times, then stepped aside to let Xiasis into his room.

“Good morning,” Xiasis said as they entered.

Kageki closed the door behind them, and Xiasis immediately saw the shift from his perfectly poised persona to the person he was in private. Which, at this time of morning, was sleepy and grumpy. “Awake with the sun I see,” he grumbled.

“Of course.” Xiasis couldn’t contain a grin. “Can’t waste the light, after all.”

Kageki grumbled and ran a hand through his hair, combing out the tangles but leaving it messier than before. “Why are you here so early?” he asked. “I know it’s our first day back but classes still don’t start until midmorning.”

“Which is why,” Xiasis said, reaching into their jacket and removing a book, “I thought you might want to spend the time until breakfast working on your personal projects.”

Kageki’s gaze immediately sharpened as he narrowed in on the book. “Is that…”

“I asked my mother, and she talked with a few reputable artificers that she knows, and they recommended a few books for Light runes specifically,” Xiasis explained. “Unfortunately, this was the only one I was able to find before the end of break.”

Kageki grabbed Xiasis’s free hand and kissed the back of it. “I knew there was a reason I liked you best.”

“I’m not sure if I should be flattered or insulted on behalf of our classmates,” Xiasis said, though they let Kageki take the book from their grip.

Kageki waved a hand carelessly, already flipping through the pages. “Take it as a compliment sunshine,” he said. “You mind helping me out with a few of these?”

“You’re going to test them now?” Xiasis asked. “You’ve had that book for all of five seconds—”

“And there is no progress without experimentation,” Kageki said, cutting them off. He set the book down on his desk, open on a specific page, then crossed the room to his trunk and withdrew one of his automatons. “Plus, I’m going to start out with the easy runes. Mother would have me cleaning every square inch of her shop by hand if I had something explode on me cause I rushed into complicated runework.”

“Somehow that doesn’t make me feel better,” Xiasis said dryly. “What do you need my help with anyways?”

“Powering the runes.” Kageki set the automaton down on his desk and started unscrewing one of the metal plates. Xiasis knew from hours of watching Kageki that he inscribed the runes on a removable plate, so he could easily try out different runes without building a whole new automaton every time. “I can power the Dark ones just fine, obviously, but from my understanding, Light runes will need Light magic to power them.”

“So what’s the point if you can’t even power the runes yourself?” Xiasis asked.

“Again, progress sunshine.” Kageki flashed them a smirk as he finished removing the old rune plate. He set it aside and grabbed a blank sheet of metal to replace it. “Finding somebody willing to power different runes for me is a non-issue in the long run. What could be an issue is…” He trailed off, moving various parts around on his desk as he searched for something.

Xiasis sighed, but grabbed the engraving pen they could see on the corner of his desk and handed it to him. “The whole “could potentially blow up on you” bit?” they finished.

“The usual dangers I could run into with experimentation,” Kageki corrected. “Not always explosions. Thanks.”

“Often explosions, according to our professor,” Xiasis countered, crossing their arms.

“Depends,” Kageki said, even as he focused on copying the rune from the book Xiasis had given him. “If you’re experimenting with Fire, nine times out of ten you’re probably going to get an explosion. My mother has caused a few implosions but nothing on the scale of some of the Fire artificer disasters I’ve heard of. Which is one of the reasons why I’m experimenting with Light runes first rather than any other.”

“Plus then you’d have to ask one of the others for rune books,” Xiasis teased.

“Oh no.” Kageki raised his eyes to the ceiling. “Can you imagine? I think Hali would give it enough thought, maybe Cyra, but Noelani would definitely forget I asked until two days before the end of break and just grab whatever book she could find first. And don’t get me started on Sylvain.”

“What do you have against him?” Xiasis asked. “You’ve had a grudge since we first started school.”

Kageki bit his lip and didn’t speak for a moment. He finished copying the rune, and quickly went to work carving a rune that Xiasis had seen on several other test plates.

“Sunshine,” he said, “how much competition was there for you to get into this school?”

Xiasis frowned, but they knew Kageki wouldn’t outright avoid a question, so they answered him. “Plenty.”

“We’ve both worked hard to be here,” Kageki said, glancing at Xiasis. They nodded in confirmation. “And, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the majority of our classmates have done the same,” he continued. “Except for Sylvain. It… irked me that I spent years proving myself worthy of one of these spots, and he walked in, admitted to putting in no effort, and proceeded to continue not putting in any effort.”

“Effort by your standards,” Xiasis pointed out. Kageki’s standards were much higher than anybody else’s, although he usually didn’t hold anybody else up to them.

“Did it look like he was trying much to you?” Kageki asked. Xiasis had to admit that he had a point there.

“He has gotten better,” Kageki continued. “Still not up to the standard I try to keep for our other classmates, but better than that first year. But, as Father always says, first impressions are everything.”

Kageki finished attaching the new rune plate to the automaton, then placed his hand over the Dark rune. “So, Earth runes are probably going to be the last ones I experiment with, if all goes well with this one. Ready to help?”

Xiasis was beginning to regret encouraging Kageki, but they moved to his side. “Alright.”

#writing #in which i write #snippets #mss #februaroc #februaroc 2024

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 23: Will Hayden

The twins had been awake for a while, Jared pacing restlessly around the confines of the small tent and Will huddling under the blankets for warmth, when the entrance flap rustled. Jared immediately darted between Will and the entrance. Will put a hand on his shoulder, but otherwise didn’t argue against the protective gesture.

To his relief, Lysander was the one who entered, although he could still feel Jared tensed beneath his hand, ready to lash out if Lysander got too close to Will.

Lysander smiled at them. “I’m glad to see you two are feeling better,” he said.

Jared scoffed. Will squeezed his shoulder in silent admonishment.

Lysander’s smile didn’t falter. “I did tell you that I just want to help. That’s why I’m here, actually.” He sat on the ground, keeping his distance from Jared. “Where are you two heading? Somewhere in the lowlands, I’d presume.”

Will tugged Jared so he was sitting on the bed next to him and leaned in. He’ll help us.

Jared scowled at him. “I know,” he retorted. “He swore it.”

Will didn’t miss the bitter note in his brother’s voice, but knew that that would be a conversation for a different time. I mean we can trust him.

“The last time we trusted somebody—” Jared cut himself off and glanced at Lysander, who’s smile had slipped into a puzzled frown. “The last time,” he continued, lowering his voice to a hiss, “we nearly died Will.”

I know. Will wrapped his arms around Jared. And I’m sorry I didn’t know in time to warn you. But this time I do. We can trust him. I promise.

“Are you a telepath?” Lysander asked.

Jared startled, his arm going out to cover Will.

Lysander held up his hands. “It’s just a question,” he said. “This isn’t the first time you’ve appeared to have a conversation with each other.”

Will nodded in response. Can’t talk much anymore, he explained, this time making sure Lysander could hear him. So telepathy is easier.

Jared shot Will a look, clearly unhappy with Will sharing that much detail. Will glared right back, because he needed to get it into Jared’s stubborn brain that they could actually trust Lysander.

“So, where are you trying to go?” Lysander asked again.

Either you tell him or I do, Will bargained.

Jared’s scowl deepened.

Alright, fine, we’re—

“Will!” Jared slapped his hand over Will’s mouth, a habit he still hadn’t broken since Will had gone silent. Will, of course, also forgot that he could still talk, and for a moment he scuffled with his brother, licking his hand to try and get free.

Unfortunately, Jared had always been stronger than Will, and his illness hadn’t helped, so soon Jared had Will pinned underneath him, hand still covering Will’s mouth. Jared glared at Will for a few moments longer, then turned slightly to talk to Lysander. “We’re… trying to find someplace… safe.”

“A specific place, or just anywhere in general?”

“Anywhere,” Jared answered.

At the same time, Will remembered he didn’t need his mouth to speak, and said, Specific.

Once again, Jared tried to stare down Will, and Will tried to make it as obvious as he could without speaking that he thought Jared was being an idiot.

“Oh?” Lysander asked.

Safe from Maddox and his soldiers, Will said before Jared could dance around the subject any more.

Lysander drew in a sharp breath. Jared abandoned his staring match with Will to sit up, watching Lysander warily.

“His men made it to the north then?” Lysander asked, his voice a bit faint.

Jared nodded slowly.

“Then I’ll make this clear,” Lysander said. “Here, you are as safe from Maddox’s soldiers as you can be. This is the camp of those who wish to fight against Maddox’s rule, and we have safe houses across the Western Kingdom where you can stay out of harm’s way until his threat is gone.”

Even knowing what he did from his visions, the words still sounded like sweet lies to Will, and by the look on Jared’s face it was the same for him. But Will swallowed down the unease and focused on the things he knew were true.

“Once you’re a bit better, Will, we can discuss your next moves in more detail,” Lysander said, standing again. “For now, just rest. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of as long as you’re here.”

Thank you, Will said.

#writing #in which i write #snippets #the astral chronicles #the astral chronicles: part 1 #februaroc #februaroc 2024

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FebruarOC Day 22: Vanessa (Nessa)

“Theo,” Aiden sang, slinging an arm around Theo’s shoulders. “Wanna go get ice cream with me?”

“Sure.” Theo pushed himself away from the garage wall. “Is this a whole band thing or are we gonna be doing delivery?”

“Delivery,” Nessa, Jack, Sam, and Aiden all replied in near-unison.

Theo eyed them all suspiciously. “Alright…” He turned to Brian. “You want anything?”

Brian hesitated, and for a few moments Nessa swore he and Theo were having some sort of silent argument as Theo stared him down.

Finally, Brian appeared to give in. “Strawberry.”

“Sounds good.” Theo reached up and kissed Brian quick, his cheeks turning pink as Jack whistled at him. “We’ll be back soon. You driving Aid?”

“Yup,” Aiden replied.

As they made their way out of the garage, Theo shot Nessa a pointed look of disapproval. Nessa gave him an innocent smile in return. After all, he had no ledge to stand on considering he’d done the same exact thing she was going to do, back when Aiden and Jaybird first started getting serious.

Theo apparently recognized the futility on some level, because he didn’t drag his feet to attempt to win their stare-down. Either that, or he didn’t want Aiden to start dragging him to the car.

Once they had gotten into the car and disappeared around the corner, Nessa clapped her hands together. “Alright,” she said, turning to Brian. “Now that I have you here by yourself…”

Brian looked up from his phone, and raised an eyebrow when he caught Nessa’s eye. “If this is an intervention, Theo’s already got that covered,” he said.

“Concerning that that’s your first impression of this,” Nessa said, “but no, it’s not.”

Brian shrugged and pocketed his phone. “Fair enough. What’s up.”

“So, now that you ‘n Theo have made it public, it’s time we gave you the Talk.” Nessa gave Brian a shark grin.

“Kid, are you honestly trying to give me the sex talk right now?” Brian smirked. “And do you really think I need it?”

“Nah, I figure your parents and/or the internet have done a good enough job of that one already,” Nessa said. “We just gotta give you the Theo talk.”

Brian raised an eyebrow. “Okay.”

“So,” Nessa said, “as his best friends, it’s our duty to warn you that if you hurt him in any way, we will make you regret it.”

“We’ll be coming for those kneecaps,” Sam piped up.

“And your whiskey,” Jack added.

Brian narrowed his eyes at Jack. “Up till now, it just felt like I was being mugged by a gang of toddlers,” he said. “But that? That’s a goddamn threat.”

“That’s the point.” Nessa patted him on the shoulder. “So, don’t hurt Theo, and we’re all good.”

“Fair, but you’re not allowed back in my apartment now that I know you’re eyeing up my whiskey,” Brian said, aiming the latter part at Jack.

“Shucks,” Jack said, sounding not at all disappointed.

“Is this the entire reason for Aiden wanting ice cream?” Brian continued, turning to Nessa. “So y’all could attempt to threaten me without Theo getting offended?”

“That, and Aiden is legitimately a bit upset that Theo kept it from him this long,” Nessa answered.

Brian winced. “Yeah, okay, I definitely got the better deal then.”

#writing #in which i write #snippets #band au #februaroc #februaroc 2024

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 21: Undyna

Undyna skidded around the corner and burst into her mother’s study without so much as a knock or a word of greeting for the guards standing by the door.

Rialta looked up at the sound of the door, and quickly stood when she saw Undyna running. “Undyna? What’s wrong? Where’s Mariana?”

Undyna tripped and fell, tumbling to a stop in the soft sand floor. “I’m fine!” she said, sitting up hurriedly and batting her hair away as it floated in front of her face. “So’s Mari! We’re playing hide and seek and I figured she wouldn’t look for me here!”

Rialta let out a relieved sigh and crouched to help Undyna back to her feet. “You had me worried, little shell,” she gently admonished.

“Sorry,” Undyna apologized.

Rialta waved a hand at the guards, who closed the door and resumed their posts standing watch. “Well,” she said. “You really think Mariana won’t think you’re hiding in here?”

“Nope,” Undyna said. “She says we shouldn’t bother you while you’re working.”

“Hmmm.” Rialta stood, lifting Undyna into her arms. “Well, she is right for the most part, but just this once I can make an exception.” She returned to her desk, and Undyna happily settled into her lap. “So long as you promise to be good while you’re here, alright?”

“Okay,” Undyna agreed.

#writing #in which i write #snippets #cofas #februaroc #februaroc 2024

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 20: Theo

“Okay,” Nessa said, falling into the booth across from Theo and leaning forward. “While I have you here by yourself, what the fuck is up between you and Brian lately?”

Theo blinked, taking a moment to register both Nessa’s presence and question. “Hello to you too,” he said dryly. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Nessa rolled her eyes. “You know full well what I’m talking about.”

There were several things Nessa could be referring to, although there was no way she should know about a few of them unless she had mind reading powers or Brian told her. And, considering the likelihood of either of those options was near zero, Theo felt comfortable responding, “Humor me and pretend I don’t know.”

Nessa gave him her best unimpressed look, then sat back. “Fine,” she sighed. “So, from my perspective, you and Brian were getting pretty buddy buddy during practices. Then you show up one day covered in hickeys, and suddenly you guys are hardly saying two words to each other. So, what the fuck?”

Theo let out a long breath and closed his eyes. He had been expecting some sort of questions about his and Brian’s avoidance of each other, but to be honest he had expected it from Aiden, and not such accurate assumptions.

“Look,” he said. “Yeah. We were… I dunno if you can call it friends, but we hung out a couple times, mostly with Aiden.”

“But?” Nessa prompted when Theo paused.

Just because he was petty, Theo took a nice long drink of his coffee before he continued to speak. “But,” he said, “he kinda found easy ways to annoy me, and apparently he thinks it’s fun or something so he kept pissing me off, and we ended up having a bit of a fight, and that’s when we stopped talking more than necessary for the band.” Which wasn’t exactly a lie. He just neglected to mention that the fight had been more about Theo lying and his inability to commit than it was about Brian pushing his buttons.

Nessa raised an eyebrow. “And definitely no correlation whatsoever to the hickeys?”

“No,” Theo lied.

Nessa hummed, and though her expression said that she didn’t believe him, she let it go for now. “Have you talked to Aiden about it?”

“Nah. Wasn’t planning on it unless he brought it up,” Theo said. “I can play nice Ness, and so far Brian is too.”

“You kids talking about me?”

Theo resisted the urge to faceplant into the table at the sound of Brian’s voice. As it was, he felt his cheeks heating up with embarrassment, and he pointedly looked away as Brian sat next to Nessa.

“Oh you know me,” Nessa said sweetly. “Just being nosy as always, specifically why it seemed you stopped talking to Theo after he got laid for the first time ever.”

“Oh my god you’re dead to me,” Theo groaned. “Aid, back me up here, please.”

Aiden glanced between the three of them as he sat next to Theo. “C’mon Ness, don’t tease him about his love life, we want to encourage it,” he said.

“You’re dead too. I’m sitting with a bunch of ghosts right now,” Theo declared.

Aiden laughed and laid his head on Theo’s shoulders. “Sorry.” At least he had the decency to apologize for his teasing. “But I was actually kinda wondering about why you two stopped talking like overnight.”

“Don’t worry about it kid,” Brian said. Aiden stuck his tongue out at him.

Theo ruffled his hair, feeling vindicated in his distaste for Brian calling them kids. “But actually,” he said. “We’re just… not friends. But I am more than willing to be civil for the band’s sake.” The last few words were said looking directly at Brian.

Brian met his gaze with that usual unreadable mask of his. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Civil.”

#writing #in which i write #snippets #band au #februaroc #februaroc 2024

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FebruarOC Day 19: Stella

(Some notes and content warnings: Seraphine is one of Stella's hero names, Revenant is the other more public one. Content warnings for necromancy and non-graphic descriptions of dead bodies. Have fun)

“Seriously?” Marelle asked. “They’re the Puppeteers?”

Seraphine had to admit she understood Marelle’s confusion. Jade’s tip had led them to the other side of the city, to what seemed to be some sort of commercial kitchen, if the stainless-steel countertops were anything to go by. Seraphine and Marelle were currently crouched by one of the windows, spying on the occupants of the kitchen as they argued over the best kind of donut. Which, to be fair, was absolutely something René would do, but at least Seraphine knew he wouldn’t let himself get so distracted by it. Seraphine was tempted to hop through the window she’d opened and join the argument, just to see how long it would take these sad excuses for villains to notice she wasn’t one of them.

“I can’t believe René’s scared of them,” Marelle muttered.

Seraphine nudged her with a Look. “He’s scared of what they can do. Which is why we’re going to teach them a lesson about fucking with us.”

Marelle nodded, looking suitably chastened. “So what’s the plan?”

Seraphine looked back into the kitchen. The argument was heating up, and it looked like the shoulder Puppeteer was about twenty seconds and a few dumb comments away from throwing a punch at the knuckles guy.

“Looks like they need an adult to go break things up,” she sighed, moving away from the window so she could stand up. “Get ready to portal for me,” she ordered. “I’m feeling Bastien tonight. I’ll let you know when to open it.”

“Of course you’re feeling like Bastien, isn’t he your favorite?” Marelle asked.

Seraphine shot Marelle a grin, though it was hidden by her mask. “No, that’s Ombre,” she corrected. “But Bastien is my favorite reptile boy.” With that, Seraphine tried the door to the kitchen.

It was unlocked. Seraphine rolled her eyes at Marelle, then opened the door and slipped inside. Nobody noticed her entrance, adding another tally to Seraphine’s board of judgement for being so amateur.

There were five Puppeteers in total, all wearing near-identical black suits, with neon patches over whichever joint it was they could control. Seraphine didn’t know if they had actual hero names, and she honestly didn’t care. These fuckers wouldn’t even be on her radar if they hadn’t attacked René, at which point, they had made it personal.

When she was close enough, Seraphine jumped up onto one of the countertops. Her boots made a loud metallic thud, silencing the Puppeteers and drawing their attention. Hips and Elbows yelped, some curses mixed into the sounds. Shoulders narrowed his eyes, and Knuckles cracked their knuckles.

Seraphine nearly laughed at the pathetic attempt at intimidation. “Hello my wannabe villain friends,” she said, sitting down on the countertop. “You need better security if you ever want to make it in the big leagues.”

“Revenant,” Knuckles growled.

“You seem rather cocky, considering Luciole isn’t here to fight your battles for you,” Shoulders said.

Seraphine gritted her teeth and made to stand, but before she could do more than unfold her legs from under her, she felt her joints stiffen in place. Even expecting it, it was disconcerting as hell.

“You know,” she said, keeping up the unaffected air because she knew it would throw them off, “the element of surprise really helps make it easier to fight without backup. That being said, Marelle, ma chérie.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Seraphine saw a portal spark up, this one the familiar muddy swirl of greens and browns and greys that led to her graveyard.

“Having friends to back you up is always nicer, don’t you think?”

Some of the Puppeteers exchanged nervous glances. Before they could decide what they wanted to do, Seraphine activated her powers. Bastien responded eagerly, and a split second later he burst through the portal in a chaotic mess of thrashing bones and snapping teeth.

The Puppeteers scattered, and Seraphine hopped to the floor as their control over her dissipated. She caught Knuckles as they rushed her and slammed them into the counter. Bastien bowled over two of the Puppeteers and laid on top of them, but Shoulders decided to try and punch him, leading to a quick lesson on why you never let your limbs get too close to a gator’s mouth.

As Seraphine looked around for the last Puppeteer, she heard Marelle laugh. “Aw, but Rev’s not done yet!”

A second later, Marelle appeared in the doorway, dragging Knees behind her. “She tried to run,” Marelle reported.

“Bon travail,” Seraphine praised her, then raised her voice. “Alright fuckers, listen up. This is your one and only warning. Don’t fuck with me or my team again. If you do, Bastien over there has some friends still living who’d love an easy meal. Got it?”

Knees, Hips, and Elbows all agreed easily enough, especially the two still pinned beneath Bastien. Knuckles grudgingly muttered their understanding. Shoulders held out the longest, but when one of his teammates hissed something at him he finally conceded. “Fine.”

“Good kids.” Seraphine saw Knuckles and Shoulders visibly bristle at her condescension even as she released Knuckles, but to her satisfaction, none of them rose to the bait. “Now, shoo.”

“What?” Shoulders protested, dropping Elbows as he helped her back to her feet. “This is our base.”

“Shoo,” Seraphine repeated. Bastien, curled up against one of the walls, growled, his teeth crimson with Shoulders’s blood. Shoulders scowled, but when Hips grabbed him and pulled him towards the door, he didn’t fight back.

Marelle watched them until the last Puppeteer had disappeared through the door, then she turned to Seraphine. “What’s up?”

“Curious,” Seraphine admitted. “Why the hell are they using a kitchen as their base of operations?”

“Pfft.” Marelle skipped past Seraphine. “You’re awful. I’ll look around too.”

“Yell if there’s anything nasty,” Seraphine warned her, more out of habit by now than anything as she crouched by Bastien’s head. “Bon garçon,” she cooed to the alligator skeleton, scratching the ridges behind his eye sockets. Bastien let out a low rumble of contentment.

The peaceful moment broke when Marelle yelped, followed by a loud thudding sound. Seraphine was immediately on her feet again, Bastien ready to attack at her command.

“I’m okay!” Marelle called, though she sounded shaken. Her head popped up around a corner. “But I think I found out why they’re using this as their base.”

“’Sup?” Seraphine asked, crossing the kitchen to Marelle, standing by a couple of walk-in freezer doors.

“Bodies,” Marelle said, lowering her voice. “I just—wasn’t expecting, and just—”

Seraphine’s heart dropped. No matter how mature she tried to act, how much she begged to be a part of their vigilantism, and how often she saw skeletons cause of growing up practically next door to a necromancer, Marelle was still just a kid. A kid who shouldn’t be seeing dead bodies no matter how many necromancers she knew.

Seraphine tugged Marelle into a hug. “I’ll take care of it,” she murmured. “You wanna go see if these dumbasses left some sort of journal hanging around for us? Just, stay out of any pantry you might find.”

Marelle let out a huff of a laugh. “I’m fine Sera,” she protested. “I just got spooked.”

“Go look for their diaries.” Seraphine pressed her mask to Marelle’s head in a semblance of a kiss, then pushed the younger girl away. “I’d bet Knuckles would be the one to keep a secret diary. They seemed like the angsty emo type.”

“What does that say about René?” Marelle asked, but she did as Seraphine ordered and moved away to search the rest of the kitchen.

“René’s goth, there’s a difference,” Seraphine said. “And more of an aesthetic goth than anything.”

Once Marelle was out of sight, she took a deep breath and opened the freezer door. Two bodies hung on either side of the freezer, hanging from ropes wrapped around their chests. “Fuckin sadists,” Seraphine muttered to herself, moving to inspect the one on the left. There was something… off, about them, but she couldn’t quite tell what.

Seraphine raised a hand and activated her powers, but to her surprise, she felt nothing coming from either of the bodies. There were no spirits to call back to them. She felt a wave of emotions at the realization, but she focused on the relief. She would definitely have to talk this over with René and Luciole later, but at least they weren’t dealing with roundabout necromancy here.

“So,” Seraphine called as she exited the freezer. “Good news, they were never alive. I can’t resurrect them.”

“Oh?” Marelle popped up from behind one of the countertops.

“Also good news, I’m pretty sure I know who made those bodies.”

“Oh?”

“And best news of all,” Seraphine said, sparing one more scratch for Bastien before sending him back to the graveyard to rest, “I think it’s about time we get outta here and head home. You deserve some hot chocolate.”

“Oh!” Even with her mask, Seraphine could tell Marelle was grinning. “Oh, and can we have beignets too? Please?”

Seraphine laughed and turned on her communicator. “You hear that René?” she said. “The girl wants beignets.”

“Good thing I’m already baking,” was René’s response.

#writing #in which i write #snippets #superhero wip #februaroc #februaroc 2024 #thank you carlyn for entertaining my thoughts of undescribed knee powers and meat puppets lol

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 18: Remi

(Combining with the ockissweek prompt "almost")

The closer we get to her house, the more I notice Remi dragging her feet. “Hey,” I say, nudging her with my shoulder. “Everything okay?”

Remi startles, then turns away and tucks her hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture I’ve seen a thousand times before. “Fine,” she says. “Just… I don’t want to go home yet.”

“Aww, I’m flattered,” I tease. “But you’ll see me again in a couple hours, surely you’re not that impatient.”

Remi huffs, but there’s still a smile on her face. “It’s not that,” she says, “although yes, I would rather keep hanging out with you.”

“Then why?” I ask. “If… you want to tell me.” I’ve noticed Remi being more secretive here, and while I absolutely hate it, I don’t want to demand she tell me everything that goes through her head.

Remi flashes me a little almost smile. “It’s nothing awful,” she says. “My dad and I have just never seen eye to eye on… a lot of things, and it got worse after Mom…” She trails off, looking down at her feet.

“Sorry,” I say. “If you ever wanna get kidnapped, I’m totally down for that.”

That pulls a startled laugh from Remi. “I really don’t think that would help,” she says, bumping me with her hip, “but thanks for the offer.”

“Of course,” I say as we round the corner. I recognize the street we’re on for once, cause Remi’s house is just a few driveways down the road. “After all, it’s my duty as your best friend and knight or bodyguard or whatever title we’re going with this time.”

“I like the friend one the best,” Remi says with a smile.

“Good.” I sling my arm around her shoulders. “Cause so do I.”

The walk up to her front door is too short for my liking, and I only reluctantly let go of Remi once we’re standing right in front of it. Remi hesitates, fiddling with her house key, then she steps close to wrap her arms around me. “Thanks,” she whispers.

“No problem.” I hug her back tight, letting myself pretend for a few moments that I won’t have to let go of her.

Remi shifts a little, just enough so she can look me in the eye. “Kaylee, I…” She trails off, cheeks darkening with a blush.

“Hm?” Despite my attempt at staying focused and encouraging Remi to finish her sentence, I can’t stop myself from thinking about how easy it would be to lean in, close the distance between us and kiss her. To show her that I love her—really love her, here and in any other world we might find ourselves in.

Remi blinks, her eyes flickering down my face for a second, then—

The door opens suddenly, startling us both. Remi practically jumps back a few steps, her blush darkening even further.

Standing in the doorway, illuminated from the hallway light behind him, is a man I can only assume is Remi’s dad, since I’ve never actually met him before and at first glance Remi doesn’t look much like him. He looks at me for a moment, pointedly studying me, before shifting his gaze to Remi. “[Redacted].”

Remi cringes a bit. “Hi Dad.”

“I was wondering why you were just standing out here.”

“Uh, yeah.” Remi shoves her hands in her pockets, shoulders rising defensively. The movement makes me want nothing more than to step in between them and defend Remi, but then she glances at me, and I know she doesn’t want me to get involved.

I don’t like it, but making her happy is more important than that, so I step close and kiss her quick on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school,” I say, then turn to hop down the steps. “Bye!” I add, flashing a wave over my shoulder for Remi’s dad.

I wait until I’m back on the street to look back at Remi, but I’m just a little too slow. The door closes behind Remi and her dad, leaving me staring at painted wood and wishing there was something more I could do for her.

#writing #in which i write #snippets #knighttime dreams #februaroc #februaroc 2024 #ockiss24

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 17: Quinn

(Combining with the ockissweek prompt "dare")

Having lived in this underground city for most of her life, Catnip had a special knack for finding weird, out of the way places that were still within the bounds of where she was allowed to explore. Which was how Quinn found herself in a little alcove with Catnip and Oliver, hidden enough that it would take Catnip’s mom a long while to find them.

“I wanna play a game,” Catnip said.

“Oh no,” Oliver said nervously.

“What kind of game?” Quinn asked over him, cause while he did know Catnip better, he was also notoriously more timid than either of the girls.

Catnip grinned. “You know Truth or Dare?”

Quinn could immediately see this going badly, but she wasn’t going to be the one to tell Catnip no, so she nodded. “I’ll play.”

Catnip turned to Oliver, who dithered for a few moments before giving in with a sigh. “Okay, just… nothing that’ll get us in trouble,” he said.

“Of course not!” Catnip chirped with an innocent smile that not even Quinn believed was sincere. Before Oliver could call her out on it though, she turned to Quinn. “So, truth or dare?”

Quinn didn’t want the older girl to think she was a scaredy cat, so she immediately picked, “Dare.”

“Hmmmm.” Catnip hummed a little tune as she thought, but then her eyes fell on Oliver, and her pensive look changed to a cat-like grin that Quinn didn’t trust for a second. “Okay!” she said. “Dare you to kiss Oliver.”

Quinn and Oliver voiced their protests in near unison, but it only served to deepen Catnip’s smug look. “C’mon Quinn, you’re not a chicken, are ya?”

“Do I get a say in this?” Oliver asked.

Catnip ruffled his hair. “You don’t get to be a chicken either.”

Oliver stuck his tongue out at her.

“But I suppose,” Catnip sighed, “if you really don’t wanna, you can pick a truth instead.”

And be forever haunted by the fact she’d chickened out of a dare? Quinn couldn’t face that sort of humiliation, even if she knew Catnip would probably forget about it in two weeks at most.

Quinn turned to face Oliver, who sighed in resignation. “I knew I should have gone to see what Jay’s up to.”

“Not without me you wouldn’t,” Quinn argued, then before she could overthink things and/or chicken out, she leaned in and kissed Oliver quick on the cheek. “He still owes me a look at his tech goggles,” she muttered, trying to cover up how weird that’d been.

#writing #in which i write #snippets #nova #februaroc #februaroc 2024 #ockiss24

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 16: Percy

(Combining with the ockissweek prompt "lost")

Summer stopped in the middle of the skyway to look out the window. “Woah,” she breathed.

Despite his impatience, Percy followed her gaze, and had to admit the reaction was warranted. From here, the size of the former city was more apparent, stretching out as far as Percy could see into the gloom. The area they were in was relatively well maintained, with lights shining at regular intervals to keep the darkness at bay, but there was an obvious cut off point where the lights ended and the buildings turned decrepit. Percy wondered just how far the city continued past where the light didn’t reach.

“How long has this been here?” Summer asked.

“Fuck if I know,” Jay replied, sounding bored as hell. “You and I took the same history class, and it’s not like I remember any of that shit anyways.”

“And you never thought to ask?” Summer retorted.

Jay grinned humorlessly. “Nope. Don’t care.”

Summer took a breath, but Percy grabbed her wrist before she could say anything stupid. Yes, Jay was an asshole and almost certainly trying to rile her up, but right now he was also the only person Percy knew of that could tell him where Sora was, so unfortunately that meant they had to be the bigger person here. “Whatever,” he said. “Can we get back to finding Sora please?”

Jay shrugged and turned on his heel. “Okay,” he said. “I’m not the one stopping for random shit anyways.”

Percy gritted his teeth and followed Jay to the end of the skyway, pulling Summer behind him until she tugged her wrist free from his grip. The building they entered looked like it might have once been some sort of office space before it got repurposed into whatever it was now.

Jay led Percy and Summer into a nearby stairwell. “This is usually where all the kids who don’t wanna be involved hang out,” he explained as he headed up the stairs. “Including Sora.”

“If she doesn’t want to be involved in your secret society bullshit, then why’d you take her in the first place?” Percy couldn’t stop himself from asking.

Jay stopped and turned to face Percy. “Because if I didn’t,” he said, “then the government would have forced her to get involved. And out of those options, Sora chose to come with me.”

Percy narrowed his eyes, but didn’t argue further. He did make a mental note though to see if Sora’s story matched Jay’s.

Jay waited for a moment, then he continued up the stairs. They exited the stairwell one floor up, into a bright, wide open space. Several kids younger than Percy were scattered throughout the space, but Percy’s attention was drawn by the girl sitting on a desk near the door, talking to two other teenagers.

Percy’s breath hitched in his throat, and he stepped around Jay. “Sora!”

Sora startled and turned in his direction. “Percy?” she asked hesitantly.

Percy closed the space between them. “Hey,” he said, blanking for a moment on anything to say.

“Percy!” Sora jumped from the desk and threw her arms around him. “What are you doing here? How are you here? Is everything okay? Oh my god—” She cut herself off and buried her face in his shoulder.

Percy hugged her back just as tight. “Thank goodness you’re safe,” he whispered. “I thought I’d lost you.” Despite her rapid-fire questions that were still awaiting answers, he took a moment to press a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m glad you’re safe,” he repeated.

#writing #in which i write #snippets #nova #februaroc #februaroc 2024 #ockiss24

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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"Nothing is canon and everything hurts" - the current tagline for Nova XD

#writing #shitposting #nova

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ghost-town-story · 2 months

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FebruarOC Day 15: Owl

(Combining with the ockissweek prompts "darkness" and "rain")

Most of the streetlights in the area had either burned out or shattered ages ago, leaving the street shrouded in darkness. But there were still a few solar-powered fairy lights strung up between the buildings and Heron had gotten his hands on a couple of Firehawk’s flares, and with the reflection of far-off streetlights glimmering in the puddles on the street there was just enough light for Owl to keep track of Heron’s silhouette.

Said Heron was teetering on the edge of too drunk, splashing in the puddles and singing loud and off-key with the music he’d started playing when Gray had broken out the rum. Gray was sitting on one of the abandoned doorsteps, watching Heron with an expression somewhere between fond and regretting encouraging him with alcohol.

The regret definitely won out when Heron spun around and dragged his foot through a puddle, sending water whirling in an arch through the air and drenching Gray. “Heron!” she yelled.

Owl laughed and pushed himself out from the relative safety of his own doorway. He was already damp, so the rain didn’t bother him as he crossed the street.

Heron grinned when he saw Owl coming and took a step backwards. Owl knew him too well though, and before Heron could start the game of “catch Heron who is surprisingly fast when he’s drunk”, he darted forward and caught Heron around the waist.

“You,” he said, whirling Heron around and talking over Heron’s delighted laughter, “are remarkably obnoxious when you want attention.”

“Obnoxious is such an awful word,” Heron said, still giggling despite himself as he turned in Owl’s arms to face him. “I mean—”

Owl shut him up with a kiss. “There,” he said. “Is that what you wanted?”

“Much appreciated,” Heron mumbled, pulling Owl to sway with him in time with the music.

Owl caught Gray’s eye over Heron’s shoulder. Gray held up her cup in silent gratitude for taking on the hurricane that was Heron. Owl just grinned, because knowing Heron, he wouldn’t be contained for long—

Heron wiggled out of Owl’s grip and turned around. “Oh Graaaay,” he sang.

“No, don’t you dare splash me again,” Gray yelped.

Heron bounded across the street and grabbed the hand Gray flung up to protect herself. “Come on!” he said, pulling her up.

“Noooo,” Gray whined, but she must have known it was a losing battle, judging by the way she drained her cup and left it behind on the steps as Heron pulled her to her feet.

Once she was up, Heron twirled her around.

“Owl’s right,” Gray said, unable to hide her grin. “You are very obnoxious.”

“Luckily,” Owl added, slinging his arm around Heron’s shoulder and pressing another kiss to his cheek, “we can put up with it.”

#writing #in which i write #snippets #nova #februaroc #februaroc 2024 #ockiss24 #imma be real #heron/owl/gray was probably the first poly ship i had #like they were unofficially officially a trio long before i considered the aydan/jay/basil trio lol

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