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anipgarden · 11 months

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Things to Do that Aren't Related to Growing Plants

This is my second post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps!

Some of us just don’t have much luck when it comes to growing plants. Some of us simply want to aim for other ways to help that don’t involve putting on gardening gloves. Maybe you've already got a garden, but you want to do more. No problem! There’s a couple of options you can look into that’ll help attract wildlife in your area without even having to bring out any shovels!

Provide a Water Source

Oftentimes when I see ‘add a water source’ in informational articles about improving your backyard for wildlife, it’s almost always followed by an image of a gorgeous backyard pond with a waterfall and rock lining that looks expensive to set up, difficult to maintain, and overall just… not feasible for me. Arguably, not feasible for a lot of people. And that’s okay! There’s still ways to add water in your garden for all kinds of creatures to enjoy!

There’s tons of ways to create watering stations for insects like bees and butterflies. A self refilling dog bowl can work wonders! Add some stones into the receiving tray for insects to land on or use to climb out, and you’ve got a wonderful drinking spot for all kinds of insects! You can also fill a saucer or other dish with small stones and fill it, though it’ll likely need refilling daily or even several times a day during hot times.

I've seen people online use all kinds of things to make water features. Some go with terra-cotta pots, pebbles, and a cheap pump to get a small and simple fountain. Others use old tires, clay, and a hole in the ground to create an in-ground mini pond system. If all else fails, even a bucket or watertight box with a few plants in it can do the trick--though do be wary of mosquitoes if the water isn’t moving. In situations like these, a solar-powered fountain pump or bubbler are great for keeping the water moving while still making it a drinking option for wildlife (it not even more appealing for some)--and these items can be obtained fairly cheap online!

Bird baths are an option as well--a classic way to provide for birds in your area, they can be easy to find online or in a gardening store! The only downside is that a good, quality bird bath can be pricey up-front. However, a nice stone bird bath should last a long time, be easy to clean and refill, and be enjoyed by many birds! I’ve also seen tutorials on how to make your own with quickcrete! Bird baths will be a welcome sight to birds, as they provide a space for them to drink and bathe to regulate the oils in their feathers for flight and insulation. Putting a stone in the middle will also help insects to escape if they fall in, and provide a place to perch so they can get their own drink. You’ll want to change the water and clean the baths regularly--as often as once a week, if you can manage it.

If possible, it’s highly encouraged to fill and refill water features with rainwater instead of tap water. Tap water is often treated, so instead of using hoses or indoor kitchen water, collecting some rainwater is a great alternative. Collecting rainwater can be as simple as leaving cups, bins, or pots outside for awhile.

Butterflies and other creatures will also drink from mud puddles. If you can maintain an area of damp soil mixed with a small amount of salt or wood ash, this can be fantastic for them! Some plants also excel at storing water within their leaves and flowers (bromeliads come to mind), making them an excellent habitat for amphibians as well as a drinking spot for insects and birds.

Bird Feeders and Bird Houses

Some of the fancy, decorated bird feeders are expensive, but others can be pretty low-cost--I got my bird feeder from Lowe’s for around 10 dollars, and a big bag of birdseed was around another 10 dollars and has lasted several refills! If you don’t mind occasionally buying more birdseed, a single birdfeeder can do a lot to attract and support local birds! If you’re handy, have some spare wood, and have or can borrow some tools, you may even be able to find instructions online to make your own feeder. You may not even need wood to do so! Even hummingbird feeders, I’ve found, are quick to attract them, as long as you keep them stocked up on fresh sugar water in the spring and summer!

An important note with bird feeders is that you have to make sure you can clean them regularly. Otherwise, they may become a vector for disease, and we want to avoid causing harm whenever possible. Also keep an ear out and track if there’s known outbreaks of bird diseases in your area. If local birding societies and scientists are advising you take your birdfeeders down for awhile, by all means, do it!

Bird houses are naturally paired with bird feeders as biodiversity promoters for backyard spaces, and it makes sense. Having bird houses suited to birds in your area promotes them to breed, raise their young, disperse seeds, and generally engage in your surrounding environment. Setting them up takes careful selection or construction, preparation, and some patience, but sooner or later you might get some little homemakers! Keep in mind, you will need to clean your birdhouses at least once a year (if not once per brood) to make sure they’re ready and safe for birds year after year--you wouldn’t want to promote disease and parasites, after all. But they could be a valuable option for your landscape, whether you purchase one or construct your own!

Again, do make sure you're putting up the right kind of boxes for the right kinds of birds. Bluebird boxes are some I see sold most commonly, but in my area I believe they're not even all that common--a nesting box for cardinals or chickadees would be far more likely to see success here! And some birds don't even nest in boxes--robins and some other birds are more likely to use a nesting shelf, instead! Research what birds live in your area, take note of any you see around already, and pick a few target species to make homes for!

Solitary Bee Houses

A bee house or bee hotel is a fantastic way to support the solitary bees in your area! For a few dollars and some annual cleaning, you can buy a solitary bee house from most big box nurseries. Alternatively, you can make one at home, with an array of materials you may already have lying around! You can even make them so that they’ll benefit all kinds of insects, and not necessarily just bees.

Though you don’t even necessarily have to break out the hammer and nails, buy a ton of bricks, or borrow a staple gun. Making homes for tunneling bees can be as simple as drilling holes in a log and erecting it, or drilling holes in stumps and dead trees on your property. You might even attract some woodpeckers by doing this!

Providing Nesting Area

There are tons of different kinds of bees, and they all make different kinds of homes for themselves. Not all of them make big cavity hives like honey bees, or will utilize a solitary bee house. Bumblebees live in social hives underground, particularly in abandoned holes made by rodents--some others nest in abandoned bird nests, or cavities like hollow logs, spaces between rocks, compost piles, or unoccupied birdhouses. Borer, Ground, and Miner bees dig into bare, dry soil to create their nests. Sparsely-vegetated patches of soil in well-drained areas are great places to find them making their nests, so providing a similar habitat somewhere in the garden can encourage them to come! I do talk later in this document about mulching bare soil in a garden--however, leaving soil in sunny areas and south-facing slopes bare provides optimal ground nesting habitat. Some species prefer to nest at the base of plants, or loose sandy soil, or smooth-packed and flat bare ground. They’ve also been known to take advantage of soil piles, knocked over tree roots, wheel ruts in farm roads, baseball diamonds and golf course sand traps. You can create nesting ground by digging ditches or creating nesting mounds in well-drained, open, sunny areas with sandy or silty soil. However, artificially constructed ground nests may only have limited success.

Providing Alternative Pollinator Foods

Nectar and pollen aren’t the only foods sought out by some pollinators! Some species of butterflies are known to flock to overripe fruit or honey water, so setting these out can be an excellent way to provide food to wildlife. You may want to be cautious about how you set these out, otherwise it can help other wildlife, like ants or raccoons. Butterflies may also drop by to visit a sponge in a dish of lightly salted water.

Bat Houses and Boxes

Big or small, whether they support five bats or five hundred, making bat boxes and supporting local bats is a great way to boost biodiversity! Not only will they eat mosquitoes and other pest species, but you may also be able to use the guano (bat droppings) as fertilizer! Do be careful if you choose to do that though--I’ve never had the opportunity to, so do some research into how strong it is and use it accordingly.

Provide Passageway Points

If you want your area to be more accessible for creatures that can’t fly or climb fences, allowing or creating access points can be an excellent way to give them a way in and out. Holes in the bottom of walls or fences can be sheltered with plants to allow animals through.

In a somewhat similar manner, if you’re adding a water fixture, it’s important to provide animals a way to get into and out of the pond--no way in, and they can’t use the water. No way out, and they may drown. Creating a naturalistic ramp out of wood beams or sticks, or stepped platforms out of bricks, stones, or logs can do the trick.

Get or Keep Logs and Brush Piles

I’ve already mentioned logs a good handful of times so far in this post. To be used as access ramps, or as nesting areas for solitary bees. But they have value as much more than that! Logs on the ground provide shelter for all kinds of animals, especially depending on size--anything from mice, reptiles, and amphibians to things like turkey vultures and bears will use fallen logs as shelter. Inside of a decaying log, there’s a lot of humidity, so amphibians are big fans of them--meanwhile, the upper sides of them can be used as sunning platforms by things like lizards. Other animals can also use the insides of logs as nest sites and hiding places from predators too big to fit inside. Fungi, spiders, beetles, termites, ants, grubs, worms, snails, slugs, and likely much more can be found inside rotting logs, using the rotting wood as food sources or nesting places. They can then provide food for mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. They can also be regarded as a landmark or territory marker as wildlife get more familiar with your space.

So how do you get logs for cheap? Try Chip Drop! I talk about them more in a future post, but you can mark saying that you’d like logs in your drop, so they’ll give you any they have! In fact, you may even get a drop faster if you're willing to accept some logs. You may also be able to approach arborists you see working in your area and ask for logs. There may also be local online listings for people selling logs for cheap, or just trying to get rid of them. If there’s land development going on near you, you may be able to snag logs from trees they cut down to make space. Do keep in mind, you don’t need to have huge gigantic logs laying around your property to make an impact--even small logs can help a lot.

If possible, creating and leaving brush piles on the edge of your property can be a great boost to biodiversity--even if you may not see the wildlife using it. They’ll provide shelter from weather and predators, and lower portions are cool and shady for creatures to avoid the hot sun. The upper layers can be used as perch sites and nest sites for song birds, while lower layers are resting sites for amphibians and reptiles, and escape sites for many mammals. As the material decays, they also attract insects, and as such they’ll attract insect-eating animals too. As more small animals find refuse in your brush pile, their predators will be attracted to them as well. Owls, hawks, foxes, and coyotes are known to visit brush piles to hunt. Making a brush pile can be as simple as piling branches and leaves into a mound, as big or as small as you want. You can even use tree stumps or old fence posts near the base, and keep stacking on plant trimmings and fallen branches. Do note that you don’t want to do this near anything like a fire pit.

Don't forget, with all of these, your mileage may vary for any variation of reasons, so don't worry if you can't take all of even any of these actions! Even just talking about them with other people may inspire someone else to put out a bat box, or leave a few logs out for wildlife!

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about ways to get seeds and plants as cheaply as possible. For now, I hope this advice helps! Feel free to reply with any questions, success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

#biodiversity #solarpunk #environmental stewardship #gardening #outdoor gardening #(i know this is literally the Dont Gotta Garden post but these could also be excellent additions to a preexisting garden so)#ani rambles #out of queue #the biodiversity saga #here in the tags to once again emphasize your mileage may vary with all of these #my mom is scared of bats theres no way in hell shes gonna let me put up a bat box #but I have been able to put out a shallow bird bath and a little solarpowered hummingbird bath fountain #do what you can! every bit counts! You may be able to do something that I or your neighbors can't!#for example my nextdoor neighbors have literally no trees in their backyard where the hell would they put a bat box #meanwhile i have trees in my backyard but still can't put up a bat box. maybe the neighbors next to me could!#similarly brush piles are a no go for my family but someone somewhere else could set one up!#i am rambling in the tags now uh long story short do what you can don't stress about what you can't

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deerlyloved · 3 years

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dont let me die here

under cut: looong story about my sci fi oc, mei, losing her legs

The dust had yet to settle from the collapse, debris was still clunking down around her in chunks of broken glass and jagged metal, implanting in the ground around her and banging off of the large metal beam that had fallen just right. The hardened glass of her helmet had broken into pieces after an unidentifiable chunk of debris crashed into her visor, sending shards of glass splashing into her face. She barely closed her eyes quickly enough to keep herself from being blinded, but now the shards were digging in around her right eye and she didn’t want to risk clumsily poking at her face with the one hand she could move around.

They were here on a simple mission to move protected assets, two high-ranking members of an alien family that were suddenly placed into protective status by their parents. It was supposed to be easy, just move the two from the embassy to the ship and make sure they got there safe and sound, that’s what the Guardians were all about! Guarding! Whatever went wrong did so fast, probably an ambush if Mei had to guess-- God, she could feel blood sticking in her throat.

Whoever wanted the two protectees were willing to do a lot to get them. The group was approaching the ship, quite literally feet from it when suddenly someone started shooting. The second he heard shots ring out, Rea practically scooped up the two aliens like they were a basket of laundry and ran them onto the ship while shouting commands that Mei didn’t bother registering because she knew what she had to do.

They weren’t even shooting at the unit. It was just the one at first, a single figure shooting in the direction of the civilians just on the street to do what Mei now realized was to draw the attention of the soldiers, and it worked because she aimed for them just like Ana did before she was shot herself. They had been waiting, snuck up from behind the ship, and got her in the back. Ana defended her while Mei hopped up, thankful she had her helmet on at the time because if she hadn’t-- Mei wheezed out a cough as her hand searched around, palm flat on the ground and patting through dirt and stained grass until her fingers brushed against a stony surface, wrapping around it to pull towards her. She couldn’t scream anymore, she had tried for what felt like hours, but now her throat hurt too much, she was too tired, she felt blood pooling inside her armor and yelling made it slosh and she hated it, she hated it hated it hated--

Taking as deep a breath she could, Mei focused on gathering the strength to lift the rock again.

A full fire-fight broke out before she knew it, the ship taking off without warning to get the poor assets out as Rea jumped out of the closing door to help his unit, glancing behind his shoulder to make sure the ship was undisturbed before he grabbed one of the attackers with his bare hands to join the fight. It was a nasty crunch.

Mei looked across the field to see others among the crowd of panicked civilians, oh so conveniently dressed similarly so she could pick them out among the crowd. One of them looked up, staring back at the private as she looked at them between firing at those attacking her and searching for cover, and they made a scene out of rushing out and grabbing a bystander trying to get out, pointing directly at Mei.

She didn’t mean to, really, she didn’t realize she was even running until she was right on them and her ears were ringing from Rea shouting through the microphone in her helmet. It was unnerving, watching the attacker unceremoniously shove their hostage away when Mei took aim and instead lunge after her, unnerving because they baited her and it worked. She fought them off as well as she could when she was taken by surprise, finally shoving the attacker to the ground and pointing the barrel of her gun at them before they flung a hand up to gesture towards the buildings bordering along the park field, drawing Mei’s attention towards the incoming disaster. They signaled her out, and it worked, and seconds later Mei watched as buildings erupted into flames and the most piercing boom rattled through the air as a metal tower came crashing down into a structure, sending everything toppling.

The attacker threw her down, a cloud of dust and debris flooding out into the field as Mei watched with horror from her position on the ground, sky filling with smoke as shots rang out with renewed vigor, more booms cracking from behind her as she scurried to her feet. Out of breath, out of time, she looked to the sky to watch as the ship flew higher and higher-- but another joined the air. This was more planned than they could have thought, there was a leak somewhere and that thought sent rage through Mei’s mind. She watched in some mix of fear and anger as the CCF ship activated what weapons it could in the time it was given and fought back as it escaped quickly, and she knew that Karen was on board trying to shove the pilot out of their seat to take charge because the robot knew they could fly better.

With that thought, Mei switched channels, speaking directly to Karen instead of the team, and suddenly Rea’s shouts stopped echoing in her helmet. “Karen,” Mei breathed out, waiting for affirmation the bot was listening before she continued, “Get the ship out of here now. You know what to do.” The bot agreed, and seconds later a quiet clattering and frantic shouts from the pilot were heard as Karen finally heaved them out of their seat, taking charge and connecting herself to the ship. The ship was gone in moments, just like it always was when Karen was flying.

The private switched back to her team’s channel, looking towards the city and seeing figures obscured by the smoke rushing about, screams as gunfire continued in the distance. Now that their mission was completed, it was time to take care of the new issue at hand.

“Guys, I’m going back into the city to evacuate civilians, I can see gunmen from where I’m standing-- We can’t just leave them.”

There was arguing, there always was, and Rea spoke, “We need to regroup first, Mei, we’re all scattered right now!”

Mei was already running.

At the thought of running, Mei quietly took another breath and closed her eyes, gently flexing her toes. She thought she was doing it. She hoped she was doing it. It was just because she was out of it, right? Nothing else. Nothing else.

She ran through the field and onto the road, armored boots clanking off of the rock beneath her as she navigated her way through chunks of debris, buildings still falling apart around her. There were groups of civilians trapped and wondering, scared, and Mei pointed them out, moved debris that she could to help some get out, and towards the less-on-fire park. Then, though, she heard someone shout in the distance, heard them scream for help at the top of their lungs, and she took off running to help only to find herself face to face with the attacker from just minutes earlier, staring at her from their position on a chunk of debris among the rubble of a decimated building.

The street was lined with creaking, burning buildings, threatening to topple at any moment, and Mei felt uneasy as she stared at this mysterious person as they returned the gesture. Finally, they stood with a large grin, holding their hand in the air to show something they were holding-- No no no.

Mei heard the beeping of the detonator triggering, and then the building next to her had its last support blown to pieces, the force knocking Mei across the street and flat on her back as the building started to fall. The attacker stood on their pile of debris, staring at the private before they ran off into the destroyed city blocks. Chunks fell, massive pieces of debris crashing to the ground and shaking everything around it from the impact as Mei stared into the smokey sky in a daze. She saw the metal fall towards her and that was it until she woke up.

The woman took a deep breath, hearing the creak of her armor and the scrape of it against the twisted, gnarled debris as she raised her hand and pressed the rock against the side of the debris that she could reach from her peculiar position. Mei couldn’t raise her head anymore, but the first few times she could only led to her realizing that she was pinned by this hunk of metal, her chest poking out from the caved-in section but she...She just couldn’t see her legs.

It was because she was in shock, she wasn’t aware of everything.

Mei slammed the rock against the metal, hearing the clang of it and feeling the vibration rattle through her armor, whimpering in response. But it made a noise. More noise than she could with her radio out, with her throat sticky and coarse, with fear clouding her mind so she couldn’t even think of what to say. She drew back her hand and then slammed the rock down again. Clang.

She would get out of this soon, they’d find her and pull her out and they’d all walk back to the new meeting point that Rea definitely set up by now, and they’d laugh about this after the Major yelled at them about not securing the ship.

Clang.

Icka would fix this. Icka knew everything about anything, and she’d fix it and Mei would be able to feel her toes again because oh god why couldn’t she feel them it had been so long.

Clang.

She couldn’t cry anymore, she had already sobbed her eyes out and screamed herself hoarse with the what-felt-like hours she’d spent here so far, but right now she wanted to. She wanted to just cry and cry and cry because everything hurt and everything was so loud even though it was quiet and she just wanted to go home.

Mei just kept slamming this stupid rock against the metal even though it made her ribs feel like they were stabbing her because it was all she could do, absentmindedly make as much noise as she could muster up as she stared up into the sky and hoped that someone, anyone, would come along soon. But what if no one did?

Would she die here?

She didn’t want to die on an alien planet.

The private hit the debris as long as she could, but she felt so weak now and it was only getting worse. Maybe if she just...Closed her eyes. They’d find her or they wouldn’t, this wasn’t working.

No, no she couldn’t just…

Mei sniffled, rolling her head to the side and looking at her hand, staring at the rock she held. Her entire arm was shaking by now. She hated this, she hated the CCF for sending her here, clang, and herself for falling for this stupid plan, clang, and that idiot who blew everything up, she hated this stupid rock and this stupid debris and clang clang clang clang clang--

Digitized chirping found its way to Mei, echoing off the debris. She stared into the still settling dust, eyes wide and hopeful for the first time since she woke up, and finally she saw the only good sight she had all day. A purple, pixelated frowning face glowed through the haze as a dark purple set of armor slowly hopped from pile to pile, bouncing onto the ground and looking around. Kro’asha. She had never been so happy to see the bug before, and with a renewed vigor the woman slammed the rock once more. The noise drew Kro’asha’s attention, and as he finally saw Mei’s bright hair among the dulled colors of destroyed buildings, his screen flashed countless exclamation marks.

The alien ran forward, stumbling a few times until he came to rest beside Mei and dropped to his knees, speaking loudly with more panic than she’d ever heard from him before, “Amari! Alive, found Amari alive, need help!”

There was a quiet mumble on Mei’s part, but she knew that Rea was shouting at Kro’asha on the radio. The alien repeated himself a few times as he nervously reached out to Mei, armored hand finding a pool of her blood instead and pulling back in fear. Kro’asha looked at his dark armor, seeing the bright blue drip off his fingertips with his screen flashing exclamation marks and sad faces with vigor. More quiet mumbling. It was nice to hear Rea, even if it was only barely.

Nice and a good way to see Mei off into her second round of unconsciousness.

You know, the average person wakes up from a fainting spell in, at most, two minutes. Anything over should be cause for serious medical attention, a trip to the hospital. From what Mei could tell, she fainted when Kro’asha found her and was in and out of consciousness with most of her time spent asleep for roughly... 13 hours. Between prying her out, transporting her to the nearest base, the surgeries, and lastly waking up from anesthesia, Mei only remembered Rea swearing in his native language as he picked her up and tucked her against his chest while Icka yelled at him to not move an injured person, then looking up into bright lights and hearing Icka squawk orders at others as she stabilized Mei, and finally a different set of lights on a different ceiling as machines beeped around her, Icka leaning over her after a second or so and smiling in a way that Mei only found endearing because she knew the alien.

Her eyes opened slowly, taking in the scene around her as she blinked through her blurry vision only to realize that several things were very, very wrong. Her vision was all off, she couldn’t feel her legs fully but it felt like they were there, and she hurt so, so much.

Mei’s hands sought out the side of the bed, feeling for a railing and finding it after some fumbling, fingers gripping the metal bars as she tried to pull herself up before the pain got to her and she cried out, losing her grasp and collapsing back onto the bed. What the fuck was wrong with her?

She finally saw the IV she had, her nose wrinkling as she fought the urge to pull it out, searching around the room for anything she could to help her understand what was going on-- God, she was so thirsty. Finally, she spotted what she was hoping she would, the words 'PROPERTY OF THE CCF’ engraved onto a machine next to her bed. Mei made it home.

The door opened suddenly, making Mei jolt and try to sit up again only to come crashing back down with another quiet cry. This startled the person entering as well, who Mei identified after the pain began to fade again and her judgment was less clouded.

She threw her hand out towards her best friend, frowning and speaking before she realized she was, “Icka…”

“Oh goodness, you’re awake, I was so worried, you were bordering on nearly an hour.” Icka took three steps and was already next to the bed, leaning down in a way that looked hunched and uncomfortable to Mei but was no doubt fine for the avian. Icka placed her large talons on the bed rail before she put a single filed talon under Mei’s chin with a smile on her face. “You’re alive!”

“I’m alive.” Mei echoed, much less enthusiastic.

“And you have probably eaten through the pain meds I gave you, one moment, oh dear!” Icka turned and rushed to a cart that was placed to the side, rummaging through it and turning around with a needle. As she returned to standing next to the bed, Mei looked up at her, watching the alien inject what she could only assume was pain medication into her IV. “This should help with...everything. I know how quickly you metabolize it, so I’ll try to keep up…”

“What happened?” Mei asked abruptly. Icka clammed up at the question, capping the syringe silently and turning to discard it in a nearby box. She was silent for several, painstakingly long moments.

“I tried, I really did, there was just… There was just so much damage, Mei. I could barely figure out where everything was supposed to go, a-and your anatomy is already so odd to me…!”

“What happened?” Mei repeated, more firmly this time as she found her voice and felt herself begin to worry.

“Rea wanted...to tell you...He said I couldn’t handle it well and I g-guess… I guess he was right…” The avian took a step towards the door, “I’m going to go...I’ll get him!”

“Icka, no, wait--!” The alien was gone before Mei could finish talking.

Minutes dragged on as Mei slowly but surely felt the pain medication begin to take hold, and just as abruptly as before the door swung open, except this time Rea marched in instead of Mei’s best friend. The captain stood in the doorway, staring at Mei for a few seconds before he came to stand beside her bed, arms crossed as always and his shoulders squared.

“Amari.”

“Dragon Boy.”

Rea narrowed his eyes at the nickname, but his gaze suddenly softened and he sighed. “Icka can’t handle this, so I’ve decided to take the burden for her.”

“Lay it on me.” Mei croaked, hands grasping the hem of her thin hospital blanket.

“She couldn’t save your vision in your right eye, and the damage was so bad she had to completely remove it. The good news for your eye is that we can easily replace it with a functional optic prosthetic, even get some upgrades.”

Mei couldn’t help it, she raised her hand to gently touch the right side of her face to find it bandaged and taped off, how she didn’t realize it was beyond her.

“That doesn’t...I mean, it’s not great, but that’s not…”

“I have more, do you want the good news or bad news first?”

Mei didn’t want either, actually. Still, after a second of thought, she answered quietly, “Good news…”

“You have lost approximately twenty-seven and a half pounds,” The man closed his eyes and nodded like what he was saying made any sense in this context because Mei was very lost as to what that meant, but he spoke again before she could question him, “The bad news is that it is approximately twenty-seven and a half pounds worth of legs.”

What.

No no, no, holy shit, no--

Mei looked down towards her feet, eye wide as she stared and felt the urge to pull her blanket off. He was wrong, she could...She could feel them…

The woman tried to wiggle her toes, flex her calf, anything. Nothing. No movement. She couldn’t even see the shape of her legs under the blanket.

No no no no.

“We’re already looking into getting you approved for mechanical prosthetics, it would just be a matter of another surgery after you’ve healed to put in the sensors and artificial nerve endings if you want--”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up! Get out!” Mei covered her face, tucking her head into her arm as she started to shake, “Get out, leave me alone, I don’t want to talk to you!”

The door opened again and Icka stepped in, motioning for the captain with a frown, “Rea, you need to leave.”

This was wrong, it was a dream, right? This had to be a dream, she was still in transport and this was just a bad dream. Mei had bad dreams, she had a lot of them, and this was just another one for her stupid dream journal that Icka made her keep.

It had to be, it had to be.

#sci fi #sci fi oc #mei #angst #trauma #my writing

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francesderwent · 4 years

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Morbid Curiosity, a delena fic an east of the sun west of the moon AU previous chapter chapter two:

The great, sprawling house the monster brought her to was beautiful, but it was also dark, and every room was cold. “Why so many rooms?” she asked. He’d put her down, gently enough, in the foyer and she was rotating slowly, wondering how a place like this could be someone’s home.

“It used to be full,” he told her, tone detached.

“And now?”

“Myself – and you.”

“No one else?”

“No one else.”

She felt a chill, and not one originating from the drafty old house. “Where do you stay?” she asked, trying to keep the tremor from her voice.

He gestured vaguely toward one far corner of the upper floor. “You can take the opposite, if you wish,” he said, drily. “It doesn’t matter.”

She lifted her chin stubbornly. “May I look and see which room I like best?”

He only shrugged. “Explore, if you like. Nothing is barred to you, though I would suggest avoiding the cellars. I don’t think you would find them…very…” he paused, then finished delicately, “comfortable.”

She nodded. “Are you going to show me around?”

He grimaced. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, startled. “We’re going to be living together –”

“We’ll live alongside each other,” he interrupted, derisive. “I did not ask for your presence because I desired company.”

“But how can I help if you don’t speak to me?” she asked, bewildered.

“I’ll speak to you, Elena, just don’t expect me to hold your hand.”

She didn’t flinch, but she felt like flinching. “I’m not asking you to hold my hand,” she said.

He raised his eyebrows.

“I’m not,” she repeated, and to prove him wrong, turned away and walked further into the house, leaving him behind. She would find her way around on her own.

The ground floor had high ceilings and tall windows, but the overwhelming amount of dark wood and deep red curtains kept it from feeling open. There was an excess of upholstery overall, she thought. The carpets and tapestries were all obviously expensive, but perhaps hadn’t been well cared for, so that they smelled musty. They muffled her steps in a way that made her feel lonelier and smaller than echoes would have. She glanced up from time to time at the balconies overlooking from the second floor, but she never saw her host; presumably he had disappeared somewhere, which seemed like an ironic reversal of fortunes – a monster hiding so he wouldn’t have to run into her.

When she found her way to the second floor, she was disappointed to find that the first several bedrooms she poked her head into were arranged fairly similarly – larger and more fine than her own at home, than anything she was used to, but with little personality to distinguish them from one another. If she didn’t like one more than the others, she would have to pick one based on the only other criterion she had: its relative distance from the room of the only other inhabitant. She could pick a room near him, and prove she wasn’t afraid – or she could pick a room across the house from him, and prove she wasn’t going to be clingy. She didn’t know which one would serve her better, and so she kept poking her head into rooms.

Finally, in the same wing as the monster’s room but several doors down, she found a bedroom that looked a little more lived in. It was comfortably cluttered with books and candles, every surface scattered with papers, except for one small end-table which was incongruously possessed of a large globe. It felt a little bit like the inside of her own mind. She checked the doorway, and when satisfied that she wasn’t being spied upon, took a running start and launched herself onto the bed, where she sank into quilts and cushions.

It would do.

She tilted her head up to look at the ceiling, and allowed herself for the first time to consider what had happened, and what she had agreed to.

A year and a day.

A year and a day, alone in a drafty house with a man with eyes made for hunting and teeth made for cutting through skin, who needed her help, but didn’t seem to want it. She believed that he didn’t intend her any harm, and he had said he was willing to speak to her, but if he was only going to answer her with spite and condescension, then perhaps she ought to give him a little space, at least for the first few weeks. She had the whole house at her disposal – but was she allowed to move things, change things, make it her own? Was she allowed to go outside? What would she do, for a full year, with no school and no work and no family? There were books, yes – but was there anything else?

A spiderweb caught her eye where it hung perilously between the ceiling and one post of her bed. She pushed herself up on her elbows and eyed it.

She could hardly get in trouble for cleaning. She had to live here – they both did. He wasn’t about to begrudge her that.

She rolled out of bed and wandered back down the hallway, checking the little closets that she’d ignored on her first circuit. She located a broom and a few rags, but got distracted with the dust and cobwebs on the railing of the balcony before she could get back to her own room. The monster found her some time later, stretched on her tiptoes, poking carefully at a chandelier with a rag stuck on the tip of her broom.

“I didn’t ask for your presence because I wanted a servant, either,” he said.

She hadn’t heard him come up behind her, and in her surprise nudged the chandelier too sharply, causing it to jangle. She dropped the broom down to her side. “It’s filthy,” she told him.

He raised his eyebrows at her, looking unbothered. “I haven’t lived here for a long time.”

She sighed, and brushed the dust off her shoulders. “No, I’m sorry. You startled me, that’s all.”

He nodded. Then, as if he was testing the word, he said carefully, “Sorry.”

She nodded back.

“There’s dinner downstairs, if you’re hungry.”

She leaned over the banister to look at the grandfather clock in the living room. It was much later than she had realized. “I am hungry,” she said. “Where does the food come from?”

“The kitchen.”

“Alright, don’t tell me anything,” she said.

“I won’t,” he agreed. Then, in contradiction to what he’d just said: “The dining room’s this way.”

She allowed herself to be herded down the stairs, thinking: he hasn’t lived here long, or it’s been a long time since he lived here?

The dining room table was, predictably, in a dimly lit room, made of a dark wood, and exceptionally long. For a moment she envisioned herself and the monster eating at the two heads of the table, silently, every night for a year – but then she saw that there were two places set, across from each other on either side of one end. She glanced over her shoulder at him, unsure which place to take, but he walked by her without making eye contact, and pulled a chair out. He waited, and then looked back to quirk an eyebrow at her. “Well?”

“Oh,” she said. She stepped around him, sat, and let him push her chair in, murmuring her thanks. She picked up the cloth napkin from the side of her place and ran her fingers over it, then smoothed it onto her lap; when she looked up her companion was already seated and waiting for her. Again, she hadn’t heard him move. She started to open her mouth to ask a question, but then closed it, and only raised her eyebrows instead. He smirked back.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to serve ourselves,” he said, pushing the platter in the middle of the table toward her.

She selected what looked like some sort of chicken filet and a small pile noodles in a butter sauce, and passed the platter back. She took a cautious bite of the chicken; the seasonings were different than what she was used to, but it had been cooked well.

“Wine?”

“Thank you, no.”

“Suit yourself.” He poured himself a glass. “Did you settle on a bedroom, then?”

She nodded. “In the south wing, two doors from yours.”

“The one with all the garbage in it?”

“The one with all the books and things, yes. It just seemed more homey.”

He snorted. “Naturally. I don’t know why I’m even surprised.”

She blew out a frustrated breath and chased her noodles around the plate with her fork. “And would you like to explain why you’re not–”

“No.”

“Of course not.”

He growled slightly, under his breath. “And do you have everything you need?”

She looked up from her plate to stare at him. “I left with nothing but the clothes on my back. I have nothing but the clothes on my back. I need…” She trailed off, unable to convey in the moment just how much a human person required to live a year and a day in a place. “Much,” she finished, lamely.

After an uncomfortable moment, he said, “That was a foolish thing for me to have said. There are soap and combs and things in the washroom adjoining your room, and I know where there are some spare clothes. I can fetch them for you.”

“Thank you,” she said, stiffly.

They ate in silence, after that – or rather, she ate and he sipped at his wine. He’d put the smallest piece of chicken on his plate and barely sampled it, and he’d avoided the noodles entirely. Even while pretending not to look, she could tell that his fangs weren’t well-suited for table manners – or maybe not suited for table food at all.

She pushed her chair back and stood abruptly.

He rose himself. “Is the food not to your liking?”

She bit back the question “Is it not to yours?” and said instead, “Please, don’t get up on my account, I am too tired to be properly hungry.”

He nodded, and stepped out from behind his chair. “I’ll see about getting you some things for your wardrobe.”

“You don’t need to –” she said, but within the space of a blink he was gone. With a sigh, she trudged back up to her bedroom and opened the wardrobe, which proved to be full of men’s clothing. She dumped it all out onto the bed, and then fetched her cleaning rag from the hallway and gave the inside of the empty wardrobe a cursory dusting.

The monster announced himself with an awkward thump at her door, which, she saw when she turned her head, was due to the colossal armful of clothes he’d brought. “The night things are all on top,” he said. “You can look at the rest tomorrow.”

For lack of a better idea, she took the pile from him and simply placed it on the bottom of the wardrobe. She held up the nightgown that was sitting on top, and found that it was a lacey affair that was going to do little to keep her warm, and was probably going to itch. She folded it back up and hid it under her arm. “It…does look about the right size,” she said.

“Does it indeed?” he said. “Imagine that.” He had a towel slung over his shoulder; he handed that to her as well.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Get me a list of what you need, and I’ll see what I can do,” he said, nodded at her, and left – praise God, at a regular speed.

She gave the nightgown another look, back and forth with the bed, which did at least seem to have plenty of blankets. It would do, and then everything else could wait until the morning.

// next chapter //

#cate fic #untitled fic tag #no second draft we die like men!!!#I know nothing is consistent and the pacing is all wrong #but that's what first drafts are for #or so I'm told!#when this is all over i might go back and tvd-ize the dialogue #but for now I'm sticking with the slightly stilted vaguely old-timey fairytale prancing #me: ugh I have no inspiration for you're still here i'm totally stuck #me to me: start ANOTHER fic where they're living in the salvatore boardinghouse #me: oh cool here's 3000 words with no effort whatsoever #delena #delena fic #sorry for spamming the tag I will stop tagging eventually?#morbid curiosity tag

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