Crack Pairings VII - Bring Bottled Water, Our Water is Spiked With Love Potion

[Zanaril]

That's it? I was hoping them all together would be longer...

I'm enjoying it so far.

[NemoUtopia]

Your art skillz makes the Nemo jealous because he kain't @_@ great stuff! New fics are always good too, and I'm glad folks have enjoyed Miko's Heart.

As for gender-bender week, I have a different avatar I'm working on with a submission for the Avatar of Love contest...the idea of which I won't say because it's a surprise

And yeah, the werewolf=vampire treatment bothers me on so many levels. I'm hoping the remake of Wolfman (whether it's actually good or not) will draw Hollywood away from that...the only good werewolves treated as werewolves flicks that spring to mind are the "American Werewolf" flicks!

You folks are busy-bees...with the avatars also in the works my next content update could take as long as Wednesay, but I should have Xykon's Toy Part 1 and V-Vgs this week in addition to the avatars.

[Lix Lorn]

Werewolves are not a type of undead. :/
Unless someone killed them and bought them back. Duh. Same as anyone else.

Story looks nice, whoever it was!
(Fails)

[Asta Kask]

*imagines a room full of every character V's ever been shipped with*

That would have to be a rather large room.

[Lix Lorn]

Probably a reasonably large demiplane.

[Draconi Redfir]

happy singles awareness day eavryone! and to celibradte, i shall do my first crack pairing!... i hope...

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happy singles-awareness day Thoq! :D

[Reynard]

Anybody else got a request?

I've got nothing better to do. (Damn lazy PCs)

[Lix Lorn]

Hmm... could you do something like the Last Stand of the eastern gods? Like, hades and Persephone with bows fighting valiantly against the snarl, holding hands or kissing or something?

Only thing i can think of.

[Reynard]

Well, I can certainly try.

The Eastern gods were the Greek rip-offs, weren't they?

[Lix Lorn]

Yep, they were. ^_^ Thanks.
Hades=Death god, roman name pluto
Persephone=his wife

If you didn't know. DXD You probably did~

Thanks again!

[Closak]

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Nale was sitting down in a glade in the forest.

Sabine had set him up for a "Blind Date" for Valentine's day and this was where he was supposed to meet her.

Knowing Sabine, it would likely end in a three-some...Did fiends even celebrate Valentine's?

Anyway, there he was, sitting on his ass like a...something...whatever.

His thoughts were interupted by the sound of wings fluttering.

Nale looked up...and nearly panicked when a giant Black Dragon descended on him.

"Hello handsome, want some spice?" The dragon said looking at him with lust in her eyes.

Unholy fiends, what had Sabine gotten him into?

The dragon came closer, swishing her hindquarters back and forth in a seductive way.

"Come here boy"

---CENSORED---

---MEANWHILE---

The IFCC were watching what was going on on their television while munching popcorn.

"Geez, that's some hot stuff" Nero said.

"Your Mileage Might Vary!" Cedrik muttered while stabbing himself in the face repeatedly with a spoon.

"You know you don't have to watch it" Lee sighed.

Suddenly Sabine came flying past them, muttering under her breath about being late and wanting to join in.

"...Okay..." Lee said.

"Hey boss...bosses...whatever...what's happenin- AGH MY EYES!" Qarr said/Screamed as he came fluttering in.

[Lix Lorn]

XDDDDD

Is it a cold iron spoon? XP

[Closak]

Yes, yes it is.

[Lix Lorn]

Touche. XD

Liked the story, by the way. XD

[Zanaril]

I would have guessed a silver spoon.

[Lix Lorn]

....
I missed a pun. DX

SEPPUKU

Ohwait, chaotic. XD

Soon KimxSerini

[Meg]

Yep, they were. ^_^ Thanks.
Hades=Death god, roman name pluto
Persephone=his wife

If you didn't know. DXD You probably did~

Thanks again!

Hades was the god of finance and the underworld, not death. That was Thanatos. Sorry to jump down your throat, I'm a bit anal of a Greek myth fanatic.

EDIT: I don't think anyone really cares that much, but as of Wednesday, I shall be dropping off the radar entirely for 40 days. I'm giving up internet forums for Lent.

[Lix Lorn]

(Bows)
You're quite right. I'm oversimplifying. He's lord of the dead more than death.

[Closak]

So...Does anyone else have any comments or criticism about my story?

I put several puns and a couple of obscure references in there...

[Lix Lorn]

I got the reference to a Trope name. XD

[Closak]

"Your Mileage Might Vary!" Cedrik muttered while stabbing himself in the face repeatedly with a spoon.

Yeah, there was three puns/jokes/references in that sentence alone.

"Hello handsome, want some spice?"

Another reference. Specifically to this picture

"Blind Date" for Valentine's day

There's another one.

"Hey boss...bosses...whatever...what's happenin- AGH MY EYES!"

And another one.


And the repeated use of muttering and the word "Whatever" is also a reference

[Lix Lorn]

XDDD

Blind date cause he stabbed himself in the face with a spoon? I dunno. XD

[Zanaril]

I felt guilty about not doing anything for Valentines Day, so here's a short ficlet.

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Aarindarius first realised something was up when he opened his eyes to find a bunch of freshly cut flowers on his pillow. That was the first clue.

The blooms were small and pale, a species which he knew to grow in the woods around the area, although few would be blossoming this early in the year. Whoever had found and cut them must have taken a lot of effort. He sat there pondering the flowers for a while, before getting up to find some water for them.

It was Vaarsuvius of course. No-one else would have been able to sneak into his room – let alone his tower - not if their intent was as harmless as leaving a gift. His apprentice had been acting oddly recently. First there had been the increasing amount of time spent away from the tower – well, that was to be expected, and if anything he was glad the elf was interacting with other people. But then when the younger elf was to be found, she always seemed distracted. Mind elsewhere. Staring into space.

He could have sworn she had kept staring at him, too. It was unnerving to look up from the book one was reading, only to see your apprentice blush and look away. His concerns were briefly laid to rest (and a whole new set of concerns acquired) when he found out that Vaarsuvius had started seeing an adolescent from the village. Soon after, the staring had stopped much to his relief.

And now the flowers.

Maybe he was simply looking into it too much. They weren’t as communicative as they had been; when once Vaarsuvius had followed him around all day hanging onto his every word, he now was lucky to see her at all except when she approached him to ask help with a particularly tricky spell or translation, and even that was becoming less and less frequent. While it saddened him that they were drifting apart, he let her have her distance. She was just growing up.

So maybe this was a peace offering of sorts?

He carried the small bouquet down to the kitchen, where he took a tall cut glass and half filled it. He trimmed the stems with a knife then placed them in the water.

He put the glass on the table.

He sat down, and for some time he just gazed at the flowers, thinking.

There was a small noise behind him. He spun around and was just quick enough to catch a glimpse of purple hair snatching out of sight. With a sigh, he turned back to the glass. The other thought he had was pushed away, out of sight and out of mind.

The next morning, he could smell the fresh flowers before he even looked.

For the next three days, each morning there were flowers.

On the fourth day, he opened his eyes to see purple hair. That was the second clue. There was a brief moment where his trance-addled mind flailed wildly, but he quickly assured himself that his apprentice certainly hadn’t been there when he had gone to bed. However there was still the matter that the younger elf was certainly there now, and that she was pressed up against his side with one arm wrapped around his waist. Thankfully they were both clothed.

“Vaarsuvius.”

The name was said more sharply than he had intended, and the arm was rapidly withdrawn as the elf in question sat up, looking very guilty. Aarindarius squirmed away from her and also sat up, raising an eyebrow.

“…I had a bad trance memory?”

Aarindarius paused. When she had first been apprenticed to him and the tower become her permanent residence, there had been several occasions she had found him in the middle of the night for that same reason – usually in his study, but once of twice in his room. In both cases, he would have read something to her, and once her eyes where starting to droop shut he would have carried her back to her room and tucked her into her own bed. True, in those times when she drew him from his trancing, she would cuddle against him under the blankets while he read, but never had she stayed there the whole night.

She had not done that for years. He didn’t think this was the case now, and as if to confirm it the smell of those flowers reached his nose. He spotted today’s offering on the opposite bedside table, delicate lilac petals this time. They had almost certainly been picked less than half an hour ago.

He gave the flowers a purposeful look, and then glanced back to his apprentice. A second later Vaarsuvius was off of the bed and out of the door.

With a sigh, Aarindarius got up and headed down the stairs to follow her.

He found her in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and staring at the wall, her face flushed bright pink. He noticed that her shoulders tensed slightly as he entered the room.

“Vaarsuvius, I’m not angry with you.”

The shoulders relaxed. Slightly.

With a sigh, Aarindarius went and stood next to her, taking up a similar pose. Vaarsuvius fidgeted.

“I thought you were in a relationship with someone… Inkyrius, wasn’t it?”

“We- I was. I broke up with Kyrie. We had an argument.”

Aarindarius sighed, and put an arm around her shoulders. “When?”

Vaarusvius hesitated a moment, then mumbled “…a week ago.”

She raised a hand to her face, and vigorously rubbed her eyes. It was rare for her to cry, and she wasn’t going to let it go on this time. Aarindarius tightened the one armed hug. “It’s alright to be upset.” There was no reply “You know I’ll always be here to listen if you need someone to talk to? I appreciate the flowers, but you don’t need to-“

Vaarsuvius kissed the corner of his mouth quite purposefully.

She tried to kiss him again - possibly fully on the lips - but the older wizard would never know because before she could do so he stepped away, leaving a gap between them. Vaarsuvius stared for a moment, and then burst into tears.

“You hate me!”

Alarmed, Aarindarius stepped forward and hugged her again, wrapping his arms around her shaking shoulders.

She buried her face in his chest. “I love you, but you hate me!”

“Shhh.”

He stood there, hugging her until the sobbing quieted down, but still not letting go. “I don’t hate you. I love you Vaarsuvius, but not in the way you think you want me to.”

“I do love you! I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you! I don’t need anyone else!” She tried to kiss him again, but once more he held her at arms length.

“I’m your teacher, your mentor and your friend, Vaarsuvius. But I can’t be your lover. You know that too, you’re just upset and you need someone to sympathise with you.”

Vaarsuvius stared mutely at him. “I still love him.” She whispered finally, and began to talk.

It was a month later that Vaarsuvius and Inkyrius were back on talking terms, and a year before they were going out again. It was another ten years later that they married.

Aarindarius watched and was happy for her, but he had lied. He could have loved her and have been in love with her; it was Vaarsuvius who had never really wanted that. And so, for her sake, he had to let her go.

I scrounged it up quickly, so it's probably not that good.

It was supposed to be cute, but then somehow wrote itself into being a bit depressing. And V probably isn't in character.

[Lix Lorn]

Dawwwwwwwww.
(Ships AarindariusV)

[Zanaril]

Dawwwwwwwww.
(Ships AarindariusV)

I do too, but this is the closest I can get.

[Lix Lorn]

Dawww.
(hugs you)

[Water-Smurf]

Oh, guys, this is very important:

TOMORROW I WILL BE GOING TO SEE VARIOUS COLLEGES IN THE NEW ENGLAND REGION. I WILL BE BACK WEDNESDAY.

*waves* See you.

*Hugs Water-Smurf*

What happened? (If you wish to tell).

I hope you feel better.

*sighs* *chugs green liquid* If you want to hear, you'll probably be here for a while.

*hugs* Good to know you're okay. I was starting to get slightly worried.

I'm not planning on doing anything stupid. I love my family and friends too much to make them go through that. You don't need to worry. :)

Due to the fact I was under for several pages, I'm not replying to everything. I'm verbose as it is and I don't want this post to be a mile long when I just want to sleep and recuperate.

And I have a PotG update. It isn't very good quality, but I read it through and I revised it, so I can't see much else to do.

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“Two moons? Two moons?!”

Aphrodite scowled, crossing her arms and glaring defiantly. “She was impudent. She deserves to be punished.”

“Oh, you haven’t grown out of that ‘I’m a god and therefore have the right to act like an overgrown child’ mindset?”

Prometheus straightened out his white suit, glaring at the goddess in front of him, his broken shackles rattling. Aphrodite flared, her eyes glowing brightly. “You would do well you remember your place, Uncle!”

“And you would do well you remember yours,” he said brusquely, waving his hand. “You acted like a spoiled infant and that young lady must pay.” He paused. “That is something that I doubt that you will ever fully appreciate the significance of. But more consequentially for you, you’re tantrum threatens her ability to reproduce. I did not design humanity to be able to simply pop children out like an assembly line!” He crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. “They need rest, regeneration, and time to spend with the infants they already have.”

“She was disrespectful!”

“She is a confused, married, and pregnant young woman and you turned up in the night and began to molest her while dithering on about how her future offspring will all be sex symbols. You’re lucky she only told you to leave and never come back.” Prometheus frowned and paced around the broken temple, ignoring the frail breeze and the blood at his abdomen. “Just because you are now a war goddess does not mean you are invincible. You need a vassal, as does any other god that wishes to exist. Hecate will not allow you to threaten that with your childish antics.”

“Hecate does not control me!”

Prometheus scowled at the sex goddess, staying silent for a long moment. “…If you do not want to bow to her rule, you do not have to. But she is the closest thing we have to wisdom anymore, even without the Crone. Destruction is in your path, Aphrodite, and we will not allow you to drag us down as well.”

He turned away and started to fade. “Artemis is in charge of the moons, Aphrodite. Whenever the God Mother gives birth, the lunar cycle will slow. She will have at least eighteen regular moons to heal.”

Fire danced in Aphrodite’s hair and streamed from her eyes. “YOU DARE—”

“I will not allow your foolishness to doom us, and I will not allow you to force that woman to suffer just because you have an overly inflated sense of entitlement,” Prometheus said softly, then he was gone.

“YOU’LL REGRET THIS, PROMETHEUS! YOU WILL REGRET UNDERMINING MY AUTHORITY!”

The goddess raged, but the Titan was already gone.

---

Mijung slowly faded to consciousness on her belly, the side of her face pressed to the firm but soft pillow, facing the other edge of the bed. The covers on the other side were carefully made, and there was the slightest indent on the pillow, but no one was there. The woman reached out a hand, fingering the spot as though she were a jilted lover. The area was cold. The room was empty. Yutrin was gone.

Mijung drew her arm back, fingering the locket at her throat. He had left her. Had he fled because she was a burden? A threat?

Dull despair hit her stomach, but there was almost nothing left to take. Her husband. Soon. She couldn’t forget him. She loved him too much to forget.

But how could a mortal’s love and desire hold against the power of the gods?

And how could she even survive in this world? She didn’t see any food or water on their way through. And she wasn’t sure if she could even provide for herself once her stomach swelled. And Yutrin was gone.

She had been stupid to hope that the coward would help her.

She ignored the niggling memory of his tenderness the night before.

Mijung clenched her fists, tempted to curl into a ball, but she needed to find something to eat and drink before the dull ache in her stomach and the dryness in her throat really kicked in. She pushed the covers back.

The door swung open.

“We’re in luck, Mijung. There’s a river around two miles from here, and there’s a bunch of plants growing. I don’t see any sign of farm crops—it looks like the farms around here died a while ago—but the wild food seems fine.”

Mijung sat up, blinking in surprise as Yutrin walked in, carrying a giant basket of water strapped on his back (Mijung took a moment to marvel at the craftsmanship—the reeds were woven so tightly that not a drop escaped) and a dark leather pack of wild vegetables and fruit. He took the basket off without spilling anything, hands working with it with the autonomy that only came with experience, and he let the pack lightly plop to the ground. “It takes a while to walk there and back because of the glass and metal, but I saw a lot of abandoned houses—I found the basket and the bag in one of them—so maybe there’re more supplies we can use. Maybe shoes or sandals that won’t be shredded. Speaking of which, how are your feet and arm healing up? Any sign of infection?”

Mijung stared at him for a long while, noting that the burns on his ear, shoulders, hands, and arms were still there and looking quite raw. She also noted that he still wasn’t wearing a shirt.

He had come back.

“Mijung?”

Yutrin looked up curiously, ears drooping slightly, and he squirmed in place before kneeling down and reaching into the leather bag, carefully pulling out a pair of scorched used tongs, old cloth, and rocks. He tossed the rocks gently into the fire and placed the basket of water carefully on the ground. “Are you still angry?”

“You came back.”

Yutrin’s ears twitched in confusion and he pulled several olives from the bag, giving the majority to Mijung before nibbling on a few. “Of course.”

Mijung crossed her arms, frowning, and sat up comfortably on the bed, eating the olives one by one. “I’m a burden, though. Pretty soon, I won’t be able to contribute anything. You’ll have to provide for us both. It’s not likely you’ll be able to.”

“Give me some credit, Mijung.” The stones in the hearth started to glow, and Yutrin took the tongs and carefully picked two out, dropping them in the water basket and quickly putting the cloth over the top before the steam could escape. “I get scared a lot. I know that. It’s the reason I’ve been able to survive so long. But there’s a difference between self-preservation and just being a dirty coward.” He finished off his olives and pulled out a clean turnip, giving it to the woman on the bed. “Running away from a war party when you have no offensive spells prepared is self-preservation. Abandoning a pregnant woman in the middle of nowhere with no way to provide for or protect herself is just wrong.”

He carefully dropped two more red-hot stones in, keeping the cloth on the top, then pulled the cooled rocks out of the water and threw them in the hearth again. “I became a cleric because I want to help people. Helping people sometimes comes at a price.”

Mijung frowned at him as he slowly rose the temperature of the water, watching as it started to boil. Where did he learn how to do that?

“…I misjudged you, Yutrin. I’m sorry.”

Yutrin shrugged and smiled up at her, golden eyes shining in the scant light from outside. “Don’t worry, Mijung. Humans do it a lot with goblins. You want something to drink?”

“…Yes, please. That would be nice.”

Yutrin’s ears perked and he pulled two clay cups out of the leather bag and dipped them in the boiling water, letting them cool before giving one to Mijung. He took a sip, claws making tiny indentations on the cups. “…You know, I promise that I won’t abandon you, even if I’m scared. Even when you can’t walk around anymore, even when you’re giving birth, even when you’re nursing, even when you have a little girl or boy to take care of… I’m not going to leave.”

Mijung frowned, contemplating her water, then looked over at the goblin. “How do I know that you’re telling the truth?”

Yutrin shrugged, sipping quietly. “I came back today, didn’t I?”

“…” Mijung finished her water, then stood from the bed. “You did.” She ignored the pain in her feet, noting that it looked like they were healing up nicely, and made sure that the cloth wrap around them was thick. “You’re probably tired from tromping around all last night and this morning. Have some rest. I’ll explore for a bit.”

Yutrin straightened, looking as though he would protest.

“I promise I’ll be back soon. I need to take a walk, and I might as well try to be helpful while I can.” Mijung bent down and gave him a chaste kiss on the top of his head. Yutrin stiffened, his ears perking, the tips going pink and a blush coming to his cheeks. By the time he snapped out of his daze, she was gone.

It took him a while to realize that that had been her way of apologizing.

---

“Mother would tell me I was a pretty girl
Then she would cry all night
Nobody thinks that really they’re being cruel
When they suggest that I should try to look like them
As if God loved the pretty ones best.”

Mijung looked up curiously, listening hard, but the music was being carried by the wind. She hesitantly followed it, hoping against hope that there were more sapient beings aside from those thrice-damned gods. She carefully avoided stepping on any of the glass or metal, walking towards a giant columned building that looked like it had once been grand.

She walked up the steps and slipped past the columns, coming to what looked to be an old courtyard. She noted with relief that it didn’t have the glass and metal of the outside. Dying vines clung to the columns, drooping sadly, and the last vestiges of bushes and flowers had turned to nothing but brown, crackly brambles on equally brown grass. The fountain at the center had mucky green water, moss happily growing inside and floating on top of it, and there were three stone women holding pots, presumably what used to let the water flow. The women had a few things missing—a nose here, an arm there—and vines curled around them. Stone chunks littered the ground; they looked as though they were parts of other statues that had been broken over the years. Some of their remnants remained intact. Mijung crouched down and picked up an open stone hand, admiring the craftsmanship. If it hadn’t been stone, she would have thought it was an actual hand.

Mijung straightened, looking around for some sign of more to the building. Past the fountain, there was a big wooden door with scratches all over it. She walked towards it, then pulled it open slowly, careful to listen for any sign of the ancient thing falling down on her. It held fast to its hinges and allowed her into the building.

The woman stepped inside, the door closing behind her, and gasped.

A complex mosaic, still intact after gods-knew how long, was fixed on the ceiling, spilling out over the walls and completed on the floor. It felt like she was in the sky. The floor was clouds, gods and goddesses she couldn’t name all sitting upon their thrones and looking down lovingly below, and a parting in the cloud showed her the earth, but the mountains, trees, rivers, and oceans made a body, a face, a smile, a woman that seemed to breathe, even despite the fact she was only a design. Mijung looked up, and past the clouds, she saw the night sky, men and women made of stars so vivid that they glowed running across the ceiling. She could see the stars, men, and women joining in a greater picture, the picture of a man, greater than any of the gods on the clouds or any mortal on the earth woman. This was the true power of this world, and it was all Mijung could do to not fall to her knees in awe and worship.

After the initial wonder wore off, Mijung took a moment to mentally praise the artists. This was amazing craftsmanship.

She took a moment to examine the actual room. In the middle of one of the oceans, there was a giant basin with several big faucets on the edge; a mosaic of merpeople swimming through with fish in coral reef with a waterfall leading into it across the inner walls. It was a giant public bath.

Mijung tentatively fingered one of the great faucets, then squeezed, turning.

The pipes rumbled and Mijung jumped away, wondering if she had just broken something.

Water splashed into the bath, a cloud of steam rising and leaving droplets of moisture on the mosaics. Mijung shivered, goose bumps rising on her skin. It was so warm, and the water looked clean…

She undid the red ribbon holding her garments together, and her kimono slipped from her shoulders, falling in a bundle on the ground. A tremor ran through her body. She hadn’t taken off her clothes since she had left the other world. That had been months ago. Years? She didn’t know. Either way, she hadn’t realized how much she needed a bath. And clean clothes.

If this used to be a public bath, then there may be things that were still able to be worn.

Mijung slowly unclasped her bra and pulled down her underwear, trembling. She wanted Soon’s touch. She wanted his breath against her ear. She wanted his arms around her waist, her bare chest pressed against her back. She wanted to feel his heartbeat. She wanted him to kiss her and tell her that they would never be apart again.

She missed him.

Mijung watched as the basin filled to the edge, but it seemed to be draining at a rate where the faucet could stay on and the water wouldn’t overflow.

She tentatively slipped in, and warmth leaked into her bones, soothing out tension that had knotted itself in her muscles. The water shouldn’t be hot or clean. Unless the people who had been here before had made revolutionary discoveries in science, by the looks of things, the pipes shouldn’t even work, let alone transport clean, hot water.

But seeing everything else, Mijung wouldn’t put such a series of discoveries past these ghosts.

She swam in the bath, letting the collected filth float off, and she felt along the edges playfully, finding a little niche. Curiously, she slipped her fingernails in and flicked, revealing a hidden compartment filled with leaf-thin palm-sized flecks of soap.

She hesitantly took one, running it over her body, and it scrubbed off the accumulated impurities, then rubbed the dead skin off without pause, making her red and raw. She ran it through her hair, forcing out the grime, and the soap flake resolutely stayed unworn. She took her time cleaning, then pulled her clothes from the side of the tub, starting to scrub them underwater.

Mijung didn’t know how long she washed in the bath. After a while, she slowly crawled out and turned the water off, allowing it to drain. She would have to tell Yutrin about this place. He would probably like someplace to bathe and a source of water that wasn’t a couple miles away over glass-covered land.

And she’d have to check the drainage system to see if she could stop it up the next time she bathed. They should conserve all the water they had available. And she would need to check the pipes—anything that was still in working order could imply that there were either still people here or that the situation wasn’t as hopeless as she had thought.

Mijung squeezed the excess moisture out of her clothes, laying them carefully over the faucets to dry. She stood slowly and stretched before walking around the stunning walls and feeling them, finding a door the same way she found the soap compartment. She made it swing open, taking a chunk out of the sky and a giant freakishly muscled man with a lion pelt for clothes, and stepped into the next room.

It felt cold next to the wonderfully warm and steamed up bath. Mijung shivered, squinting in the room, but she couldn’t really see much. Little light flowed in.

She raised her hand to cast Light, then she lowered it again, scowling. She missed being able to use magic.

Maybe those gods would make themselves useful and give her and Yutrin their magic back. If they were able to magically break the language barrier, than giving the ability to prepare and cast spells couldn’t be that difficult.

She slipped into the dark room, waiting for her eyes to adjust. She could vaguely make out a mosaic decorating the walls, ceiling, and floor, but the light was too bad for her to make it all out. That was a pity.

She’d come back later when the sun was in a better position to see the pictures.

There were rows of benches, clothes draped across them. She couldn’t identify some of the clothing—obviously, the society that created this place had different designs for clothes than Mijung was used to—but if it was clean and didn’t reveal anything, she was happy.

She stepped through the rows of benches, sorting through the clothes. She picked up something that strongly resembled a bra and quietly thanked the Twelve Gods for inter-dimensional womanly needs before slipping it on.

That was odd. It offered much more comfort and support than the ones she usually wore, and it fit despite the fact she had just randomly picked it up. Another good mark for the people who made this society.

She hesitated before picking up a pair of underwear, checking to see it was clean before pulling it on. She didn’t really have a choice of whether or not to use clothes that used to belong to someone else.

She picked up a thin article of clothing that looked like it was a cross between a dress, a shirt, and a robe.

Mijung pulled it on, getting the oddest sense of wearing something made of mist or quicksilver. It rolled across her skin, settling against her as though it had always been there. The sleeves were big and loose, making her feel a little as though she were wearing a ceremonial robe, but it offered a lot more freedom of movement than the kimonos she had had to wear for the rituals her father had made her attend as a child of nobility. The robe/shirt/dress went down to her knees, allowing for easy movement of her legs, and the neck dipped a little more than she was used to, but not so much that she wasn’t willing to wear it around Yutrin.

Most importantly, it was all dry and clean.

She collected a bunch of different clothing, some for herself and some for Yutrin, and folded it on her arm, taking only a moment to wrap up her feet with more clean cloth.

She grabbed her own wet clothes before she stepped back into the courtyard, taking one last moment to stare at the partially intact statues of frightened men and women and raging warriors, then she down the front steps, walking back towards where she came from. She had been gone for a while. Yutrin would get worried.

Mijung had forgotten the singing that had drawn her there in the first place.

Someone watched her from behind the columns, low hum deep in its throat and weapons at the ready to strike and kill. Mijung left without the person moving once.

“Damn ‘em all - I create my own perfection
Damn ‘em all in the face of their rejection
Damn ‘em all - well this dog will have its day…”

The person turned away, still singing softly, and went into the building, fingers scraping against the mosaics.

“My garden’s full of pretty men who couldn’t stay away.”

---

“A public bath? Really?”

Mijung smiled, letting her wet clothes rest on the windowsill to dry and folding up the clothes she had brought back, letting Yutrin take what he needed and turning away for him to change. “Yeah. And the architecture and art in it are amazing. I’ll show it to you tomorrow once the sun comes back up.”

“And the pipes were still working?”

The woman nodded, running her hands through her hair, and the fire crackled merrily in the background, sunset colors only just reaching the window.

“That’s weird. If this place is abandoned, water shouldn’t be running. Did you drink any of it?”

“Of course not.”

Mijung turned around again, seeing that Yutrin had changed, and luckily, he was wearing a shirt. Mijung couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable with him shirtless without her husband around.

Yutrin nodded, and they both sat down on the edge of the bed, the fire warm and deep. “Good. I’ll go, but I think that we should fashion weapons. If there’s water and food, then there’s life. And life can be a predator or prey for us. I get nervous.”

“I’m not fooling myself over what the dangers could be, believe me.” Mijung sighed softly. “Just don’t spook, okay? Even if you’re scared, try to stay rational.”

Had Mijung said this to any human she knew, they would have been indignant. Yutrin only shook his head. “Mijung, I’ve lived my whole life in fear. I know how to think when I’m scared.”

He hesitated, ears twitching questioningly, and somehow, she got the sense that he was asking if she wanted him to sleep on the floor or if she was willing to extend invitation for the bed again.

Mijung lay down, going under the covers. “Come on, Yutrin. Get comfortable. We’re going to need to figure out how we’re going to live here tomorrow.”

The goblin’s ears perked and he crawled in the bed with her, careful to not touch her, but exuding a warmth that made Mijung almost comfortable with the whole arrangement. But Soon would have undoubtedly murdered Yutrin on the spot for sharing her bed had he been there, and maybe even be angry at her for willingly working so closely with an Evil creature, with the enemy. He was still a goblin. He was still Evil. And she was still sleeping in the same bed as him.

Mijung reminded herself that this was necessary and that she was not betraying her husband.

Nonetheless, she scooted a little further away from Yutrin to keep from accidentally touching him over the night.

She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Thoughts?

(The song's Medusa by Heather Dale.)

And, in honor of Valentine's/Singles Awareness Day, I'm going to make a fluffy one-shot of any couple I have already written about. Anyone can submit a request and I'll pick one to write.

Happy Valentine's/Singles Awareness. :)

[Zanaril]

I'm not planning on doing anything stupid. I love my family and friends too much to make them go through that. You don't need to worry. :)

I was still worried about you being upset.

Due to the fact I was under for several pages, I'm not replying to everything. I'm verbose as it is and I don't want this post to be a mile long when I just want to sleep and recuperate.

Not that much has happened; a brief alignment discussion, one or two short fics, a few pictures. A lot of messing around...

We don't really have in-depth discussions when you're not around to motivate us.

And I have a PotG update. It isn't very good quality, but I read it through and I revised it, so I can't see much else to do.

Thoughts?

Lengthening the moon cycles. Brilliant. I'm glad that didn't get left unresolved, and that some of the gods are rational.

Is Mijung starting to be attracted to Yutrin? Maybe? Slightly? D'awww.

At least it seems surviving won't be quite as difficult as they feared.

And, in honor of Valentine's/Singles Awareness Day, I'm going to make a fluffy one-shot of any couple I have already written about. Anyone can submit a request and I'll pick one to write.

Well my first choice would be V/Reddy, obviously. Although if you count V/Aandy as a couple...

Mijung/Yutrin promises to be fluffy enough as it is (the pairing itself, not the actual setting or story).

And I'm having trouble imagining how any of the other hinted or discussed couples such as Deirdre/Xykon could ever be fluffy.

[Reynard]

Hmm... could you do something like the Last Stand of the eastern gods? Like, hades and Persephone with bows fighting valiantly against the snarl, holding hands or kissing or something?

Only thing i can think of.

Well, the snarl turned out horrible, but here it is. I don't really see how it's a crack pairing, but whatever.

Warning: Large.

Spoiler

Show

[Lix Lorn]

(Hugs) Everyone WILL be ok. As i command, so shall it be. (nodnod)

V/Aandy! Or DeirdreZykon! Just cause it'd be funny to have fluff for it. XD

I'm gonna read it, but not tonight. DXD Cause i'd have to go back and find it all. :/