It was a normal day as far as Beryl was concerned. The books at the shop had balanced properly, their employees were happy, and she was coming home with fried chicken because people had a craving. "Hey, chicken delivery has a...rrived?" she let the door swing shut behind her and blinked. Sure, the Gods they knew were social and chatty. They liked to stop by. She didn't expect to come home to Gunnora at the table with a cup of tea and the shadowy hint of Mattil behind her. No one in the house followed HIM after all...
She set the chicken on the table and nodded, "Lady, Lord."
The Gods nodded back, only Gunnora's greeting audible. She glanced at Nat who seemed relaxed then poked her head down the hall to listen to the sounds from Nikazi's room. It was apparently retro cartoon night down there. Good. "To...what do we owe the pleasure?" she mused, pulling down plates so everyone could have chicken.
Serving Gods KFC. Heh. Her life was so weird some days!
"Babe it's about Niki..." Nat admitted.
She froze a moment, only Ayunna easing out of the pantry with a soda let her start breathing again. "What's wrong with our baby?"
"Nothing," Gunnora assured with a sad smile. "She is a darling child."
"My brother," Ayunna snorted, "likes his friend."
She passed a biscuit to her own patron then cocked an eyebrow?
Gunnora nodded, offering honey for the biscuits, "aye, as children do, they share with their friends."
She was too tense to eat at a comment like that, instead leaning against Nat's back, "so...?"
"So we thought we shouldst warn of..."
Ayunna rolled her eyes, "it's not a problem. It is just that he shares his 'room' with your child, and too long in our realm can have consequences."
"Consequences," she repeated flatly. "For playing in each other's rooms."
"Aye," Gunnora sighed, glancing at her daughter. "Our realm, as you have visited, may...seep into a person? Your child is, for lack of a better term, human? So she might develop some oddities playing too long there."
"Oddities," she repeated, feeling like a parrot.
"He's her best friend!" Nat blinked, "that can't be a bad thing!"
"No," Gunnora agreed. "Such a connection, growing with peers is healthy. It is just your child may become something closer to us, a demichild, than you after too long?"
"...a demigod. By exposure," Beryl blinked. "For playing."
"Yes," Gunnora nodded. "Precisely. Of what who is to know? Children are ever fonts of growth and change..."
Beryl kissed the top of Nat's head, considering that, "okay, so what does that mean for us?"
Gunnora blinked, glancing at her husband behind her. Ayunna just chuckled, "it just means you need a blessing to keep your child from effecting you, that's all. Parents shouldn't be influenced by their child's power. Mother just gets...worried about saying such."
Beryl chuckled, nodding to her goddess, "thank you for being clear. Should we be worried she'll cause any issue with other children?"
Gunnora sighed, "we will also seal her...slightly, it will fade as she grows? Teach her well and cherish her. The kinder her childhood the less likely she will manipulate others? I do not foresee Nikazi and our son not being friends and it is cruel to prevent them from seeing each other."
Beryl nodded, "yeah, the twins have each other, Nikazi has her best friend. I don't want to disrupt that."
Nat nodded, "it's important to have bonds."
She smiled down at her husband and nodded, "exactly. So. We get an extra special kid. We knew that already."
Gunnora laughed, passing her husband a plate as he faded away. It was hard to stay when there were no followers to anchor him! But it had been a solidarity thing..."indeed. Usually it takes far longer for any like us to invite others to our realms, but our son is precocious."
"And Niki is Niki," Beryl smirked. "We'll nurture her either way."
"That was what I wished to hear," Gunnora admitted easily.
Ayunna laughed, biting into a chicken leg, "I'm a little jealous. People were sparse when I was young, no one to drag home and play with." She said it teasingly though?
"People mayhap," Gunnora agreed, "but I'll not forget the hunting hounds you brought at every chance..."
"Trust me it's going to be great!" Niki grinned, holding her arms out and staring at the Irias. "Just glue!"
"...to skin. You are so lucky uncle JC gave us spirit glue!" Iri laughed. "Really, 'cause Elmer's wouldn't have cut it!"
Niki laughed, "I know, just keep it up! We only have like two hours until the boys come!" And then the trick or treating started!
"You're going to freeze," Irias snorted, laying another line of plastic, copper scales along her friend's arm.
Ehhh, "nah, I'll just keep moving a lot! That's why there was glue, so I don't shed stuff every time we stop!"
Iri rolled her eyes, "you're lucky my costume is simple this year. Do your parents know what you're wearing tonight?" Or not wearing really?
Very not wearing. Niki had a long, golden silk sash knotted across their hips and that was...all. There was copper glitter in their hair and darker copper paint on. Add scales, well, the world was lucky Niki was only a kid. "I told them I needed the glitter and paint? I mean you and Kir are doing a pair outfit, only makes sense Bantii and I do too!"
"But why..."
"He got a Pungi to play with!"
What? Iri paused, looking up, "what the heck is that?"
"A snake charmer's flute! So I'm a snake!" Made sense to her!
Iri chuckled and finished her friend's arm, then the chest up to neck and circling the face. "My dad likes to say we exist to give him heart attacks, but your parents are really going to flip."
"Naaahhhh. I'm totally covered!" In paint, plastic, and silk but hey. It was absolutely okay since they had adult escorts tonight right? Right! No one creepy was going to get through the shifter and fighter wall! And if they did auntie Khem would put them to sleep! "And wiggly!"
"Yeah yeah," Iri snorted, nodding and turning her friend toward the mirror, "you do final touches while I get dressed!" She and her twin were going as The Shining twins (she won the coin toss and Kir got to wear a dress).
"If you need help call me! I can tie your dress laces or something!" Niki grinned. "Tonight's going to be fun!" Test wiggling in front the mirror? Absolutely. Luckily the scales stayed put! Bonus!
"Hey, Uncle Asher and JC might come with us, bet they dress up too!"
"Duh, they live fancy!" Niki giggled. Oh, right, last touch, some plastic snake fangs! Which were...plastic vampire fangs with the bottom two points cut off but hey! Halloween was all about improvising!
Niki had grown up with a charm on them, they knew that. Gunnora had laid it with their parents blessing very early. It kept them from influencing the world too much by accident. That was cool honestly, knowing your SKILLS were the reason you were getting applause was best!
It faded over the years though, as it was supposed to, and that meant Niki had to be more involved in controlling themself. It was...always an interesting thing before shows or even improv classes to decide how much or little of that warm, flowing ability they let shine shine through in a performance. Likewise Bantii didn't outright play people's souls like instruments, they were both very restrained! Honest!
But, well, they did like splurging on dates.
Most dates started with an early afternoon at the park. Whatever they made busking at the park was their budget for that evening out! And sure they had a curfew (home by midnight or a very good reason why), they had done any number of things by scooping up a hat full of cash after a performance on the sidewalk and gleefully debating resturants or tours and the like.
Today was no different. Today Niki wore swishy sillks and Bantii plucked an enchanting tune from an instrument that probably didn't exist on earth and...regulars say them. They had a following, how not? If they showed up in the park they'd see repeat faces most days honestly. Since they performed for joy and sharing that was all well and good!
Today the hat was heavy and some higher denomination bills were showing as Niki scopped it up, turning to show it off before there was stinging at their neck. They brushed it off in annoyance but by the time they had headed toward the public restrooms Niki was feeling woozy and stumbling, which was when a regular stepped out of a shadowed area to press a knife against their throat. "Stay calm boy, inject yourself or the dancer drops," a rough voice commanded.
Bantii froze, barely managing to catch the tossed syringe as he was far too focused on the slight drop of blood forming on Niki's throat. "Okay, okay..." he soothed, swallowing as he stuck the needle in his leg. "Don't separate us...please..."
The man laughed, "no, you're too pretty a pair. Someone wants a songbird and a dancer set, you're lucky, top dollar." That meant careful treatment. Nice sleepy drugs, which Niki got another shot of after Bantii was folding to the ground, and padded cuffs when Niki blinked awake in the back of the van. A slow scan showed several men, darkness through the front windshield, and an awful taste in the back of their mouth. Ew.
Bantii was out cold though, heavy and hot against their silk wrapped shoulder, that meant it was up to them to keep them safe for now. They eased out from under Bantii, movement was necessary, even though their hands were cuffed behind them and ankles tied...they had been charmed since young.
They weren't young now.
Niki hissed softly to draw attention, then started moving, pulling on actual Power, deliberately, for the first time. Look. Watch.
SEE ME.
A writhing, slow, snakelike undulation bound as they were, but snakes, oh snakes hypnotized their prey. And these weren't people in the van, no, these were valid targets. Growing up in the Circus had left a mark after all. The van bumped to a slow stop somewhere, who cared where? And seven sets of eyes turned to watch...and couldn't look away.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
An hour, with their joints starting to scream and stamina flagging, Bantii stirred and woke with a jerk. Enemy territory, reeking of the Left Hand, he sat up and licked dry lips as he looked at the group then reached up to pull Niki against his chest, cuffed hands lifting to cover the ear not buried against his rib cage. This wasn't for Niki.
No, this song was never for Niki.
The men were freed, briefly, when Niki stopped moving but then Bantii opened his mouth and sang. Not rage,not anger, no, he sang Sorrow. Bitter, unending loss and the grief of parents who lost their families, children who suffered under invaders. The death of crops in the field and starvation looming for a whole people. Dripping, poisonous Grief. He didn't falter in the least when the first man sobbed and turned his gun on himself. The staccato reverberations just made the song more poignant.
Sharper.
None were spared.
Niki lifted their head when Bantii relaxed, and then reached to fish through pockets for cuff keys and a phone. "Call..."
"My parents?" Bantii drawled, coughing, throat still dry but...
"No, gods no. Not mine either dad will never, ever forgive himself. Call Uncle Asher? He'll know how to say things to Dad..." Niki hoped anyway. "And what to do with...this." Van full of bodies, bullet holes, and blood...
Bantii nodded, dialing that number by heart, "this date sucks, sorry."
Niki laughed at that, a sharp, high sound, "no, I like dangerous us too I promise," they admitted, kissing his cheek.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
roughcutgem) wrote2024-06-15 10:53 pm
So....
She set the chicken on the table and nodded, "Lady, Lord."
The Gods nodded back, only Gunnora's greeting audible. She glanced at Nat who seemed relaxed then poked her head down the hall to listen to the sounds from Nikazi's room. It was apparently retro cartoon night down there. Good. "To...what do we owe the pleasure?" she mused, pulling down plates so everyone could have chicken.
Serving Gods KFC. Heh. Her life was so weird some days!
"Babe it's about Niki..." Nat admitted.
She froze a moment, only Ayunna easing out of the pantry with a soda let her start breathing again. "What's wrong with our baby?"
"Nothing," Gunnora assured with a sad smile. "She is a darling child."
"My brother," Ayunna snorted, "likes his friend."
She passed a biscuit to her own patron then cocked an eyebrow?
Gunnora nodded, offering honey for the biscuits, "aye, as children do, they share with their friends."
She was too tense to eat at a comment like that, instead leaning against Nat's back, "so...?"
"So we thought we shouldst warn of..."
Ayunna rolled her eyes, "it's not a problem. It is just that he shares his 'room' with your child, and too long in our realm can have consequences."
"Consequences," she repeated flatly. "For playing in each other's rooms."
"Aye," Gunnora sighed, glancing at her daughter. "Our realm, as you have visited, may...seep into a person? Your child is, for lack of a better term, human? So she might develop some oddities playing too long there."
"Oddities," she repeated, feeling like a parrot.
"He's her best friend!" Nat blinked, "that can't be a bad thing!"
"No," Gunnora agreed. "Such a connection, growing with peers is healthy. It is just your child may become something closer to us, a demichild, than you after too long?"
"...a demigod. By exposure," Beryl blinked. "For playing."
"Yes," Gunnora nodded. "Precisely. Of what who is to know? Children are ever fonts of growth and change..."
Beryl kissed the top of Nat's head, considering that, "okay, so what does that mean for us?"
Gunnora blinked, glancing at her husband behind her. Ayunna just chuckled, "it just means you need a blessing to keep your child from effecting you, that's all. Parents shouldn't be influenced by their child's power. Mother just gets...worried about saying such."
Beryl chuckled, nodding to her goddess, "thank you for being clear. Should we be worried she'll cause any issue with other children?"
Gunnora sighed, "we will also seal her...slightly, it will fade as she grows? Teach her well and cherish her. The kinder her childhood the less likely she will manipulate others? I do not foresee Nikazi and our son not being friends and it is cruel to prevent them from seeing each other."
Beryl nodded, "yeah, the twins have each other, Nikazi has her best friend. I don't want to disrupt that."
Nat nodded, "it's important to have bonds."
She smiled down at her husband and nodded, "exactly. So. We get an extra special kid. We knew that already."
Gunnora laughed, passing her husband a plate as he faded away. It was hard to stay when there were no followers to anchor him! But it had been a solidarity thing..."indeed. Usually it takes far longer for any like us to invite others to our realms, but our son is precocious."
"And Niki is Niki," Beryl smirked. "We'll nurture her either way."
"That was what I wished to hear," Gunnora admitted easily.
Ayunna laughed, biting into a chicken leg, "I'm a little jealous. People were sparse when I was young, no one to drag home and play with." She said it teasingly though?
"People mayhap," Gunnora agreed, "but I'll not forget the hunting hounds you brought at every chance..."
"They're my good pups!"
Beryl chuckled, "I'll take a plate to the kids."
Halloween
"...to skin. You are so lucky uncle JC gave us spirit glue!" Iri laughed. "Really, 'cause Elmer's wouldn't have cut it!"
Niki laughed, "I know, just keep it up! We only have like two hours until the boys come!" And then the trick or treating started!
"You're going to freeze," Irias snorted, laying another line of plastic, copper scales along her friend's arm.
Ehhh, "nah, I'll just keep moving a lot! That's why there was glue, so I don't shed stuff every time we stop!"
Iri rolled her eyes, "you're lucky my costume is simple this year. Do your parents know what you're wearing tonight?" Or not wearing really?
Very not wearing. Niki had a long, golden silk sash knotted across their hips and that was...all. There was copper glitter in their hair and darker copper paint on. Add scales, well, the world was lucky Niki was only a kid. "I told them I needed the glitter and paint? I mean you and Kir are doing a pair outfit, only makes sense Bantii and I do too!"
"But why..."
"He got a Pungi to play with!"
What? Iri paused, looking up, "what the heck is that?"
"A snake charmer's flute! So I'm a snake!" Made sense to her!
Iri chuckled and finished her friend's arm, then the chest up to neck and circling the face. "My dad likes to say we exist to give him heart attacks, but your parents are really going to flip."
"Naaahhhh. I'm totally covered!" In paint, plastic, and silk but hey. It was absolutely okay since they had adult escorts tonight right? Right! No one creepy was going to get through the shifter and fighter wall! And if they did auntie Khem would put them to sleep! "And wiggly!"
"Yeah yeah," Iri snorted, nodding and turning her friend toward the mirror, "you do final touches while I get dressed!" She and her twin were going as The Shining twins (she won the coin toss and Kir got to wear a dress).
"If you need help call me! I can tie your dress laces or something!" Niki grinned. "Tonight's going to be fun!" Test wiggling in front the mirror? Absolutely. Luckily the scales stayed put! Bonus!
"Hey, Uncle Asher and JC might come with us, bet they dress up too!"
"Duh, they live fancy!" Niki giggled. Oh, right, last touch, some plastic snake fangs! Which were...plastic vampire fangs with the bottom two points cut off but hey! Halloween was all about improvising!
Oh that was a bad idea
It faded over the years though, as it was supposed to, and that meant Niki had to be more involved in controlling themself. It was...always an interesting thing before shows or even improv classes to decide how much or little of that warm, flowing ability they let shine shine through in a performance. Likewise Bantii didn't outright play people's souls like instruments, they were both very restrained! Honest!
But, well, they did like splurging on dates.
Most dates started with an early afternoon at the park. Whatever they made busking at the park was their budget for that evening out! And sure they had a curfew (home by midnight or a very good reason why), they had done any number of things by scooping up a hat full of cash after a performance on the sidewalk and gleefully debating resturants or tours and the like.
Today was no different. Today Niki wore swishy sillks and Bantii plucked an enchanting tune from an instrument that probably didn't exist on earth and...regulars say them. They had a following, how not? If they showed up in the park they'd see repeat faces most days honestly. Since they performed for joy and sharing that was all well and good!
Today the hat was heavy and some higher denomination bills were showing as Niki scopped it up, turning to show it off before there was stinging at their neck. They brushed it off in annoyance but by the time they had headed toward the public restrooms Niki was feeling woozy and stumbling, which was when a regular stepped out of a shadowed area to press a knife against their throat. "Stay calm boy, inject yourself or the dancer drops," a rough voice commanded.
Bantii froze, barely managing to catch the tossed syringe as he was far too focused on the slight drop of blood forming on Niki's throat. "Okay, okay..." he soothed, swallowing as he stuck the needle in his leg. "Don't separate us...please..."
The man laughed, "no, you're too pretty a pair. Someone wants a songbird and a dancer set, you're lucky, top dollar." That meant careful treatment. Nice sleepy drugs, which Niki got another shot of after Bantii was folding to the ground, and padded cuffs when Niki blinked awake in the back of the van. A slow scan showed several men, darkness through the front windshield, and an awful taste in the back of their mouth. Ew.
Bantii was out cold though, heavy and hot against their silk wrapped shoulder, that meant it was up to them to keep them safe for now. They eased out from under Bantii, movement was necessary, even though their hands were cuffed behind them and ankles tied...they had been charmed since young.
They weren't young now.
Niki hissed softly to draw attention, then started moving, pulling on actual Power, deliberately, for the first time. Look. Watch.
SEE ME.
A writhing, slow, snakelike undulation bound as they were, but snakes, oh snakes hypnotized their prey. And these weren't people in the van, no, these were valid targets. Growing up in the Circus had left a mark after all. The van bumped to a slow stop somewhere, who cared where? And seven sets of eyes turned to watch...and couldn't look away.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
An hour, with their joints starting to scream and stamina flagging, Bantii stirred and woke with a jerk. Enemy territory, reeking of the Left Hand, he sat up and licked dry lips as he looked at the group then reached up to pull Niki against his chest, cuffed hands lifting to cover the ear not buried against his rib cage. This wasn't for Niki.
No, this song was never for Niki.
The men were freed, briefly, when Niki stopped moving but then Bantii opened his mouth and sang. Not rage,not anger, no, he sang Sorrow. Bitter, unending loss and the grief of parents who lost their families, children who suffered under invaders. The death of crops in the field and starvation looming for a whole people. Dripping, poisonous Grief. He didn't falter in the least when the first man sobbed and turned his gun on himself. The staccato reverberations just made the song more poignant.
Sharper.
None were spared.
Niki lifted their head when Bantii relaxed, and then reached to fish through pockets for cuff keys and a phone. "Call..."
"My parents?" Bantii drawled, coughing, throat still dry but...
"No, gods no. Not mine either dad will never, ever forgive himself. Call Uncle Asher? He'll know how to say things to Dad..." Niki hoped anyway. "And what to do with...this." Van full of bodies, bullet holes, and blood...
Bantii nodded, dialing that number by heart, "this date sucks, sorry."
Niki laughed at that, a sharp, high sound, "no, I like dangerous us too I promise," they admitted, kissing his cheek.