These Frozen Souls

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

It was the third time that Helios Lumenox had asked his fiancé that particular question—and, as a result, it was the third time that Eros had given him the exact same exhaustedly affectionate look.

“I have an appointment with Doctor Amyas in half an hour, baby,” the siren chided softly, glancing away from Helios as he began to dry his hands with a worn-out dish towel, taking great care to rub any trace of moisture out from the joints of his prosthetic hand. “We need to make sure that my arm is drawing off of my magic properly so that we don’t have another incident—and, knowing how the last few appointments have gone, the museum is probably going to be closed by the time we’ve finished figuring out all of the issues.”

Helios hissed softly, averting his gaze abashedly, absently fiddling with his engagement ring all the while. “Right. Sorry.”

“Helios—”

The siren’s gentle, calloused hand landed upon his forearm, and, instantly, Helios’s gaze whipped up to meet that of his lover, his tail instinctively snaring around Eros’s ankle.

Eros flinched, startled, and recoiled away from Helios’s touch for just the slightest of instants—but, after quickly glancing down and immediately realizing that the object that had snagged his ankle was simply Helios’s tail, he returned his gaze to the naga, a wry, fondly amused smile quirking across his lips.

“You really want to show me the museum, huh?”

Helios flushed in return, glancing away from his fiancé embarrassedly. “I just miss having alone time with you,” he confessed, trying his best to resist the urge to tug Eros back into his embrace, knowing from experience that, if he did, they’d end up spending the entire day curled up in the lagoon fed by the temple’s spring—which the siren had declared to be his favorite spot within their home shortly after the late-June heat had forced them both to stay around the house.

While there was no arguing that weather had become completely and utterly miserable, the real issue was the temperature of the roads in town. It wasn’t an issue for Helios, himself, by any means—in years past, the relentless heat of the dry season had been the perfect excuse to lounge around for hours at the various basking parties hosted by the town council—but after Eros had burnt his feet to the point where, despite his supernatural healing abilities, he’d struggled to walk home, Helios had immediately drawn the line.

In the week or so before the shoes that he’d ordered for Eros came in, they’d spent the majority of their free time in the lagoon together—and, after having spent the following four and a half months joined at the hip even more closely than before, it had only become all the more difficult for Helios to drag himself away from his now-fiancé for even the most important of reasons.

Unfortunately, they’d spent the majority of the past two weeks all but entirely separated, due to their duties in responding to an outbreak of the Ruby Affliction, Unda’s infamous plague, in the heart of Dolus’s vast desert, in a large, bustling city known as Qualen—a task which was part of the yearly compulsory service that all Cannan citizens were required to undertake.

While they’d both been thrilled to realize that the local authorities had accepted Eros’s request for Cannan citizenship, it had still been a long, exhausting two weeks apart. The few moments that they’d been able to spend together had been frustratingly short—and, as a result, they’d both grown increasingly loath to leave the house during their last few days of service.

The day before had been their last official day apart, as their two-week service had come to a merciful end—but, as Eros had missed his last doctor’s visit on account of his duties in Dolus, they’d had to reschedule his appointment for the soonest available appointment slot—and, as a result, their plans to spend the entire day at one of the archaeological museums in the Dolus town had been thwarted.

Despite his best efforts to convince Eros that they could just spend the day at home together after the appointment, the siren had insisted that he take advantage of the opportunity to visit the museum while he could—but, even still, Helios couldn't bear the thought of leaving Eros behind for even just a few hours.

With a soft, mournful frown, Eros slipped forwards, gently taking one of Helios’s hands in his own.

“I miss it too, dumbass,” the siren groused, squeezing Helios’s fingers lightly. “I hate being away from you for so much of the day—but, the good news is that, after today, we don’t have to worry about any of that, anymore.”

Helios nodded bashfully, squeezing Eros’s hand in return. The siren smiled softly—and, then, he leant up onto his tiptoes, bracing himself against Helios’s forearm for support as he leant in and pressed a tiny, chaste kiss to the naga’s lips.

Helios’s face flushed all the more; still, he merely watched quietly as Eros stepped away, putting the dish towel away before returning his earnest gaze to the naga once again.

“I promise you, beautiful—tomorrow, we’re going to do whatever you want, okay?” Eros insisted, squeezing Helios’s hand for emphasis, his coffee-colored eye wide and flooded with adoration. “It’s been a long two weeks, and we both need a break.”

A soft, wobbly smile crept across Helios’s lips.

“Are you asking me on a date, handsome?” he asked hopefully, hesitantly, flicking at the siren’s knee with the tip of his tail—and Eros grinned.

“What else would it be, dumbass?” the siren remarked, mischief glimmering in his eye as he arched up onto his tiptoes once more, pressing himself as close to Helios as he could without physically bringing their bodies flush against each other—an act which sent a rush of adoration whirling through Helios’s chest, bringing his expression to crumple with soft, undeniable fondness.

“I love you, you dork,” he mumbled, his tail constricting around the siren’s ankle—and Eros’s gaze softened immediately, flooding with something overwhelmingly adoring in nature.

“I love you too, baby,” the siren murmured shyly, gently lowering himself back down off of the balls of his feet, squeezing Helios's hand once before letting go and stepping away just enough to look him in the eyes once more.

Warmth flushed through Helios’s cheeks, and he gingerly squeezed his lover’s ankle once more, still trying to smother the urge to wrap himself around the smaller man. As if he could read the naga’s mind, a slight smile quirked across the siren’s lips—and, with a slight flourish of his wrist, he poked the tip of Helios’s nose, then whirled around and over to other side of the kitchen, where Helios had left his satchel on the counter the night before.

With a soft, teasing smile, Eros plucked up the small leather bag, then peeked inside. His lips pursed ever so slightly as he rifled through the bag’s contents with his right hand, his brow furrowing in concentration—and Helios’s heart fluttered in response.

With each passing day, the siren only grew all the more enchanting, in every sense of the word—and it had gotten to such a point that it was hard for Helios to tear his eyes away from the other man.

In the time that they’d known each other, Eros’s hair had grown significantly longer, to the point that his soft black curls dusted the pale skin of his exposed collarbones. On account of their daily trips between Dolus’s scorching desert and their home in Canna’s lush rainforest, his hair had been a little frizzier than usual over the past few weeks—which only had made the siren’s nightly battles with his comb all the more amusing to witness, especially as said battles usually sparked an impromptu wrestling match over the offending comb, which, in turn, almost always ended in an extended cuddle session.

Still, it was impossible for Helios to pinpoint what, exactly, was more breathtaking—the softness that spread across Eros’s face at the end of the day when he finally sprawled out across the pillows in their room, his hair completely detangled and floating around his face like a sort of halo, or how the sharpness of the siren’s angular features was so starkly accentuated each and every time he pinned his hair up into a bun.

Even more breathtaking, however, was the way that Eros only seemed to grow more exuberant with each passing day.

While he hadn’t seemed particularly withdrawn before, the change was nonetheless striking. Nowadays, the siren didn’t hesitate to show him strangely smooth pieces of sea glass that he’d found, or to fling Arisaeman Man-o-War at him whenever they found the crystal-like jellyfish washed up on the beach, or to tackle him with a hug at the seemingly most random of moments, or to latch onto his arm when startled—all of which he’d done before, though fairly abashedly, as if he hadn’t known that he was allowed to…but then, of course, there was the talking.

Spirits above, he’d never even imagined that Eros could talk so much—but it was as if a sort of dam had finally burst within the other man. There was hardly a moment of silence between them, now, as one story bled into another, which inevitably led them both into talking and laughing until their throats were sore, at which point they usually turned to roughhousing or cuddling, instead.

It was exhilarating, seeing Eros so confident, so comfortable, so undeniably, radiantly happy——and, with every passing instant, Helios only found himself falling all the more in love with the siren.

“Helios, I need you to give me a little bit of room, okay?”

Helios blinked, startled—and, in an instant, he recoiled, realizing just how close he’d gotten to the siren. Eros was all but wedged between his body and the counter, and, as Helios retreated across the kitchen, his face flushing with embarrassment, the siren snorted softly and turned to rummage through one of the drawers in the counter behind him.

Helios dragged his tail in around himself, bashfully fiddling with his engagement ring—a gesture which was still strangely foreign to him, even after having spent the past two months wearing it incessantly.

He’d never really worn rings of any sort before, save for during the brief, humiliating period in high school during which he’d worn a fake nose ring because he’d been convinced that it made his lack of hair look cooler, which, in turn, was a result of a botched attempt to relax his hair and dye it a bright teal to match his younger cousin’s wings, as they’d been too self-conscious about the changes that they went through while shifting on their first day of middle school.

He knew that wearing rings was a common thing among most other races; his great-aunt, Thalia, had always been particularly fond of them, to such a degree that rarely a week went by without her losing one or two of them around the house, only for them to turn up a few months later, after they’d long since been forgotten. Yet, between his abnormal size (one of the many orcish traits that he’d inherited from his biological father), his more active lifestyle, and the predominantly Cannan traditions that his family observed, he had never even considered the possibility of exchanging wedding rings with Eros—and so he’d been completely caught off guard when Eros had shyly pressed the small object into his palm while they’d been stargazing.

Granted, that had mostly been because he’d spent weeks agonizing over the best way to propose to Eros, only to be completely stunned by the quiet way in which that the siren had murmured those small, incredible words, as if it had been no more out of place in their day than a trip to the lagoon—and while Eros’s quiet professions of love had been more than enough to turn him into a blubbering puddle of emotional mush for the rest of the evening, the delicate, hand-carved koa wood ring had been more than enough to make him break down crying once again.

Not that Eros had been in a more composed state, by any means—especially after Helios had given him his mother’s bracelet in return.

“Okay, found it.”

Helios glanced up at his fiancé, shaking himself out of his thoughts. “Huh?”

A soft, wry smile curled across Eros’s lips as he stepped over to the naga once more. “Your lip balm wasn’t in your bag, sunshine,” he explained softly, flashing the small, disc-like container at Helios before tucking it into his satchel and offering the bag to the naga. “I wanted to make sure that you had it, just to make sure that you don’t get blisters around your tusks again.”

A rush of affection burbled up in Helios’s chest, bringing a fond, dopey smile to curl across his lips as he gently took the satchel from Eros. He peeked down into the small bag, which contained his coin purse, his journal and pen, a small, enchanted water flask, a few hair ties, his passport, his keys, his transport crystal, and, of course, his strawberry-flavored lip balm—and then glanced back up at Eros, his smile only broadening all the more as he met his fiancé’s soft mocha eyes.

“You’re the best, handsome,” he insisted, squeezing the satchel insistently.

Eros grinned proudly in return, pressing his hands against the counter behind him to steady himself as he casually leant back, resting his weight against the countertop.

“You better tell me all about that museum when you get home, then,” the siren chided teasingly—and, for the umpteenth time that morning, soft, overwhelming affection surged through Helios’s chest, making him feel as if he’d completely and utterly melted inside.

“I promise.”

~~~~~~~~

While Qualen was, by far, Dolus’s largest oasis hub, it was by no means a paradise—not for Helios, at the very least.

Founded thousands of years ago, the city was hundreds of miles from the nearest body of water, and even further from any signs of life, other than the occasional cactus or lizard. The city itself had been carved into the face of a deep, circular canyon, which held the oasis at its center.

After having been abandoned for nearly four thousand years, the lush oasis had been rediscovered by archaeologists, and, before long, it had grown into a vital trading hub for the numerous smaller settlements throughout the desert. It was impossible to get to, unless one followed a rough trail through the rocky, arid desert, which passed through each and every desert settlement, connecting Dolus’s coast to its capitol by land—and, even then, such trips were typically only feasible using specialized pack animals that had long since adapted to Dolus’s variable climate.

Still, by most regards, the city was thriving. It was a haven for the arts and sciences, particularly those relating to history and archeology, but, due to a recent shipment of tainted food and the resulting outbreak of the Ruby Affliction, Alstroemeria’s infamously deadly magical plague, the town had gone into a sort of lockdown over the past several weeks.

While relations between Canna and Dolus were far from amicable, it wasn’t due to a lack of effort. For thousands of years, Dolarian tieflings had hunted naga for use in ceremonial recipes, and, for just as extensive a period of time, the Cannan government had been fighting tooth and nail in order to try and alter the grim state of their international relations with Dolus and its allies.

So far, no efforts to halt the periodic abductions (and subsequent murders) had been particularly successful, and, yet, the situation was dire enough that any and all failed attempts to appease the incredibly militant Dolarian government were a far better solution than simply waiting around until things got far worse.

The emergency response to the outbreak in Qualen was yet another one of Canna’s ”attempts”—and, though Helios knew it wouldn’t prompt any major changes in the diplomatic situation between Canna and Dolus, he’d known that it would likely be his one opportunity to travel to Dolus without having to worry about getting killed and eaten on sight.

In addition to his usual tail bands, he’d been issued a set of medallions, each engraved with the sigil of the Cannan monarchy, which marked him as a foreign official and, hopefully, not an acceptable meal. If that—and all other attempts to reason with the tieflings around him failed—he had an official passport on him, declaring his mixed ancestry, as well as three emergency teleport charms attached to his necklaces.

The magic in said charms was far from potent; they were really only meant to get him to the portal set up in Qualen’s city hall, which was, quite frankly, the only way that he could truly get to safety. He’d already had to use one of the charms, after he’d been caught outside after dark, exploring the ruins of the ancient city’s catacombs with Eros, and he wasn’t keen on using another any time soon.

Over the past two weeks, he’d carefully planned his trip to Qualen’s archeological museum, which was said to house one of the most extensive collections of ancient art in all the world—and, though he would have absolutely preferred to bring Eros with him to the museum, he couldn’t deny the fact that he was absolutely, overwhelmingly excited to spend the entire afternoon in the museum—if they even allowed him inside, of course.

Though the streets of Qualen were still fairly empty, on account of the lack of travellers passing through the town, the plague had all but abated, and so, as a result, the town had begun to bustle once more. Despite the oppressive heat of the cloudless November afternoon, there was a large cluster of tieflings gathered in the marketplace near the city center, which formed a large, crowded arc around the museum’s front entrance.

The city’s oasis was just a few blocks away, close to the hospital, where he and Eros worked together during the past two weeks, albeit in two separate wings of the building—and, though the thought of the cool, placid water was more than tempting, Helios wove through the bustling marketplace nonetheless, determined on seeing as much of the museum as he could.

Still, as he wove his way through the market, trying his best to avoid smacking anyone around him with his tail, a small, colorful stall at the other side of the plaza caught his eye, as well an unfamiliar tiefling woman approaching the vendor—and, against his better judgment, Helios turned away from the museum entrance and propelled himself across the plaza as quickly as his tail allowed him to.

Miron’s Miraculous Miracles was arguably the most frustrating market stall that Helios had ever had the displeasure of dealing with, for more reasons than one. While the candy itself by no means lived up to the store’s overly redundant name (as it came in only three flavors, which all tasted as if they’d been made with sewer water), it was Miron, himself, who was the real problem, as Helios had discovered when he’d first visited the store with Eros roughly a week ago.

The smarmy, eccentric tiefling salesman had no sense of respect, tact, or basic courtesy whatsoever, and seemed to be incapable of shutting up—which had made their brief stop at the candy stall into a two-hour ordeal, during which he’d had to restrain Eros from bludgeoning the man to death more than once.

Unfortunately, however, he was more than willing to chase down recent customers if he saw them on the other side of the market—which made avoiding him for any length of time all but impossible.

“—I do say, however: have you ever considered taking a more civilized approach to your appearance, maybe try appearing less slovenly in public—”

With a sudden burst of speed, Helios surged forwards, nearly knocking over Miron’s newest victim in his rush to wedge himself between her and the salesman—and nearly tumbling over, himself, in the process.

Luckily, he managed to catch himself on Miron’s display table, positioning himself so he was nearly lounging on the flimsy wooden frame. He flashed Miron a smarmy, shit-eating grin, and then lazily propped himself up, making sure to take as much time as he could, so that Miron absolutely knew that he was here to cause trouble.

“What—”

“Miron,” Helios drawled, cutting off the salesman and reeling backwards to sling his arm around the shoulders of the tiefling woman behind him. “You remember my buddy, yeah?”

The salesman wrinkled his nose. “I hardly—”

“Great, great,” Helios interrupted, praying that his thick West Common accent was as obnoxious as possible in that moment, and bringing the end of his tail up to tap Miron’s table with it. “Then you remember what I told you about her, yeah?”

“You’ve never—”

“Ah, my mistake,” Helios declared, letting out a loud bark of bright, mirthless laughter, even as he forced a broad, ever-so-slightly threatening smile across his face. “You must have forgotten again, old age and all.”

Miron’s face twisted with rage. ”Excuse—"

Helios let his arm fall from around the woman’s shoulders, turning to face her with an exasperated grin. “Hey, could you just remind this jackass why it isn’t a great idea for him to be talking to strangers?”

I swear, if anyone, and I mean anyone, makes one more gods damned joke about cat and dog best friends, I am going to commit a felony. Maybe felony murder. Who knows? Fire's fun and hamster's looking for a new haircut. All works out!

Birdy was currently in his werewolf shape, chilling next to me and reading the book I got him. His orange and black pelt immediately reminded me of a maned wolf—and guess what! It's not a wolf! Or a dog! It's its own funky critter and a cat and dog best friend joke has no base! 'Cause he's not a dog!! His eyes were still blue though. Kinda creepy. Super icy pale against that vivid ass orange? Like, dude, stop.

"Are you two going to anything productive today, at all," Blu huffed at us.

Bitch you ain't doing anything either! And it's rest time for Birdy! His werewolf shape gets activated by stress, he's a werewolf right now, hence, he's stressed and you need to lay off! I looked up from the dirt to growl at her. We were just outside of Dolus, now. Trying to get ourselves together before entering the kingdom. Well, actually, like, we're already in it, we just need to pass through the checkpoint.

"Gods, you put an angry fucking cat and this gentle giant of a dog together and suddenly their combined productivity plummets to zero!"

"My combined productivity can still beat the shit out of ya," I said, grinning. "Especially if ya don't lay the fuck off, pissant."

Blu started yelling at that point. I wasn't listening though. She can just huff and puff all the way to Canna for all I care! Anyways, it's not like she's the one entering a city where if you get recognized shit will go to the demons. Like, really, really, fast. There’s really good food though, so maybe it’s worth it? There's these super cute, and tasty! Like, puff pastries they make? With little fruit pieces and syrup drizzled over it in the shape of a naga! Oh! Oh and stew with naga tail, and, and! Shit, forgot.

Anywho, Blu has papers showing she's from Tricitum, so I guess she's good. And I don't think she's got any sort of criminal stuff on record? Probably good. Birdy's fine I'm pretty sure? Last time I was there I can't recall anything against elves or werewolves? His only thing on record is that one little incident that got him in the jail with me! Sharing a book or something? Something like that? Dunno, but he'll be fine I'm sure. I started dragging my claw through the dirt, drawing some haphazard thing. And! And I know he's got his paperwork on him, some is handwritten but it's there so he's good!

Birdy noticed me drawing, ears poking up atop his head. He set his book down and leaned towards me. I kept drawing. Yeah, just there, a extra line, maybe a rocky line. One, two, three, gotta fix the perspective damnit, four. I jumped down from my seat on the rock to get closer. Birdy made some comment to hamster, seemed to calm her down? Said something about checking on the horses by the checkpoint I guess.

Add a road there... "done!" I chipped proudly. Birdy got down as well to look at it.

"It looks like the Dolus Palace, is that correct?"

"Yup!" I stood up and moved to sit beside him. "See, that's the four pillars it stands on, did ya know they carved 'em out of the mountain!? They did! It took like, I dunno 30, 60 years maybe? And looots of dragon fire! They'd have the dragons heat the rock with their breath then have them use their brute strength to help chip away at it till the pillars began to form! That was back when we were friends with the dragons though, they hadn't started hunting them yet. So, a good, what, four hundred—wait no, no that's not right 'cause the Palace has been there since the first queens like, thousands of years ago... so a long time! Very long time! Yeah! And did ya know each pillar actually serves a very specific purpose?? I'm not gonna tell ya which ones, but, one is for water! It's this fucking massive, like, storage, movement place?? It's all hydraulic, how they move stuff y'know? It's hundreds of feet tall and the Palace constantly needs water so up it goes!

"And there's another, another one for weaponry, jewels, and coin, again hydraulic, and that's how they get all that stuff to and from the Palace! And, and there's one for food and perishable stuff, that ones really fast, how they move stuff! And the last one is for people! Of course there's the ramp, well it's more like this huge, like, pulley system with a plate for large groups of people, parades, soldiers, stuff like that, that they can take all at once! The ramp's separate from the pillars though.

"Oh! And, and there's—" I was startled by birdy's hand gently patting my shoulder. I hissed without thinking and pulled away, seeing his face drop from a smile to guilty immediately. He took his hand back.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to remind you to take a breath between words, I'll remember to let you know you verbally next time, my mistake," he said.

Ah shit, now I kinda feel bad. But then again, not bad enough to dwell on it! The reminder to breathe was appreciated too, definitely out of breath! I laughed a bit and gave him a friendly headbutt on the shoulder. He chuckled and nodded along.

"Hey." Both me and Birdy perked up at the sound of Blu monotone voice. "I bought some pastries at the vendor just outside the checkpoint, do either of you want some?"

My eyes slid over to Birdy, to the basket certainly carrying sweets in Blu’s arm, back to Birdy, and jumped to my feet. Birdy tried to catch up, but buddy, I am so fast. So very fast. There hasn't been any rock candies for easily two months. No sugar. No sweets of any kind. Those pastries are mine.

Blu looked down at the uneven sand she walked on, and unfortunately for her, was the victim of my poorly timed leap for sweets. She swore up and down when I knocked her down. Shoving me away with curses I'm definitely going to remember for later. Birdy was just laughing, trying to cover his mouth and looking away for a moment before coming to help untangle me and hamster. Somehow her sword got tangled up in my belt? Dunno how, but she was mad.

"Cas, please stay still, I'm trying to help!"

"It's Cassiopeia!" I shouted, still struggling to be freed.

"Alright, fine, Cassiopeia, can you stay still for five seconds before Blu has a heart attack," I stopped to glare at him. He’s... mocking me? Isn’t he? Blu made a face, weird face? Squinty eyes, pouty lip, yup pretty sure that's mockery.

Guess he was able to untangle us in my pause 'cause suddenly I dropped flat against the ground. Aw man, my cushion! I shook my head and stood, sticking my tongue out at Blu at the same time.

"You are a menace to yourself and others, demon," Blu said while brushing dust off herself.

"And you are a wonderful cushion!" I chirped, as I danced up to Birdy and the delightful little basket he had picked up.

Birdy chuckled lightly to himself and offered the basket to me as I came up to him. In one paw he held a small dragon shaped pastry. The strawberry, or maybe cherry? Raspberry? Dunno but it was red, syrup, was quickly dripping down and sticking in his fur. Gross. But tasty! I want! I took the basket in both hands, sorting through the options. Hrm, that one looks a little burned, but that means it's gonna be crisp! Oh, but that ones bigger... huh. Both! Both is good! I snatched the remaining dragon one, which had orange syrup drizzled all over it. Plus a generic rolled biscuit thing that had a horrid mixture of I don't even know what syrups that'd all bled together and made this monstrosity. I gave it a second look, then shoved the whole thing in my mouth.

Huh. Disgusting. I love it!

Blu wandered over and soon we were all sitting in the dirt eating the first pieces of food not made by ourselves for the first time in months. Birdy dropped his werewolf shape a few minutes later. Hamster noticed and, leaning forward, pointing her half-eaten treat at him, opened her mouth to speak. I focused in on her snack. If she's talking, can I, can I have that?

"You know, I'm curious, how's that transformation charm working out for you," Blu asked.

"Well," Birdy shifted to face her, "it's certainly an improvement, not tearing through all my clothes everytime my anxiety climbs, I will say."

Birdy and Blu both laughed, Birdy abit lighter, but all I could do was glare. Remembering the horrible day he lost his original and best coat. That damn thing survived years, years! Traveling around Gelu and it's surrounding wilderness. Fighting random angry purple wolves. Dunno how many, unpleasant, interactions with it accidentally getting lit on fire, or covered in mud, or trampled by a pissed off horse, and a whole ass demon?? And a big motherfucker at that! It even survived the initial werewolf attack were Birdy got bit! But no. No what did it in was that one day.

I started dragging my claws against my shorts. Not my fault, well, kinda my fault. Like, how the actual fuck was I supposed to know Birdy's werewolf shape was activated by stress? Bitch I was stressed! I had no clue that there were patrols getting sent that far out! The nearest settlement was, and still is! Qualen! The oasis in the middle of buttfuck nowhere!

Didn't mean to freak him out by bolting. I just, just really, really, did not want anybody to see me! A patrol? Those folks have a list! A list of missing people they look out for! And I'm certain I'm on it!

Gods. Next I knew a couple hours had passed and I tromped back into camp, quite proud of my little evasion, and bam. Birdy was shaking and completely wolfed up, Blu comforting him next to the shredded remains of his cloak. Apparently my bolting had reminded him of the werewolf attack when we all got separated. It'd brought on a full blown panic attack for him. Blu was fucking pissed with me when I finally showed up, but Birdy was just happy to see me, plus he was able to get back to regular 'ol beanpole man.

Hehe, suck it bitches. My bad for freaking him out, but guess what? Just by fucking being near him, I'm like, a balm to be around! I did, like, apologize though. But just to him, I'd be caught whipped and strung up before I let hamster hear me apologize to anybody! For any reason!

"—So Qualen tomorrow?"

I popped my head up, ah shit they kept talking, and my leg hurts. I looked around to try and catch back up in the conversation.

"Yeah, think that's really our only option at this point, unless you guys have a reason to avoid it," Blu said, wiping red syrup off her hands. Crow glanced down at me sprawled out, arms and chest draped over this amazingly sun warmed rock.

"Sound good to you, Cas?" Huh? I, uh, shit did we just agree to go to Qualen? Qualen, Dolus? Dolus city, where there are people?

"Uh, what?"

"Qualen, are you okay with going into the city? There's supposedly a museum there rich in archeological findings and Dolus history, I'd imagine there's plenty of street vendors with candy as well," Birdy said, somewhat summing up the conversation. I think.

I bit the inside of my cheek and thrashed my tail a bit. There's people. I have four horns. Four really noticeable horns. Qualen's pretty far out though. I might, might be able to slide in without too much of a shitshow. Then again, Dolus is kinda batshit—like me! They're a whole lot more on the sword than Gelu... plus, like, I really don't know if, if, if that in the very shitty chance I did get recognized, if they'd whip me or name me. Or kill me. That'd suck. I hissed under my breath. They sound like they wanna go, too!

"I guess, guess I don't have a problem with it?" I stretched out as far as I could. "Ooh, I bet I could get one hell of a fire going with all this dry, sun bleached shit around!"

I was grinning wildly now, Blu sighed, pressing her hand to the bridge of her nose. Birdy nodded and got up, collecting our things as he walked towards our wagon.

Still don't know how that thing still going, either. We even still had the same damn black Percheron mares pulling it! We all climbed in, Birdy’s new cloak mocking me as the ends brushed my tail. You’re not the good cloak. You’re just a shitty copycat. Blu was holding the reins. The horses still hate me, too.

As we headed out I huffed. Hope we get some Dolarian bred horses to replace em while we're here. Those fucks are like, Arabians, but if you crossed it with a really irritable bird, mule, and made it omnivorous. Pointy teeth, too! Basically don't fear primordials because they have become them. Most importantly! I can pet them! Dunno why so many critters outside Dolus are such cowards.

~~~~~~~

Dunno how, but we'd made it through the checkpoint! I'd even gotten this neat set of papers, medallion combo! Ha! Dumb fucks. Anyways! Those idiots really should've kept a better eye on me 'cause we've been in the city for an hour and I already found something far more interesting to do than take two steps. Every ten minutes. In the same freaking direction. Going nowhere.

I know this place and I know, it's so much easier to just be a bitch than walk the line. Oh ho? Little orange bitch think you're going to breathe in my air? I gave a warning snarl, ears pinned back, pure disgust on my face. The two-horned coward immediately jumped back, tail hitting the ground, looking anywhere but my face. Ha! I ain't even been here, in what? Since, since I was seventeen? So, eight, nine, ten, no that'd be twenty, one, two, five? Five years?! And I still got the high ranking bitch snarl!

I laughed, shouldering my way past. I was maybe halfway to the museum when I noticed the crowd parting for the Runner croc. Ah... fuck. Grudgingly, grudgingly, I moved to the side as well. Allowing the twenty foot crocodile to walk by. Those Runner crocs are weird. Not like a normal crocodile, y'know besides the fact they're easily twenty feet or more long and five feet at the shoulder, patrol the cities with their rider to keep order, they walk up. Up! Like, like a dog! No, horse is better because they can like, gallop and shit. Cool critters.

I kept my eyes off the croc as it passed by, thankfully around here I'm kinda short—not even hitting six foot—so I can just dip down a bit and completely disappear in the crowd. Nope! No criminal here little croc dude! Keep on! You're doing great!

After a while longer I finally, finally made it to the museum. Only to head right on over to the first candy vendor I saw. Birdy said candy so damnit, I'm gonna get some candy! I've got plenty of coin to spare hidden away in my many pockets!

I trotted right up to the first stall I saw, Miron's Miraculous something or other, I don't care, candy! I was keeping an eye on the constant hustle of people around me, kinda uncomfy. I made a face, then decided to pause, flip my hair over my head, take out the braid, and flip it back, parted down the middle to cover the newly shaved left side and maybe hide my lower horns a bit in the uncombed mess. Okay! Now! Now I can get candy!

The candy seller was a dick. An absolute dick. I'd come over, picked something out, and immediately, immediately the onslaught! The guy had seen me and of all the things he could've done... decided to start insulting me. On my appearance!

"—I do say, however: have you ever considered taking a more civilized approach to your appearance, maybe try appearing less slovenly in public—" he said, looking at me like some street rat or something!

Honestly, I was figuring out whether it was worth the ruckus and possible reprimands to just. Beat the fucking shit out of him. And not pay for the candy, too. If I'm hurting somebody I sure as hell ain't paying 'em for the pleasure! I actually was digging my nails into my hand to control myself when this unit of a naga body slammed their way in between me and the twat candy seller.

What the fu—

"What—" the first time me and this candy guy are actually thinking the same thing!

"Miron," the naga said, throwing their arm around me, I will pummel—"you remember my buddy, yeah?" Am I just a creature to these people?!

"I hardly—"

"Great, great," the naga just kept going! Throwing in this awful West Common drawl, bitch I dunno who you are but I can handle a candy cunt without having to butcher a naga too! "Then you remember what I told you about her, yeah?"

"You've never—"

"Ah, my mistake, you must have forgotten again, old age and all." The naga was laughing now, too. I'm certain I've broken the skin of my palm by now.

That last insult really got the candy guy going. "Excuse—"

The naga finally released me and had the audacity to grin, grin! At me! "Hey, could you just remind this jackass why it isn't a great idea for him to be talking to strangers?"

All I could do was blink once, very, very slowly. My jaw was locked. Ohhh demons below, I really wanna not get thrown in jail on my first day. I don't wanna get recognized, I don't wanna—actually fuck it. My hands hurting and bleeding, candy cunt's pissed me off, insulted me, and this glitter splatter naga just touched me and acted like it's all fine and dandy. It's not! Whip and jail me for all I care I'm gonna fuck these creeps up!

My fist slammed into the candy guy's face, just missing the naga. My right hand gripped their horn and dragged them into the street, right over their stall, scattering candy everywhere. From there I gave them a vicious series of kicks in the stomach till blood painted their lips.

Realizing I'd crushed my candy choice in the process, I huffed, shrugged, and picked a piece up from the ground next to my newest victim. I chuckled when they flinched. I took off the wrapping and popped it in my mouth, turning my attention to the naga now.

"So," I gave the candy guy another, smaller kick, "you want what they got?"

I pointedly ignored the people staring in the background. If somebody wants to sort it out with me ya better fight. Better fight good. Better know better than to fuck with me in the first place. Jail me, I'll break out. Set the damn place on fire for some razzle dazzle. Ey! Maybe I'll reiterate some trauma in the process! Hell, might even blow the whole place. Ha! Wonder if there'll even be anybody left to get mad!

I twirled the hard candy in my mouth for a minute, then spit it out on the guy beneath me. I wiped my mouth and kept my eyes on the naga, having never left them.

"What? Tasted like blood, too rusty, shitty candy maker."

The tiefling woman blinked slowly, her expression steely and strangely unreadable—and then, in the space of an instant, she launched past him, slamming her fist straight into Miron’s face. Helios yelped, recoiling away from the woman—and nearly fell over in the process.

He barely managed to catch himself on the side of the stall—which immediately proved to be even more of a mistake, as the woman dragged a shrieking, flailing Miron out from behind the counter, scattering the candy across the ground. One of Miron’s feet nearly hit him in the face, and he recoiled again, fighting tooth and nail against the urge to wrap his tail around the nearest solid object behind him as he fought to keep his balance in the cramped, crowded area once more.

The sound of pitiful, garbled wailing immediately startled him back to attention, however, and he glanced back at the candy stall just in time to watch the woman beat the ever-loving shit out of Miron.

Helios stood there, frozen, staring at the two tieflings for much too long of a moment, until Miron’s thrashing petered out into nothing more than a sort of strange, broken twitching. The candy vendor was barely whimpering, anymore, and, between every few breaths, he let out a few raspy, rattling coughs.

At the sound of a frustrated huff, Helios’s gaze snapped back up to the larger tiefling, who merely shrugged, picked up a stray piece of candy from the floor besides Miron—drawing a noticeable flinch from the crumpled man—and promptly unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth.

Then, as if things hadn’t already been bad enough, the woman’s piercing black gaze snapped up to him.

"So," she snarked, kicking Miron for emphasis, "you want what they got?"

Helios’s heart dropped.

Eros was going to fucking kill him.

He stared at the tiefling in horror for a long, gut-wrenching moment, his mouth half-open as he tried his best to come up with any sort of reply that wouldn’t land him in the hospital, if not in the morgue—and then, without warning, the tiefling spat the candy out at Miron, causing Helios to flinch.

"What? Tasted like blood, too rusty, shitty candy maker."

Helios balked, recoiling back once more, his gaze still locked on to the tiefling before him—and then, against his own volition, he began to ramble.

“I mean, between his cherry candy and the affliction, I’d say that he’s responsible for the worst ruby-colored plague in the city right now,” Helios blurted, chuckling weakly, trying his hardest not to seem panicked, even though the majority of his tail had already wound itself around a nearby palm tree and Miron’s busted-up stall. “He’ll literally chase you across the city if you buy anything, and—”

He broke off, a slight, startled yelp escaping his lips as he bumped into the corner of the stall next to him—and then, with a flash of panic, his gaze whipped back up to meet that of the tiefling again, his hand darting up to the teleportation charms around his neck.

“Uh.”

His gaze darted around the market, and his stomach dropped as he finally processed the presence of the horrified, murmuring crowd that was beginning to gather around him. His chest seemed to seize as his gaze snapped back over to the tiefling—and, in the instant that he met her furious onyx gaze, his tail flinched involuntarily—and the tree that he’d been wrapped around abruptly snapped in half with a thunderous CRACK.

In an instant, he was scrambling back, his tail thrashing in his sudden, overwhelmingly urgent need to get away from the absolutely terrifying tiefling woman before him—but, just as he lurched away from her, she lunged, and one of her sharply-clawed hands latched onto his forearm—and, in that instant, he yanked one of his teleportation charms off of its chain, shattering the magical seal and activating the spell.

The world twisted around him, and a strange sort of pressure built in his head—and then, with a loud crack and a flash of bright white light, he tumbled to the ground in the middle of his garden, his arm wrenching free from the tiefling’s clawed grasp in the same instant.

Still reeling from the effects of the teleportation charm, Helios lurched around, a strange sense of terror clawing at his chest, even as he sluggishly looked around for Eros. His tail shifted slightly, twisting over itself clumsily as he tried to regain his bearings—and Helios froze as his tail bumped against an unfamiliar person.

He began to turn, slowly, terror building in his throat as he fought with the urge to just bolt into the room he shared with Eros and wedge himself into the furthest corner until his fiance finally came home—and then, suddenly, the back door slammed open, and Eros’s familiar scent crashed through him, forcing him to choke back a sob of relief as the entirety of his tail recoiled back towards the back wall of his house and the love of his life, accidentally crushing several of his plants in the process.

In the space of an instant, Eros was there, the bumpy rubber pads of his prosthetic fingers curling around Helios’s upper arm as he rushed forwards, fury radiating off of him in waves—until, suddenly, the siren froze, his face falling slack in abject terror.

“Ca…Cassiopeia?”

~~~

This couldn’t be happening.

This could not be happening.

Not even two minutes ago, he’d been frustratedly crumpling up a magically-delivered letter from Dr. Amyas, as she’d had to cancel their appointment at the last minute due to some inane reason that she hadn’t even bothered to clarify—and now, he was standing not even two feet away from one of the most batshit terrifying ghosts from his past, someone who he’d never even imagined crossing paths with again, crumpled besides his fiance’s lashing tail, blood staining her the claws of one of her hands, Helios’s blood staining her hands—

blood red chains glowing like the stark white fury of his eyes, blood like a word on the palm of a hand torn off by the cold, blood like the everything being torn from his lungs as something shattered the world—

Helios’s hand curled around his own, squeezing it tightly, making him realize that he was trembling—and as he finally glanced back up at Cassiopeia (all too aware of his milky-white eye that scared him every time he glanced in the mirror and the unnatural purple-gray hue of his enchanted stone prosthetic, and the enormous, flame-like scar that clawed across his body from temple to toe, plainly visible upon his chest, which was bare save for the dusky indigo duster that he’d taken to wearing after Helios had finally convinced him to get rid of his turtlenecks entirely) his eye narrowed coldly, and a rush of cool, dangerously protective fury flooded through his chest.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

I watched, both bored and burning as the naga rattled off some meaningless ramble. Once you beat enough people you learn to recognize a fawn response. The naga’s massive purple, shimmering tail was crunching the tree behind them. Like come on buddy, I can tell you’re scared. It’s no secret. Hell, I want them to be scared.

Hm, if they’re already scared, can’t hurt to lean into it? Creep came out of nowhere and put his hand on my shoulder like we were pals, not going to be any injuries to my conscience about it if he gets a little beat up. Like. On some level I get it? Annoying prick talking down woman, the chivalrous thing to do would be interrupt before further degrading. Yet, I’m not a big fan of chivalry. Give me some fists and I’ll teach an asshole a lesson by myself just fine.

The tree the naga clenched snapped clean in half, nabbing my attention. Huh, didn’t know he could do that.

Immediately the naga lurched away from me, not gonna be that easy buddy! I jumped forward to grab him. Come here you shiny motherfucker, I’m not done yet! My hand reached the meaty flesh of his arm and I dug my claws in deep. They aren’t getting away till I want them to! And just as I began to close the distance I heard this nasty pop noise, and suddenly the ground beneath my feet swayed. The air around me cinched tight. My lungs filled up on air I couldn’t breathe. My head ached like nothing since the growing pains of my horns as a cub.

My body collapsed into the dirt just as my chest finally found breathable air. Wait, dirt? No, this shit, this like, loamy. Definitely not the same cobblestone I was just walking on? I shook my head wildly. What in Angor’s name just happened?! My eyesight was blotched with red spots, I could hardly see though I felt my grip wrenched away from the naga I’d just been holding. Hold up, naga? Naga, they sometimes have charm-y things? Did that shiny fucker do this?

I shook my head again. You know what, who gives a fuck? Blinking harshly I shoved myself back to my feet. Looking around all I saw was plants. Why so many? This is supposed to be Dolus, not even the, even like, the big, leafy jungle part? I heard voices near me and I snapped to look in the sound’s direction.

The naga had bulldozed into a much smaller person, are they alright? Whoever it is seems so tiny? Shrugging, I tossed a hand through my hair to get the dirt out. Well, whoever new guy is, and whoever the naga is, one of them is still do for a bitchslap. Or like, at the very least a stern growl. He didn’t seem super keen on fighting? I’m just trying to even things out, I’m not in a complete murderous mood today. Right now. At least this hour.

“Ca…Cassiopeia?”

Oh, now that ain’t right. I know that voice? That voice got absolutely fucking obliterated months ago? My hand dropped from my hair. This, this is seriously messed up. Dead folks are supposed to stay dead? Fuck I hope they do at least, else a lot of shit is going to bite me in the ass later.

Not like I can really do much about it at this point? We weren’t that close anyway, and for all I know this could be a little changling magicky fuck. Who’s to tell! I’ve still got a cowardly naga to torment. A large yawn broke my silence, ended in a small chuckle from me. Glancing up and down, Fish boy has certainly made some new fashion choices since I last saw him!

“What the hell are you doing here,” he snapped.

I raised my arms over my head in one big final stretch before really talking. Tail weaving quickly behind me as I trotted a few feet closer, no need to yell to be heard when I can just. Walk on over!

“Eyyyy, Fish boy, think I’ve had hangovers longer than the times between now and since we last chatted!” I grinned, picked up a pebble, and threw it lightly at him. “I’m not even sure where ‘here’ is, but I’m just here to smack on Shiny here a bit—what’s they’re, his, name by the by, don’t wanna assume y’know—for coming up behind me and acting like my buddy, your outfit is super cool by the way, I got a style change up too, shaved the left side of my head and fucked up my face a bit, makes me look badass don’t ya think?” I said brightly, hardly pausing to breathe.

My face was spilt into a wide grin, I could feel it pulling on my lip it was so big. Oh! He can’t see the shaved part with my hair parted down the middle! I quickly used a hand to flip it back over, accidentally smearing some blood on my face, but who cares really? Everybody bleeds, no ones a stranger to it! Still grinning I pointed to the shaved bit and my scars.

“See, badass, just like ya!”

Cassiopeia jerked to her feet in one swift, forceful motion, and something lurched in Eros’s stomach, in turn. Her hand dropped to her side as he called her name—and as her pitch black eyes caught his own, he felt sick, as if he was about to vomit or collapse completely on the spot. Helios’s hand was still tangled tightly around his own, the only thing grounding him back to the reality that Angor wasn’t there.

Angor was dead—but Cassiopeia was right in front of him, flashing her large, dangerous canines as she yawned lazily, as if she didn’t know, as if she didn’t care about all that she had done to him.

Her ink-black eyes were locked on him, narrow and unimpressed—and though Eros knew that she was speaking to him, all he could process was his trembling, shuddering body and Helios’s hand gripping his own.

Angor was dead, but he had deep, gnarled scars carved out across the entire left side of his body; Angor was dead, but Cassiopeia was right there, a feral, knife-slash grin across her face—

“I’m not even sure where ‘here’ is, but I’m just here to smack on Shiny here a bit—”

Helios.

She was here to hurt Helios—and, in that instant, a horrible, gut-curdling sense of overwhelming fury burbled up through Eros’s stomach, leaving him jittering, almost convulsing with something distinctly unhinged.

Her grin split all the wider across her thoroughly scarred face; Helios’s hand clenched tighter around his own—and then, in that instant, her hand jerked up to her face, smearing a stripe of Helios’s blood across her cheek—and, suddenly, Eros’s world went white.

He lunged for Cassiopeia, a feral, animalistic snarl tearing past his lips as he shot towards her—but before he could make contact, Helios’s arms snared around his waist, yanking him back and away from the tiefling. Immediately, he began to thrash, snarling and screeching and kicking and clawing at Cassiopeia, as every instinct within him screamed at him to tear her apart.

”You piece of shit!!!”

He didn’t know what she was doing here, what she was planning on doing, if she was planning something—but he knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that she was going to hurt Helios.

“I’ll fucking kill you—I’ll fucking kill—”

Distantly, he could hear Helios pleading with him, begging and sobbing and urging him to calm down—but it was if none of the naga’s words were registering in his brain. All he could process was white, blinding, scalding white, like Angor’s eyes and a flash of excruciating, all-consuming power—

“You fucking killed me—”

She couldn’t be here. She couldn’t be here, threatening the one and only person who he’d ever truly loved, threatening the one and only person who’d ever made him feel safe—

“You fucking summoned him, you bastard—”

Helios’s arms clenched all the more tightly around him, only barely managing to restrain him; a feral, snarling screech tore free from Eros’s throat—and, in that instant, as Helios yanked him back in close, the world came crashing back into place around him.

Helios was sobbing, pleading, his voice wrought with pure, abject terror—and, suddenly, his fury collapsed into terror, and he fell slack, crumpling to the ground like a rag doll as he began to sob.

Helios crumpled to the ground with him, his tail snagging around Eros’s body, as if he was trying to shield him from the tiefling before them—

“Please, please, don’t hurt him; I love him, please—you owe me, please—”

Helios’s arms constricted around him, squeezing him desperately as he shuddered and bawled, shifting just enough to bury his face in the crook of Eros’s neck—and a strange, desperate panic seized through Eros’s chest as it struck him yet again that Cassiopeia was there, not even two feet away from them.

“Please, you owe me—don’t hurt him, don’t hurt him.”

Helios let out a choked, agonized sob, constricting around him once more—and, in that moment, Eros broke down completely, hunching in around Helios’s arms and turning his terrified gaze up to face Cassiopeia’s pitch-black eyes, desperately pleading with her—

“Please, don’t hurt him, don’t hurt him, don’t hurt him—”

Fish boy didn’t even wait for me to finish before he attempted to launch himself at me. Yeah, yeah I’m pretty sure that’s actually Fish boy now and not some magic trick. Damn though, you couldn’t wait till I finished? And what’s that pathetic excuse of a snarl? I stood there and just watched the debacle unfold.

“You piece of shit!!!” Was that, was that actually spit flying? Ew.

I rolled my shoulders and tilted my head at his struggling. His naga friend, who I’m still not sure what to refer as because nobody answered me, bitches, was trying their absolute hardest to restrain Fish boy. Kinda funny if I’m being honest. Just this feral little goblin being held back by this shimmering, shining, sobbing mess. My smirk only got bigger. I know I shouldn’t laugh but fuck!

A short cackle escaped and I’m not even sorry. He’s still howling! Threatening to kill me, like really dude? My cackling got louder. Jokingly I put my fists up. You wanna go tiny man? Wanna go? I’ll give you ten seconds, and I won’t even strike back! I’ll still probably block most of the hits he throws at me! This is fucking ridiculous!

“You fucking summoned him, you bastard—”

Hold up, summoned who? My eyes glanced up at the taller naga as I dropped my fists. That guy? I don’t think you can summon naga? Are there demon naga? Like what? If anything they summoned me! They’re the one who fucking, fucking charmed us out of the market? Me summoning them doesn’t make any sense! I’m kinda glad they did though, I forgot about the guards and patrols. Any free ticket out of an arrest is a good one!

Eh, still confused though. And could they stop with the sobbing now? It was funny at first, but now they’re both reminding me of toddlers five minutes late to lunch. Seriously, if y’all are hungry I’ll go steal something! Just shut up! Not that I couldn’t pay for it, I have some coin on me, but again, I don’t know where the fuck I am! I’m not paying some stupid regional tax damnit!

The pair sunk to the ground, curled around each other. Huh.

“Please, please, don’t hurt him; I love him, please—you owe me, please—”

That got my attention. Owe him? Buddy. Buddy I don’t owe you shit. Like yay, good for you for finding a partner and shit, probably why you’re so touchy with him, them? Damnit I really wish one of them had answered that. And I’m less inclined to cause harm now, seeing the fucker crumble to the ground in sobs, just at my presence? That’s all I wanted! Maybe not to that degree, but still. Goal achieved. Shiny knows they fucked up, I no longer have an issue them.

More pleading and profuse begging. So much for the rabid squirrel earlier. I rolled my eyes and huffed at the pair.

“Could y’all shut up, I’m not going to hurt anybody anymore.”

I kicked the ground beneath me, then plopped down into the dirt. Brushing some dust away as I did so. I focused in on Fish boy, one eyebrow raised at him. This dude needs a cupcake.

“Look, Shiny here is all sad now, it’s boring, I’m not gonna hurt ‘em. Frankly, I’m just wondering where the actual fuck we are? A few minutes ago I was in a Dolus marketplace—excellent for pickpocketing by the way if y’all are interested—and next I know I’m in this fuckn’, jungle plant menagerie looking spot with ya snarling at me, very poor snarl too, I can show ya how to actually snarl if you’re interested!

“Seriously though, good to see ya Fish boy, everybody still kicking!” I said with a happy chirp.

Little disturbed that dead guy didn’t stay dead, but dead guy is Fish boy! I can tell Blu to stop accusing me of murdering one of the friends! And it’ll be true! Excellent!

“Oh, and when I said jungle plant menagerie I didn’t mean all those separate, this place looks like a jungle menagerie for plants, y’all gotta have one hell of a gardener!”

“Could y’all shut up, I’m not going to hurt anybody anymore.”

Eros’s eyes remained locked on Cassiopeia as she kicked at the ground and plopped down right next to them, wide with terror. The sound of her harsh, grating laughter still seemed to be ringing through his ears; the memory of a bloodbath in the woods not far from Gelu’s capital was burned into place behind his eyes.

He knew what she was capable of, what she was willing to do—and he knew that she didn’t care one way or another who got hurt, so long as she got her way. She was unhinged, unpreoccupied with any concept of mercy—and she was entirely the reason as to why Angor had torn him apart.

Eros glanced up from her clawed, bloodstained hand and back to her face—and, in that same moment, their eyes met, sending a pang of dread through Eros’s gut.

“Look, Shiny here is all sad now, it’s boring, I’m not gonna hurt ‘em.”

A small, hiccuping sob escaped Helios, and Eros briefly turned away from Cassiopeia to press a quick, tiny kiss to Helios’s forehead, trying to comfort his fiancé though he, himself, was still shuddering from the force of his own sobs.

“Frankly, I’m just wondering where the actual fuck we are? A few minutes ago I was in a Dolus marketplace—excellent for pickpocketing by the way if y’all are interested—and next I know I’m in this fuckn’, jungle plant menagerie looking spot with ya snarling at me, very poor snarl too, I can show ya how to actually snarl if you’re interested!

A bark of sharp, hysterical laughter escaped from Eros’s throat; Helios squeezed him tightly, nestling in closer around him.

“Seriously though, good to see ya Fish boy, everybody still kicking!”

Eros’s stomach turned—but, before he could even try to speak, Cassiopeia continued on, her voice as blithe as ever.

“Oh, and when I said jungle plant menagerie I didn’t mean all those separate, this place looks like a jungle menagerie for plants, y’all gotta have one hell of a gardener!”

Eros stared at her for a long, horrified moment—and then, suddenly, something deep inside of him snapped, and he began to laugh, a sharp, disjointed, hysterical sound. Tears stung at his eyes, sudden and scalding, and he found himself doubling over as he laughed, clutching at Helios’s tail for any semblance of support, even as Helios buried his face further in the crook of his neck, trying to hide from Cassiopeia.

“You’re fucking derranged, don’t you know?” he cried, barely managing to get the words out through a fit of laughter. “You’re fucking insane, you’re a fucking monster—I mean, hell, you summoned—”

A fit of manic laughter cut him off yet again—but, before he could try to speak once more, Helios shifted, dragging him away from Cassiopeia and placing himself in front of Eros, as if trying to shield him—and, in that very moment, Eros crumpled against Helios’s back, wrapping his arms around the naga’s strong form as he began to sob once more.

“My name is Helios, pronouns he/him, and I’m a botanist,” Helios told the tiefling, though his shaky, terrified voice seemed faint and entirely distant to Eros. “This is my garden, and my home—and I don’t care who you think you are or what you think you can get away with, but you are not welcome here.

“You’re in Port Songes, Canna—a little town that was plagued by naga hunts until just ten years ago. If you try to go anywhere but back to Dolus—there’s a portal set up not far from here—the local authorities will hunt you down and put your head on a fucking pike.

“To put it simply, leave me and my fiancé alone, and that’ll be the end of things, okay?”

Helios’s tail was wrapped tightly around his waist, constricting around him as if for dear life—and, yet, Eros’s heart swelled with adoration and pride, even as he continued to sob, knowing that the naga was fighting tooth and nail to try and protect him from Cassiopeia, despite the fact that he, too, was still shaking and crying.

Okay. So I get yelled at all the time for laughing, but this guy can go off? It’s not even a happy laugh, I don’t think? Considering he was just trying to come at me, very poor way to greet a friend dickhead! Yeah I don’t think that’s a happy laugh. Creepy laugh, like, loosing it laugh—fuck have I reached that point of intimidation? I can make folks go through shock, horror, sobbing, hissing and spitting, to broken laughing in minutes?! That’s, that’s kinda awesome?!

I grin spilt my face. Ha! Try me now bitches! My tail slapped the ground while I chuckled to myself. See buddy, this, this is a happy laugh! We’re all joking, except I’m enjoying it!

“You’re fucking derranged, don’t you know, you’re fucking insane, you’re a fucking monster—I mean, hell, you summoned—” he could barely talk he was laughing so much, maybe it is a happy laugh?

Fish boy tried to add more to his, colorful adjectives, but he was laughing just too damn hard! I still dunno who he thinks I summoned though, does he even know what he’s saying? I shrugged it off. Anyways, big snakey here is acting all protective and shit. I watched as they pushed Eros behind them and got all huffy puffy before talking to me. Come on buddy, we both know I’ll beat your ass.

“My name is Helios, pronouns he/him, and I’m a botanist,” ooh, big voice, I’m soo scared, “This is my garden, and my home—and I don’t care who you think you are or what you think you can get away with, but you are not welcome here.”

I made a face and began plucking some grass near my tail. Might as well let him—thank you for the pronouns dude! Give his little speech about, whatever he’s talking about? Not entirely sure.

“You’re in Port Songes, Canna—a little town that was plagued by naga hunts until just ten years ago. If you try to go anywhere but back to Dolus—there’s a portal set up not far from here—the local authorities will hunt you down and put your head on a fucking pike.

“To put it simply, leave me and my fiancé alone, and that’ll be the end of things, okay?”

Unfortunately, my mouth is occasionally faster than my fists. Rare, obviously, and probably for good reason.

“Dude, I haven’t eaten naga in literal years, and I prefer dragon anyways, naga are people y’know, it’s got a gross cannibalism feel associated with it—and I’m not down for that.” I started braiding two pieces of really pretty green blades of grass together. One was a tad too long to end neatly and I pulled it up to my mouth to nibble off the extra bit.

“Port Songes though, wow, those portals are really getting good huh?”

I brought my head up to look Helios, that’s what he said his name was? Cool one! Look him dead in the eye while pulling my hair back into a braid. Definitely braiding in the grass too! I’m not in Dolus now so this tangled mess can get out of my fucking face, yay! I shook my head head after I finished.

“So, I have no clue where that portal actually is—‘not far from here’ are awful fucking directions—but I’m more curious about making y’all not shit your pants terrified of me? Not that it isn’t funny, it is, it is, but Blu’s already mad at me and I don’t wanna go back and tell Birdy I made our friend we thought was dead cry and give him even more anxiety y’know?”

My eyes caught the tail bands on Shiny’s tail. Oh? Oh! Jewelry, jewels, I have lots of those! My face shifted into a pout, would they even accept jewels? I scared the shit out of them both a second ago, don’t wanna traumatize them? Wait how are gifts scary? Gifts are good! Yes, jewelry!

“I have, I have lots of gems, would either of y’all like some, there’s a rainbow of colors to pick from!” I said, digging through the extra bag I carried on my belt. I’m pretty sure I put something shiny in here recently? Damnit everything’s sticky, is that syrup or blood? Dunno!

Though he couldn’t see her face from his spot nestled into Helios’s back, Eros knew that something dangerous was about to happen, on account of how quiet Cassiopeia was—

“Dude, I haven’t eaten naga in literal years, and I prefer dragon anyways, naga are people y’know, it’s got a gross cannibalism feel associated with it—and I’m not down for that.”


A pang of revulsion struck through Eros’s gut—and, in the very same instant, Helios’s tail constricted around his waist, squeezing him tightly as if in search for some kind of support. Eros bowed his head, a small, hitched sob escaping his lips as he pressed his forehead to the soft, smooth scales of Helios’s upper back, squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as he could.

At least that made at least one boundary of hers that he knew of, one thing that she wasn’t willing to do—but, even still, every instinct in his body was howling at him, insisting that he do something before she hurt the man he loved above all else.

He couldn’t bear the thought of Helios being hurt by the ghosts of his past—particularly when he knew, firsthand, the sheer violence that said “ghosts” were willing to enact.

“Port Songes though, wow, those portals are really getting good huh?”

Helios’s tail constricted fearfully around his waist once more, and Eros squeezed Helios’s waist as tightly as he could, his eyes still screwed shut in an attempt to block out the glaring presence of the tiefling before them.

“So, I have no clue where that portal actually is—‘not far from here’ are awful fucking directions—but I’m more curious about making y’all not shit your pants terrified of me?”

Eros scoffed.

“Not that it isn’t funny, it is, it is, but Blu’s already mad at me and I don’t wanna go back and tell Birdy I made our friend we thought was dead cry and give him even more anxiety y’know?”

Crow.

Blu.

He hadn’t thought about them in months—it had been too jarring, too painful to dwell on everything that had happened during the catastrophic month that he’d spent with the group—and yet, even as Cassiopeia continued to chatter, they were all he could think of: Crow’s steely blue eyes, soft yet determined; Blu’s hands tugging his own away from his open gills as he begged her not to hurt him; Blu casting asides her weapon as she coaxed him back into a normal breathing pattern; Blu yelling at Cassiopeia, trying to distract her from whatever she’d been carving into the wood of an ancient table before she began to chant, before she began to summon the white-eyed demon that had torn him apart, the demon with a voice like every terrible thing upon the earth and eyes like the embodiment of cold, the demon that had ripped his arm from his body with a blast of white-hot-cold that had set every nerve in his body alight with an instant and an eternity of piercing agony—

Blu’s wide emerald eyes, the last thing he’d seen before his world had exploded into white.

“Neither of us want your stupid—”

Eros peeled himself away from Helios’s soft form, pressing a kiss to the space between the naga’s shoulderblades before forcing himself to his feet and stepping over Helios’s stock-still coils, crossing over to where Cassiopeia sat in the grass, scrambling through one of the bags on her belt for who-knows-what.

“Eros, you can’t be serious—”

Eros shot Helios a pleading glance, and the naga broke off mid-sentence, his horrified expression immediately melting into one of worry. Eros nodded slightly, forcing in a deep, shuddering breath—and, without another word, he carefully sat down in front of Cassiopeia, forcing himself to meet her deep black eyes and only barely suppressing the urge to shudder at the sight.

”Cassiopeia,” he murmured softly, very carefully and deliberately letting his siren song seep into his voice, a strange, overwhelming sense of desperation jolting through his chest as he did so. ”I need you to take me to Blu. I need you to—"

His voice caught in his throat painfully; fresh tears welled up in his eyes.

“She was the last—I need to know—”

Eros averted his gaze, scrubbing at his eyes. ”I need to see Blu,” he croaked weakly, coaxing his song back into his voice. ”If you want to start making things better, you need to take me to Blu.”

Helios’s tail crept forwards, twining around his ankle reassuringly—and another hitched, broken sob forced its way up Eros’s throat.

“Please, Cassiopeia. I need to see her—I need to know.”

“Neither of us want your stupid—” well damn, could’ve just said no dude!

I huffed and made a garbled mrff noise. I was trying to be nice, but apparently my shiny things are stupid? Asshole?! Looks like Fish boy is preoccupied with, staring off into space? I guess? Get your boy, fish! See I know I was an ass myself, but I didn’t go around insulting folks’ gems!

Like come on. Have some decency! I’m not threatening violence—anymore. Plus I don’t, well I know the name, and roughly the location on a map, but I don’t actually know where I am? I’m a tiefling minding her business trying to be friendly and these idiots can’t stop sobbing and bitching like literally every cub I’ve ever come across? I’m not a threat? Well, I could be. Heh, it’d actually be super easy. I shook my head, focus! If they won’t take jewels? What else?

Food? Do either of them like candy? Or cheese! Cheese is good! Eh, I don’t know the area or the foods here. Uh, damnit I can’t think of anything else? Oh! Oh! Drinks! Do they drink? I’m pretty sure Fish boy does, I mean I’ve seen him drink so? Can’t remember if he’s a beer or wine guy though, maybe whiskey? I like whiskey. All! I can get one of each, and that way they each can have one and I’ll keep the one they don’t like! Yes! Who says no to drinks? Recovering alcoholics, folks with certain health problems, underage kids? I don’t think they fall into those categories? But who am I to guess?

Fish boy was sitting down in front of me—when did he come over?! I jerked away. Motherfucker don’t sneak like that?! I’m not trying to be a bitch, but I will headbutt you faster than a croc bites!

“She was the last—I need to know—”

Ah fuck me, who’s he on about? I was trying to think of gifts you crying little shit! And sneaky, sneaky sobbing little shit! There’s a weird feel right now, too? Damnit what’d I miss?

”I need to see Blu, if you want to start making things better, you need to take me to Blu.”

My brain blinked out for a second. Ho-hold up. That’s, that’s a big if bitch! I snapped back into focus, wait shit when did I lose it? Fuck! I jumped to my feet. Bitch! I swung my head around, hands gripping my horns. It’s fine, it’s fine, no, not it’s not!

Shiny slunk closer too, but that’s hardly important. I glared at Fish boy, on the verge of snarling. You’re making it very hard to be not a threat!

“Please, Cassiopeia. I need to see her—I need to know.” The new, distinct lack of siren song was ringing in my ears.

It’s an if, if if if, there’s a loophole! I’m not listening! I’m not fucking listening! A rough growl rattled in my chest. I brought my eyes down to where Fish boy sat on the ground. Okay. Okay, stop. Shit I’m still growling. I don’t want to make it better, I don’t wanna give Birdy anxiety, or make Blu made at me! There’s a big fucking difference!

Fish boy looked very small and sad in the dirt. Sneaky, sobbing, singing little shit. I paced back and forth for a minute or two. Bring it down, bring it down. There was a loophole, I’m fine, I’m not listening. Every now and then I looked down at the ground in front of me, or up at the sky, before facing Shiny and Fish boy with a snarl while gesturing wildly with my hands. What, why was the damn song necessary?! Bring it, bring it down—no! Why?!

I snapped at the heavy air as I continued to pace. Why?! And why Blu? Blu’s a bitch! She’s my friend of course, but she’s definitely a bitch! Did she say something to him? He just falling into a deeper spiral? Did he think we were dead too? Bitch I thought you were dead! Agh!

My foot kicked the ground as a stopped. Tail still thrashing, but I managed to stop throwing my arms everywhere. I’m probably freaking them out even more, that’s kinda nice. Use your song on me and I’ll be a dick too! So, thought he was dead, clearly he’s not. Used song on me, or, tried to, now he’s a broken mess. Large naga hovering as well. I’m still the biggest threat—damnit I’m not supposed to be acting like one! Fuck!

“Okay let me get this straight. I, trying to be friendly, get fucking songed, poorly, but still. I, acting like a bitch, everybody’s crying and not singing. Yeah I don’t think y’all are gonna like my conclusions there, heh.

“If you wanna see Blu or whatever that’s fine!” I whirled back on them, or more like remembered to turn my body to face them instead of the massive gardens around us. “Could’ve just asked, there was no damn reason for the siren song, however, I’m going to look past that ‘cause I was also a bit of an ass earlier and I think it’s fair that we’re tied now, agreed?”

Something warm and wet fell into my eye, gross? The fuck was, oh, oh yeah I’ve still got blood on my face. Blood. On my face. Yeah they’re probably terrified of me. I rolled my eyes, then looked down at Fish boy, crumpled on the ground.

“I’ll take you to Hamster and Birdy, but you’re song singy bullshit is not allowed and I want food,” it really takes it out of you, beating stupid candy sellers and traveling across the world through a funky ass portal.

Cassiopeia seemed distracted as he began to use his song, seemingly dead-focused on something else entirely—but, as his song faltered for the first time, she jerked away from him, seemingly noticing his presence before her for the very first time.

Still, as his song crept back into his voice, her eyes glazed over for just an instant—and a wave of relief crashed through his chest at the sight.

Said relief, however, was extremely short-lived, as Cassiopeia immediately leapt to her feet, wrenching her head around in a swift, violent motion, and clutching at her horns. As he stumbled over his last few words, the tiefling let out a low, threatening growl—and a spike of fear shot through his chest, bringing him to flinch away from the towering, muscular woman.

Helios’s tail tugged insistently on his ankle, trying to coax him away from the lowly growling tiefling—but Eros’s eyes were locked on Cassiopeia, a low, trembling terror seeping through him as she began to snarl and pace before him, her tail thrashing furiously and her arms lashing in the air. Tears were still streaking down his cheeks, and, despite the renewed sense of panic building in his chest, he couldn’t bring himself to look away.

He’d made a mistake, and he knew it—but he had no idea how else he could have driven home just how important this was to him, how else he could have convinced the ever-volatile tiefling to help him, how else he could have ensured that he got the closure he needed—

Cassiopeia stopped abruptly, kicking the ground—and, in that instant, Helios yanked Eros back into his arms, snagging his tail around his waist and dragging him back across the grass to close the short distance between them with a loud, furious hiss. Eros glanced up at him, a sudden flash of worry mingling with the terror surging through his chest, only to see that the naga’s face was set like stone, his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed.

He’d crossed the line from terrified to dead-set and determined—and Eros’s heart ached at the sight.

“Okay let me get this straight.”

Eros whipped around to face the tiefling once more, gripping Helios’s hand with his own.

“I, trying to be friendly, get fucking songed, poorly, but still. I, acting like a bitch, everybody’s crying and not singing. Yeah I don’t think y’all are gonna like my conclusions there, heh.”


Eros’s stomach turned; he squeezed Helios’s hand tightly.

“If you wanna see Blu or whatever that’s fine! Could’ve just asked, there was no damn reason for the siren song, however, I’m going to look past that ‘cause I was also a bit of an ass earlier and I think it’s fair that we’re tied now, agreed?”
Blood slipped down Cassiopeia’s face, dripping into her eyes—and Eros’s gaze slipped down to Helios’s forearm arm, which was still bleeding. His stomach turned at the sight, but he made a mental note to bandage it as soon as he was able.

“I’ll take you to Hamster and Birdy, but you’re song singy bullshit is not allowed and I want food.”

Eros’s gaze snapped back up to meet Cassiopiea’s pitch black eyes—and an overwhelming wave of relief crashed through his chest as her words finally sank in.

He was going to see Blu and Crow—and Rain, too, more likely than not. He was going to see them again, because they were alive, because whatever he had done, because whatever he’d convinced the spirit to do had worked, because he’d somehow managed to save them, even though he’d died in the process.

They were alive, and he was finally going to see them, finally going to know that everyone else, anyone else had managed to survive Angor’s destruction.

“No siren song,” he rasped, looking Cassiopeia dead in the eye, a strange sense of determination clawing its way through his chest. “I promise.”

~~~~~~~~

The next few minutes passed in a dizzyingly numb sort of blur, as he finally tugged himself free from Helios’s arms, pressed a kiss to his fiancé’s forehead, and ducked inside to retrieve his things while Helios offered Cassiopeia some fruit from the garden.

As he collected his enchanted flask, a strange, uneasy sense of dread began to spread through his gut, as if he’d somehow set something far beyond him into motion, as if something deep within him knew that he wouldn’t be coming home any time soon—but, no matter how much he tried to rationalize with himself that his trip to Dolus wouldn’t last anything more than a few hours, he couldn’t shake the feeling that things were about to spiral far out of his control.

Still, he forced the feeling asides—a feat that was much easier to do after he stuffed his portable first aid kit and a pair of magically sterilized medical gloves into his satchel. At the very least, Helios needed his wound bandaged, which would be easiest to do when they finally got a chance to sit down without having to worry about Cassiopeia wreaking havoc in their garden or home.

Before heading outside, Eros stopped at his dresser, and threw on a black tank top below his deep plum duster. While he was entirely comfortable going shirtless at home, he didn’t want to reunite with the other members of the group with his scars bared—particularly as he’d received said scars from Angor himself.

After glancing at himself in the bathroom mirror, splashing some water on himself, and adjusting his eyepatch, he moved to leave the room—only to hesitate. His gaze flickered back to the mirror, and then to the gill scars that were still plainly visible on his neck. Guilt flickered through his gut, and, with a heavy, exhausted exhale, Eros popped the collar of his coat, hiding his gills as best as he could.

He couldn’t be too careless, after all, even though the others most likely knew what he was, at this point.

After reuniting with Helios and Cassiopeia outside (and giving his shaken-looking fiancé a quick kiss to the back of his hand), they set off to the portal, which was located just down the road from the temple’s grand entrance, and then out into Qualen’s bustling city center.

From there, they began to wander, scouring the streets for any sign of the rest of Cassiopeia’s group. Eros’s chest felt tight with fear, with anticipation—and, yet, every time that Helios squeezed his hand in concern, he forced himself to breathe, to flash his fiancé a reassuring smile—until, while glancing around a crowded plaza, he caught a glimpse of two strikingly familiar green eyes—and, in an instant, he was gone, ducking and weaving through the crowd, leaving Helios far behind him.

Blu was ]alive—terrifying Blu, who’d coaxed him down from a panic attack, who’d tried to intervene before Angor had been summoned, who’d met his eyes in the last instant before he was torn apart by magic too powerful for him to comprehend—and he needed to see her, to know, once and for all, that anyone else had managed to survive the demon’s wrath.

He burst through the last cluster of people and out into the fringes of the crowd—and, suddenly, they were there, Crow and Blu standing side by side—and, at the sight, Eros froze, too overwhelmed to speak.

I waited for Fish boy or his, finacé? We were only separated for like, ten months? That’s a pretty short time to get engaged. Then again, you fucking go dude! Find another dumb idiot and be happy!

“No siren song,” does his voice have something wrong with it, oh, oh yeah the turbulent crying, nevermind, “I promise.”

Raspy voice or not, there’s no more siren song, I’m bringing a friend back, and I’m getting food! I wiggled happily, though Shiny didn’t seem too pleased to be left alone with me while Fish boy, got, got something from inside the house? Is it a house, or is it part of the garden? It’s all very green!

More importantly, Shiny gave me fruit! I dunno what the fuck it is, maybe a mango? Or, peach? It’s kinda yellow orange on the inside and vaugely circle-oval shaped? Fuck it I can’t tell it apart, but it’s in my hands and it’s mine now bitch! My teeth tore into the fruit, it’s good whatever it is! Grinning, I sat back down in the dirt. How long is Fish boy going to take? Eh, not really my problem, my problem is eating this as fast as possible!

Maybe, ten minutes later? Fish boy returned, and with a new outfit! The black is a nice touch! The duster was pretty though, why’d he change? Did I get blood on it? I don’t think I touched him though?

I was still trying to figure out why the outfit change when we finally came back through the portal and into Qualen, oh fuck! Hair! Horns! Shit, shit, shit. I held back while Fish boy and Shiny went ahead, frantically unbraiding my hair, roughing it up and frizzing it out plus covering the shaved side, well, covering the horns on that side. Stray curls fell into my face and I could already fell the heat building on my neck. Damn it’s hot. Do they still make those hoods with slots for the horns? I could put the top two through while still keeping the lower pair hidden in the hood and my hair! Not sure how that’d fix the heat issue, but at least if I run my horns would still be hidden—wait where’d Fish boy go?!

I jumped through the crowd. Everyone’s so tall, I feel short! That naga is super tall though, I’m pretty sure he’s gotta be what, at least seven feet? Where are you tall ass? I shoved past a middle aged person with a big purse, that I quickly also learned, was full of coin. Ha! They didn’t even notice my hand dip into the fabric, snatching two gold pieces, too focused on the big croc down the street.

Seriously, where is that shiny fuck? Or shorter, sing song bitch? I kept searching, occasionally letting my hands dip into pockets. Gotta get the good stuff! I’m not getting a job anytime soon, I’m good being a bitch! Plus, Ey! Free coin!

I nodded to myself as I trotted up to, ooh! Birdy’s here too, and Blu! Yay! I don’t have to search the crowd for each individual, wait damnit I was looking for Fish boy! Well, close enough!

“Birdy, Birdy I found Fish boy!” Crow turned toward me, nothing but pure shock and confusion on his face. “Fish boy, y’know, Eros! I threatened to beat his fiancé and now we’re friends again!”

A look of shock went across Birdy’s face, while Blu looked so, so done. Ah, come on! Is it that hard to be excited? Still sour from that tackle earlier, huh hamster? I chuckled to no one in particular and went and wrapped my left arm around Birdy’s shoulder. He shuffled a bit so that I could lean on him without dragging us both down. My right hand gestured, oh! Oh big colorful snake dude, ah man how’d I miss that guy? He’s literally right in front of me, oh and Fish boy too!

Anyways! I brought a proud grin to my face, opening my mouth to speak, at least until Blu cut me off. Really? I said you were an excellent cushion!

“I don’t know why, or even how, but you’ve both got twenty seconds before I call the guards, that includes you, you fucking demon.” She looked pointedly at me when she said demon.

A small tap on my arm and Birdy had my full attention. Whatcha need? He leaned in close, dropping his voice to a whisper while still somehow not actually looking like he was doing it? Weird, but neat skill!

“Cassiopeia, is that Eros, truly?”

“Yup!” I whispered back.

“Was he in the area when you were exploring?”

“Nah, beat a guy, found Fish boy’s fiancé, and accidentally got portaled into Port Songes? It was fun!”

“Well, you’ve had an eventful afternoon; would you like a handkerchief for the blood?”

“That’d be great!” And so the discussion ended as he handed me a pale pink cloth to wipe my face.

Honestly surprised nobody called the guards on me! A lot of tieflings have markings though, so maybe in passing it looked like stripes or patches of some kind? Dunno! Me and Birdy were chilling in the back, I’m all good on introductions! He’s not saying it, but there were faint orange streaks brightening, then fading over and over in his hair. Yeah, he can chill with me till he’s comfy talking! I gently clapped his shoulder, getting his attention in turn.

“Ey, you’re okay, I gotcha.” I gave his shoulder a quick squeeze, and a weak smile crossed his face. The orange slowly stopped peaking through his hair.

Eros only barely noticed as Helios and Cassiopeia raced up behind him, his wide, terrified gaze still locked on the group in front of him—but as Cassiopeia bounded up to the group and began to chatter excitedly, a wave of nausea surged through him.

They didn’t recognize him.

Blu was glowering furiously at Cassiopeia, Crow was staring at her in confusion and what almost seemed like disbelief, and Rain was nowhere to be seen (devastation dropped through his gut as he realized that she wasn’t with the group)—and it was as if he was a stranger to them.

“I don’t know why, or even how, but you’ve both got twenty seconds before I call the guards, that includes you, you fucking demon.”

Eros flinched at the sound of Blu’s voice, so much sharper than he’d ever remembered it being—and, against his will, he stumbled backwards, his vision blurring as hot, stinging tears welled up in his eyes.

Helios’s tail was nowhere to be found; Eros couldn’t bring himself to lift his gaze from the ground below him, too scared of meeting the complete lack of recognition in the others’ eyes to even dare to try to find his fiancé’s steading form.

Was he really so unrecognizable?

He knew that he’d changed, in more ways than one—there were still some days when he couldn’t bear to look at his reflection, too scared of what he’d see to even approach a mirror.

Over time, he’d come to cherish the scars across his body, as they were proof of all that he’d made it through, all that he’d survived—and the tender way that Helios traced the marks with his cool, gentle fingers each night, soothing them both to sleep only helped cement that into his mind. The scars were just another part of his body, another part of who he was, and he’d come to embrace them as such. They were important to him, to who he was—and that was what mattered most about them.

Still, he wasn’t stupid. The two sides of his face were strikingly different, even without taking his blind eye into consideration—and, despite how he’d come to embrace them as just another feature of his, he knew that people looked at him differently because of them. There were too many people that he’d met who had given him disgusted, sneering looks, too many people who’d stared at him in horror, too many people who’d turned to those around them and begun to whisper at the sight of him—and it hurt, seeing the horror and the complete lack of recognition in Crow and Blu’s eyes.

Eros swallowed hard, trying his hardest to force back his tears, trying his hardest to block out the jumbled mess of noise around him, trying his hardest to resist the urge to crumple to the ground or stumble into Helios’s strong, gentle arms—

His gaze flickered over to Helios, who was standing, frozen, besides him, just out of reach—and then his gaze roved over to Blu, who was yelling incoherently, and then to Crow. The half-elf’s ice blue eyes were wide and anxious—and something wrenched in Eros’s chest at the sight.

Before he could really process what he was doing, he crossed the distance between Crow and himself, stopping right in front of the other man. Panic clawed at his chest, but he forced it back with a deep, shaky breath, steeling himself as much as he could—and then, before he could so much as think, he reached out to Crow, offering his prosthetic hand out for a handshake, and words began to tumble out of his mouth completely unbidden.

“My name is Eros Acheron Oleander, former doctor of the Osprey’s crew, son of the sea spirit, officially the only siren left in all of Vaeringr—and there’s a lot that I didn’t tell you about the first time we met.”

His voice wavered fearfully as he spoke, despite his best attempts to keep it even; his heart pounded frantically in his chest.

“To, uh, put things simply?” Eros forced in a deep, steadying breath, shooting a quick, anxious glance at Helios before turning his anxious gaze back to meet Crow’s cool blue eyes. “I’m terrified out of my fucking mind right now—but, I mean, I was terrified then, too—but, just—you’re alive, and—and fucking Cassiopeia attacked my fiancé, and—”

Eros forced himself to breathe, dragging in a deep shuddering breath and slowly letting it out.

“It means so much to know that you’re alive.”

Birdy gently shrugged my arm off his shoulders, moving to look between me and Hamster, who was absolutely pissed! Looking between us like, what's that face even? It's like. Scared, but pleading at the same time? I don't, what does that mean?

Birdy made a startled ah, noise and I mimicked it. I didn't get why, until I noticed Fish boy putting his cool looking hand out in Birdy's direction. Is that porcelain? It looks like it? Those delicate painted designs? But wouldn't porcelain break really easy? What is his prosthetic made out of? Is it okay to ask?

"My name is Eros Acheron Oleander, former doctor of the Osprey's crew, son of the sea spirit, officially the only siren left in all of Vaeringr—and there's a lot that I didn't tell you about the first time we met."

How hard is it to make a prosthetic arm? Is it a long production time? Wait Fish boy is the only siren left? How the actual fuck can he fact check that? Got some special siren-finding-odometer? Was it expensive? Can I make one for other things, like coin or jewels or whiskey? I felt Birdy's fretful gaze on me and I looked at him. The fuck you want me to do? Guy raised from the dead somehow, ain't my problem!

"To, uh, put things simply?" Crow was definitely struggling to keep eye contact with Fish boy, agh, maybe I should do something? "I'm terrified out of my fucking mind right now—but, I mean, I was terrified then, too—but, just—you're alive, and—and fucking Cassiopeia attacked my fiancé, and—"

Blu was laser focused on the new folks. Maybe one of us should say something? Eh, maybe not. Fish boy is still terrified of me, Blu's just going to yell, and I'm pretty sure Birdy doesn't want to be perceived as existing at this moment.

"It means so much to know that you're alive."

Fish boy sounded gross, is he sick? Tired maybe? Eh, don’t particularly care all that much. Birdy’s got a lot of orange in his hair now, even some black streaks around his hairline. I saw Blu looking between us and I gave her a look. Well come on then! We all know you’re in the mood to sort shit out! Go a roaring! I waved my hand to her, come on Hamster!

“I-I really think you should be speaking to Blu, Cassiopeia?” Birdy’s voice shook and he shuffled to hover behind me, ducking his head, trying to hide his hair.

Me and Blu immediately locked eyes. Yup. Yup let the mean bitches handle introductions, well we’re not always mean, but me and Blu definitely can be! I grinned a little as Blu shoved herself to be in Fish boy’s face. Y’all better stop scaring Birdy! Ha, if that little angry squirrel display back in Port Songes was supposed to be scary, try me and Blu! Now that, that is the clear sign somebody gonna get fucked up!

“We don’t hear shit from, or about you in months, and you think you can just waltz the fuck back into our lives?!” Blu leaned up on her heels to almost—she’s what, barely five feet—almost meet Eros head on. “We thought you were dead, so, to be quite frank, I’m going to need a lot more than hearing you’re scared and glad to see us.

“Cassiopeia is a damn animal, you should know that. Of course she fucking attacked someone! And what the hell is all this ‘son of the Sea Spirit’ bullshit? You on something? There’s a lot all of us didn’t share, don’t go thinking you’re special.”

Damn, Hamster on a roll! I chuckled and nudged Birdy, who was staring firmly at the green. Come on! It’s cool to laugh, this shit hilarious! Blu paused to take a breath.

“Look, I’m sorry for shouting, but this really sounds like a bunch of fucking bullshit and I’m going to need a moment to process all of this; there’s a cafe I saw down the street, care to explain a bit more where idiots can keep their mouths shut with food?”

I glared, why did she look at me when she said idiots?

Crow was scared.

It was the first thing that Eros noticed as he spoke to the lanky half elf—the way that Crow could barely make eye contact with him, the way that his gaze repeatedly flickered between him and Cassiopeia, the way that he seemed to shy away from his outstretched hand—and an overwhelming sense of nausea curdled in his stomach.

What had he done to make the other man so terrified?

Was it because he was a siren? Because of his appearance? Because of his sudden re-appearance?

He didn’t know. His hand fell back to his side, and he clutched at it anxiously.

“I-I really think you should be speaking to Blu, or Selene, Cassiopeia?”

Eros’s gut twisted uneasily—but, before he could respond, Blu forced her way between him and Crow, and immediately began to snarl.

“We don’t hear shit from, or about you in months, and you think you can just waltz the fuck back into our lives?!”

Eros flinched, startled—and frightened—by the venom in Blu’s voice.

“We thought you were dead, so, to be quite frank, I’m going to need a lot more than hearing you’re scared and glad to see us. Cassiopeia is a damn animal, you should know that. Of course she fucking attacked someone! And what the hell is all this ‘son of the Sea Spirit’ bullshit? You on something? There’s a lot all of us didn’t share, don’t go thinking you’re special.”

Distantly, he heard Cassiopeia giggling—and his stomach only curdled all the more.

“Look, I’m sorry for shouting, but this really sounds like a bunch of fucking bullshit and I’m going to need a moment to process all of this; there’s a cafe I saw down the street, care to explain a bit more where idiots can keep their mouths shut with food?”

Eros stared at Blu for a long, tense moment, feeling sicker than he ever had before—and it was as if his heart didn’t even beat.

He didn’t know what to do.

He didn’t know what to say—and then, suddenly, it was as if something snapped.

“We’re leaving,” Eros stated, his voice as cold as ice as he swiftly turned on his heel and began to storm away. Helios balked, startled—and suddenly, he was in front of Eros, blocking his path.

Eros drew in a deep hiss of breath. “Helios—”

“Eros, we can’t just—”

“We’re leaving—”

“We can’t just leave—

“No—you want to know why we’re fucking leaving?” Eros snapped, whirling back on the group, fury lashing through his chest, his gills flaring out with rage. “We’re fucking leaving because—because—”

His gaze flickered to Cassiopeia—and, in an instant, Eros’s vision went white, a low, furious snarl escaping his lips.

“I didn’t fucking try to dissappear off of the face of the earth, you know that?” he snarled, spreading his arms as he slowly stalked back over to Blu. “It was hard not to, after I got fucking blown to smithereens by the fucking demon your fucking tiefling summoned. It was hard not to, after I woke up in my patron’s temple, on the other side of the fucking world. It was hard not to, after everything spiralled out of my fucking control, just like your fucking quest”!

“You know why I’m here?” he asked, stumbling away from Blu, a choked, hysterical laugh escaping from his throat. “I’m here because my doctor canceled my appointment to make sure that my prosthetic is still functional.

“I’m here because, by fucking chance, that fucking monster of a tiefling waltzed back into my life,” Eros snarled, jabbing a finger at Cassiopeia. “I’m here because I needed closure, so I can get on living my own life—so don’t you dare think that I’m here just for shits and giggles.”

Eros drew in a deep, furious breath, trying to steady himself—but all it did was fuel the overpowering rage that had brought his entire body to shudder with the sheer force of his fury.

“You know why I’m here, Blu?” Eros seethed, backing away from the small human. “I’m not here to fucking listen to you rage at me over tea and cookies for getting slaughtered—I’m here because you were the last thing I saw before that fucking demon ripped me apart, and I needed to know that you were still fucking ALIVE!”

Something cold and wet slipped down Eros’s chin—and it was then that he realized that he was crying. A choked, shuddering sob forced its way past his throat—and, suddenly, his knees crumpled out from under him, sending him tumbling to the ground.

In an instant, Helios was there besides him, arms looped protectively around his shoulders, squeezing him tightly—and, suddenly, Eros was fighting for air, gripping Helios’s gentle hands for dear life, trying to fight past the blinding white that was encroaching upon his vision once more.

“We’re leaving,” man Fish boy sounds pissed.

He turned and began storming off. Ha! Can’t take the fire thrown back, huh? Big crybaby. Blu’s was just getting started when she tried to deescalate! She was offering food! A café, oh wait café? Didn’t they promise me food? Wait nevermind the fruit! We’re good!

Helios moved to block his fiancé. Not really my problem. I really would like it if we could just. Stop? I gotta get a cloaky-hood to hide with! Not that I’m a hider, I’d rather beat somebody, but I also kinda really don’t wanna go to jail? I mean, yeah I could break out sure, but do I want to give Birdy that anxiety? Nah.

His werewolf form doesn’t make him happy. It happens because his anxiety climbs, and before we found that transformation charm, he couldn’t talk in that shape. Plus he’d ruin his clothes. The inability to talk freaked him out, a lot. Only made him even more anxious, practically panicked, and it’d take even longer before he could shift back. Which already usually takes an hour, hour and a half? The charm makes it so he can talk, and not destroy what he’s wearing. Pretty sure it’s comforting for him just to hold it, too, he hasn’t said that, but? But I think it’s true? Yeah I don’t wanna send him into that because I got arrested. Or killed? Would I get executed? It depends on who’s leading right now, I think? Eh, maybe not. Don’t wanna find out.

“I didn’t fucking try to dissappear off of the face of the earth, you know that?” Woah shit, when did he start yelling? “It was hard not to, after I got fucking blown to smithereens by the fucking demon your fucking tiefling summoned. It was hard not to, after I woke up in my patron’s temple, on the other side of the fucking world. It was hard not to, after everything spiralled out of my fucking control, just like your fucking quest”!

Okay I’m not Blu’s. Lemme get that straight. I’m not anybody’s. And clearly you didn’t get ‘blown to smithereens,’ because if you did, there’d be nothing left buddy. Does he not know how explosions work? At most you got a little singed. Maybe a little more singed. Okay maybe singed and, what’s it called, er, amputated? Did he lose the arm in the fight or did he get it amputated though? I’m can’t remember.

Also, stop yelling at her?! I’ll kick your ass, bitch. She was trying to deescalate, you’re the one who’s gonna get the guards coming over here with all your screeching. Shut up. Or at least take the café offer and shut up long enough to get behind a barrier, then continue yelling. It’s a very simple concept! Don’t get everybody arrested!

“You know why I’m here? I’m here because my doctor canceled my appointment to make sure that my prosthetic is still functional.

“I’m here because, by fucking chance, that fucking monster of a tiefling waltzed back into my life,” I am, going to ignore the monster comment. “I’m here because I needed closure, so I can get on living my own life—so don’t you dare think that I’m here just for shits and giggles.”

I felt Birdy shrink behind me. Now that, that got my attention. Don’t you fucking dare make him scared. Or is it guilty? I glanced back at him. His head was ducked low, eyes on the ground, rubbing his thumb against the back of his hand. It was his quest... eh fuck it! Don’t make him feel bad! He didn’t mean for anybody to get hurt! My face twisted, don’t growl, don’t growl, don’t growl.

“You know why I’m here, Blu?” Keep yapping like that buddy, try it. “I’m not here to fucking listen to you rage at me over tea and cookies for getting slaughtered—I’m here because you were the last thing I saw before that fucking demon ripped me apart, and I needed to know that you were still fucking ALIVE!”

Within a few moments, all that fire went out as he yet again, fuckn’ collapsed into his fiancé’s arms. Buddy. Buddy buddy buddy, I am this close to giving you a damn reason to be crying. The staring from the busy street was one of two or three things keeping me from doing so.

Blu was noticing the surrounding crowd too. She looked over to me silently. I’m not entirely certain what that look meant? I glanced back at Birdy’s wide eyes and back to her. Well hamster? Any ideas? All mine involve prison time.

She made a great big inhale, taking a long minute to glare at me. I tossed my arms up. What’d I do?!

Blu took a step closer to Fish boy and Helios. She gripped the pommel of her sword while she offered her right hand out to Fish boy on the ground.

“We’re not going to settle anything in the street, and honestly, it’s not the place to do so. I’m sorry for what happened to you, it shouldn’t have happened to begin with.” Her voice was a little tense, heh, you still want to snap back, don’tcha Blu boo? Good job for trying to be nice though!

“We really can’t discuss this as much as we should with all these people watching us. You understand? We, me, Crow, and Cassiopeia, just got here so we don’t have anywhere private to talk about this, so I’ll reiterate: I saw a café, would you like to go there? I don’t have anywhere else to offer at the moment, unless you have a suggestion.”

Birdy walked out from behind me and stood quietly. Yay! I grinned and wrapped my arm around his shoulders again. Armrest is back! I looked at Fish boy. I’ll still kick his ass if he doesn’t shut up and take the offer though.

Eros’s hands were locked tight around Helios’s own, gripping him with painful, uncharacteristic strength. His fingernails dug sharp crescents into the soft skin of Helios’s hands, and the naga drew in a sharp, pained breath, squeezing his fiancé’s fragile, trembling form as tightly as he could, desperately trying to steady the man he loved.

A hitched, broken sob escaped Eros’s lips, and, suddenly, Helios was painfully aware of how silent the world around them was. He could feel the weight of the crowd’s stares upon his back, and with a slight hiss, he drew his tail in around Eros, trying to shield him from view.

He hadn’t seen Eros this devastated since the night he’d accidentally revealed himself as a siren, the night that he’d tried to make Helios abandon him in order to protect himself in some twisted way—but this time, there was nothing that Helios could do to save the man he loved.

He was terrified as it was, and completely out of his depth, surrounded by strangers that could kill him and the man he loved in an instant. He didn’t know what Eros would do to try and protect himself, didn’t know what Eros would do to protect him—and that, above all else, was the most terrifying thing that Helios could think of.

Suddenly, the small, blonde woman—Blu—took a step towards them, gripping her sword defensively. Helios flinched away from her, startled, an involuntary hiss slipping past his lips. Still, she extended one of her hands, reaching down towards Eros—and Helios’s stomach turned at the sight.

“We’re not going to settle anything in the street, and honestly, it’s not the place to do so. I’m sorry for what happened to you, it shouldn’t have happened to begin with.” Blu’s voice was terse, as if she was barely restraining herself from shouting back at Eros, and Helios hissed again, the sound distinctly angrier than before.

Eros, however, remained entirely unresponsive, crumpled in on himself, desperately clutching at Helios’s hands as he sobbed. Every fiber of Helios’s being screamed at him to take Eros back home, to protect the love of his life in whatever way he could—

“We really can’t discuss this as much as we should with all these people watching us. You understand? We, me, Crow, and Cassiopeia, just got here so we don’t have anywhere private to talk about this, so I’ll reiterate: I saw a café, would you like to go there? I don’t have anywhere else to offer at the moment, unless you have a suggestion.”

Eros hiccuped weakly, squeezing Helios’s hands even more tightly than before—and, in that instant, a strange sort of resolve struck through Helios’s chest, as a memory of Eros’s thin, shaky voice spiraled through his mind.

”I died that day, Helios, in more ways than one—because when I came back, every part of who I’d been before was gone.”

“It scares me, being gone—because I can’t bear losing more pieces of who I am.”

Without thinking, Helios pried one of his hands free from Eros’s grasp and took Blu’s outstretched hand. Knowing that he’d drag her down with him if he tried to use it to get up, Helios twisted his tail beneath him and used it to push both Eros and himself to a standing position, then let go of Blu’s hand.

“We’ll meet you at the Weeping Sheep Tearoom,” he stated firmly, meeting Blu’s deep green eyes straight-on as he wrapped his free arm around Eros’s waist to steady his trembling form. “Give us a few minutes, and we’ll meet you there.”

~~~~~~~~

They didn’t care.

None of them cared.

Blu’s hollow, terse apology rang through his ears, even as Helios guided him away from the group and through the winding city streets. He couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t see anything—nothing seemed to register, nothing felt real.

Helios’s firm hands guided him down to sit on the edge of something carved out of rough stone—a fountain, given the distant, disorienting sound of burbling, splashing water. Eros sat, obediently, staring out at the dizzyingly empty plaza before him. Helios’s tail snagged around his waist, constricting around him just a little more tightly than was comfortable, and, finally. Eros drew in a sharp, shuddering breath, his limbs jerking slightly with the force of the motion.

“Breathe, Eros.”

Eros forced in another deep, hitched breath, his head bobbing up and down in an attempt at a nod. “Y-Yeah.”

Helios hushed him gently, brushing a lock of hair from his face—and as the naga’s fingers grazed against his cheek, Eros’s own hand fumbled upwards to clutch his fiancé’s tender hand to his cheek.

“I’m so sorry, Helios,” he choked out, tears welling up in his eyes once more as he pressed his cheek into Helios’s soft hand. “I’m so sorry for making you put up with all this—you don’t deserve this kind of shit—”

“Shh, Eros—”

“I’m sorry for this, for all of this—I’m sorry that I blew up at you, at everyone—”

“Eros, baby—”

“I didn’t want any of this—”

“I know, handsome—”

“They don’t care, Helios,” Eros bawled, squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as he could. “I don’t think they even believe me, and—”

“Hey, hey—” Helios knelt down in front of him, clasping his hands and gazing up at him with soft, pleading eyes. “Do you remember what you told me the night you proposed?”

Eros’s heart ached. “You’re my world, you dumb snake.”

Helios laughed softly. “And you’re my world, too, you dumb fish,” he murmured, leaning in to press a kiss to the wrist of Eros’s prosthetic arm. “No matter what, I’m here with you—and I know what you’ve been through. You’ve shown me, after all.”

One of Helios’s hands slipped up to rest over Eros’s heart—and Eros swallowed hard, fresh despair striking through his chest.

“They don’t believe me, Helios,” Eros croaked. “Angor killed me, right in front of them—and they don’t believe me.”

Helios pressed his lips together into a thin line, bowing his head. “Honestly, Eros? I think they’re still processing everything. You are too, after all.”

Eros opened his mouth, ready to retort—but the argument died on his lips. He averted his gaze to his knees, squeezing Helios’s hand as tightly as he could. His chest felt tight, guilt clawing in at his ribcage; with more effort than it should have taken, Eros drew in a deep, shaky breath, lifting his gaze up to meet that of his fiancé.

“I shouldn’t have blown up at them like that.”

Helios froze for a moment, then sighed heavily, shaking his head. “Probably not.”

Eros swallowed hard, averting his gaze again. “I mean, I shouldn’t have expected them to care, much less listen,” he croaked. “It’s not like I was even close to them, and, I mean, they—

Helios placed his index finger over Eros’s lips, shushing him in an instant. Eros blinked, then glanced up at his fiancé, who flashed him a soft, worried smile before pulling away once again.

“They thought you were dead for nearly a year now, dumbass,” Helios murmured insistently. “They’ll listen. Just give them time.”

Eros swallowed hard, averting his gaze to Helios’s scales. “I need to apologize,” he admitted. “I shouldn’t have blown up at Blu like that.”

Helios hummed softly, twining up and around Eros’s side to curl up next to him on the edge of the fountain. “You’re still processing too, you dumb fish,” he rasped. “Don’t beat yourself up too much.

“But yeah—it’s probably a good idea to apologize.”

~~~~~~~

The Weeping Sheep Tearoom was a spacious yet cozy cafe, complete with a selection of couches and cushy armchairs arranged around a large, unlit fireplace. Crow’s trio was already situated at a table, and, after ordering two sweet black teas and a bundle of chocolate cookies at the counter, Eros walked over to their table, while Helios dragged over one of the larger armchairs so he could more easily sit beside them.

For a moment, Eros hesitated—and then, with a shaky sigh, he pulled out a chair and sat down at the round table, just across from Crow and Blu. Eros paused again, glancing back at Helios, only to sigh once more and turn his gaze back to Blu.

“Look. I’m sorry for, ah, losing my shit.” Eros rasped, absently fiddling with the parchment wrapped around his cookies. “It’s…it’s just not easy running into you all again, after everything.”

He fell silent—only to sigh and continue on after a brief moment.

“Still, I shouldn’t have blown up at you. I’m sorry.”

Helios finally plopped down in the armchair he’d dragged over, draping his tail over one of the arms and around the bulk of the chair, lounging sideways against the opposite arm. The end of his tail twined up and around Eros’s ankle, and Eros immediately relaxed into his touch, casting his fiancé a grateful glance.

“I’m Helios, by the by,” the naga chirped, waving awkwardly at the group. “I’m his fiancé.”

While Helios shuffled off with Fish boy, barely muttering an agreement to meet at the café, me, Birdy, and Blu went on ahead. I mean, at least they agreed? Kinda in a salty way though. Eh, not my problem for the next few minutes!

Blu lead the way and opened the door to the café. The door rung with a little bell as the door as we walked in. Cute! That’s a good sound! Blu strode ahead, Birdy close behind, and I stayed back to push the door open and shut a couple times first! The bell had a very, clear? Clean? What’s the music term for it? Good noise either way! Ring! Ring, ring, ring!

“Cas!” Blu snapped and I froze, watching the door glide shut with a final ring of the bell. She came over to drag me to a chair. “Could you please, not?”

I grudgingly allowed her to pull me along. Not before reacting up and ringing the bell with my hand one final time though! Ha! I can not, not! I laughed to myself and sat in one of the wooden chairs around the table she’d chosen. Blu rolled her eyes at me. Got a problem Hamster? Go bitch to somebody who cares!

Birdy was speaking to the waitress who’d come over, ordering drinks and whatnot. I leaned over to tap his shoulder.

“Can I have a sandwich?”

“Um, I think they only have bagels, would that be alright?”

“Fantastic!” I chirped, shoving his shoulder playfully.

And so we got two green teas, a hot chocolate for me, and three everything bagels. Blu sipped her tea quietly, but I’m not sure she liked it? Her face got all pointed and she moved her jaw a lot. Eh. That’s why I don’t drink tea! I don’t wanna be surprised when it tastes different every single time you make it! I opened the satchel at my side, removed a small bottle, popped the cap, and dumped a teeny tiny bit of liquor into my hot chocolate. I put the bottle away and took a sip. Excellent. See, see this shit always tastes the same, warm and sweet and with a kick!

I had just finished my bagel and picking bits out of my teeth when Fish boy and his fiancé walked it. They look tired. Yeah that’s no surprise, balling your eyes out will do that! Plus calming somebody down after crying? Nah I’ll pass.

They spotted us and walked over, Shiny dragged his own chair over. Probably hard to find chairs big enough with that much tail. Do houses made for naga have chairs? Would they need to be custom made? That seems really expensive, how could they afford that? Or is it something like, long couches?

“Look. I’m sorry for, ah, losing my shit, it’s…it’s just not easy running into you all again, after everything.”

What a shocker! Now I was the one rolling my eyes. Damn Blu, stop influencing me! I paused for a second. Would the couches need special fabrics not to catch on scales?

“Still, I shouldn’t have blown up at you. I’m sorry.”

Both Blu and Birdy were silent, guess we’re still waiting on this guy? I think he’s done though? Are we pondering? I glanced at Birdy, but he was pretty focused on Eros. Blu? Ah. Yup she’s looking at me, and back to Eros. Wait does he have cookies? Can I have one?

“I’m Helios, by the by,” Helios slid into his chair and curled his tail around Fish boy, is that comfortable? “I’m his fiancé.”

That little announcement got everybody’s attention. Maybe not mine, seeing as I already knew. See! See, being a bitch gets you stuff! You learn things faster! Like Helios gets really mad when you threaten his husband-to-be. That’s good stuff to know!

“Fiancé? Fiancé—nevermind.” Heh, lil upset Blu boo? Yeah I thought it was fast too, but they seem pretty happy with each other so good for them! She rubbed the corners of her temple while taking a breath.

“I appreciate the apology, seeing you wasn’t easy for me either.” She took a sip of her tea, and again with the faces! If you don’t like it stop drinking it!

Birdy shifted in his seat before speaking.

“Congratulations, on being engaged, you look happy together.” At that Blu nodded.

“Yeah, congrats. If you don’t mind me asking, are you trying to set a record for fastest engagement?” The last bit she said jokingly, at least, it sounded joking to me! She had that tiny smile that brought out the dimples in her cheeks. Plus, I didn’t hear her cuss so, maybe joking? No insults either! Definitely joking! Possibly stress too, kinda weird seeing dead but not actually dead Fish boy.

“Congratulations or yada yada, can I have your cookie?” I asked, reaching forward a little bit. Let me have it, please let me have it, you can’t wave sugar in my face and not at least share!

Blu and Crow watched him for a long moment after he finished speaking, silent and almost expectant, but, the moment that Helios spoke, their attention snapped over to him.

“Fiancé? Fiancé—nevermind.” Blu rubbed at her temples, dragging in a deep breath. Eros winced slightly at the frustration in her voice, averting his gaze to the bag of cookies in front of him. Helios squeezed his leg with the end of his tail, silently reassuring him—but, before he could say a word, Blu continued on.

“I appreciate the apology, seeing you wasn’t easy for me either.”

Eros glanced back up at her, relief flooding through his chest. Blu took a sip of her drink, making a face as she did; remembering his own drink, Eros picked up his own mug and took a long sip of his sweetened tea.

“Congratulations, on being engaged, you look happy together.”

Eros flushed, a small smile curling across his lips as he set down his mug. “Thanks,” he murmured, fiddling with the engagement band around his wrist.

“Yeah, congrats,” Blu added, nodding. “If you don’t mind me asking, are you trying to set a record for fastest engagement?”

Eros’s face flushed an even deeper indigo hue; he bowed his head embarrassedly, picking at the paper wrapped around his cookies.

“I know it seems fast, but it took me ages to finally get the courage to propose,” he mumbled, a small smile curling across his lips. “I’ve never been happier than I am when I’m with him.”

“Congratulations or yada yada, can I have your cookie?”

Eros glanced up at Cassiopeia, startled—only to immediately sigh in disappointment as he saw her already reaching out towards his cookies. Casting a long-suffering glance at Helios (who merely raised his eyebrows at him in response), Eros pulled a cookie out of the bundle and handed it over to her defeatedly.

“Don’t try and take another one,” he stated sternly, plopping back down into his seat.

“Do I get a cookie?”

Helios’s voice was hushed, conspiratorial—and Eros raised his eyebrows as he turned to face the naga, whose lips were twisted up in a small, smug grin.

“Do I get to be the little spoon tonight?”

Helios pouted, crossing his arms. “How dare you expose me like that.”

Eros grinned.

“Is that a yes?” he teased, waggling a cookie at the other man—and Helios scoffed.

“You’ll have to try harder than that to get me to give up my little spoon privileges” the naga stated smugly, leaning back in his armchair. “Give me three cookies and we’ll call it even.”

Eros snorted. “Deal.”

He pulled out two more cookies and handed them to the naga—and then suddenly remembered that Crow, Blu, and Cassiopeia were still present.

His face flushed. He coughed slightly, embarrassed, then turned back to face Blu.

“So, what’s happened on your end since we got separated?”

Well? Are you going to give it to me or am I going to have to take it Fish boy? My hand is already out. He gave a hefty sigh like it was oh so terrible to share, then handed a cookie to me.

“Don’t try and take another one,” uh huh, I’ll take what I like bitch.

I leaned back into my seat clutching my prize. Smells like chocolate, oh! What would it taste like if I put it in my hot chocolate? Would it be a double chocolate cookie then?! I pulled my drink close and dunked the cookie in it, spilling some down the side of the mug. The cookie didn’t break, and I shoved the whole thing in my mouth. Tasty!

I barely registered the sappy flirting between Fish boy and his fiancé, do I really care about who’s little spoon and who isn’t? Absolutely not. Though, how dare he give Helios three, three! Cookies while I only got one?! I’m the one with a dragon strength sucker punch here!

Blu switched seats with Birdy, putting him next to me and away from her. Ah shit, did I spill the hot chocolate on her? Her annoyed glare said yes, yes I did. Oh well! Drink stains dry! Not like that cloak hasn’t seen it’s fair share of muck already. If anything, the new smell is an improvement!

“So, what’s happened on your end since we got separated?” Eros asked.

Hrm? Us? Birdy shrunk uncomfortably in his seat. Blu grimaced and looked off to the side. Ah, guess they’re still not all that comfortable with that particular subject. I mean—I set my drink down—Birdy’s a werewolf now, Blu can’t stop dragging her sister’s oversized greatsword everywhere, I’m great though, but! Agh, never mind. I snorted and twisted in my chair, listening to the wood creak.

Yeah, no buddy. You’re not getting that answer. You’re off and dandy with a new guy and with what seems, maybe? Some sort of job? A decent paying one too, that garden was insane! Sucks that you lost your arm, but you’ve got an epic prosthetic! You were actually able to get a prosthetic.

Us? No. Just, no. I shook my head, damnit! Now I’m getting all gloomy and pissy! Damnit!

Yet again, Blu was the one who broke the silence. Probably for the best, Birdy’s already uncomfortable and likely pretty close to cawing if he even tried to talk; stupid curses! They shouldn’t stack! He shouldn’t have to struggle so much when he isn’t even wolfed up yet! Bullshit magic! I’ll probably snap if I talk, but damn! That’s a shitty question to ask! ‘So, what’s happened on your end since we got separated?’ The fuck you think?!

I slammed my tail into the ground, earning a look from Blu and a pat on the shoulder from Birdy.

“It’s been rough. This is actually our first step into a town since, well, Gelu. A small stop a camps here and there for supplies...” she started to trail off, not finishing her sentence.

I focused my attention on Fish boy, making sure to curl my lip just enough that my canines were visible. We’re fucking tired and don’t want to get into this shit the second we sit down. Plus, I’d really, really like to get a good cloak with a hood big enough for my horns. How many people watched that outburst earlier? Shit.

“Chose a new topic buddy, quickly,” I said looking directly at Fish boy.

Birdy frowned at me, and I glared back. I’m not apologizing! I’m not the one who wanted to get snippy! My fucking bad it took me longer to get on the pissed off mood horse than everybody else!

“If we could talk about something else, possibly? Do either of you happen to know of an affordable inn the area by any chance?” Birdy’s voice croaked a bit, I knew he was close to cawing.