M̶̿ĶĢĢ̾ĶĢĶ̽ĶĶ̣̯̯ĶĢŖĢ”ĶĢ̣̯a̶ĢĢĢĢĢĢĢ Ķ̾ĶĶ̼ĶĢĢ”Ķ̳̔Ķ̮̯̼Ķ̳ĢĢ©rĢ·Ķ̽ĢĢĶĶĶ̼ĶĢĶiĢ·ĶĶĢĢĶ̻̔ĶĶĢĢ«Ģ told me your name.
And yes I haven't spoken to you before. So what's your new thing?
-āš¦
āā¦That nameās kinda staticky⦠I dunno if I can say itā¦ā ^ā¢nā¢^
āOh, okay!! I donāt⦠think I have a ānew thingā, thoughā¦?ā
āAnd if you know my name, can I know yours?ā
I am Drosophila.
It does that, doesn't want its name known I suppose. Oh well.
No new thing? Then why are you a favourite?
āDroā¦ā *Ria hesitates, sounding out the name.* āDrosophila?ā *She looks at her, checking for approval. Or disapproval.*
āOh⦠thatās okay!ā
*They tilt their head.* āI donāt think soā¦? Iām sorry. Am I supposed to have something new?ā *It thinks for a few moments.* āOh!! I do have something new!! Hold on!ā *Ria hops over to her closet, pulling out⦠a toothless onesie. She shows it off to Drosophila.* āIs that the ānew thingā Iām supposed to haveā¦?ā
Drosophila laughed sarcastically at the naivety of the child.
No I didn't mean that... whatever weird outfit that is..
I meant like something new in your I don't know behavior, I guess it likes stupidity.
*She takes this as a Good Thing; laughter is Good, right? The lack of correction is Also Good. They probably didnāt get it wrong, then.*
āOh⦠I think itās cute. And itās new! One of the Voices gave it to me, I think. I dunno what itās supposed to be, though⦠speaking of voices! Whyās your voice like that? It sounds⦠different.ā *Ria doesnāt know how to explain it. Nothingās⦠wrong with Drosophilaās voice. Nothing seems weird. But somethingās Different about it.*
āOh⦠how am I supposed to know if something like that is new..?ā *Their ear twitches. That last wordās hard to hearā¦* āā¦It likes what?ā
"It's a onesie. You're supposed to wear it. You don't know that either? Hmm." Drosophila pauses for a minute. "What's different about my voice?" She ignores the last question of the vampire child, figuring out that her words were crossed for a reason and she shouldn't try and overstep.
āNo, no, I donāt know what itās supposed to be. I figured out that it was clothes⦠even if I didnāt know the nameā¦ā
āIā¦ā *Ria pauses. She doesnāt know how to describe it.* āI donāt⦠know. It feels different. Like how mamaās voice is sometimes different. Or how certain words are sometimes different? Your voiceā¦ā *Hesitation⦠figuring it outā¦* āā¦feels yellow. I think. But thatās not one of the normal colorsā¦? So it feels weird.ā *She doesnāt know what sheās saying. Not fully.*
"Ah." "My colour is yellow, that's why it sounds like it. Nothing weird of it, more people will have different colours." Drosophila shrugged.
āBut itās⦠a different yellow. Mamaās color isnāt that sort of yellow.ā *Riaās face twists with confusion, ever so slightly.* āDyou know⦠why some things sound like colors?ā *She doesnāt ā not yet.*
"Well I'm not your 'Mama', so why would I have the same colour as him?" Drosophila sighed. "People just have colours when their players want them to have that. That's all."
āBecause mama is yellows and golds. So you being more yellow than him doesnāt make lots of senseā¦ā
*Ria tilts her head.* āThe Voices? Theyāre the ones that make words into colors? They can do that?ā
"His is more orange-ish." Drosophila nodded.
"Yes, 'the voices' can do that and a whole lot more."
āYeah! But his visible colors⦠arenāt. So I dunno. Maybe the colors are just a little funny.ā
āI think one of them turned me into a mouse-person! They said something about a āmagic anonā. Also, theyāve given me stuff sometimes. I think.ā *They offer.* āThey really can do lotsā¦ā
Drosophila shrugged. "I guess their player likes that or something, I don't know."
"Oh, the anons do that I suppose." Drosophila stayed quiet for a moment before continuing. "Do you like the gifts?"
āI guess⦠sorry, Drosophilaā¦ā
āThey do?ā *Ria pauses. One of her ears twitch.* āā¦Your voice is different.ā
*They glance at the onesie, thinking for a few moments. And then they glance back over.* āMhm! Thank you. It was super nice.ā
"There's nothing different, don't worry about it." Drosophila smiled softly at Ria. "I'm glad you liked my gift."
"You should try and wear it sometime."
āBut itās more purple-y, nowā¦?ā *ā¦Her gift? Butā¦? Ria looks confused, before shaking it off. Itās probably fine. Maybe Drosophila just forgot?*
āOkay!!! Do I put it on like normal clothes..?ā
'Drosophila' just smiled even wider, but it looked like the body wasn't used to all of that smiling so it came out a bit awkward. "Don't you worry your little head."
Drosophila nodded. "Mhm, open the front zipper and put your limbs through their places and zip it back up."
*Ria grins back. She doesnāt seem to have noticed anything off.* āOkay!ā
*They nod, wiggling into the onesie over their dress. And⦠oh, little dragon. Dragon Ria Time. Someone send a photo to TK and EnDer. Riaās wings are a bit lighter than the dragon āscalesā, but itās close enough.*
'Drosophila' looked like she was looking at the cutest most precious thing in the world. The cuteness aggression coming in clutch!
"You look very pretty, little one" She bent slightly to Ria's level.
*Ria wiggles, testing the new weight distribution. The dragon tail waves behind her. They giggle at that, spinning in place in an attempt to catch their new tail.*
āThat you, Drosophila! Youāre super pretty, too. Dyou wanna be a dragon with me?ā
Drosophila laughs heartily watching Ria's antics. She looked like a puppy trying to catch her tail.
"Thank you!" The fruit fly stood up straight and thought. "You want me to be a dragon too?"
*Once Riaās done with the spinning, she sways in place a bit. Dizzyā¦*
āUh-huh! If you wanna be. So we can be dragons together!ā
Drosophila held her arms out to be able to catch Ria if she fell.
"Okay, I'll be a dragon too then" She leaves a couple of moments before returning in a Stormfly onesie.
*Luckily, the Ria does not fall.*
āYouāre blue!! And spikey!!!ā *Ria hops around āDrosophilaā. Sheās adapted to the counterweight (tail) pretty fast, it seems.* āAnd now weāre both dragons, like papa is!ā
Drosophila nodded with a grin, looking around her circumference to watch Ria hop around. "Do you like it? My onesie?"
āUh-huh!! Itās super pretty, and super cool looking!!! What typa dragon is it? I think mineās supposed to be like what papa isā¦ā *In Riaās mind, this simply Makes Sense. EnDer is a dragon, so clearly she, as his kid, would be given the same sort of dragon as a costume.*
"It's from a movie, yours is a Night Fury. I guess it is similar to your Papa."
"Mine is a Deadly Nadder, Stormfly."
āPapaās⦠an Ender Dragon, I think? I dunno for sure, though. Why does the dragon-costume-species make the night all angry?ā
āDeadly because of the spikes? Is Stormfly the dragonās name? Does my dragon-costume have a name?ā
"Nightfuries are thought of as dangerous so the 'fury' and the night comes from their jet black skin- it's difficult to see them in the dark. As for Deadly Nadders..."
Drosophila picked up the onesie's tails and showed off the spikes. "The spikes are venomous."
āWoahā¦ā *Ria looks down at the onesie-paws, staring at them with big eyes.* āDid they think the night was gonna snatch them away, then?ā
āā¦On the actual dragon?ā *Ria tilts her head, looking at the onesieās spikes. They donāt look dangerous, but you never knowā¦*
Drosophila shrugged. "Maybe. Oh and your one is named Toothless"
She nodded. "On the actual dragon, I'm not one and this is just fabric."
āToothless⦠does that mean they have to eat mush? If they donāt have teeth? Like a baby has to? But then why are they so dangerousā¦?ā
āNot venomed-fabric. Okay, thatās good!ā *Ria nods. Is⦠fabric with venom in it a normal thing to consider?*
"The person who named toothless thought he didn't have any teeth but actually it's retractable. So they do have teeth. And besides, more reasons than teeth to be dangerous. "
Drosophila almost as if reading Ria's thoughts answered. "Fabric can have venom but this doesn't."
*Ria tilts her head.* āDangerous how?ā *She does another spin, looking for anything that seems Dangerous. They donāt find anything.*
āOkay! So itās just costume-spikes. Thatās good.ā *Ria figures it was on her Face. She hasnāt been hiding any expressions, and sheās pretty easy to read. She thinks.*
Still tugging on the tail with her hands, Drosophila replied. "Dragons tend to be huge in comparison to humans, they have claws, teeth, can breathe fire and what not. So they are pretty dangerous"
*Ria blinks. Her mind immediately goes to EnDer ā heās not all that big. But maybe thatās because heās human-like?*
āI donāt think papaās all that dangerous.ā *Like Ria didnāt see him kill Fallen. Or maybe she doesnāt realize quite how big that feat is (or is attributing it to TKās help). She thinks for a few more seconds ā Grandma Jean can eat people. So maybeā¦?* āā¦Does that mean Grandma Jean is supposed to be dangerous?ā *Everyone knows Grandma Jean. Obviously. Even though Ria didnāt, before she met EnDer.*
"Your Papa is anthropogenic, humanoid like so he's not that huge like the dragons I was talking about." Drosophila would add that he's still dangerous but decided against it for Ria's sake.
"She is dangerous, yes." She nodded.
*Ria nods.* āI wonder if papa can turn into a bigger dragon, then! Like how I can turn into a bat. Or maybe heās gotta be older. I think he said heās gotta be older for a few things.ā
āI still wanna meet her. Papa made it sound like she was nice. Even if she eats people.ā
Drosophila shrugged. "Maybe you can ask him, he would probably know."
She smiled and patted Ria's shoulder. "I hope you will be able to meet her"
*She nods.* āI hope so.ā
*Riaās eyes light up at the affection, as they always seem to. She leans into the touch.* āMhm, me too! Dyou think you could meet her, too?ā
She giggled, not moving the hand away from Ria's shoulder. "You want me to meet her?"
Drosophila tilted her head. "Why so?"
āWellā¦ā *Ria pauses. She doesnāt⦠actually have an answer. It just felt right. She looks confused, for a Long While.*
*And then they seem to realize.* āOh! Cuz youāre my friend, and if Grandma Jean is my sorta-grandma, then that means sheās probably my friend, too! And if youāre both my friends, then why shouldnāt you know each other?ā
"Hmm, that makes sense" Drosophila pulled her hand away and held up her pinkie to Ria. "Then I pinkie promise you, I will meet your grandma if it's possible, okay?"
*Ria grins, then nods. Her pinky wraps around āDrosophilaāsā, before she does a mini-handshake with it. It seems like sheās gotten the two actions confused, but sure.*
āOkay!! Maybe we could even meet her together!ā
Drosophila giggled more at the pinkie-shake(?).
"Okay, we can do that"
āYayyy!!! I wanna meet Grandma Jean, too.ā
*Ria pauses.*
āWe might wanna smell different, though. So she doesnāt think weāre food.ā
Drosophila thought for a second. "Do dragons eat bats and flies though?"
*Ria blinks.* āI dunno. But we might smell too people-like anyways, like how papa does.ā
*A pause.* āYouāre a fly?ā ^ā¢wā¢>?
"Hmm, I guess that's true"
"Yeah! Drosophila is- I mean..." Drosophila cleared her throat. "I am a fruit fly!"
*Ria pauses, before jumping at Drosophila. Wrapping her arms around them in a hug.* āItās okay! You donāt gotta pretend. I know youāre not the same.ā
Drosophila looked away slightly, not willing to admit. "I don't know what you're talking about..."
āItās okay! I do. You started talking different, and your colorās different, too. Like Mi and I!ā
āYouāre my friend, either way! Both of you are, I think.ā
Drosophila looked at Ria and sighed softly. "I wish you could pick better friends, kid."
"You're very dear to me too, thank you Ria"
*Ria tilts her head, confused.* āā¦Whyās that? I donāt think any of my friends are bad friendsā¦?ā
*She beams at Drosophila.* āYay! Iām glad. You donāt gotta thank me, though? Friendship is good for everyone.ā
Drosophila ignored the first two questions and smiled brightly at Ria. "That is true"
*Ria stares for a moment. Her already-round pupils go Big, like a cat about to hunt. They stare for a few moments, ears twitching.*
*And then she āpouncesā, hugging Drosophila once more.* āSurprise attack!ā ^ā¢wā¢^
*The attack was very much the opposite of a surprise.*
Drosophila did in fact get surprised from the attack. She held Ria by the waist on top of her after the pouncing.
She decided to play along and close her eyes, her tongue sticking out of her mouth to 'play dead'.
*Ria squeaks, poking at the ācorpseā.* āā¦Drosophila?ā ^ā¢nā¢>?
Drosophila suddenly opened her eyes and booped Ria's nose. "Oh no, I lived :D"
*Ria squeaks when booped! Woaw. Squeaking vampire dragon.*
āYay!!! Itās okay. I know Iām not a super good hunter.ā *Ria flops over. Her wings are twitching, happily.*
Drosophila laughed. "No you're a great hunter, Ria"
Drosophila laid down in front of Ria, mirroring her pose.
āNuh-uh. Iām not. Good hunters arenāt supposed to feel bad about it, I think.ā
*Ria mlems. Sheās pancaked.*
Drosophila softly headbutts Ria. "Intelligent hunters often feel bad about their prey. I know humans do. Well it is true that over time they learn to dissociate from the creature they're hunting."
*Ria trills in return, smooshing her head into Drosophilaās forehead. She does not, in fact, look very intelligent right now.*
āā¦I donāt think I like being intelligent, then. It makes my chest hurt. How dāyou disassociate?ā
Drosophila shook her head. "You don't need to learn that. You don't need to hunt. Keep your kindness"
āā¦But I gotta be able to, at least a little. Cuz of what I eat. Iā¦ā *Ria looks a little teary eyed. Her hands are shaking.*
āā¦Even if I gotta eat blood, I keep picturing everyone I fed from, before. It hurts.ā
"But you get blood now right? You don't have to hunt at the moment"
Drosophila sat upright and held Ria's hands in hers.
āā¦Yeah. Mama gets me the blood. I donāt think about where itās from.ā
*Ria does not sit upright. She curls up, scooting closer to Drosophila. A head rests on her knee.*
āSometimes I can still see them, though. From when I did hafta hunt. Sometimes just the taste is enough to make the memories come back.ā
Drosophila caresses Ria's temple and forehead kind of like newborns are. "Hmm, I don't think those feelings would go away with forgetting your kindness."
*Ria closes her eyes, now purring. Huzzah, comfort!*
āā¦Why not?ā ^ā¢nā¢>?
*Despite the emoji used, her eyes remain closed.*
Drosophila does it more, encouraged by the purring.
"Trauma isn't solved like that"











