A Den Of Monsters and Magic

Jerking at being addressed, Raph turned wide eyes to the woman, “I- uh…”

They froze entirely, body uncannily motionless as they desperately cycled through potential responses. So they were supposed to know someone! They wanted to smash their face into the wall behind them.

Unable to lie, Raph glanced back towards the dancers, pointing at one of the girls, “I came in with her,” and prayed that they wouldn’t be questioned about who the girl was. Hedging their answer, they added, “Its beautiful. I’d like to.”

Lavinia’s eyes traced their gesture with a flick of her eyes, and nodded. “It’s quite all right, this is semi-public space. People come to watch with some frequency.” She uncrossed and re-crossed her legs the other way, tugging at the hem of her skirt to keep it straight. “That’s what Sussa did until I convinced her to try dance again.” She nodded at the older blonde woman, standing out among mostly young or teenage girls.

Their finger twitched, tapping against their leg as they watched the dancers, rallying to tame the anxiety that welled within them to minor success, “Storytelling... yes, it can be very powerful to tell a story with just a body.”

It was like fighting in many ways, a body in motion, driven with purpose, but with dance so much more could be told than simply struggle and desperation and death. Raph followed the movements with a blinkless stare as they spoke.

Finally tearing their eyes away, Raph looked at the woman beside them again, there was something about her... something that made the cracks in their wood ache like a warning, but they couldn’t figure out why, so for now it was ignored. Besides, the dancers and the talk of ballet was far more interesting.

At the entry a small man stepped forward, his suit crisp and tailored. Everything about him was bright and colorful, outshining even his flowers, even his hair and beard were dyed an unnatural shade of vivid red. As he saw his latest guest he looked up… and up… and up… the further up he looked the deeper his frown became.

Spades ducked into the shop, nearly having to crouch and tuck his limbs close, though he was used to it. At least once inside he only had to slouch and tilt his head a little to avoid hitting his horns on the ceiling.

He looked around, a smile creeping onto his face just at the beauty of the place… Though he nearly missed the small man. He took in his appearance, grinning only wider at his frown.

“Oh, hello. Pretty place you have here.” He nearly commented on the man’s appearance as well, but thought better of it. Colorful (and thus pretty) or not, grumpy looking suit wearing strangers didn’t always take well to comments that could be taken as flirtatious even if Spades didn’t mean it that way, though he often did.

“Welcome to the Ever Spring Tea Shop,” he flashed a smile, a warm expression though his eyes sparkled with a calculating edge, his teeth a bit too bright, “I shall be your host, you may call be Epidendrum.”

He weaved between the tables and flowers with a familiar ease, with an eye on his guest, he touched and than rejected several tables and chairs before drawing out one he deemed suitable for such a tall man, dragging the chair out as an invitation.

“I can fix it,” he claimed with naive confidence, ignoring the first part of their questioning entirely as he looked up from were he was sitting on the floor, “Once I learn the fiddly bits.”

He was bare chested, tattoos of various animals covering his exposed skin, and his torn jeans still wet from his swim. He’d been exploring the underground cave network, diving deeper and deeper. He hadn’t expected to find anything more interesting than some fish to eat or some cool rocks. Finding a cavern filled with all sorts of strange creations that did who knows what, that had been utterly fascinating and like a crow, he immediately had to get his fingers into anything that was shiny or interesting looking. Having the strange being confronting him didn’t bother Cat in the slightest though it left him far more curious as to what he’d discovered. Their anger though seemed misplaced… he didn’t recall crossing a threshold… so he couldn’t be their home. But then again, he was often confused about whatever ‘property laws’ meant anyway.

“No, you can’t. This is dangerous, you could kill us both.” They glared down at him, his guilt and subsequent naive declaration overriding their confusion and fuelling their anger which came first in the stern, sharp tone of their words, and then in their flattened ears, catlike hiss and bared teeth when they bent down to get a closer look at the damage. Careful hands scooped up the parts of the poor bot, and after careful examination they found that it was still possible to bring it back, thank the depths.

Oh! Oh they were around again! Hearing the vehicle pulling up to the driveway, She knew them well enough that she had grown used to that particular sounding engine, and with the fact that this was technically her weekend to go out and have fun? Well … it would just so happen that this person seemed to show up at the perfect time! And she just so happened to already be all dressed up to head on out for the night, fully planning on enjoying herself doing … well whatever she could get her hands on, quite frankly. Perhaps she would be able to find herself a good man or woman on top of it, and it certainly seemed like God was listening to her hopes!

Gaspara was decked out is a long brightly colored circle skirt with bold autumnal colors, her top a cream tank top and cropped jean jacket, every wrist was covered in several large bracelets, non of which matched anything but each more precious to her than the last.  She did a little twirl, showing off the skirt before trowing an arm around Naomi and turning towards her car.

This was the fifth time they’d come here but it was the first time they’d actually entered. The space wasn’t quite public, they’d needed to be invited inside but one of the dancers had seen them lingering near the windows and had all but insisted they come in out of the cold. They hadn’t even realized it was cold.

Now they stood along the wall, watching, among they others who’d come to watch the dancers. The humans beside them seemed to know one of the dancers, Raphael began to question if they were meant to pretend to know one too but that felt far too awkward to attempt. They’d followed the spells their Lady had taught them, the ones to mask their true shape, but they weren’t sure how they actually looked. Weren’t even sure it mattered. All they could ever see was the wood and the shadow and the cracks. There clothing was the only thing they had any feelings about, loose grey joggers and a deep blue tank top with a silvery flannel over the top. And ballet flats. Those had seemed important despite not being anything like the actual dancers were wearing.

She flicked her gaze to the feminine figure that had curled in on herself near her, and, looking closer, peirced the veil that wafted around her.

Strange. A being made of wood. Strands of a mind woven too a construct. Magic she couldn’t identify.

And people said she looked like a doll.

The painted eyes traced the movements of the ballerinas.

They froze entirely, body uncannily motionless as they desperately cycled through potential responses. So they were supposed to know someone! They wanted to smash their face into the wall behind them.

you can make collages, moodboards, drawings or just answer in text

❤️ Why do you like them in particular?

🧡 In what way do you relate to them?

💛 What colors do you associate with them? +List a couple of things of the chosen colors that reminds you of them!

💚 Which songs remind you of them?

💙 What are their favorite foods and tastes?

💜 What does their shampoo/cologne/perfume smell like?

💓 What are their most prized possessions?

🖤 How do they deal with problems and difficult feelings? +Give some positive advice on their behalf!

🤍 Describe their favorite environments!

💟 What are some hobbies, activities that bring them comfort?

❣️ Favorite pieces of clothing they wear on gloomy days? What accessories cheer them up?

💝 What makes them nostalgic?

💗 What's their love language?

💖 Do they stim/fidget/etc? How and what toys, vent methods they use?

💞 In what way did they improve themselves (canonly or based on your headcanons) that you find inspiring?