#averno fluff

Hayden inched across the branch of the tree, trying to get as close to the edge of the forest as they could. They weren't supposed to be this close to town, Harper and all the others insisted it wasn't safe. But no one would tell them why it was dangerous and it looks so pretty, especially at sunset. So Hayden's brilliant idea was to climb a tree and get as close to the far side of the branch as possible. Then, technically, they'd still be in the forest and not breaking any rules.

 "Just a little closer." Hayden whispered as they reached the edge of the branch. Then they heard a loud crack. "Oh come ahhh!" They yelled as the branch gave way and Hayden tumbled down. They landed with a thud on, not the ground, but something softer.

 "Owe." A voice groaned. "Please get off."

"I am so so sorry." Hayden said, climbing off the figure. "Let me help you up."

 "It's okay." The person said as Hayden pulled them up. "My fault for trying to see what was in the tree. Thought it was a cry- oh gods my camera!" They reached into their shoulder bag and pulled out a strange black object. It was a rectangle with a cylinder sticking out. They looked it over. "Oh thank the gods, Shelby's okay."

 "Sh-Shelby?" Hayden asked.

 "Yah, that's her name." They smiled sheepishly. "My grandma always said you should name your camera, it helps it take better photos or something. It's kinda silly but-"

 "What's a camera?" The person blinked.

 "Do you not know what a camera is?" Hayden shook their head. "Huh, odd. Well, it's this and when you press this button." The person got closer and showed Hayden the button. They pressed it and there was a clicking sound, accompanied by a flash. In a clear window was a still image of the area in front of them..

 "Cool." 

 "Right?"

 "So, what are you doing here?"

 "I've gotta take some photos of the forest for class. Do you know any good spots?"

 "I know all the best spots."

 "Really? Will you show me?"

 "One condition." The person looked at Hayden, slightly worried. "What's your name?"

 "Oh, call me Clay." Hayden stuck out a hand.

 "I'm Hayden. Nice to meet you." The two shock hands. "Alright, follow me. There's this really pretty honeysuckle bush by the waterfall. Oo, and we might see a deer." Hayden lead their new friend through the forest, talking a mile a minute as they did.

Dognapped

Quinn and Will were heading to the library after stocking up on ramen and Monster when Quinn's phone rang. 

 "Oooo, is that your secret lover?" Will teased as Quinn pulled his phone out.

 "Unknown number." Quinn's eyes went wide. "You don't think?"

 "One way to find out!" Will handed Quinn her bag of groceries and took the phone. "Hello?"

  "Um Is this Quinn? Quinn from Live from Averno? It's Rori." 

  "Who is it?" Quinn whispered.

  "It's the kid from the library." Will mouthed. Then, louder. "This is Will actually. How can I help you?"

"We heard you got a dog. And I was wondering if we could um, borrow it?"

  "First off all, the dog's name is Twog. Second of all, why do you want our dog?"

 "Well, me and Bo chase ghosts as you know. And we were thinking, maybe, Twog would like to come with us?" Will heard fairly in the background the other kid, Bo if she remembered right, mutter. "What kinda name is Twog?"

"You want to borrow our dog to be your, sidekick?"

 "Yah! Like in Scooby-Doo. Please?"  Will turned to Quinn, who was standing there trying not to laugh. 

  "He won't be in any danger?"

  "Oh no, you have my word, he'll be very safe with me and Bo. He'll be on a leash and everything. And if anything dangerous comes, Bo and I are prepared to give our loves to protect him." Bo in the distance said "What? No I'm not." To which Rori replied. "Yes you are, now shh." Will had to stifle a laugh. "What do you say?"

  "Alright?"

  "Yes! Thank you Will! Oh, did you hear that Bo?" That's when Will heard the sound of a dog barking.

  "Do you have a dog with you?" After a moment, it clicked. Will and Quinn had left Twog sleeping in the library when they went to the store. "Do you have Twog?"

  "Well, um, you see. Bye!" The line went dead. Will turned to Quinn again, who had started laughing.

  "They took my dog." Will shook their head. "They dognapped Twog."

 "I mean, how does that quote go? I'd rather beg forgiveness than ask permission?" Quinn handed Will a Monster. "You wanna go look for them?"

  "Yes!"

Have some Averno Fluff Staring Nova and Solar

Twog the Dog

When Quinn had first entered the library and found Will sitting at a table with a fluffy brown dog, he thought he'd hallusionated it. He hadn't slept in nearly 72 hours, it was possible. 

"Will, quick question, is there a dog in your lap?" "Yes." Quinn pressed a kiss between the dog's ears. "Aren't they just the cutest thing?"

"Where did you find that? Does Averno even have a pet shop?"

 "I don't know, I was just sitting here waiting when this small bundle of joy came over."

  "So is our next mystery the case of the lost dog?" Quinn asked, sitting down and opening a notebook. "I don't suppose they had a collar or anything?" 

 "Nope." Quinn looked up from his notebook and saw that look in Will's eyes. 

 "Oh no."

 "Oh no what?"

 "You have that look in your eye."

  "What look?"

  "The 'I've got an idea look'." Will buried her face in the dog's fur. "You wanna keep it, don't you."

  "Maybe."

  "Are you even allowed to have a pet?"

"There's plenty of cryptids all over campus, the DLH library is full of cats. I don't see why anyone should have a problem with this sweet creature." Will help the dog up, forcing Quinn to look into the dog's endless brown eyes. He reached out and petted the dog.

  "Does the dog have a name?"

   "Nope. Any ideas?" Quinn goes to speak, but Will stops him. "Actually, maybe you shouldn't name the dog."

  "Why not?"

  "Cause I've met the DLH cats and no one can pronounce any of their names.  Who knows what nonsense name you'll give to this one."

  "I didn't name any of the DLH cats."

  "Still, this dog should have an easy to produce name that doesn't need explaining." Will's eyes lit up. "I've got it."

  "What?"

  "Twog." Quinn started laughing. "What?"

  "What kind of name is Twog?"

  "Well it's better then Aostargart or Hippocampus or Cl- hey!" Will ducked as Quinn threw a pencil at her. She grabbed an earlier and chucked it at him. The newly named Twag started barking, jumping out of Will's arms and flying as Quinn, knocking him over. Twog started locking Quinn's face.

  "Alright alright, Twog is an excellent name." Quinn laughed as Will lifted the dog off of him. 

  "Damn right." She nuzzle her face against Twog's. "Best name in the whole world." Quinn rolled his eyes as Will helped pull him up. 

  "Back to work?"

Card Game

Quinn made his way across the DCD lawn, careful to avoid the debris and paint cans that were scattered around. The fact he was balancing 4 glasses of lemonade didn't make it any easier. 

 He found Will, Solar and Nova sitting around a colourful half burned picnic table. Picnic baskets and bottles sat around their feet. The three were playing some sort of card game.

 "Sorry I'm late." Quinn said, sitting down. It was then he noticed that only Nova had a regular deck of playing cards. Solar had uno cards and Will had a deck of Pokémon cards. "Um, what game are you playing?"

"Crazy eights." Nova said.

"Okay, why are there Uno and Pokémon cards?"

Well, the deck we have is missing half of the cards. And we couldn't find another deck. So we're improving."

"Why do you have Pokémon cards?"

"They're Nova's" Quinn looked at Nova, who shrugged

 "The animals are cute. Ah ha, ace of spades!" Nova put down her last card on the pile. "I win!" 

 "Another game?" Solar asked, sipping some lemonade.

  "We've got 4 players now, we should play Mao."

  "We are not playing Moa." Quinn said, at the same time Nova asked.

  "What the fuck is Moa?" They all laughed at the inside joke.

 "Only the best card game ever." Will smiled. "Raise your hand if you wanna play Moa." Three hands went up. "Alright."

  "So, how do we play?" Solar asked as Will dealt the cards.

 "I can't tell you."

  "What do you mean you can't tell us?"

Easter

Nova lays out a colourful knit blanket and arranges her supplies. Cups of colorful dye, several buckets of paints, a bundle of rubber bands, a lit candle, a paintbrush and a bowl of hard boiled eggs. She picks on up, and nearly drops it when the walkie talkie in her pocket goes off. 

"Nova? You there" 

"Yes Solar"

"Whatcha doing?" Nova bites her lip, Solar knew what she was doing. The DCD announced a week ago that no one who wasn't from their department was allowed to come visit over the 3 days before Easter. The destruction kids had placed booby traps all over the area surrounding the barn, keeping any wandering students away. Only the DUE, who had been recruited to help, knew that the DCD was planning a massive Easter egg hunt.

 "Doing creation things." Nova said. 

 "Very descriptive." The two laugh. "Well, I'll see you tonight. Over and out." 

  "Over and out." Nova put down the quiet walkie-talkie and picked up the candle, letting the wax drip onto the egg's shell.

Solar and the other DUE students made their way to the edge of the DCD area. There they found several wicker baskets, filled with colourful eggs. Solar picked up one and went back into the tunnels.

Nova pulled herself onto the roof, careful not to drop her flask of tea. Solar took it from her.

  "I'm buying you a thermos for your birthday." Solar said, rolling their eyes as they looked at the silver flask. Nova took it back, then cuddled closer to Solar.

 "You do that." She rested her head on their shoulder, watching as the sun rose over ANS. Soon, students started emerging from the department buildings, finding the empty wicker baskets that had been left there. Slowly, they each figured out what was going on and begins running around, searching for the colourful eggs the DUE had hidden. 

 "What do you suppose is the world record for the biggest egg hunt?"

 "No idea. Bet we've come close to it though."

Hair Braiding

Grace wasn't quite sure how she ended up in this situation, sitting under the willow tree while her girlfriend braided flowers into her hair. She had come down to the tree to find Cassia surrounded by a pile of wildflowers. Under normal circumstances, Grace would have protested more, but Cassia looked so cute and it was hard to say no to her. So she was here, trying not to dose off as Cassia wove the flowers into the hair.

 "Done." Grace reached back and ran her hand over the expertly done braid.

 "You're good at this." She said, turning to look at Cassia.

 "I've had a lot of practice." She said. Looking at Cassia, still surrounded by flowers, Grace had an idea.

 "My turn." Grace said. Cassia looked at her. "I'm gonna braid your hair, turn around." Cassia laughed and did as she asked. Grace went slower then CassiA had, she hadn't braided much hair and certainly never with flowers. By the end, it was more lopsided then she'd like and the flowers were less woven in and more placed, but it looked okay.

"There." Cassia reached behind her to run her hand over the braid.