#benji aikawa

Waves crew: [has long-since docked and is now mostly finished unloading the cargo meant for Lynsmouth]

Harbor: [bustling and busy, full of endless activity... and very different from the endless swaths of Aurevia Flavie had been through]

Deck: [mostly empty, devoid of others besides Flavie and Benji]

Flavie: [awkwardly hovering beside Benji, watching as Zarina and Cricket speak with someone else on the pier]

Benji: [generally chilling, arms crossed and eyeing something in the distance that Flavie can't find any significance in. Has been helping her adjust to everything on the ship and life altogether... considering her amnesia and general cluelessness]

Benji: [claims to find her cluelessness funny, but... has been genuinely helpful. So it's probably just an act.]

Flavie: [... right?]

Flavie: [turning to Benji, awkwardly) “So... we're just staying here for a while?”

Benji: [snaps to attention, looking to her with a slight obnoxious grin]

Benji: (voice somewhere between amused and annoyed) “Seems like it! Far as I can tell, seems like someone we're waiting on receiving goods from is taking their sweet-ass time getting the stuff over. So we're going to be giving them a few days before heading off.”

Benji: [un-crosses an arm to wave it to the side dismissively, turning his head and shaking it] “If they don't arrive in time, we report it, yadda, yadda, yadda.”

Benji: [grins more obnoxiously as he re-crosses his arms and meets her eyes again, continuing amusedly) “But! You don't have to worry about any of that stuff. You're just a basic member of the crew. The Captain and her mates—Cricket and I, right now—handle it.”

Flavie: [slowly taking it in, gives an awkward nod and crosses her own arms to look down at Zarina and Cricket]

Zarina & Cricket: [still busy discussing matters, but—]

Zarina: [turns to face them]

Cricket and Other Person: [follow her eyes]

Flavie: [heart skips a beat—]

Zarina: [eyes barely flick to her before moving past, onto a mast]

Zarina: (voice raised to carry, but even as always) “Yesval! We—”

Flavie: [forces herself to let out a heavy breath, looking up to see—]

Yesval: [hopped and floating down from a crow's nest, wind swirling around them to slow their fall and—soon enough—drop them by the trio of Zarina, Cricket, and the person they'd been talking to]

Benji: [shifts out of the corner of Flavie's eye—]

Flavie: [tenses slightly, quickly looking to him again]

Benji: [had started talking, his wider obnoxious grin on his lips, but his face softens slightly as it transitions into a more apologetic look]

Benji: (all the while, voice starting off amused but turning more gentle) “So that's Yesval—obviously—but, uh... sorry.”

Flavie: [shrugs slightly, face flushing and forcing herself to turn away from him. Struggling with a lump in her throat and a weird burning in her eyes]

Flavie: (voice uneven) “It's—okay. I don't even know what's wrong.”

Both: [silent, dealing with the unspoken words]

Benji: [sighs again, shifting—]

Flavie: [heart still pounding, but closes her eyes and forces herself to focus on her magic like Benji's been teaching her. With it, she's able to sense all of the water around her... including that within their bodies, and the humidity in the air]

Flavie: [just... gets dizzy as she focuses on her magic like this—]

Benji: (all the while, a hint of awkwardness in his voice) “Anyways, as I was saying... Yesval is our aeoler: he controls the winds whenever they're disadvantageous for us, to keep us on time. The Captain and Cricket probably need to discuss with him what it'll look like for us to be pushed back.”

Benji: [pauses, giving Flavie a moment to respond]

Flavie: [too absorbed into the sensations of her magic; half forgetting she exists as a person, separate from water—]

Benji: [very much noticing her essence interacting with the water around them and uncertain what she's doing or why]

Benji: (an edge to his voice) “Flavie? You got any questions?”

Flavie: [tenses slightly, managing to remember herself. Takes in a sudden, sharp breath, eyes flashing open as she re-focuses on her body and curls her fingers in and out to remind herself she's there]

Flavie: [not {hints at backstory}, not all of water, but a human—a human who'd been calling herself 'Flavie'. For the simple reason that she'd accidentally blurted it when asked her name. Because she was human. And humans did that—made mistakes and had silly reasons for doing ridiculously important things. And so did she... because she was human.]

Flavie: [why was that fact important to her? Why did her 'humanity' matter so much to her?]

Flavie: [heart still pounding, but pastes an awkward grin on her lips as she looks up and over her shoulder at Benji]

Flavie: (awkwardly) “Uh—not really?”

Benji: [quirks an eyebrow at her, obviously unimpressed]

Benji: (dryly) “You didn't listen to a word I just said, did you?”

Flavie: [forces a wider, awkward grin on her lips as sWAVESOF MISFORTUNEhe chuckles, looks away, and raises a hand to rub the back of her neck]

Flavie: (abashedly) “Ahaha... nooooooo?”

Benji:

Benji: [sighs heavily—]

Flavie: [struggling to smile more genuinely, looks up at him and about to try to apologize and tell him what she heard when—]

Benji: [half-turned away from her, face twisted and lip curled slightly in annoyance. At the same time, raises his hand to the empty air above his shoulder, where—]

Zhihao, his fox familiar: [appears, standing across Benji's shoulders, his head under Benji's hand and about to be petted]

Flavie: [gasps suddenly, quickly stepping forward and putting her arms out—]

Benji: [eyes widen—]

Zhihao: [TENSES!!!]

Flavie: (at the same time, voice high) “BABY!!!”

Benji: [dodges out of her way, reaching to let Zhihao step into his arms and quickly protectively hugging him to his chest]

Flavie: [pouts, quickly crossing her arms and standing up straight as she sadly eyes Zhihao... and Benji, who's keeping her away from him]

Zhihao: [pressed into Benji's chest; teeth bared, ears flat over his skull, hair raised, and letting out a prolonged growl]

Benji: (sharply) “Hey! Don't you dare! And don't you think that Zhihao didn't tell me what you did!”

Flavie: (indignantly) “What!?”

Flavie: [throws up her hands and stomps a foot, pouting still]

Benji: [still glaring, hugging Zhihao protectively, and half-turned away from her as though to shield his foxy familiar from her]

Flavie: (as indignantly as before) “I didn't do anything!”

Benji: [narrows his eyes further, all hints of humor falling away... and one of his hands moving to stroke Zhihao's forehead]

Benji: (accusingly) “Yeah, right! You tried to pet him!”

Flavie: !?!?!?!?!

Zhihao: [wiggles out of Benji's arms to climb up onto and sit on Benji's shoulders again. Lying low, ears flat against his skull, as he glares at Flavie himself]

Flavie: [at the same time, half-scoffs, throwing her hands out at her sides]

Flavie: (incredulously) “You were literally JUST—”

Benji: [—hand once again goes to Zhihao's head to pet him]

Flavie: [eye twitching, points at him a little overdramatically]

Flavie: (voice rising) “LIKE RIGHT NOW! YOU'RE PETT—”

Benji: [face twitches in anger before he interrupts suddenly, voice sharp and commanding) “Zip.”

Flavie: [almost chokes on her words, eyes flying wide and a lump suddenly forming in her throat—]

Benji: [still stroking Zhihao's head with one hand, jabs his other thumb in the direction of Zarina and the pier]

Benji: (coldly and authoritatively) “Our Captain is currently in the middle of negotiations and business matters. We're being kind enough to let you stay around, don't be causing a fuss and attracting attention over stuff like this. Got it?”

Flavie: [chokes slightly, unable to speak—]

Flavie: [clearing her throat weakly, looks away and forces herself to nod awkwardly]

Flavie: (to herself) ... why do I feel like this is always how things go? Am I never able to do things right? Have people—

Benji: (speaks over her thoughts, voice grudging and hesitant) “Right—and Zhihao?... I have his permission to pet him.”

Flavie: [hesitantly looks back up at him]

Benji: [standing rigidly as he pets Zhihao with one hand and watches her with careful, narrowed eyes]

Zhihao: [seems comfortable enough over his shoulders, letting Benji pet him as he stares off into the distance. Still seems tense, but leaning into Benji and watching something far away]can

Benji: [not having stopped talking, an edge to his voice) “Because, you know, I'm his anchor. I don't know what you know about familiars, but we're kinda bonded. We share thoughts. I only pet him when he's okay with it. Got it?”

Flavie: [tries to speak—can't.]

Flavie: [clearing her throat weakly, just nods slightly and looks out into the water, eyes burning]

Benji: (remorsefully) “Ah... right. Flavie?”

Flavie: [hesitantly meets his eyes again]

Benji: [an obviously fake smile on his lips, painfully) “You... can speak again.”

Flavie: [blinks, mouth falling open in surprise]

Flavie: (awkwardly, voice weak) “Uh... okay?”

Benji: [quickly looks away, moving as though to pull Zhihao into a hug again for a moment, but soon abandoning the motion to just half-turn away from Flavie]

Flavie: (finishes, not having stopped) “—I... didn't think I needed your permission?”

Benji: [lets out a dry, humorless laugh]

Benji: [reluctantly] “Right...”

Flavie: [confused, but before she can open her mouth and ask—]

Here's a little teaser from a backlog of my old writing since I don't have any Faerie's Dawn content for you guys!

Waves is another work of mine I might occasionally talk about (or just the characters of), but it's unlikely to see long-form publication for a LONG while, as I want to focus on works early into the timeline. And, well... Waves is not, lol

Regardless! What did you think? :>

(Oh, also, Yesval's pronouns are inconsistent between Benji talking about them and the narration because they're a closeted nb, but unaware of that fact. They'd be using he/him pronouns at the point in time, but I'd like to respect their pronouns during these outlines lol)

Waves of Misfortune taglist:

@honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling @ashirisu @urnumber1star

Benji: (an edge to his voice, ominously) "so, since you're so new to all this, and seem to be having a hard time understanding it, let me put it this way."

Benji: [squares his shoulders, crosses his arms, and pierces Hugo with a sharp look as he says with a shocking amount of authority) "here at sea, we follow a strict line of authority. You do not question those above you, and can consider this to be somewhat similar to a military environment. Especially with matters relating to pirates. Understood?"

Hugo: [suffering from the utter whiplash of the joking-Benji he's used to seeing compared to… this]

Benji: [almost has the attitude of a born leader, or someone used to carrying large amounts of authority]

Benji: [almost seems like he has been part of a military—]

Hugo: [shock and uncertainty clear on his face, and breath caught in his throat, but—]

Hugo: [forces himself to take a long, deep breath and look away, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck]

Hugo: (awkwardly) "yes… sir." ;'D

Benji:

Benji: [incredibly amused, but—]

Hugo: [as Benji fails to continue, hesitantly looks back to him]

Benji: [has his eyebrows raised and the corner of his lip quirked in his omnipresent smirk]

Benji: [but quickly clears it as he WAVESOFMISFORTUNEeases the tension in his shoulders with a sigh]

Benji: [arms still crossed and keeping Hugo's eyes; continues with a curt and slightly authoritative voice) "right. Well."

Benji: [takes a deep breath, then continues sharply) "last but not least: forgive us if we need time to trust someone with a criminal history—"

Hugo: [freezes, eyes widening, breath catching, and feeling like he just got punched to the gut—]

Benji: (not having stopped or otherwise reacting to Hugo's reaction) "—even with Manar's endorsement."

Hugo: [feeling his face flush and warmth swell behind his eyes, breathlessly) "how did you—?"

Benji: [quirks an eyebrow, looking unimpressed again]

Benji: (dryly) "the Captain does thorough background checks on anyone allowed onto this ship. And she's very good at them."

Benji: [sighs slightly, half-rolling his eyes again as he looks away, places an elbow against his hand, and dismissively waving the other hand to the side]

Benji: (offhandedly) "probably something related to her ties to Lotus and the Carons. I wouldn't know."

Benji: [levels his eyes and a serious look onto Hugo again as he finishes half-dismissively) "still."

Hugo: [can't breathe—] :'DDD

Hugo: [clears his throat awkwardly, eyes burning, and looks away to rub at the back of his neck]

Hugo: (voice breaking) "I—it wasn't that simple. I—I didn't want—"

Benji: [gives a sound halfway between a laugh and a scoff, rolling his eyes fully this time]

Hugo: [turns to look back at him again, face twisted in pain and despair—]

Benji: [eyes narrowed slightly; voice starts amused and incredulous but quickly grows harsh) "isn't it always that way? You're not special. But it doesn't matter. That's another reason you should watch yourself, Hugo. Because Zarina may like you—"

Hugo: [despite himself, face twists in uncertainty and confusion]

Hugo: [severely caught off-guard at the news that Zarina apparently 'liked' him???]

Hugo: [though understanding Benji didn't mean it in the romantic sense]

Benji: (not having stopped, voice hard) "—but Zhihao and I are keeping an eye on you. If you slip up at all, we will report it to the Captain."

Benji: [can't help a dark smile that quickly grows into another smirk; voice darkly amused and ominous) "and, after today, I'm sure you know… you do not want to cross our Captain." >;'D

Hugo: [remembers all too well how terrifyingly and efficiently Zarina had fought—especially compared to how gentle she always seemed—but…]

Hugo: (can't help the thought) you know… maybe the normal Benji isn't all that bad… ;'D

Hugo: [face still twisted and voice cracking) "right. Of course, but—you… you didn't tell Manar, did you?"

Benji: [face empties again]

Hugo:

Both:

Benji: [takes a deep breath, looking away exasperatedly—]

Hugo: (quickly, awkwardness and desperation in his cracking voice) "that—about my—I—"

Benji: [eyes snapping back to Hugo, an edge to his voice) "I wouldn't know. You'd have to ask the Captain; she handles those things. And Manar was friendly with her, so she'd have reason to. So, yeah. Don't ask me."

Hugo: :'DDDDD

Hugo: [swallows, looking away and blinking rapidly against the tears in his eyes—]

Hugo: [can't help it. Gives a weak laugh, places an elbow in the opposite hand, and buries his face in the other as he cries quietly]

Benji: [watches awkwardly—] Zhihao: (telepathically) hm. He seems surprisingly genuine. Benji: (exasperatedly) I was thinking the same. <.< Zhihao: heh. >;D Zhihao: [doesn't even have to say the: 'I know.'] Benji: (even more annoyed) oh, shut up. You know what I mean. Zhihao: [wishes he could burst out laughing like a human, but…] Zhihao: [settles himself with a small, foxen giggle-squeak] Zhihao: (amusedly) hmmm… so you don't want to hear my analysis? >;D Benji: [sighs slightly, rolling his eyes] WAVESOFMISFORTUNE Benji: you know that's not what I meant.

Hugo: [overall, just struggling with the mess of emotions and exhaustion, all of which is made worse as he hears Benji sigh exasperatedly] :'DDDD 😓

Benji: [after a moment, steps forward to place a hand on Hugo's shoulder]

Hugo: [flinches and tenses, swiftly taking a step back. Reflexively shifts his thumb over the simple barrier rune on the handle of his staff, then freezes and hunches over as a wave of nausea washes over him. Squeezes his eyes shut and presses his forehead against the gem of his staff as he struggles not to throw up—]

Benji: [face started off as unreadable, but pinches at Hugo's reaction. Closes his hand and withdraws it awkwardly]

Benji: [and watches guiltily as Hugo overtaxes himself—] :'D Benji: maybe I scared him a little too bad :'D Zhihao: eh. It was ultimately necessary. Will keep him from investigating too much. Zhihao: [recalling—and, naturally, sharing—the memory of Hugo noticing the hidden cargo] Benji: ah. Right. <.< Zhihao: (darkly amused) besides. We couldn't have known. Can't believe he's almost as soft as you, Bu—Benji. >;D Benji: [tenses, but—] Benji: … ;'D Zhihao: [doesn't have to apologize. The sorrow and guilt conveys itself just fine between their connection]

Benji: [all the while during his telepathic conversation, stepped forward to a lot more gently set his hand on Hugo's shoulder]

Benji: [of course, wasn't blocked by a barrier]

Barrier: [had been dropped just as quickly as it was brought up thanks to Hugo's exhaustion]

Hugo: [tenses, but—]

Benji: (voice surprisingly gentle) "listen. If you really don't have any ulterior motives, you have nothing to worry about. You did good today. And she might not have told Manar, so."

Hugo:

Hugo: [uncertain and still feeling ill, but hesitantly opened his eyes and drew his forehead from his staff to dizzily look at Benji]

Benji: [offers a clearly-forced, awkward smile]

Benji: (awkwardness leaking into his voice, though he keeps it gentle) "come back up with me. Zarina's got something for you."

Hugo: (dizzily) how would he—[and remembers his telepathic connection with Zhihao]—oh. Right. 😅😭

TAGLIST:

@honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling @ashirisu @urnumber1star

@the-letterbox-archives @48lexr @aalinaaaaaa @thecomfywriter @an-indecisive-nerd

@seastarblue @rae-butter

Hiatus party taglist:

@aalinaaaaaa @sm-writes-chaos @teamarine777 @caffeinated-starsailor @oliolioxenfreewrites

@nightmaricwriter @lunaeuphternal @inadequatecowboy @princessuncertain @storyteller-kara

@themongosianhorse @nczaversnick

CHARACTER MOODBOARDS:

ZARINA BAUDELAIRE

HUGO “CRICKET” TINOCO

FLAVIE (THE AMNESIAC)

BENJI AIKAWA

YESVAL GONZÁLEZ

OFFICIALLY INTRODUCING THE WAVES OF MISFORTUNE MCS!

(minus poor Tián, lol, but tbf, that man's so important he gets to be part of multiple stories, so he can get over it 😂)

Also, uh... Zhihao technically counts as a MC, as he's Benji's familiar and “other half”, buuuuuut... he's in Benji's moodboard! And there's definitely nothing more to him than being Benji's familiar, haha...

Regardless—if you'd like to stay updated on the Waves cast, their misadventures, and the things I post about them, feel free to ask to be added to their taglist! I'm tagging everyone current-ly ;D in any of my taglists for the first few posts, but will drop off for anyone who doesn't voice their interest!

Dividers made by @saradika!

"Everything" taglist: @honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling @ashirisu @urnumber1star

@the-letterbox-archives @48lexr @aalinaaaaaa @thecomfywriter @an-indecisive-nerd

@seastarblue @rae-butter

Cricket: “I... somebody needs to stop this.” :'D

Flavie: (under her breath) “I don't know, that Tián guy is pretty hot...”

Cricket: (sharply, shocked) “What!?”

Flavie: (meets his eyes; deadpan) “What.”

Zarina: (evenly) “first of all, no.”

Cricket & Flavie: [look to her]

Zarina: (continues, not having stopped speaking) “Secondly...”

Zarina: [sighs heavily, putting her head in her hand]

Zarina: (defeatedly) “... I don't even know if I want to step in.”

Cricket: :'D

Flavie: [amused! But not complaining.]

Cricket: [sighs himself, but then shakes his head and pulls out his spellbook]

Cricket: (tiredly) “Don't worry about it, Captain. I'll take care this.”

Zarina: [just sighs again, hesitantly watching between her fingers—]

Cricket: [heading to Tián & Benji to put a stop to their shenanigans]

Flavie: (slightly obnoxiously) “Sooooooo...” ;DDDDD

Zarina: [hesitantly lifts her head from her hand to look up at her]

Flavie: [winks; amusedly) “You're staying up here to get a good view, too, huh?”

Zarina:

Zarina: [face flushes, but stands up straight—and crosses her arms, as she often does—to give Flavie a slight glare]

Zarina: (sharply) “Absolutely not!”

Flavie: [can't help a shit-eating grin]

Flavie: (teasingly) “oh, sure! So, tell me...”

Zarina: [narrows her eyes further in a much more obvious glare]

Flavie: (overdramatically, drawing out and savoring her words) “Is it Benji? Tián? Or, maybe even... Cricket?” >;DDDD

Zarina: [face only flashed in annoyance at Benji's name, disgusted at Tián's, but... goes empty and unreadable at Cricket's]

Flavie: (playfully) “OOOOOOOOO! The Captain and—”

Zarina: [scoffs, simultaneously turning away, heading to the stairs, and un-crossing an arm to wave it dismissively over her shoulder]

Zarina: (talking over Flavie) “Whatever you think is going on, don't say a word of it to Hugo.”

Zarina: [sets her hand on the stairs' handrail and twists on her heel to meet Flavie's eyes with a sharp, serious expression]

Zarina: (voice hard) “Or else. Understood?”

Flavie: [stunned—]

Flavie: [swallows slightly, but forces an awkward grin, stands at attention, and raises her hand in salute]

Flavie: (voice thick and uneven) “aye, aye, Captain. Wouldn't even dream of it.” ;'D

Zarina: [face softens—a flash of guilt crossing it—but quickly just turns away and hurries to help Cricket]

@honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling @ashirisu @urnumber1star

@the-letterbox-archives @48lexr @aalinaaaaaa @thecomfywriter @an-indecisive-nerd

@seastarblue @leahnardo-da-veggie @world-of-iridensia

WAVES OF MISFORTUNE

“Nice to meet you, I’m ___.”

ZARINA BAUDELAIRE

Zarina: [dips her head slightly in acknowledgment in their direction, expression unreadable]

Zarina: (matter-of-factly) "Zarina. It's a pleasure to meet you."

if it's someone she's trying to appeal to: Zarina: [dips her head slightly in acknowledgment in the person's direction, face softened]

Zarina: (gently, but evenly) “Zarina. It's nice to meet you.”

HUGO “CRICKET” TINOCO

Hugo: [offers a warm smile and puts his hand out to shake or otherwise gives whatever form of greeting is culturally appropriate]

Hugo: (warmly) “Name's Hugo. Nice to meet you.”

Benji: (calls from afar) “He means Cricket! Sorry, he gets a little confused sometimes!”

Hugo: [pauses, face twitching in frustration as he looks over to meet Benji's eyes]

Benji: [grinning widely, gives an obnoxious wink]

Hugo: [lets out a slow, heavy sigh, putting his face in his hand. Eyes the person off the side of his hand, trying his best to ignore Benji]

Hugo: (embarrassedly) “Or... you can call me Cricket. Most everyone else on the crew does.”

FLAVIE (THE AMNESIAC)

Flavie: [clumsily offers her hand for a shake or, otherwise, whatever gesture of greeting is culturally expected]

Flavie: (awkwardly) “Um, I've been going by 'Flavie'. Nice to meet you?”

BENJI AIKAWA

Benji: [offers a cocky grin and the appropriate cultural greeting]

Benji: (amusedly) “Bunji, but you can call me 'Benji'. Nice to meet you.”

Benji: [and gives a wink]

Cricket: (from afar, annoyedly) “You sure it wasn't 'Chris' or something?”

Benji: [half laughs, half scoffs, shaking his head. Stands on his tip toes as he leans to better see Cricket and cups his hand around his mouth]

Benji: (amusedly calls back) “Nah, what kinda stupid name is 'Chris'!?”

Cricket: “Well, I'm 'boutta make it 'Sloth' if you don't get back to work!”

Benji: [busts out laughing]

YESVAL GONZÁLEZ

Yesval: [eyeing them with an unimpressed look]

Yesval: (curtly) “Yesval. If you don't need anything, go away.”

ZHIHAO (THE FAMILIAR)

Zhihao: [has no reason to greet anyone. Is hidden, ominously watching people from the shadows... or invisibly]

Zhihao: [making eye contact, lifts a paw and flops it in imitation of a wave before vanishing]

alternatively: Zhihao: [rolling his eyes, creates an illusion of a heavy, exasperated sigh and gets himself comfortable. Uses another illusion to 'speak']

Zhihao: (voice sharp and annoyed) “Yes, I am a fox. No, you may not pet me. I am a familiar, not a pet, and I will bite you if you put your hand anywhere near me.”

with Benji around: Zhihao: [caught peeking around a corner, from the rafters, or any sort of otherwise-hidden spot. Narrows his eyes on theirs before shrinking back into his spot or completely disappearing]

Benji: (awkwardly) “Oh, uh, that's my familiar. You can call him Zhihao, but, uh... he doesn't really talk. Y'know, on account of being a familiar. You can just, y'know... talk to me.”

Benji: [forces a laugh and a lopsided grin, awkwardly raising a hand to rub the back of his neck]

with anyone else of the crew around: Zhihao: [caught peeking one way or another, but quickly hides again]

Crewmate: (amusedly) "Oh! Yeah, that's Zhihao, Benji's familiar. He's always lurking around. Don't worry about him, we know he's here and he actually helps take care of rats and stuff."

NEW STORY DROP!!!

This, Waves of Misfortune (WoM), and Rising From The Ashes (RFtA) are both getting officially released to my blog soon!

Due to... current events... and the themes contained within these stories—but especially RFtA—I've decided to put my other works on halt while I instead allow myself to focus on them!

On that note, you guys are going to start seeing a lot of content for the two stories and their characters coming up!

If you'd like to be kept updated on these stories, please ask to be added to their respective taglists! I'm going to tag everyone current-ly ;D in any of my taglists for the first few posts for each story, but will drop off for anyone who doesn't voice their interest!

Dividers made by @saradika!

"Everything" taglist: @honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling @ashirisu @urnumber1star

@the-letterbox-archives @48lexr @aalinaaaaaa @thecomfywriter @an-indecisive-nerd

Other taglists: @paeliae-occasionally @pluppsauthor @thelovelymachinery

Benji & Cricket: [chilling on the deck of The Siren's Call, in the middle of a conversation where their Captain, Zarina, gets brought up]

Benji: [offers a slight, teasing smirk]

Benji: (interrupting Cricket, amusedly) “Ah, so she's got you, too.”

Cricket: [freezes, face flushing and eyes widening on Benji]

Cricket: [quickly looks away; his awkwardness clear in his voice) “Wh-what? I don't—”

Benji: [gives a low chuckle, tutting and shaking his head disappointedly]

Cricket: [face going all the redder, hesitantly looks back to him]

Benji: [meets his eyes with a wide, teasing grin before slowly looking over to—]

Zarina: [very much minding her own business, at the helm of the ship with one hand on the wheel and the other holding up some large sheet of parchment—likely a map]

Cricket: [followed his eyes; face burning—]

Benji: [grin mostly dropping, lets out a heavy, longing sigh]

Benji: (voice a mix of amused and rueful) “I don't think there's a man on this ship—or, nobody attracted to women, anyway—who wouldn't sell their soul for that woman.”

Cricket: [sighs heavily—though it comes out as a pained groan—and buries his face in his hands]

Cricket: (voice high and defeated) “Yeah, you didn't have to tell me. I know I don't have a chance.”

Benji: [gives a quick, sharp laugh, shaking his head again, before setting a hand on Cricket's shoulder]

Cricket: [hesitantly looks up at him from his hands]

Benji: (amusedly, but not unkindly) “Oh, not in this world or any other. But, hey. Neither do any of the rest of us! So maybe that'll work as a consolation prize.” ;D

Cricket: :'DDDDDD

Zarina: [frowning slightly; to herself) Why do my ears itch?

Waves of Misfortune taglist: @honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling @ashirisu @urnumber1star

@the-letterbox-archives @48lexr @aalinaaaaaa @thecomfywriter @an-indecisive-nerd

@seastarblue @leahnardo-da-veggie @world-of-iridensia @rae-butter

Zhihao: [now turned to face him, jerkily—and pointedly—indicates with his head to the door he was stopped beside]

Hugo:

Hugo: [eyes dart back to the point where—in the distance—he's certain he feels concealment magic, but…]

Hugo: (to himself) it's probably just valuable cargo. Stop overthinking things, Hugo.

Hugo: [forces out a heavy sigh as his hand runs back through his bangs and his eyes return to Zhihao]

Hugo: (awkwardly) "right. Sorry, Zhi."

Zhihao:

Zhihao: (indignantly) who gave you permission to nickname me? >:/

Benji: [sure didn't!]

Hugo: [—with that, turns his eyes from Zhihao's and steps around the fox to open the door]

Room: [just a storage room, full of an endless amount of boxes. Nothing unusual… or to explain why Benji was here]

Hugo: [not familiar enough with boats, especially merchant vessels, to know that the fact that there were so many rooms for storage rather than an open floor was out of the ordinary to begin with]

Benji: [sitting on a crate—one leg curled over it and the other's foot against that ankle—and half-leaning against another crate behind him. Eyes Hugo with a nigh-unreadable, empty expression… though the corner of his lip is quirked in the faintest smirk]

Benji: [as it almost always was]

Benji: [his dark, curly hair is glued to his forehead by sweat and shoulders are ever-so-subtly slumped in exhaustion, but he sits forward as the door opens. Has his jian sword pointed toward the floor and a cloth in his opposite hand, having been in the middle of cleaning the blade]

Hugo:

Hugo: (to himself, guiltily) so he was in the battle… :'D

Hugo: [flexes his jaw awkwardly, struggling not to let the thoughts of 'but he should've still been there after' take over]

Hugo: [instead, steps inside, arms hugging crossed over his staff]

Benji: (as Hugo does, dryly) "Cricket. You—"

Hugo: (interrupts, voice slightly sharp) "Hugo."

Benji: [hesitates, face twitching slightly—but quickly corrals it into an empty expression again]

Hugo: (not having stopped, curtly) "only my friends can call me Cricket. I've said this."

Benji:

Benji: [sighs, looking away and halfway rolling his eyes. At the same time, reaches for his sword's scabbard to sheathe it]

Zhihao: [as he does, trots past Hugo. And, when Benji sets his sword to the side, the fox-familiar hops into his lap]

Zhihao: [then, hunched forward and ears lowered, turns to watch Hugo closely. Cautiously]

Benji: [absentmindedly moving his hand to pet Zhihao's head, turns an annoyed look onto Hugo. Slightly-sarcastically, an edge to his voice) "right. Hugo. You were looking for me? What do you want."

Hugo: [clenches his jaw and swallows slightly—]

Hugo: [bites back: 'what do you mean 'what do I want?'??? You ditched us! Aren't you supposed to be head of security!?!?!']

Hugo: [instead, takes a deep breath as he turns his eyes from Benji to stare at more crates to the side]

Hugo: [immediately turning them back onto Benji; voice sharper than intended and accusing, blurts) "where were you? Aren't you head of security?"

Benji:

Zhihao:

Benji: [eyebrow shoots up for a deeply unimpressed look]

Zhihao: [hops from Benji's lap to dart past Hugo, then slip through the crack of the un-closed door behind him]

Benji: [at the same time, giving a heavy, exasperated sigh, rose to his feet and crossed his own arms]

Hugo: [followed Zhihao with his eyes for a moment—watching him leave—but quickly returns a sharp look onto Benji]

Benji: [and, for once, has a deadly serious look on his face as he meets Hugo's eyes with his arms crossed and an eyebrow quirked]

Benji: (an edge to his voice): "I'm sorry—are you the Captain?"

Hugo: [freezes, taken aback]

Hugo: [eyebrows furrow in confusion and arms slowly dropping to his sides (though he takes his staff in his right hand), uncertainly): "I… what? Of course not?"

Benji: [purses his lips and hums slightly, looking away and nodding his head as though Hugo just said some grand Truth]

Benji: (passive-aggressively): "huh… really?"

Benji: [snaps his eyes and a sharp look back onto Hugo as he tilts his head to the side, striding forward]

Benji: (sharply) "because, as the First Mate, the Captain is the only one who has the authority to question what I'm doing."

Hugo: [clenches his jaw and struggles not to step back or show fear as Benji closes the distance between them]

Benji: [a completely magicless human, literally cursed to be unable to use magic or hold significant amounts of essence, and disarmed, having left his sword behind on the crate]

Hugo: [and a decently practiced wizard, actively holding a staff, which could easily become the most flexible weapon in all of history]

Hugo: [except… terrified as this man five inches shorter than him stalks up to him and stops a foot away???]

Benji: [despite his apparent vulnerability, carries the energy of a predator ready to strike]

Hugo: [heart fluttering, awkwardly lifts his staff to set its ferrule against the ground and reflexively hover his thumb over the barrier rune near its handle]

Hugo: [except… can also feel his low essence levels jerk in his chest, a sense of nausea threatening him at just the thought of using magic]

Benji: [eyes quickly darted to Hugo's staff and hand as Hugo moved it, seemingly well aware of the dynamic]

Hugo: (can't help the desperate thought) I hope he knows that's a barrier rune :'D

Benji: [doesn't, but]

Benji: [figures well enough that Hugo would've already attacked if he planned to, and staying ready to defend himself regardless]

Hugo: (voice uneven and breathless): "right… I just th—"

Benji: [face twitches for a moment—]

Hugo: [feels a spike of fear and quickly steps back as—]

Benji: [un-crosses his arms to lift a hand and pinch the bridge of his nose exasperatedly, sighing heavily—) "you didn't—"

Benji: [though he visibly faltered, eyes darting to Hugo with an alert look, as the man stepped back]

Both:

Benji: [half rolls his eyes again, looking away and running a hand back through his sweaty hair with a sigh]

Benji: (with his sigh, voice exhausted and exasperated) "—you didn't think, Crick—Hugo."

Hugo: [can't help but feel like he's being lectured by his mom] 😅😓

Benji: [hand still in his hair, turns an annoyed look back onto Hugo. His shoulders are slightly tense, still visibly on guard]

Benji: (an edge to his voice, pointedly) "I was doing my job, Cri—Hugh."

Hugo: [can't help the twinge of annoyance or his face twitching, but just swallows and bites his tongue as he keeps Benji's gaze]

Benji: [eyebrows quirked at Hugo's reaction, but, not having stopped, continues) "—The fight was over, and—even if it wasn't—Zarina could've taken care of anything that came up. We have some valuable cargo."

Hugo: ah. 😅

Hugo: (to himself) so that is just what it is. Why did I think it was anything else? 😅

Benji: (with the same pointed, slightly-sharp tone) "—someone could've slipped by us and come down here. Or just had some sort of teleportation to do so—you know better than I about that kinda stuff!—so part of my job is checking up on everything after attacks."

Hugo: 😅😅😅😓

Hugo: [face twisted subtly in guilt, awkwardly flexes his jaw, drops his eyes, and looks away]

Benji: [sighs heavily, lowering his head to massage his brow in exasperation]

Hugo: [still subtly tense and awkwardly rubbing his thumb against the wood of his staff, looks back to Benji—]

Benji: [looks past his fingers—still massaging his brow—to flash Hugo a dark smile]

Benji: (an edge to his voice, ominously) "so, since you're so new to all this, and seem to be having a hard time understanding it, let me put it this way."

Benji: [squares his shoulders, crosses his arms, and pierces Hugo with a sharp look as he says with a shocking amount of authority which Hugo is now realizing is the same voice that'd commanded the security guards before, despite sounding so unlike Benji) "here at sea, we follow a strict line of authority. You do not question those above you, and can consider this to be somewhat similar to a military environment. Especially with matters relating to pirates. Understood?"

Hugo: [suffering from the utter whiplash of the joking-Benji he's used to seeing compared to… this]

Benji: [almost has the attitude of a born leader, or someone used to carrying large amounts of authority]

Benji: [almost seems like he has been part of a military—]

Hugo: [shock and uncertainty clear on his face, and breath caught in his throat, but—]

Hugo: [forces himself to take a long, deep breath and look away, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck]

Hugo: (awkwardly) "yes… sir." ;'D

Benji:

Benji: [incredibly amused, but—]

Hugo: [as Benji fails to continue, hesitantly looks back to him]

Benji: [has his eyebrows raised and the corner of his lip quirked in his omnipresent smirk]

Benji: [but quickly clears it as he eases the tension in his shoulders with a sigh]

Benji: [arms still crossed and keeping Hugo's eyes; continues with a curt and slightly authoritative voice) "right. Well."

Benji: [takes a deep breath, then continues sharply) "last but not least—"

What do you guys think of Benji? >;D

part 1/part 3

TAGLIST:

@honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling @ashirisu @urnumber1star

@the-letterbox-archives @48lexr @aalinaaaaaa @thecomfywriter @an-indecisive-nerd

@seastarblue @rae-butter

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