#queue the magic

Yeah. Hmph. But! I can Screencap it! Because it's very sweet. Thanks for this, puddin. It was a real treat to read 💜 I'm hoping to get my head around being active on Flip's account again sometime soon. I've been doing some D&D writing as a DM, so that's helped shake off SOME cobwebs from my brain ^_^;

((Trimmed from here))

@missfesterworth

Endor gave the Professor a narrow-eyed look of indignation. It was part 'don’t blame me, I’d rather not be flying about to and fro in this nasty weather’ and part 'well, you KNOW what she’s like, she wouldn’t be told.’

Being offered a perch next to the warm fireplace went some way towards soothing the feelings of the irritable owl. The butterscotch mouse certainly helped save the Professor from a pecking as well.

It was Hans who bore the brunt of Endor’s frustration when he flew the return response to the Apothecary. Endor wasn’t entirely sure he liked this interloper who spoke with such an odd accent. And he certainly didn’t like all the attention that the man got from Jil, attention that used to be showered on her feathered companion when she was single.

'AH! The little arseloch has bitten me again, and I did not do anything to deserve this,’ Hans muttered as he rubbed his shoulder. Endor sat perched there looking as pleased as a grouchy owl could look before flying back to his cage, where he sat preening his feathers.

Jil looked up with a slight giggle. 'I’m sorry, mein Liebe. I’m sure it’s meant affectionately.’ It wasn’t. 'And we need to get ready to go out. We’re going to the Hog’s Head tonight to meet my old friend for a drink and a chat.’

That evening found them approaching the tavern once the darkness had begun to settle. Hans was dressed in the wizarding attire Jil had purchased for him, and there was currently nothing to indicate that he was a stranger in a strange land.

They entered, and Jil looked around for the Professor.

-----------------------------------------------

The Hog’s Head pub had never been known for its bright atmosphere. The only thing illuminating the Professor’s pale face enough to be seen was a tea light sitting in a dingy jar on the scrubbed wooden table. He’d chosen a booth in the back left corner so as to keep a proper lookout on every entrance, exit, and movement across the pub.

A groaning creak and snap of the old door mingled with the off-key jingle of the bell over the entrance. 

Long spindly fingers traced the rim of a glass of fire whiskey. It had been a long day, and the awkward rush of seeing the gentleman accompanying his old student was something he’d never quite experienced before. The man seemed awfully... familiar.

An open door, a burning hearth

Your chest is wide open, and your heart is a home. Others are welcomed in readily and asked to stay. You are comfort and love, everything you were never given but so desperately want to provide for others. You have built this welcoming hearth with your own two hands and won’t see anyone else left out in the cold. Be careful to not burn yourself out trying to keep everyone else warm.

Me last week: Hey, I'm finally listening to it. Started like 2 weeks ago.

My friend: Ohhhh nice. Are you still on campaign 1?

Me: Y-yes. I'm like 5 episodes in. There are 10 billion. It's gonna take me a little while, I fear :'D

"How much further is it?"

For the ninth time that hour (she'd counted), Flip repeated the same reply to the same question.

"A while yet."

"But what does that mean? How many miles? Kilometers? Smoots???" whined a young Ember Sprite.

Flip sighed and turned slowly on her heels to face the group of Spritelings in her charge for the evening. Clearly her patience was spread thin. She kept one hand above them all as the conduit for a rain protection charm. The heavy droplets pounded in steady rhythm against the surface, sparking with glimmering light at every impact.

"You're none of you big enough to fly in a storm and you're not of age to use Fairy Rings yet. Have you tried growing faster?" Flip asked.

A few of the children sniggered quietly in spite of themselves. Others huffed in annoyance. They were only small things, after all. Stamina wasn't their highest attribute.

"Let's have a rest, then. Take out your snack packs and Gibble." Flip relented, conjuring a large blanket to cover wet grass. "I know you're beat, but we'll be there soon enough. Your parents will have gotten all of the Autmn Feast decorations up by now. It's going to be beautiful. Enough candies to make you sick all week, ne? Just need to hold out a few Smoots longer. With all the Nightmare activity crossing into our territory lately, we can't take the main paths anymore. Not with kiddies."

Several Spritelings scooted closer together out of habit while others took on the melancholy expression of loss. Everyone tucked into their Gibble to lighten spirits. Nightmare activity was a touchy subject.

"They won't come this way, will they?" a little River Sprite whispered.

"Hard to say for sure, but I expect not. All of the repellent is pretty fresh. Still, I wouldn't worry. I'm meaner than anything else in these woods. Ask anyone."

"Aren't you scared?" the River Sprite pressed.

"Nay. It's a day at the office for me to deal with Nightmares. It's not as if they're pill bugs." Flip replied, laying back to look at the shield sparkles.

"Pill bugs? Those aren't scary!" a Moss Sprite declared.

"I would disagree with that. But if you should see one, we'll make a deal: you shoo the pill bugs, I'll shoo the Nightmares. Does that work for you?" Flip suggested.

With a rallying cry of ,'Yes, Madam Frost!' the Spritelings hopped up with a renewed sense of duty and hustled away into the night. By the time they'd arrived at the festival, everyone was bragging about the five pill bugs they'd rolled away as a team and no more than a peep of whining was heard.

"Pill bugs? Really?" an adult Love Sprite asked as the children dispersed to their activities.

It had started as a rumor. In centuries of filtering through humanity's Dreams, there were few times where Flip bothered to pull anything of note. It was business. It was balance. Though it was all to easy for the common bystander to assume that Nightmare Hunters might nitpick and analyze every little thought to the embarrassment of all, the truth was that there was simply not enough time in the night for it. A person might get a cursory glance at best one out of a million times. A stark exception would be for Dreams involving what the industry called 'Hell Roots'. Those Nightmares weren't Nightmares at all. They were different and exclusive to Beings who had spent at least fractional time in a circle of the Underworld. It was a rare find, considering that it wasn't a place one walked freely in and out of.

Lately she'd been seeing troubling things. Or hearing them, rather. It was a particular sort of anguish on the sound scale which Humans couldn't quite fathom without some supernatural form of aid, and it came searing through as background noise among individuals bound to those circles. People who perhaps had made dark dealings at some point in their lives. An Angel scream. Sometimes she could make out broken Enochian words, though not often. After a time of hearing the same Voice in the minds of different people, she began to draw it out in a collection of sorts to be replayed within her home in off hours.

"I'm convinced it's an Archangel. I'm not sure which one. If rumors are to be believed, there shouldn't be any within range of a place any Human could get to. Raphael is in the Empty - Cas saw to that-, Lucifer and Micheal are fighting in a devil cage below, and as far as anyone knows, Gabriel was killed by Lucifer some time ago. I don't even know how many there are... few. They're the primordial ones, after all." Flip sighed and rubbed her tired face before drinking deeply from her coffee mug. "But I hear them. Like they're crying out for someone and these people just hear it from a distance without understanding. Or they were crying out. It's muffled more now. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out why anyone down there would want to chance keeping an angelic warrior in close quarters. It's driving me nuts, Jilly." Flip listened to make sure Cas wasn't back from errands yet. "I haven't told him. I'm honestly thinking of just... sneaking in for a look. I hate to meddle out of my wheelhouse, but still."