#toffer

Zepheera's Family

Most of the relevant OCs from this point on are more borrowers (shocker, I know) and relatives of Zepheera, a list that can and will only grow because I am insane. Most of them are featured in Zepheera's Origins, and some also appear or are mentioned in various BTaS stories.

Tack - Father; In life, he was kind and forward-thinking for his time. A man full of so much love in his heart for his wife and especially his infant daughter that it ultimately killed him. Though he carried the healing factor that he passed down to his daughter, he was fatally injured in an inadvertently devastating release of energy from the entity symbiotically linked to Zepheera.

Klerida - Mother; Devastated by the loss of her husband and without the tools to cope with any of it, she turned all that hurt onto her daughter. Blamed her for being the epicenter of the catastrophe that caused Tack's death. She spent Zepheera's childhood swinging between being cold and detached from her, and lashing out aggressively, leaving her child to feel at fault for Klerida's and her own hurt.

Author's Note: While I don't regret taking this angle with Zepheera's mother, I acknowledge that at the time of writing Episode 2: Memories, I didn't have the tools to write an abuser in a way that wasn't extreme and over the top. In what I now consider to be the proper canon, Klerida did put her hands on her child in anger, but never went so far as to break Zepheera in the way described in the Episode.

Boston - Uncle; Though he did not witness and wasn't aware of what Zepheera went through at home, Boston took it upon himself to take the girl under his wing since his brother couldn't. He taught Zepheera about borrowing, despite it being a traditionally a man's skill at the time, and kept her company when she needed a friendly presence. He loved her like his own, even if Klerida kept him at arm's length.

Baycliff - Stepfather; He and his family lived in an entirely different part of the house Zepheera's family occupied. Baycliff met Klerida in passing once or twice before Tack's death, and then properly go to know her years afterward. After their marriage, Klerida's more physically abusive tendencies toward Zepheera died down in favor of the cold detachment; Baycliff fussed more over his wife and...

Kernel - Half-Brother

art by the wonderful @mythical-cupcake (left) and @creatorofuniverses (right)

Kernel was born when Zepheera was 7 years old, and she fell in love instantly. He was a curious, high-spirited boy who looked up to his big sister, a bright light in the family that was snuffed out all too soon. While out borrowing with Zepheera, he met with a terrible fate outside of both of their control.

Klerida was none too happy about Zepheera once again being seemingly responsible for the loss of someone else she loved with all her heart, to put it kindly.

Orrick - Husband

art by quackghost

Orrick is a kind soul, a sweetheart through and through. He found Zepheera outside of his home after she ran away from hers. He and his family took her in, and their relationship blossomed over time. They made a life and a home for themselves and were happily committed to one another for over twenty years. Then Zepheera discovered she wasn't aging and, in a moment of panic, fled from the wonderful life they had. He was given no explanation, and could do nothing but despair in the wake of the disappearance of his wife.

His story is tied to Zepheera's Origins, mentioned in a few others in which Zepheera opens up about her past, and he has recently resurfaced in the Donna Trilogy story, If I Could Turn Back Time.

Day - Daughter; Shortly after Zepheera left Orrick, she discovered she was pregnant. By then, it was too late for her to be able to find her way back to him, and the notion of outliving her child was twice as painful as it was for her spouse. So she found a lovely couple to raise her daughter: Ceillo and Toffer. The two men couldn't have children of their own, and she grew up with incredibly loving parents.

(left to right) Toffer, Day, and Ceillo by the fantastic @guaxinimraccoon

Marcue - Grandson

Art by quackghost

When Day was still quite young, she met and married Brine, and the two of them had a son. He was a quiet, thoughtful boy growing up, especially with his parents' relationship growing more and more contentious over the years. He met a young girl named Laitina who lived in another part of the house, the same age as him, and the two of them hit it off. First as friends, then as something more than that. But one day, after a particularly bad fight, Brine took his son and left for another house. There he remarried and had another child, a daughter. Marcue quickly became protective of the girl, and though he longed to reunite with his mother and Laitina, he stayed to make sure his half sister would be okay.

The two men did their best to make Zepheera feel welcome, especially now that she’d promised to give them the gift of parenthood when such a thing would not be so easy for them ordinarily. She honestly couldn’t have asked for better people to raise her and Orrick’s daughter, with the option of Orrick himself well out of the picture. Not by his choice.

Looking at them now, they seemed like they would make a wonderful, loving family when Zepheera was gone.

She did plan to leave, eventually. She wouldn’t tell Toffer and Ceillo why, and they didn’t push her for explanations. It was just as well; she couldn’t begin to describe the way that she couldn't bear to keep the child herself. Perhaps the awful reality that she was too afraid of watching her and Orrick's baby grow and wither and die before her while she was left behind, could be cushioned by the gesture of giving her dear friends the gift of raising her themselves.

Zepheera had never heard of Doris Day. Apparently she was from a part of the world far, far away from here, and this particular album was called “I Have Dreamed” after one of the songs. She had a beautiful voice, which drifted down through the floorboards that night. Toffer adored her, it seemed, and was quite excited to hear that the human had put it on. So far, the album had consisted mostly of ballads about love, which put Zepheera in a contemplative mood to say the least.

It had been just about a year since she’d left Orrick behind. What would he think of her now? The woman who abandoned him out of the blue. What would he say if he knew she’d taken their child with her, no matter how unwitting it was?

Watching Toffer and Ceillo dance around with that happy, healthy baby did help distract her from such thoughts. She would live a good life here.

The baby began to fuss in Ceillo’s arms, just as one side of the record ran out and the human got up to turn it over. He did his best to shush her, but she had a need that needed expressing and no amount of rocking or back-patting could make it better.

“I’ll take care of it,” said Zepheera, getting wearily up from her seat. This was why she was sticking around the place, after all. 

Nodding in understanding, Ceillo gently handed the baby over. Her cries didn’t quite stop, but they settled down significantly once she was in Zepheera’s arms. She spent the walk to her bedroom convincing herself that it was because she recognized Zepheera as the one who could sate her hunger, and not because she recognized her mother.

By the time Zepheera sat down in a chair in her room, the human had begun playing the B side of the record. Focusing on that instead of the way she avoided eye contact with the baby, she noticed that the first song was a tad more whimsical than the previous ballads. Bouncy and flowery, yet still about love and all that fluff. It seemed she couldn’t quite escape the topic tonight, but the lighter tune at least put Zepheera and her child at ease for the moment.

Then the airy flute and strings faded away, replaced by a melancholy oboe and piano.

“When one is lonely,” Doris sang, “the days are long…”

Zepheera’s hand clapped over her mouth, barely containing a gasp.

“You seem so near…”

‘No! Not this song, please!’

“But never appear…”

Zepheera hadn’t heard this song in years, maybe decades, but she’d never forget it in all her life.

“Each night, I sing you a lover’s song…”

Their song. Hers and Orrick’s.

“Please try to hear, my dear… My dear…”

The next thing Zepheera knew, Ceillo was holding her in a tight hug while Toffer muffled the baby’s fussing in his shoulder as best as he could. Evidently, she slowly realized, she’d begun sobbing uncontrollably, loud enough that the other two heard and came to help. Given how hoarse her voice felt after only a few moments of such raw, turbulent emotion, it was a true miracle that the human hadn’t heard her through the floorboards.

In all the time Zepheera had been with them, she never allowed herself to break down like this, even when the dark thoughts wouldn’t leave her alone. All the reminders of all the hurt she’d caused just by being alive, making the choices she’d made. They didn’t quite know what to do but hold her and assure her that it was alright, they were here for her, and she was safe.

If only they knew.

The song was still playing, Doris’ dulcet tones dragging out the chorus that Zepheera knew all too well.

“I’ll leave you never.... Love you forever... All our past sorrow redeeming…”

Zepheera did her best to pull herself together, pulling away from Ceillo. Catching her breath, she told them something that they didn’t quite expect after such an outburst.

“I think I know what to name her.”

They blinked at her in shock. Zepheera had always insisted that they name the baby, since they’re the ones who would raise her. They, in turn, insisted she should at least come up with a few ideas. It was only fair since she did all the work in carrying the child. So they’d reached an impasse, and the most Toffer and Ceillo would do was call the baby by a few pet names like ‘sweetie’ or ‘love’. A few more names were brought up in conversation, but Zepheera refused to give input.

“Make it all come true…”

“I… Do you think Day could be a good name for her?”

“Make me love you, too…”

Ceillo and Toffer exchanged looks, as though confirming for one another that Zepheera was actually offering a suggestion. They couldn’t begin to understand their friend, but the last thing they could do was deny her this.

“Someday I’ll find you…”

Taking one another by the hand, they nodded together and Toffer said, “Day is a lovely name for her.” He shifted the newly named baby in his arms so the three of them could finally put the name to her soft, round face. “Look at her. She shines like the sun.”

All three of them were misty-eyed at that point, and with the last of her strength, Zepheera reached out to wrap an arm around each of their necks. Their hug surrounded Day in a warm embrace.

“Someday I’ll find you…