buried flames

        they definitely wouldn’t turn down that bit of news, because they’ve been up for a little over day. not that they would tell anyone that, that their sleep has been interrupted by their puzzle habit. mira grins at phobos and leans against him, definitely pleased.

              ❝ thanks, papa. ❞

       phobos easily puts his arm around them again when they lean against him, his other hand poking at a few of the unmatched puzzle pieces absentmindedly. he nods, still smiling proudly at them since he had never been too good at jigsaw puzzles like this himself, but it was nice seeing mira be so invested in (and good at) something. 

        they watch him fit a piece into its place easily and barely resist pouting, since it seemed so easy for him to find it. still, mira spreads the last few pieces out in front of them and studies them, then does the same with the open spaces. at his question, they blink, then point to two other completed puzzles. one’s got a unicorn and a faerie hovering so they can braid its mane and the other is one of the northern lights.

              ❝ this’ll be m’ third. ❞

       he wants to tell them that having fresh eyes probably helped him find the piece’s place, but he’s distracted by the other finished puzzles before he has the chance to. he lets out a small, pleasant sounding laugh before very lightly tapping the back of mira’s hand that’s closer to him. 

        they lean into him when he gives them a one armed hug and beam at what he says. they’re undoubtedly getting better at being okay with contact and at accepting praise, especially since he’s been a huge factor in it. mira hums.

              ❝ really? mama got a bunch of puzzles for me t’ do because it’s basically summer. ❞

       since mira seemed so alright with the hug, he sits with his arm touching theirs just to maintain some contact. phobos nods, trying the puzzle piece against a spot where it looks like it might go before securing it down since it does fit there. 

        mira nods and scoots over in case he wants to sit next them. it’s a picture of the horsehead nebula and the handful of pieces that mira still has are kind of stumping them. they hold a piece out to him.

              ❝ i did! … cal helped a little. ❞

       the god sits beside them and stops himself from kissing the top of their head like he thinks to, instead making sure that they’re looking and putting an arm around them for a moment like a one armed hug. he takes the puzzle piece and examines it, still smiling. 

@wastedthroes!

        they’re finishing up a three thousand piece puzzle, a couple of their neon bright butterflies settled on their hair like bowties. mira blinks when the light from the hallway dims, then looks up and grins. they seem happier, honestly.

              ❝ hi, papa. ❞

       phobos watches mira for a minute from the doorway, his shoulder resting against the frame before he decides to knock. their smile only fortifies his own, his hand lifting to show them his palm as a lazy sort of wave. he moves in a little closer to get a better look at the puzzle. 

        she grins when she notices that they’re just a bit away from her, because it’s happened once or twice and each time had been amusing. coin taps its hand and drops her shirt to cover the mouth, and to possibly prevent a lost fingertip. even if she thinks the tongue would’ve just licked lijah’s hand.

              ❝ really? ❞

       lijah watches the mouth on coin’s stomach until she covers it back up, and even then it keeps its eyes there to see if there’s any extra movement. it laughs a little again, a low and quiet sound, and it nods at her. 

        she’s seen lijah’s eyes a few times before, but each time makes her a little bit more envious that she didn’t look more demonic. black sclera aside. coin fidgets with the edge of her oversized t-shirt before she lifts it up enough to show lijah the mouth across her stomach. it very blatantly sticks its tongue out at the beast.

              ❝ this? ❞

       if it scoots an inch or two away when coin’s hand goes to the hem of her shirt, lijah will deny it completely. it stares, the colours of its irises switching among themselves because of what it’s looking at. it laughs some after processing, the noise sounding surprised above all else. its first reaction is to stick a finger near the tongue for doing that, but it thinks better of it and moves its hands back to its lap. 

              ❝ exactly that. ❞

        her smile is easy, but it vanishes just as soon as she notices how lijah reacts. coin wraps an arm across her stomach and the motion earns her a complaining grumble, but at least it stops the grinding. she knows the second mouth is probably reacting to how she feels, but it doesn’t make her appreciate it any more. she shrinks a little and nods.

              ❝ us too. ❞

       something it will probably never learn to do is to be any less blatant about when it’s staring at someone, since it doesn’t see the point in being ashamed of that. still, it slides its stolen pair of shades off and closes them, looking over at her like maybe seeing its abnormal eyes will reassure her that whatever she seems to be hiding is something that she doesn’t have to right now. 

        she taps its hand back and sighs, a very faint sounding of her stomach mouth grinding its tiny needle sharp teeth. it’s not really anything to be concerned over. coin looks at lijah and smiles a little.

              ❝ was braiding del’s hair and not even halfway, she decided she didn’t want them after all? it just— made us sad. ❞

       “braids? like---” 

   it stares down at its hands for a second before crossing its index fingers back and forth over one another to replicate the intertwining locks of hair that form braids. it stops abruptly though when it hears the teeth grinding, shoulders now back slightly to show that it isn’t quite as relaxed as before. lijah stares at coin’s stomach from behind its sunglasses before sighing. 

        coin immediately leans against lijah and returns the smile, even if it doesn’t see it. she knows mira wouldn’t let her put their hair into a bunch of tiny braids, but would at least let her brush it and put it into a ponytail. she won’t, though, just to avoid making them uncomfortable.

              ❝ hi, lijah. ❞

       it looks over at her when she leans against it, but it won’t move away since it likes coin. that, and it seemed like she might be upset. a lightly calloused hand reaches out to tap the back of one of coin’s and the beast tilts its head. 

@wastedthroes!

          she’d been braiding delilah’s hair into many tiny rows, but her daughter had decided that halfway through that she didn’t want them after all. so now coin’s putting hair brushes and bobby pins away. really, she’s a little bummed.

              ❝ hi. ❞

       its mouth was open since it was ready to greet coin, but it was staring at all of the hair supplies she was putting away. lijah’s attention finally turns back to coin after a moment and it smiles some at her. it can tell that something isn’t exactly right almost immediately, so it goes over to sit right beside her. 

        she touches its hand before moving back to sit on the actual couch, the phantom pains now mostly gone. she thinks that lijah being there to distract her helped. mary’s smile is slight, but it’s still there.

              ❝ my name got mixed up with another mary’s. i think i’m actually a saint now. ❞

       lijah watches her touch its hand and doesn’t inch away from it, instead just watching her and tilting its head some when it watches her slightly wavering smile. it knew a little about christianity and definitely about saints, so hearing her name was a little surprising.

        she holds her hands up as a sort of warning before very lightly touches its face like she’s trying to get a feel for what lijah really is. nothing really comes up for her, but it doesn’t lessen her grin any less.

              ❝ my full name is mary magdalene. ❞

       it watches her and resists the overwhelming urge to move away before she can touch it, instead just watching her hand to try and figure out what she’s doing besides trying to figure it out. lijah blinks at her, readjusting its sunglasses some as it looks off. it was familiar enough with most religious, but didn’t know everything about any of them.

        she nods and stands after a moment of debating whether she should or not. there’s still that urge to touch its face, but mary decides that she whouldn’t. instead, she smiles at lijah.

              ❝ i know what it’s like to be assumed about. ❞

       it watches her and decides that even if she did reach out to it again, it would try not to back away from her too much. it wasn’t on purpose, honestly, since it was so used to just moving away from people who tried to make contact. it blinks and gives mary a tiny smile back.