A Story

A collection of bits and pieces from various stories. Writing blog.

[awholechickennugget]

I did piccrews again because I finally found some with dark enough skin tones for my kiddos!

QRTZ: Quirina, River, Tori, Zeki

[aconvenientenemy]

3/3/2021

I've never cut my wrists.

But not for lack of want.

I cut my hands instead.

To keep me grounded in the moment.

My blood reminds me that I'm alive.

It's been years.

I've learned to guide my destructive impulses.

But sometimes...

I need to see my blood.

I need to know I'm still alive.

I almost killed myself yesterday.

[aconvenientenemy]

"Ive seen the way you look at me when you think im not paying attention." He started, walking closer to sit on the edge with Nada.

"What way is that?" She hid the beginning of a smile, wondering if he would try to tell her she was in love with him. He wouldn't be the first to think that. To accuse her.

"Like you've already said your goodbyes. Like you're looking at a ghost who doesnt know he is one yet." She started and turned to look at him sharply. Caught off guard. He was watching the waterfall opposite them, seemingly calm. "I don't know why you can't sleep at night, but I know I'm not helping. You think I'm gonna get myself killed one day, dont you?"

She searched his face for any sign of emotion one way or the other but he was being blank on purpose. "You need to go home." She settled on, leaning back on her hands, eyes on the treeline to their side.

"I have no home, Nada." She heard him huff out a laugh. "The look i see in your eyes is the same one Sister Aryyn had in hers the day the foster home burned down. We might as well died with the building. I'm an orphan with no place to go, Nada. I'm the last person you have to worry about."

[aconvenientenemy]

Adventurer: What are you here for if not to assist us?

Nada: I was led to believe you wouldn't need my assistance what with that one being 'the chosen one' and all.

Nada: I'm here because you guys are going in my direction. I have a-

Chosen One: a shopping list? I don't want to go down in history as having a grave robber on my quest. Do you have to be so barbaric?

Nada: hey I'm not the one planning to slay a dragon. What did it ever do to you?

Chosen One: It's terrorizing the city!

Nada: Oh I'm sorry that your scary dragon is eating the corrupt kings horses so that his army can't march on poorer towns nearby. Be original for once in your life.

Nada: preferably before the dragon kills you for trespassing.

Chosen One: It's not trespassing. It's a-

Nada: A holy mission? Tell me, did God visit you personally to send you to kill another one of His creatures or did your precious snotbag King tell you that?

Adventurer: He told us-

Chosen One: Leave it, she's not going to listen to us.

Nada: You don't know. I might. Maybe I'll decide to help. Maybe I'll fall in love with your rogueish charm. Maybe I'll help you kill an innocent creature to satisfy your garbage king's trash desires.

Nada: oh look he's mad. There goes your precious chosen one. You don't wanna follow him?

Adventurer: He'll slow down soon enough.

Adventurer: What did you plan on doing with the dragon? If you don't mind me asking.

Nada: Talk to it, maybe. Ignore it mostly. Dragons speak like an earthquake in your chest. Their voices rumble like thunder in your bones. I was never a fan of talking to dragons. But they're more than amenable if you're polite and honest.

Adventurer: You've met a dragon?

Nada: only two

Nada: one tried to kill me but it was just a kid so i dont blame it. The second one gave me a quest in exchange for the thing I went to claim. They're not much different from people.

Adventurer: That's amazing. Why won't you help us? Maybe we could stop him from killing it and just talk to it.

Nada: That's not what I'm here for. When it comes to your lot, adventurers and people on holy quests, I'm just a wildlife photographer. I don't get involved.

Nada: I don't care for either of you, but if hes intent to fight and this dragon kills one of you, make sure it's him. I've been with you two for the better part of a week now. You're smart. You ask questions. He believes anything people tell him. That's dangerous. Especially if he gets put in charge of anything greater than himself.

[aconvenientenemy]

It's been a while so have this extremely specific meme of my QRTZ team I never write for

Tori is the one taking the picture.

[aconvenientenemy]

Jayme: The first time I saw you, you were broken. You were a chipped cup of a person but you were human so I helped you. You meant nothing more to me than what you could give and... you gave a lot. So you were worth something then.

Jayme: The second time I saw you, you were somehow even more miserable. But what you had for me was heavy. Powerful. It made you worth it to help again.

Jayme: I didn't pick favorites. Of my customers, I tried to view you all as stray cats. You kill my pests, I feed you a snack, you leave.

Jayme: But you specifically manipulated my own brand of magic to pull me towards you. Just so you could give me a gift. A thanks. You made our meetings more than transactional.

Jayme: As common as creatures like you are, humans who want to explore, humans who get mixed up in very dangerous company, humans who run for their lives weekly. It's less common for those same humans to spend their spare moments of peace thinking about thanking one's who've helped them.

Nada: I was just a transaction to you?

Jayme: You still are. Don't smile at me. All I've stated is that you're now my favorite transaction.

[aconvenientenemy]

"Wait please, stop!" A woman wrapped head to toe in a brown camo fabric ran up from the sideline edge where the trees ended and the sand began. "Please, I need an escort."

Nada lowered her weapon and looked the woman up and down, her heavy fabric concealing anything about her. She raised her weapon again. "Give me a good reason why I should believe you aren't with them."

She shook her head, hands still held up in surrender. "I don't know..."

"Convince me."

She took her hood off and slowly started to unwrap her fabric. "I'm a librarian."

Nada cocked her head to the side and took two steps forward, weapon held to her side now. No one's ever claimed to be a librarian to her before. "A what??"

"Librarian." She opened her wrap and pulled out a gilded card with her photo and the year she first became a librarian embossed underneath. "I need an escort. Please."

Nada put her weapon away as she studied the card. It wouldn't be easy to replicate. But it also wouldn't be impossible. "How did you get out here? The closest city is miles away and involved in a war."

"Librarians get safe passage everywhere. I had an escort when I first left but he was killed. I was only spared because of my ID. I thought I could make it alone but even without humans wanting to kill me, the creatures of the desert don't care about my badge." She smiled with the tiniest bit of humor and shrugged, wrapping herself back into her fabric. "I'm just trying to get to Machen. Once I'm in the city I can find my own way to their library. I can even pay you, if you'd like."

Nada shook her head. "What books do you have on you?"

She pulled one out from underneath and showed Nada. "Just this."

She nodded. "Let me copy it and that'll be all the pay I need. What's your name?"

"Kai Valentina."

[aconvenientenemy]

Organization Thug 1: This is gonna be an unpopular opinion probably

Organization Thug 2: I'm not here to dox you

OT1: How well did you know "Gabrielle"

OT2: Judging by the quotes you used around her name, not well enough.

OT1: Okay, so here's my unpopular opinion. I think she's put on too high of a pedestal

OT2: By who?

OT1: Everyone. Every new plant who's enlisted to follow Nada has Gabbrielle in their mind as the ideal partner for Nada. Do what Gabby did. Don't make the same mistakes but follow the pattern she set. Gabby is like synonymous now with becoming the new plant. Everyone wants to be like her. To get as close as she did. Even Rosalie has Gabrielle on a pedestal.

OT2: Woah, hey. Don't just-

OT1: I know. Im not saying- that isn't what I meant. I just mean she brings up Gabrielle a lot. Gabby was just another member. She was just like you or me. She wasn't anyone special...

OT2: you mean she's no Doctor.

OT1: If anyone should be the poster child for how to get to Nada it should be him. He's close but unattached. And more importantly, he's actually lived through a partnership with her

OT2: ... Maybe we shouldn't talk on nightwatch anymore

OT1: I told you it was an unpopular opinion

OT2: I didn't know how bad it would be.

OT1: What do you-

OT2: If Doc catches wind of any of this, he won't agree.

OT1: you're more worried about him than Rosalie?

OT2: Yes. Rosalie will punish you as a boss. She'll reassign you to something you hate with a partner who hates you and extend your program. But Doc deals with things clear and simple. If he doesn't like something you say, he'll cut out your tongue.

OT1: Oh.

OT1: yeah. Maybe nightwatch should be a... silent affair.

[awholechickennugget]

Someone: Are you immortal?

Nada: No... but...

Someone: "No, but" is not a very reassuring answer.

Nada: You know how I said I'm a grab bag of blessings and curses? Well some of them make it so I can't be killed in various ways or in certain places.

Someone: Explain?

Nada: You ever hear a human telling a vampire like, they aren't special because they can also be killed by a stake to the heart? Well I actually can't be killed that way.

[awholechickennugget]

Nada: *leaving a voicemail for her latest companion* Hey, gonna be late to the rendezvous. I know, I know. Im already late. I can explain. Some idiot tried to kill me without doing their research, again. Anyway. Can you have a set of clothes ready for me to change? I'm... um. Well you'll see me when I get there anyway so whatever, I'm covered in blood and I'm soaking wet. I guess they thought if the arrow to the heart didn't kill me I would drown sooner or later. *sigh* Is it so hard to do basic research before accepting an assassin job? I'm pretty sure the fact that I can breathe underwater is one of the widest known rumors about me. Anyway. I lost a pair of socks because I didn't want to walk with soggy feet and somewhere down the path they fell out of my pocket. Honestly that's the worse thing right now. I'm this close to canceling this job because of that pair of socks I swear if we didn't already have the stupid merametal I would just leave right now. Uh. Please check your message before I get there. I want some dry socks. Thanks. Also sorry.

[awholechickennugget]

Organization Plant 1: She barely spoke to me the whole time we were together. I thought maybe she had her voice stolen but one time in town I heard her haggle prices on a piece of biscotti.

Organization Plant 2: Dude she wouldn't shut up the whole time we traveled together! She gave me a burner phone and whenever we weren't together she left these long ass messages of where she was and why she was late.

Organization Plant 3: Did she ever do that thing where she just slept with her eyes open?

OP1: Yes!

OP2: No??

Organization Plant 4: At least you guys got to travel with her. She took one look at me, grabbed my hidden wire, and shouted into it, "Rosalie, you're getting lazy." Then she shoved me to the ground and told me to take acting classes.

OP1: Yeah she gets a little cranky when she's being targeted so obviously. The last interaction we had was by a firepit and I think I asked too many questions, she glared at me while she ate her food and then the next morning she was gone. I had to find my way back to the mountain town without a map or my backpack. All she left me was a single days food ration and a juice box.

OP2: That was nice?

OP1: It was juice she knew I was allergic to.

[awholechickennugget]

Zeki accidentally gets drunk and leaves messages on Quirina’s scroll asking her to come get him but she cant because she doesNT UNDERSTAND FRENCH

[aconvenientenemy]

Alcohol headcanons

QUIRINA- She can handle herself to a certain extent but she usually pushes herself too far by accident. She can safely have like 3 drinks with no pushback but by drink 4 she's like alright it's time to overshare with everyone at this table. And she's speaking so fast no one can get a word in otherwise.

Five drinks in and she's dancing. But it's more like stumbling. She still has no balance but shes not self conscious about it at all.

Six drinks in and she's speaking Spanish but she's slow about it, almost like she's teaching you but she really not. She's being overly sweet about it and she keeps going back and forth between calling everyone pet names or 'little kid'.

RIVER- He can handle his drinks like nobodies business. He will sit there on drink 6 watching everyone with a smirk because he is now the holder of secrets. But the key is, he's gotta be sitting. Once he stands up it's over for that ho. He will stumble all the way back to their ride but he will still be talking clearly and making sure everyone else gets in the back too.

TORI- This 👏🏽 boy 👏🏽 will 👏🏽 strip 👏🏽

Not in a sexual way. He just like has a few drinks and he's like mid conversation and just taking his clothes off piece by piece while he explains attack patterns of certain Grimm. It's just a flipped switch in his brain. He gets some alcohol in his system and it's like "we're returning to our roots! Release this body from the prison of fabric!"

ZEKI- He is not built to consume alcohol. Two drinks in and he's much more friendly. He's leaning into your space and "offering" you style advice and writing down pairings of his moms fashion lines he thinks will go good with your general vibes. He's not really paying attention whether or not you're listening to it but if you don't nod at least once he will keep repeating himself.

Three drinks in and hes like Bingo! You just unlocked my tragic family backstory! Surprise!

Four drinks and he's literally unintelligible. He's slurring through French so fast it sounds fake. But he's also out of practice so there's some English words peppered in there but it's not like anyone can understand him enough to tell when it's English and when it's French.

[aconvenientenemy]

@recklessintellectuals

First off. Sorry its been a whole month, I don't know how to prioritize!

Second, yes! He doesn't always know when he's being rude. To him the best answer is the most straightforward one, so if that ends up being overly blunt or too personal, he doesn't always see it that way.

And yes again! He took up the project of learning to fight and making weapons as an outlet for all of his frustration. It started off a little bit as a rebellious thing too because his parents were so against him becoming a Huntsman.

[awholechickennugget]

I don't have time to write it because of all my other things I need to be writing but I just started thinking about my team QRTZ and how River was raised where the only touch he got was always in anger so he doesn't know or understand the casual touches of his teammates patting him on the shoulder when he does something cool or letting their hands linger on his arm when they get up from the table before him and say "see you later" and "have fun in class" or the overly excited grabbing Quirina does when she has something fun to tell him and he Especially doesn't understand the Overly Touchy raised-without-boundaries soft touches on his face or in his hair from Torrential "Tori" Arinth who gives out praises and kindness like the sun gives out warmth

[awholechickennugget]

Tori being 5'5 is the shortest member of team QRTZ while Quirina is only barely taller at 5'6.

Quirina is the one obsessed with coffee and Tori is the one who tells Zeki that decaf exists so that when he brings it for Quirina she doesn't lose her marbles.

Therefore! Their team up attack name is Cafecito

[awholechickennugget]

Zeki and River's team name is MotorMouth and they don't get a cute reason explaining why.

[awholechickennugget]

Quirina and River are Summer Thunder because of the way the sky looks at sunset when lightning hits. Quirina is the reds and oranges of the setting sunlight and River is the varying shades of purples and blues that flare up with the lightning

[awholechickennugget]

Zeki and Tori are BitterSweet for Obvious reasons but Also for unexpected reasons. Because Zeki likes sweet drinks and Tori likes really bitter ones but personality-wise they're opposite.

[awholechickennugget]

Tori and River are HoneyClover

Honeydew for Tori and Purple Clover for River

[aconvenientenemy]

@recklessintellectuals

Yes! One of my worries when writing Zeki was that he would come off as the generic stoic rude boy so I made sure early on to try to get exactly the type of personality he is down lol Yes he's great at fighting with his weapon but he's also so dang bad at being a human person in every other aspect. Yes he's quiet and seems to get straight to the point when forced to talk to people but he's also so horrifyingly open about things when he talks for too long because he doesn't know what constitutes "tmi".