Craven

Here.

[haleandhollow]

fallapartwithme​:

Ash did his usual annoying seated counter-dance as the Idol appeared. Definitely a weirdo (and definitely not someone who ‘got out’), but Craven was alright in his book.

Even if Ash always got the same one wrong step vibe he did from Jack.

… Earth.

“C’mon, buddy, we gonna do this round the rosie every time?” Asher’s foot bounced where it slung over his knee. Once, twice… and with a third, and a third ding of the bell, he sighed (dramatically, heavily), because this was the same game every time and there were other ways to pick at the itty-bitty cracks in Craven’s (metaphorical) armor. “Asher-basher, six-time slasher.”

For good measure, he snared a finger on the top edge of the mask covering the lower half of his face and released it to his chin with a pop of the elastic loops.

“How long before I get frequent customer status, man?”

(Ding.)

The visageless face of Craven stared openly at Asher’s while the serene dance of violins continued in the background. The Idol then slowly, ponderously turned to face a monitor. The gauntleted hand lifted and began to type a series of letters into the computer with one massive finger.

Peck, peck.

There was the distinct feeling that Craven was still looking at him, whatever that meant.

The violins continued.

“Six-nine.”

[fallapartwithme]

Maintaining Looks

Jack’s arm was working out great. Like a charm, and that was suspicious, because hell knew Asher hadn’t been treating it any different. But who was he to get critical of the first good luck he’d had since last spring?

And, like then, Ash knew his luck wouldn’t last.

(Case in point: some dickhead denting his car, resulting in a snowy evening with a tight knit vampire family that in no way made him feel anything other than out of place and uncomfortable until he could escape to the community center, trapped with everyone else who should have stayed home.)

But all that was why he was ‘following doctor’s orders’ and picking up his Regulator-recommended supplements, specially ordered for the last Imítheos lingering in Maroa. Ash kicked the car door shut behind him and tilted his shades down to focus in on the retro-themed sign above.

(Could his eyes break. Had that happened to anyone yet? Fuck.)

“Craaaaven!”

Asher, at his worst, did not know how to announce himself quietly. Asher, at his best, did not know how to announce himself politely. And so Asher, currently rapidly mentally pingponging between both states, announced himself by sliding into the pharmacy with an unlit cigarette between his teeth and hopping up onto the counter to unnecessarily ding the stupid, unnecessary bell on it.

“Tell me you got the good stuff today.”

[haleandhollow]

Seconds of silence followed. The high-pitched ding ding of the bell filled the otherwise empty pharmacy, though there was little telling how long that would last. A retro-styled radio further down the counter was playing what sounded like soft, classical music that was as inoffensive as it was uninspired.

It was then that the storeroom door opened. A monolithic dark shape ducked through in a storm of bristling armor and frayed, tattered cloth tucked over a sharp hip. The Craven Idol that emerged seemed to shrink and swell to bend through the doorway before filling the surrounding hall in a sight that seemed to distort form and space. He stepped out, oddly delicate, and the door carefully creaked closed behind him.

Craven approached the front of AstroDrugs. The sweep of his massive shoulders always seemed a hair’s breadth from ripping through the siding of the walls, but for all his massive weight his steps made no sound. Nor did he breathe--or make any other indication of life. The faceless helm that tilted down and bored into Asher with a gaze made of empty hollows was equally as devoid of emotion.

A shadow fell over the diminutive alien in front of him when Craven stopped in front of one of the overhead fluorescents. The Idol placed a single massive gauntlet atop the counter with a soundless clink of shifting plates and the tack of a claw.

“Name.”

[vulpetrope]

hyacinth

[haleandhollow]

canopycalls​:

“Hmmm…not happy face is. Face thinking is…face want make things be. English words not good! No word for.” She stuck out her tongue, but carefully placed the knife into his massive palm.

“Hope Craven knife like! Jax knife make, many things make. Craven happy is? Good gift present payment is?” Jax folded her hands and pulled at her fingers anxiously.

Craven brought the tiny knife up and inspected it even more closely. He then folded it against his dark chest, hand over hand.

“I will treasure it.” The Idol appeared to glow, both figuratively and literally, though the visible halo was a slight and shimmering thing that licked at the edges of the bristling, pointed plating that formed his body.

“It creates--happy face,” Craven went on. “Mine.”

A gauntleted finger traced the smiling emoji across his helm. It was more than a worthy gift, and Jax’s heart had given him more than enough time. He folded his hand out and gently placed it upon Jax’s head to stroke it as he did to the twins--a gesture as fond as it was learned.

“Thank you.”

Her new, divinely infused tree would serve her well for a long time to come.

[haleandhollow]

cloudcaper​:

Caper smiled widely up at him, pleased by his answer, and then stuck both hands out and fell forward. Her palms planted firmly onto his stomach and she started rubbing up and down vigorously. “Haha! That’s good! Do you feel this? I bet you’re not ticklish!”

The tall, looming helm tilted down at the small vampire running hands over his circuited plating. The livewire lines blinked and glimmered where they ran like veins through black hollows. 

“I feel it, but I do not think I am ‘ticklish.’“ It was difficult to discern, even to himself, but something like amusement may have reverberated in the Idol’s ‘voice.’ “You may try again later.”

Perhaps it could be learned.

[haleandhollow]

delvedreamer​:

Delve considered Craven, coming over to stand by her twin and entwine their tails. Sometimes she just thought better with Caper right nearby.

“Can you feel it?” She motioned around her own neck, miming the snake boa. “If we wrapped you in something soft, would it feel nice? Do you like textures?”

Craven considered his answer. A low rumble jittered the floorboards. A single claw touched the snake, gleaming edge meeting plush softness.

“I do feel,” he answered at last. “But not as you do. ‘Soft.’ This I recognize.” The faceless helm shifted to look over the twins. “You are soft. I like such a sensation; it is like you.”

The claw now tapped at the angular, circuited steel of his chest.

“And: it is different from myself. The difference--this is what I ‘feel.’”

[haleandhollow]

canopycalls​:

Jax was muttering to herself in her own language, going through the duffel bag that Sam gave her some months ago. Ah! This would do. She backed out of her tent and then turned solemnly to look up at Craven before holding something out in her hands. It looked like a knife, carved from a mottled multi-colored stone. The handle was wrapped in leather–at the end, protruding stone was carved in a strange little face. She’d clearly spent a lot of time on this object, and it had the aura of a ceremonial piece rather than an everyday weapon.

“Jax stone change practice, things make knife make. But small for Craven is…” She worried her lip with her sharp teeth in doubt. 

Craven’s faceless visage gazed down at the tiny knife held between Jax’s equally tiny hands. He lowered himself further.

“Face,” he observed. The sense of curiosity lingered. “Is this another--’happy face’?”

A second later, the Idol reached both massive gauntlets out and tilted them palm-up. A stray leaf fluttered from between the seams of one and drifted across the canopy floor.

“It is--” Natural, creative; a small wonder, an image altered by hand alone. “--Beautiful. I would hold it, if I may.”

[haleandhollow]

canopycalls​:

Jax balanced on his shoulder as easy as breathing, her tail curled under his armpit to keep herself stable. While he wandered around the new massive trunk, she absently ran her hands over the shoulder of his cape to pluck little bits of tree matter that might have drifted into it. A pity he was so shiny and bald otherwise. 

“Yes, yes! Jax some things have, small small little things is. What Craven want need word?” She scrambled down his back and plopped back onto the platform before hopping over to her little tent. The sound of rummaging could be heard from within as she searched out all her worldly possessions.

Craven came to a stop in front of the tent and stood there a little awkwardly. If Jax had anything she wanted to give, he hoped it wasn’t something that would be missed.

“A ‘small small little thing’ will suffice,” he ventured after a moment. He inched his hulking form down into a stoop and peered in. His twins’ curiosity was rubbing off on him. 

[haleandhollow]

canopycalls​:

While he worked Craven would be vaguely aware of Jax exploding with new life and excitement, even as she tried very hard not to run hither-tither across the platform. This was unlike anything she’d ever seen or imagined. Trees, in her mind, were synonymous with age, slow and steady and perpetual growth, monuments, landmarks, fixtures. This tree was now whispering and twining and bursting with new green–like an entirely different living thing. She felt like her heart had turned to bubbles and was trying to escape out of her mouth.

When he finally looked down at her she was jumping in place, no longer able to keep herself from pattering over to the new massive trunk, then back to Craven to beam up at him, and then over again to the edge of her platform to peer down. This was more like home. 

“Craven, Craven big magic is, tree speak tree know love feel! Tree big big is…is….not words know! Jax love! Thank Craven thank, you Craven!” With a whoop she jumped up into a branch and could be heard scrambling around in the new massive canopy, only a glimpse of a tail or a peeking little face now and then to indicate where she was. 

With a shower of leaves she finally dropped right onto his shoulder. Leaning around to peer into his helm she said, suddenly solemn, “How Jax Craven pay word help back word.”

He might have smiled had he the ability. Craven watched the darting shadow of Jax explore the world overhead before the scattering of leaves across his plating heralded her impressive return. 

He reached out and drew the “: )” emoj(ee) in the air where she could see it.

“Your happy face,” he said, “is enough.”

Jax may as well have weighed nothing; Craven circled the trunk and got a better look at the altered tree. It had taken well to its change and he knew Jax would take care of it, just as he knew that she was telling the truth when she said she loved it.

Of course, Craven had spent just enough time on Earth to understand the art of trade; his ‘professional’ job revolved around it, and so he understood if Jax wasn’t quite satisfied with his answer.

“I need nothing but your thought. I will, however, accept an item.” 

Tribute? No. Gift.

Yes. Gift.

[haleandhollow]

delvedreamer​:

“I think you don’t require it.” Delve hummed, head tilted. Imagining Craven wearing one of her shirts. Or one of Caper’s body chains. “It’s if you want it.”

She stepped forward and lightly touched the sweeps of ornamental cloth on his armor. “New patterns, new styles.” Then she pat the snake. “Fashion.”

cloudcaper​:

Caper shook her head. “If I could, I wouldn’t wear anything at all! But clothes can look cute anyway.” She put one hand over her head and the other on her hip. “Makeup and accessories is all about how you express yourself… like decorating your room!”

He considered. The crux of the matter was he didn’t know what he wished to express. His armored body spoke true enough of what he was. That wouldn’t change.

“Your self expression is very different,” the Idol observed between the twins. “I enjoy being decorated by you both.”

[haleandhollow]

canopycalls​:

Jax listened with incredible solemnity. She imagined her tree bigger, the way trees at home used to be, they way they SHOULD be. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and she gave Craven an emphatic nod. 

“If tree ask, tree big is grow is, Craven give real make.” Jax placed her soft ear against the bark, eyes closed, as if listening, or trying to impart something precious and vital that clumsy Earth words couldn’t communicate. Then she stepped back and hovered close to Craven’s armored mass, watching and waiting with bated breath to see what would happen.

With Jax’s permission, Craven focused.

To coax out the truth of a tree was different from a person; there was no resistance in the interface and no mind that spoke words or gave visions. It was much like reading a palm and taking each line, bit by bit, and uncoiling the thread. From there, the tapestry would weave to its final conclusion.

The air around Craven’s being began to hum and vibrate. Faint flecks of prismatic light flickered like distant sunbeams, pale but vibrant, around the dark metal of his helm and shoulders as though it were a mantle.

The tree began to hum. It was a soundless vibration that was followed by the shift and whisper of boughs. Slowly, things began to change.

Craven worked with a slow and methodical care to direct its growth as the tree began to stretch and swell. The boughs bloomed and twined like fingers stretching toward each other and the weathered bark softened as though it contained the promise of a sapling. The trunk itself grew and shifted like a creature basking, and still it grew.

Craven could feel the roots digging deep. He could feel the brush of wind that turned over the new sprouts popping up in lines across new growth. He could feel the gentle weight of Jax’s home where it sat cradled amid the greenery like an extension of a thing rather than a conquering of it.

It was several minutes of careful quiet and thought before the mantle began to fade and the thrum of the air began to ebb. Craven retracted from Jax’s tree and so too did his large gauntlet.

He looked up into a thick, whistling canopy and then down to Jax. The forest floor below them was quite a bit further now.

[haleandhollow]

delvedreamer​:

Delve’s tail curled in a happy little corkscrew as she watched Craven model his accessories and Caper give suggestions. It made her heart feel bright even as the conversation peeled away from her interests and squarely into her sister’s. Wonderfully creative and clever Caper.

“It’s like makeup,” she confirmed, taking a seat to consider his form while letting Caper take center-stage.

cloudcaper​:

Caper’s face lit up. She hadn’t thought of it like that. “Oh, yes! It can be! People do do a lot of cool body paint and face paint stuff sometimes. And you can do art with makeup too, not just pretty eye looks or stuff. Hold on!”

Quickly, she was on her phone, pulling up her favorite Instagrams and holding it high over her head for Craven to see. “Yes… I think we can contour those cheekbones of yours. Hehe!”

Craven inclined himself down to peer at the small phone screen. A deep rumble of thought escaped from between dark plating.

“I see.”

He touched the tip of a metal finger to his ‘cheekbones.’

“Do I require a ‘wardrobe’?” Craven ‘looked’ to both twins for their reaction.

[haleandhollow]

delvedreamer​:

Delve felt relief sneak in as Caper took over. She always knew just what to do to cheer someone up, to make a quick, fun decision that lightened the mood and steered everything in the right direction. It left Delve free to take her time, even if what she came up with would never be as delightful.

“You look…” Delve chewed it over, considering, tail swishing side to side in a slow wag. “…cuddly.”

cloudcaper​:

Caper nodded in agreement. “Your armor is so dark. You could use some more color sometimes.” She struck another very thoughtful pose, pointer finger dimpling her cheek. “Have you ever thought about paint? Like blacklight paint. That would be cool!”

Truth.

Craven tilted his helm forward and back to observe the dangling snake. He then did another turn and this one was a modicum faster, enough to disrupt the remnant of the cloak he wore. He was : ) about the reaction.

“I have not considered it,” he told the twins when he came to another stop. No, there had not been anything on his armor itself over than...

...

Craven lowered his spiked gauntlets to touch his dark chest. “Paint... is like make-up?”

[haleandhollow]

canopycalls​:

Jax’s eyes grew enormous, pupils dilating like a cat’s at the mere thought of her tree wanting things for itself. Her people believed in the sanctity and spirit of trees, the giants that provided them home and shelter, food and medicine. But she didn’t know of any Bahije who’s ever managed to talk to one.

“I—Yes! Jax tree speak, know all tree feel want think!” She chattered immediately, hopping forward and bouncing excitedly. “Craven talk tree? Know tree thoughts, tree secret? Jax this tree love, tree need—home now is!” She put both hands flat against the trunk that rose through the center of her home, as if trying to feel whatever Craven could sense.

Craven was terribly endeared by the reaction. It was a response that was equally balanced by how well he suppressed it; he did not think that what he did was the kind of talk tree that Jax might be familiar with, but he also knew very little about her culture. That should change.

He mimicked her motion and placed his other gauntlet on the bark of the trunk above where Jax’s own hands rested. She loved this tree, did she? The capacity for life to love despite the harm of living was fascinating.

The Idol’s helm flickered. He reached into the tree with shapeless thought and felt its fibers winding; felt its own life. It spoke of yearning sunlight, of roots too shallow and an image of thin green buds stretching for the sky amid strong and bending limbs. Yes, there was much more potential to it that the seasons had not yet unlocked, or the years had not yet seen, or which had not been provided by the soil. It was not done growing but did not know how to change.

It would be an easy image to alter.

“It can be fuller, with more growth. It can be taller and more vibrant,” Craven informed her. “I will shape it around what you have built, if you would like. It seeks to be a better home. It asks to grow.” He then added, because the whispering boughs that his power reached were ever gentle, “Your tree enjoys your company.”

[canopycalls]

haleandhollow​:

Craven examined the tarp as Jax spoke, stopping only to give her his full attention–for what it counted, lacking expression or eyes–when she touched his chest. It was endearing.

Pray? Yes, that sounded familiar. Craven touched an an old, old, memory, ancient and frayed and broken by exposure to long years in dead space, and felt alien whispers that echoed in broken syllables, yes, we prayed, and you cut us down.

Craven’s chest didn’t react to the touch, but it did give him the impression Jax might be surprised by what it could do. He did not want to startle her, though her sentiment did startle him.

“Thank you.” The words emerged before he could shape them into something better. Peering at his gauntlet, Craven could feel whatever made him thrumming with renewed vigor. Inside the hollow black armor he was filled with prismatic light and it spiraled halos around the shape of Jax’s thoughts, her interest and her awe. He warmed to the touch–quite by circumstance, and not by effort.

Craven found himself, for lack of a better word, somewhat flustered by Jax’s easy belief. Misplaced, perhaps, he considered, in a solemn manner–like the twins, but just as irreplaceable. 

“I was not always as this.” He tilted his helm up toward the canopy and reached up to hold the shape of a single leaf between two oversized metal fingers. “I was once as… a tree.”

And speaking of trees, this one could be better. Craven considered.

Jax felt the faint thrum and put her ear to his chest plate, listening to whatever secret magical goings-on were happening in this strange new being. When his words echoed through the metal they tickled her ear and she wrinkled her nose, stepping back to peer up at him as he spoke.

“Craven tree was?” She asked, eyes widening in surprise. “Idol..other things can be, change shape change how live is?” Jax stood on her toes to watch him reach up for a leaf, tail curling and swishing in curiosity.

[haleandhollow]

It was a frail thing, but it had potential. 

“In a way.” Craven considered. “I looked as I do now, but larger. I did not speak or think. Still, I was--”

Alive?

“--Aware. Similar to a tree.” He hesitated and released the leaf as a faint flicker of gold suffused his inner helm and faded out. “I changed. Now I may change other things, at times.”

He looked back to the tarp and then Jax with a solemn thoughtfulness. Energy raced off her like a livewire and the constant motion of her body down to the emotive swish of her tail was a sharp contrast to his slow and calculated movements. There was so much life in the forest around him and so much stored inside the curious alien before him--so filled to the brim she almost overflowed with it. The twins had a similar quality; Craven liked it. It was much better than the alternative.

He did not think he could be like that, if he were truly alive and not a borrowed life; couldn’t imagine being so expressive--but he liked it.

“I could,” he ventured, “see if your tree would like to change. It has potential. Would you like this?”

[cloudcaper]

delvedreamer​:

haleandhollow​:

Plants, for him?

“Orchids,” he repeated as he gazed at the fake-cculent. “Pothos. Yes. I would like these things.”

He touched the fake plant. Yes; he would do his best.

“Something that grows.” Inclining his helm towards them, he continued, “Are there things which you would like to add to myself?”

Delve’s brow furrowed. Craven’s past was complicated, and patchy, but she knew he had been made to serve before. Or, created to do so, and then abandoned. Something about adding to him wormed into her chest with discomfort.

But, perhaps that feeling was misplaced. And the best way to know the answer was to ask.

“Add to you, how?”

“You can wear this!” Caper chucked a very long plush snake over Craven’s shoulders. She had been good and refrained from grabbing too many plushies at the thrift store. She reached on her tip toes and tugged the snake’s snout down so it rested evenly around his neck. “High fashion, without the animal cruelty.”

[haleandhollow]

Craven had been referring to his intradimensional structure. The snake, therefore, was a pleasant ‘surprise.’

He did not have a mirror to look at himself in. Craven lifts his hands to place one on either side of the extravagant serpent. High fashion...

Truth.

He slowly turned in place before the twins with all the careful effort of a mountain.

“How do I look?”

[cloudcaper]

delvedreamer​:

haleandhollow​:

The twins popping in and out of his chest cavity with arms full of planters must have been a sight. Craven admired the setup.

“We will need many plants.”

Recalling something, he reached into himself and removed a very tiny, fake succulent. He placed it on the shelf with care.

“I made do.”

It had decorated his windowsill since moving in – the only other decoration present, aside from the enormous Christmas card, Alex’s gift, and the tiny models of the twins.

“It’s perfect.” Delve told Caper, surveying the chaotic eclectic result of their efforts. She truly loved it, every little old and odd piece coming together to make something unique for Craven.

As Craven set the small fake succulent down, Delve crouched to look at it, hands on knees, tail swishing slowly behind her. Very gently, she poked a little fake leaf, just to see how it felt. Cute.

Standing back up, she gave Craven an affectionate arm pat. “Caper and I have been talking about plants for you. But are there any you know you want?”

Caper crowded around to look at the fake succulent, too. “Cute!” She beamed at Craven. “Yeah, we were saying you could start with ones that are easy to take care of. Like orchids and pothos! You could have a vine that just grows and grows. How does that sound?”

[haleandhollow]

Plants, for him?

“Orchids,” he repeated as he gazed at the fake-cculent. “Pothos. Yes. I would like these things.”

He touched the fake plant. Yes; he would do his best.

“Something that grows.” Inclining his helm towards them, he continued, “Are there things which you would like to add to myself?”