Liddi wakes the way she often does – in the dark and the quiet, warm beneath a blanket, with Devin's steady heartbeat against her cheek. She has a tendency not to sleep through the night, which might be because she sleeps for so much of the day, because Devin sleeps for so much of the day. The harness that anchors her to Devin also keeps her from following her most wriggly impulses, which is good, because whenever Devin stops touching her, she starts to die.
Liddi is brimming with pent-up wriggles, now, but she keeps herself still. She tries not to fuss much about wanting to move, even when she really, really wants to move. Devin's done his best – bringing her into the hospital's pool so she can kick her legs, holding her hands in the garden while she tries to support her own clumsy weight, getting up and walking around himself when she's beyond her tolerance for boredom, even when it makes him grit his teeth with pain. He's done his best. He never asks her to be brave for the doctors, either, and he always lets her say when she's all done for the day, and he never lets any of them tell her otherwise.
He doesn't expect her to be brave. Which makes her want to be braver.
So he doesn't know how badly Liddi often wants to get down and run around. He doesn't know how much she wishes she were normal, or how desperately she wants to play, or how small and stupid and shameful she feels that she isn't getting better. He's already so tired. She doesn't want to make him sad, too.
Tonight, though, it's only a few seconds before Liddi realizes something is different. Because tonight, Devin is awake.
He doesn't seem to know that she's awake. He's muttering to himself, a guttural half-whisper, like he's trying not to rouse her. It might be a spell. Or a prayer, Liddi thinks - but then she remembers. Devin can't exactly pray to himself.
It's when Liddi hears the tinny, muffled sound of a response that she realizes: Oh. He's talking on the phone.
"That can't be the last god," Devin says.
There's a short response, to which he snaps, "Well, then make them talk to you."
Liddi strains to understand the voice on the other side, but even in the stillness, she can't decipher the words. It's like trying to translate a chicken's clucks.
"No, not like that," Devin says. "Just – make an offer, okay? Make a better offer. There must be something they want. Someone has to know something."
There are all kinds of things Devin might be talking about. Liddi listens to more than Devin thinks she does, and so she has all kinds of theories. There are plenty of people and plenty of things that Devin doesn't like.
But Liddi realizes when he says, "Look, if I had a better way of explaining it, I would have told you already. It's in her roots. It's her magic. I promise you it's her magic. You've got the medical records. Get Rowan to make it sound scientific, if that's such a fucking problem. Fuck's sake."
Oh. He's talking about Liddi herself. Liddi and her sickness and her rot.
Devin's breath shudders out. For a moment, Liddi thinks he's noticed her alertness, but then he murmurs, "I know. I know. I'm sorry. I'm - fuck. I'm not trying to take this out on you. I just can't - I need you to find something, okay? I need there to be something."
The voice crackling through the phone softens to match Devin's, which makes it even more difficult to eavesdrop. Liddi tries not to grumble with annoyance.
"You're sure none of them know anything?" Devin asks, oblivious to Liddi's unsatisfied curiosity. "You're sure sure? Like, another couple million banknotes won't jog anyone's memory? No, I know, I believe you, I just–"
His voice cracks. He breaks off, sharply, and catches his breath.
Liddi isn't supposed to hear this. She's not supposed to hear the conversation itself - but more than that, she thinks, she's not supposed to hear Devin like this. Devin's grumpy all the time, sure, but he's never upset like this. The sound makes Liddi's tummy hurt. She doesn't like it.
But she keeps her eyes closed and her own breathing steady, because even though she doesn't like what she's hearing, she still wants to know.
The voice on the other end is probably Nova's. Nova is the only person Liddi knows who can throw around millions of banknotes like nothing. She's been really nice, too, the handful of times that Liddi's met her, not at all like all the smarmy businesspeople that Devin hates, and so Liddi really doesn't like the way Devin's talking to her. It makes him sound... wrong.
Devin breathes something, then, a soft string of words, so quiet that Liddi can't make it out at all. Only when prompted does he repeat, a little louder, "I think it's me. I think it must be me."
This makes no sense to Liddi. It must not make any sense to Nova, either, because Liddi can definitely understand her sharp, "What?"
"I think I must have done it," Devin says. "I must have made her sick."
This... doesn't make sense.
Liddi knows that right away, and not just because she trusts Devin more than anyone in the world. She doesn't need to be a grown-up or a doctor or a librarian to know it doesn't make sense: She's been sick for most of her life. She's known Devin for half a year. Devin could not possibly have infected her with anything, magic or not. And Devin has never made her feel worse – the reason she can't be away from Devin is because of how much better he makes her.
Devin didn't make Liddi sick. Liddi doesn't understand why he'd ever think something like that.
Nova must be telling Devin this exact thing, because he says, "Then you explain it. You tell me why you can't find anyone to help. You tell me why it only seems to happen here. It's me. I - I think I must have–"
Again, his voice breaks. His chest shakes, a miniature earthquake underneath Liddi. His breath rushes out, and then he drags in a ragged gasp.
He's crying.
A thorny feeling snarls around Liddi's belly. She cries all the time, when she's tired and sick and scared, but...
Devin doesn't. If Devin is crying then something's really, really wrong. Liddi wants to cling to Devin for comfort, except the thing scaring her is Devin himself. She wants to call out, to bring somebody running, someone who can wipe Devin's tears and calm him down and make him normal again.
But who? Devin's the one who always calms Liddi's mama and her papa and her nana. Devin's the one who always promises things will be okay.
If Devin doesn't think things will be okay...
Liddi is about to break her silence when Devin speaks again.
"What about Ya'El?" he asks, suddenly, and then roughness of his voice buries all traces of tears. "Have you asked anyone there?"
Whatever the muffled answer is, he doesn't like it much. "That's the point," he snaps, with such impatience that he seems to forget he's trying to be quiet. "Unless you can think of anyone else who's fucked their gods – oh, shit. Shit. Shit, hang on."
This last bit is because Liddi's made a sleepy noise and raised her head. She makes a big show of her tired yawn and her full-body stretch, really milking the performance, so Devin won't realize how much she's overheard. That seems better than the risk of getting caught. She doesn't think Devin will do anything scary, but she doesn't want to upset him worse.
"Kid's awake," Devin says, "talk to you later."
He clicks off without waiting for a response.
"Sorry for waking you," Devin says, and now he's familiar again, warm and comforting in all the ways Liddi's used to, and somehow that's even more unsettling. "Go back to sleep, kiddo."
Liddi props herself up on her forearms and peers at him. The tiny room is too dark to see much, just slivers of dimness filtering through the cracks in the door. She can make out the shape of Devin's beard and curly hair, and the tiny sheen in his eyes. She touches his cheek and finds it wet.
"What's wrong?" she asks.
Devin's eyes close.
"Just tired," he says, except Liddi knows that he's lying, because she's seen him tired before.
She wants to argue the point. Devin doesn't mind it when she argues. So she asks, "Why are you crying?"
Devin grunts.
"Should we..." Liddi hesitates, uncertain what exactly to suggest. Call for help? Take a walk? Scream really loud for five seconds?
Then, with some exasperation, she just repeats, "Why are you crying?"
Devin rests a hand on her hair.
It's comforting, at least until the weight becomes annoying. Liddi drops her head back to his chest, no longer able to study his silhouette.
"Just had a hard day," Devin murmurs.
Liddi suspects another lie. She wiggles with irritation.
"Relax, kid," Devin says with a snort, and then he sits up, and his arms cradle her like they always do. "You wanna go for a walk? Yeah, let's go for a walk, fuck it. Sounds like the rain's stopped - I bet we'll see some stars."
Cómo saben la historia del Mago de Oz Los tres amigos de Dorothy tenían un deseo el espantapájaros tener Cerebro,El Hombre de Hojalata corazón y el león Ser valiente y Dorothy volver a casa pero en el dibujo sólo puse a hikky,magnero y rosso.🦁🤖👧 How they know the story of the Wizard of Oz Dorothy's three friends had a wish the scarecrow have Brain, Tin Man heart and lion Be brave and Dorothy return home but in the drawing I only put hikky, magnero and rosso. 🤖👧 Hikky,rosso and magnero,Midnight Horror School-Naomi Iwata The Wizard Of Oz (c) L. Frank Baum. #adorable #au #cowardly #cowardlylion #crossover#fantasy #hikky #lion #mhs #rosso #scarecrow#thewizardofoz #tinman #warnerbros#wickedwitchofthewest #witch#midnighthorrorschool #magnero #liddi#midnight_horror_school #escueladelterror#escueladeterror https://www.instagram.com/p/B0SnOzXnpxo/?igshid=1hbq5a2zde4ph
thinkin about early earth temple days. mainly about other people reacting to The Liddi Situation. devin's carrying this sick little girl in a sling bc she's on death's door and she's clearly not going to make it, but devin Freaks if anyone points that out.
so a group of elderly people begin quietly working on a project. infusing plants with magic before they're harvested. spinning the fibers into thread. dyeing them pretty colors. and weaving a burial shroud.
this takes a while even with about a dozen of them working on it. but once the shroud is done, devin is Still stubbornly clinging to the kid, and shows no signs of stopping.
so they start another project. same principle, making textiles from scratch, except this time it's a blanket meant to comfort devin.
there's a pretty good chance they've heard that devin went mad in the centerspire. there's a pretty good chance they intuit that devin is Not going to handle liddi's death well. and there's a pretty good chance they understand
1) devin needs to be touched by other people's magic to keep the god-madness at bay, even out here
2) that will be Extra true after devin has spent months in constant physical contact with an earth magician, and
3) devin is gonna ignore that completely. and probably retreat into the caves. and maybe never be seen again.
so they're like. okay. the little girl gets a burial shroud, devin gets a "please don't kill yourself, we love you" gift.
of course, liddi doesn't die. and against all odds, is going to be okay. so the burial shroud gets repurposed into a big cape that she can snuggle down into. and which is large enough for her to keep wearing as she grows.
liddi LOVES it.
talia (an older trans granny who will eventually become devin's first high priestess) brings devin the other blanket, like. it will probably be strange to sleep without the baby.... this might make you feel safer :)
devin's like. 🤨🤨🤨 Have You Fuckers Been Conspiring Behind My Back .
n talia's like. yep! take the offering. people feel better when they can follow rituals.
so devin does take the blanket. which, to his irritation, IS enormously comforting. he can feel the magic in it like the warmth of other people. and it doesn't even come with any fraught Oh God I'm Gonna Overstep And Touch Someone Wrong And Ruin Their Life feelings!
Liddi's still awake when Devin settles down to sleep for the night, in the closed-off corner of the community center they've built for him. Liddi is often awake while Devin sleeps, which has become more and more problematic. Her body itches to move. She wants to run around, to play, to splash in the creek just outside – and she can't, because if Devin lets go of her, she'll start to die again.
She's snuggled into Devin's chest, the way she always is, strapped and secure. But she doesn't want to spend another night listening to Devin's light snoring, because pretty soon, she'll lose patience and try to wriggle free. Even knowing she'll just get sick again, the option seems more and more appealing.
Before Devin can drop into unconsciousness, Liddi asks, "What language did that boy speak, earlier?"
Devin grunts. "You were awake for that?"
"I'm awake a lot," Liddi says, with pointed annoyance.
"Well, shit. I wish you wouldn't be."
The rebuke stings like a smack. All of Liddi's fantasies about going outside evaporate. It's easy to forget that Devin doesn't really want her here – he does a good job of hiding it, most of the time. It's easy to forget that Liddi is a burden before she's anything else. She should try harder to be good.
"Oh," Liddi says, her voice tight and small. "I'm sorry."
"No, wait, shit." Devin wraps a clumsy arm around her, his other hand stroking her hair, the way he always comforts her when she cries. "Shit, I didn't mean that. Not like it sounded."
Liddi's making a valiant effort not to cry now. "I can be quieter," she says. She sounds very calm and grown-up about it, too.
"It's not that," Devin says quickly. "I'm sorry. That came out really wrong. It's just – that boy and I were talking about some adult things. I was hoping you hadn't understood it."
Liddi hadn't understood most of it, first because they'd been speaking a foreign language, and then because they'd been speaking about very dull things in Tachnin. Contracts and salaries and obligations. It's hard for her to follow.
Still, she says, stubbornly, "I can be adult."
Devin laughs aloud. Because Liddi was not making a joke, she's a little indignant. But in the end, she prefers a laughing Devin to an annoyed one, so she doesn't argue.
"Sorry," Devin says, probably realizing his laughter is insulting. "You're very adult, kiddo. I just don't want you to worry about things like that."
"I wasn't worried," Liddi says.
"Oh. Okay, then. Good."
"What language was it?"
Devin sighs, perhaps also intuiting that Liddi has no intention of letting him sleep anytime soon. "Taarai."
"I didn't know you knew other languages," Liddi says. This, to her, is a magic far beyond any of Devin's usual powers – that Devin can speak in lilting, fluid nonsense, and actually be understood.
"I don't," Devin says. "I only know a couple words. Some questions. That sort of thing."
"You should teach me," Liddi says. "It's pretty."
"I'm not a very good teacher."
This, Liddi suspects, is Devin's way of saying he's too tired to deal with her shenanigans, so she says, "Teach me tomorrow?"
Another sigh, so heavy she feels the contraction and expansion of Devin's ribs against her chest. "Okay, kid," he says.
He definitely wants to sleep. But Liddi is still wriggly with pent-up energy, so she asks, "What did you say to him?"
"Kid."
"That is not what you said to him," Liddi says.
Devin scritches her hair, the same way he often pets the temple's stray cats before picking them up and bringing them inside. (He lets Liddi pet them when they don't growl. When they do, he holds them on top of his head, up out of Liddi's reach, even though this often ends with his face bleeding.)
"You're gonna be the death of me, you know that?" he says.
It's very affectionate, though. Like when he tries to reason with the cats.
"Answer my questions," Liddi says.
Devin huffs another near-silent laugh. "You're growing up into quite the little princess, you know."
"Did you ask him something adult?" Liddi says. "Is that why you said it in – in Taarai? To be secret?"
"Not really."
Liddi does wriggle, then, freeing her arms so she can poke Devin's cheek. He looks down at her, eyes gleaming in the dim light. She pokes him again, and then again, and then, when he remains unmoved, she tugs lightly on his beard.
"Ow."
"Tell meeee."
"I just asked him who he works for," Devin says. "And then I asked if he needed help."
"Oh." That's much less interesting than Liddi expected. "Did he say yes?"
"Yeah."
Liddi considers this. Usually when Devin helps people, they get to come live at the earth temple, like her. Well, she's a bit more special than the others who need help, which is why Devin holds her all the time. But still.
"Will he teach me Taarai?" she asks.
Devin groans, much too dramatically to sound annoyed, and then boops her nose with a fingertip.
thinking about devin and liddi in the immediate post-cure days again. devin is being very annoying to the cardiologist and pulmonologist and physiotherapist and pediatrician like "no pressure but if she dies from complications i Will kill everyone in this room and then myself." devin also keeps waking up gasping with blind panic and reaching out for liddi in the dark like "oh god, oh god, she rolled away from me in the night, she's dead" before remembering she's Literally Fine.
devin waking up one night in his little hidey-hole in the community center feeling more at-ease than he has in weeks, and then discovering it's bc liddi has somehow apparently managed to sneak all the way out of the hospital, all the way down the road, and past the center's staff to come snuggle up like a cat.
devin's like "HOW. you can't WALK???" and liddi's like
hmm.... their bond is not Exactly parent-and-child because what they went through was arguably weirder than that. and also devin doesn't tell liddi what to do the way her parents do / did when she was a child. so
gotta decide what holidays the earth temple celebrates & how they deal with their god being allergic to religious worship. it stands to reason that their biggest holidays would be built around the equinoxes (and for that matter, that the tachnin light temples' holidays are built around the solstices). i figure the traditions are a mix of rituals from cultural diasporas + new rites built from the ground up to suit the temple's unique circumstances. trans granny n first high priestess talia would have codified some of these & liddi would have added to them. both of them being women who care about community and Having Fun....
my most earnest-yet-shitpost thought is that there's probably a groundhog day type of ritual involved. at both equinoxes. if you leave a good enough offering of seasonal food and wine and soft fabrics outside the Damp Hole then sometimes the god can be coaxed out to join the festivities. you have to avoid scaring the god back into her hole & if she stays nearby for the whole night then you'll have good luck for the next six months.
