[To a certain father of twins]
Conflict laced the form of the figure standing before a shrine. It wasn't clear that the surface was a shrine -- looking more like a small, cozy, modest dining table -- or even what the deity it was connected to was supposed to represent, but they knew.
They bit their lip, hard enough to split the artificial skin.
...No. It was different. He was different. He wasn't cold laboratory lights and lies and terror and pain gripping their chest like a cage. To Rock, Xanti, and Psi, he was different. He was safe.
Still, even laying their hand on the shrine left Blues' teeth clenching involuntarily. They didn't linger long.
But to the god with the sad, tired smile, to the god of a place to call home, Blues left one thing:
A worn book, its pages soft and well-loved with the passing of time, with the name "Thomas Light" written carefully on the inside of the cover.
If my Muse was a Deity, what Offerings Would you Leave at Their Shrine? My muse will react to whatever items you leave for them
This place is only a shrine to a select few. To those built by certain hands-- the same hands across so many worlds. Hands that build and shape again and again, as if compelled to create in every time, in every place.
In that way, it is the dwelling of a deity. A creator. A God.
A worn book sits on Tom's dining room table, amongst the clutter of various to-dos, and half projects. It hadn't been there last night, but it is no cause for alarm. It's not unusual for his children to leave him things in their comings and goings.
Aside from Xanti, most might stop by to check in without actually saying hello. Sometimes, there isn't time to socialize. Sometimes they leave him to sleep if the hour is already late.
Still they add things to the dining room table, to the kitchen counter tops, to the walls. Sometimes it's photos-- company for a man who can't travel, can't keep up as the years add on. Sometimes it's puzzles and trinkets, gifts to occupy his time when he's at a creative roadblock. Sometimes it's food, ingredients for a dinner they know he'd skip for work, ready made meals to really drive the point home, dad.
...and sometimes, it's a book. Always a personal choice, that one. An unspoken connection. A hope that he'll enjoy whatever is between the pages. That they thought of him, maybe even read the text themselves before passing it along. A secret bond between the two of them, a shared memory in inked paper.
It's to Tom's surprise that when he picks up the old tome, the handwriting inside doesn't belong to one of the boys. He'd grown so accustomed to their unique styles with so many missed visits like this. There is no note to accompany the well loved book, however, only a name. His name, etched carefully inside.
...he can't help but sit down at the table a bit dumbfounded, before turning turning the next page.