#start of thread

[godsmercie]

Learning the Melody

She stretched after finished the deserts for that evening, leaving them to set and cool as she left, trusting the monks to distribute it later. She glanced around, making sure the room was mostly empty before making her way towards the music rooms in the academy, not wanting anyone to happen upon her so she wouldn’t damage other students’ hearing with her playing. She managed to make her way to the music room unnoticed, and sighed in relief as she leaned against the closed door, looking at the instruments carefully packed away. She smiled.

“Alright, Mercie,” she started, “time to practice.” She made her way over to the violins, and carefully pulled out the newest one, grabbing the bow with the least wear. She set the violin on the table nearest her before setting her bag down, rummaging through it until she found the songbook she’d borrowed from the library, and the title made her lips pull into a softer smile. 

Songs for the Goddess, it read, and she pressed her lips to the cover.

“Goddess, I’m sorry I’m not very good yet, but I swear to you- I’ll make you proud of my music one day,” she whispered before setting up a music stand with the book open to the first song. She took the violin and rested in under her chin, raised the bow, and started playing.

She lost herself in it, just reading the notes and moving her fingers and hands to elicit the sounds from the violin, even if she played too loud or to quiet at time on accident, or fudged the fingering on the neck of the violin, she kept playing, smiling as she read, smiling as she played, even when her fingers started getting sore.

In fact, she was so absorbed, she didn’t even notice the creak of the door opening, didn’t notice the person leaning against the door frame- that is, until she finished the song and heard clapping. Her shoulders tensed, and she felt her face flush in embarrassment as she saw Sylvain grinning at her from the door.

“Sy- Sylvie! I- I didn’t know you were- that you were listening!” She curled in on herself a little. “You don’t have to clap though, it’s okay, I know I’m no good at this yet.” She laughed mirthlessly at that. 

[godsmercie]

Birds of a Feather

“Huh, looks like we got paired together for pegasi duty, Felix! Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable to have me helping, but I promise I’ll stay out of your way!” Mercedes gave a tiny bow, and then after she did so was unsure why she felt the need to bow. “Uhm, sorry. Is there anything you need from me while we work? Just say the word and I’ll do it!” She grinned, and quickly felt it falter. “Sorry, I forgot you don’t want my help- I’ll- I’ll leave you be.” She let out a tiny sigh, and started making her way over to the stables before stopping, and turning back to Felix. “We could walk there together, if you’d like? But please, don’t feel obligated for my sake. I just figured-” She stopped herself. “I should probably stop rambling on, sorry.” She glanced towards the stable, hearing a gentle whinny, and she blinked in confusion.

“Is Ingrid there again? No one else was scheduled for the pegasi today, and I know she’s rather fond of them...” She fiddled with her cravat as she thought. But as she looked closer, it seemed the person standing by the stall was taller than Ingrid, and looked considerably more dark haired and dour. She blinked a few times.

“Is that Hubert there ahead of us? What is he doing there? I’m fairly certain the Black Eagles are on kitchen duty today for the most part, and I’m absolutely certain he’s not on pegasi duty today...” she trailed off in thought, absentmindedly walking closer to the stables.

[godsmercie]

An Open Door

Mercedes was settling in for the night, later than she had expected due to a series of mishaps involving spices in the kitchen while she was on cooking duty that she had to correct for and fix after dinner had been served, which honestly took longer than expected, though that in part could be attributed to her noticing how dusty the cabinets were and deciding to dust them since she was already tidying....

But that was besides the point. She double checked to make sure her door was open, and she made sure to put out a few more biscuits and cookies on the tray she had set up for them to make up for the ones Sylvain had eaten during their commiseration over crests that afternoon. Once she was satisfied with the number of baked goodies, she checked to make sure the teapot was still set up, and smiled. Everything was perfect. She changed into her night clothes and was about to settle into bed when she heard a knock at her door.

‘Oh,’ She thought. ‘Good timing, I suppose!’

“Come in!” she called as she pulled a shawl over her shoulders to keep out the chill.

[godsmercie]

Unwarranted Complaints

Mercedes stood by the entrance of the monastery, kindly greeting the travelers who were steadily pouring in and directing them to the cathedral. When the stream of people finally came to a lull for a time, she glanced at the other clergy  near her with a soft, but tired smile. This work was easy, but still tiring, especially when some travel-weary individuals would be snappy, rude, impatient, and more. But she knew it was no fault of her own, nor theirs’, truly. She knew full well how extended travel could wear down on one’s patience and morale, so she just blamed the circumstances of the travel.

But the slight exhaustion she felt was nothing in face of the joy and peace that came with knowing her actions were actively helping the Church for once. Growing up, she relied on the Church, and though she always helped where she could, it never felt like enough some days for the respite they provided her, for the food, and bed, and hope they provided her over the years. But she was drawn out of her thoughts when someone approached.

“Hello, traveler! You’ve finally reached the Church of Seiros-”

“Shut it. Just point me to the cathedral so I can repent again for useless things this year and move on with my life.” She blinked owlishly at the harshness of the stranger’s words before shaking her head and regaining her composure.

“My deepest apologies if your travel has been harsh, sir, and I pray that the Goddess makes your return easier-”

“I said shut it, girl! Just point me to the cathedral, dammit!” Mercedes flinched at the mild cruelty in the man’s tone, and the way it reminded her of... She forced her smile back into place.

“My apologies, sir. The cathedral is straight through here, just follow the other clergymen and women stationed throughout the monastery.” The man scoffed.

“Good riddance. Thanks for nothing, girl.” The man briskly walked forwards, clipping her on the shoulder as he went, and Mercedes held her lips taut as her mind rushed back to the past for a moment. The clergyman near her looked concerned, but she weakly waved a hand.

“I’m- I’m going to take a break, I’ll be sure to send someone to replace me,” she said, wincing at how mechanical her voice sounded. “Don’t worry about me, I’m just tired.” The clergyman nodded slowly, and got back to work as she walked towards the Cathedral after informing Tomas of her break. She rounded a corner to the side of the cathedral proper where people stayed less often-

And ran head first into someone.

“O-oh! I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going-”

[galaxythebat]

DANGER

20. Someone is trying kidnap your muse!

It was fucking Malum. Galaxy had decided that SKB could use a break from his Void and took him to her world. She had work to do for a little bit and HAD given him a flip phone, telling him she’d catch up with him later. She’d pondered for about 5 minutes whether anyone would hurt him and finally let him leave. Not a full 3 blocks away Malum, a grey humaniod cat monster, wouldn’t let him pass.

[ask-understuck-kids-blog]

Dave Strider has entered Grillquius’ grill

hey can i get a menu?

[ask-the-punkstuck-kids-blog]

John has decided to approach Karkat

*deep breath* hey karkat 

[ask-the-humanstuck-kids-blog]

==> Dirk: Go brotherly tease Dave about his puppy love!!

Dave, I could sense the dorkiness radiating off of you from to other damn room.