Okay I don't think Ihave it in me to draw these actually. But I sure can write about them
Planhz Caprin: With his natural inclination to deity magic and the opportunities of being a violet, Planhz is Brilliance's prized prophet and avatar. He gets to live out the settled married life with the caveat that Kallia is actually his trophy husband and not the other way around, not that anyone but them has a clue. He's living so fucking deliciously and it makes Judgement So Fucking Mad, but he can't even do anything this time or he'll risk earning the full wrath of a sun god.
Gaitaz Sevrin: This one's a little tougher to puzzle out. I think that the Sevrin musical talent pops out less in playing and more in making, so Tazie ends up a reclusive master craftsman that makes top quality instruments...... If you know where they are! She moves around frequently to shake off regular customers, but can't seem to completely lose his reputation for making top-of-the-line crafts.
It was quite the challenge for you to decide on a place to enjoy your holidays. On one hand, you've got an invite to celebrate with your youngest son's family and friends, but on the other, you can't figure if you'd rather end up with your darling Nobody or Goldie, not to mention the many other old friends who you know would love it if you paid them a visit... So many choices!
As a result, you end up at all of them, only staying for a day or so at each place. You enjoy a sweet night with Nobody, then head to Gaitaz's hive the next evening to exchange gifts and well wishes with them, Goldie, Nocyon, and the Stars; you arrive fashionably late at Krygen's holiday party that morning, and spend the day there as well.
You spend the next day visiting Kyrian and Ardell, and finally leave the day after with plenty of treats for the road. You were planning to visit one last old friend, but nobody was home...
Strange.
You figure it'll be alright if you leave your gift to him, as well as some treats, where he'll find them when he returns.
You almost miss the rush when it's over. It's not common that you're sought after by so many people in such a short time! But you return 'home' warmed by the love and care from the many people you've visited over the last few nights nonetheless.
characters: planhz; ardell & kyrian @aviantrolls
word count: 1811
You knew already that this would be a very, very long few nights’ travel.
You found her several cities away, after all, and you have little access to any form of more expeditious transport than on foot. Even then, you’d much prefer to ferry your unexpected companion this way than on any sort of public transportation--she’d been awfully scrambled since you’d found her, and plenty before then too, so it seems.
Regardless, it was good to catch up. You obviously had very many questions for her-- where had she been? What had she been doing? How had she survived the catastrophic building collapse that should have by all means taken her life a few centuries prior? You didn’t ask them all at once, of course. Usually, when the two of you stopped to rest at sunrise, you would ask one of your many questions.
“... Kyrian?”
You finally break the silence. It was a comfortable one between the two of you, gratefully, despite the many sweeps you’d spent apart. Kyrian then turns her eyes to you, humming softly in response. She tucks her bangs behind her ear, then shifts more onto her left foot, closer to you.
“… I know everything has been… Awfully… fuzzy for you for a while now. But what is the earliest thing you can recall?”
“Not much.” She responds in a whisper, gaze turning away from you and instead to the brightening sky, “Not much at all. I remember it hurting a lot, as I dragged myself out of those ruins, but I didn’t recall what had happened, apart from something had exploded. The air was pungent, thick with the smell of gunpowder. I remember that.”
“I still… don’t really remember everything. I know I was with.. some group. We were there for a reason. That what happened to me was just bad luck. Wasn’t meant to happen. I wouldn’t be with people who didn’t have my best at heart, or who aimed to hurt me.” She shrugs and pulls her cloak a little tighter over her shoulders.
“I remember my earlier sweeps, at least the important parts, but I feel like that isn’t what you want to hear I remember.”
“No, no…! That’s wonderful. Perfect. If you hadn’t, we would be…” You trail off for a moment, unsure, “If you hadn’t… I don’t know what I would tell Ardell. I ought to have told you sooner, but… I was mulling over the best way to ask if you remembered him.”
You glance away from her as well in a halfhearted attempt to hide your sigh of relief. It was a decision you’d stalled through the whole night on for both of you, really, since you had not a clue what you’d have done with her or yourself if the chance of bringing back the relationship the three of you had shared was snatched away from you just as suddenly as it had been offered.
“I..” Kyrian hesitates, her face screwing up in a mixture of confusion and.. pain? She chews on her lip, worrying at it like you remember her doing when she was lost deep in thought. This makes your heart skip a beat for a moment-- oh dear, did she not remember Ardell?
“My matesprit. My eternal love. The… the name is familiar. The idea is! But… I… I can’t quite remember his face or voice. But he’s just…” She reaches out in front of herself, almost like there’s something tangible just an arm’s length away, “… Right there. Out of reach.”
Ah. Crisis averted. She does remember her husband. You turn back to her with a soft smile.
“Don’t worry on it. You’ll see him soon, it will fall into place. If you recognized me, you’ll know him in an instant.”
The day and another night passes. You think back fondly on your younger days spent traveling with Kyrian just like this, accompanying her on incredibly similar trips to ensure she made it safely through the more dangerous routes. She would leave you in whatever city she arrived at until she located her recipient, then find you again and bring you back home. This time, however, you were the guide, and her the follower, and you were much more vigilant to ensure she stayed by your side than you’d ever been in the past.
You’ve always had a certain way with parting crowds, at least. Something about the way you walk, perhaps, or maybe it’s thanks to the fact that a glance at your face leaves most trolls too perplexed to do much more than stumble out of your way. It helps as well that you’re big enough to frighten the rest with stature alone.
When sunrise comes again, you stop in a small public park. This would do well enough, you thought; no comforting campfire, but somewhat safer than a more open space. On the brighter side, the two of you are in a more upbeat mood than the morning before, thanks to another night of you both relearning the feeling of the other’s presence. You speak up again once the two of you are settled.
“Kyrian? I have another question.”
She looks to you, smiling with her fangs peeking over her lips. Oh, how familiar that smile is.
“Yes, Planhz? I think I can handle some of those questions I see stirring behind your eyes.”
You smile in response, pausing with a soft chuckle before positing your question.
“We’ll see. Mm… How have you been faring since the, ah… Incident? Have you kept yourself busy in the meanwhile? Or, rather… How have you been getting along, so to speak, since then?”
“Oh… the usual, I suppose.” Kyrian laughs, eyes closing as she does.
“Just like we’ve been doing the past few days, just…” Kyrian turns to you, punches your shoulder softly, “without my guard dog.”
She then pauses for another short moment.
“Been delivering things. Guess I fell back into old habits.”
“How… On Alternia did you pull that off without me knowing?” You’re genuinely amazed-- you’d stayed fairly close to several of her former colleagues for quite a while after her supposed passing. It’s a marvel that you never as much as caught word of her reappearance, truly!
“It’s been much too long, then. I should have stumbled upon you sooner.”
“I suppose so. Maybe that old sniffer of yours is going out.” She laughs again, “I blend into crowds. Got a lot of tricks up my sleeves. Guess I never will forget those.”
“I suppose.” You huff softly and sit back against the trunk of a tree.
Another two days and a night pass the same. Thankfully, your journey is coming to an end-- you love to travel, yes, but rest is a wonderful thing just the same. You’re apprehensive for your eventual meeting with Ardell, even though you know he’ll be nothing but overjoyed to be reunited with his beloved-- he’s just not the same man he used to be, after all. But you’ll find out soon enough.
You keep a firm hold on Kyrian’s hand as you navigate through the winding rural roads. At least Ardell lived fairly close to the city your sons lived in, so the trip back home wouldn’t be too arduous. For now, your focus was kept on remembering which somewhat foreboding extended driveway would take you to his secluded seaside hive. You eventually found it without too much difficulty.
“Here we are.” You sigh softly and look to Kyrian stood by your side as you walk up to the doorstep. She was quiet, oddly still even as you look over. There’s something about the way she’s standing, you think; she looks like she might just run right in, but she holds herself stock-still instead.
“… Home.” She whispers, then she’s reaching right for where Ardell would always hide the key. You softly pull her back.
“No need. He’s always home.” You reach forward and knock on the door. A couple long moments pass, until you finally hear the shuffling of footsteps and see the door slowly open, the man behind it quite hesitant to see who’s on the other side. He slowly pulls the door open proper, but the image before him takes a long few moments to connect in his head.
“Dell? Goodness, you look like you’re about to faint.” You wouldn’t really be surprised. Kyrian is supposed to be long dead, after all. His violet gaze quickly flicks from you to your companion at your side, and his fins flare out in surprise the moment their eyes meet. He just pauses, doesn’t blink, or even breathe-- and Kyrian is the same. They’re both studying the other like they aren’t real, like two startled cats not expecting to encounter one another.
“…this isn’t any of your magic, Planhz?” Ardell croaks, and he reaches out to delicately hold Kyrian’s cheek, thumb just barely brushing over the wisp of hair over her ear. Kyrian is quick to lean into the movement. Muscle memory-- he always did this to tilt her head up to look at him before, always with that same loving gentleness.
“Kyrie-“ He croaks again, then looks to you, “I am,” He finally whispers in reply. Then, somewhat unexpectedly, he draws you in as well. He holds you both close, maybe to use you as supports, maybe not. You stiffen when pulled, biting back a soft hiss of pain from the sudden movement stretching the multitude of scars across your midsection. He never remembered to be gentle with you after your curse started getting this bad, but you’d never dream of holding it against him anyways.
“Dellie.” You mutter, but your tone is firm. He quickly lets you go, remembering that you’re not as sturdy as you used to be.
“You’ve still got a living room, yes? We ought to use it instead of lingering in the doorway.” You smile to him, quickly making it plenty apparent you’re not upset with him for aggravating your scars. You couldn’t ever bring yourself to be mad at him for much of anything, really.
“Oh.” Ardell looked almost like he’d forgotten they were still in the doorway, that his love was back with him, and that all three of you were together again.
“Yes.. yes. Come in.” He reaches for your hand to give it a soft, apologetic squeeze before bringing you both in to settle down.
You don’t expect to stay here particularly long, but you suppose one night couldn’t hurt. You’re sure that either way both Ardell and Kyrian would be downright insulted to hear you trying to make your leave so soon, so you skip the trouble of asking altogether. It’s been quite a while since you’ve seen him too, after all.
The moment Ardell sits down beside Kyrian and across from you, it really does feel like you’ve just been welcomed home.
This ask finds you settled on the front porch of Nobody's shop, which has been expertly decorated for Halloween. The two of you are enjoying the cool night air as you wait for trick-or-treaters to come by. You're in a just delightful mood.
"Oh! Good evening, dear. Happy Halloween! I've not got much more planned than this, I don't believe."
