Basics: black & white lightning-breathing dragon in his late 500s. he loves music, and tries to keep a hoard of it in every way he can
Physical Description: raizen's human form is about 5'10, thin, and all limbs. he's so fair skinned that it can at times be hard to tell he has vitiligo. he has black hair with a streak of white at the front, and blue-green eyes, and his attire is simple but a little fancy for the fun of it: neat black trousers and a neat white ruffle shirt.
zizzy's dragon form is about the size of a mail truck. his scales are mostly a sparkling white, but in patches here and there his scales are a sharp, shiny black, just like his multitude of spine ridges and his long, sleek horns. he's a very solid, sturdy dragon, even though his human form is such a twig.
Personality: in a word, ridiculous. in a few words, ridiculous, neurotic, enthusiastic, and effusive. raizenauld has one braincell pingponging around in his head at the best of times unless music is involved, of which he's extremely knowledgeable in all aspects. he has a good heart and is genrally quite silly, trusting, and friendly.
his hoard is music. instruments, experiences, sheet music, records, just about everything you could name. he's very enthusiastic about the arts, and he frequently finds himself in musical instructing roles. when he's not conducting at his local heritage theater, raizenauld spends most of his free time at operas, ballets, concerts, pubs, or anywhere he knows music will be playing
History: raizenauld wasn't raised with his dragon family, and he never knew them. his egg rolled out of his mother's nest before he could even hatch, and she wasn't able to find it despite spending days looking.
his egg was eventually picked up by a traveling band of adventurers—one of whom wanted to keep it and see what kind of creature would hatch and maybe be the party pet—and eventually ended up accidentally left in a tavern when they were all too drunk to notice him missing.
raizen was named and raised by the tavern keeper! she was only 24 when she came into posession of his egg, and she was delighted to become his human mom.
even though his mom lived incredibly long for a human, poor raizen was still only 78 when she passed away, basically still a child for a dragon
in her later years, and after her passing, he tried to keep the tavern for her, because it meant a lot to her and he loved her, but dear raizenauld is not bright enough to run a business, and he was even less bright at that young age
but, through tavern life all while he was growing up, he became very interested in music, and he moved on to pursue that with his life, selling the tavern for someone else to take care of when it became clear he was in over his head
Extras: raizen can do startlingly good impressions not only of other people's voices but also animal sounds. raizenauld is allergic to latex, but it's less the sneezy type of allergy and more the painfully itchy rash kind. music soothes the beast! if raizen is sick or upset, playing or humming something for him makes him feel better. lullabies will put him to sleep.
Snz Info: raizenauld has electrical nodes running along the roof of his mouth and the floor of his nose for his lightning breath, and they activate when he sneezes. they're also extremely sensitive to touch.
depending on how harsh his sneeze is, he will sneeze out electrical smoke, sparks, or bright white lightning bolts. if he's in his dragon form he's most likely to sneeze a full lightning storm.
when in human form, raizenauld would never be described as particularly graceful, but when sneezy he's extraordinarily clumsy. he usually unbalances himself and sneezes himself right to the ground.
he's allergic to wool, rabbits, and foxes. he sneezes when he gets wet, and he gets sick if he's left wet for too long.
other things that give him the sneezes: strong mints, any effervescent beverage (soda obviously but also champagne, beer, kombucha, sparkling cider), too much pepper in his food or anything spicy (wasabi would obliterate him), alcohol, mouthwash, pop rocks candy, or particularly heavy steam directly in his face. bc of his latex allergy he's also sort of allergic to bananas, nothing serious but they make his mouth itchy when uncooked, and that usually makes him sneeze because the roof of his mouth is so sensitive. he also sneezes if he ever attempts to smoke anything—his own smoke doesn't bother him but other kinds will.
he cannot hold back worth a damn, but he can contain the lightning aspect of his sneeze if he stifles into his own wrist or hands—but it shocks him badly to do so, so he'll only resort to stifling as a panicked containment effort in situations he deems to be urgent enough to warrant such measures
Circus full of strange creatures that is being studied but the more they are studied the more people begin to realize these strange creatures just love entertaining people and selling snacks and the attention they receive.
part three! it's been five days. that's enough right? im new at this. i should've held a poll.
summary: with the danger taken care of, sue takes raizenauld someplace to rest, but getting there is going to prove a little tricky with that cold he has...
2.5k words, rated PG, no CWs. Cold sneezes, Dragon!sneeze, Magic!sneeze, Clumsy!sneeze, Trying not to sneeze, Sneezing fits, Blessing sneezes, Light caretaking, M sneeze
pt i
pt ii
pt iii
pt iv
pt v
Completed Work
The tunnel behind the shop was as it had been. Long, bare, and roughly hewn along the ceiling. Closing the door up into the shop shrouded the entirety of it in a velvety darkness, but as Sue raised and waved a hand, several torches flared to life along the walls, lighting the way a good several yards ahead of them.
The passageway stretched on and on, the torches lighting as the two of them neared and made their way through. They walked mostly in silence, aside from the gentle tap of their footsteps resonating through the hall, and the sound of Raizenauld's voice echoing off the walls whenever he sneezed, which was often, and frequent.
Seeing that he did often trip over himself and lose his balance when he felt a sneeze coming on, Sue took to steadying him by the arm whenever she heard him sniffling too intently or heard his breath beginning to catch.
The only conversation really made in this place was the exchange of bless yous and thank yous until they reached the end of the hall.
The tunnel came to an abrupt halt, blocked off by a wall of solid stone, most of which was covered by the large woven tapestry adorning it. There-depicted was a great big jackal, its teeth bared and fangsome, with great arcing wings sprouting from its back. Sue held an arm out, stopping Raizenauld from approaching any further, while she herself took a few steps forward.
He blinked around at his surroundings a little nervously.
“So is this just... a really long empty hallway? I don't mean to be rude, it's a very nice hallway, but I thought there would be a place to rest... Not that I can't rest here, no no! It just sounded like you were offering something... different, is all,” he rambled.
Sue shook her head, turning back to face him.
“We're only stopping here for a moment, you don't need to worry,” she said. “Just stay right there, alright?”
Raizen nodded, folding his hands politely in front of himself to wait.
Taking another step towards the tapestry, Sue waved one of her hands through the air, and a much larger, spectral facsimile of the same appeared in the space before her, glittering and cobalt blue. It moved with her own motions, reaching out and scritching at the jackal's image beneath the chin. The picture came to life, then, climbing up its tapestry until it was out of sight, the heavy cloth rolling up behind it to reveal the stone beneath, smooth and uniform like the rest, save for a large square etching right at the center.
Raizenauld tilted his head at the things Sue was doing, obviously confused and not following along. He stayed put, as he was bid, but spoke up at last.
“Wizard Pendergast?” he called, getting her attention as she stepped forward to place her hand at the center of the shape.
“Yes?” she said, glancing at him back over her shoulder.
“Um. I don't get it. What is all this?” he said, looking around at the cavernous hallway and the rolled up tapestry and the large mysterious square marking.
“You'll see soon enough,” she assured him, smiling and nodding at him. “Just give me one more moment to focus, alright dear?”
“If you say so,” he replied, looking nervously back the way they'd came.
Sue returned her focus to the stone before her with one hand outstretched, placing her palm flat against it, closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath. A light wind materialized around her, swirling as she focused her magic into the stone. The simple square etching it bore began to glow a bright, cherry red, the color slowly shifting, first closer to vermillion, now closer to orange.
“Wizard Pendergast?” came Raizenauld's voice again. The glow flickered before Sue caught it faltering, pouring more magic in to correct it. One brow furrowed in concentration. Raizenauld quickly kept talking.
“I know I'm supposed to be sngffh! snff! giving you a minute to focus, and I appreciate that, but I... ...snffh! I th-houghht I should tehh-hell you I'm uhh–! snfgk! aah- haah– ahhbouht to– hihh! hAHh—! hrRAHZZ'SHUuie!!”
Raizenauld once again, in trying to turn away, stumbled off-kilter and landed himself on his rear. Several bolts of lightning showered through the air and dissipated on welcoming stone. Sue dropped the spell she was casting in favor of waiting for the poor beast to stop. Raizen drew another deep breath.
“hHAATSCHJSHH!! aeeahh– hh'hh-heHh– haAHh—! h'ADZZSCHhiew!!! hahh... hEHHZZSHiew! snfk! ugh... Oh god it won't... why wh-hon't it– ih– ehAHh! HAZSCHYIEUWHhe!!”
Sue stood back as a small storm of sparks, lightning, and smoke swirled around him and flashed in bursts from his nose and mouth while Raizenauld sneezed himself dizzy, eventually lying back on the cold stone ground to catch his breath and rub at his nose when he was finally done. His first handkerchief was quite spent by now and he found himself partway through his spare, a cloth of the same design but featuring the addition of a peach colored border around the outer edge.
“Bless you! My goodness, you poor thing! Are you alright?” Sue said, standing over him. Raizenauld, a bit dazed, took a moment to answer.
“Oh yes, I'm fine. Just going to lie here a moment while the room stops spinning,” he said, not even removing his handkerchief from his nostrils. Sue tsk’d.
“It is a good thing you're not out over the ocean like this. You lie there, we're almost through,” she said, returning to her spellwork.
Raizenauld interrupted her by sneezing again three times before she finally gave up and went to crouch by him.
“Are you sure you're alright?” she asked, brushing back his hair from his face with one hand. Raizenauld's features relaxed and he smiled at the touch.
“I can't stop sneezing,” he said.
“Yes, I'd noticed,” Sue said, continuing to stroke his hair since he seemed to like it. “Are you too cold?”
He shook his head.
“No, not really,” Raizen said, “My nose just tickles and it keeps– snffh! keepsmakingme sneeze— yhh-! you should stahndbahhck—! hhHHHh!! hehHTSHHhue!! oh... at least that one wasn't so bad...”
A burst of electrical smoke surged forth around his handkerchief as Raizenauld gave another exhausted sneeze, the cloud dissipating against the tunnel's high ceiling with the rest of it.
“You poor thing...” Sue said, resuming petting at Raizenauld's head as he laid there sniffling.
There was no way she was getting this spell cast until he was finished.
“Would you like me to stay here next to you until it stops?” she offered. Raizenauld gave another sniffle.
“Alright. Might be a while, though,” he said.
“That's just fine,” Sue responded, settling down to sit by him and keep petting his hair.
True to his prediction, it took maybe half an hour for the sneezes to die down to a point that didn't leave Raizenauld sneezing every minute or so.
“Are you feeling a little better?” Sue asked, once five whole minutes had gone by in relative peace and quiet.
Raizenauld snuffled, wiggling his nose testingly.
“I think so,” he said. “But I'm tired. That was a lot.”
Sue nodded, and gave his head another pet before going to stand and lending him a hand as well.
“I know. Come on, let's get you up and someplace more comfortable. Take my hand,” she said, helping him to his feet. He swayed slightly, and she wrapped an arm around his waist. Raizenauld sniffled and leaned against her for support. The poor thing must have really been exhausted.
“It's okay, I've got you,” Sue said, leading him back towards the wall with the square marking on it. Finally she was properly able to cast her spell, laying her hand on the center of the stone and funneling magic into it, a light wind rushing around them both as the etchings lit up red, then gold, then bright blue, finally giving way with a loud CRACK! before the entire square crumbled to rubble, leaving an opening about the size of a large doorway.
“Come now, we have to step through quickly,” she said, beckoning Raizenauld forward with her arm still around him. He nodded, and followed along.
They found themselves, then, in a closet-sized stone chamber, where the only feature other than the hole they'd stepped through was a thick wooden door, with a keyhole and a brass knob. Shortly after stepping into the chamber, the tapestry unfolded back over the hole behind them with a sharp THWUMPFH, and the stone wall began clattering and crackling as it knit itself back together.
Raizenauld looked back at these workings with some alarm, sniffling and trembling, eyes wide as he addressed Sue.
“Wizard Pendergast—”
“Please, call me Sue,” she said, letting go of him to take a gold key with a red gem in the handle out from her sleeve and insert it into the lock by touch. Raizen nodded.
“Sue,” he said. “What is all this? Where are we?”
Sue smiled, and turned the key in the latch, taking Raizenauld by the hand and leading him through to the other side.
“Home security system,” she said lightly, smirking up at him. “And we're now in my cellar, or one of them. This is where I store dry goods, liquids are in the next room down.”
Raizenauld blinked around the room. It was a decent size, and true to Sue's word it seemed to be full of mostly root vegetables. He could easily see some onions and potatoes from where they stood, as well as some vegetables he just didn't recognize. The place was dry and dim and smelled mostly of dirt.
“This is your home?” he asked, touched to have been brought in by her. Sue nodded.
“Part of it. Come along now, it's a lot more comfortable on the higher floors,” she said, leading him through to another door. She hesitated before moving ahead, turning to consider her companion.
“Er, Raizenauld,” she started. He smiled at her amiably, despite the state of him.
“Yes,” he answered. Sue pursed her lips thoughtfully.
“The next couple of rooms... well they do have reactive substances within. If you have any sneezes left in you, you'd best get them out in here, if you can,” she said. Raizenauld tilted his head.
“What's that? Reactive... Reactive substances...” he said, repeating the words and squinting as if their structure would reveal something to him. It did not.
“Meaning, if they got hit with lightning they could be dangerous, or start a fire,” she explained. Raizenauld nodded.
“Ohh, yeah, better not have any of that flying around then,” he said, nodding in agreement until the rest of Sue's statements caught up with him, his eyes going wide in realization.
“Oh, me! I do that when I sneeze,” he said, putting two and two together at last. Sue nodded.
“Exactly, which is why if you feel you need to sneeze we really ought to stay in here for a moment until you don't feel that way anymore,” she said.
“Oh, okay that makes sense,” Raizen said, sniffling.
“Do you?” Sue asked. Raizenauld blinked back.
“Do I what?” he asked.
“Do you feel like you need to sneeze?” she clarified for him.
“Oh... I don't know, let me check... snfffh? ..... snfffffffhhh? hm... No,” Raizenauld said, taking a few deep, appraising sniffs to determine the quality of his sinuses.
Sue looked at him uncertainly.
“And you're sure about that...” she asked.
Raizen nodded, sniffling again and smiling at her good naturedly.
“I am. I'm good now,” he assured her. She nodded, and led ahead.
“Alright then. We should still try to make this quick,” she said as they made their way through a room filled with various kegs and barrels. “Regardless of if your nose has settled for now, you do still have a cold.”
Raizen nodded, giving a hefty sniffle.
“Yeah. I do, ” he agreed.
The next room was the apothecary, and it was much bigger than the other two, and it was longer and full of more interesting things. A large black cauldron dominated its main corner, which itself was recessed and circular. Bottles and jars of mysterious components lined tables and shelves, and the room grew narrower and more bare the farther it got down towards the door on the right.
They were about halfway through it when Raizenauld stopped, the suddenness of his halting catching Sue's attention. She turned to find him leaning heavily on his back foot and wobbling slightly, scrunching and wiggling his nose feverishly.
“Oh no, don't– Just– Hang on!” she said.
Thinking quickly, she spun the unsteady dragon around by the hips and gave him a rough shove into the corner of the room, just as the tips of his teeth began to show in a sneezy snarl and his breath caught in a heady gasp.
Raizen's hands, halfway to his face in what was sure to be an awful attempt to contain himself, instead flew out to catch himself against the edge of the cauldron as he stumbled and fell, letting out a massive—
“hAAHHTSCHYUUe!!”
—that sent lightning bolts skittering around and through the bowl of the cauldron itself. He sniffled, his shoulders shaking into another sneeze.
“heehTSCHHyiewh!! snffh! Whew... that was a close one. Good thing this pot was here,” he said, drooping over the side of the cauldron now that his frame wasn't rigid with ticklishness.
“I thought you said you didn't need to sneeze!” Sue said, heart still racing from such a close call.
Raizenauld sniffled.
“I didn't! ...well, until I did. Then I really had to... Sorry. It surprised me, too, if that's worth anything,” he said. He scrubbed a wrist under his nose and retrieved his handkerchief, leaning back against the cauldron to blow it again.
Sue sighed, and collected herself.
“That's alright. We managed to avoid any harm being done,” she said. “Do you think you can make it through the rest of the way without that nose going off again?”
welcome back to the whimsiverse! since pt i is really just plot and character introduction i decided to post pt ii at the same time cuz that's where all the snz starts
enjoy!
Summary: Raizenauld returns. He's still in trouble, and now he's got a real dragon of a cold.
3k words, Rated PG, CWs: mild fantasy violence. Cold sneezes, Dragon!sneeze, Magic!sneeze, Clumsy!sneeze, Trying not to sneeze, Sneezing while hiding, Blessing sneezes, M sneeze
pt i
pt ii
pt iii
pt iv
pt v
Completed Work
It was only a little over two weeks before she saw him again. This time on a blustery, overcast day, the prickling heat run off by an oncoming storm.
Once again Raizenauld burst through her door, nearly tripping over himself in the process, winded and panting as he raced to her and all but collapsed in her arms.
“It didn't work,” he exclaimed, hanging from her and panting, shaking, near tears. “And I think they've figured out ocean travel. They could be here any minute.”
Sue glanced up, alarmed, and scanned through the windows and doors as she held him close and kept him standing. Nothing so far...
“What do you mean, it didn't work? The enchantment was faulty?” she asked, dismayed. She'd feel just terrible if her work had failed someone.
Raizenauld shook his head, still clinging to her and trembling.
“No, the enchantment was wonderful! Is wonderful. It's still functional...I think,” Raizenauld said, “It put them to sleep straight away! But they came back with ear plugs, and it- it– h'ohh no...”
Raiz gasped and stepped back, clumsily shoving off of Sue, nearly tripping over his own ankles.
“What's wrong? Have you heard them approach?” Sue asked, checking the windows again and seeing no one still, as Raizenauld pivoted to try and regain his balance, stumbled, and over-corrected, teetering on his heels. He shook his head, wiggling his nose furiously and pulling all kinds of faces as he responded, or tried to.
The sneeze flew from him in a burst of electrical sparks, and unbalanced as he was, landed him right on the floor on his behind.
Sue blinked, startled.
“My goodness, bless you! Are you alright?” she said, reaching to help him up again. Raizen was too busy sniffling and rubbing furiously at the sides of his nose to accept.
“I'm fhiiii... –hihh! Fhhhiihhne... I juhh– uuhhst– hihh! snfh!! hh-hehh!! hatSCHhyuwh!! snrfkh!! ...... ‘tchSHYWh!! hohh... snrgkfl! whew... snfgh! ...I just have a cold. snfghk!”
Smoke puffed out from behind his hands and through the cracks between his fingers with each sneeze, and drifted lazily from his lips and nostrils now as he patted himself down to find his handkerchief. A simple one, white with a black musical staff and notes as a border. Sue kept a weather eye outside the shop as Raizenauld sat and blew his nose.
“Bless you,” she said again, frowning in sympathy. Getting a better look at him now, as she once again reached down, this time succeeding in helping him to his feet, the poor thing did look unwell. He was paler than the last time they'd met, save for the edges of his nostrils which had already been rubbed pink. Dark shadows hung under his eyes, which themselves were a bit reddened as if he'd been crying.
Raizenauld sniffled miserably.
“Thanks,” he said, collecting himself. He, like Sue, kept glancing out the windows, scanning to see if his pursuers were nearby.
“Rotten luck, getting a cold at a time like this,” Sue said. Raizenauld sniffled again and agreed, nodding his head.
“I've been so stressed, and I haven't really slept. It was... snffh! hheeh? ...snffkh! hhhff... it was bound to happen,” he replied, sniffling at the edges of another sneeze and losing it in the middle of his sentence. Sue rubbed at his arm sympathetically, trying to give some small comfort.
“It's all going to be okay. Nothing we can't figure out and take care of,” she assured him. Raizenauld sniffled again and nodded.
“Thank you, I— Oh no. That's them, they're here,” he said, eyes widening as he caught sight of the group of adventurers wandering the street outside. He turned his attention to Sue as he scrambled to put her between himself and the door. Sue in turn looked to where he directed, making note of the band of troublemakers wandering the streets of her little town.
“What do I do? What do I do?” Raizenauld rambled, starting to panic, and shake, that frenzied terror that Sue had already grown too familiar with entering his eyes.
Right. Time to take charge of the situation for this poor gentle beast. She turned and put a hand on his shoulder, looking him confidently in the eye.
“Get into my store room, close the door, and stay there. I'll take care of this,” she said, ushering poor Raizenauld along.
“Okay! Okay, I can do that. I can do that. Just, stay in the store room. Stay in the store room and keep the door shut, I can do that. Just stay in the store room,” he started babbling fearfully to himself.
“And stay quiet,” Sue added, seeing this. Raizen shut himself up mid-sentence and gave a sharp nod as Sue closed the door behind him, returning to her place at the counter and pretending at managing her ledger while she kept an eye on the door.
It wasn't long before the miscreants in question wandered in, four rough looking young men, the leader of whom couldn't have been older than twenty-five. He had short, dirty blond hair and mean eyes. He approached the counter and tapped on it to get Sue's attention when she didn't appear to notice them coming in. She glanced up at them.
“Yes, hello. And how may I help you boys today?” she said, politely.
The young man gave her a vague nod with his chin, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he talked.
“We're looking for someone. Maybe you've seen him,” he said. “Tall guy, real thin. He's got this streak of white in his hair, he's hard to miss. Shop owner down the way said he saw him come in this way.”
Sue tilted her head, her lips pressing into a line. She'd have to have a word with Mr. Preston regarding not chatting about the people he sees coming in and out of her shop, some of her clients are very private individuals.
“Hmm, I'm quite sure I don't know who you mean,” she said, lacing a bit of magic into her words as she continued on. “You're not going to find him here, so why don't you all go on your way and leave this fellow alone?”
One of the group, he looked to be the youngest of them, sighed impatiently and turned as if to go, but the others held him back, unconvinced.
“Are you sure you don't remember anyone of that description coming in here?” the leader said, sliding a few silver and a gold piece across the counter as if to entice her.
Sue glanced down at the coins in a flash of thinly veiled disgust, leaving them untouched. She glanced back up to them.
“I'm sure, you'll find there's no one of that description here, just me in my little old magic shop,” she said.
A breathy “hhuh!” sounded from her store room just then, and she did her best to cover the sound by clearing her throat loudly. It did not fool the keen ears of the adventuring troupe's leader, his eyes darting to the back of the shop. Sue interposed herself between them, blocking his line of sight to the store room door.
“And if there was, I'm sure you would find him under my protection,” she asserted, staring daggers into the adventurer's eyes.
“h’aAHGDZZZZZTs!!”
The most strangled, electrically buzzing sneeze sounded from her store room all in a rush, a bright white light flashing beneath the door followed by the clattering crashing sound of someone falling into a very full shelving unit.
The lead adventurer glanced Sue up and down, sizing her up, then attempted to push past her.
“The protection of a little old witch? I'll take my chances. What are you going to do, turn me into a frog?” he said with a sneer.
Sue's eyes closed, one of her brows giving an irritated twitch, and when she opened them again something violent and impatient flashed in them.
Raising one hand in a sweeping motion, she snapped her fingers and the atmosphere in the shop went cold and dark, the sound like a thunderclap, wind whipping through the storefront as a length of dazzling lightning materialized from thin air and snaked around all four party members. It tightened, sweeping the brazen young team leader from his feet and binding all four of them together at the center of the floor as it singed through their clothes. The adventurers squirmed and whimpered as the spell raised them into the air.
“The four of you have a lot of nerve, you know, hunting down peaceful creatures for your own material gain,” Sue said, starting in on them as she held them aloft. The same mortal fear she'd seen so recently and so often in Raizenauld now reflected in all of their eyes, their whimpering turning to begging.
“Not yet, you won't,” she said. “You're going to stay right there, and you're going to listen.”
The young man sniffled and nodded, closing his eyes.
“I bet you boys think you're really tough going after a big magical creature don't you? Isn't that what you want? To go and appear big and strong in front of this guild leader of yours?” she said, staring them down and holding them aloft within the crackling, snapping lightning chains all the while.
“There is nothing more childish, hateful, and weak than hunting a peaceful magical creature. I know your type—prideful, cowardly, seeking out anything you think won't fight back to make yourselves feel powerful and good about yourselves,” she spat, “Pathetic. Of all the things you could be doing with your time, you choose wanton violence and destruction.”
Another strangled, electrically charged sneeze sounded riotously from the store room, and another, and then another still. A few legs of lightning sprayed off in that direction, missing Sue herself by inches. She stood unflinching, unwavering.
“Now. You boys are going to let this go. You're going to go home, and you're going to spend the rest of your lives doing something productive with yourselves. And if I hear that you've been hunting friendly dragons or any peaceable creature for sport or conquest ever again, there will be hell to pay. And I will know,” she threatened, tightening the bindings until they sparked against the young men's skin. They let out a chorus of yelps and agreements.
Sue stepped close, electricity arcing and sparking off her hair and robes as she drew them all towards her, getting close to the party leader's face.
“And that's little old wizard to you,” she spat.
With a flick of her wrist, the lightning crackled and faded, the lights coming back up in the room, leaving the adventuring party to drop to the floor of the shop in a heap. Upon regaining control of their own mobility, most of the troupe scrambled up and made for the door. Even the group's leader, despite giving Sue a petulant glare in his defeat, relented and made a retreat, exiting the shop with fists clenched and shaking.
Sue waited until the entire group was far out of sight, seemingly making for one of the town's taverns to lick their wounds and presumably reevaluate their life's choices, before speaking up.
“You can come out, now. They're gone,” she called sweetly to Raizenauld, still hiding in her shop's store room. Opening the door, she found him sat on the floor with his hands clasped tightly around his nose and mouth, his hair smoking and his back pressed against a shelving unit upon which several items were scattered and overturned. A few of them bore scorch marks.
Sue's eyes widened in surprise at the state of him, and Raizenauld sniffled, staring up at her pitifully, a hint of that fear lingering in his gaze.
“I'm sorry,” he said. “I trhhieehd to hold it ih- ihhn but– I c–Hh! ghHhk! hhHgh!! h'AHGDZZZZZTs-shiewh!!”
As he became overtaken by another sneeze, smothering it into the tight clench of his hands, electricity arced and cracked over his entire form, shocking him and making bits of his hair stand on end. A few more scorches burned into the shelf at his back.
“...I couldn't.” he finished, then sniffling and rubbing at his nose.
Sue tsk'd in sympathy and made to help the poor thing up, again, neverminding the shock she took taking his hand. Taking stock of the damages... Well, it was nothing that couldn't be replaced, and it was well worth the cost to keep this nice creature safe.
“Bless you. Now that's alright, you tried your best, and I know you didn't mean any harm,” she said, dusting him off and barely flinching when a few stray sparks of electricity continued to shock her fingertips in doing so. Raizen sniffled again, fishing his handkerchief back out and blowing his nose ferociously, then giving quite the shiver before blowing it again.
“Are they really gone for good?” he asked, still nervously peering out the windows as if they would return for him at any moment. Sue nodded reassuringly, putting a hand on his arm.
“They are, and they won't be bothering you again,” she said. “Or anybody else for that matter, I'm going to make sure of it. A wizard's very good at keeping tabs on people, you know. If I get wind of any nonsense they're going to regret it.”
Raizenauld grabbed her in a tight, grateful hug.
“Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't thank you enough. You're just like people say,” he said, pressing his cheek against the top of her head.
The tight hug was interrupted by his sniffling sharply and taking a few unsteady steps back, wobbling as his nose performed acrobatics at the center of his face.
“Ss-hohhrry I uhh– hahh– hh! haAHh—! HAA'TSSHHHOOhie!!”
A spray of lightning bolts showered forth and crackled out in the air, and Raizenauld, overbalancing again as one knee came up with the force of it, once again sneezed himself to the floor. Sue began to wonder if this was a regular occurrence for him.
“Bless you,” she said, offering her hand down to him once more.
“Thank you,” he said, pulling himself up and swiping the back of a wrist at his nose.
Sue considered him again. Rhuemy-eyed, clammy, pale, and sniffling near constantly. He didn't look in any shape to be up and about, much less flying long distances over the sea.
“You are sick, aren't you?” she cooed quietly, frowning at him sympathetically. Raizenauld nodded, submitting to her fussing easily.
“I know you probably have a lovely collection to return to someplace, but could I convince you to stay for a while and take some tea first? A bit of rest would do you a lot of good before the long journey home...” she continued.
“Okay,” Raizen said, readily persuaded. Sue couldn't tell if he was just pliable with gratitude or if the poor beast was really feeling that poorly, but she was glad he decided to stay. After all this excitement now she really was very curious about him, and she really would have worried about him making it home safe all that way without a chance to regroup. There's nowhere to land and catch your breath out over the ocean, after all.
It wouldn't, or at least shouldn't, have been an issue for a dragon who was well, dragons being such powerful beasts after all, but for one who was sick and exhausted... It was no wonder Raizenauld was collapsing against her and panting when he arrived, the poor thing must've run himself ragged trying to escape those brutes. It's a wonder the poor thing had made it here at all under those conditions, and another trip back like this would have just been asking for trouble.
After giving the coins those ne'er do wells left on her countertop a quick check over for funny business—one can never be too careful—and finding them normal, Sue swept them into the shop's register, and then locked it up for the rest of the day.
“Come along, I think it's about time you had the chance to relax,” she then said, leading Raizenauld out of the shop and locking the door behind.
The wind was picking up outside, and the air was damp with a will to rain. Sue frowned up at the weather, considering.
Between the impending storm, and the very probable lingering presence of those ruffians here in town, she made her mind up fairly quickly. Shaking her head, she unlocked the door and led Raizenauld back inside.
“Did you forget something? I'm always doing that,” he said, amiably.
“No, I haven't,” she said, smirking as she relocked the door. Raizenauld nodded.
“Oh, okay. That's good,” he said. After pausing a moment, speaking up again as he followed her through the shop, he said, “Wait, if you didn't forget anything then why are we coming back inside?”
Sue grinned up at him then with a twinkle in her eye.
“Because you get to find out where that secret passage leads to, today,” she said, opening back up the door to her store room and leading Raizenauld through it, stepping around a few overturned items that had fallen to the floor during his brief yet eventful stay there.
part four! and what's this? a new character showing up in the third act? couldn't be. listen we don't play by the rules here. except when we do. which is not now.
summary: with a bit of difficulty sue is finally able to get raizenauld settled someplace safe and comfortable. they're able to get to know each other a little while sue ponders over how to get this poor sick beast home...
2.5k words, Rated PG, no CWs. Cold sneezes, Dragon!sneeze, Magic!sneeze, Clumsy!sneeze, Blessing sneezes, Light caretaking, M sneeze
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Completed Work
Lo and behold they actually made it through the entire room, the next room, and up the stairs out of the basement before Raizen had to sneeze again.
“h’AATSHYOOie!!”
A shower of sparks crackled and fizzled out in midair as Raizenauld swivelled and landed flat against a wall. He slowly slid to the floor to catch his breath.
“Bless you,” Sue said, closing up the door to the basement and looking down at him softly.
“Thank you,” he sighed into his handkerchief. Sue gave him a minute to recover, then helped him to his feet and led him down the hall. She began leading him up a grand staircase to the second floor, keeping a hand at his back all the while to keep him steady on his feet. The exhaustion seemed to be hitting him pretty fast.
“There now, we've finally made it in, properly. I'll get you settled into my day room, and I'll put up some tea. How does that sound?” she asked.
“ihh–hH! h’ATSHHYUUe!!”
Raizenauld opened his mouth to reply, but a sneeze came out instead, sneaking up on him and nearly taking both of them for a tumble in a shower of sparks, if not for Sue's readiness and strength in supporting him.
“Good catch... Thanks,” Raizenauld panted as he recovered yet again.
“I've got you,” Sue assured him, patting him on the back and getting him steady on his feet.
Sue's day room was quite sunny and airy, with many windows and an extremely high ceiling, and it was just off the stairs’ landing, to the right. Ushering Raizenauld along to it, she put her hands on her hips, considering the place.
“I'd like to offer you a chance to get more comfortable, but I'm not sure of your actual size... Can you tell if you would fit in here?” she asked.
The room wasn't enormous, but perhaps if she moved the coffee table to the side, and shoved the sofas against the walls... depending on how large Raizenauld was it might work...
Raizen looked around curiously, taking in the place, but shook his head, taking a seat and opting to remain human shaped.
“I'm alright. I don't like tight spaces,” he explained.
“Very well, then you just remain as you are. I'll be back in a moment with tea. Can I get you anything else?” she offered. Raizen smiled at her.
“No, you're already being very kind. Thank you,” he said.
As Sue went about her kitchen, she spent some time puzzling over the situation.
The poor beast in her sitting room almost definitely needed sleep, that much was true. He'd as much as admitted he was tired, and he'd been practically dropping with exhaustion by the time she got him sitting down. With the time of things he'd been having recently, Sue could hardly blame him. Being chased by a marauding band of murderous adventurers was bound to cause an adrenaline crash, and flying the span of the ocean three times all told can't have been easy. And the poor dear had a cold on top of it all. That sneezing fit earlier had seemed particularly punishing, too...
But he wouldn't be able to get any sleep if he didn't feel safe to transform. Even some of the oldest and most powerful dragons aren't able to hold their shape if they're truly sleeping, and Sue wasn't quite sure she had any space large enough to house a dragon who doesn't like to be enclosed...
As she pondered over this, making tea, she heard the poor thing sneezing again. At least he wouldn't need to worry about toppling over now that he was sitting down.
Sue was just about ready to bring everything back into the day room when a familiar, friendly voice popped into her head.
‘Hello, Sue, good evening,’ came the voice. ‘Are you free? I was just thinking of popping around to show you what I've been working on lately for the shop. I think you're going to like it.’
Sue's features softened. There's always something so comforting about hearing from your best friend. Smiling, she set down the tea tray on the kitchen counter so that she could respond, taking hold of the little green stone that hung from a thin chain on her neck and running her thumb over it.
‘I have a guest over right now, but I'm sure it would be fine. Just let me tell him you'll be joining us,’ she thought. ‘Actually, it might be for the best you do come, he may be a bit in need of a way home.’
‘Oh, really? Well that does work out well, then. Is he a friend of yours?’ came the reply.
‘In a sense. I'll explain all once you've been properly introduced,’ she thought back.
Taking back up the tea tray, Sue joined Raizenauld again in the sitting room, passing him a teacup and filling it for him.
“I hope you like earl grey. I always find it useful in chasing off a cold,” she said, before pouring herself a cup and having a seat.
Raizen sipped at his tea, sighing at its warmth and sniffling as the steam made his nose run.
“I don't know him. This is very nice though, thank you for the tea. And for having me over, your house is really nice,” he said.
“You don't...? Oh, no you misunderstand. Earl grey is what the tea is called. I'm not sure why, really, I never thought of it. Perhaps someone named Earl Grey discovered it. It's just the flavor of it, is all,” Sue explained.
“Oh, I see,” Raizen said, sipping his tea again quietly.
“Now, I hope you won't mind but I've just heard from a dear friend of mine who'd like to stop by and show me something he's been working on. Would you be alright with that?” she asked, “I know you aren't feeling well, and you've just been through quite the ordeal.”
Raizenauld looked up from his tea and tilted his head in thought.
“Is he nice?” he asked, giving a sniffle.
Sue's face lit up with a warm smile.
“He is, Eduin's the nicest person I know. And he's very accepting of others, you wouldn't have anything to worry about with him where your nature is concerned,” she said.
Raizenauld tilted his head farther.
“My... nature? Oh, because I'm a dragon? Is that what you mean?” he asked. Sue gave him a nod.
“I know for a fact he's alright with dragons. One of my housemates—he must be off somewhere right now—but he's a dragon as well and they've only ever gotten along nicely,” she explained.
Raizenauld smiled, relaxing back a bit in his seat with his tea.
“That's nice. I think that should be fine, then. I won't mind,” he said. Sue smiled back, glad to have things coming together smoothly and pleased for the opportunity to see her friend.
“I'll just let him know, then,” she said, reaching for the telepathy stone around her neck.
Raizenauld sat straight as another realization hit him.
“Wait, you're housemates with a dragon?” he exclaimed nervously, “He won't mind me being here, will he? I don't want to encroach on his space. I should go. I should probably— eihh– oh no...”
Raizenauld cut himself off mid-panic, wiggling his nose and sniffling as another sneeze started coming on.
“heiHh! snffh! hhHHhhEIHHhhh—!! hAHHTSSHHYUE!!”
Sue collected his teacup at the last minute to help keep it from spilling, and now she laid a hand on Raizenauld's shoulder, a reassurance that he should stay right where he was, collapsed into her couch cushions and not off running himself ragged someplace else.
“It's alright. Montie isn't going to mind if I have a friend over. Even another dragon,” Sue said, adding this last as Raizenauld seemed to want to protest. “He understands that this is a space we share, and he's very friendly and curious besides that. If he gets back while you're still here I suspect I'll have to warn him off you with your cold.”
“Oh,” Raizenauld said, taking this in. “Is he very young?”
Sue passed Raizenauld back his tea and settled back down into her seat, now that he didn't seem on the verge of fleeing.
“No, I don't think so. He is very small and he doesn't talk, and I've never seen him take another shape, so I can't ask him his age, but he's also very bright and clever, and he seems to be fully grown,” she said. “At least in all the time I've known him he hasn't grown an inch. I'm given to understand that young dragons grow very quickly, so I don't believe him to be a youth. I think he's just very quiet.”
Raizenauld nodded and sipped his tea, once again relaxing a little.
“Some dragons are like that,” he said. Another thought struck him and he tilted his head at her then, considering her. “Are you... his? Does he keep you?” he asked.
Sue laughed, the sound like an old crow who'd just played a joke on someone.
“No, no. We're friends, companions that's all. Montie doesn't keep humans, no. We just share a space,” she said.
Raizenauld smiled and nodded his understanding, sipping some more of his tea. He looked around at the sitting room, then, searching it, peering curiously at everything in a new light.
“Does he keep a collection?” he asked, sniffling.
Sue nodded.
“He does, yes, down next to his den. You don't need to worry about disturbing it here,” she said.
Raizenauld let his breath out in a sigh. He nodded and settled back into the couch more comfortably again. Sue patted him on the knee.
“You're safe here, I promise you,” she said. “You can relax. Now, I'm just going to let my friend know it's alright to come over, this will only take a moment.”
Once again she took up her necklace, running her thumb over the stone pendant.
‘Alright, now you're free to visit. I've let my guest know you'll be over. We're in the sitting room, but perhaps it would be best if you arrived into the entryway... He's been through quite a lot and he's a bit jumpy from it I think,’ she thought.
‘I might be a moment,’ came the response, a few moments later. ‘The last person into my shop was ... ... ... Pardon me. They ... ... They were wearing this strong perfume, and it–oh again ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... I'm going to need a minute.’
Sue sighed, still smiling fondly. That was her Eduin. Always something with that man.
‘Take your time, dear. We're just having some tea, there's no rush,’ she responded.
Dropping the stone, aloud she said, “I'm afraid he's been held up, but he'll be joining us for tea in a little while.”
Raizenauld was looking at her curiously, or more accurately he was looking at her pendant.
“Does your friend live in that rock?” he said, and then, “He must be small if he does.”
Sue couldn't help but chuckle at the notion.
“You have the most creative ideas. No, dear, this is a telepathy stone,” she explained. “Basically, it lets me communicate with him no matter where he is, using our minds. It's very convenient for someone who travels as much as he does. I enchanted the set, myself, a very long time ago.”
“Oh, that must be nice,” Raizen responded. Sue nodded her agreement.
“Very nice, indeed. More tea?” she offered, seeing Raizenauld's cup nearly empty.
He smiled back at her, obviously pleased by the attentiveness and care.
“Yes, please,” he said, holding his cup out for her to refill.
With the opportunity at last for Raizen to rest someplace comfortable, and without sneezing every minute or so, Sue had the chance to get to know him a little better.
Ordinarily, he taught choir, band, and orchestra at a university near his home in Praglyn, and when not in this role he mostly acted as a conductor for the local heritage theater. Raizenauld, as it turned out, was actually quite skilled and talented when it came to matters of music and instruments, and had quite the collection of his own instruments in his home on the large hill that overlooked the city.
“I love it up there,” he said. “You can— hh- hhuh! hATSSCHhue!! snf! ‘Scuse me. You can play anything to your heart's content and the neighbors never come knocking. Mostly because there aren't any neighbors. Or at least no one close enough to come and knock.”
“Bless you,” Sue said. “So is that what you keep, then? Musical instruments?”
Raizen tilted his head thoughtfully.
“Partly. I mean I definitely do, but they're only part of my collection,” he said. “I keep music, really. Musical instruments, yes, but also musical experiences. I just love going to concerts, snffh! ballets, musical theatre, oh and pubs have some wonderful musical guests at times too! Oh and records, I love records, and record players, phonographs—Anything that makes music really, I just can't get enough of it.”
Even sniffling and exhausted, his eyes lit up talking about the subject. It was clear that music was this dragon's lifeblood. It made sense, then, why he'd been so drawn to the enchanted flute she'd sold him, even in the middle of what must have been a very frightening situation for him.
“What a wonderful thing to collect,” Sue said, offering him a warm smile.
“It really is wonderful,” Raizen said, practically aglow thinking of his hoard. “I'm usually humming something, too, but with how full my sinuses are it just wouldn't sound right. Notes get all nasally when I have a cold, it's terrible.”
Sue was distracted from his last few sentences by Ed's voice floating back into her head.
‘That's better. Ready for me to come by?’
She smiled and raised a finger to Raizenauld asking him to pause, then picking back up the stone around her neck.
‘Yes, dear, come on over. I'll—
“hAAHHTSCHHYUe!!”
‘—meet you by the door,’ she thought back.
“Bless you, dear,” she then offered aloud to Raizenauld as,
‘Oh dear, is he quite well himself?’ floated into her mind, Raizenauld's sneeze having interrupted her thoughts sufficiently enough to have come through over the stone.
‘The poor thing's picked up a bit of a stress cold, but everything's been taken care of now so it should clear up well enough soon. I'll fill you in on everything when you arrive,’ she replied.
Then, turning back to Raizen, who was truly eking the last scraps of usability out of his handkerchief, “I'll just be back in a moment, I'm going to meet my friend at the door. Do you need anything?”
Raizen shook his head.
“Alright, then I'll be right back,” she reaffirmed, making her way from the room.
This a lil scenario i conjured up when talking to @themeatpit37 abt their original Whimsiverse but tldr version is Gorefest!slasher!Joseph basically got Escape Claused/isekai and now he has to live miserably being a reindeertaur.
May-Rose is the leader of a squadron in my version of this AU and ofc doesn't like him. He tries to get the drop on her but his new reindeer pheromones got a different kind of fun planned.
It's a wacky loopy concept especially for spooky month but I worked too hard on this too just keep in chat.
