h a r m l e s s m o n s t e r

someone's sweet thing

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

drakongoch:

He watched her struggle to calm herself, a small smile on his face. “No worries, it’s only the proper thing to do.” He nodded, quickly standing up and offering her a hand, not because he thought she needed it but because it was the polite thing to do.

“Of course we can, there’s cafes around here or I live a couple blocks that way. My place is a mess though, wouldn’t want to expose you to that without fair warning.”

“E-Either one, I don’t mind a m-mess.” 

Though she shook, her hand went out, cold as she took the other’s hand. She wanted her grove, with her pond and her fish and her flowers and the warm sunlight, but a home sounded nice right now. Her chest burned, but she offered him the best smile she could managed.

“W-what a t-terrible first impression, I’m s-sure. B-but I promise I won’t eat you.”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

potniaxtheron:

“A good question,” Artemis responded softly, tracing the bolded chapter title with her finger as she gave the question some thought. 

“I think both nature and nurture have a hand in the development of children. Have you ever heard people call others a bad egg?” According to mortals, there was one in every family. “It’s often been argued that some children are born … not necessarily evil but neither are they good - perhaps empty is the correct term to use? That’s nature beginning its course.” Who knew where the course would end? “But I’m of the belief that nurture also plays a role in child development. Children often learn through imitation. If a parent commits wrongful deeds, the child will think it’s acceptable and follow suit …” She tapped her chin, debating if she should rectify that last comment. “Of course, not every child will. I suppose it depends on the individual child and their circumstances.”

The other certainly had a point, and Jessamine’s violet eyes blinked almost absently despite her smile. Philosophy, certainly, was not beyond her -- years along had made her contemplate many things in her own existence, but this was a new sort of question to her soul -- and she, the perfect example.

“That’s...very thoughtful,” she managed. “I don’t know much about children. What-- do you think...of perhaps a situation where a child is without nurture? Would nature make them cruel?”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

her dreams were blue  and  b r e a t h t a k i n g  as  a bright day 

and her secrets were dark

and  p o e t i c

as a cold night

moodboard for jessamine 1/? for paradigmtask

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

potniaxtheron:

Sitting on a bench in the middle of the park, Artemis watched people come and go, lips tipping up into a small smile when she noticed little girls clinging to the hands of their parents; innocence untouched. 

“How sweet,” she said, looking down at the thick, hardback book titled Nature Versus Nurture; Which One Prevails? propped open in her lap. “Nature versus nurture, huh? An interesting subject.”

She was trying, really to overcome the anxiety she felt in groups of people, but there were so many people in the park today, it was making her nervous. The children, she supposed, helped a bit. 

She flinched, almost visibly when the other spoke near her, but she smiled no less, turning her attention to her. This was the perfect time to strike up conversation, wasn’t it? “Which one do you think it is?”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

drakongoch:

He didn’t know what was going on - not that that was something new, Drakon very rarely knew what was going on it seemed. However, he knew enough to know that was very much experiencing panic that was worse than his had been at its peak. He felt compelled to help, however he could. “It’s fine, not your fault at all.” 

“It’s okay,” he said, reaching out to touch her softly on the shoulder. “Yup that’s me. Jessamine,” he tested the name out, enjoying how it felt on his tongue. “That’s a beautiful name, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He paused trying to figure out what else he could do to calm her down. “Would it help if we went somewhere with less people?” It was kind of a shot in the dark but it was something.

Swallowing hard, trying to slow her breathing, through it all, she smiled at him, laughing faintly. “Th-thank you,” she let out, trying to wipe away her tears. How utterly embarrassing, her mind told her, to panic so quickly in front of someone who was her only chance a learning about herself. 

“C-could we? I-I’m so sorry, th-this is the worst. I just...can feel-- people are-- Please, yes.”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

drakongoch:

“You hatched, in a witch’s garden? I’ve never heard of any of the clans ever abandoning their eggs.” Something must have happened, that was the only explanation for it. “There’s more of us or there were. I don’t know, haven’t seen another dragon in hundreds of years. It’s been a long time.”

“I - it’s complicated. There’s better people to answer your questions - I left them when I was fairly young so I don’t know. There’s different groups or clans, and if you leave and are found you get killed. I guess it’d be different if you were never there.” He shrugged, “We can figure that out.”

Abandoned. It was a possibility she’d thought of decades ago, but it was secondary to the panic attack that was mounting in her body, shortening her breaths and sending burning tears to glisten in her eyes. People were staring, there were people looking at her, even if they really weren’t. Social anxiety was a hell she wished had never happened to her.

“I-I’m sorry,” she tried again, this time apologizing more for how she curled in on herself, trying to stop the internal destruction from the fear alone. She had so many questions, but she’d gone and done it, made herself loud and obvious in the public sphere, and with her eyes closed, she felt a degree better. “I’m so sorry. I’m just-- overwhelmed. Um, I, um...It’s--” Routine, she told herself, routine would help. “It’s Drakon, right? M-my name is Jessamine. Like...like Jasmine.”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

drakongoch:

He too couldn’t ignore the stares, even as his mind raced with what felt like a never ending circle of panic. He managed to focus on appearing human while also trying to figure out why she could possibly be excited about seeing him. He was a traitor, an abandoner - worthless and hated by his clan. Drakon knew that in their eyes he was useless and meant nothing.

“You’ve never met another?” That couldn’t be right, he thought struggling to keep his jaw from falling open. “You’re a, you’re a girl! They’d love you, they love the girls.”

“No,” she repeated her voice turning soft, hands clenching together before her face. “No, no. I hatched in a witch’s garden, I’ve been alone my whole life. I...I didn’t know...I didn’t know there were more of me...us...I thought...”

The panic was rising, pressing down on her chest, and she held herself, trembling. “Who’s they? Are there a lot of us? Are...I-I’m sorry, I...I didn’t-- Shoot. I’m asking so many questions, I’m sorry.”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

drakongoch:

“I’m not, why would I?” He shook his head violently, hair flopping about as he tried to figure out why she seemed to be upset. Then, he saw the scales.

“ Yes-ee maor!” He accidentally switched back to his native tongue in a moment of pure shock and horror. Drakon couldn’t believe that he had revealed himself to a female dragon of all things, oh god. This was bad, this was so very bad. He barely noticed the scales coming up or his eyes glowing as he stumbled backwards ever-so-slightly.

Excitement rushed through her veins, bringing a frightened and delighted squeal to her lips. People were staring at them, she could feel it, and she promptly clamped her hands over her own mouth before the panic set in harder than it already was. They were staring.

“No, no, no!” She whispered, distress in her voice. “No, I didn’t mean to scare you! I’m so sorry! I-I just-- I’ve never met another-- I’ve never--! Oh, I’m so sorry!”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

drakongoch:

“More like I am a dragon,” he admitted quietly. He hoped that she believed him, or that could be super awkward. “And my family is, I guess. Although the people I consider family were slash are humans.”

He had to be joking. Her anxiety spiked suddenly, heart palpitating with something like fear and excitement. “You’re kidding,” she whispered, her body language visibly shrinking. “Who put you up to this? I don’t have any friends -- who told you to do this?”

“Oh my god-- oh-- I’m--” Unable to find words, she instead stuck her arm out for him to see, as momentarily, fine blue scales slid beneath her epidermis, dark eyes lightening to the unnatural violet she was so commonly known for. “Are you...?”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

drakongoch:

He chuckled, “Makes us a party then.” Two’s a party but three’s a crowd. Drakon watched her repeat his name, wondering if she found if it odd as many humans did.

“Yeah, I do but that’s okay. Pretty sure the similarity was on purpose really.”

“On...purpose?” Tipping her head then, closing her sketchbook slowly, Jessamine worried her bottom lip. What reason could provoke a name like that? “Like...Does your family own a dragon, or something?”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

drakongoch:

“Oh,” he could feel his cheeks heating up as he realized that he had not only failed to introduce himself but then had argued with her. “Well your friend is probably right, I’m just not the most social creature. Drakon, my name is, Drakon.”

Laughing, softly, Jessamine wrote it slowly next to the attempt at a drawing. “It’s alright. I’m-- well, neither am I.” Then, repeating his name, she nodded slowly. Odd, but then again, she had heard the Gaelic of names that had come before her. 

“Sounds like dragon. That’s-- really cool, huh? Or-- well, you probably get that a lot, I’m sure.”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

drakongoch:

He grinned as he nodded his head. “Yeah,” he breathed out softly. “That’s what I like best about it, it’s so shiny.”

“Don’t artists usually sign stuff with their own names?”

“Well...” She hesitated, tongue thick as she thought, before she returned her attention to the other. “Yes, but I’m not an artist! And my friend said it’s a better tactic to get people’s names than to ask them directly.” Plan foiled, she supposed, but she gave a sheepish smile no less.

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

drakongoch:

“Oh, I’m sure you aren’t that bad.” He tried to be reassuring. “A terrible artist wouldn’t even have any ideas on how to fill in the space! I don’t mind, better than my suggestion. Which would have been to put a piece of tin foil in the empty space.”

Eyes growing wide briefly, she blinked, idle in thought. “Tin foil,” she repeated. “That’s not a bad idea, though. It’s really shiny.”

“Well, I’ll figure it out, in any case. What name should I write on it?”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

drakongoch:

“Oh sorry, I’m terrible at staying still.”

“Did I ruin the drawing? I can try to stay still if you want, but I’m really awful at it and I get distracted really easily.”

"Ah, no. You can’t ruin something that’s already awful,” she laughed. “I’m a terrible artist. I’ll just draw a flower or something in the extra space. I hope you don’t mind half of your face being a flower.”

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

“No, no--!”

“Oh, bollocks, you moved. I guess I’ll just...smudge this here, then. Well, good enough. Maybe I’ll say a bird flew past you.”

@drakongoch

[whimsyjessamine-blog]

harmless monster, with flowers in your hair, by the roadside, in the nighttime, i’m hardly even there a very sudden change of color it's your eyes who deceive you i was an angel, someone's sweet thing with flowers in my hair

[anneboleyns]