assorted non-canon and AU threads

[aesculapian]

who wants delicious post-forest terribleness

Comments

[miraculess]

[ lets out an almost gleeful sounding soft huff ]

Don't underestimate me. If I pull, I'm doing it wrong.

[ going for a bit near the bottom and starting to pick the knots loose ]

[rootless]

Aah, so it's a challenge now.

[miraculess]

[ matter-of-fact ]

I'm competitive.

[rootless]

Good luck beating my hair.

[miraculess]

[ ...would mentioning her old track record for mauling opponents be an appropriate if awful joke here...

nah, better not. combing intensifies; after about a minute she hums thoughtfully and then snorts a startled sort of laugh ]

Oh, for goodness' sake— mmm, I don't suppose you would be willing to trade a flower crown to the vain lump of bone I call a partner in exchange for a hairbrush and something to help detangle?

[rootless]

--A flower crown?

[miraculess]

A flower crown. She likes to ask for things like that when it comes to smaller trades...

[rootless]

She likes cute things, huh...

I can do a flower crown, easy.

[aesculapian]

I do like cute things ... I accept the terms of your repayment.

[ she sounds really smug. ]

[rootless]

It'll have to wait until after, though. Is that alright?

[aesculapian]

It is. Some things can be paid for after ...

[ still combing through his hair, with no discernible difference between her and when her host was doing it ]

[rootless]

Mmkay. I'll make a good one.

[aesculapian]

Thank you very much.

[rootless]

Any flower preference? Of the local ones.

[aesculapian]

Larkspur, please? Lycoris or aconite are also good ....

[rootless]

I can do that.

[aesculapian]

[ pleased sort of hum ]

Lilith will like that, too.

[ ...their hands stop for a moment, before continuing. don't tell him that ]

[rootless]

[so that's her name... Tips his head to look between Snake's teeth.]

Favorite flowers?

[miraculess]

[ that's not hard at all; her mouth has stayed mostly open throughout the switching, aside from that initial snap. he can actually see them switch control; Lilith's gaze and expression in general are sharper, both more focused and more closed off ]

Something like that...

...We were tested in groups, rather than singly, and each one was represented by a flower. Larkspur was mine; the other two were teams some friends of mine were on.

[rootless]

That's pretty different...

All right. Larkspur, then, and the others if I can find them.

[miraculess]

That's how it used to be done, although not always with flowers. There was something of a shakeup...

[ if you can call the Spill a shakeup, anyway. she never wants to see kudzu again. ]

...thanks.

[rootless]

No problem.

[he prefers it this way, anyway. it'd be harder to avoid people if there was a specific subset of people who thought they should pay him mind.]

[miraculess]

[ meanwhile, Lilith is wishing he'd gotten stuck with a team bond for exactly that reason. both she and the serpent prefer the new arrangement, but still...

...she has to remind herself that her troubles aren't his, and that not all teams were as kind as hers. it isn't her place to stick her nose in, besides.

chasing that thought away by basically attacking his hair with conditioner. it smells like rosemary and mint to go with his camphor because of course it does, and when the hell had she gotten her hands on it? ]

[rootless]

[dfjngskjdf ducks his head on reflex, then straightens when he remembers.]

[miraculess]

Hold still.

[ sounds pretty sympathetic, though. also, she wasn't kidding about being good at this; that's some pretty nice scalp massage as she works it in. ]