assorted non-canon and AU threads

[aesculapian]

who wants delicious post-forest terribleness

Comments

[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. ]

[rootless]

[HOLDS! STILL! VALIANTLY!!

and also purrs, a little]

[miraculess]

[ ...which of us does this intense feeling of dere belong to

help

de...tangles... ]

[rootless]

[seems to realize what he's doing, flushing all the way to the tips of his ears, but the purring doesn't stop, and he just... hunches his shoulders a little.]

[aesculapian]

[ Lilith hurriedly passes most of their control back over with a mix of flustered embarrassment (hers) and amusement (snake's). this isn't the first time a situation like this has come up, but negotiating boundaries is always kind of awkward...

humming, definitely the Arbiter this time; there's a sort of drifty detachment to her tone that's pretty clearly distinguishable from her host. and then she pats him right between the horns ]

Now you are embarrassed ... ? It's charming.

[rootless]

[makes a tiny startled noise when she pats him, then tips his head to get a look at them over his shoulder, still blushing vividly.]

I don't know about that.

[aesculapian]

[ she's got her jaw closed again, not that that does anything to really obscure their face much. blinking mildly at him with a faint smile before turning her attention back to the mat she's working on ]

It is a good sound.

[rootless]

[GETS... REDDER

and purring intensifies.

words are overrated.]

[aesculapian]

[ ...

gently pokes his forehead, goes back to untangling. almost done! ]

[rootless]

Mmhm?

[TRYING TO PLAY IT COOL]

[aesculapian]

[ 'v' 'v' 'v' very pleased with herself ]

It is nothing ... I think I have gotten it all?