|
Lux had invited Fox over to the Collective to hang out. It looks more or less the same as last time--though the walls are now fully painted with a variety of styles. The place has an energy to it, and a fun, vibrant atmosphere.
Lux is in the work room, sitting at a table, working on sketching in a sketchbook. Music plays from a stereo nearby--upbeat hip-hop and pop that Lux is idly bobbing their head to.
Everyone knows that Fox's favorite way to travel is "not as a person." Today, when Lux invites Fox over, a dog arrives! Well. There's scratching at the door, and then a sharp bork from outside said door. Perhaps Fox has been giving Animal Control some heartburn, running around the city like this. Perhaps not. Who's to say?
The sound of scratching makes Lux blink, peering over to the door. They set down the pencil and head over, opening the door to peek out--then gasps in delight. "Ohmygosh, lookit you!"
Today's Fox arrives in the form of an auburn retriever, almost precisely the same color as a fox, of course, but shaggy and big and goofy-sweet in appearance. There's a splotch on her back, slightly lighter than the rest of her fur. The green-gold eyes are always the same, which makes for a handy giveaway that it is, in fact, Fox. She absolutely prances in when praised, shaking herself in delight, and then -- once she's determined that it is, in fact, just the two of them -- he melts upward with that stretch-and-yawn and ends up as human-form Fox again. "Tadah!" she crows, arms raised like a five-year-old that just stuck the landing on a somersault. "I hadn't been a dog in ages."
Lux can't resist. Fox gets some scritches and pets before she turns back into a human. They watch her change curiously, lips quirking upwards, then grabs her to haul up into a hug. "You make a totally cute one. Ten out of ten, would pet."(edited)
Pets are always welcome, and even better when you're a dog. "Next time I'll stay one and just do the magic on you that lets you talk to me when I'm a dog, but I didn't have a way to ask you if that would be okay. I do like being a dog." Fox's upraised arms turn into arms flung around Lux for a hug in greeting. "I'm glad you're back safely. This place looks GREAT."
Lux swings them around in a circle before setting her back on her feet. "Thanks! I'm very pleased with how it's turned out. We've been getting a fair amount of clients too." Lux's head bobs, grinning widely. "It's good to see you again. I've missed you. Also, in the future, odds are I'm not going to mind having magic done on me, so long as it's not like... mind controlly or something that would question reality. That's bad for our kind."
"Whee!" Of course she literally says 'whee.' This is Fox. A noisy smooch on the cheek, and then little wrinkle of her nose. "Mind magic is literally the last thing in the world I'd do. I actually can't right now, and I don't want to. It's very hard for a mage like me to learn that kind of stuff. I'm all body and instinct, so... " Fox lets his words trail off. "But it's good to know what might hurt you. I don't want to do that accidentally." She wanders over to the wall to peer at some of the new art. "Clients are good." Says the person who only vaguely ever deals with money.
Lux moves back to sit on the stool by the worktable, turning to face her. "Oh, huh. Cool. But yeah, uh... it's a Thing. We're all about... dreams versus reality, you know? Dreams and illusions are a part of us, but sometimes... it's really harmful for our minds if we stray too far into that? We loose touch of reality. Sometimes even go into comas and get trapped in our dreams, if it gets bad enough. But that's kinda... extreme cases."
He turns back from looking at the art on the wall and blinks twice, slowly. "Comas? That... sounds... like a lot." Fox pads over toward the worktable and shucks off her backpack, setting it down on the ground before hopping up onto the worktable's edge, leaned forward a bit and gripping the edge of the table. She swings her feet absently. "But... good to know. I know people who could hurt you all that way, if they weren't being careful. But. Not me."
"It is a lot," Lux agrees with a nod. "I recently went into someone's dreams, to get them out of a coma. Had to... convince them that their dreams weren't real." They lean over to shoulder bump her. "I didn't think you would, especially not on purpose. How have you been?"
Their shoulder bumps against hers, and Fox bumps back. "Oof," is all the Thyrsus offers back about that, a little shudder. "I've ... been. It's been an interesting week. Did I tell you that I -- had a murder to deal with?" Fox asks, absently chewing on their lower lip with their tiny sharp teeth.
"You mentioned it, but didn't want to go into details over text." Lux frowns at her, now looking worried.
One of her hands rises, and she scratches at the back of her head. "So, did I tell you I was going away for a weekend with Leta? We went up to Doylestown to do peyote." A pause, and Fox adds, "I guess that's something you shouldn't do. It definitely makes you question reality. But uh, for me, that's part of the point."
Lux grins briefly. "Yeah, drugs are bad. Even booze and weed can be bad if you take too much. But--nah, you didn't mention that. Did it happen while you were there...?"(edited)
They take in a deep breath and puff out their cheeks, then let that breath out slowly. "Okay, so, the plan was, go to Doylestown, take a bunch of drugs, hang out, fuck, whatever. But I went wandering off when I was on peyote, and she followed me, and we ended up at a warehouse rave. Like you do." Fox pauses, and offers, "... can you, like... just tell when weird shit is happening near you?"
"Like you do," they echo, amused--at first. They pause, then shrug. "Not like... automatically? We have to focus on our surroundings, but yeah."
"Well. I'm ... like really good at it? I can see things when most people ... miss it. We see things generally pretty easily, but I'm ... apparently really good at it. I guess when you spend all your time figuring out how your eyes work and making them work better... " Fox trails off, and then shakes their head. "Anyway. I saw -- like, magic sight -- I saw something firing off from the office up above the warehouse floor when we were in this rave. Now, keep in mind, I'm fucking tripping balls, so I thought, maybe I was just seeing things. But I went up there and was like 'let's check this shit out,' the way you do when your decision-making is impaired. Soooooooooo... the office was empty. But then."
"A body appeared. Which... " Pause. "That's a thing that people who can affect time can do. A temporal stutter. But this temporal stutter produced a freshly-dead body. And here's me and Leta, half-dressed -- I was topless because who gives a shit when you're in the woods -- and high as fucking balls."
Lux blinks as they listen, brows climbing. "...Okay. That is... hella fucked up. So--what--someone killed this person and... sent them forward in time? Or back in time?"
"Forward. Basically hid the body in time for a little bit. I don't know if the murderer intended for us to find this guy or what. But... it was right after we got there, and someone who knows enough about Time to do that, probably guessed we were on our way up." Fox scratches their nose absently, flicks a glance aside at Lux. "See... there are ... people like me, but not like me? That are part of our society. The sort of halfway-in people. And the dead guy, he was one of those. And the murderer?" Big sigh.
Lux frowns deeper, brows creasing. "Shit. Uh... That sounds... awful." Their head tilts. "The murderer?"
And that's when Fox's phone beeps, a shimmering sound. Something like the sound of light on ice if it were given an actual sound. She hops down from the work table, talking while she takes her phone out of her backpack. "Sorry, it's Leta." And then she frowns at her screen, tapping rapidly and answering. There's a back and forth, and she sighs. "So... " Fox pauses. "You know how you look to me, and how that's not... how you really look? There's -- a lot of reality which is actually magic, which quote enquote normal people can't see. And that's bad. It ... would be better if everyone could see what I see, and not just a couple 'special people.' But there are mages who want to lock up the majority of people's brains and keep them from ever experiencing anything like what I do, because they want to keep all the power for themselves. We call them Servants of the Lie, because they want... humanity trapped in this non-magical lie. Like, you already see a lot of it, because of what you are. But these -- they call themselves Seers of the Throne. They want all of humanity's brains in cages, basically. For their benefit and profit."
"And that's who killed Andrew Declan. Whose name I just found out. He was apparently a giant asshole, but he was a person. So, you know."
"It's cool," Lux assures, watching her text and pace with a worried expression.
His lips purse as she explains about the Seers, face twisting into a look of distaste. "Okay, yeah, they sound like assholes. Do you know why they killed this guy?"
She paces back toward Lux and leans against them, resting her head against theirs. "They're assholes, yeah. Not too far off from what you told me you were fighting before." A puff of breath out. "I'm not exactly sure. It's enough that he was one of us. Seers... "
"Seers are why Vasha is here. They're really dangerous. But. We're more dangerous." At least, she hopes so.
Lux wraps their arms around her middle, holding her while they frown worriedly. "You... mentioned that Vasha was having a really hard time with things? Makes sense. I'm guessing you haven't caught the bastard yet, then?"
"Yeah." Fox sets her phone aside on the work table and wraps her arms around their shoulders, leaning in. There's a certain amount of melting there, like she's hesitant to totally lean in, to put her weight fully on Lux. "We haven't caught shit yet. But I've gotten him to talk to me a bit, and Zoya is here, so. Having our family here matters. Helps him. So he's less... "
"He drinks a lot."
"Ah." Lux's eyes soften, full of sympathy. "I... know how that feels, some." They don't call Jack out by name, but they definitely feel her pain. "Talking is good. Every step forward is good, even if it's small."
Their hand rubs at her back lightly, trying to help her relax and unwind. Offering the comfort and safety of their embrace freely, without restraint, but not pushing her.
"Yeah," repeats Fox. "I mean some of it's cultural, but some of it is... not." She soaks up that attention, slowly leaning into it, arms wrapped around their shoulders and head leaning on the top of their head. A long, heavy breath out, and she goes silent for a while. "Tell me about Hawaii?" The question is small, softly spoken.
"It was... good. For all three of us." They smile softly. "Mearcstapa got super sunburnt though, poor thing. He's still a bit crispy. And other than my breakdown, it was really fun and exciting. And beautiful. Fuck, I wish we had beaches like that here."
"I got you some presents," they add, but are in no rush to move from hugging her to fetch them.
"Did you tell me about your breakdown? I've been... scattered more than usual lately." Her arms squeeze tightly around them, and he kisses the top of their head. "I should definitely go there sometime. And if Mearc is hurting, I can fix that. It's mostly a matter of dehydration and replenishing the skin cells." Of COURSE magic is the answer, this is Fox.
"I like presents. I can have presents after my hug."
"I mentioned we cleared things up, but no details. I kinda... let loose, everything I had been building up and holding back." They grimace. "Had a big long cry. But... Jack and Mearcstapa were there to hold me, and... that made everything okay. I've been feeling loads better since then. I'm still... having trouble sleeping, but it's not quite as bad." They kiss her cheek. "You should hit him up and offer to heal him. I bet he'd appreciate it."
"After the hug," Lux agrees, squeezing tighter.
"So ... the stuff you were talking to me about beforehand, you all talked about that?" Lazy petting for Lux's hair, and sort of rocking a little, still leaned in against them. "If you still need help sleeping, I can help with that. You're not sleeping in that place since you got back, right? I haven't gotten to talk to Zoya yet about a realtor." The kiss to her cheek makes her smile lazily. Stress leaches slowly out of her, and she puffs out a little breath. "I'll text him and tell him I can heal him. Sunburns are so terrible."
Another squeeze. "Yup. Hugs are also presents. I missed you."
"Yeah, we did." Their eyes drift closed, making a soft content sound at the petting. "No, no... We've been staying with Mearcstapa now, at his apartment. I... I haven't even been back to Jack's place, at all. Since it happened." A slight grimace at the thought. "But we're still planning on getting a big house, so would love Zoya's help. We were thinking about... getting a fixer upper. Something we can mould and rebuild together."
"I missed you too. I've been worried about you, since we texted the other day. You know you can talk to me, right? Even if its just... venting."
More petting, absent little scritches to their scalp, and Fox sighs content. "Good. Very good. I'm so glad that you got that taken care of. It's no good when things are hanging over people's heads."
"Honestly, I don't blame you, and I wouldn't want to go back there, either. Like, ever. But yeah, I'll definitely let her know. She'd be so excited to be able to help you. Z loves helping people, it makes her really happy." And then quiet.
"Oh." Her breath hitches in her throat. "I don't want to be a bother. But thank you. I'm okay."
"Fox..." Lux pulls back enough to look her in the eyes, a hand lifting to cup her cheek. Their hands are a little cold, but there's emotional warmth to the touch. "You're not a bother to me. I'm Winter. I know sorrow and loneliness and helpless better than most people. You're... clearly not okay, babe. And it's okay to not be okay. You don't gotta be alone, even if things are cold and dark. That's why we build fires and cuddle close on long Winter nights, because we survive those dark times together." Their mantle flares, oh-so-subtly, just the briefest flare of cold air and aurora-colored lights, that would be easily shrugged off as a trick of the light for others, but they know better.(edited)
Her green-gold eyes are somehow a little less human than the last time they were close to her: catching the light a little as though there's headlights shone at her. It's subtle, but it's there. Fox swallows roughly, tiny sharp teeth catching on her lower lip. "I'm. Just. Having a lot of feelings right now," she stumbles her way through the sentence. "Mei is a big, grown-up Mage now, she joined the Children of the Tree, and I'm proud of her and I'm so so happy that she joined my Nation, but... she's not my Mage baby anymore? She's grown. And Vasha is ... broken. Fucked up. Drinking a lot. I've been trying to get him to ... do anything. To address it."
"There are rat spirits and Thyrsus are supposed to be good at spirits but I focused entirely on Life so I don't know shit about spirit except the very basic stuff, and also, this rat spirit thing, the killer of Andrew was good enough with spirits to be able to make a small spirit really big in order to try to fuck with us, so what if the rat hosts were actually made by the Seers? Especially because Dandelion was kidnapped, who's one of the Mage people, what's called a Sleepwalker, our halfway-in people."
"So maybe it's a big trap! And because I don't know shit about Spirit really, because I focused so heavily on Life, I don't know shit to help." A big heavy breath in and out.
"That... is a lot," Lux agrees softly once she's finished, frowning deeper. "I'm happy for Mei, but... just because she's a grown-up Mage, it doesn't mean she doesn't need you? You seem to really know your shit, and even if she's officially a Person now, she probably still has a lot to learn? Shit--I've been a Person for like... seven? eight? months now, but I still don't know shit about some stuff."
"I... I don't really know what to say, about Vasha, cause I don't even know how to get my own partner to stop drinking--but I know it sucks. I know it's a lot and it makes you feel helpless, and I'm so, so sorry."
At the last part, Lux smiles softly, rubbing a hand over her arm. "I have no idea what you're talking about with these rat things and Dandelion, but... you? Not being able to help? Pffbt. You're gonna do great, and you're gonna figure out some way to help--hell, your Life magic stuff is like... fucking incredible. I don't even understand all your magic and I can think of cool ways you could help. You could... sneak in as a rat to snoop around, or fuck--even just being there to heal people if things go wrong is like... that's fucking incredible, Fox."
Her bright eyes close, and she just listens, her breath all soft and ragged as Lux speaks. Tears leak out of the corners of her eyes, and she carefully chews on her lower lip, as if by holding her lip between her teeth, Fox can hold her emotions in. "Yeah," he creaks quietly. "It's just a lot of things all at once, you know? And Vasha is... everything? I have a lot of people who love me, and I love them, but... Vasha is the cranky little Ukrainian sun that my green little planet spins around."
A quiet huff, and a low chattering sound, very vulpine. "I guess that's true. I just feel like... " They pause. "I don't know. I'm worried. I'm scared. I'm sad. And everyone kind of counts on me to be... Fox."
Lux nods, then pulls her back in for a tight hug, nuzzling their cheek against her's. "I'm sorry. But you're gonna get through this, Fox. Just... you don't gotta have it all weighing down on you right now. Give yourself a break sometimes. Fuck, I--I fucking get that. I'm a Bright One. I'm always on and it's... fucking exhausting. Sometimes I just need to turn off and curl up into a ball and enjoy the dark for a while, and cry or get high or--whatever. So like... I'm never going to look down on you or judge you for not being Fox all the time."
She just sort of collapses into that tight hug, returning the nuzzling and making another one of those tight high-pitched noises in the back of his throat. "Can we do that? Can I have my presents and then we get high and watch some Netflix and snuggle and be... off duty as the bright ones that light up for everyone?" Fox sniffles, unabashedly clinging.
"Yeah, babe, of course," Lux replies fondly, kissing her cheek. "That sounds perfect." They squeeze for another moment before pulling back with a grin. "Hopefully you like 'em." They lean over, digging into a backpack resting on the ground. They pull out a little paper gift bag with hawaiian flower prints on it and offer it out to her.
Inside is a couple packets of... seeds? As well as a bracelet, made from smoothed pieces of sea glass in shades of blues and greens, braided together with hemp cord.
"The seeds are for some Hawaiian flowers. Um... Ilima and Naupaka? They have a lot of cultural relevance there and--I dunno, I thought you might like magically growing them or something. And that bracelet is made of recycled glass that was fished out of the sea, so--kind of a blend of nature and man-made stuff that I thought was cool, and fit you..."
She takes a half step back, to let them get the gifts, and then those green-gold eyes widen when Lux brings out the gifts. Her eyes go first to the sea glass, because shiny shiny! But as soon as Lux starts explaining, she gasps. "Oh! I'll have to share these. They're too good to keep to myself. There's a garden that we all share, the Consilium... " and she reaches into the bag to take out the seed packets. "I'll have to research them, maybe I can keep a couple at the apartment and some in the garden... "
Carefully putting the seeds back in the bag, she takes out the bracelet and hands it to Lux, holding out her left wrist. "It's perfect," she assures them, her pale cheeks flushing pink. "Thank you so much. I'll grow them and share them. And wear this. It's really perfect."
"You're welcome." They smile wider at her reaction, and take the bracelet to tie onto her wrist, leaning over to place a soft kiss to her wrist after. "I'm glad you like them. You'll have to bring me one of the flowers when they're grown." They grin back at her, hopping off the stool to take her hand, leading her into the lounge room where the TV is. "You pick something on Netflix, and I'll grab a blanket from my office. We're gonna have some epic snuggle time."
The bracelet in place, and the kiss to her wrist, make Fox flush pink again and smile. She wipes her eyes with the heels of her hands, and sniffles. While Fox has brightened up a bit, she's definitely not... on. Now is the time to be off-duty as Fox, and just relax.
She tucks the bag and the seed packets within into her backpack, and then brings out her vape pen before padding over to the couch. Sneakers kicked off, she curls up on the couch and calls toward the office, "I wanna watch cartoons. I'm almost caught up on She-Ra, but if you haven't watched it, I'll start over and watch it again. It's really gay." An important quality for all the best epic snuggle time media, after all.
|